#it's at 9:35 so i didn't realize i was going to have to leave at 9 | Explore Tumblr Posts and Blogs

ja3hwa · 3 months

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♡ 𝐋𝐚𝐭𝐞 𝐍𝐢𝐠𝐡𝐭 𝐃𝐫𝐞𝐚𝐦𝐬 𝐏𝐭.𝟒 | 𝐊.𝐇𝐉 ♡

【Synopsis】 : Hongjoong needed to show you how much he liked you. But he couldn't help but wonder how long he could dance around the fact you were his best friend's sweet, innocent daughter.

『Word count』 : 2.35k

-> Genre: Fluff. Romance. DBF.

Pairing: Dilf!Hongjoong x Park!Reader

[Warnings] : Making out. Nightmares. Slight unspoken trauma. Wet dreams. Flirtish texting. Flirting. Romance some spicy thoughts. mention of sex. mentions of fooling around. lots of staring and pinning. Hongjoong IS the standard. Fluffy, so very fluffy. Insecure thoughts. Reader fell first, but Hongjoong fell harder. Whoops.

Note: Sorry I didn't post last night, I wanted this to be longer, so i had to scrap and start again. But it's done now, hehe. Also, special tags to @mingis-prince @likexaxdaydream @itza-meee @dinossaurz @nopension @mysteriousrainsworld @therealcuppicake for interacting and loving this little series. ♡♡

Masterlist | Navigation | Part Three | Buy Me A Ko-Fi

Turning the key in the lock of your door, you sigh finally entering your quiet home. Chucking your duffle bag through the door and down the hall, you manage to kick off your shoes and lug the rest of your bags inside. You were sweaty, tired, and plan out annoyed right now. Sexual frustration was not something you needed but here you are. Once the ordeal in the car was over, Hongjoong helped you out of the car, tucking himself back into his pants before exiting the vehicle himself. he bid you goodbye saying he’d see you soon. How soon you didn’t know, but you were fearing to ask, becoming too busy with feeling his lips on yours as he pushed you up against the door of the car. You had hooked up a leg around his waist, moaning for more while his lips explored your jaw and neck.

‘Go home and get some rest angel.’ His words still rang in your head as you showered and hopped into bed. It was just past mid-day but you were so tired, you just closed your curtains and slipped straight under the covers. It didn’t take long for you to pass out, drifting off quickly into a dreamy land where all you could think about was Hongjoong taking you, tasting you. Loving you….

You had woken up in shock, your nerves feeling shot and hot. It was like all your senses heightened. You hadn’t realized you were having a nightmare until you managed to jump yourself awake. You raked your fingers through your hair feeling the sweat on your brow. This is odd, you thought. You weren't someone to have nightmares, then again you don’t think you’ve ever had nightmares. It wasn’t something your brain did, yet here you were, shaking, reeling over the images your cruel mind had painted. Hongjoong didn’t want you, he was just using you. He just wants to fuck you and leave. He wasn’t going to be with you after taking your virginity.

You felt so stupid. Of course, an older man with years of experience wouldn’t want you as a partner. He just wants some fun, a distraction from his life. You didn’t know how long you cried for but when you finally left your room you noticed the clock on your dining room wall read it was almost ten-thirty. You rubbed your swollen eyes, grabbing your phone off the kitchen counter. You yawned checking your notifications seeing your father asking if you made it back already then complaining you had fallen asleep without calling him. But what caught your eye were messages from an unknown number, the unknown you quickly found out to be Hongjoong.

‘Hey, I got your number from your father. Sorry if that’s weird’ - sent at 8:35 pm

‘I had a really fun time with you’ - sent at 8:36 pm

‘Would it be too forward to ask if you want to go out tonight? I can’t stop thinking about you’ - sent at 8:45 pm

‘Angel did you fall asleep?’ - sent at 9:48 pm

You felt your cheeks hurting at the last one, smiling brightly. It almost made you forget about the anxiousness you were feeling moments ago. You sat down on your couch, staring at the text bubble. You didn’t know how to respond. He wanted to go out? But where? Was he referencing a club? Or a fancy restaurant. Maybe he just wanted to catch a movie… do people his age go to see movies?! you cringed thinking just how childish you could be. Did he think of you as childish? Young? God, you were overthinking again.

“Okay!” you huffed out, shaking the thought, while sitting straight up. You held your phone with two hands, tapping your thumbs on the screen, sending your thoughts before your mind you take it back…

‘You wanna go out? Where?’ - sent at 10:35 pm

‘No hello? I thought better of you princess.’ - sent at 10:35 pm

you blushed, locking your phone for a moment, and staring at the ceiling. You could practically hear him call you princess. The was his whispers so lowly in your ear while his fingers would be so deep in yours—a ding from your phone shattered your thoughts, looking at the bright screen you read a new message he sent.

‘I wanted to take you out to dinner. But honestly, I’d do anything as long as I get to be around you’ - sent at 10:37 pm

Your heart was jumping, thumping so deeply in your chest that you felt like it was about to burst right out. As long as I get to be around you.. that was the smoothest thing you’ve ever read in your life. He was so charming, a gentleman and you kind of forget that from all the interactions of him spilling filth in your ears. You tried to message back as casually as you could;

‘Dinner sounds fun. But won't everything be closed by now? We don’t have reservations.’ - sent at 10:40 pm

‘Don’t worry about that. Just dress nice and meet me out the front of your apartment building.’ - sent at 10:41 pm

You shut off your phone, practically jumping to your feet. Your nightmare was long gone as you picked out something to wear, deciding on a long pink sundress with little strawberries and a white corset belt to make it look a bit more classy. You found a matching colour shall, finishing your outfit with some white docks with frilly pink socks. You chose to pick them cause, let's face it, you couldn’t wear heels. You’d end up looking like a fawn just learning how to walk and break an ankle or your foot.

Once you were finally finished you grabbed your phone, seeing it was about ten minutes since Hongjoong sent his message. You couldn’t wait another moment, locking up the doors as best as you could, running down the stairs since the elevator was down—yet again—getting to the exit in no time. You looked out onto the street, feeling the air nip the tip of your nose and eyes slightly water at the change of temperature. “God Doll, you look like you’ve run a marathon.”

“Haaaa.” You pant out closing your eyes. You could hear the older man chuckling at your antics. The way your hair was slightly frizzy. How your chest takes a large batted breath and your corset sits slightly askew. Your face was flushed and red, and his mind went south a tad. He shook it away for a moment, walking up to you. You finally opened your eyes, seeing the broad man was almost flushed against you. He had basic dusty almost black jeans on, one of those old man belts. The dark brown ones that have been worn for years, and no one knows where to get one other than fathers or elderly men. He was wearing a different black shirt. A looser one. It made him seem more relaxed and more… comfortable.

His car was nothing other than lavish and chic. You’ve never sat in such an expensive car. It felt like sitting in pure diamonds. The leather was soft, and the velvet on the chair detail was magnificent. The radio wasn’t playing, unlike the way you used it as a way to kill the silence in your car. But rather off, letting you and Hongjoong sit in a comfortable silence. His hand never left your leg as soon as you took off. Him driving is one thing, but him driving one-handed. You felt like you were about to melt onto the chair, and by the thin fabric you were wearing, you’re praying you didn’t.

“So are you taking me?” your voice came out a lot shaker than you would have liked but you tried to brush it off nonetheless.

“Somewhere special.” He cooed softly, lovingly squeezing your thigh.

“Special? We don’t need to go somewhere expensive and extravagant, you know.” You laughed. You didn’t need him to spend money on you, cause you knew if given the chance he would. He was just that type of person. He had bought your father over five hundred dollars worth of Lego one time because he wanted to. You still remember the look on your father's face, as if he was about to have a heart attack with how many boxes were stacked in his home office.

“I want our first date to be lavish. I want to treat you like royalty. Is that too much to ask?” He grunts, briefly smiling in your direction before looking back to the road. You gulped, feeling a wave of butterflies dance in your tummy. Your fingers began tugging at the hem of your dress, feeling a red blush creep on your cheeks.

“Our f-first date…” that’s what he had said. He thought of tonight as a date. Not just hang out time with two friends. The car came to a stop, not noticing you were standing outside valet parking. He unclipped his belt, turning his attention to you with a cheeky smirk on his beautiful features.

“Of course, this is our first date, and I wanna treat my girl to an unforgettable night.” his words made you suck in a sharp breath, not even hiding the way his words affected you. His girl. His. Your heart was doing flips right now. You looked away from him for a moment, hoping it would help calm the racing thump in your chest. But your eyes caught onto the dimly lit restaurant. It was like no one was even here.

“It looks closed. Are you sure we can even get in now?” You had no clue what the time would be. But given you left your place around eleven and you’ve been in the car for about twenty minutes. You knew it was already much too late for anything to be opened. He just clicked his tongue, hopping out of the car, circling the bonnet and stepping in front of your door, opening it for you.

“Like I said. Don’t worry about it.” he let out a hand for you to take, which you grabbed happily, letting you out of the car. He pulled you snugly against his body, using his free hand to pat down your ass, moving the fabric so he could fall nicely on your figure, he was so attentive, and observant. It made your heart so full of how caring he is. You walked to the front door, your arm snaked tightly with you. Your hand resting snugly on his bicep, you could feel the way his muscle tenses under your fingertip. You had to shake any unholy thoughts that were crossing your mind as you entered the empty restaurant.

There was a row of candles, leading into the building. You turned to Hongjoong seeing his smile had grown brighter, leaning down to kiss your forehead. “Well go on.” He let you go, letting you walk slowly down the aisle of lit red and black candles. All the tables were empty and unmade, chairs missing and most likely packed away but in the centre of the room was one table with a beautiful white cloth and a cute little dull lamp in the centre. There was a red curved couch hugging around the dark oak table, gifting anyone who sat down a more intimate setting. You felt tears begin to swell at the sight, no one had ever done something so romantic for you before but now that you mentioned it, your previous one and only partner probably didn’t have a single romantic bone in his body.

“J-joongie..” You didn’t even notice the pet name as it slipped off your tongue. Hongjoong did, and god did it make his heart skip a beat. He wanted everything to be perfect for you. He wanted, needed to tell you how much he cared. Not just for the sex but for your company. He liked having you around. He loves hearing you laugh every time he says something funny. He loves the way your nose scrunches as the bubbles of the champagne tickle it. He loves the way you love food and describes all the joys and flavours and styles to cook. God, he was thankful now he didn’t give you a home-cooked meal. He would have been too afraid of your critic pallet tasting his mediocre dishes.

His eyes would crease and smile at everything you say or do. And the outfit you wore made him fall for you even more. Your style was such an opposite to him, but yet it matched him perfectly, like two peas in a pod as his mother would say. If she was here, she would be yelling at him about ‘How have you not asked for to marry you already’. insecurities would settle in soon at that thought… You both like each other. Want to be with each other. And yet. You were his best friend's daughter. You were half his age younger. God, he wished he had met you on the street randomly. Maybe then the relationship would have been easier. Your father would most likely hate him. Heck, would he hate you afterwards? Seducing his older, very single, and very hot friend?

Forbidden love…

And as the night drew on, you would shimmy closer and closer in the rounded couch until you were flushed next to him. He would talk about his work and his plans in life. And you were speaking about your own ambitions. And, of course, they had to match. Everything was so perfect. Right down to the movies you both liked and the music you both listened to. You were equals in every way.

The question that circled both your minds now was… how long could you keep this a secret?

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lazyjellyfish300 · 2 months

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Traitor💔

Miguel O'Hara x Spider-Woman Reader

Synopsis: A blurb detailing your heartbreak from Miguel inspired by some breakup songs. Word count 1.5k ish. Meant to be a one shot. (JK, I MADE AN EPILOGUE)

A/N: had this idea after @prettyinpink350 commented that The Woman He Didn't Choose part 1 reminded them of All Too Well-10 minute version by Taylor Swift. I imagine getting your heart broken by him would SUCK. The man has such a tragic backstory, it would take a long long time to get him to be comfortable with getting hurt again and vulnerable, possibly hurting whoever he's dating or seeing in the process if their expectations don't align. I think that ATSV and the comic version of him are different however, it's possible some of the personality traits would stay consistent and so as a result he might struggle with infidelity. I think he's had his fair share of experiences.

BUT I do still write sweet, fluffy soft Miguel, though. Because I do believe he has a soft side that exists and it's unfair imo to write him off as completely incapable of being a good partner because I believe he can. I imagine it'll be a tough road but he would eventually get there. He's a complex man and I love him anyway. 🫶🏽 Working on DD part 9 and the woman he didn't choose I promise, I've been dead lately in terms of motivation.

TW: MINORS DNI, ANGST, CHEATING (I DON'T CONDONE THIS), HEARTBREAK, BREAKUP, MIGUEL IS MORE COLD IN THIS, SMUT ( IT'S BRIEF, P IN V, DEGRADATION, SPANKING), age gap(reader is 26, Miguel is like 34-35), no happy ending

The songs that inspired this(all rights to rightful owners, some of the lyrics were tweaked slightly):

----

It was her. It was always going to be her.

🎶I was just the villain built to come between you two.

I'm just the other point of view. 🎶

It's the movie where the guy gets the girl in the end. She's the one that got away but then comes back into his life, lighting up his world, making him realize his new girlfriend would never come close.

That all too familiar shift in the way he acted when she moved back into the city. When you noticed how he started looking at you with a gaze that was clearly being stolen by someone else. You decided to ask him about it and he dismissed you with a shake of his head, calling you paranoid.

🎶Brown guilty eyes and little white lies

Yeah, I played dumb but I always knew🎶

Now he brings her around, almost as though to shut you down on purpose. Showing her off like a brand new trophy.

If any of the sweet nothings he told you were true, there's simply no damn way that he could have fallen in love again so quickly...

🎶Ain't it funny....🎶

----

But months later

🎶You call me up again just to break me like a promise.🎶

The 1 am call you know you shouldn't answer but you do anyway.

"She's not here.......Please, I need you."

And there you go, jumping in the shower for a quick rinse and brushing your teeth, speeding towards his apartment like a dumb ass.

------

"Fuck......FUCK! God baby...so fucking tight.....I missed this pussy, fuck...."

A shower of sharp spanks land on your ass, one after another, after another as Miguel thrusts his cock into you from behind.

"Yes.....harder, baby.....HARDER!"

"Yeah?....You would fucking like that, wouldn't you....Needy little slut....mmmm you like it when I fuck you like this, huh? Can't get enough can you? "Had to come crawling back for more of this cock?"

Every word stings harder than the slaps he's giving you but it's a sick, twisted, erotic feeling. You actually love it. The fact that he's still craving your pussy even though he's supposedly with his dream woman. The fact that you're still on his mind as soon as she leaves.

The fact that you're in his bed right now, not her. Even if only just for tonight.

"Fuck....yes.....baby.....can't get enough of you....mmmmm fuck I missed you so much....."

"Say that again."

"Missed you so much Miggy...."

"¿Cuánto?..." (how much)

"So fucking much....I crave you all the time....."

Miguel lets out a loud groan and you practically scream as he pounds you without mercy into his mattress he shared with the other woman.

Shortly after, you're laying all fucked out, panting as you close your eyes, decelerating from the heavenly orgasm he pulled out of you, only for it to shrivel up when you feel your clothes land in a pile next to your head.

"She'll be back any minute....you gotta hurry."

"What?" You sit up, confused.

Miguel's too busy taking a shower, trying to rid himself of your scent. The damning evidence of someone else in his bed while she was gone.

You immediately regret ever coming over.

You're about to rip him a new one but your spider senses tingle. You can feel her ascending the staircase. You throw on your leggings and hoodie and swing away into the night without saying goodbye.

-----

You let him have it on the phone later.

"I wish you thought through all of this before you strung me along and made me fall in love with you..."

Miguel stands outside his apartment, he had to sneak down to take your call as soon as he was sure she was asleep. He tenses his jaw. He feels guilty but there's not much he can do about it now.

"She's older...more mature. I need to be with someone who's able to understand and live with my responsibilities. I shouldn't have given us a chance, but I did because I needed to move on from her.... I can't help that I've known her since we were kids. She gets me."

🎶So casually cruel in the name of being honest. 🎶

"Oh and I don't? I don't Miguel? So all those times I stayed up with you, crying, holding you and promising you I wasn't going anywhere, those didn't happen? Or the fact that I saw you lose it completely multiple times and still called you the next day? The fact that I was willing to let go all the times you let me down because I knew it wasn't your fault and the fate of the multiverse comes before everything else? I literally loved you at your worst, but that didn't matter?"

Silence.

"Look, I just think that maybe if we had been closer in age, we would've been fine."

🎶And that sentence made you want to die. 🎶

"That's not fucking fair, Miguel! I'm 26, not a baby! And we spoke CANDIDLY about this when we got together. I NEVER had, not even a HINT that this would be a problem for you, and now you drop it on me right as you tear my heart out?! And it's not even something I can change!"

You pause, more sobs erupting deep from within your soul.

"I'm sorry, that the stars didn't align and the timing wasn't perfect and my dad didn't fuck my mom around the same time as yours so I could've been born at a better time. I'm sorry that I tried so fucking hard to be the chill girlfriend who lets you do whatever even though I'm not. I'm sorry that I kept my fucking mouth shut when I knew damn well you were talking to her when we were together just so I could keep you around. I'm sorry that I'm not her..."

The line is painfully silent.

🎶The idea you had of me, who was she?🎶

"So who's this version of me in your head you envisioned, huh Miguel? The perfect me that would've made you stay. Do I even know her? She's me, but she's not. She's not needy like I am. She's perfect. Has the perfect body, perfect hair, doesn't ever look bad for you. She's intelligent and has all the maturity you claim I don't. She reflects back on you perfectly every little thing you just LOVE about yourself because let's face it, that's the only person you really ever gave a fuck about."

Loud beeps assault your eardrum and you scoff in disbelief. He hung up, and who knows how long you were just talking to a wall. You hurtle your phone at the ground, letting the screen crack as your knees buckle beneath you and hide your face in your hands in despair.

🎶When she's sleeping in the bed we made, don't you dare forget about the way you betrayed me.

Cause I know that you'll never feel sorry, for the way I hurt, yeah. 🎶

----

Trying to forget him as the weeks passed by ,albeit agonizingly slow. You find yourself weeping in the HQ bathroom, some girl asking you what happened:

🎶You. That's what happened, you. 🎶

A few weeks later, a package with all of your clothes arrived at the post office for you so he didn't have to see you face to face. It even contained all of the pictures you took together and the letters you wrote him. He didn't keep a single one.

You sat in the parking lot for a few minutes as you clutched the Disneyland tickets to your heart, sobbing. The cruel, cruel irony of remembering how you were in the happiest place on earth with him, the place that planted those dreams of happily ever after in that little girl's head, only for her to be crying over a man that stomped it into the ground years later.

Remembering how you walked back, arm in arm to your hotel room together as you leaned into his chest, giggling when you finally got him to admit the park wasn't as dreadful as he thought it would be, despite the ridiculous price tag. He only wanted to make you happy.

🎶I remember it all too well. 🎶

Your lip trembles when you find the Mickey Ears you bought for him lying in the box. "Miguel" cross-stitched in curly gold writing on the back.

Your red scarf from that first week together hung in the corner of his closet until your scent wore off. He would eventually have the gall to offer it to her one December night when she was shivering, saying that it was his mother's.

----

Your tears make your vision blurry as you drive down the dark, rain soaked streets of Nueva York.

You know his street is coming.

When you do finally pass it, you use all your strength to keep your gaze straight ahead, the faded letters on his street sign disappear rapidly behind you as you take a deep breath, and head on home.

----

Epilogue

#miguel o'hara #miguel atsv #spotify #miguel ohara #miguel x reader #miguel o'hara x reader #atsv miguel #miguel o'hara smut #across the spiderverse #miguel o hara angst #miguel o'hara angst #miguel o'hara imagine #miguel o hara x y/n #miguel o'hara x fem!reader #miguel ohara x fem!reader #Spotify

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grumpygreenwitch · 2 months

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The Witches and Wizards Job 7-8

Around this point I actually read back and asked myself, "Is this moving too fast?" Then I remember the speed at which a Leverage episode actually moves and the kind of beating Harry usually picks up each book, and went, "Nah."

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SEVEN

The divide between magic and technology is a known quantity. Every wizard knows to stay away from most mechanical things; the more complex they are, the more likely they were to break. The more powerful the wizard, the quicker it was gonna happen. Even knowing these things, I hadn't realized how deep that boundary ran until I tried to find out anything about my prospective employers.

If it had been a magical entity, a spell, an artifact, between Bob and I we could have probably found out at least the basics, but Bob couldn't find out anything about the Leverage people. I wasn't crazy enough to try and scry something in Boston, never mind the range.

All I could tell was that Leverage was, apparently, a purely mundane affair. Based in Boston as they were I didn't doubt they'd run themselves into something other that the average human, but as the afternoon dragged on I began to realize I was going to have more luck finding out what, rather than getting any sort of information on whatever Deveraux and Ford actually had going on.

A smart man would have said no on principle. What little I could find out told me that if things had gotten so bad that an entirely non-magical outfit like Leverage had come looking for a wizard, then they were bad enough that walking away unscathed to enjoy that absurdly large paycheck was not guaranteed. Not even 50/50 odds.

But 50/50 was still better than no odds at all.

And I hadn't lied when I told Deveraux that I'm a curious man.

She'd written a number on the back of the card. Not a hotel, so they could have been anywhere. I eyed it while I called Butters and asked him to look after Mister while I was away. Then I called it.

"Harry." Deveraux actually sounded happy to hear me; it was refreshing.

"Train. The older the better," I told her. "That applies to any tech you want near me, too. Mouse comes with me."

"Yes, of course."

"The daily fee is… good." My voice cracked a bit despite my best attempt at sounding like it was not a holy-heck amount of money. I cleared it. "It's good. But I can't go longer than a week. One week and I'm coming back home, even if your problem's not solved."

"That's fine."

"And I need a basement."

"A b… A basement?"

"It's contained in case something bad happens."

"Ah." The fact she didn't ask questions told me containment was a common concern in both her line of work and mine. "Anything else?"

"I can't think of anything off the top of my head. I'm sure something will come up." Something did almost immediately. "A full briefing as soon as I'm there. No secrets, no lies. If I find out you've lied to me, I'll leave."

"We'll tell you as much as we know," she assured me, and I found myself believing her. "Welcome to the team, Harry."

It felt weird to be welcomed, to be made to feel as if I were part of a team that actually wanted me there. "When do you think you'll have everything ready?"

There was laughter in her tone. "When do you think you'll be packed?"

Three hours later I was at Union Station, being escorted off the oldest VW minibus in existence and onto a rail car that apparently I had all to myself, like something out of an Agatha Christie book. I'd packed Bob, my tools, a quick-spell kit, any books I thought might help, and a change of clothes. Mouse looked mournfully at me as the train began to move, and I couldn't blame him; it felt as if I were leaving a piece of myself behind.

I knew Chicago. It was home. I knew the people, the streets. I knew its seasons, its weather. I knew the hangouts of most of the dangerous creatures in it, both human and inhuman. I knew every layer of it, every mood, every current.

I knew very little about Boston except that it was a supernatural melting pot. Most creatures that crossed from the Old World or from Other Places and didn't come through the Nevernever landed in Boston; many stayed there, made lives there. There were inhuman families that were generations old, living side by side with the descendants of human immigrants. The divide between mortal and supernatural was as thin as my willpower in Boston.

Look, Deveraux had handed me a really big number.

The train never stopped. That struck me as weird, but then I'd never traveled first class on a train before, so I had no bar for normal. I tried to sleep, but the novelty of everything wore off a couple of hours into the trip, and panic began to settle in. What the hell was I doing? I was Chicago's wizard, not Boston's!

Well, it was done. The AC broke about halfway through the trip, but with the windows open I never even noticed. I got my books out and read, trying to give myself a crash course on the magical scene in Boston, so to speak. Mouse took over one of the windows and seemed to have forgiven me, head thrust out into the wind of our passage, jowls flapping and the plume of his tail wagging sedately. He scared the crap out of the one person I did see, a young man who brought me breakfast and lunch, somehow still warm.

The sun had just set when the train pulled into the Back Bay. I could feel the air buzzing all around me with an imperceptible, invisible charge, the ambient energy of hundreds, perhaps even thousands, of supernatural creatures crackling against my senses. I felt both supercharged and itchy, and Mouse shook himself furiously when we finally made it off the rail car.

There was a man waiting for me on the concourse. He was tremendously solid, the sort of build I used to wish for when I was young, heavy muscle under a worn leather jacket, faded blue jeans and comfortable curb-stomper boots. He had long, very fine brown hair and oddly guileless blue eyes. He had stubble matching mine and he straightened up from his lazy slouch with the ease of someone perfectly at peace with the world around him.

I couldn't see the bulge of a gun anywhere, but I was pretty sure this was Leverage's heavy hitter.

Then he grinned at me, and his whole face lit up, and I thought maybe I was wrong. "Dresden?"

"That's me," I admitted.

He offered his hand without hesitation. "Eliot Spencer. Eliot's fine. Sorry to drag you so far from home."

This man was a walking contradiction. His hands told me I was right. His attitude told me I was wrong. He was the nicest, friendliest man with violence as his main occupation that I'd ever met up to that point in my life. He meant every word of his apology. He was sizing me up for threats.

Belatedly, I realized that Boston was literally supercharging me. My senses, both magical and normal, were trying to run away with me. I had nothing else at the moment; I clung to the hand Eliot Spencer offered, to the strength in it. "Oh, you didn't, not really. Too curious for my own good. Give me a second, would you?"

"You ok, man?"

"Just a little… drunk on the night air," I said, knowing how that had to sound to him.

I was not expecting the change that went over him. It was seamless, instantaneous. One moment Eliot Spencer was welcoming me to his home like a ray of sunshine; the next he was all deadly intent, a sort of quiet, intangible menace radiating from him like the darkest light. "A problem?" he asked mildly.

It told me two things; one, that I was right after all and two, that whatever had brought me to Boston was big enough to have this calm, steady man on a hair-trigger. "No, it's…. Boston's busy. Boston's real busy when it comes to magic. It hangs in the air, makes it thick, and it's giving me a head rush."

"Chicago's not like that?"

"No. The Lake grounds it. Water's good for that."

"I could take you by the Charles if it would help - hey!" And just like that the ray of sunshine was back when Mouse came trotting back from wherever he'd gone to take care of his business. Eliot dropped down to a crouch. "Who's this, Mouse, I think?"

"Yeah. Just watch out, he's not always -" Mouse, tail a blur, charged the Leverage man with a delighted huff and proceeded to lick anything Eliot didn't vigilantly protect, making him chuckle. Well. That was new. And good news for me. "Friendly. He was also a lot smaller when he was a puppy."

Eliot straightened up, rubbing Mouse's head with rough affection. My dog looked blissful, tongue lolling to one side. "Bait-and-switched you, huh."

"It might've been, if he'd given me any choice in the matter."

"He's big for a Tibetan Mastiff," Eliot pointed out. "Wrong color, too."

"He's not. He's a Tibetan Temple Mastiff."

Again that brief pause. Eliot looked down at Mouse. Mouse looked up at him.

The Leverage man grinned again and rubbed Mouse's ears. "Eh, he looks dog enough for me. Anyway. If you're feeling better, let's get you settled. I rented a van."

"Cars get temperamental with me around."

"Dresden, if you can break down a u-Haul, I'll believe you're a wizard no further questions. Where's your luggage?"

EIGHT

Apparently the Leverage people weren't unfamiliar with what happened when you put magic too close to tech. I was put up in their 'temporary' quarters, a small house a lick away from their actual place of business, a loft over a bar by the incredibly Irish name of John McRory's Place.

The house was nice. It had a fenced yard that Mouse promptly claimed as his own and a finished basement that I promptly claimed as my own. The bedroom looked suspiciously like someone had ordered it directly from a catalog, sheets and all. The only other rooms that were accessible were one bathroom and the living room, which had been set up as a meeting area of sorts. The kitchen was empty. The other rooms were full of crates.

There was dinner from the pub waiting for me that night, and a phone in a manila envelope. I offered to share my beer with Eliot; the phone died with a sad little squawk before we finished it.

"That's gonna make things hard," he admitted wryly, examining the dead screen of the phone. "I take it a bluetooth's out of the question?"

"The more parts to it, the quicker it goes."

I saw him get very thoughtful. "What about size? The bigger it is?"

"How big are we talking about?" I asked mildly, sensing a chance to finally get some information as to what had brought me to Boston.

"TV screen," Eliot answered without hesitation, then spread his arms. "Yay big."

"What were you doing at the time?"

"Trying to get a composite from a bunch of blurry pictures."

"What happened?"

"It cracked." He grinned wryly. "Top to bottom. We took that thing out to the recycling in two halves." His jovial mood faded. "I don't like the look on your face right now, Dresden."

"You shouldn't." I was trying to think of creatures that could shatter a screen like that, with just their image, without actually being there. It was a short list; it was also a very scary list. "It wasn't anything else, it had to be the picture?"

"The man who works our tech is the best, hands-down. His equipment doesn't blow up like that without a good reason," Eliot said calmly, then put his hands up. "Wait, no, I'm supposed to let you rest tonight. You're gonna hear all this tomorrow morning anyway."

"I did nothing but sleep on the train ride," I told him. I won't lie, it felt nice to know the Leverage outfit, whatever their business might be, gave enough of a damn to give me the night to myself. Most people who hire me for that kind of money expected 24-7 service, never mind what kind of shape I might be in at the end of the day. "Tell me what you can."

He gave me one of the few measuring looks I've ever gotten that didn't have my harm at heart before he made a decision and tipped his head toward the pub. "Come on."

"Mouse, watch the place." Mouse flopped in front of the door and settled down with a yawn.

The front of the pub was roaring, but we came in from the back. Eliot knocked softly on a door, poked his head in and murmured something to someone in there. I caught a faint whiff of something sweet, almost like licorice - probably a storage room, and a bottle of liquor had broken and been cleaned up. Eliot got his answer; he closed the door and we moved on. He peeked out into the main floor and called out something I couldn't hear over the noise of the crowd before heading to a pair of elevator doors.

I stopped walking. "Uh…"

He paused, turned, and led me to the stairs, grinning. "You know, I don't even think about most of this stuff. Tech's embedded so deep into our lives."

"I just wish for a hot water heater that didn't break in under a week," I told him.

"Yikes."

"Yup."

"Just keep your distance from Hardison's tech," Eliot warned me as he led me into a vast, elegant little loft. The bare brick walls had paintings on them that looked… modern. Expensive. I didn't know enough about art back then to appreciate what they were. A spiral staircase led up to what was probably a bedroom, and behind it was a typical modern kitchen. Most of the open space was taken up by a very modern, very sleek meeting room sort of setup, a wall full of screens and a small curve of desks before it. "He's still sore about those screens."

"Screens? More than one?"

"Yeah, a second one a day after -"

A young woman came flying into the loft. "Where is he? Where's the wizard?"

"Parker, don't -"

She whirled and faced me, and immediately made a face. "Aren't you supposed to have a white bushy beard?"

"Not for another couple hundred years."

I hadn't expected my quip to bring her up short, but it did. She seemed to really think about it, and it gave me a chance to examine her. She was young, wiry, blonde, pretty. She had the same kind of intensity Karrin had, but her focus seemed to change from minute to minute.

"Oh. I didn't think about that. There have to be young wizards to get old wizards."

"Parker." Eliot sighed.

"No robes?"

"Not if I can help it."

"Fancy spell books?"

"I do have one of those."

"Can I see it?"

"Parker, let the man catch his breath." Sophie Deveraux looked cozy and elegant and beautiful in a flowing blue blouse and a shimmering gray skirt. She beamed at me and I felt warm and fuzzy. Look, I'm man enough to admit it, I'm a sucker for a pretty lady, particularly one that doesn't want me dead. "Harry."

"Miss Deveraux."

"Just Sophie, Harry, please. Are you sure you wouldn't rather wait?"

"I'm good. I got all my rest in the train ride. Boston's full of energy, and it's making me buzzed, I rather put some of it to work, get it out of my system -"

"Why do you carry a stick?"

I whipped around. Parker had my wand in her hands.

Hell's Bells, I'd never even felt the theft. My wand, and I would have never known she'd gone for it if she hadn't said something.

Something in my face clued Sophie and Eliot that things had gone very badly, very quickly. "Parker!" Sophie cried out.

With all the care of someone handling live explosives, Eliot closed a hand over the 'stick'. "We are trying," he told her, sticking to his calm demeanor like tar, "to make a good impression, Parker."

"Oh, fine. Should I give everything else back?"

I took the quickest stock of my person I'd ever taken in my life. Immediately I found another thing missing that I would have never thought could be taken from me without my notice. How in the hell -!

"Yes!" Sophie told her firmly.

"Well, he didn't have anything interesting anyways," Parker put out her hand with my wallet on it.

And my shield bracelet.

Eliot offered me my wand back, looking sheepish. "Sorry, man."

"I just - how?" Seriously. Never mind the theft, everything was coming back to me, nothing was broken, no one was hurt, I just wanted to know how she'd done it.

"Parker is the best in the world," Sophie said, somehow managing to convey warm pride and icy disapproval all in one. Parker squirmed uncertainly. "She should also bear in mind that as of now you're part of our team, and we don't pickpocket teammates."

Parker held strong under the tone of disapproval longer than I would have. "Sorry," she muttered with ill grace.

"No harm no foul if you teach me how to do it."

She grinned, just a little. "Deal."

"Also, where should I stand so I'm as far away from anything tech-y as possible?"

"Right there." Nathan Ford had arrived, and the mask was off. He still looked vaguely friendly, a little rumpled, somewhat distracted. But there was nothing hiding the ruthless ice in his eyes anymore, or the deep mistrust in the gaze he leveled at me. I was in his world, in his domain, I was his employee. The carrot had done her job, the stick didn't have to mind his manners anymore. "Right there's fine, mister Dresden."

Ford passed everyone by and moved to the kitchen to find himself, apparently, some coffee. "Where's Hardison?"

"He said he wanted to take a few more pictures of the cylinder we found at the museum," Eliot told him. "He's in the storage room."

"What cylinder?" Something was bugging me. It wasn't big, at least not big enough to pin it down, but it was there, nagging at the back of my mind like a toothache after too much sugar.

"There was an issue at the Isabella Gardner Museum," Sophie told me. "Someone tampered with the fire suppression system. They attached some kind of homemade cylinder to the system and it started pumping something out in the air, some sort of perfume." She shrugged lightly. "We don't know why, there was no need for it."

"Perfume?"

"Yes. Fernflower."

I was running the next moment, going on a guess and a prayer. The guess was that the closed door was the storage room. The prayer was that I wouldn't be too late.

The moment I hit the bottom floor a faint reek of sweet, rotten candy and burning flowers made me reel back, coughing, my lungs burning. I could definitely smell the fernflower; worse, I could also smell night's breath. This was some deep, deep magic. Deep and old. Someone had cooked up a Burning Witchwell, and Leverage had blundered right into it. Only luck had kept any of them from being magically inclined, but that luck had run out with the fernflower.

Eliot was right behind me, and he threw a hand over his face. He snatched a bunch of cloth napkins from a nearby shelf and shoved them at me. "What is that?!"

I ran on and shoved the door open to the storage room. There was a man kneeling on the floor before a table, wheezing. The fernflower fumes burned my eyes and I actually heard my skin hiss on contact with the night's breath, but I was running on Boston air. I was so charged up I barely registered any pain.

"Venti, ventum!" I shouted. Wind poured into the storage room. Everything went flying off the shelves. I felt my magic careen out of control, as supercharged as I was, and fought to bring it back under control. I didn't want to wreck the room, I just wanted to get the man to safety, away from the fumes.

"Hardison!" Eliot had already dashed past me, catching the man. He was lanky, lean, deceptively muscled, possibly an inch or so taller than me. His skin was very dark and it had gone blotchy where the night's breath had had time to settle down and sink in. He slurred something unintelligible and squinted intently at me; I couldn't even begin to imagine what he was seeing.

"Dresden?!" Eliot asked, spitting his own hair out of his mouth.

"Go, get him out!"

He didn't question me. I could have danced a happy jig at that show of trust. I backed out of the room; I was one step past the doorway when helpful hands slammed the door shut. "Does the ventilation system here connect to the pub?"

"No, it goes straight out," Ford replied.

"Then just put some…" The borrowed energy from the Boston ambiance ran out. I felt pain creep up over any part of me not covered by fabric. "Put some…"

"Sophie, put some towels at the bottom," Ford's voice was full of calm, focused competency. "Parker, go tell the front of house no one is to come into this room until one of us says otherwise. Eliot." There was a pause. "Dresden, is a hospital going to help either of you?"

"He's fine." Oh, that was Ford's shoulder under my arm, holding me up. When had that happened? "Unless he's got magic, he's just drunk. Sort of."

"And you?"

"I'm a little blistered." I was a little more than blistered, but I had the advantage of knowing the damage wasn't real. "No hospital. A bath."

"Alright. Let's get you and Hardison up to the loft, then."

I wasn't in any shape to argue. I got shoved under a spray of miraculously hot water. Someone peeled my clothes off. At some point I realized I trusted only two people in the loft, and one of them was helping undress me. "Wash your hands," I told Eliot. "Wash the clothes."

"Can we burn them?"

"Don't burn my clothes, I didn't bring any more." I stared at him suspiciously; well, there was only one person I trusted anymore. "Tell Parker to watch my things."

Eliot offered a sound of deeply amused disbelief. Somewhere nearby a man's voice was tunelessly singing what sounded like a church song. "Drunk?"

"Intox… Intec… Sort of. Fernflower gives you magic. See things. Talk to animals. Sorta thing. But it's eph… emph…. It fades quick. You gotta lace it with… other stuff. It It wasn't the weapon, the night's breath was."

"Night's breath?"

"Old plant. Burns up magic. Night's breath was fire. Fernflower was gasoline. 's called a… a Burning Witchwell."

"You aren't breathing right, man."

"Fake. I'll be fine when my…. when my magic comes back. Easy, in this place."

"Fake damage." At that Eliot did look disbelieving. "Hurt's hurt."

"Particularly if you believe in it," I shot back, then put my head up to the spray of hot water. "Oh, that feels good."

I heard Eliot snort in amusement. "Well, enjoy it while you can. Haven't blown up this heater."

"Give me a chance, I just got here."

#leverage #nathan ford #alec hardison #sophie devereaux #eliot spencer #parker #the dresden files #harry dresden #crossover #my writing #fanfiction #urban fantasy #mild violence

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jpitha · 1 year

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Just a Little Further 39

Part 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 29 30 31 32 33 34 35 36 37 38

After our meeting, Gord and Um'reli went over options for trading. He didn't seem to give any indication that anything was amiss from our previous talk. After a bit of good natured haggling, Gord decided on taking a small amount of our currency - he was interested in the metallurgy of it - and a bale of our local tea for a dozen liters of maple syrup and a 10 kilos of coffee. I don't know if it was a fair trade or not, but he was pleased.

We saw him off with a smile and a wave, and the moment the Medicine Hat disconnected, The smile fell from my face. I turned to Ava. "We need to prep for the invasion. Now."

Ava was taken aback. "What? Now now?"

I was already striding towards the Throne. "Now. I'm calling the Builders. We need to be gone already."

Ava ran to catch up with me as I walked. "What's wrong Melody? Talk to me. What happened."

"Gord happened. He's some kind of highly placed AI. Maybe their leader? He didn't make it clear, and I couldn't tell. What he did make clear is that they're onto us. He came to spy on us and see what our opinions on AI were and he clocked the invasion fleet."

"But we're not anti-AI..."

"Yes, I managed to convince him of that."

"Then what's the rush?"

"He still thinks I'm incredibly dangerous and shouldn't exist." I stopped and turned to Ava. "Hon, I Voiced him and the first time he was able to shake it off. The second time it took, but I kept the commands somewhat generic and things he was leaning towards anyway. Things like 'we're not a threat' and 'tell everyone we're nothing to worry about' stuff like that." I started walking again. "He's going to go back to human space and report to... someone, then he'll realize he's been duped and they'll come and attack. We must be first. We have to go now."

Ava nodded. "Right. Okay Melody, everyone is on their way. If you say it's time to go, then it's time to go."

By the time I got to my Throne, most of my Builders were here. At this point there was over 100 of them. Between the Builders who run the Reach, and the Builders who operate my starships, and the Builders who help make new ones, I had a large group of people. As I cast my eyes over them, I remembered when it was just me and Ava and Omar and Um'reli walking into the Throne ourselves. It feels like so long ago, but was it even a decade? It's hard to imagine that so much has changed.

I sit on the Throne and leaned back and became Reach of the Might of Vzzx. Everyone sees me go slack, and suddenly I can see them all overhead. I'll speak through the Reach to them. It will be like I'm talking to everyone personally. "Builders. The time of our victory has come. Tomorrow morning, we shall link to the Sol system, and begin our conquest. We shall show them what it means to be Builders, what it means to be a subject of the Empire. Go, knowing that I love you all and that together we will be victorious!"

As one, they snap their heels together and bowed. I am so proud of them.

Ava and I head back to our rooms and plan. She's going to come with me on Vengeance of Lavinia II with Raaden in Command. I'm not going to officially be in command of anything. She will be in command, carrying out my orders. I'm coming along mostly to be the Voice when needed as we capture locations.

We planned it out months ago. After a Starbase or City is captured, we'll get the administrators together and I'll give a speech. I'll explain how they are now subjects of my empire and that I intend to leave the administrative hierarchy in place as it is now... just with me at the top. Any taxes that they pay will now be paid to me, and in return we shall protect and care for them just as we do for the Reach. We are making no plans to introduce new laws, or new religions or change the status of any people.

We are going to start by linking to Sol. Venus will be our beachhead. From there, we will send a crew to the Mercury Array and capture it. They mostly generate power and do high temperature manufacturing for the system, so it has a low population. Once they're captured, we're moving on to Luna and the Orbitals in the Lagrange points around Earth. From there, Earth itself. Ideally within a month, we will have taken all of Venus' territory and from there can expand to the High Mars Cities and the rest of the OPA. Given their distance, I see that taking a few more months, but outside of our first year, we should be able to secure the entire Sol system.

That doesn't mean that construction will stop either back here. We will be building more Calamity Class Dreadnoughts as well as training more volunteers. Eventually, I hope to be recruiting volunteers from Venus, Earth and the other locations, but for now we will be going with my best from the Reach.

After going over the plans one more time I take a bath with Ava. It will probably be our last bath for a while. As much as I wanted one, Omar said there wasn't room on the super dreadnoughts for a bath. We floated together, staring at the city lights through our window like we always do. Ava takes up her usual place next to me and we stare silently out into the night. "Melody, I'm worried."

"About what Ava? Everything is all planned out. We have the ships, we have the people, we have the plan. I think it's all going to go well. Didn't you want us to not dawdle any longer and go?" I smile in the dark.

"I don't know Melody, I'm just... scared I guess. I know why we're doing this, hell I was one of the ones who pushed you to actually invade. But now that it's real, I'm worried. It would be so easy for us to fail, for us to be destroyed."

I reach over and give her a hug. We sit there, grasping each other for a while in the dark. "I know Ava. But, all we can do is try. It's too late to back out. At this point, we go... or are gone."

Ava sighed. "You're right. We can't back down now. But, I'm allowed to think that this is crazy and scary but also that we need to do it to stay alive."

I nod. "I'll tell you what Ava. I'll do everything I can to stay alive and be a good Empress, but I need something from you."

"Anything Melody, just tell me."

"Stay by my side."

She snuggled in further. "I wouldn't be anywhere else."

That morning we packed up. Ava and I went to the Vengeance of Lavinia II and came aboard to cheers and salutes. It took hours as a ship would dock, everyone came aboard, left and would repeat.

Finally, around dinner, we were ready. We had a huge communal meal in the massive canteen on the Lavinia II. I had specifically requested that the dining hall be able to hold as close to everyone as possible. I liked that sense of comradery we had on FarReach when we ate together. Walking around and listening, I heard snatches of conversation and laughter. Spirits were high, and everyone was excited for our assumed victory. I connected to all the ships - all seventeen of them - and gave a speech explaining what we were doing, why we were doing it and how we were going to help everyone in Sol.

I ordered one more night rest around the Reach, and after some training and getting a feel for the operation of the dreadnoughts with a full compliment of people, we went to bed, satisfied.

The last day dawned, and I was up on the Command Deck, in full Empress regalia. Flowing gown, wings and crown, with Ava at my side in a similar but simpler outfit. No longer just a Builder, I wanted my Wife to be dressed in a way that showed everyone who she was, how much she meant to me.

Grand Admiral Raaden sat in the command chair, her royal blue uniform razor sharp, pressed and elegantly tailored. Her hair was freshly cropped and she was smiling and chatting with her deck officers. I bet Venusian Archduke Raaden didn't smile very often.

"Having fun, Grand Admiral?" I laugh lightly and nod to her as we find two seats at the back of the deck, with a full view of everything.

Helen turns, and her smile gets even larger. "I'm having the time of my life Empress. Remind me to thank you again."

"Thank me? Why?"

Raaden rolls her eyes gently. "Melody, you taking a chance on me has caused me to realize a dream. I'm happy in my work, I have friends, and I'm using my skills to help people. You are the best thing to have happened to me."

My eyes tear up in the corners, just a bit. "Oh Helen." I stride over and bend down, giving her a hug. "You are a good friend, and we're lucky to have you." I stand straight. "We're all lucky to have you."

As I go back to my seat, a deck officer, an Aviens, looks up from their station. "Grand Admiral. We have received word from the other ships. Everyone is in place and settled for wormhole link."

I lean back in my chair just a bit and connect. Omar and Um'reli were able to reverse engineer the Throne and put a similar system in all the Calamity Class ships so we can stay in near instantaneous communication. They tried three times to explain to me how it works, but I kept on getting distracted and tuning them out. I finally just said "I'm glad you figured it out, and I'm also glad I don't need to know how it works to use it."

"Omar, you good to go?"

"Yup, Um'reli and I are over here ready and waiting. I have to say, being in the Captain's chair is quite a bit different than running things behind the scenes. I'm glad Um'reli is here to help out."

"He's being modest Melody, Omar is doing great. I swear I'm not doing anything, it's all him."

They laugh together as they work. Omar had asked if he and Um'reli could captain a ship together. I didn't see any issue with it and after I approved it, a few more couples came forth and asked to Captain together. It'll be a good thing, I just know it.

"Janais, are you good?"

"I am more than good, Empress, I am content. Possibly for the first time since Aeche left, I am content. Thank you Empress. We will be victorious."

Memories of Aeche, Janais' ship has more hours on their wormhole generator than all my other ships combined. Janais loves to link from place to place. She took a tour of all of our old systems and confirmed that they're all dust and nebulae. We decided to leave Gilmenny fallow and let nature recover there. Maybe in a few centuries we'll come back and set up a small colony, but for now, it can rest.

One by one, I personally check in with all my Builder Captains. Ginny has her first command, and I can tell Raaden is incredibly proud of her. Will was given his own ship as well, with most of the crew of the original Lavinia with him. The rest of the ships are captained by people from the Reach. I want to make sure everyone knows that we are in this together. It's not some upstart humans dragging over 13 million sapients into a war of conquest.

We're all in this together and every single person here is a volunteer who wants to be here.

As I come back to the command deck of the Lavinia II, I look around. Everyone is bustling about, triple checking to make sure everything is ready. It's not needed though, I know it is. We've been ready for months. Everyone was just waiting on me.

Well, now I'm ready.

I take a moment and flare the wings and crown just a bit, so they glow just enough to be dramatic. I gesture towards the screen. "Grand Admiral Raaden? It's time to begin. Please take us to Sol."

"Aye Empress."

We link home.

Part 40 (the end)

#humans are deathworlders #humans are space orcs #humans go on adventure #humans are space oddities #sci fi writing #writing #humans and ai #humans and aliens #the k'laxiverse #jpitha #just a little further

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yujo-nishimura · 4 months

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The Escape - Part 39

Part 1 - Part 2 - Part 3 - Part 4 - Part 5 - Part 6 - Part 7 - Part 8 - Part 9 - Part 10 - Part 11 - Part 12 - Part 13 - Part 14 - Part 15 - Part 16 - Part 17 - Part 18 - Part 19 - Part 20 - Part 21 - Part 22 - Part 23 - Part 24 - Part 25 - Part 26 - Part 27 - Part 28 - Part 29 - Part 30 - Part 31 - Part 32 - Part 33 - Part 34 - Part 35 - Part 36 - Part 37 - Part 38

"Wait, he asked you guys for help?" you exclaimed, your voice filled with complete surprise.

"Yes," Buggy confirms, his tone carrying a mix of vulnerability and honesty. "I knew I couldn't rescue you on my own, and I had doubts that you would come with me if I had shown up in Alabasta alone..."

You gaze at Buggy, still grappling with disbelief. Trusting Luffy's words comes more easily to you than trusting Buggy after everything that has happened.

"It wasn't easy for me to set aside my pride and ask that damned straw hat for help," Buggy continues. "But I'm glad I did, because they eventually saved you."

Silence envelops you both, the only sounds being the rhythmic crashing of the waves serving as the backdrop to this encounter.

"Thank you, Luffy," you finally manage to express, a smile gracing your lips. Luffy simply nods and walks away, declaring, "I'll eat a bit more and then take a nap. You two have a good night, and Buggy, don't you dare try to steal her away from us again!"

As the straw hat pirate departs, leaving you alone with Buggy, you find yourself falling to your knees, feeling the warmth of the sand against your skin. Pressing your hands against the ground, you let the weight of everything sink in.

"So, you had planned to sell me, but then realized you didn't want to, yet you couldn't prevent damn Crocodile from taking me away," you speak, your voice filled clarity now. "And to top it all off, you needed someone else's help to rescue me. That is a despicable act, Captain Buggy."

You keep your gaze lowered, doing your best to avoid looking at him, as you feel him take a seat next to you. Emotionally strained, you're teetering on the edge of losing control.

"I've admitted that I'm a scumbag, the worst of the pirates out there," Buggy says, his voice filled with remorse. "The least I can do is ask for your forgiveness. But I don't expect you to actually grant it..."

You take a deep breath before continuing, your voice laced with the weight of your thoughts. "You know what the hardest part of all this was?"

"What?" he asks, his voice carrying genuine curiosity and a touch of kindness, likely grateful that you haven't cut off all communication with him.

"The hardest part was not dwelling on what happened to you and why. I lay in that damned bed in Alabasta, pondering what I had done to upset you so much that you would betray me. I remembered the pain I inflicted upon myself in front of you. I recalled the manipulation I attempted. I almost felt like you were right to rid yourself of me..."

Finally, you raise your gaze to meet his, tears welling up in your eyes, your face contorted with sadness.

"But I loved you, and it tore me apart not knowing why you abandoned me. And now it hurts even more that you've come here to apologize when I had finally resolved to forget about you and move on."

"You...love me?" Buggy's eyes widen in disbelief, his entire countenance undergoing a sudden transformation. His body language shifts, openly directed towards you.

"There, I said it!" you groaned, frustration pulsing through your veins as you punch your fist into the sand. Feeling utterly ridiculous, you decided to escape. Summoning the last remnants of your energy, you rise to your feet, intending to turn your back on the clown, face the Going Merry, and leave him behind to start anew with Luffy, as you had always dreamed of.

But after taking just two steps, you feel Buggy grab hold of you, swiftly detaching his upper body to encircle you with his arms, halting your movement. His warm breath brushes against your ear, and the gentle stubble of his chin grazes your neck.

"Don't go," he whispers. "What if I told you that I love you too?"

#one piece #buggytheclown #one piece buggy #buggy the clown x reader #buggy x reader #buggy x you #long fanfic #long reads #nanowrimo 2023

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felinaone · 2 years

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Send me a number(s) with a character and any other details you want :)

Character masterlist

𝐀𝐧𝐠𝐬𝐭:

1."I thought you loved me."

2."I don't need you. I never did."

3."This is not Love!"

4."If you Loved me..."

5."I can't. I just physically can't."

𝐈𝐧𝐣𝐮𝐫𝐲 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐜𝐨𝐦𝐟𝐨𝐫𝐭:

6."I'm not leaving you here!"

7."Don't tell me you're fine, you're bleeding!"

8."I'm not leaving until I know you're okay."

9."I thought I Lost you." "It's okay... I'm here I'll always be here."

10."Don't close your eyes, please. Keep open for me,yeah?"

11."I know it hurts. You just have to trust me okay? I'll get you out of here."

12."Hey, don't do that, you'll hurt yourself."

13."how long has it been since you've slept ?

14."You're burning"

15.Because I care about you!"

16."Please don't leave me alone."

17."I heard you screaming. Nightmares again?"

18."Hey, just look at me. breathe"

19."You need to eat something."

20."Stop telling me you're okay."

21."Why didn't you tell me?"

22."Don't touch me!"

23."Tell me where it hurts."

24."How did this happen?"

25."Let me see."

26."How bad is it?"

27."This is going to hurt."

28."Don't worry, I'm going to take care of you"

29."How long have you felt like this?"

30."Stop moving around, you'll make it worse."

31."I can't do it myself, i need you to do it"

𝐉𝐞𝐚𝐥𝐨𝐮𝐬𝐲 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐟𝐥𝐮𝐟𝐟:

34."Does (he/she) not know that we are together?"

35."You're naive if you think (he/she) just wants to be your friend."

36."Have you even told (him/ her) about me?"

37."I don't just imagine that!"

38."(He's /she's) is so obvious. It's embarrassing)

39."Do you want to make me jealous?"

40."You remembered?"

41."Has anyone told me that your eyes sparkle in the moonlight?"

42."My lip gloss is all over your lips."

43."That's the first time I've ever seen you smile "

44."You're lucky you're hot."

45."You weren't supposed to hear that!"

46."You give me butterflies."

47."I can't think around you.

48."I just wanted to make you laugh."

49."Why did you stop?"

50."it's adorable when you ramble."

51."Are you blushing?"

52."You weren't supposed to laugh! Now I'm embarrassed."

53."It's to Cold come back."

54.You never saw me."

55."How much did you hear?"

56."It's not what it looks like!"

57."Stop moving, I'm almost done!"

58."I picked these for you."

𝐒𝐦𝐮𝐭:

61."If we get caught I'm blaming you."

62."We have to be quiet."

63."Tell me again."

64."You have no idea how much I want you."

65."Say it."

66."If you don't like my teasing then why are you moaning?"

67."Wow, i didn't realize you were that... flexible."

68."Suck my fingers."

69."Keep your eyes open and look at me."

70."Maker, you feel amazing."

71."Watch me."

72."Don't kink shame me."

73."Tell me what you want."

74."I'm going to put on some clothes before you say anything else."

75."Bite me

76. "If you insist."

77."You're not, um w-wearing anything that, are you..?"

78."Are you trying to turn me on or are you really that oblivious?"

𝙰𝚞𝚝𝚑𝚘𝚛'𝚜 𝙽𝚘𝚝𝚎_ ★ 𝘏𝘪! 𝘛𝘩𝘪𝘴 𝘪𝘴 𝘢 100 𝘧𝘰𝘭𝘭𝘰𝘸𝘦𝘳𝘴 𝘤𝘦𝘭𝘦𝘣𝘳𝘢𝘵𝘪𝘰𝘯 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘯𝘬 𝘺𝘰𝘶 𝘴𝘰 𝘮𝘶𝘤𝘩 𝘧𝘰𝘳 𝘺𝘰𝘶𝘳 𝘴𝘶𝘱𝘱𝘰𝘳𝘵, 𝘩𝘰𝘱𝘦 𝘪 𝘤𝘢𝘯 𝘣𝘳𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘺𝘰𝘶 𝘮𝘰𝘳𝘦 𝘤𝘰𝘯𝘵𝘦𝘯𝘵 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘺𝘰𝘶 𝘢𝘭𝘭 𝘭𝘪𝘬𝘦 <3 𝘐 𝘸𝘢𝘯𝘵𝘦𝘥 𝘵𝘰 𝘮𝘢𝘬𝘦 𝘢𝘯𝘰𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘳 𝘱𝘳𝘰𝘮𝘱𝘵 𝘭𝘪𝘴𝘵 𝘸𝘪𝘵𝘩 𝘢 𝘭𝘪𝘵𝘵𝘭𝘦 𝘮𝘰𝘳𝘦 𝘷𝘢𝘳𝘪𝘢𝘵𝘪𝘰𝘯𝘴 𝘴𝘰 𝘩𝘦𝘳𝘦 𝘪𝘵 𝘪𝘴! <3

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quackitysdrugdealer · 2 years

Text

As some people may know i'm going to start writing one shots so i made a list of promts feel free to use these i can do other promts and things this is just ideas but there are some things i won't do like smut i will let you know if i'm uncomfortable with your request and explain that i'm uncomfortable with that and if you send in a request i'm a small account so i can pretty much guarantee that i'll get your request done within 27 hours lol but for now enjoy my promts!

1 "Aw, look at you!"

"Stop touching me."

"I'm sorry, I wasn't trying to annoy you; you're just so cute."

2 "Do you even realize how cute you are?"

"Oh yes, I'm adorable. I'm a fucking delight."

3 "I just can't get over the fact that you said yes."

(while gazing at their ring) "Believe it, baby. I said yes over a year ago."

"I know... but still."

4"I've never met anyone that makes me feel the way you do."

"Crazy?"

"Yes but in the best possible way."

5"Stop touching me."

"But I wanna cuddle!"

"Oh, well then why didn't you just say so. C'mere."

6"Do you know who's the best person in the world?"

"Me?"

"No, me but only because you make me the best person."

7"I want to be better for you."

8 "I want to deserve you and I never will unless I become a better person."

9 "I still can't believe you love me."

"Better believe it, baby."

10 "I'm crazy about you."

"Yeah, you're crazy alright."

11"Kiss me!"

"Never."

(pouting)

"Oh, I was kidding! Stop pouting like that."

12 "You're my favorite!"

"You married me, so I really hope I'm your favorite."

13 "Have you ever thought about leaving me?"

"I'd be a fool to ever want to leave you."

14 "You are the best."

"Not nearly as best as you!"

"That made no sense."

"Only because you don't understand how incredible you are."

"No, that just grammatically didn't make sense."

15 "Quit being a grammar junkie!"

"Why don't you come over here and make me?" (😘😉)

16 #11 “I’m tired” “I can see that babe” “Sleep with me?” “mhm”

17 “Kiss me?”

18 “You are my home, you have been since we met”

19 “Hi sweetheart” “Hi babe” “Is that my shirt?” “No”

20“Die” “Bet” “wait- babe no stop”

21“Hello lovely” “Hi <character name>��

22 “I've to go” “Noooo please” “Sorry love”

23“God I love you”

24 “Happy Birthday”

25: "i'm pregnant"

26: " you know i only let you touch me"

27: " there's no other person for me i swear"

28: dancing in the rain

29 "dance with me?"

30: person a shares persons Bs secrets with the there friends and they break up

31 They're drunk and you're carrying them to their room, when they unexpectedly say how much they love you, causing you to drop them on the floor

32 They end the phone call with an accidental ''love you'', leaving you flustered

33 Confessing before being separated for an uncertain period of time

34 Asking them how your name + their surname would sound like (or/and vice versa)

35 Accidentally confessing while laughing over something

36 Saying "I love you" while they're sleeping/unconscious/in coma. You know well that they can't hear you, but a small part of you hopes they did

37 Always giving each other yellow roses for valentine's day, when one day you see that you've got red roses instead

38 Tears drench your cheeks as you confess. The last thing you hear before dying is them screaming your name

39 Confessing at the same place where they first met

40 Scolding them for doing something stupid, wondering "why did I have to fall for you" and not realising that you just said that out loud

41:“You saved me, let me save you”

42: “You can’t save me and then walk out”

43: “ Focus on me please”

44: “You deserve better” “And you need more”

45: “Babe it’s not what it looks like” “Yeah? then what is it?”

46: “How are you in the wrong if you’re the only one putting in the effort to make it work?”

47: “Sometimes giving up is easier my love”

48: “How many times do we have to hurt each other before realising we’re no good at this”

49: “So what that’s it?” “Yeah it is, this relationship is one sided and I’m tired okay”

50: “Can you hold me while I go?”

51:hot chocolate and cuddles

52: person b gets hypothermia

53: breakfast in bed

54: holding there child for the first time

55: walking in on person a cuddling there baby

56: person a and b break up and 3 year's later person a finds person b with a child there child

57: Braiding eachothers hair

58: dieing before you can admit there feelings

59:dancing in the light of the fridge

60: dyeing eachothers hair

61: person a has autism

62: doing face masks together

63: one of them getting shot and almost dieing

64: person b has adhd and person a notices that there fidgety so the grab there hand

65: person a being a Assassin and is supposed to kill person b but they can't and make it there lifes mission to protect person b

66: movie night!!

67: (requester chose's a song for the oneshot to be based off of)

68: person a thinks there house is haunted but it's just person b being annoying

69: meeting the parents for the first time

70: person a finding out they need glasses and realizing how long there visions been so blurry and they thought it was normal and freaking out beacuse they can finally see person b clearly and thinking there beautiful

71: photographer meets artists

72: " we've GOT to stop meeting like this"

"You kidnapped me idiot"

" but your not a kid?"

" oh my gosh you are a idiot"

73 " murder wasn't on today's agenda"

"It's not on anyones"

" no it's on mine, just not untill next Thursday"

74: " did you have to hit me with a corpses leg? Was that really necessary?"

"Necessary. No. Hilarious, yes"

Royalty!au

Bodyguard!au

Brother's best friend!au

enemies to lovers!au

Friends to lovers!au

Love letters!au

Famous!au

Streamer!au

Assassin!au

Famous brother!au

Time travel!au

Ghost and human!au

Suicidal x therapist!au(not romancing being Suicidal please if you feel this way talk to someone even if it's just a little or about your day it will help and dms always open)

Student x teacher!au(both of age)

Demigod x mortal!au

Beast friends brother!au

Transfer student!au

Dark academy!au

Different sides in a war!au

Polor opposites!au

I hate everyone in the world but you!au

Fake dating!au

Grumpy x sunshine!au

Cowarker romance!au

And again these are just ideas you can thinknof your own if you want to

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gizmos-prompts · 1 year

Text

Dialogue Prompts 7

Based off lyrics from the album Red (Taylor's Version) by Taylor Swift

1. "I never saw you coming and I'll never be the same"

2. "So, you were never a saint"

3. "Love is a ruthless game, unless you play it good and right"

4. "Loving him was red"

5. "Fighting with him was like trying to solve a crossword and realizing there's no right answers"

6. "It's time now, I gotta let go"

7. "I just think you should know that nothing safe is worth the drive"

8. "I knew you were trouble when you walked in"

9. "I might be okay, but i'm not fine at all"

10. "I remember it all too well"

11. "I know it's long gone and there's nothing else I can do"

12. "Maybe we got lost in translation, maybe I asked for too much"

13. "Everything will be alright if you keep me next to you"

14. "I just wanna tell you it takes everything in me not to call you"

15. "I bet it never ever occurred to you that I can't say hello to you and risk another goodbye"

16. "This is it, I've had enough"

17. "We are never, ever, ever getting back together"

18. "All those times that you didn't leave it's been occurring to me, i'd like to hang out with you my whole life"

19. "This is the last time i'm asking you this"

20. "This is the last time I'm asking you why"

21. "This is the last time I let you in my door"

22. "This is the last time, I won't hurt you anymore"

23. "I don't wanna dance if i'm not dancing with you"

24. "Could you just try to listen?"

25. "Let me tell you now, you're the lucky one"

26. "I just wanna know you better now"

27. "We could get married, have ten kids and teach them how to dream"

28. "I think it's strange that you think i'm funny 'cause he never did"

29. "You should've been here"

30. "That was the moment I knew"

31. "He said he'd be here"

32. "I don't wanna miss you like this"

33. "Come back, be here"

34. "Don't look at me, you got a girl at home and everybody knows that"

35. "It would be a fine proposition, if I was a stupid girl"

36. "You know you had to do it"

37. "I know the bravest thing I ever did was run"

38. "I just miss you, and I just wish you were a better man"

39. "You never thought I'd run"

40. "I gave you my best and we both know you can't say that"

41. "I wonder what we would've become if you were a better man"

42. "Will you still want me when I'm nothing new?"

43. "How could you do this, babe?"

44. "Since you admitted it, I keep picturing her lips on your neck, I can't unsee it"

45. "I hate that because of you, I can't love you, babe"

46. "I bet you think about me"

47. "You laughed at my dreams, rolled your eyes at my jokes"

48. "Why fall in love, just so you can watch it go away?"

49. "All this time I didn't know you were breaking down"

50. "I love you even at your darkest"

51. "Please don't go"

52. "Believe in one thing, I won't go away"

53. "We shouldn't be in this town"

54. "Give me a reason and don't say no"

55. "This thing was a shot in the dark"

56. "They don't know how much I miss you"

57. "Do you know how much I miss you?"

58. "You never called it what it was"

59. "You kept me like a secret but I kept you like an oath"

60. "Just between us, did the love affair maim you too?"

#angst dialogue #angst prompt #dialogue ideas #dialogue prompt #fanfiction prompts #fluff dialogue #fluff prompts #prompt list #prompts #writing dialogue

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elphael · 1 year

Text

highlights of the session

arty going alone to do recon, sitting in a locked bathroom while his familiar, locke, who was in Bird Form for the first time flew around an evil scientist lab, rolling a nat1 on stealth such that arty's former boss, our villian realized that finch that got into her lab was someone's familiar.

then proceeded to roll a 9 on a stealth check to vacate the premise as arty himself and decided 'fuck it' and just jumped off the floating island again instead of going the normal way down.

taking only 18 points of damage when he hit the ground and when a guard asked him if he was okay, arty, disguise self'd as a random guard said, "the guard shift was so fucking boring dude" before LEAVING

the above escapade is what landed arty in hot water with his not-girlfriend because she is so worried about how reckless he is and he is so bad at not having the thought process of "i can survive things no one else can so what's a little bit of pain to keep the people i love safe"

artylowe interactions of: barlowe taking arty's glass of whiskey upon realizing he, again, jumped off of a floating island and him going "stealing a man's whiskey is very lethal." the reply "testing a woman's patience is very lethal." and "noted, i'm sorry." // "you know i would've gone with you," "yeah but i didn't want to put anyone else in danger", "just you?", "well yea-" dm voice: you get the sense she intentionally leaves message range. // arty apologizing kind of and admitting that sometimes his lack of care for himself is a bit selfish & barlowe saying "i know it would take an act of god to kill you but it still worries me"

tfw arty 2.0 is roxy's brother

arty managing to knock lady seryan off of a 35 ft. ceiling bc of the bullshit that was his build + the magic item i took for the oneshot (a fire giant potion flavored as juicing himself LMAO)

roxy in her true changeling form and also telling arty that rusk is her brother. roxy threatening lady seryan and arty realizing how amoral & murderous roxy is atm and going "okay, i'll follow your lead, what can i do?" and covering roxy's back.

lady seryan being mouthy and sinister to roxy and arty dropping the pommel of his sword onto her jaw dealing 17 points of damage to her ☠️

roxy ripping lady seryan's throat out

my only nat20 of the night being arty's wolfhound familiar locke attacking and knocking arty 1.5 prone.

arty killing arty 1.5 by putting a shatterstick in its mouth and blowing it up

arty earnestly asking tashalaryx, a draco-lich who has taken the roof off of the building "hey can i help you" and then proceeding to get all of his people to safety, set the four remaining shattersticks to blow the entire vermishard up, surviving 40d6 and then 20d6 points of damage from the explosion and falling from the vermishard.

the reveal that the "dragon" tashalaryx was trying to find to kill is calliope, one of arty's closest friends and he never knew, and she's a changeling and "a good liar" and the story is one we will hear another time in our next episodical oneshot 👀

#liza.txt #arty #it was a jampacked GOOD session #personal d&d tag

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gumballavocadoharry · 1 year

Text

Harry and River;

Vaccines:

Today was River's 4 year vaccinations and I was torn between how I felt. I was nervous because I knew River would cry, but also happy because with those shots he can finally go to kindergarten. My alarm was set for 7:35 in the morning because our appointment was at 9:00 and I needed to make sure River was dressed and out the door by a half hour before 8.

I explained to River last night beforehand that he would be getting 4 shots and it would only feel like four pinches. "Can I bring rexie?" I smiled. "Of course you can my love. Rexie's gonna get his shots too cause he's a big boy dinosaur." River smiled and jumped around happily. Poor boy didn't know what he was in for. We ate a quick breakfast before leaving the house and making our way down to children's hospital.

In the parking deck, I explained to River what was going to happen and he seemed to understand but he was mostly squeezing rexie. We saw other little babies and toddlers with their parents holding their hands. I felt River let go of mine and protest that he wasn't a baby. "But you still have to hold daddy's hand, and besides I like holding your hand." River hesitantly resurfaced his hand into mine and we went across to the door.

"Want daddy to pick you up?" River thought about it before shaking his head. After seeing a what looked like 4 month old baby being held in her mother's arms, River wanted better...to be more grown up. We went inside the elevators going up to the 7th floor. I looked over to River looking at all the buildings down below that we were surpassing from going up. My curious boy wondered about the world around him.

The elevator dinged and we stepped off making a beeline to the doctor's office. I instructed for River to wait for me in the waiting room while I signed him in at the front desk. Of course River went to the toy section but I wasn't worried because it kept him busy. "Hi I'm here for a River Styles?"

The receptionist looked through her computer and confirmed. "Okay, I'll just have you sign right here." She said sliding me a clipboard from under the glass barrier in front of her desk. I slid it back once I signed it and then she had me take a seat. River and I were the only ones there so I just soaked up the peace and quiet while I could.

It wasn't until I heard another baby crying from being the door, that I realized they were probably getting they're shots too. I looked over at River who was looking towards the door. "Why is that baby crying?"

"They could be getting injections, or maybe they're hungry." After 5 minutes, the nurse called River's name and so I took his hand and we followed the nurse.

The nurse took River's weight and height and then she checked his hearing and eyes. She took him back to the exam room that was decorated with blue and yellow duck wallpaper with Winnie the Pooh stickers on the walls.

The nurse took his blood pressure and temperature. She asked him a couple questions before leaving. "The doctor will be in shortly." River fiddled with his fingers and was slightly humming and shaking his knee. He does that whenever he gets nervous. "It'll be okay Rivie, daddy's with you."

The doctor came in and checked River's heart and lungs, his stomach, his back and mouth. "Everything looks healthy. He's scheduled for 4 shots today right?" The doctor said while writing something down on his computer. "I nodded. What type are they?"

"They are his polio, meningitis, mumps and rubella. He gets the rest in the fall when he comes back."

I nodded and thanked the doctor before the nurse came in with a shot tray. The doctor left and it was just the three of us. "Okay, daddy did you wanna hold on to River's arms for me?" The nurse patted the end of the table for River to lay down. River started whimpering but I softly reassured him that he would be alright.

"It's okay baby, daddy's here. I'm just gonna hold your hands and you can squeeze them okay?" I said in my baby voice. I peppered kisses along his cheeks and whispered soft things in his ears. "It's okay bubba, daddy's got you." The nurse rubbed his thighs with alcohol wipes.

"I'll be quick honey okay?" She said gently. She injected the first needle in which erupted a cry from River. "Oh my baby, I'm here." I said softly reassuring him. I pressed repeated kisses to his cheeks over and over. "My little pumpkin. Boo Boo bear."

The nurse kept her promise of going fast because soon all 4 shots were done and over with. After she placed the bandages over his legs, I swiftly picked him and up and smothered him in kisses. "I know, I'm sorry sweetie." I said in my baby voice. "Daddy knows it hurts." River was still crying so I tried my hardest to calm him down before we went back out to the waiting room.

"Daddy's gonna kiss you Rivie," and with that I gave him a big kiss on his chubby rosy tear stained cheek. "Mmmmuah!" River was still whimpering so I continued hugging him.

"Look rexie's got his shots too!" I put some extra bandages from the tray on rexie's legs. That made River giggle a little but he was still sad. "I want you to carry me." He cried. "Okay, but remember I have to carry our stuff too so when we leave the office, you have to walk okay?"

River buried his head into my shoulder. I gently rubbed his back and we went out to the waiting room. "Have a nice day!" The receptionist said. "Thank you, you too."

I set River down so I could press the elevator button. "It's all over now, so we can get anything you want for lunch!" "Ice cream!" River said with his arms up. "That can go with your lunch. But what about tacos or burgers?"

"Oh tacos!" I laughed a little and agreed tacos would make a good lunch.

"River you were such a big boy getting your shots. And daddy's so proud of you." I bent down and gave his a kiss on the cheek and then rubbed his head. River was such a brave boy.

#harry styles #dad!harry #dadrry #harry styles imagine #harry styles son #single dad harry #son #daddy's kitten #daddy's love #daddy's boy #daddy's baby #vaccines #single dad Harry styles and River

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booitsthaclosetpagan · 11 months

Text

Kala Thargelia! 🦌☀️

On the 6th and 7th day of the month Thargelion in hellenic polytheism we celebrate Thargelia, the main festival that the month is named after. This is how I celebrated this year (2nd year of the 700th olympiad):

On the first day I honored Artemis by:

Undergoing catharsis (spiritual cleansing of oneself, ones surroundings, body and mind). I took a shower, washed up, wore symbolic clothing and jewelry, veiled and abstained from sexual activity (and thoughts for the most part). I also fasted for about 24 hours, not consuming anything in order to detox my body.

I then poured a wine libation in honor of Artemis and recited homeric hymn #9 & #27 and Orphic hymn #35.

I also recited Orphic Hymn #34 in honor of Leto since Thargelia celebrates Leto giving birth to the twin goddess Artemis and god Apollo.

I also listened to devotional music in honor of Artemis.

After I finished the prayer I quickly realized that I forgot to cast out the scapegoats or Pharmakoi. So I wrote down two things that I wanted to leave my life namely negative nagging & struggling to communicate and form friendships within the physical religious community. I ripped these papers and threw them away to banish these things.

Then I watched a video about the mythos behind the birth of Artemis & Apollo and another mythos of Artemis (about her virginity and staying pure, fitting to the theme of Thargelia of course which is all about cleanliness and not having impure things). And looked at some social media posts of others about Thargelia.

Before going to bed I did my night prayer like every night, but payed some extra attention in that prayer to Leto, Artemis & Apollo in particular.

On the second day I honored Apollo by:

Undergoing catharsis again by washing up and putting on a sunny outfit to honor him, it was also really sunny during Thargelia this year so that was a good sign and nice to feel extra close to Apollo.

I then went to the grocery store to get all the ingredients for the dinner and offering and started cooking Panspermia and Manna, which turned out looking really nice and tasty this year! So I was really happy with that. I also bought a strawberry cake since it's traditional to offer the first fruits of the season to Apollo, which in my region are strawberries, and since strawberries are also associated with Apollo.

I put part of the Panspermia, Manna and cake, including an actual strawberry, in an offer bowl and placed it, along with the red wine libation, in front of Apollo's picture on my desk.

Then I veiled and recited Homeric hymn #3, #21 & #25 and Orphic hymn #33 in honor of Apollo.

I also recited Orphic Hymn #34 to Leto once again, like the previous day.

In honor of Apollo I also listened to a devotional song.

Then I broke my second fast which lasted for about 17 or 18 hours by eating the Panspermia, Manna and drinking the red wine.

Before going to bed I did my nightly prayer, again paying some special attention to thank Leto, Artemis and Apollo.

I honestly wanted to do more and spend even more time on Thargelia, cleaning the house among things, but due to busy work and such I didn't get around with doing so. I also intended to fast for 1,5 day but when I got a little headache at 2 AM I decided the time had come to eat something small in between, but after that I fasted again. I still enjoyed Thargelia, mainly because my cooking turned out so beautifully and I felt proud and by focusing so much on what Thargelia, Leto, Artemis and Apollo stand for, and tried my best to focus on cleansing myself physically and spiritually.

Kala Thargelia to all of you who celebrated!

#thargelia #hellenic polytheism #artemis #apollo #leto #kala thargelia #year 2/700 #thargelia8 #hellenismos #hellenism #ouranism #ouranic hellenic holidays #ouranic hellenism #ouranic deities

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skelezomperman · 1 year

Text

Revising A Tale of Star-Crossed Knights: Chapter 1

Link to Chapter 1: https://archiveofourown.org/works/39015690/chapters/97592907/

This is going to be a series of posts which is part Author's Notes, part retrospective. I've been wanting to revise my novel-length story for a while now, both to make it read better and to eventually reformat it into a good eBook format (AO3's ebook downloads unfortunately are not what I want). The first part of that was actually commissioning a lovely cover art by @racecarart; the second part is going through each chapter, revising it, and uploading the new parts to AO3.

Chapter 1 was the very first part of the story that I wrote. The first scene with the armory meeting was actually written in May 2021, over a year before the actual work on this fic began. I think my motivation for it came back in April 2022 which meant that it took about a month to produce 3000 words. This was back in a time when I had no idea what the finalized product was going to look like; I thought that I would only have eight chapters and it would be 15k-20k words (not too much longer than Divine Wind, Earth Lance). I did not have a handle on pacing and it shows.

I would estimate that the new Chapter 1 is about 35% original writing. The original plotline where Finn and Erinys go from 0 to 100 in the span of a chapter is meant to be contrived, firstly because the pairing is contrived in of itself (it's very hard to get in-game) and secondly because the plot relies on a sort of Kent/Fiora moment. But the original piece was contrived in a bad way. I especially didn't feel that there was much chemistry between the two prior to the dance. The solution to that was simple: expand on the first two scenes so they would actually show chemistry! They meet for the first time, they get to know each other and realize they're similar, and then they start becoming attracted to each other. On the other hand, I cut a short scene where Finn saves Erinys from an arrow because it didn't add much other than clichés.

The dance scene was my favorite part of the chapter so it was unchanged. I do like writing ballroom dances, perhaps to the point of leaning on it as a crutch, so I kept that. The very last scene at the end, however, did go some revision. The idea that Erinys tripped over a pebble and accidentally kissed Finn comes across as too contrived to the point of being immature. I changed it so that it's just that passion gets the better of them. I think this version of the scene also makes it more obvious that they did The Funny with each other outdoors - of course, I don't want to write anything explicit or even something that would make it rated M.

One last thing is that I'm cutting out a worldbuilding thing where real-world European languages like French filtered into the fic. That got dropped after around Chapter 9 and I don't want to leave a vestige of something that gets dropped out. A couple OCs will probably face a similar fate...Ah well, editing does mean you have to cut things you like.

---

For posterity's sake, here are the original author's notes:

Welcome to my Finn/Erinys longform fic. I'm finally getting around to doing this journey, charting the relationship from when they first meet to the end of the game when Finn is with his kids. I don't intend to novelize the entire thing but I want to try to get as much as I can think of on paper, from start to finish. I'm going to incorporate the four previous fics I've made so far as well. At the moment my outline has eight chapters, but I might add more if I feel a need to split up chapters or add more content. Targeting for one chapter a week but I'm not completely sure, depends on my motivation ebbing and flowing.

This chapter is basically an introduction; a fluff if you will. There's not really that much development because it's just Finn and Erinys falling in love. Probably rushed but that's okay because the idea is that they let their emotions take over eventually - they have a Kent/Fiora moment, if you will. At first they deny they're in love even though Lewyn and to a lesser extent Quan are egging them on, but later on they go from 0 to 100 because they're young. I refuse to write them doing the actual act but yes, they do the thing at the end of the chapter. We'll see that it has consequences in the next couple chapters, and it's not going to be completely clean. But I can promise that there will be a bit more fluff in the next chapter with a proper date or two.

Also if you're curious, the currencies are real life references. *Denier* is French for denarius and it was the currency used by the Franks in the early Middle Ages. *Marka* was an obscure currency used by Poland during the first years of the II Rzeczpospolita before it was replaced by the złoty. I didn't want to be too on the nose with those.

#skele's authors notes #star-crossed knights notes

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reynie-muldoons · 1 year

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"A Gold Bar in Fort Knox" Liveblog!

Good morninggg. It's early here, but not very bright 😂 there's been a lot of fog the past few days.

Today's a fun day because season 4 of The Dragon Prince came out today too!! I can't wait to consume all of it and spam reblog things from the tag LMAO.

Anywaaay, I have some hot tea and brekkie, so it's new episode time. Spoilers under the cut :)

1:08 oh shit here we go, water polo raid

1:20 I bet they're above, like clinging to the wall or something

1:38 LMAO THEYRE DANGLING????

1:40 theme music my beloved

2:37 are they in like the boiler room?? That's kinda sick

2:50 OHHH are they plants?? Did Curtain's goons put them on the boat???

2:56 ayy same brain Reynie

3:12 Constance says "have faith in yourself". You go bbg 😂

3:36 they're just going to stay in the boiler room?? Do they realize how dangerous that could be, or how easy it would be for them to be spotted if a crew member came down for maintenance???

3:47 Constance has seen things

3:54 AYYYY blorbo

4:00 number two baby I love you but why are you going through the trash

4:08 both. both are correct. It's a scientific breakthrough that relies on manipulation

4:26 he's like "why, just why" 😂😂

4:34 LMAO why doesnt he want to tunnel? Do I detect some claustrophobia, hmm? 🧐

4:39 mold? Okay RE Village

4:49 HOW LONG WOULD IT TAKE TO GROW MOLD IN EVERY BUILDING LMFAOOO

4:59 "I didn't sign anything 🤨" LMAO TRUE ENOUGH BABE

5:01 okay but "troubling, but clever" describes SO MUCH of this show hahahaha

5:11 bestie..... I hate to break it to you........ but he is simply not interested in things that arent control

5:35 "to show how much of a genius he was" early signs of narcissism maybe? Cause that's the vibes I'm picking up

5:46 I think I see where this is going. Mr B desperately wants to get through to Curtain, Curtain ends up getting him in a vulnerable place, ends converting him to the fake happiness shtick. Please let me be wrong

5:55 "well that was on his turf." "SO IS THIS." she has a point there dude 😂

6:03 CO👏🏻RRECT👏🏻

6:08 "and I would love to find a phone" number two wants to scroll on that dash 😂

6:10 "Rhonda and Milligan must be sick with worry" I know that's what she meant but it made me laugh all the same

6:21 ohhhh nooooo. NOOOO. "At least Rhonda and Milligan are at home, away from danger." NOOOOOO

6:26 HARD cut to the blimp in a storm 😂

6:39 Milligan my love your original arrival was set to be 25 hours ahead of the kids, I think you'll be okay with a slight delay

6:49 Miss Perumal, as always, you are lovely and composed despite being full of worry

7:03 RHONDA MY BELOVED 😂😂😂 You truly know someone's character from the way they treat service workers!!!

7:08 I love her so much ahshdjjd

7:11 every shot of this ship is just fucking gorgeous

7:17 okay if the sugar was so all-important WHY LEAVE IT OUTSIDE DUDE LMAO

7:43 the speed check comes back to bite them!!

7:49 he looks genuinely scared to deliver this news 😬

8:03 low blood sugar, a faltering marriage, and liens on his big shit. Poor guy. btw I looked up "lien", it's basically legal rights to keep something, like a mortgage

8:17 awwwww. they're adorable. protect them at all costs

8:56 oh dang, they stumbled upon the crew's party space!

9:05 "Constance wants a taste" LMAO KID

9:18 "the inflation rate in Portugal is alarming" lmao kid the inflation rate *here* is alarming too

9:18 what money are they even going to gamble though?? Surely they're starting with pocket change

9:39 oh my gosh the chips 😂

10:23 the crew with those sly looks. These kids are about to wreck house LMAO

10:29 DEATH OR GLORY

11:11 not gonna lie I know almost nothing about gambling so this is a little over my head

11:34 sunglasses? Wow, he saw the cards from the reflection on his eyes, that's impressive

11:57 I had two reactions to reading "Enzo's pies & pastries":

1. Stranger Things date night with Hopper and Joyce 🥺

2. MOOCHO?????

12:09 okay it's kinda sick that number two blends in with the lemons so well

12:20 another interview? And was that SQ on stage???

12:27 it was not SQ 🙃

12:33 "we've been expecting you" well that's concerning

12:47 their wardrobe choices are just. Strange

13:07 I think I just gagged

13:24 two things:

1. Every time we cut to Milligan I think about how good he looks in general. Well kept in that cute suit. He just looks nice.

2. WORRIED DAD IS WORRIED

13:36 awwww Rhondaaaa

13:48 "I am not scared" you fooled me 😂

13:57 "is a gold bar scared in Fort Knox?" ROLL CREDITS! Kind of!

14:09 and the dam breaks 🥺 the pain and mutual understanding from both of them makes this a perfect opportunity to open up

14:20 "but I'm learning that worrying is not a form of preparation" I need that tattooed on the backs of my eyelids, maybe then I wouldnt worry so much

14:31 awwwww 🥺🥺

14:49 damn 😂 the captain is becoming his own character at this rate

15:14 ....are they about to maintenance the ship?

15:27 LMAO STICKY

15:49 Sticky out here playing 5D chess

16:08 he's totally right, keeping track of the cards isnt cheating. It's just smart 😂

16:25 LMAO KATE WTFFF

16:52 you know, as much as they're talking about winning money, all they have is the chips. They need to cash out

17:08 Reynie, my love, I know you're trying to make a moral choice but in the long run that's pretty stupid. Also Sticky didnt cheat lol

17:25 they're innocent victims and so are Mr B and Number Two. The kids dont know this, but so are most of the acolytes

17:43 okay fair

17:56 yeahhhh idk how they thought the crew would take this

18:25 LMAO KATE

18:34 what the fuck was that Reynie 😂😂

18:48 yeaaaaahh that's kinda what I expected

19:15 wooow. Okay, not what I expected

19:29 why do I feel like the other boot is going to drop

19:40 wait huh? Did the guy just give them cash?

19:50 LMAO at least they have actual money instead of just chips

19:57 "you're an insult to real water polo players everywhere" KATE HAHAHA I bet she's been waiting to say that

20:23 "everything has an end, only a sausage has two" is that an actual German saying, can anyone confirm

20:33 ayooo this is the actual perfect time for Cannonball to find them

20:42 poor guy 😂😂

21:02 and there it is

21:27 STOP MR B'S FACE IS SO FUCKING FUNNY

21:52 HIS FACE LMAOOO. Apparently they clap at everything

22:20 "you have no idea who my parents are, do you?" He doesnt and neither does anyone else, so I'm all ears

22:40 I cant tell what's true and what's bullshit with her 😂😂

23:13 "the raw, terrifying beauty of nature's power" NOT HELPFUL CAP

23:19 oh shit. They're not making it to Lisbon, are they?

23:33 whooooa. So not only are they making an emergency landing, they're tossing everyone's stuff. RIP

23:53 the kids have officially met Captain Noland!! I've been waiting for this

23:59 "like rats." I dont like how he said that 😬

24:40 damn, are they about to bargain their maintenance services to dodge maritime court?

25:06 hey, play your cards. Cant hurt to try

25:22 "get us to Lisbon on time, and you go free" daaaaamn. Captain Noland is putting a lot of faith in them, considering this job means so much to him

25:35 the fruit 😂😂

25:50 what happened to "I moved on" hmmm? Hmmmmmm? 🧐 bitch

25:57 whoooa I did NOT like the shifting of his eyes over to Mr B. Super subtle but incredibly effective

26:16 fucking weirdo. Bye

26:36 LMAO IS SHE BUSTING HERSELF OUT IN THE PIE TRUCK

26:52 NICE

26:57 oh good grief they had to do this at night too. Get ready for a jump scare

27:21 daaaamn. Weird, eery.. I guess we'll find out what's going on later?

27:34 eughhh.

27:35 ugh he's doing the thing again with the rods and cones bs

27:47 okay I dont like that mr b is listening like that. Please dont get got

27:49 NO DONT LOOK AT HIM DONT DO IT EUGHGGJ

28:01 NOOO. NOOOOOOOO

28:12 oh shit they got there on time!! Cap looks good in the cap

28:16 OOOH THEY GOT THERE EARLY??? DANG!

28:24 one of those suitcases has the kids in it :) like for sure

28:47 ayyyy, there they are. That was smart!

28:50 awww the hand :) she's not going to accept but the gesture is there

29:00 god that was so sweet

29:04 AWWWW

29:16 AYYYY MARITIME JOB OFFERRRR

29:26 THE SALUTE

29:31 I'm sad to see him go, I want to know more about him!!

29:42 oh THATS why she stole fruit 😂

30:04 them 😂😂😂 give me that sibling dynamic

30:36 fair enough Kate LMAO

30:49 "Mr Benedict is not strong. he's a glass house held together by desperate optimism." Two things:

1. Standing tall and keeping yourself from crumbling when you're constantly in a state of self-sabotage seems like a form of strength to me. It takes so much to keep yourself going when it feels impossible to

2. Damn, she knows him really fucking well 😂

30:55 "that guy? Again?" I mean all of the passengers did have the same docking point, so yeah 😂

30:58 "must be hard to see" she knows he's jealous 🥺

31:08 omg did Sticky talk Reynie up??

31:11 OMG HE DIDDDDD

31:13 HIS BEST FRIEEEEND

31:26 AWWWWWWW

31:28 oh lord here we go again

31:37 this guy again! I dont remember his name

31:44 well yeah, that usually happens when someone's missing

31:48 ohhh I Dont Like that he's using their title, that shows respect for them, which means he's taking their threat seriously. Yikes.

32:04 yep. Yep. It's weird, and he's weird, and unfortunately, he's taking it seriously.

32:12 "I respect them deeply. Deeply enough to... treat them without mercy." BELGUHDOWHDHD EUGHH

32:19 ayyyy this is where the Portuguese on his name card comes into play!

32:21 dang he was really just in plain sight

32:26 I dont like that we cant see the driver

32:44 NO WHY IS HE SMILING DONT PROVE ME RIGHT

32:48 NOOO ITS OVER??? NOOOOOO

Okay I'm fucking shook??? You mean to tell me we have to wait a whole ass WEEK to find out what the hell's happening? Something something the driver works for Curtain, something something Number Two breaks out just to break back in, something something the adults have to improvise

Ahsjdjdjd 🥴 welp, time to scream and theorize. See y'all in discord, love you byeeee

#the mysterious benedict society #mbs disney+ s2 #mbs liveblog #a gold bar in fort knox #charity's talkies

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