#or else it would have been an 8 dog pile up

[sidetongue]

4/7 

[spheixrie]

HOW THEY WOULD MAKE YOUR KIDS GO TO BED (pt. 1?)

So like you're always the one to take the kids to bed right? Since your husband always comes home late since he's busy with hero work. So now you go out with the girls for a girls night, you leave your husband and your kid/s at home and tell your husband to get the kids to sleep by 8:30 (since sleep is important HAHXHAHAHAHAH) anyways you leave your child in the hands of your husband, not knowing what kind of shit they been through while you were gone..

Ft: Midoriya, Bakugo, Todoroki, Kirishima, Kaminari, Sero

IZUKU MIDORIYA

He tries to get the kid to bed and fails miserably. He couldnt handle that little pouty face and those big puppy eyes.

"Mommy said to go to bed by 8:30 didn't she? Well look at the time honey it's 8:30" Izuku says as he tries to calm your kid down.

"NO! I DONT WANNA! I DONT WANNA!" Your kid shouts back as a reply and sticks out their tongue at your husband. "I just wanna stay up and watch All Might!"

Izuku sighs and tries again "Come on baby.. Mommy's gonna be mad at me if you dont sleep right now, we can watch tomorrow yeah?"

Cue the puppy dog eyes. "Please?" Kid bats their eyelashes at your man and he completely loses it.

You come home at around 11:47 and you find your husband and your kid on the couch dressed up in All Might onesies as an All Might video played on the screen.

"Couldn't get them to sleep?" You chuckle as you take off your coat.

"I am so sorry honey" Izuku sighs with a defeated tone "They gave me a hard time"

You just laugh softly and walk over to them, planting a kiss on your husband's cheek "Now you know what I go through while you're at work" you sit down beside them as your child offers you a bowl of popcorn. "Want some, Mommy?" they say as they beam at you. You laugh and ruffle their hair "Dont think that you arent in trouble for staying late, honey"

"But mommm, this is the only time i get to spend time with dad, just us two" They plead as they give a pouty face. You sigh and smile, "I guess you're right" you look at Izuku as he gives you a big thumbs up. You shrug "I guess I can let this slide" You smile. "YAYYYY!!" your child exclaims as you pull you child and husband for a hug. "Thanks honey" Izuku whispers at you, giving you a kiss on the lips.

"Daddd" you kid averts their eyes. "EWWWW!!" he shouts as you and Izuku laughs.

KATSUKI BAKUGOU

Man is having a hard time getting this kid to bed. Since this dude has a sleep schedule of a grandpa, bro's shouting at his kid to get tf to sleep or else he's gonna blow their face up. Ofcourse the kid counters his attacks with the same stubborn attitude until you come home and find them in the kid's bedroom.

"GO TO SLEEP YOU BRAT!" Katsuki shouts. "HELL NO OLD MAN! I AINT GONNA LISTEN TO YOU AND YOUR STUPID SLEEP SCHEDULE!" Your kid fights back.

"MOM LETS ME STAY LATER THAN THIS TIME!"

"WELL I AINT YOUR MOM SO SUCK IT AND GET YOUR ASS TO SLEEP!"

"NO! YOU SUCK IT AND SWALLOW! IM NOT LISTENING TO YOU!"

"YOU DARE TALK BACK TO ME?"

"YEAH THAT'S HOW A CONVERSATION WORKS!"

"WHY YOU LITTLE PIECE OF-"

And they go on and on for hours until the neighbors call you about the noise and you have no choice to go home. You mutter angrily as you drive home. You throw your shoes on the shoe rack and drop your coat off on the couch, marching angrily towards the kid's room. When you opened the door you were not expecting to see them on the bed asleep, your kid on Katsuki's chest as he held an arm around them. On the floor was a pile of board games and book. You sigh and smile softly at the sight, walking towards the edge of the bed Katsuki stirs in his sleep, he blinks his eyes and his gaze fixes upon you.

"Oh, hey baby" He sits up, careful not to wake up your kid. "You're home early"

"I sure am" You chuckle as you kneel down and pick up the boxes of games and books off the floor. "The neighbors told them they heard a commotion, inside our home" You look up at him with tired eyes.

Katsuki sits up and sets your kid on the bed "Sorry 'bout that, baby.. Kid wasn't listening to a word I said.." He says scratching his neck. "I shoulda tried a more different approach than yelling eh?"

"It's fine, babe" You stand up and kiss your husband's cheek. You set the games and books on the nightstand and lean into his ear "But you owe me for ruining my night out"

Katsuki takes your hand and looks you in the eye "I think I sure do" He smirks.

SHOTO TODOROKI

He does try to get the kid to sleep, but the kid is too stubborn. He doesn't want to be like his dad towards his kid, so he does the only logical thing that comes into his mind. He just lets them do what ever.

"You need to sleep now, your mom told me that you need to sleep by this time" Shoto says to his kid who he has already tucked comfortably in bed.

His kid just pouts "But daddd, I wanna stay up late. Mommy rarely makes me stay up late! Plus, it's just us" your child kicks off their blanket and scooches closer to your husband. "I wanna spend time with you daddy! You're always busy at work, I wanna spend time with you" You kid smiles happily and Shoto just crumbles.

"Alright... but don't tell your mom"

"YES!"

You come home to them in the living room playong tea house with a cartoon playing on the tv. Stuffed toys (all having bows and other assorted accessories) were seated all around them. Shoto was dressed up in one of your dresses with his hair done. He was holding up a tea cup while your child was pouring non existent tea into it. You smile at the sight

"What happened to "asleep by 8:30?" " You chuckle as you walked towards them.

Shoto just shrugged before drinking his non existent tea and holds his tea cup for his child to refill it, "I couldn't say no to that face, plus it's non everyday I get to spend time with them like this, I wanna give them the childhood they deserve. I dont want them growing up like me" He says as he looks at you apologetically. "Sorry"

You laugh softly as you sit beside him, giving him a kiss on the cheek "Dont apologize honey, Im glad you're doing this for our baby. You can stay up for as long as you like, just dont blame me if you're both cranky in the morning"

"YAYYYYY!" you child exclaims as they jump up and down happily

Shoto chuckles and gives you a soft kiss "Thank you, honey"

EIJIROU KIRISHIMA

He tries to be the bad cop at first, getting your kid to bed and all, but then your kid starts to throw a tantrum saying they dont want to sleep yet. Your husband keeps on insisting that they have to listen and sleep, but then you kid pulls put the fucking puppy eyes on your husband and he completely loses.

"Come on, pebble! Didn't mommy say that bed time is 8:30? Look at the time! It's time to sleep!" Eijirou says enthusiastically, trying to get your toddler to sleep.

Instead they stick out their tongue and throw a tantrum. "No! I dont wanna! I dont wanna!"

"Hey dont shout at me! I already gave you ice cream after dinner even though im not supposed to! You better listen or I am not holding back" Eijirou says trying to make your kid go to sleep.

"No!" your kid pouts. "I do not want to sleep yet!" They look at Eijirou with puppy eyes. "Please, please, pleaseeee, daddy?" cue the eyelash batting

Eijirou fucking Kirishima on the other hand, loses it, COMPLETELY.

You unlock the front door and hear noise coming from the kid's bedroom. You walk towards it and open the door. Your kid and husband was sound asleep pn the bed... or so they thought they had you fooled. Scattered on the floor were action figures and dolls, and on Eijirou's head was a little bow headband. They pretended to snore noisily and you saw your kid peeking to see if you left, then went back to snoring.

You sniffle a laughter as you walk towards them and drape a blanket on top of them.

"Oh wow I guess they did a good job of going to bed eh?" You say loudly and start walking to the door. "Well too bad, they wont get to have those nuggets and fries I brought" You say loudly.

"FRIES?!" Both of them jumps out of bed and looks at you expectantly. You raise a brow and puts your hands to your hips.

"You really think im that dumb to fall for your so called trick?" You ask with a disappointed look on your face.

Eijirou laughs and rubs the back of his neck "Sorry baby... It was hard saying no to that face"

You roll your eyes and laughs "Now you know what i go through"

Eijirou laughs too "Yeah.. Do we still get to eat those nuggets though?" He asks hopefully.

"Oh the nuggets? Yeah that was a trick" You smirk as dread washes over their faces "Yeah it was a trick, now go to sleep, both of you, or im not cooking nuggets for breakfast"

DENKI KAMINARI

My man Denki here is actually a pretty chill dad, and his kids would do anything he says... if he does something for them first. He actually does a pretty decent job in getting them to sleep, sure he had a couple pf teensy weensy condition but atleast he got them to sleep... at maybe 11:30.

"Hey theree, so like, I know it's not cool to sleep at this hour but like, Im kinda scared of your mommy so if you kids love your daddy, please go to sleep I'm begging you" He says as you toddler is already tucked in bed.

Your kid just shrugs and says "Okay"

Denki, bless his ass, is very very confused "Wait really?"

"Yes, dad" Your toddler nods

"Huh, that was.. pretty easy? Uh so, goodnight hon" He says and kisses your kid on the forehead.

Your toddler smirks and pulls up the big fucking puppy eyes "But before I sleep... can i have one eensy weensy favour?"

Denki you prick

You come home to see the lights in the living room out. Okay that's nice, that means Denki actually got the kid to sleep. You walked toward the room and peek through the door, you smile at the sight. There you see Denki and your baby wrapped in blankets as Denki reads your kid, who was already asleep, a bed time story.

You walk in when he finishes reading and closes the book.

"You did a pretty great job eh?" You say as you kiss your husband on the forehead. "Wasnt to hard eh?"

Denki nods tiredly "Yeah you could say that" He smiles softly.

"Thank you baby, im gonna freshen up" With that, you walk outside, leaving Denki to tuck your toddler in for the night. Little did you know that to get your kid to sleep involved 2 tubes of ice cream, 3 rounds of Mario Cart, 5 Mickey Mouse episodes and 1 fairytale story. Yeah Denki was definitely sleeping for a long time.

SERO HANTA

He's also a chill dad, but when his kid says they don't wanna sleep, it's always 20% 'no, go to bed' and 80% 'sure do whatever, go apeshit'. And oh boy do things get tricky.

"Look, chubbs. Mommy said bed time is 8:30. And it's already, 8:30. So come on you need to sleep" Sero says to your child who was watching a cartoon movie.

Instead they stick out their tongue "No! I wanna finish this movie!" they bat their eyelashes and give Sero the puppy eyes "Pleaseee, dad?"

Sero blinks "Uh sure go ahead" He says sitting beside you kid with a lazy grin on his face.

Your kid, confused, just blinks "Uh, wait, really?" they look at him expectantly

Sero just shrugs and takes a handful of popcorn from the bowl "Yeah sure, I aint scared of your mom, plus it's mot everyday we get to do this sooo, go crazy" he grins and takes another handful of popcorn and pops it in his mouth.

6 movies and 1 cry-a-thon later

You open the door and walk into the living room to see Sero watching a movie with your kid laying on his lap, a blanket draped over them.

Sero looks at you and closes the tv. "Hey mi amor, how was you night out?"

You look at your kid and your husband "Did you let them stay up late?"

Sero just shrugs "Yeah, sorry bout' that. But it's not everyday they get to do this with me y'know?" He smiles at you and you just scoff.

"You're lucky I love you" You say.

He sets his kid on the couch and stands up, he walks over to you and kisses you on the cheek "Love ya too babe"

• • •

"How many movies did you watch?"

".... Maybe 5 or 6?.."

• • •

"Okay, you're sleeping in the living room tonight, Sero"

"Aw man"

THAT'S ALL FOR TODAY BABES. IM THINKING OF MAKING A PART TWO WITH THE OTHER BNHA BOYS SO COMMENT IF YOU'D WANT TO SEE MORE. THANK U FOR READING!!



[its-the-pilot]

Can't Fight This Feeling | One-Shot

Happy Thanksgiving everyone! Hope you enjoy this little festive one-shot 😘

Summary: When Maverick gets called up for a mission on Thanksgiving, you and Bradley make new traditions of your own. (Mav's niece!reader)

Warnings: mild teen sexuality

Length: 3k words

Pairing: teen!Bradley Bradshaw x teen!Female Reader

| Waves Masterlist | Masterlist |

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Can’t Fight This Feeling

The smell of a freshly baked pumpkin pie filled the house as Maverick entered, and it made him dread the news he was about to deliver. As he turned the corner into the kitchen, he found you slicing apples for another pie, completely focused on your task until he moved closer and pressed a kiss to your temple. 

“Hey, Uncle Pete,” you greeted, pausing in your work to turn toward him. “You’re home early.”

He nodded, a smile on his face that didn’t reach his eyes. “It smells great in here, Squirt. Where’s Bradley? I have some news.”

“He ran to the store for me, I needed a couple things for Thanksgiving tomorrow,” you explained, turning back to your apples when he mentioned ‘news’. You had heard him say it enough over the 8 years you had lived with him to know immediately what it meant. “But I guess it doesn’t matter, you’re gonna miss it.”

Maverick sighed, leaning against the counter. “I don’t want to, Squirt,” he tried, hating that you were frustrated with him. “I got called up for a mission, I have to leave in a couple hours.”

Your jaw clenched as you fought back tears, still slicing away at the pile of apples in front of you. “You promised you’d be here for the holidays. It’s the first year without Mama Carole.”

“I know, I’m sorry. You know the Navy--”

He stopped when you cut him off by dropping your knife onto the cutting board. “You. Promised.” Your words were firm even as you lost the fight with your tears, feeling them slide down your cheeks. It wasn’t the first promise he’d had to break, but after losing Carole earlier in the year, you had hoped that he would find some perspective. 

The sound of Bradley’s voice as he entered the house did little to relax the situation. “Hey, they didn’t have the butter you wanted, but…” he trailed off as he stepped into the kitchen, stopping when he saw your tears and Maverick looking like a kicked dog. Before either of them could say anything else, you left up the stairs to your room, slamming the door. “Ooookay…” he started, confused as he set the bags he was carrying on the counter. “What happened?”

Maverick ran a hand through his hair and pushed off the counter where he had been leaning. “I got called up for a mission, I’m leaving tonight. She’s pissed because…” “... you promised to be here for Thanksgiving,” Bradley finished for him, looking toward the stairs where you had disappeared to. He understood why you were upset, all you wanted was for the three of you to be together for the holiday. Turning back to Maverick, he shook his head. “Just go. She’ll be fine, just like every other time.”

“What the hell is that supposed to mean?” he asked, crossing his arms over his chest. He had his struggles with Bradley, but since the two of you had started dating things seemed to have lightened a bit. “This is my job. I go where I’m told, I don’t have a choice in it.”

Bradley shot him a look that immediately reminded him of Goose as he came to the defense of his girlfriend. “And she knows that, Commander,” he retorted, using his rank as a jab. “Doesn’t mean she can’t be upset that you broke another promise. I’ll talk to her, just… come back safe.”

He didn’t wait for Maverick to respond before he headed up the stairs, stopping outside your door and knocking gently, waiting for your permission to enter. “Dimples, it’s me.”

There was a long moment of silence before he heard your voice inviting him inside. He stepped in and closed the door behind him, frowning when he saw you curled up on your bed, tears staining your cheeks. Crossing the room, he sat beside you and pulled you into his arms, kissing the top of your head as he rocked you back and forth gently. 

You felt a fresh round of tears starting up as you leaned into him, your fingers gripping the fabric of the hoodie he wore. “It’s so dumb. I shouldn’t even be upset, I should be used to it,” you sniffled, allowing your boyfriend to run his hand over your back slowly in an attempt to relax you. 

“You’re allowed to be upset,” he reassured you, tucking your head under his chin. “We all miss mom, but look at it this way… we get to make new traditions this year. Just you and me.”

A smile found your lips as you considered creating new traditions with Bradley that would last the rest of your lives together. “I’d like that,” you nodded against his chest, closing your eyes for a moment. “What about all the food?”

Bradley shrugged. “We can still make it if you want, it’ll give us leftovers to experiment with over the weekend.”

“Okay, that sounds--” you stopped when you heard a knock at your door, causing you to sigh heavily knowing it was your uncle. “Come in.”

Maverick opened the door but remained in the hall, and to his credit he didn’t say anything about the way you and Bradley were intertwined on the bed. “I’m heading out,” he stated simply, his pack on his shoulder. 

You surprised yourself when you detached from Bradley and practically ran to hug Maverick, the force of it making him stumble back a step. “Be safe, come home,” you whispered into his shoulder. “Please.”

He dropped his bag and hugged you back, smoothing your hair with one hand. “I always do, Squirt. I love you, and have a good Thanksgiving. I’m really sorry I’m gonna miss it.”

Bradley stood from the bed as you ended the hug, coming to stand beside you, a comforting hand on the small of your back. “See you when you get back, Mav.”

He nodded at the tall brunette who looked so much like his fallen friend. “You two be good. Don’t do anything I would do,” he teased lightly, picking up his bag again. “I’ll call when I can. If you need anything…”

“... call Ice,” the three of you said in unison. With a chuckle and a shake of his head, Maverick said goodbye once more before he headed down the stairs and out the front door. 

Once you and Bradley were alone, he gave you a soft kiss. “You wanna finish your apple pie? We should probably get those groceries put away too.”

“Sounds like a plan,” you offered a smile, following him down the stairs to the kitchen. You were still upset about your uncle missing Thanksgiving, but you were looking forward to creating new memories and traditions with Bradley. 

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

The next morning, Bradley woke up to the sound of pots and pans in the kitchen. Sitting up on the couch where he had fallen asleep with you the night before, he scrubbed a hand over his face and through his hair, leaving his caramel curls standing in all directions. 

“Dimples?” he called, padding through the living room toward the kitchen. “What are you doing up so early?”

You looked a little frazzled, your hair in a messy bun on top of your head as what looked like every pot in the kitchen sat out on the countertops, waiting to be filled with food. “There’s a ton to do, I needed to get started early. I made coffee if you want some.”

He was leaning with his shoulder against the doorframe, his arms crossed over his chest as he watched you. “Coffee… that explains it,” he mumbled before stepping forward and taking you gently by the shoulders, leading you to sit at the table. “How many cups have you had already?”

“Two… no, three cups,” you nodded, trying to get up only to have Bradley stop you. “Brad, I have a lot to cook.”

“Slow down. It’s not a race, and it’s just us. We don’t need a twelve course meal,” he tried, kissing your forehead. “Stay here. I’m guessing you haven’t eaten.”

You watched him return to the kitchen and rummage around before sticking a bagel into the toaster. “Not yet, no.”

“Call me a mind reader,” he teased, returning a minute later with a toasted bagel smeared with cream cheese and handing you half. “Eat. Soak up some of that coffee, then you can tell me what your plan is.”

You did as you were told, taking a bite of the bagel as Bradley did the same, sitting beside you. He smiled as you seemed to relax some, leaning back against your chair as you finished breakfast together. 

Once you were done eating, you pulled a list out of the pocket of your apron and set it on the table. “The turkey will take the longest, so I need to get that going first. Then I was gonna work my way down the list.”

Bradley looked over the list you had and shook his head. “Baby, this is every one of mom’s recipes. We’ll never eat all this food,” he said, taking your hand in his larger one. “Remember what we were talking about last night? Making new traditions?”

“I know, I just…” you sighed, looking down at your joined hands. “I miss her, and I thought… making her recipes would help, you know? She taught them to me for a reason.”

The previous Thanksgiving happened just after Carole’s diagnosis, and she started teaching you all of her best recipes, wanting to make sure you and Bradley weren’t stuck eating Chinese takeout on the holidays because Maverick couldn’t cook. Unfortunately it had been the last holiday she had been well enough to cook, the cancer progressing quickly and leaving her wheelchair bound by Christmas. 

Bringing your hand to his lips, he kissed it gently, never taking his eyes off of you. “How about we pick two or three things, okay? That way, we can feel close to her but still make the meal ours.”

You nodded, turning your hand over to lace your fingers with his. “Okay. Which ones do you like best? I think we have to do a stuffing, for sure.”

“Absolutely,” Bradley smiled, looking over the list as he squeezed your hand gently. “Green bean casserole? And… pumpkin and cheddar scalloped potatoes?”

“Those are my favorite,” you confirmed, standing from your chair and moving to stand between his legs, kissing him. “So we have a menu. I did have an idea for a new tradition, if you want to hear it.”

He wrapped his arms around your waist and nodded, looking up at you. “I’d love to hear it.”

“Maybe a picnic in front of the fireplace? And after we eat we can listen to music and look at photo albums?” You bit your lip, your hands resting on his shoulders as you waited for his response. 

“That sounds perfect,” Bradley agreed, guiding you back a step so he could stand as well. “Do you want some help in the kitchen? Or should I just focus on getting our picnic set up?”

You leaned up to kiss him sweetly. “I’ll handle the food. You go watch the game and I’ll let you know if I need anything.”

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

The next several hours left the house smelling amazing with the various dishes you were cooking. Bradley had set up a nest of blankets and pillows in front of the fireplace with the couch behind it for support before settling in to watch the football game. Every so often you would take a break from cooking and join him, sitting on his lap for a few minutes and stealing kisses. 

When the game was over Bradley helped carve the turkey, then settled in with you to eat in front of the fire. You had each picked out a few records from the extensive collection that came from both his parents and your uncle Pete, taking turns playing them. 

“The food was incredible, Dimples,” Bradley praised, giving you a kiss before standing to take both of your plates into the kitchen. He had already made the decision that he would take care of the dishes later, but he wanted to spend more time with you first. 

You smiled at the compliment, glad that he had enjoyed the meal. While he was up, you pulled out the photo albums and started flipping through them, glad that Carole always seemed to have a camera in her hand.

“Starting without me?” He teased, returning to sit with you in the nest of blankets. “I always forget how many pictures mom used to take.”

“I love that she did. I wish my parents had taken more pictures, I hardly have any from before they passed,” you countered, snuggling into his side.

His arm wrapped around your shoulders as you examined each page, moving through the years of your childhood spent together -- happy memories of holidays, summer vacations and even small candid moments that would have otherwise been forgotten. You couldn’t help but feel regret and grief when thinking about all the moments that hadn’t been captured since she passed, and the ones that would miss being documented in the future.

Almost as though he was reading your mind, Bradley snuggled you closer. “I miss her too,” he whispered, his voice slightly deeper than usual. “She’s here, though. Remember how she used to tell us my dad and your parents were always with us? She’s with us now too. Always.”

You lifted your head to kiss him sweetly just as the record that had been playing came to an end. As the quiet static sound played through the speakers, you smiled against his lips. “Y’know… we need a song.”

Bradley laughed, returning your kiss. “What, in case one of us gets deployed in World War 3?”

“No, I’m serious!” You slapped his chest lightly before climbing out of the makeshift nest and crossing the room. “It’s something we can keep forever, that’s just ours.”

He shrugged and watched you remove the current record from the player, sliding it back into its place on the shelf among the others. “Alright. Go ahead and pick one.”

You looked back at him over your shoulder, the flickering flames of the fireplace casting a warm glow over his skin and making his hazel eyes sparkle. “There’s nothing romantic about just picking one,” you explained, settling on your knees in front of the record collection before closing your eyes. “I have an idea. Tell me when to stop.”

Propping his elbow on the seat of the couch behind him, he rested his chin on his hand and watched you run your fingers along the spines of the albums, back and forth slowly until he finally said your name. Your finger stopped instantly and pulled the record out, not looking at the artist before placing it onto the player and gently dropping the needle. 

Turning back to him, you held your hand out, offering for him to come dance with you as the opening chords to “Can’t Fight This Feeling” by REO Speedwagon played over the speakers. You smiled when he stood and took your hand, spinning you gently into his arms.

“Look at you,” you praised, resting one hand against the back of his neck while the other held his, your fingers laced together. 

“I’ve been practicing,” Bradley replied, his free hand resting at the small of your back as he held you close to him, swaying with the music.

You looked into his eyes, letting him lead. “With who?”

“Mav,” he admitted, slightly embarrassed until you giggled and kissed him. 

He returned your kiss, placing another on your temple and then your forehead before you rested your cheek against his shoulder. “I could kiss you forever,” he murmured against your ear. 

“Oh yeah?” You replied, feeling the heat rising in your cheeks when he kissed your neck just below your ear. 

“Yeah,” he grinned against your skin before pulling back to look you in the eye. “Yeah, I could. You think I’m lying?” 

You shook your head, getting lost in his dark hazel eyes. The two of you moved slowly with each other until the song ended, then Bradley led you back to your spot in front of the fire, tucking you against his chest once again.

“Today was amazing,” you whispered, staring at the fire as the flames danced. “You make every day better.”

His thumb brushed over the back of your neck gently as he held you. “How?”

Tipping your head up, you kissed his jaw tenderly. “By just being you. You always know when I need you, how to make everything better.”

“You don’t have to hide anything from me,” he promised. “I cherish every part of you.”

You bit your lip and turned your head into his shoulder, attempting to hide the blush on your cheeks. “It’s scary. You’re the only one I’ve let in like this. Ever.”

Bradley nodded, smoothing his hand over your spine to reassure you. “You’re safe with me. Always.”

The music continued playing in the background as you both fell quiet. Finally after a few more songs had played, you spoke, your cheek against his chest. “I give you permission to break my heart, Bradley.”

He was surprised by your statement, and it took him a moment to process before he could respond. “I won’t,” he whispered, tipping your chin up with his free hand so he could look you in the eye once again. “And I give you permission to end me if I ever do.”

You searched his eyes for a moment before kissing him deeply. When you parted, slightly out of breath, you slipped deeper into the blanket nest you were in and tugged Bradley down with you. No words were needed as you snuggled into his side, head pillowed on his chest and your leg wrapped over his hip almost possessively. 

He didn’t hesitate to wrap his arm around you, making sure you were both covered by the blankets as you settled in for sleep. “Goodnight, Dimples.”

“Goodnight, B,” you replied, your voice already tired as you closed your eyes. “Happy Thanksgiving.”

[randomperson339]

Anthropromorphization

(Xernalia, an alien, married to Thomas a human. She has found him hunched over cloth and scattered stuffing.)

Xernalia: Hubby... what are you doing?

Thomas: trying to stitch this teddy-bear back to life.

Xernalia: ...you know it's just stuffing, right? There isn't anything to bring back to life.

Thomas: Is that the weirdest thing I've done?

Xernalia: ...no, but I don't know how you're defining life here. It's inanimate

Thomas: yeah... but I feel bad now that it's all torn up, so I'm stitching him back together

Xernalia: Why do you have empathy for an inanimate object?

Thomas: probably because evolution would want me to have emathy for something that's inanimate than something that could be my mate

Xernalis: that's stupid, evolution should've given you a better way to detect the sentience of things.

Thomas: I mean, it did get me an amazing wife.

Xernalia: Wh-no, itt- not worth.... ahgiueaowjhBIEVUCybnowriadnsjc, how dare you say that's the reason you married me was because of some faulty neurons

Thomas: they're hardly faulty if they let me get with you

Xernalia: I mean- you're not wrong, but also. You're conflating several ideas.

Thomas: no, the "faulty neurons" are there to differentiate what is and isn't human, since you can't interbreed with non-humans.

Xernalia: but-

Thomas: yes, you can with genetic manipulation, but evolution wasn't made for to account for magical genetic engineering.

Xernalia:..........

(Thomas gives an affection peck on the head to Xernalia)

Thomas: yeah, I know it's stupid to get hung up about a destroyed plush, but I wouldn't be able to live with myself if I just didn't repair it.

Xernalia: What about the object puts such importance on it?

Thomas: *shrugs* I dunno, I just feel sad when I think about it all torn up.

Xernalia: so, it's like empathy?

Thomas: kinda? It's not sad on an intellectual level, but on an emotional one. I feel for the plush, but understand it's an object. And it doesn't have feelings.

Xernalia: would it change anything if it didn't have a face?

Thomas: probably.

Xernalia: what about a non-quad-limbed body structure?

Thomas: less so than the faceless version.

Xernalia: what about if it was a monster?

Thomas: I married you, didn't I?

Xernalia: >:[

Thomas: sorry, I just couldn't resist. And an actual answer would probably be... depends on how it's monstrous.

Xernalia: So it's about how... human-ish the thing is?

Thomas: roughly, yeah.

Xernalia: so what about a ball that's been left to rot? It was once used, lovingly, by a dog but it got lost in the drain and now it's decaying slowly at the top of a pile of trash?

Thomas: Xernalia... plz don't play with my emotions like that...

Xernalia: oh! Sorry. I- I thought you wouldn't get emotional over a ball.

Thomas: humans get emotions over a lot of things. I even got emotional over computers and satellites, which are very not-human.

Xernalia: so, you just empathize with... everything?

Thomas: yeah.

Xernalia: 8(

Thomas: What's that look for?

Xernalia: It must be so hard to live like that. I mean, you eat meat, right?

Thomas: well, it's different because I need to eat. Thinking about the animals is just something I try not to think about. Like everyone else

Xernalia: All humans feel bad for what they eat?

Thomas: I mean, not everyone, but that's the general feelings I've heard

Xernalia: so it's more... selective?

Thomas: Yeah. I mean, that's why wars happen I think.

Xernalia: so this empathy can both be given to anything, but also taken away from anything else. That seems... stupid.

Thomas: yeah, it's stupid, I feel like it shouldn't be so easy to stop thinking about people as... people

Xernalia: I think it's stupid that it's so arbitrary- you're here, trying to revive an inanimate object, despite it never living

Thomas: well, I was thinking more "I want there to be less violence in the world" not "I want humans to be more accurate in their assessment of sentience." You really want to make humans more sensical, don't you.

Xernalia: no, you're hot when you're nonsensical!

Thomas: Glad to know nonesense is hot, I shall endeavor to always put my socks over my shoes from now on

Xernalia: Not that kind of nonsense!

[bippot]

A Dog On A Leash

Story Summary -> Thanks to his attempt at total domination over the population of Evergreen spectacularly failing, Jeffrey was forced to be confined in his room. The only interaction he gets is annoying David whenever he brings his meals in.

That is until another face appears. A familiar face. A face of someone he presumed had perished in the apocalypse.

Tags -> Pinching, Handcuffs, Eventual Smut, Love at First Sight, Post-Apocalypse, Isolation, Post-Canon

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Fin Gorale didn't like to be wrong. He built his career on the belief that he was five steps ahead of everyone else and only paid attention to the data that proved his case. He knew the world was going to end. He'd tracked the asteroid that wiped out most of the earth for an entire decade and didn't tell anyone because he wanted that information in his back pocket, and only his back pocket.

But he was wrong. Because Fin forgot that he might've been one of the richest men in the entire world but there were other rich men that were just as neurotic and focused on an apocalyptic future as he was. The above ground panic rooms of the elite had been wiped out in an instant. Underground bunkers, on the other hand, had a much higher success rate.

Y/N was alive thanks to pure luck. She'd been at a party at her manager's house in Hawaii and was ushered into his doomsday prepped bunker as soon as the sky turned dark. One minute they were sipping on cocktails, the next everyone was huddled as bangs and crashes sounded over their heads. Civilisation was coming to a very violent and scorchingly hot end, and all Y/N could do was listen.

They found out how truly warm the earth was when one unlucky and very stupid socialite that shall go unnamed climbed up out of the exit hatch in search of a phone signal. Her skin melted off her bone structure with every step she took, revealing the flesh beneath it in all its gruesome glory. Her scream rang through the thick metal as the nearest person slammed the door shut. There was no way to save her. She was a goner the second she went out there. They needed to preserve themselves and doing idiotic shit like that wouldn't help.

While Fin had collected some of the most intelligent and capable people from across the globe, the bunker squad was mostly filled with people from the entertainment business. They were mostly actors rather than survivalists and scientists, so they may have pretended to have a useful job once upon a time yet didn't have the actual knowledge and experience to actually be useful.

As time went on, their numbers did decrease. People sustained injuries that they didn't have the proper equipment to care for. Some gave up. There had been 3 purposeful fatalities, and 8 accidental. It came to the point when there were only 4 people left standing - Y/N, married country singers named Betsy and Jon-Bon, and a mechanic called Cal who'd come to fix the hot tub all those weeks ago.

Whenever someone died, they were thrown out of the hatch and, thanks to that, they deduced that the temperature of the outside world had decreased after a few months since there was no more melt-y-ness. The bodies stayed intact until they decomposed normally. But by then the survivors were too tired or hungry or traumatised to give them actual funerals and so, they simply left them there in rotting piles.

On the bright side, all the flies in existence had been burnt to a crisp so that disgusting visual was nowhere to be seen, and would probably never be seen again.

Food was running out and the water filtration system was on its last legs. They'd made their way through the shelves of canned produce. Although it was easier now there were less people to share with, the amount available was dwindling quickly and no amount of rationing would save them. Something needed to be done fast before their supplies ran dry. If Y/N's predictions were correct, they had less than two weeks.

Though it took some convincing, the squad decided to venture upstairs. Where else did they have to go? What else did they have to do? It wasn't as if they had any other options. It was either die in the bunker, die on the surface like the rest of the world had, or somehow survive on the surface and attempt to keep the human race going for as long as they could.

Cal was first out of the bunker. He looked around frantically for something - anything - that could be perceived. That's how low his expectations were. He just wanted something (other than the skeletons of his friends) to look at, and there wasn't much. Sand. The occasional tumbleweed that floated past. Nothing to indicate that this place once had a bustling life.

He held his hand out to Y/N and helped her out. She was clammy and sweaty and clearly concerned about the state of the planet they were trying to preserve, but he knew that if they kept their cool, they had a higher chance of making it through. Jon and Betsy followed out after him while Y/N brought up the rear.

Two shotguns had been locked away in a glass case for the entire time they'd been trapped down there and of course they were going to break into it to have some protection. Cal had one. Y/N had the other. What if there were mutated bugs? Or maybe this had been an alien invasion? Had others survived? And did they form Mad Max-eque tribes that were out to kill each other? What if there were zombies out there? They needed some anchor of safety in order to feel sane, and as redneck as it sounds, a weapon was the only thing that could do that.

Luckily, Cortex was back online and functional at that time. Jeffrey had programmed it to scan for signs of life and notify them when any popped up on the surface, and despite the fact he'd been handcuffed to his bed thanks to his mutiny attempt, Hannah had kept that procedure going. In an instant, the switchboard lit up like a Christmas tree. 4 life forms were detected in the Hawaii area and a retrieval team was sent out within the hour.

It was weird. After so long of seeing the same faces, Y/N thought she'd be relieved to come across people she knew or heard of. Their saviours were some of the richest and most influential people of the modern world.

Jeffrey Steinberg and Fin Gorale were both responsible for so many of the biggest developments in technology, artificial intelligence to be precise, in the last twenty years and they'd been down every business avenue possible.

Axel Garcia was competing with Bear Grylls for the Survivalist top spot, though Bear was far more focused on his TV persona than Axel was. Plus, Axel's breathing technique was frequently used as a grounding method by anyone with anxiety so everyone who'd ever been to a therapist knew of his work. It was rather odd seeing him hobbling around and holding his chest every few steps so something must've given him a good shock.

Niko Ishikawa had been plastered all over the news thanks to her experiments. Everyone knew what she did. And Y/N would later come to know that those experiments are what got her killed.

David Yeung had been featured on one of his patient's Tik Tok's - unknowingly - and the Internet had banded together to crown him the hottest doctor alive.

Ida and Dagney managed to stay out of the public eye for the most part, yet you can tell just by looking at them that they were the masters in their field. There was a confidence about each of their movements that screamed 'I survived for a reason.' Y/N and her squad of survivors didn't have a reason. They were just lucky, or unlucky depending on your opinion.

"Oh my lord, look at this place!" Jon-Bon said, gaping at the view that they were presented with.

Evergreen was beautiful, even with all of its flaws that the new arrivals had no idea about. It was sleek and clean, full of light and air and fresh plants. Their bunker had been expensive, that was obvious, but Evergreen exorbitantly more lavish. It was a 10 million vs 1 trillion difference.

No wonder more of them survived. They had everything they could ever want right here. And everything they didn't want, too. Weird clones. Billionaires in comas. A robot's vengeance. An arrogant prick playing dictator. Betas. Their surroundings may have been cushier but their experience had been far more eventful.

After being checked and prodded and examined for any irregularities, the other survivors were allowed to cohabitate. There was still a sense of distrust between the 2 groups - hell, most of the Evergreen squad still didn't trust each other - but it was getting better. Slowly, but surely, things were settling down.

Thanks to his actions, Jeffrey wasn't allowed out of his room. He had no idea that there were new arrivals until one of them entered his room. David usually came in to give him his meals and engage in surface level chatter. Other than that, he didn't have anything to do and spent his time reading books or drawing random doodles onto scraps of paper. This particular day had been slow - most were these days - and his head whipped to the door as soon as it opened.

"I've officially lost the plot," he mumbled to himself. "Am I in V-man?"

"Nope," Y/N replied, leaning against his door frame. Her eyes scanned through his room. It was similar to hers, albeit with more stuff in it, and there was a desk pushed in near the window where he'd scattered a bunch of loose papers. There was an open journal on the nightstand that was covered with scribbles.

He eyed her carefully, completely confused but not willing to show that.

"You're not real," he concluded with a shrug.

Obviously, she knew it was a lot to comprehend if he hadn't been told there were more survivors. As far as everyone else was concerned, messing with Jeffrey was something that would bring immense satisfaction so Y/N had been encouraged to do so. He made their lives hell for so long, why not return the favour?

"I'm not real?"

"You can't be."

"You seem pretty sure of yourself. Though, that's on brand for you."

The corner of Jeffrey's lips twitched upward slightly. "Well, of course, I know you're a hallucination because my mind is so bored that it's creating you to give me a little bit of excitement." He laughed bitterly. "Of course it would be you."

"I didn't know I made you excited, Steinberg."

"That's a lie, L/N. You were very aware of that fact."

Listening in, Hannah and Dagney made eye contact. Y/N hadn't disclosed that she knew Jeffrey Steinberg, or rather, that Jeffrey Steinberg knew her. Because everyone and their mother knew of the tech billionaire. Y/N was a famous actress but she was B list, known for indie movies, and as far as Hannah could remember, she used to stay as far away from social media and paparazzi as she possibly could.

"I'm aware you liked throwing money in my direction," Y/N countered.

In an instant, Jeffrey's mind went back years ago. Before he was confined to his room. Before he tried to be a dictator. Before the apocalypse. Back when he was at the top of the food chain. He'd been convinced by one of his pals that he should go to this charity gala, not because the prospect of giving a helping hand to those in need filled him with joy but because a number of hot actresses and models were auctioning off their time.

Pay $10,000 for a dinner date with that girl from that fantasy show. $20,000 to go to an art class with a playboy bunny. $50,000 and a renowned singer will feature you in his next video. Hell, $100,000 and the first lady will spit in your face and you'll like it, you filthy capitalist pig.

At the time, none of these offers seemed enticing enough to Jeffrey. He'd been on enough dates with models and even had a total of 3 songs written about him that he didn't consider raising his paddle. All these beautiful people were dressed to the 9's and looking good enough to eat, so why wasn't he hungry?

Was it because his fellow rich people were only willing to help the less fortunate if there was an incentive for them to take advantage of? That old guy in the corner who'd made his fortune in polluting the earth could pay for someone to pretend to find him interesting and attractive for an entire afternoon, and if some kid was given an insecticide-treated bed net because of that, so be it. Helping was an afterthought to most of these assholes.

Betting was an entirely self-serving action - they'd get the prize, be able to boast about how charitable they'd been, and could pay less income tax thanks to that donation - and, in this moment, Jeffrey hated himself and everything he'd gained.

He'd come into the industry to help. He'd come up with tech to reduce carbon emissions. He'd funded the development of bioplastics. Invested in a countless amount of startups to create clean energy. To more effectively manage landfill waste. To implement smart irrigation systems. He'd tried so hard to help, and people still liked Fin Gorale better.

Fin was at that gala. He bid a quarter of a million so that the unnamed socialite that would end up having her skin melted away in Y/N's bunker would cook him a steak dinner. Whether she did make it herself or if she ordered it in through postmates, it's still unknown.

Consumed by disdain for his fellow rich man, Jeffrey found himself walking out of the main hall to get a moment's peace. He arrived at a quiet balcony and let out a sigh as he leant on the balustrade, completely unaware that he wasn't the only one who decided to step outside. He was just about to take a sip of his champagne when a voice asked, "Tough night, Mr Steinberg?" and his drink slipped through his fingers as he jolted.

The glass plummeted towards the garden below and Jeffrey watched as it shattered when it hit the ground. "Shit," he cursed under his breath. He turned around, ready to give whoever had startled him a good telling off, but stopped as soon as he saw the source of the voice. "Miss L/N, hello."

Lounging back with her heels up on the chair opposite her and a cigarette between her lips, Y/N L/N looked nothing short of divine. She wore a tight red dress that clung to every curve that would ever grace her body and the low scoop neckline exposed enough of her cleavage to make a eunuch tight in the trousers. She smiled and blew smoke towards the balcony, watching as it billowed upwards to meet the warm, summer evening air.

"Let's pretend that was someone else." He pointed to the shattered remains of his drink. "If anyone asks, blame it on Musk. Everyone hates that bastard."

She huffed out a laugh, mumbled, "Yeah, he's a cunt," and held her cigarette out to him, which he accepted. Though, if he was honest, he had no idea why he did. He didn't smoke. He thought it was gross. The body is a temple so why would you pollute it with tar? Not to mention, it tasted awful. But, hey, if a pretty girl offers you a ciggy, you're going to take it. And besides, it was a small price to pay for some company.

Thankfully, he managed not to cough up a lung and handed it back to her like it was no big deal.

"This not your scene?" she questioned after taking another drag. Jeffrey shrugged and crossed his arms, leaning on the wall beside the balcony and staring at the stars twinkling above them.

It was a nice night. The stars were bright and the city lights cast a soft glow over his surroundings. It was almost peaceful, apart from the occasional cheer from the party inside, and it gave him a sense of calmness that he sorely lacked at that point. He was exhausted, stressed and fed up. There was barely any time to breathe during work, and work was a 24/7 thing these days.

Tonight technically was a networking event. It may have been disguised as a charity fundraiser but it was a chance to meet with potential investors and keep up his social profile. This was work. And he hated it.

"I don't really care for charity."

"Oh?" she replied, her curiosity overpowering any disgust she should've been feeling.

"It doesn't solve the problem. It just makes the problem more cushy, y'know?" He glanced at the side and noted a faint smile tugging at her lips as she raised her brow for him to carry on his explanation. "You can throw thousands of dollars to buy food for kids in Africa but that will soon be depleted and we'll be having another one of these in 2 years time. Throw money at creating modified crops that can withstand drought and flooding, that will last forever."

He watched as she snuffed out her cigarette and let out a hum. He didn't know whether she agreed with him or not but he continued nonetheless. "Invest in the future, not the now, that's what I always say."

"You always say?" she repeated, a hint of teasing lacing her tone. He rolled his eyes but couldn't deny the smile that appeared upon his lips at the sound of her playful voice.

"I do always say," he laughed. Jeffrey placed his palms on the underside of her ankles as he lifted her feet up and sat in the chair opposite her, and let the tip of her stiletto rest against his thigh.

Was he aware that she was only a few inches away from spearing her very pointy shoe into his prized jewels if she wanted to? Yeah. Did that turn him on? Also yeah. He enjoyed being a human footstool for her.

"Are you prostituting yourself for charity?" he joked while gently rubbing circles on her ankle with his thumb, and when she gave him a look, he felt the need to rephrase that. "Are you offering up your company in exchange for payment tonight?"

"Why? You planning to bet on me?"

"I might throw a few thousand down."

"Only a few?"

"Well," he started as he ran his hand along her bare calf and lightly grazed his fingertips against the smooth expanse of the back of her knee, "Maybe more than that. It all depends if I'm in a giving mood or not."

"And what, pray tell, do you plan to get out of this sudden act of generosity if I might ask?" Y/N replied with mock innocence, placing her chin in her palm and staring straight ahead at him as if she expected him to spill his guts right then and there.

As much as he loved to brag about being a womaniser and a ladies' man, he had never been all that focused on actually picking girls up. He could simply point to his fancy car or how he'd been on the Forbes 30 under 30 list when he was merely 20 years old or bring them to his mansion, and those would do the leg work for him. In lack of better terms, Jeffrey's flirting game was a little rusty.

So, yeah, he gulped rather thickly. His mouth went dry and he cleared his throat as a way to regain control of himself.

"Your company."

"You want to pay for something I'm willingly giving you for free right now?"

Huh. That was something to think about.

"Think of those hungry kids in Africa, Y/N. Let me waste my money for them."

"Oh, I'm a waste now, huh?"

"Wow, typical woman just twisting my words."

Just as he was about to lean forward to add more drama to whatever sarcastic thing he was going to say next, her foot came up to his chest and she pushed him backward in the chair. "So you hate charity and have misogynist tendencies? You're a catch, Mr Steinberg," Y/N said, letting out a chuckle at how obviously he took a big staggered breath.

This woman was going either going to fuck him or kill him and there wasn't a damn thing he could do about it. And he honestly didn't mind. After all, she was beautiful and witty and knew exactly what buttons to push to drive a man absolutely insane.

If the world ended tomorrow, she'd still have him hooked, he thought at the time and would've been surprised by how right he actually was.

They stared at each other for a moment. Jeffrey's neatly pressed incredibly expensive suit was in direct opposition to how messy he felt. His hair was slightly dishevelled due to running his hands through it too many times before coming outside and he'd undone the first few buttons of his shirt, revealing an appropriate amount of chest hair.

"Well, you seem to like me," he stated finally. "That has to count for something, right?"

"What makes you think that I like you?"

Before Jeffrey could answer, Y/N's agent rushed onto the balcony, immediately warned, "Darling," and stomped over to slap Y/N's foot off Jeffrey's chest. "I told you to play nice, remember?"

"I'm playing nice."

"She's playing very nice," Jeffrey agreed and accepted the way the agent began to swipe away any dust on his chest, ignoring how he heard the older woman scoff under her breath.

"If you'll excuse us, Mr Steinberg, it's Y/N's turn on stage." The agent nodded her head towards the door to gesture for Y/N to follow her, though it seemed Y/N was reluctant to get up and go. "We've already delayed your turn twice already, come on."

Y/N sighed dejectedly and reluctantly got to her feet and followed her agent, shooting Jeffrey a quick grin over her shoulder and mouthed, "I think I hate charity too." He responded by winking at her and followed at a leisurely pace.

Yeah, he did bid on her. And, yeah, he did win 'Y/N L/N will walk your dog for you' despite the fact he didn't own a dog. Thanks to the apocalypse, they never had the chance to take his imaginary dog on a very overpriced walk.

"I hear you've been a bad boy, Mr Steinberg," current day Y/N teased as she sat on the corner of his bed.

"I'm ambitious and it's the apocalypse, hey, why wouldn't I try to become supreme leader?" Jeffrey remarked. He leaned back against the headboard and crossed his legs at the ankles to really try to sell that he was so casual about this whole thing.

Sure, he did think he was hallucinating her. And no, he wasn't going to let Hannah and the others that were watching know that maybe it was affecting him more than he ever wanted it to.

"Why wouldn't you?" she repeated, her voice dripping with sarcasm as she eyed his dark circles underneath his eyes. Her face was painted with concern but the smile was present throughout. "Is your failed totalitarian regime why you're not getting any sleep?"

The man let out a short laugh, shaking his head as he closed his eyes and exhaled deeply. Yes, he was tired, okay? Tired of constantly thinking that he was going to wake up one day and the other survivors were going to push him out into the barren unknown. It was exhausting. Hell, it was terrifying even.

"Yeah, I guess you could say that. And now, well, I'm going to spend most of my night trying to preserve whatever sanity I have left."

"There can't be much left, can there?"

"If you're here, I guess not."

It was about time to reveal the truth to him, Y/N thought. He'd been messed with enough. She held her hand out, palm outstretched towards him, and gestured for him to touch her to make sure she was real. He was reluctant at first but eventually complied when he saw the pleading look in her eyes.

His eyes widened in disbelief when his fingers gently touched her skin. "What? How is this possible?" he whispered to himself. Jeffrey clutched her hand tightly in his grasp and brought it closer until it was right in front of his face, studying it closely, almost afraid that his eyesight might fail him at some point and he would somehow be fooled by his own imagination.

An impossibly wide smile came upon his face and, without even realising what he was doing, he raised his other hand and traced the outline of Y/N's face. With careful and slow movements, he brushed along her right cheekbone down the curve of her jaw.

"Holy shit! Wait, are you a -"

"I'm not one of Niko's clones."

"This is crazy."

"You think I'm real now?" she asked, chuckling softly.

Instead of verbally answering, he did something he wanted to do since he met her. There was a reason why he bet on her. A reason why he invested in whatever movie he knew she was attached to after they met. A reason why he sent her an enormous bouquet of flowers every time he had to push back their 'dog' walking 'date' because he was tied up at work.

With far too much gusto, Jeffrey caught Y/N totally off guard with a big smooch to her lips. As soon as she realised what he'd done, she reciprocated it with just as much vigour. Her palms came to rest on his cheeks, cupping his face while he wrapped his arms around her shoulders to pull her body against him.

After what felt like eternity, he broke away for breath and rested his forehead on hers, still holding her in place. "How are you here? How are you alive?" he asked, sounding genuinely stunned and yet also quite relieved at the same time.

"Rich man's bunker."

"Oh, me too." Jeffrey smirked as he leant back in for another kiss, only to murmur "See, I knew you liked me" against her mouth.

"Don't say that too loud, I don't want to be ostracised by my new friends."

"I think the cat is out of the bag, darling," he said, once again tempting her into yet another kiss. It seemed that once he'd started, he couldn't stop.

Yet, Hannah clearly had other plans. A klaxon sounded inside of the room and they both broke apart suddenly at the noise. Cortex opened the door and waited expectantly in the frame.

"Y/N, Hannah would like to see you. If you'd follow me?" it informed in its monotone voice.

"Definitely out of the bag," Jeffrey joked as she stood up from the bed and turned to give him one last peck on the lips. Then, just before the door slid closed behind her, Y/N peered over her shoulder and winked at him with a knowing 'I'm about to get yelled at' smile on her face.

And get yelled at, she was. For the next 20 minutes, Hannah decided to tell Y/N exactly what she thought of what went down. Their relationship should've been disclosed. Jeffrey was a bad man and she should have higher standards than that. It was going to be very hard to trust her now that they knew she was in cahoots with the guy who tried to be a dictator.

That was all true. But in Y/N's defence, she had only met him once before. It had been a very important and impactful meeting for the both of them, but it still had only been 1 conversation months ago. Was that really worth bringing up?

The punishment was that Y/N had to wait an entire 2 weeks until they allowed her to see Jeffrey again and, after hearing her reasoning, Hannah reluctantly accepted to reduce it to 10 days. Once they were up, Y/N was taking over David's dinner role once again and was let into Jeffrey's room.

She was told that they were under strict surveillance and therefore should keep things PG for everyone's sake.

"Long time, Mr Steinberg."

He perked up as soon as he heard her voice and replied, "You can call me Jeffrey, you know? I think we're way past that point" as he crossed the room to stand before her.

"Maybe I will."

"Good."

"Good."

His hands found themselves on either side of Y/N's hips as he scanned her appearance with curious eyes, noticing every little detail he missed the last few days. "You don't really suit this shade of blue," he commented with a playful grin tugging at the corners of his lips. "I prefer you in red."

"I plan on wearing more blue then."

"You're insufferable."

"I aim to please."

Jeffrey snorted and placed a chaste kiss on Y/N's lips. "I'm bored. Entertain me," he whined, grabbing her hand to drag her to his bed so she would sit down beside him. His hand moved slowly over her back, caressing her spine and drawing circles on it with his thumb. "Say something horrible."

To her credit, it took her a minute or so to come up with something. She wasn't a complete asshole. Her mind had to be racked a few times for something horrible to stand out.

"Your dog is probably dead."

"My what?"

"The dog you paid so much money for me to walk?"

Another snort left Jeffrey's mouth, he couldn't help himself and burst out laughing. "I didn't own a dog, I just wanted to fuck you," he admitted shamelessly, earning a half hearted slap across his chest from her. "Hey! You're a moron if you thought I actually had a dog. I spent most of my time in the office so it would've been fucked up if I had a pet and left it alone 18 hours a day, just barking and shitting on my very expensive carpet from dust till dawn. No thank you."

He paused for a second, clearly considering whether to divulge something or not, and before he added, "I always wanted a dog when I was a kid."

"Yeah?"

"Mhm, I wanted a Jack Russell."

"They're yappy, you're yappy, it makes sense."

An incredulous look came across his face. "I am not yappy!" She gave him a pointed look. "I am not!" he repeated in a yappy sort of way.

They continued to make fun of each other for as long as they were allowed to before the solitary part of Jeffrey's solitary confinement kicked back into gear, and this arrangement happened every other day for the next couple of weeks. Jeffrey, as much as he hated to admit it out loud, eagerly awaited her visit and would start to brainstorm ideas about what they would talk about as soon as she exited in preparation for her return.

Then, she didn't turn up for one. Then another. And another. He was beginning to get worried. Not only did he miss her terribly, but he also began to grow very anxious. What if something really bad happened to her? What if she never returned? The possibility of losing the only person close to him, the only person he gave a shit about, was very scary indeed. It was the apocalypse, and maybe Y/N had been its newest victim.

David didn't quell his concerns either. The doctor was very tight-lipped about everything that was going on in Evergreen.

It got to the point Jeffrey didn't even look up when his door opened anymore.

"Why so glum?"

"Jesus fucking christ, never do that to me again!"

With two large steps, he bounded towards her, grabbed her and brought her flush against his broad chest. His arms encircled her waist tightly, keeping her in place and preventing her from getting away from him any time soon. He buried his head in the crook of her neck and let out a long suffering sigh.

Needless to say, Y/N was surprised. Her hands hovered in the air for a short moment before they finally settled at the small of his back to hug him in return. She nuzzled her nose against his hair before pressing her lips to his temple briefly and muttering, "Good to see you too, Jeffrey" against his skin.

For several long seconds, neither one of them moved; they just held onto each other for dear life and savoured the feeling of being near one another again. When he eventually pulled away, he looked directly into her eyes and demanded, "I deserve an explanation."

"Straight onto business, huh?" she teased as she gently stroked the back of his neck with her thumb.

"Spill."

"There was a minor issue with Cortex and they didn't want you to know because you'd try to leverage your skills for freedom or something -"

He nodded. "I would do that."

"They knew I'd tell you and you'd be super annoying about it." She laughed as he made a mock offended face, then shook her head. "Hannah tried to fix it. She couldn't. If anything, she made it worse."

Spitefully, he let out a laugh at Hannah's expense. "They now need you to convince me to save the day?" he asked so, so smugly. His eyes shone with mischief as they flicked down to her lips and lingered there for a while before moving back up to meet her gaze. "What's my prize if I get Cortex up and running again?"

"That's for you and your ex-subjects to argue about."

"What if you're impacted by the prize I have in mind? Would you argue with me?"

"I think you'd really enjoy arguing with me, Mr Steinberg," Y/N stated in a husky tone, smiling cheekily at him when she saw his eyes widen and a pleased smirk spread across his face. "But I think you should be smart. Use your boon selfishly. Don't waste it on something I will willingly give you."

The smirk vanished immediately, leaving behind only a frown upon his lips instead as he studied her reaction, trying to understand why exactly that sentence confounded him so much. So, she explained.

"Instead of asking me on a date that I would've said yes to, you - in your own words - 'wasted' 100 thousand dollars for me to walk your imaginary dog."

"I didn't know you'd say yes."

"You did. There was a very obvious vibe."

She smiled sweetly at him as he stared at her for a whole five seconds without saying anything, completely lost as to how to react. Her foot came out to nudge him in the knee and he seemed to snap out of whatever reverie he was having.

"I...uh..." He cleared his throat and quickly looked everywhere else but in her direction and uttered, "It does sound fucking ridiculous when you say it like that."

"You are an idiot," she whispered, her taunt making him chuckle.

If anyone else had doubted his intelligence, he would've been far more offended than amused but since it came from Y/N, it didn't really register in his brain as an insult. Instead, he was just glad that she was here, that she was alive, and that she had decided to interact with him. He didn't need a 'prize', if he was honest. Just her presence made the apocalypse a little easier to handle.

"Yeah, Hannah is the one who fucked up Cortex but I'm the idiot? Sure, let us go with that."

Y/N cackled before leaning forward to capture his lips with hers once more, kissing him passionately while placing her hands on either side of his face and tangling her fingers through his soft curls. A hand slipped under her shirt, tracing a line directly up her spine with his palm until the fabric covering her back was collected at his wrist. He pulled away and breathed heavily, a content smile forming on his lips.

"Be a good boy and fix Cortex," Y/N urged.

"Tell me how much you need my help and I'll do it."

"Jeffrey Steinberg, we really need your help."

"Nu-uh," he tutted. "Not what I asked. I don't care about 'we'."

Scoffing, Y/N shook her head and tried to hide her amused smirk. He was arrogant and demanding and stubborn and difficult and had an ego as big as the Empire State Building and yet somehow, despite all these, she couldn't deny the fact that she liked him for those exact reasons. Because, damn it all, he was the only person who'd ever matched her energy.

His wit and humour, although sometimes sarcastic and crude, were incredibly intelligent and could cut through bullshit like butter. He had an incredible eye for detail, a need to share information whenever he possibly could, and he had an unparalleled passion and curiosity for knowledge. Even though he could be frustratingly overbearing at times, he had a knack for seeing things that others couldn't, or rather wouldn't.

So, she gave him what he wanted.

"I really need your help."

"One more time? Tell me again."

Like she always did when he was around, she rolled her eyes affectionately then repeated herself and was rewarded with his adorable, lopsided grin.

"I'll go let everyone know -"

"No, no, no, they can wait," he interjected hastily. "Don't leave so soon." He placed a kiss on her jawline. "Please stay."

"I didn't know please was in your vocabulary, darling."

With that, Y/N lay back against his pillow and got comfy, watching him as he took the opportunity to climb beside her until they were nose to nose. Jeffrey reached for a lock of her hair and twirled it between his fingers lazily as he spoke what was on his mind. He talked and talked and talked until the others decided that they'd had enough.

For the first time in months, Jeffrey Steinberg was allowed out of his room. The others were less than ecstatic when he walked around the compound waving like he was the goddamned Queen of England with his one hand. His other hand though, well wrist to be specific, was handcuffed to David as a security measure.

David wasn't happy with this at all. They knew if he had been attached to Y/N, she would've let Jeffrey run amuck for her own entertainment so David was there purely so no shenanigans could take place. And as much as Jeffrey could whine and complain, those handcuffs weren't coming off any time soon and David was determined to make sure Jeffrey understood that.

Cortex took around 6 hours to fully fix and, as expected, despite the fact he'd helped them out, the majority of Evergreen's population was counting down the minutes till he was back in his cell.

"What did he do again?" Betsy inquired, holding her palm to her stomach.

As of 2 months ago, the population of Evergreen was destined to rise by two in the coming months. Having a child was always a dangerous game but having one after the collapse of civilization? That kid was coming into a strange new world, yet, Evergreen was cushy and had the best doctor in the entire world - not that there was much competition these days - to watch their every move so maybe it wasn't as bad as it sounds on paper. Dagney and Betsy were a top priority whenever David did his rounds.

"I hear he reprogrammed that fancy robot thingamajig to try and kill everybody." Jon-Bon got a hold of his wife's hand and brought it to his lips. "That's why he's coming nowhere near you or our little one, my sweet."

"Jesus, Y/N, you really know how to pick em'," Cal vexed, shaking his head as he folded his arms across his chest disapprovingly. He clearly didn't get the response he wanted when Y/N merely shrugged since he stomped away in a huff.

Betsy sighed and rested her head against Jon-Bon's shoulder. "Go say sorry, Y/N," she instructed as if Y/N had done anything. Did Cal need an apology? For what? Y/N hadn't uttered a single word and the only gesture she'd given was a simple nonchalant shrug because why would his opinion matter?

What say did he have in her love life? Why did he care? And why should she care that he cared?

"Yeah, I'm not doing that."

"No, no, go apologise."

"You're bossy today," Y/N chuckled, kicking her feet up on the coffee table and taking a sip from her tea. "I wish I had a cigarette right about now."

Jon-Bon decided to unnecessarily weigh in too. "Cal's a good lad. He's sweet on you, ya know?"

"...So?"

"He'd be good for you, much better than that evil robot boy of yours that we hear about from the others. It would be nice to see the godparents of our scamp together, don't you think?"

Y/N cackled heartily, making a mental note to call Jeffrey an 'evil robot boy' later on just so she could see the look on his face at the new nickname that had been bestowed upon him. She didn't bother responding to that question, though. If she was honest, she didn't want to be a godparent. She didn't necessarily like these people, but she had put up with them to survive.

Almost as if they'd summoned a devil, a bouncy Jeffrey appeared around a corner with an exhausted looking David attached to him like a child barely keeping their grip on an energetic puppy on a leash. The second he saw Y/N in his peripheral vision, he was bounding towards her.

"Here comes my evil robot boy," Y/N sang merrily with her head tilted to the side and a teasing sparkle in her eyes as Jeffrey skidded to a halt right in front of her. "And look who's finally free from prison."

Jeffrey raised his handcuffed hand. "Handcuffs today. Ankle monitor tomorrow," he announced proudly and, after checking his watch, added, "It's almost dinner and I'm going to be super grumpy if my favourite delivery girl isn't going to show. You following?"

"Can I at least finish my tea?"

He snatched her cup out of her hand and downed what was left in one good swig.

"Asshole."

"Yep, that's me. Come on."

Once the mug had been carefully placed on the coffee table, Jeffrey wiggled his fingers towards Y/N in the universal sign of invitation and she stood up, smiling widely and linking arms with him without hesitation.

They were back in his room in no time. David was allowed to separate from the evil robot boy and let out a sigh of relief that he was finally free of the man's grip. Jeffrey parted from his 'other half' with a flirtatious wave and a "See you tomorrow, Davey!"

"Please don't call me that."

"Whatever, Davey! I'll be awake bright and early for my fitting."

"It won't be me. Axel volunteered for that."

Axel had been recovering when Jeffrey was first confined to his room. Everyone else had made a party out of it. They had found Finn's stash of champagne and toasted to Jeffrey's defeat, but Axel and Finn were stuck in comas in the med bay so they couldn't participate. Now, Finn was still slipping between consciousness and coma every other day, but Axel was up and walking and more than prepared for the next stage of Jeffrey's punishment.

An ankle monitor that tracked his every move and shocked him every time he was somewhere he shouldn't (or whenever whoever held the remote wanted to, really) was the compromise that Jeffrey had come to. He'd get the majority of his freedom back for the low low price of an ugly device around his ankle. That was a pretty good deal. Honestly, he had no idea why the other survivors agreed to this proposal.

Now they were alone and he was free to be as whiny as he wanted to, Jeffrey rubbed at his wrist. The skin was red and obviously sore thanks to the cuffs, and he was quick to point it out to Y/N as she placed their meals down on the nearest surface.

"Look!"

"Aw, you poor baby." Despite her mocking tone, she gently massaged his wrist in order to alleviate some of the discomfort. "Who would've thought that you'd face the repercussions of your actions?"

"I certainly didn't."

He liked being fussed over and pampered but he didn't enjoy being treated like a normal kind hearted person, which is why he liked Y/N so much. Her actions and her words were very different. She was always prepared to put him in his place and remind him that, yeah, he was a little bitch, yet she obviously cared for him in a way nobody else ever had before, and he appreciated that greatly.

Maybe he loved Y/N? Who knows? He never used to have time for feelings, and now that he did, was he going overboard? It was definitely something he was wondering about, even more so now that he was going to be allowed out of his room and interact with the other inhabitants of Evergreen more casually. But, as far as he was concerned, nobody in Evergreen was as fun or interesting to hang around as Y/N and he doubted anyone else would come close to her either.

"Stop staring into space and let's eat. Our food is getting cold," Y/N urged, her voice snapping him back to attention. She grabbed her plate from the table and moved towards the desk that they'd pushed to the middle of the room to use as a dinner table.

The chair on the one side was a lazy boy armchair that was far too heavy for what it was that Y/N always sat in. Opposite that was a gamer chair that had once looked pristine but Jeffrey had scratched away at the armrests until the leather was all ripped up, and it had an accompanying footstool that he often kicked around when he was annoyed.

Dagney had managed to grow an impressive array of produce this season so the survivors had been eating well. Jeffrey pushed his food around the plate with his fork in thought and watched Y/N while she ate.

"Spit it out, what's wrong?" Y/N asked without lifting her gaze from her plate.

"Nothing," Jeffrey replied with a grin and turned back to his food, finally getting some potato on his fork to eat.

"Uh huh, sure," Y/N retorted, unconvinced.

A beat. Then another. A third. That's all it took. "Is your bed a single or a double?" He blurted out suddenly, causing her to stop chewing.

"It's a queen. Exactly the same as yours."

"Ah," Jeffrey concluded like some big revelation had been revealed to him while taking another bite of his dinner. "Well then, you'll be as accustomed to my bed as yours."

"Who says I want to sleep in your bed?"

"Oh baby, you've been trying to get in my bed for weeks now."

She narrowed her eyes playfully at him and rested her head on her palm, elbow propped up on the dining table. "Are you suggesting that you want me to stay the night?"

"I wouldn't be opposed to it."

That was a vast understatement; he would be absolutely overjoyed if she stayed the night after pining for so long. Not that he was going to tell her anything about that. That would certainly lead to his feelings being spilled and he wasn't ready for that just yet. His thoughts must have shown on his face, because Y/N gave him a knowing smile.

"Are you under surveillance tonight?"

"Nope. Thanks to my 'selfish boon', my Truman Show treatment is no more. I'm free for the night, and every night from now on."

"Aw, I wanted an audience," she joked, earning a chuckle from Jeffrey before he took another bite.

His hand reached across the table, his palm facing up, and he wiggled his fingers expectantly, beckoning for Y/N to hold it and give it a squeeze. But Y/N didn't take it. She glanced down at it and pointed out, "I need my hand to hold cutlery. To eat."

"Just use your fork. Y'know, like I'm doing."

"Satiating my hunger or letting you kidnap my hand with yours? I think you're overestimating your importance."

With a playful glare, he opened his mouth in shock and widened his eyes. As soon as he began to pout, Y/N's resolve crumbled and, instantly, she intertwined their fingers together. Jeffrey grinned at his victory. He always liked winning, even the small battles like this one. He felt oh so smug as he brought her knuckle to his lips and kissed it tenderly.

"The couple you were with earlier, the baby, is it a boy or a girl?" he inquired.

"Betsy says it's a boy."

"How many months along?"

"Three."

He nodded slowly in approval.

"It's a good idea."

"What?"

"Raising the population."

"...Right."

"How's Dagney coming along? The baby must be popping out soon."

Y/N's brow furrowed as she stared curiously at Jeffrey. He could see the wheels turning in her head as her mind tried to comprehend why he was bringing this up.

"Dagney is due in 5 weeks," she answered.

"Great."

"Jeffrey..."

"Hmm...?"

"Slow your plans down, okay? We'll get there eventually."

Ah, she'd figured it out. He was preoccupied with the pregnancy going on and there was a reason for that. Obviously, the apocalypse accelerated a lot of emotions and processes with the goal of survival in mind.

"We should make a little army," Jeffrey suggested with a grin.

"Sure, if you figure out a way so that you can push them out instead of me, be my guest."

His smile widened impossibly further at her response and she huffed in amusement, shaking her head with a small smirk on her face.

"What's your limit? 7 babies? 15?" Jeffrey asked eagerly.

"4, if you're lucky," Y/N said with a laugh.

"Only 4? That's not an army."

"Suck it up."

They continued talking, discussing random topics, until their meal was all done and they were both ready to go nurse their food babies and lie on his bed in peace.

Instead of lying the same way, Jeffrey decided that he wanted to use her stomach as a pillow rather than his actual pillow, so Y/N took the opportunity to rest her head against his thigh when he curled his leg underneath her. Jeffrey lifted her knee up so he could hook his arm across her butt and hold her securely in place.

"You are so needy," Y/N remarked.

"You love me," he teased right back.

"I tolerate you, I suppose."

"I know that you love me."

"You're delusional," Y/N insisted, her smile never leaving her lips as she twirled one of his curls around her finger, playing with it idly.

"Not really. Just stating fact."

Silence followed as the two of them gazed lovingly at each other, not saying a word but merely allowing themselves to feel content in each others' presence and bask in the warmth and comfort of one another's company. They knew they were in love. They weren't idiots. They understood the gravity of their relationship but there wasn't a need to get all soppy about it, at least not yet.

"I like your little mole, have I told you that before, Jeff?" Y/N complimented, her forefinger tracing over his cheekbone and circling the mole with such care that it was almost as though he was fragile.

"You, uh, you haven't."

"Maybe I shouldn't have divulged that. It will inflate your ego. It's already big enough as it is."

Jeffrey couldn't help himself from cracking a sly smile, flirting, "It's not the only big thing about me," and manoeuvred himself into a sitting position against the headboard. He patted his thighs and motioned for her to sit on his lap. She didn't. Y/N tilted her head to the side and just studied him carefully for a few seconds.

"Undo your belt," she ordered in a low and sultry voice. He obeyed silently and eagerly, watching as she slipped onto her stomach and positioned herself between his thighs. She was aware that he was power-hungry - hell, everyone was very aware of that - but did it extend to other areas of life as well?

Judging by the shiver he got when she praised, "Good boy," she got her answer.

"I realised that I didn't get a say when your punishment was changed," she stated nonchalantly while her finger found the button and zipper of his trousers and slowly started undoing them. "Maybe I should come up with my own then."

Y/N nudged his shirt up with her nose and began to press her lips on the area right below his navel before sucking on the skin there and licking at the mark she'd left behind. His hands gripped at her shoulders tightly as his head dropped backwards onto his headboard because how the fuck did she guess that the skin of his stomach was sensitive? How did she know?

He whipped his shirt off to allow her to access wherever she wanted and let out a moan when she licked up his abs. "Fuck," he breathed, biting his bottom lip, and tugging at the strands of hair at the nape of her neck. He was attacked with more smooches as they drifted up his chest, over his collarbone and along his neck towards his jawline, leaving goosebumps in her wake. "How are you doing this to me?"

Tantalisingly, Y/N pulled back just enough to catch his eye. "I have you wrapped around my pinkie, that's how." She placed a kiss right on the edge of his lip, lingering for just a split second longer before she returned her attention to his neck, trailing her palm between them until her fingertips came into contact with his hardening cock through his underwear. Her nails scratched lightly against the fabric and he whimpered.

Actually whimpered.

"What was that sound, baby?"

"I didn't - What sound? That wasn't me," Jeffrey lied quickly. He hadn't meant to whine, but he had to admit it felt quite nice to have someone do all the thinking for him. He was a control freak most of the time, but when it was just him and Y/N, he liked letting her take the reins. He could just enjoy himself and forget all his responsibilities.

"Well, it wasn't me. Must've been an invisible third party that's perving on us. It has absolutely nothing to do with the fact that my hand is on your cock?"

"Nah, maybe Hannah pressed the mic on the CCTV system." Jeffrey snorted at his own joke but his laughter was soon replaced by another whine as Y/N wrapped her hand around his cock and squeezed lightly, causing Jeffrey to bite down on his lower lip and arch up in pleasure. "It was me, it was me! Fuck!"

If only the rest of the world could see him now, see him turned into a subby mess with one touch to his cock. Admittedly, Y/N had riled him up and it had been a lifetime since he last got some action that wasn't his own hand so it wasn't that unbelievable that he was being pathetic.

"I bet if the others knew a hand job would make you compliant, you wouldn't have been such a bad boy, huh?" she cooed teasingly, continuing to move her hand around the length of his cock and rubbing it slowly. Jeffrey let out a shaky breath and closed his eyes at the sensation, trying not to cry out too loudly, lest she'd stop.

His brows scrunched together as he stared up at her, his eyes wide and pleading. Y/N chuckled softly and leaned in closer, pressing her lips against his ear to whisper, "Don't worry, baby. I'm here to put you in your place."

"Shit, I can't think straight with you doing this to me," he panted, his hands reaching to grab onto any part of Y/N he could get a hold off. The sensations were overwhelming, and he was completely lost in the moment.

"Relax, baby," she murmured, biting the lobe of his ear. "I'm just getting started."

As soon as he seemed to be close - his legs shaking, a bead of sweat dripping down his brow, and his hips bucking - she stopped before he felt any sort of release. She left him panting and frustrated.

'WHY? Uh...why? Noooo," he whined, his body tensing up as Y/N pulled away from him. He whined out her name, begging for an explanation as she stood up from the bed. But she didn't give him any sort of answer.

All Y/N did was begin to undress herself, button by agonising buttons, until she was left in a lace bra and panties. She walked towards Jeffrey, her hips swaying seductively, and knelt between his legs.

"What was that for?"

"Punishment." Y/N's voice was low and husky as she leaned in to kiss him deeply. "And it's not over yet."

Jeffrey's eyes widened.

"How many edges do you think you'll be able to withstand without crying?" Her palms rubbed up and down his thighs. "3? I don't think you'll be able to manage 2 without bawling like a baby."

She mimicked him as he went to protest. "I'll let you cum if you're a good boy for me," she purred, leaning down to press a kiss to the tip of his cock. "Will you be a good boy for me, Mr Steinberg?"

At this point, he was far too gone to pretend to be the cold, logistical leader he was pretending to be. "I'll try," he gasped out, his voice barely above a whisper, and when Y/N's face indicated that she was dissatisfied with that answer, he corrected himself, "I will. I'll be good. So good. So, so good."

So, she got to it. He was edged again and again and again and again and again, the pleasure and pain mixing to make a perfect storm in his body. He was lost in the moment, completely under Y/N's control. He was sobbing, he knew that and didn't care in the slightest. The sensations were too intense to process, and he was so far gone that he didn't even care if anyone could hear him be her little bitch.

Surely, he would in the morning. Just not right now.

"Darling, I have a question for you," Y/N asked once she'd removed her mouth from his cock with a satisfying pop.

"Yes, yes, whatever you want. What, Holy fuck, yes," he said, trying to get his breath and mind back.

"How would you prefer to cum?" Y/N leaned in closer, her breath hot against his ear as she whispered the question. "I mean, if you were to choose between hand, mouth or pussy, which would it be?."

"Pussy. Pussy, please," Jeffrey replied, his voice a hoarse whisper.

He was wrecked, completely and utterly wrecked. His hair was a mess. He had a furious shade of pink spread out on his cheeks, ears, and chest. His lips were bitten and his eyes were teary as he watched Y/N's every move with anticipation.

"Yeah? Good choice," she purred, a wicked grin spreading across her face. "I think you've earned it."

A whole apocalypse had happened. He'd wanted to fuck her since he met her. Then, abandoned all hope when he presumed she was dead. Then, they met once again but couldn't do anything that wasn't PG 13 because all of his movements were being monitored by a slew of people that he'd tried to force into subjugation. He'd waited a really fucking long time.

After realising that he'd just been given what he wanted on a silver, no, platinum platter, Jeffrey was hurrying to take the opportunity to completely undress and prep Y/N so the inevitable moment where found his way inside of her was as soon as he could possibly manage. There was no point waiting.

The thought of waiting even 5 seconds longer was unbearable, so it wasn't long before he was buried deep within Y/N, both bodies coming together in a blissful union of flesh.

"Stay there for a bit. Jesus, Y/N, give me a second. I’m so close already, fuck."

Her hand was clamped on his chin as she forced him to look directly in her eyes. "Oh baby, you're so fucking eager," Y/N teased, smirking at his obvious lust filled gaze. Jeffrey gripped her hip tightly and yanked her in closer as their hips moved in sync to each other. "If you cum, I'll just keep going. I bet that will make you so, so whiney. Won't that be fun?"

"Don't say shit like that right now. I'm so close already."

Jeffrey clenched his jaw and groaned, gripping her waist harder as she continued to grind against him. He couldn't contain the moans or or the sounds of ecstasy emitting from his mouth with every thrust.

They fell into rhythm perfectly with the speed of their movements and soon, Jeffrey's mind became nothing more than white noise, completely devoid of any thought, any feeling, and simply focused solely on Y/N. His climax hit him hard, making him arch up as he came with a shout and his arms wrapped tighter and tighter around Y/N.

Y/N felt every inch of the shuddering man in front of her, every tremble of his muscles, every moan echoing through her veins and pulling her right to the edge because of how hot it was. All she heard was the sound of her own laboured breathing and the pounding of her heart in her ears; all she smelled was sex and sweat and blood as her body began to respond to what was happening inside her, pushing harder and faster until finally, she too reached her sweet release and her nails dug themselves deeper into Jeffrey's skin.

Afterward, they both lay still and panting on top of the bed, staring up at the ceiling with heavy hearts. Both of them were covered in sweat, with strands of hair clinging to their foreheads and falling onto their faces. It took both of them a while to calm down enough for either one to speak.

When they finally did talk, Jeffrey spoke first. "Fuck... I am so fucked." He turned onto his side to face her. "You've ruined other women for me, you know?" He gave her a soft smile, letting out a chuckle at the end, before continuing. "But, fuck you, you are something else."

"Aww, I think you've gone soft, Mr Steinberg," she giggled, pinching his shoulder teasingly. "Let's clean ourselves up."

Once they no longer smelt of sweat and sex, the pair were back in bed, curled up together beneath the covers. Neither one of them felt any desire to sleep at the moment, too occupied by the conversation they were having, but eventually, both succumbed to exhaustion and were awoken in the morning by Axel.

With his new ankle monitor, Jeffrey would be able to be a menace to everyone in Evergreen once again, yet this time he had someone to tug on the metaphorical dog leash whenever he was getting a little too out of control or too rowdy. The only person who could stop that idiot was Y/N, because she always seemed to find a way to snap out of those moods Jeffrey had, and for the rest of his life, he never had to go back into solitary confinement ever again.

There had been a couple of almosts, but as soon as his girlfriend told him to "quit it", he was done with the game, for the time being anyway.

*Click here for my Adrian Chase masterlist (including Jake Martin and Jeffrey Steinberg), or here for the entire masterlist*

Wanna be added to a taglist? Either comment on this post or send me a message!

[changingplumbob]

Pancakes Household: Chapter 8, Part 5

In this part Bob tries another food sale and gets ready for his birthday. Eliza takes they day off and they celebrate him becoming an adult. Lastly Onyx has a new dream. Contains some sim spice, as usual no pixel private parts are shown.

Bob takes Ginger out for their regular run and decides to stream it to try increase his fame. He needs fame for promotion and a level 10 career is his dream. I take the opportunity to enjoy the views of the bay, as everyone else is at work or school.

Back home he washes his hands before beginning some more baking. The bench quickly becomes filthy but he reminds the camera that as long as they don’t dump the mixture on the counter, it’ll be fine. When Fergus and Onyx get home they both quicky skim through their homework before their after school activities. Good news today, Onyx has reached A student level! Will they be able to keep it with their cheer commitments though?

Bob: Let’s see here

Onyx: Later dad, I’m heading to practice

Bob: Good luck! Okay, everything is arranged. Come one, come all, we have fudge bars!

Before the sale gets too underway however the drone malfunctions. Bob has been using it a lot lately. Guess he will just have to charm customers by himself.

It seems like Bob may be inspiring some loyalty. The first few customers are all ones that purchased snacks from him at the dog park! Onyx arrives home and resists the temptation to grab a lemon bar for free. Fergus also arrives back from drama club at the same time and can talk to Briana who came around after school. She is not having a good day so Fergus tries to cheer her up with some jokes.

Eliza arrives home and has a proud wife moment when she sees all the sims keen to try Bob’s baking. Inside it’s grand meal leftovers for everyone. Following dinner while Bob is still doing his sale, Eliza heads to the computer to file reports for work, gaining level 4 in the entrepreneur skill. Onyx spends time practicing on the cheer mat and reaches level 2 fitness. Fergus plays on the treehouse with Briana and reaches level 9 creativity skill.

Bob: Guess who made 250 simoleons on their day off work? This guy

Eliza: Well done. Are you excited for your birthday tomorrow? I’m going to take the day off work

Bob: Why?

Eliza: *laughs* Because it’s your birthday

Eliza has to head to bed but Bob still has some energy. He teaches Ginger how to fetch then carries her inside to save her little legs the trouble.

Light begins to peak over the horizon and Bob and Eliza are snuggled together.

Eliza: Happy Birthday Sleek

Bob: *sleepily* Happy birthday to you

Eliza: *giggles* your birthday, not mine

Bob: My birthday? That must be why I’m waking up next to a drop dead gorgeous woman

Eliza: Bob, I’m not that-

Bob: You are beautiful Jumble, inside and out. Thanks for sticking with me through it all. I love you so much

Eliza: And I love you, clothing piles and all. Now, I do have a day off, the kids can get themselves ready for school… Do you want to start your birthday off right?

...

Onyx: Did you have a good night ginger? Weird, mother is normally up by now. Must be resting

...

Bob: Please… faster…

Eliza: Is that an official birthday request? I’ll take it into consideration

Bob groans in delight as Eliza speeds up.

...

Fergus: You seen dad yet?

Onyx: Nah, he’s probably sleeping in for his birthday. We better be quiet when we leave so we don’t wake them up

The kids have indeed left for school by the time Bob and Eliza get out of bed. While Dale was obsessed with kitchen things it would appear Ginger is fascinated by bathroom plumbing. Following a quick breakfast Eliza suggests they head to the island off the coast to get their exercise in, oh how I wish there was an option to have sims go jogging together. Eliza takes Ginger so Bob has a chance to see how fast he can run without worrying about if the dog can keep up.

Of course no trip to the island would be complete without a visit to the top of the lighthouse. And, since it’s Bob’s birthday after all, a trip inside the lighthouse. I mean it’s a very cloudy day so really they were doing a public service making that light shine out.

Eliza: Oh Bob... is that your adult look?

Bob: It’s not too ridiculous is it

Eliza: It’s completely you Sleek. Ready to age up?

Bob: As ready as I'll ever be

He blows the candles out and spins up while Eliza does her best to sing happy birthday.

Bob hates parties, they are a nightmare for loner sims. However Eliza did manage to convince him to have his friends come over for a “casual catch up” and sure enough Bob enjoys it. He doesn’t feel quite so out of the loop now Onyx has aged up and he can join the discussions on the perils of raising teens.

After school Fergus does his homework before drama club and Onyx fits in some cheer practice since the watcher didn’t have time to follow them to school more this week. In the kitchen, while the adults chat, Ginger has realised that a crime has been committed. Her food bowl is empty! She begins to yap in distress until Eliza comes over to fix the situation.

Ginger: *yapping* thank goodness Mother, I almost STARVED

Harvey: I just don’t understand why he won’t accept some more money. It's not like they couldn't use it

Bob: Maybe he wants to be his own person

Harvey: Yeah or maybe Samir is telling him not to

Kayleigh: Look we don’t know Samir much, let’s give him the benefit of the doubt. He was the more attentive of the two when we gave Reece the woohoo talk

Harvey: All I know is we have more than enough and our son is choosing to sleep in a ruin of a house *sighs*

Bob: Do you regret letting him move out

Kayleigh: It’s not that exactly Bob. We're glad he's getting out in the world...

Harvey: It’s more, it hurts imagining him uncomfortable when we could help. I think I'll try give Reece money for his birthday

Bob: If it helps, I can deal with dirty surroundings just fine. Not everyone needs the dust free life to be comfy

The guests are gone by the time the kids get home and Bob figures it would be fine to work on his skills for promotion.

Bob: Do you two mind if I do my cooking livestream

Fergus: Pretty sure you’d do it anyway

Bob: Maybe but I wouldn’t enjoy it as much

Onyx: *laughs* go ahead dad, we’re almost done

Bob: Today followers, we will be looking at the best way to cook a rack of lamb. First step, don’t be imagining cute fluffy lambs while cooking, that’s how I get gloomy

Bob continues walking through his cooking process and once the rack is done reaches level 10 Gourmet Cooking skill. I’m so proud of him, well done Bob!

Fergus heads to play some games but Onyx has other tasks on their mind. First they set the table, then they check the house for dirty dishes. Finally they pick up Ginger’s latest poop to throw away. They want a horse! Of course a horse is a big ask for their parents so they’re trying to get everything just right to convince them that they should have one.

Eliza: My husband, level 10 gourmet cooking! Oh it’s simply too good for words!

Ginger: *yaps* you’ll cook me pet food when???

Eliza: I myself managed to level up my debating skill, so all that’s left for the next promotion is charisma

Bob: Oh hey, maybe we should throw a dinner party sometime. Take advantage of the charisma boost that comes if it goes well

Eliza: A proper dinner party will take a lot of planning

Bob: I’m sure we can do it together

Fergus is practising his dramatics, despite being too short for the mirror, when Ginger finds him.

Ginger: *yaps* I would like some attention and I would like it now

Fergus: Oh hey Ginger, you are just mastering going up and down stairs aren’t you

Ginger: *yaps* Of course, I’m a dog

Fergus: What have you been doing? You’re all dirty!

Ginger: *yaps* beats me, I literally just stood here and it happened

Before bed Onyx has time for some cheer practice, and judging by their routine, they need it! After falling over several times they cut their losses and head to bed before they can get more bruises. In the morning Bob is first to the breakfast table for once.

Bob: What’s all this

Onyx: They’re called placemats dad

Bob: I know, I do work in a restaurant Onyx, but why are they out? I thought we only used them for fancy times

Onyx: I thought you might like them

Bob: That’s sweet kid. Morning whippersnapper

Fergus: Morning dad

Onyx: Dad, as I’m sitting here eating this brilliant meal so lovingly cooked-

Bob: Alright kid, what is it

Onyx: What do you mean

Bob: I’m a chef, I can tell when something’s getting buttered up

Fergus: Yeah Onyx, even I could smell the cheese a mile away

Onyx: *rolls eyes* I was wondering… would I be able to… maybe if you’re okay with it… get a horse

Bob: *is surprised* Oh, well you know how it goes. Changes in the house get run past the mother

Onyx: But dad if you said yes-

Bob: Wait until your mother is here

Previous Part ... Next Part

[shewhowas39]

chapter title: "bury a friend" chapter summary: the gang reacts to the recent murder at camp, and June meets the best boy in Faerun. Plus, Astarion is a little bit protective maybe. content warnings: blood, brief descriptions of corpses, brief suicidal ideation, a sad dog

***

PREVIEW

Astarion’s mouth had opened to retort, but it shuts quickly, then the corners of his lips quirk up. “Did…did you just apologize for swearing?”

“Um, yeah?”

He turns to face her fully, arms crossed over his chest as he leans against the wall. “Everything we’ve been through in these last few days - everything we’ve seen and done, including your little bloodbath this morning - and you’re apologizing for swearing?” 

June feels her cheeks heat up and she averts her gaze, focusing instead on gathering the handful of moth-eaten but still wearable tunics from the closet and tossing them into the pile of other gathered supplies. “I just don’t think there’s any real need for cussing, all right? It ain’t very becoming. Don’t judge others for doing it, but I don’t think it suits me, okay?”

He chuckles. “You are a fascinating creature, Juniper.” 

The fact that he sounds sincere makes her think it isn’t exactly a compliment. 

Still, being this close to him, with no one else nearby, she can’t help but notice that he smells of bergamot. And she remembers the clothes left for her on the log that morning. 

“Thank you.” She steps back and closes the closet door. “Not for calling me fascinating. For the other thing. This morning. You left the clothes for me, didn’t you?”

Astarion shrugs. “I may have had something to do with that. I didn’t think you’d want to be walking around covered in blood all day. Terrifying for our enemies, of course. But they didn’t really seem like your style, darling. You’re more of a ‘talk the bad guys down’ kind of woman than a ‘let me intimidate them with a gruesome display of my past crimes’ kind of woman.” 

“Well, it was nice. Bringing them for me. Thank you.” She swallows. “And thank you for believing me this morning.”

Astarion sighs. “You are many things, but I don’t get the sense that you’re a liar. Nor a shameless bard murderer.” He seems to hesitate a moment before continuing. “I could you liked her. She made you smile more than any of us have. It doesn’t make sense that you’d kill her like that. Not intentionally.”

June nods, feeling the now too-familiar prickle of tears in her eyes. “I don’t think it was the tadpole,” she admits. “I keep…I keep having these awful thoughts. Thoughts I don’t wanna have. Violent thoughts.”

“Don’t we all have those?” Astarion asks.

“Not like this. I don’t think so, at least.”

“Hm.” He considers this a moment before giving another shrug. “I’m not much help there, I’m afraid. Some of the murderous fantasies I’ve had would make Bhaal blush.”

When he says the god of murder’s name, something in the back of June’s head tingles. The hint of a memory just out of reach. She tries to grasp for it, but it fades as quickly as it appeared.

***

i hope you all enjoy! next chapter is one i've been DYING to post. things will finally get a little horny...and fangy!

[saltygilmores]

I read 1 star reviews of Milo Ventimiglia's movie "The Divide" on ImdB. The Divide is the most vile movie ever made. These are a few of my favorites. Enjoy.

12. Never in the history of cinema has a motion picture been so ugly and unpleasant. There is no reason at all for this kind of junk being put on film let alone released to the general public without proper warning. Everything about it is beneath contempt. 11. The directors should be ashamed. The actors should be ashamed. The people who say they like this should be ashamed. 10. Films like this make me wish they'd bring back censorship, so that someone could tell director to stop making movies and let someone else try. 9. In order to enjoy this film you would have to have a very low IQ and possibly be not paying attention. 8.I have never left a review before, but I created an IMDb account for no other reason than to warn people not to watch this movie. 7. You must be really messed up in the head to even rate this movie as watchable... You're all seriously messed up, guys. Go see a shrink and stay away from the videostore for a decade or so. 6. I emailed all of my family and friends to warn them about wasting their time and money on this movie. I have never done that before in my life. 5. Watch this movie if you have hamburgers for brains. 4. I'd rather shoot a nail though my head than endure this cheap example of torture porn again. 3. Idiots locked in a basement, some die but not fast enough 2. You are what you eat they say and, having been force-fed what amounts to an inedible pile of dogs doo-doo, I am suffering the consequences. 1. I have seen better things come out the ass end of a goat.

[remyfire]

20 Questions For Fic Writers

I was tagged by @quordleona03! Thank you so much for the tag I know lots of people have already been tagged, so consider this a formal request that if you have NOT been tagged, you please come play! But off the top of my head, @onekisstotakewithme @cuddleswinchester @dreamingofspring :D

How many works do you have on Ao3?

40.

2. What's your total Ao3 word count?

I think we might officially be leaving 2023 with 300,842 words. Not a bad count for only publishing since April! That's a novella a month right there.

3. What fandoms do you write for?

MASH. :D

4. What are your top five fics by kudos?

Scratching The Itch, Can't Take My Eyes Off You, To Have and To Hold, Anything You Say Can and Will Be Held Against You, and Tear Out All Your Tenderness. Good morning beejhawk nation I see you all hkdfds

5. Do you respond to comments?

I try to! Sometimes they pile up and I get overwhelmed and just click that "Mark All As Read" button while hiding behind my hand. But I really try to circle through nowadays even just for a "Thanks for reading!!" because I really appreciate every single one!!

6. What is the fic you wrote with the angstiest ending?

I feel like ...With Too Many Miles Between Us was a pretty rough one. There's maybe optimism that you can read through the cracks, but it was a damn agonizing prompt fill (affectionate) all around. The Good Ones Always Seem to Break is another. Sorry that I keep putting you in situations, Beej.

7. What’s the fic you wrote with the happiest ending?

Oughhhh, just about anything that suggests they don't end here, so to speak. I think To Have and To Hold probably tops the list, but I Intend to Hold You For the Longest Time and Soft Place to Land also come in hot just by nature of being established postwar situations.

8. Do you get hate on fics?

Not yet! I've had a couple of people not understand what I was going for and who were not afraid of saying so, but it wasn't outright hate. They were probably just not the intended audience.

9. Do you write smut? If so, what kind?

Ahh yes. 65% of my current fics are rated E for a reason, and the 5 M ones are flirting with that line.

I categorize myself as an erotic romance writer, meaning that typically if you remove my sex scenes from my fics, you are losing integral information or character/relationship development that would otherwise make the fic not stand on its own. I also have a handful that are just pure erotica—sex for titillation's sake rather than development. I adore writing smut!! It's a lot of fun, it's exciting when you know you've landed it exactly like you wanted to, and it's a way for me to reclaim all those years I spent being forcibly repressed due to my religious upbringing. I love every minute of it.

10. Do you write crossovers? What’s the craziest one you’ve written?

I do not!

11. Have you ever had a fic stolen?

Not that I know of.

12. Have you ever had a fic translated?

Not that I know of.

13. Have you ever co-written a fic before?

The Famous 4077 Dog Tag Party certainly counts! Many of us authors randomized a list of pairings for both eras of the show, and then we were responsible for picking a pairing, writing the characters going on a date (platonic or romantic), and seeing what happened. Extremely fun way to get some rare pairs we might not have expected. For example, I got to write Margie/Klinger for it!

14. What’s your all time favorite ship?

Hey now I am too fucking polyam to answer this and you know it. Mcpunnihawk probably tops the list, warring with margbeej and sidbeejhawk.

15. What’s a WIP you want to finish but doubt you ever will?

I am not taking this defeatist energy into 2024, how dare you. One day, my pretties, I'm coming back for all of you and we are crossing that finish line OR ELSE.

16. What are your writing strengths?

Smut, capturing character voices accurately, physicality, spinning relational scenarios on the fly.

17. What are your writing weaknesses?

Genres like mystery or sci-fi or horror, repetition of comfort words/phrases, putting my characters through significant levels of pain (I am too empathetic, I can and will cry over my own fics).

18. Thoughts on writing dialogue in another language in fic?

Things that I do not feel comfortable doing myself because I am not familiar enough with any other language to know I'm doing it accurately.

19. First fandom you wrote for?

The kid wizard one.

20. Favorite fic you’ve written?

How dare you make me pick from my children. Scratching The Itch, Anything You Say Can and Will Be Held Against You, I'd Give Up Forever to Touch You, and Desperate Times Call for Desperate Measures. Notably this could all change by this time tomorrow. I'm very fond of my fics.

[regular-lord-reckoner]

welp, guess who hit burnout again ?!?!

i did !!

primarily because of some bad news i got last week. it's nothing bad bad, it's just some aggravating bullshit i have to deal with (basically i missed some payments for my therapist and i thought it was like...3 or 4, but it's like...8?? the lady that does her payroll is going to look into it because my deductible kicked in somewhere in there, but i don't think for most of it so i'm just annoyed at myself for letting this pile up like this but what can ya do!! thankfully she's been really forgiving and understanding, especially because a lot of these missed payments happened around when my dad died so i do appreciate that and will be making it up to her as soon as i can; i don't see her again until april so hopefully by then i can get a little more caught up

i also broke my favorite mirror and my pipe like a day apart from each other (the pipe i'm not as broken up about because i'm starting a tolerance break soon anyway and the guy i bought it from still makes the same one so we're all good there but the mirror???? the fucking mirror!?!)

okay so this goddamn mirror.

i genuinely don't even know how this happened

i had just put our dog down for his nap (yes, he has a nap time and yes i take care of him like he's my child now.........he's grown on me) and i went upstairs to use my bathroom and get my medicine and i may have accidentally knocked into something on my way there, but i swear i wasn't that close and as soon as i got into the bathroom i just heard a commotion and turned around and my dad's guitar fell over, hit the mirror, the mirror hit ??? and shattered

specifically into two pieces, one kinda small, i could have probably fit it into a cardboard box, but the other piece was too big and i would have had to break it up somehow without getting more glass everywhere and i could already see what looked like glitter all over the carpet so i said fuck that

i ended up having to get two very thick trash bags to bag it up and carefully transport it downstairs and all i could think was, "please don't let this fucking mirror cut through this plastic anymore than it already has (because it had a little) and end up slicing my hand up real bad and then what? i probably have to drive myself to the nearest walk in because no one else is here right now and it would take too long for an ambulance to get out here, plus..........expensive so...be careful!!!"

the whole ordeal ate up an entire hour of my fucking day because i had to just sit and stare at it for about half an hour before i could even clean it up, i just froze

then all the transporting it downstairs and getting it outside with the other trash and texting our family friend who hauls the trash off for all of us to let him know to be careful with it, yeah

it hasn't helped that i've somehow gotten behind on part of my work and my inbox lately has been consistently in the 200+ range and i keep finding all these stat referrals that aren't marked even though everyone literally just got an email the other fucking day to make sure those are marked but nope!! so now i feel pressure to get through as many of them as i can so needless to say my work days lately have been thusly:

i get up at 6:30 am. i do a little work. sometime around 7:30 i go lie back in bed for about an hour before i get up to get the dog up and take him outside and feed him his breakfast.

while he's eating i do the dishes and sometimes will get the trash all gathered up and set out to be taken off. i also feed the cat and check to see if he needs anything, any litter or water or whatever else.

sometimes i'll do some of my own cleaning, like my bathroom or start on my laundry (i think last week i ended up doing everything: sheets, towels, clothes, the dogs blankets and towels)

oh, i also give him a bath now every thursday so he's not stinky and it helps with his skin because his breed is prone to getting these little bumps so weekly baths help with that apparently

we'll go on walks throughout the day, too. usually whenever i take him out to go potty but sometimes if i get an extra bit of free time and the weather is nice we got for a little walk together

in between all of this i try to pop in to get some of my actual work done and on good days i do mange to scoot along pretty well. on bad days it's been kinda like how it's been for the past few weeks and i end up staying up until our records system literally begins to stop communicating with our patient scheduling/demographics system which means i can't do shit anymore. that's usually around 11:30 pm

somewhere in there i eat a few meals slowly over the course of a few hours and often don't even up finishing them because i've gotten the ick or they've gone too cold so i save it for later or just toss it out

i go to sleep usually around midnight or 1 am but again on bad nights it's like...almost 2 am. and then it's back up at 6. or my new favorite...wake up at 5 and then i'm not able to get back to sleep!

doesn't help that whenever i don't get enough sleep my neuromuscular shit gets a lot worse so i spend all day just lightly vibrating with tiredness (quite literally, it's just all day minimal shakes which is fun when all you do is type)

i would just take extra of my medicine but i lowkey got shamed by a pharmacist for refilling my meds too soon so....there's that

the last time i went to refill i didn't have any problems, normally the automated system will tell me, "hey, bitch, you can't refill this yet, slow down!" and so i know to wait a few more days and try again (unless i'm about to be out before then, of course), but that didn't happen, it just told me it would be ready tomorrow so tomorrow i went and evidently it was not eligible to be refilled that soon and it was just the way she was looking at me when she said, "didn't you just have this refilled [whatever the date what]??" which like...yeah, admittedly it was a little sooner than usual but like..........sometimes i just need more of my medicine ¯\_(ツ)_/¯

pretty sure i was doing a lot of physical shit around then so yeah, i probably took more of my pills than normal....i realize i should probably just bite the bullet and contact my neurologist to see if he can up my prescription before my next visit in september where we normally go over that because evi-fuck-ing-dently if i need a little bit more sometimes it's gonna be a whole thing now

and of course, me being me, i'm like...apologetic, just like, "okay, well i can just come back another day, sorry" and she said, "well, we can refill it if you want to wait," which like....................why did you give me grief over it then?! but then when i asked about how long would it be she was like, "i dunno, 20 minutes or you can just come back later," which is hell to tell my autistic ass so i was just like, "uh, i guess i'll come back later..." which she seemed to be glad to be rid of me and likewise, so!

i went and cried in my car for a bit because once again just frustrated that i felt humiliated over that because it wasn't that deep, but it just kinda reminded me of high school and how i purposefully avoided going to the nurse's office to get my medicine because she was such a fucking asshole to me (she was the one who after i asked if my dad could come pick me up because i was sick started grilling me on my condition to which her conclusion was, "so, what, are you going to stay in bed for the rest of your life or something?" with just pure hatred in her voice, i literally didn't have an answer for that. she did not last long as the nurse, surprisingly! she was very unpopular, i can't even imagine the other fucked up shit she probably said to my classmates)

but yeah, just...hey, i need this to literally function. i'm not trying to hurt anyone. i'm not trying to make your job, that i know is already very hard, any harder. i just want my goddamn medicine. i just walked through over-stimulation city and am going to do it twice today (it's costco btw and the pharmacy is alllllll the way in the back), just......please do not give me a hard time about this for the love of god

also, if you're wondering, "gee anna, i'd just switch pharmacies if i were you, that sounds like a lot of hassle!" yes, i have considered that, but you see............my job's got me by the balls on this one. in the past couple of years they've introduced their own pharmacy and technically...........technically i'm supposed to be filling my medicine with them.

there's literally a clause about like, "don't you fucking dare fill [my type of medication] with anyone but us!!" but like......somehow i've managed to make it this far without them noticing??

and costco themselves have just sort of made it work?? because i think my original script was actually for a larger supply, but i guess if i got that filled it would force me to use my work's so costco just fills it to a lesser degree and somehow it flies under the rader. i dunno !!

but !! i've been using them instead of my work because from everything i've heard.....our pharmacy sux !!!!

i won't get into all of it (but like my mom has said some of her medicine with like...clearly what it is with her name and everything on it was left lying out where patients and god and everyone could see it....not great)

they also just make a lot of mistakes and i'm skeptical if they store things correctly so suffice to say there's a lot of reasons i just don't want to deal with it, it's also apparently hard to just...get your meds from them because of how they do things. so i really don't want to make this process any more challenging than what it already is, but yeah. a little bit frustrating, i guess

in addition to.....all of this, i also had got to thinking, "damn, i've been working a lot of 50 hour weeks lately, how long have i been doing this? a few months now?"

i knew it was around the time my dad was dying because i remember quite literally watching him in his hospice bed over the top of my computer to make sure he didn't wake up again and try to take his oxygen off

turns out it's uh....been a year now

right around this time last year i started working 50 hours a week.

granted there were a few weeks, especially at the beginning, where i would work one 50 hour week and then a 44 hour week and then 50 hours again and 40 back and forth like that because i was worried i'd get in trouble but eventually i realized no one way saying anything so eventually (and with a few exceptions, of course) i just started doing one after the other and now i'm here......kiiiiiiiiinda burnt out

which isn't surprising really, when i think about it

i was quite literally experiencing burn out to the point of serious thoughts about not being here anymore and engaging in self harm through my meltdowns so i guess you could say i was a little stressed last year but i pretty much had to try to put it all on pause and just...get to work in so many senses and i know i let a lot of things fall through the cracks. too many probably. but i cannot emphasize enough just how much i was breaking down and how hard it was for me to hold my shit together during that time.

i didn't want anyone to know it had gotten that bad, i felt like a monster and every day it's like i did something else horrendously wrong or said the wrong thing and sometimes i really did and sometimes it was just my warped perception of things and i started to lose the ability to tell the difference and it all just congealed into one big ball of stress

i spent a lot of therapy sessions honestly just bawling my eyes out because of it after which i usually felt better for a little while, but it would slowly build up again and again because i still hadn't figured out what works and what doesn't as far as self-care goes and what even are my needs and god this is all so fucking overwhelming and the spots on my dad's lungs just keep getting worse and he keeps getting weaker and my mom's falling apart and i'm falling apart and everything's falling apart, but not me!! never me, not yet!!

so i just kept going. and still am.

yes, i've had a few breaks and those have helped tremendously. i'm taking another one next month (bet you can't guess which week) and i'm just going to stay here, maybe do some cleaning on my closet and hopefully catch up on sleep

this, so far, is what seems to work

when i feel myself approaching my limit, i shut off essentially. i go into autopilot

i do what i need to get done, get it all done and then crash and recover as much as possible until i reach the next big rest (which is usually just a week at a time but i'll take it !!!) and along the way i just try to pick up different modalities of self-care and prioritizing my health and wellbeing as i go

like today, i managed to sleep in until 11 am. beautiful !! stunning !!

first time i've felt like a human being in ???

i took advantage of this renewed energy to put my efforts into putting together something special for my niece's kids.

unfortunately, their dad's father passed away earlier this week. sudden heart attack, apparently.

the younger one doesn't really have as much attachment to him, i don't think, but the older one is really torn up about this from what her mom has told us

he used to babysit for them a lot so he was a big part of her life. they were actually supposed to get ice cream that day because he promised it to her if she did well on one of her tests and she did but that obviously didn't end up happening

that's two of her grandfathers now she's lost in about 6 months and my heart is just broken for her

her mom said already that sometimes she just bursts into tears out of nowhere and when she asks her, "honey, what's wrong?" she says she misses my dad (which hey.......big same. the sudden crying about it and everything).

his funeral will be on monday which my mom won't be able to go to but said she wanted to still go up there tomorrow just to be with the kids if nothing else to give them some extra comfort

i'm staying behind so i can watch the critters (and because i don't think right now i'm up for all of that honestly) but i did want to send them my love so i took about an hour today to shop for some presents for them

i got them both these really neat stuffed animals (a dinosaur for the younger one because they're her favorite; it roars and lights up and everything) and a bunny that also makes a cute noise and lights up and they're both nice and cuddly since her mom also said right now all the older one wants to do is curl up with her blanket and watch her favorite shows

i also got the younger one some bluey dolls since that's her favorite right now and a little bracelet that looks like one i know she has and loves except this one has a little purple butterfly on it !!

i got her sister a really nice princess crown and this cool lip balm thing with a container that has some of her favorite characters on it so i hope she likes that and i got her a bracelet that's similar to her sister's but it says "don't give up" on it

mom's going to take them the gifts tomorrow so i hope they like them and most of all, i hope they help. i walked up and down the kid's toy aisles so much i think i was making people nervous with me being a single adult just going up and down the aisles constantly but i was really trying to put a lot of thought into what would cheer them up and give them comfort right now

after that i made a few more stops to get me a few little treats even though i probably don't need them, but they made me happy so...there!

i came home, relaxed for a little bit, took the dog for a walk/potty break, fed him his dinner, washed some dishes, took out all the trash, took a shower and i finally ate dinner around 10 pm

so yeah. been....pretty busy lately.

i think part of what's contributing to this particular burnout is that i just feel like i haven't stopped in....ages now. i just keep going and going and going and going

but !!! if nothing else this tells me i really need to step up my skills for dealing with, well, me.

although i reserve the right as a scorpio to close the door to myself for a while and emerge dramatically when i feel rejuvenated, there are...better ways of approaching things, i think, so we're going to work on that

namely i'm going to work on getting more sleep. i think that's one of the biggest contributing factors because i'm just exhausted all of the goddamn time and being exhausted leads me to being on edge all day long (even when i start out the day in an awesome mood sometimes, over time and as i sit there working it's like the life just drains out of me)

so we're going to work on that and we're also going to work on our diet. although processed foods have kept me steady for all these years due to their dependability and extreme convenience, i'm at an age where i really need to be eating a lot more vegetables and actually start cooking most of my meals

going to work on that and eventually the plan is to also start growing some of my own food because another thing too is like.....every goddamn product in the store anymore is owned by some bullshit genocide supporting monopoly entity so like......the less i can contribute to that the better, i figure

i also really hope to get to my closet soon because i know i keep talking about it and it and it's been forever but i just haven't had the capacity for it so it got put on hold but fingers crossed on my break i can at least start to chip away at it

which....speaking of stuff around the house, that's been another thing

it's becoming clear to my mom and i that this house, beautifully made by my father as it is, really needs some love put into it

the entire thing honestly needs a good deep clean, but in addition to that i'm pretty sure there's mold upstairs. i don't know about downstairs, but i'm 99.9% sure it's up here and i think part of it probably has to do with the fact that the doors i have that go outside don't.....close completely ?? heh

i may have accidentally fallen into them at one point and knocked them out of frame and no matter what i've done to try to fix it (mostly slamming against it from the other side like i'm a fucking football player) so i've done what i can to mitigate the slight crack that's at the top of the door but i'm pretty sure moisture has been getting in anyway so that's fun !!

those doors obviously need to be replaced and there's also a skylight in my bathroom that i think has gotten some water damage around it so that might be contributing as well, but that needs to be fixed, too

there's also some ceiling work that my dad had started on in their bedroom but didn't get to finish before he got sick so that needs to be finished and of course the water heater could still go at any time

the plumber was able to get it back to somewhat full capacity, but even still i've noticed the hot water runs out a lot faster than it used too, so that'll be something else

we also hadn't really realized until all of this with my dad just how inaccessible our house is to get into if you struggle to walk or need a wheelchair

we did what we could with my dad's chair and he'd hold on to one of us to get into the house while holding his cane with the other hand, but like that one night he was so weak after he fell earlier in the day and then all day at the emergency getting checked out, he nearly fell and busted his open and instead ended up collapsing in the hallway just inside the garage entrance and we had to call ems to help come get him up out of the floor so.....we really need to at the very least have hand rails installed at some entrance point of this house that'll make it easier (the backdoor technically has them but it would be a trek for someone with mobility issues of any kind to get back there to them)

the carpets all either need a really good deep clean or to be taken up and replaced with either more carpet or something else

and i'm sure there's more i'm not thinking of right now, but suffice to say, it's....a lot. and no, it doesn't all have to be done right now, right now but the sooner the better for some of them for sure

fortunately my dad left us some money that initially he said we could use for a trip but i think we're going to instead use to do a lot of this stuff around the house that needs to be done

in the meantime, i'm going to try to clean as i go as much as possible. getting all that stuff out from around the water heater really just makes me want to rent a dumpster so we can just throw a bunch of this shit away because honestly a lot of it is just junk at this point that's not even worth donating or giving to someone

some of it yes and definitely any clothes we find that are still good quality, but a lot of this shit i would love nothing more than to just chuck into a dumpster and feel like i can breathe a little easier because it's nowhere near hoarder level i don't think, but for my taste it's starting to feel a little claustrophobic

in the mean time, i'm also going to try to start reading more because i really did used to enjoy it and i think my brain's starting to finally get to a point where it's like, "hey, i can handle new information !! let's start learning again !! let's start reading a whole bunch !!" so i'm excited to start that

i'm still journaling and working my puzzles and spending time outside connecting with nature so these are all also things that i think help me out a lot that i intend to keep up

i also want to start teaching myself how to play my dad's guitar soon because i've always wanted to do that and i think it would bring me a lot of joy if i could manage to learn

i'm also just, as weird as it sounds, letting myself be more autistic, i guess ??

i hadn't realized until recently just how much i've suppressed a lot of stimming and self-soothing behaviors and how much better i feel when i just.....let myself do them

i've struggled with being perceived even when i know i'm completely alone for some time now, i remember even talking about it with my last therapist like a decade ago so this has been a thing

i used to even cover the vents when i went to the bathroom and would shower in the dark because i couldn't pinpoint why i felt like i was always being watched but just in case aliens or the government or whoever were secretly spying on me i was going to avoid them !!

anyway, hey, younger me, turns out you're just really neurodivergent, babe! like i'm starting to think you're more than just autistic, you might also have a decent helping of adhd, dunno, it's kind of slowly starting to emerge which is weird but i'll give you a for instance......i forgot to sign up for my insurance this year!!

i kept getting the alert on my paycom thing whenever i log in every day and i even checked it a few times and was like, "oh yeah, i need to do that," but just kept forgetting the second i would look away from it and anyway, the other day i get an email that's like, "hey, so you've been automatically enrolled in your issuance this year since you didn't wanna do it yourself :P" basically so i do have it, but what's my plan like ?? is it a good one ?? i dunno just yet but i guess we'll see. they're all pretty much the same at this point but i think i did notice it's a different provider so...woohoo, i'm slowly but surely collecting all the insurance types like they're fucking pokemon

anyway, shit like that's been happening more and more lately, but i'm trying to get a handle on that, too because i'm already in a big enough hole as is and quite literally cannot afford to dig myself any deeper so we're gonna do what we need to in order to be well and be somewhat healthy and get this brain sorted out and hopefully, eventually, i'll get to reach a point where i can put down a few of the balls i've been juggling and just kinda....take it easy for a bit

again, and i know i always say this, but i fear i always sound out of touch with reality when i talk about my life like this and so i want to make it clear i do acknowledge all of this could be much, much worse

my life is by far nowhere near as bad as it could be and in a lot of ways i have many things working in my favor and that are of great help to me, so i'm extremely grateful for that. i haven't always been, admittedly, but i've also had a lot of complicated feelings to unpack especially in the past year that made it difficult, but i've come out the other side of that now and i really do just want to mature and focus on growing and part of that is my gratitude for the things in my life that are going right and are immensely beneficial to my wellbeing

that being said, my life nevertheless still hast its challenges and although i blab a lot on here (probably more than i should) i do still tend to keep the majority or perhaps the intensity of how i really feel all to myself

i know there are definitely times that even i can admit that it's like, "uh, hey, the thing you're having a meltdown over really isn't worth being that upset about, it'll be okay........" because sure enough everything was/is totally fine and it's not a big deal, but it's hard to describe how in the moment it feels so much bigger and far more dire so what seems like a lot of dramatics and going through the motions on everyone else's end may all be for naught but like...it's still a tangible hell i end up going through that takes its toll on me, i'm just....used to it, lol

i've literally been getting overloaded since i was born and in some ways it feels like it's never stopped since then, the only problem was i didn't have an answer as to why until very recently so it's not like i wasn't doing anything about my mental health because i just wasn't prioritizing it, i didn't even know where to begin and my first attempt at getting help didn't even land close to what the real issue was so it put me off for a long time (to be fair, the therapy was also heavily focused on like.....my sister having just died, so that's at least part of why, i'm sure)

this really feels like the first time in either a very, very, very long time or possibly even ever that i've been able to just actually stop a little and catch my breath. feel like myself, my actual self. not the mask i've been poorly trying to keep together for forever now

a mask that part of me is hesitant still as i continue to take it off because what i'm realizing about myself is that a lot of who i am/who i've been was tied up in that so like.....naturally i'm starting to see a lot of shifts in the relationships around me and just how i think about myself as well and how i approach things

and it's hard because it's like.....am i being fair ?? am i taking everyone around me's feelings into consideration ?? because i'm so used to having to do that and tiptoe around and always feel like i'm walking on eggshells except my clumsy ass was just tromping through them anyway, always putting my foot in my mouth and saying the exact wrong thing that at the worst possible time and just hating myself more and more but not knowing how to fix it so i'd just princess caroline my relationships and focus on everyone else instead which makes people like you for that, but not so much the rest so there's this constant worry of, "is that all i'm good for? will i be replaced as soon as i stop being useful?" and not for nothing but like....it's happened before, so!!!

so....yeah. i've been unpacking a lot of things lately and just trying to sit with them and think about all of this and about who i want to be now and how to get there

the process is already happening and has been for about a year now, but it's a slow one unfortunately (and really all of this has been woefully too late, but that's what happens when you snooze, anna. you lose !!!) but like that asshole walter white once said, i am......awake, now. except instead of becoming an ego-maniacal abusive drug lord who destroys his family and everything he touches, i'm going to do...whatever the opposite of that is. in every sense

i hope i can grow into a person who is ultimately kind and loving and patient and stable and lovable and healed who has interesting hobbies like making music and maybe recreating some of the pictures she takes of the sky in the form of paintings if she gets good enough

as overwhelming as everything has felt lately i can also feel new possibilities unfurling in me and i can see so many roads and avenues i could go down in terms of growth and development and for the first time i'm staring to feel like i'm brave enough to do it or at least give it a shot

so that's what i hope for. that's what i'm working towards.

thee are going to be parts of me i know people aren't going to like, in particular my tendency to want to spend the majority of my time alone and with my own thoughts, at least for right now, but that's just something i feel as though i need to do and quite honestly, as though i've earned

in some regards, i've spent a good portion, if not almost all of my life in some form or fashion taking care of the people that i love. often in an emotional sense, but i like to think i've also stepped up to the plate in a lot of other ways even if i didn't do every single thing perfectly, i still at least tried

i think i've finally earned some time to focus on me and just me for a little bit.

not to say i won't help anyone with anything (i quite literally spend a good chunk of my time helping my mom now), but i can tell with everything in my being that i really, really need to just turn inwards for a little bit, focus on me, heal some more, mature some more and i think when i emerge from this cocoon i'm going to be....a decent looking butterfly!! (actually, i also hope i get hot. not like "oh, i buy these clothes or makeup or whatever" but just like...y'know, hot. when you invest in yourself hot, you know what i mean? idk it's getting late and i'm quite tired)

but yeah. think that's about it for now.

sorry this was so long, i've just clearly had a lot going on and have a lot on my mind and i like to just check in every so often to document where i'm at in this journey

wish it was a better update, but they can't all be good or we wouldn't be working towards anything, now would we?

i guess that's all for now.

a coupe of last things:

i saw a big yellow butterfly the other day when i was taking the dog out. i sort of associate yellow with my dad now because he loved yellow flowers, especially sunflowers, so whenever i see anything yellow, really, i think of him and of course butterflies are supposedly visitors so i think that might have been him saying hi, which i really needed

also, the cashier supervising the self check i was at today said, "you can use whichever one you want, darlin'," to me which made me smile a lot although they couldn't tell because i had a mask on but i said thank you and tried to smize as best as i could before scooting off to scan my items and get one step close to going back home

oh, and i started to cry a little earlier because on my way home i had to pass by the funeral home and in particular where i was sat at a red light i actually had a perfect view of the crematorium and right as i was looking at it i hear bert mccracken (who btw has apparently been pro-Palestinian for like a decade now so good on him; i knew i chose right in the divorce when everyone else went to gerard's !!) coming from my speakers going, "fill your lungs with smoke for the last tiiiiiime!!" and i started to laugh because like.....c'mon, that's kinda funny, but then i started to cry because i remember that day and then i just missed him but i also had to drive so we just shut that shit down and headed home and i still haven't cried yet so will probably do that tomorrow and some journaling. i think a big cry would help a lot so we'll see !!

as always, i hope if you're reading this you have a good weekend and can also get some rest from chaotic life and stress and all the other bullshit

i hope something good happens for you soon and that you also heal and can try to find some peace and comfort

i absolutely must go to sleep now so g'night !!! <3

[pbandjesse]

Today was such a nice birthday. Like here at the end I am feeling a little emotional. But that is more because I'm very tired then anything else. Today was great.

I slept alright. The coughing is getting to me hardcore at night and it's making it really tough to function. Like I can't sleep all the way because every time I turn over I start choking again. But I keep trying to be alright.

I felt good when I woke up though. I woke up before my alarm and took my time getting up. No rush. Jess hadn't told me she left yet and she wasn't due here until 1030. So I just watched tiktoks and got texts from my family and it was good. I was happy. James came and made a big fuss about my birthday. I got lots of hugs and kisses today.

Once I was dressed, James made me an omelette. And we sat together in the living room. Waiting for Jess to be here.

And soon she was! I looked at her location and it said 50ft away!! What!!

So I went outside to meet her. And she was like omg happy birthday! Happy birthday house! Happy birthday at your house!! And we were all smiles.

I was very excited to give her the tour of our little house. We started with the most finished room:the bathroom. And went all over. She said it was a little smaller then she expected from the photos but real estate photos are always deceptive. Which is why I had done all those floor plan drawings. I have been very honest about how it's basically the same size as the apartment only stacked. Plus a basement. But it's going to work for us really well.

She said it was really cute though and she's excited to see it with furniture. And I was too. So pretty quickly we were all piling in the cars to go to IKEA.

I had a grand plan. I had done a lot of measuring and a lot of research and made sure I had backups in color ways if something was sold out. And for the most part my plan worked perfectly.

We got to IKEA and started with the return section just to double check. Nothing blew me away price wise so we headed to the showroom.

I teased Jess a ton and was smoochie with James. And was just feeling so happy. We looked at the pieces I wanted and I was happy with the quality and the sizes. Jess saw a few things she wanted too. And it was just a lot of fun. I also just love Ikea so today was such a perfect way to spend my birthday.

When we got to the marketplace we grabbed a cart. I stuck pretty well to my list. Only adding a dog shaped bathmat that I became obsessed with. He's literally perfect.

Jess would get a few things. A planter. A lamp. A little basket. She had a lot of self control in not buying every jar she picked up. I hugged all the stuffed animals and was having the best time.

When we got to the warehouse we grabbed a second cart. But in the end we would need three. While I had measured the house. I did not consider how many boxes all of our purchases would come in. We got 8 pieces of furniture and it came in about 20 boxes.

It was good I had made a list to know where locations were because we were going down to a lot of ends of aisles. But we worked tighter to load the very heavy things up. I had the regular carts and Jess and James each had a flat cart and they were full full. Struggling to load them was a surprise because of how many boxes there were.

Paying wasn't as hard as I worried it would be. I handled the small things and bagging those up. And then when we got outside I saved two loading zones spaced next to each other while they went to get the cars.

This is where I had not planned for an issue. We couldnt fit all the boxes in the car. James was trying their hardest but it just was not happening. It was close! With Jess having a slightly longer interior, that helped a lot. But even with James really good spacial awareness, we could not get the last three boxes in. It took most of a half hour in a very blustery area, but we had to throw in the towel.

Thankfully Ikea has a place to hold the items so James would make a second trip. But for now we would go have our Ikea veggie dogs and weird Ikea sodas and my ears would be so cold that they were burning so James very gently cupped them so they wouldn't hurt so bad and I loved them so much in that moment. Jess said we were being disgusting. Yes. True.

I had ridden with Jess to IKEA but with the seat having to be moved up, it was safer for me to ride back with James. We had boxes in the middle of us but we drove carefully and even when a goose tried to kill itself in front of us and James had to swerve I was able to hold the boxes and nothing got broken or hurt. And pretty quickly we were home.

I would help bring some stuff inside. But mostly I was in charge of directing traffic. We would say hi to our neighbors when we were outside. I even got to meet the landlady for the house two doors down. Who was so excited to hear it was my birthday and then was shocked that I was 33. She thought I was a Hopkins student! It was nice that a stranger was excited for me.

It took a bit to get everything inside. And we even had a disaster when the bag of small stuff got dropped and one corner of each of the wall shelves were damaged. I'll just face those towards the wall. But James felt very bad about it. Not the end of the world.

James would stop to have a snack or the Ikea cookies they got themselves. And then headed back out to go to IKEA again.

And me and Jess would spend the next hour building one of the shelves for the mezzanine. I was hoping to get both done but getting one done before James got home was still impressive. James would put the doors on when they got back. But in the mean time we worked very well together building and I'm really happy with how it turned out. Jess says we have never built Ikea furniture together before but I think we did great. Very proud of us.

I was very happy when James got back. They brought the last three pieces in and jumped right into finishing the doors for the shelves. I would go to the studio to start opening the boxes for the day bed. It was important that we finished that today because Jess would be sleeping in it. I had opened the rolled mattresses as soon as we got home so they had the best chance of swelling back to normal thickness. And I think that worked really well.

Putting together this daybed was a very long process with a lot of steps. I'm really proud of us for how we divided the tasks. And even when things went slightly wrong, when I put something in the wrong place, or we used the wrong hardware, we were able to figure it out together. And we didn't fight at all. Only in jest. And I was so happy being with them. We were doing great.

At one point we decided we should make a reservation for dinner at the James Joyce Irish Pub for 7. That would give us a good stopping point. I had Jess set an alarm for 620 so we would have a good topping point to get cleaned up. But I was really hoping we would finish before we left.

There were some bumps in the road. We were making great progress and then at 6 realized like 20 screws were missing. And then after a few minutes of searching we had to look through all the steps to discover that we used them in place of some pins by accident and had to spend a little time taking that apart and redoing it. But through teamwork we were able to get it done. Then it was discovered that I had put the tracks for the drawers on wrong. So we had to move all of those. And so James had to stop their task because we only have one drill. But we would still finish on time. At 635. Amazing. Great job us.

It was so satisfying to see the trundle part of the bed come together and then it all was settled and the mattresses were in place and I was just so thrilled.

And then it was time to go to dinner.

James drove us to harbor east. Where parking is very tough. After circling the block a few times, James would drop us off and go find somewhere a few blocks away. We went to get our reservation so we weren't to late.

And I just had such a lovely dinner. The only issue was around 530 I had started wheezing and coughing hardcore again. And was still wheezing. The outside air helped but I was still struggling. Jess suggested after dinner we go to target and get me an over the counter inhaler. I said I would consider it. For now the focus was dinner.

We got Caeser salads. James got a cocktail. Jess got a bowl of lemons to share with me. James got a Ruben dip sandwich, I got a black truffle grilled cheese and a spicy chili oil tomato soup, Jess got shrimp and fries. And it was all fabulous. I told Jess stories about hobby tunneling. We are our food. We talked about how lovely everything was. It was a little loud but the music was really good. This was a beautiful birthday and a beautiful birthday dinner.

Honestly though it was to much food. I only had half of my sandwich because it was the size of two sandwiches. And we would have salad and fries to take home too.

After we got boxes we headed out. It was shockingly cold and my jacket doesn't help much in the wind. But we made it to the car in a few minutes and warmed up.

My breathing got bad again. So I agreed to the inhaler. We would go to target and get candy and the inhaler and milk and James got body wash too. And we had fun walking around. And while I was struggling breathing I was still really happy and having a really good time.

I was excited to go home though. I was getting really tired. I am so glad we finished making the bed for Jess.

We spent the next half hour getting Jess bedding and moving all the cardboard boxes we had opened to the basement. Well get that off to recycling soon but for now we need more path. Because our couch is supposed to be delivered tomorrow!! Amazing. Am thrilled. But we had to make space. So we worked on that and Jess got ready for bed. Made the daybed all cozy. It was good.

Soon though I started getting a little birthday sad. We decided we were all to full for cake tonight. So tomorrow me and James will celebrate with that. And James has a few little gifts for me. Jess had given me a balloon dog pendant made of pearls and balloon dogs earrings made of glass. James got me the Mathews pizza sweatshirt I wanted so much. And they got me a very cute birthday bear mug but it got broken in transit. They tried to glue it back together which was sweet but they said they will still order a new one.

But then they got me something I had such a visceral reaction to. Not in a good way. They got me doc martens. The American Western ones. The ones I loved so much. But I was like. Shocked. I do not like getting shoes as gifts. It's always been a thing. Buy someone shoes and they'll walk out of your life bad luck. I have always felt a little. Off about getting shoes. And I immediately opened the box and said you should return these. I took them out of the box. They are beautiful. But I was just. So upset. I didn't feel like I could accept them. And I'm trying to not be so irrational about it. James didn't do anything wrong. Why am I letting myself be taken so out of sorts? I will sit with this feelings. I will keep the boots. I will love the boots. Because they are absolutely beautiful. But man. I didn't expect to get that off kilter.

I would sit with my upset for a bit. Jess would go to bed. Eventually James would come sit with me and we talked. And I hate that I made them feel bad. Like they actually did something wrong. Because they didn't, they were so lovely, they got me everything I wanted and more. I love them so so deeply and I can't let myself feel like some superstition would take them away from me. I can't let myself be that crazy.

James went to sit in their office so I could write this. I am going to go find them. I took the inhaler and it helped a lot but it made my hands shake a lot too. Maybe that was part of what made me so emotional. I want to try on the boots.

I had such a beautiful birthday. With my favorite people. Eating my favorite foods. Just feeling so blissfully happy. And it's not even like it's over. Tomorrow me and Jess will keep building while James is at work. And we will wait for the couch. And when James come home we will have cake. I am really excited to be 33.

I love you all so much. I hope you had a beautiful February 17th. Goodnight!!!!

[shaunsummers]

And Boom Goes the Dynamite

"You're feeding me Jewish wine and an epic story of a generation? It's a date." Conjuring a laugh, though quieter than usual, Robin perks a soft smile as she turns to carefully place the knife in the sink. The cheese plate, heavy in it's glorious pile of processed dairy cubes, creates a low, audible growl deep within her abdomen. An angry tummy, only filled with liquor and spite, demanded sacrifice. "It's fine. It's mostly my fault, anyways. We were wrestling. But, I mean, the fucker stole my hair tie. So, duh, I had to show dominance. What else was I supposed to do? Oh, and they've all been taken out by the way. Probably like ten-fifteen minutes ago, I think? I don't know. It was after the Siren crying but during my cigarette. Ugh, fuck today. I'm over it. Do me a favor, if you need to rage about a shitty ex, do it after the cheese plate. I need this moment of peace right now. I'm on empty."

The noise of a rumbling engine, one that could only belong to Devin, catches her ears, however. Was her fucking belt going out? It sounded like it. Well, with that haircut, she should be able to do it herself.

Within the confines of the pickup, Devin sat leaning back against the seat with a heavy sigh. "Yeah, love you too, man." She harshly rubs the ridges of her brow before tapping the light up screen to end the call. Three hours was the drive back from Erin's; and she did her dude a solid by staying on the line with her the entire ride home. It kept her at least somewhat calm. Enough not to park the truck right in front of a trailer park and start busting headlights. "I know boys, we're about to." Devin offers comfort to the closest grunting dog, claiming a few scrubs against Zeus' squishy cheeks. She would have already jumped out by now; but something long delayed became pressing in the light of today.

Devin [8:28 PM] Hey Rich. I know I haven't hit you two up in a minute but I wanted to know if that offer for therapy was still on the table. Thanks for the apple butter btw. Shit hit as always.

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

"So you already be fuckin' with Mac and Me? See, I knew you got culture." Quinn smiles, jazzed that she guessed the right prescription for Robin's ailments. "God damn. You're feedin' me cheese by hand, takin' out the dogs and playin' with em, and now you're gonna call this a date? You better be careful, you're gonna start gettin' me all nervous and shit." She laughs, grabbing the wine to bring with. The allusion to Siren's emotional state deflates her goofy grin, though. If she was already passed out, Quinn wouldn't go shove her nose in, but she made a mental note to check in on her later.

"Nah. You're good to cheese plate in peace, my dude. I ain't about to be summoning Voldemort." She was in the middle of grabbing two glasses from the cabinet—suitably stemmed, because you have to with a fancy cheese plate—by the time she recognized the rattle of Devin's truck.

"Shit." Quinn comments, her eyes flashing towards the door and back to Robin. "Anyone tell her about all that?"

Richard [8:32 PM]: You'll have to thank Tammy for that, she's the chef! I'll pass it along❤️ Of course kiddo, it's yours to take up any time you want. We can help you find someone and get it set up. Over lunch if you're free. Is everything ok?

[leelatea]

Round 1 has been completed!

Uh... so, my goal for this round (mainly the round without any babies) was to have them fish for their lives. They would keep the less than §10 fishies to use for food, and would sell the more expensive ones.

With the big fish money, each tribe gets to buy 1 starter pack of fruits, veggies, and herbs. (I never really use these for food. Also so few of them are even in season for the never-ending summer the neanderthals have to survive through. They are more for the income.) Right now, each tribe only gets one of each, so hopefully they get a plant in season, or else they're... uh... they don't get any...

And... what else...right! Each day, a call is made to all the other tribes to come hang out. So, hopefully friendships can be made, which I plan to use when it comes to their children's marriages. Perhaps...

So... how do I want to do this?... Um... from the beginning? Sounds good. Here we go!

First family up: the Pamadam Tribe. (da red ones) Jiall & Gniba.

Overall, they had a slow start comparatively to other tribes around them. They ended the round with §36 in the proverbial bank. It took them a hot minute to catch anything. They did catch 2 cowplant berries... so, maybe that can come up with future descendants or something.

They got (in their packs): 3 bananas, 3 peppers, 8 parsley, and 3 sage for their plants, and sold 5 fish.

Next! The Lumesh Tribe. (yellow) Chedu & Irrig.

These two: scaredy cats. The big one, on the right: terrified of the dark. So, no night fishing, which... wasn't great. Also, thunderstormed almost 2 out of the four days, so, they wouldn't fish in the rain either. But, they did manage to get enough money to get all their gardening packs.

They got: 3 bananas, no veggies, 4 parsley, and 6 sage. They sold 8 fishies, and ended the round with §135. They have also got to harvest once so far... so, not so bad.

Wow... I got really bad at taking photos halfway through... whoops. Anyways...

Next! The Zival Tribe! (the blue ones) Etu & Croc.

Etu... loves digging in the trash. Loves it. Moving on. These two also had a really good first round. No hiccups really. During one of the thunderstorms, a cool rock was left. Added that to one of the many piles in the house. Kinda cool.

They got: 3 bananas, 3 peppers, 8 basil, and 3 sage for their plant packs. Not bad. Also, sold 9 fish and were able to harvest once for a grand total of §413 at the end of the round! 🥳

Only 2 more familes. We can do this!

This is literally the only one I have of them... I was trying to take a pic of the lump of clay turned into a teapot... I'm terrible at this... by the way, EVERYONE LOVES THE LUMP OF CLAY! Its... like... amazing to them...

The Rhosh Tribe! (GREEN!) Raan & Ubod.

So, Ubod hates children. So, hates the entirety of being pregnant... so... this is going to be awful for them. (I'm so sorry.) Another good round. Not top dog or anything, but not too shabby.

They got: no fruits (I believe they are the only family without bananas), 3 peppers, 8 parsley, and 4 basil. They sold 9 fish, harvested once, and ended the round with §234.

I took photos of these two together... but there isn't one where Umli isn't naked in them... So, I'll settle for this group shot (which I'm actually quite fond of). I will do better next round and get good photos (I will!).

The Murad Tribe! (black) Umli & Dheesi (not pictured).

Umli... is a character. Talks to walls. Takes showers outside. And, enjoys their body. A lot. But! On the plus side! They are super in love with Dheesi! They are adorable.

They got: 3 bananas, 3 peppers, 8 parsley, and 4 basil for their starter plants. They sold 9 fishies, and got to harvest crops once. They ended the round with §347.

So, we'll end this rainy round with that. Next time, many babies are anticipated and I'm sure chaos will ensue.

See you next time. Bye!✌️

[kangals]

I am absolutely in love with Stellina (and Boone too - would love a noodle of my own but I have chis). When I get my own place in the next few years, I’m planning on getting a rough collie. Was wondering if you could answer a few questions for me please? What’s her grooming regime like? If you could go back in time, would you change anything about her early training? Choice between a puppy or a retired show dog - which would you pick?

grooming - the condensed version is they do require regular grooming but i find it very manageable and its less than a lot of people think. i brush her entire body 1-2x weekly for about 15min (special focus on butt, armpits, behind ears and other mat-prone areas), i dremel nails 1x weekly, bathe every 6-8 weeks, and then do trimming (sani trim, paws) as needed. i tend to alternate baths between me doing it myself and taking her to a groomer for a full de-shed treatment. i vacuum my house once a week. bc their hair is long it tends to clump together when shed so it forms piles on the floor, rather than sticking into every surface like a short-haired dog, which i think makes it a lot easier to clean up. stellina's breeder who shows her dogs does a schedule of 1x week brush, 1x month bath, so i think that's pretty typical. i'd say they're way lower maintenance than a dog with a non-shedding coat tbh.

training - i would 100% focus more on learning to be calm and settle while in new places. she is great in the house bc that's what i focused on most, but when i would take her to stores or on trips or whatever it was always for FUN and ENGAGEMENT and NOVELTY and so now when she's out and about she gets very hyped up and overstimulated easily, which = lots and lots of barking, which is frustrating to manage. she's great about most everything else, but i think more focus on being in new places and just chilling calmly would have been very helpful.

puppy vs adult - it really just depends on your situation tbh! retired show dogs will obviously be out of the naughty puppy phase, should be trained to be calm in new environments and around other dogs, should be very well used to handling and grooming... hard to go wrong there. puppies are exhausting and a lot more work upfront, but it is really rewarding to be there for the whole journey (and they're criminally cute). i'd take one of stellina's retired cousins in a heartbeat, but i also love that i got to watch her grow up. i don't think there's a wrong choice!

[midnightartemis]

I posted 346 times in 2022

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My Top Posts in 2022:

#5

Hellfire and Brimstone Series Masterlist

Eddie Munson x afab!reader (she/her), sheltered!reader

Rating: E

CW/TW: Abortion, talk of pregnancy, mentions of rape (coercion by a partner- not Eddie), drug use, religious trauma, abuse, angst, hurt/comfort… let me know if I missed any

When you're in trouble, you turn to the only person you can think of- Eddie " The Freak" Munson.

Chapter One

Chapter Two

Chapter Three

Chapter Four- Coming Soon

63 notes - Posted July 30, 2022

#4

Hellfire and Brimstone

Chapter Two

Eddie Munson x afab!reader (she/her)

Rating: E

CW/TW: Abortion, talk of pregnancy, mentions of rape (coercion by a partner- not Eddie), drug use, religious trauma, abuse, angst, hurt/comfort… let me know if I missed any

Previous - Next - Masterlist

You woke up to the smell of bacon and eggs and toast and something else warm and comforting. Eddie. You shot up as everything that happened yesterday came rushing back to you. Your parents. The look on Eddie’s face he opened the door to you. The way he held you as you completely melted down.

Falling asleep on the couch watching Harrison Ford teach a university class. What was that about?

You looked around and realized you definitely weren’t still on the couch. Eddie’s room looked almost exactly like your imagined it would be. Band posters on the wall. A desk covered in music and paper. Clothes littered the floor. The only thing you didn’t expect was the piles of books everywhere. The lone bookshelf had been crammed so full the shelves would have been bending if not for the stacks of books supporting them from below.

Eddie Munson. Bookworm. Who would have thought?

Part of you wanted to climb out the window and not face how you acted last night. The other part of you knew you had nowhere else to go. And Eddie had seemed sincere in his promise to help you.

You rolled out of his bed and hit the floor with a sigh. Your stomach rolled either with hunger or morning sickness. It was hard to tell. You stood and walked out the door, a little surprised when it clicked unlocked as you turned the knob. Sheepishly you stepped out of his room and walked down the short hall to the kitchen. Eddie stood over the oven, flipping eggs with a spatula. He danced back and forth, quietly singing to himself and you smiled.

He was endearing and kind and (and, dare you say, cute) everything your intuition had told you he would be. Your heart filled with burning anger as you remembered how your classmates treated him. How Jason treated him.

Eddie spun around as he danced, his eyes landing on you. He grinned, raising a rock and roll fist as he jammed out. You realized now that he had headphones on.

The song ended and you clapped quietly as Eddie took the headphones off. You knew he was a performer, but you didn’t realize how magnetic he could be. Eddie’s grin never faded as he took you in. “Morning, angel. Sleep okay?”

You nodded and took a seat at the small bar- the only table in the house it seemed. “I did. Did you… carry me to bed?”

“Uh…” Eddie’s smile faded. “Yeah. You were sleeping hard and that couch isn’t the most comfortable to sleep on. You’re my guest… I…”

“It’s okay. Thank you.” You gave him a small smile and he relaxed.

“I made breakfast. I didn’t know what you like so I made a little bit of everything.” Eddie gestured to the counter where a pile of eggs in what you could only assume was nearly every style rested by a pile of toast and bacon. He draped a white tea towel over his shoulder like a line cook in a diner.

“Oh, uh. Scrambled.”

Eddie winked. “Coming right up. Bacon?”

“Yes please. And strawberry jam, if you have some.”

“Oh a woman after my own heart.” Eddie spun away from you and filled a plate with everything you asked for. He set it in front of you with a flourish and you giggled. His face grew serious. “Now I have to ask you a very serious question.”

“Oh.”

“Coffee or orange juice.”

You laughed. “Coffee please.”

“With cream and sugar?”

You shook your head and Eddie raised his brows I’m surprise. “Really?”

“Really, really.” You grinned.

Eddie poured two cups. One black, which he set in front of you, and one almost white with how much cream and sugar he dumped into it.

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92 notes - Posted July 20, 2022

#3

Hellfire and Brimstone

Chapter 3

Eddie Munson x afab!reader (she/her), sheltered!reader

Rating: E

CW/TW: Abortion, talk of pregnancy, mentions of rape (coercion by a partner- not Eddie), drug use, religious trauma, abuse, angst, hurt/comfort… let me know if I missed any

AN: chapter one updated to reflect some changes. Jason and reader are no longer dating. Reader was Chrissy’s best friend before her death. Jason is still the father and still a dick.

Previous - Next - Masterlist

It was done.

You felt like hell and you were pretty sure you’d broken Eddie’s hand from squeezing it.

But it was done.

Minus what you were sure was going to be the worst period of your life.

They’d sent you away with a birth control prescription and some antibiotics and that was that.

Eddie only let go of your hand to change the tapes as he drove. Soft acoustic music you didn’t recognize hummed through the van. His hand returned to yours right away. Like it fit. Like it was supposed to be right there.

Maybe you were just hormonal and exhausted and reading too much into it. Eddie was just being nice. Comforting you like a friend would.

He didn’t let go the whole way back to the trailer. He couldn’t. Not after seeing you go through that procedure. Not after hearing the pained noises you made after the doctor told you that you would “just feel a pinch”.

When he did pull up to the trailer, he let go of your hand long enough to run around to the passenger door and help you out. Up the steps in to the trailer. Right into his uncle wearing nothing but a wife beater and boxers as he cooked in the kitchen.

“Hey kid, what the hells with all the eggs?” His uncle turned around with the plate of leftover eggs in his hands. “Oh shit. Didn’t realize you were bringing a lady around.”

“Sorry. Left a note on the fridge.” Eddie nodded to it.

You shifted beside him, trying you best to look fine. “Hi, Mr. Munson.”

“Please, Wayne’s just fine, darlin’.” Wayne frowned when he saw you wince.

“Sorry, not feeling well. I think I’m going to lay down for a bit.” You glanced up at Eddie.

“Take the bed.”

You glanced at Wayne nervously. His uncle had already turned back to his meal, dutifully trying to ignore the both of you. Eddie nudged you towards his room and you went reluctantly let go of his hand and shuffled off down the hall. You closed the door to his room behind you.

Wayne eyed Eddie with a raised brow. “She okay?”

Eddie let out a deep sigh. “She will be.”

“Anything I should be worried about?”

Eddie shook his head. His uncle didn’t look convinced. Eddie couldn’t blame him after everything that happened with with Chrissy and the “earthquakes”. His uncle was smart enough to know something deeper and darker had happened than what Eddie let on. Eddie wanted to tell him, but he’d come to the same conclusion as he always had. The less the people around him knew, the better.

“You know where to find me.” His uncle grunted.

The guilt settled in as Eddie watched his uncle disappear back into his room with a plate of food. Wayne had done so much for him and all Eddie seemed to do was make it harder on the man. At least this year there was a decent chance he would actually graduate.

The phone rang just as Eddie was about to go grab the bags of food from the car. He picked it up on the third ring. “Sup?”

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116 notes - Posted July 23, 2022

#2

I don’t know how he finds this comfy

121 notes - Posted January 17, 2022

My #1 post of 2022

Hellfire and Brimstone

Chapter 1

Eddie Munson x afab!reader (she/her)

Rating: E

CW/TW: Abortion, talk of pregnancy, mentions of rape (coercion by a partner- not Eddie), drug use, religious trauma, abuse, angst, hurt/comfort… let me know if I missed any

Previous - Next - Masterlist - Series Masterlist

Eddie Munson was certain there was nothing more life could surprise him with. After all he’d seen and after all he’d done, nothing could phase him any more. He had been on the brink of death and come back swinging. He’d survived the impossible and seen it all.

Well.

Maybe he hadn’t seen it all.

He certainly hadn’t expected to see you on his doorstep in the middle of the night. Red rimmed your eyes like you’d been crying hard. There wasn’t a lot of life left in your features that he could see. Still, you gave him a little smile.

Yeah, he hadn’t excepted the preacher’s daughter to show up at midnight on a Thursday.

You smile quickly fell though and you looked away from him, shifting nervously. “Hi, sorry. I- It’s…”

“You wanna come in?” He stepped back as you nodded. You stepped up into the trailer and he closed the door. You glanced back at him, biting your lip nervously. You looked like you were about to start crying again. In fact, you looked like you hadn’t slept in days. He barely recognized you in sweats and a t-shirt.

“Want a water, or…?” God, he was… what were you doing here?

“I need to buy.” You burst.

He raised his brows. A little disappointed that was all you were here for. It still didn’t make sense though. Sure he’d seen you at parties with Jason and Chrissy and all your friends but you’d never even drink- let alone smoke. He’d tried not to notice you but he couldn’t help it. He’d been drawn to you like a moth to flame the moment you’d moved to Hawkins last year. Always smiling. Always wearing pink and looking perfect. You’d always been nice to him, too.

“Yeah, right.” Eddie swallowed. “Like a blunt or–“

“No.” Your answer was strained. You wrapped your arms around yourself. Something was definitely wrong. “No. Something stronger. I need something stronger than that.”

“Yeah, no.”

Your eyes shot up to him. “No? I have money. I can pay.”

“It’s not the money–“

“So you don’t have any–“ Your voice shook as more tears came to your eyes.

“I’ve never even seen you drink a beer. I’m not giving you anything!”

“No. No, you have to, Eddie.” The first of your tears fell down your cheeks as you began to look around wildly. “Where’s that stupid lunch box?”

“Angel–“

You stalked to his kitchen and began to throw open cupboards. “It’s here somewhere. It’s gotta be. It’s gotta be.”

What the fuck was happening? He wished he could say it was the first time anyone had ransacked the place looking for his stash (came with the territory), but he’d never expected it from you.

You rushed by him to the living room looking dead set on tearing it apart. He tried to step in front of you but you pushed by him, tears streaming down your face.

“Stop. Angel, stop.”

“No. No, I can’t. This can’t be happening. This–” You tore all the cushions off his couch. “I can’t do this. I can’t do this.”

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122 notes - Posted July 20, 2022

Get your Tumblr 2022 Year in Review →

[kentnaturaltribrid]

As for the cat, had to due to well besides that in Chile cats are known to be a connection to the underworld, but had to due to respect for the only Mexican short hair in the pile. She is pretty picky and vocal about everything that goes on, loves to make an entrance as well as with most cats. It’s quite complicated after that, but she would have a hiss-fit if there wasn’t one on the altar or surface for the Palkorios, and even more so if the silver doesn’t want to be named Isis. Especially since Well there I was running low on names and she is pretty much very vocal about everything that goes on as well as well as her main flower being the Ivkorina or the Isis flower, which is a direct link towards Isis herself should they need to have any contact with any of the Mains, but also there’s no excuse not to use a short and sweet name for her, since she is very much so picky and since was running low on names themselves the flower gave one towards her anyway.

For the most part, every thing else is either drawn or there’s at least two paintings and even though there’s not much on it, there’s a difficulty with finding specifically a dog, so had to stick with the cat. But, beyond the cat, it should fit perfectly for all pets in general. Of which, even though there’s at least one dog (Paul Anka), that is In the pile as well it should be quite difficult for finding what they want to add if there’s anything else to add that is. And yes, there wasn’t me naming the dog. It was a spur of the moment from one of the other younger siblings in the mix, which due to how many of us there is it’s actually quite difficult figuring out where he got the idea unless most of the rest of people know Gilmore Girls or know Specifically Paul Louise Anka, the musician, but that’s completely still hard to figure out which one it comes from in reference to the name, but at least it was short enough for the dog to understand. Or at least hopefully is, considering that it’s a deaf dog and color blind as well. Both of which, makes it a little more difficult for finding names for a dog like that because they’re so rare and ontop of it, they’re 4% more likely to be sernoric or even 3% more likely to be celiac. Regardless of stats there, they’re also 6% less likely to be adopted. Ontop of that, they’re 17% the rarest types of dogs as well. Ontop of that, 8% of dogs are color blind and have no control over the environment in which it happens from beginning.

Despite that, still been quite the helpful pet for Most of the other things that The Cats won’t do, even Willow. Regardless of not being willing to do things, there’s one which is ASV cat, of which she though has a picky personality and sweet one at that too, they’re more likely to be 10% of cats are ASV and 18% of them are ASN, which means that in both instances they cannot use their own tail , which she can’t . Regardless of that she’s balancing for the most part with senses when she gets the chance to learn alternative balance (ears, paws, etc), but for the most part cats like her are 12% more likely to be faster learners than most other of their own kind, even though they cannot use the tail . Regardless of that , she’ll help if she can for mostly everything that is in use of ASL or ASZ, or if told to do something that isn’t ASM, or even something told to her twice in regards to she cannot hear anything either, so there’s a slight chance of most cats like her being 13% more deaf than their own kind. And with that, there’s a lot of other things that need to be done and she will do something with the instruction even if twice told since there’s still some learning for her that needs doing but at least cats like her learn 5% faster and sometimes the rest of them are taking up silly activities that they’re not supposed to be doing, ones that they think are going to help make an event interesting but really they’re just being too far off the base of what is going to help make something memorable rather than having them being doing the same thing as when one was 6 or something, since they have a tendency to do something that was more general for a 5 or 6, than for 8+. Which makes it all the more frustrating at times because I’ve already told the cat not to do something, and then they find a way to do that exact thing over & over. Cats have a tendency when told not to at least most of them which I’ve known have that tendency to do the exact thing that they’re not supposed to do at all in terms of what you don’t want them to do for events and activities or something that isn’t helpful. Cats are 9% more likely to do those things than other critters, which makes finding something for them to do that would make it more fun or less annoying than other activities that they’re having a lot of trouble with the not doing them, so it’s make even less fun once they’ve done things like that, and makes it even more difficult and frustrating ontop of everything else as well.