#we have to stand in line to get a physical ticket in order to secure an appointment for the day ???

[shea-like-the-butter]

Tuesday, July 19th 2022

Got in line for the DMV at 7:00am & the line was already around the block ✨✨✨

Out here with a camping chair, blanket, & thermos full of coffee~

[shinydelirium]

MLQC Season 2 Chapter 8 (Kiro) Final Part [High Speed Road] & [Buffer] Translation [CN]

***SPOILERS*** THIS POST CONTAINS HEAVY SPOILERS FOR CONTENT NOT YET RELEASED ON EN SERVER!!! READ AT YOUR OWN RISK!!!***

For the previous translations of Season 2 Chapter 8: Part 1, Part 2

Enjoy~

[High Speed Road]

At three o’clock in the afternoon, all the procedures of the new song conference were ready.

The warm sun dispersed the chill air, and the fans who were selected to participate in this conference have lined up at the ticket gate.

Many fans who didn’t get a ticket also came to experience the atmosphere, and the square was crowded with people for a while.

The security guards patrolled the square at each area with communicators and everything went on in an orderly manner.

I breathed a sigh of relief and when I was about to call Savin and ask him to bring Kiro over, I realized that I couldn’t reach him.

I called Kiro shortly after and the call was quickly connected.

Kiro: Savin isn’t at the company today. Did he go straight to the venue?

MC: Why would he? He should’ve gone directly to the company to pick you up this morning.

Kiro: Huh… I didn’t see him. I thought he was with you.

Kiro’s words left me confused.

MC: Could something have happened?

Kiro: Wait, Savin’s calling me.

Kiro shared the voice call with me. The intermittent signal connection was unstable.

Savin: I….accidentally….asleep in the carriage….

Savin: But who knows….no one in this carriage…..waking up….

Savin: Can’t stop yet….its….

The signal abruptly cut off.

MC: What’s going on?

Kiro: The call can’t be reached and the signal seems to be affected.

Kiro: MC, I’m heading out, wait for me wherever you are.

In the backstage preparation room, Kiro’s fingers tapped on the keyboard quickly.

After a while, a satellite map of Loveland City appeared on the computer screen as well as a constantly moving red dot.

Kiro: This is where Savin is now.

Kiro: Strange, how did he cover so much distance all at once….

Looking at the computer screen, the red dot seems to be moving along a certain fixed track.

I remembered what Savin said just now and I couldn’t believe it.

MC: Is he really on an unmanned train?

Kiro pursed his lips and quickly pulled up another webpage.

It’s the entire route map on the Loveland Rail Transit website.

Kiro: ….According to the route he is moving on now, it should be this one.

He tapped the screen with his finger and a more detailed train timetable and line chart enlarged on the screen.

This is a cross-river train which just opened last year that connects the east and west of Loveland City.

Because it’s famous for driving on the river surface for a certain distance, it attracts many locals and tourists.

In addition, after the opening of this route, detours on both sides of the river have been avoided, so it has become the best choice for many office workers to commute.

MC: Doesn’t Savin take this train to work…

Kiro: But MC, look.

My eyes followed his fingers on the latest operation notice and I quickly realized something wrong.

MC: “We are sorry to inform you that the cross-river air rail train in Loveland City will be suspended tomorrow for maintenance and overhaul….”

MC: ….In other words, someone started this car that was originally discontinued.

Although this idea is absurd, it seems to be the case.

Kiro thought for a moment and made a decision immediately.

Kiro: Let’s go to the scene and see.

Kiro called Ah Liu for help. After a while, Ah Liu, who was holding his head with hair sticking up everywhere, appeared in front of us with grievance.

Ah Liu: Can’t it stop for a day! I was taking a nap! I’m exhausted from having to do all this work for you! ***Changed some wording***

Having said that, Ah Liu kindly transported us to the platform where the train was about to appear.

There was no one on the deserted platform. We waited for a while and a rumbling sound came from the dark tunnel.

But the train passed the platform without stopping.

Every carriage is empty.

Kiro and I looked at each other and realized the situation.

In order to determine if there is a problem with the train, I tried to dial the service number of Loveland Rail Transit.

MC: Hello, is the Loveland City Air Rail Transit operating today?

Staff Member: Sorry, the train is not open today.

MC: May I ask the specific reason?

Staff Member: During our regular maintenance yesterday, we found that some track parts were aging and loose. In order to avoid the risk of derailment, the operation was stopped.

MC: Which station needs to be maintained?

Staff Member: Central Square Station, what’s wrong?

My heart sank.

The Central Square Station is the station where Kiro’s new song press conference was held, and the train track is also located directly above the square.

At the same time, it’s also the place with the most traffic in the afternoon.

If the train derails and falls, the consequences will be disastrous.

Is it a coincidence….?

MC: …Then, is it possible for the train to run by itself?

Staff Member: Are you kidding me? The driver did not go to work today and the door of the operating room was locked.

Staff Member: Please don’t disturb our work.

The “beep” sound of the phone hanging up echoed in my ears. Kiro and Ah Liu obviously also heard the content of the conversation, frowning.

Ah Liu: What’s next? Is this event going to be cancelled?

Ah Liu’s words suddenly reminded me.

That’s right! The anonymous call I received this morning—

I immediately found the call log and called back.

I waited with bated breath for a long time and just when I thought the other person wouldn’t pick up, the line connected.

No one spoke. Only quiet breathing.

MC: Hello, I’m the person in charge of the Inverted Smile Film and Television company that received your call this morning.

The sound of breathing continued on the other end.

Teenage Boy: I don’t know what you’re talking about.

MC: Like you said, we have indeed encountered some issues that affected the organization of the event.

MC: I want to know what the “consequence” you are talking about is exactly.

MC: Did you know what the inside story was before you made the warning call?

Teenage Boy: ….It’s too late!

MC: Are you—on an unmanned train?

The phone hung up with a “beep”.

Kiro: What happened?

Kiro cast a concerned look at me. I took a deep breath and quickly told him and Ah Liu what had happened this morning.

MC: I received a strange call this morning telling me to cancel the afternoon activities or else I will bear the consequences.

MC: I’m just guessing….if these two things are related, otherwise it would be a coincidence.

MC: However, although I was able to get through, the other person was unwilling to explain more and hung up.

Kiro thought for a moment, then turned to look at Ah Liu.

Kiro: Ah Liu, can you take us there?

Ah Liu: Where?

Kiro: To that train.

Kiro pointed to the red dot that was being tracked on the laptop.

Ah Liu: Bro, are you crazy?! Have you studied physics?***Changed some wording***

Kiro: Ah Liu, don’t forget the content of our contract.

Kiro winked, revealing an extremely brilliant but threatening smile.

Ah Liu had no choice but to grab our hands—

A dazzling white light flashed in front of us and when we regained our sight, we were already in the carriage.

The ground under my feet trembles as well as the glass on the windows.

MC: It really worked! Ah Liu, you’re so amazing!

We didn’t waste time as we looked along the carriage and finally found Savin who was unconscious on the ground.

Kiro hurriedly ran to him, shook Savin twice, and saw that he had no signs of waking up. He moved closer and opened his eyelids.

Kiro: Great, Savin is fine. He only passed out.

Kiro: But there must be someone else operating this train here. We must find this person.

Kiro and I looked at each other and realized that things are not that simple.

Ah Liu sent Savin to a safe place. After returning, the three of us continued to search along this weird train.

Finally, when we reached another carriage, we saw a teenage boy sitting in the corner.

MC: Are you trapped on this train too?

He suddenly raised his head, his face full of shock as if he didn’t expect that there would be people here.

His appearance made me feel a bit familiar.

I suddenly remembered that this was the boy who passed by me at the airport that day—

Why is he here? Did he…

MC: You’re the one who called me and asked me to cancel the event.

Teenage Boy: …You’re mistaken.

Hearing his voice, I became even more convinced.

MC: I’m not mistaken. We met at the airport too, didn’t we?

Teenage Boy: ….

The boy suddenly got up from the seat anxiously. His pale lips pressed tight and shoulders shook slightly.

Teenage Boy: This car will derail soon. If you don’t want to die, leave as soon as possible.

Teenage Boy: Don’t blame me for warning you—

A ripple was opened behind the boy and Ah Liu quickly restrain the boy’s arms.

Ah Liu: I got him. Let’s resolve this quickly.***Changed some wording***

Kiro: Thanks a lot.

Teenage Boy: Le-let go! You guys hate Evolvers!

Kiro: You’re also an Evolver, aren’t you?

Kiro: Although I don’t know what your Evol is, I’m guessing you started this train too, right?

Teenage Boy: You—!

Kiro: I command you—

Before Kiro finished speaking, the seat behind him was suddenly torn apart by an invisible power and flew toward us fast!

Kiro: Watch out!

Kiro rolled me to the corner of the carriage without hesitation and the ground where we were standing just now sank.

The glass on the window made a stronger sound and the speed of the train became faster than before.

All of a sudden, I remembered a few years ago I participated in the filming of “Miracle Finder” with the theme of a rare Evol, in which “magnetic field control” was featured.

At that time, we wanted to interview this child but his family rejected because it was too dangerous.

Perhaps…he was that same child.

MC: This child should be an Evolver of the magnetic field control class.

Kiro and Ah Liu both wrinkled their brows, realizing the tricky nature of the matter.

Every part of the train may be used by him as a weapon to attack us and we must avoid the possibility of any accident to the greatest extent.

Teenage Boy: I warned you, if you value your life, leave quickly!***Changed some wording***

MC: Don’t worry, we didn’t come because of you.

MC: Don’t you….like your Evol?

I tentatively took a step towards him, hoping this boy can lower his defense a little.

Teenage Boy: ….It’s none of your business.

A loud sound came from a distance as if something passed along the track from underneath.

The overhead is full of noise and the handrails that run through the carriage seem to be breaking inch by inch with the boy’s voice.

The sharp squeal of metal rubbing across our ears, it is about ot —

I didn’t have time to think about it, and I tried my best to grab the boy’s wrist.

In the next second, my vision suddenly plunged into darkness.

As if pressing a rewind button, the train and people in front of me kept falling backwards.

----I saw the boy’s memory.

[Buffer]

The mixed memory fragments slowly pieced together into a complete picture.

A teenage boy shivered endlessly while pulling a wet schoolbag. He cried as he picked up a book soaked with water.

Teenage Boy: If only I can become an Evolver, they won’t bully me….

Teenage Friend: Don’t be stupid, aren’t Evolvers born?

Teenage Friend: Wipe your tears away. I’ll copy today’s homework for you, okay?

The picture flickers and changes.

Teenage Boy: Ajian! (friend’s name I’m assuming) I’m also an Evolver! I won’t be bullied! The doctor said that my condition is quite normal. It may have been due to poor health which wasn’t detected before.

Teenage Friend: Wow, you’ll be super awesome in the future!

Teenage Boy: Hahaha, but I won’t be like those idiot bullies. They are too naïve!

The picture continued to change but I felt extremely angry and desperate.

??: Sorry, we cannot accept such a dangerous student in a class full of ordinary children….

??: Sorry, the residents of our community think that your child is too dangerous to live here….

??: I’m, I’m sorry…..Xiao Nan(boy’s name) your ability is terrible. We can no longer be friends.

The surrounding voices faded away, falling into a dead silence.

Teenage Boy: I don’t want to be an Evolver anymore. I don’t want to have this kind of power at all. I want to be an ordinary person….

In the large, hushed and silent gray space, the spiral staircase hovered down from the high roof, like a venomous snake lying dormant in the dark.

The light swayed from the long and narrow zenith. The boy raised his hand to block the light in front of him and took a step back subconsciously.

Teenage Boy: Excuse me….are there people here who don’t like Evol?

The teenager’s timid voice echoed in the building.

??: Come, child, don’t be afraid.

The man’s voice is very gentle but his whole body is hidden in the dark, making it difficult to see his face.

??: We understand your pain. There are many people like you here. We are victims of the same kind.

??: But you are different from us. You have the power to wipe out these sources of pain.

He stretched out his hand, like a predator in the depths of the cave waiting for its prey to be snatched-- luring the prey into the cave little by little.

The picture changed again, this time on a plane.

Not knowing what happened, the cabin shook violently.

The teenager sitting in the seat bit his lip and slowly stretched out his hand. His eyes fell on the closed operating room door.

My heart pounded and a familiar word came into my ears very clearly.

??: We rule Evol, for a better future of mankind.

--It’s GRAY RHINO!

My eyes snapped open. The blood from my whole body rushed to my head and I was abruptly flung back by a force.

The ground under my feet kept shuddering and the boy ran away towards the carriage in front of him.

MC: Wait!

The handrail above my head was suddenly torn off and came towards me. Kiro protected me.

Kiro: MC, are you okay?!

MC: GRAY RHINO….

I faintly uttered the name, and my heart filled with anger.

MC: I’m fine.

I propped myself up and quickly told Kiro and Ah Liu about what I saw.

MC: This accident….GRAY RHINO planned it all.

After hearing what I said, Kiro’s brows furrowed deeply and his expression became more serious.

Kiro: Did you…see his memory? Is this boy also a member of the anti-Evol organization?

I hesitated for a moment and shook my head.

MC: I didn’t see the same tattoo on his body so he’s only being used by the people from GRAY RHINO.

Just like the two special police officers who died in the Task Force.

MC: I’m guessing the previous plane incident was also their doing, but…

It was only after the boy used Evol that the shaking of the cabin seemed to lessen.

MC: Kiro, is this their revenge against the Evolver group?

Kiro nodded softly.

Kiro: Probably.

Kiro: Once this train derails, it will definitely cause serious casualties.

Kiro: This accident will also be concluded to be the work of an Evolver.

The train was speeding by, and the floor was bumping underfoot.

The sunlight reflected from the glass curtain wall illuminates the passing cars and I see a familiar building in the distance. My heart plummets.

There are not many stops to Central Square.

If this train isn’t stopped as soon as possible, it will crash into the crowd below.

MC: We have to find him quickly!

Kiro pulled me along the carriages but the young boy was still missing.

Just as I was about to lose hope, we opened the door of the first carriage and found the boy again.***Changed some wording***

He shrank in the corner of the carriage, like a light-sensitive animal.

Teenage Boy: Do-don’t come any closer!

The moment he saw us, the boy stood up and his body shook frantically.

Compared to the state he was before, his entire body seemed to express a sort of tight tension.

MC: Don’t get excited, we won’t hurt you. We’re—

Kiro: We’re here to be friends with you.

Kiro interrupted me altogether, walked over to the boy and sat down.

The unexpected behavior made Ah Liu and I stand still, speechless, but Kiro was very indifferent.

Teenage Boy: Do-don’t lie! I know you’re that star who was on social news before!

Kiro: Eh? Am I that troublesome?

Kiro immediately put on a melancholy expression.

Kiro: But since just now, I think your abilities are very powerful, just like the superheroes in the movies.

Kiro: So I really want to be friends with you.

A look of disbelief appeared on the boy’s face and he looked at Kiro uncertainly.***Changed some wording***

Teenage Boy: I’m not a hero. I have done a lot of wrong things and I don’t want to an Evolver at all.

His voice suddenly became low, as if thinking of something sad.

Teenage Boy: I just want to be an ordinary person with many friends so I won’t be bullied.

Teenage Boy: But after I found out that I had Evol, my life grew worse…

Ah Liu: Hey, I get you. I used to be laughed at and people said that my Evol can only be good for takeaway flash delivery.

Ah Liu: I’ve survived now and those days have gone by smoothly.

After what happened to Ah Liu, a look of surprise came across the boy’s face.

Kiro: When I was a child, I was also troubled by my Evol.

Kiro: Fortunately, I met a very good person. He taught me a lot of interesting skills and made me understand that there many wonderful things in this world.

When Kiro spoke, a ray of light flashed in his eyes. The person he’s talking about must be his master KEY.

Kiro: Those memories that make you unhappy, just lock them in the drawer.

MC: That’s right. People don’t have to be held back by the past all the time.

The boy hesitated for a moment, raised his head, looked at me uncertainly, and then at Kiro.

Teenage Boy: Can I….throw away this drawer key?

Kiro: You can put the key away and when you are brave enough, you can open it and face them. You won’t have to be afraid of anything.

Teenage Boy: But….you’re a superstar. Everyone likes you. How would you have difficulties like me?

Kiro: Before becoming a star, I was an ordinary, humble person.

Ah Liu: No way, I heard that you started shooting at the age of six—

MC: Ah Liu, no need to say so much!***Changed some wording***

As if not hearing our untimely interruption, Kiro turned his head and looked at the tear-stained teenager gently.

Kiro: In fact, whether someone is an Evolver or an ordinary person, they will find their own rightful place in this world to meet people who are in the same position.

Kiro: But before that, there may be a long wait and trials.

Kiro: Perhaps the opportunity that belongs to you has not had time to appear so you will have to be more patient.

Teenage Boy: Really?

Kiro: Really.

Ah Liu and I nodded repeatedly.

As soon as he finished speaking, the bright light poured into the window, making people unable to close their eyes.

The two sides of the window flashed past the cantilever metal structure of the bridge. The neighboring river’s surface and the buildings bathed in golden light suddenly came into view.

Kiro: You see, through the dark tunnel just now, you can see the light all at once.

The boy’s face became paler but his voice became firmer.

Teenage Boy: I will give it a try.

Great! Seeing the boy finally change his mind, I was a little relieved.

He tried to use Evol to control the train. Even though the speed was significantly lower than before, the train did not stop.

Teenage Boy: I, I can’t do it. I’m almost out of strength…

A sharp grinding sound scraped  along the wall and the train sped past, even furiously shaking the handrails on the roof.

My heart seized in my chest.

Teenage Boy: It’s too late….I did something irreparably wrong…

Teenage Boy: I, I shouldn’t have listened to that man….I don’t want to hurt anyone….

Teenage Boy: I’m sorry, I’m sorry….

The young boy looked at his palm with a blank look and couldn’t help crying.

Kiro: Now, look into my eyes.

Kiro unquestionably pulled his shoulders, letting the boy look directly at him.

Kiro: I command you, stop this car!

A golden light blazed in his eyes and it seemed to have the power to stir people’s hearts.

The train slowly stopped and the sharp friction between the carriages and the rails gradually subsided.

The boy softened and sat on the ground, staring at the scenery frozen outside the window.

Teenage Boy: It really stopped….

The train had stopped in the middle of the cross-river track and the shimmering water’s surface reflected a hazy light on the window glass.

Kiro showed a relieved expression, with fine beads of sweat oozing from his forehead. Ah Liu was also obviously relieved.

Seeing my nervousness, Kiro gently squeezed the palm of my hand.

Teenage Boy: I’m sorry. I have always been a cowardly person.

The young boy suddenly apologized as if he had mustered up a lot of courage.

Teenage Boy: I was afraid to face it so I chose to escape in the way I hated most. I will definitely try to make myself stronger in the future!

Kiro patted the boy’s shoulder lightly, showing an encouraging smile.

Kiro: Mn, I believe you.

Before we had time to be happy, there was a sudden recoil.

The train that had just stopped suddenly moved forward again!

-End of Chapter 8-

Continue to Chapter 9 Part 1

[dragonrajafanfiction]

Genji Heavy Industries (Part 1) Preparations

The MC doesn’t play a major role here, because there’s not much role to play. But she has a lot to say and lots of THOUGHTS.

The book is funny and I’ve kept the humor of the original novel. I also like that the MC here has a genuine sense of humor that makes her likeable and relatable to the rest of the boys.

ENJOY

There are several luxurious private rooms on the third floor of the Takamagahara for private party guests, and the spending amount is, of course, much higher than the card seats on the first floor. A guest can't go to the third floor without throwing a few million yen a night. 

The music inside the room where Chu Zihang and Caesar were hosting was deafening. You knock loudly to be heard.

"Little Sister, is that you? Don't come in!" Lu Mingfei yelled from inside. He sounds breathless, panting. In fact, when you press your ear to the door, all you hear is his heavy breathing and grunting from physical exertion. Your heart beats faster and your cheeks flush as your imagination runs wild with what must be happening. You back away from the door. You've been up to your ears in man-meat for hours so it wasn't a stretch to conjure images of Chu Zihang and Lu Mingfei embracing passionately. Poor Nono. Surely Caesar wouldn't be unfaithful to her, right? You bring your fist to your lips and your heart squeezes in sympathy. 

The door swings open and Caesar appears. He's stripped down to his underwear. Your eyes snap to the gentle curve of Caesar’s crotch, which, in your alcohol-addled mind, seemed to bulge out to enormous proportions!

 He grabs your arm and drags you inside, slamming the door behind you.

Women were lying side by side on the floor, their dresses in disarray. Lu Mingfei and Chu Zihang are breaking a sweat to drag all the bodies around. 

“What do you need me to do?” You stammer and glance away. Were you going to end up on the floor too?

“Just wait until we’re finished. How was your time downstairs? You seem a little tipsy. How much did you drink?” Caesar picked up a woman and settled her gently back on the couch.

“I’m not sure. I think someone kept refilling my cup.” You twine your fingers. You can't turn around and look at him in his skivvies. Nono would probably laugh at you and the rest of the girls in the Student Union might resort to mob violence!

Lu Mingfei hissed. “What? That’s awful! Someone should do something about that! Those brutes didn’t do anything to you, did they?”

You shake your head. The room tilts and you try to hide it and the fact that youre suddenly breathless. “No, nothing like that. They were just… um… Are those women drugged?” You change the subject as the memories of the physical proximity of Diamond's and Chance's lips to yours, Calypso’s unopened rose and Armani’s lustful glare spring back to mind and combine with Caesar's sudden full frontal to create a sexual kaleidoscope you couldn’t handle.

"Strong sleeping pills plus strong alcohol. They have to sleep at least until tomorrow morning." Caesar shook a small pill bottle.

“Isn’t that a little dangerous? Sounds like a great way to make them sleep forever!” You recalled heroin and vodka was strictly forbidden because combined someone could easily commit suicide.

“I made sure it was alright.” Chu Zihang said, straightening a girl’s skirt. "We have about eight hours between now and tomorrow morning, enough time to get to and from Genji Heavy Industries. We ordered enough champagne before we came in so that no waiter would come in to check on us during that time. And these women were so drunk before they arrived, they won't remember what happened tonight." 

 He straightened his back and moved to the next. “By the way, did you give out any Star-flower tickets? I would have watched but, as you can see, I had to work.”

“No… no tickets.”

“Little Sister’s purity is as strong as Fort Knox! I’m so happy!” Lu Mingfei sighed with relief. “Don't worry, we’ll be out of here before anything happens!”

“That’s a good strategy in any case. You don’t want to show your favor to anyone in the first episode…” Chu Zihang gave a sage nod and moved to the next lady.

Lu Mingfei bristled. “What kind of lewd advice are you giving, Senior Brother?”

“So what’s the plan for the Genji Building?” You ask. You calm down and feel tired and tense, but seeing them working so hard despite having one of the busiest nights at Takamagahara was inspiring. The couches looked soft and inviting but you wouldn’t look weak in front of them so you continue to stand and try to look energetic.

"Uncover the skeletons in Hydra’s closet. And while we’re there, blow shit up." Caesar lit a cigar, the firelight illuminating the colored makeup on his face. 

"There are 15 pounds of C4 explosives in the equipment box, is that enough?" Chu Zihang took out a packet of Play-Doh-like stuff from the box. 

You recognize the packets. They’re dark green and can be arbitrarily pinched into any shape. They are easy to carry and easy to use. As the world's worst terrorists, according to Hydra, C4 plastic explosives would fit your needs. 

"Hey, hey, hey, hey! What are you doing with explosives out? We are turning into the kind of people on the wanted list step by step!" Lu Mingfei exclaimed. 

"We are wanted by the police department for smuggling nuclear fuel, terrorist attacks and raping young girls. As long as we don't do that last thing, we're not on the wanted list yet." Caesar fastened the leather sheath of the Dictator on the outside of his thigh, the Desert Eagle in the holsters on both ribs, and the eight magazines filled with Frigga bullets on the side of his waist, "It won’t be that bad. Chu and I are just going to blow up Kaguya's storage core. Kaguya is the first line of defense for the Hydra Clan. We blow it up and Hydra will go blind. Norma can take advantage of the opportunity to regain control of the network within Japan." 

“Caesar?” You ask.

“Yes, hun?”

“Am I also wanted for raping girls?” You give a dry smile.

He shoots you a genuine grin and snorts.

"Do not rush to change clothes, we have to leave some evidence." Chu Zihang said. 

"Almost forgot." Caesar took off his weapons and re-dressed in the slim purple suit, "Good thing I didn't take off my makeup." 

Chu Zihang fished out a cell phone from a guest's bag and handed it to you. “Here, take our picture.”

“Got it.” You say.

Caesar sat down on the sofa, dragged a woman to his side and pressed her to his body. He stuffed a microphone in her hand, and took a microphone himself, as if he was singing. 

Then Chu Zihang sat in the middle of the guests wearing a conical hat singing birthday songs, and Lu Mingfei pretended to accompany guests drinking and playing craps. Chu Zihang and Caesar pantomimed topless arm wrestling.

For each photo, Chu Zihang and Caesar adjust the phone time, so that the guests will wake up and, after checking their phones, they’ll think they spent an unforgettable night with the beautiful boys! But, unfortunately, they can't remember any details because they drank too much and can only imagine. Looking at the phones, you’re filled with a sad sort of regret that the boys actually didn’t have fun like this.

Lu Mingfei is full of panic, "If these photos leak out our reputation is finished! But we didn't do anything at all!" 

"MC, help me check the fuses on this C4.”

You scurry over without hesitation. Caesar leans in close to you. “You know about this too, huh? First shooting, now explosives…?” He says with a grin.

“I can hotwire a car… or I used to be able to. Not sure if I can do it with the newer models. I can’t fly a plane though.” You look up at him. “I’ll be the cutest little terrorist right?”

“Are you hearing anything I’m saying?!” Mingfei whines. 

“Are you sad because you didn’t do anything, but you now have a bad reputation?" Caesar looks bored. "Then do you want me and Chu Zihang to go out and wait for you for a while, so you can earn your bad rep?" 

"Bullshit! From now on I'm going to fight alongside you guys every step of the way! You guys aren’t going to leave me to take the blame alone!"

Caesar hands you a bundle of clothing. “Here. Put these on and get ready to go.” 

You take them and quickly duck behind the couches, pulling your dress over your head and slipping out of your heels. You unfold a skintight black bodysuit that fits you near perfectly and a trench coat with the splendid Ukiyo-E on the lining, made to look like they are from the Japanese Executive Department.

“Here. Don’t use them all at once.” Caesar draped a belt with a pistol holster and pouches of ammunition over the couch. Your heart warms at the side of this deadly weaponry more than the rose of Calypso. You were finally being trusted with a gun. 

When you step back around, you're fully equipped. Your tired haze is gone and your mind is only on the mission again.

Chu Zihang put his sword on his back, slipped into a black trench coat and screwed a black baseball cap on his head. Caesar is also in a black trench coat and was covering his face in dark makeup to conceal his fair skin.

"Isn’t it a little too risky? We can barely speak Japanese. How are we going to impersonate the Executive Board? People just have to ask us something complicated and we'll be exposed!" Lu Mingfei said. 

“I know it’s hard but you could try keeping your mouth shut…” You grumble, screwing on the belt. Just putting on these dangerous weapons brought you away from the Takamagahara summer of love to the cold winter of Siberia.

"MC, be nice…” Caesar chided. 

“Of course we can't break in. Genji Heavy Industries is a heavily fortified building, as tight as the Japanese Self Defense Force headquarters. Caesar and I spent a few days researching. It is a general office building from the first floor to the twentieth floor, and above the twentieth floor is the office area used by the Hydra. Access is by access card, and there are security guards patrolling. Those security guards are all armed. Even wearing the clothes of the Executive Board, an unfamiliar face may be questioned. Not to mention, that without the help of Norma, I cannot make access cards." Chu Zihang spread out a hand-drawn map, "The only possibility is to sneak in from the sewers and enter the so-called 'inner district'. There is no access control system in the inner district." 

You remembered that they had taken the elevator down below ground when you visited the Genji Heavy Industries and you saw the huge sewer system in Tokyo. The submarine dock of the Iwarui Institute was located in a giant twelve-meter diameter pipe. 

“Shouldn't the inner district have a tighter security network than outside?" Lu Mingfei looked completely unsure. 

You’re not confident either. Looking at the map, with only one way in and one way out, you get the sense that the moment something goes wrong, you’re going to be trapped inside with the enemy. The pipe was deep and led to the ocean. Given the volcanic activity down there, if you had an opportunity to use your soul skill you might be able to open an alternate tunnel like a lava tube to escape or even block this pipe with lava on the way out. The problem is your Soul Skill is not instantaneous.

"No one knows what the security system in the inner zone is, but at least we can avoid the people coming and going by going through the inner zone passage." The map Chu Zihang drew by hand was a map of the sewer system in Shinjuku district. His finger moved along the spider web of sewer pipes, "There's a sewer right below Takamagahara. We'll follow it east, bypass under the Shinjuku subway station, and shortly after entering the main channel, we'll see Genji Heavy Industries. Total length is two kilometers." 

"It’s like we’re just going to wing it right? But come on, This isn’t some My Little Pony Ride. Genji Heavy Industries is like a rushing river, we'll be up a creek if we make one misstep." 

"How can we know if we don't try? If we get caught, we’ll kill our way out." Caesar said gently.

"Hey! Of course you two Robocops can easily kill out! Have you considered that there are still civilized and weak students in the team?”

“Mingfei,” You say softly. He looks over at you, genuinely frightened. "You think I'm weak? Who has the biggest body count for this mission?"

“Little Sister, how can you smile in such a situation. Have you lost your mind? You of all people should be on my side…”

“Don’t you remember what I did in the streets of Chizuru?”

Mingfei frowned, recalling how you killed over and over. “But it’s not right for you to be doing things like that.” 

Chu Zihang confirms your assumption. “Her Soul Skill is the first one that I’ve witnessed that is truly S-Grade.” Chu Zihang rolled up the map. “Her control of it is impressive. Her ability to misshape the earth will help us find a way out by creating a new tunnel underground if necessary, and we have scouted several promising escape routes. Not only that, Royal Fire could take down the Internet Cafe’s wooden structure, but it wouldn’t be able to shift the Genji Heavy Industries building. But her ability is likely to do it. Right, MC?”

You nod gravely.

“If it comes to that, we can threaten the entire building. They were extra proud of that building and probably wouldn't want to lose it in a tragic earthquake..” Caesar smirks.

“I still don’t like it.” 

"Then you'd better stay and take care of the girls. Watching over a dozen unclothed and sleeping women alone in a room late at night is a job for a frail scholar, right?" Caesar shrugged.

"Am I such an unkind and unrighteous person? Can I watch you two go into the dragon's den and wait here by myself? Don't answer that. Just give me a gun!" Lu Mingfei was once again bold and firm, though he gave an owlish glance at the women.

"Very well! We in the Student Council never back down from a fight!" Caesar drew out a heavy Beretta 92FS and threw it to Lu Mingfei, "I”ve been waiting to give this to you. Thirteen-round magazine, the first nine rounds are Frigga anesthesia ammunition. The back four rounds are specially designed to deal with dragons. Mercury core, blunt armor-piercing ammunition. Don't use that kind of bullets against humans or hybrids. Although mercury is not that deadly to humans, it’s troublesome after contamination, and the armor-breaking warheads will leave penetrating wounds on ordinary bodies.”

"Will there be any dragons in the Genji Heavy Industry?" Lu Mingfei thrust his gun into his back waist, "I say just load them all up with Frigga tranquilizer rounds." 

“MC was the last witness to Lenin's last voyage when a dragon embryo was sunk in a Japanese trench. They tried to kill her once before to hide what happened that day. The Japanese Hydra  leader speaks with the same Russian Accent as the MC and then turns on the Academy as soon as he thinks we’re dead at the bottom of the sea? And then tries their hardest to capture us in Chizuru? And now tries to pin us down in Japan…”

Caesar looks down at you. “MC… you were invited on this mission for a reason. I intend to find out why. I think they’re after you… more than they are after us.”

[charincharge]

Cruel Summer, Part 1

cruel summer masterlist

AN: It’s here. Idk what the posting schedule will be like, I have no idea what my writing schedule will be like, but... I think it’s gonna be 25ish chapters? Maybe? Who knows. It’s gonna be fun, I think. I hope. Looking forward to hearing everyone’s thoughts. Alright... without further ado...

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

Rowan Whitethorn is having a really horrible day. Not just the kind of bad that he can shrug off, but the kind that seeps through his skin and sinks into his bones, that permeates even the smallest thing, turning everything into a giant annoyance.

First, he missed his alarm, so his grumpy manager, Lorcan, has been even grumpier with him since he pulled through the gates of Ashryver Playland this morning. The amusement park job is less than ideal. Rowan hadn’t planned for his summer to be taking tickets and cleaning up melted ice cream cones from sweaty-faced teens – but it was the only place that called him back, and he doesn’t come from the type of family that can afford to pay his rent. So unless Rowan had wanted to spend the summer in his mom’s unairconditioned apartment, dodging set ups with her mahjong circle’s daughters, this was his only option.

It's nearly 3PM, and Rowan still hasn’t been able to take his lunch break. He knows that’s adding to his bad attitude. Rowan has a tendency to get hangry, or so his coworker Fenrys tells him. And because he was in a rush this morning, he forgot to pack his lunch. Which means he’ll have to spend money buying overpriced crap at the park.

Rowan’s also on trash duty today. Which means he gets to spend the whole day circling the park grounds with a giant broom and pan and pick up the fallen bits of funnel cake and popcorn and soda cups and dump them into the closest trash. Then, once those are full, he gets to haul the heavy bags of stinking trash all the way to the back of the park where the dumpsters are. It’s pretty much his worst nightmare. Though Rowan isn’t opposed to physical activity, he’s not super fond of smelling like rancid garbage. He tugs at the collar of the too tight uniform polo shirt stretching uncomfortably across his chest and frowns. After a bag split all over him earlier, Rowan was forced to go diving in the employee lost and found for another uniform. Apparently, the only person who’s missing a shirt is two times smaller than him. He sniffs himself and nearly gags. He can’t wait to get home and shower. He look at his watch … in … five more hours.

“Whitethorn,” Lorcan calls, crossing across the yard at him. “Take your thirty now. Then you’re taking over for Connall at the ferris wheel ‘til closing, yeah?”

Rowan barely contains a shudder upon hearing his new assignment. He hates trash, but working the ferris wheel is somehow worse. He didn’t realize until last week that’s where every middle schooler goes on their first make out date. He’s had to pull too many kids off the ride, feeling like their disapproving father as he pulled their clashing braces apart to make room for the next patrons in line. Frankly, he finds PDA disgusting. And the sight of thirteen-year-olds going at it is enough to scar him for life.

At least Rowan finally gets to eat something, though. The oppressive mid-day heat combined with hours of physical labor and no fuel has him feeling like he could keel over any second. He grunts his acknowledgement at Lorcan and makes his way to the closest concessions stand, which luckily has barely a line – I guess since it’s 3 fucking PM and not actually lunch time. Rowan is about to step forward when he feels tiny fingers poke against the back of his knees. He’s about to snap at whatever parent to keep their kid on a tighter leash when he realizes there is no parent, just a kid – and the kid is, in fact, trying to get his attention.

“Um, excuse me? Sir?” the little boy says. Rowan’s never been a sir before. He hates it.

“Yeah?”

“I think I lost my family,” he says resolutely, not sounding even a little bit scared. “Can you help me find them?”

Rowan’s stomach grumbles and his head pounds. He knows he has to return this child to his family, but he also knows he needs to eat immediately or he’s going to lose it.

“We can absolutely do that,” Rowan begins, “but I haven’t eaten all day. Do you think you can wait like… ten minutes?”

The little boy nods and sticks out his hand. “I’m Gavin and I’m five.”

“Hey, Gavin. I’m Rowan and I’m hungry.” Gavin giggles at that, and Rowan finally cracks a smile and shakes the boy’s hand.

Rowan steps up to order, thinking about what’s going to be the fastest, since his thirty minute break is going to include an unforeseen detour to security at the entryway of the park. “Can I get a hot dog, a pretzel, a cherry coke and…” He looks at the little boy next to him. “Anything for you?”

Gavin’s eyes widen with glee. “Cotton candy?!”

“…and a cotton candy.”

Rowan reluctantly hands over a $20, saying goodbye to three hours of hard work. But he has no choice. They get their food and make their way to the eating tent. Rowan keeps his eyes open for anyone looking panicked or in search of a child, but he doesn’t see anyone who fits the bill.

Rowan inhales his hot dog in record speed and takes a giant gulp of his cherry coke and immediately feels better. Sitting under the shade of the tent helps, too. The pair sit quietly and eat their food. Gavin swings his legs happily as he peels off pieces of his cotton candy, licking the sticky sugar from his fingers.

“So…” Rowan has no idea how to talk to a kid, but he figures he should ask him a few questions to figure out who to return him to, at least. “Who are you here with today? You said your family?”

Gavin nods excitedly, the sugar clearly starting to make its way through his tiny body. “Yup! My whole family is here today. My mom, my dad, Auntie Ae, Nana and Grandpa.”

“Wow.” Rowan’s heart tugs slightly. “That’s fun. Any special occasion?”

“Nope. We come every week,” Gavin says.

“Every week?” Rowan asks, his voice rising in pitch. He’s trying to do the math of the ticket prices. $30 for six family members. That’s $180. For every week of the summer…? Rowan’s mental math skills stop there, but he knows that’s a LOT more than he’s ever been able to casually throw down.

“Yup. Since I was a baby,” Gavin says. “It’s my family’s special place.”

“Think your family would adopt me?” Rowan jokes. He loves his mom a lot, and she did the absolute best job raising him, but they’ve never had a special place. His mom thinks adding guacamole to her Chipotle bowl is special. Not that Rowan disagrees. Guacamole is a perfect condiment.

Gavin finishes his last lick of cotton candy and holds his red hands up at Rowan. “I’m sticky.”

Rowan shoves the final bite of his pretzel into his mouth and stands up. “Me too. Let’s go wash our hands and then find your family. Sound good?”

Gavin nods, skipping next to Rowan, his little shoes lighting up as he matches the striding pace. They make their way to the row of porta-potties and outdoor sinks, which line the side of the park. As Rowan washes his hands, he notices Gavin struggling to reach the stream of water. Of course. He’s only five.

“Need a hand?” Rowan asks, and Gavin nods, holding his arms up to be lifted. Rowan’s arms burn, since he’s been picking up giant bags of trash all day, but he manages to keep Gavin mid-air until he’s finished cleaning the sugary crystals from his hands. He’s putting Gavin back on the ground when he hears a loud voice shrieking behind him –

“YOU! SIR, STEP AWAY FROM THE CHILD!”

Damn it.

Rowan sighs and turns, letting his hold on Gavin drop completely. This is so not what he needs right now.

“Gavin, honey, come here,” the voice calls again.

Rowan searches to see who the voice belongs to and is momentarily stunned. Gavin’s mom is… young. And hot. Her golden blonde hair is swept away from her face in a high ponytail, resting softly down her bare back, on display in a strappy yellow tank top. And her jean shorts show off her long, tanned legs. Rowan stares a beat too long because the next thing he hears is, “Gavin, earmuffs,” and suddenly the blonde woman is inches away from him, in his face and pushing at his chest with her pointed finger. She is mad.

“Stay away from this little boy, you pervert!” The woman’s eyes flare angrily as she pushes Rowan’s chest again forcefully with her finger, and he is not having any of that. He grabs her finger in his large fist and moves it away from him, making the woman stumble back slightly. Her mouth widens into a small circle as she looks up at the man grabbing her finger.

“I’m sorry, pervert?” He chuckles humorlessly. “This little boy asked for my help finding his irresponsible family. Who lost him. I work here.” Rowan uses his other hand to point to the stupid logo on the corner of his polo. “He happened to find me on my lunch break. Maybe if you’d been a more responsible mother you wouldn’t feel the need to get this worked up the guy who was clearly about to take your kid to security.”

“Mom?” the woman says, horrified and snatches back her finger. “Oh my god.” Her demeanor shifts entirely as she looks to Gavin and motions for him to uncover his ears. “Gavin, please tell this very rude man that I am way too young and cool to be your mom.”

Gavin frowns. “I don’t think he’s rude, Auntie Ae. He gave me cotton candy.”

The woman’s eyebrows shoot up in accusation. ‘You gave him cotton candy? You’re only proving my point.”

Rowan puffs out his chest defensively. “I’m sorry, is cotton candy a sex offender favorite? I wouldn’t know.”

“You clearly offered sweets to a child to lure him away from his family!” she says way too loudly, looking around and making a show of her statement.

“Quiet down!” Rowan snipes through gritted teeth. “I need to keep this job, for fuck’s sake.”

The woman smirks and steps closer. “I think your employer deserves to know you were luring children away from their families!” she exclaims dramatically, attracting the attention of a nearby security guard.

“No,” Rowan says, his voice increasing in volume as well. He’s had it up to here with this day, and this woman has grated his last nerve. “That’s not… Listen…” Rowan takes a deep breath. He really cannot lose this job. “I was starving and about to go on my lunch break when some poor lost kid asked for help finding his family. I told him he could order something with me, since I felt bad. Sorry. I’ll be sure never to be polite ever again.”

Rowan has gotten in “Auntie Ae’s” face, and he’s breathing hard. He’s worked up, and he knows it’s not her fault, but fuck this day.

“Is everything alright here, Ms. Ashryver?” the approaching security guard asks, and Rowan pales.

The woman steps back and takes a breath, her fury melting into a warm smile for the guard. “No, Frank, everything is fine. Just thanking one of our newest employees, who made friends with Gavin today.”

The guard chuckles. “He run off again?”

The woman’s eyes flash in warning and the guard shakes his head. “Ah, don’t be mad, Aelin. You did the same exact thing when you were his age. Running from ride to ride and driving your old man crazy.”

Rowan crosses his arms as the guard saunters off, and the woman turns back to him with a shy smile.

“Ashryver, hm?” Rowan asks, feeling a little ill as he pictures the large Ashryver sign that hangs over the entryway to the park.  “So, what is this, like… hazing?”

“No! I was really only going to make the one joke and then let it go,” the woman says, biting her lip guiltily and shoving her hands into her jean shorts pockets. “But then you called me his mom and I just… got carried away. I do that sometimes. I’m Aelin. Ashryver.”

“So I heard.” Rowan rolls his eyes. “You know there’s absolutely nothing funny about calling someone a predator, right? I could be arrested if the wrong person overheard that.”

“You’re making me feel very bad,” Aelin says with a grimace.

“Good,” Rowan says resolutely. “Because now I’m also late to get back to work.” He’s more than a little annoyed at how this entire exchange has played out. And even more annoyed that he can’t stop staring at Aelin’s bright blue eyes. This is the last thing he needs. He’s about to head off when –

“You’re really not going to tell me your name?” Aelin asks, tilting her head up, trying to figure Rowan out. Rowan’s about to reply when she cuts him off, not even giving him a chance. “That’s fine. I’ll find it out. I have connections, you know.”

“I’m sure you do, princess,” Rowan says. Her lips purse at the nickname, and Rowan can’t tell if she loves it or hates it.  

“See you, stranger,” she replies, dismissing him and grabbing Gavin’s hand as she walks off. Just before turning the corner, she tosses her ponytail over her shoulder and looks back. It’s only when she winks at him that Rowan realizes he’s still standing motionless, watching her go.

[dameronsgalaxygal]

I’ve Been Waiting For You - Chapter 10: Angel Eyes

series masterlist

Pairing: modern!poe x reader

Word Count: 3003

Warnings: angst, mentions of death, language, implications of smut.

Song: Angel Eyes

A/N: Alright, ya’ll have been wanting to find out what Poe’s been hiding. Here it is. I’m pretty sure I overhyped it, but oh well. Next chapter will go into more detail, which means more angst. Taglist is open and comments and feedback would be lovely!

Summary: It’s your one year with Poe. Poe has a freakout, which freaks you out. 

“Would you have guessed that we would have made it a year?” Poe asked you honestly.

You and Poe were sitting outside a small cafe in downtown Miami on the early morning of your one year anniversary.

“Honesty? I wouldn’t have guessed I would even been in a relationship,” You chuckled softly.

You had officially been living in Florida for over a year, and you had spoken to your parents a total of four times: your birthday, their birthdays, and christmas. You hadn’t heard from Kyle at all, which was surprising. Well, except for one voicemail that you had received on a whim one afternoon a couple weeks ago that you still hadn’t opened. You were doing well, really well, and you weren’t going to allow one voicemail to ruin that for you.

Things with Poe were phenomenal, including the sex. At first you questioned why you waited so long, but you knew you made the right decision. With your past, you needed to be ready, and the first time you two slept together was truly a date you were going to remember. You had never felt so loved by anyone more than you felt that night. You were glad you waited until you were physically and emotionally ready, because if you had slept with him that night after the bar, you wouldn’t be in the position you were in now. Happy.

Poe smiled sympathetically, “I know I tell you this all the time, but I am so proud of you. I’m lucky to be your person. I am lucky to be your boyfriend,” He took a bite of his toast.

You sipped your lemonade as your cheeks turned a bright red and Poe chuckled.

“Blushing, are we?” He teased.

You shot him a look and he winked.

You continued to eat breakfast for a while until Poe spoke again, “So, since you wouldn’t let me plan anything, can you finally tell me what we’re doing today?”

You shook your head, “It’s a surprise.”

“Baby,” He groaned, throwing his head back, “Can I at least get a hint?”

“Nope,” You grinned mischievously.

You had decided to plan out the whole day for you and Poe, a change from the normalcy between you two. On most days, Poe was the one to organize the dates. Today, you decided to take charge. Mostly because there was a big event happening in Miami Beach that coincidentally landed on your one year and you felt like it would be a perfect way to celebrate.

You were taking Poe to the Miami Beach Air and Sea Show. It was perfect. Poe loved fighter jets, and you were very much aware of this. Since you started dating, you had seen Top Gun a total of 12 times, and he had even bought pre-sale tickets for the sequel (which doesn’t come out for another four months), you had noticed more books and antique fighter jets around his house and sometimes he would even talk to you about his knowledge on them. It was no secret he had an obsession with flying. What better way to spend your anniversary than watching him witness what he loves?

You finished up breakfast quickly, checking your phone for the time. You needed to be at least two hours early if you wanted to find parking and get a good spot before the show started. Poe paid the check, the one thing he did insist on doing for your anniversary, before you two headed toward the car.

“Keys.” You held your hand out for Poe to toss you his car keys.

“Can’t you just tell me where to drive?” He pouted.

“Well then what’s the fun in that? Keys.” You repeated, winking.

He rolled his eyes playfully before reaching into his pocket to grab his keys. He placed them in your hand and you pecked his lips before getting in and driving towards the show.

As you started to approach, large billboards surrounded the area with arrows pointing to garages with bold letters that said ‘Event Parking’ and security guards led cars through to avoid any unnecessary traffic.

You pulled around a corner to get through to the parking garage when you noticed Poes face shift.

“Um,” He swallowed hard, “Where are we going?”

You glanced at him briefly and shot him a smile before continuing to drive, “The Miami Annual Air and Sea Show.”

“Oh.”

You frowned, “You aren’t excited?”

He looked at you, “No, no, no. I am. I am..”

“You don’t sound like it.”

He sighed, “I just wasn’t expecting it. How did you find it?”

You nodded, “Well I was looking into things to do for today and this popped up. I thought it would be fun given your obsession with Top Gun and all.”

“Right, yeah.” He smiled softly.

You furrowed your eyebrows at him in confusion but turned back to the road, finally finding a spot to park. His reaction was odd, you had expected him to be more excited. You managed to brush it off once he put a hand on your thigh and squeezed it.

Poe held you close to him as you walked down to the shore. His arm was wrapped tightly around your waist and he chewed his nails nervously, looking around as if he was looking out for something.

You looked up at him, frowning.

“Babe.”

“Hm?” He continued to look around.

“Babe, what’s going on with you?” You reached up to move his hand away from his lips.

“What? Nothing.”

“I don’t believe you.”

“Baby,” He stopped walking, putting a hand on your cheek, “I’m fine. Just.. I’ve...I’ve never been here before. Lots of people. It’s intimidating.”

You chuckled, “Poe, there’s nothing to be intimidated by. It’s fun. Everyone sits on the shore and watches the ships and fighter jets do cool tricks and stuff. It’s a way to honor the special forces.”

“Trust me, I know,” He said almost too quietly, looking away.

“Huh?” You tried to meet his eyes.

“Nothing.” He smiled softly, “Come on.”

Okay. This was getting weird. Regardless, you headed to the shore.

You found a spot a bit further back on the sand but with still a good view of the ships and, of course, the sky where the planes would be flying. You laid down a blanket before sitting down.

Poe stayed standing, analyzing the view. He sighed.

“Poe? Are you sure you’re alright?”

He looked down at you before sitting next to you, “Yeah.”

You nodded, putting your head on his shoulder. Soon, a man came onto the loud speaker to thank everyone for joining the show and that it would be starting in approximately half an hour. You turned to Poe.

“Would you mind going to get some drinks? I’ll stay here and watch the stuff. Plus, I could use a little tan.” You smirked.

He chuckled, leaning in to kiss you softly, “Sure. Beer?”

“Margarita if they have them, please.”

“You got it.” He smiled, going to the small bar located on the boardwalk.

Poe sighed in relief as he turned away from you, walking up the dock. He made his way to the bar, waiting in line with his hands in pockets. He looked around as people walked by with food and drinks, talking about their excitement for the show. He took a breath.

“Well, well, well, if that isn’t Poe Dameron.”

Poe shot his head to look at where the familiar voice was coming from. A man and woman stood before him.

Poe clenched his jaw, “Zorii. Hux.” He greeted them.

“Didn’t think you’d come back here after what happened.” Zorii crossed her arms.

“Yeah, what, with how you basically cut everyone off… and with what you did. You’re ballsy, Dameron.” Hux smirked.

Poe swallowed hard, “My girlfriend brought me here. I didn’t know.”

Zorii nodded unsympathetically, “Ah, so you haven’t told her? Because if you did, I doubt she would bring you back here.”

He took a deep breath, his body completely tensing, “No. I haven’t told her.”

“Why not?” Hux asked.

“It’s none of her business.”

Hux chuckled, “I think I would like to know if my significant other was kicked out of the military.”

“Oh, for sure.” Zorii smirked at Hux then looked at Poe.

“It’s not that easy.” Poe stated.

“Really? All you have to say is ‘by the way, I don’t listen to orders very well, so I got kicked out of the service’.” Zorii said dramatically.

“Stop.” Poe begged.

“Oh, what are you going to do, go cry to mommy? Oh wait...” Hux made a fake pouty face.

Poe’s face turned bright red in anger, “Shut up.”

“Like I said, you are ballsy for letting her bring you here. I’m sure it brings back memories,” Hux sighed dramatically, looking around.

“Remember when you were that fucking cocky, you thought you could do whatever the hell you wanted, and you wound up…”

“Dishonorably discharged.” Hux finished Zoriis sentence, a wide smirk plastered on his face.

With that, Poe pushed past the two and rushed back to where you and him had been sitting. You were laying on the blanket, sunglasses on and arms behind your head.

“Y/N.”

You snapped up, “Fuck, Poe.”

You put your hand on your heart, “You startled me,” You looked at him, wondering where the alcohol was, “Where are the drinks?”

“I didn’t get them. We have to leave.” He said quickly, his breath picking up.

“What? Why? The show hasn’t even-”

“We need to leave.” He gritted his teeth, packing up the bag.

“Poe, what is going on?” You stood up in fear, watching as he bunched the blanket into a ball and handed it to you.

“I’ll explain when we get home. Just please, we have to go.”

You only stared at him for a second before nodding slowly. You had no clue what was happening, but you had never seen Poe freak out like this, so you followed him in hope that you would get some answers soon.

He dragged you to the car quickly, throwing things into the trunk before getting into the car, slamming the door. You jumped at the noise before getting in yourself. He quickly drove off in the direction of his place.

The car ride was silent and awkward. You were sad that your plan for your anniversary didn’t follow through. You thought Poe would enjoy it, from what you knew about his love for aviation and his favorite movie being Top Gun. However, Poe seemed really nervous, even scared, and you were worried, so you let it go. You wanted to know what was going on, though.

You finally got back to his place and he rushed inside, you following shortly behind him.

“Finn?” Poe called out as he walked in.

No response.

“I think he was going out with Rose today,” You said gently.

“Oh thank god.” Poe sighed in relief, heading to the cupboard and grabbing the bottle of vodka and a shot glass.

“Poe,” You put your purse down on the counter, “What the hell is going on?”

He poured himself a large glass before turning to you, “I’m sorry I freaked out like that.” He downed his drink.

“It’s okay,” You walked toward him carefully, “I just want to know what’s going on.”

You rubbed his arm as he took another shot and placed the glass on the counter. He sighed, putting his hands on your hips, squeezing them.

“Baby,” You searched for his eyes.

He took a deep breath, looking at you,  “Um…” He searched for what he wanted to say.

You squeezed his shoulder, letting him know it was okay to tell you.

“I haven’t been totally honest with you.” He admitted.

You gulped, “Okay..”

“My mom,” He started, “My mom didn’t die of cancer.”

You cocked your eyebrow.

“She, um, she died in battle.” He took a shaky breath.

“Battle?”

He nodded, “My mom was in the service. Air Force.”

You bit your lip, nodding.

“She died when I was eighteen. Her jet was shot down and she died when it hit land. It exploded and…” He stopped for a minute, looking up to collect his tears.

“She was dispersed immediately.”

Your heart broke for him. You knew he was close to his mom, his tattoo proved that. You understood why being physically in front of fighter jets would be rough for him, his mother died in one. You didn’t understand why he lied to you, but you rubbed it off. He needed to be comforted.

“I’m so sorry, Poe.” You whispered, looking down.

He sighed, “It’s okay. There’s just a difference between seeing fighter jets in movies and having action figures and seeing them in person. Brings me back to the day I found out.”

You gave him a sad smile, nodding. “I understand.”

You didn’t understand his exact situation, but you understood trauma. Bad memories brings you back to dark places, and it probably did the same for him.

“You could have just told me, you know.” You rubbed his arm again.

“I know.”

You sighed. He still seemed uneasy.

“Is that it?” You asked softly, genuinely wondering if there was anything else he wanted to tell you.

I was discharged from the Air Force for disobeying orders. I nearly killed a man and myself in the process. I cussed out my Colonel and slapped my roommate.

“Yeah, that’s it.” He smiled softly.

He wanted to tell you, he wanted to tell you so bad. But his issues didn’t matter. Yours were more important. He needed to take care of you. Make sure you are okay. Right?

“Okay.” You leaned up to kiss him softly.

He kissed you back gently.

“I’m sorry I ruined our anniversary,” He frowned.

You shook your head, “You didn’t. I still want to go out to dinner tonight, if that’s okay with you.”

He smiled and nodded, “I’d love to.”

“Great. We have reservations at six. Until then…?”

Poe smirked, leaning down to kiss your neck, “To the bedroom, madam?”

“Please.”

--

���Seriously, I don’t know why I waited so long.” You collapsed on his chest, catching your breath.

He laughed, stroking your hair, “Yes you do. You’re just saying that now because you’re realizing how good I am.”

You rolled your eyes playfully, swatting his arm.

“Ow!” He chuckled.

“Oh, you’re fine. What time is it?”

Poe reached over to grab his phone, checking the time.

“4:45.”

“Shit,” You popped up, “We have to get ready.”

“It does not take that long to get ready.” He crossed his arms.

“For you! I have to go home and change and do my hair and makeup. I wasn’t expecting to fuck all day, I actually had plans.” You got up, grabbing your clothes and throwing them on quickly.

He smirked, “What, these aren’t good plans?”

You shot him a look and he winked.

“I’m going to go home and shower and then I’ll come back over and we can go. I’ll be back soon, okay?” You started for the door.

“Okay. I love you!”

“Love you!” You yelled as you left.

Poe sighed happily, leaning back in the pillow. His smile dropped when he remembered he was still keeping something from you. You did deserve to know, but he was so focused on making you feel safe that he didn’t feel like his problems were important. He was so focused on earning your trust.

Your trust. Shit.

He groaned, running his hand down his face. He stayed in bed for a bit until he checked his phone again. It was 5:15 and he needed a shower. Maybe he would tell you everything over dinner. You couldn’t get mad at him at dinner right? He figured out what he would say while he showered.

--

“Poe!” His door was unlocked, “You ready?” You called out.

“One sec,” Poe emerged from his room while he fixed his tie.

You smirked, “Well hello handsome.” You giggled.

Poe whistled at you. You were wearing a beautiful dark blue tight dress and black heels with your hair curled and makeup done nicely. Nothing too extravagant, but it fit the occasion.

“Hey there sexy lady,” He kissed you urgently.

You giggled against his lips, tapping his chest, “You keep kissing me like that and we won’t make it to dinner,” You teased

Poe wiggled his eyebrows.

You rolled your eyes, “I was kidding. Let’s go.”

He laughed, “Okay, okay. Let me find my keys.”

You nodded as he searched around the kitchen searching for where he last placed them.

“Oh shit,” You groaned in realization.

“What?” Poe shot his eyes to you in fear.

“I forgot a jacket. Do you have something I can wear?” You asked desperately.

He chuckled, “Yeah, just check for something in my closet.”

You smiled and nodded, heading to his room and going into his closet.

You looked for something that would at least match your dress, even though you wouldn’t be wearing it very long. Just while you traveled to and from the car.

You pushed through the shrine of jackets, nothing catching your eye until you got to a green jacket with a patch that matched the logo of the Air Force. You pulled it off the hanger and examined it. On the patch read ‘Captain. Poe Dameron’. Your mouth opened slightly.

“Hey, baby. It’s 5:45, are you ready to-” Poe walked in and saw you holding his old Air Force jacket.

Fuck.

Poe ran a hand through his hair, “I see you found a jacket.” He put his hands in his pockets.

“What is this?” You asked.

Poe swallowed hard, “It’s my old Air Force jacket.”

“Your old Air Force jacket? You were in the military?” You rose your eyebrows.

He sighed, “Yeah.”

“Why didn’t you tell me?”

Poe sighed, running his hand down his face.

“Poe.”

He looked up at you.

“Why didn’t you tell me?”

It was going to be a long night.

taglist <open> @twomoonstwosuns @darksideofclarke @damnyoudameron @demigod-dragonrider-schoolidol @rewritingstarrs @aidela @softly-sad @fanfiction-trashpile @lanatheawesome @fantasticcopeaglepasta @the-cry-of-youth @yeeintensifies @itsamedeemoney @yougottakeeponkeepinon @cloud-leader @multifandomlife22 @aroseamongthestars @liadamerondjarin @eternallyvenus @xremember-me-notx @frietiemeloen

[chilling-seavey]

Passchendaele - XIII

A/N Another chapter ahead of schedule because I’ve been making good writing progress :)

T/W Mentions of physical and emotional war trauma

Daniel kept silent, staring down at Elizabeth’s soft face, expressionlessly, his cap clutched tightly in his hands.

“You’re looking at me like I’m broken.” she spoke softly, cracking a small smile up at him from the hospital bed, her green eyes tired and framed with red from the gas attack, her voice still rough around the edges.

“Well, you are a little.” Daniel mumbled from his spot on the wooden chair beside her.

“What a charmer.” Elizabeth tisked, reaching for his hand and he let her intertwine their fingers.

Daniel smiled a little, looking down at their hands. After being taken from the battlefields, unconscious from lack of oxygen as her airways were closing over, the hospital treated Elizabeth well and soon she was breathing just fine again. Of course, her true identity was revealed in the hospital, earning her a ticket back to England as soon as she was fully recovered.

Even still, Elizabeth was more than pleased with herself for making it a full day on the front lines, being able to fight alongside the men for her country.

“Mother is going to be pleased with me for what I did.” Elizabeth smiled to herself, running her thumb over Daniel’s hand.

“She is going to be furious. What if you died?” Daniel asked sharply.

“No reason to worry more about me than you.” Elizabeth shrugged.

“I have way more of a reason to worry about you.” Daniel whispered, “I almost watched you die in front of me.”

“Zach said you were hysteric.” Elizabeth giggled.

“This isn’t funny, Elizabeth.” Daniel said sternly.

“I’m sorry, my love.” she whispered, pulling his hand closer to make him shuffle nearer, “I’m alright though. Now I get to go home and wait for you.”

Daniel sighed as he watched her kiss the back of his hand before resting their hands against her chest. They fell into silence.

“Elizabeth…” Daniel breathed, closing his eyes tightly. She waited for him to continue, keeping her gaze on his obviously stressed expression. He bit lightly at his lip before speaking cautiously, “I don’t know if I can…if I can keep doing this.”

“Doing what?” Elizabeth frowned.

“Fighting out here.” Daniel’s voice was trembling, and he swallowed back his forming tears with a glance around the bustling hospital.

“Don’t say that. You’re doing so well. Making us all so proud. This is what you wanted, remember?” Elizabeth gave his hand a squeeze.

“But I didn’t want this.” Daniel gestured to her laying in the hospital bed with his free hand. “And I didn’t want to hold my friends while they…” he faded out, squeezing his eyes shut to hold back his tears.

No one wanted to see a man cry. His father had told him so plenty of times.

“And what if I don’t make it home to you?” Daniel breathed.

“Daniel Seavey. Don’t you say that.” Elizabeth scolded.

“But Jack was so set on making it home and with one shot he just…” Daniel took a deep breath, looking up to the tall ceiling to try and calm down. “Who’s to say it won’t be me next?”

Elizabeth sighed, pressing a kiss to his knuckles, setting both her hands over his one against her chest. She kept her eyes on him, worry etched onto her tired features as she watched him battle with himself to hold back his tears.

“You can cry, you know?”

Daniel shook his head, pressing his fingers to the bridge of his nose and took a trembling breath before shifting in the wooden chair, looking down at her as strongly as he could, “I’m okay.”

Elizabeth furrowed her eyebrows, disbelieving, watching how his blue eyes were shimmering in the afternoon sun that leaked through the stained-glass windows, his brown hair matted down across his forehead with mud and dried sweat. He wasn’t same sweet, careful boy she had fallen for a year before; but she loved him just as strongly.

“Listen to me, darling,” Elizabeth forced herself into a sitting position on the rickety metal bed, shifting a little bit to face him, taking both his hands in hers, running her thumbs over his callused hands. She paused her statement to tilt his chin up so he was looking at her, resting her palm against his cheek and he leaned habitually into her gentle touch, “You keep doing what you’re doing out here. You’re an amazing soldier, an amazing man – my amazing man – and I’m so proud of you, you know?”

She ran her thumb over his cheek and kept his deep eye contact, his lip between his teeth as he searched her promising face for any sort of hesitation.

“Marry me.” Daniel whispered after a moment.

Elizabeth laughed lightly, dropping her hand back into his, “Ask me again when you get home to me, okay?”

“No. I need to ask now.”

“Daniel, I’m not answering that question until you’re home again. You’re going to be home again. You’re going to be home again in my mother’s back garden in your freshly ironed trousers and my favourite blue button up dress shirt you like to wear and you’re going to ask me to marry you there.” Elizabeth smiled softly at him, brushing a hand through his tangled hair, “Not here, in a front-line hospital when you’re drenched in dirt and blood and sweat and feeling hopeless. What kind of romance is that?”

“Ours.” Daniel whimpered, his voice breaking and his bottom lip trembling as he dropped his gaze to their hands together on the side of the hospital bed.

Elizabeth took his chin in her hand and brought his lips to hers. He leaned in closer, kissing her with more desperation, his eyes scrunched closed as his heart beat hard in his chest. He pulled back with a small breathless gasp, eyes opening to lock on hers.

Their moment was interrupted by someone clearing their throat from the foot of the bed and they both turned quickly to see the Lieutenant Colonel standing there.

“Christian.” Daniel whispered mostly to himself, standing up quickly to offer a salute to his officer. Elizabeth set herself back against the metal headboard, hesitantly moving under the serious stare of the broad man in front of her, being her first time formally meeting the eldest Seavey brother.

“That’s fine, Private.” Christian waved him back, giving him permission to sit down again.

Daniel kept his eyes on his brother as he sat down again, letting his hand fall into Elizabeth’s.

“Good to see that you are doing well, Miss Fisher.” Christian spoke strongly, his hands held tightly behind his back.

“Thank you.” Elizabeth pulled a small smile, glancing to Daniel has he clung tightly onto her hand.

“What are you doing here?” Daniel asked his brother.

“The Division is moving forward. We got notice from Army Command that we are to attempt to break through German lines farther west so we will be setting up camp farther inland, around the town of Passchendaele. You have heard of it, I’m sure.”

“Yessir.” Daniel spoke slowly.

“You will return with me and we will make our way to the new front lines before nightfall. Additional trenches will need to be dug so we need all men on hand.”

“I’m not leaving Elizabeth.” Daniel spoke strongly.

“Dani.” Elizabeth whispered sharply.

“It’s a direct order from Army Command, Private. You will return to the Battalion with me and travel with us to help capture Passchendaele. Immediately.” Christian barely even blinked, staring down his nose at the young couple in front of him, eyes glancing only for a second at Daniel’s hand wrapped securely around the girl’s.

“No.” Daniel said through his teeth, glaring angrily at his older brother, his whole body starting to tremble as he had been holding in his tears for a while.

Christian took a breath, glancing between the two of them, “Not following orders is considered treason and it can be punishable by law.”

“What are you saying?” Daniel asked slowly.

“If you do not obey my orders, I will have no choice but to put you under military arrest.”

“Daniel.” Elizabeth gaped, turning to him, concern spread all over her face.

“I am not leaving Elizabeth.” Daniel repeated slowly.

“You have two minutes to say goodbye. If you are not outside with me by then, I will turn you in for resisting orders and you will be arrested for treason.” Christian took one step back, keeping his dark blue eyes on his younger brother before looking to Elizabeth for a moment before turning on his heel and marching towards the doors, his boots echoing through the nave of the church.

“Christ.” Daniel exhaled deeply, holding his face in his hands.

“It’s not a difficult decision. You’re going with him.” Elizabeth said strongly.

“I can’t leave you again.” Daniel’s voice broke as he looked back up at her.

“And I can’t bare to see you in jail, darling. Don’t be stupid about this.”

“This is stupid!” Daniel said loudly, making a few patients and nurses look their way. He lowered his voice, “This whole war is bloody awful.”

“Listen to your brother.” Elizabeth whispered, ignoring his futile attempt to change the ways of the world. She slid her hand into his, “Stay safe.”

“No. Elizabeth, no.” Daniel said through his teeth. 

“You don’t have a choice here.”

“Lizzie-”

“Daniel, you don’t have much time. If you get arrested, we can’t get married. Think about that, please. Just promise to write me and kiss me goodbye.”

Daniel pulled his mouth into a tight line in thought before he nodded once, “I will.”

He stood up, arranging his equipment on his uniform. Elizabeth smiled sadly at him, keeping her hand in his for as long as she could.

He leaned down, hesitating a moment as he looked at her, “I love you.”

“I love you too.” she smiled, welcoming his strong kiss as her hand squeezed his lovingly. He pulled back slowly, her free hand raising to caress his cheek, “You’ll be home before you know it.”

“I’ll write you every day.”

“Take good care of Zach.”

“Always do.” Daniel chuckled, stopping to kiss her once more.

He stood up, taking a moment to admire her, a frown on his lips as he brushed his left hand through her short blonde hair, still as soft as he always remembered it. Elizabeth brought his right hand to her lips and pressed a lingering kiss to his skin before sending him a warm smile.

“I love you.” she whispered.

“I love you.” Daniel couldn’t help but smile at her. He took a small step back, feeling her hand fall out of his as the distance grew between them.

“I’ll see you soon, darling.” Elizabeth called softly; their eyes locked as he backed slowly to the narrow aisle at the end of her bed. They paused a moment in perfect silence before Daniel dropped his eyes to the marble flooring and turned for the door without a look back. 

[mskathywriteswords]

Send the Love

Much thanks to @fangirlxwritesx67, @cracksinthewalls​, and @thoughtslikeaminefield for the pre-reading and pom pom shaking. Thank you, @thoughtslikeaminefield for the beautiful banner. You are my hero. 

Happy fucking birthday, @there-must-be-a-lock ! I hope the year ahead is your best yet, that you build unimaginable joy and happiness, and that you grow in amazing and unexpected ways. In the short time I’ve known you, you’ve taught me more than you realize. 

Written for Lou’s Happy Birthday challenge.

Warnings: naked ladies, women with egos, badass women who aren’t afraid of life or sex, and definitely smut. 

“I’m outta here, man. I’m gonna take a week off, party my ass off on a Thai beach. Jane, you should give it a shot,” Sabina said, grabbing the champagne bottle. “Beaches. Letting someone play with your … uh … *whistles*”

Sabina looked Jane up and down, not so subtly, wondering what being with her on a Thai beach would be like.

“I have fun in my own ways,” Jane said, annoyed.

“Ah. Cool. You sharpen your Samurai swords at night?” Sabina walked to the ledge of the building, buckling herself into the line. “Cosplay Catwoman? I’d actually pay to see that. Occasionally you eat gluten at night and feel a little--”

Without another thought and before Sabina could say one more irritating word, Jane pushed her off the ledge. 

“That was fun.”

Of course, Sabina was attached to the line off the helicopter, and they all made their way safely to the compound. Jane tried to keep Sabina from her mind, packing her suitcase and cursing what she’d said. How dare she imply Jane never had fun. She had plenty.

Granted, she’d never been on a Thai beach before, letting someone play with her … well … her anything. 

She did have a pocket of time before her next assignment. Hell, she didn’t even have a next assignment yet. She heard Sabina’s mocking words in her head again. 

Cosplay Catwoman? I’d actually pay to see that.

Jane went to her laptop and had Sabina’s cell number within a few keystrokes. She smirked as she pressed send on the message asking how much Sabina would pay to see the cosplay. Maybe one round-trip ticket to Thailand? 

Two could play at this game, although it wasn’t usually Jane’s style. She got what she needed outside of work, but there was something between them, even in the short time they’d worked together. Maybe they could scratch a mutual itch and be done with it. 

Sabina had been watching TikToks and guzzling caffeine as she sat on the floor at her gate. And laid down at her gate. And straddled the chair at her gate. She’d flirted with the bartender. She didn’t usually show up at the airport this far before a flight (in fact, she usually did a quick sprint to the gate at the last minute), but she was just fucking around at home anyway, so she decided to get there early. She smirked at the incoming text when her phone vibrated in her hands. Yeah, Jane, you know you want to go to Thailand with me, she thought as she typed her reply. She hoped Jane was serious; it gave her something else to think about while waiting for the flight -- all the things she wanted to do with and to her. 

flt @ 1900 - u show up, I buy

It was five PM, and Jane would normally start packing a few days before leaving for an international trip. 

Fuck it, she thought. She grabbed a backpack, a few pairs of underwear, some day clothes, her passport, then packed a toothbrush and toiletries. The rest she could figure out when she got there. 

The cab took forever to arrive, but Jane was at the airport faster than she thought she could be. She made her way to security and smiled when she saw Sabina sitting across the arms of a chair, laughing at something on her phone. 

There was something so charming, so attractive about the way Sabina was free with her emotions and body. Jane envied that. She’d never felt comfortable inside her own body for very long, and envied the way Sabina didn’t just tolerate being someone else, she embraced every part of it. She could be in a dress with heels one moment, and fighting to take down terrible men the next, morphing through the different personas and physical differences with ease.

Sabina took note of the polished toes wiggling in their flip flops in front of her, and looked up. 

“You’re not dressed for Thailand at all,” Sabina said, laughing as she stood up and took Jane’s hand in hers. The soft warmth was part of what Sabina loved so much about holding hands with a woman. She got distracted, thinking about other soft, warm things she loved about women.

Jane just looked down at her clothes and shrugged.

Sabina smirked. “Doesn’t matter, clothes aren’t a big part of my plans for the week.”

The women boarded the plane and, after over 24 hours including three stops of flying, and an hour long taxi ride, were not at their best. Well, Sabina was fine, Jane felt like she’d been run over by a truck. 

“How are you upright?” Jane asked, one eye closed and half-asleep.

Sabina shrugged. “Excitement, I guess.”

Jane leaned on Sabina’s clear knowledge of the area to guide them to their hotel. It helped that Sabina was fluent, and the closer they got to the hotel, the more people recognized her. There were fist bumps and head nods left and right. Jane felt a little bit on display with Sabina; Jane always wanted to blend in, and Sabina never wanted to stop standing out.

Thailand was like a second home for Sabina. She had her friends, some of her chosen family was on the island. She couldn’t wait to see her pups and splash in the ocean. Everything else melted away when she was there. She high-fived and hugged her way from the airport to the little house she owned.

“Should I ask how many women you’ve brought here?” Jane asked once they were behind the closed door of the bungalow, right over the water. 

Sabina shrugged and opened the back door, allowing the breeze to wash over them. Sex wasn’t always about love for her, and she saw no problems with that. She never misled women, or promised them things she wasn’t prepared to give. She suddenly realized as she touched her arm that she was filthy. She forgot just how miserable and grubby the long flight was when she didn’t fly first class, where she had plenty of room to sit and space to freshen up.

“I could use a good shower. You in?”

Jane looked at her shoes, covered in dust, and realized she felt the same way all over: dust, sweat, airplane. She tilted her head and answered Sabina by pulling her shirt off, walking toward what she hoped was the bathroom.

Sabina jumped and clapped once, stripping her clothes off much faster, and the two of them met again under the warm spray of water. 

“This is amazing,” Jane said, turning to let her hair fall back in the water and closing her eyes.

“You have no idea…” 

Jane popped an eye open and saw Sabina watching her. Her first instinct was to withdraw, pull in on herself and hide. She was exhausted and unsure of herself, an unfamiliar feeling. Instead, she laughed and went back to washing her hair. She wanted to enjoy the week as much as she could. She was trying something different, she reminded herself. 

“Tomorrow we can kayak,” Sabina said, wrapping her lips around Jane’s nipple. “Go hiking.” She moved her hand up to pull at the other; not hard, just enough. “Whatever we want.”

Sabina’s hand drifted over Jane’s body, down to the apex of her thighs, and she let the tips of her fingertips flutter over the thin skin there.

“We can order room service. Well, not really room service, but I know this guy…”

Before she could say more, Jane covered Sabina’s mouth with her own, pushing into her hard. It had been too long since she’d been naked with someone, and she really wanted to get clean and then find a flat surface to get lost in each other. 

Jane knew her first orgasm was going to be hard and fast as Sabina finally moved her fingers past the surface and pushed two inside of her. It had been so long, and she felt so good, getting wet and slippery with Sabina, all sexy confidence, swagger, and smirks, fuck.

Just as Sabina had imagined, Jane came almost silently. 

“We’re gonna work on that,” Sabina said quietly over the spray of the water. She couldn’t wait to see just how loud she could get Jane. The idea of spending hours naked, keeping Jane right on that cusp, fueled her and helped keep her wide awake.

Jane was exhausted, in every sense of the word. She wanted to keep going, to take her time and explore all the parts of Sabina she could find, but her body had other plans. 

Sabina was nothing if not observant. When the women had soaped up and rinsed, she turned the water off. In an uncharacteristically soft moment, she wrapped a towel around herself, then dried Jane off. 

“Come on,” she said with a smile, leading Jane to the huge bed. The four-poster bed had gauzy white curtains surrounding it, and Jane had probably never looked forward to a bed more, she realized as she flopped down.

She curled in and snuggled under the comforter even though it was a million degrees outside. Sabina smirked as she watched her fall asleep, then heard her start to softly snore. There were a few texts she needed to send, but Sabina curled behind Jane soon after. 

In the morning, Jane woke up tangled in blankets and Sabina. Jane’s long legs rubbed together, Sabina’s hands roaming everywhere they could reach.

“Good morning,” Jane said, finally making eye contact. 

“It’s about to be.”

Sabina’s voice was velvet gravel, deep and full of all the same lush longing Jane felt. Jane’s whole body felt heavy as she rolled and straddled Sabina. 

“Yeah?”

Sabina sat up, jostling and shifting both of them.

“Yeah.”

Jane was slightly stunned as Sabina put her hands on either side of Jane’s face and leaned in slowly. Jane had anticipated a week of fast, focused fucking. This was tender and soft, as Sabina’s mouth kissed around hers and plucked at her lips. Jane’s instinct was to take over and steer things to the point. She didn’t need this fluffy stuff.

She was pulled out of those thoughts as she felt Sabina’s tongue against hers, the soft exhale of both of them together. Everything was warm and tingly as their bodies pressed against each other. Suddenly, Jane needed to get closer. She leaned forward, then slid off Sabina and rolled, pulling her down on top of her. There was this thing women did, Jane had noticed, where they held themselves up in a different way than men above her. She didn’t want any of that, and although Sabina was tiny, she pulled her down against her. Their legs tangled, she needed the weight, the connection. 

Jane realized she’d been avoiding looking at her, really looking at Sabina’s eyes and letting her in. There was something vulnerable to her about that eye contact, she let people in deliberately, not recklessly. She hadn’t done the mental math on Sabina yet, wasn’t sure she wanted to go there.

Before she could give too much thought to it, Sabina had nestled in and was pushing against her. Jane moved her legs apart, welcoming in Sabina’s thigh, and pushed up against it. She needed that friction, that motion, hitting just the right spot. 

“Yeah?” Sabina breathed. 

Her eyes went so wide and child-like when she got excited about something, and it almost made Jane laugh. Surely this wasn’t a new experience for her, but there was a thrill at finding a spot of pleasure.

Jane went with it, closing her eyes and opening her mouth. 

“Just like that.”

It didn’t take long before she was swearing, sweating, coming, grabbing at Sabina’s back (she was definitely going to leave a few marks), the sheets, anything she could reach. Still, the need only built instead of diminished. She tugged at Sabina, pulling her up until she was where Jane wanted. They exchanged a quick smirk before Jane’s mouth was busy, Sabina’s eyes closed. 

Jane pushed up, mouth against flesh as she watched the way Sabina’s whole body reacted to her tongue flicking across Sabina with exacting precision. Jane didn’t waste time and Sabina didn’t hold back, pushing her body against Jane’s mouth as she made more noise than Jane had ever made naked in her life. Sabina’s hands went into Jane’s hair, guiding and squeezing, pulling, demanding.

“Oh fuck.” 

Jane shifted her body, seeking friction as she watched and felt Sabina coming. Jane moved a hand up, fingertips pulling at Sabina’s nipple, wondering how many orgasms she could coax out of the other woman from this angle. 

The number turned out to be three, before Sabina’s thighs were trembling.

“Honestly, we could do this all day. Fuck kayaking.” Sabina said, reaching down to run her fingers through the start of Jane’s hair. “But I’m not going to be able to hold myself up much longer and I don’t particularly want to suffocate you.” 

Every bone in Sabina’s body felt like jelly, and she lost all confidence in her ability to hold herself up, even with the help of the bed. She moved, slinking down Jane’s body with as much contact as possible, and rolled to her back, The two of them laid side-by-side, catching their breath and letting the moment soak in. Jane could hear the ocean and was suddenly reminded that she’d left her life behind for a week, on a whim. She laughed, rolling to her side to look at Sabina. 

“I’m starving.”

Sabina smirked and lifted her eyebrows. 

“No, like, for real food.”

“Oh, well, I had some breakfast brought over earlier,” Sabina said, half shrugging.

Jane sat up. “What? How?” 

“I have friends here.” 

They got out of bed and neither bothered with clothes as they walked into the other room. There was a giant spread of food -- “breakfast” didn’t seem to really cover it. 

“I wasn’t sure what you liked, so… “ Sabina said, shoving a piece of bacon in her mouth.

After they’d filled their plates, they climbed back into bed and planned the day ahead. They decided to go on a hike and swim in a waterfall, even though neither had brought proper hiking boots. Jane was glad she’d packed her favorite bikini, but not nearly as glad as Sabina. 

“Stop,” Sabina said. “You can’t just… you have to wear something over that, yeah? How do you expect me to keep my mind on anything but you, naked?”

Jane laughed. She knew she was beautiful, but the common connection between them went beyond that. She hoped Sabina felt it, too.

Outside, there was a car waiting, driver and all. And several dogs.

“How is there… Who?”

Sabina managed the dogs jumping on her, petting them and giving them love. “That’s Arthit. You met him yesterday, but you were pretty tired. And these are my babies.”

Jane bent down to pet as many dogs as she could, while trying to not get knocked over. Sabina stood up and stretched in the sun briefly, then motioned for Jane to get in the car. The drive was full of distraction - the area around them was stunningly beautiful, and Jane found the way Sabina looked at her, the small touches they shared, intoxicating to the point of dizziness. 

It was a relief to be out of the car, even if the humidity made the air more like chewing than breathing. 

Jane had no idea what was ahead of her for the week, but as she watched Sabina speed ahead on the trail toward the water, tossing clothes off as she went, she knew it would be fun.

[prorevenge]

Don't screw with the crew!

Back in the early 90s, I got a gig working as a front-of-house sound engineer on a major 10-day music and arts festival in London’s Docklands with some fifteen stages dotted all around the waterfront. All of the crew working the stages were either experienced theatre techs, and/or had loads of experience working major outside events, which is the reason we were hired. As an aside, this festival was to celebrate the culmination of a massive investment in the redevelopment of this area of East London, itself the former site of one of the largest dock complexes in the world.

I was tasked with running FOH sound on one of the largest stages. Normally, events like this are loads of fun to work but within two days it became apparent that the organisers had 1), no idea of how to run major outside events and 2), had not the faintest idea of how to book acts and schedule same. In particular, we also had to contend with some woman from Docklands' middle management team who had been given the job of "overseeing" our particular stage, a person who not only had rapidly proved to be totally ignorant of any aspect of managing outside events, but also someone for whom the word "entitled" had been invented.

Our stage was licensed to run events from midday until 10:00pm but we rarely had a full day’s-worth of events for punters to enjoy, due to the aforementioned incompetence with booking. Still, not our problem—we'll just work with what’s given us.

On the Thursday, we had scheduled an evening of old-time Victorian music hall which featured, as a special guest, a very famous film and TV actress. Her performance rider required a grand piano. For some unfathomable reason (and again due to the incompetence of the organisers), the piano—a full-size Yamaha concert grand—arrived from the hire company on the Tuesday. This was a remarkably stupid idea for any number of reasons: due to operational considerations, we had to store the piano in the backstage area where it spent two days suffering in the heat of the day despite our best efforts to shield it.

As any piano technician/tuner will tell you, this is An Extremely Bad Idea, especially with an instrument worth close to £100,000. Almost as bad was the fact that our area was little more than a roughly-graded building site: the ground was covered in hard-core rubble fragments around the size of hen’s eggs (very uncomfortable to walk around on, even with proper work boots), which also kicked up loads of dust and other detritus—not the sort of crap you want floating about gumming up the works of a very expensive concert grand!

Now let me properly set the scene: it’s mid-summer, very hot, and our venue is a large circus-style tent with around 800-seat capacity. The cast of the show, along with our august star, were due to turn up at around 1:00pm to conduct a production rehearsal so we could sort out sound and lighting cues for the show.

The main cast duly turn up on time, and we start sorting out their technical requirements (pretty simple and nothing that we’re not used to). At about 1:30pm, our star turns up sporting dark glasses and an immaculate couture. As anyone who’s worked in this industry knows, the initial interaction with a major A-list star vis-à-vis their technical requirements can go one of two ways: full-monty diva, or let’s go with what we have.

Her first demand was that the piano be dropped off the front of the stage so that she could maintain an eye-line whilst standing right downstage, both with her pianist and with the audience. The stage was about 4.5 feet above ground level and would have required at least eight burly lads to safely shift a full-size concert grand off the deck. Also not a good idea since it had been tuned that morning and moving it would have almost certainly caused the tuning to go out of whack.

I delicately pointed out that doing so would be in direct violation of both health and safety, and fire regulations—as per our written policy—as it would have put the piano in both the fire lane and close to one of the primary emergency exits from the venue. Thinking rapidly, I then suggested that we place the piano as far downstage as physically possible, and that she page herself three or four feet upstage so that she could still glance over and take cues from her MD whilst still “taking in” the audience.

The tension was palpable: after a few seconds consideration she replied, “No problem, I can work with that.” Phew!! No sooner than this crisis had been averted than the Docklands rep rocked up. I remind you, gentle reader, that this person had absolutely zero knowledge about how to run an outside event.

She had also been a major thorn in our side for the previous week, trying to micro-manage proceedings in the venue in order to big herself up in front of her bosses: we, of course, completely ignored her “suggestions” but in such a way as made her think she was in charge—trust me, she wasn’t! She had also been inexcusably rude to virtually every single member of the crew from Day One, and had over the days previous reduced several of them to tears. Production crews don’t take kindly to our own being treated in such a cavalier fashion, and while we’re generally fairly thick-skinned, there comes point where we want to get our own back. Believe me, after a week of constant abuse, we were coming up with creative ways of disposing of the body.

Although we didn’t realise I at the time, our saviour was at hand…but I digress…

Obviously star-struck, she announced in gushing tones that she would be taking personal charge of our star’s every need and that we were not to concern ourselves with that aspect: indeed, we were to “keep our place” as we were only the hired help. Our stage manager, who was at that time sweeping the stage, bridled at the suggestion and made as if to use his broom to beat the brains out of this woman. I had to step in front of him as unobtrusively as possible and stop him from burying the woman right there and then—“she ain’t worth it, mate.”

She then swanned off, leaving our star slack-jawed in amazement. She then turned to me and said, “Is that fucking woman for real?” I replied: “Darling, you have NO idea!”, at which point she laughed uproariously. I gave our star a brief summary of the previous few days' farrago and instantly, she became one of us and from then on we were all on first-name terms.

We then ran a full tech rehearsal from 3:00pm to 5:00pm, sorted out all our cues and then repaired to the beer tent with the cast for a spot of late lunch and a drink or two.

The show was scheduled to kick off at 7:30pm. At around 6:00pm, The Harridan reappeared to overlook the situation. She noticed that we had all the sides of the tent raised in order to get some air flowing through—remember it’s mid-summer and it’s currently low to mid 80s. She then demanded that all of the tent flaps be lowered because she wanted a more “theatre” atmosphere and the light spilling through the side walls would spoil the effect. Despite pointing out that dropping the tent sides would significantly raise the temperature in the venue, she demanded the sides be dropped, so despite our earnest advice to the contrary, we reluctantly complied.

At around 7:00pm, we saw eight 50-seat coaches arrive. To our amazement, out from the coaches came an entire flotilla of old-age pensioners, many on Zimmer frames, who proceeded to shuffle their way into the tent across the hard-core rubble underfoot. We discovered later that the organisers had forgotten to advertise the event anywhere (seriously??) and in desperation, had gone around to all the local Darby & Joan clubs a couple of days before handing out free tickets and laying on transport in order to have an audience.

So now we have 400-odd OAPs frantically fanning themselves with anything to hand as the temperature climbs ever higher. We start the show: everything’s going fine but the mercury in the thermometer I have strapped to the FOH rack is slowly going up and up: it’s so hot up at the sound desk that I’m down to my shorts!

By the end of Act 1, the temperature has gotten up to around 94°F and one could clearly see the old dears are in a bit of distress. Naturally, the organisers had neglected to provide water for the public, and judging by the horrified expressions of the two St John’s Ambulance first-aiders stationed either side of the stage, things were about to get a lot worse. I climbed off the tower, found the rigging crew and ordered the sides of the tent raised. No sooner had I done so than “our friend” standing nearby demanded that the sides stay down because "she was in charge" and "...her instructions were to be followed absolutely, no questions!"

It was at this juncture that diplomacy went completely out of the window. I informed her in no uncertain terms (and employing a fair amount of Anglo-Saxon vernacular) that it was in fact the crew who had the responsibility of ensuring the health and safety of all the people in the venue, not her, and that we have the legal authority to enact ANY procedure that we see fit at ANY time to ensure the safety and well-being of everyone present. I then informed her that I was now exercising my authority under The Health & Safety at Work Act 1974 to remediate the situation, and that if she made one single attempt to circumvent that authority, I would have her ejected from the venue without hesitation. She then got in my face and screamed, “I’M IN CHARGE!”. No strike one, no strike two, instant strike three!

I glanced over at two of our security crew who had been hovering in the background with huge shit-eating grins on their faces, who then stepped up either side of her. Defeated, but complaining like a banshee with a terminal case of haemorrhoids, she was escorted off the premises in short order.

By the time Act 2 kicked off, we’d gotten the temperature down to a more manageable low 70ºF, much to the appreciation of our audience, and the rest of the show went off without a hitch.

After the show, cast and crew—including our august star—repaired to the bar for a well-earned drink. Moments later, you-know-who appeared and in imperious tones informed us that our star was to be the guest of honour at a VIP reception for the various Docklands' bigwigs. With a tinge of regret for having our fun curtailed prematurely, we said our goodbyes to our star.

Now it gets interesting!

Not ten minutes later, she storms back into the beer tent with a face like absolute thunder. Taken somewhat aback by her reappearance, we enquired as to why she had returned.

“That fucking woman! She drags me off to this so-called ‘VIP party’: I get there and all that’s there are two fucking plates of curled-up ham sandwiches and two fucking boxes of cheap wine from Sainsburys! How the holy fuck did she get this job?

“I gave her a right bloody earful and came back here because I’d much rather drink with you guys!”

At which point she calls the barman over and orders a round for the entire crew. We spend the rest of the evening chatting away like old friends: she regaled us with stories of her life, and she was gracious enough to listen to some of ours. Despite us trying to buy her a drink, she refused point-blank and picked up the entire bar tab for the rest of the evening on the basis that “…you’ve had to put up with that fucking evil bitch all week: the least I can do get you folks a drink!”

All good things must come to an end and at the end of the evening, her chauffeur turns up to take her home. She embraces all of us as old friends: she hugs me, plants a big kiss on my lips and thanks me, whereupon I comment, “you have just fulfilled a boyhood dream!” Again, that uproarious laugh! She looks at me and says, “Don’t let that fucking bitch get you down! Leave it to me…”

I later discovered through the back-channels some weeks later that our bête-noir had been fired from her five-figure job for her monstrous screw-up, primarily because our star’s agent had ripped the organisers a new one in very short order; you do NOT fuck with someone of our star’s track record without there being consequences. So, although we were not directly responsible for The Harridan’s demise, we were gratified to have someone of our star’s calibre standing up for us.

Revenge is a dish best served cold!

Edit: corrected °C for °F.

(source) story by (/u/GhostOfSorabji)

[lubdubsworld]

A change of heart.  ( Kim Taehyung x OC)

[ Summary : 

Times are changing. 

After years of being oppressed, werewolves are taking a stand against humans , demanding equal rights and fair treatment. Heading the movement is Kim Taehyung, the breathtaking heir to the Kim fortune and one of the few remaining Alpha werewolves in the country. His disdain for the human race is well known and well warranted. They killed his family after all..... 

He wants to change the world , to put humans in their place but when his five year old daughter takes a shine to their very human neighbor , maybe he has to start with a change of heart , first.  ]

Pairing : Taehyung x OC

Genre : Romance, Explicit Content. 

Warnings : None. ( Some mild violence but mostly off screen ) 

Chapter 1

“.... however, the question of whether weres should be offered equal opportunity in fields such as construction and those including manual labour and access to possibly dangerous machinery is still a matter of hot debate , taking into consideration their superior physical strength and general lack of self control....”

“Rae, be careful!!” 

The warning came a bit too late and I felt the sharp sting of hot coffee on my palm, yelping as I tried to right the cup that I’d accidentally knocked over.

Park Jimin, the barista , gave me a long suffering look of disappointment.

“That’s the third one this week.” He said , staring balefully at the spilled liquid , now making its way across the polished mahogany surface. I flushed, flailing to grab a few tissues off the counter and soaking up the worst of the mess.

“I’m sorry... I've just been a little distracted.” I muttered under my breath, thankful that the place wasn’t too crowded . it was still pretty early, and the morning crowd was just starting to trickle in, most of the people looking worn out and despondent after a week of working. Outside , the rain lashed the concrete , loud and unrelenting. 

Thankfully it was a Friday. A long weekend curled in bed with a steaming mug of hot chocolate was the only thing I had to look forward to. 

He hummed.

"Is this about the custody hearing?” He said gently and i sighed , trying not to give in to the sinking feeling of desolation.

“it’s a lost cause, I’m afraid.” i whispered. “ My sister is definitely unfit to be a parent and her husband is rich and powerful. There’s no way we’re winning this.” I shrugged. 

Jimin gave me a sympathetic smile.

“I hope the weather lets up.” i said softly, staring out the embossed windows. Before Jimin could reply, someone cleared their throat behind me. 

I turned around, blinking when I found myself face to face with a starched collar and perfectly knotted tie. I looked up in surprise, feeling my heart jump into my throat when I saw who it was. 

The man was almost painfully good looking, his eyes glowing red with unsaid annoyance and his lips pursed impatiently. 

“if you’re done, there are others waiting to get their coffee.” The werewolf said sternly, voice deep and rumbling. I flinched and nodded,  moving to get my new cup and almost spilling it again. i could almost hear a faint growl behind me and I glanced back again, throat dry. 

He was staring right at me, eyes still glowing alpha red and eyebrows raised in a ‘why-aren’t-you-out-of-my-sight-yet’ , kind of gesture. I almost let out a strangled meep  and quickly paid for the spilled drink and its replacement, suppressing the instinct to bare my neck and run .

 I’d heard about how werewolves could intimidate just by existing, but I’d never experienced it so strongly or at such close quarters. He looked beautiful but deadly, his sharp features intimidating and his towering height only making me shrink in further. 

“I’ll see you around then Rae.” Jimin looked amused as he watched me fumble with my bag, my purse and the change. I shoved everything into one of the bags and stepped away from the line. 

“Thank you.” Taehyugn said primly, before reaching for a menu card. 

I swallowed, nodding quickly and shooting Jimin a smile before scrambling away.

 i couldn’t resist looking back though, as soon as i reached the door.

What was someone as exquisite as Kim Taehyung doing in a place as plain and drab as this coffee shop?

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

“Are you sure you didn’t just mistake him for someone else?” my brother sounded bored as he listened to my rambling rant on the exciting encounter i’d had with Kim Taehyung. 

I rolled my eyes rather impressively, a gesture that was wasted, seeing as Yugyeom was a whole country away and although we were on skype, he wasn’t even looking at me, his gaze fixed on his phone where he was no doubt seducing some poor unsuspecting coed via lurid text messages. 

“I don’t see how anyone could mistake Kim Taehyung for someone else I mean...that face is a one in a billion kind of face. Us mere mortals, do not encounter beauty like that on a daily basis...” I said sharply.

Yugyeom chuckled.

“He’s running for the cabinet this term, for the ministry of Supernatural Affairs. I think he’s trying to build a presence ahead of the campaign.”

I hummed thoughtfully.

“Well, I hope he gets it . He seems like a nice guy.” I said, glancing at the clock. 

It was a little past four and the last ferry to the Preserve left at 7.00 PM. I wasn’t sure if I could take the bus to the docks, but a taxi just seemed like a bit too expensive. 

“Spoken like a true naive fool.” Yugyeom scoffed. “ Taehyung has every intention of banning humans from the Preserve. You will literally lose your job if he wins.” 

i blinked back at my brother, who had abandoned his phone and was now staring at me.

“What?”

Yugyeom shrugged. 

“Kim Taehyung believes that humans are the problem and co-existence isn’t the solution. He thinks there needs to be isolation and werewolves need to have their own space.”

I hesitated, not sure what to say. 

“Well, i’m sure he doesn’t hate all humans.” i said weakly. 

3000 miles away someone knocked on my brother’s door.

“i gotta go...You heading back to the preserve tonight?” He asked curiously and i nodded.

“I’m supposed to be reporting at the research center later.”

“Be safe.” He smiled and i waved , before ending the call.

His words stung a bit.

Did Taehyung really want humans out of the preserve?

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Apparently, he did. 

“i’m sorry.?” 

“There’s a tentative stay order on allowing non-supernaturals on the official ferry . There was an incident last week with some guy pulling a knife on a were. We’re trying to work with the authorities but tensions are running a bit high...” The woman at the ticket counter gave me a sympathetic smiles, eyes flashing blue.

“You don’t understand , i need to be there tonight and-”

“I’m sure us wolves can survive a few weeks without your help Ms Yoon.” A voice said right behind me and I stiffened. 

Park Seo Joon was the biggest thorn on my side and I couldn’t escape him, apparently. 

But this time, he wasn’t alone.

Standing next to him, tall and strapping was Kim Taehyung, dressed in what looked like a way too expensive Burberry coat. 

i swallowed.

“I work for the government.” i said stiffly.” this isn’t a pleasure trip. I’m supposed to be submitting a medical report on a strain of influenza that even your superior immunity isn’t keeping away.” 

Seo Joon rolled his eyes.

“you just love the idea of us being vulnerable, don’t you Rae? The thought of something killing us all off, definitely fills you humans with giddy joy...” He sneered.

Next to him , Taehyung chuckled.

I felt my hackles rise.

“We’re trying to help.... Most of the infected are young wolves. Seeing as you have a kid of your own, i would think you’d be a tad bit more sympathetic.” i snapped, before i could stop myself.

Taehyung froze, eyes going red as he scowled.

“What did you just say?” He said, voice quiet but shaking with fury. I resisted the urge to cower and raised my chin defiantly.

“You heard me.” My voice barely shook. 

Taehyung tilted his head, curious.

“Yoon Mi Rae. Aren’t you Yoon Jae hyun’s daughter?” He said thoughtfully.

I felt my heart leap at the connection. My adoptive father had been a sad, cruel son of a bitch and being associated with him had literally no benefit.

“He’s my father , yes.”

“Your father cut off funding to the preserve by twenty million dollars last year. infant mortality rate rose by 17 percent because we couldn’t afford quality healthcare.” He sneered. “ And you’re here acting like you or your kind give a damn about our health?” 

I glanced back at the counter, the woman who looked embarrassed as she pretended she wasn’t watching us. 

“Fine. So you’re saying i can’t get on that boat?” I bit my lips and Taehyung didn’t respond.

“i’m saying that even if you do get on, the security guy at the dock isn’t going to be letting you in.” Seo Joon shrugged. 

“Fine .” i said shortly, mind already racing with possibilities. There was a private ferry a few blocks away and it was generally unsavory and uncomfortable but there were seven seriously ill kids at the research center, and this report could be a step up in curing them. 

“Good Bye then.” I said sharply, turning on my heel and stalking away. 

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

After wandering around the dock for an hour or so, sticking to the shadows and hoping not to be caught,  i’d managed to hire an old, crumbling skiff with a tired looking werewolf helmsman. The man agreed to take me across the channel for a sum of money but warned me that there was a forecast of heavy rain and slightly turbulent seas. I didn’t protest, joining the half a dozen other passengers and climbing into the rickety old boat, trying not to flinch at the way the wood groaned and protested the added weight. 

This wasn’t a vacation. i had a job to do. 

What I hadn’t expected , as i stepped out of the boat three and a half hours later , soaked to the bone from the endless rain and mildly terrified from all the leering and name calling  from the weres on board, was Kim Taehyung standing at the entrance to the dock , his eyes flashing with disbelief

Taehyung’s eyes narrowed.

“What on earth were you thinking?” He growled striding over to grab my arm, yanking so hard he nearly wrenched it out of its socket. i whimpered, clutching my bag tighter to my chest, scared of dropping it into the water as he bodily dragged me out of the boat and into the wooden platform  . 

Taehyung let me go but not before giving me a little shake of anger. 

“Don’t you know how dangerous it is to travel alone with unmated weres? Are you looking to get raped?” He snarled. I flushed, shaking my head and smoothing my crinkled blouse. 

“I have to give this report at the center.” i said through gritted teeth. There was going to be a nasty bruise on my arm. I wanted to rub the skin there but I didn’t want to draw attention to it. 

“You’re not even a doctor here. i checked.” He frowned and I swallowed.

“I’m a lab Tech in the mainland lab. I work on the preserve four days a week and then head to the mainland to analyse and compile the results. I left this morning and I’m supposed to report back by 9.00 “ 

It was already a little past 11.00 PM.

Taehyung growled.

“the security is still under lockdown and-”

“Daddy!!” A voice said out of nowhere and I peered over his shoulders.

A young girl, about 4 or five years old came hurtling across the slippery wooden planks of the platform, her arms thrown up and eyes wide with unshed tears. Taehyung’s face softened in a flash and he held his arms out quickly, crouching down to hug the girl as she crashed into his chest.

“Luna...what are you doing here?” He sounded confused as he glanced over at the gate, where a harried looking woman was stuffing her umbrella into it s cover, looking upset and angry. 

“Kim Luna, what have I told you about running on the streets!” She said shrilly and Luna groaned burrowing deeper into her fathers chest.

i stood there feeling ridiculously endeared by the whole scene. 

“She wouldn’t listen Mr. Kim... Apparently, you promised her you would be home before dinner and she refused to go to bed . My shift at the brewery starts in two hours, i need to head home.” The lady gave me a cursory glance but turned back to Taehyung. 

Taehyung sighed and straightened, his daughter wrapped around him as he reached for his wallet. He fumbled a bit , unable to balance the child  and said, “ Lulu, sweetheart could you get down for a minute so I can pay Ms. Lee?” 

Luna pulled away from his neck, suddenly staring right at me and holding her arms out. i stared, completely thrown, instinctively holding my hands out. She all but leapt into my arms, chubby arms and legs wrapping around me as she quickly buried her nose into my neck.

“you smell nice.” she sniffed some more. 

i stared, horrified, at Taehyung who looked like he’d been stuck by lightning.

“I...it’s alright.” My voice cracked a little. “ You can pay her.. and i’ll just....”  hold your beautiful baby daughter, oh my god, what is happening, right now?!!.

 Taehyung hastily pulled out his wallet, handing over money to Ms Lee who looked amused . Once she had left , Taehyung turned back to me but Luna kept her arms tight around me.

“Baby,  You need to let go..” Taehyung sounded a little strangled and Luna merely sniffled.

“No. She smells nice. She smells like mommy.” She said brightly.

i felt blood rush to my face, so fast that i almost felt dizzy. 

Something like pain flashed across Taehyung’s face and he bit his lips before reaching out and gently pulling her arms away from me. 

“Luna, you need to let her go now.” He said sternly and as if on command, the huge doe eyes filled with tears.

“Don’t you want me?” She cried out staring right at me and my heart lurched. 

“I’m.. No.. i mean yes.. I mean... You’re so beautiful...” i said helplessly. Luna frowned like she really didn’t care for the compliment.

“Whats your name?” She said sharply , refusing to stay in her father’s hold and climbing down to stand closer to me..

“Rae... My name’s Mirae.” I said softly. She gave me a small smile.

“Will you come play with me?” 

“Alright, Luna, that’s enough. She’s not like...” He glanced at me , his eyes hardening again. I realised what he wanted to say. She’s not like us. Meaning , not a were. i felt a shaft of pain at that . Did he think that just because i was a human, i would hurt his daughter?? 

 “ She’s from a different place. she has to go back tonight.” He finished.

Luna gave me a soft smile.  Then her eyes brightened up. 

“My mommy’s gone to another place too” She said cheerfully “  In the sky. She’s there with the angels...right daddy?? “ She glanced at Taehyung who looked stunned. “ Are you going there too? Do you know her??” She asked eagerly.

Okay, this was just too much of emotion for a day, i thought miserably , as tears prickled before i could even control myself.

“No, sweetheart. I don’t know your mother. But i’m sure she was a lovely lady, seeing as she made someone as lovely as you.” i lightly booped her nose. Apparently, that was the right thing to say, because she giggled happily, smiling shyly and hiding behind her father’s legs. 

“It’s getting late. We should leave.” Taehyung said softly and his voice cracked a little. i didn’t look at him.

“You should finish whatever you came here for and talk to your superiors about transferring out of your job. There are qualified weres here on the island who could replace you. “ Taehyung said stiffly. “ You should go back to your family.” 

i didn’t argue, merely nodding and staring at Luna. She really was beautiful, wide eyed and happy, with bouncy brown curls and soulful honey eyes. 

And Taehyung was wrong. i din’t have a family to go back to. I was an orphan and my adoptive father had long disowned me. My brother was 3000 miles away and my apartment in Seoul was going to be renovated next week. i’d hoped to move into the Preserve permanently, because at the least I had friends here.

But apparently, Kim Taehyung with his myriad of political connections wasn’t feeling generous enough to let me make a home for myself. 

I glanced back up at him and he looked away, refusing to meet my eyes. Luna made a move to move closer to me but he held her back.  

“Good night Mirae ssi.” He said stiffly, pulling her up into his arms and walking away quickly. 

Luna waved cheerfully over her father’s shoulders, even blowing me a kiss with her chubby little fists. i stared after the pair till they disappeared around the corner. 

Suddenly, everything seemed way too gloomy. My wet , dripping clothes. The gentle wind that was starting to pick up. I sighed deeply, the cold seeping into my bones as i trudged wearily to the gateway. 

I had a job to do. Those kids needed me. 

[clansayeed]

Bound by Destiny ― Chapter 3: The Evidence

PAIRING: Kamilah Sayeed x MC (Nadya Al Jamil) RATING: Mature

⥼ MASTERLIST ⥽

⥼ Bound by Destiny ⥽

Nadya Al Jamil (MC) has been struggling from the day she moved to Manhattan, but her new job as assistant to the mysterious CEO of Raines Corp was supposed to turn her luck around. Until she finds herself caught in the middle of a war involving the Council of Vampires who secretly run the city. An evil from the birth of Vampire-kind stirs beneath, feeding on the conflict, and finds Nadya bound to a destiny she never asked for.

Bound by Destiny and the rest of the Oblivion Bound series is an ongoing dramatic retelling project of the Bloodbound series and spin-off, Nightbound. Find out more [HERE].

⥼ Chapter Summary ⥽

Everyone said nothing good would ever come of falling into an online video rabbit hole. Unfortunately for Nadya they were right.

[READ IT ON AO3]

She doesn’t see hide nor hair of Katherine in the days following the Gallery, and can’t help but suspect that’s kind of the point. Adrian doesn’t mention her name, her presence, or the fact that he essentially ditched Nadya at an event full of strangers to conclude whatever business he and Kamilah had with her.

He does make it up to his secretary just as he said. When he picks her up Monday evening there’s a sample box of gourmet cronuts from a news-featured local bakery with a reservation line as long as the one to get a photo on the bridge where King Anton proposed to Princess Caoimhe. Before she can message Adrian what he wants for dinner on Wednesday there’s an email from security downstairs about a food delivery — which just so happens to be from one of the best Brazilian steakhouses in the city. And just when she doesn’t think he could be any more impressive (or desperate for forgiveness) he sends her off Friday near-dawn with front-row tickets for her and Lily to Saturday’s evening performance of On Summit Blackspine.

“No — nope, no freakin’ way.”

With his hands in his pockets Adrian is like a wall of generosity. He simply won’t take it back. “I insist. You two were looking at tickets anyway, right?”

“Well, yeah,” she splutters, acts like she has no idea how to hold two small pieces of paper, “but we were looking at tickets, like, a year from now, and… way way up in the nosebleeds!”

Adrian completely disregards her protests; even when they start to venture into ‘why were you listening to my lunch break phone call’ territory. He doesn’t seem somber — like he’s genuinely repaying some sort of debt — at all. In fact she’s never seen anyone look so excited about something they won’t be partaking in.

He joins her in the elevator ride down but doesn’t have any of his usual things. He’s staying late but won’t hear a word of her offering to keep him company.

Before the revolving door separates them Nadya plucks up her courage and turns on her heel to look Adrian in the eyes. He startles back, but his composure is never more than a hair’s breadth away.

“You know you don’t have to do anything, right?” It’s as sincere as she can make it; any more emotion between them and she might as well be bawling into his tie.

“What do you mean?”

She groans in protest. “Adrian, you know exactly what I mean. All this stuff —” her gesture is open, vague, but he’s a smart guy, “— and whatever you have in mind about making it up to me. You don’t have to do any of it. Please tell me you understand that. I mean it. I need to hear you, like, verbally say it.”

He laughs in that familiar kind way of his; even puts on a squared jaw and teasingly stern frown when she swats his arm.

“I understand, Nadya, I do. But I can’t help it. I left you on your own most of the night, and didn’t even tell you when I was leaving. Just let me do this, please?”

Eventually his kicked-puppy eyes break her resolve, but only just. “Fine. But this is it, Raines. No more apology gifts.”

“Alright, alright! No more. Though returning the Maserati might be an issue…”

Nadya’s heart falls into the pit of her stomach. “The wha —” But Adrian’s awful at hiding his smile, even worse at hiding the shit-eating grin it grows into, and though he could probably dead-lift her without a second thought she hopes the numerous smacks she wails on his arms do some kind of damage.

He waves her off, calls out “Tell me all about it Monday!” and she’s the one left watching him retreat back into the building.

While riding the subway Nadya’s thoughts wander — and not for the first time either — to whether or not other Manhattan secretaries had such eccentric bosses. Doubtful.

There isn’t time the next night to think about Adrian’s oddities — all thanks to Lily. If she spent the whole evening worrying about work and why her boss was so nice it was a guarantee that her roommate would use any physical force necessary to snap her out of it.

“I can’t believe you had all day to catch up and you spent it rewatching AME!”

While they certainly aren’t dressed up to rival those she’d seen at the Gallery, Nadya and Lily are still the best-dressed things to grace the subway in a long time. Nadya had been ready to call a rideshare until Lily so graciously reminded her how expensive drinks and snacks were likely to be at the show — and they already had subway passes.

“The stage show debuted last year,” Nadya argues defensively, “it’s not like they’re gonna edit the script for every new episode that airs.”

“You don’t know that.”

“I’m pretty sure.”

They compare notes of knowledge and trade fan-theories on the ride; every time Lily riles herself up over the book plots Nadya has to pat her shoulder and remind her to use her subway voice. It may have been way too much for Adrian to spend on someone who managed his datebook but she couldn’t deny how much she missed hanging out with her best friend.

“Check it out,” Lily whispers in her ear, and Nadya turns her attention away from the seating chart above the door to the sight of Lily’s dress shirt unbuttoned and spread Superman-style; revealing her collector’s edition The Crown and the Flame book-cover tee; a memory from their first Christmas together.

It sends them both into fits of giggles — the attendees around them may be averse to laughter and joy but they certainly were not. The doors open soon after and they take their seats — smack dab in the middle of the front row.

The lights dim, the curtains part, and all the reviews Nadya read about how ‘difficult and underwhelming it was to bring something filmed on-location and with tons of CGI to the stage’ can go shove it because the Five Kingdoms are beautiful.

Lily steals her phone Monday afternoon for a quick text. Nadya doesn’t think much of it — they’ve lived together long enough with little boundary — until she’s about to go down and wait for Adrian on the curb but instead he’s blocking her path in the doorway.

“Uh…?” The confusion doesn’t last long — not when Lily practically assaults Adrian with one of her signature bone-crushing, spine-deforming, lung-shrinking hugs. She praises a litany of gracious thanks so fast she’s out of breath before Nadya can pull her off.

To Adrian’s credit he’s not phased in the slightest — back again with that silly grin. “Well that solves my mystery,” presenting his phone screen to them both, “because when I saw how the text was signed I thought you confused me for someone else.”

When she takes the phone and spots the ‘xoxo’ signed at the bottom of Lily’s request for Adrian to meet her at the door, Nadya’s cheeks burn scarlet.

“I’m gonna kill you.”

“I figured.” Though Lily doesn’t seem ashamed in the slightest. “I just wanted to thank him in person. I had the chance, so I took it.”

“I take it that means the show lived up to the hype?” Adrian looks between them eagerly; and even Nadya relents and nods.

“It was amazing.”

“They had a full. sized. dragon puppet. Of course it was amazing!”

They’re running an hour late — Adrian insists it wasn’t any trouble but when Lily’s highlights became ‘recounting the show scene-for-scene’ Nadya had to get them out — but even the CEO’s reassurance falters when the elevator door opens to Nicole standing tersely in front of his office door.

All these months and she still doesn’t understand the dynamic between Nicole and Adrian. He’s her boss, both their boss, yet sometimes it feels like Nicole is the one ordering him around, keeping him on task — a feeling curiously accompanied by her presence in the general vicinity.

Today is no different. Her frown turns into barely-expressed rage as she looks between them. If she held her files any tighter there might be nail-shaped punctures in the paper.

“You’re late.” Nicole gives a terse click of her tongue and strides between them — parts them physically — towards the waiting elevator.

Adrian glances at his watch. “Not by much. It’s not as though Lester is clamoring to see me.”

“A certain degree of professionalism is required when handling… delicate matters such as these.”

While they argue, Nadya starts slowly inching towards her desk. Tries to make as little noise as possible as she lowers her purse down and starts taking out her work. Either it works or she’s suddenly magic because they continue to bicker on as though they’re alone up in his office.

“I don’t know anyone in the world who would call Lester Castellanos delicate, Nicole.”

The elevator door tries to close behind her but her heel wedges in the gap and forces it open. It feels like a metaphor to Nadya.

“You know very well that’s not what I mean.”

Adrian raises an eyebrow. “Then what do you mean?”

There’s no questioning the spiteful look Nicole flashes behind him. Gaze pinned straight on Nadya with a crinkle in her otherwise perfect mask of stone-cold witch.

“Not here. Downstairs.”

She’s a little more than half surprised that Adrian doesn’t pull the cinematic-cliche ‘anything you need to say, you can say in front of Nadya’ line. But it wasn’t a full surprise — there were just some things she wasn’t privy to yet. The fact that she knew as much as she did with less than a year under her belt was astonishing to say the least.

Instead, Adrian casts half a look over his shoulder. His eyes not quite meeting hers.

“Very well.”

Then they’re both standing in the elevator — Nadya watching it close from the other side.

It’s either a trick of the LEDs or Adrian looks apologetic before the door shuts with a soft ding.

Lunch — the midnight version of it — rolls around and Nadya tries not to seem so obvious in how she sneaks glances at the lift. Hoping, willing it to open. It’s almost maddening. Almost; until she replays the pair’s confrontation for the umpteenth time in her head and catches something she missed before.

Her fingers fly across her keyboard; pb&j abandoned in front of her.

Lester. She knows that name; can still hear it in Adrian’s voice clear as day.

“What have you contributed, Lester?”

The browser isn’t even finished loading her results when the unease settles in. What was once a tightly-wound ball of panic that kept her from even looking in Adrian’s direction had dulled, yes, but somehow that just made things worse. There had been a chunk of time in which she really considered Adrian might be involved with killers; or that he may very well be one himself. His charm wasn’t the only thing that disarmed her — because Adrian’s charm didn’t have the same luster it did when she first started working for him.

Nadya remembers the smile he gave her as he reassured Nadya over her interview jitters. It was something easy, practiced. It was easier to fake something around someone you didn’t know — that’s how she’s lied her way through the confidence to report directly to such an important member of the industry. Now — things changed; well hadn’t they? From daily drives to silly quips hiding behind a chocolate fountain. They’d grown close.

Somehow she hopes that means it’s harder for him to lie to her. It’s certainly harder for her to see him as a murderer. Kamilah Sayeed, on the other hand…

Lester Castellanos looks exactly like a man named Lester. Either his mother was psychic or he decided to grow into a name that oozed lecherous intent. Right off the bat a few clicks here and there on her screen outline his meat-packing company (along with several FDA violations and one unionizing strike three years ago) and how his ‘father’ ran it before he took over after Y2K. Only there aren’t any photos of Mister Castellanos with his father… or without him, actually. Plenty of local news rags have snapshots of him with a pretty (paid) girl on each arm; coming out of a Lacroix spring debut, donating to Senator Vega’s reelection campaign, having some small branch of the Metropolitan Museum of Art named after him for his generosity.

Nadya’s so close to giving up — to associating Adrian and Lester as businessmen of the same tycoon-ishness — when a grainy streaming rabbit hole catches her eye. Not that she’d ever admit she was looking so intently but that maroon pantsuit? Hard not to recognize.

Probably doesn’t help that she’s had more than a few dreams about it…

It’s been ages since she’s watched anything that wasn’t taken on some form of camera phone. But the date stamp in the corner and the slight lag between audio and visual definitely mark this as a remnant of the bygone VHS-era. Probably when Lester was inducted in as CEO of his company.

There. She spends what feels like hours pausing, rewinding, dragging the player to a specific spot and having to time her two-fingered assault on the keyboard just so but the victory is sweeter than she could have imagined.

Behind Lester’s flouncy gestures for some speech about bringing ‘old industry’ back to Manhattan — the flicker of maroon. And beside Kamilah’s pixelated waves of dark hair stands a figure two heads taller and with cheekbones definitely made to exist in the time of high-definition photography; distinctive even from a distance.

Adrian’s grainy figure leans down and whispers something in Kamilah’s distorted confidence. Maybe she laughs; maybe she frowns. She doesn’t look away from Lester’s speech.

And in the corner: [03 JULY, 2001]

An uncharacteristic calm falls over her. Maybe she’s done enough freaking out for the day — or over Adrian Raines, for that matter — and she’s numb to new information. She deletes her browser history — doesn’t think it’ll do much good if anyone really wanted to see what she was looking at — and clocks back in. Loses herself in the work. For once in Nadya’s life the mindless, soul-sucking tedium of an office job is a good thing. Doesn’t really need much brain power, makes it so she doesn’t pay attention when the lift door dings and Adrian returns from his meeting with a slump in his shoulders.

That is until he looks over her shoulder.

“You’re already working on the MacCombe spreads?” He sounds surprised.

“I finished all those return calls—here —” she hands him three neon-pink post-its with different names and dates scribbled on them, “— don’t worry about memorizing them; I’ve updated your datebook with the appointments. Though this one, Volenti, is a lunch at some rooftop Italian place, so I’d avoid the morning coffee.”

She expects him to pay it all little mind. After all, this is what he’s paying her for: clerical nonsense, not to be his friend and a pesky detective on the side.

But Adrian’s all about subverting expectations; plucks the note from her fingers and frowns at the time.

“I can’t make it that day. I’m booked up all afternoon.”

Nadya quickly pulls up both his digital datebook and brushes aside an open folder to the desk calendar she has color-coded to the nines. Even Adrian’s eyes widen at the sheer mess of her incoherent organization.

“Uh, no you’re not?” Which isn’t so much questioning her boss as questioning her own appointment-making skills.

“I am. Tell Mrs. Volenti she’ll need to change it to a dinner reservation.”

“Well maybe we can squeeze—”

“Nadya.”

She looks at his face for the first time since he returned. When Adrian realized ‘professional personal space’ wasn’t really her forte — a habit picked up from living in close quarters with Lily, no doubt — he started testing his own waters until it wasn’t uncommon for both of them to just reach over one another without a second thought.

He takes up that personal bubble, now; towers over her in a way that makes Nadya shrink back in her chair slightly.

She’s never heard that sort of tone from him before. Harsh, cold, almost mean. Nadya shivers.

The hard look in Adrian’s eyes softens instantly. His tone stays firm.

“Change it to a dinner reservation. And book me up for office calls that day.” Then, as if their friendship is an afterthought; “Thank you.”

His office door closes behind him absolutely silent — she can just imagine him being as delicate as possible with the creaky old wood.

Nadya takes a few minutes to collect herself in her personal bathroom. She emerges, still counting down from one hundred, and grabs the note with Volenti’s number to reschedule.

“BOOM! HEADSHOT!”

Nadya looks down at her pint of ice cream with a grimace. No matter what the commercials said, they were liars: lactose-free ice cream was a crime against humanity.

“Did you see that? I’m pretty sure I couldn’t replicate that move if I tried.” Lily talks half to herself half to her one-person audience as she studies the controller in her hands. She brings it close and strokes her thumb over the joystick.

“Tell me your secrets… please?”

The controller vibrates — makes Lily scream in response. Then a horde of zombies swarms in on her character on the television screen and she scrambles to return to diligent gamer-mode.

Maybe time passes, or maybe Lily suddenly has the ability to teleport. Both options are equally likely as one minute Nadya successfully tunes out the groaning roar of digital catastrophe and the next Lily’s plucking the barren spoon from dangling awkwardly in her mouth.

“Hello? Ground control to Al Jamil; can you read me, Al Jamil?”

It takes Nadya a moment to blink away a sluggishness she didn’t know she had.

“You say something, Lil’?”

“I mean,” she seriously thinks it over, “nothing more than my usual gaming banter — which is still worthy of an epic quote-book. How was your trip to Planet of the Mush-Brains?”

Crouched in front of Nadya’s armchair, Lily steals a bite of melty ice cream — cringes at the lie that is ‘lactose-free’ maple pecan but forces herself to swallow it.

There’s a quip about the squishy mess that would be planet Mush-Brain on the tip of Nadya’s tongue. Instead she looks down at her half-reflection in her roommate’s smudged glasses and erupts in gooseflesh.

“Can I ask you something weird?”

“Weird on a scale of…?”

“Weird.” Nadya confirms. Lily grins.

“You fuckin’ bet.”

There’s a pause where she breathes in deep, tries to process the words about to come out of her mouth, and she goes for it.

“Do you believe in vampires?”

They’ve lived together long enough now to go through all the theories, discussions, and conversations generally reserved for the butt-crack of dawn or when midnight seems to stretch on forever. They’ve bought matching sleeping bags and sometimes have camping nights in the living room (though Lily is forever banned from buying candles — because sometimes ‘the aesthetic’ just isn’t worth possibly burning down an entire apartment building); laid head-meet-toes for hours and talked about the things that made them who they were; what they dreamed about, their genie wishes, and the things unproven that they still believed in anyway.

Vampires included.

Lily props her chin on Nadya’s knee and blinks slowly. She reminds Nadya of a cat sometimes.

“Sure,” she shrugs, “I guess. Are you talking about that video that went viral about that Norwegian metal band that said they drink each other’s blood before gigs?”

Nadya blanches. Some things should just never be said with a straight face. “No! What?! Who—where do you find these things?”

"The internet.”

“Right — I mean — no. Not Norwegians. Like… actual vampires.”

It’s stupid; ludicrous even. It’s not something she’s even going to go through the process of explaining out loud because some things even Lily might find absolutely bonkers. And she once went on a date with a Flat-Earther.

Maybe her roommate’s actually taking her seriously because she takes a long pause before answering.

“Sure, I guess. Depends on what kind.”

“What do you mean?”

“Well, what lore are we talking? And also, is this a sleeping bag situation?”

Nadya wants to say yes. She wants them to push the coffee table aside and lay down together so she can vent every crazy idea she’s processing — and then some. But the room looks lighter than it did a few minutes ago and when she glances at the stove clock her heart sinks. 06:08 glaring at her in bright ugly red. Lily ‘Freakin’ Superhuman’ Spencer is no stranger to pulling all-nighters before work but Nadya has a feeling if she unloads now it might tempt her roomie to call out to stay by her side.

And while the company would be nice there was one thing she liked just a little bit more: being able to make rent.

“Nah,” she’s not convincing anyone, least of all her best friend, when she waves it off and jostles Lily onto her rear end by standing, “I was just thinking weird things.”

But now Lily’s caught the scent. Leans in sans personal-bubble as Nadya puts the melted ice cream away.

“What kinda weird things? When did you start thinking them? Who made you think weird things?”

“It’s nothing, Lil’.”

“Obviously not.”

“And you’re suddenly Sherlock Holmes…?”

“I talked to my controller, Nadi’. And you didn’t stop me.”

“Well as long as you weren’t tonguing the joystick.”

“Ew,” Lily recoils, “you know I don’t do sticks. Stop changing the subject!”

But it was just enough to get Nadya time to slip out from under the gaze of nerd-glasses scrutiny; she’s already closing her bedroom door. Lily never could resist a lesbian quip.

“Good luck at work!” She calls, and leans against her door with a heavy sigh. Nothing’s stopping Lily from knocking until she answers, or more frighteningly; nothing’s stopping her from breaking into a rendition of the song from Frozen.

But Lily respects her space. She’s just crawled into bed when she hears a call of “See ya!” and the front door slamming shut.

She texts Adrian half an hour later calling in sick. She gets sick time, right? Of course he answers when she’s on the cusp of real sleep.

[TEXT]: Are you alright?? -Adrian

[TEXT]: yeah Lil gave me her cold. sorry. can I do it like this or do I have to call hr? [TEXT]: please don’t say I gotta call nicole

[TEXT]: No this is fine. I’m sure I can survive one day. -Adrian [TEXT]: Actually take a long weekend. See you Monday. Feel better.

It’s more than she asked for so why does something uncomfortable settle in her gut? She stares at the text chain, squints until her eyes begin to blur the words, and then it hits her.

No ‘Sincerely, Adrian.’ Whatever he’s doing this early (which, honestly she’s surprised since everyone has to sleep sometime but not him, apparently) has him occupied enough not to be, well, himself. And there’s a part of Nadya that feels like if she sends him a message asking about it he might very well respond. Her fingers hover over the buttons on screen long enough for her hand to prickle with pins and needles.

She turns off the ringer, tucks the device under her pillow, and forces herself to sleep.

They are grown-ups, thank you very much. They have grown-up jobs and grown-up bills and grown-up credit cards and checking accounts and monthly interest fees. And while most of grown-up life sucked a big one, having jobs that only operated during the business week was a small perk in a sea of ‘wait, I didn’t ask for this.’

Lily doesn’t bring up the ‘V’ word all weekend. They aren’t best friends for nothing — Nadya’s way ahead of her and knows when the questions itch on the tip of her tongue. Doesn’t help that Lily’s magically, totally spontaneously decided to bring out her old copy of ‘Blood Suckers 3: Fast-Forward’ to brush up on her apparently rusty vampire-cyborg slaying abilities.

With a grocery-store pizza crisping in the oven and the tinny sounds of the cybernetically-enhanced undead wailing their deaths throughout the entire apartment things feel… normal. They feel like they used to. Before Adrian, before Raines Corp., before her internet browsing history was shamefully filled with the beginnings of research into the possibility that the creepy spookies might be legit.

There’s only one job that has followed the pair of them into grown-up life: knowing how to take care of each other. They were a bit rusty — but still got the stuff.

Lily’s eyes are glued to the screen, thumbs twitching on the joystick and slamming into buttons because hitting them harder made the little in-game avatar attack faster—obviously. Nadya can’t stop watching in amusement as she scoots, inch by inch, towards the edge of the couch in anticipation for this level’s boss battle.

“Die cyborg scum! For a third and final time!”

Any harder and she might actually break the triangle button. But Nadya doesn’t get time to warn her — not with the sudden shrill screech of the smoke detector.

“The pizza!” She’s up in a flash — yanks the pie way from the heat where it falls lamely on the floor and spews blackened bits all over the tile. The alarm chirps on out of spite.

Nadya waves a dish towel at the collecting smoke — god she really loves Lily to death but the fact that she’s the only one picking herself up to do anything is frustrating to say the least.

“Lil’! Open the windows! Please?!”

It’s enough to pull her roommate out of the distant and horrible year of 5048; then a mad dash to unlatch the fire escape window. Winter forces in like that time Lily thought they could rent out their couch space to gap-year European students. She’s chilly but effective in sucking the smoky air outside. Snowflakes flutter in but vanish on contact with the decades-old carpeting.

Above them; the sudden THUD THUD THU-UD of unfortunately all-too-familiar workboots. Then a shrill voice cuts through the aged plaster holding their building together by a thread.

“What’s that awful noise?! Marty, stop stomping you fucking idiot! I’m tryna watch my show here!”

“It’s those dykes downstairs!” Marty’s delightful holler suddenly grows sharp — echoes from his open window to theirs, “CUT THAT SHIT OUT! You ain’t takin’ us to Hell with you!”

Like a holy sign the detector ceases; angry red blinking slowing down into green, false-alarm peace.

Lily glares at the white plastic in contempt. “Rude neighbors I can live with — but a homophobic smoke detector? Nu-uh. Where’s my bat?”

While Nadya tries to dissuade her from beating them into a replacement fine Marty resumes his best lumberjack impression above them. The hazards of living somewhere with rent security.

The bat may have just been a comic-con prop but there’s nothing comical about the slew of rusty nails sticking out of the business end at odd angles. It takes a solid chunk of time to talk her down, talk her into unleashing her aggression back on Lestat-meets-the-Terminator.

After a bit of sleuthing — and with pizza crust char smeared on her cheek — Nadya holds out the culprit with all the conviction Law and Order could teach: a chunk of the plastic wrapping melted into a gloss on top of a pepperoni.

“I’ll have to call the store in the morning.”

Lily snarls at her game with new vigor. “Why?”

“Because — we caught it. What if there’s a bad batch?”

“I mean, maybe. But you don’t know that.”

“Neither do they unless I say something.”

“So…” Hunger stakes both Lily and her boss battle; ‘PAUSED’ flashing on the screen in bright blocky letters while Lily pushes up her glasses, “no pizza?”

The air hurts her face. Why did she willingly choose to live in a place where the air hurts her face?

There’s definitely an open pizza joint a few blocks over — you don’t have enough money to geomap the entire world and lie about late-night pizza — but not only are people like Nadya one of the reasons food delivery services were invented, she’s just not as familiar with her neighborhood as she once was. At the moment she blames Adrian for that.

“Stupid ritzy lunch deliveries,” she mutters, keeps her lips moving and tries not to lick them and ohp—there it goes, now her lips feel like she’s well on her way to frostbite, “stupid fancy dinner hotels, stupid employee-only rooftop restaurant, stupid DiGeronimo’s plastic-riddled pizzas of death.”

She’s glad there’s no one around to listen to her muttered tirade. Some things a woman just has to complain about alone.

“Why am I the one out here anyway?” she asks no one in particular — the snowflakes picking up speed around her, maybe, “I can’t even eat the darn pizza! — Then again I was totally gonna eat the pizza. Hey, universe, if you’re listening, I was gonna eat the pizza. I was gonna be punished enough. So like… let up on the ice age, will ya?”

The universe doesn’t let up on the ice age. If anything it feels like the snow drift is picking up speed. Flakes turn to fat droplets on her glasses that distort the world around her. Cupping her hands over her mouth does no good — can’t exactly see with fog over her lenses.

Huddled under the drooping awning of a closed bodega, her shaking hands fumble around for her phone and the map. “Nooo… how did I end up on the wrong side of the friggin’ park?!”

Lily will wait for her cheesy delight, she decides — kicks the sticky snow from her boots and trudges across the street towards the park entrance, she will wait until I’ve regained feeling in all ten fingers and all ten toes and not a minute before.

It’s all very Every Crime Serial Ever. Literally, Nadya swears she’s seen at least a dozen winter-themed episodes start with a young woman taking a shortcut in a dark park. But there’s more on the line than empty stomachs and another night of instant ramen now. Now; it’s a point of pride. It’s about making it out into the storm and returning, victorious, from the highest peak with tales of wonder and mystery.

So she keeps to the snowed-over pathways even when the cold wet starts to seep into her thick fuzzy socks — keeps under the glow of lamp posts the city abandoned a long time ago where she can find them. Distracts herself with thoughts of delicious melty cheese and sneaking a few mushrooms onto Lily’s side before she gets back to the apartment — and wonders if the delivery driver might take pity on her poor frozen soul and drive her back to her block rather than making her return with a pizza-sicle.

That’s the problem with expecting something bad to happen, though. When you expect it you do everything in your power to not think about it — to not run around freaking out over every fallen leaf and garbage-diving raccoon. There’s definitely a difference between using smart caution and just straight up stamping down every bad feeling rolling around in your gut.

Nadya, unfortunately, is prone to the latter. Years of jeers and teasing and being called irrational will do their damage eventually — and for her they come together as the knowledge that she shouldn’t be doing what she’s doing but not enough wisdom to turn back.

There’s a loud crash. Nadya screams loud enough to warm up her insides. Her keys held tightly between each knuckle in self-defense on one hand and phone ready to emergency dial with the other. Fear creeps in at the edges of her vision; makes the darkness outside the safety of the lamp’s light appear alive, undulating, thriving off her terror.

In the dark void between one lamppost and the next a hollow metal creaking grows closer—closer—closer—and she’ll never tell a living soul (that’s a lie, she’ll probably tell Lily when she stops having nightmares over this mess) but she might have accidentally unclenched her legs a little too quickly as an upended garbage can rolls a path through the fresh snow with the contents painting a trail behind.

I’m a good citizen, dang it, but I wanna keep my fingers. Because what horror movie starts with the victim being ripped to shreds while she’s saving the environment during a polar vortex?

The distant Lily-adjacent voice in the back of her head quips something like “holiday horror movies, duh!” but it’s too quiet — too soft over the sudden primal roar that carries on every gust of winter wind.

She’s cold. She’s afraid. There’s the strangest taste of almonds on the back of her tongue?

Then everything is warm and dark. She briefly considers crawling out of bed to have Lily remind her to pack a lunch in the morning.

Instead she welcomes sleep.

[hvckleberried]

yeah, he’s smoking inside. fucking sue him. miles leans back against the countertop and watches these idiots actually work. he takes a long drag. blinks. are you gonna, like, help at all, man? his exhale’s elongated; he watches his own breath fade into the rafters. 

“ oh, does this bother you ? ” he asks, feigning concern. even cocks his head to the side for good measure. he lifts the cigarette in question to confirm their distaste. the other boy nods. miles’s forefinger taps against the cig and flicks ash onto his stupid west ham high shirt. and there it is. the smirk.

 “ my. bad. ”  

or, alternatively : ‘tis i, linc, with *dj khaled voice* anotha one !!  greetings & salutations to huckleberry jeremiah vernon. call him MILES or he actually might kill you. 

[   m   i    l    e    s        v    e    r     n     o     n      ––    OPEN   FLAME .

✔  oc + wc┊❝ ( aria shahghasemi. he/him &. cismale ) eighteen year old huckleberry jeremiah vernon was listening to "paint it, black” by the rolling stones when the field trip buses turned around. rumor has it he spent two years in juvie & is the unbeknownst father of becca’s child, but who knows if that’s true? what we do know is that their friends describe them as alluring & deft, even if they’re known to be a little anarchic & noxious from time to time.

( &&. general information )

full name: huckleberry jeremiah miles vernon

nickname(s) or alias: miles, vernon, fuckleberry finn ( west ham football team, freshman year ), that asshole, the scary one, the kid ( his foster parents )

preferred name: miles. call him anything else and it’s your funeral, fuckface.

current age: eighteen

astrological sign: scorpio

gender: cismale

preferred pronouns: he/him

sexual preference: bisexual

romantic preference: biromantic

home environment: the kiersney household. a manor-like three-story at the edge of west ham’s easternmost woods. it looks like ikea ate pier 1 imports and fucking barfed up its bones the next day. statement walls. matching furniture. modern art on the walls. his foster parents have a motherfucking sculpture in the front foyer. it’s sickening. suburban. tame. tidy.

current occupation: student. delinquent.

language(s) spoken: english. i’ll-wring-your-neck-with-just-my-eyes. spanish, barely.

native language: english.

current relationship status: his knuckles kissing your face.

( &&. background )

reason behind name: huckleberry jeremiah vernon won his name in the lottery of misfortune: at least, that’s what his aunt used to say to the young boy. he doesn’t know a lot about his parents. enough to know they were royal fuck-ups, crackheads with nothing better to do than fuck and get high and have an accidental kid. they thought it’d be a hilarious form of payback: this monster takes nine months of their precious time, so they’d make his life hell. simple. so when his parents died when he was just an infant, his aunt had the opportunity to change his name. shift the tide. but she couldn’t bring herself to go against her dead sister’s wishes, however fucking twisted up she got because of her bad-news boyfriend. she took huckleberry in and insisted on calling him by his birth name until, at three years old, he was sent home from school with a drawing of his aunt with x’s for eyes. “ my auntie if she keeps saying it ”. from that day forward, he was jeremiah. then miles. only miles.

birth order:  first and only for his biological family. the second-youngest of his cousins, when he lived with his aunt. they had a massive falling out after he returned from juvie. she chucked him out like he was rotten meat. the oldest ( or perhaps same age ) as his current foster brother.

ethnicity: what’s it to you. iranian-american

nationality: american.

religion ( tw: death, acts of violence ): fuck that shit. there’s no god. if there were a god, it’d be fucking him. this wasn’t always miles’s view; it started when he was 4, and accidentally killed his aunt’s cat in front of his cousins. they always hit people when they were doing something wrong in cartons! the cat was trying to steal his cheese stick. so... he hit it with a book. his aunt she made him go to bible camp that summer, where he was vilified for his name. “huckleberry’s a dingleberry! hahaha! where’s tom sawyer, huh?” whatever god there was wouldn’t let him have this name. or this life. he wouldn’t have let his parents die: huckleberry would later find the news clipping. “ bronx couple found shot dead in stolen vehicle, ruled double-suicide. ”  religion’s the opiate of the masses. it’s how pansy people sleep at night. young huckleberry wasn’t allowed back at church after he dropped one of those big candles and watched the altar go up in flames. fine by him. he started playing with fire. messing with the wrong people. getting wrapped up in sketchy city boy shit. any shred of faith left in his body was torn away when he and his older buds planned to rob a bank: miles was 12; his cohorts ( ty & presley ) were 18. miles did most of the electronic work: hacking the cloud, derailing the security system. they stormed the fucking bank of america. one of them whipped out a gun. miles... stabbed somebody in the shoulder, to get them off of ty. he watched that security guard die, that day. but not before his bullet ripped through ty’s head. juvie happened. two years. aggravated manslaughter. he got off easy, as a minor. presley’s still behind bars. so, yeah. there’s no motherfuckin’ god out there. and if there is? he can kindly suck miles’s dick.

political views: politics. are. bullshit. go cry to somebody else about your opinions. there’s 7 fuckin’ billion people on this planet and you think your thoughts on zoning laws and gun control matter? cry him a fucking river.

financial status: he’s secure, because of his foster parents. he keeps testing ‘em, to see if they’ll fuckin’ send him back. broken merchandise; we want a refund. but they don’t, so he... just keeps taking. stealing money from their wallets. selling expensive shit from the house to buy good shit. pocket knives. lighters. alcohol. a gun. 

hometown: bronx, new york city, new york. now it’s west ham. fuck that.

level of education: high school junior. because of his time in juvie, he entered school in west ham as a freshman at 15. he’ll turn nineteen before his senior year. not that it matters. he’s already planning his escape. he’s lifted enough money to skip town soon, go back to new york. avenge ty’s death. he’s got the other security guard’s details, from that day. it pays to be skilled with a keyboard. he’s brilliant, when he wants to be. sharp-witted. his idea of a prank last year was sending an anonymous tip in to the school saying the whole place might blow. hacking the database to make it look like it was sent from a real address. he’s still surprised people aren’t more fucking grateful. he secured them a stupid day off. he’s also known to hack into the cloud to get test answers, and sell ‘em to people that don’t completely make him want to punch them.

( &&. physical appearance )

looks like (or face claim, if applicable): aria shahghasemi. he’s got these midnight black curls. piercing gray eyes. 

height: 5′10. but don’t let that get your guard down.

figure/build:  lean and muscular. won’t be caught dead in west ham’s stupid gym, but he’s fit. his foster parents put in a whole boxing studio in their basement just for him. he’s been known to get into fights, throw punches. it was their way to kind of, like... get his anger out. joke’s on them; he’s not giving it up. that shit’s his. 

hair colour: black.

hair length: mid-length. curly, so it looks shorter than it actually is.

eye colour:  gray.

glasses?:  no. just shades.

skin tone: olive. smooth.

tattoos:  he got one in juvie, on the side of his right wrist. a cross. makes him laugh. irony. he’s in the process of self-tattooing fuck between his left forefinger and thumb, but only the jagged f is there right now. it’s a process. he can’t stomach the needle.

piercings: one diamond stud in his left ear. it’s about the side of a pencil eraser. stolen.

birthmarks/scars/distinguishing marks: a few faded cross-hatches near his hairline, from fights that resulted in stitches. a six-inch line across his chest. knife. a few patches of scar tissue from burns on his palms. all juvie.

dominant hand: left-handed. you can tell because that’s the hand he always uses to flick his lighter on and off, on and off. he’s always playing with that damned thing.

if painted, what color are their nails?: who do you think he is, fuckin’ bowie? jesus.

usual style of clothing: black on black on black. did i mention black? black t-shirts, leather jackets, denim jackets, dark jeans, boots. wouldn’t be caught dead in fuckin’ sneakers. failed gym because he wasn’t about to put on dowdy shorts and t-shirts just to run around a glorified prison for 30 minutes every day. oh, there’s a pep rally? we’re supposed to wear centurion colors? fuck you.

frequently worn jewelry:  he wears a thin gold chain around his neck every day. sometimes he’s got rings.

describe their voice, what accent?:  his voice is very punchy, low. cat-like. glimmers of some new york peppered in here and there.

what is their speaking style (fast, monotone, loquacious)?:  clipped. acidic.

describe their scent: amber. tobacco. smoky.

describe their posture:  he stands tall, defiant, aloof. chin always tipped up in the face of oncoming threats. his whole body’s a proverbial middle finger to the world: yeah, i’m here. bite me.

( &&. legal information )

any speeding tickets?:  yep. went 80 in a 25 zone.

have they ever been arrested?:  yes. at this point, the west ham police force is really tired of his shit.

do they have a criminal record?:  absolutely. various misdemeanors. cybercrimes. property damage, breaking & entering. shoplifting. aggravated assault. 

have they committed any violent crimes?:  hAs He CoMiTtEd AnY vIoLeNt cRiMeS ??? ( he’s laughing. )

property crimes?: affirmative.

traffic crimes?: should be the least of your concern.

other crimes?: don’t even get me started. the moral compass on this kid is... nonexistent. the answer to the world’s problems is fuck ‘em. anarchy.

( &&. medical information )

blood type: o negative.

date/time of birth: december 3rd. 3:32am. witching hour. ha.

place of birth: shitty hole-in-the-wall crackhouse. his parents dropped him at his aunt’s before freewheeling.

vaginal birth or cesauren section?: vaginal birth.

sex: male.

smoker? / drinker? / drug user?:  yes / yes / yes. what can he say? he’s an equal-opportunity employer.

allergies: grizz visser. fuckin’ ass. nosy people. pop music.

ever broken a bone?: his nose in second grade: the other kid got it worse. his hand in fifth grade. worth it. couple ribs in juvie. his arm, when he was a baby. his parents wanted to see if gravity was, like. real.

any physical ailments/illnesses/disabilities: nah. not that he’d tell you anyway.

any medication regularly taken: nyquil, sometimes. helps him sleep.

( &&. personality )

direct quote from them:  *blinks at you like you’re speaking swahili* 

positive traits: alluring, deft, crafty with computers. sly.

negative traits: anarchic, acerbic, explosive. heedless. noxious. 

likes: the flick of the flame. beat poetry. darkroom photography. scared glances. messing with the system. sidestepping boundaries. wintergreen lifesavers. blueberry slushies. ac/dc, the stones, lynyrd skynyrd, sting, the offspring, kansas. buttered toast. milk duds. history. cigarettes: he’s always got one tucked behind his ear.

dislikes: fucking football team. working on yearbook ( detention punishment ). catch him taking photos of those morons with his middle finger in frame. his roots. his aunt, for casting him out. his foster family, for giving him so many chances. he doesn’t deserve them. his name. bright sunlight, hurts his eyes. pistachios. remembering. weak alcohol. fraternizing with the idiots of west ham.

strengths: he’ll figure out your nervous ticks within two minutes of talking to you. he can go hours watching someone ramble and not say a thing, and not break his expression. making others feel small. digging his fingers into your dirt. finding back doors, loopholes, and getting through cybersecurity like a hot knife through butter. baking – but tell anybody and he’ll end you. tying cherry stems with his tongue. making sense of ginsberg. remembering stupid historical facts. pope gregory ix executed cats and that allowed rats to spread the bubonic plague in masses. still fuckin’ like your religion, asshole?

weaknesses: vengeful. his definition of justice is very much based in vigilante action; an eye for an eye. he’s got an aloof disposition, but his past wounds are still seething. empathy. expressing emotions other than anger. patience. impulse control. he can’t hide that you’re pissing him the hell off. swears in front of kids, often. probably slept with your aunt two towns over. can’t lose an argument, ever. even with authority figures.

insecurities:  what if he... caused ty’s death? what if that’s on him? is he worth shit? he’ll make himself worth something. he’ll get them back. all of ‘em. he’ll make ‘em pay.

fears/phobias:  hates needles. but fucks with ‘em anyway. fears oblivion, but puts up a front like he’s chill with it. fears he’ll never muster up... a purpose. or whatever the fuck people call it. fears this is all he’ll ever be: an eighteen-year-old fuckup with a record, hands that itch to fight, to crush, to destroy. 

habits:  playing with his lighter. chewing on toothpicks. popping milk duds like pills. glaring at everyone, no one, nothing. everything. laughing in the face of authority. making unprecedented digs at people, just because he can. propping his feet up on the desk in front of him when his teachers ask him to answer questions, twirling a pencil in his hands like he’s god. grabbing a slushie from 7/11 just to have something to do with his hands. messing with the popular kids’ social medias, just for fun. hacking the online lunch menu to see his classmates get fuckin’ pissed when mozzarella sticks are served on friday, not today, sorry. driving to neighboring towns’ parties and hooking up with chicks there. masquerading as a man with a reason. hitting up college parties often. lingering in shadow. living in gray areas. writing his own notes in the front of library books, on the title page, in sharpie. “ fuck you ten thousand ”  on the school’s copy of pride & prejudice. “ kindly die, thanks ” in gone with the wind. “ congrats, you’re literate ” in the front of catcher in the rye.

quirks: always sits in the back left corner of the room, near the window. he literally jumped out, sophomore year, when the school security officer tried to bust him for selling pills to a freshman in the hall earlier that day. popping his earbuds in during lectures. maintaining unbroken eye contact with teachers as he does so. getting ~very close~ and speaking ~very low~. purring threats. can never drink lightly. skipping school often, fabricating online attendance to avoid suspension. barely eating the food his foster parents prepare. leaving the table early, unexcused. digging into the leftovers after everyone’s gone to bed. severing ties. if he’s lucky, never makin’ ‘em in the first place. his new yorkisms come out when he’s drunk, or high, or tired.

hobbies: darkroom photography. reading poetry. burning shit. smoking. walking around the mini mart like he’s a hunter in the wild, just to make the clerks uncomfortable.   

guilty pleasure:  he listens to “lore” and “my favorite murder”. but he disguises that shit, saving the album covers of the podcasts as seether.

desires: to avenge ty’s death. get the fuck outta west ham. to find a reason to be here. a reason why.

wishes: his parents didn’t kill themselves. cowards. they deserved to deal with him. they deserved to be tortured, for doing this to him. he wishes he hadn’t pulled that knife on his aunt. then at least he’d still be in new york city, instead of here, with this stupid fuckin’ foster family that just won’t let him go.

secrets: killed a guy. the reason for his juvie sentence is redacted on his public record. he’s lonely, a lot of the time. and, oh yeah: he’s becca’s baby daddy.

turn ons:  no bullshit. sarcasm. intellect. no strings.

turn offs:  sentimentality. smileyness. too much perfume. caring.

lucky number: 1. he’s all he’s got.

pet peeves:  chewing gum: fucking pellegrino and his damned bubbles. bubbly people. cassandra pressman and the tree-sized stick up her ass. foot tapping. prying. school involvement. slow drivers. slow walkers. slow thinkers.

their motto:  “ fuck you very much. ”

( &&. favourites )

food: falafel. shut up.

drink: he brought vodka to school in a water bottle once. diet coke.

fast food restaurant:  wendy’s. he likes the chocolate frosties.

flavour: chocolate. 

word: fuck. for a vast array of reasons.

colour:  black.

clothing: his most worn leather jacket. touch it and he’ll end you.

accessory: the gold chain ‘round his neck. it was ty’s.

candle scent: smoke. tobacco. whatever that shit is, patchouli.

game: fuck games. fuck fugitive. leave him alone.

animal:  he has such a soft spot for caterpillars.

holiday: christmas. he likes baking shit. but if that ever gets out, he’ll flip.

weather: pouring rain, with patches of sun in between. it’s rare, but damn. it’s kind of beautiful.

season: summer. fast drives, windows down. no school. no bullshit.

book: on the road, jack kerouac.

artist: aerosmith.

band/group: ac/dc, kiss, guns ‘n roses, van halen, def leppard.

song: we’re not gonna take it, twisted sister.

movie/film:  star wars. fuck off, it’s good.

tv show:  history docs. he likes those decade pieces on the history channel.

sport: boxing.

possession:  his lighter.

number: 1.

person:  that’s the dumbest question he’s ever heard. himself. he’s lying.

( &&. skills )

talents: hacking. lying. breaking rules. testing limits. photography. playing people.

ability to drive a car?:  yes. recklessly.

can they ride a bike?:  yes, chooses not to.

do they play any sports?:  tonsil hockey. heartbreaking. boxing.

anything they’re bad at?:  empathizing. serenity.

do they have any combat training? why?:  yep. his friends in grade school. juvie.

( &&. firsts )

childhood memory: crushing a handful of cheerios in his tiny hands and feeling... powerful.

crush: ava watson. she said she liked his eyes.

email address: jinxyouoweme@aim.com

job: reception at a local gym in west ham. lasted a day; he punched a guy.

phone: flip-phone. now he’s got an iphone.

kiss: hanna parler. 6th grade. said she’d miss him before he left for juvie.

love:  HA. nice try, dick.

sexual experience: josie thwaites. 6th grade. they didn’t know what the fuck they were doing.

( &&. childhood )

best childhood memory?:  try again.

worst childhood memory?:  seeing ty’s eyes go dim.

what were they like as a child?:  angry. electric. not easily tamed.

any crushes growing up?:  some. he doesn’t do that now. crushing.

( &&. this or that )

expensive or inexpensive tastes?:  expensive.

hygienic or unhygienic?: hygienic.

open-minded or close-minded?: close-minded. his way or bust.

introvert or extrovert?: introvert. buzz off.

optimistic or pessimistic?: pessimistic. optimism’s dead.

daredevil or cautious?:  daredevil. caution’s an early grave.

logical or emotional?:  emotional.

generous or stingy?:  stingy.

polite or rude?:  rude. so rude.

book smart or street smart?:  both.

popular or loner?:  loner. notorious, though. everyone knows who he is. wonders what his deal is. he’s got this... dark magnetism. if you’re smart, you’ll stay away.

leader or follower?:  leader. follows his own path. likes disrupting order.

day or night person?:  night.

cat or dog person?:  cat. despite what his childhood mistakes might lead you to believe.

closet door open or closed while sleeping?:  open. come get him.

( &&. social media )

do they have a facebook? twitter? instagram? vine? snapchat? tinder/grindr? tumblr? youtube? yes to facebook and instagram. no twitter, no vine. has a snapchat, rarely uses it. yes to tinder.

if so; name on facebook: miles vernon.

instagram user: milesvernon.

snapchat user: milesvernon.

( &&. musical tastes )

theme song: paint it, black –– the rolling stones. 

makes them sad:  anything by the beatles. makes him think of his aunt’s apartment. and then he gets angry.

makes them dance:   nope. he wouldn’t be caught dead dancing in front of the likes of you. when he’s drunk, anything with a decent beat will make him sway his hips a little.

( &&. miscellaneous )

do they have a fake i.d.?:  hell yeah. a couple.

are they a virgin?:  ha. no.

describe their signature:  chaos. barely legible.

how long would they survive in a zombie apocalypse?:  he’d bite a zombie’s fuckin’ head off, if that answers your question.

do they travel?: nah.

one place they would like to live:  anywhere but here.

one place they would like to visit:  anywhere but here.

celebrity crush:  camila mendes. tell anybody and he’ll hunt you down.

what can you find in their pockets/wallet/purse: cigs. lighter. some form of tic tac. 

place(s) your character can always be found:  in the shadows. on rooftops. places he shouldn’t be.

when does your character like to wake up?:  7:03am. he doesn’t like rounded numbers.

how does your character spend their free days?:  reading. burning some stuff. driving out to other towns to do reckless shit.

what’s your character’s bedtime routine?:  read some poems. have a cigarette. knock out.

what does your character wear to bed?:  boxers, no shirt.

if your character can’t fall asleep, what are they thinking about?:  ty’s brains. that knife. juvie. getting back. making them pay.

what is their idea of perfect happiness?:  revenge.

on what occasions do they lie?:  on what occasions don’t they lie ?

most marked characteristic: his ghost-gray eyes. his smirk. his hair.

what is one thing they’d most like to change about themselves?:  only one?

how would they like to die?:  in a blaze of fucking glory.

do they snore? no.

can they curl their tongue?: yes.

can they whistle?:  yep. he likes doing that yoo-hoo kind of whistle. makes people uncomfortable.

do they believe in the supernatural?:  nope. bullshit.

has anyone ever broken their heart?:  no.

have they ever broken anyone’s heart?:  yes. on purpose.

are they squeamish?:  not at all.  

have they ever seen anyone die? what happened?:  see above: ty. that security guard. he’s sure they won’t be the last.

are they a lightweight?:  not at all.

[mackenzielass4ever]

Outlander Con Vegas part 1...

First of all, I want to say this was a well organized event and very low key, chill. I Loved it! The first day had some glitches with the autograph lines, but the staff corrected for this and it wasn’t a problem for the rest of the weekend. I also feel there were many more opportunities for personal interactions with the cast. I chatted with everyone I had a ticket for and there was no pressure to move along and leave people alone. I’ve never seen an OL event with so many cast members in attendance. I know many were upset with Sam’s inability to attend the Con, but Creation who put on the event, did a fabulous job of securing so many other actors for a one stop shopping kind of experience. I really appreciated this! I would absolutely go to another OL themed Con again if Creation was in charge.

Sophie Skelton: may I say this woman is the sweetest thing I’ve ever seen! She’s delicate and tiny like a flipping teacup fairy. It’s ridiculous! I appreciated a couple things about her. Firstly, she takes her role as Brianna very seriously. She knows what others have said about her and her performance and she takes it to heart. She actually apologized to fans for not meeting their expectations. We all quickly put that sentiment to rest for her! She appreciated the support and encouragement we gave her. Secondly, she took time to talk to each and every fan in her autograph line on Sunday and she was at the table for probably 3 hours. She was attentive, patient and such a friendly individual.

During her q&a session, she shared this:

The scene from the book where Jamie shows Brianna she can’t fight a man off if he means to physically overpower her is in the show as well. During the filming of this scene, Scotland was in the midst of a hailstorm. It was so cold and they were being pelted by hail to the point where she and Sam could’ve even deliver their lines. At one point, Sam said he couldn’t do it anymore because he was too cold. Sophie said Sam is usually a trooper, but this time he couldn’t hack it. After all this, they had to film the scene all over again.

In the infamous scene with Bri and Stephen Bonnet, you know the one, Sophie said she’d have a 4 am call to go to set and 3-4 days in a row she got up just to have the shoot cancelled due to the severe weather. Sophie had to study the subject and get in a dark head space in order to do that scene and it was hard to have wait in limbo all that time just to get it done. When the scene was over, she cried afterward.

Richard Rankin: this man is charming, cocky, irreverent, sexy as hell and hilariously funny! He had everyone cracking up all the time. He flew in Saturday late and stayed up all night to hang out and enjoy Vegas so he had NO sleep before he hit the ground running on Sunday. You’d never know it. The man never stopped. BTW, he went to the Beatles show, LOVE. He loved it. He also drank a lot and ate a huge stack of pancakes for breakfast. He was regretting those choices!

Richard and I discussed hair product. He is growing his hair out for season 5 and he let me know that he puts a little leave in conditioner when his hair is freshly washed. Light product to keep it on place and then he’s ready to go! I finally got to tell him I’ve loved his work for years and am so happy he’s Roger on OL.

This man was so accommodating to his fans. One woman wanted a photo op with him, but was in a wheelchair and couldn’t stand or walk well. He took the time to help her up, get posed just like she wanted then helped her back to her chair again. He was so careful and considerate. It made me tear up.

During his q&a, Stephen Walters was introducing him and Richard was standing off stage. They started improvising a bit where Stephen was channeling the spirits and Richard responded as a ghost. Richard kept saying, “is there anyone here in the audience with a name that starts with a B? This person would also have a grandmother.” Stephen couldn’t keep a straight face. Then Stephen read a poem to introduce Richard. He said, “ you really want me to do this?” Richard said, “yes, it’s in my contract. I must be introduced with poetry.” I’ve seen this bit on SM and if you get the chance, watch it. It’s hysterical! He finishes his set with an Irish jig!

[prorevenge]

I sent an Entitled Mother to the hospital.

I got a $25 giftcard from my mom to the local cinema, so my girlfriend and I decided to go see How to Train Your Dragon: Lost World. (HTTYD) For context, my girlfriend’s a petite beauty from Venezuela, so people sometimes mistake her for a child, but it’s usually very obvious that she’s an adult by the sound of her voice and the way she acts. It usually results in awkward or sometimes funny moments, but this was not one of those moments.

Anyways, we get to the theater without any problems and we patiently waited in line to purchase our movie tickets. We started talking about HTTYD and what dragons we would want to have. She loves Astrid’s dragon Stormfly because her favorite color’s blue and she likes it’s ability to shoot spikes. The way she marvels at everything we have here is so adorable, but I also understand that it’s because she, in her own words, “grew up with nothing.”

We get to the front of the line and I start purchasing our tickets. I feel a really thick finger tap me on the shoulder. Enter the entitled parent.

EM: “Hey, can you help me out?”

This lady’s tone instantly set off some red flags for me. People who are condescending and/or overly nice generally want something out of you.

Me: “With what?”

EM: “Well, I really wanna see that dragon movie with my little boy and we just don’t have enough money today.”

Her kid is completely silent and he looks like he’s 6-7 at the oldest. Unfortunately, me and my GF are both broke college kids, so we didn’t have too much money to spare.

Me: “We don’t have money to spare. Sorry. Maybe someone else can spare some change.” I thought that maybe that would get her to leave us alone but nope.

EM: “You have money! You’re using a gift card! You can just buy the tickets for you and the little girl with cash!”

Me to the employee while mentally facepalming: “Can you just take my card real quick, please?” She takes my gift card and swipes it.

EM: “Stop! He stole my gift card!”

I look at EM like she’s on drugs or something. The employee looks at the gift card, which has my name on it and my name is not a gender-neutral one or Karen.

Employee: “Ma’am, I’m sorry, this might just be a misunderstanding. His gift card does appear to have his name on it.”

EM: “I want to speak to your manager bitch! I can’t believe you would defend a thief! He just wrote his name on it!”

Employee: “Okay, please wait one second ma’am.” She was right in front of us for the entire exchange between us 3.

GF tugs on my sleeve: “Babe! What are they saying?” English is her second language, so she still has trouble understanding people sometimes. EM has a look of pure disgust on her face.

Me to GF: “Ella es lóco.”

EM: “WHAT!? I SHOULD’VE KNOWN THAT YOU’RE A FUCKING PEDOPHILE!” She was screaming loudly and people were starting to stare at us.

Me: “... What!?”

I was just shocked that she would say such a thing to my face. I guess she thought my GF was a child. I glance over at my GF, who is starting to look scared and confused. All she knows is that the physical embodiment of insanity is standing before us.

EM: “I WON’T GET YOUR ASS ARRESTED FOR RAPING THAT <slur for Mexicans> IF YOU JUST HAND OVER YOUR FUCKING GIFTCARD!”

Me: “No! Get out of our face!”

The kid hasn’t uttered a peep throughout this entire exchange yet, but he looks scared.

EM: “HOW FUCKING DARE YOU MAKE MY BABY CRY! (he wasn't) I’M MAKING SURE YOU GET ARRESTED AND TAKING YOUR GIFTCARD!”

She reaches for my gift card on the counter, but the lumbering land whale is too slow. She's screaming at me to hand over my gift card, but I refuse and play keep away. After what felt like a minute of her screaming at me and calling us both all sorts of racial slurs, she changes tactics: she grabs my GF.

EM: “I’M TAKING YOU AWAY FROM THIS RAPIST!” My GF’s eyes are wide. She struggles and lets out a blood-curdling scream.

Hearing that scream was all I needed to see red. I elbowed EM with all my might. She hit the ground hard. She was out cold with blood trickling out of her mouth.

Everyone in the vicinity went silent as EM continued to stiffly lay on the ground. Surprisingly, nobody tried to attack me afterwards. The employee was visibly shocked by what just happened. My GF was sitting on the ground, crying, but thankfully unharmed. I try to comfort her and EM’s kid started to cry too.

Security came a few moments later followed shortly by the manager. They're greeted by the scene of me kneeling on the ground next to my crying girlfriend, a little kid crying a few feet away next to his unconscious mother all surrounded by shocked onlookers. They immediately called an ambulance for EM. It’s clear that she’s badly injured.

The employee and I explain what happened. The other staff were thankfully nice and understanding and offered us free tickets, but we just took vouchers to another showing instead. My GF just wanted to go home. I felt bad for the kid after what he just witnessed. I gave him a candy bar I was saving for the movie, which seemed to help him relax a bit. I apologized for hurting his mom and told him that it’s wrong to hit people, but sometimes, you have to in order to protect the ones you like. I sincerely hope that he doesn’t grow up to be like his mother.

I’m not sure what happened to the kid. I gave a police statement later that night, which earned me the nickname as the “Elbow man” at the local department. My girlfriend does not want to press charges, and she’s firm on this.

I later found out exactly what happened to the EM. I knocked out 4 of her teeth, dislocated the left side of her jaw and gave her a concussion. She likely got the concussion from her impact with the ground.

TL;DR: Racist woman gets mad that I won’t give her money for movie tickets, then tries to use false accusations to steal my giftcard. Then when she grabs my girlfriend, I knock the EM out.

(source) story by (/u/Estrad7)

[mobileprolocksmith]

Access Control

Access control is a fancy sounding name for controlled and restricted access to an area. It’s mainly used in commercial, industrial and institutional settings like banks, call centers, government offices and research facilities but it can also be found in more everyday applications like jewelry stores, nursing homes, hotels and even movie theaters. Access control is a multi-billion dollar industry and it grows by leaps and bounds every year. After reading this, you’ll be able to spot access control in dozens of places you visit or see on television or in movies. These places include restaurants, electronics stores, banks, shopping malls, sporting events, water parks, amusement centers, national monuments and hundreds of other similar places where restricted access is not only optimal but vital.

Many forms of access control

Our Mobile Pro Locksmith LLC techs are access control specialists so we know and appreciate its many uses. Even if you don’t live here in the Virginia Beach, VA area, you can still appreciate and even use access control at your home or for your local business. Controlled access can be mechanical or implied. Go to any movie theater and see the roped off sections indicating where staff can go and customers can’t. These can also indicate which theater rooms are showing movies at the moment and which are not. The concession stand or ticket booth may or may not be roped off but even if they are not, the restricted access is certainly implied. Does implied access control work? For the most part; yes, it does. Does it force people to stay out of the areas? No, it doesn’t but the implication is certainly enough to keep the majority of people out from behind the ticket stand or the concession booth. Mechanical access control takes a harder line. By using locks, locking hardware and other physical items, mechanical access control can actually physically prevent a person from gaining access (for the most part!).

CCTV

Video surveillance is an affordable and very useful tool in access control. While security cameras themselves don’t keep people out of restricted areas, they can deter them by their very presence. Cameras and video recordings also give back up to other access control devices like keypads and badge readers. This is because number sequences and badges can be lost, copied or given out to wrong parties and with security tapes showing who entered a room or building and at what time, the security information becomes much more reliable. If an actual breach of security was committed or a crime occurred on the premises, the police and other investigative agencies can get access to the video tapes and images they produce. The use of security cameras is often instrumental in cutting down on the incidents of shoplifting, employee theft, vagrancy and trespassing.

Swipe car access

Swipe cards are most often used in commercial and institutional settings. Call centers, banks, savings and loans, credit unions, financial centers and more often used swipe cards not only for room and building access but for payroll purposes, as well. A card reader is used to recognize the swiped badge and time stamp when entry was made into an area. Contactless proximity cards and fob keys are other often used forms of access control and often they are used in conjunction with or in addition to swipe cards. Once any of these devices is used, the doors close and become locked again almost instantly until the next time a similar device is used. It should be worth noting that access control is not just for front and back door access; it can also serve to protect internal areas of a building as well. Internal doors leading to offices, conference rooms, storage areas, server rooms and security stations can all be secured with access control systems. These allow for restricted access and also prevent inventory loss or data breaches from unauthorized parties.

Car parking barriers

Access control is not just for inside a building – it can also be used effectively for parking lots and delivery areas leading up to a building. Good use of access control in the parking lot can deter unauthorized parties from gaining access to the building’s interior as they must first navigate the car park barriers. An example of this would be drivers presenting an ID badge or swipe card to a guard or card reader in order to get gate access into the parking lot itself. This often followed up with assigned parking for staff, management, visitors and vendors. These assigned parking spaces can be verified with a windshield or bumper sticker that can be easily and quickly noticed by security staff or cameras.

Biometrics

Biometric locks are also known as fingerprint locks. While they sound science fiction like, they are already in use in government and commercial facilities all over the globe and can even be found in some high end residential units. Apple I Phones often are equipped with thumbprint locks that must be correctly matched in order to unlock the phone for use. You can find fingerprint locks guarding wine cellars, jewelry cases, bank vaults, home safes, gun cabinets, and more. Similar to thumb and fingerprint lock technology is iris scanning which is also making great inroads in commercial and institutional use.

Other benefits of access control

There are so many additional benefits to access control. One of these is reduced cost of security. Instead of hiring a myriad of security guards to protect every part of a building or an area, access control systems can be an affordable and realistic alternative that can pay for itself in a very short time. Another cost savings item is less need to have locks rekeyed or replaced. If an employee quits or is fired and does not turn in keys, it is simpler and less costly to remove him from the system and not have to be bothered with altering locks or replacing keys. Also, public and private areas of a building can be simultaneously secured by access control which can prevent guests and visitors from accessing work areas or management offices.

[lastlycoris]

My first day of being a bona-fida resident doctor...

Well, I’m pretty sure it can’t get any worse from here.

So here I am, fresh out of medical school and both nervous and excited about officially starting my medical career. Sure, it could’ve been better if I didn’t start on the night shift and carrying a pager that’s began ringing before I even walked over to the hospital, but that’s hospital medicine for you. 

The day-time call senior and intern make their way to me, telling me that there’s no one on the Medicine service that’s crashing and to let the covering senior know. The call senior resident smiles and tells me to stop looking so nervous and that I’ll have a good night.

I probably should’ve suspected something then and there.

So I wait. And wait. And answer some of those burning pages that’ve already been sitting there for quite some time. I answered what I knew and deferred what I didn’t, telling them I’ll call them back once my senior arrived. 

By the time I answer back all my pages, it’s now been an hour and a half. My only support, the senior resident I’m assigned to, is nowhere to be found. Just me, the forty-four patients I’m assigned to cover, and an increasingly irritated emergency department trying to admit patients to the Internal Medicine service. 

Knowing I’m in over my head at this point, I immediately dial the number of my chief resident. And that’s when I discover that the senior who was supposed to be with me was one of several that left this hospital’s residency program last year; they just forgot to change the schedule to reflect that. 

In the midst of my chief’s apologies and assurances that she’ll get another resident over right away, the last words I ever wanted to hear rang overhead. 

“Code Blue. Code Blue in Room 1014.”

I immediately hang up and run up eight flights of stairs, all the way from the 2nd floor to the 10th. Gasping for air and probably looking like I need the hospital myself, I push the door open only to find a nurse performing CPR on a lady who probably lived during the times when that particular procedure was invented. (1911 for you history buffs). Now, the way the nurse performed CPR was textbook-perfect: she pressed exactly two inches deep, allowed the chest to fully recoil with each compression, and kept at a rate of nearly two per second. 

There was just one little problem.

The old lady wasn’t dead. 

I could see the lady’s hands weakly twitch towards the hands supposedly trying to save her life. Her eyes were moist with pained tears. If it weren’t for all the air being forced out of her chest, I’m pretty sure she would’ve been screaming. I would’ve been too if someone was snapping my ribs and squishing my organs like a farmer churning butter.   

...The family's naturally upset, yelling about what the hell the nurse’s doing while being forced out the room by Security following protocol for a Code Blue.  

I stare dumbfoundedly at the room before me, a bit at a loss: the family members screaming that the patient’s still alive, security forcing everyone non-essential out with loud voices and strong posturing, and the oblivious nurse continuing to perform CPR on a breathing, living patient. 

And then it hits me that I’m being stupid by staring like an idiot and doing nothing. 

My brand new white coat and nifty stethoscope are my ticket past security. And I quickly told the nurse to stop doing compressions. Only after calling out several times to no effect did I start physically pulling her away from the lady, and upon seeing her resist, I began to shake her in place, all the while telling her the woman was breathing and it was time to stop.

At that point, I had first-row seats to the encroaching horror dawning in the nurse’s eyes as she realized what she’d done in her fervor to help. She nearly dropped to the floor like dead weight and was only kept standing by me pulling her close at the last second.

So here I am, awkwardly hugging a nurse bawling into my shoulder and giving her gentle pats on the back. Pretty sure someone more experienced or less socially inept than I would be able to find something encouraging and inspiring to get her out of her funk. Sadly she was stuck with me and my pitiful repetition of “it’s okay, it’s okay.” 

Meanwhile family is yelling and screaming at the nurse. Security’s yelling and screaming for order. Some of the other night staff come by to watch the spectacle. Yet despite the cacophony, I could still hear my belief that I was ready for intern year shattering into tiny little pieces. 

In an attempt to get away from the downward spiral of my thoughts, I happened to glance over at the patient who became unnaturally still. A ten count of the patient’s chest not rising sets an alarm off in my head. And with a nurse still crying in my arms, I clumsily reach for the patient’s carotid artery and wait and wait and wait - perhaps for more seconds than was professionally required.

Nothing. 

Ignoring the introvert in me, I yell in as high as a pitch I can to get the attention of everyone around me. I balk for a moment as every pair of eyes fell upon me. With my fingers on the patient’s neck, I tell everyone with all the confidence that I could fake that there’s no pulse. 

Everything became a blur as I brought order to the room - as I ordered people to do the job they needed to do and told everyone else to get the hell out. I definitely wasn’t perfect, but I didn’t need to be. Everyone knew their job once assigned and even offered reminders when it was time to administer epinephrine or check the heart monitor. 

I watched with ice in my veins as minutes passed, and the flat line of the heart monitor tauntingly persisted in my view - asystole, no electrical activity in the heart - can’t shock a rhythm that isn’t there. With each failed round of compression and meds, I racked my brain for anything I’ve forgotten - any means to turn this around. 

And then I felt someone, an older nurse, suddenly shake my shoulder. He motioned over to the clock, now over a hour since we started, and mouthed quietly.

‘It’s time.’

My body shivered; it hit me what that first nurse must’ve felt like, finding a woman she thought to be dead and trying to save her life. I’m pretty sure I looked like a deer caught in headlights when I realized what I was being called upon to do. 

I request the nurse to perform a final pulse check, praying for a miracle.

But sometimes hope and dreams are left unfulfilled.  

I shut my eyes. 

“Time of death is 9:21 pm.”

The first death I ever had to deal with on my very first day of work with the very first patient I’ve made contact with as a medical resident. 

I can hear the yelling and screaming of the family outside, them accusing the staff of being murderers and monsters. I didn’t want to face them, and I slowly began to backpedal towards the corner of the room.

Back in medical school, it was always the resident who delivered the bad news, not the student. And then it dawned on me. I was the resident now. This was my responsibility.

The son and his wife and grandchildren began screaming and yelling as I stiffly brought myself over to them, heaping the same abuse as they gave everyone else. I stared at them straight in the eyes, seeing the understandable rage and pain in their gazes. I quietly but steadily apologized for not being able to get their grandmother back and offered my condolences for their loss. 

My words probably felt as empty as I imagined it would be for them, but they finally stopped yelling and screaming. The gravity of what just happened finally hit them, their loved one gone in a horrible tragedy of people trying to do the right thing and getting it wrong. I watch them silently march into the room and listen to the pained grieving that followed. 

I don’t remember entering the clean supplies closet, but I do remember just sitting down and hugging my legs as everything that happened in the past hour just hit me all at once. 

I wasn’t ready for this. I was not ready to be a doctor. I’m going to end up killing someone - maybe I already did. I wasn’t going to survive the year. Maybe I should quit before somethin-

“Code Blue. Code Blue in Room 522.″

Those horrible words rang through the intercom overhead. 

I buried my head down between my knees, wrapping my arms over my ears. 

Let someone else deal with it. It doesn’t have to be me.

I let out the breath I was holding. I take a second to indulge in a fantasy contained with a single thought. 

And then with resolve I didn’t know I had, I unsteadily got up to my feet. 

All the while wiping the tears and snot off my face, I started running again.

[aventurasdeunatortuga]

7/7 Machu Picchu

Today was the day: Machu Picchu.

This day kicked my butt.

We woke up at 3am in our hotel in Aguas Calientes. The system is that buses start running every 15 minutes at 5:30am to Machu Picchu. We had our tickets already. So did everyone else. People start lining up between 1-2am. We got in line at 4:30. We waited for probably an hour and a half, which was considered short. The bus ride was 15 minutes. Machu Picchu doesn’t open until 6:30. There was probably 1,000 people standing by the entrance when we got there. When they opened the door it was like a stampede. It was still dark out. After getting through the gate we hiked for 20 minutes through the forest up the hillside until reaching the viewpoint. From there we had to wait in line for a while to take a photo at the photo point. It was very stressful.

After that we hiked a little farther ahead and watched the sun rise over the mountains while Alvin and Silvana told us about Machu Picchu. During the height of the Inca empire in the 1500s Cusco (Qosqo) was the capital. When Cusco was threatened with invasion the then emperor ordered the construction of Machu Picchu, intimidatingly located in a very picturesque spot in difficult to get to mountains. They made it look very impressive and intimidating to scare off invaders, and it worked. Nobility and other privileged people lived at Machu Picchu. It was considered to be in a very good spot geographically and religiously so it was considered good luck to spend time there. They had amazing plumbing and impressive construction considering the location high in the mountains and the fact that they had neither the wheel nor any load bearing domesticated animals other than the not very strong llama.

When the Spaniards arrived in 1527 (I think?) the Incas had just finished a civil war and were vulnerable and fractured politically, which the Spaniards immediately detected. They invited the emperor and the nobility to a feast of friendship and there killed the nobility and kidnapped the emperor. They held him at a ransom for several rooms full of gold held in the great central temple of the sun (Qorikancha), the heart of the Inca empire, in Cusco. The people gave this gold to them, the Spaniards executed the emperor anyway. They then forced the people to destroy their own sacred temple and built a monastery on top of it using the very same stones. The had to melt down all of their artifacts and records and idols to make Christian images instead.

The people of Cusco saw this happening to their sacred places and sent runners to Machu Picchu (rumored to make the normally 4 day journey in under 5 hours). They told the people to evacuate Machu Picchu, destroy all records of it, and seal off all of the mountain passes leading to it. They did this to save their sacred place.

It worked. The Spanish never discovered Machu Picchu. It remains as it was in Inca times.

In 1909 an American professor from Yale, Hiram Bingham, was in Peru trying to find the fabled lost city of gold (El Dorado). He stumbled upon some smaller ruins near Cusco and heard from locals about another larger ruin. They refused on principle to show him where it was. He got them drunk and bribed them into agreeing to guiding him there. A small child was ultimately the one to show Bingham the ruins of Machu Picchu itself, untouched for 4 centuries.

Hiram Bingham took that opportunity to ransack the ruins for millions of dollars worth of gold and artifacts which he smuggled back to the US and kept the gold for himself and gave the artifacts to Yale, where they remain to this day. He returned a few years later accompanied by National Geographic and Kodak and claimed that he was seeing the place for the first time and had discovered it by himself (locals had always known it was there). He is lauded as a hero in archeological discovery to this day.

Sigh.

Anyway, seeing the ruins themselves was really stressful. They had a specific path to walk on and you could only walk in one direction. They had designated spots to take pictures and if you stopped or held up the flow of people in any way officers would blow a loud shrill whistle on you until you continued walking. We spent over 4 hours in blazing heat doing this. It was incredibly stressful and overwhelming and I felt very on edge when we were finally able to leave.

Most people had just come to take pictures of themselves there. Endless endless selfies and poses made me wish we lived in a time without photography.

We fought through a crowd to get on another bus back to Aguas Calientes where we were able to have a brief respite in a cafe overlooking the river. The local people had an enormous parade to celebrate the anniversary of Machu Picchu being declared a wonder of the world and all had on an incredible variety of their traditional outfits which was so cool to see.

We walked about the town a bit, it looked completely different in daylight, and had a last lunch with our group before heading back to the train station to go back to Ollantaytambo.

There was a riot at the train station when we got there. The train itself was segregated by class in a way I can only compare to the Titanic. Tourists were given comfortable, spacious train cars with reserved reclining seats and generous snacks and beautiful windows ($60USD a person). Locals were crammed into standing room only train cars with no ventilation, faces pressed against the windows (4 soles, about $1usd per person). Many people had come in to town from the surrounding communities to participate in the parade today and the train was their only way home. The station sells limitless tickets so many people had been waiting for hours to get on. The tourists were courteously shown to their seats without incident and with zero wait time but locals were being held back by policeman and the crowd had started to riot and yell. We were caught in the middle of this.

At a certain point, the police started yelling EMERGENCIA EMERGENCIA and a man was brought through from town on a stretcher, gravely injured. Apparently he needed to get on the train to get to a hospital. They would not allow him on the tourist car so they pushed several people off of the locals car so that he would be able to go. The locals would not have it. There was screaming and yelling and it was close to physical violence by the time we were ushered to the platform away from the crowd by a security guard.

It was really scary and just sickening to see. There is so much money generated from over 7,000 people visiting Machu Picchu every day and almost none of it benefits the local people, it all goes into the pockets of a few wealthy foreign business owners and if anything it makes the lives of local people more difficult.

We got to Ollantaytambo at about 5pm, then rode in a van for 2.5 hours to get back to Cusco. We were so exhausted and rubbed raw by that point and due to bank issues while we were gone we had just a small amount of cash on hand for dinner.

We went to the bar inside the hostel and ordered dinner with our remaining money. They gave us the wrong order and refused to change it saying ‘what do you want us to do about it?’. They took 25 minutes to bring us drinks ( we were the only ones there) and when we asked about it they tried to charge us double for it. It was too much for me and I was so overwhelmed already I started yelling in Spanish and then burst into tears and left.

Not my proudest moment.

They gave us the drinks 15 minutes later (Abby had to ask about them again even after my blowout). We left heads hanging low and tried to go to bed. We laid down and then a girl came in upset saying “Hey!! You stole my bed!! Thats my bed!!” So exhausted, rubbed raw, and still sobbing uncontrollably I had to go ask the reception for help (they were very disturbed by me in my blubbering state) and moved our beds.

Longest day ever.

Also just goes to show, my instagram post from today standing triumphant at Machu Picchu with the sunrise in the background was VERY different from the true experiences of the day. People polish everything on social media and only show the highlights…it doesn’t reflect reality.