#Hot people forget basic necessities

[scribble-dribble-writes]

Kiss me forever

Part 2 of kiss me goodbye

<< Part 1

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Pairing: Obi wan x reader

Contents: He left you a year ago and told you not to follow him. You precisely did just that.

Warnings: none.

Word count: 2500

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@lportes-22 requested for a second part and so I gave it a happy ending cause Obi wan deserves all the happiness the universe can give him 😭

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You slouch on your armchair, lost in thought staring at an exquisite sunset orange silk dress that laid on top of your bed. It was another event your mother was set to throw in the attempt to make sure you will not lose your standing in society any further. You had become a recluse all through the past year, ever since he left you crumpled on your hallway floor. All your attempts to move on clearly failed.

It was probably this house, you thought. Anywhere you turn, there hidden within it’s element was a memory of him. You hair was done up, your curls pinned down. The corset around your chest wound tight. The days you spent with him were like those you had spent in the playground, flying on those swings like nothing on the planet could ever bring you down. And yet one fall, and you were left in pieces. The clock began to chime, only an hour left before the event. Your mother will be coming in to check on you in a while.

The precautions she had taken were drastic this time, only because every time she put together these sort of gatherings, you always found a way to run away. Sitting a top the terrace or escape into the buzzling market, anywhere but having to stand in that crowd with cut jewels adorning you in your best of clothes. Like you were some sort of item that was being sold to the highest bidder.

The buzzing from your comms brought back your attention to the reality of things. You get up with new found energy. You were waiting for this, for a sign. This was it. Your private little project that you had been funding on your own over the past few months. “Location: Tatooine, sand whale meat station.”, read the message. It was a bizarre place but nonetheless you had no time to lose. You spring open a bag and stuff it with the basic necessities, your hurried shuffle scraping the wooden floor. Having packed everything, the gorgeous fabric that laid on your bed caught your attention once again

It will be a waste to not wear it, a thought passed.

The coordinates seemed to have been wrong you though as you found yourself in the middle of the desert, in a scanty market place. The sand swirling hot around your boots. The air so dry and arid that the sun was beginning to burn through your skin. You pull down the hood of your cloak that was wrapped tight around you. You were lost in a faceless crowd, they were not the one you were searching for. You navigate to the meat stall as your eyes filter the faces of the people who were there. The owner, you assumed, was the man out front selling chopped pieces of meat. You look behind him to see the workers when your eyes landed on the one in the back. He wiped beads of sweat from his forehead as he chopped fresh sand whale meat with a butcher’s knife. He looked rougher than before, with his beard grown out and his hair a little longer with its ends touching his nose rather than resting on his forehead like before. He stopped suddenly and his head whippdd up right to where you were standing. But before he could see you, you dropped low to the ground as though you were picking up a couple credits that had escaped your fingers. Your heart was beating wild in your chest. He was here. Seeing him made you forget all about the desert heat.

He had sensed something but wasn’t sure what it had been. Probably because he had been on edge for the past year, trying his best to keep the boy safe. That his mind tricked him into being paranoid of things that were nothing. He was becoming his worst nightmare. A mad man in the desert. He wiped the blade on his apron as the owner of the establishment he worked at signaled the end of the day. He cut a piece of  meat that was on his station and snuck in into a hidden bag in the folds of his shirt. He kept his head down, which felt unusual  for only a year ago he used to walk with his head held high. His thoughts were always scattered between the events that had occurred. He blamed himself for most of it. But every time he did, he only heard your voice in his head. Telling him to be kinder to himself. He would close his eyes and his mind would take him back to that time he laid on your lap. You were there as he was falling apart. Without you, well his current state was a testament to the reality of your absence.

He walked alone into the desert, close to Owen’s farm. He could make out the familiar shaped rock that marked the entrance to his cave. The suns were beginning to set, casting the walls with an earthen glow. It was another lonely night of making the only food he could afford and then prepare for a night watch over Luke’s whereabouts. But the closer he got, the stronger the feeling in his chest grew, a familiar feeling.

He placed his hand on the cold stone, he sensed that someone was there. He knew this day would come, when he would have to face his fears. They will come for the boy. He unlocked the blaster he carried in the place of his lightsaber. None of this felt like him. It was as though he merely existed in this shell.

Pointing the weapon in front of him, he entered but the person that he saw was not someone the empire had sent. Now he knew for a fact he had gone mad. The blaster wavered in his hands as he saw you. You were seated at the edge of his bed that he had made out of scrap wood. Your sunset dress now glowing as the fabric caught the receding sunlight. This was a ghost of a memory, he told himself. His hand fell limp to his side as his legs carried him to you. Your eyes never leaving his, what sort of game was this.

All these days being his own company has finally paid off. In his desperation, he had finally conjured a real version of you. He sat next to you, his eyes drinking in the detail of the work of his mind, of this dream. He placed his hand on your cheek, your skin feeling warm to the touch. He began to blink rapidly in an attempt to hold back the tears, he could not speak, he didn’t want to ruin the moment and be ripped away from this trance. He removed his hand as he saw dirt stains on your cheeks, only then did it begin to sink in.

“You’ve set up a nice place in the middle of nowhere.”, you tell him. His eyes widening in surprise as he stumbled back. He looked around his place as though he had lost his bearings for a moment. You had never seen him like this, your brave front crumbling a little as you see him struggle. “Obi wan”, you reach out but he flinches and moves away. Suddenly getting up and putting enough space between you as he walked away. “I take it you aren’t happy to see me.”, you clasp your hands together. “What are you doing here?”, his voice was a little coarse. “Isn’t it clear what I’m doing here?”, you ask and he looks back.

“I told you specifically to stay away. Why do have to be so stubborn?”, he spoke with frustration. “As stubborn as you trying to make a life out of this place.”, you respond and he huffs. “Its not the same.”, he folds his arms not wanting to look at you. “This needs to be done, for the boy, for Anakin, for Padme. For.. for the sake of the future.”, he looks out at a tiny speck in the horizon. “And what about you?”, you ask feeling angry at the way he was being selfless beyond measure. “I do not matter.”, he spoke quickly and you knew what he had been doing for so long on his own. Making himself believe the lies his mind had spun.

“I need you to leave before nightfall.”, he walked to his little cabinet near the stove pulling out a tin box. Finishing a few credits from his earnings, he placed them in your hand as he felt the softeners of your palm. “This should secure you safe passage to go home.”, he told you. “No.”, he heard you say and he stilled. “What?”, he asked, confused. “I didn’t run away from one of my many betrothal parties just so you can turn me out of your cave and send me home.”, you could feel the sharpness of your words and the frustration built up within you. You look at him, his confusion fading as realisation dawned on his features. “Your betrothal?”, he asked. “Yes.”, you whispered. He felt another crack spread in his already broken spirit. He moved away that no matter how many planets he put between him and you, it would not be enough.

“And did you accept?”, he asked. “Oh yes that’s why I’m  here, to invite you to the wedding.”, you lashed out. “Is that what you want for me?”, he heard the anger in your voice. He looked away at Owen’s house. The first time in this past year he was torn between what he wanted and what he was expected to do. “Yes. To be safe and happy.”, he stood with his back facing you. You huff. “The two things I only felt with you.”, he heard you say and he crumblef a bit more.

“I’m not going back. If things don’t work out here, I’m  going to make my life elsewhere. I’ve had enough of boring suitors and a caged room.”, you tell him. “What if you’re in danger?”, he asked but you knew the thought behind it. “Because of you?”, you ask to which he doesn’t answer. “Everyone thinks you’re dead. I made sure it stuck, anytime someone asked. I told them you died on mustafar.”, you explained but something about hearing it from you made him wonder if that was how you made sense of your days the past year.

Thinking him to be dead.

You observed as he shuffled away from you, as though he was fighting a magnetic pull. He didn’t face you. Your hopes were withering away every second. Maybe he had moved on. Or a much worser thought, maybe he didn’t care at all.

“Do you expect me to live on with another man? His sweet gestures only always reminding me of you. Nothing will compare, Obi wan. Is that the life you want for me? One of wasting away in one’s pain.”, you asked. He wouldn’t  wish that on you for he knew it’s torment, he was living it.

“What about what I want?”, You asked softly, and he turned to you. He breathed out your name and you got up to answer it like it was a call to your soul. For every step you took, he backed away, till there was no room left. He was backed into the wall, his mind trying to come up with an excuse. “Don’t come closer. My hands are dirty.”, he held his up his hands, covered in dirt. “Your silk looks exquisite and I don’t want to ruin them.”, he spoke but you caught him by his wrists, getting closer to him. You place his hands on your waist and hold it there, giving him no more room to escape or come up with reasons.

Ruin them.

You circled back to his words. That was his fear, that he had ruined his friend’s life and he didn’t want to ruin yours. “You didn’t ruin anything.”, you tell him and it was as though his defense system had crashed. His head fell towards yours as his forehead connected with yours. He had no fight left within him. His nose nudging yours as you looked up at him. “You do matter. What you want matters. This life is yours to live.”, you tell him. “I don’t have anything to give you.”, he states next. You smile. “I only want you, Obi wan.”, you place your hand on his chest, his skin warm to the touch, his heart thumping rapidly. His thumb reaches your cheek to wipe away the smidge of dirt. You run your hands through his hair before pulling away to say, “Although I can’t have my fiancé looking like this.”, you purse your lips. His brows scrunching together in confusion. “What are you talking about?”, he asked.

“Well that was the purpose of my visit. My mother’s matches were getting tedious and I only really like one man.”, you say as you fish out a ring box hidden in your cloak. “What if this man wants to convince you other wise?”, he asked but a small smile was present on his lips. “Then I will leave. Only if he truly wishes it.”, you say. “He wouldn’t want that.”, he says his hold around you feeling more firmer and confident than before. You pop open the bronzed ring, one you had designed, one you wanted to give to him the day he left but couldn’t. 

“I wanted to ask if you would be interested to kiss me forever.”, you ask him as you see him smile, the first time you see joy in his eyes. He clears his throat as he fished for something in his pocket, you look at him confused. He held a silver ring, that looked like it had been hand crafted. “I was never going to kiss you goodbye again.”, he says to which you could not help but smile. Hidden away in a cave on a desert planet, nothing could replace this moment. He put on your ring and you put on his.

“So what are you waiting for?”, you ask as he dips his head, his lips finding yours instantly and he thought he was dreaming again. He was falling again but this time he didn’t want to hold himself back. His fissures were beginning to seal themselves, maybe he could forgive himself. Maybe he did deserve a life of happiness. And that could only be with you. He deepened the kiss like it was the oxygen he needed to survive.

You break away to catch your breath and see the gleam in his eyes. “You desperately need a bath.”, you laugh. “It can wait.”, as he pulls you back to kiss you on the cheek. The moonlight illuminating his silhouette, one you knew you will always see standing next to you.

#obi wan kenobi #ewan mcgregor #obi wan my beloved #general kenobi #master kenobi #kenobi series #kenobi tv #obi wan imagine #obi wan x reader #obiwan x fluff #obi wan fanfiction #obi wan x you #star wars #star wars fic #star wars kenobi

[vonbergerpants]

My hot take on the development of Caspar von Bergliez

I would never post this on Twitter because I would get roasted ALIVE.

So I'm putting it here instead.

Hot take: Out of all of the Black Eagles, Caspar goes through the most character development in non-Crimson Flower routes.

I'm not a CF hater - it has Problems, but I otherwise enjoy its side of things and adore the Black Eagles' found family dynamic. It's why they're my favorite house. However, there's a consistent theme I notice across fans, and that's that they either misunderstand Caspar, or ignore him altogether in favor of other characters. Not their fault, people have their notable faves.

But more often than not, I see people forget Caspar as a character. He gets benched, or his character is incredibly simplified and even mischaracterized. I see someone's take on his character and it's usually clear that they haven't even looked at all of his supports. I'm looking at you, people who think he does nothing but start fights and be stupid.

There's also the fact that he's not easy to recruit for anyone who didn't choose the Black Eagles house. Most people who don't pick the Black Eagles don't even bother recruiting him, because people don't usually train Byleth in brawling. You can immediately recruit folks without that requirement if they're at B support or higher, but Caspar's B support is locked behind the timeskip, so they don't get that chance.

So, Caspar tends to be very forgettable, which is a shame. This also means that they miss out on what is, in my honest opinion, the biggest part of his development:

The fact that outside of CF, he spends the mid-timeskip wandering Fodlan as a mercenary.

Most of the other Black Eagles either stay in their estates/territories (Linhardt, Bernadetta, Petra), or try to help those affected by the war (Dorothea). That's not to say they don't get their own growths from that but to me, they don't have as notable of an impact on their characters (and I love them all for varying reasons but that's another topic altogether). Ferdinand is actually another important case for very similar reasons to Caspar, but I'll get into that later.

But Caspar? He may be a second son, but he's still the son of a military leader. He's the son of the man who is leading most of the Imperial army to war, the very war that the Emperor started. The son of one of the biggest threats to Fodlan.

He leaves his house, wanders Fodlan, and no longer trains to get stronger to appease his father and those above him. He trains to survive and offer his services to those who need it. And what would people think when they see the Minister of Military Affairs' son wandering around? Those in the Empire will see a traitor. Those outside of it who recognize him will see an enemy, someone who is part of the problem. And he has to get around all of that just to survive. He has to work to make people trust him, he meets a variety of people who are dealing with so many different problems. And I know this is a lot of headcanon, but you can't admit that this isn't implied by the very nature of his wandering as an Imperial runaway. And he grows from this as a result. You could say he gains a lot of introspection and does a lot of soul-searching, because what else do you do for five years when you're basically homeless and wandering?

His post-timeskip lines really hit different when heard from non-CF routes. "I don't train for fun" is the biggest one for me. This is coming from someone who very much used to train for fun! He used to find joy in training, but now training has become a necessity. He becomes strong not just for himself, but for those that matter - the people being negatively affected by this war, friends and strangers alike. And he trains to survive until the reunion.

This doesn't even go into how much his definition of justice changes. It happens in both routes, yet it hits much harder outside of his own route, because you have the justice of fighting on the war's side by believing in its cause, and there's the justice of fighting against it due to the amount of people it's harming. Two different sides of the same coin where one clearly has him grappling with the meaning of it a lot more because it goes against the black and white morality he grew up believing in.

In fact, the support that has him grappling with what it means to do right the most is with Catherine, a character he can't have supports beyond C with in Crimson Flower!

This is the problem with the CF route in relation to Caspar's character; you don't get this development. His character stagnates because he simply becomes a follower of the war. There is no separation, no escaping just to live. He simply becomes a general. That's not to say he doesn't belong there, nor is this a commentary on whether CF is good or bad - this isn't about the route itself. It's about what it does for Caspar von Bergliez, compared to other routes.

This is also my main problem with Three Hopes - it completely denies Caspar that growth, both by not having an Academy phase, and by not having him gain the experience of having the option to not fight for the war (literally unrecruitable in other routes). Many Caspar fans that I know, myself included, love Caspar for that growth he gets outside of his own route, which is why making him unrecruitable in Three Hopes is such a tragedy for us.

Ferdinand is the only other character who noticeably benefits from a new perspective via how he spends his mid-timeskip in Three Houses. But I would say that the main difference between Ferdinand and Caspar is that Ferdinand has a defining character growth both in and outside of Crimson Flower (I enjoy him in both routes for different reasons!). Even in Three Hopes, Ferdinand really gets the spotlight for fantastic reasons and his growth from it all is amazing! And Caspar... just doesn't get that as much. To the point where he's just forgettable to most people.

Anyway. This has been the lengthy musings of a Caspar fan. Why I prefer him outside of his own route, and why I think it's a shame that more people don't see that. I hope you enjoyed this. Or if you didn't and you think I'm just wrong, um... sorry, I guess. :')

#fe3h #the woes of being a caspar fan #i know some folks who would appreciate this post #this is also for you #mwah #text post #caspar #linhardt #fire emblem #kass rambles

[avocado-frog]

incorrect quotes tag

Thanks for the tag @elsie-writes

Rules: Use this generator to make some incorrect quotes for your OCs!

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Lily: We've been conducting an ongoing study to see what Dylan will and will not eat Jaxon: Grass? Yes! Lily: Moss? Yes!! Jaxon: Leaves? Ohh, yes! Lily: Shoelaces? Strange, but true! Jaxon: Rocks? Usually no Lily: Jaxon's cooking? Inconclusive! Logan: How did you... test this? Jaxon: You just hand them stuff and say "eat this" and if they eat it, they eat it Logan: ...I don't know how to feel about this Leo: IS THAT WHERE ALL MY SHOELACES WENT??

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Leo, walking around: This reminds me of prison, this reminds me of prison... Leo: *sees family portrait on the wall* Leo: OH this DEFINITELY reminds me of prison

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Logan: Is anyone going to tell me what's going on in here?! Cass: It's kind of complicated, but Leo- Logan: Got it. Forget I asked.

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Leo: Fuck capitalism. It's a rigged system that keeps us poor and it isn't fair. You shouldn't need to work three jobs to afford basic necessities. Leo, playing Monopoly: Sorry, if you wanted to win you should have tried not being poor.

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Leo: You know when people tell you everything's going to be fine and you know they're lying to make you feel better? Jaxon: Yeah? Leo: Everything's going to be fine Jaxon: Oh no

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Emily: Give me one good reason why I shouldn't hit you right in the face Lily: I'll open my mouth and swallow your whole arm Logan: I'm the last of my species Sam: When you move to punch me, I'm going to put a bucket in front of my face, and then your fist will just punch the inside of a bucket and you'll look ridiculous Kai: My mom specifically instructed me to have a good day Ryan: Your fist is so pristine Marcy: The scheduled walloping time isn't for another half hour Cass: I took the oath to never get punched Dylan: My teeth are not yet ready to be harvested Elliot: I'd rather just do it myself Jaxon: My face is full of hot boiling water that will shoot out everywhere if you hit me Leo: It would be way too rewarding

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No pressure + open tag

@the-stray-storyteller

@bikaribechic

#incorrect quotes #writeblr tag games

[silversdragonemporium]

The Heat House

Ship: Dimitri Alexandre Blaiddyd/Byleth Eisner (male)

Summary: Byleth, as an omega, had been to more than his fair share of heat houses. In the heat house, he would get anonymously paired with an alpha, and from there he would help them with their rut and he would get help with his heat.

It didn’t mean anything. It was just a biological circumstance. A simple give-and-take that remained completely anonymous.

But for some reason, he just can’t stop thinking about his house leader…

The first of my double entry for @dimilethfever’s Hot Flash Round #3 (Anonymity)

Warnings: A/B/O (omegaverse), anonymous sex in gloryholes, lots of pining, a sprinkle of breeding kink (as you do)

Rating: Explicit

AO3 Link

Alphas and omegas were assumed to be incredibly rare, but the truth of it was that they were more common than people wanted to admit. After all, both were suppressing themselves all of the time. Making it appear as if they weren’t one missed dose of suppressant from being dominated by their animalistic drives. However, one cannot indefinitely suppress. Alphas and omegas had to lay off the suppressants now and then and let their rut or heat pass them by. If they didn’t, they risked their mating cycle overriding the suppressant in the worst circumstances possible. Alphas needed to fuck, and omegas needed to be fucked. Since it was inevitable that they’d have to give in to their instincts eventually, why not arrange a compromise?

The concept of a heat house was quite simple, really. Omegas would routinely cease their suppressant regime to induce their heat. Then, they would go into rooms that had convenient slots for them to basically hang their ass out into a room where alphas that were off their suppressants would find the nearest hole and go to town. No names, no mating bites, no problem. Once either party was satisfied, they could leave quietly and be replaced by another alpha or omega in need. Nobody could really care when their partner had been replaced. Byleth knew he could take about two knots before his heat would finally leave him be for the next couple of months until he’d have to go back to the heat house before his heat would override the suppressant.

There was really no shame in using the heat house, it was merely a thing of necessity. There were people with reputations, jobs, and things to do —people like Byleth— that didn’t have the luxury to wallow in some ivory tower and trying to rub out a heat, wishing that the wooden knot-toy they covered in their sweet-smelling slick were a real, thick alpha cock pumping between their legs. Not to mention, just fucking it out of one’s system actually made these things much more manageable than trying to avoid it.

When Byleth had presented as an omega, about the time he assumed he was old enough for puberty, Jeralt had been practical. He taught him about heat houses and suppression. They had work to do, and Byleth knew that it was simply the best choice to combine his suppressant routine with going to the heat house to deal with his problem.

They say that one never forgets their first time, but Byleth couldn’t really remember it. All of his times in the heat houses were a blur that melted together into a similar experience over and over again. It was nice, and it worked for him, so he just kept at it.

Granted, there was the small issue of having to take the abortifacient after the fact, which always messed up the stupid omega part of his brain that wanted to keep the pup and find the parent to be a happy little family together.

Fortunately, Byleth was the Ashen Demon. So he just drank that bitter brew and went back to his usual routine. Back to pretending to being a beta. Someone normal and dependable, that wasn’t biologically wired to be used and bred.

Someone like Dimitri.

Dimitri was the picture-perfect beta. Calm, polite, reasonable. Not a needlessly aggressive douchebag like Felix. Not a vapid manwhore like Sylvain. He was just… always in control. Always able to lead his classmates with a small smile.

Dimitri’s muscular build had piqued Byleth’s interest in a vague “oh wow, he’s hot” way. But with every passing month, Byleth started to notice more and more of his student’s blessed physique. His thick neck. The hint of beard Byleth had once seen an early morning, before Dimitri diligently shaved it away. The way sweat made his loose linen shirt cling to his muscles when he trained. His sky-blue eyes that had a blade-sharp edge to them whenever he asked a question during class. Almost as if he were an alpha that was about to pounce on him and fuck him in front of the entire class to see.

It was around that point that Byleth conceded that it was time for a visit to the heat house.

It was a Sunday, and instead of taking the class for an excursion, Byleth gave them the day off. Like any large enough town, Garreg Mach had a heat house tucked away from public view, but easy enough to find if one knew how to look for it.

The heat house in the town was actually managed by the Church of Seiros. The amenities were posher than most of the heat houses Byleth had been in. The other heat houses just gave you a bucket of water to clean yourself after you were done. This one had a bathhouse just next door to where the omegas were set to get fucked. And— actually, it was divided into small closet-like rooms, keeping the privacy of each omega not only from the alphas on the other side, but amongst themselves.

If Byleth was gonna stay in Garreg Mach as a teacher, he could get used to this.

But regardless of how nice the amenities were, Byleth soon found himself in a familiar position: on his hands and knees, waiting for an alpha.

He didn’t have to wait long. Behind him, he could feel a pair of hands open up his buttcheeks, and a low growl of approval at the drooling hole they found.

My alpha, thought the heat-struck part of him.

No. It was just man or woman in a rut. An alpha. Not his alpha. Byleth didn’t have an alpha. He was single, and he’d stay that way for the foreseeable future.

The alpha grunted, and then Byleth could feel a tongue lapping up at his hole: eager but slightly clumsy. Byleth could even feel the alpha’s long eyelashes against him as they drank up his slick.

In all of his years of experience, no alpha had ever done that. It was too much of a courting gesture. You don’t really give foreplay in a heat house. That’s not really the point.

But fuck, that felt nice.

If Byleth ever had a partner, he knew he’d have to ask for this.

“Yes, yes,” he babbled incomprehensibly, feeling his heat burn him from the inside. “Use me, use me…”

The alpha chuckled. Low and deep. Powerful.

Oh fuck, I need their knot, cried out the omega in Byleth. I need it so bad.

That was just the heat talking. Byleth would be fine once it was over.

Byleth didn’t have much time to think about it when the alpha’s cock started to breach him. As always, it felt good. More than good. It felt right.

I was born for this, sang that stupid omega part of himself. I was born to be filled and used by him! To be his little, tight, warm hole. That’s the only reason I—

No. He was the Ashen Demon. The scourge of—

“Ngh…” his alpha grunted, fucking his cock deeper inside, long lost in his animalistic drive. “Professor… you feel so good, Professor…”

What was that feeling, twisting in his stomach? Was it omega-in-heat excitement? Or was it absolute terror at being discovered?

It’s him, squeed his omega brain. He’s my alpha!

Shit, was this a student? One of his?

Byleth wanted to think that it was his heat-driven omega-brain that immediately conjured up the image of Dimitri, with his golden hair and polite smile— but no. It wasn’t only the omega that wanted to belong to him. Every part of Byleth desired to be his. Either as a whore, a lover or…

Mate. Spouse. Husband.

Stupid. Byleth was being stupid.

“You take me so well,” Dimitri said. “You really needed this, didn’t you, Professor?”

No. There was no way that was Dimitri.

Dimitri was a beta. A reliable, normal, dependable beta.

…Wasn’t he?

Shit, it’s not like one could tell these things easily. Byleth doubted anybody saw his deadpan face on the battlefield and immediately knew that he’d want nothing more than to be fucked stupid on an alpha’s knot, bent over and bred in the throes of his heat.

“Alpha,” whined Byleth. “Please, please… give it to me!”

“You like being my little heat bitch, don’t you professor?” The alpha, that might or might not have been Dimitri, let out a small cruel chuckle.

“Yes, yes!” Byleth nodded. He could imagine how Dimitri’s face must have looked like, red with exertion. “I’m your cum slut, your heat bitch, your whore. Just fuck me, please, fuck me!”

“You needy little thing,” the alpha slapped his ass. “Why don’t you come on my knot, and how me just how much you want to get bred?”

Byleth let out a delighted little gasp. Shit. This was so much better than all the other times. Usually, it was impersonal. The cocks that were stuffed into him were practically indistinguishable from the next. The words they said in the mating were as meaningless as other guttural grunts and moans.

But this… it was more. Was it because it was possible that Dimitri was the one fucking him? That Dimitri could’ve been the one thrusting deep inside him with an even and relentless rhythm?

That when he came, Dimitri would be the one filling Byleth’s belly with his thick spent until it quickened?

It was that thought that made Byleth come with tears in his eyes.

“Dimitri…!” Byleth moaned, unable to hold back the name of the one he wished was the one burying his knot inside him. Byleth felt the alpha coming deep inside him.

“Byleth,” Dimitri let out a satisfied moan. “You’re mine now.”

So. It was Dimitri. He was the alpha that just fucked the heat out of him.

It didn’t mean anything…

It means everything, the omega in him cried out. I’ll carry Dimitri’s child. He’s my alpha. I’m his omega.

Byleth would probably have to think over what this would mean for them.

Later.

For now, he would just let himself relax and enjoy his alpha’s knot.

#silverfic:complete #silvercoldbrew #dimileth #fe3h fanfic #mdimileth #DimilethHotFlash

[neely-osbarrow]

D&D Classes- Neely

Stolen from @briar-ffxiv​ Anyone else who wants a go can nick it from me ^^ I thought I would have a go at this as Neely basically fell into being a ranger through childhood raising and then pure necessity rather than choice

bold what definitely applies to your muse. - italicize what somewhat applies to your muse

𝙱𝙰𝚁𝙱𝙰𝚁𝙸𝙰𝙽 »   toothy grins, stories around the campfire, clothes covered in pet hair, hot temper, old jeans, heartbeat in head, potatoes and steak, beaded jewelry, bruise like galaxies, mementos, backpack stuffed full, craigslist furniture, spontaneous road trips, air ripped from lungs.

𝙱𝙰𝚁𝙳 »   homemade bread, white lies, easily excited, trying on hats, band geek, pep talks, no impulse control, sunsets, vintage fashion, long showers, selfies, following dreams, rosy cheeks, song mash-ups, pink lemonade with tequila, loves easily, animated storyteller, full of comebacks.

𝙲𝙻𝙴𝚁𝙸𝙲 »   list of wishes, biting their tongue, band-aids and neosporin, shoulder to cry on, morning sun, necklaces, trial and error, homemade quilts, formal clothing, astrology fan, messages in bottles, pleated braids, speaking up for friends, feathers, motivational quotes, vivid dreams.

𝙳𝚁𝚄𝙸𝙳 »   bird watching, shy kid, wind chimes, trying to whistle, summer camp, apple orchards, lost in their head, glow-in-the-dark stars on the ceiling, hoodies, thrift shopping, saving worms off the sidewalk, pig latin, bare feet, thunderstorms, numb fingers, braided hair, naming potted plants.

𝙵𝙸𝙶𝙷𝚃𝙴𝚁 »   goosebumps, leather jackets, adventure, chewing nails, cares deeply but can’t show it, bronze locks, no sleep, taste of iron, netflix binges, never forgets, combat boots, stories behind scars, table for one, official soundtracks, sore calves, trusts themselves the most.

𝙼𝙾𝙽𝙺 »   always trying to be better, wanderlust, meditation, sweatpants, old photographs, yoga, sleeping in hammocks, nostalgia, minimalist design, breath of fresh air, baby animals, volunteering, perfectionist, doesn’t care about fashion, healthy snacks, noticing the little things.

𝙿𝙰𝙻𝙰𝙳𝙸𝙽 »   school uniforms, thick jackets, sleeping with the windows open, logical advice, scrap booking, compasses, I fight for my friends, sculpture gardens, cold morning air, big soul, likes routine, secret romantic, last to get jokes, sunflowers, practical presents, misty weather.

𝚁𝙰𝙽𝙶𝙴𝚁 »   herbal tea, smell of rain, blinking away tears, camping trips, collecting bones, swiss army knives, first impressions, anxious thoughts, bobby pins, burnt marshmallows, too competitive, clothes lines, messenger bags, holding grudges, gets along better with animals than people.

𝚁𝙾𝙶𝚄𝙴 »   flirtatious sarcasm, candid photos, lost phone chargers, adrenaline rush, picking dirt out from beneath their nails, social chameleon, clashing clothes, self-deprecating jokes, claw machines, sits in chairs wrong, smudged eyeliner, has too many sunglasses, eats nothing or everything.

𝚂𝙾𝚁𝙲𝙴𝚁𝙴𝚁 »   infectious laugh, family trees, shivers down their spine, lipstick and roses, mood swings, clumsy, believing in destiny, high expectations, sleeping in darkness, collection of nail polish, passionate, good grades but never studies, poetry books, blowing kisses, not knowing their own strength.

𝚆𝙰𝚁𝙻𝙾𝙲𝙺 »   knowing everyone’s secrets, backpack covered in pins, envy, being in walmart late at night, earl grey, selective memory, conspiracy theories and cryptids, keysmashing, need to know basis, can’t cook, bags under eyes, experimental art, flickering bulbs, black clothing all year long.

𝚆𝙸𝚉𝙰𝚁𝙳 »   piles of books, cat in lap, keeping a diary, indecision, scented candles, studying alone in a café, lingering touches, museum dates, unanswered questions, taking on too much responsibility, collections, chalk dust, comfy robes, unnecessary apologies, coming home after a long day.

So, I still got the most in ranger, which tracks but I was surprised by how many I got in fighter and druid too for Neely!

#➶neely aesthetic #➶story #➶personality #dnd #dnd oc #d&d #d&d oc #fantasy character #halfling oc #oc blog #rangercore

[hellfirehaley]

Old iPod Playlist

So I found my old playlist from when I broke my phone back in 2014-2018 and went off the grid basically. It was called Listen Longer.

iPod playlist

Bad Suns- Cardiac Arrest

Bastille

Pompeii

Things We Lost In The Fire

Bad Blood

Oblivion

Flaws

Good Grief

Beastie Boys

Fight For Your Right

No Sleep Til Brooklyn

River - Bishop Briggs

I Wanna Get Better - Bleachers

Blink-182 (anthology pre Tom DeLonge departure)

Bon Iver - Skinny Love

Borns - 10,000 Emerald Pools

Cage The Elephant - Mess Around

The Clash

London Calling

Should I Stay Or Should I Go?

Coldplay

A Sky Full Of Stars

Paradise

Every Teardrop Is A Waterfall

M.M.I.X

Yellow

The Scientist

Clocks

Fix You

Talk

Speed Of Sound

Til Kingdom Come

The Cranberries

Dreams

Ode To My Family

Linger

Zombie

Death Cab For Cutie 

The Ghost Of Beverly Drive

Good Help (Is So Hard To Find)

I Will Follow You Into The Dark

Disclosure - Magnets (ft. Lorde)

Florence and The Machine

Dog Days Are Over

Kiss With a FIst

Cosmic Love

You Got The Love

Foster The People

Pumped Up Kicks

Don’t Stop

Gin Blossoms - Hey Jealousy

Glass Animals

Black Mambo

Gooey

Grouplove

Tongue Tied

Shark Attack

Let Me In

Harvey Danger - Flagpole Sitta

Hozier

Cherry Wine

Take Me To Church

Imagine Dragons

I Bet My Life

Radioactive

It’s Time

Demons

Amsterdam

Warriors

J. Roddy Walston & The Business - Take It As It Comes

Jake Bugg - Simple As This

James Bay

Hold Back The River

If You Ever Want to Be in Love

Jimmy Eat World - The Middle

Joan Jett - Bad Reputation

Kaleo - Way Down We Go

The Killers

Mr. Brightside

Somebody Told Me

All These Things That I’ve Done

When You Were Young

Kodaline - All I Want

Lorde - Pure Heroine Album

M83 - Wait

Mumford and Sons

I Will Wait

Monster

Believe (live)

The Neighborhood

Afraid

Sweater Weather

Let It Go

Female Robbery

The New Basement Tapes - Kansas City

Of Monsters and Men

King and Lionheart

Mountain Sound

Little Talks

The Offspring

Pretty Fly (For A White Guy)

The Ramones

I Wanna Be Sedated

Judy Is A Punk

Blitzkrieg Bop

I Wanna Be Your Boyfriend

Red Hot Chili Peppers - Dark Necessities

Saint Motel - My Type

Santigold - Radio

SemiSonic - Closing Time

Simple Minds - Don’t You (Forget About Me)

Smashing Pumpkins

1979

Today

Sublime

What I Got

Santeria

40 Oz To Freedom

Doin’ Time

Tears For Fears - Everybody Wants to Rule The World

Third Eye Blind

How’s It Going To Be

Semi-Charmed Life

Jumper

Twenty one pilots

Heathens

Vance Joy

Great Summer

Riptide

X Ambasssadors

Renegades

Unsteady

The 1975

The 1975 album

I like it when you sleep, for you are so beautiful yet so unaware of it Album

@emokid-ellie

#playlists #haley's music recs #listen longer playlist

[lostyetfinding]

Labels

Park Jimin knows who he is and who he is going to be. He runs a little comfy bookstore and dances in his free time. He keeps his life as organized as he can manage. One night Kim Taehyung enters his life, leaving Jimin with a few more life-altering thoughts than he would care to admit. “So you don’t have to pick between cats and dogs?” He mumbles, loud enough he knows Taehyung can hear him but is still quiet. Suddenly Jimin’s bookstore is full of laughter, deep and loud and rumbling but so cheerful, “No Jimin! You don’t have to choose between cats and dogs!" “Whoa.”

you can read on ao3 here or below!

Park Jimin knows who he is. He is a bisexual, 25 year old man. He is also demisexual. He is a dancer at night and the owner of a small bookstore at day. He is a cat person, not a dog person (because you have to pick one). He was a libra, which means he is a social person according to any website (he is). Park Jimin is a top when he gets his mind in the gutter.

Jimin has always known who he was, every single thing he could think of describing himself by, he did. It helps him with his anxiety most of the time, knowing who he is, every single part of himself. It makes him smile to think about it while he is dredging through the accounting forms for the week.

Late on a Sunday night is a slow time, always, but Jimin likes his bookstore open as late as possible. Plus, being in the bookstore this late at night allows him to keep up to date with all the legal documents.

Jimin loves his little bookstore. He keeps it smelling like vanilla and peppermint, home. For some people a bookstore can be home, a place where the rest of the world can be at your fingertips. It's a small store but that doesn't make it any less to some of his favorite customers. If Jimin didn't worry about allergies there would be a cat to go along with the beige walls and white bookcases. Maybe the cat would sleep on the 3 couches that were donated to him, or the beanbags that he managed to get for sale. He sighs and looks back at the forms he still has to get through.

Ding!

Jimin lifts his head up and sees a relatively tall man shake off his hair, water droplets going everywhere. The man turns, when he notices Jimin, a smile takes over his face and his mouth starts to move but Jimin can’t hear anything. Oh right, headphones.

“Sorry, I forgot I had my headphones in,” Jimin says as soon as he pulls them out, letting them drop onto the desk with a small thud.

Mystery man just chuckles, “It’s okay, I do that sometimes too, I was just trying to apologize for coming in so late and dripping water all over your store.” Which is very true because as he stands there all the water collects in a small puddle on the welcome mat.

“No it’s fine, I didn’t even realize it was raining, I can grab a towel from the back for you if you want,” Jimin rushes to get off his stool and go to the closet of extra clothes and basic necessities he keeps for when he forgets to go home. It’s in the back where most people won’t see it

“You really don’t have to-” The man starts to say but before he can finish Jimin has a towel for him, “Thank you, sorry again.”

“No it’s fine, I have a coffee machine over in that corner if you want something to warm yourself up with, let me just put all my papers away first,” Jimin nods in the direction of his coffee pot he never really uses unless he has hot chocolate packets or is dying of sleep deprivation. He looks up from the desk as he tries to put all his papers in some kind of order, not wanting to look unorganized, and he finally lets himself look at the man who entered his shop. He has dark brown hair and a nice sharp v-shaped jawline.

“So hi I guess,” Mystery man says as he ruffles his hair with the towel, trying to get it dry. Jimin thinks dry hair is important because have you ever seen a kdrama? Everyone gets sick from wet hair!

“Hello! I’m Park Jimin, welcome to my bookstore,” He says as brightly as he dares. I mean it’s 11pm on a Sunday night, if he put his all into anything people would worry he was some kind of serial killer. Jimin also makes sure to measure how big he lets his smile get, he makes sure to keep it from merging his eyelids with his cheeks.

The man doesn’t seem scared though, instead his mouth reforms the boxy smile that Jimin wants to stare at forever, “Right, names are a thing, well in that case I am Kim Taehyung. Nice to meet you, Jimin.” Taehyung puts his hand out for a handshake, so Jimin does that same. It's polite.

Jimin gives a smile back, once again making sure to not be too enthusiastic because of the time of night, “You can stay until the rain stops.” And just like that both of their gazes shift from each other to the water hitting the window. The mention of the weather triggered a lot of different thoughts for Jimin. First, what if Taehyung didn’t want to stay? The man in question didn't seem to be fidgeting. Which led to the question, what if Jimin made him uncomfortable? Again Jimin checks if Taehyung is doing anything strange, he notices that Taehyun twirls a ring on his index finger. What could he do to fix that?

“Jimin?” Taehyung calls out and Jimin realizes he did it again. He got lost in his thoughts and ignored Taehyung.

Jimin mentally slaps himself before he responds, “Sorry, I was just thinking. Can you repeat whatever it was I missed?”

“Sure! I was asking if you were sure I could wait for the rain to stop, the forecast shows it holding up for a while,” Taehyung seems to not mind the fact that Jimin missed anything, although he is still twirling the ring.

“I promise I don’t mind, if you need to stay the night I have a few couches in the back and I was probably going to end up crashing on one anyways,” Jimin says as he moves back to his unorganized mess of papers next to the cash register. He hears footsteps come closer to him so he assumes Taehyung followed him, “Make yourself at home, I just have to get a few of these forms filled out before I can call it quits for the night.”

“If you are okay with it, I am gonna grab a book,” Taehyung doesn’t form the sentence in any sort of question manner nor does his voice do that lift everyone has at the end of a question. But Jimin knows it is still a question nonetheless. So he looks up and gives the other man a nod. Taehyung moves to the bookshelves and starts running his hands over the spines of the books, he heads straight for the fantasy section of the store.

Jimin puts in one of his headphones, so if Taehyung needs to say anything he will hear it, and looks back at the tax form he had to finish. Forms suck. Owning a bookstore is fun. Owning a bookstore means forms. Good outweighs the bad, right? The bookstore falls into a silence except for the rain and soft sound of Eric Nam coming out of Jimin’s headphones. Taehyung has curled himself up on the blue couch in the corner with a book, Jimin can’t see the title from his desk. He does notice that Taehyung has continued to twirl his ring but slowly now.

After he trudges through 2 more tax forms, Jimin lets out a sigh and shoves the unfinished documents into their drawer. A forever overflowing drawer. He moves the ones he filled out over to the edge of his desk so he doesn’t forget to mail them out by Tuesday morning. He turns to look at the man he didn’t know a half hour ago. Jimin, being himself, starts to wonder who the man is. What he does for a living. Heck, Jimin would be happy knowing what book he is reading so intently.

“I can feel you staring,” Taehyung doesn’t look up at Jimin. If he did he would see the little man with his eyes wide open like a deer caught in headlights. Jimin didn’t know what to do, “Jimin?” Taehyung did look up this time, luckily Jimin had enough time to school his features and get rid of the shock.

“S-sorry I was just wondering what book you picked,” Jimin’s voice sounded small. Jimin’s voice never sounds small, not with strangers at least. Jimin has to be comfortable to be anything less than perfect.

Taehyung, again, doesn’t seem to mind the weird antics of the shorter man, “It’s called Splintered, an Alice in Wonderland spinoff.”

“I forgot I had that here, it isn’t super popular cause the author doesn’t have a big name yet, do you like it so far?” Jimin walks closer to where Taehyung is sitting as he talks.

Taehyung sees him coming closer and makes sure there is room for Jimin to sit down next to him, “I do. I have a secret love for wonderland.”

Why?” Is all Jimin can do as he sits down. Understanding what people like to read is like understanding people.

“Well in wonderland everything is just however it is, there is no need for explanations and no one ever asks. It's a form of fantastical that no one even dares to question or categorize because why would you?” Taeyung seems passionate about his explanation, his face becoming more animated and his hand that isn’t holding the book gesturing to match the excitement.

Jimin doesn’t notice his mouth moving into a crescent until it has already happened and his sight was slightly narrowed from his eye smile, “Sounds like you read a lot about wonderland!”

“Wouldn’t it be amazing?” Taehyung asks, it’s not a question Jimin completely understands.

“What would be amazing?”

“If we could do the same, stop asking for explanations for how things are, stop trying to label every facet of our lives. I mean think about it, people hate other people for being ‘gay’ because ‘straight’ is normal, but what if neither existed. What if you just fall in love and what genitalia someone has doesn’t change who you are? I feel like that's the solution to most problems,” Taehyung stares at nothing, but he is smiling. Taehyung has this look on his face that Jimin thinks means happiness and peace, to him it looks like Tae might be daydreaming.

“Really? But those labels are a part of who people are,” Jimin can’t help but be hesitant to agree with Taehyung even though the idea seems to make Taehyung happy. Park Jimin has always known who he is. Without all his labels would he really know who he is?

Taehyung hears the tone of Jimin’s voice and puts the book down, turning to face the smaller man completely, “Jimin who are you?”

This shocks Jimin, but he knows the answer, always has, so he answers with ease, “I am the owner of a small bookstore, I’m a 25 year old bisexual and demisexual who tops, I am a libra, and I am a cat person. I also love superhero stories so my favorite book genre is sci-fi.”

“Why put yourself in that box?”

“What do you mean? There is no box,” Jimin is confused. Does Taehyung mean being out, because he is out, has been for a long time.

Taehyung runs his hand through his hair, “I mean you can be anything but you are giving yourself all these labels that create this person, do you ever feel like you struggle to be him?”

“Taehyung who are you?” Jimin asks. He doesn’t want to admit to this man that he sometimes feels trapped.

Taehyung just shrugs and leans back, “I don’t know, it changes, somedays I am adventurous, somedays I feel like sitting alone. I have been everything and nothing and I can’t wait to see who I am tomorrow. Why label it? Why box myself in?”

Jimin just stares. He stares at this man who walked into his bookstore because of the rain. A man who says he doesn’t know who he is, that he doesn’t want to. Jimin stares. And he takes a deep breath. Letting it all sink in.

“So you don’t have to pick between cats and dogs?” He mumbles, loud enough he knows Taehyung can hear him but still quiet.

Suddenly Jimin’s book store is full of laughter, deep and loud and rumbling but so cheerful, “No Jimin! You don’t have to choose between cats and dogs.”

“Whoa.”

“Is that the only life altering thing?” Jimin doesn’t have to look at Taehyung to know he is smiling when he talks.

“Yes! Do you know how hard it is to choose between the two? It’s impossible” Jimin throws himself across the light green couch that is next to the one Taehyung is on.

He hears Taehyung get up but Jimin doesn’t move until he hears Taehyung talk, “Well look at that, the rain stopped, thanks for a wonderful evening Jimin. I’ll be back Friday night to buy the book and hopefully take you on a date.”

And just like the whirlwind of a man entered his peaceful bookstore, he left. Jimin didn’t know what to expect from him or what to expect from the date he now has. Oh well.

find the rest of my works here!

#bts jimin #park jimin #taehyung #bts taehyung #vmin #jimin x taehyung #bts fanfic #bts fic #bts #ao3 writer #bts writing #ao3 fanfic #how do i tag this

[duelundhumphrey75]

Typically the Underhanded Sprayer The water Refridgerator Will make Her Process Out of your Clinic in the Residential

Currently, most of us need launched through the use of bottled water dispensers in the house not to mention at the office. Simply because, although some sections people water supply is actually defined as safer, virtually all even so need a lot of carbon dioxide, sometimes by no means exposed throughout numerous trying options, along the lines of tablet runoff due to families flushing and / or pouring out of date synthetics not forgetting pharmaceuticals downwards usually the remov bathroom soap dispensere. And them have the ability to poison section the water necessities. Therefore, as soon as such carbon dioxide jump into your regional the water division pipeline, a lot of people by using many of these the water might possibly sometimes ended up being gruesome free of discovering explanation for most of these health problem. Subsequently, finding a bottled water dispenser and sprayer the water refridgerator may be a particular wonderful means to make sure folks are alcohol consumption more refined the water instead of out of your regular water by themselves. Thank goodness, some circulation to repair all the way up hometown streams not forgetting repair tidy water supply towards many around the world has recently always been brought to source of light throughout a number of eco not forgetting over the internet people working hard to this plan. Until such time as much of the instance but, anyone online can need quite definitely a reduced amount of plastic bottles and / or various items to reuse with the use of such forms of dispensers which ordinarily handle 2-3 towards twenty years old gallons from the water prior to starting. 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Besides, basically just have a relatively a small amount of organisations launched presenting units for your residential ?n which anyone online can tidy the the water via the operation of reverse osmosis. Most units tidy the tank partnerships while others need to have visitors to strain the water towards a containers not to mention jog the device as a way for typically the reverse osmosis system get started with, and then system might be accomplish, anyone online can afin de several the water towards a good sized pitcher and various containers because required. Even if, furthermore there need basically long been a few of these units introduced for your residential, anyone online can insure people are wedding users and attendents most clear potential water supply with the use of such types of units. But, most chilled not to mention domestic warm water sprayer dispensers which even heal the tank are actually comparatively steeply-priced. But, you can find counter-top and different other concepts of which substantiate more inexpensive instead of investing in bottled water in the future. One of the numerous most basic to possess not forgetting appreciate likely will be typically the counter-top reverse osmosis solution of which cleans a particular gallon from the water prior to starting. In spite of the brand, traditionally the general public basically usage our warmer tempuratures and medicated the water in such set-ups, the tank ordinarily tendencies healthy until such time as an occasion full typically the sprayer should be refilled regardless which kind from the water is a thing that is made usage of in the device. Subsequently, a specific even desire please remember there are numerous from the water designs that may be made available for the purpose of typical sprayer the water coolers. The specific 2-3 the water designs for the intended purpose of such dispensers can include, distilled, our warmer tempuratures not to mention pretreated the water. Distilled the water, usually is routine city water and which has always been tv previously good discounts. A specific even likes to ensure not to mention go through producing labels accurately, for the intended purpose of when ever investing in our warmer tempuratures the water, it is suggested fantastic to recognize even if it?s bottled from the building blocks and / or happens to be exposed to toxins throughout commuter routes. Not like, pretreated the water is actually cleaned out utilizing a system known as reverse osmosis, where pollutants are actually far from the tank as the fundamental parts are in fact swapped. Because there may be several establishments merchandising the water presently and which has long been tv not to mention medicated throughout doing this termed reverse osmosis, individuals need launched applying system to fix not to mention type of filtration city water in the house. But, for the reason that such versions have become pricy, virtually all a lot of people not to mention establishments even so prefer the typical water in bottles dispenser for the intended purpose of concurrently training ease medical procedure not to mention allow you to need heated and / or chilled the water from the reach from a tab. Which means, whereas such latest units may well be great for vacuuming the water throughout reverse osmosis in the house, a large number of see many however prefer the typical water in bottles coolers not to mention dispensers finished, and / or certainly, and also many of these residential solution units. Following that, a particular needs to choose even if to hire decanter or glass and plastic bottles. Even though decanter or glass can be compatible with naff, and steer clear of some potential naff aftertaste, a lot of give preference to decanter or glass. But, such decanter or glass not forgetting better quality naff jugs, perhaps even from the bare minimum 2-3 gallon capacity have grown to be substantial when ever overflowing with the water. Subsequently, สล็อตNaga uncover the electricity speculate if this trade towards exercise not to mention destination many of these remover bottles at the gear when creating this final choice.

#bet

[clelandswedeen]

Things You Should Always Pack For Your Next Beach House Plan For Vacation

Are you excited about renting a beach house for your vacation? Great! You feel really good when you press the "book now" to rent a house at the beach. You can almost touch the sand on your feet and hear the waves crashing on the beach. You know that soon you will be going through everything, and you are really excited. 

Moreover, do you need to carry anything for your beach vacation rental? Let’s see.

It is important that you read the rental agreement and the property management policies because every house you rent can be different. The agreement and website should inform you about what comes with the house and what things you are allowed or not to bring. Every beach house plan for vacation has always had the basic things needed on a vacation, but still, you should double-check just to make sure.

Now, come back to our main topic: what things you should pack during a beach vacation rental. Read below to learn more.

1. Pack daily use things

When you live at your home, you can easily find daily use things because these are part of your daily lifestyle. Therefore, you will need these things when you go for a beach vacation. You should pack some medications and first aid supplies if there are any emergencies. You should also pack some items such as:

Clothes: shorts, dresses, tops, sweatshirts, pajamas, underwear, socks, bathing suits etc.

Toiletries: toothbrush, toothpaste, face wash, soap, lotions, creams, and deodorant etc

Hair care: Hair dryer, shampoo, conditioner, hair oil, hair serum.

2. Pack a charger and adapter

This may seem awkward, but you should never forget these items to pack during your beach house plan for vacation because people travel with many gadgets these days. If you are a person like these people, you should pack your charger and adapters. You can use your charger to charge mobile phones, smart watches, cameras, shaving trimmers, mics, etc.

3. Pack laundry pods and sponges

The cleaning fees may not cover washing clothes and cleaning dishes. Kitchen sponges have a lot of bacteria on them. You should use your sponge instead of someone else's to eliminate the grossness. Laundry soap pods are easy to carry, don't make a mess.

4. Pack sheets and towels

We know that there is nothing like home, and your sheets and towels at home are the best. If you have a beach house plan for vacation, you should bring your towels to soak up water and sand. If you are fortunate enough to have a vacation where you can relax in bed all day, you should bring your favorite soft sheets.

5. Pack some kitchen ingredients

Even if you don't have hot sauce in your bag, you'll still want to bring your favorite spices. You should not compromise with your taste whether you are at home or on vacation. You should try to carry your spices when you go on beach house vacation for several days. You should also pack some kitchen tools as they will be with you when you need them.

Conclusion

If you are all set for a beach vacation rental, make sure you carry necessities. Bringing important items like sunscreen, bathing suits, and towels ensures you can enjoy the beach without any problems at the last minute. When you go on vacation with fully well-packed necessities, you can make your vacation enjoyable and without worries.

After all, if you have a beach house plan for a vacation, you can contact 2410 W Oceanfront Drive. We provide luxury houses with a lot of amenities including car parking, luxury linens, beach chairs & umbrellas, Wi-Fi speakers and more. Visit our website to book your stay today. 

#beach house plans

[seosubmissionblog]

Use These Beauty Tips to Get Perfect Skin

Want to look like a model with perfect, radiant skin? Don't we all, though? The constant stream of new skin care products and tips can make it difficult to settle on a program that works best for you. We all know that basic things like getting enough water and eating right can help, but is there anything else we can do to get that immaculate texture? Fortunately, there are only a few simple beauty tips you need to follow rather than a plethora of costly treatments and time-consuming procedures.

When you do not have time for intrusive surgeries and treatments, it is important to have some natural face beauty secrets up your sleeve as a woman. Chemical-free chemicals and some natural beauty skin care recommendations are all you need, regardless of your skin type. Then you sit back, relax, and let the procedure do its magic on your skin.

Keep it simple.

Skincare Sunscreen Hydration Nutrient-Dense Food

Using an excessive amount of a product can sometimes produce the nicest skin texture. Furthermore, research has shown that using an excessive number of products might exacerbate skin issues.

Look at Some of the Most Important Beauty Tips At Home In Hindi

Invest in a good detergent.

Listening to your skin is essential when trying out new cosmetics. See what works best for you through trial & error.

Remember to use moisturizer!

Acne is sometimes brought on by a lack of moisture. Therefore, the optimum times to moisturize are immediately after a shower and before bed.

Wear sunscreen constantly.

Wear sunscreen every time you go outside. Long-term sun exposure without protection can lead to dullness, dryness, accelerated aging, and pigmentation.

Remain hydrated.

Skin that is properly hydrated will naturally radiate. Drink enough of water and electrolytes to keep your skin from becoming dry, itchy, and dull.

C vitamin

According to beauty tips for women, you should start each day by using a vitamin C serum. Vitamin C lotions have additional benefits, including preventing UV damage and producing a more radiant complexion over time.

Lip and skin exfoliation

Over-exfoliating can cause your skin to respond with extra oil production or breakouts, so aim for once a week to get the job done. When the lips are exfoliated, they become softer and smoother.

Water's Chill Soothes

When washing your face, use water that is either lukewarm or cold. The skin's pores may become too exposed to the harshness of hot water.

While there may be a laundry list of things you should do for flawless skin, it's important not to overlook the things you should never do.

·         Avoid using an abundance of goods.

·         Keep your hands off your face.

·         Stay out of the sun if possible.

·         Reduce your intake of fatty and starchy foods.

·         Care for your face at home

All these conditions may seem excessive to a novice. If you want to start a skin care program at home to make your face look better, we can help you get started.

·         Sufficient rest

·         The results of a good night's sleep on your skin will astound you.

·         The use of a higher SPF

More than you realized, you need wear sun protection. Sunscreen can be applied at home to shield skin from the harmful effects of screen time.

Spotless pillowcases

Keep your pillowcases fresh and tidy by swapping them out once a week. The use of a silk pillowcase can help minimize acne by lowering the amount of contact between the pillow and the face.

Taking care of one's diet

You can see the effects of your diet on your skin. Your skin will reflect the foods you eat. Some people have skin inflammation after consuming carbs and dairy. You should even try beauty tips home remedies which will be best.

Care for your face on the go

When you are on the road, do not forget about your skin care routine. Most individuals, including us, keep daily skincare necessities in a different bag. What you should do when you are on the move is detailed below.

What You Need to Pack

Sunscreen and lip balm should always be in your bag. They will always be useful. To be thanked later.

Cut down on sun exposure.

A sunblock may not always be sufficient. Do not forget your hat and sunglasses.

Do a mask wash

Masks should be washed after each use considering the new normal.

One essential skincare tip to remember for radiant skin: always use fresh, clean make-up brushes. Once a week, clean your concealer & foundation brushes to prevent the spread of bacteria and the clogging of pores. Once a month is sufficient for cleaning eye makeup brushes.

In this way: Apply a small amount of gentle shampoo on your palm. Brush bristles should be dampened with warm water. Then, work some of the shampoo into the bristles by massaging the brush into your palm. If the metal handle or the base of the bristles becomes moist, the adhesive may soften & the bristles may fall out. Get rid of the shampoo by rinsing and then blotting dry. Keep the bristles of the brushes hanging over the side of the counter as they dry.

#beauty tips beauty tips at home in hindi beauty tips for women beauty tips home remedies

[newstfionline]

Saturday, June 25, 2022

Summer swelter: Persistent heat wave breaks records, spirits (AP) From the normally chilly Russian Arctic to the traditionally sweltering American South, big swaths of the Northern Hemisphere continued to sizzle with extreme heat as the start of summer more resembled the dog days of August. In the United States a heat dome of triple digit temperatures in many places combined with high humidity oscillated from west to east. On Thursday, at least eight states hit 100 degrees (37.8 degrees Celsius) and at least nine high temperature marks were set or broken, according to the National Weather Service, which held 30 million Americans under some kind of heat advisory. The extreme discomfort of Thursday came after 12 states broke the 100-degree mark on Wednesday and 21 records were tied or broken. Since June 15, at least 113 automated weather stations have tied or broken hot-temperature records. Scientists say this early baking has all the hallmarks of climate change. “It’s easy to look at these figures and forget the immense misery they represent. People who can’t afford air conditioning and people who work outdoors have only one option, to suffer,” said Texas A&M climate scientist Andrew Dessler, who was in College Station, where the temperature tied a record at 102 degrees (38.9 degrees Celsius) Thursday. “Those of us with air conditioning may not physically suffer, but we are prisoners of the indoors.”

Supreme Court overturns Roe v. Wade; states can ban abortion (AP) The Supreme Court has ended constitutional protections for abortion that had been in place nearly 50 years in a decision by its conservative majority to overturn Roe v. Wade. Authority to regulate abortion rests with the political branches, not the courts, the justices wrote.  Friday’s outcome is expected to lead to abortion bans in roughly half the states.

Regulating nicotine? (NPR) The Food and Drug Administration has called cigarettes “the only legal consumer product that, when used as intended, will kill half of all long-term users.” But the agency has never regulated nicotine, cigarettes’ notoriously addictive ingredient—and for years, it has been wanting to change that. Now, it seems, the time has come. The FDA is poised to set a maximum nicotine level in cigarettes and some other tobacco products, looking to make them less addictive and wean smokers away from the habit. Despite an overall trend away from smoking, tobacco use remains the No. 1 cause of preventable deaths in the United States. Outlining the potential benefits, the FDA notes that 480,000 people die each year from disease attributed to smoking. Overall, it says, “tobacco use costs nearly $300 billion a year in direct health care and lost productivity.”

Ecuador Roiled by Protests Set Off by Rising Fuel and Food Prices (NYT) For more than a week, the Andean nation of Ecuador has been buffeted by at times violent protests over a spike in prices for fuel, food and other basic necessities, driven by a global inflation that is causing similar levels of frustration across Latin America. The country’s capital, Quito, has been virtually paralyzed by demonstrators blocking main roads, burning tires and clashing with the police, throwing rocks at officers who have responded by shooting tear gas. Clashes erupted again on Thursday. The marches and rallies, which have been led by Indigenous groups, pose a significant challenge for the right-wing government of President Guillermo Lasso, who is struggling to revive an economy battered by the pandemic. The protests started last week in rural Ecuador when a powerful group, the Confederation of Indigenous Nationalities of Ecuador, or Conaie, announced a strike and issued a list of demands, including a cut in fuel prices, price controls on some agricultural goods and more spending on education. Since then, the protests have expanded to Quito and many other parts of the country. The unrest has left at least three dead and nearly 100 people wounded, according to numbers compiled by the Alliance of Organizations for Human Rights, a national group, and has pushed Mr. Lasso to declare a state of emergency in six of Ecuador’s 24 provinces. In the country’s Amazon region, the government says it has lost control of the small city of Puyo to protesters wielding guns, spears and explosives.

The BRICS Summit (Foreign Policy) The leaders of Brazil, Russia, India, China, and South Africa meet virtually today [Thursday] for a summit of BRICS nations. As well as a chance to discuss economic strategies outside a Western-dominated system, the meeting once again shows that, although Russia is isolated from the West, for the rest of the world it is still very much open for business. Russian President Vladimir Putin joins the gathering today at a time when his country has become China’s largest crude oil supplier—a position usually enjoyed by Saudi Arabia. He will hold talks with a group of leaders who have so far tempered any criticism of the war in Ukraine. Addressing the forum, Putin was bullish on the economic opportunities presented by the group, touting negotiations on opening Indian chain stores in Russia, increasing Chinese industrial imports and “reorienting trade flows” to BRICS nations. According to Putin, trade with the group increased by 38 percent in the first quarter of 2022. He added that the BRICS group could soon go a step further by challenging the U.S. dollar, creating its own international reserve currency based on the “basket of currencies of our countries.”

Ukraine applies for EU membership (Washington Post) European Union leaders approved Ukraine’s to become a formal candidate for E.U. membership status, giving the war-torn country and its leader, Volodymyr Zelensky, a much-needed morale boost. The European Parliament also backed the move in a Thursday vote. Candidate status is just a first step in a bid for full membership, which could take years or decades. President Volodymyr Zelensky called the European Union’s decision “one of the most important decisions for Ukraine in all 30 years of independence of our state.”

Ukrainian army to leave battered city to avoid encirclement (AP) After weeks of ferocious fighting, Ukrainian forces will retreat from a besieged city in the country’s east to avoid encirclement, a regional governor said Friday. The city of Sievierodonetsk, the administrative center of the Luhansk region, has faced relentless Russian bombardment. Ukrainian troops fought the Russians in house-to-house battles before retreating to a huge chemical factory on the city’s edge, where they holed up in its sprawling underground structures. In recent days, Russian forces have made gains around Sievierodonetsk and the neighboring city of Lysychansk, on a steep bank across the river, in a bid to encircle Ukrainian forces. Luhansk Gov. Serhiy Haidai said that the Ukrainian troops have been given the order to leave Sievierodonetsk to prevent that.

Record numbers of Chinese graduates enter worst job market in decades (Reuters) Jenny Bai was among 10 high-performing computer science students from different Chinese universities selected by a Beijing-based internet firm for a job upon graduation, following four rounds of arduous interviews. But last month, the company told the students their contract offers were cancelled due to COVID-19 headwinds and the bad state of the economy in general—obstacles facing a record 10.8 million Chinese university graduates this summer. China’s COVID restrictions have battered an economy already slowing due to a property market downturn, geopolitical worries and regulatory crackdowns on tech, education, and other sectors. A cohort of graduates larger than the entire population of Portugal is about to enter one of China’s worst job markets in decades at a time when youth unemployment is already more than three times China’s overall joblessness rate, at a record 18.4%. Struggling to find jobs goes against what educated young people have come to expect after decades of breakneck growth, and is awkward for China’s stability-obsessed Communist Party.

A world apart, Lebanon and Sri Lanka share economic collapse (AP) Lebanon and Sri Lanka may be a world apart, but they share a history of political turmoil and violence that led to the collapse of once-prosperous economies bedeviled by corruption, patronage, nepotism and incompetence. The toxic combinations led to disaster for both: Currency collapse, shortages, triple-digit inflation and growing hunger. Snaking queues for gas. A decimated middle class. An exodus of professionals who might have helped rebuild. There usually isn’t one moment that marks the catastrophic breaking point of an economic collapse, although telltale signs can be there for months—if not years. When it happens, the hardship unleashed is all-consuming, transforming everyday life so profoundly that the country may never return to what it was. Experts say a dozen countries—including Egypt, Tunisia, Sudan, Afghanistan and Pakistan—could suffer the same fate as Lebanon and Sri Lanka, as the post-pandemic recovery and war in Ukraine spark global food shortages and a surge in prices.

Western tourists returning to a battered Syria (Washington Post) After years of conflict, tourists are returning to a changed Syria. This summer, locals and tour operators are reporting an uptick in visitors from Western countries. Authorities restarted issuing visas in October to let curious foreigners see for themselves the country whose conflict once dominated television screens and flooded Europe with refugees. The tours typically include stops in Damascus, Aleppo, Palmyra (with its unparalleled Roman-era ruins) and the Crusader fort of Krak des Chevaliers—considered one of the finest examples of medieval military architecture in the region. Where they don’t go is to the northwest, where former al-Qaeda affiliates, Turkish-backed rebels, Syrian soldiers and Russian mercenaries nervously eye one another amid talk of a new Turkish invasion. Out of sight are also the areas to the east where Iranian militants roam and U.S.-backed Kurdish forces are still hunting the remnants of the Islamic State.

Swiss ‘zero star hotel’ offers sleepless nights to ponder world’s crises (Reuters) “I couldn’t sleep,” and “my room was too noisy,” may be complaints hoteliers dread from guests, but for the Riklin brothers that is the entire point of their latest ‘zero star hotel’ art installation. The Swiss concept artists’ hotel room is essentially a double bed on a platform, with two bedside tables and lamps. There are no walls, ceiling or doors to provide any privacy or shelter. They have set up their null stern suite—German for zero star—on a roadside next to a petrol station in the village of Saillon, in the southern Swiss canton of Valais. The intention is to make guests think about the problems in the world, the twin brothers said, and inspire them to act differently. “Sleep is not the point,” said Frank Riklin. “What’s important is reflecting about the current world situation. Staying here is a statement about the need for urgent changes in society.” The suites, which come with butler service offering drinks and breakfast, will be available from July 1 to Sept. 18. The price for an imperfect night’s sleep: 325 Swiss francs ($337).

#headlines #news

[halsey71pearce]

Mind-blowing Data In Relation To Laptops Just For You

What do you know about laptops? If the last time you bought one was a few years ago, then a lot has changed since then. Whether you're looking in a store or browsing online, you might be surprised at all of the advancements that have been made. So, read through this helpful advice to learn a little about laptops. Know what kind of operating system you're going to get before you get your laptop. This should be displayed where you get your computer, or you can ask someone working there. Some people like to get computers and change the operating system, or you can just get one that you already know that comes with your laptop. If you are limited on space, consider a laptop as a desktop replacement. Laptops are smaller and lighter than desktop computers, making them a good option for a small student desk or smaller apartment space. They are also more expensive though, and that should be taken into consideration when making a purchase. Don't be so eager to buy a new laptop that you don't do the proper research. If you're finding a laptop that is far cheaper than the others you have looked at, it might not be a great deal. In fact, it might be a cause for alarm. Try to avoid scams and poorly made machines. Before purchasing a laptop decide what you will be using it for. If it will be more business oriented you can probably go for a cheaper model that can do word, excel, and basic internet functions. If it will be your portable gaming device, you'll want to invest more to ensure performance. Consider the operating system. Most laptops will come with one of two operating systems. Those systems are Mac or Windows. There are advantages and disadvantages to each operating system. Consider what you will be using the laptop for, and the features you will require. This will help you make the best decision. Test the mouse and keyboards for comfort and functionality. You want to make sure your hands feel comfortable using these devices. Test the mouse touch pad to make sure it responds well to your touch. You can always add a mouse or keyboard if you plan on using the laptop at home. Put if you plan to use it on the go, you will have to rely on the attached devices. Be sure to get a case for your new laptop. The fact is that dropping it, having someone bump into it or watching helplessly as someone's coffee spills all over it will all break your heart. If you protect your laptop, it will last longer, so the investment in a case is worth it. For people who do a lot of multitasking, then RAM is an important feature on their laptops. The cheapest laptops will have less RAM than the more expensive models. For high-end applications, gaming, and multitasking, a computer with a large amount of RAM is going to be a necessity, not an option. Write down league of legends system requirements need before going to a retail outlet to buy! When you shop online, you can have a list next to you, making the process simpler. If you go to the store and forget your list, you may end up with a laptop which doesn't meet every need. Like your laptop lightweight? Then go for a netbook or ultraportable laptop. These laptop varieties are very lightweight compared to the traditionally-sized laptops out there. In fact they can be about half the weight. These are perfect laptops for the travelers out there or for students who are always moving from classroom to classroom. To prepare your laptop for your favorite applications, create some hot keys to make them easier to run. To make a hot key for an application, right click on a shortcut and then select Properties. Enter a key combination into the Shortcut Key dialog and hit Enter. Use a combination that you do not commonly use in any other programs. No matter what you use your laptop for, you're going to need to know what makes for a good one. Take the time to consider what has been told to you so that you make a good decision. This is an important choice to make, and now you have the right knowledge to do so.

#league of legends system requirements #league of legends system requ

[robininthelabyrinth]

Tedious Joys - Chapter 7 -

- Ao3 link -

“You could have mentioned that your father likes to kiss his saber,” Lan Qiren hissed at Nie Mingjue, who flailed helplessly as both of them tried to whisper outside of Lao Nie’s hearing – a task only rendered possible from the fact that he was currently scrubbing his hair extremely vigorously to get rid of all the dirt and grime, Lan Qiren’s extended hand firmly on his back. The jade pendant was back to hanging at his waist, since hasty experimentation had revealed that the physical contact with Lan Qiren was the key aspect, although the jade pendant seemed key as well - removing it appeared to make the contact less effective.

“He didn’t, did he? Are you all right?” Nie Mingjue asked, and he looked so serious and earnest about it, like he was going to march up to his father right then and there and challenge him over Lan Qiren’s honor or something if Lan Qiren implied that he should, that Lan Qiren’s irritation faded away at once.

“Only on the hand,” Lan Qiren assured him. “He didn’t take any liberties.”

That last part was more of a joke than anything else – however intimate Lao Nie was with her, Jiwei was still a saber – but Nie Mingjue looked alarmed. “You’ll say something if he does anything you’re uncomfortable with, right?” he asked anxiously, and Lan Qiren stared at him.

“Nie Mingjue,” he said stiffly, attempting to quell a little bit of possibly hysterical and definitely inappropriate laughter. “Is there something you need to tell me about you and Baxia…?”

“Tell you – oh! No, no, nothing like that,” Nie Mingjue said, turning bright red. “That’s not what I meant, Teacher Lan! Really, I swear!”

Lao Nie poked his head out of the water briefly to look at them both suspiciously, but accepted it when Lan Qiren shook his head at him and turned back away.

Nie Mingjue waited until his father was distracted to continue whispering. “I just meant – our sabers may be our partners, but it’s not…it’s not an equal distribution of authority, you know? In the end, they’re the weapons and we’re the masters.”

Lan Qiren frowned, finally understanding the nature of Nie Mingjue’s concern, and it was much more astute than he’d initially thought. “I see. So if Baxia refused to cultivate with you…?”

Nie Mingjue shifted uncomfortably from side to side. “Well, I mean, I wouldn’t, personally,” he said. “She’s my friend. But A-die’s always saying I’m too soft on her, that I need to take her more firmly in hand, so…I don’t know. It’d definitely be a few days before he forces the issue – uh, that is – I mean – not that he’d ever –”

“It won’t come to that,” Lan Qiren assured him. “A few days will give us enough time to come up with a plan, and at any rate I would not allow him to mistreat me.”

Nie Mingjue looked relieved, which was a flattering if perhaps not entirely accurate reflection of how strong he believed Lan Qiren to be.

“A good night’s rest will help more than anything,” Lan Qiren continued. “For him, and for you. I suggest you take advantage of it at once – actual sleep, not meditation.”

Nie Mingjue nodded again. “But he’s going to be all right?” he asked, anxious. “Eventually?”

Lan Qiren glanced at his friend, happily humming some bawdy song and appearing likely about to break out into actual singing at any moment, and felt a pain in his chest at the thought of what might be necessary.

“I don’t know,” he admitted. “I really don’t know. We’ll do everything we can for him.”

Nie Mingjue accepted that, taking a deep breath and centering himself, then striding away – he would probably go and do some work before he actually retired, rather than actually go straight to sleep, but Lan Qiren did not call him out on it. There was still a chance that Nie Mingjue would end up as sect leader, and then he wouldn’t have a choice in it at all.

After being tormented briefly by some rather off-key singing and extremely dubious lyrical choices, Lan Qiren found himself bundled off to Lao Nie’s quarters and into his bed, with Lao Nie curling up quite happily against his back.

“There are rules about judging other people,” Lan Qiren mumbled, staring at the wall and ignoring the feeling of Lao Nie’s chin on his shoulder. It was pointy, and they didn’t quite fit – Lan Qiren was the just barely taller of the two, although Lao Nie was broader, and his arms were heavy around him – and all in all Lan Qiren was not especially enjoying the experience of sharing a bed any more than he had any of the previous times it had been forced upon him by necessity, luckily small in number. “I am currently breaking it. I will need to think of a suitable punishment for myself later.”

“Judging me, sweetheart?” Lao Nie said into his ear, sounding amused. “What did I do?”

“Sleep in the same bed as an extremely sharp and angry blade, apparently.”

“Only when you’re angry at me,” Lao Nie said, completely shameless. Lan Qiren really didn’t know why he’d been expecting anything different, really. “You know, it’s much easier to hold you in my arms when you’re like this, all soft, even if your hips are a bit knobby. I like it.”

Lan Qiren sighed.

The next morning, Lan Qiren woke at the prescribed time and performed his morning ablutions in the time before Lao Nie woke, settling himself down beside the bed to play calming music and think about what could be behind Lao Nie’s current fixation on believing that he was Jiwei.

He thought it must have something to do with the jade pendant he had cultivated on Lao Nie’s behalf. Indeed, now that he thought about it, that might in fact be the problem – he had cultivated the pendant, not Lao Nie, and he had done it using Jiwei’s spiritual energy. A Nie saber had only one master, but he had apparently won enough of Jiwei’s respect for her to allow him access to some part of her; just as Lao Nie had intertwined himself with his saber, so to had Lan Qiren, albeit unknowingly and at a distance. There was certainly no overly intimate sharing of qi between them, but they had an undeniable connection. That might explain it.

There was also the ongoing mystery of why the pendant burned so fiercely. It had always been reactive to Jiwei’s anger, full of her spiritual energy and spillover rage as it was, but Jiwei was gone – shattered. Whose energy was powering it now? And how could it maintain such a high level of energy, so hot as to damage someone like Lan Qiren, who while not martially inclined was still a powerful cultivator in his own right?

He had more questions than answers.

Unfortunately, he did not have a great deal of time to find answers. If Lao Nie’s condition persisted – he hoped that it wouldn’t, that his friend would wake knowing who Lan Qiren was and not in a horrible rage, but he wasn’t optimistic – they would need to find a solution, and fast. Lao Nie was the unquestioned master of his sect and even he’d only managed to leave it behind for a month and a half before his duties forced him to return; Lan Qiren was a substitute for his brother, a pale and inferior custodian put in place solely to fill the time between the generations, and his sect elders would never let him forget it. There was no way he would be able to stay away so long.

And if he left…

“Jiwei,” Lao Nie murmured in his sleep, which had become restless. His face had gone from a neutral expression to a frown, twisted in anger and pain, and when he opened his eyes, they were once again red. The music was not helping. “My saber – Jiwei…where is my saber?” Lao Nie struggled to sit up. “Where is it? Give her to me!”

Lan Qiren stopped playing and reached out his hand, interlocking his fingers with Lao Nie’s as if they were back once again to all those years ago when he had been a slow, stuttering child and Lao Nie a kind young adult, taking him in hand to show him the basics of night-hunting without worrying about him falling over his own feet.

He watched as the red slowly faded out of Lao Nie’s eyes – not gone entirely, still there, a thin pink film that seemed as though it could be blinked out of existence.

He sighed.

“My friend,” he said. “I am going to need your help with this.”

“Anything,” Lao Nie said, then paused and amended to, “Anything that won’t cause undue harm.”

“It involves research.”

“…one could argue that that would be undue harm to my ability to enjoy my free time.”

Lan Qiren shook his hand lightly. “You are in need of healing. Do you understand what I am saying?”

The humor slowly faded out of Lao Nie’s face.

“You had a qi deviation,” Lan Qiren said bluntly. “The one you’ve been afraid of, the one you always knew was coming – it happened. You went mad, years before your time. But you did not die, and so there is still hope…but I will need your help. I will need you to try to get better. I cannot do this without you.”

Lao Nie looked at him, lips pressed together tightly.

Lan Qiren waited, patient. Whatever the reason for it, Lao Nie regained much of his clarity when they were in contact – and if he could think, he could be an ally in this. He would have to be.

“The strangers weren’t strangers, were they,” Lao Nie said abruptly, and it wasn’t a question. Lan Qiren looked at him. “A-Jue…I was the one who did that to him, wasn’t I? I was the one that hurt him. That’s why you wouldn’t tell me about it yesterday.”

Lan Qiren nodded.

Lao Nie looked away, angry – real anger, this time, and entirely self-directed – but it was only a few moments before he collected himself and looked back, his eyes bright with tears but fiercely determined. “What can I do to help?”

“For now, answer my questions, no matter how unusual,” Lan Qiren instructed, and Lao Nie nodded. “First question: who am I?”

“…Jiwei.”

They were still there, then, although Lao Nie sounded much less sure about it than he had the night before. Lan Qiren fumbled for the pendant at his waist. “Can you sense the spiritual energy in this? Whose is it?”

Lao Nie reached for the pendant and focused. “Also Jiwei.” This time, he sounded more confident.

“The energy in the pendant exceeds what I previously put in there,” Lan Qiren said. “Do you know why?”

Lao Nie frowned down at the pendant. “I’m not sure,” he said. “Have you cultivated with it recently?”

Lan Qiren arched his eyebrows, think that that would be rather difficult without Jiwei around to transfer energy from. “No, I haven’t. Why?”

“There’s something strange about it, that’s all.” He shook the pendant lightly. “Familiar. Same as you, but not; same as me, but not. It wants to fly.”

Lan Qiren stared at him blankly.

Lao Nie shrugged and scratched at his beard. “What did A-Jue say about it?”

“…Mingjue?” Lan Qiren asked blankly. “Say? About what?”

Lao Nie blinked at him. “Well, he’s the only other one with a similar pendant, right?”

Actually, Lan Qiren had made one for little Nie Huaisang, too – he used it as the base of his fan tassel, transferred from one fan to another – but it wasn’t really relevant to him yet, weak cultivator that he was. But that was a good point: in his fear for Nie Mingjue’s health, his worry for his safety, he had forgotten that Nie Mingjue was the closest thing they had to another perspective on the connection between pendant and saber.

Lan Qiren frowned at his oversight. “I’ll ask Mingjue to join us.”

Nie Mingjue looked better already, even if Lan Qiren’s heart hurt at how cautious he was around his father, at how Lao Nie could barely stand to look at the colorful bruises littering his son’s face. “What can I do?”

“Take this pendant,” Lao Nie said, holding it out.

Nie Mingjue extended his hand in return and Lao Nie dropped the pendant into it before Lan Qiren could intervene and point out why it was a terrible idea to just hand it over to someone who was both unprepared and little more than a child, however talented a genius he might be. The second it touched Nie Mingjue’s palm, he yelped and nearly dropped it, Lan Qiren snatching it away from him with his free hand before it could fall to the floor.

“It hurts!” he exclaimed, as Lan Qiren might have expected.

What he did not expect, however, was that Baxia abruptly drew herself, hurtling out of her sheath to hang in midair, emanating the distinct sensation of rage that was the characteristic of a Nie saber.

The pendant abruptly flared up, the heat in it rising as if in response to Baxia’s challenge, and Lan Qiren had to temporarily free himself from Lao Nie to quickly loop a guqin string through the pendant, letting it dangle away from his flesh, and then returned his hand to his friend before the red got too far into his eyes.

“What in the world is going on?” he demanded. “Lao Nie – explain.”

“I have no idea,” Lao Nie said, rubbing his eyes as if he realized something had happened to him in the brief interlude where they were separated. “They’re…fighting. I think? How can they be fighting? Why would a saber start a fight with a piece of jade?”

“Can you ask Baxia?” Lan Qiren asked Nie Mingjue, who was still clutching at his hand and looking blankly at them both. “I know it doesn’t exactly work as cleanly as all that, but your father always said you had an unusually strong connection…”

Nie Mingjue reached out and caught Baxia by the hilt, brow creased in a frown. “It really doesn’t work that way, Teacher Lan. All I can tell is that she’s angry.” He hesitated. “She feels betrayed.”

“Betrayed?” Lan Qiren asked, surprised. “But – how can she be betrayed? That would imply an initial association, familiarity, that something changed…”

“Jiwei,” Lao Nie suddenly said. He was staring at the pendant swinging in Lan Qiren’s hand. “Jiwei’s in the pendant.”

Nie Mingjue glanced at Lan Qiren, clearly concerned that his father had simply started seeing Jiwei in everything, but Lan Qiren bit his lip, thinking it over seriously.

He had initially thought that the reason for Lao Nie’s mistaken impression of him was because he had cultivated with the pendant using Jiwei’s energy, acting in Lao Nie’s place, and thereby he had been imprinted with the qi of the saber, that it had been that shadow upon him that Lao Nie had recognized.

But what if he had thought about it backwards?

“Is it possible,” he said slowly, wishing he knew more about the saber spirits, wishing that he’d had more time, wishing even that his Xinfei could speak as clearly as a saber could, “Mingjue, is it possible that Jiwei’s spirit is in the pendant? The saber spirit itself, I mean, as opposed to the physical saber?”

Nie Mingjue goggled at him. “In the pendant, Teacher Lan? A saber? But how?”

“I tied the two together using resonance,” Lan Qiren explained. Poor tone-deaf Nie Mingjue had never really understood what he was doing with his music, which Lan Qiren couldn’t blame him for – it was esoteric even by musical cultivation standards. He’d more or less made the entire thing up over the past few years. “Adjusting the internal music of the jade to match Jiwei, so that the two recognized each other – and, once recognized, forged a connection between them. That’s what allowed me to continue to draw out Jiwei’s anger even from a distance.”

Both Nie nodded, listening intently. Good students, both of them, for all their occasional faults; if only he had three dozen like them. As a teacher, it was the highest compliment he knew to speak.

“The unusual heat started, as far as we can tell, when the saber shattered,” he continued, now thinking out loud. “If Jiwei’s anger can transfer from one container to the other through the pathway forged by the resonance, why couldn’t the rest of her spirit do the same? Why couldn’t she come to possess the jade if she so wished?”

He wasn’t sure what to do with that idea, in all fairness – he might speak of questioning the sabers, might have reluctantly accepted them as having some form of sentience, but the idea of an entire spirit transferring from one body to another within the same lifetime in a method not unlike possession was rather disturbing. But at the same time he couldn’t imagine any other reason for Baxia to try to challenge a jade pendant to a duel.

Proud, strong Baxia, the only match to Nie Mingjue’s matchless talent, so fearsome that even other saber spirits yielded before her…

“But –” Nie Mingjue glanced sidelong at his father. “Teacher Lan, he also thinks you’re Jiwei.”

“Because I cultivated the pendant,” Lan Qiren said, because it made a certain amount of sense. “There are two types of spiritual energy in there: Jiwei’s and my own. Perhaps when I offered him the pendant, he recognized Jiwei in there, and also me, and thereby conflated the two…”

“I’m right here, you know,” Lao Nie interjected. “Being talked about as if I’m not.”

Lan Qiren leveled a quelling look at him.

Lao Nie gave him an arch look in return. “Just reminding you that I understand spoken speech, in the event you’ve forgotten.”

“Very well,” Lan Qiren said tetchily. “In that case, who I am again?”

Lao Nie paused, eyes traveling between Lan Qiren, the pendant dangling from his hand, and Nie Mingjue.

“You feel like Jiwei,” he said hesitantly. “But – the strangers felt like strangers, and weren’t. So you’re – not Jiwei. You’re…” He glanced at Nie Mingjue again, seeking external confirmation that his senses were misleading him; Nie Mingjue nodded eagerly. His gaze slide back to Lan Qiren. “Qiren?”

“Well done,” Lan Qiren said, full of relief. “Full marks, passing grade. Would it be possible for you to stop calling me ‘sweetheart’ and ‘darling’ now?”

Lao Nie – despite being the shameless scoundrel that he was – abruptly flushed bright red, while Nie Mingjue covered his face with his hands.

“I understand, of course,” Lan Qiren assured him. “What passes between a man and his spiritual weapon is very private, and –”

“Stop talking,” Lao Nie growled. “Just – stop talking.”

#mdzs #lan qiren #sect leader nie #nie mingjue #my fic #my fics #tedious joys

[anyoneseenadam]

Home: chapter one

azriel x reader (acotar) 

summary: (y/n) is a daughter of Persephone, still recovering from the trauma of her fall into Tartarus and doesn’t have time for a stupid, handsome, annoying, stunning, injured man. But now they’re stuck together in the middle of nowhere and there only chance of getting home is if she can heal him, and fast. 

warnings: big spoilers for mark of Athena and house of Hades, also some for the acotar series, eventual smut, blood, PTSD, graphic descriptions of violence, injuries and torture, enemies to lovers so az is a bit of a dick to start, swearing

word count: 2.8k 

a/n: this is the first proper fic I have written in so so so long and i’m legit nervous to post it so pls be nice, plus feedback is always appreciated. there are more parts to come, I’m not sure how many yet but i’m going to try post regularly! message me if you wanna be tagged and i’m gonna try figure out how to make a masterlist :) 

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The view from your window was beautiful yet haunting. Your eyes roamed over countless wildflowers, yet your stare would linger on a poppy or a Red Admiral butterfly and you were back there. You were tied down and crying, body and brain equally numb until another searing lash stripped your back of flesh, white-hot pain rushing through your body and forcing an involuntary cry to tear from your lips.

You quickly stood, wiping your hands down your skirt in an attempt to quell the memories surfacing, the ones you had desperately tried to supress since you had fallen. You quickly moved, all but running to the bathroom, needing to do something, anything, so long as it got you out of your head. You stopped when you caught a glimpse of yourself in the mirror, looking exactly as you felt. The dark circles under your eyes from nights spent with hot tears flowing freely down your cheeks and into your hair and ears made you look ghostly, paired with the dull tone your skin had taken on, losing its natural glow. You looked as empty as you felt, a shell of the person you once were.

Tears welled in your eyes, but you quickly moved away, instead walking to the kitchen, the nausea from not eating overcoming you, yet the thought of eating just made you more nauseous. You found an apple at the bottom of a practically empty fridge and cleaned it softly, then used a blade to cut it into four, forcing it down, repeating the benefits it gave your body as you went, the basic information you had learned in your high school biology class, using the information to push through the sick feeling residing in your stomach, and instead focusing on the energy you desperately needed.

Your gaze drifted to the ajar door that led to your expansive garden, the cottage you lived in itself was small, but your garden was your pride and joy, your power sifting through all the plants in it, bringing them to life in ways of indescribable beauty, nearby animals coming to exist in harmony, safe under the care of their protector. But recently the usual vibrancy of the garden was dimming, the grass turning yellow and the plants wilting. There were no deer napping under bushes and barely any birds taking full advantage of the seed you laid out for them. You pushed past the door and into the garden, the plants brightening as you trailed your hands over their leaves. You found your favourite spot to sit in and dragged your fingers through the grass, smiling despite yourself as it visibly perked up, turning greener instantly. Your gaze trailed to a ruby throated hummingbird that had landed on the special feeder you left out for them, your breath hitching at the red colour, mind instantly returning to the dark, unable to tear your eyes away from the innocent bird.

The first thing you remember seeing was red, red water flowing like blood, red rocks beneath your bent knees, and your skin tinted red from dried blood seeping out of the wounds the chains around your wrists had inflicted on you. You sought to remember where you were, your mind drifting back to how you clung to Annabeth, your stomach aching from what must have been a broken rib, even as she was roughly pulled backwards, even as Percy desperately grabbed her, falling over the edge too, not quite reaching Nico’s shaking hand as he desperately tried to save you. You remembered been torn from their grip during the fall, a Fury hoping for a demi-god it could pick apart, you remember Annabeth screaming they would save you. But you don’t remember landing here, and you don’t remember the chains being attached to your wrists and ankles, or your shirt being removed, a choice you decided couldn’t mean anything good. However, you knew you would never forget the dark chuckle you heard behind you. Or the colour red.  

--

Azriel didn’t know where he was. He knew he wasn’t in his world at least, but that was as far as his knowledge went. He was simply tired after a long mission far away from Velaris and his family and had tried to travel through the shadows to his home. Yet here he was, farther away from home than he had ever been and absolutely exhausted. He stepped out of his shadows and had to blink as the tallest buildings he had ever seen came into view. He absentmindedly took a step forward, then another until he was roughly shoved into, a man with a thick accent he couldn’t place swearing at him. His head whipping around as he got his bearings and moved to follow the direction more people than he could believe were walking until the crowd thinned out.

With less people present he slowed his pace, hands drifting to his pockets when civilians stared, old insecurities that never really left him rising to the surface, and instead took the time to admire the strange world he was in. the fashion in this new world was vastly different to his own, groups of girls congregating in tiny shorts and tight tops, next to groups in which there were girls in all black and boys in skirts. There were men and women dressed sharply talking quickly to no-one in particular, with hands pressed to their ears, there were people in rags begging for money and there were people dressed in ways he couldn’t even fathom to understand. By the time he reached the end of the street he was sure he had seen everything, and walked onto a more recognisable street, one with smaller buildings, unlike the magnificent glass structures, made from stone and wood and with friendlier faces behind stalls filled with food he recognized along with food he had never seen before.

He made his way through the market, losing track of time, the initial anxiety he felt seeping away, if he got here, he could easily return home, right? Instead, he chose to focus on the culture of this new world, determined to tell his family of the wonder he had uncovered, faintly hearing different languages from people’s conversation, and music coming from the open window of what he presumed was a coffee shop. He distantly wondered if they could see his wings, as no-one eyes lingered the way he had grown used to, in fact it seemed they couldn’t look at them, he presumed humans in this world simply had a natural glamour preventing them from seeing fae, that being said however, no matter how hard he tried he couldn’t spot another fae.

Eventually he reached the end of the street and decided he should return home now in order to stop his family from worrying, searching for a shadowed alley so as to not draw to much unwanted attention to himself. He walked to an alley that he decided would do the trick, excited to share this adventure with his family, but stopped short when he came face to face with a girl in a short skirt with incredibly pale skin and fire-like hair leaning over a passed-out man, sucking blood from his neck. She looked up when he approached and he saw that her hair was not just fire-like but literally fire, and her eyes were glowing red, and angry. More alike her then came out of the shadows, he quickly counted six, sighing as he pulled Truth-teller out of its sheath.

Shit. I am not in the mood for this.

--

You strolled through your favourite farmers market in NYC, the colours that filled the stalls always bringing some cheer back into your life, along with the thought of home-made meals and your practically overflowing basket, filled with fruit, vegetables, bread, and other necessities, but not meat, not since the animals started speaking to you when you first arrived at camp, and nothing red, you still couldn’t face that.  

You made a quick stop at your favourite coffee place, opting to get your drink to go, only making polite conversation when you had to, and smiling through any other interaction. You were soon ready to leave, basket and dusty blue corduroy jacket slung over one arm, cup in that hand and your phone that the Hephaestus cabin had adapted in the other, when you heard pained grunts and the cackle of a monster you wished you could just forget already from a nearby alley.

You gave a pained sigh, looking longingly at your coffee before chugging it and throwing the cup in a nearby bin, making your way over to the alley. When you got there, you saw an unnaturally dark alley filled with a gaggle of Empousa surrounding a tall, winged man who was fighting incredibly well but clearly hadn’t gotten the celestial bronze memo, as his blade was defective.

“Long time no see ladies” you said, smirking at the growls that tore from the back of their throats as they tore around to stare at you, recognition in their horrifyingly red eyes. “What no hugs, no happy reunions?”

“You.” The middle one snarled, lunging forward, only to be cut down by the thick, green vine you had grown, intertwined with strands of celestial bronze you kept wrapped around your wrists disguised as thin, looping bracelets, and exploding into dust which you nonchalantly wiped from your shoulder.

“Whose next,” you laughed as three of them leaped at you, two staying behind and keeping the winged man, who had taken to staring at you with an unreadable expression, occupied. You destroyed them quickly enough to see the man falter as one of the Empousa force their talon like nails into his side, twisting it and pulling it out. You rolled your eyes, moving to pick up his slack, wrapping the vine around its neck and pulling until it exploded into the fine dust. The man was on the floor now, clutching his side, as you stalked forward to the final monster.

“You know I really just wanted a chill day,” you complained,

“I remember you,” it hissed, smiling at you with razor sharp teeth.

You fought a shudder and forced the memories down, “I’m glad I made an impression.”

“They want you back you know, we never got to finish playing.”

You snarled and went to move, but it was too fast, and you realised your mistake in waiting too long as it released a piercing cry that must have notified monsters from miles away, “shit,” you muttered under your breath, killing it quickly and moving to the winged man’s side.

“Hey, any chance those wings are good at flying,” you asked, “cause we’re about to be swarmed and I really just wanna get home.” You put his arm over your shoulders and dragged him up, grunting under his weight.

“I-it, poison.” Was all he said, fully leaning on you.

“Shit, okay um,” you racked your brain for an idea, furrowing your brows when you saw monsters start coming around the corner, eyeing you like their favourite toy. The man looked up from beneath his thick, dark hair before cursing and tightening his grip on your shoulder.

“Just hold on,” he said,

“What? Wait no!” you shouted, clinging to his arm as suddenly you were engulfed in darkness, only to suddenly be blinded by bright, hot light, forcing your eyes closed.

When you opened them again, you were on a sandy beach facing an impossibly blue ocean. Your mouth fell open and you turned to ask the man some questions, (or yell at him you were yet to decide) just in time to watch him collapse, falling onto the sand with a soft thud, red blood steadily flowing out of his side, the blood draining from your face at the sight.

Shit.

--

You stared down at the man in disbelief for at least two minutes. He can shadow-travel. Is he a son of Hades? Gods know I don’t need another step sibling. Also, where the fuck am I? Why a beach? Is it LA? I might marry him if it’s LA. A million thoughts raced through your head as you stared at him, guessing that the unnatural darkness you saw before must have come from the shadows you could now see were surrounding him, protecting him from the light and, when you moved closer, you. From what you could see, he was handsome, if not slightly dead looking, thick, dark hair and a lean, muscular build. Wait dead looking? You cursed jumping into action, checking his pulse, relieved when you found it, before moving to his side using the knife you kept tucked into your boot to hack through the leathers he was wearing in order to reveal the gash.

It wasn’t wide but seemed deep as it was gushing dark red blood, you blanched and screwed your eyes shut at the sight, fighting the memories of your own dark red blood. You opened your eyes purposefully not looking at the cut as you used his torn leathers to put pressure on the cut and start dragging him up the beach to an area you could grow the thin vines you would need as makeshift stitches.

--

Azriel woke to an extreme discomfort in his side, in a place he didn’t recognise. He pushed up into a sitting position, wincing at the reminder of his wound, and looked around, finding himself shirtless, surrounded by trees on a sandy floor. A girl was sitting cross-legged, staring- no- glaring at him and he felt himself return a confused expression, vaguely remembering her as the girl that had killed the monsters that he could have sworn were completely invulnerable.  

“What are you?” She asked suddenly, her bluntness taking him by surprise, but before he could answer she continued, “I mean I’m presuming you’re some sort of child of Hades, given you shadow travelled, but I don’t understand what else, cause you’re defo not part human?”

“Hades?” he asked, frowning at the words he didn’t understand.

“Yeah?” she asked slowly, raising her eyebrows at him as if it was something obvious.

He scoffed, “I don’t need to tell you anything.”

“Oh, is that so? No thank you or anything? I mean it’s not like I saved your life and I mean least of all I would expect an apology.” She was rambling as she stared at him in disbelief.

“An apology?”

“Yeah, for getting me stuck here.”

“Where’s here?”

“Fuck if I know,” she threw her hands up in exasperation, “I thought you know, I’ve done enough, I’ll let him find a cure for that poison on his own, I just wanna go home, so I decided lets get my bearings. I’ll find a high place and work out where I am, only to climb to the top of a fucking mountain and realise you got us stuck on a fucking Island!”

He slowly stood, bracing himself on a tree, as she remained sat, levelling him with an unimpressed stare. He shook his head, not needing to babysit this girl, and instead shot up from the ground, flying above the island to see she was in fact correct, there didn’t seem to be land for miles.

Suddenly, a sharp shooting pain went up his right side and he lost control of his balance for a second, all but plummeting to the ground.

“Yeah you shockingly haven’t healed completely yet,” the girl said moving to his side and pushing away his maimed hands from his wound, barely even glancing at the scars, “I have some ideas as to what will cure the poison, but if you want to fly away and leave me to die here, be my guest,” every word was dripping with sarcasm and he fought back a growl at her as she inspected his wound, were he saw he had torn the peculiar, green stitches.

He watched her carefully, not fully trusting her, as she inspected his stitches, furrowing his eyebrows when she significantly paled at the sight of his blood. “What scared of a little blood,” he instantly regretted the biting words when she snarled at him and put more pressure on the wound than was necessary, feeling slightly guilty given she had saved his life, but her attitude was infuriating, and he just wanted a hot bath and food.  

“Okay, so here’s what’s going to happen, I’m going to stitch you back up, and then we’re gonna find a lake or some source of fresh water, you’re going to heal extremely quickly so you can take us back home and you’re not going to give me anymore shit? Kapeesh?” The stare she gave him could’ve rivalled his own in terms of intimidation, but instead of challenging her he just nodded, setting his jaw.

“Good. Now, nice to meet you, I’m (y/n),” she said reaching out a hand,

“Azriel.” Was all he said, meeting her small, soft hands in his rough, scarred ones, the difference in texture astounding him, still not entirely used to touch, and ignored the tightness in his chest when she offered him a cocky smirk.

#azriel x reader #azriel #acotar #acomaf #acosf #acofas #rhysand #feyre #percyjackson #greek mythology #heroes of olympus

[spine-buster]

The President Wears Prada (William Nylander) | Chapter 31

A/N: Bubble chapters incoming.....!

July 18th, 2020

Aberdeen Bloom was getting frappucinos with Kasha.  

She was happy she and Kasha were on the same page – that they would get tacos for a late dinner and bring them back to their place to eat.  Neither were comfortable with dining in restaurants, even though it was allowed.  It just wasn’t something they wanted to do just yet.  So they’d take the tacos back to their apartment, sit on their balcony, and have a romantic date night with the frappucinos and – if Aberdeen was being honest – a bottle of rosé between them.  

Kasha had to run to an ATM, so Aberdeen was left waiting for the tacos herself.  It was a Saturday night, so the streets were somewhat busy – not as busy as they would have been during normal times, but busy enough that it made Aberdeen uncomfortable.  What was everybody doing out?  Where were they going?  Who were they meeting up with?  Why weren’t they staying at home?  It was all very weird to her.  Last summer she wouldn’t have even batted an eye; now, she was hyperaware of the people around her, hyperaware of standing six feet away from the other people ordering tacos, either in line or at the restaurant, and was clutching on to the strap of her bag so her hands didn’t fidget with her mask or touch anything else around her.  She was getting tested every day at work, and thankfully she was lucky to have them always come back negative.  She was being extra cautious.  She didn’t want to—

“Aberdeeeeeen?  Is that you?!” a voice suddenly called out from down the sidewalk.

Aberdeen looked to her right to see Saylor walking down the sidewalk with a posse of girls equally as glamourous as she was.  Aberdeen looked down at her outfit and gulped.  Leave it to Saylor to show up when she was waiting for a boatload of food and in clothes she just threw on to appear presentable in public.  “Hey Saylor,” Aberdeen half-waved.  More than anything, she was surprised to see Saylor in the city – from what she’d seen on Instagram, Saylor had gone back to Lake Forest during quarantine.  Kasperi had joined her.  

“You’re wearing a mask outside?  I thought you didn’t have to here.”

“I was just inside,” Aberdeen pointed with her thumb to the restaurant.  Not that she had to justify wearing a mask anywhere.  The world was still in the midst of a fucking pandemic.  “Just waiting for my food…and my friend.”

“These are my friends – Gina, Amanda, Jen, and Sadie,” she pointed to each girl.  Aberdeen gave them all a quick nod.  They couldn’t seem less interested in her.  “Girls, Aberdeen works for the Leafs with Kasperi.”

Suddenly, all of their eyes shot forward.  “Really?” the one identified as Jen asked.  “What do you do?”

“I—I’m Brendan Shanahan’s personal assistant,” she revealed reluctantly.  She didn’t want to tell these girls anything, let alone her job.

“Kasperi told me you’re going into the bubble next week,” Saylor said before the conversation could go any further.

“I am,” she nodded, hesitating to even confirm the news to Saylor.  After their last altercation in Los Angeles, Aberdeen was fine with never seeing her again.  She was almost positive Saylor felt the same way, but apparently not.  

“He said you’re going to be the only girl in there.”

Saylor was right.  Aberdeen would be the only woman in the bubble for the Leafs.  She was sure – well, she fucking hoped – that other women from other team staff would be at the hotel too.  It would make the experience a lot less fucking awkward, that was for sure.  “Yeah, that’s true.”

Saylor’s friend Gina snorted.  “We all know what you’ll be used for.”

Aberdeen’s heart dropped into the pit of her stomach.  Now she knew why Saylor didn’t just ignore her and walk by her on the street.  She wanted other people to do her dirty work for her.  She wanted to re-live what happened in Los Angeles, except this time, it would be five against one.  

“Not yet,” Saylor smiled wryly.  “Not until she gets her nose job.”

The other girls laughed.  Aberdeen narrowed her eyes at Saylor.  “I fucking love my big nose, alright?”

“I’m sure you do.  That’s very homely of you,” Saylor rolled her eyes.  “And I’m warning you now, you better stay away from Kasperi in that bubble.”

Aberdeen snorted out loud.  Actually snorted.  “Oh my God, is that was this is about?” she asked indignantly.  “You’re…Saylor, you’re joking right?”

Saylor didn’t look too pleased that Aberdeen was laughing at her.  “Stay away from my boyfriend.”

“I wouldn’t touch your boyfriend with a ten-foot pole.  I wouldn’t even touch him wearing a hazmat suit.”

Saylor took a step forward, trying to intimidate her.  Aberdeen was laughing too much to care.  The whole thing got so ridiculous so quickly that the only thing she could do was laugh.  Saylor was completely out to lunch.  “It’s so obvious that you’re so jealous of me,” she said.

“Saylor, I don’t even think about you at all.”

“We ready to go?  I got our tacos,” Kasha’s voice suddenly interrupted the confrontation.  Aberdeen looked behind her to see Kasha holding the bag up slightly, eyeing the situation.  Aberdeen wondered how much of the conversation she’d heard.  “Who’s this, Aberdeen?”

Aberdeen took a slight step back.  “This is Saylor.  Kasperi’s girlfriend.”

Kasha nodded once.  “Have fun,” she said to the group of girls before linking her free arm around Aberdeen’s.  As they took their first step forward, Kasha looked at Aberdeen.  “Kasperi?  Is that the one that DM’ed me?” she asked.  Loudly.

Aberdeen didn’t turn around to see Saylor’s reaction.  She didn’t need to.  She knew she would have never seen someone turn so red so quickly in her entire life.  And as they walked down the street, the wry smile on Kasha’s face grew.  “Was that okay?” Kasha asked.  

“You’re brilliant,” Aberdeen said.  Maybe it wasn’t the nicest thing to do – okay, it definitely wasn’t the nicest thing to do – but God did it feel good.  Kappy had never DM’ed Kasha before in her life.  Aberdeen wasn’t even sure Kappy knew who Kasha was even though he met her at the Halloween party.  “I might get a phone call later, but it was brilliant.”

“If you get a phone call, I’ll let them know that she said you weren’t hot enough without a nose job,” Kasha said.

“So you heard that?”

“That’s when I came in.  The guy was calling your name and so I grabbed the food and lingered.”

Aberdeen smiled.  “I love you, bitch.”

“Love you too, bitch.”

***

Message from: Kasperi Kapanen

I heard u ran into Saylor tonite?

Yes

Why did Kasha say I slid into her DMs?

Must have had to do with the fact that Saylor told me I wasn’t pretty enough for any of you to fuck in the bubble unless I got a nose job.

***

minskatt what did saylor say to u tn?

Nothing important because you love my nose and that’s all that matters

can i call u

No I’m with Kasha

minskatt please

It’s fine Willy I don’t care She’s dumb She thinks I’m jealous of her And she told me to stay away from Kappy in the bubble She thinks I want to sleep with him I mean 🤣

omg

Please don’t worry about it I’ll see you tomorrow

i love u

I love you too I want you to cum down my throat tomorrow Okay?

🥴🥴🥴

***

July 25th, 2020

Aberdeen and William promised each other they would take it slow because they wanted to make the moment last as long as possible.

They were both fully packed.  Aberdeen’s suitcase was packed back in her bedroom.  A two-month supply of food and cat litter was bought for Minerva so that Kasha wouldn’t have to go get any, just in case the Leafs went all the way (which meant, at the end of August, she’d be getting on a plane to Edmonton, too).  She had organized outfits – work and casual.  She made sure to bring entertainment.  The Louis Vuitton duffel bag they all got her for her birthday definitely came in handy.  William had packed some clothes and shoes.  Made sure to pack the basic necessities.  He’d texted guys on the team to see what they were bringing in so he didn’t forget anything.  He wasn’t the best packer.  

Now, all that was left was to spend time together before they couldn’t anymore. 

William didn’t want to go straight into sex.  There was no point.  The sex was great but what he wanted, more than anything, was intimacy – to be able to hold Aberdeen and feel her body pressed up against his; to be able to take in her scent as he always did and be calmed by it as he always was; to be able to bury his face in the crook of her neck and graze his lips along her skin there so delicately it made her shiver; to whisper ‘I love you’ over and over again to her while “Quitting You” by the Arkells played on a constantly loop quietly in the background of their time together.  This is what he would miss.  Florida was different – they were a country away from each other, and it was hard.  But to have her working with them, in the same bubble, while everyone was around, on the same floor, and not be able to get her alone, go to her hotel room, even hold her hand?  It would be torture.  

He laid his head on her chest, hearing and feeling her heart beat as she ran her fingers through his hair.  His arms were wrapped tightly around her and buried underneath her – he was sure the circulation would cut off soon but he didn’t care.  He closed his eyes, and pictured them holding hands.  Openly.  Aberdeen was smiling.  He pulled her into him and kissed her.  They were in the team locker room.

“What are you thinking about?” Aberdeen’s soft voice broke the silence.

“You,” he said simply.  “Us.”

“What about us?” she asked.

“Holding your hand,” he said.  “Kissing you in the locker room.”

When he shifted his head to look up at her, she was smiling.  “Do you hate me because we can’t?”

He shook his head.  “I could never hate you, minskatt.  You know that.”

“It’ll happen soon.  I promise,” she said.  “You won’t have to do anymore waiting.”

“Shhhh…” he cooed, moving up and nuzzling his nose against her jawline.  “I’m not waiting for anything when you’re here with me, am I?” he asked, placing the lightest of kisses on her jawline.

Aberdeen sighed happily.  “When I write my first book, I’m dedicating it to you.  It’s gonna say ‘For William, for waiting’,” she said with a slight chuckle.  

He chuckled too.  “I look forward to it.  Your second book can be dedicated to Siena or Cam or your parents.”

“Second book?  I’m writing a second book, am I?” she smiled.  

“Mhm,” he nodded her.  “You’re gonna write a bunch of books, minskatt.  And they’re all gonna be amazing, and you’ll be all literary or whatever, and everybody’s gonna buy your books.”

Her heart was growing a thousand sizes.  “You think so?”

“I know so.  You’re gonna be a famous writer, minskatt.  I’ll just be in the background.”

She curled around and shifted her body into his.  Their lips came together tenderly as they began kissing each other, Aberdeen slipping her tongue into William’s mouth easily.  His hands wandered down her body to cup her ass before he helped her hook her leg over his torso.  They lay kissing for a while until their lips were red and swollen and their breathless gasps the only sound they could hear in the room.  When William pulled away quickly to take a breath, Aberdeen shifted to lay on her back.  “Willy?” she asked, her voice breathless.

“Minskatt?”

“Make love to me, Willy.  One last time before the bubble.”

He picked her up and brought her to his bedroom, setting her down on the bed gently before crawling over her body and continuing their kissing.  With some trusty hands, William’s hoodie was off, then Aberdeen’s top, then Aberdeen’s pants, then William’s pants.  He kissed down her body, but she pulled him back up.  “Willy—”

“Minskatt—”

“I just need to feel you inside me, Willy.  Please.”

Somewhat reluctantly, he kissed his way back up her body, paying attention to her breasts for a while before he put on a condom and she wrapped her legs around him and he entered her slowly.  Everything was so slow and gentle and intimate, and he’d buried his face into the crook of her neck again to kiss the skin there.  When he came back up and looked at her, it was very clear to him that there were tears welling in her eyes.  His mind immediately went into overdrive and his body seized up.  “Aberdeen?  Aberdeen why are you crying?”

“I’m not – no – no no no, it’s not you, it’s not you,” she let out quickly, cupping his face in her hands.  His entire body had stopped moving as he hovered over here.  She felt a few tears escape down the sides of her eyes, powerless to stop them.  “It’s just me.  It’s me.”

“What’s wrong?”

“I just love you so much,” she said, her voice cracking slightly.  “You believe in me, Willy.”

“Of course I believe in you.  I’ll always believe in you.  Where is this coming from?”

“It was Florida.  Sixty-one days away from you,” she explained.  “Now in the bubble we’re going to be together but we can’t be together, and I want you to know how much I love you.  You know that, right?”

“I do,” he nodded.

“Whatever happens in the bubble, I believe in you and I’ll always believe in you like you believe in me,” she said.

William’s heart panged at her statement.  He craned his head to continue to kiss her, and she could feel tears – not her own – on her cheeks as well.  His slow and steady movements, passionate and thorough and pleasurable all at once, reminded her of that love they just spoke of.  They made love with everything they had in them.  And when they climaxed, and William collapsed on top of Aberdeen’s body, she held him close to her, unwilling to let him go.

He shifted slightly to move out of her, but she tightened her legs around him.  “No,” she pleaded.  “Stay.  I want to feel you inside me for as long as possible.”

“Are you sure?”

“Please Willy,” she almost begged, although she knew she wouldn’t have to.  “Stay.  Let’s just stay like this.”

***

July 26th, 2020

Aberdeen’s family had made it to the staff send-off before they went into the bubble.  Camden and Siena came along too.  Camden made her a card and gave her a crossword puzzles book he’d bought her at Indigo.  When Siena hugged her, she said “Make good choices!” jokingly.  Their parents would always say it to them before they got out of the car when they were driven to parties or the like.

If Siena only knew.

Once her family left, Aberdeen had the fantastic tasks of preparing the buses and organizing significant others to be far enough away from each other so everyone was still social distancing.  Everybody’s significant other was there, save for the single guys like Auston and (to everyone else) William.  As she stood off to the side, she couldn’t help but watch.

Bee McTavish was crying.  She wasn’t wailing loudly or anything like that, but Aberdeen could see her glistening cheeks from her tears as Morgan couldn’t stop kissing her and she couldn’t stop wiping her eyes.  He looked pretty torn up about leaving her, too.  She knew all the guys would be.  They were excited to play hockey again but they weren’t too sold on the concept of the bubble.  Everyone was going to hate being away from their families – Bee and Morgan were no exception.  “Call me whenever you want to,” Aberdeen overheard her tell him.  “And if a single thing starts to hurt you please don’t play.  You need to be healthy, Morgan.”  

Frederik Andersen and Aleida Casillas couldn’t stop kissing, either.  Aleida was getting emotional, although Aberdeen knew that Aleida didn’t want to show it.  Fred’s new wedding ring glistened in the light.  Aberdeen could only imagine what it was like to leave your wife on your one-month anniversary.  

Jace was giggling at his dad’s kisses.  John had spent the last five minutes holding and kissing his baby boy, with Aryne smiling and cuddling them too.  Aberdeen could see Aryne’s small bump peeking out through her t-shirt and realized John was going into the bubble while his wife was pregnant and having to take care of a one-year-old.  Her heart ached.  She saw the smile on John’s face as he cooed at his son and Jace kept repeating “Dada” over and over again and she could feel a rush of emotion flood her face.  

When she saw that Jason had his four girls in a giant bear hug, Aberdeen had to hold in a giant sob.  He was crouching down at their level, kissing them all multiple times and whispering things to them as Jen looked on, looking like she was on the verge of tears herself.  Jason wouldn’t let them go – couldn’t let them go.  Aberdeen had to look away so she didn’t start crying right then and there.  It was too much for her to think about.  

“You okay, Aberdeen?” Auston’s voice interrupted her thoughts, and she whipped her head towards him.  

“I’m fine,” she said, trying not to think about the scenes she just saw.  “Do you need me to pack your bag in the bus?” she asked.

“I’m not gonna make you pack my bag, Aberdeen,” he said like it was the most absurd thing in the world.  

Aberdeen looked at Auston, but could only see right past him.  Behind him, she could see Kappy and Saylor saying their goodbyes.  Saylor was hugging Kappy but giving Aberdeen a death stare.  Aberdeen focused her attention back on Auston.  “How much does Saylor hate me?” she asked.

Auston shrugged.  “Wouldn’t know.  I don’t talk to her anymore.  But from what I hear, a lot.”

“Good to know.  What have you heard?  Because she thinks I want to sleep with Kappy.”

Auston smiled.  “Something like that.”  Aberdeen rolled her eyes playfully, smiling back at Auston.  “For what it’s worth, she thinks everybody wants to sleep with Kappy,” Auston said.  “You know, because he’s just so good looking.”

“You ready for the bubble?” Saylor’s voice suddenly surprised them from behind Auston.  Because of their conversation, they hadn’t seen her approach.  Auston jumped slightly.  He noticed that Saylor was staring directly at Aberdeen.

“As ready as we can be, I think,” Aberdeen said.  

“Just remember what I told you!” Saylor said in a playful tone.  “Stay six feet away from my boyfriend!”

“Just for you, Saylor, I’ll make it ten,” Aberdeen winked.  “I’ll put a pole between us if that’d what you prefer.”

***

There were cameras everywhere covering their arrival.  Naturally, of course, since they were the Toronto Maple Leafs.  Aberdeen only hoped that she wasn’t caught in any of the photos.  She’d already had enough of a time with her identity and stalkers showing up outside her apartment.  She didn’t need people to be lingering outside of the bubble gates for her as well.  

They checked in.  Everything was eerie.  They could only go up the elevators two at a time with their suitcases after they got their welcome packages and key cards.  Aberdeen was situated at the first room to the right side of the elevators.  The equipment staff, trainers, doctor, and coaches were in the wing as well.  Kyle and Brendan had their rooms opposite each other at the very end of the hallway.  The social media person was across from her.  A few more of the equipment guys were on “her” side of the hallway.  To the left of the elevators were the team rooms.  William was the second room in, in the middle between Auston and Mitch.  Jason was in the middle of the hallway.  She knew these things because – as the executive assistant to perhaps the most important executive there – she got a copy of the room allocations and floorplan.  

When she walked into her room, it was set up like any normal, swanky hotel room.  There was a queen-sized bed and a big, beautiful window that looked directly out onto the CN Tower.  The bathroom was big and immaculate.  Things were practically shining.  She hauled her suitcase onto the bed before going to the window to push the curtains open.  If she was going to have a view of the city, she was going to milk it for all it was worth.  

When she walked back to her bed, something on the nightstand caught her eye, and she walked over to it.  Once she realized what they were, her breath hitched in her throat.  She didn’t know who was responsible for this.  But it made her so emotional.  There were three frames with pictures in them, each more sentimental than the last.  In the first frame, there was a mashup of two pictures: one of she and Siena when Siena attended the game in Ottawa, and one of she and Camden when Camden visited right before lockdown.  The second picture was the group shot of the outdoor practice, where she was freezing her butt off but having the time of her life.  The third, and perhaps the one that hit her the most, was a picture from the Night With the Blue and White.  In it, she was posing for a picture with Brendan, Jason, and William, with a champagne flute in her hand.  Her smile took up half her face.  

She let out a sob.  

It wasn’t that she looked so happy.  It wasn’t that she could still remember the way William smelled that night.  It wasn’t how less than ten hours after the picture was taken, she and William had sex and admitted they wanted to be in a secret relationship.  It wasn’t that they had followed through with that promise now for months.  It was that the picture depicted normalcy.  Her job.  Brendan.  Jason.  William.  It depicted life before masks, before social distancing, before hand sanitizer being more readily available than water, before lining up outside of grocery stores.  It depicted a life that seemed so far in the past.  Giant gathering.  Group photos.  Seeing someone teeth when they smiled.  Putting your arms around another person for a hug.

Now, she found herself alone in a hotel room, within an artificially created bubble, for a hockey team, with no physical contact with the outside world.  Nothing about this was normal.  Nothing.

***

William decided to call Aberdeen.  Everybody was holed up in their rooms unpacking everything they bought, and the hotel was eerily quiet for so many people staying in it.  He figured it was because the hotel was old, and its walls were solid – none of this new construction, shitty craftsmanship.  These building was built by fucking donkeys, as evidence by the photographs in the lobby.  Donkeys and stone; so these walls were thick.  Some of the boys had checked up on him to make sure his PlayStation set up had gone smoothly.  It did.  But William could care less.  

“Hello?” Aberdeen answered her phone.

He could immediately tell she’d been crying.  “What’s wrong, minskatt?”

“These damn pictures they put up in my room,” she admitted immediately – no need to beat around the bush.  “They framed the one we took with Jason and Brendan during the Night With the Blue and White.”

William understood completely how and why that would affect her.  “Yeah, I get it.  They put a bunch of pictures of my family.  Well, my parents and my sisters.”

“No Alex?”

“He’s too ugly to be in a picture,” William deadpanned.  He heard Aberdeen snort slightly on the other end.  He found solace in the fact that he was able to make her laugh.  “The pictures really got to you, huh?”

“It wasn’t just that,” she said.  “Just seeing all the families say goodbye to each other.  I watched John say goodbye to Jace and it made me emotional, but then I saw Jason saying goodbye to his girls and I absolutely lost it,” she revealed.  “I kept it together for the bus ride but the second I got in here and saw these pictures, it was, like, a tidal wave.”

“How can I make it better?” William asked.  He knew this would be hard on her – being in the bubble – and although he cautioned against it, Aberdeen made her own decision at the end of the day, and he respected that.  It didn’t mean the bubble experience would be any better for her, but at least she made the decision herself and she came into it knowing what she was getting herself into.  Aberdeen wasn’t a stupid girl.  Far from it.  

“You wanna just stay on the phone with me?  So I can hear your voice?” she asked timidly.

“Of course,” he answered, equally as softly.  She could practically see and feel his smile through the phone.  “Want to practice your Swedish with me, minskatt?”

***

July 27th, 2020

“A girl?!”

Aberdeen’s ears turned red as she heard the gasp from behind her near the conference room where the Leafs were designated to eat all their meals.  She was apparently a novelty.  Because they had to stay holed up in their hotel rooms for most of the day, unless it was a pre-planned excursion or meal, she hadn’t seen any other women.  It was awful.  And now this.

She looked behind her as discreetly as she could.  She saw two men – boys – wearing New York Islanders t-shirts staring at her.  She recognized them immediately as Mat Barzal and Anthony Beauvillier.  She glared at them.

“Is she here delivering the food?”

“She has a badge, you idiot.”

“You’re telling me she works for the team and they brought her into the bubble?”

She wanted to scream at them.  But she didn’t have to.  Kyle Dubas appeared out of nowhere right beside her, clutching a coffee and a banana.  “Miss Bloom,” he greeted her formally, and loud enough so Mat and Anthony could hear.  “Shanahan is going to need those CORSI stats for Matthews and Tavares after we eat.”  He glanced at them quickly.  “Boys,” he nodded a greeting.

They scurried away.

Aberdeen looked at Kyle.  “Thanks.”

“No problem.”

“Does Shanny really need those CORSI stats?” she asked.

“No,” Kyle shook his head.  “I said that so they wouldn’t fuck with you.”

***

July 28th, 2020

Aberdeen was waiting for the exhibition game to start.  Yet again, she was experiencing her second exhibition game for a hockey team she never thought she would work for, let alone for this long.  She was in their usual box with Kyle and Brendan, but it felt different.  No fans.  No other personnel.  The only other people around were the extra players sitting in the seats below them.  The media was around somewhere, but nowhere near her.  The boys were warming up on the ice.  

“You okay?” Brendan asked as he looked at her.

Aberdeen nodded.  “Are you?”

“As okay as I can be,” he shrugged.  “I don’t get nervous about exhibition games.”

“Did you think I’d be here long enough for two sets of exhibition games?” Aberdeen asked, wiggling her eyebrows slightly.  

He huffed, giving her a joking look.  She began giggling.  “To be honest…no.”

“Yeah, me neither.  Don’t worry.”

***

Thirty-three seconds into the first period, Ilya Mikheyev scored off a pass from John Tavares that Aberdeen had seen one hundred times in training camp.  She smiled wide.  

Hockey was back.

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