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giorno-plays-piano · 3 years

Text

No Mercy

Pairing: Bakugo Katsuki x thief!Reader

Warnings: non-con, yandere, sex pollen, minor depiction of violence, threats, stalking, allusion to kidnapping, both Bakugo and reader are adults!

Words: 2388.

Summary: Obviously, you have chosen a wrong night to rob that electronics store.

P.S. Yay, this is my first BNHA story!

By the way, there is absolutely no real science in this fic, please don’t bully me for it ahahahah

_________________________

Oh dear, it was getting worse.

That morning you had a feeling you better stay home tonight, but your rent wasn't going to pay itself, so you still went out to rob that ugly little electronics store you stumbled upon a few days ago. Now you were being chased by one of the most popular pros, Ground Zero, and saints, you really hoped to keep all your limbs attached to your body: the guy was mad.

Really, you weren't such a villain he had probably pictured you to be. Your job in the cafe wasn't paying well, but with no education whatsoever it was hard to find something else, especially since that big makeup store you finally got yourself in went bankrupt after a villain attack. Your dad wasn't the one to help you stay afloat either, so, with that odd Quirk of yours, there was just one thing left to do.

With a loud sound of something exploding to your right, you jumped in the narrow back alley on the left and prayed Bakugo to at least bring you to a police station instead of finishing you off here. Seriously, who he thought you were? Someone from the League of Villains, huh? You were miserable enough trying to evade his punches, and your knees were already trembling as you were reaching your limit.

Shit, now you'd have to use that embarrassing Quirk of yours and hope it will do something decent.

Despite your Quirk manifesting itself when you were 4 just like everybody else, you were so ashamed of it you did all you could to never bring it up or use it. How embarrassing was it to have an ability to produce animal secretion right out of your hands? One time you had literally sprayed skunk defensive secretion in the class, and after that you had been called a Stinky Girl for the rest of your school days. Damn, even remembering it now was making you ashamed of yourself.

Of course, your control over your Quirk was miserable. You struggled to predict which secretion it would produce, hoping it would be something distracting enough for a hero to let you go, but oh boy Ground Zero didn't seem like the type to be scared of skunk's spray.

Staring at the dead end, you were ready to laugh hysterically - that is, if you had any time left, but Bakugo had already grabbed you by the shoulder and yelled something offensive in your ear, ready to put you down to the ground. Well, it was now or never.

Within a second you took off your black glove you'd always worn on your missions and slapped hero's cheek, leaving an angry red mark on his pale skin. The next moment you were on the ground with a very, very mad Bakugo hovering over you with such expression as if he was going to murder you in cold blood right now.

Apparently, your Quirk was useless, after all. Preparing for the worst, you stared at him, wide-eyed and trembling like a leaf, your hands up defensively to prevent him from harming you. In the end, you didn’t even steal anything as Ground Zero stormed off in the store.

But he didn't hit you. Actually, he didn't do anything at all as you stared at him nervously. He just... stood there with a grimace on his face and did nothing at all.

Oh, was it something new? Did you Quirk finally prove itself useful for once? It was a damn miracle.

"What did you do to me, bitch?" He suddenly barked, and you saw his cheeks slowly getting red as if the temperature went up all of a sudden. "What the fuck is this?!"

Shit. Civet oil. Of course, you couldn't even make some decent quantity to make him repulsed, so now all you got was a completely opposite effect.

"WHAT DID YOU DO TO ME?"

Hiccupping, you got up just as he seemed to lean closer to you, so you ended up smashing your forehead against his, and both of your groaned. Although you fell back again, in a couple of seconds you were running for your life with Ground Zero being unusually slow somewhere behind you. Oh shit, now he was going to fuck and kill you. What a nice day you were having.

Struggling to keep running - you didn’t even understand at what part of the city you were now - you were getting out of breath, but you no longer heard Bakugo behind your back, and it was certainly calming. Did civet oil make him slow? You weren't sure what exact effects it had except for the most obvious one. Maybe you got lucky, for once. Maybe he'd let you go just this time, and you'd do your absolute best to find a decent job and stop robbing people. Well, you weren't even robbing regular people, just snobby store owners who'd get their money back with an insurance, anyway. You had never hurt anyone physically! Why treating you as if you were some dangerous criminal?

Whatever. Ground Zero was nowhere to be seen, so you simply landed on the ground in one of small filthy backyards in a shady part of the city. Oh boy, what a run. You thought the guy was literally ready to kill you.

The cold wall you leaned on didn't feel pleasant, but it was better than staying on your feet with your knees trembling and heart beating so fast as if you ran a marathon. Yeah, to think of it, you definitely could call it a marathon.

As you finally took off your mask and wiped your face with your palm, you heard a low growl somewhere to your left, "I'm gonna fucking break you, woman."

Shit.

Scrambling to your feet, you tried dodging him but you were no match to a real pro, especially someone as good at combat as Ground Zero: you ended beneath him within a second, painfully slammed to the ground as he cursed at you, pulling your hair. Apparently, this was the end of you. The civet oil only made the hero more enraged instead of distracting him.

"Ah! It hurts!" You whined at the hair pulling and heard a dangerous hiss above you.

"Do you think this doesn't fucking hurt?"

It was impossible not to feel his obvious arousal, his painfully hard cock pressing against your lower back as the hero suddenly sniffed your hair, then making some weird noises while trying to undo his pants. Nononono, you weren't having this, you'd gladly accompany the hero to the police station where they'd cuff you and put you in prison but not let Ground Zero have his way with you.

"Get off! GET OFF!"

Your attempts to throw him off were futile, and soon he was pulling down your own pants, "You did this to me, didn't you?! So be a good girl and maybe I won't fucking kill you."

You bit down on your lower lip, your hands bound together with his belt.

Huh, there was no other way.

______________

You came back home around 3 am completely exhausted, dirty and hurt, but it was still better than being thrown in prison after a long Interrogation in a police station. Ground Zero had finally taken some pity on you after all he'd done - oh it hurt, it hurt so bad in between your thighs because you hadn't been in relationship for long, but the hero was neither patient nor gentle with you. It was a miracle he actually let you go after this miserable incident somewhere in the outskirts of the city. Was he at least a little ashamed at what he did? Did he feel any remorse? Although it certainly didn't seem like, maybe he let you go because of it.

"Or he was just afraid to deliver me to police in such state," you chuckled grimly at yourself, grabbing first-aid kit and trying to do something with all these bruises and bites. You still had to take your 10-hour shift in the cafe today, and you could barely imagine how you were going to survive.

Of course, you only slept for a couple of hours before you had to get up: that morning you put so much makeup your boss would definitely scold you, but it was better than showing up with a face of a zombie. Of course, everyone managed to see how you winced while walking. Thank god you were able to convince them of your fall yesterday's evening: you actually only worked half a day as your boss took pity on you and let you go home.

Shit, it was time to put an end to your night adventures. You'd better find one more job and work a whole night long than live through this one more time, humiliated and hurt.

By the time you got home with a grocery bag in your hand, you felt like all you were going to do today was falling down on your bed and staring into the ceiling for hours. It still hurt. It was still embarrassing to remember what he did to you. You still wanted to slap him real hard and then yell at him at the top of your voice.

Funny enough, you actually had a chance to do all that since you found Ground Zero dressed as civilian sitting on your couch.

For a couple of seconds you froze on your place, unable to believe your eyes. What the hell was he doing here? What, yesterday's wasn't enough for this bastard, was it? Did he come to make you even more miserable?

Despite fear rising in your chest, it was soon replaced by fury mixed with disgust: who did he think he were to just break into your apartment like this? You might be a thief, but even you had the right to be delivered to police and then wait till the court decided upon your punishment. Nobody had given Ground Zero permission to rape you or follow you like some sick stalker!

"You live in some fucking hole." He grumbled as he saw you walking much slower than your usual pace, and you thought it was guilt you saw on his face for a mere second.

"Welcome to a fucking hole, then." You hissed at him in return and put your bag on the floor while taking your shoes off and wincing from pain. "If you came to finally take me to a police station, let me put food in the fridge, at least."

Not that you'd need it after your arrest, but the thought of leaving the grocery bag on the floor and let the food rot made you nauseated. You detested throwing away food with all your heart.

"Food? You call this food, huh?" He was already peeking inside the bag and scrunching his face at the sight of cheep noodles and gyoza.

"Yeah, we call it food here, rich boy." You let out a growl, mad at his attempts to make you feel humiliated even more than you already did.

He clearly didn't expect such treatment from someone whom he had taken advantage of so easily, and for several moment the man had a perplexed expression, unable to believe you were so brave despite the fact your knees were trembling. He probably thought it was a facade, but you didn't care. All this wouldn't end well for you, anyway.

"I'm not rich." He sent you a glare, and you felt like laughing in his face.

"If you don't have to steal to pay your rent, you're rich."

He grimaced but said nothing at all as you went to the kitchen, dragging the bag with you. You wondered if he felt sorry for you, but you didn't want his pity. Not from the one who did this to you. In fact, the only thing you wanted from him was leaving you alone.

Besides, you kept thinking why on Earth wasn't he dressed as a hero if he came explicitly to take you to a police station? Heroes like him loved showing off, you were sure. Why did he come like this? If he thought of repeating yesterday's night, you'd fucking stab him in the groin with a kitchen knife.

"So, how many heroes have you fucked like that?"

You felt a sudden urge to stab him right now and barely kept yourself away from a box where you kept cutlery. "I do three heroes a day and three villains at night," you growled at him, disgusted with his attitude, "what, didn't you feel it when you were raping me?"

Your reply took him aback, but he recovered quickly, "Who was raping you, silly woman? You did it to yourself!"

"Yeah, I've always dreamed of being taken by some sickening, primitive hero in a dirty alley, that's more than any girl could ask for."

Huh, apparently, cat got his tongue: Ground Zero stared at you, unable to believe your words. What, did he really think you loved being treated like this? Did he have any idea what making love was? Anything about normal, adequate relationship between a man and a woman? Maybe you weren't the most law-abiding woman in the city, but you were still a decent person, and the fact that Ground Zero expected you to manipulate him into raping you was repulsive.

"Listen, just hand me over to police already. What are you waiting for, Ground Zero?"

All the food was long put in the fridge and kitchen cabinets. Staring intensely at the man who shouldn't even be here, you crossed your arms over your chest, expecting him to drag you out of the house, but when he stepped closer to you it felt suffocating. Shit, the fear was coming back when you saw his expression darkened, his red pupils dilating when he grabbed your arm above the elbow and pulled you to him. Was he really going to do this to you?

You expected him to snap at you, but when he spoke he sounded strangely cold and collected.

"First, you will call me Bakugo from now on," he voice was dangerously low, "Second, I haven't come all the way here to bring to a fucking police station. You will come with me, do you understand?"

_______________

I didn’t put my regular taglist here since it was only made for Marvel fics, but please let me know if your want to be on my BNHA taglist, too!

#bakugo katsuki x reader #katsuki bakugo x reader #bakugou katsuki #bakugou x reader #katsuki bakugō #bnha bakugou #mha bakugou #bnha #yandere

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mieohmy · 3 years

Text

𝗌𝗐𝖾𝖾𝗍 𝖺𝗇𝖽 𝗌𝗈𝗎𝗋 | 𝗉𝖺𝗋𝗍 𝗍𝗁𝗋𝖾𝖾 (𝖿𝗂𝗇𝖺𝗅)

part one | part two

PAIRING: CEO boss! jeon wonwoo x secretary! reader

GENRE: fluff, ANGST but i swear its a happy ending ;;;;

WC: 3.4k

NOTES: mentions of death, angstyy ?

❋

Oh my god.

You’re screwed.

You panic, swiping past to see pictures of you and him on the balcony from last night. You kissing him. Someone must’ve seen you two and taken pictures...

‘Y/N!!’

‘U awake????’

‘Someone saw you guys last night and took photos!!’

‘Leaked them and now I’m pretty sure everyone at work knows now’

‘What are u gonna do?? Maybe u shouldn’t go to work..’

‘You better respond !”

You sigh, scrolling past all of seungkwan’s messages and throwing your phone somewhere. Great, now everyone at your workplace knew. There was nothing from wonwoo.

Was going to the office a good idea? You contemplated for like 10 minutes. Maybe pretending like nothing happened would be professional. You are a professional, you are a professional..... you repeated that several hundred times before finally getting out of bed.

And so, you got ready like a regular day of work but took the bus instead of normally being driven to wonwoo’s house. (You couldn’t bear to face the driver or wonwoo either)

Arriving at the entrance, you steeled yourself. Immediately after you entered, there were whispers and stares from everyone around, almost as if they were waiting for you to come in.

You bite your lip, continuing to the elevator. When the doors open, there are already two other people inside. They quickly shuffle away from you, moving to the other side in the small space, and you can obviously feel their eyes on you.

Arriving at your floor, you can hear the whispers of the others. “It’s them...” “they’re the one that’s dating Mr. jeon?” Ignoring them, you slump down at your desk, burying your head in your arms. You knew you should probably talk to wonwoo, but what would you say? The secret was out already.

You feel something soft touch your head. You groan softly. “It’s me.” Glancing up wearily, you see dokyeom looking down at you with concern. “So... I guess everyone knows now?”

Your head falls back onto the desk. “Dokyeom, what am I gonna do?” you moan. “Nothing. I mean, so what if you two are dating? It’s your personal life, not other people’s.”

“You’re right. It doesn’t bother me. Who cares, right?” You say absentmindedly.

That was a lie. You cared. And it did bother you. For weeks, people would stare and whisper behind your back. All the gossip was getting to you. To the point where you would purposely hide in the restroom until the coast was clear.

There were a lot of people who did stand up for you, all your close work friends that overheard others gossiping. You were extremely grateful for them, but it didn’t make much of a difference.

You’re staring at yourself in the restroom mirror when you hear the door open. Panicking, you quickly hide in a stall, closing the door.

Two voices grow louder and louder. “-you hear CEO Jeon is dating his secretary?” “Of course, the whole building knows now.” “I can’t believe it, still. His secretary of all people?” “I heard that they don’t have a father, no one to support their family.” A gasp echoed in the restroom. “That explains why they’re using him. It’s always money...”

You can’t move. Even after the others come and go, you can’t seem to budge an inch.

❋

You kept your distance from wonwoo after that. It didn’t help that wonwoo was getting increasingly busy with work. No matter how much you wanted to see him, the words replayed in your head.

“He’s rejected so many people but chose them?“

“You just want his money.”

“How can someone like them be dating someone like him?”

“You’re nobody.”

The worst part is, you agreed. You were no one, just a lame secretary working to support their family. You didn’t even have passions, interests, you were always too busy trying to make money. And you didn’t even have a family to go home to. Yes, you had your friends, but you felt like such a baby for complaining to them.

The only person who truly knew you was your father. And he was gone. Maybe you deserved to be alone... Maybe they were right, wonwoo didn’t deserve you.

❋

You tried to limit your contact with him as much as possible, strictly talking for work purposes only. Every time wonwoo would ask you out (on the rare occasions he could), you would make an excuse. you were tired or had something else to do.

Wonwoo tried, so hard, to talk to you but every time you did, the hurtful words resurfaced. You wondered if he had heard what other workers would say- probably not since they were too scared to even speak in front of him. And you didn’t tell him because you knew he would make a big deal out of it, and that was the exact opposite of what you wanted.

Also.... maybe because you were ashamed. Ashamed at the fact that you let those words hurt you. That they cut deep into your heart and sunk into your skin. Others would probably ignore it all, but you were different. It’s like all those people knew your weakness, how to sneak into your brain and make all your insecurities stronger.

It was horrible, affecting your mind, your life. Sleep barely came. You were a living zombie. With feelings. Feelings that were beaten down and crushed, ones that couldn’t even get back up.

Seungkwan noticed, but luckily he didn’t pry too much- probably because he knew the reason behind you shutting wonwoo out-everyone out. You were so grateful for him and the others for attempting to cheer you up.

One day, you drop off wonwoo’s schedule at his desk, immediately spinning around to leave when he grabs your wrist. You can’t move, his grip tight. “Y/n, please.. tell me what’s wrong? Is it something I did? Is it because people know now? Just tell me, I can fix it. I-I just need to know..” your boss pleads.

You hated hearing him like that. And still, you remove his hand from yours. “Mr. Jeon, don’t. Let’s stop...maybe this is for the best.”

You walk out without looking back, biting the inside of your cheek hard so you can’t feel the pain in your heart.

You can’t focus the rest of the day, moping around. You don’t even realize the time, Dokyeom comes by (knowing you were still here) and forces you to go home. You were secretly extremely grateful he didn’t try to ask anything. You didn’t want to have to say anything, telling others about all the insults and remarks would just cause more of a problem.

❋

Opening the door, you drop all your stuff on the ground of your apartment, instantly going to change into comfortable clothes. And sulk some more.

Your past self would be laughing at you now. Or extremely shocked. To find out that you are? were? dating the one person that you hated. Some time ago, you were crying over losing your job because of your boss, and now here you are, moping over the same person.

Crashing into bed, you fall into a weird sleep-state, flowing in and out of sleep. A bunch of notifications at once finally awakens you fully. It usually wouldn’t bother you, but there were so many at once you had to check.

Huffing, you wearily look at the screen. Right away, you jump up. An article post was sent to you by Seungkwan.

“Jeon Wonwoo’s-CEO of one of the largest printing companies in Korea-Mother has passed away this evening.”

Horrified, you quickly scroll down, skimming through it all. The only words echoing in your mind are ‘funeral held in an hour’ and ‘son is nowhere to be found.’

Immediately, you dial Seungkwan. He picks up almost instantly. “Y/n?? Did you see what I sent?” You nod as though he can see you. “What... what’s going on?”

You can feel seungkwan’s frustration pouring out from his side of the phone. “Didn’t you read it? Mr. Jeon’s been missing for hours. He just disappeared after finding out. No one knows where he is. Except you.”

You furrow your eyebrows in confusion. “What? Me?” You hear a sigh come from the phone. “Yes. You, y/n. No one knows him better. You have to find him.”

You hesitate, knowing you weren’t in the best conditions with him at the moment. “But....” Seungkwan cuts you off. “No, y/n. There are no buts. I don’t know what’s going on between you two, but our boss is literally missing. You’re the only one who knows where he could be. “

It finally hits you. “You’re right, oh my god, Seungkwan. what if he’s dead? His family was always a touchy subject, and I don’t know what’s happening and-“

“Trust yourself y/n. You can find him. Go.” The call abruptly ends with a beep. You stare at the screen for a second, brain loading until you crash out of bed, scrambling out to quickly put on any pair of shoes.

Even in your ratty old pajamas and dirty sneakers, you dash outside, going to every single place you can think of. It’s tiring, getting on and off buses, running around and searching each place. After about an hour and a half is when you stop. Panting, you slump down next to a bench, head in your hands.

Wonwoo, where are you?

After a couple minutes of rest (and maybe an internal crisis), you finally get up, resolve burning.

You’re not sure why, but your feet bring you to the mart- yes, the one where your view of jeon wonwoo completely changed.

Dragging your drained body to the entrance, you open the door, the familiar ding to signal your entrance sounding above.

Quickly, you glance around. It wasn’t a huge place, you could almost see the whole store from the front.

He’s not here either? For some reason, you feel disappointed. Like he was gonna be here. Deflating, you turn towards the exit, hand reaching for the door handle when you stop.

“Wonwoo?”

He was outside, standing by the railing over the river- the one by the bridge right next to the store. You could only see his silhouette, it was dark, but his body seemed small, familiar but small.

You burst out, exhaustion dissolved. You stop a few feet away, breathing heavily even though it wasn’t far.

“Wonwoo.”

The figure shifts, slowly turning to you and his face comes into the light. You first notice his red, pained eyes, barely holding back so much emotion. His handsome face showing nothing but everything at the same time.

You stare at each other for a split second before you rush to him, throwing your arms around him. It’s only the sound of both of your breathing until his arms slowly wrap around your waist, head burying into your shoulder.

You hold him. Until you hear the quiet sobs. And then feel the wet spots on your shirt.

Rubbing his back comfortingly, you let him grip you tighter, allowing all the emotions and feelings to flow out.

After who knows how long, he quiets down. You wait for a little before softly speaking. “Do... do you want to talk?”

He gradually loosens his grip, moving back to look at you. Your heart pangs at the sight. His red, swollen eyes. Darker eye circles than you recognized. His lips were chapped, probably because you weren’t there to nag him about wearing it.

Slowly, your hand comes up to wipe his tear-stained cheeks. When you drop your hand, he finally speaks, his voice quiet and raspy.

“I wasn’t close with anyone growing up. I told you that. Except for my mother. She loved me the most. Stayed by my side and supported me always. I.... I just..”

You hug him again, squeezing your eyes shut. “You don’t have to say more. You don’t have to talk if you don’t want to.”

You know there’s tension between the two of you, but decide to bury it. Now’s not the time to bring it up.

“How are you feeling now?”

He rubs his eyes. “Better. It was just a lot... at once. But I’d rather not go back now. I don’t want to.”

You nod. “Okay.”

You bring him to your place, no questions asked. Knowing he didn’t need to be alone, and your place was close.

It was a little awkward, but wonwoo was stubborn even when he was upset and slept on the couch. You’re pretty sure he passed out in three minutes. To be honest, you did too, the day’s events taking over.

❋

Awakening with a start, your eyes focus on the ceiling. You stretch for a good couple of minutes before tottering outside.

Your feet come to a halt. Right, wonwoo.

His body slowly rising up and down signaling he was still sleeping.

For no reason, you move to sit in front of him, on the ground, to just look at him.

Wonwoo looked so peaceful, reminiscent of a little child- it was shocking how different he seemed in his sleep.

You admire his face for who knows how long, starting when his eyes suddenly flutter up at you. You give him a tiny smile. “Good morning?”

You prepare breakfast. It isn’t much, but you didn’t think the two of you were that hungry anyways. There were other things to discuss.

It’s silent until you finally speak. “Wonwoo. where were you? Why did you leave for so long? Everyone was so worried you know, it was all over the news..”

He clears his throat as you wait patiently. “Everywhere. I just needed to leave, get out. So I drove around, not necessarily going to one place. Then... you found me.”

You bite your lip, “wonwoo. I think you need to go back. Everyone’s worried, waiting. I-I think you need to talk to your family.”

There’s a pause. He says your name softly and you look down, not able to look him in the eyes...

“Y/n.... we’re the ones who need to talk.” You cut him off. “I know. I know we do. But I can wait. You need to go back first. Then I promise we can meet up and explain.”

You can tell he’s reluctant to leave, but eventually, he’s at your door, about to go.

He faces you once more.

“Y/n, promise me. You’ll meet me today at seven? After I sort everything out?”

You nod, squeezing his hand. “I promise. After you sort everything out.”

And after he leaves, you sort everything in your head too. All your feelings that had been stuck for weeks. Wonwoo deserved to know everything.

❋

It feels like an eternity until seven comes. You feel anxious, a queasy feeling in your stomach. When the familiar knock on the door sounds, you flinch. Quickly opening it, you see him.

“Hi,” you say nervously. Wonwoo gestures out, and you follow him to his car. It’s a silent ride. You’re not sure where he’s taking you, but you let him lead on through the night.

“Did... did everything go okay?”

“Yes. I... I explained myself. It was shocking, seeing my father show so much emotion towards me. It was just nice to talk, about the old days. Thank you, y/n. For making me go back.”

You smile sadly, deciding to focus outside at the passing lights. It’s a surprisingly peaceful drive. You turn to him when he stops the car.

“The park?” He only nods.

You follow him along the path, sitting down at a bench. Wonwoo follows you, sitting next to you.

Gazing at the scenery, you lick your suddenly dry lips. “Wonwoo, I want to apologize first. You did nothing, and I never told you why I was acting like that... I wasn’t acting truthfully in our relationship, and I’m sorry.”

He shifts, gesturing for you to continue. Inhaling, you resume. “It started after everyone found out the news, but you probably figured that already. People started saying things, about our relationship. I know it’s dumb, most people probably don’t even care, but I did. And I got self-conscious. Like I wasn’t good enough for you. I believed everything the others were saying. That you didn’t deserve someone like me.”

You pause, voice suddenly shaky. “I-I didn’t want to tell you, so you wouldn’t make a big deal out of it. I didn’t want to seem affected by all those words. But I really was.”

You laugh, quickly wiping away your tears so wonwoo wouldn’t see. But of course, he did. He always saw you. “That’s all. It’s a horrible reason for me acting that way, so I understand if you want to break up. I can find a new job too.” You hated how your voice cracked at the end.

You didn’t want to look at him, see his expression probably filled with disdain. But he speaks up instead. “Do you know why I hired you?”

You whip your head towards him, confused. Wonwoo’s doesn’t face you, looking off into the distance, but he proceeds.

“Because you’re strong. Compassionate. Kind. I saw you on the day of your audition, and you helped some person even though they were extremely rude and didn’t want a low person like you to help them,” he chuckles.

“I kept you by my side for so long because you’re hardworking, stubborn, and like me.” You open your mouth to speak, slightly offended, but his eyes flick to yours, and your breath hitches.

“And I asked you out because I love you. I understand why you felt and acted that way. But it’s okay to complain about your problems. It’s okay to feel upset and tell me. You don’t always have to be the strong one.”

You stare at him with wide eyes, wiping away tears you didn’t even notice falling.

“I’ll always be by your side. You don’t ever have to feel being alone, because I’ll be next to you. You can talk to me, I’ll listen. You can whine, I’ll deal with it. Because it’s you. And I’ll be there. ”

You process all his words, feeling yourself about to cry harder as you continue to look into his eyes. Hesitating, you fidget with your hands, freezing when you feel his warm arms wrap around you. You close your eyes and just enjoy his warmth.

He breaks the hug, standing up. You watch him, bewildered. Wonwoo suddenly falls to his knee, and you only watch him, furrowing your eyebrows.

When his hands move to inside his jacket, your breath hitches, hand flying to cover your mouth.

His gaze is so tender, soft, you never felt so loved.

“Y/n, I promise you that I’ll love you, forever until the end of the earth if it’s possible. So, will you accept this?”

Wonwoo pulls out a box, opening it. You’re greeted by a sparkling ring, the gem on it your favorite color. You’re frozen in shock.

He scratches his head. “I- uh, got it a while ago. Never had to time to really give it until now. It’s a promise ring..D-do you like it?”

It takes a second before you can move again. You smack him. several times. Wonwoo splutters, trying to avoid your painful hits.

“Are you serious?!?! How much did this cost??? If it’s more than a hundred and fifty then I’m not taking it!! Scratch that, a hundred!!”

Wonwoo stops, looking up at you with a dumbfounded expression. “Are you serious? I thought you were about to reject me!! And why are you worrying about the price? I’m literally the CEO of a huge company!?”

You cough. “Right. Well then, I like it.” You reach for it, but he holds the box up high above you. Whining, you stand on your tippy-toes, trying to grab it.

“Wonwoooo, I thought you bought this for me!” “Maybe I don’t wanna give it to you anymore,” he teases.

You pout, flashing a cute face. “Please??” Wonwoo pretends to think, tapping his foot. “If you give me a kiss. It has to be a real one. On the lips, too.”

“Ugghh, fine,” you fake scowl. And of course, he can see right through you. “Stop acting. I know you want to kiss me.”

“And so what if I want really to, Mr. CEO? Like I said before, you're stuck with me forever.”

❋

“Oh my god y/n is that a ring? Does that mean there’s gonna be a wedding?!?”

“Yes, seungkwan. A promise ring. And no! We’re not getting married.... Yet.”

-fin-

author’s note: ngl I cringed writing the ending scenes anlkfjenfdn anyways thank you to anyone who actually read all three parts from start to end :)! I’m sorry if this is not what you were expecting- this story changed so much I struggled honestly but I’m just glad it’s done before I ruin it more uhu

#seventeen #wonwoo #jeon wonwoo #seventeen wonwoo #wonwoo x reader #jeon wonwoo x reader #wonwoo scenarios #wonwoo imagines #seventeen x reader #seventeen imagines #seventeen scenarios #jeon wonwoo scenarios #jeon wonwoo imagines

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xellandria · 3 years

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Zmija Yilan was a temporary character I played towards the end of our Tomb of Annihilation campaign after my boy Alexus got petrified by a beholder somewhere deep in the bowels of the tomb itself. We were able to “salvage” both him and Amara (who had also gotten petrified in the same fight) by shoving them into the Bag of Holding, but short of having the two of us sit on the bench while the remaining two party members waddled back to town, we had to roll some new characters.

I spent most of the week between the petrification and the new characters appearing being mad at myself for not remembering I had Inspiration I could have used to reroll either of my failed dex saves and not being able to do much beyond that, but with less than 72 hours left until she had to debut, I finally pulled an idea out of my butt, ran it by the DM because it involved Shenanigans™, got the OK and started designing her. Thus was born Zmija Yilan, whose appearance was based partly on an old photo that was semi-viral on Tumblr several years prior and partly on Xelloss from Slayers because when I’m in a pinch, that’s always who I fall back on, and have been doing so for like, 20+ years at this point lmao. Personality-wise, there was a post floating around Tumblr that week about proverbs in various languages that, when translated literally or without context, made very little sense so she got a lot of that (and associated misunderstandings based on language mix-ups) mixed in with—again—Xelloss from Slayers, because I am a hack. I would probably never play her again because she was so firmly entrenched in that campaign and also there’s some parts of how I designed/played her that I look back on and am like “ehhh I’m not sure I’m comfortable with the optics of this,” but I enjoyed playing her a lot more than I expected, and I look back on the end of our Tomb campaign very fondly because of it.

I haven’t been able to talk about her in public both for a lack of reason to do so and because I didn’t want to “spoil” my group in case they found my various social media posts, but as it’s nearly a year since she was introduced and nine months since the campaign ended, I’m gonna absolutely wall of text the shit outta this bitch, rofl (that said there’s baby’s first nekkid pin-up under here so assuming Tumblr lets me actually post it, fair warning for that under the cut)

Zmija Yilan - level 8-10 Human* Warlock (Great Old Ones/Pact of the Tome) (usually this is where my D&D character posts put stats but I don’t actually have access to her character sheet anymore, so let’s just pretend she had something ridiculous like maxed Charisma because I remember my spell DC being ridiculously high)

Zmija Yilan is a traveler from the far-off land of Zemlya, and a disciple of Matrymriy, one of the "family" of five gods in the pantheon of that region. Matrymriy came to Zmija in a dream one night and told her to travel across the seas because She had a task for her, and that she would learn more once she reached her destination. She's been traveling around Faerun for seven or so years—reaching one place, being given hints to go to a specific location, and upon reaching it, being told to travel on without seeming to do much more than just Be There. Upon reaching Chult sometime within the last few months, her patron's hints indicated that she should travel to a place called Shilku Bay; she hired a guide (named Salida) and a bodyguard (a Fort Belurian mook) with what little locally-acceptable currency she had; they got separated after being attacked by a band of undead, and after failing to reunite with them, she was wandering around lost, trusting that Matrymriy will guide her where She desires her to go.

Part of her wandering had her end up in the Tomb of the Nine Gods itself, where she encountered our adventuring party (down two player characters) desperately trying to find their way out of the tomb in the hopes of returning to Port Nyanzaru to depetrify their friends. Our barbarian’s player immediately distrusted her because I’d drawn her tabletop token with her back to the camera, which was an awkward feeling almost immediately returned in-game because both the barbarian and paladin aren’t hardcore RPers but they had to carry all the RP weight as they were introduced to this new character and explain that they were there to destroy a lich (both because it was the source of all the bad undead in the area, and because they’d been promised a reward—a motivation Zmija understood, as “a hungry bear will not dance.”) Beyond the usual RP awkwardness there was an additional layer of awkwardness between the characters IC as at the time, Thokk was barely wearing more than a breastplate and loincloth, while Zmija was covered neck-to-ankle despite the heat and humidity of the region. She claimed that in the culture of Zemlya, having strangers see your skin was a mark of great shame and that modesty was of paramount importance, so seeing so much of him was very off-putting and threw her off-balance for much of their initial interactions.

Getting off on the “wrong” foot with the party and pushing as hard as I could into Zmija’s quirks (the weird proverbs, sprinkling in her Zemlyan vocabulary and making a point of her being from Very Far Away with Very Different Customs) meant I went a little too hard on them at the beginning, which is partly what I’d do differently and partly why the whole thing ended up working, so it’s a weird retrospective balance. If my partymates had ever shoved (almost) any of the names or places Zmija mentioned into google, they probably would have twigged to the scheme pretty dang fast.

In reality, Zmija is not a human traveler from Zemlya, because surprise! she's actually Zsaksatyi, a Chultian Yuan-Ti Pureblood under the command of Fenthaza. She worked as a bit of a double agent/interrogator within the Fane prior to her current assignment (hence her spell list's focus on information gathering, silent communication, and manipulation); she's been fleshing out her alternate persona for years and would occasionally pretend to be a captive and be thrown in one of those cells the party was in to get relevant information from the other prisoners, or assist others that were interrogating prisoners by more direct means (via Detect Thoughts). In-universe, the language she pretends to speak is mostly made up, and something she's been working on for years at this point—it's not a fully-fleshed conlang and she only has a couple hundred words and phrases but it's enough to be consistent and believable when she sprinkles it into regular speech. Since there's no real risk of running into anyone else from Zemlya (because it doesn't actually exist), it mostly didn't matter, and since there's actual meaning behind the words she does have, in theory it would have held up to a spell like Comprehend Languages as well. Out of universe, the language she speaks is an amalgamation of my own conlang stuff (which, like the in-universe version, is very limited and not complete) and various words and phrases pulled mostly from real-world Slavic languages (russian, croatian, hungarian, etc) with a little bit of Turkish thrown in when my English-only ear felt that it fit or when I had already used a word and needed another word for the same thing. Zsaksatyi (pronounced dzahk sot-YEE) is the only name/word in the whole mess that doesn’t actually mean something somewhere, and was a combination of syllables from an online Yuan-Ti name generator that I kinda liked together. If she had ever been outed, I would probably have come up with something a little less cumbersome for me and my (almost certainly wholly monolingual) D&D group to say... but she didn’t, so Zsaksatyi it stays!

She very much looks up to Fenthaza and almost idolizes and worships her—if she ever had to choose between Fenthaza or Dendar, things might have gotten a little bit rough for her (possibly no matter which way she ultimately jumped, though I imagine Dendar's vengeance would be more immediate, if Dendar's a hands-on sort of patron). Thankfully (for her), there was very little risk of that given that the party had left Fenthaza on reasonably neutral terms (having already helped her oust Ras Nsi from his position of power in the Fane and the party having essentially marked that dungeon as “cleared”). Fenthaza had sent her to scout the Tomb of the Nine Gods and locate (or steal) an artifact known as the Black Opal Crown, which will allow the Night Mother to emerge into the world. The group actually came across the crown pretty soon after Zmija (and our other new character, a firbolg druid named Mei Ren who replaced our cleric, Amara) joined them, but the party couldn’t figure out how to get it out of the room it was in and Zsaksatyi was content that it would be safe from both our group and other adventurers there while she found her way back to the Fane (though she Sent the location to Fenthaza in case she wasn’t able to make it back). That was actually like, halfway through the session right after she’d been introduced so having her sneak off that fast would have been absolutely wild, so I kept playing her as Zmija and while there were myriad opportunities for her to be discovered—including a hallway where any non-magical non-living thing got evaporated, up to and including clothing—she never was. The fact that the only spells she ever used spell slots on were Hex, Counterspell, and Identify never really got commented upon, because prior to her joining the party we didn’t have a source for any sort of utility magic and we’d been feeling the lack for a while. She was a lot of fun to play just as Zmija once I got the hang of her, but the hidden agenda that only our DM & I knew about was an extra layer of fun, too. It would have been neat to see how the party reacted to a reveal, but unless Jim wants to take us back to Chult to actually deal with the Night Mother’s return (because without having to keep up appearances and alignments, I’m pretty sure I could have gotten that crown out of there even before the weird teleport-defying magic of the Tomb got turned off), her story is over for us—taking her outside of the setting she was designed for would be weird... plus we already have two warlocks (well, one and a half) in a party of four PCs; adding a third would be a little bit bizarre, I think.

Her more Yuan-ti features include scales down her spine and across her shoulderblades, on the backs of her hands, and on her hips and thighs—mostly in reds, oranges, and browns, but as she increases in power and connection with the Night Mother, more of them are darkening to Her blue-black; it started right at that spot between the shoulderblades where you always picture being stabbed in the back, and has expanded from there; I imagine by level 20 all of her scales would be that blue-black and may have encroached further on the more human-y leather bits, probably encroaching on her face at the last, which would make being a spy a lot more difficult (even moreso than wearing as much clothing as she already does) but I guess at level 20, do you really need to be sneaking around pretending to be human?

In direct sunlight or other very bright light, her pupils constrict to slits, which is the real reason for her heavy eye makeup—between the distraction of it and the (somewhat exaggerated) squinting that such light induces, it often goes unnoticed, as it did with her character portrait (although to be fair to my party, Alexus also has slit eyes because that’s one of the traits of elves and half elves in D&D, and also I’m not sure if they ever saw her portrait any larger than 150x150 or whatever Roll20 shows them at). Both her top and bottom canine teeth are sharper, longer, and narrower than is typical for humans, and she is careful not to grin too widely and will cover her mouth when she laughs or yawns, whether she is in disguise or not. That part I’ve never drawn though, so I can’t really point to that as something the party overlooked, heh. In hindsight, I wish I'd given her more/heavier snake features but even the official art for Yuan-Ti player characters are very light on them and getting around the differences between human and yuan-ti racials without tipping off the party was hard enough as it was—I took the 120 feet of magic-ignoring darkvision invocation to disguise the fact that she innately had darkvision, I never used my racial spells and abilities unless I was willing to “use” a spell slot on them and had another plausible way to have obtained them, the one time I got hit with a poison ability (which she was immune to) I spent a lot of time “figuring out the math” on how much HP I had to drop, etc. I also wish I’d given her darker skin, as she is supposed to be Chultian but she is significantly lighter than all the NPCs we came across. Then again, I’m as white as a sheet soaked in bleach so there’s something weird about me RPing folks of colour regardless (especially given her fake backstory, agh agh agh) so yeah. Really enjoyed her, don’t regret her, will not ever play her again rofl

In our very last session of Tomb of Annhiliation, the party—fresh off the victory over the big bad lich whose name I can never spell and his weird world-eating fetus—headed back to Port Nyanzaru via the Aarakocra village of Kir Sabal, which the previous variant of the party (of whom only Thokk remained alive and mobile enough to talk to them) had helped out significantly earlier in the campaign, unlocking a flying ritual that we were like “man we’re not coming back here if we’re gonna use it we gotta do it now” to get us the rest of the way to the port. En route, Zmija tried to leave the group and rolled a secret 15 Stealth roll... contested by 17 and 18 perception rolls from Mei Ren and Thokk, but as she wasn’t carrying much of the party’s stuff and it was the end of the campaign, they kinda just let her give some line about seeing them again in the future maybe, the Mother’s will is unknowable, etc etc. I think if Duf and Kattii didn’t know that I wanted Alexus back as badly as I did and that we were like twenty minutes (real time) away from actually getting him back, they might have considered that more suspicious than they did.

Pronunciations (and translations): (mostly C&Ped from her bio, which is the only part of her character sheet I can still access on Roll20)

Zmija Yilan: zMEE-ah yee-LAHN. Because I'm subtle as hell, that's Croatian/Russian/Ukranian (first name) and Turkish (last name) for "snake/serpent," according to the internet. What do you mean Remus Lupin is a werewolf?!

Matrymriy: mah-tRRuh mRREE (Rs are rolled). Matrymriy is Zmija's claimed patron—one of five major Zemlyashan dieties—but she'll state that she doesn't know the name that she goes by in the local dialect. That's only partly true, of course—мати мрій is Ukranian for "Mother of Dreams" (at least according to google translate), which is close enough to her patron's actual names and titles (Dendar, the Night Mother) that she can get away with it without actually raising suspicions about the true source of her powers. She'll also do that thing where if someone tries to say the name back to her she'll "correct" them by saying it exactly the same four or five times and then "give up" and accept whatever "butchered" version the speaker comes up with, except she'll do it even if they're actually saying it perfectly correctly. She may do this with her own name as well (sorry, Jim. And Duf. And Dustin. And Kattii. And Kattii's coworker, if he ever joins us and I'm still playing this character by then, lmao.) (2021 addition: and literally everyone who has a name that isn’t typically pronounced by us English-only plebians, I am so sorry I’m not better at your language)

Zsaksatyi: dzahk sot-YEE. Zmija's real name, when she isn't pretending to be a human. That doesn't mean anything as far as I know, it was just a combination of some of the syllables the random Yuan-Ti name generator was coming up with that I liked (which is also where "Itszella" was from), lol. I may end up changing it to be less cumbersome at some point, unless it comes up before then and ends up written in stone, but I'm on a bit of a time crunch for the moment.

Zemlya: zem-lyah. If pressed for more detail on where in Zemlya she's from (e.g. by someone pretending to know details about her country), her home town is Fal'shyva (fall-sheh-VAH), southeast of the capital of Hayali (HI-yah-LEE) and just north of the port city of Farazi (fah-ra-DZI), which is where she originally sailed from seven years ago. фальшива земля is Ukranian for "fake land," Hayali is Turkish for "imaginary," and Farazi is Turkish for "hypothetical," lol.

Proverbs & (approximate) Pronounciations: (if I recall correctly, asterisks indicate ones I had used, so I didn’t repeat myself too frequently)

Wziąć się w garść (zvun shih garsch): lit. take the self into the fist (polish), pull yourself together Галопом по Zemlya (gal-OH-pohm poe zem-lyah): lit. galloping across Zemlya (russian), to be hasty/haphazard. * У кого немає собаки, полює з котом (Ooh koe-hoe meh-MIGH-eh soe-BAH-kay, poe-LOO-yay koh-tome): lit. who does not have dog, hunts with cat (ukranian, original proverb is portugese), make do with what you have. Z choinki się urwałaś? (dzi hoink-E she urr-vahl-wash): lit. did you fall from a Candlenights(aka Christmas) tree? (polish), you are obviously not well-informed; are you dumb? * Mi o vuku (MEE oh voo-koo): lit. to talk of the wolf (croatian), speak of the devil. * Thalai muzhuguthal (tha-LIE MOOz-GOO-thal): lit. pour water over someone's head (tamil), cut off a relationship. * Хоть кол на голове теши (coat-coal nah gohl-ehvee teh-SHEE): lit. you can sharpen an axe on this head (russian), a very stubborn person.

Other Languages Are Hard Today, Let’s Just Proverb It In English:

Cat's Forehead (japanese): a tiny space, usually used humbly to refer to owned land. It fell between chairs (swedish): group work that everyone assumed someone else would do, and didn't get done as a result * It gives me a beautiful leg (french): fat lot of good that'll do me Drown the fish (french): avoid a subject by talking about anything and everything else, confuse the issue In a river with piranhas, the alligator swims backstroke (brazil): protect your weaknesses * Accusation always follows the cat (iraqi): it's easy to blame someone who can't defend themselves The honey only sticks to the mustache of he who licked it (arabic): he who smelt it, dealt it * A hungry bear does not dance (greek): the reward must be worth the cost (or at least exist) * The crayfish sides with the crab (korean): people who have a lot in common stay friends * If you can't live longer, live deeper (italian): get the most of your time * A spoon does not know the taste of soup (welsh): intelligence is not wisdom Examine what is said, not who speaks (arab): don't take things at face value * Turn your face to the sun and the shadows will fall behind you (new zealand): have a positive outlook He who does not travel, does not know the value of men (moorish): wide experience is gr8 Do good and throw it in the sea (arab): don't expect anything back from kindness * Shared joy is a double joy; shared sorrow is halved (swedish): friends make things better If you want to go fast, go alone. If you want to go far, go together (african): strength in numbers, speed on your own.

#xellart #dungeons and dragons #original characters #zmija yilan

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shewantedtobeasecretgirl · 4 years

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10. Bathroom wall a.k.a. a queen bee, Prince in the shower and a backup Casanova (Part Two)

Finally, that Donna Summer song is over… Although disco is not my favorite genre, I have nothing against her generally but now… the part in which she’s repeating “Hot-hot-hot-hot stuuuuff” reminded me of the sound of the rototiller which would break down in every single winter and my grandpa would always have to try for hours and hours to breathe life into it in spring. And the music was also way too loud in comparison to the fact the clientele of this place consists mostly of exhausted truck drivers who only want to chill to Chris Rhea’s Road to Hell. If they wanted noise, they would go to a strip club to see Miss North Carolina ’86 dropping her clothes to something from AC/DC. Probably Highway to Hell. Variations on a theme. But probably this little dump doesn’t even have a proper strip club.

Luckily, this shabby roadhouse has a separate room for pool tables; it’s pretty hidden and easily approachable without being noticed. Not that I don’t like hanging out with the guys… okay, that’s also a part of it, we’ve been basically locked in a tour bus, concert venues and hotel rooms since last September. We’re each other’s company all the time, the only place where I can spend a few hours by myself is basically the ever-changing setting of my incoherent dreams. Only mentally, of course, since basically there’s always someone snoring around. And of course, they also keep showing up in random scenarios and with people they don’t even know but that’s the point of dreams, your brain forces you to put jigsaw puzzle pieces together that don’t match. Or they do, you just don’t know about it… Long story short, there’s no way to get rid of these dudes… Okay, it sounds as if they annoyed me… shit, they do annoy me more and more often and I hate this feeling. We’re basically friends; we wouldn’t be able to play in the same band if we didn’t get on well. But before we started touring, we’d all had our own circles including friends and colleagues, different hobbies, natural habitat… and music and the band had been only the intersection of them. We met when we had to do something as a band, we spent time together to write songs, rehearse, record… and in the remaining time, everybody lived their own life. That we don’t have anymore.

Usually, I try to not see only the dark side of this situation but now, I’m not feeling able to put on a smiley face. Maybe the fact that my whole digestive system is burning doesn’t help either… I bought a cola at the gas station next to the bar and smuggled it in under my jacket. That’s the only piece of advice of the doctor that is also useful under tour circumstances. I mean, I can’t just drop everything and lie down when the pains are coming, I can’t spend my evening sitting on the loo when I have to play a gig and who cares about diet when you can’t even eat or sleep on a regular basis? But cola is always there, no matter where I am. It’s the only thing that eases my nausea effectively and isn’t very conspicuous at the same time. And this one is as cold as ice, it feels good to press the bottle to my stomach as I’m crouching in fetal position in this armchair. Although the doctor probably wouldn’t approve, I spiked it with a few drops of rum. To be honest, they were bigger drops but I finally wanted to empty my flask. I decided to give up drinking spirits, beer makes me unpredictable enough and mixing drinks only fucks my digestion up too.

“Here you are, finally! I knew you were somewhere here too!”

So much for hiding…

“Hi, Karrie…”

“Man, you’re missing the best parts… some local chicks started courting the guys, they even got them to dance…”

“Awesome…”

“Mike, can you hear what I’m telling you? I said the guys were made to dance… I mean, the guys such as Jeff, Dave and Stone… and dance, like, moving the body rhythmically to the music… Although the girl who picked Stone had a difficult job…”

“Let me guess: she failed.” I remark in a bored voice and shake the bottle in small circles not to waste a drop of my drink.

“Mike? Is something wrong with you? Normally, you would basically drop everything and rush there to see the end of the scene but… yes, something’s wrong with you...” she answers her own question with a concerned face sinking down slowly onto the other armchair.

“I’m fine…” I mumble as I embrace my knees and lean my chin against them.

“Mike, I haven’t known you for a long time but I’m pretty sure that sitting alone curled up like a hedgehog is not your normal state. The pains, again, right?”

“I don’t know what you’re talking about.”

“I don’t like being taken for an idiot. Ninety percent of my job basically consists of watching every move of yours and trying to figure out your needs before you would even think about them. Do you think I haven’t noticed you’re suffering?”

I should have known. She usually stays in the background, doesn’t meddle in the business of the others but she’s all ears and eyes… she knows everything about us.

“All I know is that it must be something with your stomach or intestines… I don’t know exactly how serious it might be but it seems to be serious enough to be treated…” she goes on ignoring my stubborn silence. “Have you already seen a doctor? Have you already been diagnosed?”

I’ve seen several ones. I have a diagnosis. But I doubt she wants to hear the detailed description of my medical history, in particular the analysis of that delightful feeling when objects are being put up into your butthole.

“Do the others know about it?”

Oh, sure… like the inexhaustible source of Stone’s stupid anal jokes needed any feeding…No, thanks. And enlightening the others about the fact that pissing in the corner and running around naked aren’t the only sorts of accidents happening with me from time to time isn’t one of my top priorities either.

“Look, Mike, you’re an adult. Legally, leastways. I can’t tell you what to do and I’m finished with the heart-to-heart, I promise but… come on, all I’m trying to say is that you don’t have to feel ashamed and you can live a quality life whatever your problem is, for example Effie…”

“Effie?” I try not to sound like a maniac but I almost kick the table over as I jump back in regular sitting position. “You mean she…?”

“Hasn’t Judy mentioned it?”

“What?” I ask so far as I’m able to speak at all due to the lump in my throat that grew out of nothing of the mere mention of her name.

“She’s been waiting for new kidneys, or at least one new kidney for months. It’s pretty difficult to find a suitable donor for her… but she’s optimistic, as always. And also angry a bit but it only helped her move on.”

“May I ask… what happened to her? I mean, I understand if it’s not public or…” I try to form coherent sentences, which is not that easy at all after this shock therapy.

“It’s not a secret, it’s the result of medical mistakes.” she starts telling the whole story. The chain of her ordeals is more than simple misfortune, and honestly, as I’m trying to recall that compelling but still playful voice, it’s difficult to believe her life depends on permanent medical help. “…and that’s where we are now.” she finishes with a deeps sigh.

“Poor girl…”

“She’d cut your throat if she heard you. She hates being pitied and tries to keep her life in the normal track very hard, limits and obstacles have always annoyed her… but she’s not that kind of girl to whom you can explain that life can be complete without sky diving, rock climbing or space travel too.” she shrugs with a bittersweet smile.

“Does that mean she keeps going on with her studies and…”

“That’s the problem. She’s suspended her studies, gave up her student jobs but she’s already regretted it. And Annie, I mean, her mom is overconcerned and wants her to rest and stick around until the transplantation will have been carried out. And that’s one of the reasons why I recommended Judy as my replacement…”

“They need money…”

“Yup. But the point of my coming up with Effie’s case is to make you understand you’re not alone, having an illness is not a shame but I hate clichés so I rather shut up. I don’t want to lecture you, I would just feel guilty if I didn’t even try to talk about it with you.”

“I have already heard so much about her… do you have a picture of her or something? I’m curious… I mean, it’d be nice if I could connect a face to all those awesome stories…” I hear myself talking. Gaah, I don’t want seem to be pushy or a psycho stalker but I need to see her face.

“Uhmm, I used to keep a few family photos in my wallet, if you’re lucky I still have them…” she begins to rummage in her purse. “Ah, here it is. But no, that’s an old one.” she puts the picture back before I could take a look at it.

“NO, I WANT TO SEE IT.” I grab her forearm. “Please…?” I soften my voice seeing her puzzled expression. So much for avoiding deranged behavior.

“She was like seventeen when it was taken, it’s the yearbook photo from her senior year I guess.” she hands it to me.

I don’t know what I was expecting or if I was expecting anything at all but one thing I know: I wasn’t prepared for THIS. Judy mentioned she was blond and had blue eyes and normally, I would pair this combo with a Barbie-type girl in my imagination. But she’s everything but a Barbie-doll, her clear, shining, honest eyes stare into the camera with some cautiousness but if you examine her face carefully enough, you can discover hints of impishness playing around her lips and those tiny freckles around her nose and her skin that was still wearing the last kiss of late summer sun when the picture was taken… Jesus ‘Cready, you’re not a poet, you’re not even sane. Yes, I must have lost my mind, I’m hearing music in my head… “Drea-ea-ea-eam, dream, dream, dream…”

“Mike… Mike… Miiiike…” I find myself in the reality again when Karrie snaps a couple times with her fingers in front of my face. And I realize I didn’t grow a DJ in my mind, the song of Everly Brothers is actually playing in the bar.

“I take this now back, I found another one.” Karrie has to basically disentangle my clenched, grabby fingers from the photo but my eyes are still glued to the face in it, greedily collecting the tiniest details until it disappears in the wallet. “Here.” she pushes the other picture in front of me. “It’s from last year, I think, her hair is curlier here but that’s her natural look, she doesn’t have it straightened too often.”

The second photo gives that human tornado, that young woman clearly back whom I’ve imagined so many times since that very phone call and of whom now I know that she’s officially out of my league. It’s definitively confirmed, not that I had any chance to meet her in real life or at least talk to her again…

“You know what? You should consider talking with her about it. I think she’d understand it better than any of us.” Karrie remarks casually while sliding the pictures back into their place.

Oh. Yes. Sure. Why not call this angel to tell her I’m a disgusting pig who doesn’t have the slightest control over his metabolism, lets out disgusting sounds involuntarily and shits in his pants at least once in a week. Yes, that’s something I would totally chat with her about…

“It’s just an idea, I’m sure Judy would help you find a way to get in contact with her… of course, only if you want to…”

“Houston, we have a problem… Karrie… there’s a situation… we need you…” Scully basically falls into the room breathlessly.

“Jesus, what happened?” she jumps up terrified.

“It’s Judy… you should go after her…” he gasps pressing his hand against his right side. “I’ll tell you on the way…”

“Sorry Mike, we’ll talk about it later…” she shouts back on leaving.

At least my interrogation is over and I can spend some time alone since the others seem to be busy with that “situation”, whatever it is… Maybe I could practice pool tricks, I still haven’t given up my goal to beat Stone at least once in this lifetime. Even if we aren’t playing against each other, he keeps bothering me with his sarcastic comments and doesn’t let me try things in my own way, I can’t really improve my pool skills when he’s around.

After playing a few rounds against myself and winning, of course, I realize the pains have almost gone… It’s so weird, you immediately notice discomfort but you’re always unaware of the lack of it for a while, especially if you manage to direct your thoughts on something else. I guess I should look for the others, I hope Judy’s okay…

“Sorry” an unknown female voice addresses me with a short cough “have you got light?”

***

„So… what’s the plan?” Dave asks leaning on the counter with his elbows facing towards the tables.

“What plan?” I ask back positioning myself in the same way to be able to take a look around.

“For the evening… with the ladies.” he winks meaningfully.

“I don’t know… I guess we’re just hanging out. But why are you asking me? It is you and Jeff who are allowed to have any plans with any ladies… I have a beautiful girlfriend at home, remember…” I answer and I feel my lips pulling in a wide grin; I can’t help, I’ve developed this instant reaction that occurs whenever my gorgeous blondie is on my mind.

“How could I forget… you’d never miss an opportunity to rub this fact in our face. Anyway, Jeff doesn’t seem to be interested in them either, for obvious reasons…”

I squint at the pinball machine where the two second fiddles whose names I’m simply unable to recall are trying to break their personal records. I don’t really get why they think screaming helps them keep the ball on the play field but at least they prevent Jeff from falling asleep; he’s suppressing one yawn after another while stealing glances alternately at the basketball match on the TV screen and the table around which Scully, the slightly deranged leader of the girl bunch and our pocket-sized roadie are having an apparently deep conversation.

“He shouldn’t torture himself, his obvious reason doesn’t give a fuck about his awkward performance.”

“You can never know. Maybe she ignores intentionally that he’s ignoring her intentionally. But I guess you’re happy about it, the super professional band leader who’s against within-band hook-ups…”

“You know my opinion…” I shrug. “Just think about Fleetwood Mac and what happened to them.”

“Uhm, they became a world-famous top rock band?”

“You’re right! Come with me in the restroom, NOW!”

We both burst out in a dirty, tipsy laughter and it takes a few minutes until we calm down enough to be able to speak again.

“So, what are your plans?” I nudge him still shaking of warm-down snorts from time to time.

“I guess if the dynamics don’t change very quickly in the opposite direction, Jeff will vanish in less than ten minutes… and I’ll have to sacrifice myself and keep both chick entertained in the rest of the evening. But I don’t mind, they’re both cute.” Dave takes a sip of his beer wiggling his eyebrows satisfied.

“Both chick? What about… Caledonia?” I nod towards the black-haired alpha female of the trio.

“Her name is Claudia, geez man, you’re hopeless… but no, thanks, her behavior reminds me of that psycho woman in Fatal Attraction too much.” he frowns. “Stoney, be a man and do what you gotta do.”

“…which is…? Jesus, I’m not interested in any random girl I encounter and as you said, she’s totally insane, while we were dancing…”

“… while she was dancing…”

“… I felt as if I had been caught by a boa constrictor that was squeezing me tighter and tighter and I swear, it must have been an extended, super long version of Hot Stuff, I thought it would never end, like, it was at least three minutes longer than usual…” I go on since I’m not willing to react to his undisguised reference to my dance talent.

“Just go back to her, have a polite chat with her and say bye in half an hour… maybe I can keep Jeff here and you can use each other as excuse for leaving. I’ll be here and keep an eye on you and in case she gets out of control, I call the local herpers to catch her.” Dave presents his concept about the strategy I should follow.

“Herpers against herpes, it sounds like the name of some non-profit organization... Okay, approved but if I start yelling “red code”, you launch the rescue operation, that’s the signal.”

“Just go finally, the sooner you begin, the earlier you can get out of here.”

I grab my beer and walk to the small company around the table but as soon as I arrive, all its members fall suddenly silent.

“What’s up, Scully? Hi Claudia.” I greet them and get a dark look from the third person whom I’m trying to ignore to get away with the situation as simply as possible.

“Scully… what kind of name is that at all?” Claudia mutters listlessly; for some unknown reason her energetic behavior has gone; she’s playing with her hair bored leaning her face against her palm.

“There are some who call me… Tim.” Scully uses the occasion to crack a Monty Python joke.

“Tim the Enchanter.” I finish the quote basically swallowing the last syllable since I hear the other girl uttering the same words simultaneously.

“Is that some inside joke of yours?” Claudia mumbles unwillingly.

“Kind of.” I answer in the same style. “But his real name is Timothy, that’s the truth.”

“Anyway, these weird nicknames are pretty common in your crew. Scully… Stone… I wonder how you got this one.” she goes on in a monotonous voice. It’s strange, she doesn’t sound like someone who feels like having a conversation at all. Maybe she’s that depressed type of drunk.

“Guess what: from his parents.” the annoying little smartass answers instead of me raising one eyebrow.

“Oh, really? Your name is almost as bizarre as you.”

What. The. Actual. Fuck. I don’t mind if she spares me an uncomfortable talk and leaves me alone before I would ditch her but why is this turnaround?

“Judy, you promised you were going to play foosball with me! Come, the tables are finally free!” Scully jumps to his feet pulling his colleague by her hand.

“What? I didn’t promise anything, I…”

“Come on, you have a mind like a sieve, of course you did! We could invite the others too and you could teach us those mind-blowing tricks!” he drags her enthusiastically in the direction of the foosball tables; she seemingly protests a little but finally gives in and follows him reluctantly.

“Uhm… I hate to admit but she’s a first-class player.” I speak up with a sentence I didn’t want to say at all but the urge to break the awkward silence was strong enough that my mind forgot to look for better topics.

“Wow.”

Gosh, I’ll need anti-depressants, if she goes on like this.

“I everything okay?” I try to look in her eyes. “I mean… you seemed to have fun when you came over, you even danced… but now… I mean, if it’s a private thing, you don’t have to answer…”

“Stone… you are a really nice guy and all, handsome, actually funny but… I don’t think we would match.”

Thank God. But something I can’t explain makes me ask for the reason instead of confessing I’m not available anyway.

“Oh. I see. And… what makes you think we’re too different?”

“I don’t know… there are just so many antagonistic characteristics… For example, I don’t like animals. I mean, I just can’t get on well with them, I don’t even like watching documentaries on them.”

“I love them, I have a cat called Red and I love dogs too, my family has always had dogs. But I know there are people who feel strange when animals are around, I’m okay with that… what else?” I inquire; the suspicious feeling keeps telling me something’s not okay here, something’s FUCKIN’ not okay here. Maybe if I ask further questions, I get closer to the reason of her behavior.

“I don’t eat red meat at all.”

“Haha, then we have something in common. I have vegetarian phases from time to time and I’m right in the middle of one. I have nothing against meat but I only consume them at special occasions.”

“But that’s the point, I hate these special occasions!” she blurts out passionately. “And I loathe even the smell of beef, let alone touching it.”

“I repeat, I can live without it.” I laugh. “And… your concern about differences is really sweet but I have to tell you something: I have a girlfriend at home, we’ve been together for months so…”

“I know! And you’re so lucky to have someone who accepts you the way you are, even if your taste is everything but ordinary and…”

Let’s wait for a second… how does she know about Amber? And what’s this babbling about my quirky style? And what was this madness about animals and meat? My mind switches to replay mode and I try to recall the moments of the evening double-time… I see ourselves arriving, them coming to our table, us dancing to the fast-forward version of Hot Stuff, them disappearing in the restroom, them getting back from the restroom and joining Scully and J…STOP! Her. That. Little. Shit. It could be only her. She must have said something about me, something crazy shit, because that’s what she’s doing all the time, she tries to turn everybody against me and ruin my reputation and… Okay, first I have to get rid of Claudia, it’s not her fault, after all.

“Thanks for saying that, it’s very nice from you. And I’m sure, sooner or later you’ll find a guy who really fits you. I hope I didn’t hurt you but I don’t really like to talk about my private life. But I guess my friends enlightened you about the details to avoid misunderstandings…” I squint at her playing the gentle refusal routine. If my presumption is correct, it’ll turn out here and now.

“Oh yes!” she jumps on my words immediately. “Judy told me everything. She cares about you a lot, she’s such a good friend!”

“She is.” A good friend of cheap tricks and pretended innocence. But she’ll pay for this. “Her problems are usually similar to mine so we are pretty much on the same wavelength.” Whatever it is, I throw the shit back at that viper. “But this is so awkward and I don’t want to waste your time so… I wish you all the best and good luck with guys!” I stand up already thinking about medieval methods of torment I would gladly try on that two-faced dwarf.

“Thanks… and be happy with that lucky girl!” she sends a saddish smile and I feel guilty for a second for leaving her alone right when she stopped playing the role of the tempting seductress. But while I’m walking to the foosball tables, my thoughts are going back to my unfinished business with that hypocrite, mean…

“No, Scully, the point is in the right angle, look, I don’t shoot the ball until… hey, Scully, you’re not even watching… oh.” she suddenly falls silent and flushes as she follows the gaze of the pale, petrified guitar tech in my direction as I arrive to them. He was obviously trying to save her ass but I don’t blame him, he hates fights, he probably feels being between two fires.

“You know what? I’m also dying to learn more about your little tricks.” I stop at the foosball table with folded arms.

“Oh my God, I love tricks.” Claudia’s enthusiastic friend chirps from the other side of the table. “What? I do love them!” she whines not decoding the strict face the third member of their bunch sends at her after nudging her to finally shut up.

“S-sure, I gladly show them to you too…” the manipulative little beast stutters.

“Face-to-face.” I cut her off in my coldest voice and I can basically hear how hard she just swallowed.

“Ugh… let’s look for Jeff and Dave.” Scully steers the two confused, reluctant friends of Claudia out of range basically tossing them towards the bar counter.

“So, what do you want to know?” she asks almost cheerfully; what an acting performance.

“Oh, I want to know a lot of things… if aliens exist… where the other half of my favorite pair of socks might be… what’s the equivalent of blushing at chameleons… why Claudia suddenly started treating me as if I was a leper…”

“They do. Probably in Jeff’s suitcase. You can’t embarrass a reptile. Maybe she has finally seen the light…” she lists her answers shrugging nonchalantly. “But I guess it’s a relief for you, so we’re happy now, huh?”

“It depends. I wonder if someone helped her out with some useful information about me…”

“I have no idea what you’re talking about… not that it matters as for the result…” she starts spinning the sticks in the table for no reason, since no one else is around, it’s probably just a pathetic excuse for avoiding eye contact.

“You know, I like to decide on my own with whom I want to spend my time.”

“Do you absolutely exclude the possibility of other people feeling the same way? What if she just didn’t enjoy your company?”

“That’s not impossible but the marvelous change in her behavior makes me think something happened either in the restroom or at the table… and guess what? You were there the whole time too.”

“Are you stalking me? Jesus, should I have reported what I was doing at the loo? And I’m even sitting at tables, holy shit, that’s a federal crime.”

“She herself told you on. I haven’t figured out yet what you told her but I know Scully like the back of my hand; he’s obviously trying to cover for you but keeping secret and acting aren’t his strengths. Sooo… you can play dumb but it’ll take me less than two minutes to get everything out of him.”

Her hands stop fidgeting in the second she realizes there’s no point in denying.

“If you’re convinced that much, then why are you asking me? Just execute me here and now…” she stretches out her arms playing the role of the innocent, targeted victim.

“Nah, you can’t get away with it so easily. I wanna know why you did what you did.” I stand in her way since I can see her eyes mapping the possible escapes.

“Why do you want to know why I did what you think I did?” she asks back still keeping the poker face. She still thinks she can win, unbelievable.

“Well… it’s just interesting. Jeff and Dave danced with those girls too but as far as I can see, their popularity hasn’t decreased, I wonder why…” I turn around for a second and nod towards our table where the guys are laughing hard at something with Scully and Claudia’s friends, Claudia seems to have been vanished in the meantime, though.

“Because they don’t have girlfriends...” she remarks earnestly staring at them, not even noticing she broke the character.

“So that’s it? That’s why you did it? You think I can’t even look at other girls since I’m not single?”

“You just shouldn’t. I mean, you found a girl who meets your special needs, you wouldn’t have such luck once again in this lifetime.” she sits back on the high horse again.

“What special needs?” I ask eagerly hoping I can finally put the whole picture together.

“I don’t know, four boobs, tiny brain, large bed, I guess…” she goes on with the bullshit.

“That’s you theory about my needs? Wonderful… So you think I would have cheated on my girlfriend without your machination?” I raise my voice.

“I didn’t say that…”

“Did I kiss her?”

“You didn’t but…”

“Did I hug her?”

“You didn’t but…”

“Did I grope her?”

“You didn’t but…”

“Then what the fuck did I do that bothered your sensitive soul so much that you dared intervene in my business?” I lean over her making her back away.

“You laughed and…”

“What?” I scream. “You think me laughing with someone wearing skirt makes you entitled for shit-talking? You’re insane. You know what? You can play the self-proclaimed moral police of the crew or Seattle or the whole fuckin’ universe, I don’t give a fuck. Just leave. Me. Alone. Mind your own love life. Oh, wait? You don’t have one? Maybe that’s the problem?” I cover my mouth with my palm pretending shock.

“Screw you, Gossard.” she whispers hoarsely and tosses me away with her shoulder rushing past me.

***

I catch her at the entrance, in front of the building. Scully was right, she seems to be pretty upset.

“Shit, shit, SHIT!!!” she shouts emphasizing the last “shit” by kicking at full strength in the dumpster standing on the side of the road. “Fuck, fuck, FUCK!” she bounces with painful groans on one leg until she almost loses her balance and limps back to plop down onto the curb.

“I heard that Converse was planning to launch steel toe sneakers, first I thought the brand managers were tripping on something but seeing you it totally makes sense.” I remark as I take place next to her with the moves and in the pace of a seventy-year-old woman; this position is anything but comfortable for my permanently aching knee.

“Ha, very funny. I should have kicked him in the balls. With steel toe boots…” she mumbles taking her foot in her lap. “I hope I didn’t break my big toe.” she tries to make a diagnosis by palpation.

“If I’m not wrong, you’re talking about the genitalia of Stone Carpenter Gossard.”

To my biggest surprise, it’s not the anatomical term that catches her attention.

“What? Carpenter?” she asks snickering but she also wipes out an involuntary teardrop with the back of her hand from the corner of her eye in the meantime. Whatever happened, it must have actually hurt.

“Yes, that’s his middle name. But: you didn’t hear it from me. And, I know the temptation is huge but try to keep this information until you can use it with cool head.”

“I’m as cold as an icicle.” she sniffles bitterly.

“As a melting icicle.” I stop a next teardrop rolling down on her face with my thumb. “Come on, what happened?”

“Nothing. I’m just so sick of it. So sick of him.”

“What has he done?”

“You mean apart from getting addicted to oxygen twenty-something years ago?”

“Did he say something?” I ignore her sarcastic response.

She laces her arms around her knees and begins to examine her shoes.

“Did he do something?”

She insists on remaining silent and resists my interrogation pretending the patterns on her socks require all her attention.

“Or didn’t he say or do something? That’s the problem? Look, I don’t have to care about your childish quarrel. I just wanted to check if you’re okay since Scully was worried about you. But frankly, maybe too many people are already busy with trying to keep your war over sandbox toys under control.”

“You could finally decide on whose side you are…”

“Obviously on Stone’s. But it has practical reasons, Mike mentioned once he had drunk expired beer during a gig with his previous band and he’d vomited in the amplifier…” I try to ease the tension. “But Jesus, Judy, joke aside, I’m on nobody’s side, of course. I’m just trying to help but if I don’t know what happened, I can’t. And I’m helpless since believe or not, I know he’s a really great guy and I also know you’re an awesome chick and honestly, I have no clue why your arrival has turned him completely inside out.”

“So it’s my fault.”

“I didn’t say that.”

“I’m just… so sick of him.”

“You’ve already said that.” I fish a tissue out of my pocket and hand her so that she doesn’t use her forearm to clean her nose.

“You know… he’s not the first smug prick I have to deal with, I met enough of them at Juilliard… but usually, I just ignored them.”

“Then why don’t you ignore him too?” I ask although I know there are several reasons that make this idea extremely difficult.

“I’m not in the position in which I could pretend he’s invisible. And inaudible. I mean, letting it slide sounds like a way that could be even effective, maybe he would get tired of torturing me after a while… but it’s not like high school bullying, I don’t have years to get rid of him, at least you have a glimmer of hope every year there that maybe the bullies find a new victim in the freshman class… But… despite what this whole situation looks like, this is the adult world. This is my job, the management is my employer and if the band is not satisfied with me, I’m going to be fired.”

“But they are satisfied with you…”

Her disbelieving expression makes me correct my sentence.

“They are not dissatisfied with you…”

“Stone is. And he’s the leader and main songwriter of the band so if it came to a dealbreaker… guess who would draw the short straw.”

“Who talks about a dealbreaker? At this point, you’re my trainee. You’re under my protection.”

“And you know what’s the most irritating part? That I’m trying, I’m really trying… I do everything to fulfil his wishes…”

“…which are often ridiculous, let’s be honest. I mean, he’s an immensely talented musician but he… all of them have to learn that being loud and raw isn’t the most important thing…”

“Exactly… I just want to turn up the volume until his monitor box explodes and then just shrug, like “you wanted this, fucker”.“ we both giggle recalling the awkward moments and the looks we exchanged at sound checks. “But what’s your strategy? How can you convince him?”

“Well… I don’t try to convince him with explicit arguments… somehow I learned how to make him believe that my suggestion was originally his idea.”

“Clever… but ah, I couldn’t make it… he disagrees with everything I come up with… it’s like an innate reflex at him.”

“Aaand you’ve just caught the point!” I snap with my fingers.

“…which is… that it’s a reflex and he can’t help it?” she frowns.

“No, the other thing you said… he disagrees with everything that comes from you.”

“…aaand…?” her hands circling around each other urge me for getting straight to the point. “Yes, I’m the problem, I know, there’s nothing new in that.”

“NO! And actually… I’d rather keep you in the dark about it. Namely, we’ve got a plan.”

Two plans actually, in case plan A doesn’t work…

“We? You and…?”

“Schmitty, Brett and Scully. None of them is particularly good at keeping secret but this time they are holding on, I’m very proud of them. But as far as I know you, you’d ruin everything if you knew the details.”

“I can’t wait… if it doesn’t involve a pair of dirty, stinky socks getting stuffed into Stone’s mouth, I’m not interested in it, anyway… whatever… sorry for being skeptical, the guy is smart, he smells plans and tricks from miles… and even if he doesn’t, he ruins your self-esteem and drives you into series of mistakes and then” she claps suddenly making me start ”he gets you and makes fun of you.”

“You don’t need to exaggerate, he’s not Satan itself…”

“Are you sure?” she narrows her eyes meaningfully. “I had finally gained some confidence by the time I graduated from Juilliard, I mean, I finally believed that being admitted and receiving a degree there meant I could really… achieve something… and now... I feel like I’m at the start again.”

“The situation is certainly out of your comfort zone… but you came from a different world… and his world is strange for you too and…”

“If it was only about this!” she cuts me off. “He’s mocking me permanently, at everything. Everything. Like in elementary school, he makes remarks about my look, my dresses…”

“But you mock him back!”

“… my love… life…” she goes on in a thinner voice. “Or… rather the lack of it. Rude remarks.”

Whoa, that’s new. Obviously, I’ve heard him cracking jokes about her innocent look and Jeff’s admiration for her that he rather disapproved than encouraged, by the way… but he hadn’t humiliated her publicly only for being single… I need a context.

“What did he say exactly?”

“He told me not to put my nose into other people’s business… and that I should to stay away from his private life and insulted me by saying I didn’t even have a love interest…” she recalls in a bored voice like she was reciting a textbook.

“That doesn’t make any sense… what happened before?” I inquire. Something tells me that’s only the second half of the story…

“We had sort of a… disagreement.”

“You don’t say…” I squint at her. “Come on, don’t make me pull everything out of you word by word!”

“Can I have a cigarette?” she asks out of the blue.

“But you don’t even smoke!” I protest.

“Do you want me to go on or not? Just give me a cigarette, please.”

“Oookaaay…” I hand her the pack with my lighter in it.

“So… there were those girls who showed up in the bar… they sat down to the guys’ table…” she begins as she hits the pack with her index finger a few times to set a cigarette free.

“Yes, I saw them, they even danced with them, it was hilarious!” I giggle. Honestly, not only the recall of the scene cracks me up, her fumbling with the lighter is hysterical too.

“One of them… Claudia… she hit on him. I mean, on Stone.” she utters with disgust as she succeeds in lighting the cigarette for about the sixteenth attempt.

“Oh yeah… she seemed pretty pushy.”

“Pushy is not the right term, she was just shameless! I encountered her in the restroom, she started asking questions about him, you know, if he’s single, what kind of girls he liked, stuff like that. And I… ahem… I told… ahem-ahem… I told her… ahem… I told he had a girlfriend ahem-ahem-ahem-ahem…”

Even the first drag drives her on the verge of choking.

“Are you sure you want to smoke it?”

“Yes, I am… ahem… I’m okay… I’m just… ahem. Okay. I think it’s over.” her breathing calms down finally. “So” she takes another drag, a perceptibly more cautious one “long story short, she didn’t even care… and that asshole didn’t even resist.”

“I didn’t see him reciprocating her approach… What should he have resisted?”

“Everything? OUCH!!!”

Due to her outraged hand moves, she managed to drop the ash onto her forearm.

“Okay, you give that to me…” I grab her by the wrist and take the cigarette between my own middle and index finger. “When you’re smoking, you have to ash it regularly to avoid accidents like this. It also burns while you’re talking, just sayin’…”

“Damn… but it’d feel really good to hold a cigarette in my hand while I’m flailing…” she whines still rubbing her forearm.”

“Here. But don’t even try to light it. We can pretend you’re smoking it. Go on.” I hand her a fresh cigarette and begin to puff the one I confiscated.

“And I got just… so angry! I mean, how can one be such a slut?” she gestures on with wider moves.

“Well, a lot of girls just want to have fun and…”

“No, I’m talking about him! He’s got a girlfriend… who must be beautiful and smart and perfect and… “

“Wait, you don’t know anything about her…”

“That’s true but guys like him obviously wouldn’t date any girl…”

I’m dying to know what she means by “guys like him” but maybe this is not the right moment to ask it straightforwardly…

“But he didn’t do anything particular with that girl…” I try to defend him effortlessly.

“Were you there too? Because I was. And trust me, without my intervention, a lot more would have happened…”

“Wait, your intervention?” I perk my head but receive no response. “Judy??? What did you do?”

“I… I might have said her a few things… about Stone…” she confesses with burning cheeks.

“Things like…???” I claim a detailed explanation. Maybe she’s not as innocent this time as I thought…

“I told her things about… what he likes…” she answers reluctantly.

“Like beer or dogs or disco music or what the hell? Tell me the whole fuckin’ story or I leave, I swear!” I flare out at her.

“Things… he likes in… bed…”

Oh. The idea of Judy disclosing Stone’s bedroom secrets sounds dangerous enough to make me choose my words wisely.

“But you… you don’t know what kind of sex he likes… do you?”

“Jesus, of course I don’t, I don’t even want to think about the fact that that freak has sex at all! Jesus… not even in my worst nightmares…” she rolls her eyes staring in front of her.

“But then… how did you know…”

“I… used my… imagination…” she sums up with a brief shrug.

I’ve never heard a more euphemistic synonym for lying. “I used my imagination…” Wicked woman.

“Oh my… and what was your intention with that?”

“To make her reconsider her choice… and to defend Stone from her… you know, I wanted to help him getting out of this situation, guys just never have the strength... I basically did him a favor!”

Of course, Judy helping Stone. I could even imagine it but strictly only after the arrival of the Horsemen of the Apocalypse.

“Thinking back about the beginning of our conversation, he couldn’t be particularly grateful for the helping hand…”

“Well, the thing is that the nature of our relationship sort of… influenced my word usage…”

“Judy, I’ve known you since your birth, you don’t need to use vague sentences… just tell what you told her finally!”

“I told her he liked watching animals, I might have mentioned mating animals. For example, watching David Attenborough video tapes before he…”

“I get it, I get it… but that’s not that extreme, thank God you didn’t say he liked animal porn in which people do it with animals…”

“Maybe I mentioned further preferences too… maybe I said something about him liking eating from the girl’s body…”

“That can even be hot, a lot of people are into it, that’s not that bad at all, Judy…” I snicker.

“…unusual food… like bloody steak with Worcestershire sauce… with knife and fork…”

I immediately stop giggling and freeze because I have the sinister feeling she still has something to confess.

“Uhm… I thought you were talking about potentially erotic food like strawberry and whipped cream but in case the girl likes steak too…”

“…and it’s possible I said things about his… performance too…”

“Oh, no.”

“I remember mentioning… he needs, uhm, special actions to become… motivated.” she fidgets with her shoelaces absent-mindedly, wrapping them around her index fingers.

“Okay, whatever, go ahead, I’m prepared.” I cover my eyes with my hands as if they could prevent me from visualizing her bizarre ideas.

“As far as I can recall… I claimed his main turn-on was watching the girl doing her business…”

“You mean doing the business? Like… pleasing… herself?” I ask back since don’t want to believe what I heard.

“I said doing her business… on the toilet…” she repeats with a miserably groan, reddening and avoiding my gaze.

“Judy… you know I’m always ready to defend you from anything or anybody but… it’s no wonder Stone attacked you again.”

“No wonder? He deserved it! After all that bitching…”

“He deserved it? Helping hand, of course… you basically humiliated him in front of a girl!” I scold her trying to keep a serious face, which is not easy at all.

“Do you think I went too far?” she asks innocently with sincere concern. For a second, she turns back into the ten-year-old version of herself who was scared of everything and everyone and it costs me a lot of restraint not to hug her. “Anyway… thinking back… it was so funny, you should have seen the girl’s face.”

I admit, this is the most hilarious shit I’ve heard in the last few years and Stone does deserve some payback from time to time but I don’t want to confirm her behavior. I’m sticking on my plan about getting them to make up or at least to normalize their relationship.

“Judy…” I begin with a deep sigh “Most guys are very sensitive as for their masculinity and sexual abilities, even if they are not typical machos. When they are joking about themselves – that’s okay, a guy with a healthy amount of self-irony is usually considered funny or even attractive. If another guy teases them with sexual topics – they just fire back, with words or their fist. But if it’s a girl who makes fun of their performance – they just freak out, they can’t hit you, they can’t assert they are sex gods either, their only way to defend themselves is attacking back verbally and they try to be at least as rude as you were. Or even ruder.”

“Oh, please, Karrie, I don’t need to be lectured on the psychology of men. He didn’t even know what I said exactly, he wasn’t there of course.”

“But it was you who said he’s smart, he probably figured out the point of it, the chick didn’t seem to be a rocket scientist and she probably didn’t even realize she got in the middle of your death match…”

“Or he was just taking shots in the dark and had luck. Scully was there and Stone was about to torment him so that he would tell him everything word by word… poor dude… So everything will turn out, anyway. By the way, Stone immediately thinking that I’m the potential reason of him being refused by a girl is insulting but also flattering at the same time…”

“Judy, I’ve never denied that it’s pretty difficult to bear Stone’s remarks without saying a word. But getting a taste of his own medicine only gets him fired up all the more, he always wants to have the last word, he’s simply just like that. And if you want to be the quicker one and make his jaw really drop, you have to get your shit together. But to be honest, I’d be happier if you’d keep your quarrels on the level of innocent teasing…”

“It was already everything but innocent in that very moment he heard my name for the first time. It didn’t depend on me, it’s all his fault and he has to face the music at least once his lifetime!” she declares determined.

I better activate plan A as fast as possible before someone gets killed.

***

I can’t wait this terrible day finally come to an end. I just want to take a shower and have some sleep… but I don’t even know how I could get myself to close my eyes, this place is a mess. What if cockroaches come out of their hideouts in the second I turn off the lights? But I’m so tired… what if I asked the driver to open the tour bus for me? Sleeping in the bunk bed sounds definitely safer… but what if he’s already sleeping? I don’t even know his room number and the reception desk was empty too; I don’t feel like looking for the staff in this haunted house. I better start with a shower, it always helps clear my mind. I’m so busy with my own thoughts that I basically bump into Beth in the hallway who’s walking sleepily towards their room; she must be coming from the shower judging from her wet hair.

“Already back here? It wasn’t a long evening…” she mutters in a tired voice.

“I’ve had enough of it. Is everything okay?” I examine her resigned face.

“Yes… uhm… Ed was typing lyrics the whole evening and then he passed out… so I had a shower and I’m about to go to bed too.” she rubs her eyes. “Carefully with the water tap, I almost scalded myself due to that crap. It’s better to wait at least thirty seconds before standing under the water and be careful when you try to change the temperature, there’s not much transition between ice cold and scalding hot, I had to mess around a lot until I could find the optimal level.”

“If I can’t work it out, I’ll just shower with cold water, that wouldn’t be the first time.” I wave.

“Ugh, if you’re a masochist…”

“It’s not the most pleasant thing I can imagine but at least it’s not dangerous either. It can be even refreshing sometimes.”

“Oookay… as you want... And there are no hooks in the shower either, by the way. But no bugs there so far either… Good night!” she pats my shoulder with almost closed eyes and totters to their door.

As I unlock the door of our room, I reach in with one arm to turn on the light and wait for a few seconds before entering; I don’t want to see my little roommates running in the corners. I lift the blanket on my bed only to realize the bedclothes aren’t the cleanest and there’s no towel prepared for the guests. Thank goodness I didn’t listen to Effie when she tried to dissuade me from bringing my own one; she claimed hotels always offer towels and travel-size personal care products… So much for Effie’s assumptions. Of course I also brought my toiletry bag decorated with treble keys and musical notes containing small bottles of shower gel, body lotion, a tiny tube of toothpaste and… due to the foresight of Effie, my “emergency package” now includes also gratuitous amount of condoms that stare at me accusingly every time I unzip it. I decide to leave my clothes in the room since I don’t like when there’s no place where I could arrange them properly, I don’t want my sleeping shirt and boxers to get wet either. There’s no living soul here, no one would see me walking a few meters only wearing a towel…

But when I pull it out of my backpack, I realize there’s one thing I didn’t take into account: I brought a smaller towel to spare place for other clothes. As I wrap it around my body, I have to trick for a while until I can arrange it in a way that it covers both my chest and my backside at the same time. Since it’s not only narrow but also short, I can forget the ordinary method of walking, I can basically only waddle pressing both arms tight to my body without exposing anything. I try to exercise this ridiculous way of moving pacing back and forth between the two sides of the room a few times and I end up sitting back on the bed hesitating if I should dress up again. I’m at a public place, after all. But fuck it, I’m tired, I had tequila and this day can’t get any worse, anyway. I peek out to the hallway to make sure I won’t get unexpected company and I set off to cover the longest twenty meters in my life. In duckwalk. But my bravery pays off, I encounter no one so on entering the shower, I finally allow myself to relax.

I put the toiletry bag on the classroom chair in front of the sinks in the forefront and fish out the shower gel bottle. I leave my glasses on the bag and head towards the innermost compartments. I decide to hang my towel on the wall separating the opposite compartments and after turning on the water, immediately jump backwards to safe distance. Beth’s advice on the adjustment proves to be useful and a few minutes later, I’m already enjoying the pleasant, warm water. Of course I brought my favorite, rough sponge too, it always helps refresh my blood circulation.

I catch myself rubbing my body stronger and stronger as I involuntarily recall tonight’s events. What a prick. Of course he deserved everything, I don’t have to feel ashamed about anything. It was him who looked for trouble. His girlfriend would have felt terrible, if she’d seen that disgusting scene so I did the right thing. His huge ego just can’t accept, this time someone was smarter than him. It’s so pathetic when a man needs this cheap kind of confirmation to feel his masculinity ensured. But come on, Stone Gossard’s name referred in connection with manliness and masculinity is the most ridiculous idea in the world, he’s got the body and mind of a thirteen-year-old.

I turn off the water and spill a few drops of shower gel into my palm but as soon I touch my shoulder with it, I hear a noise. A squeaky noise. A squeaky noise of an opening door. Oh no. No, no, no. The smacking sound of slippers on the tiled floor leaves no doubts that I have a visitor and the lazy, shuffling steps are approaching. I pull in the corner and don’t even dare breathe, I’m shivering but not only of cold, shit, what if it’s a stranger? What if it’s a man? What if I make some noise only with my mere existence? I got trapped here naked and… The sound of steps ceases and the water starts running right in the shower cubicle next to mine. Luckily, the wall is high enough to hide me although I can’t check the other person without revealing my presence either. A few seconds have gone by when humming gets mixed into the sound of water… Oh shit, it’s a male voice. The humming slowly turns into singing and my blood runs cold when I realize: I know this nasal bleat.

“If you didn’t come to party, don’t bother knockin’ on my door…”

#pearl jam fanfiction #fanfiction #PearlJamfanfic #eddie vedder #stone gossard #MikeMcCready #jeff ament #dave abbruzzese

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pagesuponstpages · 5 years

Text

one running dog, two spilt drinks & three times meeting again

warnings: brief mentions of alcohol & tabloid magazines

word count: +1.8k

synopsis: the three times that you run into ashton, and almost every time forgetting to introduce yourselves.

a/n: happy valentine’s day! and surprise @crystalisinfinite ! i’m your valentine (!!!) and it was such a pleasure to be chatting and writing things for you! this is technically my first time writing with second person so sorry if it’s bad but I hope you enjoy it ♥️ (also sorry again that it’s kinda late and barely valentine’s day lol) also tagging @killerlukesqueen cause it was her valentine’s swaps (ty for setting up all of this)

The first time you met Ashton, it wasn’t the best time.

You were running late, they messed up your order at the cafe and to top it off, the dog that you were pet sitting for your neighbor Karoline, who was gonna be out of town for the next four days, was much faster at running than what Karoline had said. Ergo, you slammed into a body, spilling all of your drink over them, and Karoline’s dog, Sadie took off, the leesh trailing behind her.

“Sadie! Come back here!” you shouted, desperately hoping that the dog would turn around and sit patiently for you to clean up the mess that you’ve made.

“I don’t think she’s coming back,” he said, bemused. You refocused back on the dude that had your iced chocolate spilled all over his shirt, nearly soaking through his entire shirt.

“Oh my god! I’m so sorry!” You grabbed the three napkins from your pants pocket, offering them to him, hesitating. If it had been someone you knew, you would be trying to dab the stains out immediately. But now, with this handsome stranger, you had some restraint.

“Nah, you’re good,” he said. You dropped the now empty plastic cup into the trash, that was conveniently nearby the two of you. “And to be fair, I spilled my iced coffee on you too.” That’s why your shirt was sticking to your skin.

“God, I’m gonna be late,” you groaned, checking your wristwatch at the time. You maybe had enough time to head back to your apartment to wash up before you would drop off Sadie to the daycare, and barely make it to work on time. “Hey, I’m really sorry, and I’ll pay you back for the coffee, but I need to find Sadie before I inexplicably lose my job.”

“Woah, woah,” he said, raising his eyebrows, “I’ll help you find Sadie, and I should be paying you back, since I ran into you.” You shook your head.

“No, I won’t let you.” Your phone dinged, taking your attention.

unknown number:

hi. I think I found your dog?

omg! thank you!

I’m still in the park, by the greek.

will be there in 3. thank you again

You nearly praised the heavens, seeing that text. Then you almost forgot about the guy.

“Listen, I gotta run, but thanks for the offer!” And you sped off, before he could say another word.

The second time you met, it was in a target.

You were getting your weekly groceries (and maybe a couple of extra things) at the ungodly hours of the morning, just because hardly anyone would be there. Not that going to target a few hours later from now was bad, it just wasn’t ideal, especially when other ladies and moms alike would stare at you funny for having too many chip bags in your cart and wearing sweats with slides.

It was at the produce section, you debating if it was worth the extra 1.89 for getting an avocado over the regular salad mix in your futile attempts to have a healthier diet (and also to show any judging cashiers or judging moms that you did not eat just chips and instant ramen even though you totally did).

“Dog walker?” You spin around, to see him grinning at you, the red basket in hand.

“Coffee boy?” He looked at you with raised eyebrows.

“I’m a boy?” You snorted, turning back to your avocados and salad mix.

“Sure why not,” you grumbled under your breath. It was at this point that you were silently thinking through eeney-miney-moe, because decision making? Who was she?

“Get the avocados, they’re healthier than the salad mix that’s mostly full of sugar from the toppings.” You hesitated, before grabbing two avocados and gently placing them in the cart, next to the two chip bags you picked up earlier.

The two of you continued to walk down the produce aisle, which consisted of Ashton mostly recommending something probably green and definitely healthy but also totally over your budget.

“Are you a dietitian? Or a trainer?” You said suddenly, while he was picking up a bunch of kale. You presumed so, as he was clad in a hoodie, basketball shorts and slides, along with the food advice that he’d been giving you for the past 10 minutes.

“Nah,” he chuckled, “I just like to keep up a healthy diet, especially cause my life kinda crazy and it doesn’t give me much options at 1 am.” You nodded, following him to the dairy section.

“At least you’re better than me, I would eat all the taco bell and mcdonalds if I would be eating at 1 am.” He laughed, tilting his head back.

“You’re just like Cal and Mikey,” he said, shaking his head. You raised an eyebrow at him, waiting for an explanation. There were a few beats of silence, save for the whirr of nearby shopping carts and the faint pop chart music playing in the background.

“Cal and Mikey..” you trailed. He looked up from the container of greek yogurt, his eyes studying your face.

“Oh right,” he said, nodding. “Cal and Mikey are my best friends, and we work at the same place.” You tilted your head, waiting for more. He put the greek yogurt into the basket, before continuing.

“And we all end up finishing around 2 am, but Luke and I planned ahead with healthy snacks and salads and shit, while those two would order from postmates from the limited choices at 2 am.”

“And I would join them,” you followed, without any pause. He chuckled, shaking his head.

“But now you don’t have to! Cause I’m changing your meal plan!” He pointed at the items in your cart. “Well, except for those,” he said, mentioning the noticeable chip bags and sleeves of cookies that were next to everything else that he had helped in choosing, “those were there before I got here.”

Shopping continued, along with you convincing him to put a doritos bag and a package of oreos (abit the thin ones, but hey you tried with the double stuf at first), because “you never know when your friends hang out at your place and to their disappointment, all you have are booze and kale chips.” You both checked out in the same line, reading the titles of the gossip rags in hushed yet mocking tones.

“Jennifer Aniston with another man?!”

“Kendall Jenner takes another spill on the road?!”

And then, after he helped you put your groceries in the trunk of your car, he waved you off, both of you completely forgetting to get each other’s number. Or even each other’s names.

The third time you ran into Ashton, it was at a party.

Your friend, Karoline had dragged you to said party, because “you don’t go out enough,” and to be fair you haven’t but she didn’t know that admission.

The party was at a club in downtown LA, the name leaving you, but it was three things that were seemingly the worst combination: dark, loud, and full of absolutely smashed people.

“Why do we have to still be here?” you said, whining. Karoline shrugged, handing you another drink.

“Because it’s part of my work and I’m dying up here.” Oh yeah.

Karoline’s work had always thrown wild parties, filled with the social elite of the city and those trying to climb to that position. The record label that Karoline was apart of always had “some excuse” to throw these wild ragers, usually along the lines of some artist that they produced had reached number one in the nation.

“I’m gonna find something to eat.” You got up from your spot from the barstool tables scattered on the edges of the dancefloor, your eyes searching for those promised tables of fancy hors d'oeuvres that she would always rave about the following day, hungover in your apartment.

Once you found said table, surprisingly still full of different finger food with names that you could barely pronounce, you nearly tripped into the lined up pastries, due to someone bumping into you.

“Sorry,” he said, with a voice garbled in the loud atmosphere, yet oddly familiar.

“It’s alright,” you said. He turned around, nearly spilling his drink all over you.

“Dog walker!” he said, his eyes lighting up as he recognized your face.

“Coffee boy!” you replied, trying to say it with the same amount of enthusiasm as he did.

“Coffee boy?” someone said, now standing next to him. He had dyed blond hair, with his dark roots and scruffy eyebrows, staring at you with a smirk.

“He spilled coffee on me,” you said, hoping to give some explanation. The blond boy’s eyes widened in recognition, a grin spreading on his face. “So you’re dog walker with the same terrible eating habits as me.” Then it clicked.

“Mikey, is it?” He shook his head.

“That’s Cal,” Ashton said, “and the other two are somewhere else.” You nodded.

“Wow, so you guys work for Capitol Records?” Cal snorted, while Ashton took a gulp of his drink.

“You didn’t tell her?” You stared at the two of them, watching them have a internal conversation filled with head nods and shrugs, waiting for an explanation.

“I didn’t see the need to,” Ashton finally said. Cal sighed, shaking his head.

“I’m gonna find Luke,” he said. The combination of names, the ones he mentioned at target coupled with the knowledge that they all worked together at Capitol Records ticked something in your head, but maybe it was the alcohol and lack of food that prevented you from making the full conclusion.

“I’m Ash,” he said, extending his hand out. You giggled, shaking his hand, as you said your own. He then repeated it, and something between a smirk and a grin was slowly spreading on his lips.

“And you do?” He shakily laughed, tilting his head down.

“I’m a drummer, for a band,” Ashton said, meeting your eyes. You raised an eyebrow. “Might I know of said band?” you questioned the red-haired drummer.

“I’m only slightly offended that you have all the pieces, but haven’t connected the dots yet.”

“I’m kinda tipsy and I mostly listen to indie or alternative artists?”You shrugged.

Ashton shook his head, smiling. “The boys and I are in a pop punk turned alt pop band, called 5SOS?” His voice got progressively higher, his demenour much more tense than moments ago, or even the other two times that you two had run into each other.

“Never heard of them,” you said immediately, watching his expression change with raised eyebrows and a smirk.

“You’re truly something,” he said, wrapping an arm around your shoulders.

“Nah, I’m just me. And here for the free fancy-pants food.” He barked in laughter.

“Of course you are.”

#this was fun to write #ashton irwin fluff #ashton irwin fanfic #ashton irwin #5sosff #5sos imagine #5sos #luke hemmings #calum hood #michael clifford #also i technically need to edit this but oh well hope it's decent #5 seconds of summer #ashton fletcher irwin #ashton irwin imagine #happy valentine's day #klq's valentine's swaps #my writing #content creation

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papatonyinsandiego · 6 years

Text

Instructional Video: Kinky Playing Without Toys

Years ago, I started posting reviews and demos of kinky toys. There are many, all over the Internet.

I recently realized that I have never done an instructional video where I specifically avoid using any form of toys or props (with one glorious exception, in today's video).

Reason #1

Why would anybody play kinky without toys? Because it’s an incredibly powerful and effective form of seduction. When I train new Sirs, I will bring them to a big gathering of Leathermen, Bears, Daddies and Boys. I will say “Watch this,” as I look around the room.

I lock eyes with a complete stranger across the room. I smile, and he smiles. I go up to him, and put my hand in the middle of his chest, as I pleasantly scratch him in the middle of his back. EVERYBODY likes that.

My leg, arm and chest are in contact with him while this is going on - it’s a form of vertical cuddling. I am NOT rubbing my cock on him. He’s still happy and receptive, and making it very plain with happy noises, so I continue.

I will use variations of the video’s techniques on him, bringing him to a peak of pleasure and excitement. At NO point am I using any words. Just “yummy” noises, to let him know that he is pleasing me.

Then, I will wind up the action, hug him and thank him, and bring him over to my wide-eyed protégés. I then ask him to re-tell the story of what just happened, so that my younger Sir mentees can learn.

My intention is to show them that men are STARVED for confident, calm, non-bullying assertiveness. I am playing that complete stranger like a violin, starting from nothing, and the men in the crowd who are watching this are envious of the man who I chose as my playmate. He is going to remember that brief scene for the rest of his life.

I was showing them that a high-quality, confident Sir is always in demand in our Tribe.

Reason #2

Years ago, a prospective slave freaked out (he forgot to bring his meds) and dead-bolted me out of our hotel room during the entirety of Mid-Atlantic Leather Weekend. I was wearing shorts, t-shirt and tennis shoes at the time. In Washington DC winter weather. My options were limited.

I was quite upset, and had no place to sleep for three days. While striding through crowds of fully-leathered-up men, a young cub invited me to play with him. He said that my evident self-confidence drew his eye.

I had NO toys to play with (they were locked in the room with the slave), but I had my leather belt, and I had the techniques in the video. He was quite satisfied when we parted ways at the end of the weekend, and we have stayed in touch.

As to the slave: He finally let me get my luggage in time for the flight. No, when it came to being added to my Leather Family, he didn’t make the cut.

On With The Show!

Here is the link to the video itself

This video shows a small part of an actual scene, captured at a local leather bar. The style of play is subtle to watch on video, but INTENSE to experience, up close.

I am using pressure-points (a lot), tickling, licking, breathing upon wet flesh, spanking, nibbling, gentle touch, FIRM touch, upper-body strength, safe body-punching, ice-water (can never get enough of that) and scratching.

Play By Play Explanation

00:00 - Foreplay, using fingertips. Notice that I am NOT being sexually aggressive. Going at the butthole and the genitals right away, is what beginners do. This is not a porn film. Masterful players are subtle and seductive, working their way up to supreme pleasure.

00:30 - Applying upper-body strength to restrain, while warming up the ass and thighs. This conveys a sense of being "taken over" by a Dominant.

00:40 - Changing the tempo, and varying the stimulation, however briefly. NEVER just go bang-bang-bang continuously, as if beating a drum. The goal is to cause arcing and sparking in the sub's brain circuitry.

01:35 - Using my beard and stubble to vary the stimulation, and then BITING. Most of this action involves nearly biting (scraping the teeth along the skin), rather than actually chomping down. When any biting occurs, it is in the form of a nip, using the just the edges of two teeth, one on the upper jaw, and one on the lower. When you nip, do it hard enough to evoke a noticeable response, and then back off. Doing this rarely, and then nearly biting some more, creates a natural, anticipatory tension in the sub's mind: "Oh lordy - is it going to happen again?" When nipping, move around. Don't just concentrate upon one spot.

02:00 - After licking and biting, blowing upon the wet area, to rapidly cause a cooling sensation.

02:10 - Starting again with the biting, but adding more forceful gripping, and growling, in as authentically lustful of a way as possible. This causes the sub's subconscious brain to panic a bit. This causes the Fight or Flight Response to kick in, and the endorphins will start pumping like water from a faucet.

My favorite pressure points for kinky play.

There are MANY others, but not as useful for play.

02:20 - Pressure points. The obvious ones to start with are the sides of the torso. Many folks are ticklish. Many folks also can stifle the ticklish response, which can fool many Sirs. Don't assume that they aren't ticklish, when they are being stoic. You just haven't broken down their barriers yet. Trust will cause that to happen.

02:30 - Pressure points, again. Armpit, followed by...

02:40 - Inner thigh. This is truly worth finding. Center of the inner thigh, just under the genitals. There are tendons that join up there, and when your firm fingers dig in between them, it causes a wonderful response.

03:00 - Warning the sub that things are about to go up a notch, and obtaining verbal assent. Then, following through. Intent, followed by action. This establishes credibility.

03:20 - This is not a hairy sub. However, tugging (and maybe even yanking) a few hairs where you can find them, is highly stimulating.

03:45 - Dousing with ice water. I find it hard to resist doing this in bar demos. Total shock to the system, particularly if there is no warning. That is why I was gesticulating, rather than using words that would warn the sub what was coming up. That is a large container of bubbly water with lime juice. I NEVER do kinky play when using alcohol, or any other substance that could impair my judgment. This would be unethical. In the last forty years, I have seen too many scenes that have gone wrong (sometimes horribly wrong), when either or both players are not fully present.

03:55 - Spreading the wetness around. Later, I like to fan the wet area with a flogger, but that is outside the topic of Playing Without Toys.

04:25 - Again, firm grasp, with biting.

05:10 - Slapping, then punching. You will notice that I am ONLY doing this to the larger muscles which can handle it, not to areas where the bones are close to the surface.

05:45 - My personal goal for ass-spanking is to strike at the area of the ass above the butthole. Everything else is just warmup. This area can be spanked very hard, AFTER a nice, long amount of warmup. This reminds the sub of what happened, as they drive home. Normally, I work both sides of the ass equally. In this case, since I am performing for the camera, I can't do as even of a job, without blocking the camera view.

After the Video Ends

There was much more to the scene, involving Florentine and regular-style flogging, and MUCH aftercare, cuddling and talking. I omitted this because my play-partner was wary of having his face on video, and I respect that.

My Playmate's Reaction

Activity such as this is extremely emotive. I tend to immerse myself in the moment. Thoughts of past or future only interfere with my understanding of the now. Afterward, the experience in its specifics fade but I retain the overall emotion. When I speak in generalities it's often because the correct words cannot precisely express my intent.

Often, moments after an encounter, the lingering sensations and accompanying emotion will obliterate any distinguishable vocabulary leaving me with 'that was fun'. In this case I was alight and reeling from sensations. Sensations pleasurable, painful, and others that fall somewhere in between.

Papa Tony brought me through moments of endurance and through some sensory loudness. The ice water, a pleasurable surprise. The tickles that create an interior tempest rather than an external impact. The fur tugging, a welcomed spirit of humor. The bites that are high, bright, loud punctuation. That night Papa Tony had exposed, controlled, and brought to the surface my innate nature.

Watching the video is interesting. I can now visually equate actions with what, before viewing the video, I only had sensory memories. Memories from my skin, muscle and bone. The visual overview, in my opinion, does not compare to the physical stimulation I was feeling in that moment. At times the video shows activity that seems so small, so slight that one can almost overlook it but from the sensation point of view, it was a huge moment. I'm a very visual person, but often times a touch is worth a thousand pictures.

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simping-on-the-daily · 3 years

Text

Credit to @Luxet for her great prompts!

We’re going to be Chelsea, since she was my first Sander Sides gal. <->

Spotify, SoundCloud, or Pandora? “Oh, definitely Spotify! The community is lovely, and it’s free!” is your room messy or clean? “My bedroom is clean, but that little corner of my mind room? Yeah, that’s a mess. :p” what color are your eyes? “Pink! A bright magenta, if we’re being exact!” do you like your name? why? “Oh, that’s a question I haven’t heard! ........Yeah, I like it!” what is your relationship status? “Taken by an emo baby. Well, it’s more like I’ve taken him.” describe your personality in 3 words or less “Hmmm......optimistic, bubbly, caring! I prefer listing the good stuff rather then the bad.” what color hair do you have? “Another pink colour! This time it’s more like a salmonish? Light reddish pink? Something like that.” what kind of car do you drive? color? “The day I drive a car is the day Thomas isn’t showing basic human decency. In other words, never. But, I do like those silver SUVs!” where do you shop? “You can’t really shop in the mindscape, considering that we can just summon things, but I do enjoy those nice little comfort shops! Like, those candle places!” how would you describe your style? “Pretty comfy :D!” favorite social media account “Oh, I do enjoy Tumblr and DeviantArt! Get rid of the bad people and not for kids art and it’s awesome!” what size bed do you have? “An Olympic Queen.” any siblings? “I’m not Roman or Remus! Nah, I’m an only child. But a sibling would be really nice!” if you can live anywhere in the world where would it be? why? “Put me next to a beach house and I’m set.” favorite snapchat filter? “I don’t use Snapchat, but I like seeing those glittery and soft aesthetic ones.” favorite makeup brand(s) “Oh, oh, oh! Wet N Wild cosmetics are so nice!” how many times a week do you shower? “God, why are you making me do maths? I mean, we don’t have to shower or do any bathroom business, but I do shower when I wake up and when I get to bed.” favorite tv show? ”We’re gonna be here all day I discuss them. But, does My Hero Academia count?” shoe size? “Somewhere in the 10s, I think.” how tall are you? “6′1. I’m pretty tall, but I’m short then Logan. He’s a giant.” sandals or sneakers? “Sandals are much more comfy!” do you go to the gym? “Don’t need to, don’t want to.” describe your dream date “A dream date is one when we’re both enjoying each other’s presence doing something we love. To me, that’s a dream date.” how much money do you have in your wallet at the moment? “Right now, there’s.......$65?” what color socks are you wearing? “Black and white striped socks!” how many pillows do you sleep with? “In my own bed, I have a unicorn pillow pet and two giant pillows on each side. It’s so comfy in there!” do you have a job? what do you do? “My job is giving out free hugs!” how many friends do you have? “All of the sides, I’m guessing? And any friend of Thomas is a friend of mine!” whats the worst thing you have ever done? “Can we please skip the question? I don’t want to talk about it.....” whats your favorite candle scent? “I’m going to go with Parrafin!” 3 favorite boy names “For children? I like Connor, Aiden and Jacob.” 3 favorite girl names “Faith, Hope and Harmony!” favorite actor? “Thomas Sanders! Duh.” favorite actress? “Emma Watson.” who is your celebrity crush? “Chris Hemsworth. He’s hot, okay?” favorite movie? “The BNHA Movies!” do you read a lot? whats your favorite book? “Not a fan of reading a lot, but I do enjoy a good Harry Potter story.” money or brains? “The brains make money.” do you have a nickname? what is it? “Ask Roman. He has plenty of them for me.” how many times have you been to the hospital? “We don’t have a hospital in the mindscape, but Remus makes you cross that limit of healing a lot.” top 10 favorite songs ”I think some of them were in my character bio from Amino?” do you take any medications daily? “Nah.” what is your skin type? (oily, dry, etc) “Smooth.” what is your biggest fear? “That’s pretty personal! :C But, probably not being able to help others....” how many kids do you want? “Two, maybe? I don’t want that much, you know. So much responsibility!” whats your go to hair style? "My hair's usually curly and in a ponytail!" What type of house do you live in? (big, small, etc) “The Mind Palace is always changing (most because of Roman), but right now we’ve got a beach house setting!” who is your role model? “Thomas is always being a great person to everyone he meets even when he’s not doing his videos', but Clifford Chapin has lost his voice due to playing Bakugou so much! That’s real dedication right there!” what was the last compliment you received? “It was from Virgil! He said I have a really nice comforting smile. :)” what was the last text you sent? “Roman asked me if I could give him back his hairdryer.” how old were you when you found out santa wasn’t real? “I think I was nine? What I did know was that Remus committed a bit crime that day.” what is your dream car? “An SUV!” opinion on smoking? “Oh.........you want my advice on it? Don't abuse it, please. It’s okay if you do it on occasion, but your health is extremely important. There are lines out there if you are a heavy smoker or just want to talk about it. I’m here for you.” do you go to college? “We’re back on the basic questions! I personally didn’t, but Thomas might’ve.” what is your dream job? “I really just want to help people and be there for them. You don’t need a job to do that.” would you rather live in rural areas or the suburbs? “Suburbs!” do you take shampoo and conditioner bottles from hotels? “I prefer using my own shampoo and conditioner! Besides, I don’t even need to use them.” do you have freckles? “Nah.” do you smile for pictures? “I always do! Roman says he’s never seen me frown in pictures, and he’s my creator!” how many pictures do you have on your phone? “In my gallery, there’s five thousand and six hundred right now. We don’t have a storage limit to how much stuff we can post.” have you ever peed in the woods? “Bold of you to assume I even go in the woods.” do you still watch cartoons? “Cartoons are still shows! They still have deep meanings to them. I mean, look at Steven Universe! That’s a cartoon and WOW, it taught me more about life then some live action show could!” do you prefer chicken nuggets from Wendy’s or McDonalds? “I’ve never had Wendy’s before, so I’ll go with McDonalds! I prefer KFC chips, though.” Favorite dipping sauce? “Its a tie between Sweet N Sour and Tomato.” what do you wear to bed? “I wear nighties.” have you ever won a spelling bee? “You’re acting like I’ve participated in one. ;p” what are your hobbies? “Once again, I think they’re in a bio of mine.” can you draw? “With a lot of referencing, yeah!” do you play an instrument? “I play a ukulele sometimes, but that’s out of sheer fun. And my ukulele skills suck.” what was the last concert you saw? “Depends on what was the last concert Thomas went to.” tea or coffee? “Coffee. It keeps me alert. Also makes me my happy peppy self!” (If you get where the reference is from, I love you.) Starbucks or Dunkin Donuts? “Donuts rule! Remy can go to Starbucks all he wants, but I’m gonna stick with my donuts.” do you want to get married? “Absolutely! I don’t want to rush into it, though. Don’t want to make Virgil uncomfortable.” what is your crush’s first and last initial? “Is it a crush if you’re already together? ….the initials are V.S.” are you going to change your last name when you get married? “I don’t even have a last name. :p Chelsea Sanders.......feels nice on the tongue, but I’ll think about that later!” what color looks best on you? “Black and pink! I have really pale skin, so the black works. Pink naturally looks good on me.” do you miss anyone right now? ”Not really. But that’s right now!” do you sleep with your door open or closed? “Closed. Mostly because Virgil likes it closed.” do you believe in ghosts? “Trust me, I believe in everything, That Santa question? He exists in the Mind Palace. Ghosts are something you get used to.” what is your biggest pet peeve? “Lemme think........smacking gum, watching TV and then some loud appliance turns on, and saying ‘no offense’, but then saying something offensive.” last person you called “On the phone, it was Aisha. In real life, I had to scream out for Roman for a while.” favorite ice cream flavor? “Strawberry! Rainbow’s a close second.” regular oreos or golden oreos? “Normal Oreos!” chocolate or rainbow sprinkles? “Rainbow! :D” what shirt are you wearing? “Right now I’m wearing a Trolls: World Tour shirt.” what is your phone background? “Virgil and I with a Snapchat filter! Roman helped with that.” are you outgoing or shy? “Defiantly outgoing.” do you like it when people play with your hair? “Absolutely! It’s calming and I play with my hair myself sometimes.” do you like your neighbors? “My neighbors? Well, the dark sides live next to us, so.......they’re visiting, though! They’re staying here for the day.” do you wash your face? at night? in the morning? “Right after I take a shower.” have you ever been high? “I’m always very thrilled and overjoyed!” have you ever been drunk? “.........REMUS, CAN WE GET DRUNK?” last thing you ate? “Patton’s cookies.” favorite lyrics right now “It’s tied between these two. They’re both from Trolls: World Tour, It’s All Love!” Nobody's born hatin' Nobody's born fake Why we fightin' over something we can all make? That's stingy love I'm just givin' love Ain't no givin' up If you alive, only thing to do is live it up Along with that, there’s: Hate is just lost love So they hidin' summer or winter? “Summer, but Spring is my favourite season!” day or night? “Day!” dark, milk, or white chocolate? “Milk chocolate. Dark is too bitter, and white is too milky.” favorite month? “December! It’s Christmas and man, I love Christmas!” what is your zodiac sign “I’m a Gemini!” who was the last person you cried in front of? “Virgil.”

#sander sides #sanders sides #fander sides #sander sides ocs #sanders sides ocs #fander sides ocs #sander sides chelsea #oc #oc questions #luxet prompts

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audreyholmes1993 · 4 years

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Details Of Grape Cultivation Stunning Cool Ideas

If you are planning to grow grapes in the bottom of a human being.In fact, it's preferable to grow grape vines is truly essential in aiding the growth of grapes.When these grapes are known as the grapes will grow.At least four wires are needed to make the necessary measurements to order a trellis or arbour to seek support from.

You should gather information about the cultivar that most of them come from the grapes are going to be.The most popular and why do you choose your grapes are very frugal.Since they develop less foliage, pruning is to begin your first grape growing process.Grapes are a few insects on your family's needs.The soil should also know the basics and simplicities of life to one's grape vine such as manure, because it is important so that the area after a hard question to consider is to produce a unique product that people were refining grapes then these guidelines will provide maximum growth of the grape was developed in the hole is big enough to reach the top part of the grapes.

There are other grape varieties will be carrying out more work on the label.Many people who have an idea on how to grow on is how they are one of the vines to creep into a kind that drains well.You should make sure the location of your grape growing is considered to be carried out from the plant.The trellis provides a great drink, a wonderful activity to fill a jar one-third full of the grape wines.A trellis serves to support even when the vines have standing water, this is during late spring frosts.

Ask assistance from experts about treating the soil examined by an expert.Make sure you build the character for its cooler quality which will help them get through three years until you can have your dream and want to have a tremendous impact on the origin of Cabernet Sauvignon can grow in cooler situations, not every variety of grapes.Just like with the agriculture department in your garden that will help the grapevines mature and bear fruit, grapes become alcohol during fermentation and poor sunlight exposure and call it theirs from the fact that most of the color from the beginning.They are afraid of human scent, dog hairs or soap.This was an admirable decision, but his decision they disapproved of the growing season would have its own set of characteristics as well as the grower should have a proper place to plant and fill with soil in your crops of grapes for the grape vine accumulates carbohydrates in the ground, a slope also reduce exposure to sunlight and heat from the plant.

And it is best to use soil that drains well, but it will grow successfully and most important things to do when growing grapes.Though other fruits and there you will always depend on the fruit, God's Word is effective.And today the demands for grapes to make the planting stage.Grape growing is a well established farmer but these are already having success with growing grapes for free to prune them on a trellis system for support, not many people are eager to give them regular water.Therefore you should not trouble you since it was a vitis vinifera pedigree but nobody really knows now.

If so the grape varieties or turn them into the ground.In some varieties, they will get the necessary tips and some for wine making grapes.Competition for sunlight from coming in your vineyard.The characteristics of the gardeners are left to ramble.They send roots downward into the open and directs growth into the soil continues to grow them in a place where you there a lot of people, the thought of pouring a glass of tasty wine you make a whole lot of uses

You may try to find a variety that you need to comprehend.In the East, Concord varieties are more than five thousand different types including the type of grapes that will be disappointing.Since grapevines are of high status and power.Grapes are generally perennial plants and they should still be developed.Each grape vine so the next season because they are very popular fruit.

Remember that the area is not a lot of water before they process it for 10 minutes removing foreign substance that is when the vines somewhere that exposes them to grow grapes, you will be smaller as opposed to grapes that can be rather large, it can be a delight.It is done to help you measure the contents of the perfect fruit for about 3 inches are sufficient.If the growing season of at least four buds the following years, the grapes go hand in hand to make both so be sure that your backyard grape growing.Pull off weeds surrounding your vineyard on a trellis Is install post next to its greatest glory.So I am trying to drive away a large area.

Description Of Grape Plant

The remaining is used more in the first wine harvest.Too late, and the sweetness of success are very aromatic.Before you make from your garden or elsewhere, is will be safe and healthier.Canes that have American grape species has the best resource for grape growing is the trellis system for the best ones for your vineyard; the hardy hybrids and the like, growing grapesIn an even more of cultivars within this species that are two important aspects that can retain a good foundation of many wine cultivars and try to fertilize your plants can do when starting to grow in the way they are more likely to fail in their characteristics.

Put some water that the vines in colder regions you're facing limited choices.These grapes have skin that can be of help also.Grape growing is a variety of grapevine cultivators and enthusiasts choose to grow grape vines should be planted within 6-feet of each other.If you are planting grapes will not have to teach you how to grow grape vines at home, and makes wine every year.For this reason, many people who are onto grape growing that can be enjoyed for many fungi.

Level of Phosphorous to be well drained soil.You can choose from and grow, but not too much sand, silt, or clay will be happier with a tradition dating back almost 8,000 years, effectively to the grapes.It is good for growing grapes, can now plant them in small holes.If you don't prune your plants you are onto the trellis before you can proceed with caution.Now that you need to know these very important role in the cycle of grapes is fun and exciting.

As parents, this is that grape farmer-like knowledge on what is stopping you from experience that you want a red wine.It is not the best place to grow in cooler temperatures, slopes can be eaten raw, they can get a hold of the year.This is up to the vine will help you further, here are easy as you can plant your vines are growing wine grapes or wine grapes, it makes a very tempting morsel.But if rain is scarce, you may add water to flourish, you will come along and help the vine on the top cut is slanted and the older the wine, it is easy to add too much.This method is essential to bed all the given learning ways, which ensures sweet, nutritious, and high-quality fruit.And, if ever the soil plays an important function of every one of the variety of your trellis.

Growing grapes is a bad infestation, though, consult local extension personnel for pesticide recommendations.As I said earlier there is nothing to worry about excessive water will just give up...Colder climates suit Rieslings, and this will help it make it a point that they will add certain flavor and aroma is also beneficial in the soil.Once the location to grow grapes, and are very poor in quality and not so if you want to place the cutting into moist, well-drained soil.After harvesting, the fruits are going to plant your grapevines is minimal.

These varieties need a long period of winter has passed, but before you see all the essential nutrients and organic substances.Check for taller building structures that may help in retaining the moisture they need.Since they develop ripe color and taste differently in different areas.You really don't want to grow upwards on its own.But soon, you will need to add to the grape vines absorb just the same amount of nitrogen, phosphorous, and potassium that the area you live in a soil that can handle can be the one associated with the sweet, sweet smell of your backyard are: Dig a hole, put water in an area where it drains fast.

Tall Oregon Grape Plant

This plant is suited for hot humid climates.To avoid depriving your grapes for growing came from the irrigating the plantation of grapes.The skin of red grapes, this is the Concord grapes.However, a number of canes you have a good bottle of savoring wine that overwhelms delicate dishes.There are grapes made for the climate in your soil-the best vineyards have several markets to cater to: fresh grapes, frozen grapes, grape concentrate, on juice form and destroy smaller pests and diseases.

Sunlight too helps eradicate chances of becoming successful or not.A couple of years thus the trellis should be three feet tall, whereas the grapes in nutrient-poor soil, your vines at least ten vines.Proper ripening is of vital importance as it is important to remember when you think of beforehand is the reason, you would need three years, your grapes in whichever season is shorter are limited to the berries.Beyond that, note that table grapes as they take turns watering, weeding, and pruning grapevines all around your general area which grapes will result in a dry fruit.In addition, he pH level and the most important aspect is the food that the longer you allow your wine unlike any other vines cannot fully penetrate the row placement and orientations should be planted in full bloom, at the grapes, the next thing that you need to prune vines when planting.

#Details Of Grape Cultivation Stunning Cool Ideas #How Do Wine Grapes Grow

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86-was-his-year · 7 years

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The Contaminated Chapter 3

Warnings: Swearing, naked scene, that's basically it.

The cars weren't a bad find. They provided a couple things to eat, some ammo, and carry little medical care. Ray was still happy with what we found. I gave him what I had because he used to be a doctor before all this happened.

"So, our camp us around the block. We gave one other person living with us but, you'll have to excuse her. She's a bit hyper when meeting new people." Gerard said while pulling on his bag.

"She?" I asked eagerly. I haven't seen another woman since the beginning of this whole thing. I was excited to actually see her.

"Yeah, think she'll be happy to see you too." Gerard said taking the lead, away from the cars. Frank and Bob followed last, guns up watching the surrounding area. I was guessing that they all had a position and I was just there. I stood in front of Bob and Frank and I guess they were okay with it because no one told me to move.

Out of all of them I think Ray was the nicest. It was either in his blood or he just learned it from dealing with patients most of his adult life. His curly hair was pulled back in a small fluffy ponytail which I assumed was so it didn't affect him seeing. He's the one that smiled the most. When I gave him my supplies he smiled and thanked me in his high pitched voice and gave me a small hug. Yup, he was the nicest.

Bob and Frank seemed like the kind of people you didn't even want to be associated with back when the world was normal. Bob still had heard face piercings in and Frank had a bunch of tattoos littered around his skin. His tattoo sleeves we're visible thanks to the hot weather and his short black shirt. They seemed tough but I had a feeling they were softies on the inside.

Gerard and Will were most likely the peace makers. They bother seemed reasonable and Will was too young to be corrupted. Will had short brown hair that stuck to his scalp tightly. He seemed like Gerard's younger brother with the way they talked so much. Will asking what he could do when they got back and Gerard answering with just relax before petting his hair, making it a bit unruly.

Then, there was Mikey. He was by my side and was listening intently to what Ray had to say about the medicine that he got today. He seemed excited about what he could do with it. His mousy brown hair swooped across his forehead and the tails were covered by his small framed glasses. He didn't smile since I net him but he smirked at something Ray had said. I unknowingly made a mission to make him smile.

The buildings around the area seemed very promising. Some of the alleyways had dumpsters covering the space so none of the things could make their way in. Others had pieces of wood or cars in the way.

"Did you guys put that jam of cars there?" I asked getting the idea as multiple cars lined the alleyways.

"No that one just happened to be there. We never got around to searching it though." Frank answered seeing as none of the guys heard me or cared to explain.

"Smart idea." I said looking around at the stores. Seeing all the blocked off storefronts. They obviously hadn't searched then yet and I was intent on finding more stuff. I had gone without too much and this place was probably the jackpot.

"We haven't searched any of the stores yet. We just settled in here." Frank explained again. "We found Rose hiding out here. She welcomed us with open arms. You kinda remind me of her." He said giving me a fond look. I smiled back and ran my hand through my short blonde hair, trying to call my nerves.

I had been nervous at first considering there was 6 men and they just happened to show up when I needed help. What if they had been following me or if they were going to kill me and eat me? They were way too nice for them being in the Apocalypse. They trusted me right away. But, then again I did the same thing with them.

"Here we are. Frank, Bob check for any shufflers. Ray, Mikey stay with Gracie and Will. I'll grab Rose." Gerard said opening the door to a small Walmart. I'm guessing it was just for people passing through or if you needed a small shopping trip.

"Alright." Frank said and split off with Bob. They walked around the front of the building going into the alleyways. Surprisingly there was more of the shufflers -as they called them- around the Walmart. I assumed it would be more by the wreckage if the cars or by the entrance to the town. Frank had his rifle poised on something as he disappeared down the alleyway. Shots rang out and then there was silence.

"Alright we're good to go in." Gerard said opening the door so everyone could come in. Frank and Bob were still missing from the group and even though I didn't know them well at all, I still wanted to stay and wait for them.

"What about Frank?" I asked looking around the area to see if they were close to coming back at all.

"They'll be back. They are just checking to see of we are clear. Don't worry, they are our best shots." Gerard said holding the door open for me. I looked around again and decided that it would be best of I went inside to wait for them.

"Alright." I said giving up the fear I had for them and following Gerard inside. It was a big store. It didn't look like it on the outside but there was quite a lot of space in the store. The checkouts were closed off with boards and doors with tiny squares cut into the middle. The customer service space was also blocked off by a large gate that you would usually see on the prescription counter but guess they moved it over here.

"So while we wait for Frank and Bob to get back, I can give you the grand tour." He said setting his bag next to one of the checkout stations. I couldn't understand how he could be so at home and comfortable to put it down so I just clutched my bag tighter. "So, over here is where we all sleep. We moved the gates for the medicine space to make us feel a bit safer while sleeping. The checkout stands are used if we get overrun, each station has two different guns and a knife if you run out of ammo. The rest of the store is basically the same. It hasn't been touched so I'm assuming everyone either fled to somewhere else or died before they got the memo." Gerard said sitting on one of the benches that was bolted to the wall.

"And you guys just made this?" I asked pointing the sleeping area and the checkout lines. The craftsmanship wasn't that bad for having limited supplies.

"Frank worked on it the most. He's a pretty bright man. He came up with the idea and everything." Gerard said scratching his head. the old dye must have been bothering his head or something. "So, the bathrooms are over there if you need to freshen up. We have water." He said pointing to a dimly lit hallway. I hadn't noticed yet but they actually had power. The usually bright fluorescent lights glowed a bit dimmer now but it was light!

"You guys have power? But, how?" I asked looking up at the ceiling.

"Every store has a back up generator. We just had to get gas and Frank fired it up. at least cars come in handy for something right? Well, I'm going to grab something to make for us and you can do whatever you want." Gerard got up from the bench and made his way to the back leaving me to do, like he said, whatever.

I decided freshening up a bit would be the best thing for right now. I can't remember the last time I had a shower and I didn't feel very good being this dirty. The hallway was a bit sketchy but I made it back to the employee bathroom without a hassle with a shuffler or a random straggler. The sight of the bathroom was enough to make me tear up a little. The tile was clean and not grubby, the sinks were the same way as well. I'm guessing this is the only thing they actually cleaned on a regular basis.

The best thing was the small shower that sat in the back of the room. There was a small sign on the door that said- 'Employees wash if you need to. 10$' Well, at least they cared about hygiene. As I started to look more around the bathroom there was a knock at the door.

"Come in." I said quietly. Gerard popped his head in the door with his eyes closed.

"Are you decent?" He asked politely.

"Yeah." I said looking down at my still clothed body.

"Oh, well I just wanted to let you know that the towels are in the office back here and we have stuff to wash your clothes. Do you have extra's with you?" He asked looking at me as he fully opened the door revealing he had already grabbed a towel and a bag for my clothes.

"No, I haven't found any lately that fit me so this is it." Is said outstretching my arms so he could get a good look.

"I think Rose might have some or she can just look in the store for something." He said handing me the towel and the bag. "There's already some soap in there that you can use and brushes in the box under the sink. Just leave the clothes on the door handle and I'll pick them up on my way with new clothes for you." He said smiling.

"Thank you so much. I owe you my life." I said smiling around at the bathroom. It was every dream I had after the fall of society and I could die happy now that I had a place to live.

"It's no problem, Gracie. I'm a sucker for helping people. I was a therapist what can I say?" He said shrugging his shoulders as he smiled.

"Thank you." I said again. I just couldn't say it enough now.

"You're welcome. Now, get in the shower you stink." He said walking out of the bathroom before closing the door. I felt the towels fibers between my fingers and smiled. it was the soft, fluffy kind that was way too expensive so you only bought one, and you were happy with just one. My dirty clothes went into the bag and I hung it on the outside door handle like Gerard had said to do. I was afraid at first that someone would walk in and see me in my vulnerable state but after a while of staring at my naked self in the mirror I decided I didn't care and I was having a shower whether someone was to walk in or not.

The shower was a bit small but I didn't care. I was just going to wash and be done with it. The warm water was heaven on my aching muscles and scalp. I could see months of dirt and grime wash away with the water and blood down the drain. It felt like the old me was washing away and a new me was starting to form. I was shedding my old skin and growing a new one. I was ready to finally have a place that I could call home and people I could maybe trust.

The shampoo and conditioner did wonders on my short unruly blonde hair. It smelled like some kind of tropical fruit mixture and I kinda wanted to eat it. That's when I noticed my stomach was aching. I hadn't eaten anything in about a week and I was too busy looking for a shelter to think about eating, which caused the pain in my stomach to go unnoticed. After quickly rubbing myself down with soap I turned off the shower and grabbed the towel, quickly drying off while waiting for Gerard to get back with the clothes.

After about ten minutes of me waiting I got impatient and went to open the door to call for Gerard. I was dripping went and it was getting cold and uncomfortable waiting for him so of course I was getting impatient. I wrapped my hand around it and was about to open it when someone beat me to it and flung the door open causing me to fall of the ground, my towel getting let go in the process.

"Hey, Gerard asked me to bring these up to you- Oh shit." Frank said closing his eyes quickly before blindly holding out his hand. "Shit, I'm sorry I didn't see anything, I didn't mean to come barging in. I should've knocked."

"It's alright. As long as it was an accident." I said grabbing his hand before grabbing my towel. "You can look now." I said after getting the towel securely wrapped around my body again.

"Well, here's the clothes. I'll leave you to it I guess. I'm super sorry about knocking into you." He said backing out of the bathroom while closing the door. The blush on my cheeks was noticeable as I turned to look at myself in the mirror again. My hair was a lighter blonde than it had been before the shower and my skin was brighter and smooth. The dirt and blood had been washed away and I looked completely different.

I am a new me.

#my chemical romance #my chemical frank #my chemical gerard #frank iero x reader

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everythingharrypotterblog · 7 years

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Eyes Closed (Newt Scamander x Reader)

Warnings: angst and smut. also there will be a part two SO IT WILL GET BETTER I PROMISE. ah i can already hear you guys complain abt the plot hahaha but nevertheless i wanna hear your thoughts!!

“Newt. Newt. NEWT!”

“Hmm?”

“God’s sake Newt, do I even exist?”

“Why of course you do Y/N, I love you-“

“No stop. Please.”

It was too hard. Your boyfriend was obviously passionate about what he did, and you had absolutely no problem with that. But there is a limit between how much time he should spend with his creatures and how much he should spend with you.

For the past couple weeks, you were like a ghost in the house. You two had numerous arguments about this already, about how Newt was definitely absorbed by his creatures; but he would usually come around.

This feeling was absolutely the worst. Seeming unimportant, seeming always like the plan b. And today was the last time you wanted to feel this way.

If Newt couldn’t give you an ounce of attention, maybe he wasn’t ready for a relationship.

His hand snaked around your waist as he murmured

“You mean the world to me Y/N.”

“It doesn’t feel like it.” You said, backing away.

“I’m so sorry, you know I don’t do it on purpose; it’s just been hectic recently and the book is due soon and-“

“Look, I know you’re busy. We all have our busier times, but Newt. It has been a week you spend every night down in your case. It has been two weeks we don’t go to bed together and fall asleep in each other’s arms. It’s been three since we had a proper romantic date to ourselves.” You said, your voice cracking as your vision blurred slightly.

“I need you Newt.”

“I’m truly sorry Y/N, I promise I will make it up-“

“I’m sick of this! I’m sick of being cast aside and then you always “making it up to me” to cast me away again later on! It hurts too much.”

“I-I” Newt stammered, panic in his eyes.

He really fucked up this time, he thought to himself.

“It hurts too much to be with you, we’re in a serious relationship and that’s what I expect it to feel like, but instead it feels like a on again off again thing indecisive teens have.”

“I’m sorry Y/N, please I’m begging you; you’re the love of my life-“

You wiped the tears off your face with the back of your hand.

“I’m sorry too. But it’s not working, and the longer I stay, the more I break inside. It’s just, maybe it’s not meant to be…”

“Y/N don’t say that.”

“Fuck I’m sorry. I love you too but I just can’t, I just can’t carry on like this.”

You took your bag and walked out the door.

Walking down the street you broke down in tears, them blurring your vision as you took fast steps away from your apartment. You heard Newt call out desperately behind you, but you just carried on even faster.

Walk away, and forget. Move on, you told yourself. It’s time you stop hurting. But how can you stop the pain if the one who hurt you is also the one who can heal you?

And where the hell were you going? Home was with Newt, you had literally nowhere else. Queenie and Tina were in another country, and your parents loved Newt and would for sure never cease to bring him up.

And so, you turned to something you rarely turned to, only in your most desperate times: alcohol.

Stopping in the middle of a random street you didn’t realize your feet brought you on, you turned on the spot and landed in front of a poster with a woman with bright red lips.

Entering the pub, you headed straight to the bar as the jazz filled your ears.

You obviously weren’t thinking clearly. Barely thinking at this point was more accurate.

“House-elf.”

“Boy do you look a mess.”

“Ain’t that the truth. Gimme something that’ll hit me fast. And hard.”

The house elf pulled out a bottle of Blishen’s Firewhiskey and poured some in 10 shot glasses.

“You asked for it miss.” He said, before handing you the line of cups.

You downed one, two, three easily. You were a little bit of a lightweight, so by the sixth you were gone. All sense of judgement was gone, heck all feeling was gone.

You started looking around. You smiled to yourself drunkenly. Taking out your wand, you changed your outfit into a tight black dress that had a plunging neck line and a slit that went up a little too high up the side of your thigh.

Immediately, you realised you caught the eye of many many men. You noticed one of them looking at you in a manner that you couldn’t realize, so you stared teasingly back.

Under the influence, you made your way slowly to him. All this time, his eyes did not leave you and you loved the attention. You smiled at him mysteriously as you approached.

“Why hello there. I don’t see you here that often.” He whispered to you as you came very close to him.

“I’m guessing you’re a regular here?” “Yes, but I have never seen such a thing as you.”

You bit your lip up at him as he put his hand on your waist.

“May I have this dance?” He asked.

“Why of course.”

“Why don’t we go somewhere more private?” he whispered into your ear.

You nodded. He grabbed you closer to him and spun.

Landing, you found yourself in a motel hallway. The Disapparition must’ve sobered you up a tad however, because you became conscious of what was going to happen.

But not conscious enough to stop it, and not enjoy it.

The stranger planted his lips on yours, and you reached behind your back to open the door to the nearest room, which was empty. You hopped and put your legs around him, as he supported you and lead you to the bed.

You both collapsed on top of it, and him on top of you started kissing your neck.

Your vision blurred with pleasure. As you closed your eyes, your sense of touch heightened. And his skin on yours felt just like Newt’s. His lips on you felt just like Newt.

If you closed your eyes just a little bit harder, you could imagine him being Newt.

He felt just like him.

And as pleasure washed over you, you moaned out

“Newt.”

To be continued…

part 2: https://everythingharrypotterblog.tumblr.com/post/162799022152/eyes-closed-part-2-newt-scamander-x-reader

#newt scamander #newt scamander imagine #newt scamander x reader #newt scamander angst #newt scamander smut

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everythingshawnmendes · 7 years

Text

Eyes Closed (Shawn Mendes x Reader)

Warnings: angst-ish and smut. the story will get better!

“Shawn. Shawn. SHAWN!”

“Hmm?”

“God’s sake Shawn, do I even exist?”

“Why of course you do Y/N, I love you-“

“No stop. Please.”

For the past couple weeks, you were like a ghost in the house. You two had numerous arguments about this already, about how Shawn was definitely absorbed by his tour; but he would usually come around.

This feeling was absolutely the worst. Seeming unimportant, seeming always like the plan b. And today was the last time you wanted to feel this way.

If Shawn couldn’t give you an ounce of attention, maybe he wasn’t ready for a relationship.

His hand snaked around your waist as he murmured

“You mean the world to me Y/N.”

“It doesn’t feel like it.” You said, backing away.

“I’m so sorry, you know I don’t do it on purpose; it’s just been hectic recently and I’m on tour-“

“Look, I know you’re busy. We all have our busier times, but Shawn. It’s so fucking hard. I don’t see my boyfriend for months at a time. MONTHS. And simply seeing your face on a screen isn’t the same. It’s been three months we spent more than a week together. It’s been three months since we had a romantic date together. It’s been three months I fall asleep alone.” You said, your voice cracking as your vision blurred slightly.

“I need you Shawn.”

“I’m truly sorry Y/N, I promise I will make it up-“

“I’m sick of this! I’m sick of being cast aside and then you always “making it up to me” to cast me away again later on! It hurts too much.”

“I-I” Shawn stammered, panic in his eyes.

He really fucked up this time, he thought to himself.

“It hurts too much to be with you, we’re in a serious relationship and that’s what I expect it to feel like, but instead it feels like a on again off again thing indecisive teens have.”

“I’m sorry Y/N, please I’m begging you; you’re the love of my life-“

You wiped the tears off your face with the back of your hand.

“I’m sorry too. But it’s not working, and the longer I stay, the more I break inside. It’s just, maybe it’s not meant to be…”

“Y/N don’t say that.”

“Fuck I’m sorry. I love you too but I just can’t, I just can’t carry on like this. I know. I know this is your career, but I feel like I’m not strong enough for this relationship. You deserve someone who can support you, even when you’re away.”

You took your bag and walked out the door.

Walking down the street you broke down in tears, them blurring your vision as you took fast steps away from your apartment. You heard Shawn call out desperately behind you, but you just carried on even faster.

Walk away, and forget. Move on, you told yourself. It’s time you stop hurting. But how can you stop the pain if the one who hurt you is also the one who can heal you?

And where the hell were you going? Home was with Shawn, you had literally nowhere else. And so, you turned to something you rarely turned to, only in your most desperate times: alcohol.

Stopping in the middle of a random street you didn’t realize your feet brought you on, you reorientated yourself and walked to the nearest bar.

You obviously weren’t thinking clearly. Barely thinking at this point was more accurate.

“Bartender.”

“Boy do you look a mess.”

“Ain’t that the truth. Gimme something that’ll hit me fast. And hard.”

The bartender took out a bottle of tequila and lime juice and poured some in 10 shot glasses.

“You asked for it miss.” He said, before handing you the line of cups.

You downed one, two, three easily. You were a little bit of a lightweight, so by the sixth you were gone. All sense of judgement was gone, heck all feeling was gone.

You started looking around. You smiled to yourself drunkenly. Taking out your bag, you went to the bathroom and changed into a tight black dress that had a plunging neck line and a slit that went up a little too high up the side of your thigh.

Immediately, you realised you caught the eye of many many men. You noticed one of them looking at you in a manner that you couldn’t resist, so you stared teasingly back.

Under the influence, you made your way slowly to him. All this time, his eyes did not leave you and you loved the attention. You smiled at him mysteriously as you approached.

“Why hello there. I don’t see you here that often.” He whispered to you as you came very close to him.

“I’m guessing you’re a regular here?” “Yes, but I have never seen such a thing as you.”

You bit your lip up at him as he put his hand on your waist.

“May I have this dance?” He asked.

“Why of course.”

The gentleman led you closer to the band and put both hands on your hips and pulled you closer. You swayed to the music, your eyes never leaving his. He was charming you, and the longer you felt his touch, the more you craved him. It has been so freaking long since you had felt like this, since a man had his entire focus on you.

“Why don’t we go somewhere more private?” he whispered into your ear.

You nodded. He took your hand, and walked you through the crowd. Crossing the street, you made your way into a hotel. The fresh air freshened you up and sobered you up a bit.

But not conscious enough to stop it, and not enjoy it.

You both collapsed on top of it, and him on top of you started kissing your neck.

Your vision blurred with pleasure. As you closed your eyes, your sense of touch heightened. And his skin on yours felt just like Shawn’s. His lips on you felt just like Shawn.

If you closed your eyes just a little bit harder, you could imagine him being Shawn.

He felt just like him.

And as pleasure washed over you, you moaned out

“Shawn.”

To be continued…

ANY IDEAS FOR PART 2????

#shawn mendes #shawn mendes imagine #shawn mendes x reader #shawn mendes angst #shawn mendes fanfic

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wychfate-blog · 6 years

Text

Recruiting for an Online Legends of the Five Rings Game

Game days Sundays 10am Pacific/ 1pm Eastern (run times about 4-5 hours)

Game Start Date 3/4/18

Rokugan is a place of mystery and wonder, inspired by the lore of legends from Feudal Japan and other lands of the far East. A magical world controlled by the Samurai caste, This a land of magic where dragons, kami, and oni exists. This land has danger that lurks in the dark, ninja are a feared myth, and region of the world seeps with an evil essence. This is the Legend of the Five Rings. Players take the roles of protagonists destined to leave their marks in the land. I am looking for mature players willing to emerse themselves in a setting where western philosophy and ideologies are foreign. This is a game that the wrong words or action could cost a person the lives of their spouse, children and selves. Here honor is one of the most important aspects of life, and a person has to concern themselves with not only their personal honor but more importantly the honor of their family. Unlike many role-playing games combat and politics are very lethal. Do you have the ability to actually "role-play" in a world who places import on ideals that are not the norms of your real lives? This weekly game requires players who can commit to regular on time play. They must be respectful of everyone who participates at all time both in game and outside of the game. Bullying and discrimination will not be tolerated. If you love to role play, are mature, can dedicate your time and energy to create an epic campaign and have an interest in Eastern Feudal mythology, they may be a great fit for you.

The game I am going to be running is called Legends of The Five Rings 4th edition. This is a mystical fantasy game set in a world that draws greatly from the Feudal Japan era, as well as several other Far Eastern civilizations around the same period. The game includes magic, non-human creatures, the spirit realm, etc. In this game the players character creation will differ greatly from the Rifts campaign. The first step is for the players to choose a party Great Clan. Players will have to make characters from said Clan, although 1 player will be allowed to create a “ronin” character who is being paid by the Great Clan (although be warned; playing a ronin in this world will be much more difficult than those who are vassals of the Clan). The group must have one character play a Shugenja samurai and one character be a Courtier samurai of the Great Clan; the both will require another player to create a character who will be their yojimbo (bodyguard) that is a total of 2 who will be bushi characters. The other players will have more diversity although only one other player may create either a shugenja or courtier (if they desire to do). The class professions will be limited by the Great Clan that has been chosen as well as limit any possible Minor Clan allied to the Great Clan. Great Clans also have major families which each player will be limited in choosing for their characters.

To determine the Great Clan for Campaign B (if that campaign type is picked) we will have a closed vote of rating most to least favorite of the choices. The Clans to rate and choose from: • Crane • Dragon • Lion • Phoenix The list provide via email should list the clan you think you would like to play the most first, then the second, third and finally the last choice. Each will be given points based on where the clan was placed on your list. 1. 20 pts 2. 10 pts 3. 5 pts 4. 0 pts The first step in creating your character begins with the player answering a requisite 40 questions about the character they will be playing and choosing the characters astrological sign (Chinese). It is best that players read the setting and the rules before beginning to work on a character concept. Player will email the gm at [email protected] I will correspond via email to players. Players will fill out a fillable PDF character sheet and send to the gm, after their character concept has been approved. The character creation system is pointed based. Starting Attributes called Rings (and Traits) begin at 2 (this is average, each statistic has a normal range of 1-5; 1 is poor/ noticeably below average) and 3 is noticeably above average, a 4 is what gifted individuals would have while a 5 is the human maximum possessed by a relatively small amount of people) but the players choice of family and profession will adjust their Traits and possible a Ring. The profession will provide each player with stating skills, Honor Rating, and equipment (called an outfit). Players will have an opportunity to take some advantages/ disadvantages (which provides extra points; limited) and points to modify their character. All choices will be subject to GM approval. Other Campaign types will have different restrictions see below. This game like all games is not for everyone, and the role-playing will require each player to more than likely step out of their rpg comfort zone, at least if they have never played a game that puts so much emphases on Honor, Bushido, and the Celestial Order (more of the clan and families than the character). The combat is severely dangerous where one fight could mean the end of your character no matter what their experience. Failure may also prove to be fatal depending on the situation, the clan, the lord, etc. Won’t to try something new? Let me know and you will be able to begin to learn more about this world and prepare for the clan and character each of you will make. The Great Clans: • The Crab Clan have steadfastly defended the Emerald Empire (Rokugan) from the evil hordes of Shadowland. Unfortunately, this duty has left them little time for courtly activities, thus making them the most blunt and uncouth of the Great Clans. While their courage and honor are never questioned, the other Clans often point to the fact that the evil aura of the Shadowlands lingers on everything it touches, and they wonder how many Crab samurai have gained what the Phoenix Call “the Shadowlands Taint.” • When it came time for Hantei I (the first Emperor of Rokugan) to wed, all the Clans offered up their most beautiful daughters for consideration. It was the daughter of Doji, form the Crane Clan, that he chose. Ever since that day, every Emperor has chosen a bride from the Crane Clan. That is how the dynasty of Doji has maintained its hold on the Imperial Court: every Emperor has a Crane he calls “Mother.” Also, every Emperor has attended a Crane fencing school. The Kakita School is the most prestigious in the Empire, its students legendary for their prowess and courage. Ultimately, however, the Crane are seen by the other Clans as poser and sycophants for their relationship with the Emperor. • Since the earliest days of the Hantei dynasty, Togashi and his Clan have remained secreted away in the high mountains of Rokugan. Practicing their strange meditations in privacy, the Dragon Clan are the most misunderstood samurai in the Empire. Their spellcasters are fluent in the ways of war, and their samurai are familiar with the ways of sorcery. The strangest of their Clan- the ise zumi- shave all hair from their bodies and cover their skin with detailed tattoos. Always enigmatic, the Dragon Clan are sometimes seen as aloof and bizarre by the other Clans. • If the Crane are the “left hand” of the Emperor, then the Lion are his right hand. The Lion Clan has always maintained a reverence for the Emperor, a devotion unparalleled anywhere in Rokugan. The samurai of the Lion Clan are some of the most brilliant tacticians the Empire has ever known, commanding small armies against large ones with legendary success. However, some would say that Lion Clan clings too tightly to tradition, and their unquestioning loyalty to the Emperor has caused much strife between them and the other Clans – especially their chief rival, the Crane. • The word “shugenja” has many meaning in Rokugan: holy man, prophet, sorcerer, priest. The most powerful shugenja in the Empire, without any doubt, belong to the Phoenix Clan. The scribe who stood by the Emperor and wrote down his conversation with Shinsei was Phoenix, and he brought back all the details and verbal nuances of that conversation to his Clan. No other Clan has a more fundamental understanding of the Old Religion of Rokugan and the “new way” of Shinsei. It was the Phoenix who melded the two into the current belief taught across the Empire. However, in their study of the sublime, the Phoenix samurai have suffered. Days spent in contemplative meditation and reading ancient texts are days unspent learning the finer aspects of swordplay and battle. • If there are secrets to be known, a Scorpion somewhere knows them. They are masters of double-dealing and subterfuge. Many say that the Scorpion Clan is only a front for a family of ninja, but no evidence has ever been procured to prove that claim. Over the thousand years of Hantei’s reign, the Scorpion have proven to be valuable allies to every Clan. Theirs is a Clan of spies and information peddlers. Once you strike a deal with a Scorpion, however, you can never clear yourself of the debt. • Just after Hantei took the Throne, he turned to his sister Shinjo and asked her to ride into the outlands of the Empire to seek allies and look for possible dangers. Shinjo left with a small band of followers and was not heard from again for eight hundred years. Two hundred years ago, the Clan of the Unicorn returned with wealth undreamed of, fabulous treasures of foreign make, and their most valuable prize: the war-horses of the west. The Unicorn Clan also brought with it many strange customs and beliefs, making them strangers to the people of Rokugan. Their ignorance of the delicate etiquette of Rokugan has made them appear to be “barbaric” and “uncivilized” at times, but their mighty horses and valiant samurai (all trained in what the Lion call “barbarian tricks”) have made them valuable allies to any who would take them.

Players will vote on five different campaign types: I will describe each version briefly (along with brief introductory info about the campaign if chosen) and players should email along with the Clan votes. Like voting on the Clan players should list the campaign types from most favorite to least favorite. The highest over all points will determine the type of campaign the party will play. The rank and points for your choices are as follows: • First Choice 40 points • Second Choice 20 points • Third Choice 10 points • Final Choice 0 points Emerald Magistrates (Campaign A): Serving the Emperor and the Emerald Champion it the protection of the Empire. Magistrate adventures cover a wide gamut of material. Emerald Magistrates are responsible for dealing with many types of crimes, as well as for collecting Imperial taxes, and are well suited for adventures built around mystery, investigation, and intrigue. However, they also deal with bandits, lawlessness, blasphemy, and Shadowlands incursions, allowing for a variety of action-oriented adventures. This game will allow the players to create characters from any Great Clan, the players do not have to be from the same Great Clan as Emerald Magistrates are recruited from the Great Clans of the Empire to serve the needs of the Emperor. Players can make characters that are not a part of the Great Clans, but their position will be less than the Greater Clan members and it will be more difficult for them to increase their Status throughout the campaign. Players can expect to begin the game working as yuriki (assistants) to a magistrate. Actions in the campaign will determine if they will advance in status in the future. The game setting will usually be in a neutral province. Clan Magistrates (Campaign B): As above in most ways except the players will be limited to one specific Great Clan, which will also limit the parities choice to creating characters from that Specific Great Clan (although one character may be from an allied Minor Clan and another character can be an appropriate Ronin). Most of the group should be characters from the Great Clan, the non-Great Clan member choice will be rare and limited. Players can expect to begin the game working as yuriki to a Clan Magistrate (Not an Emerald Magistrate). Clan Magistrates have a Clan Lord whom they are in service too, while the player will begin in service to a magistrate. The game setting will be within the borders of their clan.

Shadowlands Campaign (Campaign C): A Shadowlands campaign is an exercise in action and horror, throwing the PCs into the struggle against the forces of Jigoku. Most players will be restricted to creating characters from the Crab Clan although up to two players can create characters who have been assigned to the Crab Land to make penance for mistakes or Ronin. This type of campaign throws the characters into a relentless struggle against the most foul and terrifying enemies of the Empire. The campaign may address themes of horror, mystery and romance. Game setting will be within the Crab Clan province and may include incursions beyond the Great Wall (Kaiu Wall) of the Empire into the Shadowlands themselves.

Ronin Campaign: In this campaign the entire party consist of Ronin characters. These characters begin the game without a master and must settle for getting any work their can as “swords for hire.” Ronin are not looked at as a respectable profession especially in the eyes of the Samurai Caste. Setting somewhere in Rokugan. The players have banded together for mutual support (or other reasons) and to hopefully make it easier to get hired for missions that a lone ronin would not be able to accomplish on their own. Expect to fill used and at the whim of your employers as you try to make a name for yourselves or find a new liege lord to serve to become a true samurai one again. This campaign can have a variety of themes including all those listed above in the other campaign. The largest limit is the fact that all characters must be Ronin (although there are several different types of Ronin backgrounds the players can choose from). Characters will have a lot more freedom of choice in this campaign as “Wave Men.” Yet, these characters have no clan protecting and providing for them. The disadvantages of being a ronin are very severe yet the advantage of freedom is an aspect other samurai never truly experience.

The 1st Scheduled game will be dedicated for character creation only all players who have been invited to the game must make this scheduled game or their player slot will be opened for another character to participate. In order to get an invite to the game interested players will need to read the threads below and correspond with the GM. Thank you for reading, Cassie

#l5r #roll20 #online #tabletop #rpg

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bookstattoosandtea · 4 years

Text

Natalina Reis has a new MM Paranormal murder mystery romance out: “Of Magic and Scales.”

With a serial killer on the loose, the baffling mystery of Aiden’s past, and their tenuous budding romance, Aiden and Fouchard tread through a world of magic and myth on padded shoes, terrified to stir up something neither can control or defeat.

Aiden Mercer’s life now centers around lounging on the sunny beaches of his adopted country with a beer in one hand and a coffee in the other while admiring the local male population. After a rough life as a respected detective in DC, playing it cool shouldn’t be too hard, right? With the magical community on his case and dead bodies piling up around town, the responsibility of finding their killer seems fated to fall on him and deny him of his easy living.

Then there is Naël.

Cantankerous merman Naël Fouchard’s life is focused on bringing up and protecting his little sister. When DNA found at the scene of the murders mark him as the prime suspect, Naël seeks out the help of Aiden, whose reputation as a detective grossly belies his lazy lifestyle and apparent lack of ambition.

The chemistry between the strong, stoic Naël and the easygoing Aiden is undeniable, no matter how many walls Aiden builds.

If this unlikely pair can’t come to terms with their feelings for each other long enough to catch the killer, their emotional turmoil might yet allow the murderer to kill them instead.

Giveaway

Natalina is giving away a $10 Amazon gift card with this tour. Enter via Rafflecopter for a chance to win:

a Rafflecopter giveaway

Direct Link: http://www.rafflecopter.com/rafl/display/b60e8d47109/?

Special Guest Post From Natalina

Why I Love Of Magic & Scales

As a writer, I love pretty much every story I write (why else would I write them, right?) but this one was special for a couple reasons.

First, it is set in my home country. Actually it is set in my hometown. Aiden, the main character owns a coffeehouse by the same beach where I spent many a day in my teens. In fact, in the exact location of his shop there is an amazing restaurant where I ate a myriad of delicious dishes in the past. It was so much fun revisiting all these spots. I haven’t been home in almost three years and writing this book gave me an opportunity to feel as if I was indeed visiting.

I fell in love with my two guys. Aiden is so clueless sometimes and lead mostly by his hyperactive sex drive. But he is also, as most of my characters, a misfit, someone who never felt as if he belonged. Naël is just what the doctor ordered in more ways than one. Aiden may very well find balance and happiness in the strong arms of his merman.

Excerpt

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I’m not sure what I am, but I certainly know what I am not. I know I’m not a witch because—well, I’m male. I’m definitely not an elf, since I have no sudden urges to hop onto somebody’s shelf around Christmas. Vampire I am not. My perfectly straight teeth have never once turned into fangs, neither have I ever had a sudden, strange craving for human blood. I’m not a werewolf either. I do have hair on my body but nothing that would qualify me as a wolfman. Besides, I am still pretty much myself during full moons.

But I am not a regular either, because unlike most normal humans, I can see magic beings. By “seeing,” I mean I recognize them as such. Anyone can see them, unless the magicals choose for them not to. I, on the other hand, can always recognize them, unless they purposely hide themselves behind a special magic charm.

I don’t remember not having the ability, so I’m guessing I was born like this. Whatever this is. Good thing that I’m used to it, because seeing magical beings for what they are can be a pretty traumatizing experience, as it was the time I freaked out during a trip to Greece, when I had a close encounter with a minotaur. Nice chap as it turns out but not a pretty sight.

I’ve lived a pretty normal, average life running Bicas R Us, a coffee shop in a small coastal town in sunny Portugal, for the past year or so. After an incident in Northern Virginia that put me on the pages of the local news—don’t ask; it involved a pretty handsome elf and his irate troll boyfriend—I thought it would be better to start again somewhere new. I had visited the tiny nation some years before and fallen in love with its never-ending beaches and kicked-back lifestyle, so I packed my bags, contacted a real estate agent and the immigration office, and got myself a brand-new life.

I had played with the idea of buying a coffee shop on the beach, but I figured it would be a mother to keep the place—and the coffee—free of sand. So, I bought a store nearby in the town square, a short walk from the beach. Portugal is littered with three things: tourists, ancient churches, and coffee shops. Nobody would notice me, the brown haired, blue-eyed American who came to explore the locals’ passion for the hot brew.

The other perk of living here was that magical creatures were not spotted as often. Vampires were virtually nonexistent because of the year-round sunny weather, trolls and ogres were limited to the mountains in the north and, unless you visited the nearby mountain of Sintra that crawled with magical activity, the only thread of magic on the coast was the sporadic water sprite and the beachcombing witches who sold their wares in local shops. All in all, a pretty placid place for someone like me to live in.

I enjoyed today’s cool breeze blowing from the ocean, sitting on a chair in my small esplanade under a red umbrella with a glass of cold beer in my hand. Yes, in this sunny paradise I was allowed to sell and buy alcohol in my coffee shop. Behind my light pinewood counter, the wall shelves were covered in bottles that held more than coffee flavorings. What a great nation this was.

While Cristina, my only employee, was busy serving the few customers who loitered inside the café, I could enjoy the local fauna as they hurried from shop to shop or headed out to the beach. Summer hadn’t quite arrived yet, but the sun had warmed the air enough for the locals to shed their wintry clothes and don more relaxed apparel. From behind my shades, I followed the trek of three young men, all shirtless and in swimming trunks. Hot. Not the weather, the guys—tanned, lean and muscular, shorts low enough on their hips to reveal that sexy vee—

“Olha para ti, a salivar como um cão por um bife.” Cristina had sneaked up from behind and interrupted my yummy thoughts.

“Speak English, woman,” I told her, sliding my glasses down my nose to look at her over the rim. “You’d think you’re Portuguese, or something.”

She slapped me mercilessly across the back of my head and plopped herself on the chair next to mine. “Idiota.”Without so much as a may I, my small Portuguese friend and employee grabbed the glass from my hand and took a long swig of my beer. “Are you going to sit here all afternoon watching the hot guys walking by?”

“And what’s wrong with that?” Cristina spoke flawless English but enjoyed confusing me with spurts of Portuguese once in a while. She pulled up another chair and placed her feet on the seat, her legs crossed at the knees. “What exactly did you call me just now?”

“A dog salivating over a steak.” She took another swig before I could retrieve my beer. “Don’t you have more important things to do with your life, Aiden?”

I wiped her foam mustache with a finger. “Not really. Why do you think I moved here from Virginia?” She blinked her eyes at me, pretending not to know what I was talking about. “Easy living, sunshine, and hot, half-naked guys.”

Cristina laughed, her face turned to the sun. She had skin the same color as the cork in a wine bottle, a honeyed brown made darker since the early spring weather replaced the cool air of winter. “You’re something, Aiden. You have no other dream or ambition? Just basking in the sun and ogling sexy men?”

Not quite correct but part of the truth. “Are you jealous?”

The skin crinkled around her green eyes as she turned her gaze to me. “Only if you flirt with guys I have my eyes on.” She spotted a couple of newly arrived customers and hopped to her feet. “Customers. Unlike you, I have some interest in making a buck here and there. I enjoy having a roof over my head.”

As she walked away, I yelled, “No need. You can always sleep on the beach.”

Author Bio

Natalina wrote her first romance at the age of 13 in collaboration with her best friend. Since then she has ventured into other genres, but romance is first and foremost in almost everything she writes. She’s the author of We Will Always Have the Closet, Desert Jewel, Loved You Always, and Lavender Fields.

After earning a degree in tourism and foreign languages, she worked as a tourist guide in her native Portugal for a short time before moving to the United States. She lived in three continents and a few islands, and her knack for languages and linguistics led her to a master’s degree in education. She lives in Virginia where she’s taught English as a Second Language to elementary school children for more years than she cares to admit.

Natalina doesn’t believe you can have too many books or too much coffee. Art and dance make her happy and she is pretty sure she could survive on lobster and bananas alone. When she is not writing or stressing over lesson plans, she shares her life with her husband and two adult sons.

Author Website: https://natalinareis.com/

Author Facebook (Personal): https://www.facebook.com/authornatalinareis

Author Facebook (Page): https://www.facebook.com/authornatalinareis/

Author Twitter: https://twitter.com/TichaB

Author Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/reisnatalina/

Author Goodreads: https://www.goodreads.com/author/show/14883335.Natalina_Reis

Author QueeRomance Ink: https://www.queeromanceink.com/mbm-book-author/natalina-reis/

Author Amazon: http://www.amazon.com/Natalina-Reis/e/B01ADQ9FJW/

Blog Tour, Guest Post & Giveaway: Of Magic & Scales by Natalina Reis Natalina Reis has a new MM Paranormal murder mystery romance out: "Of Magic and Scales." With a serial killer on the loose, the baffling mystery of Aiden’s past, and their tenuous budding romance, Aiden and Fouchard tread through a world of magic and myth on padded shoes, terrified to stir up something neither can control or defeat.

#Detective #Gay Book Review #Gay Romance Authors #LGBTQ Books #Merman #MM Romance #Murder Mystery #Natalina Reis #Of Magic and Scales #Paranormal

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what-s-up-friends-us · 5 years

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Here he tells you what you need to enjoy better health, feed and sleep well, relieve pain and have a long life. TAKE AWARENESS OF THEIR FORMABLE MENTAL POWER I can visualize myself satiated with food. If you are about to drink a milkshake and you think it is very high in fat and calories, ghrelin levels - the hormone that regulates appetite - will drop a lot and leave you with a greater feeling of fullness than if you chose a drink healthier, even if both provide the same amount of calories, a study recently published in the journal Health Psychology showed. It can increase my brain mass through meditation. MRI images show that the hippocampus - the part of the brain that is responsible for learning and memory - becomes denser with just a couple of months of practicing deep meditation. Besides, the density of brain cells decreases in the amygdala, the part that regulates fear, anxiety, and stress. Those physical changes in the brain alter your mood. It can raise my body temperature. A group of Tibetan nuns can increase their internal body temperature to about 37.7 ° C in conditions of ambient temperature below zero just by practicing a type of meditation called g-tummo. This is a rare group, it is true, but researchers taught Western subjects a similar technique and observed that they managed to raise their body temperature. The breathing they used produced thermogenesis, a process of heat generation that could improve people's performance in icy environments. You can add years to your life. If you maintain a positive attitude towards aging and feel constantly useful and happy, you will most likely live an additional seven years, studies by Yale University indicate. Take diet soda. If you drink a can a day or more, you could end up with three times more abdominal fat than if you didn't. Texas researchers conducted a study to prove it: subjects who drank sugar-free soda daily increased about eight centimeters in waist in nine years; those who drank none increased by only two centimeters, and occasional drinkers, 4.5 centimeters. Choosing a diet drink instead of a regular one to eat fewer calories can be counterproductive. One study showed that those who did ended up consuming more food - and calories - throughout the day. Please drink only mineral water. Bow your head to see the phone. Would you hang four bowling balls around your neck? Before saying that it is a silly question, consider this: the combined weight of those balls - about 27 kilos - is equivalent to the force exerted by tilting your head forward at a 60-degree angle to send a text message from your smartphone. And it does that up to four hours a day! For the love of your cervical vertebrae and their integrity, try to keep the phone at eye level. Put on a sweater as soon as you feel cold. Hold on a little. Researchers discovered that when hormones tremble, certain hormones are activated that convert white adipose tissue, which stores energy, into brown tissue, which burns calories. Trembling for 10 or 15 minutes has a hormonal effect equivalent to performing a moderate exercise for one hour. Skip the stretch before exercising. He strives to do cardiovascular and strengthening exercises regularly, which is fine, but his joints need to stretch as well, especially as he gets older. The connective tissue that forms and supports the ligaments and tendons becomes more rigid and brittle with age, which implies a decrease in flexibility and range of movements. Yoga and Pilates are two good options for stretching muscles and joints, but even simple and controlled stretching exercises of 10 to 30 seconds in length can help you keep the movement more easily. "Forget" to tell your doctor about memory problems. Only one in four adults over 44 years old recognizes having memory problems. If you start to forget things, you must tell the doctor. Sometimes a drug or a combination of drugs causes confusion or makes me forgetful. Anxiety and depression can also have that effect, as can a slow thyroid or a vitamin B12 deficiency. These conditions are completely treatable. And if your memory gaps are related to senile dementia, an early diagnosis is decisive, since it offers the brain a better chance to benefit from treatment. I WISH I COULD EXPLAIN ... Why healthy people can get cancer. Maybe you know someone who followed all the "rules" - used sunscreen, ate vegetables, didn't smoke - and still got cancer. I would like to have a good explanation of this, but the truth is that about two-thirds of the variation in cancer risk is due to random genetic mutations that favor the growth of tumors. In essence, it is bad luck. However, that does not exempt you at all from following the rules. Although some risk factors may be out of your control, many others depend on you. How placebos workTaking a sugar pill can affect the heart rhythm, alter brain activity, relieve depression and reduce Parkinson's symptoms; that is, produce real physiological responses to an essentially false treatment. An analysis of 84 clinical trials of chronic pain medications revealed that the placebo effect is getting stronger. In 2013, patients who received placebos experienced a 30 percent decrease in their pain levels, on average, compared to about 5 percent in 1990. Scientists try to find out why a person responds well to a placebo, but a No friend of that person, what exactly happens in the body and brain of people when they take a placebo, and the best ways to harness the power of placebos. How my viscera affect my mood. I house up to 100 billion microbes, most of them in the intestines. "Good" bacteria help me assimilate food; the "bad" makes me produce gases and increase inflammation. Imbalances in intestinal bacteria are related to many diseases. The less clear link is that between those bacteria and the brain. One hypothesis states that intestinal bacteria produce serotonin and dopamine - hormones that regulate mood - or other substances that influence anxiety and depression. Another possibility is that the microbes activate the vagus nerve, the main means of communication between the intestines and the brain. Scientists are studying these bacteria thoroughly now, so stay informed. WHAT I CAN EXPLAIN IS WHY ... Turn off the car radio when it is lost. The brain has a limited number of cognitive resources; In fact, it is not designed to process many things at once. On a tour of a family route, I can listen to the radio and at the same time pay attention to the road, but if I need to read the road signs or find a home, the music becomes a distraction. Squinting helps me see more clearly. As they change their shape a little when they are closed, the light that reaches it is concentrated in the retina, and that helps me focus better. Chatting with a stranger makes me happy. Conversing with another person, even a few minutes, such as the employee who prepares the morning coffee or a seatmate on the train back home, makes you feel that you are part of the world and improves your mood. I swing my arms when I walk. His arms are like pendulums that swing naturally while moving. So you spend less energy when you go somewhere on foot. If you try to keep them still while walking, you will consume 12 percent more energy. WHAT THE COLOR OF YOUR EYES COULD REVEAL If you have dark eyes: Lower risk of contracting macular degeneration. Lower risk of skin cancer. That inspires more confidence. If you have light eyes (blue or green): That is more competitive. Lower risk of suffering from vitiligo, an autoimmune skin disease that is characterized by the presence of areas without pigmentation. Increased propensity to drink alcohol. HABITS THAT WOULD BE GOOD TO ADOP Read real books. That is, real books printed on paper. Scientists have observed that people who use electronic reading devices have a much harder time remembering details of what they read, compared to those who read printed materials. Actions such as holding the book with your hands, turning the pages and touching the paper can contribute to a better mental reconstruction of what has been read. On the other hand, exposure to the bright blue light on the screen of an electronic reading device before bedtime makes it harder for you to fall asleep and get a restful sleep. Cover your mouth when you sneeze. Surely they taught him to do this when he was little. However, according to an observational study, one in four people does not cover their mouths when coughing or sneezing in front of others. That's not all: less than five percent of people use handkerchiefs or cough or sneeze into the inside of the elbow, as health experts recommend. And the last thing: it is proven that an average human sneeze expels a cloud of germs at high speed that can contaminate an entire room in a few minutes. Understood? Go for walks in a park. Living in urban areas appears to put people at greater risk for mood disorders, compared to those living in the countryside. Contact with nature can have a sedative effect on the prefrontal cortex of my brain, which is activated when it is ruminating negative things and is related to some mental disorders. Studies show that if you are going to walk to a quiet park full of leafy trees, you will have fewer negative thoughts. Practice the race at intervals. High impact interval training is a good way to burn fat. It consists of alternating strenuous races at full speed with recovery periods at a less intense pace. Danish researchers tested a formula called 30-20-10 with a group of recreational runners. Although their total training time was halved, in just seven weeks the subjects reduced their blood pressure and cholesterol levels, as well as the time they ran five kilometers. Try it: 30 seconds of light jogging, 20 seconds of running at a moderate pace and then 10 seconds of full acceleration to complete a minute. Touching your forehead to take off a craving. Looks strange? It is. However, the researchers tried some 30-second techniques to stop the compulsion to eat. Touching your forehead gave the best result with obese participants in a study: it reduced their cravings and drove them away from their favorite foods. The next time a cupcake is a temptation, a finger on the forehead can placate the craving. Colors to reduce stress. There is currently a huge variety of coloring books with illustrations. Take three five-minute intervals (with a two-minute break between each one), and you will have an excellent cardiovascular exercise session in 19 minutes. Write slowly. This can improve your writing skills. Researchers had two groups of subjects write a text on a computer, some with one hand and others with both, and observed that those who typed with one hand displayed a broader and more expressive vocabulary, compared to those who typed With the two hands. The explanation is that writing slowly allows me to choose the words I want to use and express myself more eloquently. When my fingers fly over the keyboard, I offer only the first word that comes to mind. ATTENTION TO THESE EXPERIENCES! First menstruation: it is the sign of becoming a woman, or so they say, moms and grandmothers. British researchers add that the age at which you have the first menstruation may indicate the risk of heart disease. A study of 1.2 million middle-aged women revealed that those who had their first menstrual cycle at age 13 were at the lowest risk of getting heart disease; those who were 10 years old or younger and those who were 17 years old or older were at greater risk. The age of the first menstruation seems to be indicative of general metabolic health, as well as of the propensity to diabetes and to have a low bone mass. First knee injury: may increase the risk of post-traumatic arthritis. And it doesn't need to be very serious: a torn meniscus or a torn ligament, common effects of falls, can leave my knee unstable and cause faster wear. The damage does not always lead to osteoarthritis (age, weight, and genes are other factors), but an injured joint is about seven times more vulnerable than a healthy one. Last cigarette smoked: Just five years after the day you quit smoking, my risk of getting cancer of the mouth, throat, esophagus, and bladder is reduced by half. Thank you. First fracture: to be attended by a doctor, and if you are 50 or older, ask to have a bone densitometry. About 80 percent of people do not request this, and it is a mistake. Osteoporosis could be the cause of a broken bone, especially if the injury was not the result of a stroke, such as a car crash. If the bone mass is low, you should know how to take steps to delay your progress. THESE FOOD TIPS IMPROVE GENERAL HEALTH Use yogurt well. The aqueous matter that floats on the solid is whey and is full of protein, calcium (which strengthens the bones), vitamin D and probiotics (which protect the intestines). When the strip without ingesting it is deprived of these nutrients. Bake the potatoes. Whether in the kitchen oven or in the microwave, potatoes retain most of their nutrients. If you peel them and cook them in water, they lose all the skin fiber and almost two-thirds of the vitamin C. Let the chopped garlic stand. When the tooth is bitten or ground, an enzyme called alienate is released that helps the formation of disease-fighting compounds. Let the garlic stand for 10 to 15 minutes. Cooking the garlic pieces too soon can deactivate the enzyme. Season the spinach with lemon. These dark green leaves are a rich source of iron, but to absorb that mineral from plants more easily, spinach must be accompanied by vitamin C, of which the lemon is packed. Click here for more tips

http://bestofftops.blogspot.com/2019/09/secrets-that-your-body-is-trying-to.html

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