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chuuyasnumber1simp · 4 years

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Born of Lies, but Learning to Love

Part 1. Chuuya x fem reader.

part two part three

Summary: Y/N didn’t know where she came from. She never did. She was given one mission in life, one purpose. She knew not her own thoughts, her own ambitions, not even her own feelings. All she knew was the feeling of the sticky red liquid staining her hands, and the way a knife felt in her fingers.

Ability: Falsum Quod Visus (False Sight)- Can manipulate what someone see’s by manipulating what the brain deciphers from the signals the eyes send. When used to the full extent, she can drive people mad. The person under the effect of this ability experience all five senses of whatever illusion she creates. The only drawback, whatever illusion she creates, she also see’s and feels as well. Driving someone to the point of insanity would also drive her to insanity.

A/N: so this is kind of like a Violet Evergarden au? I do plan on making multiple parts, I don’t know how many, I was kind of planning on going with the flow, but if anyone wants to be on the tag list just let me know :)

Warnings: Blood, death mention, trauma, PTSD, self worth issues

Word Count: 6,623

This was supposed to be his day off.

Chuuya grumbled the entire time he got dressed, and though he loved early morning rides on his motorcycle, he did not like weaving in between cars when he was going to the one place he wasn’t supposed to go today.

Chuuya had worked tirelessly for weeks just to earn himself one day off, and he wasn’t exactly ecstatic to receive a call from Mori at 5:47 a.m. telling him that he had a surprise for him. Mori’s “surprises” usually consisted of a botched mission, new job, or some mess Dazai, who wasn’t even in the Port Mafia, got into.

Nonetheless, and order was an order, and his loyalty one against his stubbornness, so he he was, riding the elevator up to Mori’s office at 6:15 a.m.

He strutted into the room with all the confidence of a peacock, knowing his boss would be expecting him.

taking in the room with one glance, Chuuya noticed a lone figure standing next to Mori. She held a clipboard to her side, and seemed to be writing something diligently. Mori was eagerly talking to her and pointing out things on his desk. Chuuya cleared his throat loudly, gaining both of their attentions.

“Ah, Chuuya. I see you’ve met Y/N,”

Chuuya cocked his head in confusion. The only people he saw coming up here were subordinates and secretary's, and the girl standing next to Mori.

Suddenly Mori snapped his fingers, and the girl standing next to him vanished. Chuuya immediately activated his ability, but before he could even blink he felt the clod, sharp blade of a knife against his throat. He threw his head backwards, attempting to catch his attacker by surprise. His head was met by empty space, and he instinctively dropped to his knee’s and kicked his leg out, and grinned when he felt his foot knock into something. Whoever it was knew what they were doing, and leapt backwards before he could throw a punch in their direction. Spinning around, he was shocked to see no one there. Using his ability, he hurled one of the chairs in Mori’s office in the direction of the door, but all it did was hit the wall and break.

“Mori, what is the meaning of-” Chuuya stopped when Mori was nowhere to be seen. He let out a sigh, knowing this could only be work of an ability user.

“Alright, I’m done here. Reveal yourself or I’ll have Akutagawa rip you to shreds,”

He waited, but nothing happened. He was still alone in the office. Clicking his teeth, he turned around to exit but was shocked to feel someone’s fist connect with his face.

He stumbled backwards gripping his nose, feeling warm blood drip down his hands and onto the floor.

Ripping off his gloves, he activated his ability, not about to make the mistake of letting his guard down again.

“All right that's it-”

Slow clapping from the location of Mori’s desk made Chuuya stop in his tracks, and he turned around to see Mori situated there once more.

“How did you get back over-”

“My my Y/N, I never realized just how good you were. Managing to land a hit on Chuuya himself? That’s quite impressive. And I must say, it is quite entertaining to watch someone in control of your ability from an outside perspective,”

“Cut the crap Mori. Who is Y/N?”

“Now now Chuuya, there’s no need to be upset. I was merely giving you a hands on demonstration. Y/N dear, could you please reveal yourself to Chuuya? You can stop using your ability now,”

Chuuya felt someone's gaze boring into his back, and he whipped around, ready to figure out who was ruining his day off.

He was met by a woman, from the looks of it in her mid-twenties, holding a knife in her left hand. It was the most interesting knife he’d ever seen, definitely not a type of traditional knife, Both the handle and the black were solid black and curved, creating a crescent shape. The blade was sharp on the inside edge, and there was a loop at the end of the handle. How you would wield such a knife, Chuuya did not know.

She was clad in all black, sporting leggings and a sleeveless muscle shirt, leaving nothing to the imagination. Interestingly, he did not wear heels like the rest of the women in the Port Mafia. Instead, almost sock like boots covered her feet all the way up to her knees. Many scars adorned her exposed arms, and Chuuya wanted to know their story. He himself had scars of his own, but something about hers stood out to him. She was small and lithe, shorter than he was, quite a feat. Not many managed to be shorter than Chuuya, an he wondered if harsh training stunted her growth.

But that wasn’t the most interesting thing about her. It was her eyes that drew Chuuya in.

The way that though his blood dripped of her knuckles, and he could see her ankle swelling from where he kicked her, there was nothing in her eyes.

They were not manic like Dazai’s were, angry like Akutagawa’s or scheming like Mori’s.

They simply held... nothing.

Like she wasn’t a real person. A lifeless machine, taught to do only one thing, and didn’t know anything else.

Chuuya looked into her e/c depths and saw absolutely nothing. And if he was being completely honest, it scared him.

He’d encountered many things, many kinds of people while working in the Port Mafia, but never had he seen someone quite as empty as the woman in front of him.

And yet, as much as those unfeeling eyes sent shivers down his spine, they also intrigued him. He wanted to know why, what had happened in her life to turn her into this emotionless robot. He genuinely wondered if she had ever smiled, if she even knew how.

“Do you like her?”

Mori’s question snapped Chuuya out of his thoughts. Now knowing she was under Mori’s command, he turned his back to her so he could answer Mori.

“I think she could be pretty useful. Who trained her?”

“Dazai. Then later, Akutagawa,”

Chuuya bristled at the mention of his former partners name.

“Why was my subordinate asked to train her and not me?”

“It’s really quite simple,” Mori said, folding his hands and resting his chin on them. “Because I didn’t want you to know about her. I gave them both explicit orders to never speak w word about her existence,”

Chuuya narrowed his eyes, suspicious about why Mori would keep something as small as training a new recruit from him. “And why is that?”

“Because she’s for you,”

“Huh?”

“Let me elaborate. You see, on a mission I sent Dazai on years ago, she was found. Her parents were traitors, so they were dispatched quickly, but she was a different story. When she heard the men in the apartment, she accidentally activated her ability. Dazai was able to nullify it fairly quickly, but once he figured out what it was, he found great promise in her. So, since the age of two, she was raised here, in the Port Mafia. Once she hit ten, she began her training. She’s been trained her whole life, for the past twelve years to be specific, just to serve the port mafia. She holds no emotions, no thoughts of her own. All she knows is what i, and now you, tell her to do. She is if I might say, the perfect human weapon,”

Chuuya wondered about the term ‘human weapon’. Nothing about the girl holding the knife and not even favoring her clearly broken ankle seemed human to him.

“Y/N, you take orders from Chuuya now. Do whatever he says. and kill whoever he says to,”

“Yes sir,”

Her voice, as well as her eyes, held absolutely no emotion at all. She gave no hint that she even felt her broken ankle.

“Alright let’s go,”

Chuuya swept out of the room, thoughts swimming in his head.

If she was trained by both Dazai and Akutagawa, does she also take orders from them? What kind of training was she given Are there any drawbacks to her ability?

Chuuya glanced at the girl next too him, astonished to see she wasn’t even limping. He wondered if she could even feel pain, or any emotion for that matter.

“Do you have a problem with me sir?”

Chuuya winced internally. Seems she’s pretty blunt. I wouldn’t expect anything less from someone wo trained under Akutagawa for god knows how long.

“No. Doe’s your ankle hurt?”

“A little bit,”

“I can reset it if you want,”

“My ankle won’t be an issue. I’ve been trained to handle injury's that are far worse than this,”

“Yeah, but could heal wrong if you keep putting weight on it,”

“I assure you sir, I am fine,”

“Y/N, I order you stop and let me fix your ankle,”

Immediately, she stopped in her tracks. Looking around, she strode over to the nearest bench and plopped down.

Chuuya crouched on the ground in front of her foot, sliding the weird sock like shoe of her foot. The ankle in question was purple and swollen, and Chuuya grimaced at the sight. There was no way this only hurt a little bit.

“I’m going to reset it now. You can squeeze my hand if you want,”

“Thank you, but that won’t be necessary,”

Chuuya sighed, and then slightly grabbed her ankle, took a deep breath in, and jerked her ankle until he her a rather sickening crack, signally the bone was re-aligned. He almost missed the sharp intake of breath she did when he reset her ankle, the only clue that she did feel the pain.

“All done. Now let’s go home, it’s too early for this and I'm supposed to be off today,”

“Should I drive sir?”

“Are you serious? Even though I reset it, your ankle is still broken. Besides, you driving would mean that I would have to leave my bike here,”

Y/N lightly tilted her head to the side, as if she did not understand how a broken ankle could hinder her in the slightest.

“I could call someone else to drive you, and then I could rive your bike home sir,”

“No. No one drives my bike but me. And stop calling me sir. Chuuya is fine,”

“Okay Chuuya sir,”

Chuuya sighed and pinched the bridge of his nose, an action he figured he’d be doing a lot lately.

Timeskip~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

By the time he got home, Chuuya was exhausted. His nose was throbbing, and to mention he had no idea what he was going to do with Y/N. He wearily stepped through the door, sliding his shoes off and then turning to the short woman.

“I’m going to go fix my nose, and then I’m going to take a short nap. After that, you’re going to help me with paperwork,”

“Yes Chuuya sir,”

Chuuya grumbled about how she couldn't seem to drop the sir, but was too tired to pursue the topic. That would be a conversation for later.

One hour long nap and nose fix later, he was refreshed and ready to do the paperwork he’d been ignoring.

He stepped down stairs into the lobby, shocked to find Y/N asleep on the floor. She was slumped against the door, and because her shoes and clothes had not been changed, he assumed she never left that spot since the moment she arrived.

“Y/N?”

At the sound of her name, she snapped up instantly, shooting up but wobbling slightly on her injured ankle.

“My apologies for falling asleep, Chuuya sir. Prolonged use of my ability is rather draining,”

“It’s fine. I have extra rooms, you could have asked to sleep in one,”

“It was not my place to ask. You did not give me orders to sleep in one, nor did you tell me to leave this spot, so I didn’t,”

Chuuya was a bit shocked, to say the least. He had never met someone who did not do anything, and he meant anything, unless he told her to.

“You live here now Y/N. You’re allowed to do whatever you want while you’re, within reason,”

“My apologies sir,”

“It’s okay. I don’t know what kind of training you went through, but you can ask for anything while you’re with me. It’s not like I’m low on cash,”

“I understand. Thank you Chuuya sir,”

“It’s Chuuya. Just Chuuya,”

“I see. Thank you Chuuya,”

“Let’s get started on paperwork,”

He lead her up to his spacious home office, handing her a pile of work and telling her to just follow the instructions on the paper. He was too absorbed in his work to notice that Y/N had not moved the entire time.

“Is something wrong Y/N?”

She pursed her lips in thought before speaking.

“I’m sorry Chuuya, I should have mentioned this earlier. I was never taught how to read and write. I apologize for my inadequacy, you may punish me as you see fit,”

“Okay first of all, I’m not going to punish you for something out of your control. And second of all, did no one ever teach you how to read or write?”

“Mori said that reading and writing were not essential to my training. All I needed to know was how to kill someone quickly and effectively, so he gave instructions to both Dazai and Akutagawa. Although, Akutagawa went against Mori’s orders and taught me how to write my name. He made me promise not to tell anyone though. I guess I have broken my promise to him,”

“If you’re going to be working for me, you’re going to need to know how to read and write. Come on, we’re going somewhere,”

Every cell in Chuuya’s body was screaming at him that his was not a good idea.

He couldn’t bring her to the Port Mafia, he could not risk the chance of Mori finding out about this. Instead, he went to the one place that was least likely to tell Mori about what he was doing.

Chuuya approached the building of the Port Mafia’s enemies Y/N in tow, and slowly took the stairs up. He was positive they knew he was here, but with Dazai there, he hoped they would not open fire on him. It would only add another layer to his horrible day.

He knocked on the door and braced himself for whatever response the ADA would have for him and Y/N showing up on their doorstep.

“Hello, welcome to the-”

The boy Chuuya recognized as Atsushi opened the door, and stiffened once he realized who was waiting for him.

“O-oh hello Chuuya. Can I h-help you?”

“Yeah, actually you can. Do you-”

“Is that Chuuya i hear?”

The short man groaned as he heard Dazai’s voice, already dreading this interaction.

Dazai threw himself at Chuuya, but Chuuya ducked and pulled Y/N out of the way. Ignoring Dazai who was now face down on the ground, Chuuya and Y/N stepped into the ADA.

Kunikida met him at the door, rambling on about he couldn’t just show up un-announced, especially seeing that he was a Mafia member. Chuuya did his best to ignore him, and continued on.

“Hey Atsushi, is Tanizaki here?”

“Why do you wanna know that?”

Atsushi was on the defensive, and Chuuya couldn’t exactly blame him. He did find it interesting that no one had questioned Y/N’s presence yet, or even noticed she was there.

“I need his help with something. Yours too,”

“What could we possibly do that the Port Mafia couldn’t?”

“Teach her how to read and write,” “What do you mean ‘her’?”

It finally clicked in Chuuya’s brain. She was using her ability. Mori must have told her to always use it around anyone outside the Port Mafia unless told not to.

“Oh, my bad. “Y/N, you can stop using your ability now,”

Instantly, Y/N appeared next to him, knife in hand. Everyone in the office was instantly on guard, trying to get a read on what she was going to do.

“Relax. She won’t do anything unless I tell her to. Y?N, please lower your knife,” Y/N put the knife back in it’s sheath and scanned the room as if looking for someone.

She must be looking for Dazai.

“Is that my dearest Y/N?”

Atsushi looked at his mentor in confusion. “You know her?”

“Know her? Why, I was the one who trained her!”

At the sight of her former mentor, Y/N walked towards him, and punched him square in the face.

Atsushi attempted to restrain her, but she activated her ability, causing herself to disappear from his vision once more.

“Ah ah ah, Y/N. No cheating,” Dazai grabbed her and activated his ability, causing her to reappear.

Blood dribbled down his face, but he carried on as usual.

“Your punch is stronger than it used to be. Great job Y/N, i totally didn’t see it coming,”

“Thank you Dazai. It’s nice to see you again,”

“I’m shocked you don’t hate me. I did practically torture you for about seven years,”

“I never said I didn’t hate you. You betrayed the Port Mafia and caused me immense pain for seven years. Although, i can’t say that i do hate you either. I suppose i don’t feel anything towards you, like i didn’t feel anything when i broke your nose just now,”

Chuuya watched on in interest, this was the most he heard Y/N speak in one go.

Dazai chuckled at the small woman’s declaration, then gave her a soft pat on the head.

“Whatever you say, Y/N. So,” Dazai turned his attention to Chuuya. “What are you both here for?”

Ranpo spoke up from the side of the room. “Mori gave Y/N to Chuuya, Chuuya found out she can’t read or write, so now he’s here so Junichiro and Atsushi can teach her,”

Chuuya smirked next to Y/N. “Smart as ever, Edogawa,”

Atsushi was looking very confused, and for a second Chuuya wondered if he was going to pass out on the spot.

“Huh? Why us?”

“Because Akutagawa trusts you, and you and Tanizaki seem to have the most patience out of everyone in the ADA,”

“O-okay, should I go get Junichiro?”

“Yes,”

Atsushi rushed out of the room in search of his friend, and in the meantime, Chuuya sat down in one of the chairs.

“Does Mori know you’re here?” Dazai questioned.

“No,”

“Figures. He never let me teach her anything outside things he thought would make her a weapon. He didn’t even let me tell her what day her birthday is,”

“I have no need for such trivial things as a birthday. I know how to dispatch of something quickly, and that is all I need in life,”

“Does it make you happy?” The farm boy Chuuya knew as Kenji spoke up.

“What does it mean to be happy? What does it mean to smile? People around me often do these things, but I never have. Does that make me broken? I don’t feel anything. I have a purpose, the one Mori gave me. Isn’t that enough to keep living?”

The room got very silent after her words, no one knowing how to respond to that.

Finally, Yosano spoke. “Personally, I don’t think that’s really living. That’s just not dying,”

“Is there a difference?”

Chuuya was both fascinated and sad at her statement. This woman was never allowed to feel anything. He wondered how long it would take to break her free of this mindset Mori put her in.

He was still haunted by just how empty her words and eyes were. Logically, he knew that she felt things, but he doubted she knew what they were and what to do with them. So, like she was taught to do with everything, she killed them. Buried them deep, and didn’t let them resurface. It was all she knew how to do.

“I’ve got Junichiro,”

Atsushi and the red haired boy stood at the doorway, both looking rather nervous at what Chuuya was asking of them.

“The plan is to leave her here for two hours each day, and you two will be in charge of teaching her how to read and right. I’ll give her orders to do what you say, so as long as you don’t provoke her, everything will be alright. Got it?”

Both Atsushi and Junichiro nodded their heads with vigor, so Chuuya turned to Y/N.

“I’m gonna leave you here with them. I’ll be back in two hours, Dazai knows how to reach me if anything goes wrong. You have my permission to attack them, but only if they have malicious intent, okay? You’ll be safe here, so i doubt anything will happen, but make sure to get a hold of me if anything goes wrong. If Dazai won’t cooperate, use Atsushi has a hostage,”

“Um, I’d rather if I wasn’t the hostage-”

“Okay Chuuya,”

Chuuya waved goodbye to the ADA, and sped off on his bike.

Your POV:

You didn’t know what to take of the people that surrounded you. You could tell they wouldn’t hurt you, Chuuya himself trusted them. But, you didn’t quite know how to feel about your former mentor being here.

The blonde boy in overall’s approached you first, a wide smile on his face.

“Hi! My name is Kenji. Do you like animals?” He stuck out his hand for you to shake.

You just stared at it, not knowing what you were supposed to do. Since Chuuya wasn’t here, you turned to Dazai for assistance.

“You’re supposed to shake it. Here, like this,”

He grabbed your hand in his, and shook it up and down once. Next, you turned to Kenji and shook his hand, still slightly confused about what this accomplished.

“Does Rashomon count as an animal?”

Kenji looked to be in thought. “Yeah i guess it does,”

“Then I can’t say I like animals. That’s the only one I’ve ever met,”

Kenji gasped. “Well that won’t do! Atsushi, come here and turn into a tiger,”

Atsushi glanced at Dazai for confirmation, but the tall man only shrugged in response. Nervously, Atsushi activated his ability and changed into his tiger form.

The action surprised you, you had no idea what a tiger even looked like. Quickly, in the place of where Atsushi stood, was a large white tiger with bicolored purple and gold eyes. It sported impressive claws and fangs that could no doubt kill you in a second.

Junichiro spoke for the first time since you arrived. “You can touch him. He won’t attack you. Plus, if anything happens, Yosano can heal you and Dazai will just nullify his ability,”

Hesitantly, you took a step forward and touched tiger-Atsushi in front of you. His fur was softer than you expected, and you couldn’t resist running your hands across it. Stopping for a moment, you looked at Dazai.

“Is there an emotion to explain how I feel about this?”

“That depends on how you feel about it. Do you like touching Atsushi’s fur?”

“I think so,”

“Then that’s joy you’re feeling. Or maybe satisfaction, if you want to be specific,”

You looked back at the large tiger before you, understanding your emotions for once.

You looked at Kenji and tried to move your lips in different positions, then growled when you couldn’t accomplish what you were trying to do.

Junichiro looked at you with confusion. “What are you trying to do Y/N?”

“I believe you call it a smile. But I don’t think I’m doing it right,”

“Oh! I can help you with that!” You turned back to Kenji.

He put his fingers in his mouth and pulled at the corners, showing you how to smile.

You did the same, and then pulled your fingers back out of your mouth once you were sure you got it.

In the meantime, Atsushi had turned back into his human form, and was gawking at you and Kenji. Then you turned to him and tried your best to smile at him.

He looked a bit surprised, but smiled back at you.

“Thank you Atsushi. I think i like animals now,”

Timeskip~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Chuuya walked in the door two hours later, like he said he would, and you were happy to see him. You believed the emotion you were feeling was excited, though you hadn’t experienced it much before this.

“Hello Chuuya. Kenji and Atsushi taught me how to smile,”

“Is that so?” He looked rather tired, and you suspected he had done paperwork the entire time you were gone.

“I still don’t understand how that helps me do my job, but Junichiro said that everyone should learn how to smile,”

“I agree. Did Dazai give you any trouble?”

“No. Kunikida kicked him out after he asked me to use my ability on him so he could experience a painless suicide,”

“Mm. That makes sense. Why haven’t you stood up this entire time?”

You swallowed thickly, you were hoping he wouldn’t notice. Your ankle and foot had gone completely numb, much to your dismay. You were a failure for letting it affect you. You had trained for twelve years to be able to bear this sort of thing, so you didn’t know why this ankle was being so stubborn.

“I’m sorry sir. I said I wouldn’t let it affect me, but I can’t feel it anymore. I’m sorry I let an injury so minor inhibit my functionality. You can punish me as you see fit,”

Chuuya walked towards you silently and raised his hand.

Atsushi sprung into action upon seeing this, determined to not see you suffer anymore Than you already have. He hadn’t known you very long, but there was something about the way you had tried so hard to smile that made him sad. Inwardly, he held some resentment towards Dazai. He knew that Dazai had changed since his mafia days, but just how many people did he mess up while he was there? First Akutagawa, and now you. It made him feel slightly protective over you, after all, he was the first real animal you met.

“Hold on Chuuya-”

You braced yourself for whatever stinging pain was coming, but it never did. Instead, Chuuya lightly chopped you on the head with his hand.

“Idiot. I said it before and I’ll say it again, I’m not going to punish you for something out of your control. It would be unreasonable of me to expect you not to be affected by a literal broken ankle. And besides, it was me who broke it anyway,”

Atsushi gasped. “You’re the one who broke her ankle?”

“Yeah. Mori had me fight her first, then told me who she was. Hey, she did manage to break my nose,” Chuuya looked at Yosano who had watched the exchange from afar. “Hey Yosano, can you heal her ankle for me?”

“Yeah, I can. I can’t guarantee it’ll be a pleasant experience, though,”

Junichiro visibly shivered at the thought of Yosano healing. It seemed he had his fair share and was okay if he never had to do it again.

Getting healed by Yosano was an... interesting experience. You could now understand the sorry looks Junichiro and everyone else gave you.

Once back home, you didn’t really know what to do. It was well into the evening now, the sky fading into orange and red hues. Chuuya had gone upstairs and told you to “pick whatever room you want” to sleep in, so you guessed the living room would be fine.

The floor in there was carpeted and looked comfortable, and you had slept on worse. You didn’t know where any blankets or pillows were, so you settled for a towel you found in the bathroom and a throw pillow that was on the lavish couch. You had pondered sleeping on the couch, but one look at the red velvet and you opted against it. Chuuya might not want you to touch any of his things. You had made that mistake once with Mori, and you knew how strong Chuuya was. You weren’t sure if you could activate your ability before he could do serious damage.

As you settled down on the floor, you went over the events of today in your head, you noticed a few things.

One, Dazai didn’t have the unhinged and cold look in his eyes as he always did when he trained you.

Two, though they were supposed to be your enemies, Chuuya went to the ADA without hesitation.

Three, Dazai looks at Atsushi the same way Chuuya looks at Akutagawa. Dazai never looked at you or Akutagawa that way.

And finally, someone was lying about what happened to your Parents. Mori told Chuuya they were traitors and Dazai took you to the Port Mafia, but he didn’t.

Though you were very young, you remember that day as if it were yesterday.

You ran through the park, having the time of your life. The sun shone down on you as you rolled about in the grass, relishing the feeling of how it tickled your arms and legs. However, you were rather surprised when you suddenly could not roll any further. Confusion clouded your face as you could not see anything that would stop you from moving forward. It was like there was a wall in your path, though you could see none. Standing upright on your chubby legs, you tried to walk backwards, but collided with something else solid. Immediately, the park disappeared. You were in a dimly lit room, and there was a man standing behind you. He wore a long, dark trench coat, and bandages covered half his face. You did not know this man, and that scared you. You ran in between his legs, attempting to escape but he grabbed you by the hood of your sweatshirt. You kicked and screamed, and wished he could not see you anymore.

Suddenly the man spoke: “What the-”

You looked down at your hands, but were horrified to see that they were gone. So were your legs, and the rest of your body. You screamed more, you were scared of this man, scared of this room, and scared of the red liquid that coated the floor.

Scared of the two bodies that looked suspiciously like your parents.

You ran past the man once more, but this time he did not catch you.

You ran out of the room, you did not recognize it anymore. Down the hall, to the left where the closet was. Just when you thought you’d made it, you were snatched up off the ground.

It was the same man as before, but this time you did not disappear.

You stayed right where you were, and cried as he walked down the stairs of the second floor, meeting another man downstairs.

“hey Oda,” the scary man said. For some reason, no matter how hard you tried to remember, the bandage man’s appearance was always blurred, voice always muffled.

“I think this kid is an ability user. I would take her back to Mori, but she’s seen too much. Should i just kill her now and get it over with?”

The other man was much more friendly looking than the scary man. You reached out to him, hoping he would save you from the nightmares and horrors you’d witnessed today.

Surprisingly, the man gently took you from the other man’s grasp, and held you softly. You instantly wrapped your arms around his neck, crying loudly into his shoulder.

“No, I’ll take her in. I don’t like to do it, but we can have someone erase her memories. Besides, if Mori hears we killed someone who might be a valuable asset to the Mafia, we won’t hear the end of it,”

“Yeah, you’re right,”

Slowly, the man took you off his shoulder and set you on the floor. He kneeled down until he was eye level with you and then took your tiny hand in his large one.

“Hello, my names Odasaku, but you can call me Oda. What’s yours?”

“Y-Y/N,”

“Good, can you tell me if you’ve ever gone invisible before?”

You shook your head no. “Sometimes, i have dreams during the day. If i think really hard about it, i can dream about being somewhere, and it’s like I’m really there. I tried telling mama and papa, but they yelled at me and told me i was lying,” You turned your big, watery eyes onto Oda. “Are you going to take me back to mama and papa? I don’t wanna go. Mama called me witch and kicks me. And papa won’t even look at me,”

Oda ruffled your hair. ‘No, you’re going to come with us now. You aren’t a with, i think you’re very special. Can you smile for me?”

You gave the nice man a big grin, and he picked you up once, more and walked out of the car. That was the last time you ever saw him, and your parents.

End of FlashBack

You often wondered about Oda, the nice man who took you away from your parents. You often about how Dazai, when he was younger looked a lot like the scary man who almost killed you that day. But Mori would never answer these questions when you asked about them. So, you stopped asking.

3rd Person POV:

Chuuya wasn’t surprised to see you had moved away from the door, where he had left you last night.

He was however, surprised to see you curled up on the floor, using a bathroom towel as a blanket

He walked over to you, and shook you lightly on the shoulder. “Y/N? What are you-”

White hot pain pierced his thigh, and he screeched as you sliced a long gash down it, blood seeping through his pajama pants. He activated his ability, sending you flying across the room. Your recovery time was insane, because before he could blink, you were attacking again.

He knew you weren’t yourself, he saw it in the way your eyes were blinded by pure terror. You kept using your ability in short spurts, disappearing and reappearing in different places. What he wouldn’t give to have Dazai’s ability right now. Even in your fear, you were smart.

You had sustained several injury's, and blood was dripping down into your right eye.

But you kept going.

Prolonged use of your ability made you exhausted, and he could see it in the way you swayed on your feet. You disappeared again, but this time reappeared in the kitchen. There you slumped against the kitchen island, exhaustion finally getting the better of you.

Ability still activated, Chuuya walked towards you calmly, trying not to spook you.

“Y/N? Hey hey, can you please put the knife down? It’s me, Chuuya,”

The fog cleared from your eye’s, and the knife clattered to the ground.

You fell to your knee’s holding your head in your hands.

“I'm sorry I’m sorry I’m sorry I’m sorry I’m sorry-”

“Hey calm down, it’s alright, I'm right here,”

He pried your hands away from your head, noticing how tears were freely flowing down your cheeks. He doubt you even noticed them, too preoccupied mumbling apology's and breathing rapidly.

“Hey, look at me,” He spoke in a calm, soothing tone. “You’re okay. You’re at my house, and I’m alright. Let’s get you upstairs and clean you up, okay?”

You nodded slowly, shakily getting up and starting to walk towards the stairs. Chuuya looped his arm over your shoulder to support you as you walked. Slowly but surely, you managed the stairs.

“I’m going to give you some of my clothes to wear, okay? We’re about the same size, so we should be fine,”

He handed you a pair of grey sweatpants and a black sweatshirt, then stepped out of the room so you could change.

While he sat outside the door, he contemplated what could have caused this episode. He’d read the file on your ability, and as far as he understood, you could use it on yourself, and not necessarily just other people. So, it’s possible that when you dream, your ability activates and you genuinely experience them. And because you’d been through intense training since ten, he doubted your dreams were all that pleasant. He came to the conclusion that you were still under the influence of your own illusion, and assumed he was an attacker.

The door opening snapped him out of his thoughts, and he snapped his head up to where you were standing rather uncomfortable in his clothes.

“All right, I have a medicine kit in my bathroom, we can get you patched up in there,”

You were silent the whole time he cleaned you wounds, and did not even peep or stiffen when he put alcohol on a particularly nasty cut on your face.

“There, all finished,”

You never moved from your spot on the side of the bathtub, looking at the cold tiles on the bathroom floor.

“Why,” You whispered.

“Hmm?”

“Why do you treat me so nicely? I'm just a tool, something replaceable,” you’re voice rose with each passing second, and your eyes burned with unshed tears.

“I can’t even do my job right. If I can’t do that, then what am i worth? I’m meant to be used and thrown away, that's what Mori always told me, That’s what Dazai always told me!”

“So why,” You glanced up at Chuuya’s face, his cerulean depths brimming with guilt and sadness.

“WHY DO YOU KEEP TREATING ME LIKE I’M WORTH SOMETHING?” You were full on sobbing now, an action you hadn’t done in a long time. The tears on your face felt foreign, and you were confused. Why were you crying? You’re stronger than this. Stop it stop it Stop It.

“I treat you like you’re worth something because you are. You are no less human than I am, and you are worth neither more nor less than Dazai. You are not a tool, you are a human being. I don’t care what Mori and Dazai said, I will continue treating you with respect and decency, because you are not replaceable,”

Though you knew Chuuya had no reason to lie, you had a hard time believing his words. It had been drilled into you that you were just a toll, only meant to follow orders for so long you had a hard time believing anything else.

But that doesn’t mean you didn’t want to believe Chuuya’s statement.

“Come on, you look exhausted. I know you slept on the floor all night, so you’re going to sleep in a real bed. No buts,” He finished when he saw you open your mouth to protest.

“At least let me clean your injury first,”

Chuuya waved his hand. “I’ll deal with it. It’s not your fault, i should have known startling you wasn’t a good idea. Go get into my bed. That’s an order, Y/N,”

You limped lightly over to the bed and crawled under the silk sheets, thinking they were too nice. The comfortable mattress and expensive sheets were a sharp turn away from the cold, dirty, concrete you slept on when you lived at the Port Mafia hq.

Nevertheless, you were exhausted from using your ability for so long, so you fell asleep to the sound of Chuuya humming as he stitched his leg.

A/N: this is knife i was describing, for reference:

It’s called a karambit :)

#chuuya x reader #chuuya nakahara #chuuya nakahara x reader #chuuya #bsd x reader #bungou stray dogs #bungou stray dogs x reader #angst #hurt/comfort #dazai #atsushi #kunikida #junichiro #kenji #yosano #mori #ranpo

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distinguishedweshallbe · 3 years

Text

So apparently a sequel would include

How the Royal Locks work

More about lifeless (and their awareness)

Vivasher vs Yesteel

Clod (Arsteel) and Jewels

Why Vasher killed Arsteel

Vivenna in love??? - "No room for childish things like love for her. (That will bite her eventually, of course. In a later book, I'm afraid.)" This could also be in another series though

Tonk Fah (a bloody sociopath), drastically changed for some reason?

How the Returned could have children

How Susebron could pass on his wealth of breaths

Who Vasher killed just before the book (using Nightblood)

Vasher might stop seeing himself as a scraggly miscreant?

I NEED THIS BOOK RN

The only thing I'm not looking forward to is no more Lightsong </3

#Warbreaker #warbreaker 2 #warbreaker sequel #cosmere #vasher #vivenna #denth #siri #susebron #lightsong #yesteel #arsteel #clod #jewels #Brandon Sanderson #zahel

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aethersea · 4 years

Text

building a tomato cage

What do tomatoes need?

They will fall, my mother said. They are falling already. They need something to lean against.

The night hangs black and clear beyond the reach of the patio light, which is yellow-bright and casts sharp shadows. An owl hoots, and I call back, trying to mimic its softness. There is a faint trill underlying its call that I cannot match. An inhuman sound, or perhaps it’s just my throat that doesn’t know the shape of it.

The dirt here wishes it could be stone, smooth and unassailable. It is dry with the endless scorched summer of this place, dry with the autumn cold that has finally dug its fingers into the air, dry with the unceasing thirst of drought. The earth clumps together into hard, cruel pellets and slabs, that crumble and shatter if I squeeze them in my hands, but never soften.

Not cruel, not really. There is no cruelty in making yourself hard to break. And the thin, pale roots of tiny weeds can always find purchase in the cold clay.

I jam my fingers into that dirt, worming my way between two stiff slabs, pushing aside thick clods of earth. The earth digs sharp points into my skin. I can’t reach deep enough – I hit clay too solid for my questing fingers, and have to break it apart with the garden pickaxe. Dust rises, invisible in the sharp shadows, but felt in the itch in my nose and the sting in my eyes.

Finally I can push the long, thin branch past my fingers, into the hole I’ve had to shove the dirt aside to make, and let the earth close back up around it. I cut these branches myself last spring, from the wine-dark tree that stands beside the front door, and stripped them bare of leaves and twigs. They have sat in the sun since then, grown brittle and lifeless, as dry as the fierce earth.

Three times I must do this – tear the earth apart, plant a dead tree, and shore it up with loose clumps of a dirt that refuses to pack in tightly. My holes are shallow, and the branches are long. I worry they will fall easily, too weak to support anything. I bind them together at the top, where they bend inward, and hope they can at least support each other.

The owl hoots. I call back. It’s a poor echo, but the owl answers me anyway.

Now for the part that will actually hold up the plant: three pieces of wood from that same wine-dark tree, each the length of my forearm, tied into a triangle. My fingers fumble at the twine, clumsy over the sharp edges of those shadows.

When I have two pieces bound together, I take them and the third over to the dirt and wrap them around the dead branches. Then, as gently as I can while holding the unformed triangle together in one hand, I tuck the wayward stems of the tomato plant up against the wood, to be sure that I’m placing the triangle low enough to hold up what’s already grown.

Not gentle enough. At a touch, the smell of broken greenery rises in the air and cuts me to the bone.

I’ve heard that the smell plants release when their leaves are snapped is a distress signal. A chemical scream. The tomato plant cries out in the sudden shock of pain, and my heart cries out in echo. At the smell of that anguished green I am a child in my grandmother’s garden, my grandmother who was dead to me long before she died, my grandmother who died long before we could be reconciled. A child, playing in the cool shade of lost summers, and there is no future but the rich fullness of leaves in my hands. Soft wet soil in the crevices of my fingernails. Faint breeze heavy with the coming of fog. The creak and clacking of bamboo trees swaying against each other in the wind, the grumble of a car picking its way down the street, the raucous outburst of parrots greeting each other as they wing home for the evening.

A child, and the keening of tomato plants tastes like the sweet bitterness of tears, lodged at the base of my throat and slicing deep into my chest. The owl hoots, and I cannot answer. I pull away from the tomato plant, turn my back to it to tie the last piece of the triangle in place, facing toward the patio light so that my shadow, where I do not see it, falls dark and cold on the crying leaves.

When the triangle is finished, I slip it over the top of my little pyramid of dead trees and slide it down. It’s not a smooth process – the branches catch against each other, not the bark but the little nubs where twigs and leaves once sprouted. I must go gently, easing the branches past each other, and then tying them in place with the trailing lengths of twine, tightly so the cross-branches will not slip down to the dirt.

More gently still, I tuck the tomato plant up inside the triangle, whispering apologies all the while, trying to convince a stem that has become a ground-creeper to lean against this unfamiliar wood.

Not gently enough.

Afterwards, I wash my hands in the white sink and the whiter fluorescence of the bathroom light, and the water runs yellow-green. In the half-dark of the garden, I did not see that my hands were covered in sap, but there is so much that it pours off my skin, marbles the bar of soap. I scrub it off, unnerved, with an almost superstitious urgency, and watch the last of it swirl down the drain.

#finx writes #something akin to poetry #this is not a metaphor except that it kind of is #it did actually happen though #I haven't touched pen to page in over a month #(metaphorically - I've made SO many to-do lists)#and then last night I come in from making a tomato cage and I just #I had to write it down #I didn't want to lose it #but I did go out today to look at the tomatoes #and they're growing inside the triangle - they didn't flop back down onto the dirt like I feared #they're all bent and contorted about it #but they are leaning against the wood #and I think they'll manage to grow upwards #but yeah I don't know what it is about the smell of tomato plants specifically #that apparently can stab right into me #but here we are

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butwhybother · 2 years

Text

Did Clod come to help Vivenna just because he was told to help her? (The exact words were, "he'd been given orders to come if she screamed for help" in chapter 28.) Or is there really something more human in Clod, as Vivenna thinks she sees in his eyes?

Maybe it was a little bit of Arsteel showing thorough. Or perhaps even the man that became Arsteel coming through.

#clod #Warbreaker #lifeless bichromatic entity #text #arsteel #the returned #warbreaker spoilers

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moonythesly · 4 years

Text

Endless Hermits

This is what happens when I can not sleep. The Sandman is a very old comic, but I still enjoy rereading it. Figured a few of the Hermits could do with some Endless intervention.

O, maybe the Endless could do with some Hermit intervention. At any rate- enjoy. This is unbetaed and all that. Enjoy?

He always made sure he was the last one to cross through the portal. A habit he’d picked up from the beginning, when Generik had asked him to stay behind for a talk. That had been the day he first met the strange man in the robes but it certainly would not be the last.

Xisuma would see him at the beginning and end of every Season, when first arriving to their new world and just before leaving.

“You know.” He spoke up once he knew Joe and Cleo had gotten safely through the portal, Season five awaiting them all. “After this, I’m going to have to start counting our meetings on my toes.” He chuckled at the soft hum from behind him, closest he ever got to a laugh from the man, no...entity that called himself Destiny.

“You have gone longer than I expected.”

“Gonna say you’re proud of me? Didn’t think you’d be that sort of sappy.” Another hum and Xisuma grinned beneath his helmet. “I get it though. I didn’t think I’d get this far either. Not after-” He shook his head to push those thoughts away and focus on the future.

Destiny reached out and rested his hand on the young voidling, “That is why you are one of mine.”

That was new. Xisuma turned his head sharply, wondering if the robed man was another Void Walker but no. Xisuma knew he was something much more, but his thoughts always ended up in a million places if he tried to pinpoint just what that more was.

“Come again, old friend?”

The hum was his only verbal response, but Destiny still squeezed his shoulder before returning to his normal, stoic stance. “Always looking to the future, but still respecting the past. You would do your kind well, Xisumavoid.”

The admin could only blink in wonder before grinning and chuckling again, “Thanks, I guess.” He looks at the portal, purple waves dancing before him, “See you on the other side then? Or, do you want to go first?”

The joke landed, he knew it, but the robed man simply hummed again before vanishing. Xisuma knew he would be on the other side, waiting for him to appear. Though he always wondered...why the other Hermits never saw Destiny standing amongst them.

~*~

The explosion still rang in his ears as he groaned in frustration. “Darn creepers.” The sound of bird wings brought a smile to his face and he pulled his hands from his eyes to stare up at the familiar, pale face. “Hello again.”

The woman just laughed and offered Scar her hand, which he gratefully took to help himself off the ground. Or, well what he thought was ground anyways. Everything was just white and seemed to stretch on forever.

“Mr. Goodtimes, it’s been a while!” And she seemed pretty pleased at that, making Scar blush a bit sheepishly and rub the back of his head.

“Well, I’ve been careful. Dodging and weavin’ and learnin’ how to uses my elytra just right!” She raised an eyebrow, smirk on her lips as he laughed, “Creeper got me.”

Another laugh and she rested her hand on his shoulder, “I know you guys respawn, but one day-”

Scar nodded before shrugging and letting a peaceful smile on his face, “I know. One day comes for all of us.” He held his hands up, “And I’m in no hurry for that day, Ma’am but it makes it a little better knowin’ that someone like you is there at the end.”

Death’s smile didn’t falter, if anything it brightened and she wrapped Scar in a friendly hug, “See that’ just why you’re one of mine! A light for your Hermit friends.” Pulling away she tapped his nose, “Be careful, Mr. Goodtimes.”

“Oh I will be! I’ve got tons of things planned. You know I’m helping out with the mall. Digging out a huge mountain, Cub’s even helping me out.”

She grinned, “Next time you stop by, bring me a picture.”

The terraformer bowed and doffed his head, sure no one liked dying and it frustrated him how often it seemed to happen to him on the server. “Yes, ma’am!” But as the light faded and he found himself back in his bed, communicator beeping with messages from his friends, he couldn’t help but feel a bit better about it all. Practically well, peachy keen.

~*~

Zedaph stared at the mountain in front of him. It wasn’t anything fancy, just, you know, a mountain. Dirt, stone and gravel all stocked up on top of each other. But he wasn’t seeing just a mountain, oh no! He was seeing his new base. The mountain is still there, not a clod nor pebble touched on the surface. Looking as pristine as it did now.

But inside, oh, that was different.

Already his mind’s eye was carving out a wonderful base- big enough to house him and all the ideas waffling about in his brain. Contraptions and gadgets and, well the occasional game of course. All of it, fit right beneath the towering grandeur before him.

“You know,” Zedaph pipped up after a few moments, “You’re normally not this quiet.” He turned around and practically beamed up at the tall, dark man that stood behind him. Wild hair and eyes that literally held the stars, Zed knew him well. He’d known him for years in his dream and waking worlds.

“...I suppose not.” Zed frowned, mountain momentarily forgotten as he took in the sight of the entity-man-deity-star creature.

“What’s going on? Not even a hello, old chum?”

A soft laugh, “No. I...am not here for a hello.” A thin hand rested on Zedaph’s shoulder and he raised his own to rest upon it, “I’m here for a goodbye.”

“Goodbye? Starting a bit backwards, Mr. Dream.” His frown turned to a worried pout, “Why goodbye? I thought you lot were as eternal as Death.”

Dream let a smile on his pale face but didn’t answer the question, instead using his hold to turn the young Hermit around, “Continue your dreams, Zedaph. When my successor arrives, he’ll need someone like you to surprise him.”

A billion questions filled Zed’s mind but he stayed staring at the mountain, letting the gadgets and contraptions come back to life in his thoughts. He felt Dream squeeze his shoulder and pull away.

“I’ll help him, Dream, whatever I can but” He closed his eyes and felt the emptiness behind him as the entity vanished, “I’ll always be one of yours, mate. Goodbye, old friend.”

~*~

“See, you need ta remember- destruction and creation are one to the eyes that can see beauty. Miss Savitri Devi wrote that and I’m standin’ by it.” And he was determined that Destruction at least think about it.

“Joe, my friend, you are too kind!” The Endless’s voice boomed across the bay as they both looked over the painting the red-haired entity was trying to make of the area. It was, well not the best- but Joe knew there was still something in it. Something wonderful and beautiful simply because of why the painting existed.

“I’m not kind, I’m honest. And just the thought that you, a being labeled as a force of ending, have begun something simply to make it exist. That’s a beautiful thought.” He smirked as the other hummed and tilted his head to the side, looking at the painting and then out to Red Sky Bay. After a few moments, he started to laugh and Joe couldn’t stop himself from joining.

“I think you might be right this time, Joe Hills.” Joe’s smirk grew but he simply stayed where he was, watching the waves for a few moments as Destruction began to pack things away.

“You understand mirrors.”

Joe blinked, “Huh? Well- literally I hope that I do understand their purpose even if some Hermits might not believe I use one.” Another booming laugh and a large, warm and steady hand found its way to Joe’s shoulder.

“I know you understand mirrors in all manner.” He looked at the painting and then his bag before pulling out a leather bound book, “I’ve more travels, my friend, but when we meet again I would love to hear your skills with words have improved.”

“I hope they do, but you have to show me what you’ve created,” And he pointedly used the word, “Can’t have you slacking, retired or not.” He gratefully, almost reverently, took the book handed to him.

“Haha, of course!” Destruction’s smile softened, “Tread well, Joe Hills. I may no longer be what I was made-but you are still my friend.”

Joe nodded, watching Destruction walk away and vanish slowly in a shimmer of heat and light. The painting stayed where it was but Joe waited. He knew what would happen, even as he held on tightly to the book he’d been given.

Sure enough, as sunset approached, the sea surged forward- the painting washed away forever to the bottom of the lifeless sea. He stood on the edge of the bay for a moment before putting the book away.

Maybe he would be able to keep this one- but the hiss of a creeper behind told him otherwise.

~*~

“I don’t know why you come here so dang often.” Tinfoil Chef huffed, setting a few more stone bricks in place. The castle wall was nearly done and the bright sun wasn’t an issue as long as it was around, so he was taking advantage of the visit.

“You interest me, old man.”

He snorted and continued with his work. “That’s s’pposed to be a compliment.”

The creature smiled and it made a cold shiver run down TFC’s spine. Just like always. Oh, he knew well and right what was sitting on his half finished wall, basking in the late afternoon sun. It was the reason his guard was constantly up, his mind working and trying to stay a step ahead.

A nice challenge after setting the same bricks down over and over again.

“You never want something.”

“Nope. Got everything I need.”

Another huff and the creature turned over, tawny eyes staring straight into TFC’s blue ones. He didn’t blink and neither did it. Finally it huffed again and pulled the expensive sunglasses back down.

TFC said nothing, just went back to work. Every so often he’d say something to the creature, start up a conversation about random things. From mortar to morals, it was never dull and helped keep his tongue and mind sharp.

As night approached, the creature slid off the now finished wall, landing lightly and without even a flinch of pain. TFC was a little envious there as his old bones were aching a bit from the day’s work. But it was proof that he had done something and that he could spend the night relaxing comfortably.

“You never want something.” It repeated again, this time with a soft smirk on it’s lips.

TFC grinned and motioned towards the main house, “Nope. Got everything I need.”

Desire narrowed it’s eyes, but still smirked. The man wanted nothing, yet Desire was often called here.

“Your friends want so much, though.”It happily supplied once tea was placed in front of it and they could begin the familiar tradition of watching and waiting.

“They do. Suppose that’s my want too, then?”

Desire sat up and TFC smirked, “Don’t get too hopeful now. I just meant, I want them to have fun. Explore these worlds as much as I got to.”

The creature pouted in thought, before gently flicking a nail against the ceramic cup, “Do you know what Desire is?”

“Besides you? I might have an idea.” He smirked and leaned his head back, folding his hands over his chest and closing his eyes. “It’s whatever ya want it to be. Love, friendship-brotherhood. All that sort of stuff.”

He heard a sniff and then a comfortable silence.

TFC never wanted anything. Desire knew that. But so many people Desired to not want, that it had to claim TFC as its own. If only because it wanted to.

~*~

They had waited long enough. The Season was done and the server was straining from having to support life long past what it should have. Many Hermits had returned to the Main Worlds, waiting for Xisuma’s word of a new world to explore and colonize.

But he wasn’t done waiting.

He’d been in the jungle the entire Season. Searching everywhere, looking for any sign of any of them. A portal, or a chest filled with random materials. Even just...just a familiar shirt or hat. Anything that could answer his questions of where his friends had gone.

But there was always nothing. Just the empty jungle and his heart slowly breaking in his chest.

Ren tried to get him to go. To leave the jungle and be free of whatever spell was being cast. Whatever need was keeping Doc tied to the jungle.

Doc chuckled darkly, watching his reflection in the calm waters near the base the Bdubs had built. The home of the NHO for so long until slowly, like sifting sand, they vanished into the jungle.

The pond rippled and he saw that face again. Old but still young, fluttering from beautiful to horrifying in a matter of ticks. Staring straight at him with her dark, black eyes that managed to hold warmth and pity all at once.

He hated being pitied.

“What do you want.” He spoke up, finally giving into whatever madness was infecting his mind. The figure blinked before simply staring at him, not a word said but Doc felt the pain in his heart grow.

“They’re gone aren’t they.” He tsked, “I won’t find them.”

The figure nodded, a hooked ring coming into view and glinting at Doc. He should just give up. Give in and stop looking for his friends. They were no longer there; he was alone and left behind.

“Doc!” He blinked, turning around slowly. Ren’s voice echoed around the jungle but he stayed where he was. “Doc, we have to leave now...there’s...not much time.”

He scoffed and turned back, the figure was gone and his own face stared up at him from the water. He sighed and stood up, heart heavy with Despair as he trudged towards Ren’s voice. The jungle whispered behind him, but he ignored it. There was nothing there now, nothing left for him.

Despair watched from her realm, hook stuck deep in the Hermits heart- dragging him steadily away from her.

“You have been mine long enough, little Hermit.”

~*~

Grian grinned brightly to himself, swooping low through the shopping district as he looked around for any of the other Hermits. The last few days had been far, far too quiet for his liking. Not that the Hermits had not been doing anything, they had just become wrapped up in their projects and such to the point where well, things were quiet.

And Grian did not deal well with quiet.

“Oh, is that someone you think?” A broken giggle resounded around him like shattering glass and he grinned, “Right...oh!” He flew close before shooting back up with a few rockets and hovering mid air, “It’s Iskaall~!” He snickered and searched through his inventory. There were a few fireworks he’d picked up from Hermitville and, ah!

“Yes!” He cackled, pulling out the crossbow and fitting it with the pink colored firework. “Ten points I get him first try, oh this will be perfect!”

He knew Iskall would take the joke, and he had two extra sets of rockets (green and yellow) in his pocket, along with two crossbows. If he managed things right, he could get a mini rocket war started in the middle of the shopping district!

Which, if he was right, would also drag in another Hermit he just spotted exiting iTrade.

“Wish me luck!” The giggle trailed behind him, tinkling now like an out of tune piano as he pelted Iskall with the fireworks. The other Hermit yelped in surprise, ignoring his trajectory of Sahara and glaring playfully up at Grian.

The glare turned into a grin when Grian flew back over and dumped the green fireworks and a crossbow at Iskall’s feet. “Get Impulse!” He called back, laughing again as he flew towards iTrade.

Catching Impulse by surprise with a firework and again dumping ammunition at his friend’s feet. Impulse only looked confused for all of a second before he was taking off behind Grian and Iskall, laughing as the three ducked and weaved around the shopping district.

Eventually the fireworks ran out and Impulse, tired from the fun, headed back to his base to rest. Iskall took a moment to enjoy the setting sun from on top of the Stock Exchange before saying his goodbyes and flying towards the Nether portal.

Grian waved and sat back down, staring off at his base as the sun finally set and the sound of bare feet caught his attention. He grinned and flopped back, meeting the strange girl’s mismatched gaze.

“Did you see it?! Ugh, I thought it would take forever to get those two to take a break. Do you know how long they’ve been working, like non-stop? Three days!” He held up three fingers, watching as the girl's hair shifted to bright pink and she laughed.

“ThEY dON’t knoW anY BettER, GrIAn~!” She sang, her voice as mismatched as her eyes- but Grian was used to it. It was actually comforting. His life was always one form of chaos or another, either by Destiny or his own Desires.

“I know, I know. But we were right! A little madness can get anyone to loosen up.” He grinned for a moment before sighing thoughtfully and rolling on his stomach as the girl sat down. Her bare feet now wearing socks and her hair a normal brown-but cut into a half bowl/half pixie style.

“ThINKinG?” She asked, tilting her head and gently running her fingers through his hair. He nodded but the thoughts jumbled away for a moment at her touch.

“A bit. Mostly worrying though. Things are getting. Boring.” He wrinkled his nose and she giggled, softly now like a song bird, “I need to think of something to liven things up a bit, yeah? Something big...like the Civil War or Area 77.”

Something mad and brilliant that the Hermits had never seen before. The problem here, that he didn’t have in Evo or...there, was that the Hermits were a clever bunch. They were also prone to a bit of routine if they weren’t paying attention.

“Something to throw things into a sort of...controlled chaos.”

Delirium giggled again and poked Grian in the forehead, “YoU haVE The Ideas, GRiAn. Don’t OVEr thInk!” Grian stared at the finger against his forehead before his eyes widened and he stood up, dragging the girl up with him in a spin, “Yes! Yes, yes, yes! I have it! Oh, it’s wonderful!”

A game that would be a wonderful ending to their time in this world. He’d need a lot of bone blocks and everyone’s head but…

“Oh, Delight, this is going to be brilliant!” He gave her a warm hug before waving goodbye and flying off to his base to fully plan things.

She stood on the Stock Exchange, giggling as she watched one of her favorites fly off into the night. Death wasn’t going to like this new game- maybe. But it would be fun! And in the end- that was all that mattered.

#hermitcraft #the sandman #Death of the endless #Dream of the endless #Desire of the endless #destiny of the endless #delirium of the endless #destruction #despair of the endless #grian #docm77 #tinfoilchef #xisumavoid #goodtimeswithscar #renthedog #zedaph #joehillsTSD

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magnoliasinbloom · 6 years

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The Midwife

Following in her mother’s footsteps, Claire’s skills as a midwife take her to France and Scotland. When her journey leads her to James Fraser, she will have to decide if she will follow her calling or her heart.

AO3 :: I

The linens were soaked in sweat and blood. Maman crouched by the fire, wrapping a lifeless bundle which she then laid next to the inert body on the bed. I couldn’t tear my eyes away from the sight—the laird’s wife, her skin icy cold, head thrown back in an agony long since ended. Her soul, gone. Her screams still echoed in the smoky beams overhead.

“Claire.” The sound of my name ripped me from my thoughts, and I took the basin Maman offered me. “Take this, dump it outside. I must speak with the laird.”

I trundled carefully down the stairs, willing myself not to spill a single drop. The basin was full of bloodied water and the afterbirth, covered by a towel. Only Maman and I should know what was in it.

I pushed the door to the kitchen open with my foot, and was surprised to see two figures at the kitchen table. An untouched plate of ginger cookies sat in front of them, a copper-haired boy and a raven-haired girl, who held each other tightly. They looked at me as I entered, pale-faced and white-lipped, afraid of the knowledge I possessed.

“Mam…” The girl stood up, still holding her brother’s hand. “Is she…”

I gave her a pitying look. Janet—I remembered her name now—took in my appearance; my hair neatly covered by a cap, clean hands, and a horribly stained apron.

“The babe was stillborn. I’m sorry.” I offered no more words, walking to the kitchen door to dump the contents of the basin in the yard. The water made a bright red arc as it splashed. The rest I buried quickly under the nearest tree, as was custom. I returned to the door as I heard my own mother’s footsteps approach.

“Children, your father would like to see you in his study.” Maman grasped Janet by the shoulders. “You are the lady of the house now, child. I will help you.” The girl’s eyes were bright with tears that spilled onto her cheeks. She looked close to my age. The boy bit his lip until blood came, and wiped furiously at his eyes that we might not see him cry.

“Claire, see to the tenants, then return as soon as you can,” Maman’s soft French-accented English commanded, and I immediately set out to let the nearest woman from the estate know that Lady Broch Tuarach had died in childbirth. They would all come to help clean the house, cook, and pay their respects to the laird’s wife.

* * *

Women surrounded the girl Janet as she sat on a chair near her mother’s coffin. They patted and coddled and offered freshly baked bannocks; Janet paid them no heed. Tears streamed silently down her face, which she wiped surreptitiously with an embroidered linen handkerchief. I caught a glimpse of the initials ECF stitched in blue.

Behind Janet, Ellen Fraser lay in eternal repose. The women of the estate had quietly murmured in surprise when Brian Fraser, the laird, had released the bright red hair from its plait and arranged it in a wild halo around her head. The longer strands covered the tiny face of the stillborn babe, to rest forever beside his mother.

The laird himself was inconsolable, stopping briefly to touch his son’s shoulder and touch his fingers to his daughter’s cheek. He accepted condolences from his tenants, and made sure that food and whiskey were plentiful for all.

I observed this grief, recalling my own for my father, Henri. He had met and married Julia Moriston, an Englishwoman, and made her a Beauchamp in France, where she had gone to convent school and had lived for many years. Half-French, half-English, Maman and I traveled as midwives around England, Scotland, and northern France after Papa had died.

My mother divided her time between the kitchen, supervising the servants, and talking to the tenants’ wives. After she assured me everything was taken care of, I wandered from room to room, admiring the manor and thinking about what life would be like for the Fraser family from now on.

It was then that I spotted the red-haired boy behind the study door, peering into the room that held his mother’s coffin. His eyes were red, but he was seemed calm, until he turned and saw me looking at him. He could not have been more than ten. His lower lip trembled; it was clear he remembered seeing me last night, so I approached him.

“Da asked me if I had said farewell to my Mam. I dinna want to,” he said suddenly.

I tugged on his coat, straightening the lace jabot at his throat. “Does it frighten you?” I asked softly.

He shook his head. “No,” he said fiercely. “’Tis only… if I say goodbye, then she will be truly gone.”

“I understand,” I replied. “I lost my own father when I was younger, too.”

“Ye did?” He squinted at me, trying to reconcile the image of me as a child. “Did ye greet?”

“Of course. It’s natural to feel grief and cry, lad. There’s no shame in it.”

He nodded, and I noticed he was manfully trying to suppress his tears at this. I smoothed a hand over his hair—Ellen’s hair—even though he was probably too old for such things.

“Here, I’ll go with you, if you like. I think it’s important to say goodbye. Then your Mam’s spirit can rest easy.” I reached out for his hand. We walked slowly towards the coffin, and he dashed away a lone tear with his free hand. I stood by while he touched his mother’s hair briefly, so like his own. He traced the edge of her jaw, when suddenly he threw his arms around my middle in a panic.

I led him away from the crowd, so that he would not be embarrassed. I offered him comfort as best I could, thinking about what Maman would do for him.

“She’s with the angels now. I can promise you that.”

He gripped me tighter and wept against my shoulder, tall for his age. I made small noises, patting his back until he grew calm again. He wiped his eyes, nodded in my direction as he let go, and crept upstairs to the family’s rooms.

I watched him go, and realized I didn’t even know his name. He only came back down when the mourners took the coffin out to be buried in the family cemetery, where Ellen and the babe would rest on Fraser land. The priest blessed the clods of earth that pattered onto the wooden box, while Brian, Janet, and the boy clung to each other to stay afloat in their grief.

The image of the boy’s red hair waving gently in the cold air would stay with me long after Maman and I had left the estate, in search of healing work or children to deliver.

It would be years before I saw him again.

#outlander #outlander fanfic #outlander au #jamie and claire #the midwife I

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spacedimentio · 5 years

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The Princess in the Tower

Summary: Pink Diamond receives a severe punishment for the first time. Inspired by the end of Together Alone and that one post about the light deprivation theory.

Rating: T

Genre: Horror/Tragedy

Warnings: Abusive parental behavior, claustrophobia, starvation, panic attacks, and sensory deprivation.

“Pink, can’t you behave yourself?” Yellow sighed, drawing her away from the open-mouthed crowd into a private room.

“What? What’d I do now?” Pink pouted, wrenching herself out of Yellow’s grasp the second the door closed behind them. “I thought you liked it when I made jokes like that!”

The elder diamond pinched the bridge of her nose. “Not in public, Pink! Where others can see us, we must be poised and perfect! We are flawless beings, and you have to act like it!”

“I don’t understand; you don’t want me to be myself?” The little diamond’s eyes watered.

“No, that’s not what I-”

“Starlight, Sunshine, what’s going on here?”

Yellow almost flinched. White was peering around the corner, smiling. “N-Nothing, White. Pink is just being foolish again,” she said, standing a little straighter.

The ground shook with White’s titanic footsteps as she walked towards them; Yellow would swear on her gem that she could be as quiet as a whisper when she wanted to be.

“It doesn’t sound like nothing,” White tittered, opening the door to the ballroom a little and looking out for a moment. “Those gems seem awfully upset.”

Pink rolled her eyes. “I don’t see why. It was just a harmless joke.” Her gaze fell to the floor as she sulked; a long, black fingernail went under her chin and raised it up again.

“What, exactly, did you say, Starlight?” White asked in a soft voice, leaning over her with her head cocked to the side slightly. Yellow took a subtle step away; the little wretch didn’t have the sense to be afraid.

“I said that that hessonite looked like she’d been caught in an engine exhaust,” Pink said innocently.

“Oh, Starlight…” White straightened, clicking her tongue.

“What? It’s true, isn’t it?” Pink threw up her arms, exasperated. “Seriously, what was her outfit even supposed to be?”

“That hessonite is one of my best commanders, and now I’ll have to do extra work to mollify her,” White replied, giving a gentle poke to Pink’s cheek. Smiling, as always.

Pink huffed, turning away and crossing her arms. “Some of those gems thought it was funny…”

“Regardless, it’s improper to say such things. …Right, Sunshine?”

Yellow stiffened. “Yes. I’ve told her again and again to watch her manners.”

“Perhaps you need to do more to make. it. stick.” White’s eyes locked onto hers for one long, terrifying moment, until Yellow averted her gaze. The massive diamond turned and began to leave.

“Is that really…” Yellow started.

White looked back over her shoulder, wagging a finger. “Ah, ah, ah. No buts, Sunshine.”

Yellow lowered her head. “Yes, of course, White…”

Pink watched White depart. “What’s she talking about, Yellow?” she questioned, peering up at her with curious eyes.

“Come along, Pink.” Yellow pulled her by the arm, keeping her eyes locked ahead of her.

“Where are you taking me? To my room?” The little diamond struggled to resist.

“No.”

“Yellow, c’mon! You’re hurting me!”

“Please be quiet, Pink. It’s for your own good.”

Pink did fall silent, finally noticing the pinched quaver in her older sister’s voice. “…Yellow?”

The door slammed shut, leaving her in complete darkness. Pink banged on the wall, the sound echoing around her. “Yellow! Hey, Yellow! How is this any different from locking me in my room?!”

She gave up and slumped down, unable to hear anything outside. “Stupid clumpy clod face…” she muttered angrily under her breath, rubbing her bruised arm.

She lit up her gem and looked around. The room was big, but completely barren. Not a single pebble to play with.

Sighing, she laid on her back on the floor, occupying herself for some time by making shadow puppets with her fingers. Eventually, she got bored and fell asleep, the rosy light going out.

Time didn’t seem to pass at all in this room. It took her a moment to realize she was even awake. She poked around at the walls and ceiling, guided by the glow of her gem. There wasn’t so much as a single crack.

Pink didn’t notice, at first, when the air began to feel heavy. When it was dark and she couldn’t see anything, the walls seemed to tower over her invisibly. And when she set her gem alight, it helped, but she soon began to feel tired. Sleeping didn’t make her feel any better.

Unease grazed its cold fingers along her spine.

This wasn’t like being sent to her room after all.

She paced in anxious circles, running her hand along the smooth wall. It was getting harder to make her gem glow, harder to make it stay on for longer than a few seconds.

She went to where she thought the door was and pressed her ear to it.

“H-Hello?”

A little louder. “Hello? C-Can anyone hear m-me out there?”

There was nothing, nothing but the sound of her ragged breathing and the echoes of her voice. She whimpered, startling herself with the helpless noise.

Something was wrong. Something was very, very wrong.

Pink light flooded the room for a brief second. It flickered, grew stronger for a moment, then went out for good. She tried to punch through, tried to bring her diamond strength to bear, but every movement made her body tremble.

“Let me out! Please! Please!” Her desperate cry bounced around the room and faded away.

Fingernails scratched at the solid stone as she sank to the ground. “What’s happening to me…” she whispered, wrapping her arms around herself. She felt tears trickling down her cheeks.

There was no reprieve from the darkness. She knew the room was massive, she knew. But it wasn’t, it wasn’t!

She didn’t need air. She couldn’t seem to stop taking rapid breaths.

It was like an ache.

Urgent. Dreadful.

Reaching to the very core of her being.

She needed to get out. She needed to get out right NOW

How long had she been in here

How long how long HOW LONG

Her limbs refused to move.

weak

what was this

w h y

it hurt it hurt oh stars please make it stop please

she couldn’t think over the roar of the dark she couldn’t breathe please please she was

sorrysorrysorrysorrysorrysorrysorry

click

Just when she was at her limit, just when her form would have crumbled to dust, a bright white light turned on.

Pink gasped, suddenly blinded. Her cheek lay against the freezing cold floor, and some unknown primordial instinct urged her to get up, to turn towards the light. She managed to move a little and collapsed on her side.

The crushing pressure lightened considerably. Relieved tears slid down her face.

The light clicked off.

And it began again.

The door opened, and Pink didn’t notice.

She was curled up on the ground, her eyes staring at nothing as she shook uncontrollably.

“Oh, Pink…” Blue Diamond whispered, rushing forward and gathering her catatonic sister into her arms.

“…B-Blue?” The word barely made a sound.

“It’s ok, Pink, it’s alright. It’s over now,” Blue murmured, holding her tighter to her chest.

Pink sobbed, clinging to Blue feebly.

“Oh please. It was only two months,” Yellow said, coming a little closer.

“Yellow!” Blue snapped venomously, glaring. The golden diamond stayed where she was, sighing.

“What…” Pink tried to raise her head. “What…”

“Shhh…” Blue gently ran her fingers through her sister’s tangled hair. “Light is a gem’s energy source…” she explained, voice soft. “Without it…”

It clicked.

Pink managed to turn and look at Yellow.

Yellow wouldn’t meet her eyes.

“Rose?”

Pearl’s voice snapped her out of her reverie. Rose Quartz blinked and turned to her companion. “Hmm?”

“Are you alright? You looked kind of lost.” The corrupted agate they’d captured a few hours ago lay bubbled in her inquisitive hands.

“I’m fine,” Rose lied.

The night was moonless, and it was hard to see. She stared up at the sky, watching, not breathing, waiting for the clouds to move.

…Yes, there were still stars.

Still stars.

And crickets. And the howls of night creatures. And the low murmur of voices in the village.

She was never going back.

A/N: I’m sorry (I’m not sorry). As soon as I saw the episode and a post reminding us that light is a Gem’s energy source, the idea that the dark room Stevonnie got thrown in might, in fact, be a starvation chamber just clicked with me. And if there’s one thing I can’t resist writing, it’s suffering.

Blue and Yellow Diamond are some of my favorite characters, and I’ve been writing them for a while now. I never forget that they’re capable of doing some truly awful things; even so, I never once imagined that they were capable of torturing their own beloved sister, if that’s truly what that room is. All I can think is that it’s something that White did to them in the past.

Knowing how devious and cruel Homeworld is (gem crusher from Friend Ship, anyone?), I decided there was probably something to prevent gems from growing so weak that they poof, if so desired. The light stays on just long enough to keep them from losing consciousness. Otherwise I’d imagine that they’d eventually lose their inside-their-gem consciousness as well, and become a lifeless rock.

What a way to start off the new year, eh?

#steven universe #pink diamond #spoilers #yellow diamond #white diamond #blue diamond #su #su spoilers #mine #mywriting #oneshot #2019

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kingsmenuniverse · 2 years

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HOW TO CLEAN ENGINEERED HARDWOOD FLOORS

If you’ve recently moved into a place with engineered wood floors, you probably needed to be told they’re engineered wood. It’s impossible to tell the difference. That’s because on the surface, there is no difference. The surface of engineered wood is made of …you guessed it; wood. In certain environments, this type of flooring is an excellent alternative to regular wood floors and it’s also less costly.

In almost any environment, hardwood floors engineered or otherwise, always add charm, warmth, and elegance.

In this article, we’ll discuss the unique aspects of engineered hardwood and how to clean engineered hardwood floors.

We’ll also touch on the subject of avoiding and repairing scratches, cleaning products, and a few do’s and don’ts. By the end of this article, you’ll understand that the difference between cleaning engineered and regular wood floors lies mostly in the approach.

Which Type of Hardwood Floors Are Easier to Clean?

Both types of hardwood flooring are very easy to clean. Both types are very forgiving and both take no more time to clean than most other types of flooring.

Between Hardwood and Engineered Hardwood, Which Gets Dirty More Quickly?

There is no scientific data to suggest that one type of wood floor is more prone to dirt than the other. When conditions are identical, both types of floors stay clean or become dirty on the same level and at the same rate.

So, Both Types of Hardwood Floors Should be Cleaned With The Same Frequency. Right?

Um …er …not necessarily.

If it comes down to choosing, engineered hardwood floors should be cleaned more frequently than regular hardwood floors. Here’s why:

Engineered wood is made by gluing a thin layer of real wood over a solid core. The core is usually made with several layers of little pieces of wood that are glued and pressed together.

This process gives engineered wood the characteristics necessary to withstand moist environments in a way that regular wood simply cannot. But this doesn’t mean they’re necessarily more harty than regular wood floors overall.

Although engineered wood floors don’t scratch more easily, the way they’re constructed makes them less likely to survive deep scratches well. It also makes them more vulnerable to the damage that dust, dirt, and debris can ultimately cause if left unchecked.

The Difference is in The Thickness of the Wood

An engineered hardwood floor has only a few millimeters of unblended, natural wood on the surface. A quarter of an inch at best. The thin surface layer limits the number of times it can be restored. Some only allow for a single restoration. So there aren’t many chances to make up for routinely allowing the floor to go too long between dustings. Frequent dusting and cleaning maximize the length of time between restorations because the opportunity for dust and dirt to scratch the floor is limited.

With regular wood floors, there’s room to be a little less fastidious. But with the engineered type, dusting and keeping them dusted is a pretty big deal. But it’s certainly far from impossible. With the right tools, a little effort, and a bit of know-how, keeping your engineered hardwood floors in shape is very easy. So easy that it’s likely to become one of the incidental aspects of your housekeeping routine.

Cleaning Your Engineered Wood Floor; Things To Keep in Mind

Less is more! Less dust, less dirt, less debris. This is what you’re after.

Less is also more when it comes to methodology. It doesn’t need to be fancy. It just needs to be done and it needs to be done very gently.

Sometimes, more is more! Cleaning your engineered hardwood floors also needs to be done frequently. If you see a film of dust or a clod of dirt, remove it before someone walks on it. Grinding dirt and dust into the floor’s surface is never helpful. Enough of this grinding will dull the finish and leave your floor looking cloudy and lifeless.

More is also more when it comes to protecting your investment. While the nothing-fancy rule still applies, you should be prepared to pay more for quality cleaning tools, supplies, and materials. You don’t need a lot of these things. So spending a little more on them probably won’t break the bank. Doing this will keep you from having to spend a lot to restore or replace your floors sooner than necessary.

Tools, Supplies, And Materials

Broom: These are usually sold with a matching dustpan. Your broom’s bristles don’t need to be made of horsehair or bleached hair from the tail of a wombat, or valuable in a rut, etc. Man-made materials are fine. Look for soft, densely packed bristles or twisted bristle strands that are flared at the ends.

Floor Mop: Buy the kind that’s designed to accommodate a removable microfiber pad. Something with a mophead that can flip onto its other side is also nice.

Also, the wider the mop head, the greater the coverage of each pass taken with it. 18 inches wide is ideal. 24 inches wide is also good. But anything wider can be a bit cumbersome and difficult to maneuver between pieces of furniture.

Spare Microfiber Mop Pads: Double-sided pads are preferable (One side for application of a cleaning solution, the other, for wiping). You might need to use your mop often. So, you’ll need to have a healthy supply of mop pads on hand.

Spray Bottle: Fill this with water. If your kitchen faucet has a filter on the end of it, go ahead and use filtered water. It couldn’t hurt.

Floor Vacuum: Yes, there IS a difference between a vacuum and a floor vacuum. Regular vacuums have beater bars. A beater bar is a roller located inside the vacuum head that spins at several hundred or more RPM. These also have stiff bristles that are intended to fluff up the pile of carpets in order to better remove the dirt from them. The bristles are also stiff enough to scratch the surface of a floor also at several hundred RPM.

Instead of a beater bar, the head of a floor vacuum has short, soft bristles. These are usually located just inside the housing. Many floor vacuum heads also have small wheels to help move the vacuum back and forth.

If your carpet vacuum is equipped with a floor accessory, this will do just as well. One with rubber wheels is best. Plastic wheels tend to scratch surfaces. No wheels at all are preferable to plastic ones.;

Step 1 – Sweep or Vacuum Your Floor Frequently

High-traffic areas may require sweeping on a daily basis. Other areas might only need to be swept weekly. Sweeping is an excellent way to stay ahead of dust and debris and minimize allergens.

Sweeping is good, but sweeping debris into a single pile in the center of the floor is not. As debris is dragged across the floor, it can leave a trail of tiny scratches along the way. Sweep dust and debris over shorter distances and into smaller piles for transfer into a dustpan.

If your household is a busy one with heavy foot traffic, dust, dirt, and debris will be heavier. Spills and messes will happen more frequently.

Although it comes in handy in almost any situation, a cordless stick vacuum can be a busy household’s best friend. 45 minutes of continuous operation is easy enough to vacuum occasional dry spills and keep the floors dusted in a 2,000 square foot home. Stick vacuums are lightweight (not more than five pounds) and many come complete with mounting brackets that you can install near an outlet. When you’re done using the vacuum, simply hang it on the wall and plug it into recharge.

Step 2 – Damp Mop Your Floor Periodically

The amount of traffic determines this schedule. For heavy traffic areas, your floors might need to be damp mopped weekly. Other areas, bi-weekly. If your floors tend to become a little cloudy or foggy looking in between damp moppings, you’ll need to shorten the intervals.

To damp mop your floor, this is where “less is more” comes into full play;

Attach a double-sided microfiber pad to the head of your floor mop, cleaning side down.

Working in sections, use your spray bottle to spray some water on the floor.

Wipe the water with your mop until the section is dry.

Repeat this process in each section until all sections are complete. If at some point, your mop becomes too saturated to wipe the floor dry, switch out the microfiber pad with a fresh, dry one…

If the members of your household wear their shoes at home rather than slipping them off when they enter, you might prefer to spray a disinfectant on your floor.

In that case, you can use 3% hydrogen peroxide instead of water. Let the hydrogen peroxide remain wet on the floor for 30 seconds before wiping it dry.

Step 3 – Deep Clean Your Floor Occasionally

Grime happens. It’s a fact of life. In busy households with kids and pets, dirt gets tracked infrequently, but somehow, dirt is never tracked out. Because of this, sweeping and damp mopping occasionally need to be supplemented with deep cleaning.

For some, “occasionally” is defined as once monthly. For others, a deep cleaning may take place on a bi-weekly basis. necessity is the determining factor.

This is where a cleaning solution might be helpful. We’ve already discussed the benefits of hydrogen peroxide to disinfect your engineered wood floors. But many people report that after using it, their floors look new again.

Nevertheless, if you want to check out some of the available products on the market, now is the time. Simply replace the water in your damp mopping routine (above) with the product of your choice. There are lots of products out there. Be sure to follow the directions on the label of the product you choose..

Best Products For Cleaning Engineered Hardwood Floors

Choosing from all the available hardwood floor cleaning products can be difficult. There are so many of them. A trip to the home improvement center won’t uncomplicate this effort as much as it will add even more products to choose from.

So feel free to borrow from our very short list of favorites. We’ve narrowed it down to three. For what it’s worth, we’ll acknowledge that choosing between these three isn’t easy either, but it helps.

Please note that these products are intended for finished floors only. Always first test products in an inconspicuous place on your floor.

Bona Hardwood Floor Cleaner

Bona’s entire line of hardwood floor cleaners is far and away the best and easiest products to use for cleaning hardwood or engineered hardwood floors. Spray it on and wipe it off. No rinsing, no problem.

Weiman Hardwood Floor Cleaner

Weiman is another brand we like. Weiman cleaning products include stainless steel cleaner and polish, and even metal and jewelry cleaner. All are excellent.

For our purposes, Weiman’s Hardwood Floor Cleaner does the job very nicely.

Murphy’s Oil Soap

Wood flooring, wood furniture, wood cleaning, wood polish… If wood is involved, Murphy’s is all over it in the best way. Their Squirt and Mop Hardwood Floor Cleaner won’t let you down.

Care and Maintenance of Engineered Hardwood Floors: Do’s and Don’ts

There are some excellent and popular ways to take care of your floor along with some popular methods that simply don’t work. The latter can actually damage your floor. Here’s a breakdown of some of the important things to do and some to avoid doing.

Spills

Do get these off your floor as soon as you see them. Any spill that contains moisture will damage your floor if it’s allowed to remain.

Soak and wipe up puddles. If more than water is involved, follow up by cleaning the area with water to make sure there’s no residue. Then wipe the area dry.

Scratches

Don’t leave a scratch untreated. Untreated scratches have a way of quickly becoming exponentially ugly. This is because they allow dirt and moisture to penetrate the floor. There are many scratch repair kit products available to help you fix these as soon as possible.

For more details, read our guide on fixing scratches on engineered hardwood floors.

Mop and Bucket Cleaning

Definitely, a “don’t”. This outdated method drenches floors with water and usually, some sort of harsh chemical is also involved. There’s no need to keep a string mop and bucket anywhere near your beautiful floors.

Steam

Steam is good for blocking felt hats and cleaning grout. It’s also good for weakening adhesive properties in floor glue and causing it to warp.

Applied to engineered hardwood floors, it will also help to lift and curl the layers and swell floorboards. Steam is another “don’t”.

Cleaning with vinegar

This is a very popular cleaning method. So popular in fact that saying “don’t” to this one often goes unheard. For an effective homemade and/or natural cleaning solution, there’s water. Small amounts are key. Damp-mop with it. Not enough? Okay, let’s move on…

Hydrogen peroxide is another natural cleaning solution. It’s also extremely effective.

One of the really nice things about both these natural products is that they don’t smell like a bottle of vinegar fell from the pantry shelf.

Also, water won’t stain as quickly as vinegar can and hydrogen peroxide is also used to remove water stains. But hydrogen peroxide might not remove the stains that vinegar can cause. If hydrogen peroxide doesn’t remove the vinegar stains, the stained floorboards will need to be replaced…

If you’re still intent on using vinegar in whatever concentration, to clean your engineered hardwood floor, at least you’ll be making an informed decision.

Streak-Free Formulas

This is more of a “why bother?” If a surface is wiped completely dry as soon as a cleaning solution is applied to it, there won’t be any streaks. That is, unless of course, the solution isn’t intended for application to the particular surface.

The Most Important Thing To Know About Engineered Hardwood Floors

Keeping your engineered hardwood floors looking their best doesn’t need to be a time-consuming, back-breaking chore.

In fact, the opposite should be the case. There’s a reason for this.

Your floor is made from natural products. Technology has brought the outside in. The natural qualities are part and parcel of the beauty of wood floors. This is chiefly, what accounts for their lasting popularity.

Think about it; you won’t find more beautiful floors than those made from natural products. Wood, marble, slate, etc. Saltillo tiles remind us that even the rawest form of clay is beautiful.

With this in mind, there’s only one way to save your back and your time along with the beauty of your engineered hardwood floor — keep your floors’ cleaning program as simple and as natural as possible.

Check Out the Best Wooden Flooring Company in Bangalore, They provide Premium Wooden Flooring, Laminate Floors, Vinyl Floors, Tiles, Wall Cladding, and Sports flooring Products.

You can now go ahead and choose beautiful wooden flooring to add that extra touch of class and elegance.

#wooden #services #quality #design #hardwoodfloors #designs #solidwoodflooring #flooringdesign #flooringcompany

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bibliophile-angst · 6 years

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Warbreaker (spoilers)

THE LAST 100 PAGES JUST...WHAT!?!?

SIRI AND SUSEBRON JUST YES TO EVERYTHING

Susebron finally learned about the diddly do ALSO HE PROTEC

SIRI. THAT GIRL. She grew so much and everything she was back in Idris was basically what made things work so much better and now she’s so so strong and confident in herself and she has someone who understands her and loves her for her and she’s HAPPY.

VIVS CHARACTER ARC. I WENT FROM LOWKEY HATING HER TO LOVING HER AND ROOTING FOR HER AND WANTING HER TO KICK SOME SERIOUS ASS AND SHE DIDDDDD AND NOW SHES JUST DOING HER OWN THING WITH VASHER AND I JUST WANT HER TO LEARN ALL THE THINGS.

Nightblood casually mentioning how pretty and awesome Viv is around Vasher and telling Viv Vasher likes her just cracks me up bc he doesn’t understand most things bc well he’s a sword but he’s also a wingman without necessarily meaning to and I love it

Denth and Tonk Fah. WHAT THE FUCK GUYS. I TRUSTED YOU. VIV TRUSTED YOU. vasher didn’t but STILL. The utter betrayal...This is why I have trust issues. BRANDON IS HALF THE REASON I HAVE TRUST ISSUES

What happened to Jewels and Clod?

Poor Parlin. I honestly thought they were going to turn him into a Lifeless bc Clod was hurt but then things turned out much MUCH worse

The tassels on Vasher’s clothes reminded me of mistcloaks and I’m so down for that like just imagine being Mistborn and an awakener. THE POSSIBILITIES

BLUEFINGERS. That’s all I’m going to say. I’m too mad at him to express more than that.

Lightsong is such a drama queen and I. Am. Here. For. It. ALSO LIGHTSONG ;-;

Llarimar telling Lightsong the thing and just their entire relationship!

Llarimar is basically half of Lightsong’s impulse control and even then, Lightsong just ignores it and does/says all the things

Just :’) lightsong <3

Also this is kind of a stretch but the black smoke/veins bc of Nightblood reminded me of Black London from A Darker Shade of Magic and that crossover would be so awesome

#warbreaker #brandon sanderson #cosmere #nat reads #I LOVED IT #warbreaker spoilers #spoilers #lightsong #vasher #vivenna #sisirinah #siri #susebron #llarimar

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minijenn · 6 years

Text

A Father's Love

Deep Space (Unknown Time)

It had been a grueling past few weeks since…it happened. Steven, Dipper, Mabel, and the Gems had gone through a gauntlet of hardships in their reverse-engineered Gem ship to complete their mission: find Comet. The boy—Steven and Connie’s boy—had been abducted by their old enemies: Aquamarine and Topaz.

The old Mystery Kids and CGs thought they’d seen the last of them years ago, but they made a surprise attack on Earth for revenge against Steven. Their original plan had been to simply shatter Steven for his crimes against the Diamond Authority, but they were forced to settle with abducting his son.

Steven had been tempted to bring Connie along for the ride, but if anything happened on the mission, he needed to make sure their daughters would be safe. The night before he left, he said that he would be bringing Comet home and that he loved them all more than anything. Although, Connie went the extra mile to give him a proper farewell later that night—a memory that gave him even more incentive to return.

Dipper had done something identical with Pacifica and their daughters, but Mabel made sure to keep Tyrone safe with Greg, Stan, and Ford. The Pines twins were more than ready to follow Steven to bring Comet back, knowing that he would’ve done the same if it had been any of their kids that were abducted. The Gems hardly needed convincing either, but Lapis and Peridot stayed behind once again to keep Gravity Falls safe until they came back.

As the crew did their respective duties, Dipper finally got a signal on one of the ship’s instruments, the one they’d been waiting for since the mission began.

“Guys, check it out!” Dipper exclaimed as the rest of the group instantly gathered around him.

“What is it, Dipper?!” Steven asked frantically.

“It need it to be good news. I want to punch that little blue clod’s face after what she did,” Amethyst said gruffly.

“Not before I drive my spear through her gem,” Pearl added similarly.

“Or before I break both Topazes’ gems,” Garnet said darkly as she cracked her knuckles.

“No one messes with our boy,” Mabel said as she violently cocked her old grappling hook.

“It’s the best news ever guys. I know which planet he’s on,” Dipper said eagerly as he armed himself with one of Ford’s magnet guns. “We’re getting Comet back.”

Gem Colony 2309 (Unknown Time)

After tracking Comet down, the gang wasted no time when they activated the ship’s light-speed function and arrived at the planet, barely having time to take in Homeworld’s carnage. The planet now heavily resembled what the Earth would’ve looked like if they had succeeded in the Gem War, but what really mattered was the Kindergarten where they were keeping Comet captive.

Thanks to Pearl and Peridot’s new spacesuits for them, Dipper, Mabel, and Steven were able to safely land on the planet without worrying about losing oxygen. Once they set foot on the planet, everyone looked towards Steven for the plan, but hardly any of them were caught off-guard when Steven said, “Shatter Topaz and Aquamarine. I’m going to get my boy back.”

Soon enough, the group arrived at the Kindergarten and found Comet locked in a makeshift cell to give him oxygen and was guarded by Topaz while Aquamarine was hovering over her, madness in her eyes as she gazed at the object of her hatred.

“Steven…Rose…whatever you call yourself, you’re going to pay,” Aquamarine said venomously as she gripped her now-barely functioning wand, which elicited a smug laugh from Mabel.

“Still haven’t gotten that fixed since last time? If I recall, Maven was the one who did that, right?” Mabel said sardonically towards her, which only angered her further.

“You all might be bigger now, but I’m still a member of Blue Diamond’s court!” Aquamarine shouted angrily.

“Yeah, what’s left of it, shorty. We beat you once and we’ll do it again,” Dipper said defiantly as he charged his magnet gun.

“You brought this on yourself when you came to Earth again,” Garnet said with barely restrained anger.

“You made it worse when you took one of our own,” Amethyst said through gritted teeth as she summoned her whip.

“You don’t deserve mercy; not then, and not now,” Pearl said as she tightly gripped her spear.

Aquamarine merely shrugged off their threats before condescendingly addressing Steven with, “What about you? Any words you have for me, traitor?”

Steven looked at her with a deeply unsettling blank expression as he summoned his shield, his body trembling with unfettered anger towards the blue Gem, which she seemed to notice as her expression dimmed significantly. Steven remained silent for only a few more moments before he said, “You’re going to die today,”

With fear in her eyes, Aquamarine motioned for Topaz to attack, but the yellow Gem fusion was hardly a match without the hostages she’d callously used in their first fight. Much to Aquamarine’s surprise, Topaz was swiftly poofed in a few moments by Garnet after a combined attack from Steven and Dipper. Despite their justifiable anger towards both yellow Gems, Steven decided to bubble them away, which left Aquamarine all alone.

“We took mercy on them because they were bullied by you,” Steven said coldly. “We’re not giving you the same treatment.”

Unable to think of anything else, Aquamarine summoned a big charge from her wand, only to be swatted away like a fly by a combined attack from Amethyst and Mabel. While everyone wanted to shatter her for her crimes, Steven took the initiative and broke Comet out of his cell and gave him an emergency mask to give him oxygen. Once his son could breathe, Steven embraced him with a loving smile and tears in his eyes.

“Dad, I was so scared! You came for me! You came for me!” Comet shouted through relieved tears.

“Always, son. Always,” Steven lovingly said as he continued to embrace his son, with cheers from the rest of the group, unaware that Aquamarine was now recovering from the attack, now glaring at them all with contempt.

“I will not fail! I will not be ignored!” Aquamarine angrily whispered as she gripped her wand for her contingency plan. “You won’t get away from me, again!”

Unwilling to let this opportunity pass them by, the group hailed their Gem ship and boarded as soon as possible, content to leave Aquamarine with the knowledge that she failed again, knowing it would hurt more than death. Unfortunately, not even Garnet’s future vision could predict what Aquamarine had done mere moments before they boarded, a sadistic smile on her face as she eagerly awaited her plan to unfold.

Now that they were in the ship’s cockpit, far away from the planet, the group watched contentedly as Steven and Comet embraced once again, nonverbally promising to join them once they were done.

“As excited as I am about today, I’m more excited about what’ll happen when we get home to your mom and sisters tomorrow,” Steven said contentedly as he tightened his embrace with his son.

“Me too, dad. I love you,” Comet said similarly, only for their tender moment to be interrupted by an unfamiliar beeping sound.

Steven ended his embrace with Comet when he noticed a metallic object latched onto his son’s back: a bomb. Steven and the others lightly gasped when they noticed how quickly it was beeping now—far beyond the point of disarming or even bubbling it away into space.

“No,” Steven said in contained horror, knowing that there was no way to stop it now.

“Steven…” Dipper and Mabel trailed off, unsure of what was going to happen.

As if it lasted for eternity, Steven turned to his two life-long friends with a morose expression and said, “Take care of my family,” Unable to say anything more, even to his guardians, Steven grabbed the bomb and ran towards the edge of the cockpit, with Pearl forcibly restraining Comet to go after him when he knew what was going to happen. Garnet and Amethyst couldn’t even move, knowing that they couldn’t do anything, especially Garnet. Dipper and Mabel only fruitlessly extended their hands towards him, unwilling to believe this was happening.

“No, dad! Come back!” Comet yelled desperately, but to no avail as mere moments after he said that, the bomb went off a safe distance away from him and the group.

The group could only watch in horror as Steven took the blast for them, which destroyed a huge chunk of the cockpit that was already being repaired by the ship’s defenses. They all saw Steven’s lifeless body floating through space; his gem—Rose’s gem—had been instantly shattered in the blast, his body now covered in fatal injuries as blood poured out of him into the dark, unfeeling void of space. There were no more words, only tears; Steven Quartz Universe was dead.

#universe falls #sumbission #submission #HEY UM OUCH????#THIS FUCKIN HURTS WOW????#DAMN????#I WAS NOT PREPARED FOR SUCH SUDDEN ANGST????#DAMN?????#Good job tho wow #uf fan fics

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