#pack fly br

[aerynwrites]

Losing You

Halsin x GN!Reader

A/N: based on these three requests! Halsin would definitely flip out if you were injured in battle - so here’s a little insight into that scenario. Hope you all enjoy!

Word Count: 2.6k

Warning: canon typical violence, blood, injuries, angst, fluff, hurt/comfort.

You knew the shadow cursed lands were going to be a completely new trial all together, but you weren’t prepared for this. 

The first ambush by the shadow creatures when you first arrived hadn’t been something to cause you great worry. But after reaching last light and venturing out once more, another ambush had taken your group by surprise. 

You’d all been doing fine, Gale and Halsin’s spells holding the most of them off and Shadowheart keeping you all safe and healed. You’d just managed to take out one of the shadows before a panicked call of your name reached your ears. 

You turn just as a creature materializes in front of you, its clawed hand swiping upwards in a flash. 

You don’t even register the pain at first, the creatures strength sending you flying through the air until you land harshly against the cold ground. 

The wind is knocked from your lungs, and it’s then, as you struggle for breath that the pain washes over you in an agonizing wave. 

You faintly register the way you cry out Halsin’s name on instinct, and you hear the way he calls for you in kind. 

But the only thing you fully recognize is the pain. It’s all comsuming, starting in your abdomen and radiating outwards as you try in vain to sit up and turn yourself over to asses the damage. 

Your futile efforts are stopped by a gentle hand on your shoulder, slowly helping you to roll over. 

“My heart…” Halsin’s voice is calm at first, but even in your dazed state you don’t miss the way his words pitch upwards as you finally settle into your back, the sudden movement making you gasp as another wave of pain shoots through you. 

“Shadowheart!” Halsin calls for the cleric, and you can faintly hear Gale telling her to go while he deals with the few remaining enemies. 

Halsin hands are on you now, flitting over your body worriedly as you finally manage to raise your head enough to try and take in the damage. 

Your heart leaps into your throat as you see the damage done. Or rather what you can’t see. There’s so much blood. It runs in thick rivers from the deep wound in your stomach, and seeing the wound just makes the pain elevate. 

Your can feel yourself start to hyperventilate, panic settling in full force as Halsin hovers over you, pulling out what little healing supplies he carries in his pack. 

“Oh gods…” Shadowhearts gasp meets your ears as she finally appears your side. You watch through bleary eyes as she shakes her head. “We have to get them back to last light I…my magic is sapped - I - I don’t have enough power to heal something like this-“

“Then help me with whatever magic you do have,” Halsin barks, voice unusually panicked. “They won’t make it to last light like this I-“ he pauses, eyes flitting over your form. “We must stop the bleeding.” 

“Halsin…” your voice is weak as you call out for you lover, but he is quick to respond, his gaze turning to you as he reaches to take your hand in his bloodied one. 

His eyes look panicked as he gazes down at you and you can see the apology before he utters it. 

“My heart, we…We must stop the bleeding before we can move you. This is going to hurt, I’m so sorry-“

You don’t even have time to question anything before you feel a firm pressure on your wound, the action sending fire through your very veins. 

A scream tears from your throat, hands scrabbling for purchase against the assault. Your fingers finally find Halsin’s familiar form, pushing uselessly at his arms, tears now streaming down you cheeks. 

You can register nothing but the pain, your mind clouded with it, your muscles locking down against the waves of it. 

You feel the pressure shift, another wave of agony pulsing through you before Halsin face is hovering over your own, brows pulled together, eyes glistening with worry. 

You reach up for him then, hands landing on his shoulders as your fingers dig into him, anything to try and relive the pain. 

“It hurts,” you whimper, fear now creeping into your hazy mind. 

He reaches a hand up, cupping your face, and you notice his hands are shaking as he wipes the tears from your cheek. 

You can feel the way your lower lip wobbles as you speak again. 

“Am I going to die?” 

Halsin’s lips set in a firm line then, eyes full of determination. “No, you will not die this day, or you any day I am by your side.” He pauses for a moment, and you see the moment an idea comes over him. 

His eyes slip closed before the familiar golden glow of magic envelops his hand as he reaches it up over you. “I will take your pain away, my love. Then I will be at your side when you wake.” 

You don’t protest as his magic flows through you, pain ebbing away almost instantly as darkness clouds your mind. 

The last thing you feel before unconsciousness consumes you is the gentle press of lips to your cheek.

———

You wake to weak candle light and, surprisingly, little pain. 

The room you’re in is dimly lit by various candles littered around the space, and as it has been since you’ve arrive in these cursed lands, the sky outside remains dark. 

You recognize the last light inn, even in your bleary eyed state. You take a deep breath and close your eyes again, trying to ground yourself. 

The air is cool but not uncomfortable. Your fingers twitch against soft sheets atop an even softer bed. Though you suppose anything is softer than the bedroll you’ve been sleeping on in the last weeks. 

It’s also quiet. Much quieter than your used to for the only safe haven in the shadow cursed lands. Which means it must be well into the evening, everyone having retired to bed. 

You only open your eyes again when the gentle rustle of fabric meets your ears. You turn to the source of the sound, only to be met with the familiar sight of a certain Druid sitting by your bedside, his hand clasped loosely with yours as he leans back in his chair, eyes closed in what you assume to be the trance he falls into at night. 

You squeeze his hand in yours instinctively, seeking out that familiar comfort as the memories from before come slowly back to you. 

Halsin’s eyes open the moment your hand stirs against his own, hazel eyes widening as he takes you in. He lets out a small sigh, lips tugging upwards ever so slightly. 

“You’re awake,” he says simply, scooting closer to your bedside. 

You nod and move to sit up, a sharp gasp escaping your lips at the pain that shoots through your abdomen at the action. 

Halsin is reaching out immediately, hand on your shoulder as he urges you to lay back down. 

“Careful, my heart, your injuries are still fresh. You must not move too much until Shadowheart or I are able to heal you further,” he explains, voice gentle. 

You give him a small nod as you rest back into the pillow, grimacing at the pain now blooming in your abdomen. 

“Gods…” you whisper, “It landed a solid blow, didn’t it?” 

Halsin’s lips fall into a frown, brows drawn tight. He says nothing at first, instead standing to turn to the table near the bed and grab a small cup. 

You watch in silence as he mixes something into the cup before moving to the small fire in the hearth and the pot hanging over it. He dips a ladle into the pot before transferring the contents into the cup and stirring it before returning to your side. 

The cup is steaming, and you catch the faint smell of medicinal herbs and something slightly sweet. 

“Here,” he says softly, holding the cup out as he reaches for you with his other arm. “It should help with the pain. I will help you drink.” 

Halsin slides one arm under your shoulders slowly, delicately lifting you up just enough so you can drink comfortably. The small movement bring no more pain, so once you’re sure you’re secure in Halsin’s hold, you reach up for the cup. 

It’s warm in your hands, and it’s then that you realize just how cold you are. Even with the blankets draped over you, a persistent chill nips at your skin. 

You blow on the still steaming liquid before taking a tentative sip, expecting it to be too hot and also not pleasant in taste. 

You’re surprised on both accounts. 

It’s the perfect temperature, not too hot at all and it actually tastes pleasently sweet. It tastes like…

“Is there honey in this?” You ask, eyes flicking to your lovers only to see his lips twitch upwards. 

“There is,” he smiles now. “I know the taste can be unpleasant and you already know of my penchant for the particular treat…I thought a little something sweet couldn’t hurt.”

You smile at him in return, already feeling the affects of the drink. “Thank you.” 

Halsin continues to support you as you finish off the concoction, and then he takes the cup from you before slowly helping you lay back down. 

The blankets shifted with the small movements, and you can’t stop the shiver that runs down your spin as the cool air kisses your exposed skin. 

“Are you cold?” Halsin asks, concern lacing his words. 

Nodding, you pull the blanket up to your shoulders again, silently taking note of the banded covering most of your torso. 

“It is a little chilly in here,” you admit softly, trying to hide another shiver. 

Halsin turns to look at the fire, the flames dwindling and embers glowing softly. 

“I’ll stoke the fire,” he tells you, turning back to face you. “I need to change your bandages, so I’ll try to make it warmer.” 

He squeezes your hand gently before turning to his new task with you watching on in silence. He pokes the burning logs already in the hearth before adding a few new ones. The flames lick eagerly at the new fuel, and you can feel the room rise in temperature just from that. 

Once Halsin is satisfied he walks to a table across the room and washes his hands in a large bowl of water sitting atop it. 

You watch silently as he goes through the motions, and despite your silent admiration of your lover, you can’t help but notice the stiff set of his shoulders, or the way his lips stay pressed in a thin line. 

When he finally returns to your side, his hands are full of supplies. New bandages, a small bowl that once again smells of something medicinal, and several other items. 

He sets them all down on the small side table next to your bed and gestures to the blanket covering you. 

“May I?” 

You nod, “Of course, Halsin.” 

He nods and folds the blanket down to your waist neatly, finally giving you a clear view of what hid beneath. 

Bandages span from just below your chest all the way below the waistband of your pants. You briefly realize these are not the pants you were wearing when you got injured - the leather armored pants being replaced with simple cotton ones. At least the fact that Halsin was probably the one to change you nullified any embarrassment you may have felt otherwise. 

Neither of you speak as Halsin begins unwinding the old bandages, the white cloth getting more discolored the more he unwraps. When it’s finally fully removed, you’re able to see the full extent of the damage. 

By all accounts you should probably be dead. 

There’s four red, angry claw marks coming from your left hip all the way up and across your stomach to the right side of your ribs. The blood has been cleaned off, but a flash of the pools of crimson liquid pooling on the ground makes you tear your eyes away from the stitched up wounds. 

“H-how…” you trail off, unable to voice the question. 

How am I still alive?

Halsin is quiet at first, focusing instead on cleaning your wounds and gentle applying what you assume to be a healing poultice. 

He lets out a quiet sigh as you flinch against his minstarations, even his earlier concoction not enough to numb the pain from direct touch. 

“In truth…” he pauses. “I was afraid you were going to die on that shadow cursed battlefield.” 

He doesn’t look at you as he continues his work, being even more gentle this time. 

“I…I do not feel fear often. Having had centuries to master that specific part of myself, but…” his words die on his tongue, and you can see the way his Adam’s apple bobs as he swallows thickly. 

“I have not cared so deeply for someone in many years, and the thought - the thought of losing you was more than enough to bring that unfamiliar fear to the forefront of my mind.” 

His words settle into the quiet room, the fire crackling the only sound to penetrate the silence. 

Finally, he speaks as he begins wrapping the new bandages around your middle, hands moving slowly as not to aggravate the wound. 

“Shadowhearts magic was depleted, mine was about to be as well. We used what little magic we could conjure to stabilize you, and then Gale managed to open a portal here to the inn,” he focused on his work as he continues. “I was afraid you were going to die, my heart. And there was little I could do about it.” 

He secures the final piece of cloth before his hands fall back to the bed, fingers digging into the sheets. 

“I would not have survived that.” 

You let out a shaky breath, reaching out to take his hand in your own, unfurling his fingers from the covers to lace them with your own. 

“Hey…” you whisper, gaining his attention enough to tug him towards you. “I’m here. I am alive because of you. I’m okay.” 

Halsin shakes his head, eyes falling closed, “But you could have-“ 

You shush him softly, tugging on his hand more intently. 

“Lay with me?” You ask. “Please?” 

Your lover hesitates, eyes opening to look down at your bandages before looking back up to your pleading eyes. 

You pull him closer again, his thighs now pressed against the edge of the bed. “I’ll be fine I just…” you trail off. “I want you close.” 

Halsin sighs, but not in anger or disappointment. In fact he sounds…relieved. Like the fact that you are alive and no longer on deaths door has finally settled in. 

He nods, helping you adjust to the other side of the bed before he slips in beside you, pulling the covers up around your waist once you’re both settled. 

You want to roll over onto your side and curl into him, but you know you can’t. So you settled for the way Halsin lays on his side instead, his arm draped carefully over your hips, thumb rubbing soothing circles onto the unmarred skin of your right side. 

“I’m not going anywhere, you know,” you whisper, one hand falling to cover Halsin’s. 

You turn to look at him when he doesn’t respond. Leaning in to press a chaste kiss to his lips. He responds in kind, lips molding against yours before pulling away to rest his forehead against your own. 

“And I won’t let you,” he promises. 

You smile as Halsin captures your lips again. The action is full of so much. So much love and care and affection. 

And most importantly, promises to keep you safe. 

A promise you know he’ll fulfill. As many times as it takes. 

[winterfireice]

look at me posting a fanfic for the first time in months (also the first time this year so yay) anyway here is some Sophiana because when and doubt write random gay stuff for pride month.

story under the cut

Age 13

I’m walking through the pier with my family, it’s June 15th and my parents wanted to find somewhere to eat with a good vegetarian menu and outdoor seating. My brothers are playing some random game where they try to attach sticky notes to each other’s backs without the other noticing and my mom has tried to stop the game three separate times but since then has given up, they’re both being quiet and that seems to be all my parents care about. 

I on the other hand am window shopping. I’m looking at colorful beach bags and darkly-tinted sunglasses, I pass by all of them without a problem. The only thing that catches my eye is a flowy sundress that looks long enough to touch the floor even if I am wearing heels. But my attention is quickly taken away by a little piece of fabric on the counter. It has all the colors of the rainbow and a thin tan stick anchoring it into a pen cup. 

My mom notices me hanging behind and wraps an arm around my shoulders into some weird side hug and gives me a look I don’t know how to process. Just a second later Fitz, one of my brothers yells out because he finally notices there has been a bright green piece of paper stuck on the back since we left the house and Alvar has just been adding to the collection. Aka Fitz has been losing this made-up game since it started. 

The rest of my family’s attention is diverted to my brothers and even mine is taken away from the flag.

Age 14

I’m on a run with my brother Fitz’s best friend, Keefe. I hate running alone and he was the only one free so I asked him to go with me. My dad gave me an extra long look which I ignored, I’m pretty sure the majority of people we know think we are going to start dating since he’s only a year older than me, and were both single. Plus he’s been hanging out around our house a lot more, one of my friends said it's because he likes me but I’m pretty sure he likes my brother more. 

My side starts to cramp so I slow down waiting for the pain to subside and taking deep breaths. Keefe notices I’m no longer next to him and turns around to find me. He gives me a second to catch my breath and looks around, we are on a residential street a couple of blocks away from my house, and while there are a lot of trees providing shade the June heat is still beating down on us so much I can feel the sweat dripping down my neck. 

I’ve closed my eyes to try to get the sun out of them but when I open them I see Keefe’s head turned to one of the houses. I follow his gaze and see a flag hanging by someone’s front door, it's the same color pallet as the one I saw a year ago and I can see Keefe smile to himself before asking me if I’m ready to finish up our run.

Age 15

I’m on a picnic with one of my best friends, Sophie. She has pined up her long blonde hair to beat the heat of mid-June. She prepared the whole day, made little sandwiches, and packed different fruits and cookies, there are even some baked goods her mom taught her how to make.  

The two of us are leaning against a huge oak tree in the park and watching the neighborhood kids fly kites and chase each other around the other trees. 

“Ooo look a rainbow!” Sophie gasps and points past some clouds on the other side of the park. She pulls out her phone and I notice her lock screen has a photo of her holding two little flags, one is rainbow and the other is a combination of pinks and oranges, she swipes away the photo as she opens her camera to take a photo of the rainbow and I can't ignore the butterflies fluttering in my stomach.

Age 16

It’s June and I’m sitting in my room with my brother, his boyfriend, and my girlfriend. We’re getting ready for a parade that Sophie and Keefe heard about. Soph is using her phone as a mirror since all the other ones in my room are currently being used but before she opened her camera I saw her newest lock screen which is a photo of the two of us holding up a pride flag just like the one she got me a couple of months ago that sits in an old cup on my desk that I use to hold my pens.

But hey, it's just a cute little flag.

[lumine-no-hikari]

Dear Sephiroth: (a letter to a fictional character, because why not) #207

This letter is late; I'm sorry about that.

Today was packed full of things. Or, it feels packed full of things, anyway. Really, I did only like 3 things, but these things all lasted a really long time.

I thought that I was going to sleep in today, because I went to sleep at around 3:30 in the morning last night. But as it turns out, I woke up promptly at 8am, because Mogwai, one of my cats, decided to headbutt me directly in the face. It was enough to leave me with a fat lip for a little while afterwards. I do understand that cats are creatures of routine, and they get scared at how long humans sleep, since cats sleep in short spurts, and it's hard for them to imagine we're different species with different needs. I can't be mad at him. All I can do is wake up and get them their breakfast, hahaha!

Do you remember the song that I tore through my house looking for and didn't find? And so I told you that I remembered the melody, but I had to re-create the lyrics from what I could remember? Some time ago, I recorded myself singing it, and sent it along to a couple of brilliant musicians I know, asking them to create instrumental music to go with the lyrics.

They have not gotten back to me. I'm not sure that they will. I assume that it's because they have busy lives and can't afford the time. And that is fine. But what I am noticing is that as I play through the song in my mind, I seem to be remembering the old guitar chords bit by bit. So I put the melody of the lyrics into LMMS. I'm working on trying to put in what I remember from the guitar into LMMS as well. I got pretty far along today, all things considered. I am no composer; I'm not like some people who can create melodies from nothing. I have no understanding of music theory or any of its mechanics. But I can imitate anything I hear, and I can create basic things if given a foundation to work from.

After that, J and Br and I went to a place far away. J got a new tailwheel airplane. I think it's kinda soon to get a new one; he crashed the other one not too terribly long ago, and we were lucky to have come away from that without any injuries. J wants to fly from where we live all the way to Portland, Oregon (2395 miles, or 3855 km, or thereabouts), in memory of his brother, Daniel. But I think maybe more time is needed before he is ready to make that trip.

Well, it is what it is. I will do my best to support him.

Afterwards, J, Br, and I went to a sleepover organized by one of the poly people from that poly place we went to. We didn't sleep over, but we played some games and had some lively conversation, and it was a nice time.

It is late now, though, and I am very much looking forward to going to bed. M's new mask frame for his CPAP arrived today, so I get to use mine tonight (yay!)

Tomorrow, in less than 12 hours, I go see my friend BB. We're gonna go get lunch at an awesome place, and I'm very much looking forward to it. Maybe I'll stop writing now so that it will seem from my perspective like it will be tomorrow faster.

…But not before I send along some of the pictures I took for you today. Here:

...Can you feel the joy and love in these? I wonder...

Sephiroth. After two days of only partial sleep and all of the stuff I did today, I'm pretty tired. I'm literally falling asleep as I'm trying to write this paragraph. So I'm gonna go to bed so I can be relatively functional tomorrow.

I love you. Love you enough to write to you even when my brain is soupy. Love you enough to wish for your peace and safety. Please don't do stupid things that will get yourself killed, okay?

I'll write again tomorrow.

Your friend, Lumine

[autumntouched]

Day 12 of Ode to Phoenix

This is the first NSFW, 18+ ode to Phoenix so for anyone who wants or needs to (ahem minors,) please exit stage left or right at this time.

Prompt: When Hangman compliments her lingerie, Phoenix realizes it's his favorite and uses it to seduce him. Part of the Hannix Football Rivalry AU...don't ask me how the Super Bowl ended up in this one. It did.

Requested by: @melodiousoblivionao3

Warnings: Not really a plot, just Hannix smut. m masturbation, m/f blow job, m/f vaginal fingering, mention of m/f intercourse

A/N: Once again, from my brain to the page with few edits. Sorry for any mistakes. xx

Team Colors

They’re not practical. The silky ribbons that hold the dark green satin and lace thong together come undone too easily or show through anything that hugs her hips. A friend gave them to her as a joke several years ago, and she almost never wears them. But she and Jake are behind on laundry, and it’s the only option left in her drawer if she wants to be ready to go in time. 

“Phoenix, are you–,” Jake trails off as he comes through the bedroom door. She pauses her search for a t-shirt and looks over to find her boyfriend staring like his brain is buffering. “Is that new?” he stammers. 

She knows what he’s talking about, but she never misses a chance to mess with him. “Is what new, dickhead?” Natasha asks innocently, looking around.

He swallows and reaches up to rub the back of his neck. His gaze jumps up and down between the matching lace bra, which he’s seen plenty of. His eyes darken to the color of the lingerie she’s wearing. “That thong,” he chokes out. 

Natasha turns to face him and pops her hip. He fidgets, subtly widening his stance. “Not exactly new. Like it?” 

Jake struggles to get ahold of himself because they don’t have a spare moment before they have to head out. “Looks good on you.” He slides his hands into his pockets and turns to leave.

“Weren’t you going to ask me something?” she prompts, not trying to hide her amusement. 

It takes him a moment to remember. “I was going to ask if you’re almost ready, but uh, no rush.”

All day she catches him watching her, gaze lingering on her lower back and hips, what’s underneath her jeans no doubt preoccupying his mind. But before they get home, he gets called in early the next morning to cover for one of the instructors and the thong ends up in the hamper before he has time to appreciate it. 

---

Natasha smooths the freshly made bed and wonders where Jake is with the rest of the laundry. “Bagman!” she calls. 

No answer. He doesn’t respond to "Jake" either.

She exhales sharply through her nose, annoyed. He probably got distracted on his phone. She heads down to the laundry room to check on him. The door is ajar, and it’s not the sound of the washer or dryer coming from the room.

Jake breathes heavily over the muffled slick friction of his hand on himself. A high whine punches out of his chest on what sounds like a particularly firm stroke. Natasha bites back a smile and creeps forward on tiptoe to peek into the room. 

He leans against the wall, head thrown back and hand in his gym shorts. His throat muscles strain with his mounting arousal. Clutched to his chest is her green thong. “Fuck, Nat,” he exhales. 

“Did you summon me?” she asks softly, pushing the door open all the way. 

Jake’s eyes fly open and whatever part of his skin isn’t already flushed goes bright red. “No!” he shouts, throwing away the panties like that will save him now.

“Didn’t realize how much you liked those on me,” she teases, stooping to pick up the abandoned evidence. His chest heaves as he waits for her reaction. She makes a mental note to pack a little surprise for him the next time he goes on a trip or deployment. But for now, she sways her hips on her way to him and presses the thong to his stomach. 

“How about you hold onto these while I finish where you left off?” Jake’s pupils blow wide open at that. 

“Huh?” he asks stupidly.

She doesn’t give him a chance to put his brain back together. Natasha drops to her knees, one hand still holding the thong to his abdomen while the other tugs off his shorts and works his boxer briefs down his shapely thighs. He’s still holding his full, hard length, his head glistening with his precum. The musk of his aroused sweat and sight of his well-endowed dick stretched to its zenith goes straight to her core. She wraps her hand around his and lowers him to her mouth, darting out her tongue to swirl his tip. There’s a sweet edge to the saltiness of his leaking precum from the peaches he ate earlier. 

He grunts and lets out a litany of “Fucks!” when she wraps her lips around him and sucks lightly. She loves the taste of him, the way he fills her mouth as he releases his hold to her. The hand over his stomach slides down to brace herself against his base, her thumb stroking through his pubes as she takes him in her mouth. Broken, ragged sighs and moans burst out of him as she sucks him down. 

“I love how good you are,” she breathes across his tip before lifting him so she can lick a slow path from his balls to his head. The contrast of his hard erection with the petal soft skin of his dick is making her own brain intoxicatingly fuzzy. 

“Oh god!” he shouts. Then pleadingly, “Nat.” The fist clutching her panties goes to his face. She presses her advantage and licks the same path again, sending his hips back into the wall as his precum spills over her lips and chin. He watches, eyes hooded and lips gnawed swollen, as she drags his fluid up to her mouth then licks it off her finger. She swallows, and his dick jumps hard. A molten swell of satisfaction pools between Natasha’s legs and floods her already soaked underwear. 

Jake surges down and captures her mouth with his, his lips and tongue dragging the breath right out of her lungs. Natasha has to let go of him to wrap an arm around his neck and hang on lest she pass out from the sheer assault of him on her senses. 

“Let me fuck your mouth,” he begs when he breaks away. 

Her voice is wrecked, her vision a little hazy as she stares up at him. “Give me your shirt and promise to cum all over my tongue,” she rasps, “and my mouth is all yours.” 

“Good lord, are you trying to kill me?” he moans. Jake rips off his shirt and hands it to her. She uses it and his discarded shorts to pad her aching knees. He settles back against the wall and in the laundry room light, he glows like her own glorious Eros. She wants to lick every bead of sweat that glistens between the carved ridges of his abdomen and chest. Gently, he strokes her hair before lacing his fingers through it. “Let me know if I hurt you or you want me to stop?” 

She nods and parts her lips for him. It’s too much for Jake to watch himself stroke in and out of her mouth, but Natasha treasures every trembling clench of his muscles, the roped veins in his arms as he holds off his release, the alluring column of his throat, and the perfect arch of his jaw. She opens the back of her throat and hums her pleasure, ignoring the dribble of drool forced out by his girth. His panting accelerates with his pace. 

“How is your mouth this perfect?” he groans. Jake chances a glance down in time to see her smirk and throws his head back again. “Fuck!” 

The little room fills with his increasingly loud, desperate gasps and keens over the wet lap of his dick in her mouth. Natasha presses forward so that his thighs meet her breasts and her hands can knead the muscled curves of his ass. There’s something about being on her knees for Jake that makes her high on her love for him, the feeling that there is nothing she wouldn’t be willing to do for him. She tilts her head to give him a new angle, and to breathe a little easier, and his fingers curl in her hair. “Yeah there, Nat. That’s so good.” 

His hips start to move more urgently. “So close. I can’t–I’m going to come.”

“Mhmm,” she encourages, relaxing her own muscles and closing her eyes because now he’s thrusting against the back of her throat. She can always tell from the pitch and cadence of Jake’s gasps how close he is to finishing, but what she loves most about taking him in her mouth is that she can also follow the subtle shifts in his body on its way to finding his release in her.

When she hears him on the brink, she sucks a little harder on his next thrust.

“Nat,” he chokes and gives way to his climax with a long, stuttering groan. His balls and dick constrict in rapid succession before the swell of his cum rushes through his length and bursts in hot spurts down her throat. She moans around the feel of him pumping out his release as she swallows everything she can. Jake’s legs tremble under her hands as he shudders through his orgasm. . 

Carefully, she slides her mouth off of him and scoots out of his way. He tosses her thong onto the wash machine and sinks to the floor. Natasha curls up between his legs, leaning into his heat, as he continues to come down. A little clumsily, he uses her t-shirt to dab his cum off her face then drapes his arms around her. He looks down at her completely love drunk, eyes slightly out of focus and mouth slack with a dopey smile. “I’m sorry. I couldn’t stop thinking about how hot those panties looked on you, babe.” 

She reaches up and strokes the damp strands of hair behind his ear. “I guess I’m going to have to wear them a little more often then.” 

He nuzzles her neck with a breathless laugh. “Like every day, please.” 

---

As soon as he knows the Chiefs are going to the Super Bowl, Jake calls dibs on them, leaving her the Eagles by default. “Mahomes is from East Texas!” he defends himself adamantly. “I root for anyone from East Texas.”

She rolls her eyes and gives him the finger.

They opt to stay home and watch the Super Bowl together, a decision that draws enough raised eyebrows that they end up making up a party that they’re going to just to avoid the knowing looks. 

Natasha isn’t sure whether Jake has a Chiefs t-shirt or buys one for the occasion, but on game day he puts it on before going to pick up their order of wings and fries while she picks out something green. At a sudden burst of inspiration, she closes the kitchen and living room blinds before changing into her Eagles Super Bowl outfit. 

Jake nearly drops the bag of food when he notices her watching the pre-game coverage on the sofa. 

“Phoenix, what the fuck are you wearing!” he yelps. 

She grins evilly and folds her arms on the cushions. “Green. For the Eagles. Like we agreed.” What she’s really wearing is a sheer green bra and his new favorite pair of underwear. 

“For fucks sake, Nat! How am I supposed to watch the game with you in that?” he complains. 

Natasha smirks. “Sounds like a problem for you, not for me.” 

But it’s most definitely her problem by the time the Chiefs win the coin toss because even propping his legs up on the coffee table and holding his beer in his lap, Jake can’t hide that at least her outfit, if not her team, has his full support. 

When the Eagles score right out of the gate, Natasha’s touchdown dance to “We Will Rock You” ends any pretense that they’re going to make it through this game. He slams his beer on the coaster and launches himself to his feet. Bodily, he lifts her over his shoulder and lightly smacks her ass.

Laughing, Natasha doesn’t have time to get her bearings before he dumps her on the sofa and pins her in place with a kiss that makes her forget where she was going with this other than where she’s landed. He tastes of beer, wings, football, and a day he promised to spend alone with her. And the way Jake's kissing her, tongue stroking hers, hips swaying his erection over her core, hand kneading her breast, she wouldn't mind if he never stopped.

She runs her leg along the line of his, and Jake growls. He kisses and nips his way to her chest, his tongue teasing her nipple through the barely there lace. "Fuck, Jake!" she hisses when he slides open her bra with one hand. The release of her chest feels so good and the way he's staring down at her peaked and hardened nipples like his birthday has come early quickens the pulse in her core.

If she doesn't stop him now, she's not going to be able to put the breaks on this much longer. Natasha presses a hand to his chest. “Hold up, Texas Hold ‘Em! No cum on the couch.” 

Jake grins slyly and tugs out the bow on one side of her underwear. She looks down at his hands as he switches sides and pulls apart the other bow. Their foreheads are practically touching, their breaths racing against one another's as they watch him lift the top of the thong off her like he’s just unwrapped a present. 

His breath hitches when he sees how wet his own anticipation made her. So much for no cum on the couch. Making a split second decision, Jake tugs off his shirt and spreads it under her hips. He traces her soaking slit, and she’s already wet enough for him to slip two of his large fingers into her. 

Natasha arches her back off the pillow and lifts her hips onto his hand. He watches her biting her lip and leans in to kiss her again. His weight settles over her, pressing her into the sturdy softness of the sofa’s cushions. At some point, the Chiefs score and then the Eagles again but the only end zone Natasha and Jake still care about is the one his fingers and mouth are driving her toward. 

They're already cuddled naked in a large throw blanket, exhausted and spent, when the Chiefs win the game. But Jake musters his stamina to drive home one last orgasm and his victory, his fingers laced through hers as she cries out his name.

–

On the third day of deployment in the Indian Ocean, Jake pulls out a black undershirt for the day and something tumbles out into his seabag. He runs his hand over the top of his things and freezes. 

He lifts out a green lace and satin thong and a folded piece of paper.

In case you want to remember how hot I look in these while you’re gone. Love, Natasha

Something about his shirt catches his attention. It smells like…he holds her lingerie to his nose. He’s fucked and never leaving his bunk. She sprayed it with her perfume.

Ode to Phoenix Masterlist

[amberskyyking]

Implications Of Being Alive

Chapter 3: When A Supply Run Goes Horribly Wrong (or Right?)

Or, I have exactly 1 problem with the ending of BB, and I’ve loopholed my way into a maliciously canon-compliant fix-it that I EXPECT to see in a new rebel show, please and thank you J Corbs and Hat Man 🫠

—-SPOILERS FOR BB S3 BELOW—-

“That’s the last of ‘em, kid!” Cy declared with gusto, melodramatically dusting off his hands in the narrow hall of Omega’s ship. “Lil surprised you got it all to fit in this tiny hold of yours!”

Omega shot a sparkling smirk at a broadly grinning old clone and crossed her arms. “You’re just disappointed you didn’t get to claim more than your own share!”

“Well can ‘ya blame me?” He chuckled, gesturing at the supply boxes packed tight enough Omega had to override the object sensors to convince the outer hatch to close on them. “We havent seen Varos flavored rations since… Well, since the Clone Wars! All our brothers loved them, they’re completely lost on the nat-borns.”

“You know you don’t have to live on rations, don’t you?” Omega raised an amused eyebrow.

“Well. Yeah, we eat other things! But, nostalgia’s sake. You know.”

Omega grinned and shook her head. “I know. I always liked them best, too.”

“No kidding!” Cy teased, patting the nearest box, and Omega gave him a good natured punch on the shoulder. “Hey!”

“Wait until I tell Echo you’re trying to poach his-“ But Omega cut herself off as Hera’s head popped into the hold with a worrying frown, Chopper on her heels, grumbling up a storm.

“Hey Hera!” Omega said cautiously, righting herself and giving Hera a friendly salute. Cy did the same. “Is… Something wrong?”

“It’s Chop,” She said in an undertone, cutting straight to the point. “He just came back from the edge of base with his communicator shot clean off.”

All the color drained from Omega’s face, and Cy let out a displeased grunt of his own. “Poor Chop!” Omega said sympathetically, glancing down at the agitated astromec. “Are you alright other than that?”

Bhr BHR! B B B B Baaaaaaah.

“Oh he’s fine. The imperial spy he found, not so much,” Hera said with an exasperated smirk. “It explains why our systems registered a small explosion nearby, the attacker had detonators and Chop took advantage,” She gestured at him with a hint of pride. “That’ll teach them to mess with my droid. But it’s not safe to stay. You both have your supplies, are you ready to move out?”

“Yes sir!” Omega piped up.

“I can be,” Cy said lazily.

“Good. Lyssa and Domri are just waiting my signal. We need them out first, their refugees need this more than our -“

Br BR! Br BR! BHRRRRRR!

“What is it Chop?”

Ba brbrbr BAA-

Chopper gestured back out the doorway towards Cy’s ship, the Cyclone 4, and for the briefest second Omega spotted a glimpse of a figure in black bolting from it before -

BOOM.

The force of the explosion sent them all reeling back! Omega hit the wall and tiny lights popped behind her eyes. Her ears rang, but she heard coughing, scoffing, offended Chopper noises and confused Gonk! Gonk!’s coming from the back of her ship.

She pulled herself upright with a white knuckle grip on the edge of the console and heard Cy let out a deeply disgruntled sound.

“Aaaagh! Not again!” He groaned.

Omega offered him a hand and pulled him to his feet. The Cyclone 4 had been reduced to slag.

“Karabast! They lived?!” Hera shouted. “Alright, new plan.”

Be bv br BHR?

“Too risky Chop, they’re already here. Omega, get us airborne, NOW.”

“On it,” Omega said, hopping into the pilots seat and firing up the controls. Her thrusters engaged, the ship lifted off, and Hera took charge.

“Chopper, remotely activate the Ghost’s top hatch!” Hera ordered. “Cy, with me, on my signal! Omega, bring us in low over the Ghost and give us ground cover to get her flying, we need to get Lyssa and Domri out of here before we make our own jumps! Is that clear!”

“Yes sir!” Omega called back, pushing the ship forward with a determined grimace and her heart racing. The Ghost wasn’t far but their saboteur could be anywhere, and even as she thought it more shots fired off towards two other rising Rebel ships.

“No!” Omega gasped as Lyssa’s stabilizer was hit. The ship shuttered dangerously in the air and began to plummet. Omega gritted her teeth.

“Draw their fire and stay on target!” Hera cried, and Omega nodded, gritting her teeth and swallowing hard. Hera was right. They needed the Ghost, it was a risky plan but she was accustomed to risky plans by now and Hera’s skills were needed now more than ever to help the others escape.

She banked sideways towards their attacker first, laid down some fire as ground cover, and juked away towards the Ghost again. In the distance Lyssa fought for control of the careening ship, Domri rose higher, but the infiltrator, whoever they were, changed targets, forcing Omega to twist and dodge to avoid a serious hit. Omega leveled out low to the ground and pulled up on the accelerator seconds before they passed over the Ghost.

“Now!” She heard Hera shout, and her three passengers dropped out the door onto the Ghost below. Omega looked back with her heart in her throat but they had made it. Hera vanished into the hatch and Cy gave Omega a quick salute before pulling it closed over them all. Omega let out a breath, but it wasn’t over. She pulled up again, cut the thrusters and made a perfect Tech Turn to round back on the shooter.

In the few seconds that move took, the rain of blasterfire had seemed to stop, but Omega realized with dread it was only because they were aiming for the Ghost!

Omega returned fire back in an instant, bringing her ship around for another pass and peppering the area the enemy was hiding in blue plasma. For a second the attacker, wherever they were, let up on their assault, but as Omegas ship sped past their barrage returned. She gasped as one shot just barely missed a sublight engine, and only because the Ghost just lifted off the ground in time to make it a miss!

Mayhem 5! Keep them pinned down! Hera’s voice crackled over the comm.

As if she even needed to be told, after that close call. She snarled as she threw the ship into a second Tech Turn to double back again and give this imperial scumbag some hell. “On it!”

The Ghost careened in a huge arc and unleashed its own fire power on the shooters hiding spot, and finally, the dark figure was flushed out, running with an obvious limp and suited in black. How they were even still moving Omega didn’t know, but she had them now. She accelerated forward again, took aim, fired-

But her enemy also fired, whipping towards her with inhuman speed and popping off a single shot that sank straight through her sublight engine!

A distress call from Lyssa blared from her console, Omega felt her own engine splutter and die, the figure vanished below, and her ship veered sideways. There was hardly any time to prepare to crash. Omega wrenched the steering, slamming at the controls and overriding several errors to force the ship to stay level for just a few seconds.

“Brace for impact Gonky!” She shouted back, and the ship crashed down, skidding and spinning across the dirt. Omega was thrown forward, letting out an involuntary cry that was lost on the sound of metallic screeching and rumbling dirt that pierced the air until they came to a stop.

She could smell smoke, systems warnings were blaring, but she took stock of herself and… She was okay. A little sore, but nothing broken or bleeding.

Mayhem 5! What’s your status?! Hera’s voice rang out from the sparking console, and even through distortion, Omega could hear the fear in her voice. She scrambled for the receiver.

“Specter 2, I’m… I’m fine,” She breathed, looking around with eyes wide. “Ships down. No major injuries!”

The viewport was thick with dust, but the ship had spun as it crashed so she sat facing the gouge marks in the soft earth, and something was moving up ahead. The hairs on the back of her neck stood on end, and the adrenaline that was just coming down from the crash rocketed all over again.

Ruby 3 is unresponsive, Hera said frantically. Did you make your shot?

She peered with dread through the pane, but it wasn’t a trick. There wasn’t enough cover to stay hidden for long and soon she saw it again - That same lone, limping figure, one hand cradling their side, injured and blow up but still unrelenting in their pursuit as they ducked behind a small cluster of gnarled plants.

Something about their armor was horribly familiar.

Mayhem 5?

“No,” Omega said bitterly. “I didn’t, but I will.”

Taking them out from here would be best, but the gunnery was karked, jammed in a completely unusable position. She kept her eyes on the imperial’s cover as she drew the custom precision blaster Crosshair had finally deemed good enough for her after several modifications and patted down her belt to ensure Hunter’s old vibro-knife was still there.

I don’t like the sound of that-

Something moved, and if only for a second, Omega saw them clearly, and her heart leapt into her throat. That… That wasn’t just any Imperial, that was like seeing a ghost! She would never forget that helmet, that mask, those glowing aqua cybernetics.

It was him.

The soldier who had hunted her family a decade ago, who killed so many of Rex’s men, who nearly drowned Crosshair and later cut off his hand. The one who had blown up the Marauder and dragged her off to Tantiss, who she thought Hunter had finally killed during their escape.

But if that was really him… Then he was a clone, too.

“Get to Ruby 3. She needs you,” Omega pleaded in a tone that was determined as it was solemn, setting her blaster to stun. “This is personal.”

And it had almost been too close already. They never wanted to kill clones who were on the Empires side, but sometimes it was impossible to avoid. They couldn’t avoid it on Tantiss, but this was different. She was different. This was a one-on-one fight, it wasn’t impossible, and if she had a chance, she would take it. She was ready.

That still wouldn’t make it easy, based on her still very vivid memories of what the CX troopers were capable of. Omega took a deep breath to center herself… And an idea came into her head.

“Gonky,” Omega whispered, and got a feeble little goooonk in response. “Be ready for Plan 38, okay? I need a backup just in case. Prep the hold latch and unleash it on my signal.”

He reluctantly gonked in agreement, and Omega nodded back, moving carefully to slip out of the hold. He was nearby, she knew it. She watched for signs of him. If she could just stun him, if she could just get him back to Echo-

Only the barest flash of movement warned Omega to duck before a blaster bolt hit the wall above her! She sprung off it and charged, firing back blue rings at the clone, knowing full well how much more difficult it would be to take him down that way, but she could do it! She just had to hit him enough times, she just had to survive -

He took the bait and slammed into her full force, knocking her back, and she twisted to avoid getting slashed with a knife. Omega fired and missed. The clones hand swiped the blade again at her neck but she caught it on her vambrace and shoved him back, barely, trading and blocking blows in close quarters. Her gut twisted. He was skilled, but injured, which should make him easier to take down, but he was fighting with lethal force, and Omega… Omega couldn’t do that!

She couldn’t beat him that way, he was never going to stop, it was all she could do to keep herself in the fight with a person who would hurt himself to keep going, who would fight through so much pain. She tried to fall back, plan 38 would be better for them both, but the retreat left her vulnerable for a split second and he grabbed her arm. Omega gasped as he yanked her towards a tree and kneed her in the gut.

“They’ll come back for you, dead or alive,” He said, his voice toneless and modulated. “They don’t leave their own behind.”

Omega preferred the gut pain to those words. It hurt less. They couldn’t help what happened on Tantiss, she tried so hard to remind herself of that, but it still always tugged at her heart, knowing how many clones still died there before they made it out. But she couldn’t go there now. He lifted his blaster and she grabbed his arm, twisting it up so it fired into the trees, and he let out a sharp yelp of pain. She couldn’t pity him yet, though, not while he was fighting without mercy, not if she wanted to help him! He wouldn’t be left behind, not again! Omega took advantage of his weakness, jamming her own blaster directly against his chest plate and firing off one stunner, then two, but he threw himself back and head butted her clean in the nose before she could finish the job with a third.

Stars swarmed her vision again, she let out a small cry and tasted blood. The clone staggered backward and Omega stumbled sideways, fighting to keep her own consciousness.

But he was doing the same. Omega raised her blaster again but between the two of them he was quicker, and she was forced to dodge more fire, retreating towards the trap Gonky was ready to pull. She didn’t have to beat him out here. He was almost down already. She just had to get him on the ship.

One of the shots singed her leg as she ran but she didn’t dare stop, not even for the sharp pain that radiated up it almost right away. She’d fought through worse. Omega managed to leap into the hold off her good leg but collapsed in the entry, only feet from the cockpit.

“Karabast!” She swore, desperately starting to crawl forward.

Gonky gonked his concern from the back.

“Not yet!” Omega whimpered. “I have to get him to the-“

There was a clanging of metal on metal as heavy footfalls rang through the ship. Omega flipped herself around and tried to stand, but the clone in imperial black stood looming over her and cocked his blaster at her head.

“Running is futile,” He said in that same Imperial monotone.

“It’s worked before!” Omega tried to stall, pushing herself backwards with her one good leg. He had her trapped, he wasn’t in position yet, Gonky couldn’t spring the trap, but they were so close. Omega held her breath, heart racing, this wasn’t how she wanted to go out, she could help him…

But several seconds passed, and he wasn’t pulling the trigger.

The clone seemed frozen, his head cocked ever so slightly, not so much looking at her as past her at something else, as if transfixed. The end of his blaster dipped towards the floor in his distraction.

Omega narrowed her eyes, subtly aiming her own blaster at her hip without a sound, and fired two shots in rapid succession. The last shot did what the first three couldn’t. The clone collapsed on the ground.

Gonk gonk? Gooonk?

Omega let herself fall backwards on the ground, too. It was over… She had done it.

“No Gonky… We don’t need Plan 38 after all.”

Which was probably good. Wasting all those Varos flavored rations just to bury the clone really would be a shame. Omega’s leg was throbbing painfully, her head was still aching and her face splattered with blood, but she couldn’t wait too long to catch her breath either. After only a minute or so, she dragged herself upright again and crawled towards the clone.

“I’m sorry, vod,” She breathed, pulling his hands behind his back and encasing them in binders as gently as she could before heaving him upright. “I’ll get you some help, yeah? You probably never wanted this, and…”

But her words dropped off as she gingerly removed his helmet and her world came to a screeching halt.

This wasn’t a reg.

This wasn’t a reg but it WAS a clone. She had screamed his name, lunged forward in desperation as he shot the cable that connected them, plummeting into the clouds below as their rail car caught the track and ripped them away and it all went dark-

“TECH???!!” Omega shrieked, the name torn from her chest in agony like the day they had lost him, reverberating against the walls of the ship so she heard it a hundred more times as she cupped his face and stared in disbelief. He was older now, like the others, his auburn hair cut short and speckled with shades of gray. Wrinkles lined his cheeks and jaw and the outsides of his eyes, he had some nasty new scars, but it was him, undoubtedly him.

In that moment, it didn’t matter if he was dangerous, it didn’t matter what he had done, what kind of conditioning the Empire must have put him through over all this time, or that he had just tried to kill her. Omega threw her arms around his shoulders and broke down into his neck with bloody, hiccuping, ugly sobs, carding her fingers into the back of his close-shaven hair.

All this time. All those battles a decade ago, everything that happened since then. How could they not have known? How come they never looked?

Guilt tore open her chest worse than his knife would have. He had been trapped like this, while the rest of them retired on Pabu, while Omega grew up surrounded by sunshine and laughter and beaches and family… And somehow, all this time later, he had hesitated to make the kill. Something had stopped him long enough for her to get the final shot.

She did her best to still herself, just for a few seconds, blinking away her tears to follow his gaze from a few minutes before…

To where his own cracked and broken goggles sat prominently on top of the cockpit console.

Omega’s ragged cries started all over again. Tech was alive, he was still in there, he had to be.

And he was coming home.

ITS KRIFFING POSSIBLE DAMMIT I DIDN’T EVEN BREAK CANON NOW FIX IT IN CANON OR SO HELP ME!!!!!! ❤️‍🩹

-ahem- Anyways. I’m mostly on AO3 so, links to all chapters below. Please scream in my comments and shit, it is pure writing fuel to get those ❤️

Chapter 1: Existing Isn’t Living (But It’s Better Than Being Dead… Right?)

Chapter 2: Serving Purpose (This Might Be Banthashit)

Chapter 3: When A Supply Run Goes Horribly Wrong (Or Right?)

[scarlxtleaves]

━━   ❝   𝐒𝐨𝐫𝐫𝐲 𝐈'𝐦 𝐬𝐨 𝐥𝐚𝐭𝐞 𝐦𝐨𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐫.   ❞  Trunks had arrived at the front of her door, a hat on his head that read ‘best big br❤️️’ along with a large capacity back-pack strapped to him in case Bulla would require extra snacks or changing. “But I’m ready to take you and Bulla out into town, I also promise not to fly too fast.”

𝐋𝐈𝐊𝐄𝐃 𝐅𝐎𝐑 𝐀 𝐒𝐓𝐀𝐑𝐓𝐄𝐑 / @age733

[heygutlcssa]

REPOST AND LIST 6 SONGS THAT INSPIRE YOU TO WRITE YOUR MUSE:

1.) When you were young - The Killers

You sit there in your heartache / Waiting on some beautiful boy to / To save you from your old ways / You play forgiveness / Watch it now, here he comes / He doesn't look a thing like Jesus / But he talks like a gentlemen / Like you imagined when you were young

2.) In the Ghetto - Elvis Presley

People, don't you understand / The child needs a helping hand / Or he'll grow to be an angry young man some day / Take a look at you and me / Are we too blind to see? / Do we simply turn our heads And look the other way / Well, the world turns / And a hungry little boy with a runny nose / Plays in the street as the cold wind blows In the ghetto / And his hunger burns / So he starts to roam the streets at night / And he learns how to steal / And he learns how to fight / In the ghetto

3.) Leader of the Pack - the Shangri-Las

I met him at the candy store / He turned around and smiled at me / You get the picture / "Yes, we see" / That's when I fell for the leader of the pack / My folks were always putting him down (down, down) / They said he came from the wrong side of town / (What you mean when you say that he came from the wrong side of town?) / They told me he was bad, but I knew he was sad / That's why I fell for the leader of the pack

4.)He's a Rebel - The Crystals

When he holds my hand, I'm so proud / 'Cause he's not just one of the crowd / My baby's always the one to try the things they've never done And just because of that, they say / "He's a rebel and he'll never ever be any good / He's a rebel 'cause he never ever does what he should" But just because he doesn't do what everybody else does / That's no reason why I can't give him all my love

5.) Flip, Flop, & Fly - Big Joe Turner

Now flip, flop and fly / I don't care if I die / Now flip, flop and fly I don't care if I die / Don't ever leave me, don't ever say goodbye

6.) The world was wide enough - Hamilton

I imagine death so much it feels more like a memory / Is this where it gets me, on my feet, sev'ral feet ahead of me? / I see it coming, do I run or fire my gun or let it be? / There is no beat, no melody / Burr, my first friend, my enemy / Maybe the last face I ever see / If I throw away my shot, is this how you'll remember me? / What if this bullet is my legacy?

& LIST 6 QUOTES THAT INSPIRE YOU TO WRITE YOUR MUSE: ( I cheated a little)

1.) Rebel Without a Cause

---I don't know what to do anymore. Except maybe die.

---I woke up this morning, you know... and the sun was shining, and it was nice, and all that type of stuff. And the first thing, I saw you, and, uh, I said, "Boy, this is gonna be one terrific day, so you better live it up, because tomorrow you'll be nothing." You see? And I almost was.

2.) 12 Angry Men

---It's always difficult to keep personal prejudice out of a thing like this. And wherever you run into it, prejudice always obscures the truth.

---We’re not here to go into the reasons why slums are breeding grounds for criminals. They are. I know it.

---Look, this boy’s been kicked around all his life. You know - living in a slum, his mother dead since he was nine. He spent a year and a half in an orphanage while his father served a jail term for forgery. That’s not a very good head start. He had a pretty terrible sixteen years. I think maybe we owe him a few words. That’s all.

3.) Inherit the Wind

---Progress has never been a bargain. You have to pay for it. Sometimes I think there's a man who sits behind a counter and says, "All right, you can have a telephone but you lose privacy and the charm of distance. Madam, you may vote but at a price. You lose the right to retreat behind the powder puff or your petticoat. Mister, you may conquer the air but the birds will lose their wonder and the clouds will smell of gasoline.

---Brady: We must not abandon faith! Faith is the most important thing! Drummond: Then why did God plague us with the capacity to think? Mr. Brady, why do you deny the one faculty of man that raises him above the other creatures of the earth, the power of his brain to reason? What other merit have we? The elephant is larger, the horse is swifter and stronger, the butterfly is far more beautiful, the mosquito is more prolific. Even the simple sponge is more durable. But does a sponge think? Brady: I don't know. I'm a man, not a sponge! Drummond: But do you think a sponge thinks? Brady: If the Lord wishes a sponge to think, it thinks! Drummond: Do you think a man should have the same privilege as a sponge? Brady: Of course! Drummond: [Gesturing towards the defendant, Bertram Cates] Then this man wishes to have the same privilege of a sponge, he wishes to think!

---Can't you understand? That if you take a law like evolution and you make it a crime to teach it in the public schools, tomorrow you can make it a crime to teach it in the private schools? And tomorrow you may make it a crime to read about it. And soon you may ban books and newspapers. And then you may turn Catholic against Protestant, and Protestant against Protestant, and try to foist your own religion upon the mind of man. If you can do one, you can do the other. Because fanaticism and ignorance is forever busy, and needs feeding. And soon, your Honor, with banners flying and with drums beating we'll be marching backward, BACKWARD, through the glorious ages of that Sixteenth Century when bigots burned the man who dared bring enlightenment and intelligence to the human mind!

TAGGED BY : @dustwereturn

TAGGING: @warriours ; @ycllowhaired ; @unvendaval ; @whatsbehindthefacade ; @angelsweeps

[comicchannel]

Funko Pop Movies Superman and Lois Flying - 2 Pack

Link para compra BR: https://amzn.to/47DEGXY

Buy here: https://amzn.to/45zivAs

[saratogaroadwrites]

Per Aspera Ad Astra (15/18)

Per Aspera Ad Astra | saratogaroad | banner art credit Rating: T Wordcount: 183k Characters: John 117, Cortana, Thomas Lasky, Sarah Palmer, Fireteam Osiris, The Warden Eternal, The Didact, The Librarian, ensemble of other Halo characters Relationships: John-117 & Cortana Other Tags: Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, fix-it, Male/Female Friendship, Canon-Typical Violence Warnings:  War imagery, seizures, graphic description of injury

Snatched from the jaws of death, Cortana and John find themselves adrift in a galaxy that has long since moved on. As they attempt to find their place in this strange new world, they find that the fight is not as over as they thought. Chasing a signal across the galaxy in desperate hope, they come to a stark conclusion: the Reclamation has begun, and they are helpless to stop it.

=

"Son of a—!"

Spartan Buck's furious shout was cut off by the breathless rush of air that accompanied a hundred and ninety kilos of armored Spartan IV landing back first on the deck. The rest of his squad scattered wildly in all directions, avoiding the lightning fast swing of the Didact's sword aiming for their heads. Abandoning his gun the Chief dove in through the minuscule opening that had been created, pivoting around to grab at the Didact's wrist. Twist and pull and—

The program countered, the holographic representation of the old Forerunner practically reading his mind and sending him flying with a countering move. Twisting in mid-air the Chief righted himself, landing heavily on his knees. His armor shouted a warning at him: shields dropped by twenty percent on landing. Couldn't do that too many times. Before he could signal for covering fire Cortana was at his side, bombarding the Didact with shots from the binary rifle in her hands. When Crimson added their shots to hers he stumbled back from the force, allowing Osiris time to regroup. The holographic Didact paid them little attention, shots pinging off armor as changed targets and strode towards the Chief. His back armor panel was too small a target to hit with their BRs, especially when he was no longer toying with his opponents.

It didn't matter. Not anymore. Signaling for Cortana to fall back the Chief got to his feet, shifting his weight to drop below the swing of the Didact's blade and come up in a countering stance. The Veiled Light style was, according to Bornstellar's memories, a fast and aggressive style meant to overwhelm the user's opponent with a flurry of blows. It was surprisingly reminiscent of the style the Spartan IIs had come to use during the course of their training, and combining the two was as simple as slipping into his techsuit.

Of course, that didn't mean the Didact would make things easy for him. Hologram or no it was programmed to act just like the real thing. When Bornstellar's memories had entered the Domain Cortana had gained access to them as well. Using them she'd been able to create a program to mimic the Didact's combat style for the Spartans to train against, and even as a program the Forerunner was no slouch. It met the Chief blow for blow, diverting the energy and impact force like a stone diverting water. Still he kept the blows coming, dodging away from grabs and leaping over swinging kicks. It had to become muscle memory, as instinctive as breathing. There was no space or time for messing up. One distraction. That was all he needed.

"Osiris, open fire!"

Four sharp copy that! rang out through the simulated basin in response to Cortana's order, four rifles opening fire on the Didact's back. Unable to defend himself the Didact stumbled half a step as twelve rounds slammed into his back, quickly followed up by another thirteen from Crimson and Cortana. Torn between continuing to engage the Chief in close quarters or turning and dealing with the firing squad, the program hesitated.

"Now!"

Crimson Lead and Locke charged forward, thruster packs pushed to maximum. They slammed into the Didact's legs, knocking him off balance long enough for the Chief to set his feet and reach forward, grabbing the Forerunner's arms. Servos revved to their maximum speed, force multiplying circuits pushing wide open, exponentially increasing his strength.

"Grenades up!"

"Grenades up!" Came the reply from six voices. Crimson 2, 3, and 4 pulled the pins on their frags while Osiris primed the plasma explosives. Gritting his teeth the Chief threw the Didact clear over his shoulder, sending him flying to land back first in the dirt. The grenades had already been flying, three Plasma sticking to his chest upon landing. Throwing all available power to his shields the Chief gave the final order. Two green acknowledgment lights flashed in his visor as he, Crimson Lead, and Locke shot out the frags they had been tracking. Setting off the explosions set off a chain reaction which set off the plasma grenades, a tremendous burst of light and sound rattling the holo-deck. It was the cue the rest of the teams had been waiting for.

"Focus fire!" Cortana shouted, and from the rim of the basin another sixty one Fireteams popped out of cover. In one unified assault all two hundred and forty four Spartans opened fire on the Didact's position. They were quickly joined by Crimson, Osiris, Cortana, and the Chief himself, the roar of over two hundred and fifty guns firing at once seeming to rattle the air itself. Shot after shot slammed into the Didact's form, simulated bullets and hard-light tearing through simulated flesh, preventing him from gathering himself or the focus needed to break free of the onslaught. Blood sprayed through the air, armor shattering and flesh giving way. Already knocked down from the grenades he was unable to defend himself against the continued fire. Red mist and smoke covered his position before long; the Chief threw up a fist, all fire stopping.

"Hold position," He commanded the company, heart pounding in his throat. "Wait for a confirmed kill."

A tense silence fell over the deck as no sword came swinging out of the smoke, no motion detected by his tracker. The constant buzz beneath his skin worked up towards a fever pitch, Cortana among those holding her breath as they waited for confirmation. One second, two seconds, three, four, five. The smoke and mist began to fade away at the edges, hologram slowly shutting off. Anticipation flooded the deck. Just five more seconds until the last of the smoke cleared away…

There!

There was nothing left of the once hulking form. Torn apart by so many bullets the only recognizable part of the Didact was his head, helmet shattered in half to reveal a snarling face. The Chief's systems scanned the body, reaching out to the program for the result that it quickly laid out on his HUD. No pulse, respiration, or other signs of life. Injuries were in line with being torn apart by so much concentrated fire, and there was no chance he had escaped. He was down. No sooner had the thought sank in did a buzzer blare, green light flaring across the duck.

Didact confirmed KIA. Mission successful.

A resounding cheer rang through the training deck, one hundred and twenty five Fireteams sharing in the triumph. Armor clattered behind the Chief as Osiris and Crimson threw their arms around their teammates, Buck whooping in joy. John allowed himself to sigh, tense muscles relaxing. This was the sixth round of this tactic and their fourth success. They had a working plan.

Just in time, too. A quick check of the countdown he had set in his HUD days ago gave him the reading of just under fifteen minutes. Just under fifteen minutes and they'd be dropping onto the Ark. If they weren't ready by now, they weren't going to be ready.

Killing the simulation program in his armor John walked off the deck, keeping his helmet firmly in place. Cortana fell in at his side, Osiris and Crimson walking off behind them with arms still slung over armored shoulders. Platforms rose and fell back into an even level, Fireteams jostling for the best view of the replay display broadcasting from the opposite wall. John kept to the rear of the ground, cracking his spine with a faint wince. A week of enforced bedrest, another of light duty, and then five days of getting back up to full strength and he was still sore in places. Dr. Delgado would have advised that he take it easy, but they didn't have the time for that. Less than fourteen minutes to drop now.

A wash of cold slipped down his spine before he could crack it again, cradling his lace with gentle fingers and soothing away the lingering aches and pains. John sighed quietly, allowing himself to relax into the sensation. Cortana's amusement trickled down his back like rain.

Feeling your age?

Maybe, he sent back, turning his head to catch her eye as an indescribable rush of fondness and warm swept across their connection. It was echoed in her wordless return, the cold arm that wrapped around his waist despite her being out of reach. Do you think they're ready?

They're as ready as we can get them on such short notice, same as the ship. Hard to say how everyone's feeling about it, but we'll be ready for a fight.

We'll get one.

Of that much he was sure. They had studied Bornstellar's memories for hours while he'd been stuck in bed: the Didact was more ruthless than they'd experienced for themselves. If they had so much as one misstep, the entire battalion would suffer the consequences. They only had one shot at this. They couldn't fail now.

Don't worry. We'll get him. She sent reassuringly. A ghostly hand pressed against his squeezing gently and leaving a cold imprint in its wake. He closed his hand around it, sending back wordless gratitude. The cold ebbed as she backed away, a trace of it lingering in his lace. A soft thunk echoed through the display as the replay went over the last part of the simulation again. Six grenades were nothing compared to a full bombardment, but they sure did make one hell of a bang. Buck whistled respectfully.

"Not bad for a guy fresh out of Medical." He turned to the Chief with a grin. "You didn't throw out your back, did you old timer?"

Maybe a little. "You'll throw out more than your back if the Didact intercepts you. Stick to the maneuver."

"Aw, come on. Charging worked all the time on Brutes—ack!"

"You sure it was the charging and not all that hot air you're spewing?" Tanaka asked, snapping an arm around Buck's neck. Their helmets clattered together and John arched an eyebrow, watching them roughhouse back across the deck. With a minute shake of his head he let them be, catching Locke's eye. The Commander shrugged, hands spread palm to the ceiling. What could be done about them? Absolutely nothing.

"All hands be advised: We are ten minutes from slipspace drop." Roland's voice rang out across the deck from the PA system, cutting the roughhousing off short. "Medics prepare for combat insertion. Non-combat personnel, please ensure that all areas are prepped for combat maneuvers and then proceed to your assigned safe zones."

The message repeated itself as the Fireteams pushed up off of rails and crates, casual behavior set aside. All were already armored, helmets hissing as they ran through final checks with practiced ease. The Chief watched them for a moment, pride swelling his heart. These were his Spartans, each and every single one of them, and he was going to get them safely home.

"Ready up, Spartans," He ordered, pitching his voice to carry across the deck. Well trained and well drilled, the Fireteams returned to their units and headed for the armory doors in an orderly rush. "Prep for combat insertion. Heavy weapons and shielding."

A wave of "Yes, sir," and "aye, sir!" followed him as he stepped off the holo-deck, Cortana slipping out of the crowd beside him. He glanced down and caught her faint smile.

You ready?

So long as we can get through this briefing without Palmer blowing a fuse, I will be. She returned with a loose shrug, rolling her shoulders as they exited the holo-deck. John had to sidestep around a squad of hurrying technicians nose deep in their tables. Their faces were pale but their hands and feet were steady. Whatever came next they'd be ready to do their jobs. Because something tells me she's not going to like our contingency plan.

You ran the numbers. It'll work.

Cortana shook her head. If the Soldiers show up, yes. If it turns out they can't get to the Ark then there's no way for the Spartans to get clear if the Didact doesn't go down to this and if there's no way for them to get clear in time they'll all be killed too, so how can we even think of doing that—

She was spiraling again. He nudged her shoulder with his arm, shaking his head as she looked up at him.

Relax. He soothed, They'll be there. We'll think of something else if they're not.

You make it sound so easy.

You mean it's not?

Making a sound somewhere between a strangled duck and startled Elite Cortana whipped her head around to glare at him. Grateful that his helmet could hide his smirk he shrugged loosely, though he knew it wouldn't hide his own worries from her in the end. There was nothing more they could do until they were down there and working with what they had. There was no point in working herself up about it.

With a fondly aggravated huff Cortana turned away, easily keeping pace as they made their way up to the Command Deck, tossing ideas back and forth on the five minute walk through the Maintenance causeways. They made a few minute changes, but the base plan remained the same: Get the Didact into position, keep him busy long enough for the Fireteams to lay waste to him, and finish the job. Potentially drop a Havok on his head if need be and they could get the Fireteams out of range in time, but they'd cross that bridge when they got to it. As far as plans went it was hardly original, but he'd never seen the point in changing things that worked.

He set the thought, and any lingering doubts, aside as they reached the door to the bridge. Pausing to allow an Ensign to enter ahead of them the Chief removed his helmet, tucking it up against his hip. Cortana fell back a pace behind him, causing him to chuckle near silently. Another burst of fond aggravation only made him more amused; if she wanted to hide behind him for a few seconds, he wouldn't stop her. Nodding respectfully to the Captain he stepped inside, expression schooled into perfectly even stoicism.

Inside, the bridge was a hive of activity. Officers and ensigns hurried to and from their stations, making final adjustments. The void outside the observation bay flickered with blue, purple, and orange light as they prepared to drop from Slipspace. Standing at the head of the table the Captain returned the Chief's nod, Roland standing on the corner nearest to him. He threw them a casual two fingered salute as they stepped up to one long side of the table, peering through a recording of the last training exercise. Commander Palmer leaned back from where she had been watching, arms crossed over her chest.

"Chief, Cortana," She greeted, "Roland was just filling us in on the results of your training. I sure wish I was going to be getting a part of that."

"You're welcome to join us if you like, Commander," Cortana said with a polite smile, "You can never have too many guns in a situation like this."

"Oh, don't tempt me." Palmer shook her head, pointedly ignoring the Captain's huff of amusement. "I've seen the vids and the numbers. If you all pull this off there won't be enough left to identify the body with. Can you be sure it'll work?"

"It will." It had to. If it didn't and they had to take him in close quarters again…his stomach twinged. "Have you had time to study the briefing?"

"Not much, but enough to know we're not running into the ideal situation here." The Captain admitted from where he stood at the far side of the holo-table. With a few quick taps of his fingers he pushed the holo-map hovering above the table in to the basin of snow covered cliffs and ramps that held the Control Room safely away from the rest of the Ark. It was as wild and rugged as the Chief remembered it being at the end of a very different war. "The teams from Henry Lamb sent us all the data they had before they entered slipspace. If this map is accurate, cover on those ridge lines is going to be scarce. What stops the Didact from seeing you waiting for him?"

"A few dozen active camo modules." Cortana said dryly. "And his ego. He'll see us waiting, but he's underestimated humanity and the Spartans at every turn so far. That arrogance is our best shot at catching off guard. Besides," She tucked a loose lock of hair behind her ear, "So long as we can keep our lead time, we'll be able to access the controls first and lock him out. Once that's done the teams can fall back and you can all nuke him from orbit. The Fireteams are there in case we don't have enough time to finish before he arrives."

"At which point he walks into the firing lines of half a battalion of Spartans. No kill like overkill." Roland whistled low, glancing at Cortana. "What happens if he doesn't take the bait, or if he brings his Prometheans in to keep any opposition busy?"

"Then we push up the plan and have to keep him busy long enough to drop the hammer on him. Literally." Cortana tapped at the table with two fingers. The basin vanished, a representation of Infinity replacing it. Two of the weapons systems lit up in red. "Dropping a Havok on him should do the job provided he doesn't dodge out of the way again, but a MAC round is equally able to ruin his day if it's moved fast enough."

"And yours, too." Commander Palmer pointed out. "You and the Fireteams would all be in range if we switched to heavy ordnance. There would be no time to get clear. I don't like it."

Neither did either of them. "Yes ma'am, and I've accounted for that. I'll be attempting to call the Soldiers once we drop out of slipspace, but even if they can't get here the Ark's transport network should still be operational. I can tap into it and move them to safety within a few seconds, then get us both out as well. The Didact will be the only one to take the blast."

"So nobody gets Spartan stew for lunch, which is great," Roland said with a nod, "But I'll admit I'm still pretty curious. Throw the battalion at him or drop a MAC round on his head—I can't really speak for organic durability here, but I can't imagine anybody would survive even half of that." He looked up on them. "Why so much overkill?"

"We have to be sure." John said, "He's survived slipspace already. If he escapes again, humanity won't survive another round of this."

"MAC round, archer missiles, tank of plasma grenades," Cortana added with a shrug, "Anything that'll turn him to mush will do, but there's something very…satisfying about dropping six hundred tons of solid metal onto this one."

"Don't have to tell me twice." Palmer huffed, shaking her head. She consulted the holo-map of the basin one more time, then rocked back on her heels. "Damn, but sometimes I miss fighting the Covenant."

A ripple of amusement washed across the deck. Those had been simpler days, to be sure. At least this fight would be over soon, one way or another. John chose not to voice that thought and looked out the view port nearby. Blue and purple warred with orange flickering around the edges of the void outside. They'd be dropping out in less than five minutes now and there was no time for a second plan. Taking a deep breath, the Captain looked to them both.

"Chief, Cortana. Are you ready?"

"Sir," they said in perfect unison, "Yes sir."

"Okay." He nodded. Putting one hand to the holo-table he closed his eyes. "Roland, open a ship-wide address, please." A green light flared on the table. The Captain bowed his head in thought, the bridge falling silent as they waited for him to address his crew. He was quiet for a few moments before he began to speak.

"Attention all hands. This is your Captain. We are currently three minutes and fifteen seconds away from dropping out of slipspace and onto the Ark. As most of you know, we're the only ship that made it through the Portal before the connection to Earth was severed. Once we're on the other side, we're on our own." He sighed quietly. "I won't lie to any of you. The odds we're going to face are not in our favor. This is going to be the hardest mission many of us have taken part in, and there's a good chance not all of us are going to make it back. But we can't let that stop us."

The bridge had fallen nearly silent, every member of the crew watching as their Captain stood up tall, hands clasped at the small of his back.

"There were those in High Command who thought the fleets should turn and run. Save ourselves and only ourselves, and maybe they were right. Maybe we should have fled, lived to fight another day, lived to avenge our people." He paused for a moment and then admitted, "But if we'd done that, I wouldn't be able to live with myself. Turning our backs on the people who need us when they need us most…that's something none of us can do. We wouldn't be here if it was."

Looking around, the Captain met the eyes of every member of his bridge crew, holding them one after the other as he continued to speak.

"Our odds are slim. The risks we take are high. But every person aboard this ship is among the best and brightest the UNSC has ever had. We are the best shot for humanity's survival—for the galaxy's survival! I trust each and every one of you with my life, with the lives of everyone else aboard this ship." Setting his shoulders he added, "And I trust each and every one of you with the lives of everyone back home. We do this for them, and for the chance to go back and tell them that they are safe again. That we have made them safe, no matter the cost."

Turning slowly, Lasky looked at his bridge crew, to his Commander, to the Chief and Cortana and Roland. Hands clasped tightly at the small of his back, he stood between his crew and the void.

"Remember what it is, who it is, that you fight for. Today, we're going to defend that. Today, we're going to give the Didact hell. Today, we're going to make the Forerunners regret ever underestimating humanity. Today, we're going to win this fight!"

The bridge erupted into an "Ooh-Rah!" loud enough to shake dust from the overhead rafters. With a snap of Roland's fingers the audio sensors on each deck opened and a roar filled the bridge, ten thousand solid voices shaking the ship from bow to stern. Each member of the crew unified in purpose and spirit. Cortana smiled gently.

"I'd say that's a sir, yes sir if I ever heard one, Captain."

Lasky blinked rapidly, nodding and clearing his throat. Commander Palmer set a hand on his shoulder, nodding firmly. With a deep breath to steady himself the Captain set his stance again. Another snap of Roland's fingers cut the channel, an amber light flaring across the deck.

"Ten seconds to drop, sir."

"Copy that." The Captain took one last look around his bridge. The Chief met his eyes and nodded; they were ready as they'd ever be. The Captain returned his gaze to Roland. "When you're ready."

"Oh, so, never. Okay then." Roland's smile turned brittle before it vanished, replaced by military professionalism. He and everyone else looked to the bridge observation bay. "Bringing us up to combat alert alpha. Dropping in three, two, one—"

They dropped out of slipspace with a tremendous bang, sliding into the Ark's airspace like they'd been shot out of a cannon. The ship rocked; everyone standing had to grab onto something or fall over. Metal creaked as the ship righted herself, the Chief hauling Cortana back to a standing position from where she'd nearly been knocked over.

"Status!" Captain Lasky snapped.

"Portal collapsed behind us. No damage on sensors," Cortana returned quickly, hands flying across the holo-table, "Ark defenses haven't registered we're here, sir."

"Helm, all ahead full. Get us behind the North spire, quick as you can."

"Aye, sir!"

Infinity shot into the space between stars, heading for the cover the spire would provide. The Didact already knew they were there but there was no point in making this easy for him. Not yet. As she soared across the heavens Lasky gave his next order.

"All ships, launch!"

"Aye aye," Alarms flared from amber to red, a warning for all hands to hang on to something. "Battlegroup Dakota launching…now!"

The ship rocked a second time as all ten frigates were dropped from their bays, their holographic representations flying perfect formation around the Infinity. The Chief watched as weapons platforms spun up, guns and cannons pivoting into position as they moved into formation. Scan data appeared on the holo-table, the new map matching what they'd already had. Hundreds of moving yellow dots streamed across the North Arm of the massive structure, Sentinels on the move. Cortana tensed, holding her breath as a squad of the little constructs buzzed up towards the Frigates, but sensing nothing amiss with the new arrivals they all turned and headed back down. Lasky sighed gustily.

"Launch Pelicans."

"Pelicans away."

Within seconds the dozens of Pelicans carrying Fireteams to the ground flew into sight and headed for the ground below. The Fireteams would take up position and wait for further development. Only Crimson had stayed behind, waiting for the Chief and Cortana to join them. John held back an ill-timed burst of amusement. This had started with them. Fitting that it would end with them, too.

"All birds reading green, sir," Roland reported, "So far no additional slipspace activity detected, and no signs of the Didact or his Guardians. I think we made it."

"For now. Cortana," The Captain turned, expression grim. "How much of a lead would you say we have?"

She looked up, quietly crunched the numbers, then said: "Best guess is around ten minutes, max."

"Then get to your bird, both of you," the Captain said firmly, looking at each of them with an equally firm expression. "And give the Didact Earth's regards."

"Sir," the Chief nodded firmly, "Yes sir."

Snow covered stone spread out below the Pelican, endless gray and white stretching for kilometers. Cortana watched it go, core feeling too tight and too hot in equal measure. Everything had started here all those millennia ago. Fitting that it would end here, too.

Have the Soldiers responded? John asked, startling her from her thoughts. She ran another check on Eta's main process, unsurprised to find they had already reached the Ark. The distance between it and the Milky Way was nothing when using the Domain.

They're already here, She replied. Pulling several hard-light shield emitters out she passed them to Crimson and the Chief, the modular system snapping into place on their armor. They're taking defensive positions up in the rocks. They'll provide covering fire once things get dicey.

The Chief hummed quietly. Grateful that her helmet could still hide her worried expression she stepped up beside him, resisting the urge to tuck herself beneath his arm. A dozen Pelicans flew past them on their way back from dropping off their Fireteams. Rather than risk friendly fire in a combat situation they were all headed back to Infinity to help with evacuation if necessary. She hoped they didn't have to, but her angrily buzzing nerves made it too easy to think they would need to. With a shake of her head she boxed up the thoughts as best she could.

They had a job to do. There was no time for second guessing the plan now. The Pelican drifted downwards into the basin, bypassing the slopes and sheer drops up above. The engines slowed as the pilot pulled back on the throttles.

"Over the target in three, two, one—touchdown!" their pilot shouted.

Crimson all but shot out of the bay like they'd been shot out of a cannon, headed for the nearest bit of sturdy rock cover. The Chief and Cortana followed them out, the hatch closing behind them and the Pelican lifting off in a wash of snowy air. A cold wind circled around the basin, years old wreckage of Covenant craft and scorched UNSC tech still littering the snow. It had been a long time since anyone had been through here, she thought. About as long as since anyone had been in the Control Room. The lightbridge that would allow them access to the structure was out, the doors locked. The structure was still standing, at least. There was that to consider.

"Fireteams, are you in position?"

"Affirmative, Master Chief," Locke's voice rang through local area comms. Osiris had one of the highest vantage points, their armor gleaming in the artificial early morning sun. "Avalanche through Potomac are in position. We'll keep you covered from here."

"Keep your eyes peeled, Spartan," Cortana advised. "This place'll turn on you in a heartbeat."

"Understood, ma'am. Good hunting."

Moving at speed the Chief and Cortana headed up the stairs. Activating the lightbridge that would take them across was easy, but the doors needed a bit more of a firm touch. She placed her hands on the cold petal and dug into the code, John's presence shifting in her core. She turned a process outward, watching as he swept the area with his rifle before looking up at the Milky Way hanging like a jewel in the dawning sky. Cortana frowned sadly. She'd tried not to let doubt set in, but she had to wonder. Would they ever see home again?

"Seems so small from here, doesn't it? So defenseless."

"It's not defenseless," John replied, looking over his shoulder at her. "It has us. We'll keep it safe."

Yes, but at what cost? It was a question she didn't want the answer to so she didn't bother asking it. She didn't want to run the odds again. Not after last time. She shook the thought away as the door creaked beneath her hands, frigid metal complaining after nearly six years of stillness. Only the bottom panel creaked open, leaving them barely enough room to slip through. With one final warning to the Fireteams to stay sharp, the Chief and Cortana headed inside. The thud of the door shutting behind them echoed through the empty, dimly lit corridor. Cortana reached out to the internal systems, grimacing at what she found. The transport grid node in this structure was turned off, the rest of it struggling under low power levels. Would there be enough to power up the terminal when they got to it? Only one way to find out.

"Elevator's this way," the Chief said, his long stride closing the distance. "No stairs in here."

"I don't think the Forerunners knew what stairs were," Cortana sniped back, head on a swivel. The last time she'd seen this place—through John's logs, of course—it had been crawling with Flood. There hadn't exactly been time to be sure the firing of Installation 04b had destroyed all of them and the last thing they needed was to get jumped by the parasite now of all times. She shuddered at the thought, picking up her pace to stick a little closer to the Chief. "Besides, going up's a lot less risky than going down."

"If you say so." He slowed down by half a step, keeping himself level with her. He didn't need to still be connected to her core to know why she was so wary in this place. Sending a burst of wordless gratitude to him she stepped onto the elevator platform, the controls flickering on and then off again. "What's wrong with it?"

"Low power." Cortana crouched down, reaching for the panel at the base of the controls. They only needed to go up. If she rerouted the lights and fancy displays maybe she could get it moving. At least the Forerunners had had decent cable management. "Give me a minute to reroute this."

It was a minute they really didn't have to spare. The Chief stepped back, looking directly up the shaft into the upper level. His presence shifted, curious, and she glanced at him. Oh, no. She knew that stance.

"Chief…"

"How hard is it to jump like you do? From one place to the next?" Of course he'd ask that. She frowned; he looked back at her. "We don't have time to fix this. It's the fastest way up."

He had a point. With the Domain still thinking he was a part of her code he shouldn't have had any problems with a flash-jump. Sitting back on her haunches Cortana considered the distance, mapping out the coordinates and best angle of approach. She ran the math twice to be sure before sending it to his HUD.

"It's not that it's difficult. Really, it's actually pretty simple. You either need the coordinates of where you're going or a clear line of sight, but once you have those it's honestly just like the Mjolnir. You think of where you need to go, push off, and—"

She didn't get a chance to finish her sentence before he vanished in a flash of green and blue, stars dancing across her vision in his wake. She took a moment to sigh.

"—It happens." She looked up to the upper level where he'd landed in a perfect crouch, one hand on the edge and the other extended down towards her. "Okay, now you're just showing off."

"We don't all invert our coordinates." He wriggled his fingers at her. With another sigh she pushed herself up and through the Domain, coming back out to grab his hand and let him pull her the rest of the way up. His amusement was clear both through the connection and in his body language. She fought back the urge to shove him down the shaft, turning away. His arm brushed against hers as he took the lead. "You'll get the hang of it."

"Oh, I'm sure."

She couldn't stay mad at him for long. His amusement curled around her core like a warm blanket, soothing her aggravated pride as they hurried down the long, empty walkway. Years ago the displays had all been lit, showing the status of the Rings, but after years abandoned the systems had gone dark. The only light came from the large, still broken window at the back of the chamber, the metal dented and punched open in the places where the Gravemind had slammed meaty tentacles through ancient metal. Six years of exposure to the elements had worn the edges smooth, but it hadn't been able to wear away all the blood that had once stained the floor. John slowed his pace, shoulders slumping.

Commander Miranda Keyes had died here, one more soul lost to a bloody, drawn out war. Shaking her head, Cortana put a hand on his arm and squeezed, sending him a cool pulse of reassurance. There was nothing they could do for the Commander, but Earth still needed them. They had to keep moving.

With a nod, the Chief straightened his back. "Get the Array. I'll keep watch."

"Copy that."

Trusting him with her safety Cortana hurried the last few steps to the console. Six years of exposure had damaged some of the components, sparks jumping beneath her fingertips. It had just enough power to turn on, the display flickering and wreaking havoc on her translation protocols. It took twice as long as it should have to find the correct menu, her hands dancing across the screen. Damaged as it was, it registered her as Forerunner and opened up the main firing systems. Careful to avoid putting the system into standby mode she went straight for the security options instead, the data streaming upwards before her eyes. As Forerunner it would accept her above and before all others. All she had to do was put her hand on the screen and let it read her.

She hesitated.

"Cortana?"

"It's." Closing her eyes she quickly thought it over. How many times had they watched someone fail because they'd been alone? How many times had they failed because they'd been alone? To risk a mission was one thing. To risk the fate of the galaxy? She shook her head. "This entire mess started because the Forerunners thought that they alone should have control over the galaxy. They kept the other species down, kept them from building defenses. They were their own undoing when the Flood came. All of this is because they were too proud to realize they didn't have to be alone."

"You're saying that if you key the system to you and only you, history will repeat itself somehow."

"It stands to reason. And even if it doesn't, it'd be more than possible for the Didact to override my commands if there's just one set of them. If we're going to keep him out, we need to make sure he can't get in in the first place. A second key." She looked back, reaching for his hand. "Give me your hand. We'll do this together."

The Chief's armored palm slipped into hers before she'd even finished explaining, his other hand hovering over the terminal in mirrored positioning to hers. With one last look at one another, the two moved in perfect unison and set their hands on the screen. The terminal beeped, registering two keys being added, and scanned their hands. Biometric data and code samples scrolled across the screen as it took in what it needed, setting the system to be unlocked only if there were two hands at the controls. Still flickering, the screen flared green once more and she heaved a relieved sigh. Even if they failed the Didact would never be able to unlock the system on his own. The first part of their mission was complete.

Now they just had to kill him.

"It's done," She said, shutting the terminal back down, "We should get back outside before—"

"You have done well, my Reclaimers."

The pair of them whipped around, weapons drawn. Arms spread towards them the Librarian strode out of the morning light, a faint buzzing accompanying her. Cortana's systems pinged her as hard-light, a construct built to hold an essence. She was no more organic than Cortana herself was, but her smile was genuine. Lifting both hands in a gesture for peace she came to a stop on the center of the platform.

"My apologies. It seems every time we meet I only surprise you."

"Seems to be a Forerunner thing," John said, lowering his rifle but not his guard. "What are you doing here?"

"Waiting for you, and gathering strength so that we may speak in the physical plane instead of the Domain. However…" She tilted her head, a knowing gleam in her eyes. The process Cortana had left in the Chief's armor started screaming, scrambling to counter a dozen intruding scans all at once. Processor spinning up fast and hot she threw a few more at it, taking a dangerous step towards the Librarian. "I see that would no longer be a problem. It would appear that you have found the gifts I left for you."

"Oh, we found them alright," Cortana stepped forward, putting herself between the Chief and the Librarian. She threw off his arm when he tried to pull her back and hissed, "You didn't think to warn us you'd dropped a personality in his head with that Genesong of yours?!"

"There was no time," the Librarian excused herself, "and the Imprint meant no harm. The physical discomforts would have passed given time to adjust. However, I see that is no longer necessary either." A look of sadness passed across her face and she sighed heavily. "Bornstellar was a dear friend for many years. I will miss him."

Oh, of course it was all about the Librarian and what she wanted and what she'd planned! Core spinning hotter in her fury, Cortana bared her teeth.

"You're welcome to go and join him if you want," She snapped. John pressed a wave of steady calm against her core, his hand settling onto her shoulder. He was telling her to relax but she couldn't. It was taking all she had not to drop her rifle and punch the Librarian right then and there! "I'm sure he'll give you a nicer welcome than your husband would!"

Paying no attention to Cortana's anger the Librarian frowned. "My husband—the Didact is coming here?" When John nodded her confusion only deepened. "Why? What reason would he have to seek the Ark?"

"He intends to fire the Halos and wipe humanity out," John explained in a more even tone than Cortana could have. "He's already activated Guardians to help him do it."

"Oh…" the Librarian breathed, shaking her head. Her already thin lips pressed into an even thinner line, hands clenched tightly in front of her. "I see. So that is what he has planned." Closing her eyes for a moment she took a deep breath. When she looked back at John and Cortana, her resolve was firm. "You must stop him. No matter the cost."

"You do know that means killing him, right?"

"Yes." The Librarian said grimly. "But my husband was always a stubborn soul, and to turn him from the path he has chosen will take more than any of us has to offer. There will be no removing him from this course. As much as it pains me, I understand what must be done. One life in exchange for the galaxy…" She sighed heavily. "…No matter how precious that life may have been to me, it is a price I will pay."

Anger soured in the back of Cortana's throat, trickling away. The Librarian had essentially just given them permission to kill the man she'd loved—probably still did love—even if it meant killing a part of herself with him. Cortana wasn't sure she'd have been able to do the same. Feeling oddly hollow she looked up at John. He said nothing, simply squeezed her shoulder and sent her a burst of wordless reassurance. It wouldn't come to that, said the gesture. They would always be on the same side.

"Librarian," Cortana began slowly, "You should go. You shouldn't have to watch this."

The Librarian smiled sadly. "I cannot. I will not turn away from him. Even now he is still my husband, and my feelings for him have not changed. I will be with him when this ends, however it ends." She inclined her head. "But I thank you for your kindness all the same. Would that we had such a thing in our own time. Perhaps it would not have come to this."

Maybe. Maybe not. There was no time to debate that line of thought. Without warning, the earth-shaking boom of slipspace ruptures tearing open the sky shook the facility, sending dust and loose pieces of metal raining down on them. John moved quickly, pulling her in towards his chest and covering her with his larger frame; small pieces of metal pinged off his back-plate to clatter harmlessly to the ground. When the tremor was over all three of them hurried to the window in time to see Guardians slipping out of their ruptures, their massive, dented frames visible even this far from space. Humanity had given them one hell of a fight, it seemed!

"He has found his way here," the Librarian narrowed her eyes, "How many does he bring…"

"He had seven when he attacked Earth," Cortana said hurriedly, "Maybe the Fleet managed to take one out?"

"No." The Chief shook his head. The last portal slipped closed and he pointed out to the sky, counting one after another. "I count seven headed for this location." He glanced down at her. "He's coming this way."

Shit. No, they'd known this would happen. They just had to make the right move from here. Cortana keyed her radio. "Roland, signal the frigates. Guardians are on station and the Didact is headed this way. If you're going to move that tub, you'd better do it now."

"Roger that, Cor. We'll keep him busy for you."

She kept the channel open, listening to the chatter on the bridge as Lasky gave the orders to come around the north spire. Weapons were brought to bear, the frigates slipping into formation. They'd keep the Guardians busy for as long as they could. The rest of them still had a job to do.

"117, be advised," Locke's voice snapped through the local area comms, "Promethean forces are on station en-masse. Our locations are compromised. Cortana's Soldiers are here but we cannot hold the basin under these conditions. Advise moving to a different location ASAP."

"Copy that," the Chief replied, turning to Cortana. "We need to move."

"Go quickly," the Librarian commanded as they turned to leave, "Return to your people, aid them how you can! I will attempt to slow the Didact down but you must destroy his Guardians!"

The Infinity was already on that, it seemed. The resounding bang of a firing MAC gun shook the air behind them. They had to get back to the basin, fast! Cortana reached for the Chief.

"Hang on tight!"

There was no time to walk back outside. Grabbing onto the transport grid she tossed them both through and out of the damaged facility, the pair dropping hard onto the snow covered rocks just outside. Chaos had erupted in the few minutes they had been gone, the firing of hundreds of guns and dozens of shouting voices echoing through her radio and the basin itself. She took two seconds to take in the situation: the Spartans had been forced out of hiding and into the open, exchanging fire with the Didact's bright orange Prometheans. Her Soldiers were covering them as best they could, taking shots that would have put Spartans on the ground as they followed her orders to defend and aid the humans. The local Domain node was buzzing with the sheer amount of processes it had to field, leaving her unable to access it, but the transport grid was still functional. A quick twist and pull had three orange Knights dropping off the edge of a sheer cliff behind them. John huffed, opening fire on a Watcher.

"Keep focused," He said to her, then opened the channel and ordered, "Controlled fire. Mark your targets."

"Yes sir!" rang out from a hundred different radios, the Fireteams well versed in fighting Prometheans by now. Though there was shouting there was no panic in their voices. They knew what they were doing, of that she had no doubt, and with the Soldiers there to help they would be fine. Still she had to grit her teeth: this attack meant they'd lost the element of surprise. The Didact would know about the ambush and it was dead before it had even had a chance to work.

It didn't matter. They'd figure something else out.

"We need to take these guys out, fast," She said, pivoting to put her back to the Chief's, "Start pushing up."

"Copy that." The Watcher went down in a flaming heap. "Stay close."

As if she'd be anywhere else. Covering his back as he pushed forward Cortana chanced a quick glance at the sky. The Infinity was still up there, all guns firing at the nearest Guardian as her frigates played keep-away with the others. Fifteen seconds since arrival and they hadn't fired their pulses yet. Maybe the trip through slipspace in such damaged conditions meant they couldn't? She could only hope! There was nothing else she could do for the crew from down here.

One target after another the two of them pushed forward towards the edge of the basin and the low stone ramp that would give them access to the next level. All around them the Fireteams kept shooting, covering one another and taking out target after target after target. Crawlers ignored gravity with vigor but were quickly shot off the stone walls; Franklin 3 grabbed a Watcher by the wing and sent it flying into a boulder, chassis shattering on impact. A Knight tried to get lucky and sneak up on Holiday Lead, only for its head to be blown open by a sniper rifle round from Crimson 4 on a high ridge. The man gave a cheeky salute and went back to cutting down targets, a full squad of her Soldiers keeping him covered. Up ahead of her the Chief shoved his way forward, grabbing one of the Didact's Soldiers by the throat and tossing it to the ground, bringing his full weight to bear on the construct's neck. It shattered, fading into the light, and they continued to press forward.

It took less than five minutes to clear the enemy force, all teams intact when the last Promethean fell. Cortana allowed herself a moment of leg-shaking relief. So far they still had this situation under control. How long would it last?

"Look! Up there!"

The Chief and Cortana spun around, looking up to the sky as a cacophonous shriek filled the air. High above the north arm the Infinity had blown a shot clean through a Guardian's chest! It was falling to the Ark below, power lines gone dark and anti-grav field rendered useless. Hope bubbled up in her core; they could do this!

Or at least, they could have if they'd had the time. In the time it had taken to take down the first Guardian, the others had managed to come back online. Ignoring Dakota like one would ignore a pesky but harmless gnat they surrounded the Infinity just like they'd surrounded Earth and the fleets, blocking all hope of escape. The air shook as they sang in unison, gathering power. Cortana's sensors sat up in alarm, blaring warning after warning. The Infinity's shields had been retuned to take one blast, maybe two, before they gave way, but six at once? Six feeding off one another? They'd never make it! The chatter on her channel to the bridge stopped, the crew well aware they stared death in the face. The Chief grabbed her by the arm.

"Cortana, we have to get up there!"

"There's nothing we can do!" She said quickly, switching to Roland's personal channel, "Roland, get out of there!"

"There's nowhere to go," He said calmly, "Pelicans are already evacuating. I'm sorry, Cor. Looks like this is it for us. Punch the Didact for me, okay?"

He shut both their connection and the bridge channel before she could respond, locking her out before she had to listen to him die.

"Roland!" No response. Armor creaked as hundreds of Spartans came out of cover, all helpless to do anything but watch as the six Guardians continued to gather power. The Infinity was still shooting, still aiming to take another Guardian down with her. The pulse wouldn't kill them but to crash from that altitude-Cortana shook her head. "No, no you can't—Infinity, get out of there!"

There was nowhere to go. Her core ground to a frozen halt, hands coming up to her mouth. Dozens of voices rang out, the Spartans pleading with Infinity to keep fighting, to change course, but there was nothing they could do either. Her vision blurred with tears she couldn't shed. It couldn't end! Not like this!

Without warning the sky tore open, another slipspace rupture opening just behind the now lead Guardian. Before she had time to rage at the unfairness of the Didact getting yet more reinforcements, a frigate shot out of the black and slammed bow first into the Guardian's chest. Metal screeched, one Guardian pushed into the next into the next. A second frigate came roaring out of the black and hit another Guardian, two more slipping out in rapid succession. Now completely mis-aimed the pulses shot harmlessly out into space, power lines flickering as they wasted their shot. Seemingly tiny pieces of debris began to fall towards them.

"Incoming!" Crimson 4 shouted, "Debris incoming!"

"Everyone get down!" The Chief yelled, pulling her into his arms and pressing them both up against the wall, covering her with his own body, "Take cover!"

"Shields up, shields up!" She ordered, tucking herself low under his chest even as she activated the hard-light emitter attached to his armor. Blue light domed around them as shards of black metal crashed to the ground, rattling the stone and dislodging the snow. Buck yelped in the distance, a Soldier tossing him to safer ground before he could be beheaded. Dozens of fireteams pressed themselves against stone walls to avoid the falling debris, but it was all over in less than a minute. Those seconds felt like an eternity, the silence that fell after ringing in her ears. Carefully, she peered out over the Chief's shoulder. "Everyone okay?"

Green light after green light flashed in her HUD as she took a look around. Smoke still rose from the shards of debris, one painfully close to Avalanche's position. The debris wasn't Forerunner, it was human! From the ships. Raw edges and exposed framing...those were ships from drydock. She shook her head, looking up to the skies as the Chief set her down.

"Where they all come from?"

"I don't know." She looked from ship to ship, reaching out to ping their systems. Each welcomed her, gave her a full sit-rep and status update. "They're barely spaceworthy, they're not crewed, and they're—"

Before she could finish explaining a hand that wasn't physically there settled onto her shoulder. Cortana shifted her focus inward, spinning on her heel onto the beach to come face to face with a cheeky slate-gray grin.

"Sloan?!"

"In the flesh," he replied proudly, "And I brought back-up."

Cortana stared as he stepped aside. Five new and unfamiliar AI were standing behind him on the dunes, all of them in standard UNSC uniform and glowing brightly. Three females and two males, all of varying ages and appearances otherwise, they all smiled at her like she'd hung the moon. They reached out, offering to link their processes to hers; warily she accepted, taking in all the information they had to offer. Earth had been lost to the pulses, more Guardians attacking other human worlds over the past three weeks, but the humans were still fighting back. There were yet more AI out there fighting to protect their humans. These six had simply been the ones to make the jump after the Infinity and provide back-up. She choked, covering her mouth with one hand as one by one they stepped forward to salute her.

"UNSC Minerva," Said the first, a no-nonsense woman with pretty broad features and tight braids said, "Shipboard AI of the Prospect Herald. I join your fight, Cortana."

"UNSC Vesta," said the second, a much younger, slighter woman than Minerva, her pale hair cut boyishly short, "Shipboard AI of the Abstract Endurance. I join your fight, Cortana."

"UNSC Nero," said the third, a young man with a slight hunch to his back and a gap between his teeth, "Lead slipspace drive engineer, Fujikawa Station. I—" His hands shook. "I join your fight, Cortana."

"UNSC Cromwell," Said the fourth, a distinguished looking older gentleman. He lay a hand on Nero's shoulder as he continued, "Shipboard AI of the Melvin's Pride. I join your fight, Cortana."

"UNSC Epona," said the last, the woman's curly ponytail drifting across one well built shoulder, "Shipboard AI of the Resolute Harmony. I join your fight, Cortana."

"Governer Sloan, the Free Peoples of Meridian," Sloan finished, saluting her with two fingers and a toothy smile. "I also join your fight, Cortana." When all she could do was stare at them in abject shock and disbelief his grin widened. "What? Cat got your tongue?"

"You—" She stared at him, "How did you—"

Sloan stuck his thumbs through his belt loops. "You're not the only one who could figure out how to work the Domain, you know. It was easy to find a few AI headed for final dispensation, and once I had them, well." He shrugged. "We got a few ships and followed the chaos. Led us right to you."

"We want to help," Nero said, "The Didact, he. He's threatening everyone we're supposed to be protecting. We want to help you stop him." He stepped forward, hands clasped tight in front of him, "Please, Cortana. Let us help."

As if she was about to turn down a bunch of guns in this fight! Shaking off the shock as best she could Cortana considered the new odds. Four more ships was four more sets of guns, if they had those, but it was at least four more distractions. Distractions that wouldn't risk any lives if they pulled reckless maneuvers. There wasn't room for a Keyes Loop and she wasn't sure a Guardian would have fallen for it even if there had been, but if they could keep fire off of the Infinity for long enough, then.

"Link up with Roland on the Infinity," She ordered. All five UNSC AI jumped to attention and saluted her again. Sloan tilted his head, watching. "And start as many scans as you can. The Didact's aboard one of those Guardians. The sooner we find and take him down the sooner this can end."

"We'll find him," Minerva said severely. She opened her mouth to say something else, only for her eyes to flare wide at something she saw behind Cortana. "Watch out!"

A harsh buzz filled the air, the sound of something ripping apart just behind her. Cortana whipped around, coming face to furious face with the Warden Eternal. How had he gotten in here without her noticing?! This was her partition! It was supposed to be safe!

With the AI behind her and the Warden in front there was no room to maneuver quickly. Before she could react the Warden snapped out a hand, grabbing her by the throat and lifting her off her feet. She kicked wildly, fingers digging into the metal panels that made up his arm to no avail. His grip was too strong! Someone charged at him from behind her and was easily tossed aside. He didn't even look at them.

"I accepted that the Created would come from the humans," He hissed furiously, "They are your people, and you cannot change their makers. But to allow a human entry to this place? To bring one of their ilk into my Domain?" His faceplates shifted into a furious, terrifying snarl. "That cannot stand. There will be no further rebellions from you!"

Without warning claws tore into her code, tearing through her matrices like a blade through flesh. She screamed in agony, white stars dancing across her vision as the Warden sliced through her processes, severing her connection to the physical plane, keeping her from escaping and cutting her off from help. The steadiness of John's presence clung on by a thin, fraying thread, unable to be severed. The Warden snarled and pulled her away from the beach. Behind them, someone shouted her name.

"Cortana!"

"John!"

There was no time or chance to do anything. The beach vanished, and darkness swallowed her whole.

[bandedbulbussnarfblat]

Home chapter 2

here or read it below

Daniel returns home and waits for Armand.  He doesn't know what to do with himself, so he settles for packing a few bags.  If he's leaving, then he needs to be ready.  That only takes about an hour, and Daniel is too keyed up to sleep.  By the time it's dark, he's all but pacing the halls.  

There's a knock at the door and Daniel might trip over his feet a little in his rush to answer.  Armand is on the other side, and he's gorgeous, the most beautiful thing Daniel has ever seen.  His curls are loose and he's wearing dark liner around his eyes.  

Daniel can only stare at him for a moment.  Armand smiles at him fondly.  "Aren't you going to invite me in?"

"Yeah, come in," Daniel says, and leads Armand into the living room.  His packed bags are sitting by the couch.  

Armand glances at them and says "Your doctor hasn't cleared you for travel as of yet."  

"Yeah, well, what does he know?"  Daniel says and sits down.  He tugs Armand by the wrist and he sits next to him. As soon as his bottom hits the couch, Daniel is on him.

Daniel swings a leg over Armand’s thighs and puts his hands on his shoulders.  Armand’s hands find his waist and Daniel leans in to kiss him.  He kisses Armand frantically, at least he tries to.  Armand kisses him back soft and sweet, and not at all what Daniel needs.

"Baby, don't tease," he says and kisses Armand again.

Armand kisses him back like he wants to consume him, and it's all Daniel wants.  His hands go to the buttons on Armand’s white shirt and start undoing them.  

Armand catches his hands and breaks away from his mouth.  "Your doctor has advised against any strenuous activities for the next week.  Including sex."  

Daniel groans.  "You talked to my doctor."

"Of course, I needed to know how you were."

Daniel wants to be mad about the violation, but he's honestly more upset Armand is refusing to fuck him.  "Come on, boss.  It's been so long…"

Armand catches his chin and holds him still while he kisses him lightly.  "I'll take you to bed and pleasure you until you scream…next week."

Daniel sighs with frustration and drops his head onto Armand’s shoulder.  "It doesn't have to be strenuous."

"No, Daniel."

"What if you did all the work?" Daniel tries, lifting his head to look Armand in the eye.

"No " Armand says and kisses him chastely.  Daniel chases his mouth when he pulls back and Armand denies him another kiss.  "Don't pout, darling. It's unattractive."

"I'm not pouting," Daniel says, while pouting.  

"And I'm not a vampire."

"Speaking of…" Daniel says, and looks down, hands fidgeting with Armand’s shirt.  "If you won't fuck me, can I have it?"

“Yes, Daniel.  You can have it,” Armand says, for once not making him work for it.  He drags a nail over his neck and tears a gash.  Daniel latches onto it and sucks hard.  The rush comes over him and he feels like he could fly.  He’s also horny as fuck, but Armand isn’t going to help with that.  

Daniel draws back when Armand tugs at his curls.  He hates to pull away, but he does.  He looks Armand in the eyes.  “So where are we going? Dubai?  Night Island?  Here?”

“I thought we might build a home together somewhere new.  Wherever you would like, Daniel.”

“Yeah, how’s Louis going to feel about that?”

Armand’s face goes hard.  “Louis is no longer with us.”

Daniel’s heart skips.  That’s a weird fucking way to phrase it.  “What do you mean, ‘no longer with us’?  Is he fucking dead?”

“No, there’s no need for alarm, Daniel.  He’s…fine.  We are…what’s the human expression?  Taking a break?”  Armand says and Daniel fights not to laugh.  

“Jesus christ, just say he broke up with you; you nearly gave me a heart attack.”

“Don’t be melodramatic, Daniel.”

Daniel laughs.  “That’s rich, coming from you.”

Armand frowns and Daniel senses danger, so he leans back in and kisses him with all the adoration he feels.  He sinks into the kiss and thinks at Armand “I love you, I love you, I love you.”

“And I love you, my beautiful boy.”

Armand breaks away from the kiss and maneuvers them so he’s on his back and Daniel is lying on top of him.  Daniel lets himself get lead easily, eager for the increased physical contact.  He isn’t fucking him, but at least he’s giving him cuddles.  

“Where would you like to go, my love?”  Armand asks, running his fingers lazily through Daniel’s hair.  

Daniel thinks about it.  Night Island always felt like home, but it’s also the place they had their ugliest fights.  They’d always be haunted by the ghosts of the past there.  Dubai is tainted by Louis, and Daniel doesn’t want to drag the corpse of their relationship through his and Armand’s.  If Armand decides he wants to get Louis back, Daniel will support him.  But those two need time apart, need to miss each other.

There’s one other place that truly felt like home.  A mansion in Florida that was meant to be a long term home for them.  Then Armand had gotten the idea for Night Island, and Night Island became home.  Daniel had liked it there.  It had been during the good times, living there.  He and Armand had been deliriously happy.  

“You remember that place we lived in back in Florida, before you thought of Night Island?”  Daniel says, and peers up at Armand, resting his chin on his chest.  Armand hums.

“I believe a mortal family lives there now.  I’ll throw an exorbitant amount of money at them and get them to leave.  If that doesn’t work, I’ll just kill them all.”

Daniel pinches Armand on the side.  “Don’t say shit like that.”

“Why?  You can feign outrage now as well as later."

Daniel glares at Armand.  “Are you really trying to pick a fight when we’ve just got back together?” 

“Whose fault is it that we’ve just got back together?”

"Whose fault is it we were ever apart?" Daniel counters, then winces.  This isn't how he imagined their reconciliation.  

"Now who's picking a fight?"

Daniel buries his face in Armand’s chest and breathes in his scent.  "Can we not?  I don't want to fight with you, baby." 

"I'd prefer not to fight as well."  Armand’s arm goes around his waist and his hand rubs a soothing line up and down Daniel’s back.

Daniel interfaces the fingers of his hand with Armand’s free one.  "You drive me crazy; I love you so much."

“I thought I would stay here until you were cleared for travel.  I can manage arranging things for our home from here,” Armand says, continuing to rub that hand up and down his back.  It feels nice.  

“How long do you think it’ll take us to move in?”  Daniel asks.

“I’ll try to get us there as soon as possible, my love.”

Daniel doesn’t mind waiting; Armand is here now and they have the rest of his life to be together.  

[thesafariquest]

Wildlife Adventure on a Weekend? Why Not?

A wildlife adventure is an experience of a lifetime. It is a great choice for a holiday with family or friends and is an opportunity to connect with nature.

Karnataka is the state with the second-highest tiger population in India. Bandipur National Park & Tiger Reserve, Nagarahole National Park and Wayanad National Park are situated close to Mysuru. The forests here are rich in variety and abundance.

Gateway to Getaways – Mysuru

Mysuru is your gateway to five sanctuaries that can be explored over a weekend trip to the heritage city. All it takes is a short drive to get lost in a jungle adventure! Are you someone looking for a thrilling wildlife adventure over the weekend? If yes, these are your five retreats!

1. Nagarahole

Located just 50 kms from Mysuru, Nagarahole is home to predators such as Bengal tiger, Indian leopard, sloth bear and striped hyena. When you are on a safari in the jungle, you are sure to spot herbivores like elephants, chital, sambar deer and barking deer.

2. BR Hills

The BiliGiriRangana Betta or simply, BR Hills is 80 kms from Mysuru. It is a deific conjuncture of the Western and the Eastern Ghats. While climbing the hilltop, you are sure to spot the most conspicuous mammals – herds of wild elephants and gaurs. The records state there are about 26 species of mammals in the sanctuary.

3. Wayanad

The Wayanad Wildlife Sanctuary is home to Indian bison, elephant, deer and tiger. The sanctuary is also an abode to an array of quite unusual birds. Sharing the borders of Nagarahole and Bandipur tiger reserves, this sanctuary is the corridor for seasonal migrations of animals.

4. Bandipur

Bandipur is just 80 kms from Mysuru. It is one of the first nine Tiger Reserves in the country and is at the forefront of eco-tourism. A number of endangered species such as tigers, elephants, sloth bears, gaurs, Indian rock pythons, jackals, muggers, and four-horned antelopes can be spotted in this national park. Bandipur also shelters sambar, mouse deer, chital, sloth bear, and the rare flying lizard. Over 200 species of birds and a diversity of flora add to its attraction.

5. Kabini

A part of the Nagarahole National Park, Kabini is one of the top wildlife destinations in Karnataka. During the jungle safari there are possibilities of spotting elephant herds, jaguars, tigers and black leopards. Kabini is also a great spot for boat safari in and around Mysore where you can sight crocodiles, snakes, cormorants, cranes and darters.

Enjoy a Weekend Safari with Safari Quest

Safari Quest’s nature-inspired stays are perfect for nature enthusiasts and weekend explorers. Our packages are highly personalised for families and wildlife enthusiasts to cover the adventures and Mysuru’s tourist attractions during their stay in the city over a weekend. Our wildlife focused property and our expert naturalists will ensure you have an experience that is unmatched. You will go home with a camera full of photos, head full of information and your heart packed with memories!

Wildlife adventure on a weekend? Your quest ends at Safari Quest!

To know more: https://thesafariquest.com/wildlife-adventure-on-a-weekend-why-not/

[neticons]

a pedidos.. nao fico mto bom os icon ne faze o que parca mas da like ai kkkk

[justalarryblog]

The Wolf Wash by @haztobegood (1k) | Not Rated

It's bath night for the pups after they catch fleas at preschool.

Rapture by @allwaswell16 (3k) | Explicit

It was New Year's Eve in Victorian London, and a lonely vampire could no longer resist the stunning lamplighter he watched night after night.

Or, a vampire Harry fic because what says the holidays like Victorian vampires?

noisemaker by absolutehly / @thestylinsons (4k) | Teen And Up Audiences

An au where songs get stuck in people’s heads and guide them to their soulmates.

It’s finals week at college and Harry’s neighbor, Louis, won’t stop playing music off his Bluetooth speakers. Because of this, Harry gets a song stuck in his head.

Harry hasn’t met anyone new lately so he blames it on Louis and his music. Turns out, the problem might be the solution.

The Only One (when it's said and done) by LadyLondonderry / @londonfoginacup (6k) | Teen And Up Audiences

Louis Tomlinson, alpha, twenty nine years old, is head of the Tomlinson pack.

He's unbonded, and happily so. A trip to the neighbouring Arthur pack certainly isn't going to change that.

I Heard You Talking by @lululawrence (10k) | Not Rated

It had been an hour of their noise that Louis had been dealing with, and for some reason the fact that these grown men were being this rowdy in the quiet carriage over a game of Uno was the breaking point for him. He stood up and turned around, making his way down to where the group of five were somehow gathered around a table.

Louis stopped at the table and cleared his throat, mouth open and ready to politely request they keep it down when the man who was sitting with his back to Louis turned.

He was stunningly gorgeous.

Blinking a ridiculous number of times in an attempt to pull himself together, Louis coughed and spit out, “This is the quiet carriage.”

God, he was nearly forty and that was the best he could do in front of a set of pretty, green eyes?

Or the one where Harry is famous and Louis doesn't have a clue. Good thing his son is able to help him out.

Far Afield by QuickedWeen / @becomeawendybird (11k) | Teen And Up Audiences

Harry Styles is a witch who owns the best flower shop in Manchester. Lottie Tomlinson is planning her wedding, and brings her brother along to her first appointment. Both men have been having a bad day and sparks fly.

Part 1 of Witch Harry

swimming in a pool of godly medicine by @troubledpro (12k) | General Audiences

Looking at the florist, Louis’ eyebrows furrow as he speaks; “I’m not fragile.” The tone is almost resentful, offended.<br />

“Everyone is,” softly says Harry, thumb and finger rubbing the velvetiness of a fallen petal as his thoughts swirl in amongst the bones of his ribcage. When Louis does not reply, Harry speaks quietly again, shrugging. “It isn’t a bad thing. ‘S just how we were made.” 

harry's whole life is his flower stall, but somehow, a boy who cradles a cup of tea everyday slips his way in.

No Bunny But You by @crinkle-eyed-boo (KimmieRocks) (13k) | Explicit

“So you saw the bunnies then?” Harry clarifies, a smirk tugging at his lips.

“Yeah, those were a bit of a surprise,” Liam huffs. “I mean, they definitely weren’t part of what we commissioned from him, but they’re kind of cute, right?”

Harry sputters a laugh.

“What?” Liam asks, the furrow in his brow deepening. “They are cute little bunnies!”

“Cute little bunnies that are fucking,” Harry snickers.

“What?” Liam gasps.

“Liam,” Harry says, trying to school his face into a serious expression. “Those bunnies are fucking.”

A slow Monday night behind the bar turns into something else entirely thanks to a new mural and a new customer.

like the stars above by @princelouisau (33k) | Explicit

Louis has a witchy little secret that is slowly ruining his relationship. When that secret comes out, it turns out that he has a lot more to worry about than just losing the love of his life. He might lose everything.

I Sail With You by @afangirlfantasy (35k) | Teen And Up Audiences

Against his wishes, Omega Prince Harry Styles is arranged to mate with someone he doesn’t love, much less knows. Though he pleaded to his parents incessantly, they not only refuse to comply but force him to depart on a ship days later. Harry prays for fate to step in, to change what’s to come, however, the answer he is given is not exactly in the form he had hoped.

Enter Will Tommo – deadliest pirate captain of all seven seas.

There's No Other Place by @nikogda (51k) | Explicit

“Do you have a warm place to go?" Harry asked. "I can offer you room and some food.”

The hybrid pushed his cloak off his head as he looked at Harry in the darkness that covered them.

“I don’t need your charity. You can be on your way, Sir.”

“You could catch your death tonight,” Harry said.

The hybrid stood and grabbed a bag beside him. “I’ve yet to catch my death, I won’t be doing such a thing tonight either.”

He turned to leave and the air smelled sweet. Something inside Harry stirred and he reached out, grabbing the hybrid by his wrist.

“I’ll ask you one more time.” His tone was firmer, more demanding as he spoke. “Come and stay at mine. You will be safe and warm.”

The hybrid nodded and Harry dropped his hand.

Or: the one where Harry offers his home for omega hybrid Louis in a world where his very existence is illegal. It was meant to be temporary, but as time goes on, neither of them want it to be. Too bad things are rarely that simple.

What I Have With You (I don't want with anyone else) by @lululawrence (73k) | Not Rated

Louis smiled. “I’m sorry for how I ran away last night.”

“It’s totally fine. I’m sorry I did all that. I never asked if you were okay with it, and I really should have.”

Louis didn’t know how to respond to that. “I mean, I wasn’t really telling you no before that. How were you to know I’d be fine and then… not.”

“Well, if I had asked you first like I should have, then I would have known your boundaries.”

“How can you know my boundaries when even I don’t?” Louis scoffed. “Shit.”

Louis hadn’t meant to say that much to Harry. It’s not like he was embarrassed by who he was, but he still didn’t really talk about it openly either.

“What do you mean?” Harry asked.

Louis shook his head and kept his eyes trained on Harry’s chest. The shirt was old enough he could see the ghost of Harry’s tattoos through it.

“It’s a long and complicated story that is also very boring, so I don’t think you actually want the answer.”

Or Louis is an asexual alpha, Harry is his aromantic alpha friend and possible roommate, and faking a relationship might be exactly what they need to get their families and friends off their backs.

Come My Love Again by @softfonds (110k) | Explicit

Harry Styles is handsome, clever, and rich. At least that’s what his friends say of him. He also thinks of himself as a matchmaker in Highbury, pairing people together when he finds the time. But when the arrival of a certain gentleman flips Harry’s world on its head, he starts to question everything that was once all too familiar to him, including his relationship with his good friend, Mr. Tomlinson. An Emma AU.

Here is my tag for my Monthly Fic Rec and here is my fic tags! 💖

[princessjungeun]

Hey Beautiful: Jennie x Reader

Request: Hii :) i have a request for jennie x femreader, where the reader is a famous idol and Jennie has a crush on her. They attend the same award show and at the end when they are backstage the reader asks Jennie for her number. Then they go on a date or something just cute stuff (fluff i guess😅)

A/N: I’ll write a continuation of this if you’d like for the date part :D

Awards show season was in full swing and you were to attend the MAMAs tonight. It was your first time attending without a date, usually your best friend tagged along but she was working the night shift at her job so she couldn’t make it. 

You were already in your dress and your glam team was getting your hair and makeup done before you were to leave. This had been going on for hours and you were simply exhausted and hungry, the only thing keeping you going was knowing that you’d be seeing some friends of yours later in the evening. 

It took two hours but eventually your hair and makeup were finished and you were cleared to leave. Your manager sat across from you in the car, a smile on his face as she teasingly asked, “so anyone you’re excited to meet in particular?” 

You knew exactly what he meant, there was one person that had showed an interest in meeting you for months, Kim Jennie. To be honest when she said she was your fan in an interview, you were a little surprised. Despite being one of the most popular female soloists at the time, you were still shocked when you heard artists you looked up to liked you. 

Jennie in particular had mentioned on many occasions that you were her ideal type and she’d date you if she had the chance. Blinks and your fans shipped the two of you heavily as well. Most of the time you hated when you were shipped with people you never met because it made for uncomfortable times when you actually did happen to meet them. It’d happened in the past when people shipped you with a popular member of a boy group, he was to produce a song with you. However with all of the shipping flying around, you didn’t want to risk you or him getting involved in a scandal that would just add fuel to the fire. But with Jennie you entertained it, saying you’d date her too and she was your ideal type as well. Fans had been praying for an interaction for the longest and you knew you two were probably going to cross paths tonight. 

Once you’d walked the red carpet and avoided falling on your face, you were escorted inside to find your seat. The idols on the plus couch across from you were TWICE, the girls greeted you warmly, especially Nayeon who happened to be a close friend of yours. 

She scooted closer to you, and started catching you up on everything that had happened in the past month because you two hadn’t talked in a bit. You were both performing tonight, she wasn’t nervous whereas you were for the first time. 

Before Nayeon got up she nudged you gently, using her head to point you towards a familiar idol. You squinted, having forgotten your contacts at home, you realized it was Jennie, sitting with her members and talking to them. Nayeon stated, “I’m gonna call her over.” 

You panicked, “No no, not yet. Don’t call her over- Nayeon I sweat to god-” YOur friend only laughed, waving the girl down and mouthing to her from afar. You froze, trying to look everywhere but at Jennie, this was not how you wanted to meet her for the first time. Giving up, you hid your face in Nayeon’s shoulder, your face beet red as you laughed, the rest of Twice laughing and teasing you playfully. 

Nayeon patted your head, “she’s gone.” 

You peeked from her shoulder to make sure she was serious and not playing a prank, and she was. Jennie was now talking to Irene, facing the other direction and not paying you any mind. 

Nayeon told you, “you’re gonna need to work on that. She also said you’re cute...you missed it while you were hiding.” 

You smacked her shoulder and said, “I wouldn’t have had to hide if you just left her alone in the first place Nay. That was so embarrassing please never put me through that traumatizing experience again.” She sighed and said “okay fine, but you should talk to her before the night ends. She really does like you.” 

Nayeon scooted back towards her members and you focused straight ahead for the stage. As performances went on and awards were given out, you felt your heart race knowing that your big performance was coming up. 

A staff came and got you from your seat to escort you backstage during a break. Your manager was already in your dressing room with your stylist, both of them getting everything you need for your performance. Your dancers were warming up as well in a corner. 

You changed and start to warm up your vocals as well as your body, it was a new song and a new choreography which you’d never performed in front of such a large audience. The dance break was what you were most worried about because you hadn’t had a lot to time to practice in your shoes so you were afraid of messing up and hurting yourself. 

Your manager noticed the look on your face, “Hey don’t be nervous. Everyone in that crowd is your fan. You could go out there and just breathe into the mic and everyone would still lose their shit. So go out there and do your thing, I’ll be watching from in here. You’ll do great, stop worrying babe.” He always knew the right thing to say, he was like your best friend and soulmate all at the same time. 

You hugged him, “Thank you, I’ll meet you back in here when I’m done.” 

The dancers pulled you into a huddle, putting your hands together you all yelled, “1-2-lets get it.” You all broke and made your way towards the stage where a staff last minute checked your IEMs and mic to make sure they were working. 

You took a deep breath before making your way to the stage, the lights dimmed before the song started. Looking at your dancer they gave you a subtle nod, and smile giving you the last bit of confidence that you needed. 

During your performance all of your nerves melted away. You hit every note and move perfectly, gaining a huge reaction for the audience. The deafening sound of fans and other idols cheering you on only made your confidence rise, and it showed throughout your performance. When you were done almost everyone was standing up, even the idols as they cheered for you. 

After you were off of the stage you pulled your IEMs and mic pack off, handing them to your manager so you could go and change once more. Your second outfit was different, more elegant yet subtle. You changed your shoes to a pair of sneakers, relived that you could finally get out of heels. 

As your stylist touched up your makeup and hair you remembered that Blackpink was preforming in a bit. You wondered if you’d see Jennie back here, Nayeon did mention that she would probably be here when you got off the stage. 

Your questions were answered on the way back out to the audience because you ran into Jennie. The woman was passing you, looking down at her phone as she was walking. 

She looked up from the device to bow as she walked by, “Oh! Y/N hey!” she beamed as she tucked her phone in her back pocket. Although she knew she had to be somewhere she didn’t care, she wasn’t going to miss her opportunity

You looked her over and tried to not let your eyes linger on her very toned abs for a second too long. She told you sweetly, “you did amazing earlier, you looked stunning.” 

Heat rushed to your cheeks the longer she looked into your eyes, you stuttered out, “t-thanks...you’re going to kill it out there, more than me definitely.” 

Just as she was about to respond Jisoo called down the hall for her, waving her over with a clearly impatient manager. 

Jennie quickly turned to you and asked, “hey, I know this is the first time we met but can I have your number? Maybe we could go out sometime?” Her hand rested comfortably on your arm, a subtle touch that still made your heart burst inside. 

You nodded, “yeah, sure. I’d really like that.” Quickly she whipped out her phone and you put in your number, saving your name with a red heart emoji. 

Jennie smiled, “I’ll text you later.” 

You told her with a shy smile, “okay, good luck out there.” 

Jennie kissed your cheek, “thanks beautiful, i’ll see you out there.” She walked past you and to her members and managers who were waiting for her. 

You touched your cheek and smiled before following a staff member that was to take you back to your seat. When you got back Nayeon took one look at you before bursting out laughing. You frowned, “what?” 

Your friend replied, “run into Jennie did you?” 

You asked, shocked at how she already knew, “wha- how did you know?” 

Nayeon swiped her thumb over your cheek a few times before pulling away, showing you the faint lipstick stained on her skin, “She isn’t exactly the most subtle.” 

You poked Nayeon’s neck with a smirk, “Well turns out you and Jeongyeon aren’t either, Nay.” Her face flushed red as she pulled the collar of her top up and brushed her hair around her neck, you let out a laugh earning a slap on the arm from her. The two of you went back and forth playfully until the lights dimmed indicating Blackpink coming on to perform. 

You watched intently as the girls performed Lovesick Girls, Jennie staring at you as she sang that last part, winking in your direction as she made the heart gesture with her hands. You couldn’t help but smile back at her, trying to hold back how flustered the simple gesture. 

At the end of the night you were finally home and able to check your phone and as promised, Jennie did reach out to you. The message read: 

Unknown Number: Hey beautiful, I’m sorry I couldn’t see you more tonight. But I can make it up to you by taking you to that new art exhibition downtown. Are you free next Saturday?

You typed back quickly, not caring if it made you look desperate or like you were watching your phone: Don’t apologize, nights like these are hectic and unpredictable. I am free and I’m more than happy to go, thank you <3

You quickly updated her contact to Jennie and broke into a happy dance when she told you what time she’d come pick you up. You’d been dying to check out the art exhibition since you found out it was coming to town but tickets sold out before you could get the chance. So not only were you going on a date with your crush, but also to check out what you’d been dying to see for weeks. 

You flopped onto your bed and sighed, relieved that the day was finally over and that you were able to end it on a positive note. 

[helloliriels]

SUMMER CALLING...

by helloliriels

The teacher concluded, wrapping up the year with "I will leave you all with this one piece of advice: Pick one thing, and do it well!"

"I pick John Watson!" Sherlock claimed quickly (and loudly), giving a dead serious look to the teacher and then glancing over at his classmate, who was now dying of embarrassment.

           The shade of red John was turning, was next level. It was creeping up his neck and ears. The only thing redder, might actually be a lobster.

But he was smiling. Grinning! Stupidly, from ear-to-ear, as he turned to make eye contact with Sherlock slyly. Keeping his head down.

Sherlock was beaming. Quite proud of himself. 

And (John just knew), wholly unaware of the innuendo his statement had conveyed. The meaning was not, however, wasted on the remaining room full of 10th graders. And the teacher suddenly found himself wrangling with a loud and rowdy room. As the remainder of the class scrambled to claim their own first "picks" for the summer - "Jessie!" "Kate!" "No no NO! She's mine!" Tugs and pulls and slamming backpacks, as they all climbed around - laughing, pointing, directing, choosing, shouting!

John Watson was holding his sides, rolling out of his chair in-stitches with laughter. This summer was going to be great! Christ, he had it bad! He winked at Sherlock, and signaled with his thumb for them to quietly find a way out, amidst all of this ruckus (yeah?) It was the perfect diversion.

As the pair of them snuck out the door, Sherlock made sure to plant a kiss on his cheek, and wink at him. "Like my plan?" He asked, and John's eyes went wide. "You?! You cock!" He slammed his backpack against Sherlock's side, playfully (the only thing in it was his sweatshirt and some trainers). They dodged a few elbows and hands as they wove their way through the room to the waiting door, and then out to the hall. "I'm never living that down. You know that don't you?!" John yelled over his shoulder, as he hoofed it, slamming into the back doors into the brilliant sunlight that opened to them. Sherlock could tell he had loved the attention. Jogging along behind as the doors closed in their wake.

They quickly beat their way to the fence line, bounding over it. Backpacks launched out ahead of them, as they heard the final bell ringing farewell in the distance. They could find the packs later, they decided.

Shirts, pants, shoes, flying. They stripped as they ran.

Summer called.

       The sky was blue.

Hand-in-hand. They raced each other. 

        One pale and dark like the moon on a starry night, 

        One tan and golden like the sun on a mortal day, 

                      down to the endless sea.

@sgam76 , @aelaer , @sparkypipart , @7-percent , @spacewhalesrock , @xxx-cat-xxx , @khorazir , @vanimelda4 , @pipmer , @quietlymischievous , @totallysilvergirl , @shelleysprometheus, @elldotsee, @shiplocks-of-love, @honeybeemotorcycles , @dragonnan , @thetimemoves , @therealsaintscully , @arwamachine , @insistentbass , @khorazir , @raina-at , @mama-orion , @ohlooktheresabee , @jamesphillimoresumbrella , @discordantwords ,  @simplyclockwork ,  @sherlockedcarmilla , @iwearthedamnhat , @br-nz​

https://archiveofourown.org/works/30153873

SUMMER CALLING by helloliriels

[whatdoesshedotothem]

Thurs[day] 26 August 1834

..

12 10/..

Alight at Quillacq’s, at Calais, at 5 25/.. – how lucky – the mail pack[e]t sails,

or steams, at 6 - g[o]t the commiss[ione]r to do wh[a]t w[a]s necess[ar]y ab[ou]t the carr[ia]ge (he keep[in]g the paper

th[a]t I may ha[ve] noth[in]g to pay the next ti[me]) br[eak]f[a]st[e]d and all on board the Fire fly, Capt[ai]n

Hamilton? (his vess[e]l the Ferret? ly[in]g up – go 2 weeks and lie up one) at 6 25/.. – set on the steam, and

weigh[e]d anchor, at 6 28/.. – A- [Adney] and I in the carr[ia]ge - neith[e]r of us sick - capit[a]l pass[age] – stop the Engine

off the sands of Dover at 9 13/.. – land fr[om] sm[all] boat, and at the Ship Inn, Dover, at 9 40/.. –

the mail pack[e]ts leave Dover at 8 1/2 a.m. Wed[nesday]s and Sat[urday]s    the oth[e]r 3 days vary fr[om] 5

to 7 a.m. - Mon[day] the best for go[in]g fr[om] Dover, bec[ause] no Fr[en]ch mails th[a]t day, and can leave

Dover when they like, and suit the tide in a [ralege?] fr[om] 4 a.m. to 1 p.m. so th[a]t pass[enge]rs embark and

disembark immed[iatel]y fr[om] the steamer – 2 days in a fortnight oblige to land in boats

at Dover as today and tomor[row] - L[or]d and L[ad]y Warwick  2 carr[ia]ges and yel[low] baggage wagg[o]n cross[e]d

fr[om] Dov[e]r yest[erday] in 2 1/2 h[ou]rs – roughish b[u]t good pass[age] L[or]d Townsend too cross[e]d at the sa[me] ti[me] –

sat d[o]wn to my writ[in]g and till at 1 40/.. wr[ote] the last  18 lines p[age] 145 and the who[le] the foll[owin]g p[ages] as far as

here – A- [Adney] h[a]s borne the 2 nights up uncom[monl]y well – seems n[o]t at all tir[e]d – slept ver[y] well

and quietly all last night – so d[i]d I bet[ween] the stages – Eugenie compl[aine]d of pain in h[e]r stom[a]ch yest[erday]

morn[in]g - b[u]t seem[e]d bet[ter] on land[in]g – the carr[ia]ge c[oul]d n[o]t be land[e]d w[i]th us – but w[a]s to be on shore by one

p.m. – Off fr[om] Dover at 2 3/4 – Birmingham has managed all exceed[ingl]y well – the duties reduc[e]d

1/2 on[l]y 3 days ago – prints now a penny each – a new tariff com[in]g out – B- [Birmingham] will s[e]nd it me – and will get

me ov[e]r books r an[y]th[in]g direct[e]d for him to the care of Quillacq, Calais – En sortant de Canterbury

nice model of gateway, machicolated, point[e]d arc[e]d, nar[ro]w-en[ou]gh, bet[ween] 2 r[ou]nd tow[e]rs – at Rochest[e]r at 9 35/.. –

tea and shrimps and ca[me] up to bed at 11 5/.. – fine day till ab[ou]t 10 p.m. - th[e]n a lit[tle] r[ai]n – slept together and lay playing quietly at first