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kenananamin · 6 months

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Nanami as a girl dad

Nanami is a girl dad, I will not argue or fight on this but if you think he's not... i got news for you ANYWAYS these are my Nanami headcanons as the best husband and dad and what he would do as a girl dad during pregnancy, birth, and actually raising the baby

takes a personal day off work to take you to your doctor's appointments then takes you to brunch and a movie. will hold your hand the whole time

fought HR/managers/supervisors/ANYONE for as much paternity leave as he could get

asked if he could work from home bc he doesn't want to miss a single moment of your pregnancy or newborn baby

sits on the floor to talk to his baby girl and holds your tummy saying that he's holding her hand

made 20 copies of the sonogram picture and kept them all. there's a copy in his wallet, behind his phone case, in the glove compartment, and in every suit jacket pocket close to his heart. he likes to brag about his girls (you and baby)

comes back from the store with more diapers and wipes bc "we need to be prepared"

bookmarks blog posts talking about how to bond with your baby

reads every book he can and asks the doctor more questions than any other dad who comes into the office

will ask anyone he trusts for advice, but gets defensive when someone tells him to do something differently

takes naps with his head on your lap and his lips touching your belly

has two hospital bags ready in the closet but has an emergency one in the trunk... just in case

does not sleep the whole time you're in labor even when the nurses tell him to "rest before the baby gets here"... that gets him more excited and doesn't let him sleep

tells you to dig your nails into his arm if you need to when you start pushing. kisses your entire face when the baby starts to cry and rushes to the nurse holding her to ask if they could stamp the baby's feet on his shirt/gown before cleaning her (a/n: my dad did this with me and it is the cutest thing ever. we still have the gown with the tiny feet stamped on there)

carefully takes off the shirt/gown and immediately wants to do skin-to-skin contact after you hold the baby first

follows baby to the hospital nursery and takes pictures of sleeping baby to change his wallpaper

changes wallpaper every two days bc "she did something cute" or "sticking her tongue out" or "giving me the stink eye"

loves waking up with her at night bc besides letting you rest... it's daddy-daughter time so don't interrupt

demonstrates what tummy time is while she lays on her baby bouncer (you laugh bc it's ridiculous and she's only a couple weeks old)

buys scrapbook and disposable cameras to start an album (the first of a hundred probably)

buys special clips for crib blankets to be tight and immovable around mattress bc he kept reading about possible suffocation

either way, does not like for her to sleep in her own room so he buys an extra baby moses to put in your room

has an extra diaper bag in his car bc he likes impromptu trips to let mommy rest

sulking when he has to go back to work

finds remote job within the next month

sits baby down on his lap while be works and she plays with her toy

throws an intimate 1st bday party first then a second one the next weekend to invite anyone he's ever talked to and brag about his family

literally kicks his feet and giggles with his daughter then stands up to be the most intimidating man to anyone else

tears of joy when you're pregnant again and sobs when they say it's a girl

carries his girls with him everywhere he goes

is proud that he's raising strong women who will learn how to fight for themselves. keeps reminding himself that he's raising the next generation and that fuels a fire deep inside him

let's the girls play with his hair and put all the clips they can find around the house on his head

lets his fingers and toes be horribly painted while he reads the newspaper and leaves the house with those nails

gets teary eyed on the first day of school and waits outside the school the whole day for a week (paid time off used)

can only do simple pony tails and braids but loves waking the girls up, sitting them on his lap and doing their hair while you get them dressed

making cute lunches for the girls with you is one of his favorite parts of the day

likes dressing the girls alike or the same and has a strange obsession with buying them overalls

loves playing barbie with them and lowkey has a favorite barbie

goes toy shopping behind mommy's back and tells the girls that this is the only secret that they can ever ever keep

randomly brings back flowers for every single one of his girls

takes his girls (you and daughters) on group and individual dates

makes the girls sign a contract written in crayon stating they "will love daddy forever"... frames it and puts it in his office

cries tears of joy AGAIN when you're pregnant with another girl... and looks for a bigger house

rips off door side where he was marking the girl's height and puts it in the new house. he did not believe in marking/tracing it on another thin piece of wood and said he wanted the original

takes everyone out for dessert every Friday and checks in on each kid to see how they're feeling and if they're ok

never misses a single game, recital, rehearsal, practice, ANYTHING

takes his daughters to their first self-defense class

does not believe in violence and does not condone it... but will first ask the girls if they won the fight (strongly insinuates that he will be disappointed if someone kicks their ass)

corrects the girls when needed and has a special look to tell them to stop messing around

later goes to apologize if he ever uses the look

will ask the girls for a sleepover and will throw every blanket on the floor to make one huge bed

tells the girls to follow him as he does repairs around the house or on the car bc they "need to know how it all works and how to deal with it"

is shocked when you're pregnant again (even though he likes to do a certain something that leads to babies) but is REALLY SHOCKED when it's a boy this time

reminds the girls that they have to be nice and helpful with their brother

starts all the reading and bookmarking all over again, but his time on how to raise a gentleman

raises the best little dude and let's the girls show him everything he has shown them so far

okaaaay okay i know i said he's a girl dad and a girl dad only buuuuut Nanami would raise the best little gentleman ever. AND IMAGINE A MINI NANAMI?!! ... but he's still a girl dad first and foremost

extras:

would absolutely praise his wife and randomly thank her for giving him a family

will wear a disguise and follow daughters to first date

refuses to parentify any of his kids and wants to let them be kids

constantly reminds them that they only get to be kids for a short amount of time then they have to be adults for the rest of their lives. so be silly

is always down for a quiet drive if anyone needs to clear their head

dreads the day when he will no longer he able to carry his kids on his shoulders

has already made mental plans for every possible situation the kids may create, even the absolutely crazy ones his brain has imagined

is very open w the girls and talks about safety in intimacy

leaves cute notes during bad or iffy days and writes motivational quotes on their mirrors with dry-erase markers

loves when you say he's a dilf

tries to talk to them about the stock market

passes his budgeting king crown to the kids

feels super cool when his kids brag to their friends about him, even puffs his chest a little bit

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ikiprian · 2 months

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Barbara Gordon's Coding & Computer Cram School is a popular YouTube series. Tucker Foley is a star student.

Barbara Gordon's Cram School posts free online courses for both coding and computer engineering. Think Crash Course in terms of entertainment, but college lecture in terms of depth. Hundreds of thousands of viewers flock to it— students who missed a class, people looking to add new skills to a resume, even simple hobbyists. It’s a project Barbara’s proud of.

Sometimes, when she wants to relax, she’ll even hop in the comments and spend an afternoon troubleshooting a viewer’s project with them.

User “Fryer-Tuck” has especially interesting ones. Barbara finds herself seeking out his comments, checking in on whatever this crazy kid is making next. An app for collecting GPS pings and assembling them on a map in real-time, an algorithm that connects geographic points to predict something’s movement taking a hundred other variables into account, simplified versions of incredibly complex homemade programs so they can run on incredibly limited CPU’s.

(Barbara wants to buy the kid a PC. It seems he’s got natural talent, but he keeps making reference to a PDA. Talk about 90’s! This guy’s hardware probably predates his birth.)

She chats with him more and more, switching to less public PM threads, and eventually, he opens up. His latest project, though, is not something Barbara has personal experience with.

FT: so if you found, hypothetically, a mysterious glowing substance that affects tech in weird and wacky ways that could totally have potential but might be vaguely sentient/otherworldly…. what would you do and how would you experiment with it. safely, of course. and hypothetically

BG: I’d make sure all my tests were in disposable devices and quarantined programs to keep it from infecting my important stuff. Dare I ask… how weird and wacky is it?

FT: uhhh. theoretically, a person composed of this substance once used it to enter a video game. like physical body, into the computer, onto the screen? moving around and talking and fighting enemies within the game?

FT: its been experimented with before, but not on any tech with a brain. just basic shields and blasters and stuff, its an energy source. also was put in a car once

FT: i wanna see how it affects software, yk? bc i already know it can. mess around and see how far i can push it

BG: […]

FT: … barbara?

BG: Sorry, thinking. Would you mind sharing more details? You said “blasters?”

Honestly. Kid genius with access to some truly wacky materials and even wackier weapons, she needs to start a file on him before he full sends to either hero or villain.

[OR: Tucker is a self-taught hacker, but if he were to credit a teacher, he'd name Barbara Gordon's Coding & Computer Cram School! He's even caught the attention of Dr. Gordon herself. She's full of sage advice, and with how she preaches the value of a good VPN, he's sure she's not pro-government. Maybe she'll help him as he studies the many applications of ecto-tech!]

#she does end up sending tucker a PC lol #and after she learns he has experience supporting a superhero team maybe pushes his name forward to WEs outreach program for r&d potentials #picks him up by the scruff and says MY coding buddy #also fun fact she had a phd in library science at one point. i like that about her i think we should talk about it a little more #also tucker was making a ghost reporting & tracking app for amity parkers #dpxdc #dcxdp #barbara gordon #tucker foley #prompt #kipwrite

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greenflamedwriter · 1 month

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Vampire Au | JiuYuan

Okay so, both Shen Jiu and Wu Yanzi come across an abandoned hut on the side of a river, the river is also violent and not shallow so it's the perfect dumping spot for bodies. So when both Demonic cultivator and disciple come across a man sleeping in the shade it was obvious Wu Yanzi planned on mugging him then using the body for demonic cultivation-

So after Shen Jiu waits outside as look out, acting bored. It was normal for the screams to begin that was usual.

"Shen Jiu! Help this Master!"

The fact that it was his Master screaming in pain? not usual?

Shen Jiu ran forward to the doorway in time to see the sleeping man, with a demonic face bite into Wu Yanzi savagaly, blood gushing from his neck then the demon? Threw his master on the floor and spat-

"Not only do you have the nerve to attack this one- you don't even have the decency to be a filling meal!"

A-a Jiangshi!

Wu Yanzi was dead on the floor and the Jiangshi gazed at him, raising his clawed hands gestured.

"you. Come here."

Shen Jiu wanted to run but suddenly his feet was moving forward, the man sliced open his finger then raised it. "Swallow."

Shen Jiu face twitched in disgust, as the finger pushed and rubbed against his tongue then withdraw as he swallowed. "Now you are my servant, dispose of this trash and guard me while I sleep during the day."

Shen Jiu scowled but did as he was told, not before pilfering Wu Yanzi's items before dumping the body in the river. It seemed he had some freedom within his orders.

And it appeared he traded one master for another.

When the sunlight set, the man immedietly groaned as he arched his back. "That was the worst fucking nap of my entire unlife- oh you're still here."

"Obviously." Shen Jiu sneered, and the man rolled his eyes. "Great- well this should work out for me. The night is short, and this humble master never wants to be out in te sunlight."

Telling Shen Jiu his weakness? Either he was stupid, unlikely or he was testing Shen Jiu with this knowledge. Wu Yanzi wasn't so different.

When they journeyed to a local village, luckily close to the rampaging rivers, the Jiangshi gave Shen Jiu money. "Go find a nice inn for us, and buy something for yourself after."

Shen Jiu scowled, as the man vanished and Shen Jiu walked away, he couldn't run even when he tried to...although stopping outside a brothel and was able to enter and purchase some rooms.

...Guess he did have some freedom with how the command is worded.

He was able to go to a blacksmiths and buy some blades. Small knifes were the most affordable- and easy to hide and steal.

It was better to pay for something and seen as a customer, then leave suspiciously. But when he found his new master, and took him to their 'inn' he scowled at the relief. "Ah good- I was worried since I forgot to mention I needed something to eat." Shen Jiu scowled, to think he put these women in danger-!

As soon as they entered, Shen Jiu with a dark scowl, and the man beaming and looking way to comfortable-

pov switch:

Not realising that it was all bravado, when he was alone he had no shame but now he had a kid and got he was only fourteen for christ sake! Shen Yuan transmigrating as a freakin Jiangshi in PIDW had to be a cosmic joke! "Hellow young masters!" The host spoke jovially, "May we interest you in some refreshments, one lady or two?" He glanced at Shen Jiu and Shen Yuan cleared his throat.

"Hmm, just one would do, and if you could..."

He placed the coins on the table, "A room with food and drink and a young man would suit me just fine." Shen Yuan smiled bashfully. And he was met with different reactions. The host nodded, probably not surprised. But Shen Jiu looked at him like he was an alien.

And yeah- then there was the feeding- okay he didn't need to sleep with them, but he had this whole routine thing and having someone watch, a kid at that- if he could blush he would but he's not ashamed! It's not wrong it's just food!

When the man came in, Shen Yuan would usually be more blunt, but felt that he had to be nice about it. "I uh, I prefer doing it myself, you just get comfortable," Shen Yuan took the mans waist leading him to the bed "And relax."

All it took was a few kisses and nibbles, and the man was defiently playing it up, moaning like his life depended on it. Shen Yuan hovered over him, if the man noticed a certain...lack of reaction he'll tense up and be suspicious-

Shen Yuan bit down, and now that was a real moan, even the mans hips thrusted up, sometimes that happened. Shen Yuan fed as much as he could then stopped, just enough to make them tired enough to believe this was just a client being too rough.

Shen Yuan licked the wound clean watching it heal, then pulled back gazing at the mans eyes who relaxed, pupils wide and droopy under his thrall.

"Now, you'll leave this room disapointed but unsurprised that this was the worst client you have ever had the misfortune of laying with. So bad you want to erase the whole ebarrising thing from your memory."

The man left and Shen Yuan slumped back into the bed, just enough for another day he could lay low here for a while and when he notices how tired the patrons are he'll hop skip and jump to the next town no problem-

Shen Jiu shifted and Shen Yuan turned forgetting he was there. "Why not lie? Why make him believe it was a lousy lay?"

"Why not? More incentive to never think of this Master and become suspicious." Shen Yuan shrugged. Now he was stuck with Shen Jiu, he could send the boy out to find him a nice little hovel to sleep in then dismiss him. Then again he seemed decent with cultivation- but if he lets him go what chances are he would come back to kill him?

...hmmm.

"Boy, tell me. What am I?"

Shen Jiu's eyes narrowed, maybe from being called boy. "A Jiangshi." Shen Yuan blinked surprised, huh. "I'm not stupid and my names is Shen Jiu." He bit, oh okay. "How do you kill a Ghost Head Spider?" "Strike the temple before it releases its baby like cries to alert others."

hmmm, so Shen Yuan began to quiz Shen Jiu, the other still stiff and answering every one like his life depended on it. Shen Yuan sighed, moving over to the table and brightening to see food- he forgot about that.

"Shen Jiu come dig in!" He spoke, sitting down and pilling his own food onto a plate, Shen Jiu moved over cautiously.

"I thought you didn't need food?"

Shen Yuan smiled, "Ah but it's a form of nutrients, if a Jiangshi has a restrictive diet then they need other things to keep it going. I only fed a little so this is to make up the rest. Most Jiangshi don't need food if they drain a person kinda like Inedia to a cultivator- ah you don't have to eat if you don't want to."

Shen Jiu was physically trembling with the chopsticks showing he was fighting back.

Shen Yuan sighed, "Sorry it's been a while since I've last had a companion."

"Companion?" Shen Jiu snapped, "More like a slave! There is no point acting like the domesticated monster if I have to find you victims to feed on to stay alive. So don't pretend."

Shen Yuan blinked, then continued eating. Of course, that was probably what the other man did.

"Hmm, this one was rudely inturupted in his sleep being attacked and had defended himself, being half starved I wasn't in the right mind, it doesn't excuse it. My ire was towards that master of yours and he payed that with his life. You on the other hand I have no such animosity towards. But disrupting my sleep as well as tainting my home so I had to relocate? That was a debt that had to be payed." He pointed his chipsticks his way "You payed that. And now, we're near a cultivation sect Zhao hao temple, you're a bit too...excitable to being a monk but if needs must-"

"No it has to be Cang Qiong."

Shen Yuan blinked, food stuffed in his mouth, "Hmm?"

Shen Jiu wasn't looking at him.

"It has to be Cang Qiong,"

...really? Shen Yuan sighed dropping his food and scrubbing his hand across his face, "Need I ask why?" He whined, if a Jiangshi went to Cang Qiong he was beyond undead!

"No don't answer- ugh fine. I'll escort you then you can hop skip and jump the rest of the way. Alright?"

Shen Jiu scowled "Why can't you let me go now?"

Shen Yuan leaned back tilting his head to the side, "If you leave now, chances are a mass of cultivators will break down these doors and kill me. On the road in the middle of the night only trapped to go in one direction or have someone kill me? I want to live thanks. And you're a bright kid can defiently go the rest of the way by yourself and not find yourself in trouble."

___________________________________________________________

And Shen Yuan whenever he thought, this was it. This was the village he'll abandon Shen Jiu in and leave him to it. And yet each night they rested up at a Brothel instead, as they kept getting closer Shen Yuan WAS going to leave he really was! But he needed to teach Shen Jiu so much stuff! Sure he learned how to write and read from Qui Jianlou, but academically especially for Cang Qiong- Shen Jiu was going to be behind with the lack of clan, or or fortune to back him up he would face bullying. But if he kept his head down, but still presented as a scholar and kept his head down? So Shen Yuan quized him, he even taught him how to spar in the way he knew how!

"Look, I'll be honest Shen Jiu, I can't teach you forms or how to wield a sword properly. BUT as a Jiangshi and a supernatural enemy I can help you hone your speed and strength! So from now on you will be doing a lot of heavy lifting." Shen Jiu scowled.

"You just want me to fill up your bath water and give the Jiejies a rest."

"Correct and it helps you gain strength, also your diet needs to change too. With the excessive workout you'll burn through so that way the ecsessive weight will become muscle."

Shen Jiu scowled "Fine."

And of course it showed results. Shen Jiu had to do push ups, pull ups, Shen Yuan even made him do handstand push ups. "Good work, you're doing well. Now do it with one hand." "You-"

He heard him fall over and sighed "You'll have to repeat that set."

Shen Jiu was gaining muscle and looks, especially from the Jiejies the next neighborhood they went to.

And on the road with no one around, Shen Yuan would attack Shen Jiu, little things like tripping him up, drawing on his face. If Shen Jiu failed then he would have to do more sets. Shen Jiu instincts was getting faster, and was even able to fight him for a solid 30's seconds. But of course, when Shen Jiu realised this he became cocky and slipped up.

"You're problem is you think too much. And that throws you off." Shen Jiu scowled down at the bonfire then nodded. "Yes, Master."

"Agh enough of that Master stuff it makes me feel creepy. Just Shen Yuan is fine."

Shen Jiu looked up at that, "Shen Yuan?"

"Not the same as yours. Shen for Wall." He corrected, then smiled as he leaned back. "But going through town we could say we're siblings. A-jiu my adorable little brother!" "No."

"aha- you're no fun."

________________________________________________________

Shen Jiu was on edge, assuming Shen Yuan would take him down the dark path in the middle of nowhere and just kill him. And yet Shen Yuan would glance at the forest with a firmed lip and keep walking. When they went to the brothel once that was one thing. The fact that he kept doing it, Shen Jiu never mentioned it, assuming if he called it out he would be punished. And yet, the closer they got to Cang Qiong. The fact that Shen Yuan fed him more and even made him do excersizes-

Shen Jiu assumed he wanted Shen Jiu tired on purprose so he couldn't run or escape. But when he saw he was getting stronger and gaining muscle he was honestly surprised. And when Shen Yuan quized him on plants, with each one they found on the road and telling him in depth about it's properties it didn't make sense to waste his time telling Shen Jiu this only to kill him off later on. He thought maybe Shen Yuan lied about taking him to Cang Qiong, but when he helped him hone his senses and have faster instincts...it just didn't make sense. "Hmm, Shen Jiu maybe we should go on a mission!" Shen Yuan spoke, after passing him a rented sword.

Shen Jiu almost missed what he said next too busy staring at the weapon in his hands! He could kill Shen Yuan right now-

"With a mission under your belt, that'll give you experience! Remember you're too old for the entrance exam SO you have to be good I mean really good that they couldn't dare pass you up to being plucked by another sect!"

And when Shen Yuan watched Shen Jiu on his mission, just observing and not helping at all, even observed as Shen Jiu took down the monster plauging the town.

Once he landed and looked at his Master for approval- then looked away why was he looking for his approval! Shen Yuan hummed nodding. "Very good, you were fast and efficient," He stepped closer and humed. "Now, is there anything on this beast worth salvaging?"

Shen Jiu froze, he was never taught that.

"Apologies Master, this one doesn't know how..."

Shen Yuan laughed, "Ah I forgot, well this is a learning experience! come here." And he taught him everything he needed to know.

When Shen Jiu was finally left alone and trusted to pay for their lodging, he asked the patron. "How far is Cang Qiong Mountain?" The man paused, "Hmm just a few towns North and you'll be there, this humble one see's you have a sword is your master a cultivator?" Shen Jiu eyes flickered "Not one from a popular sect, my Master is a rogue Cultivator." If this man thought they could triple the price he had another thing coming. "Ah,"

"Also he would prefer," Shen Jiu stared at him cooley, he wasn't embarresed "Male courtesans."

"Ah of course-"

"Preferably someone older than myself, he's not a fan of young ones." The man nodded again. Shen Jiu remembered that incident, Shen Yuan was in a pleasent mood but when he saw the thirteen year old it was like something snapped. He used his thrall to tell the prositute that he was way too young for this type of work and then brought in the owner and thralled them as well. Telling them that any worker under eighteen should work as cleaners or in the kitchens and be payed twice as much!

Shen Jiu stared as the owner nodded.

"M-Master why would you do that? That could ruin this mans buisness." Shen Yuans eyes were bloodshot as he glared after the man wobbling away. "Then it should rot for all I care."

Shen Jiu never understood it, wasn't it normal for both genders as long as someone was willing to pay. But Shen Yuan seemed deeply unnerved by that.

"Also what the fuck is a pint sized childs blood going to do for me? Men have more women and children less so!"

"...Why would women have less blood?"

Shen Yuan shrugged, "I don't know, periods maybe?"

Shen Jiu didn't ask what a period was, Shen Yuan was still pissed and more annoyed when no one came to their room! "You thralled him but didn't ask-" "Agh! Shen Jiu can you just, I'll break his neck if I talk to him again!"

And Shen Yuans eyes was red, his teeth extended and even his voice was a deep growl. Shen Jiu ran out like his ass was on fire, Shen Yuan faltered hand extended then covered his face with his hand.

He didn't mean to scare Shen Jiu...

Not realising that Shen Jiu collapsed against the wall, feeling weird. He wasn't a stranger to attraction he knew what it was...in theory. Thanks to the Jiejies being so nice and talking to him assuming his Master and He had that type of relationship especially when he requested those types at the Brothel.

They spoke ...in detail...and Shen Jiu only to be polite nodded, but now it all came back to him in detail-

He wonderd if maybe Shen Yuan wanted him that way...especially since he was getting older, would Shen Yuan on the road...ask that of Shen Jiu? Push him down in the woods in the dark? Both fumbling around in the damp dew grass-

Shen Jiu shook his head, forget that! He had to find Shen Yuan someone to feed on- His traitorius mind flashed with the image of Shen Yuan feeding on him. And the fact that he found a young man similair to his face well...

_____________________________________________________________

When Shen Jiu stood before Cang Qiong Mountain right at the foot of the staircase, with two disciples stationed at the gates, thats when Shen Yuan leaned down.

"Okay, so I attack you-"

"What!?"

"Shush, I attack you, call you a worthless servant and you say you're not going to give me innocents to feed on anymore-"

Wait what!? "And then you 'break' out my thrall, and when those two finally help, thats when I'll run away all "agh curses, Cang Qiong disciples ahh!" and you'll be taken in as a legendary strong cultivator who fought against a vampires thrall and won!"

There was stars in Shen Yuans eyes, he looked excited to 'act' and put on a show, but Shen Jiu couldn't- this was Cang Qiong there was a chance that they would hunt down Shen Yuan and kill him!

"N-no master this Shen Jiu doesn't think this is a-"

"Xiao Jiu!"

Both flinched and turned to see a party of returning Disciples probably coming from a mission and Shen Jiu's eyes widened to see-

"Qi-ge?" His voice broke, and Shen Yuan stood their awkwardly as the young disciple almost ran forward eyes shining in wonder.

"You're alive!" He sounded so joyful, and almost took a step forward but his Shizun stopped him, eyes narrowed in Shen Yuans direction. "Yue Qingyuan who is this?"

Yue Qingyuan straightened. "This is a childhood friend of mine, Shen Jiu." "Hmm," Shen Yuan shivered seeing those intense eyes looking at him. Before he could open his mouth, Shen Jiu spoke before Shen Yuan decided to reveal what he was just to shove Shen Jiu into their arms. "This is my Master, Shen Yuan. He has been educating this Shen Jiu about cultivation." The Sect Leader hummed.

"Really?"

"Shen Jiu is truly the prodigy, but this lowly one has nothing else to teach him. Both of us were wondering if there was any vacancies."

The Sect Leaders eyebrow twitched, "You think we just take any random child of the street?"

Shen Yuan glanced at the disciples then back to the sect leader confused. "Yes, you have an entrance exam open to anyone of the public." "Yes, we don't accept all of them."

"You accept the students who pay. Or you pilfer off prodigies." Shen Jiu's hands twitched, he was NOT a prodigy what was Shen Yuan saying! "With the right guidance, Shen Jiu can be the the pride of Cang Qiong." The Sect Leader sighed, until Yue Qingyuan spoke, "Please Shizun! Shen Jiu is good enough to be a cultivator!" "Yes but he's too old even for some instruction-"

"Then see what he can do, place him in a peak and if he fails then kick him off the mountain. What are you really losing?"

The man openly glared at Shen Yuan and of course his Master had to needle him more. "Just see what he can do, then you can decide if he's worthy of Cang Qiong or not."

"You're not going to stop are you?" "No." "Very well."

____________________________________________________________

Shen Jiu was surprised, when the Sect Leader nodded and a random disciple came forward drawing his sword, Shen Jiu followed suit. Fighting here? at the base of the mountain!?

He was going to get his ass kicked and it was all Shen Yuans fault, he glared at him and Shen Yuan had to the nerve to look offended in a "Who me?" gesture.

But when the signal fell and the disciple lunged, cocky smile on his face. Shen Jiu was surprised it ended so quickly. Thanks to endurance training and the his speed from Shen Yuan, he was able to dodge and move just as fast to disarm the disciple. "..."

Even Shen Jiu looked surprised, and was irritated by Shen Yuans proud grin.

"Your form is off, without the speed and agilty anyone could easily pulverise you into the ground." The sect leader spoke, not missing Shen Yuans scowl. "However, this has been inlightning. Very well. We'll see which Peak Lord will accept your prodigay, and you will be billed from the inconviniance." Shen Yuan sighed, "This Master had a feeling you would say that."

_____________________________________________________________

When Shen Yuan finally found a brothel ah he was so used to an assitant! Maybe he might thrall another young man and teach them everything he knew. Seeing Shen Jiu soak up all that knowledge made him prideful.

But when he returned after sending off the money, and then retired to his room paused outside the door knowing someone was inside already. Before he could run he took a step back into someones arms. "Don't run."

The man reached forward opening the door and pushing him inside his room, he gaped to see the Sect Leader standing inside, he turned scowling up at the man who pushed him in not recognising the uniform.

"Be nice shidi, this one has fangs."

The man huffed then stood at the door arms crossed, meanwhile the Sect Leader was covering the window. He was trapped. "Okay this one can't be in trouble with back-payments already-"

"It's nothing like that...Shen Yuan was it?" He nodded, glancing at the table with the teapot then back to the sect leader. "This one had heard some strange stories about a master and his disciple. Going to brothels." Shen Yuan pursed his lips, "Is this a...strange roundabout way of asking for a threesome? I'm flattered but neither of you are my type." "Why you-" The man at the door almost drew his sword and Shen Yuans face split into a smile- "Enough Shidi, you're too old to be goaded so easily. No tales of men having no memory after having one night with the Master. That the two travel at night," Shen Yuan couldn't sweat. But god was it a close thing. "And this Sect Leader detected it right away." Shen Yuan tilted his head, "What?" "What you are-" Shen Yuan didn't let him finish, grabbing the teapot and throwing it towards the Sect Leader even with his speed- these were two experienced Cultivating Masters! The an used his sword to parry the teapot, and Shen Yuan in the distraction dove past him out the window-

Then choked when something grabbed his robe, like holding the scruff of fur around a cats neck- he undid his sash and dropped, the Cultivator cursed as he watched Shen Yuan sprint across the tiled roof.

Shit, shit shit shit shit- well what a good unlife he had a shame it was so freakin short- The man guarding the door landed in front of him and Shen Yuan yelped swearing like a sailor and skidding to the left dropping down into the alley way but was slammed into the wall by the sect leader.

"Now now little Jiangshi, if this Master wanted you dead, you would be dead by now."

Shen Yuan fidgeted in his grasp, trying to get out then sighing. "What do you want?"

"A conversation with tea, but you decided to make it difficult-"

"What want me to nicely sit here and say 'please Master Cultivator kill me quickly' I'm a monster you're a cultivator of course I won't sit there nicely and take it!" Shen Yuan snapped his teeth lengthing. "Who said anything about killing you?"

huh?

Suddenly a tailsman was planted onto his back and Shen Yuan yelped falling like a ton of bricks face first into the ground.

"See, Shidi? look how weak he is." The Sect Leader sounded delighted, and Shen Yuan scrambled trying to get up it's like a fat buddha was sitting on him he couldn't move.

"Just because it hasn't fed in a while doesn't mean it's not dangerous-"

"Pick him up, we'll talk at Cang Qiong." Shen Yuan blinked when he was hefted up, this guy was stupidly strong!

___________________________________________________

Kidnapping aside, Shen Yuan didn't expect to being the resident pet of Qing Jing Peak. After seeing Shen Jiu's new Master and being forcefully put to work Shen Yuan did fear for his life. But with all the food he can eat, and the blood given to him by the doctors he was basically living a cushy life AND he can read all the tomes of the Qing Jing Peak library!

Ah things were looking up!

"Ah that's bad..." "How so?" "Just...bad, weird after taste." The doctors hummed when Shen Yuan tasted blood he was able to tell who was healthy or not. The cultivators weren't stupid they never gave him information like a guinie pig just gave him samples and wrote down his answers. He didn't think anything of it.

After learning the man who got him was the Peak Lord of Bai Zhan he avoided him like the plauge, Shen Yuan was polite to everyone even reluctently the Sect Leader after figuring out what the man wanted.

He was so impressed with Shen Jiu he wanted Shen Yuan to duplicate what he was teaching to their students! Shen Jiu besides his form in fighting was astounding in everything else. So now Shen Yuan was a reluctant hallmaster.

Of course when Shen Yuan was given someone to feed on he had to admit it was strange for Cang Qiong to allow such a thing- then immedietly spat out the blood once it hit his tongue.

"Oh my god ew! What was that!"

Cheng Liang scowled, the Bai Zhan brute. "Blood, you need it to survive draining innocents is a line we won't cross-"

"Draining? I've never feed more than I needed to! and I can't live on this...doing bad things taints the blood." "Well it's this or nothing." "Then I'll take nothing." -------------------------------------------------------

Of course the sect leader sent in Yue Qingyuan, and Shen Yuan raised an eyebrow. "What is this?" "Feed, you're looking worse for wear. Yue Qingyuan offered."

He doubted it. "Whats wrong with your blood?" "Finally admitting your motive to killing the Sect Leader of Cang Qiong?" "I never wanted to be here!" Shen Yuan sighed, then looked Yue Qingyuan in the eyes. "This won't hurt." He fed and sighed, it's been...a long time since he's had a good meal. Even so, no need to take more than he needed, as he pulled back licking the wound clean for it to heal he flinched at the hand suddenly cupping his head.

"That wasn't enough."

Shen Yuan eyes narrowed, "Yes it was, now let go-"

"He can take it." Shen Yuan shoved both away almost falling over, "No he can't. This one is fine so-"

"You're weak, embarrsingly so, how can this mountain expect you to survive like this?" Shen Yuan looked at him in befudlement "I've been survivng pretty well so far."

asshole, he didn't say.

"You are wasting your potential, a Jiangshi can never be a cultivator, but can still get stronger-"

"Shouldn't you want the opposite? Isn't it better having a tamed Jiangshi?" Now the Sect Leader smirked, showing his real face that made Shen Yuan almost duck down but kept still instead. "On the contrary, this Master finds no purpose in keeping things that are weak."

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haunthouse · 10 months

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text from the lyric booklet of jenny from thebes:

JENNY USED TO LET ABSOLUTELY ANYBODY CRASH AT HER PLACE. IT WAS LIKE A YEAR-ROUND CHRISTMAS MIRACLE. IF YOU HAD ANY SECRETS, SHE DIDN'T WANT TO KNOW, AND THE ONES SHE HAD SHE KEPT TO HERSELF. THERE WAS A WALL HEATER DOWN AT ONE END OF THE HALLWAY AND A BIG, DARK LIVING ROOM AT THE OTHER. ONE ELECTRIC LAMP BY THE COUCH IF YOU NEEDED IT, ALL EXITS VISIBLE TO THE EYE FROM THERE. SOME OF THE PEOPLE WHO HAD NEED OF JENNY'S PLACE WERE ALL RIGHT AND SOME WEREN'T EVER GOING TO GET RIGHT, AND SHE'D ALREADY GOTTEN SEVERAL LETTERS FROM THE CITY ADVISING HER TO KEEP A LOWER PROFILE UNLESS SHE WANTED TROUBLE BUT THEN I ENTERED THE PICTURE. BAD LUCK. LIKE EVERYBODY ELSE WHO CAME THROUGH I WAS TRYING TO FIND A BETTER DIRECTION BUT IT DIDN'T WORK OUT THAT WAY. PRYING EYES SHOULD HAVE TENDED TO THEIR OWN BUSINESS. PEOPLE DON'T THINK TOWNS LIKE OURS CAN TURN INTO BATTLEGROUNDS BUT WE HAD A WAR HERE. THERE. I DON'T LIVE THERE ANY MORE EITHER. I LEFT WHEN JENNY LEFT. IT'S JUST A SPOT ON THE MAP NOW. WE RODE TOGETHER FOR A WHILE BUT THEN WE LOST EACH OTHER. SOMETIMES I THINK I HEAR FROM HER BUT OTHER TIMES I THINK I'M JUST DREAMING. NOBODY KNOWS WHERE ANYBODY LANDED. YOU DON'T KEEP IN TOUCH WHEN THE WAR DOESN'T GO YOUR WAY.

transcribed above in the original all-caps, but here's a regular text version for easier reading:

Jenny used to let absolutely anybody crash at her place. It was like a year-round Christmas miracle. If you had any secrets, she didn't want to know, and the ones she had she kept to herself. There was a wall heater down at one end of the hallway and a big, dark living room at the other. One electric lamp by the couch if you needed it, all exits visible to the eye from there. Some of the people who had need of Jenny's place were all right and some weren't ever going to get right, and she'd already gotten several letters from the city advising her to keep a lower profile unless she wanted trouble but then I entered the picture. Bad luck. Like everybody else who came through I was trying to find a better direction but it didn't work out that way. Prying eyes should have tended to their own business. People don't think towns like ours can turn into battlegrounds but we had a war here. There. I don't live there any more either. I left when Jenny left. It's just a spot on the map now. We rode together for a while but then we lost each other. Sometimes I think I hear from her but other times I think I'm just dreaming. Nobody knows where anybody landed. You don't keep in touch when the war doesn't go your way.

text on tracklist:

CLEAN SLATE — New arrival at the safehouse GROUND LEVEL — There was, en route to greener pastures, a small house in the city ONLY ONE WAY — They consider one another in the often harsh light of how the world is FRESH TATTOO — She commemorates her present station on her forearm CLEANING CREW — The next best thing to an actual goodbye MURDER AT THE 18TH STREET GARAGE — Behold, you may not rezone my house --- FROM THE NEBRASKA PLANT — The future, seen from a hard place SAME AS CASH — she trades in her old car and buys a Kawasaki GPz 750 Turbo WATER TOWER — She disposes of the body JENNY III — The future, seen with great clarity GOING TO DALLAS — As far as anyone's concerned GREAT PIRATES — The future they both deserve

#the mountain goats #tmg #kaylee.txt #i love to zoom in on images and read the text. thought other people might also like to read these without having to zoom on images #under the cut is a not allcaps version + the bonus text thats on the tracklist #jenny from thebes

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thewritersaddictions · 1 year

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Blurb: Resident 8- Love Language

Karl Heisenberg

Karl's love language is Acts of Service

For Karl it's hard for him to talk or really express anything when it comes to love. He tries for your sake. He had really had, and that's when he lands on instead of saying he loves you Karl can always show you how much he truly love you. It's starts off with little things around the workshop. things that you had complained that you were out of, or were even missing in your day to day life.

Then it started to get bigger. Karl started to create things for you. Little trinkets of your favorite animals, or things that he had found around the factory that he would either gift to you or made him think of you. He even from time to time will venture out and return with countless amounts of buttercup flowers.

Karl's has a few favorite nicknames for you. Bonnie was the first nickname he called you when the two of your first met. It was a way to piss you off. Driving you over the edge because you were sure what this man was yet. It drove him crazy when you started to fall in love with the nickname Bonnie, so when Kalr started to fall for your the nickname changed to Libeling (German for Darling), a sweet endearment that Karl hadn't said in years, or frankly to anyone else around him. "Libeling can you get me that hammer over there." He said one day. It had nearly slipped out of his mouth without even thinking. "What's Libeling?" You asked a few days later. He thought for moment, an expression of doubt and worry behind the older harsh lines on his face. "Well in English it's Darling." He answered a gruffness behind his words. You couldn't help smile even if he was already walking away from the conversation. The third and the most recent he had started calling you was Buttercup. In almost every conversation instead of your name coming out it was Buttercup. "Buttercup, will you come with me to Mother Mirandas meeting today?" ... "Buttercup can you fetch me that." He'd say pointing over in a general area. You loved the feeling that he had gotten so comfortable with you he wasn't saying your name anymore.

Lady Dimitrescu

Lady Alaina Dimitrescu's love language is gift giving.

After the initial few that she might string you up and drain you of your blood, it's easier to see Alcina for the person she truly is. A wealthy women hidden behind a facade of scariness. But for the reality of who Alcina was. She was the most caring and loving person out there. That you had met at least. She loved to dress you up and give you all the things you would never be able to find out in the real world.

From a whole new wardrobe, to all the supplies you could ever need in whatever you loved to do. If iy was Art then she had all the best frame, paints, and brushes were at your disposal. If you enjoyed the master of writing then there was a typewriter in your room within the day, with lots and lots of paper to help you along the way. Anything your heart desired she was willing to give to you. Anything that money could buy her, you had.

Lady Alcina Dimitrescu's had some favorite nickname for you. Some would say that the only thing that Alcina Dimitrescu would name a person would be her pet. They all saw her as the uppity personality who walked around thinking shows better than everyone else.

She did seem that way, but when she came up with nicknames for you she was drowned in love and hope. So, Alcina called you her sweetness. She may have tricked you once or twice to let her lap up the blood that came out of her small wounds from your sewing accidents. Bubba, she loved this one. She wasn't sure how it came about, but watching your cheeks get red with embarrassment as she said it in front of her three daughter made her chuckle every single time. "Bubba come sit in my lap for me." She said, her daughter surrounding her like flies. You were shy to walk over. But she was quick to hush any concern away from your face as she gave you sloppy kiss. Dragging you far away from the thoughts of her children or your embarrassment.

Ethan Winters

Ethan's love language is Physical Touch

Ethan after everything he's endure can't help but want to protect you. So for him that leans into being a physical person. He's sure to keep you in his eye no matter what's happening around him. Ethan's got some bad paranoia just based on the events that have happened to him. Regarding to anything else Ethan Winters is the sweetest and most loving man you have ever met. He's always there for you, and the two of you have no secrets. Telling each other everything, is important base for the two of you. Ethan doesn't want you to feel like you can't come to him, and you don't want Ethan to feel like he can't come to you with anything. Overall you guys are a lovesick couple who can't seem to get enough of each other. (You're the couple that everyone else around is like 'get a fucking room already')

Ethan's got a few nicknames for you. Ethan loves giving nicknames it's just a thing he does. If you guys have kids, except that he won't use their birth names unless they have gotten themselves in trouble. For you on the other hand there are a hand full of nicknames he uses during a daily basics. As always it's sweet with Ethan, in front of his coworkers, or your friends it's always "Love, can you pass me the drink menu" If you guys have to go to a work related dinner for either of you, or "You just have to tell them what happened this weekend, love!" When Ethan and you are at dinner, or even at home drinking your favorite bottle of wine the nicknames changes. "Darlin' do you mind get up and getting me another glass of wine." He'll ask you, there something about the draw of his word that makes him that much more sexy. Then there's the one that Ethan only uses when in the bedroom, when his soul focus is on you. Making you feel the great high. "You're mine right? Say it Y/n, say you're mine." It always comes out in a blur of words that he ends up spewing out. you can't help but egg him on "Yes, Yes Ethan I'm yours. Only yours."

Chris Redfield

Chris's love language is Quality Time.

Because Chris is gone for long periods of time it's hard for things to be concrete around the two of you. So, when he is home it's nothing but you had him spending time together. Cuddling, and watching movies under fur blankets he buys while out on missions. And sex, there's a lot of sex when he get's home. And honestly you hate when he leaves but love when he comes home. He acts like a savage, tearing clothes and braking things to just get to your bare skin. He leaves the best marks that take months to go away. He calls them reminds of his love for you and you wouldn't have it any other way.

Chris has a few favorite nicknames for you. He calls you tootsie when he first gets home from missions. He squeezes you tight in hugs that you can't imagine life without. Nights where you guys comes home and tear each other clothe off he calls you Hot Stuff, he drowns himself in you. And Only if he comes home with a storm cloud above his heads were he's had a partially rough couple of days, weeks, or months does he call you sweets. He just needs something to hang on to during those times and you're it for him

Donna Beneviento

Donna's love language is Acts of service.

Donna loves giving you things, or making you things. You run out of clothes that you loved or miss from the modern world. She there sewing all night to create new things out of your old clothes. You need something comforting she creating long pages of what she loves to call 'art'. She gives you little dolls that creates in your image. She get's almost every detail right, and can't help but give them to you. You're really starting to race up to heron the amount of dolls you have.

Donna has a few favorite nicknames for you. She's only got a few things she calls you. You're her honey. "Honey, would mind bringing me some thread when you come back from town?" She'll ask before kissing your temple and walking down to her room. And beautiful, as much as Donna has a hard time calling herself beautiful she love to let you know just how beautiful you are to her. Nearly every day without fail she calls you beautiful.

Salvatore Moreau

Salvatore's love language is physical touch.

He can't help that Miranda was so cruel to him. he yearns for the touching and for the words that are spoken between hushed breathes. He yearns for your hands to slip between his. You keep him from freaking out and going full mold. You help him in so many ways just by simply holding him down to the earth's surface. He can't help but fall in love with you overnight when kiss his forehead the first day you met him. It awakens something in him, something mother Miranda could and would never do.

You show him everything that nobody was ever willing to do. You show him the meaning behind love, and the meaning behind falling in love. He can't help but wanna be next to you all the time forever, and for you it's right where you wanna be. Because well Salvatore makes you feel like you're meant to be there.

Salvatore's grown to have a few favorite nicknames for you. At first he calls you his Angel. you have lighten up his world, let him see in 4k so much that why wouldn't you be his Angel. If he wished on a star he would have wished for you. After a few months go by the initial fears wear off, he starts to call you his starlight. You don't understand why until he explain it you. "You are the most brightest and truest thing in my life. I know that you no matter what will always be there for me. And that's why you're my starlight, Y/n." He says, his face is contorted into a half smile and half of fears rejection but it's easily pushed away from you hug and kiss him softly. He calls you puppy by year two of your relationship. "Puppy, will you comes with me to gather experiments from mother miranda today?" He asks, he's dressed and ready to go but he'll wait for you any day of the week. Or other time's it's a simple. "Puppy, I love you so much." As he nuzzle himself further into your hold. It's very endearing for both of you.

Completed on: 01/06/23

Posted on: 01/06/23

Resident Evil 8-

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surprisingmarch · 2 months

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Welcome to Patience: Gifts? (Chapter 3)

Joseph Rainier x F!Human Reader x Harry Vanderspeigle Rating: 16+

Fandom: Resident Alien

Story Type: Fluff / Thriller / Romance / Drama

5,596 Words

-Y/N = Your name- -L/N = Last name-

Music I listened to as I wrote: -"H.S / Tom Cardy"

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Slowly, you unload your various fridge and pantry items into their designated places, occasionally struggling to find room in your fridge to shove your food into. Joseph ended up convincing you to buy WAY too much food with the money Harry gave you. In his words, "It's good to be prepared and to have everything you could possibly want at your disposal." On the bright side, you won't need groceries for weeks, on the downside, you're going to have to store some things in his fridge… which he offered as he shoved more meat into your basket. You actually ended up getting a second basket from Joseph with things he thought you would like, he just randomly disappeared for several minutes as you perused and you figured he forgot something, but then he came back with a basket piled mountain high with a giant smile on his face and at that point you knew instantly it was for you.

You should have suspected considering before he left he asked if you have any food allergies. Your puppy like friend ended up carrying half of your groceries for you as you both walked home.. he is awfully sweet. He warms your heart with his goofiness.You can't stop thinking about Harry, why on earth did he have so much money on him? Is he doing something illegal or is he just paid really well? You wouldn't care if he was doing something illegal, you just don't want him to get hurt. You highly doubt as a small town doctor he's making that much, but he is from New York, so maybe he has a lot saved up from when he worked there that he's blowing. Either way, you're deeply bothered by the fact you have like 300 dollars of Harry's savings, it was thoughtful but also pretty careless to just throw several hundreds at someone you just met then rush out… You're planning on returning the money the next time you see him.

You hear a string of very loud knocks on your apartment door, you rush over to the door expecting to see Joseph, only to be met with the very man you were just thinking of, Harry. He's holding various gift bags of things, you can see a lamp poking through one, and some kind of… pig in another? "You got the job." Harry informs you as he slides past you and carefully sets all the bags onto the floor. "I got you some things for your new home… I put them into gift bags so it would be like Christmas." Harry chuckles. You look down at the array of brightly colored bags sitting around on the floor. "Thank you Harry… that's very sweet.. Oh! Before I forget.." You say as you pull out the three hundred or so dollars you owe Harry. "I do not need that.. I have plenty at home. You keep it… consider it a…" Harry looks to the side in thought before looking back down at you. "Late birthday present." Harry finished.

Knowing that Harry will most likely make you keep the money even if you insist on him taking it back, you give up and shove the money back down into your pocket. "Thank you Harry… that's awfully sweet.. And oh my goodness.. that's so many gifts.. It must have cost so much.." You quietly say as you look around at the many bags on the floor with a hand on your cheek. "And they are all for me..?" You ask quietly, still completely awestruck by the sudden kind surprise. "I have just the thing for that.." Harry rushes over to one of the bags, this one being bright blue, and pulls out a giant piggy bank. "And of course they are all for you. Who else do you see around here… A ghost?" Harry says sarcastically as he looks around your apartment and gestures widely to the large empty space. You giggle at him. "Yeah I guess your right.." You respond. Harry walks back over to you and carefully hands you the piggy bank. He's so gentle when it comes to touching you or handing you things, almost like he's afraid he's going to break you. "I saw it and thought of you.. you remind me of something innocent.. like a piglet. Also no, it did not cost too much, I assure you, I have plenty of money to spare. Spare me your guilt, you deserve gifts." Harry says softly.

It's very cute.. just like any ol' piggy bank but MASSIVE.. and it has cute blushing cheeks. "Thank you Harry.." You say as you feel your heart turn to mush. "Any time." Harry responds calmly. "Oh!" You exclaim, you almost forgot to put your money into it. You pull out your newly "earned" three hundred dollars and shove it into the bank. "It's so cute Harry… Thank you!" You smile brightly, you're genuinely almost brought to tears by all the kind gestures these two dumb dumbs are making. You've never had anyone go this far out of their way for you.. which sounds sad now that you think about it. Tears start to weld in your eyes but you push them back down as you sit in the floor with your legs crossed in front of your various gifts and start to dig. You start to pull out some things from the bags, honestly you think this is better than any Christmas you've ever had because instead of it being expected and obligated, these gifts all came from the heart of a guy you just met. It just feels so much more genuine, he didn't have to do all this, but he did. And that shows a lot about his character.

"What's cute?" You hear Joseph ask to your right, you look over and see Joseph standing in the still very much wide open entrance. He has some sort of dirty towel shoved in his front pocket that's half way hanging out. Harry quietly grumbles something under his breath and a loud growl can be heard underneath that, some how even further proving he's not human. You thought there was no way to further prove it, but no, turns out there's many more ways to do so. Now the only question is, what is he? "Come on in, you vampire. What? Do you need to be invited to enter someone else's space?" You playfully interrogate. "No.." Joseph replies timidly as he swings in and out of the doorway before finally coming in and glaring at all the gifts on the floor. "Please don't tell me that's all from Harry.. If it is, I'm going to have to up my game." Joseph declares some what determinedly. "I'm afraid it is.." You answer sassily. Joseph glares down at you, very much implying a warning, before looking over at Harry. "Please do not "up your game". There is no need for uping your game." Harry quickly pleads. "But you're stealing my girl away." Joseph says quietly, his voice is practically a hush, and there's this undeniable danger lying underneath it.

"YOUR GIRL!?!?" Harry shouts. "Oh? Your girl? We haven't even had our first date yet.." You playfully respond. You continue to look through all your items for a moment before you feel a sense of danger coming from your right. A chill surges down your spine, you look back up at Joseph who is staring at you quite hungerly. "Actually.. that's why I came over here. I'm making us dinner right now and I won't take no for an answer. And based on the fact you have no job and all you were planning on doing today was grocery shop and look for one.. and you're done grocery shopping…" Joseph squats down next to you, never breaking eye contact. "Actually she does have a job.. You start tomorrow at 9 o'clock exactly, by the way. I probably should have told you that earlier.. Oh well. There is no need for her to have-" Harry gets cut off by you. "Nu uh uh.. I said both of you get to get me a part time job so there would be no fighting." You remind him. Harry frowns and grumbles. You look back at Joseph who is still staring at you, seemingly not even acknowledging Harry's presence.

He leans in closer to you. "And you've been guaranteed two jobs.. you have the whole day free… with nothing to do.." Joseph gets right next to your ear. You start to feel your face get hot, you hear Harry protesting in the background but can't make out what he's saying due to your flusteredness. "I think you can spare a few hours for me.. can't you? My dear Y/N." Joseph whispers. You nod slightly in response, Joseph purposely blows a bit of air into your ear, causing you to get chills. Your face flushes bright red, damn, you weren't expecting him to be this forward. You wanted to tease and annoy him a bit more before the date "That's it! We are having a talk!" Harry announces as he grabs one of Joseph's legs from under him, pulling him towards the door. Joseph falls forward and lands right into your chest, he flushes bright red and you some how blush even deeper than you already were, but there's no time to acknowledge the situation at hand or for him to even start to apologize as Harry continues to quickly drag him all the way across the hall to his apartment, Joseph protests the whole way there and you can hear him still protesting through the door as Harry slams it shut and locks it.

The two of them are now in there together.. completely alone… you're sure that won't go terribly wrong. Funny enough, Harry seemingly didn't even notice the incident he just caused as he was facing forward the whole time. You're sure he'll have a fit once he finds out, if he ever does. You can see it now, you chuckle to yourself. You know there's probably going to be a cat fight and try to think of a way to get in but you can't since you have no key and you definitely heard the door lock. You start to hesitantly continue looking through your bags, pulling one of the last items out, a beautiful ceramic orange tabby cat, it's just sitting there, being an absolute delight. Harry really nailed all these gifts, you love each and every one of them. They seem to have a theme too, cute animals or very tasteful table pieces, such as the Dale Tiffany blue butterfly lamp. You think it's kind of sweet that he got you a purple unicorn pillow pet, maybe he thought you were lonely up here by yourself. Suddenly, you hear the door unlock, you quickly look over and see Harry storming out of Joseph's apartment with a black eye, mumbling swears quietly under his breath as he stomps down the stairs and out of sight.

That was way too fast for an entire fight to happen, it's only been like a minute at most! It's been just enough time for you to pull out a kitty from the last bag! Not to mention you didn't hear any punches being thrown or anything break or anyone walk or really move at all, you're pretty sure you would hear their loud footsteps, they are absolute units. You look back at Joseph's open doorway, Joseph walks out of his apartment, slamming the door behind him, and starts to walk over to your apartment. He wipes some blood from his mouth, he also has a black eye on the opposite side as Harry. Once Joseph is inside your place he quietly shuts your door then turns around and smiles brightly, his blood stained teeth on full display. It's deeply disturbing to see someone who normally has pristine white teeth with red ones.

"Okay! Now that that's out of the way, how are your gifts?" Joseph asks, he's clearly trying to act like that didn't happen and brush it off. "What-" You try to ask what the fuck happened and how a whole fight broke out in less than a minute but he quickly interjects before you can even get the second word out. "Oh! The food!!" He blurts as he rushes out of your apartment, leaving the door wide open to both yours and his apartment once more. You throw your hands up in the air in frustration and slowly stand, letting the blood rush back to your brain. You have a nice big stretch and that spot in your back that always pops, pops. You sigh in relief. "Come on! The food is almost done!" You look over and see Joseph's head peeking out of his apartment, after a moment of eye contact he retracts and disappears into his domain. "Coming, just… hold on..!" You yell back. You're already planning on doctoring him once you get over there, obviously he won't be able to enjoy dinner with a bloody mouth. You rush over to Joseph's place, shutting all the doors he left open behind you.

You take a good long look around Joseph's place, his kitchen is to the left of the entrance and to the right there's a wall with two doors. There's food and dirty dishes scattered all over the kitchen's white marble looking island and the marble looking counter tops by Joseph are looking particularly brutal. They seem to be covered in splatters from some kind of red sauce, you assume tomato.. but you're unsure. God, he has a lot of cabinets. There's two rows of them above the stove and fridge… speaking of the fridge he has a giant stainless steel one that makes you envious just looking at it. Yours isn't even close to that big, no wonder he offered to store some of your food. Oh! Your food! You rush back over to your apartment and grab all the food setting on the counter that you couldn't store and rush back to Joseph's place, carefully shutting the doors with your right foot as you go. Joseph notices you carrying a ton of shit and opens the fridge doors for you, he has plenty of room in there. You carefully find a spot for everything then shut the fridge. You look over at Joseph, he takes the small towel out of pocket and wipes his hands on it then leaves it on the counter. "So that's what he had that for.." You think to yourself.

You continue to nose about, there's a giant stainless steel microwave to the right of the fridge that's built in. You think you got a bit ripped off, you don't have a built in microwave either.. maybe he added it in. Maybe he's just slowly upgrading his whole apartment. Joseph looks up at you and smiles. "Welcome to your fall back place. Nose all you want, I have nothing to hide." Joseph says confidently. He turns back to the stove and continues to stir something in a damn expensive looking pot. "Just so you know I'm going to doctor your wounds before we eat." You inform him. "Aww.. How sweet." Joseph responds teasingly, never looking up from the concoction he's stirring. You grumble under your breath and start to walk further in, looking for anything that would show a single ounce of information about Joseph and his past.

As you walk against the wall that you were greeted with to the right of you when you entered, you scope the perfectly clean white walls for any photos of himself or family and friends, but find none. All you find are weird modern prints that you assume came with the place considering you also have some that look the exact same in your place. All that you find that interests you in this part of the large room are the two doors that you assume lead to the bedroom and bathroom… or maybe one is a closet. You almost open one of the doors, you finger tips barely brush against the cold steel door lever before you retract your hand. You don't want to seem like a creep on the first date… you'll at least wait until the second date for that. Joseph starts to whistle a little tune as he cooks, you giggle at him.

You continue forward, trying to ignore the doors that are just begging to be opened. There's a small wall on the left side of the open room that separates the living room from the kitchen. Right next to that small wall is a large, beautifully carved, dining table with spirals and some sort of symbols etched across the edges of the whole thing. It's seemingly made of spruce and has matching dining chairs with the exact same patterns carved along the sides, they're tucked neatly underneath the table. You pull one out, silently claiming it as the spot you will sit at for dinner and probably every time you come here. You admire it's deep, blood red, cushions and gently brush a hand across it, it's so soft.

You push down on it, it seems comfortable too. It seems everything he has in here is of good quality, even the pots and pans he has scattered around seem name brand. You walk back to the corner of the table and trace the symbols embedded into the edge, you examine the symbols but don't recognize a single one of them… For some reason they call out to you, almost like you've seen them before… perhaps in a dream. They almost look.. alien. You quietly try to change your minds subject and glace at the table's centerpiece, a large beautiful wooden bowl with tons of fresh fruits is sitting in the center of the table, along with 2 silver candle holders with a burning white candle in each on either side of the bowl. He seems like a damn good decorator.

You move on to the living room. Sleek, red, futuristic lamps that look like something straight out of a GTA pimp's pint house sets on either side of a big brown leather couch. The side tables they are perched upon are also made of spruce and have the same symbols and pattern as the dining table. You assume all his furniture are made by the same person. You respect the time and dedication someone took to make all these beautiful pieces of work. You gaze over towards the fire place, it's just a normal fireplace, though there are LOTS of knickknacks on the mantle.. you choose to save those for another time. You admire the coffee table in front of the couch, yep, same pattern as all the other furniture. God, it must have taken someone years to complete this whole set of furniture. It has two white marble looking coasters on either end of the side towards the couch and the remote to his tv is neatly sat in front of the left coaster.

Well, from that you can gather that he usually sits there, but you could be completely wrong and that could just be where he keeps it. You look above the fireplace, he has a giant flat screen tv with two speakers drilled into the wall on either side on the tv. Of course he has a separate sound system for his tv, you should have assumed based on his… more than comfortable lifestyle. You're starting to question the salary of the sheriff deputies of this town, there's no way it can be that good.. can it? You examine the rug underneath the coffee table and couch, it's quite spunky, very colorful… oddly enough. Kind of Boho-ish, but otherwise a normal rug. Maybe he wanted to confuse people with the sudden change of color scheme, because he seems to have a dark brown and red theme going on here. Even the throw pillows on his couch are blood red.

You walk over to the kitchen to check on Joseph, he's still stirring away but whatever he's cooking is starting to smell really good, so you assume it's very close to done. It does smell like some sort of tomato sauce.. your stomach growls in anticipation. You start to look for ways to help, you feel bad for not helping him, he's injured and he took the time to make an amazing meal for you both and you're just wandering around like a weirdo. You know he's going to try to stop you, but you have to at least try. You start to bring the MANY dirty dishes Joseph's accumulated to the sink but he quickly grabs one of the dishes that you're very precariously holding and won't let go. "What are you doing? I'm cooking, not you. I'll do the dishes, don't worry about it." He snatches the dishes from you and sets them carefully into the sink. "Shoo Shoo." Joseph says as he dismissively waves a hand at you, he turns off the stove unit he was using and puts the pot of delicious looking sauce onto the spruce cutting board to the left of the stove.

"Go sit at the dining table while I finish up." Joseph orders, you stand there, unmoving. Joseph looks up at you and squints his eyes at you. "It's a surprise, go.. shoo." Joseph waves his hand at you once more, you squint your eyes at him in response but reluctantly go and sit at your spot at the dinner table. After a few moments of just sitting there and piddling with your hands, Joseph yells out "Done!" You look up, Joseph sets a piping hot plate in front of you. "Do you want me to sit beside you or in front of you?" Joseph asks shyly. "Next to me." You answer with a smirk. You're trying to tease him and make him buckle, but he catches on immediately and gives you a look… one that screams "now get ready for the storm." You gulp. He sets his plate next to yours on the left and plops down. You take a long look at the beautiful food he's prepared, it's ratatouille with a tomato sauce spread across the top. He didn't give you a small amount either, thank god, you're famished.

"WAIT!" You shout, causing Joseph to jump out of his skin. "What? What's wrong? Is something wrong with the food?" Joseph asks frantically. "I FORGOT TO DOCTOR YOU." You announce loudly, Joseph looks at you absolutely dumbfounded. You stand straight up. "Do you have a first aid kit?" You ask. You look at Joseph and at such a close range you can see every little detail of his injuries, he has a pretty bad busted lip and his right eye looks like it's killing him, he looks like he can barely see out of it, not to mention it's bloodshot. You can't even imagine the damage Harry took. God, what are you going to do with these two idiots? Are you going to have to keep breaking up their arguments forever? "I have one in the bathroo-" Joseph gets cut off by you grabbing his chin to examine his face even closer.

"How the hell did you two fight and land punches in under a minute? I had just enough time to pull out a ceramic kitty cat and suddenly Harry came out of your apartment with a black eye and you were off the ground and somewhere else. There's no way either of you could have possibly moved that fast, it had been like.. forty seconds AT MOST. Not to mention Harry said he just wanted to talk, and he seems like the type of person who MEANS what he says. I know this is bit of a stretch but… I know you're not human. I don't care what you are, I don't need to know right now, tell me when you feel comfortable enough to, but I know you're not one. There's been too much evidence, the way you and Harry move is just… to precise and without flaw, you're both, no offense, bad at understanding anything to do with social boundaries or how to communicate or really anything human, and you both seem to have endless money. You both are extremely gentle around me, almost like you're scared to hurt me, and you both seem just a bit too smart. Not to mention you both stared at me flustered when I was thinking about you two not being human. I just wanted to tell you that I know and I don't care, I believe in ghosts and aliens and cryptids and shit and I'd care for you both even if you were both bigfoot. Now where is your bathroom?" You finish your rant and Joseph blinks at you in response. He sits very still for a few seconds before he finally snaps out of it and points towards the door closest to the front door.

"Thank you." You respond. You walk over and savor every moment of opening that damn door, once you're inside the bathroom you don't examine much, all you notice is the pretty grey and white shower curtain and the fact it seems VERY clean in there. You rummage under the bathroom counter and find a red plastic first aid kit along with a shit ton of cleaning supplies. "Well, at least he's cleanly.." You think to yourself as you shut the cabinet door. You leave the bathroom and shut the bathroom door behind you, unlike someone, and speed walk back over to Joseph, who is sitting there staring at you like a confused cat. You carefully look Joseph over and find a small cut on his right eyebrow and a brouse on his right arm. You lift his shirt to which earns you a very surprised and flustered reaction from Joseph, his face flushes bright red and he starts to breath very heavily.

He's ripped, he has a 6 pack and very pink pretty nipples. You find one very big brouse under Joseph's right arm, but otherwise find nothing. You think it's kind of weird that he only has injuries on the right side of his body, but decide not to mention it. You make him lean forward and you check his back, nothing. You sigh and push him back against his chair and pull his shirt back down. "I don't think I need this right now.." You say as you quietly set the first aid kit on the table next to your plate of steaming hot food. You rush over to the kitchen and grab a few paper towels and wet them under some warm sink water, after that you grab a couple of bags of frozen peas from Joseph's fridge then you run back over to the dining table and sit back down. Joseph looks a little teary eyed but you can't tell if it's from the pain from his injuries or not so you don't comment. You carefully start to dab at his lip, he winces and whimpers then clamps his eyes shut in response.

"Shhh… it's okay. It's okay.." You say quietly. You hear a soft sigh come from him and he untenses. His eyes remain shut but he seems more relaxed and at ease from your reassurance. A single tear runs down Joseph's left eye, you carefully wipe it with your thumb and continue to dub at his lip. You fold the paper towel each time too much blood gets on it. After you're done with his busted lip, you carefully lay the dirty paper towel to the side, neatly folded into a square, and grab a new one to start dubbing his eyebrow with it. Upon further inspection the blood from his eyebrow had actually dripped into his eye a bit, that's probably why it's so bloodshot and painful looking.

You appreciate the fact that he was so determined to cook you dinner that he neglected his own needs to do so but you also feel awful about it. Obviously, you wish he had taken care of himself first, you wouldn't have minded slightly burnt food.. or even mildly burnt food. You just want him to feel better. You very gently wipe his eyelid clean and he gasps slightly and tenses up once more, but quickly untenses and sighs after a moment. "Sorry.. it's okay.. It's not too terribly bad." You reassure him. You reach behind him and rub his back a bit, tears start to stream down his face. His face contorts and he starts to silently cry. "Oh Joseph.." You whisper, before pulling him into a big bear hug. He hesitantly hugs you back and sobs quietly into your shoulder. This is definitely not just from pain, you wonder what bothered him so badly.

"Shhh… it's okay… I'm here.. Was it stressful? Do you want to talk about what happened?" You ask. Joseph shakes his head slowly. "It's not that." Joseph replies, his voice is horse and quiet. You rub comforting circles into his back. "What is it then, honey?" You gently push for information, after a moment of contemplation Joseph responds. "I never had parents.. or really anyone who showed me any kind of affection.. in fact, I grew up alone.. I had people who supplied me food and the bare minimum of what I needed to survive, but otherwise, that's about it.. Actually, I think I'm what people refer to as "touched starved"." Joseph says, solemnly. He starts to break down even more and squeezes you close to him, but not enough to hurt you. You hug him tighter in response and in response to that he pushes out his chair a bit and picks you up, his hands are right under your ass. You squeak at the sudden touch and he sets you right in his lap, his hands return to their original positions, protectively wrapped around you.

You rest your chin on his left shoulder as he continues to sob into the crook of your neck. You rub his scalp through his neatly kept hair for a while, you quietly shush him and whisper sweet nothings into his ear. You reassure him that it's okay and that he's safe and that you won't leave him. After a while of consoling, he calms down slightly. You pull away and grab his chin, he looks up at you with tears still flooding from his eyes. You give him a gentle kiss on the nose and continue to dab his right eye. He closed his eyes when you kissed him and when he opened them they were full of nothing but love. He smiles as bright as the sun and sighs. He tries to calm his breathing, he takes deep breaths through his nose and out his mouth. "It's okay… take your time. I just didn't want you to hurt anymore.. I figured it would feel good for you to be clean and have some frozen peas on your eye.. So I'm trying to hurry and finish up here so you can have some relief." You say as you finish up cleaning his final wound. "Take your time.." Joseph playfully responds with a smirk.

You set the dirty paper towel on top of the other one and open the first aid kit, you grab two butterfly closures and place on on his eye's cut and the other on his busted lip. It seems to help a lot, you grab one of the bags of frozen peas and place it right on his right eye. He lets out a deep sigh of relief and he pushes his face into your touch. "Good boy.." You quietly praise him, he groans in response. You grab the other pack of peas and attempt to lift up his right arm, he gets the memo and lifts his arm for you to put the peas under there. He holds the peas with his arm on the giant brouse and sinks back into his chair. He reaches up with his other hand and places it over your hand that's holding the peas. "Joseph..?" You whisper. "Mmm?" Joseph hums, calmly. "Don't you wanna eat?" You ask quietly. "I don't want your food to get cold… you worked so hard on it.." You confess. "No.. I'd rather sit here like this for the rest of eternity, but I will."

Joseph sits up straight with a long dragged out groan and you get out of his lap and sit in your chair. His hand slips off your and you put the peas in his hand. You grab a spoonful of your food and start to say "ahhh" for Joseph to eat it but when you look over and see Joseph's disappointed little puppy face you can't help but laugh at him a bit. He furrows his brows at you. "I'm sorry, you're just so cute." You respond as you hide your smile with your free hand. "You are too." Joseph says, you gurgles a bit of water to get the blood out of his mouth before he takes a bite of the food. He hums in approval. You use the same spoon take take a bite for yourself, damn.. it's good. "You did an excellent job, chef." You praise him. "Thank you, madam. I had to make sure I gave you only the best food in the whole town." Joseph responds. You giggle at him as you both start to feed each other.

~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~ Chapter 2 Chapter 3 Chapter 4

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belit0 · 8 months

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Killer - part 4 (TobiIzu)

izuna's torture does not end

part 3

The psychologist takes a sip of the coffee that was offered to him before starting with the questions, composed and free of anything that could prove some sort of guilt in the matter. He keeps his narrative the same from the beginning, always providing solid and irrefutable answers.

"YOU MEAN TO TELL ME YOU HAVE NO FUCKING IDEA WHERE HE IS??!" Madara slams his fist on the table, tangible anger in his features and deep despair in his eyes. "YOU REALLY WANT ME TO BUY SOME BULLSHIT ABOUT HIM DECIDING TO RUN AWAY?! WITHOUT ANY KIND OF PLAN?! WHERE THE FUCK IS HE?!"

He intimidates the witness with every legal weapon he can use inside the interrogation room, and if he has to put his job on the line to resolve this matter, he won't hesitate to do so. This is his brother we're talking about.

"Chief Uchiha, I think I've explained it to you a few times, haven't I? I showed you my CCTV footage, the irrefutable proof that demonstrates how your brother decided to flee. You must step out of your denial and-"

"FUCKING LIES!" He grabs the psychologist by the collar of his shirt and lifts him out of his seat, but it's Shisui who stops his hand before Madara hits him. The unit head doesn't move his gaze from the man he holds, teeth exposed in an angry grimace as if he were an animal about to devour him.

"Uncle, that's enough! Let me deal with this!" The younger Uchiha exclaims, knowing that not having his superior involved in the matter is impossible, yet it doesn't help at all either. Izuna disappeared after the first session he had with Hashirama, giving no explanation or warning, not allowing them to find him.

If he genuinely left of his own free will as the psychologist describes, it makes sense not to be able to track him down. If there is something else behind all this, then this guy has a macabre mind that is hard to break.

Either way, they won't be able to figure anything out with their boss trying to beat him to death.

Madara lets go, dropping him back into the chair, and walks over to the one-way mirror with one hand on his forehead. His hair is tied back and his shirt is rolled up above each elbow, his impeccable, unblemished image disheveled, denoting stress.

"Sir... I hope you can excuse the chief's boldness, and also understand how hard and personal this is for us. Izuna's behavior has been erratic, but never to this level." Shisui calms the waters by licking his boots, trying to keep the witness from shutting down and providing information. Hashirama was the last person to see him, and who spoke with him for half an hour before Izuna vanished into thin air.

"Detective, I have given you all the resources at my disposal. My surveillance system doesn't lie, I don't have the knowledge to tamper with it. I may allow you to search my home but-"

"Of course we'll fucking do that." Madara replies while turning around, and when it seems like he wants to approach again and intimidate the psychologist, Shisui stares into the one-way mirror, making the signal he agreed with Obito prior to the interrogation to get him out of the room.

He is the boss, no one can tell him what to do, but they appeal to the rational part of his mind, the one that understands he is causing more harm than good in this situation. When Obito opens the door nothing needs to be said, and Madara himself understands he must leave, if only for a few minutes, to calm down.

"Thank you very much, detective. I do fear for my life in the face of that man's rudeness, so much unprofessionalism! I can offer him a free session if that could help..." Hashirama settles back into the chair, adopting an even more relaxed posture once the boss is out. He sips his coffee again whilst crossing his legs, one arm draped over the back of his chair as if he were at home.

"There'll be no need for that, he'll be fine once we find Izuna." A new detective replaces the chief's place, Obito stepping into the room, adjusting his coat. His face is expressionless, and the psychologist becomes uneasy at his presence.

"Let's review the events agian, gentleman." Both policemen open file folders on the table, the security camera images displayed in front of Hashirama. They show Izuna leaving his house in a normal manner, only to then start running.

It doesn't make sense.

"According to your security system, Izuna arrived at his session at about 8:30 pm. At 9 pm, half an hour before his appointment was scheduled to end, we see him leaving in a hurry. Do you affirm he did not mention anything about running away? He gave no indication of what he planned to do? He didn't say where he was going? Why did he leave early?" It is Obito who asks the questions, while Shisui takes care of watching him, looking for any gesture out of the ordinary.

They have worked on multiple cases together, discovering a successful strategy for finding the truth. Bad cop/good cop is a distant memory when it comes to this duo getting to the bottom of a crime.

Hashirama rearranges his position again, and this indicates a certain discomfort. He seemed to be on his game when Madara was firing aggressions at him, ready to answer any violent impulse, but he looks unarmed to deal with two composed individuals, like he wouldn't know how to turn the tables in his favor.

"I mean, that's a rational response your colleague had, he's been through terrible things, and qthere are no instructions on how to deal with that kind of trauma. Can you blame him? Because I don't-"

"You're not answering my question, gentleman. Did he say where he was going? Did he offer any clues that you can give us?" Obito presses again, finding flaws in the psychologist's facade.

"He was vague with his explanations and very closed towards talking, I couldn't confirm anything specific because-"

"Are you involved in this, sir?"

"Excuse me?

"Do you have anything to do with Izuna Uchiha's disappearance?"

It is the patience of both detectives that throws the psychologist off, the lack of pushy demands and unfounded accusations. Discovering what buttons to push and how to pick apart what appeared to be a faultless narrative, exposing inconsistencies in the whole situation.

The man is backed into a corner, failing to continue his speech in the same way he did in the beginning.

He speaks quickly and without pause, nervous for the first time since he arrived. "You know what, I came here with the best predisposition, I gave evidence that I should not have given without a judge's order, I lent myself to help you, and you accuse me of such an atrocity! If I am not arrested on any charge, I will proceed to retire, since how you behave, fellow detectives, is an aberration!" Hashirama stands up and arranges his clothes, tacitly asking for the door to be opened.

They can't hold him, there is no explicit evidence that would allow them to apprehend him or keep him there, unable to do anything as he storms out of the room in a rage. For Obito it is a defeat, but for Shisui is confusing, having discovered inconsistencies in the man's gestures and his story.

They both meet with the chief, who ended up observing the whole interaction from the other side of the mirror, "we have to find a way to get into his house," is all he says, without moving his eyes from the chair the psychologist occupied during the interrogation.

"We push too hard, there's no way he's going to let us in without a search warrant."

"And it's not like we can get one either, there's no grounds to pursue this man after the footage he provided."

"Uncle... what if Izuna really-"

"Don't you dare mention something like that, he would never do such a thing."

"Shisui may be right, uncle. There was clothing missing from his house, personal items, maybe he really did leave."

"He knew I had to pick him up, that I would be there at 9:30 to take him home, he wouldn't have left without me, without telling me. We don't work that way, he and I understand each other better than anyone else, he wouldn't have done this to me..."

"Uncle..." Obito begins, "We all know Izuna wasn't the same after that night, maybe he changed about you too-" A large hand closes over his neck, and Madara's eyes glare at him with hatred.

"Didn't I tell you not to mention something like that?”

"The phone analysis will be ready tomorrow. Once we have that information, we can decide whether to fight each other or not." Again, Shisui is the voice of reason and gets him to let go of his cousin before a brawl breaks out between the family. The state Madara finds himself in is like walking on eggshells, impossible to navigate without being deathly cautious of what one says.

...

His eyes feel heavy, as though he cannot open them, unable to see. He makes a terrible effort to focus his vision around him, darkness giving way to colors.

Where is he? What happened?

He feels sheets around him, a pillow under his head, his senses slowly awaken and discovering different sensations. He doesn't remember anything, but assumes he had a wonderful night if this is the condition he finds himself in in the morning. His mouth is dry, not being able toclose it, and when he manages to remember he actually has hands, brings them to his face to discover fabric.

What is this?

He blinks rapidly, trying to finally wake up his eyes, shake off the cloud of heaviness on his forehead, to get up and ignore the dizziness he feels in his head. Everything is blurry, weird, unfamiliar, and he slowly realizes he is not at home.

No, this is not his room.

"There he is, my sleeping beauty. Anija went a little overboard with the dosage, my apologies." A male voice speaks, and a shiver of involuntary terror runs through his drowsy body when aware of how familiar that sound is. He knows that tone, that ring, that person's darkness.

A choked moan of fright escapes him, and that is when he understands he is gagged.

He tries to move his legs, but two impossible-to-release shackles restrict his possibilities. The world gradually ends up appearing before his eyes, but he can't get rid of the discomfort he feels in his body and the dizziness in his head, unable to focus on anything, confused.

"Don't worry about those, if you behave, I'll eventually take them off."

He becomes aware of crying when his face burns from the salt of his tears, unable to acknowledge his body or understand what the fuck is going on. He doesn't have the strength to get up, use his hands, or run away from whatever is happening, but he knows he's in trouble.

"Now, now... Let me taste that pretty little mouth again, I've been fantasizing about it since last time."

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pinkapet-rates-anime · 2 years

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I want to talk about an unofficial(?) trope of isekai anime that I've seen in action like six times... the 'Slimes are somehow OP' thing!

Either by killing, taming, or being a slime you can become OP. That's fucking hilarious to me, and it'll probably never stop being fun to me!

Slimes are your typical low level enemy that you see in the start of the game that probably won't be able to kill you. Like goblins, but usually not even sentient. So when an anime decides to subvert the 'slimes are a weak nuisance' thing it has the potential to be really funny!

With That Time I Got Reincarnated as a Slime our protagonist is reborn as a slime, aka the weakest monster to exist. They may not be strong or smart, but actually have some decent advantages to being one. They don't need food as they can just eat magic, so no need for hunting or buying food. Their entire body is their brain, so they don't have one specific weak spot. They also don't sleep, don't breathe, and have temperature resistances. That means no time wasted on sleep, can go to places a human can't, and don't need to work about heat or cold. They also can regenerate their body's and absorb and dissolve things. Provided you have a way to level them up and give them sentience, they could actually be useful to you. Rimuru is one of the strongest beings alive despite being a slime, so if you have skills to go well with it reincarnating into one may not be a bad idea.

In the anime/manga 'I've Been Killing Slimes for 300 Years and Maxed Out My Level' you definitely wouldn't want to be a slime, but they can still help you along quite a bit. Azusa is reincarnated as an unaging witch, and lives a peaceful life killing the local slimes. They are somewhat incapable of doing damage and take a single hit by a level one adventurer to kill. By killing 25~ a day and selling their loot, Azusa's casual lifestyle is enough to not only buy food and necessitys, but also enough to level her up to the maximum level. If you have time and want to level up with no risk to yourself, find an area with a high density of slimes and kill as many as you can every day, and slowly but surely you'll be able to level up and learn more magic.

Now we move on to the uses of taming slimes for power!

In 'My Isekai Life: I Gained a Second Character Class and Became the Strongest Sage in the World!' a man named Yuji is reincarnates as a 'Monster Tamer', which is widely regarded as the weakest class. He tames a bunch of friendly slimes, and quickly figures out that he can learn skills and cast magic through his new companions. He can also communicate with them through long distances to use them as scouts and mobile weapons, and he can store items inside of them. Tame some slimes, find some magic books, and get learning to be able to have an OP army at your disposal!

'By the Grace of the Gods' is my least favorite on this list, enough that I never finished it. An adult man named Ryoma is reincarnated as a small child, and spends a few years breeding different varieties of slimes. (The reason I dislike it is unrelated to this, I can talk about that in another post if anyone is interested.) By figuring out their potential to evolve, Ryoma is able to have 37 different types of slimes at his disposal. There's ones that can clean, another that can grow plants, make medicine, and one that seems to just be made out of blood.

Last one I've got for you is called 'Black Summoner' and though it only has one slime, it still proves my point. Tamers are the rarest class in the world, but if your somehow fortunate to end up as a tamer I would highly recommend adding a slime to your team. Kelvins first tamed monster is a slime named Clotho. Clotho started out with 5 HP but quickly level up by fighting and absorbing other weak slimes. Eventually he evolves into a 'Slime Gluttonia', a monster known for being extremely rare and dangerous. Even on his own Clotho is a powerhouse, but his abilities to assist the team make him even better. He can store items in his body, and he can also split into smaller pieces. Tamers in this world have a special ability that allows for telepathic communication between monster and master. By splitting himself into pieces and clinging to other people, he can give them access to the telepathic chat room.

Rimaru is a slime who's one of the most powerful beings in their world. Azusa got so powerful by casually killing slimes. Yuji is strong because he was able to use his slimes to their full potential. Ryoma is strong on his own, but by using his slimes he has an army of useful companions. Kelvin isn't powerful because of his slime, but by using him the way he did, it was able to kickstart his adventuring career and more.

Tell me, are slimes pathetic now?

#anime review #isekai #That Time I Got Reincarnated as a Slime #I've Been Killing Slimes for 300 Years and Maxed Out My Level #My Isekai Life: I Gained a Second Character Class and Became the Strongest Sage in the World!#By the Grace of the Gods #Slime anime

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fleet-off · 1 year

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*chinhands* talk to me about the WIPs you want to share with the world and how they came to be.

Lilyyyyy. Baiting me with this question when you know I have too many WIPs (16! 16 with 2k+ words apiece! it's a compulsion!). Here are my three immediate priorities once Lapping at the Edges is complete:

Body Bag: The one where Pete finds playing dead relaxing and Vegas decidedly does not. It’s a nonsexual bondage body-disposal roleplay gone wrong, featuring failure to safeword on Vegas’s part and dom drop, followed by hurt/comfort aftercare sex next to the shallow grave Vegas dug for Pete on his request. Their sex life is so weird here. Vegas’s preoccupation with death symbolism is a delight to write from the outside, and the remnants of Pete’s fucked-up passive death wish equally so. And I get to write my favorite unhealthy kink headcanon for them, where they’re both terrible at safewording because one of them has been conditioned to accept punishment and the other believes he deserves it. I am incredibly excited for this fic.

And speaking of bad communication and a preoccupation with death!

Stable Delusion: the resurrection AU, beloved. My little novella about shadows and concealment, empty mirrors and guilt, still waters and autonomy, and Vegas achieving a horror so miraculous that Pete can never know. I woke up months ago with the prologue in my notes app and no memory of writing it, and I’ve been obsessing about it since. Here’s a fresh excerpt (warning for the physical results of S/M):

On the other side of the mirror, Vegas’s skin was a tapestry of damage. Rope burns crowded the insides of his wrists. Dull red lines scored his chest and what Pete could see of his throat. He wore a mass of bite marks on his stomach and bare legs, and a circle of them around his hip. The body was Vegas’s, but the marks belonged to Pete—each a match for one Vegas himself had laid into his flesh. Outside his own skin, he could better appreciate the skill in the patterns of welts peeking past the insides of Vegas’s thighs, the artistry in the pretty chaos of bruises blooming across his belly, the affection in the purples of Vegas’s thumbprints on either side of his throat. In the logic of Pete’s dream, all of this seemed just. If the marks were Pete’s, then they were Vegas’s too, surely. But if Vegas was to have marks, shouldn’t Pete be the one to bestow them?

and third,

Off the Handle: Vegas doesn’t know how to handle low-level family conflict. A tiff over the dishwasher leads him to start sabotaging the means for Pete or Macau to harm themselves. Here’s the bit of the outline that made me fall in love with this one:

And finally Pete approaches him like. “Hey, so Macau found all the kitchen knives stashed behind the DVD player. Is this why we’ve been ordering so much takeout lately?” And, “It’s not ideal as a weapons stash, is the thing. People reach back there without looking. It’s not accessible during an attack. We need those knives for cooking. Also, Macau’s not going to tell you, but it really freaked him out.” And at last, “Is this because I tried to put them in the dishwasher?” “You don’t put wooden handles in the dishwasher.” “…Right.” Pete steels his shoulders, curls his hands in Vegas’s. “Hey. Are you planning something?” Vegas blinks. “The fuck could I be planning? I have nothing to plan.” “You hid the kitchen knives. You said the old ropes were starting to fray, but it’s been two weeks and you keep putting off buying new ones. The lock on the bathroom door is still broken. Your pain meds are gone. Why are your pain meds gone?” “Why are you getting into my meds?” “You know we need you, right?” And Pete’s eyes are dark and earnest, and his fingertips flutter, broken wings against Vegas’s palms. “Vegas, you know I need you?”

Thank you for the opportunity to ramble, Lily! Of course, there’s also a wip that a certain someone has been encouraging me to write despite my own protestations (thank you), and perhaps a recently-learned definite date around which I’d love to offer the story to that particular someone…but I’ll leave those details up in the air (😋) for now.

#asks #kinnporsche #vegaspete #fanfiction #fleet post #fleet fic #fleet answers

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adventuresinclientservice · 4 months

Text

Built to Last

Not knowing an ad’s genesis, I make it a rule to refrain from commenting on it, but there are times when exceptions to the rule are necessary:

Appalled by commercial after commercial appearing on a recent Super Bowl, I didn’t hold back, dismissing the dozens that were dismissible, praising the one that wasn’t.

Impressed by the long overdue recognition of my former agency, Ammirati & Puris, I didn’t hold back there either, acknowledging what was great about a shop most everyone considered stellar. Like other once-great-now-gone firms victimized then extinguished by holding company avarice, Ammirati’s rightly celebrated work endures.

Australia not only has earned a reputation for inventiveness when it comes to films and scripted television drama, they are marvelously iconoclastic when it comes to advertising, best reflected in the spot, “Dumb Ways to Die.” Suspend judgement on the wickedly direct, very unsettling title and watch; you’ll see why Australia is home to some of the best creative work ever.

Given the deep respect I have for Yvon Chouinard and the company he founded, Patagonia, years ago I cited one of the print ads I hold in high regard, recognizing that to this day remains true to the company’s core values.

That makes four examples in nearly 750 posts written over more than 13 years, so I often don’t give in to the need to play the critic, but am reminded of this because Chouinard was in the news recently, this time with a New York Times guest editorial, where he observes:

“The company I founded turns 50 this year. People ask me how it has managed to stick around so long when the average life span of a corporation is less than 20 years. I tell them it’s been our unrelenting focus on quality, which includes making things that last and that cause the least amount of harm to our planet.”

He observes that critics,

“thought we were crazy for repairing our own gear and urging our customers to buy less. They said our focus on quality would drive up prices and put our products out of reach. “But the naysayers were wrong.”

Then goes on to say,

“Quality is smart business. Even during economic downturns, people don’t stop spending. In our experience, instead of wanting more, they value better.”

Patagonia makes stuff – climbing gear, all-weather apparel, a variety of outdoor equipment – but step back from the items they produce and you see not things, you see values – durability, sustainability, longevity that borders on timeless, unimpeachable, and eternal.

I work in a business that doesn’t make stuff; at its best, it makes ideas; ideas that find their voice in all forms of advertising and marketing, in colleague support when its needed most, in client service at its best, when it solves problems, pursues opportunities, and builds enduring relationships.

It’s a business to which my former advertising agency, Ammirati & Puris, dedicated itself, explaining, in part, the post I wrote about it, in an industry where fewer such shops exist, seemingly losing their sense of mission, vision, and purpose.

It’s a business to which The Art of Client Service dedicates itself, explaining, in part, why I’ve written three editions over the last 20-plus years, and always am thinking how I can help people get better at what they do.

And it’s the business to which Yvon Chouinard and Patagonia dedicates itself, explaining in part, why it could succeed when predictions said couldn’t.

As Chouinard points out, “the poor can’t afford cheap goods.” Clients can’t afford cheap advertising either, or short-changed client service, or work that is perishable, disposable, and forgettable, something all of us should keep in mind the next time we search for something cheap, which often means, something not worth whatever you paid for it.

A concluding thought: “Built to last” is a fitting way to end the year; the next time we connect, it will be 2024. To repeat what I said in my last post, if you’re traveling to see family or friends, by all means travel safe.

Thursday also is Roberta’s and my 26th wedding anniversary, another thing that’s built to last. Happy anniversary Honey! Xoxo mbb

#advertising #marketing

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angstyaches · 2 years

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If you are still taking prompts 🛏 🌸 for Claudette? Bad tummy ache?

I can't find the ask game right now, but I'm pretty sure the emojis were 🛏 someone by their bed when they wake up, and 🌸 something that comforts them.

CW: stomach ache, stress, family tensions, vague angst that I'll address in future fics, platonic caretaking.

___

Everything is just a bit much right now.

Claudette scowled and erased the words she’d typed into the chat box. Talk about dramatic!

My stomach hurts.

Hmm. They chewed the inside of their cheek before tapping the backspace symbol again. Not that either. It was good; it specified a physical symptom instead of a general feeling of overwhelm. But what were they, a baby? Taken down by a little tummy ache?

Not feeling great.

Claudette tilted their head. Yeah. The tone was mature and neutral. There was any number of colds and flus and viruses swirling around campus these days, and it was reasonable that she wouldn’t want to expose Autumn to any of those.

Just like she didn't want to expose Autumn to the swirling vortex of misery she was currently attracting.

They added Sorry to cancel last minute, love you x before hitting send.

She lay on her back and shut her eyes, focusing on the weight of the hot water bottle on their stomach. Well, calling it hot would be generous. It’d cooled so much that all it was contributing to the situation was a small amount of pressure. They’d filled it about two hours ago, when they’d first laid down in bed, hoping a few hours’ rest would make them feel better. They’d had this dinner with Autumn planned for over a week, and they’d seen so little of each other…

The pain pulsed just behind their belly button, seemingly draining the energy from the rest of their body.

A single knock on the door made them flinch.

“Ugh. What?”

Jayden pushed the door open. His feet remained planted in the hallway as he leaned his torso inside the room. His jaws moved rhythmically, like he was chewing gum.

“Where’re the razors?”

Claudette groaned and slowly sat up under their duvet, bracing their hands on the mattress. “What?”

“The razors, where are they?” Jayden mimicked shaving the underside of his chin. “The disposable ones, with the green handles.”

“How would I know? I haven’t used a razor in months.”

Jayden rolled his eyes and started to leave.

“Jay, wait.”

He looked at her.

Claudette already knew what the answer to this question was going to be. But they really didn’t want to try and move, so they had to try this instead. She pulled the hot water bottle out from under the comforter, its contents sloshing.

“Will you make me a fresh one, please?” she asked, as sincerely as she could manage. “It’s gone cold.”

Jayden scoffed. “No?”

Claudette rolled their eyes, disappointed but not surprised.

“Why do you need a –?” Jayden made a face and glanced to his left, scanning the pile of clothes on the chair. Clean clothes, at that. “Why does your room smell so weird?”

“Vanilla infuser. It’s nice,” Claudette murmured.

He blinked, regaining his train of thought. “Why do you need a hot water bottle in 27 degrees?”

“Because,” Claudette whinged. She hesitated, averting their gaze from their brother’s cynical expression. “I have a stomach ache. Get the fuck out of my room if you’re not going to help me.”

“Well, I don’t have time anyway, do I?” Jayden snapped. “I have to go out and buy new razors, apparently.”

Claudette grunted in a way she hoped conveyed how little she cared about her brother’s realisation that he had to go out and replace something that he, himself, had used up in the first place.

Jayden shut the door.

Claudette pulled the hot water bottle back into the bed, pulling it against their belly despite the dwindling heat inside. They slumped back against the pillow, tugging the glasses from their face.

She placed a hand over her stomach as she settled on her back again, realising that her own skin was warmer than the hot water bottle at this point. She massaged gently with her fingers, which instantly shook loose a low grumble inside of her. It sounded, for all in the world, like a declaration of hunger, but Claudette was the furthest thing from hungry without feeling physically nauseated.

She hadn’t been hungry all day, but at least the pain hadn’t hit any earlier.

Otherwise they mightn’t have made that afternoon’s deadline. It just sucked that they’d had to cancel their dinner plans with Autumn. They hadn’t seen much of each other lately, what with Claudette’s jam-packed schedule and Autumn’s time being increasingly spent with her partner.

Claudette knew it shouldn’t bother her, because they were adults with busy, separate lives. This wasn’t like their school days, where they could spend whole evenings and weekends just lying around reading magazines and giggling over the advice segments.

But still. Amidst everything else that was going on, she missed her best friend.

The pain in their stomach throbbed. They groaned and rubbed a little deeper. An acidic gurgle arose this time around, bringing up a hiccup that lodged in the back of Claudette’s throat.

Fuck this. Claudette rolled onto her side and scooped the water bottle up again, just for something to hold. They brushed their chin against the top of it, savouring the texture of its fluffy cover in a way that wasn't nice, wasn't unpleasant, wasn't anything but what it was.

Placebo effect. It’d be fine.

A little more sleep, and it’d be fine.

Claudette stirred upon sensing a presence in the room. Their muscles had retained so much tension, even in sleep, that it didn’t take long for them to reach full consciousness and full rage. Their teeth were working dully into the insides of their cheeks and there was a big crease in the pillowcase that was ingraining itself into the side of Claudette’s face.

And, lo and behold, the ache in their stomach was still there.

“What do you want now?” she groaned, rolling over with a hand on her stomach. Jayden rarely let himself in without knocking, not since they’d been nine years old. “Why can’t you just leave me alone, Jay?”

Someone gently cleared their throat.

Claudette flipped onto their side, goosebumps springing up all over. An indiscernible blur was lowering itself onto the edge of the mattress.

Well, it might have been an indiscernible blur to most folks whose desperately-needed glasses were still perched on their nightstand, but Claudette recognised the yellow portion of the blur as a floral blouse, beloved by its wearer. She could just about make out a mass of frizzy, mousey-brown hair that never sat well in the summer.

“Oh. You’re not Jayden.”

Autumn laughed. “No, I’m very much not.”

With a slow grunt, Claudette pushed herself up on one elbow and scooted backwards to make more room for Autumn to sit. “What’re you doing here, lady?”

“Well, I was already in the area when I was rain-checked via an unnecessarily vague text,” Autumn said pointedly. “So, I thought I’d come check up on you. God knows Jayden wasn’t going to.”

Claudette sighed in agreement as she sat up a little, curling one leg so that her knee was high enough to drape her arm across. They tried not to wince as their belly cramped, and focused on Autumn’s voice.

“You know, I just passed by him in the hall,” Autumn went on, “and he didn’t even say hello? You’d swear that boy was raised in a barn.”

Claudette scoffed and shook her head, though it was more in disbelief of Autumn than of her twin. It hadn’t occurred to Claudette that Autumn would come over once she heard they weren’t feeling well, and yet… now that it had happened, it was the most obvious possible outcome.

“How’d you know I wouldn’t be contagious or something?”

“Best friend instincts.”

Claudette raised an eyebrow.

“Oh, you want specifics? Alright, let’s go.” The Autumn-shaped blur lifted a hand, presumably about to start counting fingers. “You just got done with your mid-term exams –”

Disaster.

“Three out of your five summer internship applications have been rejected.”

Thanks for the reminder.

“I know there’s been some…” Autumn sighed in mild frustration, “some kind of drama going on with the Pride Soc.members –”

If you call missing funds that I’m being accused of misplacing ‘drama’ – Claudette swallowed hard. They hadn’t quite told Autumn the nature of the Pride Soc. drama, hence Autumn’s indignant tone.

“Your thesis supervisor is on indefinite medical leave; your brother’s a piece of work; it was just your dad’s birthday last weekend, which I know is a rough time…”

Claudette narrowed their eyes, feeling a little bile rise up to meet the lump in their throat. And a flash of scarlet behind their eyes. They’d heard enough of their shortcomings and failures.

And the worst part was that she hadn’t even touched upon the biggest, heaviest cloud that had been tracking Claudette’s movements the past few weeks. The one that crept closer every time they opened social media and saw just how many people were speaking out and trying to strip away rights – rights that, if they’d been stricken just a few years before, Claudette’s life would look very differently without.

Whether or not Autumn was building up to mentioning the world’s angry mob mentalities, Claudette couldn’t listen to another word.

“Are you going somewhere with this, A?” they half-snapped.

Autumn sighed again. Her hand reached across to a few strands of Claudette’s hair that had fallen, draped, over the creases in the blanket. “Where I’m going with this, chickadee, is that I know you. I know that you put on a big show about this girl-boss-slash-tough-guy type who doesn’t care what other people think.”

A knot of pain in Claudette’s throat suddenly seemed to mirror the one in their stomach.

“But I also know that stress hits you hard. Usually, right in the belly. I bet you a full-sized Snickers that you’re packing a hot water bottle under there.”

Claudette conceded with a groan. She felt her face flush. “It’s cold now, but… yeah.”

“Ah, so, I was right? Stress tummy ache hours?”

Claudette grumbled wordlessly, tugging the comforter closer to their chin. “Sounds pretty pathetic when you put it like that, huh.”

“No,” Autumn chuckled, “it doesn’t! You’ve had a lot going on. I would have had a meltdown by now, if I were you.”

No, Claudette thought dully, struggling to reach around her best friend to grab her glasses, without feeling like her stomach was going to snap inside her. A soft belch rumbled up their chest, which Autumn either didn’t hear, or didn’t mention.

Autumn leaned forward to grab her backpack from the floor. It was navy-blue, same as her beret. Same as her ankle boots. Everything about Autumn was so coordinated.

So thought-out.

So capable.

Meanwhile, Claudette was struggling to keep her jaw from trembling, her eyes fogged up and blurry even now that she had her glasses on.

“So,” Autumn said as she unzipped her bag. “I thought I’d lend you my laptop and hard drive for a bit, so you’d have something to take your mind off everything for a little bit. Do you want me to put something on…?”

Claudette pushed their fingers between their eyes, beneath the bridge of their glasses. Their hair fell across her face again. Erratic spasms filled her belly. Clouded thoughts bit at the edges of their mind.

“What are you in the mood for? Romeo and Juliet, Much Ado About Nothing, West Side Story…?” Autumn paused. “Chick? Chick, oh my god, what’s – what is it?”

Claudette slowly shook her head and sobbed. They opened their mouth and turned towards Autumn, and her face was so open, so gentle, so kind, that they wanted to speak, they really did, but the feelings were too tangled up inside of them to make any sense, and anyway, on some level, they knew their best friend would just… know.

“Claude.” Autumn’s voice trembled. She shoved the computer off her lap and across the bedspread and flung her arms around Claudette’s shoulders.

Claudette leaned into the embrace, still hugging her own knee, choking on sobs that wouldn’t stay put. They let themself be swamped in the smell of Autumn’s floral body spray until she was simply rocking them from side to side, and they didn’t feel the need to grimace, or gasp, or do anything but simply… exist. And be held.

They unwrapped their arm from their leg and pushed it through their hair. “It’s… Mother’s Day this weekend.”

Autumn pulled back. Her hat was starting to slip down the side of her head from hugging, but she hadn’t seemed to realise yet. “I – I know. I realised.”

Claudette pursed her lips and exhaled. “Yeah. Um, it’s… it’s just been in the back of my mind, and I… Yeah.”

“You want to talk about it?”

“Nope.” Claudette sniffled gently. “So, Much Ado About Nothing. Are we talkingBranagh, or Whedon?”

A subtle smile crossed Autumn’s face. “Whedon.”

“Mmph.” Claudette reached for Autumn’s laptop and pulled it closer. “What else you got on here, lady?”

“Uh, hmm…” Autumn chuckled under her breath and tucked some hair behind her ear. She leaned her cheek on Claudette’s shoulder as they scrolled. She pointed to a file on the screen. “Oh, I’ve got West Side Story, if you fancy a trip down memory lane.”

A laugh bubbled its way up through the tension in Claudette’s chest. The first musical the two of them had gone to see together. She leaned her head against Autumn’s. “That sounds perfect right about now.”

“You’ve got it. Sofa, or bed?”

“Bed. For sure.”

Claudette shifted the cold-hot water bottle, tossing it over their back so that it landed next to the wall. They shuffled backwards a bit, lifting the comforter and keeping their arm outstretched. “Get in,” they murmured.

Autumn stood up long enough to kick off her boots, drop her jacket, and lay her hat on top of the books and boxes on Claudette’s desk. She slipped under the covers, and Claudette pulled the comforter back into position, this time with her friend locked into a hug.

With what little movement her arms still had, Autumn set up the movie with her laptop perched on the mattress.

“Oh – wait, crap,” she said, hesitating before hitting the play button. She looked over her shoulder at Claudette. “I was going to refill your hot water bottle for you.”

“No need.” Claudette hugged her friend a little harder. “I’ve got you.”

#request #stomach ache fic #sickfic #hurt and comfort #hurt comfort #platonic caretaking #Lucyverse Claudette #angst mention #angst fic #stress fic #stress mention #emotional whump

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