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fandomsnstuff · 4 years

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Angus figures everything out and fucks up Lucretia’s whole Thing AU

Lucretia hires angus, innoculates him, and is like this is the deal with those missing people cases you were investigating

Angus says oh okay! This totally and completely satiases my curiosity :)

Internally angus says this is sus as hell

So he does what he does best, he snoops

So angus is snooping and somehow, cause he's a little crime boy who can sneak around real good, he finds the starblaster

He's like what the fuck is this

He gets in, and it's.....odd. he doesnt linger in any one room too long, he just kind of pokes his head into the bedrooms and moves on (he figures he shouldnt stay here too long, lest he get caught)

But the most peculiar thing is how lived in this place looks. There's mismatched furniture with throw pillows and blankets in the common area, a chore chart on the fridge, the bedrooms are all cluttered with knick knacks and clothes, beds unmade, theres a lab with papers scattered around tables and taped to the wall

But one room catches his attention

It's... fairly simple, and emptier than the others. Bookshelf with some books missing, a bare desk, but what catches his attention is the pile of red on the bed

He goes to investigate and finds robes and jackets, all with an odd patch and names embroidered on them

He finds, in this order:

A robe with "lucretia" embroidered on it

A jacket and robe, together as if someone had been wearing them at the same time, with "lup" and "taako"

A jacket with "davenport"

A robe with "merle"

A jacket with "magnus"

(there’s no barry robe cause he fell off the ship with it, these are the robes/jackets lucretia took off of the crew members as she sent them off to their new lives)

Now. This is after crystal kingdom and angus was at the candlenights party. He knows the director's name is lucretia

He knows who Davenport is

He knows who taako, magnus, and merle are

This is pre-LUP incident, so he doesnt know who lup is

Angus, appropriately freaked out, puts them all back and BOLTS

Angus vacates the premises

Runs back to his room

He tries to figure out what this all means, but his thoughts dodge around the obvious conclusion that's right in front of him

Hes too nervous to go back, it's not until the L U P incident that he decides okay. I have to go back

So he goes back. He goes into the room labeled Captain's Quarters (although "captain" has been scratched out and changed to "cap'nport". Angus doesnt think too hard about what that means)

In the desk he finds some folders with the same weird logo as the robes and jackets. He doesnt look in them. Not yet. He can do that back in his room. He cant spend too much time here.

Then he goes to the lab. He doesnt know what hes looking for, but he grabs ones that seem important. A notebook or two. Some papers clipped together. He just grabs and shoves them into his bag and he fuckin bolts again

he looks at what he grabbed and some of it he can read, some of it he can't

They lived in that ship. They were going on a mission for something. They made the grand relics to stop something. Theres a lot of notes on the planes.

Angus recognizes the way some stuff is redacted, and he kind of figures out that there must be another voidfish. And if the directors name was on one of those robes, maybe she has it.

Refuge mission comes and goes

Angus, cause he's so fucking good, is able to sneak back into lucretias personal quarters and finds junior. He fills a water bottle with the ichor and gets the fuck outta there

He gets back to his room, innoculates himself and is like AAAAAAAAAA

Cause he can finally put it all together properly

And he basically pieces together the whole hunger situation himself with the notes he grabbed

The stuff he grabbed from davenports room was the crew's like profiles or whatever from when they got hired on to the mission so angus now knows who lup is

So angus is like oh i GOTTA fix this

So he heads down to the reclaimers dorm with his bottle of ichor

Angus: i need you to drink this Merle: what is it? Angus: voidfish ichor Taako: *laughs* hate to break it to you kid, we already drank the voidfish juice. Angus: just- please? Magnus: yeah alright

So magnus drinks it. His breath catches and he kinda goes weak and he's shaking and he drops to his knees. After a minute or two (or more) he looks up at angus. "Holy shit," he says. He grabs the bottle from where he dropped it and holds it out to taako and merle. "Drink it." He says.

"Yeah alright," merle says. Same deal as with magnus.

Once merle collects himself, they both turn to taako.

"Yeah, alright. Sure. Let's get taako in on this weird party," he says, taking the bottle and drinking

This time, magnus is ready and he catches taako when his knees give out

"Im gonna fucking kill her," taako mumbles into magnus' shoulder, his knuckles white as he grips his shirt.

"You're not gonna kill her."

"Im gonna fucking hit her so HARD, i swear to god."

Taako keeps his face in magnus' shoulder, but magnus and merle watch as angus crosses the room to where taako had left the umbrastaff, and he walks back over to magnus and taako on the floor

"Sir?" Taako looks up at angus. Angus holds the umbrella out, "i think i know where your sister is."

(Lup, meanwhile, in the staff: HEEEEELLLLL YYYYYEEEEEAAAAAAAHHHHHHHH)

It takes taako a second, but he realizes what angus is saying and scrambles out of magnus' hold and to his feet. He takes the umbrella and lifts it, about to snap it when angus says, "wait!"

Taako glares at him. "Ive waited ten years, kid. Make it snappy." "Madame director had a holy symbol in her office. I think it would ward against your sister, if shes a lich." "Uuugggggghhhhhhhhh LUCRETIAAAAAA"

The four of them go down planetside under the guise of a magic lesson and not wanting to burn any more "cryptic messages" into the walls

Taako snaps that fuckin umbrella as soon as his feet hit solid ground

Lup's back!

Lup does some magic shit to summon barry, so barold shows up, happy reunion, and then a Discussion on what to do re: davenport not being innoculated and re: lucretia

Their plan boils down to this: thb and angus will go back to the moon and act as if this never happened. As far as lucretia knows, thb are still under junior's influence

As soon as they can get davenport alone without rousing any suspicion, they bring him to their room and innoculate him. Once he's got his memories back, he'll be powerful enough to a) get his bracer off/disable the tracking spell in it and b) get off the base undetected

Davenport will definitely not want to go back to playing butler, so he'll sneak off the base and hang out with lup and barry until lucretia sends the boys to wonderland

When the boys get sent to wonderland, theyll meet up, get the bell all together, and THEN confront lucretia, cause at that point theyll have the whole light, and they'll have Options

So they do just that. They go back and innoculate davenport a few days later, a week at most

A panic ensues once everyone realizes davenport is missing

AND the tracking in his bracer is turning up nothing

Lucretia's blood pressure has never been higher

But everything goes as business per usual

Lucretia, oddly enough, suspects nothing re: the boys ‘cause surely they wouldve confronted her if they remembered

The boys get sent down to wonderland. They meet up with blupjeans and dav at the entrance. With the six of them with all their memories and full access to their skills they take edward and lydia down in like 30 minutes. Tops.

So edward and lydia get their asses thoroughly handed to them by the six of them

(Davenport has the time of his LIFE)

They head back to the lich cave, barry gets in his new body and gets innoculated (the boys brought some ichor with them for him)

Lup possesses barry, then barry-with-lup and dav get in the pocket spa and back up to the moon they go

Lucretia is in her office when avi comes knocking "Uh... director? The boys are coming back." "Already?" "Yeah." "Are you sure it's them?" "Yep."

Lucretia is.... stunned. It's been... an hour and a half. Two, maybe. She has full faith in the boys but they took down wonderland in two hours?????

Not even two hours

She goes to meet them, highly suspicious

But they arrive and, sure enough, it's them. No magic. No tricks. It's them, for sure.

taako has the bell and hes just holding it casually from the top as if it isnt one of the most powerful magic items in existence. And she can tell he isnt thralled, that's just how hes decided to transport it.

Lucretia: ive got to admit, you boys took care of that...much faster than i expected Magnus: ah, it was no big Merle: piece of cake! Taako: yeah, luce, shit was easy. Dunno what you were talkin' about earlier.

And lucretia just freezes. Luce. Thats what taako called her. It’s what they all called her, really, but it’s the nickname Taako took 4 whole cycles to give to her, officially cracking the door of friendship open to her. And she looks him in the eyes and she knows that he knows. And she looks at merle and magnus and she can tell they know, too.

And taako gives her a venomous smile, all teeth, and says, "why dont we go have a little chat, madame director" and she flinches at the way he spits out her title

She doesnt know what to do but nod and turn to leave. As she turns, there's angus, looking up at her with a determined set to his brow, and she knows he knows too

They head back to her office, and taako pulls the pocket spa out, and before lucretia can ask him what hes doing, out walks barry and davenport. And barrys eyes have got that red glow about them, so she knows lup's here too.

"Take down the lich ward, lucretia," barry says.

She does, and now there's a firey, red robed lich among them.

Now this is where things get a little iffy for how they work out but here's what i got

They have a similar confrontation as canon where theyre bickering about staying or going, shield or no shield, and im thinking this is where taako has his "there's a third option" realization

And, because they did extreme wonderland speedrun, and they didnt take a whole extra day to travel to the lich cave and just used fuckin magic to get there, theyre a whole day ahead of where they were in canon

The hunger is close enough at this point tho that they can enact the plan like. Now.

But magnus insists on returning Fisher's baby to them first

As magnus takes junior, lucretia works on getting the base secured and getting the bureau members ready for if the hunger touches down before they can cut it off

Magnus goes down to fisher with the baby, he takes his axe and swings, breaking the tank open

Johann, still alive and now soaking wet, is like dude wtf

Magnus returns the baby and out goes the story and song

Now johann is REALLY like DUDE WTF

Magnus is like im off to save the universe. Peace.

So since theyre a whole day ahead of the hunger, all seven of them go up in the ship

And then they fight and they win and they cut the hunger off and it's rad

The end

#taz au #angus mcdonald #taz balance #magnus burnsides #merle highchurch #taako taaco #taako #taz taako #taz lucretia #lucretia adventurezone

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angelinasway · 3 years

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Regaining Hope

Chapter Eight

Pairing: Clark Kent/Buffy Summers Warnings/Triggers:Torture, Violence, Mention's of Major Character Death, Bad Language, Sexual Tension, Eventual Smut, Mentions of Sexual Assault Summary: Takes place during Man of Steel. When Buffy discovers the U.S Military trying to keep quiet about an object buried in a twenty thousand year old glacier, she immediately thinks the worst. However, when a surprise visit to the Canadian Arctic puts her in the path of a mysterious stranger her whole world is changed forever. Authors Notes: Thank you all so much for being so very supportive. You guys have been absolutely wonderful. Seriously I couldn't ask for a better group of readers. I need to warn you all that this chapter has quite the graphic and gruesome scene in it, so if that's not your thing I highly recommend skipping the part where Clark starts to watch the video. Some major questions answered here. Hope you all enjoy, and keep the reviews coming. Special thanks to my ever amazing beta Hipkarma. She always helps and inspires me. Disclaimer: All publicly recognizable characters, settings, etc. are the property of their respective owners. The original characters and plot are the property of the author. The author is in no way associated with the owners, creators, or producers of any media franchise. No copyright infringement is intended.

Previous Chapters: [Chapter One] [Chapter Two] [Chapter Three] [Chapter Four] [Chapter Five] [Chapter Six] [Chapter Seven]

[TTH] [AO3] [FFN]

Chapter Eight

Dawn smirked as she saw the caller ID flash. So, Buffy had talked to Wes. That was good. She really didn’t want to have to break into the Watchers Council just because she was nosy and worried for her sister. Buffy hadn’t told her much when they talked yesterday, just that there was some sort of prophecy about her and this Clark guy, which just raised all sorts of red flags for her. Dawn had insisted on seeing a copy of the prophecy and her hackles raised even more when she found out how quiet Wes and Willow were trying to keep this. Looks like big sis came through however, and now it was time to give the man on the other line hell for keeping something this important from her.

“Xand, honey, can you take Abby? Wes is on the phone and it’s time for her nap anyway.” Dawn said, reaching for the phone.

“No!” Her one and a half your old screeched at the top of her lungs, making Dawn cringe. When they coined the phrase, ‘children are your parents secret revenge,’ they weren’t lying. Abigail was just like her too, even in looks.

Xander came out of their shared office, a crooked and amused smile on his lips. “You should know by now not to say that word in front of her,” He said, kissing Dawn on the forehead before reaching out and swooping up their toddler. “Come on Abby,” he said as Dawn answered her call. “Daddy will read you your favorite story.”

“Try to get Joyce down too,” She added, before saying into the phone, “Hello Wes, so good of you to finally call me.”

She heard the groan on the other end of the line and smiled. “How much do you know?”

“That there’s a prophecy about my sister and some uber-powerful guy she’s been spending time with, on your instruction I might add.” Dawn said in a mockingly sweet voice.

She heard him sigh. “Yes, that is all true. Look Dawn, I’m going to send you a copy of the prophecy through your secure fax now. We’ve been able to translate some of it, but there are certain areas where…I don’t think the language is of this world. It’s nothing like we’ve ever seen in any human or demon writings before.”

Dawn got up and walked into the office, a frown on her face. “You mean like interdimensional, there’s gotta be a reference somewhere Wes.”

There was silence over the line and for a second and she thought Wes had hung up. She’d just opened her mouth to see if he was still there, when he finally said, “No Dawn, that’s not what I meant at all.”

Her frown deepened as the first page spat out of the machine. She slid it off the rack and looked at the prophecy. There were several different languages written on the copy, Etruscan, Ancient Sumerian, Ancient Greek, and Latin. At the top were strange symbols unlike anything she’d ever seen before, almost flowing together like cursive. The next page that came out was Wesley and Willow’s translation of that page. She bit her lip, walking over to her desk and went to work making sure what they had translated so far was correct.

“So,” she began casually, “what I’m getting from the first page is that this guy is much farther from home than just another dimension.” She paused, huffing in annoyance as she snootily added,” It was Sun God by the way, not Star God.” She sighed. “Who are you using anyway, Basile?”

“Vonten,” He answered and Dawn rolled her eyes. Of course, he was using that moron’s guide.

“Vonten is an arrogant prick Wes, that book confuses people more than it helps. Burn it, it’s better as kindling. Bachman is the best at Etruscan and Ancient Sumerian, and you already know Ancient Greek and Latin enough not to need a reference.” She said, before frowning as she came to the part about the soulbond. “Wes, what the hell is a soulbond, and why is this referencing my sister and Mr. E.T. having one?”

As Wesley began to explain what they knew so far, Dawn's face began to pale. Oh, this was not of the good. Buffy was gonna wig to the nth degree when she found out.

"Does she know any of this?" Dawn asked, turning around and grabbing more of the pages that were still spitting out of her printer.

"She knows about the bond. I told her this morning." He answered.

"And what, you’re waiting until she gets pregnant before you tell her the rest?" Dawn asked angrily. "You know this is gonna freak her out..."

"Which is why I decided not to tell her." Wes interrupted.

"If you'd let me finish," Dawn snapped, slamming her hand on the desk. "I was going to say this is gonna freak her out, but it would be better if you tell her now." She huffed in frustration. "This just proves how little you guys know my sister. She absolutely will freak and she'll probably fight it at first. Just the idea of her own children having to live the life she has, is not gonna be a happy, joyous moment for her. She's already worried that Joyce or Abby, or maybe even both will be called one day.” Dawn said, before emphasizing her next words, "However, my sister is not stupid, and when push comes to shove, she'll make the right decision like she always does. I get that you’re worried about the Slayer line Wes, we all are, but keeping this from her is not the right way to go about it.”

She heard Wes’s sigh, “I realize that Dawn, but with the bond itself needing to be fulfilled, I thought that was more than enough for both of them to handle at this time.”

Dawn looked at the pages covered in the strange flowing script, similar to the symbols on the first page. Wes was right, it was a language. "We need to find a way to translate this. Do you think this is Clark's language from his home world?"

The line was silent for a moment, before he said in annoyance, “Yes, that’s what I meant when I said I don’t think the language is of this world.”

“Do you think Clark knows how to read it?” Dawn asked.

A sigh came over the line, “I honestly don’t know. I believe he just discovered where he came from, so I don’t see how he could.” He paused in thought and then murmured to himself, “But even if he can’t, perhaps the ship has a historical archive or maybe there is some form of AI technology that could translate it for us.”

Dawn frowned, “What ship?”

As Wesley explained how Buffy and Clark met and the danger Buffy had recklessly put herself in, Dawn found her ire sparking at Buffy’s stupidity. “I’m gonna kill her!” Dawn growled. “She hasn’t done something that reckless since Joyce was born. God fucking dammit, she promised me!”

Wesley sighed. “In her defense, it could have very well been her fate that made her act so rashly.” He paused before saying, “In any case, Clark was there and according to Buffy, he saved her and watched over her after she went into a healing sleep.”

Dawn was quiet as she processed that information. So, she didn’t die, which meant Buffy actively tried to stop it from happening. That was good, she was still getting smacked when Dawn saw her, but at least she hadn’t completely broken her promise from three and a half years ago. It was also good to see that this godlike Champion the prophecy spoke of wasn’t just a creature with a penchant for destruction playing at being a white hat because of a curse. That was a nice change.

“What else do you know about him?” Dawn asked. “I’m assuming you started trying to find him as soon as you started translating this.”

“Well,” Wesley began, “We first caught wind of a possible candidate about a year ago. We’d been monitoring airwave chatter for possible beings with superhuman strength when we caught a lead. A distress call came in about an oil rig off the coast of Canada in flames and about to explode. In that communication there was talk of a man rescuing the crew members aboard the rig and preventing the tower from collapsing on the rescue helicopter with his bare hands.” He paused for a moment, before saying. “We managed to find a few other incidents of him saving people, one that happened when he was thirteen. According to the incident report, his school bus went off a bridge and into the river. Three witnesses stated that a young Clark Kent managed to push the bus out of the water and rescue his classmate.”

Dawn whistled, “So this guy really is the real deal white knight, huh?”

“It would appear so.” He sighed.

“Wes we’re gonna need to access that ship.” Dawn said, looking over a small section of Sumerian that talked about a trial of choice. The rest of the page was in the alien script however, so any clue as to what that meant was beyond her.

“I know,” Wesley agreed.

“Which means, we’re gonna have to tell Buffy and Clark everything.” Dawn reiterated.

She heard Wesley groan, but he conceded nonetheless. “Alright fine, Willow needs to bring them some pendants to stave off the worst of the compulsion the bond is creating. I’ll have her stop by and get you on her way, unless you want me to tell Buffy myself, that is.”

Dawn shook her head, “No, no. I think it will be safer for everyone if I’m the one to do it.” Then she bit her lip in thought, “And don’t bother with Willow, just call me when she gets back. I think I need to do this one on my own.”

“Very well,” Wes agreed. “Willow should be finished within the next few hours. I’ll call you as soon as I know she’s returned.”

“Alright, in the meantime I’m gonna go over this and make sure all the parts I can read are translated correctly.” Dawn said, adding, "Talk in a few," before hanging up.

She sighed, rubbing her fingers along her forehead. "Well fuck," she muttered to herself.

"Everything alright?" Xander asked, coming into the office.

"No, not really," she answered handing him the translated first page of the prophecy.

She watched his eye scan the words before he blew out a breath. "So, this guys an alien?"

"Looks like." She answered.

Xander snorted, "Man the Buffster really knows how to pick 'em, doesn't she?"

Dawn mock glared, before she couldn't contain her amusement at the absurdity of the situation. "Well, you know Buffy. She doesn't do anything by halves."

****<S>**<S>****

As Clark followed Buffy down the hallway, his thoughts were a jumbled mess. He knew she had been trying to reassure him, but her words only had the opposite effect. Were they only feeling any of what they were because of the prophecy and furthermore, given the choice, would she even choose him? She had basically confessed to falling in love with her best friend. The history they had both shared, as disturbing as it was, was an important one to her. She had cared very deeply for this man. How could he ever live up to the memory of a man who had essentially changed a piece of himself for her? Part of him wanted to erase Spike’s memory from her mind, to do whatever he could to drive this man, this demon from her past and another part of him just felt wholly lost. He didn’t want to be anyone’s second best and he certainly didn’t want her to want him only because some guy thousands of years ago decided they were destined. God, he wished his dad was still alive. This would definitely be the type of thing his dad could help him through.

She stopped at a large set of double doors and turned, catching his expression before he had time to school it into a much more neutral one. She blinked in surprise, "Clark...what’s wrong?"

He shook his head, “It’s nothing Buffy.”

Her frown deepened, “Oh no, you definitely have something face. Talk to me. I promise whatever it is, I’ll try to understand.”

Clark shifted uncomfortably, before finally admitting, “I’m just feeling a little unsure about all this.”

Her eyes widened slightly, “Because of Spike?”

Clark sighed, “Well I mean think about it Buffy. You basically told me that you fell in love with your best friend and were willing to marry him for eternity, but the only reason you didn’t is because you were too scared. Would you even look twice at me if he was here now? Are the feelings I’m having for you even real, or is this just destiny trying to force us together?”

Realization flooded her expression, and she quickly shook her head. “I can’t speak for what-ifs, because I would be lying if I answered that either way…” She swallowed, “As for how you’re feeling, I’ve been under love spells before and granted you usually don’t know you’re under one when you are, but if the feeling’s part was being fabricated, we…we wouldn’t be able to fight this like we are. We would have probably already slept together.” She blushed, looking down. “Fabricated feelings they’re false obviously, but they’re very strong…strong enough to make people dangerous. If what we were feeling was a manifestation, you wouldn’t have these doubts Clark, you wouldn’t even realize there was doubts to be had.” She met his eyes then, her expression serious and stoic. “And as for the fear part, I didn’t want to get into it because…” She sighed again. “You remember how I told you that Angelus showed up right when I was starting to get my life back together?”

Clark nodded, “I remember.”

“Well, what I didn’t say is that I was planning on retiring.” She rolled her eyes, “I had this grand plan of going back to school and getting a degree in Art History and moving to Hawaii to open a gallery.” She shook her head, “It was stupid, I know.”

He immediately shook his head, “That doesn’t sound stupid at all.”

Buffy blushed. “I just mean it was stupid that I ever thought it could happen.” She shook her head, “Anyway, I started training a girl named Rayanne when we were first getting the new Watchers Council on its feet. She was bright, witty, resourceful and she already had the makings of someone who could be an excellent leader.” She looked at her feet, her hands clenching. “Me and Giles had agreed, in three-years-time, when Ray was eighteen, she would step in and fill my shoes. Faith didn’t want the position and the only other possible candidate that actually did, I flat out refused due to her inability to get along with just about anyone but Willow. I mentored Ray for over a year and she became…well, like a little sister to me. After the whole General Voll fiasco, I was ready to promote her to Senior Slayer status. She had been on it more than any other girl at the compound, helpful and demanding when need be. She’d fought through a horde of zombies and we came out of it with zero losses. The attack was completely unexpected and if she hadn’t been there, I don’t know what I would have done.” She met his eyes, “I was so proud of her.” Buffy sighed, “A few months later is when the first girl, Alicia went missing, and by the time Ray disappeared, there were already six that seemed to have just dropped off the planet.” She swallowed, “Angelus revealed himself and killed Giles a few weeks later, and almost three weeks after is when we found Alicia. She was the first and youngest to go missing and she was the first he dropped on our doorstep.” Buffy shook her head squeezing her eyes shut, “I knew what he was doing to Rayanne then, and that she would probably get the worst of it because of her association with me. Alicia was just a taste of what Angelus was capable of.” She opened her eyes, meeting his. “I wanted to have Spike claim me so we would be strong enough to save her and the rest of them, and I was scared because I knew I’d be asking for the wrong reasons. I was afraid Spike would know it too and I would only hurt him by asking. Does that make sense?”

It was Clark’s turn to avert his eyes. “Yes,” he said quietly.

She pulled out her phone and began to scroll through it, “Well just in case you have any doubts…” She swallowed, “I don’t even know why I kept this. Angelus loved tormenting me and we didn’t know it at the time but there were several Watchers from the old regime who were very unhappy with the way we were running things. Some of them made deals with Angelus, gave out my email and phone number and my location.” She looked at him, her lips pursed in anger. “One of them would even take video or pictures, documenting my pain for him when he couldn’t be there hiding in the shadows to see it.” She handed him her phone, “I’ve never watched this one, it’s the morning I found Rayanne, he saved her for last. I don’t need to see it, I lived it.” She nodded at her phone, “When he sent it, I didn’t even open it. I just dropped it in an archive and it’s been there ever since.” She shook her head, “I highly recommend only opening the third video file, the one that says, ‘Are you broken yet?’ She met his eyes then, “The first two will be what he did to her. So, unless you feel like throwing up, I would skip those.” She gestured with her chin at the double doors. “I’ll be in there beating on a bag, meet me when you’re done.”

She turned without another word and went through the double doors not looking back. Clark looked down at the phone swallowing heavily, before opening the file. The video began with the image of the front of a house, not unlike the one they were in now, except there was a large tree in front and something very obviously dangling from it. It looked to be sometime in the middle of the night or perhaps early morning, but he couldn't tell either way due to the lights on the house illuminating everything.

The person carrying the camera ran towards the house and a refined British voice in distress yelled, "Ms. Summers, come quickly. I think it may be Miss Stevenson."

The front door flew open and there she was, except she looked nothing like she did now, her eyes were wild, feral even, and she was so pale and sucked up. She looked hollow, worn-down, nothing like the girl he’d spent the last couple of days getting to know. The scream that tore from her lips and the look on her face when she saw what was hanging from the tree, tore through him like a tidal wave of emotion. Clark felt himself growing angry at the Watcher, who was obviously playing both sides. Another man with bleached hair and nothing on but a pair of black jeans came flying through the door next, his eyes wild and worried.

The camera panned and followed Buffy as she ran out to the tree, falling to her knees and screaming again. Clark saw what was in the tree then and his stomach almost rebelled right then and there. It was a young girl, no older than sixteen and the only skin left on her body was on her beautiful face and near her pelvic region. The girl’s expression was frozen in a horrified scream that no one who cared ever had the chance to hear. A large white sheet wrapped itself tightly around the girl’s wrists and tied over the lowest branch, the excess linen draping behind the dead girl as some sort of sick backdrop silhouette for the body hanging lifelessly from the tree. There was hardly any blood to speak of, just a pinkish residue from where the body had touched the clean white linen, which told Clark she had been dead for more than a few hours. It wouldn’t be visible to a human through the recording, but because of his enhanced vision Clark could even see puncture wounds in places and deep gashes from where the girl had been restrained.

The blond man came into the picture then and the Watcher came towards them, circling around so he could see Buffy’s expression, or at least that’s what he assumed the person with the camera was doing. Buffy's mouth was open in silent gulping sobs, giant tears dripping down her cheeks.

“Love,” The blond man whispered in an apparent British accent not nearly as refined as the Watchers Clark had heard so far. The man fell to his knees behind her looking up at the tree. He shuddered as tears sprang to his electric blue eyes. “Don’t look Buffy…please kitten, please go back in the house.”

The man placed his hand on her shoulder, and Buffy turned at the gesture and Clark could no longer see her face as she flung herself into the man’s arms and began to sob harder. “It’s Ray,” she howled. “Oh god, it’s Ray.”

“Shh,” The blond man hushed, rubbing hands along her back in a comforting gesture. “I know,” He choked. “I know, love.”

“We…we can’t leave her like that.” She sobbed. “I-I have to get her down.”

Clark watched the blond man close his eyes and shake his head, “I’ll do it. Go back in the house, please Slayer.”

“No,” Buffy shook her head as Clark caught the silhouette of another man flying from the house and over to them. The sound of retching could be heard, and it took Clark a second to realize the sound came from whomever had just come from the house and seen the body. “It has to be me. Don’t you see, don’t you get it? I knew,” she sobbed. “I knew what he was doing to her and I didn’t do anything.”

“Oh, sweet girl, you’ve been trying to find her. We all have. This isn’t your fault.” The man choked.

“It’s not good enough,” She screamed, shoving away from him and falling on her rear, “And it is my fault, all of it! They were called because of me, because I was too chicken shit to just except the power that was offered to me!”

A sob broke from her lips, and she turned looking directly at the cameraman a sudden realization dawning in her hollow eyes. “You!” She snarled, her eyes flashing. “It’s you, isn’t it?” She started marching towards the cameraman.

“Ms.…Ms. Summers,” Whomever was holding the camera stuttered and then she was there, a well-aimed kick flying towards the camera before Clark saw sky for a few seconds.

“I’ll kill you, you son of a bitch!” She screamed suddenly hovering over the man, the wild fury in her eyes telling Clark that she had every intention of killing this man, and part of Clark couldn’t agree more. “No one else but an Angelus minion would have called me out here for Rayanne! Everyone else would know better!”

Clark watched as she threw a punch, the sickening sound of cartilage breaking ringing through the speaker as the guy howled in pain. The way her arms were angled next and the gurgling sound through the phone told him she was choking the man before three sets of arms suddenly grabbed her, pulling her off. Clark could hear the man wheeze as he tried to catch his breath while Buffy screamed and fought the three people who had pulled her away. Faith was one of them, and then the blond man, which Clark was pretty sure by now was Spike, and another man, tall, brunet, with an eyepatch. He saw Willow in the distance coming towards them and when she reached them, she touched Buffy’s shoulder before she could react and muttered a few words that sounded like Latin. Buffy suddenly collapsed and Clark realized Willow had put her to sleep. All eyes then turned towards the cameraman.

“Get her in the house, Xander.” Spike growled.

“Uh, Spike–” Xander started to say when Spike turned on him.

“Get her in the bloody fucking house, now!” He snarled, a sound like grinding bone emanating from the man as his voice altered to something more sinister. “I’m not going to kill him.” He said turning back towards the camera as two glowing amber eyes stared at Clark.

“Speak for yourself,” Faith said marching towards the man. “I’ve been getting those fucking emails too.”

“So have I,” Willow said, her eyes black as she stared the camera down.

“We won’t have to kill him,” Spike clarified as he fell in step with Faith. “Angelus will do that for us.”

“How you figure?” Faith asked, her eyes just as enraged as Buffy’s had been.

Spike suddenly sprung forward, his arm reaching out and a ripping sound emanated as the man screamed. His hand came back with what looked like a wad of hair. “This enough Red?”

“Plenty,” Willow said, sudden realization dawning in her black eyes.

“Now,” Spike said, a sinister grin stretching his fanged mouth, to the whimpering man. “The way I figure it, you got three options. The first being, you can go back to Angelus and give him this tape, at which point he finds out we now have a way to track you, and oh trust me Marcus, he will most definitely kill you for that.” Clark heard the man begin to sob, and part of him wanted to turn off the video at that point but couldn’t look away at the furious amber eyes that stared back at the camera. “Option number two, you can destroy the tape and run, which if we’re being honest would be the preferable of the three, but I’m sure you are well aware of the kind of wrath he would bring down on you if he didn’t get to see his almost masterpiece complete, so I’m sure you won’t.” Spike’s hand suddenly flew forward and the man screamed in pain, “Or option three,” He growled, “Where you run like a coward and keep the tape for leverage, hoping that your usefulness hasn’t run its course.”

He suddenly had the camera in his hands, staring directly into the screen his eyes burning into the lens. “Looks like your mole got ousted. This is your last one, Angelus. We’re coming for you and when we’re done there won’t be anything left.” The screen suddenly went black as the video cut off.

Clark let out a trembling breath looking around him and realizing he had slid to the floor at some point, his heart pounding in his chest. God, he didn’t know, he didn’t understand until that moment. That poor girl, no wonder Buffy was desperate. How many girls did she find like that before this one was left for her? How many videos did she force herself to endure before this one was sent, even Faith and Willow had said this wasn’t the first one? Clark squeezed his eyes shut, she had told him, so had Gunn but to see it. She was driven half-crazy by what that vampire had done and he could not blame her for that. What would he do if it was his mother in that position? God, he could only imagine.

He shakily got to his feet, listening as he heard the sound of a fist hitting leather, he walked to the doors and threw them open, not stopping when she paused to look at him. He had to reassure himself that she was okay, that she wasn’t that angry creature that he saw in the video. He went straight to her, his arms coming around her in a crushing embrace before his lips met hers. God, she was so strong, he didn’t realize how much until that moment. Buffy immediately melted into him, her lips parting for him as he slid his tongue into her mouth. She was such a small woman, everything about her was deceptively tiny, except her strength and fortitude both physically and emotionally. To go through what she had and still be able to function on a normal level was just short of a miracle.

He pulled away and looked down into her green eyes, haunted by her past but not dead and hateful like in the video. He bent down and laid his forehead against hers and closed his eyes. “I…” He started, “I didn’t…I’m so sorry Buffy.” He whispered, and he could still feel himself trembling. “I didn’t… You hear words like torture, rape, and murder but–”

“They’re not real until you see it for yourself.” She finished in understanding.

Clark sighed, hugging her closely, her head resting against his chest. “I get it now, not…but I understand how desperate you must have been to try and save the girls from that.”

He heard her sniffle, “I didn’t know what else to do. I watched all the others you know, even…even what he did to them. It was my fault, you see; those girls lost their lives because they had a connection to me.” She shook her head, “If they hadn’t been called, they would still be alive today.”

Clark pulled away and used his hand to raise her chin so he could see her eyes, “You blame yourself for every one of them that dies no matter how it happens, don’t you?”

She closed her eyes a shuddering breath hissing through her lips, before she opened them, meeting his gaze head on. “How can I not?”

He sighed, hugging her close again and shook his head. He had no response to that; he didn’t think she should. He didn’t think it was healthy, but he didn’t want to get in an argument about it with her right now either.

They stayed like that for a little while before she whispered, “You’re shaking.”

Clark nodded. “I know, the video…I’m still upset.”

She pulled away, meeting his eyes again. “Do you want me to show you how to throw a punch properly? The heavy bags have been warded well, we can start there.” She looked down, “It will…it will help relieve some of what you’re feeling at least.”

“Yeah,” He nodded in agreement. “Yeah, okay.”

****<S>**<S>****

To say Clark was a fast learner when it came to training would have been the understatement of the year. He was an absolute natural. He moved with precision and grace, sometimes striking so fast she almost didn't see him move.

As of now she was simply holding the bag for him as he got comfortable with the rhythm of landing punches and even with the wards on the bag, she could feel the impact of his strikes. At this rate she would need her suit within a few days to let him get the feel of fighting a moving target. At some point she might even bring him back to Cleveland to put him up against multiple fighters and see how he did.

"Remember to move your feet,” She reminded. "A moving target is harder to hit."

He nodded, bounced on the balls of his feet and struck, the impact of the punch making her bones rattle. "Whoa, nice one Clark." She laughed, "Felt that one in my toes."

He grinned, striking the bag again harder. "You were right," he said casually in between punches. "This does help."

She grinned, "Nothing like getting your aggression out with a bit of violence." And then she blushed, smirking, "Well almost nothing."

He chuckled as he threw a few more punches in quick succession, his own smirk forming on his lips. He had a mischievous look in his eyes and had just opened his mouth to comment when Buffy’s phone rang.

Buffy sighed, releasing the bag. "That will either be Wes or Willow."

It was now around three in the afternoon; Clark had told her he had to pick his mom up at six and it was an hour drive to Smallville from where they were. So, she was grateful that they were going to be able to get this taken care of before meeting his mom.

Buffy walked over to her phone and answered. "Hey Wes," she said in greeting. "What's the haps?"

He was silent for a moment and she could almost hear him roll his eyes at her butchering of the English language. "Willow," He began, "should be there shortly. Dawn would also like to see you. I told her I would call her once Willow was done securing the pendants."

Buffy frowned, “What? Why?”

“Dawn and I have come to the conclusion that one of the languages in the prophecy that I have been unable to identify, is most likely written in the script of Clark’s home world.” He paused, “We are going to need access to the ship, unless of course Clark can read it.”

Buffy looked at Clark and raised an eyebrow, but he quickly shook his head. “Only a few words,” He confirmed. “I think the computer on the ship might be able to translate it though.”

“That’s a negative, Wes,” Buffy answered, beginning to pace. “But he agrees that the computer on the ship should be able to do the job.”

“Very well, I’ll inform Dawn to dress accordingly. The ship is still in the same location I presume?” He asked.

“Whoa,” Buffy said halting her steps, realizing what he was suggesting. “You want us to go tonight? Clark has to pick up his mom from work, Wes.”

“I think it would be for the best. The sooner we get this prophecy translated, the better.” He paused. “Lorne told me I needed to send out more Slayers to India, Kansas, and Metropolis within the next two weeks and I would very much like to know if I should be sending two or a few hundred. If this prophecy gives any indication of what’s to come, I would very much like to know what it is.”

Buffy and Clark exchanged worried looks. “He only told me something was coming for Clark, and we’re gonna need all hands-on deck when it does.”

Buffy watched Clark swallow nervously. “He told me my time for hiding was almost up, but he said it was in the coming month.” His eyes widened in realization. “We need to translate that prophecy.”

Buffy nodded in agreement, “And I need to train you harder than just beating on a bag, which means it’s gonna be eight-hour days from here on out.” Clark opened his mouth to argue and she held up her hand, “We’ll get as much as we need to do in the mornings done, but if for whatever reason we can’t, I would loan you the money before I would let you lose your home.”

Clark frowned, “Buffy–”

“Take it from someone who knows what those kinda money troubles feel like,” She interrupted again. “I think in the scheme of things saving the world is a little more important than pride, don’t you?”

His frown deepened. “You think it’s going to be that big?”

“Lorne said all hands-on deck and it’s you. Someone coming after you has got to be as powerful, if not more.” She watched his face fall and reached out her hand out running it down his arm, “You’ll be ready, and now that we have a general idea of where this stuff might take place, we’ll all be even more prepared.”

“Wes,” she said, addressing the Watcher once more. “Were gonna need Willow to keep close, and I would call Illyria back from Cairo.”

“I agree,” Wesley said, just as a portal opened up and Willow walked through. Her smile melting away at the look on both Buffy and Clark’s faces.

“Uh-oh,” Willow said nervously. “I know that face.”

“Is that Willow?” Wesley asked over the line.

“Yeah,” Buffy said.

“Let me speak with her, please.”

Buffy held out the phone to Willow, who frowned but took it anyway. “Hey Wes,” Willow said in greeting as Buffy walked over to where Clark was standing looking more than a little worried.

“Hey,” she said quietly.

He attempted to smile but he couldn’t pull it off. “Hey, yourself.”

She bit her lip watching him, seeing the turmoil play across his face of having an unknown enemy out there that could be responsible for hurting others when they decided to rear their ugly heads. She didn’t blame him, if she needed to pull out her big guns as Lorne hinted then it could definitely get bad. She was optimistic however, because of what she’d had to face in her past. Clark didn’t have that same luxury.

“I-I know you’re not exactly used to going up against big bads, or having to fight gods,” she started. “But I promise you Clark, no matter what it is we’ll deal with it together. Tonight, I’ll have my sister meet us at your place and we’ll go to the ship and find out what this prophecy says. Whatever’s coming, we’ll deal. I promise you; we won’t lose.”

“How do you know?” He asked, a bit of hope showing in his eyes.

She stared at him seriously, “Because I don’t lose when it’s the world.”

His lips quirked slightly, and he opened his mouth to say something when Willow walked up to them. “Wes wants me to fit you for a suit,” She said to Clark, handing Buffy her phone before saying, “And, he wants to talk to you.”

As Buffy reached for the phone Clark said, “I already have a suit and it’s Kryptonian.”

Both Buffy and Willow blinked in surprise at his words, their voices ringing out in unison. “You do?”

He nodded, “Yeah, it’s on the ship still, but I have one.”

Willow smiled, “Well then, that’s gonna make this quicker. Can you bring it to me? I can enhance it with magic, add some safety features and protect you against the mystical.”

“Will that still work, even if the material isn’t of Earth?” He asked.

“Yeah Wes,” Buffy finally said into her phone, pulling herself away from the conversation. So, Clark already had a suit, she wondered what it looked like.

“So, for the time being I’m going to send fifty Slayers to each location, but keep the others on standby incase things go pear-shaped.” He said, already planning ahead. “I’ll also be moving quite a few closer to all three locations, that way all the girls have backup nearby. I think Willow should stay there at the safehouse that way she’s not far from either of you.”

“And Dawn, Xander, and the kids? They live in Metropolis after all.” Buffy asked.

“Perhaps you should explain the situation to her when she gets there. Staying there at the safe house with Willow might also be a wise move for them.” Wes said, adding, “As well as a few Slayers. I know Faith’s been itching to get out of Cleveland for a mission, maybe she and a few of the other girls should accompany her.”

“Just as long as it’s not Tanya, that girl’s a liability and she doesn’t listen to anyone.” Buffy said.

“I concur,” Wesley agreed. “Only the girls who are focused and dedicated will be allowed to participate in this mission. I would like as little casualties as possible.”

“I agree,” Buffy nodded, “What about the mystics, how many of those can we tap?”

“I have sixty-eight on file, I’ll start making phone calls now.” He sighed. “I’m just glad we have this much to go on.”

“Me too,” Buffy agreed. “I’ll call Dawn when Willow gets done here and tell her where to meet us and to put on her suit and a warm hat.”

“Very well,” he said. “Call me when you know more and I’ll begin the preparations.”

Buffy hung up, walking back over to Willow and Clark as they spoke to each other a bit awkwardly. “So, let’s get this over with Wills.”

Willow quickly nodded opening a small bag she brought with her. “So,” she said quickly. “These were a bit difficult to make since from what we’ve read the compulsion itself seems to be based purely on hormones as well as a need to unite your souls.” She looked at them both, “It took me a little while to find what I needed and even longer to put the spell together.” She sighed, “The pendants themselves will be made out of several crystals used to block compulsion, amethyst, ametrine, chrysocolla, and ruby.”

Willow pulled out two small corked vials filled with multicolored stones and handed them to both Buffy and Clark. “Now, hold out your hands and link your free ones together.”

Buffy and Clark did as she asked, holding their hands out palm up. Willow placed a vial in each of their hands and then covered them with her own hands, closing her eyes and beginning to chant. Buffy immediately began to feel her hand heat up and for a second it almost became unbearable and Buffy even watched Clark wince from the heat. It was gone just as quickly however and in its place were two hard looking marble like multicolored stones with a dark metallic chain that would hang from each of their necks. Buffy heard Willow mutter one more spell that she recognized to be a ward against breaking.

“Well go on.” Willow said smiling happily at her work. “Try them on, see if it worked.”

Buffy quickly slipped the necklace over her head and a sigh of relief left her lips. The sexual tension that had never fully abated her all day finally easing enough to where she wasn’t thinking about sex every few seconds.

Clark had a similar reaction, his face seeming to ease slightly, but Buffy was surprised when he turned to Willow and asked, “You said the compulsion is only based on hormones, does that mean any feeling we have that aren’t sexual are real?”

Willow nodded, “Of course, real love is something that can only be based off of free will. Its why love spells don’t ever work. You can’t force someone to love you.”

Buffy watched amused as Clark seemed to sigh in relief, and then quickly blushed when he noticed her watching him. “Come on stud,” she said hooking her arm through his and dragging him towards the door of the training room. “Let me go grab my stuff before we go get your mom,” a grin creeping over her face as she turned and wished Willow a good night and a promise to catch up tomorrow. “And for the record”, she added quietly as they walked out of the training room. “I still want to jump you, that hasn’t changed even with the necklace on.”

He quickly reached out to grab her arm, but she easily dodged him and took off down the hallway, a blush and a giggle leaving her lips.

Clark was suddenly there in front of her, a crooked and devilish smile on his lips. “Is that so?” And then his lips were on hers, his tongue sliding into her mouth as she squealed in surprise.

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alarawriting · 3 years

Text

52 Project #38: All We Wanna Do Is Eat Your Brains

Like “No Lullaby” at number 19 and “The Lake” at number 20, this is a songfic. Unlike those, the song itself -- Jonathan Coulton’s “Re: Your Brains” -- is comedic, so this is a comedy wrapped up in the skin of a horror story. Trigger warning for zombies, but no speaking characters get killed by zombies in this story.

-----

The fifth floor of the six-story Peaceful Pines Towne Centre shopping mall was entirely occupied by the business offices of the real estate company that owned and managed it, and many other similar shopping malls.

It was divided into two halves, the west side and the east side, with elevators in the center, and locked, heavy wooden doors between the two sides. At one point both of those doors had been unlocked. On the west side, there had been attractive, frosted glass doors leading to the reception area; those had been smashed. On the east side, there were security doors painted the same color as the wall. Those were locked, but could normally be opened with company badges. The system that allowed the badge locks to work had been unplugged, and the badge lock itself had been disconnected from the inside.

Once upon a time, the salespeople and the financial analysts and the C suite had all had offices or cubicles on the west side, and the IT people, engineers, and facilities management had all had offices or cubicles on the east side. HR had been on the west side, but right near the doors; all the people from that department were all on the east side now.

The bathrooms were in the hallway; the break room was on the west side, with the coffee machine, refrigerator and water cooler. On the east side there was nothing to support human life except air, the water cooler replacement jugs, and several packages of granola bars that one of the engineers had stashed in her desk.

The security cameras still worked, so it was quite possible to see, if you were looking at the monitor screens, a disheveled, pudgy man with short, straight dirty-blond hair, wearing a suit, with skin that was normally the pinkish-beige of a white guy but was now kind of grayish and also yellowish, standing in front of the security doors. “That you, Tom?” he said cheerfully.

“Uh, yeah?” The man on the east side of the security doors was tall and skinny, with black hair in a ponytail. He was also white, but had the kind of skin color which could maybe mean Greek, Southern Italian, Northern Middle East, or something like that, except that it hadn’t seen much sun in months, maybe years. It also had a bit of a sallow cast to it, but nowhere near as strong as the man on the other side of the doors.

“Hey there! It’s Bob, from down the hall. Good to see you, buddy! How’ve you been?”

“Uh… okay, I guess? Overall? Today hasn’t been great though…”

“Oh, I feel ya, buddy, I feel ya. Things were going okay for me, too, but now I’m a zombie!” Bob chuckled. “Isn’t it funny, the curveballs life throws you?”

“Uh, yeah. Funny. Hey, if you’re a zombie how come you can talk?”

On the monitors, they could see Zombie Bob shrug. “I’m no egghead. I’ll let the scientists figure that one out. But we’re not all dumb just because we’re zombies, you know. I’ve been the head of Strategic Marketing for two years now… oh, but I guess you know that!” Bob laughed. “I know, I know, we’re coworkers! I don’t have to explain my position to you.”

“Sounds like maybe a touch of memory loss, there, Bob,” Tom said.

“Nah, nah, I’ve just been meeting with so many new people today! This zombie thing, it’s really underrated. I know I was practically pissing my pants when I realized I’d been bitten, but now that I’m a zombie? Oh, I know I look kind of unhealthy, but actually I feel great! No pain, and I’m never gonna have to worry about dieting again! Yeah, I’m gonna miss French fries, but to be honest I was considering doing keto, and this is kind of like extreme keto, right?”

“But zombies eat people. Right?”

“Yeah, yeah, of course we do. Mostly brains, those are the best part. Hey, listen, Tom? Could you do me a solid here?”

“Uh… what do you want?”

“Ah, it’s not a big deal. I just need you to open up these doors so me and my new colleagues can come inside and eat your brains.”

Tom took several seconds to process this request. Finally he said, “Why, exactly, do you think we’d be willing to do that?”

“Hey, I know. It’s a big step, right? You just get a little bite, then you turn into a zombie and you live forever, long as you can keep eating, but we’re gonna be eating your brains, so you’re not gonna be turning into zombies. I can see why you’d be reluctant to do that.”

“Okay, so why did you ask?”

“Well, here’s the deal, Tom. You’re all gonna die screaming. It’s gonna happen. Maybe not this minute, but by the end of the day, it’s happening. So why put it off? Why put yourselves through the agony of anticipation? Just, you know, rip the bandaid off and get it over with.”

“Yeah, no. We’re not doing that.”

“Come on, I don’t think it’s unreasonable. All we wanna do is eat your brains. It’s not like anyone’s talking about eating your eyes here!” Bob laughed again. On the monitor, the elevator opened, and two more zombies came out. They began to scratch mindlessly at the security doors. “Hey, hey there, folks, we’re not getting through these bad boys unless they let us in. Save your fingernails and teeth for a softer target, okay?”

The zombies actually seemed to listen to him. They stepped back and stood quietly.

“I’m not sure you’ve fully thought this through, buddy,” Bob said in a genially condescending tone. “Don’t mean to nitpick here, but this isn’t much of a plan. I know you’ve got a few guns in there, and maybe you’ve got the extra water cooler jugs and the refills for the vending machine? But really, how long’s that gonna last? You haven’t even got a bathroom in there. Bet it’s getting pretty stinky.”

“We’ve got some supply closets over here , and some buckets. We’re getting by.”

“Yeah, well, it’s not like you can open a window and let some air in, or dump your buckets! Those windows in there, they don’t open. I know! I kept sending memos to facilities, asking if I could get a window that opened, and it was always, no, none of the windows open, they’re not designed that way! Guess they didn’t want any of C-suite to be able to jump if commercial real estate tanked again.” Bob laughed.

Tom stepped away from the door for a moment, speaking quietly and urgently to Nishant, who was waiting for an update. “They don’t know about the windows,” he whispered to Nishant, who grinned briefly, and then ran back toward the IT manager’s office. It was Tom’s office, but it was on this side, with his department, rather than on the other side where all the other managers’ offices were.

He returned to the door to talk to Bob. “We’ll get by,” he said.

“Whoo-ee. Only thing I can smell anymore is tasty meat, but I tell you, I don’t envy you. Hey, why don’t we compromise? You open up the doors so you can dump your buckets, and then we all come inside and eat your brains.”

“That isn’t much of a compromise, Bob.”

“Sure, Tom, but have you thought through your alternatives? I mean, what’re you gonna do, spend the rest of your lives locked up in half the fifth floor of the shopping mall? Good enough for now, I suppose, and maybe you’ll get used to the stink, but sooner or later you’re gonna run out of food and ammo. Guess you’re gonna have to make a tough call then, huh?”

“I guess so,” Tom said.

“No, I don’t envy you at all. The way I see it, your options are, die of starvation, wait for us to break down the doors and eat your brains, or let us in, and at least the third option’s pretty quick.” He laughed again. “Though I’m gonna be honest here, Tom, I’m gonna eat you nice and slow.”

Tom sighed. “I have to say, Bob, I’m a tolerant guy but I’m really leery of this lifestyle choice of yours. I mean, eating brains? Have you ever considered not eating brains?”

“Well, I’ve considered it, but frankly they’re so goddamn tasty, who wouldn’t? I mean, if you guys manage to hold us off long enough, maybe it’ll come to the point where you have to eat each other, and then you’ll be eating your own brains. It’d be better to just get it out of the way quick, don’t you think?”

“I think we’ll manage.”

“I don’t think you’ve really thought things through, though. But that doesn’t really surprise me. You were always a detail-focused guy, never had much of a head for the big picture. Always trying to solve the problem of today, even if it causes problems tomorrow. But me, the big picture is what I do.”

Tom had heard this particular spiel before. “So what’s the big picture, then?” he asked, as behind him Ekaterina tapped him on the shoulder.

“The big picture here is that you’re gonna be dead one way or another. The whole human race is gonna go, Tom. And by the way, I don’t appreciate your comment about my ‘lifestyle.’ I’d be reporting you to HR, but I’m pretty sure all of HR is on your side of the doors.”

“Who’s on your side?”

Bob laughed. “Oh, wait, I got it! You’re mad at the comment I made about gay lifestyles a month ago! That was supposed to be a zinger, right?” He chuckled again. “Well, you’ll be pleased to hear I don’t care about any of that stuff anymore. You remember Kevin, right? The graphic designer?”

Kevin had been 23 and engaged to a boyfriend who was a guitarist in a band. “I remember him.”

“Well, now he’s one of us, and that’s all any of us care about. Gay, straight, white, black, it doesn’t matter once you’re a zombie. We’re all united together.”

“When you say ‘us’. Who’ve you got?”

“Well, right off the bat we got Horace. You would never imagine how delicious he was. You’d think all that fat on his gut would be a problem, but I’m here to tell you, he was exquisitely marbled.”

Horace had been the CEO. Tom shuddered, as he removed his pants and shirt, stripping down to his underwear. “I meant, who’s a zombie?”

“Well, honestly, most of the folks over here, we ate them. I got bit on my lunch hour, and after I turned, I led a bunch of folks from the mall up here. They’re good people, though, Tom. Really focused and dedicated. Hard workers.”

“Working hard at eating people.” Tom handed his clothes to Ekaterina, and she ran them back tto his office.

“Hey, it’s hard work to catch you guys. It’d be a lot easier if you’d just let us in.”

“Okay, break it down for me, Bob. What’s our ROI on letting you in? Where’s the win-win?”

“Sure thing! Now you’re speaking my language, Tom. I think it’s really great that you’re willing to work with me on this.” In the monitor, Bob smirked. “So here’s the deal. We’re all really hungry and we really want to eat your brains. You’re stuck in half a corporate office with nothing to eat and nowhere to go the bathroom. And no toilet paper! Man, that's gotta be rough. So what I’m suggesting is, you let us in, we eat your brains, you don’t have to live through any more of this bullcrap, and you don’t have to watch your families and loved ones get eaten. What do you say?”

Tom swallowed. The laser printed message in 48 pt font, on the paper Nishant was holding up, said “15 FT SHORT.”

“I can see you’ve got some good points there, Bob. But we actually don’t want to get eaten, so I think we’re gonna stick it out for now.”

“I sympathize with that, Tom. And I appreciate how you’re listening and considering my proposal. I’d really like to help you out, any way I can. What if I offer fast mercy killing? We don’t start eating you until you’re already dead, and we bludgeon you to death fast, no biting and tearing. How’s that?”

“Give me a minute to run that past some of my people,” Tom said, and walked over to Nishant. In an urgent whisper, he said, “You can’t find any more cloth?”

Nishant, who was naked except for Western-style underpants, shook his head. “The bras and underpants for everyone here wouldn’t get us the rest of the way, either,” he said. “It’d be different if we didn’t have to support Jason’s weight=”

“No one gets left behind, Nish.”

“I know, but that’s why we’ve had to make what amounts to five ropes in parallel instead of just one, because Jason’s arms are not strong enough to support 400 pounds.”

“Okay, and is anyone proposing a solution?”

“Xi said we should toss down cardboard boxes, but they won’t take his weight either.”

Tom sighed. “I can probably stall Bob for another five, ten minutes tops. You’re engineers. Figure it out or we’re dead.” A 15 foot drop wouldn’t kill most adult humans, but it might well render a lot of them unable to run afterwards, and in a zombie apocalypse, that’d essentially mean death. “Have we got confirmation on the helicopter?”

“They say it’s on its way,” Nishant whispered, shrugging.

“Okay. I’ll tie him up as long as I can.” Tom returned to the door. “Sorry, that’s a non starter. I’ve got a counter-proposal for you, though.”

“Now we’re getting somewhere,” Bob said approvingly. “Hit me.”

“What if, and I’m spitballing here, you let half of us go, and you just eat the brains of half of us?”

On the monitor, Bob shook his head. “That’s not going to work for us, I’m afraid.”

“What about a quarter?”

“It’s logistics, Tom. There’s no way you get out of here except the stairs and the elevator, and they’re both overrun with zombies. I can’t control all the zombies in this mall, just my own people. You’re not getting to the bottom uneaten, and frankly, if someone’s going to eat you anyway, it should be me and my fellows. You can see my position on that, can’t you, Tom?”

“You could turn half of us into zombies, and eat the brains of the other half,” Tom suggested.

“No, afraid that’s not doable either,” Bob said.

“Mind filling me in on the decision process there?”

“No problem,” Bob said cheerfully. “We’re really hungry.”

“Huh. Well, I guess I can respect that, but that doesn’t get us past the hurdle that we don’t want to get eaten. You have any suggestions?”

“Sure, I can compromise a bit. I want to work this out with you, Tom. I’m not a monster.” He paused. “Wait. Technically, I guess I am. Huh. A horror movie monster.” On the monitor, he shrugged. “It doesn’t feel too different from normal!”

“I doubt most monsters think of themselves as monsters,” Tom pointed out.

“Hey, good point, good point.” Bob looked at his wrist, which did not have a watch on it. “Look, it seems like we’re at an impasse for the moment. I’ve got another meeting, so maybe we could wrap this up?”

“Well, we haven’t worked out a deal yet…”

Nishant came back. This time the 48 pt font on the paper he was holding up said “ROOF. JASON’S UP. REST OF US GOING.”

Tom nodded to acknowledge the message. He didn’t really want to know how his mostly nerdy and unathletic coworkers could have climbed to the roof in the first place, but it was only one story overhead, unlike the ground five stories below, so it was a good plan. He turned back to the door. “But if you have a meeting, I guess there’s no help for it.”

“Yeah, we’d better table this for now, sorry. We’ll come back to this. I know we can get to common ground, somehow. Just gotta work it out,” Bob said. “I need to report in to my colleagues who’re chewing on the doors. Real dedicated folks.”

“Sure, and I need to report to the engineers with the guns that that’s what they’re doing.”

“Hey, I appreciate you taking the time to hear me out! I know we’re all busy as hell, and time is the one thing we can’t get more of, right? Especially for you guys.”

“Not a problem, and I'm grateful for all the advice.”

“I’m glad you take constructive criticism well, “ Bob said, the genial condescension back. “Not everyone does. We’ll swing around to give another go at working things out later, and we’ll put this thing to bed when I bash your head open, all right?”

“Sure, if you don’t get a skull full of lead first.”

Bob laughed. “Man, Tom, you’re a funny guy! You should’ve done stand-up. See you later!”

As soon as he was gone, Tom ran for his office.

Bob seemed to have normal human intelligence despite being a zombie. As soon as Tom had realized that, he’d known he’d have to keep Bob distracted so the zombie couldn’t hear any of the sounds within, especially the sound of breaking glass. He was right that the windows weren’t designed to open… but that wasn’t much of a barrier for a dozen desperate engineers.(Well. Technically nine desperate engineers and IT personnel, and three desperate people from HR.)

It was a good thing Bob himself wasn’t an engineer, or he might have figured out what Tom had known, in a cold pit in his stomach, the whole time.

The security doors were nearly impenetrable. But the walls they were attached to were just standard drywall. And they didn’t even go all the way to the real ceiling – just to the drop ceiling where the wires were. So any zombie who knew that could climb up into the ceiling and then jump down. If zombies could keep their human intelligence, then it was just luck that only one of the engineers had been down at the food court earlier today when the zombies attacked, and he’d moved fast enough to escape.

The window in his office was shattered. There had been a heavy hammer in the facilities closet, and Alexey had managed to grab two guns and ammo from the Bass Pro store in the mall before coming up the freight elevator and getting in through the delivery door – which was, thankfully, on the east side. The glass on the fifth floor was thick, but between the hammer and a well-placed bullet, it had broken enough that they’d been able to smash the rest of it out.

Dangling just outside the window, where he could easily grab it and pull it inside, there was a cradle made of four ropes, where the ropes had been made by tying together scissored strips of everyone’s clothes. Tom stepped into the cradle, using the loops that had been tied onto the ropes to secure his wrists, and the straps on the bottom of the cradle to secure his legs. “Okay! I’m ready!” he yelled upward, and tugged on the cords.

His team pulled him up to the roof, with Nishant, Alexey, Xi and Timothy pulling on the ropes, and Jason sitting on the roof with the ends of the ropes tied behind him. Jason’s heart condition wouldn’t allow him to pull the ropes, but he could use his body as ballast to make sure none of the team fell. His face was pasty white, like there was no blood in his body, and he was breathing hard and sweating, but since Jason usually looked like that after any kind of minor exertion -- his heart was barely managing to do its job -- Tom wasn’t afraid he had turned.

Pete was holding one of Alexey’s two rifles. Ekaterina was unraveling the fifth rope and tying pieces of it around people’s waists and women’s chests, so they could have a tiny bit of modesty back.

“How did you guys manage to get to the roof?” Tom asked as he untied his straps and stepped out of the rope cradle.

“It was Ashley, actually,” Nishant said.

Ashley from HR was a petite woman, but in nothing but her bra and underpants, she was more muscular than Tom would have guessed. “ I do parkour and mountain climbing,” she said. “I’m not saying getting up here was fun, but you know, when the alternative is getting your brains eaten…”

In the distance he could see helicopters. “I know we contacted them already,” he said, “but let’s wave them down. Just to make sure.”

“We’ve got plenty of cloth to make flags,” Ekaterina said.

Tom wondered what Bob would think, when he and his zombies got the door open and found that they’d all gone through the window. The ropes had been pulled up, so he doubted that Bob’s first guess would be the roof… but Pete and Alexey were on guard with the guns, just in case.

Indrani, one of the programmers, leaned over the edge to see where they had come from. “Uh-oh,” she said. “They’ve found the window… looks like one of them is climbing out on the ledge.”

Alexey walked to the edge, cocked the rifle, and pointed downward. He fired. “Not anymore.”

They could all see the zombie fall. The shot hadn’t killed it – it was a chest shot, and they could see it flailing – but when it landed, a puddle of red appeared beneath it, including under its head, and it no longer moved.

“How much ammo have we got?” Tom asked.

“Enough to kill about 300 zombies, if every shot is perfect,” Alexey said.

“Which it’s not gonna be,” Pete added, somewhat unnecessarily. His brown hands were clenched so tightly on his rifle, the knuckles had turned white. “I’m… not the world’s best shot. I go to the range sometimes, get in a little bit of practice, but mostly I suck.”

“You’re probably better than most of us, though,” Tom said.

“I knew I should have gotten a shotgun,” Alexey complained. “At close range the rifle is almost useless.”

“You were under time pressure,” Ekaterina said. “If I’d been in the food court when a zombie turned and started biting people, I don’t think I would have been able to think clearly enough to go to the end of the mall and get a gun from the Bass Pro. Let alone two, and ammunition.”

“I think I see Bob down there,” Indrani said. “He’s… what is he doing?”

“Don’t fall off the side!” Timothy went to his knees rapidly, ready to grab Indrani’s ankles.

“I won’t. What are they doing?”

Rachel from HR peered off the side from a different vantage point on the left of the broken window. “They’re forming a human chain. Well, a zombie chain. One’s climbing on top of another and they’re holding onto each other.”

“That’s not good,” Pete said. “Alexey, you need help there?”

“No, stay covering the door to the roof.” It was chained and padlocked shut and the door was a metal security door, but who knew what would happen if enough zombies banged into it. Alexey took aim, and shot the bottom zombie of what was now a three-zombie human ladder, and all three fell. One managed to grab a ledge; the other two fell to the ground. One stopped moving; the other crawled feebly, her arms and legs obviously broken.

Tom looked up at the helicopter coming toward them. It had a rescue basket, large enough to fit all twelve of them. Twelve. The company had been thirty-three people this morning. He thought maybe one of the sales guys had been out in the field on a call, and the regular receptionist had been out sick, so… thirty-one people in the office had turned into twelve survivors. Plus some that had become zombies, like Bob.

A phone rang. Everyone looked at Donatella, the third of the refugees from HR. She was as underdressed as the rest of them, but she had a purse on her, made of a crunchy plasticky recycled material that no one had thought would hold up to the stress of being part of their escape ropes. The phone was ringing from inside it.

Donatella withdrew the phone, her hand shaking, and answered it. “Rose and Weldon Company, this is Donatella Antonucci, can I help you?” She listened for a moment. “Why don’t I put you on speaker?” And looked up at Tom. “It’s for you, do you want it on speaker?”

“Is it Bob?”

Donatella nodded. Tom rolled his eyes. “Fine. Put him on.”

“Hey there, Tommy boy! You there? It’s me, Bob, again.”

“Yes, Bob, I’m here,” Tom sighed. “No, we’re not going to let you in to eat our brains.”

“Yeah, I can see that you’re on the roof,” Bob said. “Who’s that with the gun? That Russian dude? Ilya or something?”

“His name’s Alexey, and yes.”

“He’s good,” Bob said approvingly. “But listen, Tom, it’s not too late to open up the door on the roof and let us in. We’re in the stairwell.”

“Then who’s trying to form human chains down there?”

“The correct word is ‘zombie,’ Tom, not ‘human’. Please don’t misattribute our species.”

“Okay, fine, who—”

“That’s Barry from Sales. You remember Barry, right? Always bragging about his workouts and his gym routines and the times on his runs? Well, turns out he wasn’t all hot air. I thought he got away from us – he sprinted off when we almost had him, and he was too fast for any of us to follow. But then an hour later he came back and joined us, because one of us had landed a bite and turned him. Isn’t that cool?”

“It’s really not as cool as—”

“I sure think it’s cool.”

“Bob, I’m a busy man, please get to the point.”

“Sure, Tom. I know your time is valuable, I don’t want to waste it. It’s just that you should know, Barry’s a talker, like me, so he has our colleagues doing the zombie ladder thing there, and I’ve taken us up to the roof, and I’m pretty sure we’re gonna manage to knock this door down sooner or later.” There was a “thump” from the chained, padlocked roof door. “So I’m just offering it up as an option here, you might want to consider just letting us come outside and eat your brains.”

The helicopter was getting larger, but the closer it got, it seemed the slower it was coming. “I imagine you could do that,” Tom said. “How many zombies you got in there?”

“Why do you wanna know?”

“No real reason,” Tom said. “Just, we’ve got a pretty defensible position here and a lot of ammo.”

“That’s good to hear. Makes it challenging. A good workout before dinner always makes the meal tastier, isn’t that what they say?”

“Actually they say you shouldn’t eat until half an hour after working out…”

“Pretty sure that’s a myth, Tom. But you could Google it on Donnie’s phone. I know you don’t have one of your own, I found it ringing in your office when I tried to call you.”

“So what’d you do, wardial numbers until you hit one that rang?”

“Pretty much, yeah. I probably should have thought of one of the HR ladies first, since I know they got over to your side before you closed the doors. By the way, Bart? In sales? You know, the guy who didn’t make it to the door before you shut and locked it? Dee-lish. Appreciate you leaving him for us.”

“Bob, have I ever told you what an asshole you are?”

“That’s really not professional language, Tom.”

“I know, but I’m standing here in my underpants and you want to eat my brains, so I’m not feeling very professional. I have a counter-proposal for you, though.”

“Oh yeah?”

“Yeah, I think you guys should strongly consider the merits of eating shit and then dying. Especially you. After fucking off so long and so far there’s no longer any off to fuck. And also going to hell, straight to hell, without passing Go or collecting 200 dollars.”

Bob laughed. “Man, you’re funny, Tom! I’m gonna miss these little chats after I crack that skull of yours like a steamed mussel shell and scoop out the brainy goodness inside.”

Another “thump” from the stairwell. Alexey shot another zombie chain, sending three more of them falling. “This is fun,” Alexey said. “Tell Bob I’m looking forward to blowing his head off. I want to see if he still has red blood or if it’s turned green like some of these guys.”

“I heard that fine,” Bob said. “Is that Alexey? I’ve always liked Russian food.”

“Were you this big of a clueless narcissist when you were alive, or is this just a zombie thing?” Tom asked.

“Oh, come on, Tom, I thought we had a rapport. I thought we were making some progress, working on this thing together.”

“Bob, when you and I worked together on identifying cities whose legislature might be open to letting us build a new Towne Centre shopping mall in their town, we had a rapport and we made progress. You really wanting to eat our brains is just not our problem and I don’t feel obligated to help you with that.”

“Yeah, what do you guys even do for the company?” Bob snarked. “We’re not an IT company, we don’t write programs. We develop and sell commercial real estate. All we ever needed was one dude to hook up our PCs to the Internet. We didn’t even need servers, we could have kept it all in the cloud.”

“We did keep it all in the cloud, Bob. We haven’t had servers in about five years.”

“So what did your department even do? How did you justify your salaries?”

“Among other things, your database marketing plans wouldn’t have gone very far if we hadn’t been maintaining the database… but that isn’t even the point.” The thumps and the sounds of the shots had grown more frequent, and the chain, somewhat rusty, was actually rattling hard. It was entirely possible that if Bob and his zombies just kept throwing themselves at the door, it would break open.

Again, not the engineers’ solution. But Bob, and Barry for that matter, seemed to have retained their normal human intelligence… not gained any intelligence. Bob hadn’t thought of makeshift explosives yet. Or shoving a long heavy-duty file into the crack and filing away at the chain. Or anything else that might work.

“I can’t hear you very well, Tom, what’s going on out there? Sounds like you’re standing right next to the air conditioner, or a generator?”

“I don’t know what you’re talking about, Bob, maybe it’s the line on your end,” Tom lied as the helicopter, finally above them, lowered its rescue basket. It was hard to hear Bob through the “whup-whup-whup” of the helicopter blades, but Tom made the effort to talk normally, rather than shout into the phone as instinct told him to do.

“What?”

“I said maybe it’s the line on your end,” Tom said, as rescuers directed Jason to sit in the exact center of the basket, and then had the rest of them spread out by estimated weight, to balance the load.

“What? I can’t hear you at all, Tom, what’s going on?”

Very loudly, because now he was in the basket and standing right under the helicopter and its whups, Tom yelled, “What’s going on, Bob, is fuck you!”

He hung up on the zombie and handed Donatella back her phone as the helicopter climbed, pulling the rescue basket into the air. “Block him.”

There was another human chain of zombies forming, now that Alexey was no longer in a good position to shoot them down. Tom, on the edge of the basket facing the building, stuck his middle finger up and leaned out as far over the edge of the basket as he dared, making the gesture at Barry and his zombie ladder as broadly and visibly as he could.

#52 Project #zombies #songfic #comedy

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rgrettes · 4 years

Note

heyy, I hope I'm not bothering but I've seen that you used to post about faberry and faberry fics like Shafd, and since I'm trying to find some faberry fanfics to read, could you please recommend me some of your favorites? Thank you :)

OKAY so this took me a whole lot longer than anticipated because I didn’t want to make it be like 500 fics long! But here, in no particular order, are my top 10 faberry fanfics! [excluding SHAfD of course bc whomever asked this definitely knows SHAfD!]I will be including trigger warnings/content warnings! Please be sure that you can handle the subjects before reading the content! Be safe and put your mental and physical wellbeing before a work of fiction!

10. Dirty Little Secret by patchesofink

Chapters: 77/77 [208k]

This fic would actually happen to be the first faberry fic that I ever read. I felt my little 15 year old self cry several times throughout this fic. It’s what first got me into writing fanfic, because I wanted to write as well as this author! There is a content warning so please be careful reading it if you are sensitive to topics mentioned!

Rachel has a secret and Quinn has figured it out - but will Quinn use this knowledge to exact revenge on Rachel for telling Finn that Puck was really the father or will she use her own experiences to help. WARNING - language and sexual content, r*pe.

9. I’ll Be by stix04

Chapters: 20/20 [330k]

God I was such a sucker for fake dating au’s as a young teenager and I’m most definitely a sucker for them now. This one I didn’t read right when it came out, I didn’t actually find it until it had finished but it still makes my top 20 because it’s just too good not to talk about!

Can Quinn pretend to be in love with Rachel just to get out of Lima? Can Rachel pretend to love Quinn so she's not so lonely in New York? And what happens when both girls realize they're no longer pretending?

8. Long Way to Happy by patchesofink

Chapters: 42/42 [104k]

This is the sequel to Dirty Little Secret and makes the list for being just as good as the original. This author is so talented and the story just resonates in my soul!

warnings for sexual content, language, violence and potential ptsd triggers!

Sequel to Dirty Little Secret. Rachel still has some healing to do as well with dealing with becoming a mom. Quinn has her own issues to deal with. Can their fledgling relationship deal with the ups and downs of life and cope with senior year? Quinn learns to open up and Rachel deals with motherhood and not letting her past define her. It's a Long Way to Happy.

7. Leather Jackets and Bad Coffee by antonius

Chapters: 11/?? [75k] [has not updated since 2018 :(]

Bikers, 50′s style diners, and good girl/bad girl pairing. Literally who could ask for anything more? I’m super sad this one hasn’t updated in a long time but it’s still such a fun read!!

warning for violence!

Ninety miles and nearly two hours from the heart of New York City, just off of PA-33 North, is the little town of Belfast, Pennsylvania: population 1,257. Right outside the city limits sits Moe's, a small 24-hour diner whose newest waitress, Rachel Berry, has taken her best friend Kurt's advice and started a calm summer temp job away from the hustle-and-bustle of busy city life in order to rest up before her final year at NYADA.During her very first midnight shift, she encounters a group of rowdy regulars led by a pink-haired woman with piercing hazel eyes. Quinn Fabray is the leader of the Skanks, a small but well-known local biker gang that doesn't take shit from anyone.So began the strangest summer of Rachel Berry's life.

6. Talk by saintdyke

Chapters: 17/? [43k] [last updated may 2019]

This is another one I’m sad hasn’t updated in a while! This honestly stole my heart to a point that in the time I found it in mid April 2019 and June of 2019 I have re-visited the fic 105 times, rereading it at least half as many as that. I’m really hoping the author comes back to the fic, because it was keeping me on the edge of my seat.

warning for violence, abuse mentions and depictions, homophobia and ptsd triggers!

(Previously titled Grease Stains, Starry Skies) Famous actress Rachel Berry’s car breaks down in the middle of nowhere. A pretty blonde with a blue truck rescues her from the side of the road, and just so happens to own an Auto Repair shop in town. Quinn is frustrating and mysterious, and Rachel is just as stubborn. Together, they start a revolution.

5. Just off the Key of Reason by iamapanda

Chapters: 30/30 [129k]

This one is another absolute classic in the Faberry fandom, and is another fic that has stuck with me throughout the years! It has a fantastic softer take on Quinn that I truly appreciated because everyone back in the early years of the fandom would make her so angry and bitter and she’s just so soft in some interpretations

Rachel Berry is a successful Broadway star with a new roommate, the very odd, naive Quinn Fabray. It starts with a note on the fridge and a childishly scrawled doodle of an elephant. Everybody has a little crazy in them.

4. Still off the Key of Reason by iamapanda

Chapters: 37/37 [185k]

The sequel to Just off the Key of Reason! Still as soft and as crazy! I can’t mention one without having the other in the list as well! I can’t explain how it feels to look at the ff.net pages after so long, my heart is transported back to 2011 and I’m sitting on my bed after I’m supposed to be in bed. I miss the days where I could just spend time reading these fics and not having adult responsibilities.

Quinn is thundering her way through vet school. Rachel is enlightening the west coast with her talent. The story continues with a wedding, dogs in tuxedos, and Pooh Bear vows. Crazy never fades.

3. A Million Miles of Fun by Jade8Devlin

Chapters: 12/12 [103k]

This one is a little different from the last ones! It isn’t my favorite because of its literary genius, but because of how fun and out there it is! It’s concept is fresh and dark and something I honestly didn’t expect to see but it quickly grew to be a favorite for me!

warning for violence, abuse, mentions of murder! the whole story revolves around The Unholy Trinity + Rachel murdering Quinn’s family so please take that into consideration!

And in Lima, Ohio, a man and woman were killed earlier today during what is believed to be a home invasion. Russell Fabray was last seen leaving Gas'N'Go at two o'clock; his wife, Judith, from a grocery story an hour earlier. Police are linking the double homicide to the area's recent surge in breaking and entering – though these appear to be the first fatalities. The victims are survived by their daughters; Quinn and Stacey."Jessalyn Briggs shuffles the papers on her desk, clearing her throat. The somber expression on her face seems to float off her as she turns towards camera 3."Otis-the-Otter finishes today's news headlines as the little critter that could. Abandoned by his mother and found foraging for scraps in the Nelson family's garbage cans, Otis has proven; if you can't teach an old dog new tricks, teach them to an otter! Otis placed second at this year's Ohio Dog Show after last year's well-documented struggle by the Nelson family to allow Otis to be included. Well done Otis, we here at Channel 43 salute you.

2. The Silence of Silence by your.kat

Chapters: 31/31 [135k]

This one... I can’t describe why I liked it, I just liked it.

warning for mental health, and trauma [possible others, please read with caution]

Quinn and Rachel meet at Haverbrook under unusual circumstances. Why is Rachel silent? And why does Quinn care? "You can hear," Quinn said simply, "but can you speak?"; "Yes," Rachel signed. "I can speak. But silence is a friend who will never betray."

1. Kissing Quinn Fabray by vondrunkaton

Chapters: 6/6 [45k]

This one just makes me super warm and fuzzy inside. I don’t think I can say it’s entirely changed my life but it’s just so soft and i love it

Quinn comforts Rachel after Finn says something oafish. Rachel is surprised by how sweet Quinn is. There's also some making out in delicious detail. Fluffy getting together fic.

I am super open to talking about more fics I love/like and other pairings! This was a ton of fun to talk about and sent me down memory lane! I went searching for two hours on a vague memory of a fic that I think has been deleted by now. But if anyone wants to help me track it down! Hit me up and I’ll give you the details!

#faberry #glee #rachel berry #quinn fabray #faberry fic #god please someone help me find this fic #Anonymous

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niall-is-my-dream · 5 years

Text

Lost Without You - Part Eight

2695 words

Catch up below

https://niall-is-my-dream.tumblr.com/post/186235732118/lost-without-you-masterlist

Six weeks later

You had just finished sorting out your bag for work when the door buzzer went, it was early only 8am but you knew who it was. After buzzing the person up you went and opened your front door.

"Bonjour, Mademoiselle Emma Pearce?" Hello, Miss Emma Pearce?

"Oui, c'est moi." Yes, that's me.

"J'ai une livraison pour vous. Signez ici s'il vous plait." I have a delivery for you. Please sign here.

"Bien sur." Of course.

You took the electronic device from the delivery girl, your eyes wandering over the huge bouquet of flowers in her arm as you signed your name.

"Ceux-ci sont pour vous." These are for you. She said with a smile.

"Merci." Thank you. You replied.

You took the bouquet from her and waved her a goodbye. After closing the door you made your way over to your kitchen. When Niall had first started sending you flowers on a weekly basis, you hadn't owned a vase. You'd had to make a trip to the local store a few blocks away to invest in a few. The arrangement was always the same, an exact replica of the flowers he had sent you the day after he met you.

Your city centre Paris apartment was small but perfectly formed. It kind of reminded you of your dorm room actually, a small area with your desk, a kitchenette, the living space had just a sofa and a tv in. Around the corner of the L shaped room was your bed. Off of that was the shower room with a basin and toliet. You were only here for 3 and a half months so the space didn't bother you. A big two bedroom flat was waiting for you at home in London and anyway you were in Paris it didn't matter about the size of the apartment! You were living the dream and using the degree you had spent three years slugging your guts out at University for.

While lying in bed with Niall the day that you almost lost him, you had agreed to FaceTime weekly on a Sunday and to text everyday. Even if either of you were busy, a simple heart was to be sent to show you were thinking about the other.

Hearts were sent frequently from both of you, especially when Niall was in the U.S. Time differences made it difficult for you to both be free to speak at the same time everyday. Work was busy for both of you and the messages over the last four days had been just full of hearts, some from you and some from him.

Being in the Paris office of Foundation Interior Designs was amazing but challenging. Luckily you had taken A-Level French so could hold a decent conversation and read an email. Google translate was also your best friend. Everyone was sweet in the office and you had made friends with Francine and Gabriel. You went for coffee together and they had invited you to dinner with some of their friends.

You definitely missed Hannah and Jess, although they had already taken advantage of your living status and caught the Eurostar to Paris three weeks after you arrived. You had spent the weekend with them being a tourist and chatting about anything and everything.

When you're used to seeing someone everyday it is strange when all of a sudden they are no longer living right there in the same city as you. You missed hugs from Audrey and obviously her coffee and pastries. You missed joking with Jasper and Luke at the pub, but most of all you missed Niall.

And he was coming to stay the night in 2 sleeps time. In fact he was staying two nights.

He had been the one to count it down in sleeps. When he knew his plans for definite, he had text you a count down of when you'd get to be together.

Niall was in London at the moment, just a short flight or train ride away. He had interviews on some of the main UK radio stations and was then coming to Paris to appear on a Saturday morning broadcast. Then he was yours until he flew to Germany on Monday morning.

You had estimated him to have about 44 hours with you and you couldn't wait.

Being apart had been hard, but your slight wobble about it was past you.

Ok major wobble.

You'd been so confident when you'd first met him. But as time went on and your feelings grew you had found yourself to be a complete mess. Having always been someone who didn't take risks, being with Niall was a big one. The constant travelling and being apart and his high profile status were just a few of the things that worried you. Getting hate because you were with him was a worry, but the main thing you were concerned about was getting your heart broken.

You put the flowers that had been delivered in a vase and placed them on your coffee table. The ones from last week were still blooming, those were sitting on your chest of drawers in the bedroom area. Taking the card between your fingers you opened it to find just a few words.

Just 2 more sleeps now Petal. Can't Wait! N x

When you arrived at the office an hour later you got yourself a coffee and set to work. You hadn't been sure what your internship role would entail, but you were pleased that it wasn't just making coffee or note taking. Jacqueline was the boss in the Paris office and her fiery red hair made her look feisty and fierce, but she was actually a really sweet woman. She wanted to make sure you learnt everything you could from her and her team while you were in Paris.

With a huge contract coming in just a week after you arrived, you found yourself in full on design mode. Everyone's ideas for a full refurbishment of a stunning hotel in a town not far from Paris were taken on board.

You had just finished up some ideas for the main reception area a few hours later when Gabriel came by your desk.

"Coffee break?" He asked. Although your day to day meetings were in French a lot of the time, your colleagues were sympathetic to you and would often speak in English to you.

"Yes please."

The break room was empty when you arrived, and Gabriel went straight for the coffee machine. After being in the office for 7 weeks now, you had got to know him and a few of your other colleagues well.

"Do you have any plans for this weekend? Christopher and I are heading out for food and drinks Saturday night." He asked you as he made the coffees.

"I'm sorry I cant, I have my boyfriend coming in for the weekend."

"Oh I forgot, are you excited?!" He replied as he handed you your cup.

"Yes! I've missed him. Can't wait to spend the whole weekend with him."

"He hasn't been to visit yet has he?"

"No, he's been busy with work."

"It's sad that you've had to be apart for so long."

You nodded in agreement but didn't say anything, choosing to take a sip of your coffee instead. It wasn't that you were keeping Niall a secret or anything but you weren't ready to share that your boyfriend was Niall Horan. You had kept information of your relationship to yourself. Privacy was really important to Niall and you respected and understood that. All your work colleagues knew was that he travelled a lot with work and that his line of work was music. You hadn't elaborated anymore than that. In fact the only people who were aware that you were in a relationship were Hannah and Jess, your parents and your brother Rob.

Gabriel asked about your plans for the weekend and you weren't sure what you and Niall were planning to do. He wiggled his eyebrows and laughed telling you to at least venture outside to see some sights. You blushed at his words and he laughed even more.

*********

When Saturday finally arrived you got up early to prepare for Niall's arrival. Usually on a Saturday morning you would have a lie in. The days at your internship were long and there was a lot to learn so by the time the end of the week came your mind was flooded with information. But with Niall due in just a few hours you were up, dressed and your small studio apartment was spotlessly clean.

Making your way down the stairs of your building you wrapped your coat around you as you braced the October morning. With no car you were happy to see it wasn't raining and would be able to make the 20 minute walk to the supermarche. With hardly any food left in your fridge, you had planned on stocking up on some things for your weekend with Niall.

After buying too much stuff to carry home, you caught a taxi back and managed to get all the bags up the three flights of stairs and put away before Niall arrived.

When the buzzer went off you to alert you that he had arrived, you couldn't help but feel the butterflies in your tummy. Finally after almost 7 weeks you'd get to see him again. Reaching for the button, you held it for a moment as you spoke.

"Hello."

"Hi, it's me." He said.

"I'll buzz you in, straight up the stairs, three flights unfortunately!" You replied smiling.

A quick check of your appearance in the mirror was of no use. Even if you weren't happy about it, Niall would be at the door in just a few minutes. A pair of plain black leggings and an oversized off the shoulder burgundy top was what you had chosen to wear this morning. You'd fretted about it for ages before deciding that keeping it cute and casual was the way to go.

Making your way to the door, you opened it just as Niall had reached the bottom of the last staircase. His eyes never left yours as he made his way up the steps. Your body suddenly felt flush under this gaze.

He had his large leather overnight bag on his shoulder and some similar sized paper shopping bags in one of his hands.

As he crossed over the threshold you couldn't help but breathe him in. Your fingers were shaking with anticipation as you closed the door and locked it. Niall had placed his things down on the floor by the side of the sofa and took the few steps towards you as soon as his hands were free of his belongings.

"Missed ya so fucking much." He whispered as he took your hands in his and wrapped them around his neck.

"Missed you too." You whispered back.

Resting his forehead against yours, he gently nudged your nose with his. You had only been apart once before, when Niall had spent three weeks in L.A. at the start of your relationship. At the time you weren't even sure of what the two of you were. All you knew was that you'd been so desperate for each other when he came to your dorm when he arrived back in the UK, that you both were still half dressed as he fucked you against your dorm room door.

This time however when he finally brought his lips to yours he was savouring every minute of the kiss, taking his time to reacquaint your lips with one another. The feeling of your body finally being held close to his was what caused you to melt against him. Allowing him to lead the kiss, when your body was high from the feeling that you'd been missing.

Who knows how long you'd stood by the door kissing each other. Time meant nothing at that moment.

Niall's lips moved from your lips and across your jaw, his teeth nibbling at your throat when a satisfied mewl came tumbling from your lips.

He brought his face up to yours at the sound.

"Been so lost without you, so fucking lost. Facetiming just once a week with a few messages in between has been shite."

"You agreed that was what would be best considering our difference time zones." You replied to him, your face buzzing with a smirk at his frustration.

"Well I was fucking stupid." He smirked back. "We need to FaceTime more!"

"Lets not argue about this now. How about I take you to bed and show you how much I missed you?" You said with a wink.

"Well, we are in the city of love." He joked.

You burst out laughing at his answer.

"Oh my god I can't believe you just said that to me!" You snorted.

"What?!"

You continued to laugh until he picked you up and you wrapped your legs around him with a squeal.

"Niall!"

"Come on love let's get you naked."

*******

How long is too long to lay and just stare at one another?

You had no idea how long it had been. His finger tips had been slowly drawing circles on your bare hips. The thick quilt you had on your bed was pulled up to your shoulders and you lay on your sides just looking at one another.

As much as you loved your city centre apartment, it was an old building and a little drafty. It had bothered you when the weather has begun to turn colder, but right now your naked body was warm and cosy.

"Could lay and watch you all day." You whispered.

"Mmmm." Niall replied moving closer to you. "Same to you."

His lips brushed softly against yours, tender and sweet.

"Shall we chill out here for a bit, then go do some sightseeing and dinner?" He asked you.

You looked behind him and noticed your alarm clock showed it to 2:34pm.

"Will it be ok for us to be out in the city? Aren't you worried about getting spotted together?" You replied, laying back down.

"It'll be fine. We can go out when it gets dark, I've heard the city is great to explore when everything is lit up. I can ask Basil to come with us if you'd prefer?"

"No, I'm fine about it if you are."

And you were. This was how much your relationship had developed over the last few months. Emma, the non risk taker was taking a big risk being in Paris, being away from home, being in a relationship with a celebrity and you were embracing the risk.

Call it getting older, maturing or just falling in love. You weren't going to shy away from things.

"Well I'm going to jump in the shower and then make us some late lunch. We can head out and grab dinner a bit later. We could go for a cruise along the river and go to this amazing bistro that Gabriel told me about."

"Gabriel?"

"Yeah, my friend from work. I told you about him. He and Francine have been great, inviting me out with them and stuff since I arrived."

"Oh yeah, I remember." He replied, and you could instantly hear the jealous tone in his voice.

You couldn't wipe the smirk off your face at his reaction.

"Gabriel is married." You said slowly. "To someone named Christopher."

His eyebrows furrowed.

"Oh..... Hey I never said anything." He replied, trying to act innocent.

You laughed at his jealous nature.

"Niall you're the one who's a lusted after musician, shouldn't it be me that acts jealous?!"

"I wasn't acting jealous!" He protested.

"Yeah you were, but it's quite cute actually."

"Wasn't." He mumbled.

You sniggered at his reaction as he cuddled into your side. His face resting in the crook of your neck.

"Come on jealous boy, lets get showered and changed. I'll make us a late lunch."

"Stay and cuddle for five more minutes." He begged, his breath tickling your neck causing goose bumps to erupt on your skin. "I've missed you."

Part nine

https://niall-is-my-dream.tumblr.com/post/188653210248/lost-without-you-part-nine

Tag list

@awomanindeniall

@horanscran

@flnialler

@winchesterwife27

@ihearthemcallingforyou

@niallismymuse

@someoneunimportantxx

#Niall #Niall Horan #Niall fan fic #Niall Horan fan fic #Niall fan fiction #solo Niall #Niall fluff #Niall smut #boyfriend Niall #Emily writes

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17mounteens · 6 years

Text

Frustrations (Jihoon)

Request:

hello it is i here to re-request :) can i request jihoon + this prompt "he's all tired from work and rather,, frustrated and seeing his babygirl in too short pajama shorts isnt helping either" thank you!!!

» Smut.

» Jihoon is tired from work as well as sexually frustrated after not being able to see you for a while nor having had time to do anything himself. Seeing you again, in particular wearing short, tight pajama shorts, does nothing to help.

» If you’re using the tumblr app and can’t see the scenario, which is under a “keep reading”, please try opening the post in your phone’s internet browser (or a computer)! 💕

» 4,269 words

Jihoon held back a sigh and got up from his chair to stretch out a little. It had been yet another long, exhausting day in the middle of so many other similar days, filled with practicing, evaluating, planning and, at the end of it, locking himself up in his studio to work on some rearrangements and drafts for future songs.

He knew it was partially his own decisions that made the days get so long, but he couldn’t help it - as a dutiful perfectionist who felt like the group depended on him a lot, which it did, Jihoon wasn’t able to just relax after practice.

He had to do more, especially now that they had a tour coming up, which meant that he wouldn’t be able to work quite as productively as he wanted to for over a month.

Finally letting out the heavy sigh, Jihoon moved his eyes to the clock on the bottom of his monitor’s screen.

11:30pm.

“I guess it could be worse,” he mumbled and got his phone from the desk. Upon seeing a message from you, sent some hours earlier, he got a small smile on his lips.

I’m sure it’s been another long day today, so I wanted to send you some strength! 💕

Attached to the message was a picture of you with a kitten, presumably owned by one of your friends, and the sight of you made his heart feel more at ease, although he also felt regretful about how it had been a while since the last time he had been able to meet you for longer than an hour or two.

Biting down on his lower lip, Jihoon began typing a message to you.

Thanks, that really gave me some strength. Are you still up? Can I come over?

He put his phone down and began shutting down all the programs he had open on the computer, after which he turned off the whole thing. His phone buzzed, and yet another smile-provoking message appeared on his screen.

I’m up and you’re more than welcome. It’s been a while 💕

Jihoon hummed to himself and replied that it had been way too long and that he’d be at your place in ten minutes - it was almost ironic how you lived closer to the building he did most of his work in than he did yet he couldn’t visit you too often.

So close yet so far - all too literally.

While walking to the building you lived in, Jihoon was lost in thought, simply thinking about how his life had been for the past weeks. It had been an eternal cycle of work, food and sleep with hardly a day off, and he wanted to rest on pretty much every aspect: he wanted to just physically lie down, mentally not have to deal with anything, and even socially he just… wanted a break.

But no matter how much he just wanted to spend some quality time alone, his desire to see you, whom he deeply loved, was greater.

During the busy weeks, Jihoon had really missed your smile, your presence, your touch… you’d spoken on the phone a few times and your voice had given him some comfort, but in a way it had also only made him miss you more.

And he didn’t exactly only miss you in a cute way, which had only become more prevalent as his frustrations began growing.

Soon Jihoon was taking the elevator up to the floor you lived in, and not much later you were opening the door to him. You wrapped your arms around him as soon as you saw him.

He let out a soft chuckle and hugged you back, hiding his face in your neck. “It’s so good to see you.”

“You, too,” you said softly and held onto him as though you were still making sure he actually was there. It was a minute later that you finally pulled away with a wide smile on your lips. “Do you want something to drink?”

“Yes, please. Maybe ice tea, if you have some,” Jihoon said warmly and gave your hand a squeeze before following you into your apartment.

He watched you go to the kitchen with a serene smile on his lips; he felt like he had just come home, in more ways than one, and he loved the comfortable feeling of it.

Once his gaze fell lower on your back, however, Jihoon swallowed hard.

You were wearing a pair of pajama shorts: tight, thin and so short that he could actually see the bottoms of your buttocks, and the sight was phenomenal.

The sight made his mind race, and he was almost painfully reminded of how lonely the past weeks had been. He wasn’t frustrated only professionally but also sexually; he hadn’t had the time or energy to jack off, much less to do anything with you, and the need to come had been plaguing him for quite a while. He supposed that’s why he had started to snap easier lately, although he had been putting the blame on stress.

Turned out that it wasn’t quite that simple.

Jihoon’s mind slowly trailed to the last time the two of you had had sex, and as he processed the memory, he followed you to the kitchen and sat down by the table to watch you get him a glass of ice tea.

It would’ve been exaggerating to say that he had forgotten how attractive you were, but he genuinely was taken aback by how amazing you looked with your shorts riding up even higher when you reached for a high shelf or how your shirt tightened around your chest when you poured his drink.

You looked fantastic, and it all, in particular the short shorts, had his jeans tightening and his sexual frustration making itself all the more known as he was dying to just fuck you hard and have you moan his name.

Biting down on his lower lip, Jihoon fell back into the memory of your last time together, when you had had quite likely the longest foreplay up till then. You’d done everything: touched each other’s most sensitive spots a lot, given words of affirmation, given some oral and masturbated each other while making out… by the time he pushed into you, you were drenched and desperate for your release, and he was just as eager to come, too.

It was understandably the hottest memory Jihoon had, and he felt blood rush to his cheeks when he was dragged back to reality by your voice.

“Jihoon?” you asked, sounding like you had just asked him something that he had completely missed, and let out a quiet sigh when he smiled and apologized. “It’s okay. You just… look really tired. Are you sure they’re not overworking you?”

“Oh,” Jihoon said dumbly and quickly thanked you for the drink before sipping on the tea. “Don’t worry about me. I’ve brought a lot of it upon myself on my own, so…”

“Doesn’t really erase the other members saying that you practice around the clock,” you mumbled as you sat down next to him and pouted a little, taking in just dark the areas under Jihoon’s eyes were. “And you have so many other things to do, too…”

“Yeah,” he sighed and lowered his head to close his eyes for a moment. “It is tiring, I can’t claim otherwise, but… in the end it’ll be rewarding, too.”

“True…” you muttered, still pouting a little. “Is there any way I could make it easier for you?”

Jihoon blinked and lifted his face again. His heart skipped a beat, and he licked his lips. “Well… could I stay over tonight?”

You nodded with a smile. “Of course. Anything else?”

He was silent for a moment before placing his hand on your thigh and stroking it a little. You quirked your eyebrow and were about to ask something when Jihoon gave you a small grin. “It’s been a while, hasn’t it?”

Jihoon had definitely not been the only one who missed being intimate, and you could already feel heat starting to pool between your legs. Grinning, you placed your hand on his thigh, too. “You have no idea how much I’ve missed you.”

“I think I can imagine,” he grinned and leaned in to kiss you passionately, tasting mildly of the lemon ice tea he’d just taken a sip of. You sighed contently into the kiss and placed your hands on Jihoon’s shoulders that you squeezed lightly as his hand slid higher on your thigh.

Just as his tongue began brushing your lips, you pulled back and looked at him with slightly hooded eyes. “Bedroom.”

He grinned while nodding and was quick to stand up and pull you up with himself, although as soon as you were on your feet, you took the lead and dragged him into your bedroom.

Finally in the dimly lit room with the comfortable full size bed as your destination, you turned around and wrapped your arms around Jihoon’s neck before locking your lips in a heated kiss. You poured the neediness of the lonely nights into how your lips moved against his, and Jihoon’s own frustrations became easily known through how passionate his kisses were and how quick his hands were to move to grab your ass and pull your body flush against his.

“I’ve missed you,” you breathed against his lips while starting to fumble with the button of his jeans. “And I need you.”

“I need you more,” Jihoon said quietly as he bluntly slid his hands into your pajama shorts to get a better feel of your ass. He grunted and took in a sharp breath. “Just wait and I’ll show you.”

“Show me what?” you asked playfully and pulled back, looking at Jihoon with a twinkle in your eyes while unzipping his jeans. You were fairly confident that you knew exactly what he meant, but you loved hearing him say it.

Jihoon’s lips tugged into a small smirk, and he spoke with a low voice. “How badly I need to fuck you.”

Biting down on your lower lip, you nodded and, placing your hand on his chest, began dragging it down on his body. “I can hardly wait.”

His breathing grew heavier as your hand moved lower on him, and right when you were about to palm his half-hard length lightly through his boxers, he grabbed your wrist and leaned to your ear.

“Let me be in charge.”

You merely blinked, surprised yet incredibly excited from the sudden sense of authority coming from your boyfriend, and grinned when he got your shirt and bra off you and helped you lie down on your bed. He got on top of you and gave you a long, deep kiss before starting to kiss his way down your body, pulling your shorts and panties down when he got low enough.

Threading your fingers into his newly dyed hair, you closed your eyes and focused on how fantastic it felt to feel his eager lips on your skin after such a long time, as well as his tongue gliding on your skin here and there. “Jihoon…”

Jihoon’s ears perked at the way you sighed his name, and it had him growing all the more impatient. He got your panties and shorts off you and, while kissing his way up your inner thighs, he got out of his jeans and boxers, too. Your breath hitched in your throat when his lips pressed on your clit lightly, and he grinned at your disappointed whine when he pulled back instead of giving you more.

“Not fair,” you huffed and looked at him with a pout on your lips, only to be met with his eyes full of determination.

“We’re not in a rush,” he hummed softly and began kissing your inner thighs again, stroking lightly the one that his lips were not on, and gradually moved higher again.

You breathed shakily because every kiss he placed on your sensitive skin made you grow wetter and needier, and so by the time he reached your pussy again, you were already sensitive enough for your back to arch involuntarily when Jihoon gave you a long lick.

He smirked to himself as he began eating you out, holding one of your thighs with one hand and sliding his free hand to his cock to stroke himself slowly. As he grew harder he also got more passionate and vigorous at eating you out, circling your clit with his tongue in ways that he knew had you weak as well as enjoying the way your arousal tasted on his tongue.

Jihoon loved the way you tasted just as much as he loved feeling your fingers in his hair, tugging at it lightly when you felt particularly good. However, eventually he could sense and feel how impatient you were getting, with your hips bucking against his face more and more frequently and quiet pleas leaving your lips, and so he gave your swollen clit one last lick before sitting up and wiping his face.

“You stopped,” you stated the obvious, turned on beyond belief as the only thing you could think about was just how badly your pussy was throbbing. Jihoon let out a low chuckle.

“I did,” he hummed and leaned down to kiss your neck, allowing his shaft to dip between your wet folds. “I figured we could do something else, too.”

You let out a content sigh and stroked his hair. “You sure you don’t want me to suck you off first?”

Jihoon froze for a few seconds, and you smiled to yourself when you felt him nod. “Now that you mention it…”

During the next few seconds Jihoon sat down on your bed and leaned back, supporting himself with his hands. You lay down between his legs and took his hard cock into your hand before giving it a long lick from the base to the tip.

“It’s been so long,” you mumbled half against his shaft and allowed your tongue to glide over it with ease. What you didn’t say, yet what you definitely felt was that you had missed it a lot - Jihoon himself in many ways, yes, but also his cock; how it felt in your hand, how his pre-cum tasted on your tongue, how it felt to have him in your mouth as deep as you could go…

You had missed it all.

Jihoon looked at you intently as you first merely licked his dick here and there, and when you got the head between your lips and sucked lightly, he hissed and bit down on your lower lip.

Oh, how he had missed seeing your lips wrapped around himself, especially when you simultaneously looked at him so sultrily.

“Good girl,” Jihoon said quietly and ran his hand over your hair slowly, which you took as a signal to go down, which was exactly what you did. He groaned when you took as much of him into your mouth as you were able to, moving your tongue on the underside of his shaft as you did so, and pulled your head back up with your cheeks hollowed. “Fuck…”

The hushed cuss word made you clench around nothing, and somehow it was all you needed to go all in on blowing him.

Five or so minutes later, when you were tonguing the slit of Jihoon’s length, his toes curled and you felt his hand on your shoulder. “E-enough, Y/N.”

The stuttering made you raise your eyebrows, and it was with a grin that you let his cock fall off your glistening lips. “Were you close?”

Jihoon merely nodded and let out a sigh as he held his orgasm back, and once he had calmed down a little, he ordered you to get on your knees with your ass up.

You obliged as readily as always and bit down on your lower lip when you felt his hands on your ass, spreading your cheeks and watching how your skin gave in under his touch. Soon you felt his cock grinding against your skin, dipping between the upper part of the area between your cheeks, and it made you let out a needy moan that was followed by more.

He was so close to being inside of you, and the fact that he wasn’t giving you what you most needed was driving you crazy.

Jihoon looked curiously at how perfectly his shaft was gliding between your ass cheeks, and while he was just as desperate to move on as you were, he still wanted to hear you let out that needy moan one more time.

“Please, ah… Jihoon...”

There it was.

Taking in a deep breath, Jihoon pulled back and guided the tip of his cock to your dripping entrance, figuring that since you were using another form of protection and only had sex with each other, being bare would be fine. He pushed in just a little before leaning down to press his upper body against yours. “Are you ready, baby girl?”

“Yes,” you whined and were just about to wiggle your hips a little when Jihoon began pushing into you little by little, clearly drawing out the pleasure of being encased in your warmth.

While pushing into you, Jihoon placed sloppy kisses on your upper back and shoulder blades, and only returned to your ear when he had bottomed out. “How is it?”

“Perfect,” you said quietly and looked at him from the corner of your eye with a small grin on your lips. “Go on.”

Smirking, he stole a quick kiss from your lips before standing up on his knees. He ran his hands over your ass a few times and spread your cheeks to see just how well your pussy was taking his cock, and the sight had him grunting and his hips bucking involuntarily. You moaned at the movement, which in turn made him hiss.

“God, this looks good,” he said half under his breath and pulled his hips back, taking in just how slick with your juices his cock was. You let out an appreciative “mm” and clutched on your sheets, and once Jihoon pushed back into you, you let out a moan and let your lips remain parted from sheer pleasure.

Jihoon breathed heavily as he began fucking you, loving every little detail of how it felt to finally be moving inside of you, and moved his hands to your hips so that he could take a good hold and pull your ass back against his pelvis with every thrust. Your toes were curling and you could feel pleasure starting to build inside of you hard and fast - it was all too obvious that you had needed to be fucked for a while.

He slammed hard into you time after time, and you moaned in bliss every time the tip of his cock hit a particularly sweet spot inside of you. Jihoon grunted when he felt your pussy clenching around him, and somehow both that and feeling you push against him on your own turned him on to the point where he was soon smacking your ass.

You whimpered at the sensation - just enough for it to feel sinfully good for you and for your ass to sting a bit afterwards - and found yourself only hornier afterwards. “More…”

“More?” Jihoon repeated and smacked your ass again, the sound of it mixing with the sounds of his hips hitting your ass. He grunted at the blissful moan you let out, and his hand met the tender skin of your ass some more times, working as a reminder of why the two of you loved having sex when one or both of you were frustrated: more often than not, it resulted in some more heated sex, often with some spanking and other things involved, and you both enjoyed it to the fullest.

You could hardly focus on anything else but how amazing it felt to have Jihoon moving inside of you as well as he was, with his cock filling you up perfectly and hitting all the right places inside of you. Likewise, Jihoon was mesmerized by how much pleasure he got from fucking you hard, and it was only increased by your loud moans that gave away just how much you were enjoying it, too.

“Y/N,” Jihoon said with a low voice and ceased his thrusts, merely rolling his hips instead. You let out a sound that urged him to continue, and he licked his lips. “Wanna ride me?”

“Yes,” you replied simply, and after some shifting around Jihoon was lying down on his back and you were sinking down on his cock with a moan slipping from your lips. He looked at you appreciatively as you began moving your hips on him while sliding one of your hands up to your breasts to provide some extra stimulation.

Jihoon loved the feeling of your hips moving on him, although his frustrations were still ever-so-present in him and how he still wanted to have the lead. He placed his hands half on your hips and half on your ass and squeezed it.

“Go harder,” he urged and looked directly into your eyes while slowly sliding one of his hands to your front, just enough to be able to massage your clit lightly with his thumb, which had your back arching.

You let out an incoherent reply and placed your hands on Jihoon’s chest before starting to ride him to the best of your ability, knowing exactly how to move your hips for the highest pleasure for both of you. He shut his eyes and hissed when he felt your pussy clenching around his cock a little, and the sinfully good moving of your hips only made him see more stars.

“Oh my god,” he said under his breath, and you grinned when you felt his hands hold you just a bit tighter, his fingers digging into the still slightly tender skin of your ass in a way that you loved as he guided your hips on his lap.

Yet as good as you were feeling and knew that he was, too, you knew that there was something that would essentially seal the deal.

Leaning down, you first nibbled lightly on Jihoon’s right earlobe and then smirked as your lips brushed against it. “Weren’t you supposed to be in charge and show me how much you needed to fuck me?”

His eyes shot open, and when you lifted your face, you saw how his surprised expression slowly turned into a smirk. “Yeah.”

With that, you leaned down to kiss him while he placed his feet on the mattress. When you had lifted your hips a little, he began fucking up into you hard and fast, all the while pushing you down on himself, too. He hit all the right spots inside of you, and having your hard nipples rubbing against his bare chest as well as his lips so hungry against yours added to your pleasure in ways that had you mewling as your orgasm built up inside of you.

He rammed into you desperately, each thrust bringing both of you closer to your releases. You were thrown over the edge without a warning, and Jihoon hissed when he could feel your core clenching rhythmically around his cock. A few thrusts later he released inside of you and broke away from the sloppy kiss to catch his breath.

You rolled your hips as your orgasm still continued to wash over you, and Jihoon grunted at how good it felt, as sensitive as he was. Letting out a content sigh, you got off his cock and just lay down on top of him.

“That was amazing,” you breathed and placed a kiss on Jihoon’s collarbone.

He smiled and stroked your back and thighs slowly, giving you a kiss on your temple, too. “Beyond amazing, Y/N. I really missed you.”

“I missed you, too,” you grinned and looked up at Jihoon with one of your eyebrows playfully cocked. “I feel like something had you particularly worked up, though?”

“Your shorts,” he replied bluntly and chuckled at your surprised expression. “They hardly covered anything, how did you expect me to ignore it?”

“I didn’t,” you said with your lips forming a small smirk. “Do you think it was an accident?”

Jihoon looked dumbfounded for a moment before melting into a bright smile. “Did you seduce me without making it obvious?”

“Maybe I did,” you hummed and leaned in to kiss him sweetly. A smile remained on your lips even when you pulled back. “Are you complaining?”

“Not in the least,” he said with a low voice and shook his head a little before closing his eyes and wrapping his arms around you. “Thank you.”

You knew that his thank you was for many things, and you figured that letting him sleep over - next to you - was one of those things. With a soft smile on your lips, you shook your head and placed a kiss on his forehead. “Anytime.”

The relationship between the two of you was strong, and you had both missed one another equally much, and so it was a pleasure for you, too, to have him sleep over. It was quite a rare occasion, and especially with Jihoon leading such a busy life, you enjoyed any and all time you were able to spend with him to the fullest.

And if you got to witness him sleeping like a baby, it was only a bonus.

Admin Scooter

#woozi smut #jihoon smut #woozi scenarios #jihoon scenarios #seventeen smut #seventeen scenarios #woozi imagines #jihoon imagines #seventeen imagines

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queen-scribbles · 5 years

Text

Watcher, Scholar, Savior

@pillarspromptsweekly 100: Legacy. Running with my orlan daughter’s canon, tempting as it is to write more with Saoirse & Elihu for Emiri’s future.

---

There was nothing like the satisfying thunk of setting a large pile of books down on your desk. It spoke of new knowledge gained or old knowledge refreshed, and either way made Ginella tingle with anticipation. She rubbed her hands together and scanned the spines, trying to decide where she should begin.

He decision was interrupted by a low whistle. “Got enough books there, Nelly?”

“To start, yes,” she laughed as she turned around and crossed her arms. “But you can never have enough books.”

Noli rolled her eyes. “My sister, the scholar. So, are those for school or for fun?”

“Actually, this time it’s both,” Ginella said gleefully. “My world history professor wants us to pick someone we would consider one of the most influential kith of the last five hundred years and explain the reasoning behind our choice.”

“Auroch’s shadow, I know who you picked,” Noli snorted. “You;re doing that archmage you love so much, aren’t you?”

“And why not?” Ginella challenged, gesturing toward her stack of books. “Anyone you can write that much about clearly had a big impact on the world, didn’t she? And she wasn’t just an archmage, Nol, she also spearheaded the group that developed an alternative to the Wheel. She’s a scholar and historian and quite literally changed the course of history, both with her work on the Turning and discoveries she made in the Deadfire, never mind scribing seven or eight spells. She’s easily one of the most influential kith in history. So I think I can make a pretty compelling case for the last five hundred years.”

“Especially since you’re so passionate about it. Have fun.” Noli chuckled and lightly punched her shoulder.

“Oh, I plan to,” Ginella laughed, patting the stack of books. “I can’t think of a better way to spend my day.”

Noli laughed again and gave a finger-wiggle wave as she walked away. Ginella sat down, worked free the dark blue tome that was her chosen starting point, and began reading the familiar accounts of archmage and scholar Adela Tecali.

---

She read until the light faded and her neck ached, taking notes on the important points, even though she knew most of them by heart. It was the easiest way to organize her thoughts for the assignment. The spells were notable--largely because most were still favorites of nearly every wizard Ginella had ever met. Inerrant Recall and Lingering Bolt especially held a place of permanence in many a grimoire.

Then, of course, there’s were Adela’s explorations; she’d visited nearly every Engwithan site in the whole of Eora. Published several works on her discoveries that enhanced understanding of the Engwithans and their work, and advanced the study of souls by leaps and bounds. She actually understood Engwithan, a language thought dead for centuries even in her time.

And then there was her crowning achievement, the strongest argument for her impact on history: the Turning. As the leader and widely-accepted foremost scholar among the many who devised a solution to the Wheel’s destruction at the hands of a rogue god, she had indisputably altered the course of the world.

Ginella’s pen flew over the page, scrawling messy lists of the points she wanted to make. By the time she stopped--both due to her aching neck and Noli calling out dinner was ready--she had a rough six page outline of what she planned to write. (Assuming she could later read her own handwriting. It was atrocious when she got excited, which she certainly was now.)

“I think it’s time for a good long break,” Noli commented when she caught Ginella rolling her shoulders on the way down the hall. “Before you hurt yourself. You’ve been at it for hours. Rest your eyes, stop stressing your back. When’s this assignment due?”

Ginella coughed sheepishly. “Two weeks.”

“See, you have plenty of time.” Noli gestured toward the table. “Sit, eat. Take your time. How’s it going?”

“I made it through most of the books,” Ginella said as she followed her sister’s wishes. “Got a lot of material I can use to argue my point. I’m just debating how much attention to give her personal life. There is a biographical component to this project, but it’s not supposed to take up too much of our focus.” She took a good serving of the food. “Smells delicious, by the way, Nol.”

“Thanks. Simon passed along a new recipe for the potatoes I wanted to try.”

“Oh, these are Simon potatoes,” Ginella teased. “I’ll do my best to enjoy them, then.”

Noli rolled her eyes but didn’t take the bait. “You were saying?”

“Right. Pretty much every source agrees on Adela’s achievements as a wizard, historian, or scholar, the one area of dissent is her personal life. It makes me wonder how much to cover it, and which sources to trust.”

“What kind of dissent are we talking about?” Noli probed, “Shining example of a scholar vs proves true every stereotype about orlans, or where she came from, or what?”

“Relationships, actually,” Ginella said wryly. “Her friendships are well-documented, for the most part, but there’s no consensus on whether or not she had a, uh, paramour. It’s not an important detail in the scheme of things, but everyone’s always nosy about that sort of thing, so if I’m touching on her personal life, they’ll expect at least a mention.”

“Historians don’t agree about her love life?” Noli said incredulously. “How is there any confusion there?!”

Ginella shrugged. “Beats me. But still, some say she never had a romantic partner, others that it was a fellow survivor of the bîaŵac that sparked her adventures, still others some stranger from a foreign land she met after becoming Watcher.”

“Wow. Maybe just brush over her personal life briefly,” Noli muttered. “I’m sure there’s plenty to talk about without giving that more than half a page.”

“Very true. I could make my entire case just off the Turning. When you add in the explorations and her being an archmage, I don’t need to dwell on much else for ling.”

Eager as she was to get back to it, Ginella heeded Noli’s advice and took her time over dinner, then rested on the couch for the rest of the evening. There was no hurry, no matter how much part of her wanted to write the entire thing in a nonstop whirlwind of passionately extolling the achievements of Watcher Adela Tecali. She could take her time, do a good job, and present a case not many would argue.

---

Two weeks of thorough, meticulous, completely enjoyable work later, she was proven right. Her professor gave her almost perfect marks(a couple points off for being “overly enthusiastic” a time or two), and her peer-reviewers all agreed she’d made a convincing argument. At the risk of sounding arrogant, none of that really surprised Ginella.

What did surprise her was no one else picked Adela as their influential individual. In a class of twenty five history aficionados, Ginella was the only one to write about her. The others all picked generals, kings, queens. Leaders and warriors. Pirates, in a couple cases. She was the only one to argue for the Watcher of Caed Nua. And even if it was surprising, that was just fine by her.

It wasn’t every day, after all, she got school credit for reading and writing about one of her favorite historical figures; a woman who had saved and changed the world in multiple ways.

----------------------------------------

Having literally been in Ginella’s position, this was really fun to write. :D (I had an english class in college that used LotR as the base for all the papers/discussion etc. I got college credit to read/watch/talk about literally my favorite topic in the world on a weekly basis for three solid months. It’s such a great feeling)

I did briefly wonder if I was making Adi too OP, But her base intellect is, like, 18, and then she picked up a bunch of bonuses along the way....She’s a smart cookie who absolutely could do all that. And would.

#queens fic #pillars prompts weekly #adela tecali

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spartanguard · 5 years

Note

Happy Valentine's Day, love!! Hope I'm not too late to request some - ⚡️ - person a and b get into a fight before valentine’s, and both spend the entire day trying to make up with each other. (obv I'm walking into slight angst territory here but I trust you!)

Well, this took me all day. But here it is! It’s not TOO angsty ;)

⚡️ - person a and b get into a fight before valentine’s, and both spend the entire day trying to make up with each other.

canon insert | rated T | 2.2k | valentine’s day prompts

Emma had been looking forward to Valentine’s Day, which was still something she was getting used to, but in the good way. She’d never take for granted the fact that she had someone to celebrate it with forever—someone who was particularly prone to grand romantic gestures, even if she’d told him she didn’t need or want anything over the top.

(She was kind of hoping they’d have another little someone to share the day with, since Henry had left a few months ago and the house was feeling much too empty, but...no luck there yet.)

But her anticipation was replaced with apprehension when she came downstairs that morning, festively dressed in her red leather jacket, only to find Killian sneaking in the back door, head down.

“Hey, what were you doing out there?”

“Um, taking out the trash,” he lied, avoiding her gaze as he moved toward the coffee pot.

“You wanna try that again?”

“Don’t worry about it, love.”

Her mind flashed back to the time he was keeping the shears of fate in the shed out back, and then the situation with the dreamcatcher. They’d moved past both of those, and she trusted him, but something just felt...off. It wasn’t like him to keep anything from her anymore.

“What if I want to worry about it?” she countered, stepping toward him as he poked at buttons on the machine without getting anywhere.

“Is a man not allowed to keep anything hidden around here?” he threw back, just a hint of anger in his voice. “I promise you, Emma—it’s nothing.” I’ll…” he trailed off, rubbing his eyes. “I’ll tell you later.”

“Why are you being so evasive?” Tired of him toying with the coffee pot, she reached over and turned it on.

He tossed his head back, exasperated, and sighed. “I’m not; you’re the one seeing danger where there is none.”

“Well it’s nice that you’re able to not constantly be on guard. Sorry I can’t just shut it off like you can.” Not waiting for his reaction, she stormed off.

“Where are you going?” he called after her.

“Apparently, someone has to keep an eye on this town. I’m headed to work; I’ll see you later.”

She kind of didn’t care if the door slammed behind her. What the hell was he doing?

Killian gave a long, low exhale after the door crashed shut. It wasn’t the first meaningless, random spat they’d had lately; they were both anxious for their family to grow, and perhaps subconsciously, their lack of success in that area was getting to both of them.

He hadn’t meant to be short with her, but all he was doing was trying to keep her away from one of the Valentine’s surprises he’d prepared; surely, that wasn’t worth jumping down his throat?

But they both had a long history of betrayal, even between each other, even if they’d progressed far beyond that point. He couldn’t completely fault her suspicion. Still—it stung.

The coffee pot beeped as the brew finished, with one final gurgle that echoed in the silence of the room. Reluctantly, he pulled a mug from a cabinet and poured himself a cup, but then he realized: Emma didn’t have any yet. Or, judging from the untouched box of Pop Tarts on the counter, anything to eat.

She may have said she was going to work, but he knew she wouldn’t get that far without sustenance, so there was only one place she could be headed.

He dug his phone from his rear pocket, pulled up the number, and dialed.

Emma’s anger had cooled a bit on the walk to Granny’s—probably in proportion to her growing hunger and need for caffeine. She really hadn’t meant to go off on him like that; it was probably nothing. Maybe she was just more stressed than she thought? Or maybe just hangry.

The smell of coffee and maple syrup hit Emma as soon as she opened the door to the diner and her mouth was watering.

Emma had barely sat down at the counter when Granny was in front of her, setting down a plate in front of her. “One order of pancakes, with bacon on the side, for Mrs. Swan-Jones,” she announced. “And the coffee is almost done.”

“Thanks,” Emma replied, slightly stunned. “Am I just that predictable now?”

“Eh,” Granny shrugged. “I had warning you were on the way.”

Emma slumped over her breakfast a bit. “He called?”

“Yep. You two fight or something?”

“Yeah, something,” Emma sighed as she cut into the stack of pancakes. “It’s dumb.”

“So I take it he’s not going to be joining you?”

“No, probably not,” she answered. Granny slid over a mug of fresh coffee; Emma took a long gulp, even with it still being hot. “But...can you help me doing something for him?”

“Of course, darlin’.”

After a brief stop at the station, managing to slip in and out before Emma got in, Killian made his way to the docks. The weather was going to be dry enough to get some work done on the ship this week, and with today being unseasonably warm, he decided this would be the perfect time to start. He just needed to double-check some measurements before he bought new sailcloth and rope for rigging first.

That, and working with his hands would give him some more time to calm down from their tiff—or distract himself from his shame at losing his temper.

He wandered up to the quarterdeck when he got to the ship and was about to re-inspect the section where the ropes were getting worn, but before he could get there, a bundle sitting on the helm caught his attention.

Tied up with bright red ribbon was a hefty length of rope and what looked to be the exact cut of cloth he needed. A tag was hanging from the knot of the ribbon; it looked a bit watery, as if it had been laying outside overnight and was mottled by the morning dew. But in unmistakeable handwriting, it said “You put the wind in my sails. Happy Valentine’s!

He reached into his jacket pocket; sure enough, the notes he’d made with rough measurements listed was gone—but this looked like more than enough for what he needed. Perhaps he needed some lessons from Emma on being sneaky—though he certainly had a few surprises up his sleeve for later.

For now, he had to get to work, if only so he could get to those faster.

Emma couldn’t say she was looking forward to a day of working on her own, but Valentine’s was usually quiet enough that they’d decided to just have one person in today, and she knew how much Killian wanted to make those repairs on his ship. She just really hoped those notes of his were right; she’d erred on the side of caution and bought more when she hit the supply shop yesterday.

Hopefully, he was enjoying himself there; she probably would be bored out of her mind in the empty station, but she couldn’t begrudge him the nice day to be by the sea, especially if they needed a bit of time apart, as they apparently did.

She unlocked the front door and shuffled in like always, flipping on the light to the bullpen and then her office once she slipped inside.

The light overhead shined down like a spotlight onto her desk—or, rather, what was on it: a huge, gorgeous bouquet of roses in a stunning glass vase. Her jaw dropped.

Almost cautiously, she stepped toward them—this was still Storybrooke, after all. She plucked the card that was tucked into the center of the arrangement and was immediately awash in the light, powdery fragrance they gave off—there had to be close to three dozen stems there.

The card bore her name on the front in Killian’s flourishing handwriting. On the other side, he’d written “I gave you one of these on our first date; I’ve done a poor job of keeping up the tradition. Hopefully this covers it and then some. All my love, Killian.”

How had she found such a perfect romantic sap? She stuck her whole face in the flowers then, almost getting high on the scent. She caught a tiny whiff of something slightly musty, too, but familiar.

It smelled like the storage shed. Shit. She’d practically attacked him for trying to hide what he’d clearly intended to be a surprise. God, she was an asshole. She had to make this up to him. She had a few things planned...but what else could she do?

A few hours later, Killian was halfway up the rigging, setting up new lines, when a voice called out.

“Ahoy! Permission to board?”

He nearly jumped at the sound, which would have resulted in a rather unpleasant fall were his reflexes not still trained to grab the nearest piece of rope at the slightest jolt. But it was just Granny.

“Of course, milady,” he shouted back, then carefully made his way back to semi-solid ground. “To what do I owe this pleasure?”

“To your wife,” she replied, holding out a take-out bag. He could smell the onion rings from here. “She figured you’d be working too hard to remember lunch and wanted to make sure you ate.”

He took the bag from her; scrawled in Emma’s hand, on the top of the bag, was “Sorry :( I love you!”

“You kids alright?” Granny asked, concern evident in her voice. “I don’t like being the go-between.”

“We’ll be just fine, I think,” he said softly as he opened the bag, the familiar shape of a burger wrapped in foil inside. “As much as we appreciate your services, I don’t think they’ll be required much longer.”

“I hope so. If you two can’t make it, what hope is there for the rest of us?”

He had to admit, that kind of sentiment was a bit draining—that everyone only saw them through the lens of “True Love,” and not as a real relationship. But he daren’t admit that to Granny. Instead, he smirked and tossed back, “Why, Madame Lucas—aren’t the lovers lining up at your threshold?”

“Ha. Very funny. Eat up, and don’t break your neck. I’ve got a lunch rush to get back to.” She turned to head away, but he caught the pink blush rising on her cheeks.

Oh, his darling wife; however was he going to make up for the muck he’d made this morning?

As it turned out, they both seemed determined to apologize through various gestures throughout the day, both preplanned and spur of the moment.

At the same time he was discovering a fifth of his favorite rum in the ship’s galley—to go with his burger, of course—Emma found the recently replenished stash of her favorite hazelnut coffee (the good stuff) in the coffee cabinet at the station.

On his way home from the ship, he arranged to have a hot chocolate and bearclaw delivered to her from her favorite cafe in town (don’t tell Granny); upon arrival at the house, a delivery boy from the ice cream shop was dropping off a pint of his favorite flavor, rum raisin.

And then, around dinner time, Killian walked up to the house armed with their favorite dishes from the local Chinese restaurant—just as Emma was pulling up in the bug, laden with their favorite pizzas.

“Hi,” they both said, somewhat awkwardly, staring at the carry-out in the other’s hands. Then they looked up at each other and giggled.

“Shall we?” Killian said, nodding at the door.

“Let’s.”

Seamlessly moving around each other—like always—they set up the food on the kitchen counter, Emma got out the dishes, and Killian uncorked the wine they’d been saving for tonight.

He’d just opened the bottle, and she had just set the plates down, when they turned to face each other and blurted out simultaneously, “I’m sorry.”

“No, love, you have nothing—”

“Oh, don’t even; I’m the one who—”

“Emma—”

“Killian—”

They took in a breath at the same moment, then instinctively moved together, wrapping the other one up in a bruising hug.

“I’m sorry I got needlessly suspicious and defensive,” Emma said, voice muffled a bit by the way her face was pressed against Killian’s chest.

“And I’m sorry that I was cagey and snapped at you; it’s inexcusable.”

“I’d have done the same.”

“That’s why we’re true love, aye?”

“Something like that.” Emma lifted her head just enough to find his lips with hers, and press any other apologies into that. “I love you.”

“I love you, too—immeasurably.”

“Show-off.”

He kissed her again, then laid out a decision. “So, we have two options here: dive into this frankly ridiculous amount of food, or take this,” he explained, grabbing her rear end through her jeans, “to a more comfortable locale. Which would you prefer?”

The decision was easy for Emma. “The food will reheat.” And without any further prompting, jumped up to wrap her legs around his waist and reaffix her lips to his.

They continued to make up several more times that night, in various positions, all across their bed.

(And, the following year, they did indeed have someone else to celebrate with—baby Hope.)

#cs ff #cs valentine's day #valentine's day #my ff #effulgentcolors

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nightblogofficialbook · 5 years

Text

Chapter Three

Also available on the Tapas.io Website, search for Night in the Novels tab!

I don’t know when it was I fell asleep but I must have slept for an entire day because it was already morning again. I turned over, my body feeling heavy but not terrible and my mouth dry and sticky. When I opened my eyes, for a moment I didn’t know where I was. This wasn’t my room. This was too big to be my room. None of my things are here either, and mom would have definitely woken me up before this point.

And then my memory returned, much to my severe disappointment.

I sat up, my hair feeling like a nest on my head, and stretched. That strange tugging sensation made itself known and then grew idle. I sat on the bed for a long while, trying to muster the energy to get up. It was then I noticed a piece of paper sitting in front of my door, having been slid under while I slept probably.

The curiosity worked and I got up to get it, remembering that Rose and Co. still wanted to show me around. I unfolded it.

‘Hey Helen! It’s Rose. I figured you were probably still asleep so we didn’t want to bother you. But I wanted to explain to you briefly how this place works on a day-to-day basis, in case we’re not on break when you wake up. During the weekdays we have a course schedule, and yes, just like school :P Since you’ve never experienced any of this before they want us to have you kinda shadow us for all the classes so you can get some experience, and then when it’s all said and done you’ll be able to pick your own schedule. On the other side of this fold will be all of our schedule and times, and a map if you feel like trying to find us. If not, break periods for us are listed too, so you can just wait in the commons until one of us comes to check on you.’

I blinked. ...Class? Like, school classes? I turned the page over like the note said. A chart was drawn really neatly and concise of each girl’s name and their classes, in order by time. I glanced over at the digital clock on the bedside table. Looks like no one will be back until fifteen minutes from now.

Still feeling...off guard, I got up and went to the bathroom to address the state of my hair. I’ve always been kind of a sleep tosser but I guess last night I really thrashed about. Using the tools already in my bathroom I carefully combed the tangles out of my hair and flattened the morning frizz with a straight iron. The kitty cat pajama tank had my shoulder on full display in the mirror, and for the first time in...I guess only a day, it felt like ages, I was able to see to what extend the damage was.

The bite on my neck was all but gone, only a lingering redness now remained from where that guy, Zain, had bit me. I was amazed at how quickly it was healed, especially for how much I bled.

Ugh, blood.

The brief nausea passed, and I examined the next mark: a now-silver welted crescent scar that sat right between my collarbone and shoulder. I traced it for a moment in shock and a little bit of morbid fascination. It still throbbed a bit, but significantly less. This...was the bite that started this. The one that changed my life. I wonder why it was a crescent and not fang marks, like the other had been? It looked more like someone with human teeth had bit me. I looked closer at it, the shape showing irregularities to it. About where the canines would be on a human bite mark, defined a little more than the rest of the shape, were almost definitely two fang-mark scars set within the rest of the scar.

I shuddered. To bite down with a force that strong...I’m really glad I passed out for that. Maybe that was why I passed out.

After changing into some relaxed day clothes that were available to me I went downstairs to the commons, feeling like I’m on some sort of rich-kid summer camp trip. It was quiet but brightly lit from the sunlight pouring through narrow windows down the rounded walls, the outside just starting to reach the afternoon. Feeling awkward I made my way to the kitchenette area and perused through the cabinets and fridge, looking for something to eat. I opted for snacking on some cheese and saltine crackers, since the rest looked like they belonged to someone or required cooking of some kind, and I didn’t feel comfortable doing that just yet.

The door clicked and in walked Claire, who gave a start of pleasant surprise when she spotted me. “Helen! You’re awake!” She closed the door behind her, smiling. “Good morning! You were out a while, you sleep okay?”

“Yeah,” I replied. “I actually felt pretty rested when I woke up, thanks for letting me sleep.”

“Yeah, cool.” She set her bag down and grabbed the box of goldfish cheese crackers I had passed over from the cabinet. “You get Rose’s letter by chance?”

I nodded. “If I understand right, I’ll be attending classes with you guys?”

“Yeah, it’ll just be for a couple of weeks to help you get used to being in the castle, then you’ll be able to decide what you want to do on your own. Cool thing is, nothing is mandatory.” She grinned, sitting down with the box. “You could just decide you don’t want to go to any of them in the end and chill all day.”

“Wha-really? Then why even bother?”

“Well, a lot of it is still really useful to learn, but mostly because of the perk points.”

“Perk points?”

She nodded, taking a handful of crackers and munching them. “Yeah, you get points based on attendance for class and bonus points for how well you do in them. Vampires get them too. They have a catalog for stuff you get in exchange for them, like new clothes or toys or games or extra snacks.” She shook the box of goldfish. “I like to spend mine on these, though I’m saving up the bulk of them for the excursion trip next spring. We’ll take you to go get your card set up and stuff and you’ll be able to look at the point system, but essentially the more valuable or the less ‘healthy,’” she used air quotes with an eye roll, “an item is, the more points it will cost. And vice versa, the more challenging a class is for you, the more points you get for it.”

“That actually sounds really cool,” I said, amazed.

“I know right? From what I hear about how schools are still done on the outside it’s WAY more awesome.” She glanced at her watch. “Alright, we should probably go head out to my next class, after that all of us have the same dancing class so we’ll trade you off after THAT class, and you’ll have just one more for the day with us.”

My head spun a little, not quite following what she said but I got the jist of it. She grabbed her bag and I followed her through the door into the open hallway of the castle. A fresh breeze drifted from the direction Claire was leading me, and almost as suddenly as we had left the dorm we were outside in open air.

The weather felt wonderful, the deep blue sky spotted with slowly drifting, fluffy clouds, blinking the sunlight in and out every now and then. The temperature was warm and comfortable, not at all like the summer heat it had been for the last month. And there were people. Everywhere. Mostly teens my age, but also adults. Children. I think I even saw a few babies. I was amazed, I never realized how big this place might be. It was like a whole village.

I watched the people pass me by as I followed Claire across the giant square courtyard I had observed just yesterday. Some were having a picnic complete with tablecloth, food, and family. Some were, like us, walking towards a destination in mind, and some were just playing games. It was how I always imagined a college campus would look like, all it was missing was the drunk frat boys and dumb shenanigans.

A wonder crossed my mind after we crossed the courtyard and into a different section of the castle. “Where are the vampires?” I asked.

“They’re asleep, they usually keep to a night habit like the myths used to say. But not all of them,” she added as a young guy with red eyes waved as he passed us, flashing a friendly-fanged smile. Claire waved back with a “hey Greg.”

“But for the most part they do vampire classes at night anyway,” she continued as we stepped into a classroom. “And usually in the other half of the castle. It helps keep traffic in the halls down so things don’t ever get overcrowded and stressful, and to keep some from getting too stressed out by the abundance of human smells.”

We sat down at desks and I was surprised about how...normal it was. It was just a math class, same as the one I failed a few days ago, only this teacher seemed pretty enthused. She talked over the coursework with passion, answering any questions that were asked and even re-explained some things in an easier to digest manner. I found I was able to follow along really well despite having to jump in the middle of a learning section.

Claire, on the other hand, looked like she was struggling to keep up, and hard. She was bent over her practice worksheet, looking relaxed but frustrated. I thought about asking her why she was taking the class if it was that hard on her, but then remembered how she explained the points, and her goal. I silently nodded to myself at the ingenious system they have here. It was a good way to motivate everyone to have a goal, and work towards it, but without forcing anyone to overstress about it.

And hour and a half had come and gone since we sat down, and class was dismissed. Claire stretched and groaned as we walked out.

“Man, I am so not good at math,” she said.

“Me neither, but that teacher was really good.”

“I know right? They don’t let anyone teach if they’re not up for the task. Anyway, I forgot about lunch between now and the next class, and…” she suddenly looked as if she was having an epiphany. “Oh yeah lunch! Dude!” She grabbed my shoulders excitedly. “You gotta see the food court they have here!”

My eyes widened and her excitement rubbed off. “They have a food court?”

…

They have a food court.

And it was incredible.

IMMEDIATELY, once I walked to the vicinity of its existence, I was hit by a myriad of delicious freshly cooked food smells. I’m talking bakeries, skillet cooks, sandwich bars, BBQ, breakfast food, lunch, italian, asian, and everything in between. I could hardly believe my eyes. I could hardly believe my nose. It was like there was a food festival going on.

Claire grinned at my expression. “Pretty cool, huh?” she nudged me.

“Claire…” I said, flabbergasted still. “Oh my god. I want to cry.” She laughed and took my hand, taking me to all of the booths and mini restaurant bars. Each one seemed to know her on a personal level, and, as she explained that I was new, free sample after free sample began to fill my tray.

“This is so much food,” I said in amazement.

“Yeah, I’ll be honest, I’m kinda pimping you out,” she admitted sheepishly as we headed for a table. “Normally you’re only allowed up to 2 free servings per mealtime, and any more is a point exchange.”

“Well, it worked,” I said, still incredulous. “Glad to be of help.”

“Helen! Claire! Over here!”

Rose was flagging us down; the twins and Wendy were already seated with her, in addition to a few people I haven’t met yet. We joined them at the table.

“Helen, this is Mike and this is Jason, they’re childhood friends of ours. Guys, this is Helen.”

Mike, who had short black hair and a shallow jawline and fair skin, gave a polite wave. Jason, who was far less reserved with bronzy-blonde hair, brown eyes, and a fairly strong jaw and nose, gave me a friendly lopsided smile and a look of interest.

“Um, hi,” I said nervously, sitting down next to Claire with my huge tray of food.

“Introductions later, it’s food time,” Claire said, excitedly picking out a sample from our haul.

I tasted as much as the food as I could, and shared the rest. Everyone chatted about their day so far and classes they were in and I politely listened, feeling a little happy. No, that’s not right. I was feeling a lot of happy. Everything was bright, and light, and friendly. Everyone was open and relaxed and feeling good. The tension I had been holding in my shoulders released.

And then suddenly something hot and soupy was dumped over the top of my head and into my lap. Claire leapt out of the way to avoid the splash, everyone else jumped in shock. I sat still, trying to process why there was suddenly chicken broth all over me.

“Oops,” spoke girl’s bored voice. Everyone’s eyes widened when they saw who stood behind me. I turned around.

She stood to be roughly my height with dark blonde hair pulled back in a bun, her blue eyes piercing cold and her expression haughty. She very clearly was holding an empty bowl, still over my head. I blinked.

“Sorry,” she said in the most uncaring manner possible. “Sometimes I don’t quite pay attention to where I’m going and things just…” Her eyes grew cold and vicious, reminding very much of Zain’s, and with a jolt I recognized her. “...happen, you see. But, I’m sure YOU, of all people, would understand, wouldn’t you Helen?”

“Hey, look, I-”

“Well,” she interrupted, ignoring me and addressing the entourage of people who were snickering behind her. “I supposed I should try to get more soup. I do hope they understand the little accident.”

“Oh, of course, Lady Victoria!”

“It was an accident after all.”

“I’m sure they’ll understand.”

“You can have mine, M’lady, if they can’t make an exception!”

“Thanks, guys,” she cooed to her little group as they left. “You’re the best.”

I sat there, dumbfounded, as they walked away, and turned back forward.

“...what just happened to me?”

“You got souped apparently,” Claire chimed, to which Rose reprimanded her.

“Don’t worry, we’ll help you get cleaned up, we can skip the next class if we need to,” Rose offered. I shook my head.

“It’s okay, I’ll just go get cleaned up and meet you guys there,” I said, my voice surprisingly normal considering I was drenched.

Claire looked at me in surprise. “You sure?”

I nodded. “Yeah, I have a map, and I’m surprisingly good with directions.” Except apparently when I’m in a hurry, I thought blandly to myself.

“If you’re certain…” Rose said, uncertain. “The next class is on the same floor, in the east ward across from this one. There’s four doors to enter from so it shouldn’t be hard to find as long as you make it to the right section.”

I thanked her and stood up, saying bye to Mark and Jason. They offered words of encouragement and good luck with cleaning up. Pulling out the map(which miraculously avoided getting souped as well) and going by what I remembered seeing on the way here I traced my way back to the dorms. Everyone I passed stared and muttered to themselves, some with pity, some with wonder. I couldn’t blame them for it, since I’d probably end up doing the same thing, and did my best to ignore it.

After a successful shower and change of clothes, it was now four o’clock, about fifteen minutes past when that class was supposed to start. I made my way across the courtyard to the ward across from the lunch area, now wishing I had eaten maybe just a little bit more and debating on whether I should even show up. The sun was in the second half of the sky, and by now majority of everyone out and about had gone back to wherever their own dorms were. It was crazy how many people actually live here.

I found the four doors Rose was talking about and heard music inside. Confused, I looked at the written schedule she had given. “No…” I opened the door, suddenly remembering with dread a small detail Claire had mentioned before.

Inside was a very large convention-style room, chairs stacked high against the wall. A large amount of people were scattered out in pairs, observing the teacher as he demonstrated what almost looked like a waltz with no partner.

Dancing. Great, just great...my stomach dropped, and as it did the subtle pulling sensation heightened.

The door slammed shut behind me before I could catch it and suddenly all eyes were on me. I flinched, feeling extremely embarrassed. “Sorry…”

“Not at all!” the teacher enthused. “Come in, come in! You must be Miss Morris.”

I sheepishly made my way to the edge of the wall out of the way but still in view, suddenly very aware of the fact that about 50% of the pairs of eyes still on me were red. I swallowed nervously.

“Alright, now I want everyone to try, on my count. Remember, you’re not looking for speed, you’re looking for precision. Make every move count until it becomes second nature. Now, one-two-three, one-two-three…” he flicked a finger in the air and suddenly music was playing.

I watched everyone try the steps, spotting the girls pretty quickly as they were having the most fun. Rose was paired up with Jason from before, Suzanne and Alice had decided to dance with each other -which made their synchronization so perfect it was almost creepy- and Claire was dancing with Wendy. Feet were stepped on, laughter was heard, partners were bumped into, it was an amusing scene. I smiled a little to myself, wishing I could join them.

I let my gaze wander around as the teacher also wandered amongst the dancers, giving form advice and praise as he passed them. I was amazed at how many vampires were here, considering it wasn’t really after dark just yet. Most were paired up with their own kind, but some had paired up with humans, a little to my surprise. And it looked like everyone was having fun.

“Hello Helen,” the teacher’s voice drew my attention to him; he had made his way over to where I stood, quietly addressing me. “May I call you that?” he asked sincerely.

“Sure?” I replied. He was pretty young looking for someone in charge of teaching a class, I would guess maybe super early twenties. His eyes were a deep hazel that seemed to change colors under different light angles, from blue to green to brown, and somehow all of the colors. His skin was fair and soft, his hair a short sandy brown that reminded me of some popular british actor I remember people fawning over. He was pretty attractive for sure, but something was strangely familiar about him.

“Excellent.” He looked relieved. “Allow me to introduce myself; my name is Dmitri. Some of my students call me ‘D’ but whether that be your preference to refer to me is entirely up to you.”

“Thanks, it’s nice to meet you.”

“And likewise you. Now, I understand that you are quite new to the castle, and that today is your first day during your adjustment period, so by all means don’t feel obligated to join right away if you don’t feel comfortable. We have a bit of an odd number currently so there would be no problems if you wish to sit out for now. But, if you do wish to join in, I would have no problems getting you up to speed.”

“U-um, thanks,” I replied, grateful for the extended invitation and surprised at how quickly he seemed to understand. “I think I’ll pass this time around...since there’s an odd number and all.”

He chuckled a little. “Not too fond of dancing?”

I grimaced. “How did you know?”

“I have been teaching dance for quite a while now, I can tell. I imagine you feel your skills are quite inadequate to even attempt the practice.”

“That’s an understatement,” I joked, feeling strangely relaxed around him. “My mom tried to get me into dancing for a while. I accidently broke the instructors foot once.” He laughed softly and I smiled a little. “She politely requested that I try out other hobbies after that.”

He looked outward, observing the dancing pairs in front of us. “Well, I won’t force you if you truly don’t want to dance, but if you ever feel interested, I would gladly be up for the challenge.”

He went back out to address a couple that had fallen over, helping them to their feet and explaining to them what had gone wrong. I smiled a little, feeling a little fuzzy inside, like I just gained a big brother. Dmitri seemed really sweet. The pessimism in my brain made me really hope he didn’t turn out to just have been flirting with an underage girl though. It didn’t seem that way, but...I’ve been wrong about people before.

Suddenly there was a strangely violent tug in the pit of my gut towards a single direction in the room. I looked up in surprise, holding my sides despite the fact that there really wasn’t an obvious origin to this sensation, and stiffened. One couple was dancing through the sea of everyone like wind through trees, effortlessly making every single person in this room look like stumbling baby deer. Their legs moved with practiced elegance, as easy as if it were breathing, their eyes almost bored and in another world. Zain and Victoria.

My stomach clenched with guilt and a twinge of jealousy. They looked good together. Perfect for eachother, I thought bitterly, remembering Zain’s childish aggression and Victoria’s stunt from today. Their skills looked matched, and though they seemed bored in this classroom environment, they looked relaxed. Comfortable.

Zain’s eyes darted my way and I looked down instinctively, my heart pounding for a moment, and then felt bitterness replace my emotions. It should have been her. I shouldn’t have ever been involved. Why did I end up at that clearing? Why did he have to bite me?

I heard a quiet tch! and looked up with just my eyes. The two had slowed to a stop, Zain’s face furrowed in frustration.

“What is it?” I heard Victoria ask, worried.

“It’s nothing,” he responded in a low voice.

Her eyes darted to me and I pretended to be watching the other people.

“Is it her?”

He gave her a small smile and stroked her cheek; a sharp pang hit my chest for a moment. “Don’t worry about it, okay?”

She still looked worried. “Okay.” Her eyes narrowed furiously towards me soon as he looked elsewhere. I pretended not to have noticed but I could feel the daggers emanating from her.

“Alright, I think that’ll wrap things up today!” Dmitri called out, clapping his hands. The music fades out and everyone gathered up any bags and things they had brought. He waved his hands and suddenly all of the chairs stacked against the walls unstacked and arranged themselves in the space everyone was just occupying. “Next class we’ll do a few more practice motions, and then try out partner changes. I look forward to seeing you all again.”

“Helen!”

The girls and Jason came over to me excitedly. The fact that I just saw legit magic fell to the back of my mind as I smiled a little at them.

“You made it!” Rose exclaimed. “We saw you talking to Dmitri, what did you think?”

“Dancing...really isn’t my thing,” I admitted carefully. “I’ve never been very good with the whole foot-body coordination thing.”

“She actually meant about D,” Claire snickered.

“I was talking about the class too,” Rose blushed slightly.

I thought for a moment. “He seems...pretty nice I guess. I mean, I just met him, at least I’ve gotten to know you guys for a bit.”

“Yeah, D is pretty chill,” Jason commented as we walked out of the room. I felt that elastic cord-feeling tug at me again and glanced back a moment, distracted by seeing Zain and Dmitri talking. Victoria wasn’t anywhere, I guess she had already left. The sight of the two felt vaguely familiar again, though.

“And take it from me,” Claire continue to speak, and I realized I had missed part of the conversation. “Dmitri is a SUPER good guy. He’s actually the one I told you about that saved me from my stupid aunt and uncle.”

“Wait what?” I asked, confused. “I thought you said that it was a vampire who took you.”

“Yeah, that was Dmitri,” she said. “It was his first time travelling with the embassy he said, I think.”

I looked back, but we had already gone out of sight, and then tried to collect my thoughts. “But...he...his eyes were…?”

“Ohhhhh right right right, I forgot about that,” Claire clapped in realization. “Yeah, vampires don’t ACTUALLY have red eyes, they just turn that color when they’re stressed out. Something something biology makes them turn red but they actually have fairly normal eye colors, for the most part.”

“It has to do with the way cortisol affects their system,” Alice spoke up. “They’re pretty human-based to begin with, so there's a lot of similarities, but there’s a chemical in their irises that causes it to glow red with the presence of stress hormones.”

“It used to be because they were always stressed when hungry,” Claire added. “That’s why it’s a pretty common addition to the myth. Also pretty scary.”

“But now it’s just because they have anxiety like the rest of us,” Suzanne finished.

“But...everyone’s eyes are red?”

“Well yeah, duh,” Claire smirked amusedly. “The heir and leader of their home was supposed to be bonded with a chosen Bride to solidify their strengths and safety, but something happened and word has spread that some rando is now the Bride.”

“They feel their future is uncertain,” Rose explained gently. “Humans, too. No one knows anything about you or what benefit or detriment you might bring.”

Jason stopped. “Hold on, wait…” He stared at me, his expression stiff. “You’re the…?”

“Oh shoot,” Rose swore. “I didn’t want to say anything yet, I’m sorry Jason.”

“It’s okay, I just…” he shook his head. “Damn…”

“U-um,” I started awkwardly. “Is that bad?”

“No, I just didn’t want it to be spread around just yet,” Rose admitted sheepishly. “I wanted to make sure you were comfortable first. I figured it would be awkward for you if everyone suddenly tried to avoid you and address you as ‘Lady’ and ‘ma’am’ and so on.”

“Do you...want to be addressed that way?” Jason asked nervously.

“Oh, god no,” I assured him quickly, and remembered Dmitri asking if my name was okay. “Please, Helen is just fine.”

He relaxed, relieved. “Lady Victoria all but demands everyone refer to her as Lady Victoria.”

“I’m definitely not doing that,” I grumbled. “Not after what she did today. I mean, I understand where’s she coming from but…”

They glanced at each other with worry, and I could tell they had something to say but didn’t want to say it.

I sighed. “Anyway, about Dmitri and the vampire eye thing.”

“Right,” Claire shuffled. “Um, that was probably it, honestly. Vampire’s look like people except when they’re stressed.”

“And they’re all scared of me,” I joked a little. They laughed a bit.

“Give it a few weeks,” Rose assured. “Everyone will have calmed down again. Your arrival shouldn’t effect Lord Zain’s ability to run the castle.”

“That reminds me,” I said, “how does age work for vampires? He looks like he’s our age. And Dmitri looked pretty young, too.”

“They’re about how they appear to be,” Rose explained. “Lord Zain is seventeen I think, Dmitri is...twenty-five?” My eyebrows lifted. “The ones who are born will age the same way humans do, just a little bit slower.”

“They stop aging when they reach about Dmitri’s age,” Alice chimed “At that point the body just doesn’t need to grow anymore.”

“And then they live foreeeeeever,” Claire added dramatically.

“Except the ones who are made,” Suzanne said sadly. “They’re stuck at whatever age they turned. Their bodies freeze in time, but their mind will continue to deteriorate.”

I swallowed. “So then...are most vampires born?”

“Mostly. Accidents can...happen though,” Rose admitted.

“That’s why they don’t let vampires do any biting,” Claire said. “The ones that turn usually have this weird desire to create more vampires, which would be a problem, and you have to basically drink vampire blood and die in order to turn, so keeping them away during feeding times prevents that.”

“Will...will I ever be turned?”

“Bride are a little different,” Rose responded this time. “You’d have to want to turn in order for it to work, because of the mutual agreement the bond creates between human and vampire, otherwise you’d probably just...die. And you’d be different than a turned vampire, because your partner would still be able to feed from you.”

“It’s not really a necessary procedure,” Alice added, “so I don’t think you’ll have to worry about that.”

My head spun. This was a lot of information to process. “Wait, one more question, if vampires live forever, what about the human Brides?”

“You’ll live forever too,” Alice answered simply. “It would be bad if their only food source died of old age. It’s part of the changes that now allow you to choose to become a vampire if you wanted it.”

“Yeah, it’s kinda like you’re half vampire!” Claire joked, and my chest tightened. Half vampire...I put my hand on my shoulder again where the bite mark still twinged every now and then.

Everyone split up at the edge of the center courtyard, Claire and twins heading back to the dorm, Jason heading back to his, and Rose going to her class. I was scheduled to follow Wendy next.

“This way,” she spoke, her voice soft and quiet like a whisper.

I followed, feeling awkward as I realized that this was probably the first time I’ve heard her speak. She was extremely reserved and somewhat nervous, every so often fidgeting with her fingers and not looking up anywhere. I wasn’t sure if it was because of me or if she was just...like that. I sympathized though. Up till now it was easy to borrow off of everyone’s energies to relax and adjust. The presence of her anxiety, though, kind of kept mine at bay.

“So, we’re going to...whoa, Horse Care and Management, whaaat?” I tried to give a friendly smile. “There are horses here??”

She nodded. “Yeah. They’re very gentle creatures, and understanding. I like them.”

I stared off in the distance with a small grin as we walked down an open stone hallway and away from the castle, feeling just a little excited now all on my own. I had never been on a horse, or near one for that matter. Wendy’s cheeks swelled as she smiled, and it seemed like she relaxed a little more. The stables came into view as we rounded the corner and the stone floors turned into a dirt path. The smell of fresh barnhouse and hay wafted through the air, growing bolder as we got closer.

Not many people showed up for this class, it seemed. In fact, as far as I could tell at least, it was mostly vampires here. A girl no older than us was currently setting out harnesses and saddles, wearing heavy duty working gloves and clothing, with a red bandana around her neck and a wide straw sun hat. She greeted us when we approached, then beamed at Wendy.

“Hey! Good afternoon, glad ya guys can make it!” She gave a wide grin. “Looks like some newcomers today, Welcome! I’m Amber, I’m kinda second-in-command runnin’ the stables here with my ma and her sisters, I’ll be teaching ya guys all about horses!”

“Last week I got most of ya introduced to the residents here, so today we’re gonna learn the proper ways to clean the equipment. It’s easy enough, but ya gotta do it right or the leather will get too hard, or just not clean at all. And if you don’t clean it well, ‘specially the reins and the bit, you can get the horses sick and we don’ want that.” She went through the proper techniques for getting started and had everyone start a piece of equipment. “Newbies follow me for a sec,” she called out, and to my surprise I wasn’t the only new person.

“Hey,” a young vampire guy, eyes still red, greeted me shyly after we followed Amber and then were told to wait. “You new to this class too?”

“Uh, yeah,” I responded, feeling just a tad awkward.

He smiled forward nervously as we waited for Amber to come back, running a hand across the back of his neck. He looked a bit older than me, his skin dark and his body pretty lanky and tall. Like, a whole-head-taller-than-me tall.

“I’ve never even been around one of these things before,” he admitted after a few seconds of silence.

“Me neither,” I said, deciding to try and make small talk at least. “I’ve always wanted to though, they looked pretty cool.”

“Yeah,” he agreed, and then stuck his hand out. “I’m Adrian, by the way.”

“Helen,” I replied automatically, shaking his hand.

“Helen huh,” he laughed nervously. “That funny, I think that’s the same name as that girl from outside the castle.

“Yeah,” I responded nervously, unsure whether to say anything about that. “Pretty...pretty interesting.”

Luckily Amber had already come back, leading a tall chestnut color horse. It had a white kite shape mark that spanned from it’s forehead down to its nose.

“This is Bitey,” Rose said, and Adrian stiffened next to me. “Don’t let the name fool ya, he used to be chomper when he was little but he’s quite behaved now. C’mon over and say hello!”

We both hesitated for just a moment, and then I stepped forward, feeling a little excited. The horse’s ears swiveled my way as I came up to it from the side, and he turned his head towards me.

“Hold yer hand out, fingers down,” Rose instructed gently. Behind me Adrian watched carefully as I did as told. The horse balked back a little, and then stretched out to sniff my hand. After a few seconds I reached forward to pet its muzzle. Adrian let out a breath of relief behind me.

“Now, horses are very sensitive animals, they can pick up on yer feelings pretty quick,” she said as Adrian worked up enough courage to come up beside me to also pet the horse. “They can be pretty skittish themselves, so it’s very important that ya introduce yourself properly.”

She had us step away after a moment of petting to demonstrate. “Ya always want to try and approach from a diagonal and make sure they can see ya. Cuz if ya watch him,” she stood at a severe angle from the back, “see his ears? They’re swiveled back cuz he knows I’m back here but he can’t see me. And if walk closer now,” she did, and he stepped away from her. “he’ll back up. It’s pretty nerve-wracking to have someone come up from where you don’t see em. That’s why it’s also a good idea to make sure you talk to em too. That way they can hear you and you don’t sneak up on em. NEVER sneak up on a horse unless you wanna get kicked in the teeth.”

Amber continued to explain how to approach and be around horses, how to present yourself, what to do if a horse charges at you, and had us practice approaching conduct correctly with Bitey. The whole time Adrian was very nervous, which I found just a little funny, all things considered; he could probably and easily take this animal down. It was a little alarming even. But then again...I hadn’t actually seen any proof that vampires have super strength or anything, I’ve just sort of assumed. A small spark of guilt set in my chest as I realized that...they really might be just like humans. Just people with different survival needs.

After a bit more practice she then had us rejoin the rest of the class to learn how to clean the tack, giving us the bit and saddle that Bitey had on. I went back to Wendy, who smiled at me and looked very relaxed and content. She was already drying off her piece of tack and had a couple bottles of some sort of leather oil.

The last half of the class was spent learning how to properly dry and oil the leather to help preserve its reliability, and just as the sun began to set everything was wrapped up and put away. I walked back with Wendy feeling strangely accomplished.

“That was...really cool!” I exclaimed with elation. Wendy nodded, smiling happily and quietly. “Like, never did I ever even think I would get to do something like that, not without paying a LOT of money.”

“It’s my favorite class,” she smiled quietly. “The horses really understand.”

I nodded, and remembered the vampire I had pet Bitey with, Adrian, and remembered how nervous he seemed but also how friendly. The horse wasn’t afraid of him, and prey animals are usually good at sensing predators. I thought about Dmitri, who I had no idea was a vampire, who wanted to make sure I felt comfortable with where I was. I thought about everyone I had met today, unable to help but compare it to how my life was before and how the people I had to deal with before. Against my inner denial about this whole situation, this...didn’t seem so bad so far. This actually felt...better.

We made it back to the dorms uninterrupted and I told everyone I was going to go ahead and turn in for the night, feeling exhausted. The gibbous moon had risen high enough already to cast some light in my darkened room, but I turned on a lamp anyway. The ambient lighting combined felt cozy and warm, but my room still felt too big, too open. Absentmindedly I walked to the window and opened it, then realized it had a balcony and climbed out onto it.

The night was pleasantly crisp for summertime. The sky was clear and bright as the moon’s light was cast down upon the world. Out ahead of me lay a sea of trees, and just beyond that were islands of houses. Neighborhoods. If I stared hard enough, I could almost spot the neighborhood I live in. Lived in. I breathed in and let out a sigh as I leaned against the railing, my mind debating with itself.

I shouldn’t be here. I should be at home. I should be helping mom get dinner ready, calling Emily to help her with homework. Sleeping in our run-down cozy house. Dealing with the same idiots entering the same society as me. I’m already starting to forget I’ve been kidnapped; this sense of open freedom is wrong, it’s a lie.

I looked down. It was only two, maybe three stories between here and the ground, and maybe only fifty meters between the castle and the surrounding wall. I could sneak away. I could do the bedsheet thing, anchor to the railing and then try to latch it to the decorations that topped the wall. I could go home, and try to ignore everything, pretend it was all just a bad dream.

Something lurched in my center, violently yanking at some core within me in an up-and-backwards direction. It was almost painful except for the fact that it didn’t feel real, didn’t feel tangible. I grabbed the railing to brace and support myself, my lips pressed tight in bitterness. That sensation continued to pull at me, almost like it was begging me to follow it. To follow it back to the one who bit me.

There would be no escaping that. There’s no undoing it, it would always be there. Following me, everywhere I go, no matter how far I would go. And he could probably follow it back to me. They’d find me, maybe even hurt my mom, maybe even go after Emily, and they would bring me back.

I sunk to my knees on the balcony, leaning my forehead against the railing as tears slowly filled my eyes and rolled down my cheeks. I had fun today. Today hadn’t been bad at all. Sure, I got soup dumped on me, but that was just one incident. Everyone was nice. I wasn’t caged, I wasn’t supervised. I was even allowed to make my way back to the dorms, all on my own. It was only the second day since I arrived. I could have gone somewhere else entirely. But I didn’t. Because being here today has been better than any other day in my entire life. I didn’t want to be here. But I wanted to be here.

“What’s wrong with me…?” I whispered out loud.

I don’t remember ever going back inside, but when I woke up I was in my bed. It was still dark out, the clock read just past 1 a.m. I sat up, still in the clothes I had changed into. I tucked my knees to my chest and sat there for a moment. My cheeks were sticky where my tears had dried.

The strange tugging sensation gave a nudge, not as violently as earlier, but subtly. As if giving me a suggestion. Without really thinking about it, I got up and went downstairs into the commons area, letting the tug pull me forward.

It was quiet in the room; plug-in lights with motion sensors lit up as I got closer to them, making the room have a strange dream-like glow. The girls were all still upstairs, sound asleep. The fridge in the kitchenette area kicked on with a hum for a few seconds before quieting down again. I paused like this for a little while, absorbing the atmosphere. Observing it. And then let my body be pulled forward again and out the door.

The halls were dim and quiet too. The carpet was soft but firm underneath my feet, muffling the noises of the world. I continued forward, my mind still in an almost fugue-like state. I didn’t care where I was going. I didn’t care where this pulling sensation would take me. None of it mattered anyway. Nothing I did would matter.

I came to the courtyard hub area that we crossed to get to the different areas of the human quarters, the Day wing, where classes usually occur. No one was here, but yet I could feel them here. The presence of people, the sounds echoed like the ghosts of a past memory occurring presently. I looked around and could almost see them. There wasn’t anyone here.

I felt a presence, a real presence, land behind me, and the direction of the tugging shifted and changed. I didn’t turn around or react, already knowing who and what it was but feeling nothing.

“Why are you here?” I heard his voice speak. It was soft, curious, and sad. A wave of somber confusion washed across me, but not my own. I turned around.

Zain stood right where he had landed, facing me. His eyes were firm but gentle, his expression matched the feelings in his voice. His hair shimmered in the moonlight, his red eyes glowing softly. He wasn’t angry, he wasn’t frustrated or resentful. Just...lost. Sad and lost, and looking for answers.

“I followed my heart,” I replied.

He looked on in confusion, observing me, his eyes searching. His heart searching. It felt like I could see it, his heart, reflected in his eyes.

“Why are you here?” he asked again after a moment, differently.

Tears welled up in my eyes. “I don’t know,” I answered softly. “I don’t know…”

His expression changed into a look of helpless anguish. “Why are we here?” he asked again.

And then my eyes opened.

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buckys-other-punk · 6 years

Text

Say (All I Need) Jealous Part 6.1

Bucky x Reader, (slight) Steve x Reader

Warnings: angst (if you call it that), jealousy, cuss words, mentions of smut (not really but ehh) and idk what else

Word Count: 3806 (w/o lyrics)

Song inspiration: “Say (All I Need)” One Republic (wow finally not a NJ song) I also re-ordered the lyrics to make it flow better with the story.

A/N: Finally Part 6! I liked @lostinthoughtsandfeelings’ comment where she suggested to show a bit more backstory of how the reader chose Bucky over Steve and why (kinda..not really sorry). So part 6 is gonna have 2 parts as you can tell from the title. This part is the Reader’s POV and the second is going to be Steve’s. Don’t mind any of my mistakes this took a while to write and I really don’t wanna look over this lol. If you wanna be tagged let me know and feedback is very much appreciated! Hope its good and you guys like it!

Tags: @caplansteverogers @hollycornish @carabarnes13@ohmyjack @sebtheromanianprince @flirtswithdanger @aquabrie @amour-quinn @incoherent-smiles-deactivated @rocketqueeens @anbrax5553 @lloeppky @shayla-markele @pdy93 @chrys-1029 @lostinthoughtsandfeelings @dani-si @httpmcrvel @101killer @sarahp879

tags with this means they didn’t work sorry :(

=============================================== *Flashback to 5 years ago*

Do you know where your heart is?

Do you think you can find it?

Or did you trade it for something

Somewhere better just to have it?

You and Bucky have been dating for about 3 months now. Nothing that serious you thought, since your relationship with Bucky was still fresh…well besides the 24 hour sex. You’ve been working on a mission with Nat and Clint for about a month and just arrived back to the tower. Bucky was with Bruce to make improvements for his arm.

“Hey F.R.I.D.A.Y., Do you know where Bucky is?” you asked aloud.

“Yes Ms. (Y/L/N), Bucky is in the lab with Dr. Banner. Would you like me yo summon him for you?” F.R.I.D.A.Y asked.

“No it’s fine F.R.I.D.A.Y. I’ll just go there.” you replied. As you walked near the lab you heard voices talking. Entering the lab Bucky was on an exam table and Bruce looking over his metal arm. They were video chatting with Tony about whatever. Tony was the first to notice you entrance.

“Agent (Y/L/N).” Tony said calmly looking your way. The other two both turned in your direction.

Do you know what your fate is?

And are you trying to shake it?

You’re doing your best dance,

Your best look

You’re praying that you make it

“(Y/N), I have to talk to you.” Bucky said sternly. You were taken back by his tone and your small smile went away. You nodded as he directed you to the living room area.

“What’s wrong Bucky? You’re scaring me.” you said quietly.

“I have to go on a mission (Y/N).” he said sadly.

“Ok, how long are you going to be gone for?” you asked.

“That’s the thing, (Y/N). Umm…I’m going to be gone for 9 months.” he paused. “Tony said he wanted me and Banner to go with him to England to get some leads on HYDRA.”

“Well, why can’t I go with you guys?” you asked.

“I’m sorry (Y/N). Tony said he just wanted us three to go.” he sighed. “(Y/N), I don’t know if I could do a long distance relationship. I know we’ve been dating for 3 months and it has been great, but…” Bucky hesitated, “I think we just need a break.” he avoided eye contact through his whole plea. “I’m sorry, (Y/N). I gotta get packing.” he sighed as he rushed out of the lab.

Well, bless my soul

You’re a lonely soul

‘Cause you won’t let go

Of anything you hold

Bucky began to pack up for the mission. He felt guilty for putting an end to your guys’ relationship. When he finished packing up his stuff and exited his room. As he began to walk away from his room he passed your door. He set down his suitcase and stood at the closed door. He looked a the door and raised his hand about to knock. He paused and though “Maybe she’s mad at me…I shouldn’t say anything to hurt her even more.” He stepped away from your door and began to walk towards the elevators.

Meanwhile, you sat in your room thinking as tears began to fall down your face. “Why the hell are you feeling sad (Y/N). It was bound to happen. You are a strong independent woman, fuck him for ending your relationship.” you said to yourself as you took a deep breath and wiped away the tears. You exited your room seeing the elevator doors close.

Well, all I need

Is the air I breathe

And a place to rest my head

About 2 months Bucky left you were trying to forget about the whole breakup situation and trained to keep your mind out of the gutter. You were throwing punches at a punching bag while Sam held the back of it to keep it from moving around.

“So, (Y/N) I heard you are single again.” he said with a devilish smirk. You happily scoffed at his remark and nodded yes. “I was wondering if you wanna go out sometime?” he asked.

“I’m very flattered Sam, but I’m just trying to recover and find myself.” you said kindly. He nodded understanding and his shoulder slumped a bit. “But hey, we could go and get a drink sometime. Maybe find you a girl.” you said winking at Sam.

He laughed. “Yeah, I like that. Hey who knows you could probably be a better wingman than Steve and Bucky combined. I mean your a woman and you know how other women think.” he said happily. You both finished your training and began to exit the gym. As you left you waved Sam goodbye as you headed to the kitchen to get a snack. When you walked into the kitchen Steve was there making breakfast. It looked like he just came back from a jog.

“Hey soldier. What you making there?” you asked Steve. He turned around smiling at you showing you his breakfast.

“Hey (Y/N), oh, I uh got some fruit from the farmers market that’s near here and decided they would go good with some yogurt. I still got some leftover fruits. You want me to make you some?” he asked you politely.

You shook your head no and said “Nah, its fine I’ll just take some of yours.” You smiled as you got a spoon and dipped it into his yogurt bowl. He looked at you in shock like you kicked a innocent dog or cat. You were always super friendly with Steve. You also sorta kinda had a small crush on him when you first started working with the Avengers, but your crush on him dialed down when you began to date Bucky. Now that Bucky ended his relationship a few months ago you’ve began to notice how kind Steve was to you. As you ate your spoonful of yogurt and fruit Steve copied you and began to eat.

“So, (Y/N), how was training with Sam?” he asked you.

You chuckled and said “He’s ok, but I think I’m gonna ask Nat to spar with me again. I feel bad for kicking Sam’s ass for the past couple of days.”

“Well, I’m kinda glad I get my jogging buddy back.” he laughed. You chuckled at his comment and put your spoon in the sink. “You know I was wondering if you wanted to hang out sometime. I feel like I never see you during the day, you’re always so busy.” he said as you walked to the fridge to get a bottle of water.

“Yeah, I’d like that Steve.” you said smiling.

Well, bless my soul

You’re a lonely soul

'Cause you won’t let go

Of anything you hold

*Later that evening*

You walked up to Steve’s room and knocked on his door. He opened his door slightly and realizing that it was you he open his door wide. “(Y/N)? What are you doing here?” he asked you and looking at what you were wearing. “What are you wearing? I-I mean it’s beautiful and you look gorgeous and-” you cut Steve off by holding you hand up.

“Steve, you said you wanted to go out…So why not now? We could go get some food from that one fancy restaurant that Tony always bugs us all about. I also swiped Tony’s mastercard from him before he left.” you said with a smile. Steve chuckled at your comment and motioned for you to enter his room.

“I’ll get dressed. You can wait in here.” he said. You looked around his room and everything was tidy and clean. Walking to his desk and seeing a small notepad with a list of things. As you read over the list you smiled taking note that one day you would binge watch Star Wars with Steve. Steve came out of his bathroom with his matching navy blue suit. You stared at Steve for what felt like the longest time. “Is this ok?” he asked you shyly.

“Oh my god! Steve you look awesome!” you said happily. “Let’s go and spend Tony’s money” you laughed.

“Alright let’s go.” Steve said happily.

*Later at the restaurant*

After you and Steve were close to finishing your food you suggested something. “So Steve, why don’t we go the the club around the corner. You know find yourself a girl. We could bring Sam with us too, apparently I’m his wingwoman.” you chuckled as you “paid” for the food.

Steve nodded and pulled out his phone. “I guess I should call Sam then.” he laughed.

The waiter returned with Tony’s card and asked “I’ve noticed that Mr. Stark isn’t here. May I ask why or how you have his card or should I call over my manager?” You shook your head no.

“Oh, no I’m sorry. I’m Tony’s daughter (Y/N) and he gave me his card for the weekend. So I decided to go out to dinner with my boyfriend.” you lied sounding fake concerned. “Please don’t call your manager over, my dad would kill me if he knew I’m dating someone who he doesn’t know. My dad is very strict.” you added to the lie. The waiter nodded.

“I’m sorry miss. I didn’t know Mr. Stark had a daughter. Let me get you our speciality chocolate cake of course on the house.” he apologized scurrying to the kitchen. You looked over at Steve smiling.

“Well, Ms. Stark I’m glad to be your unknown boyfriend.” he chuckled.

“Hey, at least we got free dessert!” you said giddy. The waiter came back with the cake and two forks. You and Steve shared the cake and once you finished you both exited the restaurant with you arms linked. “Oh is Sam going to be joining us?” you asked Steve and he nodded yes. As the two of you arrived at the club Sam was already in the line waiting for you guys. He waved over at you and Steve. “Hey Sam, I guess your wingwoman came to the rescue afterall.” you laughed and so did he.

“Yeah, I’m actually happy that you are gonna help me out. Seeing that you are busy with someone else.” he whispered at you so Steve wouldn’t hear. You shoved him away. “Hey, you know it’s true. The only thing is I wish this fucking line would move.” he yelled over the crowd. You and Steve laughed at him. You looked at the bounce of the club recognizing the face.

“Follow me guys.” you said leading the two gentlemen to the front of the line. “Henry? Is that you? Oh my god it is!!” you smiled and so did the bouncer.

“(Y/N) (Y/L/N) as I like and breathe! Long time no see girl!” he replied in a friendly tone. Henry was a super buff guy (like most bouncers of the bouncers that worked there), but he was a very nice person when you get to know him. “Who do you got here? Getting into trouble again I suppose?” he added and you blushed.

“Oh no, these two are my friends. I’m their wingwoman for the night.” you said. “Do you think you could let an old friend in?” you asked.

“Uhhh,” he paused looking at you, but you gave him your best puppy dog eyes and he sighed, “yeah you can go in. Just don’t tell my boss.” he winked at you pulling moving aside to let you guys in. You smiled and kissed his cheek and you lead both Steve and Sam into the club and up to the bar.

“What just happened?” Sam asked and Steve nodded in agreement. You waved the bartender over ordering a whiskey.

“Oh you mean Henry?” you asked the pair and the nodded. “Well we use to work together.” you said calmly.

“Umm, where?” Sam asked.

“Here.” you said and the two had a questioned look. “I was the person who would kick people out if they became to rowdy and if they would decline or ever so much as touch me I would beat their ass (a/n: basically like Ronda Rousey in Expendables 3).” you said confidently smirking as the bartender gave you your drink and you downed it. You ordered another and they two men looked at you.

“Huh, that kinda explains your aggressiveness.” Steve said quietly, but you heard him and shoved him.

“HEY! I am not aggressive!” you yelled and the two laughed at your assertiveness. “Whatever! Sam did you find some poor girl that has to listen to you talk about how great you are?” you asked for friend.

“Ouch, but yeah that girl over there with the black dress.” he pointed at a table near the bodies of dancing people. You nodded taking note and downing your second drink, you stood up from your chair and began to walk near the girl. Sam and Steve saw you talking to the girl. “She better do me right.” Sam said to Steve and he chuckled. As you were talking to the girl the guys both ordered drinks from the bartender. You began to walk back you winked at Sam. Then the girl looked over and began to walk towards Sam. “Hello there.” Sam said confidently and she giggled. She took his hand and brought him to the other dancing bodies.

“What did you say to her?” Steve asked as he sipped his drink.

“Oh I just said he was an Avenger and saves the world.” you replied smiling ordering yet another drink. The rest of the night was a blur, but you knew that you went home with someone.

*Early in the Morning*

You woke up with an excruciating headache. You groaned you felt something heavy around your small frame. As you turned you saw the person who was next to you. Steve Fucking Rogers. You were mentally screaming. Slowly moving his hand off your stomach you got of his bed and tried to find you clothes. They were scattered everywhere. “Damn, I guess we had a good time.” you said in your mind. Even though you didn’t really remember the sex all, you remembered was how much you liked it and being with Steve. Right when you got your dress off of the ground Steve noticed the absence of your presence in the bed.

“Rushing to get out of here?” Steve asked quietly and ashamed. You looked up at him and sighed.

“I’m sorry I’m rushing, but I just got out of a relationship and it’s your best friend for fucks sake. I just need some time to think. I’m sorry Steve.” you said sadly as you walked up to him and kissed his cheek. You quickly got your belongings and rushed out of his room running into your room. You dropped everything as you closed your door and with your back against the door you slid down into a sitting position. “What the fuck did I just do.” you said to yourself.

Do you know where your love is?

Do you think that you lost it?

You felt it so strong, but

Nothing’s turned out how you wanted

*Later that Afternoon*

“Maria, I need to clear my head. Can you please help me?” you sighed. She nodded at you a concerning look.

“What’s wrong (Y/N)?” she asked. “And what are you wearing!?!” she added pointing at your sweater. You looked down at your sweater.

“What? This? My nephew made this for me so back up.” you defended the ugly-ish sweater. “But I need your help.” You loved Maria she was your mentor when you first became an avenger and then the two of you became close friends.

“What is it?” she demanded and you sighed.

“I slept with Steve.” you said cowering a bit.

“Wait what? Nat owes me $20?” she snickered and you slapped her hand.

“Maria! Ugh, help me!!” you exclaimed and she laughed.

“Fine. How did this happen?” she asked you.

“We got drunk at a club and you know one thing led to another.” you replied.

“Damn, I wish that would happen to me.” she said silently so you wouldn’t hear, but you did. “Well what are your feelings towards Steve?” she asked another question.

“Steve is a sweetheart and is always nice to me.” you replied.

Maria nodded, “Ok, how do you feel about Bucky or should I say did you feel?” she asked you.

“When we were together he was great as well, but there was something different about him. Like good different. Even though he broke up with me which was stupid and I don’t understand why he did that still.” you said.

“Well then, who do you have more feelings for?” Maria asked you.

“I don’t know. They are both great guys, but I can’t choose.” you said sighing putting your head on the table with defeat.

“Well, I believe that you will make the right choice.” Maria said patting you shoulder. “Now let’s order you some food because I know that will cheer your up.” she added and you laughed agreeing.

Do you think you can find it?

Better than you had it

You’ve been avoid Steve for days. You felt bad, but you were trying to escape the awkwardness. You’ve locked yourself in your room just thinking about what you should do. You sighed loudly and exited your room and walked to Steve’s room. You paused for a moment and right when you were about to knock on the door it opened quickly.

“Oh, (Y/N). Hi.” Steve said avoiding eye contact.

“Hey Steve.” you said. “We need to talk.” you continued walking past him and sitting on his make bed. He closed the door behind him and followed in your footsteps.

“You’re gonna talk about that night, right?” he asked you. As you looked at him you were about to cry, but you tried to keep it together.

“Yeah, I don’t think we should tell Bucky. I mean he’s your best friend for fucks sake, Steve.” you said keeping your calm and he nodded as he walked closer to you.

“Please tell you felt something when we were together for that short amount of time. Please (Y/N).” he said looking at you.

“I’m really sorry Steve, but I didn’t feel anything.” you lied. Of course you felt something. Steve was so sweet to you the entire night, but you felt like you cheated with Bucky (a/n: even tho he broke up witchu…i’m sorry for interrupting but like asdfghjkl).

“(Y/N), look into my eyes and say you didn’t feel anything.” he said grabbing you face forcing you to look at him.

“I didn’t feel anything.” you said sternly looking into the stupid, beautiful eyes. Steve has tears forming in his eyes and tried to hold yours back. You took his hands off of your face and slowly exited his room. “Just know Steve if something happened that night you met me things would be different.” you said as he exited his room closing the door. You had tears running down your face and walked to Maria’s room. She saw your state and hugged you as you sobbed into her shoulder.

(say) all I need

Is the air I breathe

And a place to rest my head

*4 Months later*

Ever since your talk with Steve both of you were avoiding one another and everyone noticed, but didn’t say a word. It was hard to try and avoid one another, but whenever you did bump into one another you would have small talk. Both of you were slowly beginning to talk to one another, trying not to make it awkward.

Both you and Steve were talking in the kitchen as you both were eating lunch. Out of nowhere you both heard the elevator ding. You both looked to the doors opening an you saw the one and only James ‘Bucky’ Barnes. He exited the elevator, looked at the two of you and walked straight to his room. Both you and Steve looked at each other questionably. You got up walking to Bucky’s room and Steve was behind you. His door was closed. You knocked on it hoping he would open the door and luckily he did.

“Can we come in?” you asked and Steve behind you. He looked at the two of you and closed the door. Right when you were going to knock on the door again Steve stopped you.

“Let’s let him rest. He’s probably tired.” Steve said quietly and you nodded walking away.

*5 weeks later*

Bucky had been avoiding both you and Steve for the past weeks. You were on the couch binging some New Girl when Bucky came into the living room. He sat on the other side of the couch and began to watch with you. You looked over at him and he with you.

“We need to talk (Y/N).” he said. ‘That was never a good sign.’ you said to yourself. Your turned off the TV and showed Bucky your full attention. “I thought about what happened between us when I left for my mission.” he started and looked at your blank face nodding for him to continue. “I wanna tell you that I met someone in England and one thing led to another and we slept together.” he added.

“Why are you telling my this Bucky? You’re the one who broke up with me.” you said in reply.

“I know, but I wanted to tell you because a part of me felt like I cheated on you and it felt like I was being weighed down by all this guilt.” he paused. “And I kinda sorta said your name during sex with that girl.” he said looking down and you just laughed.

“Oh my god! That poor girl.” you said laughing. Bucky laughed at your comment as well.

“Yes well that didn’t last for long, but that wasn’t what I was thinking about for the past months.” he said and you nodded for him to continue. “I want to get back together with you. I know, I know before you stop me, I was wrong. I was stupid to break things up between us. We were great together and I regret everything. I missed you, I missed being with you, making you laugh and smile. I feel like I lost a part of me when I left you. I’m sorry (Y/N). Just know that I still love you and I’m sorry for what I did.” he finished sighing and about to get up from his seat. You stopped him and grabbed his face with you hands and placed a gentle kiss on his lips. Looking at his shocked blue-ish grey eyes, you smiled.

“I forgive you, Bucky.But I have to think before I give you my answer.” you said quietly and he nodded as he got up from his seat and exiting the living room.

“What the fuck am I going to do now?” you said to yourself with some tears in your eyes.

Do you know where the end is?

Do you think you can see it?

Well, until you get there

Go on, go ahead and scream it

Just say…

End of part 6!! I AM SORRY THIS TOOK FOREVER!!I hoped you guys liked it and it wasn’t a let down. Also part 6.2 will be very interesting. Like always let me know what you want to see next, any suggestions and if you wanna be tagged in anything!

#jealous series #bucky x reader #reader x bucky #bucky barnes x reader #reader x bucky barnes #steve x reader #reader x steve #steve rogers x reader #reader x steve rogers #reader insert

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judeonthemove · 6 years

Text

One Hundred And Nine Beds

We loved Ecuador so much we stayed an extra day. Although that's not strictly true, it sounds much better than: despite having a bulletproof plan for getting to the airport, arriving there four hours ahead of our flight, and sitting for two hours at what was initially promoted as the correct gate, we somehow conspired to miss our flight. We still have no idea when they changed the gate, why we didn't notice, or what on earth happened to their customer service announcements. Tiredness, relaxation and misplaced trust lulled us into false sense of security and we were rewarded with a monumental fuck up and no hint of an apology. There are few things you want to experience less at a foreign airport than the icicle stab in your guts of realising you are stuck in a territorial no-man's land, on the wrong side of a continent, facing a temporal and financial haemorrhage that you have to resolve in another language. There are the immediate practical problems to deal with of course, but also the wave of humiliation and self-recrimination. How on earth did we manage to make their mess into our problem? Staff members trooped us off around the airport getting our exit stamps annulled, and down to the basement where our rucksacks lay unceremoniously dumped by a door next to the tarmac. Just to underline our misdemeanours the narcotics police then proceeded to dismantle our bags. It was surreal and strangely violating to see your sorry pile of belongings through a stranger's eyes; that the backbone of your life for ten months is nothing but crap. Given that we weren't drug smugglers, we were allowed to proceed with our walk of shame back through security and baggage reclaim before facing the inevitable at the airline ticket desk. Mercifully the woman on duty had fluent English and quickly reassured us that for the bargain price of a lost day and $198 we could still get to Rio de Janeiro. Painful, but nothing like as wounding as I'd feared. There was nothing but a web address to consult about our complaints, and we were sent off into the night.

Reluctant to bankrupt ourselves further and urgently feeling in need of some control we found a nearby town on the map, jumped on a local bus, and hustled down a dark, desolate road in search of accommodation. Our hunch that anywhere that close to an airport would feature hostals was correct and we holed up for the night, spending our last few dollars on pizza and beer, and hurriedly trying to make contact with our hotel in Rio. It was a prime case of sod's law that having decided to blow the accommodation budget on our final lodgings (a whole £30 a night, woooooooh!), we wantonly discarded a night of our booking. So here we are, back at Quito airport, paranoidly sat below the departures board at our supposed gate. Three hours should do it today.

...

Shortly after dawn we were hurtling through the streets of Rio on a transfer bus, astonished at seeing a huge high rise city again. Rio was covered in simple black graffiti tags at street level and at impossible heights all over tower blocks, bridges, and industrial buildings. The city had the appearance of having been infected with a rash of kanji. Delivered just a block from our hotel, we weaved around encampments of rough sleepers. At six in the morning it was already hot, and the bracing smell of human waste and desperation competed with the tropical plants of the park. While we might have been late, at least we had a bed to sleep in and a home to go back to. The kindly night receptionist was waiting for us and pointed out that the breakfast buffet had just opened. A quality breakfast was one of our pre-requisites when deciding where to stay so there was quite a weight of expectation upon it. Still wired from the events of the previous thirty-six hours, and suffering from no sleep and another two hour forward time jump, we were a bit over-excitable. There was a lift, carpeted hallways, key-cards, and a great room with a massive bed and powerful, hot shower. It could have been the Ritz and not felt like a better treat. We fell on the breakfast buffet like vultures then passed out until the late afternoon.

Other than for references to the quality night life, ‘sketchy' was the main adjective we’d seen used in relation our new neighbourhood of Lapa. We divested ourselves of valuables and ventured out on a quest for orientation, dinner and some good old Brazilian beer. Finding ourselves in a sports bar we utilised our best pointing and smiling technique in the acquisition of some tea. Portuguese might look like Spanish, but it sounds like Hungarian and we were utterly clueless once more. After fuelling up, some more beer was in order and it just so happens that Rio is full of actual bars, not cafes that might serve beer, but beer emporia that might serve snacks. Yes the area was a bit moody in places, but not to the extent that you'd hide in your hotel, and there was more than a hint of promise for the weekend. We soaked it up for a while then headed back, detouring by the hotel roof to survey the scene. We were surprised to find the view dominated by a terrifying Mayan temple-style ziggurat in brutalist concrete. Behind the local aqueduct-cum-tourist tramline it lurked, gigantic and awful. A swift search revealed it was a cathedral, possibly the most dystopian fantasy cathedral ever.

Rio being a big city, we had to be modest with our expectations of what was achievable in a few days. We stayed local on the first morning, visiting the bohemian hillside neighbourhood of Santa Theresa via the tram. At the top was a theatre in a ruined colonial villa and an art gallery with marmosets in the garden. The views towards Sugar Loaf Mountain and Christ the Redeemer helped shape our itinerary for the remainder of the week. We picked around the twisty cobbled streets and managed not to punch the army of selfie-takers on the Selarón Stairs. The artist burned himself to death at the foot of his meticulously tiled staircase but this grisly fact seemed to be lost on the crowd as they posed and obstructed on the same spot. Once in possession of the right kind of ticket, we zipped off on the metro to check out Ipanema beach. James is very much a mogwai when it comes to beaches and should never be made wet or sandy, but once installed on a rented chair even he admitted it was an excellent place and suggested we should do some more beachiness. In my imagination, the beaches of Rio are full of impossibly beautiful people so it was encouraging to find all sorts present and enjoying themselves. Beach life is serious business, involving lots of team sports, sexy casual style, and alcohol. Enterprising stalls set up each day supplying chairs, parasols and drinks, and disappear again at sunset spirited away in VW campervans. Despite the breaking waves I managed a bit of a swim in the Atlantic and we chilled out as the sun went down. It was time to get formally acquainted with the caipirinha, Brazil's national drink. I suspect that caipirinha is viewed as some sort of human right in Brazil. It is ubiquitous, and invariably both the cheapest drink available and blindingly strong. It's also delicious of course, which set the tone for the remainder of the week.

Thursday saw us on the cable car up to Sugarloaf Mountain, for a spectacular view of the city and the incoming weather. On the way there we'd walked past the very swanky yacht club and therefore had a second chance to be envious, admiring the miniature yachts from above as they flew across the bay. The irony is there is no ‘January River' as Rio de Janeiro translates, the first Europeans to discover the place were mistaken. Guanabara Bay certainly looked like a mighty fine sailing ground though. We followed the short nature walk at the top and soon became enveloped in increasingly thick cloud. With the wind picking up and Rio now largely invisible, we descended once more. We pursued our plan to visit Copacabana but remained beach adjacent, supping caipirinhas and attempting to understand the rules of the foot/volley-ball hybrid game everyone plays. The sea did not look too safe for swimming, and as the sun went down it started to rain with a vengeance. Lightning pounded the sky above the mountains and ocean. Eventually we had to acknowledge it wasn't going to stop and had to make a run for it. Drenched, but still warm and cheerful we grabbed some food and called it a night. Across the road from our hotel, a mysterious festival was being set up.

We have breakfasted incrementally later as the week has progressed, which may or may not relate to the exponential increase in our alcohol consumption. Getting mobilised eventually on Friday morning, we went to investigate the intimidating cathedral. Like a reverse tardis it somehow seemed smaller on the inside. Smaller but still a vast open space with stained glass streaming down the walls from a glass cross in the roof. It was calm, cool and bold. Arriving at the modern art gallery by a rather leisurely midday was not a problem, as it emerged they only opened at midday, thus giving our tardiness the appearance of planning. Fully arted up we went for a wander round the waterfront and ran into what might have been some sort of naval graduation ceremony. Military bands in full uniform greeted dignitaries while bodyguards watched over the proceedings. We admired the architecture of one of Rio's newest museums but chose Coke and churros outside over going in. Our diabetes-baiting was rewarded with more rain so we trotted back to base for a disco nap as Rio geared up for Friday night.

When we re-emerged, Lapa had transformed itself into party central with innumerable samba bars featuring live bands. Off-licences doubled as bars, with crowds ranged across the pavements or sitting on the city's shared bicycles. Bar stalls crowded in the central reservation, and people with modified bikes and hand carts sold booze on the move. This was not the place for sobriety. While our ruined clothes made us look a bit down at heel inside the hotel, we fitted right in on the street. Urine, drains and cigarette smoke competed with frying snack food and the ever present zing of lime wedges. Groups of friends sang and danced in and around the bars, dodging traffic as the crowds swelled into the road. The mystery festival turned out to be a Christian music weekender. One couldn't help but feel they were fighting a losing battle. We lined our stomachs and got into the spirit of things at a restaurant before going on to a bar. The early hours found us under the aqueduct arches, clutching mind-bendingly strong, half-litre, 90p caipirinhas, and swaying to Christian rock in the rain.

Saturday was a slow start, followed by a restorative breakfast and post-breakfast sleep. We eventually hauled ourselves back up to Santa Theresa for a longer look around and a nice walk in the sunshine. After my ordering error in Baños I finally got stroganoff for my tea, and hoped this wouldn't be an ill-advised choice ahead of another night on the beers. We'd noticed protesters gathering earlier in the day, and many of them were partying in Lapa. Clearly it was something to do with next week's general election. The reported front-runner, representing the hard right, is currently recovering from being stabbed. These cheerful revellers were altogether more peaceful in their opposition to him, choosing stickers, glitter and dancing in the street as their weapons of choice. We steered clear of the cocktails but still made a poor attempt at getting a slightly earlier night. We looked up the hashtag of the campaign stickers and chanting, and discovered that #elenão meant #nothim, a cry of protest against misogyny, homophobia and racism.

Sunday, appropriately enough, involved a visit to Giant Jesus, or Christ the Redeemer as the statue is known to all but me. The figure watches over the city from high above and, while prominent, had seemed smaller than expected from the vantage points we'd had up to then. A Swiss-style train took us from the base of the mountain, up the steep, forested slopes to the undeniably enormous statue. All around the main platform, people lay prostrate at the feet of Christ. They weren't praying, or indeed even looking at the statue, but rather were all busily taking photos of each other; lying on the ground to get the same crucial shot from below. Arms outstretched, their backs to the statue, superimposing themselves over one of the modern wonders of the world. While the sights on the viewing decks were plain annoying, the views from them were superb, taking in the bay, mountains, city and beaches in 360°. We could have happily stayed up there for hours, but we'd promised ourselves a second crack at Copacabana and daylight hours were running short. Arriving on the bus, it was immediately apparent that some huge party was in full swing. The dual carriageway next to the beach was closed to traffic and full of floats and thousands of people. It was a powerful cross between a Pride parade and political rally. The tide was up and the sea so rough that lifeguards were patrolling on jet-skis and preventing people from swimming. My swim kit stayed in my bag and rather than sit on the beach as planned, we grabbed a drink and joined in. While it might not have been our election, it was a great opportunity to show solidarity. We picked a sound system we liked and danced alongside the slow moving lorry down the full length of Copacabana. We arrived several hours later hammered, starving and covered in glitter. Ending as we began in Santiago, our final dinner in this continent involved meat on chips, a South American staple. Clearly we couldn't just leave it there, as Sunday night samba was in full swing back in Lapa. Street-stall caipirinhas in hand we stood on the pavement admiring other people's dance moves and looking back on our trip. Our livers are quietly glad we are not staying longer.

We believe we have slept in one hundred and nine beds over the past ten months. This includes a bamboo stretcher in the forests of Laos, a tent in Thailand, wild campsites in an Australian van, and a boat down the Amazon. It does not account for all the overnight planes, trains and buses that we have variously enjoyed and endured. Thinking of it like this it seems incredible, yet here we are; it's the first of October and we're about to go home. Many of my clothes are about to go in the bin, together with the owl-patterned bag that has been slung across my body almost every day and is a veteran of our Japan our India trips before that. It's like discarding faithful friends. I have no idea what's coming next and am merrily avoiding thinking about it until we're home and the dust settles. As I lie here in Rio thinking of what a wonder, challenge and privilege it has been to do this, our tiny, huge earth rotates beneath me. We will soon be racing back across the Atlantic to the lovely Peels who will await us at Heathrow. For those of you who have managed to read this far, you’ve got through eighteen of these missives and who knows how many tens of thousands of words. Thank you for your interest, it's been lovely to have someone else to talk to.

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decor10 · 6 years

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Home Design and Decorating Ideas and Interior Design

New Post has been published on https://is.gd/Faim9l

Himalayan Salt Wall Panel or Himalayan Salt Lamp?

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altalksaboutstuff · 4 years

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Shantae and the Seven Sirens First Impressions (Insert I whip my hair back and forth joke here)

No spoilers? Well ok, I'll try. I suck at knowing what is or is not a spoiler though. I'll give it my best go.

… or should I say my best Ret-2-Go!

First some back story to frame this:

Shantae and the Seven Sirens is probably the game that I've been looking forward to playing all year and it was about a year ago now that we first got the teaser trailer/opening for this game too. I've watched that trailer over and over. on my birthday I saw the Studio Trigger movie Promare and the Shantae and the Seven Sirens trailer (also animated by Studio Trigger) was shown with the other movie trailers. Its really good, both the movie and trailer, so good that after seeing the trailer my wife asked me if the games were based off the anime (They didn't know that Shantae isn't an anime at the time.) This was also after spending pretty much the whole summer of 2019 playing Shantae Half Genie Hero again and again. I think I mentioned that on my last video game related post about that game, where I was essentially shilling for Wayforward for free.

I'm typing this out on a keyboard on a Shantae and the Pirate's Curse desk mat.

On my right by the mouse is a very enthusiastic Rotty Tops.

My current wallpaper is Shantae.

I like this series, a lot. I think about this series a lot. I hold myself back from going on tangents when talking to others except for Tumblr and perhaps one day I will make a Youtube video (previously I had made one out of my last post for Half Genie Hero but it won't render correctly. I think it is corrupted so I essentially have to make a new one, maybe at a later time)

Basically I'm a huge tool or as some others would say I’m a huge fan of the Shantae videogame franchise.

I could also write about how now how Games with Gold has Shantae and the Pirate's Curse available for download, since it is available to claim until June 30th, 2020 but I'll mostly touch on that game later. Lightly.

I pre-ordered the physical version of Shantae and the Seven Sirens for the Switch, I got the Collector's Edition with all the bells and whistles and I was going to wait for it, but I caved. I just couldn't wait for the release so I got the digital version on Xbox One back on May 28th, 2020. I paid for the same game twice. I don't do that often, I can't even think of any other time that I've done that except for maybe with remakes or re-releases, but never for a new game. I think. I justified it as the Xbox version has achievements that I can get to show off my digital e-Peen. I also have digital versions of Pirate's Curse and Half Genie Hero on Xbox One while I have physical copies of the games on Switch but those digital versions were from Games with Gold. While I did pay for the Gamepass Ultimate Service, $1 for three years, its not really the same thing.

Well the other day at around 3AM I finished my first play through of the game clocking in about 10 hours and 40 minutes and these are my first thoughts.

I think the most succinct comparison for this game to another is Tomba! For the Playstation One. There's “comparisons” between the two – like Tomba! has seven evil pigs, Shantae has Seven Sirens, both are platformers and while Shantae is a Metroidvania Tomba! is … kind of one too, I guess?

The main comparison to Tomba! that I can think of being that you get directives with spoken keywords and you go to the corresponding area on the map to complete the objective and along the way you get power ups to better help you explore and fight bosses.

Unlike the other Shantae games I've played, there isn't a real central hub. I think that the first town you go to is supposed to be the de facto hub, Arena Town, on Paradise Island but they did away with that for a teleporter room to make fast travel easier. You no longer have to talk to Sky to grab a flight on her bird but you feel like an outsider visiting these towns. And hey, that makes thematic sense since you are visiting the island on vacation but the other games had that home HUB level. That feels like a weird point to mention missing when I played the game because for one it fits the universe a lot better and two it makes actual sense to do that but what I've come to expect in a Shantae game something about it just doesn't feel right.

I think that's the best way to describe this game, its not bad it just doesn't feel right. A lot of this game just doesn't feel right to me. This is my first take of this game and is why I wanted to specifically make this a first take and not a real “review” review. I just to say that something about Shantae and the Seven Sirens feels off. I don't know how else to describe it so I don't want to imply there's some kind of quick fix rather this is an issue with the heart and soul feel. I've talked to friends when discussing media in the past – video games, movies, etc. and when dealing specifically with sequels and prequels - I think that it's really hard to make a good sequel. A game, movie, book, etc can be great on its own and sometimes even better than the original but how it fits in as a sequel can be its undoing or even a miss-step. In that way its almost easier to make a new intellectual property. You have to put enough of your IP in the game (or whatever media) so that it feels like it fits in the universe and that's the long and short of what makes this game not feel right. To be fair this is very much a Shantae game. You've got Shantae, Bolo, Risky Boots and the others, you've got familiar enemies, you have dances and genie powers, you collector heart squids to make heart containers and there's in universe references to things that happened in the previous game, heck you are there on vacation as mentioned you would at the end of Half-Genie Hero but I just don't feel that magic, that Shantae magic. Its frankly kind of unfair to describe my biggest issue as a feeling and describe it in terms of magic. How is that fair to say or any kind of constructive feedback at all? Well I will try to break down and it is what I kind of missed from what I expected going into the game.

First thing is my problem with the transformations. That Studio Trigger trailer (that I mentioned earlier) shows Shantae turning into a monkey. Shantae even mentions how she can turn into a monkey at the beginning of the game. But all those animal forms she had previously are gone. Poof.

That in and itself isn't a problem since this game does have new animal transformations that are pretty cool and satisfying to use like a Newt, a Tortoise, a Squid, a Gastro Drill (think a hermit crab that can drill through the earth/sand) and a frog but my dumb brain up until the end of the game was expecting to unlock some of her classic animal transformations. Like I was expecting to fly around as the harpie and shoot up walls as the monkey and swim around as the mermaid in addition to dashing around as the Newt or barreling into enemies as the Tortoise. These new forms sounded like they were going to be bonus: both in the sense of what Shantae says at the beginning of the game and how they are presented to you as gifts when you save the other half-genies. Same with the dances. This game has four dances that you acquire from Fusion Stones. The dances don't transform you into an animal but you get dances that do things like heal the surrounding environment and enemies or charge electrical devices. And that’s neat, but more on that later. That’s a positive. I’m in my nit pick section now.

My next issue is: What does Shantae do? I don't mean the character in the avatar sense because you need someone to control, but specifically why am I Shantae? You have your hair whip and the ability to dance but none of the power or transformations are yours. I think part of the reason my brain was like “Cool, I can't wait to get the mermaid transformation to use in tandem with the squid triple jump” is because all the powers you get are borrowed from the other half-genies but it doesn't come across like you won't be able to later use your classic abilities. Is it another being on vacation thing, like Shantae just didn't pack her harpie form? Other than Shantae being the main character of the series and possessing the ability to use magic as a half-genie, what is the reason why it is Shantae we are playing as? What in particular is important about Shantae having this adventure? I worry if I have conveyed what I mean here since it does sound a bit unclear.

I don't want to be too hard on Shantae and the Seven Sirens because this isn't just a Shantae franchise problem, to be fair, take Metroid for example. In a typical Metroid game it starts with the protagonist Samus Aran tripping and she then will lose all her powers as they roll out of her and fall down a sewer drain for example.

The idea that you were previously powerful canonically but have to start again at square one isn't always framed smoothly in video games but with Shantae and the Seven Sirens it makes it a point during a few times to tell you that your powers are all borrowed especially at the end. But to go back and contrast that with a Metroid game - I feel like the power-ups still fit Samus Aran and are hers to use (until presumably the next game), and sure someone else could use them - they generally fit to what we understand the character to use for attacks and abilities. I think that's why in this instance it sticks out so much in my mind. I feel like any of the other half-genies could have done this adventure just the same. Zapple could have gotten Fusion Stones and borrowed the other half-genies powers for example to save the day.

At the end Risky tells you that she got Shantae specifically to go along as a contingency plan in accordance to what happens during the ending but like, what happens is ultimately a mistake involving one of Shantae's non-magical friends. I assume from the towns that I visited in game that the other half-genies have non-magical friends too. It wouldn't be a stretch for them to have a similar happen stance occur.

The other big problem, and maybe this is a for me problem, was Risky Boots role in this game. Risky Boots just oozes a larger than life villainess personality - I absolutely love Risky Boots as a character. In Half-Genie Hero though, Risky wasn't really in the game. You thwart her in the beginning and she doesn't show up again until the end game. In Shantae and the Pirate's Curse, Risky Boots is there for pretty much the whole game and you develop a really good frienemy rapport with her. This was a hole that I thought that this game would fix but it doesn't … at least not really.

What you get is there is a lot more of Risky Boots on screen in this game than Half-Genie Hero (and you realize there was even more once you get further in the game) and yet it feels like there was a lot less Risky Boots in this game. You see Risky Boots time and again and you have multiple fights with her (they are set up and paced like the mini-boss) and she will tell you something about why she is there. But then run off, rinse and repeat. There are also a few other moments where she shows up and at the end of the game but its an issue of quality over quantity. Like you de facto see Risky Boots more in this game but its always in short doses to advance the plot. She also has a moment at the end of the game (which is kind of lackluster in my opinion) that feels hollow. Like she's there but not really and without spoiling too much its because she is unconscious. I haven't played this game through a 100% and I assume that maybe she has something to do with the better endings that I haven't unlocked yet but first time through she feels like an afterthought to piece together what is going on with the Sirens more than anything. Like, oh hey Risky Boots is in Shantae, remember? Much like with Shantae, I wonder why is Risky Boots in this game other than that its because it is a Shantae franchise game? It kind of breaks my man-child heart.

Also Jake Kaufman didn't do the soundtrack which kind of explains why none of the in-game tracks really got stuck in head. I liked Arena Town and the Dungeons theme, Armor Town's music is ok too. But while Half-Genie Hero and Shantae and the Pirate's Curse soundtrack really wowed me with noticeable tracks that stuck out, this was more “It's ok” with a few noticeably less meh tracks.

If I had to guess why this game feels the way it does, its this one review I saw on the Xbox Marketplace inadvertently nailed it on the head but I think what they found as a positive, I took as a negative. Shantae and The Seven Sirens mixes Pirate’s Curse with Half-Genie Hero, but I think they took what was wrong and mixed it. Its from a review by ExcitedData11 entitled Good stuff!

That is ultimately what I think lead this game to be what it is – it's trying to fix Shantae Half-Genie Hero by mixing in what it was perceived to be missing. On the one hand, I totally get it. When Shantae Half Genie-Hero came out it got some less than charitable reviews. Thankfully it was successful and overall praised by those fans who Kickstarted it. Shantae Half-Genie Hero game was coming hot off Shantae and the Pirate's Curse which is to a lot of people – the best Shantae game. And I honestly think that falls into what I was saying earlier – its hard to make a good sequel especially since the previous game in the series was the most beloved. Its really hard to capture lightning in a bottle the same way again so they did something different.

Now this is just my opinion (Duh! the whole thing is, but I want to re-iderate here especially since I'm extra talking out of my butt in this part) but to me with Half-Genie Hero they didn't put as much emphasis on the story as with the Pirate's Curse, and in a way went back to the drawing board. The in-game jokes about the game being a soft re-boot of the Shantae series specifically call this out - Shantae and the Half-Genie Hero was largely about who Shantae is and where did she come from? Who is Shantae's mother? What happened to the Genies and the Genie Realm? The games dances and transformations were all of Shantae's classic animal forms with some new things mixed in too.

When I wrote earlier about Shantae and the Seven Sirens and how its a Shantae game but why does it have to be Shantae I feel like Shantae Half-Genie Hero in stark contrast HAD to be about Shantae, its all about her. In Shantae and the Pirate's Curse I feel like it had to be about Shantae too, the real main character of that game was Risky Boots but her relation to Shantae as Shantae's rival was important to understanding Risky Boots. Shantae is important in that way. That's why in Shantae and the Seven Sirens, Shantae just being on vacation story continuity alone doesn't really do it for me. Its also why Risky Boots wanting the power of the Island and falling back on Shantae as a contingency plan doesn't do it for me either. Mixing what is wrong with Half-Genie Hero also mixed out part of what was right with the game.

But at this point, I feel like I've been way to uncharitable to this game. Its mean. I'm kind of being a big meany and misleading you. “Well why don't you just say it? This game must be terrible! -3000 out of 10!”

I feel like I'm saying this game is bad and pointing and prodding over essentially an intangible essence. This game is actually good but if I lead with just that and didn't say my other piece I feel like it would also be wrong. Its super easy (and popular?) to just lay into a game as being bad on the internet. This is the post video game review culture that we have for better or for worse from things like the Angry Video Game Nerd (the better) and Gamer Gate (the absolute worst.) Despite my earlier comments - I did like this game. Really, I enjoyed playing it and I think over time as I replay it I will like it more and more or at least I assume that I will based off of my previous gaming tastes and experiences with this franchise in particular.

Like sequels, reviews are tricky. For me I think I realized this when I was in the 5th grade and The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time got a perfect score from Gamespot. It still kind of irks me but at the time I felt like that was big mistake, a HUUUGE mistake. Especially now when looking back at the game, its faults are a lot more glaring but at the time I can now think – This was a 3D Zelda, the first grand adventure of its time. People were waiting for this forever it probably felt.

In contrast I also think of games I really like that when I first played them I didn't really care for – namely No More Heroes. I really enjoy revisiting that game and its probably in my favorite games of the 2000s decade but I first played it, meh. I didn't really like it. Now a days I could go on and on talking about it.

Tastes change, initial impressions change, where we are in the world changes things and our relation to media too. I've seen a few reviews really laying into this game and then give it a 6 or 7 out of 10. That is kind of bizarre but I also feel like maybe right? Numbers seems inherently trivial to me now. This game could be a 6/10 but it also feels like it could be an 8/10 too based off of my impression. What I can say that is more concrete is that its good. I would recommend you play this game

Ok first impression is over -

First off, though I want to say that the game mechanics are more streamlined for play. I love the animal transformations but stopping to dance pulls you out of the game play and immersion especially since that is so pivotal to playing the game especially when more than one is used in tandem. This also gives the other dances more of an ump especially since they have powerful effects on the stage/level/enemies. In Shantae Half-Genie Hero you have the destruction dance that blows up the whole stage but it takes some time to get to. With the dance function, you cycle through about 4 sets of possible dances to get to it. You are essentially just waiting to use a really powerful move, which I feel like if you need to use it, you probably want to do it right away and in the meantime you are a sitting target. You also have to wait to use the monkey transformation or harpie or mermaid transformations. That's kind of a pain when you use them just to move around. Its not long a long waiting time, its not like a load screen where you are doing nothing but still you have to wait. Its a lot of waiting. You had to wait to use anything. The game does sort of correct that with a metronome power up to speed up the time between available dance cycles but you still wait.

With only four dances total you still have to wait a beat to get to them but then all of them are available to use at once. And outside of that as previously mentioned each one of the animal transformations is used in tandem with a button press and the environment. While something like the frog requires water for use or sand for the Gastro Drill, you can also dash whenever you want as the newt or charge up and smash into things as the tortoise the same. None of the animal transformations seem out of place or missed and they flow better this way with the game play. I never once missed a platform, hit or moving around in any of the animal forms except on rare occasion which every time was from my own input. Shantae is a platformer too so ease of mobility is definitely something you want while you play.

Expanding on the point of mobility - travel between points on the map is also easier. No longer do you have to walk to Sky and ask to fly to a location. As you play you uncover warp rooms and you can warp at will to any of the open locations to fast travel around the island. As previously mentioned I do miss the HUB town from Half Genie Hero but this is markedly an improvement that also thematically makes sense too. While I miss Scuttle Town that decision was good.

I also like the characters in this game a lot. Outside of the series mainstays (Risky Boots ♥_♥ ) we meet other Half-genies (Well... more on that some other time) such as

Harmony

Plink

Vera

Zapple

and ...Fillin (or Ima Goodgirl or … hmmm?)

I also have to say that I was totally de-lighted to meet Armor Baron. Any adjective less than delighted undercuts this character and I absolutely had no idea going into this game that he was in it. My reaction was pretty close to Skys in-game reaction. Just trust me your going to love Armor Baron.

While the meetings with Risky Boots are less than my ideal, I really, really like how the fights play out similarly to how you fight Risky Boots at the end of Shantae: Half-Genie Hero. It feels like a genuine Risky Boots/Shantae battle and I really like that level of polish. Going back to my point of why is this a Shantae game and the difficulties of making a sequel this is really a tick in the good sequel feel column. I just wish I felt this more.

Lastly when talking about characters and maybe this is a spoiler or not (Sorry. Maybe sorry?) Bolo is voiced by Ross. More specifically the Newgrounds/Youtuber Ross O'Donovan also known as Rubber Ninja (formerly Rubber Ross uhm... errr, I guess that's his Gameplay channel on Youtube now? So maybe he is still Rubber Ross?) and also a former Game Grump. I don't know Ross personally but from what I do know about his personality from reading his Tweets and watching his animations and videos from when he was on Game Grumps

that is a perfect choice Wayforward. 10/10 and that's keeping up with all of the other characters voices too. Christina Vee (Valenzuela) returning portrayal of Shantae and Risky Boots (and also Harmony) is also very good. This series has always brought a lot of talent in that department.

Aesthetically this game is gorgeous, the high definition character sprites/graphics from Half-Genie Hero all return and there are new character portraits that look really nice like the next step in terms of polish. Studio Trigger did the opening animation and the other in game cutscenes put together in house look really, really good.

This game is wonderful, truly. I don't want you to take away anything else. It is absolutely worth your time and you will have a good time playing it but it just misses the mark. I would love to say that this game is Shantae perfected but its not. Not yet anyways. It is some combination of a step forward and a step back. I think I still have more to experience and definitely more to say. My first completion was way over the time limit for a notable clear time and I didn't complete the item collection 100% either. I am reasonably sure that once I finish this game with a faster time, higher completion, on new game plus and a combination of all 3 of those criteria combined I will find out more about the story. I'll get the “Good ending” -s and I'm also sure I will also get better and more efficient with playing the game. Maybe then some of my not great first takes will change too. Shantae games (and Metroidvania games in general) get better with replaying and when you learn the in and outs. I still have a pretty good memory of Half-Genie Hero even though I haven't played it in a few months.

Maybe I'm a sucker but I also want some DLC. Give me a version where you play as Risky Boots (please, I miss her) and what could also be fun is a game from the perspectives of the other half-genies in game where you switch between them all at each point before they are captured and play a sort of soft redesign of each dungeon and boss and the end can be the lead up with a particular Siren.

There's a lot that I look forward to this game and this series future. I plan to look up the achievements I missed and collect them. I also need to go back and play the original and Risky's Revenge sometime too. I would like to do a proper review of this and the other games in the future.

Now if you'll excuse me, there's a Speedrun of Shantae and the Seven Sirens that I have to go fail a few times.

(Note this post originally had pictures and GIFs for visual aid/jokes but after trying to post it about 5 times with no luck and coming back, I just deleted them all. I’ve come back and edited some things that look weird and I think I’ve gotten them all, but apologies if I missed some. WOMP)

#shantae #shantaeandthesevensirens #shantae and the seven sirens #videogames #video games #wayforward #firstimpressions #xbox #xbox one #switch #metroidvania #platformer #hashtag

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deanwinchesterjournal · 7 years

Photo

“So this is it,” Charlie said as I stuffed my last pair of jeans into a duffel bag.

I looked around the small berthing area that had been my room for the last four years and nodded. “Yep, this is it.”

This was my last day in the Navy and it seemed that everyone was having a moment.

Except me.

“So what? He doesn't even know you're out?” he asked already knowing the answer.

“No one knows, Charlie. That's the whole point.”

He was sitting on the edge of his bunk. “What if he says no?”

I paused and then smiled. “He won't.”

“But what if he does?”

“He won't.” I said again zipping up my bag.

“But let's say he did say no, what then?” Charlie didn't always know when to stop asking questions. I thought for a second how much two-year-old Charlie's questions must have driven his parents crazy.

I looked him dead in the face and told him honestly, “Then I'd spend the rest of my life crying and being miserable. But he won't.”

Now Charlie took a few seconds to think about what I had said. “How do you know?”

I hoisted my duffel bag onto my shoulder and gave him my best Graymark grin. “Cause he's my guy.” Maybe half a dozen goodbyes followed me as I walked down the gangway. Tons of people who had been like family to me over the past four years because we had all been stuffed together into this sardine can of a ship were suddenly going to be people I used to know.

For some people the military is a way of life, the center of their universe. It had never been that for me. I was proud to have served in the Navy and I loved my time here but the center of my universe was not on a ship.

The center of my universe has always been Kyle.

"Hey, Graymark! Over here!" I shot a look toward the voice and grinned.

One of the guys had volunteered to drive me to the airport instead of making me pay for a cab, which was nice. We didn't talk much during the ride over, just listened to music and made one-word comments. At the Departures ramp, I got out before he could get snagged in traffic and headed toward the doors. I heard him shout, “Go get him Fire Crotch!”

Oh yeah, I might have picked up a nickname while I was in the Navy, and, no, I have no desire to tell you how it happened. I made my way through the airport and got on the plane, the entire time my mind was counting down the time until I got back to him. I reclined into my seat in first class and thought about what Charlie had said. It wasn't like I'd lost Kyle, not like we had broken up or anything. Over the past four years we'd seen each other six or seven times when I had enough leave accumulated to get to him. Each time saying good bye was harder than the last.

The guys on the ship had warned me at the start that long distance relationships didn't work but as time went on, Kyle and I became the exception. If anything, over time we had grown stronger together. So I wasn't worried that he had moved on.

What I was thinking about was more important.

I would be asking him to start his life with me, and I wasn't sure he was ready for that.

When I left for boot camp, I told him I would just show up without warning, some day after I'd finished my Navy duty and ask him to spend the rest of his life with me. We hadn't talked about it since, both of us not wanting to tempt fate by making plans we might not be able to keep. Last month the navy made me a pretty attractive offer to re-up for another tour of duty, but as much as I loved military life, I loved Kyle more.

I knew who I was now, he had always known who he was. It was time to figure out who we were, together.

I landed in San Francisco and spent the next hour trying to figure out where the hell Kyle worked. Once I had the address, I got one of those Ubers to pick me up, since I had no idea where I was. While I waited, I changed my shirt and slipped on my bomber jacket that made me look so Top Gun, it wasn't funny.

The jacket alone could have gotten me laid anywhere in the United States, Hawaii and Alaska included. Kyle was going to make fun of it because he would know it was my second-generation letterman jacket. Which was entirely OK because, secretly all that leather was going to turn him on as much as it would anyone else.

A little purple, cube of a car pulled up and the driver leaned over to call out from the passenger window, “Please God, tell me I'm here to pick you up.”

I forced myself not to roll my eyes, I told you. This jacket was sex.

“Yeah.” I got into the back. “You know where this is?” I handed him the paper with the address on it.

He took it sight unseen, his gaze hadn't moved off of me. I had never been ogled so blatantly before and it was uncomfortable. “Um, can you get us there?”

He glanced at the paper and nodded. “I can take you anywhere you want.”

I just smiled politely as he turned around and began driving. “So military, huh?” he asked with a lewd smile.

That's what I get for putting on my gray athletic t-shirt that had NAVY printed across my chest. I nodded. “Yeah, just got out.”

“Oh really? What brings you here, then?”

Well, he wanted to know.

“I'm here to tell my longtime boyfriend that I think we should move in together.”

Several emotions danced across his face as he digested what I had said.

“You're gay?” I nodded. “And you got out of the military?” Another nod. “And you have a long time boyfriend?” Third nod. “He better be a fucking model.” was all he muttered as he started looking at the road.

What did I say? My jacket was like catnip and the whole world was my cat.

He pulled up in front of a large building and rattled off what I owed him. As I got out he called after me. “If he says no, he's insane.” I told him thanks and he added. “If he does say no, here's my number.”

“Thanks again.” I said, putting the number in my pocket.

He drove off, after taking his own sweet time to look me up from head to toe.

OK, maybe the jacket was a mistake.

I walked into the lobby and asked the guy at the front desk if Kyle Stilleno was in the building. He looked at his computer and nodded and asked if I needed to talk to him. I looked at the time; it was 4:40 and I was pretty sure he said he got out at five. “I'm good, thanks.”

I walked out and looked around for a place to wait.

There were a couple of benches, and a fountain and then I saw it, a lamp post at the corner of the sidewalk leading out of the building. I leaned up against it and made sure I would be visible from the front door when he walked out.

And I waited. The clock in my mind had slowed down, and the past four years had faded away almost as if they'd never been. For a couple of minutes, everything was silent around and inside me and just like that I was no longer almost 23 and a veteran of the Navy, I had not seen five different countries and ate weird food in each of them. I had not spent countless nights looking up at the photos taped to the ceiling of my bunk and wondered if I made the right choice or not.

Instead I was the same guy standing next to a high school locker, wondering if I was about to make a huge mistake. I was wondering if I was about to fuck up again and put my trust in something I wasn't sure of. Spend the rest of our life together? I hadn't even owned a dog and I wanted to ask him about forever?

While I fretted, I pulled out the chain necklace I wore around my neck and looked at what was attached to it; my dog tags of course, then the 81 cents Kyle had given to me one Christmas, and lastly, my class ring. He had given it to me when I left for boot camp four years ago. I had been stunned when he held it out to me.

“But, we aren't breaking up.” I told him, not reaching out to take it.

“I know. But it's your ring and if we don't stay together, I don't want you out a class ring.”

“You don't think we're going to get back together?”

He shrugged, which was Kyle for yes.

“I told you, one day you are going to turn around and I'll be there.”

He sighed. “Fine, then take the ring and give it back on that day. Because if you change your mind or whatever I don't want this thing reminding me I fucked up and lost the best guy I had ever met.”

I could see the tears forming in his eyes and I leaned toward him and pulled him into a hug. “You didn't fuck up anything. This is for the best, Kyle.” He just stood there and cried. “I'm coming back.” He nodded but I could see he didn't believe it. “Fine, I'll take the ring, but when I give it back, you can never worry that I don't want to be with you again. Got it?” He nodded and I took the ring.

Now I took it off my chain and slipped it in my pocket.

A little after five people came pouring out of the building, by ones and tens. None of them was Kyle. I wondered if I was standing in front of the wrong exit when he walked out with Teddy.

He looked so hot in his suit.

I could have jumped him right there he was so fuckable, but instead I just leaned against the pole, waiting for him to notice me. Teddy had stopped to dig out something from his satchel and Kyle began looking around. He looked right past me. I waited.

He did one of the fastest double takes I've ever seen as he stared right back at me.

I smiled and for a moment time stopped. Nothing else existed in the universe but us; and we were both OK with that.

He pushed his briefcase at Teddy and walked over to me. I waited until he was closer. “Hi.”

All he could say was. “Hey,” as he took another couple of steps towards me.

“Wanna spend the rest of our lives together?” It took every bit of control I had to keep from exploding. I needed to hug him so bad.

“Thought you’d never ask,” he said, putting his arms around me and giving me a kiss so intense that it might have went back in time just to prove that this was the actual reason I became gay. Just to love this man.

“You're really here,” he murmured once we had that first kiss out of the way.

“I am, like I said I would be.”

His smile was as wide as I had ever seen it. Then he tipped his face to the side and made a guess.

“You're out?”

“I am.”

“And you didn't tell me?”

“I wanted to see the look on your face when I gave this back,” and I handed him my ring.

Tears welled up as he put it back on. “God, I haven't seen this...”

“Told you I'd be back.”

“I love you,” he blurted out.

I knew exactly how he felt.

#john goode #tales from foster high #End of the Innocence #151 days #When I Grow Up #dream of a waking man

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ourmrmel · 5 years

Text

Mel Feller Explains the 30 Days to Success Process – Mel Feller Texas

Mel Feller, MPA, MHR with Offices in Texas and Utah

Mel Feller Seminars, Coaching For Success 360 Inc. /Mel Feller Coaching

See www.melfellersuccessstories.com and www.melfeller.com

While 30-day challenges have been around for much longer than the internet has been, the rise success websites and social media have provided a textbook setting for the creation, sharing, and engagement in challenges that last for 30 days or more. These challenges promise a simple starting point and a proven path to a new life style with new habits in virtually any endeavor.

Therefore, I believe in the concept of a powerful personal growth tool, which is the 30-day trial. It is also a great way to develop new habits, and best of all, its brain-dead simple.

Let us just say if you want to start a new habit like an exercise program or quit a bad habit like smoking. We all know that getting started and sticking with the new habit for a few weeks is the hardest part. Once you have overcome inactivity, it’s much easier to keep going.

Yet we often psyche ourselves out of getting started by mentally thinking about the change as something permanent — before we have even begun. It seems too overwhelming to think about making a big change and sticking with it every day for the rest of your life when you are still habituated to doing the opposite. The more you think about the change as something permanent, the more you stay put.

However, what if you thought about making the change only temporarily — say for 30 days — and then you are free to go back to your old habits? That does not seem so hard anymore. Exercise daily for just 30 days, then quit. Maintain a neatly organized desk for 30 days, and then slack off. Read for an hour a day for 30 days, and then go back to watching TV.

Could you do it? It still requires a bit of discipline and commitment, but not nearly so much as making a permanent change. Any perceived deprivation is only temporary. You can count down the days to freedom. In addition, for at least 30 days, you will gain some benefit. It is not so bad. You can handle it. It’s only one month out of your life.

Now if you actually complete a 30-day trial, what is going to happen? First, you will go far enough to establish it as a habit, and it will be easier to maintain than it was to begin it. Secondly, you will break the addiction of your old habit during this time. Thirdly, you will have 30 days of success behind you, which will give you greater confidence that you can continue. And fourthly, you’ll gain 30 days’ worth of results, which will give you practical feedback on what you can expect if you continue, putting you in a better place to make informed long-term decisions.

Therefore, once you hit the end of the 30-day trial, your ability to make the habit permanent is vastly increased. Nevertheless, even if you are not ready to make it permanent, you can opt to extend your trial period to 60 or 90 days. The longer you go with the trial period, the easier it will be to lock in the new habit for life.

Another benefit of this approach is that you can use it to test new habits where you really are not sure if you would even want to continue for life. Maybe you would like to try a new diet, but you do not know if you would find it too restrictive. In that case, do a 30-day trial and then re-evaluate. There is no shame in stopping if you know the new habit does not suit you. It is like trying a piece of shareware for 30 days and then uninstalling it if it does not suit your needs. No harm, no foul.

This 30-day method seems to work best for daily habits. I have had no luck using it when trying to start a habit that only occurs 3-4 days per week. However, it can work well if you apply it daily for the first 30 days and then cut back thereafter. This is what I would do when starting a new exercise program, for example. Daily habits are much easier to establish.

Here are some other ideas for applying 30-day trials:

Give up TV. Watch all your favorite shows until the end of the trial. Using the internet these days you will always have them available to you. My whole family did this once, and it was very enlightening.

Give up online forums, especially if you feel you are becoming forum addicted. This will help break the addiction and give you a clearer sense of how participation actually benefits you, if at all. You can always catch up at the end of 30 days.

Shower/bathe/shave every day. I know YOU do not need this one, so please pass it along to someone who does.

Meet someone new every day. Start up a conversation with a stranger.

Go out every evening. Go somewhere different each time, and do something fun — this will be a memorable month.

Spend 30 minutes cleaning up and organizing your home or office every day. That is 15 hours total.

List something new to sell on eBay every day. Purge some of that clutter.

Ask someone new out on a date every day, if not married. Unless your success rate is below 3%, you will get at least one new date, maybe even meet your future spouse.

If you are already in a relationship, give your partner a massage every day. On the other hand, offer to alternate who gives the massage each day, so that is 15 massages each.

Give up cigarettes, soda, junk food, coffee, or other unhealthy addictions.

Become an early riser.

Write in your journal every day.

Call a different family member, friend, or business contact every day.

Make 25 sales calls every day to solicit new business. As a Realtor, Mel Feller did this five days a week for two years, even on days when he was giving back to back listing presentations. He credits this habit with helping build his business to over $3 million in annual sales. If you make 1300 sales calls a year, you are going to get some decent business no matter how bad your sales skills are. You can also generalize this habit to any kind of marketing work, like building new links to your web site.

Write a new blog entry every day.

Read for an hour a day on a subject that interests you.

Meditate every day.

Learn a new vocabulary word every day.

Go for a long walk every day.

Again, do not think that you need to continue any of these habits beyond 30 days. Think of the benefits you will gain from those 30 days alone. You can re-assess after the trial period. You are certain to grow just from the experience, even if it is temporary.

The power of this approach lies in its simplicity. Even though doing a certain activity every single day may be less efficient than following a more complicated schedule — weight training is a good example because adequate rest is a key component — you’ll often be more likely to stick with the daily habit. When you commit to doing something every single day without exception, you cannot rationalize or justify missing a day, nor can you promise to make it up later by reshuffling your schedule.

Mel Feller a Texas /Utah Personal Development, Business, Real Estate, Branding, Business Funding and Finance Coach. In addition, Mel Feller has served in a variety of executive leadership roles for medium and large organizations, including multiple Fortune 500’s. He is a charismatic leader who has facilitated change and growth in all sized organizations, including non-profit and Board development. Mel Feller has successfully led organizations in the areas business development, marketing, sales, operations, and the like.

Mel Feller is committed to serving. In the Texas / Utah community, he chairs several organizations. Mel Feller volunteers his leadership at two churches in a variety of ways, including serving on council, bible study facilitator, and more.

Mel Feller has been a featured speaker for career professional is groups, business leaders and continuing education sessions, and aspiring business startups.

When he is not coaching, you can find Mel Feller reading, listening to podcasts, exercising, fishing, or with his kids and grandkids exploring the greatness God has gifted us all.

Mel Feller states, “An effective coach is someone who tells you what you may not want to hear, helps you navigate around your blind spots, and helps you identify opportunities…so that you can be who you’ve always known you can be” Mel Feller

Mel Feller’s purpose is to add tremendous value to those business owners/entrepreneurs by helping them reach their potential.

Mel Feller is an effective, charismatic and powerful speaker, corporate advisor, and best-selling author. In 1998, Mel founded Coaching for Success 360 to help professionals worldwide design subtle changes in their presentation, attitude and leadership style that increases their personal and professional effectiveness and subsequently their financial status. This also includes both real estate as an agent and/or investor. See www.melfeller.com and www.melfellersuccessstories.com . Now with offices both in Texas and Utah.

As a business, executive, personal development, and real estate coach, I work with a wide range of professionals and offer a highly personalized approach tailored to each individual in concert with the organizational environment. In a supportive atmosphere, I work to build trust and support the professional in the attainment of goals and measurable outcomes.

Mel Feller offers sessions, both in-person and virtual. We will start with an initial assessment to clearly define your short and long-term goals, everything from communication skills to personal acceptance. We will use these goals as a foundation to create a strategy and build the path for attaining these objectives. Change is typically a major component of reaching goals and sustainable change becomes more likely in a coaching partnership.

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