#I haven't thought of that aya in a long time actually

[mrsq8geek]

Ramadan Challenge 2024, Day 4

Day 4: Ramadan is the month of the qur'an. What is an ayah from the Qur'an that has changed your view of things or impacted you deeply (this year)?

وَمَن يَتَّقِ ٱللَّهَ يَجْعَل لَّهُۥ مَخْرَجًۭا (٢) And whoever is mindful of Allah, He will make a way out for them, وَيَرْزُقْهُ مِنْ حَيْثُ لَا يَحْتَسِبُ ۚ وَمَن يَتَوَكَّلْ عَلَى ٱللَّهِ فَهُوَ حَسْبُهُۥٓ ۚ إِنَّ ٱللَّهَ بَـٰلِغُ أَمْرِهِۦ ۚ قَدْ جَعَلَ ٱللَّهُ لِكُلِّ شَىْءٍۢ قَدْرًۭا (٣) and provide for them from sources they could never imagine. And whoever puts their trust in Allah, then He ˹alone˺ is sufficient for them. Certainly Allah achieves His Will. Allah has already set a destiny for everything.

— Dr. Mustafa Khattab, The Clear Quran Surah Al-Talaq aya 2-3

This isn't from this year, it's actually from April 2013.  I was going through such a hard time and completely losing hope in everything.  It was one of the few times in my life I actually felt ungrateful to god because I couldn't see the point of everything I was going through.  I felt embarrassed for being ungrateful as soon as I felt it, because clearly I was doing better than a lot of people.  I was just lost and couldn't think what to do next.  So I said whatever dua came to mind for guidance, just prayed from the heart because I felt helpless and powerless in my situation.  This was the aya that got me through an incredibly dark time, a crucial fork in the road when I really needed courage to speak up for myself or risk suffering potentially devastating consequences for the rest of my life.

I still keep the ajr in mind for my daily tasks, even if I don't specifically refer to this aya in particular in daily life.  But it's always there for me to fall back on.

Diary for today:

Writing this before I go do the final preparation for futoor.  Today the hunger pangs are working together with PMS cramps.  I can't even cough without feeling it.  The PMS headache and lower back pain aren't helping either.  I have the privilege of being able to be kind to myself today: since I'm too physically weak for much, I mostly slept, then when I woke up, did less than usual.  I have that option and the rest will allow me to recover my strength inshallah.

I saw that the Oscars are trending on tumblr these past couple of days. Listen, I understand celebrating our website-wide certified holiday, the Ides of March, but y'all really said let's not talk about the Oscars and then did.  And you know what?  I get it.  Unless you're the one in the situation, you won't be able to keep on that one note, because you've got a life outside of it. 

Maintenance is hard work.  These fights are marathons, not sprints, although the sprints definitely help, too!  I'm wondering to wear for Eid even as I hold my breath over the inevitable atrocities they're planning for Palestine's Eid.  I just hope that even if people don't turn up for Palestine every day, enough of them do for some change to take place.

Daily click as much a reminder for myself.

Day 1 | Day 3 | Day 5

#ramadanchallenge2024 #notetaeker #I haven't thought of that aya in a long time actually #It's been such a long time that I nearly forgot that extremely dark time #I am in a much better place now #You can live under tough circumstances and still be happy #and that's better than the alternative #where I was living in better circumstances but wanted to die rather than have things forced on me #alhamdulillah #alhamdulliah #alhamdulilah

[fangaminghell]

Okay so with 13.5 coming up I thought I'd give y'all my thoughts about how I think I'm gonna be handling my rejuv ocs. This is gonna be long lol.

To be blunt: there's a timeline reset. It could go two ways.

Option 1

Timeline 1: Reborn ( Fern protag) and Rejuv ( renegade route) takes place at the same time. Deso never happens.

↓ ( timeline reset)

Timeline 2: Reborn( Leo protag) -> Deso ( Asra) -> Rejuv ( Imani-paragon route)

Noticable changes this would cause: Aya and Adrienn would not be in Aevium at all in Timeline one. Reborn is....kinda still going through the ringer. .....I think that's it, I really don't remember how much reborn was referenced. I do worry if there's reborn and rejuv taking place at the same time would cause writing issues for me which is why there's an option 2!

Option 2

Timeline 1: Reborn ( Leo ) -> Deso ( Asra) -> Rejuv ( Will - renegade)

↓ ( timeline reset of only the rejuv events. Literally everything related to rejuv)

Timeline 2: Reborn ( Leo ) -> Deso ( Asra) -> Rejuv (Imani-paragon)

Noticable changes: Nothing much would change from timeline one to canon rejuv events, since it's actually in order of how things go ( with rejuv always being after reborn).

I haven't fully decided on which one I want. I started the idea with option 1, but was worried about how certain events would play out if Reborn and Rejuv takes place at the same time. I think I can think of a few things that would and would not happen, but I'm just worried about the flow of it all. The pros to option 1, however, is that it's much easier to have a total reset of rejuv's events for me. Everything was reset, and thus everything can take a new course. Option 2 is easier in terms of not having to change much of anything, but i dunno how I feel about resting only rejuv when everything else is going one. Both options are very time fucky, but option 2, in my opinion, is more so.

But you're probably wondering. " R how did the reset even happen?" And that's easy! If I go with option 1, it's a combination of Anna's wish, and Will's own interceptor powers. I think the two happening around the same time would have caused such a major reset of everything. If I go with option 2, it's just Will who did the reset.

" But why did Will reset everything?" He's a Paragon route protag. Will wants to do good, and is actively not doing that. He gets manipulated by The Bastards to go on this path, and worse, Isador, the person he thought was his friend and also someone he had a crush on, turned out to be a wolf in sheep clothing. His sorrow and rage was enough for his powers to be boosted to the max, and he used them to cause a reset. Again, if this was with Anna Wish on option 1, then there would be a full reset.

.... His powers were also enough to curse Isador. See, Will decided to be selfish for once. He didn't want to go back. He wanted to live a good life of his own, and give good lives to the people he cares about. Of course, he couldn't exactly guarantee that, but he can damn well try. So in doing so, he pretty much forced himself out of the interceptor role, giving him a normal life. Which also means he is making him forget everything. But in doing that, someone else is most likely going to have to be the interceptor in his place. Which is Imani. Will knew that was the case, and genuinely feels terrible for having to force someone else to take up his burden, but again. He was being selfish for once. He just wanted to live. However! He also didn't want things to go to shit again. So he cursed Isador. Will cursed him into a being that's whole purpose is to make sure the next Interceptor will choose the right path. He cursed Isador to remember everything. Not just what Isador himself remembers, but what Will and Myo remembers too. So the past mistakes will stay in the past. Isador wanted to be a hero so bad. And now he gets to be one, right?

Regardless of option 1 or 2, Isador- now under the name Devil- is a....spirit of sorts. Assigned to the interceptor, now imani, to make sure things don't go to shit again. He is cursed with the knowledge of the past. He is cursed with the severe guilt of his own actions. Because in the new timeline things changed drastically. His brother, Teddy, is no longer his brother. Isador never existed in this timeline. Now Teddy was an only child. Will and Myo are much happier in their new lives. Will opened a flower shop and had an amazing partner in Abby. Myo is now human, an activist to boot, and seems to be much happier than they were before. And then there's Devil. Completely and utterly alone.

Anyway, I think that's everything! Tell me what you think, if you wanna! Or ask me about the timelines stuff ( maybe help me decide lol).

#oc: imani 🍒 #oc: will 🎧 #pokemon rejuvenation #there's other ocs mentioned but i'm lazy lol.

[cor-corbinian]

So I had time to sleep on the last episode of bsd and I have thoughts.

So far I've seen so many different oppinions about it - so many people are exited and so many are dissapointed. I easily fit into both categories.

But my first thought was that the episode felt off .... And I'm going to try, putting that feeling into words

PACING: As always the anime is going for an olympic medal in rushing. But unlike the previous ones this one felt even more rushed. For me, I believe that has one mainreasons. 1) Ususally I marinade in the manga chapter before I watch the Anime. This time I had nothing to go off, so my brain couldn't automatically fill the gaps. -> Missing Plot/Plot holes felt a lot more present

FUKUFUKU: Alright. This is propably the part I enjoyed the most. I think it was the best way that could have ended. 10/10 Somehow managed to not feel rushed to me. Teruko coming in was suprising but not entirely unexpected. I really liked it. You can see were the most effort went into :)

Aya&Bram: This one was good as well. But I barely felt scared for Aya. Another case of rushing - nothing to outragous though, although I felt it took the emotions out of the scenes.

All in all I really enjoyed the majority of the airport Part and can very much see why people are so exited and happy about this episode.

Now for the mixed bag that is Meursault...

SOUKOKU: Here the opinions are split. Not mine though, I liked it. Does it have implicateion that I most likely haven't thought about? Yes. But as long as Dazai wasn't aware of Chuuya not being a Vampire for the entire time, I'm fine with it. It is very much Soukoku shenanigans at the finest. Still rushed as fuck and with so many open questions that the manga has to adress. So I can see why people dislike it.

FYOLAI: Oh boy ... I really disliked Fyodors death. They have to have cut something important from the manga, because it just felt wrong. I fully believe Fyodor is coming back in some way. But the death just was so unsatisfying. What do you mean, every character got an impactfull fake-out death and Fyodor just got stabbed by some no name and blown to bits?! Doesn't feel like a fitting end for the mastermind. Nikolais part was amazing though - exactly the reaction I was hoping for. Absolutely heartbraking. 10/10 for that small part.

SIGMA: AAAAAHHHHH. I'm honestly upset and absolutely livid. What do you mean, the character who just wanted a home and to be seen as more than a disposable tool got his fate revealed in a single line and was forgotten and disposed of??? What the actual fuck! I get what bones is trying to do - keeping it a mystery on what exactly happened to him. Trying to reveal absolutely nothing. But we don't even get Dazai mentioning that he has to go back into the prision for some reason? Or saying that he has something still left to do? Anything at all that hints towards Dazai remembering that Sigma existed? Truly, it fells like Sigma was abandoned and I hate it. I will be writing Angst about it.

OTHER CHARACTERS: The Montage was kind of nice, even though important characters were forgotten about (where is Jouno!). With the lack of impact of most of the characters shown it just felt kind of hollow I guess.

EPILOGUE: Why does it feel off? I honestly wouldn't be at all suprised if it was the set-up for some anime only filler content - However horrible that would be. Akutagawa was looking fancy though. And it seemed about the only relevant thing that happened to poor Atsushi this episode. For a Protagonist he was sidelined hard.

TLDR: I feel like the rushing and lack of explaining/skipping over plot details of the anime is making me hate the progression of the plot more than I could ever with manga. I'll have to wait and see.

#bungou stray dogs #bsd #bsd spoilers #cor rants

[anime-cat-with-bong]

So I decided to get that fanservice anime games bundle on Humble Bundle, and like...the fucking cowgirl samurai in a bikini games are actually good????????

I really didn't expect much going into them, but these games are so much fun. A few thoughts I had (kinda long post incoming):

The combat feels really satisfying and flows so well. Especially when it comes to things like switching weapons or characters mid combo to extend said combo.

The Xtasy/Dare Drive forms were both badass and fun to use. I really like the risk vs reward feeling that makes you consider the right time to use them.

The plot isn't really anything special or amazing, but it's got that same vibe as a super campy grindhouse B-film which I personally adore.

I honestly really liked the characters. Again these games aren't trying to have the deepest plot in the world, but the characters are fun and memorable. Like I genuinely love them and feel attached now.

I even grew to really like the character designs a lot. Like hell yeah Aya. You go rock that bikini, feather boa, and cowgirl hat while you bathe in the blood of the undead. Again it's just so campy and silly I can't help but love it.

The music goes way harder than it has any right to. "Ichiban Wa Me" has been stuck in my head and refuses to leave.

Origin in particular has amazing combat. Combos flow well, hits feel really impactful, and it's honestly just downright addicting. It also almost reminds me of the Dynasty Warriors games with how you can feel really strong and unstoppable against basic enemies, but boss fights are still challenging and require you to focus.

I definitely think Origin is the better of the two in terms of gameplay, but there's a lot I did really love about it in Z2. One of the biggest things being the chase mechanic which I would really like to see return in a future game along with the more polished gameplay that Origin has.

While I do actually like the more "realistic" look of Z2, I think I like the more stylized anime look of Origin more. It's just much more visually appealing in my opinion, and I hope they continue with it in the future. (I'm also dying to see Kagura and Saaya in that art style)

As much as I've fallen in love with these games they do have some issues worth mentioning though. Mainly the fact that they are a bit buggy.

Z2 doesn't really have any game breaking bug that I found, but sometimes camera angles can get a little wonky. Especially when you're cornered and targeting an enemy. Also hitboxes on some enemy attacks can be a little taller than they appear to be. This is most noticeable with shots from guns that will hit you even when you are jumping high above them.

Origin can take some messing with to get working properly on PC, and even once it is working it's known to crash on occasion which will corrupt your save file. I haven't run into this issue myself, but it is a thing I've seen people talk about so I think it's worth mentioning. While annoying it is possible to protect against this by just making a back up of your save file in the event it does happen. Also worth mentioning that in a few cutscenes the models can be a little shaky. It's honestly not a huge deal at all, but it is noticeable when it happens.

One other negative I will say is that the regular prices are a little high. Especially with Origin which also has bonus missions that you have to buy as DLC. These missions are only $.99 a piece, but I still feel they should have just been included in the base game. I highly recommend these games, but I do suggest grabbing them on sale.

I'm honestly glad I got that bundle if for no other reason than these games, and I definitely plan to put a lot more hours into them to master the combat fully. Needless to say I'm a fan now, and I'm actually really hoping they continue to do more with this series. Maybe with a slightly higher budget even. I see a lot of potential with these games.

#onechanbara #oneechanbara #oneechanbara origin #onechanbara z2 chaos #d3 publisher #Sorry for the rambling #I'm just kinda tipsy and really wanted to talk about these games #I honestly can't believe how much I enjoyed them #I need more

[elejahfanfic]

Fanfiction

Love from the shadows

Part 2

The Originals AU story

Elijah Mikaelson x Camille O'Connell (Camilijah)

a/n: Elijah and Camille are friends and colleagues. She has a crush on him, but keeps it to herself, as Elijah is known to be quite the ladies man.

Anyway - it's a little something - I hope you enjoy it. Thanks for reading. 😀📖💕🎈

💕🎉

Morning found Camille, waking up next to Marcel, which made her freak out a bit as she realized what had happened. A Tequila shot too many. Never again. She thought as she now sneaked out of the bed and disappeared in the bathroom to get dressed.

Getting out of it in a little while, she was met by Marcell smiling with a charming smirk on, "Morning, beautiful."

"Hey" Camille said with a little gulping smile, "I - uhm- this is just one of those things, right? Not that it wasn't good -"

"Relax - yeah." Marcel said.

"Ok. Ahm - I got to go. Later."

"Later." Marcel said as Camille rushed out of the apartment.

Camille hated that she let herself gothat way. She was a girl, who loved the romantic dates. Dreamt of a big white wedding. Dreamt of Elijah. Even though she knew he was not into serious relationships. She knew his track record. Aya, Celeste, Sabine, Antoinette, Gia, to name but a few, and now Hayley, one of her bffs.

But was Elijah such womanizer, really? Or has he not found the one?

*

In Elijah's apartment

Hayley woke up finding the bed empty. There was a note, saying 'Great night.E.'

She also found a tray of breakfast with a flower in a little vase.

'You got style, I give you that" Hayley muttered taking the bagel, "No wonder Cami is so into you."

*

Elsewhere

"How are things?" Klaus said as Elijah picked up the phone.

"Fine - you? How is Paris?"

"Pretty great. So, are you coming for my birthday?"

"I certainly am. I've already booked a flight. Kol tells me you have gone into crazy mode with the party plans."

"Well, it's my 40th and I just want to splash out." Klaus said.

"And so you should. Right. I got to go. I will see you soon." Klaus said and hung up.

Finishing his coffee, Elijah went up to the window, flashing back to his conversation with his sister the other day.

Flashback

"I met Kol's girlfriend. She is so amazing and he is so wrapped up in her. I haven't seen him so in love like - actually never. It's cute. And talking about love and falling in love - it's Valentine's in a few days - I guess you will end up taking someone home - hook up - seriously, don't you think that it's about time you unfroze your heart? "

"Bex, please -" Elijah took a deep silent breath,"Love is overrated."

"You don't really believe that -" Rebekah continued, but her brother changed the subject of love and his heart to the upcoming trip to Paris.

Years back, in a church in Chicago, Elijah waited at the altar. The woman he was about to marry left him jilted. Breaking his heart. He vowed not fall for anyone again. Ever.

Putting his thoughs away, he returned to the daily tasks.

🎬

Camille pushed the one night stand with Marcel away in a box of crazy mistakes, and same as Elijah went into the working mode.

And as times progressed, working alongside him, seeing him hooking up with Hayley on a regular basis took its toll.

One evening as Davina and her met for a girly night out she splattered the big news to her friend.

"I was approached by a Firm from Boston and I decided I will take the job."

"You are not serious?" Davina looked at her friend a tad bit wide-eyed.

"I am" Camille huffed. "I need to get away - forget about Elijah - working next to him, seeing him every day and knowing that he will always be a player - it's a living Hell. "

"Well - I hate to see you go, but I get it. To get him out of your system, you need to move - but can you not go and work for another Firm here?"

"I will still see him. We have the same friends... you know" Camille explained l.

"I know" Davina said, giving her friend a warm comforting hug.

Not long after, Camille left, because loving someone from the shadows just was something her heart couldn't handle anymore.

🎇

Six months later

Camille walked in Rousseau's, and her eyes set on Elijah, who now waved at the blonde a little, somewhat surprised to see her there.

"What are you doing here?"

"Hey - I am here for the wedding. I am meeting Davina. You? How are you? I hear you have made partner?! Congratulations."

"Yes. Thank you. A drink?"

"Yeah."

"Beer?" Elijah suggested.

"Yes. Thanks."

"So, how are things in Boston?" Elijah now asked, "I still don't get how you just took off, not that I blame you. Fish&Cage are a good firm."

"The offer was too good to pass. Sorry that I left you in the learch - So, how have you been?" Camille said taking seat.

"Fine. Tell me about you and Boston? I bet you are Boston Celtics fan now. "

"No. I am still very much a Pelicans fan. Die hard, don't you know?"

"Yeah - I didn't forget it. You and Kaleb and Marcel were crazy when they played in the finals. Never seen someone so passionate about a game."

"Well, I got tickets. Wanna come?" Elijah said.

"What? You usually go with Klaus?"

"Ah, he is away with his new girfriend."

"Klaus has a girfriend?"

"Yes. Caroline Forbes."

"The Caroline Forbes?" Camille was surprised.

"Yep." Elijah took a swag of his beer. "He is thinking of proposing."

"What? OMG! I never thought that I would hear this. He found the one."

"He found the one."

"And you?" Camille now asked feeling her stomach knotting.

"Me? No. You?"

"No. Haven't found the one yet." Camille said, turning to Davina, who greet them," But, she's found the one, in Junior High already."

The women now hugged, and as Davina ordered a drink they went off to a table to talk wedding stuff. Elijah had his office colleagues arrive and he now chatred away with them.

And during the talk with Davina, Camille could not help herself but sway to look at Elijah a few times.

"You're still into him?" Davina now asked.

"What? Who? Me?" Camille said innocently.

"Yeah, you Cami!" Davina exclaimed.

"Ok. Yeah. Huh. He is still so hot. Damn." Camille said.

"Hot. And a total womanizer. Don't go there."

"I am not. I hear Hayley still hooks up with him."

"Yeah. We had a huge argument, just yesterday. She was with Jackson, too. And he is such a good guy. He didn't deserved this." Davina said.

"Ok. Let's talk bridesmaid's dresses." Camille now said to change the subject.

But, despite Camille's better judgment and all the alarms going off in her head to stay away from Elijah, she ended up accepting to go to the game.

Days after, after the game they ended up in a bar, later, celebrating the win.

"This was such a great game." Camille was still in a full on cheering mode.

"I agree. It really was. I had great fun. So, Tequila?"

"Yeah. But just one. I'll have a beer." Camille said.

As the clinked with the glasses for the win, they both downed the drink.

As a song came up on the karaoke at one moment, made Elijah suddenly grab Camille's hand getting her to the small dance area.

Swaying to the music, they joked a little about it as they now remembered the time they did a karaoke thing while they were working on a case.

"I was actually amazed that you could sing" Camille said.

"You were not bad yourself"

"Oh, please - I was so out of tune. Did you not see everyone's faces - they were silently begging me to stop"

"You just needed practice" Elijah chuckled.

"I will stick to the law - I am much better at that."

"I second that" Elijah said, and pushed her gently out into a twirl. As he pulled her back, she was flush against him. Both stopped still and looked at one another. Camille sucked a heavy breath in.

They were staring into each other’s eyes. Elijah's full lips were only inches from hers. She could feel his warm breath brushing over her skin. She had imagined standing like this with him so many times, and every one of those times, he had kissed her.

And then, it suddenly was better than any dream. His head now lowered toward hers, and his lips found hers.

His kiss, his lips firm, his tongue gentle. The shoulders under his hands went rigid with restraint, a vibration of control suddenly crept up as she kept herself in check, halting the kiss, levering back. Desire and apology cut hard lines into his face as he beamed down at her.

Tequila that was coursing strongly through her veins, hitting her head, muted the voices that were shouting, telling her this was not a good idea.

But then, overriding them, swiftly as the cat she shot both her hands in his hair, yanking his mouth to hers down.  Wild, nearly desperate, she slid her tongue inside, pressing her entire body along his length.

#camilijah #elijah mikaelson #camille o'connell #fanfiction #the originals fanfiction

[jpat82]

101 Ways To Kill Bucky Barnes

Date With Death

"Fernando!" You called out upon walking into the car shop, your car was already partially dismantled. You didn't bother to glance over at the crumpled hood as you passed by heading to the office. The man in question poke his head out, his olive colored face lit up when he saw you.

"Aya, girl, what did you hit exactly?" He asked in a heavy accented flamboyant voice, pursing his lips together raising both his eye brows. "Cause lemme tell ya, that thing is useless now."

"The guy my client wants taken out." You replied walking up to him, he stepped back into the small office.

"Oh, you mean tall, dark, and hello gorgeous." He shot back, giving you grin wiggling his eyebrows at you, rolling your eyes in response as you flopped down in the rolling chair with a huff.

"Didn't notice." You shot back, leaning you head against the back of it.

"He still alive?" Fernando asked walking back to the computer as he started scrolling through the multiple pictures of other cars.

"Hopefully not now." You told him, looking at the ceiling.

"And what does that mean?" He asked, bringing up a Cadillac.

"Ended up putting cyanid in his coffee after breakfast this morning, and it was enough to take a horse out." You explained shaking your head to the car on screen.

"Breakfast?" He asked, as he pulled up a dodge neon on the computer.

"Yeah, he took me out cause of wrecking the car." You replied tilting you head at the plain old car on screen. You nodded, you didn't need anything fancy for the next day or two.

"He took you out after you attempted to kill him? And then you tried to poison him?" He asked, his eyes widening at you, mouth dropping a bit.

"Yeah, I was hired to kill him, remember." You stated standing abruptly. "Not date him."

"I didn't say anything about date, just shocked." He remarked tilting his head and raising an eyebrow at you. You rolled your eyes again, walking over to the office window and look out at your car that was going to get scrapped. "Seems like you got more to add to that there girlie."

"No, I don't." You replied tersely.

"Hmm, let's see. That I know of you've tried poisoning him twice, attempted to run him over and he's taken you out for breakfast cause you, my dear, hit him with your car." He relayed back to you, you looked over your shoulder at him.

"As I said, I gave him enough cyanide to kill a horse, doesn't matter." You sighed, looking back out the window. "And I'll know for sure at five tonight that he's dead."

"Why five?" He asked.

"Cause I'm supposed to meet up with him for dinner." You said softly, looking down at your arms that were crossed.

"Hang on, you.. you are or were.. actually you agreed to go on a date and you still killed him?!" Fernando shrieked.

"I'm doing my job, and the amount I'm being paid is enough to get out of this life." You sighed, looking over at him again.

"No I get that, but girl, couldn't you have at least waited till after a little bit of fun time to kill him? You ain't been out in... like ever!" He all but yelled this time.

"He's a hit, that's it, and hopefully a dead one. I'd like to get paid and leave this city, too many people." You stated, walking out of the room. "How long till that car is ready?"

——

Bucky rummaged through his closet looking for something that wasn't too beat up or stained. His nerves were starting to get to him, making his stomach tie up in knots. He finally spotted a navy sweater and pulled it out, he checked over for wholes before looking for a pair of jeans that weren't tattered or bullet hole ridden and preferably one not covered in motorcycle oil.

    "Dude, you still haven't found something for this date? Taking longer then a chick." Sam remarked from the doorway.

    "Shut up, its been a very long time since I went out on date." Bucky responded with out looking finally pulling out a pair of dark denim.

   "Obviously." Sam chuckled. "Surprised you ain't putting on a suit and tie, that's how you folks did it back in the day."

    "Not entirely true." Bucky shot back looking over at the other man, he turned and walked over toward the doorway. Sam backed up a bit his arms still crossed. "Just cause we wanted to dress nice and presentable doesn't mean we always wore a suit and tie."

    Bucky closed the door and took a deep breath.

——

     Five o clock rolled around and you stood just outside the coffee shop door. You weren't overly dressed, there wasn't going to be a need for it anyway. Simple black pants and lilac top, you waited, biting your bottom lip. Then you heard the unmistakable sound of a Harley coming down the street, you nodded to yourself as you pulled your phone out and saw the minutes tick by. Mission completed.

    The sound of the bike shutting off in front you didn't even register as you took a deep breath.

    "Hey doll." Bucky spoke up, your snapped upwards, eyes widening. He sat on the bike, black helmet in rest on his thigh, you blinked hard a couple of times. "Sorry I'm a bit late, there was a traffic jam down the street."

    "That's.. okay." You breathed out, your heart skipping a beat as you stared at him. His hair was loose, something you had never seen on him.

    "So, I know a really good Italian place but it's either you drive or we take the bike. It's the only mode of transportation I have besides my own two feet." He smiled, you nodded as you walked up to the motorcycle. He reached back and unfastened the second helmet.

    "Bike it is." You smiled, taking the helmet from him as you swung your leg over the back and pulled the helmet on buckling it down. He better know what's he doing, you thought to yourself as you wrapped your arms around him.

He turned the bike back on, and you felt the purr of the motor reverberate through the machine. Gently he nosed it back out into traffic and sped off away from the coffee shop. Being this close to him you couldn't help but notice that the man was made of solid muscle, even through the leather jacket he wore you could feel how hard his muscle tone. You tried to push that thought to the back of your head, and Fernando's voice that kept telling you to have a little fun before you killed him.

   It didn’t take him long to wind through the streets before stopping at a run down looking restaurant just titled Mama's. He killed the bike and pulled his helmet off as you did the same. He got off the bike and you followed suit, Bucky gave you a lopsided smile, running his hand across the back of neck looking back at the building.

   "I know, it looks like crap but.. the foods is great and so are the people that run it." He stated looking back at you. You nodded with a big smile.

   "You know," you sighed walking toward the building, Bucky falling in step with you. "I always found little dives like this to have the best food."

   Bucky grinned as he opened the door for you just as you were about to reach it. It threw you a little to have someone open the door for you, a simple gesture, but it was something you couldn't remember anybody ever doing.

    "Bucky!" An older woman with a thick Italian accent yelled as she came across the restaurant floor. You looked around, the lights in the building provide ample light, but not over bearing, they hung from chain light fixtures with stained glass settings. Booths lined the walls, plush red leather seats and mahogany tables each with a single lit candle. Pictures of Italy, no doubt taken by the woman who embraced the other assassin, lined the walls all in black and white. "We weren't expecting you tonight!"

    She grinned up at him, holding the man by his arms before her gaze shifted past him, her honey brown eyes landing you. She raised an eyebrow, and then looked up him.

    "And you brought a girl." She chuckled, shoving him to the side slightly as she approached you, the woman wrapped her arms around, catching you off guard, your body instinctively stiffened.

    "Angelina, she's a friend." He stated, giving you apologetic look. All you could do was give him a tight smile as the woman finally released you, running her hand down your arm taking your hand in hers as she did the same with him. She walked you both to the table.

    "Well either way, it's nice to have you both." She smiled, both of you took your seats. Angelina hand you both a paper menu from the apron she wore before walking off to get you both something to drink.

    "Sorry, she's one of those people that hugs everyone." He stated taking a deep breath.

    "Really it's fine, just wasn't expecting it, that's all." You replied, settling in for what you would assume would be the most awkward date ever.

Permanent tag-

@kitkatkl @octobermermaid @ajosieface @instantnoodlese @crystlblu @coffeebooksandfandom @thisismysecrethappyplace @the-wayward-robot @lokilvrr @shynara51 @fourtyninekirbygamzeegirl l @loislp @ifyousayyouloveme @savedbyimagination @bubblycypres87

101 Ways tag-

@lokigreyvatore @jen309 @evilzinblr @fan-therapy @jessieray98 @creepshowzombae @emilyshurley @booksteaandrainyday @tarithenurse @wishingforahome @devilbat @helloimnewcx

Bucky Tag-

@ria132love @silverhart93 3 @yknott81

If I missed you just let me know or if wanted to be added as a tag!

#bucky barnes #bucky #bucky x reader #bucky barnes x reader #bucky barnes x you #bucky x you #bucky barnes fic #bucky fic #101waystokillbuckybarnes

[bluebonnet-daniel]

Favorite Songs #41-50

This bit of the list is more varied- classic rock fans, band nerds, emos and gamers will likely all see something they recognize on here. If you're not in any of those groups, well, that's tough.

#50: Angels in the Architecture- Frank Ticheli

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zVW_GQFGQUs

Although I am classically trained, there are not that many works of classical music on here just because I wasn't that meticulous about that when making this list. There are a small handful which would've earned a spot on here had I thought of them, so maybe I'll make an honorable mentions at some point. Anyways, this is the first of of a few songs which I have fond memories of playing in band. When going to competitions, everyone knew which band was playing this tune, because the percussion players would be carrying boomwhackers and the trombone players would have plungers. Unused ones, don't worry. I have a distinct memory of getting bored when we took this to contest and trying to get my plunger mute stuck as high on the wall as possible.

#49: The Rain Song- Led Zeppelin

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TRt4hQs3nH0

If there's one thing my dad and I can always see eye to eye on, it's music. He sent this song to me out of the blue one day while I was at college, and it became one of my favorites immediately.

#48: Taxi Cab- Twenty One Pilots

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=M2wB0skdJ5o

This is not quite my favorite TOP song, as there are two more on this list, but it has my favorite lyrics of any of them. Apparently Tyler Joseph agrees with me, as he's said on record before that the rap section of this song is some of his best work.

#47: A Lullaby For You- Jyongri

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=q0z-JeUY2zo

"The World Ends With You" is one of my favorite video games ever, and this song plays in the credits of that game. It is a touching song, but it's a bit hard to talk about what makes it special enough to put on this list without just talking about the game it's from, and I don't want this post to get too long. Unrelated, but I recently picked up NEO: The World Ends With You and I'm very excited to get into it.

#46: Jungleland- Bruce Springsteen

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=l6IwxpL-ZDk

A lot of songs on this list are made by a small group of bands which I obsess over, each one getting many entries stacked on top of each other. However, sometimes the opposite effect happens, and I find a song which seems to stand alone among the repertoire of the artist who made it. Springsteen makes fine rock music and all, but I haven't found another song which really hit me like this one. I found it after hearing it randomly on the radio, which I find somewhat unbelievable in hindsight given that it's too long to be a good radio song.

#45: The Shining Road- Masataka Matsutoya/Aya Hiroshige

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=O_gBiO2qNfo

Okay... This may seem like an odd choice, maybe even a cringey one. But yes, I legitimately believe that the credits music of the Japanese release of Sonic X season 2 deserves to be on this list. I'm sure a good part of that is nostalgia, since I was obsessed with Sonic in middle school. But, I had this song play in my head sometimes later in life, and revisiting it today it still holds up as a piece of music. The video I linked doesn't show the actual animation that went with it, but that should be easy to find on YouTube as well, and I think it adds a lot. Back in my Sonic obsession I was a big SonAmy shipper, you see.

#44: The First Circle- Pat Metheny

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4UOjwowDRQ4

This is one of the best songs on this list from a purely technical songwriting standpoint. Sometimes, people who don't listen to "high art" music a lot but still have a working knowledge of music theory make the accusation that some works of music will random use weird time signatures just to make the song more difficult/weird for the sake of weird. And I'm sure that happens, but this song is a good example of one which I honestly couldn't imagine any other way. The alternating 6/4 and 5/4 meter in this song feels totally natural, and certainly not contrived. Meter, like anything else in music, is a tool to be used. (That said, it is still infamously difficult to play. Remember when I mentioned I play Bob Curnow's arrangement of Every Summer Night? Well, he did one of this one too, and jazz bands usually only play it when they are feeling especially masochistic.)

#43: Now- Paramore

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4A5d9Y46Qik

This song just oozes with excitement and hope for the future. It is such a joy. There is also a particular scene in my story I always imagine in relation to it.

#42: Hometown- Twenty One Pilots

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pJtlLzsDICo

I am going to have a fit of vanity and mention my story for the second time in one post. Sorry, but with this set of songs it's absolutely impossible not to. Especially this song, since well, my story was originally named after this song, until I switched it to "Deep In The Heart" at the last minute before posting. "Hometown" is a little too generic to be the title of a novel. Although to be fair, "Deep In the Heart" isn't that much better, as there is at least one Texan romance-themed novel with that title already, and honestly there are probably a few. But, I doubt any of the others are about lesbians in marching band fighting demons in the underworld in their time off school, so I'm not that worried about mix-ups.

#41: Wild Horses- The Rolling Stones

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OPfG2aU1MpI

This song gives me another excuse to mention Bojack Horseman, since it was used in that show once. It's another sad song. Why are there so many of those on here?

#music #writing #emo music #twenty one pilots #paramore #sonic x #twewy #jazz band #concert band

[commandershepardvasfuckit]

Chapter 4 for Galaxies Apart

So after a month I finally finished ch 4 for GA after getting very distracted by some Ryder/Kandros stuff

Under a cut for length (AO3 link in blog description)

Other Chapters 1/ 2/ 3

It was a bit of a walk back from the overlook to her apartment, though about the time Julie reached the Repository she realized that she really did not want to head home yet, instead she ducked into the Repository to see if Avela had time to answer any questions.

Avela was buzzing around, picking up and sitting down relics as she made notes on several datapads and talked to herself.

“Hey, Avela” began Julie, trying not to startle her, “I was wondering if you had some time to maybe answer a few questions?”

“I’d love to normally, but your Pathfinder just had some very interesting relics shipped over from Voeld. Apparently they managed to break through a wall of a cave and found a labyrinth of rooms that haven't been touched in hundreds of years! Since before the scourge!” Avela told her excitedly.

“Wow, that's amazing” smiled Julie, “Whenever you get done studying them I’d love to learn about them”.

“Of course! But it'll have to wait, I'm going with an archeological team to Voeld to see everything firsthand! I've got a few days to study these relics and then we head out for a few weeks!” Avela was absolutely beaming at the prospect of being able to see so much angaran history for herself.

“You'll have to tell me all about it when you get back” Julie said.

“Of course I will” smiled Avela.

“Though can you maybe point me to anyone who might be willing to answer some questions?” asked Julie.

“Hmm” mused Avela, “Not sure of anyone in particular, but you're welcome to hang around here and ask anyone who comes it”.

“That's alright, I don't want to hang around and get in your way or anything” Julie said, “Seems like you've got a lot to do” she added with a smile as she made her way back out into the bright sun of Aya.

She had only taken a few steps before she heard someone call her name.

“Julie!” came a voice from behind her.

She turned to see who was trying to get her attention. It was Ajaa and Sivus’s friend from the other day, the one who had helped Ajaa walk home.

“Hello!” she called back cheerfully.

The large angaran man quickly caught up to her. “Picking Avela’s brain today?” he asked.

“I was trying to, but she's a bit too busy for that today” she answered, “and what brings you up here?”

“Dropping off some reports for the Resistance, medical applications of plants mostly” he shrugged.

“Sounds pretty important” Julie remarked.

“Sort of, a lot of it was stuff people already knew that we just never actually tested, old wives’ tales, y’know?” he said.

“Ahh, alright,” Julie said, “I'm sorry, I know we met sort of, but I can't remember your name at all” she apologized.

“That's alright. I'm Paalka, I work with Ajaa and Sivus” he smiled.

Paalka was tall, even on angaran standards, standing a few inches taller than anyone else that Julie had met. His shoulders and chest were broad and he seemed to be very well muscled, it made Julie wonder why he was working on a science team instead of fighting in the Resistance.

“You wouldn't happen to have time to chat for a minutes, would you?” she asked.

“I could kill some time” he shrugged, “we can chat while I'm on my way back to the lab”.

“Great!” Julie smiled, “I don't know if Ajaa has mentioned it, but I'm supposed to be learning more about the angara for the Initiative to make sure there's no big misunderstandings or anything” she explained.

“Ahh, a bit of a scientist too then” said Paalka, “So what are you interested in learning about?”

“Everything I can, the more we know the better we’re hoping that the Initiative and the angara can get along” she said.

“Well, that's pretty vague” Paalka noted, “And what about you? What do you actually want to learn about?” he asked.

“I don't know, I guess I really just want to know who the angara are” she said.

Paalka laughed a bit, “So just curious in general. Nothing wrong with that”.

“Could I ask you a few personal questions? I just want to get to know people for now” Julie asked.

“Sure” Paalka smiled.

Julie smiled back at Paalka, he seemed nice in the same was Ajaa and Sivus were. “So where are you from?” she asked.

“Voeld, a daar called Raesha. It was mostly just a civilian town, quiet most of the time, well hidden” he said.

“Kett didn't bother you?” Julie asked.

“Didn't know we were there. Everything was built deep into a cave system, no one really came or went, just occasional supply drops from the Resistance” Paalka shrugged.

“Sounds pretty isolated” she said.

“It was. There were a lot of people there, but people there were scared, kept to themselves, never left, but it was safe at least” Paalka said, “It was nice there though, there were lava flows under the rock so it was pretty warm at least”.

“I thought angara liked the cold” Julie remarked.

“Most of us don't like the heat, doesn't mean we want to freeze to death” he answered.

“Sounds like you got lucky and got to grow up somewhere safe at least” she said.

“Yeah, I suppose. Don't get me wrong, Raesha will always be my home, but there were problems there I'm glad I got away from” he trailed off.

Julie searched to a response to him, not sure what to say. “I suppose no where is perfect” she finally managed.

“Sorry, didn't mean to dump that on you. And it's not as bad as I probably made it seem” Paalka sighed, “It was warm enough there where we didn't need heat lamps, which sounds great, but the lamps aren't just for heat, angara need electromagnetic energy in order to thrive. Normally sun exposure is more than enough, but the people of Raesha were always to scared to go outside and the leaders refused the lamps the Resistance tried to give us, I think they were so sick and weak they didn't even remember that we needed electromagnetic radiation anymore”.

“So what happened?” asked Julie.

“My people were sick and weak, dying, and too damn scared and ignorant to do anything about it” growled Paalka. “I used to try to run outside when I was little, I'd heard the Resistance fighters talking about how we needed sunlight and I just wanted anything that might make me feel better. My family kept me under a constant watch, they thought I was crazy and wanted to die or something” he gave a bitter laugh, “I'd begged the Resistance fighters to take me away with them, they always pat me on the head and sadly tell me this was my home, I belonged here. Family is important to angara, so important that they'd let kids fucking die in that cave instead of separate families”.

“I'm sorry Paalka” Julie reached out to touch his arm, remembering what she had learned from the information Avela had given her the other day, angara were an open people and liked physical contact.

“It's in the past, I did what I could to help them and one day the Resistance decided I was useful enough to be brought here. My health has improved being on Aya, though my immune system will never be great after 20 years of damage”.

“I'm glad you're doing better at least” Julie said, trying to find a silver lining in everything.

“Thanks, it's been a while since I've talked about my family and all that, didn't mean to off load all that on you” Paalka apologized.

“That's alright, I did say I wanted to get to know people” Julie smiled. She had not realized how far that they had walked from the Repository until Paalka stopped in front of a freight elevator.

“Lab’s down on the planet floor, won't drag you down there” Paalka told her. “I know you've been chatting with Ajaa, and Sivus already told me that Ajaa got you to try laia”.

“That was like 30 minutes ago, how the hell does everyone know already?” Julie asked.

“Ajaa and Sivus are close, so Ajaa tells him everything, and the Sivus passes everything along to me” he shrugged.

“So you three are close?” she asked.

“Yeah, Ajaa and Sivus have been friends for years, and Sivus and I are together. Sivus likes to joke about me and Ajaa having to share him” he smirked. “But on a serious note, Ajaa doesn't make friends easily, well he could if he wanted to, but he gets anxious about losing people he's close to so now he just doesn't get close to people. He likes talking to you so far, and it's good to see him happy, but if you're just on Aya for work and leaving soon don't let him get too attached to you. Just better that way”.

“No, I get it” Julie said, she really did not know how long she would be on Aya, the Initiative had stationed her on Aya indefinitely though now that Aya was allowing settlers she might just be able to live there. She joined the Initiative alone and had not spent enough time on the Nexus to really make friends with anyone there, it would be easy just to stay on Aya, “It would be nice to stay here, I don't have anyone back on the Nexus waiting for me and Aya seems like a good place to start a life in Heleus” Julie smiled.

“Well, if that's the case you should come by the lab later, come see what we actually do, and I don't think you've met Allya yet, have you?” he asked.

“I haven't” she said.

“Come by later today, we usually leave around sundown, maybe 7pm or so, so come by maybe around 6:30? I'll keep Ajaa there so you can surprise him” he said.

“Surprise him?” asked Julie.

“He'd like it. We’re down in building 5c, go through the doors on your right when you get out of the elevator and follow the path all the way back, you'll see it, it's the only building surrounded by farmland” he told her.

“I'll come by later then” Julie smiled.

They parted ways at the elevator. Part of Julie was surprised to learn that Ajaa was not always this open and friendly, that apparently Ajaa was typically kept himself pretty walled off from people. She could not help but smile to herself, something about Ajaa liking to talk with her made her quite happy.

She strolled back to the market, she did not really have the chance to explore earlier with Ajaa like she had planned to, but it was still pretty early in the day. The same women was still standing behind the stand where Ajaa had bought the laia fruit earlier, she had giggled when Julie tried the fruit and had been watching them a bit with a smile, she seemed like someone who might answer some of Julie’s questions.

Before Julie managed to make it to the stand she heard a loud voice approaching her and the pitter patter of small feet.

“Mooooom! It's a human!” came a young voice from behind her, “Look! It's like the Pathfinder!”

Julie turned around to find an angaran child that barely was as tall as her hip looking at her with curiosity. “Hello” Julie said with a smile to the child.

“Hi! Do you know the Pathfinder?” the child asked.

Julie went to answer, but before she had the chance an angaran women quickly ran up to them, “Taeli! Don't run off like that!” scolded the woman, “I’m sorry, she's always been a friendly child” the women smiled.

“That's alright” Julie told her, “And I don't know the Pathfinder unfortunately” she told Taeli.

“Don't bother the human” the angaran woman said as she scooped up her child.

“That's alright,” said Julie, “I'm actually supposed to be talking to people and learning about the angara for the Initiative, I'd love to talk with you two if you have a moment”.

“I wanna talk to the human” wailed Taeli, trying to struggle free from her mother’s grasp.

“I have some time” said the women as she sat the child down.

“Wonderful, I'm Julie by the way” she introduced herself.

“Amra” the woman said. She stretched her arm out in front of her, “It’s an angaran greeting, here” she gently reached out and took Julie’s wrist to bring her arm up to rest against hers, “Any angara will be surprised you know that, it'll do you good, shows you've taken the time to learn about us” she smiled.

“Thanks, I'll keep that in mind” Julie smiled back, “Is Taeli your only child?”

“Of course not!” Amra laughed, “I have three more at home with my wife Setta, Taeli is our little ball of energy, had to get her out of the house while the others were napping before she woke them up”.

“Do you know Jaal? He travels with the Pathfinder!” chimed in Taeli.

“I don't know him either” Julie told Taeli, “I know a few people here on Aya though, I know Sivus and Paalka and Ajaa”.

“Ajaa is nice” smiled Taeli, “He always has candy”.

Julie covered her mouth as she giggled a bit, there was something very endearing about the thought of Ajaa carrying around candy.

“Ajaa has a sweet tooth,” Amra explained, “He always has bits of candied fruit with him and the kids noticed, now the kids follow him around whenever he's working up here”.

“Yeah! And he knows about plants!” Taeli added.

“I'm going to go visit Ajaa where he works later to see all the plants he's growing” Julie said.

“That's cool!” Taeli said with wide eyes.

“Ajaa does well with kids, he's patient with all their questions and he takes the time to explain whatever he’s working on so they can understand too” Amra began, “I can't believe he's not married, he's a sweet man and so good with kids, but he's already 25. If he has any hope of having a family he really should get started”.

Julie furrowed her eyebrows, it seemed like a rather personal topic to be discussing. And was it really so strange to be 25 and not starting a family?

Luckily before the topic could become more uncomfortable Taeli started to tug at her mother’s hand and yawn, “Are you tired my little one?” Amra said as she picked up Taeli, “Ready to go home?”

The little girl nodded and rubbed her eyes.

“It was nice to talk to you Julie, perhaps we’ll bump into you again sometime” Amra smiled.

Amra seemed nice enough, maybe everyone on Aya just knew everyone else's business and gossiped.

Julie spent the rest of her day wandering the market and the adjacent areas finding people who did not mind chatting with her. For the most part things went smoothly, except for one younger angara who snarled at her and called her vesagara . The word did not mean anything to her, but it angered an older man who happened to be walking by at the time.

“Didn't your mothers teach you any manners?” the older man asked.

“They taught me to fight for our home, that means not letting these aliens just invade!” the younger man snarled.

“And if it wasn't for these aliens the kett probably would have killed us all by now. Either learn some manners or learn to keep your mouth shut” the older man said calmly.

“When they turn on us too all of you will finally see what's going on” the younger man said as he left.

“I'm sorry about that,” the older man began, “There’s still some Roekaar sympathizers around, ignore anyone who calls you vesagara, I promise that most of us are glad your Initiative is here”.

“Thanks, a friend told me to be careful but I really didn't think I'd run into anyone like that” Julie said.

“They're cowards, people like that wouldn't dare do anything in public, but that guy knew this area was more isolated and didn't think an old man was going to stand up” the man said with a smile, “I might be old but I'm not dead yet”.

“I'll make sure to stick to busy areas” Julie nodded. This time things had just been a bit uncomfortable, and the other man seemed like he was all talk, but it was not hard to imagine that things could have gotten bad.

Julie parted ways with the kindly man and began to make her way back to where the freight elevator was, making sure to keep to the busy well lit areas. It was a luckily uneventful trip there, a few people watched her as she waited for the elevator, though they only seemed to watch in mild curiosity. The freight elevator moved slowly and creaked but seemed safe enough and before long the doors slide open revealing a cargo bay that opened out to the planet floor. A few more people looked on in curiosity, though no one approached her.

“5c, 5c,” Julie mumbled to herself, “everything is in Shelesh, don't know what I was expecting” she raised her omni tool up to each building sign to scan and translate them, eventually making her way to the last building. It was a small building surrounded by farmland, just as Paalka had described.

The door was not locked and Julie let herself in.

“Julie!” came Sivus’s excited voice as he bounded over to her, “Paalka said you'd stop by to see Ajaa” he said with a smile. “He's in the dark room working with climbing stars, but you haven't met Allya yet!”

Sivus quickly grabbed Julie's arm and led her through the door in the back out into the fields surrounding the building.

“Allya!” he called, “Julie is here!”

“Over here!” came a woman’s voice from around the other side of the building, “I'm coming!” she called again before rounding the corner.

Allya looked tired, her gloves coated in dirt, but she was smiling, “So you're the one that the guys keep talking about, good to meet you”.

“It's good to meet you too” Julie raised her arm up like Amra showed her earlier, hoping it was the right thing to do.

Allya laughed, “No need to be formal! Come here” she said as she pulled Julie into a hug, “It took years for Sivus years to befriend Ajaa, took Paalka a few months, and it took me a few weeks, but it only took a few days for you. It's good to see Ajaa starting to relax more”.

“Apparently it just took tripping over him” Julie joked.

“Whatever you're doing has worked” Allya smiled, “I won't keep you here, I know you came to see him”.

Julie blushed a bit, she had not come specifically for Ajaa, but it would be a lie to say that she was not happy that she would get to talk to him again.

“I'm sure Sivus wouldn't mind if you came with us for drinks after we’re done here, would you Sivus?” Allya said as he elbowed Sivus in the side.

“Of course not! Anyone who can befriend Ajaa is more than welcome to come over for drinks” Sivus chided, “Enough of that for now though, Ajaa still doesn't know you're here”. Sivus led Julie back in and pointed her to another door, apparently leading to where Ajaa was working.

“Ajaa?” Julie called as she opened the door. It was dark in the room, just lit by the strange soft glow of plants that had climbed the walls and ceiling.

“Julie?” came Ajaa’s voice from somewhere behind the tables in the room, “What are you doing here?”

“I bumped into Paalka earlier today and he said I should come by and see what you've been working on. I've got to say, this is actually pretty beautiful” Julie said in amazement. The room had almost entirely overtaken by climbing vines, most of the leaves on them were large normal leave, but about a quarter of them had several points and were emitting a decent glow.

“They're called climbing stars” came Ajaa’s voice from behind the tables, “They're native to a few caves on Havarl, the plant normally don't glow, but these specimens have actually formed a symbiotic relationship with a local bioluminescent bacteria! It's rather fascinating, the plants can actually get enough light to live just from the bacteria!”

“That is pretty interesting, but why are you down there behind the tables?” she asked as she walked over to where Ajaa was laying behind the tables.

“I thought it would be nice to lay down and look up at them” Ajaa told her.

“I'll join you, it does sound nice” Julie laid down next to Ajaa. The ground was hard and cold, but there was something peaceful about laying there looking up at the plants, they really did look like stars. “How long have you been laying here?”

“Thirty minutes, I can't get up” Ajaa said, sounding rather embarrassed.

“Legs?” asked Julie.

“Legs” confirmed Ajaa.

“Should I get Sivus?” she asked.

“Yeah, I thought I could wait it out and get up, I was very wrong” he mumbled.

“I'll get him, be right back” Julie said as she got back up to get Sivus.

Great time for her to come by, when you're stuck on your back like a kaerkyn, Ajaa growled to himself. He had not actually decided to lay down in the lab, he had slipped and fallen, landing hard enough on his back to disrupt the neural connection and leave him stranded, but he felt to pathetic to actually admit that to Julie.

It was only moments before Julie and Sivus returned.

“Alright Ajaa, what did you did this time?” asked Sivus.

“Nothing, just can't get back up” Ajaa lied.

“Well, that sounds absolutely fake but alright” Sivus said as he knelt down next to Ajaa, “can you roll over so I can get to your back at least?”

“Yeah, I can” muttered Ajaa as he rolled onto his stomach.

“Alright” began Sivus as he lifted up the back of Ajaa’s shirt like he had done the other day.

“Do you really have to do that?” asked Ajaa.

“What? Lift your shirt? It's easier to find where the impulses are being stopped, you know that, and I really don't think Julie cares about your scars” said Sivus as he lifted up Ajaa’s shirt.

“That's alright, I can wait outside” Julie said as she went to leave.

“It'll just be a minute, sorry” said Ajaa.

Sivus waited until he heard the door close behind Julie, “Do you really think she'd care about your back?” hissed Sivus? “I'm pretty sure she saw your back the other day when she tripped over you anyways. You like talking to her, she likes talking to you, just chill out”.

“It's off putting, I know she probably saw my back before but it doesn't mean I like it” hissed Ajaa back.

“Just hold still” said Sivus as he directed his own bioelectric field and use it to bridge the gap in Ajaa’s nerves to get the impulses flowing again, “Can you wiggle your toes?” he asked.

“Yeah, thanks” muttered Ajaa, he rolled back onto his back and sat up.

“C’mon, I'll get Paalka and we’ll all head up to and grab drinks, it'll do you some good” Sivus said as he gave Ajaa a pat on the back.

“Yeah, sounds good. Maybe Julie will forget that I got stuck on my fucking back” he mumbled.

“That's the spirit, nothing some tavum can't fix” Sivus told him.

It was a longer walk back up than Julie remembered. Sivus led the group, often walking backwards and gesturing with his arms excited my as he spoke. Ajaa walked with Paalka’s support, his arm over Paalka’s shoulder and Paalka's arm around his waist to hold him upright. Allya walked next to Julie, smiling and chatting about what their team had been working on the past few months.

“Home sweet home” Sivus announced as the reached the door to an apartment, “Not much, but cozy, make yourself at home” he told Julie.

Paalka deposited Ajaa on the couch before following Sivus into the kitchen to help with drinks, he wrapped his arms around Sivus’s waist from behind for a moment and kissed the side of Sivus’s cowl while they smiled and laughed over something before Paalka went to get a few glasses for their guests.

“I don't suppose you've had tavum yet, have you Julie?” asked Allya as they settled down on the couch next to Ajaa.

“No, I haven't. What is it?” she asked back, trying to get comfortable in between the two angara.

“The base is distilled from fruits, then it's mixed with an extract from the leaves of the ahdi’s eye plant, it’s an intoxicant” explained Allya.

“So alcohol?” asked Julie.

Allya shrugged, “If that’s what it's called in the Milky Way”.

“Alright!” chimed in Sivus as he and Paalka made their way into the main room, arms laden with glasses and bottles, “No work tomorrow! It's still early, time to have some fun!”

“I don't think rest days extend to us” Ajaa said, finally speaking up.

“You heard Paaran Shie, Fev and Bav are rest days again like how they were before the kett invaded, that definitely extends to us” said Paalka as he sat everything down on the table in front of the couch.

“Allya?” asked Ajaa.

“If Paaran Shie says they're rest days then they're rest days, I've got no problem with a few days off” Allya shrugged.

“We’re not fighting a war anymore, we can actually afford to have down time now” Sivus said as he passed out glasses to everyone, “I'm going to guess you haven't had tavum before, have you Julie”.

“I haven't, though Allya was just telling me about it” Julie said.

“That's fine, I've seen the human Pathfinder drinking it, so it must be safe for you guys, just got to find what to mix it with for you,” Sivus looked over the bottles he and Paalka had brought over, “Ajaa already mentioned you didn't like laia so we’ll skip the laia juice”.

“Try neffa juice” chimed in Paalka.

“Yeah, maybe everything is all backwards to you,” Sivus reached for a bottle full of something green and uncapped it, “does this smell sour or sweet to you?” he asked Julie as he passed her the bottle of juice.

Julie took a tentative sniff, hoping that Sivus was not messing with her, “Sickeningly sweet” she said.

“Well, better than sour” shrugged Sivus.

“Mix it with laia” suggested Allya.

“Now that's an idea” Sivus busied himself pouring together some of the neffa and laia juice together and handed the glass to Julie, “How's that?”

“Sweet, but not too sweet” Julie said.

“Good, good” Sivus reached out to take the glass back, “And this is Tavum, don't drink it too quickly” he said as he topped the glass of juice off with it.

Julie took a sip of her drink, the tavum gave it an earthy bitterness but it was mild, and the burn from tavum was a lot less intense than Milky Way alcohol.

“It's stronger than it seems,” warned Ajaa, “And you're smaller than us, don't worry about finishing it”.

The others mixed their drinks, Sivus and Paalka both drinking mostly laia juice with a bit of neffa mixed in with the tavum, Ajaa chose just the laia and tavum, and Allya just mixed the tavum into hot water.

“So, Julie,” began Sivus, “Why spend 600 years traveling here? Milky Way got boring?”

“Something like that actually, there wasn't really anything left there to study, well for me anyways. I did research for interspecies cultural studies, but there was a lot less to do than I hoped. I got an offer to join the Initiative to help with first contact should there be any and I signed up without even thinking about it. It's funny how you can make a big decision without even realizing what you've done until it's too late” Julie said somewhat sadly. It is not a good feeling to wake up in a strange place and realize everyone you have ever known was in another galaxy and long dead.

“It must be exciting though” smiled Allya, “So many new things”.

“It is. The first thing anyone told me when I woke up was that we had made contact with a new species and they needed people to learn about them and help a few adjusting to living on the Nexus” recounted Julie.

“Well, at least you've been busy, I heard there's been people on the Nexus for over a year with nothing to do” said Allya.

“Yeah, I suppose. Can we talk about something else though? Just feeling a little homesick” asked Julie.

“Of course” smiled Allya.

The night passed by pleasantly, Julie finally managed to sit back and relax wedged between Allya and Ajaa on the couch. Sivus and Paalka were cuddled together on a large armchair-like piece of furniture, smirking and not so subtly sneaking kisses, too intoxicated to notice that everyone else noticed them. Julie struggled to keep her eyes open, fighting the pleasant sedative-like effect of the tavum. It was different than alcohol, her mind still felt clear and she was pretty sure her balance was still intact, but it was pleasant.

Julie realized that at some point she had started leaning on Ajaa, not that he seemed to mind. She had nestled her head against the front of his shoulder and curled up against his side and some time during the night Ajaa had draped his arm over her shoulder. It was comfortable and rather cozy.

The next time she was aware of what was going on it was dark. Julie woke up, the side of her face resting in Ajaa’s lap as she stretched out on the couch. There was no sign of Allya, Sivus, and Paalka, though the slight snoring coming from the bedroom suggested that Sivus and Paalka had gone to bed.

Julie sat up and moved Ajaa’s arm off of her side, feeling a bit odd about sleeping on Ajaa’s lap.

Ajaa grumbled as he woke up, “The sun’s not up yet, what are you doing?”

“Heading home” Julie told him.

“It's dark out, it's not safe for you to go out by yourself” Ajaa grumbled.

“Then walk me home” she said.

“Not really possible right now, sleeping upright on the couch didn't really do wonders for my back” he said.

“What about Sivus and Paalka?” Julie asked.

“What about them? It takes me a bit even after the nerves reconnect to be able to walk on my own, you saw Paalka half carry me here. And they're asleep, I don't trust Sivus to try to reconnect nerves after he's been drinking” Ajaa said.

“Couldn't one of them walk me home?” she asked.

“If either of them is coherent enough to walk. You passed out before everyone else, everyone else kept drinking. Plus if you go in there to wake them up I make no guarantee that either of them is wearing pants” he said, “Just go back to sleep”.

Julie went to lay back down the other direction on the couch so she would not use Ajaa as a pillow again.

“You can just lean on me, I really don't care” Ajaa said.

“Just didn't want to invade your personal space” she said.

“Personal space,” Ajaa snorted, “Angara don't mind being close with friends and family. Just seems more comfortable to lean on me. Plus you're really warm and it kind of feels nice”.

Julie blushed a bit, it had been comfortable sleeping against Ajaa, and if he did not mind it either then it would be alright she told herself. She laid her head back down on his lap and work on getting comfortable again. Ajaa placed his hand on her back and gently began to trace circles absentmindedly.

It had been an interesting first few days on Aya, but at least the people were nice.

#galaxies apart #MEAfics