#the manager who has it out for me because I had to cancel ONE shift because I was genuinely sick

[kozidraws]

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[augustinewrites]

gojo, to no one’s surprise, is very comfortable with his new, self-proclaimed status as a dilf. 

because he’s well aware of the way people stared whenever he walked around with his eight month old daughter sitting snug against his chest in her mobile carrier. he knows the effect it always has when he would lift her little hand to wave at the enamoured strangers. because all babies are cute, sure. but he’s convinced that rina is the cutest.

you’d wanted to leave her with nanami for the day, concerned that she’d be too fussy, but gojo had insisted on bringing her with you. she was the ultimate bargaining chip, with her adorable blue eyes and huge noise cancelling headphones.

well, your bargaining chip’s nap was cut short when her father pulled her out of her car seat to tour the open house, her little face scrunching with the beginnings of a whine as satoru talks about crown moulding with the realtor. you reach into the diaper bag you’re carrying to pull out a container of banana puffs, handing them to him. 

he shakes a handful into his hand and shoves them in his mouth, talking through a mouthful about natural lighting.

“satoru, you’re dropping crumbs on her head,” you scold, taking a puff and placing it in her mouth yourself. her expression smooths and she gurgles happily, letting you rub your thumb over her round cheek.

laughing, he carefully sweeps the crumbs away as rina peeks up and sends him a gummy smile. he can’t help but beam back at her, brushing his lips against her forehead as he sways back and forth. 

the realtor excuses himself to take a call, leaving the three of you to explore the backyard. 

“this is nice,” your husband hums, glancing around. “a patio, lots of grass for rina to crawl around on– maybe even play with the dog…”

“we are not getting a dog,” you deadpan, reaching up to place rina’s little, flower-dotted hat atop her head. she immediately reaches up to grab at it, but satoru is quick to strap it under her chin. she whines, kicking her legs unhappily as satoru turns to you.

“so, now that we’ve seen the whole thing, what do you think?” he asks excitedly. if he had a tail, you’re sure it would be wagging. “a safe neighbourhood, four bedrooms with lots of space and natural light, new appliances. it checks all our boxes, babe.” 

“it’s pretty perfect,” you admit with a nod. “my only concern is that it’s a little far from the school. your family leave is up soon, and the commute through tokyo is crazy—”

“what if i didn’t go back full-time?” he says abruptly.

“what?”

“megumi’s doing better now,” he starts carefully. “and the students don’t really need us anymore. i’ll still swing by just to check up on everyone but,” he gently pulls rina from the carrier, holding her up so his smiling face is level with hers. “i’ve got someone else who needs me now. and i want to be around to watch her grow up in this house. one with lots of natural light and space to run around.”

he presses a kiss to each of her cheeks. she responds by kicking him in the chin, then grabbing a fistful of his hair. 

satoru is nothing if not adaptable (you’ve known this since the time megumi refused to eat anything that wasn’t orange and he still managed to feed the kid a balanced meal). he’s always able to be whatever people need him to be. whether it’s as a friend, a teacher, a boyfriend, or a father. 

and you’ve never seen him as…relaxed as he’s been these past few months. satoru is nothing if not adaptable, always rising early and returning late, going where he was needed when he was needed. but now he’s finally able to be where he wants, and he wants to take care of his family.

he seems to read your silence as hesitation. “i know it might be a little tough later on without my full-time salary, but–”

“but nothing,” you interrupt, smiling as you press a kiss to your daughter’s cheek, making her giggle. “the three of us will figure it out.”

“just the three of us?” he asks, shifting rina to one arm and wrapping the other around you. “what about a–”

“we are not getting a dog, satoru.”

[plaguechyld]

Omega!Sub!Douma x Alpha!GN!Reader

Content includes: Heavy sexual topics, Omega/Alpha dynamic, Sub!Douma, Dom!Reader, Marking, Male heat cycles, Somewhat rough sex (Douma receiving), Mean!Reader, Douma has a pussy and reader has a dick.

Extra: This is set in the Omegaverse but will have absolutely no non con or dub con as many fics in this sub genre have. This is 100% consented to by both parties.

Extra Extra: I’m down HORRENDOUSLY for omega Douma.. Y’all got no idea Istg. 😭

Usually Douma is completely on top of his heat cycles, but this one had hit him suddenly and without warning. It made him cancel his evening prayer session so he could lock himself in his room and quite literally fling himself onto his king sized bed. His normally pale cheeks were flushed red as sweat rolls down his forehead and neck. He squirmed pitifully on the deep red comforter, struggling to get his clothes off. When he finally managed to get his clothes off he instantly felt slick dripping down his inner thigh.

His whimpers were muffled as he bit into the blankets, not wanting someone to hear him while another strong wave of heat rolled through his body. He shuddered pathetically, not able to keep his pheromones in check like he normally could.

“W-what’s wrong with me.. Why is this so sudden..” He thought to himself while weakly grabbing onto the blankets. He reached his fingers down to his already sopping pussy and began to quickly finger himself, trying to get some relief. His legs shake badly while he shudders involuntarily. His fingers curled inside of himself as he thrusted them directly into his g-spot. He bit back moan after moan as he felt himself growing closer to his climax. Slick gushed out as he picked up his pace even more. At this point his blonde hair was sticking to his forehead and his face was flushed red.

After what felt like forever he finally climaxed, releasing all over his fingers. He expected that it should quell his heat for at least a little bit, but he was surprised when the feelings didn’t die down at all. He shuddered after feeling another wave of heat roll over his body. Tears pricked at his kaleidoscope colored eyes as he closed them tightly.

Suddenly, he could feel a presence somewhere in his temple. Whoever it was, they were getting closer and closer to his room. Douma sucked in a shaky breath, whoever this was was clearly a Demon Slayer. This was exactly what he didn’t need, and he wasn’t sure if he could kill the slayer because of the state he was in. He shook slightly, not out of fear but out of… excitement? The slayer they were an alpha. His heightened senses could feel it, it was making him release even more pheromones to try and draw them in, which was not going to help.

Suddenly, the door was flung open, revealing the slayer. You had beautiful h/c hair and sharp e/c eyes. You stopped momentarily and inhaled sharply at the sweet scent quite literally seeping from Douma. He blinked his rainbow eyes pitifully at you, a pout forming on his lips.

“Please… Can you help m-me..” Douma slurred out, already shifting to try to get closer to you. You were currently fighting back against your instincts that were telling you to tend to the omega. You blinked when you felt yourself being pulled closer to the bed by icy vines however your instincts were keeping you from trying to fight back and leave. When you were close enough to the bed the vines vanished and you were met by Douma desperately clinging to your waist, rubbing his cheek against you. You let out a shaky sigh but despite yourself, rubbed his head. Douma let out a loud whine at the friction, despite how small it was.

“Mm.. th-that feels good..” Douma murmurs softly, pulling you closer to him. He eventually gets you to sit on his bed while he hugs you tightly.

“I remember you.. You were the o-one who..” He swallows thickly before continuing. “Walked me home.. and gave me a.. a bracelet.” This was in fact true, the two of you had crossed pathed only two days ago. You had been sent to the area because of disappearances that were rumored to be caused by a demon. You were unable to sense the fact that he was a demon at that time and had offered to escort him home after talking with him for some time. You had given him a simple bracelet made out of silver braided thread and a metal feather charm before bidding him farewell. However, right before you disappeared into the night, you had given him a kiss on the corner of his mouth.

Despite Douma being known for being emotionless, he had gotten a strange tingle in his chest before his face heated up. He couldn’t keep you off his mind after that.

“Pl-please.. I know you’re a slayer, Y/n-san.. But please..” Douma begged you quietly, desperately needing your attention. You were fighting with yourself on whether or not to kill him and be done with it or actually listen to his pleas. A soft pout was seen on his face as his bottom lip trembled, tears pooling in his rainbow eyes. He was just too pretty to resist…

“My my, Douma..” You say in a low tone as you move your hands to hold onto his shoulders. The mere contact makes him whimper loudly. You lay him down on his back before positioning yourself above him. He shivered, looking up at you with hopeful eyes while spreading his legs to get you enticed. You let your hand drift to cup his cheek and weren’t surprised when the demon instantly leaned into the touch. He let out a pitiful sound, trying desperately to get you to fuck him senseless.

“Y/n-san you’re so pretty!.. Please please fill me up, I need you, Y/n-san..” Douma begs again, not caring that he was acting absolutely desperately because quite frankly, he was desperate for the attention of this alpha, you. You move your hands to start rubbing the sides of his torso carefully, enjoying how he jumped at every little touch. He was already extremely sensitive just with a couple touches.

“Very well.. Try anything and I’ll leave, or better yet, kill you. Got it, demon?” You ask in a soft tone that made chills go down Douma’s spine. He nodded furiously, and shakily lifted his hands to hold your face, wanting to kiss you. You let him do as he pleased for now. The kiss was sloppy but deep and passionate, Douma’s slightly cold tongue twirled with yours and licked all around your mouth as he gripped your face with his shaky hands. You kissed him back, your hands gripping his cheeks tightly. Eventually he pulled back and coughed from lack of air, he turned his head to the side and left his neck exposed.

He squeaked in surprise when he felt you kissing his neck and let out a sharp gasp as you bit down on the sensitive skin. You bit his neck hard but not hard enough to draw blood as you didn’t want to accidentally turn yourself into a demon. Douma squirmed and tried pushing you slightly. You however had none of this and promptly pinned his wrists above his head with a fluid motion. He let out a whine at the action.

“I’m sorry! ‘M sorry! Pl-please let me hold you! Please, please Y/n-san! I-I can’t..” Douma sobs out, tears spilling out of his rainbow eyes, making his flushed cheeks wet. You blinked in surprise and raised an eyebrow.

“Please don’t be mean, I can’t take it! I can’t take it if you’re mean..” He whines while his bottom lip trembles. You let his wrists go and watch with a chuckle and a smirk as he immediately clings to you. He shifts his hips up and wraps his legs around your waist, rubbing up against your still clothed cock. You can feel how absolutely wet he is, slick still dribbling out. You let these sensations go straight to your dick and you feel yourself growing hard.

With a grumble you push Douma back down on the bed and shift down so your head is in between his legs. He lets out a loud whine when he feels you rip his underwear off, leaving him completely naked now. You lean in and kiss all around his dripping cunt, making him whimper slightly.

“Pl-please…” He mumbles out in a lustful tone. He shifts his hips up, trying to get you to do something but much to his annoyance you move your face away. Just as he’s about to say something else you promptly give him a smack right on his slit. This makes him let out a quiet scream, legs shaking badly.

“Y-Y/n-san!” He cries out, trying to close his legs. You don’t let him however and give his slit another smack. He moans and throws his head back.

“Aw does that hurt? For an upper ranking demon you’re surprisingly weak.” You say in a low tone. Douma whimpers at your words and lets out a sob. He was acting as if he was under an aphrodisiac with how sensitive he is. His bottom lip trembles and he lets out another pathetic but breathy moan.

“Please..” He murmurs, his rainbow eyes are unfocused and cloudy with tears. He shakes his head, trying to clear the heat induced mist from his brain while reaching up for you.

“Kiss..?” He says in a soft way. If you knew better you would almost think he was embarrassed to ask for such a thing. However nonetheless you leaned down and captured his lips in a heated kiss. Douma moans in delight and wraps his legs around your waist for the second time that night. You pull back and watch in amusement as he lets out several loud pants, cheeks flushed even more.

You shift back down so your face is between his legs yet again, making Douma’s breath hitch in excitement. With a quick movement you dive into his dripping cunt with your tongue. He chokes out several loud moans as you eat him out in a savage way, lapping at all the slick he produces. The omega is whining loudly, gripping the sheets as hard as he can which causes them to rip.

"Y-Y/n-san!" He cries out while his thighs squeeze your face. You could feel him clenching around your tongue, signifying he was close. You made no move to stop him, after all he was in heat and while you were a sadist you weren’t that cruel. His back arches prettily off of the blankets as he orgasms, painting your face with his release. Douma pants loudly and lets out quiet whimpers. You merely chuckle and lick his juices from your face, looking him in the eyes all the while. You can see his blush deepen at the action before he tries to hide his face in the pillows.

******************************************************************** Douma lets out heavy and shallow pants, his body shivering and twitching from ever touch you lay across his skin. How many orgasms have you wrung out of him? He lost count after the fourth one. He reaches his shaky hands up, trying to hold your face and invite you in for a kiss, but his arms are too weak, he’s got very minimal energy left in him. However this gesture doesn’t go unnoticed by you and you lean down and press your soft lips against his own.

“Y-Y/n-San… please I can’t.. I can’t take it..” Douma whines to you as you thrust hard and deep into his puffy and abused pussy. His back is in an ever arched position as you continue to rail him into the mattress. The blankets are a mess of his release and slick, though neither of you take any notice of it. You make a tutting sound and continue on.

“Come on.. you wanted me, you wanted me to fuck that sweet pussy of yours and claim it as my own, didn’t you, omega.” You say in a condescending manner. Douma let out another wordless whine, a silent plea if you will.

“No. We aren’t stopping until I’m satisfied.” You tell him as your face turns stern. Your expression made his stomach do flips and he subconsciously spread his legs open just a little more.

[alicenotalice]

I’ve been following Etho for ten years and Joe Hills for maybe ten months, so a proper Joe Hills guy might have a different read—but to me they have equal and opposite energies as characters/personas/performers. They are both Just Normal Guys who are also Baffling Cryptids; but Etho is a faceless, bodiless entity who can cause colleagues and fans alike to pop their monocles and clutch their pearls by revealing mundane details about his physical reality (He eats sandwiches! He grows stubble! He experiences local wildlife! Stop, no more, my heart can’t take it!)

But Joe Hills of Nashville Tennessee, meanwhile, has built his whole persona around being...I’d say “uncompromisingly present.” The fourth wall is his canvas, his own self is the paint. Tune into a stream of his and you’ll likely be met with his giant, transparent, real life face imposed over the screen as he regales chat about his time at a local pinball tournament or the troubles of renting in Nashville

They are both weird little guys who’ve been around forever and don’t give a damn what the current prevailing wisdom has to say about how to run a gaming channel. And they’ve started crossing paths more and more, ever since TCG and DO2 and HC Vault Hunters—and for my small part I’ve found it wildly compelling!

Because—ok. Etho’s default mode in one-on-one collabs is to let the other person pick the play, and then back it. Figure out what the bit is and go along with it. Harmonize and amplify—which is how we got slapfights with Gem in the Decked Out lobby as well as “the ship burns, everything burns.” Meanwhile Joe’s improv comfort zone, to my eye at least, appears to lie upstream of whatever’s “expected.” He delights in the odd and surprising, he’s gleefully contrary, he’s helpful and wholesome, he’s a pain in the ass. King of malicious compliance, Joe Hills

A lot of their in-person interactions prior to the current season felt a bit like their cryptid energies cancelled each other out, leaving two Very Normal Guys having friendly if light conversation and being generally accommodating (the best example I can think of is Joe’s HC VH episode where Etho joined him on a cursed vault run). I suspect it’s because Etho was trying to defer to Joe to set the tone and pick the bit, while Joe was waiting for Etho to pick a direction so he could provide friction by running counter to it—so the banter never actually had a chance to start. That said! Both of them separately are charismatic performers who are very good at what they do, so even without a chemical reaction between them they manage to put on a good show…but imagine. Imagine if they DID have that reaction…

And that’s why the stonefrog deal is so fascinating to me—Joe Hills and Etho have a Bit now. A dynamic. A place where banter could theoretically happen. And that dynamic has gone through several tone shifts since Joe decided to lightly menace Etho by making the delivered stone shulkers spell out “Ethowo”

And again! It’s not like this is a major plot line in either of their videos! It pops up often on stream, but only because Joe spends most of his time there putting mountains into shulkers, and gets a lot of questions as to why he doesn’t just use TNT. It’s not a big deal…and yet. And yet!

[arjudy224]

Cobblepot's Cabana

Summary: Working for Oswald Cobblepot has its perks. Mr. Cobblepot always gives out Christmas and summer bonuses, you get excellent health insurance... However, working at a pool owned by one of Batman rogues can put you at odds with the Caped Crusader himself. One day, the Riddler and Killer Croc team up to defeat Batman. This team endeavor doesn't work out the way they expected.

Lifeguard POV:

There wasn’t any mention of how to handle situations like this during the certification. Teenage boys doing back flips into the shallow end? Yes. Nose bleeds? Of course. Clocking into work to find the Gotham knight fighting not one, but two of his rogues on the pool deck? Absolutely not. Nothing could have prepared me to witness the all out brawl that was occurring during my shift. Or the fact that Killer Croc’s tail defensively slapped the Riddler, Batman, and Robin into the pool. Tyler hands me the lifeguard tube with a sly smile.

“Good luck with that. I’m going to go pee.”

If I wasn’t so concerned for the teenage vigilante getting his face pushed underwater by a crocodile, that would have been incredibly annoying.

Staring at the drowning quartet, I am faced with a dilemma.

Do I get paid enough for this? (No)

Would interrupting the feud end with my imminent death? (Probably)

Poor Eddie Nygma flails desperately against the waves made by Killer Croc and Batman wrestling. For such an intelligent guy, one would have assumed he would at least know how to doggy paddle... One would be wrong. Every time the man, known to the rest of the world as the Riddler, touches the water... He sinks. It's honestly impressive how quickly he can reach the bottom of the pool. His panicked green eyes cause my heart to swell.

Dammit... Fine.

Within moments, I plunge into the icy water. Of course today of all days Cobblepot would turn the temperature down for dramatic effect. Fighting against Killer Croc's waves, I lunge for Eddie first. Avoiding his panicked limbs, I shove the buoy flush against his chest. Eddie clings onto the life preserver with a grateful gaze as I meet a face full of salt water.

My eyes burn from the impact. Resurfacing a few feet away, the vigilante/ crocodilian brawl somehow managed to turn on the manual waves. I watch in disbelief as Eddie gets pulled in their direction. His feverishly pale skin and blue lips chill me to my core.

"Oh.. No you don't!" I gasp struggling against the current. Another wave pushes me under. Stay calm. You've done this before. Opening my eyes, my heart stops when I register what I am face to face with.

Void like black eyes stare emotionless in my direction. With skin so grey and smooth, I'm almost tempted to run my hand across. However, the hundreds of sharp teeth keep me at bay. There's a shark in the pool, King Shark, to be exact... and he's not happy about the wrestling match going on above. Typical Gotham. Funny enough, I checked the attendance log this morning. Nanaue canceled his membership months ago, but that's none of my business.

From the corner of my eye, I vaguely make out the faint outline of the drowning boy wonder. The kid’s head is above water for now, but the heavy plated Robin suit cannot be easy to swim in.

Sometimes, King Shark confuses the lifeguards for poolside snacks. Easy mistake really. Cobblepot had warned us previously of the last guard who got eaten. Unzipping my fanny pack, I fumble for my saving grace: a small tuna packet from my morning lunch. Offering it to the shark, I await his response. That must have been the right move because a smile emerges with hundreds of teeth barring all at once.

Pressure and panic spreads throughout my body from the lack of oxygen. Crawling to the surface, my lungs gasp for air while I assess the current situation. Eddie's conscious, yet even with the raft his lips are still tinged with blue from his underwater adventure. Robin's fighting with less vigor than before. He doesn't have much time. Killer Croc is in his element. And Batman? Well, like any Florida man wrestling with their local wildlife: he's doing his best. His sluggish movements are showing how much the cape and his weaponry are weighing him down.

Considering my options, I make the dumbest split second decision of my life: I ask for help. Diving under the oncoming waves, I gesture towards King Shark with as much pleading as I can muster. I don't speak Shark, but I motion to my fanny back to insinuate their would be more fish ahead. Nananue slowly nods his head before circling the water around me.

For a second, I think my life is over. Maybe my parents were right to throw a fit when I announced my acceptance into Gotham U. I'm sure Metropolis Lifeguards’ don't have to make bargains with their local trespassing aquatic life.

To my relief, King Shark doesn't bite my head off. With an impatient shimmy, he waits for me to hold on. I shrug before crawling on his back. We cut through the waves with such ease that I find myself in awe of the cartilaginous fish. If I swam like that, I would bum off Oswald Cobblepot too. The Riddler and his life raft tug loosely behind due to the harness around my waist.

Checking my watch, I frown.

Tyler was supposed to take me off stand ten minutes ago. That bastard. From the empty pool deck, I bet he left work early again... for the 3rd time this week.

Speeding past the giant iceberg in the center of the pool, King Shark reluctantly slows down once we near the frail looking teenager. Before I can hoist the kid up, Nananue eyes the young boy with interest.

"Don't even think about it. If you eat Robin, I have to explain to Cobblepot how you've been staying here for months without paying for a membership."

With an exaggerated sigh, the Shark man allows me to hull the kid half way out of the water. Somehow, Robins mask managed to stay on during the kerfuffle. His wet black hair sticks to his forehead. He's got a pulse. He's breathing. Reaching the pool deck, Robin’s limp form is proving ridiculously lofty to move.

Across the pool deck, Batman somehow managed to tranquilize Killer Croc. His damp armor makes a hilarious ~squish~ noise with every step. Eddie sprawls on his back muttering something I assume to be riddle associated. Robin's starting to regain color.

Thank goodness, I didn't have to do CPR; I do not want to be the one responsible for breaking the Boy Wonders ribs.

One eye flutters open, then the other. The intensity of his blue eyes catches me off guard.

"Instead of saving my life," He rasps with a mischievous grin, "Can you save my phone number?"

Very original.

I briefly consider shoving him back into the pool. If I hadn't spent the last 20 minutes trying to save his life, I would have. Instead of responding, I make eye contact with his Guardian.

"I'm going to need to ask you two to leave." I elaborate gesturing to my watch, "The pool closes at 9."

[anjelicawrites]

Cringefail Throuple 💡

Tornado is the bestest boy - it’s official! But Michael’s possessiveness about Billy’s ass has got me thinking…

Can you tell us the story of Billy and Michael’s first time, just the two of them? Maybe Michael’s lecture got canceled one day, so he started wandering around town and somehow ended up at Billy’s flat. They start off just chatting and watching TV, but then Michael turns to Billy and says “so… I’m kinda horny?” This of course immediately makes Billy horny, but neither of them really know how to do the sex without reader’s presence or guidance.

How is that first boys-only fuck?

This thing took a turn on its own, beloved Cringefail Throuple 💡nonnie, I hope you like it!!!

Warnings: kissing, oral (male receiving), ass play, anal, overstimulation, Michael being a bit of an asshole.

NSFW and 18+ only please!

You're back home for the weekend, it's your parents' wedding anniversary, leaving your boys back at Oxford.

When you leave to go to the train station in the morning, Billy and Michael are still napping, both just awake enough to sleepily kiss you goodbye, before cuddling back into one another's warmth. Seeing how your relationship has grown from a weekend long booty call to a true bond between you three, makes you all giddy and happy on the inside: the chances of your relationship to go up in flames so high, you can't believe you three are still together!

This is going to be the first time Billy and Michael are going to be without you; you and Michael were together, before Billy, and usually have the time to meet up on campus. You and Billy try to spend your time off together as well, just being with one another. But it hasn't happened yet that your boys manage to be together without you. You hope Billy can survive Michael's abrasive personality, without you functioning as a buffer.

For them it's strange to wake up without you, to have the time to use the bathroom with leisure, instead of crunch on time because you're taking too long with your make up and hair, to not see you wearing their clothes as you are getting ready or have you kiss them before sprinting to your own classes.

Billy can lounge around for a while Michael, on the other hand, has to go to the library, he has a tight schedule he has to follow and an academic rival to destroy. This doesn't stop him from crowding Billy against a wall, loving the way Billy bashfully stares at him from under his long lashes, before kissing him, his tongue proprietary in Billy's mouth, their long bodies plastered against one another.

"See you later pretty boy."

Michael tells him before disappearing, leaving Billy breathless and with the flames of need burning in his belly.

Throughout the day you text them and there are some spicy pics of you once you get home, while you try different outfits. It suffices to say that, by evening, both Michael and Billy are horny, Michael has already told you he's gonna make you pay for the boner he had to spot at the library as soon as you get back to Oxford and the idea makes him even hornier.

Thanks to a change of shifts, Billy is home by the evening and is making tea. He hears the jingle of Michael's keys who calls out to him, and gets ignored because the potatoes are burning and Billy has no idea why.

Michael stares at Billy's wide back and his pert arse, the shift of his muscles as he works around the kitchen does nothing to quench the desire that's been simmering in his belly for the whole day. Michael had never thought he could fall for another man, bringing Billy in the relationship was supposed to be the simple fulfillment of a fantasy, those feelings came as a curve ball in between booty calls and, staring at Billy simply moving about, Michael can say he's never been happier. Or hornier.

"What?" He asks.

He knows Billy has said something but he was too lost in his thoughts to listen.

"How was your day?" "Have you seen the pics?"

Billy laughs: he knows fully what Michael means. His lunch shift had been complicated to navigate with a half formed boner in his pants.

"Do you want to do something about it?" Michael asks, blunt as usual.

Billy stops on his tracks, kettle in one hand, two mugs dangling from his index fingers; it's not like it's never happened, Michael making love to him or fucking him, but you were always there with them, helping Michael drive him absolutely mental with pleasure. And it's not like the idea hadn't been on the table for a long time, you three are an item, it had been times when Billy had been with you without Michael and Michael had done the same, the two of them never had the chance to be alone. The idea excites Billy beyond belief and terrifies him: he's never been with another man, alone, what if he fucks up and you're not there to help?

But a part of his brain has already decided and it almost feels like an out of body experience to set the kettle and the cups on the sink and to turn the oven off, before heading to Michael, who is staring at his boner with a knowing smirk on his lips.

Now it's time for Billy to have his comeuppance for the morning as he plasters his body against Michael's and removes his glasses, before slanting his mouth on his, lips on lips, passionate and hungry, Billy's arms caging Michael against the wall, their tongues sliding against one another when the moaning starts, hips rubbing, hands in the way as they try to undress one another.

Michael is faster or, perhaps, Billy's tracksuit bottoms are easier to get into than Michael's grandad's jeans are, either way Michael's hands finds its way under Billy's boxers and around his erect cock, jacking him fast with rough stroked around his already weeping head.

"Bed... ah!" Billy whines, his hips kicking.

They keep kissing, desperate for one another, teeth and lips bruising the delicate skin of their necks, as their hands get rid of their remaining clothes with something akin to desperation.

Michael finds himself on the bed with Billy's fingers busy removing his boxers brief, willing letting the head of Michael's cock catch the band and slap against his tummy with a whimper of pleasurable pain. Billy doesn't let Michael speak, his lips wound around his cock and start sucking fast and rough, following the rhythm of Michael's slim hips against his face with lewd, wet sounds, letting spit and precome fall from the sides of his lips as Michael fucks his mouth with abandon.

Billy whimpers when Michael's hand grabs his hair and forces him off his cock: did he do something wrong? Then he notices the way Michael is gripping his own erection in the attempt to stop himself from coming.

"Get on the bed."

The plain need in Michael's voice flies directly to Billy's cock and to the tight band of pleasure growing in his belly: he's so close it's a feat to scramble on the old mattress and turn on his back, his legs already spayed open for Michael, whose hand finds his erection again as the other squirts lube on his hole, before fingering him with fast pushes against his prostate.

Without you slowing him down, Michael's hunger prevails, followed by his need to drive Billy absolutely mad, have him at his mercy. He hears his whines and moans, he sees the way his hips follow the brutal rhythm he's set, how this whole body trashes on the bed, his tongue tastes the salt of Billy's sweat on his overheated skin and Micheal wants more. His fingers are cruel against Billy's prostate, the pushes are fast and deep, while his other hand is a vise around the base of his reddened cock, so tight that it hurts, the pain mingles with the pleasure in Billy's hazy mind, his back arches, his legs kick uselessly and he doesn't know if he wants to stop or to keep going, his whole body trashes desperately under Michael's as pleasure ebbs and ebbs, until it explodes with a scream.

Michael's fingers don't stop fucking Billy's hole, they simply slow a tiny bit as the other man's eyes slowly open up and focus on Michael's proud smirk, the second before a desperate whine leaves Billy's lips, when the feeling of his still full balls hits his brain.

"Ple..." he tries to say, his mouth too dry to function. "Please."

"What is that you want?" Michael is so proud if the way he's annihilating Billy.

"Too... please!"

Fat tears fall from Billy's long lashes: he needs to tell Michael, has to, but his body is not following his lead. If only you were here to be his voice!

"Slower!" Billy manages to scream.

Michael stares at him, at the way his face is scrunched in pain and pleasure. He observes Billy's body squirm under his, the way his hole gapes when his fingers splay him open. It's an intoxicating feeling to hold such power over Billy, whose responses are always so open, so rough. To torture him more is a temptation Michael has to fight: Billy would be so pretty, fighting against his own body and mind, begging Michael for mercy with his big blue eyes full of tears. Another time, he tells himself, maybe later, when his own cock isn't so hard and his balls so full; to play with Billy properly he needs a clear mind and now his own needs are taking control.

Gentler that he has been, Michael slips his fingers out of Billy's hungry hole and lies down on him to kiss him, slower than his body is screaming him to do, until Billy is breathing calmly under his body.

It's Billy who crawls upper in the bed and reaches inside the bedside table with a still shacking hand to retrieve the condom; he needs help to roll it on Michael's cock, his fingers not nimble enough to perform such a easy task, yet he can curl his hand around the heavy erection to slowly guide Michael towards his own entrance.

Michael whines when he breaches Billy's arse: the warmth and the tightness just perfect around his erection, the way he has to fight the clenching muscles, until Billy's body gives up with a long moan, all drives Michael mad with desire. When Billy's hips start following his, Michael's control snaps and he bends Billy's long body in a half to fuck him harder and faster, deaf to his own whines of pleasure and to the pain of Billy's feet kicking against his sides and back when the pleasure is too much, burns too hot inside of him, his poor prostate fucked without mercy, his back arching under Michael's unyielding weight.

Billy wants to say he's almost there, that he can't hold it anymore, but he's lost all control over his body, he's a mere crux of nerves and pleasure and overstretched muscles, the band in his belly tightens cruelly when Michael's hand finds his cock and his movements are fast and precise.

"Come, now!"

Michael barks, the pleasure licking at his spine spiraling out of control, until Billy's hole clamps around him, forcing him to come, so hard it almost hurts.

They tremble in each other embrace, their skin almost hurts with the way the aftershock travels through their nerves, their lips connect messily in a tired kiss as sleeps steals them away, warm and safe as their are, in each other arms.

Cringefail throuple taglist: @fan-goddess @solisarium

[anthroposeen]

tmagp 17 relisten notes!!

as always, tmagp and tma spoilers below the cut! hope you guys enjoy the breakdown :)

celia:

- she's been teleported to another road side, this time very close to a highway in oxford. she missed the play with sam and didnt have a way to contact him about it

- she wants to make up for missing the play by paying for their next date, and seems pretty genuine about her guilt and interest in him

- once the incident ends, she thanks the computer/chester for it. this could have been a sarcastic comment on her part, but it comes across as her acknowledging the case for what it is, and acknowledging that it is somehow curated for her. i think this is evidenced by her telling alice the incident wasnt very useful, implying she tries to find their meaning, and takes them as some form of sentience.

sam:

- he seems a bit peeved that celia didn't call him to tell him she had to cancel, and tells her to not make a habit of this kind of thing. i think its important to keep in mind that we've established he's very sensitive to rejection and people "not having time" for him.

- "im not a big horror fan" who's going to tell him?

alice:

- her computer keeps malfunctioning, showing a jmj error

- shes back to making bad puns and jokes at gwen's expense, a hard shift from her demeanor last episode

- she jokes to gwen about venting their problems as a group exercise, but denies actually having a problem to discuss

gwen:

- she helps alice with the jmj error, and says that colin hasnt been in the office in weeks, though theres no more word in his whereabouts

- she also! denies having anything to talk about! great communication guys!

incident:

- narrated by chester/jon, read at celia's desk.

- incident pulled from the magnus institute oxford outreach center -> important for the obvious reason and because celia woke up in oxford the most recent time she teleported

- darrien is given low viability for agent, subject, and catalyst

- states that "continued incarceration" is the advised method of containing/studying the subject and phenomena, implying that sometime after the statement was given, the magnus institute incarcerated darrien for unknown reasons.

- the statement was given by a man named darrien -> episode 13 also featured a darrien, but it doesn't appear to be the same man to me, i think its most likely that ajn and johhny are just having a good time with recycling names.

- darrien was in a court ordered anger-management program and was transported across dimensions during a therapy session -> intense meditation seemed to be the trigger here

- the receptionist at his therapy office was a "big, soft looking guy" who stumbled over his words, this is followed by the mention of a "bookish looking guy" who darrien says gives him weird pervert vibes. while these are incredibly in character descriptions for them both, i cant say im sure these are alternate-dimension's martin and jon. ide also like to point out that these are characters from darrien's previous universe, not the tmagp one where he finds himself.

- when darrien wakes up from his meditation he has a strong migraine, dry eyes, a stiff neck, and he was dizzy. later, he discovers hes emaciated as he continuously passes out. these symptoms seem to go away as he stays in this dimension

- he woke up in the tmagp universe in a shopping center, coming from a magnus institute outreach post -> seeing as how we know the main building is still active, it could be that the outreach centers also serve as "portals"

- he experienced similar things to anya villette's statement in tma s3. he couldnt contact his employer, had no emergency contact to give the hospital, woke up in a different location, and was taken to the wrong address.

- the tmagp native darrien (who ill call other!darrien for clarity here) was welcoming to his lost doppelgänger, letting him stay in his house and offering him advice on how to keep his anger in check

- darrien describes meeting his other!self as "trying not to fall through the cracks" -> potentially a call back to anya villette's episode "cracked foundation"

- they reasoned the coincidence out by figuring they were half siblings, though they were both named darrien. they discovered a couple of time discrepancies, seeing as their dad died on different days

- the housekeeper, sharon, was wary of them, giving darrien a scared look and looking for opportunities to leave the room when he was around

- when darrien asks how other!darrien manages his anger, hes taken to a heavy door in the basement. there was a single drop of blood on the staircase leading down. ragged breathing and pleading for help rose from below the stairs, and darrien refused to be a part of this anger-vent exercise. he pushed other!darrien into the room, locking it back.

- darrien denies the invitation into the torture chamber, "i couldnt join him down there with my father", later saying he felt guilty for not killing other!darrien and "saving whatever poor soul he had kept". at first, i thought that his other!father was being kept in the basement and tortured, but i think he uses his dad as a metaphor for the anger they both carry. this opens up the scarier realization that other!darrien is just torturing a random person

- once he locked other!darrien in the basement room, he adopted his life.

- sharon didnt return to darrien after her vacation was up, and its thought that she reported him to the institute, where we can assume they began his incarceration

glitches/lies:

- "i'm ok/its ok" spoken by celia as she's trying to reassure herself

- no glitches after gwen and alice say they have nothing to share. its very possible this is because they dont want to share with each other

extra comments:

- the jmj wrror stops popping up after alice proposes talking out their issues as a team, but considering they dont actually do that im chalking it up to a coincidence for now

- this incident follows chester's normal shtick: statement from the magnus institute, directly targeting someones business, and sort of providing a cautionary tale

- this may be my favorite incident so far. it has a very similar vibe to the early tma statements, and an ominous music bit from s1-2 even played briefly as darrien meets his dopplegänger (at least, thats what it sounded like to me). it has a lot of revelation-centered horror that really grabs me, knowing exactly who will be in the house as darrien knocks on the door and following his dopplgänger into the torture room were so vivid for me, its the exact type of horror that always makes me genuinely creeped out!

- this episode raises a lot of questions about the stability of this dimension, and all dimensions in general since there seems to be reoccurring leaks/cracks. this manifests as celia teleporting across space, existing in this universe in general, the giant cavern in the magnus institute ruins, and darrien's adventures in universe-hopping.

- as i mentioned in the incident points, jon and martin have a sort of hinted cameo in darrien's original universe, but a part of me refuses to believe its them just because i enjoy the mystery set up after mag 200. if this is all the content we get of potential jon and martin dopplegängers, ill actually be happy with that. i really do enjoy the notion that they exist in some boring reality somewhere else, and martin still stumbles over his words and jon still needs anger management therapy. i like that theres consistency even in an alternate universe. im certain we wont be seeing these vague background characters again, but i would love to see darrien's reaction to norris's voice.

[soul-controller]

Hey everyone, I hate to disappoint but I just wanted to share that there’s no way that the Halloween event can happen anymore this year.

My manager at my job initially promised me that I would be able to have a set schedule where I could have 4 days off a week so I could properly devote time to getting my writing done. Unfortunately, two people quit and my schedule for the next few weeks just came out and now I’m being forced to help cover their shifts until they hire new people (which will probably take a while since my job has a terrible reputation in town). Although I would have probably been able to find a way to make the event still happen given how excited I was about it, I’m still in the process of doing four relatively large story commissions so there’s no way that I can juggle both those and the Halloween event. Something had to give and obviously the event had to go as the commissions take priority.

To provide some context and be a bit vulnerable, things in my personal life have been a bit rough and hectic the past month or two, so I’m hoping things can eventually settle down soon enough. As previously mentioned my job is being a nuisance, but there’s other stuff going on like money issues on top of being in the process of getting a new doctor because my current one was refusing to take any of my concerns seriously. Beyond just him downplaying my anxiety and depression diagnoses when it comes to providing me effective medication, he also refused to try and help with the debilitating migraines I suffer through practically every other day.

Just to add a cherry on top of the shitty month that this has been, I just recently discovered that queuing on Tumblr has finally failed me. The story that was meant to come out this month never got posted and the concept of having to go through re-formatting everything and getting photos again was just too much of a depressing nuisance for me to deal with. Hell, I've been in such a stink recently that I didn't even do a celebration to celebrate the fact that my account had passed 4,000 followers! I guess doing it nearly three hundred followers later is a bit too late, but I suppose it's never too late to celebrate. I seriously appreciate all of the support I've received regardless of it was a like, a reblog, a follow, or a subscription to my Patreon. All of it means a lot to me... genuinely.

I suppose I just wanted to say that things feel a bit grim for me currently, but I remain hopeful that good days shall eventually come (especially since Halloween is my favorite time of year). To put a more positive spin on the increased hours at work, at least it means that I'll hopefully fix my money issues. Plus, I finally have a meeting with a new doctor this Thursday so I'm hoping I can get some results and find someone who actually cares and wants to help me.

In closing, I sincerely wanted to apologize again in case I disappointed anyone by canceling the Halloween event. Hopefully I can make it up to y’all though by releasing two stories here for October that I really enjoyed writing.

On top of that, I’m thinking I may give the concept of releasing long stories for purchase via Ko-Fi / itch.io a shot by having a trial run with a nearly 10k word Halloween-ish story involving misguided spells, twinkification, and age progression / weight gain between two best friends.

Thanks for reading, I appreciate all of your support and hopefully your understanding during this extremely trying time. 💙

[traincat]

got the sudden urge to re-read 'work song' this weekend after years of not really being into spideytorch anymore. the fic is still incredible, it's reminding me why i used to love them, but it got me wondering -- was there ever any canon fallout from sue, reed, and the kids being gone like that? i had already stopped reading the comics at that point.

It's funny, I've been thinking of Work Song recently too. I obviously like to get into the guts of canon in a lot of my fic, but Work Song was really an exercise in getting into the emotional fallout that comics tend not to deal with -- for both good and bad reasons. (I think the modern lack of dealing with pretty much any emotional fallout is bad, but also if you have a serial story you have to keep a certain amount of action going. Idk, complicated thoughts about pacing and sacrifices made for genre standards and the shifting of those standards from decade to decade, etc., etc.)

And the answer to whether the fallout is ever addressed in 616 canon is... kind of no? I think there were attempts made -- both Zdarsky in his Two-in-One series and Bendis, somewhat, in Infamous Iron Man were sort of digging into things, albeit notably before Reed and Sue were actually back. (Both of those series deal HEAVILY with their absence, though.) But both of those series were also cut short, and they have finales I'm not quite satisfied with, which in this case is the fault of neither author. I think Zdarsky tried with his final two issues of Two-in-One especially, especially the one that focuses on Johnny and Sue, but just didn't have the space to address the issue of Reed and Sue essentially leaving Johnny and Ben with the gravitas and nuance that it deserved. And given that Johnny is, you know, flat out suicidal over this issue in the first ten issues of Two-in-One, that's a problem. (IIM also has a disappointing final two issues, but it focuses much more on Ben and Doom than on Johnny. Hell of a setup, wish it didn't feature the biggest copout resolution of all time.) And again I don't think this is either writer's fault -- they were both clearly trying to do something interesting and emotional, and 2n1 had a really good set up and character work. It just wasn't given the space to stick any kind of landing before everything had to be wrapped up in a tidy little bow so Slott could write some mystifyingly bad stories. (I don't believe Slott ever seriously addresses the fallout, but I could be wrong. I skimmed the back half of that run hard.)

And also I think this was something of a foundational problem that sprung from Reed and Sue and the kids going missing not as an actual story point but as a hissy fit over film rights. There was never any solid plan in action for where they were or what they were doing or what Ben and Johnny fought over that caused Ben to leave for space and Johnny to spiral out of control -- it was all just "this is happening now because we canceled the Fantastic Four comic because we want the film rights." It's very hard to build a story on shaky ground like that when you've got multiple writers, all who seemed to have slightly different takes, and apparently no one on an editorial level actually managing all of that to make sure there was a cohesive story in place. Even if the reader doesn't have that information, there should be some kind of established story for the writers to follow, and it kind of seemed like there just wasn't. (I say "kind of seemed" because obviously I wasn't there and I don't know for sure, but also like, we know for sure that there wasn't. By reading the comics it was very clear that there wasn't.) It's frustrating to think about it now because it could have been some really great storytelling, and instead it was addressed just barely and then kind of rushed along. And I feel similarly about Superior Spider-Man's fallout, except they keep resurrecting that concept every two years and kicking it around like it has anything interesting left in it.

[ofthecaravel]

Everything I Didn't Say

Chapter 4 of ‘You Don’t Go To Parties’, which is clearly not a oneshot anymore, but this is the last chapter I swear it on my father's sardines

Part 1  Part 2 Part 3

Summary: It's time for a stake out.

Tags: Brotherly shenanigans, anxiety, miscommunication, coming out, resolutions, love and peace on planet earth

Words: 4.7k

A/N: Let's all gather around for one last rodeo. Thank you for all the love on this series, figured it was about time to wrap it up for everybody's sanity. You are all required by Caravel Nation law to tell me what you think <3

~~~

Danny gave himself the kindness of keeping his phone off and out of sight during work, but it was never much of a problem considering the majority of his messages came from his family and Sam. However, when he slid his phone out of his work locker at the end of his shift, he was surprised to see his entire lock screen was filled to the brim with legions of texts and missed calls from Josh.

His anxiety piqued when he read the urgent nature of his texts, but calmed quickly when he realized they all had something to do with the twins’ fervent demands to help them track down Sam’s mystery girlfriend. Not even bothering to text back, Danny called Josh, pinning the phone to his ear with his shoulder as he kicked off his grass stained golf shoes and slid on his sneakers. As expected, Josh picked up on the second ring.

“Danny, my boy, finally, where have you been?” Josh greeted loudly. 

“Work,” Danny deadpanned, tapping the heel of his shoe against the locker to secure it onto his foot. “The children yearn for the golf course. What’s the emergency this time around?”

“We have a breakthrough in the case,” Josh whispered conspiratorially and Danny felt a nervous tremor in his hand start to pulse. Their work on “the case” had been slim to none, mostly being carried out on a night when Danny slept over at Jake’s apartment and Josh had scrolled through Sam’s Instagram followers and pointed out “potential suspects” while they all passed his dab pen around. Needless to say, their sleuthing hadn’t reached any kind of important conclusions after the third pass around. 

“Do tell,” Danny asked as he strode out the back doors and lumbered across the parking lot to his bulky Kia. 

“Jacob managed to divine some very interesting information out of Sam,” Josh continued, clearly enjoying drawing out the suspense. “Apparently, he has some sort of ‘meeting’ tonight at Roscoe’s. A meeting? At night? At Roscoe’s? It’s gotta be a date.”

“Hm!” Danny squeaked, his keys falling through his fingers at Josh’s words. Danny was very aware of this dinnertime date, considering he was the one who was going to be in attendance. They’d only planned it a day or two before. How could Jake have gotten that information out of Sam so quickly? Danny pressed the speaker phone button and pulled up his text thread with Sam, smiling as he waded through an adorable stream of texts begging for Danny to come save him from lecture before zeroing in on a text that read ‘Just had Such a conversation with jake, ugh’. Uh oh.

“I mean, what else could it be?” Josh exclaimed, his voice filling the expanse of Danny’s car as Danny sat staring at his phone. “Sam’s smart but he’s not professional. Bullshit, it's a date.”

“Well, I could always ask him about it and report back,” Danny offered.

“Nope, I have something much better planned,” Josh announced, a smile dripping from his voice. “Pull out your fancy pants, Wagner, because the three of us have a reservation at Roscoe’s, 6pm tonight. This is a proper stakeout.”

“What?” Danny blurted, his panic returning swiftly. “No, no, Josh, I’m b-”

“Cancel whatever it was, this is top priority!” Josh insisted passionately. “Come on, it’ll be a blast. We have a table right outside the window so we can see every table inside. We’ll stay out of sight, sneak a peek at whoever shows up, and then we’ll know! It’s a foolproof plan!”

“Josh-”

“I won’t hear it,” Josh snapped. “We’ll pick you up at 5:45. Wear something nice. See you then!”

“No, Jo-”

“Yes, Josh, thank you for your kind offer,” Josh mocked in his best impression of Danny. “Oh, you’re so welcome, Daniel. And don’t try and tell Sam we’re coming, he texted Jake that his phone was dying half an hour ago and we all know he didn’t bring a charger to class. He’ll be out of commission until right around when we show up. It’s a perfect storm.”

“You watch too many movies,” Danny countered, his stomach sinking at Josh’s information. He glanced at his phone again and sure enough, his last text from Sam was an annoyed apology that his phone was dying and he’d text him if he had time to run home and grab a charger before he got to the restaurant. 

“You don’t watch enough,” Josh accused with a laugh. “5:45. Fancy pants. Maybe bring sunglasses. Be there or be square!”

“You’re evil for this,” Danny sighed. “Alright. I’ll dig out my sunglasses.”

“Perfect! Au revoir.”

And just like that, the call cut and Danny was left sitting blankly and anxiously fidgeting. He thought about texting Sam anyways, but it seemed like a fruitless task knowing he wouldn’t see it until it was too late. Could he call someone Sam was with to warn him? Who was he even with? He didn’t know anyone’s numbers by heart, anyways. The stars had aligned in favor of Josh’s ridiculous stakeout, and Danny couldn’t help but feel the walls closing in around him as he started up the car and drove uncharacteristically slow all the way home. He knew this wouldn’t mean the end by any means, but his stomach was aching all the same. 

~~

Danny spent his two hours of free time buzzing around his apartment and brainstorming ways out of the plan, but when he heard a horn blare outside of his window at the stroke of 5:45, he knew his fate was sealed. He ran down the stairs and walked out to Jake’s piece of crap Toyota, smoothing his semi formal button down with one hand and pushing his sunglasses up with the other. The backseat window rolled down and Josh’s cherubic face appeared, letting loose a loud wolf whistle. He was sporting a huge pair of bedazzled sunglasses of his own and a lavender fleece, and Danny chuckled as he climbed in the passenger seat and received a side hug from Jake, who was wearing his standard round sunglasses and a secret agent-esque turtleneck.

“You both look ridiculous,” Danny declared as Jake started to drive, turning around in his seat to properly face Josh. “I don’t know how you roped me into this.”

“I’m extremely charming,” Josh announced. Jake scoffed in reply.

“Is that what you call it?” Jake teased and it was Josh’s turn to scoff. 

“Why are you in the backseat?” Danny asked, his nerves melting in the presence of his friends despite them being the source of it. 

“He calls it ‘Driving Ms. Fernanda’,” Jake explained tiredly as Josh began to cackle. “He pretends I’m his chauffeur.” 

“Are you Ms. Fernanda?” Danny questioned Josh.

“Elle Fernanda to you,” Josh declared in a confident impression of some kind of wizened socialite. “You didn’t come up with an alias for this?”

“Amateur,” Jake accused in a gravelly British accent.

“Oh, and you are…?”

“Oliver fuckin’ Reed!” Jake crowed, his face splitting into a raucous smile. “I have a beard for our grand entrance in my pocket. Didn’t want any ladies driving next to us to get distracted by how devilishly handsome I am with it on.”

Danny didn’t answer, simply laughing as he relaxed into his seat. For a moment, he forgot the end goal of this trip, taking time to enjoy the portal the twins always seemed to conjure up to transport his state of mind to a new plane of reality.

 Before he got the time to fully indulge, Jake pulled into a parking spot around the corner from the restaurant and they all climbed out. As they walked, Josh quietly hummed the Mission Impossible theme and Jake chattered about the menu he’d looked up online, leaving Danny to try and get his panic under wraps.

“I’ve planned it all out,” Josh assured them. “Sam should already be inside, and we’ll just go right to our seats outside so he’ll never even see us. See, that table right there, by the bush? He’ll never see us from behind that.”

“Smart,” Danny answered absently. He checked his phone again, but there were still no texts from Sam. He fought cursing under his breath as they approached the hostess outside and she led them to the table Josh had described. As he took his seat, he peeked around the greenery and nearly jumped when he saw Sam sitting at a corner table, his chin resting on his hand as he looked around the restaurant. He’d been there for at least 15 minutes now, and Danny hoped he had kept up his streak of lateness so that he’d been sitting there for even less time, but from the frustrated crinkle on his forehead that Danny knew so well, he figured this may have been a rare occasion he’d actually showed up on time. Danny’s heart gave a pull as he stole another glance at Sam, recognizing the soft sweater he was wearing as one that he’d told Sam was his favorite. His mind was so overwhelmed with guilt it took him a minute to hear Josh in his ear.

“Dan!”

Danny jolted and turned to him.

“Can you see anything?” Jake asked, looking at him over the edge of his menu.

“Yeah, uh, straight shot actually,” Danny stammered. “Nobody’s with him, though.”

“Let me see,” Josh pestered, leaning over Danny to look into the main seating area. “Aw, there he is. Hi, little guy!”

“Imagine if he got stood up,” Jake joked, taking a sip of his water. “And we did all this for nothing.”

“That’s sad!” Josh lamented, but they both laughed. “We’d have to go in there and ambush him.”

“By the way, Dan, we picked an alter ego for you,” Jake said as Josh continued squinting through the glass at Sam, who had pulled out his phone and was trying to start it. Danny recognized this as a typical Sam maneuver for when his phone was dead, the explanation being that maybe he could “catch the phone by surprise” and trick it into starting up. 

“Oh, really?” Danny answered curiously, trying to distract himself from the guilt now nearly choking him. 

“You’re Chip Bunker, golf superstar,” Josh explained. “Just in case the waitress asks. If you need help beefing up your backstory, we’ll fill in for you. We need you to focus on keeping an eye on Sam.”

“Can do,” Danny answered honestly.

“Ugh, where would we be without you?” Josh gushed as the waitress started to approach. “Drinks are on me.”

An absolutely grueling 15 minutes passed, with Josh ordering a round of appetizers for them, Jake workshopping a list of discreet questions to ask Sam after, and Danny downing his entire cocktail while he watched Sam’s expression grow ever more frustrated. 

“Oh!” Danny said, leaning in and patting the table to get their attention as he watched Sam shift in his seat. “He’s getting up!”

The twins awkwardly leaned around the bush obscuring their view as they all watched Sam get up and hail down a waitress, asking her something with her replying and hurrying away as Sam took his seat again.

“Is he leaving?” Jake asked in a hurried whisper. 

“I don’t know,” Josh answered unhelpfully. “Oh, oh, here she comes.”

“Shit,” Danny blurted as he watched the waitress return to his side, a white iPhone charger in her hand as she passed it off to him and gestured to something out of sight. He watched Sam thank her and then bend to plug it into an outlet. They all waited in silence until they saw Sam’s face glow in the light of the phone starting up.

With a shaking hand, Danny tried to subtly slide his phone out of his pocket and turn his ringer off, but before he got the chance, his phone started buzzing with the Hozier song he’d assigned for Sam’s ringtone. The twins’ head snapped towards him and he had no time to move before they both saw Sam’s contact photo on Danny’s screen. His heart dropped like a cold weight into the pit of his stomach. 

“Pick it up, pick it up!” Jake hissed, wiggling his fingers towards Danny’s phone as he and Josh slid down synchronously into their seats. 

“Uh,” Danny faltered, his mind racing and his fingers beginning to shake as he tried to figure out what to do. In an instant, Josh’s hand darted out and accepted the call for him, and worse yet, pressed the speakerphone button. Danny felt the facade crashing down around him as Sam’s voice cut through.

“Where are you?” Sam whispered urgently, a sincere note of upset lacing his words. Jake and Josh stayed silent and still, their eyes slowly moving to Danny as he sat stupidly, all words dying on his tongue.

“Hello? Daniel?” Sam went on. “We were getting dinner tonight, right? I’ve been waiting for, like, half an hour for you. Are you okay?”

“I’m fine, Sammy,” Danny finally answered, his voice stuttering as the twins gave him confused looks and seemed to have an entire silent conversation of their own.

“Where are you?” Sam asked again, his words poisonous as he said every word punctually. “I can’t believe you forgot.”

Josh let out an involuntary scoff of surprise, clapping his hands over his mouth as Danny shot him a glare. 

“What was that?” Sam asked. Danny could see him hunched over at his table, hurt beginning to taint his features as his free hand began to rip his napkin to shreds. “Are you with someone?”

“No, no, I mean, yes, but-”

“Okay, wow,” Sam spat, straightening in his chair again and scowling. “You made plans when we had plans? Aren’t you Mr. Calendar?”

“Sam, let me explain-”

“No, no, please, go on, I’d love to hear this,” Sam laughed tunelessly. 

“I…” Danny trailed off, looking back at the twins, who were now looking at him with an expectant look of amusement. “Can you do something for me quick?”

“I will do jack shit, thank you very much.”

“Trust me?”

Sam was quiet for a minute, and Danny watched his gaze soften ever so slightly.

“Trust you.”

“Can you look out the window for me?”

“What?”

“What?” Josh echoed, smacking Danny on the arm. “Come on!”

Sam’s brow crinkled again and he looked up from his glare fastened to the table and out the window, his eyes dancing over the scarce scenery until he finally made eye contact with Danny. Danny attempted a sheepish smile, but he was sure it came out as more of a guilty lip curl. Sam hung up the phone and got up from his table, stomping across the restaurant and towards the door.

“Traitor,” Jake declared. 

“I have so many questions,” Josh whined, removing his sunglasses and rubbing his eyes as the door burst open and Sam approached their table. He reeled slightly when he caught sight of his brothers, sending Danny a furious and panicked look.

“What the fuck?” Sam asked simply, throwing his hands up in the air and letting them fall noisily against his pants. “What is going on?”

“I have no idea,” Danny answered honestly, his seat scraping as he attempted to get up but ended up sitting defeatedly again. “But everything is fine.”

“This was your meeting?” Jake blurted in confusion. “Dinner with Danny?”

“Yes?” Sam answered in petulant exasperation. “What the hell do you care? And why are you wearing a fake beard?”

“Well, we thought you were…” Josh’s voice got very small. “On a date.”

“So you’re stalking me now?” Sam asked, putting his hands on his hips. “Why is Danny here?”

“Clearly we didn’t know he was the one you were meeting!” Jake snapped. “Why wouldn’t you tell me who you were getting dinner with? We got all excited for nothing.”

“Why do I owe you that information?”

“Why didn’t you say something, Dan?” Josh pointed out, all of them turning to Danny, who felt heat flushing his face as all three brothers glared at him. Danny caught Sam’s eye, giving him a silent look of pleading and questioning. They were completely and utterly cornered.

“For the record, you barely let me get a word in,” Danny attempted to explain. 

“What is happening?” Jake laughed, dragging a hand down his face. “Sam, we totally thought we were staking out your date. We know you have a girlfriend, okay, so we roped Danny into helping us figure out who it was, but-”

“I don’t have a girlfriend,” Sam cut him off. “We’re dating. There.”

He gestured towards Danny, who sat red faced and silent as Jake’s mouth gaped slightly in shock and Josh let out another shocked gasp. 

“Now you understand my hesitancy about the stakeout,” Danny muttered sheepishly, beginning a nervous ramble as the twins visibly absorbed the new information. “I wanted to say something but I didn’t want to before Sam said something to you guys, so I tried to play along, but then Sam’s phone was dead and I couldn’t text him about what was going on and Sam, I am so sorry, I didn’t want to stand you up, but I didn’t want them to get suspicious and-”

“Ah, ah, ah, okay, stop,” Josh interjected, waving his hands around as Danny and Sam kept a tense eye contact, Danny pleading for forgiveness with his eyes as Sam’s glare slowly began to soften. “Why didn’t you guys tell us sooner?”

“What, you thought we’d be mad?” Jake laughed, pointing at Josh. “Remember how little negative response Josh got? Mom was like okay, cool, that’s awesome, we don’t care.”

“I know, I know,” Sam said, sinking into the empty fourth chair at their table, blushing uncomfortably. “It’s just…I love you guys, but you always make such a big deal about whatever I’m doing, and I just didn’t want it to be a big thing.”

“We’re not going to be, like, all PDA and insufferable,” Danny added on. Sam laughed in agreement and half of Danny’s tension melted at the sound. 

Jake and Josh exchanged an extremely guilty look over the table.

“Sam, I’m so sorry,” Jake lamented, grasping Sam by the shoulder. “You know it’s because we love you and you’re our baby brother, but I’m sorry we made you so uncomfortable. You gotta tell us when we’re too much, man, you know we don’t know.”

“You can talk to me about stuff like this,” Josh offered, his voice gentle and genuine as he and Sam exchanged a knowing look. “About whatever you’re feeling that might, I don’t know, scare you. Even if it doesn’t scare you, talk to me anyway. I get it.”

“I know you get it,” Sam’s voice cracked, his face crumpling for a second before he scrubbed at his eyes with the sleeve of his sweater and let out a long contained breath. “I do. It’s just… it’s hard to introduce this whole new thing about myself without getting all anxious about what people might say. Even when I know it’s not a big deal, I know someone else might think it’s a big deal.”

“Fuck everybody else,” Josh exclaimed, grabbing Sam’s hand and squeezing it. “Seriously! Fuck ‘em. This is great news.”

“Sorry it came out like this,” Jake apologized again, grabbing Sam’s other hand and reaching across the table to grab one of Danny’s. “Let’s all pinky promise to keep each other totally in the loop from now on.”

With a quiet chorus of laughs, they all messily exchanged pinky promises. 

“Are we allowed to ask questions?” Josh prodded carefully, and Sam rolled his eyes.

“Yes,” Sam agreed.

“But you only get three questions a piece.” Danny added on.

“That is way too many questions!” Sam argued, shooting Danny a much more good natured glare. 

“No take backsies!” Josh insisted, rubbing his chin thoughtfully. “Hm. Who told who they liked each other first?”

“Also,” Jake interjected before either of them could answer. “When?”

“Well,” Danny started. “I technically did, at Sam’s birthday party. But Sam totally cornered me into doing it. You guys are good at doing that to me, so it seems.”

“I did not corner you!” Sam scoffed. 

“Yes, you did! You were mega drunk and hinting at it.”

“At the party?” Josh let out a sigh of disappointment. “And we missed it?”

“Bummer, man,” Jake complained. “I’d pay to see that.”

“I don’t think you would,” Danny mumbled into a sip of his water, and Sam shot him another look as the twins groaned. 

“Nevermind,” Josh gagged. “Okay, my second question is…how long did you each like the other person? Because I have guesses.”

“What do you mean, guesses?” Sam squeaked, his face flushing again.

“I want to hear this,” Danny laughed, suddenly self conscious of just how transparent he had been this whole time. 

“I’d guess you, Danny, probably liked Sam since…middle school?” Josh guessed, and he hooted in triumph when Danny sighed and nodded shyly. “Boom! Okay, two for two, I’m guessing Sam liked you since high school.”

“Oh, fuck off,” Sam replied exasperatedly, which Josh took as another confirmation and held his hand up for a high five from any of them, but received not a single one. 

“You guys weren’t all that subtle,” Jake powered on as Sam and Danny obscured their faces with embarrassed face palms. “I actually have no idea why we didn’t guess Danny as your potential beau sooner.”

“He didn’t even make Top 5,” Josh added. “We’re off our game, Jakey.”

“Indeed we are.”

“Well, this has been nice and all,” Sam began. “And by nice I mean emotionally tumultuous, but we did have something planned, so, Danny, do you…?”

“Yes, please, God,” Danny answered, getting to his feet and skirting around Josh to finally stand at Sam’s side. 

“Hey, you said we got three questions!” Josh protested.

“I only asked one, what the fuck!” Jake argued in agreement. 

“Text them to us, date crashers,” Sam stuck his tongue out childishly at them. “Or should I say ‘stalkers’? I’m including that detail when I call Mom, by the way.”

“Do not!”

“Boohoo.”

“Are you guys going to stick around?” Danny asked with an amused lift of his eyebrow. 

“Well, I mean, we ordered appetizers and all,” Jake explained sheepishly, raising his glass of wine and shrugging. “Might as well.”

“It gives us more time to plot our next stake out,” Josh grinned, flicking his sunglasses back down to cover his eyes. “Elle Fernanda and Oliver Reed are a fantastic investigatory team, you know.”

“I-you know what, I don’t care,” Sam dismissed them, looking up at Danny. “Let’s go, yes?”

“Yes,” Danny confirmed. “I’m guessing you’re not keen on sticking around for dinner here.”

“Not even a little bit.”

“Can I tempt you with a frozen pizza and Psych?”

“Absolutely you can,” Sam grinned, looping his arm through Danny’s and tugging him back from the table. The twins immediately burst into a chorus of awes and endearing coos, and Sam shot them their own round of complaints as Danny waved goodbye.

~~

Once they were out of shouting distance, Sam let out a huff of air and leaned his head against Danny’s shoulder, causing them to stumble slightly as they walked. It was rare for them to not talk while on the move, but a few minutes of quiet passed between them until Danny finally spoke up.

“I should’ve texted you anyways,” Danny said. “I’m sorry.”

“Well, I should’ve had the brains to bring a charger,” Sam countered with a feline smile. “I’m sorry, too. It’s my fault for not telling them in the first place. We should’ve known this would end the way it did.”

“Yeah, maybe,” Danny chuckled. “I mean, now that they know, we only have to face our parents, and we’ll be lucky if they don’t hound us even more than them.”

“Ugh, God, you’re so right. My mom is going to flip. She likes you more than me, you know.”

“She adores you, Sam, come on.”

“I’m just saying don’t be surprised if she asks you to start being in our Christmas cards.”

“Oh, right, and you’d hate that,” Danny countered sarcastically. 

“Totally,” Sam doubled down, his smile growing as he stared up into Danny’s eyes with the doe eyed look that made Danny nearly trip over his own feet as they approached Sam’s car. “Sorry my brothers are idiots.”

“They said it themselves, they just care,” Danny said, brushing a loose strand of hair out of Sam’s face as they stood in the warm dying light of the sunset. “Let’s cap the apologies for the night, okay? They’re idiots, we’re idiots, we know this.”

“Okay,” Sam replied quietly, looking nervous for a split second before speaking again. “Hey, uh, just, thank you.”

Danny frowned in confusion.

“For what?”

“Understanding,” Sam went on. “For not being, I don’t know, scared off by all the weirdness that follows me.”

“Sam, I’ve been there for every weird thing that’s ever happened to you,” Danny laughed. “If I was going to get scared off, that would’ve happened a long time ago.”

“I know, I know, it just means more to me now that we’re, you know…”

Sam smiled sheepishly and Danny felt like his heart was fit to burst in his chest from how much he loved him in that moment.

“I’m the lucky one, trust me,” Danny insisted, pinching Sam’s cheek endearingly.

“Ugh, gross,” Sam teased, batting his hand away and pulling out his keys, but Danny didn’t miss the smile Sam failed to squander as he fumbled with the lock button. 

“You’re gross,” Danny countered, mimicking the open mouthed stank face Sam sent him in reply as he circled to the driver’s seat and unlocked the car. Danny piled his long limbs into his seat and watched Sam start up the car and pull up his address on his GPS, his heart fluttering in further endearment at Sam’s complete lack of direction. Without thinking, Danny plucked Sam’s phone from his hand and set it on the dash.

“Hey! What-”

Danny cut him off by grabbing Sam by the jaw and pulling him into a long kiss, both of them drawing it out by huffing excitedly through their noses and cupping the other's face until Danny finally pulled away. Sam watched him with starry eyes, a dumbstruck smile on his face as Danny returned the look and cupped Sam’s face in his hands.

“I just missed you today,” Danny hummed. “And I’m thankful that didn’t end in complete disaster. I felt completely horrible watching you sit all alone. I seriously wanted to throw up seeing your little sad face.”

“Really?” Sam asked, preening in Danny’s attention. 

“I did!”

“I was only sad because I missed you, too,” Sam relinquished, putting his hand over Danny’s on his cheek. “I was surprised you were taking so long. You’re always early for me.”

“And I always will be,” Danny assured him. “I promise.”

“Even after I graduate?”

“Duh.”

“Even after I get some fancy science job and I have to move?”

“Sure.”

“Even after-”

“Whatever it is, yes, Sam, I’ll be there,” Danny laughed. “Seriously. I’ll follow you anywhere. And I’ll be right on time.”

Sam paused, drinking in the sincerity of the statement. Then, in typical Sam fashion, his face split into a cheeky smile.

“And if I ask you to go to a party with me?”

Danny swallowed, thinking hard as he relished in the warmth of Sam’s skin on his palm. Finally, he smiled in return and leaned in slightly.

“I’d go if you promise to never run again,” Danny whispered, and Sam shuddered slightly at the rasp in his voice. “And if you promise to always say the dumb shit you’re afraid of saying.”

“Yeah,” Sam agreed. “I promise.”

“One more pinky promise for the road?” Danny grinned, moving his hand from Sam’s face and holding out his pinky for Sam to grasp. Sam looked down at his digit and raised an eyebrow.

“I can do you one better,” Sam insisted. 

Danny didn’t get the time for a witty retort before Sam leaned in and gave him another kiss. It was a little clumsy, and lasted far longer than necessary for the situation, but after it was done, Danny spent the entire ride home reveling in the realization that he’d just been promised a lifetime's worth of them. And he intended to cash in each and every one.

~~

Taglist:  @s0livagant @holdingup-fallingsky @t00turnttrauma @the-starcatcher @streamsofstardust @spark-my-nature @joshkiszkashusband

[scribespirare]

if you still do requests for House… something Hilson with Wilson’s possessive streak popping up, maybe in public?

oh man i haven't done hilson in a while thank u for requesting them!! hopefully im not too rusty w/ them

“Do you know every waitress in the city?”

House glances up from the menu in front of him, and then back at the retreating figure of their waitress. Sarah, apparently, though he’s always known her as Caramel. She looks a lot different with so much clothing on and no heels.

“Only the ones who moonlight as strippers,” House replies. The look Wilson gives him is unamused at best and House raises an eyebrow at him. “What, it’s not my fault we happen to pick restaurants where my favorites work.”

Turning back to his menu, House ignores Wilson’s stony silence. Honestly, the man gets his panties in such a twist sometimes and not even for a good reason. Caramel barely even recognized him; House is sure he looks a lot different too when not cast in low lighting and considerably drunk. And just because two other waitresses have recognized him in the past month, and he them, doesn’t mean anything.

Caramel, sorry Sarah, comes back a few minutes later for their orders. Wilson’s is clipped and terse, about as rude as he ever manages to be to staff. House’s is friendlier and is followed by a question about how Sarah is doing. She immediately brightens up and launches into a story about how the medical advice he’d given her one night (he can’t remember it but even black out he knows his shit) had helped her pass a class for her nursing degree.

House is just about to remind her that she’s got a job to do actually when Wilson, smiling pleasantly, says, “I’m sorry, something has come up, you can cancel that order.” Then he stands, grabs House by the arm, and very clearly indicates that they should leave.

“Oh,” says a surprised Sarah. “Sure. I’ll see you later I guess?”

“You won’t,” Wilson says with confidence.

And House…well it’s not like Wilson could drag him out of here by force. House could very easily refuse to play this little game of jealousy if he wanted to. But he’s also intrigued and so grabs his cane and stands. Instead of being hauled away immediately like he’s expecting, Wilson instead grabs House by the collar and brings him in for a kiss. More than a peck, but not quite long enough for House to get his bearings and make a show of it, purely to taunt Wilson with later.

With that little public display accomplished, Wilson does indeed tug House out of the restaurant, House giving a little wave to a flustered Sarah as they go.

They pause outside, the air cold enough to fog their breaths, to pull on jackets that were thrown over arms in their haste.

“You’re ridiculous,” House says, shifting his cane from one hand to the other.

“I know,” is Wilson’s clipped response.

“And also you owe me dinner.”

“I know.”

“Did I say you were ridiculous? Because you are. Who the hell gets jealous over a stripper?”

“I do, apparently,” Wilson grinds out. “Especially when they’re flirting with you right in front of me.”

“There was not nearly enough cleavage present for that to be considered flirting,” House says with gravitas. Then, because he’s a dick, “You should give me another kiss, I think she’s still watching.”

It’s meant as a joke but Wilson rounds on him, grabs his face in two hands, and kisses him soundly. This time it’s a real kiss, and it drags on and on until House can’t remember why he’d suggested it in the first place, or even that he’d only suggested it in jest. Christ, but Wilson can kiss.

When they finally part House has to take a moment to regather his thoughts. Wilson looks rather smug about it too, the jealous dick.

“You still owe me dinner,” House says the moment his thoughts clear. Wilson’s smug look fades and is followed by an eye roll.

“I’ll buy you McDonald’s. Get in the damn car.”

[its-ya-boi-kaz]

Birthday Girl by Murakami

A perfect start of September read. This is the first work of Murakami that I'm reading,and I definitely understand the hype. I love his straight-forward-yet-still-mysterious writing style.

The story follows the narrator having a conversation with the protagonist. They are talking about their twentieth birthdays. The relationship between the two is not disclosed, but they seem to be good acquaintances.

She explains to the narrator that on the day of her twentieth birthday, she had to do a ful shift because her night out was cancelled. She and her boyfriend had had a huge fight just a few days ago, so she wasn't celebrating with him either. A turn of events takes place, and she is left with the responsibility of delivering food to the mysterious owner of the restaurant that no one has seen except the manager.

Spoilers below (more like after read ramble)

Oh my god what was the wish??? I'm no literary expert, but here are my thoughts on what it could have been. It seemed to me at first as though it was a lesson to young people that no matter what they wish for, what they achieve, they can never change who they ARE.

Was her wish to be someone else? The owner said ordinary girls might wish to be prettier, smarter or rich. Had she wished to be someone else entirely? That might explain her change of tone while saying "No matter what they wish for, no matter how far they go, people can never be anything but themselves." That might also be why she brushed away the narrators question of whether or not her wish had come true. She said they'll have to wait and see. But she HAD become somebody else entirely, right? She had friends, when her 20 yo self had none. She was now happily married with kids as opposed to the failing relationship of 20 yo her. She now drove an Audi, when she was working in a restaurant in the past.

Another one of my interpretations is: On page no.27 the owner asks her "Do you have a wish, or not?" And on page no.41 she tells the narrator that they can't think of a wish because it has already been made. Does this mean her wish had already been made before the day of her twentieth birthday? Did she wish for everything she had wished for before to come true?

Overall, it was a solid 8.6/10. I will definitely be reading more of Murakami's work in the future. I haven't read something this thought provoking in a long time.

[pettyrevenge-base]

Can't buy a homeless man a pizza? Fine by me.

Back in the early 2000's, I worked at a well-known US pizza delivery chain store. For anyone who has ever worked in the US food service industry, you're probably familiar with what a failing dumpster fire of a restaurant looks like. On many nights it was literally just me and one driver taking care of the whole restaurant. Breaks were out of the question because the restaurant would be completely unattended, the recent franchise buyers were complete and total idiots who would show up unannounced to yell at me, and the overwhelming majority of our customers ordered once and then never again. We had pizza deliveries taking 90+ minutes, people bringing them back to the store ... it was a nightmare.  

And I got paid $8.50/hour to run shifts.  

One night I was running a shift and it was particularly dead. Such nights were not uncommon and they were basically the only reason I still worked there. Well, 11pm rolls around as I'm kind of standing by the phones watching the clock tick down, and a clearly homeless man walks in. He introduces himself as Ricky and asks if we had any leftover pizzas that nobody picked up.

I apologetically inform him that we didn't. He smiles and thanks me anyway, but then since I'm in such a good mood, I ask him what he wants. He says he likes the meat lovers' pizza. Since he isn't a sociopath like some of our customers (I'm looking at you, Mr. Teriyaki Bacon and Sardines Guy), I say I'll be happy to make him one. Ricky at this point is so thankful that he sits down in one of our chairs and starts bouncing up and down like a little kid.  

I put the order in and pay for it myself. It ends up being $12, or basically an hour and a half of work for me. Good deal in my mind. Ricky watches me and applauds my dough slapping/spinning skills. As the pizza comes out of the oven, in comes the area manager - the brother of the franchise owner. He begins shouting as usual and accuses me of stealing from the store.  

As he goes into his tirade, one of our few regulars, Henry, comes in. Henry hears the tirade and looks very uncomfortable. I finally tell the area manager that I paid for the pizza out of my own pocket. Area manager shouts a bit more, calls me a liar, says the count better be right that night, and leaves. I apologize to Henry and Ricky, who both tell me, an 18-year-old kid, "Yeah work sucks doesn't it."  

Ricky gets his pizza, Henry gets his, and they leave around the same time. I see them talking outside.  

The next night, Henry calls me for an order. This was unusual because he was generally a once a week guy. I also found it unusual that he ordered a meal lovers' pizza instead of his usual supreme. I took it, made it, and 20 minutes later Henry calls again apologetically to cancel it. I say OK. In a bizarre coincidence, Ricky rolled in right around that time asking for a pizza. I just so had one that was going to go uneaten sitting under the heater.  

And so began the nightly dance. Henry would call, order a meat lovers' pizza, and I'd make it. Henry would then call again, cancel, and Ricky would coincidentally roll in. Every night, same time. You could time it to the second. This went on for months.  

Eventually the area manager caught wind because a bootlicker co-worker of mine narced on me, but I responded that I was just doing my job as instructed. They then stopped putting me into the schedule rotation in a quiet-firing sort of way, but I really didn't care.  

The restaurant went under about a year later. Obviously it wasn't all Henry, but I was glad to see it go. 

Source: reddit.com/r/pettyrevenge

[meg2md]

When time, read: [ ] double barrel wet colostomy [ ] appendiceal cancer [ ] malignant bowel protocol [ ] May Thurner syndrome [ ] Po vs IV vs rectal vs vaginal contrast As always, so, so tired. Last "work" night of 5 weeks with a call shift tomorrow. So the night goes oncology night shift > present research @ 0930 > sleep > graduation @ 1800 > call shift.

I'm dreading the whole freaking day. My research proposal is not good. My slides are messed up. It's confusing. I think the study itself will be fine, but a 5 week night float was not the time or place to get my shit together for this. I just hope the program coordinator can find it within herself to update my slides in the morning, or else I'm fucked. And then I'm gonna get such LITTLE SLEEP before I have to go to graduation for 4 hrs and pretend to be in a good mood and socialize. At least my call shift right afterwards is normal R2 crap, antepartum/benign gynecology stuff.

To be honest covering the oncology service has been chill enough the past shift-and-half, except for when it's bad it's BAD and probably the worst service to be on. I like onc nights more than days, though, because there's not a lot of extra people and I can just sit in my little work room upstairs and be alone and read through things. It's mostly covering the OR at the end of the day shift, seeing overnight direct admits and transports, and following up vitals and miscellaneous labs, post-op checks, etc. And then sometimes people surgical emergencies, or people crump or straight up die.

So, a medicine service +/- OR time.

My first night I had two transports: a malignant large bowel obstruction iso newly diagnosed HGSOC that is being managed conservatively given its size <13 cm but also her significant neutropenia due to her neoadjuvant Avastin therapy (her prognosis.... isn't amazing), and a "frequent flier" with recurrent vulvar cancer (and the gnarliest genitourinary anatomy I've seen) s/p MULTIPLE resections, EUAs, ablations admitted with c/f sepsis in the setting of a new perirectal abscess. All things considered it went well enough but my presentations were rocky, like I'd expect them to be for a new R2, but I'm almost R3. I was flustered because they both came at the same time and the LBO made me nervous, so I felt rushed trying to get the other transport tucked in so I only had to call the attending once.

Tonight started out with the potential to be a NIGHTMARE. There were two ORs running late, an exlap followed by an EUA with one attending, and a robotic hyst with another, and then I got sign out on four (4) incoming transports, and I also had four (4) post-op checks all due around the same time. I ended up not having to go to the OR because the exlap said I don't need to scrub anyone out, the EUA was cancelled, and one of the transports came at the same time so my R3 said to see that instead of scrubbing her out.

It's a very sad case, though. I mean, all onc cases are sad, but she was with her dad which just tore at my heart. It's a woman <50 yo, no hx cancer, with 3-4 months of back pain who finally had an ultrasound and CT that showed 3 large abdominopelvic masses and widespread mets. :c She's getting omental biopsies tomorrow. We ultimately think it's appendiceal or some other gastrointestinal malignancy because her CA-125 is only about 180, which for a pre-menopausal woman is low. Another one where the prognosis is not very good.

Actually, none of these people I admitted have good prognoses. I guess that's just how gyne onc is. :-/

The other transports probably aren't coming but I'm going to try and prep them in a second. There's a pelvic fluid collection in a woman 5d s/p a hyst with a post-op course c/b May Thurner syndrome and PE s/p extensive thrombectomy now on Eliquis, another vulvar cancer patient whose left drain fell out and now there is c/f infection in addition to just general failure to thrive, and someone who probably won't come who was found to be hypokalemic apparently on outpatient labs. And then some mystery woman in her 80s that may or may not show up on the ED board with recurrent HGSOC and a GTube for gastrointestinal issues.

3 h til signout, and then I have about 2-2.5 hr to sleep and practice my presentation. I'm ready for this weekend to be overrrrrrrrrrrr

[transboysokka]

Hiiiii I’m not sure if this is too personal so you don’t have to answer if you don’t want to, but I’m curious about writing adult Sokka with his leg injury. I’ve Googled about chronic pain but I think I saw a few posts you made about being able to relate to him with your own experience so I wondered if you had any tips?

Sure, I don’t mind answering this at all! I’ll try to be as informative as possible without rambling too much. Um I’ll pretty much tell you the parts of my experience that I think could also apply to him.

For context I’m pretty sure Sokka broke his lower leg and I fucked up my knee, but both injuries were from a high-impact fall. Also as a timeline note, I was probably around 20 when mine occurred but I’m in my late 20s now so that might be useful to know.

I also want to say that Sokka had access to Katara and a lot of great healers and I was in America when I got hurt— so I went to the doctor once for them to take an X-ray and tell me how bad I fucked up but then was kind of left on my own after that and didn’t do any PT or anything even after it healed so I’d LIKE to think Sokka’s injury healed better than mine? I do kind of HC a good chunk of his pain as being psychosomatic.

THAT BEING SAID, let’s talk about the pain. It hurt constantly for months and months right after the injury, and then actually I had a couple of years where everything was fine?? Then I started getting Older and now it’s always bothering me in some way or another. It’s a little different because I’m dealing with a joint, but it’s always crunchy and creaky. Like it’s impossible for me to walk up stairs without anyone hearing. It always LOOKS okay, but some days it just feels swollen up like a balloon. There are days when it just throbs, and on really bad days the pain just stabs, even when I’m not putting weight on it.

Actually, on the worst days, the pain is the same whether I’m walking/standing or resting. For me, weather doesn’t seem to play a factor but I do live somewhere where it is constantly super humid every day year round, actually really similar to how the Fire Nation would be, so keep that in mind I guess.

What helps the pain? Nothing really. Because I’m dealing with a joint I take glucosamine when I can, pain meds on bad days but I really wonder if they even do anything for it. Sometimes I wear a knee brace for extra support, especially if I’m hiking which I love. Actually pressure helps the most, like wrapping it up tight.

Speaking of hiking, the pain was always worst for me going uphill/upstairs, but I’m getting to an age now where I’m really starting to notice it going downhill/downstairs too, like it feels weak at those times.

There is also a bit of a sense of fear or impending doom around it? Like it’s manageable for now but has gotten worse over the years, and I’m a very independent person who relies a LOT on walking in my day to day life, and like I said my biggest hobby is hiking/bouldering/challenging stuff. I love to be active and I know my time for all that is going to run out at some point, probably sooner than later. I’m especially conscious of it on a bad day when I do have to cancel a hike. I used to enjoy running, but already can’t do that anymore. So that part sucks.

Another thing I want to point out for Sokka is if he did hurt his leg, then the bones probably healed in a way that would leave him with one leg shorter than the other, which down the line could make some big problems for the rest of his body, like his rib cage would shift and that would be a whole other thing.

So I dunno, lots to think about here. I hope that helps a bit, and I can answer more questions about this if you like.

[bluiex]

(Teacher AU)

Angst with fluff

(So little backstory on this,

Very recently Grian has began noticing that Doc has been cutting his visits shorter, and spending less time with April, when they go out, and how he’d been canceling on picking her more often (not that he’s been picking her up a lot before, and sometimes even forgot) Which eventually leads to this)

While April is being babysat by Scar, Grian is at work, when he gets a text message from Doc.

Doc: hey G, as you may have noticed, I’ve been spending less time with you and April, and I haven’t been picking her up as of late.

I wasn’t sure how to drop this on you, but that was because I’ve been seeing someone else. I’ve been going out with them for about two weeks now and then and I are planning on getting together and moving in together.

Which is why it pains me to say this, but as for next visit, it will also be my last, and I’ll send you $2000k for April’s future college. Please keep this from April until I’m gone, I’d hate her to see her upset, and as much as I know this would make her resent me, I’d rather be that way when I’m not around anymore.

I know you’ll find someone who will provide and take good care of you and April, but I’m afraid that can’t be me anymore.

Im sorry.

…Grian hadn’t realized that he was crying, without a word, he gets up and runs out of the building, leaving his coworkers very confused, it was near the end of his shift anyways. He later sends an email to his boss and business manager (Aka Cub and X) about what happened, they understood, and gave him 2 weeks off.

Once home Grian crashes on the bed sobbing, and begins to wonder what he did wrong. It’s not that he expected Doc to stay single forever, he just didn’t think he’d find someone else this soon.

He suddenly gets a call from Scar saying that he and April were on their way back home.

Grian prepares himself to try everything was fine. They get there April is asleep in Scar’s arms, and Scar idiomatically knows something’s up. Grian’s eyes look like they’ve been crying and his hair a mess.

Once putting April to bed, Scar comes back downstairs to see Grian on the couch. He sits next to and begins to ask him what’s wrong. Grian of course tries to say it’s nothing, but once realizing Scar wasn’t buying, he just takes his phone and shows the message.

Now to say Scar was furious, would be and understatement. How could Doc do this to them, especially April, and to having her not know until he’s out of the picture completely, so he doesn’t has the deal with what? The reasonable backlash from his own daughter face to face?

And not to even go about this in person, but over a fucking text message. What a coward.

But he can’t show his frustration, he had be there for Grian, he was his support right now.

He hugs him, and Grian began to break down again, sobbing and asking Scar what he had done wrong, a what can he do. Which only adds to Scar’s frustration towards Doc.

Scar can only whisper to him that everything was going to be ok, that he’ll help out in any way he can, and offer them to stay at his house for awhile.

Grian thanks him, and says that he doesn’t know how to repay him, to which Scar replies that there was no need.

The next 2 days Scar helps out moving Grian and April’s stuff into his house, not that there was much it. Which he made a note to go spoil them later.

Scar’s house was nicer then April described it, there was four bedrooms each with a walk-in-closet, three bathrooms, two of which were connected to a bedroom. A huge kitchen and living area, to put it short, it was basically a penthouse.

Of course there was Jellie, who was the sweetest, and most friendliest cat Grian’s ever met.

Grian and April make themselves at home, and later are greeted with a whole Indian food dinner.

Needless to say, Doc can go suck it

I refuse to accept this as canon in the au *screaming crying* Doc would never do that to his daughter or Grian in the other au (specifically the one im writing)

I wanna punt this Doc into the sun- my heart *sobbing*

Scar would 100% just spoil them rotten the first week or so they move in. Giving April cute little stuffed animals and toys. Grian getting new cloths and phone (i like to think he had a really old phone that was magically still working lol)