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mostlysignssomeportents · 2 months

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When private equity destroys your hospital

I'm on tour with my new novel The Bezzle! Catch me TOMORROW in PHOENIX (Changing Hands, Feb 29) then Tucson (Mar 9-10), San Francisco (Mar 13), and more!

As someone who writes a lot of fiction about corporate crime, I naturally end up spending a lot of time being angry about corporate crime. It's pretty goddamned enraging. But the fiction writer in me is especially upset at how cartoonishly evil the perps are – routinely doing things that I couldn't ever get away with putting in a novel.

Beyond a doubt, the most cartoonishly evil characters are the private equity looters. And the most cartoonishly evil private equity looters are the ones who get involved in health care.

(Buckle up.)

Writing for The American Prospect, Maureen Tcacik details a national scandal: the collapse of PE-backed hospital chain Steward Health, a company that bought and looted hospitals up and down the country, starving them of everything from heart valves to prescription paper, ripping off suppliers, doctors and nurses, and callously exposing patients to deadly risk:

https://prospect.org/health/2024-02-27-scenes-from-bat-cave-steward-health-florida/

Steward occupies a very special place in the private equity looting cycle. Private equity companies arrange themselves on a continuum of indiscriminate depravity. At the start of the continuum are PE funds that buy productive and useful firms (everything from hospitals to car-washes) using "leveraged buyouts." That means that they borrow money to buy the company and use the company itself as collateral: it's like you getting a bank-loan to buy your neighbor's mortgage out from under them, and using your neighbor's house as collateral for that loan.

Once the buyout is done, the PE fund pays itself a "special dividend" (stealing money the business needs to survive) and then starts charging the business a "management fee" for the PE fund's expertise. To pay for all this, the PE bosses start to hack away at the company. Quality declines. So do wages. Prices go up. The company changes suppliers, opting for cheaper alternatives, often stiffing the old company. There are mass layoffs. The remaining employees end up doing three peoples' jobs, for lower wages, with fewer materials of lower quality.

Eventually, that top-feeding PE company finds a more desperate, more ham-fisted PE company to unload the business onto. That middle-feeding company also does a leveraged buyout, pays itself another special dividend, cuts wages, staffing and quality even further. They switch to even worse suppliers and stiff the last batch. Prices go up even higher.

Then – you guessed it – the middle-feeding PE company finds an even more awful PE bottom-feeder to unload the company onto. That bottom feeder does it all again, without even pretending to leave the business in condition to do its job. The company is a shambling zombie at this point, often producing literal garbage in place of the products that made its reputation. Employees' paychecks bounce, or don't show up at all. The company stops bothering to pay the lawyers that have been fending off its creditors. Those lawyers sue the company, too.

That's the kind of PE company Steward Health was, and, as the name suggests, Steward Health is in the business of stripping away the very last residue of value from community hospitals. As you might imagine, this gets pretty fucking ugly.

Steward owns 32 hospitals up and down the country, though its holdings are dwindling as the company walks away from its debt-burdened holdings, after years of neglect that have rendered them unfit for use as health facilities – or for any other purpose. Tcacik's piece offers a snapshot of one such hospital: Florida's Rockledge Regional Medical Center, just eight miles from Cape Canaveral.

Rockledge is a disaster. The fifth floor was, at one point, home to 5,000 bats.

Five.

Thousand.

Bats.

(Rockledge stiffed the exterminators.)

The bats were just the beginning. One of the internal sewage pipes ruptured. Whole sections of the hospital were literally full of shit, oozing out of the walls and ceiling, slopping over medical equipment.

That's an urgent situation for any hospital, but for Rockledge, it's catastrophic, because Rockledge is a hospital without any hospital supplies. Steward has stiffed the companies that supply "heart valves, urology lasers, Impella catheters, cardiac catheterization balloons, slings for lifting heavier patients, blood and urine test reagents, and most recently, prescription paper." Key medical equipment has been repossessed. So have the Pepsi machines. The hospital cafeteria had its supply of cold cuts repossessed:

https://www.reddit.com/r/massachusetts/comments/1agc1j4/comment/kolicqo/

It's not just Steward's nonpayments that reek of impending doom. Its payments also bear the hallmarks of a scam artist on the brink of blowing off the con. The company recently paid off a vendor with five separate checks for $1m, each drawn on "a random hospital in Utah" (Steward recently walked away from its Utah hospitals; its partners there are suing it for stealing $18m on their way out the door).

This company – which owns 32 hospitals! – has resorted to gambits like sending photos of fake checks to doctors it hasn't paid in months as "proof" that the money was coming (the checks arrived 22 days later).

Steward owes so much money to its employees – $1.66m to just one doctors' group. But the medical staff keep doing their jobs, and are reluctant to speak on the record, thanks to Steward's reputation for vicious retaliation. Those health workers keep showing up to take care of patients, even as the hospital crumbles around them. One clinician told Tcacik: "I watched a bed collapse underneath a [patient] who had just undergone hip surgery."

Rockledge has nine elevators, but only five of them work – the other four have been broken for a year. The hospital's fourth floor has been converted to "a graveyard of broken beds." The sinks are clogged, or filled with foul gunk. There's black mold. Nurses have noted on the maintenance tags that the repair service refuses to attend the hospital until their overdue bills are paid. The fifteen-person on-site maintenance team was cut to just two workers.

Steward is just the latest looting owner of Rockledge. After the Great Financial Crisis, private equity consultants helped sell it to Health Management Associates. The hospital's CEO took home a $10m bonus for that sale and exited; Health Management Associates then quickly became embroiled in a Medicare fraud and kickback scandal. Soon after, Rockledge was passed on to Community Health Systems, who then sold it on to Rockledge.

Steward, meanwhile, was at that time owned by an even bigger private equity giant, Cerberus, which then sold Steward off. That deal was performatively complex and hid all kinds of mischief. Prior to Cerberus's sell-off of Steward, they sold off Steward's real-estate. The buyer was Medical Properties Trust, who gave Cerberus $1.25b for the real-estate: three hospitals in Florida and three more in Ohio. Steward then contracted to operate these hospitals on MPT's behalf, and pay MPT rent for the real-estate.

This complex arrangement was key to siphoning value out of the hospital and to keeping angry creditors at bay – if you can't figure out who owes you money, it's a lot harder to collect on the debt. The scheme was masterminded by Steward founder/CEO Ralph de la Torre. De la Torre is notorious for taking a massive dividend out of the company while it owed $1.4b to its creditors. He bought a $40m yacht with the money.

De la Torre was once feted as a business genius who would "disrupt" healthcare. But as Steward's private jet hops around "Corfu, Santorini, St. Maarten and Antigua" as its hospitals literally crumble, he's becoming less popular. In Massachusetts, politicians have railed against Steward and de la Torre (Governor Healey wants the company to leave the state "as soon as possible").

Florida, by contrast, is much more friendly to Steward. The state Health and Human Services Committee chair Randy Fine is an ardent admirer of hospital privatization and is currently campaigning to sell off the last community hospital in Brevard County. The state inspectors are likewise remarkably tolerant of Steward's little peccadillos. The quasi-governmental agency that inspects hospitals has awarded this shit-and-bat-filled, elevator-free, understaffed rotting hulk "A" grades for quality.

These inspectors jointly represent a mismatched assortment of private and public agencies, dominated by a nonprofit called Leapfrog, the brainchild of Harvard public-health prof Lucian Leape, who founded it in 2000. Leapfrog likes to tout its "transparent" assessment criteria, and Steward are experts at hitting those criteria, spending the exact minimum to tick every box that Leapfrog inspectors use as proxies for overall quality and safety.

This is a pretty great example of Goodhart's Law: "every measurement eventually becomes a target, whereupon it ceases to be a good measurement":

https://xkcd.com/2899/

But despite Steward's increasingly furious creditors and its decaying facilities, the company remains bullish on its ability to continue operations. Medical Properties Trust – the real estate investment trust that is nominally a separate company from Steward – recently hosted a conference call to reassure Wall Street investors that it would be a going concern. When a Bank of America analyst asked MPT's CFO how this could possibly be, given the facility's dire condition and Steward's degraded state, the CFO blithely assured him that the company would get bailouts: "We own hospitals no one wants to see closed."

That's the thing about PE and health-care. The looters who buy out every health-care facility in a region understand that this makes them too big to fail: no matter how dangerous the companies they drain become, local governments will continue to prop them up. Look at dialysis, a market that's been cornered by private equity rollups. Today, if you need this lifesaving therapy, there's a good chance that every accessible facility is owned by a private equity fund that has fired all its qualified staff and ceased sterilizing its needles. Otherwise healthy people who visit these clinics sometimes die due to operator error. But they chug along, because no dialysis clinics is worse that "dialysis clinics where unqualified sadists sometimes kill you with dirty needles":

https://www.thebignewsletter.com/p/the-dirty-business-of-clean-blood

The bad news is that private equity has thoroughly colonized the entire medical system. They took hospitals, fired the doctors, then took over the doctors' groups that provided outsource staff to the hospital:

https://pluralistic.net/2020/04/04/a-mind-forever-voyaging/#prop-bets

It's illegal for private equity companies to own doctors' practices (doctors have to own these), but they obfuscated the crime with a paper-thin pretext that they got away with despite its obvious bullshittery:

https://pluralistic.net/2020/05/21/profitable-butchers/#looted

The financier who decides whether you live or die depends on an algorithm that literally sets a tolerable level of preventable deaths for the patients trapped in the practice:

https://pluralistic.net/2023/08/05/any-metric-becomes-a-target/#hca

Private equity also took over emergency rooms and boobytrapped them with "surprise billing" – junk fees that ran to thousands of dollars that you had to pay even if the hospital was in network with your insurer. They made billions from this, and spent a many millions from that booty keeping the scam alive with scare ads:

https://pluralistic.net/2020/04/21/all-in-it-together/#doctor-patient-unity

The whole health stack is colonized by private equity-backed monopolies. Even your hospital bed!

https://pluralistic.net/2022/01/05/hillrom/#baxter-international

Then there's residential care. Private equity cornered many regional markets on nursing homes and turned them into slaughterhouses, places where you go to die, not live:

https://pluralistic.net/2021/02/23/acceptable-losses/#disposable-olds

The palliative care sector is also captured by private equity. PE bosses hire vast teams of fast-talking salespeople who con vulnerable older people into entering an end-of-life system before they are ready to die. Thanks to loose regulation, the nation is filled with fake hospices that can rake in millions from Medicare while denying all care to their patients (hospice patients don't get life-extending medication or procedures, by definition):

https://pluralistic.net/2023/04/26/death-panels/#what-the-heck-is-going-on-with-CMS

If you survive this long enough, Medicare eventually tells the hospice that you're clearly not dying and you get kicked off their rolls. Now you have to go through the lengthy bureaucratic nightmare of convincing the system – which was previously informed that you were at death's door – that you are actually viable and need to start getting care again (good luck with that).

If that kills you, guess what? Private equity has rolled up funeral homes up and down the country, and they will scam your survivors just as hard as the medical system that killed you did:

https://pluralistic.net/2022/09/09/high-cost-of-dying/#memento-mori

The PE sector spent more than a trillion dollars over the past decade buying up healthcare companies, and it has trillions more in "dry powder" allocated for further medical acquisitions. Why not? As the CFO of Medical Properties Trust told that Bank of America analyst last week, when you "own hospitals no one wants to see closed." you literally can't fail, no matter how many people you murder.

The PE sector is a reminder that the crimes people commit for money far outstrip the crimes they commit for ideology. Even the most ideological killers are horrified by the murders their profit-motivated colleagues commit.

Last year, Tkacic wrote about the history of IG Farben, the German company that built Monowitz, a private slave-labor camp up the road from Auschwitz to make the materiel it was gouging Hitler's Wehrmacht on:

https://pluralistic.net/2023/06/02/plunderers/#farben

Farben bought the cheapest possible slaves from Auschwitz, preferentially sourcing women and children. These slaves were worked to death at a rate that put Auschwitz's wholesale murder in the shade. Farben's slaves died an average of just three months after starting work at Monowitz. The situation was so abominable, so unconscionable, that the SS officers who provided outsource guard-labor to Monowitz actually wrote to Berlin to complain about the cruelty.

The Nuremberg trials are famous for the Nazi officers who insisted that they were "just following order" but were nonetheless executed for their crimes. 24 Farben executives were also tried at Nuremberg, where they offered a very different defense: "We had a fiduciary duty to our shareholders to maximize our profits." 19 of the 24 were acquitted on that basis.

PE is committed to an ideology that is far worse than any form of racial animus or other bias. As a sector, it is committed to profit above all other values. As a result, its brutality knows no bounds, no decency, no compassion. Even the worst crimes we commit for hate are nothing compared to the crimes we commit for greed.

If you'd like an essay-formatted version of this post to read or share, here's a link to it on pluralistic.net, my surveillance-free, ad-free, tracker-free blog:

https://pluralistic.net/2024/02/28/5000-bats/retaliation#charnel-house

#pluralistic #Rockledge Regional Medical Center #private equity #looting #Steward Health #ponzis #maureen tcacik #Medical Properties Trust #Ralph de la Torre #Massachusetts #florida #Cerberus #too big to fail #pe #guillotine watch

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briarpatch-kids · 11 months

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Just in case nobody's heard of this before... this is the pain cycle. The idea is that chronic pain feeds on itself and starts a vicious cycle.

You hurt, and it's distressing and scary and you want to avoid hurting yourself more, so you take it easy for a while until you feel better, but during that time alarm bells are still going off and your body is screaming at you something wrong and you're losing strength and flexibility, so you get more nervous and more injury prone and eventually you fall or something and hurt yourself more. Which causes more pain and more anxiety because what you feared was true, you got hurt again and your body is screaming at you that something is wrong, so you decide to rest and take it easy until you're feeling better...

The way I work on keeping myself out of that cycle is trying to give myself other feelings beyond just pain and try to reconnect to my body in a positive way. But you have to start slow, I started exercise just doing a loop around my house and took at least 6 months to take it to three miles. Now I can casually run 3 or 4 miles in my chair, and I get to feel the sun on my face and wind in my hair and my arm muscles working hard to move me.

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frmisnow · 3 months

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For the february filth fest!! I have some ideass<3

#cnc, breeding with Jungkook

#daddy's pet Or roleplay with seongcheol

Also I love your posts 🦾😭

FEBRUARY FILTH FEST | 💭 cheol + daddy's pet ! (MIX OF A LIL TRACK 10=hate fucking + TRACK 21=overstimulation) - (MDNI !!)

— ‧₊˚ — ♟️ : "all the jewelry that's your fucking leash, i can always pull you back on.” ??

notes. AAAAH thank you for reading my shit, asking and the sweet cmt <3<3 is it febuary yet? No. Do i wanna let anon down? No. Is it rly fawking fun? Yeah, so it's coming out today. 😝 if you're looking for more pet play with cheol: GOOD GIRL I TRAINED YOU TO BE. by me, is perfect for it 2!!

warnings/includes. (NSFW) mean dom! seungcheol x f! reader, hints at reader using cheol for money + trying to run away from him ? (i needed a reason to get him REAL mad sooo), spanking, degrading, overstimulation, unprotected sex, a drabble so we're skipping RIGHT to it

"it's okay, i love you even though you're fucking greedy," the tone grunted out almost mocking, thick cock ramming in and out of you, veiny big hands occasionally landing on your reddened ass, "i love you even though you wanna take everything from me"

slowing down for just a minute like studying your messed up face, "that's right, i'm buying out your pussy" till speeding up once more, pounding into you furiously, "you don't think i know exactly what country you think of running of to? you don't think i have people, ready to catch you and return you to your rightful place, sitting right on my lap?"

whenever you tried looking away from his demanding gaze (which was definitely trying to eat you alive), he'd force you to look at him, making you feel pathetic, incredibly small + irrelevant - "why couldn't you just be my good pet? no, you had to be fucking greedy, you could've just asked me, i could've given you the fucking money cause you now what? it doesn't fucking matter to me"

you didn't know if you even heard him anymore, the sounds of wet fast pounding echoiching through your ears and brain as your own body betrayed you, pushing itself forward, yearning almost like aching to him which he'd just meanly laugh at, "it's okay, y'know tommorow when your legs don't work, when you can't even fucking walk, y'know who's gonna be taking care of you? cause you don't know what to do without my damn instructions, don't you?"

it was an endless cycle, of loads and loads of cum, to the point where you could feel it everywhere on your body and him riding out every orgasm, shamelessly continuing after, the flesh on your ass feeling so sensitive and raw that it almost hurt.

"all the jewelry that's your fucking leash, i can always pull you back on cause you're my pet, you need me to feed you, take care of you, fuckin-" he cut of himself groaning when your pussy clenched around him out of sheer response, "breed you, you fucking need me"

#kpop smut #choi seungcheol #seungcheol x reader #seungcheol smut #seventeen seungcheol #svt smut #seventeen fanfic #svt fanfic #seventeen smut #svt imagines #scoups x reader #scoups smut #scoups imagines #scoups fanfic #scoups x you #scoups x y/n #joongfryefff24 #🗯 - mae asks!

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thechekhov · 3 months

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Dungeon Meshi Quick Reacts

CH. 35 (Cleaners)

Every time Senshi takes his helmet off, I cheer.

Chillchuck, YOU were also running around looking for food! You were also very much involved in that!

I live for these moments when they just talk shit at each other just like a little found family ought to.

The dungeon, like a giant organism, heals itself............ hmmm.

That's his hole, Laios. Don't look at his hole.

Wait, hang on, Laios is the only one who can see them? That means it IS just like Falin's power! He's tapped into her ghost senses!

Marcille really took 'we're running, it's bad' and reversed it into 'it's bad, we're not running'.

I love that Marcille just keeps holding Chillchuck like a toddler.

LET THE SPECULATIVE ECOLOGY COMMENCE!

I feel like these Cleaners are kind of an offshoot of mimics? The fact that they're re-creating the dungeon makes it feel like they have at least some of the same abilities that mimics do. But I wonder what their life-cycle is? What's the point of re-creating a dungeon? What do they get out of it?

Oh, hmmm, so they feed on the damaged materials and then.... poop out the remains to restore the dungeon? But again, for what? Why specifically mimic the previous layout?

And is the changing dungeon somehow a part of that? How would cleaners deal with an ever-evolving landscape?

.......it really is just one big digestive tract, huh.

Welcome to the Mystery Fleshpit Dungeon.

Someone who's never read dungeon meshi, explain what's happening in these three panels.

It's like a bread bowl, but completely different.

...haven't you been eating magical creatures for the entire trip?

thanks, kui-san, for those thighs.

........if y'all really thought these were not humanoids, you need glasses. Does everyone have bad vision? They were literally sitting around a campfire chatting.

"well you don't know me... but I know you"

....the look of pain in his eyes almost makes me feel sorry for him.

oh, holy shit, they actually brought Shadow Laios along! What a horrible surprise.

#dungeon meshi #dungeon meshi liveblog #dungeon meshi quick reacts #chekhov reads dungeon meshi #delicious in dungeon

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monstersdownthepath · 21 days

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Deity: The Sea of Teeth

(Pic source: Craig Spearing, though it doesn’t seem to be on his site anymore and exists only as reuploads)

Chaotic Evil God of Endless Hunger

Domains: Chaos, Death, Destruction, Evil, War Subdomains: Demon, Entropy, Catastrophe, Cannibalism, Blood Favored Weapons: Bite Symbol: Fangs surrounding bones, stars, and/or planets. Sacred Animals: All gluttonous animals. Sacred Colors: N/a

The Abyss is deeper than any being could possibly comprehend, stretching an unknowable distance into the chaos beyond what sane beings consider the relative safety of their reality. Whether it has an end or a bottom is a mystery none have yet solved, as the deeper one goes, the more they must grapple with the knowledge that the hundreds of layers occupied by the foulest sorts of demons are merely the surface level of the Abyss, the safest environs a mortal of this cosmos can exist in. To venture into the Abyss is taxing enough, but to delve deep into the Outer Rifts, where the primordial qlippoth and beasts even stranger roam, is something few can withstand for longer than fleeting moments. It is easy, though not entirely accurate, to compare the demon-occupied Abyss as something akin to the levels of the ocean where the sun still reaches. It is dangerous, laden with hazards and predators which may end the life of an explorer... But the Rifts? If one were still comparing the Abyss to the ocean, the Outer Rifts are depths where sunlight cannot reach, where the pressure is so intense that even steel buckles and crumbles, where the cold is so penetrating that nothing can defend against it, and where life as we know it simply cannot survive.

But like the ocean’s darkest depths, there is still life to be found, alien and strange. Predating even the eldest of the gods, the qlippoth crawl and slither and skitter in endless varieties and maddening shapes. From tiny insects to the great, demigod-level Qlippoth Primordials, qlippoth span across every branch of existence, forming grotesque and twisted mirrors to the biospheres found all over creation, all living and eating and dying and transforming. It is a great, eldritch ecosystem, where even worlds must feed.

And with the imprisonment of Rovagug, it has lost its apex predator.

Ask any zoologist what happens to any ecosystem in which an important predatory force is removed and you will receive a similar answer; the prey gorges itself until it starves, reproduces until there is no more room, and the cycle of life comes to an abrupt and terrible halt as the links in the chain give way one by one. In extreme cases, the entire environment is destroyed by the unbalance. While it’s true that the Abyss has no shortage of predatory creatures all willing and able to consume one another, none of them work on the scale that Rovagug did, devouring and destroying entire landscapes and worlds at once to keep the growth of the Abyss itself from becoming too dangerously rampant.

But now that he is gone, the balance is upset, and the invasive species that is demonkind has done more harm than good as the natives of the Rifts experience an apocalyptic collapse. Unfortunately for the cosmos as a whole, from the deepest depths of the Outer Rifts a new apex predator has risen to fill the vacuum.

It has no name, but it has many titles; the Sea of Teeth is the most common one, but it is also known as “the Devouring God,” “the Black Well,” “Hadal,” “the Consuming Cascade,” “the Final Tide,” among others and their many variations. It is more location than creature, as though an entire layer of the Abyss has shuddered to terrible life and apocalyptic hunger, branching titanic tendrils throughout the rest of the plane to consume all which falls in its shadow. To those that know if its existence, it is hunger unimaginable, a ravenous force that depletes and destroys everything it crosses. It does not just settle for the twisted flora and fauna, but the very landscape itself is chewed apart, and when there is no matter left it drinks up the local quintessence until the fabric of the layer frays and collapses. It constantly sends tiny tendrils of its matter throughout the Abyss to hunt for new rich feeding grounds, the smallest and weakest of these ‘roots,’ pinpricks of its essence that emerge through tiny portals it gnaws in reality, take on the shape and strength of Shoggoths with the Savage Mythic Template. Because of the immense power of these tiny specks of the greater Sea, it rapidly overtakes any stretch of the Abyss which doesn’t contain any creature or force capable of combating its searching limbs, but any layer with such defenses enjoys some level of safety from the greater Sea. Slaying the roots causes the limb from which they grew to recoil slightly, slowing its spread into a particular layer and allowing them time to plan for the next incursion.

The irony of the Abyss finding itself besieged by a threat which spreads across multiple planar layers and which requires constant, combined efforts to fight back against is lost on many demons. And it is indeed demons which find themselves at the fore of the Sea’s attacks; the Sea is indiscriminate in its feeding frenzies, consuming all in its path with no regard for the qlippoth it technically shares kinship with (with the sole exception being the Iathavos, the only being which it ignores entirely), but much how like animals of Golarion will flee an impending natural disaster hours before it happens, qlippoth seem to possess an innate sense of when and where the Sea will strike, assuring only the injured, the slow, the ill, the foolish, and the foolhardy are actually devoured. Why and how they preternaturally know when it will arrive is a secret they have not shared, and likely never will.

It is believed that no fewer than six entire Abyssal layers have already been entirely consumed in the short few centuries that the Sea has been known to mortal scholars (and perhaps many before anyone even realized it was there), several dozen are actively besieged by its reaching limbs, and hundreds more are being inspected by its roots. Any normal plane which hosted such a force would quickly be rendered lifeless and barren, but the sheer size and repulsive fecundity of the Abyss assures no such catastrophe will occur, and even if the “shallows” of the Abyss were to be depopulated entirely (an impossible task in and of itself, even for a god), the Sea would simply retreat into the deeper Rifts to continue its feast in unknowable lands until the shallows recovered and regrew, just as a roving predator does when prey is exhausted in one area.

... But this relieving truth has yet to be uncovered, and will likely not be known for several millennia. In the current times, a mere few centuries after its emergence, the Sea is spoken of by doomsayers and prophets as an existential threat of cosmic magnitude, threatening the entirety of existence as it’s known. There are many who believe that the Sea’s emergence is a sure sign that the Abyss will soon be destroyed, devoured utterly down to the last demon larvae, and demons as an entity in the universe will completely cease to exist. These same thinkers and madmen are divided on what, exactly, this would cause in the Great Beyond as a whole; some posit that the removal of the tumor that is the Abyss will usher in a profound universal transformation in which certain breeds of Evil can no longer exist, while others think the Abyss itself will transform into an entirely new Neutrally-aligned plane! The implications of this transformation is, itself, a topic of conjecture and debate. Planar scholars from all corners of creation have driven themselves to fevered frenzies trying to imagine what a universe without demonkind would look like, whether or not demonic power would simply emerge in a new form elsewhere... and whether or not an end to demons as they’re currently known warrants aiding the Sea of Teeth in some way.

Any mind pondering the possibilities of the Sea destroying the Abyss itself must, of course, answer the inevitable question of “what happens afterwards?” Perhaps it will consume itself or starve to death! Perhaps it will slink back into the Outer Rifts, finally satisfied that it has killed every last demon. Perhaps it will pupate into something worse... Or perhaps, once the Abyss has been consumed, the Sea will rush to fill the empty roots left behind which will connect it to a thousand new feeding grounds, swelling further to break down the shorelines of all creation and bring about the end of all things.

Whatever the truth is, the Great Beyond will have to wait and see. There IS one absolute truth that can be shared with whomever is reading this, though: Despite what doomsayers scream of what will happen were it to drink the Plane of Water, inhale the flames of Creation’s Forge, or invade the Ethereal Plane to consume the thoughts and dreams of mortals, the Sea of Teeth does not work towards such apocalyptic goals. It does not plan its assaults, it does not consider the consequences of its actions, and it does not dream of the endless banquet waiting for it just outside the walls of the Abyss.

It, in fact, does not think at all.

----- Obedience and Boons -----

Many cultists, madmen, studious Outsiders of every shape and description, and scholars of every species and alignment all ascribe different reasons and motivations to the Sea’s actions, whether it be divine rage against demons, a rampage to eventually free Rovagug and prove that he is truly the lesser evil when compared to the unseen powers in the deeper Rifts, the incarnate form of the Abyss’ predilection for predation and parisitism turned horribly self-destructive, the incarnation of hunger as a concept, or maybe even the herald of the end times... but the truth is truly right in front of them, described in the first section of this very article: The Sea of Teeth is a hungry beast which has found a stretch of uncontested land, and has begun to gorge itself on a population that has few true defenses against an invasive species.

Though it is indeed divine, it is still essentially a simple-minded predator driven entirely by instinct. It is a form of life which operates on a scale that a common mind struggles to envision, but it serves a function that is familiar, almost mundane, and its presence in the Great Beyond is unfortunate happenstance, not an apocalyptic omen. Any ‘meaning’ to its rampage or claims that it is acting towards some unfathomable goal are pure conjecture, the product of minds desperate to establish a pattern or see some divine truth where a mundane truth would suffice. A hungry wolf which devours a farmer’s sheep is not some punishment for his failure or some insatiable, sadistic beast torturing him because he cannot fight back... it’s a hungry animal, any mythologizing or anthropomorphizing is the fault of the farmer, not the wolf.

This truth, however, is beyond most creatures in the cosmos, to whom the Sea is an incomprehensibly threatening force of annihilation. To them, it is whatever they want it to be, whatever they project, and often whatever they fear it is, as it has no desire (or even ability) to answer questions about itself. It has unintentionally gathered numerous cults in its name--doomsday and otherwise--all led by powerful figureheads who’ve achieved some divine contact with it... or at least contact with a figurehead which worships the Sea, in some bizarre and indirect form of faith. There exists a ritual one can use to connect to the Sea and gain some of its power at the cost of becoming perpetually ravenous, a ritual used by many to achieve positions of power in the budding cults of the Sea of Teeth, up to and including becoming divine fronts in and of themselves... which inadvertently makes them beacons for spells such as Commune attempting to reach the true Sea, further muddying the waters about its supposed goals and desires. Undoubtedly, one of the most famous of these figureheads is Chormilg, the Thousanth Tooth, a powerful Nyogoth Cleric/Exalted of the Sea of Teeth (CR 18/MR 6) which claims to have hatched from one of the Sea’s teeth after it broke itself against the heart of a forgotten deity, and thus is the literal mouth-piece of the god. Chormilg is the closest thing to a true leader that the disparate cults of the Devouring God have, and is currently the highest authority in the Sea’s faith, acting as the deity’s proxy, AND the reason many believe the Sea’s hunger to be primarily directed at demons, as Chormilg itself despises demonic life.

The largest cult to the Sea is the one founded by Chormilg, known as the Salgurat, an Abyssal word translating to “Ebon Maws,” a cult devoted to capturing and consuming demons and their mortal fanatics, as well as making regular, organized sacrifices to the Sea of Teeth to empower it in the hopes of accelerating its growth through the Abyss. Some smaller cults grow from gatherings of heretics among the faiths of Thuskchoon, Jubilex, Cyth-V’sug, Zevgavizeb, and other great and ancient beasts of the Abyss, who believe their former deities to be the offspring of the Sea and have thus chosen to serve the “Progenitor Maw” or “Hunger’s Father” out of respect. Other cults have many reasons for their worship, such as Creation’s Eclipse, a cult of daemons and their maniacal mortal followers hellbent on finding ways to help the Sea enter Creation’s Forge and snuff it. Some of these smaller factions even have benevolent, though misguided, hopes for a universe without the Abyss, Whatever the case may be, any follower of the Sea are as varied as the morsels it consumes, coming from all over the universe.

The Obedience ritual to serve the Devouring God is a lesser form of the Shores of the Sea of Teeth occult ritual, and both of them have the same effect at different intensities: It convinces the Sea that the creature undertaking the ritual is actually a part of itself, and so it sends a tendril of its essence and a spark of its power into the creature, often physically mutating them. This offers the creature not only supernatural might, but some protection from the Sea’s appetite, with many audacious beings--Chormilg included--nesting within the god’s churning body, believing themselves favored by the horror due to their faith and devotion, unaware they’re doing the mystic equivalent of dabbing an ant colony’s scent upon themselves to avoid being torn apart by the swarm. The Sea has no loyalty to anything but its own stomachs, any power it offers given only through unintentional trickery or divine reflex, but it is nonetheless a power that any creature--regardless of alignment--can tap into, should they know how... and should they brave the consequences.

As a true deity, the Sea of Teeth can grant Boons to any creature taking the Deific Obedience feat, but it does not possess a dedicated Prestige Class such as Feysworn or Diabolist. Boons are typically gained slowly, achieved at levels 12, 16, and 20, but by entering the Evangelist, Exalted, or Sentinel Prestige Classes as early as possible, they can be obtained at levels 8, 11, and 14 instead. While normally a deity as ambivalent as the Sea would grant only one set of Boons, the fanatic devotion of countless beings and the fear of infinitely more has created a potent psychic impression upon it, allowing it a full three.

Obedience: Spend at least 30 minutes meditating on the sensations of hunger while surrounded by circle of ritual objects made of materials harvested from creatures you’ve killed and consumed portions of. At the conclusion of this meditative period, eat anything you have available--preferably portions of creatures you’ve helped slay in the last 24 hours--until you’re full. Benefit: You become permanently afflicted by the Oracle’s Hunger curse the first time you perform the Obedience ritual, and the curse cannot be removed by mortal magic. For 24 hours after performing your Obedience, your total Hit Dice is treated as your Oracle level for the purpose of determining the intensity of your curse; failing to perform your Obedience causes your curse to weaken, treating only half your Hit Dice as your Oracle level for the purpose of the curse. If you are already an Oracle, for 24 hours after performing your Obedience, your Oracle level is treated as 4 higher for determining the intensity of your new Hunger curse.

------ EVANGELIST ------

Boon 1: The Preview (Sp): Gain Grease 3/day, Hold Person 2/day, or Spiked Pit 1/day.

Boon 2: Titanic Appetite (Ex): The gnawing hunger in your belly drives you to eat anything you can get your hands on, trusting your connection to your god to protect you from the consequences. You become immune to the effects of all ingested poisons and diseases, and cannot be sickened, nauseated, or cursed by items, food, or creatures you eat. You can digest and draw sustenance from any matter you can consume. Any bite attacks you have ignore the first 5 points of Hardness when damaging objects, widening your potential palate.

Boon 3: Crushed by the Depths (Sp): Once per day, you can focus the power of the Sea onto your foes, allowing it to reach across space and devour them utterly. You may use Implosion once per day as a spell-like ability, but you may target even incorporeal or gaseous creatures with it, and if the target succeeds the saving throw against the effect, they still take 10d6 points of damage. When you target a creature with this ability it possesses a unique visual effect: a phantasmal, protean mass envelops the target and crushes inwards. Any creature killed by this ability is entirely consumed; any nonmagical items they possessed are also destroyed, and magic items fall into their former space.

------ EXALTED ------

Boon 1: A Bite of Everything (Sp): Gain Adhesive Spittle 3/day, Allfood 2/day, or Dispel Magic 1/day.

Boon 2: Ravening Form (Ex/Sp): Your connection to the Sea of Teeth deepens and more of its essence flows into you. This connection twists your body in incomprehensible ways, granting you the constant benefits of 50% Fortification and the Compression universal monster ability. In addition, once per day as a standard action, you may undergo a horrifying but thankfully short-lived surge of vitality as tendrils of the Sea’s matter slither through your body to restore you, gaining the benefits of the Regeneration spell.

Boon 3: Whirlpool of Teeth (Sp): Once per day you may open a portal leading directly to the Sea of Teeth to send entire pieces of the world to your god, in effect casting Maw of Chaos as a spell-like ability. The spell is altered in the following ways: Each round at the start of your turn, all creatures and unattended objects within 40ft of the Maw are automatically pulled 10ft closer to the Maw before it makes its CMB check (potentially allowing it to pull a target twice in one round); this summoned Maw lasts an additional +3 rounds after you stop concentrating on it; and you are unaffected by any of the Maw’s effects, though you may not enter its space.

------ SENTINEL ------

Boon 1: Soften the Meal (Sp): Gain Ray of Sickening 3/day, Blindness/Deafness 2/day, or Ray of Exhaustion 1/day.

Boon 2: Slavering Jaws (Ex): Your teeth sharpen to frightening and deadly points and your jaw can distend to repulsive and terrific effect. The bite attack gained from your Hunger curse becomes a primary natural attack which deals damage as if you were two size categories larger (2d6 for a Medium creature). The bite attack ignores 5 points of Hardness or Damage Reduction and is considered a magic weapon. Finally, due to the horror your mouth has become, you gain a profane bonus to Intimidate checks equal to your Strength modifier, and you may make an Intimidate check as a swift action against any creature within 30ft when you confirm a critical hit against another creature with your bite attack.

Boon 3: Hole in the Universe (Ex): Your stomach becomes an extradimensional space which partially intersects the Sea of Teeth. The bite gained from your Hunger curse gains the Grab and Swallow Whole abilities if they did not already have them, and you may attempt to swallow any creature of your size or smaller that you have grappled. Your extradimensional stomach may have any number of creatures or objects of any size swallowed at once. Creatures and unattended objects within your stomach take 6d6 bludgeoning and 6d6 Acid damage each round. Extradimensional spaces (such as Bags of Holding) cannot be opened while within you, but otherwise do not interact with you in a destructive way. If a swallowed creature deals enough damage to cut free, instead of creating a hole, the pain forces you to regurgitate all creatures and objects in your stomach at once; you are nauseated for 1d6 rounds and cannot use Swallow Whole for 1 minute after.

#original concepts #Pathfinder

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venussaidso · 2 months

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𝐌𝐨𝐨𝐧-𝐑𝐚𝐡𝐮-𝐊𝐞𝐭𝐮: 𝐓𝐫𝐮𝐞 𝐕𝐚𝐦𝐩𝐢𝐫𝐢𝐬𝐦

the prominent themes of vampirism such as desire, hunger, mystery and illusions tie so perfectly with the moon and its nodes. it wasn't surprising to find the nodes dominating this genre the most, along with the luminaries (moon & sun nakshatras, but more fittingly the moon). i will not be touching on the few sun nakshatras playing vampires, as the moon makes far more sense symbolizing true vampiric nature.

So many vampire movie posters have this luminous glow to them, likely done consciously because of these creatures' affinity for nighttime, and generally being nocturnal as they're extremely sensitive to any type of sunlight.

I've once briefly mentioned, in my "Moon Dominant Themes" post, that lunar natives can operate very secretly, such as 'working in the shadows'. And the whole lore of vampires always emphasizes their ability to hide themselves while still living among humans.

Vampires undergoing periods of dormancy and resurgence is interesting as that can also be linked back to the moon's cycles of waxing & maning. The influence that the moon has on vampires, in some legends, is during certain lunar phases in which they become more active. A full moon could literally mean that their strength has enhanced, whilst a moonless night could mean their desire for blood is heightened.

Rohini Sun Colin Farrell

Claire Nakti explored, in her "TOP 3 Most Magical & Mystical Astrology Signs | Cults, Divination, & Occultism | Part 2 (Nakshatras)" documentary, on the ability of Moon nakshatra natives to brainwash/mind control/hypnotize.

daniel kaluuya is a hasta moon, not rohini.

As these natives are often cult leaders, their ability to influence the mind goes back to their lunar-rulership. The Moon rules over the mind, emotions and subconscious. A vampire's ability to hypnotize humans and other lesser beings is in parallel to the Moon's influence over the psyche and subconscious.

This illusory nature found in vampires can be connected to the shadow planet, Rahu. As Rahu is illusions, desire, hunger. Rahu is very seductive and tempting; this could tie back to some legends in which vampires lure their prey giving them promises of pleasure.

Ardra Sun Tom Cruise.

In "Interview with the Vampire", Tom Cruise plays Lestat who is an overindulgent, greedy vampire. Rahu governs desires and the pursuit of worldly pleasures. It's related to insatiable cravings that lead to greed. The lustful nature of Rahu is seen in Lestat's intense bloodlust and the chaos it brings.

Rahu's associations with eclipses relates to their ability of being hidden in the shadows. Another hint is in Rahu being a Shadow planet itself, just like Ketu is which is also related to vampires.

The story about Rahu's head getting decapitated by Vishnu for trying to get a drink out of the nectar of immortality can be brilliantly paralleled with vampirism. Due to Rahu's consumption of the drop of the nectar, he became the infamous dismembered immortal. His dismemberment a symbol of the detachment from humanity to vampirism.

Rahu is considered an entity of darkness and malevolence, preying upon cosmic forces and defying the natural order of things (such as vampirism which does defy nature itself, ie. the dead becoming undead) in pursuit for immortality. Vampires are literal parasites, and Rahu is also parasitical. Vampires feed on humans without providing any benefit in the ecosystem in return, a one-sided relationship which resembles one between a parasite and its host. Rahu is depicted as insatiable and consuming, feeding and draining one's energy. It creates a cycle of thirsting for more without any fulfillment, a predicament vampires find themselves in.

Ashwini Sun Luke Evans

Rahu and Ketu represent the lunar nodes, respectively depicted as the head and tail of the celestial serpent. Their energetic interaction can be likened to the endless chase between a vampire and a vampire hunter, villain and hero, the friction between unlikely lovers. It's obvious in how Rahu embodies the insatiable hunger for experiences and the craving for fulfillment that it can be the vampiric force in such a dynamic. Like a vampire, Rahu relentlessly pursues its desires, often leading to greed and excess. And then you have Ketu, on the other hand, which embodies detachment, spirituality, and liberation from worldly attachments. It quite literally symbolizes the renunciation of desires and the quest for enlightenment, opposing Rahu's restlessness for more. Ketu is a cutting force, and like a determined vampire hunter, is skilled in tracking down illusions and breaking free from temptations.

Although it sounds like a more fitting interplay between Rahu as the evil force and Ketu as the hunter, it's actually more seen in the other way around.

It is more so that Rahuvians are the vampire hunters, which I found so intriguing; showcasing how Rahu is both the parasitical (illusory), and also the one to be rid of parasites (disillusionment). And I have explored this particular theme in my Rahu post -- how Rahu natives experience a lot of disillusionment from their reality, wanting to cast away the illusions that drain the life force.

The reversal of roles showcases the fluidity of the nodes; their roles almost always expected to reverse, illustrating just how Rahu and Ketu are deeply intertwined with the concept of karma, representing the push-&-pull between cosmic forces of destiny.

More nodal-vampire movies, and other examples in which Rahu & Ketu find themselves on opposite sides of the same spectrum in which they are both vampires, similar to the friction seen between Louis (Ketu) and Lestat (Rahu) in "Interview with the Vampire".

In the film "Fright Night", the one who has to kill the villainous vampire is an Ashwini native. It is also interesting how in "Queen of the Damned" (above, right), the villain is a Magha native who must be stopped by her Mula lover -- both being vampires.

As mentioned in the figure image about the film "Abraham Lincoln: Vampire Hunter", where a nodal-ruled native is paired up with someone who is lunar-ruled, this is a type of pairing seen a lot in these supernatural stories.

Similarly to "Twilight", as Edward was the one to turn Bella into a vampire, we see the planetary reversal of this in which the lunar-native is the one who turns the nodal-native.

Or the film "Vamps" in which Hasta Sun, Shatabhisha Moon native Alicia Silverstone turns Mula Sun, Magha Moon native Krysten Ritter into a vampire.

It isn't a surprise that the moon and its nodes are related to the extremities of the mind. These energies can cause isolation due to how polarizing they come off in regular society (furthermore validating its relation to vampirism), so they become attracted to one another -- especially the nodal natives to the moon natives, because of how much they feel magnetized by them, and vice versa.

The presence of some Sun nakshatras in vampire stories is present and that could tie to the Sun's influence over the Moon despite the fact that solar symbolisms regarding vampirism don't exist, and vampires are far too sensitive to the Sun so much so that they get sunburn during the full moon where the sun's light reflects (interesting to think about). The whole point of a vampire is to lurk in the shadows or during nighttime, so the strict avoidance of the Sun could make sense in there being solar-natives in vampiric roles. It makes for an interesting contradiction, certainly.

Ketu is the body of the severed demon Rahu following the consumption of the elixir. Much like Rahu, Ketu is also associated to darkness and illusions. But it symbolizes the darker, unseen aspects of reality -- all the hidden forces and energies as I've touched on in my Ketu exploration. Ketu and Rahu are two sides of the same coin, it isn't surprising to see them share many vampiric roles/stories.

Ketu is about spiritual liberation, detachment (in this context, becoming a vampire means a harsh detachment from normality/the old life), transcendence; these existential themes are found in vampirism.

The character Louis in "Interview with the Vampire" played by Mula Sun Brad Pitt describes his existential crisis as a vampire to a Magha Sun human who interviews him.

The enhanced strength, agility, speed, hearing and all these abilities are gained after the painful transformation process, going from human to vampire. This process is seen in the film "Interview with the Vampire", Mula Sun Brad Pitt's character going through excruciating pain when turning. My mind immediately takes me to Claire Nakti's first Mula nakshatra exploration, in which she touched on the interconnection of pain and evolution for access to more powers.

robert pattinson is an ardra moon, not sun. and i accidentally used jk rowling's face as l.j smith, ugh! 💔

Vampires are caught between worlds, trapped in a liminal space between life & death. Ketu can cause feelings of entrapment. The yearning for release from their eternal existence is a common theme, as Ketu wants to escape its body. Louis de Pointe du Lac is the best character as example of rejecting one's own nature and wanting to cease to exist.

Mula Sun Brad Pitt

nodals being so emo jfc

notes: colin farrell's birthtime accuracy is botched, he's definitely a mula ascendant. tom hiddleston stays a possible ashwini moon until he's not (until his birthtime is available and accurate).

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dawndelion-winery · 2 years

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Dumb Ways To Fall in Love

The silly things they do to impress you when they're in love

Ft. Childe, Diluc, Kaeya, Dainsleif, Scaramouche

Childe:

He's always liked to think he was charming in his own odd way

And he does fully expect said "charm" to work on you

Which is why he's pretty confused as to why you don't seem smitten by his obvious attention

He cooks for you a lot! But they're normally,,,,unique dishes with whatever he fishes himself

Because he wants to impress you with how he can whip something up from scratch

Which doesn't really work out well because...well we've seen his signature dish

More often than not, the dessert is far more appetising

Please use that as motivation to finish the main course, he tried his best and it would hurt his feelings if you didn't even try it

Diluc:

He knows him being a rich, gentlemanly bachelor is a very big seeking point of his to most of the Mondstadt population

Which is why he not so subtly tries to subtly flex his wealth in front of you

Now he's already normally generous, which is what makes it so jarring when he does it with you

Because mentally he's just "Yeah, I'd do this for the average Mondstadt citizen, which means I have to one up that now"

But of course who's to determine what "one" is?

Hence the huge leap of obvious favouritism

Not even a hint of hesitation when you seem to want something from him

The number of times he's just agreed to whatever favour you've asked for before you've even specified the favour should give you an idea of what he's like

Kaeya:

He once heard you mention how you feel he's too cool and unapproachable for you, as nice as he was

So he makes an effort to slip up in front of you

Internally he thinks you'll appreciate it - "Notice me being a dumbass and find it endearing please"

Surely that should change your mind about him, right?

Until he overhears another of your opinions on him and how you (affectionately) called him a goofball playing a suave captain

Which he couldn't quite refute but he wasn't entirely sure if that was positive

Leading him back to his initial bravado, once again creating that rift because the dork you thought you noticed had disappeared

And then he panics again because you seem distant again

And the cycle repeats itself until he gets some sense slapped into him or you take a chance and ask him out

Dainsleif:

It wasn't easy being captain of the royal guard

But it was somehow easier than baring his heart to you

Brings you fruits and flowers as he travels with you

Definitely the type to silently bring you cut and peeled fruit as a nonverbal "I love you"

He's gotten really good at food presentation because of it, and adds little edible flowers as decoration

If you ever decide to take a break and read, he offers to feed you the fruit

Honestly at some point it's more like you would naturally assume y'all are dating?? But he doesn't really get the memo and keeps wondering why you never bring it up like is he not being obvious enough for you?

In pain whenever you snuggle up to him assuming you think it's platonic but accepts it nonetheless because it's nice to be able to hold you and be held

Scaramouche:

All people do is disappoint so why put in the effort to woo you?

So he says as he proceeds to try impress you anyway

Subtly flexes quite literally every strength he has in front of you

For no apparent reason he'll cook over a campfire he started out of nowhere just because

Yeah, y'know, just to show he can work with what he's got, he's very resourceful

You're not entirely sure what his intentions are though, since he's more of proving his usefulness instead of showing you he cares about you

And you'd probably only pick up on that if you knew his past

He does pick up on what makes you feel loved and enjoy his presence over time though, so give him a little adjustment time to work out how to best express himself to you

Taglist[send an ask to be added/removed]: @myluvkeiji @pluvioseprince @aqui-soba @favonius-captain @tiredsleep @raincxtter @gensimping-for-all @irethepotato @almond-adeptus @mx-kamisato @yuzuricebun @chaosinanutshell @heizours @haliyamori @callmemeelah @sadlonelybagel @plinkuro @thevictoriousmoon @mastering-procrastinating @lovers-on-the-eiffel @cxlrosii @miss-fantazmagoria @lychme @kokomist @lemonswriting @eowinthetraveller @ajaxstar @boundedbyfate

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politemenacephd · 2 months

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Arachnophilia: (Part Twenty-Three)

Drider!Miguel O'Hara x Reader (+18)

Chapter Masterlist 🕷️

Content: Miguel is rutting, Reader is in heat, Breeding kink, Overstimulation, Rough & Gentle PinV sex, Oral sex.

Word count: 5338

Notes: IM BACCCKKK!! Daddy's come back with milk and oh god we all know what kind of milk I mean, ENJOY! Threesome chapter will be next, along with a non-threesome version, thanks to the last poll we did. Both can be interpreted as canon, it's whatever you want.

Mig was right. It was a long week.

While you could go for maybe an hour or more without feeling the urge, when it hit you were almost incapacitated by a need for each other.

Most of the time Mig approached you in a soft, docile, almost submissive manner. He’d get on his belly and rustle his abdomen, affectionately laying his head on your thighs, or he’d grind his pulsating cock between those same thighs while whispering and purring against your neck.

He’d kiss your head as he moved slowly inside you, petting your chest and hips while he praised how good you were. His good arañita, his small, perfect arañita, sweet and warm. He’d tell you not to worry, to just relax, that he’d take care of you.

But every so often, something seemed to stir up the absolute animal in him.

He became obsessive, possessive, fixated on that primal itch at the back of his mind to be successful in his mating. He’d pin you down hard and mount you from behind, digging his claws in deep while his cock probed deep, thrusting inside you like he wanted to physically push into your womb itself.

And god, the things he said.

The growling, the hissing, demanding to father your offspring, ordering you to get pregnant, ordering you to take it. You indulged him too much in this state. It created the fiercest pleasure in you, the most potent, soul-shaking orgasms, to let him fuck you like a beast until you were shaking and weak.

He’d always calm down after ejaculating, and every time he showed you the same level of aftercare. He’d cradle you close and keep you warm, licking venom across the places you were sore, shifting between constant praise and kisses. Still, the animal just kept coming back.

When you simply couldn’t handle being penetrated anymore, the only option left was to try oral or mutual masturbation, but that proved a little difficult with how different your bodies were.

At first Mig got desperate, and resorted to webbing your body upside down on the wall so you could pleasure each other with your mouths at the same time. He’d ravenously suck on your clit while you struggled to get your mouth around the tip of his bulbous cock, feeding each other’s delusional lust with soft, muffled moans and lapping tongues.

When he’d cum you swallowed as much as you could of the thick, strangely sweet stuff, but inevitably about half of it ended up coating your jaw and neck, and the sight of that just set him off all over again.

But then you started getting lightheaded. You were forced to resort to lying in bed instead, where you’d suck him off until he came and then let him taste you until you shuddered into your own orgasm, going back and forth in this dizzying tasting session until he inevitably broke and just fucked you again.

It was a mess. A wet, literal mess, a cycle of mating and sleeping with little in between, but between sessions you did get a few moments of lucidity to enjoy his company too. It was gratifying to lie on the clean side of the bed in his arms, talking about nothing while he groomed your hair. Whether he was being unintentionally funny or having a real discussion, he was always interesting to talk to, and when you had nothing to talk about you still felt wanted.

He'd wake you up with food whenever he had a moment of control. He always wanted to hear that you liked it, and when you said it was great, he’d bristle with pride.

Even in this strange, dizzying state, you were continuing to fall hard for Mig. You were becoming docile, domestic almost. His home felt like your home now, and more importantly, he felt like home. The sex was fun, yes, but it was also a reminder of how normal his body was, how much you trusted him with your own body.

You lost track of time in that warm, sweet den, indulging in each other like it was the only thing in the world that mattered. Part of you wanted to just stay like this in perpetuity, but the world wouldn’t slow down for you, and soon other needs would catch up with the both of you.

….

About five days into the second heat, you woke to find yourself alone in bed. You were splayed out on your deflated mattress, utterly drowning in silk blankets and stuffed pillows, but the usual warm fluff you now associated with bedtime was gone.

Mig wasn’t here.

You arched your back and rubbed your face as you came to your senses. Thank God, you weren’t burning up right now.

In that brief respite you had time to think.

You needed to go to the medical bay. You needed more back up. Your patch was due to run out soon and you weren’t even sure it could withstand what you’d done, not to mention the strain on your body was very real and very taxing. Anything to ease the soreness, or perhaps to bring back the proper function of your limbs, would be greatly appreciated.

You just had to get past Mig.

The work you’d made on his possessive nature had been a little set back after the pollen incident. Whether it was his hormones or his lingering anger at Miguel, the poor man couldn’t let you out of his sight.

When you went to get food, or even just to clean yourself, he insisted on being at your side through it all. He was still compelled to scent mark you, and sometimes in his sleep he’d pin you down and growl as he pulled you close.

He was relapsing hard, despite his best efforts. That was partially why it was so strange that he wasn’t here right now. With a yawn and a stretch, you decided to go find him.

You staggered about the den with a silk blanket wrapped around your shoulders.

You noticed, as you moved from room to room, that a cold breeze kept blowing the blanket up around your feet. That could only mean one thing: the front door was open. You followed the great earthy tunnels up to the surface, emerging into a pale pink dawn, and there you found him.

That beautiful beast was stationed at the nests entrance like a gargoyle. In the morning mist and glistening dew he looked like an honest to god sculpture, chiselled and glowing in the pastel light. You bit your lip at the sight as you sidled up to his side.

‘Mig? Babe?’

He turned and purred at the sight of you. The way his face changed made you melt a little inside; it was all involuntary, the way his eyes widened and his lips automatically curled into a smile. ‘Mi arañita, what are you doing up?’ he asked.

‘I could ask the same of you, dummy. I was worried about you.’

He let you slouch down against his abdomen, his spider legs stretching to tuck you in at his side. He clung to you tight.

‘I just wanted to give you some space, and—well, I think the hormones are giving me ah… guarding reflexes’ he said. ‘I have a drive to just, protect the nest. I’m not sure from what, I just- I know I should. I know I have to guard you.’

‘Guarding your little treasure hoard, huh?’ you teased.

‘Mm. Mi tesoro. My priceless little thing’ he said softly. You nuzzled his side.

‘Well, you’re not gonna like this next bit then.’

‘This—next, what? What bit?’

You sighed. ‘Mig, I think I should I go to the medical bay. At the HQ. Just quickly! I need to get more birth control patches, and I think it might be worth seeing if they recommend anything else I can… Ah, it sound so, crass, but, I can only put off wanting you inside me for so long, and I could use something to ease the uh… aching.’

‘Oh. Oh, I see. Is it, still bad?’

You couldn’t help but smile. ‘My darling Mig, how do I say this… You are, REALLY, really well endowed, and you are inside me almost half the day. Yes, it’s quite bad.’

You saw his brows go up in distress. ‘Mi arañita… I’m, so sorry—’

‘Don’t be sorry, Mig. It’s not your fault that I want you’ you said, trying to play it off with another laugh to ease his worry. ‘We’re about 50/50 on the whole, begging the other for sex, so I take full responsibility for my own soreness.’

‘Well, are you sure you need to go to the medical bay? I can still use my venom if you’re in pain. You said it helped.’

‘Yeah. Yeah I mean, it does, a bit, but- I also know too much of it will paralyze me’ you retorted. ‘I saw that with Miguel.’

‘I can control it’ he insisted back. ‘I can control whether I release it or not, I’d never paralyze you on purpose.’

‘Of course not, I’m not saying that. I just—I trust you, Mig, and I wouldn’t blame you for slipping up, but good will and the best intentions don’t stop mistakes, and it’s mistakes I’m worried about. Plus, the venom won’t keep babies at bay, will it?’

You rolled your eyes at his instinctive little butt wiggle, the way his abdomen vibrated to betray how excited just a mention of such a thing made him. His primal brain was still so hooked on that thought, that deep rooted fetish, that desire to breed you. He coughed to cover what was already painfully obvious.

‘It—it, will not. I feel like, I am sadly the opposite of birth control.’

For a moment you were still. Then you snorted, and you giggled, and that giggle spiralled into laughter. He just smiled back with that same patient expression.

‘Oh my god, Mig. Ah. Oh—okay look, what I was saying is, I just need to visit the bay for a bit, then I will come straight back, and you can have me all to yourself.’

As you posited your idea to him, he took a moment to mull it over. He pressed his tongue to the inside of his mouth as his eyes wandered over the misty horizon.

‘Mm. Very well. But I will go with you’ Mig grunted.

‘What? Oh, you don’t need to do that, Mig, I—’

‘I’m going with you.’

You squeaked as his leg suddenly drew you closer. Glancing through his thick fur, you noticed that his eyes had narrowed. ‘Uh… Mig? You okay?’ you asked. His eyes narrowed further.

‘I don’t know who else in that place might—smell you’ he said. His voice was now low, monotone, dangerous.

‘You—you let me go before’ you said. His leg wound tighter, gripping you like a snake coiled around its prey.

‘Yes, because I physically couldn’t follow you in. And you got grabbed by… him’ he hissed. ‘I won’t let that happen again.’

‘Mig…’ You sighed and gently pet his flank, noting the disgruntled way that his legs were tapping.

‘I… I will not, get in the way, but I am asking, just—to please, let me accompany you’ he pleaded.

God, it was hard to say no to that face. Those big red eyes, those full lips pouting slightly as he silently begged for your favour. It didn’t help you were so unbearably horny for him. Part of you wanted to give him whatever he wanted, if it just meant he’d bend you over again, and give you a little taste of that perfect monster shaft.

Your thoughts must have shown in your face as his sadness shifted slightly into curiosity. You saw his eyes darting over your body’s contours beneath the silk blanket and quickly shoved him with your hand.

‘My god—okay! You can, accompany me. You are a member now I guess, it’s only fair. I only made you stay last time because you said you couldn’t enter the HQ, so… sure. Come.’

His body began to vibrate against your back as he purred with joy.

‘Wonderful. Mil gracias, arañita. I promise I will keep you safe.’

…

In sharp contrast to the comfort of your little isolated den, it was unbearably awkward to make your way through the HQ with Mig.

It’d been awkward the first time you’d gone to the medical bay, when nobody had known your reason for coming nor your relationship to the giant spider, but now? Now the eyes on you were ravenous and aware.

Mig’s body language was so overt even a fool could pick it up. He was hovering around your back with his fur bristled and sharp, his eyes fixated on anyone who drifted too close.

And you, with your body dotted with hickies and bite marks, with your legs still shaky and your hip bones bruised, it was painfully obvious. Luckily for you most people chose to keep their snide smiles to themselves. They found it weird, yes, but they found him too scary to question at this point.

You walked together to the medical bay without any major incidents, though one thought began to nag you as you delved deeper. Last time you’d been here you’d felt Miguel watching you, and now, nothing.

You’d heard nothing about Miguel’s whereabouts since the calls from Peter and Jess five days ago, so you were unsure if he’d returned or not. Your senses told you he hadn’t.

You felt a little pang in your gut as you walked into the medical bay. You had a lot of distaste for the man, but you still hoped he was okay. You didn’t want him to have done anything stupid.

As you got into line you felt Mig bristling, and in your heart, you knew he felt the same.

‘Where do you think he is?’ you whispered up to Mig. He let out a low growl at the reminder of his foe and his unusual disappearance, which also let you know that you were right, and he had been thinking of him too.

‘I don’t know’ he whispered back. ‘And frankly, I don’t care.’

‘I mean, you do. You do care where he is’ you said. ‘You’re worried he might be around, you’re worried he’ll approach me again, I know that for sure.’

‘I care about his proximity to me, and his proximity to you’ Mig grumbled. ‘Outside of that, at this point, he can choke.’

You pursed your lips. ‘Do—Do you really want him, dead?’ you whispered.

Mig narrowed his eyes further. It took him a moment to reply. ‘I… I don’t know.’

‘Mig, I get it. Obviously I don’t like him, but—I just don’t want him to be hurt. Like, hurt hurt. He’s a massive prick but—I mean he’s a person’ you said. It was clear from your tone even you weren’t sure of what you were saying. ‘I’d like to know he’s around, just, away from me. You know?’

You saw the momentary conflict in Mig’s eyes as he rolled his tongue. ‘Mm… I know. I know. I just—I don’t, want to talk about it, please’ Mig insisted. You nodded and gave his flank an affectionate pat.

You sidled up to the desk and put in your usual request to a slightly disgruntled looking receptionist. They requested Mig stay outside but he abjectly, if politely, refused, and not wanting to question the giant spider he was allowed to accompany you through the motions.

It was so much worse.

It was so, so much worse, to stand on the scanner and have Lyla look at the amount of semen inside you while its donor was glowering at you from across the room like a jealous dragon. It was so much worse to be asked, ‘how active are you?’ when Mig was there, a perfect example of who you’d been active with, as you said ‘up to ten times a day’.

It was so much worse that, when asked further questions about anatomical issues, Mig was there to answer in his usual blunt fashion. His casual description of his phallus size, detailing nonchalantly that, yes, he did slather your nether regions with venom to make it less painful. You could see Lyla eating up every word he said.

It at least invoked a kind of sympathy in the horrified nurse, as she willingly signed over whatever you wanted. Pain medication both topical and oral, stronger birth control, and anti-venom shots in case he injected too much.

As you made your way out you could only cope by laughing about it with him.

‘You are—a nightmare, Miguel O’Hara, I swear to god.’ As you spoke you let out a dramatic sigh that turned into stuttered laughter, all while Mig watched with endeared bur confused eyes.

‘Did—Did I do something wrong again?’ he whispered. You could feel him leaning in at your back, begging for affirmation, and despite being exasperated to the point of exhaustion you gave it. You held his little foreleg as you walked into the waiting room.

‘You are so… honest’ you laughed. ‘Just, SO honest.’

‘Is that not a positive trait?’ he asked.

‘Oh, it is. It is. I love that about you, but I also hate it.’ As you spoke you turned to cup his hips in your hands, holding him tenderly. ‘But, I’m willing to put up with it, which I suppose is a good sign, right?’

Mig blinked at you, his eyes wide. ‘Good, because… It means, I am worth the effort?’

‘Very much so’ you whispered. His abdomen rustled furiously even as his face remained calm. ‘Mm… Mm. Good. I am- glad. You are, worth, a lot to me’ he replied in that sweet, shy, stilted manner. You just chuckled.

‘You have such a way with words. Anything else you wanna say?’ you asked, your head tilted. Mig froze.

He knew what you meant. You’d both been teetering on the edge of saying it for a while: the big ‘L’, the biggest thing he could ever say. The moment where he admitted he loved you. He’d blurted it in front of his counterpart before, but to say it to your face? That was terrifying.

He hadn’t said he loved someone since Dana, and this was so much more. He wanted to keep you, to hold you, to see you every morning, but something in him just couldn’t say it. He was still terrified of something going wrong, of repeating his mistakes, and saying that word felt like moving too close to the sun.

And you, you weren’t much better. You were terrified of saying it and of him not returning the sentiment. It felt selfish, in a way, but you just kept waiting for him to say it first.

‘I… You, are mi tesoro’ Mig said softly. His hand cupped your cheek. ‘You are dear, to me. And I hope that I can keep waking up beside you.’

Your heart tripled over beneath his gaze. It wasn’t quite what you wanted, but it was enough for now. ‘I hope so too’ you whispered, and with one last squeeze you let him go.

You stepped into the reception room to find it almost entirely deserted, spare for one or two people milling about in chairs. You were grateful for the privacy as the reception called you over and handed to you those thick bags filled with pain relief and birth control.

‘We’re just waiting for one more thing, is that okay?’ the reception asked. You nodded.

‘Ah, sure, we can um—we can wait’ you said, but as you hurried back to Mig’s side you didn’t look as sure as you’d sounded.

‘Shiiittt. I don’t know how long we have before it—you know’ you whispered up at him.

‘The violent passion of the heat overtakes us both and we begin copulating on the floor of this public establishment?’ Mig replied. You grit your teeth.

‘Yes. Yes, that exactly’ you hissed back.

‘Ah… too blunt, right?’

‘Yes. Very blunt.’

‘But just between us, that is okay, right?’

‘We’re in a hospital waiting room!’

It was halfway through your whispered shouting match that you heard the reception call.

‘Anti-venom?’

Ah. That was the last bit you needed, you thought. What a weirdly quick turnaround, especially when she’d just asked you to wait. You turned and blindly reached to grab the bag from the receptionist, only to lock hands with someone else. You baulked and spun.

There was a man beside you, roughly your age and height, and he was reaching for the same bag of anti-venom.

‘You—can I help you?’ you stammered. The man frowned.

‘I—’

‘Oh, sorry, you both have—sorry that’s my mistake’ the receptionist said, interrupting you both as she yanked the bag back. ‘I have prescriptions for you both.’

You remained locked onto the other man as the receptionist rushed back to speak to the counter. He looked horrified, but of what? Your eyes narrowed. Why would anyone else here need anti-venom?

‘Sorry about that. You both ordered the same, thing, ah—Okay, here.’

The reception put both bags down and pushed them towards the two of you, but you didn’t even notice. You were unblinkingly focused on the other man’s face. His mouth opened and closed a few times.

‘Ah… Thank you. Sorry. I will… go, now’ he blurted, and before you could speak he’d grabbed the bag and hurried for the door. You grabbed your own and followed in hot pursuit.

‘Arañita?’

Mig crawled after you in haste. His sudden emergence into the main lobby caused a few startled screams, but you refused to turn. You were following that man with absolute dedication.

‘Arañita—what is it? What’s wrong?’ he hissed as he caught up with your stride.

‘HIM’ you hissed back, your eyes fixed on the man speed walking away. ‘I need to talk to him!’

Mig blinked. Without even questioning your motive he bowed to your needs, and with the power of his giant spider legs he gave you a little push across the slippery floor so you could close the gap between you and the stranger.

You skidded up and grasped him by the shoulder. ‘Hey! Hey, you—’

‘SHIT!’

The man jumped when you touched him, causing you to quickly retract your hand. ‘Sorry! Sorry, I just—’

‘Oh, I thought—I was having a heart attack, my, god’ the man panted. You watched him clutch his chest and heave, awkwardly and impatiently waiting to speak. ‘How did I not hear you? My senses are… awful, man—’

‘Look, I—’

‘You, you’re the one dating Miguel’s variant, right? The big spider?’

You were surprised when the man addressed you first. His eyes were on his suit as he brushed it down, but every so often he’d cast you a glance. He thankfully didn’t look angry.

‘I am’ you blurted, ‘yes, I’m—with, Mig. Spider Mig. Spider, Miguel. I’m sorry, again.’

He nodded. ‘Right. Yeah. Hence the uh- the, anti-venom. Right?’

‘Yeessss’ you said, clearly if wordlessly putting emphasis on the fact that he, also, had anti-venom in his hand. He noted where your eyes were drifting and accidentally looked down himself, glancing to the bag in his hand, which he immediately then tried to hide behind his back.

‘So, you uh… Other, Miguel, I’m assuming?’ you asked slowly.

The poor man was almost squirming on the spot.

‘You’re not a, spider, right? Like a regular one?’ you inquired when he failed to reply, noting his unusual suit and lack of mask. He sighed dramatically and leaned in close.

‘I—shit, I—look, I’m a physiotherapist, I work for the HQ’ the man hissed. ‘I’m—friends, with Miguel.’

‘Friends?’

‘Yes! Don’t look at me like that. I mean that, genuinely. We are friends. He—has a lot of, physical issues due to his biology, the mutations, and he pushes himself physically so much harder than anyone else, so he needs a lot of help.’

‘Right’ you said, slowly nodding along. After a moments silence spent staring at each other, teetering on the edge of the truth, the man sighed again.

‘I— Fuck, okay. We are, friends, and—Very, rarely, we engage in—we, do—’

‘He gets you to have sex with him, right? Because of the rut?’ you asserted.

The man recoiled in surprise and horror. ‘We—No! He doesn’t get me to—I mean we fucked like, one time, a really long time ago, but that—I really didn’t want to be interrogated today, you know.’

‘Oh, no, I’m sorry, I didn’t—I wasn’t trying to interrogate, I was, curious? I guess? Or—’ You paused to breath as all your worries spilled from your mouth.

‘No, okay, for context, Miguel’s been gone for a few days and I said I’d keep an eye out but, more than that there’s a lot of complicated stuff going on, I think we were the last people to see him before he vanished, so—I’m not asking to shame you or, out of the blue, he—there’s a lot of stuff with him implying to Mig and to me that he wasn’t allowed to have relationships like this but then doing it anyway in secret so I’m just—’

‘Oh, ohhh okay.’

To your surprise the man interrupted your spiel was a soft ‘oh’ face of recognition. ‘I gotcha. Of course, you know him too, you’re dating his variant. But surely then, come on, you know about all his weird hypocrisies by now, right?’

‘His, what?’ you asked. The man snorted with laughter.

‘What you just said, about his weird hang ups. God the man spends twice as much time moping about his slip ups as he does actually making them. That dumbass. Trust me, if I wanted any more out of him than being friends, I’d have fucking strangled the man. He’s a mess. But, I don’t, which I think is why he comes to me. He gets in those, ‘moods’, and—I usually just, yanno, help him out. Hands or mouth. And, he does the same.’

‘Oh… Oh, huh.’

The man gave another shrug as you mulled over this new information. ‘So… you’re not, put off? By how… Much he is?’ you said subtly. Again, the man chuckled.

‘What do you mean? I mean he’s stubborn, and a bit dramatic, sure, but that’s fine, that’s fun. He’s still so nice.’

Your look of shock seemed to surprise the man. His smile faded in the face of your overt confusion. ‘He—are you, okay?’ he asked.

‘Yeah, just… Did you say he’s, nice?’

‘Yeah! Of course. I mean he’d hate me saying that out loud, he doesn’t want anyone to know he’s nice, but I know. He overworks himself to death trying to keep this place running. He’s always on edge because he’s always worried, so he plays off like he’s all… you know, cold and scary, but he’s soft inside. I’m, assuming you don’t know him that well, then?’

You remained utterly confused by this weird interpretation of the Miguel you’d met. ‘He—I mean, yeah, I thought I knew him pretty well, and I don’t think I’ve ever seen him do anything, nice’ you retorted.

Your overt distaste must have shown in your words, because the man suddenly looked disheartened. He coughed before speaking again.

‘He uh— I mean for me, and this is just me, but—when I couldn’t get surgery in my own universe, he secretly filed to let me have it here instead, and when the medical bay took too long, he personally went there and chewed them out for it. He never told me about it, Peter did, but post-surgery he’d always ask how I was doing. I’d show him and he’d just… give me a thumbs up and say, looks good, and that’d be it. Nobodies ever gone out of there way like that for me, ever, and he did it without complaint.’

Your eyes widened. Now this, this was interesting. You couldn’t imagine the Miguel you’d had to deal with being that considerate, that selfless, and yet, this guy had no reason to lie. Surely there had to be more to it, right?

‘Was… this, when you were, messing around?’ you asked slowly.

‘Oh, no. This was before that’ the man said nonchalantly. ‘Like I said, we were just friends. We still are. I appreciate that he’s never asked for more, honestly.’

Oh dear, you thought, you’d run out of justifications. Why had he been so aggressive with you then? Why was he so angry, so vindictive?

‘I mean, he’s—he’s also REALLY hot’ the man added with a slight laugh. ‘Like, REALLY hot. No offense but I used to have clients talk about how weird it was, you and the spider hybrid, I had to bite my tongue from saying bitch what are you TALKING about? I’d overlook much worse shit to just LOOK at that man.’

As the man chuckled you found yourself awkwardly laughing with him. You didn’t exactly have the best of terms with Miguel, but, clearly this guy had a very different experience. More importantly, you now had a solid lead on where Miguel had potentially gone.

‘So, you saw him recently?’ you queried.

‘Yeah. Well—Look, I know you get it, so, all I’ll say is I saw him about… four, days ago? That’s all I’ll say. I got this just in case, cos it’d been so long since the last time I forgot to stock up.’

You perked up a little as he spoke. Four days ago. That was after Peter mentioned he was gone, a full day after he gave in the paperwork for you and Mig.

‘Is… Is he, okay?’ you asked quietly. To your relief he nodded.

‘Yeah. Yeah he seemed fine, he seemed a bit more grumpy but that’s typical for him. He just, took sabbatical, he said. He wanted to figure some stuff out. He came over to relax then bounced. It’s not uncommon.’

To your surprise, you let out a soft sigh of relief. Had you been holding that in? You opened your mouth to thank the man and to ask his name, but something else hit you before you could.

Your whole body throbbed. You had to rub your thighs together to stop yourself from trembling, as the most vicious, potent heat slid through your veins. Your horror must have shown as the man tried to help you stand.

‘Hey, are you—’

‘BACK!’

You squeaked as something firm and furry grabbed your waist. You were pulled taut to Mig’s side as he appeared at your back, his eyes wide and his fangs bared. He was hissing aggresively as he held you close. You could feel it beneath his fur; that violent, overpowering rut, brewing and overflowing inside him.

To your surprise, the man took no offense. He seemed to see those glowing eyes and recognise something in them. ‘Oh. Oh! Okay. No worries, I got it. You don’t gotta worry about me. You two uh—you two have fun.’

The man waved once before speed walking in the other direction, leaving you and Miguel to panic in silence.

You could both feel the heat brewing to the point it hurt. There were eyes everywhere, eyes all around you, glowering and gleaming. You knew you didn’t have much time before you both lost all social inhibition to your need.

Your eyes met, once, only to find that just locking gaze was too erotic in this state. You both turned and glanced in unison at the same thing; the nearby elevator, the one just large enough to fit Mig inside.

You swallowed hard. You were burning up, physically sweating beneath your suit. You weren’t thinking straight at all. In the moment, all you could do was act. You both barrelled into the elevator together.

Time to make another mistake.

Link to next part!

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