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ouiouimochi · 1 month

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Rayne, Rayne (Part 2)

Part 1

pairing/s: rayne ames x f!reader, rayne ames x you

genre: childhood friends, self-sacrificing mc, hurt/comfort, resolved misunderstanding, fluff (yay)

wc: 4.7k

warnings: mentions of injuries, violence, human experiments, swearing. there's elements of comedy I think, it's half unserious I'm sorry, semi proof-read

taglist: @kaoiyeva @judithregulus @ctmaw

here's the long awaited part 2, thank you for your patience <33

•°•°•°•°•°•°•°•°•°•°•°•°•°•°•°•°•°•°•°•°•°•°•°•

In the meeting room of the Bureau, the Divine Visionaries gathered to discuss Rayne's report on the mission as the said male had just been dismissed to go rest.

“A failed first mission for a Divine Visionary, a reconnaissance at that.” Orter pushed up his glasses as he evaluated the report.

“Failed reconnaissance it may be, all the pertinent information had been gathered for us to finally make a move against the organization. They're using live human test subjects.” Sophina argued, although agreeing that it could've been handled a bit more cleanly.

“I'd say they did more than expected… We also managed to retrieve useful intel. Not only that, they single handedly managed to wipe out their security— elite ones included— as well as handled the executive mostly involved in the suspicious activities. It's quite a surprise to have discovered that the executive used an illegal magic booster, though.“ Kaldo analyzed the results of the mission.

The Light Cane laughed boisterously, before snapping his finger.

“To think young students like them were able to handle the enemies like that before the brilliant me could've arrived to handle it all! Impressive, I must say!” Ryoh approved.

Everyone else followed through after hearing Ryoh’s thoughts. It was due to the blond’s description of the organization as he arrived— it was just more than a mess with unconscious bodies endlessly littering the hallways. He also noted how he did catch the other executives fleeing but unable to locate the head perpetrator. So color him surprised when he discovered said missing perpetrator dealt with and a hauntingly huge rift on the ground being left behind.

•°•°•°•°•°•°

The medical bay of the Bureau was only filled with the sounds of gentle breathing coming from the lone patient resting on one of its hospital beds. Rayne walked in, seating himself on a chair beside the bed.

The male sighed as he observed how peacefully you were breathing as if you didn't exhaust yourself to unconsciousness in his first mission. You definitely gave him something to worry about when you immediately passed out after casting one last support spell on him that ended up turning the tide into his favor.

He wondered how much magic you poured into him that it was just enough for him to activate his Thirds and swiftly defeat that executive— leaving behind a big crater in the process that it was a surprise that the whole building didn't collapse.

The honey eyed male wondered what goes through your brain as you always seemed to follow him around despite his cold demeanor. How you stuck around despite never outwardly acknowledging your presence nor help.

Again, he wondered how much would you be willing to sacrifice for him— just as you always seemed to do ever since meeting him again in Easton. You were so much as ready to let him leave you behind, after all.

He can't help but think you were a huge help as well as a huge headache.

The half blond massaged his temple, having found himself to be slightly angry at your self-sacrificing attitude.

He stops.

He stops to think as to why he'd be angry… to why he cares about your well-being… since when have you managed to worm yourself to a soft spot amidst the steel walls he built up— the same walls that kept away Finn in hopes to protect him.

Just how? It was unfathomable for him. For the first time, he outwardly expressed an emotion on his face.

You stirred in your bed, slowly becoming conscious— registering your surroundings at your own pace.

The smell of antiseptics and medical herbs greeted your senses first. The feeling of the soft blanket that covered you was next. Lastly, your eyes were greeted by an angry Rayne.

You blinked away the dots that slip into your vision— ‘Wait.’ a pause.

You bolted right up and looked at the figure seated on a chair beside your hospital bed. You then held your head as you got slightly dizzy from the sudden movement. Groaning when the ache in your bones finally registered as well.

It was silent. You looked up and confirmed that it was Rayne who was indeed seated there. And he wore an expression of concern.

Well… there wasn't much of a change in his stoic expression from another's perspective. Rather, you noticed the way his eyebrows shift and eyes widen from their previous positions of furrowed and narrowed. To be fair, they were minimal changes that only you can notice at a glance…

The silence hanging in the air was awkward as you two inadvertently engaged in a staring contest.

You broke that silence with an equally awkward, “Hi…?”, you were just hella confused why the dual-colored haired male was angry at you the moment you awoke.

You don't think you've ever seen him this expressive since you reunited with him back in middle school. You panicked and got more confused as his eyebrows twitch further down just by a really barely noticeable bit. You're actually starting to get nervous now.

“Why.” he spoke suddenly— you're just in a spiral of confusion at this point.

“Why… what…?” you respond back with a slight head tilt, absolutely clueless.

“Why would you do that?”

“What exactly????”

Rayne was absolutely getting annoyed at how clueless you were, he sighs before proceeding with what he's gonna say.

“Why were you so willing to just sacrifice your life like that?” He spoke up, eyes fiercely looking into your own. You were astounded, about to respond back, but interrupted by your childhood friend.

“Why do you just… Do all these things for me?”

He never broke eye contact.

“Why… do you accompany me in my tasks, help me out in Fortune Telling class… Why do you even follow me around even though I push you away?”

“Just why… even after all these years… why would you get close?” He ended.

A silence passes over… each second passing by causing Rayne to regret— to think he might've talked too much.

You looked down on your hands that you unconsciously curled together on your lap during the golden-eyed male’s interrogation. Looking solemn, before speaking up.

“It's just… to make it up to you, I guess…”

“You know since you and Finn suddenly disappeared… I've been wondering to myself if I was being too mean… Maybe that one little stupid ‘rayne, rayne, go away’ song I continuously sang might've just actually been the last straw and you left…” You admit…

Rayne was gaping at you—not in the open mouth flabbergasted expression, but gaping as just blankly staring— although you didn't notice it as you continued.

You laugh slightly, although it lacks humor in it. “As I grew up, I had to think back that maybe it was childish to think that was the reason you two left… But I just started thinking more… of how I should have treated you at least a little bit kinder as kids… Given that you and Finn were the only ones who stuck around with my mean self…” You twiddled with your thumbs.

“I changed myself for the better I guess… even my mother was surprised when I told her I wanted to study some subjects at that age..”

“So yeah… I guess it was just pure fate that I managed to meet you again— I felt that I just had to make it up to you…” You look up to the male to gauge his reaction, only to be met with him holding his face in his left hand while the other rests on his hip.

Rayne was absolutely…so dumbfounded that he had to ground himself back to reality by letting things process. He breathed to himself as he pieces together what you told him.

‘So all that kindness and sacrifice despite my treatment… ‘ He started… Rayne Ames was known to be a brilliant character, only having to learn of one thing to know of ten others.

But this took him quite a while to piece together and rationalize.

‘Just to apologize for her childish teasing that doesn't hold much weight to me at all’ If he could facepalm, he would have, but his face was in his hand already.

It's a whole buck wheat of a fucking misunderstanding just because he disappeared after circumstances completely unrelated to the reason you just said.

He can't find himself to be mad at you, not after you basically just… poured your heart out to him— showing your vulnerability… even though your main motivation to help him was… due to a misunderstanding.

This man's smart brain just cannot— absolutely blanks.

Congratulations, you've managed to break THE Rayne Ames.

The half blond inhales deeply, before removing his face from his hand.

“(Y/n). “ He so seriously calls your name after a while.

“...yes?” You respond.

"You're telling me that you stayed despite my constant effort to push you away…” he pauses, having to think about how to word it properly.

"...because you believed that it was your fault that we suddenly disappeared years ago and you felt guilty about it?”

You were worried about how he was reacting.

“...yes…?” You can't understand where he was directing the conversation.

He just looks at you dead in the eye, not knowing what else to say.

Rayne trusted your intellect in multiple things— above the average person’s, even. But this was just… he doesn't know how to bring it up to you since you've been sincere in your actions— he doesn't want to be mean about it.

You just continue to look at him, clueless. That actually sends something to wash over him— similar to the urge he gets when taking care of his rabbits. The feeling of protectiveness and caution from accidentally hurting something cute.

So admittedly, the honey eyed male might've found you cute… especially with how you were focusing on his reaction anxiously.

So he steeled himself to bring his chair closer to your bed, leaning forward with his arms on his knees to be closer to your eye-level.

“(Y/n).” He called your name again— he wondered when he started calling you by your name again, actually. Was it during your third year in middle school? He just noticed.

He actually didn't know where to start, but he had to start somewhere. A silence filled in the pause, you were still anticipating what he was gonna say.

“...Finn and I left due to… certain circumstances…” Rayne finally got out, not going into further detail of said circumstances.

“And we never once thought you were mean when we were kids…”

You blink. Letting the words sink in as you piece together everything else— something finally clicking in that pretty little head of yours.

“Oh.” Was all you can say as you felt the world— your world— stop and crumble.

An existential crisis turns into existential crises.

The monologue about what you strived to be, what you pushed yourself to avoid being… due to a childhood guilt that hung heavy in your heart— and it turns out that it wasn't even the cause of the Ames’ sudden disappearance.

An absolute overshot into outer dimensions. You felt stupid.

You wanted to smack yourself, chuck yourself out the window, have the ground eat you up alive, anything. Just to get out of this very embarrassing situation.

You felt so utterly hot.

Rayne has been observing you all this time, growing more and more concerned due to your reactions— he feels bad that he had to tell it to you.

The honey eyed male may not be the best when it comes to emotions, but he can imagine how it'd be like to have a motivation to strive for something for a long time… only for that motivation to turn out to be misdirected.

You unceremoniously fall back onto the bed, not caring about how you were basically recovering from a back injury. Your companion undoubtedly worried about you.

You then wordlessly wrap yourself up in the blanket despite how hot your face felt. You heard Rayne call your name but you quietly asked him to leave for now.

He does so obediently. The moment he closed the door behind him, he heard muffled screaming.

•°•°•°•°•°•°

The door opens and you think it was the doctor or nurse, but it was Rayne. He wordlessly walks to the chair and seats himself again before carefully placing a wrapped up food box on your lap.

You were going to tell him to go away, but it was interrupted by an audible growl of your stomach— so you just had to accept the food.

You took a bite of the food, relief flooding your system. You continuously eat, actually enjoying the food the half blond brought you.

Speaking of which, you can feel his gaze on you the entire time, awfully sensitively aware of his every movement. He blinked, and you gave in. You turned to him suddenly, breaking the silence first.

“Pretend I didn't say anything earlier…” Your ears turned red at the memory— the embarrassment. So you took another bite of food.

Rayne sighed before speaking.

“If that's what you want.” He sincerely respects your request and you can't help but internally thank him for that.

It might take you a bit to get over the existential crisis but that'll probably be a problem for another time as you allow yourself to be comfortable with the silence now.

Then you got curious.

“So what happened after I blacked out?” Another bite of food.

And so Rayne narrated the events that happened right after you became incapacitated. You learned that the vial that rolled away from the executive contained some sort of magic booster— that explained why the guy was able to stand up and fight again.

You chew some more, listening to the golden eyed male.

“You were able to use your Thirds? How much magic did you even have to do that— heck you had a third line???” you asked, slightly miffed at him.

He shook his head only slightly.

“The spell you casted on me was just enough for me to do a summon. I hid my third line for valid reasons.”

“Fair enough.” You swallowed the last bit of food, fixing the box before putting it aside. You were glad that the last resort spell actually helped a lot.

“Mr. Grantz took a while to meet us since he came across the other executives that fled. He didn't question anything much when he arrived though.” He concluded his story.

“Hmm, is it a mission failure or success? The Bureau had been keeping its eyes on that specific organization after all for suspicious activities…But then again it was only supposed to be recon….” You wondered.

You sighed, remembering how you two got detected and discovered despite your spell and the provided cloaks.

“We wouldn't have been discovered if my stealth spell wasn't imperfect…”

“Stop blaming yourself already.” Rayne speaks up as he takes away the food box and puts it on top of the bedside table.

“The executive was wearing an artifact stolen from the Magical Tools Department that allowed him to detect anything within a certain distance.”

Although he didn't outright say there was nothing wrong with your spell, you felt reassured.

You also realized that this is basically the longest conversation you two held ever since reuniting— somehow makes you nostalgic of how you yapped to him while he talked with you when you were children.

This was Rayne letting you back in through an open door, and you willingly walked inside.

This felt nice.

•°•°•°•°•°•°

“So you're telling me you're not fully ignoring Finn… just making it look like it so that nobody targets him when you reach the top?” You incredulously asked him.

He directed his gaze to you, confirming your question.

So ever since the medbay incident, Rayne had been treating you less coldly now. If anything, we can say that he'd fully let you in. He even let you know about his pet rabbits— which you obsessed over with how cute they were.

You were currently eating lunch with him in the Adler Prefect office— you're unsure why the school decided to add more duties on top of his Divine Visionary ones the moment you two became third years. You had to interrogate him when you remember about Finn moving up to his first year in the highschool department.

“I cover all his school needs and allowances.” He countered.

“Does he know?” He remained silent, causing you to become exasperated.

“Rayne,” you looked at him, “you should seriously talk with him. The poor kid was bullied in middle school and had no one to go to. He turns to me, but I can tell he's hiding some things too.”

He stood his ground on maintaining his distance from his little brother.

You groaned at that.

“You're so intolerable.” The honey eyed male then looks at you with interest.

“You can understand the word now, huh?” Rayne was hinting at something— you realized it was something from your childhood when he insulted you with that but you couldn't understand it anyways.

The male knows how to tease people, apparently— or maybe it was just you… or maybe he learned a few things from you.

You facepalm “Fine, guess I'll continue looking after your younger brother then.” You sighed out.

•°•°•°•°•°•°

You were looking after Rayne's rabbits since he was too busy to do so, and so was his roommate who was apparently the one who suggested rabbit breeding to him in the first place. You gotta wonder how he managed to rope the older Ames into doing it though.

You felt a weight suddenly settle itself on your lap, slightly surprising you before calming down when you noticed it was just a rabbit.

“Usao,” the name of the rabbit, you pat its soft fur carefully as you lightheartedly scold it, “you shouldn't do that so suddenly.”

Nonetheless the affectionate rabbit nestled itself further into your touch as the others also seemed to get the same idea of surrounding you to get the same treatment while staying seated on the soft carpeted floor of the room.

‘The carpet's so soft— most likely for the bunnies to sleep on. ‘

You laughed lightly, bringing out a package of carrot sticks you personally cut earlier to feed the rabbits.

You checked the thermometer mounted on the wall to make sure the temperature was just right. Rayne was pretty particular about his rabbits’ environment and conditions. It was something you found endearing, in a way.

Who knew the cold and stoic Sword Cane was an absolutely rabbit obsessed man? You found it funny how even his comforter and bed sheets were rabbit themed. At least you'd know what to give him for his birthday or the holidays.

You shook away the thoughts, focusing on taking care of his rabbits. The door of the dorm room opened and you turned your head, not expecting anyone else to come in since you were pretty sure Rayne was still out.

‘Maybe he had to get something?’

So a figure emerged and it wasn't Rayne. You and the unknown person froze up upon seeing each other.

The brunette slowly brings his hands up in the air as you quickly point your wand towards him— when and where you pulled it out of, that's a question for another time.

The male was surprised to find someone in his dorm room. What colored him even more surprised was that it was a girl in the men’s dorm.

He racked his brain to try and remember if Rayne said anything about someone else being in the room. Something clicks in his brain.

“Uh… are you the person Rayne mentioned to be the rabbits’ caretaker today…?” He asks, you slightly lower your wand, not fully letting down your guard as the brunette sweats more.

He points to himself, “I'm Max Land, his roommate.”

“Oh.” It clicks, right this is a shared dorm room. You completely lower your wand and tuck it away, careful in not disturbing the rabbits huddled all around you.

“(Y/n) (L/n)... err nice to meet you?” You introduced yourself a bit awkwardly since you kind of just… threatened the poor guy.

Thankfully, the male just laughs, finding the situation a bit funny.

“Nice to meet you. I apologize for interrupting your caretaking time, I just forgot my textbook for my next class.” And so you allowed him to get his things while you wonder why in all your years in Easton, have you never met this guy despite being Rayne’s roommate for all these years too.

“How come we’ve never met each other before despite knowing Rayne for a long time?” You voiced out as the other male paused on his way out.

Max thought about it and you were right. You two shared a look.

Then something clicks in his brain as he brings a fist down into his palm.

“Oh! I think he's mentioned you a few times. Were you the one who helped him out lots of times because you—” The brunette cuts himself off, remembering Rayne’s words about not letting you know that the half blond told him about your… motivations of helping him. The honey eyed male was only asking advice from him on how to make it up to you since he felt bad about it. Rayne probably didn't even mean to expose you since he needed to provide Max with context at least.

He laughs it off, looking at his wrist. “Oh, look at the time! I believe I have to go… Goodluck taking care of the rabbits!” and he disappears.

You raise an eyebrow… He didn't even have a watch on…

More importantly— Rayne definitely told Max about what happened in the medbay. Your eyebrow twitches…

‘I’d have to talk to Rayne later…’

•°•°•°•°•°•°

Rayne comes back to his dorm around sundown— a bit earlier than planned since he managed to finish his business quicker. He opened the door and immediately checked the thermometer on the wall, seeing that it was at the right temperature.

The half blond slipped off his robe as his eyes quickly scanned the room for his pets— finding them huddled in a pile on the carpeted floor. So he trudged over carefully in his socks, having removed his shoes before stepping on the soft carpet.

‘Did she go to the bathroom?’ he thought to himself when he found you nowhere in sight.

He then realizes that his rabbits wouldn't make that big of a pile even if they all huddled up together. The honey eyed male gently picks up Usatarou, confused as to why the bunny wasn't in his favorite spot at the corner of the room.

Rayne looked down again and his eyes were met with the sleeping figure of you cuddling with all his rabbits while holding Usao in your arms.

An arrow shoots through his heart at the sight.

He pulled out a magical tool from nowhere and snapped a photo.

Click!

You stirred in your sleep. The magical vintage camera had defaulted into using a flash.

The half blond was quick to tuck the device away as you started becoming more conscious.

The room was slightly dark as stray rays of sunlight peeked through the window as it sunk into the horizon. It casted more of a golden tinge in the surroundings.

You squint your eyes as it immediately darted to the figure standing near you. You sat up as the rabbits near your head hopped a little bit away but kept close proximity with you.

“Rayne?” You rubbed your eyes, thinking the golden sun rays were creating a hallucination of some sort.

You blinked and he was still there.

“You came back quite early.” You noted as he only nodded and sat himself beside you. Some of his bunnies immediately flocking to him for affection to which he gave them.

You observed him, the usual cold and stoic demeanor he carries himself as basically melting away as an air of softness surrounded him. You stared and unconsciously smiled at the way he caressed his rabbits with care— a barely noticeable twitch of his lips settling on his features.

‘He looks so… pretty—’

You had to snap out of it— he was your childhood friend nothing more, nothing less. You ears were basically tinged with red.

You shook your head and caught Rayne’s attention. The look in his eyes asking if anything was wrong.

You waved your hands around, “Ah it's nothing! Just an unnecessary thought.” You tried to smile it off.

His honey eyes scan your features, noticing how your ears were slightly tinted. But he made no mention of it as he allows himself to completely lay down on the carpet.

“Whatever you say.” He said, mentally wondering if what you were thinking had something to do with what he was thinking. He closed his eyes.

Until he felt your finger prod at his cheek. The half blond opens his eyes only to be greeted by you overshadowing him from above with narrowed eyes. You were slightly pouting too.

Not gonna lie, he thought you were adorable but he won't admit that.

“So how did your roommate ever know about ‘that’?” you asked passive-aggresively.

He just continues to stare into your eyes, unblinking. A mini staring contest.

Rayne sighs as he folds— knowing it was him who was at fault anyways. He was not one to run away from responsibility either.

“He doesn't know the whole thing…” he started, formulating the correct wording, “but I had to provide him with some context so he can provide me advice.” The male explained.

You retract your finger from his cheek, pausing.

‘Rayne? Asking for advice? Now that's something.’

You thought of how considerate it was of him to ask for advice on how to handle you after ‘the reveal’. You always knew your childhood friend was a little bit lacking in the field of socializing and related gestures despite being so strong.

‘Kind of explains how he treats me more warmly now…’ you noted mentally.

You sighed, unable to be mad at him when it allowed for the two of you to get even closer. You then plop yourself beside him, his rabbits now surrounding you both.

“He better be the only and last person.” You grumbled a bit, basically letting him off the hook this time. The dual-colored haired male nods his head as he maintained eye contact.

You then stare up into the ceiling, noticing how the room was slowly turning dark as the sun disappeared further into the horizons.

“So what was the mission this time?” You asked, falling straight back into the habit of asking about his day.

A comfortable atmosphere curtains over you both the same way the darkness did— you two paying no mind to the creeping shadows while you two chattered away.

•°•°•°•°•°•°•°•°•°•°•°•°•°•°•°•°•°•°•°•°•°•°•°•

BONUS:

Max Land comes back to the dorm room, hoping to apologize to Rayne for almost exposing what the dual-colored haired male told him not to. He steeled himself before opening the shared dorm room.

He was greeted by darkness.

‘Maybe he's not back yet?’

The brunette turned on the light, his eyes immediately darting to the carpeted floor. There laid his roommate’s bunnies.

As well as the peaceful and slumbering forms of you and Rayne.

Max gapes in surprise, putting up a hand to his face to cover his mouth. He stalks closer very carefully before taking a picture.

He internally screams at how he saw this coming even before he met you. His roommate may rarely talk about you, but the change in his expression as he did so didn't escape his keen eye.

‘Now it's just a waiting game of who does the first move.’

bonus art bc of how long I kept y'all waiting

just to be clear, y'all are free to imagine what and how you look like ^^ just wanted to put in the reader/mc so it's easier for me to draw :>

•°•°•°•°•°•°•°•°•°•°•°•°•°•°•°•°•°•°•°•°•°•°•°•

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#rayne ames x reader #rayne x reader #mashle x reader #mashle magic and muscles x reader #rayne ames

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covid-safer-hotties · 1 month

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Noah Lyles' collapse underscores our collective COVID denial - Published Aug 10, 2024

Read the full story at either link! (covidsafehotties archive is always free of pesky in-line ads!)

We keep pretending that the pandemic is done and over, but it keeps knocking us off our feet

The 2024 Olympic Games are serving up some less-than-subtle metaphors for how poorly we handle public health. Just after winning a bronze medal in the much-anticipated men's 200-meter race, U.S. sprinter Noah Lyles collapsed on the track in exhaustion — not just because he’d completed a brutal run in just 19.7 seconds, finishing third, but also because he was sick with COVID-19, a diagnosis that he’d concealed from others. He had been favored to take home gold, as he did in the 100-meter race a few days earlier.

But seeing an American Olympic star sprawled out and gasping on the track, and then taken away in a wheelchair, was more than a shocking image. It also represented the general “mission accomplished” attitude toward SARS-CoV-2: We think we’ve won against this virus and we haven’t.

COVID isn’t just spreading like wildfire through the Olympic Village in Paris — we are undergoing surges across the globe, with the World Health Organization tracking steep rises in infections in 84 countries. After more than four years fighting this thing, it is still knocking us out.

In some parts of the U.S., the amount of COVID is so high that experts are claiming this summer surge is on par with winter waves of the virus. But none of this should be unexpected at this point. This is no longer the “novel” coronavirus that once terrified people with its unpredictability. We know how it behaves, with surges in both summer and winter, and we know how to fight against it — yet our apparent strategy at the moment is to pretend it doesn’t exist at all, even when it swipes us off our feet.

It’s true that the pandemic is much different than it was in 2020. For one thing, in spite of this surge, deaths are relatively low, following trends since vaccines became available. In 2023, COVID dropped from the fourth leading cause of death in the U.S. to the 10th, according to recent provisional data from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. That's not great, but it does indicate that widespread immunity (from vaccines, previous infections or both) is giving us some level of protection. Though let’s not forget that at least 1.2 million Americans have died to date from COVID. It’s nothing to sneeze at.

Deaths aren’t the only concerning metric, of course. Sometimes a COVID infection is asymptomatic, while at other times, the symptoms last for months or years or never fully go away. Patients call this long COVID and public health experts have described it as a mass disabling event. Lyles isn’t just lucky he won a bronze medal — he’ll be lucky if he doesn’t experience months of headaches, lung issues or extreme fatigue that never goes away.

Yet long COVID is rarely factored into discussions about this pandemic, even when kids get it. Instead, it’s treated as if infections are merely a mild cold at this point. Just shake it off, as Taylor Swift might say, while her summer tour dates become superspreading events.

Millions of patients can attest that COVID is anything but mild — and it's definitely not the flu. The SARS-CoV-2 virus can worm its way into nearly every part of our bodies, trashing our immune system and damaging our organs. We tend to think of the disease as a respiratory problem, given all the coughs and sniffles it produces, but it’s really more of a vascular disease, impacting any system that relies on blood vessels. That can include damage to the brain, which can manifest in symptoms like long-term cognitive impairment and Parkinson’s disease.

Yes, a virus that can literally cause brain damage is spreading at record levels and most people are acting like it’s just another wave. Just keep running.

But we’re not just paying the price with our bodies. The economy is also getting smacked by long COVID. A recent comprehensive review in the journal Nature Medicine found that the “cumulative global incidence of long COVID is around 400 million individuals, which is estimated to have an annual economic impact of approximately $1 trillion.” That's ignoring the long list of ways that long COVID wreaks havoc on the body, including, as the study notes, "viral persistence, immune dysregulation, mitochondrial dysfunction, complement dysregulation, endothelial inflammation and microbiome dysbiosis."

#covid #mask up #pandemic #covid 19 #coronavirus #wear a mask #sars cov 2 #still coviding #public health #wear a respirator #long covid

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threeheartsreignited · 2 months

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Oh, that's simple, really...

Experience one of them taking out a Pink Goliath, the giant Enslaver writhing in their hands as they bring it closer and closer to your belly button, until eventually it's able to force its head inside, the pink collar-like bulge around its neck visibly struggling to push through the entrance of your tight little tummyhole before eventually slipping in with a loud POP! Followed by the rest of its long body, that thick ring already starting to swell with Pink Lust before the Enslaver is fully inside, the tip of its tail sticking out and wriggling around as it futilely tries to get all the way into your overstuffed hole.

Experience the Pink Goliath swelling larger and larger, stretching the inside of your belly button more and more, the tight entrance slowly being forced wider as the pink knot swells well past the size of a softball and steadily progresses towards the size of a volleyball with no signs of stopping or even slowing, a part of your mind helpfully reminding you that Pink Goliaths can easily grow larger than a 10" basketball before bursting...

Experience the Alphas playing with your tits as your belly grows more and more gravid, looking like a fast-forwarded hyper-pregnancy, your stomach already looking 5 months pregnant in the minute or two they take to push the first fingertip into your nipples, and only a few minutes later as they're finally transitioning from fucking your nipples with two fingers to taking turns sliding their cocks in, your belly looks well over 9 months pregnant, a wide pink ring around the Enslaver's thrashing tail showing how far your massively gaped bellybutton has been stretched, your mind already so foggy and horny from Alpha pheromones that you barely notice the leaking Pink Lust worming its way into your brain, until eventually after 30 minutes of its swelling, you finally Experience it Burst and fill your bellybutton with Pink Lust, your mind breaking and becoming nothing but pink fluffy clouds of pure arousal and need as your belly button is left hanging loose, easily 5 inches in diameter...

Experience the Alphas taking turns fucking your now molten and drooling pussy as they fist your gaped belly button and grab the outside of your womb, holding it in place as they force their cocks into it, using it and you like a fleshlight before eventually emptying their balls into you, taking turns so that they can all refill their stamina and go again, running a seemingly endless train on you for the rest of the night and leaving you hyper-pregnant with what feels like a small football team from who-knows how many different fathers...

Anyone who has read this far: Experience the same gang cornering you each time you read this and having their way with you, using Pink Goliaths if they need to stretch you out, and just their hands if you're already a good gaped gangslut.

OMG FUCK!

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weeb-polls-with-pip · 1 year

Text

Autistic Anime Girls Group 2 Round 2 Match 7

SUBMISSION PROPAGANDA:

Alluka -

"OKAY so this might just be me having brain worms about things, but I feel like Alluka and Nanika together are a really good allegory for what it's like to be autistic. For those that don't know-- Alluka is a child who's been trapped in the basement of her family's manor ever since they learned that she's possessed by a spirit called Nanika. The reason that they trapped her is because Nanika can grant people any wish they desire, no matter how dangerous or impossible, but she always takes something of great value in return. The person won't know what will be taken until it's been taken, and people have lost body parts, friends, and other things.

Alluka doesn't control when Nanika comes out, but when she does, the person that she's talking to MUST ask three wishes from her before she's able to leave. Most of her family doesn't attempt to understand her besides the most basic "oh she's possessed and we have to abide by these rules if we want things to be safe and normal again". They simply refuse to interact with her and remain afraid and disturbed by her. Nanika herself can't really speak many words, but she clearly isn't just an unfeeling monster that grants wishes like they believe her to be. She has feelings and desires too, and she cares deeply for the people that love her. Even though she's different than others and seems inhuman and incomprehensible to most people, she's still just a person- a child, and if people put in effort to try to understand and communicate with her, they'd be able to see that she doesn't actually want to cause anyone harm, she just has certain rules that she needs to follow that allow her to function normally.

Alluka and Nanika are two parts of a whole. While they are considered to be separate entities, they both inhabit the same body and share each other's experiences. So any struggles that Nanika faces are also felt by Alluka once she wakes up and Nanika hides away again. Even when Alluka is asked to hide Nanika forever so that she can have a normal life, she refuses and gets upset and distressed, because Nanika is a part of who she is, and she doesn't want to hurt Nanika in that way. Together, Alluka and Nanika are an autistic girl who is unable to mask the part of herself that makes her seem different from other people. As a result, most people don't understand her and are afraid of her. They shun her, abuse her, try to "cure" her, use her for whatever she can give them, and then try to kill her when they decide she's too much trouble. Really, she's still just a girl. :("

Ringo -

"In addition to what I've sent before, Ringo also speaks in a very polite manner at all times yet still accidentally comes off as rude to others when she really doesn't mean to. She gives nicknames to people she doesn't know based on their behaviour/clothing items in order to remember them better and her food taste is also considered weird. She also carries a very specific apple on her at all times and feels lost without it."

#autistic anime girls poll #tumblr polls #alluka zoldyck #hxh #hunter x hunter #hxh alluka #puyo puyo #ringo andou #andou ringo #nanika #hxh nanika

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ja50nt0ddwa5h3r3 · 3 months

Note

Have you ever imagined Alley Cat in the scenarios of other movies and shows?

*Wheeze* Have I ever *trails off* Oh. Serious question.

SPOILERS FOR (in order): - Criminal Minds season Eight - The Flash season One - Disturbing Behavior

Lets start with episode twelve of season eight of Criminal Minds: Zugzwang Quick summary of the episode/following episodes: Spencer Reid, a Behavioral Analyst for the FBI. He is slightly paranoid that he may have schizophrenia (like his mother) and so he frequently calls in to talk about his symptoms. He finds out that Maeve Donovan, the doctor/specialist he's been talking to has been being stalked for a long time. Blah blah blah, stalker kidnaps her, Reid freaks, solves puzzles to save her, SHE GETS KILLED BECAUSE STALKER KILLED THEMSELVES AND HER TOO, and Reid has a vicious mourn session.

I wanna see Jason crying over Adrien's dead body because Marinette or Chloe or some other person was so obsessed over him. I wanna see Tim hugging Jason because he knew that Jason doesn't love just anyone, and that Jason was hard to love back. I want Bruce to be supportive of his son dating a guy he only met because he made a few calls to the hospital. Yes, I want Adrien to work as a Neurologist. Has my dude ever said what he wanted to do? No. He's a neurologist. I want to see Jason mournfully informing everyone Adrien knew of his death and then beating Gabriel up for not caring. I want to see Jason struggle past drug use. I want to see Jason pull himself from the field because he can't save everyone, and while he knew that, it hurts so much more, because he thought he could. I want to see him BEG Talia to throw Adrien's attacker into the Lazarus Pit so that he himself can kill them brutally. I want to see autistic anxious mess chess lover Jason mourn a love he never really got to see. Because yes, Jason's first time ever seeing Adrien's face was when it was at gunpoint for the final time.

Secondly, episode eight of season one of The Flash: Flash vs. Arrow

This one's mostly just crack. I want to see Jason have magical rage and try to beat Adrien's Red Hood Hater of a friend up. Does it work? Nah, Chat Noir stops him, happy ending, maybe some cuddles. I don't have near as much thoughts as I do with the first one, unfortunately.

Lets try our hand at a movie, Disturbing Behavior Our little summary is this: New girl at isolated school, cliques and stuff, suddenly everyone's a stickler for the rules. Why? Implants. Why? MCR Explained it well enough. Here's the thing. Teenagers are horny. When the implanted kids have any sexual impulses, they murder the object of their affections. The island becomes a death trap for this girl, her new friend, and her other new friend. Other new friend 100% gets implanted because writers are predictable. They get off the island, other new friend somehow escapes, but we don't get a sequel.

I want to see Adrien move to a Gotham school and watch it lose it's shit. I want Hatter to somehow worm his way into teaching at Gotham Academy because he's... I'm not going to go there, and kids starting to RANDOMELY turn around on their heels from delinquent to teacher's pet to murderer overnight. I want to see Tim (skipped a few grades) be Adrien's friend (Insert Jason as love interest because I loooove a good protective older bro Jason), and Bernard, Mr. Conspiracy theorist, is other friend. Yes, other friend, the one who does weed and then gets implanted. I want to see them struggle to fight their friends in costume until they find out what's going on. I want to see a few of them kidnapped by Hatter (who was experimenting alongside Hugo Strange in Arkham) and narrowly escape. I want to see. Them. Get. Mind. Controlled. Kinda. Because I want the angst.

It's something AM, I'll reblog more when brain works.

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iantimony · 29 days

Text

tuesday line go up (derogatory)

hello from the end of my workday. writing this on my office computer as i watch my simulation crash in real time in the background. convergence line go up :(

listening: astonishing legends the body on the moor part 1, for some reason astonishing legends is such good Cleaning And Organizing noise to my brain. i've raised my eyebrow at some of their conclusions sometimes but i love a good unsolved mystery that doesn't focus on true crime what i can say

more 00s, just whatever shit the spotify algorithm spits out basically..."hard and heavy headbanging tuesday afternoon". i think for brevity i am going to focus on posting only the things that stuck out to me or are ear worms at the moment, which for this week is miss murder by afi, the kill by 30 seconds to mars, and out of control by hoobastank, especially the line in the latter after the chorus that goes 'and i may never know the answer to this endless mystery' that for some reason tickles my brain.

youtube

reading: Bring Back Those Pumped Italian Sodas (Anna Hezel): i LOVE italian sodas. the candy shop on main street near me does italian sodas and it is my favorite little treat to do a hot girl walk downtown and get a little bevvy to come with me. they whip so hard. bring them back everywhere!!!!!!!!!!!!

elitism is the enemy of the people (Mina Le) and the linked The machine in the garden. (Emily Sundberg) ... discourse(tm) about What Substack Is For, which means nothing to me as a non-substack user. i use a rss reader to follow a few specific substacks but i do not use the platform even a little bit. sundberg seems to disparage the list format (shoutout to miss deb perelmen who i saw in there as an example of things that are pushed on the platform now) (deb's newsletter is one of the ones i follow with my rss feed lol) slash the concept of "list of content I’m consuming" which. looks at my weekly roundup posts. lol. i do understand to an extent, though - does my weekly roundup post make me a Writer(tm)?? i would kinda agree that no not really.

this zine that i think i reblogged yesterday is very cute.

watching: i saw the new alien movie with a friend! it was really good, i enjoyed it, i did look up the jumpscares beforehand because i do not do well with those in theaters especially the big imax ones, but it ended up not being necessary - the local theater here has no imax or any of the big surround sound gimmick things, which i actually prefer, and it also means the tickets were dirt cheap. 10/10 experience. the movie itself was fun, the correct amount of peen/vag imagery that one would expect from an alien movie. important to note that the dehumanization of an android character (who is also the only black character and strongly autism coded) is a big plot thing, it is not Good that he is treated that way and that is also a plot thing but it is important to know going in so it's not a surprise (thanks to someone in a server i'm in for pointing that out, i didn't clock it as being potentially triggering when i saw it but i was like ohh yeah that does make sense to warn people about). really good cast and plot overall, there was only like one point where i was like "whyyy nooo that makes no sense, why would you do that" (without too much spoiling, the gravity turns on and off in a portion and they were just. zooming up an elevator shaft using the lack of gravity. like why would you not be staying near the ladder. you KNOW it's going to turn off at some random point. anyways), but in general the decisions the characters made were really reasonable which made it very fun to watch the consequences of like, yeah, that is also the choice i would have made, shit. the ending made me go EUGH!! in a good way. lots of good easter eggs that i probably missed some of. made me weirdly nostalgic for my dad because when i was growing up he had a life-size hyper-realistic rubber facehugger model. he used to mime getting attacked by it. my mom hated that fucking thing. it must have gotten thrown out or given away at some point. anyways, as the kids would say: it's kino

youtube

thank u celestialtourguide for ur dropout login xoxo, i have been watching a lot of 'make some noise'. i love how sometimes you can hear the crew laughing in the background.

youtubesphere:

jimmy robins: The Fallout of Watcher's Betrayal, what sparked me looking more at dropout. also found out from the comments section that sam reich is son of robert reich ??? wild

youtube

finished the george r r martin problem. basically: yeagh

dangelo wallace: not gonna link em all but his videos on chapell roan, katy perry, blake lively, and starbucks. pop culture updates that mean nothing to me. good background noise tho

mina le: underconsumption-core, travel outfits, and Paul Mescal’s shorts, the luxury of privacy & the celebrity vs. influencer paradox. my boyfriend is a proponent of the tiny inseam shorts and i wholly encourage it. more of that, please, from everyone.

youtube

made in the moment: My Crafty Boston Apartment Tour. as someone who is also just moved into my own apartment alone for the first time and is in the process of making the space feel like mine, this hits interestingly.

youtube

playing: dnd as normal. i finally got to go mask-off, was replaced by a doppleganger like six months ago and finally got to pop off and kill some guys and beat the shit out of my friends lol >:b i have also moved the game that i run to biweekly instead of weekly. i just have too much fucking things happening and dm burnout real.

making: evil eye coasters! these made me very nervous because of how streaky the underglaze is! so i did the tedious task of re-coloring in around my sgraffito lines of my [redacted] coasters. clear coated them and crossing my fingers. these coasters are also too thin, two of them are too warped to use as coasters so ill have to figure out what to do with them. maybe drilling a hole (carefully...) so i can hang them up somewhere? the [redacted] coasters are like twice the thickness so i don't think they'll be warped as bad thankfully.

i also. made. mesopotamian foot bowl :) i did not have a reference image at the time because that happened to be when the t mobile towers went down for a few hours last saturday so i kinda just freeballed it but he looks. so silly i love him. i think im gonna have to modify him, i was chatting with the studio owner about it and she was like "if you threw that bowl on a wheel you should hollow the legs out, wheel pottery twists slightly as it dries and that plus the drying rates being different will make them just pop right off", which, i can always glue them back on! but i should give him the best odds possible. bonus lil tushy

i made a BIG BOWL !! it's not really clear from the image but it's the most clay i've ever thrown at once, i think it's like. 2.5 lb?? i didn't actually weigh it first oops i should weigh it. but it's like a foot across at the top. i put it on little ball feet to use as some sort of display bowl i think.

and there's one more bowl that is really unremarkable so no picture for now.

fiber art: made a fucking. magic the gathering card cozy for a friend that my local mtg group is putting together a care package for. it's so fucking stupid i love it. not gonna post a pic of the front, it's just a dark red border to hold the card in. i might outline the swamp symbol with matching embroidery floss (or maybe navy??) to make it pop more, might also sew a small square of fabric on the inside to hide the loose ends. colors were chosen to match his main commander which is braids

eating: FINALLY finished the gyudon. um . didn't cook many more recipes. i was going to do one pot chicken meatballs with greens and deb smittenkitchen's corn bacon and parmesan pasta last night but i spent two hours wandering walmart like my ancestors wandered the desert and came home and just had leftovers lol. the cooking will commence......today after i post this and go home.

misc: the midwest is hot this week! fml! on the plus side i don't think my average energy bill in my new place will be worse than my old one despite the worse insulation based on the mid-cycle energy report email i got, on the minus side now i am not splitting that cost so technically it feels more expensive :( thankfully i have finally been finishing the process of closing my dad's accounts so i will have a little padding in my bank account, plus i think i am supposed to get the fellowship i won deposited soon?? shrug. i booked some flights using credit card points that in retrospect i should have booked with Money because of that fellowship but oh well. i am still in the Everything Is So Expensive stage of moving as i finish getting furniture and miscellaneous home goods, hence the two hour walmart wander yesterday. i still need a couch. i think i am getting a frat house walmart futon for like $150 just because it's space efficient and won't break the bank and will be easy to sell when i move out. i should probably order that before i go visit home for 3 weeks ...... anyways. that's this tuesdaypost done and dusted.

#tuesdayposting #Youtube

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bobafetts-princess · 2 years

Text

Kinktober Day 1- Dirty Talk

Pairings: Khonshu x Fem!Reader

Warnings: Dirty Talk obvi, Khonshu’s kind of a jerk, masturbation, voyeurism, exhibitionism, use of a vibrator/dildo

Word Count: 2300

Summary: The one where Khonshu never stops talking, even when he’s watching you get yourself off.

This is for my girl @ashotofspotchka because she listens to my rambles about literally everyone and everything but Khonshu’s been on our brains for months ❤️

Masterlist

“What’s this, little bug?” Khonshu drawls, standing over your bed and the uhh….toy…you’d left there before bolting off to meet Marc for lunch. He was still Khonshu’s avatar, which partially explained the presence the Egyptian god held in your life, but not his current position in your room. You were friends with Marc and Layla, but until the giant bird man started following you back to your apartment regularly, you hadn’t realized you were friends with him too.

“None of your business,” you snap, tossing a blanket over the offending object. It was a little purple rabbit vibrator and you’d been trying to get off before your lunch with Marc and Bird-face. But you ran over on time, struggling to find the right angle and the right fantasy to bring you to completion. You hadn’t realized that Khonshu would follow you back to your apartment and see it.

“I’d be willing to bet you look like a goddess when you come,” Khonshu muses and you freeze. Coming from the average man, it’s just sweet nothings that he doesn’t mean. Coming from Khonshu, the Egyptian god of vengeance, he genuinely means it. There’s a sincerity to his words, he doesn’t mince them and he doesn’t say things he doesn’t mean. Unless he’s lying, but that’s another problem for another time. You’d found yourself attracted to the Bird-man the first time you saw him, feelings you couldn’t explain bubbling up in your chest. Marc like to tease you about your attraction to a primordial being, but only when he was sure Khonshu wasn’t around.

“Doesn’t matter, cause I can’t lately,” you mumble under your breath, low enough that the average person wouldn’t hear but Khonshu wasn’t the average person.

“Would you like some help?” He asks, his beak swinging in your direction.

“Can you…??” You ask, voice under as you glance down at where his crotch would be under his robes and not seeing a bulge there. His black eyes bore into you and you realize you just questioned whether or not he had a dick out loud.

“Can I…..what, little bug?” He asks, his tone sharp at the accusation.

“Do you….?” You trail off, hoping he’ll get the meaning of what you’re trying to ask.

“Do I……what?” He snaps, advancing on you a few steps. You should’ve known he wouldn’t make this easy on you. You challenged him and you were going to pay for it. You closed your eyes and just went for it, cause what other option did you have?

“Doyouhaveapenis,” you said so fast that it all became one word. Khonshu’s loud bark of laughter surprised you enough that you opened your eyes to look at him. He had one hand across his chest and his body was bent backwards just slightly as he boomed out another large laugh.

“My little worm, I am a primordial being, a god from the heavens. I can have a penis, as you so delicately put it, if I choose so,” he laughs again, almost putting you at ease. “But,” he starts and you feel your shoulders drop. “I think for your ignorance I won’t allow you to experience that tonight. Now, come show me how this little contraption works. I want to watch as you make yourself come,” he finishes, pulling the blanket off the rabbit and picking it up. He brings it to a nostril the size of your head and smells, inhaling your scent.

“You smell….like a goddess,” he drawls, tossing the object to you. “Now, let me see how you use it,” he demands and you find yourself staring at him incredulously.

“You…what?” You ask, dumbfounded and holding a vibrator. You’d always fantasized about having some sort of sexual relationship with the pigeon, but you never imagined he felt the same way.

“Would you like my assistance removing your clothes? I assure you I’d take great pleasure in it,” he asks, taking a few more steps in your direction. You scramble away, pressing yourself against the bookshelf in your bedroom.

“N-no. No. I-uhh. This isn’t a good idea?” You frame it like a question but you’re not really sure what you’re questioning, other than the idea of masturbating in front of a 3000+ year old god.

“You know I can smell your desire for me when I am around you, don’t you? Oh little worm, do you think I would have shown myself to you if I did not share similar feelings?” He asks, in a way that makes you feel silly for not realizing it. Layla said it took Khonshu nearly a year to appear to her, but only took you a few weeks to see him. You and Marc worked together and you knew about his ‘alter egos’. Namely, Moon Knight and Steven.

“An-and you want to watch me get myself off?” You ask, incredulous.

“I want to tell you how to get off,” he shrugs, like it’s the most natural topic of conversation. “Now, would you like some help removing your clothing?” He asks again, taking a few steps in your direction but you hold a hand up to stop him.

“I’m not sure,” you hedge, honestly. This sounds terrifying, as hot and satisfying as it might potentially be.

“What’s there not to be sure about? I find you attractive, you feel the same about me. I assure you that you’ll leave all of our copulations satisfied. There’s nothing to be unsure about,” he tells you and he’s so matter-of-fact about it that you can’t see any faults.

“So. You want me to just take off my clothes and masturbate for you?”

“If you hadn’t been so incredulous about my appendages, I’d fuck you, but since you were, yes. I’d like to see what makes you come,” he takes a spot in a nearby chair, gesturing towards the bed. You make your way over, still clutching the rabbit to your chest. Khonshu has an arm slung over the back of the chair as he motions for you to get undressed. “Come, little worm, show me the beauty under those rags,” he purrs and you can’t help but take offense to his words.

“These aren’t rags, pigeon-brain, they’re just jeans and a long-sleeve,” you snap, pulling the shirt off. The anger is just a defensive mechanism, you know that, but you can’t help but be annoyed at how rude he is sometimes.

“Anything that’s not the finest Egyptian linens is rags,” he tells you, tone matter-of-fact as you shuck your jeans. Khonshu leans forwards slightly, the pits he calls eyes drinking in your form. You think.

“You know, you’re more attractive when you’re not insulting me,” you snap at him, unhooking your bra and throwing it at his feet. His hands reach out like he wants to touch you, take the weight of a breast into his hand, but he stops himself before he makes contact.

“If you were my avatar, I’d dress you in only the finest clothing and jewelry,”

“But I’m not,” you say, dragging your thong down your legs. “So stop insulting my clothing.”

“I’ll take those,” Khonshu says, holding his hand out for the scrap of fabric. You sneer at him, yanking the fabric back to your chest.

“They’re not ‘fine Egyptian linen’, why would you want them?”

“I’ll bet they smell as delicious as your pussy,” he muses, not an ounce of annoyance in his tone. Much unlike your own. You weren’t sure what exactly about the god got under your skin, whether it was his arrogance or his attitude, but there was something about him. And as you were realizing, there was something about him that made you get naked for him. You’d undressed so angrily you hadn’t even registered it, but now that you were fully naked in front of a fucking god, you were shy.

“Don’t cover yourself like that,” Khonshu demanded as your hands came up from your sides. “I was right. You do look like a goddess. Now please, show me what you look like when you come,” he asked, polite for the first time that evening, hand still held out for your underwear. You toss them in his direction and he tucks them in the pocket of his pants, nodding his approval.

“You realize this is weird right?” You asked him, settling on the bed and grabbing the rabbit. “Like. This is super fucking weird. I don’t think we’re supposed to have this kind of relationship,” you babbled, doing your best to cover yourself without covering yourself.

“Do I need to gag you, little worm?” He snaps, finally fed up as he sits forward, his frame imposing. You heated at the idea of Khonshu gagging you with one of the strips from his bindings as you shook your head. You pick up the rabbit, rolling over to the bedside table to grab the bottle of lube you kept in there and drizzled it all over the dildo portion of the vibrator.

“I’ll bet your pussy looks good swallowing that,” Khonshu says and it shocks you. It shouldn’t, he’s a talker in every other aspect of your relationship, you should have predicted he would be in the bedroom too. “Come now, let me see what it looks like.”

You start to tease yourself, the head of the dildo swiping through your folds. The lube has made the motion smoother as you press it slightly into yourself before pulling back out. This was how you liked to get yourself off, working yourself up slowly, and then making yourself come relentlessly. You pressed the head a little deeper before pulling back out and Khonshu comments on it, of course.

“So you like to tease your pretty pussy? Hmm, I’ll remember that.” You ignore him again, pressing the dildo even further inside yourself, almost all the way in before pulling back out again. You pull the wetness from your pussy up to your clit, rubbing your clit with the head. You gasp at the feeling, not realizing how much you needed that pressure until now.

“Those are the sounds I like to hear, little worm. One day you’ll be making them while I fill you with my cock,” Khonshu promises, encouraging you to continue. Your fingers search for the button that turns the ‘ears’ of the rabbit on and you press it deep inside yourself. The vibrating ears hit your clit and you cry out, arching as the pleasure courses through you. Khonshu mumbles his enjoyment but you don’t hear him as you start moving the shaft in and out of your pussy, the wet sounds echoing through the room.

“You look like the goddess I knew you would,” he says, leaning forwards in the chair and snapping his fingers to make another lightbulb flip on in the room. “I want to see you clearer,” he tells you when you open an eye to shoot him a look. Your pace quickens under the scrutiny of the god and the ears are hitting your clit every other second. You feel the orgasm start to build in your belly, intensified by your audience, and you press in harder and faster. One of your own hands comes up to cup your breast, pinching and pulling at the nipple while you gasp. “Such pretty noises. I wonder if they’ll sound different when I take you,” and your pussy clamps down hard on the dildo at the idea. This is gonna be a ringer of an orgasm when it hits and you’re not sure you’ll be able to give yourself more than one without a small break in the middle. You kick the vibrations up a notch on the rabbit, and change the angle so it knocks up against the sweet spot in your core. Khonshu is encouraging you the whole time, telling you how pretty you look. “You’ll look even prettier taking my cock,” he promises.

Your orgasm hits with such force that your eyes slam shut and your hand loses its grip on the rabbit, but it stays in place, another hand holding it there. Khonshu’s on the bed, leaning over you, one hand holding himself up and the other pressing the rabbit deep inside you. The first one has barely ended before the second one begins and Khonshu is talking you through it.

“That’s it, my little goddess, you look so pretty when you come for me,”

“I cannot wait to feel what your pussy feels like coming on my cock,”

“You make the prettiest noises. Come on, come for me again,” and so you do. The orgasms roll one into another until you’re begging for him to stop, give you a moment to recover, and he relents. His beak nuzzles slightly at your hip, just enough for you to sense the pressure but not enough to be considered intentional. Your chest is heaving, pussy twitching with the rabbit still inside you, just turned off.

“Feel better, little worm?” He asks and you barely have the energy to roll your eyes at him. “Hmm, as much as I love when you fight me, I think I love it just as much when you’re pliant,” he muses, a finger running across your breast. You jerk, nipples sensitive from the overload of orgasms. Khonshu pulls the dildo from you and you hiss at the empty feeling. He cleans it with a snap of his fingers before he places it back in your bedside table along with the lube you used. He grabs a thick blanket from the end of your bed, covering you with it as he promises to be back.

“I’ll leave you to get some sleep, but I’ll be back for my own taste of you. Good night, my little goddess,” he says, nuzzling his beak against your cheek. This one feels intentional and disconcertingly domestic as he tucks you in and turns on the white noise machine. You’re asleep before he disappears from the room.

Tags: @firstofficerwiggles @grinningnexu @too-manyfandomstocount @lacroixq-blog

#Khonshu x reader #khonshu x y/n #khonshu x you #khonshu fanfic #Khonshu fanfiction #Khonshu fic #khonshu smut #kinktober 2022 #Karie writes #Karie writes Kinktober

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continentalblue · 1 year

Note

A continuation of your all tomorrows headcanons?

👀

👉👈

SORRY THIS TOOK SO LONG I FORGOT TO ANSWER LMAOOO

i said I would do these yesterday but it's like 12 am so it still counts #slay

also lemme know if u want me to rewrite/clarify any of these I'm typing all that comes to mind

also I wouldn't mind writing more of these lmaoo. this one got a teensy bit long

______________________________

🌌 Bug Facers had a bartering/trade system rather than a cash system. This trade system was highly complex; people who tried to pass off their goods as being more high-quality than they really were were punished severely. They also had a monarchy, with the Queen being 25% larger than the other people. Her citizens were taxed and the best food went to her. Her function was the same as that of an ant's queen. Actually, more to the point, I picture their monarchy as being similar to that of ant's. However, after their invasion, the monarchy was dissolved and turned into a democracy.

🌌 Despite their relative immobility, the Temptors actually developed some form of culture. Males would spread ideas between females, who rued the fact that they could not meet other members of their species. I also feel that the males could talk, though their enunciation wasn't really that good. Based on the sharpness and shape of their beaks, it's possible they were all-purpose feeders who preyed on insects, nuts, and other worms. The females required three times the amount of food as males in order to provide enough energy for their brains.

🌌 The Lopsiders actually experienced some sexual dimorphism. The reason for this is because their designs remind me of anglerfish. Females were markedly larger than males, and the males depended on the females for sustenance. This was slowly phased out as they evolved, as the species would cannibalize others for food. They had no trade system; they operated under a "it's yours if you're fast enough mentality."

🌌 Because their experience became so automized, the Tool Breeders actually evolved away from actually having blood at all! As a result, their flesh became more gelatinous. While a drought would have slowly but surely dehydrated the species' flesh and caused the end of the species, they learned how to make water from seemingly thin air. They have a capitalistic system that constantly pushes new inventions.

🌌 Much of the Titan's mythology focused on figures who were more mobile; ie., those that had two legs. When a Titan was born with two limbs, they were hailed as a god. They were seen as prophets and harbingers of good luck. They emphasized an ideal that the species could no longer go back to.

Since they lived in a savannah, they also grew thick skin on their bodies to account for the insects and the spikes on their favorite plants. They also transferred to a more vegetarian diet, consuming foods similar to those that giraffes and African elephants eat.

🌌 Hand Flappers had mating dances similar to those of birds-of-paradise. Had they developed sapience, Hand Flappers would have pioneered acting as an art form, using their wings to emphasize their stories. High-class Hand Flappers wore bracelets of precious metals that surrounded their wings. Wing care became an important social aspects; to groom someone else's wings was tantamount to declaring your love for them.

🌌 Satryiacs had fairly short lifespans, which accounted for the amount of parties that they had. As a result, their minds matured remarkably quickly: by their first birthday, their minds were already fully developed. Their bodies followed soon after, and six months later, they were already considered adults. They had very loose views on monogamy; as a concept it simply did not exist. They had relationships with whomever they wanted, whenever they wanted.

🌌 Despite their lack of sapience, the Blind Folk actually had fairly defined parental relationships, mirroring that of humans on Earth. Blind Folk babies were born helpless and unable to do much of anything. A cry from a baby would inspire all the adults in the surrounding area to come to their aid, a fact that was occasionally exploited by predators.

🌌 If put on Earth's atmosphere, Spacers would get crushed underneath their own weight. Also, since they have such modified internal systems, they do not need to eat. However, they need to sleep for fourteen hours in a day to recuperate enough energy to move.

#blue's friends #all tomorrows #all tomorrows headcanons #bug facer #temptor #lopsiders #cannibalism mention #tool breeders #titan #hand flapper #satryiac #blind folk #spacer #longpost

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shyinkbunny · 1 year

Text

Hair Pets: Super Effective

“Ok, I have eyes on him. Give it 10, then proceed as plan- Wait…is that,”

“Hood, what is it?”

“…uck! It’s-”

The ground shook – a thundering eruption cracked in his ear – almost muffling the pained scream over the coms.

“Hood!”

Stuck watching from the rooftop of another as the warehouse crumbled in on itself.

The silence that followed for minutes as-

Slade rubbed aggressively at his eye, efforts futile in banishing the reminiscing his wondering brain kept strolling back too. He pulled his attention back to the contract. One he found himself increasingly and uncommonly stressed about.

He and Jason were working this one together, and on a notably rare occasions one of his source's intel was incorrect.

Unfortunately, that fuck-up resulted in an unanticipated explosion and collapsing building with Jason’s leg getting a rain of shrapnel, a broken fibula, a river of bruises to his side, and probable concussion with how hard his head cracked against the cement floor. Fortunately, he had his helmet or Slade doubted highly he’d be walking away with a mild case of the dizzies.

If he would have walked away at all.

Slade’s fingernails dug into his eyebrows and the skin directly below it. The pressure in his head building.

Plus, it was a very large setback in the contract’s time frame. The setback is what had him so on edge right now, obviously.

He had to locate his target again, find a new reliable source, and reevaluate the plan’s whole execution now that he was one man short. All without the assistance of Red Hood. Two years ago this would have been no fucking issue but after two years of dating, and three of working together so closely, Slade started to depend on Red Hood as his second more than he even realized. The kid’s resources, smarts, and vast background experiences gave him different ways of looking at problems even Slade fell short of. Turns out when you mix street smarts, bat teachings, hero training, and Al Ghul brainwashing you get an interesting ass mix. One helpful with planning and even more so in the direct heat of the field.

That being said, he was still getting Red Hood’s “perspective” on the case as short of sedating him for the next 96 hours, Jason wasn’t stepping completely back from the contract nor from worming his way into the details of the case. After threats of sedation Jason finally, begrudgingly, relented and camped out on the couch to get some rest.

Still, it leaves the issue that Slade was a body and two skilled hands shorter than he anticipated being. It’s fine. No issue. He’s Deathstroke, not just some mercenary, but the mercenary who always completed his contracts. All’s well and his head is screwed on just fine, thank you very much Wintergreen.

He let out another breath, fingers now pinching the bridge between his eyes. Starting to go a little over 76 hours with no sleep, he was stretching his three-day limit thin, but still aware he was too wired to actually accomplish any rest even if he tried.

A low, “hey,” drifted his way from the couch.

“Hm,” he answered back without looking from the blueprints he had in hand.

“Slade, come over ‘ere”

“I’m busy,” Slade gruffed back, the lack of sleep making his voice a tinge more gravelly. His brows furrowed when he shuffled through the piles of paper, not finding the damn shipping list times. His finger burrowed into his left temple like he was trying to physically push the steady aching thrum away. The dull electrical buzz from the dining room’s shitty hanging lamp seemed to be growing louder with every damn minute.

“…Slade”

And what the hell was Billy doing? He said he would contact Lenardo. He owed Deathstroke one and if he was giving Billy any shit collecting-

“Slade”

“Enough,” he slammed the papers he had in hand down, the table’s wood creaking under the sudden angry pressure. “I don’t have time to fuck around,” he spit out, turning his head just enough to snarl at the others direction, voice growing louder with every word. “If someone didn’t run recklessly ahead than I wouldn’t be pulling some half-ass solution from the thin fucking air to patch up this monumental fuck-up.”

His voice carried and filled the safe house dining room and echoed down the halls; the yell sounded towering in the small apartment. But the silence afterwards seemed even heavier, pressing into every nook and cranny in an almost suffocating way. The tension felt like a physical weight on Slade’s stomach.

Fuck. That was….he didn’t mean….

Slade let out a breath that felt bone deep while leaning back into the creaking wooden chair. He pried open his clenching fist around the now crinkled and torn papers and pushed his forehead in his other hand propped up on the armrest. He squeezed his eyes, hidden behind his hand, shut so tightly he started to see white spots.

Shit. His head wasn’t on right.

“Slade,” the voice was soft but stern, feeling weighty in the damning silence of the room.

Slade stopped being a coward and finally turned to face the other man patched up and camping out on the couch. One who’s been watching Slade run circles on the damn job for the last five hours.

Jason’s head was leaning back against the couch’s headrest, expression and body looking deceptively relaxed, but those ocean eyes pinned him. “Come here,” his voice was low and smooth, but solid. Commanding, but grounding.

Slade didn’t fight the request this time, his burning bitter words still scattered like ash on his tongue. He raised from the kitchen chair to make his way to the other man. He owes him that much at least for his piss poor temper right now.

The kids always made extra effort to be attentive on any of Slade’s contracts to prevent any careless shit exactly like this from happening. The need for Hood to check-in and supervise every move he made was banished long ago with Slade’s growing confidence in his ability and his judgement. Jason was competent and careful, and unlike the bats who like to micromanage absolutely everyone, Slade trusted his decisions. And he’s aware that Jason only went ahead to scope the warehouse’s shipment because he knew the place was clear. Was supposed to be clear. According to Slade’s debrief.

A few of Slade’s knuckles cracked under the strain of his curled fist.

They were supposed to go cave diving after this. Find a nice natural hot spring he could defile the younger man in. His gaze ran over the bulky leg cast. But with his damn injuries now, he frowned. That same weight resting heavier on his stomach.

“Hey.” A tug on his hand drew his eyes away from the cast to Jason’s softer gaze. “Come sit down with me.” He motioned to a spot next to him with his head.

“Kid, I can’t. I’m on a time crunch,” Slade’s voice miles softer than before. A whisper in comparison.

“You’ve been running yourself ragged and still haven’t made any progress. You’ll feel better if you get some rest.”

Slade shook his head. It would be pointless, he’s still too wired. He felt like he was gonna crawl out of his damn skin. No way would his mind settle enough to sleep.

“I’m too wired.”

“Just a bit,” Jason’s voice lulled and hand tugged down lightly on Slade’s.

“Jason,” Slade breathed out, tired.

The other man in response tried to sit up but winced from the wound on his side. Slade was propped on the edge of the couch by his side in an instant. He lifted the shirt Jason pilfered from his duffle bag and inspected the bandages for any pulled stitches. “What hurts?” he demanded. Maybe he did break or crack a rib. They said it should have only been some deep bruising, but-

“My poor feelings, asshole. Now lay down with me.”

Slade looked back up at Jason to see a smirk and self-satisfied look and not an ounce of pain. Little shit. Slade glared. He didn’t find feigning pain to be fucking amusing. Especially since it was his contract, his fucking intel that– his jaw clenched.

Jason ignored Slade’s deepening scowl and aggravation to tug on his shoulders until the bigger man was laying with his back to the younger man’s chest and between his spread legs. Between Jason’s stubbornness, the steady weight on Slade’s stomach, and the memory of Jason screaming out in pain that was playing in his head like some fucked-up background music, Slade complied a lot easier than he would any other time. Or with any other person.

But as easy as he had relented to laying back, he was still on the figurative fence about staying; his body still tense, playing at the idea of getting up and back to the damn contract.

Yet with every passing moment enclosed in Jason’s arms, warm and solid, and the steady rise and fall of his chest against Slade’s back, and those nimble fingers of his running through Slade’s hair, scratching lightly at his scalp, his body started to unfurl bit by bit. Not realizing he was subconsciously matching his breath to Jason’s until the younger man breathed in another slow, deep, steadying breath and Slade followed, then let it out at the same rate.

After about a dozen breaths like that and the continuous fingers running through his strands in a lazy, relaxing manner, he finally grumbled out a, “What are you watching?”

“Lord of the Rings.”

Slade’s eyebrows furrowed slightly. He thought Jay was bingeing that show with the obnoxiously nasally nanny with the horrible laugh. He didn’t get Jason’s amusement from the show except it functioning as a brain numbing, to the point of mind melting, way to pass the time. (Although, he did see the amusement he got from the sharp-witted butler). Still, this worked better for him. He’d much rather let his brain vegetate to the background noise of the clanking metal of swords and overdramatic war cries of some dwarf man.

Slade let his eyes fall shut to the lulling feeling of soft touches and comforting scratches carting through his bangs and hair. A thumb brushing featherlight over his forehead and massaging at his temple just-so that his throbbing headache stilled for a moment.

He would indulge the kid just a bit longer, then he’ll get back to work. Just a bit. He let his mind haze and drift, and thought he felt something cover lightly over his body and tuck around his sides but didn’t bother to pay it any mind.

Slade woke to a low voice in his ear and small shake. “Slade, hey”. He blinked a few times. It was much darker than it was before. Where the previously high sun was coloring the world in golden hues, now it cast crawling shadows on everything as it sunk nearly below horizon. A slight tug to his ends tried to draw his attention again, “hey, that sounds like Wintergreen’s ringtone.”

Slade blinked twice more, then wrenched himself out of the cocoon of warmth and comfort Jason seemingly nested him in. Checking the phone, it was indeed Billy’s contact name blinking on the white screen. Slade slid the icon to the side accepting the call and seeing what intel the older man was able to find for him.

After 12 or so minutes later, and a much clearer picture of where his target Houdinied his ass to and what his new plans entailed, their conversation was wrapping up. “Hmm. Good. But Billy?” Slade bit out before the call ended.

“Yes?”

“My previous source, the one that was covering this case? Find me his location.” The unspoken intent clear through the hard words.

“Of course,” Bill said only after a second of silence, then the line cut.

That little shit almost got Jason killed with his information. Yeah. He’ll be paying him a visit.

He checked the time. About four, going on five, hours past what it was, hours of him actually achieving some sleep. He assumed it would have been more if Jason didn’t wake him for the call. Just from those few hours, he already felt loads better; clearer headed and less like he was ready to vibrate out of his skin.

Slade looked back at the other man who from the looks of it rearranged himself slightly more spread out, additional space now that he wasn’t sharing the couch with Slade’s bulk, which now that he looked he was kind of amazed that the smaller couch fit the both of them. Jason must have been squished to some extent. He frowned at the thought. If he made any of his wounds worse so Slade could have a cat nap, Slade’s going to be aggravated. This safe house unfortunately wasn’t one of their better ones, but it did in the pinch. He’ll make sure the next one is more comfortable.

Not being able to see Jay’s face, just the back of his head, but the slight tilt of its direction towards Slade’s showed he was ease-dropping in on the conversation. No surprise. Part nosy-bat, part inquisitive-brat.

As he started to make his way back to the couch, Jason’s head tilted backwards at his approach till his head almost hung off the armrest completely; an act that always compelled Slade with the desire to lean down and plant a kiss square on those teasing lips. A fact he’s almost positive the kid knew and possibly abused. Didn’t matter much though. If these last few hours alone didn’t expose Jason’s remarkable ability to read Slade, he’s not sure what would. It’s a good thing he didn’t plan on letting the brat go anytime soon, if ever, or the arresting amount of knowledge he has on Slade’s character would be fucking alarming.

But now? Now there was a strange sort of peace, of contentment, of ease, at the awareness he held. The brat made him feel a billion things. Amusement, confusion, frustration, amazement, pride, unease, disappointment, anticipation. A lust for his mind, body, and attention, and a carnal hunger so fervent he thought it would burn through his veins at times. A billion different things Slade could have seen the passionate, lively, fierce man stir in him.

But grounded and soothed would have never been near the list. Because when the hell has anyone been able to accomplish that with Slade? Well, besides Billy. Even with Addy’s attempts at comfort, it felt administrative at times.

Yet it never felt like being handled or manipulated by Jason. Like Slade was a variable one needed to manage. The anarchic, dangerous super soldier that needed to be contained…pacified…appeased.

No, in those rare moments of chaos and overwhelming consciousness, when his mind wouldn’t stop running over what had happened and what could happen. Running over every aspect and possible outcome, when it relived every sensation of each moment, even ones he’d rather gouge out of his head then remember, it was Jason that gave him a foundation to be grounded to. Like a single touch would make the world stop spinning for five fucking seconds.

“Wintergreen give any good new intel?” Jason’s arm was slung behind his head, gripping the armrest to give himself more leverage to hold his head back, his other hand fiddling with the tv remote.

Slade hummed a confirmation when he reached him. Leaning down to press a deeply craved kiss to those easily accessible lips. He lifted slightly; arms braced on both sides of Jason’s head to bracket his brat between them. Jason’s gaze was steady and soft - happy - but a seriousness edged into them.

“Hey,” his voice almost a whisper, but held the sureness as if he had yelled them. “I got hurt. It sucked, but it happens. We patch up, we get pissed, and then we finish what we started.” His gaze pinning once again. “So, you’re going to go out there, you’re gonna finish the job – remind them exactly why Deathstroke’s reputation is what it is – then you’re gonna come back and make it up to me.” His small smirk and voice held the sureness as if he’d seen the future and already watched it happen.

Slade wasn’t fooled. He knew the kid didn’t really hold him responsible for his injury, like he said, shit happens. But it gave Slade one more thing he had control of. Another way to get him out of his head and past and focused on the next step. Jason may bitch about Slade’s penchant for control, but these little indulgences certainly never do anything to dissuade his habits.

Slade let out a breathy chuckle and leaned down to rumble in his ear, “Then I advise you to get some sleep, Brat.” His tone low, deep, and spoke of lots of heady intentions.

He grinned at the step up in Jay’s heartbeat and the slight rise of color that tinted his cheeks. Slade’s lips brushing over the freckled and blushed skin.

“Promises, promises. Go to work, slacker,” Jason grunted playfully and nudged his head at Slade’s. He lifted his head back up, pulling his attention and eyes back to the show with the inappropriately dressed nanny and her employer bickering at each other. He’s so weird.

Slade laid one final firm kiss to the side of his cheek, making sure to drag his beard rough and forcefully across; just the way he hates.

“Ack! Slade, get off you ass,” he protested and squirmed away from the angry scratchy facial hair.

The mercenary strolled away with a smirk, smile pulling wider at the mumbled, “ornery asshole,” he heard whispered behind him, but he knew was said with a smile.

Slade cracked his neck and sat back down at the kitchen table. He’ll look into this new information Billy gave him, then in about an hour or so order them some food. The oddity he calls his partner always gets strange cravings for Chinese food when he’s benched and the egg rolls from the place down the street are pretty good. Slade glanced at the clock. Yeah, he’s got more than enough time. He’ll be fine. Red Hood may be out of commission on the field, but where it counts, Jason still gots him covered.

[Author's Note: Slade is all talk. He makes Jason heal a lot more before they do anything spicy. It’s all cuddles and getting spoiled. Question is who is being spoiled – Jason or Slade? (Hint: Jason only gets spoiled when he lets you spoil him.)]

#sladejay #jason todd #slade wilson #jason/slade #redstroke #writing #ao3 works #Jason uses Pet Hair! It's super effective!! Slade is now asleep.#fluff #batman #red hood #deathstroke #one shot

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baldurs-gape · 4 months

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Can I just say your story “Wish’n’bone” is literally such a comfort read to me, I go back and read it over again frequently! Your characterization of them both is so sweet in all your work but in that one it’s my favorite. I’d love there to be a follow up of sorts some day but gosh all your BW stuff is fabulous! :3

Nonnie, your kind words fill me with such warmth. Wish'n'Bone was my first foray into a longer Bloodweave fic and I was terrified about getting the characterisations wrong. To be honest, I still worry but that's beside the point XD What kind of follow-up of sorts did you have in mind? I can't promise it will happen but I'm always over the moon to hear ideas anyone has.

Meanwhile, I've finished writing Shores so my mind has now been wandering to other things. Please accept this NSFW ficlet because apparently that's where the brain gremlins are sailing today.

No Big Deal

The Weave was magical, Gale thought. Well, it obviously was magic but he meant it in the less literal way. He had been able to use it to make up for so many of his shortcomings. When he was with Mystra, his body wasn't a concern, wasn't even something to think about. All the pleasures they explored together were beyond the physical. In a way it was a relief, a blessing. Gale knew that by human standards he wasn't exactly a catch. Don't get him wrong, he wasn't putting himself down, far from it, he had a lot to offer in terms of knowledge, power, even looks if he was being less than humble. But when things came to a more intimate connection, he wasn't well versed, no was he exceptional. Quite the opposite in fact. It hadn't mattered though, Mystra had rather literally swept him off his feet and those aspects of him weren't of any import what so ever.

Until his fall. While not objectively true, it still felt like everything had been stripped away until the only thing left was Gale himself with all his human shortcomings. Things only got worse with the whole mindflayer tadpole issue. He had so badly wanted to run to Tara and make the joke "I got worms" just to hear her express amused disdain. Instead he had a group of strangers, all of them infected and pulling in different directions. One person caught Gale's attention though, Astarion didn't seem eager to be going anywhere, wasn't all that bothered by the unexpected lodger in his brain. The only other one who seemed as relaxed was Wyll but he still had the optimism of youth and Gale knew he could so easily crush that. It was why Gale hovered near Astarion, set his tent up nearby. Even when the whole vampire spawn truth came tumbling out, he was more reassured than put off. Immortal beings were much easier to understand than humans in his experience.

Of course, not everything could be simple. As soon as emotions Gale thought were long dead in his chest started to turn from ashes to ember, he knew trouble was brewing. Even worse, Astarion was way ahead of him in that department. By the time Gale was approached by Astarion late one night, he should have known what was coming. It still took him by surprise and Gale had to think fast.

"Let me make you feel good," he breathed into the gap between their lips. "Teach me what you like."

"You get off on learning, don't you?"

It was better that way, Astarion wouldn't have to know the disappointing truth about Gale. And Gale was good at giving, he had given Mystra his all. Though he'd rather not think about how even that hadn't been enough. Instead, Gale turned his attention to Astarion, how he felt in his mouth. Every a quick study, Gale was determined to learn how to best please Astarion. He shouldn't have found it easy but there he was, on his knees and pulling the loveliest sounds from Astarion. What's more, he adored how physical it all was, the hands in his hair, sharp nails against his scalp, the mess, the loss of control, the sheer rawness of it all. In the Weave everything was but a thought away, pleasure was vast and eternal until it became a state of constant. This though, visceral and passing as it was, it burned through Gale. By the time he was catching his breath, beard sticky from what he couldn't swallow, he knew he was in love. The euphoria faded and with it came the crippling reality of his own shortcomings.

At first it was all too easy to distract, Gale took every opportunity to make Astarion feel good with zero expectation of reciprocation. If only he was as gallant as he'd made out, wanting to spoil Astarion in a small effort to prove he wasn't like all the others before him. To a small degree it was true. But mostly, Gale was desperately hiding reality. It was why he tried to entice Astarion into the Weave, to share the pleasure without having to reveal his secret. Sadly, it didn't work that way. Only so many times could he claim to have gotten himself off before Astarion grew more insistent. As much as Astarion claimed to love being the focus of attention, there was no missing that the imbalance between them was slowly getting to him.

"Let me see you."

They were in Gale's tent and Astarion was pushing. The problem was, Gale was out of excuses. Maybe half the truth would suffice.

"I'm not- It's-" All the words in the world and none of them came even close to the tip of his tongue.

Smiling coyly, Astarion stepped closer. "For a man who was a goddess' lover, you do seem incredibly shy."

"In the Weave it was all different."

It was the wrong thing to say because Astarion's brows scrunched and Gale found himself on the receiving end of a scrutinising look.

"Darling, are you saying you've never partaken in the earthly side of such pleasure?"

Head shaking, Gale couldn't look him in the eyes. Hands went to his trousers all the same and Gale startled. "It's not just that. It's, well, in the Weave I could be however I wanted."

"Is my darling wizard body-shy?" Astarion grinned. "My dear, let me assure you that you're perfect as you are."

Gale's trousers and underwear were pushed down and Astarion's eyes focused on his goal.

"Oh."

Silence stretched and Gale covered himself up, cheeks flaming. He should have known. Shouldn't have even hoped. Once again, hands reached for him, tugging his hands away.

"Darling, you're gorgeous." Two fingers easily lifted Gale's cock and Astarion's thumb fondly stroked over it. "I don't know why you were wanting to hide."

"It's small." Even when aroused, it was maybe three inches at best and Gale was all too aware of how much of a disappointment that could be, not to mention that he was a grower and not a shower which made his mortifyingly below average in that moment.

"It's perfect." Astarion had never said anything more honest in his life. Truly enamoured with Gale, he smiled and leaned in. "Let me show you how perfect."

No further warning, he dropped to his knees and took Gale's soft cock gently between his lips. He hadn't been lying, it was perfect. A mouthful that gave him scope to lavish it with his tongue, even his fangs weren't such an issue. Hands found their way into his curls, unsteady and uncertain. Usually, Astarion hated it when someone did that but with Gale it felt right. Bobbing lightly, he listened to the soft gasps and smiled around the perfect cock between his lips.

As he sucked, Astarion couldn't help but let his mind drift. Gale was gentle, even if he didn't need to be. There was no risk of him pushing down into his throat, no threat of any kind of discomfort. Astarion was man enough to admit that he was falling in love with Gale's body all over again. He flattened his tongue against the underside of Gale's cock, gave him something to rut against and swallowed eagerly as it spilled unexpectedly quickly. Pulling back with a pleased hum and a show of licking his lips, Astarion grinned.

However, Gale beat him to speaking. "Thank you."

"You're thanking me for...?"

"Not laughing at me. Getting me off. Being my first."

Heart softening, Astarion pressed one last kiss to the red tip of Gale's cock before standing up once more.

"If you'll let me, I'll prove to you how I love you exactly as you are. All I need is as much time as you'll give me."

"Forever?"

"Forever sounds good," Astarion purred.

#bloodweave #gale x astarion #gale/astarion #gale of waterdeep #gale dekarios #bg3 astarion #bg3 gale #bg3 #baldur's gate 3 #microphallus #nsft

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moorishflower · 2 years

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If you have anything more to share, I'd love to hear more about Veterinarian! Hob treating lord of cats Dream! :)

I can't START this now not for real for real because there's other stuff I want to finish first BUT...

"Are you going to do the morning huddle?"

Hob doesn't lift his head from his desk. He ought to. He knows. It's smart to go over the surgeries every morning -- not least because Cori gets testy if they don't -- and there are doubtless a few pets checking in for admits today, he's fairly certain that one of them needs a glucose curve, and the last time the owner hadn't brought the dog's bloody insulin...

"I'm coming," Hob says, and proceeds not to move at all, his head pounding miserably. Lucienne lingers in the door to his office as the lights of The New Vet are turned on, one by one. He can see the cars pulling into the lot through his window, and feels, to his horror, a weak pulse of anger, followed near immediately by shame. Not allowed, he scolds himself. You aren't allowed to get burnout. Everyone else is tired, too, and look at how hard they're working. They've all got problems, you just need to hike up your pants and deal.

"Guenevere broke up with me," he says, and Lucienne exhales sharply. "Yesterday."

"At the..."

"Yeah, at the bloody Ren Faire."

"Oh, Hob," she says, and Hob raises a hand to forestall the tide of comforting words that are no doubt coming.

"It's fine," he says, even though it really, really isn't. The fucking Ren Faire. When he'd told her how much he hated the things, how inaccurate they are, how if she wanted a real experience she ought to come with him to an SCA meeting, and really, the people of the Shire of Thamesreach are good, do their own weaving and dying and metallurgy, and then Guen had...

Had dumped him. Right there in front of the jousting ring. And Hob's old enough and wise enough to recognize when he's had a hand in his own destruction, but still.

It's been sixteen years since Eleanor passed. Thirteen since Robyn followed her. And he'd been hoping...he'd been hoping that some part of him might be healed enough for some kind of love. Some kind of closeness. But apparently not. The pit in him, where his heart used to be, is still blackened and smoldering as ever. You're just a lot, Guen had told him, her hands fluttering like startled birds. You've got a lot on your mind, all the time, and you've got a lot going on at work, and you've got a lot to worry about, and it just doesn't end, does it? You being a lot? Well, it's too much for me to deal with, Robbie. I can't fix you, and you won't fix yourself, and I'm done being second in someone's life.

And then she'd walked away, and Hob had gone to the Ye Olde Meadehall tent and proceeded to drink nearly his body weight in surprisingly good-quality mead, so much that he'd needed to call a cab home. His car is still parked at the lot. He needs to go and get it today, unless he wants to add a ticket onto the stack of things gone wrong in his life.

Out in the lobby, Thessaly calls out, "Door's open!" And nearly as soon as she speaks, the reception phone begins to trill. Monday at The New Vet. Everyone clamoring to get in on account of the crises that happened over the weekend. Hob gingerly heaves himself off his desk, rubbing the ribbed marks of pens that have pressed into his cheek.

"It's fine," he says again, and Lucienne smiles hesitantly at him. He tries to smile back, and thinks he manages to fall somewhere around 'wan, but willing.' "Really. We weren't...compatible. Anyways. You're assigned to me today, I think?" Lucienne nods, and Hob picks himself up, and cracks his back, and tries to shake away that brief little flash of anger. That horrifically tempting darkness, like a worm nestled tight and cozy in the brain.

It'd be easy to let it eat him alive, he thinks, as he follows his tech into the back of the clinic. It'd be easy to think of this as a job instead of a calling. He's known vets like that, who get into things like ortho surgery for the money and little else. He's not one of them. He won't be one of them. He can't move on from his dead wife and child, and he can't perform surgery without his hands shaking and his heart crawling out of his throat, and he can't stomach the sight of HBCs anymore, but he's. Managing. He's healing. It's taking longer than he'd like, but that's just the way life is. And life is glorious. He's got staff who appreciate him and support him, he's got his own clinic that's bearing its own weight and not sinking him into debt with each passing year, he'd found a competent surgeon to take his place in the OR, and life is grand.

And you're alone, that awful worm in him whispers. Because something in you broke when Eleanor died, and then it broke again when you failed Robyn, and now it can't ever be fixed. You're not worth the time and effort of fixing.

Hob shakes his head. He's alone. So what. He has the clinic. He has his techs. There's always going to be work to do. No shortage of pets in London, and everyone needing their shots, their checkups, their emergency visits.

Life is rich and varied and ever-changing, and if sometimes the only thing keeping him going is thinking about what will happen to The New Vet if he's gone, well. That's not depression, that's just the truth.

"Who's first?" he asks, and lets the chaotic rhythm of the clinic settle into him, and wipe all other thoughts of broken hearts and dead loves from his mind.

#ask response #ficlet #my fic

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posletsvet · 1 year

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Hi! Jujutsu Kaisen worms are eating at my brain and I'm a little bit mad currently, so I felt like sharing my thoughts about Geto Suguru's character.

I'm still kind of new to the fandom (and totally new to the experience of posting anything on Tumblr – or posting at all, honestly), and therefore my take can be completely out of the left field / half-baked / inherently wrong. So, though I will accept all sticks and stones, please don't throw them too hard!

And perhaps one last disclaimer: English is not my mother tongue, so um... apologies for all grammar and punctuation and any other mistakes I might have made.

Under the cut!! :]

To me, Geto seems to be a type of person who needs something to guide him, some clear-cut ideal to make it possible for him to navigate through his life. He is pedantic in that sense: the sharp outlines of his views define his surroundings, the very way he looks at things and perceives them. He needs everything to fall precisely in line with his own set of ideals, which seems to be quite verified and well-adjusted within his mind, like a strict and refined concept he constructed for himself, like a routine he's used to following out of pure principal.

His own belief system being so defined, it's that which makes him indulge in excessive discourse on the subject of morality and responsibility, like he's patiently laying out the basics in front of a disobedient child to help them wrap their mind around some fundamental truth that is so obvious and natural for him. (And yeah, I know it's probably just the story presenting to its audience the mindset of one of the characters – perhaps in a way not so subtle and gracious – and whatnot, but I just can't help but dwell upon what that might say about Geto's character.)

Geto can also be called somewhat a perfectionist: a model student, by the book sort of guy with his politeness and insisting on sticking to the hierarchy of things, fulfilling orders and carrying out missions impeccably, claiming him a name of second strongest. He is shown to be constantly in control of himself, appearing calm and collected whereas Gojo is head-on bursting with emotion and energy, expressing himself on a whim and perhaps out of it. (Compare how Geto did not disturb a single speck of dust in Amanai's school to how Gojo gladly blew up a whole office building.) Geto's firm and confident hold on himself and his emotions is very well reflected through his cursed technique: he controls his curses with precision and caution, even making sure to keep fragile window glass intact while summoning an enormous curse. This action comes natural to him, like something he's already used to and mindful about: in the end, it's all to keep people's hearts at peace.

(It's interesting in a way of how it is symbolic within the flow of the story and in hindsight of a villain Geto will go on to become. How it is indicative of his own emotions, his spite and his stress, being repressed in order for him to remain cool-headed and perhaps make his appearance more convenient, reassuring to those around him. Peace of heart, remember? He makes his every action, his every expression fit into the contour of How Things Should Be, represses himslef – until he eventually, and quite predictably, snaps. And no, I will not for the love of me shut up about how all the curses confined within his body, their number growing exponentially with every mission he completes, are symbolic of his state of mind and heart, of how bile and resentment gradually build up inside of him.)

Geto's whole worldview and outlook on the order of things rely on his empathetic nature and his strong sense of justice. Protect the weak, protect the suffering for you have the strength – hence you have a duty to fulfill and obligations to attend to. The system is just and fair for it is organized in favour of the innocent and helpless and pushes those who wield power to claim responsibility and dedicate their might to a righteous cause. It's democracy in its purest: the ruler, a single digit who holds the reigns of control and power, is humbled in the service of looking out for powerless, inept masses. In his eyes, the present system is a well-oiled machine which purpose is to involve all the resources at disposal and use their full potential in order to achieve Greater Good, with everyone being assigned a role that suits their capabilities and skills.

But with the Star Plasma Vessel Incident and everything that follows suit in the following year, that view is challenged relentlessly. A man who can't even manipulate cursed energy assasinates the strongest sorcerer of the generation (*coughs* temporarily). An innocent, inexcusably young girl who in her last moments just wanted to live her life falls victim to the system. A crowd of non-sorcerers applauding the death of the girl, of someone who was raised to sacrifice everything she held dear in order to ensure their safety. The loss of Yu Haibara.

The majority is kept safe, ignorant to the expense of their blissful existence, while the minority is being readily sacrificed over and over again. It’s that which Geto grows unwilling to put up with, because he whole-heartedly believed in the legitimacy of the system, believed that it was his well-deserved responsbility to look out for others, those who are weaker than him and therefore require protection. And yet he's witnessing one death after the other and is cornered in the feeling of helplessness, unable to save anyone. The realisation slowly settles in: the system is treating its sorcerers as disposable tools, cogs in the arrangement of greater things where a loss of an individual is something tragic yet almost expectable.

Nothing out of the ordinary. A hideous evil known to everyone.

(So, Getou is a staunch idealist and a perfectionist. Which is why he just cannot move on from something that otherwise could be deemed by others (and the audience in the first place, I guess) as something to draw additional motivation from, becoming stronger over experienced hardships. His whole worldview falls short, shatters to pieces after one single blow. But he keeps going on missions, gets caught up in an endless cycle of exorcism and consumption, ends up all alone with dark thoughts, and regret, and doubt, churning in his mind, while tragedies keep bombarding his little, no longer functional illusion. His downfall had been a slow yet steady process long before he snapped.)

His solution to kill all non-sorcerers, ultimately gaining for himself a reputation of the most evil of curse users, seems to me as an extension of his previous idealistic mindset. Everything he does has to fall in line with his goal – and he's already wiped out the population of a whole village. How can one possibly justify that without warping their vision with far-fetched delusion of what could have been? That's how his attitude becomes radical: push the system to evolve by becoming its villain.

And still after everything, isn't it him escaping the system out of fear and desparation? Him shaking off the tremendous weight of being a cog running in a machine that is fundamentally not working and feeding on the fuel of countless sacrifices? He never looks back since his last confrontation with Gojo because he is driven by fear, and disgust, and despair, and oh, he consumed so, so many curses. Manifestation of the sins of humanity sit in the pit of his stomach, and don't they say you are what you eat?

#jujutsu kaisen #jjk #geto suguru #gojo satoru #(mentioned)#meta #kind of?#if all of it seems like incomprehensible incoherent gibberish #that's because it is #it really is #i feel like i could have gone further with it #but words started to exhaust me

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roseverdict · 1 year

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Lost and Found

April O'Neil was not lost.

She was not!

She was exploring the playground and the surrounding area, that was all!

…but was she supposed to take a right turn at Albearto's or a left?

Maybe she was a teensy bit lost after all.

(Or, apparently there are some tweets about how April presumably met the guys a good few years before the events of the series, but they didn't get the chance to elaborate on it since network mismanagement shot the show in the foot. However, the idea of teensy April with tiny tortles has been bouncing around my brain like a Windows screensaver ever since I saw those tweets.)

(Or, "piece of evidence #254 that i cannot for the LIFE of me control the hyperfixate")

〜

i know there's a line in "repairin' the baron" that implies that splinter and the turtles have yet to meet april's mom but shshshshsh i do what i want. also i think the idea of mrs. o'neil knowing about them from the get-go is neat :>

tw/sidenote but both april and her mom are aware (to varying degrees) of the danger to a lost kid in a big city with plenty of melanin in their skin. the white guy who harasses april for a bit knows it too. things get stopped before any lasting injuries can be gotten and nothing explicitly racist is said, but still. i'm trying to be accurate as i can be to these situations and the characters but i'm so pasty you could colorpick from most of my skin and just get #FFFFFF so. no firsthand experience.

also there are brief mentions of potential amputation, though nothing actually gets amputated.

stay safe all.

(you can tell i'm not a new yorker by the way i make up place names and intersections xD)

〜

April O'Neil was not lost.

She was not!

She was exploring the playground and the surrounding area, that was all!

And maaaybe she had lost track of her directions somewhere a few blocks ago, but she still recognized the buildings around her, so she was fine!

Really, she was!

…but was she supposed to take a right turn at Albearto's or a left?

April shivered and tugged her orange hoodie tighter around her body. "Hoboy."

Maybe she was a teensy bit lost after all.

Well, sitting around all alone in Manhattan when you were the cutest, most charming little girl in town was a surefire way to get yoinked into some alleyway by shady gross people. If she was gonna be lost, she sure as heck wasn't gonna look like it!

April started walking as confidently as she could down streets she knew but couldn't quite piece together. Hopefully, she'd stumble across the entrance to the playground and be able to get back before Momma and Daddy started worrying about her.

While her confident swagger prevented people from giving her any weird looks, it did not prevent her from hearing a weird, quiet chirp-y noise.

April slowed, then wormed her way through the throng of adults until she popped out the side and could come to a stop. "Wha…?"

The chirp-y noise came back, this time easier to hear now that she wasn't in the middle of all those people, and April cautiously followed it back to the open end of an alleyway.

The chirping persisted.

It didn't sound human, per se, but at the same time it had a lack of…something…that made April think it wasn't just some freaky bird.

It kinda reminded her of…

…crying.

"H-hello?" called April shakily. "Is anyone there?"

The chirping came to a stop with a squeak, and April frowned, taking a step forward. "I don't wanna hurt you, okay? Are you alright?"

There came no response, but April took another step, then a third, scanning the alley for any shady gross people.

After a few more steps, April froze.

So did the big turtle shell thingy jammed between bags of garbage opposite some old graffiti- though, on second thought, maybe she just thought it was big because she'd only ever seen turtles in the zoo that were small enough for Momma to pick up in her hands. Apparently some turtles got to be way bigger than grown-ups, but this turtle shell was only a little bigger than the turtles at the zoo.

"…hi, there," said April quietly.

A turtle face peeked out at her from inside the shell, wide-eyed.

After a moment, April lowered herself to the ground and crossed her legs. "Why're you crying?"

Now, she hadn't really been expecting an answer- she'd just figured that talking calmly like Daddy did whenever she scraped her knee might help calm the turtle down.

That said, she figured she did a great job at not startling when the turtle spoke, and with a voice like a little kid, to boot. "…I, I think I'm l-lost."

"You're lost?" asked April. "Me, too. Do you have any friends that should be with you?"

The turtle's head slowly came out from his shell, and he nodded. "M-me and my brothers were explorin', but I got distracted by the pretty wall art and when I looked around they were, they were gone!"

"Pretty wall art? Y'mean the graffiti?" April asked, twisting her head to look back at the graffiti in question- a vivid neon version of the sunrise over Manhattan. She turned back and grinned. "You got good taste, turtle boy!"

That got Turtle Boy to giggle, and he carefully pulled himself from his shell and his hiding place to sit in front of her. "You think so?"

"I know so." April held out a hand for him to shake. "My name's April."

"Hi, April," giggled Turtle Boy as he shook her hand. "I'm Mikey."

Huh. He only had three fingers instead of five. Then again, he wasn't a human kid, so it made sense.

April beamed at Mikey. "Well, then, whaddya say we try and find our families? At least we won't be alone and lost."

Mikey nodded, but then he glanced out at the hustle and bustle of the adults just past the mouth of the alley. "But what if the human grown-ups see me?"

April frowned in thought for a moment, then snapped her fingers. "They can't see you if you're wearing something big and baggy! Hang on-!"

She took her hand back from Mikey and yanked off her hoodie, then held it out to him. "Try this on!"

Mikey's eyes widened, and April almost could have sworn he got stars in them. "A-are you sure?"

"Positive," April said, winking at him. "Besides, ain't turtles cold-blooded? It's getting kinda chilly out these days anyway."

Mikey took the hoodie like it was some kind of sacred artifact in a movie, then slipped it on over his shell. The sleeves were long enough to hide his turtle-hands, and when they both stood up, it went down far enough that what little April could still see of his legs could easily pass as weird pants and shoes.

"Now you're lookin' cozy," April proclaimed, reaching over and flipping the hood over his head.

Mikey giggled, then grabbed her hand and grinned up at her. "Okay, let's go."

April gave his hand a squeeze, and the two of them struck out into the wilderness of rush hour.

"So, Mikey, do you recognize anything around here?" asked she after a few moments of walking.

Mikey's head turned from left to right and back again as he looked around, then he pointed with his free hand at Metro Tower, his sleeve flopping slightly at the end. "I think we were trying to go, uh, over there when we got separated."

"Right!" April nodded and led the way. "To the tower!"

For the most part, they managed to get through the crowds without too much trouble.

When they were just a few blocks away, though-

"Hey, there, kiddo. You're looking kinda green, heheh."

April tensed at the voice from one of the alleys. That was definitely somebody trying to be shady and gross.

She glanced at Mikey worriedly, but when he didn't seem to have any ideas for what to do beyond freezing up in fear, she swallowed down her nerves, squeezed his hand again, and shot a fake smile into the alleyway. "Thanks for your concern, mister, but my bro here just really likes dressing up as animals."

"Is that so?" asked the voice. The owner stepped into view, a very tall, very grown-up, very big white guy with an extremely icky grin on his face. "Would either of you be willing to show me the full costume?"

April gulped.

In the distance, she heard a few new voices yelling for Mikey, and from the tiny gasp that came out of him, April made an educated guess and said, "Sorry, mister, but our other brothers are prob'ly looking for us. Gotta go!"

Mikey nodded quickly. "Eheheh, yep! Bye!"

The two of them tried to bolt, but the man shot forward and yanked Mikey's hood down, gripping it hard enough that Mikey made a choked noise and skidded to a stop, clawing helplessly at his throat.

"HEY!" April snapped, whirling back around.

"A costume, eh?" snickered the gross guy. "Looks to me like you're a grade-A freak!"

April grit her teeth. "Let him go. Now."

"No, no, I don't think I will," said Gross Guy, scowling. "A scientific weirdo like this thing is gonna make me the big bucks!"

"Oh, I'll show you a scientific weirdo," hissed April right before charging the man and punching him right in the groin.

The sound Gross Guy made sounded a lot like the squeak Mikey had made when she first saw him, except better because Gross Guy's hand flew from Mikey's hood to grab at where April had punched.

Mikey gasped for breath, but April just grabbed him by the sleeve and started running. "C'mon, we gotta book it before he recovers!"

The two of them stumbled for a moment as Mikey got his feet back under him, but then they were sprinting down the sidewalk as fast as Mikey's little legs would let them. After a few moments of this, though, April shifted her grip on Mikey and just hefted him up into her arms, shell and all. "Hang on!"

"GET BACK HERE, YOU LITTLE-!"

Mikey glanced behind her, then shrank into his shell a bit. "He's gaining on us!"

April poured on the speed, but at the same moment as she saw another turtle boy about a street away and happened to catch his eye, a massive hand grabbed her by the hair and yanked her to a stop.

She let her grip on Mikey loosen so he would be able to go flying a few feet forward and yelled, "MIKEY, RUN!"

"Wha-? But April-!"

"I SAID RUN!"

She flailed in Gross Guy's grip in an effort to become as slippery, un-grabbable, and distraction-like as possible, but all she managed to do was get turned around so she couldn't see if Mikey got away.

Instead, all she got to see was Gross Guy glaring at her bad enough she almost wanted to cry.

Figured.

〜

Raphie's eyes flew wide as the human girl screamed, "MIKEY, RUN!"

From where he'd landed on the ground, Mikey scrambled to his feet, but instead of running- "Wha-? But April-!"

"I SAID RUN!"

Raphie chirped loudly, alerting Donnie and Leo to where he was without saying anything the human man might pick up on, then darted through the shadows to where Mikey lay, yanking him out of sight and into a nearby alley.

Mikey shook for a second, but once he saw Raphie's face, he launched himself up and grabbed Raphie in a tight hug. Before Raphie could hug him back, though, Mikey quickly pulled back and pointed tearfully at where the two humans were fighting.

Well, it was more of the man managing to drag the girl into another alley as she wiggled and yelled, but still.

For a moment, Dad's instructions to never, ever be seen by humans rang in Raphie's ears.

Then he reminded himself that the girl seemed to be trying to help Mikey, and it'd be rude to not help her back.

Raphie nodded to Mikey, then gave him a pat on the shoulder and slunk into the alley after the two humans.

"You idiot!" hissed the man, finally managing to grab the girl by the shoulders and slam her back against the wall, her feet dangling. "You just let the jackpot of a lifetime run free!"

The girl leaned away from the man's face, then spat right into his eyes.

Something in the man's face twisted. "Why, you-!"

Yeah, okay, Raphie wasn't watching any more of this.

He jumped up onto the man's back and clawed at him, a growl rising up in his chest.

The man squawked in surprise, though he didn't let go of the girl until Raphie bit him in the shoulder. He didn't bite at full strength- Donnie'd made sure he knew the kind of power a normal alligator snapping turtle had, and he didn't want to amputate anything (or, well, half-amputate with his tiny mouth)- but it was still more than enough to get the man to drop the girl to the ground.

As soon as the girl was free, Raphie stopped biting in favor of shoving himself off the man in such a way that the guy went tumbling into the wall.

The girl gawked at him, but shook herself out of it pretty quick once he grabbed her hand and ran back to where Mikey was, leaving the man to lick his wounds. "Thanks for the save, big guy! Guessing you're one of Mikey's brothers?"

Raphie nodded. "I'm Raphie."

"Good to meetcha, weird alley man aside," the girl laughed awkwardly, then leaned heavily on the nearby wall. "I'm April."

Raphie shot her a grin and a nod-

-and then Mikey cannonballed into her. "APRIL! Are you okay?!"

"I'm fine, Mikey, I promise," April told him, taking the cannonball-hug in stride and patting his shell through the hoodie he'd found. "Dude screwed up my locs, though. Booooo."

There came a groan from the other alley, and April's head whipped around to look before whipping back to meet Raphie's eyes. "We gotta move."

Raphie nodded. "If we can get down to the sewers, me and my bros know those like the backs of our hands."

"Then what're we waiting for?" asked Donnie, poking his head up from a manhole deeper in their alley.

"Let's go!" called Leo, popping up next to him.

The guy Raphie'd bitten made a weak-but-furious growling noise, and April nodded quickly. "Sounds good to me!"

Raphie watched carefully as she turned Mikey to the manhole and walked him over. She seemed to have Mikey's best interests at heart, and she didn't seem freaked out by the fact that they were all a bunch of talking turtles, but…

April glanced back at him. "Raphie, you coming?"

"I'm the oldest, so I gotta make sure everybody else is safe, first," Raphie told her firmly.

"Really? How old are you?"

"Ten. That's a whole two digits."

April snickered. "I'm eleven, which means I outrank you! Into the sewer with you, Turtle Boy!"

Raphie spluttered indignantly, but Mikey just giggled as he clambered down. "Yeah, into the sewer!"

Because she got Mikey to giggle, and only for that reason, Raphie relented and went next. April gestured grandly at the manhole as he passed, and then as soon as Raphie climbed low enough, she followed suit.

"Don't forget the manhole cover," called Donnie from below.

April nodded. "Gotcha."

The fading daylight cut out as April hefted the cover and pulled it back over the hole, and then they were lit only by the service lights of the sewer itself as they descended.

"So, I already met Mikey and Raphie," April said, glancing down at something past Raphie, "but I don't think I caught your names."

"My name is Donatello-"

"-but we just call him Donnie! I'm Leo!" declared he cheerfully.

"Ugh."

April chuckled. "Nice to meetcha. I'm April."

"Well, April, the sewers make for a quick getaway, but I doubt you want to stay down here forever," Donnie remarked as they started reaching the bottom. "Was there anywhere you needed to go?"

Once Raphie touched down, April hopped the last few feet to the ground and turned to them. "Yeah, actually. You know how to get to Carney Park?"

"Of course I do! I know everything," bragged Donnie, adjusting his glasses haughtily. "This way- wait."

Raphie watched as Donnie tensed. "…Donnie…?"

"The only efficient way to get from here to there is to take April through…" Donnie breathed, glancing at Raphie worriedly, "…the lair."

"Ah, crud," moaned Leo.

"Wha-? What's 'ah, crud?' What's 'the lair?'" April asked, fiddling with her hair. Then, after glancing around, in a whisper, "Is there a sewer gator?"

"No, no sewer gators!" Mikey assured quickly. "It's just…the lair is what we call our home, and we…may or may not have snuck out while Dad was napping."

"He has a very strict 'no human interaction' rule, for reasons you've just experienced," Donnie added.

Leo buried his head in his hands. "He probably won't even be mad. He'll just be…"

Raphie shuddered. "…disappointed."

April grimaced. "Oof, I know what that's like. Are we positive there's no other way?"

Donnie shrugged helplessly. "It's either the lair or a detour."

"How long a detour are we talking?" asked April, perking up some.

"On foot? Something like…" Donnie swallowed. "…an extra hour."

It was April's turn to groan and drop her face into her hands. "Awww, nooo, I'm gonna get so grounded!"

Even though April was (allegedly) older than Raphie, in that moment, all he saw was a girl like Leo or Donnie or Mikey- in need of Big Bro Raphie.

Raphie set his jaw, then turned to the others. "We go through the lair. Hopefully Pops is still sleeping, and if he's not…we sneak her through."

"You sure, Raphie?" asked Leo.

Raphie nodded firmly. "I'm sure."

"Then we'd best get a move on," Donnie said. "We've been gone…how long, exactly?"

April checked her wrist. "Well, it's almost 6 PM now. I dunno when you left, though."

Donnie still nodded, taking in the info. "Then Dad should hopefully still be asleep by the time we reach the lair, but only if we move fast."

"So let's hoof it!" declared Leo, breaking into a jog.

Mikey grabbed April's hand and dragged her after Leo. "Onwards!"

Raphie waited to make sure Donnie got back to the front of the group, then set off after them, keeping an eye out for anything else that might throw a wrench in their plans for the day.

"So, you're eleven?" asked Mikey after a few minutes.

April managed a laugh between breaths. "Sure am!"

Mikey beamed at her. "Cool! I'm eight!"

"Me and the nerd here are nine!" added Leo, pointing a thumb at Donnie.

"It's 'the nerd here and I,' Nardo," corrected Donnie.

Leo snorted. "See what I mean?"

April chuckled weakly, and Raphie glanced over at her just in time to see her foot come down and twist-

"Aaand scoop!" Raphie decided, doing exactly that to April before she had a chance to drop.

"Nice catch, Raphie!" Mikey cheered.

April blinked in surprise, then grinned sheepishly. "Thanks. Apparently I gotta work on my endurance."

"We're almost to the lair," murmured Donnie, slowing down.

"Right." Raphie shot Leo a look. "Leo, check if Pops is awake."

Leo nodded. "On it."

As Leo darted off, Raphie looked down at April. "I saw your ankle twist. Can you walk?"

"Only one way to find out," April declared.

Raphie set her on her feet, and while he held his hands nearby to catch her in case she fell, she didn't seem to need it. A little wobbling as she caught her balance, and April was fine.

Phew.

"Oh, haha, hiii, Dad!" called Leo's voice loudly. "You're up, I see!"

Raphie, April, Mikey, and Donnie all froze.

"He should've been out for another half-hour!" hissed Donnie.

"What do we-?" whispered Mikey.

"Stick close, April," Raphie decided. "I'm biggest, so if Pops gets close, hide behind me and we'll pretend you ain't there. Donnie, Mikey, act natural."

〜

"I certainly am," chuckled Splinter, scritching Leonardo's head. "How are you and your brothers doing, Blue?"

"Doing great!" Leonardo said with a grin, the response coming suspiciously fast and the smile growing suspiciously wide.

Well, so long as he and his brothers weren't actively being harmed, he supposed he could let it go just this once. Perhaps they were just trying to sneak in something cool they found while playing.

Splinter nodded and turned to head back to the TV room. "Wonderful."

He pretended not to notice as Donatello and Michelangelo entered with exaggerated sneaking motions, and he pretended not to notice as Raphael followed with a fake casualness.

He pretended not to notice as Leonardo joined the other three, and he pretended not to notice as the four of them tried to abscond to elsewhere in the lair.

When an unfamiliar voice gasped in time with a human girl stumbling into view, clearly hiding from him behind Raphael until whatever made her wince in pain, however, Splinter knew he had to confront his sons.

"Boys-!"

"Don't get mad at April!" Michelangelo burst, darting between the two of them with his arms held out protectively. "She helped me get unlost and saved me from a meanie human grown-up!"

"She told Mikey to get to safety when the bad guy grabbed her," Raphael added, mirroring the position. "And I thought the ankle she twisted was fine."

"It was!" protested the girl- April- as she leaned heavily on one leg. "At least, until just now. I think I double-twisted it."

"She's been remarkably calm about this whole situation, as well," Donatello chimed in, gesturing to himself in regards to the 'situation.'

Leonardo stepped between Donatello and Michelangelo, finishing the formation of a protective line between Splinter and April. "Dad, please don't be mad-"

"You snuck out?" Splinter started with. Then, before they could respond, he held up a hand. "This may be surprising, but I suppose I was already well-aware of that. I will be back to that subject later, but first- you all know how dangerous humans can be! And you brought one here?"

Then the other implications of his sons' words hit him like a yawning chasm splitting open in his chest.

"Wait, wait, wait- you needed saving?!"

Michelangelo nodded emphatically. "So I got distracted and lost track of the others and there was this guy, right? And April let me borrow her hoodie so people wouldn't see me and freak out but this guy saw me anyway, and he had the hood so I couldn't get away and April punched him between the legs so we could run! She picked me up so we could go faster, but then the guy grabbed her by the hair so she tossed me and Raphie was there and-"

"Woah, woah, Orange, slow down. I only caught the first part of that," Splinter said, holding his hands up placatingly.

Michelangelo took a deep breath, but Raphael dropped a hand on his shoulder and spoke instead. "Pops, this guy was going after Mikey, and April put herself in harm's way to get him to safety. Once we got away, she mentioned she needed to get to Carney Park, but the quickest way there meant we would need to come through the lair. I-I know you don't trust humans, but April is trustworthy, I swear."

Splinter looked between his sons, then searched April's gaze for…something.

The girl's hair was a mess. He'd done film work with all kinds of folks, way back in the day, and he knew that the amount of care that went into certain hairstyles- such as, for instance, April's- meant that for each grouping of hair to be frayed and off-kilter the way it was…well, that certainly proved the 'grabbed by the hair' part of the story.

She wasn't breathing too heavily, but it was still clear that she'd been doing a lot of physical exertion recently, and she certainly favored one leg over the other.

He looked into the girl's eyes- she couldn't possibly have been much older than Raphael!- and saw tempered steel underneath a laid-back exterior.

He looked into the girl's eyes and saw himself, and he saw her find herself in his in turn.

(He had a feeling that if he forbade his sons from becoming her friend, she was going to worm her way in anyway.)

"April, correct?" asked Splinter.

"Yes, sir," said she.

Splinter gently parted Leonardo and Michelangelo, then stepped forward. After a moment more, he held out a hand to shake. "You may call me Splinter. Thank you for keeping my boys safe."

Instantly, his boys relaxed, and April cracked a grin as she took his hand. "What can I say? They grew on me quick."

"Red, you mentioned getting April here to Carney Park?" Splinter asked, turning to Raphael.

Raphael nodded.

"Then you'd best get moving so she can get there before sundown."

"…can we play with April after this?" asked Michelangelo. "Like, playdates and stuff?"

"I'd be down for that," April answered, as if silently daring Splinter to contradict her.

Splinter sighed. "Perhaps it would be good to have some form of interaction outside of each other and this old rat."

He tried, but…just because he somewhat knew he was a less-than-stellar parent, that didn't automatically give him the ability to change that fact at will. Maybe a bit of outside interaction might help…well, everything.

A resounding cheer rose up from his sons, and Splinter smiled.

〜

Carol O'Neil was not panicking.

She was not!

She was searching every inch of the streets around Carney Park after exhausting her search of the playground inside, that was all!

And maaaybe she was calling her husband more often than strictly necessary, such as whenever she came to a new intersection without seeing her daughter, but it was perfectly normal to want to stay connected during such a time of crisis!

A crisis that, it bore repeating, was not making her panic.

…oh, who was she kidding?

April had disappeared forty-seven minutes and sixteen seconds ago exactly, and Carol had desperately tried to keep the numbers and statistics from overwhelming her ever since. She and her husband had scoured the playground, then set off to methodically search the surrounding streets, even calling in some of their friends and coworkers to help look, but to no avail.

It was like her daughter had vanished into thin air.

Her phone buzzed- another text from one of her coworkers.

nothing on 25th and Broadway :(

Carol stifled a sob with her free hand, but slid her phone back into her jacket pocket and turned to head back to the park. Maybe…maybe April had just found some sort of hiding place to take a nap?

(Carol ignored how flimsy the idea was in favor of something, anything that could give her a way to find her daughter. She knew the numbers. An unattended black girl lost in the big city could very well never get home again.)

She was so focused on keeping her breathing steady that she almost missed the voice at the edge of her hearing.

Almost.

The words were too quiet to discern, but the voice was calm, and Carol slowed to a stop. "April…?"

There were other voices, unfamiliar but just as young.

Then a manhole cover shifted in a nearby alleyway, and Carol pressed herself against a nearby wall.

"Looks liiike…the coast is clear," said a young boy. "And, just as I calculated, Carney Park is just a few blocks due south of our location!"

"Thanks, Donnie," said April's voice. "Y'all are lifesavers, you don't even know."

Carol was halfway through rounding on the alleyway in all her worried glory when-

"What? No, you're the lifesaver, April," said another boy's voice. "Like, literally. If you hadn't been there and helped me get back to my bros, I-I might'a been-!"

"Oh, don't get all mushy on me now, Mikey," April snorted.

Carol finished her motion, but stayed deathly silent as she took in the scene before her.

There were anthropomorphic turtles in the alley.

April was in the alley, her locs askew and one of her ankles slightly swollen…

…and a warm smile on her face.

None of them seemed to have seen her, and as she watched, April pulled the smallest of the turtles into a tight hug as if he was just another neighborhood kid.

The smallest turtle was wearing April's hoodie.

How had one of these turtles gotten April's hoodie?!

"Promise I'll try to hang out a bunch, okay?" April continued. "You guys are cool, and don't think I didn't see that skateboard ramp in there. I'm gonna pull off so many sick tricks you'll be begging me to teach y'all."

"Do I smell someone attempting to claim my throne as the sickest skater in the sewers?" asked yet another boy's voice, and this time Carol could see that it belonged to one of the turtles.

April smirked. "Maybe you do! Never underestimate April O'Neil!"

"See you soon?" asked the biggest of the turtles in yet another little boy's voice.

"Better believe it, Raphie!" April declared, patting the smallest of the turtles before letting go. "And, hey, Mikey, if you wanna hold onto that, you can. I'm the warm-blooded one here, and fall gets chilly."

The small one- Mikey, apparently- nodded. "Okay!"

April stood up straight, but just as quickly slumped back down sheepishly. "Uhhh…which way is due south, again?"

The turtle boy in glasses spoke up, his voice matching "Donnie's." "Well, given the time and the length and direction of the shadows cast by the sun rather than artificial light sources, it should be just that waaaoooeugh, boy…"

Carol blinked as the turtle boy locked eyes with her, then froze up in terror.

Donnie's reaction caused the rest of the group to turn her way, worry on their faces.

April swallowed, then smiled nervously, ducking her head into her shoulders like she was trying to turn into Mikey, who was legitimately drawing his head into both the hoodie and his shell. "…hiii, Momma."

There were many things Carol wanted to do in that moment.

She wanted to grab her daughter and spirit her home and never let her leave her sight again.

She wanted to break down crying from relief.

She wanted to demand to know what had happened and refuse to leave until she was told every single detail.

She wanted to demand to know why there were turtle boys living in the sewers.

She wanted to wring the reasons behind the 'lifesaver' comments out of them.

She wanted to wipe the fear from the children's faces.

In the end, she took a few steps into the alley, dropped to one knee, and held out her arms, hot tears bubbling up and dripping down her cheeks. "Oh, baby, I'm so glad you're okay."

April sniffled, then barreled into her and clung tight.

Carol quickly held April to her chest and peppered the top of her head with quick kisses, and as April started sobbing into her shirt, Carol turned her attention back to the boys.

Clearly, the fact that Carol had not started screaming at or about them had thrown them off a bit.

"I believe I have you all to thank for getting my daughter back somewhere we could find her?" Carol asked knowingly.

"Y-yes, ma'am," squeaked "Raphie," standing ramrod-straight as his brothers withdrew behind him, all four of them watching her warily.

Carol smiled warmly. "Thank you."

Yet again, the boys seemed taken aback, but Mikey quickly recovered and beamed at her from behind his brother's shell. "You're welcome! April's nice!"

…did these boys have parents? Follow-up question, would they like some?

April sniffled a bit as her sobbing slowed, then shifted to rest the side of her head on Carol's chest and look back at the boys. "Got any hangout plans that don't involve getting lost and running into your dad?"

Oh, right, Carol had to be a Stern Mother and make sure April knew not to run off like that again. Darn it all!

"Now, let's not make any plans just yet," Carol interjected, and almost immediately she got distressed protests from all five kids, but she pressed on- "April, you can't just run off and get lost like that on us. We were so worried-!"

"I'm, I'm sorry, Momma-!"

"-so I'm gonna have to make an executive decision, one I'm sure your daddy will agree with," Carol continued, raising her voice just enough to be heard. "You will not be doing anything with these boys-"

"Ms. O'Neil, you can't-!"

"-for the next two weeks!"

Dead.

Silence.

Almost as if afraid to speak, the boy whose name Carol still had yet to hear breathed, "…not for forever?"

"Leo!" hissed Donnie, elbowing him sharply without taking his wide eyes off of Carol.

Carol shook her head. "No, not for forever. This is a punishment for my daughter for wandering off into the city without somebody with her, not for you boys for bringing her back. Telling April she can't be friends with someone ain't my parenting style, anyway."

Oh, no.

They all looked like they were going to cry now.

Carol shifted her grip on April slightly and held out her now-free arm in invitation.

The four boys stumbled over their own feet as they rushed over, and then Carol found herself patting shells and getting nuzzled by little heads and struggling to stay more or less upright under roughly 240 pounds of sobbing, chirping turtle.

Wait, no- 180 pounds of turtle. Donnie hadn't thrown his entire weight at her like the other three, but even he had reached around and grabbed onto Carol's arm from the side, clinging tightly to her jacket sleeve and sniffling.

Not how she'd expected the evening to play out when she'd taken April out to the park, frankly.

Still, Carol murmured reassurances as she let them cry themselves out, and even April joined in after laughing wetly. On instinct, she found herself scritching Raphie's shell, then pressing a kiss to Mikey's forehead, then letting Leo bury his face in her shoulder. She even caught Donnie's watery eyes and tried to convey as much warmth as she could with a small smile.

Donnie gave her a wobbly smile in return before ducking his face into her sleeve, kneading it between his fingers.

After a good few moments, the boys started pulling themselves back together, and Carol made sure to stay put as they stepped back.

"Heh," managed Leo. "Sorry 'bout crying on you, Ms. O'Neil."

His brothers nodded in agreement.

"You're just fine, sweethearts," Carol told them truthfully. "Do you boys have a place to stay?"

"Mm-hmm." Raphie nodded. Then, with a shrug, "We live with our Pop in the…well, in the sewers."

"We keep our part of it very clean," added Donnie quickly. "We have our own rooms, and even several amenities we've found and taken home, such as furniture, a projector, and even Jupiter Jim movies!"

Leo flexed and grinned at Carol as if he hadn't just been bawling his eyes out into her jacket. "And nothing ever gets in without our say-so!"

"S-so it's okay if April wants to come visit sometimes!" Mikey finished, eyes wide and pleading.

"As long as you aren't running around on your own without even a place to sleep," Carol conceded. She…really wasn't sure she liked the idea of these bright boys living in the sewers with only humankind's refuse to claim as their own-

-oh, who was she kidding? She hated it.

Still, they seemed content enough with their lot at the moment, they didn't seem to be in any imminent danger, and Carol was, quite frankly, exhausted from the events of the past few hours, so instead of pressing the issue right then, she said, "April and I should be getting back home, and so should you."

"See you soon?" asked Mikey, giving Carol some of the biggest puppy-dog eyes she'd ever seen.

"Of course!" declared April.

"Not too soon, though," Carol reminded, pushing herself to her feet. "Remember, two weeks. You'll be lucky if we even let you out of our sight, little missy!"

April grinned nervously. "Because I'm your favorite daughter and you love me very much?"

"That, too, but mostly because you are so grounded!" Carol said, leveling a stern look at her.

April sighed. "Figured."

And as April took Carol's hand, and as the children waved their goodbyes, and as the two humans started walking/limping to the park, and as the turtles retreated through the manhole, and as Carol fished out her phone to message the rest of the search party, Carol smirked at April. "You can tell both me and your daddy about everything that happened today once we get home."

April grimaced. "Awww, what?"

"I'll help convince him those boys aren't some kind of imaginary friends, but other than that, you're on your own."

Carol chuckled as April groaned and buried her head in her free hand.

…and maaaybe she squeezed her daughter's hand as her adrenaline rush faded.

She was just glad April was there with her and okay enough to squeeze back.

〜

April O'Neil was not lost.

She pumped her fists excitedly as Momma made her way to an out-of-the-way picnic table, nearly buzzing right out of her skin as she waited.

Momma chuckled and took her sweet time sitting down, then grinned at April. "And that's two weeks. Have fun, and stay close to the park this time, okay, hon?"

"Okay, Momma!"

And April was off like a bullet, tackling a flash of green in the bushes and sending them all to the ground in a tangle of laughing limbs.

#rosie writes #rottmnt #tmnt #will i be able to write my beloved stick figures now?#i don't know man i'm chasing the barest scraps of serotonin rn and right now the turtles are giving me serotonin #gah i'm tired lmao #april o'neil #michelangelo rottmnt #raphael rottmnt #donatello rottmnt #leonardo rottmnt #splinter rottmnt #carol o'neil #i really hope i'm tagging properly orz #oh here's a tag i can't believe has to exist:#tcest dni

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