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13uswntimagines · 3 years

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Just In Case (Emily x Reader)

Request: Emily x reader where the reader is deployed in to the military and got permission to video call Emily while she is at camp and something happens to the base while on the call and it ends the call with no goodbye and then like the team seeing news articles and trying to get in contact with reader but they can’t and Emily eventually gets notified that’s she’s in the hospital

There was nothing quite like waiting for the little green dot to appear next to your Skype name. The way excitement mixed with anxiety and impatience. How your wife never knew exactly what state you would be in, only that you would greet her with a wide (probably exhausted) smile.

It was rare that Emily actually got to call you while you were deployed. You were the assigned medic to a forward operating special ops unit, meaning you spent more time in the middle of nowhere doing dangerous missions than you did on base. She was excited she’d get to see your smiling face after almost a month (a year since she’d actually seen you in person).

She jumped when the little dot appeared on the screen (much to Lindsey and Kelley’s enjoyment) and clicked on your little icon.

The screen blinked, and your wide smile greeted her. “Hey darling, how’s champ camp?” Your little southern twang came through the computer.

Emily mirrored your smile (your accent always made her swoon just a little), Turning the camera so you could see your two best friends also waving at you. “Super fun. Me and Linds beat Kelley during the scrimmage,”

You smirked at your wife, shaking your head. You knew how competitive they all were (it had led to some very fun game nights at your house- especially with your wife who adamantly refused to be competitive off the pitch). “Bet the squirrel loved that,”

Emily shrugged. “She’s not taking it so well,”

She again pointed the camera towards your pouting sister. You cracked a smile at the woman.

“I’ll get her next time, don’t worry,” Kelley winked at the screen.

You looked off to the side for a second, nodding to whoever was talking to you behind your computer.

Emily wasn’t upset, hell she was more than used to the two of you never really being alone (you were the team leader after all). Instead, she took the opportunity to take in your features. Every new wrinkle of your forehead or dark circle under your eye (that looked more like a bruise or black eye at this point). Was that a new scar you kept rubbing under your chin?

Emily shook her head. She didn’t even want to think about how you got that until you were back safe in her arms. Your job was dangerous, she didn’t need any reminders.

“How are you holding up?” She asked, drawing your attention back towards her. It was a safe question, one she knew she could ask over a live feed. One that didn’t cross any “clearance” lines you had warned her about (though she was sure that your superiors knew you told her many stories deemed classified over the years in the safety of your bedroom).

You shrugged, your crooked smile not quite meeting your eyes. “I’m alright. Super tired. We just got to base a little while ago,”

Your vague answer didn’t surprise her. You didn’t like to worry her, and half of your missions were pretty secretive anyway. It was one thing to share your darkest stories, the things you had seen that you couldn’t un-see, while the two of you were pressed together, and another to try and explain from a million miles away.

Your wife knew how your job weighed on you.

“But you’re ok?” She pressed, unwilling to let you deflect the question. She needed to know. You ran a hand through your tousled hair (one of your biggest tells), leaning forward just a bit. “Just some bruises. Promise.” You paused, leaning forward, your fake playful smile reappearing with a wiggle of your eyebrows, “What about you? Kelley’s a beast on the field,”

Emily cracked a smile, despite her worry. “I’m good babe, but Lindsey’s got a nice one,”

“Ooo let me see,” you said, leaning closer to the screen like a little kid. Emily turned the computer so you could harass Lindsey instead of her.

“No,” the midfielder pouted, crossing her arms.

“Come on, I’ll show you mine if you show me yours,” You wined dramatically as Emily turned the computer around and Kelley butted into the frame.

“That sounds like some teenage boy-...” She started, only to be cut off by a loud crash and the blaring of an alarm.

“Fuck,” you hissed, looking off-screen, as more yelling started, and the screen shook.

“Babe-“ Emily said, and you glanced back at the screen as if suddenly realizing your wife was still there.

“I love you Em. I’m sorry I gotta go,” you said quickly, looking directly in the camera.

Then the call ended. The screen went blank and the three women sat frozen. Emily very slowly placed her hand over where your face had been mere seconds ago. “Love you too, be safe,”

The “please,” was softer, almost breathless. And the sound broke Kelley and Lindsey’s hearts. All they could do was hope you would be alright.

****

Emily had learned to not read the news reports a long, long time ago, on your first deployment (back when the two of you had only been dating for six months).

As it turned out, most of the time they had no real information about what was going on. They just reported on the overarching bad thing that was happening, or whatever appeared to be happening, and tended to ignore the boots on the ground (your words not Emily’s).

But still, she couldn’t help but stare at the articles rolling in about an attack on one of the bases near where she knew you were stationed. Especially after the abrupt end to your semi-distracted phone call.

“Em, reading it repeatedly isn’t going to change the words,” Kelley said softly, prying the phone from her grasp and sticking it on the chair beside her.

Emily sighed heavily. “It’s just hard,” she mumbled, scrubbing a hand over her eyes.

Lindsey, Kelley, and the rest of the table nodded understandingly. They may not have the same relationship with you that Emily did, but they loved you all the same.

It was terrifying to not know where you were, or if you were alright, but they had to be strong for Emily right now.

“She didn’t answer your text yet?” Lindsey asked, reaching across the table to grasp Emily’s hand tightly. You might not be able to call, but texting was usually a good way to get a hold of you.

Emily bit her lip, shaking her head tightly. “Nah uh,”

She pinched the bridge of her nose. It wasn’t uncommon for you to go radio silent, especially when you were on a mission, but it had been 4 days since your phone call and You always sent her a little a-ok when you were finished with whatever you were doing. She was starting to get worried.

“What about Kara, she’s always with her,” Kelley asked gently, rubbing her back, mentioning your best friend.

The two of you were practically attached at the hip, but as you always said, experience in a war zone will do that go people. Kara was your right-hand man and always answered Emily, especially when you weren’t.

“She hasn’t answered either,” Emily mumbled, shaking her head. The women at the table all shared a look. The last time Kara hadn’t responded while the two of you were away, you had been stuck doing emergency surgery on one of your guys in the field after an IED blew up one of the hummers in your convoy.

“I’m sure they’re just busy. You know the news likes to make a big deal out of nothing. They always do,” Lindsey said reassuringly.

“Yeah, and no news is good news right?” Kelley added, with a half-smile.

A dark look crossed Emily’s features. She knew (and feared) what happened when things went wrong. She dreaded that phone call or god forbid an officer showing up with your “just in case” letter (one she knew you always carried with you, but she had never physically seen).

“Only until it isn’t,” she said softly, her voice deadly serious. The women at the table sobered and nodded, equally as somber. It was a terrifying truth that was easier to ignore than confront.

“I’m sure she’s just busy being a hero,” Lindsey said softly, leaning over to grab Emily’s hand tightly, as Kelley squeezed the woman comfortingly.

“I hope you’re right,” Emily sighed.

“She promised Em, and she never breaks her promises,” Kelley said, equally as serious, trying to hide just how worried she was. You swore you’d always come back to them, and she would kick your ass if you didn’t.

*****

It felt like Emily’s heart was going to beat out of her chest. It was hammering harder than it ever had, even after a full ninety. She tapped her foot impatiently, waiting for the receptionist to find your room and clear her with the MP’s apparently stationed outside your room.

The second she got the 3 am call, it had been a mad dash to get here. The drive from Orlando to the hospital at the Jacksonville Air Force base was a blur, but she was pretty sure Kelley had broken just about every speed law there was to get her here faster (and to get herself here too, she was your sister after all).

“I’m her wife. I have permission to see her,” Emily growled at the poor receptionist, who continued to rapidly type on her computer.

“I’m sorry miss, but due to the circumstances I have to check,” She clicked her tongue, leaning forward to get a better look at the screen, apparently oblivious to Emily’s growing rage.

Kelley placed a careful hand on Emily’s arm, trying to quell the brewing storm before the receptionist took the brunt of it.

“Fuck the circumstances. Let me see my wife,” Emily hissed, completely ignoring Kelley’s “calm down Sonnett,” (your older sister was worried too, but flipping out at a receptionist wasn’t going to help their cause).

“I’m trying ma’am. We have protocols too, especially after a Rescue and Evacuation,” the woman behind the counter sighed, more frustrated than sympathetic. Emily’s eyes widened. Kara hadn’t said anything about a rescue mission over the phone, only that you were hurt and being transferred to Florida from a hospital in London.

“A what?!!” Emily screeched, and Kelley grabbed the back of her hoodie to prevent her from launching herself over the counter at the frightened-looking receptionist.

Before the woman behind the counter could respond, your very tired-looking best friend appeared around the corner.

“Hey, Em. She’s back this way,” Kara smiled tightly at your wife, nodding towards the receptionist and gesturing down a hallway to her left.

“Oh thank god,” Kelley sighed, practically shoving Emily into Kara’s arms. Kara caught her, and held her hand out to your older sister, carefully beginning to guide them down the maze of hallways.

“I have to warn you, she’s in pretty rough shape,” Kara said softly as they approached the door, her hand pausing on the handle to look both women in the eyes. Emily and Kelley both nodded solemnly, steeling themselves as Kara gently pushed the door open.

“Damn,” Emily and Kelley gasped as they stepped through the threshold and took in your sleeping form.

Your normally strong form looked so small under the mass of tubes and wires surrounding you (but Kelley notes that you were very much breathing on your own). The whole left side of your face was bruised, and the left half of your chest and arm was wrapped tightly in gauze.

Emily very carefully approached the bed, her fingers hovering over your right side, afraid to touch you and cause you more pain.

“Oh baby,” She breathed out, settling into the chair beside your bed, finally grabbing your uninsured hand very gently and pulling it to her lips.

She heard Kelley ask “What happened?”, but her eyes never left your face.

Kara blew out a long breath, seemingly trying to steady herself. “Our base got attacked- retaliation for freeing a village probably,”

Kelley raised her eyebrow at the woman. She wanted to know everything, not the edited version.

Kara swallowed hard before continuing. “We split into teams. One to pull security and one to evacuate the hospital. We lost communication after one of our own went Rogue. In the chaos, an intruder slipped through us and went to attack the hospital wing. Y/n got ambushed trying to get an injured private to the helicopter,”

Silence stretched between them as the soccer stars tried to take in the story. It was so you to do everything in your power to help someone else, even if it was dangerous or detrimental to you.

“How bad is it,” The words left Emily’s mouth barely above a whisper, muffled slightly by your hand still at her lips.

“She got hit 3 times. One was a through and through to the shoulder. It chipped her collar bone, but mostly just got some soft tissue. The other two were worse. The through and through in her leg nicked an artery, and the other one in her chest did some damage. Luckily she was able to drag herself back to the hospital wing and they could get her stable. The PJ’s got her to London and they did emergency surgery,” Kara listed off, rubbing the back of her neck and closing her eyes tightly.

Emily didn’t doubt that seeing you like that was probably one of the most difficult things Kara ever had to do, and she felt bad for making her relive that.

“Is she gonna be alright?” Kelley asked after a few seconds, cracking with emotion.

Kara nodded. “Yeah, Lena looked over the X-rays. Said that she would need a lot of rehab, but she should make a pretty full recovery. Right now she’s just sedated to help with the pain,”

Emily felt her heart unclench at the news, made even sweeter by the mention of Kara’s own wife. Lena was a straight shooter, someone who was brutally honest and equally deft at her job (which was part of the reason the two of you got on so well). She wouldn’t bullshit them and give them false hope.

“Thank you,” Emily croaked. Kara snorted and shook her head.

“Wasn’t me. She promised you she’d make it and she wasn’t about to let you down,”

You had dragged yourself nearly 800 yards to the hospital wing, and the only thing they said you said was that you couldn’t die because you swore to your wife you’d come home. Kara was convinced that you had survived purely on adrenaline and stubbornness (that and dumb luck). At least she hadn’t had to deliver your just in case letter.

Emily smiled softly at your sleeping form, allowing the steady beep of your heart and your warm hand to comfort her “I know,”

It was easy to relax now that you were here safe in her arms. Sure, you would have a long road to recovery (and getting you to actually follow the doctor's orders was bound to be a fight), but you were alive with no imminent threat hanging above your head.

She would be there for you every step of the way.

#uswnt imagine #uswnt imagines #uswnt x reader #emily sonnett imagine #emily sonnett x reader

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quinncupine · 3 years

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Hiiii quinn! I never realised you did requests but if it would be fine (and also because its my sole goal) could you do a boom boom boi and izubby with having their own cat or dog as a pet??? I'm seriously thinking that boom boom boi would be both a cat and dog person, don't u agree? (Ily lots and don't feel pressured to do this if you have a lot of stuff going on!)

Hi Dorki! I'm finally making my way through my requests and I was really excited to write this one! Okay, hope you like it!

Quinns Masterlist

Wanna request something?

The Boys with Pets

Word Count: 1,750

Featuring: Izuku Midoriya and Katsuki Bakugo!

Warnings: dogs, cats, cursing

Izuku Midoriya

Now Izuku loves pretty much all animals, but I can totally see him getting a dog. Dogs are loyal and full of energy just like a certain green-haired hero. The perfect duo.

He would probably rescue one from the pound, the one with the biggest, saddest, cutest eyes because how could he not? But someone has to go with him because he'd try to rescue them all if there was no one there to stop him. Once a hero, always a hero I suppose.

I'm thinking for names, he would definitely pick a name that reflects his favorite heroes. Don't be surprised if he names his dog something super cheesy like Mighty or Rocky…

Wait, okay, I've decided, he names his dog Mighty and that is the hill I will die on.

The life of a hero is quite busy so when he goes off on long missions, he drops the dog off at his mom's house. Inko has fallen in love with this sweet pup, so much so that she sometimes begs him to stop by with the dog for a visit. It's the closest thing she's got to grandbabies at the moment, she'll take what she can get :)

Now, this cute pup draws in the attention of just about everyone so he's gotten an influx of attention and a few numbers slipped in his hand during their walks, much to his flustered surprise.

Best wingman ever.

This dog goes on regular runs with Izuku and sometimes even helps him with training. I'm thinking a Collie or an Aussie would just be the perfect fit for him to keep up with his personality and lifestyle. He needs an active dog!

I can see it now, he goes on his daily morning runs with this cute Lil furry training buddy and they race the whole way! A few regulars on the trail know about this and it's become sort of a tradition to cheer the two on as they pass.

...

The morning air was crisp with the slight scent of the coming autumn, the perfect morning for a run. Izuku, dressed in his usual training wear, had a steady rhythm going for the last forty minutes, letting out even, controlled breaths. This was the easy part of the run, a warm-up if anything, and he hadn't even broken a sweat yet. The canine jogging by his side was enjoying the dewy morning air as well, tongue happily flopping out the side of her mouth. The shared morning ritual between man and man's best friend: Mighty.

Her tail picked up speed, wagging uncontrollably as they neared the bend where the giant jagged rock towered over the path. It was the place marker to start the race. A three-mile run to the top of the hill located at the center of the park. It was also Mighty's favorite part of the morning.

"Ready girl?" Izuku grinned down at the ecstatic dog who barked in reply.

The instant the two of them passed the big rock, they both broke out in full speed, leaving behind a cloud of dust. Happy barks filled the air as she gained the upper hand. Izuku laughed as the dog turned to look back at him lagging behind her. He always did these races without his quirk to assist him. It was only fair and it helped him work on his natural stamina in case he was ever in a situation where he couldn't use his quirk. Always good to be prepared.

He watched as she bounded up the first steep hill on the trail. There were a few small hills on this route, but this one was the hardest to climb and Mighty had the advantage with her four legs so she always managed to pull ahead first. She stopped at the top and barked him on before quickly disappearing over the crest.

When he reached the top, he stopped for just a second to take in his surroundings. This part of the park was a heavily wooded area with numerous trails that many people used to hike or run. It also served as a great view of the city skyline and he couldn't help but stop and admire the rising sun from between the foggy buildings every time. Then Mighty barked to pull him out of his thoughts.

"It's not over yet!" He called after her and raced down the hill, putting on an extra burst of speed to easily close the distance.

Tail wagging, she nipped playfully at his feet as they sprinted along the path, side by side. There weren't many people out this early so he usually had the trail to himself. The only sounds were the wind in the trees, the leaves crunching under feet and paws, Mighty barking beside him, and his own unrestrained glee as they ran together.

These were the mornings he loved. Just the two of them, away from the stresses that came with pro-hero work. He wouldn't trade being a hero for anything, but sometimes it got to be too much so coming here to clear his mind with a little run was always a cathartic release, only made better by the furry companion by his side.

The short bridge that arched over the creek signaled the last mile. Getting more serious, Izuku pulled ahead of Mighty, not able to hold back the giant grin as he streaked across the bridge, startling a few birds off the railings which Mighty barked at as she came up behind him.

Up ahead was a large open meadow with a small duck pond near the center. A few benches were scattered about the path and he saw the same elderly couple sitting in their usual spot with a bag of rice and seed to feed the plethora of ducks waddling around their feet.

"You got him this time Mighty!" The old man looked up as the two of them zipped down the path towards the couple.

"Show 'em what girls can do!" The woman cracked a smile, waving her hands.

"Morning Mr. and Mrs. Fujino!" Izuku waved as he passed. "Don't count me out yet!"

Mighty barked her greeting and took a detour, herding some ducks closer to the couple then with a quick lick to Mr. Fujino's hand, she sprinted back to catch up to Izuku.

The Fujino's marked the last leg of the race. The only thing left was to climb the top of the largest hill in the park to the old oak tree at the top. That was the finishing line. It was always a gamble as to who finished first every day, but Mighty sure had a competitive spirit.

Izuku pumped his legs as he steadily made his way up to the dirt trail, Mighty just behind him before she suddenly veered left and disappeared into the shrubbery. He was so focused on the tree that slowly came into view just around the curve as he neared the top that he didn't notice.

Just as the path leveled out, almost to the finish line, he glanced back to see no sign of his dog. The tree was a few feet away when a furry mass ambushed him from the side, knocking him clean off his feet. The pro hero landed in the grass with a heavy Oof. Sitting on his chest was Mighty, looking quite proud of herself.

"Cheater!" He laughed, trying his best to hold back the slobbery licks she was determined to give him. "Okay, okay, I'll call it a tie!"

Katsuki Bakugo

Now Katsuki on the other hand would totally be a cat person. Not that he has anything against dogs, but cats are more his style. They don't need constant attention and are pretty much self-sufficient. Just the way he likes it.

That being said, Katuski would go all out on toys and the latest gizmos to take care of his cat. Has a self-cleaning litter box, a waterfall bowl, an automatic feeder, etc. You get the picture.

Oh, and toys galore. If he has space, this cat is getting a personal jungle gym that lets him walk up to the ceiling. S.P.O.I.L.E.D.

Doesn't like to tell people just how much he actually loves this cat because he's never been one to express emotions, but this cat just gets him to his core. They share the same wavelength and he appreciates that. The cat is the only one he trusts to open up to, so sometimes you might catch him ranting to the poor thing who just stares back with big wide eyes and occasional meows. Yup, totally gets him.

I see him with a super chill cat, like maybe a Ragdoll or a Russian Blue. Something that tolerates his constant screaming and explosions.

This guy is just as bad at names. It'll definitely be something long and dramatic like Lord Cat Explosion Demon God of Furballs. Yep. He doesn't take criticism so most people call him Lord Furballs, much to his disdain.

Katsuki won't ask for attention from the cat, but the little furry feline is a total cuddler and will often find itself curled up in his lap or even on his neck if Katsuki's sitting on the couch. You better believe this guy won't be moving until that cat decides it's time to move. He's been late to meetings with friends because of this cuddly cat.

He's a hero so this cat is definitely being treated right. Katuski is no slacker when it comes to caring for his lil buddy. The vet is on speed dial should anything ever happen.

Did someone say a custom-made collar that matches his hero costume to a tee?

He's never loved anything more.

...

"Uh, hey Bakubro, why is your cat glaring at me?" Ejiro asked, staring down at the feline.

"What?" Katsuki didn't even bother to look up from his laptop.

"Your cat. It's giving me the evil eye. I thought it was supposed to be friendly." The red-haired hero frowned, not able to break eye contact with the cat. "I don’t think it likes me."

The small furry creature had lazily curled up in the sunspot next to Katsuki's feet, purring away without a care in the world. It seemed harmless enough, except for the heavy glare it was shooting Ejiro's way.

"Heh," Katsuki finally glanced down and crossed his arms. "He's not glaring. That's just his face."

"Ah," Ejiro nodded, "like father like son."

"What the hell's that supposed to mean!?"

Taglist: @thecindy @peachsenpie @awilddreamerwrites @miriobaby @kiyoobi @dragonsdreamoffire @amive2567 @justscar @kenmaskitten10 @freckledoriya

#izuku midoriya #katsuki bakugou #bnha headcanons #mha headcanons #izuku midoriya headcanons #katsuki bakugou headcanons #my pets #cute dogs #cats #yes i did name his dog Mighty #come at me #I got really inspired so i wrote lil stories to go with these headcannons #i laughed when I wrote Katsuki's #of course that cat would pick up on his mannerisms while being a precious sweetheart #and that dog is literally just Izuku in dog form so #this turned out so goofy #lol #request

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wooyunhwa · 4 years

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kingdom of welcome addiction | two

view pinned post for masterlist for links to the rest of the parts!

Genre: smut

Pairing: demon!san x fem!reader

Word Count: 6k

Warnings: blood drinking, choking (like some serious choking you’ve been warned), crying kink, corruption kink, praise kink? idk, mentions of alcohol, virgin mc

Synopsis: When you accidentally summon a bloodthirsty demon boy to your bedroom, you form an unexpected contract with him.

A/N: Thank you for reading and comments are super appreciated as always!

It had been a few weeks since you’d last summoned San. The last time you’d seen him, he’d gone kind of crazy after tasting your blood. You couldn’t forget the darkness in his voice, his all-black eyes shining demonically as he lost it. He had left without even giving himself a chance to explain himself, he just disappeared to, well… wherever it was that demons went, you supposed.

Every so often, your hand would find its way up to check the scar where he’d punctured your neck. Honestly, you just wanted to make sure you hadn’t dreamt it all. As the days went on, you really couldn’t be sure. Eventually the scar dwindled to a faint red mark, and then to nothing at all.

The sticky note was still pinned to the wall above your desk, taunting you every time you saw it. Each time you’d think today was the day you’d call him back, and yet, you hadn’t been able to do it.

Until you were drunk, that is.

You had a particularly rough day of classes. Your professor had called you out in front of the whole class for a mistake you made on an assignment, and it ripped you apart. When you got home, you had poured out a few pathetic drinks to drown the pain of the day, wanting nothing more than to curl up in your bed and disappear. But you forgot one vital thing. When you drank alone, you got sad. Like, really sad. The tears seemed to flow endlessly, and there was a point at which you even forgot why you were crying—or drinking—in the first place.

There was a part of you that needed in that moment to not be alone, even for just a second. Embarrassed to call any of your friends over, you turned to the only companion who couldn’t turn you down.

Your demon boy.

You ripped the post-it off the wall, finally ready to use it, drunkenly singing out the Latin a few times until it was comprehensible enough to work.

He was perched on your desk when he appeared. You stumbled back drunkenly, startled by his sudden appearance despite knowing you were summoning him. You just forgot how jarring it was.

“Oh, you have to be kidding me,” San grumbled. You weren’t sure if he was responding to your sudden summoning, or the fact that you were leaking tears all over the place pathetically, but you couldn’t even manage to choke out a response through your blubbering.

“This is way out of my pay grade.” He hopped off the desk, sauntering slowly in your direction. “Have you been drinking, hmm? I can smell that cheap liquor from a mile away. It’s fogging up your pretty little scent.”

You wiped the tears from your eyes pitifully. “I’m sorry, I shouldn’t have summoned you. You can leave.”

“I did miss your cute little human face, I suppose,” he said softly. He was standing close now, towering over you. You pulled your gaze up to meet his eyes, and he gave a gentle pet to your head. In any other situation, it would be sweet, but the look in his eyes was chilling. He looked at you like prey, a piece of meat—and yet his words dripped off his tongue like the sweetest honey. “Don’t cry, okay?”

His thumb drew across your cheek, passing faintly over your lips, collecting tears. He brought his hand up to his tongue, licking it clean of the saltwater, not breaking eye-contact for even a second. “Virgin tears. Almost as good as the blood,” he sang, eyes rolling back in his head in a quick moment of bliss for just a moment before fixing back on your face. “Almost.”

You forgot how alluring he was, his sharp-featured face in particular. There was something magnetic about it, you couldn’t pull your gaze away no matter how intense he was.

“So why’d you call me, hmm, darling?” He flashed his teeth villainously. “Missed my bite that much? Have something new to offer, perhaps?”

You dropped your gaze, but he tipped your chin up to meet his again almost immediately. “Look me in the eyes, darling. You’re the one that summoned me, the least you could do is give me that.”

“I shouldn’t have called you here. I shouldn’t have even thought—I should have known you wouldn’t care beyond your own interests,” you said, voice hoarse and shaky through your tears.

He shrugged. “You’re probably right.”

“Asshole.”

His brows furrowed. “Okay, a little uncalled for. But not entirely untrue.” He placed his hands on your shoulders, guiding you to the bed. It took only a small nudge to plop you down. You felt the effects of the alcohol wash over you. “We can make a contract. If it makes you feel better.”

“What, you’re gonna ask for my blood again?” you scoffed.

“No.”

“Then?”

“Your tears.”

You paused, considering the stakes. “Fine, take them. What do I get?”

He took a seat next to you on the plush blanket, placing a surprisingly comforting hand on your back. “I’ll listen to you. Like, uh… a demon therapist,” he smiled at you from your side, flashing his fangs cheekily. “I promise I’ll do my best to stay serious. I’m contractually obligated.”

“Fine,” you agreed, slightly annoyed at how difficult you found it to resist him. His devilish charm was too much for you—even sober, but especially drunk.

“Tears first,” he said decidedly, and you caught a glimpse of desire spark in his eyes.

You nodded, shuffling your butt on the bed to face him. You expected him to run his fingers over your face, like he had earlier. Instead, he brushed his thumb over the side of your face slowly, dancing along the cut of your jaw, then leaned in to brush his lips over your cheek. You flinched as his lips connected with your skin softly, and you felt the distinct wetness of his tongue brushing over the surface. He lapped at your tears through deliberate, drawn-out kisses, and the cold metal of his lip ring felt unexpectedly nice drawing over your cheek.

His hand came around to the back of your head, lacing his fingers in your hair to steady you. It was incredibly sensual, whether he meant it to be or not. He moaned pleasurably at the taste of your tears, though he didn’t have the same animalistic hunger he seemed to have when he’d tasted your blood. Probably for the best.

“You’re so cute when you’re crying. Like a helpless little lamb. If I weren’t supposed to be nice to you right now, I’d have a half a mind to make you cry again,” he purred against your ear.

His other hand threaded around the small of your waist, like he’d done when he drank your blood before. And you couldn’t lie, you kind of loved it. His position was unexpectedly romantic: one hand cupped around your waist, the other laced in your hair, delivering soft kisses and licks across your cheeks. You closed your eyes to get a better idea of the sensation, fisting your hands needily in the silky fabric of his button down.

You felt him pull away suddenly, an amused smirk dancing up on his lips. “Someone’s getting spicy. This wasn’t in our contract.”

Fuck. Something in your mind was telling you to kiss him. Not just telling, but more like screaming at you. Fucking kiss him. His lips looked so soft and alluring, so dangerously off-limits. You leaned in slightly, magnetized by his aura, only to feel him pull away entirely.

“Okay. I’ve had my fun,” he said. He ran a hand through his hair, roughing it up messily, giving you a perfect view at the cut of his jaw. “Now I hold up my end of the deal. You talk, I listen.”

Do we have to talk? you thought, annoyed. I’d rather just make out.

You gritted your teeth together as you tried desperately to shift your thoughts away from kissing him. But you couldn’t help but think about how his lips would taste against your lips, how his tongue would dance sinfully against yours, his fingers laced in your hair—god, what was wrong with you? It was probably all the drinks you had, making you unnecessarily sad and even more unnecessarily horny for your hot demon errand boy. You needed to get it the fuck together.

You pushed away your fantasies for the night, as hard as that was. For the next hour or so, you lamented to him about your rough day, even going into a few things that had happened in the past week. He listened thoughtfully, carefully, though in the back of your mind you knew he was only being so attentive because he was ‘contractually obligated.’

You poured your heart to him, feeling incredibly vulnerable under his concentrated gaze. Though this time it wasn’t entirely predatory, but more like interested. Caring, even. You doubted that even was possible. Even so, as you talked, you felt more and more connected with him.

For a moment, he seemed almost human.

Summoning San became an almost nightly routine for you.

You’d summon him, have him help you with mundane activities like homework, cleaning, cooking—whatever task you could think of to keep him around as long as possible. Of course, he couldn’t turn you down unless you didn’t have a reasonable counter to give him.

Each time you summoned him, it seemed as though he cared less and less about the contract and seemed to enjoy your company a bit more. Not that he’d ever unveil that information to you—he always gave into your mundane proposals begrudgingly, but there was a glint in his eye that said he wanted to be there, even if he wouldn’t admit it yet.

“You know I have other clients, right?” he’d joke. “You can’t summon me every night.”

“Oh, so you’re cheating on me?” you’d tease back.

“Don’t worry,” he’d say with a charming wink. “You’re my favorite human.”

“Not that there’s any competition, but you’re my favorite demon.”

You loved the playful banter between you. He felt somehow easier to talk to than any human you’d met, perhaps because there was little to no social pressure involved. Something about your dynamic felt almost boyfriend-ish, in a way—if you could consider being a glorified errand boy a boyfriend-ish thing to do. He rarely divulged any personal information about himself, but you got to know him through the littlest things. His small habits, the things that made him laugh.

You couldn’t believe it, but you were falling for him slowly, like some sort of pathetic schoolgirl crush. The highlight of your day was the minute you could conjure him, even just to see his face smiling in front of you, that familiar devilish grin as he appeared in your room.

There was still something that felt entirely off-limits, though. Sure, you’d let him drink from your neck a few more times—each time he’d get better at controlling himself—but you weren’t sure how to cross the line from there. He’d been so forward on the very first night you met him. He even asked to take your virginity, which of course you outright denied. But even if it was a joke, if he was just messing with you, the idea swirled in your mind every now and again. You even dreamt of him a few times. But he hadn’t mentioned it since.

It was late in the night. You had summoned San to do some menial house chores, as you usually did, in exchange for dinner and a back massage—something you weren’t even aware demons needed. San had explained it to you, but you still couldn’t quite wrap your head around the inhuman-soul in a human-vessel dynamic, so you chose not to question it too hard.

Today, something felt different about him. He was flirtier, sexier, more outlandishly charming than usual, if that was even possible. You watched him scrubbing your countertops like your hot demon maid—you even went so far as to dress him in an apron you spent a little too long picking out at the store—marveling at the small of his waist cinched in with the fabric tie.

“Enjoying the view?” he teased with a playful glance over his shoulder, wiggling his hips.

“Ugh, I was until you did that,” you joked back. “C’mon, that countertop isn’t gonna scrub itself.”

He gave his hips another shake, chuckling as you trained your gaze on his ass. “You’re so cute when you’re drooling over me. Get it together, darling. You’ve still got a massage to give.”

He was just joking around with you, you knew that. He was probably just as charming with his other summoners, or his ‘clients’ as he called them. But he was right, you couldn’t help but drool over him. It was moments like this where you fell for him, hard, pretty much flat on your face. You wished so desperately for him to be human right now, just for a second. You wanted him to give you a sweet, squeezing hug, kissing your forehead. You wanted to feel his arms around your waist, pulling you in close. You wanted to ask him on a date. You wanted him.

But you’d have to settle for watching him clean your house. God, what was wrong with you? You couldn’t have caught feelings for a human boy?

And now you had to give him a massage, which wasn’t going to make it any better.

He laid himself face down on your bed, face resting gingerly against your pillow. You straddled him, setting yourself down gently on the back of his thighs. You had admittedly never given a massage before, but you weren’t going to let that stop you. Your hands explored below the hem of his shirt, lifting up slowly to reveal the soft, perfectly tanned skin underneath. You were able to get a better view of his proportions, the way his waist curved in so delicately and then up into his beautifully broad shoulders. He was fit, but not too muscular, slender, but not too thin. He was absolutely immaculate.

You rubbed circles in his back, drawing out the sweetest moans from his lips as you massaged down on his muscles. “I may be cursed with this human body—ah—but this does feel kind of amazing,” he admitted in a voice slightly muffled by the pillows.

You worked at his muscles until he seemed satisfied, even rolling your palms around his neck and shoulders to hear his sweet groans of pleasure. It was unbelievably enticing, and you felt dampness pooling between your legs.

When you were done he rolled on to his stomach. You watched in awe at the rise and fall of his chest, the tip of his chin accentuating his sharp jawline. You didn’t want him to leave.

He stood himself up from the bed, shaking his muscles out a bit before smiling cheekily, flashing his fangs as he always did. “Looks like our contract today is complete. See you tomorrow, hmm?” he winked.

“San wait—”

“Yes?”

“I want another contract.”

He paused to contemplate, dragging his tongue over his bottom lip in thought. He cocked his pierced eyebrow up, stepping forward to close the distance between you. “What’s that, little lamb? Are you finally gonna let me take that pretty little soul?”

You swallowed, mustering up the courage to make your move. “I want you to kiss me.”

“You—what?” he sputtered, clearly caught off guard by your proposition.

“I’m asking you to kiss me,” you repeated.

You watched his eyes go dark, slightly hooded as he trained his gaze back on you. In contrast from his lighthearted mood earlier in the day, he looked particularly lustful as his eyes found your lips.

“So, if you want to make a contra—”

He was on you before you could finish your sentence. His hands found your hips, squeezing tightly to pull you against him.

His lips lingered over yours, the warmth of his breath washing over you like soft waves. He didn’t stay there for long, pulling your lips against his fully. He tasted like heaven, hell, and everything in between. You craved for him as thirstily, barely coming up for air as your lips rocked slowly against each other’s. One of his hands was laced in your hair, the other steadying against your neck. For a moment, you forgot he was even a demon at all, except for the inhumanly exquisite taste of his lips.

He pulled away for only enough time to choke out his next words in a low growl. “I guess I’ll make an exception on the contract this once. Once.”

He bit playfully at your bottom lip, lightly twirling his tongue around the surface. Then harder. You yelped as his fang sunk in, tearing off a small piece of flesh. He smirked against your lips, drawing his tongue across the blood with sensual breaths. His hands came to your shoulders to swivel your hips around, backing you into the wall next to your door frame, caging you in with his body.

“I always forget how good you taste,” he purred in your ear. He grasped at your body hungrily through your clothes, like he was ready to rip through them at any moment.

You could have stayed there forever, his body trapping you against the wall, lips on you like he would never have another chance to taste you. But he pushed away suddenly, his eyes flashing a demonic black for a moment angrily.

“Fuck. I have to go. I’m getting another call,” he hissed through his teeth.

“San wait I—”

But he was gone.

Your knees gave out under you weakly, sliding your back down the wall, staring at the empty space he had occupied. He wasn’t yours. He wasn’t your boyfriend, or even your friend. He was a demon. You couldn’t afford to forget that for even a moment.

It was just too good to be true.

You didn’t discuss the kiss further, not for a while at least. He’d made a few passing comments on his nightly house calls, but you hadn’t dared bring it up again in conversation. However, on one night in particular, you had summoned him without purpose. You were admittedly lonely, and frankly, a bit horny. You wanted company, and he was always on call.

“Yes, my liege?” he teased with a bow as he appeared in your room. And there was that intoxicating smile again.

“Will you just talk to me tonight?”

“Okay, darling. And what do I get, hmm?”

“No contract.”

“You know that isn’t how this wo—”

“I want to know you’re not just here because you have to be tonight. But if you really don’t want to be here, you can leave. You know the way out.”

He sighed heavily. “Y/N, you know this isn’t—”

“Please.”

You saw the look on his face soften, and he gave in with a nod that said ‘fine, but just this once’.

You talked across from each other on the bed for a while, talking about anything that came to your mind, though not much about him. He mostly listened, cut in a few times with a quip or a cheeky comment, but kept his eyes trained on you with complete concentration otherwise. You actually hadn’t expected him to be such a good listener. Better than most humans you knew, anyway. You loved the moments where you caught a glimmer of humanity, although you knew that wasn’t possible. The only human thing about him was his body, after all.

As you made conversation, your mind wandered elsewhere. You couldn’t help but admire the curve of his lips, the sharp cut of his jaw, his crimson eyes shining like rubies. You felt completely intoxicated by him, as you always did. He was entirely tempting and yet felt completely off limits, even though you had entertained many times the thought of him fucking you. The thought flickered through your head even now. You imagined every rise of the muscles in his chest, sweat glistening on his skin as he towered over you. You imagined what his dick might look like, sliding in and out of you. You imagined his lips all over your body, every curve of your skin, every inch of you from head to toe.

The tension in the room grew thick as you watched his mouth, concentrated on every movement, every flick of his tongue, the faint glimmer of his metal lip ring, the fangs glistening under his slightly parted lips. There wasn’t an ounce of subtlety in the way you watched him, and he slowly stopped moving entirely, focusing all his energy on to you again. You craved the intense heat of his gaze now—you were no longer uncomfortable with his severity, only further entranced by how it pulled you in. You were entirely in his trap. You leaned forward, initiating the kiss, and he leaned in to meet you. His tongue slid against yours, and you reciprocated fervently. He tasted incredible, and the way he moaned against your lips indicated he felt the same about you. “You’re intoxicating,” he purred, his heavy breaths sounding like music in your ears. You wanted him, entirely. Since the moment he’d first appeared you’d wanted him.

Your hands explored his chest, his arms, the small of his waist—everywhere you could touch, you did. His chest was rock-solid, a beautiful display of muscle sculpted beautifully on his core. You felt every desire you’d ever had compounding at once within you, it rocked through you like a wave: the need to be touched, held, fucked right this moment. Although you’d never done it before, at least with another person, you had plenty of experience with the vibrator in your room, and recently, with picturing San as you pleasured yourself. Either way, if you had done it with another human or not, it probably wouldn’t have even mattered—he wasn’t human at all, in fact. What he was was danger wrapped up in an alluringly human-like package.

“I want you to fuck me, San,” you said confidently, letting the words the drip off your tongue, slowly and deliberately.

Your bodies were nearly flush, and you could feel the heat of his breath against your skin. His finger traced along your jaw, a low grumble rolling up through his throat, coming up through his teeth in a hiss. “You can’t tempt me with that kind of offer,” he growled, and the way his fingers trembled as they met your skin indicated his ultimate self-control. “I don’t think you understand how I can get...”

“I saw it, San, before. Remember? I’m not scared of you,” you countered. But that last part was kind of a lie.

“I can’t,” He took a final step closer, closing any remaining gap between you. “Fuck… you don’t understand how… delicious you look to me right now,” he hissed through his teeth, his voice getting rougher and deeper as he held himself together. “I can’t help myself. It’s like some sort of animal instinct.”

“San, please. I can handle it. You even admitted you wanted my virginity the day we met.”

“I was joking back then… sort of. I might be soulless, but I’m not heartless. I couldn’t hurt you.” He gritted his teeth, restraining his heavy, lusted breaths.

“So you don’t want to?”

“Fuck, I do… I do more than anything. Every time I look at you I picture myself destroying you—”

“Then do it.”

“Gah, you—fuck.” He planted a few restrained kisses down the sensitive skin of your neck. He dragged his fangs along the taut flesh, threatening to sink them in. “I can try to hold myself back. No promises.”

“Please, San,” you whined. Your hands fisted the silky fabric of his shirt, drawing his chest as close to yours as possible.

“Mmf,” he grunted against your neck, digging his nails into your waist hungrily. “Fuck, you taste like a drug.” He pulled back, his eyes darker now. His usually crimson irises looked nearly black in his state of temptation, so much so that you could barely make out the whites of his eyes. He looked more like a demon than ever before, the wicked aura almost possessing him. He shook his head, as if trying to purify himself. “I can’t—I’m gonna hurt you. Don’t do this to me, I’m not going to be able to—”

You pulled down the collar of your shirt, revealing your shoulders and a hint of your chest. His eyes went hungry, trained on the soft curve of your collarbone lustfully, wickedly. “I’m giving my body to you, please... Take it.”

His voice was a low growl, and he seemed to be restraining himself with everything he had left. Thick, enraged veins bulged from his forearms as he grasped at your waist. “I’m telling you, I’m going to lose control… you’re not gonna recognize me.”

“I know. San, please. I’m asking you to take my virginity.”

He finally snapped under your words, his eyes almost fully consumed with black now. His lips attached to your collarbone, sucking gently at the soft skin around it. His desperate clawing nearly tore the fabric of your shirt from your skin as his kisses feasted on you hungrily. You tipped your head back, his lips and tongue eliciting soft moans from you as they danced along the top half of your chest.

His voice was so deep now it nearly rumbled, barely sounding like the San you knew. “You’re delicious—fuck—even better than I remember.”

His hands pushed you back against the pillows with more strength than he probably meant to use, nearly knocking the wind out of you with his force. He sunk his teeth into your shoulder, and you yelped in surprise at the sting of his teeth in your flesh. You felt the distinctly wet and all-too-familiar sensation of blood as the canines pierced your skin. He licked it clean, his whole body shaking with desire as your blood washed over his tongue. He sang the most beautiful moans you’d ever heard into your skin, lapping up every last drop clean from where he’d punctured you.

You had grown addicted to the sensation of his teeth on your skin and his tongue licking up the blood, like some sort of weird demon-vampire fetish you had never considered before. You laced your fingers in his hair as he worked his way down your chest, tearing away the fabric of your shirt apart with his hands like it was a wet piece of paper, and he didn’t stop until the mess of torn fabric that used to be your shirt slipped off of you easily. His lips kissed and marked your breasts as he worked his way down, then ripped off your pants with the same distinct sound of fabric being torn through like it was nothing.

His dark eyes gleamed hungrily as he met your gaze. He used his tongue sinfully between your thighs, teasing you mercilessly as he kissed and licked around the seam of your panties. You were soaking wet now, the fabric of your underwear entirely drenched from the anticipation. Not just from today, but from the past few weeks of fantasizing about him completely wrecking you. His fangs gripped into the wet fabric, nearly taking your skin with it as he pulled your panties out from between your legs—the only piece of clothing he hadn’t entirely torn off.

“What a cute little human pet,” he purred seductively in your ear, dragging his fingernails across the cut of your jaw. You winced as he drew his hand over your freshly bitten wound. “It’s too bad your blood won’t be so sweet after I’m done with you, hmm, darling? Maybe just one more time, hmm?”

You felt his teeth sink down into your shoulder, and he pulled you entirely flush against him as he bit down with more ferocity than before. You cried out against him as he slipped his tongue delicately over the wound. His hungry grip around your waist grew tighter with every lick.

“San—ah—” you cried out, a mix of pain and pleasure as he soothed your wound with his tongue, hands coming up to squeeze your breasts.

“I could drain you right here,” he growled harshly, but there was still lust coating his words. You felt his dick harden in his pants as he pulled his teeth from your skin, leaving the aching sting of the fresh wound on your collarbone. You felt a bit dizzy now, not only with lust but also from losing quite a bit of blood to his tongue. He stood up suddenly, stripping like clothes meant nothing to him, ripping them off and tossing them to the floor. His breathing was less like breaths and more like throaty grunts. You were able to marvel at his naked body for only a second before he climbed on top of you, forcing you to lie completely flat under him, his broad shoulders closing you in completely.

“Such a cute human,” he praised, marveling at your smallness, your complete powerlessness beneath him. You couldn’t move if you wanted to, his body caged you in from all sides—it’s a good thing you didn’t want to. His eyes were intense, predatory, but not entirely possessed like he had been before just at the mere taste of your blood. You were surprised by his restraint he seemed to be holding on to. “Tiny, powerless… I want to hear you beg for me,” he purred into your ear. As he awaited your response, he lapped gently at the wounds he’d made earlier, collecting the remaining blood on his tongue with a needy moan.

“Please, San—” you started apprehensively, unsure of exactly what he wanted from you. Your voice cracked slightly as you spoke, and heat rose in your cheeks.

He clicked his tongue twice. “Tsk, tsk. I forgot, she’s too pure for this.”

“Fuck me. Please—”

“That’s better darling.”

“I want your cock, please, San.”

“I don’t want to hurt you baby, but you’re too fucking tempting. So cute and helpless beneath me.” He drew one of his hands lightly across your chest, dragging his fingers along every curve. “Begging. Embarrassed. It’s adorable.”

His hand drew over your stomach. Hips. Thighs. Then, finally, between your legs, delivering a small, fleeting taste of the pleasure you’d been searching for all night. You bucked your hips up involuntarily under his touch, and he drew his hand back teasingly. His eyes, hooded with desire, were fixed on your face, reveling in every reaction, every small noise that crept up through your throat. Darkness crept through them, nearly entirely black now. He looked like a real demon.

“What a naughty girl. Practically dripping for me. I thought you were pure, hmm? What happened?” he sang condescendingly, a smirk twitching up on his lips. “Be a sweet little pet for me now.”

He pushed his hips flush with yours, his cock aligning up against you. A low growl ripped through his throat, digging his fingernails into the sheets with a terrifying display of force. “This is probably gonna hurt, darling,” he purred. “Look me in the eyes. I want to see your cute little face as I ruin you.” He tipped your chin up to meet his eyes just as he rutted his hips in for the first time.

The tip slipped in easily, but you couldn’t help but wince at the sensation. You’d tried toys before, but nothing could compare to the size—or feeling—of the real thing. “Ah—ah San, it—it kind of hurts,” you whined, your face twisting a bit as he pumped a few times, slowly and shallowly. He watched your face with blackened eyes.

“You have no idea—” Thrust. “How hard—” Thrust. “It is to—” Thrust. “Keep myself from destroying you.”

Your broken cries echoed loudly as his mouth came down on your wounds once again, delivering wet, desperate licks at the bloody remnants of the punctures he created. It stung harshly, and a single tear escaped your eyes. He pulled away from your chest, positioning himself completely upright, dick still halfway inside of you. You got a good look at his hard chest, an immaculate display of muscle. An unidentifiable tattoo snaked down his right side. He looked almost statuesque poised above you.

“Such pretty tears. My little lamb,” he praised with a low growl, sinking his fingernails into the flesh of your thighs. “Fuck—tell me I can ruin you—” his fingernails dug deeper.

You nodded, urging him on. You initiated it, you wanted it, even if he scared you a bit with his harsh gaze and his tightening grip threatening to mark up your skin. “Yes. Please.” With a single thrust he bottomed out inside you entirely, eliciting a sharp cry from your lips. You tossed your head back, but you could still feel the heat of his stare following your every moment, taking in every curve and scar of your body. “Good little human,” he praised, stroking your thighs as he thrust in again. Every movement he made overwhelmed your senses entirely—a lethal mix of the sting of your wounds, the sensitivity of his hands exploring your thighs, the feeling of his dick stretching out inside you, and finally, how much you craved him.

His hand came up to your throat, latching on to it with a steady viced grip. His eyes went hooded, hungry as he squeezed the air from your lungs. Harder. Tighter. His fingers viced around your neck with dizzying force. You squirmed beneath him, clawing at his hand desperately. TV static buzzed in your brain, and the world went blurry. You just barely caught a glimpse of his black eyes fading back to red before your vision slipped away into darkness.

Your eyes shuttered open to the familiar image of your ceiling. You recognized you were in your own bed, fully clothed, tucked under the covers neatly. Before you could survey your surroundings, San’s face was above you, eyebrows slightly furrowed, tilting his head as he looked down at you. You’d never seen his eyes so soft.

“Look, she’s awake.” His voice was calmer than usual, warmer. “How do you feel?”

“Like hell,” you croaked, voice hoarse as you choked out your words.

“I don’t say this often...” he started, placing a hand on your head. “But I’m sorry. We shouldn’t have even done that in the first place. I went too far.”

“I—what happened—”

“You blacked out. I, uh, well... I choked you until you passed out. I told you, it’s hard for me to control myself like that.”

“Did you—”

“Of course not,” he interjected, not even letting you finish. He knew what you were implying. “As soon as you stopped moving it snapped me out of it.”

You dropped your gaze, recalling how you saw his black eyes turn to normal right before you lost consciousness. “Right. Uh… thanks.”

“I like my prey fresh, anyways. It’s not fun when I can’t watch them squirm.” And there it was. His devilish smile again. His tongue twitched across his lower lip, playing with his lip ring absentmindedly. He quickly cleared his throat when he saw the unamused expression on your face. “I hope… uh, I hope at least you were having fun before—you know.”

You nodded in response as you tried to sit upright in the bed. Bad idea. Your vision went dizzy, and a rush of pain pounded through your skull. “Ah—ow, fuck.”

“Should I get you some water or something? Whatever it is that humans want when they hurt.”

You rolled your eyes at his pointedly un-human response. “Sure, water sounds fine.”

He retrieved you a glass from the kitchen, setting it on the nightstand. “I hate to do this, but I’ve been here for way too long,” he started hesitantly. You could see the regret in his eyes. “Without a contract too. I could get in trouble for this.”

“It’s fine, you can go,” you muttered. “I could use some sleep right now anyway.”

He nodded quietly, administering a small, strangely awkward pat to your head. “Right. Well, uh… get some sleep.”

You barely blinked before he was gone, but it didn’t matter anyway. You were asleep before you could even take a sip of the water he’d gotten you.

#san smut #choi san smut #ateez smut #ateez fanfic #choi san fic #ateez fic #yunho smut #mingi smut #hongjoong smut #wooyoung smut

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wonderland-in-bloom · 4 years

Text

the boys’ dream dates pt.2

@meiriethedreamer asked: Could you do hc's for each character's dream date?

part two cuz the first post would’ve been a little too long :))

♡

scarabia

kalim al-asim

honestly, this might be the most generic thing ever, but magic carpet rides

but he’ll show you A WHOLE NEW WORLD in an ARABIAN NIGHT ok i’ll stop

but he’ll be so happy to take you around in one and just take you to see different places

or ya know if he’s that bored he’ll just fly around the dorm with the carpet

honestly i’d think he’d purposely steer the carpet a little bit fast or reckless so you’d feel a little bit scared and just cling onto him the whole ride

like you’d close your eyes and just wrap your arms around his torso and squeeze tightly and honestly he’d be happy with that

he’d teach you how to steer it one day, but for now, he’s just content with you hugging him

jamil viper

i feel like late night rant sessions would be his ideal date as weird as it sounds

eating cereal in the early morning woop woop

i feel like he’d just enjoy unwinding from a tiring day of dealing w/ kalim and be able to be so vulnerable around you and acc be a human being who doesn’t need to care abt responsibilities or behavior, etc.

he’d probs break down in front of you at times and i feel like you’d just be there to comfort him and tell him everything will be okay and you’d just hug it out

trash talk about other dorms lol

either its angst hours or just goofy af hours

like y’all can be sobbing a whole ocean or laughing ur asses off ‘till your stomach hurts and there’s no in between

pomefiore

vil schoenheit

SPA DAYS!

he’d just take you out to a super duper fancy af spa and just relax there together

or just have a casual spa day back in the pomefiore dorms

matching face masks and nail polish!

you’d take turns pampering each other honestly

also doing each other’s hair and makeup before going out to dinner together would be something vil really enjoys!

BRAIDING EACH OTHER’S HAIR TOO!!!

vil would love the compliments he gets from the other students but he’d just be so smug and brag to everyone that you did his makeup and how amazing you look too <3

epel felmier

i feel like he’ll take you out hiking and explore nature

you’d def climb trees together and just see the different sights from tall trees

one time you weren’t so careful climbing down a tree cuz you wanted to show off to epel how you could jump down a tree and be cool like him, but it turns out you fell and scraped your knee

i feel like he’ll panic a lot and just try his best to treat your wound

LITTLE BBY KISSES IT and be like “there, that’ll make it heal quicker”

and thus not only your knee was aching, but also your heart ;-;

rook hunt

SO HE LIKES THEATRE HMMM, so he’d take you out to countless plays!

from street acts to high-class super duper fancy plays in those fancy looking theaters

you notice the glint in his eyes every time he watches a play, even if it’s just something small, and you find that adorable

he’d just recite different lines from the play you two watched that day and just reenact scenes with you

if you both go the extra mile, you both just reenact the whole play and make it super lovey dovey and adorable

(he would force the other pomefiore students to come watch and honestly you felt like losing your cool but once you met rook’s eyes and saw his burning passion, you didn’t even feel flustered or scared anymore)

ignihyde

idia shroud

GAME NIGHTS IS DEFINITELY HIS IDEAL, DREAM DATE!

just staying in his room with you and playing different types of games

from rhythm games on both your phones to shooting games on a gaming console

super duper competitive

you actually beat him in shooting game a couple of times and this did not sit well with idia

so he decided to distract you in the middle of the game by pecking your lips

YOU WERE FLUSTERED OF COURSE AND YOU LOST

and thus the war of ‘distracting-each-other-with-small-but-cute-acts-so-they’ll-lose-the-game’ began

diasomnia

malleus draconia

i think he’s just a soft and misunderstood bby who just wants to spend some quality time with you and i think just lounging around in his room while reading books is something he enjoys A LOT

just each of you with a book on the bed and you’re just resting your head against his chest while reading and he’s playing with your hair AAAAAA (a♕-chan is getting flustered cuz malleus is bby aaaa)

or ya know he’d just enjoy hearing your stories or just how your day went

in return he’d also tell you countless stories

i feel like he’d be very open around you since a lot of people don’t approach him, he just wants someone to vent to and be open with (ya know who won’t bully him like lilia)

just floofy af moments with lots of PDA, hugs, kisses aaaaa

lilia vanrouge

honestly he’s just a mystery and it’s a mystery what his dream date with you would be like, but i have no idea why a game of hide and seek is something he’d love to do with you

from hide and seek in the diasomnia dorm to the whole freaking school

you both definitely got caught by riddle hiding in the heartslabyul gardens more than once

you two would go even as far as ‘borrowing’ kalim’s magic carpets and use it to hide and/or run away

you two would just be really childish and it’s adorable :))

silver

so i don’t really know a lot about silver yet but i feel like he’s that type of boy who looks so flat and like a whole kuudere on the outside but he has a soft spot on the inside for animals

like one day you were in the heartslabyul gardens enjoying tea with riddle when all of a sudden ace and deuce come screaming because the hedgehogs ran away

you expected silver to have no reaction but he picked a couple up and he snuggled them close to his chest (and you died at this)

and so you took the initiative to surprise him any chance you get with any small, cute and fluffy animal you can find

of course malleus wouldn’t allow animals in the dorm, so you just borrowed kalim’s many pets to play with for a day or two

so he’d just love to spend time with you and animals, cuz you’re both small and adorable :))

sebek zigvolt

I HAVE NO IDEA WHY I THINK SEBEK’S IDEAL DATE WITH YOU IS JUST THE BOTH OF YOU DOING SPORTS TOGETHER

i feel like you’d both be super duper competitive but then once you get tired, you just basically give up

at first sebek teases you of course but then he’d probably be super duper tsundere-like and actually help you and keep up with your pace

i feel like you two would go on morning runs together a lot

when you’re tired (and still drowsy cuz he insists you run at 6-am) he’ll just carry you on his back and you’d actually fall asleep with your hands around his chest

suddenly you’d wake up in his room and he’ll probably tease you a lot, but he really appreciates the fact that you’re able to put up with him and actually go running together

♡

IM DONE!!! idk if i got the charas’ personalities right or what they like/don’t like right but oh whale i think it’s cute. hope y’all enjoy :))

- a♕

543 notes · View notes

microcos-pod · 3 years

Text

Micro-Cosmos S1E4: Looking Up Transcript

(The crew celebrates an afternoon of well-deserved downtime. Transcript begins below break.)

[sfx: forest ambiance, running footsteps]

FELIX BIIIIIIRD!

That... is nineteen! Almost... at... victory.

[sfx: running footsteps]

MILES That... was not... fair... you tripped me!

FELIX Did... not.

MILES Did too!

FELIX Did not!

MILES Totally did.

FELIX The point is mine, fair and square. You did not set eyes upon that bird, first, thus-

MILES Because you cheated!

FELIX What would you have me do, forfeit the point?

MILES Yes.

FELIX Well I'm not going to do that.

MILES I know. Ya lousy-

[sfx: a bird caws]

MILES BIRD!

FELIX Bird? Ah yes, Bird. Ah, damn. Bird.

MILES Haha, that's a nineteen-nineteen tie, next points the winner.

FELIX Yes. And that point belongs to me.

MILES Yeah, right. Tell you what, then. Let's have a wager. I'll even let you pick the terms.

FELIX Okay. The loser has to carry Athena's birthday present around in their bag for a week.

MILES Athena doesn't want to carry it?

FELIX No one wants to carry it, my friend.

MILES Fine! That's fine! It's not like I worked super hard on it or anything-

FELIX

Shh. I'm sensing... an avian presence.

[sfx: birdsong, running footsteps taking off]

FELIX ALLONS-Y!

[sfx: running footsteps taking off]

MILES WAIT UP!

FELIX Where... are... you...

[sfx: a whack]

[Felix yelps.]

MILES Ha! You-

[sfx: a similar whack]

MILES (CONT'D) AA! MY EYE!

***

[THEME MUSIC FADES IN]

ANNOUNCERFuturistic Trail Mix Productions presents Micro-Cosmos: A Science Fiction Podcast.

[THEME MUSIC FADES OUT]

***

[sfx: forest ambiance, running water, a click]

MILES Oww.

ATHENA This is-

MILES Owww.

ATHENA This is-

MILE OWWW!

ALEX Dude, just hold still. You took quite the fall out there.

ATHENA Athena Romero... recording. Hi. It's Day 28, and we're stationed at approximate position North 57 degrees West 105 degrees, still enroute to our equipment dropoff point and making good time at that. We've had to stop for a little, uh, first aid. Miles and Felix got hit in the face with a tree branch playing their new game. It's called Bird... I hate it.

FELIX Hey, Bird is- ow - Bird is fun!

ALEX Until the forest pokes your eye out along the way, Doc.

FELIX I'd call it an occupational hazard.

ATHENA Thankfully, Headquarters, no one actually lost an eye. By some miracle.

[C41′s BOOT-UP JINGLE PLAYS]

C41 Oh, the odds of them losing an eye aren't as high as you'd hope. I ran the calculations.

MILES Yeah? Let me check your math on that one.

C41 No.

ATHENA Anyways. We thought it'd be a good time to take a walking break. Maybe have some lunch.

[sfx: rummaging]

ALEX Aw, shoot. Looks like we're lacking in antibiotics to get this one on your knee cleaned up, Miles. Cal, any chance we're getting more of that with the shipment?

C41 I do have "additional first aid supplies" on the roster, Commander. So... probably!

ALEX I will take a "probably" for all that it's worth as far as HQ is concerned, kid. And hey, we're almost to the drop-off point. Speaking of which, Starshine, did you get the memo to them that we're ahead of schedule?

ATHENA Oh, uh, oh! Yeah, I did get the relay to them last night, and they came back with an acknowledgement. I think we're just going to have to wait it out though.

ALEX Aces. Cal, how much longer do we have on the walking?

C41 Eh, not much! About another...

[sfx: mechanical whirring]

C41 (CONT'D) Hour!

MILES An hour?

ALEX Hey, I like the sound of that.

FELIX Just think. All of that extra time to play Bird.

ATHENA And, sorry to ask, but, Bird is fun... because?

ALEX Because I think all this walking has made the doctor go a bit batty.

FELIX Perhaps. More like... bird-y. If you will.

[Miles groans.]

MILES You set him up for that one, you know- Ow!

ALEX Just a sanitising wipe. I know, I know, it stings. It's the best we're gonna do to keep it clean for now.

[C41 giggles.]

MILES What are you laughing at?

C41 Aw, nothing. Just like... you guys are so funny, with your 'physical pain' thing.

MILES Hilarious.

C41 Precisely my point.

MILES Well, somebody's chipper today.

C41 I am! It's almost time for me to get to like, actual work. As soon as we can set up camp at the rendezvous to make it our base? Watch me go, baby.

ALEX Wait a minute. You, Cal, are excited about doing work?

C41 Sure I am! I'm excited for work that's not super boring and lame and leaves me wanting to tie up my code in particularly pretty bows. Establishing our infrastructure, our inventory, our food sources, and oh, ooh! Getting started on actual research? They sour.I hope I just don't lose out on sleep.

MILES Yeah, sure. We wouldn't want that.

C41 And, and, Miles, while I'm busy doing important things, you can be off doing... whatever little tasks you're supposed to do.

MILES First of all, excuse you, I'm the engineering specialist too, not your friggin nanny, so like, I'm going to have plenty to do that is very important. And second of all, maybe I'll get to sleep instead of clacking away at fixing your code all night like a monkey at a typewriter, alright?

C41 Sure, sure. Now, are everyone's booboos in order? I'm sure Athena and Alex are getting antsy.

ATHENA Oh guys, no, it's fine. Take your time, we're not in a rush.

MILES No, you know what, my booboos- I mean my uh, my scrapes and stuff, are fantastic. Let's go.

FELIX But... I'm so weak.

MILES Nope. Up ya go.

C41 Something to prove, much?

ALEX You'll be fine Felix. Have some trail mix, and we'll be motoring, alright?

FELIX (chewing) Way ahead of you, sir.

ATHENA Alright. Off we go.

[sfx: a click]

***

[sfx: forest ambiance, a click]

ATHENA Recording from the drop-off point, at long last, this is Officer Athena Romero with Omnitarian Establishment Crew #0137-F. It's only been just over an hour since my last log, but we're here. We're here, and now we just have to camp out, and wait for the rest of our supplies. It'll be some downtime well-earned, I think.

ALEX I'd say so.

[sfx: walking footsteps, stopping, setting a bag down]

ATHENA Oh, hey Alex! Let me guess, the others are-

ALEX Competitive birdwatching? Yeah. I don't even think that they realise that that's what they've invented.

ATHENA Aw, jeez, even Cal? Or did you put them on babysitting duty?

ALEX Cal is... keeping score, apparently. Look, you didn't hear it from me, but sometimes I think that they miss Miles when I'm carrying their projector.

ATHENA Really?

ALEX Nah. They're babysitting.

[Athena laughs.]

ATHENA Well played, Commander.

ALEX Peace and quiet is probably one of the best sounds in the world. Second only to good conversation and blaring rock 'n' roll.

ATHENA Sounds like something I should write down.

[Alex laughs.]

ALEX Dude, no, I'm just rambling. And besides, you're recording this, aren't you?

ATHENA Yeah. I mean, I can turn it off, if you want.

ALEX It's fine with me. Kinda nice actually, to think we'll be able to look back on whatever it is we talked about on this mission when we're all old.

ATHENA I never thought about it like that. Guess I thought I was just doing my job.

ALEX Really?

ATHENA ... Yeah, why?

ALEX I don't know, I hear you every once in a while, when you're recording, and... you know how to talk. You a poet in your spare time, by chance?

[Athena laughs.]

ATHENA No, no, I'm... I don't know, I'm not anything in particular. I was corp security, for a while, and then I got into communications and chronicling protocol through that, and... yeah, that's me, if they didn't already tell you as part of the whole 'Commander' thing.beatI'm certainly not, uh, 'recogalex', though.

ALEX Okay, so you uh... know about that whole thing?

ATHENA 'Whole thing'? You mean when you were like... one of the biggest names in sporting sim gaming for years, plural? Yeah, I figured it out. Me and the others in the forces, we didn't really have anything else to keep up with, so we got very much into keeping up with those tournaments.

ALEX Alright, alright. Just thought I'd be able to keep my nerdiness a secret from my crew for a little while longer.

ATHENA Why bother? I mean, if I was as good as you at that stuff, I...realizing as she says itI never would've stopped.

ALEX I guess I just... the same as you. I thought of it as my job, after a while. It started as a way to help me cope with my anxiety, and then, I guess it turned out that I was good at it, and liked it. I liked it a lot.

But I got married, and then we were gonna have a kid, and-

ATHENA Wait, you're married?

ALEX I was. Me and Gabriel split up, a little while after our son, Orion, was born.

ATHENA Oh... that's too bad.

ALEX Oh, it's fine, really. Gabe's amazing, honestly, we both just... wanted different things out of life. It just wasn't working for us to be married anymore. Now we're friends. We're friends that used to be married, and friends that have a son that we love more than anything in the world. And I can't say I mind it, as long as I know they're both waiting for me back home.

ATHENA Wow. I mean, that sounds... that sounds like all you could hope for.

ALEX Yeah... yeah, I guess it is.

***

[sfx: forest ambiance]

MILES This is stupid. We haven't seen anything fly overhead since we got here.

FELIX Hey, hello, uh, you know the decree of the Game of Bird.

[C41′s BOOT UP JINGLE PLAYS]

C41 "They who question the sanctity of Bird will be disqualified from all future matches of Bird on the basis of disloyalty and heathendom," Miles.

FELIX And don't you forget it.

MILES I know, I know, for the millionth time, I know.

C41 Then don't go getting yourself disqualified.

MILES Hold on, was that... an encouragement?

C41 Of course not. I just like to see a good match-

MILES Okay, cause for a second there, it sorta sounded like a-

[sfx: bird caws]

FELIX BIRD!

[sfx: a bell dinging cue]

C41 That's one point to the distinguished Couvillion gentleman.

MILES Please tell me you're not going to do that every time someone gets a point.

C41 Don't be silly! I'm not going to do it for you!

MILES Why do I even bother? It's not like-

C41 Shh. Eyes on the prize, er, sky. Whatever. Bird now, talk later.

MILES Fine.There's a long silence.

[sfx: forest ambiance for a prolonged period]

[The three of them sigh at varying points.]

[sfx: bird song, a glitch, static]

FELIX Bir- rd?

MILES What are you talking about, there's nothing there!

C41 I mean, I'll still give you the point.

FELIX Sorry, sorry, I... eyes were playing a trick on me there.

[sfx: prolonged forest ambiance]

MILES Sooo... uh, this is getting boring fast.

C41 "They who question the sanctity of Bird-"

MILES Not what I meant! I just meant...

FELIX There does seem to be a disturbing lack of birds.

MILES Well... uh... we could play 'I Spy'.

FELIX No, no. We can't allow the shine to wear off that quickly.

[sfx: retrieving from a bag, clicks]

MILES I feel like binoculars are cheating.

FELIX Eh. Using available resources.

C41 Does it count as cheating if there aren't any birds to see?

MILES Okay, but if there were.

C41 But there aren't.

MILES Okay, but if one shows, he can like-

FELIX And it may not end up being worth the hypothetical, if our luck continues.

MILES Just making conversation.

[sfx: prolonged ambiance]

MILES So... how about this weather?

C41 Really?

MILES What? It's called small talk, ever heard of it?

C41 Sure I have. My sources tell me that it's nothing remarkable. In fact, that seems to be the whole point of it, yes?

MILES Well, I guess... not everything needs to seem 'remarkable' to be... worthwhile.

C41 Sure. Take yourself for example.

MILES You know what-

FELIX You know, I believe that might be a backhanded compliment, Officer Abbott.

C41 How dare you.

FELIX Meant nothing by it, my voltaic friend.

C41 Then you know what's good for you.

[Felix chuckles.]

MILES Yeah, right, tough guy.

C41 I'm sure I don't know what you mean. I can be intimidating, that is, when I'm not asleep in my-

FELIX Nest!

C41 What?

FELIX Nest. Up there, on your left, riiiight- There.The group's eyes land on a large nest in a nearby tree.

MILES You think there's any in there?

FELIX According to what I've learned, the season would be right for quite a few baby birds.

So, I mean, if there were... to be... lots of baby birds... I should probably get a closer look. For... research.

MILES And I could help with your research. I mean... I could help you count.

FELIX Oh, no, I mean that's uh...

It'll be quite the climb to get there, so I wouldn't ask you to-

MILES Pssh. What are friends for? You said earlier you weren't feeling so good, anyways, so like... I can go check on those birds. For science.

FELIX Oh, no, I feel fine, thank you. I think a climb might actually do me some-

MILES Here, you hold Cally. I'm climbing.

FELIX Good.

C41 Wait, what? Also, it's Cal.

MILES I'm gonna go see those birds.

[sfx: footsteps running off]

FELIX HEY! NOT FAIR.

You stay right here, Cal. I've got a tree to climb.

[sfx: footsteps running off]

C41 Well, it's not like I'm going anywhere- Wait, wait! Doctor Couvillion? Officer Abbott?! Felix? Miles? Oh, the Commander is going to be so mad at you!beat, meek...Guys?

[C41′s BOOT-DOWN JINGLE PLAYS]

***

[Alex and Athena laugh.]

ALEX No, no, you're kidding me. Stuck?

ATHENA Completely! Okay, okay, so you have to understand, Patroclus C? It's a freezing cold rock. A moon.

ALEX Nothing homey about it?

ATHENA No! No redeeming qualities! We used to call it the Snowball. So, so, so: there I am, and my sister is just screaming bloody murder with her tongue stuck to the side of the transport.

ALEX And did someone lose a tongue that day?

ATHENA Somehow, no! I had to run back to the house for hot water and leave her there, and I swear her tears were frozen to her cheeks by the time I got back and we managed to get her off the thing! God, it was awful. So the chilly mornings around here? They're nice.

ALEX And you've got the charming anecdotes to prove it, starshine.

Oh, is... is that okay? If I call you that? It's just... it came to me, and I thought it suited you. But if you don't like it-

ATHENA Oh! Oh, no, I... it's fine. I like it. It's sweet.

ALEX Okay. Okay, good.

I just figured, you know, it might... we're gonna be out here for a long time. I want to be friends with you guys, with... you. If that's what you... all want too.

ATHENA I think I'd like that, Alex.

Can I ask you something?

ALEX Sure, if I can ask you something after.

ATHENA Oh?

ALEX Yeah, no, I had like... a question or whatever for you too, but you totally, uh, you go first.

ATHENA Okay. Sure. So, uh... here's the thing. How do you... how do you know how to find the course?

ALEX ... What?

ATHENA How do you know where we're going?

ALEX I thought you were military. They don't teach you the way-

ATHENA Not exactly. How do you know where we need to go?

ALEX Oh. Oh I... okay. I think I get it. Well, I... it started off as trial and error, right? Even when I was just picking up the patterns in my games, or anywhere else, I just would have to take what I saw and turn that inward into something I could say was the truth.

So when I had to start figuring out how pieces of the world and their patterns sorta... fit with other pieces of the world into a bigger conversation, it... I mean it wasn't easy. I don't even wanna say it was comfortable. But it was something I could be confident in, at least.

And, these days, if I don't feel confident in it... I mean, I don't feel confident in it all the time, that's actually what I should've led with. Because, like, how could I be? When things, patterns, don't add up sometimes, it feels like something is lying to me. But at least I've been doing this long enough, that I know that I don't have to trek back and learn the patterns from square one anymore. I can... take it in backwards steps.

I can seem like I'm confident in what needs to happen, and then maybe some part of me can take that little signal boost and make me feel confident. And then, if I feel confident, maybe I'll find the pattern I didn't know in the first place, and that'll feel enough like the truth to me. It'll be enough to get us by. To get me by.

But... that's just me. Sometimes I think everyone has a different way of listening for the truth, you know?

Is... is that what you were asking?

ATHENA Uh-huh. Your turn.

ALEX Okay, now, tell me the truth on this one, Romero: do you actually need to record all of those logs?

ATHENA I'm sorry?

ALEX Dude, do you have to actually do them, or is it just like your diary?

[Athena laughs.]

ATHENA Hey! What's that supposed to mean?

ALEX I mean, no judging-

ATHENA I'm the chronicler, sir, that's my job.

ALEX Alright, Officer, alright. I'll take your word for it. But if you ever wanna try out some new monologue material on something, or someone who isn't a comms, you know where to find me-

ATHENA Yeah, yeah, I'll keep that in-

[sfx: a tree branch breaking]

[Miles and Felix scream]

[sfx: a thud]

ATHENA (CONT'D) Mind. Should we be... running about this?

ALEX Running fast, Romero.

***

[sfx: forest ambiance, a campfire]

FELIX, MILES (in unison) Owwwwwww.

ALEX You two... are going... to be.. the death of me.

FELIX, MILES (in unison) Owwwwwwwwwwwww.

C41 Yeah, yeah 'ow'. Traitors.

ALEXHold still... for just a second.

FELIX Once more, with feeling?

MILES Sure. Why not?

FELIX, MILES (in unison) Owwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwww.

ATHENA Officer Athena Romero recording. Still Day 28. Second first aid stop of the day. We had a tree incident. Or a gravity incident, involving a tree, I guess.

C41 You two are lucky you didn't break a leg. Or that I didn't get carried off by some dinosaur, leaving me there like that, Felix! How could you?

FELIX I... I... I'm sorry, I'm so weak-

ALEX Ah, save it, Couvillion. Not like you need your strength for much else. Speaking of which-

I'd like to propose a toast. To some time off, to finally making it to the rendezvous point where we await our booty, and to... I don't know, to no more falling out of trees, and no more backwards steps.

FELIX Here, here!

ATHENA Cheers!

MILES Cheers.

C41 Bon appetit.

ATHENA So, Cal, when can we expect for the shipment to get here?

C41 Oh, in about... three-

(distorted and ragged)

Four- three, three,- expect, no, three, seven, no, no, no expect, no, three, two, two- ERROR, retrieval denied, ERROR- ERROR, no, two three-

ATHENA Miles? Are they okay?

MILES Cally? Cal? What's wrong? Come on buddy, hello?

FELIX What is this?

MILES I don't know, they've never done this before, I-

[C41′s BOOT UP JINGLE PLAYS]

C41 Bon appetit! Sorry, you were saying? Oh, right, the shipment. Should be around three days.

MILES ... Cal? You... you okay? You weren't messing with your code again, were you?

C41 And if I was?

MILES Cal-

C41 Kidding, kidding. Joke, funny, haha. No, I wasn't, I swear. Probably just a brief malfunction, whatever it is you're talking about. I feel great!

MILES Okay. If... if you say so.

C41 But I am, like, suuuper tired, gee, I think I need some rest, okayeveryonegoodnightbutnotthetraitorswhoabandonedme! Kisses!

[C41′s BOOT DOWN JINGLE PLAYS]

ALEX I think that's the cue for everyone got some rest, huh? Sleep in tomorrow?

FELIX Oh, I'll drink to that.

ALEX Then let's go for lights out, booboo crew.

[sfx: retreating footsteps]

ALEX If you need to do a log, starshine, just make sure to put the fire out when you're finished, alright?

ATHENA Always do, Alex.

ALEX Yeah, you're right. You always do. Goodnight.

ATHENA

Goodnight.

[sfx: retreating footsteps]

ATHENA (CONT'D) You know, I... I don't even know if I have something I need to talk about tonight. I'm exhausted from the journey, and you already know all about that, HQ.

I don't know. Seems like trouble follows us wherever we go, but at least that's something to count on.

But like I said, I think I'm going to try something new tonight. I'm feeling inspired. Tonight, I'm just going to look up at the sky, and I think... I think I'm going to look for a pattern that feels true.

From Ophiuchus-22, this is Officer Romero, looking up, and signing off.

[sfx: bird song, a glitch]

***

ANNOUNCER Micro-Cosmos: A Science Fiction Podcast.

This episode, Looking Up, was written by Lauren Tucker, edited by Luka Miller, and directed by Jesse Smith, Zyrel Thompson and Lauren Tucker. It starred Jesse Smith as the voice of Athena Romero, Jackson Rossman as the voice of Miles Abbott, Luka Miller as the voice of Alex de la Cruz, Kaleb Piper as the voice of Felix Couvillion, and Pippa van Beek-Paterson as the voice of Cal. Original music by Julia Barnes, and sound editing by Tobias Friedman. Be sure to stay tuned to our feed for upcoming episodes from the new backpacking intergalactic adventure from Futuristic Trail Mix Productions. Enjoying the show, and want to give us a boost? You can support us by rating and reviewing us on iTunes, or wherever you get your podcasts, or telling a friend about us.

To follow the show and find transcripts, you can find us on Twitter, Tumblr, and Instagram as @MicroCosPod. Questions, comments, and concerns can be emailed to us via [email protected]. Thank you for listening.

#Microcosmos #micro-cosmos #microcospod #microcos pod #micro-cosmos podcast #science fiction #sci fi #scifi #science fiction podcast #new podcast #podcast #podcasts #podcast reccomendation #audio drama

4 notes · View notes

afibrunner · 3 years

Text

How It All Began

For more, visit my blog at 1080Park.com . . .

My story leading up to the catheter ablation procedure went something like this:

- I was in pretty good physical shape. I was in my mid-30s.

- One night my heartbeat went crazy.

- I freaked out a bit, but calmly went to my personal doctor: Google.

- It took me all of 20 minutes to diagnose myself with Atrial Fibrillation (AF).

- I decided to sleep on it, and the next day my symptoms were gone.

- I was living overseas at the time, so I was a bit untrusting of the foreign medical system.

- Despite knowing the risks associated with AF, I stupidly decided to just live with it rather than treat it.

My AF symptoms came and went over the years, often brought on by a few distinct things: Adrenaline or quickly-induced stress, certain types of alcohol, strangely enough, laying back in a very distinct position on the couch, and (I think but not certain on this one) a large intake of sugar like eating a big desert at a restaurant. My irregular heartbeat did not seem to be triggered by caffeine as far as I could tell.

If I went into AF at any point, it would automatically go away on its own. Usually overnight, but almost always within 48 hours. At first I would have instances of it once a week or so, but over the years it began happening more often. Sometimes every other day. I continued my misguided approach of ignoring it because I didn’t ever really feel very poorly during the times I was in AF . I don’t remember ever feeling tired, fatigued, dizzy or short of breath. Sometimes I wouldn’t know I had it until I put my finger on my wrist to check my heart rate. If it was steady, I was good to go. If it was beating randomly, I knew I was in AF. I could run normally, and although my times weren’t super fast I don’t remember every missing a run or a strength workout because I was in AF.

I returned to live in the United States about three years after first realizing I had AF. During a routine annual physical with my primary care physician, he picked up on my AF and freaked out. I wanted to say, “Yo Doc, simmer down now. I’ve been living with this for a long time, and it’s not even bad right now. No need to panic. But panic he did. He acted like he found something that was found something that was an immediate threat to my life. He mentioned a few things I already knew like AF puts someone at an increased risk of stroke, etc. He ordered an EKG that confirmed what he heard through his stethoscope. I had AF. My secret was now out. He made such a big deal of it that I was too embarrassed to admit I already knew I had it. He had me follow him out of the exam room into his office where he proceeded to make a call to a cardiologist he knew and recommended. Using first names, he called in an obvious favor and got me a same-day visit with this specialist in AF. My PCP bid me farewell in a somewhat dramatic fashion, proud of his accomplishment in finding the AF and saving my life. (He really is a great PCP, and although I was certain he was overreacting he my have indeed ultimately saved me from a stroke by scaring me and highlighting that AF is something that should be dealt with sooner than later.)

The new cardiologist was awesome as well. He looked at the EKG I had taken an hour before and said, “Yep, you’ve got Atrial Fibrillation.” He was awesome. He stepped me through what was happening in my heart, and then helped me feel like a bit less of an invalid. He explained that it isn’t uncommon for long distance runners to develop AF. He had a very technical reason for why you can be in great physical shape with a very strong heart, but that extreme endurance training can sometimes trigger AF. He was very positive and went through the equation cardiologists use to assess the risk of stroke to patients with AF: CHA₂DS₂-VASc. (See my resources page for more information on this risk score and how it is used.) He basically “white boarded” out an equation to assign points to certain conditions. He explained each risk factor and why they were important. I was under 65 years old, male, no history of congestive heart failure, no hypertension, no history of stroke, no vascular disease history and no diabetes. Compared to someone with no diagnosis of AF, I was still at an increased risk for stroke, but I was on the lower end of the spectrum for those diagnosed with AF. He was awesome in that he made me feel good about the fact that I was in great shape and that this definitely made me healthier than most AF patients. But he stopped just short of making me feel like I had nothing to be concerned about. He thought I would be a perfect candidate for a cardiac catheter ablation, and explained the procedure in very basic terms. He referred me to another physician who does the ablation procedures, and said he wanted me to get started on the blood thinner Xarelto, and gave me a sample pack of the drug. In his notes on this visit, the doctor wrote the following: “Patient has asymptomatic atrial fibrillation of unclear duration. His atrial fibrillation is probably related to his high vagal tone as he is a marathon runner and quite athletic. His CHADS VAS score is 0 and aspirin should be sufficient. However, I have explained to him that personally, I prefer Xeralto or Eliquis. Furthermore, I anticipate eventual cardioversion or ablation and therefore, I will start patient on Xeralto 20 mg dally at bedtime.”

I didn’t see that third physician on the same day, but his staff helped me get scheduled for a stress echo to “rule out inducible ischemia or structural heart disease.”

Approximately two weeks later I reported to the third physician for the stress echo using the “Bruce (Accelerated)” protocol. (I’m not sure what that is, but I wrote it down.)�� I got wired up with a bunch of cables attached to my chest and ran on a treadmill for about 13 minutes. I wasn’t in AF at the time of the test, so I felt really strong and I think I did well in the stress test. The doctor commended me for reaching stage 7 of the protocol, but I’m not sure if he was being sincere or just knew I was competitive with running and wanted me to feel better about myself. From the Doctor’s notes: “Conclusions: 1. Excellent exercise tolerance. 2. Normal blood pressure and heart rate response to exercise. 3. Negative exercise echo tor Inducible ischemia or arrhythmia.”

So that was it. I went home feeling like I had killed the test. From this point on I continued to make bad decisions. I continued to blow off my new AF diagnosis because 1. I didn’t want to be on medications or blood thinners, and 2. the thought of having surgery on my heart when three weeks earlier I had run a half marathon averaging under 8 minute miles sounded crazy to me. So I decided to do some research on ablation to figure out if I’d still be able to be a runner after the procedure.

And two weeks later the entire country went on lockdown for COVID-19.

Most elective procedures were cancelled as we all tried to figure out how we were going to get through the pandemic. I was ok with that because I felt healthy. After all, I had been living with AF for a few years already. I saw no need to panic. I just continued running . . .

On many occasions I would begin a run knowing I was in AF, and then the irregular heartbeat would be snapped back to normal at some point during the run. This happened quite often with tempo runs. I wasn’t overly concerned about it because at first I didn’t recognize a decrease in performance. Later it became a bit more noticeable, and my Garmin Forerunner 945 had a problem with my AF.

There is a feature in the Forerunner to help you watch for abnormal heart rates. You can have the watch alert you if it detects an abnormally high or low heart rate. I left this feature on. Every so often, when I was in AF after a run it would trigger the alarm. Not during the run, mind you. For some reason it only triggered the alarm after I was cooling down. Maybe it was because the watch knew I was no longer running and was worried that my heart rate was still high when I should be recovering. Keep in mind my resting heart rate was around 42 bpm at that time.

I remember being angry following a run when I was in AF because my Garmin 945 got so confused. My VO₂ Max was 54 according to my Garmin, but after a run wherein my watch got super confused, it dropped my VO₂ Max down two points to a 52. I was mad! I had a particularly bad bought of AF and ran through it. Normally during a tempo run my heart rate would take a while to increase, and then would top out at around 150 when I was running at a perceived exertion rate of about 7 on a scale of 1 to 10.

During this run my heart rate was through the roof because of the AF. I might be making this up, but I’m pretty sure my Garmin watch sent me an alert during the run saying, “Did you give your watch to someone who isn’t in very good running condition by any chance?” (I hit the back key on my watch to blow off the notification.)

Later while still in AF during that same run:

Garmin: “Are you in imminent danger or running for your life?” Me: No. Shut up Garmin, it’s just my AF making you think my HR is way high.

5 minutes later. Garmin: “Need me to call 911 for you?” No, damnit, now leave me alone so I can complete this tempo run. It’s just AF and I’ll have a much lower heart rate the day after tomorrow when I try this again.

As I mentioned, my Garmin punished me after that run by dropping my VO₂ Max by two points. I was mad, and that was the point where I decided to have the ablation procedure. All because my watch downgraded what it assessed as my VO₂ Max following one time I ran during AF. Crazy right?

Next up: Choosing my surgeon. . .

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fluffymcu · 4 years

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The fight (brother!bucky x sister!reader x Steve)

Summary: reader is Bucky’s little sister. Bucky, Steve and reader find themselves in a petty argument, and reader ends up saying something she regrets. @dropyoursocksandgrabyourcrocss

“All I’m saying is, that your super serum was a remake of mine. It’s slightly less stronger than mine. But... what I was saying was that with your arm, it balances out. So if you had 2 human arms, I’d be stronger.” You heard Steve say for the second time. You sighed and sunk deeper into the couch watching these two bicker like the old me they are.

“No! We’d still be around the same, if not, I’d be stronger. Look at me, Steve. I am a thicc man!” You giggled at your brother’s choice of words. You listened to them fight for a bit longer before you got extremely bored.

“Well, what do you think, y/n?” Your eyes widened as you heard your name being called and you looked up at your brother and Steve.

“Huh?” You whispered.

“Who do think would be stronger. If we both had complete flesh bodies, with our serums, who do you thing would be stronger?” You watched as all eyes were on you. You just wanted the conversation to end so you could go and do something fun.

If I say Steve, Bucky will definitely get me back for it and make me change my mind. But if I say Steve, there’s less chance that he’d get me back, but maybe the next time Bucky’s out to get me, he’ll recall this time and refuse to help me. Sooner or later I’ll be getting it.

“Umm... me.” You concluded, nodding once. You saw them both give you weird looks so you nodded again.

“How?” Bucky asked you. You shrugged your shoulders and repositioned yourself on the couch.

“If we got in a wrestling match, I’d win. Because I always win. Especially with Steve.” Steve scoffedand crossed his arms.

“that’s only because we let you win, y/n.” Steve mumbled.

“Nuh-Uh.” You shook your head with a smile. “I’d be stronger. Because without your serums, I’d be the strongest out of the two of you.” You stuck your head up proudly and nodded. Bucky’s jaw tensed at you and you felt the slightest drop in your stomach but tried to remain in character.

“Really? Well, then I guess you wouldn’t mind if we tested it out on you, huh?” Bucky smirked as he stepped closer to you, Steve trailing close behind, copying his movements.

You curled up and put your legs up in the air, ready to kick your brother if he tried anything. “No. Get away. I mean it. Bucky! I’ll kick you!” Bucky just chuckled, ignoring your threats.

“You asked for this!” He shrugged.

“How did I ask for this???” You yelled. Steve chuckled and came closer.

“You know how competitive we are. You know better than to challenge us.” Bucky laughed before pouncing on you. You, however, were very fast and you were able to roll away from your brother and dodge Steve before running away.

“Hey!” Steve called. “Don’t make us come get you!” Steve quickly helped Bucky off the couch and ran after you.

You hid in the place where you least expected to be found: Bucky’s closet. You tried to steady your breaths. You knew they both could probably hear your heartbeat a mile away. You closed your eyes and calmed yourself down. You heard loud footsteps in the hallway since you left the door the Bucky’s room open to avoid suspicion.

“I’ll check in her room and you check in yours and mine.” You heard a faint voice say. You recognized it a bit to be Bucky. You heard footsteps in Bucky’s room first, so you put your hand over your mouth to stop any noise. You heard him shuffle around looking for you. You were in the closet, sitting down, covered by many clothes. You felt safe. Then you heard the closet door open but you didn’t hear anything else for a while.

Moments of silence passed before you feel a harsh grasp on your leg and you scream. “Gotcha! You’re in for it now, y/n.” Steve laughed. He pulled you out easily and threw you over his shoulder.

“No no no no! Please Steve, please. Let me go, don’t hurt me.” Steve brought you down to face him.

“Hurt you?” He ruffled your hair. “We’re not gonna hurt you, y/n.” He laughed. You crossed your arms and pouted.

“But you and Bucky are gonna kill me.” You groaned. You prayed that he would take pity on you. With Bucky, there was no chance. He doesn’t do mercy. But with Steve, there was a chance. However, those chances quickly evaded to zero when Steve teasingly leaned closer to you with a evil smirk.

“Well then I guess you should’ve chose my side, huh?” Your eyes widened and you squirmed as Steve picked you up again and threw you over his shoulder. “HEY BUCK, I GOT HER!” Steve shouted as he made his way to the couch. A second later, Bucky came and rubbed his hands together.

“Well, you’re definitely in trouble now. Challenging us, and then making us chase you around and look for you?” Bucky chuckled once Steve set you down on the couch. You pulled your legs up again and tried to kick Bucky with full force but he only laughed and pulled your legs back down and straddled you while Steve sat above your head and grabbed your arms.

“Plehehease guys, I’m sorry! You both are the strongest! I was just playing!” You begged.

“Oh, it’s too late for that now.” The both said, finally attacking your worst spots. You were immediately thrown into hysterics and bucked against them as much as you could. Bucky was tasering your thighs and hips, and Steve was lightly scratching at your armpits. It was already too much when Bucky tickled you. Now, being tickled by 2 super soldiers was going to be the cause of your death.

“PLEHEHEHEASE! IM BEHEHEGGING YOUHUHUHU!” You screamed in laughter and tried to pull your arms down to your sides with no avail.

“Mm. Kinda makes you regret challenging us, huh?” Steve teased as he was now scratching harshly at your ribs, making you try to melt into the couch to escape his touch.

“You know, I’m getting kinda hungry Steve,-” he started. You already knew where this is going. He’s done this a hundred times.

“BUHUHUCKY DOHOHONT YOU DAHAHARE!” You squealed.

“-and this little belly is looking quite delicious. It’s good enough to eat!” He continued, ignoring your protests and blowing a big raspberry right above your belly button. You arched your back and let out a giggly scream and squirmed like your life depended on it. “I don’t know why you’re squirming so much, you’re not gettin’ anywhere.” He teased before blowing another raspberry on your right side. You kicked your legs out and cackled.

Steve was fluttering his fingers around your neck and ears, making you scrunch up. “PLEHEHEASE HEHEHELP ME STEHEHEHEVE!” You begged, again hoping he would have mercy on you.

“Eh, I’ll think about it. Nah.” He said, going back to your armpits and blowing a raspberry on your neck. You then dissolved into the couch and layed there, accepting your doom.

“Think you’ve had enough? Or are you ready for another round?” Bucky asked, poking your thighs.

“NOHOHOHO! PLEASE, I GIVE UP! YOU WIN!” You shook your head violently, making Steve and Bucky laugh and let you go.

“I hope you leaned your lesson, y/n.” Steve said, getting off the couch and going to the kitchen to get a drink. You nodded, still panting from the recent attack.

Bucky smiled fondly at you before hovering over you to give you a kiss on the forehead. You were still a bit mad at him so as he was leaning in you blocked him by smacking his face and trying to push him away. “No. Get away.” You groaned. Bucky laughed and tried various times to get closer until he took your hand and kissed your forehead. You whined and hid your blush into the couch.

“I’ll be in the gym if you need me.” Bucky said as he walked away, leaving you to recover.

I am never. Doing that. Again.

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ellidoesstuff · 4 years

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“So What’s Band Like” pt. 2

aka random stuff people in my marching band have done but make it reminiscing on my freshman marching season edition and more focused on general events then what specific people have done

okay so like just to cover bases that one good percussionist from part one is the only percussionist that continued on into high school band

which is a fucking upgrade if you ask me

also i’m the only flute of my grade so i was flute baby™ last year

and then oboe baby when concert season came around

or as i like to call it

boboe™

oh and don’t fool yourself into thinking we have an oboe section either

it’s literally just me and my friend

anyway lets get deeper in to it then your boyfriend/S.O will ever be in you

or then you’ll ever be in your girlfriend/S.O

I ain’t gonna assume your situation

first band competition of the year we got stuck in a very hot band bus in a thunderstorm for like probably over an hour

we ended up being one of the only bands that actually stayed and performed which was cool

what was also cool is that we sang the 99 bottles of beer on the wall song and actually made it to 0

i’m also proud to say that one of the people who started that was my crush at the time, and my boyfriend now

how chaotic of him

but then again

he’s a percussionist

also my section leaders piccolo decided to just d i e and she couldn’t play for our entire performance at that competition

moving on

catch us drooling over a 200 plus member band at an away game with an elaborate Aladdin themed show

that same band played megalovania as a stand tune and when I say my band dropped all conversation and bopped to that shit I mean it

also the sunset that night looked like the teletubbie sunrise

when i informed my now boyfriend and my section leader of this they both looked at me like “why the fuck did you just ruin that beautiful sunset”

it is what it is

one time we had a flute hangout after school and before a Friday night away football game

except make it like the flute section featuring the alto sax section leader and my now boyfriend (who if you don’t remember is a percussionist)

oh and also briefly featuring one of our drum majors from last year and a trombonist

anyway we ate little caesars pizza at a playground in a neighborhood near the school

we also played on said playground

in the process putting my kermit plushie, who will most likely be a reoccurring character in this series, in the baby swing and pushing him

we then made friendship bracelets but my now boyfriend didn’t know how

so i did what anyone who knows how to make friendship bracelets and who’s crushing on someone who doesn’t know how to make friendship bracelets would do

i taught him how to make friendship bracelets

we also sat on the band bus together to and from that nights away game where I continued to help him make a friendship bracelet and then we looked at memes on the way back

some of them were funny, some of them weren’t

i laughed at all of them

why?

because i was and am…

a fucking simp

we hosted a competition the same day that we marched a two mile parade so basically everyone went home and crashed that night

Me, my friend, and my now boyfriend spent like over fifteen minutes trying to find this one band just so we could hand them a single candygram to give to some kid

that kid better have appreciated that candygram

My two friends and I also received a joint airgram from our moms so we all prompted to split the tiny piece of card stock into three and we each have a piece

It’s almost like a friendship bracelet

but one hundred times easier to loose

moving onto big boy competition territory

aka the Atlantic Coastal Championships

or at least i think that’s what ACC stands for

We were the first people to perform that day so we had to wake up at the ass crack of dawn to get to the competition in time

Like legit imagine a bunch of tired band kids on a school bus at 6am

It was actually kind of nice and very quiet

My now boyfriend and I watched Coraline on my chromebook on the way there

We also watched Coco on the way back but we aren’t there yet

I brought my Kermit plushie, as I should’ve, but he did not escape unscathed

My now boyfriend accidentally dropped him in his spilled chocolate milkshake which had made a fairly accurate rendition of Willy Wonka’s chocolate river on the stands

He was more upset about it then I was honestly and apologized a bunch while frantically trying to scrub the chocolate stain out of Kermit’s green plush flesh with his jeans

My now boyfriend also decided to spin Kermit up in the air like a helicopter and Kermit nearly flew over the back end of the bleachers since we were sat in the top row

Luckily he didn’t fly over but we quickly stopped throwing him around and Kermit promptly sat on the bleachers next to us for the rest of ACCs

Moving forward, I would highlight the game directly after I actually got together with my boyfriend but not a single fucking thing happened

Other then the fact that the concession stand ran out of hot chocolate

But not before my boyfriend, our two friends, and I could get our hands on some

Flash forward, our football team, in an act of what was probably some form of witchcraft or just downright luck, qualified for playoffs and the first playoff game was a FOUR HOUR drive away

They really said “okay everybody lets travel to the other side of the state for a single football game”

And before you say “well it would take a lot longer to get to the other side of my state!”

pack it up west coast/midwest

I live on the east coast our states are t i n y

we had to leave for this game in the middle of the school day right after lunch which meant i had to bring two separate book bags to school that day

one bag for band and one bag for school

regardless we drove on the bus through mountains and trees for four hours before stopping off to have dinner at some rando restaurant

and no offense to old white people but like it must have been senior night or some shit because when I tell you the only people in that restaurant were like 70 to 80 band kids and a bunch of old white people I am not joking

It was terrifying

And I mean like I’m not inherently scared of old white people

But what I am is non-binary growing up in a conservative area of a conservative state

And I was also holding the hand of my wonderful boyfriend who happens to be a person of color

I was scared I was about to be hate crimed

Or he was about to get hate crimed

Luckily I think the fact that we were part of a flock of like 80 other teenagers all wearing red shirts and sweatpants scared them off

Or maybe they didn’t even notice and my social anxiety just said “they’re looking at you, love ;)” when they probably weren’t

We also ran the ice cream machine at that place dry

Anyway this was like November and it was super fucking cold outside so the home schools band invited us inside the school building when we got there since it was still a bit before the game

I got to talk to some of the flutes and they were super chill

We also made this weird ass dance circle where we went back and forth doing steps that I forget but remind me of the cotton eyed joe for some reason

Maybe that’s what we were dancing?

I don’t remember I just know like the entire low brass section plus a select group of the upper woodwinds/percussion were all in on it

I also remember what I think was one of the flutes looking at me and my boyfriend who was hugging me from behind and being very physically affectionate, as he usually is, and mentioning something about wondering what instrument he played

If in some miraculous event you are reading this mystery flute girl, he’s a percussionist

you’re welcome

Nothing really stands out about the game itself other then how fucking cold it was and the fact that our football team won…

by a single point

We then all enjoyed the four hour ride back to the school

Most people spent it sleeping as it was like ten pm

Yeah you do the math we left at like 10pm

JK I’m not gonna make you do math we got back to the school at like 2am

Also notice how I said most people spent it sleeping

I probably would have been one of those people

However my lovely boyfriend, who again I do love, decided that a can of Mountain Dew at 10pm was a good idea

Baby, I love you, but why

10pm is too late for a Mountain Dew

We did end up sleeping for like an hour tho which was nice while it lasted

But then we had the glorious “Everyone we are about thirty minutes away from the school please call your parents to come pick you up” wake up call from our band director

And when I tell you that in that moment it felt like I was in between two different plains of existence

I am not kidding

It is a very interesting vibe

Anyway I apologize for how painfully long that was but I literally could go into so much more detail. This is just grazing the surface of the experience that was my freshman marching season. However, I’m stopping myself here. If for some reason you want to read more of this and aren’t willing to wait for me to make the part three that will be directed toward this years socially distanced band season, you can read the first one of these which has a remarkably funnier collection of events and a lot less cussing. What can I say, I was an eighth grader in middle school band with an instructor who was very lenient on what we did when we weren’t playing. Until next time, this has been Elliot, signing off until i inevitably find something else interesting to share with the internet.

#band #band kids #marching season #marching band #band geek #band class

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twilightbimbo · 4 years

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Solstice pt 1: Twilight AU

This is an expansion of the Twilight universe with my OC characters!

home is where the heart is

and i’m afraid

i’ve lost my way

Samson

“Why do you think you’ll win? I know when you’re bluffing,” I chided, laughing. Esther rolled her eyes with mild amusement. Esther is the most competitive one in our family and she always tries to best me in poker, despite the fact that I have the gift for sniffing out inauthenticity.

“‘Cus you suck at poker,” Esther pulled up the corner of her lips in a slight smirk and laid out her winning hand.

“Har har,” I huffed in frustration. I felt my eyebrows furrow as I realized what was happening. “You assholes!” I exclaimed. Suddenly, the cards of Esther’s winning hand became fuzzy and resembled a glitching computer monitor and then smoothed out into her true, losing hand. I looked up at Esther who was nearly hysterical, tears in her golden eyes from laughing and clutching Chip’s arm.

“Sorry, brother,” Chip smiled softly and brushed a lock that fell out of Esther’s bun and brushed it behind her ear. I booed loudly and pushed the deck of cards off the dining table between Esther and me in mock anger.

“Clean that up, Sam,” Sunny said to me without even looking in my direction as she walked past with a basket of laundry. Sunny liked to blend in more than the rest of us. “Keeps us humble,” is one of her favorite phrases. Sunny is the matriarch of our family, even though she is the youngest of us. Technically.

“Sam, if you couldn’t cheat, you would be terrible at poker,” Stella yelled from her upstairs bedroom. Stella didn’t need to yell, she could even whisper it and we would be able to hear her. But, Sunny forces us to act human at all times, even in our own house. Where no one can see us. Or hear us. Sunny’s word is law.

Nathalia

If I was human, I would be panting from running this hard and far. Actually, if I was human I couldn’t run like this at all. I still let air rush in and out of my lungs naturally, tasting the forest around me. I had been feeling the urge to see the ocean lately. I miss home. But, I can’t go back there for a lot of reasons. Mainly because it’s always sunny down there. So, the Oregon coast is perfect for my needs, it’s overcast here the majority of the time. And it felt familiar here, the beach was always a constant for me until I died.

I have been on the run for three years. That is so dramatic to say, but it’s true. I’ve been through nearly all of California, eastern Oregon, and about every rural area in Washington. I haven’t been around the general public in what seems like forever. If forever means three years and three hundred and sixty-two days. I’ve missed normalcy. I’ve missed being able to call a place my own. I miss belonging to something.

The trees began to clear as the river widened and gray light bled between the branches above as they became more sparse. I slowed down into a more relaxed jog, my damp hair starting to cling from my shoulders all the way to the small of my back. I relaxed my pace completely as I could see the river desperately reaching the ocean, letting my bare feet sink into the mossy and wet forest floor. I walked slowly until the ground turned into sand. I tilted my face up towards the sky and let the gentle rain kiss my face.

The waves crashing is familiar and it eased some of my longing. Longing? God, I’ve become so pretentious. In my human life, I couldn’t stand being alone for longer than hours and now I’ve gone years. I guess loneliness changes you.

While I was roaming in Washington, I heard there were vampires who tried to pretend to be humans and go to school and stuff. I was transformed only a year after I graduated high school and I didn’t get the chance to go to college. I had my eyes on the University of California, Los Angeles. But, here I am. Not alive, but also alive. On a beach. In the middle of fucking nowhere.

“Hey! Aren’t you cold?” A voice called out to me from down the beach. I’ve been practicing for this. I turned my head slowly, trying to be careful of the speed of my movements. I looked down at myself briefly. I was wearing a thin, gray sweater with jeans. And barefoot. It’s probably in the low forties right now and getting colder. So much for attempting to blend in. I looked back at their direction and while I was definitely too far away, I smiled tentatively at them.

“Got thick skin!” I yelled back, shrugging. The person behind the voice was an older man, the wind carried his scent towards me. I could smell the warm blood and as he slowly approached me, I could hear his faint heartbeat. It would be too easy. In half a second I would be right in front of him, pushing his head back to expose his neck. His red cap would fall off and in my frenzy, I would probably tear apart his windbreaker. Blood on the sand. My eyes red.

Nope, nope, nope. I’ve gone three years without tasting human blood. I’m not going to fuck this up now. I turned on my heel and went back to the forest, as soon as I was certain I was covered by the thick swarm of trees I took off sprinting.

Where am I supposed to go now? I need to get better clothes to blend in. I need to find a place to live. “Live”. To be frank, I had it pretty easy. I never had to worry about this kind of stuff. In the distance, I can hear cars sporadically driving on the wet pavement. If there are cars, there are people and if there are people, there are clothing stores and libraries. I changed my direction in order to run parallel to the highway giving myself about a half a mile distance between me and the road.

It wasn’t much longer, maybe twenty miles or so before I saw neon light tinge the fog and the smell of car exhaust got stronger. Smelled disgusting. I thought about how I would be able to wander into some random mom and pop shop to get clothes without sticking out. I’ve been practicing my self control but it’s much easier when I hold my breath. How can I go without talking to the small town locals without seeming like a bitch? I guess the only thing I can do is hope what they say about first impressions isn’t true.

Luckily enough for me, the river, which had dwindled down to a creek, ran close enough to the highway so I could wash my feet and legs so I could look less dirty and homely. Unfortunately, about every person I passed stared at me. Everyone has dressed appropriately for the wintery beach weather. Except for me.

The first clothing shop that looked like it could have clothes for people “my age” and nearly completely empty was the first one I walked into. I bought nearly everything. Well, bought is a loose term. It was about four days after my transformation that I realized I had an ability. A “super talent” he called it. If I want someone to do something I want, they do it. It’s never something intense like falling in love with me or giving me their kidney or anything like that. It’s small stuff like if I want their approval I got it. If I want their coffee, they hand it over. Small stuff like that.

The shopkeeper handed over around six hundred dollars in merchandise with a bright smile on her face. I made a mental note to make an anonymous donation as soon as possible. Sometimes I felt bad about swindling people, sometimes I felt like it was a necessary evil. A girl’s gotta do what she’s gotta do.

It wasn’t that hard finding the library after the shops, and lucky for me, the librarian allowed me to stash my shopping bags behind her desk. The public computer whirred to life slowly, I could practically hear the viruses worming around. I wasn’t quite sure what I was looking for, or even where. I tried local listings, Craigslist, even some dark web shit. It wasn’t until I caved and made a fake Facebook account that I was able to find a single bedroom apartment to rent.

The man who owned the place was rather kind. I hardly had to use my ability to sway him to let me live rent free for the next foreseeable future. His name was Ernie and he had quite the beer belly and a bald spot on the back of his head, reminding me vaguely of a freshly cracked egg. I assume that he felt quite flattered that I was flirting with him. Actually, it could have been the innate human experience of being my prey who is inevitably lured to his death by my inhuman womanly charm. Who could say?

The apartment was painfully small but fully furnished. I couldn’t say if it was fully furnished as a part of the lease, which I did not have, or my newfound landlord was just too caught up in our conversation. I’ve been told I dazzle people. Whatever that means. A large full length mirror hung in the bedroom and I took a full look at myself for the first time in a long time.

My dirty blonde hair was a mess. I think I can see a dread forming in the curly mess. My black eyes peered back at me in disbelief, how could I let myself go like this? Dark circles clung around my eyes covering the splatter of freckles on my face, I looked like I hadn’t slept in weeks. More like years, I chuckled to myself. I need to feed soon. An uncommitted corner of my mind thought aimlessly about what animals are in my vicinity. The other portion of my mind looked back in the mirror. I still was pale as before, still more beautiful than I ever was as a human. It’s weird, feeling this conceited but it was true. My very nature was to lure humans in, even more so with my ability. I can get humans to literally lay before me, neck exposed. But, I promised myself a while ago to never feed on humans again.

This place was definitely not intended to be left fully furnished, a laptop laid on the desk in my new bedroom. I realized I never learned about this town before I decided on it. The ocean picked me. I wiped the laptop and set it up under my preferences. This time, password protected. My google search reminded me I’m currently in Brookings, Oregon. I had made a mental note earlier when I saw the welcome sign out of the corner of my eye on my way into town.

Oh, perfect! I exclaimed internally. There is a local community college that happened to offer marine biology courses. Marine biology was my intended major before this happened to me. Maybe this is a sign. Maybe I’m being an idiot and making stupid choices by surrounding myself with humans. But, honestly, I’m lonely and I don’t think I can take this punishment much longer.

Part 2

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chronicallylatetotheparty · 5 years

Text

Second Love

LoganLight, AO3

Summary:

Adrien isn’t one to fall in love slowly. So, when his heart pulls him in a new direction he goes all in.

Notes: Written for Week 3 of Adrien AUG-reste.

————————————————–

Adrien parried Kagami’s strike and launched a counter attack. Kagami was ready however and dodged easily while landing a hit.

“Sloppy, Adrien,” Kagami commented as they retook their positions.

“Oh, you know,” Adrien replied with a teasing lilt. “It’s hard to focus when your opponent’s so pretty.”

Kagami missed her lunge and Adrien scored a hit. She lifted her mask so he could see her narrowed eyes. That was the first time Adrien called her pretty. Your underhanded tactics won’t be enough to secure victory!

“Is that why I beat you so easily?” Kagami asked.

Adrien lifted his own mask to reveal a smug grin. “You don’t need a handicap for that.”

Kagami felt a blush forming so she resumed her stance. He did likewise and they crossed swords.

Kagami was grateful for these one-on-one practice sessions. Even though they saw each other at many mutual high-class events it wasn’t the same. They were expected to act a certain way while representing their parents. But when they were fencing?

Adrien mirrored her movements perfectly. Her skill forced him to fight with everything he had. Kagami brought out the best in him and Adrien grinned at the challenge. There were no illusions when they were fencing. He could glimpse the parts of Kagami she kept hidden. Adrien was sure she could see him more clearly, too.

Kagami understood what it was like to be held up to impossible expectations. In his opinion, Kagami did it much better than him.

Which is probably why he was on his back at the moment.

“You let yourself become distracted,” Kagami accused while pointing her foil at him.

“Guilty,” Adrien admitted, embarrassed.

He got back on his feet and they started again. Kagami was always impressive with a sword; her movements fluid and sure like the Dragon she was. Especially motivated by his teasing to show him who’s boss.

But Adrien had motivations of his own. Recalling the move D'Argencourt used on him, Adrien twisted his foil around Kagami’s and shot it out of her hands. He could feel her surprise through the mask.

Removing his mask he smiled at her. “How’d I do?”

Kagami took off her own mask. “That was new.”

Adrien’s smile morphed into a grin. “I’m full of surprises. Some find it, disarming.”

Kagami stared at the self-satisfied look on his face. “… I’ll give you that one but you need better material.”

Adrien pouted.

Kagami turned away to hide her blush and the small smile tugging on the corners of her lips. “Anyway, we should get changed.”

They went to remove their sweaty gear. Adrien thinking of ways to make Kagami laugh. Kagami thinking of Adrien’s compliments and if they meant what she hoped they did.

——————————–

“What made you decide to switch targets?”

Adrien missed the intended keys and the piano clanged in protest. He gazed at her with wide, startled eyes then looked down. “I… I realized something recently.”

“And that is?” Kagami prodded gently.

Adrien took a deep breath. “That it’s not enough to choose someone. They have to choose you, too. And she didn’t. It took me a long time to accept that.”

Kagami was silent as she thought over her words. “You are sure this time?”

Adrien gave her a rueful smile. “You’re an incredible person, Kagami. Honest, brave, loyal. And you picked me. That… I’d like to make it work. If you’ll give me another chance?”

Kagami felt her cheeks heat up at his hopeful look. “I would like that very much.”

Adrien’s whole face lit up and this time it was Kagami’s turn to look away. She smiled at how Adrien wore his heart on his sleeve. For his part he admired Kagami’s rare, shy smile.

Adrien reluctantly pulled himself out of the gentle gaze he was giving Kagami. “… Do you want me to play anything?”

Kagami blinked as she came out of her own thoughts. “Pardon?”

Adrien rubbed the back of his head and gestured to his piano. “I do have to practice. Just thought you might want something specific?”

“I’d like to listen to your favorite, actually,” Kagami said. “You haven’t told me what it is.”

Adrien grinned and started playing an upbeat tempo that reminded him of black-and-white American cartoons and barroom brawls. Kagami wasn’t expecting that but what surprised her most was Adrien himself.

Kagami had never seen him so into a song before. She’d only heard him play a handful of times, true, but he didn’t smile then. He seemed to bounce with the melody and Kagami soon found herself tapping her feet to the rhythm.

The song was so unlike everything that was expected of them. It wasn’t the sterile so-called perfection that permeated their families. Kagami understood what this meant to Adrien without him having to say a word.

They smiled at each other as the joyful tune filled Adrien’s empty room.

—————————-

“No, no, no!” Vincent cried. “I need emotion! Like when your maman serves fresh made spaghetti!”

“Mother doesn’t cook,” Kagami replied stiffly.

Adrien smiled placatingly at the exasperated photographer and placed a gentle hand on Kagami’s shoulder. “Let me try.”

He turned Kagami away from the demanding cameras so they wouldn’t see her struggle. “How you holding up?”

“I’ve done photo ops before. Those photographers weren’t nearly so demanding,” Kagami admitted.

They were at a photoshoot to promote the Agreste and Tsurugi families’ joint venture.

Adrien gave her a sympathetic look. “Yeah, Vincent always gets the best photos but he’s not easy to satisfy. I remember how awkward my first time modeling was. It took me a while to relax.”

“You were quite awkward in the photo you showed me,” Kagami pointed out, a question in her voice.

Adrien rubbed the back of his head, blushing slightly at the memory of his first photo-shoot. “Father intervened.”

Kagami gave him a small smile. “It’s endearing.” Kagami took pleasure in watching his blush darken. “… I’m unsure I’ll be able to perform what’s expected of me.”

Adrien dropped his hand from her shoulder to lace his fingers through her’s. “Think of it as a fencing match. How do you prepare for those?”

“I imagine my opponent prostrated before me after I have defeated them,” Kagami stated seriously.

Adrien blinked then his lips curled up in a smirk. “Well, then think of that with Vincent,” he stage whispered.

Kagami’s eyes took on a predatory glint.

Things went more smoothly after that and they made good progress. Adrien was happy to have someone to talk with; it made the usually boring shoot fun. Kagami gained a new respect for Adrien. His schedule was filled with so many of these! It wasn’t like fencing really but thinking of that gave Kagami something to focus on.

As the photographer wrapped up the young couple wondered when they’d have time to go on their first proper date.

—————————-

Adrien and Kagami ran through the crowd hand in hand. They flew as though being pursued. Which would only happen if they’d made a mistake in sneaking away from their respective guardians.

Planning the date without telling either of their parents turned out to be harder than expected. The convention may last all week but their schedules didn’t align for most of it.

Still. Adrien had never cosplayed before and Kagami had never been to a convention. Neither was going to miss the first one dedicated specifically to the Guardians of Paris.

Not for the first time Kagami thought about how unfair it was that he’d chosen her alter ego. Ryuko’s colors looked good on him. For his part Adrien thought the same thing about Kagami choosing to cosplay as Aspik. Especially since Viperion was much more popular.

Needless to say, both were blushing messes. Pretending they weren’t a romantic tension filled moment away from melting into a puddle of goo… Kagami was better at pretending than Adrien.

“Tell me again about this akuma video game?” Kagami asked. Adrien was very excited when he heard Max would show it off since he hadn’t gotten a chance to play it yet.

“Max designed the game himself! It’s got all the villains up to Gamer 2.0 and he’s thinking of adding the new ones eventually.” Adrien led her through the miling crowd of superheroes.

Mostly everyone dressed up as Ladybug and Chat Noir, with a few of the other heroes thrown in. Which was part of the reason Adrien insisted on coming as anyone besides them.

That and he didn’t want to see Kagami as Ladybug. That was just asking for trouble.

They found Max’s stall filled with people playing on a half dozen consoles. The line moved quickly as every pair was only allowed a three fight round. Max himself was engrossed in a fierce battle; Adrien didn’t want to break his concentration.

Kagami observed the unusual battles with interest. If she was going to beat Adrien she’d need every advantage. Finally it was their turn.

“I may not have played the game before but Max says the mechanics are similar to UMS III. And I’m still the second best player in our school,” Adrien boasted playfully, purposefully stoking her competitive side.

“Only second best? My victory is assured then. I may be rusty but my proficiency in gaming will be more than enough to destroy you.” Kagami would not let his smug smirk go unchallenged!

Adrien’s grin widened and he picked M. Pigeon, eager to see if the villain would be as effective as last time.

Odd but then so was her date; Kagami chose Riposte.

Adrien gave her a questioning look. Kagami straightened her posture in determination. “He doesn’t control me,” she said simply.

Adrien nodded, he was always in awe of Kagami’s strength and this small display was no exception.

Adrien and Kagami fought furiously for dominion. Learning the controls on the fly and trying to one up each other.

M. Pigeon’s victory caught Kagami by surprise. “Since when can he do that?”

“M. Pigeon used Meteor Strike! It’s super effective!” Adrien leaned into her space. “Say, what do I get if I win?”

Kagami leaned in. “I suppose you’d get to kiss me.”

Adrien turned bright red.

“And if I win I get to kiss you,” Kagami continued.

Powering through the thought of a kiss he could actually remember Adrien focused. “Isn’t that the same thing?”

Kagami gave him a predatory look. “Not at all.”

Adrien swallowed and met her charged gaze with his own. “Guess I better win then.”

Kagami won the next round.

“Why’d you pick Reflekta?” Kagami asked curiously.

Adrien sighed at the Mime’s victory pose onscreen. “I rock a mean pair of high heels.”

Kagami blinked in surprise, then she smiled. “How bold of you.”

Adrien rubbed the back of his head shyly.

Kagami picked Darkblade for the last round. Adrien thought of choosing Troublemaker like Ladybug had but decided to go with Kung Food.

The last fight was much more balanced as both of them had gotten used to the controls. Kung Food had greater range but Darkblade had better defense. Adrien threw cheese bombs as Kagami dodged and blocked. She managed to get close enough to make Kung Food pull out his sword.

Both were on their last sliver of health as they attacked. Their characters charged and hit each other simultaneously. Both fell as the screen proclaimed their battle a tie.

“… Max!” Adrien exclaimed.

“That was unexpected,” Kagami pulled Adrien out of the way of the next pair of players.

“He would put a mutual K.O. in his game!” Adrien grumbled as they walked to a less crowded corner.

“Are you upset because you think you don’t get to kiss me?” Kagami asked.

Adrien reddened slightly. “Well, we don’t have a winner and… What do you mean by that?”

Kagami turned to face him, her cheeks tinted pink. “In a certain sense we both won.” She let that sink in for a moment.

Adrien’s eyes widened and then he was giving her that soft look again. He stepped closer and Kagami did the same. Heedless of the noise of strangers surrounding them.

The kiss was gentle and tentative. Adrien was as soft as she imagined him to be. Kagami as warm as he knew she could be.

They pulled apart slowly and as they stared into each other’s eyes Kagami said the first thing that came into her head. “You smell like Camembert.”

Adrien’s face burned. "I’m sorry! I can’t help it! There’s this, um-“

Kagami placed a finger on his lips. "I like Camembert.” Adrien got even redder if that was possible and she swore she heard someone stifling their laughter.

“You do?” Adrien’s face was an odd mix of relief and chagrin.

“But I’m not sure I want a boyfriend that smells like cheese all the time.” Kagami teased stepping out of his grasp.

Boyfriend! “Yeah, hate for you to tell our friends your boyfriend stinks and give them the wrong idea.” Adrien reached out and grabbed her hand. That was the first time Kagami had called him her boyfriend!

“As opposed to the right idea?” Kagami decided that a blushing Adrien was well worth the effort. Even if he did get used to most of her teasing by the second go around.

Instead of answering immediately Adrien reached up to remove their masks. They didn’t get in the way of the game so they’d been left on.

“I’m sure they already know what my girlfriend got herself into.” Adrien was gratified to see Kagami’s blush darken to match his.

“Return my mask, Adrien. It completes the look,” Kagami said to distract herself.

Adrien complied. “I like being able to see your face. When I first saw you I thought: Wow, she’s cute!”

Kagami smiled shyly as she looked down at her mask. Adrien was always so liberal with his compliments. She had trouble in that department. “When you returned my saber to me I realized how honorable you are. Not many opponents would insist on a rematch after being declared the winner.”

“… You didn’t have to comfort me that day,” Adrien said. “But you did. You were gentle with me. Kind. And I-”

“You’ve already apologized for that,” Kagami interrupted. “And I will not have my boyfriend under a self-inflicted debt.”

“Well. Why don’t you humor me and let me take you ice skating again?” Adrien asked. “A proper date. Just the two of us this time.” He clasped her hands between his as he looked into her eyes.

“As I recall I took you ice skating,” Kagami corrected. “But I’m not opposed to the idea.”

Adrien laughed lightly. “I’ll take that as a yes!”

The young couple redonned their masks as they went to explore the rest of the convention. Wandering anonymously and aimlessly to whatever caught their eye.

And as they walked among superheroes Adrien realized that he hadn’t reacted to the red and polka dots once.

Kagami squeezed his hand and he returned the gesture. They were both making this up as they went along and neither was sure of where it would lead. But Adrien knew they’d figure it out together.

————————————————–

Notes: Basically I took that soft look Kagami got at the end of Oni-chan and ran with it. Also needs more puns. (Written before Desperada)

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assless-chapstick · 5 years

Note

I need your help because your writing is the dirtiest best fucking thing I’ve ever read Eagle Flies is slept on goddamit Is it possible Eagle Flies is poly or in one of your au’s? I haven’t seen ships for him so I’m open to your interpretation of where he might fall, either in the couch au or somewhere else Pls I beg of you, give me some nsfw eagle flies Either him getting rammed or doing the ramming, I can’t quite pin down if he’s a top a bottom or a switch- I’ll give you my soul for this

Aw feller, you know I’m a good cowpoke at heart…. I can’t deny aid to a feller in need….

I wracked my brain for hot minute on this one…. The thing with Eagle Flies is that he doesn’t have a lot of characterization on the game, does he? And in canon he’s a fair bit younger than the main crew, I’d say… but I think I got something good for you…

So, the couch AU; back when John was a kid, he went to some sort of youth group designed for outreach to at-risk youth, probably some sort of sports program or something. That’s where Dutch worked, that’s how Dutch and John met, after John went into foster care and Arthur started living with Dutch n Hosea ….

Anyway I think John and Eagle Flies are around the same age and they both were part of that youth group… I feel like they didn’t get on super well, both with kind of rowdy personalities, eager to prove themselves and prone to fighting to solve problems.

Oh yeah and then… and then….

They both get into track, into running, sprinting…. Both good at it, and Dutch laughs about “healthy competition” when he watches them run and it’s infuriating but they do do better when they’re competing against one another….

They end up going to the same highschool, running on the same track team, and both get recruited by colleges once they graduate – crazy coincidence, right? Except John gets recruited to go to state and Eagle Flies gets recruited by like, a Good College Out of State (his grades are better than John’s anyway) and John’s like pfft good riddance.

Couple years later and of course, of course, who should John see at the big track meet in sophomore year? Eagle fucking Flies. And it’s only been a couple years but Christ did he have a glowup, as much as John hates to admit it – while John stayed lanky and skinny and kinda scrawny (no matter how much of Arthur’s expensive whey protein powder he steals), Eagle kinda filled out, got a little broader in the shoulders, slimmer in the face so his chin and cheekbones are sharp enough to cut a bitch….

And he’s just so fucking hot and how did John never notice and now he really has to beat Eagle Flies, wipe that smug look off his face and show him that John had a glow up of his own!!

But John doesn’t win. Doesn’t even place and he’s pissed, even though his coach is saying his time was great, walks right by her to the locker room in a big fuckin huff… he needs to smoke a joint and calm down asap, feels so angry he might crawl out of his skin if he don’t relax soon… he doesn’t even notice Eagle trailing after him.

So he’s in the locker room, shirtless, still hot and sticky with sweat and wearing those absurdly tiny runner’s shorts, the ones that make his junk look huge, and he’s smoking his joint and just starting to feel better when Eagle Flies comes in…. His hair is down and he’s sweaty and he looks so good…

And Eagle is all “you ran a good race” and John goes like “yeah, fuck you,” cuz he’s not in the mood for teasing and gloating… so Eagle is like “fine, you’re gonna be like that, let me just tell the coach how much it smells like weed in here” and he turns to go and John stands up, reaches out and grabs Eagle’s wrist…

And it’s like Eagle was expecting it, the way he whirls around and grabs John’s arm and pins him up against the lockers and John is bracing himself to get hit but Eagle just looks at him real thoughtful and then John is sure they’re gonna kiss…

But Eagle just lets him go, looks at him kinda sad and is like “what’d I ever do to you, John? We were just kids. Whatever I did, just let it go, ok?” and John kinda realizes like…. He’s been holding this judge against Eagle Flies for years even though all the competitiveness and inferiority and frustration John had felt as a kid towards Eagle had really been like, him projecting his insecurities outwards. Eagle never did nothin, he was just there and good at the same thing John was good at and taking away the only positive adult attention John’d ever known and he hated Eagle for that, but it weren’t his fault either… Eagle’d just been a kid back then, too…

And so John apologizes, they don’t talk about it much but he apologizes and it’s heartfelt and true and then it’s a little awkward cuz they’re standing there, a little too close together to be normal… and Eagle says, real low, so quiet, like confessional, “Man, I had such a crush on you in high school…” and he’s got his thumb pressed against John’s lips, peels the bottom one down to push into his mouth, run his thumb over John’s stupid tongue piercing and John is so weak for confidence and has an oral fixation a mile wide…. So of course he doesn’t hesitate, immediately goes into Feral Horny more and starts sucking, makes some real wet, desperate moaning noises….

And most people what know John, Arthur and Charles and everyone, they’re used to it, but Eagle Flies has never seen him like this, falls hard for it, all “yah, you like that?” and John just nods and moans….

But things never change, really, so it gets competitive between them like all things do… Eagle shoves down John’s shorts to stroke his dick and John can’t be the one to just let things happen so he grabs Eagle’s ass and pulls them close together so they can grind up against one another… and I think they don’t kiss, just pant desperately into one another’s mouths, eyes locked, watching one another like they’re waiting for the other to break… trying to make the other one cum without cumming himself, each one wanting to outdo the other…

And then Eagle starts to stroke them together, and John looks down and sees how good their cocks look together, how Eagle Flies's is dark n leaking and just a little bigger than his own and then he’s watching himself cum all over Eagle Flies’s long, thin fingers and the head of his cock and it feels so fucking good… and Eagle keeps stroking and the stimulation is starting to hurt and John’s whimpering and squirming where he’s still pinned to the locker, and he hates the smug sounding grunt Eagle makes when he cums so hard it spatters on John’s stomach and his pale thighs…..

Cuz John…. Lost….. again….

And afterwards, after Eagle has wiped his hand off on John’s sweaty chest and made him lick his fingers clean, John sits on the bench and lights up a smoke, feeling satisfied but kinda smad about cumming first, and Eagle Flies is just like “maybe you could beat me if you didn’t smoke so much…” and leaves and John nearly screams cuz fUCK THAT GUY

After that, they hang out whenever Eagle is in town or they’re at the same meet, sometimes getting each other off, sometimes not… When Eagle and Paytah get married a couple years later, John is invited to the wedding… Paytah wears traditional regalia (and identifies as two-spirit) and it’s beautiful……

Thanks for the great and challenging prompt, mister!! I hope it satisfies!!!

#this took me forever because my week was awful and i did nothing but go to school and cry #but hopefully things are better now #this eas so challenging!!!#but i love EF...#and the competitiveness john would have felt for dutchs attention as a kid....#the couch au

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pokesception · 5 years

Text

Pokemon Home is a Team Rocket scheme to steal your pokemon and lease them back to you.

Up front I want to be clear, this is not to hate on Pokemon Sword and Shield in and of themselves. As stand alone pokemon games they look good, great even, and if you're looking forward to them with eager anticipation, that's great too. But for me, the feeling is more dread and dismay, and the reason why is Pokemon Home.

There are lots of ways to love and things to love about the Pokemon games. From solo adventures to trading with friends to competitive battles online, there's something for almost anyone, but from the very beginning one of the core appeals of pokemon has been collecting. It's right there in the theme song: "Gotta catch 'em all." While some pokemon fans just play each game in turn, many lovingly cultivate a menagerie of pocket monsters from game to game catching and naming and training them all.

From that completionist's perspective, a key feature of Pokemon as a franchise, the thing that elevates it above all the other monster collecting games that have followed in its wake, is that you never need to leave that collection behind. For years you've been able to take your pokemon with you, watching your collection grow from game to game and generation to generation. You could feel free to spend hours naming and training and growing attached to each little packet of bits and bytes, confident they'd still be with you years and games down the line.

That continues with generation 8, but there's been a fundamental change. For the first time since generation 3, you can't bring all your pokemon into the new games. Instead they're supposed to live in "Pokemon Home," a cloud based paid subscription service, from which only a curated selection of pokemon will be available in any individual main series game going forward.

Pokemon Home is a trap. Once you transfer your pokemon to Pokemon Home, on a fundamental level they simply aren't yours anymore. That's that’s the Pokemon Company's collection now, and they’ll get to decide which you get to play with, when and how you access them, and most importantly how much you'll have to pay them for the privilege.

If they only want to charge you only a small nominal price for the first year? That's great. But maybe next year they decide they want a few more bucks a month. Or a few dozen. What are you gonna do? They already have your pokemon. If you want access to them, you'll have to pony up. Worse still, if you miss too many payments you’ll be risking a one way trip to the pokeglue factory for all the pokepals you've gathered over the last decade or so.

"Stop being an alarmist," you might be thinking. "Pokemon Home is just an updated version of Pokemon Bank, and Pokemon Bank never had exploitative pricing." And you’d be right. Heck, I myself loved Pokemon Bank and have happily taken advantage of the convenience it offered, considering it well worth the price. But this is where Sword & Shield (and, according to dev interviews, all main line Pokemon games going forward) not supporting all past Pokemon makes all the difference.

In the 3DS era, the new Pokemon games always supported all pokemon up to that point. If the Pokemon Company ever did hike the price of Pokemon Bank to something unreasonable, you could always just transfer your pokemon to the latest games & stop using the bank entirely. With Pokemon home, you can't do that. Once your collection is transferred to Pokemon Home, at least some portion of it will always be stuck in the cloud. You will never be able to take it all back. You'll have to keep paying those fees in perpetuity, however high they become, or say goodbye forever to at least some portion of your pokemon.

And while the price for Pokemon Home isn’t yet confirmed, you can already see the groundwork being laid for a significantly higher fee than Pokemon Bank. After all, it doesn’t just transfer pokemon between games, it also lets you trade pokemon online via GTS and Wonder Trade. With that increased functionality, of course we should expect an increased price. It’s only fair, right? Never you mind that GTS and Wonder Trade used to be just part of the game in previous generations, no additional charges needed. And whatever the fee turns out to be, it will be on top of having to pay for Nintendo's internet service to even access Pokemon Home from your Switch to begin with.

Just because Gamefreak *could* exploit the heck out of this new system doesn’t mean they definitely will, but if there's one thing we all should have learned in recent years, it's that corporations, even the ones that make the things we love, are not our friends. You give them an inch and 9 times out of 10 they will take the proverbial mile. Their shareholders will insist on it. Nowhere is this more true than in the realm of AAA video games, where the industry has stumbled from pre-order bonuses to micro transactions to loot boxes, gorging at each table in turn like a ravenous snorlax.

In the past, the Pokemon franchise always seemed to be above stooping to such indignities. After all, between cartoons and films and merchandise, they never needed to, and turning the games into exploitative cash grabs ran a risk of tainting the brand. Why take that risk over a few petty portable games when the big bucks were in children’s card games anyway? Then Pokemon Go proved that the pokemon fandom was more than willing to put up with a little “nickle and dime”ing if meant more pokemon in our lives. With Pokemon Home I fear we’re about to pay the price for that Giratinian bargain.

Maybe I’m wrong. Maybe Pokemon Home isn't just a cynical corporate ploy to turn Pokemon from a series of fun games into a (shudder) "live service". But even if Pokemon Home wasn’t deliberately designed to take your pokemon hostage, that’s still in effect what it’s doing by letting you transfer some pokemon in but not back out. And even if Pokemon Co. never charges more for Home than they did for Bank, that still doesn't mean your pokemon are safe there. Budgets are tight and there are more and more bills and subscriptions eating away at our wallets with each passing day. Who's to say that even an extra $5 a year might be too much for pokemon at some point? If that point ever comes for you, that’s still just too bad for whatever pokemon you have on Home that can't be transferred to whatever games are currently supported.

Again, this is not to bag on Pokemon Sword and Shield. So far they look like fine stand alone Pokemon games. The wild area is a bold step forward, raid battles sound fun, I love all the new pokemon we've seen so far. And after the recent Godzilla movie I'm super hyped for some kaiju sized dynamax pokemon battles. I mean, that's been a dream since the giant tentacruel in the first season opening of the anime! The development team for Pokemon Sword and Shield are clearly talented and committed people who care deeply about the pokemon franchise and its fans, and have worked very hard to bring us the very best games they could - or at least the best games that their corporate bosses would allow them to make.

No, the problem here isn't Pokemon Sword and Shield, it's Pokemon Home - the control it gives the Pokemon Company over our collections, the daggers it hangs over the heads of our pokemon, the syphons in sticks into our wallets.

So if you're still looking forward to Sword and Shield, by all means, buy them! Play them! Enjoy them! But DO NOT BUY Pokemon Home. Do not transfer your collection to it. Not until Gamefreak changes their tune and recommits to supporting all pokemon in these and all future main line pokemon games, so that Pokemon Home can never be used to take your pokemon hostage.

Until then, Pokemon Home simply isn't a safe home for your pokemon.

And for Arceus's sake, those who have been making a stink about this, keep it up. Don't actually harass the developers, don't threaten anyone, don't attack fellow fans who don't see the problem. But keep the pressure up on Gamefreak and Nintendo and the Pokemon Company and, heck, maybe thrown some shade in Warner Bros. direction. As we've seen with online friend play in Mario Maker 2, sometimes the squeaky wheel really does get the grease.

It’s likely too late to fix this before relase, but Gamefreak can patch the needed functionality in at any point after launch. We don't have forever, though, there is a ticking clock. Pokemon Bank still probably has a couple years of life left before it's put out to pasture, along with online support for the 3DS era Pokemon games in general. There’s plenty of time before that for Gamefreak to change their minds, but if this problem isn’t fixed by then Pokemon fans will be faced with a painful choice - either hand our pokemon collections over to the Pokemon Company as hostages, or else leave them to fossilize in our gen 7 games, never to join us on future pokemon adventures again.

#pokemon #bringbackthenationaldex #gen 8 #pokemon home #pokemon sword and shield #swsh #long post

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wintrcaptn · 6 years

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What Are The Chances | Chris Evans

Summary : While at Disneyland with your closest friends, you bump into Chris Evans. (I suck at summaries lmao)

A/N: This is from my old acct. I am going to repost this series but after chapter two, everything will be different!!! Hope you all enjoy!!

Adjusting the Minnie Mouse ears, you felt your stomach begin to flutter as you and your four best friends made your way into the front of the park.

The sun was out, high in the sky with little to no clouds. Every flower blossomed, the colors vibrantly popping. Everything was breathtakingly beautiful.

Disneyland was your home. It somehow always made you feel at peace. And also, brought the inner child out.

The moment you step in, you are immediately filled with such joy, and excitement, you can’t help but smile from ear to ear.

“Let’s take a picture by the Mickey flowers!” Rashelle exclaimed.

You all followed behind her, pulling your phones out.

“Whose going to take our pictures?” Penny asked, lifting her glasses up with her nose.

You scanned around until your eyes landed on one of the workers with a camera hanging around his neck. Quickly, you strode over to him and tapped his shoulder.

“Hey, can you take a picture of us?” You asked, motioning over to your girls.

He glanced at you, and smiled. Nodding his head, “yea. Of course.”

“Sweet!” You gave him your phone and ran back to your friends, who were getting into their positions.

“Just stand anywhere.” Addie grunted. “It doesn’t matter.”

Charm and Penny switched spots to get their ‘good’ side. Something they always did every time you went out with them. You just laughed as you rolled your eyes.

“Okay, ready?” The guy asked.

“Yep!”

He snapped a few pictures from your phone, and one with his camera.

“Here you go.” He smirked.

You took the phone and glanced at the picture that lit up your screen. It was a little too bright, which made it look like you and Rashelle both had your eyes closed. But with only being there for two days, you shrugged it off and slipped the phone into your pocket.

“Alright, what do you bitches want to do first?” Charm asked, fluffing her hair with her hand.

“Let’s go on space mountain!” Penny muttered.

“No, let’s ride Indiana jones.” Said Addie, as she fixed the straps to her bag.

You were walking behind them, shaking your head, a smile forming on your lips. They could never agree on anything.

“How about Rashelle and I get fast passes for space mountain, while you girls go wait in line for Indiana jones?” You exhaled, looping your arm with your best friend.

They all nodded, getting their tickets out to hand them to you.

“Okay. Just call me when you are walking back. I’ll keep any eye out for you.“ Addie stated.

The three girls went towards adventure land as you and Rashelle started toward tomorrow land. One of your favorites there.

"It’s so hot!” She spewed, fanning herself. “How am I suppose to find a boyfriend when I’m sweating?!”

You let out a giggle, rolling your eyes. “It’s Disneyland! There are people from all over the world.”

“So? More to choose from.” She smirked. “Who knows, you might just find your Prince Charming.”

“Yea, when Captain Hook flies.” You snorted. “Besides, I’m not looking for anything. I just want to have a good time with my best friends and that’s it.”

“Whatever you say.” She chuckled.

“No one can handle all of this!” You cackled, as you playfully strut across Main Street.

“YAS girl! Work it!”

You glanced back at her, belting out into laughter until you crashed into broad shoulders, that almost knocked you off your feet.

Immediately, you pulled yourself together, feeling panicked. “I’m so sorry! I didn’t-”

The moment you balanced yourself and looked up, your breath hitched to the back of your throat.

“Don’t worry about it.” He smiled, his hand gently on the small of your back, scanning you over. “Are you okay? Did I hurt you?”

You shook your head, still gazing into the depths of his alluring blue eyes. Here you were standing right in front none other than Chris Evans. The guy you drooled over for years since you first saw him on Not Another Teen Movie.

Rashelle watched the entire thing with her eyes wide. She couldn’t believe how close you two were and how worried he was over you. It was like part of a movie playing before her.

You were finding yourself leaning more into him, feeling the warmth of his body against you. You were so close to him, all you could inhale was his scent, which caused your heart to race.

His lips curved more the longer he stared, his hand never leaving you until he realized how long he had held you to him.

He cleared his throat which brought you back to reality.

“Well I’m glad you’re okay.” He chuckled.

You took in a deep breath and shrugged. “I’m glad YOU’RE okay, since I’m the one who ran into you.”

“Trust me, I’m fine.” He looked down at you, not able to tear his gaze away. There was just something about you that drew him to you. Like a chemical reaction. Chris couldn’t shake the feeling.

“A beautiful girl like you can run into me, anytime.” He smirked.

And just like that, your stomach dropped.

“Uncle Chris!” A little boy called from behind, running over.

He turned around, and flashed a cheeky grin, extending his arms out until the little boy ran straight into him. “Hey buddy.”

“Mommy said we can go on Astro blasters!” He cheered. He looked at you and Rashelle, and for a moment, felt shy.

“Sorry, this is my nephew, Miles. It’s his birthday today. Right kiddo?” Chris muttered.

Miles nodded, leaning his head against Chris’ shoulder as one hand clutched on to his shirt.

You smiled up at him, and scrunched your nose. “Happy birthday!” You exclaimed. You could just tell how shy he was. “How old are you? Twenty-five?”

His lips twitched, as he shook his head.

“Mm. Oh I know, you’re forty-eight, huh?”

Miles chuckled to himself, still shaking his head. The wall he had up, was slowly coming down. “I-I’m this many.” He exhaled, putting all fingers up into the air.

Your eyes grew wide as you dropped your jaw, pretending to be so surprised. “Wow! Five? That’s so cool!” You muttered. “I hear that’s the best age.”

Chris watched the way you interacted with his nephew. Which only drew him in more.

“So Miles, what’s your favorite ride in Disneyland?”

“I like the pirate ride! Where we go on the boat and see the Pirates! And then we go down super fast!” He exclaimed. “And there’s guns and treasures!”

You flashed a soft smile, hearing the little boy go on about why he loved it so much. There was something about a little kid talking about something he enjoys that makes it so interesting.

“Yea! That’s my favorite too. And the Peter Pan ride.”

Ethan glanced up to his uncle then back to you. “That’s my mommy’s favorite ride too!”

Chris chuckled, shaking his head.

“What’s your favorite Disney movie?” He asked.

You pondered your thoughts for a moment, and sighed. “Oh that’s a tough one!” You stated. “I love them all! I’m a HUGE Disney fan.” You leaned a little closer to him. “I’m probably the biggest Disney fan in the world.”

Chris huffed, stopping you right at that moment, his finger in the air as he pursed his lips. “I don’t think so.” He muttered.

You furrowed your brows, looking at him. “What?” You chuckled.

“You’re not the biggest Disney fan.”

“Oh really? Then who is?”

He flashed a smile, and pointed his thumbs to himself. “Me.”

A chuckle fell from your lips, as you crossed your arms over your chest.

“Laugh all you want, but it’s true. I know everything there is about Disney. I know all of the songs, the movies, even the years they came out–I come out here all the time.”

“Thats funny. Me too. You can ask anyone. Disney is life.” You giggled.

Rashelle, belted out into laughter, “it’s true! This girl would rather watch a Disney movie than go out and party. I mean, she’s watched tangled at least a hundred times, maybe more.”

You shrugged your shoulders, “see. I told you.”

Chris locked his gaze with yours, his smile growing by the second. “Fine, then let’s see who the biggest fan is.” He muttered.

For a moment you scanned his face for bluff, until you noticed he was serious. “What do you have in mind?”

He pondered his thoughts for a moment, until he turned on his heels and looked back. “Scott! Hey–Scott, come here bro.” He called out.

Rashelle leaned into your ear slightly squeezing your arm. “Dude, Chris is definitely flirting with you.” She whispered.

You hushed her, shaking your head. “What? No, he’s not.” You chuckled.

The guy that Chris had called for, strode over to Chris’ side.

“This is my brother, Scott.” Chris said, still holding his nephew in his arms. “Scott, this is–” he paused, looking to you.

“Y/N, and this is Rashelle.” You exhaled.

Chris smirked from the sound of your name rolling off your tongue. Finally, a name to the face. One he would never forget.

Scott flashed a smile, quickly shaking both of yours and your best friends hand. “Nice to meet you, ladies.”

“Alright, so Y/N here ‘claims’ to be the biggest Disney fan–which is bullshit.” Chris quickly winced, covering Miles’ ear. “Crap, sorry buddy.” He put his nephew down, and patted his back.

“Anyways, I need you to ask us a few tough Disney questions. Whoever gets the first few right, wins.”

Scott belted out into laughter, clutching his stomach. “Oh god!” He cackled. “Okay–okay fine. Anything specific or can I just make them up?”

“I-I don’t know, just something not so obvious.” Chris exclaimed.

His brother thought for a moment until something came to mind. “Okay, Who teaches Mowgli the bare necessities of life?”

“Baloo!!” You both yelled, feeling the competitive side of you coming out.

Chris glanced at you, a smile plastered onto his face as you chuckled.

“What?” You giggled.

He shrugged his shoulders, “N-Nothing! I’m just–” he snapped his gaze to his brother. “Alright, next question.”

Scott smiled, “sheesh, you two must really want to beat each other.”

“Just ask the question already! We don’t have all day!” Chris cackled.

“Fine!” Scott threw his hands up, “which hand is replaced by a hook on Captain Hook?”

Your eyes grew, “ahh I know this! Peter Pan is my favorite movie!” You exclaimed. But for the life of you, you couldn’t remember which one it was and it was driving you crazy. “Crap!” You groaned.

Chris furrowed his brows, squinting his eyes as he winced. “Um, left?” He drawled out, not certain of the answer.

“Correct!” Scott cackled.

“Dammit! I knew that one too!” You pinched the bridge of your nose, feeling disappointed in yourself.

“It’s okay Y/N, you’re just not that big of a Disney nerd as I am.” He winked.

You pointed your finger into his chest, and pursed your lips. “The game isn’t over yet, buddy.”

He let out a chuckle, “you’re right, it isn’t. But it will be soon. When I win.”

Rashelle raised a hand, grabbing your guys attention. “I have one.” She stated. “Who was the first Disney princess?”

Chris took in a sharp breath, “shit, wasn’t it–”

“Oh Snow White!” You cut him off.

“Hey! I was about to say that.”

“Well, you took too long.”

Rashelle’s phone went off before he could say another word, which made your body jolt.

It was Penny.

“Hello?” She breathed.

“Where are you guys?!” She asked. “We are about to get on the ride!”

“Okay, we are coming.” She muttered. “We will be there soon.”

The call ended, and she quickly placed it into her pocket.

“We have to go.” She stated, pulling on your arm. Looking at the boys, she sighed. “It was nice meeting you guys!”

You looked up at Chris. Your eyes locking as he flashed a soft smile. You honestly didn’t want to leave, especially since talking to him and being around him somehow made you feel whole. But everything has to come to an end, right?

“Come on! The girls are waiting.” She exclaimed, pulling you along with her.

“B-Bye!” You yelped. Just one last glance, until you spin around and followed her to adventure land. Leaving Chris with his brother and nephew.

He watched you until you faded into the sea of the crowd. Wishing you didn’t have to go. He dug his hands into his pocket, feeling a bit bummed.

“They were beautiful.” Scott muttered.

Chris snapped out of his trance, and turned his attention to his younger brother. “Yea they are.”

“Who knows, maybe we will run into them again.”

He slowly nodded, the thought giving him a small piece of hope. “Yea, maybe.”

Miles tugged at Chris’ shirt. “Uncle Chris, that girl forgot her Minnie ears.”

Chris looked at his nephew and furrowed his brows. “Oh yea, Looks like she did!”

In that moment, he felt lucky. Lucky that his nephew noticed the ears, lucky that now he has a reason to go after you and return your item.

“Hey, Scott. Watch Miles okay?” He said.

Scott took the little boys hand, his brows scrunched together. “Where are you going?”

#watc series #Chris Evans #chris evans fanfiction #chris evans imagine #chrisevansedit #chris evans edit #avengers 4 #avengersedit #Avengers infinity war #avengers imagine #marvel #marvel mcu #marvel edit #marvel fanfiction #marvel imagine #Steve Rogers #disneyland #disney

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musingsoflulu · 6 years

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cloudsplitter race recap

what a dreamy saturday we spent playing in the mountains!

logan met me after work (which was a literal nightmare) friday evening. i made a reservation for a nearby italian restaurant so we could eat yummy pasta before heading into the small town where the race started. we ate bruschetta and portobello mushroom raviolis until we were properly stuffed and then made the drive into norton, virginia.

we laid our stuff out for the next morning and headed to bed early. i slept terribly (i always do in hotel rooms) and had major anxiety dreams about the race- dreams about forgetting all of my gear and having to race back home to grab it, dreams about having to run in jeans (???), dreams about forgetting my gels, showing up late for the race, etc.

when we woke up, logan told me he also had similar dreams and then said “i just realized 31 miles is a really really long way to run.” YA. THANKS.

we put on our race gear and headed upstairs for a proper breakfast before we picked up our bibs. the restaurant was super quiet (it was 6:30 AM) except for one other guy who was clearly running one of the races too. i turned around and asked him which race he was doing- the 100 miler. it would be his 22nd 100 mile race attempt (not all of them successful) and he had also competed in utmb this past year (DNF’ed about 50k in due to vision and stomach issues).

after breakfast, we picked up our bibs at the farmer’s market, signed in, and waited anxiously for the race to start. @iraeths tagged me in an instagram post that i saw early that morning- a well known (except apparently not to me) ultra runner, alex borsuk, was competing in her first 100 miler- at cloudsplitter. i spotted her when we were both in line for a last minute bathroom run.

a group of guys were in front of us, teasing each other. “dude, i believe in you. just not today.” as he banged his poles on his buddy’s portapotty before going into his, logan looked at me. “glad i’m not that guy’s friend” haha.

and a few minutes later, we lined up in the covered farmer’s market garage and the boy scouts’ muskets went off and we were off on our mountain adventure. our first few miles were slow. we actually walked up our first easy hill on the road, taking our hero, tim tollefson’s advice, and saving our legs for later. the first 3 miles were straight uphill, with about 1500 feet elevation gain. but i was feeling really strong and the vert wasn’t anything we hadn’t trained on before yesterday.

we made a wrong turn with a group around mile 3 and ended up running about 0.3 miles out of the way (oops). we realized pretty early, turned around, and got back on the course quickly. the first 9 miles were super enjoyable and fairly uneventful. no stomach issues, legs felt super fresh, logan and i were talking casually and taking pictures, just really enjoying the course. it had rained the night before and so the course was incredibly wet and muddy, but i loooove running in those conditions. nothing makes me feel more wild than mud on my calves. the gray clouds around us made the colors of the leaves pop and even though we couldn’t see many views from the top on the way up, i was still loving the cool foggy weather. truly felt like we were splitting the clouds.

we made it to the top of high knob and hammered down the big hill to the next aid station at mile 9. from there to about mile 13, there were tons of water crossings. logan and i definitely spent too much time avoiding getting our feet wet and hopping rocks, but i didn’t care because i really didn’t think i was in any position to place. at around mile 12, another woman in a blue shirt came plowing through the river crossing we were trying to maneuver around and i looked at logan said “well then...maybe that’s what we need to do.” i started realizing “oh...she might be in the 50k...and oh, she might be looking to win it.” we hadn’t seen any other women on their way back and the turn around point was mile 15.5. seeing as how we were only 3 miles out from the turnaround, i started realizing oh hey...i might be one of the top females right now. eventually around mile 13, we saw the first woman coming back and zooming with the men (they were at mile 17). but i didn’t see any other women after that.

i followed the woman in the blue shirt closely and eventually passed her around mile 14. i started passing others too. i ended up directly behind alex borsuk for the last 0.5 miles to the turnaround point and thought “well, this is probably as close as i’ll ever get to keeping up with an elite- when they’re running more then 3x the distance i am” hahaha. when we left the aid station at the turnaround, a woman i passed going the other direction said in a french accent “you are second woman!” oh god. no pressure.

the woman in the blue shirt was very close behind me and she definitely knew it was a race at this point. i made a stupid wrong turn (ugh why!!!) shortly after the turnaround and went maybe 0.10 miles out of the way before realizing. we caught up to blue shirt and i’m not sure if she just felt bad that i made a wrong turn or if she just didn’t want us on her ass for the next 14 miles, but she pulled to the side and let me pass. i ran slightly ahead of her for a bit and gathered she was from toronto and she had driven down with her friend the day before for the race. and the next moment, logan and i were zooming off, trying to create some distance between me and her. the next 3 miles felt wonderful and logan and i were flying down the hills and running pretty well on the flat parts. we ran through water crossings (this is a race now! no time to take care!!!) and were making great time. but around mile 17, my stomach started feeling sour and i knew i was going to have to pull over. i ran off trail and did my business as quickly as possible. when we started back, logan made a wincing noise and not looking back, i checked in and called back- “are you okay?” “yeah, my shoulder’s just feeling really tense.” i looked back then and blue shirt was gaining on us and was almost caught up to logan. and just like that, i was gone like the wind, running as fast as i could go and not knowing if logan was keeping up with me.

i made it to the aid station at mile 19, right before the last big climb. a male runner was waiting there, i guess for a running companion to help him get through the last bit of the race, and came up to me and said “hey! you wanna be my pal?” i responded “uhhhh sure, but i’m currently sitting in second place and third is probably less than a quarter mile back.” i emptied my pack of all of my empty gel wrappers, grabbed some coke, and we set off up the last big climb. he asked “how are you feeling?” and i said “my legs feel great. i feel good mentally. but my hips are feeling beat.” he pulled out some aspirin and offered me one. I took it with gratitude (karen and georgia would have frowned at me) and slugged it down with some water. we spent all of 3 minutes on the trail together when he realized i was pulling ahead quickly. “you seem to be getting faster this last half...i’ll see you at the finish!” i felt slightly guilty for leaving him (and logan several miles ago) but my competitive nature got the best of me and i was running SCARED. despite the impressive elevation gain for the last climb, i averaged ~14-16 minute miles and made it to the top of high knob feeling awesome. an aid station volunteer met me at the very top and ran down with me to the aid station, calling out to the other volunteers the things they should be getting ready. “GINGER ALE! TURKEY SANDWICH!” i slugged the ginger ale, took 5 big bites of the sandwich, thanked them for volunteering, and was off again, down the mountain. 8:39, 8:33 splits. Hit some more uphill (”where the hell did this come from? i don’t remember this on the way out???”) and power hiked as fast as i could, knowing blue shirt was probably shortly behind me. hit mile 27 and thought “ohhh...this is unchartered territory. i’ve never run this far before!” mile 28-29 was spent running down those steep hills again and it did not feel pleasant. the mud made it all the more difficult as i was trying not to slip and fall on my ass and back. mile 30 i hit pavement again and was grinning so big as picnickers stared at me while eating their late lunch. i flew down the last big hill, 8:13 pace and crossed the finish line with some weak applause (NOT a lot of people there haha). i didn’t care. i was so proud of myself. logan and i had made a time goal- 8:00 flat. i glanced at the clock- 6:49? 6:50? i can’t remember, but i couldn’t believe i had come in sub 7. the first place female greeted me and we chatted for a bit. she was actually the wife of a professor at my undergrad alma mater. she told me she had come in 5 minutes before me, which blew me away (she had been 4 miles ahead of me when i last saw her!)

i quickly changed into dry clothes (alexi would be proud) and sat down with a warm cheese quesadilla and a Dr. Pepper as I awaited logan’s arrival. third place female finished about 10 minutes after me and i got up to congratulate her, letting her know i had run scared for the last 18 miles of that race because of her. logan came in at 7:24, looking so strong! i ran (hobbled) to the car and grabbed his clothes while he recovered. we hung around for another 40 minutes, chatting with blue shirt (who i learned was named nikki) and the female overall winner (robin). i also chatted a bit with the guy i ditched going up the last big hill, but never learned his name. everyone was so friendly, just enjoying each other’s company and talking about the beauty of the trails we just ran.

i asked robin if there would be an awards ceremony and she said no. the race director only gave awards to first place overall male and female and that i needed to come back next year so i could win it overall. i was definitely disappointed. i’ve never been to a race where they didn’t recognize top 3 male and female. but that doesn’t take away from my effort or the beauty of the day. i apologized to logan for leaving him behind and he laughed. “that’s exactly what i wanted you to do and you know it.”

i did know it. and that’s why i did it. he would never want me to hold myself back for him. he always wants me to reach for my full potential and that makes me love him even more, makes my heart swell just thinking about how special a love like that is. i’m so grateful for this beautiful, foggy autumn day in the mountains with him. grateful our legs carried us through it all.

#cloudsplitter #trail running #running #my forever address

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