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#To drink coffee with a ghost
solitaryfey · 2 years
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No one ever bothered to tell you about the sad type of daughter & you did everything possible not to see her.
- blindfold.
~Amanda Lovelace
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soibeanxgalactica · 2 years
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New books arrived while I was at work! ☺️
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gorgeous-enby · 9 months
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floq · 4 months
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they are both addicted to caffeine, but in different ways
[ID in alt text]
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al4thea · 4 months
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"What thoughts crossed your mind at that moment? Did your life suddenly replay? What images did you see? Was I there? Because I saw my life flash before me knowing you won't be in it." - probably Simon Riley
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thevoidstaredback · 15 days
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It's always graveyards. Why is it always graveyards? They're creepy as hell and, well... that's it. On the bright side, the Protection Spirits watching the gates recognize him and realize the danger he's in. Well, maybe he wasn't in real danger because the Bats and Birds don't really do the whole purposefully harming civilians things, but they are scary as hell! Chasing him down like a bat straight outta hell- obviously he was gonna run! They cornered him! Maybe he'll invest in getting them lessons in how to interact with people in and out of costume?
Honestly, Nightwing, Danny expected better of you. At least Red Hood and Signal know how to treat innocents.
Here's the thing about Protection and Guardian Spirits, though. They don't like intruders. If you're running from something and you don't have time to ask permission to enter, you best say "thank you" and bring them shiny things on your next visit. If you do have time to ask permission, you ask permission. If they think you're a threat or rude, they won't let you enter whatever they're guarding.
"Thank you," Danny said as he slowed to a walk further into the graveyard, the sound of the gates slamming closed behind him confirmation that the Bat and his gaggle wouldn't be following him in.
Wasting no time, Danny pulled a piece of chalk from his pocket. It was a handy little thing he'd picked up during his stay in the House of Mysteries. Draw and door, tell it where you wanna go, open it, and go through! Beetlejuice style. Though, unlike what the Handbook for the Recently Deceased says, these doors won't actually open a door to the afterlife. He fixed that tiny glitch a while ago.
Anyway, a quick few chalk lines on the side of a mausoleum later, and Danny was opening a door to Fawcett, Philadelphia. Probably not the best choice, considering that he was trying to stay away from the Justice League, but it's better than Metropolis.
"Whoa." Damn it! He should've stayed home. "What was that, mister?"
Danny made sure the door closed behind him, praying for strength. Why did he feel like several deities were laughing at him? "Hey, kid. Can you, um, maybe not say anything about that?"
The kid, short brown hair and a red jacket stood out the most to Danny for some reason, seemed very amused. "You're gonna have to buy my silence."
Again, Danny let out a quiet, long suffering sigh. "Coffee is so not worth it." Looking at the kid, he said, "Alright, fine. I was getting coffee anyway, I'll buy ya lunch. Know any good places?"
Grinning, the kid cheered, "Hell yeah! Follow me!"
Resigned, Danny followed after the kid, easily keeping pace. About a block later, he figured he should probably get the kid's name. "I'm Danny."
"Billy."
"No last name?"
"Fae rules, dude. What's your excuse?"
He had to give it to him. "Touché."
Another three blocks of walking, Billy finally stopped at a cafe. It was a quaint place with stained white brick and a dark grey roof. There were metal chairs and tables outside the building surrounded by a wrought iron fence. The table umbrellas and the awning over the black door were light blue, matching the curtains in the inside.
The inside walls were painted baby blue with a white ceiling and a pinewood floor. The tables and chairs were all stained black with light pink cushions and table cloths. The curtains, as observed before, were all baby blue, tied back with baby pink ribbons. The lights were barely yellow, giving the room a warm feel. The counters were white with black paneling on the outside and white granite as the tops.
"Welcome in," the young man at the register greeted with a smile, "What can I get you two started with today?"
Danny envied the man. He'd obviously not been doing this long enough to gain the veteran's shine to his eye. He turned to look at the menu after telling Billy to get whatever he wanted. A mistake he'll probably pay for. "I'd like a large Red Eye, equal parts coffee and espresso, with cinnamon, honey, chocolate syrup, mint, and vodka, please."
The 'newbie' light in the man's eyes dimmed a little bit. "Um, we don't carry vodka." Glad that's the only thing he's worried about. Priorities.
Danny clicked his tongue. "Oh, well, it was worth a shot. I'd like everything else, though, please. Mix it at your own discretion."
"Alright," he was very valiant to go back to grinning, "Anything else?"
Danny motioned for Billy and the kid stepped up. "Can I get a large mocha, three chocolate chip cookies, and two sandwiches?"
The blond entered the order. "Of course! That'll be $25.37." A quick card swipe from Danny. "Thank you very much, we'll have your order out to you soon!"
The two didn't say a word as they chose a table in the corner. Danny let Billy take the seat that was open to the rest of the cafe so he wouldn't feel cornered. He had a good view of the door, though, so he wasn't complaining.
"So, how'd you do that?" Billy asked after they'd gotten their orders.
"How'd I do what?" Danny sipped his drink.
"How'd you walk outta that wall? It's solid!"
"Magic."
"I guessed that much."
"Then why'd you ask?"
"Will you teach me?"
"No."
"You didn't even think about it!"
"Okay," He paused. "No."
"Not fair." he pouted.
Putting his drink on the table, Danny summed as much fake-it-till-you-make-it energy as he could. "Magic isn't a toy and takes years of practice to get a handle on, not to mention you have to actually have an aptitude for it before you can even try. Besides, I don't know you nearly well enough to trust you with anything else."
Billy finished the cookie he was eating. "I can do it! You just gotta teach me!"
Another sigh that Danny had stopped counting. "Look, you seem like a good kid, but I'm not gonna teach you magic."
"Why not!"
"However," he continued, ignoring the demand, "I'm not gonna leave ya fully defenselessness."
"What do you mean?" Billy backed away slightly, his eyes narrowing as he moved to be able to run quickly.
Another sip. "Based off of the dirt you're covered in, the grease in your hair, and the overall poor condition of your clothes, I'm gonna bet that you're a street kid. So," he pulled a small card from his pocket, very aware that Billy was watching his hand aptly, "I'm going to leave you with this."
Slowly, the brunet took it and turned it over. "What it is?"
The white card had the initials DP in the middle, circled by an Ouroboros. The initials were completely solid, but the snake of the Ouroboros was made up of tiny runes of protection and health and healing and good fortune.
"My calling card. If you're ever in danger, hold that to your chest and ask for help. I'll be there."
Still obviously suspicious, Billy took a moment to scrutinize the card. It was cute to watch the kid act like he knew what he was looking at or for. When he seemed satisfied, he shoved the card into the inner pocket sewn into his jacket. "Thanks."
"No problem, kid," Pulling out his phone, Danny saw the time and stood, "I've gotta go now. I assume I've sufficiently bought your silence on the whole magic thing?"
Billy grinned, "I guess, but you gotta come visit me, okay?"
He chuckled, "Sure thing. See ya."
Part 2 Part 4
(I don't drink coffee, so Idk how that shit works)
Tag list: @zaiothe4th
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clarislam · 2 years
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Book Review: "To Drink Coffee With A Ghost" by Amanda Lovelace
Read about a familial relationship gone wrong in "To Drink Coffee With A Ghost" by Amanda Lovelace! #poetrycollection #bookreview #poetry #ToDrinkCoffeeWithAGhost #AmandaLovelace
Cover of “To Drink Coffee With A Ghost” by Amanda Lovelace I’m back with another book review, and this time I’m reviewing “To Drink Coffee With A Ghost” by Amanda Lovelace! I’ve read some of Lovelace’s works before with mixed reviews about it, but I look forward to reviewing this poetry and prose collection. “From the bestselling & award-winning poetess, amanda lovelace, comes the finale of her…
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tsubaki94 · 3 months
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Hi @sykloni I heard you were missing a gift for the truce. @phandomholidaytruce gave me your promt's and I had a bit of fun with these three:
Danielle trying something for the first time. Something with observants where they are not the bad guys. Danny and blob ghosts
I hope you like it. <3
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wandixx · 2 months
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Ghost of fries and hero of cookies part 6
All work words count: 14 643
Words in this part: 2 686
Summary of whole work: Duke wasn't expecting to wake up from his quick rooftop nap to some meta kid with fries. He also wasn't expecting kid to stay
Or
Danny asked Dani to stay safe while she was in Gotham. Where would she be safer than under the wing of local hero? And he looked like he needed bad day combo anyway
This part summary: Batman wants an explanation. His kids however, wouldn't be themselves if they did add some chaos
Beta read by @audhumla-sailor though English is second language for both of us, so proceed with this in mind. I also know all of the charaters through fics alone, so probably ooc. Stay catious if it's something you don't like
First part, Previous part
“Signal.”
Duke bit back a sigh as his last hope to leave Cave undiscovered disappeared. He shot Steph message of:
Having The Talk. Come as moral support
and turned around to face Bruce.
“Yes?”
B grunted in disapproving and ‘Signal report’ way but Duke decided to buy some time and answer only questions that were actually asked. He slowly sat at the briefing table and looked at the man expectantly.
Lift chimed and moments later Tim and Cass went to Batcomputer and training mats respectively. Duke was, like, 80% sure they were there to eavesdrop. He knew them well enough. He knew them well enough.
“The girl”
“Izzy?” Was Duke annoying on purpose? Yes. He really didn’t want to have this talk. Like, at all. Psychological warfare it was “I mean, I know she is civilian and you don’t approve but at least she isn’t doing anything illegal, right? Like, you know, robbing museums or killing people?”
Bruce looked repulsed and Tim snorted.
“Low blow Narrows, low blow” Jason announced through speakers. He was slightly winded as if he just finished a fight “Good job kid”
“So you’re listening too, great” Duke muttered under his breath before louder he added “Is everyone who wants in on a show, here already?”
“Give me a sec- here Dick you’re going live now”
“Thanks Babs, you’re the best”
“I know. Donuts, you know which one”
“Of course. Glad we’re finally going to talk about Duke’s kid”
“Shut up, she is not my kid!”
“Steph ETA 2 minutes” Cass interrupted.
At least Damian didn’t show up- as if summoned by this thought Damian stomped down the stares, Alfred the Cat curled in his arms. Maybe others had a point, calling him Demon kid and stuff.
“What is an emergency?” he demanded and Duke decided to take what little relief he could from the fact that Bruce seemed equally defeated by sheer number of people around for this talk. 
“It seems like… oh, literally everyone lost an adoption bet” Babs explained. Huh, so Steph didn’t change her stance.
Damian looked genuinely terrified as he muttered “No” eyes darting between everyone present in silent calculation.
“Oh, shut up” Duke whined knowing all too well his stalling had to come to the end. Maybe it was wishful thinking but he almost heard roar of engine of Steph’s motorcycle. Her presence would be double edged sword but she would help him advocate for Dani and that was more important.
“Thomas, what have you done?!” if it was anyone other than Damian, Duke would call sound he made a whine. As it was, he preferred his entrails to stay inside and since the boy showed up, called by thought, the older boy preferred not to take risks.
“Nothing, Babs is overreacting”
“Don’t deny it. She went about it kinda Tim Lite style but it worked”
“I don’t even know her surname, where she stays or really, anything about her life outside of our patrols, how do you expect me to go about adoption?!”
“B knew even less about me when he decided, yes this tire thief is my new son!” Jason chimed in and Duke knew he was grinning despite voice modulator.
“What from my origin story was lost to make Lite version?”
“Identities weren't breached as far as we're aware. Just ‘came one day and refuses to leave’ part and some light stalking. She was smart about it, invisible, keeping out of sight and to the hot spots. Wouldn't find her if I didn't know she was there”
“She could still just not tell, I mean I knew for years before telling anyone…”
“There is no way. Believe me, she has no brain-mouth filter, I swear”
“But-”
“She introduced herself by her first name,” Duke deadpanned ”She told me civilian names of heroes from her hometown, in context that didn't require me to do any actual research to clue me. I did anyway. I don't think she even realized she did it. If she knew our identities we would know already”
There was a moment of silence as everyone digested the thought of just how gigantic breach Dani accidentally caused.
“Well, it's as good of a proof as we can get for now,” Babs bristled. 
“Who let her in on such secrets then?!” Damian sounded genuinely appalled and Duke wasn't too surprised.
Like on a cue, Steph stormed inside on her Spoiler in civies. Bruce looked about ready to get aneurysm. Duke was a bit glad that everyone was doing such good job in distraction department.
“IT’S OKAY, WHY? BECAUSE I AM HERE!” Steph yelled, jumping from before her vehicle fully stopped. She threw something small in general direction of Batcomputer “Timmy plug it in, I made a PowerPoint!”
Duke felt blood leave his face. He wasn't sure if he wanted to know what Steph put together but he probably didn't. Tim opened it anyways.
WHY HOOPOE IS ADORABLE&CHAOTIC BEAN AND SHOULD BE PART OF THE TEAM
The title slide said, one of the clearest photos of Dani from before she started wearing mask in the background. It was close-up of girl smiling, bits of brownie on her cheeks.
“Was this photo taken with a goddamn calculator?” Tim asked with disgust so clear Duke could taste it. Metaphorically of course.
“Nah, just body-cam. Her powers mess with technology a bit”
Tim still looked displeased at the craftsmanship.
“Don't worry, it's not  a bad photo. Baby Bird is just being perfectionist,” Dick placated.
Duke didn't realize that Damian froze until he unfroze and made his way to the screen, stopping less than one foot away from it. His movements were rigid, his face scrunched with distress. Alfred the Cat escaped its master probably due to hoe tense he was. Everyone in Cave quietened as soon as boy took first step and expecting mood had to run through microphones because nobody from the on-line crowd quipped in.
“This is the green of Lazarus” he whispered finally, sounding actually scared. Jason swore. Bruce and Cass visibly stiffened. Tim choked and he wasn't even drinking. Dick did his whinny breezy name saying thing when he wanted explanation and felt lightly betrayed. 
It was Duke's turn to freeze because… it wasn't. Of course he wasn't all that well versed in the Pit, less alone its color but he did bust quite a few trafficking rings with Jason and he saw his eyes afterwards all raging, toxic, neon green glory and it wasn't the same as Dani’s. As much as he liked English and how good he was at it, it failed him at simple task of describing the obvious difference between each other. He'd have more luck describing tastes with set of color samples from IKEA or something. And really, even if he tried he would lose the fight of competence with Damian. Who wouldn't.  But-
“There is no way she has any connection with LOA”
“Why is that?” Damian seemed to misinterpret it as challenge like he always did when emotions were running high. Duke took a deep breath. Well, it was a moment to use all of his diplomatic skills and speak in the language of the demons.
“I've seen her fight. She would be utter disgrace”
“It does not prove-”
“It does” Duke interrupted with the tone and mimic of person who saw too much because he did ”None of you have any say until you watch a tiny and I mean tiny ten year old tackle five Joker goons like it's a joke, by sheer virtue of super strength and intangibility-means-I-can-ignore-bullets-Signal-don’t-be-such-worrywart. She should get shot, like, three times at least. And she kept laughing!” he was low key wheezing at the end because even after all this time (a week) it was fucking horrifying. Bruce made a huff that meant he was laughing and put a hand on his shoulder as a sign of support. Dick's lighthearted laugh sang from the speakers.
“Don't worry Duke, it never gets better” B said with mirth.
He refused to elaborate whether he meant ‘kids keep jumping into danger like there is no tomorrow‘ or ‘it's equally terrifying every time’ and Duke decided to reflect on that sentiment later. It put some things into perspective. A lot of things if he was being honest.
Also, he was not ready for stuff like that to become even semi-normal occurrence. He was ready to give her all of his Alfred cookies if it could change anything. He knew it wouldn't. 
“Do you have any other evidence that your new acquaintance does not just fake being less experienced to make you lower your guard?” Damian asked warily.
“I had to teach her out of putting her thumb in her fist,” he deadpanned. Several people hissed in empathetic pain. Steph coughed to bring attention to where she stood in front of Batcomputer, other slide of her Power Point open. Duke recognised video from his body-cam.
“Exhibit A” she announced. She played a video with Dani’s first mugging attempt he witnessed. Let it be said, it was a disaster.
“Exhibit B '' One of Dani’s most epic fails at side-kick that ended with her falling face first to the ground.
“Exhibit C” Dani fumbled with zip-ties, looking at him utterly at loss.
“Exhibit D” the talk about her prior training.
“What’s was that sound?” Dick obviously on the verge of cooing when girl on video growled. Steph stopped video.
“Very angry kitten” Tim stated with soft smile.
“Honestly, furious girl” Cass corrected “She was really mad at you”
“Yeah, I know but promise of Alfred’s cookies was enough to placate her”
“You gave her Alfred’s cookies?!”
“She started by giving me a lot of food on a really shitty patrol, had to repay somehow”
“Was it from your share or-” Dick asked like it was most important thing in the world.
“Miss Hoopoe was added to my plans after she picked her new name” Alfred explained and shit, Duke really should get used to how man just appeared sometimes. Jumpscare the original.
“Alfred, you knew?” Bruce sounded so utterly betrayed.
“I have yet to meet her but I was informed about her presence about two weeks ago”
“He caught me printing mask for her”
“About that” Steph clapped and skipped her slide show “Look at thi clueless child with such horrible disguises and codename ideas” There was whole list of every name Dani wanted to try out and photo of her bare face.  Duke kinda repressed his memories of it. It was worse than he remembered.
“Did she really tried kenting that?”
“Got it after her cousin. He used his first name as part of his alias for almost half a year” Duke admitted in carefree tone, knowing it would cause a mess.
“Cousin?!” several people yelled in surprise.
“Caped cousin?!”
“Yup. Small time hero from Illinois. As far as I’m aware she’s alone in Gotham but they’re in regular contact and she has strong believe that he can and will help her if she used her panic button”
“Who in their right mind let’s kid alone in Gotham?!” Jason sounded about ready to strangle Phantom.
“He seems to be fifteen himself. And has anti-meta parents if I’m picking things up correctly. She didn’t mention them much. I highly doubt she has present parents at all, so…”
“What the hell Narrows.”
“I don’t know, it’s just a wild guess”
“Does it call for the rescue?” Steph asked eagerly.
“We’re not going to Illinois to rescue Phantom if he doesn’t ask for it. He has means to it” Bruce interrupted with bone deep sigh.
“How do you know I meant Phantom?” Duke perked up because he never mentioned this name.
“He is from Illinois, looks almost the same as far as I can tell from the photos and they share a lot of powers”
“I didn’t know you knew about random kid hero from other state?”
“He dropped by on few Justice League’s mission. There is still dispute whether we should approach him in his city or not. He was very clear on his opinion that we should stay away. I think we really shouldn’t”
“How you haven’t gone or sent anyone there yet?” Tim teased.
Bruce just stared at him then gestured at mountain of cases they were currently working on. Yes, they were printed. Apparently for man it made it easier to work on them like that.
“Can we focus back on untrained child you let join you on patrol, Duke?”
“You act like I could stop her from doing her own thing if I didn’t  let her. Plus, even though she doesn’t have combat training, she can handle herself well enough. And has this damn intangibility that makes her really hard to punch”
“Why didn’t you tell me?”
“I didn’t tell anyone other than Alfred and Steph and I wanted to wait a bit before leaving her to the wolfs”
“The bet”
“Shut up Steph”
“When did you plan on letting us know?” Bruce ignored what blonde insinuated. Duke was utterly grateful for that, he knew he would get lecture for that later but he was more than happy to leave it be for now.
“Somewhen next week. I hoped to introduce her gradually but apparently everyone knew already?”
“Kids tell me things. Hoopoe made a good impression on them” Jason explained.
“Hero sightings on Twitter” Dick admitted without a shadow of shame.
“What he said” Tim agreed “This person from crochet dolls made one for your kid too, so in public eyes she’s our already”
“For the last time, she isn’t my kid!” Duke groaned but as always went ignored.
“Nobody expected old man’s tendencies to rub on you so fast, Narrows”
“Shut up and this is half a reason I didn’t let you meet her. All of you”
“With all due respect Duke” Babs started teasingly “You gave us ammo yourself. You improved her diet, you brought her to The Food Track Of Mental Breakdowns, you teach her stuff, you check in on her almost as often as her cousin and their friends do…”
“How did you hack her pho- No, wrong question, why?!”
“We’re all paranoid bastards, I needed to check out the newest bird. She legally doesn’t exist btw so I suspect some shady stuff with her birth but otherwise nothing sus about her. Comms and trackers for her are waiting in drawer C19. You will give it to her tomorrow”
“Aye, aye captain Oracle ma’am” he joked.
“Wait, you showed her The Food Track?”
“She deserved it” he gritted out.
Before this could turn into a fight or something, Alfred demanded:
“Since we are all on the same page now, I would like to extend an invitation for family dinner to miss Hoopoe”
“We’ll eat it down here in full costumes”
“As you wish master Bruce. Master Duke make sure to let her know”
“Of course Alfred”
And he planned to do that but Dani didn’t show up. He hadn’t thought much of it because she was unpredictable like that. She tended to disappear from the face of the Earth for a day or two and return with tales of her “autograph hunting trips”
But then she didn’t show up on the next patrol too. It was unprecedented. And she hadn’t responded to the check in. Three times in the row. He was getting kinda sick from the stress.
He knew Dani well enough, she wouldn’t ghost him like that and in Gotham disappearing meant three things: getting kidnapped, trafficked or six feet under. To their knowledge, Dani didn’t have anyone who would pay ransom for her other than Signal and no demands were made so the first option was out.
Bats launched full fledged search.
Duke himself found and busted two trafficking rings in three weeks which was around how much he did in two months on a daily basis.
Thanks to Oracle, they found Dani’s utterly crashed phone in the dead end in the Narrows. It didn’t look any better.
Duke really hoped they wouldn’t be too late.
With each day it seemed more likely.
********
Bruce: *wants to have private conversation with his son about unknown child he's been working with*
All of the Batfam: Hello there
Duke: I managed to keep Dani secret my family of detectives!
Everyone other than Bruce: I knew for past two weeks, but goood job kid
Random o Twitter: I'm sooo disappointed with Signal for letting Hoopoe fight crime. She is just a little child, she shouldn't have to witness Gotham's worst
Other Random: Have you heard about Robin????? Have you seen teories that Signal is teenager???? With proofs????? Are you mad at child for not taking proper care of the other child????? That's messed up my dude/gal
Yell at Batman
Signal: You act like she isn't personification of feral cat I try to coax home so I can prevent her from getting in trouble. I dare you to try and stop her
Phantom: I do too, 100$ if you manage. It would save me from so much stress
Random: Now, who the f*ck are you?!
(Guess who never touched Twitter with 20 meters stick in her life)
Next part
Tag list: @pickleking8 @mynameisnotlaura
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ghoulymadge · 1 year
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Tobias Forge and his coffee conundrum.
Bonus:
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halcyone-of-the-sea · 7 months
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M...m...m...Mandalorian!Ghost AU
Brb I gotta write this down
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skywarpie · 1 year
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Baristas hate him. They were right to judge his order
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angryborzois · 3 months
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more doodles
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widowshill · 3 days
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the collinsport sartorial society, social club, and murder consortium.
a present for @devilagent ! based on the original ponyo comic by @millionfish.
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tassodelmiele · 9 days
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Noisy little mess
Hi sweetie ⁓
I'm actually surprised someone appreciated my little attempt.
I'm jiggling happily, even though you can't see.
Also, I'm unexpectedly enjoying writing in english, so as long as whatever I'm goddamn studying will let me, I'll keep on with this experiment.
I hope you like it!
Also forgive me again for any mistakes, english has too many consonants that are not pronounced and I mess up every time
DISCLAIMERS: no smut (sowwy) just some recollection of dirty moments, GhostxReader and Soap and Gaz 'cause finally they're throw into this mess, arguing (again), the gnome-nickname thing, blame shifting (again), how-not-to-do-training, ignoring doctor's advices, insubordination and yells ('cause me too i yell like an eagle when i'm angry), mask covering embarrassment
..................................................
Second part here:
................................................
And you do. You ask. And you shouldn't have.
«Of fucking course we noticed. It was like ye were constantly overwhelmed by…i don't know what, i've not a degree in women's hormones»
Johnny sips his morning coffee with nonchalance, while Gaz nods, sitting in front of the two of you. 
You're almost gonna faint. 
«And…and why the hell none have told me-»
«Oh, sure lassie, and how do ye think ye would have taken the news? "Hey dall, you know that ye're almost dripping from your panties?"»
Gaz throws a towel at him, but he agrees with another nod.
«Speak as you eat> he scolds him, then he turns at you: <he's right, though. You've acted weird the whole two last days. Why are you asking?»
 You bury your head in your hands, swallowing breakfast as it is dry sand in your throat.
«…nevermind. I'm just sorry at this point»
«There's no use lassie, we know ye» Soap's arm surrounds you, squeezing away a little bit of the anguish. «And ye'r not the only girl at the base, ya know? It happens»
«Seriously?»
«'F course»
«…my god. So now you know the period calendar of every female being at the base?»
«Kinda»
«…mh»
«Is he bothering you?»
You look at Gaz. He seems concerned and curious, and you don't really want him to be none of that. You don't know what to answer anyway, and reply arrives with ten seconds of delay:
«…he?»
«Ghost»
You shiver instinctively. And you know for sure that Johnny has felt you, but you shake your head like hell, pretending vigorously that you don't even know what Gaz's talking about.
«Why?»
«We've seen him around you a lot. And he could be demanding when someone's not giving his best at training. And…»
«…ye'r clearly not doing it» Soap ends the sentence with a teasing smile.
You answer with a pout, flexing your muscles.
«That's totally untrue. I'm always at my best»
«Raise your levels than, since i think he's ready to squeeze you like a lemon today»
It seems like Gaz 's talking really philosophically this morning. You raise an eyebrow at him, then follow his gaze behind you.
And you gulp, seeing a big, dark figure walking toward the table.
You swallow an oatmeal crumb, risking choking on yourself. Then a firm, strong grip holds your shoulder, making your bones crack like they're made out of crackers.
Ghost's voice hits you like a truck.
«I was wondering what could've made you late for the training». He glares at you from the top. «Breakfast. Of fucking course»
You hear the light laugh of Soap and Gaz, who're apparently taking the Lt.'s threatening as a funny joke. You're not. You're shivering, swallowing hot air, lowering your eyes deeper and deeper in the oatmeal. Your heart skips a beat as he tightens his hold on you.
«You have one minute»
And you swallow a "yes sir" in a breath.
Today is not your day. Not at all.
You've already noticed it, but it is clearer now that you're in the middle of the training field, with everyone's eyes on you, while your Lt. (who's fingered you, like, two days ago) has just chosen you for fight practice.
You're sweating like hell, taking deep breaths. You're already drained, even if everything you've done till now is just tryna not to be touched by his fists; and he's trying to knock you out with way more diligence than you've thought.
You're dodging, your legs tremble at every sudden jerk you make to avoid crushing your nose on his fists, and the tactic seems to be working till he reaches your leg with a kick. You fall on your back, hitting your head on the ground like an idiot, and he's on you in a blink of an eye, squeezing your wrist in one hand and your throat in the other.
You panic.
And the tiniest of the whines break on your lips.
He squeezed harder all of a sudden, gripping your throat with full strength, gazing at you with a strange, really odd sight. Like he's annoyed, angry and aroused at the same time. 
He lets you go, and you start to cough, with your throat bruised and your head and lungs hurting. You glare at him, and he does the same.
He spits out a cold: «what?» as if he's throwing an ice cubes bucket at you.
«Is not that fair» you don't fear to answer honestly, even if you're voice is being squeezed out of your lungs «fighting with a girl who's 30 cm smaller than you»
«Oh, my bad. And, out of curiosity…» he lowered his face down to you, pinning you to the ground with just his sight «what are you planning to do if you'll face an enemy my size?»
«Shot at him»
«Good one, gnome. But you're disarmed by now»
«…run, then. Hide, i dunno. There's no point in start a fight that's lost from the beginning»
And he smile. You know he's smiling, part 'cause the others rookies surrounding you are watching in total silence as they're afraid he might choose one of them to break their bones (and he might); and part 'cause he knows he's in control. 
He suddenly breath, sharp like a knife: «than, run»
You stare at him.
He's joking…right?
No.
He's not.
And you understand it as he stands up in all of his height, grabbing you by the arm and lifting your weight as if it's nothing. You stumble on your feet, breath still scattered, and again he glares at you, shouting a clearer:
«Run»
Your legs move by themselves.
You find yourself running like hell throughout the training field, clearly feeling his presence behind you, and you know how goddamn fast he is. You skip through other training groups. slipping between obstacles, your eyes fixed in front of you and your lungs about to explode. You keep going for what's like an eternity, and when you think you're doing it…
a firm grip holds you by the arm. Your body is forced to stop so suddenly that your breath is broken under the pressure of an opposite force throwing you on the ground. Your spine is smashed on the field, lungs are shaking and throbbing in your ribcage and, as you turn over on your stomach to try and get up again, he just kicks you in the back, grabbing your arm and pin it behind you so tight, rotating it with a lot of strength.
Too much strength,
And you yell like an eagle, feeling the nerve in your elbow cry as it turns on itself.
«Ulnar nerve compression»
Doc is so professional in front of you two, who, on the other hand, seems like a cat and its owner at the vet after a bad fight.
Ghost is clearly embarrassed. He's trying to be professional and stern, but he can't even face your gaze, which is ice-cold. You're sitting next to him, your arm bandaged just as much as it is needed to make sure you don't move it, and you're trying to squeeze a laser beam out of your eyes and make your lieutenant into a strainer.
What in the actual fuck
«Do not move it for a day. It is better for you to make it rest, otherwise you can make other damages. And» doctor gaze at Ghost under his little round glasses «please, be more careful with the training»
It seems like he would like to add something (it's the third time in a month Ghost nearly breaks someone's body part just for training), but the doctor just sighs. He let you two get out of the infirmary, and as soon as you're alone in the corridor Ghost collect his breath to shout a not so convinced:
«…i'm sorry»
But this time you're ready.
«No. No, you're not»
«I am»
«You're just amused»
He stops, looking at you while you walk away in all of your 165 cm of glory and stillness. Then he reaches you again, not daring to touch any part of your body since he's already done enough damage.
«What does that even mean?»
«It means that you enjoy being able to crush whoever you want with bare hands»
«Like 's something the others don't enjoy»
«Not in that way». You raise your bandaged arm, hissing a painful breath. «We were training! Why couldn't we just do it normally?»
«Fight practice is normal, gnome»
«Not like that! My elbow had turned fucking purple!»
«You could've just run faster»
You stop. Your face jerks toward him, glaring at his goddamn mask like you're gonna spit fire from your mouth, and you have to look like a crazy owl since he doesn't seem to be frightened.
«Look» you start, restraining yourself from yelling «I'm not the best soldier, but I've never had problems with any of my superiors, i do my work and i don't act like a pussy. But I'm human. Ok? H-u-m-a-n»
«Seems like you know your limits»
«Of course i do, that's why-»
«You could've just told me to stop»
«Why me?!» you suddenly hiss through your teeth, looking desperately at the man who seems to enjoy your incoming aneurysm. «We…we used to eat the same breakfast, laughing with your team, speaking about cats in the morning…why have you started to play this goddamn game with me?? What has changed in two days?»
«You»
He breathes the answer like it is obvious, and your brain glitch for a second.
«…what?»
«You've changed» 
«Are you joking with me? What-how would i…»
Then you start connecting dots. Your gaze meets him again, piercing his mask.
«…is it because of that night? Is it still because of my goddamn moaning?»
And you know he's embarrassed.
You know it, since he doesn't know where to put his hands, and how to look properly at you. He rushes to speak again, choking the sudden loss of words in a stern: «I've already explained: it's your behavior»
«Seriously? You can't go forward? Did it seriously hit you that bad?»
«Don't» and he gives back the piercing-sight «play with me, gnome. Watch your fucking mouth»
«I've literally done nothing»
«You breath»
You raise your eyebrows, charge your voice and blow your cheeks: «oh, i'm so sorry if i function like a human being!»
«Is how you do it, you stupid little-»
«Oh no, don't you dare try to-»
«To what?»
«To put the blame on me!»
«Well i can't do that much 'bout it!»
Voices are lowering a little too much outside the infirmary. You stop your feet, turn again at him and stare at his glare with arms crossed, ready to scold your superior (even if it is the most stupid thing to do)...
but you shut.
He's a few steps away from you, eyes down on the floor and head a little titled. Your jaw dropped a little.
«…are you flustered?»
You can clearly see his brain snapping at light fast. And you know well how better it is for you to shut, pretend nothing happened and go away on your feet (till you've got functioning legs), but you can't do much about how fast your mouth opens, and your voice starts to come dangerously out in a whispered:
«Am i really turning you on?»
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life-spire · 8 months
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