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esmamig · 1 year

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Félix Guattari on the micropolitical vs macropolitical.

Source: Machinic Eros

#félix guattari #guattari #machinic eros #deleuze #gilles deleuze #anti oedipus #schizoanalysis #a thousand plateaus

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lesbianlanval · 1 year

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Speaking of misconceptions of the Middle Ages: did you know there were automata in the Byzantine Empire? Imagine time travelling to 8th century Constantinople and you see a fucking robot.

#& in the hellenistic world too but we’re talking Middle Ages #they come in Eros’s palaces in later Byz lit too which is fun. you know what’s erotic. automata #the inherent eroticism of the machine but make it medieval

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general-radix · 11 months

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It’s felt pen doodle page cross-posting time again! This covers pages 283-286.

#original #deus vocatus #machine heart #merfolk #sapphirite nights #heaven sent #lycanomantic #wildland flowers #superhero league #spectrum fighter lightman #pyro heart #cirque du ero #misc #radix art

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neopronouns-in-action · 4 months

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Neopronouns in Action #073: With a Smile

(The title will make sense if I ever actually get around to writing out this whole novel)

11,000 words long. This one will actually be under a read-more because it's so long, lol.

(Archived Read-More Link)

(Read More started here)

- - -

The characters and their pronouns:

Andi: ero/ilas/danajei, used like it/its/itself pronouns:

Replace it with ero, Replace its with ilas, Replace itself with danajei

Example:

"It is going to adopt a new puppy soon, as soon as it gets a fence set up around its yard so the puppy can go outside without it having to walk it. Its uncle is going to help set up the fence, since he has a set of power tools he's letting it use, since it lost its. It's going to buy toys and train the puppy itself."

Becomes:

"Ero is going to adopt a new puppy soon, as soon as ero gets a fence set up around ilas yard so the puppy can go outside without ero having to walk it. Ilas uncle is going to help set up the fence, since he has a set of power tools he's letting ero use, since ero lost ilas. Ero's going to buy toys and train the puppy janadei."

- - -

8301B (pronounced eight-three-oh-one-bee) : she/her/(hers)/herself

"She is going to adopt a new puppy soon, as soon as she gets a fence set up around her yard so the puppy can go outside without her having to walk it. Her uncle is going to help set up the fence, since he has a set of power tools he's letting her use, since she lost hers. She's going to buy toys and train the puppy herself. "

- - -

Proffessor Starfield: hea/ler/(lers)lerself, used like she/her/(hers)/herself pronouns:

Example:

Becomes:

"Hea is going to adopt a new puppy soon, as soon as hea gets a fence set up around ler yard so the puppy can go outside without ler having to walk it. Ler uncle is going to help set up the fence, since he has a set of power tools he's letting ler use, since hea lost lers. Hea's going to buy toys and train the puppy lerself."

- - -

Lera: ido/eis/eiself, used like it/its/itself pronouns

Example:

Becomes:

"Ido is going to adopt a new puppy soon, as soon as ido gets a fence set up around eis yard so the puppy can go outside without ido having to walk it. Eis uncle is going to help set up the fence, since he has a set of power tools he's letting ido use, since ido lost eis. Ido's going to buy toys and train the puppy eiself."

- - -

Echo: zal/az/azself, used like it/its/itself pronouns

Example:

Becomes:

"Zal is going to adopt a new puppy soon, as soon as zal gets a fence set up around az yard so the puppy can go outside without zal having to walk it. Az uncle is going to help set up the fence, since he has a set of power tools he's letting zal use, since zal lost az. Zal's going to buy toys and train the puppy Azself."

- - -

Freedom: ae/ryn/(ryns)/rynself, used most closely like she/her/(hers)/herself pronouns

Example:

Becomes:

"Ae is going to adopt a new puppy soon, as soon as ae gets a fence set up around ryn yard so the puppy can go outside without ryn having to walk it. Ryn uncle is going to help set up the fence, since he has a set of power tools he's letting ryn use, since ae lost ryns. Ae's going to buy toys and train the puppy rynself."

- - -

Drew Morgan: sia/lia/lis/liaself, used like he/him/his/himself pronouns

Example:

"He is going to adopt a new puppy soon, as soon as he gets a fence set up around his yard so the puppy can go outside without him having to walk it. His uncle is going to help set up the fence, since he has a set of power tools he's letting him use, since he lost his. He's going to buy toys and train the puppy himself."

Becomes:

"Sia is going to adopt a new puppy soon, as soon as sia gets a fence set up around lis yard so the puppy can go outside without lia having to walk it. Lis uncle is going to help set up the fence, since he has a set of power tools he's letting lia use, since sia lost lis. Sia's going to buy toys and train the puppy liaself."

- - -

Andi was in pain. Which really, wasn’t anything new.

You’d think ero’d be used to it by now. Wasn’t that how these things were supposed to go?

Turns out you can’t actually get used to pain. It just keeps hurting. You can ignore it sometimes, if you have a million other things to think about, but it doesn’t magically disappear just because you want it to and are desperately telling yourself you’re ‘used to it’.

The one exception to this rule seemed to be the scars Andi still had on ilas neck from Freedom’s teeth. That had hurt at first, but over time, the pain had actually faded, until ero had felt nothing except relief, since it meant they could finally stop walking, if only for a few minutes. It wasn’t that ilas feet hurt, because ero hadn’t been able to feel ilas feet. It was just that walking non-stop became boring and even more literally-mind-numbing than the rest of the universe already was, so doing something different--even if it was just standing still-- had become a reprieve.

But it wasn’t the scars across ilas neck that were hurting Andi right now. No, it was the probably bruised ribs in ilas chest, the definitely dislocated fingers, whatever the hell was wrong with ilas forward left knee and forward right ankle, the all-encompassing squished feeling in ilas thorax, the fact that ero hadn’t been able to sleep properly in three days, and last but certainly not least, the severe dehydration.

Andi could, in fact, remember the last time ero’d had anything to drink. It was the orange juice ero’d ordered at the diner Starfield had taken them all to for breakfast. Or lunch. Dinner? It was impossible to keep track, and none of them really cared.

They went to the diner to get bacon and eggs, or waffles, or other breakfast-y items like that, because Lera hadn’t ever had them before, and by that point they were all starting to get tired of the lack of texture that went with the nutrient-dense capsules 8301B could manufacture. (Thought they were, of course, always delicious).

8301B had landed them in the morning, before the sun had even properly risen, to fit the theme of breakfast, even if morning no longer meant anything to any of them. There was only so much time you could spend in a time machine, hopping from place to place and time to time, before your body was forced to develope a circadian rhythm all its own. By Andi’s level of wakefullness, they’d gone to the diner around “mid-day”.

From the clock on a billboard by the road a short distance away, it was just past 6AM, but that was okay, because the diner was apparently open 24 hours a day, every day of the week (which just seemed unfair) so they didn’t have to wait.

They all put on the masks Starfield insisted they needed to wear during this time period (there was, apparently, a pandemic going on, but Starfield had given all of them species-appropriate vaccines against it, and 8301B would disinfect their clothes when they were done. And 8301B had disinfected the 100-ft area around herself as they landed, and would keep disinfecting it until they left. And Starfield was carrying a dozen different forms of vaccinations that hea was planning to give to the staff.) They just strolled right in, and then a server then lead them right back outside to some tables and chairs that had been set up on the sidewalk next to where 8301B had been parked, currently invisible, and projecting an aura to pervent anyone from running into her by accident.

Apparently there were multiple signs on the diner’s door that asked patrons to wait outside (to prevent the spread of the virus going around), but neither Andi nor Starfield could see them, and Lera and the kids couldn’t read them. The staff were very accommodating, though, and didn’t seem upset once they understood the problem. It helped that Andi and Starfield both had their new white canes with them.

The only reaction their server had to Lera was to compliment eis on eis makeup. That was the usual reaction people who didn’t know about aliens had when they met Lera, assuming that ido was wearing extensive makeup, or a costume. Ido received far more compliments than ido ever did fearful reactions. The rest of the kids had their appearances hidden through the same sort of trick that let 8301B appear to be invisible, their part-human / Idolun-matrix and actual direct Idolun ancestry helping to cement the illusion, which would never be able to work for Lera.

The only time people figured out ido was really an alien was when they’d already been dealing with other aliens for several hours, or were aliens themselves, and it suddenly dawned on them that maybe, just maybe, the color-shifting person covered in scales and horns wasn’t just wearing a complicated, high-tech outfit just for the fun of it.

The waiter had helpfully listed off the choices of drinks available when Starfield explained that Lera and the kids were still learning to read English, and that they would need help with the menus.

Starfield and Andi both ordered orange juice, Lera ordered hot chocolate, and the kids ordered an assortment ranging from root beer to chocolate milk to lemonade to water.

And the rest, after that? ...That was all a bit blurry. And what Andi could remember clearly, ero’d rather not think about.

The important thing now was that they all were back in 8301B, and for now at least they were safe. The doors were locked, and not even a van full of heavily-armed extremists would be able to get them open.

Starfield was still in a healing trance, but hea was in the medical bay where hea was safe if anything went wrong, and the last time Andi had checked, Lera was watching over ler.

Andi was in the entreance room, draped across one of the floor cushions on ilas back, wishing 8301B could just magically teleport ero to ilas master bathroom so ero could take a nice, long bath to rehydrate and relax in without actually having to move.

It had rained at one point the day before while they were outside, and they’d gotten completely soaking wet, which was the only reason Andi was still conscious and able to function at the moment, if only barely.

Their captors had given them water, but not enough, and Andi wished they had more ablebodied adults on board 8301B with them, if only so ero could ask someone to bring it some water. Or to find a hover bed so ero could get to ilas room.

Freedom was aboard, of course, and so were the younger children children, but they were asleep, or at least Andi hoped they were, and ero didn’t want to wake them, or let them realize just how badly hurt ero and Starfield were. They’d had enough stress to deal with in their short lives so far, and Andi would rather get kidnapped again than add to that list. Not that getting kidnapped would help the situation at all. Freedom, of course, didn’t sleep, and was far more aware of the perils of their life than Andi wanted, since that had been unavoidable. But ero wasn’t going to increase that stress if ero could help it.

So what was Andi’s plan? Ilas plan was to lie there on the floor, and not move, and hope Lera decided to wander back to the interface room sometime soon.

::You know, I can get eis attention for you…:: 8301B said softly, just a whisper in Andi’s mind.

8301B’s voice, even her mental voice, was still raspy and hoarse, and Andi could feel the effort that she had to put in to say even that much.

Well now Andi couldn’t just say no, could it? Not when 8301B was going through this much effort to help.

“Oh, alright,” Ero relented, slumping further into the large cushion, “But only if ido’s sure Starfield’s not going to wake up and wander off before ler memory has rebooted to who knows where as soon as ido leaves the room. I’m sorry, but I’m in no condition to be trekking around in your halls looking for ler for hours on end.”

::Yes, I can see that. Don’t worry, I’ll put an alarm on the door, that should alert me if hea decides to go for a walk.::

Should being the operative word there. It should alert her if Starfield decided to leave the room. But 8301B still wasn’t fully recovered from what had happened to her, and maybe she never would fully recover. Andi knew ero sure wouldn’t. Starfield might, because hea could always connect to the Idolun genetic matrix and heal lerself, but there were no guarantees that would be able to fix anything.

These weren’t normal injuries they’d all been inflicted with, and most physicians - - mechanical, organic, and sympheric alike - - couldn’t even see that anything was damaged at all, let alone figure out a way to heal it.

According to all the hundreds of scans they’d tried before giving up, there was absolutely nothing wrong with Andi’s eyes, or ilas brain. According to all rules except for the ones being expressed by reality, both should be working perfectly fine. There was no physical change to explain why all ero could see, even with ilas eyes closed, was white static.

The machines couldn’t even scan ilas insectoid thorax. It just showed up as blank on all the scanners they tried. Just ilas torso, and nothing else. Like ero was just a human from the chest upward, with nothing to support it in the air. Some species had trouble even looking at Andi now, it gave them a headache if they tried.

Fortunately (and unfortunately, sometimes, like yesterday), humans were not included in this category.

Andi was busy trying to imagine what it would be like to actually go home and meet ilas parents again, talk to ilas si--ilas siblings--again, when 8301B suddenly shocked ero.

It wasn’t painful, but Andi heard the spark, and ilas hand, the one hand that had been touching the floor, jolted numb for half a second as Andi gasped in surprise and confusion, bolting upright with strength ero didn’t know ero still had.

“Wha⏤”

::Hide! Andi, hide! Someone is breaking through the door, and I can’t stop them! They’re moving quickly, they’re going to be through in less than a minute! The energy I’ve given you will wear off soon, you must use this time to hide!::

There was panic in 8301B’s voice, and Andi suddenly found danajei on ilas feet, energized like ero wasn’t about to pass out from physical and mental stress.

Ilas head whipped around, struggling to reorient danajei in the room so ero could find somewhere that would shield ero from view from the door.

::Forward and to your left, two steps each, the tall bookcase--!:: 8301B said frantically, her voice devolving into static on the last word.

Andi lunged to follow the directions, two steps forward, and two steps to the left, and ended up knocking into the edge of the bookshelf in question, but ero found the back panel of the floor-to-ceiling shelf and shoved danajei behind it, flattening danajei against it, counting the touch of ilas toes against the wood so ero could be sure all of ero was hidden.

Ero couldn’t hear any noises coming from 8301B’s door, but ero could feel 8301B humming anxiously beneath ero, and knew ero wouldn’t have to wait long for whoever or whatever was out there to get in. Whoever they were, they were terrifyingly efficient. 8301B hadn’t picked them up on any of the scanners until they were literally about to break down the door. The door that not even a ship full of Vikings could break down. Well, the good news was this probably wasn’t a ship full of Vikings.

It only took a few seconds, though those two seconds seemed to stretch into eternity as Andi’s mind frantically raced through the possibilities, wondering what ero could do, what ero should do, how long this boost of energy would last, what would happen when it faded, how this wasn’t fair, Andi’d thought ero’d at least get a chance to rest before the next disaster - -

The door opened with a soft creak as the only sound to give away how hard 8301B was trying to keep it shut, and a voice outside gasped in what Andi could only assume was wonder.

“Oh - - oh my, Professor, what have you done with the place…” A deep voice said as their footsteps echoed on the floor with sharp clicks like metal against stone. “This is - - I can’t believe he’s hid this from me this whole time!” the voice was growing louder as it came further into the interface room, approaching the center interface.

8301B’s humming increased in pitch.

Andi needed to act fast, before whoever this was did anything. Ero couldn’t let them get to the interface, ero needed to stop them. If 8301B were capable of speaking to direct ero right now, she would have done it by now, so ero needed to figure something else out.

Where had ero put ilas telegogs? Ero could still hear the person walking, the tapping ringing out clearly. Like they were circling the interface, like they were wearing heels or something. Where had ero put ilas telegogs? Ero’d sat them down somewhere, but where - -

Andi wracked ilas brain, trying to remember the sequence of events. Ero’d come in, and Lera had carried Starfield to the medical bay. Andi’d had only enough energy to trudge to ilas favorite cushion. The telegogs had teleported to ero as soon as ero set foot in the door, but ero hadn’t needed or wanted them, so ero’d tossed them - -

Yes! Ero’d tossed them towards the bookshelf, the same bookshelf ero was hiding behind now. They would just teleport back to ero whenever it passed through a doorway, or the halfway point of a room, so ero hadn’t bothered with keeping them on ero. Ero hadn’t been expecting someone to break into 8301B not even an hour after they got back to her.

Could Andi get to the telegogs without whoever was in the room seeing ero? They didn’t bother to keep as many light sources active these days, since Andi didn’t need them, they weren’t much help to Starfield, and Lera and most of the kids could see in the dark just fine. And Freedom of course didn’t have eyes to begin with.

But that would require getting around to the front of the bookshelf, and then taking the time to feel around to find them, and if the intruder turned to look, they’d see ero. It was too risky.

There wasn’t any more time to think. The person, whoever they were, had stopped at the interface, and Andi needed to stop them. If ero didn’t, there was no telling what sort of horrible things would happen to them all.

In a split second, Andi decided, almost purely on instinct, that ero wasn’t going to bother trying to get the telegogs. Ero could hear where the person was, and that was all the information ero needed. You didn’t need to be precise to tackle someone. If they just so happened to be covered in poisonous barbs or spines, then Andi would find that out the hard way after 8301B was safe.

8301B heard what ero was planning, and managed to think through her panic enough to help. The humming beneath Andi disappeared, but now ero could feel it thundering in the center of the room, concentrated -- Andi was guessing -- right below the feet of whoever was standing over there.

“What in the world?” The intruder yelped, “What are you doing, you silly old - -”

Andi didn’t hear the rest of that sentence, because ero was too busy tearing out from behind the bookcase and sprinting across the room towards the souce of the noise as quickly as ero could, praying ero didn’t crash into any tables or shelves. Ero did slam partly into the arm of a large cushioned chair, but ero was moving too quickly to let that stop ero.

The thundering in the floor was suddenly directly in front of ero, and the voice gasped again, the sound of it changing as though they’d spun to face Andi, right as ero reared onto ilas back four legs, and swung as hard as ero could with ilas front two.

Ero felt the impact as first ilas left, then ilas right foreleg collided with something hard, and barely a moment later, there was a thudding sound as something crashed to the floor.

And then Andi fell to the floor as ilas front legs seized in pain, and that squished feeling in ilas thorax from before? Had now been promoted to a sharp, stabbing pain in ilas side that made ero thank every god ever worshiped that ero didn’t actually have any lungs that could be punctured down there.

Which just made the stabbing pain in ilas chest, where ero definitely had lungs that could be punctured, all the more concerning. But ero would deal with that later.

Andi lay there on ilas side for a few stunned moments, trying to catch ilas breath from where it had been knocked out of ero, wincing when each inhale came with a small spike of pain, trying to figure out if they were still in danger or if they were about to all die in a fiery explosion or if the person had been covered in poisonous barbs and ero’d been fatally poisoned and just hadn’t noticed yet.

8301B had stopped humming, so the only sounds Andi could hear was ilas own ragged breathing and the rush of blood in ilas ears.

Ero didn’t think ero’d been poisoned, and no one was attacking ero, or screaming, or attacking 8301B, or doing any other horrible things, so after a few moments where nothing horrible happened, Andi guessed that it was safe to assume ero’d succeeded in knocking the intruder out.

Okay.

Now what?

“Are you okay?” Ero asked, starting to cautiously push danajei into a sitting position - - then ero remembered what 8301B had said about the boost of energy only lasting a few minutes, and laid hastily back down so that when the energy wore off - - and ero could only assume it would do so abruptly - - ero wouldn’t fall over again.

Unable to think of any better options, ero sighed and began pulling danajei slowly across the floor, trying to move away from the hopefully-unconscious intruder. If Andi was going possibly to pass out any second now, ero’d rather do it away from the person with hostile intentions rather than right next to them.

One of ilas feet brushed what ero assumed was the person’s fallen body as ero started to crawl away, and Andi recoiled instinctively. Then, when nothing happened, gently poked them again, this time on purpose, with one claw, hoping to get at least a little bit of information.

Ero could feel what might have been fabric, and something with a bit of a give beneath, like skin, but nothing helpful. A lot of species wore clothes. A lot of species had squishy skin. That didn’t tell Andi anything helpful at all besides that this person was maybe not an insectoid. But then again, if you poked Andi in the shoulder, you wouldn’t have any way of knowing ero had the lower half of an insectoid either, so even that didn’t really tell ero anything for sure.

Andi army-crawled along the floor, trying to put distance between ero and the intruder, glad the stone floor was cushioned by overlapping rugs.

The room was wider on one side than the other, so the interface wasn’t actually in the middle of the room. Andi had to go just a little bit further, and - - ahaha! Andi knew ero’d crossed the middle point of the room, because the telegogs had teleported to ero, and were now perched on ilas forehead.

Knowing ero was probably going to regret this later, Andi reached up and pulled them down over ilas eyes, and felt the tiny pin-pricks of familiar pain as the small nodes along the frame connected with ilas mind.

It took half a second for the images to form, and then suddenly Andi could see, the images projected directly into ilas mind from 8301B’s sensors. It wasn’t the way ero would have seen with ilas normal eyes had they not been blind, because 8301B didn’t see with human eyes, she saw with mechanical sensors that had been created by Cawfroans and Idoluns. But Andi had used these often enough by now that ero could almost perfectly understand what they showed ero.

The floor beneath ero was glowing dark blue, the table ero was behind was orange, and every book on every shelf was a myriad of colors as ero turned ilas head back towards the interface.

There was a figure sprawled on the floor right where ero’d thought they’d be. Andi could see the fabric of what appeared to be a dress, and long, curly hair. They weren’t moving, which was good, and with a thought, Andi set the imager to show ero an internal scan.

Ero’d done this more than enough times now that ero didn’t jump when the person’s internal organs and veins suddenly became visible, the fabric of the dress fading into background noise, but ero did feel ilas heart rate spike when ero saw not one, but two hearts beating slowly in the figure’s chest.

No, no, Andi didn’t need to panic, there were lots of species in the universe who had two hearts. Ero’d met many of them. There was no reason to assume this was an Idolun just because they had two hearts.

Except, of course, for the fact that they had terrible luck, and it probably was an Idolun bounty hunter just because the universe wanted to spite them. The universe really should be more grateful, they’d saved its life after all...

And 8301B still hadn’t responded in any way to Andi’s question, so that probably wasn’t a good sign.

Andi told the telegogs to analyze the intruder’s lifesigns, and a moment later, a transparent box popped up to inform ero that the person was, both in fact and unfortunately, an Idolun.

But the good news was they were unconscious, and by 8301B’s estimates, wouldn’t wake up for at least half an hour.

Knocking an Idolun unconscious wasn’t as dangerous as knocking out a human or any other non-genetically-enhanced species, because an Idolun would automatically go into a healing trance to heal the damage.

Sometimes, like when it was Starfield being knocked violently unconscious by a blow that would have killed a human for sure, that was a good thing, because hea would probably be right as rain as soon as hea woke up.

Sometimes, like right now, that was a bad thing.

8301B didn’t recognize this Idolun’s current iteration, but Andi could see through the telegogs that 8301B was busy calculating their age so they could at least guess if this one in particular was going to be causing problems.

Well, more problems than they had already caused by breaking in and trying to kidnap them all, which didn’t bode well for anyone.

[[They’re thirty Earth years.]] 8301B finally reported through the telegog’s interface, the words appearing as text rather than sound. It was easier for her to communicate this way, but unfortunately, this wasn’t as easy for Andi. Ero could only wear the telegogs for short intervals, no longer than an hour at a time, otherwise ero would get a splitting headache.

Which wasn’t how they were supposed to work, but ever since Andi had fused with Starfield, and then been torn apart and stitched back together by the Phiartins, things tended not to work the way they were supposed to when it came to ilas physiology.

Andi took a moment to actually digest what 8301B had said, confused and alarmed. They’re thirty Earth years…

“But - -” Ero started, “But for an Idolun, that’s - - that’s just a child, isn’t it? Did I just knock a child unconscious?”

[[A child who broke down my door and was about to kidnap me.]] 8301B reminded ero. [[A child that could be working for the Celestial Intervention Agency[!], or worse. I wouldn’t put it past them, and neither should you. Don’t feel bad, they’ll be fine, they’re already healing.]]

To prove it, 8301B faded out the rest of the room to show Andi a more detailed scan of the unconscious Idolun child, with bars showing the damage ero had done, and the rate at which that damage was healing. Andi’d had done quite a bit of damage, and seeing it up close would probably have sickened ero if ero were younger and less well-traveled. Ero could actually see the pieces of the person’s brain and skull and spine knitting back together.

Andi didn’t regret hitting them. Ero did’t. Ero couldn’t let anyone kidnap 8301B, or take them to who knows where. But this was a child, and ero couldn’t help feeling guilty, even if 8301B enlarged the map of their brain to show that they would be perfectly healed within less than thirty minutes to make doubly sure ero had seen it.

“We need to get some stun guns or something to keep in here.” Andi said, as 8301B let the detailed scans fade away so the rest of the room became visible again. “I wouldn’t want to kill someone by accident.” Not to mention it felt like ero’d broken something using ilas front legs like a battering ram. Or those twin stabbing sensations that still hadn’t gone away.

Ero especially wouldn’t want to kill a child by accident. Especially not a child this young. Starfield had told ero about ler species, and about being genetically engineered on top of that, had answered ilas questions, so Andi knew that for an Idolun, 30 years old was...was…

Ero put ilas head in ilas hands, and told the telegogs to turn off everything except 8301B’s communications. The world returned to its normal white static, and ero groaned to danajei in aggravation.

Ero didn’t want to be sitting here trying to figure out how to articulate the differences in life spans and ages between species when the differences didn’t translate over.

The human equivalent of an Idolun who was 30 years old was an infant who couldn’t even walk yet, let alone break into and try to steal a living ship. It didn’t translate exactly, because the species weren’t interchangeable. But that didn’t change the fact that this was a child, who should be at home, or at school, somewhere safe being watched over by adults.

They should not be on Earth of all places, breaking into living ships they weren’t welcome in and trying to kidnap them!

“Where are your parents?” Andi muttered angrily, dropping back down to lie flat on the floor. Ero could feel the very beginnings of a headache coming on on top of all the other pains, and could only guess that the boost of energy 8301B had given ero for the emergency was about to wear off, and...

Oh, shit. Ero bolted upright. “The doors!” Ero cried, “Are they still open?” Ero swung ilas head, and set the telegogs back on and told them to show ero 8301B’s exit doors.

They were shut, but they weren’t locked. And 8301B couldn’t lock them herself, which meant either Andi had to get over there and lock them, or just anyone walking down the street could come over and walk in if they had enough Idolun-matrix in their makeup to resist the illusion and be curious enough to investigate. That had happened more than a few times.

[[Echo is on az way to the interface room.]] 8301B reassured ero, [[I’m not detecting any other life signs in the immediate area besides the normal wildlife. You should lie down, we don’t want you falling again when the energy I gave you wears off. Echo can lock the doors and secure the prisoner.]]

Andi resisted the urge to groan again, and not just with pain this time, and 8301B knew why. And even if she hadn’t already known why, she could see the resulting spike in Andi’s hormone levels. She said, since there was nothing else she could say, [[I’m sorry.]]

“It’s not your fault.” Andi said back, waving a suddenly-numb hand to dismiss the apology. It wasn’t 8301B’s fault, and there was nothing that could be done about it, so there was no use in complaining.

Except for the part where Andi enjoyed complaining, of course. Ero had had ilas fill of holding ilas tongue long before they escaped the lab they’d been imprisoned in by Valor Nosliar, and ero wasn’t planning on going back any time soon.

Andi would rather have ilas legs cut off all over again than ever interact with Echo again for as long as ero lived, but...well, there wasn’t really any way for ero to avoid that just at the moment.

Normally, when Echo was out, Andi would leave the room, or go to the opposite side of 8301B, or lock danajei in ilas own room, but that wasn’t an option right now.

“If I pass out,” Ero grumbled, knowing ero didn’t have the strength to pull danajei any further away from the interface. “Don’t let az even look at me.”

[[I’ll make sure zal doesn’t.]]

And sure enough, Andi could feel ilas perception fading as the extra energy began to dissipate, leaving ero feeling even more exhausted than ero’d been before.

The world slowly faded to black, the only other color ero could see naturally these days, as ero lost consciousness.

[[INSERT LINEBREAK HERE]]

When Andi next awoke, ero found that ero was lying on ilas favorite floor cushion again instead of the floor, and for a few, hope-filled moments, ero wondered if ero had just been a really annoying dream, so that ero could forget about it and go back to sleep.

But the telegogs were still over ilas eyes, and when ero activated them on the lower setting, ero saw 8301B’s message, which read, [[The intruder has been tied up and is still in a healing trance. You were only asleep for twenty minutes. Freedom followed Echo here to make sure you were alright, and lifted you to the cushion. Ae went to check on Starfield when Lera came out, but ae’ll be back soon. Lera went to get water for you.]]

Andi wanted to go back to sleep. Ero really wanted to go back to sleep. Especially because the headache that had been brewing from using the telegogs was still there. It wasn’t to the point where ero would need to take them off right this instant, but it was still pain, however slight, and ero would rather not have to deal with it, especially since it knew it would only get worse the longer ero wore them.

But ero didn't have much choice right now.

Why did it seem like Andi never had a choice in anything?

Ero sighed and cautiously, slowly sat up again, feeling the still very much present stabbing sensations in ilas human chest and insectoid thorax, and the bruises that were most certainly forming on ilas front legs. Ilas entire body hurt, some of it quite a bit, but as long as nothing got worse, Andi was pretty sure ero would be able to stand, as long as ero knew Lera was going to be back with water some time soon.

And once Lera was back, there would be nothing stopping Andi from just actually going to sleep for the next day. Or two. Or three. Ero could hope. Lera hadn’t been physically injured during the last incident, so, naturally it was eis turn to stand watch with 8301B while Andi and Starfield slept.

Well, Starfield wasn’t sleeping, hea was in a healing trance, but it was pretty much the same thing for an Idolun. Andi knew that at some point soon ero would need to find danajei in the medical bay as well, so that 8301B and hopefully the awake and healed Starfield would be able to check over ilas injuries and make sure nothing was going to cause permanent damage.

The stabbing sensation in ilas chest whenever ero breathed in was very ominous, and Andi would only be able to ignore that for so long.

But hopefully it would only be a little bit longer.

Andi switched the telegogs to the normal setting and looked around, realizing belatedly that ilas favorite cushion had been moved to where ero was, rather than the other way around.

Andi was only six or so feet away from the center interface, which was worrying, until ero realized that the intruder-child had been moved to the far side of the room. Ero could see them easily, because 8301B had highlighted them in bright yellow with a black shadow to make them stand out. Andi set the telegogs to zoom, and saw that they’d been tied to one of the arm chairs with restraining cable.

The reactive cable would keep them safely secured without cutting off blood flow or restricting their breathing...Assuming they didn’t have some way of deactivating the cable the way they’d cut through 8301B’s other defenses like they didn’t exist.

[[They should be waking up any minute now,]] 8301B said, [[They’ve finished healing.]]

Right.

Andi should probably go over there so ero could interrogate them. Or at least find out where their parents were.

Maybe this was all just a misunderstanding. They were just a little kid, after all, maybe they’d thought this living ship was friends with their parents, maybe they’d come here trying to find their parents…

Except a kid who was looking for their parents wouldn’t go breaking down the door on a living ship. It was impossible to mistake 8301B for anything else, not even another crystal-form, because her exterior was just too unique. No one else had fallen through that rift in space and survived, no one else bore the mind-bending scars of that journey. There was no way you could think 8301B was another ship. The pieces just didn’t add up to this being an innocent misunderstanding.

Andi couldn’t remember what the kid had said when they came in, but ero remembered that it sounded overly familiar, like they already knew 8301B, but were expecting something different. It was always possible, of course, when you lived in a ship who could travel through time...

Andi pushed danajei to ilas feet, feeling like ilas bones were weighed down with bricks, and began the slow and painful trudge over to the other side of the room, using the telegog’s display to navigate around the tables and chairs, wishing ero had ilas cane. That at least didn’t give ero a headache.

But ilas cane had been stolen, again, and ero got the feeling that this time, no helpful bystanders were going to be kind enough to find and return it. There were more in 8301B’s storage room, but that was up a flight of stairs that Andi didn’t have the time or energy to climb right now.

Hopefully before the next disaster struck they would be able to get those automatic furniture alarms Starfield had been speculating about. They would be placed on each piece of furniture, and would have a sensor field, and when Andi or Starfield or whoever else needed them got within that sensor field, the alarm would inform them of how close they were to it, and what it was.

But they’d already been interrupted from going to get those twice now, so Andi wasn’t going to hold ilas breath about getting them anytime soon.

Thankfully, there was another floor cushion not far from where the child was restrained, and Andi gratefully sank into it. 8301B didn’t even need to be asked before she set the cushion so that it radiated a gentle heat that helped chase away some of the aches and pains. Andi flopped over onto ilas side and curled into the warm pillow, promising danajei ero would sit up and act serious once the kid actually woke up.

Ero didn’t mean to fall asleep again, but ero must have, because the next thing Andi knew ero was startling awake, and the kid was yelling at ero at what had to be the top of their lungs.

“Who do you think you are?!” they shouted, voice so loud it seemed to peirce straight through Andi’s head right to where the headache from the telegogs usually formed, “How dare you! Do you have any idea who I am? Untie me at once, I demand it!”

They continued yelling similar things in what appeared to be a American accent of some kind, but that wasn’t useful information either, because Starfield had an australian accent despite not being from Earth at all, let alone Australia.

8301B’s translation circuits tended to give people any kind of accent Andi was used to hearing, either on the radio, television, or the people ero had interacted with before leaving Earth. Even Echo and Lera seemed to have British accents, though of course they didn’t really. That was just impossible.

With the telegogs, Andi could see that the kid was struggling against the restraining cable, which ero decided to take as a good sign that they weren’t actually capable of disabling it easily. If they could, they probably would have done that before they started yelling so they could have the element of surprise on their side.

Unless they were just too impulsive to plan ahead that far, which was possible, considering this was a kid.

Andi pressed ilas hands over ilas ears to block out the shouting, and snapped, “Enough of that! I’m the one who should be asking the questions around here!”

The telegogs were showing that the kid had closed their mouth and was now glaring rather than shouting, so Andi lowered ilas hands from ilas ears, and ground out, “Now, no one here wants to hurt you, but you broke into 8301B and were going to kidnap her. We had no choice but to restrain you. But if you tell us who you are, and where your parents are, we will bring you to them, and you’ll be free to go, no harm done.”

Andi was making this all up on the fly, still hoping against hope that this would be an easy problem to solve, born not out of malice, but just a simple, innocent misunderstanding, or maybe a prank.

Even though ero knew that the odds of an Idolun child being on Earth for any good reason was slim to none. And it was absurd to think you could mistake 8301B for anyone else. And their luck wasn’t that good to start with. But Andi could at least pretend to be optimistic.

The kid scoffed loudly, then did it again. Then scoffed a third time. They seemed to be at a loss for words. Or maybe they just enjoyed scoffing incredulously.

Now that the kid was awake, and Andi didn’t feel like ero was going to pass out, ero actually had the chance to finally get a good look at the child currently tied to the chair.

The telegogs distorted the colors, but ero could see that they had long, very curly hair that hung out around their head like a halo, and they were indeed wearing a dress, one that was sleeveless, with thin straps, and a long skirt as the lower part.

So either they’d come from a party, or they just enjoyed getting all fancy before they went around trying to kidnap people.

Or rather, their parents made them dress all fancily before they went around trying to kidnap people.

It was just starting to occur to Andi that someone might use a child like this as bait. There was every possibility that this kid’s parents weren’t looking for them, but rather knew exactly where they were, and this was where they wanted them to be.

The child was now just staring at Andi, and if ero could trust the telegogs to translate their expression correctly, they were incredulous and angry.

Andi was starting to get a headache in earnest now, and mentally shut the telegogs off, and set them to only turn on to the lowest power setting if and when 8301B had something to say.

The familiar white static took over the world again, and the pain in ilas head lessed by a tiny fraction, but not by enough. Ero shouldn’t have slept with the telegogs on, even for a few minutes. That had been a mistake.

A few moments passed in silence, and the child still hadn’t answered the question at all.

“If you just tell me where your parents are,” Andi repeated, trying to keep ilas voice gentle and reassuring despite the pounding headache taking up residence in ilas head, “We’ll bring you to them, and we can just forget this whole little misadventure. We won’t even tell them you tried to kidnap 8301B.”

“I’m sorry,” The child said, not sounding sorry at all, “How old, exactly, do you think I am?”

Oh, Andi should have known they’d try to pull this. “I know you’re an Idolun.” ero said firmly, not in the mood to humor them and let this conversation drag out needlessly. Even normal Cawfroans had longer lifespans than humans.

“And I know you’re thirty.” For someone who didn’t know how Idoluns or Cawfroans worked, they would appear to be an adult human. But that was simply not the case. Regular Cawfroans could live for up to 200 years, and many lived to be 300! As for the genetically-engineered Idoluns, there was no known limit to their natural lifespan yet. Starfield was over a thousand years old, hea’d said, give or take a few centuries.

(Andi couldn’t fault ler for not knowing the exact number – at this point, ero wasn’t sure how old ero was either. That was one of the many consequences of traveling through time nonstop.)

The child scoffed again and exclaimed, “Alright then! Yes, I am thirty! So why, exactly, are you acting like I’m a child? I’m probably older than you are!”

(Now that was a statement that would have been funny if it wasn’t so tragic)

Apparently Andi hadn’t been blunt enough. “You are a thirty year old Idolun.” Ero repeated sternly, unintentionally slipping into the voice ero used when ilas kids were throwing tantrums, “You are a child. I know how your species works, don’t bother trying to convince me you’re an adult because we both know you’re not.” Another thought occurred to ero, suddenly. “Are you - - look, are you running away from home, or something? Because if you are, we don’t have to take you to your parents, you can give us directions to some friends of yours or other adults you trust, or - -”

“I am an adult! What is wrong with you?” Again the child was shouting, and again they were trying to pull this trick that wasn’t going to work. Which was odd in and of itself, because that meant they’d been around humans, or at least other species with shorter-than-Cawfroan lifespans long enough to know they could fool people into thinking they were an adult.

Andi closed ilas eyes in sheer exasperation, though that didn’t have any effect on the white static. “8301B, could you please display for this person their age next to a Cawfroan’s expected lifespan, please? Just so they can see it, I've already got a headache.”

8301B made a clicking noise to signal affirmative rather than reactivate Andi’s telegogs, and ero knew she had created a display where the kid could see it.

“Look,” Andi said, while the kid was hopefully busy reading the display, “My name is Alexandra, but you can call me Andi. What’s your name? Will you at least tell me your name? My pronouns are ero/ilas/danajei, and 8301B here uses she/her/hers/herself.”

There was a pause, then the kid replied, sounding exasperated, “My name is Drew Morgan. My pronouns are sia/lia/lia/lis/liaself.”

Alright, now they were getting somewhere. They were speaking civilly. That was a good start.

Andi tried to remember what questions ero should be asking besides the obvious ‘where are your parents’, and came up blank.

Thankfully, Drew Morgan decided to ask a question of lia own. “Where is Professor Starfield? This is his timeship, I know it is.”

“8301B is Starfield’s friend, hea doesn’t own ler.” Andi corrected automatically, “And Starfield uses hea/ler/lerself pronouns right now.”

“Really?” There was amusement in lia voice. “That’s pretentious.”

Oh, Divergence, help me.

Andi was rescued from where that conversation was heading by the arrival of Freedom, thank gods.

“Mama, I’ve brought you an entire tub of water!” Freedom called out as ae entered the interface room, keeping up a steady undercurrent of humming that allowed Andi to track ryn progress through the room.

Ero could hear the quiet slosh of the water in the tub as it was carried closer, and could only imagine the expression that had to be on Drew Morgan’s face at what it had to look like for someone who could see.

“Thank you, Freedom,” Andi said as ilas daughter came to a stop just over ilas cushion, “You can set it down next to me here, there should be enough room.”

“There is, I made sure before I brought it!” Freedom replied cheerfully, and Andi heard the soft thunk as the tub was set down on the stone floor.

Andi reached out a hand in the same direction, and sure enough, ilas fingers found the warm side of the largest of the plasticrete bathtubs. Ero could tell which one it was because each of them was engraved with a different pattern. This one had a repeating pattern of cross-thatches that were familiar under ilas hands, since this one was ilas favorite. It was big enough that it could practically be considered a swimming pool.

“Do you want me to lift you in?” Freedom asked in a whisper, hovering so close that Andi heard ryn voice like it came from ilas own head. Ae clearly didn’t want Drew Morgan to hear, incase Andi was embarrassed.

Andi contemplated the question only for a moment. Yes, ero could probably climb into the tub by danajei. No it wouldn’t be fun. And there was nothing embarrassing about needing help moving. “Yes please, and thank you.” Ero said.

Ero felt Freedom wrap around ilas chest and thorax like a gentle blanket, and a moment later the floor disappeared.

It would have been frightening, if Andi hadn’t been long used to this. There had been many situations where Freedom had had to carry ero, and sometimes Starfield as well. And sometimes ae just did it for fun. Freedom enjoyed the fact that ae was bigger and stronger than both ryn parents combined.

They’d never actually tested the limits of ryn strength, mainly because neither Andi nor Starfield wanted to risk Freedom getting hurt if ae over-exerted rynself. But ae had no trouble lifting Andi.

Andi was lowered gently into the warm water and released when ilas feet touched the bottom. Ilas thorax immediately began filtering the water, pulling it in to rejuvinate dehydrated cells, and using it to flush out the accumulated stress hormones and waste products of the past three days.

It tasted like oranges, which meant Freedom had added one of Andi’s flavored nutrition tabs.

They’d gotten them from a hospital in the year 5B24-ALE on New Earth, which was also one of the first placed they’d gone after sneaking back into the universe. The hospital in New53.5 Hamshir was one of the highest regarded facilities in all of history across all of the universe, and that was saying something.

But they still hadn’t been able to scan Andi’s drex half or ilas brain. The only reason the staff had been able to create nutrition tabs for ero at all had been because ero and Starfield (but mostly Starfield) had memorized the chemical and molecular formulas the drex scientists had provided for them. And as soon as they’d had the opportunity, they’d written them down and added them to 8301B’s databanks.

Andi now had a permanent device implanted in ilas arm that could be scanned by any relatively advanced scanners when ero had it set to open signal, and it would list off for the scanner what ilas nutritional requirements were, as well as a basic list of what not to do, like leaving it in a dry or cold room. It was the high-tech version of a medical bracelet.

Drexi needed to submerge themselves in water preferably at least once a day, and could go for five days without, though that was the equivalent of a human going three days without drinking any water.

If Andi ever went more than five days without submerging danajei in water, ero would die from blood poisoning from the toxins that naturally built up as a byproduct of, well, being alive.

Humans and other species on Earth had solved this problem by evolving to have a liver and kidneys. Ancient drex ancestors had opted to outsource for the solution.

And while Andi’s human organs still worked fine as of the last time anyone had checked, they just weren’t capable of filtering the toxins created in ilas drex half, not only because of the sheer volume, but also because ilas human organs just wouldn’t know what to do with them.

Andi sank down until the warm water was up to ilas neck, smiling in relief. The pain in ilas front legs was already beginning to fade, now that the healing process could finally begin. Ilas chest still hurt, because the water couldn’t do anything to heal ilas human half, but the stabbing sensation in ilas thorax already felt noticeably better.

Andi still had no idea what had caused it, but this was probably a good sign. Maybe it had simply been caused by dehydration. Ero could hope.

They hadn’t exactly had time to stop and have an in-depth talk with the drex scientists that had rescued them. 8301B had managed to escape for a few seconds, and had materialized in an attempt to get their help, but was recaptured almost immediately, before any of them could do more than lurch in her direction.

Andi still felt guilty for not being able to rescue her.

8301B never talked about what had happened to her, not to Andi, at least. Ero hoped she at least talked to Starfield, or someone. At least Andi had Lera to relate to, they’d both gone through the same horror. 8301B had no one.

Andi didn’t know as much as ero should about the drex half of ilas biology, but ero knew enough not to die, and that was pretty much as good as it was going to get. It wasn’t like they could call the drexi up and just ask. Not anymore.

Andi knew that the longer ero went without immersing danajei in water, the slower and weaker ilas body’s responses would become. Ero wouldn’t be able to heal as quickly, ero wouldn’t gain as many nutrients and calories from food, and sleep wouldn’t be as restful.

Ero knew that the water wouldn’t make ilas headache magically disappear, since the headache was caused by divergent-human/Idolun incompatibility issues, not human/drex incompatibility issues.

Andi also knew that ero got colder now more easily than a human would, and that ero needed to sleep less often now than ero had before, though there wasn’t any guarantee that that was an effect of it being part drex, rather than the fact that it was also part Idolun now.

It was only when Drew Morgan asked, “Excuse me, I’m sorry, what is happening right now?” that Andi remembered sia was even there. Ero’d started falling asleep again.

Oops.

Andi was very easily distracted when ero had nice, warm, fruit-flavored water to bask in.

Especially when it had been several stress-filled days since ero had last been able to bathe.

Thankfully, Freedom came to ilas rescue again so ero was free to continue lounging in the water as ae explained, “Mama has had a very stressful last few days, and wasn’t able to get to any water, which is very bad for ilas health.” Ryn voice grew darker, higher, threatening, “They just got back to 8301B when you broke in, so I hope you have a very good explanation for your behavior, because I don’t take kindly to people threatening my parents, or their safety.”

Uh-oh, that was coming on a little strong.

Andi resurfaced enough to protest, “Freedom, you- -”

“No!” Freedom snapped, raising ryn voice to drown ero out, “No, it’s not fair! It’s not fair! You and daddy got hurt, and duunei is tired and upset, and you only just got back, and now this one’s here, trying to kidnap everyone, and it’s just not fair! You didn’t even get to sleep yet!” Freedom was flying rapidly in circles overhead, Andi could hear the agitated movements and the echoes of specific sounds that signaled that ilas daughter was sad and angry and afraid.

This was exactly how Andi felt about the situation, but ero had been trying to avoid actually saying any of that out loud. Ero had to set a good example, keep up the semblence of normalcy for ilas kids.

“You know,” Drew Morgan’s voice interjected suddenly, “If it’s all the same to you, I can just go. Just untie me, kick me out the door, and I’ll leave. I don’t want to be here, you don’t want me to be here, I think it’d be best for everyone if you just stick me right back outside and we pretend like this never happened.”

That suggestion was too ridiculous to even contemplate, which Freedom vocalized with a derisive snort of, “Don’t be an idiot.”

Drew Morgan gasped in offense. Sia seemed to do that a lot.

Andi sank back down beneath the water until ilas head was fully submerged, muffling the sounds of the argument now raging between the two children, and decided rather abruptly that ero wasn’t in the mood to deal with this situation right now.

But, unfortunately, ero was still the adult here, so ero didn’t really have a choice. But it could take a break for a little while anyway.

Andi stayed submerged for a minute or two, relying on the filters in ilas thorax to replenish the oxygen in ilas blood, and just let danajei bask in the warm, citrusy water, pretending for just a little while that there was nothing to worry about and nothing that needed to be done.

And then ero resurfaced, determined to get this situation over and done with so that ero could bathe properly so ero wasn’t actively dying, eat before ero passed out, check on the rest of ilas kids to make sure they were okay, check on Starfield to see if hea had gotten any of ler memories back yet, and then go to sleep for about a week.

“Alright, listen up.” Ero snapped, interrupting a snide comment from Drew Morgan, “I am not going to argue with you, so just tell me, right now, either why you broke into 8301B, or where I can find an adult to drop you off with, or we drop you off with the Interstellar Alliance, and they’ll be in charge of finding your guardians, how does that sound?”

Not that Andi knew how to get to the Interstellar Alliance, but 8301B could probably help, and so could Starfield once hea woke up. Hopefully.

Drew Morgan seemed even angrier than before, which Andi wouldn’t have thought possible. “The Interstellar Alliance? The Interstellar Alliance?!” Sia yelled, even going so far as to stamp one foot on the floor, which was a feat, considering sia was tied to a chair, “You can’t take me to the Interstellar Alliance! Do you want me to be arrested? Why not just drop me off in a jail cell? That’s as much as you’ll be accomplishing if you leave me with those jumped up bureaucrats!”

Yep. That was starting to sound like a very nice plan.

Andi tried to remain patient, “They don’t arrest children, and they aren’t going to put you in a jail cell. They don’t even have jail cells, or jails for that matter. I don’t know which iteration you’re thinking of, but it’s not the one we’d be bringing you to. They have their own time travel agency, and they have an entire chapter dedicated to reuniting families through time and space. They’d be able to find your parents, or a friend, or whoever is best suited to caring for you.”

“You can’t⏤” began Drew Morgan again.

“Yes we can, and don’t complain.” Andi interrupted, “It could be worse, we could just bring you back to Cawfro. Though I suppose if you’re a proper Idolun you wouldn’t consider that to be a bad thing.”

“Alright, now I know you’re mad!” Drew Morgan snapped, “You can’t go to Cawfro, it’s gone. Either you think I’m an idiot, or you’re an even bigger idiot that I already thought you were!”

Andi resisted the urge to go back under water and just stay there for the rest of eternity. “8301B,” Ero said, “Will you please ask Lera if ido would like to take over for me here? I’m not getting anywhere, and I really don’t feel like arguing around in circles with a child for the rest of the night, or day, or whatever it is outside.”

Then ero went back under the water so any more outbursts from Drew Morgan would be muffled.

The telegogs activated to the minimum amount, and 8301B replied, the long wall of text scrolling down Andi’s field of vision slowly enough that ero could read it easily.

[[I already called eis again, ido’s on eis way. I think you’ll be happy to know that Starfield is awake, and coherent, though hea has lost quite a sizeable chunk of ler memories. But don’t fret, I’m certain they’ll return shortly, the effects of that weapon are only temporary.

[[As it is, ler memories have regressed to a point several iterations back, so hea won’t remember you, or Lera, or any of the children, but hea will still be able to pilot my controls until hea recovers.]]

“Is hea alright?”

[[I have explained the situation, and hea has accepted it well enough. Aside from the amnesia, there don’t appear to be any negative side effects from the weapon. Ler injuries healed with the healing trance, but hea is still dehydrated and malnourished, as is Lera, and you, for that matter.

[[Before anything else happens, everyone is going to sit down and eat. And then you will sleep, and then you will deal with this problem.

[[Drew Morgan can be moved to a secured room, where sia will be safe, and we don’t have to worry about lia hijacking any more of my systems.

[[This is non-negotiable. Once Starfield pilots me to a safer location, you are all going to eat and sleep. We will return Drew Morgan to wherever sia came from after everyone has slept properly.]]

There was a finality conveyed even through the simple text that Andi didn’t doubt, and wouldn’t have argued with even if ero’d wanted to.

Ero couldn’t reply while underwater except through ilas thoughts, which 8301B read easily when Andi was trying to project them. Ero was still getting the hang of telepathy.

[[You’re welcome.]]

And Andi was definitely staying underwater until the food was ready.

[[I encourage it. You need a break.]]

Yes, yes ero did.

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moneypowerglorymiddleofmiami · 2 months

Text

— trickentine જ⁀➴♡ ︎

pairing: luke castellan x aphrodite!reader

summary: when eros, the god of love, makes the annual valentine visit to camp half-blood, he conveniently unintentionally leaves his bow and arrow in the capable hands of his younger half-sister.

warnings: nothing i think, except for like one curse word (pls do tell me if i miss any though!)

genre: ...romcom?

part 2

─── ° ᡣ𐭩 . ° . ───

The gods were many things: powerful at their core, benevolent to those who merit it, temperamental when goaded, and mysterious in their methods— but there was one trait that defined them most of all, incandescently littered in their tales and lores: they were tricksters.

You really should’ve known better than to pick up that stray quiver of arrows.

─── ° ᡣ𐭩 . ° . ───

The Aphrodite Cabin consistently made it a point to celebrate Valentine’s Day with much fanfare. Everyone has been busy the entire week preceding it; there were fresh roses to harvest, pink and red deserts to be made, hundreds of paper hearts to be cut, ribbons to be tied and acres to decorate. As one of the older siblings, a huge chunk of the responsibility fell on your shoulders. Needless to say, you spent an entire extra hour in the bathroom trying to put your concealer to good use.

A mere 10 minutes after leaving your cabin on V-Day, you’d managed to snap and glare at nearly everyone who even thought of intercepting your path.

Nearly everyone because you knew better than to direct your ire at the god of love.

“You didn’t even blend.” Eros said, perusing your make-up judgmentally. “Consider your favorite demigod sister card revoked.”

In his current human form, his hair was a deep shade of black and coiffed to perfection, his eyes a brown hue that you could only describe as melodramatic, and his skin beautifully tanned from frolicking in the sunlight.

Gods, how you missed to frolick in the sunlight. These days, you had to slave in it.

“Lord Eros.” You bowed, desperately fighting the urge to roll your eyes and purse your lips.

“I adore what you’ve done with the place.” He waved his hand off dismissively. He trudges ahead of you, officially beginning his annual Valentine inspection. “Although I definitely think it could use a little more sparkle. Perhaps a little more pink, too.”

‘Pink? For Valentines? Groundbreaking.’ You drawled inside your head. “The Hephaestus cabin is tinkering with a smoke machine to make it emit glitter.”

“Wonderful.” He replied passively, his attention drawn towards the dining pavilion where hundreds of glowing hearts hung from mid-air. Eros turned towards you. “Fairy lights on the beams?”

“On it.” You nodded your head tiredly, scribbling messily onto a notepad. “Anything else?”

“Everything’s perfect, except…” He trailed off before raising an eyebrow at you. “Find yourself a boyfriend, maybe? You need to loosen up.”

“Oh my gods,” You muttered under your breath, fighting the urge to physically recoil.

─── ° ᡣ𐭩 . ° . ───

“Don’t think I haven’t noticed you slacking off on training.” Luke chastised with a tut, tugging your arm towards the training areas. Your feet were basically dragging against the dirt, soiling your sneakers and flicking particles of dust against your skirt, but you couldn’t care less.

“Luke, look around you. What do you see?” You asked, your tone too saccharine to be considered serious.

He decided to humor you anyway. “Hearts.”

“10 points to House Hermes. Now,” You leaned in conspiratorially, “Who do you think set this whole place up?”

Luke barely opened his mouth before you answered your own question.

“Me.” You jabbed a finger against your chest. You narrowed your eyes at him. “I set this whole place up. I planned it— the theme, the color scheme, the glitter, the ribbons, the dazzling pink fountain with mini-Cupids who sing at the hour!”

“It looks very pretty!” He said, panicked.

“Yes, I know it looks very pretty.” You kissed your teeth. “Don’t you think I deserve a little break because it looks very pretty?”

He shook his head.

“You are insufferable!” You groaned.

“Hey! In my defense,” He raised both of his arms in the air to plead innocence, “You’re the one who said you wanted to develop a skill by the end of the summer."

His voice was pitched higher by the end in a poor imitation of your’s. You scrunched your nose in distaste.

“Gods, why do I keep digging my own grave?” You mumbled. Luke shook his head in amusement.

He led you into the clearing of the archery field, a line of circle targets dotted around the edge of the forest. A quiver of arrows was hung against the branches, different from the ones in the armory but definitely familiar to you.

“You can use those. Guess one of the kids forgot to return them after practice.” He shrugged. Luke mustn’t have noticed the difference.

You reached up to grab the weapons, still incredulous but definitely not alarmed enough to hesitate. The material thrummed in your hands.

“Go shoot.” He grinned.

“Very helpful instructions.” You muttered.

“Well, it’s pretty straightforward, sweetheart.” He sauntered over to one of the targets, leaning against the wooden frame. “You’ve been taught the basics, you just need the application. Now, shoot.”

“I could literally hit you.” You said blankly as you mounted the arrow against your bow.

“Consider it your challenge to not hit me.” He raised a thumbs-up.

“You’re insane.” You responded, irked and stressed by his casualness. “I’m sleep-deprived!"

Again, Luke just shrugged his shoulders. You huff, but then follow his lead anyway. You close one eye as you raise your weapon to your line of vision, zeroing in on the target.

As soon as the arrow flicked away from your fingers, it changed its course. When it should’ve followed a curved arch towards the red target, it whizzed away and made a beeline straight for Luke. A pink trail of haze followed its path.

“Duck!” You yell.

The arrow pierced through his chest at nearly the same time Luke’s body collided with the ground.

“That’s where those went.” Eros snapped his fingers as he emerged behind you. His glinting eyes were looking intently at the bow and quiver on you, an imperciptible smile on his face.

Your eyes widened in surprise. Shit.

“Lord Eros! I sincerely apologize.” You immediately took off the weaponry, holding them in your hands then kneeling as if to offer them back. You definitely did not want a god to be at odds with you. The two of you might have the same mother, but that didn’t mean you were equal in Aphrodite’s eyes. “I wasn’t-”

“Nah, don’t worry about it, sis.” He said, tapping your shoulder. Was he actually consoling you? “I shouldn’t have left it out in the open anyways.”

He pulled you up by the arm gently, snapping his fingers and getting the remnants of grass off of your knees. He even picked off a stray leaf from your hair. What in Tartarus was this?

For as long as you’ve known Eros and he’s practically coerced you into a dysfunctional sibling relationship, this was the kindest thing he’s ever done. Yes, the bar was low.

Something was wrong. Something was very wrong.

“You didn’t use this on someone, did you?” Eros asked, cradling the quiver and bow against him like a child.

“I think I managed to hit Luke—”

“You didn’t!” He interrupted with a theatrical gasp, a hand covering his mouth. He was such a drama queen.

You narrowed your eyes. He planned this, didn't he?

He smirked wider when he noticed the change in your demeanor, the realization behind your gaze. You swore his pupils changed to hearts for a moment.

“Good luck with lover boy, little sis.” He turned around, showing you the back of his hand as he waved goodbye.

#luke castellan imagine #luke castellan #luke castellan x reader #pjo tv show #pjo series #pjo #percy jackon and the olympians #percy jackson #percy series

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harmoonix · 4 months

Text

Love me like you do

❤️‍🔥(Love astrology observations)❤️‍🔥

Before reading: 🔞

All aspects applying including parallels and contra-parallsls aswell

All charts system applied; Vedic, Sidereal. Tropical etc..

Some of my observations can be 18+

Enjoy the reading ♥️

❤️‍🔥 - Venus in 7th house/Venus in Libra > So romantic, full of tenderness for their partner. They're so cute when they're in love

❤️‍🔥 - Asteroid Bacchus [2063] can indicate pleasure and the way you give/recieve pleasure, in conjunct/sextile/trine with Juno (3) is so hot, you basically are a pleasure machine for eachother and you probably seek for someone who can give you pleasure

❤️‍🔥 - Asteroid Ceres (1) aspecting Juno (especially in harsh aspects) need to nurture their partners or vice versa, they have a high need for intimacy and love and i personally see them hugging eachother in bed 24/7

❤️‍🔥 - Asteroid Groom (5129) in Aries/the 1st house (for those attracted to men) can indicate getting a spouse who can have the same kinks as you and to be very close to you also this bounding is so deep.. (Very hot Chemistry between you two)

❤️‍🔥 - Gemini/Virgo/Mercury in the 8th house = They love being communicative during sex, they may also have very shooting voices

❤️‍🔥 - Eros (433) aspecting Midheaven (MC) = The way you show yourself can be very erotic, and that can attract more people into you + they can really end up working in movies 18+

❤️‍🔥 - Juno Scorpio/Juno in the 8th house = They love Intensity, these natives seek for high intimacy with their partners and offering touches

❤️‍🔥 - Men with Sagittarius Mars/Mars aspecting Jupiter can have an bombastic penis in size, the size can grow unexpected sometimes and you'll wonder...how tf I am riding this now??

❤️‍🔥 - Libra Mars/Mars in the 7th house > They love being undressed during the act, i feel like they can be very ambient in their positions in bed and often switching up a lot

❤️‍🔥 - Pisces 7th house/Neptune 7th > Soo Oohhhh Soo Oohh OBSESSED, they can get literally addicted to their partners + showing that by being clingy

❤️‍🔥 - Venus Parallel Mars or vice versa > They're so hot. So intense, full of energy and those type of people who go for more rounds because they enjoy it so much

❤️‍🔥 - Sun Parallel Venus > They're so cute when they're in love, they can often blush when their specific person is around, and can be lost in their words when they talk

❤️‍🔥 - Mars Parallel Pluto > So hot and magnetic, i feel like they want someone who can dominante them or to just break bed, something in between

❤️‍🔥 - Lilith Parallel Mars/Neptune > They can have many wet dreams, many sexual dreams aswell in away they can day dream about this too

❤️‍🔥 - Moon in Libra natives know how to put feelings and pleasure together, in aspects to Pluto/Venus they can be really intense and want to seem for more love

❤️‍🔥 - Moon in Leo natives know how to praise their partners so they can feel in a good mood too, they may have partners with praise kinks and worshipping kinks too

━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━

EDGE OF PARADISE

━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━

❤️‍🔥 - Vertex trine/sextile/conjunct Sun has a big chance of attracting influential people into their lives, especially men

❤️‍🔥 - Scorpio/Pluto in the 10th house have big chances to attract influential people in their lives and often being involved in love scandals (Will you be the next Selena Gomez gurl?)

❤️‍🔥 - Uranus in the 5th/7th house and 2nd house can attract people of the same gender and being attracted into this too, unless is not aspecting Saturn which can turn into a fear to fall for people the same gender as you

❤️‍🔥 - Eros - Mars aspects, go girl give us everything, I know they like it rough&hard like they want to suck the soul out if their partners

❤️‍🔥 - Asteroid Asmodeus [2174] in the 7th house can attract posesive/obsessive partners into their lives but enemies aswell, like girl everyone is obsessed/passive agressive and like the reason is unknown?? (Siri play Obsessed by Mariah Carey)

❤️‍🔥 - If you have Psyche (16) in water signs you may have the need for intimacy aswell, like is something your soul craves

━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━

You're the only thing I wanna touch

━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━

❤️‍🔥 - Mars - Mercury aspects/Mars parallel Mercury > They have that rough/lil' aggressive voice, omg when they whisper in your ear (eargasm or something 😭👁️👄👁️)

❤️‍🔥 - Venus aspecting Pluto/Venus parallel Pluto > These aspects the most known for being very attractive, their energy/vibe is hot aswell, and they have this magnetic field around that pulls you in

❤️‍🔥- Ascendant aspecting Mars > They're just the type of person to look at because they have a good looking body (men++👄) and yeah, you know their face looks like it needs to be kissed

❤️‍🔥 - Pisces/Taurus/Cancer in the 2nd/3rd house though, omg they have the softest lips?? Like I am kissing a cloud?👄👄 Is so soft and so calming in here

❤️‍🔥 - Mars in the 6th house > Okay so probably natives who have a high drive and thus placement too will crave for sex/intimacy a lot (6th house also being the house for daily activities)...👁️👄👁️

❤️‍🔥 - No cus' Sun/Venus in the 12th house natives are underatted when it comes to such things, 12th house can also indicate intimacy/sex/pleasure to an extent, and let me just say they will be savouring the moments

❤️‍🔥 - To all the natives who have Juno/Groom in the 2nd house, you'll get a spouse who will spoil you so much like is so romantic too (Juno - 3, Groom 5129) (The spoiling doesn't always have to be in material things if you know what I mean😀)

❤️‍🔥 - Asteroid Groom (5129) in Aries Degrees 1°, 13°, 25° they really want someone hot in their lives, this is the Aries energy after all so I guess it can aslo indicate you want an dominant spouse in your life too

❤️‍🔥 - Groom (5129) in Libra Degrees 7°, 19° can have really high chances at attracting an romantic spouse in their lives, someone who can aslo may treat them nicely and cute

❤️‍🔥 - Venus/Mars in the 11th house are not play, they definitely do it either very soft either rough and sometimes can turn into a mix, they give this "we are besties during the day and at night...👁️👄👁️" vibe

❤️‍🔥 - Mars in air houses (3rd, 7th, 11th house) needs talking stimulation, they can be very much attracted by voice/talking may like to talk during the act

━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━

Follow me through the dark

Let me take you past our satellites

━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━

❤️‍🔥 - Asteroid Lust [4386] in 2nd house/Taurus may like physical contact a lot, everything they are touching is pure to them and they can have a tendency of checking others people body

❤️‍🔥 - Asteroid Lust [4386] in 12th house/Pisces may be the type of person who can end up day dreaming about that person they like, but the thing is these dreams are usually very sexual and can often get lost in their dreams or thinking about them a lot

❤️‍🔥 - Capricorn Venus women don't always go for older men as a type but they rather go for ones who are more mature and stable/+ if they're looking for something serious aswell

❤️‍🔥- Moon - Pluto aspects can end up hating hookup/one night stands, like they want you to be theirs forever not just for one night, they may actually detest such things

❤️‍🔥 - Juno/7th house in Leo/Sun in Leo want to find recognition in their partners, they want to be praised by their partners and be appreciated, these placements are cute when they find healthy love

❤️‍🔥 - Mercury in the 7th house/Mercury in Libra > I love these type of natives for the way they care so much about the people these natives love, their communication style and commitment is on point and always putting others feelings above as a sign that matters for them a lot

❤️‍🔥 - Lust [4386] square/opposite/conjunct Mars, well these people can actually be very sexual or at least to have that sexual energy in them 24/7 even though they can hide it

Guess who's back 😍😍😍!! This biatch is back

I missed Tumblr so I said hmm let me check the app and omg I needed to post something so I had to make a new post 😍 a new theme something a lot of people liked and here we go with this one!!

I hope you all have a really great great great Saturday!!😍 And a very good weekend

H a r m o o n i x

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kill4luvina · 5 months

Text

"Only you daddy"

Jewelrystoreowner!Sukuna x bratty!spoiled!reader

"I'll go to hell and jail 'bout you, boy"

Summary : Your a regular costumer at Sukuna's Jewelry store and always come in with a new nigga making them buy you something. He usually doesn't pay you any mind especially when you flirt assuming you just want play him, but he might just be wrong. Until you curse one of them out over a few exchange of words. Sukuna can't help himself but take you to the back a thank you with some dick.

Warnings : NOT PROOF READ AT ALLLL, SMUT, Cursing, Reader calls Sukuna Daddy, Sukuna calls Reader mamas, Reader's a Player, Toxic towards the guy, Reader Threating their date, Guns, Squirting, uhm grammer errors probably.

꒷꒦꒷꒦꒷꒦꒷꒦꒷꒦꒷꒷꒦꒷꒦꒷꒦꒷꒦꒷꒦꒷꒷꒦꒷꒦꒷꒦꒷꒦

Sukuna stood at the register watching as you walked in noticing your face lighten up at the sight of him standing there. "Sukuna!!" You'd smile waving as the guy walking behind you seemed completely forgotten about. "How are you doin today mamas?" Sukuna would ask you as you smiled. He looked so fucking good, wearing a black fitted shirt with grey nike sweatpants and black cats. His pretty silver vampire grillz showing as he smiles at you when you tell him to bring his ear so you could whisper into it. His signature scent of Scandale Jean Paul Gaultier mixed with Versace Eros Flame intoxicating you as you. "This nigga own a 6 figure business and already bought me mad shit from LV and Dior yesterday. He bouta get me a chain today tooo!" You'd whisper giggling to him as he chuckled knowing you were about to buy the chain you tried on the other day when you came with your home girls.

"This yo nigga o' something?" The man you had came into the store said walking over to you as you turned back to him shaking your said no. "Nigga? Why the fuck would you even say that? Like shut the actual fuck up, if you insecure just fuckin say that Kaleb." You'd say rolling your eyes turning back to Sukuna. "Get me the chain I said I wanted last time bubba" You smile at him as he smiled back walking away to get his keys before walking into the back to bring out the chain. "Yo, Y/n fuck is good with you? why you talkin to that nigga like you want him, you with me rn.." Kaleb would say looking down at you as you quickly looked at the door Sukuna disappeared into and back at him. "Stop being a fucking bitch. He a good friend, I'm always buying shit in the store don't fuck this up for me please." You'd say blankly before quickly looking back to see Sukuna coming back out with the chain already boxed.

"Aight mamas, is that all for today?" Sukuna would ask starting to type things into this register as he waited for an answer. "Yes! That'll be all thank you." You'd smile as you looked to Kaleb waiting for him as he pulled out his credit card walking over as he started to put his card into machine looking over making dead eye contact with Sukuna. "I know she said not to fuck shit up with you, but you dead piss me off talk to her again and I'ma kill yo ass.." Kaleb would say pulling his designer jacket to show a gun tucked in the side of his hip. Looking over to you back to kaleb sukuna would just shrug making kaleb mad. Almost about to lash out, Sukuna would point over to you. "Exuse you?" You'd ask Kaleb, tilting your head to the side before opening your bag pulling out your own gun holding it to his chest.

"Nigga, next time i fucking catch yo stupid ass trying some stupid shit I JUST TOLD YOU not to to do I will fuck you AND your mother up and don't think im fucking playing because I WILL have niggas on yo bitch ass before you could even THINK about anything else." You spit at him catching him completely off guard. Kaleb would look over to Sukuna who just pulled up his shirt showing 2 straps tucked in his waistband. "Now get yo bitch ass the fuck outta here nigga.." you'd add pushing him back with the gun watching him quickly run out the store. "Aw, you ain't had to do allat for me mamas." Sukuna would say coming around as you tucked your gun back in your pink small Aphrodite Shoulder Bag. Smiling you'd give him a hug knowing he was the only nigga in the world you would do something like that for especially because he was one of the richest.

"Gimme a kiss as a thank you.." You'd say looking up at him as he planted a kiss on the side of your lips pulling away. Almost like instenct you pulled his head back down bringing him for a real kiss. Finally giving up Sukuna melted into the kiss which soon turned into a make-out session in the middle of the store. For a good second it felt like it was just the two of you and the whole world was just an idea that was crossed out on a piece of paper. Sukuna pulled away first looking up remembering where he was as you kept trying to kiss him again the separation killing you.

You don't remember exactly how you got to where you were now but you found yourself on your knees in the back of his store sucking on his big ass dick while fingering yourself. Eye watery from how big he was as you worked magic with only one hand. Pulling away to spit on it making bubbles as you sloppily went back down on it. Moaning Sukuna held your hair in a pony tail with his hands lightly moving his hips to rhythm you were going at. "Thank you so much mama" He'd moan trying not to cum right there at the sight on you looking up at him with those teary wet eyes. Quickly pulling out of your mouth with a slick 'pop', he picked you up with your knees over both arms before slowly sliding you onto his dick.

Almost crying from how big he was you held onto him as he gave you a moment to adjust before straight recking your poor pretty cunt. Making your a moaning mess, droll rolling down your chin from giving him head no long ago and the pounding you were getting right now. "Just like that!!" You'd scream moaning even louder when he hit your g-spot giving you quick deep strokes as he bounced you on his dick. "Such a good girl aren't you?" he'd ask giving you a kiss on the cheek, you were completely fuck out not even understanding the words coming out this mouth. You woulda never thought sex with this nigga would be THIS good like what? Reaching your high you'd quickly hold onto him as your eye rolled back so far. You started shaking your body almost spasming out as you came, additionally squirting all over his lower stomach(i forgot the word).

"Damn, Ian know you could do that." Sukuna would chuckle as he pulled out putting you down as you quickly got right back to work sucking him off until he was a whimpering mess and busting his nut right down you throat. Just know you was wobbling out that store after a few more crazy orgasms like that.

꒷꒦꒷꒦꒷꒦꒷꒦꒷꒦꒷꒷꒦꒷꒦꒷꒦꒷꒦꒷꒦꒷꒷꒦꒷꒦꒷꒦꒷꒦

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thefreakandthehair · 7 months

Text

@eddiemonth prompt, oct 12th: Soulmates | Eight - Sleeping at Last | Perceptive a/n: steddie, soulmates au (phillia + eros). eddie & jeff as platonic soulmates, stobin soulmates mentioned always. un-betaed because I’m challenging myself to write these in under an hour. read on ao3 | link to masterpost on ao3

Soulmates, Eddie scoffs to himself as he doodles in his notebook at the back of the coffee shop. Bullshit.

He knows it’s actually not, that people walk around every day hand-in-hand with beautiful, swirling tattoos that grow in intricacy and detail the more time they spend with their soulmate. Most days, Eddie doesn’t mind that the simple snake design on the inside of his wrist never so much as slithers, but today? Today, he minds.

Dating in the world of soulmates is challenging. He tries to just focus on how feels, on if the person sitting across from him is compatible with his lifestyle, on if there’s any kind of spark, but it’s inevitable that at some point, both he and his date look down at their wrists to find nothing.

His coffee date had gone well enough but, like always, was a dead-end. How many paths can one person try before the destination seems moot?

So he sits and scribbles in his notebook, hoping that perhaps staying in the coffee shop rather than returning home to the apartment he shares with Jeff will provide some inspiration. That tattoo, the one that’d started as a small star on his ankle, has grown into a whirling galaxy since moving in with Jeff– a philia connection if he’s ever seen one. But if his eros tattoo won’t build upon itself naturally, he’ll do it manually with a tattoo gun.

It also helps that the barista is perhaps the most beautiful man Eddie’s ever laid eyes on, enough so that it’s… actually a little intimidating, if he’s being honest with himself. Intimidating to the point that Eddie’s yet to approach him for a refill since the girl who’d given him his first sugary abomination finished her shift. Besides, the mystery barista must’ve already found his soulmate. His entire left arm, from fingertip to at least his elbow, is covered in delicate, colorful designs that twist and wind about his skin, curling around each finger and looping gracefully up his arm.

I can still enjoy the view, he justifies to himself, taking a sip from his cup and remembering for the third time that it’s empty.

He sighs and sets it back down, clearing his throat. It’s as good a time as any, he supposes, as he stands from his little corner table by the window and strolls across the room to the counter.

“Hi, what can I get started for ya?” The barista asks, his name tag now visible and proclaiming Steve.

“Uh,” he starts. “Salted caramel mocha, please?”

Steve’s smile is bright and he leans on the counter, leveling it straight in Eddie’s direction. All Eddie wanted was a refill on his sweet treat disguised as coffee and instead, it feels as though he’s smacked in the head.

“Comin’ right up,” Steve replies, turning around to get his order going. “You’ve been sitting over there for a while, how’d that date go?” He asks with the confidence and familiarity of someone Eddie’s known his entire life.

“Watching me, were you?”

Steve grins over his shoulder, shrugging. “A little.”

“I’m flattered. Well, I’m still here and they’re not so that oughta tell you everything.”

Steve hums and turns back to the machine, finishing up his order. Eddie’s heart beats rhythmically, somehow slowing and quickening all at once and his lungs feel buoyed by something more powerful than his breath. When Steve faces him again and hands him his cup, exchanging it for the empty one in Eddie’s hand, they both freeze.

Eddie’s snake begins to move.

A clear, serpentine movement at the center as small, geometric lines begin to appear in the background.

“Holy shit,” Eddie whispers, setting his full cup down so he doesn’t spill it.

“Yeah, holy shit.” Steve places his other arm on the counter, the blank one, and Eddie sees that it’s not blank. There’s a small, barebones tree on his forearm whose leaves begin to blossom and shake, different shades of greens and oranges appearing before his eyes.

“But– your other arm?” Eddie chokes out, eyes flickering between his own wrist, Steve’s forearm, and Steve’s other, fuller arm.

“Philia. That’s Robin. But this one, this is eros.” Steve smiles again, matching the one Eddie can feel spreading across his own face as he looks up from his forearm. “I’m Steve.”

Steve smiles again, matching the one Eddie can feel spreading across his own face as he looks up from his forearm. Eddie looks in wonderment, searching for any sign of lie or trickery in Steve’s eyes and finds nothing but warmth and familiarity.

“I’m Eddie.”

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buryustogether · 1 year

Text

-> THE EROS CLUB

jackie welles x f!reader (v)

summary: you and jackie receive a job to infiltrate a popular new club and retrieve a sample of a drug making its rounds through customers. unfortunately, it takes being dosed to realize the drug is an aphrodisiac.

word count: 6.7k

warnings/tags: swearing, drinking alcohol, drugs, being drugged unknowingly, explicit sex, rough sex, p in v, dirty talk, praise, semi-public sex/bathroom sex, dom!jackie, dom/sub dynamics, aftercare, confessions, slight throat/neck kink if you squint, jackie and misty are NOT a couple

author’s note: shout out to @neon-junkie for making me a jackie welles whore

You felt the thrum of the club’s bass before you even saw the front doors. It shook the ground in rhythmic beats, some kind of strange, unnatural earthquake, and seemed to pull anyone within a mile radius toward its center. Everywhere you looked, civilians were headed toward the entrance. Skimpy skirts, sleeveless muscle tanks, even pressed business suits - they all gravitated toward the Eros Club like droning, mindless machines.

As you cruised slowly down the street, your hand rested atop the steering wheel of your ride, Jackie released a low whistle from his perch in the passenger’s seat. He was so sinewy and bulked that he hardly fit in it. “Some place,” he said when you parked your car on the curb between a number of other vehicles. “No wonder every other club in town’s tanked to shit. Everyone’s comin’ here.”

You gave a hum and peered up the club through the window. The Eros Club was a three-story decker situated on a corner close to the water, with neon lights that cast the streets surrounding it in an eerie, yet exciting glow. A long, twisting line of people waited for entrance, kissing and grinding and complaining on their cells. Armed guards stood at the doors, standing rather close to a small woman personally checking each visitor before they went through.

“It won’t be standing for much longer,” you said, then climbed from the car.

This job was supposed to be simple. Simpler than most you and Jackie had done. Your client was a faceless shroud who spoke to you over the net, promising big bucks for the infiltration of the Eros Club. They claimed to be a rival club owner who was losing business; they’d heard from a friend of a friend of an enemy Eros was illegally drugging patrons until they were hooked and coming back every night for more. Your job was to secure a dose of whatever substance was being used and give it to your client’s men at the drop point.

Jackie hadn’t liked it at first. He was adamant about seeing the client face to face before agreeing to nabbing the drug, but he hadn’t needed much more convincing when you told him the amount promised.

“Sounds too easy,” he’d said when you informed him of your client’s approach. “Then again…” He’d flashed you that signature smile and you hadn’t been able to help but give it back. “We could use a night out on the town.”

As you left your vehicle and approached the club, weaving between sweaty bodies and over broken bottles scattered along the ground, you spared a glance over at your partner. Jackie Welles was a unit of a man, built like an ox and suited to take one down. Not only was he one of the best-looking men you’d ever met, he was also the kindest. In the same day, he would toss live grenades into gang dens, then untangle a stray cat from the plastic wrapping caught around its paws. He was funny, and caring, and above all else, loyal. No matter the situation, you knew you could count on Jackie to have your back.

And a part of you hated it.

You hated how close you had grown to the mercenary over the number of months you’d been working together, how you knew his middle name and his birthday and his mother’s favorite flowers. You hated that every time you shared a drink at After Life your knees would brush together and the simple touch would strike a match in your veins. And you hated yourself for, not once or twice, but almost every time you relieved some of your pent-up sexual tension by yourself, you imagined it was him hovering between your legs making you feel so deliciously.

“Aye. You with me, chica?”

Blinking away the dirty thoughts swimming through your head, you glanced up at Jackie. You had almost made it to the front doors - much to the chagrin and disdain of the people who had been waiting in line for hours. “Come again?” you said.

Jackie jerked his head toward the doors. “I said, you got the passes?” He watched as you fished through your pockets before producing the VIP passes your client had provided you with in order to get into Eros without much hassle. “Somethin’ on your mind?” he said as he accepted his pass. “Your head’s usually more in the game than this, V.”

Slipping the pass around your neck, you swallowed thick and avoided his gaze. “Sorry,” you said, and left it at that. He tilted his head at you in that way he did when he knew you were lying, but he didn’t push it. If anyone knew how to coax something out of you, it was him.

And you were terrified he would get this out of you, too.

The guards blocking the front doors looked you and Jackie up and down as you approached, arms crossed tight or hefting a baseball bat over a shoulder. “What business you got?” asked one.

In sync, you and Jackie both raised your VIP passes from around your necks. It only took a few moments of inspection for them to step aside so that you could face the small woman sitting on a stool. Up close, you were able to see she wore plastic gloves over her thin hands and beside her on a cart lay caps of what looked like ink. She beckoned you forward.

“Listen up, and listen well,” she said as she prepared a fresh cap from her tray. “No touching the dancers unless you want to walk home without one of your arms. No going behind the bar; if you want something - or someone - ask one of the bouncers inside and they’ll get it for you. No contraband allowed inside.” She motioned. “That means pieces. Unload it all.”

Jackie grumbled beneath his breath as he grudgingly unholstered his firearms and the machete strapped across his back before placing them in the trunk at one of the guards’ feet. You followed suit, dumping your belongings beside his. “Be good, carinos,” he murmured to his iron before the lid was snapped shut.

“One last thing,” drawled the woman before snapping a bubble of gum in her mouth. “Tongues out.”

Your breath caught in your throat, something between a scoff and a laugh. “What?”

She wiggled her ink-coated thumb. “If you want in,” she said as if she were talking to a child throwing a tantrum, “tongues out. Helps us know who actually heard the rules and who snuck in through the side door.” She tilted her head in exasperation. “It’s just a bit of edible ink. It’ll wash off in a few hours.”

Despite how appalled you were at the idea of having this random chick’s thumb on your tongue, it was the thought of more eddies in your account that made you open your mouth and lay your tongue flat. You clenched your fist as she pressed her thumb against your tongue, fighting off the urge to gag. When she was done, you wiped your lip and watched as Jackie stuck out his tongue to get his own print.

You were unable to help the pang of hot, searing jealousy that shot through you when he gagged slightly and she winked at him.

“Get that reflex under control, baby,” she teased as she pulled her arm back and discarded the glove. “Who knows when it’ll ruin a good time.”

“Are we done here?” you blurted. “No offense, but we didn’t come to get tongue tats and swap dick sizes.”

She was obviously bored of you. With a flick of her head, the guards opened the doors, and you both strode through quicker than necessary. Jackie’s limp - put there after he broke his leg as a boy and it never healed properly - slowed him slightly, but you’d become accustomed to matching your pace with his. Your frame silhouetted beside his bulk and muscle, the doors sealed shut behind you, a crypt trapping unfortunate souls within.

Jackie ran his freshly-inked tongue over his teeth, his features illuminated by the neon pink glow from the lights overhead. “Tastes like licorice,” he commented, then screwed up his face. “The bad kind.”

You murmured a low hum of agreement as you walked toward another set of doors that led into the main wing of the club. “The kind that’s been sitting in the sun for a week.”

“Heh.” He smiled, and you kept your focus straight ahead, trying to squash the butterflies fluttering in your belly. “And you know what that tastes like?”

“Please,” you said and placed a hand on the door. “I grew up in the streets, Jackie. I ate anything I could come across.”

You heaved open the door, and at once you were both enveloped in a hurricane of noise and light and skin. A gargantuan disco ball threw off flashes of neon lights across the club floor, bathing dancers and strippers and drunks in a dream-like hue. Booths were filled to the edges, every stool at the bar taken. Overhead, balconies overlooked poles and flashy cages that hung from the ceiling; inside, men and women wearing less than an inch of clothing humped the bars and whistled down at patrons. And if the customers weren’t ogling up at them, they were grinning stupidly at the glittery joytoys serving their drinks.

You were forced to stop for a moment to take it all in. You’d never seen anything like this. Sure, you’d been raised by a multitude of people in your childhood; madams of whore houses and gang leaders and club bouncers… suffice to say you’d seen a lot of clubs and dollhouses, but never something as grand as this. Jackie was right; no wonder all the other clubs in town were going under.

“Some place,” he said loud enough to be heard over the music.

Pulling yourself from the dazzling painting before you, you blinked a few times to clear your head and pursed your lips. “You know the drill,” you told him. “Don’t get distracted, okay? We’re here for a sample of the drug, and that’s it. Text if you find it, and we’ll meet back here.”

Jackie snorted through his nose as the bass dropped in the music and the floor rattled beneath your feet. “Me, distracted?” he mused and placed a hand on his chest. “You should practice what you preach, chica. You’re the one with your head in the clouds today. Although…” He cast a meaningful glance upward and winked at one of the young women in the dangling cages. You frowned. “Doesn’t seem like a bad place to be these days.”

Refraining from rolling your eyes, you huffed and left him near the doors of the club. You felt your boiling blood begin to cool to a simmer as you wriggled your way through the throng of parties and started for the bar.

Christ, you really needed to get this little crush done and over with. You’d known Jackie long enough to know what he liked; and it wasn’t what you were. He would never reciprocate your feelings; and even if he did, it would hardly be professional. The two of you were partners. So what if sometimes you crashed at each other’s places? So what if he sang you your favorite songs in the car when they came over the radio? So what if, when you’d once caught a bullet to the side, he’d crouched before you to stitch it up himself on your bathroom floor, needle held between his teeth and giant palm firm against your sternum to keep you still and breath on your stomach and -

“What’s shakin’, honey?”

You were yanked from your memories by the voice of the joy toy bartender behind the counter, staring at you with a flirty smirk painted across her lips. She polished a glass with nails that glowed neon here in the dim light.

“Sorry.” You took a seat at the bar - the first seat to have opened in a while - and rested your arms on the counter. It raised goosebumps along your skin. “I’m new here. What’s the most popular thing people get?”

“Why go with the flow, baby?” She grinned before she began to conjure up a drink, mixing liquors from bottles at her knees and pipettes from a sink behind her. “There ain’t another one like you, so don’t go and try to make a no one of yourself. Be true to who you are and what you want. ‘Ya hear me?” In a matter of seconds, she’d placed a shot glass in front of you; the drink within looked like liquid moonlight. How poetic. “Since you’re new, this one’s on me. Just be sure to come back, darlin’, yeah?” She winked, then crossed the bar to attend to her other guests.

Her words rattled through your head as you picked up the glass and swirled it a bit. You knew who you were; you were fucking V of fucking Heywood, for god’s sake. And yet… what did you want?

You scoffed, then glanced back and let your systems take a moment to analyze the contents of the drink in front of you, searching for any foreign substances. You knew what you wanted. But that just couldn’t happen. You were being stupid, crushing on your partner. Your friend - your best fucking choom. You spared a glance over your shoulder, at once spotting Jackie’s hulking frame where he sat at a wraparound couch with a trio of joytoys giggling and batting their eyelashes and touching his thighs. You grit your teeth and whipped back around.

Yeah - you were fucked.

A green alert from your systems told you the drink in your hand was perfectly safe. Nothing foreign or suspicious. Quirking your brow, you brought the shot glass to your lips and tipped it back. You weren’t going to turn down a free drink.

Nothing behind the bar - time to move on. You waved to the bartender in thanks, then got up and offered your seat to the next person waiting for a drink. Forcing yourself to keep from looking at Jackie and his new little entourage, you continued to scour the Eros Club for the drug.

Half an hour, then an hour ticked past you, and you still came up with zilch. None of the dealers - some of whom you’d grown up with on the streets of the city - had anything to present. Nothing in the food. Even a scan of the joytoys showed nothing to raise your alarm. You were empty-handed.

But not quite empty.

As you continued your search, you became aware of a warm, blossoming sensation making its presence known in the pit of your belly. It was heavy and light all at once, swirling like caged serpents aching to be released. It wasn’t long until you felt that familiar pang of need in your core, in between your thighs, did you realize what it was. You were turned on.

You tried to dismiss it as your hormones out of whack - whose wouldn’t be, surrounded by practically naked strippers and the smell of sex lingering in the air? - but as the minutes went on, you were unable to just pass it off. The tugging and demanding was becoming more urgent, and you felt your panties slowly soaking. Fuck.

Inhaling deep through your nose, you stopped for a moment to lean up against a steel pillar and clutch at your stomach. The ache was painful now, and sweat was beading at your hairline. What the fuck was this? Your mouth was producing saliva in overdrive, begging you to swallow, and you felt more empty than you ever had in your life. Your pussy was clenching around nothing, your nerves jumping with tingling sensation.

You lifted your head, feeling almost sick with desire, and your eyes locked onto a young couple leaning against the far wall. They were both a little more than red in the face; she was shaking out her top to let her chest breathe, and he was awkwardly crossing his legs in an attempt to hide his hard on. They murmured in one another’s ears for a moment, touched their tongues, then grappled hands and rushed out a side door.

Your lips parted as your mind finally connected the dots. There was no addictive drug here in the Eros Club; it was outside. The ink that woman had stamped onto your tongues; the drug was in that. You had been fucked before you even stepped inside. Of course people were trampling each other to come back here. The Eros Club was handing out aphrodisiacs at the door. Who wouldn’t want to fuck until they felt better?

You didn’t even have the chance to pull up your texts on your vision screen to warn Jackie. A wave of need ripped through you like a bullet, and you clapped a hand over your mouth to muffle the moan that escaped your lips. Oh, Christ. Pushing yourself off the pillar, you found yourself stumbling through the club toward the restrooms in the corner. Your breath was coming out in heavy pants as you squeezed through sweaty bodies, every moment of contact with another person sending vibrations of desire through your veins.

It seemed an eternity and a half before you reached the restrooms; by whatever grace was left in the world, there was no one else inside. You rushed to lock the door behind you, then tipped over the sinks and brought handfuls of cold water to your face. It dripped from your nose and your chin, your lips, as you panted and gripped the sides of the sink. Unconsciously, you ground your covered crotch against the hard edge of the counter.

There was no way you’d be able to make it out of here before you all but collapsed of horniness - forget about even getting back to your apartment. You needed to take care of things here and now.

Just as you were about to push into a stall and practically rip your pants down your legs to bury your fingers in your cunt, an alert popped into your vision screen. It was from Jackie. Just thinking of his name pulled a hoarse moan from your throat, one that echoed through the bathroom. You opened the message.

That was it. Only your name. No period, nothing special. Then -

Open the door

Now

Now chica

Your stomach clenched and your core ached as you realized how he knew exactly where you were; you each had private-channel trackers installed in your hard drives. Viktor had suggested it after a job gone wrong when Jackie had been dragged half a block to get the shit beaten out of him while you were searching the streets a neighborhood away.

Fuck these fucking trackers.

There was no way you could even look at Jackie while you were in this state. You knew the moment you laid eyes on him, you’d jump his bones. And while the thought sent shivers of desire running down your spine, you knew you could never live with yourself if you did. Of course Jackie would never feel the same way you felt about him; he was your friend. Your friend who had held your hair back while you thew up in an alleyway, your friend who had dragged your drunk and sorry ass home too many nights to remember. Your best friend, who had seen you in too many states of ugly and repulsive to ever want you the way you wanted him.

You ground yourself against the counter once more, letting a shaky moan be pulled from your throat. It reverberated throughout the bathroom, echoing back to your own ears like a jagged symphony.

You jumped when something banged against the restroom door. At the same moment, a flood of texts from Jackie swarmed your vision screen.

Answer me

Open the door

Now

NOW

CHICA

OPEN THE DOOR

DAMN IT V

FUCK

The banging on the door grew more and more desperate, more frantic, and you realized Jackie was trying to ram his shoulder into the metal. You gasped for breath, clutching onto the counter, your face still wet from splashing water on yourself.

He was going to break the door - or his shoulder.

Swallowing thick and trying to drown out your thunderous heartbeat by focusing on the pulsing music, you gingerly pushed off the counter and approached the door. Your legs shook and your cunt clenched, desperate to be filled. Fuck, it hurt. It hurt like nothing you’d ever felt before - it was a kind of sensation you had never even imagined existed.

As you reached out to flip the lock on the door, you briefly wondered if Jackie was under the influence of the drug as well. Surely he wasn’t nearly as down bad as you were right now; he was at least three times your body mass. That dose he’d been given couldn’t have possibly done the same number on him as it did you; he was far too bulked and beefed up for that.

Biting your tongue to keep from immediately launching yourself at him, you unlocked the door to the restroom and opened it.

Your breath hitched at the sight that awaited you on the other side.

Jackie filled the doorway like a persistent shadow, sweat beading at his brow and his lips parted as his chest rose and caved with labored breath. His shoulders were tensed, his jaw set and his fists clenched at his sides. He peered at you from beneath his lashes, and for the smallest, quickest fraction of a second, you were slightly afraid of him.

“Jackie,” you said, but his name came out in more of a whimper.

His eyes flashed and he stepped inside the restroom, hand blindly flipping the door shut behind him. He locked it with a click, his gaze never once leaving you.

You found yourself taking small steps back, your heart fluttering and your hormones screaming at you to drop to your knees and tug at his belt. But your brain was firing in a different direction, speeding into overdrive as your partner began to approach you, footsteps hitting heavy against the tile floor. Was he mad at you? Furious that you had screwed up this job so far, enraged that while he was out there looking for the prize, you were in here getting off on counter counters?

Or was he feeling the same effects you were?

It wasn’t until your back hit the opposite wall of the sinks did you realize Jackie had backed you into a corner. His eyes stared you down from beneath his brow, the cross earring swinging from his lobe with every crooked step he took. You pressed yourself against the chilly wall, palms pressed flat on the metal.

“Jackie,” you whispered.

He stopped only inches from your form, his arms encasing you on either side. When you inhaled, you caught a lungful of his cologne that singed your nose in just the right way. Your knees wobbled and you clenched your jaw to keep from moaning right there and then. Your core ached to be filled by the man in front of you, and your fingers twitched at your sides.

Jackie brought one of his hands to touch your neck, the soft expanse of skin just below your jaw, and this time you did finally whimper to him. A high-pitched whine escaped your throat as his tattooed fingers trailed across your delicate throat, which he could have so easily crushed at a moment’s notice. He cocked his head at the noise, earring swinging back and forth like a pendulum.

“I got’ta be crazy for this,” he murmured, perhaps to himself, as his fingers trailed down, past your shirt collar to your collarbone.

You released a garbled moan again, forcing yourself to keep up on your own two feet. “No,” you forced out. His eyes flickered to meet yours from where they had been lingering on your neck. “I feel it too.”

“Yeah?” His eyes became half-lidded, and when he leaned forward, you swallowed thick. “You feel it when I do this?” Slowly, tantalizingly, teasingly, he dragged his lips down the column of your throat - and then clamped his lips down when you moaned aloud. It echoed across the restroom like a call to action, like the blank starting off the race.

Everything exploded from then on.

Jackie brushed teeth along your neck as he sucked bruises and hickies into your skin, tongue laving over the raw spots. To spur him on, to bring him closer, your hands flew up to grasp at the back of his head. Your skin burst into tingles and miniature detonations where he touched you and you touched him, and it was almost too much to handle.

“Fuck, Jackie,” you whimpered out into the hot air.

Jackie had moved his ministrations down to the hollow of your throat, right between your collarbones, and he licked his tongue over a fresh bruise before tilting his head up to rest his forehead against yours. You longed to lean forward and kiss him, to kiss him until he couldn’t breathe, but you could only stare back at him as his gaze bore into yours.

“Jesucristo,” he huffed, his breath fanning hot across your face. You core ached and your pussy clenched, and now that you were so close you could sense the stiff, prominent erection tenting his pants. “You think we got a dose’a that shit?”

“I don’t care,” you panted, then grabbed his lapels to pull him even closer. “Dammit, Jackie, please fuck me.” Your brow furrowed, and your eyes screwed shut because if he suddenly came to, if he suddenly realized he was just on a drug and didn’t really want this, you didn’t want to see it. “I’ve wanted you for so fucking long, at this point I don’t care if it’s the drug. I need you so bad. I’ve needed you since you shoved your piece in my face in that garage, and I’ve needed you every fucking day since. Please - please, Jackie, fuck me.”

You stared at the darkness behind your eyelids, waiting for him to pull away. Waiting for him to tell you he was sorry, it was just the drug talking, that he needed to go. But he never did. Instead, you felt him take your chin between his thumb and his finger to tilt your head up. He pressed his forehead to yours again, then leaned his head until his lips brushed the shell of your ear.

“Open those eyes, chica,” he murmured. “I want you to watch me while I fuck you senseless.”

Not even a moment after you opened your eyes, your heart in your throat, Jackie attached his lips to yours as if he were going to die if he didn’t. He attacked your mouth with his own feverishly, almost violently - and you you wouldn’t have it any other way. Teeth clashing and tongues laving and moans rising from your throats, you barely registered it as he moved his hands over your sides. They traveled over your hips, squeezing the flesh of your ass, before grabbing your thighs just below.

“Jump.”

You didn’t need to be told twice. Keeping your lips locked to his, your arms wrapped around his neck as you hopped into his grasp and locked your legs around his waist. You didn’t need to hesitate; you knew, you trusted, that he wouldn’t let you fall. He’d always been there for you, and he wasn’t about to stop now.

Jackie carried you to the countertop, where he set you down on the edge and came to settle between your spread thighs. He pushed them a bit further apart as if testing you, teasing you, seeing just how far you could go without snapping. You whimpered against his lips, tugging at his jacket.

“Hips up, chica bonita,” he said, and you at once obeyed. You lifted your hips as he took ahold of your waistband, trousers and panties together, and ripped them down your thighs. Almost as if the smell of your throbbing sex, almost as if he could actually smell it, he released a groan and bucked his hips forward to grind against your cunt. Your moans joined his and your nails dug into the leather of his jacket.

“Christ, Jackie!” you practically howled.

With one hand, he began to unbuckle his belt - your starving eyes following his every move - and the other flexed two fingers up the dampness of your slit. Your eyes rolled into the back of your head as a tidal wave of pleasure washed over you; if you weren’t bracing yourself against the counter behind you, you would have crumbled. An intensity like you’d never known before was taking over your systems, flooding your drives. The drug was amping itself up now that what you needed was finally within reach.

Jackie cocked his head again as he ran his fingers up and down your entrance, at last working his belt loose and shoving his pants down his thighs. His erection sprang from the confines of his boxers, and your mouth watered just looking at it. His member was just like the rest of him; big, and thick, and wide. It slapped against your thigh as he surged forward to slam his lips against yours again; it was almost painfully hard. If you thought the effects of the drug hurt you, you couldn’t begin to imagine how he was feeling.

“So wet for me already, mamita,” he drawled under his breath. He drew his hand from your core and you nearly whined before he brought his fingers to his lips and sucked your slick from his digits - all while maintaining eye contact with you. Then he brought his thumb, thick and calloused from years of manual labor, and brought it to your lips. You understood at once. Grabbing onto his wrist, you took his thumb into your mouth and gently sucked on it, swirling your tongue around the tip. He released a shaky sigh, then withdrew his digit and placed it over your clit. The moment he began to rub quick, harsh circles over it, you cried out - and yet they were swallowed up as he connected his lips to yours.

“Good girl,” he moaned, rutting his hips against your thigh. “Good fuckin’ girl, V.”

You keened at his praise, spreading your legs further for him as he took his thick cock in hand and began to line himself up with your entrance. Outside the bathroom door, the music pumped and people were shouting with glee and lust, but you could hear none of it. You were transfixed on the man before you, the man that was peering down at you like you were his entire world.

“Fuck me, Jackie,” you told him in a strained voice. “Fuck me like you want it.”

“You better believe I do, chica,” he rumbled. “Always have.” Without another word, he pushed himself into your sopping pussy in one fluid movement. You opened your mouth to moan, but nothing came out. You were far too stunned, far too high on cloud nine to even think about coming down. Jackie’s cock stretched you in the most delicious way, practically spearing you open as his hips lay flush against yours. He tilted his head back to the ceiling and groaned low from deep in his throat, a noise that had you clenching around him.

That seemed to set him back into motion. His large hands wrapped around your middle, just above your hips, and used that as leverage to begin pistoning his cock in and out of your pussy. Your back arched and your mouth fell open as he pounded into you mercilessly, chasing not just your relief but his as well. The drug was still coursing through the both of you, driving your bodies to the extremes to get what they needed.

His name spilled from your lips, slowly at first, then quickly, like a mantra or a desperate prayer. His member was dragging across your walls in the most perfect way, letting you feel every ridge and vein and velvety inch. He would pull out almost entirely, then slam back into you again, his grip on your abdomen the only thing keeping you from inching up the counter.

“Jackie!” you wailed up to the ceiling. “Jackie! Fuck, Jackie!”

“That’s it, mamita,” he panted, dragging you further down the counter toward him. “Scream my name for them all to hear.” He slowed his pace, only slightly, so that he could lean over you and gaze down at you with half-lidded eyes. “I want them to know who you belong to.” He straightened, then slammed into you with a particularly harsh thrust that brushed against that sweet, heavenly spot inside of you. Your hands scrabbled for purchase on the counter, your legs wrapped tight around his waist.

“Right there!” you screamed, gripping onto his inked forearms. “Don’t stop! Please, don’t stop.”

“Tell me who you belong to, princesa.” He slowed his pace even further, instead opting to rail into you with deep, hard-hitting thrusts that left you seeing stars. “Tell me.”

You panted for breath, your cunt squeezing around him, begging for your nearing release. “You,” you breathed out, then yelped when he slammed into you. Your back slid slightly up the counter. “You!” you bayed, your throat beginning to go raw from the howling and begging. “Only you! Just you, baby, only you.”

Another thrust, one that forced black spots into your vision. The pleasure was right there, just on the brink, teetering on the edge.

“Tell them.” When you hesitated, Jackie leaned down and licked a short stripe up your throat. “Tell them who you belong to.”

Who were you to disobey? “Jackie!” you cried out, and you were faintly aware of the tears beginning to spill down your cheeks, born from the raw, unbridled pleasure and the pain of being kept from it. “Jackie Welles! Jackie - FUCK!”

“Cum for me, V.”

Spreading your thighs even further apart, he slammed into your cunt, bringing his thumb down to stroke at your clit all at once. It took only a number of thrusts until suddenly you were cumming. It was an almost violent, explosive, drowning-kind of orgasm that left you gasping for air you couldn’t draw in. You were blinded by the spots dancing in your vision, your limbs leaden and your lungs aching for air. You were above cloud nine; you were in heaven.

Above you, Jackie’s hips were beginning to stutter and falter in their rhythm. He yanked you down the counter again, slamming his hips into yours in a frantic sprint to his own finish. You watched him as he used you, unable to move or even speak as he groaned and grunted and railed into you one last time before he spilled into your pussy. A staggered moan was pulled from his lips as he emptied himself, his earring swinging as he slumped over you on the counter.

For a long, long while, you were both simply silent, still connected, sharing each other’s air as you regained your breath. Finally, Jackie stood straight again and slowly pulled his softening cock from your cunt. You winced as he fell from you, everything from your waist down practically numb. Your entrance, your clit, your thighs - sore, and red, and spent.

You said nothing, suddenly exhausted out of your mind and unable to do anything much, as Jackie grimaced tucking himself back into his pants, buckled his belt, then grabbed a few towels and wet them in the sink. He shushed your whimpers of overstimulation as he gently cleaned you up, keeping you quiet and still when he helped pull your pants back up and your shirt back down from where it had bunched up around your middle. Then he gingerly pulled you off the counter, slid down the wall of the sink, and cradled you in his arms.

Had the circumstances been different, you would have laughed. Jackie was holding you against him, nestling against your forehead and petting your hair on the filthy-ass floor of a club bathroom. But they weren’t different. You had just been drugged, and then fucked within an inch of your life by your best friend.

What a fucking mess this night had turned out to be.

Your bottom half ached as Jackie shifted you in his lap, keeping you cradled against him protectively. He smoothed your sweaty hair from your forehead, brushing the thumb you had sucked gently over the jut of your cheekbone.

“Jack-“

“Aye, carino, save that pretty voice of yours. We got to get you home-“

“Did you mean it?” Your voice came out sluggish and hoarse, strained from screaming his name.

Jackie peered down at you with a furrowed brow, carefully wiping away a tear stain on your cheek. “Mean what?”

“That…” You found your words sticking in your throat. You averted your gaze from his, instead focusing it on a corner of the ceiling. Another stroke of his thumb along your face at last coaxed the question from where it had been resting deep within your belly. “That you always have. Meant it.”

He stayed there for a moment so long it felt as if it had stretched into an hour. Before you could take it back, say it had just been the drug to try and cover your embarrassment, a small, crooked smirk spread across his features and he ran a hand over his face.

“Fuck, V,” he murmured, then exhaled a breath and craned his neck down so that your noses nudged together. It was a strangely passionate gesture, so foreign after the sinful acts you’d just committed. “Been wanting you just as long, chica. See you every day, looking like that, and it feels like I’m… I don’t know, a ticking fucking bomb. Didn’t know when I was gon’na go off.” He glanced up and around at the bathroom surrounding you. “Wish it would’ve been somewhere else, but I guess beggars can’t be choosers.”

You stared up at him, the ache blossoming through your used body momentarily forgotten. At first you thought it was the drug talking, that soon his eyes would darken and he would be ready for another round. He wasn’t in his right mind; he was just saying these things to get you riled up.

But as you held his gaze, and he gingerly leaned down to capture your swollen lips in a soft, gentle kiss, you realized it was all real. It was all true. No drug-fueled fuck sessions, no lies - nothing but the truth. He did really, truly want you, just the way you were.

Slowly, Jackie pulled away from the kiss to smooth your brow with his thumb and press his lips against your forehead. “I didn’t hurt you, did I?”

A drained, sluggish smile overtook your lips. “No,” you murmured and reached up to cup his weathered cheek. “I know you’d never hurt me, Jackie.”

You stumbled through the club together a while later, supporting each other’s weights as you stopped at the front doors to collect your weapons from the bouncers. The woman who had drugged you still sat on her stool, and she watched you both with a knowing, charming smirk. When you met her eye, she winked before turning to the next customer in line.

A tired sigh escaped your lips as you collapsed into your car’s passenger seat, having handed over the keys to Jackie upon his insistence. He climbed in beside you, his own lids drooping as he started the engine. Then a grin passed over his features as he dug around in his pocket before flipping a small object your way. You caught it, then opened your palms to find one of the small tabs of drugged ink lying on its side.

“What?” he teased as he settled his hands on the wheel. “You didn’t think I’d forget about the job, did you?” His thick brow quirked. “Not that I didn’t just have the best fuckin’ night of my life with my girl.”

You smiled and flipped the tab of ink into the air. “You’re something else, Jackie.”

“I’ll be whatever you like, princesa,” he said before peeling away from the curb. “As long as you remember that you’re mine.”

#cyberpunk #cyberpunk 2077 #cyberpunk jackie #cbp 2077 #cyberpunk x Reader #jackie welles #jackie welles x reader #jackie welles x you #jackie welles smut #cyberpunk 2077 smut #cyberpunk 2077 x reader

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wifelinkmtg · 4 months

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HEY WHAT'S UP

So, funny story, I was watching a guy stream a Warhammer 40K game, and by "stream a Warhammer 40K game" I mean he had the game open to the character-select screen while talking about fascist aesthetics and Warhammer for an hour and a half, and all the while this growing certainty gnawed at my hindbrain like, oh man I'm going to have to issue a substantial correction, and I really didn't want to have to talk about fascist aesthetics yet again, but here we are. Okay.

The problem is that I've argued in the past for a mostly transsexual reading of Phyrexia by arguing against the more common reading of them as a fascist faction, saying the Phyrexian aesthetic is incompatible with the idealized heroic figures of fascist iconography, and that's basically true if we're talking about German Nazism specifically. Unfortunately, there's a bunch of other fascisms out there, and the guy whose stream I was watching (Cameron Lauder of LRR, if you wanna know) was quoting from Marinetti's Futurist Manifesto and I was like oh, no this is eminently compatible with Phyrexia. He wants to fuck a train for being a fast, powerful, violent machine; this man might as well summer in the Hunter Maze.

And in retrospect, since different valid readings of a text can simultaneously exist, the only reason I felt I had to argue against the fascist reading is that I didn't want to be tarred and feathered for a philia for fictional Phyrexian fascists, you know? Not that it worked - I still got angry notes. So, okay, the fascist reading is also correct. This leaves Transformation, Horror, Eros, Phyrexia mostly intact - good! - but the ditch essay pretty thoroughly eviscerated, since the whole point of it was trying to shore up precisely that part of the first essay's argument, and I'm not sure what's left is worth much. "The Ditch" is like a power drill: a useful shortcut if you know what you're doing, and capable of doing a fair bit of damage if you don't. Ah, well.

I SEEM TO RECALL THIS PLACE USED TO BE FOR REVIEWING PICTURES OF HOT WOMEN ON CARDSTOCK?

Yes, well. We'll get back there, but I got covid, so: happy new year, and good luck.

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hippolotamus · 2 months

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writing patterns

rules: list the first line(s) of your last 10 posted fics and see if there's a pattern!

it's tempawrary (Stevie Budd | 3.1k | T)

Stevie is at least 87% certain this week can’t possibly get worse. For starters, she’s in the motel lobby surrounded by overstuffed bankers’ boxes. Boxes that now belong to her, courtesy of Aunt Maureen’s highly inconvenient death.

stay here honey (i don't wanna share) (Lutalia | 1.8k | E)

Lucy drapes one arm around Natalia, burying her nose in her hair. Nat smells like the overpriced mousse from the salon. Like sweat and sex. She smells like Lucy. That knowledge sparks a primal, possessive urge, just enough to make itself known. The one Lucy isn’t ready to admit to having and Natalia won’t admit to loving.

if this love is pain (let's hurt tonight) (Buddie | 3.2k | T)

Eddie knows it’s him immediately. Feels the weight of his presence like a favorite coat that doesn’t quite fit anymore. Of course he does. Try as he might, Eddie will never not know when Buck is nearby.

with eyes wide open i tore you apart (Buddie | 377 | G)

“Which is why I have to make the most of every single moment.” Even as Buck says the words, they taste like ash on his tongue. Because his heart’s not in them and he knows Eddie’s not buying it either.

if i’m being honest (it scares me to death) (Buddie | 2.9k | T)

Just got in. See you tomorrow. Buck pockets his phone and enters the apartment — it’s not home, never really has been — his movements slow and easy, like he’s floating. Buoyed by the sort of love and contentment that can only come from spending an evening at the Diaz house.

the only thing that matters now (is everything) (Twylexis | 882 | G)

Alexis combs her fingers through her hair, letting manicured nails lightly scratch along her scalp while she stares at the ceiling. Golden wavy strands glide between her fingertips before dropping back to the pillow, a feeling she wants to take advantage of while she can. The self-soothing act had always calmed her as a little girl. Tonight she’s not exactly troubled, but ever since the tests came back, and the immediate future is wrapped in so much uncertainty, she’s found herself doing it more often.

a prelude to a kiss (Twylexis | 335 | G)

It’s no secret that Alexis has kissed lots of people. Like, so many. Men, women, non-binary, genderfluid… Alexis Rose has locked lips with them all. Even so, none of those could ever compare to the woman standing in front of her. To the moment they’re about to share.

I know all your secrets (David/Patrick | 4.6k | E)

In all the years of artfully sneaking around for missions, Agent Patrick Brewer never thought his expertise would lead him here. At least, not as many times as it has.

Whatever may come (your heart I will choose) (Buddie | 77.4k | M)

Love /lǝv/ (n) - strong affection for another arising out of kinship or personal ties. Warm attachment, enthusiasm, or devotion. Unselfish, loyal and benevolent concern for the good of another. Thousands of years ago, the Ancient Greeks identified eight types of love: Agape (unconditional), Eros (romantic), Philia (affectionate), Philautia (self-love), Storge (familiar), Pragma (enduring), Ludus (playful), and Mania (obsessive).

all in the Jee-tails (Buddie | 4.5k | T)

Okay. Just a little turn aaaand- yes. Alright, only one more to go. You got this, Buckley. Buck watches with fascination as the sewing machine’s needle dips and resurfaces, piercing the shimmery blue fabric. A wave of satisfaction and pride washes over him when the final stitches meet seamlessly with the beginning ones.

umm... i don't even know how to categorize whatever's happening there. although i feel like i can confidently say that i love using parens in titles 🙃

tags below the cut. if you see this and wanna play, too, consider this your tag!

thanks for the tags @lemonzestywrites @honestlydarkprincess @wikiangela @spotsandsocks @tizniz @thekristen999 @jesuisici33 @hoodie-buck @apothecarose 💖

no pressure tagging @stereopticons @blackandwhiteandrose @shortsighted-owl @eddiebabygirldiaz mi amor @disasterbuckdiaz @elvensorceress @barbiediaz @buddierights @chaosandwolves @daffi-990 @diazsdimples @eowon @fortheloveofbuddie @gayedmundodiaz @giddyupbuck @heartshapedvows @indestructibleheart LOML @lizzie-bennetdarcy @ladydorian05 @loserdiaz @monsterrae1 @spaceprincessem @statueinthestone @steadfastsaturnsrings @the-likesofus @theplaceyoustillrememberdreaming @thewolvesof1998 @vanillahigh00 @watchyourbuck @wildlife4life @your-catfish-friend @rmd-writes @weewootruck @welcometololaland and anyone else who wants to 😘

#ngl whatever may come has my favorite intro #like i'm stupidly proud of that prologue #tag game #writing patterns #hippo writes #lutalia fic #buddie fic #sc fic #twylexis fic

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hellcatsandcars · 6 months

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for all my "eroticism of the machine" tumblrinas: please go read electronic eros: bodies and desire in the postindustrial age by claudia springer. it will be worth it trust me

#it's available for free on the internet archive if you don't want to buy it #or check out if your local library has it #(you can also request an inter-library loan but sometimes there's a fee to pay for those)#anyways #eroticism of the machine

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