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princessjungeun · 4 years

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Sick Days: Little! Yiren & CG! Aisha

Request: little!yiren and cg!aisha during sick days

Cw: crying

Heads up...this is long. Once again this is sfw age regression, it is not meant to be sexualized in any way, shape, or form. I don’t think I should have to put this but people on this app surprise me everyday. Please keep that in mind. But basically i’m just saying don’t be a creep :)

This is also my first time writing age regression so tell me if it’s something i should keep on my list of acceptable requests. If you hate it tell me so i’m not posting trash work pls 🥺

Today was just like any other day for Everglow, practice, practice, lunch, group conditioning, practice, and more conditioning. After Dun Dun promotions ended there was no breaks like there used to be, which was overwhelming for the group as a whole but specifically for Yiren.

Yiren usually handles her stress well, talking to her managers and staff when she needs help, calling her parents at night helps too. But sometimes when it becomes too much she regresses and as much as she hates it, it's inevitable. Today was one of those days.

“Ok guys let's run it one more time!" Jiwon instructed from the front of the practice room. The girls had been practicing since 8 am and it was now 6 pm, they were all exhausted especially Yiren. Her eyes burned when sweat dripped into them, blurring her vision. Her knees were bruised from dancing on the ground all day. Her muscles ached and her abdominals were on fire. She just wanted to go home, take a shower, and curl into Yoorim's arms.

In addition to this she had been trying to get over what she considered a cold for about a week. It progressively got worse but she didn’t think much of it, as this usually happened. It usually started out normal, got worse, then ended just like that.

But this was now becoming too much. She felt sick, her whole body ached and it was hard to breathe because of it. “Yiren-ah are you ok?" Mia poked the maknae in the side playfully. That was all it took for the Chinese girl to fall apart onto the floor.

Yiren collapsed into a ball and wailed loudly, Onda and Sihyeon stopped their side conversation immediately. Jiwon asked “what did you do? Eunji-ahhhh!” Mia responded “i’m sorry I didn’t know she’d start crying!”

The leader crouched next to the crying girl and asked “Yiren? Can you tell me what’s wrong?” I’m between sobs she choked out what sounded like Mandarin because it definitely wasn’t Korean. Jiwon’s eyes widened at the realization and looked around the room for Aisha.

“Where is Yoorim?” Jiwon asked her other members with a twinge of panic. Onda responded “I think she went to refill her water bottle downstairs.” Jiwon replied “ok um...we’re done for the day. Go back to the dorm. But in your way out tell Aisha I need her up here...Quickly please!” With that the three girls ran out of the practice room.

Jiwon turned back to the girl on the floor and crouched down next to her trying to get her to stop crying but it was no use. Aisha walked back in the room "why did you send them back ear-” The taller girl ran over and sat on the floor next to the little.

“Yiren-nie. Can you tell me what’s wrong?” Aisha spoke softly trying her best not to overwhelm her. It was no luck though. Yiren wailed louder on the floor babbling incoherent Mandarin while choking on her tears. Jiwon responded from her spot on the floor "she's been really stressed recently, I think our schedule has been too much for her. And I think she’s still sick.” Aisha nodded and took a seat on the floor next to the crying girl.

"Yiren-nie look at me please." Aisha cooed to the smaller girl. The sobs slowly subsided as the little crawled into her caregiver’s arms. "What's wrong baby?" Aisha softly asked as Yiren responded in what seemed to be a mix of Mandarin and Korean "I don’t feel well.” The little’s tears once again started pouring down her cheeks.

Aisha passed Yiren to Jiwon quickly so she could get off the floor, once she was standing she placed the little on her hip and swayed lightly. This was a trick Aisha learned fairly early on that would ease Yiren enough so she could think of what to do next.

“You said she’s still sick right?” Aisha asked her leader. Jiwon nodded and said “yeah, it’s been like a week and a half almost. She was saying earlier she was having trouble breathing and she had that nasty cough last night.” Aisha looked at her unnie with fear in her eyes “you don’t think...?” Jiwon responded “I mean the second wave of it is still here. And she’s definitely forgotten a mask a few times.”

Aisha felt her heart drop but also simultaneously speed up. “O-Ok. Um ok. Can you call our manager, I’ll have them drive us to the hospital. We’ll both get tested there and you all can go tomorrow morning.” Jiwon nodded and went to call their manager while Aisha tried her best to soothe Yiren.

After ten minutes of swaying, walking, and bouncing Yiren around on her hip, Aisha was finally able to soothe the little. Jiwon checked her phone “ok our manager is downstairs, do you want me to come with you or head back to the dorm?” Aisha responded “it’s ok, you head back and can you explain to the other girls what’s going on...they don’t really know about this.”

It was no secret that Yiren regressed, but it also kind of was. Yiren was able to have enough control of her regression to only slip into this headspace around Aisha and Jiwon. Her other members knew something happened but they simply didn’t think of it that much.

Aisha pulled her sweatshirt over Yiren’s head and put the hood on as well. She gave the little a mask before guiding her head into the crook of her neck. At times like this Aisha was very grateful for so few people being in the Yuehua building. Even then, people throughout knew Aisha and Yiren had a close relationship. So even if someone did see Aisha carrying Yiren, it probably wouldn’t be a big deal.

The staff that was waiting was Yiren’s favorite manager. They remained quiet throughout the car ride enjoying the white noise the A/C gave off. It took longer than expected to get to the hospital that was offering the test Yiren needed. But Aisha realized there would be a very big problem in a few short minutes.

While some tests for the virus were done through swabbing the mouth, this hospital didn’t offer that one. This test involved a long stick that had to be shoved up your nose all the way back. Aisha knew she’d be fine with it but Yiren was another story, regressed or not.

Due to the potential of Yiren having the virus, a nurse came to the car in a white hazmat suit to do the test. Yiren wasn’t exactly fond of that either as when she’s regressed she only wants to be around those she knows and trusts.

Aisha decided she’d go first, maybe it would calm Yiren enough if she saw how her caregiver did it well. The nurse stuck the probe up Aisha’s nose and she did her best to not swear at her because to be honest she was being a little aggressive.

When the nurse went to the other side of the car Aisha knew she’d have to hold Yiren down and she was already regretting it. Her manager rolled the window down and the nurse went to stick the probe up Yiren’s nose.

It was at this moment Yiren realized this was not something she was ok with. Before she could swat away the nurse’s hand, she felt someone holding her down. Aisha with almost all her strength held Yiren’s hands down as the little screamed in panic. The nurse had to hold Yiren’s head in place as well, only adding to Yiren’s discomfort.

Aisha hated doing this and hearing Yiren scream stop over and over again wasn’t helping. She felt tears burn her eyes as she saw Yiren’s face get more red with every shriek. Aisha tried her best to not cave as she held her wrists down, her hands trembling. “I’m sorry baby, I’m sorry.” Aisha continuously told Yiren hoping she’d listen.

The second the nurse pulled it out of Yiren’s nose Aisha felt a wave of relief. “Your results will be given via phone call in 36 hours.” The nurse told Aisha and her manager. They both thanked her before rolling up the window and driving off.

Yiren’s tears continued to pour down her face, however her wailing subsided. Aisha tried to reach out for Yiren but the second her hands touched her, the little shrieked in fear. Aisha felt her heart break and she immediately texted Jiwon that Yiren would need to sleep with her tonight.

When they returned to the dorm, Jiwon was there, ready to pick Yiren up and take her to bed. Aisha thanked her manager and walked upstairs sadly, trying her best to hold back tears.

Aisha didn’t bother to see if Jiwon needed help with bathing Yiren or putting her to sleep. She knew Yiren would only starting kicking and screaming again.

Mia walked in her room and sat down next to Aisha who was trying her best to stop crying out of guilt. “Yoorim-ah, what’s wrong?” That was all it took for Aisha to fall apart in her unnies arms.

“We got tested but it was the one they stick up your nose. A-and I had to hold her down and it took so long because she kept moving. And she kept begging me to stop but I couldn’t or else she’d have to go through it again. And she hates me now- and I feel so bad.” Mia patted Aisha’s shoulder and said “It’ll be fine Yoorim-ah, you did what you had to do. I- just trust me she just needs a good nights sleep.” Mia hugged her before padding out of her room.

•

48 hours passed and Aisha anxiously awaited their test results. Her other members got tested as well but they’d find out the same time. In this time she at all costs avoided Yiren knowing the little probably hated her still.

When the phone rang she sprinted to answer it. She felt a weight lift off her chest when she heard they all tested negative. She went ahead and texted the group chat because she knew if she were to walk where they all were, she’d have to face Yiren.

She got a text back saying Yiren needed her nap and she wanted to sleep in her bed. Aisha couldn’t deny the little of her own bed, after all it was hers.

The door opened slowly and Yiren waddled in, thumb in her mouth. “S-Sha?” Aisha felt her heart melt and all she did was hold her arms out for Yiren to crawl into.

The little curled into her caregivers arms and Aisha said “baby i’m so sorry for what I did. I’m sorry.” Yiren turned around so she was facing her and curled closer into Aisha. Her fingers wrapped tightly around Aisha’s shirt, as if she was afraid to let go. Aisha kissed the little’s forehead and said softly “I love you baby”.

#kpop imagines #kpop scenarios #kpop fluff #everglow imagines #everglow scenarios #everglow yiren #everglow aisha #everglow e:u #everglow #everglow eunji #everglow sihyeon #everglow onda #everglow reactions

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just-dreaming-marvel · 4 years

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ONE HUNDRED THIRTY EIGHT - HOLOGRAM (3)

LEGACY: A Tony Stark Daughter Story

FULL STORY MASTERLIST

ENDING THREE MASTERLIST

< previous

Word Count: 1,245ish

Summary: Bailey finds more messages from her father.

~~~

The next morning, I woke up earlier than everyone and snuck into the workshop. I craved to be near something that was undeniably Tony. I walked around the workshop, my fingers gently brushing on things as I made my way around. As I did, FRIDAY sensed my presence.

“Miss Stark,” the AI called in the silence of the workshop, “Are you here to finish watching Project Goodbye?”

“What?” I looked up at the ceiling.

“I was instructed to only show a portion of his hologram at the memorial. Boss said that the next time you’d be in here was to finish watching it.”

“Did he now?” I rolled my eyes as I ran my hand down my face. “Well…” I plopped down on a stool. “I guess play it then FRIDAY.”

The lights dimmed and a hologram of Tony quickly appeared. I gasped at the sight. It wasn’t the one I was recently familiar with. It seemed to be the one that was stuck in space five years ago. He was very skinny, sickly looking.

“This thing on?” His tired voice rang through the room.

He leaned back against the wall after confirming the helmet was filming him. I could hear the deep breaths he was taking. “Hey, Miss Potts… Pep… Hey, Bailey… If you find this recording,”

“don’t post it on social media.”

“It’s gonna be a real tear-jerker.”

Tears pricked my eyes.

“I don’t know if you’re ever going to see these. I don’t even know if you’re… if you’re still… Oh god, I hope so. Today is day 21, uh 22. You know, if it wasn’t for the existential terror of staring into a void of space, I’d say I’m feeling better today. The infection’s run its course, thanks to the blue meanie back there.” Nebula. “You two would love her. Very practical. Only a tiny bit sadistic. Some fuel cells were cracked during battle, but we figured out a way to reverse the ion charge to buy ourselves about 48 hours of time. But it’s now dead in the water. We’re 1000 light years from the nearest 7-11. Oxygen will run out tomorrow. And that’ll be it. And Pep, B, I… I know I said no more surprises, but I was really hoping to pull off one last one. But it looks like… well you know what it looks like. Don’t fell bad about this. I mean, if you grovel for a couple of weeks, and then move on with enormous guilt.”

I let out a sad chuckle as a few tears slipped down my cheeks.

rr“I should probably lie down. Please know that�� when I drift off, I will dream about you. The both of you. It’s always been you.”

The hologram switched off but then flickered back on. The hologram was of Tony, the same one that had recorded the hologram for the memorial service.

“Hey B… if you’re watching this that means… well it means that death finally caught up to me. That it didn’t end the way we wanted it it to… The way we hoped it would… It also means that you’re doing as bad as I think you’re doing. Yeah… sorry for having little faith in you but,” he shrugged, “your track record is against you… You’re probably wondering why I had you watch that video from five years ago before this. Well, to quote your mother, we got lucky. I could have died up there and you both could have been snapped away. But none of that happened. We got to live a life together, with Pepper and Morgan. And you got to secretly love Capsicle.” Tony shifted uncomfortably in his seat.

“Still don’t know how I feel about you marrying the guy… But if it’s what makes you happy, then I’m not going to stop you… I love you kid. And I want to thank you for coming into my life and allowing me to come into yours… Honestly, if it wasn’t for you, I probably wouldn’t have married Pepper and then we wouldn’t have Morgan. You made me realize, though I did mess up horribly a few dozen times… You made me realize that I could be a wonderful father, that I wasn’t cursed to be like mine forever… Thank you kid. I love you so much. And I hope, one day, that you’ll forgive me.”

“I don’t want you to ever think that you are worth less than you actually are worth… Keep doing what you’re doing… The company is yours, if you want it, of course. You’re so strong, sweetheart, and so powerful. You’re going to do great things.” He smiled at me. “I love you 3000.” And the video ended.

I was left with silence and tears streaming down my face. Why did I have to be so mean to him? I quickly wiped away my tears as I heard the workshop door squeak open. I turned around in my chair to see Wanda. We gave each other a small smile.

“Are you ready for this?” Wanda asked.

“I guess... I don’t really know exactly what I’m doing.”

“Just... uh... feel for him? Or reach out to him?”

“Yeah,” I nodded. “Okay.”

We cleared the table and had me lay on it. Wanda sat besides it, nervously watching me. I closed my eyes and began to reach out to Tony. Not long after, the darkness had turned into the Malibu Mansion. I wandered the main floor, figuring that Tony wasn’t there but that it wouldn’t hurt to check. Before I could head downstairs a voice stopped me.

“Have you finally come to your senses?” I turned to see Nat standing in the living room, arms crossed and hip popped out a bit.

“I know I hurt him. I’m here to apologize.”

“Well he’s not here.”

“Where is he then?”

“He left right after you did and I haven’t been able to find him since... Tony really took you rushing out of here hard.”

I pulled my hair back. “What have I done?” I walked over and plopped down onto the couch, covering my face with my hands. “I didn’t mean it.”

Nat sat down next to me. “I need you to try to feel him out. So that we can find him.”

I closed my eyes to focus on Tony, on his thoughts. It didn’t take very long to make a connection. He was having a conversation with someone.

“I have the connection,” I told Nat without opening my eyes.

“Good. Now... this is going to sound crazy B, but I need you to... how do I put this? Wish yourself there.”

“What?” I snapped my eyes open to look at her. “How the—“

“Just trust me on this.”

I looked at her skeptically before focusing once again and wishing myself to Tony’s location. Wind quickly swept around me. It felt weird. When I opened my eyes again, I was standing in front of a different house. A different mansion. What had just happened? Had I just teleported? Was it something everyone could do here or could I do it back in the real world too?

I could feel that Tony was inside. I nervously walked up and knocked on the door. I fiddled with my fingers as I waited for the door to open. When it did, I was met the face of a woman I had always wanted to meet but never thought I would. My grandmother, Maria Stark.

next >

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sml8180 · 5 years

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Long Overdue Upgrades

This turned out WAY longer than I intended, and I have no regrets. Have some Cyborg!Eric, courtesy of a friend on one of the Discord servers I’m a part of.

Also, just a heads up for some medical unpleasantness, seeing as topics such as surgery are brought up.

Long Overdue Upgrades

One of the first things Google, Bing, and the extensions had noticed when they first met Eric Derekson was the fact that he had two prosthetic legs. Over time, they came to learn that he had lost his legs in the same crash that had snuffed out the lives of his brothers. It became clear early on that the prosthetics were on the cheap end, and likely weren’t fitted properly, going by how great of a parent Derek was. So, the androids all came together and got to work, even bringing Dr. Iplier and Dr. Schneeplestein into their plan.

It took them weeks of working practically non-stop, with all hands on deck. The work was frustrating, but it started to pay off when things finally started to come together and function properly. Every time the androids saw Eric walking around the manor, in the living area on the couch, or in Dr. Iplier’s office, likely dealing with the lingering phantom pain in his legs or the complications resulting from years of wearing ill-fitting prosthetics, it only served to act as fuel to their fire.

Finally, the androids all finished their work, and Bing went to find Eric while Dr. Iplier called Dr. Schneeplestein to come and lend an extra set of hands.

“Hey, little dude,” Bing addressed, finding Eric reading a book in the living area.

“Hm?” Eric hummed in question, looking up from his book towards the android. “What’s up, Bing?”

“I’ve got something to show you, come on,” Bing answered, hardly waiting for Eric to mark his page before he was starting to practically pull him along by the hand.

Eric allowed the android to lead him to the office he shared with Google and his extensions. He shut his eyes when they got to the door, as Bing requested it of him, and let the older Ego usher him inside with his hands on his shoulders. The younger Ego could hear some shuffling and whispers, though he couldn’t tell how many people were in the room.

“Okay, kid, open your eyes,” Bing requested. As Eric did as he was instructed, he let out a gasp, covering his mouth with his hand as he spotted Google, the extensions, Dr. Iplier, and Dr. Schneeplestein all standing by one of the work tables, upon which sat a pair of white lower legs. It was clear to him what exactly they were for.

“You guys… You m-made me new legs?” Eric stammered in disbelief, stepping forward to run his fingertips over the smooth surface of one of the legs.

“We did,” Google piped up. “You deserve far better than the cheap prosthetics your father provided to you. This set is one of a kind, made with similar materials and technology that makes up Bing, the extensions, and myself.”

“Ja!” Henrik interjected. “You vill have full natural mobility, and even be able to feel changes in temperature and touch, should all go according to plan.”

“A-according to plan?”

“Well, with how advanced these are,” Dr. Iplier began, “You will need to go through an operation for things to work properly. There is a set of cuffs that connect to the top portions of the legs, which will allow for sensation and natural movement. In theory, this could also help to manage your PLP.”

“Y-you really think s-s-so?” Eric was practically vibrating with excitement, at this point, especially as Dr. Iplier nodded in response to his question. “Um… What will the surgery involve…?”

Dr. Iplier picked up his tablet, which had been sitting on the table, and came over to Eric with it, tapping at the screen, with Henrik following behind him. “Basically, we’ll be going in and exposing the main nerve endings, neatening up the stump and smoothing the bone out a bit,” Dr. Iplier explained.

“From there,” Henrik jumped in, “Ve vill be making the primary connections between your nerves and the connecting cuffs. Once all connections are made, ze cuffs vill be set in place vith a handful of plates and screws, and your legs vill be wrapped up to heal.”

“It’ll take some time before you’ll be up and walking, but it’ll be worth it,” Dr. Iplier added.

“Okay… When will we do it…?”

“Well, Dark can easily arrange things so you have time off, seeing as you work for Wil and the twins. If you really wanted, we could go through with it tomorrow, so long as you think you can fast tonight,” Dr Iplier answered.

“I’d like that,” Eric confirmed, giving the doctor a little smile.

The rest of the day seemed to go by in a blurr for Eric, joy and excitement filling his heart. Night seemed to come quickly, and it went by just as fast. Soon, Eric was being lead to Dr. Iplier’s office within the manor by the doctor himself. He changed into a hospital gown and lay on the bed, while Dr. Iplier took his vitals. Google came in during this time, bringing the connecting cuffs for Eric’s legs with him, with Red and Green following him, and Henrik arrived not long after, speaking in a rapid-fire mix of English, German, and medical jargon with Dr. Iplier as he set aside his coat and got ready to scrub up for the operation.

“Alright, Eric,” Dr. Iplier addressed as he finished getting the IV into the young Ego’s arm. “I’m going to put the oxygen mask on you, and then I want you to count backwards from 50 for me. You don’t have to count out loud, I just want you to do it.”

“Okay,” Eric confirmed, lifting his head a bit and letting Dr. Iplier put the mask over his nose and mouth, starting to count backwards as he let his head rest on the pillow again.

50… 49… 48…

He was starting to feel tired, now, like he’d had a long day at work.

47… 46… 45…

His eyelids were starting to feel heavy, and his head was cloudy.

44… 43…

He was out cold.

The doctors, Google, Red, and Green were able to get to work. Green kept an eye on Eric’s vital signs as the others did what they needed to do. Red and Google make sure that the doctors had whatever they needed when they needed it, and the two doctors worked on Eric’s legs. They worked for hours, neatening up the ends of Eric’s natural legs, getting the framework needed to fix the cuffs in place where it needed to be, smoothing out the end of the bone. Once one leg was ready for the cuff, the doctors shifted positions, letting Google work on getting the cuff connected how it needed to be - he was more precise than any doctor could ever be, after all - and began to work on Eric’s other leg. Dr. Iplier followed Henrik’s lead when it came to the operation, seeing as he was the surgeon in the room. By late afternoon, they had finally finished, and wrapped up Eric’s legs so that he could recover.

When Eric woke up, it felt like he was waking up from a long nap. He blinked, groaning softly as he tried to recall where he was.

“Morning, Sleeping Beauty,” he heard a soft voice joke, followed by a quiet chuckle. Eric looked to his right, and smiled tiredly as he spotted Illinois by his side.

“Hey…” came his own soft reply, as he was still waking up.

Illinois smiled, lightly petting Eric’s hair. “Doc and Henrik say things went smoothly; Henrik said that this might’ve been the smoothest operation he’s done in a while.”

“That’s good,” Eric responded with a giggle.

Dr. Iplier approached the bed, hearing Illinois and Eric speaking. “Hey, there he is, awake and alert.”

“Hm…?”

“Well, awake, at least,” the doctor chuckled. He checked over a few things on the monitor beside Eric, and nodded to himself. “Everything’s stable. How’re you feeling, Eric?”

“Tired, kinda, um, kinda sore…” Eric muttered. His words were followed by a rumble coming from his stomach. “And hungry…”

“I’ll get you some soup or something, okay?” Illinois offered. With a nod from Eric, he placed a kiss on the tired Ego’s forehead and went to get him some food.

“Let’s sit you up,” Dr. Iplier dictated, helping Eric to sit up, propped up by a couple of pillows. “I think things are going to work out just fine, kid.”

Weeks went by with Eric recovering from the operation. He was sore and tired for the first three weeks or so, as Dr. Iplier kept him on painkillers, which he slowly weaned off of. Each time Dr. Iplier checked his legs, they seemed to be looking better and better. Illinois helped however he could; all the Egos did, really. Eric didn’t mind the time the healing process took - though he occasionally gave a small protest towards the others fussing over him - it was all leading up to the day he’d be able to start learning to walk with his new legs.

Finally, finally, Dr. Iplier and Dr. Schneeplestein gave Eric the green light to work with Google, Bing, and the extensions in order to get back on his feet. Illinois brought him to the Google office, carrying him in his arms (mostly just because Eric had asked him to, and he enjoyed carrying Eric, anyways), and the pair were greeted by Bing, who quickly ushered them inside. He had Illinois set Eric down on the surface of one of the work tables, and looked over the site where Eric’s legs met the cuffs.

“Okay, so, Doc gave us the green light to go ahead, this looks way better than we’d expected, and now is the time to get hyped,” Bing rambled, looking over Eric’s legs.

“What is going to happen,” Google interjected, cutting off Bing’s quick rambling. “Is that we’re going to connect the legs in two stages. First the primary connection, which is intended to keep the prosthetics in place and allow for movement, then the nerve connections, which will allow signals from the sensors to be transmitted to the brain,” he informed the younger Ego, watching as he nodded. “I will warn you now, Eric, that the nerve connection process will most likely be extremely painful. That is part of why we are doing this now, while Dr. Iplier still has you on some dosage of painkillers.”

“There… There isn’t another way…?” Eric questioned, wringing his yellow handkerchief in his hands.

“Not if you want to have any feeling in your legs,” Google answered bluntly. “The pain won’t last for long, if our calculations are correct.”

“Yeah!” Oliver chimed in, his chipper voice cutting off the level, serious drone of the main unit. “If we’re right, you’ll have a spike of pain right when we do it, but then it’ll dull down after a moment. It might be annoying for a bit, but that’ll mostly just be your body adjusting to everything.”

“O-okay…” Eric confirmed, taking a slow breath to try to steady his thoughts.

“You ready, little dude?” Bing asked, setting a hand on Eric’s shoulder.

“As I’ll ever be…” Eric answered.

The androids made quick work of making the primary connections, making sure to have Eric test the mobility of the ankle and toe joints as they went. Bing then moved behind him, resting one hand on the younger Ego’s left shoulder, taking hold of his left hand. Illinois took up a similar position on Eric’s right, while Green and Oliver positioned themselves at his legs to prevent any movement while Google and Red got ready to make the nerve connections.

“This is the part where it’s going to hurt, Eric,” Google informed him. “Brace yourself; we’ll connect both of them on the count of three.”

“Okay…” Eric responded, taking a deep breath as he turned his head towards Illinois, doing his best to brace himself for what he knew was going to happen.

“One… Two… Three!”

Eric couldn’t tell who had made the count. All he knew was that it hurt like Hell when the nerve connections were made. He let out a yell - practically screaming - as he tightly gripped Illinois and Oliver’s hands, tears welling up in his eyes and slipping down his cheeks. The connection burned and stung and felt like pins and needles in the worst way. It seemed to last for ages before he finally began to pull himself together, breathing heavily and paying no mind to the tears still rolling down his cheeks.

“It’s okay, you’re okay…” Eric could hear Illinois whispering reassurances in his ear, and he could feel the man rubbing his back.

“Connection complete, went off without a hitch,” Red stated, making a couple of notes for future reference.

“We will have to wait a couple of days for your body to adjust to the connection,” Google told Eric. “Then we’ll be able to make the adjustments so that you can feel things properly and possibly start walking again. For now, though, you should get some rest.”

That was all Eric needed to hear as he felt Illinois pick him up and carry him out of the office. The man was asleep before he was even set on his bed.

The next couple of days brought slow relief to Eric’s pain. His nerves were starting to calm, and though he was still sore, he was in far less pain than he was originally. He was feeling better with each passing day, and it only served to improve his mood even further. A couple of weeks went by of Eric continuing to recover, slowly making progress as he got used to having actual feeling in his legs for the first time in so long.

“You’ve been making great progress, dude,” Bing praised, ruffling Eric’s hair as the younger Ego sat in the Google office. “Think you’re ready to try walking on your own?”

“I think so,” Eric nodded. He’d been looking forward to walking without any sort of support from crutches or a cane or another person since this all started.

“We’ll help you down, then,” Oliver offered, coming to Eric’s left, while Bing shifted to his right.

“What’re you all up to in here?” Illinois questioned, coming to the doorway of the office.

“You’ll see in a minute! Stay there!” Eric excitedly told Illi, as Oliver and Bing helped him down from his spot on the table.

“Okay, okay. I’ll stay here,” Illi chuckled, leaning against the doorframe.

Eric stood upright, getting his balance before taking a hesitant step forward. Another step, this time a bit more certain, drew forth a fit of happy giggles from him, and he made his way towards Illinois. The adventurer straightened up, beaming as Eric walked towards him; it was the first time he’d walked without support since his operation was done. He caught Eric when he stumbled on the last step towards him, lifting him up in a hug and kissing him, beaming.

Google and Bing watched the pair, unable to hide their own smiles as they did. It seemed they had done well, and Eric’s life would only get even better as time went on, thanks to these long overdue upgrades.

#Markiplier Egos #Eric Derekson #Bingiplier #Googleplier #Dr. Iplier #AHWM Illinois #tw: medical unpleasantness #tw: surgery #Cyborg!Eric #chronic pain #Derek was a bad parent #long post

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taronfanfic · 7 years

Text

Crossed Targets: Dare To Return

Previous chapters here

Chapter 16

The pain was cold and dull at first before everything started to sting. You rolled onto your back with the continuing momentum, coming to a stop and finally opening your eyes to look up at the clear blue sky. Your peripheral vision was full of faces looking down at you but you couldn’t focus on any of them as you lay there in shock and pain.

“Y/N!” Taron’s voice cut through everything. “Y/N, shit! Are you okay? Are you hurt?” There was movement above your head and then Taron’s face came into view as he immediately crouched down beside you and took hold of your wrists. “Ok back off, give her some space!” He ordered the extras before focusing back to your eyes, his face a picture of total worry.

“I’m alright.” You spoke back as you felt the tears escape your eyes, the shock and adrenaline flooding your body. “My hands sting.” You felt the warmth of Taron’s hands against your own as he brushed the dirt away from you grazed palms.

“It’s ok, it’s ok. They’re just grazed. Does anywhere else hurt?” He supported your back as you sat up and got your bearings, bringing your knees up off the floor to see how they felt.

“I think I’m ok, just a bit bruised probably. I should have slowed down, I knew it didn’t feel right.”

“No, this isn’t your fault. People are given marks and timings for a reason and if they miss them things like this will happen. They have to pay attention or it’s just not safe.” Taron deliberately raised his voice to make sure everyone around you got the message and he glared at the man who picked the suitcase off the floor and disappeared back into the crowd.

“Taron, don’t. It’s ok, just help me up will you.” You pushed your weight forwards to your feet as Taron lifted you up of the floor. The first step back down towards the bottom of the set was a shaky one and you hissed through gritted teeth as a pain shot through your ankle.

“Woah, woah, don’t.” Taron stopped you and quickly bent down, scooping your legs off the floor and carrying you in his arms. “You need to get properly checked over.” You’d have usually protested at all the fuss being made and tried to walk it off but having Taron there was a huge comfort. His arms felt safe and you knew that whatever happened he’d be there to look after you. As he placed you down in a chair the first aider appeared at your side with an icepack. Taron pulled up another chair for you to rest your foot on and then crouched down by your side, listening closely to your answers as the first aider went through all the checks.

“What’s the verdict?” The director asked as he finally showed a bit of interest in how his lead actress was doing.

“She’ll need a couple of hours off the ankle for now, no heavy impact for 48 hours but good to go after that.” The first aider replied before handing you some pain killers.

“We don’t have 48 hours. The extras are only here for today.” The director sighed as he paced back and forth.

“It’s ok, just give me half an hour for the pain killers to kick in and I’ll be fine.” You were determined to finish this scene and not let everyone down but the look on Taron’s face was saying otherwise.

“That’s what I like to hear! Right, Taron we can work on your individual shots so head back up please.” The director instructed him.

“No, I’m not happy with this.” He folded his arms across his chest as he stood up from your side. “You heard what he said, 48 hours! She could barely put any weight through it, there’s no way you should be letting her continue with this!”

“Taron the decision isn’t yours to be making. If Y/N says she’s ok to continue then we carry on. Now get back up there, please.”

“Y/N!” Taron looked back to you, his eyes pleading you to say you were in too much pain.

“I’ll be fine.” You reassured him quietly, trying not to make a bigger deal out of this.

“Can we not get a stunt double in?” He turned back to the director again determined not to let this drop.

“Taron, I’m not going to ask you again.”

“Just for the chases? They need to be done at pace and it’s all shot from behind anyway. Y/N can rest up for the morning and then come back for the fight sequence this afternoon. Come on, you know it makes sense!” The frustration was clear in his voice but he’d actually managed to put forward a sensible suggestion too.

“Look, Taron… I’m glad to see you’re invested in the wellbeing of your co-star and after yesterday’s shoot… well let’s just say the odds on you two becoming the next Brangelina have been slashed!” He looked closely between the pair of you. “But I can’t have you calling the shots. This isn’t your decision to make and you shouldn’t even be involved in this conversation, so if you don’t mind?” The director gestured for Taron to head back out in front of the cameras and he reluctantly followed his orders this time, turning back and shaking his head at you.

“A stunt double might not be such a bad idea.” You commented reluctantly to the director who sat down next to you.

“No, I know. We’ll get it organised. I just didn’t want Mr. Ego over there getting too big for his boots…y’know he said from day one that if you dropped out for whatever reason he’d be going too, he’s got a proper soft spot for you!” The director completely lightened up and left you with a smug look as though he already knew exactly what was going on between you and Taron. Maybe keeping this quiet was going to be harder than you’d first imagined.

***

With your feet hanging over one end and your head squished up against the arm at the other end of the sofa you let your eyes start to close. Today had been exhausting and the later it got the worse you felt. You could hear Taron coming and going from your trailer, humming to himself as he clattered around in the small kitchen area and then disappeared off for another 5 minutes. You wanted to tell him to do one and leave you in peace but you knew he’d bring you food eventually.

“How are you doing? I have more pain killers if you need them.” He spoke softly as he sat down on the floor next to you.

“Yes please.” You replied as you opened your eyes and slowly sat up to take them.

“Our food won’t be long. I’ve managed to pull a few strings and get a takeaway allowed on site. It’s amazing what perks an injury can get you!”

“If only they came without the pain though.” You turned yourself round slowly and put your feet on the floor next to Taron.

“I know, you poor thing. I wish it was me instead.” Taron rested his head against the side of your thigh and you ran your fingers through his soft hair. “I felt so sick when I heard your cry and saw you lying there this morning. It was horrible, I was imagining the worst.”

“I’m a tough cookie, you don’t need to worry about me.”

“I know, but I still do. I can’t help it. You mean the world to me.” A knock at the door broke you away from your tender moment and Taron jumped up to receive the takeaway from the security guard. “I may have ordered too much…”

“No such thing, just means we get leftovers for tomorrow!” You walked gingerly round the corner to see a red table cloth and single tall candle dressing a small table that Taron had clearly stolen from the props department. “What the-” You started to laugh but your hand quickly held your ribs as the pain took over “Ow!”

“Hey, hey, sit down. You’re not lifting a finger tonight.” Taron pulled the chair out for you before unpacking the Chinese takeaway and spreading the selection of dishes across the table. “I was planning on surprising you, had a table booked at a local restaurant for our second first date but I’ve postponed it until the weekend now. I know this isn’t the same, but I thought it might put a smile back on your face.”

“You always were full of surprises.” You smiled back to him as you rested your chin on your knuckles. “We may have to move the date back again though. Oliver and Katherine are coming down to stay this weekend. Thought I’d better fill them in on this little development…”

“Ah ok, so you’ve not told them anything?”

“No, I know what they’re going to say though so be prepared.” You rolled your eyes.

“Oliver didn’t hold back last time I spoke to him. I can’t imagine his opinion of me has changed much since then either.” You shook your head in agreement as Taron started to look more worried.

“Just let me talk to them first. Act like nothing is going on and then I’ll text you when it’s safe…or if I need back up.” You shot Taron your own worried look and his face softened.

“I’ll tell them everything I’ve told you if you think it’ll help.” He placed his hand over the top of yours.

“We’ll see… hopefully just seeing us together again will work, if they see how happy you make me then they can’t really complain!”

“And if they can’t see it we’ll just have to make them hear it instead.” He winked. “I take it you’re giving them your bed for the night?”

“Yeah, I’ve said I’ll take the sofa.”

“Not a chance, especially not after today! You’ll be in my bed whether they like it or not.” You smiled as you finally tucked into the takeaway, totally loving how protective Taron had been over you today.

As the evening drew to a close you found yourself yawning more and more throughout the film Taron had put on. It didn’t take long for him to pause it and suggest you got an early night instead. He carried you through to your bedroom despite you insisting you were ok to walk. You didn’t have the energy to fight him this time though. As you started to undress yourself slowly, limbs aching from your fall, Taron started to help you again. His eyes were taking in the purple bruises down the side of your arm as he sat down next to you on the bed.

“Look at the state of you.” He sighed before placing gentle kisses to the bruises on your shoulder and elbow.

“You might be here a while if you’re going to kiss every bruise.” You commented softly as you stood up and slid your trousers down off your hips, letting them fall to the floor to reveal the matching purple bruises scattered all the way down your right hand side.

“Bloody hell.” Taron spoke under his breath as his eyes worked their way over your body, planning his route as he dropped to his knees and kissed your hip, the side of your bum and thigh, the graze on your knee, edge of your shin and finally your ankle. “Come here.” He stood up and pulled you in for one of his best, long hugs.

“Will you stay with me tonight?” You asked.

“Of course I will.” He kissed the top of your head before pulling back the covers and undressing himself down to his boxers. He was slow to move in against your back, his arm resting lightly over your waist at first in fear of causing you further pain. You tugged his hand down further so he was holding you tighter and then sighed contentedly.

“Everything’s better when you’re here.”

#taron egerton #Taron x reader #Taron Egerton Fanfic #taron egerton fanfiction #Taron Fanfic #taron egerton imagine #taron imagine #Taron #fanfic

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sickdaysofficial · 7 years

Text

Sick Days 4.0 – Worse Than Expected

Story submitted by @Jojowritesstuff

Contains injury, hospital scenes and vomit

Characters: Hazel & Raya (Both my OCs)

This will be a multi part fic which I may continue after Sick Days. This is set during the time both girls lived in different places because Hazel transferred to study/work at Hopkins and Raya was still back at their old home getting everything sorted out for the move.

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Weeks have passed since Hazel moved and started to get settled in her temporary apartment. Raya was still living at their old place, sorting out things for the final move. She’d be starting her new job at the photographer’s office as soon as her old working contract with the paper would run out which was in just a few weeks. It was mostly her traveling to Baltimore to visit her girlfriend as traveling was easier for her with being able to take some of her work with her.

Hazel was loving Hopkins more than she could express; she was given so much freedom as a student, and the way things were progressing, it looked like she could wrap up most of her classes early, between the credits she’d gotten before she left and the ones she was earning now. Her research had yet to start, as the funding wouldn’t come through until late May, but she was still ecstatic. Plus, she had basically found the perfect place for her and Raya, her girlfriend was coming up to visit, and she couldn’t contain her excitement. She traded shifts for weeks and would have an almost uninterrupted 48 hours with Raya. Hopkins had put her up at the moment- she was staying at a hotel near the campus, but she was dying for a real place to call home.

Raya was running late, she spent most of the night finishing an article so she didn’t have to bring work over this time and ended up sleeping through her alarm. Hazel and her planned to go looking at a possible new apartment that weekend. From what Hazel told her it seemed to be damn near perfect. She took a quick shower but in her hurry she didn’t see the small puddle on the floor. Stepping out of the shower she slipped, losing her balance and fell. On her way down she bumped her head against the sink.

She was awfully confused when she came back to her senses, not quite realizing what happened. With a dull pain in her head she picked herself off the floor, steadying herself against a wave of dizziness. She didn’t feel right but wouldn’t let a stupid headache keep her from heading out to Baltimore.

Not long after that she was seated in a train. The constant noise and jolting of the vehicle not helping the throbbing in her head at all. She was glad when she finally got to leave the train a few hours later. She was tired and feeling slightly sluggish but she was excited to see both her girlfriend and the apartment she picked out. If everything would work out they may not even have to keep searching anymore. Dragging her luggage along she smiled when she saw Hazel waiting for her at the train station.

“Raya!” Hazel called out as she spotted her coming out of the train. She ran up to her and nearly swept her girlfriend off her feet. She kissed her too, her previous aversion to PDA having vanished, she now wanted to be with Raya every moment she could. “Three weeks is /way/ too long,” she said lightly, pecking her girlfriend’s cheek for good measure.

Raya tried her hardest not to flinch when Hazel basically tackle-hugged her. “I know, I know. But it’s not that much longer and I’ll stay for good,” she smiled. “Just a few more weeks and I’ll get to start at the photographer’s place, so you’ll have to deal with me each day again,” she chuckled lightly. “Oh. I brought you some of your books too, thought you’d might need them,” she added and handed Hazel one of the bags she was carrying.

Hazel grinned excitedly, taking the bag gratefully. “Not that I’ve minded having an excuse to blow off endocrinology, but this is gonna help. Come on, you look exhausted, and the open house isn’t until tomorrow, we’ve got this entire night for us!”

“Been working late last night,” Raya admitted. Her mind was still slightly foggy, almost like she just woke up from a too long nap. “How was your week?”

“Insane, as always. I’m starting a peds rotation though, which is kind of cool,” Hazel told her, wrapping an arm around her girlfriend.

The way from the train station to the hotel Hazel was staying in wasn’t far, yet to Raya it seemed to be going on forever. As they kept walking she felt herself starting to sway and couldn’t help but to lean against her girlfriend lightly.

“Whoa, you okay?” Hazel asked, noticing how Raya seemed off-kilter. She looked awfully pale too, now that she saw her in the bright sunlight, and Hazel couldn’t help but wonder if anything was going on.

“Tired. And my head is starting to hurt,” Raya said, not bothering to hide how she felt. The longer they kept walking the worse her dizziness became. The buzzing of the city was ringing in her ears and the sunlight was hurting her eyes. She just wanted to lay down somewhere dark and quiet and wait for the headache to pass.

Hazel wrapped her arm around her girlfriend more securely. “We’re almost there. You should lie down, get some rest,” she suggested, taking her luggage for her.

“I’m sorry,” Raya said with a light whine. “Really bad timing to get a headache, isn’t it?” She leaned heavily on Hazel to keep herself from possibly falling.

“Stop, you can’t help it,” Hazel said, though her brow furrowed. She knew Raya would fall susceptible to migraines at times, but the symptoms never manifested this intensely. “Almost there babe,” she announced, rounding the final corner.

Hazel set her key down when they walked in, the anxiety in her chest building. Raya’s face was uncharacteristically pale, and she seemed immensely dizzy. “Are you sure you’re okay?” she asked again, unable to help herself as she pushed every worst-case scenario to the back of her mind.

“Probably just gotta be a migraine. I’ll be okay,” Raya said, though her voice was barely carrying any sound at all. “I’d like to lay down now though.”

“Of course, come on,” Hazel said. She herself would get migraines from time to time, and she knew how incapacitating they could be She led Raya to bed, knowing that sleep would most likely be the best cure.

Raya sighed, laying down the world around her wasn’t spinning as much as when she was upright yet the throbbing pain in her head was still there, making her lightly nauseous. Everything started to feel far away, almost as if she wasn’t really there. “Can you stay here?” she asked, reaching out for Hazel’s hand.

Hazel nodded. “Yeah, of course babe,” she said, turning off the lights and closed the curtains to block out most of the sunlight. “Do you want some water, a cool cloth for your head, anything?” she asked lightly, keeping her voice as soft as possible.

“A cold cloth would be nice,” Raya replied, not even bothering to open her eyes to look at Hazel. Anything stimulating her senses felt uncomfortable, every noise was unbearably loud, the slightest bit of light seemed as blinding as the sun and every movement sent waves of pain through her skull.

“Of course,” Hazel nodded, though Raya couldn’t see and quickly left the room. She did grab a glass of water as well, and some Advil. “You should take something, it might help,” she instructed gently.

Raya wasn’t keen on taking anything at the moment but figured that Hazel was probably right. While the Advil wouldn’t fix the entire problem it might at least take the edge off it. Sitting up she winced at the stabbing pain in her head but still took the pills Hazel offered, washing them down with a swig of water. “Thanks baby,” she said, slowly laying back down.

Hazel sat down on the edge of the bed. “You get some sleep now, okay?” she offered, pulling Raya’s head into her lap, her fingers running lightly over Raya’s scalp as an attempt to ease some of pain. “I’ll be here the entire time,” she promised.

Raya made a pained noise when Hazel moved her but the light touch of her girlfriend’s fingers combing through her hair helped take some of the pain off. “Feels nice,” she mumbled with a light smile playing over her lips. “T'is a bad one.”

Hazel shook her head with a sigh. “I can tell… is anything else bothering you, or just your head?” she asked, trying to get a better gage of her girlfriend’s symptoms. She knew she was being paranoid, but she couldn’t stop before ruling every other option that /wasn’t/ just a migraine out.

Raya groaned. Even though she’s taken some pain medication her headache wasn’t getting any better. It made her stomach churn and her body feel heavy. She didn’t get to answer Hazel. Without any prior warning she rolled over, heaving up the meager contents of her stomach over the edge of the bed onto the floor.

“Oh my… okay, hey, it’s okay,” Hazel said, her hands instantly on Raya’s back, rubbing small, gentle circles. “Ask and you shall receive,” she muttered to herself. “Ry, are you sure nothing else is going on?” she asked, her mind filling with terrors of brain tumors and hematomas.

Raya made a strangled noise, the heaving making her head feel about ready to explode. “Hazel, I… I don’t feel good,” she whined before another heave shook her. There wasn’t much for her to bring up though, she didn’t take the time to actually have some breakfast because she was already running late that morning .

“I know sweetie, I know,” Hazel said, struggling to keep her voice level. She caught a brief glimpse of Raya’s eyes, and her heart jumped to her throat. “Ry, can I just check something quickly?” she asked, reaching for her phone to use the flashlight feature.

Raya nodded faintly, barely aware of what Hazel was going for. She slowly lay back into Hazel’s lap. Her ears were ringing and her vision was cloudy as she struggled to keep her eyes open.

“I need you to sit up, just for one second,” Hazel instructed, propping Raya up on a few pillows. “This is gonna be really bright, but it’s just for a second,” she warned, before quickly flashing the light over both of her girlfriend’s eyes, checking for pupillary reaction. She cursed under her breath as she found it to be off. “Okay, now can you follow my finger?” she asked, though wasn’t surprised when Raya could not. “Raya, this is very important, have you felt like this before, had these headaches, or have you hit your head recently?” she asked, her hands fully shaking now.

“Fell,” Raya mumbled, laying her arm over her eyes, seeking the comfort of darkness. “Hit the sink.” her mind was getting too fuzzy to form full sentences. “’m tired.”

“You fell?” It was the final piece of the puzzle, and all Hazel needed to jump to her feet, now fully alert. “I think you hurt your head, but we need to go to the hospital to make sure,” she said, already slipping an arm under her girlfriend and hauling her to her feet, trying to be as gentle as she could. “Keep your eyes open for just a while, okay? Then I promise, you can sleep.”

Raya whined, tears stinging in her eyes from the pain. “Dun wanna move. Please, lemme sleep.” she was barely aware of what’s happening around her or why Hazel was insisting she get up. All she knew was that she wanted to lie down.

“I know, I’m so sorry,” Hazel said, her heart breaking. She herself was terrified, as she knew nearly everything that could go wrong with a human brain. “We gotta get you checked out though,” she said softly, practically carrying her girlfriend.

Raya was too out of it to put up much of a fight when Hazel dragged her out to the car. Hazel made sure Raya was secured before driving to Hopkins, endlessly grateful that getting there was just a matter of minutes, still she was breaking every speed limit and nearly running a red light. She could feel her hands shaking on the wheel, and her heart was beating in her throat by the time she was helping her in to triage.

Raya was weakly holding onto Hazel, almost completely unaware about her girlfriend having taken her to the hospital. Her eyes were drifting shut when she rested her aching head on her girlfriend’s shoulder

“She needs a CT, an x-ray for potential skull fracturing, a full neuro work-up stat,” Hazel explained passionately. The nurse at the front desk shot her a look. “Please, her speech is slurred, she’s incoherent after a head injury,” she explained.

It wasn’t until Raya was ready to be wheeled off for examination when she seemed to grasp what’s happening. “Please stay,” she pleaded, clinging to Hazel’s hand. She wasn’t normally scared of much or at least she didn’t show it but she wasn’t thinking clear and she was in pain. The entire situation terrified her.

The neuro exam showed definite deficits, so Hazel strapped on a lead vest in order to be in the same room during the x-ray and CT. Hazel would try and explain each exam to Raya but all voices seemed muffled and she had trouble making out words.

“You’re gonna be okay,” Hazel assured her. An attending called her over, and she gave Raya’s hand one last squeeze before trotting dutifully over, the place of a med student was in the literal basement on the hierarchical pyramid.

Hazel looked at the older doctor. “You can’t be serious, the only reason I came in is because my girlfriend was seriously injured…” The other woman shook her head. “I’m sorry, but with the flu we’re short-staffed, and you need to get to the ER.” Hazel sighed, running a shaking hand through her hair. “With all due respect, I’m not really in right mind to be treating patients-” “You won’t be spreading infectious diseases. Come on, you’d be practically running the ER,” she said. Hazel nodded, knowing she didn’t have much choice. “Ry, I’m back, but they need me to cover a shift, just for a little while,” she said as she went back over to her girlfriend. “I don’t start for another forty minutes, but I’m gonna be in and out after that. I am /so/ so sorry,” she said, her eyes welling. “I know you’ll be okay, results should be coming in any minute now, and we can get this collar off you,” she joked about the neck brace they put on her, seeing Raya’s lips quirk upwards. “It’s just unfair, half the residents are out with the flu, I traded shifts for weeks to get the whole weekend off… I wanted to spend time with you.”

“…didn’t wan’ to end here… we’re even,” Raya said with a hint of a smile. Hazel’s presence was helping to calm her quite a bit.

Hazel smiled slightly, rubbing her girlfriend’s hand just as a doctor walked in, holding several scans. She shot up, fear clenching in her stomach and feeling nearly lightheaded with anxiety.

Raya watched them as best as she could with the neck brace still on. She barely understood what the doctor was saying, but from what she could see in Hazel’s face it wasn’t anything life threatening.

“You concussed yourself pretty badly,” Hazel said turning back to Raya. “You’ve got a little bleeding too, so you’re gonna be here a day or so,” she informed her. “You’ll be totally okay, thank God.”

“Did what? Don’t want to stay here. What about the open house tomorrow?” Raya asked, reaching out for Hazel’s hand.

“We can reschedule,” Hazel said softly. “Or I can put a tentative hold on it, your pick,” she offered. “They’re also gonna start you on a few meds to help with the pain and stuff, so you’ll have an IV.”

“No needles,” Raya whined. She looked up at Hazel pleadingly, squeezing her hand.

“I’ll be here to hold your hand the entire time, don’t worry,” Hazel said, wincing at Raya’s aversion to needles. “The only way I’d be closer is if I did it myself.”

Raya sighed, she was way too tired and hurting to argue about it. “I can sleep when they’re done?”

“Yes, I promise. But we’re gonna wake you up ever two hours or so,” Hazel told her, brushing her girlfriend’s hair back as she undid the confining neck brace.

“Why?” Raya asked, brows furrowed as she was trying to make sense of what Hazel told her.

Raya was moved from the examination room and assigned to a bed rather quickly. Iv placing went over quite smoothly too, Hazel tried her best to distract her from the needle though Raya still flinched a bit when it broke through her skin.

Hazel stayed with her, her thumb lightly rubbing over the back of Raya’s IV free hand as she watched her fall asleep. The minutes ticked by, until she was forced to change into scrubs and mentally prepare herself for work. “Hey, when she wakes up, tell her I’ll stop by as soon as I can, okay?” Hazel asked the floor nurse.

Hazel was absolutely swamped, when the attending said she would be running the ER, she wasn’t exaggerating. It was nearly two hours before she stole away for a moment to check on her girlfriend, her heart racing with anxiety.

Raya was already dozing again when Hazel entered the room. When she woke up a few minutes earlier she found herself in a bed that wasn’t her, situated in a room she’s never been before. She tried to sit up but winced when the headache kicked back in. When her gaze fell to the IV in her hand she came to the conclusion that she must have been in a hospital. She wasn’t quite sure what exactly happened and how she even got there, the previous hours being a blur. Hearing footsteps she slowly blinked her eyes open, smiling when she saw her girlfriend.

“How you doing Ry?” Hazel asked, readjusting the high ponytail she always wore to work. She was relieved to find her girlfriend awake and responsive.

“Head hurts, tired,” Raya admitted, trying again to sit up, a lot slower this time. “What happened?”

“You’ve got a pretty nasty concussion,” Hazel told her, sitting on the edge of her girlfriend’s bed.

“We’re s'posed to be looking at the new place tomorrow.” Raya stated, tentatively moving closer to Hazel. “How’re we gonna handle that?” she asked though she was fighting with herself to stay awake, trying to follow the conversation exhausted her.

“I’ve got it,” Hazel promised. “You just rest, okay? “It’s just past 1 in the afternoon, so you cleared your first wake-up. Don’t panic if I’m not here when you wake up again- they’re making me work a few shifts,” she said, rolling her eyes.

“How much longer until you have to leave again?” Raya asked. She wanted nothing more than to cuddle up in the safety of her girlfriend’s arms but she knew she had work to do.

“Until an irate attending or dying person needs me,” she said, taking Raya into her arms. “I wanna be with you, for a long, long time.”

“Stay?” Raya buried her head in Hazel’s neck, keeping her eyes open for more than a few minutes at a time still made her head spin. “I don’t wanna be alone in here.”

“I know Ry. I’ll be here as much as I can, I promise. Are you okay pain-wise?” she asked, trying to distance herself from the emotion. She’d already been there four minutes, she knew she would be paged again any second.

“Hurts,” Raya said, her voice muffled as she still hid her face in the crook of Hazel’s neck. “‘n still kinda dizzy.”

“I’m sorry, let me go see if we can get you on some more pain meds,” she said, gently kissing Raya’s temple. “I’ll be right back.“ The moment Hazel got to her feet, her pager went off wildly. She sighed, her shoulders slumping. She grabbed Raya’s chart, scrawled a note for a higher dose of pain medication- but not above 3cc’s- and made her way back to the ER.

Hazel was far busier than anticipated; the ER was slammed with people who were convinced they had the flu, a vast majority did, but dealing with the hypochondriacs was a hassle. Her mind kept drifting off to Raya, and though she knew the attending would be doing everything correctly, she still knew a lot could go wrong. She’d been making her way up to the other girl’s room three times, only to get called away at the last minute. It was nearly midnight at the next moment of respite, and she practically sprinted up to her girlfriend, chest tight.

Raya was asleep when Hazel finally made it to her room. She was given another dose of pain medication through her IV which brought the throbbing in her head down to a more bearable level. Her long dark hair was spread across the pillow and she was laying slightly curled up while she slept.

Hazel knew she needed the rest, so she settled for checking her chart to see when she’d need to be woken up again and curled up in one of the chairs by her bed, knowing her pager would wake her up if needed. Eventually Hazel had drifted off, sleeping the very loosest definition of the word. A beeping was what eventually jolted her into wakefulness, but it wasn’t her pager.

"No, no no no,” Hazel muttered, adrenaline coursing through her veins. She hit the button on the wall, signaling a crashing patient, and immediately checked her girlfriend’s eyes, one pupil was significantly larger, with blood spotting in the sclera. “Shit,” she muttered under her breath as the attending whizzed in the room, and Hazel began to report her findings, all of which were consistent with bleeding or clotting in the brain.

A significantly long amount of time has passed until Raya came to her senses, now hooked up to even more tubes and machines. A steady, low beeping filled the room. She groaned as she eventually opened her eyes, unaware of what happened. The world around her appeared to be covered in fog, the white blur slowly coming more into focus.

Hazel had instructed everyone in the ICU to page her the moment Raya looked to be waking up, though her attending had felt so guilty about the entire situation that she refused to let Hazel keep working. She was left to sit in Raya’s post-op room, staring at her vital signs until her eyes burned and the lines blurred, but she would never forgive herself if she let Raya down again. A low groan startled her out of her trance, and she was immediately on her feet. “Raya? Ry, can you hear me?”

There was another groan and Raya’s eyes slowly focused on Hazel. She was trying to say something but all she brought out through the oxygen mask was a croaked noise.

“Shh, it’s okay. Just relax,” Hazel said softly, unable to even feel the tears building up in her eyes. “You had a blood clot in your brain, you needed surgery, but you’re okay now,” she said, brushing the hair back from Raya’s face…

TBC

#vomit tw #injury tw #hospital tw #concussion #dizziness #headache #nausea #surgery tw #stroke #injury #head trauma #February 1 2018 #sickdays 4.0 #submission

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kellyzeagman · 5 years

Text

G’day

So, about once or twice a month we do practice drills for emergency situations. Mostly for fires but also security threats, man overboard, evacuations, etc.. It’s always a pain in the butt to do them because they take up to two hours sometimes and you have to participate even if it’s your time off. It also often affects time off at ports. If I had the day off to go to an island, I can’t get off until the drill is done. ANYWAYS. Practice drills are all fun and games and laughs and everyone complains about them but they are important because truth be told, no one knows what is going on ever, so it’s important to prepare people if there actually was an emergency which just so happens to have taken place on Jan.18th for REAL this time. We are always given a warning when there is going to be drills, or it’s put in our schedule, but this one came as a surprise to everyone at 1:30 in the morning. The emergency code for fire on a ship goes as followed on the announcement- “Bravo... Bravo... Bravo... “ and then is followed by the location of the fire on the ship and then in practice drill situations is always followed by “this is a drill for the crew” so we know it’s all chill and not a big deal. BUT on Jan.18th it was far less chill as it came as a surprise to everyone and was not a drill.

So, after we had all gone to bed and had started falling asleep, we were all abruptly woken up to a REAL bravo. Announcements never come on in crew cabins unless it’s a real emergency, which is 99% of the time a medical emergency. So, while it’s still shocking to hear the PA system come on in your room, it’s always just for medical reasons. When I heard the announcement turn on, I just laid there with my eyes closed waiting for them to say “Alpha.. Alpha.. Alpha..” which is code for medical emergency because it happens quite often. HOWEVER. When the words bravo, bravo, bravo came out of the persons mouth at 1:30am, shit got REAL. I had never sprung out of my bed so fast. Every department has certain duties for a bravo, and ours is to go up to the kids club and wait for further instruction. You have to get to your location in 7 minutes or less. As I was frantically changing into my uniform, my co worker down the hall knocked on doors around her to make sure we were all up. I dashed out of my room and met up with 2 others on the way and were about to boot it up 12 flights of stairs until we saw the chief engineer taking the elevator so we went in with him hahaha. (You aren’t supposed to take the elevator, but I figured if he was taking it we could as well). Crew were all sprinting down the corridors to get more info/to get to their locations. While people were keeping their cool, everyone was definitely panicking. My team of 12 all waited at our spot for further instruction, all confused and experiencing minor panic as we had no idea how bad the fire was. After about 10 mins, the captain came on the system and said there was a small fire in one of the food prep areas but that it had been contained and we could all be dismissed. Absolutely mental. Because, my first thought as soon as I sprung out of bed was that the ship was gonna burst into flames and sink, or we would have to get everyone onto life boats and evacuate the ship. The process of getting 3,000+ guests on life rafts is just hilarious to think about, it would be SUCH a mess. If a real emergency happened, god I just can’t even imagine the chaos. I was expecting it to be a really, really long night, but alas, just a small little fire that was put out easily. As we waited upstairs for our fate, a big part of me was hoping that a good chunk of the ship would get damaged by fire (no injuries of course) and that we would have to shut down for a few weeks to rebuild and we could get put up in hotels in Sydney. However, no such luck. Once the drill was over, I couldn’t stop laughing just because of how much of a gong show it was and how crazy it could have been. It was hard for anyone to fall asleep that night after the adrenaline rush of knowing there’s a fire on a floating vessel. So that was just a crazy, stressful, intense but hilarious situation. My friend has worked 5 contracts and had never experienced a real bravo, so it’s crazy for a lot of people.

Speaking of getting people on life boats, I have quite a funny situation. Some people at home actually already know because I told them when I found out but for others, here’s a nice laugh for you- crew and staff are all assigned to over 25 different life rafts in case we ever needed to evacuate. Out of all the possible ones I could have been assigned to, my friend Laura and I are assigned to the same life raft as the captain, chief safety, chief security, hotel director and staff captain. Aka, this is the last life raft to abandon ship. What is our luck. So, allllll of those important people, a few restaurant staff, a few maintenance guys, other random departments and two youth staff will all be the last to evacuate. Cheers! I’ll just be waiting till absolutely everyone gets off the ship until I’m allowed to leave with the captain. Good stuff. (Obviously I’d try to sneak off earlier). Hopefully we never have to :)

I’ve been quite lucky the past 2 weeks because I have had the shoebox room to myself. Unfortunately, my roommate Lucy had to be signed off in Sydney at the hospital/a hotel during the last 12 day cruise because the doctor feared she had German measles. In the end, there was never a complete diagnosis, but she stayed off the ship for those 12 days and she completely had to move everything out of her suitcases in case she got sent home. After she returned, she ended up getting placed in another room and I was assigned a 55-60ish year old sports staff from Poland. She completely cleaned my room, vacuumed and bleached and cleaned the bathroom, amazing. However, when I woke up in the morning she was gone without a trace. Completely packed up like she was never there. It turns out she requested to move cabins because mine made her too sea sick?? Strange considering everywhere on the ship rocks. Anyways, I know am on day 19 of having my own room and will more than likely get a new roommate when we get back to Sydney and a bunch of new people sign on.

Speaking of the 12 day cruise, what an absolute shi* show. We had our highest kid count so far (1,200) and we were already one down with my roommate being signed off. Then on the second day, we were two down because another guy on our team got confined to his room for 48 hours because he got the flu. I worked multiple 11/12 hour days. We were absolutely exhausted. The sports team was down 2, the cruise entertainment staff were down 2, and then mid cruise the cruise director aka the face of the ship who is responsible for all entertainment on board cut her foot on coral and had to get 20 stitches in her foot and couldn’t walk for a few days. Needless to say, everyone was overworked and had to help out in extra ways over those 12 days. Still managed to get off a few times and enjoy some beach time though. Feeling #blessed that those 12 days are behind us. I’m hoping that is the craziest it will ever get. Australian summer is now officially over as of yesterday (the 26th) school started today (27th) so the kid counts should go down. But there’s still a cruise coming up in 2 weeks with 800 kids so I don’t understand. Apparently aussies don’t care about having their kids out of school. I’m sure it will go down as soon as I leave on March 7th with my luck.

On the topic of leaving, if I was Chinese, I probably would not be able to go home. This Coronavirus is obviously being taken very seriously, even with royal caribbean. As of now, they aren’t flying home practically any Chinese employees. For example, a friend of mine is supposed to fly home on turnaround day (tomorrow as I write this) but is allowed to extend his contract because they aren’t letting people fly into parts of China and royal is letting them extend to keep safe. Same with the other way around, the process of getting them on board is difficult and has changed. Originally, they weren’t going to be sending any Chinese citizens onto ships, but now some are allowed depending on where they are from/when they start. There are 3 girls leaving my team on feb.5th, meaning 3 new ones are coming. One of them is Chinese, and we didn’t think she would be able to come. However, it turns out she is now coming, BUT has to be confined to a room for TWO WEEKS. All Chinese staff coming on board must be confined to a shoe box room for 2 weeks to make sure they are fine, how CRAZY. No window, sunlight or fresh air for 2 weeks. It seems a bit stupid to me that they just wouldn’t decide to send them at later times rather than make them do this. ANYWAYS, we will see how it goes. This is her first contract, so she has no idea what to expect and will start off her journey by being confined for 2 weeks.

On a side note, Spectrum of the Seas sails out of Hong Kong and the crew received some amazing news. Even though the circumstance is obviously horrible (the virus), they are cancelling all cruises for at least the next 2 weeks and all the crew will sail to japan with no guests and stay there for 2 weeks, no guests. I believe they will be able to get off and tour around as long as the coronavirus doesn’t make its way there. Those employees are living the absolute dreammmmm.

This virus will have a big impact on ships because many, many employees are Chinese. However, the Chinese employees do not even come close to the amount of Filipinos and Indonesians. There’s probably about 60 Filipinos for every non-Filipino. Filipino, Indonesian, Indian and Chinese are for sure the top 4 most popular nationalities on board. There’s also a lot of Ukrainians on this ship. There’s maybeeee 10 Canadians? Not a lot, but more than Americans I think. I think there’s only about 5 that I know of. Lots of English and Romanian people as well. I’ve said it before, but my team is made up of 2 Canadians, 1 Russian, 1 Ukrainian, 1 from Chile, 5 English, 2 Brazilian and my boss is Filipino.

We went to Lifou, Loyalty Islands a few days ago and I experienced perhaps the craziest story I will ever have experienced/ be able to tell in my entire life. After missing out on some cool tourist locations due to lack of money, my friend Vera from Russia and I decided to test our luck at the beach. We walked far down a path to bring us to an area where there were no crew or guests. Just a tiny, tiny little beach that had about 15 locals swimming at it. My friend Vera has never snorkelled before and last time I was at this exact spot I found a really nice area that had a bunch of nemo fish about 80m out from the shore. All of the locals were chilling about waist deep just cooling off, whereas I was going out decently far to go find this coral/the fish. I told Vera that I would wave her down once I found it and she said she would come swim out to me. So, after making it out there and somehow miraculously finding the exact location I had stumbled upon before, I turned around to start waving to Vera to make her way out only to find out that I am now quite literally the only person in the water and all of the locals are now standing on the sand. Not only are they now all standing out of the water, they are frantically WAVING me down yelling at me to swim back to shore and giving me the SHARK FIN symbol and yelling “SHARKKK SHARKKKK” So at this point, I am the only person in the water, with 80m to swim to safety and swimming with a shark. I pretty much blacked out and tried not to think about what was happening and just swam with my eyes facing towards the shore. I didn’t dare look under water with my goggles because if I saw a shark I would have absolutely lost my shit. Sharks have never scared me and I saw them at mystery island and wasn’t bothered, but the fact that I was alone and decently far out and was not expecting it, I definitely panicked. The whole time I was swimming back I was just WAITING to feel a chomp. My friend Vera waiting for me on shore was definitely freaking out as I swam back. Once I got out, I laid on the beach for a good 5 mins like a beached whale trying to process what had happened and for my heart to stop beating so fast. Anyways, I’m alive and it made for a great story. On the way back to the ship while waiting for the tender boats to pick us up, we saw 4 sea turtles by the docks too, perfect way to end the weird day.

Australia Day fell on our last cruise, which is just like Canada day but for Australia. It was also India’s national day the following day, so we had a huge party at our crew bar area to celebrate with the hundreds of Indians that work on board. I didn’t see much of the Australian festivities, but it is definitely unique to see people so patriotic for countries (India and Australia) that you aren’t a part of.

The next two cruises are going to be quite interesting. They are 3 day and 2 day “tasters”. We did one after the crossing. The boat literally just goes out to sea and back, how silly. The kid count drops to 500 which is nice going from 1200 and 800, but it’s still TOO high. At least these will go by fast and we will get to go to Sydney 3 times over 6 days. Then, we have a 2 week cruise which we are all praying has a small amount of kids. Australians went back to school a few days ago after their summer break, so one would assume the counts would drop a bit. After that 2 week cruise is done I’ll only have 17 DAYS left. Absolutely insane. I’m finding it rude that this year decided to be a leap year and February has 29 days instead of 28 like usual, as I’d get to have one less day on my countdown to coming home. Still having a good time, but the countdown is most definitely on. “Sign off” mode is setting in.

Well, I must go now as I have to go participate in “waves”. This is a farewell event for guests which consists of a special guest show, and then a royal caribbean song performed by the singers and dancers about thanking the guests for cruising and that we will see them again soon. It’s quite literally the corniest thing you will ever see, then people from each department (me) walk along the stage and wave goodbye to everyone.

Final thought- I’ve seen so many birds flying around over the last 2 sea days which makes no sense to me- how do they survive on the open ocean without any land near them? Where do they sleep? The closest land was hundreds and hundreds and hundreds of miles away.

That’s all from me :)

Email me about you and your [email protected]

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vivikawidow · 5 years

Text

“PLEDGE TIME MOTHER FUCKERS!”

Whoops, cheers and spilled drinks. A KAPPA SO party was well underway. The KSO chapter house was located just a short walk from the campus of FILTON UNIVERSITY. Like most nights at the CHAPTER HOUSE things were heating up.

Chapter leader, BUDDY OWEN was pledging some new recruits. Most of them were sons of bankers, property developers, and politicians. The all had that in common – powerful parents. Famous names in the city like the financial giants BECKINGRIDGE and the WEIRS of WEIR HOTEL were just some of the elite who had pledged KAPPA SO. There were of course the OWEN family who had set up the fraternity in the first place as a means of connection between the Shady City and the GREAT STATES where they came from. A former pledge described the gruelling and sometimes ridiculous rituals. The brothers were anarchic, using their powerful names to get away with all kinds of debauchery. It was a system of too much power and too little responsibility that suited men like BUDDY well. If you were a brother you would never fail an exam at the university. The principal was also a brother. Job interviews, money and satisfying every whim. None of it would be a problem for the boys of KSO because they protected one another. The former member I spoke to wouldn’t give any details and he was visibly nervous when he mentioned it but pledging KSO was never easy. When it fell into the hands of BUDDY it became downright horrific. The fifth generation of OWEN to be Chapter Leader from its original founder no one could argue Buddy’s place in the chain of command. It was this kind of establishment that TABITHA sought to challenge. She wasn’t exactly the person to advocate for what was right but it did shed light on a bigger problem. Those in power had become so comfortable in their place over the generations it left little room for the average person.

KSO brothers didn’t care. They had always gotten along without consequences. Why should they worry then?

In some kind of sadistic homage to that principle Buddy had some of his pledges at heel. A group of boys, probably encouraged by their parents to endure the torture of pledging, now found themselves under the control of one of the most horrific people I have ever had the misfortune of meeting.

What began as games we all had played as students – drinking games, quizzes – quickly became sinister. Suddenly violence was introduced. The boys were forced to beat on one another, cut one another. They were humiliated. There was never anything fatal. They were all potential brothers after all. It they managed to endure the torture an easy life with every possible advantage was theirs to have and they would have the eternal support of their new brothers.

“Listen up bitches! Useless pieces of shit that ya’ll are, do you still think you got what it takes to pledge Kappa So?”

“Yes master,” the pledges replied in synchrony.

Buddy was dressed in a summer dress. Holding two black sex toys in his hands.

“Turn around. Ya’ll faces are making me sick,” he instructed.

On his right stood COOPER. He was Buddy’s right hand man in Chapter House. He too was from the Great States. On his left, wearing a crash helmet from an earlier drunken game and a bra was Chad.

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Chad leapt forward. “Yeah!” he cried out. “We’re gonna tickle your balls!” He waved his arms at his genitals. “Then you’re going to suck our balls!”

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Buddy’s cocaine fuelled gaze narrowed on his brother. “What the fuck?” He turned to Cooper. “What is it with him and the faggy shit?”

Cooper shrugged.

Buddy turned back to his pledges. “We are going under cover at a feminist rally. Some hippy skank dyke is trying to get us shut down. So y’all are going put on your mamma’s best Sunday Dress and beat the ever loving shit out her with these,” he waved the dildos. “Cock smack the shit out the lotta them. Do you hear me?!” His voice becoming like that of a boxing announcer.

The pledges cheered.

“Bud?” cried a female voice over the top of them. A cheerleader named Cheryl waved a phone at him. “Phone call.

Buddy rolled his eyes and sniffed. “I’m busy. Tell them to fuck off.”

“It’s The Cappy,” she said. The title of respect given to Buddy’s father caused a wave of hush to wash over the room.

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“Take care of those bitches,” he instructed his brothers who closed in on the pledges.

“Yeah?” He answered, tucking one of the sex toys under his arm.

“Please hold for MR OWEN,” his father’s secretary announced.

Buddy pursed his lips. “Yeah, whatever,” he replied.

The soft voice was replaced quickly by the harsher tones of his father. CHARLES ‘CHICK’ OWEN was head of the OWEN family. He was better known as the Captain or Cappy to his friends.

“I need you at the Court House early tomorrow,” said Chick without waiting for introductions.

“Yeah?” was Buddy’s challenging reply. Chick ignored it. There wouldn’t be too many allowances. “Be here at nine,” he ordered.

Buddy looked at the time on his wrist but he hadn’t worn a watch for years. Old habits died hard he supposed.

“Judge Doyle wishes to discuss the future of your internship.”

“Cool,” Buddy replied. The bell of the Chapter House rang.

“Bernard?” This time the Cappy addressed him sternly. “I’m not going to be disappointed, am I?”

‘Probably,’ thought Buddy. ‘Nothing pleases you anyway, you old fucker.’ But he thought better of voicing that opinion. He just needed to take another line of powder.

“No, sir,” he replied in his most innocent-sounding voice.

One of the brothers looked over and laughed as one of the pledges were being carried away. It seemed they were not good enough for KSO. The doorbell rang. It was opened to a group of prostitutes, or maybe they were girls from the university. It was difficult to tell. They all dressed like whores as far as Buddy was concerned. Either way, it would provide the nights entertainment and an extra incentive for the pledges still standing.

“Dad, dad, oh father dearest. Can I say something?” Buddy tried to break through the torrential lecture he was receiving on the other end of the phone.

Chick Owen growled, “What?”

“It’s gonna be a busy one. An all-nighter, in fact. Paperwork for the office and all that.I really should go.”

Chick didn’t rule as head of the Owen family through being naïve though. He had been KSO himself. Sure, he was the eldest and afforded authority on that account but compared to his brothers JERRY and RONNIE, he commanded respect. He knew his son well enough to be able to cipher through his nonsense.

“Be here at nine tomorrow and not a minute later. You and I are going to talk. If you are not here on time, I will send someone to fetch you proper.”

“Looking forward to it. Just all this damn paperwork first,” Buddy continued his pretence.

“Cuss me again, boy, and work will become the least of your concerns.”

“Yessir.” This time Buddy wondered how satisfying it would be to cock bash the old man.

The Cappy rang off. Buddy turned to his party. The girls were already being fed alcohol at an alarming rate.

Buddy waved the dildos. “Party time baby! Who wants cock smashed?”

***

A private estate in the north, adjacent to HARVESTER FARM, was where the OWEN Ranch in Coldford lay. It had been their first purchase when the family came over from the Great States. Since then they had built golf courses all over the area as well as snatching up other land for use later. DR WINSLOW, who owned Harvester Farm since the old Harvester himself fell ill, was still standing strong against the Owens’ buy-out of the area. He was one of few to do so. It was used as a personal retreat for Chick when he was in the city, which was becoming more and more often. His driver had brought him to the office of the LAW MAKERS.

Charles ‘Chick’ Owen was fair haired and long faced. His once blonde hair was lighter in tone than his dark eyebrows. The warm weather was continuing so he wore a cotton shirt underneath his well-tailored, Luen-made, pin stripe suit. As expected it was not ten past the hour of nine and Buddy was late.

Judge Doyle closed the door on a rabble of voices outside.

“Good morning Chick,” Karyn greeted first.

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“I hear there is good news on the KNOCK KNOCK front,” he said. “It’s been a pain in my ass for too long.”

“Tabitha’s trial will be pushed through as quickly as the LAW MAKERS can. We want it done cleanly and we want it done now,” said Karyn to the Cappy.

“It gives my heart some mighty fine relief to hear that,” he grinned. “The sooner the little bitch is put out of her misery the better.”

“We’ve also managed to bring in the PENN TRIPLETS,” added the judge with pride.

“I don’t care about those hammer-slamming weirdos. The little bitch is the only one I’m concerned with. Just make sure you have her on heavy lock down,” he added, his Great States accent pronouncing it as shoo-ah.

Karyn informed him, “We’ve already taken steps to put the KNOCK KNOCK CLUBinto administration.”

The Cappy grinned. “Music to ma ears,” he said.

“There’s just one more thing,” Karyn put to him. “I took Bernard into my service in good grace. A little girl has died at his hand, which I did not sanction. I want your assurances that that will never happen again.”

The Cappy leaned forward. “I heard. Some drug dealing scumbag named Kev and his daughter were shot. They were under Ron’s office.”

“We discovered that he was passing vital information to the HEADLINERS but the girl was not a target.”

Chick growled. “I’ll have a word with Bud. I already have Ronnie breathing down ma neck about it.” He looked over the judge’s shoulder. “Speaking of the do-gooding son’a’bitch.”

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Ronald ‘Ronnie’ Owen – the Cappy’s younger brother joined them, accompanied by Karyn’s cousin Micky Doyle and her son Cameron. Cameron was a strong, hulk of a young man just a few years Buddy’s junior. Shy, retiring. Chick surmised that couldn’t be helped, having such a dragon of a mother to contend with. Cameron was an intimidating size but it would be hard to find anyone of a gentler spirit.

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“Good afternoon, Mr Owen,” Cameron nodded respectfully. Ronnie was taller than Chick but a few years younger. He had the same jutting Owen chin but seemed more pleasant of face. Micky was wearing a large button that read:

MICKY DOYLE FOR MAYOR

“No time-wasting with the campaigning then Mick?” teased the Cappy.

“The HOT SEAT is open and it waits for no one,” Micky replied cheerily enough.

The previous mayor, FELTZ, was still missing. The LAW MAKERS were all but certain that Tabitha’s hand was in it but she was refusing to cooperate. Until such times as he could be retrieved from wherever he was, the HOT SEAT, which referred to the mayor’s office, had to be taken control of. It was located in a building in the north called CITY FACE, because of the large clock face at the front. If anyone had the bite to hold the hot seat it was Micky Doyle. No stranger to politics, he was as merciless as his cousin when it came to his pursuits but unlike the cold hand of justice, he was more personable. In a lot of ways that was more dangerous in taking control of a city.

“You okay there, Cam?” Micky clapped his cousin’s son on his shoulder. Cameron looked up from his game with a smile.

“You are being ignorant Cameron,” his mother barked.

Cameron’s eyes dropped to his feet, rather than back onto his game. “Sorry mum,” he said simply.

“We were just talking about the hard work you are doing keeping our city clean,” Chick was saying to his brother. Ronnie Owen was a lawyer and had taken over the Child Services Committee when Karyn Doyle became a high court judge.

“I do my best,” Ronnie agreed modestly.

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“All heart and no brains this one,” Chick laughed, putting his arm around Ronnie’s broad shoulder. He turned towards the clock, “Speaking of no brains.” He addressed one of the staff. “I’ll call Buddy and tell him to get his ass out here on the double. Pardon ma cussing ma’am,” the Cappy apologised to Karyn.

“We should have a drink to celebrate a job well done,” he said.

Karyn politely declined, “I’d rather not.” Chick looked to Cameron. “He won’t either.”

Cameron’s pocket began to bleep. He smiled as he began to content himself with an online game he had become engrossed in. He and user name REG3 had started to become quite a team but REG3 hadn’t been online lately. Still he played on alone.

Ronnie Owen observed Cameron. He had seen the look of abuse many times before.

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***

The house was cold. CAMERON hadn’t wanted to adjust the thermostat after what happened the last time. Things needed shaken up at COLDFORD GENERAL. The doctors there didn’t seem to know what they were doing.

“There’s going to be a pretty heavy scar,” the young attending physician had said. “I could look into skin grafting.”

He was at least ten years Karyn Doyle’s junior. He was barely a day out of FILTON Medical School. A real doctor wouldn’t have had to ask. A real doctor would have known she was going to wear her scars with pride. She would show the world what they tried to do to her and they would quiver because still she stands.

She rubbed the scar across her neck. It was like a noose that her skin had burned through. They told her that she could wear a patch over her eye, but she refused. She would never hide, and cowering behind an eye patch was hiding as far as she was concerned. When they looked her in the eyes they would see the damage that had been inflicted. They would see how much they had tried to hurt her and a shiver would crack down their spine because still she stands.

She looked deeper into the mirror. She lifted her chin. They would appear in her courtroom one by one and they would answer for their crimes. She would deal them her judgement. They would plea to her mercy. They would cry guilty and as her hammer fell they would beg forgiveness because, even after they tried to kill her,STILL SHE STANDS!

The front door slammed. An angry breath escaped her nostrils. The noise of Cameron’s return home was like pots being clattered in her ears.

“Mum?” Cameron called. When he saw her car in the driveway of their large KINGSGATE home he deduced she was home from the hospital. How clever he was.

He sought her out. He kept calling out to her. Why wouldn’t he shut up? She didn’t answer him but still he cried out. “Mum? Mum?”

It was a stupid title. There were so many in the world that went by that same title. It was a stupid title and ridiculously common.

He found her in the bathroom, observing herself.

“I’m glad you’re home,” he said.

She could see him smiling over her shoulder in the reflection. She could smell sweat on him. The icy tone was not new to his mother but given the attacks she had been subjected to he thought she would have been pleased to have her son by her side.

“Are you alright?” He was hesitant to ask. She hadn’t said anything about the hospital or what the doctors had said. Was it his fault? Should he have asked sooner? He had been playing football that afternoon, part of training for KINGSGATE ALBION. Why hadn’t he showered when he came off the pitch? Why did he think it was okay to come home bloodied and muddy, leaving footprints over a clean floor?

Karyn could feel her temples start to ache. She reached up and started to massage them with her forefingers. Cameron saw the warning signs. He should have known better.

“Cameron?” She said, her voice as cold as ice but calm.

Cameron’s head dropped. He averted his gaze to the floor immediately. That’s when he saw it. Flakes of mud had dislodged from his sneakers.

“Sorry mum,” he said softly. “Sorry mum!” He screamed as her temper unleashed. She grabbed him by the ear causing him to double over. She hit him with an astonishing force across his head. As large as he was, he would never hit her back. What kind of person would that make him if he could hit his own mother? He should have been paying more attention. WHACK! WHACK! She hit him again. The pain stung against his cheek.

“Please mum!” He sobbed.

WHACK! WHACK! His shrieks of pain just made her angrier. Her stockings laddered as he dug his nails into her legs.

He was beaten heavily. His nose burst and his face crashed against the tiled floor, the muddy prints marking his cheek. He started to feel a little dizzy. Something was not right but he dared not complain. She threw him back. Her full lips were puckered slightly. She kept hitting him until Cameron’s body fell limp. The blood trickling from his skull mixed with the mud and sweat. His shirt stained.

“Are you alright?” She barked the question, still angry. She hovered over him with her hands behind her back. “Get up.”

He didn’t want her to have to ask him twice. He stood as steady as his legs could hold him. Pain was firing through his skull as the shock of the assault wore off and he could feel the full brunt.

She wiped the tear from his eye. She clutched his face with cold, dry hands and pulled it closer to her. She kissed his forehead.

By the time they had gotten to Coldford General, this time with Cameron as the patient, fluid had gathered around the brain causing swelling. The doctors reduced the swelling as quickly as possible but Cameron would never be the same.

Cameron had been so worried about her. When the driver who collected him from training told her that his mother had been caught in an explosion, he ran to the door to see her without even saying please or thank you. It had been the third attack on her. They tried cutting her throat but still she stands. They cut the brakes of her car and watched it plunge into the lake. She did not drown. Still she stands. They tried to catch her in an explosion and yet still she stands. She was the unkillable JUDGE DOYLE. Justice is immortal.

Free to read HERE on Vivika Widow Online or you can download for kindle by clicking HERE.

KNOCK, KNOCK: Episode 1: Welcome to the Club

Knock, Knock: Episode 2: Don’t Come Knockin’

Knock, Knock: Episode 3: Sleep Tight Sam

Knock, Knock: Episode 4: Take A Bow

Knock, Knock: Episode 5: A Room With A View

Knock, Knock: Episode 6: Picking Up Strange Women

Knock, Knock: Episode 7: No Kids Allowed

Knock, Knock: Episode 8: Kids These Days

Knock, Knock: Episode 9: Shootin’ The Breeze

Knock, Knock: Episode 10: Calling Last Orders

Knock Knock: Episode 11: Shady City Blues

Knock Knock: Episode 12: Going Down

They tried to hurt her and yet still she stands. “PLEDGE TIME MOTHER FUCKERS!” Whoops, cheers and spilled drinks. A KAPPA SO party was well underway. The KSO chapter house was located just a short walk from the campus of FILTON UNIVERSITY.

#author #gets aphic novel #Knock #leo st paul #shady city thrillers #the knock knock club #thriller #vivika widow

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unify-my-universe · 7 years

Text

More Mikey goodness in mine story...

Michael started to laugh. Obviously he thought Penny was joking.

“I think you’ve been watching too much Doctor Who darling, what do you mean you’re from the future? You’re 6 years younger than me!”

“It’s probably best to start from the beginning. You see I hated my life before, my parents didn’t give a shit about me, I had no friends and I wasn’t exactly getting acting jobs left, right and centre. The only thing that kept me going was watching Monty Python, you guys made me laugh and made me think is life really that bad? I begged to be taken back to the 70s, become friends with you guys then I’d be happy. The Doctor answered my call, yes The Doctor. He said he could take me back to 1974 during the filming of The Holy Grail and I could be friends with you guys. He knew of my crush for you but you see in my world in 1974 you’re married with children and I was told by The Doctor that I couldn’t jeopardise that otherwise it could affect events in the future. I also couldn’t tell you guys what was going to happen in your futures. However things went wrong…”

Penny was now in the TARDIS with The Doctor and his current companion Nardole. Her and The Doctor were discussing their favourite Monty Python sketches. Nardole had been instructed to keep his finger on a button. Trouble was, he’d been stuck like this for at least half an hour.

He felt like he had been forgotten by The Doctor and Penny.

“Hello Doctor?”

“Yes Nardole what is it?”

“Well you instructed me sir to keep my finger on this button, so can I let go now?”

“Are you still doing that? Should have told you 10 minutes ago to let go!”

Nardole let go of the button and the TARDIS started to make a funny noise. It jolted all over the place.

“You see The Doctor discovered that we had landed in an alternative 1974 universe. He found out that you were still single so I could become closer to you but couldn’t tell you about your future. So the TARDIS was stuck for a while till The Doctor managed to fix it. He gave me the choice of whether I wanted to stay in this universe or try to get back to my version of 1974. I said I wanted to stay here. He wanted to make sure that I really wanted to stay here as once I was here I couldn’t go back. I’d never see my parents again. I said there was nothing to keep me in the present so I’ve been here for about eight months or so, I think.”

Michael listened intently to everything she was saying. Penny wasn’t sure whether he believed her or not. Then she knew the proof she could provide.

“But your birth certificate and qualifications they say you were born 1948 and you graduated in 1970!”

“Yeah The Doctor forged the certificates, so I’d blend in. I still have the originals.”

She rushed into her bedroom and reached for all her certificates.

She passed them to Michael. It confirmed what she was saying. Her birth certificate said she was born on 20th September 1991 and that she’d graduated from university in 2011. How was this even possible? The fact that Penny had lied to him about this hurt him, the anger built up inside him.

“Why didn’t you tell me this before Penelope? Why wait till the night before our wedding to come clean?”

“I didn’t think you’d believe me for one. I was scared you wouldn’t want to be with someone who is technically 48 years younger than you.”

“I need to think. I’m going out.”

Michael grabbed his car keys and coat. Penny was worried, he wasn’t going to leave her was he?

“Michael don’t.”

“Please just let me process this. I’ve got to go out anyway.”

Michael slammed the door shut. Penny collapsed on the floor in tears. She’d lost him. The only man she ever wanted. Why didn’t she just tell him from the start? She’d never seen Michael like that before. He was so angry and hurt.

Michael was driving to London with tears in his eyes. He loved Penelope so much but how could she lie to him about this? He supposed she was right about her worrying that he wouldn’t believe her, it was very difficult for him to take in.

Yes he’d watched Doctor Who but that was fiction! All this talk about parallel universes was just theory! But he’d seen the proof. It had been right in front of him! Still he was looking forward to seeing the Pythons as they would cheer him up!

Of course he still wanted to marry Penelope, he just needed some space. He didn’t want to get angry with her.

Penny had been crying for about an hour now. What if he didn’t come back? Then the phone rang. It was Carol.

“Hello?” said Penny as she sniffed loudly.

“Hi Penny it’s Carol. Are you alright?”

“No not really. Me and Michael have fallen out and he stormed out the flat. What if he doesn’t come back?”

“Oh Penny, I’m sure he’ll come back. He’s gone to meet the guys for a sort of stag do hasn’t he?”

“Yes but I’m worried he’ll stay there and not come back. I can’t lose him, I love him so much.”

Penny started crying again.

“Oh don’t worry, Michael does tend to go off somewhere when he’s annoyed or upset, it’s because he doesn’t want to lose his temper with you. Do you fancy going out somewhere? Might cheer you up a bit?”

“Yes I’d like that.”

“Good, now you go and get ready and I’ll see you in about a couple of hours or so?”

Meanwhile Michael had arrived in London, he had no idea what the Pythons had got in store for him.

He soon found out that they hadn’t hired a stripper but instead they subjected Michael to a strip tease, well up to their underwear. It was like something out of one of their sketches. It was safe to say Michael would not be able to get the image out of his head…

Carol had decided to take Penny to a cocktail bar which made Penny take her mind off Michael for a while. Carol said that there was a surprise back at the flat for her and when she came back there were a couple of people there. She recognised Connie but not the other woman.

The woman reminded her of Michael. Then she realised that the woman of course was his mother. She came over to Penny.

“Penelope, wonderful to meet you at last! You don’t mind me calling you Penelope do you?”

“Well Michael calls me Penelope so I’m used to it by now! So you’re Michael’s mother?”

“Yes I am and I have to say he’s very lucky to have a girl like you! Oh he wouldn’t stop praising you when he spoke to me!”

“Really?”

“Of course, he’s always been very shy when it comes to girls so I’m pleased he’s finally found someone!”

Mary Palin and Penny chatted for a while, with Penny telling her about her love of history and her job at the library whereas Mary was telling her about what Michael used to be like when he was little. She even showed Penny some old photographs of him. It seemed Michael was a cutie even when he was little but that was no surprise to her.

The Pythons on the other hand had ordered a takeaway and were reminiscing about old times.

“So you sure you don’t want to film this series with us John?” said Eric.

“My mind’s made up. I told you, I feel that we’re just using old material and changing it slightly. I can’t keep doing Python the rest of my life.”

“He’s right you know, we can’t keep doing Python forever. We’ll take a few years off, spend more time with our families, probably do us the world of good!” said Terry J.

Michael was quiet. He was worried about Penelope. She must be so upset. Still by the time he’d get back, it would have given him time to get his head around it a bit more.

“Mike you alright? You’ve been a bit quiet tonight.” Said Terry G.

“Oh no I’m just thinking about Penelope.”

“Penny eh? Thinking about taking her to bed tomorrow are you?” said Graham.

The guys started teasing him about him consummating the marriage tomorrow. That was when he started making his excuses to go back as he didn’t want Penny to be on her own for much longer.

Connie had told Penny that things had slightly improved between her and John and that they were working through their problems for their daughter’s sake. Penny was happy for her because it meant that John was less likely to do something stupid.

They soon said their goodbyes and left Penny on her own. She hoped Michael would be back soon.

Then before she knew it, the flat door opened and there was Michael standing there. Penny was sat on the sofa, she had been crying some more so the mascara was all under her eyes. They were also red raw.

“Can we talk?” said Michael.

“Sure.”

He sat next to her on the sofa but not as close as he usually was.

“So what you’re telling me that there are different alternative universes and in your world in this year I’m already married with two children?”

“Yes.”

“I see.”

“Michael I’m sorry I didn’t tell you earlier.”

“I get that you were worried I’d think you’d gone mad but you should have trusted me. If you’d have told me earlier I’d have had a few more days to wrap my head around it. But you wait till the day before our wedding, why Penelope?”

“I was scared. I was scared of losing you. You’re the most perfect man in the world and I thought you were so out of my league then I got the chance to go back in time and meet you. I didn’t think you’d ever fall for me, I mean look at me. Do you know how hard it is for me not to tell you about your future? I know so much and I can’t even tell you. Every day is a struggle not to spill secrets. I’m—I’m so sorry Michael.”

She burst into tears. Michael grasped her by the chin.

“Please don’t cry. It doesn’t bother me that you’re 48 years younger than me in reality, the thing that made me cross is that you didn’t tell me earlier. I love you so much and I told you, that you would never be alone. I keep my promises.”

He wiped the tears from her eyes and kissed her slowly.

“I love you.” Said Penny.

“I know.”

Penny blew her nose into a tissue and smiled. All was well.

“So how was your night with the Pythons?”

“Oh a night to remember! How about you love?”

“Well had a few drinks with Carol, she came back with me to the flat and she’d arranged Connie and your mother to come over for a sort of tame hen night?”

“Bloody hell my mother? I bet she’s been telling you some right embarrassing stories!”

“No they were really sweet and she showed me some pictures of you when you were little. Weren’t you a little cutie?”

She squeezed his dimples.

“Well as long as she likes you, that’s the main thing!”

“I think she does, she’s just glad you’ve finally found someone!”

“Yes that’s true! Penelope I know you can’t go into detail about future events but I did notice you were a bit rusty driving your car, are cars a lot more advanced in the future?”

“Yes they are and you have to wear your seatbelt now! So driving is a lot safer!”

“Well that’s good, so what year are you actually from?”

“2016.”

“Wow very far in the future, don’t worry I won’t pester you about what the future has in store for me, the future is meant for the future after all!”

She was relieved that Michael was so understanding. Well she didn’t expect him to understand the physics behind how she managed to time travel and end up in a parallel universe. However the main thing was, he accepted it.

“Hadn’t we better go to bed? Busy day tomorrow and all…” said Penny.

“Mm I agree love. God I can’t wait for you to be my wife tomorrow…”

Penny slept a lot better this time, as she had been completely honest about herself. Though she hated the fact she couldn’t tell Michael about what the future had in store for him. She was happy that she was going to be part of his future, she loved his travel programmes and couldn’t wait to support him during that time.

Penny and Michael set off early to London, as that was where they were going to get married. Luckily the wedding was in the afternoon! Michael dropped Penny off at Carol’s house so she could get ready there. Michael put his suit on at his house.

Carol helped Penny with her makeup and curled her hair at the ends, she even helped her into her dress! The shoes Penny had chosen were white with a slight heel as she was known to be accident prone.

“How you feeling Penny?”

“Nervous! Especially when Michael is being so secretive about our honeymoon!”

“Oh I wouldn’t worry about that! I know that where Michael is taking you, you’ll just love it!”

“Hm okay then!”

The wedding was a quiet affair, only Michael’s family and friends were the guests but that was okay for her.

The wedding march started and Michael turned round and saw Penny looking absolutely stunning. She really was the most beautiful woman in the world and she was going to be his wife!

When Penny was stood next to Michael, he held her hand and whispered in her ear.

“God you look so beautiful.”

Penny saw how handsome Michael looked and she finally noticed he’d had his hair cut! Only a trim but she loved Michael’s hair that length anyway.

“And you look very handsome!”

“Do you Michael Edward take Penelope Lucy to be your lawful wedded wife?”

“I do.”

“Do you Penelope Lucy take Michael Edward to be your lawful wedded husband?”

“I do.”

Michael held her face and kissed her deeply. Penny couldn’t believe it, she was THE Mrs Palin! None of it felt real but as soon as she saw that ring on her finger, it was confirmed.

The reception was a little messy with plenty of alcohol! Penny found herself chatting mostly to Michael’s mother and father. His father was very quiet so only asked Penny a few questions about herself.

Michael was busy chatting to the other Pythons until the dreaded wedding dance came up. Problem was, Penny didn’t know the song at all and it seemed everyone knew it!

Michael held Penny by the waist and smiled. He could tell a mile off Penny didn’t know the song!

“I’m guessing you’re not familiar with the song?” Michael whispered in her ear.

“No, it’s not really a song that’s played at wedding receptions these days!”

“Don’t worry love just follow my lead!”

Penny smiled to herself. Michael had unintentionally quoted some lyrics off a song by Ed Sheeran, Shape of You.

She’d have much preferred dancing to Perfect by Ed Sheeran but this was the 1970s! Ed Sheeran wasn’t even born yet! Ed was in fact Penny’s age, shame she couldn’t tell Michael about his music as she thought it would be the kind of music he liked.

The reception finished and they headed back to Michael’s house. Strangely enough it was the same house that in her time he lived with Helen and his three children.

“Welcome home Mrs Palin!”

Michael picked her up and carried her over the threshold. It was a wonderful feeling. She’d never seen Michael’s house from the inside before but it was everything that she expected. Tidy with lots of books!

“God that’s wonderful to hear you say that!”

“Oh I bet, so what do you think of your new home?”

“Very nice! And very clean, you really are self-sufficient!”

“Well I’m a man of many talents! Right we’d better get changed!”

He kissed Penny on the cheek then ran upstairs. She followed suit.

It seemed that this was going to be their bedroom, it was very large with a king size bed and a spacious wardrobe. It was just perfect.

Michael and Penny after getting changed into their normal clothes and Michael sobering up with drinking plenty of water set off to Devon.

The Caravan Park was very nice, not too far from the beach and plenty of entertainment for children. The weather was warm but not as warm as it would have been if they were in another country. They spent a lot of time taking romantic walks on the beach, going on walks through the countryside and swimming in the indoor pool. Michael was quite a good swimmer and he loved to see Penny in her bikini!

The day after they returned to London, they were off somewhere else. All Penny knew about this next destination was that it was very romantic. So it was a tossup between Paris and Italy.

The taxi pulled up to take them to Heathrow Airport. Michael locked the house and put their luggage in the boot.

After checking in, Penny looked at the scheduled flights, she saw the only flight that was flying the time Michael had told her was Rome.

“We’re going to Rome?”

“Told you we were going somewhere romantic!”

As expected on the night of their wedding Penny and Michael finally gave into their temptations and boy did it feel wonderful!

They were lying in bed together, Michael had his arm around her and was stroking her shoulder.

“Worth the wait?” said Michael.

“Oh god yes!”

She knew she was wise to trust Michael on planning their honeymoon!

Rome was a lot warmer than Devon which meant they could get a good tan! They enjoyed visiting historical places like The Colosseum, The Roman Baths and the beautiful scenery. Naturally they sampled many cocktails too. They even managed to go on a few walks in the countryside and on the beach.

It was on one of their beach walks that Michael pressed Penny for more information about her origins.

“What was it like growing up in the 90s? Was it very different from my childhood in the 40s and 50s?”

“I was very lucky in the sense that I didn’t live through a war. I don’t imagine you remember much about the war, I mean you were only 2 when it ended but I know rationing went on for a long time after the war, I think it was abolished 1954? I was always well fed, I just wasn’t shown love. I was from the era where kids didn’t play outside as much, they were stuck inside watching TV.”

“No I don’t remember much of the war but yes I do remember the rationing. You seem to know a lot about the war, did you learn about it at school?”

“Yes I learn about The First and Second World War at university. Seems you were right about people at university learning about the Two World Wars in the future.”

“Well it’s a useful thing to learn about. It’s a shame that children don’t play out as much, I want my children to play outside, appreciate nature and the countryside.”

Penny put her hand on top of his and smiled.

“Don’t worry our children will not be stuck inside watching TV!”

Penny felt like telling Michael about the development of game consoles like The Gameboy and Play Station 1 but she knew once she started talking about the future, she wouldn’t be able to stop. The Doctor’s warning echoed in her mind.

“If you tell Michael about the future, I’ll know and I will find a way to get back to this universe and take you back to your time.”

It seemed the romantic ambiance that Rome glowed certainly had an effect on their, ahem bedroom performance.

The honeymoon went so fast that before they knew it, Penny was back at work and Michael had started filming Series 4 of Flying Circus. Penny luckily had managed to ask for a transfer to work at a university library in London which allowed her to do a qualification paid by the university to become a librarian.

Sadly their busy schedules meant that Penny and Michael didn’t see each other that much during the day. However Penny made a few cameos in Python! She soon realised that being a television actress wasn’t her scene, as she only wanted to work alongside Michael and the gang. She wanted to go back to her university days, being on the stage. She missed performing on stage.

Therefore whenever Michael was busy at the weekend filming Python, Penny took part in performances at small theatres. She knew that her true love was history and working in a library, specifically in the humanities section was her dream job. There was a sense of equality in their marriage. Penny accepted Michael’s commitments to Python and he accepted her love for history and the occasional stage performance!

Michael was so proud of Penny’s acting achievements on stage that he attended every performance of hers.

After the filming of Python had ended, Penny saw a lot more of Michael (in more ways than one!).

Although Michael had taken a break from Python, he was still busy in acting roles.

“I’ve got some good news love.”

“Oh yeah what’s that?”

“I’m going to be an adaptation of Three Men in a Boat with Stephen Moore and Tim Curry, my first big role outside of Python!”

Penny was expecting Michael to tell her about this role sometime soon. Three Men in a Boat was one of her favourite Michael roles and she was a big fan of Tim Curry too! Not only did Michael look drop dead gorgeous with a moustache but he was brilliant as Harris!

“Oh yes I had been waiting for you to tell me about this. You’ll have so much fun and you’re so lucky that you’re going to be working with Tim Curry, he’s one of my favourite actors!”

“Tell you what why don’t you come along to the set when we start filming and I can introduce you?”

Penny smiled widely.

“Oh my god really? Oh Michael you’re the best!”

She jumped into his arms and hugged him tightly.

However she felt that something was missing in both their lives…

Penny knew that Michael wanted children (well he wasn’t getting any younger!) and there was nothing she wanted more than to be a mother, so she brought up the conversation of trying a baby to Michael.

“How about us trying for a baby?”

“A baby? What’s brought this on Penelope?”

“Michael I know you want children and so do I, so let’s try it.” Said Penny with a wink.

“Well okay then, only if you’re ready love.”

“Course I am, I’ve been wanting to have your children since I was 16 years old…”

#don't worry it's all happy fuzzy stuff #michael palin #fanfiction #monty python

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ursafilms · 6 years

Text

The Medieval Catapult and Frito-Lay -Excerpt 3 of “Try Not to Annoy the Kangaroo”

24 hours after starting the practical EFX part of the Frito-Lay job, found Mark Krumper, my fellow P.A. and me back at my apartment. Lee, my girlfriend, a McKinsey & Company consultant, had already left for the day. Mark and I took turns showering. I donated a fresh pair of socks to the cause, but for some odd reason my fellow P.A. demurred on the offer of underwear.

Mark: “Thank you, but I’ll pass.”

Me: “Just trying to help.”

Mark: “Let’s go. Gotta be a Central Park by 7am.”

Me: “Is the producer, Roy, a Sadist?”

Mark: “We signed up for today.”

Me: “Not my point. It’s a whole new crew, except for the P.A.s? Really?”

Mark: “Roy fought on Peleliu.”

Me: “Say no more.”

Mark and I jumped, okay, crawled into the cargo van and drove over to the location in Central Park. Several cups of coffee, and the knowledge that the producer survived one of the deadliest assaults of World War II gave me a second wind.

Mark: “Can’t shoot past sunset. Should be finished by 8pm.”

Me: “Let me tell you about cigarette butts and Dodge Trucks.”

Mark: “Not again, please.”

Me: “At least there are no effects.”

Mark: “You do know we’re flying the male lead over a row of park benches?”

Me: “Is that what that storyboard frame was? It looked like the Archangel Michael looking for a toy sailboat at the Loeb Boathouse. So I thought it might be stock footage.”

Mark: “No you didn’t.”

Me: “Yes I did.”

Mark: “No you didn’t.”

Me: “Yes I did.”

Mark: “No you didn’t.”

Me: “Yes I did.”

Mark: “No you didn’t.”

Me: “Yes I did.”

Mark: “No you didn’t.”

Me: “Yes I did.”

Mark: “We’re here.”

We parked, and crawled out of the van. The usual chaos unfolded in front of us as the equivalent of a Sak’s Fifth Avenue Christmas Sale took place around the Craft Service table. The latest chubby agency and the Frito-Lay clients laid siege to the spread with unbridled enthusiasm since they had left set last night in plenty of time to:

A. Miss the actual shooting. B. Make their dinner reservation at Smith and Wollensky. C. Get eight hours of sleep.

The shoot, which consisted of 361 shots of two exquisitely beautiful people, one male and one female, walking through pastoral rolling meadows with one hand on each other, and the other wrapped around a bag of BRAND NEW FRITO-LAY APPLE CHIPS!.

And you don’t want to know how that product got to set. The abridged version is the sales rep from Levinson, Israelson & Bell, an Energizer Bunny named Maribeth found herself last night at a shipping dock on the Hudson just about the same time we finally ran film through a camera on the set at Midtown Studios.

All 361 shots ran on schedule. The exquisitely beautiful couple could actually act, and the BRAND NEW FRITO-LAY APPLE CHIPS! bags passed muster with the latest chubby agency and the client who got easily distracted when the craft service person passed among them distributing yogurt parfaits on an hourly basis.

And then the flying rig moved into place for the Martini, a film colloquialism for The Last Shot of the Day.

Bigfoot and Burgess, late of the product effects shot of the previous 24 hour day, fortunately, did not receive the contract for the flying rig. The company that did get hired showed up on time; constructed the rig in advance of the shoot; and appeared to be humanoids of normal shape and size. All of those facts should have set off alarm bells, but Mark and I were too exhausted to even consider an epic fail especially since Mister Sun approached the horizon line as the effects team squeezed the exquisitely beautiful male actor into a contraption that looked like the top half of a suit of armor.

Me: “Uh, I think we’ll see that suit of armor in frame.”

Mark: “The storyboard was incorrect.”

Me: “Oh come on. That never happens.”

Mark: “No, really. We’re just showing his feet lifting off the ground several feet.”

Me: “Due to eating Apple Chips?”

Mark: “Just shut up. We’re almost out of here.”

Me: “Didn’t you hear? We’re reshooting the Apple Accordion tomorrow. I got you on the gig! You owe me.”

Mark: “You can kiss my—”

Roy: “Mark! George! Shut up!”

Me and Mark: “Yes sir!”

Roy stood on the edge of the set and barked out the instructions to the camera department and then to the effects department. The camera rolled. The medieval catapult that doubled as the flying rig went through its Newtonian sequence of events and the exquisitely beautiful male actor, now unconscious from suffocation, lifted up off the ground.

Six inches.

The latest chubby agency’s mouths dropped open in unison, which caused their early evening snack of Caesar Salads to not make it to their stomachs. The client sycophants did spit takes with their double espressos. And the Scapegoat Salsa music began to play.

Director: “That’s it? Who built this piece of—”

Effects Person #1: “It appears that our calculations of counterweighting might have been slightly off. However, these were the specifications given to us by the, uh, well, someone other than somebody who works at ACME EFF-X.”

Director: “Slightly off? Did someone tell you we were working with Herve’ Villechaize?”

Effects Person #2: “Uh . . . “

Helpful DP: “I’d say we have about ten minutes of workable light.”

Me: “You should say that louder. I don’t think everyone back at Frito-Lay’s corporate headquarters heard you.”

Helpful DP: “Who the Hell—”

ACME EFF-X hit the hyperdrive on the Millennium Falcon and loaded every counterweight, including the company’s intern, onto the back end of the catapult; moved it into place (Which would have gone faster, had they loaded it AFTER moving it into place.); and someone slapped the exquisitely beautiful male actor in the helmet to start his breathing again.

Roy: “Roll camera. Dolly. Effects! Background!”

This time the exquisitely beautiful male actor’s legs took off like the Saturn V and slung the poor guy into right into The Loeb Boathouse Lake after bouncing him off the blacktop that surrounded the water two or three times.

Director: “Cut! Perfect! That’s a wrap!”

The latest chubby agency, the clients, the Director and his mistress, and the Helpful DP all vacated the area faster than the residents of Prague did in 1968 when Brezhnev stopped by for dinner with a tank escort.

They missed the almost funny next two minutes where the exquisitely beautiful male actor thrashed about in The Loeb Boathouse Lake while the catapult went into reverse in order to drag him out to dry land. Effects Person #2 cut the guy out of the iron maiden, dented by the excursion across the blacktop and into the lake, with the use of an acetylene torch. As he leaned over to calm the actor, he said the following words of encouragement.

Effects Person #2: “Don’t worry. The flame cuts out when it hits human flesh.”

****

This Hal Roach Studios moment precipitated the arrival of the male actor’s agent and a visit to the Emergency Room to check the guy for internal injuries with said agent in tow. That is how Mark and I remained on the job until 5am. This particular agent exhibited all the fine qualities that I admired by almost all the people who obtained that lofty title of talent agent or manager in the entertainment industry.

Lou Wassermann: “I’ll sue the pants off anyone with anything to do with this job.”

Me: “Okay. You do know you and Robert Redford over there signed off on the flying rig and have received the requisite hazard pay.”

Lou Wasserman: “Who the F are you? You’re just some P.A. Where’s the producer?”

Me: “He’s undergoing electro-shock therapy for the time he spent in Peleliu in the Autumn of 1944.”

Lou Wasserman: “He was in Peleliu? Make sure the check gets to my agency on time.”

****

Mark Krumper, one of the good guys in the business, offered to drop me off and return the van. I later found out he needed to use it to pick up some stereo equipment from Crazy Eddies, but he did return the van. After 48 hours straight, I appreciated any gesture.

I walked into the apartment just as my beautiful girlfriend, Lee, was heading out to start her day for McKinsey.

Beautiful Girlfriend: “Want to walk me to the subway?”

Me: “Lee, there is nothing I would rather do then spend the next 15 minutes and six blocks walking with you.”

We headed for the 6 Train.

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whatdoesshedotothem · 3 years

Text

Tuesday 21 April 1835: SH:7/ML/E/18/0022

8 ¾

11 20

No kiss. fine morning F52° in dressing room and 48° in my study about 9 am - breakfast at 9 - at 10 had man and boy over bringing the horse John went about yesterday to Ben Seed near Roydes hall nice little brown punch of a shaft horse aetatis 6, 15 hands good but blind - price £16 - took John and went up to the gin to try the horse - very well I did so - too much spent and rather too tall (and heavy?) for the job now while they are sinking - shewed the man my great bay horse - he said he was not fit for anybody hereabouts - asked if he would take the horse and £10 for his little punch - no! could not - but at last said he would take £12 + the great horse - to which I said no! gave him 2/ for his trouble in coming over and at my desk at 11 35 and till 1 wrote out Sunday, yesterday and so far of today then till 2 3/4 wrote page 3 and ends and finished my letter to M- began on Sunday - kind cheering letter - very sorry at such discouraging accounts of little niece Percy - feared her father (Dr B-) was not sanguine - in such a case, it was best to hope with trembling - but bade M- keep up her spirits ‘E’en should th’ unknown tomorrow bring with it what it may’ - M- should have the £50 anytime - am I to send it to Leamington or Lawton - out with A- at 3, she on the pony - walked by her side as far as Crownest - thence crossed the fields to yew-trees - Mark Hepworth ploughing his flat field - walked by the plough stilts 2 or 3 turns - told him of the great big bay horse I had brought home - too big for the gin - asked if he would be of any use to Mark just now - oh! yes! told Mark he should have him to break in to work - if he was worth anything it was well - if not, I would get rid of him - Mark to send one of his sons for him tonight - then to yew trees wood quarry - saw Smith there told him to let Mr Freeman know I was come home but said I would send to him myself to say when I would meet him in the wood - then to Robert Schofield - told him to come tomorrow - I could employ him for a day or 2 jobbing - home at 6 10 - dinner at 6 35 in ¾ hour - sent off by John my letter to ‘Mrs Lawton, Claremont house, Leamington, Warwickshire’ - coffee - with my father and Marian till came upstairs at 8 ¾ - A- had letter from Captain Sutherland who has taken amiss her having instructed Mr Jonathan Gray to write to him and will not answer JG’s letter till he (Captain S-) has heard from A- whom he charges with involving him in ruinous law expense - a long rigmarole silly letter of 3 pages and ends - just wished my aunt goodnight at 10 - Except this from nine to ten and thirty five minutes writing copy of letter for A- in answer to Captain S-‘s - from 10 35 to 11 ½ A- and I sat talking - fine day F53 ¼° at 11 ½ pm in my study

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aghostpost · 8 years

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Oh my god I love you and your Frank X Reader stories to pieces. Can you please write more? I would really love to see a fluff piece that turns into fun sexy times. Possibly with a guest appearance from Max for a hot second? I love seeing Frank being an actual teddy bear with the reader, but we all know that man can be smooth as fuck when he wants to be. Thank you for your time!

I was scrambling around my apartment on my cell having possibly the longest and worst day of my life. “Ms. Johnson, you asked for a two-layer cake and 24 cupcakes three months in advance; you can’t expect me to provide you with cake pops and another dozen cupcakes two days before your event.” I was shuffling through order receipts when there was a knock on my door. “Thank God,” I sighed, rushing to open the door. “Yes, I understand, but we already have other orders we’re working on at the shop.” I opened the door and in walked Frank, surprisingly with his dog beside him. “You brought Max?” I shouted in a whisper.

“I was walkin’ him when you called me over,” he explained.

“No, Ms. Johnson- Even if your party wasn’t until late afternoon there’s no way we’d be able to have all that done. Mixing, baking, cooling, decorating which takes hours in itself, setting; I’m sorry, it’s just impossible.” My other line beeped; Tyler, one of my decorators. “Ms. Johnson can you hold for just one second, please?” I took a deep breath before clicking over. “Tyler? Please tell me you fixed that wedding cake…”

You know how when your morning is hard, you expect the rest of your day to go to complete shit? Well, that’s what happened to me. From the moment I stepped outta bed my day went spiraling downhill and I haven’t been able to slow the momentum yet. I spilled my coffee, the only thing that powers me through the early morning, which I shoulda known was a bad sign. Because of that I was late to open up the bake shop, having to clean up the spill before leaving a sticky mess on my kitchen floor and then stop to buy a cup on my way to work. Then I realized I had an event in less than two hours to deliver and set up six dozen cupcakes for, so I’m speeding, and of course I get pulled over and ticketed.

Things calm down finally, but only for a few hours. I make it to lunch without pulling my hair out when I get a call from Ben and Tyler. They were delivering a wedding cake when the flower girl ran by and bumped Tyler into a wall. Luckily they didn’t drop the cake but it tilted and one of the wooden dowels tore a hole in the fondant. I didn’t ask how big or how small because let’s face it, on your wedding day a hole is a hole. I instructed them not to tell the bride until after the ceremony, fix the cake, and I didn’t wanna hear anymore about it unless it was good news. I needed good news on a day like this.

Or Frank. It was the Fall which was one of the two major wedding seasons and also the start of holiday season, which meant I was busier than ever. I was booked solid every day for this week and the next two. It was all work and no play around here and nowhere in my schedule was there room for Frank Castle. But today I needed relief, a break from all the chaos that was coming at me full force. I asked Frank to come over to help take my mind off things, not expecting Max to tag along. He was a big dog and my apartment couldn’t accommodate him. I had paperwork strewn about that I couldn’t handle him getting into. Paperwork and… and really expensive furniture! And of course the moment I thought it I stumbled over him, bumping into a shelf and knocking a decorative flower onto the hardwood where it crashed into a hundred pieces. “Damn it- Max!” I sighed and slid against the wall onto the floor, praying for this day to end already. I was just fucking suffocating. I felt like my own hands were wrapped around my throat, like I was the cause of my own stress.

I choked as a few tears silently slid down my face, not wanting to make too much noise and worry Frank, or in case Tyler could hear. I took a few deep breaths, wiping my face and getting back to my call. “I have Ms. Johnson on the other line. Fix the cake; if you can’t, tell Mrs. Ward we’re prepared to take $50 from the cost of it. Actually, send me a picture of the hole, I’ll name a price reduction based off the damage; I need to see it with my own eyes. Yes, do everything you can to fix it. I gotta go. Max- No!” He was nosing around in the dirt spreading it around everywhere and Frank was nowhere in sight. I shooed him away from the mess and stood to find my broom and dust pan as I clicked back to my other line. “Ms. Johnson, you there? Hi.”

After explaining to this woman that I couldn’t magically patty cake my way into baking her a cake as fast as I could without even a full 48 hours notice, we got off the phone and I cleaned up what was once a beautifully potted orchid. “Max, go! Go… find your dad or something!” I rested the flower by the kitchen sink on a paper towel and went to sweep up the dirt when my cell went off. The picture of the wedding cake. I closed my eyes and prepared for the worst. “I’m a good person,” I whispered to myself. “Good people deserve good things. I’m cashin’ in my karma chips; please, pretty please do not let this cake be ruined.” After opening the picture I sighed in relief; it wasn’t disaster, but it was noticeable even after they did a patch job. I dialed Ben’s cell and cleaned.

“As long as the repair isn’t facing the guests it’s fine; it won’t be in any pictures, everything will be okay… No, we most certainly are not… Well if you’d like to handle Ms. Johnson’s order by 2pm Saturday, be my guest. I’ve got more than enough on all ten of my plates- And I need you guys to be out of there in the next thirty minutes and help Makayla at that birthday party downtown… I don’t know, the mom wanted the cake to have some kinda explosion shit goin’ on, and you know Kayla can’t turn down a challenge.” Out of nowhere Frank was beside me. I rushed to dry whatever wetness remained in my eyes as he took the broom and dust pan from my hand and went over to my kitchen garbage can. I took the opportunity to grab the order sheets from my coffee table; less mess for the dog to get into. “We have four Halloween parties booked this year, and one of them is a charity event that wants to have a cupcake bar. I’m thinking five different flavors, 20 cupcakes each?” I went to place the order forms on my desk when Frank came and took them from my hand. “Wait, I don’t want Max getting into those. Just put ‘em on my desk, please? Ben you still there?”

I sat at my kitchen bar with a pen and my idea pad I always kept around and planned to jot down how to attack this charity event but Frank took my arm and pulled me up. “Ben, h-hold on a sec- Frank?” I pressed the mouthpiece of my phone to my chest. “Just gimme like five more minutes.”

“Take all the time you need.” He said that, but still pulled me away from my working space. I sighed and put my cell on speaker and pulled out the notes app instead.

“Okay Ben? So how about vanilla, chocolate, umm… We can do carrot cake; that’s orange and festive, right? Red velvet, I like that. Maybe… pumpkin spice?” Frank pulled me by the hand to the bathroom as I spoke on the phone and to my surprise, had a bath running this entire time. I didn’t even hear it, I was so distracted. “What is this?” I whispered. “Frosting?” I then asked Ben, bouncing back to our conversation. “Cream cheese, butter cream, chocolate. We don’t need one for each cupcake, right? That should cover it, don’t you think?” Frank closed the toilet seat and sat on it before hooking a finger in my belt loop and pulling me in front of him. Silently he unbuckled my belt and then my jeans; my hand slowly massaged the shaved part of his head as he worked. “I’m definitely working the event. Owners attend charity events, it’s good for business and more importantly good karma. Plus it’s for the children’s hospital; you know how I feel about kids…” He tugged my jeans downward and I stepped out of them, resting a hand on his firm shoulder for support. “Where are we on the wedding cake? Did we piss off a bride or what?”

He reached up and unbuttoned my flannel shirt, taking his time, watching his fingers work each button. And I was watching his fingers, too. I watched them often; they did very beautiful things. “How long is it gonna take you guys to get to Kayla? After that party I want you guys closing up shop and heading home; we got another long day tomorrow. An early one.”

His hands rested on my waist as he leaned forward to press kisses light as a feather to my stomach. “Shirt,” he grunted. I rested my cell on the bathroom counter and pulled my arms from the sleeves, letting it fall on top of my jeans. He rose from the toilet and stood behind me, looking at me in the mirror as I spoke on the speaker. Calloused hands brushed against my skin as he unclasped my bra and slid the straps from my shoulders, dropping it on the same pile with my other things. Surprisingly he tangled his hands in my hair, running his fingers through for a moment before piling the strands on top of my head and reaching for a hair clip by the sink. I couldn’t help but laugh at his attempt at pinning up my hair. “What?” he asked, a smirk threatening to crack his face. “Somethin’ like that, huh?”

I looked in the mirror at the sloppy pile on top of my head. It wasn’t the neatest job but hey, it did work. “Uhhh, yeah, somethin’ like that. Ben, I’ll call you back, alright?” The call ended and I resumed laughing at Frank’s efforts while he barely broke a smile.

“Here I was thinkin’ I was doin’ somethin’ nice for you…”

I turned to him, resting my hands on his chest. “You are. Thank you so much for getting my hair outta the way.”

He took his index finger inside the waistband of my panties, snapping me with the elastic. “You’re welcome. Get in.” As I removed my underwear and climbed in he undressed himself, pulling his navy blue henley over his head and tossing it to the side. I stepped inside the steaming tub and watched him, appreciative that he was giving me a show. Of course Max tried to sneak his way in, poking his nose in and sniffing at Frank’s jeans. “Get,” was all he said as he shooed him away, closing the bathroom door. I could stare at him in his boxers for days but wasn’t disappointed when he shed those. Much better view. Finally he climbed in behind me and got situated. Moments like this I was thankful that I splurged a bit on having a large whirlpool tub installed; Frank was just short of being a giant compared to me.

“Someone had a long day,” he claimed.

“What gave it away?”

“Here, sit up.” I got settled between his legs and immediately he got to work on my back. Strong and rough hands softened only by the bath water worked every knot and kink in my lower back. My eyes closed; this is exactly what I needed on a day like this. “You were cryin’.” He didn’t ask but stated. “Don’t say you weren’t; I’ve seen enough tear-stained faces to know.”

“Overwhelmed.”

“S’at why you called me over? Needed a stress reliever?”

I smiled to myself. “Is that so bad?”

“No. Glad I could be of service.”

“Stop, you know it’s not like that. I just… I missed you is all,” I said with a shrug. “I don’t like being too busy to see you, too busy to even talk.”

“I didn’t ask you to overbook yourself, missy.”

“Yeah yeah, I know it’s all my fault. That’s why I asked you to come here.”

“To squeeze me into your schedule?”

“Exactly.” I felt myself melt into his hands. “You’re surprisingly good at this, Castle. How many stressed women have you blessed with those hands?”

“Hmm, a gentleman doesn’t massage and tell.” His hands traveled upward and began giving my neck and shoulders the same treatment. “What’s the plan of attack here, hm? ‘Cuz you can’t keep on goin’ the way you are.”

“Hmm, are you saying that outta concern or out of selfishness because I see you a whole lot less when I’m booked solid?”

“If I said a bit o’ both? You know I never wanna see you cryin’…”

I smiled to myself. He was ridiculously sweet when he wanted to be, and I always melted at those moments. “It’s always busy this time of year, Frank. I just hold tight and power through it; it’ll be over soon.”

“Define soon.”

“Well,” I started when to no one’s surprise my cell started to ring, “from Thanksgiving to Christmas it’s usually pretty calm. It’s October now so,” I continued, halfway getting out of the tub to grab my phone, “give it about a month and some change and I’m all yours.”

“All mine, hm?”

“Yes, all yours.” I reclined against his chest and answered my phone. “Hello? Mr. Carrera, how are you?” As I conducted my business Frank found a way to keep himself occupied, leaving kisses along my neck and shoulders, running a wet and soapy fingertip up and down my arm. He raised goosebumps on every part of me he touched. “No no, I don’t think that should be a problem. There’s still plenty of time to make adjustments.” I clasped his hand in mine and brought it to my lips, silently placing kisses on each bruised knuckle. His other hand grazed my thigh under the sudsy surface of the hot water and his mouth moved to my ear.

“Relax,” he mumbled loud enough for only me to hear in that gruff tone of his. The hairs raised on the back of my neck. “Keep talkin’, Y/N. It’s business as usual.”

I cleared my throat and calmed my breathing. “And you wanna go from a round 3-tier to rectangular?” His hand slipped between my legs and rested on my center, not threatening to go any further.

He huffed a breathy laugh in my ear. “I can feel your heart beatin’ through your chest.”

“And the venue is still the same, Mr. Carrera?”

“Mr. Carrera,” he repeated.”He a nice guy?”

I squeezed his hand trying to signal him to shut up but he only laughed again in my ear. I drew his hand to my mouth and gently bit it. “Decorative? Umm, I think I can do some ghosts, pumpkins, maybe a vampire. It’s a smaller space so they won’t be too, uhh… too detailed.” I was caught off guard the moment a calloused thumb began pressing the hot button between my legs. I tried to let go of his hand but his grip tightened, preventing me from doing so. “Mr. Carrera, you mind if I call you right back?”

“No,” Frank commanded in my ear.

“Actually,” I corrected myself, my thighs squeezing around his hand, “nevermind, I’m good. So d-did you want the cake pops to be red velvet like the cake?”

“Very good,” he whispered in my ear, gently nipping at my neck as he slid a finger inside of me. “Now you’ll think about this when you work. No more stress for Y/N, hm?” I nodded and rested my cell between my ear and shoulder, giving myself a free hand to shove Frank deeper between my legs. He chuckled. “Cheater.”

“So I’m gonna run this by my team and when I’m in the office tomorrow I’ll call you with a new price, make sure we have all the details together for your order straight. Is that alright?” Yes, I was rushing to get him off the phone so I could tend to more important things, like the man in the tub with me that was going to inevitably be the death of me. “Okay, thanks!”

“Aw, fun’s over?”

I tossed the phone on our pile of clothing and turned in his lap. “Oh, the fun’s just about to begin, Mr. Castle.”

A/N: Two days later Frank left a gift for you at the bake shop while you were out delivering a cake. You came back and found your orchid planted in a mug with a paw print pattern with a sticky note on it reading “Sorry. From: Max”.

#request #frank castle x reader

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click2watch · 6 years

Text

Constantinople Incoming: Tomorrow’s Two Ethereum Hard Forks Explained

In less than 24 hours, the world’s second largest blockchain by market capitalization is expected to activate its sixth and seventh system-wide upgrades, at which point its global user base will be asked to make two near-simultaneous changes to its code.

Known as Constantinople and St. Petersburg, both upgrades will be implemented as “hard forks,” or upgrades that add new rules to the ethereum software that are incompatible with past versions. Both will also take place at the exact same block number – 7,280,000.

Should users decide to upgrade, St. Petersburg will effectively disable part of the Constantinople code discovered back in January to host a critical vulnerability affecting smart contract security. Further, four out of five planned ethereum improvement proposals (EIPs) – the majority of which, according to independent ethereum developer Lane Rettig, will not be noticeable to the average user.

Calling Constantinople primarily a “maintenance and optimization upgrade” in an interview with CoinDesk, Rettig highlighted in September that the only user group to experience a noticeable change would be miners, the specialized hardware operators who today assemble ethereum transactions into blocks and compete for network rewards.

Indeed, once activated, Constantinople and St. Petersburg will reduce block reward issuance from 3 to 2 ETH, similar to how the previous hard fork – called Byzantium – reduced issuance from 5 to 3 ETH.

“The reduction in ETH block rewards … will clearly have a big impact on miners,” said Rettig to CoinDesk via email.

As explained by Eric Conner, founder of information site ETHHub, the change is intended to be a temporary measure until miners on the blockchain are eventually replaced with new kinds of validators in ethereum’s next upgrade, Serenity.

Conner to CoinDesk back in September:

“[ETH supply] in late 2018 and 2019 is over what was initially assumed by the community. It’s at 7.5 percent inflation now … [We’re] reducing it to 2 ETH per block – roughly 4.5 percent inflation – as a stop gap until Casper is done.”

Ahead of tomorrow’s upgrade, here are some big takeaways from ethereum’s coming code change:

1. It’s a collection of updates

Outside of this reduction in block reward issuance, there’s a number of other technical upgrades also expected to improve operations on the ethereum blockchain before its larger Casper FFG upgrade is fully implemented.

These include EIP 145 “Bitwise shifting instructions in EVM,” EIP 1014 “Skinny CREATE2” and EIP 1052 “EXTCODEHASH opcode.”

On the matter of EIP 145, Stephen King – CEO of ethereum-based real estate marketplace Imbrex – explained to CoinDesk:

“Adding Bitwise shifting instructions will make it slightly cheaper to conduct certain functions on chain. This is a step in the right direction to making developing on ethereum more cost-effective for [decentralized application] developers.”

For a comprehensive round-up of each of the proposals in Constantinople – including the one to be deactivated through St. Petersburg, read our full coverage:

Constantinople Ahead: What You Need to Know About Ethereum’s Big Upgrade

2. You can watch it live

At present, blockchain explorer site Amberdata is estimating an expected activation time for Constantinople and St. Petersburg tomorrow at 19:15 (UTC).

But because block mining speeds can vary from hour to hour, ethereum users, miners and developers will want to keep a close eye on the website for variations to this estimation as the block count increases. Once activated, users can monitor the progress of both hard forks in real time using a developer tool known as the “fork monitor,” which visualizes ethereum blockchain data into a time series graph.

For details on other useful metrics such as hashrate, market price and node count as the upgrade is rolled-out, check out CoinDesk’s article on “How to Watch Ethereum’s Fork as It Happens.”

(Disclaimer: As of press time, there is no livestream developer call scheduled to begin for the upgrade. Shortly following Thursday’s upgrade, there will be a meeting on Friday at 14:00 (UTC) between the developers to discuss how the hard fork went, among other topics.)

The ‘Thirdening’ Approaches: How to Watch Ethereum’s Fork as It Happens

3. It’s been delayed before

As much as the ethereum community is hopeful the upgrade will go over smoothly, one can never really be too sure when it comes to hard forks. As seen with past ethereum updates, some user groups could continue running older instances of the code, should they so choose.

This is notable as ever since testing for the upgrade began as early back as July 2018, ethereum developers have faced multiple roadblocks causing delays to the activation of Constantinople. Expected to be released on mainnet for as early as October 2018, complications as the code was released on the ethereum test network Ropsten pushed back this estimation to January of this year.

Developers then announced in December main network release for Constantinople would occur on block number 7,080,000 – only to have this activation block number pushed back to 7,280,000 as a result of a last-minute security bug found in the code.

For a play-by-play on how the most recent security bug in Constantinople was found and what sorts of decisions came out of it, the following is a curated list of all major hard fork developments since January:

1. January 11, 2019 – A week before expected activation of Constantinople on mainnet, developers are cautiously optimistic the release will go smoothly.

What to Expect When Ethereum’s Constantinople Hard Fork Happens

2. January 15, 2019 – Not 48 hours before expected activation on block number 7,080,000, developer are notified of a critical security bug.

Ethereum’s Constantinople Upgrade Faces Delay Due to Security Vulnerability

3. January 18, 2019 – Developers agree to delay activation of Constantinople on mainnet until late February and propose a new block number.

Ethereum Devs Propose Activating Constantinople Hard Fork in Late February

4. February 12, 2019 – Final software releases of Constantinople and St. Petersburg from major ethereum clients such as Geth and Parity are released and later compiled into a comprehensive blog post on the official ethereum website.

Take Two: Ethereum Is Getting Ready for the Constantinople Hard Fork Redo

4. Let’s get it over with

Due to the prolonged timeline of this upgrade, the final and most important takeaway is the present community sentiment surrounding the impending release of Constantinople (and St. Petersburg.)

As Taylor Monahan – CEO of blockchain wallet tool MyCrypto – admits to CoinDesk:

“I’m eager to put Constantinople behind us because it’s been such a distraction for a lot of core developers, the community, [and] the entire ecosystem. What we need to be focusing on right now is the path forward for ethereum.”

Independent core developer Lane Rettig couldn’t agree more.

Saying that this planned hard fork has “dragged on long enough,” Rettig told CoinDesk that there is “so much other stuff that [developers] are focused on.”

“All the boxes are checked. All systems operational. Everything looks good, which is a good sign,” explained Rettig about Constantinople. “So, no lingering concerns… We need to move and get to our next milestones basically.”

These milestones according to Rettig include first and foremost, a proposed code change to alter the ethereum mining algorithm such that all miners in the ecosystem are operating on a more level playing field.

In addition, there is also a host of new proposed EIPs up for discussion collectively dubbed ethereum 1x paving the intermediary roadmap to Serenity. Last but not least, developers are also ever attentive to advancing research on the Serenity protocol itself.

“I think that once Constantinople is behind us hopefully the community, the educators, the developers [and] the researchers can really focus on understanding this path forward [and] communicating the path forward with people of all different technical abilities and education levels,” said Monahan to CoinDesk.

Patterned ceiling via Shutterstock

This news post is collected from CoinDesk