#more whining so I put it under a readmore just bc it’s a bit long

[auckie]

I’ve only ever bought a comm twice and the first time I hated the result but it was only ten bucks so who cares but the second time they just didn’t. Do it and didn’t refund me. Or dm me back. And that one was like 30, so again. Not that bad. But so many comm artists I know are always like ‘dude I’m so behind I’m so nervous my clients keep dming me’ and on one hand I get it bc I take forever to do anything but on the other hand maybe that means you took too many or gave them an unrealistic timeline. Sorry but it’s true. And that’s why unless an artist is huge and reputable I’m hesitant to get one, or unless I know the person well and either trust they’ll get it done at some point. Any point. Refund me. Or I like them enough to be like well you probably need that 60-90 more than me so we’ll let bygones be bygones huh? But then. But then you see them draw someone a free gift. And yknow. It’s like when someone’s ignoring you and you see them active elsewhere. Hey I get it we’ve all been there. It happens and I can roll with it. But just as when like a week passed and you still get peanuts. How can you not take that personally? (*saying this as someone who does this and doesn’t mean offense but recognizes how rude it is and will just be like shit I guess I can’t keep up with 300 acquaintances or old friends who live six hours away). So when it’s like, 5 personal pieces, two freebies for friends, and 0 comms. It’s a little insulting. I think you get to an age where you realize running around like a chicken with its head cut off isn’t cute anymore and as you try to get your shit together and stop the cycle of ‘guys! I’m okay!’ And everything is clean and organized and you’ve answered all your dms, paid all your bills, gone grocery shopping and done laundry and meal prepped for work. Then one thing goes wrong and it all goes to shit and you spend three weeks slowly trying to rebuild the house of cards. Then you’re back to ‘guys! I’m okay!’ Rinse and repeat. So seeing others still in it. It’s…relatable, but when money or time is on the line it’s a little annoying. I guess at least it’s not some sort of formal, corporate contract ofc. You try to be empathetic. Maybe they’re busy, or deal with chronic pain. Maybe something stressful just happened like an illness or death in the family, a breakup, job loss. Tons of shit could be happening. But if it’s a recurrent trend? Maybe. Don’t sell commissions. Or just limit yourself to three, I see a lot of artists do that. It’s smart and manageable. You can get in line to be emailed when they open comms again. Charge like, nothing. So it won’t matter as much if you have to refund. Don’t spend the money you get before hand till it’s done too. Take tips from the freaks who pump out tens of comms a month. What sortve scary tricks do they use? Is it viable? Are there shortcuts you can take, like those stupid ps yt tutorials? I dunno man I couldn’t imagine doing writing commissions. So I don’t. As much as I enjoy writing fuck that noise! Too busy and messy with my own life let alone tasks that don’t have set deadlines and scary employers standing over my shoulder. Bc I know my weaknesses and they are many, and I don’t like screwing people over lol— even if it’s only ten bucks.

[morethanmeetstheass]

Sorry for bothering, but I'm really curious, how did you come up with RoH? Sorry if you already answered this before!

no problem! i love answering questions like this! :D

if you mean the title, i was outlining while listening to silbermond and the song ‘das beste’ came on, and i googled the lyrics for funsies, and i really liked the way ‘reise ohne ende’ sounded. it’s a pretty phrase with an interesting sound (i really like german), and i wanted to pay homage to blitzwing’s accent in a gentle way bc,,, it’s hot,, i have no excuse

as for the storyline, i was reading a ton of blitzbee fics at like 3 am and getting disappointed because i was in a huge slow burn mood and i couldn’t find any for blitzbee. i whined about it to a friend for a bit and my tired brain decided ‘hey, if i want the content, ill MAKE the content.’ i wanted a fic that really explained why it is i ship blitzbee so hard, the aspects of their personalities that work so well together, and none of the fics i saw really went into that with the depth i wanted them to. so that was pretty much my entire motivation: i was thirsty for blitzbee and full of spite.

i’ll put more under a readmore because this post got a little longer than anticipated OOPS

it took a little while after getting the idea to really figure out what i wanted the basic storyline to be, so after spending some time blocking out blitzwing and bumblebee as characters, i picked a couple of scenes and arguments that i really wanted to write, and the idea for a stranded scenario tied them all together really well, and i really wanted blitzwing and bumblebee to get to learn about each other with no obstacles, forced to stick together despite openly hating each other. and a stranded storyline fit that to a T, so i just ran with it from there

the hardest part was figuring out blitzwing’s backstory– i had a few headcanons and little snippets of ideas before even starting this fic, but i really wanted to flesh him out as much as possible and give him a reason for his canon behavior other than just “comic relief crazy guy.” and ho, boy, did i have a fun time with that. the whole dream concept actually came after i finished outlining his backstory, and it became one of my favorite things to write even though i thought of it on a total whim

i could go on for HOURS about my writing process, but i dont wanna bore you all. so tl;dr, i made a really flimsy one page outline and added and added and added and added until it was a 13 page, fully fleshed out beast, and that was enough for me to justify starting to write. since this story focused a lot on character development, i REALLY wanted to make sure i progressed their relationship as naturally as possible, so i spent… maybe a full month outlining after i got the idea? it was a really, really long time, because i really wanted it to be absolutely perfect. blitzy and bee deserve it. god, i love them

i hope this answers your question LOL

[macbookpro-hard-drive]

CAN I GET SOME HELP WRITING KISSING SCENES PLS I DIE EVERY TIME I NEED TO WRITE THEM BC I HAVEN'T HAD A GOOD KISSING EXPERIENCE THANK YOU YOU ARE THE BEST AND THE QUEEN OF WRITING

hello i have never been kissed in my life but i can try to help you!

throwing this under a readmore for simplicitys sake!

it really depends on what kind of kisses ur going for? 

first kisses tend to be clumsy imo. teeth clashing, foreheads bumping, fuck where do i put my hands? on your waist? in your hair? help?, sometimes its awkward and wet other times its chapped lips. what do you notice? can you smell really strong cologne? is it stiff and awkward? or was this an impulsive, spur of the moment kiss where it was just a really quick accidental face smash before your partner pulled away for w/e reason? it’s good thing to think abt.

super passionate kisses send to be like... they last longer, i guess? hands/arms are more instinctively somewhere - hips, hair, around neck, ect - and it doesnt really tend to be as clash-y accidentally like a first kiss. i said super passionate but i meant more of a “we finally smooch again” sort of thing, the sort of kiss that comes at the end of a slow burn. but if you want more passion - its more movement. sometimes people get grabby, sometimes its some accidental backing up because you lose your footing, ect.

important note: mentioning kissing back is very helpful. kisses can be one-sided sometimes. mentioning the other person kissing back shows eagerness.

also: how much do you want this kiss to mean to the reader?

for example, consider how this:

looks compared to this

compared to

the first one implies the quick, impulsive nature of a rushed kiss. it lasts for a line before it’s dropped and before michael’s gone.

the second is more focused on senses and drawing things out. the desire of wanting to pull him closer, chapped lips, the smell of popcorn and shitty cologne. this sort of helps build up the kiss as being something important, as something that’d been waiting to come for a really fucking long time (and, considering its from feelings are fatal, it was). drawing attention to the senses at the time of being kissed helps build up this scene and image in the readers mind, helping with the imagination and visualization of the scene.

the third also is a bit more impulsive, while still bringing in the hints of being a bit more eager and desirable compared to the first. pulling him closer, his hands on your hips, whining when he pulls away - it helps build an image, but its not as strong or as shown as the second example does.

the more you describe a kiss, the more important it’s going to feel in the story. first kisses and long-awaited stuff are things that are really, really good for long descriptions. like... think about how important a kiss would be to you. compare everyday kisses to the kind of kiss that you’d expect to come at a long time of being apart, or to a kiss with someone you’ve Really wanted to kiss for a long time. they all have different weight to them - and it’s good to remember that when you’re writing.

thats all ive got for u! sorry i cant be of more help sdkfhds ive literally never been kissed so i dont exactly know what its like but i sure can fuckin pretend i do!

[estherroberts]

affection

part of advanced PLACEMENT: an ars PARADOXICA high school au about a gang of queer teen nerds, by @estherroberts​ , @podcastmecaptain, and @lizzieraindrops

all three of the aformentioned dorks are equally responsible for the hijinks found in this post.

click here for the au masterpost | track #ars placement for updates!

ALSO: things aren’t always showing up in the tags, so your most reliable bet is the aforementioned masterpost.

golly gosh are sally and anthony SO affectionate??

they are so cuddly and touchy all the god damn time, they get accused of being a couple Constantly because of this

bear hugs, shoulder rides, endless friendly casual arm grabs and hand touches

anthony sometimes straightens sally’s glasses on her face for her

once anthony hits his growth spurt and gets Tol, sally’s just like MORE TO HUG!! and does her best to squish the air out of him even though her arms hardly go all the way around anymore

he squeaks

she used to call him The Squeaky Toy

he was extremely miffed

she makes a point of standing on tiptoe to ruffle his hair

or to do anything to him, really

tippie toe to argue

tippie toe to hug

tippie toe for serious conversations

tippie toe to shove a cookie in his mouth to shut him up

she shoves a lot of cookies in his mouth

when they sit on the couch together sally leans on him completely

just

flop

helen has her head in his lap at the same time and anthony’s just like :D

he’s just so delighted to be surrounded by and buried in his favorite people

he’ll lean back and get this big stupid smile and stop talking because he’s just overflowing with this settled quiet joy

anthony is not used to saying i love you, he’s not sure when it’s okay to start doing that, platonically or not, but once he figured out it’s chill he won’t STOP

sally is very casual about it and puts a lot of energy into it

helen says it less often but with far heavier meaning in her tone

helen is more likely to initiate affectionate contact with anthony than he is, he’s still pretty in awe of her and sometimes forgets that that’s a thing he’s allowed to do

(he also was not raised in an affectionate place so every time he’s like! oh! oh my god? wow. wow.)

soft cheek caresses, gently stroking a hand across his shoulders and massaging his back with her thumb, clasping the back of his neck, gathering him into a loving embrace with both arms

she jokingly smacks him on the chest whenever she remembers that he has more tits than she does

(she jokingly got him a bra for christmas and he almost dropped it in the fireplace)

sometimes she brushes his shoulders and smiles at him and says

“i’m not lovingly caressing you, i’m cleaning off all your dust, you old book”

“aha.”

“now i’m lovingly caressing you.”

“aha.”

anthony literally melts every time helen does any of these

every time she kisses him he’s pretty sure he dies and is reborn

every time he SEES her he’s pretty sure he IS dead and gone to whatever is upstairs

sometimes anthony lays a hand gently on helen’s shoulder and she just smiles at him and leans into the touch

he’ll do her nails for her too

and make her ginger tea with lemon and honey before her performances

if he’s retreating into himself or his work she’ll confront him about it. that’s a form of caring too

he forgets that matters

he was hyper focused on a mostly unimportant paper once and she shoved ice cubes down his shirtfront

nothing to wake you up into noticing you’re unhealthily fixated like frozen tiddies

lots more under the readmore! 

anthony is very tol and excellent for leaning on and helen takes full advantage of that fact

she’ll tuck her head under his chin and smile up at him

once in awhile, quentin leans on him, too. he and anthony go way back and they’ve both found themselves in the middle of this lovely mess of an affectionate squad, so hey why not cuddle a bit while helen and june are off having gal pal time

there’s a lot of reading with heads on shoulders, or hand holding between chairs

most people don’t Get quentin and june. he’s so chill and she’s so not. but they have a mostly inscrutable understanding.

quentin’s one of the few people permitted to make casual physical contact with her without getting their arm ripped off. in fact, june is 50% less likely to rip any arms off when he’s around. she’s not any less toothy, but a little less snarly.

quentin shows affection by interest in what you’re doing and by giving you food

june gets the world’s best protein shakes off of him

june occasionally LITERALLY tugs on pigtails to show affection

one time jack actually got her to laugh and she smacked his arm at 45% strength while cackling and he bruised

she makes faces at her friends from across the room and if they make faces back she smiles really big and happy

and it’s honestly so pure? who knew this is what it took

jack, bridget, and sally are the only ones esther feels 100% comfy with 98% of the time

jack wins because he’s known her the longest and she has the most dirt on him

bridget wins because she’s esther’s Person

it takes them a little bit to feel like they can be publicly affectionate with each other

but they are starting to now

they do little things, like chin grabs and cheek kisses and tucking each other’s hair behind their ears and it’s all soft and gentle and tentative, and

gosh, holding hands, they hold hands everywhere

and they say “i love you” as a hello and a goodbye and sometimes a lot in the middle too

and lastly, sally wins bc she’s floppy and her hugs are Safe and Protective and Good

one time anthony bear hugged esther and it was out of nowhere and it freaked her out, now he asks before hugging her every single time

and his feelings don’t get hurt when she says no, but it makes her happy that he asks so she doesn’t say no often

everyone else started asking after that too

sometimes helen forgets but she’s soft so esther’s ok with it

helen is Softe and hugging her is like snuggling a dove

june and helen put their legs on each other all the time and blow kisses at each other constantly

they make a really big deal about catching the airborne kisses and will occasionally pretend to drop the kiss for comedic relief

june ‘threw it’ in a blender once and turned it on, helen was so mock upset that june immediately tackle hugged her and peppered her in kisses until helen forgave her

they have a long standing tradition of drinking tea every sunday, complete with shit-talking and downton abbey reruns  

after they start dating these sundays also involve lots of kissing, and way more cuddling  

bridget plays with everyone in the gang’s hands while she talks to them

some people are more receptive to it than others

she doesn’t let this stop her

she also loves holding hands with everyone

(but especially esther)

she leaves books for people as her way of saying i care about this and i care about you, so have it

she writes personalized inscriptions in all of them

jack high fives everyone but sally the hardest and esther with the most accuracy

oh and ESTHER AND JACK DID BALLROOM LESSONS WHEN THEY WERE LITTLE

aND THEY WANTED TO BE PARTNERS SO THEY WHINED UNTIL THE TEACHERS LET JACK LEAD

sometimes they still bust out routines

(like the salsa dancing from earlier)

(for helen and june’s anniversary june took swing lessons from them and took helen out dancing at a jazz club and it was the best thing ever)

one time tiny sally somehow ballroom dips giant anthony

and then helen’s like, sally that was hilarious and good but This is how u do it

and dips him in a full circle before bringing him back up and kissing him on the lips

THE GROUP CHATS

THE TEXTS ARE GOLD

someone will whisper half an inside joke to someone in a class and you’ll hear a forehead hit a desk

the group chat with everyone in it had its title recently changed to

“softe”

because esther is an asshole

jack private messaged her yelling and she was laughing too hard to reply

quentin, somewhere in the distance, touches his fingers lightly to his lips and looks off toward the horizon

bless his heart.

previously it was called The Bin of Stim & Sin

the girlfriends have their own chat called

HAROLD,

a positive outcome of the esther and bridget and june kissing fiasco (and the “oh god you babies let me help you with your hair” that followed)

it’s a no play day in orchestra and esther is tired and rests her head on june’s shoulder

and june is like, !!!! internally bc, it’s esther and she doesn’t Do shit like this

and june is both honored and a little protective over her

and their fierce viola rivalry is only for fun after that

all of the girls in the gang celebrate galentine’s day by all going out to dinner together

one of the guys, probably jack, complains that it’s unfair that esther and bridget get to spend the 13th AND the 14th together

all of the girls yell at him at once and he never says anything about it again

penny links arms with whoever she walks next to

it gets ridiculous and the gang takes up the whole hallway when they all get in a chain

it’s like that scene from mean girls. eventually someone in the chain makes this connection (june) and someone gets dunked into a trash can (sally)

esther and anthony check each other’s math and draw little shitty stickmen doing weird things on each other’s notes

penny loves feather light touches, light pecks and butterfly kisses, and touching noses

penny’s also very huggy with jack especially

they’re that couple that always has their arms around each other and it’s not even weird they’re honestly just adorable

jack kisses her eyelids and she blushes

she pinches his butt when walking by and doodles absently on his arms

jack gets his hair ruffled by everyone

he complains but it makes him happy

he’s a Shaggy Boy

when he starts getting a little bit of stubble he’s so excited and everyone is so excited for him that they all touch it

quentin braids and unbraids june’s hair lots and it seems to soothe both of them

once sally gets comfortable around someone she kind of. forgets that personal space is a thing, sometimes. she pretty much reaches this comfort level with all of the gang and kind of makes it her mission to make sure nobody is touch-starved

she always backs off and doesn’t take offense when she inevitably oversteps and gets told off tho

she just loves her friends so much and her love pours out through her hands and her arms and her whole body

sometimes someone really needs it though. and she’ll get a Look on her face and open her floodgates of hugging.

actually everyone gets really cuddly when someone’s upset, or in the aftermath. whenever the person is comfortable The Hugs Are Broughteth

everyone stims way more around the ones they’re most comfortable with too

there’s a lab somewhere in the science department where the science part of the gang is theoretically working on projects and stuff, but all of the gang ends up there working on whatever homework or just hanging out

there’s definitely an old but comfy couch there

its worn and green and affectionately referred to as The Log

sometimes they work Too Hard and end up on the couch

there are always fluffy blankets and at least one heavy blanket thrown over the back or arms of the couch

and a couple of squishy pillows

jack and esther end up curling up there next to each other like two sleepy peas in a pod

sally frequently perches on the back of the couch because if she fits, she sits

(she has gotten stuck in high cabinets more than once because of this and had to yell for help from anthony, or june, if she’s around)

(june laughs at her for a long time first)

(anthony is very delicate about it but he’s suppressing chortling)

sometimes sally flops sprawled over the Entire back of the couch and takes up as much space as possible with her tiny body

quentin curls up in one corner of the couch and takes a fuckin well deserved nap with his feet on anthony

who sprawls on the middle cushion of the couch with his long legs sticking way out onto the floor

sally’s arm flops onto him from where she’s passed out on the back of the couch

they’re a big sleepy sciencey pile

one time the girlfriend gang finds them like this

“june! my phone!” helen hisses

june hands it to her so she can snap a photo of the science cuddle pile

(she carries helen’s stuff for her on days that she doesn’t have pockets)

(helen has no earthly attachments and june has a really big purse)

helen and june then squeeze onto the couch between anthony and quentin and cuddle them as well as each other

quentin usually wriggles around a lot during this process and anthony has to pretend he’s not getting his crotch a little bit stomped on

his eye twitches a lot tho

bridget and penny grab some of the pillows and sit on the floor next to the couch together leaning against jack and esther’s legs

esther cups a hand around bridget’s cheek

jack drums his fingers on penny’s scalp, or taps her headband

helen runs a hand through sally’s hair fondly and she mumbles something in her sleep

helen rubs her head till she goes quiet again

she’ll nuzzle someone in her sleep and koala hug whoever is closest

it’s usually anthony

helen sometimes sings quietly until everyone passes out

the teachers have learned not to disturb them.

one of june’s other methods of showing affection is fucking someone up if they so much as prod those she cares about.

she is not afraid of suspension.

also, helen will be very. very. disappointed in you.

they all go quiet and soft eventually

time to sleep 

[rrrawrf-writes]

why in the world did this get so long

continued from this (i was just gonna reblog the other one with this but it got too long and it’s not going under a readmore bc those don’t work on mobile i’m so sorry everyone)

It took a little bit longer than Milt would have liked to get everything filled out and squared away. He could understand why everyone in the station was grumpy - it was three in the morning and Rhiot had not only hit a police officer, he’d gone and bit him, too. (Milt still couldn’t quite believe that.) If it had been him, Milt wouldn’t have let Rhiot off so easily.

But as understanding as he was, even he got angry when the police lieutenant looked them in the eye and said, “I can’t let the dog go with you.”

“W-What?” Rhiot said, barely managing to keep his voice down. “Why not? She didn’t do anything, I need her -”

Milt gripped Rhiot’s elbow, calming the younger soldier with a warning glance. “That dog is military property, lieutenant.”

“We don’t have the keys,” the man said with a simple shrug. “The officer who does already went home for the night.”

“Then call them back,” Rhiot growled through clenched teeth. He sounded uncommonly like a dog himself.

“They live an hour and a half out of town. You’ll have to come pick her up in the morning.”

Milt glanced over when he heard a door open and close; the pink-haired man, yawning, was being led out of an empty room by a woman a full foot shorter than him. She looked like a lawyer, with her black hair cut in a crisp bob and her outfit impeccable, for all that it was 3 AM. Milt automatically felt shabby and underdressed as they stopped to talk with the secretary. A vision tugged at the corner of his eyes, but didn’t quite manifest. He didn’t force it.

“I can’t leave without Loula,” Rhiot said,sounding so desperate that Milt was embarrassed for him. While the lawyer woman chatted with the secretary, her associate glanced over at them, clearly intrigued by the overheard conversation. “We - We have to stay together -”

The vision was building up, growing from a hunch to a certainty, and then from a certainty to actual foresight; Milt missed completely what the lieutenant told Rhiot next, but by the end of it, him and Rhiot both looked near to shouting.

“Archer,” Milt said, quiet at first, and then more firmly, “Sergeant Archer.”

Rhiot stopped. He was clearly heated, but he stopped, and glared off to the side. That was definitely a black eye, and he winced every few steps, trying not to hold his ribs. Milt was going to bring hell down on this police department.

Milt glanced over at the pink-haired man, who was feigning interest in a drug addiction recovery pamphlet. “It’ll be all right, Archer. We need to go get your car. Where’d it break down?”

“Sir -”

“Where did the car break down,” Milt said, a little more loudly and pointedly. Rhiot, clearly confused and hurt, stammered out the street name. Milt shot the man across the room a quick glance. “Tell Loula to behave for everyone she sees tonight,” he added, though his phrasing was a little unnecessary; Loula would have heard, just as Rhiot did. “Everyone.”

“’Course she will,” Rhiot muttered, resentful.

Milt nodded. “Good. Let’s go. We’ll be by in the morning to pick up the dog,” he added to the lieutenant, the lie rolling easily off of his tongue. As Milt herded a reluctant Rhiot out of the police station, he met the pink-haired man’s gaze and winked.

He got a confused blink, and then a slow grin, in return.

Loula whined as she watched, through Her Rhiot’s eyes, he and Parker-Captain-Milt leave the police department. She kept her own eyes closed, mostly to shut out the dim, depressing view of the crowded back room they’d shoved her into. There were a few other wire kennels, empty, and all bigger than the plastic carrier she’d been forced into. The room was full of the scent of other dogs, and Food, and People.

She was forced to curl up into an uncomfortable ball, unable to stand or even stretch out fully. The muzzle didn’t let her do more than pant in distress, and she whined as Her Rhiot and Parker-Captain-Milt climbed into the car and moved, moved, moved away until the connection between Loula and Her Rhiot fuzzed, then faded into nothing.

The silence was overpowering. Loula trembled, her ears pressed flat against her head, as she lost the double viewpoint of her handler. She could no longer hear the car humming, or Rhiot and Parker’s quiet conversation, or Her Rhiot’s heart beating. Loula whined again, then barked, as if it would bring him back. All she got was a person snapping from the other side of the door, “Shut up.”

‘Shut up’ was not a command Loula liked following. She barked again, wishing Rhiot was there to convey her sentiments to the stupid, loud people. Not that he usually did - but it would have made her feel much better.

Loula’s anger was soon overwhelmed by misery, and she finally stopped. Rhiot would be back in the morning, he said, and she could see, if she pressed up against the wire front of the kennel, a window in the back door that showed the night sky. With a sorrowful huff, Loula closed her eyes and tried to sleep.

It was difficult, with the muzzle on and the occasional ruckus from the rest of the police station. Loula had finally managed to sink into an uneasy doze when a sound, different from chattering people and sometimes yelling, broke her determination to get some rest.

It was kind of like the scraping that happened whenever Rhiot opened a door with a key, but it took a little bit longer than even Loula thought it should. She lifted her head as it finally opened, but no one turned on the lights, and two people entered.

She recognized one of them as the man Rhiot had shared his cage with earlier. For such a big person, he moved almost as quietly as Her Rhiot could. She growled when he jostled her kennel.

“I cannot believe we’re doing this,” muttered the other person. They were a lot smaller than the first; the big man shushed the smaller person. Loula snarled again, as it was obvious that the big one hadn’t understood her warning earlier, and towed her towards the door to the outside.

She started barking when Big Person picked up her kennel. “Shh, shh sh sh sh,” he hissed at her, as Small One held the back door open. Loula did not ‘shh sh sh sh’ at all; she scraped her muzzle against the wire door of the cage and wished she could bit the people taking her away. Her Rhiot was going to come get her in the morning, and she wouldn’t be there!

Her kennel rocked and bumped against the doorframe; Big Person handed her off to Small One. They looked much less enthused to be holding a kennel half their size. Loula yelped when she was dropped on the pavement.

“Mickey!”

“Sorry, sorry, it slipped. It’s frickin’ heavy.”

“C’mon, just get her in the car, we can let her out then.”

“I’m not letting a dog loose in my car!”

The kennel was picked up again, awkwardly; Loula barked as she slipped and her rump bumped against the back end. She scrabbled forward, to keep it off balance; Big Person and Small One both cursed at her as they walked down the street. It wasn’t until the reached the car, several minutes later, that Big Person had to open the back seat, and Loula managed to rock the kennel enough that he dropped it while he was distracted.

The kennel door popped open, and Loula surged out of it.

“Crap crap crap - grab her!” Big Person shouted, as she blundered into Small One’s legs. They practically fell on her, grabbing for her collar, and she snarled furiously as they pulled her back.

“Put her back inside!” Small One shouted, but instead, the Big Person bodily picked Loula up. He held her clumsily, not at all like Her Rhiot knew how, and she wished more than ever that she could bite that stupid pink fur right off his head.

Big Person climbed into the back of the car. “I’ll just hold her,” he told Small One, who stood there spluttering and gesturing incoherently at the kennel. Loula struggled, scratching and scrambling to get out of Big Person’s arms and out of the car, but Small One finally shut it in her face. She howled her fury.

“I’m going to kill you, Eli,” Small One snarled as they climbed into the front part of the car. “Don’t let that thing near me.”

Big Person was trying to push her onto the floor. There was hardly any room, next to his stupid big feet. Loula kept struggling until he put one leg over her, effectively trapping her for just a moment as his clumsy fingers worked at the muzzle.

“Don’t take that off!” Small One snapped.

“Just drive, Mickey,” Big Person said, fairly calmly. “She can’t hurt me.”

“I’m not worried about you,” Small One said. Big Person laughed, the low, rumbly kind that Loula might have liked to hear, if she weren’t being stolen away from Her Rhiot.

She gave her head a vigorous shake once the muzzle was gone. Small One grumbled about the mess Loula was making all over their upholstery as Big Person tossed the muzzle into the front seat. He promised Small One to pay for the cleaning as Loula stretched out her jaw. Growling, she lunged for Big Person’s hand when it came down near the floor again.

Her teeth closed around solid metal. Confused, Loula let go, then tried again to maul stupid Big Person, but his hand was metal, and solid even as it moved, and she couldn’t get a grip. She barked at him instead, even as he grinned down at her, and used his other hand to pat her on the head. “Sorry, girl.”

Loula twisted around to try and bite that hand, too, but encountered the same problem. Her teeth slid right off, and the angle was too awkward a position for her to hold anyway. She tried to wriggle out from underneath his legs instead.

“Where are we going?”

“East Sunrise Avenue,” Big Person answered, and then grinned down again at Loula. “That’s right, baby girl, we’re taking you back to your master,” he cooed at her. She gave him a disgusted snort; that tone of voice was only cute when Her Rhiot did it.

She didn’t believe him, either. Loula watched warily as she climbed onto the seat next to him - Mercy-Guns never let her on the seats in her car, even though Rhiot didn’t care, and some of the rest of the team had similar compunctions. Small One clearly did, since they immediately started complaining again, but Big Person - Flower Metal, Loula revised, as she saw the weird pictures on his now silvery arms, and the design on his shirt - didn’t put her back on the floor. Loula looked out the window.

They were going far too fast. Flower Metal reached over her back, startling her, and she futilely tried to chew his arm off as he hit a button on the door and lowered the window. It was nice, but Loula refused to enjoy the breeze. This was not a time for bribes.

She waited for Flower Metal to lose interest in her; he leaned forward to confer with Small Angry about the directions. Loula pawed a little at the door handle, until she thought she had the angle right, and waited for the car to come to a stop at a red light.

“I think it’s right - Hey!”

The force needed to push open the door was what ruined Loula’s chances of escape. Flower Metal lunged and grabbed her harness as she leaned against the door, pulling her back, while Small Angry turned around in their seat. “Did it just open the door?”

“Must’ve been on accident,” Flower Metal grunted, trying to both keep Loula flattened against the seat and close the door at the same time. She snarled and howled, making further conversation between the two people impossible, until the car started moving again. “Don’t you have child lock?”

“I don’t even know what that is. Close the door already.”

“You sound as grumpy as Kawai does,” Flower Metal said. Loula growled and scrambled over his lap, heading for the other door, but the car was moving again before she could reach it. She pawed at a button that looked like the one Flower Metal had used for the window, but all that happened was a sh-chunking noise that did nothing.

Flower Metal watched her with interest. “She’s trying to open the door again.”

“Dogs can’t open doors!”

Loula finally figured out which button made the window disappear, but Flower Metal pulled her away before she could go any further. Loula growled as she was pushed back onto the floor.

“Don’t listen to them,” Flower Metal told Loula, using that same stupid, babyish tone of voice again. Loula wanted to rip his face off. “You a smart wittle puppy, huh.”

She barked at him.

It wasn’t a long ride, but it was a frustrating one; Loula, after taking a moment to sniff through smells, realized that Flower Metal’s legs weren’t metal. She tried to bite one, but just succeeded in ripping away a mouthful of denim when, underneath her teeth, his skin became impossibly hard. Flower Metal thought this was hilarious, and gave her more pets and coos, until she snarled and jumped at his face.

Flower Metal was gently pushing Loula off of him when the car jerked to a stop, and Loula slid right off of Flower Metal, hitting the floor again. “We’re here,” Small Angry griped. “I don’t see a stupid car.”

“Just drive around until you find it,” Flower Metal said. Defeated, Loula dragged herself back onto the seat and stuck her nose out of the partially-open window to sulk. That was when she felt it.

It was barely more than a tug in her mind. Loula whined, and barked again and again. Small Angry yelled at her to shut up, and Flower Metal tried to calm her down, until they flashed by a car parked on the side of the road.

Loula howled her anguish.

“Wait, I think that was it,” Flower Metal said. The car slid to a stop, and then started moving backwards, and Loula pawed frantically at the door handle. Flower Metal pulled her back, and before the car came to a stop, he reached over the back of her to pull open the handle, and let go of the harness.

Loula shot out of the car like a bullet. Her Rhiot was there - sitting on the hood of the car, and then he slid off, and she catapulted into him before she forgot that one of his ribs was hurt.

He fell onto his rump, and restored the connection with just a mental touch. Her Rhiot was laughing even though it hurt him; Loula felt a corresponding twinge of pain in her side with every deep breath she took, but hardly cared as she licked his face.

“I told you, it’d be fine,” Parker-Captain-Milt said over the top of their heads. Loula and Rhiot both ignored him; she shoved indignant memories of being stuck in a too-small kennel and dragged into a car by stupid people at him, in too much of a rush for Rhiot to make out. He didn’t have much to give in return, except Parker’s constant reassurance that they just needed to wait by his car and everything would be fine, and the worry and anxiety and frustration that came of waiting, just on the word of one of Parker’s visions.

“Need any help?” drawled Flower Metal. Rhiot glanced up at him and saw the easy grin of the man he’d shared at the holding cell with. Loula was too happy at the moment for him to explain to her that the man she wanted to tear to pieces had just helped her get to him. She had finally stopped trampling all over her poor handler and now just curled up in his lap, tail wagging. Rhiot let her lick and nibble his hand, and squinted up at Flower Metal. He didn’t have his glasses - they were lost after Officer Robins’ friend jumped him, earlier - but the man no longer looked as if he were made of metal. He did have flower tattoos crawling up both arms, which was an odd look for someone who, otherwise, seemed like the commander of a biker gang.

“Nah,” Flower Metal admitted, “but Mickey -”

“Do not,” Small Angry - Mickey - seethed, slamming the back door of their car shut, “volunteer me for any more of this crap.”

Flower Metal winced. “Sorry. They’re not usually this grumpy.”

“That mutt destroyed my backseat!”

Loula informed Rhiot that she did not, it was only a little muddy. He grinned, and held out a hand. “Don’t worry about it, I just appreciate you getting Loula here. Not to be, um, ungrateful, but -”

“Why?” Flower Metal asked, taking Rhiot’s hand and giving it a gentle squeeze. “You’re not the first powered kid to get the hell beat out of them by that station. You, uh, might be the first one to bite an officer, though.”

Rhiot blushed. “Instinct,” he muttered, as Loula gave him a warm wave of approval. She clearly wished she had bitten Robins, too. The dog finally left off cuddling with him, just long enough to go relieve herself in some bushes, and Rhiot clambered awkwardly to his feet. Flower Metal helped him up.

“Well, thanks.”