#how to remove chlorine

[aqualiseshowerfilter]

The Ultimate Guide to Shower Filters to Remove Toxic Chemicals

Discover the secrets to healthier showers with our comprehensive guide on shower filters! Learn how to remove toxic chemicals, combat hard water, and improve hair and skin health. Dive in for expert advice and make every shower a rejuvenating experience.

Water purification systems When it comes to maintaining a healthy lifestyle, water plays a crucial role. We use water not only for drinking but also for various household activities such as cooking, cleaning, and bathing. However, what most people are not aware of is that the water coming into our homes may contain harmful chemicals and impurities that can have negative effects on our health.…

[piratecaptainscaptainpirates]

Primer on writing Ed's hair care!

I love writing about Ed's hair! He has lots of beautiful hair, and it's obviously very well taken-care-of. I love reading fics that include Ed's hair care routines, too, but I know that a lot of white authors might not be confident about writing a man of color caring for his hair.

So, I wanted to put out a quick cheat sheet to help! This isn't an in-depth guide, but I hope it's a good primer so you can confidently include scenes touching on Ed's hair care. I really recommend checking out some natural hair subreddits if you want to go more in-depth so you can get ideas for the everyday frustrations and styles Ed might have.

Common misconceptions:

Ed will not need to wash his hair as often as you might assume he should. Natural hair textures tend to get very dry and brittle when washed too frequently because over-washing removes protective oils from our scalp and hair and dries it out. Ed probably only needs to wash his hair a couple times a week at most (he'll have figured out what works for him and his hair). This doesn't mean he's dirty or unclean, and it doesn't mean he won't shower or clean himself - he'll just probably put his hair up in a shower cap to keep it dry when he showers on days that aren't wash days.

Ed's hair care will look different than Stede's, and if he wants to let Stede help him care for his hair, he'll probably need to teach him how. Ed might have different brushes for detangling and styling his hair, and they'll definitely look different from Stede's. He also won't be able to use the same products as Stede does, or he might damage or over-dry his hair because many hair products meant for white/straight hair will over-strip the oils from natural hair.

A few things to avoid: Ed's hair is always depicted in the show as clean, well-styled, and perfectly presentable. It is not wild, untamed, or unmanageable just because it's got some texture.

Everyday care!

On the daily, Ed will probably rely on a few products to help him keep his hair looking beautiful. Coconut/castor oil is a go-to for locking in moisture (he can also use moisturizing creams or sprays in a modern AU), twisting creams and butters will help him style his hair into twists and braids, detangling sprays and/or creams help with bad hair days, and a curl-defining spray will help him get his hair looking great in the mornings.

On wash days, Ed will want to use a hydrating shampoo and a nourishing conditioner. Between wash days, leave-in conditioners will help him keep his hair moisturized and control frizz (leave-in conditioners don't get rinsed out, and he'll typically apply them after lightly wetting his hair).

Ed will likely want to put his hair into a protective style before bed so it doesn't get tangled and frizzy during the night. Putting his hair up in a sleep bonnet can help protect his hair while he sleeps, but as a fellow guy with longer hair, I can guess he won't like how he'll wake up with a bunch of his hair looking and feeling flat from sleeping on it. Putting his hair up in braids or twists are great ways to protect it while he sleeps so he wakes up with defined, happy hair! Pro-tip: he probably knows that wetting his hair before putting it into protective styles will help define his curls.

Around the water!

In canon settings or in AUs where Ed lives on or visits the beach, hair care is especially important! Salt air and swimming in the ocean can be very hard on natural hair, and Ed will want to be diligent about moisturizing to help control frizz and keep his hair from drying out.

Before swimming, if he can, there are a few things Ed can do to keep his hair happy. Natural hair really absorbs water, so wetting it before a swim can limit the amount of saltwater (or, in a pool, chlorine) his hair is able to soak up. It's also a good idea to put his hair in a protective style like braids before swimming.

After being in the water, again, Ed will want to wet his hair! After a swim in salt water, rinsing his hair with cool fresh water will keep his hair much happier.

If he's going to be swimming a lot, Ed will want to be very intentional with keeping his hair moisturized! Leave-in conditioners will be his best friend.

Why does this matter?

For people of color, our hair really matters. Our hair is an important way we express ourselves and feel connected to our culture. And controlling natural hair is one way that colonized societies continue to oppress and marginalize people of color. We're often policed and exoticized for our hair - like how the rich assholes on the party boat in s1e5 tried to touch Ed's beard without his permission. Taking care with how we depict Ed's hair isn't just fun and interesting, it helps make this fandom a more welcoming, inclusive space for fans of color.

[mamayan]

Yaannnn!! Congrats on your milestone! ʕ⇀ᴥ↼ʔ♡ This event is so cool!! It’s creative, I really like it kekeke

My prompts are 9, 67, 92, 99 for Nanami Kento please?? ( x fem!reader)

Thank yoouu ( ˘ ³˘)♥

Finally! Haha! Bang! You’ve been shot!

Nanami Kento

tw: NSFW • Obsessive/Possessive Themes • Implied Kidnapping/Imprisonment • Implied Forced Relationship • Dark Themes • Fem! Reader • Dubcon • Fingering (F) • Sex (M)(F) • Yandere • Punishment

wc: 1960

He sometimes wished it could be different.

The air is frozen as he walks farther into the room, the scent of chlorine overpowering and burning his nose as he clicks his tongue and moves towards the back wall. Hundreds of stainless steel metal doors rest closed, numbered placards to the right of each one. Most are blank, but a few towards the right hand side have a few code words scribbled in messy writing on them. Nanami strides towards one such door, your name standing out due to the pristine hand writing on the card.

He takes his time removing his jacket and tie, rolling up his sleeves before his glasses and wrist watch follow onto the table off to the side. The latch to the door clicks, audibly signaling it’s opening as cool air rushes out. He grips the handle that greets him as he opens it, pulling out the table hooked to a rolling system which allows it to be removed from the wall.

He really did wish it could be different. His stoic face almost bored as he gazes down at you, your body curled and shaking on its side while you whimper brokenly like a scratched record.

You flinch when a drastically different temperature touches you, his body heat almost burning against your chilled flesh as you cry out.

“Shh…” he hushes, voice low and soft as he gently helps you sit up, pulling your trembling figure into his arms as he slides one around your torso and the other under your thighs to lift you up into the air against him. “Good girl, I’ve got you now.” He recognizes the irony of his words, no doubt irritated he uttered them to begin with but… he can’t deny how good it feels to have you clinging to him like a life line at the moment.

He knows it won’t last. He’s not optimistic this alone is enough to crush your spirit in the slightest, though it truly is a grim punishment in its own uniquely sick way.

“Na-Nanami,” you croak his name in a voice clearly hoarse from screaming.

He hadn’t left you long enough for any permanent damage to set in, but you were certainly becoming feverish as he warms you with his body heat now.

He chose a plain metal folding chair to sit, positioning you to straddle his lap while he helped you lean against his chest. His large calloused hands card through your stiff locks, the cold having hardened the strands.

“—m’sorry…” he hates how it affects him, the little sniffle and your painful tone while you apologize. He wishes it were different, and it could be when you stopped being so stubborn. He’s silent as he rubs your back. The exposed skin darkened in some areas, chilled more than the rest, cold burns could hurt just as badly as those caused by heat. He was even more gentle as his fingers traced over those spots, already noting the supplies he’d need to to use to help you heal properly.

Your tears seemed to melt with the frost on your body as you sobbed, numb arms moving to curl around his thick neck where he radiated heat. Your face pressed into the crook of his neck, and he leaned down further to hold you close to him while you cried. He didn’t say a word, only lightly patted your head and listened.

“—sorry ‘Nami, please, don’t please, m’sorry, hck,” it broke his heart to hear you cry like so, made him feel sicker than he knew he already was as he placed sweet kisses to your temple while you soaked up the warmth his body offered. The only warmth he was offering to you.

When you began to feel your extremities again, able to shift and wiggle without feeling like a mummy encased in wrappings, you clawed at him. Arms too weak to actually drag him down, but he obliged when you tugged and allowed you to connect your cool lips with his own. His eyes narrow, hating how the tears on your face and the desperation in your gaze made his slacks tighter. You should be smiling and teasing him, whispering naughty words in his ear after he grumbles about his shit day at work.

That’s all he ever wanted truly.

Instead your actions are fueled by something primal and gut wrenching, a display of submission and asking of mercy he doesn’t stop. He lets you slip your tongue in his mouth, groaning and helping your eager little hand pawing at his belt buckle, lifting you into his arms so he could shift and drop his pants while still keeping your mouths connected. He keeps you pressed close, aware the chill still affects you and happy to grab his jacket and bring it over your shoulders while you tremble and pop the buttons of his dress shirt open. He sighs into the kiss, turning your eager desperation into a slow burn to warm you up and silently show the affection he wants to shower you in. He sucks on your small tongue, taking control as he settles your exposed cunt against his throbbing cock, the heat from it nestled against your folds while your hips twitch. He doesn’t move yet, just kisses you languidly while you sigh, taunt muscles slowly but surely relaxing as drowsiness sets in as the adrenaline and fear fade. He lets his hands move, careful for the areas tender from the chill, moving over your skin and heating you a little more as he squeezes and rubs you. It’s difficult not to like it, the way he smells and the warm muscular body you rest against weakly. Your mind is too fuzzy and clouded to fight or even want to as he slips both hands onto the globes of your ass, massaging gently and moving down to your thighs and copying. Eventually his fingers creep closer, mouth moving sensually against your own and invading your mind with lust and the promise of warmth and pleasure. He’s spreading your pussy open without resistance, feeling the front pressed against him while he runs two fingers down the back where your hole leaks pitifully.

“Such a good girl…” he murmurs against your lips, chuckling when you chase his own as he pulls back, “Getting wet just for me.” He resumes the kiss as you tangle your fingers into his hair and tug, his groan deep and reverberating into your mouth. He pressed one finger inside of you, swallowing your gasp of pleasure as he wiggles the digit deep and then joins it with another as he fills you.

Your back arches, bare chest pressing further into his own as he slicks his fingers with your growing arousal and fucks you with them, calculating each thrust with just the right depth and strength to have you mewling for him.

Nanami breaks the kiss to trail his lips lower, down your jaw to your neck where he sucks the sensitive skin into his mouth. Your breathy moans are music to his ears as the capillaries easily burst under his tender nibbles, marking you up as he curls his fingers and makes you sing.

“‘Nami, m’gonna cum—,” he knew even if you didn’t say it, but it makes him proud you remembered he likes it when you tell him.

“Cum for me sweet girl,” he whispers, groaning when you clench tight around his fingers and gush, making a mess in his lap as you sigh and wiggle your hips, fingers digging into his chest while he works you down from your high softly.

He pulls his fingers out slowly, your pussy eager to hold onto him still as brings the sticky coating on his fingers up to his mouth to clean noisily while you watch.

You always looked so adorable after an orgasm, watery eyes half lidded and face slacken.

“You did so good, baby, I’m very proud of you.” You shiver at his words, pupils dilating and it makes something dark inside him swell with pleasure. He’s cleaning his fingers and then kissing you, forcing the taste of your cum into your mouth now as he circles your hips with one arm. Nanami easily lifts you up, using his free hand to position the fat mushroom tip of his cock at your entrance and then allowing gravity to do the work.

You don’t have enough strength to lift up and off him, too weak to stop each thick inch from breaching your walls as you choke and gasp into his mouth.

He relishes the way you grip him, the intimacy and closeness of having you pressed so tightly against him. Nanami grunts as he bottoms out, as deep inside your pretty cunt as possible, while you whine and cutely nip at his bottom lip.

“That’s it sweet girl,” his hips jerk up, bouncing you as he nudges up against your cervix, “you took every inch.”

It’s slow, Nanami leaves you to breathe and merely hold onto him while he lifts your ass and fucks you. His mouth filthy as he kisses you and groans your name, heating your body inside out as he pushes his cock in and out you, dragging the girthy rod against your sensitive walls.

“We could’ve avoided all this you know,” he mumbles darkly, teeth skimming your ear as you gasp and moan, “I could’ve been running you a bath already after I made you cum until you saw stars, but you wanted to be a brat today.” He hisses it into your ear, uncaring as tears well and spill down your cheeks again, your little moans and sniffles not affecting your tight pussy wrapped around him.

His grip is firm as he snakes his free hand around your neck, grip loose so you could breathe unhindered as he tilts your head up to look him in the eye.

The submission in your gaze is addictive, but he knows it won’t last for very long.

“If you pull another stunt like that,” he jerks you down onto his cock roughly, amused how you scramble and try to sit up from the intense pressure he placed inside you, “I’ll lock you in here for a week.” The threat snaps something inside you, clear as day to him your dislike for this space as you shake your head and murmur pleas while he bounces you on him. His pace not slowing as you cup his cheeks and promise to be good, “‘Nami I won’t again, be so good for you, I promise.” Your watery eyes and hips which struggle to gather the strength to meet his own are so precious it has his balls drawing tight, lips pressing together as he grips you tight and fucks you harder. He drinks in the moans you release and promises to him, feeling how your walls clench and pull him in deeper.

“M’coming ‘Nami, fuck, please,” you’re so desperate and needy like this he wishes you’d just stay this way forever, clawing at his shoulders and crying his name.

“Take it all baby,” he grunts, cock twitching and filling your cunt seconds later as you come apart around him.

He holds you close as you both come down, keeping your trembling body lifted against him to avoid your thigh muscles from straining too much.

You’re asleep a minute later, eyes closed and mouth lax as you pass out.

Nanami gently stands and begins cleaning up, keeping you in his arms the entire time as he fixes you both up enough to leave and return home.

He doesn’t believe this will be your last escape attempt nor trip to the morgue, he’s not optimistic like that unfortunately. He wishes this could be different though.

Post dividers/@cafekitsune

@desi-the-blue-eyed-kakushi

[joesbnbg]

cruel summer

part one of everybody wants to rule the world

in which the girls get ice cream, robin has a meet-cute, steve throws a pool party, and everybody gets high [4.4k words]

The summer of ‘85 in Hawkins, Indiana was a scorching one. Tarmac sizzled under the butter yellow sun, cotton candy clouds spun on the saccharine sweet taste of summer freedom. Perfect for soaking sunburnt bodies with chlorinated water at the Hawkins public pool; perfect for long bike rides against the wind, speed and sun burning the rubber of the thin tires; the perfect weather for ice cream. 

Which was right where April and DJ were headed, AC blasting in April's beat up ‘74 Chevy Vega, sun reflecting off its faded orange hood as the two teenagers drove towards the Starcourt Mall. Blondie blasted from the speakers and April sang along lazily as DJ chattered over Debbie Harry with unprecedented speed about everything and nothing at all, fumbling with the fringes of her cut off shorts. 

April's fingers drummed against the steering wheel as she turned into the crowded parking lot, eyes scanning for a place to park as DJ craned her neck towards the entrance, watching couples and teenagers and families alike clamber inside the mall like sweaty zombies who sought cold air instead of brains. 

April pulled into the closest spot she could find, which of course wasn’t close at all, and quickly turned the car off, as ready to escape the summer heat as the rest of her town. She pushed her sunglasses back onto the crown of her head, black frames against copper hair, watching as DJ snaked out of the car window, falling to the ground with an ungraceful thump. April's passenger side door hadn’t worked since she had bought the car over a year ago, but DJ still hadn't gotten the hang of an elegant landing. 

“Let’s go,” April said with an impatient smile, head tilted towards the mall. DJ grumbled, wiping bits of rocks from the indents they had created on her palms as she scrambled to her feet, the old canvas of her black converse tearing slightly at her movement. 

“I thought when you got a car it would come with less injuries,” DJ said, catching up to her best friend as they began towards the building, beat-up shoes moving in tandem against the blacktop. “I’m fighting for my life out here.” April huffed out a laugh, adjusting the strap of her purse on her shoulder. 

“If you were behind the wheel, we’d be fighting for our lives every five minutes. I much prefer these odds.” April responded, pushing through the glass double doors and into Starcourt, a well welcomed whoosh of cool air greeting her. DJ sputtered as she removed the wind blown hair from her face, tucking dark strands behind her ears.

“What, because I went airborne? That was one time.” DJ said as they rounded a corner, making April laugh again. 

“Two times.” 

“One and a half. Only the front two wheels came off the ground the first time.”

“I don’t know if you’re aware of this, Dot, but a car’s wheels aren’t supposed to come off the ground ever. Front or back.”

“They won’t be saying that when cars can fly.”

“Emphasis on ‘can.’ My car is not built for that. No car is built for that. Honestly, I’m starting to think you might have a better shot getting your pilot license.” April said as they walked into Scoops Ahoy, Hawkins’ newest and nicest nautical themed creamery. DJ whistled at the boy behind the counter whose face perked up slightly at the sight of the girls. How this schmuck in an ill-fitting sailor’s suit had managed to win over her best friend was still a mystery to her, but she tabled the thought for later as they approached the counter. 

“Too expensive. Yo, Harrington! How do we feel about another driving lesson?” She called at him, a grin tugging her pink lips upward. Steve shook his head vigorously as he moved towards the tubs of ice cream, head bent as he scooped USS Butterscotch onto a wafer cone. 

“Absolutely not,” He said, and although amusement colored his tone, it was clear he was being completely serious. He stood upright, passing the cone to April, who took it with a bright smile, one he shared as their brown eyes met. 

“Well, take it up with your girlfriend, because apparently, she’d rather sacrifice my palms than get her wizard cousin to fix the car.” DJ said, holding up her scratched up hand as April rolled her eyes.

“Okay, first off, he’s not a wizard, he’s a thirteen year old who happens to know a lot about science, and secondly, he’s not a fucking mechanic. He’s just a kid.” She shot back. DJ shrugged, taking a cone of cookies and cream from Steve’s outstretched hand. 

“Close enough,” She said as she licked a dribbler off the side of the cone. “But I’m pretty sure I saw him blow up Older Sinclair’s blender, so really, what’s the difference?” DJ asked, dropping a loose quarter from her pocket into the tip jar, which made Steve involuntarily grimace. 

“He’s also not even here,” April reminded her. “He’s at that science thing for another three weeks.” 

“Camp Know-Nothing or whatever,” Steve added.

“Camp Know-Where,” April corrected. 

“You want a bandaid for that battle scar?” Steve asked, eyebrows raised and eyes focused as DJ inspected the broken skin on her hand. DJ shrugged like it was nothing, because things like this were always happening to her. Steve turned, opening the partition to the back room, calling towards the coworker neither April or DJ realized he had. “Robin, can you get the first aid kit?” 

“What, did you sprain your wrist slinging ice cream, Stevie?” The voice called back, and Steve rolled his eyes, gritting his teeth with annoyance as he turned back towards his friends. April trained her eyes on the floor and sunk her teeth into her bottom lip to keep from laughing, but DJ couldn’t help the snicker that escaped her. 

“Yeah, Stevie, hurt your little baby wrist?” DJ said, pouting at him. Steve’s eyes narrowed as he turned towards the back again. 

“It was for my friend actually, but forget it, because she’s being an absolute dick right now.” He said, and this time April couldn’t stop herself from laughing into her ice cream. “Let her bleed.” 

“Are you allowed to curse in uniform? Isn’t that, like, against the company image or whatever?” DJ asked, clearly getting more joy out of teasing the boy than the quickly melting treat in her hand. 

“Company image? What is this, Disneyland?” Steve retorted. 

“What? King Steve wasn’t an animated Disney classic? Since when?” DJ replied, eyes widening. She laughed, loudly this time, but all confidence and joy seemed to drain from her face as Steve’s coworker stepped out from the back room, first aid kit in hand. 

“Who needs the first aid kit?” The girl asked. “Had to look through, like, seven different cabinets to find it. I’m also pretty sure the instructions on this thing are in Russian.” She frowned, head bent as she examined it with bright blue eyes. DJ gulped, trying to steady herself, and April and Steve shared a knowing, amused look. 

“Robin, this is April, my girlfriend, and DJ, April's leech. April, DJ, this is Robin.” Steve said, and Robin looked up at them for the first time, eyes training on DJ’s just as DJ’s had trained on Robin’s. Pink rose to her freckled cheeks and she quickly looked down again, focusing on opening the first aid kit again. 

“Hand,” DJ blurted, pointing it out towards Robin, who looked at it like DJ had just shoved a knife in her direction. 

“She hurt her hand,” April quickly supplied. “Climbing out of my car, because the door doesn’t work.” 

“Oh,” Robin said, clearly nervous herself as she awkwardly opened the kit. She pulled out a bandaid and when she grabbed DJ’s hand to inspect it closer, DJ held her breath. Delicately, Robin placed the bandaid over the spot, patting the brunette’s hand lightly as she let it go. The air was thick with the smell of vanilla and tension, and Robin cleared her throat, stepping into the back room again. 

“...Huh,” Steve said after a moment, head tilted in thought. “I mean, she’s usually awkward, but she’s not that awkward.” 

“I wasn’t-” 

“I didn’t mean you, shit-for-brains.” Steve said, eyes on DJ, whose eyebrows knit in frustration. 

“I should slap that stupid hat right off your head.” DJ replied. 

“You’d be doing me a favor.” Steve said, and April chuckled. 

"How long has she been working here for?" April asked. "I've never seen her around." Steve shrugged.

"Dunno. She just sort of showed up and started insulting me."

"I like her already." DJ said, and Steve rolled his eyes.

"Clearly." He muttered.

“So, Stevie-” 

“Don’t call me that.” 

“Stevie, you know it’s really hot out today.” 

“Mhm.” 

“And you know what people like to do when it’s hot out?” Steve stared at DJ, unamused.

“Go inside and leave other people alone?” 

“Go swimming,” April supplied, and Steve turned towards her, raising an eyebrow before wagging a finger between the girls. 

“You planned this, didn’t you?” He asked, before turning his attention back to DJ. “Don’t you have a pool?” 

“Yeah, but you have something I don’t: absentee parents.” DJ said with a grin, and Steve glared at her, playing with his ice cream scooper. 

“Gee. Thanks. Rub it in my face, why don’t you?” 

“I’m just saying,” DJ continued, leaning on the counter to get closer to him, “We could have a super-fun-no-parents-pool-party to kick off the summer? I’ll get the drinks!” 

“You look younger than Henderson.” Steve shot back, and DJ grinned brightly at him. 

“Okay, then you get the drinks.” DJ amended, and Steve smiled with disbelief, shaking his head slightly. 

“Is that a yes?” April asked, looking at the boy hopefully. Steve rolled his eyes before finally nodding his head in agreement. 

“Fine,” He said. “Fine. Seven o’clock.” DJ broke out into a sly grin. 

“You’re the best, Harrington.” She said, and Steve rolled his eyes again, waving his hand. 

“Whatever.” He said as April dug into her purse for her car keys, extending them out towards her friend. 

“DJ, why don’t you go ahead and get the car started? I’ll be out right behind you.” 

“I don’t think the good patrons of Scoops Ahoy will appreciate the make-out session in the middle of their nautical ice cream experience,” DJ said as she took the keys, twisting them around her finger. 

“Shut up!” April said as Steve ducked his head down, blushing. 

“Wear protection!” DJ called as she headed towards the exit. “I am too young to be an aunt.” April laughed, turning back towards Steve, who gave her a smile. 

“So…” April started, leaning closer to him, “I was thinking…” 

“Oh yeah?” Steve said, grin growing with the girl’s words. 

“We should invite Robin to the pool party tonight.” Steve’s smile faded as he crossed his arms, looking at the girl in front of him. 

“Seriously?” He said, blinking. “Why?” 

“Because!” April responded, lowering her voice slightly. “She and DJ were really hitting it off back there.” 

“That was hitting it off? I’ve seen babies communicate more gracefully than that.” Steve argued, but April pressed forward. 

“There’s something there. Invite her, please.” 

“How do you even know she’s a lesbian?” Steve whispered, and April's eyes darted towards the back room, making sure Robin wasn’t listening. 

“I don’t,” April said, “But I have a feeling if we invite her, it’ll be a good thing. Come on, please?” Steve was silent, thoughtful as he weighed his options. “You know,” April said, closing the space between her and the boy even more, “If DJ has a friend, or somebody, she won’t be as interested in what we’re doing.” Steve stared at her blankly. “Do you understand what I’m trying to say to you, Steve?” 

April watched as the idea registered in his brain, eyes filling with recognition and mouth opening slightly. “Oh,” He said slowly, starting to break out into a thoughtful grin. “Okay. Okay.” 

“See?” April said, smiling, too. “Invite her.” Steve groaned, looking towards the back room, nose scrunching with disgust at the girl who sat inside of it. “Come on,” April pushed back Steve’s cowlick, moving the chocolate colored hair out of his face. “Please.” 

Steve huffed. “Fine.” He said. “Fine. God, I just do whatever you two tell me to, don’t I?” 

“Yeah,” April agreed. “You must be real fucking whipped, Harrington.” Steve rolled his eyes. 

“Get the fuck out of here. I’ll see you at seven.”

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When seven o’clock rolled around that evening, April and DJ found themselves once again inside April's car, bikinis on under cut off shorts and big graphic tees. The sun was dipping below the trees, filtering through the leaves and houses as they drove through Hawkins, the cool breeze that accompanied the late hour playing with the ends of their hair. 

“I wonder what else we could get Steve to do because he’s in love with you.” DJ said, watching the clouds pass by as they drove, hand draping lazily out the window.

“He’s not in love with me.” April said quickly, and DJ quirked up an eyebrow. 

“What do you mean? He’s definitely in love with you.” DJ said. “I mean, come on, who else would put up with me just to date you? Not many people.” 

“Found that out the hard way.” April added. “But can we not… we’re just taking it slow for now, okay?” 

“O…kay,” DJ said finally, a little lost. “I wonder what we could get him to do because he likes you so much,” She amended. “Do you think he’d kill someone, or is that, like, a six month anniversary present kind of deal?” 

“Jury’s still out on that one,” April replied after a moment. 

“No, the jury definitely thinks he’s innocent. They’d think a man who uses that much hairspray probably wouldn’t have any brain cells left to murder ‘cause the aerosol in the can would have killed them all.” 

“Okay, he doesn’t use that much hairspray,” April argued, although she barely even believed herself. 

“Have you ever seen him without hairspray before, or are you guys not that serious yet? Does that also come with the six month anniversary murder?” DJ kept going. “Like, maybe he murders someone because they’ve seen him without hairspray, or maybe they discontinue it so he murders whoever makes - or, I guess doesn’t make - the hairspray, or-” 

“Okay, we get it.” April said as they turned onto Steve’s block, pulling into the empty spot in front of his house, right beside a tree with a branch convenient enough for DJ to use to haul herself out of the car. 

She managed the escape a little better this time, huffing as April retrieved her things from the back of the car. DJ frowned at the sight of an unfamiliar bike resting in the driveway as they got closer, nudging April to make sure she saw it, too. 

“Is that Steve’s?” DJ asked, and April stared at it, doing her best to pretend she didn’t know who it belonged to. 

“Hmm, I don’t know.” She said. “Maybe it’s one of the kids.” 

“He’d invite the kids to a pool party where there’d be alcohol?” DJ said incredulously. “Mr. Mother-of-the-Year? I don’t think so.” 

“Well, who knows?” April asked as she knocked on the large wooden door. “They like to just randomly appear in places. Could be one of them.” It was a few more seconds until the door swung open, and Steve stood behind it, looking far more comfortable in clothes that fit his body correctly. 

“Retired from the navy so soon?” DJ teased. “I thought they were about to promote you.” 

“Shut up,” Steve replied before kissing April in greeting as the girls walked inside. 

“Where’s mine?” DJ asked, puckering her lips at him. He made a face at her as they walked through the house. Music played softly on a speaker outside as Steve made a pit stop in the kitchen, passing cold beer cans to the girls before sliding the glass door to the backyard open. 

“Hey, guys!” DJ almost dropped her drink at the sight of the sandy haired girl in front of her, laying out in a navy blue two piece, nursing a beer. 

“You guys remember Robin,” Steve said, gesturing at her as if it wasn’t April's idea to invite her in the first place. 

“Yeah!” April said brightly, hoping her excited attitude would draw away from the fear growing in her best friend’s eyes. “It’s good to see you. Isn’t it, DJ?” She turned towards her friend expectantly, whose green eyes only grew wider. 

“I-it’s great! Or, or cool! Or, it’s very normal. Awesome. Fun…tastic to see you.” DJ sputtered on her words, drawing a quiet laugh out of Steve. Robin didn’t seem phased as she took another sip of her beer. 

“You know, I think we had English together sophomore year,” She said, eyes focusing on April, who smiled with recognition. 

“Yeah! I think you’re right. God, Mr. Shipman was an absolute trip.” April replied, twisting her hair up into a bun. 

“I took English!” DJ offered, and Steve moved towards her, patting her on the shoulder. 

“Take a lap, champ.” He said, and DJ nodded, still flustered as she moved to dip her toes in the deep end of the pool. “That went so badly I hope she doesn’t drown herself.” Steve muttered softly against April's ear, causing her to stifle a laugh. 

“So how long have you two been going out?” Robin asked. DJ was still on the other side of the pool making splashing sounds with her feet that were loud enough to cause a scene. Steve and April looked at each other.

“Like… five months at this point?” Steve asked, and April shrugged in agreement. Robin looked between them with a smile.

“How exactly did you pull her, Harrington? She seems a little too cerebral for you.” Robin tilted her head, smile taking form into a shit-eating grin as April giggled and Steve’s face dropped. 

“That’s what I’m saying!” DJ shouted from the other side of the pool. 

“Well, considering the fact that I don’t even know what ‘cerebral’ means, yeah, you’re probably right.” Steve said coolly. “We met through her cousin-” 

“Her cousin who is a child.” DJ added in a yell, cutting Steve off. 

“Who I, y’know, look out for sometimes-” 

“He’s a glorified babysitter who doesn’t get paid.” DJ continued, and Steve turned towards her, placing his hands on his hips. 

“Shut the fuck up, Dorothy.” Steve shouted as DJ padded her way back over to them, wet feet slapping on the concrete. 

“Make me, Harrington!” DJ gestured towards him and he moved ever-so-slightly before April put a hand on his arm, redirecting the conversation back to where it had started. 

“I tutored him.” April said. “And to be honest, I thought he was a major douche. But he actually turned out to be a big softie.” 

“Is that why he can’t get it-” Before DJ could finish, Steve turned towards her and pushed her in the pool, causing all three of the girls to yelp as DJ landed smack in the middle of the water. 

“Jesus, Steve!” April exclaimed, though she was laughing. Robin was laughing, too, and Steve cracked a smile, guzzling the last of his beer. 

“Took care of that problem, huh?” Steve said as DJ spluttered, spitting chlorinated water out of her mouth and pushing her sopping wet hair out of her eyes.

“Not fair!” DJ exclaimed, although she was smiling, too. Before she knew what was happening, a whiz of a blue bathing suit was making its way into the pool with a whoop, landing beside her. Once she had popped back up out of the water, Robin smiled at DJ, eyes reflecting the color of the pool. 

“Couldn’t leave you alone in here, could I?” Robin said, and DJ did her best to keep her body from short-circuiting. Still on land, April eyed Steve nervously, body tense as she waited for him to push her in, too. Steve stared at her, his hands on his hips. 

“I’ll at least give you the dignity of taking your clothes off first.” He said, eyes drifting towards DJ, whose large shirt was fanning around her like an underwater overcoat. 

“Gee, what a gentleman.” April grinned, stripping off her denim shorts and t-shirt to reveal an emerald green bikini underneath. Steve waited with amusement as April tossed them to the side, then scooped her up bridal style and tossed her into the pool before chucking off his own shirt and cannon-balling after her. 

DJ swam towards the shallow end to peel off her now soaking denim shorts and t-shirt, tossing them with a loud plop onto the side of the pool. She felt a lot lighter in just her maroon bikini. 

Once the group was officially cooled off and fully chlorinated, they removed their soaking bodies to lay out by the side of the pool, each nursing cold beers, condensation dripping onto the already wet concrete. 

“So,” Robin said, a grin plastered on her face as she reached her free hand towards her bag, “I brought something that might make today a little more interesting.” Steve raised an eyebrow, his interest piquing. Robin whipped a baggie out of her purse, holding it up for the friends to see, and April laughed. 

“Magic oregano,” DJ said, making April laugh harder as Steve stood up, grabbing the bag from Robin’s outstretched fingers. 

“Brownie points for Buckley.” Steve moved towards the nearby table to begin rolling the joint. 

“I didn’t know you smoked, Robin,” April said, prompting the girl to shrug. Steve scoffed.

“Are you kidding? Look at her. Her nails are painted black and she’s in band.” Robin made a face as both April and DJ laughed. 

“Okay, okay, fair,” April conceded. 

“I wouldn’t think you guys smoked,” Robin said. “DJ, maybe. Steve, sure. Definitely not you, April.” 

April shrugged. “I like to have fun.” 

“She likes to have a break from talking all the time.” Steve translated, licking the rolling paper. April grinned. 

“What does that mean?” Robin asked. 

“I go really quiet when I get high.” April explained, and DJ nodded enthusiastically. 

“Nonverbal, almost.” DJ added. “It’s really kind of funny.” 

“Wish you’d go nonverbal,” Steve muttered, and DJ’s head whipped towards him. 

“Do I have to remind you you’ve never won a fight, Harrington? Want to make that record zero to three?” DJ said, and Steve gave the girl a wary look, going the long way to avoid her as he moved towards Robin, who held her lighter outstretched towards him. “You’re lucky I don’t have that. All it would take is one jab of that fire in your direction and the amount of hairspray up in that wig of yours would make you go bald in an instant.” April couldn’t help but laugh as Steve flicked the lighter in DJ’s direction before bringing the joint to his lips, taking a puff. 

He handed it to April, who took a small drag and suppressed a cough as she handed it to Robin, who took a similar hit, who passed it to DJ, who held it to her lips far too long just to stop herself from thinking about the fact that her hand had brushed Robin’s. She coughed up a storm, handing the joint back to Steve, who laughed. 

“Little smaller next time, Wilkerson.” He advised, and she glared at him with watery eyes, trying to stop the coughs from coming out of her. They each took one more hit, then another, until a little less than half the joint was left, which Steve stubbed out to save for later. 

It didn’t take long until all of their brains were humming, tuned on the frequency of a certain kind of tranquilness that only came from joints like these. They all stared up at the sky, admiring the way the clouds went by, the shapes they made, the way they danced in the air. 

“This is nice.” Robin said. “I honestly wasn’t gonna come, but… this is nice.” 

“Yeah,” DJ agreed with a lazy smile. 

“If I’d have known you’d had weed up your sleeve, I would’ve invited you over a long time ago, Robin.” Steve said, turning towards her slightly. “Where’d you get it?” 

“You guys know Eddie Munson?” Robin asked. Steve frowned.

“Who?” He asked. 

“He’s a senior. He’s in that Dungeons and Dragons club, with the long hair? Looks like he could be straight out of Metallica, or something, and he’s kind of weird, but in a harmless way, and definitely nicer than he looks - but anyways, he sells weed, good weed, obviously, and my friend told me about him, and his prices aren’t too bad, so around last year, I started buying from him and was like ‘Oh! This is cool!’ and so I’ve kept going back and-”

“I think you've made your point.” Steve said, shutting the girl down before she could continue. DJ sat up, staring at him. 

“Let her speak.” Steve rolled his eyes as DJ laid back down again.

“So, anyways, yeah. I buy from Eddie. That was really the end of the story.” Robin said with a shrug. 

“I have such an urge to jump in the pool right now.” DJ said, eyes on the sunlight that danced across the water’s surface. 

“Don’t,” Steve warned, shielding his face from the sun with his arm, “You’re gonna get yourself killed.” 

“No, I’m not,” DJ argued. “And even if I did, you’re a lifeguard, right? So you could just save me or whatever.” Steve gave her a pointed look. 

“I’ll go in the pool with you!” Robin offered, sitting up in her own chair. DJ grinned, looking towards Steve again. 

“See? Two against one. April, you in?” April shook her head. 

“No, I’m good.” She said, eyes closed as Steve played with the ends of her hair. DJ shrugged, moving towards the edge of the pool.

“Okay, still two against one. That’s fine. Majority rules. But don’t worry, Mom, I won’t, like, backflip into the pool or anything.”

“You don’t know how to backflip.” 

“Yes, I do.” 

“No, you don’t.”

“Yes, I do.”

“Get in the pool before I push you in.” Steve said, and though he made no effort to move, DJ cannonballed into the pool without another moment’s hesitation. 

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i hope you guys enjoyed this part! these characters are so special to me and i'm having such a fun time with their dynamics :)

[ofthecaravel]

Heaven In Time

Chapter 1: Thoroughfare

Danny Wagner x Sam Kiszka

Summary: Danny, en route to California to find love, picked up small town runaway Sam on a Texas thoroughfare and has been on the road ever since. While Sam adjusts to life as himself, Danny's wondering if he's found love without even leaving the South.

Tags: Religious trauma, mentions of homophobia, Anxiety, very sweet little crushes, idk all very soft when its not Tense

Words: 5.4k

A/N: HEAVILYYYYYY inspired by Thoroughfare by Ethel Cain, even borrowed a lyric here and there. Any and all credit to my beloved Hayden. First chapter of ??? maybe 4?? but I haven't decided. There's going to be more mention of Sam's questionable Southern Baptist Christian upbringing in those and I understand that may not be everyone's cup of tea so feel free to scroll if that may be upsetting for you.

~~

“Do you think we’re gonna get arrested?”

Over the gentle splash of the thin, chlorinated water, Sam heard Danny’s long sigh. Usually he laughed at all of Sam’s misplaced little comments and queries, but sometimes he just sighed. Sam knew he didn’t mean anything harsh by it, but it definitely didn’t feel good. 

“Not if you don’t say anything,” Danny answered plainly. A smile ghosted his tired face as he rotated to face Sam, who stared back as he awkwardly bobbed with his long hair trailing behind him like a veil. After however many dusty miles and state lines they’d crossed, it always felt good when they had a motel to crash at instead of the cramped cabin of Danny’s pickup. And it felt twice as good when the motel had a pool, especially when it was nice and late at night and there was no one else around. Sam wasn’t much of a swimmer, but he was happy to tread water and watch Danny float. His broad chest would peek just over the surface of the water and his eyes would close while his dark curls moved like the fingers of lazy clouds. 

Yeah, Sam was happy to watch that. 

“It doesn’t feel right,” Sam murmured, watching his fingers flex anxiously under the water in the refracted view the harsh fluorescents provided. With the country sky full of nothing but mosquitoes and the occasional whistling breeze, the yellowing pool lights were the only thing illuminating them. Sam felt suddenly self conscious thinking of how washed out he must look in this rare moment where he was the one being watched. He turned to the side, only offering Danny his profile. 

“They won’t know the credit card ain’t mine until we’re in Arizona,” Danny insisted in a hushed voice. “And even then, I didn’t give the desk my real name. We’re golden if you can keep that mouth of yours shut. Can you do that for me, cowboy?”

“Sure I can.” Sam bristled, but knew Danny’s request was justified. Ever since Danny had taken pity on him and picked him up on that thoroughfare back in Texas, Sam never seemed to be able to do the right thing. He had gotten as far as he had in an attempt to remove himself from the suppressing influence of his uber religious hometown, but so far it seemed like he was still dragging it along with him. It was an embarrassing first impression to leave on someone as great as Danny was turning out to be, but he hadn’t left Sam behind yet, so Sam figured he must have some redeeming qualities that kept him around.

“Atta boy,” Danny smiled, his eyes closing as he lolled his head back and drew in a deep breath of the cool night air. “Christ alive, I needed this. How long do you think we drove today?”

“5 hours?” Sam guessed, thinking back on the day. “Felt longer ‘cause of the sun.”

“Damn that sun,” Danny cursed. “Burned the hell out of my nose, too.”

“We can get lotion or something at the next gas station,” Sam offered. Truthfully, he found the ruddy blush on Danny’s nose and freckled cheeks extremely flattering, but he knew it had to hurt. Growing up in Alabama, Sam knew a thing or two about sunburn.

“With what money?” Danny laughed humorlessly, sighing again and running a hand over his face. “Although at this point, I’d be willing to skip a dinner to get my hands on some lotion. Mm. Not that I don’t appreciate your presence, but...” 

Sam blinked blankly, feeling an implication pass him by like they often did. He didn’t say anything in return and sank a little further into the pool, trying not to feel even more stupid than he already did. Being tired certainly wasn’t helping, but he was really starting to feel the weight of all of his graceless actions from the past week pile on him as they swam in silence. Hopefully Danny would want to head up to their room soon and Sam could just try again the next day.  

Danny noticed Sam’s silence and opened his heavy eyes to observe him with a worried look. Sam’s neck was craned and the sharp point of his nose grazed the water as he continued to stare into the palms of his submerged hands. He was halfway to prayer by the looks of it, and Danny guessed that probably wasn’t too far from the truth. It was a state of mind Sam never really seemed to leave. Danny remembered the scandalized look on Sam’s face when they’d shared their first diner meal together and Danny had picked his fork right up and gotten to work when the waitress had brought their plates. Now he knew to wait and let Sam save them with a quick round of grace before eating. Sam had never asked for his hand to hold when doing it, but somewhere between the Texas border and New Mexico, Danny had offered it up and they’d been doing it that way ever since. It sure made it a hell of a lot more tolerable for Danny to wait for Sam’s long winded recitations with his slender hand in Danny’s. He really didn’t mind too much, especially after he’d begun collecting little glimpses of the seemingly excruciating evangelical life that Sam had left behind in Alabama. Danny didn’t pry, but there was a lot about Sam that he didn’t know. He watched Sam lit up in the pale, shifting luminance coming from the pool and realized with a strange, absent pang that he wanted to know. Maybe all of it, actually.

“Not a star in the sky,” Danny commented dreamily, tilting his neck back to stare at the pitch black sky after another long minute of staring at Sam left him feeling flushed. “It was always easy to pick ‘em out when I was on the farm, but I really have to squint when I’m in cities sometimes. It’s a crying shame.”

“We had to have all the lights out in town at a certain time so I always got to see the stars,” Sam replied in a small voice. “My brothers were always looking for Castor and Pollux, but we got lost after finding Orion every single time. Always forgot whether to look up or down or west or what.”

Sam smiled at the memory, remembering watching his older brothers bicker in whispers in front of the window while pressing fingers to the glass and eventually calling Sam in for help. Their parents fell asleep fast and heavy, so nights were usually when he and his siblings really got to be themselves. Sam found himself tired during the days almost all the time, but he’d carried his drooping eyelids with a bounce in his step. Even on the rare instances when he dozed off during study or services, he’d take a ruler to the knuckles with a smile. 

“I’ve always been partial to Orion,” Danny agreed, searching it out as he said it. “Probably because it’s easy to find and I’m a simple man when it comes to stuff like that.”

“You’re plenty smart,” Sam complimented. He finally lifted his head from his gloomy stance, his ear resting on his shoulder as he turned his smile on Danny. “Especially with maps. We’d be halfway to Argentina if I were the one navigating.”

“I wouldn’t mind that at all,” Danny laughed. “We can go there after we find love in California, how about that?”

“Perfect,” Sam complied, feeling a familiar sour rush of adrenaline when reminded of their end goal. It was ignorant to feel shocked over and over when he thought about it, especially considering that talk of Danny’s unknown Californian love were some of the first words Danny had ever said to him. Danny had pulled up next to Sam on the side of the road in his beat up pick up truck, told him not to run, and asked if he wanted to go see the West with him.

“‘Cause love’s out there,” Daniel had explained after Sam had hopped right in. “And I can’t leave it be.”

And Sam had agreed. Out of luck to spend and no more energy in his body to spend on walking, it was the perfect escape. It still was. It’s just that the more time he shared with Danny, the more he disliked the thought of Danny sharing time with anyone other than him. Sam was suddenly very sure he was greedy and selfish and wicked, and he made plans to pray on it after Danny had gone to sleep.

“Smart,” Danny echoed with an airy laugh, finally lifting his hair from the water and shaking his head slightly. “I don’t know about all that. If this were a movie, I’m pretty sure I’d be the muscle of the operation.”

“I guess that’d make sense. How much can you lift?” 

Danny gave Sam a mischievous look and shrugged, hoping the smirk creeping onto his face didn’t give away his plans for what he’d do next.

“Not sure,” Danny answered coolly. “How much do you weigh?”

Before Sam could respond, Danny rushed forward as fast as the water allowed and grabbed Sam around the waist, boosting him up with a noisy splash. Sam shrieked initially, but it gave way to a surprised laugh, every nerve alight with buzzing heat as Danny lifted him up. Danny could only manage to keep him up for another few moments before buckling at the knee from the close contact, allowing Sam a little time to plug his nose before Danny dunked him under.

Sam met the shifting blur of the pale water and felt a jarring, overwhelming peace as the water swallowed all sound and sensation and he began to sink to the bottom. For a second, he thought he might like to stay there forever, just floating and free from everything he didn’t understand about what was happening to him, what had already happened. What he wanted to happen. 

Sam didn’t even feel the sizzle of his lungs begging for air until he opened his eyes best he could and saw the blur of what was waiting for him up above.        

Now, Sam had obviously been far too young for him to remember his baptism, but as he brought himself back to consciousness and pushed himself out of the water and into Danny’s arms, he imagined it was a similar experience. Without really thinking, his arms went around Danny’s neck and he breathed in a great, shuddering gasp, desperately filling his chest with air as Danny’s arms reflexively wrapped around him and kept Sam pinned to his chest as he coughed.

“Fuck, Sam, did you forget to breathe?” Danny whispered urgently, resisting the urge to shout and wake the other motel patrons. “I mean, pardon my French, but you scared the shit out of me for a second there!”

“Sorry,” Sam choked out as he began to control his breathing and let it give way to an embarrassed laugh. “I got distracted for a minute.”

“Yeah, I’d definitely say you were coming up on a minute!” Danny sputtered, patting Sam’s back in a last ditch effort to knock any water loose. “I’ve never seen anyone go that long underwater. Good lord. You sure you’re okay?”

“I’m okay, I promise,” Sam insisted, leaning back to flash Danny a sincere look of assurance. Curiously, he didn’t feel the need to unlock his arms from behind Danny’s neck when doing so. In the same way, Danny didn’t feel the need to release his grip on Sam, keeping their bare chests flush as Sam comically mimicked drawing in deep breaths and releasing them to demonstrate his capability.

“Fine, fine, I believe you,” Danny relented, despite the anxiety still fluttering in his chest. “Just don’t scare me like that again. I get nervous enough when you’re out of my sight, and now you’re telling me I gotta worry about you when you’re right in front of me? Phew.” 

“What do you mean you get nervous when I’m out of your sight?” Sam laughed, his dark brow crinkling inquisitively as his stomach gave a little flip. 

“Just worried you’ll get to wandering,” Danny replied with faux nonchalance. “Don’t want some lawless vagabond picking you off the street.”

“Ain’t that what you did?” 

Danny tossed his head back and let out a loud laugh, knowing he needed to be much quieter than he was but doing nothing to rectify it. Sam burst into a round of hushed giggles and attempted to put his hands over Danny’s mouth as he shushed him theatrically. They goodnaturedly tussled  for a minute before Danny finally let Sam go, pushing him back and looking away with a nervous laugh still running its course in his chest.

“I got enough law in me to keep an eye on you,” Danny continued on, flicking his wrist lightly to splash Sam. “Can’t have you leaving me to drive the rest of the way on my own.”

“Well, I only ever leave if there’s not much worth staying for,” Sam muttered. It wasn’t entirely true when considering the importance of what he’d left behind in favor of hitchhiking aimlessly in pressing Texan heat, namely his family. He felt guilty saying it, but Danny took his words with pillow softness. His laugh melted into a shy smile that fell on Sam like a kiss on the forehead. 

“Lucky me, I suppose,” Danny smiled, punching Sam gently on the shoulder. “I’ll do my best to make the rest of the trip worth staying for.”

“You won’t have to try too hard,” Sam replied sincerely. “I’m having a lot of fun so far.”

“Yeah?” Danny questioned with an amused arch of his eyebrow. “You’re having fun coughing up dust in the passenger seat of a beat up truck that doesn’t work half the time? You’re having fun having to share flat, suspiciously stained motel beds with some sorry hick you met two weeks ago?”

“Well, when you put it that way, it sounds terrible,” Sam laughed. “But it is fun. It’s the in-between stuff that’s fun.” 

“Like what?” Danny prodded, giving Sam another playful little splash. 

He asked without any real pressure, but there was a big part of Danny that really needed to know if he was making this spontaneous road trip a good time for Sam. It seemed a little ridiculous to some extent considering that when Danny set off, he wasn’t expecting any kind of lingering company in the slightest. At the end of the day, Sam was a borderline neurotic runaway that Danny had taken a chance on after some strange gut feeling had told him to take a left and not a right while driving aimlessly. But at the same time, Danny was really starting to like him. It both confused and warmed him.

“I don’t know!” Sam sputtered. “It’s always fun to look through gas stations for stupid knick knacks. That mood ring keychain was pretty cool, you have to admit.” 

Danny only laughed in response. The tacky keychain had pretty obviously been for kids, but with the way Sam’s eyes had lit up when he pressed his thumb to the heat reactive surface, Danny had found that fact the least important part of the equation.

“It’s fun when the diner menus have stupid names for the sandwiches,” Sam continued, feeling increasingly more embarrassed talking about himself. “And I definitely have fun when I get to listen to my station on the radio.”

“And you can continue to have that fun in half hour intervals,” Danny asserted, trying not to roll his eyes while recalling Sam’s beloved church music station. “Anything else?”

“Hmm. This is pretty fun,” Sam answered with a quick, impish shrug. “Even though you tried to drown me.”

“Hey!” Danny scoffed while Sam sailed into another round of delighted giggles. “I’ll show you drowning!”

Danny reached out and they wrassled again, a flurry of arms and bickering laughter as Danny pretended to try and dunk Sam under the water. Once again, Sam’s arms went around Danny’s neck as they struggled, and once again he made no move to remove them when Danny slowed. However, this time around, when Sam felt the careless adrenaline fueling him with a whisper of unknown courage, he seized it and gave Danny a quick kiss on the cheek. It was no more than 2 seconds of his lips on Danny’s slightly stubbled skin, but it struck Danny like a slap to the face. Sam released his grip on him and gave him a good natured smile. 

“Seriously, this is so fun,” Sam insisted. “But we’ll never sleep if we keep being rowdy. Bed?”

“Good thinking,” Danny replied a little too quickly, successfully fighting a quiver in his voice and letting out a silent, choked sigh when Sam turned his back on him and started making his way to the edge of the pool. Facing away from Danny allowed Sam a moment to let his innocent, grateful gesture sink in. He began to panic slightly, rushing out a hurried mental prayer that Danny hadn’t taken it the wrong way. Sam almost turned to apologize, but decided it would be more awkward if he did, instead electing to haul himself out of the pool and grab his towel as if nothing out of the ordinary was raging inside his head.

Meanwhile, Danny definitely wasn’t taking it the wrong way. But he was taking it in a very surprising way. Feeling sudden and immense guilt, he realized that he was really going to have to book it to the hook where his towel hung in order to cover the “reaction” he was having to Sam’s little kiss. Thankfully, he was able to make it without Sam seeing. Danny felt grateful for his Southern charm when Sam finally did turn his doe eyed smile back on him and Danny was able to steer their conversation in a new direction as they walked to their room and he kept his towel tightly wound around his waist.

-

But neither one of them really recovered from it. Something so small and instantaneous weighed heavily in the back of their minds as they went about their separate nighttime routines and turned away from each other when Danny turned the light off. 

After an infuriating hour of staring up at the flaking ceiling and listening to the muffled whistle of a keening wind outside the window, Sam finally heard Danny begin to snuffle and sigh, signifying sleep. He released a pent up sigh and rubbed a hand over his eyes as he tried to manifest sleep. A few hours prior he had been nearly nodding off at dinner, but now that he was alone in the inviting dark with Danny, it was hard to keep his eyes closed. Usually he whispered himself to sleep with psalms that lulled him into a fuzzy, dreamless void, but it felt wrong to do so with the imagery pervading his mind. None of it was graphic, simply a replay of how it felt to float in Danny’s arms. And how safe he felt with Danny’s hand on his back. How the feeling of his mouth on Danny’s cheek made him wonder how it would feel if it were the other way. How it would’ve felt if Danny had picked that moment to turn slightly, causing Sam to catch his lips instead of his stubble. 

It was shameful, but Sam felt himself tensing and carefully guiding each muscle so that he could turn over to lay on his side facing Danny’s back. Unable to lay alone with his thoughts any longer, he decided that the sight of the body next to him would be enough to quell the uncomfortable desire in his chest that was beginning to frighten him slightly. However, he was startled to find that Danny had turned over at some point as well. Sam’s heart flitted and jabbed at him from his ribcage as he took in the sight of Danny’s cheek pressed to the pillow, his mouth ever so slightly ajar as he drew in deep breaths. He was laying on his chest, and Sam fought the urge to trace the swells of muscles in his arms as they came to cross underneath the pillow beneath his head. There was a needling, demanding pull in Sam’s stomach now, one that yanked and strained the longer Sam took in the sight of Danny’s placid, perfect face in the spectral moonlight. It puppeteered him to slide a trembling hand up and delicately cup Danny’s freckled cheek. Sam felt as though he was doing something exceedingly terrible when his thumb traced a gentle journey over Danny’s skin that still buzzed with heat from his light burn. Danny drew in a big breath and released it through his nose, stern eyebrows knitting slightly in a dream as Sam screamed at himself in his head to move his hand, flip back over, and just go to sleep. Yet it seemed like such an insurmountable task now that he’d felt Danny’s breath on his wrist. Worse, it reminded Sam of the proximity of Danny’s lips to his own, only inches away and closer even to his fingers. Sam’s mind raced as he became obsessed with possibility. 

His dreams were quickly dashed in a moment of blinding, white hot panic as Danny sniffed and stirred, stretching his arms slightly as his eyelids fluttered. Even with Danny rousing, Sam couldn’t find the strength to move his hand. He kept it resting with soft pressure on Danny’s cheek as he panicked about whether or not to feign sleep. All the while, Danny blinked fully and his eyes came into focus. Sam settled for a fake, heavy lidded gaze, doing his own round of “half asleep” blinking as Danny studied his expression. Danny let out an amused huff through his nose and his arm facing Sam loudly disturbed the sheets as it lifted from under the pillow and his hand clumsily tapped against Sam’s own on his face. 

“You’re dreaming, Sam,” Danny mumbled, his voice low and grumbling as he fought to speak without falling asleep again. “Go to sleep.”

“Not dreaming,” Sam whispered tiredly. He watched as Danny’s hand stretched and rested fully over his own, Danny’s fingers curling a little as his eyes closed again and he began to doze. 

It was such a little thing, but that pull inside of Sam snapped. There was something overwhelming him, and in his exhausted, newly freed state of mind, he saw no other option but to succumb. For the first time, when he felt the compulsion to pray for his salvation, he ignored it outright.  

Shifting forward, Sam used his hand on Danny’s face as leverage to gently pull himself forward and press his lips to Danny’s. He did so with no real pressure, simply lingering as long as Danny would allow him to and trapping a shivering breath inside his lungs as his eyes closed at the relief. He fully expected Danny to spit and push him off the bed, leaving him right then and there to hop in his truck and find California all on his own like he was supposed to. His fingers pressed into Danny’s skin at the thought, holding on to him as long as he could before this impulse came back to bite him in what he was sure would be seconds.  

Instead, he was met with the ginger push of Danny’s lips meeting him halfway. It only lasted for a couple of seconds, and Sam could taste the lingering whisper of mint toothpaste on his breath behind the numbing warmth of his tongue, which did no more but tap momentarily at Sam’s closed lips. When Danny’s lips unstuck from his, Danny barely pulled away to speak, giving Sam the luxury of their close proximity for longer than he ever could have dreamed of. 

“Now you’re just getting my hopes up,” Danny breathed with a laugh that lasted only a fraction of a second and seemed more like a punch of air from his chest.

Not really understanding what Danny meant, Sam flew into another panic. He could no longer feign a sleepy stare and blinked rapidly with restless nerves waking him up all the way. His heart pounded in his ears and he prayed his hand wouldn’t prickle with sweat from the dread beginning to course through him. All at once, he could hear a chorus of a hundred voices from back home reminding him of the great, divine consequence of what he was doing. 

“Sorry,” Sam apologized, his eyes immediately prickling with anxious tears. “I just…”

“I just don’t want you waking up tomorrow and feeling all…you know, guilty or whatever ‘cause of something you did half asleep,” Danny murmured. He cursed his moral compass pointing him to true north, even in this miraculous circumstance when the dial seemed to be spun on its axis entirely.  

“I’m awake,” Sam argued in a whisper. “That’s why I’m sorry. I shouldn’t have done that with you sleeping, that’s-”

“I was awake, too,” Danny replied simply. “I mean, when...”

An infuriating, tense minute passed between the two of them. There was much to be said, and also nothing at all. Too little time had passed in each other’s company to have any kind of profound feeling to confess, and yet there was a confounding magnetism that left them staring into the other’s eyes with heavy breath and rattling hearts. Danny’s hand eventually fell from where it had lain over Sam’s, but before Sam’s heart could sting with hurt at the loss, he felt Danny’s arm adjust to wrap around his waist and pull him closer. With this motion, their lips connected again, and Sam breathed in sharply through his nose as he attempted to fall into the rhythm of this disarming, second ever kiss. The matchbox capacity of the motel room and the sleeping world beyond its cracked windows were swallowed up by the fervor of Danny’s shuddering breath and the heat rolling off his skin. Sam heard the chastising chorus in the back of his conscience begin to sing again when Danny’s hand on his lower back tightened its grip. His heart hammered thinking about roaring hellfire and scores of taunting devils, but when Danny carefully rolled Sam onto his back and Sam opened his eyes, he saw only an angel.

“This sure is a step up from your little gesture in the pool,” Danny acknowledged, caging Sam in with an arm at his side and another by his head. 

“I was only saying thank you,” Sam muttered sheepishly, struggling to speak with his throat so dry and his muscles so alive with flickering reactions he fought to suppress.

“What are you saying now?”

Sam fell silent. He had no experiences to draw on or words in his vocabulary to place what he felt about Danny. Kind, gracious, handsome Danny, hovering over him with the patience he doled out time and time again when lesser men would have rolled their eyes and drove off.

“I think…” Sam started, fighting to sort his scattered, uninformed feelings. “I’m still saying thank you.”

Unexpectedly, Danny’s eyes flickered with apprehension. Sam’s eyebrows knit with confusion when Danny leaned back to straddle Sam’s hips, suddenly wearing a somber expression. Sam’s bottom lip quaked and pouted as he hurriedly propped himself up on his elbows.

“What?” Sam blurted. “I’m sorry. I’m really sorry, fuck, I fucked it all up, didn’t I?”

“I just really hope you don’t feel like you have to…do anything for me just ‘cause I’m giving you a ride,” Danny said earnestly. “I’d be really sore if you thought of me that way. I don’t expect a single thing from you.”

Sam’s heart gave a deep, aching clench as Danny’s words sank in. He felt his eyes nearly welling with tears again as he watched Danny look down at his hands in his lap before flicking his eyes up to Sam, probing him for a response. 

“No,” Sam replied firmly, pushing off the bed to sit straight and stare up properly into Danny’s eyes. “No, no, that’s not it at all. I would never. Never ever. You should know that, Danny, come on. I, it’s just…”

He trailed off again, blushing with embarrassment as the words finally came to him, plain and true. 

“I just like you is all,” Sam admitted, thankful for the shade of night to conceal the flush he knew was painting his face pink. “I’m sorry.”

“You keep apologizing when you got nothing to apologize for,” Danny accused quietly. His hands were close to shaking as he tried to calm himself down, but it was hard not to shiver at Sam’s confession.

“Sorry. Product of my upbringing, I guess.”

“Well, I got a bone to pick with a lot of things about your upbringing, if I’m being perfectly honest.”

“Me too,” Sam whispered truthfully. 

Danny studied Sam’s face with that familiar worried look he found himself sporting every day now, taking a minute to smooth Sam’s hair back and get lost in his dark, doll-like gaze. 

“I know it wasn’t part of the plan,” Sam went on with a small, shameful voice. 

Danny let out an airy, one note laugh through his nose and rolled his eyes, finally plucking up the courage to cup Sam’s cheek as Sam had done to him. 

“I’m not even sure what ‘the plan’ is anymore,” Danny sighed, finding it difficult to look anywhere but Sam’s rosy frown. “I know what I said, but I think deep down all I really wanted to do was go. California just seemed like the best place to start.”

“So…” Sam coaxed, unable to stop himself from tilting his chin into Danny’s grip. “When will you know where you’re going?”

“Now that I’ve met you, Sam? I think I know where I’m headed.”

Before Sam could bring up any matters of direction, of Danny’s supposed destined Californian love, or of what was to become of them as a them, Danny kissed Sam for a third time. Nothing special, nothing mind blowing. Yet with it, Sam felt every saying about the magic number, three strikes, and the Holy Trinity itself fade in comparison. And when Danny laid him down again, Sam swore he could see the stars.

 -

The next morning, Sam sat in the passenger seat of the truck with his head hanging out the window, chestnut hair spilling behind him in the wind as the bare fields and pale blue sky rolled on by. With his shirt unbuttoned to remedy the heatwave, anyone would’ve been able to see the small, tender bruises lining his collarbone and marching down his chest. Beside him, Danny kept one eye firmly on the empty road and the other on his passenger. On a whim, he took a hand off the wheel to fiddle with the radio, adept fingers spinning the knob until a choral worship song came crackling over the waves. Sam turned his head at the music and made a fond sound, shoving Danny’s shoulder with a light push and settling back into his seat. However, after a minute of listening, Sam found himself reaching to change the station. He settled on a rock station blasting a song dripping with bass and drums, nodding his head along to it curiously as Danny shot him an incredulous smile. 

“I fear I’ve corrupted you,” Danny laughed, reaching out to muss Sam’s hair.

“Good,” Sam hummed. “I needed it.”

“Yeah, you did. Just remember you promised not to go running off on me. And no bar fights. And before you ask, tattoos are a solid maybe.”

Sam laughed, pressing up against the headrest as he kicked his boots up on the dashboard and allowed himself to recline. For a moment, it crossed his mind that this might be one of the first times in his life he felt truly comfortable. It also crossed his mind that Danny’s persistent worry of Sam running off into the night was becoming increasingly more ridiculous. As he looked at the man driving next to him, who was miraculously unaware of the midday sun setting his curls and perfect side profile alight, Sam knew with confidence there was nowhere else he’d rather be. 

~~

Chapter 2!

[newsfrom-theworld]

Palestinian prisoners ( long post)

Yesterday 'Isr@el' announced the martyrdom of 36 Palestinians in the zionist concentration camps. These Palestinians were undoubtedly tortureed to death.

Below are testimonies of what Palestinians experienced, & continue to experience, in these "prisons" ( concentration camps).

According to testimonies of released detainees from Gaza, the captives subjected to the most extreme torture by the occupation's army are doctors & anyone working in the medical field.

Dr. Andan Al-Bursh was one of the most skilled surgeons in Palestine, he refused to abandon his workplace & his patients.

He was kidnapped from the Awda Hospital. It was announced that he was martyred in captivity. His captives beat him to death.

Horrifying testemony on how they treat Dr Abu Salmiya, the director of Al-Shifa Hospital who was kidnapped at the end of November. He is still in captivity, & his fate remains unknown.

One captive lost his mind & went completely insane as a result of torture.

Another captive lost his memory after being assaulted & beaten on the head.

Another captive, after being subjected to weeks of torture, became unable to speak.

A released captive testified:

"they put me in a hole filled with corpses [of martyrs from Gaza] for 6 hours" - "they hanged me until I lost consciousness, I woke up to find myself in the ICU" - "I started hallucinating & talking to myself"

Released captive Nour Zahir testified that some women were put in a refrigerator for 3 hours. They would smack their heads against a troops carrier. They removed their hijabs, left them unveiled for 10 days.

A released captive spoke of another captive who cried of hunger, unable to secure even a dry piece of bread.

Another captive lost 45 kilograms of his weight during the few months of his captivity.

A captive named Sufyan Abu Salah was kidnapped by the occupation a while ago from Gaza, standing on both feet. They released him later with one foot only.

He is not the only one. Dozens of captives were amputated in captivity.

A released child captive named Khaled Junaid, 14 yo, said in an interview after his release that the officer was putting out cigarettes on his feet & ears, & that they sprayed hot chlorine on him, in addition to beating him, torturing him, & insulting him.

Izz Ideen Ziad Abd Al-Bana was physically disabled, wheelchair-bound, and suffering from several illnesses, IOF took him from his home in December & announced him dead at the end of February.

The IOF tortured a disabled hostage to death.

A Palestinian elder (74) was detained at the Netzarim checkpoint and held hostage by the IOF.

He was released near Kerem Shalom crossing with a hand & a foot severed in captivity.

A captive named Issa Hamouda who was kidnapped from Jabalia was released a dead body.

Others who were detained with Issa testified that he was martyred because he was beaten with an iron hammer by soldiers. They killed him with a hammer.

Palestinian testimonies of abuse & extreme toture went unnoticed until a western outlets reported on the matter.

Even then, what is mentioned in the article doesn't cover the tip of the iceberg of what the kidnapped Palestinians are going through.

Where the hell is the Palestinian hostages right to immediate & unconditional release???

[sporesgalaxy]

Alright so I’m a lifeguard but I genuinely care more about the lives of the bugs in my pool than humans so question how can I rescue them more effectively, if their anything I can do to help them recover, and do you have any tips on how to minimize them falling in the pool in the first place?

Okay it's proven a big pain trying to find good sources about HOW chlorine water kills bugs rather than just HOW TO KILL bugs USING chlorine water. So my anecdotal experience from going to pools as a kid is this:

1. no, there is no good way to keep bugs out of the water besides building a pool indoors or killing the bugs before they get to the water. They are so thirsty and the pool is so wet. :(

2. SO the name of the game is just trying to get the bugs that DO fall in out of the water as fast as possible, to minimize their exposure to harmful chemicals as well as their chances of drowning.

2.5 Maybe if you can put like, a few drops of fresh/tap water on them, to remove any chlorine on the exoskeleton? This won't work on bugs with fragile wings sadly, but maybe it could help some?

That's all I can offer sorry :(

[warnersister]

“Your Lethal Hand” Michael Gray x Reader

Michael Gray x Reader, Thomas Shelby x Reader(platonic)

Extremely sad ending.

You looked up at Thomas Shelby from where you were sprawled on the ground. The man you’d once called a friend; a brother. Your cousin in law after your engagement and eventual conjoining in a holy matrimonial ceremony to his cousin Michael. The man that walked you down the aisle.

You couldn’t breathe. Your chest was constricted, trachea suffocating in shallow breaths as you drowned in the salty sadness of your own tears. The world around you was the way it was before you’d met Michael - a constant bleak midwinter. Cold and grey. Shallow and painful. He’d introduced you to a magnificent make-believe that romanticised every crack and crevice and every misfortune divot of imperfections in this world into something incredulously beautiful.

Michael had shown you how to live. He’d taught you to breathe after removing that metaphorical bag you had constricted around your own head in a suicidal fashion. He’d treated you like the princess your parents refused to humour as a child and would dress you up in lavishly expensive gowns and insist on doing your hair for you - to be paraded as his and only his. He’d encouraged you to run before you could crawl and goodness did you sprint. He’d taught you who you belonged to, who you were, your reason for living, he’d introduced you to yourself and for once in life you felt free.

“No one close to you makes a choice without your opinion, Tom.”

“You selfish bastard” you’d breathed out between desperate breaths.

“Not Arthur, not me, not Ada.”

“You satanic monster” your eyes were sore now from the chlorine-like waters that pooled in the overflowing viaducts of your eyelids.

“We can’t escape you!”

“I can’t live without him Thomas.” Your heard lunged out of your chest. “You killed my husband”

“Your lethal hand is always on our shoulders”

“He was my reason to live and you took him away from me for some stupid fucking Vendetta” you clawed at nothing.

“Give me the gun, Thomas.” You say and he calmly hands his pistol to you, now unarmed himself as he felt he owed you this much. You had done nothing wrong. You were mourning.

“Killing me isn’t the answer yn” you shook your head “you and I have been friends since you punched that lad for pulling my hair when I was befriending Finn” you say. “And when I met Michael and you introduced us. You weren’t like that then. Your eyes sparkled and you picked me up and spun me around when we announced our engagement.” The gun rattled in my shaky hands, hardly able to focus on the man before me through blurry vision.

“You walked me down the aisle, kissed my cheek, gave me away and cried. We got married in your house for goodness sake.” I shout, and he remained quiet. “It’s gone on long enough. John, Polly, Michael, Grace, the Italians; the Mafia, the Peaky Blinders.” I exhale calmly. “It’s all that ever mattered to you. Not your aunt. Not your brothers. Not your cousins. Not your wife. Nothing but business.” He looks down at his feet.

“Don’t you dare look away from me.” I seethe. “I understood, for our sake. It’s the family business for crying out loud. But Michael was the only thing I had in this world and my own brother from no blood took him away from me. I loved you Tommy.” I said, lip quivering. “Yn, I understand-”

“Bury me with Michael.” You say, turning the gun on yourself as the bullet accurately punctured the space between your eyes and you collapsed forwards, Thomas catching your lifeless body as you bled onto him. He screamed in pain, looking at the woman he called a sister as a tear ran down his cheek.

“I’ll bury you with him.” He slid down the wall, looking at the red brains dripping down the adjacent one. “A lovely plot near the tree we used to swing on.”

“I’m sorry yn.”

[sable-dream]

I see a lot of 'diy gear' around so I'm surprised I've hardly ever seen bleach dyed shirts! They're honestly one of the coolest, easiest, and relatively inexpensive ways to make discreet gear - especially if you're like me and you can't exactly find shirts of your theriotype being sold.

Tutorial under the cut!! :3

What you will need:

A black t-shirt, preferably 100% cotton (avoid polyester and spandex)

Bleach

Water

Sidewalk/blackboard chalk, or a chalk pen

A paintbrush to apply the bleach

A disposable cup

A bit of cardboard or plastic to put under the shirt (to prevent the design from bleeding through onto the other side)

GLOVES and other safety gear (ie, a mask and goggles)

fabric paint, not puffy paint (optional but if you're heavy handed like I am it helps so you can fix screw ups)

SAFETY:

Work in a well ventilated area.

Wear gloves, goggles, and ideally a filtration mask when handling bleach.

WASH YOUR HANDS thoroughly after handling the bleach and do not touch your eyes or face before washing your hands

Be mindful of chemical reactions that can occur when mixing bleach with other cleaning products - never, ever, EVER mix bleach with anything containing ammonia as it can react and create toxic chlorine gas.

Keep bleach out of the reach of pets and small children, and if you have small animals like birds or rodents, work AWAY from them as the fumes can damage their lungs.

Make sure you read the back of your bleach container so you know how to handle and dispose of it safely.

Process:

Slide the cardboard into the shirt, adjusting it so you'll be drawing on the side you want your design on.

Use the chalk to draw your design on the fabric - don't worry about screwing up here, it'll wash out later. (If you want to, you can digitally draw your design, print it out, then trace the back with chalk and press it onto the shirt to transfer the art)

Put on your safety gear (ESPECIALLY your gloves) and move to a ventilated area (I did this on my back porch)

Carefully pour some bleach into your cup, then cut it with water. Remember that the more water you add, the more of the solution you'll need to apply to get your design to show up.

Apply the solution over your sketch using your paintbrush. You might need to apply it multiple times if your bleach solution is less concentrated.

Once your satisfied with your design, let it sit for 20 minutes to allow the bleach to fully stain the fabric.

After 20 minutes, rinse out the fabric under cool water. Make sure you're wearing your gloves as you do this so you don't hurt your skin.

Wash your shirt in your washing machine by itself, otherwise the bleach might transfer to other laundry. Put it in the dryer after or hang it up to air dry.

Clean up your area, wash your paintbrush out thoroughly, throw the cup away, and then remove your gloves to scrub your hands with soap and water.

Once your shirt is clean and dry, you can use fabric paint to touch up any mistakes. I used black paint to remove excess lines and white to give my design eye shines. Follow the directions for fabric paint on the back of the bottle, as the instructions for washing it can be different. Don't use puffy paint, the touch ups will end up raised and it'll look funny.

And there you have it! :D DIY gear shirt for all your alterhuman needs >:)

[jacksoldsideblog]

a note for all my human soap enthusiasts;

when you dunk your hands in bleach (or any strong water soluble base), it starts to react with the fats in your skin. it feels slippery. this is called saponification. you are making a thin layer of soap out of the fatty acids and oils that make up the surface layers of your hands.

when you remove your hands from the bleach, they're still slippery. you're coated in your own soap. you'll need to rinse it off with water.

and then your hands will be dry, and your skin might be red or cracking, irritated. depends on the concentration, and how used to dunking your hands in bleach you are. personally, i got used to about a 1-3% mix, and stopped having irritation despite continued saponification. it's amazing what the human body can get used to.

unless i accidentally mixed my solution more concentrated. and then i usually had other issues.

don't do this with hair bleach. it's not real bleach, and hair bleach usually has persulfate salts in it to help strip color faster. persulfate salts are like latex and through continued exposure, you will develop an allergy. this is why hairdressers wear gloves. this is why you shouldn't bleach your hair too much. you're rolling an increasingly weighted die. laundry bleach also tends to have additives. use pool bleach.

when i was dunking my hands in bleach, i always wondered if i could scrape off that thin layer soap mixed with bleach and collect it. the chlorine would've evaporated off over time. four, five days. then i would've just had soap, and it would've been made of me.

[a-song-of-art-and-fire]

The Court of House Martell

"You may burn us, my lady ... but you will not bend us, break us, or make us bow. This is Dorne. You are not wanted here. Return at your peril."

And at last, all our Sunsoear court together! What was it George called ADWD, three bitches and a bastard? I've said it before and I'll say it again, I adore having water features in dioramas, but there is nothing on earth worse than working with epoxy.

My vision here was the contrasts of Dorne - arid red sands towards the back of the diorama, the lush verdant water gardens at the front. I'm happy with the sand, the palm trees, and of course the blood oranges of heavy-handed symbolism. It was also a huge challenge putting all the minis on removable bases that fit into the larger tile pattern, and I'm super happy with how that came out. The water was an enormous challenge, but it came out pretty nicely! I like the lilies and plants suspended, theres also a fish in there though I'm not sure how visible it is in the final product. I dont know if the Water Gardens would necessarily have a lot of life in them, I picture them as kind of a swimming pool complex, but I guess in a pre-chlorine world there would always be some life.

[saxandviolins88]

How each Constructicon smells like:

Because everyone must know.

Bonecrusher: Slight smell of gunpowder; what's his job again?

Hook: The characteristic hospital smell; not only because he works in a hospital(eh), but because he most definitely bathes in chlorine, alcohol, hydrogen peroxide and ammonia-based disinfectants(not all at the same time! god forbid). This is done to remove the work site grime.

Scavenger: Wet dog. Nobody knows exactly how he managed it, (probably the bacteria colony under his plating and joints from digging in the damp dirt too long), but he has an awful wet dog smell. Hook Deep cleans him every week or so, but it really isn't enough, especially because he's gonna get dirty all over again in less than an hour. (at least he isn't one of those old people that smells like farts.)

Scrapper: Anti-freeze (from messing around with bodies) and mint (from those tree-shaped car fresheners! I think he went kinda nuts when he found out about those.)

Mixmaster: Whatever he is making in his drum. But almost always he smells like vinegar (stand too close to him and quickly feel your throat irritating and your eyes start to water.)

Long Haul: Mint (Scrapper made sure to get a matching car freshener for him too!)

[eashmo]

7 minutes in hell, or is it heaven? Part 15 💋

-Worship me baby.-

Warnings: Smut!, fluff, and lots of angst.

A/n: Sorry if ya'll don't have a daddy kink

~~~~~~~~~~~~

* shameless Smut incoming*

*billy pov*

I heard the door open as someone entered the employee showers. Turning around, I found y/n had snuck in, peering at me from behind the shower curtain.

"What are you doing here, baby?" I ask rinsing the chlorine, sweat, and sunblock off my body. I raise one eyebrow when she didn't answer me. She just stared at my naked body.

Half a second later, I was pushed against the tile wall. Her lips feverishly on mine. I grip her waist gently. Water streaming on both of us.

"How about you show me all those styles you were telling me about now." She says between kisses.

"Couldn't wait until tonight, princess?" I smirk into her lips.

"Nope, it's your fault for making me horny in public, I need you now."

"So we're going to do this here?" I ask , pulling her closer to my body.

"Only if you want to, Daddy." She winks. The word affects me instantly. It was my turn to trap her against the tile wall.

There was always something about her that made me want to worship her against every nearest surface on the planet. She alone always awakes primal desire from me. Without thinking, I smashed my lips into hers kiss her ferociously but passionately. She left panting heavily.

"Let me worship you, baby girl." I breathlessly say.

"Please, Daddy, make love to me." She whimpers out of desperation.

"Jump," I demand. Doing a little jump, i grabbing her with ease. Her legs wrap around my waist instantly like a puzzle piece. Her hands wander down my chest, and she starts to grind herself against me. Pulling the string to her bikini bottom, "I really do dig the new suit, but it's gotta got." I say as I throw the bottoms over my shoulder. Her giggles turn into moans as I slip my cock into her pussy. Bottoming out.

"O-oh, Billy..." She didn't seem capable saying much else as I start to thrust hard in and out of her, I liked that. I loved hearing my name falling from her lips in pleasure.

"Who makes you feel good, babydoll?" I ask through groans.

"Ohh, y-you do, Daddy." She moans. My pace intensively grew with each thrust.

"I'm gonna come soon, I can't hold it much longer." She says as she gasps. As soon as the word left her mouth, I felt her tightly clamp around me. "Oh fuck!" She swore loudly. My cock twitching from the feeling of her orgasm. i stilled. Her head threw back as she slowly came down her high. While she was distracted, I thrust hard into her again.

"I didn't tell you you could cum yet princess" I whisper into her ear. Making her whimper. Before she could reply, i put a finger on her lips and look into her soft e/c eyes.

"I'm gonna give you that work out of your life that promised you."

Taking her out of the shower to the locker room, I laid her gently on the wooden bench, trailing kissing down the curves of her body, until I reach her core, inhaling deeply into her folds, the scent of her sweet juices flooding my senses. I place a small kiss on her folds and thighs, making her head swim.

"I love you, Billy," she moans as she threads her hands through my wet hair and folded her legs behind my head, trapping me in her thick thighs. I smile at the effect I was having on her. She lays back feeling how it is to be truly worshipped in the most intimate of way.

"I love you too babydoll." I say into her thighs.

Pulling her pussy against my face and abruptly jamming my tongue all the way inside her. She grinds her hips into my face, but I wasn't done. I pull my tongue out and suck her pink flesh. "God, she always tasted so good," her body explodes into waves of pleasure and lust. Her back arches as her whole body shuttered, withering in ecstasy.

"You're not allowed to cum yet, princess." I say as I stop sucking. She whines "P-please". My hands remove her thighs from my head, I trail kisses up her body until I capture her lips. Our tongues intertwining, she felt my cock press against her wet folds.

"B-billy," she moans. She jerks her hips against mine, I tease the tip into her. Her body is desperate, a single long thrust. I surge inside her, burying myself to the hilt.

"P-please let me cum daddy" she crys out.

"Cum for me princess"

She screams my name loudly as she came, gushing onto my cock. I didn't wait for her to come down from her high again. Hitting her insides from an incredibly pleasurable angle. Even before her climax ended, she felt another one rising within her.

She tightens her legs around my back as she came again. Her pussy flexing around my cock, gripping it tightly. We continue this way for several minutes as she was sent through a chain of orgasms in a never-ending loop. Nipping at her collarbone as she smiles down at me, enjoying having my cock inside her.

One final "Oh my god!" She cries out as the levels of pleasure course through her. Her nerve endings felt like a constant tsunami waking over her. My hands rake all over her curves, her breasts, her ass.

"I'm gonna cum baby" I murmur into her neck. she rocks her hips against me.

"Inside me, please." She begs.

She didn't care as long as it stays inside her.

I groan as my balls unloaded, filling her womb with a spurt after the spurt of my load. Leaning forward slumped over her chest. I kiss her sweat- covered neck. After I caught my breath, I pull out of her as she breathes heavily. I brush away hair from her eyes tenderly.

"How was that babydoll?"

"That was.....beyond amazing, but please no more tonight, I don't even know how many times I orgasimed, nor I can I feel my legs." She says as she tiredly smiles.

"I lost count to, you did so good baby girl." Laughing a bit

She sits up suddenly "Oh shit, Robin is probably wondering where I am" She says quickly in a panic, she stumbles when I lift her up, we took turns cleaning each other up and redress, when we walk out we find Buckley leaning on the brick wall picking at her nails, seeing us come out She smirks.

"Well, I see that you two had tons of fun,. You guys going the fair tonight?" She asks while looking at y/n.

"Oh fuck I forgot about the fair! Yeah, we'll be there." Y/n says while she holds my hand into hers.

"And you Hargrove, you get her home safely." She points at me with a Stern look.

"Always." I told her.

Previous Chapter

Part 16

Masterlist

2023

[alli-a-baba]

Happiness Is A Butterfly - Zack Addy x Reader

They/Them pronouns. 2,400 words. Pt.1.

Being a part of the rotating interns was difficult. Trying to keep up with Dr. Hodgins comments only his friends understood was difficult. Dr. Brennan's impossibly high standards for the professional environment were petrifying, and confusing from her friendly relationship with Agent Booth. Angela was emotionally intelligent but touchy on certain subjects. And Camille was the boss.

The way they flowed together was unmatchable, it was good for Y/N.

When the team was boiled down to their main characteristics; Hodgins was sarcastic and wanted someone who had thick skin to appreciate his pointed remarks, but smart enough to understand them.

Dr. Brennan just wanted you to do your job, and be understanding of how much time you have to allocate to keep the position. Agent Booth wants someone to understand his un-scientific humor.

Angela likes to talk about things you see outside of the lab, but also wants the discourse and drama of the people inside. Camille wants you to be able to testify and not annoy her with anything other than basic polite company and case related topics.

Y/N is a chronic people pleaser.

Then their is Dr. Addy. Dr. Zachary Uriah Addy, to be precise.

Dr. Addy was Brennan's previous grad student, her set grad student. Until he made pals with a serial killer and ate somebody. Their was little media coverage on who was caught for the crimes the serial killer committed, but it happening at the Jeffersonian?

People talked, and you listened.

It was fascinating to be in the place where it all happened, but you couldn't ask any of your coworkers about him. Anytime his name was said it was followed by a quick glance and a reminder that "Dr. Addy no longer works here."

Camille never referred to him by name. Everyone else did. The case you were working on now Hodgins had him at the forefront of his mind, "Zack would know more about this.", "Zack would've said that-"

You can't be Zack, but the fascination pressed on.

"Ask him then." Y/N said bluntly. The skull had damage all over and they were examining it, subtly watching Hodgins mannerisms.

"It's not that simple and you know that" His face was a little red and he had a soft line in between his bushy eyebrows. He was annoyed.

"Would you hurry up with the head Brennan will be here any second and I have to get the particulates."

You raised your eyebrows and the sudden outburst. "Its 'The Cranium' actually." He gave a dejected snort and a small smile at your attempt to lighten the mood while handing over the skull.

"Why isn't it that simple?" He stopped, "What do you mean."

"Asking Zack?" He took a deep breath and kept walking back to his station. Inclined for an answer you followed.

"Right, I forget you don't know him."

"Dr. Addy did some bad things and isn't working here anymore that's all nothing more nothing less." Camille snapped a fresh pair of gloves on her hands.

"You said their was some flesh flakes for me Y/N?" You laughed a little, "Yes Dr. Saroyan theirs some skin left behind in between the metatarsal bones and phalanges on the feet, what do you make of the scraping? it's all over the remains." Camille's eyes slightly opened in recognition. She pressed her lips into a thin line, moving to the table the bones rested on, "I'm not sure that's more a... Dr. Brennan question."

"Okay sounds good I'll just wait I suppose." Camille gave you a tight lipped smile as she walked away to examine the skin.

"Put the markers on this and give it to Angela, I have to go talk to Brennan." Hodgins shoved the skull into your hands, the marks were rough to the touch. He shuffled down the stairs towards Dr. Brennan using the pole for support. Probably contaminating it with the gloves he carelessly forgot to remove.

While placing the identifying markers and cleaning the pole with a chlorine based disinfectant spray, Y/N listened in on their hushed conversation. Only hearing bits and pieces. Talk of Zack and the scraping looking familiar but deeper and more rigid. When they walked up to give Angela the skull, the conversation died out and Booth cleared his throat.

"I've placed the markers," Handing the skull to Angela, "-and the remains are ready for you Dr. Brennan."

"Yes lets do that now."

They suspect cannibalism, and you knew they were relating it to Zack.

-

Dr. sweets was your friend in all of this. Feeling left out of their flow you talked about them together. Growing up in a household with angry spontaneous parents, you read people. You knew what they were feeling and knew what to say to keep peace. Growing up in the foster system Lance did the same. You two had that in common.

"So the remains are covered in teeth marks, were suspecting cannibalism." Sweets choked on his Miami vice cocktail. He drinks them because he likes Miami vice as a show, but mostly he cant take the flavor of more 'manly' drinks.

"Sorry, here." you hand him a napkin.

"Their all relating it to Zack?" He said gingerly dabbing his mouth.

"Yeah, how'd you know?" He tilts his head to the side scanning the left side of his brain, recalling events.

"I was there when it happened. Even though I barely knew him, It's still the first thing in my mind."

You look down absent mindedly running the rim of your finger around the mouth of your drink resting your cheek on a loose fist. "What's on your mind Y/N?"

"Don't treat me like a patient Dr. Sweets," He gives a lopsided smile and ducks is head down to your slumped eye level. "They asked me to come back tomorrow since I've 'seen so much of the case already."

"Odd?"

"Yes!"

"And you're not happy?"

You sighed while sitting up to see him clearer,

"I'm happy, just tired." Sweets takes a sip of his drink to wet his throat,

"I'll see you tomorrow then-"

"Why"?

"Look whos asking questions now." He raises his eyebrows and gives you childish grin,

"They want me to ask Zack about some things, something sodium or the other. Which is salt so that is odd. I think everyone knows that's salt. Right? Anyone I was thinking someone should come with me but their all so hesitant to face him-"

"Sodium Bicarbonate, baking soda. We found traces if it on the remains- is that in invitation?" You both knew it was, but with sweets you don't need to read in between the lines when you can ask.

"Ill need to talk to Brennan and Booth but yeah, I need a mediator for the science talk."

"I think you could hold your own," You say, finishing off your drink, "but if I have to we should celebrate." they get up to order more drinks.

"Don't pretend like your not excited Y/N"

-

Case file in hand, you had everything laid out. You had your assumptions and everyone's findings written down systematically. Like how deep the teeth marks on the bones were, and the sodium bicarbonate particulates. As well as the traces of hydrofluoric acid in the left over skin on the toes. Having no clue on who he was besides talk, it was hard to think about how to act appropriately. So Y/N went with the basics. They dressed in blues since the color has calming properties, and parted their hair to the left, which conveys intelligence.

"Don't you look professional. Sweets said opening the door for them.

"I'm going for the nice kindergarten teacher look." Y/N said.

"More like the science teacher in middle school that plays movies every Friday after a shitty test." Perfect.

"Even better." He moves his arm behind their headrest to reverse,

"You nervous?" Completely and utterly, but saying that out loud made it true. Y/N was scared to meet him like one was scared to meet their favorite band. That they won't live up to unrealistic expectations.

"A little, but I'm mostly excited." He glances at you, he knows that's not the whole truth but it goes unspoken. The two of you are left with silence. But not a comfortable silence like usual.

"Don't get too excited he's not that cool." and then it melts away,

"Is someone jealous?"

"Get off your high horse, were here."

"Oh-" he softly grabs your hand and you flinch, "Y/N."

He takes the folder and sets it on the dash taking your other hand,

"are you okay?" He says quietly. You squeeze his hands and nod,

"You tore the folder a little with your nails, I know you're scared but he's harmless." Your eyes meet and he gives you a reassuring nod.

"He killed someone Lance, that's terrifying." He sighs and looks down before cupping his hand and whispering in your ear, "Between you and me, no, no he didn't"

"What-"

"Please state your name and why you're here?" The guard says though the speaker.

"Here to see inmate Zachary Addy, I have an appointment for 12:30?"

Sweets looked at you over his shoulder at you, apologetically.

"You can go through." The gate buzzes and slowly opens.

-

"We didn't have an appointment until Monday Dr. Sweets-" A voice says lowly through the door. As they walk through, he stops himself and stares at Y/N.

"who's that?" Zack asks tentatively, not bothering to ask you directly. His face was smooth having small patches of hair across his chin an jawline. It was light enough to be unnoticeable. It contrasted with his dark, disheveled hair.

"Their just here to explain the case better than I can Zack."

Zack thought for a moment, fiddling with the thick black gloves that encapsulated his hands.

"That was unnecessary, the file could've been handed over without explanation ." Zack holds his hand out for the folder, still staring at Lance. His eyes were dull and half lidded, emotionless to the situation. Sweets pulled out your chair for you and sat in his own, parallel to Zack. His hands were in cuffs with a chain linked to the table. It didn't calm Y/N's anxiety, he was a genius. Cuffs couldn't hold him if he truly wanted to get out.

The Dr. furrowed his brows in confusion, making connections in his mind. The cuffs, the way Dr. Sweets seemed to be so friendly with you, "You're my replacement."

He finally looked at you, his dull brown eyes swirled with something. Jealousy? Concern?

Y/N met his eye contact willingly, forcing the nervous cringe of their face back. You never show a predator weakness.

"Me an about a dozen other people." They flip open the folder and graze through the papers breaking the heavy eye contact, landing on the sheet that listed main points about the case. Picking out high resolution photos of the bones as well. They wanted to ask all about why Zack was in here. Why he was, how he could do that, what convinced him it was a good idea to cause such grief. Most of all if he really didn't kill that man.

He studied them, like a case of his own. Carefully looking them over, limb by limb, over the buttons on your shirt and the steady rise and fall of your chest. His eyes burnt into them, it was hard to focus.

"Their an intern Zack, we just have some questions and I'll be back tomorrow morning to pick up the file." Sweets was uncomfortable, Y/N handed him the sheets of paper so he could have a little control in the quickly unfolding scene. Lance gave you a small smile in return.

As he laid out each paper, you explained the case like you were on stand at trial. Dr. Addy never looked at the papers being placed on the table, opting to openly stare at Y/N. Wanting to keep their ground, they met his stare only glancing down every few moments to see which paper was next. It was a one sided conversation, and when you were finished he finally looked down at the images systematically placed in front of him.

"Can you work with that, Dr. Addy?" Y/N said, Zack's eyes widened at the professional connotation.

"Yes." Sweets stood up, "Great! Then were done here, Y/N?"

"I guess so." They stood up and ran their hands across the fabric of their top, smoothing out the imposed wrinkles from sitting down. Taking notice of Dr. Addy's brown eyes that followed the movement of their hands.

Zack stood up as well, stretching the chain on his cuffs to its full extent. He was tall. Taller than they thought, probably around 5'11 or 12. Y/N's eyes followed him up to the looming position he had over them. "I'll be seeing you both tomorrow then." His eyes met theirs, the smile paired with his relaxed eyes was unsettling. Involuntarily, Y/N shivered looking away at Lance. Breaking their stance in the unwavering staring contest he just wouldn't let go. Zack turned to Sweets, but never looked at him.

"No, just me Zack." He grabbed the folder that held the remainder of the case from your limp grasp, and tossed it on the table. The force made methodically laid out papers clash together. It startled Zack, his chains clamored together cutting through the silence. Lance grabbed your shoulder and pushed you to the door, swiping his card.

"Tomorrow then." Zack said.

Peeking out from behind Sweets, Y/N looked at Zack. The sides of his lips were turned, like he knew something they didn't. It was unsettling and you wanted to delve into his psyche and swim in his thoughts.

"Why won't this damn card work?"

[seat-safety-switch]

Because of a unique foible in the squatting law, I was recently granted the right to ownership of the house in which I live. My house. All it took was waiting until my landlord died, then making sure nobody found out I was living here rent-free for a couple years. Luckily for me, his estate went through some kind of bizarre court battle between his step-grand-daughter and his third wife, twice removed, so nobody bothered to come by the house and find me hiding in the darkened living room, reheating TV dinners with an open flame after having stored them in the snow to keep them fresh.

Now that I had a house of my own, well, things were going to change around here. My first act as landed gentry was to serve an eviction notice to the mice that had taken up residence in a corner of the garage. Get out, you little rodent shits. And take your tamed housecat with you. After that, I wanted to celebrate. Time to decorate the house. I wheeled in a beat-to-shit Agrati moped, and put its two-stroke engine on the kitchen counter. I really like how the expensive marble countertop wipes clean of oil with just a little spritz of chlorinated brake cleaner.

I also decided to hook the power back up. The power company, now that they were dealing with a Homeowner, was surprisingly respectful, the diametric opposite of the time they showed up to disconnect service and I threw acorns and rocks at their meter guy while making what I believed to be “squirrel noises.” They didn’t even ask any questions about whether I had installed several jerry-rigged 240V circuits during the time it took them to show up, or if I was really planning to run a MIG welder in the guest bedroom. 

This was a grievous error on my part. As soon as the lights turned back on, some of the neighbours wanted to come by with gift baskets and fresh-baked cherry blintzes. One little old lady, Ms. Pollack from down the street, told me that she was so glad to finally have someone new move into the neighbourhood, to get rid of that terrible squatter who had so many awful cars that barely ran. I nodded and thanked her for the pastries, setting the plate onto a stray 318 that occupied the front hall landing. It’s true that people treat you differently when you own a house.