#i can't concentrate on one thing it's physically impossible

[yandere-sins]

Kicking my feet and twirling my hair at your yandere König and Ghost headcanons💕 could I request some headcanons on how they'd react at escape attempts/successful escapes please?

Of course! Thanks for requesting! ♥

»»———————— ♡ ————————««

König

♡ One word: panic. It's not a slowly developing feeling, either. When he can't find you in your room, his stomach twists as he waltzes into the bathroom instead. At this point, his pulse begins ringing in his ears, and his breaths come out as slow pushes of air. König realizes how wrong his home feels, how there's no sign of you there, and the panic that overcomes him is just about to explode like a grenade on the battlefield—it builds up and then peng! It's too quiet, too cold, and the thought of you having left is one of pure horror. If anyone would measure his tension, his body would break all means of detecting it, every muscle so taut they could snap at any given moment, and every one of his movements deliberate and deadly. König tries to think about what he's done wrong and why you'd do this to him, but he manages to push these thoughts aside for later. He needs to focus, needs to keep his wits up. Part of him hopes you didn't leave him because you wanted to. Another part hopes very much that you weren't forced to leave him just to spare you from the horrors that you could possibly encounter because of that. Then again, if someone was as bold as to kidnap you, König would at least have an outlet for all the rage, frustration, and madness he is feeling; the thought of breaking some bones suddenly so tempting.

♡ And yet, König is never more in control than in moments like this. Despite his panic and anxiety about losing you, he could never concentrate better than now that he has to get you back. And he has to; he needs to. Needs you. His life is meaningless without you in it, and he needs to cradle you in his arms and know you're okay just so he can fucking breathe again. He has his means of finding out where you are and is not shy about using them. You'll come to dread the day you got stalked by someone so big and tall that it should have been impossible. But once he's behind you, your escape is over, and with it, any other possibility that you'll ever be able to try again. If he has to put you in an underground bunker, tied up and unable to do anything without him, then so be it. But König can't lose you again. He might as well die if you ever manage to get away. Ultimately, it will be his tense, unyielding hands dragging you back, even as he coos sweet promises into your ear. That everything will be okay now, that he'll protect you. But he'll be much more possessive and needy after your attempt, and you only have yourself to blame for what he's going to do with you once he has you back in the safety of his arms.

Ghost

♡ Physically, you might already be far, far away from Ghost. Yet, you can still feel his disappointment and hear him sigh, even if it's all just subconsciously. There's something especially bitter about the fact he went out to get you some nice food you like, thinking about how much he'll enjoy watching you eat it on his way back and imaging the taste on your lips as he steals kisses from you, only to come back to this. Nothing. Emptiness and the remains of his heart getting shredded by explosive bangs of heartache. He thought things were improving between you two, but that escape was on him. He shouldn't have trusted you quite this much, though it really fucking hurts that you did it. He's been good to you, hasn't he? Loved you well, fucked you well, spent all his damn money to make you comfortable. You can run all you want, but you can't deny the few times you leaned in for a cuddle—even if it was subconsciously—or asked him for something, and he got it for you without thinking twice. You might think running is the right option, but are you even aware of what you're running away from? By all means, he was a perfect partner (aside from forcing you into this relationship, but it was for the greater good of you both being together). And yet, you'd betray him like this. Run away when things get rough. When they aren't up to your standards. Ghost must have spoiled you rotten, eh? Pity because he won't make the same mistakes twice.

♡ Ghost doesn't need anyone or anything to track you down. He might have a tracker on you, part of him always admiring your rebellious nature and knowing the day would come, but he knows you. He knows you too well. He studied your thoughts like no one else, perhaps knowing even better than you what you're thinking. And though he's gripping the steering wheel of the car he's using to catch up to you, to the point of either his fingers or the material they're wrapped around cracking, when he does find you, he's eerily calm. He knew the way you'd run, knew which bushes you'd hide behind, and now that he caught up, you really have no choice but to surrender. Ghost wouldn't let you win in a fight on his good days, much less days ruined by your idiocity. So you can choose to get in defeatedly or have him drag you into the car with no guarantee he won't hurt you. It's not like your tears leave him cold. The dead look on your face or how you jerk when he brushes your hair back, feeling like ice picks stabbed into his heart. He hates arguing with you. He hates being angry with you. It's on you this time, though. But at least, if you're cooperative, the only way he'll let you know how mad he is, is by holding your thigh in his hand on the drive, gripping it painfully rigid as he drives you two back, thinking about whether or not to break your leg as a lesson. No promises on if he will act on these thoughts, though—you really messed up this time and deserve the lesson, don't you? Better start appeasing him before you get home, and he gets to have you all to himself again, just like he always wanted.

[luveline]

I love your KBD universe it is soo adorable!! All the kids are written so cutely! I relate to Avery so much! I was thinking about what if mom is super pregnant and she always wants to be near Steve, like she almost doesn’t even want him out her line of sight. Always wanting to touch him and get kisses from him. Love your blog!!

kisses before dinner ♡ you're pregnant and steve is lovely

There is a silver lining to being eight months pregnant (that isn't the baby at the end) —your husband. 

Steve gets soft. When the physical evidence of your pregnancy becomes unignorable, and then glaringly obvious, he treats you with exceptional care, love and tenderness. You can't get enough of it or him. 

And you're like a lost puppy when he's not near. “Steve,” you say, feeling rather morose about the whole thing, “where are you?” 

“In the kitchen! Do you want something?” 

No, you think, just you. “What are you doing?” 

“Babe, I'm making you and Ave your drinks!” A telltale plink of ice cubes knocking against glass follows. “Don't get up, okay?” 

You squeeze Avery's hand where it's held in yours. “Does he think I'll explode?” 

She giggles, her almond eyes lit with her laughter. “Maybe, mom.” 

“Do you think I'll explode?” 

“No way. You didn't explode before.” 

“‘Xactly.” You'd offer to carry her, or simply scoop her up without asking, but being so pregnant actually does feel like you're going to explode sometimes and you figure it's a bad idea. “Let's go see what he's doing.” 

You and Avery pick over Dove's tea party, abandoned sadly in the middle of the living room, and make your way into the kitchen, which is less hecticly messy but a tad grimy after a long week. Grease clings to the stove top and there's a cherry red stain down the front of the refrigerator. Death of a stolen popsicle. 

Steve sighs when he sees you, too much love around his eyes for any believability when he chides, “You can't sit down. It's impossible.” 

You push yourself back against the counter next to his hip. Avery does the same immediately, giving him a similar look, you're sure. 

He tries to hide his smile with a sip of Avery's too full drink. “Here,” he says when it's at a safer level, “apple juice for you. And ice, princess.” 

“Thank you,” she says, eyes wide as her open palms. She takes it and drinks at it greedily, the sweet taste of concentrated sugar enough to steal her attention. She walks out of the kitchen calling for Beth. “Come have some juice!” 

“That's adorable,” Steve says. 

“You tend to make them that way.” 

He throws an arm against his forehead, slouching beside you, the other wrapping behind your back. “I know. It's exhausting.” 

You spy your youngest under the kitchen table. The girls are fascinated with alcoves and small spaces. If they can fit into a nook, they will, and if they can't, they'll squeeze in anyhow. She breathes through her mouth over a pad of paper with a shard of a crayon in hand, drawing rather intricate things, considering her age. 

“Are those flowers?” you whisper. 

“Think so…” Steve lifts his head high to kiss the top of yours, his arm moving up to your shoulders. He rubs at them like he's trying to relieve a pressure you haven't announced. “You really need to stop getting up all the time. You're at risk–” 

“No, the doctor said if I'm not careful I'd put myself at risk.”

“And what are you doing?” he asks, voice like velvet, smooth and soft as he looks behind your ear. He must see something, petting away a flyaway or a loose strand or something, his touch as tender as his voice. 

You tilt your head away from him. After as long in love with one another as you have been, he knows you're asking for something rather than moving away, and he leans in again to kiss your cheek, rubbing behind your ear all the while. 

“Let's go sit down,” he suggests. 

“In a second.” 

You're terrible lately but it's all his fault. You crave his affection both big and small, all the time, and in every place. You'll be off work any day now and you're sure you'll spend that time soaking him in while he runs ragged trying to get things ready. You've done it before. Steve in the grocery store looking for a hundred different things while you draw stars into the backs of his hand, or trying to fix the baby gate onto the wall while you sit on the stairs making googly eyes at him. 

“My boy,” you say stupidly, wrapping your arms around his neck. Regrettably, he can't continue to dote on you like that, but it prompts him to hug you as close as he can manage. “I love you.” You lay your cheek on his shoulder. “You smell really nice.” 

“I love you too.” Pine, today. Fresh. “I see what's happening.” 

“What's happening?” 

You think he's going to put you down. The baby hormones are making you clingy, he might say, but he doesn't. “You've realised how hot I am. You're late, but I'll forgive you. You know, ‘cos of your predicament.” 

“Thank you,” you say, kissing his neck gently. 

You leave a series of butterfly kisses down the column of his neck before squishing yourself into the curve of it, resting too much weight on him. He takes it all without complaint, hugging you tighter, the distension of your bump a beach ball between you that makes you unfortunately shorter, bending as you are. 

His breath is a pleased sound in your ear, but he doesn't say anything. You hug until you have a strange pain in your neck; he encourages you away from him like he can sense it. 

“You okay?” he asks, thumb under your eye, a millionth sweet touch to add to the mountain. 

“I'm great.” 

“Yeah?” He holds you in place and kisses you. “Love you,” he says, his bottom lip jutting against yours. He kisses you again, and then he pulls away completely, a hand between you both the only tether. “Time to sit down. I'm gonna take your blood pressure.” 

There's no need. If anything, the way he's looking at you might give an inaccurate reading, but you think of the fawning and fretting and the rough of his fingertips digging into the top of your arm and smile, giddy. “‘Kay.” 

“Come on, Dovey, let's go be mommy's doctor,” he calls to Dove. 

In a rather uncharacteristic episode of actually listening, she abandons her crayons and takes his offered hand. He shoots you a quick smirk, as if to say, Yeah, I did that. It's stupid and it makes you laugh, because you couldn't love him much more than this. 

[crazycurly-77]

A quiet place to work - pt. 1

As you entered the bullpen this morning there was pure chaos. Everyone was upset that they couldn't work. That was the reason why they called you at 7am and ordered you to immediately come to the office. 

“Hey, McGee! What have you broken this time?” you asked him nearing his desk. 

“Me? Nothing. But nobody can work anymore because of this error we get if we do anything in our software.”

He showed you the error on the screen for you to read. You read it two times then furrowed your brows and murmured “that's a database error.”

Gibbs and director Shepard had come to you and were not amused. 

“Y/N! Nobody can work anymore. Fix the error as soon as possible!” Jenny ordered loudly. 

“Any idea what's the cause of the problem?” Gibbs asked. 

He was not amused, but relatively quiet compared to the director. 

You took a deep breath and answered 

“I don't have any clue right now. I have to run a few tests and protocols to analyze this.”

“How long?” Gibbs stated. 

You shrugged your shoulders “don't know. Depends on what the problem is, when I find it and how it can be solved.”

“Work quickly. Everything is stopped at the moment and that can't be.” Madam director ordered and went to her office slightly annoyed. 

You watched her go, rolled your eyes, sat at your table and began to work. 

While you tried to concentrate your colleagues constantly came and disturbed you when they asked about the status of things. 

Your phone was constantly ringing too and you did your best to ignore it. After 1 hour of nearly constantly ringing Jenny stood in front of your desk and seemed to be angry. 

“I've tried to call you multiple times,” she said. “Yep. I've ignored you,” you just answered matter of factly. You didn't look up and just tipped away on your keyboard. 

Jenny on the other hand huffed and stormed away again. 

Tim tried to be invisible and Gibbs grinned. Tony was smiling widely, coming to you stating “wow, Y/N. Finding a whole new respect for you.”

You stopped typing and looked at him without saying a word. He laughed, held his hands up and retreated to his desk. 

After another 30 minutes the director came again to ask the status of the progress. She huffed, fumed and yelled at you “you are still not getting to the phone when I call you! I can't WORK!!!”

You just looked up, reached behind the phone and held up the loose plug, saying calmly but slightly annoyed “I pulled out the plug.”

Everyone was quiet, the atmosphere was tense and Gibbs was watching the events with interest and grinned from one ear to the other. At least he seemed to be having fun. 

Now Jenny was losing it and yelled again “you can’t do that! You have to be available!”

You stood up, leaned on your desk and replied as calmly as possible “yes, I can do that. It was very easy. Just pulled the plug. And I AM available. Otherwise you couldn't be standing here in front of me and snapping at me.”

A quiet snort could be heard from Tony and Gibbs, who were giving you mentally a medal. Tim has taken cover behind his computer.

Jenny then snapped “you are just as impossible as Gibbs! He is really rubbing off on you!”

“Why? Because maybe he just wants to do his work in peace and concentrate?”

Madam director gasped and opened and closed her mouth like a fish, not knowing what to respond. 

You stood up, put your hands on your hips and said slowly and threateningly “you can call me every minute and get on my nerves because you can’t work. But the only thing you’ll achieve is to tear me out of concentration and slow down the analysis and correction. If you want to contribute something productive, you can get me some fresh coffee. Working without coffee is bordering on physical assault”

You were about to explode, so you tried to compose yourself and keep as calm as possible. She was your big boss after all. 

So you pushed your cup into her hand, sat down and said “and now let me do my work in peace.”

With that this conversation was closed for you and you got back to concentrate on the problem and ran further protocols and tests. 

Jenny stomped away indignantly, the colleagues laughed loudly and Gibbs patted you on the shoulder “well done. I didn't know you could be so dangerous.” You were amazed and perplexed hearing these words from your boss. 

“Let me do my job and correct this shit” you huffed. 

He laughed briefly, smiled and replied “come with me, I know a place where you can work in peace and nobody will bother you. There's good coffee too.” 

You looked stunned at him, smiled and answered “I'm in.”

You both packed your things and went to Gibbs’ Truck. “Were are we going to?” you asked curiously. “Wait and see” Gibbs answered, smiling. 

In fact, he was driving to his house, you noticed in surprise. “Come inside and let's get some coffee” he stated. 

“Uhm….” You couldn't say a word. 

“Now. Come on” he ordered you rolling with his eyes. 

Quickly you got out of his car and followed him inside. He was standing in the kitchen and made some coffee. As he heard you enter he turned around “make yourself at home. You can sit in the dining room or in the basement. Just take a seat where you think you can work with concentration.”

So you took residence at the dining room table and started your laptop. Until you opened the needed programs a mug came into your view and the coffee smelled heavenly. You looked up at your smirking boss who told you “coffee with a lot of milk, I think it is, right?” 

You were speechless that he knew this and just nodded “thanks”. 

“You're welcome. I'm down in the basement. Call, if you need something.”

“Okay, will do.”

“Good.”

So Gibbs went downstairs and you began to work on the problem again. 

But after half an hour you had a feeling of being lonely, took your laptop and walked down the stairs that led to the basement, where Gibbs was working on his boat. 

Seeing you standing there he stopped in his work and watched you “you need something?” 

“Hm, yes. I'm feeling a little bit lonely up there. Can I work here?”

He laughed briefly “sure. You can sit on the workbench over there” he said and pointed to it. 

You smiled, walked to the place he showed you and whispered “thank you.” 

So the two of you worked in the basement and enjoyed the company and the silence. 

After another half an hour you cried out “I've got it!!!” 

Gibbs watched you intently and waited for your explanation. 

“I've found the reason for the error. Someone had interrupted a saving process and therefore corrupted the database. But thankfully I can repair this easily.”

“Good” was the only response you got, but you were nonetheless working on the repair again, typing away. 

A short while later you had done the repair, tested it and everything was good once more. The problem was solved and inwardly you patted yourself on your shoulder. 

So Gibbs and you drove back to the office to check, if everyone else could work again, too. And yes, they could. You were sooo happy!!! 

Only one task was left. You had to go to the director to inform her. You sighed and started to go to her, but you were held back by your upper arm. 

“I'm coming with you. Don't let yourself go in there alone.”

Entering her office Jenny growled “these are exactly the two I wanted to see. They're both the same.”

“It was a database error, but I could repair it. Just let me check quickly, if everything's okay on your computer. Then you can go back to work again.”

You checked the system and everything was fine once more. 

“Thank you.”

“That's my job.” You said. 

“I'm sorry for my behavior earlier. I have a due date to keep.” Jenny admitted. 

“It's okay, but when I can't work because I'm interrupted all the time, the correction needs more time.”

“Understand.” Jenny said and hung her head. 

Gibbs and you left her office. On the way to your desks, he pulled you aside and whispered in your ear

“Dinner. Tonight. Straight after work. I want to know more about you.”

If you want to know where the dinner leads, you have to read Chapter 2. 😊😉

----------------------------------------------

Here you will find the other chapter of this story and the other stories I've written to date.

-----------------------------------------------

[rnelophobia]

Let Him Apologize

Quoth the Raven “Let him apologize and eat it in a Bentley”

Content: •Oral •Cunnilingus •Vaginal Fingering •Fingerfucking •Smut •Semi-Public •Car sex •Eating out

word count: 1,899

Nanami loathed working overtime for many reasons. The demanding nature of his job made for emotional, mental, and physical exhaustion on a different level than his old office job. Another, more personal reason, was that he wanted any excuse to pick you up after you were finished working. The Jujutsu lifestyle was unpredictable, so spending any chance he could get in your presence was something he’d never take for granted. The uncertainty also led him to be more generous in your relationship, as a result he gave you whatever you desired, for the most part.

“Angel, we can't eat out so often, and you know we have food at home.” Nanami says, eliciting a huff out your mouth; what a parental thing to say. He isn’t wrong, of course, but after a long day at the office you want something quick and easy. It also doesn’t help that you have a nasty habit of hyper focusing on work and neglecting to eat anything of substance. The overall combination of work, along with a lack of solid meals left you in a sour mood at times afterwards.

Today had drawn out even more due to Nanami being held up at work longer than he’d like. He was also your ride back to the apartment you lived in together. So with the lack of knowing the proper time he’d come and the buses running later and later made for a bit of a frustrating wait. While Nanami was good at keeping time, Jujutsu work could be constraining at being able to keep you updated on the fly. It also gave you anxiety on whether he would respond back or if you’d never hear from him again.

Safe to say by the time he arrived you were ready to eat soon, not to say you hated Nanami’s cooking, he was a fantastic cook. Finding a man capable of doing the bare minimum seemed rare nowadays, finding one who excelled and went above and beyond like Nanami, near impossible. Sometimes it felt like you were inadequate in the relationship based on how much Nanami tended to you. Despite what appeared like a stand-offish, unapproachable exterior of a man, was actually one who’s incredibly devoted. Some would say you were spoiled, rightfully assumed. Perhaps that, the late hour, the hunger, and being tired from work would explain why you were currently not engaging with Nanami.

After rejecting the proposal to eat out, you swiftly turned your head away from him to stare out the window. The rational side of you knew it was immature, the stubborn side just wanted a fast meal. Another part of you hated the dread that came along with his line of work, the uncertainty of his life.

Almost immediately after disengaging you feel his firm hand lay on your thigh. It starts with a slow caress from his thumb going up and down the side. After a pat and a slight squeeze you shoot a glance at him as he concentrates on the road ahead. When there’s a red light he finally turns his attention back to you.

“Don’t be like this, I came as soon as I could.” He sighs. There are only so many hours left in the day and he doesn’t want to spend those hours with tension.

“It’s not really the waiting, I just hate worrying and it’s the second time this week.” You confess. The light turns green to turn into the lower parking lot of your apartment. Once Nanami finds a spot he finally shifts his attention back towards you. “I know it’s a joke when you say Jujutsu work is shit but is it worth risking your life for?” You already knew the answer, because Nanami always cherished the lives of his coworkers and students. He slowly brings his palm up to caress your cheek with his thumb.

“I value everyone as if it were you,” He brings your face closer to kiss your forehead, “There is no life beneath my own and death is above no one if I can help it.” Nanami speaks quietly as a kiss to your cheek leads to a peck on the lips. “If I could slow down the days in your presence I would; I’d treasure every second.” The hand on your cheek lowers to the back of your neck to bring you in for a proper kiss. You whimper a bit causing him to deepen it, as if you’d disappear at any moment. The two of you break apart for a second to take a breath as he gently presses his forehead to yours.

“I’ll never be able to get back our lost time but I’ll always make up for it.” He says, the words ghosting over your lips.

How Nanami can sell you on the prospect of his death and turn you on at the same time, you’ll never know. Forgotten is the appetite for anything other than the man in front of you right now. You place your hand on his chest, slowly moving it up his body until you get to his neck where you take hold of his tie. A firm tug on the fabric brings your lips back together with a new urgency. You start to shift the tie around, undoing the knot and move on to unbutton his shirt before he stops your hands.

“I appreciate the love Angel but let’s focus on you first.” He says while leaning over your side to recline and push back the car seat. Once it’s set, he leaves his own seat and moves over to your side to kneel before you on the floor. You prop yourself on your elbows to watch him as he starts peppering kisses from your knee into your inner thighs, alternating between each one. You lift your hips, allowing him to hike up your skirt as he continues on with his show of devotion. Once he gets to your underwear he lazily runs his thumb up and down the clothed part of your slit. It was a pale pink color that started to darken in the middle the deeper he started to massage up and down the length of it.

“A little teasing and I get rewarded like this? Now how will you spoil me?” He smirks as he gives a firm press over where your clit is, causing your hips to arch up into the pressure. He tells you to keep yourself there for a second longer so he can slide your underwear down for you. Once they’re off he places your legs on his shoulders bringing you closer to him. Nanami goes back to lavishing your inner thighs with kisses, giving them a squeeze with his hands. When he gets back to the center he brings his thumb to your slit, slowly parting your lips as he licks his own at the tempting view.

He lowers his head to finally get a taste, his tongue sweeping up lightly to tease you first. You let out a groan of frustration when you note he doesn’t follow through to your clit. Normally you’d go with the flow with anything he does to you sexually but the physical hunger was manifesting into another.

Lowering your hand down into his perfectly styled blonde hair, you grip onto the length as you bring him exactly where you want him. This is one of many things Nanami loves about you, your forwardness turning him on. Your eagerness comes with the reward of having your clit on his tongue and being sucked into his mouth firmly. The action elicits a gasp from your mouth at the sudden spark of pleasure, in doing so he brings his hand to ease in a finger and feels the delicious squeeze of your pussy. Working the finger in time with the pull of his mouth and tongue on your clit causes your thighs to clamp down on the sides of his head. He stops his administration to give you a breathy laugh that brings a full body shiver from the cool air.

“Don’t.” You plead.

“Don’t what? Stop fucking you? I wouldn’t dream of it, you’ve got more to give Angel. Now hold on to your legs for me”. He instructs as he leans back in, giving your slit a kiss before parting your lips with his tongue again. He immediately goes back to giving your clit its rightful attention, lapping at your wetness. Nanami’s tongue trails down towards your hole, dipping in just to tease and taking it back out to play with your clit. After alternating a bit he goes back to slurping at the mess he’s made of your cunt bringing it up once again to suck you into his mouth. This time when he brings his hand back he guides another finger inside, crossing them so he can twist as they thrust inside your pussy. The maneuver draws out a vigorous moan from your mouth, as the grip on your legs tighten.

He picks up the pace, loving the desperate noises falling out your mouth along with the sound of his fingers plunging inside your drenched cunt. He slows down until he’s fully out, which causes a whine to leave your lips at the sudden loss of stimulation. You peer down at him, finding his lustful gaze searing back at you. He brings the fingers he was using up to his lips, sucking them clean, not breaking eye contact.

Before you can plead again, Nanami gives them a swipe of his tongue before thrusting them back into your pussy, causing your mouth to fall open in a gasp. Your head falls back onto the seat as his fingers curve in a bit, stroking your sensitive walls with each push. He picks up the pace, making you clench harder at the force while your mouth chokes out an incomprehensible sound, the feeling overwhelming your senses.

The speed and length of his fingers is sinful as they keep heightening your pleasure, the familiar tightening of your orgasm approaching. Sensing this he brings his mouth back down over your clit, circling his tongue around it before sucking on it again. This shatters you as you feel your orgasm pulse around his ever moving fingers as they keep up the rhythm while pleasure washes through your body. A breath shutters through your mouth as you finally lower your legs, the weight of them feeling heavy after the act. There are aftershocks as he laps up your cum, the overstimulation making you whimper as he finishes. Nanami slips his hand out to suck off again before he begins kneading at your thighs, massaging the life back into them after being propped up for so long.

“Alright my love, let’s fix you up and head inside okay?” Nanami gives your thighs one last squeeze before bringing your skirt back down, not bothering with putting back your underwear on and instead opting to just pocket them for time’s sake. He opens the passenger side door so he can step out before you and presents his hand for you to take. With your hand in his you step out into the parking lot, the night breeze making you more aware of the lack of underwear. You shuffle closer into Nanami causing him to wrap an arm around your shoulder to accommodate.

“Now what would you like to eat, Angel?”

[dancinglikepirateking]

Bump Into You

Prompt: Your childhood best friend finally comes back after studying from abroad and something in your dynamic changes.

General tags: friends to lovers, fluff i think?, he is tall, very tall.

Word count: 5.0K

“Can I Facetime you? Urgency level 10.” you quickly text Yunho. You briefly see his chat bubble appear and then disappear, seeing as he called you.

“What’s burning? What happened? Is someone following you?” he asks concerned, as he inspects your background, noticing you are in your room. He exhales loudly and you giggle, wiping your tears and hugging your knees.

“I miss you. We haven’t talked that much lately and I miss you so much.” your words come out muffled, sniffling and new tears replace the ones you just wiped. You’ve always been this attached to him, he was the only person that ever allowed you to be clingy and express your feelings the way you wanted and needed, and he took it all gladly. He loved being loved by you, which made you love him even more.

He sighs and you notice as his expression morphs into a sad one, seeing his lips gain a small pout. “I miss you too princess. But I will be with you soon, just a few more weeks and I will be there.” he says trying to comfort you, at which you nod and try to stop your tears.

“Are you busy? Do you have things to do? Anything to study for?” you ask slightly anxious that you are wasting his time. You see him scratch the back of his neck and nod. “Yeah… I have like two exams coming up this week and a few more presentations to work on. But they can wait, you need me way more and you are more important.” he replies he smiles sweetly at you.

Is this the right time to mention the huge crush you’ve had on this man for the past nine years? A crush that was impossible to get rid of. Your heart does a flip at his smile.

“No fucking way. Did you make plans with your friends to study?” you ask alarmed, straightening your back and looking at him. “I did but I already told them that I’m not coming the moment you texted me. It’s okay princess, really.” he reassures you again.

“Nope. It is not. We are having a study date together right now. I should be studying too. Come on get your notebooks and let’s go.” you say fully motivated as you go to sit on your desk and get your things ready. He laughs and looks at you lovingly with a cute small smile plastered on his lips. He also goes to sit at his desk and gets to work, at times mumbling whatever he was reading or writing or even explaining it to you so he himself could understand it. As for you, not much studying happened as you couldn’t help but stare at his focused, concentrated face.

The love you have for this man… You are doomed.

***

You check yourself in the mirror once more before picking up your tote bag that had your things and leaving your house, getting into your car and heading towards the airport.

After 

Your childhood best friend Yunho is finally coming back home after studying abroad for the past three years. And while you two still talked on the phone and texted a lot, not being able to see him whenever you wanted was annoying, as well as the lack of any physical contact, which was so painful for you to be suddenly robbed by his warm hugs, by his arms circling your waist and pulling you oh so close.

You shake your head at the thought. You were about to see him and your heart was beating like crazy. Sure maybe you had a small crush on him. For the past 9 years of your life, and sure maybe you should give up already, but your heart can't calm down whenever he's around. But you are not delusional enough to interpret every touch and every look he gives you as him reciprocating your crush for him, the two of you have always been this close and used disgustingly cute pet names just to annoy each other. You are more than okay with Yunho not liking you like that.

Before you know it you reach the airport, thanks to being lost in your thoughts. You park your car quickly and get inside the building, looking to see when exactly his plane lands. He lands in 10 minutes at gate 5, so you quickly look for it, and while there are around five minutes left of waiting, you remember you forgot something in your car. Could you make a run for it? I mean for sure, it takes forever to get off the plane and get your luggage and everything. So you run out of the building and towards your car to get the bouquet of flowers you got for your friend on your way to the airport.

Once you have the flowers in your arms, you quickly rearrange them and head back inside the airport, but after you check the arrivals screen again you don’t see Yunho’s flight anymore. Did everyone unbark already?

You started to take bigger steps towards gate 5. Or was it gate 4? You couldn’t remember. You were now jogging towards the area where you thought (and wished) the right gate was, and while in your hurry you jog full force into someone’s chest, the flowers squish between your body and the person’s in front of you. Oh fuck not Yunho’s flowers.

You take a step back and tears gather at the corners of your eyes as you look at the now very squished flowers, some of the petals falling off. Without making eye contact (you always hated making eye contact with strangers) you started apologising to the poor person you just hit and somehow didn’t see at all.

“I’m so so sorry, I don’t know where I was looking. Are you ok? Did you get hurt?” you ask while looking at the ground now, trying to keep the tears at bay so they wouldn’t spill over, looking very sadly at the flowers.

“Are you ok princess?” responds a very familiar voice. The pet name disgusted you at first, coming from a stranger as far as you knew, but once the voice registered in your mind, you raised your head, you raised it so much that your neck was in a very uncomfortable position. It was Yunho. A very tall Yunho. Taller than you remembered.

“Yunho.” you whisper and then get your arms around his wait, pulling him into a very tight hug. If you weren’t crying before, you surely were crying now, while you were snuggling into his chest, not caring if you were dirtying his shirt, and he didn’t seem to care either, as one of his arms went around your shoulders and the other was resting on the top of your head, caressing your hair gently. He was talking to you, but you were so overwhelmed by his presence and scent and just all sorts of emotions that you could not hear anything anymore, you were just feeling everything. Your heart was beating so fast and you were hearing his heartbeat just as fast as yours and you were smiling like crazy into his chest. Oh how you missed him.

“Never leave for this long again.” you muffle while your face is still buried in his chest and you feel him laugh under your touch, which makes you smile.

You finally pull back, taking a step back and wiping your tears with the back of your hand, not caring at all how messy your face was right now. You remember the bouquet you had in your hand the whole time and you give the flowers one last look before you stretch your arm with the flowers towards him.

Yunho looked down at the very colourful flowers trying to contain his excitement, but his smile was the widest and prettiest you’ve ever seen. “For you. They are Gladiolus, I know you’ve talked about how much you like them that one time. I’m sorry, they looked so much prettier five minutes ago before I basically ran you over…” you shily say while looking down at your feet, still embarrassed by you bumping into him like that. He takes the flowers gladly, looking at them adoringly and smiling, you would even say he was blushing a little. He slightly leans down and circles your waist with his arms and pulls you in a hug and lifts you at the same time, your feet leaving the floor, being forced to quickly wrap your arms around his neck so you wouldn’t fall, letting out a surprised squeak.

“I love them. Thank you.” he says as he buries his face in your neck, his deep, low voice and his very strong scent and steady hold on you making you freeze for a brief second, in which you start playing with the short hairs at the back of his neck.

He slowly puts you back on the ground and you look up at him. When and how did he get this tall? “Let’s go.” you say as you grab one of his luggages and drag it after you. He knows it’s pointless if he insists he carries it, so he doesn’t even try, instead he just follows right behind while still looking at the flowers lovingly, dragging behind him the other luggage that had on top of it a huge shoulder bag. You are the only person to ever give him flowers, and while this isn’t the first time you gave him pretty flowers, he is always in awe when he receives them.

“When the fuck did you get this tall? What have you been doing over there?” you ask jokingly to break him out of his trance and he laughs. “Maybe you just got shorter?” he replies jokingly and you slap his arm which just makes him laugh more. “I grew like two inches. I’m not really sure how but I didn’t notice it until people started pointing it out. I’m around 6'2 now, not that much of a difference honestly.” he continues and you try to hide your shock. 6'2. Holy fuck. There was a time when the two of you were the same height, and you’re not even that short, you’re 5'6. This guy just kept stretching.

You look with the corner of your eye at him and how much taller he is than you, towering over you while just walking next to you. You return your eyes ahead of you, feeling as your face was starting to redden up. “How was the flight?” you ask, trying to distract yourself from the way he made you feel. He starts telling you all about it while you lead him towards your car. He puts the luggages in the trunk and then gets in the front seat.

“How have you been? How has the town been? Living without me must’ve been terrible right? I’m impressed you didn’t burn the house down.” he teases. Before he moved to Japan for his Master’s he used to be your dorm mates. It just made sense, you know? Being friends for so long and getting along so well, your communication was so good and you two worked so well together, it was the most obvious thing to move in together. And it was the most obvious thing to continue like this now. You two living together was also another factor of why you didn’t plan on telling him the feelings you have for him, besides the obvious of him not feeling the same. 

You didn’t look for a new dorm mate while he was gone either, even though he said he was okay with the idea of renting his room while he was gone, you weren’t okay with it.

“It was horrible, never dare leave me alone for this long again.” you say in a joking tone even though you were dead serious, and he knows it as well.

On the ride to your house he tells you about the friends he made in Japan, how they threw him a small party the night before, how they all ended up crying over him leaving while the rest of them were staying. “Though one of the girls, Yoko, I’ve told you about her before, confessed that she liked me for a while. But I turned her down for multiple reasons.” he says at one point and the statement makes your heart skip a beat. I mean yeah, who wouldn’t. “We all promised to keep in touch. They might even visit one day. You will have to meet them when they do, they are really the nicest.” Yunho continues to tell you excited while you were still stuck on the girl liking him, your grip on the steering wheel tightening. Were you mad? No, no reason or right to be. Jealous? Maybe only because this girl had the courage to say something you’ve been trying to say for nine years. 

“What got you so mad? Your knuckles are turning white. What are you thinking about?” Yunho asks, concerned as he touches your hand that was on the gear. You flinch at the unexpected contact and quickly focus back on the road. This is not the time to be getting jealous for no good reason. “I was thinking if I locked the door or not when I left.” you quickly lie and he looks at you with a doubtful look but brushes it off, telling you about the friends he made at the dance classes he attended. 

That was close.

*

Once you park your car in the driveway you help Yunho with his luggage and bring them into his room. “Did you clean my room?” he asks after he looks around, noticing there is little to no dust on the furniture. “Yeah every once in a while. I didn’t want dust to pile up and I wanted to welcome you back with a clean room.” you say while you follow him with your eyes as he falls on the bed, letting out a sigh. “Feels good to finally be home.” he mumbles while his face is buried in a pillow. You smile widely. He said home. He thinks of you and this place as home. His words make you insanely happy and want to do flips. Despite having had a great time in Japan, with a girl liking him, he still considered this his home.

“Wanna leave you to get some sleep? I know you had a few stressful days with the whole coming back process.” you ask while shifting your weight from one foot to the other. He nods. “Yeah. Thank you. We will catch up when I wake up. Love you.” he says in a very sleepy voice and you nod, silently leaving his room and entering yours.

And then it hits you.

What did he say?

Did he say what you heard him say?

Did he actually say that?

You’re pretty sure he did.

Are you so down bad for him that you’re starting to imagine him saying this?

That can’t be right.

It’s fine. He loves you as a friend. Friends always say this shit.

Not you two though you never actually said you love each other.

Stop spiralling. He’s your best friend, you’ve known each other for so long, it goes without saying that you love each other. It has gone without saying for so long. And yeah, maybe you love each other in very different ways, but it’s still love. But if he says it more often your heart will break over and over again every time, as being in love with someone and loving someone are so different.

You fall face down onto the bed, letting out an exasperated groan that was muffled by your pillow. Let’s hope this won’t become a usual thing, because the way the words fell out his mouth sounded beautiful.

***

A week has passed since Yunho came back home and you are feeling as if your sanity is slowly leaving you. You are starting to think that he knows you like him and he’s playing a prank on you.

He keeps telling you either muffled or whispered ‘love you’ ’s at different times of the day, but you either pretend you don’t hear him or actually don’t hear him, in which case you ask him what he said and he always says ‘nothing’.

A bit more touchier than usual, which is crazy to say since you are very touchy usually, but here you think you might look into it too much. But you feel like he is closer than usual, his arms rest around your waist for a few seconds longer, you catch him staring more often. When you hang out with your friends he always ends up sitting next to you, with his arm either around your shoulders and dragging you closer to him or with his head resting on your shoulder and snuggling into you, which always makes you a flustered, blushing mess that your friends never comment on or tease you for, since they know the way you feel about Yunho.

Mingi was the first to notice and then everyone else knew about it. Was it that they noticed themselves or Mingi told them, you’ll never know.

And no matter how hard you tried to not fall for it, how hard you tried to convince yourself that this was just what friends did, you just couldn’t. Your first thought was that maybe he liked you, but you gave up on that thought quickly as it made no sense. Your second thought was that maybe he was playing a prank on you, that maybe he found out about your feelings for him and was making fun of you, but again this was very unlikely, Yunho wouldn’t do that, would he? But what else could it be?

These were the thoughts that were drowning your mind as you were at a pub with your friends, being in a situation similar to a past one. On the bench, next to Yunho, his arm casually around your shoulders, pulled close to him, your head resting on his shoulder, one of his hands playing with the ends of your hair while actively participating in the conversation.

Suddenly he laughs with his entire body, as he always does, and that pulls you out of your thoughts and back to reality. You raise your head and look up at him, seeing as he has his head thrown back, laughing loudly, his eyes closed shut and you can’t help but smile. He’s so beautiful, so breathtaking and your heart swells up, your entire being becoming happy and feeling warm and fuzzy. You love him so much and he brings so many pleasant emotions that it makes you sad, melancholic.

He finally lowers his head, having calmed down his laughing and he looks down at you, making eye contact, having the biggest smile on his lips and you feel like you could explode. Yunho’s grip on your shoulders suddenly tightens and he pulls you closer, pressing his lips on your forehead and then pulling back, straightening his head and returning to the conversation your friends were having.

You however, didn’t change your position. Your eyes widened and your mouth opened slightly in surprise, staring at the wall, trying to process what happened. You could still feel his lips on your forehead, so soft. However you could also feel your face heat up and your friends’ eyes on you. You readjust your head and look down at your lap, looking at your hands fidgeting trying to distract yourself and maybe convince yourself that nothing happened, but the lingering sensation on your forehead was telling you otherwise.

Maybe you should talk to Yunho tonight when you get home. Maybe.

You are suddenly very aware of your lack of interaction with your friends, you’ve barely said a word or touched your drink ever since you’ve gotten here hours ago.

You clear your throat and gain everyone’s attention, including Yunho’s, who was looking down at you curiously this time. You make eye contact with the people that are sitting across from you. “I think I will go home now, I have to wake up early tomorrow, but this hangout was fun, we are finally in the complete formation.” is the little white lie you come up with.

After you are done speaking you stand up, Yunho taking his arm away seconds before you stand up, and after you hug everyone goodbye and wish them to continue having fun, promising to meet up again soon, after one final look at Yunho you leave the pub.

Tonight you will talk with Yunho. And you will tell him everything. Because you are starting to feel like he is giving you false hope.

It was around midnight, it was still warm outside but every once in a while a breeze would pass by and cool you down a bit. You didn’t take your car as you thought you’d be drinking more than you did and the pub is kind of close to your house anyway, you should be safe to arrive on your own. 

Your head was filled with all the small touches Yunho shared with you throughout the week, but the forehead kiss from tonight was something else, it caught you off guard the most. You were thinking so deeply about it that you didn’t hear Yunho call after you to wait up, which lead to him touching your shoulder to get your attention and startling you, scared it would be a stranger, but as you turn around and instantly make eye contact with someone’s chest you are quick to figure out that it’s Yunho and you look up at him, relieved.

You bring your hand over your heart, feeling it beat very fast, taking a deep breath. “Never do that again, I could’ve died!” you say in an exaggerated tone and you hear him giggle, he puts one of his hands on your and pats you gently. “Oh don’t be dramatic, I tried getting your attention by talking to you but you were deep in thought and didn’t hear me. What were you even thinking about?” he asks as he leans in closer to you, his face inches away, inspecting your face carefully, his breath fanning your face slightly. You look at him mesmerised for more seconds than you would’ve liked and then straighten up, his hand leaving your back and then straightening up again, looking down at you, still waiting for an answer.

‘You have to tell him NOW.’ are the words that keep repeating in your head, the rational part of your brain yelling at you that if you don’t talk to him about it now you will keep postponing it.

‘What if you will ruin your friendship? Who will have to find a new place to stay? What if it will make things awkward? Just come up with something!’ is saying the insecure part of your brain, which usually overpowers any other thought you might have.

But not this time.

You are tired of hanging on to false hope.

Sure, you wanted to talk about it when you got home or maybe tomorrow, but things don’t always go the way we plan.

“Why are you doing this?” you say while looking somewhere behind him. He lets out a confused ‘hm?’, tilting his head slightly, seeing with the corner of your eye how much he looked like a puppy. Oh you’re about to break your own heart.

“All the recent touches, the public affection, all the whispered and muffled things you say that some I can hear. Why are you doing this?”

Silence. Yunho tenses up slightly.

“We’ve always been close, sure, but not this close. At least in my opinion. And don’t get me wrong, I love every second of it but…” you say, taking a deep breath in. What you’re about to say can change your entire relationship. You exhale.

“I know you probably caught on that I like you more than a friend, or probably Mingi told you. But giving me all this false hope in the past weeks has been a double edged sword, because I’m so certain you don’t mean these things the way I wish you did, which is fine. But I’ve been indulging in them, and it hurts.” you continue, feeling a knot forming in your throat and tears filling up your eyes, making them burn.

Still nothing from him. You’re starting to feel anxious.

“I hope this won’t make things awkward between us, I don’t want us to stop being friends or housemates, but could you please stop giving me false hope? It might be fun for you, but I don’t know how much longer I can stand it for.” you say, letting the tears softly fall from your eyes, caressing your cheeks as they fall. You finally look at him. You are done with your speech and waiting for his move now. You said everything, and you feel relieved and burdened at the same time as you wait for a reply, a small part of you hoping for the impossible, hoping that he feels the same way you do. You let out a shaky breath.

His eyes are glossy, he has his lips slightly parted and a confused frown. Yunho opens his mouth a bit more and you close your eyes, as if waiting for a physical impact that his words might have.

“Y/N…” he says as his hands reach for yours. You squeeze your eyes shut. While Yunho is holding your hands gently, he brings them up to his lips and kisses your knuckles, making you open your eyes in surprise. “I’m sorry I made you believe I was toying with you. Or that I made you believe I wasn’t in love with you all this time.” he says and Yunho’s hands let go of yours, making your arms fall limp next to your body. “...What?” you say confused, looking at him bewildered.

Yunho’s big hands cup your face, stopping the tears that gathered around your jaw and with his thumb wiping away any other tears that stained your cheeks. He was slightly leaning over you, you were looking up at him with your eyes teary and shiny and he swore he could see stars in them. He smiles softly at you, caressing your cheek, but you're frozen, trying to make sense of what was happening.

“Can I kiss you?” Yunho asks as he leans in more, his forehead almost touching yours, completely towering over you. Your eyes widen. Is this real? Are you imagining it? Is this a dream? You couldn’t care less. You nod your head as you still haven’t found your voice to talk again.

And Yunho wastes no time, leaning in and connecting your lips. And it felt so good, electrifying, sending waves of shocks in your entire body. You were overwhelmed in the best way possible. One of Yunho’s hands travels down to the side of your neck while the other one remains on your face. Yunho was going at your pace, his soft lips following your moves and letting you take the lead and adjust. 

You pull away slightly, raising your hands to the back of his neck and making him stick his forehead to yours, making him lean more over you as you were standing on your tippy toes. He pecks your lips once, getting a giggle out of you.

“I’m so sorry I hurt you, it really wasn’t my intention. I was trying to make it obvious that I also like you. I was planning on telling you, but I didn’t know when and how and I was overthinking it and spiralling even though I knew you felt the same way and despite ev-” he rambles as he tried to put some space between you two but you drag him back in in a deeper kiss this time. You gently bite his bottom lip, letting him know to open his mouth, which he does immediately, and so your tongue meets his eager one. The kiss is slow, in a way experimental but full of promise, getting used to each other, exploring freely. Until you run out of air and you two have to pull away, panting for air.

“You can be so dumb at times.” you say in a lighthearted tone as you let go of your grip on the back of his neck and go in for a hug, your arms circling his waist and pulling him close, with your head pressed on his chest, feeling his heartbeat. Just like a few weeks ago when you picked him up from the airport.

“Says the one that got flustered over every touch I gave them and got jealous when I mentioned Yoko. Are you not the same person that screamed in their pillow like a teenage girl when I told them I love them two weeks ago?” Yunho teases you as he rests his chin on top of your head. You playfully slap his back in response while your cheeks were heating up. So he heard you… Embarrassing.

You stay like that for a bit, hugging him tightly, every once in a while rocking back and forth, Yunho placing kisses on the top of your head while playing with your hair. “I love you, Yunho. So much.” you say as you look at the pavement. You feel his heartbeat pick up and you smile. Cute. “I love you too, princess.” he replies and he squeezes you.

“I wanted to have this talk with you at home not in the middle of the street but I guess this works too…” you say as you pull away, looking up at him in admiration. He brings one of his hands up to your face and fixes your hair. “Let’s go home then.” Yunho replies as he takes a hold of your hand and interlocks your fingers, rubbing circles with his thumb on your hand and starts walking towards your house.

“I’m already there.” you reply, more for yourself, as you look at your intertwined fingers. You’ve been waiting so long for this moment.

yunho... tall...

[oceansssblue]

100 CELEBRATION — PROMPT 14. TELEPATHY

TECH / F READER 💖(🔥)

WARNINGS: BRIEF MENTIONS OF INSECURITIES, SEXUAL THOUGHTS BUT NO PROPER SEX SCENE.

NOTES: Here we have a fluffy and sweet/sensual one for our dear Tech. Oh, how I love that man... Let me know if you' ve liked it and reblog if you can. We've only got 3 more prompts for the 100celeb left (with our boys Rex, Cross, and Echo). See you on the next one! Xx, Blue.

••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••

Tech had a strict rule; he would not use his mind-reading ability on anyone if not for safety reasons exclusively. That meant, for example, that he was able –and would– use his telepathy to find out Cid's ulterior plans –plans the Trandoshan never mentioned to Hunter– ; but he would control himself and refrain from reading his brother's minds outside of missions and the like. If Tech didn't consider someone in danger, he would silence the thoughts that so often slipped uninvited into his mind.

However, even his own strict rule had to be broken on the rare occasion. Sometimes, the few people he cared about weren't in inminent physical danger; but experimenting some sort of emotional stress that they couldn't always resolve by themselves. Watching them suffer in silence when he might have been able to help if only he had been informed of the nature of their affliction... Well, in those cases, Tech felt morally obliged to intervene.

All this considered, there's no valid reason for him to use his telepathy on you today; but he can't help himself. He had tried to reach a logical conclusion for your behaviour around him lately; to no avail. What he knows is that you can't stand to be in the same space as him for more than a few minutes at a time. He had brushed it aside as mere coincidences at first -you had forgotten something, or had to help Omega with another-; but after a whole month of quiet observation, Tech can't deny the truth any longer. It hurts, the thought of you finding him so irritating or disliking him so much that you inmediately shied away from his presence; but he wants to know what exactly you can't stand about him. Perhaps he can find a solution to it... Tech isn't fond of many people; but he is of you, and he values the friendship that had slowly blossomed between the two of you. He thought you did too, he was sure of it. He needs to know what has changed.

And so the next time you rush out of the cockpit to the sonic, after putting an abrupt end to your conversation with him once again, Tech tunes your thoughts in. Your voice echoes inside his head in a series of stressed whispers. He has to concentrate to discern the jumbled words from one another; your mind is working light speed.

"Oh my god, will I ever stop messing up my words every time I talk to him? With how impossibly smart he is, he probably thinks I'm stupid by now!"

Then, a firm, clear sentence -Tech can imagine you pointing at yourself at the mirror, frustrated-.

"Get your shit together!"

He hears the door of the sonic opening and your footsteps moving in the direction of the bunks.

Alone with his own thoughts again, Tech ponders the new information around. He's relieved to know that at least you don't seem to be angry or irritated at him per se. You just seem to be intimidated by his intelligence; which is more of a compliment than anything else, really. Still, he can't help but feel guilty. Had he ever acted in a way that has made you feel undervalued? Had he off-handedly critiqued any aspect of your psyche? Made an unfortunate comment on how your mind processes things? He doesn't believe so; but it wouldn't surprise him either. For all the intelligence he posseses, he knows he often lacks of emotional tact; something that his brothers -Wrecker, in particular- seem to be well versed in.

Ah, there's always things to learn, mm?

He'll try to make you feel more at ease next time.

••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••

Tech is pleasantly surprised to have you tagging along in his exploration of Arkana's forest. The rest of The Batch had decided to stay in The Marauder, catching up on some sleep; but he had prefered to take the chance to observe the planet's rich ecosistem before they had to make their way back to Ord Mantell the following morning. You had inmediately jumped at the oportunity as well. Tech would have thought that an hour expedition would have been too much for you to be in his presence; but you had joined him with a bright smile, and half an hour later, your mood is just as friendly.

Arkana's forest is a surprising mix of bright colourful flora. There's not as much green as one would have expected; but instead, trees and flowers grow in vibrants blues, pinks and yellows. Your eyes widen in awe at a bright neon magenta flower that is as tall as yourself; steps slowing down to admire it.

"What's its name?" you ask him, curiously.

Tech doesn't need to consult his datapad; he knows exactly what it is.

"Fluoridium flowers. Their shine is not a property of the plant per se, but a result of different kinds of neon-like minerals in Arkana's soil. It is often used as..." Tech notices the way you're silently staring at him, an almost lost expression on your face.

He remembers your thoughts on him; and the rest of his explanation quickly dies on his throat. He doesn't want to overwhelm you with unnecessary information. He ends his info-dumping -as Crosshair used to call it- with a few brief words.

"Let's just say it has a lot of uses".

He nods to himself, and then re-starts their walk through the forest. You follow him inmediately, frowning in confusion at his interrumpted explanation.

"For example?" you ask him, and Tech shoots a carefull glance back at you.

"I didn't think you'd be interested in knowing that".

His words bring a honest, surprised expression on your face.

"Why not?" you sound highly confused.

You can't help but think you've done something wrong. It had looked like Tech had wanted to share the information with you; and then he had stoped himself from continuing after taking a look at your face. Had you done something you weren't aware of?

Tech's eyes flicker around the forest almost avoiding you.

"I wouldn't want to bore you" he answers, voice quiet and hesitant.

Tech is never hesitant. He might not know everything; but even then, his usual way of talking is always confident and self-assured. He has no problem in admiting a lack of knowledge in something; he'd admit it in the same firm tone he uses for everything. Why is he acting so strange now?

His words tug at your heart. Perhaps something has happened without you noticing it. Perhaps there had been some sort of discusion between the brothers; or some fleeting comment Tech had taken too personal.

You are enamoured by him; he could never bore you.

For the first time in perhaps forever, you reach your hand towards his wrist; tugging him into a stop and looking up into his eyes with your cheeks lighted up in a faint blush.

"I find all your explanations interesting" you sum up the courage to add "I like hearing you talk, Tech".

You shoot him a small, soft smile; fingers squeezing his wrist softly before letting him go.

Tech is momentarily stunned. He is first confused by the contradiction between your recent afirmation and the thoughts he had heard from you just a few days ago; he is also surprised by the tender affection he reads on your eyes. Your honest little admission sends a warm feeling to his heart.

You're still looking at him; perhaps waiting for an answer, a reaction from him. Tech's heart speeds up. He feels the need to listen to your mind tingling through his veins; and he allows himself that little exception again, just this time.

"How could you ever be boring? You're like a living encyclopedia. And you look so adorable when you're explaining something, specially when you raise your index. I like seing how excited you get, how you come to life. Ah, Tech, if only you knew... I could hear you talking all day".

Tech blushes instantly; slipping out of your mind and trying to hide the way hearing you "talk" about him is making him feel. He must have gotten something wrong. You evidently still enjoy spending time with him; you... Care. Those first thoughts he read from you last time must have been born of your own insecurities; insecurities he would try to help you leave behind.

••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••

You like when the cockpit is at it's maximum capacity. It means you're able to watch Tech with other posible distractions claiming his attention; masking your unwavering interest. Right now, for example, he's listening to Wrecker's and Omega's chattering; making a few brief interventions here and there. He's also piloting The Marauder back to Ord Mantell; and shooting some carefully concerned glances at Hunter, who was injured in The Batch's last mission in Targa. He has always been an expert at multitasking.

You, on the other hand, are focused on just one thing; Tech himself. How his hair is slightly ruffled after the mission, and the way his eyes seem to softly shine with the hyperspace lights. His pouty lips; and the way his long legs look when he spreads his knees apart, turning in the direction of his brothers once The Marauder is set on autopilot.

Fuck, how you wish you could be standing -or kneeling- between those legs...

Tech suddenly stutters in his speech, his cheeks blushing perhaps as a result of something one of his brother's had said. It pulls you out of your thoughts for a minute; your eyes focusing on how cute he looks with the soft tint of embarassment on his face. It's not an expression you often see on him.

You're really helpless when it comes to Tech. Your mind inmediately swings to dirty thoughts; pondering wether he'll get a similar expresion if he'd get flustered at sex. Would he be shy, cheeks set on fire and a timid, adorable wide-eyed expresion on his face? Or would he be as confident and firm as usual, making you melt at his feet with a few caresses and well aimed words? You'd be eager to please him either way, that's for sure.

Tech stands up abruptly; clearing his throat nervously, face impossibly flushed now. His eyes flicker everywhere around the room, and he inmediately makes a hasty exit muttering a rushed excuse. Your eyes trail after him in concern; asking the rest of The Batch about him in case you got lost on something important that would explain his sudden and unexpected retreat.

"What was that?" you whisper to his brothers, half confused and half concerned.

Hunter's eyes snap back at you. He looks uncomfortable; shifting in his place.

"You tell me" he answers, criptycally, inmediately turning his attention to Meg.

What does that even mean? He... He couldn't have known what you were thinking about, could he? Well, with how perceptive he is, perhaps he might have guessed the direction of your thoughts with those heightened senses of his... But certainly not Tech, right? He's smart, yes, but you hadn't been that obvious, had you? Or were your thoughts so clearly written in your face?

Wrecker bumps his shoulder into yours, trying to integrate you into the conversation and diffuse the sudden weird atmosphere that had set around you. You shoot him a soft smile; though your mind is still being pulled in Tech's direction, who had all but ran away to hide in the bunks.

••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••

Tech had been fighting your thoughts for one whole month now. And fighting was the apropiate word; because it had been madenning difficult to focus on anything else but the way you seem to lose your atention on the outside word when you focus on him. It had been a complete shock at first; his mind needing a few days to process this change of perspective. The realisation that your only problem with him was that you liked him a bit too much, that he made you impossibly nervous, had been hard to accept. Tech would have thought you'd go for someone like Hunter; but no, you were utterly interested in him. He didn't really understand why at first; but as weeks passed, he had listen to all kind of thoughts about him -from sincere admiration to soft tenderness to hungry lust-, and he guessed he could understand your reasons now.

Needless to say, he had been a mess. He was always so composed; but your thoughts about him had shattered his control to pieces. He spent most of his days either flustered, or lost in your own thoughts; to the point the rest of his brothers had noticed it. Hunter, who knew exactly what was going on, had encouraged him to bring the conversation to you; but even if he knew how you saw him, he was still a bit unsure. He didn't want to make you uncomfortable; and he still felt guilty of invading your privacy. What if you got furious at him? Never wanted to see him again? That would be heartbreaking.

The situation couldn't continue for much longer, though; he was distracted, and he needed to be focused on their missions -to keep all of them as safe as possible-. He had no other option than to confront you. Though perhaps... perhaps his way of going about it wasn't the most wise.

Hunter had gone to Cid's to deliver their part of the deal; while Wrecker and Omega had decided to celebrate with a few games of dejarik and Mantel Mix. Echo, though tired, had tagged along as well; if only for keeping a responsible eye on them. You had claimed to be tired as well; so you had stayed in The Marauder with him.

You were currently sitting next to Tech; watching him tinker about with an old datapad of his he was trying to fix so Omega could have her own one. He could feel the weight of your stare on his face; momentarily glancing down at his hands each handfull of minutes. The tension was palpable between the two of you; and Tech couldn't help but tune in into your thoughts once again. You were practically screaming them to him...

"Fuck, look at those fingers... So long and skilled... He really does have beautiful hands. If only I could feel them on me..."

Tech feels a small rush of excitement slowly igniting inside of him. He tries to focus on the task at hand; a futile attempt. Your thoughts keeps slipping onto his mind.

"Inside me. Fuck, wish I could feel them inside me. Clench on them while he licks my clit with his tongue and I could dig my fingers into his hair, push him against me, and he'd get me ready for his cock and... Oh, god, what would his cock feel like?"

Tech is so dizzy with the raw hunger and need laced in your words he blurts out an answer without wanting too.

"I wouldn't be opposed to trying that".

He realises, far too late, that his thought hand't stayed in the safe privacy of his mind; but exposed out loud for you to hear as well. His eyes widen in surprise.

"W-what?" you stutter, terrified of having spoken your own thoughts out loud.

Tech blushes and watches you nervously. The cat is out of the bag, now.

"I-I... Please forgive me, you were thinking very loudly and I could not help but listening in and..." he explains hurriedly, your expresion only switching from confused terror to terrified surprise.

"What do you mean? You... You can read people's mind?" You almost squeak, shocked at not having heard of any of this until now.

Tech nods, guiltily, and the realisation of your crush being aware of all you've fantasized about him makes your cheeks burn in pure embarassment.

"I'm sorry!" you inmediately apologise, wanting nothing more than to stand up and run away. "I-I..."

"It is not your fault" Tech inmediately cuts in, taking a deep, calming breath as if he is nervous himself. "There is nothing for you to apologise for. In fact, I am the one who should. Please forgive me, mesh'la. I did not intend to invade your privacy like this. I first thought you had a problem with me, and so I peaked into your mind twice to figure out why, and... And I should have stopped there, but the way you continued to stare at me made me curious and... I'm sorry, mesh'la".

You soften at the honesty of his words; and the affectionate way he calls you beautiful in Mando'a. You glance up at him cautiously; embarassment slowly melting away with his positive reaction.

"So you're not... You're not uncomfortable, then?"

Tech's cheeks are still slightly red; though he forces his eyes to stay on yours.

"No. It was a shock at first, I must admit; but your thoughts have never made me felt that way. Nervous, distracted, turned on... Yes, but not uncomfortable" he pauses and carefully adds "like I said, I wouldn't be opposed to try any of them".

You almost jump at the chance; but there's something else holding you back. You don't want this to be a one time thing. You don't want this to be merely sexual. He knows all your thoughts on this; it's just fair you get to find his.

"Did you... Did you hear all the non-sexual thoughts about you too? About us?" you ask him quietly.

Tech responds to your vulnerability with a warm smile. His hand slowly reaches down to yours; sending a shiver through your spine.

"I did. And I'd like to try those as well, cyare" he whispers, a confesion that stays just between the two of you.

Your heart soars; the explosive rush of happiness pushing a radiant smile on your face, happy tears on your eyes.

"Yes, yes, yes, yes" you chant in your head. And then, in case he's listening... "Kiss me, Tech".

You catch a brief glimpse of his answering smile before his lips join yours in a soft, passionate kiss. You sigh into him, melting against the carefull hands that slowly come up to craddle one side of your face and your left hip. Tech hums in contentment. His own swirl of excited, tender thoughts mix with the ones that slips from your mind into his. You kiss and kiss; and the passion and affection burning in both of you is so similar he does not longer differentiate in between.

THE END.

•••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••

You can read the other prompts for the 100celeb here:

And you have a lot of other clone wars and bad batch stories here:

[aoharushiyo]

the recipes for... | track 2 — gâteau au chocolat

Translation: en Proofreading: aca, dimi, kimi, myun, jay, jelly

School. Classroom. Lunch break. After eating my lunch, I spent the rest of my break at my seat, devotedly poring over manuscripts as usual.

School. Classroom. Lunch break. After eating my lunch, I spent the rest of my break at my seat, devotedly poring over manuscripts as usual.[1] I had been holding back from spending because of yesterday's standee, but now that yesterday had happened, I had impulsively splurged on as many of the doujinshi that had escaped my grasp as I could.

"…"

Even though I had been reading in little spurts during class breaks, there were still pages upon pages to read. This must be heaven. Really, I couldn’t care less about school and classes. I was happy in this little world of my own.

And so, while I was carefully keeping a straight face — despite the wonderful world of ReiOu I was drowning in — I overheard the voices of a couple of girls whose names I didn't even know.

"Hey, have you read today's pre-release issue of Weekly Shounen Dive yet?" "Not yet!"

I mean, I'd already gotten my hands on it, of course.

"Listen, listen! In the new PatiBattle chapter, Reito and Minoru partner up!" "…Tch."

Without even thinking, I stood up from my seat. Are they stupid? Just saying spoilers like that? Something's gotta be wrong with them. At this point, it might as well be a public nuisance. I didn't want to catch another stray bullet coming my way, so I quickly made for the door.

"Get this: they're getting along really well!" "…"

The comment reached me as I was walking away, scoffing internally. A new ship being born? Whatever. I'll gladly crush new ships without any substance under my heel.

---

"Ugh, it's no use, I can't concentrate. It's all their fault…"

Not even seeking refuge in the Home Economics classroom had helped me concentrate on reading at all. As I'd expected, my mind only kept wandering. It's all their fault for yapping spoilers all over the damn place! The hell do you mean Reito and Minoru partnered up?

Minoru… Ugh, that Kaju Minoru! I had been planning to quietly read the new chapter in the safety of my room once I got home, but now, all I wanted to do was dash back to the classroom and check what really was in the new chapter.

"I can't believe people are shipping it, but I guess things are getting interesting…"

That was the charm of the manga that had me in a chokehold: PatiBattle!, which had been serialising in Weekly Shounen Dive for years. With a super-elite boarding school as a stage, its students each aim to be the world's finest patissier. A passionately youthful story harmonising dessert battles and friendship.

"The pinnacle of entertainment, the peak of passion… that's PatiBattle."

PatiBattle's Chiyoda Reito: the favourite to top all faves. Just saying that his specialty is chocolate and that he's the good-looking type obviously isn't enough to describe everything about him. Those girls from earlier must have mistaken Reito's partner as Kaju Minoru, because Reito's partner will always, always be the source of their one-sided rivalry: Tentsuki Ouji.[2] Putting Ouji's specialty, pudding, with Reito's chocolate makes for the cutest ever ship name, ChocoPudding, but the hell do you get when you put Reito and Minoru together? ChocoFruits??[3]

"I seriously can't believe it~."

I guess the ship name is pretty cute. Putting chocolate on anything makes it cute, after all. That's what makes Reito amazing. …But ReiMino is a no-go. My body would violently protest against it.

I knew my own NOTPs, but that didn't make me less of a picky otaku. Frankly, it's physically impossible for me to agree with every single interpretation of ReiOu that's out there anyway. But even so… there does exist a one-and-only god whose vision I revere above all else: Sanseiu-sensei.

I want to go to that convention. I want to meet them someday. I want to shake those hands that have created so many masterpieces…

And so, while I was draped over the table and lost in those rambling thoughts—

"So you were here, just as I thought. I was looking for you since you weren't in the classroom." "Muu-chan…"

The door to the Home Economics classroom opened, and Muneuji — the one person in the world who I could trust — stepped inside.

"Did something happen?" "Nothing. What're you doing here, Muu-chan? …Ah."

Just as I was about to stand up, my phone slipped from my grasp… …And clattered to the floor right at Muu-chan's feet.

"…!"

Right there, on full display, was the page I had been reading ― a steamy handholding scene between Reito and Ouji…[4] ―Crap! Muu-chan's gonna see!

I flew into action. Desperately, I reached down to grab my phone, but just as I did so, Muu-chan also bent down―

"Uwah―" "Waah―!"

I bumped into Muu-chan's chest, sending us both crashing to the floor. I could feel his face, his hands, his arms…

"―ngh, ah―"

Instantaneously, a shock pulsed through my body. The sensation of every hair on my body standing on end grossed me out so much that I scrambled back in a panic. All the while tightly clutching my phone.

I knew I had been rude, but all Muu-chan did, already understanding my situation, was slightly knit his brows in worry. "Is your body alright?" "…Mm. Sorry." "It's not a problem. Don't worry about it."

…Really, everything just sucks. Even though I trust Muu-chan this much. Dealing with this body's shitty tendencies… Not being able to use my money however I want because of the lawyers' administration… Not even being able to walk through crowds to meet Sanseiu-sensei.

If only―

If only that hadn't happened.

---

[1] He specifically says 同人誌データ doujinshi data here, which means a finished manuscript for a doujinshi, which is then sent to a publisher to get published. Ushio is reading them on his phone; it's implied that they were uploaded somewhere after being physically published.

[2] Ushio doesn't specify which side the one-sided rivalry comes from, just that there is one, but I've taken some context from ch5 and very broadly applied it here to assume the rivalry is Ouji → Reito. It could as well be Reito → Ouji, who knows!

[3] Minoru's name means 'fruit'. Yeah. Literally. His full name together means… 'fruit tree fruit'.

[4] Ushio uses 叡智 eichi here to describe the scene. Literally, it means 'knowledge', but in this context, it's used as an censor for 'ecchi', which has a similar sound and means 'erotic' or 'sexy'. I went with 'handholding' instead as a censor; it doesn't have the same play on words, but serves the same purpose!

---

← prev | masterlist | next →

[imbecominggayer]

How To Write Characters With Addiction

From @differentnighttale: "I am curious if you give advice about writing people with addictions for example substance. I have reasons my male MC does it. But how can I describe the addictions the MC has correctly."

In this post we are going to be talking about addiction! From alcoholism, substance abuse, nymphomania, to everything else that can be a possible addiction. This post will be all about making this realistic and complex :)

A) What Are The Benefits?, Make It Convincing

Grab a fucking piece of paper or whatever you have and just write a paragraph from your addict's perspective on the situation. Omit the bad stuff. Make it highly convincing. if you aren't thinking "hmm, understandable" after you've written and read it, you did it wrong.

What do they get out of it?

Why did they like it at first?

Are they calmer, more intensely concentrated, does it take the edge off?

Are they more confident?

Does it ease the sense of being fundamentally wrong or dull some other pain?

Is it fun to do something rebellious?

What made them like this thing so much they tried it again, and again, and again?

B) Think About The Consequences, And Ignore It

Oftentime, at least in my experience, people will continue with a bad habit if it means they don't have to be the one to think about the consequences.

The Consequences For Addiction Include:

Financial. Depending on what your character uses to get their fix and how much they use, they might be spending hundreds a week if they are a particularly aggressive user. People often steal money from their loved ones. Addiction also tends to get people fired. Write a scene where your drunk character gets fired for operating machinery. Have them be a burdenous sponge.

Social. It's common for addicts to lose their loved ones since it often gets to a point where it's impossible to care about these people despite how much you love them. Make love ones leave your character! And don't blame them

Physical. STDs, Overdose, Liver Failure, and a shit ton of other issues from the chronic to the fatal either cause, exacerbate, or are linked with addiction. Recovery can't automatically save your character so don't write that story.

Psychological. Being an addict isn't fun since you get to struggle with points 1, 2, and 3 all at the same time! Write about your character issues. Their lack of control. Their spiralling life.

Write all about your character's suffering. And then have them justify it. Make it convincing.

They need it. It's not their fault that this is the only that helps them! Everyone just doesn't get it. I'm trying to work on it, OK?! It'll all work out! They know that it's wrong but...

My most hated shit is when a character's arc is easy. They struggle with some things like a big dramatic argument with their wife, they cry a bit, and then they learn that "drugs are bad" so everything is fine :D

NO!!! Why don't you write about a friendship that doesn't get mended? A chronic illness they now have to pay huge medicine bills for? A fucked-up rap sheet that they can't escape?

And it's not because we want to punich addicts. It's because it doesn't matter if you care about addicts if you don't care about the messy shit!

It's easy to sympathize with an addict if you make them the most innocent victim who never hurts someone intentionally and who gets rid of the addiction in a second and never struggles with it ever again!

Do the hard shit. Make your readers sympathize with the unsympathetic asshole addict! Addicts aren't always good people! They can be dickbags. And they still deserve resources. Life isn't some kind of karma game where dickbags suffer and good people rise! Everyone deserves to not suffer!

Addiction is ultimately a disease. But it's a disease that can make someone you love into an absolutely unlikeable person. And this is coming from someone with an alcoholic dad <3 He does good things and bad things. I can sympathise with my dad and not let him walk all over me.

C) Withdrawal Is Leaving An Ex, Relapse Is Returning

Addiction is a motherfucker trying to leave. It's basically the equivalent of a clingy ex who keeps contacting you, asking for just one conversation, and the moment you so much as acknowledge them you are fucked.

And suffering the brunt of a clingy ex who won't take the hint tends to cause the same symptoms as withdrawal!

Obviously, withdrawal symptoms depend on what type of ex you have and what age you are and yada yada yada. Research for specificity :)

Withdrawal symptoms can include:

Headaches

Insomnia

Fatigue

Hallucinations

Seizures

Tremors

Cravings

etc.

BE AWARE: Relapses are when someone returns back to their drug if they were going cold turkey or going back to their original dose. Relapses can sometimes result in an overdose due to the fact that the brain has been weened off the substance and is now overwhelmed by the high dose.

Relapses often happen when a person makes the deliberate choice in order to stop these fucking nightmarish symptoms. To use the analogy of a clingy ex, you start talking to them in order to tell them to stop contacting.

Relapses can also happen through being in a setting where the behaviors associated with the addiction such as sex, gambling, drinking, substance use, and all manner of things are normalized.

This setting could be a party, a bar, or even a friend group.

Relapse is made more likely if someone is self-detoxing away from a support group or a doctor.

Writing about withdrawal and relapses are an important part in making a story feel more authentic. Just like with mental illness, people rarely learn the lesson and follow it perfectly. They make mistakes. Slip back into old habits. Do shitty things.

We aren't writing their suffering to punish them. We are doing it because you can't say you care if all you are willing to do is look at the easy parts.

D) Little Tidbits To Keep Track Off

This is the miscellanious things that didn't fit into their own boxes.

Friends!

Do they have friends who also have their addiction? How do they hang out? What are they like? How are their substance using friends different from their non-addict ones?

Slang!

Don't just look up slang for your substance of choice. You'll need to look at some first-hand accounts of addiction. Find an influence who has struggled with substance abuse in the past and see how they talk about it!

Variables!

Remember to keep their geographical location, socioeconomic status, time, and a host of other factors. If your character is a penniless alcoholic then it's unlikely they'll get their hands on some type of expensive gin. They'll probably use rubbing alcohol. Keep the price of your drug in mind.

A character's status will also impact their slang. No one unironically says doobie anymore.

A character's location will also impact how they get their shit and how other characters will react to that addiction.

A character's financial status also impacts how the consequences of their actions impact them. A low-income character wont be able to afford the same medication as a rich addict. They also won't have the same luxury for quality therapy, rehab, programs, time, anything really.

Look At The Addict And The Loved Ones

Try not the skew the reality of addiction to paint the addict as the victim and the loved ones as evil for not being forgiving and tolerant enough.

Keep sympathy for both the addict and the loved ones. Or drop sympathy for both of those characters.

E) RESOURCES

FDA and DEA online databases and drug resources

Social Networking Groups

Medical Journals

Local medical professionals, police, and medical examiners

The US national poison center

[roseofdarknessblog]

Always (Levi Ackerman x Reader)

Word count: 1 855

Disclaimer: english is not my first language, I apologize in advance for any mistakes

TW: mentions of anxiety

Summary: Levi always knew how to comfort you and take care of you. When he didn′t have the right words, he simply knew how to act and what to do, to make you feel better. Even if all his effort involved simply holding you close until you felt the need to cry.

Always

You sat on the floor between the living room and the kitchen. The whole apartment was filled with the most beautiful hues of orange, gold, and pink. Sunsets were your favorite part of the day, full of splendid colors and peaceful moments, but sometimes it was hard to enjoy them.

Today was one of those days.

You came home an hour ago and since then you weren't able to move from this spot. It felt as if your body suddenly weighed a million pounds and therefore it was impossible to move a muscle. You originally planned to start preparing dinner for you and Levi. He was supposed to arrive soon and you wanted to surprise him with a good home-cooked meal after a long day at work. That was the least you could do for him.

The least you wanted to do, was to show him just how much you love him and how much you valued everything he did for you every single day.

But instead of that, you ended up sitting on the hard wooden floorboards, hugging your knees and sobbing. Today was the day everything came crashing down on you, anxiety and panic making you feel physically sick from the moment you opened your eyes in the morning. And it was only getting worse as the day painfully slowly dragged on, until you came home and just... fell apart almost immediately.

Your eyes were burning from the number of tears you've cried, your cheeks probably all red, and your hands shaking from the panic you felt inside of your chest. You were so concentrated on trying to calm down and catch your breath once again, that you almost didn′t hear the front door open and close.

Levi knew you were supposed to be home. You almost always arrived before him. „Y/N?“ He called your name when he didn't hear you greet him like usual. Sometimes you just said a simple hello, other times you rushed up to him and hugged him so tight the poor man almost suffocated from all the love you wanted to show him after a full day of not seeing him. „Love, are you home?“ He called after you one more time, his voice a little more urgent.

You didn't even feel like answering him, so you just waited in silence until Levi found you sitting with your back to the wall. Your cheeks were wet with fresh tears, your eyes red and puffy when you looked up at him, ashamed that he found you in such a horrible state.

„Hi,“ he greeted you with noticeable concern in his voice and got down to his knees in front of you. He very carefully kept a little distance between the two of you, just to give you some space to breathe easier. „Are you alright? Did somebody hurt you?“ He asked, his pale grey eyes carefully looking you over with furrowed brows.

You shook your head, hugging your knees a bit tighter.

„Okay, so what seems to be the problem? Can you tell me?“ You tried avoiding eye contact, but Levi outstretched his arm and gently grabbed your chin. Outside it was a pretty chilly evening, so the touch of his fingers felt unpleasantly cold. But somehow comforting at the same time. „Talk to me, please. I can't help you if I don't know what′s going on.“

You shrugged, trying to stop the tears from coming, so you could get out at least a couple of words. „I don't know, just... it somehow... all caught up with me.“ Many things happened recently and they all kept slowly pushing you to your breaking point. Today's overall shitty mood was probably the last bit you could take without something like this happening. Without the need to cry, scream and hide from the whole world somewhere in a dark hole. „I feel awful about everything I've ever done and about myself in general. I′m just so...“ you tried explaining, while Levi handed you a handkerchief and slowly pressed his lips against your forehead.

„You're just wasting time with such thoughts and you know that,“ he said, pulling you into a tight embrace. He knew, that being in his arms was going to help you the most. It was the only place where you felt truly safe and as if you could be yourself. „There is no need to mourn the past, suffer through the present, or fear the future. You know that, right?“

„It's not that simple, my thoughts just... they are...“

You hated moments like this. When you had so much on your mind, but weren′t able to express yourself properly. Suddenly there weren′t enough words in the universe, that would help you describe how you truly felt deep down in your heart.

„I know,“ he assured you, not forcing you to finish your sentence. It was obvious that you couldn't do it. „But you're okay. Everything is fine. I'm here and I love you. You're not alone.“

Levi knew what you needed to hear in situations like this one. And even though he said these exact same words many times before, he never got angry when he needed to repeat himself. Hell, if you needed him to reassure you a hundred times, he would do it. Even if he wasn't the most talkative person. He always had the right words for you, for the person he loved the most.

„I'm scared, Levi. I'm just so incredibly scared of everything.“

„That's okay, we both know that. It's normal to be scared if you don't know what's gonna happen and when.“

„But constantly feeling like this is just ruining everything,“ you sighed, trying to fight back fresh tears, while Levi comfortingly rubbed your back. His every touch seemed so gentle and delicate as if he was afraid of hurting you in some way. However, feeling his presence and the warmth of his body against yours was already helping you calm down. „It just makes me feel so tired all the time.“

„I know,“ he said once again, kissing the top of your head, and tucking a few strands of your hair behind your ear. „But you can rest now. The day is almost over and there is nothing you could do to change what already happened. And the same with yesterday, or even tomorrow. You can't do anything about the future right now.“ Levi carefully pulled you closer, making you sit on his lap. His left arm firmly wrapped around your waist, while his right hand gently cradled your head against his chest. Your eyes closed almost immediately. „All you can do now is focus on the present. Use it wisely and get the rest your body and mind need.“

You tried to take a deep breath to calm yourself, but your chest felt too tight and overfilled with heaviness. All you could do was bury your face into Levi's shirt and try to cry as quietly as possible. You could feel your whole body shaking with each sob, as Levi hugged you tighter, resting his head against yours.

„Shhh, it's okay. You're fine, I promise. I got you, everything is going to be okay,“ he whispered, running his fingers through your hair and gently massaging your scalp.

You tried to stop crying, but every attempt failed miserably. So you just gave up and cried, until there was no strength left in your body for more tears. And Levi? He held you tight the entire time, not even trying to object. He knew, that his mere presence was more than enough for you. Trying to get you to talk would cause more harm than good, but feeling his warmth and familiar scent worked every single time. Just like a simple, but effective magic spell.

It was almost completely dark in your shared apartment, when you finally lifted your head and looked around, some tears still clouding your vision. Your head ached like crazy and you felt dizzy almost immediately after you tried to look into Levi′s face and make out his features in the very dim lighting, which was coming from the street lamps outside.

„I'm sorry,“ you said in a weak voice, kissing his neck and resting your head against his chest once again.

„No need to be sorry about how you feel. Never apologize for that, love. Not to me and not to anyone else.“

„But I ruined your evening. You probably had a stressful day and wanted to relax, and me being a mess like this just...“

„Stop that, you didn't ruin anything. I'm glad I was here and you didn't have to go through this alone,“ he assured you, lovingly drawing tiny circles on your cheek with his thumb. „I love you.“

„I love you too,“ you said, closing your eyes and focusing on the steady beating of his heart right under your ear. It was a familiar sound that always helped you calm down and fall asleep. „And I'm just so grateful for everything you do for me all the time.“

„You know I love taking care of you. At least I can be sure, that you feel safe and loved. Because that's what you are. Always safe with me and so, so, so loved.“

The sincere and caring tone of his voice made you smile a little. You knew he was being honest, you could feel it every single day in everything he did for you. In all those little things which made your relationship the best thing you've ever experienced.

„Come on, we should get up. I can run you a nice hot bath if you'd like. And while you relax, I'll make dinner. Just tell me what would you like to eat,“ Levi said, pressing his lips to your cheek and wiping away the last remains of your tears.

„I wanted to make dinner,“ you protested, while Levi got up and slowly helped you to your feet as well, making sure you were okay to stand on your own. „But the bath sounds really nice,“ you admitted, looking around in the dark. „What if you joined me and then we'll make dinner together?“

He switched on the light in the kitchen, so you could finally see his face and the tiny smile on his beautiful lips you love to kiss in any given situation. „Sounds lovely,“ Levi said, wrapping his arms around your waist and pulling you closer for another moment. You felt so exhausted from all the crying, that being able to lean on him felt like a necessity. „Are you feeling better?“

You nodded slowly, wrapping your arms around him tightly, not wanting to let go. Until the two of you were together, everything would be fine. You were sure of it. Until you had Levi, there always was hope for a much better and brighter tomorrow. „Thank you for being here,“ you said, leaning closer, and pressing your lips against Levi's in a long kiss.

„Always,“ he whispered against your lips, kissing you once more, before leading you to the bathroom and filling up the bathtub for the both of you.

[thejournallo]

Hello, is the void state really real? How do I enter the void state? Is it easy to enter and will whatever I want happen instantly in the void state? Even the most illogical impossible ones? Is there no limit and if I want my wishes to happen in my current reality, will it happen instantly in my current reality exactly how I want it?

Hi!

I already talked about the void state and how to enter it in another post. 

To be honest, for me, it was easy to enter the void state because I always practiced deep states of meditation, but for a person, it can actually be difficult to concentrate and meditate on the first try. I'm not saying you can't, because you can totally do that on the first try, and it can happen! And yes, everything you want will happen in the void state, even the most impossible things (the only limits are the laws of physics).

My manifestations happen around three to four days maybe, but they can also happen in an instant if you wish so.

[thirteenemeraldcats]

Answer the questions and tag five fanfiction authors you know!

tagged by the terrifyingly talented @kvetchinglyneurotic and the impossibly incredible @sighonaraa

1. How many fandoms have you written in?

One! Uno! Eins! All of the ridiculously emotionally evocative writers in the Ted Lasso fandom completely broke my brain and launched me into the undiscovered country (fic writing).

2. How many years have you been writing fanfiction?

Since January, so about .3 years 🤗

3. Do you read or write more fanfiction?

Definitely read. I am perpetually mentally exhausted in my free time and usually can't concentrate enough to write. That being said I also haven't had much time to READ fic lately. So. Help???

4. What is one way you've improved as a writer?

Hmmmm. I'd say embracing the draft process? When I started writing fic (OH SO LONG AGO I KNOW) I was very 'this needs to be good' and now I'm appreciating the 'this needs to be FUNCTIONAL' mindset more.

5. What's the weirdest topic you researched for a writing project?

Definitely not weird BUT I did accidentally fall down a research spiral for ONE WORD in 'i learned to walk while he was away'. For context: I am not Jewish, but I head-canon Roy as Jewish and there is ONE LINE that references this in that fic. I wanted to double check if there was any significance to the different spellings of Hanukkah, lest I accidentally step on a cultural landmine. Cut to a day later where I'd fallen deep, deep down an equally enjoyable and educational rabbit hole about Jewish holidays, (fostered my ongoing vendetta against the English language,) and found a Jewish bakery that's local to me because I wanted to try Challah very badly. (It was great.) (There is not a large Jewish population where I live [in case that wasn't obvious] I'm blaming my now-semi-remedied culture blindness on that. But Em, you took an elective on world religion in University? SHUT UP I KNOW.)

6. What's your favourite type of comment to receive on your work?

ANY COMMENT. I made an ao3 account last year because I wanted to not lurk quite so much, stop being a 'consumer' of fan-creations, and LEAVE SOME COMMENTS. And I'd seen authors talk about how great getting them was but holy guacamole nothing could have prepared me for the feeling of people liking something I wrote enough to leave a comment or a heart or an 'ah'.

7. What's the most fringe trope/topic you write about?

Errrrrrrr. I guess just gen-fic? Looking at the numbers of ship-fic in the archive, it certainly feels fringe-esque to write gen.

8. What is the hardest type of story for you to write?

I was going to say 'short' because things just keep happening when I try to write succinct outlines (somehow NONE OF THOSE 'THINGS' ARE PLOT), but after applying a bit more scrutiny to anything I've ever written; it's action. Fast-paced action. I don't know her.

9. What is the easiest type?

Assorted emotional whacks! When I was writing original fiction a solid decade ago as a teen-bean I favoured physical-whump, me now has found it a lot easier to write emotional-whump. Not sure why??? But here we are. (Either way someone's suffering.)

10. Where do you do your writing? What platform? When?

Okay this is actually a very involved story that I might tell later, but I just changed what platform I was using. SO! As of about a week ago I've been writing on google docs. Beyond that, it's a laptop/couch combo whenever I have the brain power (which is almost never 😭).

11. What is something you've been too nervous/intimidated to write, but would love to write one day?

OOOF. There are a few wips in the assorted-mountainous-pile of non-active development that are. Heavy. Heavier than the various fics/wips I've published/am actively poking at. I'd like to write them one day but I am also very 'hmm' when I look at them.

12. What made you choose your username?

So 'Em' is a real-life nickname, smash that together with my love of the colour green and tada! You get 'emerald'. 'Cats' is about... cats. I am obsessed with the little creatures, despite never owning one. (Initially I spelt it as 'kat'- no idea why??? I think I just like the letter 'k'???? Potassium?????????? B A N A N A???????????????) And 'thirteen' is my favourite number, just because I find the concept of a number being considered 'unlucky' hysterical and the idea that some airlines genuinely leave out a row thirteen because of superstition always makes me grin like an idiot. The order is purely because I like the image of a bunch of green cats running around together.

I have done a quick investigation and everyone I know has either already done this or already been tagged. (I have once again shown up two days late with iced-coffee to a tag-game. [At least I showed up, I forgot to do like three of these things despite loving them, I'M SORRY 😭])

If anyone sees this and they HAVEN'T been tagged, consider this your green-for-go flag and feel free to tag me as your tagger.

[baravaggio]

Hello Mx. Bara! So, I desperately need some topping advice! My bf and I are starting to get into pegging and honestly, it's been nothing but insanely awkward. I'm so disappointed, I was looking forward to it and it's felt impossible to get in the zone and feel like I'm connected to him (and to myself). I want to keep trying but I don't know how to proceed. Any tips? 😣

Heya! Thanks for giving some additional context, all that info is really helpful! 🫶

First, I just want to say that I totally understand where you're coming from, it's a new role you are trying to lean into and that's not usually an easy thing! You're probably simultaneously feeling pressure to satisfy him, to get your own pleasure out of it, and to maintain those feelings of intimacy and connection without the same physical sensation you get from using your own equipment. It's a lot to be processing in the moment when you are new to it and are also having to concentrate on getting the physical mechanics of pegging down.

I definitely didn't always used to find it was an activity that I got a lot of enjoyment out of, and I often felt a bit guilty for not liking it as much as I wanted to - I had definitely built it up in my mind as this thing that would automatically make me feel super connected to my partner, and that wasn't my experience at all. I wish I could tell you that it just comes with practice! That's a part of it, but it also requires a shift in mentality and expectations around what getting pleasure from topping is going to look like for you.

First let's address the big one - lack of physical sensation. It makes everything a little more difficult! You have less control over the motion of the toy, you aren't able to get much tactile feedback from your partner's muscles, and the physical pleasure you're getting out penetrating him is limited. It can really be strange and disorienting to feel that disconnected from your partner while doing something so intimate with them.

My biggest tip for creating that connection would be to explore your partner's body in a way that allows you to create sense memories of what it's like to get really intimate with that part of his body. You don't have a cock, but you have fingers, lips, a tongue, and a nose, and they're all packed with nerve endings. So much of the enjoyment we get out of sex is psychological...you probably have memories of the way your partner feels, tastes, smells, etc. that work together to create your desire for him, at least on a subconscious level. For me, the best thing about topping is when I can transpose those pleasurable sense memories onto the experience I'm having using the strap-on. As I guide the toy in, I remember how my partner's heat and the flex of their muscles feels around my fingers, and the act paired with that memory is both a physical and mental turn on. It's a conscious thing at the start that hopefully becomes more automatic as you get more practiced with it.

If direct sensation helps you feel more connected, you can do other things like slip a bullet vibe into your harness, attach a grinder to the base of the dildo, or wear a plug while you fuck him. The later is a great option if you're a fan of penetration + pressure. This is my go-to because it makes me really feel each thrust internally, it lets me feel a more pleasure in my entire pelvic region and enhances the feeling that this pleasure is directly linked to the act of me fucking them.

You also mentioned that the presence of a dick you can't feel but that's attached to you is something that's taking you out of your body. I'd suggest 1) playing with changing your harness/toy/position setup, 2) asking for vocal and enthusiastic feedback if you're not getting it already, and 3) potentially shifting your mentality around what it means to be wearing a strap on. Re: #1, I've heard some cis women say that they find it disorienting to wear one that looks like an actual cock, and they have a much better experience with something less realistic. Some prefer a more minimal harness setup to maximize the skin-to-skin contact. Try positions that allow for more touch/eye contact if you haven't already.

Re: #2, your partner should understand that you will get a lot of pleasure out of knowing that he's enjoying it, and that it's on him to express that enjoyment to you! A lot of straight guys don't realize that women want to hear them be vocal during sex lol, make sure he knows not just that you want it, but that you need it to feel connected to him and enjoy yourself.

Re: #3, it also might help to think of it less as a thing you're attaching to yourself to act as "your dick" and more as just a toy/tool that you're using in a particular way. You don't have to act as though it's a part of your body if you don't want to, it's not necessary to have fun or get a lot of satisfaction out of it! Personally, it helps me a lot to focus on what else my body is doing for the interaction - providing pressure, warmth, friction, and different sensations depending on the type of hip movements I'm making. The toy is just a small part of that. You're the one wearing it, so try to avoid tricking yourself into thinking that it's wearing you!

Finally, a big part of exploring what's going to make this pleasurable for you on an emotional level is identifying what you want out of topping...how do you want to feel, how do you want him to feel? Who do you want to be? (I'm focusing on you here deliberately, but of course make sure that he's on board too, it's just as important for him to know and be clear on what he wants and needs)

Personally, I think that we have many sexual selves within us, and there are some dynamics that we only might tap into when we lean into certain roles or are with certain people. You didn't specify in your asks, but I even if you're not into dom/sub stuff, I think there's still a lot to be learned from that world about what it can mean and look like to work together to get what you both want out of new sex acts. Maybe you want to be dominant, maybe you want the thrill of having him take charge from underneath you, maybe you want it rough or sensual or lazy or frenzied. Maybe you want to create a space where he submits to you entirely, where he's defiant and bratty, or where he feels compelled to clip on top, embrace, and act out his wildness or femininity. Broadly speaking, I find that I get the most out of it when I lean into a masculine gender & sexual headspace and my focus is on doing what will make my partner feel uninhibited and gorgeous and act on it (we love a confident bottom here). These are just examples, you don't have to overthink it, but knowing what you want can help keep you in the headspace you need to be in to let pleasure lead you instead of nervousness.

Beyond that, practice, play, have fun! Remember that people born with dicks also aren't automatically skilled at using them in a way that feels mutually pleasurable and intimate lol, you'll gain more confidence through plenty of experience and communication. Make sure he's giving you plenty of feedback, it's just as important that he's engaged in the process of creating a positive experience.

I hope this helps a little bit! Take care and have fun! 🍑

[elwenyere]

hi elwen, i hope you're doing well <3

i was wondering if you have any poetry and/ or book recommendations?

you have such good words (both in your writing & in your super sweet ao3 comments) and i would love to steal some of those words, if possible.

Thank you so much for this lovely ask, Anon. This list could have gotten very, very long, so I've tried to concentrate on a selection of writers whose styles set off sparks in my word brain. I hope you find something here to enjoy!!!

Poetry

Postcolonial Love Poem by Natalie Diaz: one of the things I love about Diaz is her figurations of the body, which sit at some seemingly impossible hinge between materiality and abstraction. Animal tails retracting like vacuum cords into clavicles, headlights looped like a lasso around hips: gorgeous, arresting images of being wrecked open by the world.

To 2040 by Jorie Graham: many of Graham's poems are long, and it's almost impossible to take an excerpt of one because the effect of any part is so entangled with the whole, and yet they also feel so shimmeringly spare - like what's on the page is a shorthand spell enchanting your brain to complete the work.

Don't Call Us Dead by Danez Smith: Smith has some of my favorite poems to teach and read aloud. The language is lyrical and prosaic, with speakers that seem deceptively confessional while also playfully, explicitly dodging simple connections. And I think "summer, somewhere" will turn out to be one of the poems of the early 21st century.

Novels

Giovanni's Room by James Baldwin: even in off-the-cuff interviews Baldwin builds sentences so beautiful they make me want to weep, and this novel is utterly devastating. I can barely get through the last pages without needing to lie down.

The Neapolitan novels by Elena Ferrante: reading these novels was the closest I've come to literally having the experience denoted by "this changed my brain chemistry." For the weeks I was absorbed in them, it was like Ferrante's language actually put me in an altered physical/mental state, like the prose was changing how I experienced my own life.

The Autobiography of Red by Anne Carson: I will recommend literally all Anne Carson ever all the time, but this verse novel in particular has so many lines that are just lodged in my spirit. Like the adjectives Carson calls "the latches of being," they pin new/old experiences of the world "to [their] place in particularity."

Beloved by Toni Morrison: similarly, in the case of Morrison I actually can't pick just one novel, but Beloved would be up in the top five contenders for the title of the American novel. Unsettling, uncompromisingly clear, full of risk and repair, and stunning on the sentence-level, as Morrison always is.

Thank you again for this wonderful ask!!! This was very fun to put together.

[disco-elysium-via-polls]

🎵 Ecstatic Vibrations, Totally Transcendent

4. SEE THE SUNSHINE/ WE AIN'T STOPPING/ KEEP ON DANCING/ TILL THE WORLD ENDS!

+1 Apocalypse Cop

CONCEPTUALIZATION - IF YOU FEAR IT, LET IT HAPPEN. KEEP ON DANCING TILL THE WORLD ENDS.

Thought gained: Hardcore Aesthetic

6. "Take care, Noid." [Leave.]

HARDCORE AESTHETIC

Temporary research bonus: -2 Interfacing: Fuck grammar! Research time 1h 50m

Not only have you internalized the Hard Core Aesthetic, you’ve also *contributed* to it. How harder-core could you possibly become? Low-core people come around you to correct your “typos”: it’s “Hardcore” here, “hard-core” there, “Hardorcore” in a third instant -- what’s going on? Those aren’t typos, man, that’s how core hardness works. If you don’t know “hard-core” from “Our Happy Hardcore,” what the fuck are we even talking about?

Alright, now I'm going to change into something that should help with dancing-related checks.

This should do.

ANDRE - "Oh, hey, man! It's good to see you." He dances over to you in an inexplicably soft-core manner. It's embarrassing.

3. [Savoir Faire - Impossible 18] No words. Just dance.

+1 Aesthetic of anodic music. +1 Higher quality audio. +1 Dance fever incoming. +1 Standard Anti-Wirral Die. +1 Found the melody. +1 Found the beat.

SAVOIR FAIRE [Impossible: Success] - You close your eyes and vacate your skull, leaving your brain to wonder: where did that little fluttering light go?

🎵 None

ANCIENT REPTILIAN BRAIN - TOTAL DARKNESS! You sink down the darkest fathoms of your own personal deep, vertebrae by vertebrae -- THROUGH THE UNFORMED SKULLS OF YOUR SPINE.

HERE IT WILL BEGIN.

Where did the church go?

Where did the music go?

What was that about *unformed skulls*?

ANCIENT REPTILIAN BRAIN - "WHO FUCKING CARES?!"

Good.

I'm scared.

I hate waking life. I hate this world. I hate and fear everything. All I want is to dance... Please god, just let me dance!

+1 Apocalypse Cop

ANCIENT REPTILIAN BRAIN - GOD?

WHERE IS YOUR GOD?

2. Where did the music go?

ANCIENT REPTILIAN BRAIN - Oh, don't worry, *the music* is still there. It's *you* who's gone.

No really, why can't I hear anything?

Concentrate on hearing.

ANCIENT REPTILIAN BRAIN - This is a pivotal moment. Try not to piss yourself.

Concentrate on hearing.

ANCIENT REPTILIAN BRAIN - Nothing. Just the immaculate silence of your spinal fluid. Electrified.

3. What was that about *unformed skulls*?

SPINAL CORD - Psst. I'm gonna let you in on a little secret. Every vertebrae in your spine is an unformed skull ready to pop up and replace the old one. Like shark teeth. The one you're currently in has a little brain forming in it. Waiting for its turn...

...to rule the world.

Oh my god, is that true?

As it ought to be. Where is it?

Who are you?

SPINAL CORD - Yes. It's all true -- in the *SPINAL CORD*.

What do you want?

What is happening?

I'm ready.

ANCIENT REPTILIAN BRAIN - Good. Because from what I can see, it's about to BUST A MOVE.

4. Bust a move. 5. Don't bust a move.

SPINAL CORD - Foolhardy! Do you even *know* what's happening on the surface? Maybe a thousand years have passed? Or maybe you started spazzing out like two seconds ago?

PHYSICAL INSTRUMENT [Trivial: Success] - With your eyes still closed, the first thing you feel, all the way back in the pivoting darkness of your own torso, is warmth. You have become a triumph of rhythmo-plastics -- somewhere in a smelly wooden church on the coast of Revachol. The wounds from the war you've waged on your body are healing, twist by twist, turn by turn.

+1 Health

CONCEPTUALIZATION [Medium: Success] - As you open your eyes, you should scream "HYPER! HYPER!" (It seems appropriate.)

"HYPER! HYPER!"

Open your eyes and dance like you've never danced before.

🎵 Ecstatic Vibrations, Totally Transcendent

SAVOIR FAIRE - You have become a flawless interlocking mechanism. A flesh-and-bone approximation of the throb coming from the speaker set-up of the one called Egg Head's. Entirely, rigidly imbecilic. Without pity or fear.

VOLITION [Easy: Success] - Free from self-awareness. No deliberation, only -- and I mean *only* -- execution.

ANDRE - "Oh my god..." The speedfreaks' would-be leader stands slack-jawed in disbelief at the hard-coreness on display. He whispers to himself: "No way..."

"Yes way."

"Hard Cop!"

"THIS IS REALLY HAPPENING!"

EGG HEAD - With his reel-to-reel mixer blasting the anthem of a future that will never come, the young man observes your moves for a second...

... then blasts into the same hideous pattern, yelling: "AAAAAAHHHH!"

NOID - He throws a screwdriver and a bunch of drill chucks into the corner and explodes into dance. What he lacks in sharpness, he more than makes up for in violent enthusiasm.

(Turn to Acele.) "What are you doing?!"

"DANCE!" (Point at Andre.) "It's *The Law*."

"Kim, get in here!" (Call for the lieutenant to join you.)

Is there anything more I can do? I want to break the limit.

"Guys, I'm out of juice..." (Stop.)

ACELE - The young woman lifts her headphones up slightly and raises her chin, looking at you expectantly.

SOONA, THE PROGRAMMER - "Acele, aren't you going to dance?"

ACELE - "No. Recording." She turns to Soona, then back to you. She briskly shakes her head and puts her headphones back on.

SOONA, THE PROGRAMMER - The lead programmer throws the other young woman a knowing glance before turning her attention back to her own work.

COMPOSURE [Medium: Success] - She's still at her mainframe, pressing buttons, reading printouts, but she's started nodding her head along to the music.

2. "DANCE!" (Point at Andre.) "It's *The Law*."

ANDRE - The young man immediately bounces up and down, then assumes the same dance pattern, embellishing it with some sort of waving motion.

AUTHORITY [Easy: Success] - The authority of The Law is clearly unquestionable.

3. "Kim, get in here!" (Call for the lieutenant to join you.)

KIM KITSURAGI - "What's going on here?" The lieutenant looks at you and the speedfreaks grinding around in the church, a group of unhinged lunatics. "Delinquents," he grumbles.

DRAMA [Medium: Success] - This is clearly a Code 31 emergency.

"Code 31! Code 31!"

"I said, get in here and DANCE!"

(Say to yourself.) "On second thought, maybe I don't need to involve the lieutenant in this… pioneering dance-off."

KIM KITSURAGI - The lieutenant squeezes the bridge of his nose. The lights reflect off his glasses...

EMPATHY [Trivial: Success] - He's obviously having trouble adjusting to this new reality.

KIM KITSURAGI - "A Code 31 emergency? Really?"

"Yes, officer in need of assistance... ON THE DANCE FLOOR!"

"It's not really an emergency, Kim! I lied!"

"I'm sorry, Kim, I thought it would be funny to call a Code 31! I didn't even know it was a real code…"

KIM KITSURAGI - The lieutenant crosses his arms with a bemused look.

"WHAT'S HAPPENING?!" The lieutenant is forced to yell over the futuristic music blasting from the speakers.

"I'm under cover!"

"I have become Dance, the destroyer of worlds."

"*I'm* not *doing* anything. The music made its mind up a long time ago -- I'm just *implementing*!"

KIM KITSURAGI - "Good for you!" He looks around the church hall. "Rock on, then..."

"Hey! I called you to dance!"

"We ain't going anywhere before we *tear shit up*!"

KIM KITSURAGI - "What?"

"I *did* say there was an emergency on the dance floor, did I not? The emergency?! NOT ENOUGH KIM!"

[Authority - Legendary 14] That's it! Don't let the lieutenant leave without getting his hard core on!

"Nothing. It was nothing." (Leave him be.)

KIM KITSURAGI - "Oh, c'mon, Harry..."

SUGGESTION [Trivial: Success] - Did that just cheer him up a bit? Could be... It feels like the lieutenant cracked a little smile there.

[Authority - Legendary 14] That's it! Don't let the lieutenant leave without getting his hard core on!

+1 Respects you. +1 Emergency on the dance floor. +3 Outrank him. +1 Dancing -- so infectious.

AUTHORITY [Legendary: Success] - Who's the one in charge? You are!

"Lieutenant! I am only going to pull rank on you one time. And that time is NOW!"

KIM KITSURAGI - "Are you kidding me?!"

"I assure you, I am *not*. Now get your groove on, lieutenant!"

"It's all a *joke* to you isn't it?! Chain of command -- joke! Future of dance -- joke! Well, no more! Cut a rug, lieutenant!"

KIM KITSURAGI - "Get my *what* on?" The lieutenant leans closer, unable to make out your words over the pumping beats.

"I said: Get your goddamn groove on! BOOGIE-WOOGIE!"

KIM KITSURAGI - "Sheesh, okay..." He backs up with his hands raised in the air, observing the criss-cross of your feet...

"Okay, you psychopath..." He adjusts his spectacles, then pops his collar as high as it will go. "I see what you're doing there. It's jacked-up footwork, plus some... Is that Ubi folk dancing?"

EGG HEAD - "Nah, it's not *Ubi folk*, it's hard core!"

KIM KITSURAGI - "Yeah..." The lieutenant snorts. "Whatever."

"You talk a big talk, lieutenant! Let's see some moves!"

"Hard core will never die -- but you will!"

Say nothing, but push the footwork extra hard.

KIM KITSURAGI - "Oh yeah? I did 15 years in the Juvenile Crime Unit. I can *do* age-inappropriate."

"Now check *this* shit out!"

The lieutenant begins to heel-kick the church floor with such intensity, it's reasonable to fear he'll kick a hole right through it, causing the floor to crack and the pillars to collapse, bringing the church roof down on all of you.

+5 XP

EMPATHY [Easy: Success] - It doesn't look like he'd *give a shit* either.

3. Is there anything more I can do? I want to break the limit.

SAVOIR FAIRE - The dynamic motion of your flailing body is bordering on the extreme. You're going off the charts...

INLAND EMPIRE [Trivial: Success] - You feel as if turning on the hyper-drive will be a point of no return. Feels almost melancholy... Are you sure you have the entire posse along for this?

"Together! WHERE ARE YOU?!"

No, wait…

NOID - "Here we go again!!!"

EGG HEAD - "Hard core fills the air!"

ANDRE - "The sound above my hair!"

KIM KITSURAGI - "The what now?" The lieutenant suddenly stops. "The sound above your *what*?"

ANDRE - "Above my hair, man!"

KIM KITSURAGI - "Okay, this is too imbecilic. Excuse me."

Goddammit, Andre.

4. [Shivers - Challenging 12] Turn on the hyper-drive.

+1 Soona is in. +1 Andre's dancing harder. +2 Got Kim dancing.

🎵 None

SHIVERS [Challenging: Success] - On the coast of the Martinaise Inlet, in a small weather-beaten stave church built 380 years ago by settlers from the Occident, most likely to guard against an anomaly at its centre, an officer of the RCM is contorting his body into idiotically rigid shapes, as he invents the future of dance music... It's the *hardest* anyone has ever danced.

What is this strange feeling I keep having? This cold... even now.

SHIVERS -

I AM LA REVACHOLIÈRE. I AM THE CITY.

Ok, for the sake of readability I will not be writing this entire section in Lucille.

What do you mean, *you are the city*?

How are you talking to me?

SHIVERS - I AM A FRAGMENT OF THE WORLD SPIRIT, THE GENIUS LOCI OF REVACHOL.

MY HEART IS THE WIND CORRIDOR. THE BOTTOM OF MY AIR IS RED. I HAVE A HUNDRED THOUSAND LUMINOUS ARMS.

COME MORNING, I CARRY INDUSTRIAL DUST AND LET IT SETTLE ON TREE LEAVES. I SHAKE THE DUST FROM THOSE LEAVES AND ONTO YOUR COAT.

I'VE SEEN YOU, I'VE SEEN YOU! I'VE SEEN YOU WITH HER -- AND I'VE SEEN YOU WITHOUT HER. I'VE SEEN YOU ON THE CRESCENT OF THE HILL.

2. How are you talking to me?

SHIVERS - THE MODULATIONS OF MY VOICE ARE NOTED DOWN WITH THERMOMETERS AND BAROMETERS. YOU FEEL ME IN YOUR NOSTRILS, ON THE LITTLE HAIRS ON THE BACK OF YOUR NECK.

I ALSO RESIDE IN YOUR LUNGS AND VESTIGIAL ORGANS. EVERYWHERE THERE IS SPACE.

But who am *I*? Why are you talking to me?

SHIVERS - YOU ARE AN OFFICER OF THE CITIZENS MILITIA. *AGENTES IN REBUS*, WHEN YOU WEAR YOUR COAT, YOU WEAR MY SOUL.

YOU MOVE THROUGH MY STREETS FREELY IN MOTOR CARRIAGES AND ON FOOT. YOU HAVE ACCESS TO THE HIDDEN PLACES. YOU ALSO CIRCULATE AMONG THOSE WHO ARE HIDDEN.

I NEED YOU. YOU CAN KEEP ME ON THIS EARTH. BE VIGILANT. I LOVE YOU.

+5 XP

🎵 Ecstatic Vibrations, Totally Transcendent

An officer of the RCM is lying on the floor of a small church with his eyes rolled back and his tongue lolling out. Several others are standing around him. He slowly comes to.

KIM KITSURAGI - "Had a good rest there?"

"I spoke to the City of Revachol!"

"I don't know about good…"

Say nothing.

NOID - "Fuck yeah!"

ANDRE - "I bet you did! Those were *some* advanced moves, man."

KIM KITSURAGI - "That's all great, but we should really get going. We've spent enough time doing aerobic exercise for today."

(Get up.)

EGG HEAD - You might be imagining it but it feels like Egg Head turned the volume down. Such is his respect.

ANDRE - "Man... now... now, man... now..." The would-be leader stutters with excitement.

"Now imagine if we could do that, right? But with, like, a *thousand* people?"

NOID - "End of human development. Mission. Complete."

"Right ecstatic!"

"I wouldn't go *that* far…"

"Yes. My mission here is complete." [Leave.]

ANDRE - "Alright!"

ENDURANCE [Easy: Success] - You're absolutely beat. Muscles relaxed and feet like noodles underneath.

3. "Yes. My mission here is complete." [Leave.]

ANDRE - "Hope I remember those moves, man!"

NOID - "Don't worry, man. I'll remember them."

Alright. Almost *everything* we can do right now is complete. All that's left is to examine Klaasje's buoy... and to track down Ruby.

[yourfavepookiebear]

I just realized something. I'm not good at anything.

I'm not good at learning. I'm not good at teaching. I'm not good at concentrating. I'm not good at listening. I'm not good at working. I'm not good at pe. I'm not good at horseriding. I'm not good at rock climbing. I'm not good at hiking. I'm not good at running. Im not good at basketball. I'm not good at volleyball. I'm not good at football. I'm not good at roller skating. I'm not good at ice skating. I'm not good at maths. I'm not good at physics. I'm not good at chemistry. I'm not good at computer. I'm not good at biology. I'm not good at technology. I'm not good at researching. I'm not good at writing. I'm not good at cooking. I'm not good at speaking. I'm not good at remembering. I'm not good at comforting. I'm not good at being kind. I'm not good at being myself. I'm not good at being pretty. I'm not good at being funny. I'm not good at acting. I'm not good at singing. I'm not good at voice-acting. I'm not good at French. I'm not good at Spanish. I'm not good at Arabic. I'm not good at German. I'm not good at Persian. I'm not good at advising. I'm not good at analyzing. I'm not good at statistics. I'm not good at negotiating. I'm not good at convincing. I'm not good at eating. I'm not good at observing. I'm not good at creating. I'm not good at being creative. I'm not good at helping. I'm not good at respecting. I'm not good at dancing. I'm not good at..

I'm not good at anything. There's maybe two or three things I'm relatively good at : daydreaming, cleaning, and thinking. Heck maybe even at spouting bullshit and random nonsense in the middle of class.

Mom was right, I'm actually not good at anything. I always hated her for saying that but ig she was right. How will i even find a way to support myself when i grow up ? At this rate, even working as a Walmart cashier is too hard for me.

How will I find a job ?

Mom says I have to be a doctor but I doubt I'd even get accepted into a university, much less a med school.

Lawyer ? Impossible, I wouldn't get accepted and I'm bad at arguing, plus I'm mostly a pacifist.

Writer ? I have bad imagination and on top of that I'm lazy and bad at writing.

Singer ? I'm bad at singing and I don't have the looks.

Actress ? Im bad at acting.

Voice-actress ? Nope

Office worker ? I can only concentrate for 30 minutes maximum

Therapist ? I'm the one who needs therapy.

Police officer ? Nope, not a chance. Not only do I hate that, but I'm also pretty weak so it's not even an option.

Philosopher ? I'm good at overthinking but Philosophy courses need a lot of complicated math.

Mathematician ? I'm horrible at math.

Translator ? Maybe, if it was my last choice.

Soldier ? I used to want to be one, but I'm weak both physically and mentally and emotionally and psychologically.

Dancer ? Low stamina, I get tired easily and I'm bad at dancing.

Scientist ? It's super interesting to me but science is not my forté.

Carpenter ? Nope just no.

Maid ? Maybe, but the pay is horrible..

Waitress ? My voice cracks, I'm clumsy, and I struggle to keep my balance.

Rock climber ? Nope. My hands and feet are always super sweaty and cold asf. I really sweat a LOT, even if the weather is cold.

Hostess ? Idk man, doesn't sound too good

Flight attendant ? I really like that job and I think I would be good at it but then again I'm scared of heights and I'm not strong so I wouldn't be able to help a passenger eith their luggage.

Pilot ? Scared of heights.

Chef ? Cooking is just not my thing, I'm bad at it and I often get impatient while cooking, and I get my hands dirty easily.

Model ? I'm not tall enough. Plus i doubt I'm skinny enough bc to become a model you have to be as thin as a stick and as tall as a tree.

Assassin ? Nope, nope, just nope

Hitman ? // (^)

Spy ? I would probably trip on something or laugh and expose myself.

Bus driver ? I can't even ride a scooter/bicycle, what makes this an option..

Uber driver ? No, I'd rather avoid anything consisting of driving a vehicle, whether it's a car or a motorcycle..

Fuck hopefully if I get really really super duper lucky maybe I'll find a rich guy i could marry.

[meowww-ffxiv]

That Mordred was so nearsighted the world beyond seven yalms around him was a blur was, and always would be, an amusing shock to people who just found out.

Theodore once thought Mordred's refusal to wear corrective eyeglasses outside of delicate crafting was along the same vein of stubbornness that prevented him from telling people he had asthma unless he thought it would become a physical liability. Maybe it was. Mordred's mulishness zigzagged some...strange lines Theodore could not always understand, keen though they were to each other's feelings thanks to their Echoes. But really, by this point? He knew the cat kept the "I can't see" card in his sleeve for comedic effect.

And because he always produced those binoculars-on-a-stick with which he used to espy far-off things clearly with such a flourish so as to constitute an arcane gesture, Theodore knew for a second fact that he enjoyed settling into a mood of nosiness.

"You are so dramatic," Theodore said, not looking up from his book. Behind him, the couple having the loudest breakup in the Northern Empty, right there on the far end of the Last Stand, had kicked it up a notch. "You know they are only twenty steps away and could very well take their business over here and fling you into the ocean?"

Mordred lifted the binoculars from his eyes for a moment to give Theodore a look. "They're not going to," he said with certainty. "Not when they're getting that heated. What's a thesis defense? Why does it matter that the fellow failed his?"

Theodore shrugged. He had only two weeks to finish this Hingan martial arts novel before he needed to return it to Hancock, but it was becoming impossible to concentrate.

"You're just like all the other boys!" the young hyur woman screamed, her voice cracking with passion.

A table over, a gleaner leaned over and told Mordred, "A thesis defense is like a final, presentation-style quiz from a chosen committee to make sure the scholar who wrote the thesis they were defending was actually knowledgeable in their field. It is a formality, really. The thesis would have been approved before then."

"That's a good way to verify their expertise," Mordred replied.

"A tropical storm must be on its way to Old Sharlayan if you are complimenting anything this country does," Theodore said.

"Yes, well, you're just like all the other girls!" the Au Ra boyfriend who failed the pre-described formality shouted back. "Shallow and clout-chasing and--"

"Don't you dare!" his soon-to-be-ex shrieked.

Mordred put the binoculars back over his eyes. With the other hand, he fumbled around the table.

Theodore looked up from his novel long enough to pull the cup of hollandaise sauce away from the danger of dirty fingers dipping into them, then pushed the plate of cashews under Mordred's questing reach. He popped two of them into his mouth with a grunt of thanks.

"Poor fellow," the gleaner sighed. "Risch is a brilliant young man. It's well known to everyone that he is a terrible speaker, though. The lad probably lost his nerves during his thesis defense and bombed it that way."

"That's a shame," Mordred said with real sympathy.

And then, in a truly gender-roles-defying moment, the Auri young man named Risch started bawling.

"Oh pumpkin," said his almost-ex-but-apparently-not almost immediately. "Oh, sweet love. Come now."

Theodore closed the book and set it aside, then turned sideways in his chair to very surreptitiously look at the couple. There was no denying this unfolding drama was more fun than his novel, at this point.

The hyuran young woman had circled around the table and had her arms around her boyfriend, who was still sobbing hysterically with his hands over his face. She must be saying something because Theodore saw his horns bob up and down as he nodded, but could not make out the words.

The tables around them, naturally all occupied because this was the Last Stand, seemed to relax. One girl dressed in red scholarly robe two seats over started clapping, only for her blue-robed friend to quickly punch her in the arm.

"Ah, young love," the gleaner sighed. "Hopefully, that will be their last fight in awhile."

"I--" Mordred was interrupted by a fit of coughing, because of course he would, he just ate cashews, he coughed when eating most nuts, but did he order a plate of it? Yes. Theodore sighed and poured him a glass of lemonade from their pitcher and handed it to him.

Then he picked his novel back up.

"You're not the least bit stirred by that?" Mordred asked him, squinting over the lip of the glass. "Pretty cold."

"We used to see that weekly in the Scholasticate," Theodore replied as he flipped to the last page he was on. Depressingly closer to the beginning than to the middle, let alone the end. Maybe he should just have sex with Hancock and slip in an extension to this book-borrowing in the afterglow, at this rate; make it two treats for the hassle of one trip to Kugane. "The youngsters here have nothing on the youngsters from prestigious Halonic backgrounds. Our grudges resulted in girls ripping out their rivals' fingernails."

Mordred said to the gleaner, "I heard there was a study about the effect of prolonged lack of exposure to sunlight resulting in clinical insanity. D'you know anything about that?"

Theodore sighed.