#I think they shouldn't have been allowed to launch them but here we are

[thethingything]

got to see a weird unidentified light in the sky. yay!

#personal #thoughts #Lucy post #initially we thought it was an iridium flare but there aren't any showing up on the satellite tracking site we use #so it was probably some space junk on a weird orbit since it didnt really appear to move. it just got bright then faded out again #as a side note I fucking hate seeing all the starlink satellites when we go to check what's visible #it's just a constant endless stream of them going overhead. there are so fucking many #I think they shouldn't have been allowed to launch them but here we are

[mybutcheredtongue]

I'll Love You 'til the Grass Around My Gravestone is Deceased

post azkaban sirius black x fem!reader

CHAPTER FIFTEEN (see full series list here)

1993

You wake with a start later that night. Something feels off. The hairs on the back of your neck are standing up and your heart is beating fast, though you don't know why. You get out of bed, making for the tent exit. Minerva is still sleeping soundly in her bed, as quiet as a mouse. You pull back the tent flap and pop your head out, immediately met with a panicked sight. People are running and people are screaming.

You feel panic setting into your body, but allow yourself a deep breath to keep yourself steady before hurrying back into the tent to wake Minerva. She's already stirring, looking around for the source of the screams. You quickly gather up your things, throwing your bag onto your back and thrusting your wand into your pocket. You quickly pull on your shoes, lacing them up as quickly as possible.

Minerva does the same and the two of you leave your tent, glancing around as you exit. Your eyes have always been good in the dark, and you're just able to make out the shapes of people running into the woods, fleeing something chasing them. You can hear loud jeering and cruel laughter, bright bolts of light darting from wands of the pursuers. Then, there's a strong burst of green light that illuminates the scene.

A crowd of tightly packed wizards, moving close together with hooded faces, are marching slowly across the field. They have their wands pointed high in the air, and above them were four human figures being twisted and contorted into impossible shapes. Tents crumple, and a few even set fire as they're pushed over.

You watch on in horror as, lit by blazing tents, one wizard turns the female figure ahead of him upside down, forcing her nightdress to fall and reveal things that shouldn't have been revealed.

"That poor woman..." you mutter in utter horror. "That is absolutely sick."

Another wizard spins what looks to be a young child at an incredible rate high above the ground, the child's head hanging limply at his side.

Minerva gasps beside you.

"We have to do something," you say. "I can't watch."

You pull your wand out of your pocket, holding it at the ready. You cast your mind back to your time as an auror; before James and Lily were murdered and Sirius was captured. This was definitely a group of sick people, but you've dealt with sick people before.

Constant vigilance.

You try to ignore the horrible pit of dread sickening your stomach. Where's Harry? Is he alright?

You and Minerva run towards the dark wizards, along with plenty of Ministry wizards attempting to stop them as well.

"Don't let those Muggles fall!" one commands as he throws a spell at the hooded figure.

They're picking on Muggles? What Muggles?

As you get closer, you realise that the masks the wizards are wearing are awfully familiar. It seems to be made of metal with unsettling swirly indentations etched into it. The mouth looks like its been stitched over with thin strips of metal. The eye-holes are dark and foreboding and you feel anxiety churning in the pit of your stomach.

Death Eaters.

You point your wand at the nearest one, exclaiming, "Expelliarmus!"

"Protego!"

"Immobolus!"

The wizard straightens before toppling to the ground, immobilised. Beside you, one Ministry wizard is knocked off his feet and you run to his aid. His arm has been cut, a long line down the centre of his forearm. You pull him to his feet, saying a quick, "Ferula" and tapping his wound with your wand. Bandages wrap magically around his arm.

"Incendio!" a Death Eater yells, casting the grass in front of you on fire.

"BOMBARDO!"

A tent behind you explodes wildly and without thinking you launch yourself out of the way, landing painfully, but unharmed, on the grass nearby. You quickly get to your feet, just in time to see Mr Weasley deflecting a curse from the Death Eaters.

While he's busy with one, another fires a deadly spell at him and just in time, you yell, "PROTEGO!".

The spell bounces off harmlessly and Mr Weasley glances back at you for a split-second, a grateful expression on his face.

Then, something streaks into the sky over the woods. You watch as it takes on the shape of a smoky green skull, a serpent slithering out of its mouth. Multiple witches and wizards around you gasp, horrified.

The Dark Mark.

At that, the Death Eaters turn and see it too...and they all Disapparate. Even though you're distanced from the woods, you hear several shrill, panicked screams come from it. You know that the Mark has caused it.

The Muggles come tumbling to the ground and someone manages to cast, "Aresto Momentum!" and the victims' fall slows, landing gently on the soft grass.

"It came from the woods!"

At that, everyone bar the few that stay behind to tend to the Muggles, Disapparate and land in the woods, in a large circle. There's three people in front of you and you barely register what's happening when there's a chorus of "STUPEFY!" and the three duck low to the ground. The spells cross over their ducked heads, bouncing off trees and bounding into the woods, and you realise with a start that you recognise those three ducked heads of ginger, brunette and jet-black —

"Stop!" yells Mr Weasley. "STOP! That's my son!"

Quickly, you hurry towards the students, following Mr Weasley close behind.

"Harry — " you breathe, relieved to see your godson safe and sound. Well, thoroughly startled, but otherwise unharmed. You reach your arms out to hug him, before remembering the people around you and awkwardly pat his arm, doing the same to the others so it doesn't look like you're giving him special treatment.

"Ron — Harry — " Mr Weasley says shakily, "Hermione — are you alright?"

"Out of the way, Arthur," Barty Crouch says curtly. You know Barty Crouch S.R. well — he's the one who put Sirius in Azkaban without a trial. You feel your blood start to boil at the very sight of him.

Crouch's face is taut with rage as Ron, Harry, and Hermione stand to face him. Harry glances at you nervously.

"Which of you did it?" Crouch snaps. "Which of you conjured the Dark Mark?"

He's hardly being serious, is he? He doesn't actually think kids conjured that up?

"We didn't do that!" says Harry, gesturing up at the Dark Mark.

"We didn't do anything!" exclaims Ron, who is rubbing his elbow and looking up at his father indignantly. "What did you want to attack us for?"

"Do not lie, sir!" shouts Crouch, his wand pointing directly at Ron, looking like he's about to pop a vein. "You have been discovered at the scene of the crime!"

"Come off it, Crouch," you say. "They're kids, they'd never have been able to — "

"Where did the Mark come from, you three?" Mr Weasley asks quickly.

"Over there," Hermione says nervously, pointing into the dark, thick trees. "There was someone behind the trees...they shouted words — an incantation — "

"Oh, stood over there, did they?" Crouch says, turning his bulging, beady little eyes on Hermione, disbelief written on his face. "Said an incantation, did they? You seem very well informed about how that Mark is summoned, missy — "

But you've stopped listening, instead looking warily out into the dark woods, wand raised.

"We're too late," says a witch behind you. "They'll have Disapparated."

"I don't think so," says a man with a scruffy beard, one you recognise as Amos Diggory, Cedric Diggory's father. You've met him several times at parent-teacher meetings at Hogwarts. Nice man, very proud of his son. "Our Stunners went right through those trees...there's a good chance we go them..."

"Amos, be careful!" a few say warningly as Mr Diggory squares his shoulders and walks forward into the darkness. You watch anxiously, waiting for his reappearance.

Luckily, in the next few seconds, you hear him shout, "Yes! We got them! There's someone here! Unconscious! It's — but — blimey..."

"You've got someone?" shouts Crouch. "Who? Who is it?"

With the snapping of twigs, the rustling of leaves and crunching footsteps, Mr Diggory reemerges, holding a tiny, limp figure in his hands. Mr Diggory deposits it in front of Crouch, and with a start you realise it's a house elf.

You stare at Crouch, watching as his jaw flexes erratically.

"This — cannot — be — " he says jerkily, wide eyes staring down at the elf. "No — "

He moves quickly around Mr Diggory and strides over to where the elf was found.

"No point, Mr Crouch," Mr Diggory calls after him. "There's no one else there."

Crouch is having none of it, however, and you can hear he's busy rustling around, pushing bushes aside.

"But embarrassing," Mr Diggory says grimly, looking down at the unconscious house elf. "Barty Crouch's house elf...I mean to say..."

"Come off it, Amos," Mr Weasley says quietly, "you don't seriously think it was the elf? The Dark Mark is a wizard's sign. It requires a wand."

"Yeah," replies Mr Diggory. "She had a wand."

"What?" says Mr Weasley.

"Here, look." Mr Diggory holds up a wand, showing it to Mr Weasley. "Had it in her hand. So that's clause three of the Code of Wand Use broken, for a start. No human creature is permitted to carry or use a wand."

There's a sudden pop, and Ludo Bagman Apparates right next to you. He looks breathless and disoriented, slightly dazed, as he spins on the spot, gawking up at the Mark.

"The Dark Mark!" he pants, almost trampling the poor elf as he turns to your group. "Who did it? Did you get them? Barty! What's going on?"

Crouch has returned empty-handed. His face is ghostly white, a vein popping in his neck as both his hand and his moustache twitch.

"Where have you been, Barty?" says Bagman. "Why weren't you at the match? Your elf was saving you a seat too — gulping gargoyles!" Bagman spots the elf beneath him. "What happened to her?"

"I have been busy, Ludo," says Crouch, talking away in his typical jerky fashion. "And my elf has been stunned."

"Stunned? By you lot, you mean? But why — "

Realisation seems to dawn on Bagman as he looks up to the smoky green skull in the sky, down to the elf, and then to Crouch.

"No!" he says. "Winky? Conjure the Dark Mark? She wouldn't know how! She'd need a wand, for a start!"

"And she had one," says Mr Diggory. "I found her holding one, Ludo. If it's alright with you, Mr Crouch, I think we should hear what she's got to say for herself."

Crouch says nothing, and Mr Diggory seems to take this as approval. He raises his wand, points it at Winky and says, "Rennervate!"

Winky stirs weakly. Her big brown eyes open and she blinks several times. She raises herself into a sitting position.

She looks slowly, as everyone is silent, up to the Mark, and she gives a gasp, quickly followed by terrified sobs.

"Elf!" says Mr Diggory sternly. "Do you know who I am? I'm a member of the Department for the Regulation and Control of Magical Creatures!"

Winky begins to rock backward and forward, her body racked with shakes and sobs.

"As you see, elf, the Dark Mark was conjured here a short while ago," says Mr Diggory. "And you were discovered moments later, right beneath it! An explanation, if you please!"

"I — I — I is not doing it, sir!" Winky gasps desperately. "I is not knowing how, sir!"

"You were found with a wand in your hand!" Mr Diggory barks, whipping out the wand and brandishing it in front of her. Harry's eyes light up.

"Hey — that's mine!"

Everyone turns to look at Harry, you doing the same. You give him your subtlest eyebrow raise.

"Excuse me?" Mr Diggory says incredulously.

"That's my wand!" he says. "I dropped it!"

"You dropped it?" repeats Mr Diggory in disbelief. "Is this a confession? You threw it aside after you conjured the Mark?"

"Amos, think who you're talking to!" says Mr Weasley angrily. "Is Harry Potter likely to conjure the Dark Mark?"

"Er — of course not," Mr Diggory mumbles abashedly. "Sorry...got carried away..."

"I didn't drop it there, anyway," says Harry, jerking his thumb toward the trees beneath the skull. "I missed it right after we got into the wood."

"So," says Mr Diggory, his eyes hardening as he turns to look at Winky once again. You feel bad for the poor creature. It's obvious to you that she didn't summon the Dark Mark — why would she? She's a house elf! She wouldn't even know the incantation for it. "You found this wand, eh, elf? And you picked it up and thought you'd have some fun with it, did you?"

"I is not doing magic with it, sir!" squeals Winky, tears streaming down her cheeks. "I is...I is...I is not doing magic with it, sir! I is not making the Dark Mark, sir, I is not knowing how!"

"It wasn't her!" says Hermione, looking nervous to be speaking in front of all the Ministry officials and both you and Minerva, but still determined all the same. "Winky's got a squeaky little voice, and the voice we heard doing the incantation was much deeper!" She looks to Harry and Ron for support. "It didn't sound anything like Winky, did it?"

"No," says Harry, shaking his head. "It definitely didn't sound like an elf."

"Yeah, it was a human voice," Ron agrees.

"Well, we'll soon see," growls Mr Diggory, looking unimpressed. "There's a simple way of discovering the last spell a wand has performed, elf, did you know that?"

Winky trembles and shakes her head frantically, her ears flapping, as Mr Diggory raises his wand and places it tip to tip with Harry's.

"Prior Incantato!" says Mr Diggory.

You watch with bated breath as before your eyes, a much wispier version of the skull in the sky forms in the air between the two wands.

"Deletrius!" he shouts, and the skull disappears. "So..." he looks at Winky with a sort of savage triumph, revelling in his rightness.

"I is not doing it!" she squeals in pure terror. "I is not, I is not, I is not knowing how! I is a good elf, I isn't using wands — I isn't knowing how!"

"You've been caught red-handed, elf!" Mr Diggory roars. "Caught with the guilty wand in your hand!"

"Amos," says Mr Weasley loudly, "think about it...precious few wizards know how to do that spell...where would she have learnt it?"

"Perhaps Mr Diggory is suggesting," Crouch cuts in, cold anger evident with every spit of letters, "that I routinely teach my servants how to conjure the Dark Mark?"

The air stills and you feel the unpleasantness biting into you, making you want to Disapparate on the spot.

Mr Diggory looks terrified. "I — Mr Crouch...not...not at all..."

"You have now come very close to accusing the two people in this clearing who are least likely to conjure that Mark!" barks Crouch. "Harry Potter — and myself! I suppose you are familiar with the boy's story, Amos?"

Two least likely people? I mean, Harry, of course...but Barty Crouch? Bit of a stretch, he's the exact same as any one of you here — except he has a rather precarious case of his head being shoved so far up his own —

"Of course, everyone knows..." Mr Diggory mutters, looking like he wants the ground to swallow him up.

"And I myself, who have proclaimed profusely how I despise and detest the Dark Arts with all of my being?" Crouch continues, glaring at the red-faced Mr Diggory. "I don't understand how you could be placing so much suspicion on me, when the wife of a notorious Death Eater stands among us!"

Crouch's cold, beady eyes settle on you, causing heads to turn in your direction. Before, people hadn't really taken much notice of you, everyone was too busy with Winky and the Mark. A woman gasps as she recognises you, taking a fearful step back. You glance around at the faces. You're used to this — these expressions followed you everywhere you went that first year after Sirius was captured. Everyone knew your face from the papers, and they didn't like to see it.

Mr Weasley and Mr Diggory are both taken aback. They clearly forgot your face. It hurts you to see the worried, almost scared looks on their faces. These are the parents of your students, two people you respect, and they're looking at you like you just stabbed someone.

Harry is looking between you and Crouch, anger on his face when he looks at Crouch. He knows Sirius is innocent, and Crouch just insulted his godfather. Hey, and his godmother too! Harry can feel anger bubbling up in his veins, wanting to jump up and defend the both of you, but he's forced to sit and watch as the wizards and witches around you stare, their faces a mixture of different emotions — and none of them good.

"I am not a Death Eater, never have been, never will be," you reply steadily, not breaking your eye contact with Crouch.

"Oh? Yet you married one?"

You grit your teeth, trying your best not to punch Crouch. Will you ever hear the end of this?

"I am more than just my marriage, Crouch!" you snap. Stupid, stupid man. "When will you understand that I am a real human being with my own thoughts, feelings, motivations — and that I'm not a decoration only fit to blindly follow what my husband does!"

You're so sick and tired of being accused of something you would never do, something you would never be apart of — all because these prats put Sirius away without using their pea-sized brains, and were somehow outsmarted by a fucking rat.

How stupid do they have to be? You are not Sirius. Just by marrying him that means you must be guilty by proxy? What a senseless notion.

Harry wants to help you, he really, truly does. He wants to tell them all that Sirius is innocent, and so are you, but knows he can't. He feels bad. He feels like he's doing nothing, watching as you glare at Crouch, who just glares right back.

Crouch's nostrils flare and he opens his mouth to say something further but you couldn't care less, cutting across him quickly.

"Look, it wasn't me. First of all, I'd have no reason to because I am not a Death Eater — and secondly, I've been with Professor McGonagall the entire night. If I had conjured it, she would have seen."

Minerva nods beside you. "She was by my side the entire time, and I can assure you — she is no Death Eater."

You can see that Crouch is reluctant to argue with Minerva. She's a very well-respected figure amongst...well, everywhere. She's practically taught every witch and wizard in England.

"She — she was with us too," Mr Weasley says, giving you an almost imperceptible nod. He seems more relaxed now after Minerva has defended you. "Helping us against that group of Death Eaters."

You look to Crouch expectantly, arms folded. "Are you done? Can we get back to finding out who actually did this, considering we have the wand in question?"

Crouch is still fuming. "I — "

"I agree," Mr Weasley says. He turns to Winky, a kind expression on his face. Winky stills shrinks and flinches like she's expecting another shout. "Where exactly did you find Harry's wand?"

"I — I is finding it...finding it there, sir..." she whispers, "there...in the trees, sir..."

"You see, Amos?" says Mr Weasley. "Whoever conjured the Mark could have Disapparated right after they'd done it, leaving Harry's wand behind. A clever thing to do, not using their own wand, which could have betrayed them. And Winky here had the misfortune to come across the wand moments later and pick it up."

"But then, she'd have only been a few feet away from the real culprit!" says Mr Diggory impatiently. "Elf? Did you see anyone?"

Winky trembles violently, her big brown eyes looking feverishly from Diggory, to Bagman, to Crouch. Then she gulps and says, "I is seeing no one, sir...no one..."

"Amos," Crouch says curtly. "I am fully aware that, in the ordinary course of events, you would want to take Winky into your department for questioning. I ask you, however, to allow me to deal with her."

Mr Diggory's brow bends just the slightest, betraying his apprehension of this idea. Despite this, he says nothing.

"You may rest assured that she will be punished," Crouch adds coldly.

"M-m-master..." Winky chokes, her eyes spilling with tears as she hobbles over to Crouch, clasping her tiny hands together in a begging manner. "M-master, p-please..."

Crouch just stares back, so coldly that you swear you feel your body temperature drop.

"Winky has behaved tonight in a manner I would not have believed possible," he says slowly, eyes fixed on the sobbing elf below him. "I told her to remain in the tent. I told her to stay there while I went to sort out the trouble. And I find that she disobeyed me. This means clothes."

⁠✧⁠*⁠。✧⁠*⁠。

→ all kinds of interaction appreciated ♡

sad to say I spent most of this chapter copying from the book 😔 would be better if crouch didn't talk so much 🙏

→ a massive thank you to all my taglist loves for all their kindness and support:

@wholelottalove05 @izuoyarmin @hyperspeedo @carpe000diem @jennifer0305

#sirius black #sirius black x you #sirius black x reader #angst #angst with a happy ending #fanfiction #harry potter #the marauders #hp #fanfic #wizarding world #hp fanfiction #marauders

[sailing-through-hawkins]

Part 1 ✧ Part 2 ✧ Part 3 ✧ Part 4 (finale) of Harrington Charms Hellfire ✧ AO3

Sometimes Steve thinks the real Upside-Down is his life before any of it really happened, before the demogorgon, before Will going missing, before he ever even met Robin, because that life feels like such a distant memory it might as well be a completely different person's.

In the moments between all the chaos and yelling and laughing, when everyone's quiet and like, content? It hits him harder than any punch (obviously not any punch given all his experience with getting them, but he's allowed to exaggerate when he has Dustin, Robin, Erica and Eddie being dramatic as possible around him every single day) that this wasn't always his life.

He didn't always know the best way to bribe Dustin was by offering to take him to the diner with the most expensive fucking fries but totally worth the price.

He didn't always answer the phone to find Erica calling him up for another round of ice cream at the Sinclairs' while she goes on and on about how Chelsea has betrayed her by cozying up to Valerie after they already made a pact about it.

He didn't always have Robin gently reminding him about people's names and their plans for the week and what he had that morning because fuck, did he have breakfast? Robin, what - ("We had pancakes and that gross syrup you buy even though I keep telling you it's not sweet enough, which means I have to use like half the bottle in one go -")

It's pretty weird to think about. That all of that is some kind of after instead of an always. It's nice.

He could do without the repeated banging on his front door though. Like why do none of his people know how to knock?

"Ready to have your mind blown, Stevie?" Eddie Munson stands outside his house with a wide grin and guitar hanging over his back like a weapon. It kind of is, in some ways.

"Get in here, jackass," Steve rolls his eyes as Eddie cackles his way through the door and straight to the couch in the sunroom ("What does that even mean, sunroom? Who has a sunroom?! If it's facing the pool, shouldn't it be the poolroom? Give me answers, whoever constructed this hellish house!") without so much as a hug. He shuts the door and trails after the madman. "What, no 'hi Steve, nice to see you, thanks for letting me come over'?"

Eddie whips around with a manic grin and wild eyes. "Haven't you heard? Chivalry is dead, sweetheart."

He has such pretty eyes, Steve thinks idly as Eddie carefully takes off his guitar and jumps into the couch, the kind he really likes looking at in moments of peace and quiet. Sometimes they go big and wide and Eddie pulls a lock of hair over his mouth, but that doesn't hide the way his whole face flushes pink when Steve really leans in.

It's not something he actually knows about Eddie, but Steve does know that he - well, he likes Eddie.

"You said he was glaring at Frank after he gave you that Star Trek thing."

"I mean yeah, but that could have been for anything, maybe they fought before I came 'round or something."

"Hmm, true, but I am personally inclined to the idea that he was jealous."

"You just want to make fun of him."

"Absolutely I do."

Steve shakes his head and walks over to knock Eddie on his head, laughing when he immediately pouts up at him. "It's lunchtime, Munson, and we agreed to eat first before you pull me into one of your 'artist moments'."

Gasping, Eddie immediately launches into the same lecture he does every time Robin makes fun of how focused he is while writing out a campaign idea ("Can you believe we used to know nothing about this stuff? And now it's like, saved our lives and we play it every other week. Who even are we?"). Steve walks on to the kitchen as Eddie raves behind him and doesn't even bother pushing down the fondness in his chest, the fondness he knows is written all over his face.

Yeah, Steve and Robin are pretty sure he's like, totally in love with Eddie at this point. It probably should be a bigger deal than it is but honestly, a couple years surviving another apocalypse and being distrustful of most authority figures (including but not at all exclusive to the American fucking government) really puts that kinda shit into perspective.

"Robin, how do you ask a guy out?"

"Gee, that's a great question, I hope I never have to find out."

"...you were the wrong person to ask this."

"No shit, Stevie."

So yeah, Steve's in love with Eddie Munson and the whole world's gonna know about it.

Because he has a plan.

Step one: get the guy to come over for lunch - easily accomplished once Steve promises to make his pizza casserole, a Buckley-exclusive recipe until today (with said Buckley's approval of course, because it's the fanciest thing Steve can do without fucking up like three times in a row).

Step two: use said lunch as a way to make easy conversation and settle nerves - already in action, just need to get his oven mitts on first.

"Oh my god," Eddie moans when Steve pulls the casserole out of the oven, the melted cheese and crusted pasta looking delicious, way to go, Harrington. "Oh fuck, that smells so fucking good, oh my god."

Steve laughs, quickly setting the dish down and poking it with a fork so his face has time to cool down. "Buckley approved and Munson sanctioned, huh?"

"Jesus Christ, let me at it -" Eddie reaches for the dish, hands squeezing mid-air before Steve slaps them both, mitts and all. "Ow! What was that for?!"

"Have some fucking patience, man." Steve sets the casserole onto the trivet ("Our latest word of the week!") and carries the whole thing to the dining room. He calls out behind him before Eddie can even walk, "And bring over the plates from the sink, they're clean."

"No shit!" Eddie calls back and Steve just laughs again when he walks into the dining room with the plates held up over his head, knees and arms bending awkwardly like he's some sort of gangly creature with zero limb coordination. He sets down the plates with a bow and in a weird voice croaks, "Your plates, my liege."

Steve looks at the gremlin of a man in front of and his heart beats once, twice, saying 'yes, this one, this one too, please.'

"Okay, Smeagol," he snorts and jumps when Eddie smacks his shoulder. "Dude, what the hell, I'm -"

"Since when do you read Lord of the Rings?!" Eddie smacks his shoulder again when he rolls his eyes. "That reference is way too obscure for you to just know!"

The casserole is firm enough that he can lift a piece to a nearby plate with zero casualties, but he still doesn't take his eyes off it for a second. "Dustin and Lucas talk about it all the time, even Max does the whole 'my precious' thing. It's not that obscure."

"Steve Harrington," Eddie shakes his head and Steve sighs when both plates are set, the rest of the casserole intact. "You are something else, man."

When Steve turns around, he's struck by how fond Eddie's eyes are, staring at him, smiling at him, sweet and soft. It's heady, makes him smile back, makes him forget every step of his plan, makes him lean in. Eddie doesn't flinch, eyes fixed on him, but does inhale sharply when Steve takes his hand, slowly settling his fingers between Eddie's until they're holding hands warmly, gently, lovely.

"Steve?" Eddie murmurs, eyes flitting all over Steve's face like he's tracking every spot, mole and freckle he can find.

And that right there is what gives Steve the courage to say, "Look, I -"

Brrrrrrng!

Which is exactly why the doorbell rings. Because when Steve is brave, the universe just has to keep pushing him to find the limit of his patience too. God damn it.

"Be right back," he sighs, letting go of Eddie's hand to pat him on the shoulder with a weak smile. Eddie doesn't seem to mind, staring down at his hand like it has the answers to the universe. He walks to the door when the doorbell rings yet again. "Don't start without me."

Eddie doesn't reply and Steve sighs again, opening the door with a tilted head at whoever - "Harrington!"

Steve blinks and tilts his head even more. "Frankie? What's up, man?"

"It's time to discuss." Frank stands tall in his doorway, holding up what looks like a giant roll of paper under his arm. Steve doesn't even want to know what the plastic bag in his hand has. Frank glances around, as if there's anybody else out here, and his voice drops to a whisper. "We need a plan on how you're going to woo Eddie."

Eyes widening, Steve quickly shuts the door and shoves Frank away from the entrance ("I may have the pointy elbows but you've got the strong arms, so together our jabs would be like unstoppable!") . He glances back at the house, relieved when Eddie doesn't come shooting out at the very sensitive information. "What the hell, dude?"

"Listen to me," Frank continues, leaning against Steve's car as if he's not being cornered, setting Steve's teeth on a grind. "Procrastinating this is not the solution, and if you really want to court him properly -"

"Do you have to say it like that?!" Steve runs a hand through his hair. He should have known this would happen and he still got cocky. Fuck. "Look, this is stupid, I'm -"

"Strategy is never stupid, Harrington," Frank seethes, poking his chest harshly. Fuck, what's his deal with using last names anyway? "You want to ask Eddie out, so you asked Hellfire for aid. And our aid is about coordination, patience and a step-by-step tactical journey that includes failsafes for every occasion."

"Oh joy," Steve snorts. He crosses his arms and leans on one leg ("You're the one who said it's our bitchiest move! Besides, it always works, doesn't it?"), eyebrows raised high. "Look, I appreciate the help, but considering the fact that I've literally got Eddie in my house right now, I think I'm doing just fine."

"He's what?!" Frank's smug face turns pale and he whips a glance at the house before slapping Steve's arm with a hiss. "And you're mentioning this only now?! I had to take a bus here man!"

"Ow!" Steve glares back, rubbing the spot. It's basically nothing, barely a sting, but he feels the need to make a show of it to prove a point ("Oh my god, you have been hanging out with Eddie too much, he's infected you - fight it, Stevie! Only you and I can infect each other!"). "I would have said it earlier if someone hadn't -"

"Shh!" Frank rudely smacks Steve's arm again, the prick, and gives a...nervous smile to the house?

"What -" Steve turns around to find Eddie's glare through the window before it quickly turns to surprise and disappears. Steve sighs and pinches the bridge of his nose, god fucking damn it. "Okay, well, this conversation is over because now I need to do damage control before any wooing."

Frank nods with a wince. "Perhaps...I could have called first."

"Perhaps," Steve mocks before letting out a laugh and patting Frankie's shoulder. "Don't worry about it, man, I'll just tell him you were trying to start another fight about the tribbles and fuzzies."

"It's a valid -"

"Frankie," Steve says sternly and watches amusedly when Frank deflates.

He still squints and pokes Steve's chest again. "Next time. You owe me the bus fare. Twice."

"Bring food over," Steve calls out as Frank starts to walk away. "I'm not cooking for you if I have to pay!"

"Eat shit, Harrington!"

And Steve laughs and laughs because he finally feels so light after all this time. With a sigh, he makes his way back to the house, startling when Eddie's face in the window makes another appearing-disappearing act.

Huh.

Well, in Eddie's defense, it's pretty suspicious that Frank came over with a roll of paper and bag of markers, right?

"Eds?" Steve walks in, a smile growing when he sees Eddie lying on the stairs in the most unnatural position possible, stretched out with one hand holding up his head and his leg crooked up on the other knee. He lets out a laugh when Eddie blinks at him. "Comfortable?"

"One hundred percent," Eddie croaks, sliding down the stairs, Jesus it's like he's made of liquid, until he's a pouting puddle on the floor. "Why'd Frank come over? I didn't tell him I was here."

"Eh," Steve shrugs, holding out a hand and, when he takes it in his own, pulling Eddie up. "Thought he could finally prove his conspiracy theory about the tribbles again."

Eddie doesn't reply, eyes flickering down to their hands, warm and connected. Steve purposefully doesn't make a remark or snatch his hand away the way the small, dark corner of his brain is insisting he should ("I think it's time we both stop listening to our dark corners, huh? I'll be your light if you'll be mine."), casually making his way back to the dining room. Something glows in his chest when Eddie's hand squeezes just enough for him to feel, before Steve squeezes back and lets it go so he can pull out a chair.

"Ready to have your tastebuds blown away?"

With a gulp and a very quick shake, Eddie grins at him before dropping into the chair. He squirms around until he settles, legs stretched out and hands behind his head, looking up at Steve with that same, wide grin. "I'm always ready for a Harrington Feast."

"Ew," Steve wrinkles his nose as he gently pushes the chair in, making his way over to the one directly opposite Eddie. "Yeah no, we're not doing that."

"But Harrington Habits -"

"I'm going to punch Gareth next time he says that," Steve grumbles. "I don't care how many movies he wants to try out."

It's honestly a little flattering how quickly Gareth warmed up to Steve after the whole 'Grease' thing, hell, the kid even asked (very angrily and with zero eye contact) if Steve knew how to style his hair to look like Danny Zuko's a couple weeks back. Steve had to take a minute before agreeing but then had to coax him out of the look when it very clearly wasn't working, and offered to help him look for a jacket like Danny's instead.

Nobody knows why or when exactly Hellfire started to mellow out against Steve ("I can't believe all it took was some music, movies and cookies, I'm gonna lose my mind! We should try getting Mrs Byers to invite us for dinner with that charm of yours."). Mike still suspects it started after he offered to host their next game night (they didn't take him up on the offer but Eddie barely took his big shiny eyes off him for the rest of the evening, so it was totally worth asking) but Dustin claims he just wore them down with his "- dad energy, Steve, I had to stop you from wearing your fanny pack to the pool."

Excuse him, Dustin, if El might need tissues in case of a nosebleed or if Robin gets another papercut on something that isn't even paper and needs a band-aid or -

Oh.

Oh god, he's the goddamn babysitter by instinct now, fuck.

"Steve," Eddie says as solemnly as he can with a giant piece of baked macaroni in his mouth. "This is fucking heaven."

Trying his best not to preen, Steve smiles and nods as he takes another bite. But apparently, Eddie isn't finished.

"No, seriously, this is like, if an angel stuffed liquid gold into my hands and told me I could chug it. I'm not even -"

"Dude," Steve laughs. "What does that even mean?"

"You think I know?!" Eddie says, his lips twitching like he's holding back his own laugh. "I'm just the messenger here!"

He doesn't know how they made it through lunch because Eddie kept pulling out stories and jokes that got Steve laughing so hard, he literally choked and needed five minutes just to breathe normally again ("Come on, Stevie, keep breathing for me, match me, come on, don't make me panic too -"). It's like he was doing his best to make Steve lose his shit.

Which.

Huh.

Interesting thought to come back to later, because step two has been completed.

On to step three: clean up lunch together as an excuse to be physically close and make some gentle, casual touches.

Casual, because outright holding his hand might be jumping ahead ("I feel like our impulse control gets better when we're together. Wha - that doesn't count, we were high off surviving the apocalypse and she was very pretty!"), and Steve definitely doesn't want to scare Eddie off.

"I am no coward!" Eddie declares, shoving his hands straight into the sink and under the running water as he turns his nose up at Steve. "If the dishes need be done, then they shall be done, good sir, so sweareth I, noble -"

"Oh my god, just start washing, y'goose," Steve lightly shoves at his shoulder and no surprise that step three is already going well, he's just that good at strategy, thanks Frankie. He picks up the already-washed cup and uses the towel he slapped onto his own shoulder to dry it off. "I don't know how you keep pulling those monologues out of nowhere like that."

"Observation, imitation and practice," Eddie says smugly, wiggling in place as he works on the plates. "It's not all pure talent, y'know, I gotta work at it."

"Ha ha," Steve rolls his eyes, barely able to keep his smile in. He nudges Eddie's shoulder once, lets him nudge back, does it again and repeat, until he just lets his shoulder rest against Eddie's. "Thanks for coming over, man."

"'S no problem," Eddie lightly shrugs his other shoulder. "I...like hanging out. With you."

Steve pauses. There's no "I know, crazy right?" or "The Hair and the Freak, who'da thunk?" or "But don't get sappy on me!" that follows.

There's just him and Eddie, side-to-side. There's gentle sunlight streaming in through the window and it makes his rings shine and there's -

"Eddie, what the fuck, you didn't take your rings off?!"

Without a second thought, Steve grabs his hands out of the water and immediately does a headcount (or is it a ringcount? Whatever, doesn't matter), drying off Eddie's hands with the not-damp side of the towel. None of them got lost ("You keep track of his rings? Stevie - no, that's different, stop turning your gay - sorry - bisexual pining on me!"), so he carefully dabs at them to let the shine through.

That's when it occurs to him that there is, in fact, a person attached to these rings.

Ah.

"I, uh -" Steve coughs. "If you're gonna help with the dishes - I mean, we wouldn't wanna lose any of these, right?"

Peeking up at Eddie, who's entire face is flushed pink, staring straight ("Haha, straight. What? Let me have this -") at him, Steve feels something roll through under his skin, making him stand taller, making his face relax, making him feel like - (You can do this, dingus. I believe in you.")

"Here," Steve says softly, pulling a ring off Eddie's pointer finger slowly, waiting for a refusal. When he peeks back up at Eddie, he's still frozen, wide eyed and blinking repeatedly. He gently pulls off the ring from his middle and ring fingers, and holds the silver collection up in the palm of his hand. "Keep them safe."

Frozen, Eddie doesn't say anything.

"Eddie?" It's impossible to hold back his smirk at this point, even harder not to let it widen when Eddie's eyes snap to his lips. "Did you want me to keep them?"

Before he can put them in his pocket, Eddie snatches them out of his hand and shoves the rings into his own pocket, the noise of clacking metal apparently breaking the spell. He squeaks out an, "All good, Stevie!" and quickly goes back to the sink to shove his hands under the water.

See, that would normally hurt, the idea that Steve's touch needed - needed to be washed off. But he saw Eddie's eyes, his expression whenever Steve touches his skin. That's not disgust.

Nah, that's not disgust at all actually.

Steve smiles as he watches Eddie curse when he almost drops a fork, hair bouncing against the sunlight so prettily. He lightly glides up behind Eddie, gathering the curls together, humming when Eddie freezes again.

"Uh -"

"Can I tie it up?"

Eddie seems to take a moment. "Sure," he says quietly.

Continuing to hum, Steve runs a hand through Eddie's hair, coaxing away any little tangles and knots. It's nice to see he's been keeping up with the new routine he and Mike have started together, even if it took Robin's horror stories of hair damage (which were definitely exaggerated just so she could see Mike's face) to get them to think about it. Once he's got all of Eddie's hair held up, he takes his time getting a hair tie out of his back pocket ("What if I need one and I forget? Or Erica? Or Max? Or -") so that he can stare at the nape of his neck, pale but littered with little pink scars.

How pretty can one guy be? Every little part of him, every expression, every -

And then the phone rings.

What the hell.

"For the record," Steve says before he finally ties up Eddie's hair into a bun that hangs low on his head. He starts slowly stepping away and out of the kitchen. "I like hanging out with you too, Eddie."

Speed walking his way to the phone, Steve lets it ring a few more times, taking in quiet and deep breaths because holy shit, did he just do that? He just did that ("I can't believe you fucking did that, oh my god. I mean - I always believed in you!").  With a grin and a glow in his chest that spreads across his veins like some kind of magic high, he answers the phone.

"Harrington Residence -"

"Steve!" Jeff's voice sounds winded and his heartbeat is already racing fast.

"What's wrong, are you okay?" His blood on fire, ready to hit back, where're the bad guys, his axe, where's his axe -

Jeff swallows a deep breath. "Yeah, no, yeah, yeah I'm fine. I wanted to warn you about Frank."

Steve blinks, moves the phone away to stare at it, before putting it back to his ear. "Why, what did he do?"

"He said he was coming over to help with that thing even though you said you'd handle it, and I know you're meeting up with you-know-who so like, be alert."

His eye is twitching. Fuck, he better not be getting a headache today, it's his day off to chill for once, he deserves better than this. "He already came by, dude. He just left like an hour ago."

Jeff swears colorfully enough that it relieves the tension of Steve's shoulders when he laughs. "That motherfucker lied to me, he said he was coming by for dinner."

"He probably knew you were gonna warn me," Steve grins as quiet sounds of plates and cupboards echo out from the kitchen. "Why are you even warning me anyways? I mean I know I backtracked but it was pretty neat of him to try helping out anyways.

"'Pretty neat' he says. God, Harrington, you're such a dad," Jeff teases and it's one of those rare times the joke makes Steve laugh without shame.

Out of everyone in Steve's life, Jeff is one of few who don't make Steve feel so bad about wanting a big family ("Platonic soulmates excluded, of course, right?"). Maybe it's because he gets it, especially after Trey had moved out so quickly. He gets how a house can be lonely without a bunch of family filling up the space.

Jeff hesitates. "Like I said, I know you wanted some alone time today." His voice softens to a murmur and Steve can't help but run a hand through his hair, fidgeting with a lock at the back of his neck. It's getting so long now. It makes him think of Eddie's nape, warm and so pale against the black of his hair but still so alive. "You said you were gonna make a move."

"I -" Steve blows out a breath, cupping his own neck and staring out the window into the greenery outside. The sunlight really does make everything look so much warmer. Alive. "Yeah. Yeah, I am. Today, actually."

"That's great!" Jeff whispers excitedly and Steve just laughs again. "Shit, okay, I should let you get back to it then. I'll phone Wayne for your check-in too, good luck man!"

"Thanks, Jeff. That...means a lot." Steve smiles. "Talk to you later."

Setting the phone against the wall ("You think you're so fancy with your wall phone, Harrington?! ...Yeah, you are, it's pretty cool actually. Should we crank call Hopper or would that be like, a crime?") feels like a weight's been lifted off his shoulders. Alive, safe, well.

The approval of Eddie's friends isn't exactly something he'd expected to want or to get really, but they keep surprising him. Even Wayne's been really supportive of Steve in general, always trusting him to take care of their people, even if he does ask everyone to check-in with him whenever Eddie visits. Sometimes the paranoia doesn't lift up and Steve definitely isn't going to give the man grief about it when he understands.

With a nod, Steve turns back to the kitchen and stops when he sees Eddie, who quickly stumbles back on the kitchen door when he tries hiding.

"Ow." Eddie rubs his elbow with a wince. He quickly hops along the wall to get to the sun room. "Pay no attention to the man behind - uh - out of the kitchen?"

"Eddie," Steve laughs as he follows, the panic of hurt, he's hurt, find him, bring him home, keep him safe fading away. "Eddie, wait, what were you even -"

"Upupup!" Eddie plugs his fingers into his ears and starts chanting. Steve has to lunge when he almost bangs his hip against the doorframe to pull him to the side instead. With a groan, Eddie hides his face in his hands. "Can we pretend none of that happened and that I was on my way to get my guitar without eavesdropping?"

"Nope," Steve says cheerfully, dragging Eddie along by hooking an arm over his shoulder. "I'm gonna be using that for weeks."

"Well excuuuuse me," Eddie squints, dropping down to pick up his guitar and sling it over one shoulder. "If I just wanna know why Jeff would be calling right after a house call from Frankie. You planning something I don't know about?"

"Don't worry your pretty little head about it. It's just some new tracks," Steve pats his shoulder and saunters his way to the stairs. "Now come on, you promised me a show."

It's silent, no footsteps, no quip, so Steve turns back just in case.

"Huwha?"

Yup, same flushed cheeks. Looks like his plan is working perfectly. Steve smiles, turns back around and makes his way up the staircase. It's almost time for the final step - actually fucking saying something.

He's got this. Right? ("Right.")

"So," Steve starts as they walk into his bedroom ("Keep your cool, keep it together, do not fuck this up - but also no pressure, this is a big step -"). "What exactly were you gonna show me anyways? All you said was a melody and -"

"Upupup," Eddie says, placing his hands on Steve's shoulders and walking him back towards his bed, where he ends up tripping on to. "Woah, shit! You okay?"

Shaking his head, Steve just laughs. The giddiness has finally cracked open in his chest, all his feelings floating up like - like they're in his blood, pouring out of him. "All good. You're that excited, huh?"

"Don't think you can trick me," Eddie pokes a finger at Steve's forehead, both hands coming down to rest at Steve's shoulders as he lightly shakes him. "This is very important, Harrington, no distractions or interruptions, alright?"

Steve lets his hands glide back behind him on the bed, leaning back on them and tilting his head. With a soft smile (practiced and well-worn with the amount of times he's used it for Robin, Max, Dustin, Erica, Eddie), he leans on his hands behind him, watching Eddie's cheeks turn pink in real time. "Alright. Impress me, Munson."

It takes a second, Eddie fumbling with his guitar and his jacket, his eyes flickering back to Steve before snapping away, but eventually he spins around and sits on the floor, leaning against the bed. Without the leather (a gift from Dustin, with Mike and Steve's help, that made Eddie cry that day, no matter how much he denies it), he looks smaller. His white shirt isn't thick enough, lets Steve see the skin underneath, the wounds and scars.

With a sigh, Steve brushes a hand along Eddie's shoulder, lets the warmth sink in -

"Woah!" Eddie chokes, twitching in place, shaking Steve's hand off. "I said no interruptions, my good sir!"

"Sorry," Steve says genuinely, totally went a bit far there, that's fair. He clears his throat and shuffles to lie down along the bed instead, careful not to hit Eddie with his feet ("You've gotten enough concussions for all of us, so it's my job to make sure it doesn't happen again, as your best friend and soulmate because I am not losing you.") and settles on his side. "Go ahead, I'm listening."

Eddie takes a deep breath, readjusts his guitar, tunes it, strumming and adjusting and tuning and looping over and over - "Okay, uh, could you like - uh, not like, stare at me? I mean, not - I'm just - uh, nervous I guess."

With a blink, Steve says, "'Course, man. Take your time," and reshuffles so he's staring up at the ceiling. The glow-in-the-dark stars he put up with Dustin are still up there. They don't glow that much but he thinks they're bright enough for him.

"Thanks," Eddie murmurs and clears his throat. With one final deep breath, he starts playing and...

It's good. It's great actually. Steve doesn't know much about music ("You're surrounded by musicians! You play music when you - you know, do the thing! I bet you know way more than you think."), but the melody is slower than he expected, less head-banging and more...just looking at his stars.

He lets his head turn so he can watch Eddie play, the little bun of hair pulled up higher than when he tied it up. It isn't anything special, but it makes the cracked-open glow in Steve's chest burn brighter, melt out of his ribcage like some kind of radioactive goop that he doesn't bother scooping back inside. Not when it feels like this.

The sunlight is dimmer now, but it shines over Steve's legs onto the back of Eddie, casting a shadow on the bedroom floor.

With that thought, the melody ends and Eddie turns a little in his spot to stare at Steve. He looks nervous, the light outside keeping him bright and Steve can't look away. "So, uh, what - what'd ya think?"

It isn't that easy, describing music. Usually Steve sticks to whatever makes him feel good, sometimes just whatever makes him feel in general. But this felt -

"That was amazing, Eddie." The words taste awkward on his tongue but it's blown away by the delight in Eddie's face.

"Yeah?! Yeah, I wanted to try something different, after everything, y'know, so I figured, well the world almost ended, maybe going easy for once wouldn't hurt and -"

He goes on. He goes on and smiles at Steve and the sunlight surrounds them and he can't take it anymore.

Sitting up and smoothly shifting back onto the bed, Steve leans over and reaches out. When his hand cups Eddie's jaw, the rambling stops. He stares down, Eddie stares up, the sunlight reaching out between them, and Steve lets out a soft chuckle.

"You're amazing," Steve says, bringing over his other hand so he's gently holding Eddie's face. He doesn't know what he looks like but he knows that in this moment, Eddie is stunning. Big wide eyes, pink flush and a shadow over his face -

Knock knock knock.

"Oh, you are fucking with me -" Steve shouts, leaping off to the other side of the bed to see - "Gareth?!"

"Open - the - window -" The scrawny asshole mouths up at him through the window, one hand wobbling on the frame. Steve has a quick, ruthless thought of pulling the blinds down but it'll never be more than a thought. With a sigh, he opens the window and reaches out, helping Gareth climb through. "Holy shit, that was so scary. How the hell did you do this every night?"

"I -" Steve sputters, shutting the window behind him. "I did not climb through people's windows every night! Just - like, on the occasion! Shut up, what are you even doing here?"

"Okay, so remember when you told me about -"

"Nope!"

Steve and Gareth jump, looking over to find a fuming Eddie, his guitar strewn on the bed and his expression manic.

"Nope, we're not doing this, actually, thanks Gary," Eddie says brightly, grabbing Gareth by the scruff of his shirt and dragging him out of the bedroom. "I'm sure whatever movie or album or debate or whatever you just couldn't wait to talk to Steve about, it actually can and will fucking wait!"

He shuts the door behind the poor kid before spinning around and stomping over to the window, where he pulls the blinds shut so they're left in shadows. Steve stares as Eddie breathes heavily, his shoulders hunched up and hair lifting up and down and -

Then Eddie spins around again, grabbing Steve by the shoulders and staring straight into his eyes.

Steve blinks.

"Listen up, Harrington," Eddie spits out, his glare vividly stuck on Steve's face. "You and I both know this little meet up wasn't just some meet up and I have no fucking clue why my band keeps interrupting us, but I'm going to fucking explode if I don't kiss you right here, right now after a whole fucking day of just - just you."

Steve blinks twice.

Eddie's breathing is still heavy but not harmful, his eyes wide and harsh on Steve's, so dark without the sun, so deep and obscure. His hair is still in the bun, messed up and frazzled as it is, a few curls coming down to brush against his cheek.

He really does light something up in Steve.

"Harrington, I swear -"

"Kiss me," Steve says and -

And he does.

And it's amazing.

Eddie mashes their faces together, knocking Steve's teeth with his own, bumping their noses, gripping Steve's shoulder too tightly.

It's everything.

Steve sighs into the kiss, running a hand up to Eddie's jaw, letting the other coax around Eddie's back and pull him in closer.

It's Eddie.

"Guys?"

With the very audible sound of skin on skin, Steve pulls away, heart fluttering when Eddie sighs and the breath touches his lips. He opens his eyes and stares at Steve, who rests his forehead against his.

Giggling, he shyly says, "Hi."

Steve grins, closing his eyes briefly to nuzzle their noses together. "Hey."

"Sooo," Eddie giggles again. "That was nice."

"Very nice," Steve hums. He strokes a thumb over Eddie's cheek, feeling the heat of the pink against it. "We should do it again."

"Yeah? Yeah, I think so too." Eddie leans in -

"Guys? What's happening?!"

"Gareth, I swear to GOD I am killing off your character," Eddie yells at the door, his arms wrapping around Steve's neck heatedly. It feels amazing. "In fact, I'm killing off all of your characters after the stunts you guys pulled today!"

"Wha - what did we do?! Wait, what did I do?"

"He's right," Steve leans closer, nuzzling Eddie's hair. "They were just trying to -"

"Oh no," Eddie half-heartedly smacks his chest, cheeks still a pretty, pretty pink. "Don't defend them, not when you're the one that used your weird charm on my friends and made them all 'Ooh, Steve this, Steve that' while I was trying not to think about your ass for the fifth time every goddamn day!"

Blinking, Steve smirks. "Think about my ass often, Munson?"

"Shut the fuck up," Eddie glares. "And get back here."

Lucky him, Steve doesn't think he'd want anything else.

if anyone else had wanted to be tagged but wasn't or if i accidentally tagged someone wrongly, my apologies tag list: @ramyayaya @alienace @5pac3g1r7 @emly03 @tell-me-a-secret-a-nice-one @maya-custodios-dionach @elliegrey2803 @bejeweledbaby @blanketlicker @messrs-weasley @estrellami-1 @stillfullofshit

#sailor✧writes #steddie #sailing✧harrington charms hellfire #writing #fanfic #au content #corroded coffin #hellfire club #HERE WE GO #THE DOOZY IS DONE

[mintywolf]

A Long Road Home - Page 56 Author Notes

Page 56

Cling to Life lets Laudna regain 1 hp on a 16 or higher death save, as opposed to Strength of the Grave which allows her to remain at 1 hp instead of 0 after a successful CON save. Since the former is a Hollow One ability and therefore a "gift" from Delilah whose intervention we are witnessing, mechanically, that's what just happened.

So okay in my original draft (right up until the time I was working on the first page in fact since that’s when the Gelvaan episode aired, by coincidence) Imogen unambiguously killed the ex-sheriff. Then in that episode (48) Imogen asks about the aftermath of the fight and Relvin confirms that everyone survived:

MATT: "You and your friends probably shouldn't stay too long. Some folks around here that don't have the fondest memories of your exit." LAURA: Are they okay? MATT: "They got better, but--" LAURA: Good. MATT: "The tales have certainly grown with time. At a certain point, they just stopped listening to me."

And let me tell you I was vibrating with anxiety that entire episode because I was FOUR DAYS from launching the comic after months of work and preparation when they just happened to decide to go to the precise setting of it in that week’s episode. I’m still kind of amazed at how lucky I was that there were only a few small discrepancies to reconcile. (One being the physical description of Relvin, which was easy to fix, two being that Flora doesn’t actually live with the Temults and might not actually belong to them, which I just let slide, and three being that everyone survived the incident that caused them to leave town.)

But I think it works better this way because Imogen already has a LOT to process right now. She has to leave her home and go on the run, someone tried to kill her pets, she saw Laudna apparently die, then un-die and turn into a spooky monster, previously unknown lightning powers just erupted out of her hands and carved themselves into her skin, and the barn is on fire. (And she just got over a bad case of scarlet fever like three days ago.) There isn’t really space in the story right now for her to stop and come to terms with having taken a life, even of someone who deserved it.

(Also it makes something that happens near the end of chapter 3 much more impactful if she’s never killed anyone before.)

So by now Imogen has been presented with pretty solid evidence that there is something Not Quite Right with Laudna. She has definitely heard the accusations (spoken and unspoken) by the people in town but she hasn’t been able to bring herself to believe that the most loving and vivacious person she’s ever met could be undead. She’s also been kind of digging in her heels about it because acknowledging that she’s really dead would mean accepting that the people of Gelvaan are right about her (and then maybe also about herself). Allowing her deadness to be true also means knowing that something awful must have happened in the past to make her that way, and she’s not ready to confront that just yet. She will have to soon, though.

Right now though her foremost concern isn’t that she might be a monster but that she’s had a hole punched in her.

#a long road home #author notes

[evolutionsvoid]

When environments go bad, people typically think that the wildlife vanishes completely. If a pond gets polluted, or a bunch of the vegetation in a forest dies, then surely nothing is going to stick around! Indeed, it is true that upsets in ecosystems can cause numerous species to vanish from them. It is certainly a sign, and a bad one at that. Like amphibians disappearing from your local lake or marsh. When the frogs stop singing, something ain't right. However, there are also instances where new life entering the picture can be an equally bad sign. "But Chlora!" some of you may say "Isn't having new species come into an ecosystem a good thing? Isn't more life better?" To that I say: have you been reading these? Because if you are thinking that adding species to a habitat is always a plus, then I am about to launch an entire tome's worth of invasive species issues right into your face. Some creatures are simply not meant to be in places, be it lack of predators, lack of usual food source or other environmental factors. Some may be invasive, while others are simply in an area where they shouldn't be! Like, if you had a pond and suddenly saltwater fish started living in it. You would be like "hey, isn't this a fresh water body?" Well apparently not anymore!  An extreme example, yes, but I am trying to convey something here. Not sure if I am doing a great job at it. Here's another example, using the star of this entry: the Doratabo!

Before we can get into it proper, we need to know what a Doratabo is. The Doratabo is a species of fish, though not exactly in the fish form you expect. They have a long body, a large head and, most noticeably, a pair of limbs. Where one would expect fins, the Doratabo has a rather simple pair of forearms. Though there are digits at the ends of these arms, don't think that this fish is scaling cliffs or picking up swords. These arms are rather thin in comparison to the rest of their body, and even their clawed fingers aren't that sharp or tough. The most these limbs do is dig through the mud or help drag themselves along the ground. This brings me to the next noticeable feature of this species, and its the fact that you often see them out of the water! While they are indeed fish, the Doratabo has a wet hide that allows it to absorb air, like an amphibian would! Even their throats have this lining that lets them swallow air and breath without using their gills! This is good for them, because it means they can spend time outside of a particular water body and not worry about suffocating. It also lets them traverse the shores or move to better pools instead of being trapped in one place! They use this air breathing so much, that they are commonly found on mudflats, river shores and places where the waters have receded. Though they don't need water to breath, they do need moisture for their skin to take in air, so they are still reliant on places that have plenty of water or dampness. Mud is their favorite, so much so that locals would say that they are born from it. Make a mud puddle on your property, and Doratabo will magically pop out of it! But more on that later!

The muddy shores and flats are where they like to hang out, and it is also where they hunt. Their big mouths are used for swallowing up insects, crabs, snails and smaller fish. They typically look for food that is struggling in the thick mud, giving them opportunity to slither towards them and gobble them up! Though they are large, there are plenty of other creatures that would happily dine on them! To avoid predation, Doratabo hide themselves in the mud, using their earthy coloration and wrinkled hide to blend in with the environment. To add to the look, they coat themselves in the wet mud. This has the double bonus of wetting their skin for breathing and building up their camouflage! Once they are covered, they look like they are one with their surroundings, vanishing into the soggy earth whenever predators come around. Even if a beast were to locate them and attack, they will find their claws and teeth slipping off the slick hide, making it difficult to grab hold of the wriggling fish! And if things get really dire, they will lash out with their clawed fingers or try to smother their attacker in the thick mud. The latter tactic has them using their bulk to knock foes over into the muck, then push them further in until they give up or suffocate. 

To the people who live in the regions the Doratabo dwells, it isn't a huge threat to them. These fish prefer to be left alone and if threatened, they usually just burrow into the mud and hide, so attacks are rare. They aren't hunted that much either, because their meat is considered quite gross. Folks claim it is very muddy tasting and gritty, practically marinated in the muck they inhabit. Some people like it, but from the sounds of it it is a very acquired taste. So interactions between people and Doratabo are rather infrequent it would seem, until you hear the stories...

Despite their rather harmless nature and love for mud, it seems this fish has made it into quite a few tales. In fact, the people of the past labeled it as a spirit of vengeance. That seems a bit extreme, right? Well, here is where it gets interesting, and where my ramblings at the beginning finally make sense. The Doratabo was considered to be an entity that haunted forgotten rice fields, where vegetation had overgrown and mud had swallowed the crop. These muddy spirits would arise and torment the living with their howls and vile presence, until the owners of the land changed their ways and tended to their wasted fields. What on odd thing! Where on earth did they get that idea? Well I'll tell you!

I made mention before that Doratabo love mud and usually show up wherever it is in excess, right? Well, when rice fields get neglected and are left to the elements, the fields tend to get overgrown and muddy. Once this starts to happen, local Doratabo take notice, and they think these places would make lovely homes! So a few move in, trampling the vegetation and churning up the earth, making the field even more foul and mucky. As they do this, more Doratabo show up to take advantage of this new place, and eventually the whole field becomes a flat of mud and drowned rice plants. So if one neglects their rice fields, then these "men of mud" show up and start making it worse. This image is made possible through the large head and clawed arms of the Doratabo rising out of the mud, giving folks the impression of a humanoid clawing out of the muck. Their large colorful lump on their faces also makes people think of an eye, turning this angry spirit into an angry cyclops! But what of the howling? Well, when Doratabo gather in large numbers, things get heated during the mating season. Males will stand proud on the mud flats, with their colorful nose ornament on full display. They suck up air and then let it all out in long howl, which kind of sounds like a deep long burp. They make these noises to attract females and let other males know who is on top. If any challengers show up, it is some good old mud wrestling until one of them slinks off in defeat! While this is all about mating to them, folks mistake these calls for groans and moans of restless spirits. 

While in the past, they once believed these fish to be upset spirits angered by the neglected rice fields, people now recognize them as both a simple species and an important environmental cue. When water levels change, and vegetation starts choking out a water body, the Doratabo will show up for the mud and their presence will speed up the process. The waterways will grow murky and stifled, and local vegetation will get trampled until the whole area is just a muddy field. Not the end of the world, but not good for species that used to live in these pristine waters! So now people know to keep an eye out for Doratabo moving into water bodies they aren't usually in, as it is a sign that something is wrong with the environment. So it turns out that they aren't restless spirits, but they do appear to be a modern day omen!

Chlora Myron

Dryad Natural Historian

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

"Doratabo"

The season calls for some spirits or yokai! Could always stand to have a couple of those! Now lets shove it into a fish!

#fish #mudskipper #doratabo #yokai #monster #creature #art #drawing

[rosevilleain]

For the most part, I'd like to keep all my spaces fun and generally light hearted, save for the occasional rant (because, well... This is DBD 😅), but I want to talk about something important right now. If you've been playing this game for long enough, you'll know that there are multiple heated debates amongst the community that will cool off for a while, only to make a resurgence again at some point. Right now, I'd like to address the one that I'm seeing a lot of at the moment.

Let's talk about filters... But, really, let's talk about accessibility in gaming. Primarily in Dead by Daylight.

Before getting into it all, a couple of quick things to note: a. This is a long post, and b. a lot of it is stuff I said elsewhere (namely Instagram). I also broke this up into a couple of sections to (hopefully) make it more easily digestible than a wall of text.

About Those Filters...

Now, I have some tweets of my own to post. For context, Hens went on from that first tweet to discuss his findings a bit, and asked if people wanted him to make a video addressing the subject. After most people said they wanted to see a video, he agreed.

Now, here is my quote tweet and short thread.

I want what I said in that first tweet to sink in. This game first launched in 2016. The colorblind filters available in the game weren't added until 2021.

It took Behavior five (5) years to implement a feature that would allow people with colorblindness to play as anyone else could. This was a feature that should have been available all along, yet there was a need to ask for this to be added. And it still took them half a decade to do it.

If that wasn't terrible enough, there are many colorblind people in the community for whom the available filters do not work. At least not as well as they should. Which means that there are many players using third party filters to simply be able to see the game.

The Usual, Disappointing Response...

But there are some players that use them to have an unfair advantage. So they should be banned... According to far too many people. And if you are one of them, I ask you to consider this:

If you are more concerned about the people who don't need it, you are ignoring the people who do. If you are more concerned about the people that don't need it, respectfully, please take a step back and think about why that is.

Because we see these things said constantly, about features we use just to be able to play like anyone else can do. When disabled people see and hear the comments about how these features should be banned, or how "unfair" they are, what we hear is, "Yeah, but I want to win, so…"

No matter how many times we explain why it wouldn't be good if these things got banned or changed, it doesn't seem to matter. No matter how many more people that use these things need it than don't, it never matters.

My Personal Struggles...

In the second tweet of my thread, I said, "BHVR shouldn't ban their use. They should do better by the disabled people that need better options. This is a general statement, not exclusive to colorblindness."

When I said that, I had a very specific thing in mind, although I'm sure there are other examples of which I'm not even aware.

I'm not colorblind, though I have other disabilities that affect how I experience video games. Though I'm neither deaf, nor hard of hearing, I do have an issue perceiving sounds. Particularly in video games.

For DBD, when I play killer, I can't always find survivors by listening for them because I often have trouble figuring out the right direction that it's coming from. I frequently run into situations where the sound seems to be coming from one direction, but then it sounds like it's actually the opposite, even when it isn't possible that they could have run that way because I would have seen them.

When I play survivor, I frequently can't tell how close the killer is when going by the terror radius because it often sounds a bit further away than it really is. Before I realized that it was a "me" issue, I used to get so pissed because I'd get grabbed off of generators even though it sounded to me like I had a little bit more time before I had to run.

In regards to that, I was once discussing how I wish they hadn't changed Spine Chill back to the way it was because watching the red dial fill and regress helped me far better than the new heartbeat does. No matter how hard I try, I can't seem to properly gauge the distance. I should mention that I have several learning disabilities, as well, which definitely contributes to this. And I'm frustrated because it seems so straight forward, and I can understand it in DBD Mobile, but not core for some reason.

During that discussion, while I was explaining all of this, I had someone outright say to me, "They can't put in too many accessibility options because then people who don't need them will cheat with them."

And several people chimed in with, "Yeah, but it also tipped off survivors to stealth killers."

Um... I main Ghost Face. Yet, my point still stands. And now the heartbeat is the only option available, so I'm still struggling a bit.

People with disabilities shouldn't have to settle for "it's better than nothing," but we do. Time and time again.

In Closing...

That, "I know you need it, but what about the people who don't?" argument is a truly sad and messed up way of thinking. And half of the problem is the fact that there are many people who don't even realize that. The person who said that to me clearly didn't understand that, perhaps, that isn't something you should say to someone explaining why they need it. They weren't trying to be an asshole. They thought they were just having a conversation. Obviously there are those who just don't care, but I do believe that there are more people that just don't realize what it is they're really saying when we see this stuff. Nor why it's so fucked up.

I can personally tell you that it's exhausting to have to defend things, over and over, that make me able to enjoy this hobby that I've been doing for 30+ years. Making room for everyone to be able to play is more important than winning.

If you read this far, thank you.

#dead by daylight #dbd #accessibility #accessibility in gaming #accessible gaming #disabilties #colorblind #color blindness #invisible disability #bhvr #behavior interactive

[bprpg]

Hello! I hope everyone is having a lovely day today.

There's something we want to talk to everyone about regarding posts and replies.

It is very important that everyone read this post in full, so please do so! We'll be able to tell who has and who hasn't, and anyone we notice hasn't read it will receive a link to this post via tumblr and discord until we know it's been read. You've been warned!

As you probably know, Tumblr launched a new post editor a couple of years ago that hasn't been officially, fully implemented onto the site. Because of this, when making posts and doing replies, some of us are still able to toggle on and off between the legacy editor (the one we've been using for years now) and the new one. However, back in May, tumblr announced that they would start removing the legacy editor for some users, meaning that the eventual takeover of the new post editor is inevitable. Because of this - and a lot of reasons that we will go into further detail below - we think it's time to say goodbye to the legacy editor and only use the new post editor when posting starters and doing replies.

The thing is, as much as we love the legacy editor (RIP), you've probably noticed that sometimes using it to reply to posts that were created with the new post editor will make them a bit... wonky, to say the least. Your reply will appear twice, maybe the entire post will duplicate and then be impossible to delete (or simply require too much energy to fix). It complicates things for everyone. It's not anyone's fault! It's Tumblr's updates. It's also very hard to know when a post has been made using the legacy editor vs. the new post editor, so it's impossible to know whether a reply will work or not. To make things easier for everyone, I think it's important we all switch to the new post editor starting effective immediately.

Here's a couple of questions you might have.

Does XKit work with the new post editor?

The short answer is no. At least not the New XKit, the extension we've been using for ages now. If you've been roleplaying for a while, you probably remember there was an extension simply called XKit before New XKit came about, which was back when tumblr changed their post format the last time circa 2015. They got rid of blockquotes in reblogs! Remember? You couldn't edit your partner's reply even if you tried. And they did it again, except this time, it was a little harder to fix, so New XKit is no longer working with this new format. Reblogs using the new post editor look differently now. You can see an example of the difference below.

Does that mean I can't cut posts anymore?

Nope! You still can. The process is a little different, but if we're all using the new post editor, it shouldn't be very complicated.

You can use something called ✨ XKIT REWRITTEN ✨

It's another extension! (everyone say: thank you devs)

Because we are no longer allowing anyone to use the legacy editor, I would encourage everyone uninstall the New XKit extension you have and replace it with this one. It has basically the same features as the last one and is very user-friendly!

Download for Chrome

Download for Firefox

How does Trim Reblogs even work?

You can find a guide to using Trim Reblogs that explains it a million times better than I ever could right here. We'll have it linked in the resources channel on the discord as well, in case you need to check it out.

What about my current replies using the legacy editor?

Because we know you have active threads using the legacy editor, we'll allow you to play those out still using New XKit and editable reblogs, but any and all starters going forward have to be made using the new post editor. If your replies with your partner are duplicating or not working, you can either continue to write them that way, removing any duplicates if possible, or reach out to them and ask them what they want to do; try to figure something out that works for both of you.

So, TL;DR (but I DO hope everyone read this!):

Using the legacy editor will no longer be allowed in the roleplay. If you are currently using the legacy editor in replies, finish those but going forward, please post every starter and reply using the new post editor, install XKit Rewritten and toggle on Trim Reblogs to be able to cut your posts.

If you have any questions at all regarding this new rule (because we'll be adding it to the rules shortly with updated information and links to everything you'll need) please feel free to reach out to us!

To make sure everyone read this, I'm going to go very Tumblr 2012 and ask you to like this post and send me a discord message with a picture of your favorite animal. Thank you.

#bpoint:admin

[changingplumbob]

York Household: Chapter 8, Part 1

Having made their Willow Creek neighbourhood clean and green, Aaron and Calista are ready to move. The family head to Tartosa and celebrate Deanna's birthday.

A wintery good morning from the snow dusted Yorks

Kelly: I'm freezing

Deanna: Then change pjs

Kelly: You don't tell me what to do. Besides, I'm hungry

Deanna: That's all you have to say

Kelly: What else is there

Deanna: How about happy birthday my favourite sibling

Kelly: No. Just no. To all of it

Calista: Good morning Kelly. Happy birthday Deanna

Deanna: Thanks ma. Wait, something...

Kelly: Who stole all our photos

Aaron: They haven't been stolen. They're in personal inventories

Deanna: But why

Calista: Your pa and I have been talking-

Kelly: You're getting divorced!

Deanna: They aren't!

Deanna: You're not getting divorced, right

Calista: No honeybug

Aaron: We were thinking about our younger years, when we traveled all over

Kelly: When you were unburdened by my awful siblings

Deanna: You exist to

Kelly: But do I

Calista: You know our families haven't always been in Windenburg

Kelly: We're Italian

Deanna: She means Monte Vista gremlin

Aaron: We've been missing the hills and the coast so... we're moving to Tartosa

Overcome with excitement Calista sweeps Aaron off his feet

Kelly: Excuse me I'm trying to eat

Aaron: We're just making sure you know we're not divorcing

Kelly: *gags*

Deanna: When

Calista: After breakfast

Kids: WHAT

Kelly: You can't be serious! I was meant to have a sleepover tonight

Aaron: There will be more room there

Kelly: And my best friend lives across the road here. Who will I pull pranks with there

Calista: Loading screens allow cross world travel

Deanna: Cheer up goblin. You still had to go through a loading screen to cross the road

Kelly: So you're okay with no birthday party

Deanna: I'm sorry what now

Aaron: Let's not jump to conclusions

Deanna: But I'll have a party right? I only turn into a YA once and I cannot miss that cake

Calista: People will know where to find us

Deanna: How

Aaron: It'll be fine

Kelly: We'll probably get stuck and glitch forever

Deanna: Maybe we shouldn't risk it

Calista: It has a separate small set of rooms for you

Deanna: Fine. I guess I can be persuaded

Kelly: This is a bad idea

Calista: Too bad

So we leave the deep snows of Willow Creek and head to the coastal town of Tartosa. To me it seemed the most Italian place on offer at the moment, and I need to reduce how many of my households live in Willow Creek. I built it as I really wanted the separate rooms on the property for Deanna so please excuse the rectangles everywhere.

Deanna's party isn't until midday so the family have the morning to themselves. After a quick shower Calista launches into practicing her speech for her next work shift. Aaron checks out his office then heads downstairs. Deanna sets out for a run and Kelly plays happily in the bath.

With Calista having plenty of out of hours work for her military career the cooking often falls to Aaron. Today he has to make sure we have a cake ready for Deanna. He bustles about the kitchen and produces a quality cake while maxing out his cooking skill! Well done buddy.

As Deanna jogs around the town she contemplates what it will mean to age up into a YA. Clearly it won't mean leaving home since they've just moved somewhere with a space just for her. What trait will she spin? And why did they have to live somewhere that meant each jog would end in running up a hill.

Kelly leans in to bike down the hill at breakneck speed. Yep, totally safe. He's looking forward to finally getting his sleepover tonight. It's only been his aspiration his whole childhood, stupid prom interference. He hopes his parents will let him have lots of his friends over.

Feeling confident Calista sets off for a jog herself as the welcome wagon arrives. That's it Calista, run away fast! The first sim goes to ring and-

ZAP

Electricity courses from the doorbell through the sim, lifting them off the ground. Far away Kelly is contemplating if there's anything to steal.

Deanna: I am so sorry about that. It must have got damaged in the move. I'll just fiddle

Melanie: Should you

Aaron: Don't worry, she loves tinkering.

Melanie: We're your new neighbours

Aaron: And you came to say hello? That's very... friendly. Come on through to the patio then you two

Aaron: You know, you look familiar

Melanie: My husband’s an actor

Aaron: That's it! You stared in Melodies in the Rain with our Devin. Your dark hair threw me

Connor: I knew they shouldn't have made me blonde

Aaron: I suppose it's good not to be swarmed by paparazzi though

Melanie: He wouldn't mind

Aaron: Devin doesn't mind either, I don't know how you actors do it

Connor: Unfortunately hair and makeup often make me look quite different on screen

Melanie: And this one time he had to be an alien

Connor: The suit was impossible

Aaron: Devin's said the critters suits are pretty tough as well

Kelly makes it back before the party starts and Deanna takes a final teen selfie

Aaron: Amore, come meet our neighbours, Connor is actually a coworker of Devin's

Calista: Gosh it is a small world

Melanie: Tell me about it

Calista: Devin should be here soon

Connor: We won't crash your family party

Deanna: Still feels weird to be watched by everyone

Paris: Come on babe, make a wish

Tamika: Hold on, I need to get the angle right if we're putting this on social bunny

Joey: Confetti cannons? I want a confetti cannon

Deanna: It's not your birthday

Joey: For me to use De

Deanna: Oh, right

Several of the family pull horns out of nowhere to celebrate as well. Then the group of Deanna's family and high school friends sing happy birthday to her. Paris is very enthusiastic about this part.

If we pan down we can see Deanna's two nephews have been invited as well. Alfred seems happy enough but Rilian wants to go home RIGHT NOW. I see some of the household want to watch Alfred reach a milestone. I can't be sure as I'm not controlling him but I think it's his first lot of clapping!

Back at eye height Deanna has aged up! She rolled the family-oriented trait *sighs in relief* also, drum roll please, she is the first VALEDICTORIAN in this save! Go Deanna! Updated family photo for the Yorks. No, I still don't know why Deanna got such pale skin compared to the rest of her family.

Deanna has also decided to have a spell of wearing glasses rather than fussing with contacts every day. Time for a quick photo with her friends, whether they want it or not *coughs* Samir *coughs*

Previous Part (Nishidake) ... Next Part

#sims 4 #the sims #the sims 4 #simblr #Rotation8 #ChangingPlumbobStorytime #YorkHousehold #DeannaYork #KellyYork #CalistaYork #AaronYork #ParisPearl #JoeyYork #DevinVillareal #LunaVillareal #AlfredVillareal #RilianVillareal #R0801

[citrusreadstoa]

Reading The Dark Prophecy: Chapter 23 (SPOILERS)

"So amaze! Such name! / Sssssarah with five s's is / Still two syllablessssss" THIS IS THE ONE. I saw this poem on a post once and have been waiting to reach this chapter ever since. I yearn to meet Sssssarah.

"the tiny forest of green stalks pointed toward the left-hand corridor." When in doubt, seek the counsel of the plants. How do they know which way to go? They were only just born today.

"television monitors showing--you guessed it--videos of Commodus." clap clap clap "COMMODUS COMMODES." No opportunities missed here.

"sand 'You Don't See Me'" That's a cool way of manipulating the Mist, but it takes way longer than a simple finger snap.

"but he made no attempt to hide his chest-face." Why would he? Apollo keeps bringing this up. It's normal for their species and there are no mortals around to disguise from. Blemmyae shouldn't have to hide who they are, and it is right of them not to.

"Everything is hunky-dorky." I'm sorry, hunky-dorky? Apollo.

"What are you doing?" She's picking up her chia sprouts, can't you see? She can't just leave them around to be captured by the guards.

"But here, instead of animals, the cages held people." Woah, okay, this got dark quick. "In the center of the room was a metal post with iron hooks and chains--the sort of place where one could fasten slaves for inspection before sale." Aaaand it got darker still. This was not something I expected to see in a PJO book. Okay.

"they turned my holy island of Delos into the region's biggest slave market . . . correct that situation, slaughtering twenty thousand Romans in the process. But I mean, come on. They had it coming." One of the few times I'll say Apollo's endorsement of mass murder was justified. If you defend slavery, whatever negative karma falls upon you is righteous.

"The boys tried to stand without success." How long have they been in here? "launched herself through the hole, and gracefully somersaulted" I'm gonna guess she's been here less than a day if she still has that energy. Or could it be the blessing of Artemis?

"I guessed the plight of Lester Papadopoulos was known among the Hunters." Oh right, they would know from Artemis. Again, where's Artemis through all this? Is she not allowed to contact Apollo? Is she being punished, too?

"I suspect your comrades have arrived." Wait, are we actually gonna see the Hunters today? Yippeeeeeee

"They've been on a hunger strike." Oh, that's daring of them. I wonder who they are and what their backstories are. They sound like they might be significant.

"I"m Hunter Kowalski" You... I'm not going to say anything.

"but one was a dracaena." Sssssarah!!!

"he looked like a teak warrior brought to life through the craft of Hephaestus." Teak is a tree, so, like, a wooden figurine brought to life. Like Pinocchio. "Tattooed on his right shoulder was . . . a double-bladed ax." Demigod. This one's a demigod. "stepped out slowly and gracefully" No, no, no. Whenever someone does that walk, you know they're the enemy.

"a young girl" I was starting to think Georgina would never show up! "She was large for her age--about Leo's size" That's not large. What you have right there is a giant seven year old. I'm thinking she might be the kid of a Germani. That aside, we found Festus!

Someone in this room, one of the prisoners released, is going to die. One of them definitely is. It can't be Georgina because the plot isn't setting up to hurt Jo or Emmie. It's not TD&H Jamie 'cause he isn't significant to the heroes' side. If he does die, it's not going to be an emotional death. It could be Hunter the Hunter, but a bunch of Hunters already died in The Blood of Olympus, so doing it again would risk being repetitive. Not out of the question, though. It's probably going to be one of the mysterious hunger strike boys whose names we haven't even got yet. They act like they might be brothers, and if they are, that raises their chances of death by about 200%. It's almost expected that one sibling should die whenever two are introduced, or any pair of two people, really. Castor, Bianca, Silena... I'm honestly shocked Travis Stoll went to college instead of dying. Maybe he gets special beta reader privileges. (Travis Stoll was named after one of the beta readers of the original books. It would probably be rude to kill his character.) Anyway, one or both of these two boys is going to be dead by the end of the book, mark my words.

#reading trials of apollo #reading the dark prophecy #reading toa #reading tho #toa spoilers #trials of apollo spoilers #trials of apollo #the dark prophecy #percy jackson and the olympians #apollo #apollo pjo #lester papadopoulos #meg mccaffrey #leo valdez #commodus pjo #sssssarah #did I get that right? #hunter kowalski #she doesn't have a character tag. I guess she doesn't stick around long #jamie pjo #neither does he #georgina pjo #pjo #toa #pjo hoo toa #rrverse #riordanverse

[glitchafton]

Vanessa: So I think it's safe to say this test was a complete failure and we're just going to need to mess with the main animatronics individually.

William: You can't really say anything that ends in children being sent complementary tasers went well can you?

Vanessa: And they don't even get the cool branded ones that they have in the workshop.

William: That's how you know how much of a fuck up this was for them, they're not even offering them as an option.

Vanessa: It's only because they were stopped by legal half of whom are trying to figure out the loophole that would allow the sale of a weapon to children, and the other half are trying to set the world record for changes to terms of service made within 48 hours.

William: I want a formal apology from the judge that said Henry and I had a "gross disregard for human life." after this.

Vanessa: I mean Will...

William: Yes, I may have killed a few people, but in that context, it wasn't our fault he didn't check all the safeties on the springlock suit. They were a lot more safe than people gave us credit for if you followed the entire procedure. I was able to kill multiple children in one without any issue.

Vanessa: So remind me how you died again?

William: In a springlock suit that hadn't been maintained in years, in a damp room, that I put on quickly without checking the safety mechanisms.

Vanessa: I don't even get to relish hearing you admit to a mistake because another update to the liability section! I'm pretty sure it's not legal to just say we're not responsible for half the things in this.

William: You have to have something better to be doing other than watching this disaster?

Vanessa: Nope. Supervisor said that we're going to sit here, hope the app crashes and not fix it until someone higher up tells us to fix it.

Vanessa: Basically it's his way of punishing his boss for forcing us to rush it out like that.

William: So this would have been a disaster on it's own is what I'm hearing?

Vanessa: There was no world in which an animatronic home delivery service was going to be a good idea.

Vanessa: I'd like to point out they had the tasers ready to go. There was a flaw in the Toy replicas that would have been an easy fix if they were willing to let anyone have more than the bare minimum of time.

William: How long before someone dies? I'd say by this time next week.

Vanessa: You're optimistic, I'm thinking we have by Friday. Tomorrow evening for a major injury.

Vanessa: But I gave them a good two weeks to find and solve the virus issue. What's going on there?

William: You underestimated how easy it would be.

Vanessa: No I didn't. Whoever you have down there that should be fixing it is just incompetent and you should have left it to me, sir.

William: Not while I still need you and don't want to risk having you be found where you shouldn't be.

Vanessa: At least this launch was going to be a collection of dumpster fires even if the animatronics weren't working fine...

#The Chat log semi fic #I refuse to let AR existing in canon go. #also just so it's clear without having to look at them in order #this is set *before* the one posted this morning #unseen: Vanessa having a much more heated conversation on this topic with coworkers as the building devolves into chaos #and her supervisor is yelling at anyone who thinks about fixing the app. No touching it unless it's to make it worse. #out of spite.

[zxvtrpnljhfdb]

Today is May 30th.

For safety reasons, I'm posting this over here. I have some screen caps that I need to edit for privacy, but I'm going to start here:

I am obviously not innocent in all of this. Sure, my job is the reason we were able to get the first apartment. When we moved in, I wanted my now-ex to help out, get a job, go in 50/50 with me. After all, why have a partner if they aren't working and aren't helping out around the house? Those people are called friends and they live in other homes.

More recently, I have, I of course think for good reason, been concealing any fertility success I may have been having. My body, my choice. I can have sex with who I want, I can get pregnant or not as my body permits and as I please.

My partner threatened to steal my bank card and I have also been playing in to that. Why not, what the hell. They launched an about seven-pound box at my fucking head. I literally don't even care if they meant for it to hit my head. It does not matter if they believe it hit me in the head.

So I guess in response, she enacted her rendition of her interpretation of shit the woman who gave birth to me did to me, as confided to her by me. It was laughable, but at the same time, I don't have any friends whose place I can run over to when I need to be brought back to reality. It really triggered me into the state I would get in when the woman who gave birth to me would gaslight me.

This afternoon, I took back the TV purchased out of the joint account. I should have just gone all in for the PC too. I don't believe that my ex has my money, mostly because she just got her tax refunds and they too are enough to pay rent. She only needs to pay June rent and utilities one time. She's on a week-long sex-staycation with her new toy; how the fuck is she buying all this clothing and food and drinks??

According to the police, I have no recourse. According to everything I could find online, I have no recourse.

Should've gotten married when the psycho asked, eh? Then it really would have been stealing two thousand dollars.

I just........ can't believe divorce is when it become stealing. What the fuck. I shouldn't have to--I wouldn't even know how to--itemize every last dollar going into the bank account. "This is for rent" "this is for utilities". Like, where the fuck does that info even go??

So my ex is the only one who should be allowed to put themself first??

It took three years for them to admit they don't believe in 50/50 relationships--whatever the fuck that even means. It took them three years to admit that they think they're above housework--three years of wanting to believe "I'm trying, uwu, I'm trying", and distancing myself a little further each time I didn't see them trying. It took them three years to admit that they did not give a shit what I wrote in my dating bio, and they did not give a shit about my limits and boundaries.

It took me three years to close myself off bit by bit with every racist utterance they felt it was okay to make around me.

It took me three years to realize that the pedophilia was not a fucking bit, for them to think showing me their materials was fucking funny.

I don't understand........ They just gave me card after card to hold and play, and then they taught me how to play against them. Like, what, you think I remained naive?? After everything you've put me through???

I don't hate my ex because they're trans. That's the dumbest, weakest shit I've ever heard, even before trying to gaslight me. I hate them because they are contemptible. They are so egotistical. They may be smarter than me, but they made a mistake underestimating my intelligence and adaptability. One of my biggest flaws, no humblebrag intended, is that I am so adaptable. It has stopped being a good thing, because it means that in the short-term, day over day, I will forgive, forget and move past the damage you inflict on me. But in the long run, it adds up. I don't actually forget.

They have done a lot of things to drive me away, which makes it incredibly hard to believe that they ever loved me. The real fucking coup de gras was stealing my money. Now I know, without question, this person never loved me. Do they know what love is? I don't know how that's possible when you don't believe in 50/50 relationships. When you don't believe in compromise, in reaching a greater average with your partner.

[astraskylark]

Can we talk about Weiss in V8 chapter 13? Can we talk about how amazing she was in that episode despite all the batshit crazy insane shit happening around? Like it starts out with a full on Team RWBY Vs Cinder battle royale.

Weiss is literally never still even for a second here. She's clearly learned from Volume 5 that staying still in battle for a fighter with her attack type is a bad decision so she's constantly moving over here appearing on all sides in a matter of seconds while keeping the movements of her teammates in mind as well.

She's literally mid fight here half through zooming across the battlefield after an attack and she's already setting up a glyph to boost Blake up so she can attack Cinder keeping the momentum of the fight going in the split second she needs to move across.

Weiss's fighting style often leans to support and a series of attacks rather than one heavy blow. And support is probably the most complicated role to play in a fight.

It's all about insane mid battle calculation. She has to keep track of her team's movements to perfectly time her glyphs (also deciding what type of glyph based how her teammates are moving and their surroundings) and HOW EXHAUSTING IS THAT??? Because she not only has to keep track of the opponent's movement but she's also keeping her eye on three other people who are in continuing motion looking for any gap she can offer support in??? While constantly moving on the field and launching her own attacks in tandem with the others???

The minute Ruby is falling back Weiss is already pelting ice picks at Cinder. And okay mad props to Cinder because this entire attack sequences from RWBY was hardcore and Cinder managed to dodge it all. And back to Weiss.

So we have this insane battle where everyone is mentally exhausted and then we have Neo attacking Ruby and Yang falling into the void. And I've seen a lot of people shitting on how Ruby and Weiss didn't react fast enough and let me just say they acted exactly how you'd expect them too.

I don't have the pic here cause Tumblr has a limit but if you remember the split screen showing Ruby,Weiss, Blake and Neo we can all see Blake already starts moving. Ruby starts getting attacked by a feral Neo a second later and has no time to even process any event(a running theme this volume Rubes your breakdown is coming).

Now here Weiss starts moving a literal second later. And now remember this is Weiss, master of mid fight distance calculation.

The minute Weiss turned and saw Blake she knew. She knew that judging from how fast Yang fell of the ledge and how fast Blake moved the only person who had a sliver of a chance of saving Yang was Blake. She knew she would be a second late if she tried. She knew that summoning a glyph in the event of Blake missing would be no use because she's done the math in that heated second of fear and anguish and knows that she will be too late.

Which is why Weiss Schnee master of logic and cool headedness in the battle field and emotional wellbeing off the battlefield knew what would happen a second later. She knows Yang. Weiss was the first person we've ever seen Yang be vulnerable around. And I bet the reason Weiss was so sure Blake would find her way back to them is because Weiss and Blake are alot more similar than you think. So Weiss knows. She knows the Blake Belladona would not hesitate for a second to jump into the literal unknown for Yang.

She would too. But they're in the middle of battle and Ruby is being attacked and thousands of Atlas and Mantle citizens are in the middle of a space that shouldn't exist and she knows despite how she wants too she cannot jump. And she cannot let Blake jump either because she cannot and will not lose another member of her family today. And she immediately pulls Blake literally dragging her from the surface(and this is no easy feat because we know how crazy swol Blake is and adding that with mad grief Blake is basically the strongest most impulsive person in that space right now) and you can see from that single frame that Weiss herself is so close to tears but she has to hold it together for Blake. For Yang. For Ruby.

And once Blake takes off in a rage she knows that Cinder is left with no one to fight her. And Weiss (who is probably a little traumatised after having been stabbed and almost dying because of her) she immediately faces Cinder and Weiss is frantically dodging because remember Cinder was able to take on all four of them with barely a scratch and now Weiss is facing her alone.

And I also love this because it seems like Weiss is just zig zagging her way in a frenzy but she's trying to make herself really difficult to target here. You know how they say to run zig zag when your being chased by an animal right? That's what she's doing here. She's stays in a position for just enough time for Cinder to shoot her fire and then immediately takes off in a tangent making cinder have to spend a split second trying to reorient her attack cause all her attacks shoot in a straight direction.

I included this picture because she looks so fucking cool here. She literally fights fire with FIRE and I love her stance and pose and if you've actually read this far you can kinda guess I love everything about her.

And now we see her skating up. Because she knows the advantage and how being in a higher position can help. She needs to get to higher ground. And I'd like to highlight that Weiss only takes this pathway cause at that moment it is completely empty. She assumed that people had already finished evacuating from there which is why she chose that place. But it turned out that particular door was one for Atlas and Atleasians were alot more hesitant to use the gates than people from Mantle which is why there are people still there(this might also have been a convenient plot narrative to make Jaune aware that Cinder was here, who knows we shall see)

She uses her gravity glyph to try and hinder the airborne higher ground advantage that Cinder has. And it works. Cinder is momentarily focussed on Weiss allowing Penny to regain her stance and figure out her weapon situation.

And then an Atleasian steps out and Weiss realises in a matter of milliseconds that shit she has to protect them.

And if you notice Cinder is imitating Weiss's attack here. Weiss attacked Cinder with the same Ice pick move 5 minutes ago. And Weiss has to protect herself and the now emerging Atlas citizens. And I love how it's shown that she doesn't have the time to fully summon her Knight so only summons the arm and blade and protects everyone from actually getting hurt. Also I don't know if this the first time we've seen the summoning glyph for the knight in this angle but it is absolutely gorgeous and I really want to see what the Nevermore one looks like.

And I ran out pictures but Cinder literally tosses Weiss over the edge and the only thing stopping Weiss from certain fall in the void is her own gravity glyph which she is maintaining after all of the stuff I mentioned before.

I mean we know that Weiss has the lowest stamina of the team and the role that takes up the most energy. And she's still standing and she still going to fight in the next episode.

I just-- GODS Weiss Schnee is an absolute legend and possibly the best ally to have on the battlefield. She's is a super skilled ,level headed and versatile fighter whose constant presence and observations in the battlefield are such an asset and I wouldn't be far off in saying that she's probably the smartest fighter after Ruby and there's a reason they're partners because for every wacky absolute bonkers plan Ruby has, Weiss will be there to build the foundation to launch off from. And I cannot wait to see her learn and grow even more.

#rwby #rwby spoilers #weiss schnee #ruby rose #yang xiao long #blake belladonna #me writing a weiss simp post? #more likely than you think #rwby meta #or a weiss analysis post I guess #I mean i know we're all super distracted by the extremely distressing events of the last ep #but weiss was a silent heroine in this #and deserves more appreciation #because damn what would team RWBY do without her #ey i hooe we never find out #anywho #I LOVE WEISS SCHNEE SHE'S SO COOL #long post

[miss-kittys-magical-library]

Waiting For A Star To Fall

Nikolai x Selina

Word Count: 6k

Warnings: minor angst and fluff, oral sex (m/f receiving), brief thigh riding, penetration, use of sex toys, language gif by @vousnavezrienvu

A/N: Selina and Nikolai's first date turns into more than they ever imagined. 

This took a stupid amount of time to write and became a pure labor of love. Thank you @magic-multicolored-miracle and @neuroticpuppy for being with me the ENTIRE way.  And @bisexualnathanyoung and @forenschik for being my guinea pig

September 1992

Selina’s phone rang, but Sunny beat her to it as he threw himself over the arm of the futon in her minuscule apartment.  His elbow rammed into the wall, and Selina insisted he deserved it.

“Hello?” 

There was a momentary pause.  Selina stood cross-armed with a frown on her face.

“I don't recall anyone with that name living here.  It's just my sister, myself, and the guy from the sixth floor who was murdered in 1985.” 

“SUNNY!!” 

He waved her off,  “Why would I be fucking with you?  You called here.  My sister didn't give you this number, she's a virtual nun!  She's not one to take up with strange foreign men.”

Selina launched herself at her little brother.  He held the cordless phone above his head and levitated the ten feet towards the ceiling.  His legs curled up underneath so she couldn't grab him by the ankle. 

“UNFAIR!!”  

“EVOLUTIONARY ADVANTAGE!” he shouted and stuck out his tongue.  “You were saying?”

“You aren't evolution!  You're a science experiment that was implanted in our mother by The Men In Black.”

“Low blow.” Sunny flipped Selina off and went back to the caller.  “I mean that may or may not be the woman you ravished lakeside.  I know my sister is her own woman.  You scandalized her though.  I think you made her feel.. feelings.  Rude.” 

“NICKLAUS ELTON KOSTAS GIVE ME MY PHONE!”

He held up his hand.  “HEY! I can speak Russian you know.”  And then Sunny did for the next several minutes occasionally glancing down at his sister.  

Finally, he came back to the couch and held out the receiver to Selina.  “It's for you.  He's very perturbed, and Slavic.  And sexy.”

She yanked the phone from her brother and flipped him off.  “Klaus should've left you in 1989.”  Her voice softened and her cheeks flushed as she finally answered, “Hi.” 

Sunny hovered a few feet off the ground as Selina blabbered on in flirtatious Russian.  He sneered and poked fun at the way his sister wound her finger up in her hair and then released it.  When that didn't work, craving her attention, he began to hold an imaginary conversation with an exaggerated Russian accent.  

Selina threw the first thing she could at her little brother.  The remote control sailed across the room at Sunny who simply held up his hand, palm towards his sister.  The remote hung in the air like he did.  Then he narrowed his eyes which caused the object to lower to the floor. Selina sighed and returned to the conversation. 

“Wait, you wanna take me out?”  A pause.  “You don't have to repay me.  I'm just practicing for when I'm ethically obligated to save someone.” Pause. “Arsonists and thieves too!”  Selina smiled wide as the flames licked her cheeks and ears now.  “How attractive you are doesn't alter Samaritan laws, Nikolai.” 

Sunny rolled his eyes flabbergasted at how his sister’s entire demeanor changed the moment she began to speak to the Russian from Sway Lake.  She was being coy.  Dare he say seductive as she ignored everything he managed to garner attention.  

Sunny had always been the object of his sister’s devotion.  EVERYONE’S devotion really.  As the youngest of eight “children,” it was his birthright.  Now here he was, slowly becoming Selina’s third favorite person.  Not a single soul, no matter how rakish or good in bed, would ever replace Leon. 

“Sure.  Yeah, I’d like that.”  Selina had a dopey grin on her face.  “Tonight?!  I mean can you even get reservations?”  “Trust you?  I don't know why I should, but I guess I will.  I'll meet you there. Do svidaniya, Nik.. KOLYA.”  

Selina hung up the phone and threw a pillow this time at Sunny.  He crashed to the floor having been caught off guard and rubbed his ass.  

“Just be HUMAN FOR FIVE MINUTES.” 

“I AM HUMAN!! I'M JUST.. Super.” 

“Super egotistical.”

“I can't help that the love of our parents turned me into a badass.” 

“I just pray Reginald never finds you.  You're the success to his failure with Klaus.”  Selina meant that last bit with her entire being.  “Now get out, I've a date tonight.” 

---

“Nikolai, I can't run that fast in these boots!”  Selina yelled as she desperately tried to catch up to her date.  She could hear a fast-approaching man behind her yelling obscenities in a dialect she wasn't familiar with.  Bulgarian or Lithuanian maybe. 

He stopped at the corner.  “We are wearing the same ones, look how fast I'm moving.  I think it must be the several rum and cokes you had.  Come,” Nikolai held out his hand, “we will go faster together.” 

Selina rolled her eyes but linked her hand with his.  Nikolai took off, and she started to laugh.  The exhilaration and adrenaline coursed through her veins.  Never in a million years would she have imagined dining and ditching.  

Nik was so calm as he spoke to the waiter in the dialect they were being bellowed at.  He never blinked.  Then the waiter nodded, took something from him and walked away.  Nikolai stood and clasped Selina’s hand and began to make his way towards the door. 

“Nikolai, shouldn't you pay?” 

There was a slight shake to his head.  He never looked back, just kept going with Selina tight to his side.  They made it to the door before they both had to give chase. 

Selina swung out into the street.  She waved and whistled loudly at an oncoming taxi.  To her shock, it stopped to pull over for them.  Nik was incredulous but had no choice except join his date as she yanked him inside the cab.  

“Bleecker and Christopher, please,” she instructed the taxi driver.  Selina turned to the Russian beside her,  “Are we going to break the law EVERY time we're together?”  

“Yes.  Like a new Bonnie and Clyde.”  Nikolai lifted the hand Selina hadn't realized he was still holding.  His lips brushed the back of it, “Without being shot to death by the FBI.” 

Selina's heart pounded in her ears.  She couldn't remember seeing anyone look attractive in the color orange.  Yet here was the man beside her, currently with a look she could only describe as voracious, pulling it off.  Her cheeks grew hot under the weight of his stare. 

“What?!” came out in an embarrassing giggle. 

“I cannot look at something beautiful?” 

“You don't have to lay it on THAT thick.  I'm taking you back to my apartment already.” 

“I'm not trying to trick you, Lina.  I think you are beautiful. I almost blew my own mission.  Especially under the moonlight.  You made me forget what I was doing.  Your willingness to allow me to do unspeakable things to your body helped,” he teased.  

Selina decided to play coy as the taxi stopped in front of her building.  “Let's see what happens under this month’s full moon.” 

---

Selina and Nikolai on the fire escape outside her living room window.  Selina a few beers in and a few steps above.  Nikolai nursing a beer of his own while settled between her knees.  His arm under her knee to snake around her calf.  His fingers mindlessly stroked her ankle to the naked foot dangling in his lap. 

They had fallen into a contented silence after nearly two hours of talking.  Sharing stories in Russian and English.  Nik’s curiosity about the photos and books and records she owned was endless.  Selina had a hard time keeping up and answering as he flitted along from keepsake to keepsake. 

Yes, that's Elton John.  Somehow he and her parents were old friends.  He dedicated “Your Song” to her parents every concert they went to.  Selina could never figure out why. 

The somehow dower, yet smiling man, with a giant cigar in his mouth that tossed Selina in the air while little Sunny hung from his back was her Godfather, Tom.  He had been a CIA agent that now lived in a cabin with his beautiful French wife, Ella.  That's where she had been  staying up at Sway Lake.  Yes he did always look like a lion with a thorn in his paw, but he was soft and kind and loving.  

The Lady Godiva on the horse was her mother, Honey, back when she frequented Studio 54.  Selina recalled her hair rivaled only Cher’s at that stage.  Raven colored and long enough to hide her naked body (barely) as she sat side saddle on the white mare.  Her head resting against the back of an equally nude man. Her one arm wrapped around his thin waist. 

Nope, Nik was totally not imagining things.  The man holding the reins did strongly resemble her brother and himself.  That was HER papa, Leon. His hair in perfectly wild curls to his shoulders. His face full of confidence and sex. 

The questions began to wear Selina down.  No one had ever been this inquisitive or interested in her life.  Her family.  Her.  The endless questions, punctuated by making out until their lips chapped, about her personally.  Then, between an anecdote about Luther and rollerskating and tongues fighting for dominance they stopped.  

Now Nikolai lifted Selina’s foot and kissed the top of it.  Then his mouth made its way up her shin.  When he reached her knee, Nik turned abruptly to face the woman behind him.  He set the bottle down on the windowsill before kneeling on the stairs.  He slid the hem of her dress up, fingers hooked into the fabric of her panties to tug them off.  He kissed her inner thigh before letting his tongue trace painfully slow along her sex. 

Selina could only grasp the railing.  Her fingers curved around the cold metal and she cried out in pleasure as Nikolai slipped his tongue inside of her.  

It slid in and out before eventually discovering her clit.  His hands on her ass so that he could pull her onto his face.  Encourage her to ride him as his tongue flicked in circles and then snaked in and out. 

Selina started to lose herself.  Her free hand tugged at Nik’s hair while her hips bucked and the spark grew.  She twitched and cried out louder as his mouth and tongue worked faster.  She opened her eyes to look down at the man keen to make her cum. 

Almost as if he could feel her eyes on him, Nikolai looked up at Selina.  She felt strange, shameless and used her own thumb to wipe away what was on his lips.  She sucked on it briefly then grabbed Nik by the shirt towards her.  Wanting for a kiss.  

Selina revelled in the way she tasted on his lips and inside her own mouth.  Like beer and bitterness.  She had never done that before Nikolai and the lake.  She wanted to do it again, and every time he went down on her.  She wanted to put him in her mouth.  To suck and lick and make him bend and writhe.  

She could, she thought, now.  Selina pushed Nik away at arms length meaning to have him sit on the stairs so she could give him head.  Her fingers deft at the belt buckle and buttons on his pants. She laughed full of nerves as he fumbled, THE OVERCONFIDENT RUSSIAN FUMBLED!! 

Nikolai fumbled with the buttons on his dress shirt before he finally came loose.  He yanked his pants and boxers over his hips and held his cock in his hand. Nik parted her legs and started to push inside, but Selina held up her hands.

“What are you doing?”

“Do you not want me to have sex with you?”  He was more shocked than angry. 

Selina ran her hands over his chest and stomach then up around his neck.  “I very much want to fuck you.” Nikolai huffed, but Selina continued, “I mean I've seen you naked and can't get over how fucking sexy you are.”  

“Then what is wrong?  Not here?  Maybe this is not comfortable for you.  We’ll go inside.”  He stood and held out his hand.

“It's probably the same as fucking on a bunch of sticks and acorns.”

Nikolai sniffed again at the use of the word “fucking.”  “Then what is wrong?”

Selina stood and climbed in through the windows.  Her date followed.  “There's an international health crisis.   A incurable disease that passes mostly via sex and fluids?” she shouted from her room as she rummaged through drawers. 

“Do you mean The..AIDS?  Is that not for,” he chose his words carefully, “The gay men?” 

Selina could tell Nik was more confused than anything.  She heard this all the time at the clinic where she volunteered. “Or you could be bisexual or pansexual like my brothers.  Contract it from a man and pass it to a female partner.”  

She appeared in the living room now with a small foil package.  “Or an IV drug user, also like my brother, and get it that way.” 

Selina started to unwrap the condom without noticing that Nikolai was standing completely nude in her living room.  “This is usually where most guys bail.  They're not interested in protection or rubbers.  Mostly just a pump and..” she looked up and paused in her tracks. She was distracted by his body and neck and eyes and jawline.  “Christ on a cracker.”

“What?”  he chuckled.  

“Sorry! I know. I know.  AIDS talk is a bummer.  I get this close to just.. sitting on a dick and I panic?  Everyone in my family got the sexual confidence memo but me.” 

“Why are you panicking now?  You did not freak out by Sway Lake.”  

Nikolai couldn't help the teasing in his voice.  He reached out for Selina to draw her close to his body.  His knee inside of her thighs just like that night.  

Now he unzipped and helped her out of the dress.  “I think it's very sexy when you talk like a nurse. So smart and commanding.”  His hands ran over her bare back and down to her ass as he brushed his nose along her neck up to her ear.  He nipped at the lobe, “That can be very erotic putting a condom on.” 

“Nik,” Selina could only squeak out.  Her body involuntarily started to rock back and forth. 

“It's Kolya.  In Russian we use end of names,” he breathed in her ear.  “Like your sister, Vanya.   Little Ivan.”

“Ok,” Selina didn't want to hear about Vanya right now.  Or Klaus.  Or Diego.  Instead she got down on her knees.  The condom was still in her hand as she used the other to hold his erection towards her mouth.

“Lina, what are you doing?”  

She looked up through her bangs, her tongue darted out to trace around the head of the cock.  “Sucking your dick.  What else does it look like?”  She took it fully in her mouth, letting the tip hit the back of her throat.  

“Fuck,” he mumbled in Russian.  “Dorogoya, stop.”  

Selina sat back with a popping sound, “Did I do it wrong?  I'm like, the LEAST experienced person in this family.”

“You don't have to be an expert.  A blow job is a blow job, we can practice another time.  I want to be inside of you.  And I have been very patient.”

Selina stood, but Nikolai lifted her completely off the ground.  She wrapped her arms and legs around him as they stumbled towards the futon.  Mouths and tongues at war as Nik sat her down on the cushions.  Selina held eye contact as she expertly unrolled the condom down the length of his cock.  She kissed his stomach as he noticeably shuddered.  

Nikolai let his fingers caress Selina’s bottom lip before crawling on top of her.  She still held his erection in her hand as he threw one of her legs over his shoulder.  He held her bent knee to the side as she taunted him with her sex.  Guiding it just inside before digging her nails into his ass so that he buried himself to the hilt. 

Selina clawed at his back as Nik started to undulate.  Over and over, further inside each time.  Their bodies rocked wildly as Selina’s muscles started to shake from the position she was in.  She clung to him desperately as he searched for her neck and chest with his lips.  

Nikolai’s mouth devoured one of her breasts.  He sucked and bit at Selina’s nipple.  She cried out in shock at the sensation.  The sound egged him on to go harder.  

“So you like that too?” His voice raspy in her cleavage. His suckling and biting increased.  She mewled in reply. 

Selina was worried that it wasn't working.  That she couldn't or wouldn't orgasm.  Not like she did when he went down on her.  How she hung from the cliff.  

She WAS being pleasured.  Nikolai was hitting the right spots, but she was so nervous about what she looked like under the lamplight.  His rhythm and pounding, it was pounding, into her was unmatched.  She cried out with exaggeration to indicate she had cum hoping he wouldn't notice. 

“Fuck!” he cried out and propped himself up by the back of the futon.  

Nik’s body arched while his hips made circular motion.  He spasmed and shuddered as his body immediately went into shut down mode.  His face covered in a sheen of sweat as he pressed his forehead into Selina’s neck then pecked it a few times. 

“I.. am sorry, Lina.” There was disappointment in the Russian’s voice as he held the condom so he could pull out.

“For what?”   Her arms and legs still enclosed around his back and hips.  

“You did not.. cum,” Nik’s eyes searched the woman below him.  “I should have tried better.  I just was so turned on by you.”  He swept the damp hair away from her forehead. 

“You were fine!  It was good.  Really good.  I got in my own head is all.  Maybe next time?” 

“You mean later tonight,” he winked then pecked the tip of her nose. “I won't leave until you are honestly screaming my name.”  There were four dimples Selina counted in his smile.  

“Then we’ll sleep on it first.” 

---- 

Selina tip toed out to the kitchen both starved and thirsty.  She thought about Nikolai's playful threat about not leaving until she got off and chuckled to herself.  Then she peered around the wall to see him asleep on the futon.  His mouth slightly agape and one hand under his cheek. 

Would it be so bad with him around all the time? She thought as she cracked open a beer.  To not be alone when she came home from a shift?  How nice it would be to have conversations with someone not “related” in some form or another. 

And Nikolai was interested in Selina.  He still dodged questions about himself, answering straightforwardly with no details.  She knew it was because he didn't trust her just yet.  It wasn't like she didn't have secrets of her own, but the more open she COULD be, the more she knew Nik would reciprocate.  It had to be lonely with only one confidante. 

Selina turned around and jumped a mile in the air.  “Motherfucker!”

Nikolai was casually leaning against the doorway watching her contemplate life and drinking a beer.  “She IS very sexy,” he replied with a cheeky grin. 

Selina rolled her eyes and walked towards her kitchen table to keep distance between herself and the Russian.  As if she were daring him to chase her.  Nik made her feel so contradictory.  In control and submissive.  Safe yet dangerous.  Lustful.  

There was no opposite to that, she realized.  The light from her small kitchen window illuminated the lines and definition of his chest and shoulders.  The collarbone that met in the middle and moved up into his thick neck with its Adam's Apple bobbing along as he swallowed.  A sharp intake of breath before he clenched his jaw.  

Selina’s heart pumped into her ears as he casually reached across the table for her, but she ducked out of the way.  His eyebrows knit together in confusion as they danced around for only a few moments until she allowed him to grab her by the elbow.  Her world stood still as he took her in his arms, back to his chest. 

“I have been thinking, rypka, about our little challenge,” Nikolai settled one hand on her breast which he massaged lightly paying close attention to her nipple.  His mouth somewhere behind her ear as his other hand dropped to her sex. 

A finger found its way inside of Selina and she lost the air in her lungs.  It curved and hooked before making a lazy swirl around her clit.  “Already?” was all she managed.  Her nails closed around his wrist and urged him on. 

“I would like to try a different way of having sex with you.  I just don't want you to be offended.”  

Nik let go of Selina and placed her arms on the tabletop.  He spread her hands out; bent her forward so that her top half was pressed into the wood surface.  Then he grabbed her hips so that her ass was flush with his hardened cock.

“No anal,” she moaned.  “Wear a condom,” another instruction. “Bathroom shelf.” She grazed against him. 

“If you insist,” Nikolai replied in Russian. “I will obey.”  

There was a playful slap on Selina’s ass, and she felt herself swell and throb.  A first time for everything. If she enjoyed it, wet from the sting of being struck, it was.. genetic.  

Her brothers, father, even Honey mentioned the occasional pain got them going.  Klaus and Sunny with varying degrees of punishment.  She knew from eavesdropping or snooping that her parents preferred it light: spanking or hair pulling.  Maybe she did as well.  Too vanilla to ask.  Inexperienced to what she wanted from a partner. 

“Do it again?” Selina tried not to sound desperate as Nikolai tore into the condom wrapper.  She almost presented herself to him as she felt the smooth surface on her cheek.

“What?” he was distracted.  There was a strange snap of latex as he adjusted it.  Then taunted Selina with the head of his cock.  He rubbed it along her slit, marveling at how easy it was to slide in. 

“Hitting me?” she asked timidly. 

“Why would I hit you?” Nikolai was offended.  His hand flat on Selina's back as it traveled to her neck and hair.  His fingers combed and intertwined with her dark waves then lightly tugged. 

Selina braced herself as he lost himself up to the hilt.  Nikolai's pelvis met her ass and pulled out to just the tip.  He repeated this until he gained friction.  Her head and hips were his anchor so he could thrust quicker. Their bodies make a clapping noise. 

“My ass.  Like you did.  Hit it.”  She was willing to try anything.  Wanted to cum for him.  She knew she could, she did it alone all the time.

“Really?” Nik was surprised.  His pace was even faster and the table started to creak under the motion.  “Did you like it then?” His hand cracked her flesh but only slightly harder than before.  

Selina cried out.  Her sex ached and was swollen.  Nikolai did it one more time, but she could tell it wasn't really his thing.  Sensed that it bothered him to be serious about erotic corporal punishment.  Playing was different.  His hand did tighten in her hair to bend her head back. 

“I don't know,” was all he mumbled in Russian.  

The hand that spanked Selina now encompassed her own on the table.  He bent to kiss her shoulder as he found his breakneck rhythm. 

“Then just go harder,” Selina found her voice now.  She relaxed and allowed her body to take how deeply he penetrated her.  His cock at that angle hitting a spot she found mythical. 

Nikolai railed into Selina.  The table and their bodies shook almost violently as he pounded into her.  His shaft lost until she felt a pressure in her womb.  He stood straight and clutched at the thick of her hips.  Her curves she inherited from her mother.  They cushioned her as his body and cock pleased her.  That spark and wave rolled over Selina like on the couch.  

They weren't quiet.  Both forgetting about neighbors as Selina mewled and screamed out. Nikolai growled and uttered obscenities in his first language.  They were certain this would be it, that Selina would orgasm and Nik would feel satisfied that he could please her.  

Instead, his body violently shuddered as he exploded inside the condom.  His muscles and adrenaline gave way to Nik almost collapsing on top of Selina.  He faltered prior to catching her up in his arms again.  He held her and whispered apologies to her as they kissed. 

“Kolya,” she whispered back.  “It's fine.  I was really close.  We have other times to  experiment.”  Selina swept his damp curls back. 

Nikolai leaned into her hand, “You want to keep being with me?” 

“That's what dating is,” she laughed under her breath. “I like being with you.  I wanna know more about YOU though.  Come on,” Selina took his hand.  “Let's actually go to bed and talk.”

---

Selina reached blindly for Nikolai after her alarm went off.  Sitting up, she slammed the clock and turned to see an empty space on the side of the bed he had fallen asleep on. 

She knew he wasn't obligated to be there when she woke up.  This time waking up alone left a weird knot in her stomach.  

“Fuck,” she tossed herself back and threw a pillow over her head to scream.  Her arms and legs failed around like a toddler throwing a fit. 

How long was enough before she called him?  Would he just disappear now? Klaus called it, funnily enough, ghosting.  Why did everything Nik say tread a weird line between romantic and calculating?  And why did Selina want him to keep saying things, anything at all, to her? 

How does someone know they're falling in love? How did Honey and Leon?  Klaus and Dave.  Allison and Ray.  Diego and Patch or Lila.  Vanya and Sissy.  Uncle Tom and Aunt Ella.  Poor Luther.

Selina’s family had a knack for impulsive behavior when it came to attraction.  Her mom moved to a foreign country with a man she had slept with for money.  Klaus fought in Vietnam for a closeted man that kissed him once. Sunny went home with, to Selina’s chagrin, anyone who showered him with the simplest of affection. And Selina had laid down and spread her legs for a Russian committing arson.  

“Lina you are awake?” Nikolai asked from the other room. 

She threw a bathrobe on and wandered into the kitchen.  “You came back.”

Nik was reaching above her tiny sink for coffee mugs and plates.  “Did you not want me to?”

He set the dishes out and opened a box to pull out some pastries and bagels.  Then poured coffee and handed Selina the cup. 

“I wasn’t sure what you liked,” he offered her the plate.  “Greek, Italian and Russian,” a satisfied grin flashed across his face.

“Well that was kind of you,” she smiled back and helped herself to a cannoli and Russian tea cookie.  “Yes, I wanted you to come back. I think I kinda always do?” she questioned her own intentions with a mouthful of pastry. 

Nik leaned over and kissed Selina.  His tongue darted out to taste the sweet ricotta filling on her lips; she reciprocated.  Her own slipping to the back of his mouth to catch him off guard. Nik steadied himself on her hips. 

There was a muddled sound of pleasure when Selina’s fingers unbuttoned Nikolai’s shirt in expert time.  Their mouths never separated as she went to work on his belt and pants as he struggled to take his boots off. 

“This was not my plan for this morning,” Nik breathed heavily in Russian. 

“I'm just really interested in us reaching that goal,” Selina helped him out of his clothes.  

Kissing again, they could feel their lips start to chap already as Selina began backing Nik into her room until he hit the foot of her bed.  As he leaned back, she climbed on his lap.  Her hands seized his cock and settled it in the folds of her sex.  Selina rolled her hips.

“What are you doing!?” Nikolai could only cry out. Astonished by the lack of a condom.  

“I'm sick of being the safe one,” she raised up on her knees so that she was above him.  Her hands on his face and neck as she snaked her tongue to the back of his teeth again.  

Selina shoved him back on the bed and threw off her robe.  She straddled Nikolai like a woman possessed, took his hands and placed them on her breasts as she rode him.  Still not penetrated.

Nik lost himself for a moment.  He massaged the breasts.  One hand teased a nipple, pinched it,  before sitting up to devour it.  Selina held him to her chest, clung to the hair on the back of his head and pulled in her excitement.  Her fingers found the gnarly scar and she rocked harder on his lap. 

“I want you to fuck me until I cum.” 

Nikolai looked up and held her back, “It is not fucking at this point.  Not for me, Lina.  Also you must not compromise your principles for anyone.  I do not want this for you.”  

Selina groaned with exasperation.  Her walls were swollen and slick and wanting.  “It's not a compromise, Nik.  Everyone jumps in my family and trusts they’ll fly while I stand on the cliff pacing back and forth.” 

He blinked, mouth just slightly agape.  That face.  Selina knew that face.  She loved that face.  She loved this face. “Lina, you are extraordinary.  You don't need to have a big life just yet.  It will happen.” 

“Kolya,” her words softer now as she relaxed, “I love you.”

“Do you?!” a dopey grin spread across Nikolai's face.  “It is the same for me I think?  I've never done this, you know.  “That I love you.”  

He kissed Selina before turning under her to rummage around the nightstand drawer. “Now we will go back to the way you prefer?  If I need to I will get..” he stopped and held something aloft.  Now his smile and dimples were devilish. 

He studied it before making it buzz with a push of a button.  “Pocket Rocket?! Lina, are you secretly naughty?" he giggled. 

"I don't think it's a secret to you anymore,” she reached for it.  Her cheeks turned red. 

"Who do you fantasize about when you use it?" Nikolai held it to Selina’s breasts.  He watched with fascination as her nipples hardened.  He let it travel over her stomach and back up. 

Selina moaned and twisted. "You're just trying to get me to say you, but I've had it since I turned twenty.  So mostly you know.. Keanu Reeves..”  

“But not me?" his eyebrow cocked.  Nikolai traced the vibrator along her hips and over her pelvic bone.  

"Once in a while,” her words came out breathless.

"As a Russian, I'm already superior at using it because rocket?” he waggled his brows now.  “We can now?  With you on top?”

The toy found her slit and slid inside easily.  It buzzed and made the air rush out of Selina’s lungs.  She dug her nails into Nikolai's chest while he started to use the vibrator to have sex with her.  Found a pattern of in and out while she bucked and writhed.  

Selina reached back to anchor herself on one of Nik’s thighs. It allowed him better access to her clit.  He Marveled at the way she agonized under his hand as it manipulated her.  His free hand on her ass to coax her faster as SHE undulated now as he had done on the couch.  Her hips danced separately from her upper half.

Nikolai rolled Selina on her back all of a sudden.  Her hair hung off the bed as he propped up on an elbow.  He worked the vibrator in circles.  In and out of her slick walls before going after the clit.  

Selina got tangled up in the sheets as she felt a warmth spread from her stomach to her sex.  Her thighs started to tighten around Nik's hand as she thrust her hips off the bed.  Eyes clamped shut as the first wave washed over her body.  Neck exposed for him to suck and bite which urged another orgasm to burn through her.  

Nikolai was stunned by her silence.  Selina’s mouth opened in a silent cry as she came a third time in succession.  This last time she managed a strangled scream of his name which he swallowed with a kiss.  

A shiver ran through Selina while she relaxed.  Her fingers traced patterns along Nikolai's bicep as her eyes closed.  Cumming was like a sedative.  Nikolai cupping her face and drawing it to his for a lazy kiss was a sedative.  The rain she had no idea was pouring in buckets outside her window was also a sedative.  

The vibrator continued buzzing until it didn't.  The room grew quiet save for the breaths that came from Nik’s nose.  Still heavy with his still hardened bulge pressed into Selina’s hip.  There was no move to get on top of her.  To have sex with her so he, too, could cum.  She started to idly jerk him off. 

“Lina stop,” he gently took her hand.  “This was about you, not me.  It'll go away eventually.  Like I will,” he said that last bit with a challenge in his voice.  

Selina curled on her side towards Nikolai.  “Or maybe don't go?” 

“Ty khochesh', chtoby ya ostalsya?” You want me to stay?

“Po krayney mere, yeshche odno polnoluniye.”

At least one more full moon.

Tag list: @elliethesuperfruitlover @super-unpredictable98 @messengeronthemoon @nightmonsters @070188 @rob-private @firstpersonnarrator @ghouls-buddy @frogs--are--bitches @maerenee930 @duck-noises @bwritesstuff @sylvertyger @a-ghoulish-tale @icecoffeegirl @iamsexytrash @clumsyramen @falloutby @inspiremeandsetmefree @philodenmonstera @seancekitsch @the-freckled-luba @violetrainbow412-blog

#robert sheehan #robert sheehan character fic #robert sheehan imagine #nikolai x selina #song of sway lake fic #robert sheehan smut #moonbrella lake

[iamanartichoke]

I am literally about to cry here that people are wanting to blame Tom...that...I don't even have the words...I'm sad, angry, and disappointed...it feels like people who are so ready to blame him shouldn't be fans... I don't want to say that so strongly though because I know at some point they must have loved him and Loki too...but if they no longer like what Disney/Marvel, and MAYBE Tom (executive producer doesn't necessarily hold much weight) is doing with the character, then maybe they should simply faze out of the fandom, or that section of the fandom, or stick with the older stuff...or at least don't be hating on others who are happy about it....I don't know how to avoid the hate on my dash and it's making me very sad (understatement)

So - for one thing, I’m really sorry that you’re feeling upset; I know what it’s like to see posts on your dash that get to you and send you down a spiral. I really do get it and sympathize. I recommend filtering tags to the best of your ability and unfollowing/blocking people who are posting things that bring you down.

But I feel like this ask is a double-edged sword, smh. I don’t know how to answer it bc I get what you mean but I think there’s two different issues being addressed here - one being that people shouldn’t be blaming Tom personally for his creative role (which I absolutely agree with) and the second being that people shouldn’t be in this fandom space/call themselves fans of Tom/Loki if they’re not happy about the show (which I absolutely do not agree with). 

First of all, yes - I’ve been consistently saying this over the past couple of days: regardless of how you feel about the series, it’s not okay to cross the line into blaming Tom personally if that blame leaves the fandom space and progresses into harassment of actual people (esp. Tom). I am not saying I’ve seen anyone do that, nor do I think anyone I know/am friends with here would do that. I am just saying that when you start assigning personal blame, it has the potential to get sticky so better to just keep your feelings focused on the material itself (whether that be the writing, directing, or acting choices made).  

HOWEVER. I really don’t think it’s fair to say that if people don’t like the show, or what it may do to the character, or Tom’s contributions to it, that they don’t belong in this fandom space anymore and/or shouldn’t participate, or should just stick to “the old stuff.” It’s really not fair at all; that’s exactly the kind of rhetoric that should be avoided bc it implies that the only way to be a “real” fan or a “true” fan is to feel happy, excited, etc about new content and developments, as opposed to feeling disappointed, negative, or upset bc it seems that the canon is going in a direction that no longer aligns with what drew the person to the character in the first place. 

People need to realize that you can be critical of things and still enjoy them. You can also be critical of things bc you don’t enjoy how it’s progressed, but you still care deeply about the original material. You can connect to a character and feel protective of that character and want to engage with that character and still feel like the current canon of that character isn’t your cup of tea. And, yes, you can disagree with Tom’s interpretations and choices when it comes to how he’s portraying Loki (whether it be in his acting choices or his creative contributions or both). You're allowed to think for yourself.  

I really dislike the implication that being a fan = 100% loving everything about it, and being critical = 100% being a hating anti who shouldn’t even be here.

But I see it all the time. 98% of the “positive” posts regarding the show right now include some kind of shade thrown at the other side - ie, “omg stop whining,” or “how can you hate it without even seeing it? Trailers are misleading!” (interesting how that never works the opposite way, though - how can you love it without even seeing it? I digress.) to “Tom’s in control here, this is his Loki, and if you don’t like it then maybe you don’t actually understand the real Loki and should stick to fanfiction or better yet just leave.” 

^^ Obviously I’m paraphrasing, but my point is that the people who are unhappy are clearly and appropriately tagging their disappointment posts, and are not going around hating on anyone who’s excited, and the same cannot be said for the other side. I can only speak for my own experiences but I have seen ‘negativity’ consistently tagged, and kept to posts where the discussion is among like-minded people, and I have also seen the above vagueposting as well as unprompted posts like “lol guess what’s being complained about today” as well as the so-called positive people hopping onto negative posts in order to tell people to shut up and stop complaining before we’ve even seen the finished product. 

So. My point in all of this is - 1) I discourage people from personally blaming Tom bc fandom and social media have created this weird culture where hate campaigns against celebs are launched all the time, and it’s not okay, but 2) that doesn’t mean that the criticism, disappointment, and/or negativity shouldn’t exist at all, or shouldn’t be discussed, and 3) it is not anyone’s right to say who belongs in fandom and who doesn’t because the last time I checked, fandom was for everybody and if we could all just stop being assholes and play nicely with one another like the good lord intended, none of this would even be an issue. 

#i hope this makes sense and i hope i don't sound hostile #and if i do i apologize #but idk maybe it's just me? and how my brain works? but it seems like people can't even have conflicting opinions #like either you love it or you hate it #and if you hate it you hate tom #and if you love it you're mad that people hate it #and apparently 'criticism is fine' equals 'blame tom! what a traitor!' and saying #no actually let's not blame tom kthx then it's #omg can you believe? people shouldn't even be here #if they're gonna hate on tom #amirite #like #let's just share the fucking sandbox without worrying about who's building castles and who's digging moats #smh #a nonny mouse #tag rambles #loki series: just drink what's in the glass #tom hiddleston is my favorite unicorn #i am sorry that i ramble so much #dear lord. #Anonymous

[unacarasinvoz]

Arguments - Damon (TVD) x unnamed.

I'm setting myself a smut based picture prompt challenge. Every week I will write a one-shot smut/fluff based on a picture. Don't hesitate to send in suggestions <3

This one was a special request! I had so many ideas for this, so I think I might right two.... This is the slightly less 'intense' version. (I don't own the image)

Your breath hitched in your throat as you climbed the stairs two at a time. You could feel your blood pounding through your head, rage simmering in your veins. You couldn’t remember feeling this angry before, and it was driving all logical thought from your mind.

As you reached the top floor you launched yourself at his door, fists pounding on the wood that threatened to give under your onslaught.

“OPEN THE DOOR DAMON!!” Your kept your voice quiet despite the aggression in your tone, not wanting to alert Stefan to your drama

“OPEN. THE. DOOR!!!”

You almost fell inside as the door suddenly swung open, the sudden movement of air enveloping you in his scent. You froze at the sight of his face, your outrage reaching a peak as you took in the source of all your problems.

“YOU. ABSOLUTE. FUCKING. ARSEHOLE!!!” You screamed in his face, punctuating each word by swinging your bag at the floor.

“How could you?? How COULD you?” Your anger was making your voice tremble and you took a couple of deep breaths, turning around to close the door behind you so that he didn’t see the stray tear run down your cheek. You refused to let him see you cry, and you quickly wiped your cheek, trying to force yourself to calm down.

Turning back around, you stood your ground, glaring at him from under your eyelashes as your body trembled. Your mind reeled with all the things you wanted to scream in his face, or throw at his face. Your fists curled and uncurled at your sides as you tried to hold yourself back. You didn’t think you could actually hurt him, even if you did punch him, but it wouldn’t be acceptable for him to hit you, so it shouldn't be for you either.

Also, you didn’t want to become that petty girlfriend who punched their boyfriend in the arm as soon as she was angry. You refused to stoop to that level.

In response to your static position, Damon quirked a brow, smirking at you with that knowing look that would normally have you drooling on the floor. But right now, in your state of anger, it was the final straw. All your focus zoned in on that smug face, and your desperate desire to wipe that stupid fucking smirk off his arrogant lips.

“You had no right. No FUCKING right. You do not control me. You are not the boss of me!”

You raised a threatening finger at him, jabbing at the air to emphasise your point.

“I am my own person. I am strong and independent. I have survived for twenty years without a man in my life. And I can survive for twenty more. You have NO right to tell me how to live my life. NONE! Absolutely fucking NONE!”

His smirk had gone, but his eyebrow was still cocked in amusement.

“SCREW YOU! And SCREW your misogynistic views. I am not here to be your cook and your cleaner. I am NOT your FUCKING MOTHER.”

He chuckled slightly in response and before you knew it your feet were carrying you forward.

“You are everything I promised myself I wouldn’t date. Everything I promised myself I would avoid. And I HATE YOU! I fucking hate you…”

You glared up into his piercing emerald eyes, and felt almost pierced into place. Normally a glance from those eyes would be enough to lose all your self control. But right now all you saw was red. The red of your rage, the red of your hatred for this man who had asked the impossible of you.

He chuckled again, and you were suddenly aware of how close you had moved to him. Your chests were practically touching, and with each violent inhale they brushed together.

“I… hate you.” Your voice was sad, as you realised what that meant for you and him.

His face moved impossibly closer, his breath tickling your cheek, making a shiver run down your spine.

His lips moved to your ear and his hands gripped your waist, spinning you both around so he could pin you to the wall. His hands trailed along your sides, then grabbed your wrists and pinned them to the wall above you.

“Say that again?” He teased, his breath tickling at your ear. You felt yourself squirm in his hands, half of your body longing to lean into him, whilst the other half wanted to shove him away and scream in his face.

“Hmmm?” He hummed in your ear. He pulled back, taking in your face, almost enjoying your struggle.

Your mind was whirling. Your rage was rapidly threatening to fade into an intense lust and you were clinings to the last remnants of your sanity. You could feel yourself wanting to lean into him, press your hips into his. But you refused to give him the satisfaction. You were here to convey a message and giving in to him wasn’t going to help matters. You needed to speak your mind and then get out.

Probably sooner rather than later, you reminded yourself as you found yourself staring into his eyes rather than answering.

Your mouth was suddenly dry, and your tongue flicked out to moisten your lips so that you could repeat your statement.

His gaze dropped to your lips, and when you finally opened your mouth to speak, his head moved impossibly closer, his lips a hairs breadth from you, and you found the words stuck in your throat as his breath ghosted over your ear, your cheek, your mouth…

He froze an inch from your lips, awaiting your response, but your mind had gone blank. All you could think about was how close he was, how fucking hot you felt with your back pressed against he wall, hands pinned over your head, your hips pushed forward, straining for contact.

He chuckled, aware of his control. Then, finally, his lips descended on your, dominating your mouth, as his body finally moved flush against yours, trapping you between a rock and a hard place...

His lips were fierce and demanding, his tongue immediately requesting access to your mouth. You managed to refuse him for a few seconds, remnants of your anger preventing you, but when his spare hand roughly twitched your nipple, you couldn’t help the gasp that escaped you.

He took immediate advantage of your open mouth, his tongue claiming you as it explored.

Your body automatically leaned into him further, your chest arching upwards, your hands still pinned to the wall behind you.

His spare hand moved downwards to cup your ass, and you reacted instinctively, jerking your hips forward into his. He growled at the contact, moving both hands down to pin your waist to the wall.

Your hands finally free, you took full advantage, shoving him in the chest in an attempt to create a gap between the two of you that might allow you to recover some of your more rational thoughts. But your shove didn’t even shift him, although he did pull away, his brow furrowed in a quizzical look. As soon as his lips left yours you sucked in a breath of air, hoping to restabilise yourself, but your nose filled with his scent, and it took everything in your power not to lean into him again.

“You can’t just kiss me and expect everything to be ok. You asked me to quit my job! My dream career! Just because you want to be able to work full time in a different country and expect me to travel between here and there?”

He chuckled again, his hand reaching out to move your hair behind your ear.

“No sweetheart. I asked IF you would consider quitting your current job.”

“But…” He interrupted you with a finger over your lips.

“Because I have been offered a job in London, and I really want to take it, and I know that the company you work for has a sister organisation in London.

“I am not forcing you to do anything. I was just wondering if you would consider applying for a transfer to London. If you don’t want to, I won’t take the job offer. I never want to be apart from you and I couldn’t cope if we lived in different countries. I was just asking if you would consider quitting your current job to replace it with an identical job in a different country.

“I was not expecting you to become a stay at home, trophy girlfriend.” He teased.

“I’m proud of you, of how hard you have fought for your career, of how far you have come, of everything you have achieved, and I would never ask you to give it up. If you transferred, you’d have the same job but just in a different country.”

You felt yourself flush in embarrassment at his words, suddenly wishing you’d heard him out earlier. But you’d been so enraged at what you thought he’d been asking that you’d stormed off, not giving him the benefit of the doubt.

Your mouth opened and closed as you tried to respond, tried to find the words that could say I’m sorry and I love you and please fuck me all at the same time. Damon chuckled at your expression, his hand cupping your chin as he pressed his forehead against yours.

“I love you,” he murmured.

A small smile broke across your face as you lifted up onto your tip toes, pressing your lips against his in a gentle kiss.

As you softly kissed his lips, Damon’s hand slid down to your neck and you couldn’t help the moan that escaped you as his hand gently captured your slender neck. You felt him smirk in response as he deepened the kiss, his free hand gently roaming your body.

But with Damon nothing was ever gentle for long.

#tvd fandom #damon salvatore #smutty #fanfic #anger vent #slight smut #romance #choking

[a-crash-in-time-collection]

Chapter 10: Supplies in Alpine

The air was chilly up here, almost feeling like it would wrap around the four as they slowly headed up the tall mountain. Hat Girl was the least affected of the human creatures there, although she did notice the chill quite a bit. She didn't remember this from her childhood, although to be honest, she didn't even recall this place existed. All she would remember was falling onto Alpine Skyline from her spaceship. If only it was that easy now.

The reason they were here was clear: supplies. By now they had gotten a good amount of pons from Cooking Cat, so repairs on the orbital station was much more possible. However, there didn't seem to be many places to get them, at least at first glance. The nearest place that seemed like they had all the clan could need was Mafia town. And they most likely wouldn't have been able to get anything there, with Mafia Boss' hatred towards Hat Girl.

She sighed as she hopped over another small ledge, staring up at the tower that entered her sights. She knew Alpine Skyline likely didn't have the best technology parts they needed, but it was better than nothing at this rate. At least get something to cover up the most dangerous parts. Plus, it would be a nice place to sightsee if they had the spare time. Alpine Skyline was always beautiful in her memories.

"What were the people who made this place thinking?" Platinum said as he stepped beside her, sighing as if tried for once in his robotic life. Hat Girl chuckled and shook her head, before glancing over at her Dads. Both looked ready to get there already, especially Reginald. She sighed, if she knew it would have been this much of a climb, she would have warned them. But there was nothing that could be done about it now.

She soon came across the gate to the place, still open after all these years. Either that, or it was closed at some point and open at another. Either way, saved time as she turned the corner, beginning to head up the stairs. She had already equipped the hookshot badge to her hat, her umbrella in hand as she soon reached the top. She knew they were going to need it soon, and quite possibly a lot.

"Is... this place invisible?" Reginald asked once they got to the top, almost nothing in sight. "I know you mentioned something about a magic bell that takes you to another realm, but the way you talked about it made it seem like it was in the town."

"No, the place isn't invisible. We just can't see it since we aren't quite there yet." She chuckled as Reginald looked at her in confusion. She glanced around the area, and felt her cheery mood fade slightly. The storm clouds and the skulls nearby... eh, she's seen worse. She soon spotted her target, a bunch of flags on a line that went up into the clouds. She pointed her umbrella out to it, then reached a hand in the direction of her family. "Do you trust me?"

Platinum rolled his eyes playfully as he walked forward. "I mean, why wouldn't we?" he said, taking her hand. She seemed to let out a small smile, before her umbrella seemed to turn into a claw of sorts, launching onto the wire and quickly sending them up it

"Hattie, Platinum!" Reginald called out in worry as he tried to reach for them, but couldn't. He was about to start panicking when he felt himself being lifted off his feet, blushing as his husband hold him close. His feet allowed him to float in the air, and he quickly darted in the direction of the two, only slowly once they had caught up. Reginald looked at them. "At least warn us before you try something like that, if you let go you could fall!"

"Relax Dad, I used to do this all the time!" Hat Girl chuckled, as Platinum's scream finally disappeared. Reginald looked shocked at the statement, but seemed to sigh knowing he shouldn't be surprised at this rate. "If it makes you feel better, most of the actual shops should be in the middle mountain, so this should be the only time we need to do this!" She called to them with a smile.

"But it's fun!" Platinum called, like he hadn't been screaming a few seconds earlier.

Hat Girl chuckled slightly at that, as her eyes were set forward. Eventually, the clouds started to lighten, before they begin to fade. The air both seemed to loosen its grip on them all and get tighter at the same time. Soon those tall mountains entered their sights, and Hat Girl felt she might get teary eyed. It was almost more beautiful than she remembered. It made her feel happy, like for a split moment she was a child here again.

"Woa'... How did t'ey even build t'at." Right Hand Man spoke in complete shock, almost slowing down to fully take in the sight. Hat Girl glanced over with a decent shrug. Right Hand Man looked over at her, while Reginald started with stars in his eyes. "S'ould proboly stop askin' t'ose questions, but I'm sure even magic wouldn't 'elp build all of t'at."

"Yeah, that might be the smart move Papa." She said, chuckling as they got closer and closer to the mountains. She wondered briefly what it would be like to live like this. Sure, she knew about living among the clouds by now, but this just seemed like another level of clam... peaceful... She focused as the land got closer. "Hang on Platinum!" She called behind herself as she retracted her umbrella and quickly landed on the ground.

Platinum stumbled a bit once his feet hit the ground, tripping and falling. "Woah..." He said, slowly picking himself up and dusting off his clothing. Right Hand Man landed on the ground, and Reginald got out of his arms, ready to race over and check for any sights of harm. But Platinum just looks at them with a grin. "That was so cool! We need to do that again sometime! Maybe bring Van with us when we do!"

"No." Right Hand Man said, crossing his arms. "You'll all just get 'urt."

Platinum sighed. "I mean, yeah, I guess Van wouldn't be up for something like this anyway." He said as he looked down in defeat. Hat Girl gave her Dads a knowing look, and they did the same. She walked over to the topbot and placed a hand on his shoulder, giving him a small smile as he looked at her. He smiled in return, and gently knocked the hand off. "Ehh, doesn't matter much anyway. The idea alone would make most toppats shiver."

"And even if it didn't, most wouldn't go for it either way." Regianld said, sighing as he looked around. He adjusted his gloves as he did, a small smile forming on his face. "It's a shame though, this place really is beautiful. If only it had better means of getting up here... and back down." He shivered at the realstion.

"Relax, Reg. Can't be 'ard to get us all down safely." Right Hand Man said, placing a hand on his lover's shoulder. Reginald looked at him, and smiled a tiny bit, placing his hand over his right hand's. Hat Girl took a sigh as she glanced around. She was a little surprised that she hadn't seen any little Nomads yet.

It appeared her mind thought too soon, as a small basket fell from a higher up area of the mountain. She glanced at it, walking over and picking it up. She heard a small gasp from above, and glanced up to the edge above hers. Sure enough, there was a figure whose golden eyes shined bright under the egyption like hat... or hood. They made their way down, being careful not to trip and fall by mistake, before looking up at her.

"Heh, I think you dropped this." Hat Girl said, offering the basket to the small figure. They seemed to slowly reach for it, taking it slowly from the much larger figure's hand. As if they were still processing what was in front of them. Hat Girl could only let out an awkward chuckle of sorts, not really sure what to say. "Well, uhh, it's been quite awhile, hasn't it?"

"It really is you!" The Nomad claimed in joy, and she could almost feel their smile despite their mouth not being visible. It brought a bit of warmth to her heart seeing them. Plus, the smaller size compared to her now, while still strange, was adding in the Nomad's cuteness factor. She couldn't help but smile, even though she was already. "We all had heard about your return, but didn't think we would see you!"

"Wow, even a bunch of people in the freakin sky heard about your return." Platinum said, before shrugging. "I mean, you've always been a big deal in some form or another. I should stop being surprised at this point."

"I mean, fair I suppose." Hat Girl chuckled, giving a shrug to him before looking back down at the nomad. They seemed to be staring at Platinum in some sort of awe, likely never having seen anything like him before. She chuckled slightly at their curiosity, bringing their attention back to her. "He's my brother. Dad made him just for me when I was a child, and we've been close ever since that day."

"Oh wow!" The nomad said in awe, before trying to return to a more casual term. "So uhh, what brings you here to the skyline today? There aren't any hourglasses here, as far as I'm aware at least... then again, the birds in the birdhouse have gotten better at hiding the things they steal."

"Well, mostly business I'm afraid." Reginald chuckled as he walked over to the Nomad, offering them his hand slightly. The nomad stared up at him for a minute, before garbing it with their small hoof like one and shaking it faintly. Reginald's heart felt like it could burst faintly, before he coughed as he regained himself. "We were wondering if you happen to have any spare supplies."

"Oh, we have lots! It's never bad to be extra prepared! Especially when you live all the way up above the clouds!" The Nomad said, giggling faintly. Reginald had to resist the urge to place a hand over his heart, they were just so pure. Were the other Nomads like this? He would just have to wait and see then. "Why would you need supplies though?" They asked, tilting their head. "Shouldn't you all have lots of your own."

"Well... our orbital station broke and crashed down here." Reginald said, sighing slightly. The golden yellow eyes of the nomad went wide, as if the thought alone scared them. "We need to get work on repairing it in any way we can, but we don't have many proper tools or useful parts. Plus, food has been a small bit of an issue besides some leftovers."

"Oh, that sounds awful!" The Nomad said, placing their hand over where their mouth would be. Right Hand Man sighed in the background, glancing to the side. While this place was clearly much nicer than mafia town, he still wished they would just wrap things up so they could go along. They didn't have much time to waste.

"Yeah, Cooking Cat's cooking is amazing, but there's only so long you can reheat the food over a fire and it keeps it's great taste." Hat Girl sighed, rubbing the back of her head slightly. While she still had Mr. Thicc come with a bit of food after his shifts at her place, they could only last so long among a few hundred people. "Our first goal will likely be to try and fix the kitchen, at least that seems like it would be a smart move."

"Me and Reg were already talkin' about t'at." Right Hand Man said, walking closer to the group at last. He gave a quick glance to Platinum who looked like he was about to wander off, chuckling slightly as the topbot pouted and came back over to them. He then turned his attention back to Hat Girl. "Keep t'inkin' like t'at. 'o Knows, maybe t'is will 'appen again w'en yer in c'arge." He said, making her shrug.

"Well, I know we can help with food at the very least! I mean, we have a whole cake tower after all... although that one is made of lava." The nomad chuckled faintly, getting the attention of the group again. Platinum seemed to be must more interest in the food part of the conversation, but Reginald's look shot him down. "Tools should also be no problem. Metal might be slightly harder to agree, and I don't think we have many, if any wires."

"Anything you have that could be useful, we'll be grateful for." Reginald said, offering a smile to the Nomad, who seemed to beam at it. He briefly wondered if he should try to get them to meet Shadow Kid, but that would be up to Snatcher. "You have no idea how much it will all truly mean to us. It will make things so much easier on us and our clan."

"It will be no problem! It's the least we can do after your daughter cured the goats and stopped the world's end after all!" The Nomad said, and Reginald almost did a double take. He recalled hearing about her stopping something with lava and times end before, but curing goats? He glanced at her, and she just shrugged with a chuckle. "If you follow me, I can help you get the stuff you need. It will be a small climb, though."

"After all we went through to get here, I'm sure it will be nothing." Platinum said, chuckling slightly. The nomad gave him a confused look, before shrugging and began to head to one of the easier areas to climb up. Platinum glanced around, then back at his sister. "Man, this place looks like a maze and not at the same time. How did you not get lost while originally here?"

"The answer to that is simple, I didn't." She said, chuckling as he bumped her with his shoulder. She looked around again, taking a slight breath as the wind seemed to blow by. She looked forward again before following the Nomad, heading up ledges that made up what had to be the tallest mountain in the skyline. "I still remember searching around for all the tiny stuff. This place had a lot hidden when I showed up."

"Just don't go sneakin' around w'ile we're not lookin'." Right Hand Man said, offering a hand to her as she got closer to him, helping her up. She nodded, but he kept his glare. "I mean t'at Hattie. I know you t'ink you can 'andle it, but it just takes one wrong slip and we'll never see ya again."

"Alright, alright. There's no reason to worry about it Papa." She said, smiling softly at him before continuing to follow the Nomad, waving to a few others and a goat that happened to be nearby. Right Hand Man sighed slightly, Platinum giving a shrug to him as they continued on. When they reached the main shopping building, Reginald had the kids wait outside while he walked in, Right Hand Man staying by the door.

Hat Girl sat near the edge of one of the ledges, although not close enough to where she would fall. She glanced around to get a look at the peaks, and smiled upon remembering small things about each one. How pesky the were birds in the birdhouse, the heat of the lava cake, the death trap that was the windmill, and the ghostly realm of the twilight bell. It almost feels like yesterday she was there in those places.

"It is pretty nice up here." Platinum stated, sitting down beside her.

"Yeah. Oddly enough for all I remember, I don't recall taking too much time to just look around this place." She said, shrugging as she leaned back slightly, glancing up at the sky. Everything just seemed so peaceful about this whole planet, more than it was when she was a kid. Maybe because she had the time to truly take it in. "Speaking of which, I heard you and Van ran off to Mafia Town the other day.

"Not near pops!" Platinum said, quickly making a 'shhh' sound as Hat Girl giggled.

"Sorry." She said, shaking her head slightly. Right Hand Man glanced over briefly, before glancing back to where Reginald was, allowing the siblings to have more peace when it came to their conversation. "But for real, what did you two get up to? Van mentioned you two came across Mu."

"Yeah, we did. She seemed a little bit worried about you when we met." Platinum said, shrugging as Hat Girl tilted her head to the side. Mu was worried about her? Did someone tell her something happened? And why did the thought of Mu specially being worried about her made her feel... something. "We spent all the time there spray painting that observatory of these dark and neon bleeding colors."

"Brother, you are evil." She said, making Platinum laugh at the bluntness of it. Some Nomads passed them, and Hat Girl waved to them, slightly. They looked shocked, but waved back happily as they continued the path they were originally on. "Kinda strange how all the Nomads and Goats aren't trying to hug attack me. Then again, never formed a close bond like with Snatcher or Conductor with any specific one."

"I mean, I can understand why. You aren't gonna be instant friends with everyone you meet." Platinum stated.

"Yeah, friendship isn't always something that can happen just by saying hi after all. Sometimes you need to save the town from lava, sometimes you need to help with movies, sometimes you gotta sell your soul to lay the groundwork." She shrugged slightly as she glanced back out to where some of the peaks were. "Besides, that last thing had more pros than just making a friend, it caused Shadow Kid to be born."

"Yeah, she was so cute! Snatcher needs to bring her to the station sometime." Platinum chuckled, glancing in the direction of where some of the peaks were as well. He then began to look at the smaller mountains, all like their own little islands in the sky. "I know we're going to be leaving soon, but I just want to see a bit more. Get more of a feel for the place, you know. See if any new hidden things appeared."

"Yeah, that would be amazing!" Hat Girl said, smiling brightly.

"Well, t'is might take longer than we t'ought. Reg says 'e 'nd t'e nomads are goin' into more details about exact amounts and prices." Right Hand Man said as he walked over. Hat Girl stood up from the ground, dusting off her purple blazer as she looked at him. That made sense, it was good to know all that important stuff. "'e Says t'at you two wouldn't want to just sit 'ere t'e w'ole time. So I suppose we can check out one of t'e ot'er mountain tips."

The two kids gasped, Platinum standing up quickly in shock. "You mean it?" Hat Girl asked as she looked at the cyborg. She gained a big grin, and raced up to him, hugging him. Right Hand Man was a bit taken aback at first, but chuckled and patted her on the back as she let go. "Oh thank you Papa! But... are you sure Dad will be ok missing out on it all? Alpine Skyline is really pretty after all."

"Ehh, if we find somethin' 'e would miss, we can just take a picture." Right Hand Man shrugged.

"Then let us go then!" Platinum said, beginning to run blindly, before he nearly slipped down an edge. Hat Girl raced over to help him backup and have him get steady again, before taking a faint glance down herself. Luckily it wasn't a big fall, so he would have been fine, but still. He chuckled as he looked over at Right Hand Man. "Ok, I'll admit we need you to watch us now and again."

"Trust me, I know." Right Hand Man sighed, walking over to the two. He was half tempted to slap Platinum for that move, but he didn't want to harm him by mistake. He scanned the closest mountains to the one they were on, preferring to not go too far. He soon spotted one with a small town at the top nearby, pointing at it as he looked at Hat Girl. "T'at one seems alrig't to ya?"

"Yeah, that one would be great!" Hat Girl said. Sure, she also would have loved to head to one of the peaks, or redo that puzzle with the time stop hat, but that was the safest choice. If she ended up getting bored, she could also ask to head to another if they had time. "Maybe we can talk to some more Nomads there. See if anything small has changed since I was gone. Something had to have changed."

Right Hand Man nodded. "Alrig't, let's go t'en."

Hat Girl had begun to head to where the flag wire that would lead them to it were, but Right Hand Man just grabbed her hand. "Oh, you'll just fly us over?" she said, before shurrging. She should have seen that coming. "Alright, guess I'll see you in a sec Platy." She said, allowing her father to get a small grip on her, before heading over to the island. She glanced around the place as she did, only stopping when they reached ground again.

"Don't move from this spot." Right Hand Man said, Hat Girl giving him a nod before he went off to garb Platinum. As she waited, she glanced around the area. It was mostly empty, which she wasn't surprised by. More often than not she just saw one, maybe two goats here when passing by in her youth. However, she noticed what appeared to be scratch marks, which got her worried.

Soon the other two came back, Platinum rushing over with a smile. "That wasn't long!" He chuckled a bit, bumping her in the shoulder. She glanced at him and chuckled, although she had a nervous tone to it. He gave her a slightly confused look, before taking a glance around the area. He took a few steps forward, paused, then glanced back at the two. "Woah, it's like a ghost town here. Would have expected that from Snatcher's woods."

"Yeah.." She said nervously, walking up to where Platinum was, waving their father over. It was best to stick together after all. Especially right here. "You two might wanna hold onto your hats while here, really tight." She said, garbing her hats as she listened for any footsteps. "We should find somewhere else to check out. Now may be the worst time to be here."

"Why are ya actin' t'is way Hattie? It isn't like ya, and it isn't-" he stop when he heard a chuckle, before grunting in pain as his hair was suddenly pulled back. Platinum stared at the sight in shock, before racing to help Right Hand Man get free from the invisible force. The yellow band in his hair was pulled loose, before seeming to disappear as Right Hand Man turned around. "W'ot was t'at-"

"That was the Lazy Paw Gang." Hat Girl said, as the two looked at her in confusion. She listened closely, holding her umbrella close as she got ready to strike whatever came after her, but nothing did. She sighed slightly, allowing herself to relax before glancing upon her confused family members. "Cats that have the ability to turn invisible. They live in places like these and love to steal headwear."

"Really?" Platinum asked. "Are they trying to make their fur look good or something?"

"Doesn't matter w'ot t'ey want it for, I need it back!" Right Hand Man stated, beginning to look for where the cat could have gone. There wasn't much luck, as it seemed every other time he turned his head, some of his hair would get in the way. He huffed as he kept moving it out of the way, crossing his arms at one point. "T'is is why yer fat'er needs to let me cut my 'air more often. It's not like it 'urts anybody."

"Really, because it sounds like not having this hairband is hurting you?" A voice chuckled, and the three glanced at the top of one of the nearby houses. There was the Lazy Paw, swinging the hairband for their paw tauntingly. "Kinda funny."

"Well ya need to give it back!" Right Hand Man shouted, as Hat Girl got a better look at the cat. They looked like the Lazy Paw members she remembered, maybe just a bit smaller. The white spots, outfit, and green eyes were the same, with the major difference being the black fur. The only cats she had seen with that color fur were from the metro, and it got her worried. Could they be related to the Empress in some way.

"Pops, I think you of all people know just shouting for them to give it back won't work." Platinum said, getting a slight glare from Right Hand Man in return. Platinum shrugged and glanced up at the cat. "I have to admit it, that was pretty cool. You must be able to get away with so much while invisible, you're making me jealous." he chuckled as he crossed his arm. "What's your name, anyway, kid?"

"Adalyn, and you look too young to be calling me kid." The cat pointed out, giggling.

"I don't know whether to consider that an insult or a compliment.. insultment?" Platinum said, making Hat Girl giggled and Right Hand Man facepalm, hissing slightly as he blindly used his metal hand. Adalyn seemed to shrug, trawling the headband in her paw a bit more, although it was slower then last time. "I guess you're the only gang member around here right now, or are we about to be ambushed?"

"Nope, but an ambush would be fun." Adalyn chuckled, before glancing down at them again. Her eyes went over to Hat Girl, and she sat up, and Hat Girl took a small step back. "You're the hat kid, right? My parents' friends always ranted about how hard it was to keep the hats they stole from you. Would have gotten one for sure if it wasn't for that whole illness thing."

"Well, a lot of those hats had special powers, I couldn't just let them take them." Hat Girl said, allowing herself to sigh a bit in relief. Judging by the hat thing and the reference to the illness, It seems they weren't related to the empress, or at least didn't have the idea to try and harm her. "Also that day with the illness was such a nightmare. I'm glad I never have to deal with that mess again."

"T'is is all fine, I suppose, but may I have my 'airband back now." Right Hand Man said, glancing at the cat again. "Look, my 'usband is the leader of a criminal organisation, I understand stealin' is fun. But t'ere's a difference between stealin' a bunch of money from a vault, and stealin' person items. The clan only really does t'at as a way to get back at someone who wronged us."

"Hmmm... Perhaps I can. But that really isn't fun." Adalyn said, looking at the hair band and shrugged. Right Hand Man sighed, he could never get far when it came to kids or teenagers. She looked back at Hat Girl, standing up and mimicking her current position slightly, making Hat Girl chuckle. "You are a good person though. I mean, I was a scared little kitten back when the world was lava. Wouldn't be who I am today if it wasn't for you."

"Well, thanks." Hat Girl said, chuckling slightly. Platinum wrapped an arm around her shoulder, and she glanced at him. She stuck her tongue out at him as she pushed him back, him chuckling. Right Hand Man rolled his eyes, but did let a small smile show. "I guess I just do what I believe is right." Hat Girl said, looking back at Adalyn. "It's just how I am."

"And we wouldn't have you any other way... gotcha!" Platinum said, quickly swiping Hat Girl's hat from off her head. She let out a small shout, and began to chase after him. He didn't run too far, but it was still a small challenge for the alien girl. However, as he raced near the building, Adalyn hop off from the top and jump on him. "Hey, no fair! You can't just hop into a game like that."

"Oh." Adalyn said, taking that hat from him. "But I did." She chuckled as she disappeared into thin air once again. Right Hand Man sighed and went to Platinum's side, helping him back up. "Let's see how long it will take you all to find me." Adalyn called, as Hat Girl began to look around, looking for the smallest hint of something being in front of her eyes.

"Three O'Clock!" She shouted, swinging her umbrella in a random direction. Nothing happened, and all she could hear was the faint snickering. Hat Girl step a bit forward, looking around as if confused. Then faster than the wind, she turned around and poked the nearby area with her umbrella quickly. The cat turned visible again as she fell down slightly, just barely catching herself. "And that is what I remembered." Hat Girl said, reclaiming her Hat.

"Woa'." Right Hand Man said, honestly surprised by how she was able to do that. He knew she had some fighting skills from her time here, but that way of cleverly finding Adalyn, or just making her give herself up. It was genius. He couldn't help but smile. "T'at's my girl alrig't." He chuckled.

"And that's my sister!" Platinum called, racing up to Hat Girl, the two high fiving when they were close enough to each other. Right Hand Man shook his head, before pausing as a ringing filled his head. He walked away from the group as the three began to chuckle. Platinum looked at Adalyn. "You really need to show us some of your tricks! ...Too bad we ourselves likely won't be coming back here for a while, if at all." He sighed sadly.

"Hey, Mr. Thicc is one of your members though, right?" She asked. Platinum and Hat Girl looked at each other confused, before it clicked. Cooking Cat mentioned a teen from Alpine Skylines working at her place. "Maybe through him I can send some notes with instructions. Who knows, if I ever get my parents permission, I might visit one day." She smirked. "We can mess around with all those other members"

"Now you're speaking our language!" Platinum said, perking up.

The three chuckled as Right Hand Man walked over. "Hat Girl, Platinum, we need to go. Reg is done and we need to get all the supplies to the station as soon as possible." He said, the two walking over with some reluctance. Adalyn looked at him, and tossed over his hair band, before disappearing into thin air. "Could have at least stuck around long enough for me to say thank ya." Right Hand Man said as he quickly put his hair back in.

"Dad is going to need to fix your hair." Hat Girl chuckled as Right Hand Man glanced over, sighing as he walked back to the edge. Similar to before, he went over with Hat Girl first, before coming back for Platinum. It was then just a matter of getting back to where they were earlier.

"There you are!" Reginald called happily once he saw the three enter his sights, Hat Girl and Platinum rushed up to him in a small race. Next to him were four boxes, likely filled with the supplies he bought from the nomads. He chuckled as he looked at him, before looking worried when his husband got closer. "Righty, are you alright? Your hair is much more messy, did something bad happen?"

"Long story short, invisible cats." Right Hand Man sighed, Hat Girl and Platinum chuckling at his tried tone. Reginald moved some of the loose hairs out of his lover's eyes, Right Hand Man sighing as he gently pushed the hand away. "Please let me cut it at least one inch tonig't, preferably four.I Know ya like it long but I need it just a bit s'orter."

"Hmmm... We'll see." Reginald said, putting a hand through his lover's hair with a small smile, Right Hand Man mumbled slightly.

"So... what's the plan for getting back down?" Platinum asked, glancing down at the flag wire that first brought them up here. "You want me and Hattie to head down with her umbrella-"

"No." Right Hand Man said, crossing his arms.

"Yeah, figure that was going to be the answer." Hat Girl chuckled as she looked at them. Platinum huffed slightly and glanced at the ground, sighing as he kicked up some dirt. Hat Girl placed a hand on his shoulder, making him look at her as she leaned into his ear. "We can mess around with it in subcon." She whispered.

Platinum grind. "Perfect!" He said, throwing his hands in the air, Hat Girl dodging them last second with a chuckle.

"T'ey 'ave an idea that's gonna get t'em into trouble." Right Hand Man sighed, glancing a Reginald.

"Do you really expect anything less of them Righty?" Reginlad chuckled, before glancing back down. "Now, we could have you take two of the boxes down first. Or bring one of us down at a time while holding a box.."

"We're not gettin' back to t'e orbital station until nig'ttime, are we?"

"...Most likely not." Reginald said, Right Hand Man sighing beside him. It was going to be a long rest of the day.

#the henry stickmin collection #a hat in time #a hat in time fanfic #henry stickmin fanfic #hat kid #hat girl #topbot #henry stickmin oc #reginald copperbottom #right hand man #copperright #nomads #ahit goats #lazy paw gang #ahit oc