#He said he would phone the police and we said to be our guest. I said to Shlomit that it was just as well we had not driven off before we

[nataliesnews]

It is a very sad day. Veronica phoned me this morning to tell me that Uta's mother had died after a long illness. I spoke to her just a few days ago and she knew she was dying and was so brave. I am glad that I had the opportunity of meeting her, even if only for a few days and since then we have been in touch all the time. I often thought of her when I was writing my letters and wondering what she thought.

Then yesterday too my friend's grandson was mortally  wounded. He has particles in his brain and there does not seem to be much hope. It was only the other day that I had supper with her and Robbie and she said that she does not sleep at night. That it would break them if something happened to him .

 I can think of nothing positive happening in my life. Then I read of our president whom I realise does not have a brain in his head.  He signs a rocket which is going to kill people as if he were writing on someone's bandages leg or knee?  And then there are people who laugh at their sufferings. 

It is getting harder and harder to write.  woman Orit Stroch. a settler, who wrote demanding to know whether the pilots who said they would not report for future reserve duty had refused to take part in the war? By the way she is also the one who said that  no doctor should have to treat anyone from the gay community if it conflicted with their religious beliefs. And for support which Netanyahu gave the general who replied to her read the attached

Outrage as far-right minister suggests some pilots refusing air support for Gaza troops

Settlements Minister Orit Strock widely reported to ask at cabinet if some in Air Force are failing to carry out their duties for ideological reasons

Today the Jerusalem municipality came to the tent of the families and took down and tore  all their signs  and a bunch of hooligans came past screaming that all the families are traitors and caused the death of their children and the war and that piece of shit whose two sons cower behind them is quiet. That is Israel today of Netanyahu.  

After a long interval because of the war, we had not been to the DCO and decided to go.  We were surprised to find about 15 men there. They had all been summoned by the ISA, the secret service. One indignantly told us that he had to pull his trousers down to his ankles and did not know why. They also told us that the Satmar cult comes into their neighborhoods with the Palestinian flag with no problem. They were all very pleasant.

We then decided to see what is happening at the entrance to Beit Lechem from road 60. Until the war the road was completely open but this is the way it looks now. We stopped a short distance before the checkpoint. 

Shlomit got out to photograph and immediately a soldier came running up demanding our IDs. We told him we only have to show IDs to a policeman and when he said he was also a policeman asked to be shown identification.  Also , as we were on the main road of the town and not in the area of the checkpoint, to be shown proof that where we were standing was a closed army area. He claimed that we had photographed him and said that it was easy to identify him....I leave that to your judgement,He said he would phone the police and we said to be our guest. I said to Shlomit that it was just as well we  had not driven off before we saw him approaching us as in this day and age he would probably have taken a shot at us. But all's well that ends well....He had evidently phoned the representative of the DCO. He   knew us from former days at Etzion and we showed him the photo which he did not  ask to have deleted  and  after a short and pleasant conversation continued on our way home. 

Today we went to plant trees with one of the farmers from Burin. Not that I could help but I go to identify. This is how the others went up. Her ladyship went up by taxi. i don't think it is the help which is important but that we come. We left early though as the Palestinian authority phoned and said that the area was getting restless and we should go and then too soldiers and settlers started coming down the mountain. But people bought a lot of his olives and olive oil. I asked where his family was ...usually it is very joyous there and the house was so empty but he said it was too dangerous from them to be there so they had gone to live in the village.

But then we also have this......I remember how Israelis said what animals the Palestinians are that whenever there was an attack on Israelis they would go out to celebrate and give out sweets. Evidently Israelis are also keen to learn from Palestinians as this is what some soldiers did.... singing and dancing in the street and giving out sweets at the death of one of the Hamas. Not that I feel any grief for him but this is not the Jewish way. But today I no longer think that there is a Jewish way. I think we have learned only too well of how to hate and how to conduct pogroms. They should remember the Peisach seder where God rebukes his angels for singing when the Egyptians drowned. 

and this caricature appeared in one of the far right newspapers. If it  had been from a newspaper on the left or a journalist/ whoever published it would already be sitting in jail/ If you want to know what this is about look at the pdf below. It is too complicated for me to go into it.

Sorry I wish I could write something positive

Henrietta Szold 2

Migdal Nofim Room 708

Kiryat Hayovel

Jerusalem 9650230

Israel

Tel [phone]

Nofim Tel [phone]

Home 972 (2)6418387 no messages

It is a very sad day. Veronica phoned me this morning to tell me that Uta's mother had died after a long illness. I spoke to her just a few days ago and she knew she was dying and was so brave. I am glad that I had the opportunity of meeting her, even if only for a few days and since then we have been in touch all the time. I often thought of her when I was writing my letters and wondering what she thought.

Then yesterday too my friend's grandson was mortally  wounded. He has particles in his brain and there does not seem to be much hope. It was only the other day that I had supper with her and Robbie and she said that she does not sleep at night. That it would break them if something happened to him .

 I can think of nothing positive happening in my life. Then I read of our president whom I realise does not have a brain in his head.  He signs a rocket which is going to kill people as if he were writing on someone's bandages leg or knee?  And then there are people who laugh at their sufferings. 

It is getting harder and harder to write.  woman Orit Stroch. a settler, who wrote demanding to know whether the pilots who said they would not report for future reserve duty had refused to take part in the war? By the way she is also the one who said that  no doctor should have to treat anyone from the gay community if it conflicted with their religious beliefs. And for support which Netanyahu gave the general who replied to her read the attached

Outrage as far-right minister suggests some pilots refusing air support for Gaza troops

Settlements Minister Orit Strock widely reported to ask at cabinet if some in Air Force are failing to carry out their duties for ideological reasons

Today the Jerusalem municipality came to the tent of the families and took down and tore  all their signs  and a bunch of hooligans came past screaming that all the families are traitors and caused the death of their children and the war and that piece of shit whose two sons cower behind them is quiet. That is Israel today of Netanyahu.  

After a long interval because of the war, we had not been to the DCO and decided to go.  We were surprised to find about 15 men there. They had all been summoned by the ISA, the secret service. One indignantly told us that he had to pull his trousers down to his ankles and did not know why. They also told us that the Satmar cult comes into their neighborhoods with the Palestinian flag with no problem. They were all very pleasant.

We then decided to see what is happening at the entrance to Beit Lechem from road 60. Until the war the road was completely open but this is the way it looks now. We stopped a short distance before the checkpoint. 

Shlomit got out to photograph and immediately a soldier came running up demanding our IDs. We told him we only have to show IDs to a policeman and when he said he was also a policeman asked to be shown identification.  Also , as we were on the main road of the town and not in the area of the checkpoint, to be shown proof that where we were standing was a closed army area. He claimed that we had photographed him and said that it was easy to identify him....I leave that to your judgement,He said he would phone the police and we said to be our guest. I said to Shlomit that it was just as well we  had not driven off before we saw him approaching us as in this day and age he would probably have taken a shot at us. But all's well that ends well....He had evidently phoned the representative of the DCO. He   knew us from former days at Etzion and we showed him the photo which he did not  ask to have deleted  and  after a short and pleasant conversation continued on our way home. 

Today we went to plant trees with one of the farmers from Burin. Not that I could help but I go to identify. This is how the others went up. Her ladyship went up by taxi. i don't think it is the help which is important but that we come. We left early though as the Palestinian authority phoned and said that the area was getting restless and we should go and then too soldiers and settlers started coming down the mountain. But people bought a lot of his olives and olive oil. I asked where his family was ...usually it is very joyous there and the house was so empty but he said it was too dangerous from them to be there so they had gone to live in the village.

But then we also have this......I remember how Israelis said what animals the Palestinians are that whenever there was an attack on Israelis they would go out to celebrate and give out sweets. Evidently Israelis are also keen to learn from Palestinians as this is what some soldiers did.... singing and dancing in the street and giving out sweets at the death of one of the Hamas. Not that I feel any grief for him but this is not the Jewish way. But today I no longer think that there is a Jewish way. I think we have learned only too well of how to hate and how to conduct pogroms. They should remember the Peisach seder where God rebukes his angels for singing when the Egyptians drowned. 

and this caricature appeared in one of the far right newspapers. If it  had been from a newspaper on the left or a journalist/ whoever published it would already be sitting in jail/ If you want to know what this is about look at the pdf below. It is too complicated for me to go into it.

Sorry I wish I could write something positive

Henrietta Szold 2

Migdal Nofim Room 708

Kiryat Hayovel

Jerusalem 9650230

Israel

Tel [phone]

Nofim Tel [phone]

Home 972 (2)6418387 no messages

#It is a very sad day. Veronica phoned me this morning to tell me that Uta's mother had died after a long illness. I spoke to her just a few #even if only for a few days and since then we have been in touch all the time. I often thought of her when I was writing my letters and won #Then yesterday too my friend's grandson was mortally wounded. He has particles in his brain and there does not seem to be much hope. It wa #I can think of nothing positive happening in my life. Then I read of our president whom I realise does not have a brain in his head. He si #It is getting harder and harder to write. woman Orit Stroch. a settler #who wrote demanding to know whether the pilots who said they would not report for future reserve duty had refused to take part in the war? #Outrage as far-right minister suggests some pilots refusing air support for Gaza troops #Settlements Minister Orit Strock widely reported to ask at cabinet if some in Air Force are failing to carry out their duties for ideologic #https://www.timesofisrael.com/outrage-after-far-right-minister-suggests-some-pilots-refusing-to-support-gaza-troops #Today the Jerusalem municipality came to the tent of the families and took down and tore all their signs and a bunch of hooligans came pa #https://www.jpost.com/israel-news/crime-in-israel/article-779881 #779881 #After a long interval because of the war #we had not been to the DCO and decided to go. We were surprised to find about 15 men there. They had all been summoned by the ISA #the secret service. One indignantly told us that he had to pull his trousers down to his ankles and did not know why. They also told us tha #We then decided to see what is happening at the entrance to Beit Lechem from road 60. Until the war the road was completely open but this i #Shlomit got out to photograph and immediately a soldier came running up demanding our IDs. We told him we only have to show IDs to a police #as we were on the main road of the town and not in the area of the checkpoint #to be shown proof that where we were standing was a closed army area. He claimed that we had photographed him and said that it was easy to #He said he would phone the police and we said to be our guest. I said to Shlomit that it was just as well we had not driven off before we #Today we went to plant trees with one of the farmers from Burin. Not that I could help but I go to identify. This is how the others went up #But then we also have this......I remember how Israelis said what animals the Palestinians are that whenever there was an attack on Israeli #and this caricature appeared in one of the far right newspapers. If it had been from a newspaper on the left or a journalist/ whoever publ #Sorry I wish I could write something positive #Henrietta Szold 2 #Migdal Nofim Room 708 #Kiryat Hayovel #Jerusalem 9650230 #Israel #Tel [phone]

[dormarunt]

Berlin, episode 1 - a spoiler-filled live reaction/commentary 

Spoilers ahoy under the cut!

Our man wears a turtleneck from the get-go, which I find hilarious.

"This is my team - one of the three I've robbed with in my life - but this one is special to me as it's from my golden age". Maybe season 2 - if it exists - will focus on that other team? Or? The other 2 teams are The Cormorants and the Mint gangs? What do you guys think?

Also this is set before Berlin knew of his Helmers Myopathy (lol I took Liberties in my latest fic, I won't let something like canon change that)

Roi sees him as the father he never had, while Berlin sees Roi as "a loyal dog he walks every day" -- right, I'm totally going to write these two, and not just because Roi calls him "sir" and shines his shoes.

Damien is a Professor but for real.

During the first heist we see of the gang, a random guest clocks the team as "not police " in about a minute, seemingly based on Keyla's glasses/fidgeting -- okay I guess?? Make that conflict, Pina & Co!

Also iirc Berlin pulls out a bag to put the stolen artifact out of his ass thin air. 

Losing my mind at the smashed phone bit though, the panto is chef's kiss. (points pinky)

Berlin has TERRIBLE gun etiquette/safety OMG???

"Love doesn't last", says the three-times-divorcee. Believe him, before he marries two more times and unhinges his jaw to eat his beat friend's face. 

"What name did you choose?" "Cameron" -- the old gang's names are also chosen.

Pedro Alonso learned French for this okay? And he did a fine job ngl, much better than his Danish of S5.

Keyla is (at least partially) a plot device/Deus Ex literal Machina with her generating 650 pages of content about their made-up archeological gang ---- hopefully priest dude doesn't know how to double check stuff like awards because then Keyla would have to ~hack loads of sites/databases okay I'll stop but seriously 

He calls himself Berlin already. How or why? Unclear yet. 

Based on the iPod shuffle that Keyla's wearing the series takes place after 2010-2012 (so before he met Martin according to the little timeline I made a while ago)

The Berlin-Roi talk about a particular woman (Cameron) gives me Berlin-RIO (heheh) talk about Tokio

Oh no tell the guy who lusts over a girl to act as her dad instead - that's going to go WELL

The door hacking (Panasonic) device with Matrix-style flowing numbers and letters is PRIMO and not hilarious at all. (Rafael's hacking device was marginally more believable)

Three home invaders vs one angry little pup - I'm in the pup's corner!

Not a huge fan of Cameron just yet, she gives me Tokio vibes and not in a good way. She IS hot though. 

Come on Cameron, when a guy says not to touch his ass you don't take it personally?? Girl, that's not cute irl. If you wanna help him open that lock, warn him. Touching people without their consent is No Bueno. I get that she's supposed to be mentally ill but bit a creep?

Berlin is possibly an insomniac. He's not changed from the Berlin I know and love in that he feels that: 1) he's in any position to give advice, let alone about love 2) he knows all about love his experiences are universal 

(I trust Damian's take on love and kinda agree with him)

OMG THERE WAS ONLY ONE BED!!! --- and Berlin said "ew no?"

Oh Jesus Christ we were spared from another poop particle conversation but just barely (since when is the guy who fucks in stench-filled basements all squeamish?)

Period-inappropriate Imagine Dragons cover

That's why I started learning the guitar in high school, this scene right here, to have someone look at me with that wonder in their eyes. (all the boys learned to play guitar to pick up girls, years later I figured out that so did I lol)

The sights in this episode are beautiful though! <3

Berlin's philosophy on courting women is, according to my headcanon, stolen from Martín who's "an infantry general by vocation" and NO ONE can change my mind

Roi's sincere WTF look here is priceless 

All in all - yep, i'm watching the rest too (lol). Can't guarantee live reactions for the next episodes (unless requested/I have the time)

#lcdp berlin #berlin 2023 #Berlin netflix #Berlin spoilers #Pedro Alonso #LCDP Berlin #i prob typed names all wrong ;__; and I apologize

[aita-blorbos]

Aita for ACCIDENTALLY ruining my brothers wedding

Look I get that that’s not a great start but let me explain

I 36f recently moved back into the city I grew up in, I met up with my brother 36m and found out he was engaged (we lost contact a few years before this, so I didn’t even know he was dating anyone)

He was never the best judge of character, and we have a very rich stepfather, both of which has led to him getting into toxic relationship with men using him for our inevitable inheritance, so you can understand why I was a little suspicious at first

I didn’t want to make any assumptions so I met my brothers fiancé 38m, he seemed nice but I couldn’t help but think there was something off about him and it didn’t help that he shares a last name with the city’s so called “hero” despite not living here when before I moved (I will not be sharing his last name as it’s pretty uncommon and don’t want my brother seeing this and knowing it’s me)

So like a completely rational normal person would do, I searched on the internet to find out everything I could about him, and what I found was horrifying to say the least

It turns out his mother was a serial killer, she got caught because the neighbours smelled something rotting on their property a phoned the police, she got arrested thank whoever and her family ended up loosing all their assets (that’s right they were rich until this was discovered)

I decided to confront him about this, and asked why he didn’t go to the police, his response is that he was “scared of what his mother might have done to him if he did” and I’m not trying to victim blame here and he looked very upset so I just tried to leave it be

And I did for a bit though I made sure my brother was aware of the (he was apparently) I spent some time after that getting me and my kids (one boy 8 and one girl also 8) ready for the wedding

But I couldn’t stop thinking about it, something just didn’t feel right, I told my brother about this and he got upset saying that “he already knew about *redacted*’s mother” and that “I should trust him with his romantic decisions” that last part pissed me off a bit, I mean he’s had some pretty shit relationships and each time I (along with his best friend) were the ones that told him you need to leave that relationship

I decided to ask him (my brother’s fiancé) about it more, mostly about the loss of assets from his mother’s murders, he said he “didn’t really care” I asked him if the fact he used to be rich then lost it had anything to do with why he was marrying my brother his response “of course not, only a horrible person would do such a thing” and though I agree that only horrible people would date and marry someone for money but something about the way he said it put me off

I was going to ask more but my brother arrived and was understandably upset that I was once again interrogating his fiancé, he told me that “if I do anything like that one more time I’d be uninvited to his wedding” I agreed to not do it any further but pointed out I was only doing it because I love him and don’t want to see him get hurt, he said he understands but he truly love him and knows he loves him back

So the wedding came it was nice, my brothers best friend (along with his wife) cried, after the main ceremony I brought it up with some of the guests about how my brother’s now husband grew up and about his serial killer mom, some of the guests ignored me, others said they never would have guessed, but there was this one guy who thought I was right that he was suspicious

We ended up talking about it for a bit and he said he thought it weird that prior to the neighbours calling the police there had never been any attempts to contact them and I agreed and once again confronted my brother’s now husband (hey I never said I would stop) he told me the same things as before but I couldn’t accept it this time something was up I kept pressing on it and eventually he ran off

Unfortunately my brother saw him run off and got very mad though he didn’t confront me until after the wedding was over and instead went after his husband, they didn’t end up returning and the party ended an hour before it should have and the whole time everyone was worried about where the two (thought mostly my brother’s husband) were

When I got home I got a call from my brother, he was upset and asked “how I could do such a thing” and “I really upset *redacted*” I explained that I felt his husband was suspicious and he shouldn’t be upset I wad just trying to protect him, he yelled that “he didn’t need protection” and “*redacted* was a wonderful man, whom I hurt for no reason beyond my unfathomable distrust in whoever my brother chooses” and hung up

I called him back and he told me “he doesn’t want to talk to me right now”

TL;DR I was highly suspicious of my brother’s fiancé and in that suspicion ended up ruining his wedding aita?

#aita #am i the asshole #unreality

[bluekat12345]

He's my son, not yours! Part 2

Part 1 Part 3

I promised drama would come, and here's where it'll truly start! Enjoy reading! Another shoutout to @gelu-the-babosa-multiversal

Sorry for taking so long with this, things have been busy in real life.

The next day...

Steve Rogers was taking a ride around Griffin Rock that afternoon. He was starting to feel a little cooped up at their base, so he figured he could use some fresh air. After dressing in civilian clothes to try to not draw unwanted attention to himself, he got on his motorcycle and went for a ride.

Eventually his ride took him towards a school building, and from what he could recall, that was most likely where Cody went to school. And remembering the time, he knew Cody was probably done with his classes for the day, and his father, Chief Burns, would be picking him up along with his partner robot.

"Maybe it wouldn't hurt to say hello to them." He thought. Driving towards the school, he was able to see Cody sitting on a bench outside by himself.

"Afternoon, son." Steve greeted as he approached the boy.

Cody smiled in surprise. "Hey, Captain. What are you doing here?"

"I was riding around Griffin and I'd come say hello to your and your father." Captain America explained. "Speaking of which, where is he? I assumed he and his partner would be here to pick you up. Chase, right?"

Cody nodded. "Yep. They had a quick emergency to take care of. So, I figured I'd wait for them. They shouldn't take long, Mrs. Neederlander needs help with her cat."

"Ah." The Captain responded. Then he sat on the bench beside him. "Well, you shouldn't be here alone. How about I keep you company while we wait for your father?"

"Are you sure?" Cody asked. "I don't want to waste your time."

"Nonsense, it's no trouble at all." Steve assured.

Cody smiled at the older man. "Well, if you really don't mind, then thanks." Then he started going through his backpack. "While we wait, can I show you some stuff from class today?"

Steve nodded with a grin. "Sure. What have you got, son?"

"We had a guest speaker come to our school today. She said she was part of an art museum in the mainland" Cody explained. "She was a bit of snob, but we got to make plates out of clay. And they even glazed them, so they're waterproof and food safe."

"That's impressive." Steve commented.

"And check this out." Cody added as he took a dark-blue plate from his bag. In the center of it, was a silver drawing of a police badge. Specifically, the same badge Chief Burns wears. "I made this one for Dad. You think he'll like it?"

Captain America smiled. "He'll love it.

Cody put the plate back in bag. "I also made a few more. Let me show you."

"Thanks for coming with me to pick up Cody, Dani." Chief Burns said to his daughter as they drove to Cody's school.

"No problem, Dad." Dani assured him.

"Chief, if I may ask, why is Dani here with us?" Chase asked. "While I do enjoy her company, I admit I do not understand why she is here when she usually doesn't accompany us when we pick up Cody."

"Appearances." Chief explained. "I need to go back to the Avengers' base for another meeting, so I need Dani to be in the driver's seat to make it look like she dropped me off and took Cody to home. We can't have the world seeing you drive without a driver yet."

"Ah. That makes sense." Chase commented.

Then they arrived at the school entrance. Charlie and Dani got out of Chase's vehicle form and walked up to the entrance. They didn't see Cody, but they did see a well-dressed woman in front of the school, texting on her phone.

"Excuse me, ma'am?" Chief Burns announced as he approaches the woman. "Have you seen a blond boy? He was supposed to be waiting here for someone to pick him up."

"Huh?" The woman looked up from her phone for a moment to glance at Charlie and Dani before going back to her phone. "Oh, yeah. He and his father were sitting on one of the benches."

"His father?" Dani asked in confusion. "What are you talking about?"

"Over there." The woman then pointed. They say Cody sitting on a bench, and with him was Captain America. The man was dressed in casual clothes; he sat next to Cody, nodding as Cody rambled on about whatever they were talking about.

"Is something wrong?" The woman asked. "Are you the boy's grandfather?"

You could practically here a record scratch.

"G-Grandfather?" Charlie stammered, insulted and embarrassed. "I'm, he's, uh, I-"

"He's the boys actual father." Dani explained to save her father from more embarrassment. "That man is a family friend."

"Really?" The woman looked back and forth between Steve and Charlie a few times before shrugging and walking off, still texting on her phone. "Never would've guessed."

"Excuse me?" Dani demanded.

"Let's just go." Chief declared, wanting to keep the situation from getting worse. He gently dragged his daughter away.

"Rude." Dani grumbled. Then she calmed herself before getting Cody and Captain America's attentions. "Hey guys."

"Oh, hey Dani." Cody greeted. "Hey, Dad. How's Mr. Pettypaws?"

"What?" Chief asked. Then he remembered the 'emergency' he had to deal with earlier. "Oh, same old." Then he turned to Steve. "What brings you here, Captain?"

"I was going for a ride around Griffin Rock, then I noticed I was driving by Cody's school." Captain Rogers explained. "I figured I'd come here to say hi to you both, but saw Cody was by himself, so I figured I'd keep him company so he wouldn't be lonely."

"I wasn't that late picking him up." Charlie commented, not liking how that sounded.

Steve frowned. "I wasn't suggesting anything, Sir. Cody told me you were taking care of something."

Charlie frowned, more at himself than at Steve. "I know. I'm sorry, its just...been a long day."

"Are you okay, Dad?" Cody asked, concerned.

"Oh, hey, Cody, how was school?" Dani asked, hoping to change the mood. She figured she knew what had their Dad in a bad mood, and she hoped to distract him from that.

"Yeah, Cody, why don't you show your father what you showed me?" Steve added, probably understanding what Dani was trying to do. At least Dani hoped so.

Cody then held up a plate. It looked liked Captain America's shield. "We had a guest speaker come into class today and we got make plates. I made this one like Captain America's Shield."

"You've got a creative genius here, Chief." Steve complimented. Then he ruffled Cody's hair, getting a small laugh from the boy as he put the plate in his backpack.

Usually, seeing Captain Rogers ruffle his son's hair like that didn't bother Charlie, but now, something about it made his stomach sick. It felt wrong now, like Steve no longer had a right to do that. Like he shouldn't be doing that at all.

"No wonder that woman thought he was Cody's dad." Chief Burns thought, rather bitterly. "Why does he always have to act like that to Cody? I'm his father, not him."

"Oh, and I also made others" Cody went on, unaware of his father's inner turmoil. "I made-"

"We need to go, Cody." Chief quickly declared.

Cody frowned. "What's wrong, Dad?"

Charlie forced a smile. "Nothing, son. We just need to get home. You have homework to do and I'm pretty sure Captain Rogers needs to get back to base soon." He hoped he didn't sound annoyed as he addressed Steve.

Fortunately, the veteran didn't seem to notice. "He's right, I should probably get back before the others wonder why I'm gone for too long." Then he smiled at the Burns. "A pleasure seeing you all again. Hope to see you at the base soon." Then he nodded at Cody. "Maybe we can work on the motorcycle. Tony said he was working on upgrade and he thought he would appreciate it."

"Noble." Cody exclaimed. "I can't wait."

"If we have time, we'll see." Chief interrupted. "Have a safe trip back to your base. Let's go, Cody."

"Bye Captain!" Cody said as he followed his father and sister.

"Welcome back, everyone." Chase greeted as everyone got in their seats. "How did it go?"

"Fine." Chief Burns grumbled.

"Dad, what's wrong?" Cody asked. "You've been acting a bit off."

"I'm fine." Charlie assured, quickly and rather weakly.

Cody looked like he wanted to say more, but Dani shook her head at the boy. Cody didn't speak up. They just sat in a rather tense silence as they drove back to the Firehouse.

I think I might be a bit obsessed with this crossover/AU. Please forgive me. And forgive me if this seemed a bit weak to what you guys wanted, I guarantee it will really pick up in the next part.

#He's my son not yours #TFRB x AEMH #my writing #Transformers #Avengers #Avengers Earth's Mightiest Heroes #Rescue Bots #Transformers Rescue Bots #AEMH #TFRB #crossover #Transformers AU #Rescue Bots AU #TFRB AU

[thehuntss]

AFTERMATH - HIGH FOR THIS 2/2

•

On the next day everyone is sober. But all of them could remember crystal clear one thing. How Hotch and Prentiss announced they were dating. And since they had their own fun, now it was the team's turn.

•

Hi guys !

As requested and because I felt like it wasn’t done yet, here’s part two.

Thank you so much for your support !

Hope you’ll enjoy <3

xx

When the BAU woke up on the next morning, everyone felt the same: dizzy.

At some point some of them considered that their state was likely close to sickness so they could call in and stay in bed.

“I feel like shit. What the hell happened yesterday?” Derek groaned, on the phone with Penelope who was literally feeling the same. “Can we call in sick ? I can’t get up.”

“Am I being dramatic if I tell you I was considering the same my chocolate god.” She replied, suddenly thirsty like if she had spend days in desert without any water. “My head is about to explode and I can’t even sit in bed because it’s moving like a carousel.”

“I know, mine didn’t stop either, or it’s the aftermath of the cookies.” He mumbled, wondering how he could work today in this state. Derek didn’t have more time to think that he heard a knock on his door. “Don’t hang up baby girl.” He told Garcia before standing up and making his way to his unfortunate guest.

What a surprise he had when he saw JJ on the other side. She looked happy, and the little smirk she had over her face made clear to him that she would tease him for the rest of the case. What made him feel better was to know the others weren’t much to envy.

“Good morning. Are you feeling better?” She gently asked, already knowing the answer. He sighted, letting Garcia knows that his cover was spotted and in conclusion, hers too.

“I feel like I’ve been crushed by a giant weed cookie. I don’t do drugs. And I don’t ever want this to happen again.” He groaned as she chuckled.

“Don’t worry it’s going to pass. And for your information the others are pretty much feeling like you. Rossi is wearing sunglasses in his bathroom, and Reid thought he was sleeping in a coffin.” She resumed.

“And the lovers ? I had my headphones on, just in case they wanted to do it again…” he grimaced, clearly remember his boss and his friend making out in he police station restroom.

“They are the last ones I have to wake up….”

He laughed, feeling suddenly happy not having to do that. “Good luck with them, you’ll probably find them all naked and I personally don’t want to see bossman’s ass.”

“You’re gross. Come on, do whatever you want but be ready we have to be at the station in 30 minutes.” She said before leaving, as he unmuted his phone. “You knew she was coming right?”

Penelope faked a sorry sigh, laughing at the desperation in her best friend’s voice. “I always thought bossman and Rossi were our parents, I guess JJ makes a good one too.”

“You’re the worst.” He groaned, heading to the shower. “Wheels up in 30!” Derek said in a perfect Hotch imitation, before hanging up.

•

When Emily opened her eyes she felt like she was about to die or something close from it. She had never do drugs before, even in her chaotic childhood. She was having the worst headache ever, even alcohol didn’t do the same damages on her brain. “What the hell happened yesterday?”

She tried to stir like Sergio, but her body was sore as hell and then she heard a soft knock on the door. She stood up - too quickly her head started to turn - and opened, wearing Aaron’s shirt. When she saw JJ standing on the other side she smiled.

“Good morning. How are you feeling ?” The blonde asked.

“Terrible, I hate cookies.”

“Hmmm you’re the fourth person telling me this today. Is Hotch awake ?” JJ asked, presuming they had been sleeping in the same room, like they secretly did for the past year.

She didn’t know what was the funnier. Emily’s confused face when she heard her or the way she definitely didn’t remember a word of their original announcement the day before.

“What?” Emily replied confused, not knowing why JJ was asking that.

“Hotch is here right ?” She pointed at his shirt on her. “I mean, if you’re dating it’s normal. We have to be at the station in 30 minutes and I wanted to make sure everyone was alive.” The brunette still looked confused and JJ added. “It’s his room, that’s why I asked.”

And then she saw the light illuminates her friend’s brain as she understood the meaning of the question, looking at her boyfriend shirt. “We are dat…what are you speaking about ?” She frowned her eyesbrows and then realized. “Oh..oh you mean Hotch. Like is Hotch sleeping here ? Yeah, yeah he’s almost awake, we’ll meet you all at the reception.”

She closed the door, for sure she was having a blackout on certains moments of the day before. Emily remembered eating the cookies and then it was only flash backs, kind of blurry. She smiled when she saw her handsome boyfriend still asleep, and all naked.“Get it together Emily, we don’t have time.”

“Honey?” she sat next to him, pressing soft kisses over his face, almost falling off the bed when he jumped out like he had seen the scariest psychopath ever.

“What…” he groaned, feeling like his head was about to explode. “Hi sweetheart.” He said when he realized she was next to him, dragging her back to bed in a loving embrace, taking time to kiss her. She chuckled, straddling him.

“Good morning. How are you feeling ?”

He looked less livid, that was a good point, and as an answer Aaron kissed her again. “You look so beautiful when you’re wearing my clothes.” He whispered, feeling desire burning his body. Without warning he unbuttoned his shirt, looking at those perfect breast of her. She was so beautiful, they were so beautiful. And Aaron suddenly felt very hungry, and definitely not for cookies.

His eyes locked on hers, studying her face, waiting. She gave an almost imperceptible nod, letting him know she wanted this so bad. His lips latched onto her nipple and he sucked her flesh into his hot mouth. She felt so good, he could never get rid of that taste.

Emily ’s hand shot up to grasp the back of his head as she groaned in pleasure. “Aaron” she breathed into the air above and he bit her nipple gently in reply, making her shiver. As his mouth was busy he made sure to not neglect her other breast, giving her the best treat.

Emily whimpered, and Aaron once again found himself addicted to that sweet sounds, she was giving herself to him, and these moments were priceless. He was so distracted by her that he didn’t notice Emily’s hand move until it wrapped around his erection, making his hips buck against her. “Jesus, fuck” he gasped, knowing that reaching his climax wouldn’t take long this morning.

She chuckled, and before he could do or say anything she sank down on his shaft, moaning as she took him fully inside, the slight usual burn making her even more happy. “Oh baby…” her eyes squeezing shut, and her breathing louder, he could see how much she was enjoying herself. He hadn’t move yet.

Suddenly gripping her waist, he gave a big thrust, making her scream before he could cover her mouth with his hand. The heat of her tight channel around his cock made him groan, the sensations of physical love overwhelming him.

“Faster baby, you feel so good…” she panted, her hands caressing all over his torso, her body all tensed.

He pounded even harder, one of his hand on her clit and he knew she was getting close. Aaron wanted to give her everything, that little push that would send her over the edge. The harder he touched her sensitive spot, the better she moaned, the sound of his hips against her echoing deliciously to their ears.

A last hard thrust of his hips and Emily shattered, a long moan escaping her throat before she bit her lip to quieten herself a bit. Aaron loved to make her scream like that, something he got addicted to since the day they discovered physical love. “Come with me honey….” she almost begged him, still on her climax and a few thrusts later he came as well, spurting into her his hot and sticky fluids, groaning.

“What are you doing to me Em….” He whispered, catching his breath as she lied down next to him her head resting over his sweaty torso.

“Showing you how much I love you.” She replied, and suddenly reality hit her back, realizing they were now VERY late. She jumped out, and he didn’t need explanation before following her the shower.

“I guess we don’t have time for another round in the shower ?” She teased him as the water started to pour on their heated bodies.

“Emily!” But he wasn’t mad, he was terribly in love with her.

•

David Rossi, JJ, Derek Morgan, Spencer Reid and Penelope Garcia were waiting in the hotel lobby, all of them wearing big sunglasses, four of them wanting to die. It was even worst than a hungover and none of them seemed to have recovered.

“I feel like my head is a volcano ready to burst.” Derek groaned.

“Mine already exploded.” Garcia replied, very sensitive to the noises surrounding her.

“They are late.” JJ stated as Rossi sighted.

“They are the god and goddess of the most delicious and naughtiest business.” Derek mumbled, giving Reid a malicious look.

“Please Morgan, I don’t want to ever remember this episode of my life, I still can’t erase their moans from my head.” The youngest complained, very much traumatized. “It’s so unlike of them, neither of them would have done it in a public place like a police station. It doesn’t make any sense, I can’t find the right explanation.”

“Because there’s none little genius.” Dave replied him, shrugging his shoulders. “Let’s just say you can’t find answers of everything in books, sometimes you just have to…let go?”

“So you’re saying they listened to the little devil on their shoulder ?” Derek said, looking suddenly very concerned. “Interesting, maybe I should do that more often.”

“You already do that often, remember all the times at the bar my sunshine?” Penelope yawned as she answered.

“Are you being jealous baby girl ?” He teased her.

“Never, because I’m the supremacy and no one can ever uncrown me. Remember that.” She chuckled with this bitchy look that always amused him.

And before he could say something else they saw Hotch and Emily arrived from the elevator, both of them surprisingly wearing sunglasses too.

“It’s about time. Let’s go to the SUV kids.” David said, standing up and greeting his friends. They all did the same with a small smirk over their faces, leaving Aaron and Emily confused.

•

First SUV - ACT 1 (Derek, Penelope, JJ and Emily)

“So.” Derek broke the silence in the car, turning to Emily. “Dating Hotch huh?”

All the expressions crossed her face, not really remembering what had happened the day before, but they obviously did because they were all looking at her with the same expression. “What are you talking about ?”

“Oh don’t play with me princess. You basically told us and worst, showed us that you and boss man really gets along.” He said, Penelope starting to laugh uncontrollably.

“What ??”

She still had no idea what they were talking about. JJ felt bad for her friend and decided to help her, teasing her a bit. “You don’t remember yesterday ?”

“We’ve had some cookies and then you locked us up in the conference room.”

“Yeah right, and then ?” JJ continued, smiling knowingly. “You went to the toilets when Morgan started to sniff the table…”

“Hey I wasn’t sniffing the table!” Morgan exclaimed, as Garcia laughed louder. “I was…checking on it.”

“Oh…you smell like love!” JJ imitated then looked at him. “That’s what you said to that damn table.”

“No sense.” He managed to say, trying to remember but without success. “Anyways, Prentiss went to the toilets, and then…princess ?”

The three of them turned their look on the brunette and as they insisted, she suddenly got hit and everything came back in her memories. And for the first time she felt horrified, having flashback of those damn restrooms and what they had done inside.

“Oh my god.” She said after a few seconds, slapping her forehead with the palm of her hand. “Did…we…”

“Yes.” They all answered at the same time, JJ frowning her eyebrows, Pen laughing. “And I think everyone at the station remembers it.”

Emily went livid, unable to say something else.

•

Second SUV - ACT 2 (Dave, Spencer and Hotch)

“So you and Emily ?” Dave told his long time friend, looking at him like the proud mentor he was.

The confused look over Aaron’s face made him chuckle, the man had no idea what he was talking about and that was the funniest. “You don’t remember right ?”

He shook his head, looking stern and the usually strict but Dave knew him, he was being intrigued. He cleared his throat, looking at Reid in the rear view mirror, the youngest was fixing his feet, definitely feeling embarrassed.

“What happened ?” Aaron asked, feeling more confused when he saw the way Reid was definitely not looking at him.

“Let’s just say you and Emily had more fun yesterday, beside of the cookies.” Dave started, trying to focus on the road. “You followed her when she went to the restroom and both of you came back in later with some nice hickeys on the neck if you know what I mean.”

Horror crossed Aaron’s face and then he realized, he had literally forgot this part, or his brain made him forget because it was embarrassing, or because he had been too high.

“We…” he slowly said, closing his eyes and pinching the bridge of his nose, not sure he wanted an answer.

“You did have sex in the restroom and we figured out because of the loud noises we could hear from the conference room.” Dave finished for him, unable to hide his smile, even more when he noticed how Spencer wanted to disappear off this damn car. “More horny than lovesick teenagers. You need to take a room or take some holidays and fuck everywhere you want but not at the police station.”

“Shut up Dave.”

He couldn’t say more, only his laugh friend ringing to his ear.

•

When the two SUV arrived at the station, both Emily and Hotch were livid, looking at the ground and going inside without saying a word. The rest of the team remained outside for a few minutes, JJ breaking the silence.

“How did it go for you?”

“I think we have something to tease them for the rest of our lives.” David chuckled. “And we also resolved the greatest case of the BAU.”

“I think they will never forget this, and if they do it’ll be my pleasure to remind them.” Derek added, his hands on his hips, too amused.

“And I think I’ll need some sleeping pills so Hotch and Prentiss will pay for it.”

They all turned to Reid, Morgan giving him a formal pat on the shoulder, all of them smiling. “Come on kids, our boss needs you.”

The horrified look on Spence’s face made them all burst in tears, Morgan clearing his throat before rectifying himself. “For your intellectual qualities genius boy.”

“I hate all of you. I changed my mind, you are all paying for my therapy.” He pointed his fingers at them, getting inside the same way Hotch and Prentiss did few minutes before.

“Welcome to the BAU.” David sighted. These kids were definitely going to kill him one day.

#hotchniss #hotchniss smut #criminal minds fic #weedcookies #BAU family #aaron hotchner needs a hug #emily prentiss needs a hug #mommy JJ #they are still high but we love them

[neocitybooty]

I Choose You [M]

Genre: Smut, Office AU, Multiple Partners, Fluff, Angst, M/F

Pairing: Jaehyun x Johnny x Original Character

Word Count: 1.4K

Warnings: Oral sex, Sub/Dom dynamics, bodily fluids, masturbation, vulgar language, choking, rough sex, multiple partners, unprotected sex

Summary: Carmella requested a transfer within her company and moved to the other side of the world. She soon realizes she bit off more than she can chew once she starts working at the home branch…

A/N: We are almost there!! I know y’all are SICK of me and these late updates but I really have a lot going on in my daily life. Hmmm let’s see. I’m going through a career change and I am newly single. I am fine. The sex wasn't that spectacular, I was going to dump him as soon as summer began. And he didn’t like NCT so it was never going to work, I fear. 

Chapter 7 

“Call me back right now.” Mela said into her phone as she reached Jaehyun’s voicemail for the third time. He had slipped out early before she rose and had not returned any phone calls.

She saw the news. She saw everything. She knew. This is what had Jaehyun shaken up the night prior. Joo was dead. He had been murdered.

Who could do such a thing? And more importantly, why him?

A wave of terror had rolled through Mela as she watched the anchor speak about details of the crime. He wasn’t at the party because he was probably already dead.

Mela rested her cheek on her as she thought about the events that might have taken place. Did he perhaps work late or head back to the office because he had forgotten something?

Mela’s phone rang loudly, interrupting her thoughts.

“Be ready and downstairs in 10 minutes.” Jaehyun’s voice greeted her.

“I- I need more time”  She replied.

“Well you’re not going to get it. Now is not the time, Mela.” He said before hanging up.

Mela walked to the bathroom and looked at her disheveled appearance. Jaehyun was right. It really wasn’t the best time for anything.

After gathering all her things and a failed attempt at a bun, Mela went downstairs and Jaehyun was already in the lobby, waiting.

He kissed his lover on the forehead and grabbed the bags from her hands.

“We need to hurry, before the reporters get here.” He said as he opened the passenger door for Mela and then the back door to stuff the bags.

Mela quickly got in and he closed both doors and half jogged to his side and got in. He sat in his seat and stopped for a second, with his hands both on the wheels.

“I apologize.” Jaehyun said as he started the car.

Mela looked at him and said nothing. She was certain he would add more to his statement.

“I didn’t want you to find out that way. I just didn’t know how to tell you.”  He took a route that looked unfamiliar to Mela.

“Um. Where are we going?” She asked him as Boyz II Men played in the background.

“We can’t stay at a place that is known.” Jaehyun calmly responded.

“I have a new spot for us. Share the location with no one.”

“Copy.” Mela said in a soft voice.

-

A few miles away, Johnny was in a room at the precinct.

“Where were you between the times of 5:00pm and 11:30pm?” An officer asked Johnny as he sat in the chair in the middle of the cold, dark room.

“I was at home, getting ready…Then I was at the party.” Johnny laid back in the chair, unfazed.

“According to our investigation, you left the party a bit early. CCTV footage shows you leaving the venue before the rest of the guests. Can you tell us where you went?” The officer finally sat in front of him.

“Yes. I went home.”

“Do you have any way of verifying that?”

“No.”

“Well then-” The officer started.

“But I have something that I think you are going to want to see.” Johnny said confidently.

“And what would that be?” The officer replied.

“The footage for the building was tampered with. Between the times of 10:00pm and 10:27pm. Don’t you want to know what actually happened between those times? I’m not surprised no one from your team caught it. The police has always been useless.” Johnny shook his head.

“What are you talking about?”

“Go have someone less incompetent review the CCTV footage. You’ll see what I’m talking about. And since you don’t have enough evidence to charge me, how about you let me go home?” Johnny said with a smirk.

The officer sighed and motioned for his men to remove the handcuffs binding Johnny’s wrists.

“Keep in touch.” Johnny said as he walked out of the interrogation room.

-

“This is…. different.” Mela said as they stepped into the new space.

“It’s my parents’ first retreat home ever built. No one but family knows about it.” Jaehyun said as he pressed a button on his phone and all the lights turned on at once.

“It feels like it was made to be a home.” Mela said in a quiet voice.

“Well…it’s where I spent a large portion of my time as a child. My mother and father used to bring me here to get away from the loud city. Sometimes we would spend weeks here and my dad would just work from his office.” Jaehyun said as he ruffled his hair.

“It’s a shame that it took a tragedy for you to bring me here.” Mela sniffed.

Jaehyun cupped Mela’s cheeks and kissed her softly.

“It’s tradition to come here as a family, Mela. Think about what that means, please.” He said before dragging some luggage to the next room.

Not fully comprehending his statement, Mela followed.

“What do you mean?”

“I mean…This is where I was going to bring you after we had our first baby..” Jaehyun stopped in his tracks.

“Come back to reality, bozo. I am not pregnant and I don’t want to be pregnant for a very long time!” Mela exclaimed, putting her hands up.

“I could easily change that, if you let me.” Jaehyun was now in front of Mela.

Not knowing how to react, Mela took a step back and cleared her throat.

“We will not have sex tonight.” She said quietly.

“That’s okay. Just let Daddy rub your butt…It’ll do for now.” Jaehyun chuckled as he grabbed a handful of flesh.

“You are so inappropriate.”

“You love it.” Jaehyun hummed.

“Sometimes.” Mela said with a kiss.

“You’re the worst liar.” Mela felt Jaehyun’s smile through the next kiss.

He then broke the kiss and slid his hands around to intertwine his fingers with Mela’s.

“Please put up with me. I don’t know how long we will be here. But we really have to lay low for the time being. It’s the only way I can keep you safe.”

Mela nodded. “I understand.” She said calmly.

She heard her phone ping in the living room before she could continue.

“I’ll be back.” She told Jaehyun.

He hesitated and frowned a bit, but he eventually let go and started to unpack.

You should’ve never said yes to him.

It was an unknown number.

Who is this?  Mela responded.

She got a reply almost instantly.

You won’t live long enough to find out.

Mela quietly gasped.  Was this some kind of sick joke?

“Hey, you’re taking a while. Is everything okay?” Jaehyun was now in the living room with Mela, as she stood with the phone still in her hand.

He rushed over and looked at her phone screen.

“Who the hell is this?”  He said with an incredulous look on his face.

“Jae, I don’t know.”

Jaehyun shook his head and stepped away, barely moving nothing more than a few inches.

“No, no, no.” He started to say.

“Jae, I really don’t think it’s that serious.” Mela sighed.

“Mels, you don’t understand…” Jaehyun replied, still in a state of shock. “If this person is involved with Joo’s murder…He wasn’t the target. You are.”

He said nothing after and seemed to zone out.

Mela watched Jaehyun as a new aura entered the atmosphere.

“Jaehyun.” She started as she grabbed his chin and turned his head so the couple made direct eye contact. “Why would I be the target? What are you not telling me?”

Jaehyun averted his gaze for a split second and took a deep breath.

“Things would be better for you….and us, if you continued to not know.” He said in a voice so quiet it was essentially a whisper.

“Oh, that’s not-” Mela started to protest but Jaehyun interjected.

“Carmella, please. I need you to trust me on this.” Jaehyun pleaded as worry lines appeared on his forehead. She then let go of his chin and nodded, admitting defeat.

“Thank you. Let’s finish unpacking and then I can make us something to eat. There’s no help here, so please be easy on me.” Jaehyun started walking back to the bedroom.

“Jae?” Mela said.

“Hmm?” He stopped and looked back at Mela.

“I’m sorry. I know you’re trying. In your own way or whatever.” She said nonchalantly.

Jaehyun slightly smirked and a dimple appeared on his cheek.

“Come show me how sorry you are and maybe I'll forgive you. Brat.”

Chapter 1

#nct fanfic #nct smut #jaehyun #nct127 #kpop fanfic #kpop fanfiction #Jung Jaehyun #johnny suh

[chilled-ice-cubes]

caravan magazine's series of articles on justice loya's death really drives in the sheer hopelessness of our justice system

Other questions, too, remain unanswered. Why was the family not informed when Loya was taken to hospital? Why were they not informed as soon as he died? Why were they not asked for approval of a post-mortem, or informed that one was to be performed, before the procedure was carried out? Who recommended the post-mortem, and why? What was suspicious about Loya’s death to cause a post-mortem to be recommended? What medication was administered to him at Dande Hospital? Was there not a single vehicle in Ravi Bhavan—which regularly hosts VIPs, including ministers, IAS and IPS officers and judges—available to ferry Loya to hospital?

According to Biyani, “My brother was offered a bribe of 100 crore in return for a favourable judgment. Mohit Shah, the chief justice, made the offer himself.” She added that Mohit Shah told her brother that if “the judgment is delivered before 30 December, it won’t be under focus at all because at the same time, there was going to be another explosive story which would ensure that people would not take notice of this.”

[...]

On 30 December, around one month after Loya’s death, Gosavi upheld the defence’s argument that the CBI had political motives for implicating the accused. With that, he discharged Amit Shah. The same day, news of MS Dhoni’s retirement from test cricket dominated television screens across the country. As Biyani recounted, “There was just a ticker at the bottom which said, ‘Amit Shah not guilty. Amit Shah not guilty.’”

It is unlikely that the frenzied activity the judges described in their statements was a quiet affair. The deterioration of Loya’s health, the call Kulkarni placed to Barde, the subsequent arrival of Barde and Rathi in the car, the conversation between the judges when Loya came “down,” and the eventual departure of the judges with the ailing Loya for Dande hospital—all would have likely caused a significant amount of noise, if not a downright commotion.

Yet, according to the 17 current and former employees of Ravi Bhawan, none of the staff members who were on duty that night—from reception, to room service and miscellaneous duties—realised that a guest had been taken to the hospital early in the morning on 1 December 2014. “We didn’t even know that one of the judges staying at our premises at that time had died. We only found out when the papers started writing about it [in 2017] and the inquiry began,” the third employee I met told me. Fifteen of the 17 current and former employees told me that they learned of Loya’s death the same way. The remaining two were not even aware that a guest had died until I interviewed them.

[...]

The question of Loya’s personal belongings is key: The Caravan reported earlier that according to Loya’s sister, Anuradha Biyani, the family was handed the judge’s phone three days after his death. Who took out Loya’s personal belongings from Ravi Bhawan—and whether he was in fact staying there—remains unclear. That 17 current and former employees of Ravi Bhawan had no knowledge of his death until three years later, and could not recall any details regarding the chain of events the judges described, reiterates the troubling nature of the circumstances surrounding Loya’s death.

other articles:

#judge loya #desiblr #india #indian politics #an old story but still pertinent today... #anya.txt #also im not purporting myself to be an expert... if this catches your attention do go for your own research too 👍

[profoundexpertearthquake]

Salesmans troubles

The clumsy frenchman was again up to some mischief recently under the guise of a security salesman selling door to door

Targeting a large house on the outskirts of town where a wealthy lady lived named Emily Collins lived. One morning Emily answered her door bell to come face to face with a rather suspicious looking man who was greeting her with a forced smile "bonjour madame " said the frenchman in his native tongue feeling sure this would impress the young woman before continuing in english "can I interest you in a free security survey " and then barging past Emily down a hallway and into a large living room, having caught up with her unwanted quest in her living room Emily told the intruder to leave at once or she'd call the police.

"Please please do not alarm yourself madam I can offer you the very latest and best in security equipment" if I can just be left alone for 10 minutes to carry out the survey added the French crook, "not interested you see we already have our very own live security system and i think it's time you met him" said Emily apon opening a door from a adjacent room and in walked a friendly looking dog wagging his tail

"Why madam that's only a little corgi" chuckled the French badie "it's time our guest left Max" said Emily before pointing at Frenchie "Max see him off" apon those words Maxes nature immediately changed charging at the villian and nipping about his ankles "get off me" he yelped hopping about aiming a few kicks at his attacker and missing before bending over to crab him, Max immediately darted between his legs and swung around lept up and bit the intruders ample backside "Yeeeoww!!! called out the frenchman, there now followed an unlikely dance of man and dog, man dancing around the room dog attached to backside and swinging from side to side all that as needed was some accompanying music.

As the dance continues Emily calmly calls the police and remembering the new pellet pistol she recently purchased for her son Jimmy who due home from boarding school that day and her husband had gone to collect " i think I'm going to have a good target to try this out on in a minute" she muttered to herself as she loaded pellets into the pistol. After a few more moments the dance duo of man and dog came to an abrupt end with a terrific ripping fabric sound.

"oh la la" it was now time for Emily to use some French phrases "I see London i see france i see someone's skimpy under pants" the frenchmans face quickly went bright red "mon pantaloon " he yelled as he clasped his rear before he fled the room and down the hallway giving Emily a good view of his brief clad rear as she took aim and fired a couple of shots at his butt causing him leap up as he fled through the door closely followed by a barking Max, The red faced frenchman didn't get to far as the police had arrived and arrested him, back in the house Emily was checking the footage she'd managed to capture on her phone of the dancing man and dog, when Max returned to the room wagging his tail with something hanging from his mouth "what you got Max" she said as she removed it and apon holding it up saw it was a peace of thin white fabric with red hearts on, she immediately knew where the fabric had been ripped from, "oh la la" she said giggling as she looked down at Max "good boy good boy". Later that day she told her husband and son about the morning events Jimmy was thrilled with his knew pistol and expressly how his mum had tested it.

Meanwhile down at the police station as the french badie was bent over and painfully having a couple of pellets removed from his now bare backside which was sticking out through the huge hole in his pants and torn briefs. That bloody woman and her dog he thought to himself "mon pauvre fessier, mon pantalon, mon beau slip" he muttered to himself.

[fatalezr]

Prisoner Transfer

Yelena looked around the round table at the strange gathering she found herself part of. She was wearing leather trousers and a leather jacket and wore her typical scowl on her face. To her right was Raoul, dressed in a smart shirt and trousers. He looked how Yelena loved him to be - strong, powerful and intelligent. To the right of Raoul was the first of the guests who had joined them that morning and who Sandra had introduced as Bea. She was an interesting specimen for Yelena, six foot four inches tall and stacked with more muscles than the rest of the occupants at the table combined. Bea was sipping a cup of tea that Sandra had put down, wearing a flowing vest top and leggings and she had a scowl that could match Yelena's.

To Bea's right were the two other occupants of the table that Yelena knew. Detective Daniela Ramirez was in a smart trouser suit over a purple blouse and looking equally perplexed at the strange meeting before finally Sandra sat down in the remaining chair to Daniela's right and Yelena's left, holding her own mug of tea whilst wearing a grey dress.

"Ladies, gentleman" she said, as she sat, smiling, "I believe we have an incredible opportunity today to strike at the heart of the Piacenza empire. We-"

"We?" the large muscular woman opposite Yelena said, "who the fuck is we?".

"Of course" Sandra said, "allow me to introduce everyone. Bea, this is Yelena and Raoul" Sandra indicated towards the two of them, "they're a former assassin and a former lieutenant within the Falcano crime family whereas to my right is Detective Sargeant Daniela Ramirez from the 47th precint in Manhattan. Daniela, what's your full title now?"

"Head of investigative unit" Daniela said proudly.

"A fucking cop?" Bea scoffed.

"A damn brilliant woman" Sandra interjected, "with a shared and common interest in shaking up the old order".

Bea continued to scowl. She looked at Yelena. "And what's your story?"

Yelena gave her a smirk. "Me? I kill people".

"For the mob?" Bea asked.

"No" Yelena said defiantly, "for me". They locked eyes for a second and despite their physical differences Yelena thought she saw a similar disposition in the tall blonde woman. There was silence for a few seconds.

"Anyway" Sandra said, bringing the room together again, "as I was saying, we have an opportunity to strike at the heart of the Piacenza empire if, and only if, we work together. Daniela, would you mind sharing what you told me last night?"

"Sure" the detective said, "yesterday morning we got a tip on the whereabouts of Andrea Piacenza, Sal's brother and leading hatchet man".

"Dios mio!" Raoul exclaimed. His eyes were wide in surprise. "You got a tip?"

Daniela smiled. "More an accurate ping from a cell phone tower that some of Sandra's friends hacked recently...but in the books it's a CI. Anyways, we arrested him and three other top lieutenants yesterday afternoon".

Yelena bit her lip. She had heard a lot of stories of Andrea Piacenza. He was the face on the street of the empire and supposedly untouchable.

"Now Andrea is being held at Rikers Island right now but he'll be transferred to a Jersey federal prison later today" Daniela continued. "I've arranged it for his security but mainly to keep him away from any stinking lawyer that is going to try get him and the gang out".

"So this gives us a very limited window to strike" Sandra explained, "and it will require all of us. I've been looking at the route and our best place to strike is in the Lincoln tunnel".

"What?" Yelena said, "that's impossible. Too crowded with that many guards".

"In the main tunnel, yes, but there's service points on route we can use. Emergency vehicles are directed to them all the time to get away from traffic" Sandra told her. "This isn't going to be a loud job. We want the police left guessing and all fingers pointing at Falcano for this one. We need to be in and out in one minute".

Yelena laughed. It would be almost impossible. She had seen the prison transportation vans. They were almost impregnible and would have several officers in them. It would take almost a minute to pick the lock on the back door.

"What's your plan?" Bea asked.

"There will be two squad cars and the transport van travelling" Sandra said. "Raoul, you'll divert the cars into the service area. Daniela, you're in the front car. You'll take out your driver. I'll get the back car. Yelena, you're on the driver of the van. Bea, you'll get us into the back of the prison van",

"You can pick a lock that fast?" Yelena asked Bea.

"No" the woman said, "but I can rip one off a door in seconds". Yelena studied the muscles on the woman's arms and wondered if she might just be correct.

"Look we don't have much time to prepare" Sandra warned them, "are we all agreed?"

Yelena bit her lip. She was skepitcal of the plan but the chance to take out Andrea Piacenza and some leading men in Sal's gang was too high a reward to pass up. She nodded her head and the group got up from the table to get ready.

------

The air in the tunnel was heavy and thick and Yelena was glad of the gas mask that she had donned to avoid the car fumes as she waited down the service tunnel, already clad in leather jacket and trousers. She stroked the bulbous suppressor on her Mac-10 and waited patiently.

She had a perfect view of the entrance to the service point and Raoul waiting in a high-vis jumpsuit, already directing some parts of the snarled up traffic. Further into the tunnel were Bea and Sandra, both wearing gas masks like Yelena but Sandra in a sleek all-black turtleneck catsuit and Bea in black leggings and a black tanktop. Sandra held two suppressed Glock 17 pistols in her hands whilst Bea held a suppressed Sig-Sauer. Yelena looked again at the gun in the woman's hand. It looked tiny, and she also had a suppressed FN-P90 submachine gun on her back, both guns looking like small playthings against the giant muscular woman.

"I can see them up the tunnel" Raoul's voice crackled in her ears, "get ready". Yelena crouched and prepared to spring, taking some deep breaths and relaxing herself, finding some calm before the storm that she knew would erupt in the ensuing minute. She glanced down the tunnel again to see Raoul directing the traffic and Daniela's police cruiser leading the way. The service tunnel had some debris up ahead that would force the cars to stop and at the depths they were at, they would not be able to communicate to the surface in time. Yelena had to admit, Sandra had truly thought about most possibilities to make a quick hit.

There was a flash of light as Daniela's car turned in their direction and Yelena glimpsed the detective sitting in the passenger seat of the car next to a driver, followed by a van. The two men sitting up at the front of the van were in full tactical gear, with helmets and body armour on. Yelena knew it might provide them protection but it would also make them slow to react. She would still need to be accurate with her shots and aim for weak points.

Daniela's car passed Yelena's position and screeched to a halt, the van behind it doing the same. "Go!" Sandra's voice crackled through Yelena's earpiece and she was already moving, stepping out of the small alcove and raising her Mac-10 towards the prison van window. Out of the corner of her eye, she saw the window of the first cruiser get painted red as Daniela shot the driver of her car in the head, the sound muffled by the suppressor she had evidently placed on her Glock 17.

Yelena made sure her eyes were forward and gave herself an angle to shoot through the front of the prison van. Pfft-pfft-pfft-pfft-pftt-pfft-pfft-pfft-pfft-pfft-pfft-pfft. She let a long stream of bullets punch through the glass and stun the two officers with shots in their chests. They jerked in their seats but she aimed higher. Pfft-pftt-pfft-pfft-pfft, pfft-pfft-pfft-pfft. She aimed towards their necks and faces and saw her bullets hit home with the two men. They clasped at their throats until another bullet or two to the head splattered them against the front of the prison van.

She ejected her magazine and pulled another from the back of her leather trousers quickly, loading it as she moved to the back of the van. The car behind already had bullets in its windscreen from Sandra and Bea's shots, the two officers in the front vacant-expressioned and dead. The muscular blonde woman was already turning to the van whilst Sandra kept her eyes towards the back of the convoy, covering their rear, her gun down in front of her, ready to strike.

Bea looked at the padlocks on the back of the van and Yelena saw her smirk behind her gas mask before Bea holstered her Sig and let her hands clasp the back of the van. She gritted her teeth and Yelena saw the power flow through the exposed muscles in her arms as she ripped off one lock before turning to the other. Within a few seconds both were crushed. Bea paused to look at Yelena before opening the door.

Yelena raised her Mac-10 but as soon as the door was opened she saw another police officer in a tactical vest lunge at her. He hit her arm before she could shoot and knocked her from her feet. She hit the tunnel hard and felt her gun leave her grasp. She looked for it and then back as the officer pulled a knife from his belt and raise his arm, ready to strike at her.

"Oooh!" his cry was audible as he was hoisted up from behind by his neck. He was a large man but Bea had grabbed him round the neck with her forearm and lifted him in the air, forcing him to drop the knife. Yelena saw his legs kick and struggle before -SNAP- a sharp jerk from Bea broke his neck and she dropped him limp to the floor.

Yelena reached her gun and took it from the floor before turning back to Bea. The muscular woman held her hand out to help Yelena up. She took it. "Thanks" she said as Bea helped her up.

"Buy me a beer" Bea said to her and Yelena smirked. She was beginning to like this strange woman.

They both faced the back of the prison van, Bea taking her FN-P90 off her back and Yelena raising her Mac-10. There were six men inside, all chained to the sides of the van, all wearing orange jumpsuits and all Piacenza lieutenants. They looked at the women curiously, perhaps unsure if the group was there to help them escape or not. At the back of the group was Andrea Piacenza. He was bald, with a long face. Yelena felt fury rise for a second - as a hatchet man, he would have been involved in the attempt on her and Raoul's life.

She raised her gas mask and saw his face turn white. "Still alive" she said, "unlike you". Pfft-pfft-pfft-pfft-pfft-pfft-pfft-pfft-pfft-pfft-pfft-pfft-pfft-pfft-pfft-pfft, brrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrp-brrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrp. She and Bea started to hose down the back of the van, watching as the orange jumpsuits began to fill with holes as the men were unable to escape their positions or their deadly bullets. Pfft-pfft-pfft-pfft-pfft-pfft-pfft-pfft-pfft-pfft-pfft-pfft-pfft-pfft-pfft-pfft, brrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrp-brrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrp. They concentrated their extra fire on Andrea, and soon the back of the van was a mix of dead, mutilated bodies.

Yelena turned to Bea and grinned. The blonde woman did the same and Yelena knew at that moment they would become firm friends. There was just one task to do now. Yelena hurried to the front car where Daniela was sat. She had just unthreaded the suppressor from her Glock and had only needed a single shot into the skull of the officer to kill him. It was impressive. Yelena reached into her leather jacket and pulled out her suppressed Beretta. She aimed it at Daniela and the officer's face turned to panic for a second.

"Are you ready?" Yelena asked.

"Just fucking do it" Daniela said.

Pfft-pfft. Yelena placed two bullets into Daniela's shoulder on her left side. The detective cursed but gritted her teeth through the pain and made sure her jacket looked disarrayed from the shots, getting as much blood on her as she could. She handed Yelena the suppressor and then settled back into the seat, ready to appear to be a victim of the crime. It was key to keeping her cover on the NYPD intact.

Yelena hurried back towards the entrance to the service tunnel. Raoul had already gone to the group's car and was waiting for them as she arrived, where she piled into the back seat next to Bea.

"Drive, drive!" Sandra said and Raoul did so, getting himself into the normal flow of traffic in the tunnel quickly and staying sharp until they emerged into the light of New Jersey. Yelena glanced back. A police helicopter was still hovering over the tunnel, doubtless awaiting the exit of the prison van, unaware of the carnage below.

"So this is a normal day at the office Sandra?" Bea asked.

"Pretty much" Sandra replied, turning back from the passenger seat, "think it might be interesting enough for you?"

Bea gave a glance to Yelena. "Sure" she said, "but I'm racking up a lot of beers from you two".

"Well let's have one today" Yelena suggested and Sandra chuckled.

"Of course" she said, "Raoul, I belive there might be a rather uncouth bar up near our cabin. Shall we?"

He smiled as well and together the four began their journey to upstate New York and a small, well-deserved celebration.

#yelena #Bea #hitwoman #killer woman #female assassin #femme fatale #story #silencerhitwoman #silencer hitwoman

[thecandywrites]

Monster March 2023- Day 30 Slimeperson/ Symbiote Part 3

Diamond Dust

Thank you @borealwrites for your patience as I try to chug along with Monster March...three months after it's over, and that's after I have had since January to work on it.

Part 3

Diamond Dust

But unfortunately, he didn’t get to rest for long before the people he consumed were soon missed and the police were called to investigate the missing people. And the police soon knocked on Allison’s door and woke her up practically in the predawn hours. 

“What the hell?” Allison groaned. 

“I got this.” Astral said as Allison watched as the galaxy slime moved from her back to Corey’s chest and Corey, now looking much more like Corey, except his eyes got up, got dressed and walked to the door while Allison slipped out of bed and put on a new nightgown and checked on her still sleeping children to make sure they hadn’t been woken up or disturbed. 

“Sorry for disturbing you sir, but we’re responding to multiple missing person’s reports. Have you heard or seen anything suspicious?” The cop asked as Allison crept closer to the door, unseen by the cops at the door. 

“Actually yeah, I saw the group of college kids in one of the rooms farther down the hall, I don’t know which one for sure yesterday, but it sounded like they must have had a party or had at least several guests and had a really loud party last night, it kept me and my family up most of the night, but after I think 2 or 3 in the morning, me and several others all threatened to call you if they kept at it and they said they would take their party elsewhere. But by that point, my wife and the kids were already asleep. What do you remember last night Allie?” He asked once he turned his attention to Allison and moved to show her on the other side of the door. 

‘Please agree with me and add a plausible detail.’ Astral pleaded with Allison. 

“Yes, God awful racket, our kids practically had to pile in with us in our bedroom as we had to put ear plugs in their little ears so they could sleep.” Allison added as convincingly as she could. 

“Could you describe the people that you saw inside?” The officer asked Astral. 

“Yes, there was…” He began to describe who he had consumed and how some of the others insisted they were going to go elsewhere for accommodations as well as add in a few details about drinking and drug use, all while he snuck a piece of himself into the room to change the items in the other rooms to collaborate with his story before the police could go into the rooms and investigate themselves since they were only going to door to door and had not gotten access to the other rooms yet as he made sure to disable any security feeds when he couldn’t alter them when they would look at any footage caught on camera. 

“Wow, that’s quite the memory.” The cop praised as he wrote down every detail out of Astral’s mouth as Allison vaguely got a sense that such a thing may have happened, but she was sleeping too deeply to notice or wake up. 

“Can I get your phone number if you remember anything else?” The officer asked before Astral gave him the number to Corey’s phone. 

“Thank you, I wish every person was as helpful as you’ve been.” The cop praised- before they left. 

“Thanks, good luck finding them.” Allison offered before she helped close the door. 

“What really happened? Because I don’t remember any of that. I remember seeing that group earlier in the week when we were checking in and they had been playing loud music throughout the week, but that’s all, they’ve always come back to the room about this time, they party elsewhere because partying like that is forbidden in this complex, that’s why Corey and I brought the kids to this particular condo complex. What really happened and why did you have me lie to the cops?” Allie whispered worriedly as she brought him into the closest bathroom. 

“Because telling the cops that you were having sex with an alien from outer space and doing so- so loudly and so intensely that you had no clue what was happening outside of our bedroom is a lot less believable than the little white lie we just told. But yes, they did make an awful racket last night after we initially fell asleep, and if it hadn’t been for me keeping you and the kids peacefully asleep, you would have been disturbed like everyone else was.” Astral explained. 

“Oh, well, ok, true. So everything else you told them was the truth?” She asked. 

“Yes.” Astral lied. 

“Ok. But why do I get the sense I wore you out so much, you got really…like really hungry? But you’re full now. Did you…? Did you eat anyone last night?” She asked. 

“Ok, yes, I ate several rapists and four drug dealers, three thieves from drug addiction and a few murderers and others who had pedophilia leanings. If I do eat other people, I have very specific tastes and I was only eating them, 1- I was starving, 2, I was trying to keep you and the kids safe from them if they would ever pose a potential threat to you or the kids, that’s all.” Astral told her in a half truth. 

“Oh, well in that case, eat away, I can’t have by best symbiote getting too hungry from wearing him out too much.” Allison urged him as she held his handsome face between her hands and kissed him sweetly and affectionately. 

“Wait, what? You’re…you’re ok with me…eating others?” He asked her in surprise. 

“Yes, if they’re bad people who hurt others or would hurt others, especially me or the kids, by all means. I mean, I’m guessing it takes a lot of energy to change me and then change Corey’s body to make his dissimilar enough that I don’t have a subconscious reaction to his body, and then, well, last night was epic in every sense. And I’m sure things like that credit card you gave me or this necklace and earrings and stuff wasn’t cheap for you to make yourself. As long as you can do so painlessly and do so cleanly in such a way that it would never be traced back to you or to Cory’s body or me and the kids. I’m cool with it. You don’t need to hide eating from me, just like I don’t hide eating from you. You’re an alien, trying to survive in a deathworld and I would think that the easiest way for you to do so is consume other beings. And especially if you’re being picky and choosy about it and if you’re going to eat people, eat the worst ones first. Now, granted, long term, I don’t know how much you eat or how often you need to eat to sustain yourself in Corey’s body because as much as he insisted his body was a temple, he’s treated it like it was an amusement ride. And residing in this vessel can’t be easy for you. It’s ok. If I was ok with you killing off Corey for being a piece of shit of a human being, of course I’m cool with you eating other pieces of shit of human beings.” Allison reasoned. 

“You have never been more beautiful to me than you are right now.” Astral insisted as he immediately started making out with her and the fucked her right on that bathroom sink before putting her into the shower and fucked her more and harder, until she felt falling asleep for a few more glorious hours, until it was a good hour past breakfast and the kids woke them up from wanting to wake up on their own.

Astral offered he would take them out to breakfast so that they wouldn’t have to cook before they left and realized the cops were now in the other room still, going over the “crime scene” with a fine toothed comb. 

“Do you want to stay somewhere else? We could always just go out to breakfast and then come back and get packed up and move to another place to finish out the vacation? Or would that be too suspicious?” Allison asked Astral as they all gave the police tape a curious look as it covered the room the college punks were in. 

“Let me ask and make sure it won’t be, I’ll meet you at the SUV.” He said as he pressed his keys into her hand and went back up to the police and asked, for his kid’s safety if it was going to be ok if he and his family changed their reservations of the condo to another but would keep the officer in touch just in case he wanted to come by and ask them more questions. Which of course the officers agreed to since Corey’s body looked like the last person capable of doing much more than getting a parking ticket or maybe a speeding ticket, but not much else. 

“Wow, so much glitter, they must have had a party with some hookers, lets see if we can get any DNA.” One of them noted which stopped Astral in his tracks as he had tried to walk away. 

“Glitter?” He repeated and turned and looked back into the room and noticed, that for the first time, he was leaving a trail. Oh the ancients! And it went everywhere his slime form went as he realized his way of internalizing his excess carbon into diamonds, while the most practical because he could make a single perfect cut and polished diamond every 20lbs of excess human flesh when his form wasn’t extracting other precious minerals from the body itself. And hell, every diamond he made for himself was like his own version of storing excess fat, future fuel to be used however he needed it to be used for anything and everything. That’s why he looked like a diamond glittering sparkly slime and not pure goo in his natural state. Thankfully he was able to collect the other diamond dust by just quickly walking by and drawing it in. But he would have to watch to make sure he didn’t leave any more from now on. 

“Astral? What’s wrong? I feel panic, why are you panicking?” Allison asked once he met back up with her outside the SUV and Astral saw all the diamond dust glitter he had left all over her from having sex both last night and early this morning.

“Um, I uh, I apparently leave a trail. I just got done cleaning up the one I accidentally made last night. But uh, humans wear glitter in their makeup and other cosmetics right?” He asked as he gestured to her chest before she looked down and really noticed the super fine, subtle shimmer her skin had like she had put on body glow shimmer lotion.although her skin did feel softer than it ever had before because having him on her was like a full body scrub. 

“Oh, yeah, uh, depending on how big the particulate is, usually the cheaper the glitter, the bigger the pieces. Oh, your diamonds!” Allison gasped as her hands touched the necklace around her neck. 

“You didn’t leave diamonds like this around did you? Because if you did, that’s a problem, actual diamonds are not something humans leave behind.” Allison asked. 

“No, it just…I saw how I apprently left a trail of diamond dust and they said it was something a hooker usually does?” Astral repeated. 

“Oh! Yeah, they have been known to do that. Yeah. So are diamonds like, poop for you?” Allison asked. 

“No, diamonds are to me what excess body fat is for a human being. They’re just…like batteries. Stored power and energy in case I need it in the future.” He said.

“Ooh! Ok, well then why would you leave things like that behind? Or is it more of a humans leaving skin and hair behind everywhere they go?” Allison asked. 

“Yeah, kind of. I’ll just….I’ll just keep a closer eye on it and the only one I’ll leave any markings that I’ve been on you is by you weraing my diamonds and any other “glitter” I may leave behind when your body touches this one. And I’ll just focus on growing and combining all the diamonds. Surely you wouldn’t mind more diamond jewelry right?” Astral asked. 

“Nope, not at all. Well, as long as you can keep it tasteful, I don’t want to be so encrusted with diamonds, I look like a trashy music video vixin.” Allison suggested. 

“Ok, cool, well in that case, here, wear this and this.” Astral said before he put delicate but still impressive diamond tennis bracelets on her wrists after using whole diamonds in her before concentrating the shards and finer particulate to be like little seeds for future diamond growth. 

“I’ll need to feed again to get you a proper wedding ring, as long as you’re ok with wearing them, knowing where they come from.” He asked. 

“I don’t know how long you’ve been on Earth, but there is a reason why natural diamonds are called “blood diamonds” because it takes a lot of human life to dig the stupid things out of the earth and Corey always insisted that lab grown ones were trashy. And I always thought he was trashy for thinking that way. So honestly, I’d love to see the diamond you’d make out of Corey and his more horrible extended family members.” Allison urged with a giddy grin. 

“Damn it you can not get any more perfect.” Astral practically laughed as he kissed her again and held her close and tight and thanking the Primordials themselves for making his alleviate with the perfect moral compass for him and their union and symbiosis. 

“Breakfast, then packing and moving to another place then more sex, if you're up for it.” Astral insisted when he heard the kids start to call out to them that they were hungry before he and Allison got into the SUV. 

But his comment only made Allison laugh even harder and louder than he did.

“Sex with you? Always gonna want that. It’s out of this world amazing.” She licentiously teased with a wink and a kiss and laughed even harder when his vessel immediately got an erection. 

“Feed us people food, and then we can feed ourselves the other food later. But these kids are about to knaw their arms off.” Allison urged him before he drove them to a close but still very good breakfast joint, at least, according to the internet and the reviews. And his vessel was hungry for human food as he gorged as much as he needed to- to satisfy this vessel’s need for food for now. 

Then after that, it was a hasty retreat back to the condo to get packed up to leave to go to a new place as Astral had to split himself off to get everything and get it all cleaned up before he got them repacked in the SUV and off to the new vacation home he had bought last night. 

“Holy cow, wow. Babe you did good, this place is amazing.” Allison praised once he drove her to one of the ocean front mansions along the coast. 

“Now be careful guys, this place is like that last place, we are just staying here for a few days ok?” Allison urged her children as they came into the place and they were looking at it with awed wonder for how luxurious it was. 

“Actually…” Astral began with a wince. 

“How about you guys go pick out a bedroom ok? Daddy and I need to talk.” Allison urged her kids before she took his hand and walked out of the house and back to the SUV to get the rest of their things. 

“Astral, please tell me you didn’t kill the people that owned this house, just because I mentally said ‘I would love to live there’.” Allison begged him. 

“No, this house was actually put up on the market weeks ago, it’s a summer home for an older couple from the west coast who paid millions of dollars for this place and only came and stayed here twice before they hired someone else to take care of it and use it as an Airbnb for extra income from other millionairs. They’re fine,when we corresponded, I said that we had stayed here as guests last year, loved it so much and insisted that we needed to move in and make this our vacation home and paid a few million above asking price for the ability to move in immediately. So this is very much our house. As of last night. It was going to be a surprise tonight after dinner, but now is good of time as any I guess.” Astral reassured her. 

“Oh thank God. Thank you so much Astral. In that case, yes I love it and it’s even more awesome up close as it was from a distance. Very well done.” Allison exclaimed in relief and praised brightly. 

“Ok, in that case, we need to go grocery shopping again huh? Because we totally trashed our last set of groceries trying to get out of the last place.” She urged him. 

“Do you want to prolong the vacation and stay down here longer? Or did you want to go back when Corey and yourself had previously planned?” Astral asked. 

“Oh, that’s up to you. We were only down here for bike week because Corey wanted to get into motorcycles. As if he needed another way to pick up sluts. He was complaining how “restrictive” being married and having a family was and how that was…” Allison began to rant. 

“Cramping his lack of style, yeah, I got it. Gosh I can’t wait to turn this turd into the best diamond possible for you.” He finished for her. 

“Yeah, we have little ones Astral. My mom was a nurse for 30 years, she always called bikers walking organ donors. And as much as I understand the idealization, I don’t want to lose you to something like that.” Allison pleaded. 

“Absolutely. I completely understand. If we ever decide to get a motorcycle, it will be a purchase we both agree on and we will do so as safely as possible. But yes, I agree, our priorities are our family and especially the kids, nothing else matters.” Astral readily agreed. 

“Thank you.” Allison cooed as she grabbed his face and kissed him again as the kiss morphed from one of sweetness back to burning desire and desperation again. 

“Ok, get unpacked, unpacked.” Allison tried to remind them after making out again in the driveway for a few moments as she tried not to give into the urge to just fuck him right there in the driveway. Surely this place would have an amazing bed for her to do such things on. 

“Your GPS in the kids will keep them occupied and safe for a bit right?” She asked breathlessly once she managed to break their kiss to catch her breath. 

“Yeah, got it.” He readily agreed as he practically picked her up and practically slicked her all the way to the master bedroom, leaving a trail of diamond dust in his wake as he did so and used his lodestars in the kids to direct them to the kids rooms where a plethora of toys were waiting for them to play with. 

All while he and Allie “christened” this new vacation house properly. 

“I’m never going to get tired of this, sex with you is better than any drug on Earth.” Allison praised as she continued to bask in the afterglow, smiling appreciatively at the delicate and super fine diamond sparkle on her skin, knowing it was purely Astral, leaving his “mark” on her, the same way a hickey would. But in a much prettier way and one that she found she rather loved because of what it meant and represented as she noticed that with every round of sex, it somehow, got almost insanely good. Like, she had no idea how sex with Astral could get better or possibly improve, but somehow, Astral made that happen. Every orgasm the best one of her life, every part of her, drenched in euphoria and sweet relief and feeling better than she did before and her pleasure so intense she almost felt like it was on the verge of being too much of a good thing could possibly go bad, but she didn’t want to ever stop or slow down the frequency either. 

Once they were finally sated and they got redressed, Astral had to take his form’s hand to reach out and pick it up again, damning his one track mind with having the best sex in his life with his alleviator and missing the point of not leaving a trail behind again because he could not afford to get sloppy. Not with his alleviator and not with his family. 

They went grocery shopping after they got lunch and instead of going out to dinner, were able to make dinner for themselves at their new vacation home, that was fully furnished and now fully stocked. It was the best family meal they had ever had. Because they all worked together to make it and enjoy it and they got to talk about when and how to dispose of Corey and how much longer they were going to be on vacation for and once it was decided, they did just that while Astral, using Corey’s form called everyone who had ever made Allison’s life difficult together, so that he could deal with them in one, beautifully orchestrated stroke of genius. 

#Monster March #Monster March 2023 #Monster March 2023 Day 30- Slimeperson/Symbiote #Monster March Day 30 Part 3

[ravagedarkness]

Spider-Man: Home Rebuilt, Chapter 8: The List

We spent the rest of the day playing video games, talking, and watching movies. By the time we got done watching the last movie – The Witch: Part 1. The Subversion – it was pretty late. Scott walked in. After introducing himself to my friends, he urged us to stay the night. A few phone calls to parents later, everyone was situated. Ned and I took Craig’s room while he made his way out to work his radio job. Meanwhile, MJ and Betty were sleeping in Kitty’s room. The spare room was left untouched. Kitty said that it was too dusty for guests at the moment, but I knew it was because that’s where they had my stuff stored – specifically, my Spider-Man gear.

The next morning, we all got up and found Craig sleeping on the couch. After we waked him up, we all made breakfast. At the urging of Craig, Scott did the whole “blast the middle of the coin” trick to demonstrate his powers. Once breakfast was done and we all ate, MJ, Ned, and Betty said their goodbyes, but not before they got the phone numbers of Kitty, Craig, and Scott.

Once they were out, Kitty closed the door behind them, turned around, and looked at me. “Okay, Peter, we got to talk,” she said. “But before that, I need to make sure – are you okay?”

“From the dart?” I inquired from my spot. After Kitty nodded, I nodded back. “Yeah, I’m fine. I’ve been okay since yesterday.”

“Good. So, next question – what’s the next step?”

“What do you mean?”

“What she wants to know is what we are going to do next after that incident,” Craig answered from the kitchen. He walked over with two bottles of water in his hands. He handed one to Scott, who was seated on the recliner. “That whole situation was a set up.”

“You think so?” I asked. Craig walked over and sat on the sofa as Kitty took a seat next to me.

“From what Craig and Kitty told me, it seems so,” Scott stated. He twisted the cap off of his bottle before he took a sip. “Don’t get me wrong. You are Spider-Man, and Kitty and Craig are extremely capable. But even the three of you should have had more trouble taking all of those people on. Add to the fact that you were the only one darted, I’m thinking you were targeted.”

“What else is new?” I said bitterly. “But the question is who is it this time?”

“I don’t know,” Kitty said with a shrug. “We became friends not too long ago – not long enough to know who are the Jokers and Riddlers in your life.”

“I can talk to a few people in Harlem,” Craig offered. “Anything that went down in Manhattan, they’re likely to know about it.” He then touched his hair. “I gotta swing by Pop’s Barber Shop anyway. I’m due for a cut. I might as well kill two birds with one stone.”

“You do that,” Scott said. “We still have the dart, so I’m going to take it to an old friend of mine. Hopefully he can find what was in it.” He then looked at Kitty. “And you… it’d be pretty convenient if certain police reports were acquired by us, don’t you think?”

“Yeah, it would,” Kitty said slyly. “It’d be pretty convenient if we got it this afternoon.”

“Guys,” I spoke up. “Look, I appreciate that you guys want to help but…”

“Peter,” Craig cut in with a solemn tone. “I swear, if you say ‘I can handle this myself’, ‘I don’t want to get you guys hurt’, or the like, I’m going to hit you upside the head with this bottle.” I kept quiet. Somehow, I knew he was serious. “We’re helping you on this. This is in our wheelhouse. And had we not been there with you yesterday, you probably would have got scooped up and taken somewhere. So, sorry bro, but consider yourself a part of our group now. Wish I could say you get medical and dental benefits, because something tells me you’ll need it.”

“…” I wanted to retort. I really did. But he was right. So, instead I scoffed. “So do we have a team name or something?”

“We used to be called The X-Men,” Kitty said. “But that changed.”

“Why?”

“The Blip and The Sokovia Accords,” Craig replied. “There’s more to it, but those are the main bullet points.”

“Speaking of bullet points, there’s one more thing I want to talk to you about.” Kitty stood up. “But I’ll have to tell you that on the road. I got somewhere to be. So, grab your stuff. I’ll drop you off home.”

It took me a little bit of time to get dressed and gather my stuff. After that, I was out on the road, riding shotgun in Kitty’s Acura TSX. The car ride was quiet for a bit, with the sound of Kitty’s GPS breaking the silence every now and again. After a while, she finally spoke up.

“What are you going to do about your friends?” she asked.

I was looking out of the window when she asked that. “What do you mean?” I replied.

“I mean, are you going to tell them, or are you going to keep them at arm’s length?”

I sighed as I turned my head towards her. “I don’t know. I wasn’t even supposed to get close to them again.”

“What changed your mind?”

“You know how Scott is my GED teacher?” Kitty brought her car to a stop behind a car at a red light.

“Yeah,” Kitty replied. “I have to have to admit, it’s quite the coincidence that he happens to be teaching Spider-Man.”

I let loose a short chuckle. “Coincidences are a huge part of my life,” I said only semi-sarcastically. “Anyway, one day, I came to class super early, and he just knew I had something on my mind.”

At that, Kitty chuckled. “Sounds like Scott, alright.”

I smiled briefly. “Yeah. So… ever since The Spell, I thought I would be okay with my decision as long as I knew that MJ and Ned were okay. But every single time I walk out that coffee shop, I keep on second guessing myself on if I made the right decision. And I… kind of talked to Scott about it one day when I was super early to class, avoiding a lot of details.”

“And what did he tell you?”

“He told me he was in a situation where he cut himself off from people he was close to and found out he was hurting himself as much as he was hurting others.” I looked forward through the windshield. “Also, he told me that, even though Hindsight is 20/20, it’ll still take a while to understand if I made the right decision.”

“I see.”

I looked at her. “…Do you think I made the right decision?”

“No, I don’t think you made the right decision,” she replied bluntly. “I didn’t want to say anything because I didn’t think it’d be fair for me to do so – I wasn’t in your shoes. But since you asked… when you told us everything, I kept thinking to myself ‘Wow… this boy just keeps on messing up’. Honestly, you handled that whole situation badly from the start.”

“What else should have I done then?”

“You don’t want me to answer that, Peter,” Kitty warned. The light turned green, and Kitty gently accelerated. “The only thing that is going to happen is you feeling even worse about something you can’t change. But here is what I can tell you. See, Scott has a thing for imparting knowledge on people, as you know. As you probably guessed he’s been through a lot. And, there was something he told me that I, in turn, have told Craig when he was in a similar situation.”

“And that is?”

“Unless you were the one who put them in a situation that forced their hand, you can’t hold yourself responsible for other people’s decisions.”

“But I did put them in that position,” I said. “I let them in.”

“Yeah, exactly,” Kitty agreed. “You LET them in. You didn’t force them in. You didn’t force them to stay. You opened up to them and showed them what your life is like. They could have distanced themselves from you and decide they didn’t want to be a part of any of that, but they didn’t. They decided that being close to you was worth it. And as for Betty… well… I don’t know, since you guys were only kind of friends before, but you said she was still in your corner, so there’s that.”

I went quiet for a bit, digesting what she said. And what she said made sense. It made so much sense that the part of me that wanted to keep my distance couldn’t even come up with an excuse.

“So what should I do?” I asked quietly.

Kitty pulled off to the side of the road, right in front of my building. After putting the car in park, she turned in her seat towards me. She gave me a gentle smile. “Well, that’s for you to decide. Now, I still don’t know everything about you. But that story of The Spell told me a lot. When you were telling us that story, I could feel the sadness and hurt in you when you talked about your friends, especially when you had to make them forget and you saw them being happy afterwards. And then when you hung out with them and I could see how joyous you were.” Her smile widened a bit. “Especially when you were in the kitchen with MJ.” I shook my head in annoyance, though I still blushed. “Now, whatever you do with that is up to you, but me personally? I wouldn’t let my life as a hero be the reason I don’t maintain and cherish relationships with people I hold dear.”

I looked at her for a moment. I then scoffed and shook my head. “…You remind me of Aunt May.”

“I’ve been told I’m wise beyond my years,” Kitty chuckled out. “If any info comes up regarding yesterday, we’ll let you know. Now get out of here and get some rest. And I mean a full rest. I better not hear about Spider-Man getting involved in any trouble today. Anything goes down, let Craig and I handle it, okay?”

“Okay. Thanks for the ride.”

“You’re welcome. See you later.”

“Likewise.”

I picked up my bag from the floor before I opened the door and stepped out of the vehicle. I closed the door behind before I waved at Kitty. As Kitty waved and drove off, I watched her leave. I then turned my head as a black SUV drove by in the opposite direction. It was a Hummer EV. But what really got my attention was the logo.

“Hammer Industries,” I muttered to myself. I raised my eyebrows briefly as I turned to the front door of the building. “I forgot that company was still around.”

Once I was in my apartment, I looked at the space I was in. I shook my head.

This apartment was pitiful.

I walked over to my bed, dropping my bag as I did so. I then dropped onto my bed and rolled over onto my back. I looked up at the ceiling for a few moments. I was thinking about what Kitty said. And I wished she didn’t make so much sense. Inside of my head, memories of the events leading up to The Spell clashed against Kitty’s words, with Scott’s words backing the latter up. And for the first time, the memories were losing. And I knew why.

I wanted my friends back.

I closed my eyes, just wanting to give my mind a rest for a little bit. I then felt my phone vibrate. I sighed as I reached into my pocket and pulled out the phone. Seeing that I got a message, I checked it.

“Betty Brant added Kitty Pryde and Craig Pierre, Jr. the group.”

I couldn’t help scoff. Of course she did.

“Hey guys,” I typed into group chat.

“American Idiots… what is this?” Craig messaged.

“Good question,” Kitty added.

“It’s a group chat for the six of us,” Betty messaged. “It was four until I added you guys. I figured the name was clever.”

“Why would it be clever?” Craig asked. A few moments later, he sent another text. “Oh… Wow. Just, wow!”

“That is clever,” Kitty remarked.

“Just a warning. Betty is going to act like a mother to you guys. >.>”

“Oh haha MJ,” Betty sarcastically wrote.

“She only does it because she cares,” Ned wrote in her defense.

“Don’t worry, Kitty is the same way,” Craig replied.

“I like to take care of my friends. Sue me,” Kitty wrote.

“Anywho.” Betty wrote. “I added you guys because they’re doing a makeup showing of American Idiot on Friday and I think it’d be great for all of us to come. Hopefully, we can make it through the whole show without gunfire.”

“Your lips, God’s ears,” Craig replied.

“Also, Peter, I got you that interview. I hope Wednesday at 9 A.M. isn’t a bad time for you.”

“No, it’s not,” I replied. “What do I need?”

“A clean set of business clothes and a portfolio.”

“And for you not to get shot along the way,” Ned added.

“Oh, wow.”

“Oh snap!” Craig reacted.

“That’s my line, Ned!” MJ added.

“You walked right to that one, lol,” Kitty wrote.

“Screw you guys!” I texted. But I couldn’t help but laugh out loud. Ned got me good.

After the shenanigans died down, I put the phone down and closed my eyes. I napped for a few hours before I woke up in time to make lunch. After I stretched and gout up from my bed, I looked over at my desk. That list was still there from yesterday morning, along with the pen. I walked over to the desk and looked down at the list. I read each item.

1. Make sure MJ and Ned are okay.

2. Get close to them again (including Betty as well, since we’re even friendlier now).

3. Decide on whether or not to tell them the truth.

4. Figure out how to do so… and prepare for the consequences.

I looked over the list a few times. I then picked up the pen and took the cap off of it. I drew a line through the first two items on the list. Item number three was staring right back at me. I wouldn’t have even entertained the idea. But Scott and Kitty’s words were still in my head, still fighting off every reason I had to keep MJ and Ned at arms’ length.

I chuckled as I capped the pen and set it down. After I talked to MJ right after The Spell, I was bent on just being alone and staying aloof to everyone. And yet, in the span of a week, I ended up befriending MJ, Ned, and Betty again while striking up new friendships with two random people I met in a theatre and my GED teacher. Add to the fact that I’m apparently a part of a hero team now – whatever Scott, Craig, and Kitty call themselves – and that idea just went out the window. While I wasn’t ready to have the talk with MJ, Ned, and Betty yet, I given up on not having friends.

Though, as far as failed missions went, maybe that was an opposite of something to be worked up over.

#fanfic #spideychelle #spider-man #mcu #peter parker #michelle mj jones #ned leeds #betty brant #scott summers #kitty pryde #carmilla black #original character #jade cargill #petermj #mj peter #michelle jones #mj x peter #Mj #tomdaya

[cattheskeletonofcreative]

(The Genin [my Sans OC] x Reader book)

(Going through a possible title change for the story, so this is what it will be called until a title is chosen. Here’s the previous chapter.)

(Tw: slow burn, suspicious people, and mention of the outside world.)

Chapter two: Suspicion

I woke up slowly the day after the ball, groggy and tired. After lying in bed for about a minute, I got up and made my way to the kitchen to make myself a bowl of cereal. Walking around and eating said cereal, I found my pet turtle, Raptor, awake in his tank. He greeted me with a few slow blinks, which I returned.

I reached into a mini fridge below Raptor’s tank and grabbed his breakfast for the day. He was delighted when receiving the food and immediately started chowing down on it. We ate our respective breakfasts in silence. A silence which was broken by my phone ringing right as I finished my cereal.

After putting my dirty bowl on the counter, I went over and picked up the phone. “Y/N’s residence, this is Y/N speaking.” I answered, taking a moment to recognize the voice on the other side. It was the soft-spoken maid from last night.

Soft-spoken maid: “Goodmorning, miss/sir/(prefered term). I was just calling about your jacket. I know everyone left their jackets and a few handbags last night in the rush just like they were asked to. But I was wondering if you’d like to meet up today and have your jacket personally returned to you?”

Me: “Really? That’d be great. Where would you like to meet up?”

Soft-spoken maid: “Are you able to meet me at the Seaside Café around noon?”

Me: “I’ve got nothing going on at that time.”

Soft-spoken maid: “Well, that settles it. I’ll see you there.”

Just as she was about to hang up, I heard someone else grab the phone. This time, I immediately recognized the new voice to be the stern maid’s.

Stern maid: “Do you want to know why everyone was evacuated last night?”

She cut me off before I could answer.

Stern maid: “Turn on the news.”

And then she hung up on me. Rude. But I am a bit curious…. So I went over to my tv and turned it on. After scrolling through the channels for a minute, I found the local news station and clicked it on. “-was found dead in his own bedroom last night by a maid at his annual ball.

“The police have found no leads on who murdered Mr Richest-Bachelor. Whoever killed him is either a lucky idiot, or a skilled villain,” the anchorman said in a calm but urgent manner. I stood in stunned silence as I wrapped my head around the news. My mind immediately went back to when the soft-spoken maid had stopped me from going into that room.

‘Did she know her boss was dead? Surely it should’ve been a security guard stopping me instead of one of the maids….’ I thought as I tuned out the rest of the anchorman’s report.

Questions started arising in my mind, but I shook my head to rid those thoughts. “It’s not my job to investigate such things, even if it was a little suspicious. I should leave the interrogating and investigating to the cops. Besides, she’s probably not the one who did it. It wouldn’t be right of me to jump to conclusions.

“She was probably just doing some cleaning on the fourth floor and spotted me when I was about to enter a room forbidden to the guests.” I told myself as I stepped into my bedroom. With how late I’d woken up (that ball lasted a long time) it was already getting close to noon.

Yes, I’m still going to meet up with the soft-spoken maid. She has my only dress jacket. Well, not the only one I own. Just the only one that looks expensive. I pulled on a pair of jeans, a t-shirt, and my favorite jacket long with my favorite pair of shoes. Today’s outfit is so much more comfortable than the one I wore last night.

After grabbing my keys and giving Raptor a light, two-finger rub on his shell, I was ready to leave my apartment. It was nice outside today. The sun casted plenty of light, but it was still a bit chilly. The perfect weather to wear a jacket out and know you won’t overheat in the sun.

Street traffic was almost nonexistent since most people were at work by this time. Not many cars driving around since there wasn’t many people that don’t work today. I arrived at the Seaside Café right as the clock hit noon, but the maid wasn’t there yet. Not that I minded waiting since I have nothing better to do.

But it was still a little strange that she was late. The maid showed up ten minutes later and made a beeline over to me. Without a word exchanged, she handed me my dress jacket, turned around, and then left.

‘She left really quickly. Must be busy today.’ I thought as I checked my jacket, understanding why she might be rushing.

‘Afterall, who wouldn’t be busy looking for a new job the day after their boss is found dead? She probably can’t afford to go without having a job for a few months.’

After that exchange, I decided that, since I’m already out, I should spend the day in town. It’s really nice outside and I could use the fresh air and sunshine.

(At the end of the day…)

I stretched as I waited for my pizza to arrive. Raptor was enjoying a piece of lettuce at the moment, so at least he has his dinner for the night. There was a knock at my door and I answered it, thanking the delivery driver and getting the box of warm pizza. I got a strange feeling I was being watched as I put the box down on my kitchen counter.

The feeling that I was being watched made a cold shiver go down my spine. My throat went dry and I brushed the feeling off as I went to get a glass of water. Though the feeling stayed even as I ignored it and ate my dinner.

#undertale multiverse #utmv #undertale #re envisionedverse #sans x reader #slow burn #writers on tumblr #writing #books #chapter 2 #book update

[vgckwb]

P5R: Rebel Girl (A FeMC Story/P5R Rework) Chapter 180: The Ballad of Makoto Niijima

On Wednesday, after testing was done, Mr. Arai called through the announcement system “Attention! Will Makoto Niijima please report to the Principal’s office.” Makoto was confused, but she shrugged and headed over there.

When she entered, she asked “You wanted to see me, Mr Arai?”

“Please, have a seat,” Mr. Arai said. Makoto took her seat, though she was a little confused. “Your sister came in earlier today.”

Makoto was shocked. “She did?”

Mr. Arai nodded. “She’s coming here Friday to set up a series of interviews to ask about The Phantom Thieves.”

Makoto was even more shocked. “Huh.”

“You’re the student council president,” Mr. Arai said. “I thought you should know.”

“Thanks,” Makoto said.

“Also, due to the recent turbulence, we still do not have a guest speaker for this year’s Cultural Festival. Normally, these things are decided by a vote, but due to recent events, it’ll be nigh on impossible to conduct one. So, I would like to ask if you could invite someone.”

“Are you sure?” Makoto asked. “That’s a lot of responsibility.”

“I’m not asking for an A-List celebrity,” Mr. Arai said. “In fact, it doesn’t have to be a celebrity at all. Just someone who can give a quick presentation. A fireman, for example.”

“I see,” Makoto said. “I’ll try my best.”

“Thank you,” Mr. Arai said. “There’s one other thing I want to talk about.” Makoto was curious. “Did you know I went to school with Aki?”

Makoto was shocked. “My…My mom?”

Mr. Arai nodded. “The very same. In fact, she was the first person, other than myself, who knew about my…orientation.”

“I…didn’t know that,” Makoto said.

“We sort of grew apart once we went to college,” Mr. Arai stated. “We were in different areas of study, and cell phones weren’t really a thing back then. We’d keep in contact from time to time, but we didn’t meet regularly. Still, I like to think of her as a dear friend. I even attended her funeral.”

“Oh…” Makoto reacted. “I…didn’t notice. Or don’t remember.”

“It’s alright,” Mr. Arai said. “You were only three. Besides, you had just lost your mom. I can’t imagine that was easy on you.”

“Right…” Makoto said. “Why are you telling me this?”

“Im telling you this because when your sister came in, she seemed…distressed,” Mr. Arai said. “I know her job can be strenuous, but this felt different.” He sighed. “I know I may be overstepping my boundaries, but I’d like to ask you to make sure your sister is alright on the behalf of your mother. I’m sure she would have wanted it.”

Makoto was still processing all this information, but without hesitation, she nodded, and said “I will.”

Mr. Arai nodded back. “That’s all I needed to hear. Thank you.”

Makoto got up. “Thank you.” She left.

After she left, she messaged the group.

Makoto: Apparently, the prosecutor’s office is conducting interviews at the school Friday about The Phantom Thieves.

Ryuji: WHAT?!

Ann: What do they even have?!

Futaba: Well, as much as I hate to say it, it makes sense.

Lena: What do we do?

Yusuke: Not saying anything is a good start.

Lena: I mean, if they’re already, how long before they figure it out regardless?

Ren: That is concerning.

Haru: Well, maybe we can use this to our advantage.

Makoto: Huh?!

Sumire: How so?

Haru: Based on their questions, we can figure out how much they know and make adjustments based on that.

Makoto: That’s actually a good idea.

Futaba: Now the only question is can everyone keep cool?

Ryuji: Of course.

Yusuke You say that, but you’re the one I’m worried about most.

Ryuji: WHAT?!

Ann: I’m sure you’ll be fine sweetie.

Jose: Yeah, you’ll do great!

Ren: I know we like to kid, but you pull through when it counts.

Ryuji: Thanks.

Sumire: If anything, I’m a little worried about myself.

Sumire: I men, if my coach could figure it out, who’s to say the police can’t?

Jose: Wait, your coach knows?

Sumire: Oh. Yeah.

Suire: Sorry, I forgot to tell you.

Ren: I’m sure it’ll be fine.

Ren: Your coach is rather smart.

Ren: I doubt that some random officer has the deductive skills she has.

Sumire: True.

Ren: So, the plan is to hold steadfast and see what we can figure out.

Sumire: I think the Shujin Thieves should meet after school and compare notes.

Haru: Excellent idea, Sumi-chan!

Sumire: Thanks.

Ren: Alright then, good luck for that, and on your last day of midterms tomorrow.

Ann: Ugh, don’t remind me.

They went home for the day.

Makoto tried to check on her sister that night, but Makoto had to go to bed before she came home. She checked her phone to see that Sae didn’t have a crusader yet, so she was relieved on that front. The same thing happened Thursday, but again, she didn’t have a crusader.

Friday came, and with it, the interviews. Before class started, Mr. Arai took to the speaker to announce “Attention everyone! Today police officers are coming to interview people in regards to the Phantom Thieves case. Please just remain calm, and answer the questions honestly. I apologize for the inconvenience. I know you’ve gone through a lot this year, but I have faith in each and every one of you. Thank you.”

There was some hesitation among the students, but Miss Kawakami shouted “Alright, settle down! I know it’s hard, but our hands are tied on the matter. I’m sure you will all be fine. Just don’t go doing anything stupid, OK?” The class settled down.

When it came time Ren and Ann went together for their interview. Ren went in first. “Good afternoon,” the officer said. “We just have a couple of questions for you, then we’ll be out of your hair, OK?” Ren nodded. “According to our record, you’re currently on probation. How is that going?”

“I believe it’s going well,” Ren answered.

“Alright,” the officer said. “You transferred to this school, correct?” Ren nodded. “And not long after, Mr. Kamoshida got attacked by The Phantom Thieves. Do you happen to know why?”

“That's more of a coincidence than anything,” Ren said. “From what I know, Mr. Kamoshida’s…tendencies were essentially the worst kept secret of the school. It’s possible that this was planned for a while.”

“Hm,” the officer said. “And the following attacks?”

“I wouldn’t know,” Ren answered.

“Did you know Kaneshiro was blackmailing students here?” the officer said.

“I had heard it wasn’t limited to here,” Ren said, “but I was aware, but only slightly.”

The officer looked at her more intently. “Are you aware that your schoolmate Haru is Kunikazu Okumura’s daughter?”

“Haru-senpai?” Ren said. “I mean, I’m friends with her, but she never told me her last name.”

“I see,” the officer said. “Do you know anyone who goes to Kosei academy?”

Ren nodded. “My friends and I met a young prodigy named Jose at the flower shop in the underground mall in Shibuya. I’ve been learning shogi from Hifumi Togo. And Madarame’s former pupil approached me and my friends because he wanted one of us to be his model.”

“Very well,” the officer said. “How tech savvy are you?”

“I’d say I’m average,” Ren answered. “I know the basics, but I don’t have any specialties.”

“Do you know anyone that does?” the officer asked.

“Not that I can think of,” Ren said.

“Hmmmm,” the officer groaned. “Alright. You’re free to go now. If we have any more questions, we can contact Sojiro Sakura, correct?”

“That’s right,” Ren said.

“Very well,” the officer said. “Have a good day.”

Ren got up and left. Once she met with Ann, she just said “You’re up.” Ann nodded and went in.

After school the Shujin Thieves met on the roof. “Just so you know, I kept my cool,” Ryuji said. “At least with my words. If they saw how sweaty my palms were, I’d be toast.”

"Tell me about it,” Ann said. “It seems like they knew more than they were letting on.”

“But why not press further,” Morgana said, popping out of Ren’s bag.

“I have a feeling they’re going to go over notes and narrow their search,” Makoto said.

“It’s a little scary,” Lena said. “I’ve only been a member since the summer, but already they suspect me.”

“I think they’re ‘suspecting’ everyone,” Ryuji said. “See who can break first.”

“I think he’s right,” Haru said. “My father was targeted by The Phantom Thieves, and they seemed to suspect me of being involved.”

“Um, but you were involved,” Lena pointed out.

“I know,” Haru said. “But there’s not much of a reason to suspect that.”

“I don’t know,” Makoto said. “My sister is very clever. Besides, we don’t know what everyone was asked.”

“It seemed routine,” Sumire said.

“Well, relatively speaking,” Ren said. Everyone looked at her. “I mean, when you’re arrested on false charges, the ‘usual questions’ are more pointed.”

“Well, whatever the case may be,” Morgana interjected, “we have an idea of how things are going.”

“They are dancing around the truth,” Ann said.

“Yeah, but it’s not like they can prove anything,” Ryuji pointed out.

“Again, if they have a specific aim, ‘proof’ might not be that much of a worry,” Ren said.

“If only we could get more information,” Sumire said.

Makoto lit up. “Maybe we could.”

“How do you figure?” Morgana asked.

“Principal Arai tasked me with finding a speaker for the cultural festival,” Makoto said. “Perhaps we can get someone involved in the case to come.”

“But who would do such a thing?” Haru wondered.

Lena got excited. “Goro!”

Makoto nodded. “My thoughts exactly. Plus, he’s exciting on his own merits.”

“I’ll say,” Lena replied.

“Do you think he’ll go for it?” Ann wondered.

“Only one way to find out,” Makoto said. She took out her phone and gave Akechi a call.

Akechi picked up. “Hello?”

“Hey there, Akechi,” Makoto said, nervously.

“Ah, Makoto,” Akechi replied. “To what do I owe the pleasure?”

“Well, I know this is on such short notice,” Makoto began, “but our school’s cultural festival is coming up soon, and Principal Arai asked me to find a speaker. I wasn’t sure what to do, but then you popped into my head. So, I was wondering…if you’re not too busy…”

“I’d be delighted to,” Akechi said.

Makoto was surprised. “R-Really?”

“Of course,” Akechi said. “I’m surprised you didn’t call earlier.”

“Well, I was busy with midterms,” Makoto countered.

“Ah, right, of course,” Akechi said. “Well, I look forward to seeing you then. As well as Mr. Arai. What do you think I should get him as a gift to celebrate his new position?”

“I think your presence will be enough,” Makoto assured him.

“How nice of you to say,” Akechi replied. “Well, this has been nice, but I have a work matter to attend to, so I have to hang up now.”

“Alright, bye!” Makoto replied.

“Bye!” Akechi said. He hung up.

Makoto put her phone away. She sighed. “I can’t believe that worked."

“I dunno,” Ryuji said. “I’m worried about him knowing too much still.”

“I feel like we’re at a point where this whole thing is becoming too big to contain,” Haru said.

Sumire nodded. “I think so long as we choose our allies carefully, we can let some things slip.”

“And there’s no better ally than Goro!” Lena cheered. The thieves chuckled.

“Well, I suggest we have a meeting tomorrow to inform everyone and brainstorm our next move,” Ren suggested.

“Yeah, um, about that,” Ryuji wondered, “when should we try and storm Makoto’s sis’s palace?”

“I think that’s a discussion worth having tomorrow,” Makoto said. “Nothing’s changed yet, but I don’t want to be in the middle of a palace when everything shifts.”

“I guess that’s true,” Ryuji said. “Besides, I’m still a little beat from midterms.”

“By the way, you all did well, I assume?” Makoto wondered. Ren, SUmire, and Haru nodded, while Ann, Ryuji, and Lena were a little unsure. “Guys…”

“I think I did alright,” Lena said. “I don’t think I failed anything. But I don’t think I’m getting the top score either.”

“I think as long as Hiroki is in our class, the top spot is out of our reach forever,” Ryuji lamented. “But I think I did alright.”

“Yeah,” Ann said. “This was the hardest I studied for anything. I sure hope it pays off.”

“I hope so too,” Makoto said.

“Well, I think that’s about as much as we can do for now,” Ren said. “I’ll message the others about meeting tomorrow.” Everyone nodded, and they started to leave.

On her way out, Makoto got a message. She checked her phone. She grew alarmed. “Hey, um, Ren? Mind if you run a quick errand with me for a second?”

“Um, OK?” Ren said, noticing Makoto’s concern.

“Thanks,” Makoto said. She took Ren’s hand, and rushed off.

As they were running, Ren asked “Um, what’s this about?”

“Eiko said she needed urgent help,” Makoto said. “She wanted me to bring Yusuke, but you’ll have to do.”

“I see,” Ren said, getting more on board. “Where are we going?”

“Big Bang Burger,” Makoto said. Ren nodded, and the two were on their way. Once they got in, Ren ordered some fires and drinks for the three of them, while Makoto found Eiko. “Eiko!” She went to sit down.

“Hey Makoto,” Eiko said, sheepishly. Ren sat down. Eiko was uneasy.

“Oh, right,” Makoto said. “I know you wanted me to bring Yusuke, but I had some student council stuff to do after school. I didn’t want to keep you waiting, so I brought along Ren. You remember her, right?”

“Hey,” Ren said. Eiko nodded.

“So, what’s the issue?” Makoto said.

Eiko was hesitant. “Um, well, could I borrow some money?”

Makoto was a little relieved. “Is that all? How much?”

“350,000…” Eiko said, sheepishly.

Makoto was stunned. “WHAT?!”

“Shhhh,” Eiko said, trying to calm the situation.

Their fries and drinks then arrived. “Thanks,” Ren said.

“Why do you need that much?” Makoto wondered.

“...It’s not for me,” Eiko said. “It’s for Tsukasa.”

Makoto’s eyes widened. “What?!”

“He accidentally broke a bottle of champagne, and he needs help replacing it,” Eiko explained.

“Eiko…” Makoto said. “Doesn’t that sound a little…fishy to you?”

“What do you mean?” Eiko said.

“That seems like a lot,” Makoto explained. “Even for the fanciest host establishment.”

“Are you saying Tsukasa is dishonest?!” Eiko shouted.

“Would an honest person be texting other women like their also his girlfriend?” Makoto said, showing off a series of texts from Tsukasa.

“How’d you get his number?” Eiko asked.

“You gave him mine,” Makoto said.

“Oh. Right,” Eiko said. “Well, that’s just how he shows affection!”

“Eiko, listen to me!” Makoto said. “Tsukasa is not what he seems!”

“Oh, what do you know?!” Eiko protested. “You and that Yusuke guy aren’t even going out!”

Makoto was stunned. “How did you…?”

“Tsukasa told me,” Eiko said. “I didn’t want to believe him, but…”

Makoto was worried. “Eiko…”

“No!” Eiko screamed. “I don’t want to hear it! Why do you insist on taking away the person that makes me happier than anything else?”

Makoto stood up. “He’s lying to you! He doesn’t care about you!”

“You lied to me!” Eiko countered. “You never trusted Tsukasa! If you were a real friend, you’d have been more supportive!”

“I’m telling you the truth now because I am a real friend!” Makoto replied.

“Shut up!” EIko said. “I don’t need this anymore. And I don’t need you!” Eiko stormed out of the Big Bang Burger. Makoto’s face went pale. She sat back down.

Ren went to comfort her. “Are you OK?”

“I..I don’t know…” Makoto said, still in a state of shock. “I…I guess if I had to put it in words, I feel like a mirror that was shattered into a million pieces.”

Ren put her hand on her shoulder.”It’s OK. You did your best, and that’s all anyone can be asked to do.”

Makoto sighed. “I hope you’re right.”

“But something is bugging me,” Ren pointed out. “Why did she ask you for money? What about her family?”

“Oh, uh, well,” Makoto said, “Eiko’s parents treat her younger brother as this princely figure. So they tend to ignore what she has to say.”

“Yikes!’ Ren said. “I can see why she’d like a host as a boyfriend. It’s practically their job to hang on a girl's every word.”

“True,” Makoto said. “And that’s what worries me. Eiko is the prime target for something nefarious.”

“So, Mementos time?” Ren suggested.

Makoto shook her head. “While it would be nice, Eiko needs to learn her lesson too. Otherwise, she’ll just keep falling for the same trap over and over. And I might not be there to bail her out each time.”

“So, what is the game plan then?” Ren wondered.

“We need to prove to Eiko that Tsukasa isn’t who he says he is,” Makoto said.

“Will she be receptive to it?” Ren wondered.

“Eiko’s smarter than she seems,” Makoto said. “However, she just might not choose to see it. So that’s why we have to open her eyes.”

“I getcha,” Ren said. “Hm.”

Makoto seemed confused. “What was that about?”

“Well, you were worried about losing people without trying everything you could,” Ren said. “Yet you still haven’t given up. Not just on Eiko, but on your sister as well.”

“Oh, uh, well,” Makoto said.

“Relax,” Ren said. “It’s a good thing. You’re incredibly reliable. You’re the student council president. You work so hard. It’s amazing to see you in motion. I think you have nothing to worry about.”

Makoto smiled. “Thanks.”

Priestess-Makoto Niijima: Rank 8

They finished their fries and drinks, and headed out.

Just as Makoto had left for her home, Ren heard “HEY!” She turned to see Mishima rushing over to her. “Hey!”

“Hey,” Ren replied. “What’s up?”

“Wanna go to the diner tonight?” Mishima asked. “My treat!”

Mishima seemed really eager. So despite the fact that she just sort of ate, Ren said “Sure!’

“Great!” Mishima said. “Let’s go!” Mishima and Ren headed into the diner. Once inside, Mishima noticed Ren ordering less food than usual. “Did you eat already? I’m sorry.”

“It’s fine,” Ren said. “I’m still a little hungry. Besides, I want to hear what you have to say.”

Mishima smiled. “Well, I was thinking… I’ve been doing a lot just to get by. But that never took me anywhere. So I shifted to making immediate gains. But that didn’t work either. At least, not as intended. I was getting so lost in the weeds that I couldn’t see what’s in front of me.

So I decided, if I want to change, I have to take the risk. I haven’t been much of a risk-taker in the past, but after what happened with Akiyama, I think I’m ready.”

Ren smiled. “So, what’s the plan then?”

Mishima nodded. “Well…” He noticed Akiyama and his friends walk in. Ren turned to see them as well.

“Well well, look who it is,” one of Akiyama’s friends said. “I almost didn’t see him.”

“Yeah, he just blends into the wallpaper, right Akiyama?” his other friend said. Akiyama didn’t reply. “Akiyama?”

“Let's go,” Akiyama said.

“Huh?” the first friend said. “But-”

“It’s no longer fun to pick on him,” Akiyama said. “Besides, we don’t need to put anyone down to prove that we're great!”

“Are you sure?” his other friend asked.

“Do you wanna test me?” Akiyama threatened.

“NO SIR!” his friends said.

“Then let’s go!” Akiyama said. He walked away with his subordinates in tow.

Mishima nodded. “Well, as I was saying… I’m not 100% sure what the plan is, but I want to break out of my shell a little more. And I want to thank The Phantom Thieves in the process.”

“Oh?” Ren said. “How come?”

“Well, The Phantom Thieves helped me break out of my shell initially,” Mishima said. “And I feel like if I can pass it forward, I’d be doing right by them.”

Ren giggled. “I see.”

“I’m coming up with all sorts of ideas,” Mishima said. “I don’t think I’ll do them all, but it’s better than not having these ideas.”

“Well, are there any ideas that you’re certain of?” Ren asked.

“Mmmmm, a handful,” Mishima said. “But I’d rather it be a surprise for you.”

“Hm hm. Well I do love surprises,” Ren said.

Mishima smiled. “Whatever happens, thank you. And I mean you. I know you’re part of The Phantom Thieves, but you and I have been talking independently of that. Without that, I think I’d still be a bit of a stick in the mud. So, thanks.”

Ren was impressed. She smiled. “Likewise.”

Moon-Yuuki Mishima: Rank 9

They finished dinner, and headed home for the evening.

Meanwhile, Makoto was hoping that her sister would come home on time to check in with her. She was busy with some school work, as well as a plan to figure out how to save Eiko. Suddenly, her doorbell rang. “Coming!” She called out. She rushed to the door.

Upon opening it, she saw it was Naoko, carrying a plate of cookies. “Hey kiddo,” he said.

Makoto was confused. “What are you doing here?”

“We need to talk,” Naoko said. “May I come in?”

“Of course,” Makoto said, inviting him in. They met up at the table, where Naoko set his plate of cookies down. Makoto took a bite. “Mm. These are really good.”

“Hm hm,” Naoko chuckled. “They're my sister’s recipe.” He paused. “Listen…something happened last night.”

Makoto grew concerned. “What is it?”

Naoko paused again. “You sister came over. She wanted information.”

“About what?” Makoto said.

“Well, she said that the SIU director told her that he was working for The Phantom Thieves,” Naoko explained

 “WHAT?!” Makoto yelped.

“I had told her earlier than I had some suspicions on who they are,” Naoko said. “I was in Shinjuku one night, and a blonde-haired boy accidentally kicked a rock at me. He came to apologize, and we got to talking. He told me that you had put him on a mission. Though he didn't name you, he just said it was the student council president, but…”

“Right,” Makot said, embarrassed.

“I figured that you were at least working for The Phantom Thieves, if not a member,” Naoko said. “Your sister demanded information, so I told her about you, the blonde-haired boy, and the black-haired girl.”

Makoto became alarmed. “Wha…What did she say?”

Naoko smirked. “She didn’t believe me. She wouldn’t believe me. She has a vendetta against The Phantom Thieves, so she chose to ignore what I had to say.”

“I see…” Makoto said. She pouted.

“I’m sorry,” Naoko said. “I know the cookies can’t make up for it completely, but…

“It’s not that,” Makoto said, shaking her head. “I’m going through a similar thing with a friend of mine.”

“I see,” Naoko said. He sighed. “Well, I’m sure you can figure it out. When I wouldn't listen to your father, he always knew how to take the reins.”

Makoto smiled. “Thanks.” She took another cookie. “And thanks for the cookies.”

“No problem,” Naoko said. He started to leave, but sat back down. “Oh, by the way, I’m working on a really big case right now.”

“Really?” Makoto wondered.

Naoko nodded. ��When it’s all said and done, maybe I can stop by and tell you the details.”

Makoto nodded. “I’d like that.”

“Great!” Naoko said “Well, seeya kiddo!”

“Bye!” Makoto said. Naoko headed out. Makoto was happy. This was just the pick-me-up she needed. Unfortunately, it didn’t last. She checked the Metaverse app, and what she found horrified her to her core.

#p5 #p5r #persona 5 #persona fanfiction #p5r rework #p5 femc #femc #female ren #persona 5 royal #p5 rework #ren amamiya #makoto niijima #mishima #eiko #morgana #ann takamaki #ryuji sakamoto #Lena Minamoto #yusuke kitagawa #jose #sumire yoshizawa #haru okumaru #futaba #sadayo kawakami #akechi

[casspurrjoybell-17]

Heart’s Choice - Chapter 16

*Warning Adult Content*

- Carlos -

Alejo is a few years younger than me, a few inches taller and has the hardened physique of someone you wouldn't want to meet in a dark alley late at night.

He has closely shaved hair, unremarkable brown eyes and wears rings on his fingers and studs in his ears.

Under his clothes, he's covered in tattoos (I remember little of our night together but I remember that) and a scar bisects his left brow.

He tends bar at his dad's pub at night and works as a personal trainer in a gym during the day and I seem to remember him telling me he wanted to leave Spring Lakes, head for a big city, Chicago or New York and open his own club.

Other than that and the fact he's not great in bed, that's all I know about him.

As he sidles closer to me and snaps the tags off my shirt, however, I discover one more thing, he seems to be one of those unfortunate people born without the ability to take a hint.

As the service commences, I try to ignore him and listen to the priest talk about the afterlife and all that but it's hard to pay attention with Alejo whispering in my ear.

"Why you never text me back, bitch?" he whispers. "You leave me hanging like that."

I nod at the plain, unadorned urn resting atop a pedestal, waiting to be interred.

"I been busy. Little distracted, you know. How did you know Kyle, anyway?"

"Went to high school with him," Alejo says under his breath.

"I thought you said you were twenty-six?"

"I am. Kyle was a freshman and I repeated twelfth grade. Kinda lost touch when he went to juvie but we reconnected recently. He came by my dad's bar, begging for work."

"He did?"

Surprised, I fail to keep my voice down and draw several 'shushes' and angry stares.

As far as I knew, Kyle hadn't been a 'go-getter' and would have happily sat in his room, playing video games for the rest of his life if his aunt hadn't forced him to get a job and forced me to give him one.

As it was, he'd barely managed to hand me the right spanner when I asked and couldn't tell nuts from bolts.

Working in a fast-paced environment like a bar didn't seem like his style.

"Yeah," Alejo says, once everyone's attention is back on the priest, who's reciting a bunch of psalms. "He wanted night shifts. Earn some extra dough on the side. Seemed desperate to get out of this town. Or to get away from his creepy old aunt, anyway. Guess he got his wish."

Alejo laughs and I cast him a disparaging look.

"Have you talked to the police?"

"Huh?"

He blinks at me in surprise.

"Why the fuck would I do that?"

"Because it could be important. I didn't know Kyle needed money, more than usual, anyway. That could mean something."

Shrugging, Alejo finally gives his attention to the service.

"Who knows? He probably just wanted to impress some chick or something."

I let my mind wander for the next half hour, during which the priest somehow manages to make Kyle sound like an angel.

Sadly, it's probably the most nice words anyone's ever said about him and as far as I can tell, he's not around to hear it.

I come up with a few nice things to say about him, myself, expecting that the attendees will be invited to speak but once the priest concludes his eulogy, Kyle's aunt rises with the assistance of her nurse and hobbles away.

This clearly signals that the service is at an end and the rest of the guests follow suit.

Knowing Kyle's not listening anyway, I follow the pitifully small crowd back down towards the parking area.

The wake will be held at Lucille's house and I'm looking forward to the chance to observe the other guests in a more relaxed environment.

Nobody wants to speak their mind in front of a priest but get some finger food and few drinks in them and the tea starts to spill.

"You get a ride here?" Alejo asks, scanning the vehicles lined up in the lot.

I glance at the white sedan where Sergeant Nguyen sits drinking a cup of coffee and looking at something on his cell-phone.

"Uh... Yeah. I took an Uber. My truck's in the shop. Battery trouble."

Alejo laughs rudely.

"The mechanic has car trouble, now that's ironic."

I frown.

"You think doctors don't get sick? Or dentists don't get toothaches? Or..."

'Or that a kid born into a family of exorcists can't get possessed?'

I shake my head, wondering where that intrusive thought came from.

It almost didn't feel like mine, which isn't a good sign.

At the same time, a chill breeze rustles the leaves of the old maples standing guard over the parking lot and a trio of crows take flight from the lower branches of the nearest one, rowing the air with silent wings.

"You okay?" Alejo asks, inconveniently deciding to be perceptive, for once.

"Yeah, I'm fine. See you at the wake."

I start to walk away but Alejo catches my wrist and nods towards Nguyen's car.

"Hey, tell that guy to fuck off. I'll give you a ride for free."

He winks.

I barely restrain my expression and force myself to smile.

"Sure. Thanks, man."

I jog over to Nguyen's vehicle and knock on the window.

"You get all that?" I ask when he lowers it.

He gives me a thumbs up.

"All good. I'll follow and park down the street."

Waving as if to thank and dismiss him, I trot back towards Alejo, pasting on a grin that I hope doesn't look as much like a grimace as it feels.

"Thanks, man," I say as I follow him across the lot.

I stop in surprise as he unlocks a matte black Camaro ZL1, a car that retails for at least 70k, possibly much more, given the package.

He sees my expression and laughs.

"Don't worry, I didn't steal it. Get in."

I obey, admiring the black and crimson interior despite myself and noting how clean it is.

All else aside, Alejo knows how to take care of a car.

He shows off a little, accelerating out of the parking lot and taking turns hard enough to make me grip the handhold but I can't deny it's a little bit fun and thrilling.

I get the appeal, the call to go wild and be reckless, light the match and see what burns.

I get a little anxious when I realize we're off course 'taking the scenic route' would be putting it generously but Alejo seems to anticipate this and looks over at me with an easy grin.

"Relax, I just don't wanna piss off the old ladies. Besides, this gives me a chance to spend more time alone with you."

As he pulls up to a stoplight, drumming his fingers on the wheel to match the base throbbing from his premium sound system, I work up the courage to be honest.

"Um... Hey, you know, I uh, I had a good time with you. But the truth is, I met someone recently and..."

"What?"

He leans towards me, hand cupped to his ear.

"Say that again."

I swear under my breath and raise my voice.

"I just wanna be clear with you," I half shout. "I don't wanna lead you on."

He squints at me.

"Lead me where?"

I reach for the volume control on the dash but at the same time the light turns green and Alejo stomps on the gas, thrusting me back against my seat with the force of acceleration.

Giving up, I sit through the rest of the ride in silence.

Finally, he pulls to a screeching halt, parallel parking between two other cars with admirable precision, pops his door open and hops out.

I feel old just watching him and he's only three years younger than me.

Getting out as well, I follow him towards the old house and up the front steps.

The door is propped open, the guests gathered inside (notably greater in number than were present at the burial) and we join the assembly unnoticed.

Alejo heads straight for the buffet and open bar, while I attempt to infiltrate the crowd.

My forays are largely unsuccessful, however, as Mrs. Peters snubs me and I fail to make inroads with anyone else.

Finally, Alejo reappears at my side, drink in hand.

"Hey. This is depressing as fuck. You wanna get out of here? I'll take you for a real spin. Even let you drive, if you want."

Part of me stirs with interest at the offer.

Alejo is clearly immature in some ways, desperate in others, and dealing with his own world of shit.

We have that in common and if I can just get it through his thick head that I don't wanna fuck him, maybe we could even be friends.

In the meantime, Kyle's aunt is eyeing me with a murderous look that makes me really glad she's physically infirm.

I can't imagine how an old lady could have done to Kyle what happened to Kyle and yet there's something about Lucille I just don't like.

Not to mention the strangely sterilized state of Kyle's room, the way she barely seemed to care he was dead or the new info Alejo had given me about Kyle's desperate desire to get out of this place.

Struck by an idea, I decide I need to take one more look at Kyle's room.

He'd used a lot of energy trying to communicate with me but I hadn't seen a trace of him for almost a week.

Sometimes but not always, spirits have the most power shortly after death, when they still have strong connections to this world through their physical body.

Kyle's body was cremated, which, in most cases, would release all ties to this world and allow his spirit to transmigrate to another form or another realm, wherever the journey took him.

More rarely, a spirit stripped of power but unable or unwilling to leave this world, will retreat to the place to which they are most strongly bound.

In Kyle's case, that would be here.

"Okay," I say, giving Alejo a hopefully platonic smile. "Just give me a minute. I wanna check on something upstairs."

"Sure thing," he winks. "I'll grab you a drink."

Hoping he means something nonalcoholic, given his offer to let me drive, I make sure Lucille is distracted before I turn and trot upstairs.

Kyle's room is exactly as I saw it last, not a speck of dust in sight.

I sit on his bed, the cheap mattress and frame creaking beneath my weight and take a breath, opening myself to the other side as much as I dare.

"Hey, Kyle. If you're here, I'm here to listen. I am so sorry for what happened to you and I want to help. So, help me to help you, okay? Gimme a sign or some shit."

I wait but no sign is forthcoming.

The room remains cold and empty and I don't even feel a hint of a presence.

I've been in fast food joints with a spookier vibe than this, which is weird, given the overall 'Haunted Mansion' look of the house.

Giving up, I rise and make one more attempt.

"Kyle... Look, man. I know we weren't friends. We barely knew each other. I was your boss and I wasn't that great of one. But you came to me for a reason, right? Because you know I can see you. So... talk to me. It was your aunt, wasn't it? Somehow, she's behind this. Just give me something to go on, okay?"

I wait again but nothing happens.

The gauzy blue curtains framing the window remain unruffled by any inexplicable breeze and the temperature in the room remains stable.

I even risk a glance at the mirror on the back of the door and find only my own dark-eyed reflection staring back at me.

Sighing, I cross to the door, take one more look at the room and step into the hall.

It's not until I reach the top of the stairs that I feel the change.

The air drops from 'uncomfortably warm old-person house' to 'outdoors in the Siberian winter' in the space of one breath.

That's a lot of heat energy and as I turn and find myself face to face with an angry-looking Kyle, I understand he's taken everything he can get to manifest.

"Kyle? Whoa..." I raise my hands. "Hey, I'm here to help you, bud. I'm not..."

"GET OUT."

The words are less heard than felt, almost like a seismic shock or a rumble below the range of human hearing.

I stare into Kyle's black-hole eyes as, with a rush of arctic wind, he pushes me so hard I find myself hanging in thin air.

Then, as gravity demands, I fall and tumble down the stairs.

[whocaresifwearecrazy]

Sweet Repeating Pattern: Chapter 1

You can read it on AO3 here:

For those who want to read the Tumblr version, you know where to click

The rain was pouring down in buckets, the thunder roared angrily, the lightning flashed with vigor. It was the perfect night for one of Lord Tippet's infamous parties. These parties weren't infamous for their Baked Alaska, or dances, or even the Jordan Almonds. They weren't even infamous for the white and black dresses all guests wore, or their colorful masquerade masks. These parties were infamous for their death counts.

No, Lord Tippet was not a murderer (at least, we don't think so), but his nativity has allowed him to trust an octet of detectives...who were also some of the most infamous murderers. The more consecutive visits the detectives made, the more suspicious/paranoid the Lord became. Heck, sometimes he himself would get stabbed by an ominous figure who would make commentary and call herself the embodiment of betrayal. 

Either way, Lord Tippet trusted the detectives. This time, the party was going swimmingly. All eight detectives were on their very best behavior and (for once) not killing anyone. They were busy talking over freshly brewed tea, scrumptious scones, delicate Jordan Almonds, crunchy biscuits and a flaming Baked Alaska. Thank goodness. Lord Tippet didn't know WHAT to do IF the detectives started murdering. He had already thrown his mobile at a rude swan, the police department was afraid of the dark, the storm could knock out the power lines, it would take three to four days for the police to RSVP, he gets nervous when talking on the phone AND he and the sheriff were NOT on speaking terms.

This night was far different. After a long night of partying, chatting it up, dancing to the catchiest soundtrack ever and not worrying about getting murdered, Lord Tippet was more than thrilled everyone was still alive. But as Bennington the Butler opened the door to let the guests exit, they were all greeted to the worst thunderstorm of the century. 

"Well, looks like no one's leaving until the storm's died down." Lord Tippet spoke up. He then looked over at everyone "And it looks like you're all staying the night."

Lord Tippet glared at the detectives "I know you guys haven't murdered anyone throughout this party, but PLEASE don't murder anyone while they sleep. Bennington just washed the sheets."

"We won't." Red Detective responded.

"Mmmph mmmmmph mmmph!" Orange Detective said, enjoying another scone. Lord Tippet figured the detective said 'not at all', but he wasn't sure.

"We'll behave." Yellow Detective ruffled her hamster's fur.

"Don't worry." Green Detective added, adjusting his goggles.

"Wouldn't dream of it." Blue Detective commented.

"Unfortunately." Purple Detective gritted his teeth.

"Besides, if we were gonna murder, we'd have done it earlier in the evening." Pink Detective reminded.

"Indeed." White Detective smiled.

"Well then, allow me to show you to your rooms." Lord Tippet said. "Come along."

#Jackbox #Weapons Drawn #12:22 pm

[lifesidefun]

Outback Steakhouse Kicks Out Uniformed Officer And His Wife

When a uniformed officer took his wife to Outback Steakhouse for a nice evening meal, the couple was shocked and dismayed when the manager kicked them out. However, when it was revealed why they were forced to leave, the restaurant was made to regret the decision. Andrew Ward, a Tennessee Wildlife Resources Agency (TWRA) officer, picked up his wife Amanda on a Friday night and decided to take her out to dinner at Outback Steakhouse while in uniform. Little did the couple know that their evening would be ruined by their choice of restaurant. Many law enforcement officers patronize eating establishments while on duty and in uniform. Even though they are taking their assigned break to eat, they are still required to have their firearms on them at all times in case of an emergency. This is the situation Officer Ward found himself in when he took his wife out to dinner. According to Local 3 News, “A Tennessee Wildlife Resources Agency officer was asked to leave the Outback Steakhouse in Cleveland Friday night because he had his service weapon on him. In a public post on Facebook, Andrew Ward shared about the experience. He said he was asked by a manager to remove his weapon and put it in his vehicle. He explained that he had to have it on his person because he was in uniform.” The manager walked away, made a phone call, then returned and asked both Ward and his wife to leave. The manager said that Outback Steakhouses are “gun-free zones.” Officer Ward went on to further explain the situation. “I don’t blame the manager… but this is ridiculous and we will never go back there ever again,” Ward said on Facebook. “A uniformed Law Enforcement Officer who is sworn to protect and serve the public, is refused service because they have a firearm! I am disgusted and have no other words!!!” In a follow-up Facebook post, Ward shared why the manager confronted him. He says a patron at another table reported being scared for her life. “She said police are shooting people, and she could have gotten shot in the parking lot, and the manager had to her and her husband to their vehicle,” Ward wrote. “We were told it was a policy they don’t allow guns – if we would have known there was a complaint we would not have went anywhere! Seriously, she was scared for her life? We were joking and laughing with our server as we ordered, then prayed. What was scary about that?” Ward said Outback contacted him and apologized. They also gave him a $100 gift card, but this was too little too late for many in the community. According to a local news network, Officer Ward’s Facebook posts went viral and had been shared more than 150,000 times. As the story gained traction in the local media, Outback issued a statement. “We’ve always allowed uniformed law enforcement officers to carry their sidearms while dining with us,” Outback’s spokesperson said. “A manager made a mistake. We have contacted the guest personally and apologized.” Bradley County Sheriff Eric Watson also released a statement. “I was very saddened to hear the reports of a law-enforcement officer who was asked to leave a restaurant in this community,” he wrote. “While I truly respect the restaurant for reaching out to the officer, our community must also show support to the men and women who place the badge on their chests every single day in order to protect the establishment in which the officer was asked to leave.” According to News 12, “ is very thankful for the support from the community because he believes it truly helped remedy a situation. He believes the problem has been solved and wants to move on.” After the outpouring of support Officer Ward and his family received via Facebook and in his community, the lawman issued one final statement. “If we move forward and learn from our past mistakes they are no longer mistakes but Lessons!” Ward wrote. “I am not nor will I ever be a perfect man…. there was only one perfect man ever to walk this earth and He died some 2000 years ago to forgive my sins.” And, that’s why stories like this one need to be shared — not to lambaste the restaurant, but rather to inform others because this “mistake” happens all too often. Read the full article