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stuff-from-the-void-matron · 2 years

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Into The New (chapter 2: Exploration)

(a/n: Hey y'all! Finally got around to finishing chapter 2! Seems Reader is Reader no matter which AU lol But this chapter is based off a real playthrough of Minecraft I was doing so I hope you like it! Bit shorter than I wanted it to be but oh well. Please comment and reblog to show me y'all like this fic! Thank u! 💗)

-0-

Everyone, for the most part, noticed the new, and entirely unfamiliar, achievement.

A large chunk of them just assumed this ‘Reader’ person was just a new player that showed up that they’d not been introduced to yet. So aside from the strangeness of the achievement most of them more or less just brushed this all off and went about doing whatever they’d been doing before they caught sight of it. Basically a collective shrug was given to the whole thing.

But some people weren’t content to brush this new person lurking around off as no big deal. These curious folks were understandably concerned about this new interloper. And what better way to figure things out than to hunt down their blond bird friend and see if he had answers to their questions? Because he always seemed to have a sixth sense for when someone new would be coming around.

“TOMMY!”

The winged hybrid jumped a bit at the sudden shout of his name, even dropping the moss blocks he’d been holding. He looked towards where it was coming from to see none other than Tubbo and Wilbur rushing towards him, both hovering above the ground as they moved. He had a feeling he knew what this was about and sighed.

“Hey guys, what’s-” But he was cut off by Wilbur when he practically shoved his communicator in Tommy’s face and demanded to know who this Reader person was on the screen. Tubbo cut in before Tommy could answer and said,

“Yeah! How come you never mentioned them before?! We’re usually the first to know when someone new is coming! You always know when someone new is gonna pop up!”

Tommy awkwardly rubbed the side of his nose in an idle gesture, not totally sure how to tell his friends that.. he didn’t know Reader.. And he sure as shit hadn’t known they’d been here before he’d seen the achievement... Like them, he’d also found out about ‘Reader’ when he saw the achievement not too long ago. He didn’t want to cause any panic because then that would cause HIM to panic more than he already was internally but he knows he can’t just lie to his friends’ faces (at least not convincingly..) so he just sighs and comes clean about it.

“Uh, well. That’s the thing you see… I sorta.. didn’t..”

Wilbur narrows his ghostly green eyes, already having a sinking feeling in his transparent gut, and replies,

“Didn’t WHAT exactly?”

Tommy winced but elaborated that he hadn’t actually known they were here…

He stared anxiously as the two pretty much gaped at him in surprise before yelling simultaneously, “WHAT??”

-0-

You were blissfully unaware of the mini freakout your mere existence was causing a few biomes away, just happily going about your new life as best you could. After succeeding in crafting your little melting station you got bored and decided to explore. So you looked around, chose a direction, and just started walking. You were in no rush so you just walked along casually, enjoying the breeze and fresh air.

Soon you left the oak forest you woke up in and came across a beautiful flower field nestled between a few hills. It was honestly gorgeous, having a serene vibe to it that made you smile, even if the pollen in the air tickled your nose enough to cause you to sneeze. But you guessed it was worth it to watch the fat bees buzz along overhead, seeking out their nectar before returning home once it started to get dark out.

You took a seat on a particularly soft bed of grass and admired the lovely scenery while the sun went down, unwilling to leave the spot until night had fallen and the sky was a dark blue. By that point you stood up and started walking again, slowing a bit when you started passing by some sunflowers. You perked up when you noticed they were looking pretty.. dried out. You inspected them closer and saw they were ripe with sunflower seeds! Unable to turn your nose up at free sunflower seeds you plucked the flower heads off all the sunflowers, leaving nothing but the stems and leaves behind.

You took a seed and popped it in your mouth, using your teeth to pop the shell before spitting it out and munching on the seed itself. It was pretty good, a little more bland than you remember them tasting when you got them from the store but still tasty. As you picked up your pace again you figured they’d taste better roasted. You saved them to your inventory just as you got to the top of a small hill. Looking down made your eyes widen almost comically from the sight that greeted you below.

An absolutely MASSIVE cave opening split the earth some 30 blocks in front of you. After getting closer to inspect it you saw that the huge fissure led down into a mostly dripstone cave. It went deep it looked like, with some spots being full of water that hid how far down the tunnels actually went. You could see some spots glowing thanks to small streams of lava and what you guessed were magma blocks in the underwater parts. You were kinda curious to see how far down it went, so feeling brave you trotted down into the gaping maw of this cave.

You were surprised there were no mobs down there, what with it being night and also dark as hell. But just as you thought that you noticed over half a dozen red eyes turn to stare at you while the sound of rattling bones and the unmistakable groan of the undead echoed through the cave around you. Seems you spoke way too soon because the place was overrun with hostile mobs. Being around them still made you mildly uncomfortable but the longer you were the less it bugged you until finally you just didn’t care anymore.

Actually once you were relaxed you kinda wanted to inspect them, your curiosity eating at you a bit. What did the green ‘skin’ of a creeper feel like? Was it soft or coarse? Were spider’s fluffy feeling because of their hairs?? Or prickly? Literally the only thing keeping you from randomly touching all these mobs was the knowledge that doing so would be not only hella rude but also super weird.

So you kept your hands to yourself.

Instead you focused on exploring the cave. There were lots of flowing rivers and stalagmites and stalactites on the roof and ground. You had to kick a few stalagmites down to get through them since there were so many. And to your delight you found an abandoned mineshaft! You explored it, wandering the wooden paths, only slightly annoyed that you had to heighten the walkways to fit through them. You even found a spider spawner (which you disabled) and a couple chests in minecarts! You eagerly looked through them, only finding the usual loot; rails, a nametag, some bread, and a couple other generic things. You didn’t take anything since you technically didn’t need to. Best to leave it for whoever found it next.

After exploring all there was to see you got bored and decided to head back to the surface. To your surprise it seems you’d been down there all day long since the sun was already going down again as you resurfaced. You crested the hill and saw far off that there was an ocean and as you circled around a mountain you found something that made you pause; an abandoned village.

A truly abandoned one as the whole place was utterly dark, not a single torch lit anywhere, the only light illuminating the place being that from the moon. All the buildings were falling apart, holes in the sides of their walls and most having their roofs falling in from rot. All the cobblestone was overtaken by moss and mold. Whatever windows were still intact were so dirty they could hardly be seen through, and spiderwebs hung everywhere like silken sheets. Not to mention the eerie silence that hung around the place like a heavy blanket too. You expect sound in villages. Villagers chattering, animals being noisy, the heavy steps of iron golems slowly pacing around, and more. But not here. It was utterly silent.

Until it wasn’t and you looked over to see the shambling form of a zombified villager appear out of one of the decrepit houses. You watched them shuffle about and couldn’t help but feel bad for them. It was clear this village had fallen prey to a zombie attack. You walked down what was left of the main path of the village and noticed with a hum how it was overgrown with tall grass and weeds. And you spotted other zombie villagers further down the way, none of them doing more than idly shuffling around with no purpose.

Suddenly you were overcome with the desire to help them. You knew you could cure them and help get this place back to working order. It would take time, effort, and lots of love but you think these guys deserved your help. Plus it’s not like you had anything else going on that needed your time or focus. So you rolled your sleeves up and got to work catching all the zombie villagers inside the ruins of the houses or in boats, making sure to build around the ones in boats quickly when you noticed the sun would be coming up any minute. The last one almost burnt to death because he missed the boat but luckily a well placed bucket of water kept him alive long enough for you to build a fence and roof around him.

Once they were all safe and sound from the sun you got to work splashing them with weakness potions and then feeding them golden apples. Thankfully they didn’t fight you on it, and the full body shakes showed the cure was working. With that done you started cleaning up the village; pulling weeds, getting rid of the overgrown grass, and putting up torches to ward off the lurking hostile mobs. And speaking of mobs, you made sure to get rid of the ones that were loitering around the village already. You didn’t want any incidents to happen. Curing the villagers just for them to get turned all over again would be such a waste of time.

After that was handled you got to work freeing the villagers once they were no longer cursed with zombism. You watched them all go back to various houses, seemingly wandering around almost randomly. Like they didn’t know or remember this place. And that made you wonder.. did they? You figure that well, they DID technically Die. Did they lose their memories of their lives before? Do they remember their village, their loved ones, their lives? The thought of them essentially waking up to knowing nothing about themselves or where they were left you feeling cold..

To distract yourself from the growing sinking feeling in your gut you grabbed some materials from your creative menu and got to work fixing up, or just straight up rebuilding in some cases, the village homes.

-0-

#osmp #origins smp #Reader #o!Reader #o!tommy #o!wilbur #o!tubbo

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luminberry · 2 years

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Consultation with Cara

first version got eaten(oh the irony here lol) BUT, we find out what happened to that pink shrinking sugar like substance.

and zeke gets eaten. Cara belongs to @stuffems cause im gay for alot of their characters.

It was nearing the end of the month when Zeke got a call to come pay Cara a visit. Dreading what could possibly be yet another dressing down for his so called "carefree work ethic" Zeke dawdled in the hallway leading to the mans office.

He didn't mind Cara, most of the time anyways...The man was a strict worker and kept his half of the base in running order come hell or high water, which Zeke could respect considering half the folks wandering about here. Unfortunately their ideas of getting things done tended to differ on alot of occasions, it didn't help Zeke was usually busy getting grabbed by half the base for something. It usually led to monthly meetings with the man to discuss why he wasn't keeping the more important things on his mind.

..Honestly he had wondered more than once if he could just make a break for it and avoid Cara like the plague. But knowing Cara, there'd be a good chance he'd find a way to drag him back. Or send someone to hunt him down, which was likely going to be much worse than another damn meeting by a large margin.

"..Eugh..Wish he'd jus give me a heads up instead of these damn tongue lashins he's so fond of. Probably knows I'm out here pacin anyways, might as well get it over with."

Taking a deep breath he steeled himself for what was to come, if he was lucky the man might be in a decent mood and give him a chance to get his work in order. Knocking on the door lightly he waited for Cara to respond.

"C'mon in Zeke, doors unlocked.."

Zeke made a face at that before opening the door, it was always a bit eerie how Cara could just tell who was at the door sometimes. He just knew the man enjoyed fucking with people on some level.

"Yeah it's me Cara..heard y'all wanted a quick word with me?"

"That'd be right, go on and close tha door behind ya and take a seat."

Zeke did as asked and took a seat as the door clicked shut behind him, sealing him the room with Cara. The office itself was sparsely decorated aside from a few shelves of books and the usual office needs being met. Cara himself sat across from Zeke, smiling calmly at him with a look that frankly could mean several things from Zekes past experience with the man.

"Oh don't look so damned spooked Zeke, ya look like yer bout ta take off runnin on me. 'M bein nice today..even made ya some tea ta have while we talked."

And while Zeke was a bit surprised, Cara was indeed telling the truth. In front of him was a still gently steaming cup of tea with a small plate of pink looking cookies. Mentally Zeke was trying to figure out what in the makers name Cara was up to but couldn't quite come up with anything.. Maybe the man was trying a nicer approach? He gave a weak smile before taking the cup between both hands, noticing Cara had a cup of coffee to enjoy for himself.

"Didn't think ya'd pull out all this jus for a simple talk Cara..but thank ya? Smells nice.."

"Thank ya, been a while since I made more than coffee..had one of them gals I see runnin round here lend me a hand though."

Well then least it might not be poisoned..but he didn't peg Cara for that type. The tea did smell good at least, something warm on the chilly morning it was made it all the more appealing to sip at slowly.

"Now..I think y'all know probably why now I called y'all in here Zeke. Don't look at me like that, ya knew this was comin..That's why I called ya in a few days earlier than I normally do."

Zeke choked a bit on the tea, fuck he was right..this was a dressing down conversation wasn't it? He could only grimace at the cup and slightly at Cara..damnit.

"...yeah I had a feelin it was bout my paperwork fallin behind again..Listen Cara I can still get it out ta y'all before tha deadline, ya know I'm good for that much at least.."

"I know Zeke, trust me I know. But that ain't what I want from ya, I'd prefer my workers ta do their jobs on time. Not a rush job fueled by twelve cups of coffee and adrenaline."

Zeke took another long sip from the tea, feeling a bit safer having sometrhing to keep his damn mouth occupied than saying something stupid and getting himself in worse trouble..Though he was feeling a bit weird now come to think of it.

"I know that..I've been keepin better records though so that won't be tha case, I jus need ta finish things up n ugh..n y'all get tha papers in no time.."

Where the hell did this headache come from? Zeke felt off, eyes blinking rapidly to try and keep himself composed. Though apparently his condition didn't escape Caras poor eyesight even.

"Y'all alright there Zeke? Ya look a tad bit unwell..somethin tha matter?"

"Somethin's not right here..head's spinnin somethin fierce..eugh."

Zeke now knew Cara was pulling something here, he just didn't quite know what..Being drugged though was new and it was starting to alarm him something bad, he needed to get out before whatever happened kicked in.

Only standing up so suddenly proved to be a very bad move, making Zekes vision swim and go black almost instantly the moment he stood up fully. He felt himself tilt sideways, muttering a curse before Cara's smiling face and everything else fell away into the void.

---

Zeke woke up face down on his side on some cold surface, head still pounding but it was lightening up thankfully with each passing moment he was awake. He quietly tried moving his limbs, just to make sure he still had everything and was free to move..A familiar voice startled him a bit, it sounded alot more louder than he felt comfortable with.

"Finally comin round again are we Zeke? Bout time..was gettin a might bit bored just sittin here waitin for ya ta wake back up."

"C-Cara? What tha..what the hell didja just do ta me?"

"Sit up and see for yerself, cowboy."

Oh..he did not like how Caras voice just dripped with smugness there. Not wanting to leave himself vulnerable laying down he decided seeing what happened while he was knocked out was probably not the worst thing about to happen..

Pushing himself up into a sitting position he could only gape at what met him once things cleared in his vision.

Cara towered over him, a dark smile spreading over his face as he watched Zeke take in his new surroundings. He was shrunk to what seemed like a few inches tall now, stranded on what looked like Caras' desk if the massive coffee mug was any indication. Cara seemed more than tickled to watch him scramble to his feet noticing how close one of the mans hands was to him.

"Wh-what tha hell didja do ta me Cara!? How did..why??"

"Mnh..figured this might get through yer thick ass skull better than our lil talks ever did. Gotta admit my lil secret ingredient ta yer cup of tea kicked in alot faster than I expected.."

"All this jus because I don't turn my damned papers in on time? Turn me back Cara, this ain't funny!"

" 'M sure it'll wear off eventually, calm down Zeke or we'll never finish our lil talk bout yer piss poor work behavior."

Zeke couldn't hide the jolt he made when one of Caras hands moved to grab his coffee and take a leisurely sip, darkened eyes never once leaving Zeke for a second.

Meanwhile a thousand thoughts and scenarios were rushing through poor Zekes mind at what Cara might do to him at this size..though one in particular slammed home and made him a tad bit defiant despite being barely bigger than his captors hand.

"Wait..wait a second, y'all used that powder that accidentally shrunk Jasper didn't ya? ..How tha hell did ya know bout that when only Jasper found it??"

"Mn..I have my ways Zeke, but lets not worry bout Jasper for now..y'all should very much be worryin bout yerself right now."

Oh that made Zeke pale..he knew Cara was a bit sterner..but meaner? He needed to get away now before Cara stopped the pleasantries, eyes darting about a bit he only barely remembered how the desk looked before blacking out. If he was lucky maybe he could jump to the chair he was sitting on before all this and maybe duck under the doorway...But then what?

Fingers tapping on the desk snapped him out of his thoughts and brought his gaze back up to Cara who seemed to just smile just in the right way to send chills up the smaller mans spine.

"Y'all don't look like ya wanna stick around with me, ain't no one told ya it's plenty rude ta cut n run in tha middle of a meetin Zeke? Might have ta punish that sorta childish behavior here."

"Says tha one that fuckin shrunk me for shits n giggles over paperwork!"

Oh that was a bad mistake, Zeke knew he fucked up badly the moment the words left his mouth in a fit of indignant rage. Cara's smile faltered for a moment into something much much darker and sinister looking. Something that told Zeke it'd be better to try running if he could survive the fall. He was durable after all..might as well test it than see what Cara would do to him.

Turning on a heel he started to try and just make a break for it, hoping to at least make some good distance. Only to be met with Caras hand crashing down in front him after a few steps, a soft tsking noise coming from the man himself.

"Already tryin ta run on me Zeke, I'm real hurt here..Guess y'all really do need this lil chat if yer actin this childish over some reprimandin."

"Ya call me tryin ta make sure I stay safe bein childish? Y'all drugged me for no damned reason, ya hearin yerself talk Cara I'm n-hey!"

Cara had apparently gotten tired of hearing Zeke talk back to him and had begun trying to snatch him up with the hand blocking his escape. Zeke let out a startled yelp and to his credit managed to dodge the first few times Cara made a grab for him.

"Cara stoppit already I get yer damned point!"

"Nah I don't quite I have yet Zeke, we've had this talk what..several times by now? I wanna make sure this lil lesson sticks this time."

With that he managed to snag one of Zekes legs between two fingers, earning a startled cry from the smaller man that made Caras scowl turn into a smile again.

His hold wasn't very tight, letting Zeke have some wiggle room as he brought the smaller man up towards his face. Cara could only inwardly marvel at the sight before him with some degree of fascination, he was holding a living being captive with almost zero effort..

Cara let Zeke pull himself free from his loose hold on his leg, saying something defensively that he couldn't quite care enough to listen to, only note that the mans tiny face was scrunched up in indignant rage at being captured. His smile grew by a few degrees as he let Zeke fumble and crawl over his hand in a terrible attempt to escape, it was almost cute to watch.

"mh..so this must be what it's like for them big fools..."

He never did quite like having to deal with those M4gs storming about, being practically blind like he was made handling them a horrid chore. But he could appreciate the sheer power they all held, sometimes demonstrated physically by grabbing those in their way..Just like he did with Zeke.

The ability to render someone outright helpless seemed rather appealing to Cara as he oh so carelessly kept flipping Zeke about in his hand to prevent him fully escaping. The small man could only yell and protest, but ultimately he was powerless against Cara.

A distant thought, a curious need soon crept into his mind regarding his tiny captive. There was just one thing he could do with Zeke like this that he hadn't been able to do till now..something that had made him wonder what it was like to be on the other end for once.

Cara's smile widen just a fraction as he lifted Zeke just a bit higher to be face to face with him properly. Flicking his wrist just so brought Zeke to dangle upside down before his face, the man still quickly yammering at him in some desperate attempt to convince him to let him go.

"I think it's time I put ya in time out a bit until ya calm down and start actin yer age for once Zeke."

"what are ya...oh no. No no no-Cara ya can't be serious here...W-wait Cara c'mon! Knock it off this ain't funny! ..Please?"

Cara huffed out a soft laugh before just opening up and tossing the man inside his mouth, jaws clicking shut the moment he felt him land inside.

It was strange having something alive in your mouth, something that was trying to thrash and yell. The effect was rather strange hearing Zeke's voice coming from inside his own mouth, deciding to put a stop to that he started moving the smaller man around, getting a taste of his test subject. He was just big enough that Cara had to work a little bit to move him around some in his mouth until that almost sickly sweet taste of Coffee met his senses.

It was a bit much, but Cara endured in favor of what he was feeling going on inside his mouth. He could feel Zeke try and push back his tongue, almost each little finger fighting in vain as their owner tried to shift and get enough air to resume yelling at him.

When the sweet taste got to be just a little too much, Cara opened his mouth up just enough to wash it away with his own cup of coffee, humming some in amusement as he both felt and heard Zeke sputter in distress before he closed his jaws once more around him.

Zeke had given up trying to convince Cara to let him out, and instead just tried to just fucking breathe. Cara was ruthless with shifting him about inside, tongue pressing him to the roof of his mouth to get a nice long taste of him. The big bastard nearly drowning him with a flood of coffee, and only laughing when Zeke tried to not let it fill his lungs on accident. The bigger man seemed more than happy with just soaking him to the bone it seemed, humming softly when he captured a arm or leg between teeth or curled his tongue around the other to position him better.

Eventually Zeke had tired himself out fighting the other man, who seemed perfectly fine with tormenting him by making him more than some glorified hard candy for however long he felt like. Feeling Zeke finally give him he could only smile to himself before tilting his head back and curling his tongue to ensure Zeke couldn't escape.

"Cara-c'mon don't do this, I don't wanna be s-"

One or two strong gulps were all it took to cut Zeke off and send him down Caras throat with ease. The man sat back in his chair, going a bit still as he felt Zeke sliding down his throat and towards his stomach. Hands moving slowly up to where he felt the weight finally settle he could only hum to himself as he felt his brief meal move about inside him. It was certainly strange but not off putting in the slightest..knowing he now held entire control over the person inside was...very very nice indeed he had found. The soft movements inside almost tickled him, the term "butterflies in your stomach" immediately came to mind and made Cara laugh softly to himself.

If he listened carefully enough he could possibly hear Zeke still complain about being eaten. Huffing some Cara pressed down on where he could feel Zeke for the moment, earning a flurry of movement before stillness.

"Ya keep whinin in there Zeke and yer time out's gonna be a lot longer. Told ya ta stop actin like a lil brat, just take tha punishment like a grown ass man and I might let ya back out in fifteen minutes. Think ya can manage that?"

Only met with silence in return Cara could only laugh at Zeke finally yielding at last.

"Good, sounds like yer finally learnin ta behave in there."

---

Fifteen minutes later and some interesting methods of extraction, Zeke sat soaking wet and outright miserable on Cara's desk once more. Zeke looked outright sullen and upset, not that Cara really minded as long as his little "lesson" did the trick.

Cara dropped a tissue on him after a moment of thought, letting him dry himself off as he finished his coffee. Once the cup was empty he scooped Zeke up again, earning a startled cry.

"Now that our lil chat's done, I'll at least drop ya back off at yer room ta think bout what we discussed. In tha future I do expect yer work ta be on time, and not givin me nothin but childish excuses. Am I clear on that Zeke?"

"-m not a damn kid Cara.."

"What was that?"

"ngh...Perfectly understood...sir. Is there a particular time ya want my documents delivered?"

Cara grinned to himself, least the little shit was a fast learner when he needed to be.

"Good..I want yer work on my desk in two days ready for filin. Any later than that and..well I'd hate ta have this lil talk with ya again so soon. Would just pain me ta have ta put ya back in time out for ignorin yer work. But we both know that won't be happenin any time soon, right Zeke?"

"N-no sir it won't be..I'll be sure ta hand in my work right on time from now on.."

"Good, good. So glad ta see our lil time together's paid off finally, but don't be a stranger, feel free ta stop by whenever ya like. Might make ya some more tea even hahahh~"

Cara didn't miss the brief shudder coming from the small man he held, that cheery smile flashing to his much darker nature for a moment before stopping at a door. He knew Zeke usually slept with Bull and or Jasper..but he didn't quite want the smaller man tattling on him to the others.

"Hope ya don't mind me jus droppin ya off at yer own room, figured I'd save ya tha long trip as a kind gesture..Just don't forget yer work now."

"...Thank ya sir.."

Flicking the lights on Cara moved to set him on the bed, looking sour faced as all hell. Using a finger or two to pat him good bye, Cara closed the door behind him and moved to return to his office. He needed to record a few things down while the taste still lingered on his lips.

Even if Zeke behaved..there might still come a time Cara would have to discipline him..and maybe the others as well now that he had a very very convincing punishment for his wayward workers.

#mawedness combat #mawdness combat #g/t #g/t vore #g/t writing #soft vore #maw play #mouthplay #extreme cuddling

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ophelia-jones · 1 year

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Chapter 3 - pigtails

Rick noticed Etta seemed quiet that day; not the playful, chipper woman he had met the day before. He certainly had no problem traveling silently, neither Daryl nor Michonne were particularly chatty types and he spent most of his time with the two of them.

It was that he sensed that this was a sign of something troubling Etta, rather than simply being the comfortable sort of silence.

"So, your accent," he said, scanning the area around them as they traveled at a moderate speed down disrepaired country roads toward home. "It doesn't sound southern, that's for sure. And not midwestern, either. Buffalo, maybe?" he guessed. He saw the first spark of the playfulness she'd exhibited the day before spark in her eyes.

"Buffalo? Is that an Indian joke, because I expect that shit from him," she nodded toward Daryl on his bike ahead of them, "not you." she teased him. It was the first genuine smile he had seen from her all day. Rick laughed, and Etta studied his face - the way it lit up when he was happy. He was a good man, Rick Grimes, she was already sure of it. Most men made her uneasy, at least when she didn't know them well; but Rick felt like an old friend already.

Daryl? She didn't know what she thought of him yet. Obviously, she was drawn to him by some mysterious chemical or hormonal force she couldn't completely understand; she could accept that. Sexual attraction had always been a complicated thing for her. She'd had three lovers in her entire life, and only thought she was in love with one.

She had been quickly stripped of that illusion when she had found out he had a wife and a family he had not told her about while he spent at least one night in her bed every week for damned near a year. That had been six months before the outbreak, and she had been searching to figure out who she was, once again.

She sometimes felt like she was a blank piece of paper, written on and erased, over and over again, by the few people she had come to care about. It was getting harder and harder to know what her story was. Lana had encouraged her to stop letting other people do the writing and to write her story herself.

Trouble was, Etta wasn't sure how to do that.

"I promise, that was not an Indian joke," Rick shook his head at her.

"No, not New York. Michigan." she informed Rick, "Northcentral, neither Detroit Rock City nor the unblemished natural retreat of the upper peninsula, but right in the heart of the state. No great lakes coastline, no big attractions to draw people in. Just low-income or working-class folks living in mobile homes and old farmhouses. Crisscrossing highways going North to the tourist attractions, South to the Cities, or East and west to the lakes. It was a smaller version of the flyover states. The drive-through counties, I guess you might say."

"Doesn't sound so bad. Sounds like a simple life," He replied. Etta shrugged.

"It was what it was, and now it isn't. You know? But as far as accents go, 'y'all' got me beat. Hard to beat a southern drawl." she turned her attention back to Rick. She never knew how to deal with it when people paid her any real attention.

Daryl saw a small set of cabins, a motel of sorts marketed to fishermen, and pulled over. There was a small check-in office that doubled as a bait shop, and out back there was an old 1970's era gas pump for fueling outboard motors.

"Probably been cleaned out but worth taking a look," he told Rick, strolling slowly up to the passenger side of the UTV, gravel crunching beneath his boots. He produced another cigarette, somehow, and lit it with a zippo lighter. Etta wondered how much tobacco he'd squirreled away to keep him so well supplied.

"It's a good time to stop, anyway," Etta stood and stretched, sweat making her neck and chest shimmer in the afternoon sunshine. She took her bottle out and finished the water. Rick watched Daryl carefully to see if his suspicions that he'd developed a crush on Etta were right.

Daryl breathed out a cloud of smoke and took another long drag before pinching the end of the hand-rolled smoke to save it for later. He dropped it in the chest pocket of his denim shirt with the sleeves cut off.

Etta still wore the tank top and cargo pants from the day before, her hair braided now and the bandana in her back pocket. She grabbed the iodine tablets and a 2-liter bottle out of the back and started toward the river that the camp was built along.

Rick watched Daryl, and Daryl watched as Etta rounded the corner to the docks. When he saw Rick studying him he scowled at his friend.

"Whatever you're thinkin', don't."

Rick grinned as Daryl stomped off, into the closest cabin to search for supplies.

By the time Daryl had cleared the cabins, he found Etta and Rick in the bait shop. They were rigging two fishing poles up happily.

"The hell's going on? You could've helped!" he grumbled at them as he approached, surveying the shop carefully. There were fishing hats and t-shirts, empty boxes that had once held single-serve snacks like peanuts and raisins, chips, and Twinkies. There was a rack of magazines behind the counter, fishing guides on the bottom row, and the top row half hidden behind the brown paper to cover the nudity on the covers of Playboy and Hustler. He shook his head, it reminded him of when he was younger and would drift through these types of places with Merle.

"We cleared the office," Etta told him, gazing up at him from under a foldable hat with a wide brim to keep the sun off her face.

"Naw, you went shoppin'" he retorted in an unreadable voice. Was he complaining or teasing? She wasn't sure.

"Now we're working on lunch," she told him, apparently unphased by his surly attitude. She pointed to the five-gallon bucket, "Grab that and we'll get some fresh fish before we move on. After we eat we can get back on the road and make it to Pennsylvania by tonight." she continued as they walked out on the creaky dock. It swayed with each step.

"If the gas holds out that far," Daryl growled, squinting at the horizon.

"Already filled both tanks and three gas cans. I managed to use a hand crank, hose, and suction to draw it up from the inlet," she told the pessimist.

"What'd you find?" Rick asked Daryl.

"Walkers, mostly," he grumbled. He sat on the dock beside Rick, his feet dangling off the edge and nearly touching the water. It was high still from last month's snow melt. "Give me that thing." he took the fishing pole from Rick's hand. "You ain't catching anything with those fake worms. We need fresh bait."

"I can handle that," Etta said, handing Rick the second pole and hurrying off the dock. She stopped at the top of the riverbank and took off her shoes and socks, then rolled her pants up to her knees.

"You're gonna get ticks down there like that, Sacagewa," Daryl called. Etta flipped him off and walked gingerly through the weeds to the damp soil closer to the riverbed.

"Fuck off, Daniel Boone!" She retorted. Daryl smiled crookedly and cast his line with the man-made bait despite his doubts about its efficacy.

"Let's see if this works," she said, settling down between the men.

Rick pulled his line in and Etta grabbed the hook, making quick work of switching the rubber bait for a fresh worm.

"Next!" Etta said, reaching for Daryl's fishing line.

"I got it, I got it, you're gonna break the line. Keep your damn hands to yourself," he told her, swatting her hands away before reeling the line.

"Gimme a worm," he said once he had the hook in his left hand, holding his right hand out for the bait.

Etta plucked up the fattest earthworm in the bunch then reached over and grabbed Daryl's shirt collar, and dropped the worm inside.

"Oh, really? It's gonna be like that?" Daryl objected, shaking his shirt until the no longer wriggling creature landed on his lap. He was grinning the whole time, though - and it reminded Rick of a side of Daryl he hadn't seen since … well, it had been a very long time.

Etta was laughing as Daryl picked it up and dangled it in her face, threatening to put it in her hair. She was slapping his hand away, and Rick did his best to stay out of it, lest he destroy their moment. Finally, after Etta grabbed Daryls' wrist with both hands and they wrestled a few seconds longer, the worm slipped from his fingers again and this time, landed in the river.

"Nice job, dances with worms!" Etta laughed so much that her nose was wrinkled and her eyes danced.

"Ok, ok…" Daryl held his hands up in a sign of surrender, the fishing pole clutched between his knees. "Calm down, you're gonna scare away all the fish!" It took her a moment to rid herself of the giggles, but finally she sighed happily.

"I'm going to go start the fire - assuming the two of you can catch anything," Etta said, standing and wiping her dirty hands on her pant leg as she went to gather firewood to cook the fish.

"You were the boy who pulled girls' pigtails in school, weren't you?" Rick teased Daryl with a grin. Daryl tried his best to scowl at his friend, making a dismissive 'phhhtt' noise with his lips as he turned back to the river.

When Rick chuckled at him, Daryl said, simply,

"Shut up."

************************

After they finished eating, they made sure everything useful was loaded into the UTV and started to move again, everyone rested and sated for the stretch of the trip in the hottest part of the afternoon. They traveled quietly, all eyes watching for danger despite the pleasant mood the day had carried thus far; more so perhaps since each of them felt as if they were waiting for the day to shift. Good days didn't tend to last long these days, there seemed to always be something unpleasant hiding right around the bend.

To avoid having to cross the Ohio River - who knew if they would find a bridge that was safe and not under some hostile group's control? - they would be passing too close to Pittsburgh for anyone's comfort. They had all learned the hard way that metropolitan areas were overrun with walkers and desperate people. Daryl and Rick had gone south and circled up to arrive at Haven in the search and so this path home was as yet unexplored by them. Etta struggled to shake the feeling of doom that was trying to settle in her heart. She would not let fear take away from the moments which made it all worth it. What was the point, after all, is struggling so hard to survive simply to continue to exist? She needed more than that, she needed to live.

*******************

That night and the following day of travel passed uneventfully - even when making their way through more populated areas. It wasn't without risk, but the three of them weren't handed more than they could handle. Etta was impressed by Daryl's skill with the crossbow, and he was surprised to see that she was not shy of taking down the walkers. She wasn't big in stature, but you would think she was ten feet tall and bulletproof judging by the way she threw herself into the fray.

That evening they arrived dirty and exhausted but safe at the gates of Alexandria.

The crowd of people waiting inside to greet them was more than a little overwhelming to Etta - it had been nearly two years since she'd been in a gathering of so many people.

A strikingly beautiful woman rushed up to them, wrapping her arms around Rick and smiling the brightest smile Etta thought she had ever seen.

"Etta, this is Michonne," Rick introduced them once they had kissed their hello's. Etta averted her eyes at the public display of affection and searched the group to see where Daryl had gone. She found him squatting near a preschooler, a girl no more than four years old. He had pulled some toy animals from his bag for her and was smiling as she took them happily.

"It's good to meet you," Etta said, barely glancing at Michonne, her attention drawn to Daryl and the child.

She was wondering if the girl was Daryl's daughter, and what else he might not have mentioned when Rick saw the girl and ran to her, his arms out. When she sprang into his embrace, Etta realized this was Judith. Rick had told her a great deal about the miracle child, born in the tragic first year of the outbreak.

Michonne and Etta smiled at the father-daughter reunion.

Rick and Michonne invited Etta to stay with them that night since they were all far too tired and it was too late to start the journey to Hilltop. Etta accepted gratefully, and Rick offered her first dibs on the shower.

Michonne promised to get the young woman some fresh clothing that would fit her, and Etta was grateful. Blood and dust and sweat had made the clothes she had on uncomfortable and smelly.

"Pretty girl," Michonne said to Rick once Etta was out of the room.

"Mmm." Rick agreed, looking at his lover happily. "Daryl thinks so, too," he smirked at the way she widened her eyes a bit, then made a skeptical face.

"Wait, what?" she gasped a bit, urging him to expand on the subject.

"I need you to do me a favor, just … Call it testing a theory. Put that girl in a sundress for tonight, tell her it's all you have, but you can get more practical clothes tomorrow." Rick said, his arms around Michonnes waist as he gazed into her eyes.

"Are you asking me to try and play matchmaker for that poor girl and Daryl?" Michonne let her head fall back against her shoulders and laughed at the idea.

"Yes, yes I am. As a matter of fact, I'll make you a bet that if you help me out here she won't even stay the night here at all." Rick told her.

"It better be something good, because that is a bet I will take every day of the week. That man, good as he is, has never once shown an interest in… Romance." Michonne laughed at the very thought.

************************

Daryl was sitting in his garage, putting a proper drive chain on his motorcycle in the fading light of day, listening to the crickets and the sounds of families gathering in for the night. It was a beautiful sound to his ears.

"Don't forget the lubrication," Etta said as she wandered up the sidewalk, her feet bare, her hair loose and clean, and dressed in a sleeveless white linen sundress that fell just above her knees.

"What the hell are you wearing?" he asked bluntly. She looked down at herself.

"It's all they had for me for tonight. Michonne said she'd have something more functional in the morning and I'd get a chance to wash my clothes. I guess it's lights out, soon. To preserve electricity?" she told him, walking into the garage and looking at his collection of motorcycle parts.

"Well, you look ridiculous," he grumbled, trying to keep his eyes on the task at hand before the power grid went down for the night. "Better not get oil on that get-up."

Etta looked down at herself and the greasy bike, and Daryl's blackened, oily hands.

"You're right, " she sighed. "This thing is ridiculous. And useless." she forced a chuckle instead of a sigh. She felt a pang of disappointment, but she told herself it was because she couldn't help with the bike and not because Daryl had called her ridiculous instead of pretty. Daryl grunted in agreement and finished repairing his bike.

"Well, I just wanted to see how the bike was coming along," she told him, feeling awkward now.

"Well, now you know," he said, turning his back to her to place the tools on the shelf. Etta wrestled with some half-formed words she wanted to say, but couldn't manage to speak.

"Oh, hey, I have something here for you," he told her, turning around and handing her a cassette tape he'd picked up on one of his trips for supplies. Bob Seger's greatest hits.

Etta swelled inside with emotion, moved that he remembered her mentioning the song on this tape. She hadn't been sure he was even listening at the time, let alone would remember it and go to the trouble of finding it for her.

"Thank you, Daryl," she told him sincerely. Daryl shrugged and looked down at his dirty boots.

"It's not a big deal," he told her dismissively. The lights in the town shut off except for a few security lights, and they found themselves standing together in the dark, muggy evening. There was a thunderstorm brewing, it could be a matter of minutes before it started to pour.

"I better go before that storm starts," she said finally.

"Yup," he agreed, lighting up a smoke, the lighter revealing his face for a moment, then all she could see was the glow of the lit end of the cigarette. She turned on her heel and started back the way she came silently.

*What the hell? Where are you going?* she could hear Lana saying in her mind. *I thought you wanted to go have dirty, greasy sex?*

Etta sighed and turned left instead of heading straight for the Grimes house. She wanted to keep walking, it might help her think.

"It's not like that," she imagined herself saying to Lana. But how could she explain what it was like? She didn't understand it herself.

*Boy, what in the hell is wrong with you?* Merle's voice haunted Daryl's thoughts. *She is throwing herself in your god-damned lap and you just…* he could hear Merle's groan of dismay.

"She's better off without me. Besides, I don't need the drama." Daryl thought as he smoked some more and leaned against the door jamb to look out at the lightning which was flashing now. A peal of thunder rumbled the house and giant raindrops began to fall forcefully. Daryl put out his cigarette and was about to go inside when he saw Etta appear around the corner again.

"Don't you know enough to come in out of the rain?" he called out to her, gesturing for her to come inside. She was spattered with rain, but not quite drenched as she hurried inside to accept his invitation.

As soon as they stepped inside, Daryl felt the change in energy, turning to look down at her as lightning provided them glimpses of one another.

It was as if the whole world was holding its breath. Etta finally raised herself on her toes and took Daryl's face in her hands, closing the distance between them to meet his lips with her own.

#twd daryl #daryl dixon #daryl dixon fanfic #daryl dixon fluff

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rosetintedgunman · 1 year

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Well, he would very weirded out by this, if it wasn't for the fact that his brain had lost the ability to give a damn about the strangeness of the multiverse.

Moonlight Roller, huh? Luckily for him, he'd brought his skates, and was in desperate need of some fun. Interview after interview took its toll, and he didn't want to stay cooped up anymore.

Nearly kicking down the front entrance to the place, he looks around. Yep, this certainly looks like a place he would run. An arcade, a roller rink, and a bar all mixed into one? This was a paradise!

"Hello, anyone here?" Wilford calls out, looking about for the other version of himself.

-@wilfywarfy

@wilfywarfy

There was something welcoming about the location Wilford just arrived in. It was bright, but not too blinding; colourful, but not too garish. With each themed area, it was unlikely to be a place to grow bored of. If anything, it was almost tailor-made for someone like him!

When he called out, several staff members turned around. One in particular looked as though he was going to speak out, only to pause and have their face scrunch in confusion. They turned around, then repeated the action a few seconds later. When the Wilford was still there, the staff member went behind the counter and lifted a phone.

"Alrigh' folks. We're closin' up early today!"

There was a voice beside Wilford, one that belonged to a larger figure that was suddenly to his left. The stranger loudly clapped his hands as he continued, "I got more important things ta do today than serve folks. C'mon! Chop, chop! Go home an' take naps or whatever it is y'all do on half days!"

That, it seemed, was that. Whatever staff were lurking around knew it was better to follow the odd turn of events than question it. They'd be paid regardless.

Now that he solved that problem, the larger man turned to face the visitor. Both hands rested on his hips while he leaned down to examine the other version of him. With eyebrows lowered and a hint of a squint, he looked like a rather intimidating figure. Perhaps he wasn't someone who liked crossovers?

"As fer you... Look how ADORABLE ya are!" Any concerns that Wilford was in trouble disappeared instantly as a wide grin poked out from under the owner of the Roller's curled moustache. "Got them cute brown eyes, an' th' pink just looks charmin' on ya. Ah, wait. I'm gettin' ahead of myself. Where are my manners? Wilford Warfstache, as I'm sure ya expected. Or Rose, if this is yer first time hoppin' a smidge too far from what yer used ta." A large, warm hand was offered in greeting. "How'd ya find this little place outside th' stories anyway?"

No doubt about it. This was going to be so much better than whatever the work day had planned.

#wilfywarfy #(apologies if I get something about your version wrong. Couldn't spot a description off-hand #but I feel like I've heard somewhere that he's shorter than mine?)#(however! It's fun to let my boy meet another one again. It's been a long time :O )#v; looking for a scoop #moonlight roller #(I wrote a HUGE post describing the Roller if you need it for reference :D )#(... oh my gosh it really has been several years since he's called himself 'Rose'...)#(but I digress! If you need anything changed lemme know and I'll get to it tomorrow since it's late here)

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danniswrites · 2 months

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So, here's the unofficial Certificate.

If you're having the same problem and want one, here's an editable version on

canva.com

Just make yourself a free account, and use this free template I made. Have fun!

Link will take you to Canva and load the certificate. Now you can double click on any text and type, and you'll have your name, or whatever text box you want to do differently. Fun, right?

Every part of the certificate is editable. Even where I signed at the bottom. You can put your mom's name, your cat's name, CEO of your favorite company, go wild! If you leave my name in, you can submit your proof to me and I'll proclaim on whatever social media that you really did make your 50,000 word goal! Or, you can change that 50,000 to whatever figure you want. It's editable, too. How convenient. Meeting the word count is on the honor system, anyway. After all, my daughter was in our living room while I edited all of those 50,000 words all the way up to the 97,000 I actually edited. And, my first chapter is on Wattpad under the 100 Days On Earth project. I'm waiting a month to edit it again, then I'll be putting it up as a shiny new book there.

I also made a Broken Website round sticker.

That link is here, for those of you who want to have fun with it or change it up! I altered another artist's Christmas sticker for this.

For more info see this post for my NaNoWriMo troubles in April. In April, I was finally able to fix this. But as of July 19, 2024, I'm having to settle for the Broken Website Certificate.

I deleted my Adia, One Of Prophecy page after meticulously taking screenshots and recreated it. I got the 'completed your goal' flair

But I am still not marked as a Winner

This is my page from before deleting, so it's from Jul 17, 2024. I actually finished on the 10th and took a screenshot, but I can't find that one.

This one, also taken on the 17th, clearly shows my Winner flair.

Until the 17th, I did have 2 goals on the same project. Next time I will create a new entry for each goal!

If you go to nanowrimo.org/DannisWrites you will see the new project I created, but it is not the same. I didn't get the right stats screens showing my daily entries. Instead, I got this one.

I'm not going to subtract each of these entries to get the daily totals again! I usually don't have anything on Sunday. Hey, I'm religious! Other folks can do what they want and I won't complain. As for me, I go by my set of rules for me, according to my beliefs. I don't tell anyone else how to do Sundays. Peace, Brothers and Sisters! So, I'm just adding 1700 words per day for what I edited. I won, so it doesn't really matter. I know.

Hope someone finds my template useful and that it makes winning and not getting the stupid certificate a bit easier, for someone out there.

Also hoping NaNoWriMo gets their act together to protect the youth who enjoy doing the program. There are alternatives out there. RoyalRoad.com does Writeathon twice a year and Community Magazine also. Wattpad.com has monthly 50,000 word challenges and fun contests. But I do like doing NaNoWriMo and my account works [except for the WINNER Certificate]. I don't approve of what happened, but I'm not on the forums and I'm not promoting the Youth Program any more. The count on the website was not part of the controversy, so I don't see why that can't continue.

Y'all take care!

#nanowrimo #campnanowrimo #jul2024 #nanowrimo certificate #broken website #broken website certificate #broken website sticker #canva #nanowrimo alternatives

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ja0-s-blank-canvas-fic · 2 years

Text

Part 3 - Chapter 18 - I-Island: Troubled Waters

Blank Canvas Part 3

AO3 - here

Fanfiction.net - here

I AM HERE! WITH A NEW CHAPTER! Gotcha some nice fluff to make up for all the angst last update. I hope you like it! :D

Warning for teasing starting at ["Time to wake up, listener...] through [The Quirkless teen nodded...]. Also at [In retrospect...] to ["Alright, alright...].

If you're sensitive to intimacy that is more than holding hands, read with caution from [Noting the different sides...] to [The brainwasher lumbered out of bed...]. Just in case. ;)

Linktree to all the things!

End notes for the chapter are under the line.

If you skipped the warned of parts...they almost kissed. Kekekeke. Also Present Mic took pictures of a pair of adorable love birds sleeping while leaning on each other on a plane. Twice. Don't worry, he'll share them. ;)

The kiss was so close! I'm sure y'all hate me for teasing the first kiss. :P But we're making progress! I have a very specific moment for when they do actually kiss which I'm super excited to share when we get to it. Hopefully all the sleepy boy snuggling is enough of a peace offering. I just want them to be happy and comfortable together.

If anything, you can blame Hitoshi. Shouto isn't happy really but they at least metaphorically kissed and made up. ;) No bad blood amongst the Freakateers.

Izuku being retrospective over breakfast. He really has had a tough life so far and it's only going to get harder. Sorry, green bean! I love you but the angst is too entertaining and fun to explore. Still working on figuring out when it would be best to drop the Endeavor bomb among everything else. But at least we've got some stepping stones.

Fun Facts About Japan:

This one is more connected to the restaurant I have them eating at in this chapter. I’m basically having them going to Japan’s version of Denny’s. Yes, they do have Denny's in Japan. :P However, much like how McDonald's over there have Japan only menu items, Japan Denny's has its own differences. You can explore their website here to see the menu and whatnot.

Lots of hamburgs or hamburg steaks ( ハンバーグ , ハンバーグステーキ ) which is what they call salisbury steaks in Japan. Very confusing the first time I came upon the term at my second school. I automatically started correcting them to hamburger but the students and teacher were all 'what are you doing? that's what it's called here.' I was all 'wah? that's not the word we use in English,' which they were very surprised to hear. XD Literally a 'wait, you don't?' 'nope!' situation. Let's just say we were all confused and experienced culture shock, but we learned something at least!

Anyway, they serve a lot of Japanese style/influenced dishes which isn't that surprising. If anything, the biggest difference is that they don't serve breakfast all day. Breakfast is strictly in the morning and there's only a half hour overlap before they switch over to lunch/dinner. Which to me kind of sucks because the fun part of places like Denny's and IHOP is that you can get breakfast at any time. Come on, Japan, you are missing out on the magic of all day breakfast!

Alright, that's it for this one. I hope you enjoyed the fluff because next chapter Izuku learns about Inko. I know I didn't have her attack reported on in the news but with Izuku's threat level that kind of information might be more sensitive. Plus they're still working on crime scene anyway. You'll see. Okie dokie, that's a wrap, folks. See ya!

#mha #bnha #quirkless au #fanfic #blankcanvasfic #blankcanvasheritage #midoriya izuku #todoroki shouto #shinsou hitoshi #hatsume mei #present mic #pro hero hound dog #pro hero all might #Class 1-A

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captainmalewriter · 2 years

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An Odd Trend Pt. 3

Check out part two to this series here!

Dennis was working from the comfort of his home. He held his hand against his head as he typed away on his laptop.

Dennis held great pride in his occupation as a full time radio host. But the changing times brought with it technological advances, which made jobs like radio hosts more and more obsolete. Dennis worked twice hard to keep up with the demands of the rapidly changing times. While he was able to stay afloat despite being only a small channel, it was not without several sacrifices. Soon enough he had found that working long hours on end would take its toll on his middle aged body in the form of back aches and eye pain. The pay left much to be desired too, as he and his wife Charlotte were always drifting the line between poverty and comfortable living.

But despite all these poor conditions, Dennis kept at it. Not just for himself and his wife, but for their twin kids too. Unfortunately for Dennis, however, the twins were in the middle of their teen years. As any parent knows, parenting teens is a headache in and of itself.

The clock struck 5 in the evening. Dennis closed out all his tabs and shut down his laptop. It was time to go live for the Wednesday report. Dennis got up from the couch and proceeded to walk towards the makeshift recording booth down in the basement. Just before he entered the basement, he noticed something red moving in the hallway from the corner of his eye.

"Cheyenne? Is that you?" Dennis called out.

There was a moment of silence before his teenage daughter stepped out from behind the hallway. She was dressed in all black, with several chains and locks scattered all throughout her clothes. Her clothes left little to the imagination of her figure too, much to Dennis' dismay.

"Where do you think you're going?" Dennis said with a furrowed brow.

"Out with friends," Cheyenne sighed and rolled her eyes as she spoke.

"Dressed like that? You're out of your goddamn mind if you think you're going out like that, little Missie! Go cover up!"

"What's wrong with how I'm dressed, huh?"

"Everything! A 16 year old girl should not be dressed like a punk!"

"Dad, this is who I am! Why can't you just accept it!? I'm going out with my friends and you can't stop me!" Cheyenne shouted.

Just as Dennis opened his mouth to respond, the power in the house went out. Dennis and Cheyenne looked at each other in the darkened hallway. Footsteps then came running down the staircase next to them.

"Damien, what the fuck did you do now!?" Dennis shouted at the teen, who threw his hands up.

"Dad, I can explain, I've been doing some hacking on social media sites to see what dirt I could find. I just needed some extra power to get through some of the cybersecurity. Look, it's actually pretty cool!"

Damien took out his phone and clicked several things. He then extended his arm out to show Dennis. Dennis feigned interest at first, only to yank the phone out of his son's hand and smack him on the head.

"I'm really not in the mood for any bullshit from either of you. Cheyenne, I want all that shit off of you by the time I'm done with the show. Damien, go reset the breakers and maybe go do something that isn't dangerous for once. I'm tired of the reckless behavior from the both of you. You're both grounded for the rest of the week, I don't want to hear any more trouble or so God help us all."

Cheyenne and Damien immediately began to protest, but Dennis quickly shut both of them down. He merely ignored their complaints as he continued his way into the basement. He was already running late and hurried up to go live. Thankfully, Damien had reset the breakers and the power came back on by the time Dennis had everything set up.

"What am I gonna do with those two..." Dennis muttered to himself. He took one last breath, and then hit the button to go live.

"Howdy folks, welcome back to Get Real, the radio show all about keepin' it real. I'm your host Dennis McIntyre, and I hope y'all are having a mighty fine evening tonight."

Dennis went on with his radio show like usual. He covered the latest news headlines in local news, politics, and the sports world. Dennis also threw in his own commentary whenever he could. His brand of satirical, sarcastic humor was what kept his audiences coming back from more after all.

"Alright, that's just about it for the headlines y'all," Dennis took a sip of water as he thought about how to fill in the last 15 minutes of air time. Before Denis would just talk more about any of the topics he had previously covered, but with all the stress he was carrying, his mind went blank when he tried thinking of what to say next. His eyes wandered while he thought about it. His gaze landed on the supposedly hacked phone he had taken from Damien. He picked up and opened it, taking him straight to Tiktok where Damien had left off. An idea struck him while he held it.

"You know, I'mma keep it real with y'all. Shout out to all the hard working parents out there who give their families the world even if it goes unappreciated, and I really mean that when I say that cuz I too know what's it like to be a parent. I love my kids to hell and back, but believe me when I say that they're rarely not a handful..."

Dennis fiddled with the hacked phone as he rambled on about parenting. For the most part, the phone seemed normal so far as Dennis could tell. He remembered how Damien had mentioned that it was social media sites he was messing around with. With that in mind, he opened up Tiktok again. After clicking around on the app, Dennis soon stumbled into a plethora of illegal content. Removed videos, pirated music and movies, illegally manufactured filters, the entire underside of Tiktok was right at Dennis' hands. He scoffed as he scrolled through all of the removed content.

"If I had to blame one thing for why kids are acting more and more these days, I'd blame all the phones and apps. All this technology will brainwash the mind and make young kids go mad!"

Dennis kept scrolling through the horrors. He was disgusted by everything he had saw. He only covered a small fraction but he had already seen enough.

"Now, I know y'all can only hear my voice, but I just recently took away my son's phone for fear of what he could get himself into. Let me show you all what I mean when I say these phones will be the death of us all,"

Dennis then hit a button that activated one of removed Tiktok filters. After a moment of buffering, the filter loaded, and Dennis had begun the Me & You challenge.

***

Hector laid down on the couch as the Me & You challenge loaded on his phone.

He was bored that afternoon, and after doing a deep dive into the hidden side of the internet, he found himself trying out supposedly dangerous internet programs. Hector had read about the Me & You challenge through online forums. The information he found was vague and questionable at best due to being on websites known for false information and conspiracy theories. According to the forums, the Me & You challenge connected two users through a video call. The two users would then somehow switch bodies with no way to switch back, forcing the two people to take on entirely new identities.

"Switching bodies..." Hector read all he could about the strange phenomenon. He grew more intrigued the more he thought about it.

"...Sounds hot."

Hector waited patiently as the video call connected. Soon enough, he found himself on the phone with a graying middle aged man who was holding the phone inches away from his face.

"Hello? Hello?" the man said. "Can you hear me? Who is this?"

"Hey, I can hear you! But can you move the phone? Like, away from your face,"

The man followed Hector's instructions. The man saw Hector on the phone and scowled; Hector simply smiled in return.

"How's it going bro, how you doing?" Hector asked.

"Why do you look like that?"

"Huh? Like what?"

The man pointed at the screen while still holding the same disgusted look. Hector's smile faded as the man began pointing at his own face in all the same places Hector had piercings or tattoos.

"You talking about my piercings and tattoos?"

"How old are you?"

"23? Why do you ask?" Hector asked.

The man ignored him and instead went on a tangent about how the next generation was being mentally poisoned by phones and social media. He kept referring to both Hector and his daughter who apparently dressed in similar style to him. All the while Hector grew more annoyed.

"Hey man, what the fuck is your problem?"

"See what I mean, folks? Absolutely no respect for your elders, it's like I always say..."

The gray haired man went off on another rant about the dangers of bad parenting. While the man kept lecturing, Hector had decided he had enough.

He searched for the end call button on his phone. Hector expected the X button to be in the corner like always, but when he went to press it, it wasn't there. Hector searched for the button but it was nowhere to be found. He tried hitting the home button and even the power button, but neither did anything. Hector grew impatient, but then a 🔄 button appeared on his phone. He was unsure what the button was, but decided to push it anyway. An odd clicking sound played, but as Hector half expected, the call continued.

The man had paused his endless ranting when he heard the odd click. He brought his phone close to his face again, then moved it away.

"I'm tired of wannabe hot shot punks like you. Have a good day." The man declared before squarely pushing the 🔄 button with this thumb. He had expected the video call to end, but instead he and Hector got a face full of bright, white light- causing both of them to kneel over to the ground in pain.

***

Cheyenne waited outside the garage with her ear pressed against the door. As soon as she heard that her father had stopped talking, she went inside. A walk turned into a sprint when she had seen her father rolling on the floor, wincing in pain.

"Oh my God, Dad! Are you okay?" Cheyenne rushed to his side. She also took the liberty of shutting down the live broadcast. No doubt Dennis would've wanted that to avoid going over schedule.

Cheyenne helped her still groggy father up to his feet. She then led him to the kitchen, struggling to hold up his body weight as the two waddled over. She sat him down a chair and gave him some water. After some time, "Dennis" looked like he was back to normal.

"Thanks for the water... Man! My head is killing me right now..." Hector said while massaging his temples.

Hector and Cheyenne sat in silence for a while. The silence was broken by Cheyenne as she faced her father with her hands against her chest.

"Dad, I wanted to say I'm sorry. I didn't mean to talk back to you, I'm sorry. I know you don't want me dressing like this and I deliberately disobeyed. I promise I won't do it again, just please don't ground me!"

Hector stared with wide eyes as Cheyenne poured her heart out to who she thought was her dad. He looked over how she was dressed and didn't see anything wrong with it. In fact, she looked like a teen girl version of himself in an alternate universe.

"Uh... Sure, kid... It sounds like you know what you did was wrong. You're not grounded anymore," Hector answered skittishly.

"Wait, really!? Thank you Daddy!"

Cheyenne went in for a hug. Hector was unsure how to react, only patting her on the back in response.

"No problem, kid, now go enjoy yourself!"

Cheyenne left the kitchen beaming. Hector found himself alone in a house he did not recognize. He stood and surveyed his new surroundings.

"Sweet digs," Hector mumbled as he walked around. He caught a glimpse of himself as he passed by the stainless steel fridge. He noticed he wasn't himself anymore; instead, he was in the body of the gray haired man he had talked to over.

"Holy shit..." Hector checked himself out in his reflection. He ran his hands over his new silver hair and his fully matured body. He whistled as he admired himself. "...I'm a fucking silver fox DILF now!!"

Hector spent the next half hour checking out his new body, only interrupted by the sound of his phone ringing in his pocket. He picked out and answered the incoming video call. On the other side of the call was his old body, staring daggers into him.

"Oh hey it's you! What's up bro, you enjoying my body?" Hector said cheerfully. His old body only mad dogged him in return. Hector could only laugh at the situation.

"What are you laughing about? This isn't funny," Dennis finally spoke up.

"C'mon man, just loosen up for once-"

"Loosen up!? This is literally the worst time-"

"QUIT FUCKING TALKING OVER ME!!"

Hector shouted into the phone. His new voice allowed him to hit volumes he previously couldn't hit before. His voice surprised him just as much as it surprised Dennis, although Hector kept a poker face to hide it.

"Shit man, I've only known you for like 15 minutes and I'm already fucking tired of your bitchy attitude. Always talking and lecturing and criticizing... I bet you do the same thing to your daughter, huh."

"Don't you dare touch Cheyenne!!"

"Wouldn't dream of it. What the fuck do you even think of me if you think I'd get at some minor? Seriously, I'd smack the shit out of you if you were here right now."

The two men sat in silence. Neither man had anything positive to say to the other.

This lasted for a couple of minutes, until Hector grew tired of holding a scowl on his face for so long.

"Look man, I don't know why we switched bodies. But the fact is we switched, and we're just gonna have to live like this while we figure out how to switch back. We can make the best of this."

"Humph, and how do you expect me to do that?" Dennis scoffed.

"I don't know! Go wild, I don't care, my body used to it. Just- loosen up for once and actually enjoy yourself. I promise I'll hold down the fort here too, you don't have gotta worry about a thing."

There was a pause in the conversation again.

"C'mon, gimme a smile," Hector said. "...Atta boy, I know you had it in you, ya old geezer."

Weeks had passed since the body swap happened. At first, Hector had assumed that swapping back would be as easy as the initial swap. He was dead wrong, for the Me & You challenge had once again erased itself from both of their phones.

Dennis had instructed Hector to tell his tech savvy son to do some hacking, but no matter how hard Damien tried, he could not relocate the body swapping filter. Dennis grew more and more worried while Hector worked harder to keep him optimistic, though even he knew that eventually they'd have to just give up.

As time went on, Hector had fully embraced his new dad look. He hated that he had lost so many years due to his new older age, but that only motivated him to take control of his life again. Dennis made him swear not to make any drastic changes and Hector kept his word. Instead of reverting back to his old look, he decided to amp up Dennis' silver fox look. He dyed his eyebrows, he touched up his hair, and he even worked out like there was no tomorrow. Soon enough, Hector's new body was the epitome of refined, mature youth again.

Hector never told Dennis' family about the whole body swap situation per his request. But acting as Dennis was a breeze for Hector. He had no problem keeping up with the responsibilities of being a husband, a father, and a radio show host. He even improved the latter as his cheery disposition as a host caused Dennis' viewer counts to go up. Something Dennis hadn't seen in years. The twins had no problem with their new dad either, as Hector was much more fair as a father than Dennis. His wife Charlotte loved his "new attitude" too, though Hector had a feeling Charlotte's approval might've had something to do with the earth shattering, lip quivering, soul shaking orgasms he'd give her every weekend. If Hector knew how to do anything, it was how to indulge in pleasure.

As for Dennis, he too learned how to adjust into his new younger body. Granted, the newfound youth helped him settle in much quicker than he expected. Dennis no longer had to deal with back aches and frequent headaches now. Plus, he didn't really have much to take on by himself as Hector didn't have very many obligations. He was a carefree, single man who loved the minimalist lifestyle. Dennis took full advantage of his new situation and allowed himself to go wild, just as Hector had suggested.

Soon enough, Dennis had started looking at the world in a more positive light again. Hector's optimism was rubbing off on him. It was a fair tradeoff for Hector too, however, as Dennis put himself to work whenever he wasn't wilding out. He helped build up Hector's financial stability, and soon enough, Dennis had built up some luxuries for Hector to return to once they swapped back as a thank you gift.

"You sure you're doing alright?" Hector asked Dennis over the phone. The two made it a habit to check in every other week if not every week.

"Of course I am, I've honestly never been better!"

"Really? I'm glad to hear that, things on my side are pretty great too. Not gonna lie man, you have a hot body. Not saying I wanted to switch bodies, but if I had to, I'm glad I got to do it with a handsome DILF like you."

"Heh, you took the words right out of my mouth, Hector. I'd say the same about you, I'm loving it here!"

"Haha, oh yeah? You like what you see?"

"I love it," Dennis answered. He laid down as he talked on the phone.

"Well, I'm glad I got you to relax a little. We could all use a change in perspective every now and then."

Hector and Dennis shared a laughed together over the phone.

"Are you ready for me, Big Boy?"

Dennis felt a hand smack his ass. He turned his head and smiled.

"Alright, it's been nice talking to you, but I gotta go- ahh!!"

Dennis dropped the phone when he felt himself getting penetrated. First the tip entered his hole slowly, then he took the entire length with a steady thrust, causing his virgin walls to expand.

Hector smirked as he heard a moan coming from the phone.

"Alright, Dennis, you dirty old dog. You have fun now, just remember to breath and relax as you ride, okay? Talk soon!"

Hector hung up the phone and then proceeded to head to the master bedroom where Charlotte was already naked and waiting for him.

******

Meanwhile...

...Inside a run down apartment building in the middle of some shady neighborhood, there was one apartment whose two residents were still up at 3 in the morning. In the dark living room lit only by a computer screen sat a hefty young man with glasses as he fiddled away at his high end laptop. Something he had stolen only a couple weeks prior.

"Hey, Josh, check this out. Someone used the program again," the guy beckoned to the other person in the room. He was much thinner, and with dyed red hair.

"What? But I thought you said Tiktok already took it down," the red haired guy said as he walked over to his computer friend.

"It was, but someone's used it to swap. Some guy named Dennis McIntyre from Colorado, and some other guy named Hector Casco from California."

"Holy shit... do you know what this means, Will?" the red haired guy grew elated. "People like what we've made, and they want to use it. How many swaps are we at now?"

"Mmm... Counting the last one, we're at 214 now," Will read off of his screen.

"Yup, that settles it, we gotta re-upload the program. This is amazing! People really wanna use our little app!"

Josh celebrated while Will sat in silence in front of his computer. Josh's excitement died down when he saw that his friend didn't share the same feeling.

"What's up with you? This is literally everything we've worked for and you're not happy about it?"

"I don't know, Josh... I'm worried... I mean, we're at 200+ swaps and so far nothing really bad has happened. But... how much further can we go before we get caught? Our luck is bound to run out eventually!"

Josh only laughed while Will wiped the sweat beads forming on his forehead.

"Already a step ahead of you, bud. We just gotta take the program to the next level if we don't wanna get caught, and I know exactly how to do it too."

Josh leaned into Will's ear and whispered something. As he talked, Will's frown morphed into a mischievous smile.

Check out part four to this series here!

#male body swap #male body switch #male body theft #middle age to young adult #age change #personality change #oddtrendseries #dad bod

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outrunningthedark · 3 years

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Think fandom as a whole has too many expectations regarding 5b and will be disappointed if some of our theories don’t happen but this is 9-1-1 some of the scenes will be better than what we imagined whereas others won’t be

I know I come across as the negative type who likes to ruin people's fun, but those posts are never directed at anyone who understands speculation cannot and should not be treated as 100% facts. It's the folks who express genuine anger or disappointment when an episode doesn't meet their expectations that need the reality check. We're not writing the show. We're not directing it. We're not making the decisions. Buck and Eddie's relationship is progressing at the pace that Tim, Kristen & co. feel is most appropriate given where they started. This isn't LS and Buddie isn't Tarlos. TPTB are not going to put our boys in a "romantic" moment before they've figured out how to deal with the whole "Lol, remember when we told you they were straight? We lied." part of the story. If it's taking too long and fans are running out of patience? The option to leave is always available. I want to specifically highlight this part of your ask - but this is 9-1-1 some of the scenes will be better than what we imagined - because it's SO TRUE and I wish people focused on the stuff we DIDN'T expect as opposed to the stuff that was expected and not given. Let's use 5A as an example just because it's still fresh in our minds: - Eddie had a panic attack alright. Over the idea of marrying Ana. - I don't remember anyone correctly predicting the doctor would be the one to tell Buck Eddie was hospitalized??? - FIRST hug between Buck and Chris where Buck LIFTS him into his arms!!! Hello!!! Still screaming about it!!! - "He takes Christopher [to the zoo] all the time. Has the place memorized." - "You need to tell me when something is wrong." & "Is that enough?" - WHO knew the EddieAna break up was gonna be LIKE THAT!!! "Maybe you should go home first." That was an "Oh. We're really doing this." moment for everyone!!! - B A L C O N Y S C E N E - Eddie having none of Buck's "I'm requesting a transfer" bullshit (those expressions!!! the attitude!!!) and saying "You're stuck with us." - Buck approaching Mitchell and that other guy when they threaten Christopher??? Eddie saying Buck's name ONE TIME and giving him *a look* in a silent plea to get him out of the ambulance??? Buck SAYING EDDIE'S NAME AS HE HEARS A GUNSHOT??? AND THEN SCREAMING FOR HIM AS HE RUNS OUTSIDE??? - Buck knowing he had to get Eddie out of his head when they think Parker and his sister died in the hospital fire - Buck calling Eddie out on the fact that he secretly enjoys telenovelas - Buck asking what the doctor said about Christopher's recent nightmare because he knew Eddie wouldn't hide that from him I have my grievances with 5A (piss poor planning/organization, the erasure of Chimney killed my spirit because I wanted the firefam helping with Jee, and I had no use for BT when Buddie is right there and MW's acting is not up to par), but you will never see me *seriously* complaining about the Buddie content we were blessed with. ALL of the details I listed took place while each one of the guys was in a relationship WITH SOMEONE ELSE. What do you *think* is gonna happen when we no longer have to deal with TKelly and Eddie is still single? Season three ringing any bells? What about early season four before Ana showed up? Marathon, not a sprint, y'all. Let's take it one week at a time.

#anonymous #tina speaks #tv: 911 #tv: 9-1-1 #buddie #anti bucktaylor

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libraford · 4 years

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The short version: We had a serial thief at the flower shop. She’s retired recently and I think that due to Covid she really means it this time.

The long version? hoooo boy, here we go.

This story, and others, are viewable on Tablo

There are rules and there are rules.

In dealing with shoplifting in retail, there are rules on how one engages with a thief. The handbook, if there were one, would consist of a single word.

Don't.

Don't pursue, don't interrogate, don't accuse. Let them take the merchandise, let them get away. Let them return the Cricut machine for an equivalent amount on a gift card to be exchanged once again for drugs.

Let them.

There is no handbook on how to handle Flower Thieves. Prior to working in a flower shop, I never thought that this was a problem.

Life is surprising.

I'm sure some of you have figured that out by now.

The Flower Thief is notorious, and she has a system. There are days when you simply know that she's going to be in.

"Break the heads off the flowers before you throw them away," Grandpa will say. "She's going to be here tonight, I think."

And sure enough, she would be. At 6:45, a quarter til we close- the Thief would announce her arrival. Loudly.

"Heeeeey, baaaaaaby!"

The very first time I encountered the Flower Thief, she came in through the back door.

"Oh Hiiiii, Darlin'- ain't seen your face around here: you must be NEW! I'm Wren, you know- like the bird? Well, Kyle and I have an agreement that I come and work for y'all sometimes. You should take out this trash, it stinks to high heaven. Anyways, nice talkin' to ya, see ya later."

I may only be a little bit psychic, but I've spent enough time around liars to know insincerity when I see it. Kyle, at the time, was the manager of our store and I have it on record that he's tried to throw her out of the building once or twice.

While I was taking out the trash, her pile of purchase became so tall it towered over her. I watched Clark massively undercharge her for the sake of getting her to go away.

She has a pattern.

She comes in during the design classes because she knows that when there's twenty people in the store, there's not enough people to watch her and make sure she's not stealing. "There's a class today," she asks as if it's not literally every Tuesday. "Don't worry I know you all wanna get out of here on time."

The Flower Thief announces her presence in a grand way and then makes her way to the back to grab a trash bag or an empty box and then proceeds to bury any spare parts she finds in the cooler in the trash bag, hiding them under the things that she's actually buying.

After that, she checks the garbage cans for things we might have thrown away that will last another three days and stuffs them underneath her other ill-gotten goods.

Just when you think she's finished, she'll go through her pile of flowers and say: "You know what? I don't need this eucalyptus." And she'll go back into the cooler with it, stuff it in her purse, and walk back to the register.

And when she's all done being sneaky, she asks one of us to come ring her out.

This is the part that no one wants to do. Because ringing out the Flower Thief means haggling with the Flower Thief.

"Oh baaby, you know I don't pay those prices."

"Oh baaaby, I only pay $19 for roses."

"Oh baaaaaaaaaby, those carnations were on special."

She'll talk you down to under $100 with a sob story:

"Oh baaaaby, you know I'm donating this spray to the family. It's for that woman you know- you know the one. She got herself murdered a couple nights ago? Two children and she was pregnant too! Pregnant! Can you believe it? Who murders someone with child? What's the world coming to? So I need a good discount to make sure we treat this family right because they got a looooong road ahead of them."

"Oh baaaaaaby, you know this one's for that car crash over on Cleveland Avenue? I hear he was taking care of his dying father himself, so it's such a shame for him to go first like that."

"Oh baaaaaaaaaaaaaaby, this is for that little boy that shot himself, isn't that sad?"

Thank you, Sister Mary Loquacious.

And you nod because you don't want to come off as an uncaring sociopath. And while you're nodding and adjusting the price for her sad, sad consequence and mulling over how good she is for donating to these people in their time of need, she steals some greens from the trash can and sticks them in her bag.

She hands you crisp $100 bills. You check them and she makes jokes about how she printed them this morning. They're legit. Counterfeiting isn't why she went to prison.

What she went to prison for was drug trafficking.

"Do you need some help," you ask, trying to be a good citizen.

"Oh no, I got it," she insists. "I'll make it in two trips. I'm stronger than I look!"

And don't you dare get caught looking to see what she put in the bag or she will give you one hell of a lecture.

By the time all of this has passed, the class will be over and there will two minutes left in the work day. She's spent thirty-seven minutes in the store. Your register is unbalanced because now you don't have enough small bills to balance it and only have one $100 bill to get you through tomorrow.

And that's why there are rules.

On occasion, a new person will break the rules not knowing that there's rules. One such occasion was when Clair decided to be helpful.

"You know what? I don't need this eucalyptus," Wren said.

"Oh! I'll put it back for you," Clair suggested. And before Wren could protest, it was out of Wren's hands and nowhere near her purse.

It was mentioned to Sage, who only worked for us one summer, that Wren had failed to pay for something and she immediately chased her out into the street.

Wren drives very fast.

If you cross her too many times, she'll make sure you never forget it. One day, she stomped her way in through the front door, angry.

"You ain't treated me better than a damn THIEF," screamed the Flower Thief.

Grandpa, who was helping Blue make a wedding bouquet at the time, departed from the desk. "Beg pardon?"

"A thief! You been treating me like a thief ever since they made you manager and I'm sick of it! I see you bringing in your henchmen, following me in the cooler, chasing me down the street. Treat me with some damn respect."

Words were exchanged. They were not kind. We thought we'd seen the end of her.

But she was back one week later, doing the same damn thing.

So now there are rules.

If you make something and there's an excess of flowers left over from the pack, you have to make something out of the leftovers or she'll pick through them and stuff them in her bag.

If you cannot make something out of them, you must throw them out.

If you throw them out, you must break the heads off first.

The trash cans must be emptied every night before 5:00.

We do not keep trash bags in plain sight.

Break down all empty boxes, or she will use them in place of trash bags.

Do not leave any food or drink where she can find it.

Do not leave any half-used rolls of floral tape where she can find it.

Do not let her know anything about you- lest she use it against you.

If you speak of a Thief, you summon a Thief- speak quietly, and never her name or you invite trouble.

The basic rules one makes when dealing with pests. Or fairy-folk.

There are rules and there are rules and there are rules.

If you want to keep a pest away, you make these sorts of rules. But if you want to get rid of a pest indefinitely, you have to remove their food source. And Wren's food source was her discount.

You start exercising your right to say 'no' to a customer in small ways.

She saw a bunch of carnations in the trash and said:

"Oh baby, these are still good! I'll take them off your hands for you!"

"They've been sitting without water for hours."

"They're still good!"

"They were out in the sun."

"Oh baby, I've been working with flowers for 40 years and I know that these will still be fine for a couple of days!" She picks a bunch of them out of the trash and shoves it in my face. "See, it's still stiff- it's still good!"

"Okay," I said. And before I could stop myself: "Full price."

Her eyes just about popped out of her skull. If it were just a little bit colder, I would have been able to see steam coming out of her ears.

We stared at each other for about a minute, waiting for the other to flinch. She took the bunch away from my face and threw them back into the trash. While she was in the cooler, I took the liberty of snapping the heads off of them and burying them further into the garbage.

And so began a war between the flower shop and the Flower Thief.

She came in: every single night. And each night, she got me.

Again.

"Oh no, baby! These carns are supposed to be 39 cents a stem. I can bring up the email."

"Sure." She brings up the email. "I see that they are 39 cents but... this was for Saturday."

"Yea, and I bought those carns on Saturday and you charged me full price!"

"Saturday."

"Yeah."

"You didn't buy these on Saturday. You bought them Friday."

"Well I didn't know that they'd be on sale, so I need them for that price because I didn't know they'd be on sale."

"The sales are one-day only. I can't adjust a sale from Friday to reflect Saturday's sale... on Sunday."

She made a noise that reminds me somewhat of a cement mixer.

And again.

"I got a bad banner last time, can you print me a new one?" She shows me the banner in question. It's white. The 't' and the 'h' in 'mother' ran together.

"Sure."

"Okay, I need it to say 'Beloved Mother' and I want it in pink."

"Sure."

I print it. I ring her up $5.

"Oh baaaaaaby, no, that one should be free."

"Grandpa said- banners start at $5."

"Oh, but you sold me a bad one last time."

"We haven't sold you a banner in three weeks. How long have y'all had that body sitting in your cooler?"

She grumbled, and paid.

And again.

"I swear you been workin' every night this week! You must be tired," she said, nerves plain in her voice. "When do you get a day off?"

"When the work is done."

"That ain't what I'm askin'. When's your next day off, baby?"

"I stop working when the work is done, Wren."

She narrows her eyes, which is a fun change from them bugging out of her skull like a fruit fly. "You don't ever get any days off?"

"When the work stops, I rest."

And again.

"I'll be in and out, I know y'all want to get out of here on time," she said- announcing her presence to the entire class. She piled her stuff across the register counter and Grandpa began ringing her up.

"Oh baby..."

"No. We're doing away with the discounts."

There are twenty people in the workshop for the class and Grandpa doesn't want to make a scene. She pulls her into the back, and I choose to make my instructions louder to mask the sound of them yelling.

"So you're going to take your hypericum berries and you're going to cut the stem to about ten inches-"

"How can you do this to me?"

"And you're going to slowly fill the vase with these berries to kind of set the shape of the arrangement."

"After all these years and this is how you treat me?"

"Fun fact- you might know hypericum berries as their more common name: St John's Wort! St. John's Wort has been used as a medication for depression prior to modern medicine." You see- I, too, have taken notes from the Chattering Order.

"You can't do this to me," Wren said, stamping her feet like a toddler.

"But I wouldn't recommend eating them. However, they do smell somewhat like baked brown sugar."

Stamp, stamp, stamp.

Wren threw herself into the cooler and began putting a bulk of her flowers back.

"This is robbery," I heard her say to Grandpa at the register.

"Is it now?"

And again.

She came in and immediately reached for a half-empty box of oasis bricks (the green sponge material that we use to hold flowers.) She said few words to me, few at all. She talked to Carrie about how she was going out to the country for awhile, to take care of her nephew's property. She needed to stock up. And oh- don't worry about it, she knows what she's doing. She's part of The Family.

She is in no manner of speaking, a member of The Family that owns this shop. Not even a third cousin.

I saw her beeline for a rose I'd set in the trash. I picked it up, opened my mouth, and bit the head off of it. She stood in the middle of the workshop, absolutely stunned.

Rose petals have the vague texture of arugula, by the way. Slightly sweeter, though. Tough to swallow in one go.

She ran back into the cooler and didn't talk to me.

I began taking down numbers.

27 bricks of oasis. One pack of roses. Ten calla lilies. 1/2 pack of assorted greens.

I punched the numbers in to the register. As if sensing something was amiss, she emerged from the cooler.

"$54? What do I have that's $54?"

"The oasis. They're $2 each."

"Oh no baaaaaby, they're $1."

"I can text Grandpa and ask her."

"... that won't be necessary. Why are you charging me $22.50 for roses? You know my prices by now!"

"22.50 is the price for a pack of roses."

"22.50 is everybody prices."

"Welcome to 'everybody.'"

"I ain't paid a price increase in 7 years!"

"The price of milk went up, Wren. So does everything else."

She was seeing red, I knew it. There's a vein in her forehead that pops out when she's angry and it's the same shape as the river that runs through my home town. She sized me up, as if wondering if she could take me.

I'm 256 pounds of 4H beef, and I have a knife. Try me.

"I'm gonna call Kyle on this."

"Do it." A lifetime of retail has made me immune to 'I'd like to speak to the manager.'

She grumbled and put things back. Carrie offered to watch her, I held up my hand.

"Can you do something for me on these carns? They're the last pack in there and they're lookin' kinda ratty."

"9.50."

"9.50's the regular price."

"Regular price is $14."

"No it ain't."

"Is today. You're taking our last pack and we need those for funerals."

She put them back.

She gave me a credit card. It seemed fake, but it ran. Every time I see here, she's got a different card. Did she print this one this morning, too? At least she stopped trying to sell me on Bitcoin. As you can see, it made her incredibly wealthy.

She gathered her things and left. "Guess I'm getting the rest of my flowers from KROGER!"

There are things you want to say. Like... I hope they enjoy your company just as much as we do. Or: Haven't graced them with your presence in awhile, huh? But at the time, it was better just to watch her leave with her minuscule bunch of flowers. I get a choice in where I loan my voice.

Not here.

Is it over? Nah. She'll be back for another round. But one day she'll finally retire in the way that she's always threatened to. And then? Then it can be as over as it ever will be.

It is shocking to come from a history of retail, where you're not allowed to even hint at the idea of a customer being wrong, where you have to override every single price change to get the scores up, where you have to just let them steal your things and pull the wool over your eyes...

... to flat-out telling someone 'no.'

"No."

It's such a great word.

There are rules and there are rules.

And there are thieves that the rules are made for.

And there are words like 'no.'

And all those things are magic in very human ways.

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peanutpinet · 3 years

Text

Yuta as a cold yet soft mafia boss

Prompt: 99) “You think prison is the worst place you could go? You pull some shit like that again and I’ll have you thrown in places that’ll make prison seem like a wet fucking dream.” from 100 Dialogue Prompts for Mob Boss AU

A/N: just like the Jeno fic, I've always wanted to do a Yuta fanfic and it wasn't until I saw this writing prompt that I'm like, this feels like something Yuta would say.

Warnings: probably some cursing since it's Yuta XD

Now, we all know how cold and scary Yuta looks when in fact he's a big softie. Which is probably one of the reasons why you fall for him; because of how soft whipped he is with you and the rest of NCT.

Like the boy is very much whipped for you that he would even have time to ask you 'have you eaten', 'what are you up to' while being on a mission. The boys also like to tease him about it, even WayV (who we all know are slightly terrified of him)

Would definitely take you out on a date every now and then if he can. A/N: Kay, hold up, we're getting a bit ahead. I forgot to tell you how y'all met XD

So, it was a school night (well, you're in college); and you were quite stress with your final assignment that you decided to go to the nearest convenience store to grab some coffee and snacks to pull an all-nighter.

You wore an oversize hoodie and some sweats (cause comfort is key) and was walking through the snack aisle, about to grab (your favourite snack) when another hand was about to reach for it (ehem, Yuta, ehem)

Despite wanting to grab the snack, you insist the tall, handsome man to have it instead (even if you were wondering how a guy like him like your fave snack). But the man insist you take the snack; which led to the both of you having a little debate and eventually the man took the snack, paid for it but gave it to you, saying that you needed it more

"Take it. Finals are tough and you need the little boost to keep you going. Also, don't worry so much about the result. What matters is you did your best, mkay? See you around kid" the man lectured, giving you a slight smile before leaving with his own coffee

After he left, it took you a while to process what just happened before going back to your dorm and continue your final assignment

But oh how the universe like to bring people together ;)

It was right after your finals and you and your friends decided to have some drink at a nearby bar since you guys were curious and have never experienced the bar aura.

You weren't much of a drinker despite your amazing tolerance in alcohol so you were rather confused what to order until a familiar sound came.

"She'll have the orange-mango crush" a familiar voice stated

Turning around, you saw the same man you bumped into at the convenience store almost 2 weeks ago but this time, he looked way more put together and even wore a suit. Lowkey, your mind was starting to wander around and thinking whether there was going to be a fight or some sort or if this was that typical mafia story you secretly read.

"Didn't think you'd be the type to come to a bar on a school night. You done with your finals kid?" the man asked

"I, uhh, yea. Wait!! What do you mean the type to come to a bar?" you stuttered; not aware that your friends were staring at the both of you

"Don't worry, I don't mean it like it's a bad thing. People do what they want. Who am I to judge. Anyways, you ladies enjoy your night. If there's any problem, don't hesitate to let me, the bartender or the guards know. Also, the drink is on the house" the man winked at you and your friends, giving a slight wave before leaving

Cue your friends immediately plastering you with all sorts of question. Wondering how you met a handsome hunk in the midst of your finals. Not to mention, that handsome hunk even remembers you. Cue you becoming a blushing mess; especially after the bartender came with the drink the man requested for you.

Though you were worried that the drink was spiked, you gave a little sip and it was all fruity and delicious. Mental note to yourself: not only is he good-looking, kind but also has good taste in food; great, just great.

The rest of the night went fairly nice. You and your friends were sipping on your drinks, having a nice chit-chat bout life in general, catching up since you guys were not in the same classes. Once the clock hit 1 am, you figured that it was time to head back to your dorm.

Since you decided to wait for your friends who were calling an uber to head back to their homes since they live near your college. Whilst waiting, you told your friends that you were going to go to the bathroom for a bit.

Right when you came out of the bathroom, a random man tried to hit on you and it made you very uncomfortable that you eventually hit the wall behind you. But luckily, a certain someone came and save the day ;)

"Oi. Hands off the girl. Looks like someone is new to my bar since I don't accept any sort of make-out if there's no consent between two parties. Scram before I make you" your saviour growled, making the man leave you alone

"Are you alright?" the man asked while you were catching your breath

"Yeah. Yea, I am. Thank you again. Uh..." you mumbled

"What is it? Are you sure you're alright?" the man questioned, worried in his tone

"It's just, you've basically helped me twice and I still have yet to know your name" you chuckled, making the man chuckle as well

"If that's really what you want. I'm Yuta" the man called Yuta chuckled

"Thank you, Yuta. I appreciate it" you thanked him, giving him a genuine smile; not knowing what that smile does to Yuta's heart

And folks, that was just the beginning of your relationship. Ever since that night, Yuta made it his goal to get to know you more before actually asking you in a relationship; which, when the time came and Yuta asked you, without thinking twice, you said yes.

Throughout your relationship, Yuta was pretty blunt in telling you what he does as a living and mentioned that while he may live a dangerous life, he still had morals and his job was actually putting down all the bad people hiding in the shadows.

Despite all, you trusted Yuta and he also trusted you. You still had your freedom and was allowed to go wherever with whoever you wanted as long as you told Yuta beforehand. Even throughout your near one year anniversary, both of you knew each other's friend group and you even get to see how soft Yuta was when it comes to his mates.

However, all those sweet moments you both felt like a dream the second Yuta heard news that you were captured by some lowlife gang that NCT made go broke. Hearing the news, it was only a matter of minutes before the whole NCT used their network to find you and create a well thought out plan to get you back.

Once Yuta got you back, he made sure you were alright whilst the other members lock the gang up in their basement. Yuta made sure that you had no injuries; which, if you do, he would tend them himself and if he can't then he'll have someone come but stay by you until you were alright or, until you fell asleep.

After tucking you into bed and making sure you were fast asleep. Yuta peck your forehead for a moment before quietly sneaking off the bed and out of his room, going down to the basement and confronting the gang with some of the other members.

“You think prison is the worst place you could go? You pull some shit like that again and I’ll have you thrown in places that’ll make prison seem like a wet fucking dream. Now, which one of you nutjobs came up with the idea in the first place?!" Yuta growled, smirking once he saw the gang cower in fear

A/N: hope you guys enjoy this Yuta fic that came out of nowhere XD and hope you all stay safe and healthy :) xoxo

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hagoftheholler · 3 years

Text

Lately I've had a few people ask me about how I started my craft, what resources I can recommend and what it is that I do now. I don't think I can give a short answer for this because my journey has been a complex one. The easiest way to put it: if you have been practicing magic for a long period of time, and your craft looks the exact same as when you started, you haven't progressed as much as you think. I'll get into what I mean by this after I tell y'all a little about my own journey.

Most of my family are Christians to some degree, though not all of them are as passionate about their religious beliefs as others. Personally, I didn't like going to church as a kid. The most I liked about it was being around other kids, though I never had any serious friendships. Despite some of the more shameful Christians in my family, others had a more open view of religion. Some of the older folks in my family have gifts, or what some of y'all would call "psychic abilities". I ended up inheriting these gifts.

I've always had a certain level of curiosity about religion, spirituality and the occult. I've always been superstitious. I didn't know much about the occult until my brother's ex-wife came along. I remember her having a bunch of crystals on a massive altar in her room. I'm not totally sure if she was Wiccan or something else, but regardless I knew she was into something magical. That was my first experience seeing something like that, but my own interest in magic didn't come along for another couple of years.

A little over three years ago is when I took up divination and magic myself. I bought my first tarot deck and started studying magic. I had heard about folk magic early on, but when I read about the Christian aspects, I rejected it. I was on the bandwagon of "anything related to Christianity is garbage and there cannot be Christian stuff in magic ew". I started off with all of the basic things that float around the internet: burning bay leaves, crystals, appropriated practices like chakras and burning white sage... It wasn't good. I've learned my lesson with that.

I dabbled with a lot of things for about a year and a half. Although candle magic worked well for me, almost everything else was mediocre. Results I got were either nonexistent or not nearly what I wanted to achieve. I started looking to social media, especially discord servers, to help me figure out where to go from there.

It was around that time when I circled back to folk magic. I still hesitated due to many variations of folk magic involving Christian aspects. I do have religious trauma, so anything Christian was a red flag to me. I decided to keep reading about different variations of folk magic, though, because it was the only thing that consistently kept my attention. It was around this time when I finally started to come to terms to my trauma and understand that Christianity is still a valid religion.

While I was looking for books and other resources, I came across a person on discord who practices Appalachian folk magic. I had never seen a person on discord claim to practice this type of folk magic. The Appalachia has always felt like home to me, and it has become my home now. For those of you who don't know a thing about folk magic, here is a link to my post explaining it. I don't think folk magic is for everybody, and my post about folk magic will give you an idea on why that is.

I decided to reach out to this person, and she turned out to be pretty friendly. Locals in the Appalachia tend to be skeptical of outsiders for a variety of reasons. Appalachia has a long history of outsiders coming in and causing trouble. Between the coal mining industry, disrespectful tourists and harmful stereotypes... They are within their right to be skeptical.

This person is still a good friend to me, and she was kind enough to share some resources and teach me some things about Appalachian folk magic. I'd say she's pretty damn close to being family to me in some ways.

Now, anybody who knows anything about folk magic knows that folk magic looks pretty different from a lot of these new age practices. To say my craft looks different now compared to when I started is an understatement. Not only has my craft changed, but so have my beliefs.

Going back to what I said in my initial statement about your craft... If your craft looks the exact same as you started after a few years, you're probably not progressing as much as you think. I'm not saying you have to be an old school folk practitioner or a high priestess or whatever else there is. What I am saying is a lot of the "basic information" you will find on the internet probably won't apply to you once you've stepped out of your comfort zone to try something a little different.

I feel like there is an expectation that beginners must start with the same generic infographics that the magic community shares. There is also an expectation that most practices and concepts are "too much" for beginners to be dabbling with. I say most of the people who say this are power hungry and spewing bullshit.

And before any of you who want to come at me for this, I was one of you before. I know what kind of words y'all like to use to scare beginners and keep them in their little bubble. If you don't realize that you are power tripping, that is on you.

That's how my craft started and progressed. I can't really share any specific resources because most of the resources I would share probably won't apply to most of y'all. A lot of what I've learned has been heavily based on folklore, superstition, culture, psychology and other things that aren't exactly "magical".

Consider some of the things I've said here, because some of you have a lot of untapped potential. Even if you don't actively practice something, let your curiosity guide you and see where you go. Know your boundaries, though... Don't tamper with closed practices if you know that they aren't for you.

#witchbr #witchcraft #folk magic #beginner witch #witchcraft 101 #witchcraft basics #magick

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queenoftheworldisdead · 3 years

Text

Help wanted

Summery: Boarding house with the occasional unwanted tenant.

Note: I don’t think Arvin is dark in this, but it might be for other people.

Warning: non-con/dub con, dark theme, choking, slight spanking, cream pie

Grey Arvin Russell x Reader; Dark Lee Bodecker x Reader

🛎

The bell rung on the door of your boarding house. Drying your hands with a dish rag you got yourself ready to meet whoever it was coming through the door. When you crossed through the archway you were shocked still.

He had a duffel bag slung over his shoulder, his clothes looked all greased up, the hat that hid a thick tuft of hair peaked out looked like it had seen better days.

His type weren't known for being on this side of town so you figured he was either new to town or looking for someone.

You welcomed him with a soft smile and gave your name.

"How can I help you today sir?"

"Hello Ma'am." He said politely, tipping his hat slightly at you. His thick country twang confirming the former. "I saw the help wanted sign out side. Y'all still hiring?"

"Um..Y-yeah... I need a handy man, job includes free room, and board, but I won't just hire anybody though. There is a washer in the basement, if you fix one of them the jobs yours."

🛎

Waddling to the basement with your Daddy's old toolbox, the heavy rusty thing knocked at your knees each step. He jogged over to you, taking the kit from your grasp and you thank him for it.

"The left one broke down a month ago and the other I'm guessing couldn't handle the over use. Dryers work just fine though."

Before he could reply you heard the door bell ring again. You excused yourself and left him to work.

"I'm coming, just a minute!" You shout down the hall as you hurried.

🛎

"Sorry it took so long."

"Saul right Ma'am" he said rising from the floor. You watched from the door as he twisted a dial. The hum of the machine filled the growing awkward silence.

"Well aren't you something! I guess that means your hired."

He lifted his hat to smooth back stray strands of hair, his shy smile hid as he looked down to the floor.

🛎

"Your room's on the third floor. Has a bed and a little sitting place. It's really small just enough room to lay your head really." The sound of foot-steps coming down the stairs halted you. Your eyes watch their back disappear into the night, until he cleared his throat bringing your attention back.

"That'll do just fine Ma'am." Something about his southern accent made your heart flutter. He picked up his duffel, throwing the strap over his shoulder as you dug out your ledger.

"Just down there is the supper table. I cook breakfast and dinner. You can eat in your room if you like, a lot of them do." You explained as you watch him sign the book. Arvin Russell it read.

He adjusted his strap as you talked, his deep brown eyes made it hard for you to keep his gaze, making you fidget nervously in place. "Most folks are gone during the day so I don't make lunch, but if you like no problem just give me a holler. Bath rooms are at the end of each hall."

Digging in your desk you find the master keys and a list of things that needed to be fixed. His fingers grazed yours lightly in the transfer, Arvin's touch sent a ripple of heat up to your face. He flipped through the wrinkled papers, scanning over the chores with a wrinkled brow.

"S-sorry to put so much on you, but when my daddy got sick things got out of hand and I never been one for fixing things."

"No problem Ma'am."

🛎

During the day you kept busy. Scrubbing windows and mopping the halls of each floor. Arvin crossed paths with you on occasion. Gently brushing past you with his tools as he headed to his next assignment.

The door to Odis', one of the tents, room was left wide open when you walked by. Curious you glanced in, catching sight of Arvin lifting his shirt. Your legs stop moving as you watched him wipe away beads of sweat from his brow with the hem. You couldn't stop yourself from ogling his well toned exposed stomach.

The clanking of the dust pan hitting the floor caught his attention. Your face burn with embarrassment when he found you standing outside the room. Panicked you quickly picked up the pan and rushed off to the ground floor.

🛎

You heard Arvin call your name. "Yeah?" You replied weakly still embarrassed.

*Relax he isn't thinking about you. Probably just thinks your a clumsy dits.

He came halfway down the stairs, looking down at you from the banister. "You got a minute? I need a little help" he asked politely.

"Oh sure... Uh sure" you reply looking up at him. Arvin abandoned his cap, his dark hair sticking to his forehead, curling from sweat. More sweat pooled on his shirt, the dampness helped stick the fabric to his lean figure.

Following him up the stairs he led you to a room on the third floor. In the corner of the room there was a large metal pipe leaning against the wall.

You watched as Arvin lifted the heavy pipe, angling it vertically in position.

"Can you hold this?" he called over his shoulder.

Walking over you grabbed it and Arvin moved to get behind you. He took your hands and placed them along the pipe as you steadied yourself to hold it still while it slightly wobbled.

"OK hold still just like that." He bent over beside you, digging into the tool box that rested on the floor. When he rose, Arvin stayed close behind you. You could feel the heat coming off him, he smelled like sweat and after shave. Your hands felt sweaty as you felt rattled a bit by his closeness.

The pipe shifted a bit, you tried nudging it slightly, but couldn't get it back in place.

"Stay steady" his breath tickled your ear, you gasped making him chuckle lightly. "Just like that" he moved the pipe back into place, pushing into your butt when he stepped closer. "Just hold right... here." He placed a hand on your hip and you tensed. His fingers lightly squeezed your softness. You had to fight hard to bring your mind out of the gutter, he just needed your help, nothing more, the spot between your thighs thought otherwise.

With his arms raised above you, Arvin tightened the nuts to secure the metal tube. You swallowed thickly when you heard him grunt as he forced the wrench to move. Looking over to your right you spied his exposed arms. His muscle flexing as he moved.

"Almost done" he said to you, pushing you almost flush to the steel, bumping you gently with each twist of the wrench. You only nod, unable to conjure words to speak properly. Through the cheap fabric of your dress you felt something hard poke at you through his jeans.

*Stomp it now get your mind out of the gutter.

You don't know what had gotten into you lately. First staring at him like a creeper now thinking about his manhood. Maybe its about time you started going back to church you thought to yourself. Cause right now it felt like the devil was leading you to temptation.

When Arvin stepped back you had to choke down a whimper from the loss of his feel. Pressing your lips together you prayed he aint hear you.

Tapping a hand on your shoulder you turn to look at him. "All done." He smiled at you, your hands release the pipe and you backed away.

"Thanks Ma'am."

"You're welcome Arvin" You smiled shyly then rushed off back to your desk.

🛎

No matter how hard your days were the nights were by far the worst. Lying in bed you felt the mattress dip. The fear of the impending figure behind you prickled your skin.

Your eyes squeezed tightly shut as you tried to force yourself to sleep. Holding your breath in a dumb attempt to force yourself to pass out. The blanket covering you pulled away and you felt water fall from your closed eyes.

🛎

Propping your head on your hands you leaned on your desk. Your eyes drooped as you zoned out, looking into space.

"You alright Ma'am?" Arvin startled you as he walked down the stairs.

"I couldn't sleep." You stand up and stretch, yawning a bit. He walked closer to your desk, dressed in his work pants shirt.

"Try some warm milk. Used to help me." He passed by your desk, walking down the hall with tool kit in had to the washers. The old machines acting up again since last time he fixed them.

"Oh Arvin" you shouted at him before he passed through the door. "Um.. can I add something to your list. No worries if you can't get it done today, but I would much appreciate it if you could."

Placing the box down by the laundry door he walked back over, digging the sheet from his back pocket. You grabbed a pen hopeful it was a task he wouldn't mind sorting right away.

"If you can't fix the lock today no problem. I will just go sleep in the attic." You spoke casually as he slipped you the paper to write on. He read over your assignment and you watched as his lips made a hard line.

"I locked myself out of my room, didn't want to wake you to get the spare, sorry. Now I done made more work for you" you laughed, but their was no humor in it. His features softened and you hoped he wouldn't press the issue.

Pushing the paper back to him, you bid him a due and turn to face away to pretend to make a call. When you heard him walk away you let out a breath.

🛎

Arvin was a saint among men. You don't know where he found the money, but he added a chain lock to your door. You smiled at the shiny gold. Sliding on the chain and the bottom lock you prepared for bed.

Laying in bed the thought of the extra lock helped sooth your nerve as you slipped into sleep.

You felt an uncomfortable lump at your back rousing you awake. Your eyes shot open and a hand covered your mouth before you could scream out.

"You think your smart, putting that chain on that door" the beer on his breath hit your nose. Your tears soaked his hand as he held you.

You shake your head 'no' repeatedly in reply. He was still dressed in his work clothes as he laid next to you. The sound of his belt jingling made the tears fall harder.

"I told your daddy I would look out for you. How am I gonna do that if you lock the door?"

Lee, a local cop, only came around when his wife was either on the mends or she just flat out kicked him out. Your father had offered the man a free bed whenever he needed. His way of thanking him for keeping the neighborhood safe.

Lee pushed up your night gown and tsked when he felt your panties. The hand on your mouth slipped down your neck and you blubbered out your apologizes. He hated panties, too much work he called it. "What I told you about these?" he grumbled, forcing the fabric down.

"I-i'm sorry I thought my monthlies were coming on." You sniffed. You tried hard not to cry, you just hopped he would squeeze hard enough to make you pass out.

You heard him spit in his hand, he bumped into your back as he lubed himself up. You yelped when he smacked your ass hard, the sudden sting of pain loosening your locked legs.

"Yea you said that last week. I aint forget girl." He shoved himself inside after he found your opening. "Fucking bitch. I run the house gawd damn it!" Lee was mad at his wife agin. What ever his spite with her, you were paying for it. "Not gonna tell me what to do. Fucking bitch." He growled, panting heavily as he pumped.

You jolted with each thrust, no matter how many times Lee did it, it never got easier.

"Please." You panted desperately. "Please don't come in me" you choked out, his hand tightening his grip around your throat. You had been lucky so far, but you knew it was only a matter of time before your luck ran out.

Lee didn't like back talk, this was his show and you were just here for the ride. Pushing you completely flat you grip the fabric of the sheets. Lifting your ass as he rose to his knees he fucked into you harder. You cried out unable to adjust to his lengthen. He chuckled darkly at your pain, slamming into you repeatedly with a punishing rhythm.

He cursed your name. Reminded you of your place as he came deep in you. His seed filling your cunt as you pressed your head into the mattress and cried.

He slipped out of the bed. His pants once again jingling as he fixed himself up and headed out the door.

🛎

It was that time of the month again.

Whenever he shouted he spit. It was disgusting. You had given him chance after chance, but he used them all. "I'm sorry Tommy if you don't have the rent by Thursday you are going to have to leave."

"Fuck you bitch you let that boy stay here rent free!" He shouted. Trying to make sure tent knew.

"He works here. He earns he keep."

"Then let me earn mine? or give me another week." He barked. His tone more of a demand than a request.

Sighing you hung your head low. Rubbing your temple with one hand you hugged your stomach with the other. First of the month was the worst. Tents ducked and dodged. Begged and pleaded or straight up demand just to not pay rent.

"Next Friday Tommy... That's the last time you hear me." You try to sound strong, but you knew he didn't give a shit as long as he won. "If you aint got it then, then I'm changing the locks and putting your stuff on the street."

He slammed his door in your face and you turned on your heels headed to the next delinquent.

"You alright Ma'am?" Straight ahead, Arvin poked out from the bathroom. You had to fight yourself from looking down at his lower half. In your peripheral you could see he was just in a towel that hung around his waist.

His wet hair seemed to curl under the towel on his head. Strands sticking to his forehead, his face still damp from the shower.

"Umm yeah. Uh just rents due and folks get a little uppity around this time of the month." You dry chuckle turning your eyes up at the ceiling. Fighting yourself from venturing further.

You couldn't tell if it was the steam that came from the bathroom or you. Whenever he was close, your body would react. The heat would turn up making you sweat.

"Well alright then. You have a good night Ma'am."

🛎

*Bang Bang Bang

"Tommy!" You bang again. "Tommy! I will give you to the count of three. If you don't open this door and pay up. I am coming in and kicking you out!" You huffed tapping a foot.

"Ma'am?"

"Morning Arvin. Sorry did I wake you?"

"No was working down the hall."

"Tommy, skipped out on rent I think." Taking a deep breath you lifted your master key ring and unlocked the door. When you peered inside the room was a mess, no sign of Tommy.

Arvin followed you in side, with a hand on your hip you groaned. The amount of clean up you would have to do to ready it for a new tenant would take all day.

"Arvin can you change the lock on the door. I hate doing this, but I gotta kick him out"

"Sure thing ma'am"

As you turn to leave you over at Arvin who was still assessing the damage to the room. "Oh and can you possibly stay close. If he comes around I might need your help."

Arvin only nodded in response as you took your leave.

🛎

Tommy didn't come back that day or the next. Putting up a sign you thought that you could clean up the room a bit, before the weekend. With the storm you figured not to many people would be coming around anyway.

Taking up a few boxes you get to tossing. One box you would keep in the addict. Somethings were just to hard to throw away sometimes, but a good chunk would go.

Thunder bashed down filling the room with a blinding white light. You yelped loudly bringing the sound of feet rushing down your way.

"You alright Ma'am?" Arvin looked in the room worried.

"Sorry Arvin, it’s just the storm. Lightening makes me a bit skittish sorry." You apologize as you get back to clearing the room.

"Well I am finished with my list for today, would you mind if I trouble you for some company?"

"U-um sure" you tried to fight off the smile.

His lips curled as he walked in the room. The instant he crossed the door frame you heard shouting coming from down stairs. When the voice made itself more clear you frowned.

"Oh uh sorry.. I need to tend to that" you say softly. With your head low you walked past him.

🛎

Lee was wet and agitated. "Fucking bitch had the nerve to accuse me of drinking again." He spat while you sat waiting on the bed. "I aint touch a drop today" he said smugly.

You looked at your feet as he undressed in front of you. The sound of a siren blared loudly from out side, Lee turned and squinted at the sound. "Shit!" He stopped undressing and ran out.

Getting up from the bed you grabbed your robe and peered out the hall. The front door was open and Lee wasn't there. The rain still coming down hard, blew in through the open door so you walked bare foot to close it and see if he had really gone. His car was gone that was for sure and as you looked into the rain it seemed he had disappeared too. You exhaled in relief, backed away and closed the entrance.

"Ma'am?" Arvin called to you out of breath.

"Shit!" You gasped, turning to face him. Your heart bashed in your chest as you stared at him crazily. He was soaked to the bone. "Your gonna catch a cold walking around like that" you scolded tightening your robe.

"Do you have any clean towels?" You asked, but you turn back to look at the door. Hoping that Lee wouldn't suddenly comeback.

"I think so.. I know I need to do laundry, not too good at it so I've been holding it off."

"Well, I don't normally do this, but if you like I can mix yours with mine. I don't have enough clothes to justify using all that water anyway."you shrugged.

"I don't want to put you out" he stepped closer to you. "The way his clothes clung to him you had to try hard not to stare.

"N-no trouble. Um wait here I'll give you a towel just in case." You leave him and head back into your room. Digging in your cabinet for the towels. When you turned around again Arvin stood in your living room, looking around your meager abode. "I know it aint much, but at least I got my own bathroom" you chuckled.

When he stepped closer and you had to hold yourself together. Arvin dragged his teeth over his bottom lip while his eyes fell to the opening in your rope.

"S-sorry" your face felt on fire, embarrassed you looked down to your feet. You held out the towel and closed the robe with the other. Arvin’s hand lifted your chin and your eyes went wild.

His lips felt so soft. You just wanted to kiss them all day. Arvin's arms wrapped around your waist and you wanted to melt into him.

Arvin turned you around and backed you up until you both fell backwards onto the bed. Arvin rested comfortably between your thighs while his manhood pressed on your mound. You didn’t know if it were his jeans or your nature making you go wet, but either way you welcomed it.

You gasped when he sucked on your neck, kissing the spot after pulling off. Arvin ground his hips into you making the warmth between your legs soak with desperation.

Holding himself above you, you forced yourself to finally look back at him without shying away. He smirked down at you as he peeled off his top, the wet garment hit the floor hard. His muscles moved and tightened as he freed his shaft. Biting your bottom lips you hummed when he rubbed the tip hard against your slit then lining himself up. Arvin pressed his weight down as he pushed inside slowly. You moaned his name at his fullness. The bed frame squeaked as he rocked.

Kissing you again swallowing your moans, you wrap your legs around his back urging him deeper. Ever the gentleman he obliged.

🛎

*Bang Bang Bang

The furious jiggling and banging was most definitely Lee. You were surprised he hadn't popped the lock as usual, but it was only a matter of time before he got through.

Arvin must not have noticed so you slapped his chest. Pushing him off, but he wouldn't stop. Instead kissing you again as you tried to speak.

"Arvin please, that's Lee... he's.. cop" you spoke on his lips, but your words meant nothing.

Arvin's eye were darkened with lust. You tried to spin away, but he hooked your legs keeping you there, fucking you with his slow pace. He was splitting your mind in two. You wanted to cum so desperately, but your reason told you that Lee wouldn't take kindly to this.

Arvin continued to rock into you as Lee screamed at the door. Your back arched when Arvin took your nipple in his mouth.

"That's it. That's my girl. Come for me." He mumbled over your nipple. Licking the areola and sucking it again, you came around him, squeezing his cock making him hum with approval.

The banging on your bedroom wall brought your high down fast. "I will shoot through this gawd damn wall if you don't let me in!" Lee threatened. You looked at Arvin with panic in your eye. Arvin kissed you gently again as Lee screamed on. You were terrified, you hoped you could explain Arvin's presence away as a maintenance emergency, but before you could properly forma a though he pulled up his pants as you fixed yourself. Arvin didn't stop or look back as you called out to him. Paying you no mind as he opened the door and walked out.

The sound in the hall was so loud you thought lightening had broke through the roof. You rushed out of your room and found Lee out cold, with a pool growing around his perimeter. You looked at Arvin, the young man unconcerned as he began dragging the cop into your room by his feet.

"Get a bucket and a mop" he commanded, the pistol tucked deep in his pants. Without a word you followed his orders.

🛎

#Dark Lee Bodecker x Reader #Dark themes #dark!arvin x reader #dark!arvin!russell x reader #dark!arvin x black reader #dark!arvin x black!reader #dark arvin x black reader #darkish arvin x black reader #dark arvin x black!reader #dark lee x black reader #dark lee x black!reader #dark!lee x black!reader #black writer

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rocksandrobots · 3 years

Text

Phantoms of the Past: Ch. 5 - Best friends, Boyfriends, and Barons Part 1

"Hey Miss Itamae! Ready for a whole new school year? Hee...hee...eeeh.... yeah, fine." Hiro gave up trying to make small talk with the lunch lady as she unceremoniously slopped meatloaf onto his plate.

Today was the first day of the fall semester and the start of Hiro's second year at SFIT. It felt odd to him, to look back and realize just how much time had passed; how much things had changed during the previous year.

A year ago, today, he had been attending Tadashi's funeral and now he was going about his life as if everything was normal. Well, almost normal. He was also moonlighting as a superhero, adopting an out of time teenager as his new big brother, and befriending deadly robots.

Life was weird.

Of course it wasn't as if he could ignore his loss completely. He had noticed the flowers and cards placed at the foot of Tadashi's memorial over by the exhibition hall. People still remembered that his brother had died a hero. Folks that he didn't even know had left their condolences today, though most of the gifts were from Tadashi's teachers and friends.

Hiro had particularly noticed a painting Honey Lemon had left, of her, Tadashi, and the rest of their friends. He also spotted Gogo sitting out there early that morning, lighting a candle in his brother's memory. He had given her her space, choosing not to interrupt. Gogo and Tadashi had been especially close.

Hiro remembered how excited his brother had been when Gogo finally agreed to go out with him. Tadashi had hurried about their bedroom, a couple of days before the fire, fretting over where to take her on their first date. A date that they had never gotten to go on. At the time Hiro had teased him relentlessly, never passing up the chance to deflate his brother's ego. Now it was just another bittersweet memory to look back on.

Fred abruptly snapped him out of his mournful reflection. "Steve." was all he said as he grabbed Hiro by the shoulders.

"Steve? Uh, my name is Hiro, remember Fred?"

"No, no, no, Steve was the name of the ninja robot that Trina found. She said he was held in a warehouse downtown, along with all the other ninjas. Don't you see, that's our big break! We find this warehouse and then we can track down the mysterious bosu!"

Hiro wearily placed his tray down on the table and took a seat next to Wasabi.

"Fred, it's the first day of school. Can't this wait for later?"

"But-"

"Hiro's right Fred," Wasabi interrupted, "Just because you have all the time in the world to play superhero doesn't mean that we do. We still got our own lives to take care of."

Fred looked hurt at that. "I'm not playing! This is important work. We have a city to protect and this crime boss is just going to keep coming after us if we don't figure out how to stop them."

Wasabi rolled his eyes. "Then you just go on and do that. In the meantime the rest of us have class to attend. I'm heading early to set up for my first lab."

"But labs won't open for like another hour." Hiro pointed out, confused. "They're still cleaning up from the robot attacks last week."

"Ah, he just wants to get there early so that he can see his boyfriend again." Fred complained.

"Sam's not my boyfriend. He's just a colleague, and at least I'm doing something other than obsess over superheroing." And with that Wasabi stormed off, while Fred slouched into the cafeteria chair with a huff.

"Listen, Fred, why don't you go on patrol with Minimax for a while. I'll help you track down this warehouse after school is over with." Hiro said.

"Okay," Fred reluctantly agreed, "but I'm not 'obsessing'."

"I know Fred, but the rest of us also have school to worry about. We just don't have the same amount of free time as you do."

"I know." Fred sighed before walking off.

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

"Sorry Hiro, but we're kind of busy right now." Honey Lemon regretfully informed her friends.

Fred and Hiro had met up after school as promised. Wasabi had declined to join them on their quest and so they had decided to recruit the girls instead. Though this also seemed to be a fruitless endeavor.

"Yeah, we're kind of in the middle of something." Gogo finished as she leaned back in a reclining chair and placed two cucumber slices over her eyes.

They had found the girls at a spa. Honey Lemon sat next to Gogo with curlers in her hair, and they apparently weren't the only ones out having a beauty day.

"Can't you see we're having some girl time?" Karmi asked, annoyed, as she examined her nails.

"Yeah, Hiro, go take your weird superhero hobby elsewhere?" Megan added.

"It's not weird!" Fred insisted.

"If this is supposed to be a girls only event, then why is he here?" Hiro said, pointing to Varian, who sat next to Megan.

"Uh, getting a manicure obviously." Varian rolled his eyes and then leaned over to show Carol, who was beside him, two bottles of nail polish. "Do you think I should go with the midnight blue or just stick with black?"

"Hmmm... I think either would be nice," she replied.

"Ooooh, have you tried the seaweed wrap they have here? It's great." Fred chimed in.

Hiro rolled his eyes, "Okay, so what are you two doing after this? Could you take up patrol tonight?"

"Nope." Gogo said.

"I promised my brother Carlos that I would help him move into his new dorm room. He starts at UCLA this week and Gogo's offered to drive me there. We won't be back till tomorrow morning." Honey Lemon explained.

"Okay, well, we'll just-"

"Alright, I'm ready." A voice called out, interrupting him.

Trina walked out from behind a door at the back of the spa. Her bulky gigantic metal body was gone and in its place was the frame of a young woman, dressed in a t-shirt, pants, and a cropped jacket. She looked very much the same as the day Hiro had first met her, at the bot fights. Only this time her hair had been cut and styled into a short mohawk and dyed a light purple.

"What do you guys think?" She asked as she twirled around.

Everyone shouted encouragements to her, and Varian cheekily whistled.

"You look nice, Trina." Hiro complimented.

Trina snorted and rolled her eyes. "In your dreams, Hiro." She said, leaving the teenage genius confused by what he had said wrong.

Ignoring him, Trina walked over to the rest of the girls, "Thanks for the clothes... and for everything else." She sheepishly added.

"Hey, no problem." Megan replied. "They look good on you."

"Yeah, and if you need anything else just ask." Karmi added.

"Not to mention it's always fun to have a spa day," Carol piped in. "This was a good idea Varian, thanks for inviting me along."

"Sure thing. When Trina said she wanted help with finding a new wardrobe, I figured all of you would like to go shopping too.... and also y'all know more about clothes than I do."

"Hey, Trina," Fred interjected, "that warehouse where you foun- I mean, met 'Steve', do you happen to remember where it was located?"

Trina gave Fred a frown.

"Oooh, who's Steve?" Karmi asked, happy to gossip, "Is that your boyfriend Trina?"

"No." She said, "The place you're looking for is over in Good Luck Alley, next to Louie's."

"It must've been a bad breakup." Karmi whispered into Honey Lemon's ear, she wasn't very good at keeping her voice down.

"Yeah… he kind of... broke alright." Honey Lemon nervously added, unsure what to say.

"Uh, yeah, well thanks for the tip Trina. We'll be going now, bye." Hiro said as he hurried Fred out the door. He had had enough of awkward conversations and makeovers.

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

"Fred, wouldn't it be better if we brought our robots along at least?" Hiro whispered.

"You want to sneak around an abandoned warehouse with those two?" Fred whispered back, "I love him, but Minimax doesn't know how to be quiet, like at all."

Hiro sighed, Fred had a point. Baymax also wasn't the best at stealth missions. Hiro slid into the alleyway and peered through a dirty window. He couldn't shake the sense of deja vu as he remembered how he and the robotic nurse had tracked down his missing microbots a year ago at a similar warehouse. They had both been nearly killed by Callaghan when the villain had caught them snooping around. He would prefer to avoid such a scenario again.

"It doesn't look like anyone is here." He said.

"See any ninja robots?" Fred asked as he also pushed by to get a look, pressing his nose against the glass.

"No… Fred, this may be a dead end. Trina already raided the place and no doubt this Bosu would have abandoned the hideout if it was compromised."

Fred pouted, "Maybe… Buuuut, we could always man a stake-out and find out for sure!"

"Fred, I have homework to do. Maybe some oth-"

"Oh please! Just for an hour, or two? Please, please, please? Pretty please? I'll do your homework for you."

"I don't want you doing my homework."

"Okay, chores then; I'll wash Varian's dirty socks and underwear for a… a week… no, a month! Come on, I know how much you hate doing laundry."

Hiro sighed and watched his friend crawl on his knees and beg. "Does it really mean that much to you?"

"Yeeeesss."

"Okay, and no, you don't have to do the laundry either."

Hiro turned to walk out of the alley and Fred got up and followed him.

"That's good, cause I don't actually know how to wash clothes. Usually, Heathcliff does all the laundry. Last time I tried to, I just flooded the washroom."

"Do you have any survival skills? Like at all?"

"Nope. Unless it's kicking bad guys' butts! Ooh, hey, we can host the stake-out at Louie's across the street. I'm starved."

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

Hiro and Fred took up a window booth inside the restaurant. The establishment had recovered from the police raid from a few months back and was now serving food as usual; though Hiro had already spotted the advertisement for the next upcoming 'bot fight.

A couple of hours past and they had both eaten their meals, plus dessert, along with Fred going back for seconds. Now they were both nursing a couple of cups of coffee, though Hiro's was going cold; it wasn't great coffee.

"Fred…"

"Yeah."

"It's been three hours now."

"I know."

"No one's showed up."

"Not yet."

"Look it's been… 'fun', but I'm going home now."

Hiro got up to leave but Fred grabbed him by the sleeve.

"Oh but… uhh… we haven't even tried the uh… hot dog sushi special. I hear it's really good."

Hiro leaned his head back slowly and closed his eyes in frustration. He didn't want to snap at Fred, really he didn't, but he was quickly losing his patience.

"Fred… no one is coming. Let's just call it a night and try again some other time. Okay." And with that he yanked his hand away and began to walk off.

Fred didn't follow. Instead he sat in the booth, his eyes downcast, staring blankly at nothing. It wasn't his usual pout either. It was something else. Some deeper sadness that few saw from the usually optimistic teen.

Hiro began to worry. He walked back, and stood there waiting for Fred to jump back up all excited again for his return, only he didn't.

"Fred, what's wrong?"

Fred sighed but couldn't bring himself to answer.

"Look, I know that this superhero business is important to you, so much so that you'll probably wind up making a career out of it, which is great, but the rest of us are not going to be doing this for the rest of our lives. We also have to keep up with our studies, chores, our jobs, and what little shred of a social life we have."

"That's not it… I mean yeah, it's a part of it, but that's not why I asked you to come along."

Fred finally looked Hiro in the eye and tears threatened to spill.

"I just miss my best friend, okay."

Hiro looked at him confused.

"I didn't want to say anything, cause… cause he's your brother and I didn't think you'd want to be reminded about him being gone any more than you already have… but today has just been really hard… remembering what happened… I just thought getting out and doing something fun, getting both our minds off everything, might be better than just… just being alone. You know? Especially today."

Fred didn't even have to say Tadashi's name for Hiro to know who he was talking about.

Hiro sighed and slumped back down into the booth.

"I'm sorry…. I… I guess I just… I don't know. I didn't think...."

"No… no, don't. Of course you didn't think. I mean who wants to be reminded of that. The whole idea was to not think about it. And I just ruined it all by bringing it up. Gah…. I'm so sorry."

Fred put his arms over his head and brought his knees up to his chest as if trying to make himself as physically small as he felt. Hiro just had to laugh at the sight in spite of himself.

"It's okay Fred. You're not going to upset me just by talking about Tadashi."

Fred peaked his head out from between his arms. "I'm not?"

"No. I mean he was your friend too."

"My best friend! Man, Tadashi and I, we got up to all sorts of trouble. He was always down for anything. I mean, did he tell you about the time we crashed my cousin's bar mitzvah? As in, we literally crashed. He drove the sport's car into the buffet table by mistake… We couldn't find the parking and then there was this wet patch in the parking lot and we skidded… Oh and then there was the time Mole dared us to a drag race using scooters and Tadshi had the idea to attach rockets to mine and I went flying.. I tell ya, man, Mole wouldn't live it down for a whole week after. He kept demanding a rematch, but I mean it was fair. He was using his butler to ride for him in his place."

Hiro could barely contain his laughter, "Wait… wait… you and Tadashi did all this?"

"Yeah."

"Why have I never heard of any of this before?"

"I don't know, but he's the whole reason why I got the mascot job in the first place. I knew I could never get into the school myself, but I thought we could hang out together more if I went. He's also the one that introduced me to everybody else."

"Then how did you two meet?"

"Oh at the grocery store."

Fred said this as if it was the most obvious of explanations but Hiro looked as confused as ever. So Fred continued on.

"He was there getting chewing gum and I was buying a shopping cart. Like an actual shopping cart."

"Why?"

"Yeah that's what he asked too. So I told him, 'I'm going to ride down Dead Man's Hill in one.' And he said, 'Dude, that's so rad. You're totally going to die.' And I said, 'Yeah, I know. You wanna join?' And he did. We rode all the way down from the top of Lumbar Street to the docks… and landed right in the bay. It was awesome! We screamed our heads off the whole time. It was so awesome, in fact, that we walked back to the store and bought another cart just to do it again. That was back when we were both still in high school, and we've been best buds ever since. You know… until…"

Hiro looked at Fred sadly. There so much about his brother that hadn't known about, hadn't even thought to ask. What else had Tadashi not shared with him? Probably a lot, I mean why tell your kid brother about your social life? And there's no way that he'd have brought those crazy stunts up around Aunt Cass.

"I never knew any of that… Those are some really cool stories. Thanks for sharing them."

"Really?"

"Yeah, and you know, you don't have to drag me on some superheroing mission just to hang out and talk."

Fred looked guilty at that.

"I… I know… but it's like what you and Wasabi have been saying. Everyone else has something… something to motivate them, and y'all all do all these really cool things and I'm… I'm just me. I don't really have anything but superheroing. Unless you just need someone to make a mess."

"That's not true. Fred, you're great at a lot of things. You could go to school or get a job, if you wanted to. I just thought superheroing was all you wanted."

"Hiro, I can't even do laundry without messing up. I mean all you do is throw the clothes into a machine and push a button, and yet somehow I managed to screw even that up. All I know is comic books, and superheroing, and I'm not even the best at that! What would I even go to college for? I can't… I'm not a genius. I'm not a businessman. I'm not an accountant, or an artist, or an athlete. I'm not anything. I've no talent. I'm not even good at being rich. I've never fit in with the socialite crowd."

"Fred."

"Yeah?"

"You're good at being a friend, and if I have to sit here list off everything else you're good at then we'd be here for another three hours or more. So how about we head home and tomorrow I'll show you how to work a washing machine, and you can teach me how a stake-out is supposed to really go cause we're not getting anywhere here."

"Or are we?"

"What do you mean?"

Fred was no longer looking at Hiro but past him. He pointed to the window behind Hiro, and Hiro turned around to see for himself.

An elderly gentleman, dressed in an old fashioned military outfit, complete with a monocle, was entering the warehouse. He had a giant mechanical arm and a steam boiler strapped to his back.

"Baron Von Steamer."

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

Fred and Hiro found themselves standing in the alley peering through the warehouse's dirty windows for a second time that day. They saw Baron Von Steamer stomping around inside. He seemed irritated as he grumbled to himself and knocked boxes out of the way, as if searching for something.

"What's he doing?" Fred loudly whispered.

Just then Steamer found what he was looking for, a tea cup. He poured himself a cup out of a teapot he had placed on an old fashioned stove that was hidden towards the back and then sat down on top of a crate to sip his drink.

"It must be 'tea time' for him." Hiro said dryly.

Fred narrowed his eyes, "I bet he's just hatching his next nefarious scheme. Planning on how to take us and the city down. What do you think he wants with portals?"

Just then Steamer stood up and ruefully kicked away a busted up robot that had fallen out of a storage crate in his previous hunt for the tea cup.

"I don't think Steamer is our guy." Hiro said, "He hates modern technology, so why would he build ninja robots? Also, like you said, what would he want with portals? All he's after is your dad, and so far the Bosu hasn't gone after Boss Awesome yet."

"But they might. Remember what Roddy said? That Kensei guy used to be active during Dad's heyday but never got caught. What if, it's because Steamer had two villain identities!"

"That seems like a stretch."

"Okay, well, what if Steamer works for this Bosu? Like Sue and Sparkles?"

"That's more plausible, I guess."

Hiro turned to peer through the window again, but Streamer was gone.

'Wait, where did he go?'

"Well, well, well, what do we have here? A pair of interlopers." A curt British voice came from behind them.

Steamer must have noticed them and snuck around the back, cutting them off.

Hiro grabbed his phone in order to call his super suit, but Von Steamer nabbed his hand and yanked him off the ground, causing him to lose hold of his phone.

Fred was just as unfortunate, as Steamer held him in a choke hold in his metal arm.

"Waaaait," Steamer said as he eyed them both up closely, peering at them through his oversized monocle, "I know you two. You're friends of Boss Awesome's baby child!"

"I am Boss Awesome's baby child!" Fred protested before Von Steamer gave him a hard squeeze with his cyborg arm. Fred wheezed in pain.

Hiro reacted quickly and kicked the steampunk baron in the shins.

Von Steamer howled in pain and dropped Hiro in surprise, though he managed to keep his grip on Fred. He also had stepped on Hiro's phone while nursing his injured leg.

Hiro ducked and ran as Steamer regained his senses and pulled out a brass gun that was connected to the boiler on his back with a hose. He pulled the trigger and scalding steam shot out. Hiro ducked again to avoid it.

As he ran out of the alley way he heard Steamer shouting after him, "Yes, run back to Boss Awesome little one. Tell his baby child I have their friend, and either he, or they, must show up to face me or else!"

Hiro spared a glace backwards and saw Baron Von Steamer dragging Fred back into the warehouse.

"Fred!"

"Hiro!" Fred called out to him before being pulled into the darkness.

Hiro panicked. What could he do? Finally, he decided that getting help was the best option. He ran as fast as his legs would carry him, fighting back his worry.

#Hiro Hamada #Fred Frederickson IV #big hero six #bh6 #tangled #varian #tadashi hamada

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