#but it always bothered me when people would run up to my dog while we were walking and pet her without my permission | Explore Tumblr Posts and Blogs

writing-with-gremworm · 1 month

Text

A Bothersome Herbivore

I'm not sure when it happened, this tiny herbivore started clinging to me. It's hard to get a break since they follow me everywhere. When I nap, they nap beside me. When I eat, they follow along. Though, the latter is better than the time they slept so soundly I was able to leave them for a few days. When I went back to my normal napping spot they were sitting like a dejected mouse. They had teary little eyes, and their complexation was terrible.

I learned later that they slept through lunch, so they ended up just not eating the first day, and they refused to move during the weekend when I hadn't retuned yet. The worst part about it is they were so happy when I came back. They were like a stupid dog, so happy to cling to me again.

I let them be for a while. It wasn't really my problem, and they didn't actually bother me most of the time. They were surprisingly quiet.

"Why exactly do you follow around like a lost dog?"

"I dunno. I just like you. So, I stay with you, because you're safe."

It was weird. I shouldn't be safe for them. I'm just a lousy second prince with nothing in my future but disappointment. I am, and will always be, second best in the eyes of anyone else, so why is it that this creature clings to me? I still don't understand it.

The thing that irks me the most is that I started to worry about them. I woke up from a nap as usual, expecting them to be beside me. They weren't there. The little mouse had scurried off somewhere and that made me uneasy.

"This is bullshit."

I must have done so subconsciously, but I ended up looking around the places I usually went, expecting to find them there. I only found them when I returned to the greenhouse. They were sitting, waiting for me to come back.

"Leona!" They sounded so happy, their eyes lighting up as if the best person in the world was standing right in front of them.

"Ah." I had so many questions, but none of them mattered. 'Why did you wait? Where did you go? Are you okay?' They were here, so why did it matter?

We returned to routine. But one thing did change. I started leaning on them. I don't know if they noticed, they never mentioned it to me. This change ... felt necessary.

In time it felt stranger to be separate from them than to be near them. In a way, I guess I must have found them comforting too. So, it felt strange when one day, they started crying.

"What's with the tears?" I asked, not really expecting an answer.

"I don't know. I just- I." They sobbed quietly, sniffling and rubbing their eyes. They tried so hard to calm down, only to sob more. It hurt, hearing them quiet their sobs. I felt like I saw a bit of myself in them. Maybe that's why I spoke up.

"Don't force it, just sob okay?" It was a useless comment. They would probably cry for a while anyways. They did stop trying to choke back their sobs, though they kept sobbing quietly, as if they forgot how to cry loudly.

"I'm scared. I don't know if I want to go home or stay here. I feel unwanted either way. I don't know if anyone would miss me if I left, of if anyone in my world even realizes I'm gone. I'm terrified because it doesn't matter which world I choose. I'll be alone again in either world."

A beat.

Right, they needed to go home eventually. They weren't from this world. I forgot that somehow. Unlike Yuu, who was social, this one wasn't particularly close to anyone. Except maybe ... me.

"Oh? Aren't I right here? Do you think I'll forget you because you vanish for a little?"

"I-I ... I thought you were annoyed by me."

"Then why would I let you cling to me? I could have actively ignored you."

"But you ... you left me alone and I ..."

"So? People can change their minds. I'm not running from you anymore, so don't go running from me, okay?"

"Heh, hehehehe."

"Why are you laughing?"

"Sorry I just- I didn't expect you to say something like that. It's so sweet."

"Don't get used to it."

"Hehe, I know. I'm just ... Thank you."

"... It's fine."

Things were nice after that. We returned to routine.

Or, as close to routine as possible. I found myself gazing at them for longer than I intended. If they were still asleep when I was up, I would pick them up. If they were hungry, we'd eat early, or I'd get Ruggie to buy us snacks.

'Fuck.' I had fallen for them. It was confusing. They weren't particularly pretty, or smart, or even useful. Even so, I found them undeniably breathtaking. I couldn't look away from them.

It was juvenile, but I couldn't help but touch their hand. Just to feel their skin against mine. I wanted to kiss their forehead, to hold them in my arms, to claim them.

I'm no idiot. I know I'm handsome, I know my position, though lesser than my brother's, is coveted. I understand that being a member of royalty limits my options for love. Despite everything, I wanted them to stay with me. If nothing else, I just wanted to continue our days like this. The litte moments of warmth, their laughter, their joy. I wanted to bask in it.

When did my world stop being gray?

No, not my world. Just them.

It's still hard to justify waking up, to find a reason to move forward every day. But even still, I want to be selfish and be beside them. I wonder if this is what it means to feel safe with someone.

"I'm going to graduate this year. You've still got a few years left."

"... Yeah ..." They smile sadly.

"Come to me. When you finish. Find me, and I'll have a napping spot ready to share." It was a stupid promise. They might be blocked from my side. They might not even be able to understand me outside of school property.

But I think their smile was worth it.

"You've been sulking in that window every day, brother." A grating voice says, a smirk decorating the words.

"So what?" I glare, irritated by the interruption. I come to this window whenever I think about them. It seems like a spot they'd like. Or maybe they just liked me. Maybe after all this time they forgot me. It would be better that way. For them to forget me, they can live a different life, instead of being tied to the second prince.

"I was just worried. How can I not worry a little when you're my brother?"

"Piss off."

"Ah, I see you don't want company. Should I send your visitor away?" My ears twitch. It's rare I receive visitors. It's even rarer my 'perfect' brother bothers to tell me about them.

"A visitor? Haiz. I have enough sense not to turn visitors away." I shift, hopping down from the window ledge.

My heart is beating faster than I would like. It seems like my chest is going to burst at this rate. It will be disappointing if it's not them, so I shouldn't keep my hopes up.

"Leona?" A familiar voice chimes as I enter the room. They smile warmly at me and walk over, looking at me somewhat reluctantly.

"I'm surprised you actually came here." I hold out my hand. They take it carefully and I pull them into a hug, "Welcome home." I add with a whisper.

They tear up, hugging me tightly.

"Yeah, I'm home." They mutter. They feel warm in my arms. They feel like the keystone of an arch, holding me together despite being so small.

'So, I still love you.' I think to myself, closing my eyes and forcing myself not to do too much. I want to give them soft kisses, I want to whisk them to my room and cuddle with them. I want to tell them how much I love them. But the words don't leave my throat. I can't love them, not as a royal.

"Well, isn't this a nice reunion." That ruined it.

"And you're still here because? This is my guest. I thought you'd leave." I hiss, glaring at my brother.

"There's no need to be hostile. I'm just surprised you have someone close to you."

"Oh? Thanks, I didn't realize I needed to tell you these things."

"I'm not chastising you, I'm glad. Really. Ah, I should probably introduce myself to your lover."

"Lover?"

"Are you two not? Ah, I'm sorry for misunderstanding." He doesn't sound even slightly apologetic.

"I-It's fine."

"... This is my brother. That's it, don't worry about getting close to him."

"Oh- okay." They smile sadly.

"Well this does complicate things a little. I had just convinced the elders to let you have your lover join you here. But if they're not your lover, then I'll have to clear that up."

"That won't be necessary. It'll be more convenient if everyone assumes we're lovers anyways." 'Though I'm not particularly fond of receiving help from you, I won't turn it away when it benefits me.'

"S-So then- Do I- have to pretend to be your lover?" They seem surprised, their face flushed a bit. It's cute. It makes me want to lick their cheeks and nibble on their ear.

"No, just act like before. Us spending so much time together will get the point across."

"Oh! Okay." They nod, seeming perhaps a little disappointed.

"Last time we spoke, I promised to have a napping spot pick out for us. I think I found one. Though, you'll have to sit on my lap if you want to lean on me." The window ledge wasn't wide enough to sit side by side unless you laid against the window.

'This spot is chosen partially out of my selfishness. If nothing else, then I can hold you tightly. Not that you need to know my reasoning.'

"That's okay. If you're okay with it, I mean. I've always kind of wanted to hug you when napping." They admit wanting to cuddle closer.

'I wonder.'

I pick them up, cupping their rear as they cling to me. They seem a bit surprised.

"W-We could just walk there-"

"We are walking there. What? Did you never wonder how I carried you before?"

"I never thought about it- This is embarrassing. I could just walk with you."

"Hm, no. You clung to me this long, cling to me more, won't you?"

"Leona." They whine.

I can't help but chuckle a little. This was warm. It felt nicer than just remembering them.

"Hey, do you love me?"

"What? I mean- yes. You're the closest person I have."

"I mean, romantically, sexually. How, do you love me?"

"T-This is very sudden- and I don't know how to answer- aah."

"That's fine. We've got plenty of time." I sit down, letting them situate themselves on my lap as we sit by the window. I wrap my arms around their waist, and rest on my chin on their shoulder.

"You're more affectionate than I remember."

"Well, I have to make up for the missed nap time cuddles somehow, right?"

"What? Hah, hahaha. Sure, let's go with that. Leona. I missed you."

"Yeah ... me too."

"I never thought you'd admit it ... so ... the question."

"Do you love me?"

"Yeah, that one ... was it, because you love me?"

"Yeah."

"W-wait really? Um! How so?"

"Hm, I'll tell you after you tell me. I did ask first."

"Hahaha, okay, that's fair." They lean into me, resting against my chest, relaxing in my arms. We sit there for a while, just enjoying each other's company. It doesn't really matter how they answer. We'll stay beside each other anyways. I can tell that much. They wouldn't have found me if they didn't intend to stay.

"Hey ... Leona ..."

"Yeah?"

They turn their head and move so their mouth is close to my ear before whispering their answer. Perhaps embarrassed, or worried that telling me loudly would hurt me. Regardless, the action was cute.

"I'm not sure. I've never felt anything like this before. I've never had the chance. So, I may not get it right the first time. I don't know what type of love this is."

"Okay, then let's figure it out together." I've waited this long, waiting a little longer should be fine. Besides, I'm with them now, so that is enough.

#twisted wonderland #character pov #leona kingscholar #twst leona #leona twst #fluff #warm and cozy #self indulgent #gn reader #reader insert #I let him have like two swears. It's fine.#Have soft Leona #he deserves some softness.#he's just a silly guy #a bean #Anyways #i hope you enjoy #Sorry for not posting

27 notes · View notes

corrodedhawkins · 2 years

Text

The Internet Is For Porn: Eddie Munson x Fem!Reader

Author’s note: For the bestie @escapingtohawkins

Content warnings: Graphic smut (minors DNI), language, filming sex, sex toys, handcuffs, cockwarming, orgasm control, dom/sub dynamic.

“I don’t know if I can do this.” You stood in Eddie’s room, arms crossed over your chest nervously.

“C’mon, honey”, Eddie says, coming up behind you to pull you back into his chest. He presses a soft kiss behind your ear. “Don’t you want to make all of my adoring fans happy?”

You snort, “I don’t know if I would call the 20 people who pay to see your cock ‘adoring fans’.”

“Hey! I’ll have you know I hit 60 subs last week.”

You turn to stare at him blankly, “Wow, you must be in the top 1% of the platform by now.”

Eddie sneers playfully and flips you the bird. “Seriously. Ever since I let is slip during a live that I had a girl, I’ve gotten so many requests to film with you. Please?” He spins you around and pouts his lip, giving you his best puppy dog eyes.

You knew your boyfriend had an OnlyFans account when you first met, and it had never bothered you. He enjoyed showing off, and it paid fairly well. You just didn’t know if you were comfortable doing it.

“I promise it’ll be totally safe. You’ve seen my content, I make sure my face is hidden. Nobody will ever know it’s you.” He’s right, he’s always so careful with his angles. The only thing that could identify him were his tattoos, but you didn’t have any yet.

“If you don’t like the final result we’ll trash it and forget all about it. We can also edit out anything you want. I promise. You get final approval.”

You thought it over for a moment. “Fine. But I keep the tips you make off of this one.”

Eddie practically squeals with excitement. “Deal!”

Phone in hand, he runs over to his closet to grab his ring light and tripod.

You can’t help but laugh, “You want to film it now?”

Eddie huffs as he secures his phone to the tripod. “No time like the present.”

You feel nerves flutter in your stomach. “So, how does this work exactly?”

Eddie rubs his hands over your arms soothingly. “Well, we turn the camera on and do whatever comes naturally for us.”

“Do-do we get naked now or?”

Eddie laughs, “We can do whatever you’re comfortable with. Might make it easier so we’re not fumbling with clothes.”

You take a shaky breath and nod, placing a quick peck to his lips. “Alright, let’s do it.”

You both shed your clothes before Eddie grabs the remote for the camera. He lays down on his bed, pulling you on top of him. “We’ll start whenever you’re ready, okay?”

“Will you just-kiss me a little before you press record?” Eddie smiles softly and pulls you into a sweet kiss. He presses you up against him as he wraps his arms around you, and you melt into the kiss. “Go ahead”, you whisper.

Eddie grabs the remote from his side, hitting record before pulling you into another kiss. Before long, you’re grinding on each other as you kiss, tongues tangling hotly. “Sit up, baby”, Eddie whispers in your ear.

You roll off of him and sit up, looking over at Eddie as he perches on the edge of the bed. “Ropes or cuffs?” He asks as he opens his bedside table.

You think it over for a moment before deciding, “Cuffs.” He grabs them and secures the cuffs onto your wrists in front of you, checking to make sure they’re not too tight.

“Here’s what’s going to happen”, he slides himself behind you to sit against the pillows. He pulls you back into his chest, legs spreading to bracket your hips. “You’re going to sit on my cock while I touch you. If you move, I’ll stop and you won’t get to cum.” He speaks so softly you know there no way the microphone is going to pick it up.

He pulls your hair away from your shoulder to press soft kisses to your neck. You shiver as his breath fans over your skin. “I’ll leave you cuffed like this and use your mouth until I cum all over this pretty pussy.”

He chuckles at your whimper, “My subscribers would probably love that. What do you think, baby?”

“No”, you whine. “I’ll be good.”

Eddie hums thoughtfully, “I guess we’ll see.”

He grabs your hips to lift you onto his lap, slowly sliding you down onto his cock. Your head falls back onto his shoulder as you both moan. You can’t help but squirm to try to get him deeper, but Eddie’s hand clamps down on your hip right away.

“What did I just fucking say?” he thrusts up, knocking the air out of you.

“I-I’m sorry. Couldn’t help it.” You feel Eddie shift and grab something from the beside table. You hear the telltale buzzing of your vibrator, and you immediately clench around his cock.

Eddie chuckles when he feels it. “Yeah? Excited for your toy? You gotta be good or I’ll stop.” You let out a shaky breath, trying your best to stay still as he presses the vibrator up against your clit.

When you bite your lip to stifle your moan, Eddie tsks. “Don’t. Let me hear you. Let them hear you.” Your eyes flutter shut, a high-pitched whine escaping your throat. Eddie hums and switches to a higher setting on the vibrator, sending a jolt of pleasure through you.

You cry out and clench down on him, thankfully stopping yourself before you rock back onto his cock. “Do you like the thought of everyone watching you get off like this?”, he asks. When you don’t answer, he sets the vibrator even higher, chuckling when you whine. “I asked you a question, pretty girl.”

“Yes”, you gasp out. Your cuffed hands are balled into fists as you desperately try not to move.

“You like that they all get to hear your pretty noises, but I’m the only one that gets to use this pretty pussy?”

You can’t help but clench down again. “Yeah”, you pant, chest heaving as you struggle to catch your breath. Eddie hums and presses the vibrator more firmly into your clit.

You feel the coil in your belly start to tighten, pleasure building. “Close. I’m close”, you warn. Eddie switches the vibrator up to the next highest setting. You keen, but somehow manage not to move.

“Please. Please I’m gonna cum. Can I?”you’re desperate for his permission.

Eddie presses a kiss to your shoulder, leaning in to speak into your ear. “You’ve been so good, go ahead and cum.”

The second the words leave his mouth you’re falling over the edge, pussy pulsing around his cock as you cry out. He holds the vibrator against you as you ride it out, whispering praises into your ear.

Once he feels you start to come down, he removes the toy from your clit and switches it off, throwing it to the foot of the bed. He unlocks the cuffs from your wrists and throws them alongside the vibrator.

“You ok?”, he asks as he runs his hands over your arms soothingly, placing a soft kiss to each wrist.

You let out a breathless laugh. “I’m very ok.” Eddie lifts you off of his cock, laughing as you whine from the loss. He lays you down on your back and knees his way in between you legs. “Ok to keep going?”

You wrap your arms around him, whispering a, “yeah” against his lips before closing the distance between you. Eddie kisses you leisurely, giving you time to rest after your orgasm. Once he’s sure you’ve come down, he pulls back and grabs the back of your thighs, bringing your legs up to bend against your chest.

“You think you’re ready for my cock?”, he asks as he spits into his palm, dragging the slick over his length.

You place your hands on the backs of your things, holding yourself open for him. “Yeah, please. Please fuck me.”

Eddie shuffles forward and runs the tip of his cock back and forth over your folds, up to your clit before circling your hole, never quite pushing in. You’re still so sensitive from your orgasm, and the feeling of his cock grazing your clit makes you squirm.

Before you know what’s happening, Eddie brings his hand to smack across your face, leaving a sharp sting in its wake. Your eyes well up with tears instantly. “Ah ah. You did so well for me earlier, don’t ruin it now.” You nod and sniffle as Eddie brushes a stray tear from your face.

He plunges into you without warning as you let out a sharp cry. He takes your place and grips the backs of your thighs, leaning his weight into you so you’re pinned in half under him as he sets a brutal pace.

“Fuck”, he groans. “This pussy is so good. You did so good, baby.” He grabs a fistful of hair at the base of your skull and uses that to bring you up into a breathless kiss.

He thrusts harder as he feels you start to flutter around him. “You can cum whenever you want, sweetheart.” Your orgasm rips through you before you even register his words. You sob as Eddie fucks you through it.

Eddie moans as you cum, the feeling of you clenching around him getting him close. “Gonna cum”, he gasps. “Where do you want it?”

“In me. Please cum in me”, you beg.

Eddie throws his head back and cums, groaning as he fills you. He holds you close as he comes down, his thrusts turning into a slow rocking before they stop completely.

You reach up to run your fingers through his hair as you push a few strands away from his face. You hum when he places a kiss to your forehead and reaches for the camera remote to end the recording.

When you see him press the button on the remote, you can’t help but bark out a laugh. “I’m not gonna lie, I totally forgot the camera was on.”

Eddie laughs and goes to grab his phone from the tripod. “Looks like you’re a natural then, baby.”

He hits the record button once again as he swoops in to catch the first trickle of his cum dripping out of you. “Eddie!”, you squeal, trying to close your legs. He smacks a hand down hard on your thigh, “keep them open.”

You comply as he brings two fingers down to circle your hole before dipping in, fucking his cum back into you. The wet noises make your cheeks heat, and Eddie notices. “Don’t worry, babe. This one’s only for my personal collection.”

#eddie munson #eddie munson smut #eddie munson x reader smut #eddie munson x female reader #eddie munson x reader #Melissa writes

909 notes · View notes

callsigndragon · 1 year

Text

Tasting the Ashes | Ch. 12: Not a hero ✍️📲

Word count: 1.1k

Warnings: Roos and Ash being cuties, mentions of Ash's accident, mentions of death, allusions of not wanting to be alive (just 1), Gina is now a warning of her own...

Important: This story is a sequel of Seeing Red, and there’s a lot of things you’ll miss if you don’t read that series first. Check Seeing Red! Masterlist on pinned.

I don’t tag people, follow @meigalibrary for notifications!

First, let me apologize for not being there for you for thirty years.

That was the first sentence Maverick said to you when you went to his house. Bradley went with you, because Jake had to go to work and Red was taking care of Liam, he offered to drive you to Mav’s.

He also needed to talk to him, either way. He’s the father.

It was a bit awkward at first, sitting in front of a guy who used to hook up with your mother. But he wasn’t a bad guy like you imagined. He is a very good man who continually apologized for not being part of your life. You know that if he had known about your existence, he would have been there.

And you think that maybe, with his help, you wouldn’t be in this mess. Maybe you wouldn’t even be pregnant. Or maybe you’d have met Rooster before, fallen in love, and been married already. He’s a nice guy, and he’s hot, that can’t be denied.

Bradley Bradshaw is a lot different than Steve.

And you wish you'd met him sooner. Because as much as you liked him enough to have a one-night stand with Bradley, Steve was still in your mind, haunting you in every dream—or should you say nightmare? Things are still fresh in your memory, even if it’s been a year. Seems like no matter how far you run from the problem, it still haunts you. It will always haunt you.

“Ash?”

“Oh, sorry, were you saying something?” You look at him from the sofa you’ve been sitting on all morning. It’s been a few days since you moved with Bradley, and he’s been an absolute sweetheart. Cooked for you, helped you whenever you needed it, and he had been kind enough to lend you some of his clothes because you were definitely too big to keep using your own. Literally, the perfect guy.

And he looks at you with this hope in his eyes, like you being pregnant will somehow make you fall in love with him. But you can fall in love with someone when the memory of the last man you loved is still in your mind… and his sister hates your existence.

“I was saying that Jake has invited all of us to his house. You feel like going?” He says while handing you a glass of water.

“I mean, it’s my brother now. I have to.” You watch him as he sits down, moving your legs so they’re resting on his lap. “Do you want to go?”

“I’m always ready to hang out with my friends.” He caresses your leg, looking at your belly. “How are you feeling about being the new member of a big family?”

You chuckle, leaving the glass on the table. “It’s a bit overwhelming, you know? It’s always been me and my mom, but now I have a father, step-siblings, a step-mom, a sister-in-law that used to be my front seater and whose son is now my nephew, and she has another baby on the way!”

Bradley nods, tilting his head so that it’s resting on the back of the sofa. “Yeah, and a lot of crazy uncles and aunts for your babies.”

You kick his arm with your leg. “Our babies.”

He looks at you with the softest smile in the world, and something inside you feels warm. “Our babies. So… I wanted to talk about us.”

And here it is. “Okay, tell me what’s bothering you.”

“I know you know I am interested in you. I like you, a whole lot.” He claims and there is no doubt in his mind. “But I know you don’t feel the same.”

“Bradley… How many times have we seen each other before I crashed Liam’s birthday party?"

“Four, I think.”

“We barely know each other. You don’t even know my last name.”

“It’s Simmons.”

“No, it’s- Wait, how do you know?” You frown.

“Saw your dog tags yesterday.” He waves it off, bringing you closer and almost sitting you on his lap. His hand moves to hold yours, the other one rests on your belly. “What I’m trying to say is that you don’t have to worry about my feelings. You and the babies are the most important thing for me right now.”

“Thank you, Bradley. I know I could fall for you, you know. But things are already too complicated to try and see if we can work this out.” You explain feeling so absolutely horrible about this. “Just imagine that we try to be together, and we end up fighting or something, the only ones that will end up suffering here are the babies.”

He sighs, pushing your hair behind your ear. “I know. That’s why I said I don’t care about my feelings. It’s not about us anymore.”

“You’re really different than I thought you would be.” You giggle, watching his face morph into a shocked expression. He lets out an airy laugh, rolling his eyes. “Hey! Everyone thinks you’re an idiot, and I’m here praising you. You should be thanking me.”

“Oh, yeah, I need to thank you because you’re realizing how awesome I am?” He grins, raising an eyebrow.

You hit his shoulder before your phone lights up, a new message waiting for you to read it.

And this is why you really don’t want to have a relationship with Rooster. Because maybe, one day you’ll have to run away and leave him behind with the twins.

Gina won’t stop until you’ve paid for her brother’s death. Even if it wasn’t your fault. You couldn’t do anything about it.

You never wanted the accident to happen. You never wanted everyone to change your call sign, to be reminded of that atrocious incident every time someone called you.

It got to the point where you wished you hadn't walked out of that plane without a scratch. Maybe if something had happened to you—maybe if you couldn’t walk anymore—everyone would have left you alone. You’re not a hero, you never wanted to be one. You’re just a survivor. And you have enough trauma as it is; you don’t need new call signs, pats on the back whenever you walk into a room, or curious eyes following you around trying to understand how a small, insignificant thing like you got out of such a horrible crash. Yeah, Gina said that.

Because Gina would never forget how you, her brother’s girlfriend, managed to survive when he couldn’t.

And she’s been sending these messages for almost a year now. You left the base soon after Red was offered a new position. You couldn’t bear the thought of Gina being your boss. Life was already insufferable enough as it was. You didn’t need her to make it worse.

But she, living up to her call sign, is determined to Nuke your life.

One way or another.

#top gun maverick #top gun x reader #top gun maverick fanfic #top gun fanfiction #bradley bradshaw #bradley rooster bradshaw #rooster bradshaw fic #bradley bradshaw x female reader #bradley bradshaw x reader #rooster fanfic #rooster top gun #rooster x reader #rooster imagine #rooster fluff #bradley rooster bradshaw x reader #bradley bradshaw angst #top gun #tasting the ashes

122 notes · View notes

no1konigfan · 1 year

Text

First/second encounter with the COD men

■■■■■■■■■■■■■■■■■■■■■■■

König

-Your first encounter was when you first started working with the military

-You were the medic,and one time he went to you because he dislocated his shoulder

-He honestly liked the feeling of your cold fingertips on his bare skin

-Although none of you said anything it wasn't the awkward silence that sometimes took place in these quiet situations

-He thanked you and went away

-Your first reaction to him was pretty much"what the fuck do they feed him?"

-The second was much more pleasant.It was almost midnight but you couldn't sleep so you went out for a smoke

-König joined you after a couple of minutes"You know doc,smoking kills"

-"Cut me some slack soldier"-you smiled signaling him to sit down next to you

-You two spent a peaceful night together just talking about everything, sitting on a trunk

Graves

-When he bumped into you in the parking lot,he asked you for your number

-You-finding him attractive-obviously gave it to him

-He didn't call or text you for 3 days.But when he did he asked to see you

-He wanted to go to the new amusement park in the city

-He went to pick you up.He gave you flowers,he opened the door for you.

-He knows the sidewalk rule

-Since there was a lot of people in there he always kept you close to him,there was always a hand behind your waist,barely touching it

-You two had a great time,and for a long time he was finally able to have fun and ease up a little

-It was clear for the both of you it wasn't the last date you guys had

Captain Price

-At the bar

-The way your hips were swaying left to right really caught his attention,so he decided to make a run for it and ask you for your number

-He's not young anymore he's not gonna beat around the bush

-"Excuse me Miss?"-his soft low voice startled you as you jumped a bit and turned around to face the man the voice belonged to

-"Yes?"

-"I couldn't help but notice how beautiful you are,so i was hoping that maybe we can have a dinner together sometime?"

-Your mind was like"Yes.YES.YEEESSS".You of course found him attractive,it was no question

-"I would really like that"-you smiled a little and scribbled your number on a piece of paper from your bag

Soap

-He asked you to help him apply sunscreen on his back

-As you were sunbathing on the beach you noticed a man unpacking his beach stuff like 5 meter away from you

-Your eyes were closed and you suddenly felt like something was blocking the sun

-When you opened your eyes you were greeted by the man smiling down at you friendly

-"I'm sorry to bother you,but can you maybe help me put sunscreen on my back"

-At first you were questioning why he didn't just ask anyone like,like a man,but then you saw that there wasn't really anyone else around you,since it was the quieter side of the beach

-You nodded

-He hopped down on the sand next to your towel,crossing his legs and handing you his sunscreen

-"Wow"-you thought as you saw his back

-It had scars,and it was definetly the prettiest back you've ever seen

-It was so broad and it had defined muscles,his skin was fairly tanned too

-As you touched his back,you couldn't help but let your mind wander

Ghost

-You were out walking your dog,and suddenly it went crazy,wanting to run

-Since he was young-but already big and strong enough- and still in training he almost made you trip

-You didn't but you let go of his leash

-You ran after him

-As you turned on the corner you saw your dog jumping on a mountain of a man

-You ran to them and apologized to the man immediately recognizing his gaze

-He also recognized yours but now he got to see your whole face,and it's safe to say it was just as beautiful as he thought it would be

-He chuckled while handing you your dog

-"It's alright.I like dogs"-he said

-"Well apperantly they like you too"you smiled"Do you have one?"

-"No,i don't really have time for that"

-"Well you can always play with him if you want to"-you said looking down at the fur ball in your hands

Gaz

-Let's say it wasn't how he planned

-He didn't ask for any source of availability of yours,and he couldn't go the the cafè considering he had to go on a mission

-When he showed up in your cafè after a month he went looking for you

-"Hey.I know you are probably angry with me but i had this thing and i couldn't inform you"-he explained strolling behind you as you mopped the floor

-You stopped and looked up at him

-"I'm not angry.I'm just a little dissapointed"

-He sweet talked to you so much you couldn't do any other thing than agree to go on a dinner with him

-This time he actually made it to the dinner and you had the best time

#gaz cod #cod price #könig cod #cod modern warfare #cod mw2 #call of duty #cod graves #cod ghost #john price #john mactavish #philip graves #kyle gaz garrick

67 notes · View notes

lesvegas · 1 year

Text

New Vegas - Now Under New Management!

In 2301, the city of New Vegas had been a raiders’ paradise for nearly twenty years. In the Jackal-run Ultra-Luxe hotel, with Cal's help, Auguste continues investigating the murder of his dog.

Chapter 3: You’re Gonna Go Far Kid [ao3 link]

I was never allowed in the Tops’ Presidential suite. It had been claimed by Fresno when they took Vegas, and they only ever let my father or the cleaning people in there. My father and I shared a two-bedroom suite with a view, several stories up but not quite at the top. Fresno would’ve given him the Presidential or the High Roller or any other fancy room at the snap of his fingers, but he wasn’t picky. All he wanted was some windows and for me to have my own little space.

Cal took one of the old Gomorrah boss’ suites for himself, but he was almost always sharing it with someone. Unlike Fresno, he didn’t go wasting all that space on just himself. There were three other big suites by his, and they were usually occupied. By who, I had no idea. Judging from the all the noise I’d hear whenever I visited Cal’s room, it was probably more than one raider at a time with as many whores as they could afford.

I knew the Ultra-Luxe had the biggest, fanciest suites to match the rest of it. I’d never seen them myself, but one would have to assume from the name alone that they were the best of the best. And like every other raider I knew, naturally, the Jackal matriarch had taken the biggest, best-est suite for herself. At the very top of the Ultra-Luxe hotel was the Penthouse suite, and it was at least twice as big as Cal’s room and three times as big as my father’s. There were armed guards outside of the elevator, and armed guards at every corner as we passed through the corridor and bedroom. I had to wonder what she was so afraid of. These guys weren’t stationed here because she knew we were coming; we barely had to wait two minutes before we were brought up here. Maybe she just liked having a bunch of men watching her at all times. She didn’t even bother to get dressed for us, still laying nude in the pool in the middle of the suite. Shit, I’d kill to have my own pool. “Oh, wow…” She said when she saw me, sitting up in the shallow water, her feet floating. “I haven’t seen you since you were…” She lifted her hand out of the water, holding it a few inches above the smooth surface. “This little. I think it was your birthday. I gave you a teddy bear. Do you remember?” No, I didn’t remember. I’ve got three teddy bears in my room, and two of them used to belong to Brutus. And all three of them were from my father. I also don’t recall having ever seen this woman before in my life. I think I would’ve remembered the sharp teeth, missing eye, and the odd hollow scars along her arms. But instead of saying any of this, I kept my mouth shut and looked at Cal. He’d insisted on doing all the talking, so I was gonna let him. “I don’t think he does. Otherwise, he wouldn’t be this shy.” Cal teased, then put a hand on my head and ruined my hair. I kept my hands in my pockets and bit my cheek before I could do anything stupid. I won’t let him hear the end of it the second we’re out of here, though. “He might get all upset if he starts talking, though. I’m sure you've heard.” She hummed, and took her hair in her hands, squeezing and wringing it out. It reached just below her shoulders and looked natural. I don’t think I’ve ever seen a raider with nice hair before. “No, I don’t think I have. You’ll have to enlighten me.” “Well…” Cal glanced at me, then continued. “Someone shot his dog while he was taking him out for a walk about a week ago.” She gasped dramatically. “Oh, that’s horrible!” “It is.” Cal went on. “And the shot could’ve only come from your hotel.” She was still for a moment, then flung her hair over her shoulder before her hands went under the water again. “Callipho, dear, you’re not saying what I think you are, are you?” “Dee-” “Dia.” She cut him off. "Dia.” He went on. “Your hotel is huge. You’ve got hundreds of men. You’ve got dozens of rooms anyone could rent out with a view of the whole Strip. I’m not saying you had anything to do with it, personally, but someone in the building last week did. And as you can imagine, this place is our only lead. So, if you could help direct us to, I dunno, a guest book to start, that’d be great.” She beckoned one of the men as she stood up, and he brought a towel to her immediately. She wrapped it around herself, but not before I could notice more of those weird scars along her legs. “We don’t let anyone rent out our rooms. We’ve filled them all ourselves. We live here.” She explained, her voice darker now. “If you insist that someone in our hotel shot the mutt, then you’re insisting it was one of us.” “He wasn’t a mutt!” I snapped. “He was a Belgian Malinois, one of the last purebreds around, and he was easily the smartest and most loyal dog anyone could ever hope to have!” “Easy.” Cal put a hand on my shoulder, pulling me back a little. “She’s not gonna help you if you’re rude.” I smacked his hand off my shoulder. Why the fuck was he treating me like a child? Dia sighed almost wistfully. “Oh, sweetheart, I’m so sorry you lost your puppy.” She went on, stepping out of the pool to stand before us. She smelled almost sickly sweet. “But I promise we had nothing to do with it. And I would never let some stranger stay in my hotel. I do wish I could help, but…” “Then help.” I said sternly. “I just want to know who did it. I don’t care who else was or wasn’t involved, just-” I swallowed. Fuck, this was useless, even if she did know, why would she tell me anything? I didn’t even know what questions to ask her, and neither did Cal. This was a pointless trip, I was never gonna find out who killed Brutus, and I wasn’t even sure Cal would be able to, either. “You’re not gonna cry, are you?” Dia asked, sounding all concerned, touching my cheek. “I couldn’t bear it if you did.” “This has all been a lot for him.” Cal said quietly. “That dog was the only friend he’s ever had.” “Oh, I can imagine…” She ran her hand through my hair, and I refrained from giving her a look as she tried to fix it. “Well… I can’t make any promises, but I suppose I could tell you what I know. I got a noise complaint about a week ago, maybe even on the same day as the… you know. It was said to be gunfire, shot somewhere on the twelfth floor.” “From one of the residents?” Cal asked. Dia hesitated. “If I had to guess, I’d place my bet on Rocco.” She said quietly. “He has a room all to himself with a view of the Strip. That was his only request; a room with a view. His favourite pastime is marksmanship. Now, I’m not saying it was certainly him, but…” “It’s as good a lead as any.” Cal said, putting an arm around my shoulder in a half-hug. “Thank you, Dia. You’ve been a real help.” “Don’t make me regret this, dear Callipho. Get what you can from Rocco, then leave. We have enough issues as it is without outsiders making things worse.” Dia said firmly. Then she gave me a smile. “And Auguste, sweetheart… you should come visit more often. It’s a shame we don’t get to talk more.” “I will.” I said quietly, probably lying. I’d rather never come back here again if I could help it, but I was starting to realize Cal had the right idea bringing me along to meet her. I was like the cute kid door-to-door salesmen brought along to prevent poor saps from slamming the door in their faces. Cal and Dia said their goodbyes, she reminded him again not to make her regret this, and we were led out of the suite and back into the elevator. The man tending it was about to take us back to the ground floor, but Cal politely requested being dropped off on the twelfth. The Ultra-Luxe’s hotel wasn’t nearly as winding as Gomorrah’s, but I still felt lost. Each floor felt nearly as wide as the hotel was tall, with hallways the size of streets and a sitting area around every corner. I wouldn’t be surprised if every room was half the size of the Penthouse suite. There were a lot of people lounging around, well-dressed enough that they almost passed as tourists, but they were all clearly Jackals. I got a lot of stares. Cal did not. He also seemed to know exactly where we were going, leading the way to the far end of the twelfth floor, all the way to the last door. He stopped right in front of it, and I nearly bumped into him. “This is important.” He spoke in a hushed, serious tone that sounded odd coming from him. “I need you to let me handle this. We don’t know how dangerous this man is and it’d be better if I did all the talking. If you don’t think you can keep quiet, wait out here for me.” I just nodded. I’ll do whatever the hell I want, but if I didn’t act compliant here, he probably wouldn’t let me into the room at all. I stood by and waited for him to pick the lock or pull out a master key or something. Instead, he knocked. “‘S open.” The voice was muffled by the door, but not far from it. Gruff and deep enough that it could only be a man’s. I looked up at Cal as he slowly opened the door all the way. This wasn’t a suite. It was a broom closet. A big broom closet, but a closet nonetheless. It was just a little bigger than my own, and most of the space was taken up by a mattress on the floor and a shelf up against the wall with a few metal boxes on it. Cal stepped around the mattress and I followed, closing the door behind me. At the other end of the closet, oddly enough, was a window, open wide with an older man sitting on the ledge and looking down. Next to him, in the corner up against the wall, was some sort of scoped rifle. “Are you Rocco?” The old man didn’t even look at us. Unlike the rest of his crew, he wore ordinary clothes; slacks and a simple button-down shirt that wouldn’t be out of place in a pre-war catalogue for the common man. There was nothing formal about him, but he didn’t quite look like a typical raider, either. He leaned further out the window and spat, then grinned as he must’ve hit something or someone. “I’m Cal, proprietor of the Gomorrah. My friend here is Auguste, son of the courier. Perhaps you’ve heard of us?” Cal went on, as casually as he could, trying the get the geezer’s attention. “I saw you come in.” He said, still not looking at us. “Could’ve nailed you then, if I wanted to. But I didn’t see the point.” I bit my cheek to keep my mouth shut. Not yet, not yet… “Thanks for sparing us.” Cal said lightly. “You must have quite a view from up here. Mind if I take a look?” “Get any closer and I’ll jump.” He said quickly, but with a grin. “Then you’ll never know.” Cal showed his hands in mock surrender. “Alright, alright, we’ll stay right here… So you are Rocco?” “Whatever.” I shoved my hands in my pockets. “Are you Rocco or not?” I barked. That made him finally look at me. He didn’t look as old as he sounded, but he was dirtier than I first thought. Maybe they gave him a closet to himself for a reason. His eyes were a cold, steely grey that narrowly focused on mine. “Rocco, I am. The fuck do you want, you uppity little whelp?” Cal put a hand on my shoulder, barely containing me as he took over again. “We were told you might’ve shot a dog from up here recently. That true?” “I ain’t talking to you, Gomorrah. I asked the runt a question.” I took a breath before speaking again, doing my best to ignore the smell of dust and something stale. “Did you or did you not shoot my dog?” I asked, firmly. “He was a Belgian Malinois, a big dog, we were walking back to the Tops from Vault 21…” I tried to look past him without leaving my spot. We were pretty high up; all I could see from the door were signs and the top of nearby buildings. “Yeah. I shot a dog.” Rocco casually admitted. “Is that all you came here for?” “Of course not.” I snapped. “I want to know why you shot him!” Rocco chuckled lowly, letting his head fall back against the window sill. He looked at me sideways. “Why? ‘Cause I missed, that’s why.” Missed. Missed? Missed the shot? Tried to hit something, hit Brutus instead, missed… I opened my mouth to ask the next question, but it didn’t come out. I didn’t make a sound. It only made Rocco laugh more. “Oh, you stupid, spoiled little shit.” Rocco went on, staring right through me with that signature Jackal sharp-toothed grin. “I wasn’t aiming for the fucking animal. I was aiming for you. And I missed.” He said with a slight shrug. I forgot how to breathe. My heart felt heavy and my whole chest felt tight, but my hands were twitchy and fast. I went for my gun faster than Rocco could laugh at me again, but Cal was even faster, pinning me to the door with just one arm, his other hand gripping my wrist, keeping my pistol pointed to the floor. “Auguste, look at me, now.” Cal said quietly, but I couldn’t just look away from the murderer. “Step out and wait for me, alright? Just let me take care of him.” Fuck no. If I let him out of my sight for even a second, how the hell would I know for sure he was dealt with? I needed to shoot him. I needed to put a bullet through his head, watch the brain matter splatter all over his filthy mattress, watch him bleed out until there was more blood out than in, then throw his corpse out the window for good measure. I needed to kill him as many times as it took for him to stay dead. For Brutus, and for my own damn life. But the more I pushed back, the harder Cal pinned me against the door. Rocco picked up his rifle with one hand and pointed at Cal with it. “I believe the boy still has his questions.” He said. “Let him ask.” Cal hesitated, but not for long. He kept a close eye on that rifle as he loosened his grip and slowly backed off. I still had my back to the door and didn’t move. If I lifted my gun, even a little… “Now you know why I shot the dog.” Rocco said, turning his whole body so his back was to the rest of the world, facing us, letting his feet rest on the tiled floor. “I really didn’t mean to. I’ve got no reason to kill any innocent animals anymore. There’s plenty of meat around here.” “Why me?” My voice was small and pathetic and not nearly as composed as I’d like it to be. “Why not?” Rocco shrugged again. “I don’t like you. You’re loud. Your clothes are loud. You walk up and down the Strip like you already own it. You piss away all your time and money the same way everybody else around here does. You look even more disgusted looking down from your ivory tower than you do when you’re walking amongst the great unwashed. You can’t even let yourself enjoy the view or the music. You’re a spoiled little nepotism baby with no purpose, a frivolous waste of life. Every single filthy fucking raider you hate so much has done more for the human race than you ever will in your entire fucking life. Even your own mother hates you. It’s a fucking miracle for you that no one else has tried to kill you first. That answer your question?” I wasn’t sure if I was more angry or scared. All I really knew is that he’d been planning it for a while, and it really was a miracle that he missed. A really fucked up miracle. It almost made me think I didn’t deserve it. Brutus sure as hell didn’t. “Is that all?” I asked after a moment. Rocco’s body jerked a little as he half-laughed. “No, that’s not all. I was always content with waiting for the day you die some stupid death. But somebody else sure wasn’t.” Cal perked up at that, but kept quiet. It was my turn to handle things. “Who?” I asked. “I dunno.” Rocco said. “Man didn’t give me a name. Just a few thousand caps and a polite request to blow your brains out. He just walked right up to me while I was taking potshots at some Fiends outside of Freeside. Honestly, I probably would’ve done it for free with how nice he asked.” A few thousand caps. Just a few thousand. Three thousand? Four, maybe? That was all my life was worth to someone. What was pocket change to me was more than enough to motivate almost anyone to kill me. Why wasn’t I dead yet? “Did he tell you anything else?” Cal asked when I couldn’t talk. “What’d he look like, what was he wearing?” “You’re not gonna figure out who he was with what little I know.” Rocco insisted. “He came up to me, complimented my aim, and asked if I was interested in some work. Thought it was odd, but I listened to him anyway, and he just really seemed to want the ‘courier’s kid’ dead. He gave me the caps upfront and didn’t really say anything else. Whoever he was, I think he just wanted to see some chaos. A bit misguided, though. No one would actually give a shit if you died. Hell, if anything, people around here might celebrate.” “What did he look like?” Cal repeated. “I dunno. I didn’t look at him.” Rocco said. “I was staring down my scope the whole time we talked. He sounded funny, though. Talked like he was on official business. Used big words.” “You seriously didn’t get one look at him?” Rocco was still talking, but I stopped listening. He finally stopped staring me down, actually looking at Cal as he spoke to him. It was easier to move when he wasn’t fixing me with his gaze. My hand twitched, just a little, like it wasn’t sure if it wanted to move. Like it wanted to see how perceptive he really was. When he didn’t notice, I let him talk for another moment, then raised my gun and shot him. Then I shot him again. The first bullet narrowly missed, grazing his shoulder, tearing his shirt, but it startled him enough that he dropped his rifle. The second shot went right through his pec, and I didn’t even know where the third bullet went because it knocked him down and out of the window faster than I could blink. He didn’t even scream on the way down. Cal didn’t yell at me right away. He went over to the window, looking down to see where the body fell, then checked out the rifle he dropped. He opened the magazine. “It wasn’t even loaded.” He muttered, then set the gun down in the corner. “He was gonna kill me.” I tried to say, but I choked. I covered my mouth and stared at the floor, bit my cheek until it bled, almost as hot as the spot behind my eyes. I could feel pressure building, threatening to make my head pop as I tried to blink the tears back. I couldn’t keep my eyes shut for more than a second without getting another glimpse of cold eyes and sharp teeth and ripped flesh and- “Kid?” I just choked again. Squeezed my jaw shut as hot tears streamed over my hand and down my neck. My other hand lost grip of my gun, dropping it. Instead of giving me shit, Cal just came over and picked up my gun. He didn’t give it back to me. He pocketed the gun and put a hand on my shoulder, gently. “Ten minutes, then I’m taking you home. Alright?” I didn’t look at him. It didn’t stop him from stepping out and closing the door behind him, leaving me alone. I didn’t realize I was holding my breath until I let go and gasped. Looking up at the window, at the blood on the sill, it made it difficult to breathe. My head was starting to pound louder than any music or yelling coming in from down below, and I really didn’t feel like alleviating that tension. I dried my eyes on my sleeve, relieved that they seemed to stop crying. There was no way in hell I’d be able to walk out of here sobbing like a bitch. I took a step closer to the window. How far down was the drop? How high up did you have to fall from to die? Did he land head-first on solid concrete? Maybe I wasn’t the one who killed him. Maybe it was just gravity. He was sitting on the ledge, looking down, maybe he was already planning on doing it himself. His rifle wasn’t loaded; he didn’t have anymore bullets to shoot himself. Maybe falling was the next best thing. I wasn’t even halfway to the window when I stopped. The yelling from outside was different, less rowdy and more… angry. If I looked down, I knew I’d be met with ants looking back up at me. I’d see a mangled old murderer in a pool of blood. I didn’t feel like losing what little lunch I’d had, so I didn’t step any closer. I instead opened the door and went back out into the hallway. Cal looked surprised to see me, but he didn’t say anything. He just started leading the way through the hotel again, and I paid even less attention to where we were going, eyes on his back. I was more focused on avoiding the stares and keeping my back straight and my stance confident. If people were gonna know I killed a man, they were gonna know I did it on purpose, and that it didn’t scare me at all.

#fnv #fonv #fallout new vegas #falloutfun #fnv fanfiction #fonv fanfiction #oc: auguste/augustus #oc: callipho

28 notes · View notes

zooophagous · 1 year

Text

Today's entry of Wayward Souls deals with the aftermath of Mr. Strauss' big night on the town and is an aside exploring the point of view of a side character.

I went back and forth over when the best time was to share this. It's sort of been bothering me ever since it happened, and my therapist told me it's healthy to share and write it down. For a couple of reasons, I hesitated. First, because it sounds stupid. At best, people would think I was exaggerating for attention. Second, because some really sketchy people really, really didn't want me to say anything.

Well, sue me.

For the purposes of our story, you can call me "Tina." Fake name, just in case someone figures out I blabbed, but it's not like they'll have a hard time figuring it out from the details anyway.

I used to work at a pet store as a sales associate. I say 'used to' because after what I saw, I'm not going back in there. I didn't even go back to get my last check. I made them mail it. This wasn't a nice pet store, it was a chain store. A Pets-R-Inn in a shitty strip mall. The sort of pet store that sells puppies and always sort of smells like shit.

You know the type. Yeah, I know it's bad. I knew it was bad while I worked there. I figured maybe I could work part time with animals and elevate the care a little bit, you know? I can't make a store stop selling puppies but I can make sure the puppies are clean. I can scoop a dead fish out of a tank. I can quarantine a sick rat before it infects the others. Maybe trying to make a difference in a place like that was my first mistake.

I've seen so much shit and vomit and pee and parasites it would make your head spin. I'm not saying this to bring down the 'good name' of the chain pet store that sells sickly puppy mill dogs for three grand a piece and pays just above the federal minimum wage in the year of our Lord 2023 however. No, that's a rant for another time.

I'm telling you this so you understand that I have a strong stomach. You HAVE to have a strong stomach when you work with animals. Any time you work with living things, inevitably you're going to work with dying things. Especially when most of the animals you work with are rodents with a natural lifespan not even a tenth of your own, who all live in close quarters and share their food and water and diseases alike.

I'm not being dramatic. I'm not getting worked up over nothing and I am NOT making this up. I was a good worker and I was good at my job. I didn't let one weird guy ruin it for me. It was ruined for me by a monster. And now I'm terrified I'm being followed by the FBI or the CIA or some government something. I don't know who they are. I don't care anymore. If I go missing maybe whoever reading this can figure out who to blame.

I'm getting off track here. So, this one day, I'm working the shop by myself. It was sort of a cold rainy day, real grey and dark. My stupid shit head manager Derek takes off for a "meeting" that was a 2 hour lunch he didn't clock out for, and left me to run the shop alone.

Not a huge deal, when I'm alone I can slack off and do whatever, and the major chores for the day were done because it was dead slow so I was just at the counter on my phone. As I'm standing there the door jingles open and this guy walks in.

I look up a little and say hi. I'm not really paying as much attention to him as I should, because he sort of looks like he knows what he wants already and heads right in. He looked sort of bedraggled, scruffy, but a lot of our customers are "animal people" who have dirty stuff to do so I don't think much of it. It was half storming outside anyway.

He goes back to where we keep the feeder mice. Now, I'm sure you're probably aware that snakes eat whole prey. Well, we try really hard to get our customers to switch to frozen whole prey instead of live because live isn't as humane, and being the kindly little Snow White I am, I start preparing my spiel.

I see he's already trying to open the cages. That's no good. Liability. God forbid someone get bit by a rat or drop the whole fucking fish tank full of them and sue us. Or worse, some bleeding heart trying to "save" them again by stealing them or turning them loose.

So I'm helpful and I go back with my keys and I say to him "Hey, I need to be the one to open that for you." Now I actually do get a look at the guy. He's muddy. Like covered in mud. Soaked. He looks homeless and he might be having an episode of some sort and Derek is still gone. Great.

By this time he's got the cage open. Which, by the way, is locked. He broke the lock. The padlock. With his hands. His hands that are now rooting around in a tank full of white mice. I don't really want to stop him. I don't think I CAN stop him. He turns around and he looks at me.

He's got a little pink tail coming out of his mouth. He has a mouse in his fucking mouth. He ate a fucking mouse.

My chest gets tight and I don't really know if I should scream or if that will make it worse but I'm screaming anyway and he spits the mouse out and shoves another one into his mouth and I hear it CRUNCH and he stares me dead in the eyes while he does it.

Speaking of eyes, his were glowing. The way a cats eyes sort of shine in different colors. He's taking a step towards me and I see he's got more mice in his hand and he has claws on his hand instead of nails.

This is when I started yelling. Not screaming, really, more of a holler. An angry yell. A garbled sort of half terror and half "what the fuck do you think you're doing" that came out in a single loud note that cut my throat raw as I let it out.

I hear the door jingle again. I'm hoping it's Derek. No, just more customers, or so I thought. They're yelling at him. He backs off, he's like... hiding from them? I think for a moment I'm saved, that maybe this is just some sort of patient that wandered away from his handlers or something. But then more people pile in.

And now one of them has a gun.

Somehow or other it has now managed to ESCALATE. This guy fucking panics, throws down a whole shelf of cages and they all shatter. There are mice EVERYWHERE. They don't just scatter though, they're running together in a swarm towards the lady with a gun. Did I mention it was a lady? I thought it was weird it was a lady. Usually ladies don't shoot up stores.

But anyway these mice are running to her and running up her legs and she's screaming and while she's freaking out the guy rushes them and knocks everyone over and he's just out of there like a bat out of Hell. The crowd runs off with him, and suddenly I'm alone again.

Just surrounded by broken glass, loose mice, and no explanation at all of what the fuck just happened. It was about this time Derek FINALLY decided to grace me with his presence and yell at me for all the shit that went wrong. As if I could have stopped it.

And of course he didn't believe me until AFTER he saw the security footage. I mean granted I sounded like a mess but what the Hell kind of lie would it be that a crazy person came in and started eating mice?

The aftermath was Hell. I had to stay late that night catching mice and cleaning up broken glass and spilled bedding. He broke the door too on his way out, which Derek had to leave yet again to go get a chain and padlock to keep it shut while I stayed behind and had another panic attack.

While I was cleaning up I found a couple of dead ones. Mice, I mean. They're not built to be thrown around like that. One I found though was very interesting. It was dead, yes, but it looked like it had been dead a while.

It was hard to the touch, and brittle. Mummified like a cat in the wall of an old building. I thought maybe it had escaped a long time ago and the activity only just now knocked the carcass loose from wherever it was stuck. But its fur was damp, and it had a large, suspiciously tooth shaped gash in its abdomen.

It was the mouse that guy ate. Except he didn't eat it. He just... sucked every drop of fluid out of it and spit it back out. Then he went back for more. He wasn't eating them, just... juicing them.

After finding that I finally gave up and called it quits. I didn't have it in me to keep cleaning and I wasn't sure I could come back to the store either, so despite Derek's vociferous petulant protests I went home.

Aside from suddenly being jobless, life was quiet and normal after that. I avoided the store but I'm told the creepy guy never came back. I thought maybe that lady actually shot him, not sure if it would really make me feel bad or not.

But the story doesn't just end there. Oh no! I should be so lucky! No, seeing someone having an episode or a meth bender or what have you is definitely distressing, but it doesn't really typically tip the scales from a moment of terror and confusion to a chronic anxiety that you're being followed and watched.

A few days after that little incident, I get a knock at my door. I open it, and I find an official looking little envelope. Maybe it's a subpoena to be a witness to the crime or whatever. I open it up.

No, it's a letter. Addressed to me, personally. "Dear Redacted, my name is Ursula Harker, I am writing on behalf of the Van Helsing Institute relating to a recent incident at 'Pets R Inn' retail store, in which you were the victim of an assault and may be entitled to financial compensation. Please contact me at your earliest convenience. This is an attempt to settle the matter out of court without the input of the police. By accepting our cash offer you are relinquishing your right to file civilly against the Institute, and agreeing to a non-disclosure cause. The Institute can be reached at..."

You get the idea. So I call this woman, Miss Ursula Harker. Even her name sounds creepy. She picks up, I tell her who I am. She immediately starts apologizing to me, promising to pay for any store damages or medical bills and then some. Asking to buy my silence. So I tell her I've only got one question for her.

She says go ahead.

I ask her "What was that guy?"

She starts telling me that his name is Luther and he's a patient at such and such and I cut her off and I say again No.

What was that guy?

She's quiet for a bit and she asks what I mean. Now, I'm not a doctor. But I know a decent amount about animals. And I know this. People don't have eyes that glow in the dark. People also can't desiccate a mouse by sucking it dry in five seconds flat. She hesitates but then starts making excuses about HIPAA laws and how she can't discuss their patients and she asks me how much it would take for me to stay quiet.

I hang up on her.

Maybe that was really stupid. Could have got some cash out of the deal. The store got a new door and a nice fat payday they spent on a facelift for the place, and it only cost them their security footage.

More than that, it was really stupid because they kept calling me. She left me at least three messages before giving up. I was afraid to leave my apartment. They already knew my name and obviously knew where I lived. And they were protecting that guy... that THING somehow. Maybe they were the ones who made him? Like he was an experiment that got out and they were doing damage control?

I did a little asking around about "The Van Helsing Institute" and all I could find was that it's a private Catholic hospital. A "research hospital," whatever the fuck research that entails, I don't want to know about it.

The craziest shit though, is that this has apparently happened before. While I was digging around I found the contact info for a guy called "John." He's apparently an ex employee and now very outspoken critic of that hospital, trying to gather as much dirt on them as he can. I gave him my story, and all the descriptions I could. Basically if I see anything even remotely weird I report to him now.

It feels good, I guess, not being alone. I don't know that he could actually protect me if they got mad and came after me but I like that someone is watching them. Someone is keeping score. Mostly it feels good to know that I actually saw what I saw. It was a monster, I'm not crazy, and I think I did the right thing not selling my silence even though the lack of a paycheck hurts.

I keep getting more and more paranoid though. I've been seeing this weird woman follow me around town. Not the gun one- a different one this time. She's got sort of a medium tan skin tone, she's very petit, and she has this incredibly long dark hair and dark eyes. It makes her stand out in a crowd. I see her more and more whenever I'm out and I don't know if she's with John or with... the other guys.

I don't go out much after dark any more. I don't know how much this involves me now but I'm trying to move back in with my mom in Wisconsin. If I make it, you won't hear from me again. If I don't, just keep an eye on the obituaries. If I die, let it be known I don't want any part of my body used for research. It should be burned.

#wayward souls #writing

32 notes · View notes

youreobsessedwithtoomanyfandoms · 2 years

Text

I Just Want You

Words: 1253

Warnings: a little angst, underage drinking (kind of), some small talk about trauma/shitty parents, talk about how being gay is TECHNICALLY illegal cause it's the fucking 80s, probably poor writing but whatever

STRANGER THINGS Masterlist Main Masterlist

Longer title of this was "I Don't Care If We Can Never Be Seen Together, I Just Want You" but I decided to shorten it to just "I Just Want You"

This was also gonna be totally different, but then it became this (and I LOVE this so)

And this can take place literally any time after Season 3 (only bc Robin is apart of the group) but Nancy and Jonathan didn't get together in this timeline...but that's really the only fully 'non canon' thing about this fic

And the fact that people forget that it was technically illegal to be gay in the 80s. Like people would literally be arrested just because of that, ESPECIALLY IN SOMEWHERE LIKE INDIANA. Like, if you had AIDS, it was automatically assumed you were gay and people would hate you for it. So I kinda mentioned that here because I just love ✨historical accuracy✨

Anywho, enjoy

Y/N stood in the corner, trying not to be noticed by anyone. She just wished the floor would cave in and swallow her whole. God, she felt so stupid. Why didn't she see it? See Nancy's blatant feelings for Jonathan? How could she have been so gullible to think that her and Nancy would be anything more than friends. It's the fucking 80s. No one would even be able to know about them. So she didn't know why she had lead herself to believe that Nancy felt the same.

She held the red solo cup in her right hand as she gripped her bicep with her left hand. She was constantly blinking away the tears that threatened to fall from her eyes. She watched her friends have fun from afar. And they deserved it. They deserved to have fun. And she had been having fun with them, until the feelings came in. Until she saw Nance and Jonathan. Until she remembered that she always came second to him. When she finally realized why.

She sat the cup on the stand next to her and made her way to the back door. She didn't even understand why she was really even here anymore. She only came because Nancy had practically begged her to do so. She was just planning on staying home to study. She knew that she should have just done that. Told her friend to have fun at the party herself. But Nancy had flashed Y/N her puppy dogs eyes that always caused Y/N to melt.

When she made it, she sighed as she felt the cool fall air around her. She walked and sat onto the pools diving board. She had been so into her own thoughts that she hadn't noticed the concerned look Nancy had given as she saw her friend walking outside. Nor did she hear her give Jonathan some excuse and headed outside to check on her friend. Nor did she realized that Nancy was calling out her name. It wasn't until the girl reached her hand into the water and splashed it up onto her friend that Y/N noticed she was there.

While she was ready to cuss someone out for getting her wet without any warning, the words died in her throat when she saw it was Nancy. All that she did was look back down and stare at her reflection in the water.

But now that she was aware of her friends presence, she heard everything she was doing now. Starting with the sigh she gave before she spoke, "What's going on with you? You usually love parties."

Y/N just shrugged, "Guess I'm just not that into it tonight. But you can go back in, Nance. No reason to be concerned for me."

Nancy gave her a concerned smile, "But I can tell that something's bothering you. So," She climbed onto the diving board and sat on the left side of the board. She placed her arm around her friends shoulder, "Tell me what it is. Do I have to get Steve to beat anyone up? Or need me to run them over?"

Y/N let out a meek little laugh. "You don't have to do anything to anyone. It's really nothing. Just getting my head again."

"Did your parents say something again?"

She silently shook her head, "Not this week."

Nancy softly nodded, "Then what is it? It's clearly bugging you."

Y/N sighed, "Have you ever liked someone you can't have?"

"What do you mean?"

She turned on the board to where she was fully sitting next to Nancy and turned to look at her. "I mean, have you ever wanted a relationship with a person that you can't have? Because they're either in a relationship. Or like someone else. Or they would never like you because of who you are? And you're scared that if they found out the truth they would hate you forever? But you keep telling yourself that little things they do proves that they feel the same but then you see them with someone else and you remember that you'll always be second best to them? All because you're...different."

"I-yeah. Yeah I do."

She gave Nancy a surprised look, "Really?"

Nancy nodded. "There's this person that I've liked for years. But I know if I do anything, we could never be seen as more than friends. And it hurts me. Especially because I know of their feelings for me." She laughed softly, "They're literal shit at hiding their feelings. Plus, one time they were so drunk and out of it, that they confessed it." She sighed and looked out to the forest behind Steve's home. "That was when I realized the feelings actually. That I realized everything that I thought had been friendly was more. That I wanted them more than just a friend. But I know that we could never be more than that. No matter how much I want it."

"Nance I-"

Nancy ignored Y/N and continued, "Sometimes when we're talking, I want nothing more than to just lean in and kiss her." Y/N felt her air cut off. Her? Nancy liked a girl? But...but who? She heard Nancy laugh, "God, sometimes I forget how similar you and Robin are."

Oh.

"You like Robin?"

Nancy's eyes widened and she shook her head feverently, "No! God no. She's just a friend. I just said that because she was so oblivious to the fact that Vickie likes her back."

"Then who is it that you like, Nance? Cause it sure seems as if you like Jonathan."

Nancy sighed and muttered, "I guess now is as good of a time as ever." Just as she leaned into Y/N and kissed her. It took Y/N by such surprise that she hadn't realized it happened until Nancy pulled away. "You. You're the person I like."

But instead of saying anything back. Y/N just gathered any and all fucking courage she had in her body and grabbed Nancy's face to kiss her again. Nancy deepened the kiss by placing her hand on the back of Y/N's neck. Y/N moved one of her hands onto the board and the other on Nancy's arm. Moving them both to where she was on top of Nancy as she laid on the length of the board. Nancy's legs were dangling off the edge of the board as Y/N's legs were slotted on either side of Nancy's. At some point, Nancy had snuck her hand underneath Y/N's shirt and was groping her boobs.

The two finally pulled away from each other, or rather jumped from each other, as Steve yelled at them. "If you guys are gonna sleep with each other, at least do it in a goddamn room. Not on my fucking diving board."

The looked to him surprised before he just rolled his eyes at them and walked back in. Y/N sat back on her knees and Nancy moved and copied her.

"I hate that we could never be seen together. Like, actually together. As more than just friends or 'roommates.' Y'know? I wish we could just be us."

Nancy gave Y/N a soft smile, "I don't care if we can never be seen together. I just want you. In any way I can have you. Even if it means living our life in secret."

"Really?"

Nancy nodded and kissed Y/N softly on the nose, "Really."

#nancy #wheeler #nancy wheeler #nancy wheeler x reader #nancy wheeler imagines #stranger #things #stranger things #stranger things x reader #stranger things imagine #x reader #imagine

144 notes · View notes

mandana-the-service-pup · 11 months

Text

Service Dog review of the 2023 Ruffwear Trail Runner Vest

Mandana is about 26” tall & weighs 78 lbs. She is wearing a L/XL.

We have tried many different gear setups and I can honestly say this is my favorite. The only one that rivals this set is our embroidered Lumenglow but that one is only useable in cool or wet weather.

BRIGHT COLOR - It’s not my favorite color but it does go well with her other colorful gear and it makes her very visible in public and when dealing with traffic. It’s a handler preference and gives me a little peace of mind that distracted people are more likely to notice her before running into us with a cart or letting their kid run around without realizing there’s a dog nearby.

WORKING DOG APPEARANCE - The Ruffwear Trail Runner Vest in Lichen Green looks a lot like the HighVis vest my husband wears at work and I think that is a big reason why we have been getting such a different response as opposed to other gear we’ve used. Even before the custom patches arrived I had people reacting completely different than usual. The public has been a lot more respectful, keep their distance, try not to interrupt her working and are quicker to corral their children & give them instructions on what a service dog is and why they should leave us alone. It was surprising how much of a difference it made since many of my other gear sets also look pretty professional and we don’t get as good of a response (mostly people coming up excited to meet a service dog). I’ve been using it for a month and it’s like this every time I go out. Even adding the colorful patches to make it a little more personal didn’t dampen the respect we’ve been getting in public and that’s a really valuable asset.

COMFORT - My number one reason for getting this vest was to keep her cool while working. I tried the Ruffwear Swamp Cooler Vest and although it’s great for recreation it’s just not as practical for the type of public access we do. The mesh is great at keeping her from over heating while still allowing plenty of space for service dog patches. The non-mesh fabric is really thin and stretchy. She has no problem changing positions (we’ve had issues in the past with properly fitted gear being too tight along her shoulder area when she sits down) The pockets are a nice bonus and they come with collapsible water bottles. We choose not to use the water bottles because I want to keep her gear as light as possible until she is physically conditioned but I always carry an abundance of water for her and I can see how it would be really helpful in circumstances where that might not be practical. If it gets really hot outside I could put some ice packs in the pockets to keep her cool for longer.

COMPLAINTS - My only complaint is that the chest area appears loose and baggy in certain positions but when she sits it tightens to a comfortable level. We’ve had issues in the past of fitted harnesses being too tight when she sits so I’m pretty sure this is how they are preventing that issue and it’s just an aesthetic thing that bothers me. The fabric is also slightly wider than I would prefer in the front but I think that is probably to ensure the harness stays in place instead of slipping to the side. Even if it did slip to one side (which it hasn’t yet) there is so much clearance behind her leg that you wouldn’t have to worry about it chaffing the sensitive skin in the armpit area. My only other complaint is that it doesn’t come in better colors but Ruffwear usually releases more colors over time so if you really aren’t happy with the current options you may end up waiting a year or two for more colors.

CONCLUSION - 10/10 would recommend for service work if you don’t need heavy mobility gear. Custom patches are easy enough to get but need to be sewn on by hand (don’t iron! 😬) The embroidered patches with a felt background instead of vinyl or 100% embroidered background is a lot easier to sew. There’s plenty of space for important stuff in the pockets but it is slightly transparent and will also make it look lumpy because of the thin fabric. Ensure your dog is physically fit and healthy before carrying water or other heavy items.

#belgian malinois #3 years #service dog in training #medical alert service dog #service dog gear #service dog gear haul #service dog gear review #dog gear review #service dogblr #dogblr #ruffwear

11 notes · View notes

worstlovesong · 5 months

Note

asks for distractions: what are your favourite lucy lyrics? (solo + boygenius inclusive!)

Thank youuu <3 I apologize in advance for anyone who thought I could be normal about this because I am simply Insane about Lucy’s writing <3

“We had a lot to measure / We had more past than pleasure / And time grows deep like weeds” - Dream state…

This song hits me hard post-bad-friendship but this lyric sticks with me. Realizing that even if there was a lot of memories built with someone, they may not be Good Ones. Realizing after the fact that perhaps the time spent together wasn’t as good as it once seemed. Time is always moving forward and now that you’re away from them, you’re left with a mind full of invasive weeds to pluck through in search of new growth.

“If beauty is the only way / To make the nightmares go away / I'll plant a garden in your brain / And let the roots absorb the pain” - Trust

This chorus makes me so !!!!! Like oh my god. It’s just beautiful, it’s a promise of a loved one wanting to ease your pain and soothe your fears in the gentlest way. It’s a promise to yourself, to find beauty in the world and hold onto it because then there’s a reason to keep going.

“Don't hold your breath, forget you ever saw me at my best / You don't deserve what you don't respect / Don't deserve what you say you love and then neglect” - Night Shift

This song in its entirety is just a fucking masterpiece. I love it so much and I struggle to express why. This part specifically gets across exactly what I want to say to someone who hurt me and it honestly helps me reframe my thoughts because No this person does not deserve me at my best or at all because they did not respect or love me like they said they did ‼️

“Believe me, I'm speaking plainly and painfully/Trying to stay elegant, eloquent and delicate to you” - Body to Flame

This one just scratches my brain tbh. This whole song is beautiful and just the very human concept of knowing someone so well and yet somehow not fully understanding them because we are all so unpredictable

“The future isn't worth its weight in gold / The future is a benevolent black hole” - Cartwheel

Not being ready to face the future, especially when it takes things and people away from you. Change is hard, change is scary, change is autism’s worst nightmare (and therefore mine). Yet she also implies that the future, while vast and unknown and forcing change, is not inherently evil. The future can bring good things, even if you’re not ready for it.

“I wanna run my fingers through you / You say nobody understands you like I do” - Partner in Crime

Once again this just makes my brain go ‼️

“You called me cerebral / I didn't know what you meant / But now I do, would it have killed you / To call me pretty instead?” -Brando

This line and I Don’t Wanna Be Funny Anymore hit me for the same reasons. Growing up being forced into the role of the funny one or the smart one but I was never pretty. It’s just that frustration with people who can’t even bother to give straightforward praise/compliments, calling you an old soul or wise for your age or cerebral. What does that even mean, when you’re 10 years old and just like to read books but they paint you as a scholar or you’re 15 and you’ve never had someone other than your grandmother tell you you’re beautiful. Like goddamn just let me be pretty for once.

“I'm staring at my hands / Red, ruddy skin, I don't understand / How did they betray me? What did I do?” - Triple Dog Dare

After I came out to my family at 15 years old I wasn’t allowed to see my friends outside of school for months. I internalized it, I mean I was still dealing with severe internalized homophobia from the church and I thought it must be My Fault. I remember apologizing to my friends, crying, because I wasn’t allowed to come over or hang out with them. As if it was my fault. I would spend hours regretting coming out, wondering what I did that was so wrong. This line just sits in my brain and wow Lucy Dacus is just like me fr

“I want you to tell me that you miss me / Want you to hold and hurt and kiss me / I wanna run away and live on your family's boat” - Triple Dog Dare

As you can tell by my pinned post I have Feelings about this verse. I’ve posted about this before but this song is the perfect example of young queer love and how adults interfere and see it as impure. This line specifically just highlights that need to be with that person, for them to hold you and kiss you and even if they’re hurting you at least it’s proof they’re there. The need to to run away with them because even if you’re missing at least you’re together in the end. God this song makes me fucking feral.

“But it feels good to be known so well / I can't hide from you like I hide from myself / I remember who I am when I'm with you / Your love is tough, your love is tried and true-blue” -True Blue

I’m really gay and I love my girlfriend <3

But also like this song just fucking hits oh my god. Being known and loved by someone in a way that is so genuine, so honest, so raw. The parts of yourself you are ashamed of they embrace openly. A dependable and honest love that makes you remember yourself, truly see yourself.

“I wanna live a vibrant life / But I wanna die a boring death”

AND

“Oh, it hurts to hope for more / Oh, it hurts to hope the future / Will be better than before” - Afraid of Heights

I remember after my first listen of this song I just sat there stunned, crying. This song is so dear to me and Lucy has my entire heart. I relate to the concept of a toxic friendship in which the person pushes your boundaries and shames you for them. Every word of this song resonates and I’m so tired so I don’t think I can do it justice but I truly have many thoughts on it.

The wish to just live a bright and exciting life but not die in a risky, stressful, painful way. The pain of the unknown, of the future, once again going back to the benevolent black hole. Just hoping that one day things will be better because it’s all you can hold on to but it hurts so much some days

This got so long 🫠 I recognize I have a problem and I just want y’all to know I love Lucy Dacus she’s everything to me <33

#also the entirety of we’re in love but I didn’t think y’all wanted me to add that agsjdjd #Lucy Dacus songwriter of all time #I can’t help that I’m a lyric guy and I hyperanalyze everything I listen to #cj.txt #asks #anon !!#lucy dacus

4 notes · View notes

aeoki · 11 months

Text

Magic Lantern - Prologue

Location: Seisou Hall Courtyard Characters: Subaru & Sora Season: Autumn Writer: Akira

< Middle of October. Seisou Hall courtyard. >

Subaru: Hey~ Daikichi~? Where’d you go?

We’re playing hide and seek after tag? Come on, you know I’ve never won a single game against you.

(Hmm… I underestimated him. I thought it would be fine for me to let go of Daikichi’s leash around the Seisou Hall area.)

(He’s usually tied to the leash, so I wanted to let him have a taste of freedom once in a while!)

(Daikichi’s like me – we both love being free…☆)

(But I was careless. I should’ve known he would be over the moon once he learns he’s free, and would run around everywhere. He loves freedom as much as I do, after all.)

(It’s not the season for dogs to run around the garden happily~)

Sora: Heey! Sparkling Onii-san!

Subaru: Hm? That sounds like…?

Uhh? Oh, there you are! Heey, Yellow Kid~♪

What’re you doing up there? You’ll get hurt if you fall!

Sora: HaHa~♪ Sora is playing by himself! Sora’s trying to go from the school to Seisou Hall to Sora’s room without ever touching the ground or the floor~♪

Subaru: Sounds interesting! Don’t know if there’s any point in doing that, though!

Sora: It’s something you do because there’s no point in it! Master~ told me that~♪

Subaru: Ahaha! It definitely sounds like something Natsume would say – Natsume language is full of confusing things that are hard to understand!

Sora: No, it’s a magic spell ♪

Subaru: All the stuff about magic and spells is just pretending, right? …Well, anyway.

Yellow Kid! Sorry for bothering you while you’re busy playing, but have you seen Daikichi around here?

Sora: Daikichi? Your dog?

Subaru: Yeah! He stays with my mum when I’m busy with work, but he’s turned into a wild thing since the last time I saw him!

My mum spoils Daikichi way too much.

Sora: Hmm. So does that mean Daikichi decided to run away because you’re stricter than your mum?

Subaru: No, my mum spoils me too. I’m the type of Subaru Akehoshi who’s famous because I’m strict with both myself and others.

Sora: There are other types? Are they differentiated by colour?

Subaru: Nope! There’s always only one of me in the world…☆

…Uhh, what were we talking about? Yellow Kid, you tend to latch on to weird parts of the conversation, so it just goes nowhere~

Sora: Really? Sora hasn’t heard many people calling Sora “weird” lately~

But! It makes it sound like it was Sora’s fault, so Sora will find Daikichi as an apology! It should be super easy to spot him if Sora looks from a high place~♪

Subaru: No, it’s not your fault at all. I guess that part of you is a bit weird and odd~ I shouldn’t be the one saying that, though.

Sora: HiHi~♪ Target found! Daikichi is digging a hole in a corner of the courtyard~

He was easy to spot because he was wiggling about! Wild animals are good at erasing their presence, so it’s hard to find their “colour”?

Alrighty! This way, Sparkling Onii-san!

Subaru: Woah, don’t just jump down like that. It’s dangerous, you know…?

Sorry. You were having fun playing but I’m just being a bother.

Sora: It’s fine! Sora prioritises someone’s happiness over Sora’s fun!

Subaru: That so? My dad was the same sort of idol. The more he loved and cared about someone, the more the people around him suffered.

Sora: ……? I don’t really understand but Daikichi’s this way! Look over here, Daikichi ♪

Subaru: Ohh, you’re right. Thanks, Yellow Kid – you’ve got quite a sharp eye.

Sora: That’s Sora’s good point! Sora’s good at hunting for easter eggs~♪

Subaru: It’s not really the season for easter, though? Is that game slang or something? Natsume has a habit of using weird words like that and smiling to himself~

Anyway, look at you, Daikichi… Why did you leave your master behind and run off? You’re a disgrace to the Akehoshi family.

Sora: You don’t have to go that far. Wait, is that just a casual joke people would use towards their family members?

…HuHu~?

Subaru: What’s up now, Yellow Kid?

Sora: Well… The spot Daikichi was digging at is super sparkly and glittery.

Subaru: Really? Daikichi loves things that sparkle, after all~ It’s a trait of the Akehoshi family!

In my family, we’ve been dedicating our lives ever since we were a baby to mastering the secret behind all things that sparkle!

But, huh? There’s nothing sparkly there at all? There’s some sort of device-looking thing that’s covered in dirt, though…?

Sora: Yes! It looks sparkly to Sora!

Hmm? What is this? Sora hasn’t seen this sort of shape before.

Could it be something from a UFO…?

Next Chapter →

#magic lantern #enstars translation

7 notes · View notes

betsey-laurens-hamilton · 1 year

Text

midnight, midday, dusk, and dawn.

an elams oneshot inspired by this post. everyone say thank you @ot3muse

“Shhh… shh… quiet, [???], cry.”

[???] won’t do that, not even if [???] to!”

“Me neither.”

New York City wasn’t known for being the quietest of places, but the nights were fairly generous surrounding John Laurens’ apartment building. Though he had dreaded his choice to pick one of the lowest floors to live in – the second one, to be exact – more times than considered healthy, it made for a nice change every now and then. Detailed sights for drawings, people gossiping and talking about their lives just loud enough for him to hear, pet-parents walking their dogs and looking weirdly similar to them, people living their lives in parallel all while John had the quiet little pleasure of being no more than a passive observer on all of this.

This night, however, it wasn’t any of this that caught his attention. Half-whispered voices apparently shushed each other not under his balcony, but under the other window in his room, one that faced the next building and stared down at an alleyway.

John wasn’t exactly a night owl. He woke up early every single day, went out for a run and headed to med school. Like any aspiring doctor, however, he was doomed to sleepless nights and therefore doomed to hear his neighbors’ nightly activities.

Eh, they weren’t always this pleasant.

“No, no, you can’t be alone here. Go inside, grab [???] and come back.”

“Okay!”

“Be quick!”

“I will. You be careful.”

John peered through his window. A woman was just rushing inside and he could only see her black jeans, but the man was still there, knelt down just by the alley’s opening. He leaned over something, probably their object of discussion, with his ginger hair in a ponytail – which was, by the way, the only detail that made John recognize him from their bump-ins on elevators, or on their ins-and-outs of the building. He was usually a smiler, nice, polite and was on the streets leaning over some sort of cardboard structure at two in the morning.

He kept saying something, different things, but they were all too low for John to hear.

Not very long later, the figure in black jeans and a black top returned, holding a big purse and letting go of a heavy breath she seemed to be holding for a while. John could also recognize her, especially by her long wavy dark hair and the ever-present tender undertone in her voice.

“I got it.”

The ginger looked at her and when he leaned against the wall of his building, John could finally see what they had been speaking about all this time: a box of kittens.

“You got a bag full of every different food and milk you could find in your house?”

“No, I got us a way to smuggle them in,” she knelt down too, opening the purse and immediately taking a little fluff ball in her hands, which John thought she was going to hide, but she just held it instead

“You’re crazy”

“No, you’re crazy. I told you I can’t leave them here. I couldn’t even if it would save my life.”

“It probably would right now, considering you signed a contract that strictly forbids you from bringing in a pet, and you’d be bringing… four,” he counter-argued. “But I wasn’t planning on leaving them here, I thought we could take them to a vet.”

“Open right now”

“It exists.”

“We should just br…”

Enough. John left his window, didn’t bother to do anything more than throw a coat over his pajama pants and tank top, rushed through his apartment, unlocked the door, and took the stairs down.

He didn’t exactly know what he was doing, but it differed from the extremely boring night he was having, which had been dedicated to nothing more than studies about shoulder injuries – a 60-page slideshow, by the way. Plus, there were cats, tiny little cats in need of help, and John knew his fair share of organizations dedicated to taking stray animals in and sheltering them. He even made sure at least one of these, which had been created by his ex-girlfriend, was kept in good shape and always had enough food for all of their pets.

Discreetly, John opened the back door of the building and faced both of them from a distance. The woman looked like a deer in headlights and tucked the box beside her, hiding the kitten she had in her hand behind the enormous bag she had brought. The man, who was now standing, simply strategically stepped in front of the box, in a way it covered the exact spots she didn’t manage to hide.

Huh. What a good mischievous little pair they made.

“Hey, may I help you?” He spoke first, keeping a surprisingly calm tone.

John just stared at them for a few seconds. Oh, yeah, talking.

“No, no. I’m here to help you. I heard you from the window,” now, that sounds creepy. “I live on the second floor. Neither of you are very good at whispering, and the acoustics here don’t help your case.”

The brunette girl looked around and up the walls of the building, but stayed quiet.

“Oh, no, don’t worry. We aren’t doing anything that needs help, we’re just heading back.”

“You’re sneaking a box of kittens in.”

“We weren’t planning on…”

“Yes we were!” She finally spoke. “I had convinced you. We’re taking them. And your help would be very appreciated.”

The ginger sighed, closing his eyes, scrunched up face of frustration.

“…You’re not planning on telling on us, right?”

John raised his eyebrows. So that had been an unplanned attempt at protecting them with a lie from a possible snitch. Smart, however useless it might have been.

“What? No. I want to help, really. I love animals, I have some cat food at home,” John mentioned, getting a confused look from both of them. “It’s a long story. I just bought it to donate- you know what, it’s a story for later. We have to go in, come on.”

The girl briefly tucked the cardboard box twice and stood up with it in hands, looking overly proud of herself. She grinned a bright smile at the ginger man, who looked away from her with a frown and a huff. John just watched, fairly entertained, and wondered whether they were a couple and he just never happened to see them together.

“You have to trust more freely”

“That was luck. I was trying to protect the cats.”

“That wasn’t luck,” she retorted. “That was my sorceress-y intuition. I’m a witch. I just knew.” She shrugged, playful, and stuck out the box of sleeping kittens to John. “Could you hold this, please?”

“Yeah.”

He took the box, at last being able to take a good look at them. It was a scrappy old box with no padding, no blanket, and four little adorable kittens. All four of them cuddled up in each other’s warmth, breathing and well. John gently reached out and pet one, picking the blonde kitten, who immediately reacted and scared him to death, leading John to think he had woken them up. Considering how loud kittens can be, he was fairly scared the woman in black would kill him if he had, in fact, woken it up.

“You look like you saw a ghost,” The ginger pointed, a slight smile in his voice.

Before John could respond, she came back to meet them with the big black bag in hands, opening it to reveal a fluffy pillow. Amazing. It would not only keep the cats comfortable, but also avoid the bag from closing in on them. The man seemed surprised too, but didn’t say anything out loud. John almost giggled.

Gently, both of them took the kittens from his box – blonde, black and two calicos – two at a time, and put them inside the bag.

“I’m sorry, but what are your names?”

“I’m Alex.”

“Eliza.”

“Good, I’m John. Should we, like, pretend we’re arriving together or something to avoid suspicion?”

“Well,” Eliza spoke up. “I’m almost in full dance attire, you’re in pajamas and Alex over here looks like… an avid reader at a Harvard library, so I think we should just get in through the back door and hope for the best.”

So that's what it was. Dance attire with jeans over them. But yeah, she was right.

“Okay, fine, get in,” John moved out of the way and quickly looked around for a trash can to toss the box in, which he spotted pretty quickly. No more awful cardboard homes for these babies. “We’ll head to the second floor.”

The ride upstairs, short as it was, was surprisingly comfortable for three strangers. Well, actually, he still couldn’t tell whether they were a couple or not. What he could tell was that Eliza was an absolute natural at breaking the ice and Alex an expert at niceties. That really made things easy on John, considering his social skill levels were probably somewhere around negative thirteen.

How did people just grow up to be so good at it, and so nice to be around?

“You said you had cat food,” Eliza broke through John’s passive observer atmosphere. “Why is it? Do you have a secret army of cats at home?”

Alex snickered quietly. John opened his door, letting them in.

“No,” John chuckled, “I fund an organization dedicated to sheltering stray animals. Sometimes I buy the food myself, and I happened to have bought a lot last weekend. Didn’t have time to take it there this week, but I guess that was some divine plan so these kittens would have something to eat. Don’t mind the mess, by the way.”

“Mess?”Alex exclaimed, sounding a little outraged.

Well, it was a mess. To him, at least. There were a few unpacked boxes around the living room, books on the dining table and so many things out of place. Even the throw blankets were misplaced.

“Dry food won’t do though,” Eliza chimed in, sounding a little amazed after his explanation. That was sweet.

“I have wet food too. I think that’ll work, considering their age.”

“Amazing! I knew you’d be a good person to trust. You’re even better than I could’ve imagined, really, what are the odds?”

“Fine, your witchy intuition got us someone great, you win.” Alex admitted, silently asking for the bag. “Let’s see them.”

He placed the bag on the floor, opening it to reveal the cats. They were mewing by now, probably because their bodies had warmed up a little bit and they could dedicate their warmth to something other than surviving.

“I’m going to get the food and warm some water.”

“Oh, hi babies…”

Eliza knelt down and Alex followed soon after, both their eyes sparkling just from looking at the little cats. It was a pity to leave the sight, but John was strong enough and turned on his heel to head to the kitchen. He wanted to get them cleaned up as well as fed as soon as possible.

So he closed the drain hole of the laundry room’s sink and turned the water on, leaving it to fill up like a bathtub while he prepared the food. John could hear Alex and Eliza quietly talking in the living room, giggling about the fact that they had actually snuck pets into their building. Eliza sounded excited. Alex sounded like he was containing his excitement and failing miserably. Cute dynamic.

Out of what probably were a hundred bags of wet cat food, John picked one of the smaller ones and spread it on two different saucers. So the cats wouldn’t run over one another. He also prepared a third one with a little bit of milk.

“Dinner time!”

All the cats mewed, walking around a little clumsily with their little legs at this point. Only one calico was still sleeping comfortably – in Alex’s lap.

“He can’t get up,” said Eliza, smiling. “Bring it here!”

John spread the saucers on the floor (yes, he had managed to carry all of them; everything is possible when you grow up taking care of four siblings) and sat near the couple-not-couple. All the kittens, even the one who was asleep, rushed to get food and milk.

“They’re so hungry.”

“Yeah. Hey, are you a couple? Or, like, do you know each other? Or did you just happen to be strangers who flawlessly rescued four kittens together?”

Eliza chuckled.

“You were part of this mission too, give yourself some credit. But, no, we’re not a couple and we don’t know each other. I learned his name the exact same moment you did.”

You should be a couple, John thought. Was that weird? I mean, no, right? Sometimes people just looked like they matched. That was normal.

“I knew her name,” Alex added. “I heard the doorman saying it a few times. I think he’s hitting on her.”

“What?! No,” she exclaimed, and was followed by a suggestive raise of Alex’s eyebrows. “He’s not! This is just, like, overall kindness.”

“I mean, yeah, but he didn’t do that to me. Did he do that to you?”

“Nope.” John chuckled.

“See?”

“No, no, no. People do that to show they’re being attentive. That they pay attention.”

“And… why is he being attentive to one person only?”

There was a moment of silence.

“Because I’m kind? I mean, I know your names, and now I’ll know them every time I talk to you. You’re John and Alex…ander. Please tell me your name is Alexander and not just Alex.”

“It is.”

Nice. Alexander is a beautiful name.

“That’s my witchy intuition. And my kindness.”

“Did you learn his name? The doorman’s?” John asked.

“…Yes?” She paused again… they just stared at her, holding in smiles. “I was just being kind back! How is that wrong?!”

“It’s not wrong, it’s just flirting!” Alex laughed.

“Stop, nooooo!” Eliza covered her ears, shaking her head. “No, no, I don’t want to think I’m leading someone on just because I learned their name! How can that be flirting?! People are so weird!”

Both of them laughed at her. Then a noise came from the kitchen and the three looked fairly confused – until John realized what it was and rushed to get up.

“Oh my god the sink! I left the faucet running!”

He rushed past them, being overly careful when running by the kittens, and finally got to the kitchen, turning it off. John sighed, hands on his hips, looking at the mess. Though not too much water had spilled, it was still enough to be dangerous in case he didn’t clean it. Lord knew how careful they would be around spilled water.

Speaking of them, Alex and Eliza showed up with the four well-fed kittens, some happily obliging and the others struggling in their arms, probably wanting to explore the apartment.

“We brought them. Do you want help?“ Eliza asked, handing him the blonde kitten. Did she know he’d taken a liking to it?

“No, no, don’t worry. I’ll take care of it, just- step back, I don’t want anyone slipping.”

“Alex chuckled. John searched for the floorcloth.”

“It’s just a little bit of water.”

“Do you know how many people die slipping on water every year?”

“No. Do you?”

“…A lot, probably. What I do know is a lot of people get concussions from tripping, and falling, and…”

Eliza took the cloth from his hand as soon as he got it, handing him the black kitten in exchange.

“Go clean them. I’ll take care of this.”

She knelt down and got to wiping.

“She’s stubborn. I wouldn’t go against her.” Alex smirked, playful.

“You’ve known me for like twenty minutes!” She looked up, frowning.

“You never get a second chance to make a first impression. And my first impression of you was a girl who would not bend on her idea of smuggling four kittens inside a building that does not allow pets,” he teased.

She just stared at him. Then squinted. Then huffed and got back to cleaning, clearly hiding a smile.

Alex, on the other hand, was grinning like he had just won a contest.

“And who will not admit she’s stubborn,”he added, only to get slapped in the ankle by a wet cloth and giggle like a child in response.

John couldn’t help but smile too, getting to work on the first kitten while Alex held the other three. He gently spread a collar of soap around the kitten’s neck, then dipped his body underwater, leaving only the head out.

Alexander seemed intrigued.

“Why did you do that?” He pointed to the cat’s neck.

“It’s to, uh,“ he chuckled, “stop the fleas that are in his body from coming to his head, trying to escape the water. They don’t get through the soap, so they just die underwater.”

“Merciless.” Eliza added, standing up and getting rid of the cloth.

“No mercy for the little freaks. Then you wash their body and gently scrub their head and faces with wet fingers to kill any other fleas that might have been there already. Just like that,” he demonstrated. “And then, done. Can you dry him with a towel? Not the wet dirty cloth, preferably.”

He handed it to Eliza, who was holding the black kitten again, he noticed. She snickered, rolling her eyes, and gave him the black cat in exchange for the blonde one.

“Oh, no. There goes my plan of wetting the cats even more. Where are the towels?”

“Uhh, third door from left to right, eye-level. Yes, right there.”

They spent quite a few minutes doing just that, washing the cats, drying them; at some point, when Eliza’s arms were getting too full of wet slippery kittens, John told Alex to get one big pillow inside one of his closets to use as a little bed. So she was now humming on the carpet, with three kittens laying in a soft, fluffy pillow waiting for their sister. Oh, yeah, and John had figured there were two male kitties (the orange and black) and two females (the calicos).

“This lady is spicy.”

Alex left with the final calico kitten, and John came soon after opening the drain again, allowing all the dirty water to run off.

“Lay her here. I was thinking we could name these two Midnight and Midday. How funny would that be?” She pointed to the darker one and the lighter one.

“We shouldn’t be naming kittens that can’t be ours,” Alex said, the voice of reason, “but… that is literally perfect. And so cute. The other two should be Dusk and Dawn, in between.”

John thought Eliza might actually tear up after hearing that, but she was just very expressive in her awe. He was melting too, to be honest.

“What do you think, John?”

Yes. Stop that passive observer thing, for god’s sake.

“I think it’s perfect. It fits them. The sky siblings.”

“Hah. That’s almost my name. Schuyler. Sky. They’re my biological children.”

Oh my god, Schuyler.

“Wait,” Alex interrupted her. “Schuyler? As in Senator Schuyler?!

“…Yes?” She sounded surprised. “Do you know my father?”

“Your father? God- Of course I do! Her father is the senator!”

“…I know. My father is Henry Laurens.”

Alexander might pass out. Eliza was completely shocked too.

“You’re Henry Laurens’ child?!” She asked, wide-eyed, and gestured at him. “But- but…”

“I know, I know,” He chuckled through a sigh. “It’s hard on both of us.”

She chuckled, gently scrunching her eyebrows together. Eliza was starting to look a little tired.

“I cannot believe the odds,” Alex was still very, very shocked. Cute. “What the hell?! I’m a law student. I work for Washington.”

“Ah, Washington, nice guy… He knows my name, he’s kind. He’s always like, oh, hello, Miss Elizabeth Schuyler,” Elizabeth. And she came up with a little fancy voice. Cute too. “Wait, so you’re actually, like, a Harvard kind of person. My intuition is on fire!”

“I haven’t got the opportunity to meet Washington yet. He sounds nice,” John added.

He had… gotten the opportunity. Through his father. Quite a few times. Just never attended it.

“Oh, yeah, he can be. He will not believe his ears when I tell him about this.”

“Yeah, and… wait. We should figure out what we’re doing with the kittens.” Eliza said.

“I thought we had agreed that John’s shelter was the solution?”

“No, no, I mean tonight.”

Alex raised his eyebrows. John eyed around.

“…They can stay here if you’d like? I mean, it’s no bother at all.”

Eliza looked a little disappointed. She wanted to take them home.

“I mean, we could, but… just today, what if we all spent the night with them? I mean, it’s not like people will hunt us down for that. They won’t even know.”

Alex hummed, his eyes betraying his sensibility and showing just how excited he really was. I mean, it really wouldn’t do harm, would it? Eliza seemed to have liked the newly-named Midnight more than she should, Dusk and Dawn had absolutely warmed up to Alex, and it would be a blatant lie to say John didn’t feel attached to Midday himself.

It sucked that they wouldn’t be theirs anymore tomorrow.

“It can’t hurt,” John grinned.

“Yes! Eliza celebrated, “Alex?”

“Fine, yes. Can I take Dusk and Dawn? They can’t be separated, look at that”

They were cuddling, forming a little heart shape together.

“I want Midnight. And I think John likes Midday. You’re both blonde.”

They chuckled, it was true. Alex yawned. They were tired, and so was he.

“Okay, so we have an agreement. I really think you should hide them on your way to your apartments, though. I mean, there are cameras everywhere, I wouldn’t want the landlords to have solid proof to get you evicted.”

“Midnight could definitely be mistaken by my black clothes, but I don’t think it’ll be the same for Dusk and Dawn.”

“I can’t believe we actually named them that,” John chuckled, shaking his head. “Don’t worry, I’ll get a coat. Wait here.”

John left and came back with not one, but two coats. A forest green sweater he barely used with a big pocket on the front, and a dark blue cardigan with stars and two pockets on the sides. Though it would make more sense the other way around given the number of cats they were taking home, he really thought Eliza would fit the cardigan better and Alex the sweater. But that would be up to them.

They got up and met him, leaving the kittens on the pillow.

“Here.” He handed them the clothes and, after a moment of hesitation, each one picked the one he hoped they would. Bingo.

It really fit them better than it could ever fit him.

“Thank you. That’s the perfect disguise.” Eliza did a little spin, her long wavy brown following the motion with grace.

“Unless you see all the camera footage from today.” Alex chuckled, dressing the sweater. Admittedly, John stared just a bit. So did Eliza, he noticed. “I mean, three separate people dressed for three separate occasions bringing in a huge black bag and leaving with coats they didn’t have on? Suspicious.”

“Oh my god, the bag!” Eliza looked around, spotting the big purse. “That’s right, the bag! I don’t need the cardigan, John, I’m sorr…”

“No, no, keep it, it’s okay. We’ll have to meet tomorrow anyway. It’s a reminder for both of you.”

She smiled, looking down, and slid it back on. Was she a little shy now? Blushing?

“Okay, fine, fine. C’mere, Midnight. Cutie”

The three of them bent down and picked their respective kittens, which were now bathed with full bellies and very sleepy. Alex and Eliza tucked them into their pockets, but John just held his tiny Midday.

They headed to the door between sweet nothings, just talking to and about the cats and their plans. Eliza got her bag on the way, but Alex stopped on his tracks before they could step out completely.

“So, are we going to share numbers or apartments? So we can communicate? I’m on the fifth floor.”

“Oh, right!“ Eliza blinked a few times, looking more tired by the minute. “I’m on the ninth floor, let me- can I write on this paper? I’ll give you both my number.”

John nodded, he kept a few tiny notebooks along with pens throughout his house just in case he was suddenly remembered of something important and couldn’t stop to think about it or do it.

Eliza wrote down her number twice, giving half a small slip of paper (almost perfectly cut) to Alex and leaving the other on the notebook. Alex did the same. Then John gave his number to both of them.

“Okay… I think we’re good to go. Whoever remembers it first, create a group chat!” Alex called the elevator, which was still on their floor and opened right away. I mean, it was almost 3 am. People aren’t really leaving their homes right now.

“Right.” They stepped inside. Eliza waved, followed by Alex. They both had a hand inside a pocket, securing the cats. “Bye John! See you tomorrow!”

“Bye John!”

“Bye! Nice to meet you!”

He watched the elevator doors close, slowly covering their faces.

They really should date.

Immediately, John was struck with how tired he actually was. Jesus Christ. He went inside, and took a brief look at the slips of paper with numbers on his notebook.

Eliza’s penmanship balanced round and sharp edges, leaning more towards round, while Alex’s was the definition of rushed, but still charming. John’s was tidier, in his opinion, and he took quite a lot of pride in it considering he went to med school.

9 notes · View notes

vcshstampede · 1 year

Text

LAYER ONE: THE OUTSIDE.

name: "Vash!"

eye color: "A sky blue, I guess??"

hair style/color: "It's sort of all over the place, but blond!"

height: "Etto.... I haven't measured myself in a while...? I-I'm not sure, but I do know I haven't gotten any taller! I'll take a guess. Let's see.... I'll say..... 5'9"!"

clothing style: "I love my red long-coat! It's very distinguished, hehe. Oh but, let's see what else... I guess I just wear regular pants, & boots too? My glove as well. Heat doesn't bother me too much."

best physical feature: "Aaah you're gonna make me all shy! Etto.... I don't know ahaha! I've never been asked this before.... Today I'll pick, my smile!"

LAYER TWO: THE INSIDE.

your fears: "Nai."

your guilty pleasure: "So you're asking what I enjoy that I think others would shun me for, huh? Etto..... let's see..... mmmn I guess I like Worms more than the average human would? Er I mean, that I find them fascinating! Even the bigger ones, though they're kinda frightening, I just wanna, learn more about them too."

your ambitions for the future: "I don't really plan that far ahead ahahaha.... etto... let's see... I just want to live my life! & Enjoy it with the ones I cherish. So I guess, travelling and meeting new people??"

LAYER THREE: THOUGHTS.

your first thoughts waking up: "I should stretch and have some water."

what you think about most: "Ahaha, that's very, etto, private you know? It's, a lot of different things! For now, I'll pick.... Nai."

what you think about before bed: "I hope I won't have any nightmares."

what you think your best quality is: "Eeeh this is an interesting question! Etto.... I guess it's my ability to.... hmmm.... actually, I don't know how to answer this ahaha.... sorry!!"

WHAT’S BETTER?

single or group dates: "Eeeeh a date huh? Ahaahaha~ Um! Let's see..... I-I dunno! I've never thought about that before~."

to be loved or respected: "Both."

beauty or brains: "A soul~."

dogs or cats: "I can't choose they're both so great... oh I know! Worms!"

LAYER FIVE: DO YOU…

lie: "Etto.... yeah.... I mean I think everyone does, to certain extents. I try my absolute best not to but sometimes little white lies have to be told. You know?"

believe in yourself: "I try my best."

believe in love: "1000%, I'll always believe in love. It's the greatest source of power there is out there!!"

want someone: "I want people to be happy."

LAYER SIX: EVER BEEN…

been on stage: "An actual stage? Etto... I guess! In a manner of speaking."

done drugs: "Oh I've taken medicine before yes."

changed who you were to fit in: "In subtle ways, yes."

LAYER SEVEN: FAVORITES.

favorite color: "Green!"

favorite animal: "Worms!"

favorite movie: "I used to make little movies with Nai when we were kids, do those count?"

favorite game: "Hide and seek, or tag!"

LAYER EIGHT: AGE.

day your next birthday will be: "Ahahaha, I actually don't remember my own birthday! Sorry! I don't really see a need to celebrate it anymore, you see? It's just another day, to me!"

how old will you be: "Old, hehe, surprised?"

age you lost your virginity: "Huh?! Ahahahaha, never! No! Sorry! Next, please!!"

does age matter: "For what?"

LAYER NINE: IN A PERSON.

best personality: "Etto, I guess that depends.... I like a lot of different people for a lot of different reasons. For now, I'll say... determination!"

best eye color: "It's hard to choose, I guess I'll say... blue!"

best hair color: "Hair colour??? Etto... I don't really keep track... most people have brown hair, right? So I'll say that!"

best thing to do with a partner: "Smile."

LAYER TEN: FINISH THE SENTENCE.

i love: "humanity."

i feel: "like going for a run!”

i hide: "until things calm down."

i miss: "Rem."

i wish: "I could have stopped things before it got so bad."

#hide and seek | vash.#memory of piano | headcanons.

7 notes · View notes

oldbutnotyetwise · 8 months

Text

Noise

I’ve been thinking about noise a lot lately, it is almost like I am drowning in it. Moving to the city after living in the country is a big adjustment. Noise in the city is relentless, it never stops, it may lessen a bit sometimes, but it is always still there.

Buying a Condo two blocks away from a Fire Station means you are going to hear a lot of sirens.

Let’s start with a short rant here, Car Alarms, I had forgotten about them when I lived in the country but within a day of living in the city I was sure reminded of them. Can we not as a world population just agree that they don’t work. They constantly go off for no apparent reason, so much so that people don’t even bother looking to see where the alarm is coming from anymore. Here’s an idea, lets just stop putting them in vehicles and disconnect the ones already installed, we can all agree that they were a total failure. Now if we could segue from car alarms to backup alarms on commercial vehicles. I agree a good idea, warn someone of a vehicle backing up so they don’t get hit or run over, but can we talk about the volume? I am two blocks away and twelve floors up and you sound like you are on my balcony.

The other day I listened to someone nearby using a chainsaw all day as he cut down a tree. My neighbour in the country used a chainsaw frequently but there he was much farther away and the sound didn’t bounce off of all the buildings. In the country it was almost a soothing sound, but in the city it was a day long annoyance.

In the country I rarely used my vehicle horn, and if I did it was just a quick beep to get my neighbour to pull his head out from whatever equipment he was working on so he could return my wave. In the city the vehicle horn is used very differently, it is a weapon, it is a loud form of swearing at someone, an outlet for the anger of an already frustrated and agitated driver.

What about the cars and the motorcycles with their radio blasting out the driver’s musical selections? I don’t know about you but I hate Rap Music and getting stuck beside someone playing that while stuck at a red light is a form of torture for me. What, what’s that you say? Well yeah, okay so maybe I did that in my teen years too but that was different because I was playing Supertramp, The Eagles, Queen, Fleetwood Mac and so on. I was providing a public service when I was playing that music loud enough for others to hear because that was great music. Yes, you’re right, I should probably just move on to the next point.

Let’s talk about loud exhausts, you know the kind. The I ride a Harley and I want everyone to know it. “It has a loud exhaust but that is a safety feature so people hear me coming”…..sorry guys no matter how many times you try to sell that line I am not buying it. The loud exhaust is just something that forces people to look at you and that is something that you seem to need.

The opposite end of the scale to loud motorcycles is those annoying small cars that the kids are souping up and have that loud whiney exhaust noise that is both loud and annoying. Yes kid everyone within a five block radius loves to hear the sound of your car as you drive down the road.

I like almost all dogs, I certainly tend to like dogs more than dog owners, Living in a city you will have to deal with barking dogs. There is a small yappy dog that lives across the street from my Condo. The people let the dog out around six a.m. at which time the dog barks constantly for 20 - 30 minutes, this pattern repeats itself throughout the day and up until around ten p.m. I am at a loss to understand why someone would think it’s okay to let your dog bark constantly disturbing so many people around you. I blame the people here, not the dog, I actually feel sorry for this annoying little dog who probably knows no world outside of their house and backyard.

How about some classic Noise Pollution? The leaf blower, yes I admit that they work but damn are they annoying. I know they aren’t as efficient, but couldn’t we go back to the days of rakes and brooms?

How about the drunken idiots or couples walking down the street in the early morning hours yelling at each other, waking up all the sleeping people and sharing their well developed knowledge of swear words.

They are right up there with the people having a phone conversation using blue tooth, I can’t be the only one who answers the person next to them in a grocery store when they say “Hey, how you doing?” Of course after you answer they turn and look at you all annoyed before marching off and continuing their conversation with whoever they called on their bluetooth. Yes, yes, rest assured we all love hearing half a phone conversation of someone as important as you.

In a big city there is always traffic, three, four, five o’clock in the morning you can still hear it, it never ends. I wonder when the last time people in the city heard absolute silence, would it be as disconcerting for them as all this city noise is to me.

My wife Robin and I took her son Jack out for dinner the other day. We sat on an outdoor patio and I couldn’t help but notice how comfortable Jack was. I on the other hand was sitting there a bit overwhelmed by the traffic noise from the busy street during rush hour, racing engines, car horns, add to the all the regular city noise, patio music being played too loud and the loud voices from fellow diners. Jack didn’t seem to take any notice of all the noise, he seemed comfortable, almost at peace. I wondered if living in the city he had built up an immunity to it all. I on the other hand was in a bit of an auditory overload.

My sister-in-law who lives in Toronto stayed with us when we lived up north and the first morning she complained about all the noise the birds made in the early morning hours, they had woken her. Yet I bet she would have just slept through all the city noise because that is what she is used to.

One type of city noise that I hear, and I like to hear is the sound of a distant train whistle in the early morning hours. There is a comfort to me in hearing a train whistle as it goes through a crossing, a train going somewhere, passenger train or freight train I don’t know. The sound of a train in many ways is the sound of the past, a simpler quieter time, or maybe I’m just romanticizing it a bit.

Another sound I like in the city is the sound of church bells ringing, for some reason the sound of church bells always make me pause and listen to them. Each time the the bell chimes, I pause waiting for the bell to chime again, and when the chiming stops I feel slightly sad for a moment before continuing on with my day.

Perhaps one person’s noise is another person’s comforting sounds, and vice versa. Maybe one day I will adjust to all the noises of the city, maybe I won’t notice the cornucopia of city noise that are like fingernails on the chalkboard to me now. I don’t know if that is something I should look forward to or if it is something I should dread.

What sounds cause you instant irritation and what sounds bring you comfort, sounds you find soothing or that help you relax?

5 notes · View notes