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inkribbon796 · 4 years

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Egotober Day 11: Who is the Strongest in the Land?

1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19, 20, 21, 22, 23, 24, 25, 26, 27, 28, 29, 30, 31

Prompt: Strong

Summary: There’s a bit of a debate in the Coalition. Who is the strongest? Silver’s superpower? Bob’s shields. Or Robbie’s magically infused muscles?

A/N: So, guess who saw the new Sanders Asides and already wants to make content? Me! Unfortunately for the plot I will have to wait until I can include the new pairing in so heads up on that.

Warnings: none

For years there had been a question between the heroes.

Who was the strongest hero? Unlike with Jackie’s speed, Roman’s imagination-based powers, or the fact that Logan was unbeatable in trivia pursuit games; the “strong” category had no clear first place winner.

If you asked anyone in the city there was only one name they gave: Silver. Mostly because he was able to lift cars and similarly heavy objects throw them an eyebrow-raising distance away.

Ask certain heroes like Joan and Logan or even King who were a bit more literal about the powers around them, and they gave a different answer: Bob.

Logan’s reasoning was simple: the veteran hero had impenetrable barriers. Blunt force objects, explosives, magical attacks, Dark’s aura, even Silver using his strength to rocket him across the fight like a huge pinball wasn’t enough to even crack the barrier. The only thing stopping the barrier was Bob’s stamina in maintaining said barrier.

Of course Marvin was one of the only people with a third opinion: Robbie. Before his zombification, for lack of a better term, Robbie had never really had a superpower. He had only some good sense — something interestingly hard to come by in the group — and he was a touch hardier than the average teenager. But after Marvin had been using more and more spells to reverse the after effects of his slight decomposition, the result was Herculean strength and more human mannerisms.

Today one debate turned into another and once again Bob and Mark were going to settle the age old debate, and before anyone knew it most of the heroes were standing in the garage and Logan was helping to rig several sensors to take measurements of how hard Silver was punching and how hard Bob or his barriers were getting hit.

Henrik was of course naturally fretting around Robbie, fully objecting to Marvin using the young man to settle the debate.

“Nein! You vill do no such zing!” Henrik argued.

“Relax,” Iplier tapped him with the back of his hand, “J.J you’d tell us if anything happened right?”

J.J nodded and signed a quick “yes” but was conspicuously not making his way to the betting pool to place a bet of his own. It kept Iplier from making his own since neither the time traveler nor the seer were making bets, they were sitting on either side of him, watching.

“Do you guys know who to bet on?” Dr. Iplier asked them.

“Of course the Host knows who will win,” the seer grinned between his narrations.

J.J gave a sign that the Host did his best to translate, “No bet on first attempt,” J.J warned him.

“I’ll ask you next time then,” Iplier joked, smiling. “We’ll make bank on it.”

Then the Host pulled a jar out that had two five dollar bills in it, a tapped note in Iplier’s handwriting read on the front: “TIE”. Each of the notes had a rolled up piece of paper that had the name of the person who had placed the bet and how much they placed. There was a huge grin on his face, “The Host suggests Iplier go and place his bet on the table.”

J.J shrugged and slipped a five into Iplier’s hand, his name tag wrapped around it. Thankfully the bulk of the group was too busy arguing to notice what was obviously the Host’s bet going up. But Virgil who was close by saw that Iplier was trying to sneak the jar up. Iplier then snuck back and Virgil carefully slipped his bet from Bob’s jar, which he had only chosen because Logan had placed a bet there, to the Tie jar. Then he went back to sitting a safe distance away. “A safe distance” that would eventually turn into sitting next to Iplier.

“Fuck ‘em up Robbie!” Ethan cheered from where he was standing.

Robbie gave a huge, warm smile.

“Aren’t you supposed to be on my team?” Mark chuckled, giving his former apprentice a fake-offended gasp.

Ethan just laughed, his contagious giggling undercutting any actual vitriol that could have been in the words, “No, hahahah! Fuck you.”

Bob laughed, “Ooooh! He got you good!”

Mark rolled his eyes and lightly pushed him, “Come on, let’s go.”

Roman cleared his throat, he was in a huge puffy tutu that was white and red with glitter dusting it. He was in a tight red and white leotard with golden accents to it that were reminiscent of his usual outfit, along with a pair of white footed pants. “Well let’s begin, my bet won’t win itself.”

“Your wager was placed by bribery with cookies, compounding your already unsound logic,” Logan reminded him.

“Oh hush, nerdy Wolverine,” Roman ordered, and held an arm up. “Okay, Round 1: Silver Shepherd v. Gatling, to the victor go . . . the victory.”

“Smooth, Princey,” Virgil snickered.

Roman stuck out his tongue at Virgil and the anxious Side just snickered and rolled his eyes. “Well we have other rounds.”

The creative Side cleared his throat before announcing, “Ready. Set. Go!”

Roman brought his hand down as he said that last word. Mark shot off at full speed, too fast for most of the heroes to follow with their own eyes.

Bob brought up a barrier in time and the air around the other heroes popped most of their ears. Virgil whimpered in pain a bit and scooted over to get closer to Iplier.

Silver repeatedly flew around to get spread. The barriers never broke and Silver kept up the onslaught for another couple minutes before the wear and strain started to show on Bob’s face.

Usually in an actual fight the other heroes would have picked up the slack so Bob could hunker into his barriers and get a breather to grab his second wind. But this wasn’t a normal fight, it was a duel and the fight started to wear down on him.

The instant Silver saw it, he started taunting his friend. “What’s the matter, getting tired there?”

“How about you shut up, asshole!” Bob shouted and as Silver was racing forward again, he extended out the barrier and Silver wasn’t as braced as he should have been and slammed into it face-first, breaking his nose.

The barrier extended out, taxing more of Bob’s strength than he expected. The shield flickered and Silver noticed it immediately and struck, slamming into the barrier again and Bob’s concentration slipped, the barrier flickered again just long enough for Silver to speed through and knock Bob to the ground, pinning him in place.

Mark had a huge, smug smile on his face, “Hah! I win.”

Bob groaned, “Fuck!”

“Inconclusive,” Logan huffed. “The barriers were never broken.”

“But he was defeated all the same,” Host announced. “The Host doubts that Silver’s current opponent could get back on his feet to fight Silver so soon.”

“You didn’t even make a bet,” Mark shouted at him, catching his breath a little.

But at the Host’s huge smile, Silver looked back at Jackie who was now by the table, “Hey, what was his bet, cause that smile says he made one.”

“I dunno,” Jackie shrugged, “I stepped away to grab a coffee.”

“The Host was secretive about his bet because only five people would have voted against him,” the Host said.

“Of course we wouldn’t have,” Ethan agreed loudly. “You know what’s gonna happen.”

“But where would the Host get his entertainment from?” The Host smiled, trying to sound hurt but it didn’t work at all.

“You asshole,” Bob smiled. “Kay, Silv, you win.”

“Hey! That’s my job!” Roman reminded indignantly.

“Wooooo! Yeah, I’m the best, fucking suck it!” Mark shouted at Bob, talking right over Roman which made the Side even angrier, floating off the ground for a bit.

Bob shoved him a bit, sending him farther than if Mark had been standing like a normal person. “Ugh, you are the worst sometimes.”

Then Bob stepped aside and Robbie came to stand opposite Silver. And here was where Mark made his first mistake. He looked at Robbie, at the former apprentice he had helped train, and tried to figure out how to beat Robbie without hurting him.

Roman announced how, and Silver moved first. He flew towards Robbie but instead of knocking him over, the young man grabbed him by the arm and used Silver’s momentum to toss him to the side and make him slammed into the wall behind the zombie.

Henrik and Marvin dove out of the way, and Mark stared at Robbie with surprise.

“Yeah, get ‘im,” Marvin cheered after a moment’s shock.

“Alright, fine then,” Mark huffed out, deciding that he could afford to be a little rougher with him. Much to Henrik’s mounting horror, Mark began to try with more effort to pin Robbie down, but Mark’s earlier round with Bob and the fact that he’d been wasting time going easy on him for the first half of the fight.

So when Mark came flying towards him, trying to get around the back to pin Robbie down but the ensuing struggle looked more like a wrestling match and ended with Robbie kinda hugging Mark’s arms to his side and the superhero just floating in the air looking like a piece of board.

“Heya,” Bob smiled at Mark, “having fun there, buddy?”

“Shut up,” Silver tried to wiggle free but Robbie just hugged him harder, a smile on his face.

After about a solid minute, he let out a frustrated growl and just floated there in an angry huff. “How? Marvin what have you done to this guy?”

“That sounds like he gave up,” Marvin grinned, looking at Logan who looked thoroughly upset and put out. “Victory right?”

“No!” Silver called, struggling a bit more. “I’m not giving up.”

Then he admitted, “Yeah . . . fine.”

“Robbie win?” Robbie smiled at Marvin.

“Sure did kid,” Marvin cheered.

“Yay!” Robbie let go of Mark and he just floated there for a bit, pouting a little.

He did float out of range so Bob, hopped up on an energy drink and getting a little bit of a rest, could take his place. He smiled as he put out a little bit of a barrier. Bob was bracing for a hard hit like he usually was with Silver but when Roman called “Go” and Robbie slammed his shoulder against the barrier, Bob barely felt it.

Bob was used to faster heroes, and having a tanky type of fighting style, by necessity with his powers, he was unused to defending against that.

But Robbie wasn’t a fast fighter, strong? Absolutely. However he wasn’t even half as fast as Mark and Bob just rested his elbow against the barrier and leaned against it. It had been a hot minute since he’d fought someone he had enough time to rest with.

Mark and Wade were the first ones to realize what was going on.

“Well shit,” Wade said. “He’s not getting through that.”

“He could!” Marvin promised defiantly.

Wade gave Marvin a look, “You know he’s not.”

“Come on, he hits hard enough to do more than that,” Mark defended, if only to salvage his own wounded pride.

“Oh yeah, I feel something,” Bob agreed. “It’s just not fast enough.”

“He was going faster against Silver,” Marvin cut in. “I call a do over.”

“No! No! If I got tired after Gatling,” Mark called out, “that counts.”

“But that means it’s a tie,” Bob spoke up. “We can’t have a tie.”

“But oh yes, the heroes can,” the Host smiled.

“Yah weren’t e’en bettin’!” Marvin shouted at them.

“But yet the Host always wins,” the Host smiled, J.J smiled as well.

“So do we win?” Virgil asked hesitantly.

“Hey,” Logan turned to Virgil, “you placed a bet at the same time has me for Bob.”

“I changed it,” Virgil whispered, already pulling his hoodie up a bit higher.

“You changed your vote because you were aware of a more likely outcome,” Logan realized. “I applaud your insight.”

Virgil smiled a bit and the winnings were distributed amongst the four winners, J.J leaving this timeline as it was. Logan, Bob, Marvin, and Mark continued to debate between each other who would have won in an “actual fight” after the Host used his voice to bring in a bunch of donuts to distract the heroes from the fact that he had basically got away with the bulk of the winnings . . . again.

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reidjumpers · 3 years

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Here Comes the Sun: Blue and Pink

Spencer Reid x Reader

Warning/Includes: mention of eating, foods.

Series Summary: A journey of going through parenthood with Spencer.

Chapter Summary: In which you find the gender of your baby

Note: dad!spencer is a dear concept to me. I try to make sure all of the chapter could be read as a stand alone, but if you squint you can tell there's a string of connections to previous chapters. Enjoy!

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“What do you think about a gender reveal party?”

You stopped in your tracks as Penelope thought out loud. You rolled your chair to face her, and immediately your face scrunched up as you noticed the content displayed on her screen. It wasn’t work, or anything tech related that sometimes made your head a little fuzzy, it was a mood board filled with gender reveal party ideas.

Throughout your pregnancy, you have found yourself burrowed in Penelope’s lair more often than not. She was more than welcoming, all happy to have someone accompany her in her safe space. She even made an effort to make you feel comfortable, go all board to put all soft and fuzzy things to soothe your aching back and swollen feet. You had been crying for thirty minutes straight when she first presented it to you.

You liked it here a lot. The room is always at the right temperature that didn’t leave you shivering or grumpy with heat. But most of all, it smells really nice, and as much as you’d love to be in your desk and your own element, you couldn’t handle the wafting smell of everyone’s perfume in the air. You once lashed out at Morgan for having the audacity to wear his perfume that he had been wearing for years, and then proceed to cry for an hour profusely apologizing while he laughed his ass off.

“Gender reveal?” you hummed, not knowing what you feel with the idea. Your hand absentmindedly made its way to your bump, now more visible than ever, and you’re both delighted and terrified about it.

“Look at this!” Penelope eagerly made a gesture towards her computer screen. She scrolled slowly through all the well-put mood boards. You cocked an eyebrow at it, knowing fully she probably had spent weeks planning before even asking your opinion. “It’s cute, isn’t it? All fuzzy, blue and pink! So many cakes and happiness radiating from it all.”

“How long have you been planning for all of these, Pen?”

“I don’t know what you’re talking about,” she muttered, uncharacteristically quiet.

“Three weeks? Four weeks?”

“Ugh!” she grunted, a pout appearing on her lips as she sent you a heatless glare. You pressed your lips together to bit back a triumph smile, proud of your achievement to be able to crack her up. “Fine! Three weeks.”

You snorted a laugh, “Thought so.”

“I hate profilers,” Penelope huffed. She pressed a key on her keyboard to reveal more pictures of her mood board. “So? What do you think?”

“I don’t know, I have to talk about it with Spencer.”

“Talk about what?” a voice appeared behind you nearly startled you to death. You whipped your head towards the source of sound, smiling when you caught the sight of your husband standing in the doorway.

Spencer quietly made his way to you, pressing a chaste kiss on your hairline as he gently placed your lunch on the desk. It had been a routine in the past four months that he would make his way to Penelope’s office during lunchtime, bringing food for three of you and he joined you and Penelope devouring lunch in her office.

“Lovely Boy Wonder! You always have the most perfect timing,” Penelope basically beamed at the sight of Spencer. He furrowed his eyebrows confusedly, but from years of befriending her, Spencer had learned not to question too many things about her. “What do you think about a gender reveal party?”

“Gender reveal party?” Spencer pulled his designated chair, the one that Penelope provided just for him to eat lunches. He scooted his chair close to you, hand absentmindedly finding its way to yours.

“You heard me.”

“I don’t know…” Spencer muttered, his thumb gently stroking your knuckles. He eyed the mood board displayed proudly on Penelope’s screen carefully, examining each picture. “Sounds like a lot of work.”

Penelope gasped, “Dr. Reid! I am honestly offended that you didn’t consider Penelope Garcia will handle everything and you and Lady Reid don’t have to lift a single finger!”

Now that caught your attention. “We don’t have to lift a single finger?”

“All you have to do is sit down and the next thing you know, we’re all huddled together in a happy space full of love.”

You glanced towards Spencer who shared the same look with yours. He shrugged and a small smile settled on his face, entrusting the decision fully into your hand. You pucker your lips, weighing all the pros and cons about throwing a party.

“Come on!” Penelope whined. “We see horror and gore almost every day. We need a sweet reminder of everything good in the world. It’s nice to have something good to look forward to.”

You glanced at Spencer once again who subtly nodded. “Okay. Make it small and private.”

“Yes!” Penelope squealed, startled both you and Spencer. “I love you both so much.”

***

The whole idea of preparing a gender reveal party alone made you tired, but one trip for your check up changed everything. Penelope joined you and Spencer for your routine check up, tearing up when the sound of your baby’s heartbeat echoed. At this point you would have thought you’d get used to hearing their heartbeat, but it had never lost its magic.

Penelope practically vibrated with excitement and squealing when the doctor slyly slid your ultrasound photo and the gender of the baby to her, wrapped in a cute envelope. Spencer tried to take a peek, but Penelope was quick to swat him away.

“Do you think we’re having a boy or a girl?” Spencer thought out loud. You glanced up from your book to meet him staring at you, a solemn expression painted on his face.

“Can’t wait until the weekend, can you?” you teased, eyes fell back into the string of words in your book again.

You felt his hand rubbing your feet, his fingers dutifully untangle all the tangled knots that made you sore. You let out a satisfied sigh, shifting slightly on your seat to positioned your feet better on his lap. You really started to think you were probably the luckiest pregnant wife in the whole wide world with a husband like him.

Spencer sighed. “I think we’re having a boy.”

“You think?” you turned the page on your book, already feeling your focus shifting fully into the conversation now. “I’d say we’re having a girl.”

“I’ll tell you what, if we turn out to have a girl, I’ll buy you that handbag you’ve been eyeing on in the past two weeks. And if we turn out to have a boy, you’ll tell me how you cheat on every single UNO game we have.”

You snorted a laugh. Spencer must have noticed you stopped reading minutes ago, for the way he wasn’t unfazed when you lowered down your book and stared at him with a questioning look. He shot you a challenging smirk, with one eyebrow shot up into his hairline.

“Spencer Reid, are you really betting on our children?” you hit his arm playfully with your book. He feigned a pain, frowning as he rubbed the sore spot where you hit him. “I love you, but there is no way in hell I’ll tell you how I play UNO.”

“Ha! So you admit you do cheat!”

“No I didn’t! I never said that!”

“Your words do imply otherwise. So you do cheat!”

“I don’t cheat! I am just really good at what I do!”

Spencer scrunched his nose, not exactly buying your words. “Morgan and Emily also think you do cheat, hon.”

You rolled your eyes at the mention of their name. Of course they would conspire with your husband about your amazing ability of kicking everyone’s asses in UNO. You pulled your book back into your line of sight, tried your best to pick up where you left off. “Just accept the fact that UNO and Mario Kart is my expertise, babe. And a magician never reveals their secret.”

Spencer squinted his eyes at you for using his words against him. You lifted your book up slightly to conceal your growing smile, doing your best to ignore his burning stares. Spencer shifted slightly on his seat, his hand ghosted just above your ankle.

“I beat you in Mario Kart already,” Spencer said smugly. His voice was soft, and if it wasn’t so quiet, you were sure you would miss it.

“It was one time!” you groaned. “Once, babe, once.”

Spencer laughed. “You’re just bitter I beat you up with Baby Peach in Rainbow Road.”

You sighed through your nose, pouting as he rubbed about your defeat a year ago that you were still slightly bitter about to your face. You had no idea how he managed to beat you in Mario Kart using Baby Peach out of all things, in Rainbow Road out of any places.

“Honestly, how did you do that?”

Spencer beamed up at the question. You regret asking once your eyes caught the look on his face almost immediately, already knowing the answer he was about to say before it left his mouth. He leaned closer, a teasing smile tugging at the corner of his lips. “A magician never reveals their secret, sweetheart.”

***

“Garcia is one amazing crazy bitch, isn’t she?” Emily nudged your shoulder. She took a sip towards her drink, her eyes scanning through the room. “How the hell she managed to take care of this party alone, I have no idea.”

Penelope had outdone herself. But then again, she always managed to break her own records after records breezly like it was nothing. Rossi was more than happy to provide his backyard to host the small party. Penelope managed to turn it into the most colorful and cutest gender reveal venue you’ve ever seen.

You just snorted, turned around to steal a slice of cake from Emily’s hand. She groaned at you, but didn’t do a thing as you shove it into your mouth. “Once she has a goal, she’ll do everything in her power to achieve that one goal, Em. You know that.”

Emily grinned, raising her glass slightly. “Do you think it’s a girl or a boy?”

You hummed. “Honestly? I don’t know. But something tells me it’s a girl.”

“Good,” Emily grinned. She jerked her chin towards the direction where Spencer was sitting together with Jack and Henry, a big amused smile on his face as he showcased his newest magic trick. “JJ already has two boys, Hotch has Jack, I think it’ll be nice to have a cute little girl into our family.”

Your eyes settled on Spencer once again. A loud squeal and delighted laughter rang throughout the walls as Spencer pulled a string of cards from Jack’s ear. “We’ll see.”

The party had been, much to your delight, a beautiful one. It was a spur moment of excitement and laughter, Penelope had made sure to make everyone comfortable and happy. The small game she had creatively come out with had been nothing but fun. You nearly fell from your chair laughing as you watch Morgan and Hotch doing their best to put a pen into a bottle blindfolded.

Everyone was here for one thing, and you watched the atmosphere shift from excitement to anticipation and suspense as JJ placed the cake into the table almost immediately. You bite your lip, somehow nervous at the prospect of knowing the gender of your unborn baby and reveal it in front of your friends and families.

Spencer wasn’t doing any better either, he was visibly jittery. You squeezed his hand gently once. Two times. Three times. Sending him all the wordless immense love you hoard for him, and a reminder that you were there with him. A small smile appeared on his face and he squeezed your hand a little firmer than you did, before he lifted it up to plant a soft kiss against your knuckle.

“Okay! When I reach three, you’ll cut the cake!” Penelope instructed. “If anyone would love to record this very magical moment, I advise your camera is ready by now.”

You chuckled, glancing up from the blue and pink cake in front of you. You saw Rossi already recorded the whole thing.

“One!”

You gently gripped the knife, feeling Spencer’s hand covered your hand warmly. He sent you a nervous smile as he adjusted his hands, his fingers settled in between yours seamlessly.

“Two!”

Spencer gently guided your hand to place the knife just right above the cake. You held your breath, feeling your heart trumped inside your chest loudly.

“Three!”

Spencer a little too eagerly cut the cake, almost forgot that he squeezed your hand underneath his a little too tight. A soft gasp escaped your lips as you finally saw the inside of the cake, and Spencer was stopped in his track as he gawked at the cake.

“It’s a girl…” Spencer whispered, like he couldn’t believe what he saw. He blinked and took a sharp inhale, feeling the reality settling in a lot better. “It’s a girl!” He then pulled you into a chaste kiss, his lips pressing into yours raked with love and happiness that you couldn’t help but to smile.

“A girl!” Derek hollered from his spot, already made his way to steal Spencer away from your embrace and pulled him into a hug. Everyone followed not so long after, and you could feel Emily pulled you into a hug, followed by JJ, and then Penelope trapped you in the middle.

“Aw,” you heard Penelope cooed. You didn’t realize there were tears streaming down your face until you could feel her thumb gently wiped it away from your face. “Don’t cry!”

You just laugh, pulling your girl friends into another round of hug. Emily let out a soft chuckle, and muttered something about having a new member to your sacred girl’s night out. You didn’t say anything, but feeling a smile growing on your lips at the thought of having a little girl following you in tow during your night out.

=======================================

series tag list:

@measure-in-pain @wooya1224 @reidemandweep @manuosorioh @jswessie187 @starrfruit

#spencer reid #spencer reid imagine #spencer reid x reader #spencer reid x y/n #dad!spencer #dad!spence #dad!spencer reid #spencer reid fluff #spencer reid smut #criminal minds #cm #cm fic #cm fluff #criminal minds fluff #cm smut #criminal minds smut

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mostlysignssomeportents · 3 years

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Big Pharma's vicious battle against universal covid vaccination

Last week, the Biden administration broke with decades of US policy when it supported a patent waiver on covid vaccines. It was the first time in generations that the US Trade Rep acted on behalf of the people, rather than corporate greed.

https://pluralistic.net/2021/05/10/comrade-ustr/#vaccine-diplomacy

Taking steps to make vaccines universally and immediately available isn’t just the right thing to do — vaccine apartheid is slow-motion genocide — it’s also the smart thing to do. Billions of unvaccinated people present quadrillions of chances for the virus to mutate.

Don’t listen to the unscientific claims that viruses “tend to become less virulent” over time. Remember, the mechanism by which super-lethal strains go extinct is that they kill all their hosts (that’s us, folks).

Likewise, ignore the racist lie — peddled by morally bankrupt corporate shills like Howard Dean — that brown people in poor countries can’t make vaccines.

https://pluralistic.net/2021/04/08/howard-dino/#the-scream

Making mRNA vaccines is miraculously efficient, requiring less than 1% of the capital and materials of conventional vaccine production and less than 10% of the time to retool for new vaccines:

https://coronavirus.medium.com/manufacturing-mrna-vaccines-is-surprisingly-straightforward-despite-what-bill-gates-thinks-222cffb686ee

The pharma industry knows this, but it’s willing to make a bet that it can outrun vaccine resistance, rolling the dice on the human race to further its shareholders’ fortunes. For months, they’ve been carpet-bombing DC with anti-waiver lobbyists.

https://pluralistic.net/2021/04/27/bruno-argento/#pharma-death-cult

When the Biden admin sided with human survival over profit, it sent shockwaves through corporate America. Even Bill Gates — who more-or-less singlehandedly killed every effort to make a universal, public domain vaccine — changed his tune.

https://www.geekwire.com/2021/gates-foundation-reverses-position-covid-vaccine-patent-protections-mounting-pressure/

But pharma isn’t done. They have redoubled their efforts to prevent the Global South from making its own vaccines, even if that means that the 2.5 billion poorest people on Earth won’t be vaccinated until 2023/4.

Writing in The Intercept, Lee Fang reports on leaked documents from pharma lobbyists and powerful lawmakers that show how influence-peddlers are going to war to defend the right of multinational corporations to risk our species in the name of higher returns to capital.

Take the memo that Jared Michaud of PHRMA circulated to colleagues on Wednesday, identifying Buddy Carter (R-GA) and Vern Buchanan (R-FL) as the chief water-carriers for the industry's agenda, describing a letter that uses anti-China rhetoric to oppose the waiver.

Michaud also suggests that Senator Tom Scott (R-SC) might be biddable and serve pharma’s interests in the Senate, “but this is not yet final.”

Michaud, meanwhile, laid out a set of talking points to circulate to lawmakers. These lean heavily on the idea that Chinese and Russian companies will gain unfair advantages over US firms and implies that China has tricked poor countries into fronting for its interests.

Another talking points memo, marked CONFIDENTIAL and identified in its PDF metadata as originating with PHRMA’s Meg Van Etten, makes a series of nonsensical arguments about vaccines depending on exclusive rights, conspiculously failing to mention billions in public subsidies.

Taken together, these internal PHRMA lobbying memos bear a striking resemblance to the letter GOP lawmakers sent to Biden. It’s a rare glimpse into the direct pipeline industry has into officialdom, whereby they get to serve as ghost-writers for our “public servants.”

The pharma industry spends $24m+/year lobbying Congress and is a leading source of campaign contributions. They have been on the wrong side of history since the AIDS epidemic, where they led the fight to punish Nelson Mandela for demanding access to anti-retroviral medicine.

The scariest thing about pharma’s influence isn’t how much money they spend, it’s about how kack-handed and infantile their action is.

I’ll never forget the smirk on the PHRMA rep’s face at WIPO when literature from public interest groups went missing and turned up hidden in the toilets.

https://pluralistic.net/2021/04/13/public-interest-pharma/#gates-foundation

Running around screaming “China! China! China!” is just…idiotic. I mean, some very smart people with doctorates in chemistry and related fields work for the pharmaceutical industry.

But clearly, when pharma sends people to DC, they’re not sending their best. They’re sending liars and cheats. They’re sending genocidal maniacs. And some, I assume, are good people.

#pluralistic

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quietepics · 3 years

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♡ · 　INTRO.　 * . IV / ?.

oh lawd she comin. hi gang ! i’d like to introduce my new kiddo , layla blanco . she’s a granddaughter of tyche and eris , and she’s a bit chaotic but in a different way from theo . i’d say her chaos is calculated heheh . also this is a very quick and short intro but i just wanna get it out and done with bc im gonna be busy tomorrow rip anyway , hope you enjoy !

THE BASICS

name: layla cornelia blanco nickname(s): lay , lays . somebody pls call her lucky charm she’ll be so annoyed . birthday: april 13th, 1996 ethnicity: white latina ( argentine - british ) birthplace: california , usa gender identity: cis female sexuality: pansexual / panromantic powers: disruption ( eris ) / probability manipulation ( tyche ) mixtape: she’s my colllar ( slowed ) / gorillaz , people i don’t like / upsahl , daisy / ashnikko , walk you home / sir chloe , talk show host / radiohead character inspiration: nanno ( girl from nowhere ) , beth harmon ( the queen’s gambit ) , layla by derek & the dominos , veronica sawyer ( heathers ) , yumeko jabami ( kakegurui )

THE MUSE

layla’s parents met in nemean lion years before her birth ; a daughter of tyche and a son of eris , the two fell in love during their time at nl and though it’s been long since their last visit , the campus has been a second home to layla ever since she was little --- for safety reasons , of course .

from a very young age , layla knew that she was special . her parents made a conscious effort to make sure the girl never lost sight of who she was and what she could do , and to always use her abilities for good . her father was particularly cautious of that , seeing as his daughter had the same capabilities for discord as he did , and knowing how much trouble he caused during his first few years at nl . because of that , layla has never felt out of control when it came to her abilities ; in fact , it was quite the opposite .

while her father’s side of the family was a bit more troublesome , her mother’s side was incredibly fun ! ever since she was a child , layla found herself interested in everything that had to do with luck , probability and chance , which eventually led to her fascination with one subject in particular: gambling .

around the age of twelve , she began gambling around nl . at first , the bets were little and simple: a pack of gum , a snack from just dough it or a meal at jake’s diner , things of the sort . at worst , she’d use her disruption power to make the loser unable to control their gifts for hours , which might have led to a little trouble a few times . however , as layla got older , the bets started becoming a little more extreme , often including large quantities of money . naturally , people lost interest in the games , especially since they were going against a granddaughter of tyche , and layla decided it was time for a change --- so she left nl for a while .

during her time away from campus , layla made money . a lot of money . poker and any other form of gambling had quickly become her favorite pastime , mainly because of the thrill of betting and risking it all , except she never lost to anyone . not because she used her powers to win , as the mere thought of rigging the games angered and disgusted her , but because it simply never happened . it could be frustrating at times , especially after people in the business started digging up information of her .

years after making a name for herself in casinos around the world and in the public poker scene , people started learning more and more about layla , who’d kept her godly heritage a secret until now . eventually , information leaked about the girl and on how one of her grandmothers was the goddess of fortune , which resulted in people calling layla a scammer , removing all sponsorships and opening multiple lawsuits against the girl ( which didn’t end up terribly for her , but that didn’t help fix her reputation either ) .

half a year ago , after her little scandal and as means of keeping herself out of trouble , layla returned to nl for the first time in a long while . she’s been keeping herself busy by working in the business department , striking big deals that bring in money and “playing” with the stock market . she swears she’s never cheated or rigged any game in her life , but until someone or something is able to prove her innocence , you won’t be finding her gambling anytime soon --- at least not in the public eye .

MISC.

she is so , so smart . above average IQ , definitely one of the best students in nl history besides the athena kids lmao . oh , and she definitely loves to remind people of just how smart she is . kind of a snob tbh .

knows a lot and has dirt on lots of people . she’s literally one of those people who just ends up eavesdropping on accident and then laughs about it .

s t o n kS.

she can play any card game , and most classics like chess , checkers , even eastern ones like shogi or majong . on the other hand , she hates most “modern games”, except for monopoly and clue / cluedo.

she legit never rigged any of her games , not even when she was tired and bored from winning so much . in fact , there was a time she purposefully indebted herself so that the games would become more exciting --- after all , she needed money .

kind of a hard person to befriend ? she won’t approach you unless you’re doing something she judges weird or a waste of time , but she will engage into conversation if you seem “smart enough” . again , she’s a bit of a snob .

kinda self destructive but shhh lets not go there just yet

will prank people by messing with their powers without them knowing . homegirl’s been bored okay this is how she keeps herself entertained besides stonks .

GIVE ME ALL THE PLOTS ! i’d like for her to have an actual friend who cares about her well being and wants her to get her shit together ( and she obvious cares about them in return ), someone she simply Does Not Give a Fuff about and has no problem saying it, an ex lover / ex fling ( could be super interesting considering she was gone for a bit ig ) , some sort of frenemy , some “ healthy competition “ of sorts , anything and everything !

#nlintro

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writing-the-end · 3 years

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LoL Chapter 38- Potions

Masterpost

A Wizard Hermits tale (AU, designs, ideas belongs to @theguardiansofredland)

Redland, the capitol city of magic, where the hermits hope to gather the supplies they need if they hope to survive the Hangman’s Playground. While Etho and Stress are gathering potions, they meet unlikely allies- with closer ties than they expect.

______________________________

Redland stretches to the sky, the quirky nature of magic on full show even in the architecture of the city. Towers peaked with rotund pinnacles, painted bright and distinctive colors. All levels of the city are full of the bright, baubled roofs. The main street and busy sections of the city are perfectly manicured, hedges with vibrant flowers and verdant greens, but when the hermits look down calm alleys and quiet streets, nature has settled against the brickwork and grown between the cobble, nature filling in with it’s own eccentric accents.

The hermits wander through the city, an eclectic town full of wandering walkways, silent speakeasies, and unique universities. The schools of magic sit across from each other, students of offensive magic having lunch with students studying performance arcana. Bright banners wave in the breeze. Shops are full of any and every kind of item, a bazaar of the magic and mundane. Some shops boast large inventories, enchantments made enmasse and sold to large crowds- glamors were a favorite. Others host the antique and unique. No rhyme or reason what they hold, useless lamps next to powerful staffs.

TFC turns to Xisuma. “Can you divvy up the gold? We can cover more ground finding supplies for our mission if we separate.”

“What I wouldn’t give for that sky kid’s magic right now.” Xisuma sighs, digging out the gold and handing it off to various groups of hermits.

Stress and Etho glance at one another. “I think we’re gonna look for some potions firstly. If we go to the alchemy academy, I’m absolutely positive we’ll find somethin’.”

“And if not, we can… convince a student to help us get what we want.” Etho pats his back, feeling his kusarigama tucked in his light, silent material.

“Don’t forget to ask about the ingredients!” BDubs shouts as the two walk away, towards the bright green and yellow tower that holds the school of potion brewing. “Silvershade is not the same as Shadesilver!”

Stress shakes her head, and challenges Etho to a footrace through the city. He accepts with a grin, and they take off down the main avenue. She laughs, feeling a sense of freedom in how strong the magic is in the city. Redland embodies everything magic is. It’s natural, it's eclectic, it’s bright, it’s unique. And every flower blooming in between the cobblestones, every shop full of mysterious wares and magical amulets, is full of that spirit.

She turns her head, calling back to Etho from over her shoulder. “I’m gonna win, try an’ catch me!”

From beneath the midnight blue mask that covers Etho’s nose and lips, a coy grin appears. He’s given Stress the lead, only to shock his friend when he wins. His mismatched eyes glimmer with mischief, and he turns. Running straight into a tree.

Straight into a tree’s shadow. He leaves the plane of existence, and skids on his feet as he enters the shadow realm. Grey, calming mist dances through shadows, and his feet tapping through puddles of water across the floor. In all the time he’s spent in this realm, he can never truly understand it. He doesn’t know why it’s so misty, impossible to see more than a few meters in front of him. Or where the mist comes from, dancing in the darkness. Why it’s damp, like a rain had just occurred. He’s never seen it rain here. He also has no clue why it smells funky in here. Like a wayward explosion matched with rotten fish. Is there even anything more than a puddle around here?

No matter. Etho’s winning this race. He takes off in the direction he and Stress were running, feeling himself pass through buildings, hedges, even people in the other realm. It’s a tingly feeling in his belly. Once he’s sure he’s made it to the alchemy school, he casts his magic, tossing it in front of him to reenter the mortal realm.

He passes right through it. He stumbles and crashes to the floor, not so ninja-like. “Dammit, no not now!”

There’s no discernable shadows for him to jump through. The sun must be tucked behind a cloud. Too big a swath of darkness for him to use, too general. He paces, tossing a circle with every turn of his heels, running through each time. He did this to beat Stress, being a badass and a bastard. He specializes in that delicate balance of the two. But instead, he’s stuck in the stinky shadow realm, and worse he lost the footrace.

His spell casts again, but when he walks through this time, he’s met by the blinding bright light of the sun. And Stress’s gleeful cackle. “You cheated! None of that magical stuff!”

“What does it matter, it didn’t work.” He states, but he’s smiling all the same. Etho runs his hand over his white hair, tugging it away from his face so he can see the alchemy tower in full. “Should we check the shops first? What are we even looking for?”

“Queen Erlea said we’re gonna need some healing potions and deterrents for the forest. I can assume mental and emotional potions are in that category.” Stress counts along the street full of potion shops, before spinning around and letting fate decide where they search first. A bright green shop, the window filled with potted plants and chaotic cats. Stress squeals at the sight of the kittens and bolts to the shop. Etho follows behind, grabbing the door before it can slam back to it’s jamb, without disturbing the sunbathing felines.

They peruse this store. And the next. And the next. Finding healing potions was easy, and with Etho’s aggressive bartering they’re even discounted. Bottles of bright pink liquid, bundles of travel sized form- gummy chews easy to pop into one’s mouth-, and tiny tinctures full of potent life saving potions.

But no matter what store they enter, how many times they ask or persuade, no one sells mental potions. Some say they’re pseudomagic, others that they’re too hard to create. And after being kicked out of another alchemy shop, Stress and Etho are sitting on the sidewalk, bouncing ideas across each other.

“Maybe we don’t need them? Maybe the others will find supplies that can do the job?” Etho offers.

“Or perhaps we can search Joe’s library to find something else.” Stress flops back, ignoring how she blocks the sidewalk as she stares up at the sky. “Where can we get mental barrier potions but Redland?”

“Why not try making them ourselves?” Etho looks over, gazing at the Alchemy tower. “I bet that school has every book, ingredient, and setup ever invented. We’re clever and smart, we’re hermits after all. If no one makes them, we’ll make them ourselves.”

Stress reclines up to her elbows, squinting her eyes. “Yer right, Etho. Think you can get us into one of them potion rooms of the school?”

“Do I think I can? I know I can.” Etho snickers. They walk through the open doors of the school, bustling past students young and old, human or kipling or insectia or even bacca, boy or girl or otherwise. Etho pulls down his mask to fit in with the crowd, though his hair always sticks out. Stress keeps close to him, glancing around the halls. For a second, she swears she sees someone looking at her, but she ducks her head and keeps moving. They turn a cornerl, following the signs for potion labs. Listening for one room to be empty. Etho stops at the doorway of one. Closes his eyes, and walks through a shadow.

But he returns from where he entered. “No, no it’s all dark in there! Why don’t they have anything boiling, any lamps or anything! What kind of lab is this?”

“My lab, and what do you plan to do with my laboratory?” A strong, clear voice cuts through both hermits like a knife, and they both freeze. Maybe if they don’t move, the voice will move on. But instead, another voice rises up.

“You’re hermits, are you not?” A younger, sharp voice drawls. “I was told about you. Didn’t expect two of you bitches to be sneakin’ into my professor’s lab.”

Etho makes a bolt for the nearest shadow, but he passes right through the shadow and back into light. Stumbling down the hall, he’s dragged back to the professor and student combo, while Stress is turned around to face them. Etho taps his fingers. “We were just… looking around! Trying to find the bathrooms.”

The student looks up at the professor, eyebrows rising from a serious face. He nods, clasping his hands behind his back. The student grins, tucks a lock of black hair behind an elongated ear, and snaps her fingers.

“We’re sneakin’ inta the lab to make potions!” Stress claps her hand over her mouth. She didn’t mean to say that. Why did she say that? “No one makes what we need to enter the Forest of Memories!”

“The Forest of Memories? Red said you were batshit crazy, but that…” Etho picks up his head, vaguely recognizing the name.

“Well, you could have just asked for my keys.” Sylaeus shrugs, producing a ring full of mismatched keys and dangling chains. “Selene, be a dear and get these two my Encyclopedia of Potions. I’ll start up the burners.”

Shock registers on both hermits faces, but Selene dutifully saunters down the hall, turning and entering a large door in the passage. Stress walks into the lab, admiring the collection of jars, half finished potions, and ingredients kept in the room. But Etho no longer has the inclination to enter. “Why are you helping us? We just tried to break into your lab.”

“If you need a potion that badly that you would try to break into my office, you must need it for good reason. Adventuring into the Forest of Memories is one hell of a reason at that.” Sylaeus ignites a flame beneath a long, complicated series of funnels, tubes, and flasks. He tempers the flame, fire glimmering of his intense gaze. “Besides, it means I get to teach more about potions.”

Selene returns with the book, hefting a tome as large as her torso and twice as thick. “So what the hell kind of potions are you guys going to make?”

“Potions that will negate our fears and dampen the effects of the forest?” Stress tries her best to repeat what Queen Erlea suggested. “Maybe some repel potions as well?”

The long eared mage hauls open the book, flipping through the pages with intense, glaring eyes. She stops, turning it around for Etho and Stress to see. “You had to request the most difficult potions to fucking make. It’s a damn good thing I spent the past month gathering more than enough supplies for you to use.”

And with the guidance of Sylaeus and his student, Etho and Stress get to work. The careful art of alchemy came naturally to both hermits- Stress’s attention to detail let her see exactly when the right shade of amber for the potion appeared, while Etho’s perceptive training and patience guide him through finding just the right mixture of Silvershade and shadesilver. Even Sylaeus complimented his new students on their fine work.

“While we’re waiting for the mixture to cool, would either of you like a drink?” She waves her hand, and four cups appear before them. The professor grins, swiping a drink and guzzling the never ending cup down.

“My student’s finest mixture.” Sylaeus grins, patting his apprentice on the top of her fluffy, long mane of hair.

“Is it a healing potion?” Etho questions. “Or maybe a stamina potion?”

“Lemonade. Sip sip bitch.” Selene retorts, deadpanned.

“Miss Selene, are you a multi-mage? You used telekinesis to drag Etho back before, but now you used summoning magic.” Stress takes a drink, shocked to watch that her cup is never ending. “A-and some kind of spatial magic?”

“Selene here is my best student for more reasons than one. Not only can she brew better potions than even master alchemists, but she also spent years studying magic until she gained power of her own.” Sylaeus sees the confusion on the two’s face, and lets Selene fill them in.

“I was born without magic.” She states. “It’s rare, but it happens. I wasn’t ready to give up on myself yet. I spent days and nights, studying every book I could get my hands on, watching the other kids use their magic. With enough time and dedication, I found the power within myself. Whatever magic I study, I can create.”

Stress has tears welling in her eyes by the time the story is over. “What a lovely tale, an’ look at you now! All that persistence and never givin’ up paid off!”

“I’m sure Selene could have lived her life without magic, or have chosen a darker route to gain power. But it’s her own magic, and she’s a proud S-Class wizard!” Sylaeus beams like a father, a teacher proud of his student.

The potion behind them starts to rapidly shift colors, and all four descend upon it to add the last ingredient- prismarine shards shed from a guardian. Etho wonders where Selene got such a prized ingredient, something most kiplings aren’t willing to part with.

In a puff of smoke, the potion stabilizes. Selene corks the bottle, writing in scrawling handwriting of it’s intention, and hands it off to Stress. She also guides them out, an orb of soft white light guiding them down the halls of the academy.

Etho’s reminded of one other person who had seemingly unlimited types of magic. “You know… Magistrate Dolios claims to be a multi-mage, but his magic is a lot like yours.”

“Watch it, asshole.” Selene growls, opening the door and letting them out of the Alchemy tower. “I think we both know that the magistrate lies about everything. Perhaps that includes how he got his magic.”

#hermitcraft #light of lairyon #lol #hermitcraft au #hermitcraft fanfic #wizard hermits #wizard au #wizard etho #wizard stress #wizard selene #wizard xiumsa #ethoslab #stressmonster #xisuma

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thecandywrites · 3 years

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Blood For Gold Chapter 17

Did I plan this? No. Did my hand slip and write this and SURPRISE ME? HELL YEAH. And @punkhorse96 oh, I know, prestorm but the winds are picking up as that first twist in the clouds. But nothing pushes you to confront your feelings quite like having the object of your affections have a sudden change in health.

Blood For Gold

Chapter 17

“So what’s the plan tomorrow? More training?” Demsey guessed as you came back into the stables and he was in the extended stall with you and Heavencrest and Charlico, trying to figure out how to take Charlico’s saddle off as he watched what you were doing as he tried to imitate what you were doing since the saddles looked similar in most respects.

“Tomorrow is the Kamo because Kamoba means “feast and fight” in marinai, so it’s a feasting day, you’re meant to rest, eat, and get all the jitters out of your system and drink until all the stress of the competition leaves you and everything you’ve pent up over the course of training is released so you go into the competition with a clear head, a clean conscience, so no grudges or misgivings, or malicious intent towards any of the other competitors or anything. You should still do the stretches but only one set of drills to make sure you remember them correctly but that is only after breakfast but after that, you’re meant to eat and rest basically and not do anything that could endanger your performance the next day, so don’t get drunk where you will feel hungover the next day, party and have a good time, but not party so hard or hurt yourself partying so that your performance is hindered, like spraining an ankle or throwing your back out of alignment. Then the night before the event, there is the choli- it’s where we take the leftover paint from all the training sessions and throw it at each other, like one big paint fight and then spend the rest of the night scrubbing ourselves clean, because the part of the Kamoba battle traditions before the battle can even take place is mixing the paints fresh that day to make sure that nothing dangerous is added to the paints, like powders that make the paint explode when they’re stuck.” You answered.

“Oh gods, that’s been done before? To sabotage the paint?” Demsey asked.

“Yup, several times throughout history. That’s why none of the competitors have anything to do with the paint mixture and a vast array of tests are performed on the paints and all the weapons to keep actual bloodshed from happening between the competitors and no one can sabotage the weapons either. But all the competitors are meant to stay together to make sure no one accepts a bribe for losing or winning or whatever and competitors are not allowed to publically bet either on themselves or each other just in case that should sway the betting rings, however they can send to a betting house, under an assumed name or pseudonym, their own private bets to who they think will win, and simply leave an address to where to send the money if they win. But again, that’s meant to be a secret that no one else is to know. But just between you and me, I always bet on my grandma, always, but all of that has to be done the day before the battle, because after midnight tomorrow night, that’s the cut off time.” You confided as you dropped your voice down to a whisper.

“I see.” Demsey replied, keeping his voice down as well.

“Anyway, only the crowd is allowed to place their bets right before the battle and they only have their eyes, watching the final set of stretches and exercises to watch- to make such judgements before the battle. However, there is a private pool, or jackpot, or simply “pot” for short, that’s put together by all the competitors and tomorrow night, there will be a collection taken by the hosts, so Yalin should probably be the one to collect it and her and Gregori will keep it safe until there is a clear winner, usually you put in something that won’t hurt you to lose but that you don’t want to necessarily give it away for free, but you will be happy to get it back. I always put in something simple, like a small pocket knife or a piece of jewelry, or whatever, something that isn’t necessarily really that sentimental to me but has monetary value, enough that anyone would want to win it anyway, or you could just put in money, most men put in either money or daggers or watches or something like that if they are not moura themselves. But when you put it in, you’re supposed to announce what it is and what it’s worth and of course whoever puts in the least valuable thing, if you’re not the poorest of competitors and it’s not something you can afford to give then that’s seen as a sign that your whole heart won’t be in the battle, but if you put in the most expensive or the most important or the most coveted thing in there- that means that you will take everything personally, like it’s a personal attack rather than just a competition and again, you’ll be giving it more than all of your all and it would be too much of a temptation for you to try to cheat in some way so you wouldn’t chance losing that thing. Which is again, a red flag for the rest of us and it can be rejected by the group because you have to submit whatever it is to the group for it to be accepted, and if the whole group of competitors doesn’t trust that you either won’t play fair or won’t give it your all, you can be automatically rejected by the group, however there is one exception.” You explained as you held up a single finger.

“Once you start fighting in Kamoba, that item that you put up, if you end up winning, you have to put up that same item over and over again until you either retire, or lose and the item is lost to someone else. My grandmother always puts in “the dagger”. Which has been put into every battle she has fought and she has only lost it twice but won it back in the next komoba battle she fought. The dagger itself, has been passed down in the family over generations and predates the current rules, the old rules were, you put in your favorite object into the pool. Which was the old rules fifty years ago. But my grandmother is unchanged, she will still put in the dagger and the dagger is priceless, because the Sultan who had it commissioned for his favorite wife, his kingdom no longer stands and the techniques used in it’s creation no longer exist, that’s how old and special this thing is. So she is the only one who puts in something priceless. But no one else. But her dagger alone is world renowned, like that dagger is in every portrait she has ever had done of herself. Like if she continued to be undefeated, she will probably be buried with that dagger.” You revealed.

“Most mouras in Dorierra, have special daggers especially made just for the Kamoba battles, but they use it the day before to cut up their meat and eat with it to use it one last time before they would lose it. So as it stands, my grandmother has hundreds of thousands of daggers, but each one, she keeps in a special room with the name of who she defeated to gain it. Once she passes, she has instructed for it all to be displayed in a museum in Dorierra, along with her portraits as her legacy. And that dagger- comes with world class bragging rights. Honestly I have only held it once and it felt like I was holding the weapon of a god, like I had the power of multiple worlds in my hand and I was a mortal who had no business even looking at it and I was always too scared to even touch it after that because I think I was like, 11 or 12 when I got to hold it. My grandma claims that it is just a dagger, it’s just metal and precious stones and nothing more. But the illusion that it is more than what it seems, always tips things in her favor because I have seen competitors just take one look at it and get intimidated just from looking at the dagger and then completely lose their nerve when they face off against her. She can be really sweet out of the Kamoba arena. She turns into almost a literal viper in it though and she doesn’t hold back or pull her punches.” You warned him.

“And what about you? What do you turn into?” Demsey asked thoughtfully.

“My grandmother calls me The Turquoise Phoenix, because that is my favorite color and the color I always choose during the day battles to paint my weapons with. She says that I am like a phoenix because there have been several times where everyone thought I was beat for sure but I seemed to rise from my own ashes and win at the last moment.” You answered. “Also I always put a piece of turquoise jewelry into the pot, so if it’s turquoise, it’s most likely mine.” You shrugged as you managed to get the saddle off of Heavencrest and carry it over to the saddle stand as Demsey did the same, both of you walking side by side to where the saddles for the griffins were kept as Grevu was still in his tent and the end of the barn as he humphed sulking-ly at you once you came into view.

“Oh I know! Axal didn’t go flying tonight so you had to stay here, I’m sorry, next time we go flying and Axal doesn’t go, I’ll ride you instead of Heavy, how’s that? I’m sorry you missed out.” You offered to Grevu as you came over to him after you put your saddle away and stroked his nose as he sniffed you and gently touched his nose to your lower abdomen and sniffed in deeply then cleaned his nose out, blowing snot onto your legs.

“Do I need to change my underwear or what? You and Heavy keep sniffing me there, it’s making me self conscious, but thanks, apparently I needed dragon snot on my outfit, I’m happy you could provide that for me.” You sarcastically complained in almost a mocking thankful tone as you brought his nose up to your face before you kissed his nose and scratched under his chin and grinned when he churred happily and set his chin on your shoulder before moving his head around to where he wanted to be scratched, like around his horns.

“Oooh, you poor Bay-bey, no one loves you, or gives you any attention, do they? No. You’re just so ignored and neglected.” You cooed to Grevu in your best cooing baby talk voice as Grevu narrowed his eyes at you before he blew his nose out at your face, covering your face and chest in little beads of blue dragon snot.

“Thanks a lot Grevu, thanks, that’s all I needed to make my day complete, you fat rat with wings.” You thanked him as you unzipped your jacket to take the shirt you were wearing and tried to wipe off your face at least as you made a face at how disgusting it smelled.

“Thanks, I’m gonna need another bath tonight, thanks for that. That’s gonna stick in my hair. I'm gonna have to wash my hair twice to get it out, at least, maybe three times.” You complained sarcastically.

“You brat, you’re lucky you’re so cute.” You teased as you playfully batted his nose away before he actually coughed, but at Demsey before Demsey was covered in a giant blue lougie which made you erupt into laughter as you had dodged and missed most of it but Demsey hadn’t seen it coming and just barely had his eyes closed before he was completely plastered in dragon snot.

“What did I do?!” Demsey asked as he just stood and looked at himself and tried not to gag as you laughed even harder.

“This smells like rotten guts, what did you eat?” Demsey asked Grevu who did the dragon’s equivalent of laughing.

“It smells like old...either a cow or old horse or old donkey or something like that, definitely something from a barnyard, and definitely guts.” You guessed as you urged Demsey away and out of the barn as he took big wide steps to try to let most of it, drip, slide and fall off of him before the rest of your family found you and started laughing just as the smell of whatever it was started affecting you and Demsey at about the same time and you both started gagging before you both threw up right there on the lawn which got everyone to stop laughing as Axal was sent for once you started throwing up in the last light of dusk and the grass turned from green- to purple which caused everyone alarm.

“Oh no, send for a doctor. I know the rules of Kamoba means that none of the competitors can take anything to help them but clearly this is an exception right?” Axal asked his family who all readily agreed.

“Get Dr. Wen Shi Chu, he’s my doctor, I only want him to treat me.” You insisted as you laid down in the grass and clutched your middle, the darkness of dusk still highlighting the fact that your vomit was turning the grass a dark indigo violet. But clearly you were much more affected than Demsey was, because once the dragon snot was washed away from him, thankfully he was in flying leathers so it wiped off, and once it was washed away, he was fine, but you seemed to be taking this much harder than he was and affected much more gravely as you continued to vomit, more and more indigo violet puke pouring out of you before your father picked you up and carried you to your rooms after others had tried to wipe the dragon snot off of you too.

“Put me in a bathtub, I feel I’m going to be making a mess tonight.” You urged them as your mother helped strip you out of your flying leathers as you got into the tub but didn’t throw up any further, just laid in the fetal position and clutched your middle as you were instantly in agony.

“Really? Right before a Kamoba battle you cough a loogie on Audra and Demsey and get them sick?” Axal asked his dragon as he waited for Dr. Wen Shi Chu to arrive as Grevu simply turned his back to Axal and farted in Axal’s direction before the smell made Axal start vomiting too.

“Oh you fucking brat! Just because I didn’t take you flying, you throw a fit?!” Axal yelled reproachfully at Grevu between hurls himself as he made it back to the house before his other brothers noticed he was sick and helped him back to his own room just before Dr. Wen Shi Chu arrived as he was brought to your room first.

“What happened?” He asked.

“She and Duke Demsey Voyambi were petting Axal’s dragon Grevu after their evening ride, Grevu snorted snot on her and coughed up more snot on Demsey and made them both vomit and when Axal went to confront Grevu, Grevu apparently farted on him and made him sick as well.” Your mother told him.

“Ah, temperamental dragons, what has the dragon been eating?” Dr. Wen Shi Chu, who simply went by Dr. Chu- asked.

“You’d have to ask the stable hands.” Your mother answered.

“For now, Lady Audra, drink this, it will settle your stomach and steady you.” Dr. Wen offered as he went into his case and took out a vial before you looked from it to your mothers and grandmothers.

“But what about the Kamoba rule of competitors not taking any medicine to improve their health?” You asked them.

“This is obviously a special case, and does not apply, since three competitors have been affected and not just one.” Your grandmother, Loreiris insisted which your mothers readily nodded their agreement to that sentiment before you took the vial and drank it down.

“It should help for now until I have further medication to combat exactly what the dragon ate.” Dr. Chu offered.

“If such bodily functions from a dragon are inhaled or ingested, it can lead to intense sickness, depending on how much was ingested,” Dr. Chu offered to your family.

“They all know about the mourkatili.” You informed Dr. Chu.

“Ah then they will know that you will be the most affected by it and will need the most medicine to keep you stabilized.” He offered.

“Of course.” Your mothers and grandmothers readily agreed before Dr. Wen went and attended to Axal and Demsey, who by now had seemed to recover and returned to the group, but both of them were most anxious to hear how you were faring.

“Because Lady Audra has had mourkatili in her system, her body has been harmed, and because of this, she will need the most medicine and the most intensive care. I understand a Kamoba battle is to take place and she is a competitor, she may need to bow out of the competition.” Dr. Chu advised everyone.

“If that is her choice. But I am perfectly fine with her taking any and all medicine to steady and fortify her and such medical intervention will be allowed and accepted if she is to compete or not, her health is of most importance, screw the Kamoba and it’s traditions right now.” Your grandmother, LoreIris insisted.

“Agreed.” Everyone echoed.

“Then take me to the dragon and bring me to who has been feeding him and I need to know all that the dragon has ingested and I will need to take samples of everything for testing.” Dr. Chu insisted before he was brought around and a light was brought out and when Dr. Chu saw the purple of the grass, he stopped everyone from moving or getting any closer.

“Lady Audra is continuing to purge the mourkatili. You will note it by it’s sweet smell, like violets and it’s violet color, Grevu’s bodily fluids are trying to heal her and he may have tried to affect the other two to bring more attention to the matter, he may have sensed her sickness and is just trying to help, let no one or nothing touch the violet grass, it must be dug up and all the dirt a half a meter underneath it, must be dug up, all do this must wear protective gear and it all must be burned immediately. Or it will kill otherwise.” Dr. Chu advised before Gregori readily ordered for just such measures to be done and then some.

“Ah, Great Grevu, I Dr. Wen Shi Chu bow in respect, I wish to examine you.” Dr. Chu bowed to Grevu as Grevu lifted his head and then got up and turned around to face Dr. Chu and then laid down to face Dr. Chu and bowed his head in turn.

“Were you trying to heal Lady Audra?” Dr. Chu asked as Grevu nodded yes.

“And did you try to bring attention to her sickness by affecting her brother and Duke Voyambi?” Dr. Chu asked as Grevu nodded yes again.

“Very good! He needs to be rewarded, a fine bull this time, no more old and sick animals, for that is what has made them all sick. Many people forget that dragons need dragon fruit, dragon nut, dragon weed, dragon flower, dragon mushroom, and dragon herbs in their diet. All Grevu has had in his diet has been meat and whole, old animals, he needs variety to maintain a balanced diet. You are a royal family, you have all these things, yes?” Dr. Chu asked Yalin and Gregori.

“Well, actually, no- because we’ve never had a dragon with us before so we don’t...have any of that. I don’t think.” Yalin confessed.

“That is ok, I keep a greenhouse at my house, I grow such things, I will have them delivered as soon as possible, but for now, I will need to focus on Lady Audra and get her through the night, if she continues to vomit and give way to her digestive powers, she will be too sick for months to come, she can become dehydrated, and possibly die from such dehydration and will be unable to do anything and may fall back into a deep depression, all efforts and focus must be on her at this time.” Dr. Chu advised before he wrote down directions for his household and sent for his wife to bring the proper medicine before he returned to your room as others came and sat down all around you and silently prayed for your recovery.

“Well this is one way to celebrate the start of the Kamo.” Benny tried to joke which got you to huff a laugh.

“Yeah, this is the greatest one yet.” You sarcastically agreed as you laid in the tub in your night dress but nothing else as a blanket was brought and laid over you as well as a pillow so that you were at least comfortable before Dr. Chu’s wife came with the medicines her husband asked for as well as the plants needed as she soaked cloths in special tea made from dragon weed and dragon fruit and dragon flower and wrapped it around your wrists and hands, ankles and feet and head and chest.

“Just like old times?” You tried to joke with her once she laid the last damp cloth on your forehead as she had you swish out the remaining mourkatili remaining in your mouth with special tea and dumped the light violet colored liquid down the toilet.

“Yes, just like old times.” Lady Chu agreed before she had you drink the rest of the tea once she added some honey and mint to improve the taste and settle your stomach and once your nausea subsided you were picked up, out of the bathtub and laid in bed as Dr. Chu gave you some medicine for sleep.

“Let her sleep as long as she needs, she will need at least ten hours of it, if not twelve, but no more than 14 or 15 because if she sleeps that long, she may end up going into a coma and it may be a few weeks before we can wake her up again but the chances of that happening are very small, one in...one in like a hundred so small chance but still a chance. Now the chances of her waking up in just 9 to 11 hours is very high, like 90 in 100 chances, there can’t be that much mourkatili left in her system now. But when she wakes up, give her anything she is hungry for, her body will know what it needs. If she is to purge again in the morning, have her drink this and she knows how to make this tea and this tonic, simply add the powdered tonic to hot water and the tea into a clean teapot full of hot water also, to steep for several minutes, have her drink the tonic first and the tea second and she should be fine, for now, let her rest in peace.” Dr. Chu prescribed.

“I will stay with her.” Almost everyone insisted in unison.

“No, only one or two, no more, for her sake.” Lady Chu answered.

“I am her mother, I will stay.” Your mother Jodhaa, decided.

“And I am her twin, I will stay too.” Axal insisted.

“Dem...Demsey, how is Demsey?” You asked as you fought to hang onto consciousness as your eyes tried to close as you felt them trying to cement themselves closed as you barely had the strength to roll your head from side to side, but otherwise it felt like your body was made of lead and sleep was dragging you down like a stone in the ocean.

“He is already recovered, I attended to him myself, he is orc, very strong young man, not nearly as affected as you, Grevu gave you the blue healing snot to purge your system of the rest of the mourkatili.” Dr. Chu reassured you.

“Oh good, I was most..most worried...about him. Axal, don’t, don’t stay, Ramsey needs you, let, let Calla stay and mom, don’t stay, stay with dad, I’ll be fine. Trust Dr. Chu, he is the best doctor..in the world, him and his wife.” You whispered before you practically fell unconcious as everyone seemed to give each other a meaningful look and knowing grin as Dr. Chu and his wife beamed proud smiles as the others obeyed your wishes.

“How long have you been treating my daughter?” Your mother Jodhaa asked Dr. Chu curiously as Calla left to get her night clothes to stay with you as the others saw Dr. Chu and his wife out as all of them tried giving something to Dr. Chu and his wife for their services to you.

“Ah for about a year, she sought me out with the mourkatili, I have been treating her intensively ever since. The first six months after she became a widow, we had to wean her off the mourkatili so she would not become an addict and the cold cut off would not drive her to madness and then spend another three months purging her body, I thought we had gotten all we could, but obviously the dragon wanted the rest of it out. Whatever is left in her body should be purged from her body in the morning, it seems a dragon will see to it that it will be finished from where I started. I am most grateful to the dragon as all of you should be too. Dragons often get dismissed as only being animals by most these days instead of being revered like the little gods they are and believe themselves to be. He must have known for Audra to be at her full strength, she needed to purge the rest of it, today apparently. Dragons always choose auspicious times, for us in the moment it may seem inconvenient, but in hindsight, it will be the perfect timing. By tomorrow night, I feel safe in predicting she will be back to her old self, the self you all once knew.” Dr. Chu advised as everyone smiled and blew out their sighs of relief as soon word spread as Charlotte also secretly reported the new development to her grandmother who seemed relieved to hear it and offered her own private wishes and prayers for your recovery as Dr. Chu and his wife returned home.

Demsey seemed relieved to hear the news but he was weary to believe such a thing, it seemed too good to be true as he laid in bed and wanted nothing more than to make sure you were ok as the overwhelming urge to protect you seemed to course through his viens as rest elluded him and panic gripped his soul as his better judgement told him that he needed to see you with his own eyes before got dressed at least in pants and found the secret passage to your room, but was surprised to see it was being guarded by Axal and Ramsey.

“What are you doing here?” Ramsey asked Demsey.

“I...I just wanted to see with my own eyes that Audra is ok.” Demsey confessed as Axal let a crooked grin hike up a corner of his mouth.

“Yeah, sure, come on,” Axal invited as he let Demsey into the room as Calla sat up in bed at hearing the door open.

“It’s just us, Demsey just wanted to make sure Audra was alight with his own eyes.” Axal said.

“Yes, she’s sleeping very deeply. My brothers as well as Benny’s are guarding her door and the hallway to make sure no one comes in or out and I’m sure the rest of Audra’s brothers will be there in the secret passage sooner than later.” Calla revealed as she waived Demsey over to where you still sleeping like an angel there in the bed, your slow, steady, even breathing came through your nose.

“Why the high security?” Demsey asked as he kneeled next to your bed and dared to pick up your hand and hold it, making sure it was still warm and still had life left in it and once he established the touch, the panic and anxiety in his own chest immediately melted away but is possessive protectiveness seemed to be stronger than ever as he didn’t want to leave your side now.

“We wanted to make sure Audra and her medicine were kept safe from tampering with. But one of her last words as she held onto consciousness was concern for how you were faring.” Calla informed him as she tried to keep her scheming grin to herself but her and Axal still shared a meaningful look.

“She’s...an angel.” Was all Demsey could bring himself to say before your other brothers knocked on the secret door and Demsey stood up but couldn’t bring himself to let go of your hand.

“He just wanted to make sure she was ok.” Axal told his half brothers.

“Good, We will be taking shifts all night to make sure she is ok and nothing is tampered with.” Ocerian insisted.

“Ramsey and I will take the first shift.” Axal insisted.

“Can I take part in the shifts?” Demsey asked hopefully, even though by now, he felt his feet practically plant themselves into the floor.

“Can you stay up for the next three hours?” Axal asked.

“No problem, I wouldn’t be able to sleep otherwise.” Demsey insisted as he let go of your hand to get a chair and bring it to your bedside.

“Then Ramsey and I will take the hallway.” Axal agreed before the rest of your brothers and half brothers decided on which shifts they wanted to take and shut the door before the same came to pass among Benny and Calla’s brothers in the hallway outside your bedroom door.

“Demsey, a word of advice.” Calla said as she settled into the bed as Demsey once again picked up your hand to hold it reverently from his spot as he sat down and leaned his elbows on his knees to be as close to you as he could.

“Starting now, do not continue to hide your attraction, affection or attachment to Audra. It is only because she expressed concern for you before she passed out that you were even let into the room because we all knew that Audra would find it comforting when she wakes up. Otherwise, you would have been sent away. It is not lost on anyone, and we all could see that the Dauphin and Dauphine were your only obstacles to her and our understanding of English customs culture, as limited as it is, was our only reason for not interfering either, and now that those have been removed. It is expected you respond in kind. Do not disappoint Audra, she deserves better than she has been getting. It is her own honor that has kept her away from you at the ball at Heavenfield because she believed you were already attached and whoever else has kept your heart and mind from her, you need to make the choice right here and now, who is more important, Audra or whoever else it is. Audra has already rid herself of any and all other obstacles and if she has to make it any clearer to you that she wants to be pursued by you, we are all going to think you were dropped on your head as a baby and are now retarded.” Calla insisted as Demsey nearly snorted snot onto you from snickering a laugh and had to use his free hand to cover up his nose and mouth to keep that from happening.

“Message received loud and clear. I just didn’t want to come on too strongly or too quickly, because that’s what Ramsey had done at the ball and he obviously crashed and burned and I did not want to scare her off, so I thought a more subtle approach would be wise.” Demsey replied.

“Well, yes, true as that may be. Enough of it. We’re all getting impatient. Audra included, but she has become too proper in the English sense to say anything but she is getting weary from restraining herself.” Calla revealed.

“Well when she recovers from this, I will clear the air and set this matter straight with her and make my intentions known in the most clear, direct and forthcoming way possible.” Demsey pacified.

“Oh just pin her up against a wall and kiss her, that’ll do you just fine.” Calla waived off as she turned and pillowed your head with her arm so she could feel if you would move as she cuddled into your side as Demsey huffed a laugh even though his smile was practically dreamy.

“Oh you think I’m joking, I’m serious.” Calla insisted.

“Oh no, I believe you.” Demsey reassured her.

“If she wakes up and returns to her old self again, you may not recognize her though. But at the same time, she has been sorely missed, and we would all be happy to have the old Audra back, I wish you could have met her at her strongest. She was always a force to be reckoned with and always fun and delightful to be around and her energy was that of a child at the first snowfall, eager to leave the house to play in it. And she just radiated happiness and bright sunshine and it’s like her sunshine has been hidden behind a thick fog on a cloudy day this whole time, but tonight it felt like it was just about to lift, and then this happened, we will just have to wait and see.” Calla said sleepily before she seemed to fall asleep herself before Demsey brought your hand up to his mouth to kiss the back of it sweetly and noticed a blank journal and got up and got brought the little bedside table closer to himself and grabbed a pen and decided to write it all down, all of his feelings and his intent, all of it as he happily did this to keep himself awake as he could hear Axal and Ramsey continue to be intimate behind the hidden door which caused him to roll his eyes and shake his head but at the same time, he was relieved that Ramsey was the way he was so that he dismissed himself from you.

“Word’s written down mean nothing without those same words said or those thoughts put into action.” Calla said from her place next to you in the bed, the scratching of the pen writing on the paper waking her up a few pages later as she didn’t even bother to open her eyes.

“I know, go to sleep Calla.” Demsey answered as he already had to refill the reservoir of ink in the pen itself since he had already used up what was in it the first time.

“That’s sister Calla to you.” Calla sassed with a smug grin and a dreamy smile of her own.

“Of course, how could I make such a mistake, Sister.” Demsey retorted with a fond grin of his own before she seemed to settle back into sleep.

The three hours practically flew by like the blink of an eye before Ocearian and Zax came for the second shift as Leumeni came inside the room and was pleasantly surprised to see Demsey in the room as Demsey had slid the notebook under your pillow right as he heard your other brothers in the secret hallway.

“Here to take the second shift?” Demsey asked.

“Yup.” Leumeni confirmed, rubbing what little sleep he had gotten from his eyes as Calla had woken up just a little to witness the change as Demsey left through the passage as Axal himself escorted Demsey back to his own room before going back Ramsey’s room where Octavia and Drina were already fast asleep in Ramsey’s bed as Ramsey happily got in and cuddled with Octavia to get some much needed sleep as Ramsey came in and did the same with Drina so that the guys framed the girls in the oversized bed.

“And?” Leumeni asked Calla.

“He spent practically the whole time writing Audra what was surely the longest and most wordy love letter ever.” Calla answered as she tried to fall back asleep.

“Where is it? I would have thought such a thing would be draped over her like a blanket.” Leu noted as he sat down the chair that Demsey had vacated.

“Knowing him? Under her pillow.” Calla said before she felt under the pillows and found the journal and moved it to be between her own and Audra’s to keep it protected from other prying eyes.

“Oh how gentlemanly of him.” Leumeni chuckled.

“Poor thing. I can’t imagine what kind of frustrations he has pent up.” Calla smiled as she settled back into a good sleeping position as Leumeni raspberried in a scoff.

“I can’t imagine how full his balls must be, since childhood probably, he has to tuck them into his boots.” Leumeni teased, finally being free to make such candid and crude jokes which got Calla to snort a laugh.

“I’m surprised yours aren’t dragging on the floor and will be until you can propose to Kiera and finally unload into her, poor thing will fill up like a balloon.” Calla tossed right back.

“They’re about to be, but the wait will be worth it. She may live in a very strict “polished” society but she is the kind of rebellious wild thing underneath, I can’t wait to see her go practically feral.” Leumeni smiled fondly which got Calla to smile too.

“Heaven forbid she learn of your previous attachment to Audra, she might just go so feral, she’ll go full shield maiden. She’s the jealous type.” Calla murmured.

“Yeah, I’d give everything for all those letters I wrote Audra to never see the light of day, honestly.” Leumeni confessed.

“Well, nothing has been produced yet, and if they haven’t been given up yet, I doubt they ever will.” Calla speculated.

“Gods I hope so.” Leumeni said as he changed how he was sitting in the chair to be more comfortable.

“Good night Leu, watch over her medicine.” Calla instructed sleepily before she dozed off again.

Come morning, after getting exactly 11 and a half hours of sleep, you were surprised to see your heir father in the room, half dozing off as he sat in the chair next to the bed.

“Father?” You asked when you awoke and noticed Calla was practically drooling next to you as she continued to sleep herself.

“Goodmorning Sweetheart. How do you feel?” He asked.

“Uh, groggy, what are you doing here?” You asked him.

“Watching over you, the whole, entire family as well as Calla and her brothers and Benny and her brothers took turns watching over you, to make sure you were not disturbed or that your medicine was not tampered with.” He answered.

“We are in the Palace of Windsor, I doubt…” you began to voice before your heir father gave you a look.

“Yeah, you’re right, better safe than sorry. Uh, can you, call for some hot water?” You requested.

“Of course.” He agreed before he got up and went to the door and told his own sons the order as they readily left their post to deliver the message to the kitchens.

“Everyone watched over me?” You asked.

“Everyone, even the Voyambi’s got involved, I heard that Demsey took this spot on the first watch. Didn’t sleep a wink until Leumeni took his place.” Your heir father reported.

“Even when he was affected…?” You asked.

“You were the only one really affected, Demsey and Axal only threw up once and were much better after. But Dr. Chu, he came and told us that Grevu noticed you still had mourkatili in you and his spit spurned you to purge whatever was left in you out because he was able to imbue the spit with some kind of magic as only dragons still can I guess. That’s why the grass where you threw up in the yard turned violet. It was all dug up and burned just to be safe so that it wouldn’t hurt anyone else. Apparently this medicine will finish it for good.” Sylvar reported.

“He affected Demsey and Axal to bring attention to it.” You realized as you laid back in bed and stretched but smiled fondly.

“Why he would have chosen now of all times though, he could have done that when he first came.” You noted as you frowned in confusion.

“Grevu probably had little opportunity, we haven’t been able to ride since they first came.

“That is true, he must have sensed it that first time but waited until the next opportunity and last night was the first opportunity.” You realized.

“I called him a bratty rat with wings for blowing snot on me.” You admitted.

“Well he is that.” Sylvar nodded in agreement before there was a gentle knock on the door and a maid came in with a morning tea service but had not added the tea leaves to the hot water.

“Thank you, please report to the household that I survived the night just fine and am obviously awake.” You told her.

“Yes my Lady.�� She curtsied and left the room as you turned and put your legs over the bed and began the preparations to the tea and the medicinal tonic left behind by Dr. Chu.

“Your strength and resilience has never ceased to amaze me.” Your heir father praised you.

“Thank you.” You thanked him graciously as your face fell.

“Why does this displease you?” He asked.

“Honestly, I’m tired of people telling me how strong I am, how resilient I am, how many hits I can take while still being able to survive the blows, each hit that didn’t kill me did not make me stronger, all it did was just hurt me more, nothing more than that, other than to make me bleed more. It would have been so much easier to give in and just let it kill me, at least I would have been dead and therefore numb to everyone’s disappointment.” You confessed plainly as you braced yourself for the tonic and blew on it to try to cool it down before grimacing as you drank it down before trying to chase it down by eating a scone.

“You’re right. You can start now if you wish, bow out of the Kamoba battle and never get hit again.” Sylvar offered.

“Now let’s not get crazy.” You put your hand up in a stopping motion.

“But if memory serves me right, this tea will make my close proximity to a toilet most important and I want my privacy to bear that particular burden.” You offered as you then poured the now steeped tea out of the little tea pot and filled the same teacup you used for the tonic.

“Of course.” He agreed before he got out of the chair and kissed the crown of your head before he saw himself out before the tea and the tonic seemed to have an immediate effect as you hastily got up and went to the toilet of the bathroom in your room and sat down and began to have a very intense bowel movement and what felt like your period, but it was in one solid chunk of blood, that bled purple into the water of the toilet bowl but after you passed it, you bled no further but at the same time, you were relieved and happy that because it bled no more and nothing purple was left in that part of your body, that your womb was now restored to you which made you smile in relief as a few grateful tears came to your eyes, before another bout of powerful bowel movements passed and you felt five stone lighter.

“Wow, ok then,” you muttered as once you finished you quickly flushed it and went back to the bed and forced yourself to finish the tea before Calla stirred awake.

“Good morning.” You greeted her.

“Good morning.” She greeted you sleepily.

“How do you feel?” She asked.

“Well, I just had the dump like the orcs of old, when they used to crap out the tomb meat and the farway bread.” You answered her.

“And was it violet?” She asked.

“It sure was.” You confirmed.

“Good. Oh there’s something, that once you return to yourself, read what is in the journal under your pillow. I think you’ll find it most interesting and exciting to read.” Calla insisted as she grasped the journal under your pillow and pushed it towards you.

“It should be blank.” You frowned.

“It is blank no more.” Calla smiled in delight before she got out of bed and put a robe on.

“I”m glad you made it through, when you’re done crapping your guts out, come down to breakfast and get them refilled.” She urged you as you sat there and looked from her to the journal curiously.

But just before you could try to open there was another knock on the door. And you quickly shoved it under your pillow again when your half sisters, your mothers and grandmothers were there, in their morning robes to check on you.

“How are you feeling?” Your mother asked.

“Uh, I’ve already drank the tonic and the tea, if you can have someone bring me a breakfast of just simple breads, butters, honey, maybe some eggs, maybe some sausage, but not anything really spicy, the tea is making my closeness to a toilet an absolute necessity until it can run through me.

“Ah, of course, of course,” they readily agreed before they hugged you before you had to interrupt them to run to the bathroom again.

“Well, we should be letting her have her privacy.” Your mother urged them but stayed behind to watch over you herself.

“Anyone else still in here?” You called out.

“Just me Addie.” Your mother called to you.

“Hey, I’m gonna be in here for a while, there’s a journal under my pillow, could you bring it to me so I’m not bored out of my mind?” You requested as curiosity was eating you to see who had written what in it.

“Of course,” she readily agreed as she got it and came into the bathroom just as the last of the mourkatili left you as your hair made the most amazing transformation right before her eyes. Which made her drop the journal on the ground as she gasped and yelled before your other female family members came rushing back into the room and then the bathroom to where your mother was standing the doorway, frozen in shock.

“Audra?!” They yelled.

“What?” You asked your mother as they all came into the bathroom to see you sitting on the toilet as the change continued to take place in your hair as they all gasped as they stared at you in shock and awe.

“What? What is it?” You asked them before your half sister went and got a little mirror and brought it to you.

You gasped in astonishment as you looked at yourself and touched your hair to look at how it was still transforming in front of your eyes.

“Call for Dr. Chu!” You yelled at them before they practically tripped over each other trying to get out of there and out of the room quickly before Amara, Kiera and little Callie came rushing in the moment they left to still see you on the toilet, holding the mirror as you stared at your reflection before they saw you and gasped themselves.

“Don’t say anything! Not to anyone! Especially to Demsey!” You pleaded.

#Blood For Gold #Blood For Gold Chapter 17 #regency era orc period drama #regency era orcs #moura #mouras #orcs #orc reader insert

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nia-journals · 3 years

Text

Blind Date | YOONMIN Short Story

——————

park jimin sat in the cushioned chair, blind folded, wearing his casual best, in hopes of impressing whichever stranger his partner turned out to be. you see, his best friend jeon jungkook, had dragged him to one of those blind date events taking place in their city and now jimin sat like a complete idiot and for what? why was he trying so hard? he told himself he couldnt care less about this outing so why did he even bother wearing his best jeans?

jimin sighed and as the countdown on the intercom reached 0 he could hear footsteps approaching. this made jimin a bit anxious. his eyes were bound, he didnt know where in the room his friend jungkook sat and in less a second he would meet a complete stranger he’d spend the rest of this forsaken date with. jimin’s fight or flight instict ticked as he felt someone walk dangerously close to his chair. why the fuck did he agree to this? jimin thought, it was safe to say that whoever came up with a blind dinner date pop-up event was a complete idiot. he now sat in high alert waiting to defend himself despite the circumstances and the obvious fact that he couldnt see anything at all.

so he sat and waited; jimin was beginning to think he’d been stood up even in this stupid blind date. that is, until he heard;

“hello?” a stranger with a deep voice approached him, “im min yoongi,” his voice was eargasmic, it made the little hairs on jimin’s arms stand up and sent chills down his back.

“park jimin,” jimin introduced himself in a shy and unsually low tone. jimin wasnt usually shy but this man’s voice alone made him feel small, intimidated and dominated even.

“should we get right to it?” the stranger’s disembodied yet gravelly voice suggested, “i cant really ask you what you like to eat cause that’s against the rules so, ima take a hunched here and hope you enjoy it. is that ok jimin?”

jimin nodded like an idiot, in a trance. unlike five seconds ago now jimin mentally thanked whoever’s stupid idea was to wear blindfolds cause if not yoongi would be completely exposed to his dialated pupils which signaled his lovey dovey eyes.

“ok, i placed the order. when it comes out please be completely honest with me,” yoongi said, after quietly thanking who i assumed was the server, “i promise i wont cry too hard.”

yoongi’s chuckle.

wow.

that was the most beautiful sound jimin’s ears have ever had the pleasure of hearing. the captivating sound was light and addictive, jimin wanted yoongi to chuckle all throught the night.

“don’t worry yoongi,” jimin let out instinctively. it didn’t matter how nasty what yoongi picked out for him was, he would lie, cheat, fibble, he would do anything to get a shot at a second date with this stranger with the honey dipped voice, “i wont go too hard on you.”

“no, please do but maybe lie about it to the host and we can always try again on our second date.”

jimin smiled, maybe a little too widely and he had to quickly remind himself that yoongi could still in fact see the idiotic smile plastered on his face, “already in for a second date? are you that whipped already?”

“i mean, look at you, park jimin. youre a whole vision in itself. i could sit here all night and talk about how perfect you look.”

“you havent even seen half of my face yet min yoongi,” jimin scoffed in a joking manner.

“fair enough park jimin,” he spoke in a tone of newfound confidence and determination, his voice dropped about two octaves and jimin again froze at how deep and addicting it was to listen to min yoongi’s voice, “let’s get to know eachother before our meal comes to us.”

“fine,” jimin said clearing his throat, “that sounds fine by me.”

“are you from this area jimin?” yoongi asked in his husky tone. fuck this man’s voice would surely be jimin’s demise. he couldnt wait to take his blindfold off to reveal the face of the stranger whose voice had jimin wrapped around his finger.

“no, im actually from busan. i moved out to seoul with some of my friends for school.” jimin said.

“you all go to the same university?” he questioned.

“yeah we do. we all applied together and got in together so we just moved in together and attend the same school,” jimin shrugged. he was infact lucky to have friends who shared similar interests and life aspirations. lucky enough that after high school graduation while everyone waved goodbye to their bestfriends, jimin, taehyung and jungkook were packing together ready to take on the next four years of college right by eachother’s side.

“youre very lucky,” yoongi confessed, “not many people get to attend the same school as their bffs after high school. usually people grow apart.”

“yeah im glad i have them here with me. i’d be a lone wolf in seoul if it wasnt for them.” jimin said. “one of my bestfriends, jungkook, was actually the one who dragged me here?”

“wait are you an introvert park jimin?” yoongi questioned. jimin couldn’t see much of yoongi but he could feel the subtle movements the stranger made in his chair at the other end of the table.

“im as introverted as they come. it took a whole lot of will power, a lot of convincing by my friend jungkook and a million pep-talks from our dorm room to here to get me to calm down a bit,” jimin confessed.

“are you nervous right now jimin?” he let out in a soft yet deep under-tone. his whispering made him sound like an asmrist and jimin wasn’t sure he could handle listening to him talk im such a low tone any longer.

“well i was nervous yoongi, but-“ he began, “your voice.”

“what about my voice?” yoongi asked and jimin could almost hear the cockiness in his voice.

“it’s soothing yoongi, it’s really calming my nerves,” jimin was completely transparent with the man. well of course jimin hid the fact that aside from calming him down a bit, yoongi’s voice also aroused him. that detail he could definitely keep to himself, “in that case i’ll keep talking,” he was definitely now going to begin using his sweet and deep voice against jimin for the rest of the night, “what do you study in school, jimin?”

“dance,” jimin let out, “contemptorary dance to be exact.”

“have you danced for long?” yoongi questioned.

“since i was 9 years old.”

“so youre a professional?”

“i wouldn’t say so, i have a long way to go to be considered professional.” jimin answered modestly.

“i bet your the best in your whole university,” yoongi complimented him in such a casual tone.

“well thank you,” jimin said shyly, yoongi surely knew all the right things to say, “but im not even the best in the whole junior class,”

“i find that hard to believe. on our second date how about you show me your moves?” the butterflies in jimin’s stomach were out of control at yoongi’s blatant proposition.

but at that moment jimin promised himself that he would go dancing with yoongi on their second date.

“let’s take it one second at a time yoongi, i dont even know if i like the food you picked out for me yet,” jimin teased him, “what if it was a complete miss?”

“it won’t be, my gut never lies to me.” yoongi was definitely cocky but jimin thought that was part of his charm. jimin definitely liked it.

jimin laughed, god he wished he could see yoongi’s face right about now, “what about you yoongi? are you in school? are you from seoul?”

“ah, no-“ yoongi started, “im not from seoul, i was born and raised in daegu. i actually, like you, moved to seoul for school and studied music production. i graduated a few months ago. now i work with my friend who’s an upcoming rapper.”

“congratulations on graduating,” jimin offered and yoongi thanked him in return.

“whats his name?” jimin questioned, honestly wanting to know if he’s heard of his friends work at anytime, “your rapper friend. maybe ive heard the music you guys have made together before,”

“his names rm,” yoongi let out non-chalant but jimin almost chocked on his water.

“you’re friends with rm?” jimin let out in an overly excited tone, “my best friend jungkook loves rm.”

“i could get you two tickets to his next underground show if you’d like?” he asked, his offer sounded sincere.

“i couldn’t-“ jimin let up, “we just met yoongi. i wouldnt want you to have the wrong idea of me.”

“i could never park jimin,” there he goes saying jimin’s name again, it sounded so fucking perfect coming from him and jimin could honestly sit and hear yoongi say his name over and over and over until the sun comes up, “how about this, if you like the food i picked for you, i’ll take you and your friend jungkook to the next rm concert.”

“how about we leave the concert for a third date, i want you all to myself on the dance floor for our second date,” jimin said feeling fearless, teasing him a bit in the process, “well if i like the food you picked out for me, that is.”

“thats a deal park jimin, good thing we’re about to find out.” yoongi said, and less the a second later jimin could smell the delicious food being placed in front of him.

“do you want me to help you with that?” yoongi asked as he noticed jimin struggling a bit to find his fork.

“if you could please,” jimin was about to be fed by a stranger with the most mesmerizing voice. to say his heart was going to beat right out of his chest was no exaggeration.

a couple seconds later, yoongi let out an “open up,” and jimin was met with his favorite kind of pasta, shrimp scampi. jimin was glad yoongi picked out a meal he liked because this meant they had a chance at a second date and jimin couldnt wait.

immidiately jimin clicked the right button under his side of the table signaling he’s liked the dinner picked out by blind date partner. jimin quickly took off his blind fold and after his eyes adjusted to the bright lights in the room he was met with the most beautiful man he’s ever laid eyes on. his tanned skin was honey-like and there was a perfect contrast between his brown sugar skin and his plain white t-shirt. his wide gummy smile made his eyes turned to small crescent moons and at that moment jimin couldnt believe that such a perfect voice belonged to such a perfect human being.

“are you ready to put your dancing shoes on for our second date?” jimin asked as yoongi’s gummy smile grew in size.

———————

this story has very much been alive and well on ao3 give it love there!

thanks for reading <3

#bts #bangtan sonyeondan #park jimin #min yoongi #yoonmin #jimin x yoongi #short story #bts aus #yoonmin are soulmates #bts smut

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threadvector · 3 years

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The irony is that taxes were intended to lessen social polarity and friction

Moreover, these strata of society were most likely to use tax planning to minimize their tax payments. They wriggled their way around controversial subjects and the result was that every loophole cutting measure brought in its wake a growing host of others. Governments from Germany to the USA are working along the same lines. But they underwent a malignant transformation. In the lunatic fringes there were those who refused to pay taxes and served prison sentences as a result. But there is no way of preventing a tax evader from enjoying tax money paid by others. This way, more tax payers were supposed to be caught in "the net". The situation looked hopeless. Money is transferred from one group of citizens (law abiding taxpayers) - to other groups. It indirectly affects the purchasing power of those not knowledgeable enough, devoid of political clout, or not rich enough to protect themselves.. Suddenly, the fashion was to downsize government, minimize its disruptive involvement in the marketplace and reduce the total tax burden as part of the GNP. All these very dear prices might have been acceptable if taxes were to achieve their primary stated goals. Tax revenues were diverted to pay for urban renewal, to encourage foreign investments through tax breaks and tax incentives, to enhance social equality by evenly redistributing income and so on.

These economic activities went unreported and totally deformed the processes of macroeconomic decision making, supposedly based on complete economic data. So, governments tried the next trick in their bag: they shifted from progressive taxes to regressive ones. This lack of transparency and even-handedness led to the frequent eruption of scandals which unseated governments more often than not. That they failed to do so is what sparked the latest rebellious thinking. At first, the governments of the world tried a few simple recipes: They tried to widen the tax base by better collection, processing, amalgamation and crossing of information. On the other, the number of tax rates and the magnitude of each rate will be pared down. This proved to be a much more efficient measure - albeit with grave social consequences. They began to be used to express social preferences. Monstrous black economies were formed by entrepreneuring souls. This was really a shift from taxes on income to taxes on consumption. The salaries of the lower strata of society are eroded by inflation and this has the exact same effect as a tax would. Regressive taxes were politically and socially costly. Research demonstrated that most tax money benefited the middle classes and the rich, in short: those who need it least. Still, it became so widespread and so socially accepted that no one dared challenge it seriously. The idea is aesthetically appealing: all tax concessions and loopholes will be eliminated, on the one hand. This failed dismally.To tax or not to tax - this question could have never been asked twenty years ago.

They abolished on the one hand - and gave with the other. If they succeed, we may all inherit a better world. Moreover, VAT and other direct taxes on consumption were almost immediately reflected in higher inflation figures. This is why inflation is called the poor man's tax. Taxes are inherently unjust. Thus, governments were reduced to using the final, nuclear-like, weapon in their arsenal: the simplification of the tax system. Moreover, decades of progressive taxation did not reverse the trend of a growing gap between the rich and the poor. As economic theory goes, inflation is a tax. This apparent lack of macroeconomic control creates a second layer of mistrust between the citizen and his government (on top of the one related to the collection of taxes). This entailed conflicts with special interest groups whose interests were duly reflected in the tax loopholes. They are enforced, using state coercion. Progressive taxes resembled Swiss cheese: too many loopholes, not enough substances. Taxes are largely considered to be responsible for the following: They distorted business thinking; Encouraged the misallocation of economic resources; Diverted money to strange tax motivated investments; Absorbed unacceptably large chunks of the GDP; Deterred foreign investment; Morally corrupted the population, encouraging it to engage in massive illegal activities; Adversely influenced macroeconomic parameters such as unemployment, the money supply and interest rates; Deprived the business sector of capital needed for its development by spending it on non productive political ends; Caused the smuggling of capital outside the country;

The formation of strong parallel, black economies and the falsification of economic records thus affecting the proper decision making processes; Facilitated the establishment of big, inefficient bureaucracies for the collection of taxes and data related to income and economic activity; Forced every member of society to - directly or indirectly - pay for professional services related to his tax obligations, or, at least to consume his own resources (time, money and energy) in communicating with authorities dealing with tax collection. The recipients are less savoury: they either do not pay taxes legally (low income populations, children, the elderly) - or avoid paying taxes illegally. They are trying to stem what is in effect a tax rebellion, a major case of civil disobedience. Marginal tax rates will go down considerably and so will the number of tax rates. Income distribution has remained inequitable (ever more so all the time) - despite gigantic unilateral transfers of money from the state to the poorer socio - economic strata of society. VAT rules around the world allow businesses to offset VAT that they paid from VAT that they were supposed to pay to the authorities. Historically, income tax is a novel invention. As long as this is the case, the eternal chase of the citizen by his government will continue. People found ways around this relatively unsophisticated approach and frequent and successive tax campaigns were to no avail. Governments, being political creatures, did a half hearted job. No wonder that tax planning is regarded as the rich man's shot at tax evasion. The government, on its part, will no longer use the tax system to express its (political) preferences. Recent studies clearly indicate that a reverse relationship exists between the growth of the economy and the extent of public spending. If they fail, the very fabric of societies will be affected.

Many of them ended up receiving VAT funds paid the poorer population, to which these tax breaks were, obviously, not available. Knowing the propensities of human beings, the safe bet is that people will still hate to see their money wasted in unaccounted for ways on bizarre, pork barrel, projects. In economies where taxes gobble up to 60% of the GDP (France, Germany, to name a few) - taxes became THE major economic disincentive. When the social consequences of levying regressive taxes became fully evident, governments went back to the drawing board. The natural inclination was to try and plug the holes: disallow allowances, break tax breaks, abolish special preferences, eliminate loopholes, write-offs, reliefs and a host of other, special deductions. The poor subsidized the tax planning of the rich, so that they could pay less taxes.

The irony is that taxes were intended to lessen social polarity and friction - but they achieved exactly the opposite. The same pattern was repeated: the powerful few were provided with legal loopholes. They are an infringement of the human age old right to property. Some of them tried to translate their platforms into political power and established parties, which failed dismally in the polls. As Big Government became more derided - so were taxes perceived to be its instrument and the tide turned. Thousands of laws, tax loopholes, breaks and incentives and seemingly arbitrary decision making, not open to judicial scrutiny eroded the trust that a member of the community should have in its institutions. So, people will feel less like core spun sewing threads Manufacturers cheating and they will spend less resources on the preparation of their tax returns. Why work for the taxman? Why finance the lavish lifestyle of numerous politicians and bloated bureaucracies through tax money? Why be a sucker when the rich and mighty play it safe? The results were socially and morally devastating: an avalanche of illegal activities, all intended to avoid paying taxes. It will propagate a simple, transparent, equitable, fair and non arbitrary system which will generate more income by virtue of these traits. But some of what they said made sense. Originally, taxes were levied to pay for government expenses. They could afford to pay professionals to help them to pay less taxes because their income was augmented by transfers of tax money paid by the less affluent and by the less fortunate

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razieltwelve · 4 years

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We Have One At Home (Ordinary Heroes x Pokemon)

“But, mom,” Diana wailed. “There’s an Articuno raid going on at the gym over there! I have to do it!”

Lightning was equal parts amazed and horrified that her daughter was somehow dragging her in the general direction of the gym. Ever since Pokemon Go had been released, the girl had been one of the game’s most avid players. This was despite having plenty of her own Pokemon to play with at home. Apparently, she wanted to collect all the Pokemon in real life and in the game.

“Diana, you can do a raid later.”

“But it’s an Articuno raid!” Diana waved one arm around and used the other to try to pull Lightning along. “Do you know how rare an Articuno raid is?”

“Diana, we have an Articuno at home.” As he so often did, the legendary had arrived to spend a few weeks at the ranch. If this visit was like his others, he’d spent most of his time being lazy, fighting the occasional battle, and just generally taking time off from whatever it was that legendaries normally did. At least, he’d chosen to arrive in winter this time. Last time, he’d arrived in summer, and there had been quite a few questions being asked about why it had suddenly started to snow.

Lightning had politely explained to everyone that she had absolutely no idea what was happening before going home and warning the legendary in no uncertain terms to keep a better handle on his powers... or else.

“But the Articuno at home isn’t the one in the game,” Diana insisted. “I want an Articuno in the game.”

Lightning covered her face with one hand. “Diana, please, never say that where Articuno can hear you.” Like most legendaries, he had his pride and hearing someone say that he didn’t measure up to a video game would not have pleased him. It was a pity that Zapdos wasn’t around. The electric type was basically a giant troll, and he would have found the idea of a video game with him in it amusing before insisting that Diana catch him.

“I guess.” Diana sighed. “Well, Articuno is supposed to be out for another week. I can always do a raid tomorrow or something. There are plenty of gyms near school and stuff, and I could ask Bahamut to fly me around until we find one.”

Lightning wasn’t sure whether asking the world’s mightiest and fastest dragonite to fly her around constituted cheating. Diana had almost been banned several times for moving faster than in the game than was supposed to be possible, which made the admins think she was cheating. However, she’d been able to get out of trouble by posting a video of her flying around in a special harness with Bahamut to prove she wasn’t spoofing her location.

Naturally, the developers had been forced to put out a message begging people to only ride properly trained Pokemon after several people had been injured riding newly caught or poorly trained Pokemon. There had even been one fellow who’d tried leaping onto the back of a wild charizard. He’d been lucky that several skilled trainers were nearby, or he’d probably be dead.

“If you’re going to go around looking for gyms, you have to make sure you’ve done all your homework. You also can’t go too far. You should be safe since Bahamut will be with you, but I want you to take Lucario as well.”

On the off chance that they ran into trouble, having a fighting/steel type would cover any weaknesses that Bahamut had, not that he really had weaknesses. The dragonite had become notorious for being able to win bad matchups by virtue of his overwhelming might and skill. He’d even fought Articuno to a standstill despite the absolutely massive type disadvantage he had.

“Okay, mom,” Diana said. “But maybe I should ask Articuno if he wants to come too. I bet he’ll be happy to know so many people are trying to catch him in the game.”

Lightning had a vision of the mayhem that would break out if the legendary showed himself in a large town or city. “I’m not sure that would be a good idea.” She smiled. “Now, come on. It’s almost time for dinner.”

X X X

Articuno preened as the humans below him gasped in awe at his magnificence. When he’d found out just how popular he was in some game they were playing, he knew he had to make an appearance. And sure enough, the moment he’d arrived and perched on a nearby building, the humans had hurried to take pictures and just generally marvel at how awesome he was.

Hah! And Zapdos said he wasn’t popular. He’d have to tell him all about this the next time he saw him.

Lightning had told him not to go, but he was a legendary. He wasn’t some normal Pokemon that could be ordered around. He did what he wanted when he wanted.

It was only later when he flew back to the ranch and found a glaring Lightning waiting for him with one of the tyranitars that lived at the ranch that he realised that maybe, just maybe, he’d messed up. Striking a suitably majestic pose, he decided that discretion was the better part of valour and soared into the sky.

He’d come back later, possibly once the tyranitar had gone to sleep for the night.

X X X

Author’s Notes

Of the three birds, Articuno is the most regal and majestic... and also the one who likes being praised and admired. Moltres is the most temperamental and prideful but also the one who likes to inspire others and help out. Zapdos is a troll who loves pranks and practical jokes. All three visit the ranch from time to time to take holidays since they know they’ll be safe there. Lightning is the former world champ, and the ranch not only has all of her Pokemon but a host of others too since Fang is there and it serves as a place for Pokemon to retire or recover if they no longer have a trainer or their trainer can’t take care of them anymore. In practice, the ranch has enough Pokemon to fight several wars and win.

The tyranitar at the end is not Diana’s tyranitar. It’s one of the older veteran Pokemon that came to the gym after it was rescued by Lightning during a raid on an illegal Pokemon fighting ring that badly mistreated the Pokemon. It’s been living at the ranch for a few years now, and it does a lot of good work by helping with construction projects and the like. It also makes a living by tutoring other rock types that trainers bring in for mentoring since it’s very powerful powerful. It just doesn’t like fighting much due to its past.

If you’re interested in my thoughts on writing and other topics, you can find those here.

I also write original fiction, which you can find on Amazon here. I’ve recently released two stories, Attempted Adventuring and Surviving Quarantine, as well as three audiobooks, Two Necromancers, a Bureaucrat, and an Army of Golems, Two Necromancers, a Dragon, and a Vampire, and The Hungry Dragon Cookie Company. If you like humour, action, and adventure, be sure to check them out!

#pokemon #final fantasy xiii #ordinary heroes #fanfiction #lightning farron #diana yun farron #articuno

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lotusss-flowerbomb · 5 years

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Insecure

Steve x reader

Summary: Steve is upset you’ve been spending so much time away from home and becomes very jealous of your coworker.

Warnings: Smut eventually, cursing, 18+

*********

PART 1

You walked into your house to see your fiancé sitting on the couch watching TV.

“Hey, love,” you leaned down to kiss cheek and continued to the kitchen.

You heard his footsteps following behind you as you walked over to open the fridge. You looked around the nearly empty box suddenly remembering you hadn’t had time to go grocery shopping this week. You closed it and turned on your heels towards him. The look on his face stopped you in your tracks as he leaned over the island.

“This is the third time this week you’ve come home late,” his jaw clenched.

“Wait, what?” You laughed, “are you serious right now?” The unwavering look in his eyes told you that he was absolutely serious. “Steve, you know I’ve been working on this project. My team has to nail this if I’m going to get that promotion.”

“I don’t understand why you keep this job. It’s not like you have to work.”

“You quit your job and I’ll quit mine,” you challenged him. A moment passed of absolute silence before you bit out, “I didn’t think so,” and walked away.

You stomped up the stairs as he looked after you. Something more was going on, but he couldn’t exactly put his finger on it. Your phone buzzed on the counter and lit up with a text. He tapped his fingers and looked around for you before walking over to grab it. He’d hear you coming long before you reached the kitchen anyway. He unlocked your phone and opened the text.

Alex: Hey, just wanted to say thanks again. Looking forward to the next round even though I’m not sure if you could get any better. Lol

Steve felt his blood start to boil. Who the fuck was Alex and what the fuck was he looking forward to? Another message came through interrupting his thoughts. He saw the dots at the bottom. A reply was being typed. You must’ve been on your iPad when the notification came through.

You: Haha! Thanks, but I can’t take all of the credit. You were more than amazing! These things always work best when partners have true chemistry.

He couldn’t believe what he was reading, but he couldn’t peel his eyes away from the phone as another message was being typed.

Alex: Oh, and don’t forget about dinner at Morton’s tomorrow. Bring soldier boy along if you’d like. I’m sure he’s just dying to meet the person who has been stealing all of your time ;-).

You: I bet, but nah!!! Lol

Soldier boy? So this guy knew about him and the two of you made a game out of making fun of him behind his back? And your snarky reply just added fuel to his fire. Steve was fuming. He heard the soft patter of your feet coming back down the stairs. You’d changed into shorts and a t-shirt and had on your glasses. He’d think you looked so adorable if he wasn’t so angry.

“I ordered a pizza,” you said as you entered the kitchen. You noticed that Steve was practically still in the same spot you’d left him minutes ago. He was now even more upset than he was before you walked away. You walked over to the cabinet to get plates down. He was still staring at you. “What?” You quizzed.

He tossed your phone on the counter, “Who is Alex?” You looked surprised. You hadn’t even noticed he was holding the phone. You angrily snatched it up.

“Did you go through my messages?” You scoffed in disbelief.

“Who is Alex?” He asked again.

“I can’t believe you would violate my privacy!”

“You’ve been coming home later and later for the past few weeks. Always tired and claiming its work. Now you’re spending all of your time with this guy and going on dinner dates? Is this who you’ve been ‘working’ on your project with? Is the project even real or are you lying about that and using it as an excuse to whore around?”

“Wow, Steven, you’d better choose your next words very carefully. You don’t want me spending time with my coworker? You spend time with yours. As a matter of fact, there are times you’re gone for days at a time, alone, with a very attractive woman. Have I ever questioned you? NO! Because I trust you, so why can’t you trust me? Besides, Alex isn’t even a –"

He got closer and wrapped his hand around your arm yanking you into his chest. It stopped you mid sentence as your eyes sparked with shock. “You’d better not go to dinner with this guy tomorrow or I will rip his fucking head off of his shoulders,” he spoke through clenched teeth. You snatched away and slapped him hard across the face.

“Get. Out.” You demanded.

Your heart slammed into your chest so hard you could barely breathe. You walked away and ascended the stairs slamming your bedroom door behind you once you reached the destination.

Steve winced at the sound. He knew he’d messed up when he said you were whoring around, but he just had to take it a step further by grabbing you. The slap literally knocked the sense back into him. He heard the bedroom door open and seconds later something was tumbling down the stairs. It hit the wall with a hard thud and then came bouncing around the railing. It was his suitcase. Not long after his clothes came flying down with it.

“Get your shit and LEAVE!” You screamed.

��This is my house,” he retorted.

“I don’t give a FUCK!” You snatched your ring off and threw it down with everything else and slammed the door behind you again. The shining stone and rose gold band stuck out among his belongings. He scooped it and looked at it. What had he done? He had to fix this. The doorbell sounded and Steve paid for the pizza, sat it in the kitchen and headed back to the front door. He didn’t bother getting his clothes. He just stepped over the suitcase and left.

*********

You applied a coat of lipstick before heading inside of the restaurant. Steve watched you from the building across the street. He couldn’t believe you actually showed up to have dinner with this guy. You looked so perfect in the black knit dress you were wearing. The black sky high pumps he could never figure out how you could walk in looked good enough to fuck you in. He watched as you disappeared into a private room with the host.

He felt his anger begin to arise. He stayed put for a while, so he could calm down. No matter how much he wanted to gut the guy, he knew that he couldn’t. At least not with so many witnesses around. The anger quickly turned to hurt. He loved you and didn’t know what he’d done to make you cheat on him. Of course you complained about the dangers of missions and you worried about him, but he thought you understood his work and why he did it. He moved from his spot in the shadows. He’d asked you to be his wife and he was not about to let some punk just take you away. Not without a fight.

Your phone started vibrating from your purse. You reached in and looked at the called ID. A picture of you and Steve shone bright on the screen. You hit ignore. He called again. After the third call you powered it off and dropped it back in your purse.

“Everything alright?” Alex asked.

“Mmm hmm,” you hummed and picked up your glass to sip. “So anyway, as I was saying –”

The door to the room opened and in walked Steve. He was dressed in a white t-shirt that showed every muscle in his chest, jeans and a leather jacket. He looked absolutely delicious, but way under dressed to be in a place with such a strict dress code. Of course they let him, he’s Captain fucking America. You rolled your eyes.

“Steve, what are you doing here?” He looked down at your ringless left hand. You noticed his gaze and quickly moved your hand to your lap.

“I called you,” he said.

“Yeah, and as you can see, I’m in the middle of something,” your eyes darted across the table.

“Oh, I’m sorry, where are my manners? I’m Steve,” he stuck his hand out for a shake.

“Hello, nice to finally meet you, I’m Alexandra. My friends call me Alex.” She smiled up at him.

Steve’s heart dropped to the pit of his stomach. He looked back at you, your head was tilted to the side and your arms were folded across your chest. If his face was glass, it would be shattered into billions of pieces. He really was a jerk.

“Captain Rogers –” Alex began.

“Oh, no please, call me Steve,” he insisted.

“Okay, well, Steve, would you like to join us?” She asked.

“No, I’m sure he has something else to do. We’re working. I’ll call you later,” you said to him.

“Okay,” he nodded. He leaned down to kiss you, but you turned your head a little and he caught your cheek instead of your lips. He told you he loved you and turned to Alex to say goodbye before making his exit.

“Wanna tell me what that was about?” She lifted a brow.

“He thought you were a man.”

“What?” She laughed.

“Yeah, he assumed because your name was Alex in my contacts, that you were a man.”

“Wow, even Captain America, a man who looks like that and can do what he does, can be insecure. Who knew?” She lifted her glass again.

You finished your dinner meeting with Alex. She told you to put your ring back on and not to throw away everything the two of you have built over this. After having a little bit of a heart to heart with your friend, you made your way home. You were half expecting Steve to be at the house when you arrived, but you didn’t see his car. You were relieved. You stepped inside and headed up to your room to undress. You cleaned up for the night feeling much more relaxed and headed to bed. Flipping on the bedside lamp you saw your ring box and a single rose. He’d come in while you were in the bathroom. You went to the stairs to see if he’d gotten his clothes. They were still there. You pushed the box and the flower to the other side of the bed and climbed in. Eventually drifting off into a restless sleep.

#steve rogers #steve x reader #steve x you #Avengers #avengers smut #avengers fic #chris evans #Smut #marvel smut #marvel fanfic #captain america #Lotusss Writes

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glapplebloom · 3 years

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Remember when Cartoon Network didn’t have cartoons?

So for some stupid reason, Cartoon Network decided to focus on non-cartoon series. Like most audiences, I did not care for any of them. In fact the only reason I knew about Destroy Build Destroy is because the Miz and Morrison were in one episode and MAD had a cartoon with Bob the Builder.

But the host I did knew. He is Andrew WK and he sang “Party Party Party” on Aqua Teen Hunger Force. I’m betting most pony fans recognize him for the other song “Ready to Die” from the Cupcakes inspired Music Video (it is extremely graphic). But for those who do not know either thing but recognize the song titles, you must have seen TFS’s Hellsing Abridged.

So what is Destroy Build Destroy? Two teams of kids first have to destroy their opponent’s base object. I don’t know how its decided but the first team get to pick from three options and the second from the remaining two. Then they have to build something from said wreckage and use it in a challenge. The winning team gets to destroy the losing team’s construction. So like the title, they destroy, then build, then destroy.

What makes this episode worthy of being in Mizuary? Well the teams are getting John Morrison and the Miz as additional members of the team. Morrison will be on the Juggernauts and Miz will be apart of the Manglers. Their objective, build a surveillance van that has no windows. So using their wrestler and one other member, they have to build a van that they can see without windows and collect hammers without getting out.

And by coin flip, the Manglers get to pick first between the Blow Out (basically an explosion), the Forklift Rip (which in my opinion could do a bunch of damage considering a forklift can rip a car) and the Destroyers (a bunch of people who will smash it up). Being kids, the Manglers go for explosions. The Juggernauts go with the Destroyers, which not only got the destroyers but the Forklift to flip it over and John Morrison to join in the smashing. Miz says Morrison’s sister hits harder while he does it.

Of course, the kids get more than the wreckage they made. They get other bits of equipment (hard to make surveillance equipment with exploded surveillance equipment) and a team of actual experts because I honestly doubt even with Miz and Morrison’s help they can make things. The prize for winning is $3000 and the ability to destroy the losing team’s vehicle. Honestly, it just seems like a fun thing to do even if there was no actual monetary prize.

While they do have a team, it is presented that its the kids that come up with how it should be built. So for the Manglers they got a back to back system with 4 cameras and a Periscope. The Juggernauts got 3 in comparison and are more side to side. But before completion, there’s a challenge the teams got to do. Basically its Water Sumo without touching each other and the best of five wins

Since this is Mizuary, let’s skip the other kids and focus on the Miz. Unlike Fear Factor, he’s facing John Morrison who is an expert in parkour. Now how can parkour help in a small wobbly platform? Slide in between Miz’s legs. With that constantly happening (and a little cheating of Morrison holding Miz’s leg once), Morrison defeats the Miz. But with 3 to 2, the Manglers win so Miz got his win back.

So for winning, they can get to do 1 of two things to the Juggernauts’ vehicle. Either make it sink to the lake, which could damage the electronics and possibly weaken the supports, or TP and Egg it which will only result in a dirty and possibly smelly car. This is why I think this is more for fun because how often can you TP and Egg something in front of the owner’s face and get away with it. Like if I wanted to win I would go for the lake. But if I wanted to have fun, which the Manglers did, they went juvenile.

Now if you saw my Fear Factor review, you know Miz has the power. The problem is he’s moving blind and have to trust the kids driving. And because the cameras makes things farther than they appear to be plus the kid that’s backwards confusing their left for the other’s right, they crashed into a barrier. Luckily no one got hurt but by the time they’re back in the race the Juggernauts were one hammer away. So it will come to no surprise that the Juggernauts won this event. I blame the kids since the Miz was just an engine.

So for winning, the Juggernauts not only get $3000 (I’m guessing a thousand for each) but also the ability to blow up the Manglers’ vehicle. They can decide between a normal explosion or a rocket explosion. Of course, they went for the more fun option and used the rocket. It was likely the TNT explosion and the rocket was fake, but it still looked fun. Overall, not enough Miz for me but I will admit it looks fun to participate in. I don’t think I would be a fan of it but if I was offered to do something like this I probably would.

#Mizuary #february theme

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sebastianshaw · 3 years

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"This is a high class place I'm running here." Shaw probably as he warns Sabertooth that one time in new x-men.

Also can we talk about how Cyclops after getting caught cheating mentally on Jean grey with Emma Frost. And the first thought he had was to get shit faced at the Hellfire club.

Ohhhh my god there’s a lot there. Firstly, I do love that moment. Telling off SABRETOOTH is the kind of coolness that Shaw just doesn’t get anymore. But like, why did Morrison turn the Hellfire Club into a strip club? Til that comic, the Hellfire Club was a worldwide elite social for the rich and powerful. We saw them hosting fancy galas in ballgowns and tuxes and stuff like that. There was certainly the IMPLICATION that Naughty Things went on in the private rooms upstairs, but in general it was depicted as this very posh, glamorous, super upper-class place that was VERY exclusive and you apparently have to be a billionaire just to get a normal membership. And now suddenly it’s like this. . . strip club bar that anyone can walk into, including Cyclops and Wolverine, people who have most certainly never had a standing membership? Oh, and the dancers are dressed as dominatrixes, how EDGY. Forgive me if I don’t think billionaires are going to pay to watch women pole-dance who are covering MORE than a dancer at a normal club does. The whole implication of sex at the Hellfire Club in the 80s worked because it was an IMPLICATION. We NEVER saw it, nor was it ever directly stated, so your mind could do all kinds of wild scandalous Eyes Wide Shut shit that could never be allowed to be printed. . .and made a lot more sense for an uber-exclusive society you had to be uber-rich to join. Just making it blatantly a strip/kink club is kinda. . . . well, it was cool to me when I was 13, now it’s juvenile and makes me go “wtf” for the aforementioned reasons. It’s also weird because like. . . again, the Hellfire Club, writers forget, was not just the Inner Circle of Kings, Queens, etc. It’s worldwide social club that, though elite and exclusive, does seem to have hundreds of members. Heiresses, moguls, politicians, royalty, old money, new rich, you name it. And they have four major branches---Manhattan (the one we usually see), London (we’ve seen that one in just two stories) and the never-seen Paris and Hong Kong branches---as well as a ton of lesser establishments in other major cities like Boston and Cincinnati. Now, while I’m sure there are PLENTY of posh rich folks who like bondage and orgies, it’s simply unrealistic to think they ALL do, or even that the majority do. Many of them, I dare say, are probably quite conservative. And the Hellfire Club probably does not want to lose the support of these people as members, or its public reputation as a very respectable (despite the name) establishment. So I don’t think it would be shoving the sexual aspect out there in front of everyone, which would make a lot of the members want to disassociate from it. My own headcanon is they have a low-key vetting process for who might be amenable to being offered their “special services”---so like, they might ask the young guy who just made it big in the tech industry, but not the elderly dowager duchess (of course, who knows, maybe she *is* into that kind of thing and the young tech guy is NOT, that’s what the process is there to find out!) ANYWAY Aside from the “does Morrison even know what the Hellfire Club actually is because I don’t think so” salt, there’s also. . . yeah why would Cyclops go there? Why, of all places he could get a drink, here? The place that turned Jean (well, the Phoenix Force masquerading as Jean) into Dark Phoenix? Is that not, like, the last place he would want to try to ‘get away’ at? Oof, and the whole Emma thing. . . when I was a kid, I hated him for cheating on Jean AFTER what he had done to Madelyne, Scott seemed to me like nothing more than a guy who was just ALWAYS leaving his wives. As an adult. . . I still have those FEELINGS but intellectually my understanding has changed. Scott was in a really mentally messed up place because of some shit that had happened to him, he couldn’t even have sex with his wife because of it, so Emma presented herself to him as a sex therapist (something which has never come up before or again, leading me to think she made it up) and very deliberately misled him into thinking that what they were doing was treatment for him. Which is Fucked Up, and by some definitions is in fact rape, and if a male character had done this to a female character, you can bet a lot more people would see it as such. Therapists, including sex therapists, do NOT have sex with their patience, and while legally there’s nothing on the books about psychic sex (since it doesn’t exist) the principle is the same despite what Emma told Scott. So if she is an actual sex therapist, she lied to him to get sex when he was in a really vulnerable place and came to her for help. If she’s NOT a sex therapist like she claims. . . . she lied to him to get sex when he was in a really vulnerable place and came to her for help. I really love Emma, she was one of my first faves when I started reading and buying my own X-Men comics instead of just reading my brother’s stuff from the 90s, but she has a HISTORY of using her powers for non-consensual sex-related things like this. And I mean as a HERO, not as a villain. She’s forcibly kissed a woman, she’s mass-induced an orgasm on one crowd, and she made another group all make out with each other. She’s frankly done way more sexually shady shit on panel than Shaw ever has, but people just. . . kinda don’t talk about or acknowledge it? Don’t recognize it for what it is? IDK but it bugs me.

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vigilantesxrpg · 3 years

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Allow us to introduce NICOLAS STONE. The 26 year old, TOWNIE currently holds a job as an OWNER @ ELYSIUM. Some people describe him as WITTY, while others feel he might be a little IMPULSIVE. Everybody has a story, here’s his:

Nicolas Stone - born on a rainy December night in Woodhurst, Vermont to a couple who had no business being together. His father left just a few short months after he was born, sending a check for just short of a hundred bucks almost every month, and his mother lived her life on the streets to make ends meet. Most of the time, Nic stayed with a neighbor, waiting for his mom to get home in the early morning hours. When she wasn’t too high to function, she was the most loving and caring mother that he could have asked for. When he was about nine years old, he found her outside their door ice cold and blue with eyes glazed over. The hospital ruled it an accidental overdose. From then, he was sent to live with his father who didn’t seem to like Nic much.

In the years he’d been gone, Nic’s father had other children who he seemed to treat better than he’d ever done Nic. Even after Nic moved in, he never received the attention his younger siblings did. Plans were made to exclude him, holidays were a joke, he didn’t even get birthday party’s. He was lucky if they ever remembered the day. In turn, Nic grew a lot of anger and hatred toward his family. He never wanted to be home, spending most of his time and nights with friends, getting high to forget reality. Eventually he realized his dad didn’t give a shit if he came home or not, so naturally, Nic packed up his most important belongings and took to the streets, bouncing from friends home to friends home until finally being taken in by one of his friends' parents at the age of sixteen. It was like night and day living with this family. They were so..chill and laidback, believing in letting their kids have the freedom to make their own decisions.

It was with this family that Nic grew his love for poker and gambling. The father, Will, taught Nic everything there was to know about the game. He caught on pretty quickly and started partaking in the weekly poker nights which led to occasional trips to Vegas once he was of age with his best friend, winning some and losing less. The wins were addictive and his best friend grew jealous of the fact that Nic was making tons of money. With multiple trips in mind, his friend took it upon himself to lie to Nic’s girlfriend at the time to say he cheated on her in efforts to ruin one of the good things in Nic’s life. In a way, it worked. Corinne broke up with Nic, not caring about any explanation he had to say, ignoring the whole truth of the fact that he never laid a finger on another woman while he was away.

With Corinne out of the picture, he filled the void she had left with more gambling and drugs, drinking more often than he had been. Somehow he managed to keep winning and winning, using his earnings to build his own gentlemen’s club on the Las Vegas Strip, and later, another location in Woodhurst. Business had been doing well for a long time, though he was never able to quite fill the hole that had been left. Emotional one night with a dancer, the two had a few too many to drink and married on a whim in the most cliche Vegas way possible. However, it wasn’t much of a marriage. He still continued to struggle with gambling and couldn’t find it in himself to give her everything she wanted. The love just wasn’t there. Deciding it best to divorce, they did just that and parted their separate ways.

Over time, Nic continued to gamble with his money, in and out of casinos, betting with some of the most powerful men in Vegas. Taking a risky bet, Nic put it upon himself to make it so he would win, eventually being caught resulting in the burn down of his club. Feeling he had nothing left in Vegas for him, Nic set back out for Woodhurst where he recently reconnected with Corinne, igniting the old flame. However, he still gets the itch to gamble. So, one night a week at random, he hosts poker games in the back of the newer club location, much like the ones he grew up with, and makes fewer trips back to the strip.

#resident #male #nicolas

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vmheadquarters · 4 years

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We’re still playing our game of written hot potato! Dozens of your favorite authors are taking turns to tell a Veronica Mars mystery story. Each writer crafts their chapter and then “tosses” the story to the next person to continue the tale. No one knows what will happen, so expect the unexpected!

Follow the “vmhq presents” and “murder we wrote” tags for all the installments, or read the story as it develops on AO3. --Chapter Twenty-One of MURDER, WE WROTE is written by @DRiver2u. And stayed tuned next week for Ch.22 from @amypc1 - tag, you’re it!

—————————————————————————————————— CHAPTER TWENTY-ONE by @DRiver2u

The noise in the room was a low pulse of small groups talking among themselves. The conversations were not enthusiastic or lighthearted, but the former classmates were speaking just to have something to do. Whenever the din let up, someone new took over with a tale from the exploits of high school past. No one wanted to admit that, now they had eaten, there was time to start exploring the mansion for a murderer.

Hovering off to the side, as she so often did in social situations, Veronica's thoughts were exploding as quickly as she felt her ankle swelling. Her injury didn't hurt as much as she thought it should, and she wondered if she was in shock, rather than having an actual physical ailment. She plotted about how to move to another part of the house, so she could test the theories running through her brain. The crowded space in her mind needed an escape, and if she was being honest with herself, it wasn't the only part of her that needed a release.

She caught Logan's eye as he looked up from the drone of Casey's story, and she gave a quick tip of her head towards the direction of the kitchen. "Meet me there," she mouthed from across the room as she pointed with her pinky finger. She assessed her wonky situation and dropped her elevated foot, rolled to her stomach, and one-legged-downward-facing-dog walked herself to a standing position. For a moment, she steadied herself, using one flat foot and the tips of her toes on the other before trying her balance. She hobbled on her bad ankle and made a comment under her breath, just loud enough for the scrum of former classmates in the middle of the room to hear her complain.

"You rang," Logan quipped, as he turned to see her push through the kitchen door. "Or muttered, I guess would be more accurate." He watched as she moved from limping to balancing herself on the kitchen counter, and then doing a half-twisting boost onto the island. The gymnastics of the moves were worthy of more than a participation certificate. Logan studied her as she forced out a sigh and regained her composure. His mind filled with other uses for those skills. "Your powers never cease to amaze."

"I need some ice for my ankle, but I've been thinking, and I might want to reconsider something," Veronica cooed as her finger made its way between her teeth. Before Logan could head towards the freezer, she commanded, "Come closer."

Logan advanced and slid between her dangling legs. Veronica's citrus shampoo, the acid from the tomato ragu, and the yeast from a green bottle of Heineken left near the Belfast sink sent mixed signals to his brain. This wasn't the time or the place, what with the dead bodies, secret passages, and unknown assailants only a few feet from what he hoped would be their suction-cupped bodies, but he couldn't stop the fantasies entering his brain. Veronica stared into his eyes, hoping he would be able to read her mind. The drip of the faucet and the hiss of the radiator under the stained glass windows broke their silence.

As Logan leaned in to kiss the blonde in front of him, he felt the cool thickness of the marble countertop as it hit him just below his waistband. His mouth hovered near her lips, but he turned his head and teased her with the breeze that swept by her mouth. She grabbed the back of his neck demanding to be closer to him, to touch his sweetness. He was stronger than her, and pulled back, watching as her eyes slid shut. As his hands wrapped around her waist and his thumbs pushed into her hips, she let out a small whimper and her breathing quickened.

It was the panting and the moaning that made him pull her closer. He wanted this, she wanted this, but they had made a deal to slow things down this time. He could wait. Could he wait? Anticipation was a hell of an aphrodisiac.

When he finally kissed her, would she taste like roasted garlic, red wine, dried Parmesan cheese, or chocolate mousse? Whatever was left of their dinner would be lost as his mind cleared of all but the softness of her lips. Logan gazed into Veronica's eyes before kissing her wordlessly. Only seconds later, Veronica released her hands from his hair and scrambled to tug his thermal base layer from the waist of his trousers and ran her hands towards his brawny chest, feeling multiple indentations as her fingers spread.

"We need to reconsider that we may have only two days left to live, so three dates seems too long to wait to get naked," she said, at a much higher volume than Logan found desirable. He tilted his head as he tried to shake the noise and vibration out of his eardrum.

"I think you're out of practice on the whispering of sweet nothings," Logan grumbled. "The key to that phrase being 'whispering', sugarpuss."

Veronica reached up and took his face in her hands, then bent the side of his head towards her mouth. "We're being watched, right?" Logan nodded his head and wondered if this new taste for voyeurism would be part of their future escapades. He swallowed at the thought and caught himself breathing harder than only a few seconds ago. Veronica continued her train of thought in his ear. "Let's find out if this is really about us. They're watching, so if they see us, uh you know, all hot and heavy, they may try to break in and stop it."

Logan dropped his head, realizing this was nothing more than part of the game, part of her desire to solve this riddle. "I don't know if I feel like a mark, the bait, or a damsel in distress." He swallowed and took a deep breath.

Veronica kissed him softly and met his eyes. She didn't need words to explain to him that her brain was working overtime. It wasn't desire he had seen in her eyes when they started this rendezvous. But it was passion--just not the kind of passion he was hoping to experience.

"Enid Curtis," Veronica whispered again and gave him a mischievous smile before returning to his ear. "How many people do you know who are named Enid? Not one, I bet. Enid Curtis and Mason. Flip them letters around and what'd ya get? DIES UNROMANTICS." She gave him a quick kiss at his temple, but she wanted to give him a high five.

Logan chuckled before bending his head and raising his eyes to meet hers. "A bit of a grammar cock up, wouldn't you say?" He paused and tilted his head until his mouth met her ear, his hands continued to meander under her shirt. "If you're going to slip down the Enid path, it seems impossible not to bring up Tennyson. You should know to leave the English stuff to me."

Veronica inched away from him and stared at Logan. "So, you think there's a book on one of the shelves by Alfred, Lord Tennyson that'll help solve this riddle?" she asked in a low voice.

"Well, I'm more of a Keats guy myself, but it's tough not to respect a guy who came up with the lines, and I'm paraphrasing here, 'Tis better to have loved and lost than never to have loved at all' and 'Theirs is not to reason why. Theirs is but to do and die'." Logan turned the words over in his mind. Loss and death weren't nearly as appealing to him as Keats' haunting words about beauty, joy, love, and truth.

"Yeah, it's the 'do and die' part that makes me a bit worried," Veronica chided. "And what's that got to do with Enid?"

"I'm saying that Tennyson wrote Idylls of the King. In it is a poem about the perfect love Enid has for her husband." Veronica stared blankly at him before he continued. "He gets jealous, but she stays faithful. He thinks she cheated, but she stays faithful. He treats her like dirt, but she stays faithful. Seeing a pattern?"

"So Enid is perfect?" Veronica asked with a sly smile.

"It used to be a real compliment for a woman to be referred to as an 'Enid'," Logan remembered from a group project about Victorian poets. Who knew those trivialities might one day prove to be important?

Logan continued after a small pause, clearing his throat. "Oh, and Tennyson influenced the Pre-Raphaelite artists with his sumptuous verses. God, they painted some majestic stuff. Dead women, lots of flowing hair, unrequited love. Come to think of it, one was even of Enid, I think." He smiled at the idea of his mother and said, "First ones I saw were at Andrew Lloyd Webber's estate, because my mom dragged me there when she was desperate to get a part in a possible West End Cats revival."

"Keats, Tennyson, and Raffi," Veronica scrambled, only half listening to the other voice in the room. "I don't see the connection. Unless someone thinks I'm the perfect mate?" Veronica's mind danced with the knowledge that she may have an admirer rather than a stalker. She heard Logan snicker and watched as he shook his head.

"Raphaelites, bobcat, but who am I to doubt the perfect bit," he mocked with a chuckle. "Maybe Enid and Tennyson mean nothing. Maybe you were on the right track with the scrambled letters. Or maybe this mysterious host is telling you to ask others for help with this riddle. 'There's no I in team', 'It takes teamwork to make the dream work', 'Collaborate before we evaporate'. Etcetera, etcetera."

Veronica squinted at him, but only grunted out a, "Huh?"

"OK, maybe I made some of those up," Logan laughed. "But we're all here for a reason, and I don't think it's just to be dead bodies, cute faces, or red herrings." They both stayed quiet a moment and realized their musings had blown their cover. Their so-called tryst had turned into a book club.

"Ice," Veronica directed, and Logan grabbed the hand towel near the stove as he sauntered towards the industrial-sized refrigerator. "But now what?"

"Lead on, perfect Enid," he quipped. He took a deep breath as he felt Veronica going back into her brain. "OK. If you want to stick with rearranging letters, we can do that, but I prefer NUDES IS ROMANTIC."

#veronica mars #veronica mars fanfic #vm fanfic #vmhq presents #murder we wrote #round robin

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