Free alphabet smocking plate
Raiders swag giveaway - Outside US only
2024.06.02 20:57 the_middle_way Raiders swag giveaway - Outside US only
Everyone sharing their Raiders swag has motivated me to give away some of my own stuff.
For info, I've been a season ticket holder since 2014. I have accumulated a bunch of random Raiders swag from the season ticket gift boxes throughout the years, and felt that it was time to pass on some of that stuff to other members of the Nation.
Here's what I'm giving away: Box 1: Gameday program from 2020, ticket lanyard, 2017 pin set, metal logo wall decoration, Raiders car flag, and Raider Nation license plate frame [https://imgur.com/a/lmYi9Kw](Box 1 album)
Box 2: Gameday program from 2020 (Allegiant Stadium regular season home opener), ticket lanyard, USB mobile car charger, season ticket member scarf [https://imgur.com/a/XWndRe0](Box 2 album)
Box 3: Gameday program from 2020, ticket lanyard, wallet, flag, and season ticket member license plate frame [https://imgur.com/a/6vOw5sy](Box 3 album)
IMPORTANT: These boxes are only being offered to those outside of the US, since Raiders swag isn't as accessible to them. Each box is free, and I will pay for the postage to send each box away.
Reply to this post or through DM. First come, first served. Thanks!
submitted by the_middle_way to raiders [link] [comments]
For info, I've been a season ticket holder since 2014. I have accumulated a bunch of random Raiders swag from the season ticket gift boxes throughout the years, and felt that it was time to pass on some of that stuff to other members of the Nation.
Here's what I'm giving away: Box 1: Gameday program from 2020, ticket lanyard, 2017 pin set, metal logo wall decoration, Raiders car flag, and Raider Nation license plate frame [https://imgur.com/a/lmYi9Kw](Box 1 album)
Box 2: Gameday program from 2020 (Allegiant Stadium regular season home opener), ticket lanyard, USB mobile car charger, season ticket member scarf [https://imgur.com/a/XWndRe0](Box 2 album)
Box 3: Gameday program from 2020, ticket lanyard, wallet, flag, and season ticket member license plate frame [https://imgur.com/a/6vOw5sy](Box 3 album)
IMPORTANT: These boxes are only being offered to those outside of the US, since Raiders swag isn't as accessible to them. Each box is free, and I will pay for the postage to send each box away.
Reply to this post or through DM. First come, first served. Thanks!
2024.06.02 20:49 Sylesth Combat Artificer - 69
Heh. Nice.
Creativity is returning, and I promise that the series doesn't devolve into a slice of life between Valteria and Xander (not that that's necessarily a bad thing, just not where I want to go - you'll have to instead content thyself with slices of slice of life here and there). Going to try and keep to updating roughly every 7-10 days, but again, I don't hold myself very strictly to any schedule so that may not always happen. Enjoy!
First Previous Next
Elements are, well… elemental. Not in the sense that they are beings comprised of a single physical element - though they generally are. I mean they are created by a conflux of a single type of elemental mana. This is often seen at ley lines, areas where mana flows and rushes like a river, but it can happen anywhere two errant streams of mana of the same type collide. Not every collision results in the formation of an elemental core, around which an elemental will concrete rapidly from a physical material local to the area that aligns with the core’s mana type. Some happen with no discernable effect. Others produces auroric lights, or short lived ‘will-o-the-wisps,’ which are not to be confused with actual spirits or other ethereal monsters.
-Brant Colis during a lecture on elementals, College of Magical Studies, part of the esteemed University of Sempta
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Xander smiled at her and planted a quick kiss on her lips, causing Valteria’s eyes to widen at the suddenness of it. “Thanks,” he told her. “I couldn’t have had a better teacher.”
Valteria blushed at his glowing commendation, and perhaps from the kiss as well. “You’re sweet,” she said. “But there are better teachers than me,” Valteria told him in a more serious tone. Her serious face cracked a little bit into a smile as she said, “Too bad you don’t know any of them! You’re stuck with me, instead.”
“Mmm, I don’t mind one bit,” Xander said. Thinking to check his watch, he briefly glanced at the time. “Say, what time do you usually close up shop? It’s getting to be late afternoon, and I imagine we’ll want some light if we’re going to test out that crossbow.”
“Hm? Oh, right, damnit, I’d forgotten already.” Valteria glanced at one of the clocks in the room to confirm the time. “Ah, hell, I’m ready to call it quits for the day anyways. I doubt anyone else is going to come in today anyways. Let’s walk to guild training area.”
“Certainly, I would be most happy to escort the lady,” Xander said, as formally as he could manage.
“What did I say about bowing and scraping?”
“Sorry.”
Valteria locked up the shop as they exited, and the two of them made their way to the training yard that the guild had set up. Xander was glad that Valteria seemed to know where it was, because he had never actually been there. His practice for the tournament had been conducted out in random fields, as he’d worried he’d be taking up too much space swinging around all that chain. During the walk there, they chatted about how Valteria hoped the crossbow would perform, and she reminded him that she still wanted to see the guns that he had mentioned. He agreed to show her, as long as the training yard was safely positioned in such a way that he didn’t need to worry about anything down range.
After about half an hour of walking through the city, and then through the outskirts of the town, Valteria led them to the training yard. There were a few mercenaries training throughout the area, some sparring together in a sandy pit, while others were practicing their aim with bows, crossbows, and spells by firing at targets placed at the ends of a set of lanes. Xander was pleased to see that there was a berm build up behind the targets to prevent anything that went through the targets escaping the bounds of the training yard. He supposed that certain skills attached to a bolt or arrow might necessitate it. It would certainly work well enough for his firearms. He was glad he’d silenced them, as it would be rather disturbing to the rest of the mercenaries present if he hadn’t.
“So, which do you want to try out first? The guns or the crossbow?” Xander asked.
Valteria thought for a moment. “Hmm,” she said aloud as she pondered. “I think the crossbow first. I’m eager to see how it performs so that I can work on properly pricing it, as well as seeing if we need to tweak the design before we make more.”
“Sure, that makes sense. Guns can be a treat for after we do our official business,” Xander replied.
“Shame there’s only a wooden target, I’d like to see how it does against something like a chest plate,” Valteria sighed.
“You forget who you’re with!” Xander reminded her. “I can make us a steel target in no time at all. But we probably ought to test it out on the wood first, just to make sure it even works.”
“Oh right, I forgot you could just make one. That seems like a good idea. Would you mind making me some bolts, too? I didn’t even think to stop to get any,” Valteria said, slapping her forehead lightly.
“Coming right up.” Xander went to work creating a few crossbow bolts for Valteria to fire, handing them over one by one as he made them. He stopped after creating ten bolts. “That should be enough to test the thing out, right?”
“Mmhm, I would think so.” The two of them walked together to a lane at one end of the yard, making sure that there were a few empty lanes between them and the next closest merc. No one paid them any mind, save for an occasional glance in their direction as people briefly wondered who the odd couple they didn’t recognize were. Still, the yard was free to use, and no one bothered them.
Valteria cranked the crossbow arms back and took a knee as she placed a bolt into the channel of the crossbow. She took some time to aim at the target at the end of the lane before firing. The increased force of the arms snapping back into place jerked her forward a little, but the shot still found its mark, at least for the most part. It went a little wide, hitting the left edge of the target. The bolt punched through the wood with what seemed to be ease, burying itself fully into the berm behind the target.
“Wow, I wasn’t expecting it to jerk like that,” Valteria said, looking down at the crossbow. “It’s certainly got some power to it.”
“Shall we see how it does with steel?” Xander asked.
“Sure, though I have my suspicions that it’s going to either blow right through the metal or the bolt is going to shatter. So, it is going to require higher grade bolts from a good [Fletcher] to really operate at full efficiency,” she explained.
“Makes sense,” Xander said with an absent nod as he created a sheet of steel of about the correct thickness for a chestpiece. Once he was done, he jogged down to the target and leaned the sheet of steel up against it before jogging back to Valteria. “All you,” he said to her.
“I have to do all the work?” She said sarcastically.
“I mean, if you don’t want to shoot it, I’ll be happy to,” Xander replied. “But what’s more fun than putting holes in things with a weapon?”
“Uhm, a lot of things?” Valteria asked.
“Okay, yeah, you’re right. But it’s still fun!”
“It is.”
Valteria was able to land most of her shots on the metal target, which proved equally flimsy as the wood had to the runically enhanced crossbow. Two went wide, embedding in the berm instead, but overall she seemed pleased with the test. “I’m not exactly the best shot,” she told Xander. “I’m surprised I only missed two, in all honesty.”
“Considering that you don’t have a combat class, I think you did pretty well for someone who doesn’t regularly go out and fire a crossbow,” Xander said approvingly. “Ready to try out a gun?”
“Yes!” Valteria said excitedly.
Xander chuckled at Valteria’s enthusiasm, manifesting the tube fed .22 rifle from his inventory, along with some ammunition. “We can start off with something small.” Carefully placing the rifle down, he held up some of the small rounds for her to see. “This is a bullet. A twenty-two caliber long rifle bullet, to be specific. It’s designed for small game, so it has essentially no kick behind it, but it’s very reliable. It’s a good one to get acquainted with before I swap you over to trying out my pistol and shotgun, since they have a little more kick to them. Here’s how you load it.” Xander went through the process of pulling the spring loaded rod out of the tube that held the ammunition, Valteria watching carefully as he loaded it up to capacity. “So you’ve got eighteen shots right now. This right here is the safety,” he indicated the push button near the trigger that operated the safety mechanism. “You can’t pull the trigger unless this side is pushed in. Helps keep accidents from happening. Now, before I hand this over to you, you’re going to indulge me and listen to the four rules of firearm safety, okay?”
“Okay,” Valteria said with a firm nod.
“Alright, so the first rule is this: always assume that a gun is loaded. Messing around with one just because you think it’s unloaded is a great way to accidentally get someone killed. Two, never point the end of a gun at something you don’t intend to shoot. Keep it pointed down at the ground at all other times. That way, if you do accidentally discharge it, no one can get hurt. Number three pertains to your target. Be sure of your target – make sure you know what you’re shooting at – and just as importantly, know what’s beyond your target. You don’t want to shoot through something and end up also shooting something or someone you didn’t intend to. And the last rule is to keep your finger off the trigger until you’re ready to shoot. Simple enough, right? They could all easily followed with a crossbow, too. Got it?”
Valteria nodded again. “Got it,” she replied.
“Alrighty, well then let’s get you shooting! I’ll show you the three postures for shooting, as well as how to use the sights and then I’ll let you run through a full tube or two before we swap to something a little more fun to shoot.” Xander held rifle downward and indicated the scope on the rifle. “This is a magnified scope. Think of it like a little telescope with an X in the center. You look through it like this,” Xander held the rifle up to his cheek, pointing it downrange, “and line up the center of the X with where you want to shoot. The position I’m in right now is how you should fire while standing. See how I’m a little leaned forward and my right foot is to the rear? That’s to help absorb recoil, not that this gun has much. It’ll help with the larger one, though.” Xander then kneeled down, placing his elbow on his knee to brace his arm. “This is how you’d fire while kneeling. Very similar to how I saw you do it with the crossbow.” Finally, he laid down and said, “And this is how you fire when prone. If you step behind me, you’ll see that the gun, my shoulder, my body, and my right leg are all one straight line.”
“I see,” Valteria agreed, looking at him from behind.
Standing up, careful to keep the rifle pointed downwards, he said, “I’ll let you choose how you want to shoot. Here you are.” He held the rifle out for Valteria to take, who did so gingerly. Xander was pleased to see that she was keeping her fingers away from the trigger.
Valteria moved into position at the opening to the lane and knelt. Xander went to stand behind her. She took up the proper position, mimicking how Xander had shown her.
“I’m going to adjust your posture slightly, so don’t be startled, okay?” Xander softly said.
“Okay,” Valteria replied.
Xander leaned over slightly and put his hands on her shoulders, squaring them a little bit more. “Okay, now aim, and when you’re ready, pull the trigger.”
Valteria took her time aiming, getting used to the scope and the position her head needed to be in to properly use it. “This scope thingy is quite handy. I can see things so much closer!”
Xander laughed, saying, “Yeah, I use it all the time just for looking at things that are far away.”
Valteria took a deep breath and squeezed the trigger, eliciting a small crack from the rifle, most of the relatively minimal noise of the rifle being silenced by the runes Xander had engraved on the end of the barrel. A ping could be heard as the bullet hit the metal sheet, putting a tiny hole in it.
Valteria looked around. “That’s it?” She asked. “I was expecting something... more.”
“Well, this one is a small caliber round, so there’s not a lot of oomph behind it compared to something larger. But if we take a walk down there, I’d wager we could find the hole it made in the steel.”
“Strange how something so small could penetrate a piece of steel armor...” Valteria said, trailing off thoughtfully.
“I don’t think it would penetrate really well-made armor from a higher leveled [Smith], and I’m certain it wouldn’t penetrate armor that I’ve done runework on. This is completely unimproved steel, after all.”
“That’s fair,” Valteria agreed.
“So, do you want to finish off the other seventeen rounds, or is this one too boring?”
“I want to try the bigger one!” Valteria said excitedly.
“Fine, fine,” Xander relented. “Same rules for this one, okay?” He took the rifle back from Valteria, unloading it and stashing the gun and ammo back in his inventory. He pulled out the shotgun and a handful of shells, opting for slugs to reduce the chance of any kind of ricochet from the steel target. “This is a pump-action shotgun.” He held up the shotgun in one hand. “And this is the ammunition it fires.” He held up his handful of shotgun shells in the other hand. “Quite a bit bigger than the other one.”
Valteria nodded along. “That one looks more exciting.”
“You load the round into the tube on the bottom like so,” Xander said as he pushed five rounds into the tube. “And to load a round, you pump the slide towards you and then away from you.” The shotgun made the classic cha-chuck noise as he pumped the slide, loading a round. “This is loaded now. Safety works the same way. Here you go.” He carefully handed the gun over to Valteria, who took it with a little more confidence than she had with the small caliber rifle.
Watching her get into a kneeling position and shoulder the rifle, Xander commented, “Adjust the buttstock a little, you want it more on the meaty part of your shoulder, not on the outside. It’ll absorb the recoil better.”
Valteria complied, shifting the rifle slightly to adjust. “This one doesn’t have a scope,” she said.
“Oh right, yeah this one is a bit shorter ranged. You just line up the bead on the end in the center of the sight posts closer to you to aim.”
“Oh, oh I see,” Valteria said, returning her cheek to the stock of the shotgun.
“Fire whenever you’re rea-“ Xander was interrupted by the muffled crack of the shotgun firing. Valteria let out a noise halfway between a squeak and a grunt as she rocked backwards, falling backwards slightly from her position of kneeling to sitting on the ground.
“Oww,” She muttered. “This one hurts! You didn’t tell me it would hurt!”
“I did tell you it would have more kick, though,” Xander laughed. “That one packs a lot more punch than that little twenty-two. Do you want to shoot it again?” He asked.
“No,” Valteria said sullenly, holding the shotgun out for Xander to take. “I’m already going to have a bruise from just that one. How do you use that thing?”
Xander shrugged. “Eh, you get used to it. And with proper form, you learn to take the recoil better. Here, watch.” Xander stepped up to the lane and demonstrated, firing the remaining four rounds in quick succession, the slide clattering as he quickly pumped rounds into the chamber.
“Hmph,” Valteria huffed, seeing that Xander had had no issue with the recoil.
“Oh don’t be like that,” Xander chided her, giving her a quick, one armed hug as he stowed the shotgun in his inventory.
Valteria let out the kind of whine one does when they’re mildly inconvenienced and want to be dramatic about it.
“I have one more that I think you’ll like. It’s got more to it than the little rifle, and less than the shotgun. And it’s a lot smaller. It’s called a pistol. I guess you could think of it like the hand crossbow of guns?”
“I think smaller might be good after that last one,” Valteria said, still cautious.
Xander pulled his final firearm from Earth from his inventory into his hand. “This is the pistol.” He manifested a magazine, and said, “and this is the magazine, which the rounds go in.”
“Why’s it called a magazine?” Valteria asked, interrupting him.
“Uh, I actually don’t know,” Xander admitted. “Just what it’s called,” he said with a shrug.
“Anyway, the magazine goes in the pistol like this,” he firmly seated the magazine. “And you load the first round like this,” he said as he racked the slide. “The safety is a little bit different on this one – it’s this lever here. You toggle it down and then it can fire. You’ll want to hold it like this,” he told Valteria as he demonstrated a classic pistol shooter’s pose, both hands in use and slightly leaned forward.
“Ready to try it? I promise it’s not as bad as the shotgun,” he said. “I do feel a little bad about not telling you.”
“You should!” Valteria said as she took the proffered pistol.
“Make sure you keep it pointed down, still,” Xander reminded her.
“I will, I will,” she grumbled. Valteria took up her spot at the lane and mimicked Xander’s posture as best she could from a single demonstration. She looked back at him briefly, expecting some kind of comment or correction, but Xander was silent, just giving her a smile.
“Not bad,” he said. “Give it a try, just make sure you keep a firm, even grip.”
Valteria pulled the trigger, flinching slightly after her experience with the shotgun. Her flinch made the round miss the target. She looked at the gun with a little more favor in her eyes as she realized that it wasn’t going to hurt like the shotgun had. “I think I like this one better,” she told Xander.
“Try not to flinch like you did. I guess that’s my own fault after the shotgun,” he admitted, “but it’s bad for your aim. Other than that, you’re doing just fine,” he encouraged.
Valteria let off another round, this one hitting the large, steel target, letting out another ping across the training yard. “This is rather fun,” she admitted.
“You’ve got sixteen left before you need to reload. I’d recommend a steady pace to start out with, though. Take your time to aim. You can pop off rounds quickly on the next magazine.”
The two of them spent their time, and more than a few magazines – Xander would load one up while Valteria used the other – together at the range amicably. From an outside perspective, the two of them would have seemed more like good friends than a new couple. For his part, Xander appreciated that Valteria wasn’t seemingly needy, or overly touchy or intimate. He wasn’t sure if that would change, at least regarding touch, but right now, considering how fresh their relationship was and the fact that he was still feeling more than some guilt over even being in a relationship, he was perfectly content to move slowly for the most part. It would probably be best for Valteria too, he considered, as she was new to dating in general. He didn’t want to inadvertently take advantage of her in some way or push her boundaries.
As dusk began to fall, Xander and Valteria stopped their target practice. Xander had convinced her to wrap up with the shotgun and a few more shots from it as a finale, and she’d agreed now that she knew what to expect, the annoyance of the sudden recoil having faded. Before they left, Xander brought the steel target up for Valteria to see. It was riddled with holes, Xander pointing out the impacts left by each different caliber. He set it aside and out of the way to disintegrate, and the two began to walk back into town.
“Where do you want to eat?” Xander asked Valteria.
“Mm... I’m not sure. I hadn’t put much thought into it, honestly,” Valteria responded.
“Well, the only two places I know are Charles’s place and the inn my team and I are staying at. Though, if we eat there, prepare to be mobbed by the team and teased about dating me.”
“You’ve already told them?” Valteria said, sounding a little nervous.
“Only one, and I assume that she has kept it private, but the other three would immediately assume if they saw us together at a table. You know they thought that us comparing notes after the match was a date in disguise? They kept giving me dating tips like I wasn’t the only one of them that had ever held down a long-term relationship before,” Xander said with a laugh.
Valteria laughed. “I suppose it makes sense that they’ll tease us about it having come true, then. I suppose you’re worth a little teasing,” she said sarcastically.
“Damn right I am!” Xander replied. “But you still haven’t answered the question. Where are we – well, you, really – eating?”
Valteria slowed her pace, considering for a moment. “Hmm... I have to admit that I’m interested in who your team is. The people you keep company with are an important aspect of one’s self, after all,” she said discerningly.
“Ahh, so you want to know if I hang out with the wrong sort of crowd?” Xander teased. “They’re good people. Took me back without blinking an eye when I returned as... what I am now. I’d be happy to introduce you to them.”
“Then it’s settled, we’ll be eating there. What’s the name of the inn?”
“Uhh... shit. I can’t ever remember the name of the place. But I know how to get there!” Xander admitted.
“You’ve been staying in the city for how long?” Valteria asked, in disbelief.
“Uhm... more than a month.”
“And you still don’t know the name of the place?”
“I just never think to look at the sign when I’m leaving or coming back!” Xander said, vainly trying to defend himself.
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submitted by Sylesth to HFY [link] [comments]
Creativity is returning, and I promise that the series doesn't devolve into a slice of life between Valteria and Xander (not that that's necessarily a bad thing, just not where I want to go - you'll have to instead content thyself with slices of slice of life here and there). Going to try and keep to updating roughly every 7-10 days, but again, I don't hold myself very strictly to any schedule so that may not always happen. Enjoy!
First Previous Next
-Brant Colis during a lecture on elementals, College of Magical Studies, part of the esteemed University of Sempta
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Xander smiled at her and planted a quick kiss on her lips, causing Valteria’s eyes to widen at the suddenness of it. “Thanks,” he told her. “I couldn’t have had a better teacher.”
Valteria blushed at his glowing commendation, and perhaps from the kiss as well. “You’re sweet,” she said. “But there are better teachers than me,” Valteria told him in a more serious tone. Her serious face cracked a little bit into a smile as she said, “Too bad you don’t know any of them! You’re stuck with me, instead.”
“Mmm, I don’t mind one bit,” Xander said. Thinking to check his watch, he briefly glanced at the time. “Say, what time do you usually close up shop? It’s getting to be late afternoon, and I imagine we’ll want some light if we’re going to test out that crossbow.”
“Hm? Oh, right, damnit, I’d forgotten already.” Valteria glanced at one of the clocks in the room to confirm the time. “Ah, hell, I’m ready to call it quits for the day anyways. I doubt anyone else is going to come in today anyways. Let’s walk to guild training area.”
“Certainly, I would be most happy to escort the lady,” Xander said, as formally as he could manage.
“What did I say about bowing and scraping?”
“Sorry.”
Valteria locked up the shop as they exited, and the two of them made their way to the training yard that the guild had set up. Xander was glad that Valteria seemed to know where it was, because he had never actually been there. His practice for the tournament had been conducted out in random fields, as he’d worried he’d be taking up too much space swinging around all that chain. During the walk there, they chatted about how Valteria hoped the crossbow would perform, and she reminded him that she still wanted to see the guns that he had mentioned. He agreed to show her, as long as the training yard was safely positioned in such a way that he didn’t need to worry about anything down range.
After about half an hour of walking through the city, and then through the outskirts of the town, Valteria led them to the training yard. There were a few mercenaries training throughout the area, some sparring together in a sandy pit, while others were practicing their aim with bows, crossbows, and spells by firing at targets placed at the ends of a set of lanes. Xander was pleased to see that there was a berm build up behind the targets to prevent anything that went through the targets escaping the bounds of the training yard. He supposed that certain skills attached to a bolt or arrow might necessitate it. It would certainly work well enough for his firearms. He was glad he’d silenced them, as it would be rather disturbing to the rest of the mercenaries present if he hadn’t.
“So, which do you want to try out first? The guns or the crossbow?” Xander asked.
Valteria thought for a moment. “Hmm,” she said aloud as she pondered. “I think the crossbow first. I’m eager to see how it performs so that I can work on properly pricing it, as well as seeing if we need to tweak the design before we make more.”
“Sure, that makes sense. Guns can be a treat for after we do our official business,” Xander replied.
“Shame there’s only a wooden target, I’d like to see how it does against something like a chest plate,” Valteria sighed.
“You forget who you’re with!” Xander reminded her. “I can make us a steel target in no time at all. But we probably ought to test it out on the wood first, just to make sure it even works.”
“Oh right, I forgot you could just make one. That seems like a good idea. Would you mind making me some bolts, too? I didn’t even think to stop to get any,” Valteria said, slapping her forehead lightly.
“Coming right up.” Xander went to work creating a few crossbow bolts for Valteria to fire, handing them over one by one as he made them. He stopped after creating ten bolts. “That should be enough to test the thing out, right?”
“Mmhm, I would think so.” The two of them walked together to a lane at one end of the yard, making sure that there were a few empty lanes between them and the next closest merc. No one paid them any mind, save for an occasional glance in their direction as people briefly wondered who the odd couple they didn’t recognize were. Still, the yard was free to use, and no one bothered them.
Valteria cranked the crossbow arms back and took a knee as she placed a bolt into the channel of the crossbow. She took some time to aim at the target at the end of the lane before firing. The increased force of the arms snapping back into place jerked her forward a little, but the shot still found its mark, at least for the most part. It went a little wide, hitting the left edge of the target. The bolt punched through the wood with what seemed to be ease, burying itself fully into the berm behind the target.
“Wow, I wasn’t expecting it to jerk like that,” Valteria said, looking down at the crossbow. “It’s certainly got some power to it.”
“Shall we see how it does with steel?” Xander asked.
“Sure, though I have my suspicions that it’s going to either blow right through the metal or the bolt is going to shatter. So, it is going to require higher grade bolts from a good [Fletcher] to really operate at full efficiency,” she explained.
“Makes sense,” Xander said with an absent nod as he created a sheet of steel of about the correct thickness for a chestpiece. Once he was done, he jogged down to the target and leaned the sheet of steel up against it before jogging back to Valteria. “All you,” he said to her.
“I have to do all the work?” She said sarcastically.
“I mean, if you don’t want to shoot it, I’ll be happy to,” Xander replied. “But what’s more fun than putting holes in things with a weapon?”
“Uhm, a lot of things?” Valteria asked.
“Okay, yeah, you’re right. But it’s still fun!”
“It is.”
Valteria was able to land most of her shots on the metal target, which proved equally flimsy as the wood had to the runically enhanced crossbow. Two went wide, embedding in the berm instead, but overall she seemed pleased with the test. “I’m not exactly the best shot,” she told Xander. “I’m surprised I only missed two, in all honesty.”
“Considering that you don’t have a combat class, I think you did pretty well for someone who doesn’t regularly go out and fire a crossbow,” Xander said approvingly. “Ready to try out a gun?”
“Yes!” Valteria said excitedly.
Xander chuckled at Valteria’s enthusiasm, manifesting the tube fed .22 rifle from his inventory, along with some ammunition. “We can start off with something small.” Carefully placing the rifle down, he held up some of the small rounds for her to see. “This is a bullet. A twenty-two caliber long rifle bullet, to be specific. It’s designed for small game, so it has essentially no kick behind it, but it’s very reliable. It’s a good one to get acquainted with before I swap you over to trying out my pistol and shotgun, since they have a little more kick to them. Here’s how you load it.” Xander went through the process of pulling the spring loaded rod out of the tube that held the ammunition, Valteria watching carefully as he loaded it up to capacity. “So you’ve got eighteen shots right now. This right here is the safety,” he indicated the push button near the trigger that operated the safety mechanism. “You can’t pull the trigger unless this side is pushed in. Helps keep accidents from happening. Now, before I hand this over to you, you’re going to indulge me and listen to the four rules of firearm safety, okay?”
“Okay,” Valteria said with a firm nod.
“Alright, so the first rule is this: always assume that a gun is loaded. Messing around with one just because you think it’s unloaded is a great way to accidentally get someone killed. Two, never point the end of a gun at something you don’t intend to shoot. Keep it pointed down at the ground at all other times. That way, if you do accidentally discharge it, no one can get hurt. Number three pertains to your target. Be sure of your target – make sure you know what you’re shooting at – and just as importantly, know what’s beyond your target. You don’t want to shoot through something and end up also shooting something or someone you didn’t intend to. And the last rule is to keep your finger off the trigger until you’re ready to shoot. Simple enough, right? They could all easily followed with a crossbow, too. Got it?”
Valteria nodded again. “Got it,” she replied.
“Alrighty, well then let’s get you shooting! I’ll show you the three postures for shooting, as well as how to use the sights and then I’ll let you run through a full tube or two before we swap to something a little more fun to shoot.” Xander held rifle downward and indicated the scope on the rifle. “This is a magnified scope. Think of it like a little telescope with an X in the center. You look through it like this,” Xander held the rifle up to his cheek, pointing it downrange, “and line up the center of the X with where you want to shoot. The position I’m in right now is how you should fire while standing. See how I’m a little leaned forward and my right foot is to the rear? That’s to help absorb recoil, not that this gun has much. It’ll help with the larger one, though.” Xander then kneeled down, placing his elbow on his knee to brace his arm. “This is how you’d fire while kneeling. Very similar to how I saw you do it with the crossbow.” Finally, he laid down and said, “And this is how you fire when prone. If you step behind me, you’ll see that the gun, my shoulder, my body, and my right leg are all one straight line.”
“I see,” Valteria agreed, looking at him from behind.
Standing up, careful to keep the rifle pointed downwards, he said, “I’ll let you choose how you want to shoot. Here you are.” He held the rifle out for Valteria to take, who did so gingerly. Xander was pleased to see that she was keeping her fingers away from the trigger.
Valteria moved into position at the opening to the lane and knelt. Xander went to stand behind her. She took up the proper position, mimicking how Xander had shown her.
“I’m going to adjust your posture slightly, so don’t be startled, okay?” Xander softly said.
“Okay,” Valteria replied.
Xander leaned over slightly and put his hands on her shoulders, squaring them a little bit more. “Okay, now aim, and when you’re ready, pull the trigger.”
Valteria took her time aiming, getting used to the scope and the position her head needed to be in to properly use it. “This scope thingy is quite handy. I can see things so much closer!”
Xander laughed, saying, “Yeah, I use it all the time just for looking at things that are far away.”
Valteria took a deep breath and squeezed the trigger, eliciting a small crack from the rifle, most of the relatively minimal noise of the rifle being silenced by the runes Xander had engraved on the end of the barrel. A ping could be heard as the bullet hit the metal sheet, putting a tiny hole in it.
Valteria looked around. “That’s it?” She asked. “I was expecting something... more.”
“Well, this one is a small caliber round, so there’s not a lot of oomph behind it compared to something larger. But if we take a walk down there, I’d wager we could find the hole it made in the steel.”
“Strange how something so small could penetrate a piece of steel armor...” Valteria said, trailing off thoughtfully.
“I don’t think it would penetrate really well-made armor from a higher leveled [Smith], and I’m certain it wouldn’t penetrate armor that I’ve done runework on. This is completely unimproved steel, after all.”
“That’s fair,” Valteria agreed.
“So, do you want to finish off the other seventeen rounds, or is this one too boring?”
“I want to try the bigger one!” Valteria said excitedly.
“Fine, fine,” Xander relented. “Same rules for this one, okay?” He took the rifle back from Valteria, unloading it and stashing the gun and ammo back in his inventory. He pulled out the shotgun and a handful of shells, opting for slugs to reduce the chance of any kind of ricochet from the steel target. “This is a pump-action shotgun.” He held up the shotgun in one hand. “And this is the ammunition it fires.” He held up his handful of shotgun shells in the other hand. “Quite a bit bigger than the other one.”
Valteria nodded along. “That one looks more exciting.”
“You load the round into the tube on the bottom like so,” Xander said as he pushed five rounds into the tube. “And to load a round, you pump the slide towards you and then away from you.” The shotgun made the classic cha-chuck noise as he pumped the slide, loading a round. “This is loaded now. Safety works the same way. Here you go.” He carefully handed the gun over to Valteria, who took it with a little more confidence than she had with the small caliber rifle.
Watching her get into a kneeling position and shoulder the rifle, Xander commented, “Adjust the buttstock a little, you want it more on the meaty part of your shoulder, not on the outside. It’ll absorb the recoil better.”
Valteria complied, shifting the rifle slightly to adjust. “This one doesn’t have a scope,” she said.
“Oh right, yeah this one is a bit shorter ranged. You just line up the bead on the end in the center of the sight posts closer to you to aim.”
“Oh, oh I see,” Valteria said, returning her cheek to the stock of the shotgun.
“Fire whenever you’re rea-“ Xander was interrupted by the muffled crack of the shotgun firing. Valteria let out a noise halfway between a squeak and a grunt as she rocked backwards, falling backwards slightly from her position of kneeling to sitting on the ground.
“Oww,” She muttered. “This one hurts! You didn’t tell me it would hurt!”
“I did tell you it would have more kick, though,” Xander laughed. “That one packs a lot more punch than that little twenty-two. Do you want to shoot it again?” He asked.
“No,” Valteria said sullenly, holding the shotgun out for Xander to take. “I’m already going to have a bruise from just that one. How do you use that thing?”
Xander shrugged. “Eh, you get used to it. And with proper form, you learn to take the recoil better. Here, watch.” Xander stepped up to the lane and demonstrated, firing the remaining four rounds in quick succession, the slide clattering as he quickly pumped rounds into the chamber.
“Hmph,” Valteria huffed, seeing that Xander had had no issue with the recoil.
“Oh don’t be like that,” Xander chided her, giving her a quick, one armed hug as he stowed the shotgun in his inventory.
Valteria let out the kind of whine one does when they’re mildly inconvenienced and want to be dramatic about it.
“I have one more that I think you’ll like. It’s got more to it than the little rifle, and less than the shotgun. And it’s a lot smaller. It’s called a pistol. I guess you could think of it like the hand crossbow of guns?”
“I think smaller might be good after that last one,” Valteria said, still cautious.
Xander pulled his final firearm from Earth from his inventory into his hand. “This is the pistol.” He manifested a magazine, and said, “and this is the magazine, which the rounds go in.”
“Why’s it called a magazine?” Valteria asked, interrupting him.
“Uh, I actually don’t know,” Xander admitted. “Just what it’s called,” he said with a shrug.
“Anyway, the magazine goes in the pistol like this,” he firmly seated the magazine. “And you load the first round like this,” he said as he racked the slide. “The safety is a little bit different on this one – it’s this lever here. You toggle it down and then it can fire. You’ll want to hold it like this,” he told Valteria as he demonstrated a classic pistol shooter’s pose, both hands in use and slightly leaned forward.
“Ready to try it? I promise it’s not as bad as the shotgun,” he said. “I do feel a little bad about not telling you.”
“You should!” Valteria said as she took the proffered pistol.
“Make sure you keep it pointed down, still,” Xander reminded her.
“I will, I will,” she grumbled. Valteria took up her spot at the lane and mimicked Xander’s posture as best she could from a single demonstration. She looked back at him briefly, expecting some kind of comment or correction, but Xander was silent, just giving her a smile.
“Not bad,” he said. “Give it a try, just make sure you keep a firm, even grip.”
Valteria pulled the trigger, flinching slightly after her experience with the shotgun. Her flinch made the round miss the target. She looked at the gun with a little more favor in her eyes as she realized that it wasn’t going to hurt like the shotgun had. “I think I like this one better,” she told Xander.
“Try not to flinch like you did. I guess that’s my own fault after the shotgun,” he admitted, “but it’s bad for your aim. Other than that, you’re doing just fine,” he encouraged.
Valteria let off another round, this one hitting the large, steel target, letting out another ping across the training yard. “This is rather fun,” she admitted.
“You’ve got sixteen left before you need to reload. I’d recommend a steady pace to start out with, though. Take your time to aim. You can pop off rounds quickly on the next magazine.”
The two of them spent their time, and more than a few magazines – Xander would load one up while Valteria used the other – together at the range amicably. From an outside perspective, the two of them would have seemed more like good friends than a new couple. For his part, Xander appreciated that Valteria wasn’t seemingly needy, or overly touchy or intimate. He wasn’t sure if that would change, at least regarding touch, but right now, considering how fresh their relationship was and the fact that he was still feeling more than some guilt over even being in a relationship, he was perfectly content to move slowly for the most part. It would probably be best for Valteria too, he considered, as she was new to dating in general. He didn’t want to inadvertently take advantage of her in some way or push her boundaries.
As dusk began to fall, Xander and Valteria stopped their target practice. Xander had convinced her to wrap up with the shotgun and a few more shots from it as a finale, and she’d agreed now that she knew what to expect, the annoyance of the sudden recoil having faded. Before they left, Xander brought the steel target up for Valteria to see. It was riddled with holes, Xander pointing out the impacts left by each different caliber. He set it aside and out of the way to disintegrate, and the two began to walk back into town.
“Where do you want to eat?” Xander asked Valteria.
“Mm... I’m not sure. I hadn’t put much thought into it, honestly,” Valteria responded.
“Well, the only two places I know are Charles’s place and the inn my team and I are staying at. Though, if we eat there, prepare to be mobbed by the team and teased about dating me.”
“You’ve already told them?” Valteria said, sounding a little nervous.
“Only one, and I assume that she has kept it private, but the other three would immediately assume if they saw us together at a table. You know they thought that us comparing notes after the match was a date in disguise? They kept giving me dating tips like I wasn’t the only one of them that had ever held down a long-term relationship before,” Xander said with a laugh.
Valteria laughed. “I suppose it makes sense that they’ll tease us about it having come true, then. I suppose you’re worth a little teasing,” she said sarcastically.
“Damn right I am!” Xander replied. “But you still haven’t answered the question. Where are we – well, you, really – eating?”
Valteria slowed her pace, considering for a moment. “Hmm... I have to admit that I’m interested in who your team is. The people you keep company with are an important aspect of one’s self, after all,” she said discerningly.
“Ahh, so you want to know if I hang out with the wrong sort of crowd?” Xander teased. “They’re good people. Took me back without blinking an eye when I returned as... what I am now. I’d be happy to introduce you to them.”
“Then it’s settled, we’ll be eating there. What’s the name of the inn?”
“Uhh... shit. I can’t ever remember the name of the place. But I know how to get there!” Xander admitted.
“You’ve been staying in the city for how long?” Valteria asked, in disbelief.
“Uhm... more than a month.”
“And you still don’t know the name of the place?”
“I just never think to look at the sign when I’m leaving or coming back!” Xander said, vainly trying to defend himself.
Previous Next
2024.06.02 20:43 Itchy-Spring7865 [WTS] 11.5” custom BCM/Shaw 5.56 upper, 16” m4e1 light profile 5.56 upper, BCM/Roscoe 16” .300blk upper, 16” BCM/Aero 5.56 upper, 12” free float quad, olight Valkyrie, off brand WML, glock parts, magpul grey Mlok grip,
Timestamp: https://imgur.com/gallery/9U4QqPB
Time to help fund more poor decisions. This go round I’m trying to get a 10mm 1911 in the stable. Only trades would be for quality stripped uppers, a holosun MOS, or a Steiner MPS. Cash is king. More pics on request. Let’s do this-
Uppers- top to bottom. All uppers have been lapped/trued/assembled by me, I’m a machinist, not a hack job, have build likely north of 50 uppers in the last 10 or so years. These will be as accurate as the person shooting them, I guarantee it. NO BCGS INCLUDED.
16” m4e1 upper, ding on shell deflector, great paint candidate, 13” BKings handguard, light profile barrel, unknown make, maybe Diamondback? Very light upper, low rounds on upper, barrel/gas/handguard new. $290
BCM STAR FORGE UPPER, Shaw custom 11.5” heavy profile 5.56 barrel, 10” Mlok handguard (GGP/Diamondback/PSA? Not sure), birdcage, carbine gas, BKings block, Melonite tube, DD rail cover and fang style handstop. Does have forward assist, will install before I ship. Zero rounds, all new build. $375
BCM/Roscoe/UTG 16” .300 blk. Bcm star forge upper, Roscoe .300 blk 16” heavy profile barrel, UTG Pro Mlok handguard, pistol gas, Christensen Arms titanium radial brake,mil spec charging handle. All parts new/unfired, barring possibly the charging handle. Great combo of parts. $390 without brake, $450 with brake
BCM/Aero/PSA 16” 5.56 upper, BCM star forge upper, Aero 16” modern profile barrel, PSA 15” Mlok handguard. Light and sturdy build, all new/unfired $400
Larue RATS stock and APOD grip in UDE (urban dark earth). Stock is new takeoff, still has sticker on it, grip is used, comes with grip screw. $65
Glock 17 RSA and slide plate-$20
Magpul MVG in grey $18
ODG 1 / 2 point QD slings $15
Unknown brand free float quad, has salt, $40
Olight Valkyrie, no rounds by me, battery power, has glock key $40
Off brand WML, works, pretty bright, $35
Open to offers, all prices shipped, comment then pm, let’s do this!
PM PLEASE. I DO NOT GET NOTIFICATIONS FOR CHATS! PPFF NO NOTES AT ALL.
submitted by Itchy-Spring7865 to GunAccessoriesForSale [link] [comments]
Time to help fund more poor decisions. This go round I’m trying to get a 10mm 1911 in the stable. Only trades would be for quality stripped uppers, a holosun MOS, or a Steiner MPS. Cash is king. More pics on request. Let’s do this-
Uppers- top to bottom. All uppers have been lapped/trued/assembled by me, I’m a machinist, not a hack job, have build likely north of 50 uppers in the last 10 or so years. These will be as accurate as the person shooting them, I guarantee it. NO BCGS INCLUDED.
16” m4e1 upper, ding on shell deflector, great paint candidate, 13” BKings handguard, light profile barrel, unknown make, maybe Diamondback? Very light upper, low rounds on upper, barrel/gas/handguard new. $290
BCM STAR FORGE UPPER, Shaw custom 11.5” heavy profile 5.56 barrel, 10” Mlok handguard (GGP/Diamondback/PSA? Not sure), birdcage, carbine gas, BKings block, Melonite tube, DD rail cover and fang style handstop. Does have forward assist, will install before I ship. Zero rounds, all new build. $375
BCM/Roscoe/UTG 16” .300 blk. Bcm star forge upper, Roscoe .300 blk 16” heavy profile barrel, UTG Pro Mlok handguard, pistol gas, Christensen Arms titanium radial brake,mil spec charging handle. All parts new/unfired, barring possibly the charging handle. Great combo of parts. $390 without brake, $450 with brake
BCM/Aero/PSA 16” 5.56 upper, BCM star forge upper, Aero 16” modern profile barrel, PSA 15” Mlok handguard. Light and sturdy build, all new/unfired $400
Larue RATS stock and APOD grip in UDE (urban dark earth). Stock is new takeoff, still has sticker on it, grip is used, comes with grip screw. $65
Glock 17 RSA and slide plate-$20
Magpul MVG in grey $18
ODG 1 / 2 point QD slings $15
Unknown brand free float quad, has salt, $40
Olight Valkyrie, no rounds by me, battery power, has glock key $40
Off brand WML, works, pretty bright, $35
Open to offers, all prices shipped, comment then pm, let’s do this!
PM PLEASE. I DO NOT GET NOTIFICATIONS FOR CHATS! PPFF NO NOTES AT ALL.
2024.06.02 20:41 ZachTheLitchKing [OT] Fun Trope Friday, Writing with Tropes: Sweet Baker & Horror!
Original Prompt
Too sweet to be true
Molly pulled the pan out of the oven and sniffed the sweet scent of the special cake she'd made for her special man. It contained all of his favorite ingredients, and she'd be sure to add more to the layers of cream and frosting before he got home.
She set the pan on top of the stove to start cooling off and checked the time. She only had an hour, but that was plenty of time to decorate.
Steven sighed in the driveway and wiped some sweat off of his forehead. The day had been much longer than usual. The texts he'd been getting from his wife...the screenshots...she found out. She found out what he'd done and he was dreading what he was coming home to.
He got out of the car and went to the door. Locked. He tried his key and it worked. At least she didn't change the locks, he thought. When he went inside he was met with the warm smell of baked chocolate and strawberry.
"H-Honey?" he asked tentatively into the living room.
"In the kitchen dear!" Molly said loudly, "You're just in time! Have a seat at the table!"
Steven walked down the hall and into the kitchen just as Molly came around the island with a small cake on a plate. She set the chocolate-covered confection down and handed him a fork.
"Here you go, honey."
"Um, Molly, can we-" Steven wanted to talk but wasn't sure he wanted to either. He looked at the cake and saw the letters written in icing on the top:
I forgive you <3
"Eat up, dear." Molly said, giving him a peck on the cheek before heading back into the kitchen. He heard running water and figured she was starting to clean.
Filled with relief and gratitude, Steven sat down and took a bite of his wife's delicious and well-practiced dairy-free cakes.
Molly returned a half hour later, drying her hands on a towel and smiling as he was just finishing up.
"Did you like it?" she asked.
"Sure did," Steven answered with a smile, licking his lips and holding his hands up for a 'perfection' pose. "Delicious! Better than ever I'd say."
"Oh I hope so," she said, "I used a special ingredient this time."
"I thought it tasted different. What was..." Steven started to ask before a wrenching, stabbing pain hit him in the stomach. He grimaced and clutched his gut. "Ughhh," he groaned.
"Well, since today was a special occasion," Molly said with a sweet smile, "I thought you deserved a special cake."
Pain bubbled up in Steven's intestines. It felt like someone was stabbing him in the abdomen. Tears welled up in his eyes as it came in waves. Molly set a large, empty bottle down in front of him.
Whole milk.
"UGGH!" He stood up and ran down the hall and into the bathroom, but wasn't fast enough. He made a mess as he got into position, his moans accompanying a wet staccato of splashing and squirting.
As much as it hurt, it was the smell that was worse. Steven tried to cover his face against it but the need to breathe forced the fetid and putrid air into his lungs. He could almost taste it and he retched and gagged.
No matches in the drawer. The candles were gone. The toilet paper roll was empty and there were no spares under the sink.
A knock at the door.
"Molly!" Steven sobbed. "I'm sorry! Please! I-I need toilet paper!"
"Mr. Watson?" It was a man's voice. A stranger. Another stab of pain in his gut stopped Steven from answering right away as he groaned in agony.
"Y-yeah?"
A manilla envelope slid under the door.
"Your wife is filing for divorce."
submitted by ZachTheLitchKing to TomesOfTheLitchKing [link] [comments]
Too sweet to be true
Molly pulled the pan out of the oven and sniffed the sweet scent of the special cake she'd made for her special man. It contained all of his favorite ingredients, and she'd be sure to add more to the layers of cream and frosting before he got home.
She set the pan on top of the stove to start cooling off and checked the time. She only had an hour, but that was plenty of time to decorate.
Steven sighed in the driveway and wiped some sweat off of his forehead. The day had been much longer than usual. The texts he'd been getting from his wife...the screenshots...she found out. She found out what he'd done and he was dreading what he was coming home to.
He got out of the car and went to the door. Locked. He tried his key and it worked. At least she didn't change the locks, he thought. When he went inside he was met with the warm smell of baked chocolate and strawberry.
"H-Honey?" he asked tentatively into the living room.
"In the kitchen dear!" Molly said loudly, "You're just in time! Have a seat at the table!"
Steven walked down the hall and into the kitchen just as Molly came around the island with a small cake on a plate. She set the chocolate-covered confection down and handed him a fork.
"Here you go, honey."
"Um, Molly, can we-" Steven wanted to talk but wasn't sure he wanted to either. He looked at the cake and saw the letters written in icing on the top:
I forgive you <3
"Eat up, dear." Molly said, giving him a peck on the cheek before heading back into the kitchen. He heard running water and figured she was starting to clean.
Filled with relief and gratitude, Steven sat down and took a bite of his wife's delicious and well-practiced dairy-free cakes.
Molly returned a half hour later, drying her hands on a towel and smiling as he was just finishing up.
"Did you like it?" she asked.
"Sure did," Steven answered with a smile, licking his lips and holding his hands up for a 'perfection' pose. "Delicious! Better than ever I'd say."
"Oh I hope so," she said, "I used a special ingredient this time."
"I thought it tasted different. What was..." Steven started to ask before a wrenching, stabbing pain hit him in the stomach. He grimaced and clutched his gut. "Ughhh," he groaned.
"Well, since today was a special occasion," Molly said with a sweet smile, "I thought you deserved a special cake."
Pain bubbled up in Steven's intestines. It felt like someone was stabbing him in the abdomen. Tears welled up in his eyes as it came in waves. Molly set a large, empty bottle down in front of him.
Whole milk.
"UGGH!" He stood up and ran down the hall and into the bathroom, but wasn't fast enough. He made a mess as he got into position, his moans accompanying a wet staccato of splashing and squirting.
As much as it hurt, it was the smell that was worse. Steven tried to cover his face against it but the need to breathe forced the fetid and putrid air into his lungs. He could almost taste it and he retched and gagged.
No matches in the drawer. The candles were gone. The toilet paper roll was empty and there were no spares under the sink.
A knock at the door.
"Molly!" Steven sobbed. "I'm sorry! Please! I-I need toilet paper!"
"Mr. Watson?" It was a man's voice. A stranger. Another stab of pain in his gut stopped Steven from answering right away as he groaned in agony.
"Y-yeah?"
A manilla envelope slid under the door.
"Your wife is filing for divorce."
2024.06.02 20:31 tnn21 [WTS] Maiora Nino Marino Liberta Magma
Nino Marino Signature Collection Libertà Magma, M nib [B]
- Verification and image album: https://imgur.com/a/uvaclKZ
- 2021 limited edition, made in the style of the old Delta Dolcevita Stantuffos. It was designed by Nino Marino (co-founder of Delta) as part of Maiora's Nino Marino Signature Collection. This particular model is the Libertà Magma, numbered 14/18.
- A sizeable piston-filler at 149 mm long, the pen's entire body is made of red and black ebonite reminiscent of a fiery cascade of molten rock (cynics will say it's just a wood grain pattern). Comes with gold-plated trims and an intricately carved vermeil cap band. The model name and edition number are discreetly engraved on the back of the cap, while a single cursive 'n' is engraved on the nib.
- 18k gold Jowo #6 medium nib: smooth, with moderate flow. The sweet spot is somewhat limited: when held in the right hand, the nib prefers to be rotated slightly to the left, similar to a oblique.
- Ebonite of cap and barrel in virtually mint condition, visible microscratches on grip section, and light tarnish on gold-plated trims. Comes with box and papers, plus an unopened ink bottle.
- Price: £289.99 OBO.
Price is in GBP. The pen will be shipped from the United Kingdom. Tracked and insured delivery is free within the UK, and £10 for the rest of the world.2024.06.02 20:10 Grimgore2015 My mother Gaslights, Manipulates and Blackmail's me...
There's a lot more stuff i'm not addressing because that would literally force me to write out my entire life story but I'm sick to death of the abuse and I need real and genuine advice that isn't just "get yourself out of there bro"... That costs money, Money I don't have, Money I will never have because the job market in this trash heap of a "city" is barren and because of some stuff i'm gonna mention below...
She's used my name (since before I was 18) for accounts on websites to avoid credit checkers (or something like that) without my consent or explaining to me why she was doing it. Luckily this hasn't affected my credit score later in life or anything like that but it was still manipulative and shady and gave me immense anxiety (we'll get to that later)
She once got my father to basically beat the ever loving sh*t out of me (at her demands) and choke me out when I was 8-9 and kept me locked in my bedroom for 4 days whilst the bruises faded away (so the school wouldn't ask questions) because an older kid tried to drown me in the local pool and I bit him on the knuckle to get him to release me. When she "apologized" for it 15 years later, she said she was "sorry I didn't have all the facts and overreacted"... Still not sorry for kicking the sh*t out of me though are you? That was just 1 time but it was 1 time too many and i'll never forget those 4 days or the response my parents had to something so small. Even if your kid fucks up, you take their side and defend them. You ask questions. Don't just jump straight to abuse.
One time, she launched my PSP across the hallway because my foot squeaked on the leather of the couch (I was like... 7?) and she flew off the handle, ranting and raving and telling me i'm a piece of shit. Sometimes she will just fly off the handle for the littlest reasons and attack us (never my youngest sibling or the Autistic one (Which I find hilarious because I'm currently being diagnosed for ADHD as an adult, which she could've gotten me tested for sooner had she not been busy neglectfully mollycoddling them) and I've witnessed this since I was a child so as a result, sometimes I fly off the handle and I hate it, it makes me sick to my stomach when I get the rage. The difference is I never want to escalate it to physical violence, She will.
She'll do sneaky sh*t like ask for my help then f*ck up something small, then spin all the blame on me so that when I give up and tell her to f*ck off and do it herself she can claim that the real reason i'm angry is "because I Asked you for help!?" ... No, Because you asked for my help and spent the 5 minutes I was doing so insulting my intelligience and calling me a r*tard. Whenever we get into an argument she threatens to kick me out or get rid of the entire house. She uses the fact it's not my house against me the entire time but i'm the only one following the rules she's set for us. The others break the rules constantly and NOTHING is ever said about it. I had 1 bowl in my room and for a week straight all I got was "REEEEEEEEEEEEE NO FOOD UPSTAIRS"... my brother next door to me? (I counted) 13 Glasses, 3 Plates, 2 Pizza Boxes, a Take Away bag and a half eaten box of Donner meat... "TeeHee Lol Just Put It In The Corner I'll Take It Out Soon :)))". These Double Standards have always existed. She doesn't even live in the house I currently reside in, She lives with my father. She still comes round weekly to do house checks like an SS Officer and point out any issues... issues she doesn't have to live around in a house she doesn't even want...
She constantly puts her favorite children over the rest of us, hasn't even spoken to her oldest kids in like 5-6 years because they've all woken up and realized how big of a liar and manipulator she is. Their father wasn't a good man and he has snaked his way back into their life, He was abusive and a shit father. But instead of being the bigger person and accepting her kids want their father in their life, Or entertaining the chance that he may have changed, she basically told all of them to f*ck off and cut contact with them and refuses to speak to them.
I have severe anxiety caused by her and the way she raised me. I feel incredible guilt over things that I didn't even participate in. I want to be a stand up comedian but she never liked my jokes and constantly told me I wasn't funny unless I was reciting a Peter Kay (British Comedian for Boomers) sketch/bit, so as a result I have immense stage fright and performance anxiety. I've never been one for physical humor with friends because whenever I tried she'd pull me away, force me to never speak to them again and tell me "Those boys are mocking you! Can't you see! They're taking the piss out of you!" and I struggle to be intimate with women because she never encouraged me to pursue them. She would tell us from a young age women weren't worth our time and they were just sl*gs... (Thou doth protest too much?) So now I fear ever bringing a woman into my life because what are my options? either A) You are never meeting my family because they are all braindead abusive scum who will judge you or B) Would you like to meet my mother who will immediatelly become hostile to you, try to embarrass me and then try to ruin your life when we inevitably break up?
She's a classic example of what happens to someone when they have kids before they're ready, get stuck in a physically abusive relationship and develop a victim/survivor complex they never address or seek therapy for. She's mentally a teen. in my 26 years on this earth, I've seen her work 2 jobs. One she quit within 2 weeks at a Chip Shop because "The oil makes my psoriasis hurt :(((" and the current one she works which she constantly talks about quitting.
There was a 20 year gap between those 2 jobs and she uses "raising you" as an excuse... What raising? most of my memories are of you raging and fighting dad or staring into a TV for hours to tune out the screams...
Our family struggled financially for years, she put the weight of that burden ON US constantly. My dad worked 12 hours a day 5 days a week for bare minimum wage just to give her all the money and squander it on stupid shit, then she'd turn around after returning her 4th Patio furniture set of the year and cry and blame all of us because we had no money for christmas... My dad had no choice but to give her the money too because she signed her name off and micro-managed *everything* to do with the house and my dad wasn't financially literate.
I feel f*cking trapped. Whenever i've tried to escape her in the past i've only ever made my life worse and I've had to go crawling back to her. I've tried to genuinely improve my life but my luck is garbage and I always end up getting screwed by the system. I got a Visa and tried to make a life for myself in Australia but 4 months in I was basically homeless, living in a cockroach infested Hostel on very limited time and I had to go back otherwise I was going go insane. I have a Foundational Degree in Video Game design that's utterly useless because nowhere hiring game designers wants a foundational degree and after my experience with Uni (and the industry) I never want to work as a Game Designer. I took the degree because SHE convinced me it'd be good... it fucking ruined my mental health and I got kicked out because the Uni kept screwing me about during Covid and blaming me for things I never did.
The only consistent work i've ever managed to get is in Kitchen work and I hate it. I'm constantly belittled and never given a chance or given all the worst possible jobs because my anxiety prevents me from trusting myself or pursuing higher positions. I just want to be able to change my name, move to another country and never speak to anyone from this life ever again.
TL;DR: My Mother is Karen Hitler, a fountain of bad luck, and I unironically cannot wait for the day she dies from a stress induced coronary because then I can finally be at peace and be free from her suffocating talons.
People Say "Family is Everything". You Job probably calls itself a "family"
My family Manipulate, Gaslight, Rob, Lie and Backstab me so "Family" can't mean as much as people think.
submitted by Grimgore2015 to family [link] [comments]
She's used my name (since before I was 18) for accounts on websites to avoid credit checkers (or something like that) without my consent or explaining to me why she was doing it. Luckily this hasn't affected my credit score later in life or anything like that but it was still manipulative and shady and gave me immense anxiety (we'll get to that later)
She once got my father to basically beat the ever loving sh*t out of me (at her demands) and choke me out when I was 8-9 and kept me locked in my bedroom for 4 days whilst the bruises faded away (so the school wouldn't ask questions) because an older kid tried to drown me in the local pool and I bit him on the knuckle to get him to release me. When she "apologized" for it 15 years later, she said she was "sorry I didn't have all the facts and overreacted"... Still not sorry for kicking the sh*t out of me though are you? That was just 1 time but it was 1 time too many and i'll never forget those 4 days or the response my parents had to something so small. Even if your kid fucks up, you take their side and defend them. You ask questions. Don't just jump straight to abuse.
One time, she launched my PSP across the hallway because my foot squeaked on the leather of the couch (I was like... 7?) and she flew off the handle, ranting and raving and telling me i'm a piece of shit. Sometimes she will just fly off the handle for the littlest reasons and attack us (never my youngest sibling or the Autistic one (Which I find hilarious because I'm currently being diagnosed for ADHD as an adult, which she could've gotten me tested for sooner had she not been busy neglectfully mollycoddling them) and I've witnessed this since I was a child so as a result, sometimes I fly off the handle and I hate it, it makes me sick to my stomach when I get the rage. The difference is I never want to escalate it to physical violence, She will.
She'll do sneaky sh*t like ask for my help then f*ck up something small, then spin all the blame on me so that when I give up and tell her to f*ck off and do it herself she can claim that the real reason i'm angry is "because I Asked you for help!?" ... No, Because you asked for my help and spent the 5 minutes I was doing so insulting my intelligience and calling me a r*tard. Whenever we get into an argument she threatens to kick me out or get rid of the entire house. She uses the fact it's not my house against me the entire time but i'm the only one following the rules she's set for us. The others break the rules constantly and NOTHING is ever said about it. I had 1 bowl in my room and for a week straight all I got was "REEEEEEEEEEEEE NO FOOD UPSTAIRS"... my brother next door to me? (I counted) 13 Glasses, 3 Plates, 2 Pizza Boxes, a Take Away bag and a half eaten box of Donner meat... "TeeHee Lol Just Put It In The Corner I'll Take It Out Soon :)))". These Double Standards have always existed. She doesn't even live in the house I currently reside in, She lives with my father. She still comes round weekly to do house checks like an SS Officer and point out any issues... issues she doesn't have to live around in a house she doesn't even want...
She constantly puts her favorite children over the rest of us, hasn't even spoken to her oldest kids in like 5-6 years because they've all woken up and realized how big of a liar and manipulator she is. Their father wasn't a good man and he has snaked his way back into their life, He was abusive and a shit father. But instead of being the bigger person and accepting her kids want their father in their life, Or entertaining the chance that he may have changed, she basically told all of them to f*ck off and cut contact with them and refuses to speak to them.
I have severe anxiety caused by her and the way she raised me. I feel incredible guilt over things that I didn't even participate in. I want to be a stand up comedian but she never liked my jokes and constantly told me I wasn't funny unless I was reciting a Peter Kay (British Comedian for Boomers) sketch/bit, so as a result I have immense stage fright and performance anxiety. I've never been one for physical humor with friends because whenever I tried she'd pull me away, force me to never speak to them again and tell me "Those boys are mocking you! Can't you see! They're taking the piss out of you!" and I struggle to be intimate with women because she never encouraged me to pursue them. She would tell us from a young age women weren't worth our time and they were just sl*gs... (Thou doth protest too much?) So now I fear ever bringing a woman into my life because what are my options? either A) You are never meeting my family because they are all braindead abusive scum who will judge you or B) Would you like to meet my mother who will immediatelly become hostile to you, try to embarrass me and then try to ruin your life when we inevitably break up?
She's a classic example of what happens to someone when they have kids before they're ready, get stuck in a physically abusive relationship and develop a victim/survivor complex they never address or seek therapy for. She's mentally a teen. in my 26 years on this earth, I've seen her work 2 jobs. One she quit within 2 weeks at a Chip Shop because "The oil makes my psoriasis hurt :(((" and the current one she works which she constantly talks about quitting.
There was a 20 year gap between those 2 jobs and she uses "raising you" as an excuse... What raising? most of my memories are of you raging and fighting dad or staring into a TV for hours to tune out the screams...
Our family struggled financially for years, she put the weight of that burden ON US constantly. My dad worked 12 hours a day 5 days a week for bare minimum wage just to give her all the money and squander it on stupid shit, then she'd turn around after returning her 4th Patio furniture set of the year and cry and blame all of us because we had no money for christmas... My dad had no choice but to give her the money too because she signed her name off and micro-managed *everything* to do with the house and my dad wasn't financially literate.
I feel f*cking trapped. Whenever i've tried to escape her in the past i've only ever made my life worse and I've had to go crawling back to her. I've tried to genuinely improve my life but my luck is garbage and I always end up getting screwed by the system. I got a Visa and tried to make a life for myself in Australia but 4 months in I was basically homeless, living in a cockroach infested Hostel on very limited time and I had to go back otherwise I was going go insane. I have a Foundational Degree in Video Game design that's utterly useless because nowhere hiring game designers wants a foundational degree and after my experience with Uni (and the industry) I never want to work as a Game Designer. I took the degree because SHE convinced me it'd be good... it fucking ruined my mental health and I got kicked out because the Uni kept screwing me about during Covid and blaming me for things I never did.
The only consistent work i've ever managed to get is in Kitchen work and I hate it. I'm constantly belittled and never given a chance or given all the worst possible jobs because my anxiety prevents me from trusting myself or pursuing higher positions. I just want to be able to change my name, move to another country and never speak to anyone from this life ever again.
TL;DR: My Mother is Karen Hitler, a fountain of bad luck, and I unironically cannot wait for the day she dies from a stress induced coronary because then I can finally be at peace and be free from her suffocating talons.
People Say "Family is Everything". You Job probably calls itself a "family"
My family Manipulate, Gaslight, Rob, Lie and Backstab me so "Family" can't mean as much as people think.
2024.06.02 20:02 calvin324hk [H] 1000+ Games / DLCs / VR Games [W] Paypal / Wishlist / Offers
https://www.reddit.com/IGSRep/comments/pikmri/calvin324hks_igs_rep_page/
https://www.reddit.com/sgsflaicomments/of2wzu/flair_profile_ucalvin324hk/
Wishlist
Region: NA (Canada)
Fees on buyer if any, currency is USD unless specified
CTRL + F to find your games in terms of name
DLCs and Softwares:
submitted by calvin324hk to indiegameswap [link] [comments]
https://www.reddit.com/sgsflaicomments/of2wzu/flair_profile_ucalvin324hk/
Wishlist
Region: NA (Canada)
Fees on buyer if any, currency is USD unless specified
CTRL + F to find your games in terms of name
- 10 Second Ninja X
- 11-11 Memories Retold
- 112 Operator
- 12 is Better Than 6
- 198X
- 1993 Space Machine
- 60 Parsecs
- 7 Billion Humans
- 8 DOORS
- 8-bit Adventure Anthology: Volume I
- 9 Years of Shadows
- 911 Operator
- A Game of Thrones: The Board Game
- A Hat in Time
- A Hole New World
- A JUGGLER'S TALE
- A Long Way Down
- A PLAGUE TALE: INNOCENCE
- A Robot Named Fight!
- A Tale for Anna
- A.I.M.2 Clan Wars
- Abalon (Summoners Fate)
- Above Snakes
- ABZU
- Ace Combat Assault Horizon Enhanced Edition
- ADOM
- Adore
- Adventure Time: Pirates of the Enchiridion
- Aeterna Noctis
- AETHERIS
- Agatha Christie Hercule Poirot The First Cases
- AIdol
- Airborne Kingdom
- Alba: A Wildlife Adventure
- Alder's Blood: Definitive Edition
- Alfred Hitchcock - Vertigo
- Alien Breed Trilogy
- Aliens vs. Predator™ Collection
- All-Star Fruit Racing
- Almost There: The Platformer
- American Fugitive
- American Truck Simulator
- Amerzone: The Explorer’s Legacy
- AMID EVIL
- Amnesia rebirth
- Amnesia: The Dark Descent + Amnesia: A Machine for Pigs
- Anomalous
- Another World – 20th Anniversary Edition
- Antigraviator
- Anuchard
- APICO
- APICO
- Aragami
- Aragami 2
- Arboria
- Arcade Paradise
- Arcade Paradise - Arcade Paradise EP
- Arcade Spirits
- Arkham Horror: Mother's Embrace
- Armada 2526 Gold Edition
- Army Men RTS
- army of ruin
- Arto
- Ary and the Secret of Seasons
- As Far as the Eye
- Ascension to the Throne
- Assemble With Care
- Assetto Corsa Competizione
- Assetto Corsa Ultimate Edition
- Astebreed Definitive Edition
- Astro Colony
- Astronarch
- Attack of the Earthlings
- Automachef
- Automobilista
- Automobilista 2
- AUTONAUTS
- AUTONAUTS VS PIRATEBOTS
- Avatar: Frontiers of Pandora™ - Ubisoft Connect
- AVICII Invector: Encore Edition
- Awesomenauts All Nauts pack
- Axiom Verge
- Axiom Verge 2
- Baba is you
- Back 4 Blood
- Back 4 blood (EU)
- Backbone
- Banners of Ruin
- Bartlow's Dread Machine
- Basement
- Batbarian: Testament of the Primordials
- Batman: Arkham Asylum Game of the Year Edition
- Batman: Arkham Origins
- Battle Royale Tycoon
- Battlecruisers
- Battlestar Galactica Deadlock
- BATTLESTAR GALACTICA DEADLOCK SEASON ONE
- Battlestar Galactica Deadlock: Complete
- BATTLETECH MERCENARY COLLECTION
- BATTLETECH Shadow Hawk Pack
- BEAUTIFUL DESOLATION
- Bee Simulator
- BEFORE WE LEAVE
- Beholder 2
- Ben 10
- Ben 10: Power Trip
- Bendy and the Ink Machine™
- Between the Stars
- Beyond a Steel Sky
- Beyond The Edge Of Owlsgard
- BEYOND THE WIRE
- Beyond: Two Souls
- BIOMUTANT
- Bionic Commando
- BioShock: The Collection
- BLACK BOOK
- Black Moon Chronicles
- Black Paradox
- BLACK SKYLANDS
- BLACKHOLE: Complete Edition
- Blacksad: Under the Skin
- Blade of Darkness
- Blasphemous
- Blazing Chrome
- Blightbound
- Blood And Zombies
- Blood Rage: Digital Edition
- Bloodstained: Ritual of the Night
- Blue Fire
- Bomber Crew
- Boneless Zombie
- Boomerang Fu
- Borderlands 3
- Borderlands 3 Super Deluxe
- Borderlands 3 Super Deluxe Edition
- Borderlands: The Handsome Collection
- Bot Vice
- Bounty of One
- Brawlout
- Breakout: Recharged
- Breathedge
- bridge constructor
- Bridge constructor medieval
- bridge constructor stunts
- Broken Lines
- Bug Fables: The Everlasting Sapling
- BUILDER SIMULATOR
- calico
- Call of Duty® Modern Warfare 3™ (2011)
- Call of Juarez: Gunslinger
- Capitalism 2
- Car Mechanic 2018
- Car Mechanic Simulator 2015
- Car Mechanic Simulator 2018
- Cardboard Town
- Castle Morihisa
- castle storm
- CastleStorm
- Cat Cafe Manager
- Catherine Classic
- Caveblazers
- Celeste
- Centipede: Recharged
- Cepheus Protocol
- CHANGE: A Homeless Survival Experience
- Charlie's Adventure
- Chenso Club
- Chernobylite: Enhanced Edition
- Chess Ultra
- Chicago 1930 : The Prohibition
- Chivalry 2
- Chop Goblins
- Chorus
- Chorus
- Circuit Superstars
- Cities Skylines + After Dark
- Cities: Skylines
- City of Beats
- CivCity: Rome
- Click and Slay
- Cloud Gardens
- Cloudpunk
- Code Vein
- Coffee Talk
- Comedy Night
- Command & Conquer Remastered (Origin)
- Complete Dread X Collection
- Conarium
- Construction Simulator (2015) Deluxe Edition
- Constructor Plus
- Control
- Cook, Serve, Delicious! 3
- Cook, Serve, Delicious! 3?!
- Cookie Cutter
- cornucopia
- Corridor Z
- Cosmic Osmo and the Worlds Beyond the Mackerel
- Cosmonautica
- Crash Drive 2
- Crash Drive 3
- Creaks
- Creepy Tale
- Crookz the big heist
- CROSSBOW: Bloodnight
- Crush Your Enemies
- Cube Runner
- Cultist Simulator: Anthology Edition
- Curse: The Eye of Isis
- Cyber Ops
- Cybercube
- Danger Scavenger
- Dark Deity
- Dark Future
- Darkwood
- DARQ: Complete Edition
- Day of the Tentacle Remastered
- days of war definitive edition
- DC League of Super-Pets: The Adventures of Krypto and Ace
- DC's Justice League: Cosmic Chaos
- Dead by Daylight
- Dead Estate
- Dead Rising 2
- Deadly Days
- Dear Esther: Landmark Edition
- DEATH STRANDING DIRECTOR'S CUT
- Death's Gambit
- Deceased
- DECEIVE INC.
- Degrees of Separation
- Deleveled
- Delicious! Pretty Girls Mahjong Solitaire
- Deliver Us The Moon
- Demetrios - Deluxe Edition
- Depraved
- DESCENDERS
- Desert Child
- DESOLATE
- Destiny 2: Beyond Light
- DESTROYER: THE U-BOAT HUNTER
- Detention
- Devil May Cry HD Collection
- Devilated
- Dicey Dungeons
- Dirt 5
- dirt rally
- Dirt Rally 2.0
- Disaster Band
- Disciples III: Reincarnation
- Disjunction (GOG)
- DISTRAINT 2
- Distrust
- DmC: Devil May Cry
- Do Not Feed the Monkeys
- Don't Be Afraid
- Doomed Lands
- Door Kickers: Action Squad
- Doorways: Prelude
- Downfall
- Dragons Dogma Dark Arisen
- Dragon's Dogma: Dark Arisen
- Drake Hollow
- Draugen
- Draw Slasher
- Drawful 2
- Dreams in the Witch House
- Dreamscaper
- DreamWorks Dragons: Dawn of New Riders
- DreamWorks Dragons: Legends of the Nine Realms
- DRIFT21
- Driftland: The Magic Revival
- drive!drive!drive!
- Drone Swarm
- Due Process
- Duke Nukem: Manhattan Project
- Duke of Alpha Centauri
- Dungeon Rushers
- Dungeons 2
- Dungeons 3
- DUSK
- Dusk Diver
- Dust to the End
- Dynopunk
- Earth Defense Force 4.1 The Shadow of New Despair
- Eastern Exorcist
- Eastward
- Effie
- Eiyuden Chronicle: Rising
- El Matador
- Elderand
- Elderborn
- ELDEST SOULS
- Electrician Simulator
- Elemental Survivors
- Elex
- Elex II
- Elite Dangerous
- Embr
- Empire: Total War - Definitive Edition
- Empyrion - Galactic Survival
- ENCASED: A SCI-FI POST-APOCALYPTIC RPG
- Encodya (GOG)
- Endless Space 2
- Endless Space 2 - Digital Deluxe Edition
- Endless Space® 2 - Digital Deluxe Edition
- Endzone - A World Apart
- Epistory - Typing Chronicles
- Escape the backrooms
- Eternal Threads
- Etherborn
- Europa Universalis IV
- European Ship Simulator
- Everdream Valley
- Evil Genius 2: World Domination
- Exorder
- EXPEDITIONS: ROME
- Explosionade
- F1 2018
- F1 2019 Anniversary Edition
- F1 2020
- F1 RACE STARS Complete Edition Include DLC
- Fable Anniversary
- Factory Town
- Fallback uprising
- Family Man
- Family Mysteries 3: Criminal Mindset
- Fantasy Blacksmith
- FARMER'S DYNASTY
- Farming Simulator 17
- Farming Simulator 19
- Fast & Furious: Spy Racers Rise of SH1FT3R
- Fictorum
- Field of Glory II
- Fights in Tight Spaces
- Filthy Animals Heist Simulator
- Firefighting Simulator - The Squad
- Fishing Adventure
- Flashback
- FLATLAND Vol.2
- FlatOut
- FLING TO THE FINISH
- Floppy Knights
- Fluffy Horde
- FOBIA - ST. DINFNA HOTEL
- For the King
- Forgive me Father
- Forts
- Framed Collection
- Fred3ric
- Fresh Start Cleaning Simulator
- Friends vs Friends
- Frogun
- From Space
- From the Depths
- Frostpunk: Game of the Year Edition
- Frozenheim
- Fun with Ragdolls: The Game
- Funtasia
- Fury Unleashed
- Gamedec - Definitive Edition
- Gang Beasts
- GARAGE bad trip
- Garden Story
- Garfield Kart
- GAS STATION SIMULATOR
- Gelly Break Deluxe
- Genesis Alpha One Deluxe Edition
- Gevaudan
- Ghost Song
- Ghostrunner
- Giana Sisters 2D
- GIGA WRECKER
- Gigantosaurus: Dino Kart
- Glitch Busters: Stuck On You
- Gloria Victis
- Go Home Dinosaurs
- Goat of Duty
- Godlike Burger
- Godstrike
- Going Under
- Golf Gang
- Golf It!
- Gone Home + Original Soundtrack
- Good Knight
- Gotham Knights
- GREAK: MEMORIES OF AZUR
- GREEDFALL
- Gremlins, inc
- grey goo
- GRID - 2019
- grid ultimate
- GRIP: Combat Racing
- Gungrave G.O.R.E
- Guppy
- Guts and glory
- GYLT
- Hacknet
- Haegemonia: Legions of Iron
- Hamilton's Great Adventure
- Hammerting
- Hammerwatch
- Hands of Necromancy
- Havsala: Into the Soul Palace
- Headsnatchers
- Heartwood Heroes
- Heat Signature
- Heaven's Vault
- Helheim Hassle
- Hell Let Loose
- Hellblade: Senua's Sacrifice
- Hellbound
- Hellpoint
- Hellslave
- Hellstuck: Rage With Your Friends
- Hero of the Kingdom III
- Hero of the Kingdom: The Lost Tales 2
- Heroes of Hammerwatch
- Heros hour
- Hexologic
- Hidden & Dangerous 2: Courage Under Fire
- Hidden & Dangerous: Action Pack
- Hidden Deep
- Hi-Fi Rush
- High On Life
- Hitman (2016) Game of the Year Edition
- HITMAN 2 - Gold Edition
- Hoa
- Hob
- Hollow Knight
- Holy Potatoes! A Spy Story?!
- Home Sweet Home
- Home Sweet Home EP2
- Homestead Arcana
- Hood: Outlaws & Legends
- Hoplegs
- Hot Tin Roof: The Cat That Wore A Fedora
- HOT WHEELS UNLEASHED ™
- Hotel Transylvania 3: Monsters Overboard
- Hotel Transylvania: Scary-Tale Adventures
- Hotshot Racing
- House Flipper
- How to Survive 2
- Hue
- Human: Fall Flat
- HUMANKIND DEFINITIVE EDITION
- Hungry Flame
- Hyper Knights
- I am Bread
- I Am Fish
- I am not a Monster: First Contact
- I Hate Running Backwards
- ibb & obb Double Pack
- ICBM
- Ice Age Scrat's Nutty Adventure
- Ice Age: Scrat's Nutty Adventure
- Ice Lakes
- Impostor Factory
- IN SOUND MIND
- Indivisible
- INDUSTRIA
- Infectonator 3: Apocalypse
- Infinite Beyond The Mind
- Injustice 2 Legendary Edition
- Insane 2
- INSOMNIA: The Ark
- Internet Cafe Simulator
- Internet Cafe Simulator 2
- Interstellar Space: Genesis
- Iris and the Giant
- Iron Fisticle
- Iron Harvest
- Ittle Dew
- Ittle Dew 2+
- Jack Move
- Jackbox party pack 2
- Jackbox party pack 5
- JANITOR BLEEDS
- Joint Task Force
- Jotun: Valhalla Edition
- Journey For Elysium
- Journey to the Savage Planet
- JUMANJI: The Video Game
- Jupiter Hell
- Jurassic Park: The Game
- Jurassic World Evolution
- Jurassic World Evolution 2
- JUST CAUSE 4: COMPLETE EDITION
- Just Die Already
- Kardboard Kings: Card Shop Simulator
- Keep Talking and Nobody Explodes
- Ken Follett's The Pillars of the Earth
- Kentucky Route Zero - Season Pass Edition
- Kerbal Space Program
- Kill it with Fire
- Killing Floor 2 Digital Deluxe Edition
- Killing Room
- Kingdom Two Crowns
- Kingdom: New Lands
- King's Bounty: Crossworlds
- Knights of Pen & Paper 2
- Knock-knock
- Koi-Koi Japan [Hanafuda playing cards] *Koi-Koi Japan : UKIYOE tours Vol.1 DLC *Koi-Koi Japan : UKIYOE tours Vol.2 DLC *Koi-Koi Japan : UKIYOE tours Vol.3 DLC
- Konung 2
- KungFu Kickball
- Labyrinthine
- Lair of the Clockwork God
- Laserlife
- Last Kids on Earth and the Staff of Doom
- LAST OASIS
- Lawn Mowing Simulator
- Layers of Fear: Masterpiece Edition
- Lead and Gold: Gangs of the Wild West
- Learn Japanese To Survive! Hiragana Battle
- Learn Japanese To Survive! Katakana War
- Learn Japanese to Survive! Trilogy
- Legend of Keepers
- LEGION TD 2 - MULTIPLAYER TOWER DEFENSE
- LEGION TD 2 - MULTIPLAYER TOWER DEFENSE.
- Leisure Suit Larry - Wet Dreams Don't Dry
- Leisure Suit Larry 1-7
- Lemnis Gate
- Lemon Cake
- lethal league blaze
- Let's School
- Levelhead
- Liberated (GOG)
- Life is Strange Complete Season (Episodes 1-5)
- Light Fairytale Episode 1
- Light Fairytale Episode 2
- LIGHTMATTER
- Little dragons cafe
- Little Hope
- Little Inner Monsters - Card Game
- Little Misfortune
- Little Nightmares
- Little Nightmares Complete Edition
- Livelock
- Loop Hero
- Loot River
- Looterkings
- Lornsword Winter Chronicle
- Lost Castle
- Love Letter
- Lovecraft's Untold Stories
- Lovely planet arcade
- Lucius 2
- Lucius 3
- Ludus
- Lumberhill
- LunarLux
- Lust for Darkness
- Lust from Beyond: M Edition
- Mad Experiments: Escape Room
- Mad Max
- Mafia Definitive Edition
- Mafia iii
- Mafia: Definitive Edition
- Magenta Horizon
- Mahjong Pretty Girls Battle
- Mahjong Pretty Girls Battle : School Girls Edition
- Maid of Sker
- Mail Time
- Maize
- Maneater
- Marooners
- MARSUPILAMI - HOOBADVENTURE
- Marvel's Avengers - The Definitive Edition
- Mato Anomalies
- Max Payne 3
- Mechs & Mercs: Black Talons
- Medieval II: Total War - Definitive Edition
- Medieval: Total War Collection
- MEEPLE STATION
- Men of War
- MERCHANT OF THE SKIES
- METAL HELLSINGER
- Metal Hellsinger
- Metro Exodus
- Metro last light
- Metro: Last Light Redux
- Middle-earth: Shadow of Mordor GOTY
- Middle-earth: Shadow of Mordor GOTY
- Middle-Earth: Shadow of War Definitive Edition
- MIDNIGHT PROTOCOL
- Mighty Switch Force! Collection
- Milky Way Prince - The Vampire Star
- MIND SCANNERS
- Ministry of Broadcast
- Minute of Islands
- Miscreated
- Mists of Noyah
- MKXL
- Mob Factory
- Mob Rule Classic
- Monaco
- Monster Hunter: Rise
- Monster Slayers - Complete Edition
- Monstrum
- Monstrum 2
- Moon Hunters
- Moons of Madness
- MORDHAU
- Mordheim: City of the Damned
- Mortal Kombat 11 Ultimate Edition
- MORTAL KOMBAT XL
- Mortal Shell
- Motorcycle Mechanic Simulator 2021
- Mr. Run and Jump
- MudRunner
- Murder Mystery Machine
- My Big Sister
- My Friend Peppa Pig
- My Little Universe
- My Lovely Wife
- My Summer Adventure: Memories of Another Life
- My Time At Portia
- Mythforce
- N++ (NPLUSPLUS)
- Napoleon: Total War - Definitive Edition
- NARUTO TO BORUTO: SHINOBI STRIKER
- Necesse
- NECROMUNDA: HIRED GUN
- Necronator: Dead Wrong
- NecroVisioN: Lost Company
- NecroWorm
- Neighbours back From Hell
- Nelly Cootalot: Spoonbeaks Ahoy! HD
- Neon Space
- Neon Space 2
- Neon Sundown
- Nephise: Ascension
- Neurodeck : Psychological Deckbuilder
- Never Alone Arctic Collection (w/ Foxtales DLC and FREE Soundtrack)
- Neverinth
- Neverout
- Neverwinter Nights: Complete Adventures
- Newt One
- Nexomon: Extinction
- Nigate Tale
- Nimbatus - The Space Drone Constructor
- Nine Parchments
- Nine Witches: Family Disruption
- Nioh 2: The Complete Collection
- No Straight Roads: Encore Edition
- No Time to Relax
- Nomad Survival
- Nongunz: Doppelganger Edition
- Noosphere
- Northgard
- Northmark: Hour of the Wolf
- Nostradamus: The Last Prophecy
- not the robots
- Not Tonight
- Nurse Love Addiction
- Nurse Love Syndrome
- Nusakana
- Obduction
- Obey Me
- Observer: System Redux
- Occultus - Mediterranean Cabal
- Odallus: The Dark Call
- Oddworld: New 'n' Tasty
- One Finger Death Punch 2
- One Hand Clapping
- One More Island
- One Step From Eden
- One Step From Eden (Region locked)
- Orbital Racer
- Organs Please
- Orwell: Ignorance is strength
- Out of Reach: Treasure Royale
- Out of Space
- Overclocked: A History of Violence
- Overcooked! 2 + Too Many Cooks + Surf 'n' Turf pack
- Overlord: Ultimate Evil Collection
- Overpass
- Overruled
- OZYMANDIAS: BRONZE AGE EMPIRE SIM
- Pac-Man Museum +
- Pan'Orama
- Panty Party
- Panzer Corps 2
- Panzer Paladin
- PARADISE LOST
- Parkan 2
- PARTISANS 1941
- Passpartout 2: The Lost Artist
- Path of Giants
- Pathfinder: Wrath of the Righteous
- Patron
- Paw Patrol: On A Roll!
- Paw Paw Paw
- Paws of Coal
- Peaky Blinders: Mastermind
- PER ASPERA
- PGA 2K21
- Pharaonic
- Pixplode
- Pizza Connection 3
- Plague tale
- Planescape: Torment Enhanced Edition
- Planet Alcatraz
- PLANET ZOO
- PlateUp!
- Pogostuck: Rage With Your Friends
- Poker Pretty Girls Battle: Texas Hold'em
- Police Stories
- Poly Island
- Post Void
- POSTAL 2
- POSTAL 2: Paradise Lost DLC
- POSTAL Redux
- POSTAL: Brain Damaged - Connoisseur Edition
- Power Rangers: Battle for the Grid
- Prank Call
- Prehistoric Kingdom
- Pretty Girls Mahjong Solitaire
- Pretty Girls Panic!
- Prey
- Primal Carnage: Extinction
- Princess Kaguya: Legend of the Moon Warrior
- Pro Cycling Manager 2020
- Prodeus
- Project CARS - GOTY Edition
- Project Warlock
- Project Wingman (EU)
- PROJECT WINTER
- Propnight
- Pseudoregalia
- PULSAR: The Lost Colony
- qomp
- Quadrilateral Cowboy
- Quake II
- Quake II
- Quantum Break
- Quern - Undying Thoughts
- Radio Commander
- RAGE
- RAILROAD CORPORATION
- Railroad Tycoon 3
- Railroad Tycoon II Platinum
- Railway Empire
- Rain World
- Rayon Riddles - Rise of the Goblin King
- Re: Legend
- REBEL COPS
- Rebel Galaxy
- Rebel Galaxy Outlaw
- Recipe For Disaster
- Red Faction Guerrilla Re-Mars-tered
- Red Faction: Armageddon
- Red Riding Hood - Star Crossed Lovers
- Red Ronin
- RED SOLSTICE 2: SURVIVORS
- Redout Complete Bundle
- Redout: Enhanced Edition
- Redout: Enhanced Edition + DLC pack
- Regular Human Basketball
- REKT! High Octane Stunts
- Relicta
- REMNANT: FROM THE ASHES - COMPLETE EDITION
- Republique
- Rescue Party: Live!
- Resident Evil 0 HD REMASTER
- Resident Evil 5 Gold Edition
- Resident Evil 7 Biohazard
- Resident Evil Revelations
- Resort Boss: Golf
- Retimed
- RETROWAVE
- rFactor 2
- RiME
- Ring of Pain
- Rise of Industry + 2130 DLC
- Rise of the Slime
- Rising Storm 2: Vietnam + 2 DLCs
- River City Girls
- River City Ransom: Underground
- Roarr! Jurassic Edition
- Roboquest
- Robot Squad Simulator 2017
- Rogue : Genesia
- ROGUE HEROES: RUINS OF TASOS
- ROGUE LORDS
- Rogue Stormers
- rollercoaster tycoon 2
- ROTASTIC
- Roundguard
- ROUNDS
- RUNNING WITH RIFLES
- Rustler
- Ryse: Son of Rome
- S.W.I.N.E. HD Remaster
- Sailing Era
- Saint Row
- SAINTS ROW
- Saints Row IV
- Saints Row The Third
- Saints Row: Gat Out of Hell
- Saints Row: The Third Remastered
- Sam and Max Devil's Playhouse
- SAMUDRA
- Sands of Aura
- Sands of Salzaar
- Saturday Morning RPG
- Scarlet Tower
- Scars Above
- Scorn
- SCP: 5K
- SCUM
- SEARCH PARTY: Director's Cut
- Second Extinction
- Secret Government
- Serious Sam 3 Bonus Content DLC, Serious Sam 3: Jewel of the Nile, and Serious Sam 3: BFE
- SEUM speedrunners from hell
- SEUM: Speedrunners from Hell
- Severed Steel
- Shadow Tactics: Aiko's Choice
- Shadowgate
- Shadows Awakening
- SHADOWS: AWAKENING
- Shape of the World
- She Sees Red - Interactive Movie
- Shenmue I & II
- SHENZHEN I/O
- Shift Happens
- Shing!
- Shining Resonance Refrain
- Shoppe Keep 2
- Shoppe Keep 2 - Business and Agriculture RPG Simulation
- Shotgun King: The Final Checkmate
- Sid Meier's Civilization VI
- Sid Meier's Railroads!
- Sifu Deluxe Edition Upgrade Bundle (EPIC)
- Silver Chains
- SimCity 4 Deluxe Edition
- Sinking Island
- SINNER: Sacrifice for Redemption
- Siralim Ultimate
- Size Matters
- Skautfold Chapters 1-4
- Skullgirls 2nd Encore
- Slain: Back from Hell
- Slap City
- Slash It
- Slash It 2
- Slash It Ultimate
- Slay the Spire
- Small World
- Smart Factory Tycoon
- Smile For Me
- Smoke and Sacrifice
- Smoke and Sacrifice
- Smushi Come Home
- Snail bob 2 tiny troubles
- Sniper Elite 3
- Sniper Elite 3 + Season Pass DLC
- Sniper Elite 4 Deluxe Edition
- Sniper Ghost Warrior 3 - Season Pass Edition
- Sniper Ghost Warrior Contracts
- Snooker 19
- SONG OF HORROR COMPLETE EDITION
- Songs of Conquest
- Sonic Adventure 2
- Sonic Adventure DX
- Sonic and SEGA All Stars Racing
- Sonic Generations Collection
- Soulblight
- Souldiers
- SOULSTICE
- Soundfall
- Source of Madness
- Spartan Fist
- Spec Ops
- Speed Limit
- Spelunx and the Caves of Mr. Seudo
- Spidersaurs
- Spin Rush
- Spirit Hunter: Death Mark
- Spirit of the Island
- Spirit of the North
- Spring Bonus
- Spyro Reignited Trilogy
- Stairs
- Star Trek Prodigy: Supernova
- STAR WARS - Knights of the Old Republic
- STAR WARS - The Force Unleashed Ultimate Sith Edition
- Star Wolves
- Starbound
- Starsand
- STASIS: Bone Totem
- State of Decay 2: Juggernaut Edition
- Steel Rats™
- Stick Fight: The Game
- Still Life
- Still Life 2
- Still There
- Stirring Abyss
- STONE
- Strange Brigade
- Strange Brigade Deluxe Edition
- STRANGER
- Strategic Command: World War I
- Strategic Mind: Blitzkrieg
- Strategic Mind: Fight for Freedom
- Strategic Mind: Spectre of Communism
- Strategic Mind: Spirit of Liberty
- Strategy & Tactics: Wargame Collection
- Streamer Life Simulator
- Street Fighter 30th Anniversary Collection
- Street Fighter V
- Strider
- Strikey Sisters
- Struggling
- Stubbs the Zombie in Rebel Without a Pulse
- Stygian: Reign of the Old Ones
- Styx: Master of Shadows
- Styx: Shards of Darkness
- SuchArt
- Sudden Strike Gold
- Suite 776
- Sumoman
- Sunblaze
- SUNLESS BUNDLE
- Sunset Overdrive
- Super Buff HD
- Super Mag Bot
- Superbugs: Awaken
- Superhot
- Surgeon Simulator 2
- Survive the Nights
- Surviving Mars
- Surviving Mars
- Surviving The Aftermath
- Swag and Sorcery
- SWINE HD Remaster
- Sword Legacy Omen
- Sword of the Necromancer
- Swords and Soldiers 2 Shawarmageddon
- Syberia 3
- Symphonic Rain
- Symphony of War: The Nephilim Saga
- Synthwave Dream '85
- Tacoma
- Taiji
- Take Off - The Flight Simulator
- Tales
- Tales from the Borderlands
- Talk to Strangers
- Tallowmere
- Talos Principle (Gold)
- Tangledeep
- Tank Mechanic Simulator
- Tannenberg
- Team Sonic Racing
- TEKKEN 7
- TEMTEM
- Terminus: Zombie Survivors
- TERRAFORMERS
- Terratech Deluxe Edition
- Terror of Hemasaurus
- Textorcist
- Tharsis
- The Addams Family: Mansion Mayhem
- The Adventure Pals
- The Amazing American Circus
- The Ambassador: Fractured Timelines
- The Anacrusis
- The Ascent
- The Battle of Polytopia
- The Battle of Polytopia *DLC1. Cymanti Tribe *DLC2. ∑∫ỹriȱŋ Tribe *DLC3. Aquarion Tribe *DLC4. Polaris Tribe
- The Beast inside
- The Blackout Club
- The Callisto Protocol™
- The Chess Variants Club
- The Citadel
- The Colonists
- THE DARK PICTURES ANTHOLOGY: LITTLE HOPE
- The Darkest Tales
- The Dungeon Beneath
- The Dungeon of Naheulbeuk: The Amulet of Chaos
- The Elder Scrolls Adventures: Redguard
- The Elder Scrolls III: Morrowind® Game of the Year Edition
- The Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion® Game of the Year Edition
- The Elder Scrolls Online
- The Escapists 2
- THE GAME OF LIFE 2
- The Golf Club™ 2019 featuring PGA TOUR
- The haunted island, A frog detective
- The Haunted Island, a Frog Detective Game
- The Hong Kong Massacre
- The Horror Of Salazar House
- The Innsmouth Case
- The Invisible Hours
- The Jackbox Party Pack 9
- The Knight Witch
- The Last Campfire
- The LEGO Movie 2 Videogame
- The Letter - Horror Visual Novel
- The Long Dark
- The Manhole: Masterpiece Edition
- The Mortuary Assistant
- The Mummy Demastered
- The Occupation
- The Outer Worlds
- THE OUTER WORLDS: SPACER'S CHOICE EDITION
- THE PALE BEYOND
- The Quarry
- The Quarry deluxe
- The Ramp
- The Rewinder
- The Sacred Tears TRUE
- The Sexy Brutale
- The Shapeshifting Detective
- The Tarnishing of Juxtia
- The Tenants
- The Uncertain - The Last Quiet Day
- The Uncertain: Last Quiet Day
- The Uncertain: Light At The End
- The USB Stick Found in the Grass
- The Walking Dead
- The Walking Dead - 400 Days
- The Walking Dead Saints and Sinners
- The Walking Dead: A New Frontier
- The Walking Dead: Final Season
- The Walking Dead: Michonne - A Telltale Miniseries
- The Walking Dead: Saints & Sinners
- The Walking Dead: Season 1
- The Walking Dead: Season Two
- The Way
- The Wild At Heart
- The Wild Eight
- The Witness
- Them and Us
- They Bleed Pixels
- Thief of Thieves
- This War of Mine
- This Way Madness Lies
- Three Kingdom: The Journey
- Time on Frog Island
- Tinkertown
- Tiny Tina’s Wonderland(EU)
- TINY TINA'S WONDERLANDS CHAOTIC GREAT EDITION
- Tiny Troopers
- Tinykin
- Tinytopia
- TIS-100
- Titan Quest
- Tokyo Xanadu eX+
- Tom Clancy's The Division™
- Tom Clancy's The Division™ - Survival!
- Tools up
- Tooth and Tail
- Torchlight
- Total Tank Simulator
- Tour de France 2020
- Tower Unite
- Trail Out
- Trailblazers
- Trailmakers
- Trailmakers Deluxe Edition
- Train Sim World 3: Standard Edition
- Train Simulator Classic
- Train Valley 1
- TRANSFORMERS: BATTLEGROUNDS
- Transport INC
- Treasure Hunter Simulator
- TRIBES OF MIDGARD
- Trine 4: The Nightmare Prince
- Trinity Fusion
- Trollhunters: Defenders of Arcadia
- Trombone Champ
- Tropico 5 - Complete Collection
- Trover Saves the Universe
- Tunche
- Turmoil
- Turok 2: Seeds of Evil
- Twin Mirror
- Two Point Campus
- Two Point Hospital
- TYPECAST
- Tyrant's Blessing
- Ultimate Chicken Horse
- Ultimate Zombie Defense
- Ultra Space Battle Brawl
- Unavowed
- Undead Horde
- Underhero
- Unexplored 2: The Wayfarer's Legacy
- Unity of Command: Stalingrad Campaign
- Universim
- UNLOVED
- Unpacking
- Until I have you
- Unto The End
- Upside Down
- URU: Complete Chronicles
- Vagante
- Valfaris
- Valfaris: Mecha Therion
- Valkryia Chronicles 4 Complete Edition
- Valkyria Chronicles 4 Complete Edition
- Valkyria Chronicles 4: Complete Edition
- Vambrace: Cold Soul
- Vampire - The Masquerade: Shadows of New York
- Vampire Survivors
- Vane
- Vectronom
- Velocity Noodle
- Venba
- Verne: The Shape of Fantasy
- Victoria 3
- Victoria II
- Viking: Battle For Asgard
- Virgo Versus The Zodiac
- VirtuaVerse
- Visage
- Viscerafest
- Void Bastards
- VOIDIGO
- Volcanoids
- Voltage High Society
- V-Rally 4
- Wanderlust: Travel Stories (GOG)
- Wanted: Dead
- Wargroove
- Warhammer 40,000 Sanctus Reach - Complete Edition
- Warhammer 40,000: Armageddon - Imperium Complete
- Warhammer 40,000: Battlesector
- Warhammer 40,000: Gladius - Relics of War
- Warhammer 40,000: Space Wolf Special Edition
- WARHAMMER AGE OF SIGMAR: REALMS OF RUIN – ULTIMATE EDITION
- Warhammer: End Times - Vermintide
- Warhammer: Vermintide 2
- Warman
- Warstone TD
- Wasteland 3
- Wayward
- WE NEED TO GO DEEPER
- We should talk.
- We Were Here Together
- We Were Here Too
- Webbed
- Werewolf: The Apocalypse Heart of the Forest
- West of Dead
- What Lies in the Multiverse
- When Ski Lifts Go Wrong
- while True: learn()
- Whos Your daddy
- Wick
- Windward
- Witch It
- Witchy Life Story
- wizard of legends
- Worms Rumble
- Worms Rumble + Legends Pack
- Wrath: Aeon of Ruin
- WRC 6 FIA World Rally Championship
- WRC 7 FIA World Rally Championship
- WWE 2K Battlegrounds
- WWE 2K23
- WWZ Aftermath
- Wytchwood
- X-COM: COMPLETE PACK
- XCOM: ULTIMATE COLLECTION
- XIII - Classic
- X-Morph: Defense
- X-Morph: Defense + European Assault, Survival of the Fittest, and Last Bastion DLC
- X-Morph: Defense Complete Pack
- Yakuza Kiwami
- Yakuza: Like A Dragon
- Yumeutsutsu Re:After
- Yumeutsutsu Re:Master
- Zen Chess: Mate in One, Mate in 2 , Mate in 3 , Mate in 4 , Champion's Moves (5 games)
- Ziggurat
- Zombie Army 4
- Zombie Army Trilogy
- Zool Redimensioned
- Zwei: The Arges adventure
- Zwei: The ilvard insurrection
- For The King: Lost Civilization Adventure Pack
- Train Simulator: Isle of Wight Route Add-On
- Train Simulator: Woodhead Electric Railway in Blue Route Add-On
- Train Simulator: North Somerset Railway Route Add-On
- Train Simulator: Union Pacific Heritage SD70ACes Loco Add-On
- Train Simulator: London to Brighton Route Add-On
- BR Class 170 'Turbostar' DMU Add-On
- DB BR 648 Loco Add-On
- Europa Universalis IV: Wealth of Nations
- Expansion - Europa Universalis IV: Conquest of Paradise
- Expansion - Europa Universalis IV: Res Publica
- Grand Central Class 180 'Adelante' DMU Add-On
- Peninsula Corridor: San Francisco - Gilroy Route Add-On
- SONIC ADVENTURE 2: BATTLE
- Small World - A Spider's Web
- Small World - Cursed
- Small World - Royal Bonus
- The Dungeon Of Naheulbeuk: The Amulet Of Chaos - Goodies Pack
- The Dungeon Of Naheulbeuk: The Amulet Of Chaos - OST
- Thompson Class B1 Loco Add-On
- Total War: Shogun 2 - Rise of the Samurai
- Train Sim World® 3: Birmingham Cross-city line
- Train Sim World®: BR Class 20 'Chopper' Loco
- Train Sim World®: Brighton Main Line: London Victoria - Brighton
- Train Sim World®: Caltrain MP36PH-3C 'Baby Bullet'
- Train Sim World®: Cathcart Circle Line: Glasgow - Newton & Neilston
- Train Sim World®: Clinchfield Railroad: Elkhorn - Dante
- Train Sim World®: Great Western Express
- Train Sim World®: Hauptstrecke Hamburg - Lubeck
- Train Sim World®: LIRR M3 EMU
- Train Sim World®: Long Island Rail Road: New York - Hicksville
- Train Sim World®: Nahverkehr Dresden - Riesa
- Train Sim World®: Northern Trans-Pennine: Manchester - Leeds
- Train Sim World®: Peninsula Corridor: San Francisco - San Jose
- Train Sim World®: Rhein-Ruhr Osten: Wuppertal - Hagen
- Train Sim World®: Tees Valley Line: Darlington - Saltburn-by-the-sea
- Worms Rumble - Armageddon Weapon Skin Pack
- Worms Rumble - Captain & Shark Double Pack
- Worms Rumble - Legends Pack
- Worms Rumble - New Challengers Pack
- Ashampoo Photo Optimizer 7
- Dagon: by H. P. Lovecraft - The Eldritch Box DLC
- Duke Nukem Forever Hail to the Icons
- Duke Nukem Forever The Doctor Who Cloned Me
- GRIP: Combat Racing - Cygon Garage Kit
- GRIP: Combat Racing - Nyvoss Garage Kit
- GRIP: Combat Racing - Terra Garage Kit
- GRIP: Combat Racing - Vintek Garage Kit
- GameGuru
- GameMaker Studio 2 Creator 12 Months
- Intro to Game Development with Unity
- Music Maker EDM Edition
- Neverwinter Nights: Darkness Over Daggerford
- Neverwinter Nights: Enhanced Edition Dark Dreams of Furiae
- Neverwinter Nights: Enhanced Edition Tyrants of the Moonsea
- Neverwinter Nights: Enhanced Edition
- Neverwinter Nights: Infinite Dungeons
- Neverwinter Nights: Pirates of the Sword Coast
- Neverwinter Nights: Wyvern Crown of Cormyr
- PDF-Suite 1 Year License
- Pathfinder Second Edition Core Rulebook and Starfinder Core Rulebook
- RPG Maker VX
- WWE 2K BATTLEGROUNDS - Ultimate Brawlers Pass
- We Are Alright
- The Outer Worlds Expansion Pass
- A Hat in Time - Seal the Deal DLC
- City Skylines:mass transit
- A Game Of Thrones - A Dance With Dragons
- A Game Of Thrones - A Feast For Crows
- Blood Rage: Digital Edition - Gods of Asgard
- Blood Rage: Digital Edition - Mythical Monsters
- Blood Rage: Digital Edition - Mystics of Midgard
- Carcassonne - The Princess and The Dragon DLC
- Carcassonne - Traders & Builders DLC
- Carcassonne - Winter & Gingerbread Man DLC
- Carcassonne - Inns & Cathedrals
- Carcassonne - The River
- Splendor: The Trading Posts DLC
- Splendor: The Strongholds DLC
- Splendor: The Cities DLC
- Small World - Be Not Afraid... DLC
- Small World - Grand Dames DLC
- Small World - Cursed!
- Sands of Salzaar - The Ember Saga
- Sands of Salzaar - The Tournament
- Monster Train: The Last Divinity DLC
- WARSAW
2024.06.02 20:02 calvin324hk [H] 1000+ Games / DLCs / VR Games [W] Paypal / Wishlist / Offers
https://www.reddit.com/IGSRep/comments/pikmri/calvin324hks_igs_rep_page/
https://www.reddit.com/sgsflaicomments/of2wzu/flair_profile_ucalvin324hk/
Wishlist
Region: NA (Canada)
Fees on buyer if any, currency is USD unless specified
CTRL + F to find your games in terms of name
DLCs and Softwares:
submitted by calvin324hk to SteamGameSwap [link] [comments]
https://www.reddit.com/sgsflaicomments/of2wzu/flair_profile_ucalvin324hk/
Wishlist
Region: NA (Canada)
Fees on buyer if any, currency is USD unless specified
CTRL + F to find your games in terms of name
- 10 Second Ninja X
- 11-11 Memories Retold
- 112 Operator
- 12 is Better Than 6
- 198X
- 1993 Space Machine
- 60 Parsecs
- 7 Billion Humans
- 8 DOORS
- 8-bit Adventure Anthology: Volume I
- 9 Years of Shadows
- 911 Operator
- A Game of Thrones: The Board Game
- A Hat in Time
- A Hole New World
- A JUGGLER'S TALE
- A Long Way Down
- A PLAGUE TALE: INNOCENCE
- A Robot Named Fight!
- A Tale for Anna
- A.I.M.2 Clan Wars
- Abalon (Summoners Fate)
- Above Snakes
- ABZU
- Ace Combat Assault Horizon Enhanced Edition
- ADOM
- Adore
- Adventure Time: Pirates of the Enchiridion
- Aeterna Noctis
- AETHERIS
- Agatha Christie Hercule Poirot The First Cases
- AIdol
- Airborne Kingdom
- Alba: A Wildlife Adventure
- Alder's Blood: Definitive Edition
- Alfred Hitchcock - Vertigo
- Alien Breed Trilogy
- Aliens vs. Predator™ Collection
- All-Star Fruit Racing
- Almost There: The Platformer
- American Fugitive
- American Truck Simulator
- Amerzone: The Explorer’s Legacy
- AMID EVIL
- Amnesia rebirth
- Amnesia: The Dark Descent + Amnesia: A Machine for Pigs
- Anomalous
- Another World – 20th Anniversary Edition
- Antigraviator
- Anuchard
- APICO
- APICO
- Aragami
- Aragami 2
- Arboria
- Arcade Paradise
- Arcade Paradise - Arcade Paradise EP
- Arcade Spirits
- Arkham Horror: Mother's Embrace
- Armada 2526 Gold Edition
- Army Men RTS
- army of ruin
- Arto
- Ary and the Secret of Seasons
- As Far as the Eye
- Ascension to the Throne
- Assemble With Care
- Assetto Corsa Competizione
- Assetto Corsa Ultimate Edition
- Astebreed Definitive Edition
- Astro Colony
- Astronarch
- Attack of the Earthlings
- Automachef
- Automobilista
- Automobilista 2
- AUTONAUTS
- AUTONAUTS VS PIRATEBOTS
- Avatar: Frontiers of Pandora™ - Ubisoft Connect
- AVICII Invector: Encore Edition
- Awesomenauts All Nauts pack
- Axiom Verge
- Axiom Verge 2
- Baba is you
- Back 4 Blood
- Back 4 blood (EU)
- Backbone
- Banners of Ruin
- Bartlow's Dread Machine
- Basement
- Batbarian: Testament of the Primordials
- Batman: Arkham Asylum Game of the Year Edition
- Batman: Arkham Origins
- Battle Royale Tycoon
- Battlecruisers
- Battlestar Galactica Deadlock
- BATTLESTAR GALACTICA DEADLOCK SEASON ONE
- Battlestar Galactica Deadlock: Complete
- BATTLETECH MERCENARY COLLECTION
- BATTLETECH Shadow Hawk Pack
- BEAUTIFUL DESOLATION
- Bee Simulator
- BEFORE WE LEAVE
- Beholder 2
- Ben 10
- Ben 10: Power Trip
- Bendy and the Ink Machine™
- Between the Stars
- Beyond a Steel Sky
- Beyond The Edge Of Owlsgard
- BEYOND THE WIRE
- Beyond: Two Souls
- BIOMUTANT
- Bionic Commando
- BioShock: The Collection
- BLACK BOOK
- Black Moon Chronicles
- Black Paradox
- BLACK SKYLANDS
- BLACKHOLE: Complete Edition
- Blacksad: Under the Skin
- Blade of Darkness
- Blasphemous
- Blazing Chrome
- Blightbound
- Blood And Zombies
- Blood Rage: Digital Edition
- Bloodstained: Ritual of the Night
- Blue Fire
- Bomber Crew
- Boneless Zombie
- Boomerang Fu
- Borderlands 3
- Borderlands 3 Super Deluxe
- Borderlands 3 Super Deluxe Edition
- Borderlands: The Handsome Collection
- Bot Vice
- Bounty of One
- Brawlout
- Breakout: Recharged
- Breathedge
- bridge constructor
- Bridge constructor medieval
- bridge constructor stunts
- Broken Lines
- Bug Fables: The Everlasting Sapling
- BUILDER SIMULATOR
- calico
- Call of Duty® Modern Warfare 3™ (2011)
- Call of Juarez: Gunslinger
- Capitalism 2
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- The Beast inside
- The Blackout Club
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- The Citadel
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- THE DARK PICTURES ANTHOLOGY: LITTLE HOPE
- The Darkest Tales
- The Dungeon Beneath
- The Dungeon of Naheulbeuk: The Amulet of Chaos
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- The Elder Scrolls III: Morrowind® Game of the Year Edition
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- The Elder Scrolls Online
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- The Haunted Island, a Frog Detective Game
- The Hong Kong Massacre
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- The Jackbox Party Pack 9
- The Knight Witch
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- The LEGO Movie 2 Videogame
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- The Long Dark
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- THE OUTER WORLDS: SPACER'S CHOICE EDITION
- THE PALE BEYOND
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- The Sexy Brutale
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- The Tarnishing of Juxtia
- The Tenants
- The Uncertain - The Last Quiet Day
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- The USB Stick Found in the Grass
- The Walking Dead
- The Walking Dead - 400 Days
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- The Walking Dead: Season 1
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- The Way
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- TINY TINA'S WONDERLANDS CHAOTIC GREAT EDITION
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- Tools up
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- Total Tank Simulator
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- Train Sim World 3: Standard Edition
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- TRANSFORMERS: BATTLEGROUNDS
- Transport INC
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- TRIBES OF MIDGARD
- Trine 4: The Nightmare Prince
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2024.06.02 19:53 sazon2105 A Tier List for Realism Mod's Armors
 | https://preview.redd.it/f0ea8qad574d1.png?width=1140&format=png&auto=webp&s=a2eaacad86b6213d311b38c889c6b945e500928f submitted by sazon2105 to SPTarkov [link] [comments] P.S : Im no Pro, nor am I a huge Tarkov buff. This is based on my opinion only and it isnt accurate. Be free to comment your opinions. P.S 2 : The Kirasa and Thor are on B cause they provide good base prot and can be very reliable if you put some better plates on them. Besides being cheap. |
2024.06.02 19:42 PhilBanksRS3 Stuck on a problem
hey i need help with this one ive been stuck going around in circles for the past 2 days and its starting to annoy me, ive tried looking at other peoples posts on how they went about it its just not working for me i guess and also tried watching some yt videos but they are also not helping Step 49 python course
submitted by PhilBanksRS3 to FreeCodeCamp [link] [comments]
2024.06.02 19:30 Margot_Dyveke [FO] Tote bag and bleeding ink
![[FO] Tote bag and bleeding ink](https://b.thumbs.redditmedia.com/toMSmkEyS6T9-fauy8Nedxh4Exbs3ZPS5MJ-c0-qO9I.jpg "[FO] Tote bag and bleeding ink") | So, this is my latest work. I didn't know there was water soluble Aida for cross stitch at the time, so I used the wrong kind. And I thought I was being smart by coloring the pattern on the paper, but when I washed it, the ink bled. A cautionary tale... submitted by Margot_Dyveke to CrossStitch [link] [comments] Free patterns from DMC: Flower https://www.dmc.com/BE/en-GB/products/loose-flowers Alphabet https://www.dmc.com/BE/en-GB/products/point-de-marque-1 |
2024.06.02 19:19 JMO_the_1st My Village People - Chapter 1
I hear footsteps approach and turn to see Dr. Berie with a plate in his hand. As he sets the plate down on the table with a ‘Bon appetit’, I turn my gaze back to the ceiling and continue trying to decide how many atoms there are in a single ceiling board. A fruitless effort obviously since that would have been a difficult task even for a bonafide genius and I’m not even anything close but it’s a worthy distraction.
“Eat your food, Duke.”
“I’m not hungry. And besides, what’s the point? My life is as good as over anyway so might as well starve to death.”
“Young man, if you do not eat something now, then you can take your chances out there because I will not allow you stay in this house any longer like this.”
When I shoot him a mortified expression, he says matter-of-factly. “Yes now, whose house do you want to come and die inside? Not mine for sure. You haven’t eaten anything in six days and you still don’t want to eat. Well, you don’t have to, I won’t force you to.”
With that, he gets up and claps his hands together like it’s a decided matter. “So, you can just pack everything of yours and leave now. Of course, you have to leave all my protective charms behind when you go out.” He threateningly points toward the window where raindrops pattered on the glass. I instinctively inch away from it on the couch and look at the doctor pleadingly.
“Don’t look at me like that. There are no two ways about it. It is either you eat or you leave. Simple.” I reluctantly sit upright in my chair and begin my meal. It isn’t bad in fact, it’s really good. Roasted yam and roasted vegetables is nothing to sneeze at. Thing is, eating and drinking one thing for two straight months does nothing to improve your impression of that food.
Seeing me eat my food, Dr. Berie nods. “Good choice. You know, I never would have followed through with kicking you out. I’ve grown rather fond of you in the time we’ve spent together. Well, keep your strength up, good night.”
I clear out my plates and lay back down in the chair. I haven’t eaten anything else because Dr. Berie says these are the only foods he can completely rid of water, along with a drink he continuously assures me is freshly squeezed fruit juice – it isn’t like any fruit I’ve ever tasted but… I have to drink it. Not like I can leave here to go get myself something else for the same reason none of my food can have water in them.
You’re probably wondering what problem I could possibly have that would make me put myself under such conditions. Well, it might shock you, but I have a spiritual problem. Now, I know lots of Nigerians say this, but in my case, it’s actually true. My village people are after me. No, seriously, they are!
Here, how about I give you a little backstory and you’ll see just how dead serious I am?
It all started with an innocent visit to my hometown. I don’t ever really go back there but I had to attend my twin sister’s traditional wedding right? If I’d known how it would turn out, I probably would have just mailed them a gift or something.
Anyway, I got there for her wedding and it was a total shutdown. Like, really, I danced and sprayed money on the couple like there was no tomorrow. Took pictures with my brand new phone and just generally showed off. Nigerians in general believe it is unwise to show off in the village but I’ve never been as superstitious as the rest of my nation y’know?
When the party was nearly done, I decided it was time to mingle and probably the most beautiful woman I’ve ever seen caught my eye. She wasn’t dressed spectacularly or anything, but there was no denying how she radiated elegance. It was a surprise she wasn’t already crowded by men trying to ‘shoot their shot’ but I suppose everyone was just turned off by her plain clothes. Were people honestly so shallow nowadays?
“Nice evening isn’t it?” I ventured when I found myself in front of the lady without even realizing how I’d gotten there.
“Not really.” She replied with a smile. “I just cannot stand gatherings like this. Dellia.” She added, motioning to an empty seat beside her.
“Duke. Duke Obaìsàlè. Pleasure to meet you.” I said as I settled into the seat she’d shown me. “Personally, I love weddings.” It was true. As a social animal, a wedding for me was just another opportunity for me to meet people.
“But that’s just it, isn’t it?” She seemed to reply to my thoughts. “We have to mingle with all these people and pretend we like or even know them. Tell you the truth?” she looked around like she thought someone was eavesdropping before using a fan to hide her face. She seemed to pull that fan from thin air (I hadn’t noticed it before.) “I can’t stand any of these people.”
“You know, now that you mention it,” playing along, I looked round and leaned in conspiratorially. “People in general really can be such a pain to be around.”
She gasped and affected a hurt expression. “All people?”
“Well… there are a few – oh, so very few – notable exceptions.”
“Hmm.” With a smile that could start wars, she lifted her glass. “To the exceptions then.”
I returned her smile and lifted a free glass I found on the table. “To the exceptions.”
After the toast, we talked for hours and hours. I honestly don’t remember much of the conversation but you can’t blame me, I was looking into her eyes all through. You wouldn’t be able to pay attention to anything either if you were in my shoes.
Shortly after sunset, Dellia said she had to leave for home. Something about her father needing her help to prepare for guests.
“Are you sure you can’t stay just a little bit longer?” I asked, trying my best to sound like a heartbroken child.
“Aaw… aren’t you just the cutest? Don’t worry darling, we’ll see each other again really, really soon. I’m sure of it. So, chin up, yeah?”
I didn’t reply. Mainly because I knew the chances of meeting her again were slim to none. After all, I never came to the village.
“Seriously, smile for me before I leave.” She asked. I affected my best smile for her.
“That’s more like it. Bye now. Mwah!” She blew a kiss, picked her purse and left the venue heading off into the village beyond. I watched her walk away and it was only after she’d turned a bend and gotten out of view that I realized I hadn’t even gotten her number.
Well, no use now. She was gone, probably forever. It was already dark out. Time to go find the newlyweds before they left for their traditional honeymoon. What the hell was a traditional honeymoon anyway?
I found the couple about to leave for the airport. As soon as my sister saw me, she got down from the car and would have ran to me if her tight gown had allowed her anything beyond a hurried walk.
“Duke! Where have you been, ehn? My husband and I have been looking for you for only God knows how long.”
“I’m fine, baby sis. I no fit loss inside my own village now.” I replied her, switching to pidgin English.
“Which your village? You wey you no dey ever come house. Make I tell you something, this village people no mean betta for you o! Me, I no know why you no go just pack your things dey go house now as us too we dey comot.” She replied me, also using Pidgin English to emphasize her point.
“See Duchess, forget all that village people nonsense. I, Duke Obaìsàlè, do not fear witches. I don’t believe in any of that crap.” I returned to English this time. “Besides, Uncle Jimmy said he wanted us to go meet Bámí together later tonight.”
“NO!” my sister shouted with perhaps a bit too much force. “What do you people want to go to his house for? I don’t trust that man one bit. Just tell them you have work tomorrow or something.”
“I don’t work Saturdays sis. But tell you what? I won’t eat anything at or from his house and from there, I’m going straight to the hotel room so no harm done. Deal?”
Duchess sighed. It was the same sigh she sighed whenever she gave up asking my mother for a favor when we were kids. “Fine. But please promise me you’re not going to eat anything, hug or touch anyone. Please promise me.”
“My superstitious sister!” I teased. “I’m not afraid of witches. I’m not.” She didn’t look convinced. "Yo Ricky!” I addressed her husband who was leaning on the car watching us argue with amusement. “You afraid of witches man?”
“Well, damn man. Uh… pftt” he blew out some air while he thought. “Well, my grandmother was a witch. So… ain’t no reason to be scared of family right?”
“There you have it.” I joked. “The witches are family. I’m good.”
“I’m serious Duke.” She insisted, trying her best not to smile at the jokesters that were the men in her life.
“Okay, okay.” I finally became serious. “Even though I don’t believe in all the superstitious nonsense, I won’t eat or drink or touch anyone until I leave. And for good measure, I’m leaving before daybreak tomorrow morning.”
“Good. Still be careful though, because there is night before daybreak and-“
“Darkness functions best at night.” I chorused it with her.
She’d said that so much, it might as well be her anthem. How I got such a superstitious sister, I’ll never know.
Going with Uncle Jimmy to Bámí’s house was an uneventful, almost boring thing and the visit was looking to be the same until Bámí called for his daughter to bring out refreshments.
“Dellia!!” The elder bellowed into his house. “Where is this girl now? Dellia!”
I didn’t want to get my hopes up even though it was unlikely to be another Dellia. I was proven right when Dellia walked out with plates of food in her hands. My Dellia, not any other. The same one I had met during the traditional wedding. At this point, I was certain she was the one fated for me.
When she set the plates down in front of us, I attempted to initiate a conversation. “Hello Dellia. Remember me?”
No response. She simply walked back into what I assumed was the kitchen since I saw a fire in there. “So you’ve met my daughter ehn?” Bámí asked me. Seems he was her father and I was the visitor she had to prepare for.
“Yes sir, yes. I met her at the traditional wedding earlier today.” I said, trying to look my most respectful and respectable.
“Good, good. That is a very good thing.” Bámí seemed pleased with that development for some reason.
“Yes sir.” I replied while eyeing the food set before me. The bushmeat looked especially delicious but I had promised my sister I wouldn’t eat and so it would be. “I hope you won’t be angry sir, but I’ll be taking my food back to my hotel room with me.”
“No problem at all young man.” Bámí replied. “In fact,” just as he gestured toward the curtain, Dellia appeared there. “my daughter Dellia will take the food to your hotel room with you.”
I leaned in to whisper so only Uncle Jimmy could hear. “Do you think she’ll stay for dessert?”
My uncle knew exactly what I meant. “If I were you, I’d even turn my dessert into the main dish.” He whispered back with a grin. If Bámí or Dellia heard us, they didn’t let on.
Back at the hotel room, I tried initiating another conversation with Dellia. She remained unresponsive. I thought perhaps it was because of the situation we found ourselves in so I tried putting her mind at rest.
“Dellia listen, if it’s about sex, we don’t have to do that if you don’t want to. If it’s your father forcing you, we can just talk. We don’t even have to talk about that, we can talk about anything. Come on now, I really enjoyed our conversation earlier.”
More silence.
“Dellia, say something.” Even more silence. “Toh, if you don’t want to say anything, let’s just go to sleep then.” I said laying on the bed in frustration, facing away from her.
“You say something.”
“What?” I was happy to hear her voice again but her words confused me.
“I said you should say something. But not just anything. I want you to tell me you love me.” She said as she got up and walked toward me while undoing her gown. “Unless that’s a problem?” She asked with a raised eyebrow and the naughtiest of looks in her eyes.
“No problem here, no problem at all.” If this was what it took to get her worked up, I’d play along. Some answers first though. “But can I ask why you refused to speak to me all this while? I thought it might have been something I-“
“Shhh.” She shushed me with a finger to my lips. “Say everything else later. For now…” she punctuated her line with a kiss on my lips. The best kiss I’d ever had. “…just say you love me.”
“Oh my God! I love you Dellia!” I gasped as she broke the kiss and undid my shirt buttons.
After pulling my shirt off, she traced her fingernails across my bare chest. The sensations she gave me were like nothing else. “I love you Dellia, I love your hair, I love your deep, beautiful eyes, I love ev-“
“Seriously Duke, just say you love me. Don’t say anything else, just say you love me. Say you love me seven times.”
“Uh… sure.” I thought I was making it better complimenting different parts of her and the specific number of times kind if weirded me out but whatever she wanted was alright with me.
As she worked her fingers down from my chest to my stomach, I told her I loved her again, by the time her hands got to my belt, I’d said it again. On the third ‘I love you’, she was unbuttoning my trousers and going “Yes, tell me you love me.” Like some sort of high had taken over her.
My trousers were already off by the fourth ‘I love you’ but then something shifted. I couldn’t place my finger on it, but I could tell there was an off vibe in the room. I remembered my sister’s warning. I’d definitely done more than hug Dellia.
“Dellia, stop. Get off me.”
“No, no, no. Don’t stop now, keep going. Keep telling me you love me. Just three more left.”
“I don’t want to Dellia. This isn’t doing it for me, okay?”
“Don’t be silly. Look, I’ll blow you if you just say it three more times.” She motioned to pull down my boxers, I had to stand up, knocking her off me.
“Dellia, why do you need me to say ‘I love you’ seven times?” I was now standing in a corner of the room with my hands over my manhood with Dellia kneeling where she’d fallen on the floor.
“Just say it and you’ll find out. Trust me.” She crawled towards me on the floor with movements so seductive, they should have been illegal. I was starting to consider just going through with it.
“By the way, you have to start over from one now ‘cause you broke the chain.” She winked up at me. When had she gotten across the room? She looked so pretty. What was the worst that would happen? Maybe I should just-
RIINNGG!! RIIIIIIINGG!! My phone interrupted my thoughts. “I-I’ll get that.”
“No. Leave it. Don’t let anyone interrupt us right now okay?”
“It could be important. Let me just-“
“Just shut up and say it!!!” She screamed. My phone and a few other things got knocked clear across the room seemingly by nothing. My phone even embedded itself in the wall. It also stopped ringing which I believe was what she aimed for.
That settled it. This girl was no normal woman and I needed to get lost immediately. She stood up, and pulled me by the chain I wore around my neck, guiding me to the bed.
Seeing an opening, I reached into a reserve of power I didn’t even know I had. I pulled my neck back with enough strength to cut the chain and sprinted out the door only bending to pick up my briefs. I wore them as I ran. I could hear Dellia in the distance calling me back.
I didn’t listen, I ran to the taxi that brought me to the village. Driver always slept in his car. I knocked frantically on the windscreen as I ran up to him.
As soon as the car was unlocked, I got in and locked all the doors.
“Lagos. Take me to Lagos now. Quickly, quickly!”
“But boss, why are you not wearing any clothe?”
“I said drive!!” I yelled at the poor man as loud as I could. “Can you imagine? He’s asking why I’m not wearing clothe. Better face what you’re being paid to do and mind your business.”
“Yes sir, sorry sir.”
On our way out, we met a curious trio. Fat, elderly women. Typical village grandmothers except in that they stood blocking the only way out of the village in the middle of the night.
Driver had to stop in front of them when he saw them. Once he stopped they moved toward the car. I didn’t know what they wanted, and I did not care. I motioned with my hand for driver to move as soon as they’d cleared the way.
As though they knew, they moved to block the way again. This scared me even more since I’d put my hand in a place they couldn’t possibly have seen it.
Turns out, all they wanted was for me to advertise some handmade wooden beads for them back in Lagos. They seemed ominous though. Especially when one of them spoke to me and I could swear she had at least ten voices leaving her mouth at once.
All in all, I’d left the village in one piece and thought I was free, little did I know, the village went back to Lagos with me. And that the hotel would be far from my final encounter with Dellia.
Note:
This is a series based on a movie of the same name which I think had a great concept but terrible execution. I am also aware that I had a series I begun here but did not finish and that is because i haven't worked out some things. But once I do, I'll get back on it.
Next
submitted by JMO_the_1st to HFY [link] [comments]
“Eat your food, Duke.”
“I’m not hungry. And besides, what’s the point? My life is as good as over anyway so might as well starve to death.”
“Young man, if you do not eat something now, then you can take your chances out there because I will not allow you stay in this house any longer like this.”
When I shoot him a mortified expression, he says matter-of-factly. “Yes now, whose house do you want to come and die inside? Not mine for sure. You haven’t eaten anything in six days and you still don’t want to eat. Well, you don’t have to, I won’t force you to.”
With that, he gets up and claps his hands together like it’s a decided matter. “So, you can just pack everything of yours and leave now. Of course, you have to leave all my protective charms behind when you go out.” He threateningly points toward the window where raindrops pattered on the glass. I instinctively inch away from it on the couch and look at the doctor pleadingly.
“Don’t look at me like that. There are no two ways about it. It is either you eat or you leave. Simple.” I reluctantly sit upright in my chair and begin my meal. It isn’t bad in fact, it’s really good. Roasted yam and roasted vegetables is nothing to sneeze at. Thing is, eating and drinking one thing for two straight months does nothing to improve your impression of that food.
Seeing me eat my food, Dr. Berie nods. “Good choice. You know, I never would have followed through with kicking you out. I’ve grown rather fond of you in the time we’ve spent together. Well, keep your strength up, good night.”
I clear out my plates and lay back down in the chair. I haven’t eaten anything else because Dr. Berie says these are the only foods he can completely rid of water, along with a drink he continuously assures me is freshly squeezed fruit juice – it isn’t like any fruit I’ve ever tasted but… I have to drink it. Not like I can leave here to go get myself something else for the same reason none of my food can have water in them.
You’re probably wondering what problem I could possibly have that would make me put myself under such conditions. Well, it might shock you, but I have a spiritual problem. Now, I know lots of Nigerians say this, but in my case, it’s actually true. My village people are after me. No, seriously, they are!
Here, how about I give you a little backstory and you’ll see just how dead serious I am?
It all started with an innocent visit to my hometown. I don’t ever really go back there but I had to attend my twin sister’s traditional wedding right? If I’d known how it would turn out, I probably would have just mailed them a gift or something.
Anyway, I got there for her wedding and it was a total shutdown. Like, really, I danced and sprayed money on the couple like there was no tomorrow. Took pictures with my brand new phone and just generally showed off. Nigerians in general believe it is unwise to show off in the village but I’ve never been as superstitious as the rest of my nation y’know?
When the party was nearly done, I decided it was time to mingle and probably the most beautiful woman I’ve ever seen caught my eye. She wasn’t dressed spectacularly or anything, but there was no denying how she radiated elegance. It was a surprise she wasn’t already crowded by men trying to ‘shoot their shot’ but I suppose everyone was just turned off by her plain clothes. Were people honestly so shallow nowadays?
“Nice evening isn’t it?” I ventured when I found myself in front of the lady without even realizing how I’d gotten there.
“Not really.” She replied with a smile. “I just cannot stand gatherings like this. Dellia.” She added, motioning to an empty seat beside her.
“Duke. Duke Obaìsàlè. Pleasure to meet you.” I said as I settled into the seat she’d shown me. “Personally, I love weddings.” It was true. As a social animal, a wedding for me was just another opportunity for me to meet people.
“But that’s just it, isn’t it?” She seemed to reply to my thoughts. “We have to mingle with all these people and pretend we like or even know them. Tell you the truth?” she looked around like she thought someone was eavesdropping before using a fan to hide her face. She seemed to pull that fan from thin air (I hadn’t noticed it before.) “I can’t stand any of these people.”
“You know, now that you mention it,” playing along, I looked round and leaned in conspiratorially. “People in general really can be such a pain to be around.”
She gasped and affected a hurt expression. “All people?”
“Well… there are a few – oh, so very few – notable exceptions.”
“Hmm.” With a smile that could start wars, she lifted her glass. “To the exceptions then.”
I returned her smile and lifted a free glass I found on the table. “To the exceptions.”
After the toast, we talked for hours and hours. I honestly don’t remember much of the conversation but you can’t blame me, I was looking into her eyes all through. You wouldn’t be able to pay attention to anything either if you were in my shoes.
Shortly after sunset, Dellia said she had to leave for home. Something about her father needing her help to prepare for guests.
“Are you sure you can’t stay just a little bit longer?” I asked, trying my best to sound like a heartbroken child.
“Aaw… aren’t you just the cutest? Don’t worry darling, we’ll see each other again really, really soon. I’m sure of it. So, chin up, yeah?”
I didn’t reply. Mainly because I knew the chances of meeting her again were slim to none. After all, I never came to the village.
“Seriously, smile for me before I leave.” She asked. I affected my best smile for her.
“That’s more like it. Bye now. Mwah!” She blew a kiss, picked her purse and left the venue heading off into the village beyond. I watched her walk away and it was only after she’d turned a bend and gotten out of view that I realized I hadn’t even gotten her number.
Well, no use now. She was gone, probably forever. It was already dark out. Time to go find the newlyweds before they left for their traditional honeymoon. What the hell was a traditional honeymoon anyway?
I found the couple about to leave for the airport. As soon as my sister saw me, she got down from the car and would have ran to me if her tight gown had allowed her anything beyond a hurried walk.
“Duke! Where have you been, ehn? My husband and I have been looking for you for only God knows how long.”
“I’m fine, baby sis. I no fit loss inside my own village now.” I replied her, switching to pidgin English.
“Which your village? You wey you no dey ever come house. Make I tell you something, this village people no mean betta for you o! Me, I no know why you no go just pack your things dey go house now as us too we dey comot.” She replied me, also using Pidgin English to emphasize her point.
“See Duchess, forget all that village people nonsense. I, Duke Obaìsàlè, do not fear witches. I don’t believe in any of that crap.” I returned to English this time. “Besides, Uncle Jimmy said he wanted us to go meet Bámí together later tonight.”
“NO!” my sister shouted with perhaps a bit too much force. “What do you people want to go to his house for? I don’t trust that man one bit. Just tell them you have work tomorrow or something.”
“I don’t work Saturdays sis. But tell you what? I won’t eat anything at or from his house and from there, I’m going straight to the hotel room so no harm done. Deal?”
Duchess sighed. It was the same sigh she sighed whenever she gave up asking my mother for a favor when we were kids. “Fine. But please promise me you’re not going to eat anything, hug or touch anyone. Please promise me.”
“My superstitious sister!” I teased. “I’m not afraid of witches. I’m not.” She didn’t look convinced. "Yo Ricky!” I addressed her husband who was leaning on the car watching us argue with amusement. “You afraid of witches man?”
“Well, damn man. Uh… pftt” he blew out some air while he thought. “Well, my grandmother was a witch. So… ain’t no reason to be scared of family right?”
“There you have it.” I joked. “The witches are family. I’m good.”
“I’m serious Duke.” She insisted, trying her best not to smile at the jokesters that were the men in her life.
“Okay, okay.” I finally became serious. “Even though I don’t believe in all the superstitious nonsense, I won’t eat or drink or touch anyone until I leave. And for good measure, I’m leaving before daybreak tomorrow morning.”
“Good. Still be careful though, because there is night before daybreak and-“
“Darkness functions best at night.” I chorused it with her.
She’d said that so much, it might as well be her anthem. How I got such a superstitious sister, I’ll never know.
Going with Uncle Jimmy to Bámí’s house was an uneventful, almost boring thing and the visit was looking to be the same until Bámí called for his daughter to bring out refreshments.
“Dellia!!” The elder bellowed into his house. “Where is this girl now? Dellia!”
I didn’t want to get my hopes up even though it was unlikely to be another Dellia. I was proven right when Dellia walked out with plates of food in her hands. My Dellia, not any other. The same one I had met during the traditional wedding. At this point, I was certain she was the one fated for me.
When she set the plates down in front of us, I attempted to initiate a conversation. “Hello Dellia. Remember me?”
No response. She simply walked back into what I assumed was the kitchen since I saw a fire in there. “So you’ve met my daughter ehn?” Bámí asked me. Seems he was her father and I was the visitor she had to prepare for.
“Yes sir, yes. I met her at the traditional wedding earlier today.” I said, trying to look my most respectful and respectable.
“Good, good. That is a very good thing.” Bámí seemed pleased with that development for some reason.
“Yes sir.” I replied while eyeing the food set before me. The bushmeat looked especially delicious but I had promised my sister I wouldn’t eat and so it would be. “I hope you won’t be angry sir, but I’ll be taking my food back to my hotel room with me.”
“No problem at all young man.” Bámí replied. “In fact,” just as he gestured toward the curtain, Dellia appeared there. “my daughter Dellia will take the food to your hotel room with you.”
I leaned in to whisper so only Uncle Jimmy could hear. “Do you think she’ll stay for dessert?”
My uncle knew exactly what I meant. “If I were you, I’d even turn my dessert into the main dish.” He whispered back with a grin. If Bámí or Dellia heard us, they didn’t let on.
Back at the hotel room, I tried initiating another conversation with Dellia. She remained unresponsive. I thought perhaps it was because of the situation we found ourselves in so I tried putting her mind at rest.
“Dellia listen, if it’s about sex, we don’t have to do that if you don’t want to. If it’s your father forcing you, we can just talk. We don’t even have to talk about that, we can talk about anything. Come on now, I really enjoyed our conversation earlier.”
More silence.
“Dellia, say something.” Even more silence. “Toh, if you don’t want to say anything, let’s just go to sleep then.” I said laying on the bed in frustration, facing away from her.
“You say something.”
“What?” I was happy to hear her voice again but her words confused me.
“I said you should say something. But not just anything. I want you to tell me you love me.” She said as she got up and walked toward me while undoing her gown. “Unless that’s a problem?” She asked with a raised eyebrow and the naughtiest of looks in her eyes.
“No problem here, no problem at all.” If this was what it took to get her worked up, I’d play along. Some answers first though. “But can I ask why you refused to speak to me all this while? I thought it might have been something I-“
“Shhh.” She shushed me with a finger to my lips. “Say everything else later. For now…” she punctuated her line with a kiss on my lips. The best kiss I’d ever had. “…just say you love me.”
“Oh my God! I love you Dellia!” I gasped as she broke the kiss and undid my shirt buttons.
After pulling my shirt off, she traced her fingernails across my bare chest. The sensations she gave me were like nothing else. “I love you Dellia, I love your hair, I love your deep, beautiful eyes, I love ev-“
“Seriously Duke, just say you love me. Don’t say anything else, just say you love me. Say you love me seven times.”
“Uh… sure.” I thought I was making it better complimenting different parts of her and the specific number of times kind if weirded me out but whatever she wanted was alright with me.
As she worked her fingers down from my chest to my stomach, I told her I loved her again, by the time her hands got to my belt, I’d said it again. On the third ‘I love you’, she was unbuttoning my trousers and going “Yes, tell me you love me.” Like some sort of high had taken over her.
My trousers were already off by the fourth ‘I love you’ but then something shifted. I couldn’t place my finger on it, but I could tell there was an off vibe in the room. I remembered my sister’s warning. I’d definitely done more than hug Dellia.
“Dellia, stop. Get off me.”
“No, no, no. Don’t stop now, keep going. Keep telling me you love me. Just three more left.”
“I don’t want to Dellia. This isn’t doing it for me, okay?”
“Don’t be silly. Look, I’ll blow you if you just say it three more times.” She motioned to pull down my boxers, I had to stand up, knocking her off me.
“Dellia, why do you need me to say ‘I love you’ seven times?” I was now standing in a corner of the room with my hands over my manhood with Dellia kneeling where she’d fallen on the floor.
“Just say it and you’ll find out. Trust me.” She crawled towards me on the floor with movements so seductive, they should have been illegal. I was starting to consider just going through with it.
“By the way, you have to start over from one now ‘cause you broke the chain.” She winked up at me. When had she gotten across the room? She looked so pretty. What was the worst that would happen? Maybe I should just-
RIINNGG!! RIIIIIIINGG!! My phone interrupted my thoughts. “I-I’ll get that.”
“No. Leave it. Don’t let anyone interrupt us right now okay?”
“It could be important. Let me just-“
“Just shut up and say it!!!” She screamed. My phone and a few other things got knocked clear across the room seemingly by nothing. My phone even embedded itself in the wall. It also stopped ringing which I believe was what she aimed for.
That settled it. This girl was no normal woman and I needed to get lost immediately. She stood up, and pulled me by the chain I wore around my neck, guiding me to the bed.
Seeing an opening, I reached into a reserve of power I didn’t even know I had. I pulled my neck back with enough strength to cut the chain and sprinted out the door only bending to pick up my briefs. I wore them as I ran. I could hear Dellia in the distance calling me back.
I didn’t listen, I ran to the taxi that brought me to the village. Driver always slept in his car. I knocked frantically on the windscreen as I ran up to him.
As soon as the car was unlocked, I got in and locked all the doors.
“Lagos. Take me to Lagos now. Quickly, quickly!”
“But boss, why are you not wearing any clothe?”
“I said drive!!” I yelled at the poor man as loud as I could. “Can you imagine? He’s asking why I’m not wearing clothe. Better face what you’re being paid to do and mind your business.”
“Yes sir, sorry sir.”
On our way out, we met a curious trio. Fat, elderly women. Typical village grandmothers except in that they stood blocking the only way out of the village in the middle of the night.
Driver had to stop in front of them when he saw them. Once he stopped they moved toward the car. I didn’t know what they wanted, and I did not care. I motioned with my hand for driver to move as soon as they’d cleared the way.
As though they knew, they moved to block the way again. This scared me even more since I’d put my hand in a place they couldn’t possibly have seen it.
Turns out, all they wanted was for me to advertise some handmade wooden beads for them back in Lagos. They seemed ominous though. Especially when one of them spoke to me and I could swear she had at least ten voices leaving her mouth at once.
All in all, I’d left the village in one piece and thought I was free, little did I know, the village went back to Lagos with me. And that the hotel would be far from my final encounter with Dellia.
Note:
This is a series based on a movie of the same name which I think had a great concept but terrible execution. I am also aware that I had a series I begun here but did not finish and that is because i haven't worked out some things. But once I do, I'll get back on it.
Next
2024.06.02 19:01 arsp9az Goodfood or chefs plate free box
Hello canadians! Send me a pm if you would like a link for a free box from good food or chefs plate!
submitted by arsp9az to SubscriptionBoxes [link] [comments]
2024.06.02 18:29 Repulsive-Tip2291 Who is going to tell this person MSRP is not real??
 | Looks like this person sells random Vintage items and has way more faith in BP than she should😂 submitted by Repulsive-Tip2291 to BombPartyGossip [link] [comments] |
2024.06.02 17:16 Interesting_Ad4603 Massive NBA Collection 2019-2024
Hey guys. I’m posting this massive NBA collection on a few of my social media accounts before I put a ton of hours into listing on eBay. I have somewhere around 6000+ NBA cards with 99.9% spanning from 2019-2024. Everything is in order alphabetically by team, then alphabetically by player inside the team. There are a few outliers in here that I threw in like early 90’s Shaq, but I think that’s it.
The ONLY base cards in this collection are rookie cards and inserts. Any veteran card in this collection is going to be some sort of parallel, auto, patch, serial #’d, or a combination of what I just mentioned. I have a few pictures below of some cards I pulled out of the collection.
I’m hoping to offload these cards by team or at least by player.
Last, I also have a bunch of singles I’m selling separately. I included a very small number of those cards in the pictures below as well. Feel free to comment or DM me directly if you want to work out a deal, or see specific cards in better detail.
I’m willing to go under comps obviously to account for the eBay fees I’ll be able to avoid.
Check out my seller account on eBay with a long list of great reviews - FosterFinds410
submitted by Interesting_Ad4603 to sportscards [link] [comments]
The ONLY base cards in this collection are rookie cards and inserts. Any veteran card in this collection is going to be some sort of parallel, auto, patch, serial #’d, or a combination of what I just mentioned. I have a few pictures below of some cards I pulled out of the collection.
I’m hoping to offload these cards by team or at least by player.
Last, I also have a bunch of singles I’m selling separately. I included a very small number of those cards in the pictures below as well. Feel free to comment or DM me directly if you want to work out a deal, or see specific cards in better detail.
I’m willing to go under comps obviously to account for the eBay fees I’ll be able to avoid.
Check out my seller account on eBay with a long list of great reviews - FosterFinds410
2024.06.02 17:10 arrow-bane The Wandering God - Chapter 1: Waldo
Waldo could feel the tension in his body. He hated breaches. He used to be a general in the armada. Waldo had not figured out exactly what happened but in a few weeks leadership had changed all across the galaxy. Waldo had sensed something was different and Waldo had changed his identity adding himself to a low level unit while he tried to figure out what had caused the change. However, his contracts slowly disappeared and he was having a hard time cultivating new ones. Waldo had heard the name Bastion a lot in the changeover and Jonah seemed to have fallen off his radar, which Waldo found very distressing. So now he was just a lower level grunt Waldo had to follow orders and keep his identity hidden. That meant he saw lots of action thus why he was on a breaching team. All the prep in the world never made him feel safe on a breach and they had no prep time for this one. Toby slammed the charge on the handle of the Iron door and deftly ran the blasting cord around the frame, in a single smooth motion. Waldo felt Juan tense in front of him as they prepped for entry after the blast. Waldo would be second in on this one having lost the coin toss. Not that he really minded due to the lack of information. Juan would be going right, Waldo had the left, and Brett would be going down the middle. Juan, Waldo, or Brett always led the breaching team; they were their units cowboys. At least, that is what they called themselves. Their lieutenant Frank called them his lovely ladies but everyone was a girl to Frank. Waldo didn’t care about it, Brett would get angry with Frank out of combat, and Juan only ever laughed over it. Waldo was pretty sure Brett was putting up a show as he had caught Brett offering to be a bottom to a guy at a bar three months ago, which had led to him swearing secrecy over it. Waldo found himself smiling as Frank started into it.
“Lovely ladies, Juanita, Betty, and Wilma. Tina is spreading her legs in three.” Frank said loud enough for the breaching team to hear as he raised his hand holding up three fingers starting a countdown to Waldo’s 4th breach of the day. As the door blasted in they moved smoothly forward like a well rehearsed dance. Juan moved through the door into a hallway with Waldo close on his tail. Waldo saw it a second too late as Juan had completely missed the tripwire. Waldo grabbed Juan a hair too slow as Juan’s foot hit the wire tripping whatever the trap was. Waldo felt the magic in the blast before he heard the tremendous roar. Waldo felt himself pushed back by Juan while trying to pull him. Waldo felt certain he had Juan’s pack firmly gripped as he fell back. Suddenly, there was nothing in his hands. The air felt cool and instead of the hot sun beating down he felt a warm glow off to his left.
Waldo rolled to his feet and spun, assessing the room, but everything was wrong. He had lifted his rifle up to sight as he spun but it was missing so instead in the middle of the spin he drew his side arm. However, as he finished his spin his arm fell loosely to his side. Waldo stood in the middle of three empty round tables. In what, he would call the common room of a themed bar or restaurant. He saw humanoid creatures standing near a long wooden bar with 4 patrons seated at it and another dozen or so scattered around the room with more on the two levels above him. Off to the side of a warm glow that Waldo realized there was a fireplace with a fire happily burning in it and there was a stage. Waldo would have loved to hear the music from the group on stage with their odd assortment of instruments but it was at this moment Waldo realized the blast had deafened him. Waldo felt certain no one would attack him, having noticed an odd assortment of humanoids. Waldo saw gnolls, tabaxi, and maybe lizardperson. Waldo holstered his side arm but in looking down he noticed a growing pool of blood at his feet and saw a piece of rebar sticking out of his arm. Waldo saw the enchantments engraved in the rebar and part of him said magic wasn’t real then something else said that humans were the only intelligent race. Waldo pushed those back knowing better. He had seen lots of races and humans were just one of them. Waldo felt more than one voice trying to take control and he pushed back, calming his mind. Waldo attempted to quiet his mind as he was flooded with memories and thoughts he did not recognize as he pushed against them he felt someone or something help him in quieting his mind.
Waldo had not noticed the pain of his injury because of how much adrenaline was pumping through him. Waldo examined the rebar seeing the blood running down his arm. Waldo estimated he had ten minutes before blood loss would start to impact him if it did not clot on its own. Waldo glanced around the room seeing a few gnolls who had noticed him but no one seemed to care and decided he could care for the wound. Waldo grabbed the quick releases on his backpacks shoulder straps letting his bag fall onto a table he positioned behind him. Waldo quickly turned to face the bag and flipped it over so he could easily access it. Waldo grabbed a strap on the pack and deftly released it. Wrapping the loose strap above where the rebar was sticking out of his arm. Waldo smoothly grabbed his folding knife, flicking it open and cutting the sleeve away. Waldo placed the sleeve on the table and checked to see if it was all there or a piece was missing. Waldo grimace realizing a piece of sleeve is probably in his muscle. Waldo flicked the knife closed and placed it next to the sleeve. Waldo pulled out a bottle of water, a small bottle of rubbing alcohol, a healing tonic, and a sealed bandage for once it was clean. Waldo was so focused on what he was doing at the table he had not noticed the small group that had gathered behind him.
“I don’t think he can hear us.” Strisk, a large drake, said, preparing to tap the strange human’s shoulder to get his attention.
“Really, Strisk. You don’t think the guy bleeding on the floor that I shouted at can hear us?” Lydia, the only human in the commons, asked angrily, placing her hands on her hips.
“I think he is going to pull that piece of metal out of his arm.” Kna, the gnollish innkeeper and owner of the establishment, said surprised. Watching Waldo’s back tense as he stretched his arm out to the table. Grabbing the rebar in his other hand.
“Sir! Don’t!” Lydia screamed as Waldo ripped the 4 inch piece of rebar stuck halfway in his arm out.
“Fuck!” Waldo yelled as the piece of metal came free. Waldo looked it over for cloth finding a small piece that he carefully removed from the end of the rebar and placed in the hole of the sleeve and frowning seeing there was still more. Waldo screamed as the onlookers watched him shove his fingers into the hole in skin.
“Strisk, help me stop him.” Lydia said. Grabbing Waldo’s arm. Strisk hesitated. A moment before grabbing Waldo’s other arm.
"Stop! There is more fabric in my arm!” Waldo screamed as the two strangers forced his arms apart. Waldo looked at the sleeve. Unsure if they could even understand him. The strangers released Waldo as he attacked the problem again.
“Aer, go get me water. I will clean this up once he is done” Lydia said, to a gnoll barmaid nearby, deciding to stay next to this stranger.
“I’ll get the mop and some rags to help.” Kna said not wanting to watch anymore and stepping away.
Waldo pulled out a piece of fabric and placed it in the sleeve. Smiling now that he could account for all of the sleeve. Waldo grabbed the water bottle using his teeth to remove the lid and poured it down his arm. Followed by the rubbing alcohol to which he could not help but scream again as it burned.
“That looks bad.” Strisk said, fingering a potion at his hip. Seeing Waldo was prepared to heal the slow way. Strisk was trying to decide whether or not to help the stranger out by giving him the healing potion he carried as a city guard.
Waldo was looking at the hole in his arm knowing it would take time to heal even with the help of the tonic. He estimated it would be a day or two. Waldo looked back at the lizard person standing behind him in armor. Waldo grimaced as he drank the healing tonic. Waldo looked at the only human girl in the commons. Waldo instantly recognized her but could see she did not recognize him. Waldo hated this feeling but took his time looking over her sandy blonde hair and the gentle curves of her face. Waldo let his eyes wander across her chest and down her legs to the floor even though there was not much to see since she wore a high neck dress that was rather plain. Waldo expected she worked here and was not one to take crap from the patrons. However, Waldo knew her face and her shape as just as he remembered her, he did not need her clothes off to tell this. Waldo turned back to the table and opened the bandage and applied it to his arm. “He took his time looking you over.” Strisk said, eying Lydia himself.
“At least, he seems to know not to touch.” Lydia said, without looking at Strisk. She had been rebuffing advances from him and other drakes like him since she took the job. She hated the drakes, which was not unreasonable as they had burned her home to the ground, killed her parents, her betrothed, and enslaved her for five years. Lydia had fled to the nearest city not under drake control once she was freed. Lydia knew that not all drakes are slavers but getting over somethings are easier than others.
“Do you think he can hear us?” Strisk asked, ignoring the jab not wanting to be thrown out by Kna again. Strisk still was fingering the healing potion not having decided on whether or not to offer it. The human seemed to be taking things to remedy his condition. Strisk stood over the two humans by about a foot when he extended to his full height at the moment he was hunched down a bit so he did not tower over them. Strisk thought he looked good this evening having cared for his bronze scales before coming to Kna’s inn. Waldo rolled up the sleeve and piece of rebar and placed it in his pack then pulled out a healing tonic with a dropper on it and a tin a bit larger than his hand slipping the tin into a pocket. Waldo used the dropper to put a few drops of his second healing tonic down each of his ears. Waldo knew it would take a minute for the tonic to kick in and heal enough damage to restore hearing. Waldo returned the spare tonic to the pack and turned around letting his eyes meet Lydia’s. Waldo thought he saw her eyeing him and she had a small smile on her face as their eyes met. Her face made various emotions flare inside him and it had to focus to stay in control feeling a bit like someone else was trying to take control. Waldo felt his hearing return as the sounds of the room washed over him.
“Hello.” Waldo said, smiling at the woman ignoring the large lizardperson or dragonkin. Waldo could not really tell but he knew getting it wrong would probably offend them.
“Hey, I am guardsmen Strisk.” Strisk said. Waldo glanced at the drake and then looked back at the woman. She crossed her arms and her smile turned to a frown. Waldo could not help but think crossing her arms only accentuated a certain feminine feature of her form.
“Any chance I could get your name?” Waldo asked, meeting the woman’s eyes.
“Lydia. Why are you bleeding on our floor and where did you come from?” Lydia asked, feeling her pulse raise with the way he was looking at her. Lydia had not been in the presence of a human male for ten years. Lydia had not been avoiding them there just weren’t many humans in the city she had fled to and she would not risk going back to drake territory as much as part of her wanted certain things, saving up to get off his continent had been her focus. Human also from what she had seen human men did not survive long under the abuse the drakes applied to there slaves in the nearby Xalas empire. “I am Waldo Winter.” Waldo introduced himself looking at Lydia. “As for why I am bleeding, I think it was an explosion of some kind. The shockwave knocked out my hearing. I am from Halcyon. I was in an outlying district at the time of the explosion and the wood in this room tells me I am not there anymore.” Waldo stated calmly.
“So you entered Protham via an unauthorized teleport?” Strisk asked, trying to sound official.
“One I did not initialize or agree to but yes. Are you going to arrest me?” Waldo asked.
“I will have to report it. I will let someone else decide if you should be arrested. Assuming you don’t cause additional trouble.” Strisk said.
“It is an honour to make your acquaintance Strisk. Thank you for not arresting me.” Waldo said, giving Strisk a smile before turning back to Lydia.
“Why were you caught in an explosion?” Strisk asked the strange human, smiling back at him since he was being respectful.
“Well that is a little difficult. I was entering a suspected criminal's residence just before finding myself standing in this lovely room.” Waldo said deciding to omit details since it would be simpler than explaining. “There was an explosion of some kind and then I was here. I have to assume the hunk of metal hit me before I appeared here somehow.”
“Sounds like a teleport spell gone wrong.” Lydia said, allowing herself a moment to look over Waldo since he was not causing trouble. She could see the muscles in his arm and thought she recognized his jawline but knew that could not be the case since she had no idea where Halcyon was.
“I wouldn’t know much about that. I can only hope my brothers are alright. Can one of you tell me where I am?” Waldo asked, masking his face, wondering if he had died. The blast had been strong enough to rupture his ears. Waldo was not sure he could have actually survived, even with Juan in front of him. Waldo expected he had died and this was some sort of reincarnation. Waldo knew he could not return home if the was an arrival on this planet as a child of Halcyon he had heard of this experience but this was his first time. As he thought about this he realized he did not want to go back even if he could. He had been in hiding and now he was probably well outside of the problems he had and doubted anyone hunting him would keep it up after death if he had died. If not then he was incredibly lucky he had landed in a place where he did not die instantly. Looking at Lydia something told him that someone powerful had intervened but Waldo could not imagine who. Jonah had abandoned him and Waldo could not think of another player with enough power to do anything who would also care about him.
“Spriggan Inn, in Protham.” Lydia said, looking carefully at Waldo. Aer walked over carrying a rag and pushing a bucket of steaming water. Kna walked over with a mop and an empty bucket to wring the mop out.
“Oh, thank you.” Waldo said, taking the mop from Kna and starting to clean up.
“Protham is nowhere special, Lydia. We are a weeks travel from Neakar City. Neakar is the district capital here and a port city.” Strisk said, looking at Lydia.
“You don’t have to do that.” Kna said, as Waldo deftly cleaned up the blood on the floor. “Just let him. He is probably in shock.” Strisk said, as they watched Waldo clean the floor easily.
“Just a bit.” Waldo said after a moment, having finished mopping and given the mop back to Kna. Waldo used one of the rages Aer had to clean the table his pack had been on ending by wiping the drying blood from his ears. Waldo looked down and realized he was a mess.
“How far did you travel?” Aer asked, frowning having heard the conversation.
“Far enough, those names mean nothing to me.” Waldo replied.
“So you are gonna need work.” Strisk half asked and half told Waldo.
“Seems like that would be wise.” Waldo said, placing the rag over the edge of the bucket holding the dirty water from Waldo’s cleaning efforts.
“Protham needs good city guards.” Strisk said, smiling. “I can get you an interview tomorrow. I will come by tomorrow morning and get you. If you are interested?”
“I’ll need some training on your laws, but sounds interesting to me.” Waldo said, sticking out his hand to Strisk. Strisk looked at it a moment then realized he was supposed to grab it and did with his clawed hand.
“Thanks, for your help Strisk.” Waldo said, firmly shaking Strisk’s hand.
“Sounds like you want a room for the night. Unless, Strisk is offering to pay. Do you have any money?” Kna asked, frowning at Strisk.
“You can put one night on my tab, Kna.” Strisk said.
“Only if you pay your tab off tonight.” Kna said, feeling a bit bad but knowing Strisk’s tab was getting out of hand.
“Do you accept silver?” Waldo asked, before Strisk could reply to Kna.
“Yes, take a seat and I will get my scales.” Kna said, having heard enough to know she was going to need to calculate an exchange.
“I am glad you happened to have some coin on you.” Strisk said, frowning at Kna’s back.
“Yeah, my dad was big into carrying certain things every day. Good thing, I listened to him cause I bet my country's paper money is worthless here.” Waldo said, pulling the tin out of his pocket and carefully opening to make sure it was the right one then closing it again.
“Well, your bag is probably worth quite a bit. I have never seen anything like it. Fine craftsmanship.” Aer said, examining his pack.
“I would rather not part with it if possible.” Waldo said sitting down at the table his bag had been on since he moved it to the floor beside the table in cleaning the table. Strisk sat down across from him as did Aer with Lydia sitting close and she was still looking at him.
“Lydia, you are being weird.” Aer said, quietly.
“Looks like Lydia wants to bed the man.” Strisk said, frowning at Lydia.
“Watch it, Strisk.” Lydia said to Strisk with an edge in her voice. “Waldo just reminds me of someone.” Lydia followed up with a softer tone.
“Good memories I hope. I think I’d like to get to know you.” Waldo responded, not looking away from Lydia. “You remind me of… Someone.”
“Well, be nice and maybe we can share some memories.” Lydia replied, not breaking his gaze. Waldo felt there were some additional implications in her words.
“Is there a price?” Waldo asked, before he could stop himself. Waldo was not entirely sure where the words had come from in saying them they just burst from his lips like someone else was running the show. The words had sent Lydia’s hand flying. Waldo easily caught it mid air. “I will take that as a no, which is nice. A woman with a price isn’t a woman worth having.” Waldo said, speaking again without being sure where the word came from. Waldo wondered if he was going mad but something told him he was not. Waldo edged closer to Lydia as he thought this and realized he seemed to be of multiple minds in this moment. Words and actions happening that he was not sure were all him. Aer and Strisk were watching in surprise. “Maybe I misinterpreted your words.”
“If you can pay for your room. I am willing to let the words go. Now if you would let me go.” Lydia responded, carefully feeling the strength in his arm and seeing the ease with which he caught her slap. She had used a skill to hit him, one that had landed on Strisks and other guardsmen when they got out of hand. She felt he could be dangerous and even though he had caught the slap and was easily holding her arm in place he was not hurting her. In fact once she relaxed, from making the slap, she realized how relaxed he was in stopping her slap. She saw him considering letting her go. She met his eyes letting her anger show at being held in place. Lydia realized how close he had come moving a little to block her slap and left him close enough she felt his breath on her face. Lydia realized she was breathing on him too and something in his eyes seemed to be enjoying the closeness they were sharing.
“I want a taste.” Waldo said, kissing her before she could react and sliding his hand along her back. Lydia wanted to struggle but part of her had been aching for this for years and she did not put up a fight. After a moment she found she was kissing him back for a moment and just as she was about to pull away. He did first. Waldo had been wanting to kiss her since he had laid eyes on her and at least this time he was sure that was him. “Well, that was… special.” Waldo felt a memory tug at him in the back of his mind. One of a girl that looked just like this woman.
“Maybe, for you.” Lydia said, trying to hide how much she enjoyed it. Waldo released her hand and turned looking for Kna. Waldo watched Kna approach with the scales. Waldo quickly opened the tin, pulling out a bundle of five carefully wrapped gold coins before closing it again and placing the tin back in a pocket.
Waldo unwrapped the coins asking “What exchange rate can you offer on these?” Aer gave a quiet gasp at the sight of them. Waldo feared he had made a mistake. As kna set the scales on the table.
“You have gold?” Strisk asked. Kna seemed unphased as Kna placed the coins on one side of the scale and started to carefully weigh them.
“Just a little. For an emergency.” Waldo responded.
“That should be enough to live here for a month.” Strisk stated, watching Kna carefully.
“You underestimate my rates. This will buy you three weeks.” Kna stated, as the scales balanced.
“What? That is highway robbery!” Strisk said.
“I have to take them to a blacksmith to get them minted in local coinage, they will need to be paid. Or I will have to take them to a money changer, who will also take a cut.” Kna stated.
“What would that include?” Waldo said, realizing his hand had wandered from his leg and found Lydia hand grabbing it tightly. Waldo felt Lydia tense as Waldo grabbed her hand but noticed she did not pull away from the sudden contact.
“A room, hot bath every day, standard laundry service, the common breakfast, and dinner daily with one pint of house ale. You will have to pay for lunch if you come here to eat.” Kna said, listing from memory the services she included in her standard room offering.
“Sounds good to me.” Waldo said smiling and looking out the window confirming it was dark. “I assume we are in the middle of dinner?” Waldo asked, hopefully.
“Yes.” Kna answered.
“May I take dinner in my room? I would like to wash myself before bed. It has been a surprising day.” Waldo asked Kna.
“Yes! I will grab you a plate and show you to your room.” Lydia said, releasing Waldo hand and standing. Waldo let her hand go as she stood. Kna at Lydia with what Waldo expected was motherly concern. As Lydia turned away to get the room key and a plate of food.
“Is there running water in the room?” Waldo asked Kna.
“Yes, but I cannot recommend using it for anything other than bathing.” Kna said.
“It is fine I can purify water. Can I get this filled with water?” Waldo asked, holding out a metal canteen.
“Yes. Aer go fill this and bring it back.” Kna said, handing the canteen to Aer who quickly walked off. “Leave Strisk. I would have a word alone with this man.” Kna growled at Strisk looking angrily. Strisk knew better than to argue with Kna when she gave him this look.
“I’ll see you tomorrow, Waldo.” Strisk said standing to his whole sevenish feet of height stretching as he walked away. Waldo only now realized how small he was compared to Strisk.
“Indeed.” Waldo said to Strisk and turned back to Kna.
“I have never seen Lydia take to a man as she has to you. Have you cast a spell on her?” Kna asked Waldo. Waldo burst out laughing, taking a moment to control himself.
“I have no skill in that kind of magic. If you know how to test one for magic I would happily submit. I suspect I know why she has taken to me but there is nothing magical about it.” Waldo said, having gained control of the strange urge to laugh at magic.
“Why?” Kna asked, eyeing him coldly.
“Now why should I answer you?” Waldo asked. “What do you care for, of freed slaves? Or are you not her enslaver?” Kna drew back surprised.
“You said you knew nothing of this place?” Kna replied.
“I have never heard of this city in my life or this land, but I have eyes. Lydia is the only human here beside me. You are a gnoll and Strisk is one of the scaled people’s. I never been around any of them long enough to learn to tell them apart. Lydia clearly has some aversion to Strisk which seems to be unconscious on some level. That suggests it is not that she does not simply dislike him but something more than that. It is obvious to me that she does not belong here and would choose another home, but something prevents that. When I kissed her I ran my hand down her back. I felt the cursed marks of a whip. Is she a free woman or do you own her?” Waldo said, sliding his hand to the knife attached to his lower back.
“My people do not enslave others. She is free. I did not know she hated it here.” Kna said going from angry to crestfallen. “I did not know she had been a drake's slave.”
“You will say nothing of this. If you value your friendship with her. I did not say she hated it here. She works for you, which I expect is because you are not a drake and probably more than that. I get the sense she misses her people. How long has she been here?” Waldo replied, smoothing his voice.
“Several years.” Kna said, drifting in her own thoughts.
“If she hated you she would have left. You must make her feel safe in a dark place so she does not wander from your light.” Waldo said.
“All the more reason to not let her be abused.” Kna said, gauging Waldo.
“You misunderstand something. I will always respect Ma laska.” Waldo said, changing languages without thinking and looking to where Lydia stood talking to Aer as a memory flooded over him for a moment. Waldo felt the other part of him pushing forward for a moment. “Good help you have. Deftly slowing Lydia while we talk.”
“What is ma laska?” Kna asked. Waldo hesitated, surprised by Kna's words, then realized he had called Lydia by accident. Waldo knew what it meant somehow but decided he better not translate it directly.
“A woman’s right.” Waldo said, choosing a lie over the truth. “Or at least that is a close enough translation in this context.”
“So that is another language?” Kna asked.
“Yes, one from my a place long ago.” Waldo answered. “Have we not strayed topics at this point?”
“I think I have made myself clear and you have made yourself clear now.” Kna said, glancing at Aer and making a low growl. “I will let Lydia make herself clear as she chooses. Now that I do not think you will take something Lydia does not freely offer.”
“Have you accepted her as your cub?” Waldo asked, turning to look at Kna.
“I ha... “ Kna stopped herself, looking surprised at Waldo.
“I see it in your eyes, witness it in your fur, and hear it in your voice. She is a daughter in your house. Does she know or do you keep it a secret from all but those who know how to see?” Waldo asked, calmly moving past Kna’s surprise.
“You said.” Kna started to accuse trying to remember his words.
“I have not seen another race in so long. I cannot tell the scaled races apart. However, I ran with a pack for six years. I was a brother to a gnoll, and son to his parents. I sat at their table and went on their hunts. I sang the rights and washed in their bath. I was once an adopted son, which fills me with pride. If you are not a slaver then I would call you friend.” Waldo said quickly as Lydia approached. Just as he finished speaking he gave a quiet howl in the gnoll tongue he had learned many years ago living on the plains of Halcyon long before the war that had landed him here. Aer stopped mid-step and stared at Waldo as the gnolls in the room turned looking at the grimy human who had named himself to the room in gnollish. Kna openly stared surprised Waldo had been named and knew the proper introduction for himself in a public place. Lydia was confused as to her it appeared Waldo was growling threateningly at Kna. Suddenly, the room responded with a quite gnollish welcome that made Lydia jump. Aer gently placed her hand on Lydia’s shoulder.
“They are greeting Waldo in our tongue.” Aer explained to Lydia, seeing she did not know what was happening in the room.
“He speaks gnollish?” Lydia said surprised.
“I guess.” Aer said, pulling her hand back and moving forward again.
“Why did you not say something before?” Kna asked, Waldo as Lydia and Aer walked up. Aer set his canteen on the table.
“It was not the time. All things have a place and now was this things place.” Waldo responded.
“You are a strange human, but I am comforted and feel as if there is nothing to fear.” Kna said to Waldo then turned to Lydia. “Lydia, you may do as you will the rest of the night and I will not interfere.”
“Thank you. May we call this the end of my shift then.” Lydia asked, feeling a little excited. Aer turned moving around the room with the other staff in the inn.
“Away with you before I find a need for your aid in tending to my customers. Who I have ignored, too long.” Kna said quickly moving away to help her staff tend to tables. Waldo picked up his pack and canteen.
“Lead on, Ma laska.” Waldo said, nodding to Lydia.
“Ma laska?” Lydia questioned not saying it quite right.
“Sorry, my lady. Old habits.” Waldo said, lying again feeling unsure as to why he felt like he was fighting to stay in control. Lydia raised an eyebrow questioningly but led on. Waldo followed her up the stairs to the second floor and down a hallway lined with six doors. She stopped in front of the door and placed a brass coin over the lock which clicked and the door swung open. Led him into a good sided room with an all wood floor and completely open. A large bed was on one side of the room, a table with two chairs by the door. Space at the foot of the bed. There was space between the bed and a bathtub with a toilet near the back wall with a screen by the toilet and a sink between the tub and toilet. The room was lit by glowing stones fixed to the walls Waldo saw what appeared to be a control for the glowing stones by the door before the table and chairs. There were towels by the sink. Lydia set the plate on the table and the brass coin next to it. Waldo set his bag at the foot of the bed and started to strip away his body armor until he heard the door shut causing him to turn. Waldo smiled seeing Lyida had not left.
“Would you like help?” Lydia asked, slowly walking to him with a gaze that excited Waldo. The kiss he had stolen had aroused something in Lydia and the urges she had been pushing back had rushed forward.
“I can manage. I am just removing some outer layers. They are deceptively heavy.” Waldo responded.
“Please allow me. I want to.” Lydia said, stepping next to him quickly. Waldo allowed her to help him, carefully guiding her hands to the straps holding the armor in place and allowing their fingers to get tangled. “You seem to be intentionally making this difficult.” Lydia accused, after it took almost a full minute to unhook one strap.
“Does it bother you?” Waldo asked, playfully nudging her and Lydia realized he was enjoying the delay.
“Your food will get cold…” Lydia said, blushing as she started to enjoy the fumbling of their hands and his contact.
“Hot or cold it is still food. However, this moment... is all its own.” Waldo said, dragging out her helping him remove his outer layers, which took another five or more minutes. After which, they sat across from each other as he ate his dinner. Lydia studied him as he ate.
“Have we met before?” Lydia asked, feeling at ease in his presence.
“After a manner…I believe so but not for more than a lifetime.” Waldo responded. “Do you believe in reincarnation?”
“Reincarnation?” Lydia asked not being familiar with the word.
“My people believe when you die a piece of you, what we would call a soul, starts a new life.” Waldo explained.
“I am not much for religion. In my homeland, they said the gods are dead. The Drakes of Xalas seem to think there are gods and people have souls. Most of the gnolls of Grofeas say there are no gods but there is a temple to the gnoll god in Protham and I believe the high priestess is the wife of the city's guard captain.” Lydia replied.
“Xalas? Grofeas?” Waldo asked, suspecting these are countries.
“Neakar, a large city in the Xalas empire. It even has a palace for the emperor. I don’t think it is the capital of the Xalas empire but I might be wrong. The Grofeas plains are ruled by the gnoll tribes. There are not very many cities on the Grofeas plains and Xalas has tentative peace with the plains gnolls that largely control Grofeas. Protham is the first city in the Grofeas plains after leaving the Xalas empire. Mostly, the Drakes have mined the Grofeas plains of all they are interested in so they leave them alone.” Lydia explained.
“What is your home land called?” Waldo asked.
“Northumbria, but last I heard it fell to the drakes in the war. I was captured before the Northumbrian king fell. The Teaniel Empire is the last human hold out against the drakes and if it falls the drakes will effectively rule the continent of Atios. Not that they bother much with the Grofeas plains.” Lydia explained.
“Ah, so you stay because there is no easy human stronghold to flee to?” Waldo questioned.
“I am trying to save up to go to Ibrix but that is a long boat ride off after traveling to the only gnoll port city because I refuse to go back into the Xalas empire. Only problem is Grofeas port city is three hundred leagues to the south east of here. The roads are less than safe and each year there are only about three caravans that make the trek. If I were to cross alone it is unlikely I would make it. The cost of going from here to Ibrix are a little more than a year's wage working here.” Lydia explained sadly.
“How many humans reside in Protham?” Waldo asked.
“Twelve. All women. Eight are too old for the trek and two are too young to go alone.” Lydia said.
“All former slaves of the drakes I assume.” Waldo said.
“What?” Lydia said surprised.
“I worked interrogations. I learned to read what was left unspoken. You have nothing to fear from me. Slavery is the evilest form of commerce.” Waldo said, kneeling by his chair with his back to Lydia and bearing it. Lydia saw thin white scars from wounds that had healed and been reopened only to heal again over and over again. Lydia was speechless. After a moment Waldo covered himself and sat down facing her.
“How did you know?” Lydia questioned. Waldo slid his chair close to her so they were a breath apart. Lydia stared at him waiting for an answer when he kissed her. This time she felt his hand running down her back touching her hidden marks. Waldo pulled back from the kiss after a moment.
“Slavers tend to have the same tricks. They leave the same marks on one's body and some people's souls.” Waldo said quietly as he sat a breaths distance from Lydia’s face. The moment stretched as shared history passed between them and without a word spoken they had shared secrets too dark to udder in the quiet of the room then there was a roar of cheers from the commons breaking the spell that dark secrets of shared history had woven for a moment.
“I hope we can talk more.” Lydia said, after a moment now that the spell was broken. Lydia stood now that her head had cleared. Lydia was not sure what she would do if she stayed and questioned what she wanted.
“Will you stay?” Waldo asked, gently touching Lydia’s hand. Lydia did not pull away. Standing Lydia moved to the door. She intended to open the door and leave but she grabbed the night lock turning the knob. Waldo was not sure what he expected but he would not stop her from leaving. Waldo heard the door lock click into place, Lydia took a few steps toward the bath and moved her hair to one side exposing the ties along her back. Waldo stood and moved to her beginning to untie her dress. Once he was done. Lydia let the dress fall to the floor. Time stretched and shortened all at once and before he knew it exhaustion took them as they lay on the bed together. Lydia snuggled up to him and in a moment her breathing was even and gentle. Waldo knew she had fallen asleep in that moment of respite. Waldo watched her for a moment only to realize how tired he was and started to doze off but just as he heard a voice speak in his mind.
“Class gained Soldier, Level one. Skill gained, find allegiance.”
“Cancel! Reject!” Waldo whispered, angrily not wanting to wake Lydia.
“Class and level canceled.”
Waldo was fully awake now. Realizing he is on a game world, Waldo frowned. He considered this for a moment. Waldo had heard of these but never been on one. Now the injury made more sense. He had died on Halcyon. Waldo wondered if Jonah even cared that he had died. Waldo took a moment to consider the implications of being on a gaming world. There would be no intergalactic armada base here. Waldo knew the gaming worlds had been cut off, largely due to proximity. All the gaming worlds were the opposite side of the galaxy. The armada was still a thousand years of growth away. Waldo now knew with certainty there was no simple way back. As he considered this he realized there might be a way. Waldo thought about it for a few minutes as the idea grew in his mind and realized he truly did not want to go back. “I am a God.” Waldo thought to himself, Waldo felt something rush to the front of his mind, something that believed it or he was a god.
“Class gained God, level one. Skill gained, anoint worshiper. Quest assigned, claim domain.”
Waldo smiled, surprised it was that simple. Waldo considered trying to cancel it but part of him said if he was going to stay here he might as well be a god. Thinking he could do anything as a god. Another part said it was a bad idea and it would not be easy. Waldo wondered why he was feeling so conflicted about everything and why he did not feel like he was in perfect control. Then he wondered if the gods were dead on this world, would he be the only god around, and if so what domain he should claim. Waldo slowly drifted to sleep with these conflicting thoughts.
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“Lovely ladies, Juanita, Betty, and Wilma. Tina is spreading her legs in three.” Frank said loud enough for the breaching team to hear as he raised his hand holding up three fingers starting a countdown to Waldo’s 4th breach of the day. As the door blasted in they moved smoothly forward like a well rehearsed dance. Juan moved through the door into a hallway with Waldo close on his tail. Waldo saw it a second too late as Juan had completely missed the tripwire. Waldo grabbed Juan a hair too slow as Juan’s foot hit the wire tripping whatever the trap was. Waldo felt the magic in the blast before he heard the tremendous roar. Waldo felt himself pushed back by Juan while trying to pull him. Waldo felt certain he had Juan’s pack firmly gripped as he fell back. Suddenly, there was nothing in his hands. The air felt cool and instead of the hot sun beating down he felt a warm glow off to his left.
Waldo rolled to his feet and spun, assessing the room, but everything was wrong. He had lifted his rifle up to sight as he spun but it was missing so instead in the middle of the spin he drew his side arm. However, as he finished his spin his arm fell loosely to his side. Waldo stood in the middle of three empty round tables. In what, he would call the common room of a themed bar or restaurant. He saw humanoid creatures standing near a long wooden bar with 4 patrons seated at it and another dozen or so scattered around the room with more on the two levels above him. Off to the side of a warm glow that Waldo realized there was a fireplace with a fire happily burning in it and there was a stage. Waldo would have loved to hear the music from the group on stage with their odd assortment of instruments but it was at this moment Waldo realized the blast had deafened him. Waldo felt certain no one would attack him, having noticed an odd assortment of humanoids. Waldo saw gnolls, tabaxi, and maybe lizardperson. Waldo holstered his side arm but in looking down he noticed a growing pool of blood at his feet and saw a piece of rebar sticking out of his arm. Waldo saw the enchantments engraved in the rebar and part of him said magic wasn’t real then something else said that humans were the only intelligent race. Waldo pushed those back knowing better. He had seen lots of races and humans were just one of them. Waldo felt more than one voice trying to take control and he pushed back, calming his mind. Waldo attempted to quiet his mind as he was flooded with memories and thoughts he did not recognize as he pushed against them he felt someone or something help him in quieting his mind.
Waldo had not noticed the pain of his injury because of how much adrenaline was pumping through him. Waldo examined the rebar seeing the blood running down his arm. Waldo estimated he had ten minutes before blood loss would start to impact him if it did not clot on its own. Waldo glanced around the room seeing a few gnolls who had noticed him but no one seemed to care and decided he could care for the wound. Waldo grabbed the quick releases on his backpacks shoulder straps letting his bag fall onto a table he positioned behind him. Waldo quickly turned to face the bag and flipped it over so he could easily access it. Waldo grabbed a strap on the pack and deftly released it. Wrapping the loose strap above where the rebar was sticking out of his arm. Waldo smoothly grabbed his folding knife, flicking it open and cutting the sleeve away. Waldo placed the sleeve on the table and checked to see if it was all there or a piece was missing. Waldo grimace realizing a piece of sleeve is probably in his muscle. Waldo flicked the knife closed and placed it next to the sleeve. Waldo pulled out a bottle of water, a small bottle of rubbing alcohol, a healing tonic, and a sealed bandage for once it was clean. Waldo was so focused on what he was doing at the table he had not noticed the small group that had gathered behind him.
“I don’t think he can hear us.” Strisk, a large drake, said, preparing to tap the strange human’s shoulder to get his attention.
“Really, Strisk. You don’t think the guy bleeding on the floor that I shouted at can hear us?” Lydia, the only human in the commons, asked angrily, placing her hands on her hips.
“I think he is going to pull that piece of metal out of his arm.” Kna, the gnollish innkeeper and owner of the establishment, said surprised. Watching Waldo’s back tense as he stretched his arm out to the table. Grabbing the rebar in his other hand.
“Sir! Don’t!” Lydia screamed as Waldo ripped the 4 inch piece of rebar stuck halfway in his arm out.
“Fuck!” Waldo yelled as the piece of metal came free. Waldo looked it over for cloth finding a small piece that he carefully removed from the end of the rebar and placed in the hole of the sleeve and frowning seeing there was still more. Waldo screamed as the onlookers watched him shove his fingers into the hole in skin.
“Strisk, help me stop him.” Lydia said. Grabbing Waldo’s arm. Strisk hesitated. A moment before grabbing Waldo’s other arm.
"Stop! There is more fabric in my arm!” Waldo screamed as the two strangers forced his arms apart. Waldo looked at the sleeve. Unsure if they could even understand him. The strangers released Waldo as he attacked the problem again.
“Aer, go get me water. I will clean this up once he is done” Lydia said, to a gnoll barmaid nearby, deciding to stay next to this stranger.
“I’ll get the mop and some rags to help.” Kna said not wanting to watch anymore and stepping away.
Waldo pulled out a piece of fabric and placed it in the sleeve. Smiling now that he could account for all of the sleeve. Waldo grabbed the water bottle using his teeth to remove the lid and poured it down his arm. Followed by the rubbing alcohol to which he could not help but scream again as it burned.
“That looks bad.” Strisk said, fingering a potion at his hip. Seeing Waldo was prepared to heal the slow way. Strisk was trying to decide whether or not to help the stranger out by giving him the healing potion he carried as a city guard.
Waldo was looking at the hole in his arm knowing it would take time to heal even with the help of the tonic. He estimated it would be a day or two. Waldo looked back at the lizard person standing behind him in armor. Waldo grimaced as he drank the healing tonic. Waldo looked at the only human girl in the commons. Waldo instantly recognized her but could see she did not recognize him. Waldo hated this feeling but took his time looking over her sandy blonde hair and the gentle curves of her face. Waldo let his eyes wander across her chest and down her legs to the floor even though there was not much to see since she wore a high neck dress that was rather plain. Waldo expected she worked here and was not one to take crap from the patrons. However, Waldo knew her face and her shape as just as he remembered her, he did not need her clothes off to tell this. Waldo turned back to the table and opened the bandage and applied it to his arm. “He took his time looking you over.” Strisk said, eying Lydia himself.
“At least, he seems to know not to touch.” Lydia said, without looking at Strisk. She had been rebuffing advances from him and other drakes like him since she took the job. She hated the drakes, which was not unreasonable as they had burned her home to the ground, killed her parents, her betrothed, and enslaved her for five years. Lydia had fled to the nearest city not under drake control once she was freed. Lydia knew that not all drakes are slavers but getting over somethings are easier than others.
“Do you think he can hear us?” Strisk asked, ignoring the jab not wanting to be thrown out by Kna again. Strisk still was fingering the healing potion not having decided on whether or not to offer it. The human seemed to be taking things to remedy his condition. Strisk stood over the two humans by about a foot when he extended to his full height at the moment he was hunched down a bit so he did not tower over them. Strisk thought he looked good this evening having cared for his bronze scales before coming to Kna’s inn. Waldo rolled up the sleeve and piece of rebar and placed it in his pack then pulled out a healing tonic with a dropper on it and a tin a bit larger than his hand slipping the tin into a pocket. Waldo used the dropper to put a few drops of his second healing tonic down each of his ears. Waldo knew it would take a minute for the tonic to kick in and heal enough damage to restore hearing. Waldo returned the spare tonic to the pack and turned around letting his eyes meet Lydia’s. Waldo thought he saw her eyeing him and she had a small smile on her face as their eyes met. Her face made various emotions flare inside him and it had to focus to stay in control feeling a bit like someone else was trying to take control. Waldo felt his hearing return as the sounds of the room washed over him.
“Hello.” Waldo said, smiling at the woman ignoring the large lizardperson or dragonkin. Waldo could not really tell but he knew getting it wrong would probably offend them.
“Hey, I am guardsmen Strisk.” Strisk said. Waldo glanced at the drake and then looked back at the woman. She crossed her arms and her smile turned to a frown. Waldo could not help but think crossing her arms only accentuated a certain feminine feature of her form.
“Any chance I could get your name?” Waldo asked, meeting the woman’s eyes.
“Lydia. Why are you bleeding on our floor and where did you come from?” Lydia asked, feeling her pulse raise with the way he was looking at her. Lydia had not been in the presence of a human male for ten years. Lydia had not been avoiding them there just weren’t many humans in the city she had fled to and she would not risk going back to drake territory as much as part of her wanted certain things, saving up to get off his continent had been her focus. Human also from what she had seen human men did not survive long under the abuse the drakes applied to there slaves in the nearby Xalas empire. “I am Waldo Winter.” Waldo introduced himself looking at Lydia. “As for why I am bleeding, I think it was an explosion of some kind. The shockwave knocked out my hearing. I am from Halcyon. I was in an outlying district at the time of the explosion and the wood in this room tells me I am not there anymore.” Waldo stated calmly.
“So you entered Protham via an unauthorized teleport?” Strisk asked, trying to sound official.
“One I did not initialize or agree to but yes. Are you going to arrest me?” Waldo asked.
“I will have to report it. I will let someone else decide if you should be arrested. Assuming you don’t cause additional trouble.” Strisk said.
“It is an honour to make your acquaintance Strisk. Thank you for not arresting me.” Waldo said, giving Strisk a smile before turning back to Lydia.
“Why were you caught in an explosion?” Strisk asked the strange human, smiling back at him since he was being respectful.
“Well that is a little difficult. I was entering a suspected criminal's residence just before finding myself standing in this lovely room.” Waldo said deciding to omit details since it would be simpler than explaining. “There was an explosion of some kind and then I was here. I have to assume the hunk of metal hit me before I appeared here somehow.”
“Sounds like a teleport spell gone wrong.” Lydia said, allowing herself a moment to look over Waldo since he was not causing trouble. She could see the muscles in his arm and thought she recognized his jawline but knew that could not be the case since she had no idea where Halcyon was.
“I wouldn’t know much about that. I can only hope my brothers are alright. Can one of you tell me where I am?” Waldo asked, masking his face, wondering if he had died. The blast had been strong enough to rupture his ears. Waldo was not sure he could have actually survived, even with Juan in front of him. Waldo expected he had died and this was some sort of reincarnation. Waldo knew he could not return home if the was an arrival on this planet as a child of Halcyon he had heard of this experience but this was his first time. As he thought about this he realized he did not want to go back even if he could. He had been in hiding and now he was probably well outside of the problems he had and doubted anyone hunting him would keep it up after death if he had died. If not then he was incredibly lucky he had landed in a place where he did not die instantly. Looking at Lydia something told him that someone powerful had intervened but Waldo could not imagine who. Jonah had abandoned him and Waldo could not think of another player with enough power to do anything who would also care about him.
“Spriggan Inn, in Protham.” Lydia said, looking carefully at Waldo. Aer walked over carrying a rag and pushing a bucket of steaming water. Kna walked over with a mop and an empty bucket to wring the mop out.
“Oh, thank you.” Waldo said, taking the mop from Kna and starting to clean up.
“Protham is nowhere special, Lydia. We are a weeks travel from Neakar City. Neakar is the district capital here and a port city.” Strisk said, looking at Lydia.
“You don’t have to do that.” Kna said, as Waldo deftly cleaned up the blood on the floor. “Just let him. He is probably in shock.” Strisk said, as they watched Waldo clean the floor easily.
“Just a bit.” Waldo said after a moment, having finished mopping and given the mop back to Kna. Waldo used one of the rages Aer had to clean the table his pack had been on ending by wiping the drying blood from his ears. Waldo looked down and realized he was a mess.
“How far did you travel?” Aer asked, frowning having heard the conversation.
“Far enough, those names mean nothing to me.” Waldo replied.
“So you are gonna need work.” Strisk half asked and half told Waldo.
“Seems like that would be wise.” Waldo said, placing the rag over the edge of the bucket holding the dirty water from Waldo’s cleaning efforts.
“Protham needs good city guards.” Strisk said, smiling. “I can get you an interview tomorrow. I will come by tomorrow morning and get you. If you are interested?”
“I’ll need some training on your laws, but sounds interesting to me.” Waldo said, sticking out his hand to Strisk. Strisk looked at it a moment then realized he was supposed to grab it and did with his clawed hand.
“Thanks, for your help Strisk.” Waldo said, firmly shaking Strisk’s hand.
“Sounds like you want a room for the night. Unless, Strisk is offering to pay. Do you have any money?” Kna asked, frowning at Strisk.
“You can put one night on my tab, Kna.” Strisk said.
“Only if you pay your tab off tonight.” Kna said, feeling a bit bad but knowing Strisk’s tab was getting out of hand.
“Do you accept silver?” Waldo asked, before Strisk could reply to Kna.
“Yes, take a seat and I will get my scales.” Kna said, having heard enough to know she was going to need to calculate an exchange.
“I am glad you happened to have some coin on you.” Strisk said, frowning at Kna’s back.
“Yeah, my dad was big into carrying certain things every day. Good thing, I listened to him cause I bet my country's paper money is worthless here.” Waldo said, pulling the tin out of his pocket and carefully opening to make sure it was the right one then closing it again.
“Well, your bag is probably worth quite a bit. I have never seen anything like it. Fine craftsmanship.” Aer said, examining his pack.
“I would rather not part with it if possible.” Waldo said sitting down at the table his bag had been on since he moved it to the floor beside the table in cleaning the table. Strisk sat down across from him as did Aer with Lydia sitting close and she was still looking at him.
“Lydia, you are being weird.” Aer said, quietly.
“Looks like Lydia wants to bed the man.” Strisk said, frowning at Lydia.
“Watch it, Strisk.” Lydia said to Strisk with an edge in her voice. “Waldo just reminds me of someone.” Lydia followed up with a softer tone.
“Good memories I hope. I think I’d like to get to know you.” Waldo responded, not looking away from Lydia. “You remind me of… Someone.”
“Well, be nice and maybe we can share some memories.” Lydia replied, not breaking his gaze. Waldo felt there were some additional implications in her words.
“Is there a price?” Waldo asked, before he could stop himself. Waldo was not entirely sure where the words had come from in saying them they just burst from his lips like someone else was running the show. The words had sent Lydia’s hand flying. Waldo easily caught it mid air. “I will take that as a no, which is nice. A woman with a price isn’t a woman worth having.” Waldo said, speaking again without being sure where the word came from. Waldo wondered if he was going mad but something told him he was not. Waldo edged closer to Lydia as he thought this and realized he seemed to be of multiple minds in this moment. Words and actions happening that he was not sure were all him. Aer and Strisk were watching in surprise. “Maybe I misinterpreted your words.”
“If you can pay for your room. I am willing to let the words go. Now if you would let me go.” Lydia responded, carefully feeling the strength in his arm and seeing the ease with which he caught her slap. She had used a skill to hit him, one that had landed on Strisks and other guardsmen when they got out of hand. She felt he could be dangerous and even though he had caught the slap and was easily holding her arm in place he was not hurting her. In fact once she relaxed, from making the slap, she realized how relaxed he was in stopping her slap. She saw him considering letting her go. She met his eyes letting her anger show at being held in place. Lydia realized how close he had come moving a little to block her slap and left him close enough she felt his breath on her face. Lydia realized she was breathing on him too and something in his eyes seemed to be enjoying the closeness they were sharing.
“I want a taste.” Waldo said, kissing her before she could react and sliding his hand along her back. Lydia wanted to struggle but part of her had been aching for this for years and she did not put up a fight. After a moment she found she was kissing him back for a moment and just as she was about to pull away. He did first. Waldo had been wanting to kiss her since he had laid eyes on her and at least this time he was sure that was him. “Well, that was… special.” Waldo felt a memory tug at him in the back of his mind. One of a girl that looked just like this woman.
“Maybe, for you.” Lydia said, trying to hide how much she enjoyed it. Waldo released her hand and turned looking for Kna. Waldo watched Kna approach with the scales. Waldo quickly opened the tin, pulling out a bundle of five carefully wrapped gold coins before closing it again and placing the tin back in a pocket.
Waldo unwrapped the coins asking “What exchange rate can you offer on these?” Aer gave a quiet gasp at the sight of them. Waldo feared he had made a mistake. As kna set the scales on the table.
“You have gold?” Strisk asked. Kna seemed unphased as Kna placed the coins on one side of the scale and started to carefully weigh them.
“Just a little. For an emergency.” Waldo responded.
“That should be enough to live here for a month.” Strisk stated, watching Kna carefully.
“You underestimate my rates. This will buy you three weeks.” Kna stated, as the scales balanced.
“What? That is highway robbery!” Strisk said.
“I have to take them to a blacksmith to get them minted in local coinage, they will need to be paid. Or I will have to take them to a money changer, who will also take a cut.” Kna stated.
“What would that include?” Waldo said, realizing his hand had wandered from his leg and found Lydia hand grabbing it tightly. Waldo felt Lydia tense as Waldo grabbed her hand but noticed she did not pull away from the sudden contact.
“A room, hot bath every day, standard laundry service, the common breakfast, and dinner daily with one pint of house ale. You will have to pay for lunch if you come here to eat.” Kna said, listing from memory the services she included in her standard room offering.
“Sounds good to me.” Waldo said smiling and looking out the window confirming it was dark. “I assume we are in the middle of dinner?” Waldo asked, hopefully.
“Yes.” Kna answered.
“May I take dinner in my room? I would like to wash myself before bed. It has been a surprising day.” Waldo asked Kna.
“Yes! I will grab you a plate and show you to your room.” Lydia said, releasing Waldo hand and standing. Waldo let her hand go as she stood. Kna at Lydia with what Waldo expected was motherly concern. As Lydia turned away to get the room key and a plate of food.
“Is there running water in the room?” Waldo asked Kna.
“Yes, but I cannot recommend using it for anything other than bathing.” Kna said.
“It is fine I can purify water. Can I get this filled with water?” Waldo asked, holding out a metal canteen.
“Yes. Aer go fill this and bring it back.” Kna said, handing the canteen to Aer who quickly walked off. “Leave Strisk. I would have a word alone with this man.” Kna growled at Strisk looking angrily. Strisk knew better than to argue with Kna when she gave him this look.
“I’ll see you tomorrow, Waldo.” Strisk said standing to his whole sevenish feet of height stretching as he walked away. Waldo only now realized how small he was compared to Strisk.
“Indeed.” Waldo said to Strisk and turned back to Kna.
“I have never seen Lydia take to a man as she has to you. Have you cast a spell on her?” Kna asked Waldo. Waldo burst out laughing, taking a moment to control himself.
“I have no skill in that kind of magic. If you know how to test one for magic I would happily submit. I suspect I know why she has taken to me but there is nothing magical about it.” Waldo said, having gained control of the strange urge to laugh at magic.
“Why?” Kna asked, eyeing him coldly.
“Now why should I answer you?” Waldo asked. “What do you care for, of freed slaves? Or are you not her enslaver?” Kna drew back surprised.
“You said you knew nothing of this place?” Kna replied.
“I have never heard of this city in my life or this land, but I have eyes. Lydia is the only human here beside me. You are a gnoll and Strisk is one of the scaled people’s. I never been around any of them long enough to learn to tell them apart. Lydia clearly has some aversion to Strisk which seems to be unconscious on some level. That suggests it is not that she does not simply dislike him but something more than that. It is obvious to me that she does not belong here and would choose another home, but something prevents that. When I kissed her I ran my hand down her back. I felt the cursed marks of a whip. Is she a free woman or do you own her?” Waldo said, sliding his hand to the knife attached to his lower back.
“My people do not enslave others. She is free. I did not know she hated it here.” Kna said going from angry to crestfallen. “I did not know she had been a drake's slave.”
“You will say nothing of this. If you value your friendship with her. I did not say she hated it here. She works for you, which I expect is because you are not a drake and probably more than that. I get the sense she misses her people. How long has she been here?” Waldo replied, smoothing his voice.
“Several years.” Kna said, drifting in her own thoughts.
“If she hated you she would have left. You must make her feel safe in a dark place so she does not wander from your light.” Waldo said.
“All the more reason to not let her be abused.” Kna said, gauging Waldo.
“You misunderstand something. I will always respect Ma laska.” Waldo said, changing languages without thinking and looking to where Lydia stood talking to Aer as a memory flooded over him for a moment. Waldo felt the other part of him pushing forward for a moment. “Good help you have. Deftly slowing Lydia while we talk.”
“What is ma laska?” Kna asked. Waldo hesitated, surprised by Kna's words, then realized he had called Lydia by accident. Waldo knew what it meant somehow but decided he better not translate it directly.
“A woman’s right.” Waldo said, choosing a lie over the truth. “Or at least that is a close enough translation in this context.”
“So that is another language?” Kna asked.
“Yes, one from my a place long ago.” Waldo answered. “Have we not strayed topics at this point?”
“I think I have made myself clear and you have made yourself clear now.” Kna said, glancing at Aer and making a low growl. “I will let Lydia make herself clear as she chooses. Now that I do not think you will take something Lydia does not freely offer.”
“Have you accepted her as your cub?” Waldo asked, turning to look at Kna.
“I ha... “ Kna stopped herself, looking surprised at Waldo.
“I see it in your eyes, witness it in your fur, and hear it in your voice. She is a daughter in your house. Does she know or do you keep it a secret from all but those who know how to see?” Waldo asked, calmly moving past Kna’s surprise.
“You said.” Kna started to accuse trying to remember his words.
“I have not seen another race in so long. I cannot tell the scaled races apart. However, I ran with a pack for six years. I was a brother to a gnoll, and son to his parents. I sat at their table and went on their hunts. I sang the rights and washed in their bath. I was once an adopted son, which fills me with pride. If you are not a slaver then I would call you friend.” Waldo said quickly as Lydia approached. Just as he finished speaking he gave a quiet howl in the gnoll tongue he had learned many years ago living on the plains of Halcyon long before the war that had landed him here. Aer stopped mid-step and stared at Waldo as the gnolls in the room turned looking at the grimy human who had named himself to the room in gnollish. Kna openly stared surprised Waldo had been named and knew the proper introduction for himself in a public place. Lydia was confused as to her it appeared Waldo was growling threateningly at Kna. Suddenly, the room responded with a quite gnollish welcome that made Lydia jump. Aer gently placed her hand on Lydia’s shoulder.
“They are greeting Waldo in our tongue.” Aer explained to Lydia, seeing she did not know what was happening in the room.
“He speaks gnollish?” Lydia said surprised.
“I guess.” Aer said, pulling her hand back and moving forward again.
“Why did you not say something before?” Kna asked, Waldo as Lydia and Aer walked up. Aer set his canteen on the table.
“It was not the time. All things have a place and now was this things place.” Waldo responded.
“You are a strange human, but I am comforted and feel as if there is nothing to fear.” Kna said to Waldo then turned to Lydia. “Lydia, you may do as you will the rest of the night and I will not interfere.”
“Thank you. May we call this the end of my shift then.” Lydia asked, feeling a little excited. Aer turned moving around the room with the other staff in the inn.
“Away with you before I find a need for your aid in tending to my customers. Who I have ignored, too long.” Kna said quickly moving away to help her staff tend to tables. Waldo picked up his pack and canteen.
“Lead on, Ma laska.” Waldo said, nodding to Lydia.
“Ma laska?” Lydia questioned not saying it quite right.
“Sorry, my lady. Old habits.” Waldo said, lying again feeling unsure as to why he felt like he was fighting to stay in control. Lydia raised an eyebrow questioningly but led on. Waldo followed her up the stairs to the second floor and down a hallway lined with six doors. She stopped in front of the door and placed a brass coin over the lock which clicked and the door swung open. Led him into a good sided room with an all wood floor and completely open. A large bed was on one side of the room, a table with two chairs by the door. Space at the foot of the bed. There was space between the bed and a bathtub with a toilet near the back wall with a screen by the toilet and a sink between the tub and toilet. The room was lit by glowing stones fixed to the walls Waldo saw what appeared to be a control for the glowing stones by the door before the table and chairs. There were towels by the sink. Lydia set the plate on the table and the brass coin next to it. Waldo set his bag at the foot of the bed and started to strip away his body armor until he heard the door shut causing him to turn. Waldo smiled seeing Lyida had not left.
“Would you like help?” Lydia asked, slowly walking to him with a gaze that excited Waldo. The kiss he had stolen had aroused something in Lydia and the urges she had been pushing back had rushed forward.
“I can manage. I am just removing some outer layers. They are deceptively heavy.” Waldo responded.
“Please allow me. I want to.” Lydia said, stepping next to him quickly. Waldo allowed her to help him, carefully guiding her hands to the straps holding the armor in place and allowing their fingers to get tangled. “You seem to be intentionally making this difficult.” Lydia accused, after it took almost a full minute to unhook one strap.
“Does it bother you?” Waldo asked, playfully nudging her and Lydia realized he was enjoying the delay.
“Your food will get cold…” Lydia said, blushing as she started to enjoy the fumbling of their hands and his contact.
“Hot or cold it is still food. However, this moment... is all its own.” Waldo said, dragging out her helping him remove his outer layers, which took another five or more minutes. After which, they sat across from each other as he ate his dinner. Lydia studied him as he ate.
“Have we met before?” Lydia asked, feeling at ease in his presence.
“After a manner…I believe so but not for more than a lifetime.” Waldo responded. “Do you believe in reincarnation?”
“Reincarnation?” Lydia asked not being familiar with the word.
“My people believe when you die a piece of you, what we would call a soul, starts a new life.” Waldo explained.
“I am not much for religion. In my homeland, they said the gods are dead. The Drakes of Xalas seem to think there are gods and people have souls. Most of the gnolls of Grofeas say there are no gods but there is a temple to the gnoll god in Protham and I believe the high priestess is the wife of the city's guard captain.” Lydia replied.
“Xalas? Grofeas?” Waldo asked, suspecting these are countries.
“Neakar, a large city in the Xalas empire. It even has a palace for the emperor. I don’t think it is the capital of the Xalas empire but I might be wrong. The Grofeas plains are ruled by the gnoll tribes. There are not very many cities on the Grofeas plains and Xalas has tentative peace with the plains gnolls that largely control Grofeas. Protham is the first city in the Grofeas plains after leaving the Xalas empire. Mostly, the Drakes have mined the Grofeas plains of all they are interested in so they leave them alone.” Lydia explained.
“What is your home land called?” Waldo asked.
“Northumbria, but last I heard it fell to the drakes in the war. I was captured before the Northumbrian king fell. The Teaniel Empire is the last human hold out against the drakes and if it falls the drakes will effectively rule the continent of Atios. Not that they bother much with the Grofeas plains.” Lydia explained.
“Ah, so you stay because there is no easy human stronghold to flee to?” Waldo questioned.
“I am trying to save up to go to Ibrix but that is a long boat ride off after traveling to the only gnoll port city because I refuse to go back into the Xalas empire. Only problem is Grofeas port city is three hundred leagues to the south east of here. The roads are less than safe and each year there are only about three caravans that make the trek. If I were to cross alone it is unlikely I would make it. The cost of going from here to Ibrix are a little more than a year's wage working here.” Lydia explained sadly.
“How many humans reside in Protham?” Waldo asked.
“Twelve. All women. Eight are too old for the trek and two are too young to go alone.” Lydia said.
“All former slaves of the drakes I assume.” Waldo said.
“What?” Lydia said surprised.
“I worked interrogations. I learned to read what was left unspoken. You have nothing to fear from me. Slavery is the evilest form of commerce.” Waldo said, kneeling by his chair with his back to Lydia and bearing it. Lydia saw thin white scars from wounds that had healed and been reopened only to heal again over and over again. Lydia was speechless. After a moment Waldo covered himself and sat down facing her.
“How did you know?” Lydia questioned. Waldo slid his chair close to her so they were a breath apart. Lydia stared at him waiting for an answer when he kissed her. This time she felt his hand running down her back touching her hidden marks. Waldo pulled back from the kiss after a moment.
“Slavers tend to have the same tricks. They leave the same marks on one's body and some people's souls.” Waldo said quietly as he sat a breaths distance from Lydia’s face. The moment stretched as shared history passed between them and without a word spoken they had shared secrets too dark to udder in the quiet of the room then there was a roar of cheers from the commons breaking the spell that dark secrets of shared history had woven for a moment.
“I hope we can talk more.” Lydia said, after a moment now that the spell was broken. Lydia stood now that her head had cleared. Lydia was not sure what she would do if she stayed and questioned what she wanted.
“Will you stay?” Waldo asked, gently touching Lydia’s hand. Lydia did not pull away. Standing Lydia moved to the door. She intended to open the door and leave but she grabbed the night lock turning the knob. Waldo was not sure what he expected but he would not stop her from leaving. Waldo heard the door lock click into place, Lydia took a few steps toward the bath and moved her hair to one side exposing the ties along her back. Waldo stood and moved to her beginning to untie her dress. Once he was done. Lydia let the dress fall to the floor. Time stretched and shortened all at once and before he knew it exhaustion took them as they lay on the bed together. Lydia snuggled up to him and in a moment her breathing was even and gentle. Waldo knew she had fallen asleep in that moment of respite. Waldo watched her for a moment only to realize how tired he was and started to doze off but just as he heard a voice speak in his mind.
“Class gained Soldier, Level one. Skill gained, find allegiance.”
“Cancel! Reject!” Waldo whispered, angrily not wanting to wake Lydia.
“Class and level canceled.”
Waldo was fully awake now. Realizing he is on a game world, Waldo frowned. He considered this for a moment. Waldo had heard of these but never been on one. Now the injury made more sense. He had died on Halcyon. Waldo wondered if Jonah even cared that he had died. Waldo took a moment to consider the implications of being on a gaming world. There would be no intergalactic armada base here. Waldo knew the gaming worlds had been cut off, largely due to proximity. All the gaming worlds were the opposite side of the galaxy. The armada was still a thousand years of growth away. Waldo now knew with certainty there was no simple way back. As he considered this he realized there might be a way. Waldo thought about it for a few minutes as the idea grew in his mind and realized he truly did not want to go back. “I am a God.” Waldo thought to himself, Waldo felt something rush to the front of his mind, something that believed it or he was a god.
“Class gained God, level one. Skill gained, anoint worshiper. Quest assigned, claim domain.”
Waldo smiled, surprised it was that simple. Waldo considered trying to cancel it but part of him said if he was going to stay here he might as well be a god. Thinking he could do anything as a god. Another part said it was a bad idea and it would not be easy. Waldo wondered why he was feeling so conflicted about everything and why he did not feel like he was in perfect control. Then he wondered if the gods were dead on this world, would he be the only god around, and if so what domain he should claim. Waldo slowly drifted to sleep with these conflicting thoughts.
2024.06.02 16:45 Reasonable_Injury121 Chivalry Is On Life Support, Chapter Thirty-Five (part two)
The second half of a long chapter.
“Oh, professor page,” I heard Anna yell from the living room, “You better get your ass out here quick.”
I quickly rinsed off my hands scurried into the living room, greeted by the two couples sprawled out on the sectional couch in their swimwear, Anna and Kelly in string bikinis and Archer and Paul in speedos. My cock was never limp that day, but there were moments – typically, those of the most intense humiliation – when it was harder than others. Seeing the four fit young bodies in all (or at least, most of) their glory was one of them. And while my gaze naturally was first drawn to Anna’s toned, long legs and taut midriff, followed by Kelly shorter, but still attractive legs and pretty toes, I would be lying if I didn’t admit to admiration of the slender, muscular swimmer bodies of the two young men as well.
My eyes also drifted over Paul’s bare feet. It was the first time I had seen bare the feet I had kissed in the bar through his sneakers or in the apartment through his thick wool socks. I was curious, naturally, but didn’t want to be too obvious, so quickly averted my glance before getting a good look. I need not have worried, however, as I would be spending a great deal of time up close and personal with his bare feet (and Anna’s) in the months that followed, starting a few minutes later. Paul did not have the same obsession with having his feet worshipped as Luke did, but there is no question that he greatly enjoyed the power trip of having an older authority figure quite literally at his feet.
I must also confess that in addition to dwelling as long as I dared on the breasts of Anna (like Brooke’s, ample but not overly large) and Kelly (slightly larger and, to my mind, less proportional to her shorter frame), my eyes also flittered over the speedo-clad crotches of Paul and Archer. Speedos leave so little to the imagination. While I was mortified when forced to wear a speedo, my inadequacy on full display, these two young athletes were completely at ease. Their muscular, chiseled bodies were one explanation for that; the size of their bulges was another.
“Perhaps the professor page can stop ogling our bodies long enough to get us all another round of drinks,” said Anna.
Kelly said, “I think he’s staring more at the boys’ bodies than he is at ours, Anna. I’m jealous.”
“Most cucks are closet fags, so that’s no surprise,” said Paul.
I wanted to object that I wasn’t gay, closet or otherwise. I wanted to say, “What about you, someone who enjoys humiliating other males, forcing them to dress in feminine clothing, spanking their bare bottoms with your bare hands, perhaps other, more intimate things….What does all of that make you?” But I dared not I was say anything of the kind. Instead I simply confirmed their drink orders and hurried off to make them, checking on my stroganoff. And being honest with myself, while I knew beyond a doubt that I was not homosexual, I did have to admit that I was not immune to the physical attractions of dominant, young alpha males. Did I have this attraction prior to the events of the last seven months when Luke came onto the scene like a cyclone? Probably on some level, yes, but it had been latent. No longer.
When I returned to the living room with a serving tray holding their four cocktails, trying hard not to spill any of them, Paul said, “We know our page boy knows how to clean shoes, but what about other personal duties? Who besides me would like a foot massage?”
“That sounds like an excellent idea, dude. Count me in,” said Archer.
“You two boys go ahead. If he does a good job, Kelly and I may have him massage our feet as well,” said Anna.
“Start with Archer. On your knees, of course, page,” said Paul.
“Yes sir,” I said, kneeling before Archer, and beginning to work on his feet with warmup twists and arch rubs. His feet were somewhat calloused, but well formed.
“Ah, that feels good. He’s actually not too bad at this,” Archer said.
Pointing at my crotch, Kelly said, “Look, his little cock is stiff again. Are you excited to massage my boyfriend’s feet, professor?” As she spoke, she pressed her toes lightly against my cock through my tights. It surprised me that it was Kelly, rather than Anna (or even Paul), to first touch my liberated cock.
“No, Princess Kelly.”
“No? But your little stiffie says otherwise. Are you not being honest with us, professor?” She pressed a little harder with her foot, smiling wickedly.
In truth, the entire situation was incredibly arousing and, therefore, incredibly humiliating. Which made it still more arousing. It was a viscous cycle, one which I had been getting increasingly used to with Luke and Brooke. But the dynamics with my students and Archer were different, and, if anything, more intense. Was it the greater age disparity, the bigger inversion of authority, the fact that there was an element of coercion involved? All of the above? Brooke would tell me that I think about these things too much. She would counsel me to go with flow, enjoy the game, embrace the sheer eroticism of it all. I tried valiantly to do just that. Can one be valiant in accepting servitude and abuse?, I wondered (see how I over analyze everything?!)
Lancelot would no doubt have answered my question in the affirmative. Yet, his servitude was solely to Guinevere, and the abuse and humiliations he suffered were solely to satisfy her commands, her whims. Whereas Brooke was not even aware of my servitude to my students. Still, I could tell myself – with some degree of honesty – that the indignities I was suffering at their hands were because of my devotion to Brooke. Because I was in their power as a direct consequence of my obedience to Luke, and I was obedient to Luke for Brooke and Brooke alone. The frail heartbeat of chivalry was still detectable (to me, at least). Perhaps the time had come to tell Brooke of my predicament with Paul and Anna? But there was something so shameful about it. Would it diminish me in Brooke’s eyes in some different, profound and irrevocable way? Or would she hug me, perhaps even thank me for my sacrifice, and tell me everything will be okay?
These were the myriad thoughts that ran through my head as I also contemplated my response to Kelly’s fraught question. “No, princess, I mean, it’s all of your feet…,” I answered,lamely.
She snickered. “Well, you are the Liitle Foot Page, so I guess it makes sense that you’re turned on by feet.”
“Pretty much all submissive guys are turned on by feet. Issac is insane for my feet,” said Anna. You will recall that Issac was the young male slave in Paul’s and Anna’s stable.
“Not just submissive men. Cindy loves worshiping your feet too, babe,” Paul said to Anna. If you recall, Cindy (who, like Issac, I had not yet met at that point) was another member of Paul’s and Anna’s stable of slaves, a fellow student at the college whose intense crush on Paul was not reciprocated. Instead, he put her squarely into “ the friendzone,” eventually introducing her to Anna. Cindy was now a submissive servant to both of them, grateful to be part of Paul’s life under any circumstances.
Anna said to Kelly, “I don’t know about you, but I love having my feet pampered and having my toes sucked, and love the sight of submissive creatures groveling at my feet. At the same time, I couldn’t imagine in a million fucking years being the one doing the sucking or groveling. I have no desire to be that close to anyone’s feet.”
“I know exactly what you mean. I wouldn’t even want to kiss Archer if he sucked my toes. Ew, gross,” said Kelly, with a little shudder.
Archer interjected, “Yo’ve got nothing to worry about there, darling. You have pretty feet, but I have zero desire to kiss or lick them.”
“Or course you don’t, you’re not a perv, like the good professor here. Professor pervert, kiss the bottom of the foot you’re massaging. You don’t mind having your feet kissed, do you sweetheart?” Kelly asked Archer.
“No, I have no problem being worshipped. And I’m secure enough in my masculinity that I don’t care if it’s a submissive cuck like this loser doing the worshiping.”
“That’s what I love about you, sweetheart. You’re masculine, dominant AND open minded. That’s like icing on a yummy cake.,” Kelly said, as she started to kiss Archer passionately. “Professor, keep kissing the bottoms of my man’s feet while we make out.”
I kissed the balls of Archer’s feet, trying to avoid the callouses. I wondered: aren’t swimmers more prone to plantar warts, walking around all those bacteria-riddled pools and locker rooms in their bare feet? I knew plantar warts are highly contagious. Could I get warts on my lips or in my mouth? I made a mental note to research this on-line later. From extensive experience with Brooke and Luke, I was well aware of the aphrodisiac effect my submission could have on a couple dominating me. The exact reasons for this still remain something of a mystery to me. Just like you have to be a masochist to understand certain things, I guess you have to be a dominant or a sadist to understand others.
As if reading my thoughts, Anna said, “I think submissives’ brains must be wired differently. They have to be for them to enjoy feet so much. I mean, sometimes after we work out at the gym, Paul and I will rest our feet right on Cindy’s face. Can you imagine? Our sweaty, wet socks covering her nose and mouth. You’d think she’d have some self-respect and tell us to go to hell. Or, at a minimum, that she’d complain about the smell. Not that my feet smell, of course, but Paul’s smell something awful after he’s been working out,” she smiled at him.
“Yeah, right, babe,” Paul replied. He then explained to Kelly and Archer, “Don’t believe anything she says about her feet not smelling. The smell of her foot sweat is overpowering.”
“Bullshit,” Anna said, smiling and hitting him on the shoulder. “But, like I was saying, far from protesting, Cindy actually inhales the smell of our sweat socks and our sweaty feet. She almost looks as if she’s in ecstasy, like she’s smelling perfume or fresh flowers or something. And she even looks happy when she’s licking the toe jam and lint from between my toes. It’s disgusting. But it’s pretty funny watching her. And I like the sensation of her tongue on my toes.”
“It’s what I’ve been telling you for awhile now, babe. Submissives are intellectually inferior. They’re sexual deviants. By humiliating and abusing them, we’re giving them what they want, what they need, in fact. So there’s no reason for us to feel bad when we mistreat them. We’re actually doing them a favor,” said Paul.
Paul was a Psychology major and fancied himself some sort of authority on this subject apparently, although it was clear to me that he was greatly oversimplifying what were, in reality, very complicated human relationship dynamics. He also had a facile understanding of human intelligence. Under different circumstances, I might have tried to engage him in a debate. But to have done so at that moment would have been the height of folly, so I kept my mouth shut and my fingers busy.
After spending 15 minutes on Archer’s feet, I massaged the feet of my three students for the same amount of time (timed by Paul). Paul and Anna kissed each other while I worked on Anna’s feet, much as Archer and Kelly had done. Each insisted I respectfully kiss the bottoms of their feet after finishing the massage. Paul was last. While I massaged his feet, Anna prodded my balls with her high heel shoe, laughing as my cock twitched through my tights. Having been denied release for so long, my biggest fear was that all of the stimuli – the scantily-clad, young bodies, the humiliating dissection of my fetishes, the pressure of Anna’s foot (which she occasionally brushed against my the underside of my shaft) – would cause me to ejaculate. The thought of that was beyond mortifying, so I did everything I could possibly do to distract myself mentally.
Their ongoing conversation about feet did not make my task an easy one.
“Rollins, you’re actually pretty good at this. In a sensible world, you would be spending your time in your classes massaging all of your students’ feet rather than lecturing to them. It’s a better use of your talents.” There did seem to be a general consensus that I have a knack (was Paul’s term, “talent,” too strong a word) for giving foot massages. I guess there’s at least one thing I can do well with my hands after all, I thought to myself.
“Now, Paul. Don’t be cruel. I’ve had some pretty good courses with Professor Foot Page. I don’t see any reason why he couldn’t lecture while he massages everyone’s feet.” Kelly giggled.
Anna snickered. “Can you picture it? I can. He would be dressed just as he is now, crawling from student to student.”
“Yes, and then he could massage the feet of all of the other faculty members of the English department,” said Kelly, giggling.
“I wouldn’t be surprised if he wasn’t already massaging Neil Lawson’s feet. Lawson already has him fetching his coffee. Or he did today, at least. There’s definitely something going on there,” said Paul.
I couldn’t decide whether to be relieved Paul didn’t know any specifics or to be distressed that he was so suspicious – and that his instincts were correct. I remained silent.
Paul continued, “He obviously has a big foot fetish, like most submissives. Rollins, you ought to consider having a whole chapter dedicated to foot worship in that book you’re working on. You’ll be a real authority on the subject before we’re finished with you.”
Putting aside the implicit threat in his last remark, Paul actually might be on to something, I thought. I had been struggling with the organization of my book, which had really evolved quite a bit over the last six months. While I still aimed to show how medieval courtly poetry was what started the rich history of male masochism in western literature, I was increasingly focusing on contemporary BDSM cuckold fiction and what had clearly been an explosion in interest in that lifestyle in recent years, globally.
Miraculously, I was able to get through the massages and constant teasing without ejaculating. About halfway into my 5-hour stay at the condo, I served the four of them dinner, trying to remember to curtsy at all the required moments. They had changed back into the clothes they were wearing before their swim, Anna and Kelly in short skirts, stockings and heels and Paul and Archer in jeans and polo shirts. Anna kept her little notepad next to her plate on the table, and occasionally wrote in it, causing me further anxiety. When not going back and forth between the kitchen and dining room, I was expected to stand by the table at attention – to refill glasses of the wine I had purchased, fold the napkins of anyone who got up from the table, or do anything else ordered of me. My cock tented out my tights the entire time, of course. My self consciousness about this at least had the advantage of taking my mind off my hunger somewhat, as I enviously watched the four of them eat the meal I had prepared (I sampled the stroganoff as I was cooking it, and thought it came out quite well).
Anna invited everyone to critique the meal afterwards, and it was generally agreed upon that the beef and mushroom sauce was delicious, but that the pasta was overcooked. The salad and dressing was a success, but the Italian green beans less so. I was grateful that Anna had not required me to also prepare dessert.
“Well, Professor maid, it seems that both punishments and a reward are in order for your uneven meal and service. You also earned demerits for failure to curtsy on at least four occasions – I’m sure that I missed others – and continued deficiencies in your technique. Also for how you walked in heels earlier. The mushy pasta and beans were also unacceptable. On the other hand, the stroganoff itself was excellent, as was the salad and dressing. The boys will administer your punishment, and Kelly and I will grant you your reward.”
I replied, with a curtsy, “Yes, princess. Thank you, princess.” The truth of the matter is I didn’t know which of the two caused me greater dread: the punishment or the reward.
“Which should we give him first?”, asked Kelly.
Paul said, “Definitely the punishment first. We need to leave enough time for the redness of his ass to fade in case Luke or his wife want to punish him as well when he gets home.”
“And a submissive freak like him will probably enjoy his reward more with a sore ass. I’ve calculated that he’s owed 120 spanks. 100 from today, and the 20 we didn’t give him on Tuesday that he was due. Which one oy you strapping young men will do the honors?”, said Anna.
“This is going to be so much fun to watch,” said Kelly gleefully.
“It’s going to be hot,” said Anna. “I get all tingly watching Paul punish the slaves. Especially the beta males and sissies.”
“I know you do, girlfriend. Me too,” said Kelly. “I think it’s only fair that each of the boys give him sixty spanks, so you and I get to enjoy this equally,” said Kelly.
“Sounds good. Okay with you guys?,” said Anna.
“Fine. After you,” Paul said to Archer.
“Happy to dish out some discipline to the old cuck. Should we take him up to the dungeon and put him over the bench?”, asked Archer.
“No need to. We have to use our hands for now because we can’t leave any asting marks on his ass. So just take him over your knee,” Paul replied.
“Oh, how I wish we could cane or strap him! I think the cane is a lot more persuasive than just your hands. And the welts can be lovely,” said Anna.
“Someday, babe. You just have to be patient,” said Paul. “Not one of your strong suits, I realize.”
“Don’t worry, ladies. I will make sure his spanking is plenty persuasive. Get over my knees, old man,” commanded Archer.
“Yes, sir.” I draped myself over his knees, incredibly ashamed as I felt my hard cock press through my tights against the jeans covering his firm thighs.
“Do you feel his little stiffie on your leg, honey?,” Kelly asked, tittering.
“I do, but not for long. I’m going to beat it out of him. By the time I’m finished with him, he’ll be as limp as one of the overcooked noodles he served us,” said Archer. I felt his sizable hand resting on the center of my tights-clad bottom. Without warning, he lifted his hand and brought it down sharply on my right cheek.
I typically tried to be stoic in such moments, but the ferocity of his strike (and the suddenness of it) caused me to cry out, “Ouch!” I heard the amusement of our audience.
“That’s right, honey. Give it to him good! Pull down his tights and give it to him on the bare,” said Kelly.
Archer did as Kelly requested. What followed were repeated, loud smacking sounds of flesh striking flesh – as Archer carefully alternated cheeks – accompanied by a slow but steady buildup of pain. The tights had offered negligible protection. The sound was the big difference, but it seemed to provide a more satisfying sensory experience for my three students, who were witnessing the remarkable spectacle of their professor being punished like a naughty child. By the 30th spank or so, the pain was intense. And Archer was correct, my cock had deflated under his relentless assault on my bottom. Not as severe as a cane or strapping certainly, but a hand spanking that rivaled Luke’s in intensity.
I heard Kelly say, “Now that’s what I’m talking about. Look at that shade of red, will you?”
“Not as lovely as welts, but not bad,” added Anna.
By the 50th spank, my attempt at stoicism was a distant memory.
“Please, sir. Please don’t hit me so hard.” He ignored me, delivering the final ten with extra zeal, if anything. When he was finished, it was difficult for my mind to process the fact that my chastisement was only halfway complete.
After Archer pushed me unceremoniously onto the hardwood floor, my tights still lowered to just below my poor, tenderized bottom, Kelly ordered me to stand up. I started to pull up my tights as I stood, but she said with surprising sternness, “Did I say you could pull up your tights, professor? Leave them down so we can all get a proper look at your little cock. Turn around and stand before us. Put your hands on top of your head.”
When I complied with her order, my cock was still quite limp, somewhat shriveled even. But almost as soon as I stood up, I felt it began to stir under their scrutiny.
“Look at the tiny, hairless thing.,” said Anna, smiling contemptuously.
“Pathetic,” said Archer, with a sneer.
“Oh, look. It’s starting to get bigger. That was quick! It must like all of the attention,” laughed Kelly.
With each humiliating comment, it grew harder. My ass was burning, but no longer under a constant barrage (for the moment, at least), the sensation only fueled my involuntary, indeed most unwanted, arousal.
“It looks like it’s up to me beat his hard-on back out of him,” said Paul, patting his knee. “Come over here, Rollins, so I can finish your correction. Leave your tights down. You have 60 more coming.”
As this was unthinkable to me, I felt compelled to try to negotiate – or, perhaps it would be more accurate to say, grovel. When I walked over to where Paul was sitting, rather than lie over his knees, I dropped to my own, at his feet.
“My lord, Sir Archer’s punishment was quite severe. I’m not sure that I can take another 60 right now. I beg you to show some mercy to your lowly page by deferring some of my punishment until next Tuesday.” I then grasped his right foot with my hands and began kissing the tops of his brown, leather shoe. “Please, my lord.”
That Paul was triumphant, bringing me to my knees and abasing myself at his feet – even without being expressly commanded to do so – was clearly evident in his supremely smug, self-satisfied expression. It was painful to behold, but not as painful as another 60 spanks on my already wounded bottom would be. Groveling was a skill that I been refining over the last several months with Luke, so I continued my efforts.
“Please, my lord. Surely you and Princess Anna have some more dry cleaning that needs to be done or some other errands that need to be run. Your humble page is at your disposal.”
“This is a trip,” said Kelly.
“It IS a sign of strength for a ruler to occasionally grant mercy. What do you think, babe?”, said Anna.
“I’m considering it,” said Paul. “Sharing information might help your cause, page. Tell me, what is the story with you bringing Neil Lawson a cup of coffee today? That coffee shop is on the other side of campus. Is that a service that you regularly provide for him? Before you answer, you should know that if I sense you’re not being completely truthful, I’ll add 20 spanks to your punishment now, rather than reduce or defer any of it. If I find out you’re lying after the fact, the consequences for you will be dire.”
To say that I felt somewhat trapped at that moment would be an understatement. I certainly didn’t want to reveal any information to Paul about the nature of my relationship with my colleague, and yet I felt that not doing so was perilous. The slippery slope, again.
So, I continued my descent. “I bring Neil a cup of coffee four days a week, my lord.”
“Why? Are you his lackey or something? You’re senior to him on the faculty, right? Shouldn’t he be the one bringing you coffee, if anything?”
“It’s true that Neil doesn’t have tenure yet but he’s up for tenure in the spring. But it’s not like junior faculty members run errands or anything like that for senior faculty members. It’s just that Neil knows that I’m on a diet and feels that the exercise will do me good. He takes a personal interest in my health and physical fitness, as my friend.”
“Sounds like bullshit to me. I’ve seen Neil lifting weights with Luke at the gym a couple of times. It looks like they’re getting to be pretty chummy.”
“Yes, my lord, they like to work out together. They bond over sports.”
“Interesting. Is Neil aware of your weekly weigh-ins and punishments for failing to lose weight?”, Paul continued his interrogation.
“Yes, my lord,” I answered, deeply ashamed.
“Well, you’ve definitely lost quite a bit of weight, professor. Keep up the good work!”, said Kelly, with seeming sincerity. What a surreal moment this was, I thought to myself.
“Thank you, Princess Kelly.”
“Does Luke allow Neil to witness your weigh-ins and punishments,” Paul asked.
“Yes, my lord. Twice.”
“Keep kissing my shoes when you’re not speaking. Does Luke allow Neil to participate in your punishments?”
“Yes, my lord. Once.” I started kissing the bottom of his right shoe.
Being humiliated and punished by Luke was shameful. Neil’s participation in my punishment and humiliation made it infinitely more so. Being humiliated and punished by my students was incredibly shameful. Them knowing that Neil, another professor in my department, not only was aware of, but even took an active part in my punishment and humiliation was indescribably shameful. It was more than a slippery slope. It was quicksand. And I was sinking deeper by the second.
Paul was not yet done with his interrogation, however. “What other services do you provide for Professor Lawson, besides bringing him coffee?”
I hesitated. But mindful of Paul’s warning (he did seem to have some mysterious ability to intuit and/or discover things about me), I came clean, thereby deepening the pit in which I was sinking: “On Wednesdays, when he has several back-to-back classes, I have started to massage his feet in his office.”
“I knew it! Last week when I walked into his office and you were there, you were acting very nervous. I saw his shoes on the floor next to his desk. There’s not really many reasons to take off your shoes and socks on a freezing day. I had a sneaky suspicion that that’s what was going on. You’re an even bigger beta than I could’ve conceived of, Rollins. Is there anyone you’re not subservient to?”
“Yes, my lord….I mean, prior to 10 months ago…I wasn’t submissive to anyone….except in…my…my, imagination. Everything’s different now…”
“You’re leading a male masochist’s dream! Lick the bottom of my shoe. Do you realize how extraordinarily fortunate you are, old man?”
“Yes, my lord,” I said before reapplying my tongue to the sole of Paul’s shoe.
“This discussion has been very useful. You’ve given me all kinds of ideas about how to further enhance your submissive experience to make it truly exceptional. To make it world class. All the building blocks are already in place. We just need to find a way to integrate them,” Paul said.
“Look how hard his baby cock is! He loves the idea!”, said Anna.
“Now lie down across my lap. The new information I learned just now has caused me to feel magnanimous, so I will grant you mercy by deferring 20 of your spanks until Tuesday and pardoning 10 altogether,” Paul said.
At that exact moment, having my remaining punishment cut in half (at least for that day), I was more grateful about the present reprieve than concerned about any possible future danger that might result from Paul’s increased knowledge. It was only later, during many restless, sleep-deprived nights, that I began to really worry about the possible implications of Paul knowing that I was also submissive to my fellow professor.
“You are very kind, my lord,” I said as his hand came crashing down on the center of my ass. The irony of the moment produced hearty laughter from both Anna and Kelly.
My tights were still lowered, so my erect, bare cock pressed against the denim – a coarser variety than Archer’s – of Paul’s jeans. How much shame could one person endure in a single evening? But it was only 8:30 PM; I still had over an hour left with my young tormentors.
Whereas Archer’s technique was to alternate cheeks, Paul preferred picking one spot and sticking to it for repeated spanks. He focused on the center of my bottom, initially 10 strikes where the crack of my ass began and then moving methodically lower until the final 20 were on the area closest to my scrotum. Unfortunately, Paul hit harder today than on my last visit, no doubt making sure he at least matched the force of Archer in front of the two young women, who were watching with rapt attention. As he delivered the final twenty or so spanks, the pain was searing and I began kicking my legs more and more and squirming around on his lap in a futile attempt to alleviate it, or to escape. On the bright side, my erection quickly subsided under the intensity of his assault.
“Stay still, or I will add the 30 back,” he warned, sternly, grabbing my right arm and holding it tightly behind my back with his free hand.
When he was finally done, he roughly pulled up my tights, producing a wedgie effect, and almost playfully swatted my bottom twice, saying, “You may get up now. Go stand in the corner. Hands behind your head.”
I did as commanded, but Kelly objected, “Why did you pull his tights back up? I want to see what shade of red his ass is now.”
“Lower your tights, page boy,” ordered Anna.
“Yes, princess,” I said, following her command. My eyes were wet with tears, but I was hoping they wouldn’t notice. I wanted to at least deprive them of the satisfaction that they caused me to cry.
“Do I hear sniffling, professor? Did getting spanked by his big, mean student make the poor, wimpy professor cry?”
“No, Princess Kelly.”
“I’m not sure I believe you,” Kelly replied.
“Look at his ass. The color reminds me of raw hamburger meat. Are you sure it will heel quickly enough, babe?”, asked Anna.
“Archer and I hit him hard, but not hard enough for any permanent bruises. The color will fade quickly,” said Paul. “Sort of like a sunset. An intense color that fades quickly.”
“Too bad. It’s such a lovely color, “ said Kelly.
After 10 minutes, during which they passed around a joint and continued to tease me, Anna said, “You’re right, the color is starting to fade already. Turn around, you naughty page boy, and face us. Keep your hands on your head.”
“Well, the color of ass may be like setting like the sun, but his little cock is compensating for it,” said Kelly, with a giggle.
“Pathetic,” commented the eloquent Archer.
I looked down to see my cock standing at attention through my tights, wishing I could simply disappear. I stood there shamefully for another twenty minutes as they finished a second joint.
After they finished, Anna said, “We’re running out of time before the good professor turns into a pumpkin. It’s time for your reward, professor. Obeisance!”
Recalling last week, I quickly dropped to the floor down on my belly and clasped my hands behind my back.
“Very good. You remembered,” Anna said. “Now slither on your belly to our feet, as we taught you.”
I began my humiliating belly crawl across the floor – only a few feet, but it felt like many more – my hard cock grinding into the hardwood, once again fearful that the combination of the potent humiliation and the stimulus to my cock would result in me ejaculating en route. Fortunately, it did not. Once I reached them, I craned my neck up to look at the four pairs of shoes hovering above me, and planted a kiss on the top of each, as I had been instructed during my last visit.
Anna then said, “Kelly, switch places with Paul, please.”
Once she did, Anna ordered me to lie on my back next to where she and Kelly were seated on the sofa. Rolling over, I winced with pain as my bottom touched the floor. From experience, I knew that sitting would be uncomfortable for the next day or two.
She then said to Kelly, “Do you want to provide the olfactory stimulation or the tactile stimulation?”
As if this was a routine occurrence in their lives, Kelly said, “Oh, definitely the tactile stimulation. It will be fun to toy with his little dicklet. Besides, based on what Paul said about your foot sweat, you’re the one who can provide the best olfactory stimulation.” Kelly chuckled.
“Very funny,” said Anna, smiling. “Very well.”
Anna removed her heels and placed her moist stocking-clad feet directly over my nose and mouth. Kelly kept her heels on and began pressing the toe of her right heel firmly into my balls, through my tights. She then began lightly kicking my balls. It was mildly painful, but not so painful that it caused my hard cock to deflate; it was painful yet still highly arousing, a well calibrated approach that suggested to me that Kelly had some experience tormenting others along similar lines.
“Take deep breaths, professor,” Anna ordered.
Her feet indeed had a strong, distinct odor, at once malodorous and fragrant, sour yet sweet. As I inhaled, Kelly began grinding her heel directly into the underside of my cock, pressing it into my body. Only about three minutes into this sensuous torture, my cock erupted, my semen seeping copiously through my white tights. I groaned involuntarily as I orgasmed, a groan of simultaneous ecstasy and despair. Because I hadn’t come in so long, I produced what was for me at least, a prodigious amount. What appalling, exquisite humiliation! I tried to imagine what it would be like facing my three students in class next week, or for that matter, any time again for the rest of my life. It was certainly a moment that would never be forgotten by anyone in that room.
“It looks like our professor enjoyed his reward,” Kelly said, snickering. “And I could tell when he was about to shoot his wad, so I moved my foot away just in the nick of time.” She picked up her heel and pointed at it, “See no icky professor goo. It’s clean.”
Anna said to me, “You see, being enslaved to us is not all about punishment. There are rewards as well, occasionally.”
“Yes, thank you Princess Anna, Princess Kelly.”
Well, at least I wouldn’t have to lick up my ejaculate this time. Paul threw me a towel. I was permitted to clean myself up and was then ordered to put the towel into the washing machine (by itself, as Anna didn’t want the towel I soiled to be near any of their clothes or linen). I then cleared up the kitchen. Finally, I was allowed to change back into my street clothes. Before I left the apartment, I was required one last time to bow down before each of them, kiss their feet and thank them for allowing me to be of service. I then went down the elevator, relieved to see a different doorman (one who I had never encountered before), who more or less ignored me as I exited the building.
I pulled up to my house at 10:20 P.M., surprised to see the light on in the kitchen. When Brooke and Luke went out to dinner on Thursdays, Luke usually drove, so it was not unusual to see Brooke’s car in the driveway. Maybe they had just forgotten to turn off the lights?
But as I entered the kitchen, I was alarmed to see Brooke sitting alone at the table. Expecting to be asked where I had been, I started trying to think of plausible explanations.
However, Brooke simply looked up at me. She had a glum expression on her face and her eyes were bloodshot, as if she had been crying. Something was definitely up.
“Hi, honey,” I said, nervously.
“Hi.”
“Where’s Luke?”
“He’s gone.”
“Will he back later, or is he staying at his house tonight?”
“He’ll be staying at his house every night from now on.”
“What are you talking about? What happened?”
“Go get a bottle of scotch and two glasses. I need a drink.”
submitted by Reasonable_Injury121 to cuck_femdom_tales [link] [comments]
“Oh, professor page,” I heard Anna yell from the living room, “You better get your ass out here quick.”
I quickly rinsed off my hands scurried into the living room, greeted by the two couples sprawled out on the sectional couch in their swimwear, Anna and Kelly in string bikinis and Archer and Paul in speedos. My cock was never limp that day, but there were moments – typically, those of the most intense humiliation – when it was harder than others. Seeing the four fit young bodies in all (or at least, most of) their glory was one of them. And while my gaze naturally was first drawn to Anna’s toned, long legs and taut midriff, followed by Kelly shorter, but still attractive legs and pretty toes, I would be lying if I didn’t admit to admiration of the slender, muscular swimmer bodies of the two young men as well.
My eyes also drifted over Paul’s bare feet. It was the first time I had seen bare the feet I had kissed in the bar through his sneakers or in the apartment through his thick wool socks. I was curious, naturally, but didn’t want to be too obvious, so quickly averted my glance before getting a good look. I need not have worried, however, as I would be spending a great deal of time up close and personal with his bare feet (and Anna’s) in the months that followed, starting a few minutes later. Paul did not have the same obsession with having his feet worshipped as Luke did, but there is no question that he greatly enjoyed the power trip of having an older authority figure quite literally at his feet.
I must also confess that in addition to dwelling as long as I dared on the breasts of Anna (like Brooke’s, ample but not overly large) and Kelly (slightly larger and, to my mind, less proportional to her shorter frame), my eyes also flittered over the speedo-clad crotches of Paul and Archer. Speedos leave so little to the imagination. While I was mortified when forced to wear a speedo, my inadequacy on full display, these two young athletes were completely at ease. Their muscular, chiseled bodies were one explanation for that; the size of their bulges was another.
“Perhaps the professor page can stop ogling our bodies long enough to get us all another round of drinks,” said Anna.
Kelly said, “I think he’s staring more at the boys’ bodies than he is at ours, Anna. I’m jealous.”
“Most cucks are closet fags, so that’s no surprise,” said Paul.
I wanted to object that I wasn’t gay, closet or otherwise. I wanted to say, “What about you, someone who enjoys humiliating other males, forcing them to dress in feminine clothing, spanking their bare bottoms with your bare hands, perhaps other, more intimate things….What does all of that make you?” But I dared not I was say anything of the kind. Instead I simply confirmed their drink orders and hurried off to make them, checking on my stroganoff. And being honest with myself, while I knew beyond a doubt that I was not homosexual, I did have to admit that I was not immune to the physical attractions of dominant, young alpha males. Did I have this attraction prior to the events of the last seven months when Luke came onto the scene like a cyclone? Probably on some level, yes, but it had been latent. No longer.
When I returned to the living room with a serving tray holding their four cocktails, trying hard not to spill any of them, Paul said, “We know our page boy knows how to clean shoes, but what about other personal duties? Who besides me would like a foot massage?”
“That sounds like an excellent idea, dude. Count me in,” said Archer.
“You two boys go ahead. If he does a good job, Kelly and I may have him massage our feet as well,” said Anna.
“Start with Archer. On your knees, of course, page,” said Paul.
“Yes sir,” I said, kneeling before Archer, and beginning to work on his feet with warmup twists and arch rubs. His feet were somewhat calloused, but well formed.
“Ah, that feels good. He’s actually not too bad at this,” Archer said.
Pointing at my crotch, Kelly said, “Look, his little cock is stiff again. Are you excited to massage my boyfriend’s feet, professor?” As she spoke, she pressed her toes lightly against my cock through my tights. It surprised me that it was Kelly, rather than Anna (or even Paul), to first touch my liberated cock.
“No, Princess Kelly.”
“No? But your little stiffie says otherwise. Are you not being honest with us, professor?” She pressed a little harder with her foot, smiling wickedly.
In truth, the entire situation was incredibly arousing and, therefore, incredibly humiliating. Which made it still more arousing. It was a viscous cycle, one which I had been getting increasingly used to with Luke and Brooke. But the dynamics with my students and Archer were different, and, if anything, more intense. Was it the greater age disparity, the bigger inversion of authority, the fact that there was an element of coercion involved? All of the above? Brooke would tell me that I think about these things too much. She would counsel me to go with flow, enjoy the game, embrace the sheer eroticism of it all. I tried valiantly to do just that. Can one be valiant in accepting servitude and abuse?, I wondered (see how I over analyze everything?!)
Lancelot would no doubt have answered my question in the affirmative. Yet, his servitude was solely to Guinevere, and the abuse and humiliations he suffered were solely to satisfy her commands, her whims. Whereas Brooke was not even aware of my servitude to my students. Still, I could tell myself – with some degree of honesty – that the indignities I was suffering at their hands were because of my devotion to Brooke. Because I was in their power as a direct consequence of my obedience to Luke, and I was obedient to Luke for Brooke and Brooke alone. The frail heartbeat of chivalry was still detectable (to me, at least). Perhaps the time had come to tell Brooke of my predicament with Paul and Anna? But there was something so shameful about it. Would it diminish me in Brooke’s eyes in some different, profound and irrevocable way? Or would she hug me, perhaps even thank me for my sacrifice, and tell me everything will be okay?
These were the myriad thoughts that ran through my head as I also contemplated my response to Kelly’s fraught question. “No, princess, I mean, it’s all of your feet…,” I answered,lamely.
She snickered. “Well, you are the Liitle Foot Page, so I guess it makes sense that you’re turned on by feet.”
“Pretty much all submissive guys are turned on by feet. Issac is insane for my feet,” said Anna. You will recall that Issac was the young male slave in Paul’s and Anna’s stable.
“Not just submissive men. Cindy loves worshiping your feet too, babe,” Paul said to Anna. If you recall, Cindy (who, like Issac, I had not yet met at that point) was another member of Paul’s and Anna’s stable of slaves, a fellow student at the college whose intense crush on Paul was not reciprocated. Instead, he put her squarely into “ the friendzone,” eventually introducing her to Anna. Cindy was now a submissive servant to both of them, grateful to be part of Paul’s life under any circumstances.
Anna said to Kelly, “I don’t know about you, but I love having my feet pampered and having my toes sucked, and love the sight of submissive creatures groveling at my feet. At the same time, I couldn’t imagine in a million fucking years being the one doing the sucking or groveling. I have no desire to be that close to anyone’s feet.”
“I know exactly what you mean. I wouldn’t even want to kiss Archer if he sucked my toes. Ew, gross,” said Kelly, with a little shudder.
Archer interjected, “Yo’ve got nothing to worry about there, darling. You have pretty feet, but I have zero desire to kiss or lick them.”
“Or course you don’t, you’re not a perv, like the good professor here. Professor pervert, kiss the bottom of the foot you’re massaging. You don’t mind having your feet kissed, do you sweetheart?” Kelly asked Archer.
“No, I have no problem being worshipped. And I’m secure enough in my masculinity that I don’t care if it’s a submissive cuck like this loser doing the worshiping.”
“That’s what I love about you, sweetheart. You’re masculine, dominant AND open minded. That’s like icing on a yummy cake.,” Kelly said, as she started to kiss Archer passionately. “Professor, keep kissing the bottoms of my man’s feet while we make out.”
I kissed the balls of Archer’s feet, trying to avoid the callouses. I wondered: aren’t swimmers more prone to plantar warts, walking around all those bacteria-riddled pools and locker rooms in their bare feet? I knew plantar warts are highly contagious. Could I get warts on my lips or in my mouth? I made a mental note to research this on-line later. From extensive experience with Brooke and Luke, I was well aware of the aphrodisiac effect my submission could have on a couple dominating me. The exact reasons for this still remain something of a mystery to me. Just like you have to be a masochist to understand certain things, I guess you have to be a dominant or a sadist to understand others.
As if reading my thoughts, Anna said, “I think submissives’ brains must be wired differently. They have to be for them to enjoy feet so much. I mean, sometimes after we work out at the gym, Paul and I will rest our feet right on Cindy’s face. Can you imagine? Our sweaty, wet socks covering her nose and mouth. You’d think she’d have some self-respect and tell us to go to hell. Or, at a minimum, that she’d complain about the smell. Not that my feet smell, of course, but Paul’s smell something awful after he’s been working out,” she smiled at him.
“Yeah, right, babe,” Paul replied. He then explained to Kelly and Archer, “Don’t believe anything she says about her feet not smelling. The smell of her foot sweat is overpowering.”
“Bullshit,” Anna said, smiling and hitting him on the shoulder. “But, like I was saying, far from protesting, Cindy actually inhales the smell of our sweat socks and our sweaty feet. She almost looks as if she’s in ecstasy, like she’s smelling perfume or fresh flowers or something. And she even looks happy when she’s licking the toe jam and lint from between my toes. It’s disgusting. But it’s pretty funny watching her. And I like the sensation of her tongue on my toes.”
“It’s what I’ve been telling you for awhile now, babe. Submissives are intellectually inferior. They’re sexual deviants. By humiliating and abusing them, we’re giving them what they want, what they need, in fact. So there’s no reason for us to feel bad when we mistreat them. We’re actually doing them a favor,” said Paul.
Paul was a Psychology major and fancied himself some sort of authority on this subject apparently, although it was clear to me that he was greatly oversimplifying what were, in reality, very complicated human relationship dynamics. He also had a facile understanding of human intelligence. Under different circumstances, I might have tried to engage him in a debate. But to have done so at that moment would have been the height of folly, so I kept my mouth shut and my fingers busy.
After spending 15 minutes on Archer’s feet, I massaged the feet of my three students for the same amount of time (timed by Paul). Paul and Anna kissed each other while I worked on Anna’s feet, much as Archer and Kelly had done. Each insisted I respectfully kiss the bottoms of their feet after finishing the massage. Paul was last. While I massaged his feet, Anna prodded my balls with her high heel shoe, laughing as my cock twitched through my tights. Having been denied release for so long, my biggest fear was that all of the stimuli – the scantily-clad, young bodies, the humiliating dissection of my fetishes, the pressure of Anna’s foot (which she occasionally brushed against my the underside of my shaft) – would cause me to ejaculate. The thought of that was beyond mortifying, so I did everything I could possibly do to distract myself mentally.
Their ongoing conversation about feet did not make my task an easy one.
“Rollins, you’re actually pretty good at this. In a sensible world, you would be spending your time in your classes massaging all of your students’ feet rather than lecturing to them. It’s a better use of your talents.” There did seem to be a general consensus that I have a knack (was Paul’s term, “talent,” too strong a word) for giving foot massages. I guess there’s at least one thing I can do well with my hands after all, I thought to myself.
“Now, Paul. Don’t be cruel. I’ve had some pretty good courses with Professor Foot Page. I don’t see any reason why he couldn’t lecture while he massages everyone’s feet.” Kelly giggled.
Anna snickered. “Can you picture it? I can. He would be dressed just as he is now, crawling from student to student.”
“Yes, and then he could massage the feet of all of the other faculty members of the English department,” said Kelly, giggling.
“I wouldn’t be surprised if he wasn’t already massaging Neil Lawson’s feet. Lawson already has him fetching his coffee. Or he did today, at least. There’s definitely something going on there,” said Paul.
I couldn’t decide whether to be relieved Paul didn’t know any specifics or to be distressed that he was so suspicious – and that his instincts were correct. I remained silent.
Paul continued, “He obviously has a big foot fetish, like most submissives. Rollins, you ought to consider having a whole chapter dedicated to foot worship in that book you’re working on. You’ll be a real authority on the subject before we’re finished with you.”
Putting aside the implicit threat in his last remark, Paul actually might be on to something, I thought. I had been struggling with the organization of my book, which had really evolved quite a bit over the last six months. While I still aimed to show how medieval courtly poetry was what started the rich history of male masochism in western literature, I was increasingly focusing on contemporary BDSM cuckold fiction and what had clearly been an explosion in interest in that lifestyle in recent years, globally.
Miraculously, I was able to get through the massages and constant teasing without ejaculating. About halfway into my 5-hour stay at the condo, I served the four of them dinner, trying to remember to curtsy at all the required moments. They had changed back into the clothes they were wearing before their swim, Anna and Kelly in short skirts, stockings and heels and Paul and Archer in jeans and polo shirts. Anna kept her little notepad next to her plate on the table, and occasionally wrote in it, causing me further anxiety. When not going back and forth between the kitchen and dining room, I was expected to stand by the table at attention – to refill glasses of the wine I had purchased, fold the napkins of anyone who got up from the table, or do anything else ordered of me. My cock tented out my tights the entire time, of course. My self consciousness about this at least had the advantage of taking my mind off my hunger somewhat, as I enviously watched the four of them eat the meal I had prepared (I sampled the stroganoff as I was cooking it, and thought it came out quite well).
Anna invited everyone to critique the meal afterwards, and it was generally agreed upon that the beef and mushroom sauce was delicious, but that the pasta was overcooked. The salad and dressing was a success, but the Italian green beans less so. I was grateful that Anna had not required me to also prepare dessert.
“Well, Professor maid, it seems that both punishments and a reward are in order for your uneven meal and service. You also earned demerits for failure to curtsy on at least four occasions – I’m sure that I missed others – and continued deficiencies in your technique. Also for how you walked in heels earlier. The mushy pasta and beans were also unacceptable. On the other hand, the stroganoff itself was excellent, as was the salad and dressing. The boys will administer your punishment, and Kelly and I will grant you your reward.”
I replied, with a curtsy, “Yes, princess. Thank you, princess.” The truth of the matter is I didn’t know which of the two caused me greater dread: the punishment or the reward.
“Which should we give him first?”, asked Kelly.
Paul said, “Definitely the punishment first. We need to leave enough time for the redness of his ass to fade in case Luke or his wife want to punish him as well when he gets home.”
“And a submissive freak like him will probably enjoy his reward more with a sore ass. I’ve calculated that he’s owed 120 spanks. 100 from today, and the 20 we didn’t give him on Tuesday that he was due. Which one oy you strapping young men will do the honors?”, said Anna.
“This is going to be so much fun to watch,” said Kelly gleefully.
“It’s going to be hot,” said Anna. “I get all tingly watching Paul punish the slaves. Especially the beta males and sissies.”
“I know you do, girlfriend. Me too,” said Kelly. “I think it’s only fair that each of the boys give him sixty spanks, so you and I get to enjoy this equally,” said Kelly.
“Sounds good. Okay with you guys?,” said Anna.
“Fine. After you,” Paul said to Archer.
“Happy to dish out some discipline to the old cuck. Should we take him up to the dungeon and put him over the bench?”, asked Archer.
“No need to. We have to use our hands for now because we can’t leave any asting marks on his ass. So just take him over your knee,” Paul replied.
“Oh, how I wish we could cane or strap him! I think the cane is a lot more persuasive than just your hands. And the welts can be lovely,” said Anna.
“Someday, babe. You just have to be patient,” said Paul. “Not one of your strong suits, I realize.”
“Don’t worry, ladies. I will make sure his spanking is plenty persuasive. Get over my knees, old man,” commanded Archer.
“Yes, sir.” I draped myself over his knees, incredibly ashamed as I felt my hard cock press through my tights against the jeans covering his firm thighs.
“Do you feel his little stiffie on your leg, honey?,” Kelly asked, tittering.
“I do, but not for long. I’m going to beat it out of him. By the time I’m finished with him, he’ll be as limp as one of the overcooked noodles he served us,” said Archer. I felt his sizable hand resting on the center of my tights-clad bottom. Without warning, he lifted his hand and brought it down sharply on my right cheek.
I typically tried to be stoic in such moments, but the ferocity of his strike (and the suddenness of it) caused me to cry out, “Ouch!” I heard the amusement of our audience.
“That’s right, honey. Give it to him good! Pull down his tights and give it to him on the bare,” said Kelly.
Archer did as Kelly requested. What followed were repeated, loud smacking sounds of flesh striking flesh – as Archer carefully alternated cheeks – accompanied by a slow but steady buildup of pain. The tights had offered negligible protection. The sound was the big difference, but it seemed to provide a more satisfying sensory experience for my three students, who were witnessing the remarkable spectacle of their professor being punished like a naughty child. By the 30th spank or so, the pain was intense. And Archer was correct, my cock had deflated under his relentless assault on my bottom. Not as severe as a cane or strapping certainly, but a hand spanking that rivaled Luke’s in intensity.
I heard Kelly say, “Now that’s what I’m talking about. Look at that shade of red, will you?”
“Not as lovely as welts, but not bad,” added Anna.
By the 50th spank, my attempt at stoicism was a distant memory.
“Please, sir. Please don’t hit me so hard.” He ignored me, delivering the final ten with extra zeal, if anything. When he was finished, it was difficult for my mind to process the fact that my chastisement was only halfway complete.
After Archer pushed me unceremoniously onto the hardwood floor, my tights still lowered to just below my poor, tenderized bottom, Kelly ordered me to stand up. I started to pull up my tights as I stood, but she said with surprising sternness, “Did I say you could pull up your tights, professor? Leave them down so we can all get a proper look at your little cock. Turn around and stand before us. Put your hands on top of your head.”
When I complied with her order, my cock was still quite limp, somewhat shriveled even. But almost as soon as I stood up, I felt it began to stir under their scrutiny.
“Look at the tiny, hairless thing.,” said Anna, smiling contemptuously.
“Pathetic,” said Archer, with a sneer.
“Oh, look. It’s starting to get bigger. That was quick! It must like all of the attention,” laughed Kelly.
With each humiliating comment, it grew harder. My ass was burning, but no longer under a constant barrage (for the moment, at least), the sensation only fueled my involuntary, indeed most unwanted, arousal.
“It looks like it’s up to me beat his hard-on back out of him,” said Paul, patting his knee. “Come over here, Rollins, so I can finish your correction. Leave your tights down. You have 60 more coming.”
As this was unthinkable to me, I felt compelled to try to negotiate – or, perhaps it would be more accurate to say, grovel. When I walked over to where Paul was sitting, rather than lie over his knees, I dropped to my own, at his feet.
“My lord, Sir Archer’s punishment was quite severe. I’m not sure that I can take another 60 right now. I beg you to show some mercy to your lowly page by deferring some of my punishment until next Tuesday.” I then grasped his right foot with my hands and began kissing the tops of his brown, leather shoe. “Please, my lord.”
That Paul was triumphant, bringing me to my knees and abasing myself at his feet – even without being expressly commanded to do so – was clearly evident in his supremely smug, self-satisfied expression. It was painful to behold, but not as painful as another 60 spanks on my already wounded bottom would be. Groveling was a skill that I been refining over the last several months with Luke, so I continued my efforts.
“Please, my lord. Surely you and Princess Anna have some more dry cleaning that needs to be done or some other errands that need to be run. Your humble page is at your disposal.”
“This is a trip,” said Kelly.
“It IS a sign of strength for a ruler to occasionally grant mercy. What do you think, babe?”, said Anna.
“I’m considering it,” said Paul. “Sharing information might help your cause, page. Tell me, what is the story with you bringing Neil Lawson a cup of coffee today? That coffee shop is on the other side of campus. Is that a service that you regularly provide for him? Before you answer, you should know that if I sense you’re not being completely truthful, I’ll add 20 spanks to your punishment now, rather than reduce or defer any of it. If I find out you’re lying after the fact, the consequences for you will be dire.”
To say that I felt somewhat trapped at that moment would be an understatement. I certainly didn’t want to reveal any information to Paul about the nature of my relationship with my colleague, and yet I felt that not doing so was perilous. The slippery slope, again.
So, I continued my descent. “I bring Neil a cup of coffee four days a week, my lord.”
“Why? Are you his lackey or something? You’re senior to him on the faculty, right? Shouldn’t he be the one bringing you coffee, if anything?”
“It’s true that Neil doesn’t have tenure yet but he’s up for tenure in the spring. But it’s not like junior faculty members run errands or anything like that for senior faculty members. It’s just that Neil knows that I’m on a diet and feels that the exercise will do me good. He takes a personal interest in my health and physical fitness, as my friend.”
“Sounds like bullshit to me. I’ve seen Neil lifting weights with Luke at the gym a couple of times. It looks like they’re getting to be pretty chummy.”
“Yes, my lord, they like to work out together. They bond over sports.”
“Interesting. Is Neil aware of your weekly weigh-ins and punishments for failing to lose weight?”, Paul continued his interrogation.
“Yes, my lord,” I answered, deeply ashamed.
“Well, you’ve definitely lost quite a bit of weight, professor. Keep up the good work!”, said Kelly, with seeming sincerity. What a surreal moment this was, I thought to myself.
“Thank you, Princess Kelly.”
“Does Luke allow Neil to witness your weigh-ins and punishments,” Paul asked.
“Yes, my lord. Twice.”
“Keep kissing my shoes when you’re not speaking. Does Luke allow Neil to participate in your punishments?”
“Yes, my lord. Once.” I started kissing the bottom of his right shoe.
Being humiliated and punished by Luke was shameful. Neil’s participation in my punishment and humiliation made it infinitely more so. Being humiliated and punished by my students was incredibly shameful. Them knowing that Neil, another professor in my department, not only was aware of, but even took an active part in my punishment and humiliation was indescribably shameful. It was more than a slippery slope. It was quicksand. And I was sinking deeper by the second.
Paul was not yet done with his interrogation, however. “What other services do you provide for Professor Lawson, besides bringing him coffee?”
I hesitated. But mindful of Paul’s warning (he did seem to have some mysterious ability to intuit and/or discover things about me), I came clean, thereby deepening the pit in which I was sinking: “On Wednesdays, when he has several back-to-back classes, I have started to massage his feet in his office.”
“I knew it! Last week when I walked into his office and you were there, you were acting very nervous. I saw his shoes on the floor next to his desk. There’s not really many reasons to take off your shoes and socks on a freezing day. I had a sneaky suspicion that that’s what was going on. You’re an even bigger beta than I could’ve conceived of, Rollins. Is there anyone you’re not subservient to?”
“Yes, my lord….I mean, prior to 10 months ago…I wasn’t submissive to anyone….except in…my…my, imagination. Everything’s different now…”
“You’re leading a male masochist’s dream! Lick the bottom of my shoe. Do you realize how extraordinarily fortunate you are, old man?”
“Yes, my lord,” I said before reapplying my tongue to the sole of Paul’s shoe.
“This discussion has been very useful. You’ve given me all kinds of ideas about how to further enhance your submissive experience to make it truly exceptional. To make it world class. All the building blocks are already in place. We just need to find a way to integrate them,” Paul said.
“Look how hard his baby cock is! He loves the idea!”, said Anna.
“Now lie down across my lap. The new information I learned just now has caused me to feel magnanimous, so I will grant you mercy by deferring 20 of your spanks until Tuesday and pardoning 10 altogether,” Paul said.
At that exact moment, having my remaining punishment cut in half (at least for that day), I was more grateful about the present reprieve than concerned about any possible future danger that might result from Paul’s increased knowledge. It was only later, during many restless, sleep-deprived nights, that I began to really worry about the possible implications of Paul knowing that I was also submissive to my fellow professor.
“You are very kind, my lord,” I said as his hand came crashing down on the center of my ass. The irony of the moment produced hearty laughter from both Anna and Kelly.
My tights were still lowered, so my erect, bare cock pressed against the denim – a coarser variety than Archer’s – of Paul’s jeans. How much shame could one person endure in a single evening? But it was only 8:30 PM; I still had over an hour left with my young tormentors.
Whereas Archer’s technique was to alternate cheeks, Paul preferred picking one spot and sticking to it for repeated spanks. He focused on the center of my bottom, initially 10 strikes where the crack of my ass began and then moving methodically lower until the final 20 were on the area closest to my scrotum. Unfortunately, Paul hit harder today than on my last visit, no doubt making sure he at least matched the force of Archer in front of the two young women, who were watching with rapt attention. As he delivered the final twenty or so spanks, the pain was searing and I began kicking my legs more and more and squirming around on his lap in a futile attempt to alleviate it, or to escape. On the bright side, my erection quickly subsided under the intensity of his assault.
“Stay still, or I will add the 30 back,” he warned, sternly, grabbing my right arm and holding it tightly behind my back with his free hand.
When he was finally done, he roughly pulled up my tights, producing a wedgie effect, and almost playfully swatted my bottom twice, saying, “You may get up now. Go stand in the corner. Hands behind your head.”
I did as commanded, but Kelly objected, “Why did you pull his tights back up? I want to see what shade of red his ass is now.”
“Lower your tights, page boy,” ordered Anna.
“Yes, princess,” I said, following her command. My eyes were wet with tears, but I was hoping they wouldn’t notice. I wanted to at least deprive them of the satisfaction that they caused me to cry.
“Do I hear sniffling, professor? Did getting spanked by his big, mean student make the poor, wimpy professor cry?”
“No, Princess Kelly.”
“I’m not sure I believe you,” Kelly replied.
“Look at his ass. The color reminds me of raw hamburger meat. Are you sure it will heel quickly enough, babe?”, asked Anna.
“Archer and I hit him hard, but not hard enough for any permanent bruises. The color will fade quickly,” said Paul. “Sort of like a sunset. An intense color that fades quickly.”
“Too bad. It’s such a lovely color, “ said Kelly.
After 10 minutes, during which they passed around a joint and continued to tease me, Anna said, “You’re right, the color is starting to fade already. Turn around, you naughty page boy, and face us. Keep your hands on your head.”
“Well, the color of ass may be like setting like the sun, but his little cock is compensating for it,” said Kelly, with a giggle.
“Pathetic,” commented the eloquent Archer.
I looked down to see my cock standing at attention through my tights, wishing I could simply disappear. I stood there shamefully for another twenty minutes as they finished a second joint.
After they finished, Anna said, “We’re running out of time before the good professor turns into a pumpkin. It’s time for your reward, professor. Obeisance!”
Recalling last week, I quickly dropped to the floor down on my belly and clasped my hands behind my back.
“Very good. You remembered,” Anna said. “Now slither on your belly to our feet, as we taught you.”
I began my humiliating belly crawl across the floor – only a few feet, but it felt like many more – my hard cock grinding into the hardwood, once again fearful that the combination of the potent humiliation and the stimulus to my cock would result in me ejaculating en route. Fortunately, it did not. Once I reached them, I craned my neck up to look at the four pairs of shoes hovering above me, and planted a kiss on the top of each, as I had been instructed during my last visit.
Anna then said, “Kelly, switch places with Paul, please.”
Once she did, Anna ordered me to lie on my back next to where she and Kelly were seated on the sofa. Rolling over, I winced with pain as my bottom touched the floor. From experience, I knew that sitting would be uncomfortable for the next day or two.
She then said to Kelly, “Do you want to provide the olfactory stimulation or the tactile stimulation?”
As if this was a routine occurrence in their lives, Kelly said, “Oh, definitely the tactile stimulation. It will be fun to toy with his little dicklet. Besides, based on what Paul said about your foot sweat, you’re the one who can provide the best olfactory stimulation.” Kelly chuckled.
“Very funny,” said Anna, smiling. “Very well.”
Anna removed her heels and placed her moist stocking-clad feet directly over my nose and mouth. Kelly kept her heels on and began pressing the toe of her right heel firmly into my balls, through my tights. She then began lightly kicking my balls. It was mildly painful, but not so painful that it caused my hard cock to deflate; it was painful yet still highly arousing, a well calibrated approach that suggested to me that Kelly had some experience tormenting others along similar lines.
“Take deep breaths, professor,” Anna ordered.
Her feet indeed had a strong, distinct odor, at once malodorous and fragrant, sour yet sweet. As I inhaled, Kelly began grinding her heel directly into the underside of my cock, pressing it into my body. Only about three minutes into this sensuous torture, my cock erupted, my semen seeping copiously through my white tights. I groaned involuntarily as I orgasmed, a groan of simultaneous ecstasy and despair. Because I hadn’t come in so long, I produced what was for me at least, a prodigious amount. What appalling, exquisite humiliation! I tried to imagine what it would be like facing my three students in class next week, or for that matter, any time again for the rest of my life. It was certainly a moment that would never be forgotten by anyone in that room.
“It looks like our professor enjoyed his reward,” Kelly said, snickering. “And I could tell when he was about to shoot his wad, so I moved my foot away just in the nick of time.” She picked up her heel and pointed at it, “See no icky professor goo. It’s clean.”
Anna said to me, “You see, being enslaved to us is not all about punishment. There are rewards as well, occasionally.”
“Yes, thank you Princess Anna, Princess Kelly.”
Well, at least I wouldn’t have to lick up my ejaculate this time. Paul threw me a towel. I was permitted to clean myself up and was then ordered to put the towel into the washing machine (by itself, as Anna didn’t want the towel I soiled to be near any of their clothes or linen). I then cleared up the kitchen. Finally, I was allowed to change back into my street clothes. Before I left the apartment, I was required one last time to bow down before each of them, kiss their feet and thank them for allowing me to be of service. I then went down the elevator, relieved to see a different doorman (one who I had never encountered before), who more or less ignored me as I exited the building.
I pulled up to my house at 10:20 P.M., surprised to see the light on in the kitchen. When Brooke and Luke went out to dinner on Thursdays, Luke usually drove, so it was not unusual to see Brooke’s car in the driveway. Maybe they had just forgotten to turn off the lights?
But as I entered the kitchen, I was alarmed to see Brooke sitting alone at the table. Expecting to be asked where I had been, I started trying to think of plausible explanations.
However, Brooke simply looked up at me. She had a glum expression on her face and her eyes were bloodshot, as if she had been crying. Something was definitely up.
“Hi, honey,” I said, nervously.
“Hi.”
“Where’s Luke?”
“He’s gone.”
“Will he back later, or is he staying at his house tonight?”
“He’ll be staying at his house every night from now on.”
“What are you talking about? What happened?”
“Go get a bottle of scotch and two glasses. I need a drink.”
2024.06.02 16:29 MeghaMeghanic Wollman Test O Reality
The Day I Got Real
By Robert Fulchum
Taken with the unkind permission of Readers Digest Magazine
When I was 22 I had a job in a resort hotel that combined being the night receptionist and helping the horses at the riding stables. The Manager and I did not get on. I thought he was a fascist who wanted peasant employees who knew their place. I was just out of university and pretty free with my opinions
One week the staff had been served the same thing for lunch every single day. Two frankfurters, a mound of sauerkrat and stale bread rolls. To compound insult with injury , the cost of the meals was deducted from our paypackets. I was outraged.
On Friday night of that awful week, I was at my desk and the man who did the books overnight had just come on duty. I went into the kitchen and saw a note to the chef saying that frankfurters and sauerkrat were on the staff menu for two more days.
That did it. For lack of any better audience, I complained to Sigmund Wollman the night auditor. I declared that I was going to get a plate of frankfurters and sauerkrat, wake up the owner and throw it at him. Nobody was going to make me eat frankfurters and sauerkrat for a whole week and make me pay for it and I didn't even like frankfurters and sauerkrat enough to eat them for even one day and I was packing my bags. Something like that.
As I threw my fit, Sigmund Wollman sat quietly on his stool watching me with sorrowful eyes. Put a bloodhound in a suit and tie and you have Sigmund Wollman
He had good reason to look sorrowful. Survivor of Auschwitz. Three years. German Jew. Thin, coughed a lot. He liked being alone at the night job. It gave him intellectual space, peace and quiet, and even more he could go into the kitchen and have a snack whenever he liked- all the frankfurters and sauerkrat he wanted. To him, a feast. More than that there was nobody around to tell him what to do. In Auschwitz he had dreamt of such a time. The only person he saw at work was me, the nightly disturber of his dream.Our shifts overlapped by one hour. And here I was, a one-man war party in full cry
" Lissen, Fulchum Lissen me, lissen me. You know whats wrong with you ? Its not the frankfurters and kraut and its not the boss and its not this job". "So whats wrong with me?" "Fulchum you think you know everything, but you don't know the difference between an inconvenience and a problem. If you break your neck, if you have nothing to eat, if your house is on fire- then you've got a problem. Everything else is an inconvenience. Life is inconvenient. Life is lumpy". " Learn to separate the inconveniences from the real problems You will live longer. And will not annoy people like me so much. Good Night"
Seldom in my life have I ever been hit between the eyes so hard with the truth. There in that late night darkness Sigmund Wollman simultaneously slapped me in the face and opened a window in my mind.
For 30 years now, in times of stress and strain when something has me backed against the wall and I'm ready to do something really stupid with my anger, a sorrowful face appears in my imagination and asks "Fulchum, Problem or inconvenience?" I think of this as the Wollman Test of Reality. Life is lumpy. And a lump in the porridge , a lump in the throat and a lump in the breast are not the same lump. One should learn the difference. Goodnight, Sig.
submitted by MeghaMeghanic to ThingsThatHelpMeHeal [link] [comments]
By Robert Fulchum
Taken with the unkind permission of Readers Digest Magazine
When I was 22 I had a job in a resort hotel that combined being the night receptionist and helping the horses at the riding stables. The Manager and I did not get on. I thought he was a fascist who wanted peasant employees who knew their place. I was just out of university and pretty free with my opinions
One week the staff had been served the same thing for lunch every single day. Two frankfurters, a mound of sauerkrat and stale bread rolls. To compound insult with injury , the cost of the meals was deducted from our paypackets. I was outraged.
On Friday night of that awful week, I was at my desk and the man who did the books overnight had just come on duty. I went into the kitchen and saw a note to the chef saying that frankfurters and sauerkrat were on the staff menu for two more days.
That did it. For lack of any better audience, I complained to Sigmund Wollman the night auditor. I declared that I was going to get a plate of frankfurters and sauerkrat, wake up the owner and throw it at him. Nobody was going to make me eat frankfurters and sauerkrat for a whole week and make me pay for it and I didn't even like frankfurters and sauerkrat enough to eat them for even one day and I was packing my bags. Something like that.
As I threw my fit, Sigmund Wollman sat quietly on his stool watching me with sorrowful eyes. Put a bloodhound in a suit and tie and you have Sigmund Wollman
He had good reason to look sorrowful. Survivor of Auschwitz. Three years. German Jew. Thin, coughed a lot. He liked being alone at the night job. It gave him intellectual space, peace and quiet, and even more he could go into the kitchen and have a snack whenever he liked- all the frankfurters and sauerkrat he wanted. To him, a feast. More than that there was nobody around to tell him what to do. In Auschwitz he had dreamt of such a time. The only person he saw at work was me, the nightly disturber of his dream.Our shifts overlapped by one hour. And here I was, a one-man war party in full cry
" Lissen, Fulchum Lissen me, lissen me. You know whats wrong with you ? Its not the frankfurters and kraut and its not the boss and its not this job". "So whats wrong with me?" "Fulchum you think you know everything, but you don't know the difference between an inconvenience and a problem. If you break your neck, if you have nothing to eat, if your house is on fire- then you've got a problem. Everything else is an inconvenience. Life is inconvenient. Life is lumpy". " Learn to separate the inconveniences from the real problems You will live longer. And will not annoy people like me so much. Good Night"
Seldom in my life have I ever been hit between the eyes so hard with the truth. There in that late night darkness Sigmund Wollman simultaneously slapped me in the face and opened a window in my mind.
For 30 years now, in times of stress and strain when something has me backed against the wall and I'm ready to do something really stupid with my anger, a sorrowful face appears in my imagination and asks "Fulchum, Problem or inconvenience?" I think of this as the Wollman Test of Reality. Life is lumpy. And a lump in the porridge , a lump in the throat and a lump in the breast are not the same lump. One should learn the difference. Goodnight, Sig.
2024.06.02 16:12 CaNaDIaN8TR [WTS] Virpil Alpha Grip, Virpil Warbrd Base, Virpil CM2 Throttle and Virpil Control Panel #2
Selling some great Virpil gear and all items work with no issues. Can ship anywhere in North America and prices are in USD. Pictures in the hyperlink.
Virpil Alpha Grip($210 new) selling for $150usd
Virpil Original Warbrd base ($259 new) selling for $200usd
Virpil CM2 throttle(the cm3 is onsale for $339 new) selling for $250usd.
submitted by CaNaDIaN8TR to hoggit [link] [comments]
Virpil Alpha Grip($210 new) selling for $150usd
Virpil Original Warbrd base ($259 new) selling for $200usd
Virpil CM2 throttle(the cm3 is onsale for $339 new) selling for $250usd.
- It comes with 3d printed push through afterburner detents and a free custom laser engraved plate you can bolt ontop.
- Has one very very minor scratch and also a free custom laser engraved plate you can bolt ontop.
2024.06.02 16:10 CaNaDIaN8TR [WTS] Virpil Alpha Grip, Virpil Warbrd Base, Virpil CM2 Throttle and Virpil Control Panel #2
Selling some great Virpil gear and all items work with no issues. Can ship anywhere in North America and prices are in USD. Pictures in the hyperlink.
Virpil Alpha Grip($210 new) selling for $150usd
Virpil Original Warbrd base ($259 new) selling for $200usd
Virpil CM2 throttle(the cm3 is onsale for $339 new) selling for $250usd.
submitted by CaNaDIaN8TR to hotas [link] [comments]
Virpil Alpha Grip($210 new) selling for $150usd
Virpil Original Warbrd base ($259 new) selling for $200usd
Virpil CM2 throttle(the cm3 is onsale for $339 new) selling for $250usd.
- It comes with 3d printed push through afterburner detents and a free custom laser engraved plate you can bolt ontop.
- Has one very very minor scratch and also a free custom laser engraved plate you can bolt ontop.
2024.06.02 16:10 Sad-Interaction-1494 Controversial wedding date, Friday before Memorial Day
I know long weekend weddings are a point of contention in this sub, but I’m looking for opinions before I officially book.
The backstory: FH and I are recently engaged and want a Spring/Summer of 2025 wedding. We found about 5 venues that are within budget and distance but not one of them has a Saturday available in either season, we don’t want to delay to 2026. SeptembeOctober are not options since FHs brother is getting married mid-Sept. The one we liked the most only had the Friday before Memorial Day open. We have tentatively put a hold on this date. The ceremony would begin at 6:00 pm.
Our guests: we are inviting around 85, expecting around 60. I would say about 25% of our guests have traditional 9-5s, 25% are retired, and the other 50% work in trades/customer service (and one teacher). I’ve put the feelers out with my VIPs and they are happy with the date. It’s also local, within a 30 min drive for my side and within an hour and change for FHs side. We have maybe 10 guests that would have to travel from out of state. Neither of our families have any Memorial Day traditions beyond a Sunday bbq. My dad, who is funding the day, is very happy with the date. The wedding will be child free, but I only have one guest with a school aged child and only one other with a child under 5.
Other details: We would offer a hotel block in the city it’s in (not a touristy city) and it looks like the rates for that are on par with other dates (around $150-200/room). We would also be offering a shuttle service from the hotel to/from the venue.
I understand that this may mean a higher number of declines and I totally understand if people can’t make it. We are offering a lot of amenities to try and make up for the inconvenience (top shelf open bar, upgrade cocktail hour food include stations and passed apps., plated dinner, etc).
I’ve been reading a lot of mixed reviews about this online and it has me worried that we will be seen as horrible hosts. The only other dates at the other venues are Fridays and Sundays (non holiday weekends) so it’ll be a little inconvenient either way, I understand. Just wanted to see what other people thought.
submitted by Sad-Interaction-1494 to weddingplanning [link] [comments]
The backstory: FH and I are recently engaged and want a Spring/Summer of 2025 wedding. We found about 5 venues that are within budget and distance but not one of them has a Saturday available in either season, we don’t want to delay to 2026. SeptembeOctober are not options since FHs brother is getting married mid-Sept. The one we liked the most only had the Friday before Memorial Day open. We have tentatively put a hold on this date. The ceremony would begin at 6:00 pm.
Our guests: we are inviting around 85, expecting around 60. I would say about 25% of our guests have traditional 9-5s, 25% are retired, and the other 50% work in trades/customer service (and one teacher). I’ve put the feelers out with my VIPs and they are happy with the date. It’s also local, within a 30 min drive for my side and within an hour and change for FHs side. We have maybe 10 guests that would have to travel from out of state. Neither of our families have any Memorial Day traditions beyond a Sunday bbq. My dad, who is funding the day, is very happy with the date. The wedding will be child free, but I only have one guest with a school aged child and only one other with a child under 5.
Other details: We would offer a hotel block in the city it’s in (not a touristy city) and it looks like the rates for that are on par with other dates (around $150-200/room). We would also be offering a shuttle service from the hotel to/from the venue.
I understand that this may mean a higher number of declines and I totally understand if people can’t make it. We are offering a lot of amenities to try and make up for the inconvenience (top shelf open bar, upgrade cocktail hour food include stations and passed apps., plated dinner, etc).
I’ve been reading a lot of mixed reviews about this online and it has me worried that we will be seen as horrible hosts. The only other dates at the other venues are Fridays and Sundays (non holiday weekends) so it’ll be a little inconvenient either way, I understand. Just wanted to see what other people thought.
2024.06.02 16:07 Drakos8706 Powerless (part 68)
First. Previous.
‘Ri woke up in the hotel room to the sound and smell of cooking meat, as well as what she knew to be pancakes. Opening her eyes, she looked ‘down’ to see Kyle cooking on the small grill he packed with him in his subspace shadow, one of his near-silent air purifiers directly overhead, as he was using wood to cook with; the smell of fire-grilled meat was making her ravenous, and it was with a happy stretch that she sat up, Kyle turning to smile at her.
“Morning, beautiful,” he said as she smiled back, “Figured I’d make you breakfast-in-bed; we got dragon steak and eggs - chicken eggs - and I just got done with a bunch of dragon bacon. Pancakes were done a few minutes ago, and I’ve been letting the butter melt in; syrup’s over…” he looked around, spotting a metal container that looked somewhat like a drink pitcher. He set all of this down on a large tray, which he carried over to her, setting it down on the bed lengthwise between the two of them. He went back to the table he’d been working at to retrieve plates, flatware, and two glasses, floating a pitcher of what turned out to be gor’ahm juice, a sweet - yet slightly tart - berry that grew on verem’jiose, and also cost quite a bit, as it was difficult to get enough berries to mass produce, so it wasn’t ‘readily available’ outside of her homeworld.
All-in-all it was a rather enjoyable breakfast - whether or not he had any ‘professional’ training, Kyle sure did know how to cook. After they were done eating - and Kyle had moved their dishes over to the kitchenette their room came with - they took a shower, taking their time in the hot water, just enjoying each other’s presence. When they were done, they dressed in the robes that came with the room - they had gone with black all around - and went to sit together in the main room, putting on some soothing music as they sat together, tails and arms wrapped around each other. After a while of them just sitting there, Kyle stirred slightly.
“I, uh… I got a surprise for you.” He sounded a bit nervous as he said it, but she put that to the side; surely he was just hoping she’d like whatever it was. He smiled slightly, and said,
“Close your eyes.”
Doing as he asked, she shut her eyes, knowing full well that whatever he was ‘retrieving’ was in his subspace shadow, but she went along with the act. When he gave her the okay, she opened her eyes, and it seemed like her stomach dropped out from under her heart, and into oblivion; there in his hands was a thin, perfectly square - but not ‘cubed’ - black box. She looked up at him, unable to say anything, as he opened the lid, and she let out an involuntary gasp; it was difficult for her mind to process what she was seeing, as it appeared to be a round piece of the void cut out to look like a tiara. Or, at least it looked like the shape of one, seeing as she couldn’t really make out any details, though there obviously were details carved into it, as the little sparkles of what she knew to be black hole diamonds - she had seen the pendant Kyle had retrieved from the pirates - seemed to appear and disappear, depending on what angle she looked at it from. The big 8-point star in the middle - reminiscent of the shape their pupils took when observing peoples’ life-blood, and Gift - was always visible however, no matter the angle it was viewed from.
“I had to have Kay’Eighty sketch out the basic outline of where to cut to fit you,” he said, drawing her out of her stupor, “And I had the lead sehr’chtahb fit the diamonds on it, as part of the payment for bringing back the pendant, along with the diamonds themselves, of course. The actual tiara is made from the bone of the first dragon I killed, and I used the kath’loo’s Gift to turn the bone so black that it absorbs all light. I had to turn the bone behind the diamonds silver, because there’s only so much that refraction can do.” They both gave a little chuckle at that; finally, he pointed to the inside of the tiara.
“And here I put a strip of crysthril all the way around it,” she knew that he’d gotten the Gift from one of the sehr’chtahb before they’d left the planet, “Which you normally wouldn’t need, seeing as you’ve got a literal ton in your subspace; but this is different. While we can’t transfer our Gifts to anyone else, we can transfer them into the crysthril, and it stays enchanted with the Gift, no matter how much of it you use. It’s basically limited by your own power, and how much of each Gift was put into the crysthril. Right now, this has all the Gifts that I have right now, and I can always add more in later, when I get ‘em… So, will you wear it?”
The last part was said with a palpable level of nervousness, and she was unable to say anything at that moment. After a few seconds, she finally was able to nod her head yes, tears leaking down her face. Kyle’s face lit up in a wide grin, and she saw his eyes shimmer with unshed tears as he reached forward to grasp the tiara, showing her how to disconnect it at the sides. She leaned her head forward as he reached up to put it on for her, it fitting snugly not just around her head, but perfectly resting around her horns, so as not to be squeezing them, nor to be loose, and wobbly.
She reached forward, pulling him into a deep, passionate kiss, too happy to actually say anything; they sat there for a while, basking in their shared love, until she started getting a bit antsy. Kyle obviously noticed this, as he laughed, and said,
“Go look; I know you’re just dying to see it.”
After a smile, and a quick kiss, she ran into the bathroom, looking into the mirror, marveling at the dazzling headpiece that was now her’s. She sat there for a good few minutes, turning her head this way and that, admiring the craftsmanship Kyle had so lovingly put into it. It honestly looked like something a professional jeweler would be proud to call their own work, and she reveled in that fact as well. This was a testament to his love for her, and it was done through Kyle’s own handiwork; and where it wasn’t, it was small enough to excuse away, especially with having had the diamonds placed as payment for his actual work.
Eventually she was able to tear her eyes from the beautiful piece, and she returned to Kyle’s side, both of them grinning like children. After a few minutes of making out, and cuddling, Kyle insisted that they get dressed.
“I know you wanna show that off, and we can go look around the shops, see if there’s anything that we want. Then we can grab lunch somewhere, and later we can have dinner with your parents and ‘Lana. Tomorrow I’m gonna go back to the ship and get some brisket started up; Kohr’Sahr and the others’re gonna be here in a couple days, and I wanna have a party when we give them the news.”
“Do they know?” she asked.
“About me proposing? No,” he replied, “About everything else? I gave ‘em a brief rundown, but I didn’t go into too much detail. The suun’mahs representative got in touch with me yesterday: the broadcast is gonna come out later today, and anything that they need cleared up after that, I’m happy to be the one to tell ‘em… You’re sure you’re okay with them posting your general location to the public? I don’t want you to have to deal with any ‘fanclubs’ from back home.”
She smiled warmly at him, running her fingers through his hair.
“They’ll know that I’m taken, and that they have no chance; anyone who tries anything after that, no one will blame us for… teaching them a lesson. Besides, they already know not to bother me if they see me abroad; the secrecy was just an added measure.”
He bowed his head concedingly, as he got up, pulling her to her feet with him.
“Come on,” he said, giving her a quick kiss on the corner of her mouth, “Let’s get dressed.”
She got dressed in a simple black pleated skirt that came about ⅔ down her thigh, along with a teal button-up shirt. Kyle was wearing his black and red pants, with a silk purple shirt; he had decided to forgo his boots. Kyle applied a simple light layer of purple eye shadow, and simple black liner, with a reverse of that on his lips, having purple liner and black filler. She went with the same pattern, except she used a luscious red in place of her natural purple. Once they were ready, they were about to head out when she thought of something; she held out her hands, and pulled a certain large, flat box from her subspace shadow. Smiling, Kyle opened it, and gently removed the necklace he’d bought her the last time they were on this station. After he’d secured it in place, she dismissed the box, and they left the room arm-in-arm.
The payoff was near-automatic, as it only took as long as getting into the elevator before they encountered another person; this one turned out to be none other than the Captain, as the station leader had put the entire crew up in the station’s best hotels, save for a decent amount of the security, all of whom had gotten to leave the ship last time they were on this station. As soon as the doors opened, they saw her standing next to what appeared to be a golden drahk’mihn, with horns that protruded from his forehead, sweeping back over the top of his head, only to slightly curl upwards just as they reached the back of his head. He wore light blue shorts, and a matching vest, while the Captain wore her customary jacket; her eyes widened when she saw the two, going straight to the tiara on her head.
"By the Gods, man; do you do anything normal?"
"Define 'normal'," Kyle countered, which brought about a round of laughter.
“Were y’all gettin’ off?” Kyle asked, hooking his thumb over his shoulder; the Captain cleared her throat,
“Well, that’s really none of your business,” she replied, to more laughter, “But we can take another ride, either way.” She had barely taken her eyes off the tiara the entire time, much to ‘Ri’s delight. As Kyle pushed the button for the lobby, Golden asked how Kyle had made it, to which he obliged, occupying the time it took them to reach the ground floor; the Captain couldn’t keep her eyes off the headpiece the whole time, at which ‘Ri couldn’t help but smile with pride.
After they reached their floor, they bid the other two farewell, at which point the Captain seemed to remember herself, and gave a hasty - yet obviously sincere - congratulations to the two, which Golden echoed. After thanking the two, they disembarked the elevator, ‘Ri acutely aware that the Captain was still staring at the tiara, even without looking back at her.
The rest of the day passed in a similar manner, with the general crowd around them either going silent, or - less common, but still frequent enough to be noticeable - lightly gasping; all eyes were on her, which made her smile and cling to Kyle’s arm all the more. It was funny: she had never really cared about ‘tradition’, and had always simply wanted someone who saw her as her. Sure, there were several ‘high-born’ men who’d hunted dangerous beasts - even to a drahk’mihn - to turn into tiaras, all of them trying to ‘win her hand’. But none of that had ever mattered, no matter what they’d hunted, or whether they’d used their Gift, or not; none of them even knew who she was, so their efforts meant nothing, but whatever standing they could achieve by marrying ‘the girl who stopped the war’.
But here was Kyle, a man from another species entirely who saw her as a person, in a way that no non-insectoid ever had in her entire life. A man who’d had no problem whatsoever showing his anger at her - very much deserved, she had to admit; that was a rather rude wake-up call - before he really even knew her, not afraid to call her out on any toxic behavior she might display. And who had taken the fruit of his labors to produce a symbol of his commitment to her, fully embodying the true symbolism of the traditional way, not by simply trying to impress her by buying her affection, as the others had. And for the first time since she was a little girl, she felt a distinct pride in that tradition, and all the more love towards Kyle for it.
They didn’t really have any place in particular that they had in mind to visit, simply walking around, enjoying each other’s company, and the reactions of the various passersby. Among the obviously astonished expressions, there were quite a few jealous ones on a few of the women they passed by, which brought her no end of satisfaction; not that she had anything in particular against any of those women, it just felt good to have something that others wanted so badly. And though she doubted that many of them actually wanted her man - whom she still valued more than the headpiece he’d given her - what they wanted was a product of his work, and so either way - whether they knew it or not - it was him that they wanted; too bad for all of them that she’d gotten her claws in him first, and she was never letting him go of him again.
She had made sure of that, seeing as he could now issue orders to the Captain, and change protocol on a whim; she had also gotten him to give her authorization to take a shuttle planetside if she deemed it necessary, though he’d made her promise to exercise that authority only in cases of an actual emergency, and not for a small ‘threat’ that he could obviously handle. They had come to the agreement that the wild cats from Cheshire’s homeworld were the cutoff point: anything much bigger than those were enough to warrant her presence on the planet. She didn’t really like even that, but she had to agree that at that point it was almost insulting to his own abilities, especially since he had plenty of Gifts to help him out, including her own.
At one point, they were passing by a furniture shop when they spotted her parents and ‘Lana going in; it was her sister who noticed them, calling out,
“‘Ri, Kyle; hi!”
They both smiled and called back in greeting, waving as her parents turned around, their faces immediately breaking out in smiles as they saw the two of them; the looks on their faces - coupled with not a bit of surprise - told her that he’d already shown them the tiara, not that she minded. If he was going to show anyone before her - aside from those who helped him create it in the first place - she could accept her parents being the ones, and ‘Lana by extension.
They spent around an hour walking around the shop - Kyle having to encourage them to pick out the more ‘luxury’ goods - as her parents picked out a new mattress for their bed, along with a few comfortable chairs. They all went their separate ways, her and Kyle promising to meet up later for dinner together. As they had just come back from eating themselves, they went to do more shopping - Kyle reminding them not to worry about the price of anything - while she and Kyle went to go find somewhere to eat.
They decided on a unique shop setup, wherein there was an herbivore side, and a carnivore side; both were technically their own shops - separated by a wall, and everything - though there was no problem with an herbivore sitting with carnivore friends to go nextdoor to get a plate made, and bring it over, or vice versa. They decided on sitting in the carnivore section, and Kyle would go over to the herbivore side to get a bit of roughage for the both of them. After they had taken their seat - the keen’yhong waitress staring in awe at her tiara - Kyle excused himself to the shop next door; after he’d left her line of sight, she immediately got up and hurried to the restroom, eager to get another look at herself in the mirror.
Vohr’Sin - a light blue drahk’mihn with horns that curved back, down and around, so that the tips pointed forward, just under his ears - was having a bit of trouble, as the restaurant was currently too full to seat them.
“There’s nothing you can do for the drahk’mihn ambassador to the humans’ system?” he asked jokingly, “She should be on her way any minute.”
“Sorry, sir,” the black gah’rahtoe replied to him, his face showing genuine regret, “It’s the lunch rush, right now. You’re welcome to wait for someone to finish up, if you like.”
“No,” he responded, “She had to skip breakfast this morning to attend a virtual meeting, so I doubt she’ll be up to waiting… Well, thanks anyway.” As he turned to find somewhere else to eat, he nearly walked right into another person; it took him a moment to realize who it was.
“My apologies,” he said, “I should have been paying more attention to where I was going… Forgive me for bothering you, but aren’t you Ambassador Redding?”
The human was easily recognizable, the ‘scars’ across his face and the horns - which the Empress herself had expressed to his wife were not to be commented upon - that were in a very unique shape. Personally, he wasn’t too comfortable with the human getting a pass at imitating their race - especially Kah’Ri’s horns, of all people - but if the service that he’d provided to their race by coming up with the idea of how to find the slavers was enough for Empress Ella’Ven to excuse it, he had to accept it, as well. The man was carrying a tray with a few plates of vegetables on them, including two baked tass’guds.
“I am,” the human replied with a smile, “Sorry for eavesdropping, but I couldn’t help but overhear your conversation: if you like, you can come sit with me and my fiance; we’re out celebrating our engagement.”
“Oh,” he began sheepishly, “I really wouldn’t want to intrude…” but the human waved him off.
“I’m sure it’ll be no problem; you know how women like to show off their jewelry. It’s just us, so I’m sure it’ll be fine. Besides, I can answer any questions your wife may have about humans, and any social customs she might need to be aware of. Well, any that I know of, anyway.” He finished with a slight chuckle, and Vohr’Sin was torn between not wanting to intrude, but also not wanting to insult the Ambassador by refusing; it was at this time that his wife Vir’Ell walked up.
“I see you’ve met the human Ambassador, love.” He turned to see the yellow-tinted woman that he’d pledged his life to, wearing a light purple tube-top, and matching shorts. Her slender horns swept backward, ending halfway down the back of her head, pointing down.
“I’m Vir’Ell,” she said, directing her attention to the human after exchanging a kiss with Vohr’Sin, “It’s a pleasure to meet you.”
“And you, as well,” he replied, “I was just telling your husband that y’all can join me an’ my fiance, if you like. We just got engaged this morning, and I’m sure she’d just love the chance to show off. Of course, I don’t wish to interrupt your own time, if you’d rather eat alone, but it seems that we took the last free table, here.”
“That sounds lovely,” she replied easily, lightly squeezing his tail with her own, “I look forward to meeting your betrothed.”
The human - Kyle, as he asked them to call him - led them inside, and over to an empty table, where they all took their seats.
“I’m sure she went to freshen up,” he said as they all sat down,
“So,” he continued as they all settled down, “I hear you’re on your way to Sol?”
“We are,” Vir’Ell replied brightly, “Several factors have come together to convince the Empress to send an envoy to your system; the two biggest factors being - of course - your own contribution to freeing those enslaved, but also from the fact that even through the outcasts of your society, it is entirely obvious that humans had nothing to do with the enslavement of our people. There are obviously other reasons - ones that she wishes to keep close to her wings - but she has decided that humans will be the first race to whom she will reach out a hand of open friendship. Obviously, this will have to be taken slowly, but we’re hopeful that this could open new avenues of trade and friendship that we’ve been so sorely missing all these years.”
“Well,” Kyle began, “I hope we can come together as peoples, especially since our introduction to the wider galaxy came about in quite similar circumstances.”
“Yes,” Vohr’Sin replied seriously, joining the conversation, “That is something that we - as separate races - can relate to, you more so than others, I’m sure. I can’t imagine what it must have been like to endure the mahn’ewe’s captivity, and I commend you on your mental fortitude to be able to make it through all of that relatively unscarred. I won’t claim to know how you’ve dealt with it since your escape, but the fact that you came out of it without any noticeable xenophobia is exemplary.”
“Yeah, well,” Kyle began a bit darkly, looking off to the side a bit as his mind wandered those detestable halls, “I’m kinda used to misfortune, and holding it against those who brought it on, specifically. As a matter of fact, the mahn’ewe look human enough that it doesn’t even translate the same when looking from even the drahk’mihn to them. And everyone else just looks like ‘humanoid animals’, or ‘insects’, so it’s less of a comparison to the mahn’ewe, and more so towards our own myths and legends. And I guess I can’t really complain about my lot in life, ‘cause if I hadn’t been abducted, it’s likely I never would’ve met my future wife… Who seems to finally be done admiring herself in the mirror.” This last part he raised his voice slightly, obviously addressing someone over Vir’Ell’s shoulder, who was on Vohr’Sin’s right side. Before they could turn to look, a surprisingly familiar voice rang out, the smile audible in her voice.
“Can’t you go anywhere without ingratiating yourself with whatever drahk’mihn may be in the vicinity?” Looking around at the woman who had just walked past them to sit next to Kyle, his heart seemed to stop in surprise, both at who was talking, as well as the tiara she was wearing; and looking at her now, he fully understood why the Empress had directed them to ignore Kyle's choice in horns. Kah’Ri Mih’Rell wrapped her tail around Kyle’s waist - even as he wrapped his around her - and even hooked her right wing on his right shoulder, a wide grin on her face. On her head was what appeared to be the void itself, elegantly wrapped around her head, twined gracefully over her horns so as to appear as if the void really had inserted itself onto her head.
“‘Ri,” Kyle began, obviously enjoying their reaction just as much as Kah’Ri was, “I’d like you to meet Vohr’Sin, and his wife Vir’Ell; they’re heading to Sol, as she’s been appointed the Ambassador to humanity.”
“Oh,” she replied, obviously surprised, “I honestly didn’t expect that, though I suppose Ella would have ample reason to reach out to humans, of all peoples.” Obviously it was common knowledge that the Empress had taken Kah’Ri in when she’d lost her own parents, but somehow it had never occurred to him to imagine anyone being ‘close’ enough to her to call her by a nickname.
“I’m sorry,” Vir’Ell cut in, “But that tiara is absolutely stunning.” Mixed in with the pleasure at such an extravagant praise, there was an obvious strain of pride in their faces as they both grinned, Kah’Ri leaning closer to Kyle.
“Thank you,” she replied, “He made it according to tradition.”
“You made that?!” he couldn’t help but exclaim, causing them to smile even wider, “From what? I recognize the black hole diamonds, but the material that the rest of it is made of…”
Kah’Ri gave Kyle a knowing look, and - still smiling - said,
“Show them.”
Kyle gave her a conceding nod of his head, and fiddled with the small monitor that was strapped to his wrist. Soon enough, a small hologram appeared on the table between them, depicting Kyle in a strange white tree, looking down at a - comparatively - giant red reptile of some kind. There was a seemingly one-sided conversation where he was obviously speaking with the razum’yilahn that was partially wrapped around his neck, the rest of their body disappearing beneath his shirt. They were still able to catch the gist of what they were saying, mainly that he couldn’t kill that creature until they were sure it wasn’t sapient, which would require them going into its mind.
What followed was an epic battle between man and beast, his uplifted canine companion joining the fight once it was clear that it was indeed a fight. And though it fended off any attacks the canine - Cheshire - threw its way, it seemed intent on finishing the one that had invaded its mind. It eventually had Kyle pinned on his back, both claws - and most of its weight - braced on the staff of the spear he wielded, while Cheshire continued to draw its attention. One such attempt resulted in the reptile shifting its mass, causing one of its paws to slip off the staff, producing what would obviously eventually become the tattoo across his face, though his eyes were destroyed beyond repair in the process.
He managed to catch the claw back on the staff again - obviously using the razum’yilahn’s eyes to operate - soon after which a shuttle appeared, its door open, and what looked like an automated weapon hanging out the side. It fired once, catching the reptile in its backside, and doing little more than making the beast angrier. As it hissed at the shuttle, the weapon fired again, and caught it in the throat, opening up a shallow cut, which Kyle wasted no time in exploiting. Bracing the staff between the arches in his boots, he reached down and drew another knife from his boot, and quickly used it to open the cut wider, rolling out from under the monster to avoid the spray of blood. As the hologram cut out, Kyle began speaking.
“I used the skull plate to grind out the tiara itself, though I had to use nanobots to carve out the clasp to hold the two pieces around her horns. The diamonds were a reward for returning a pendant to the ory’lagus who run the black hole mining company, and the sehr’chtahb who originally crafted the first black hole diamond shaped and set ‘em for me, and I used the Gift I took from the Kath’Loo who was holding her father to change the bone so that it absorbs all light; I also had to turn the bone behind the diamond - and every flake of diamond dust - to silver, to have some light reflect back.”
Vohr’Sin was quite taken aback by everything that had gone into making that tiara, and he was beginning to see possibly a bit of what Kah’Ri must have seen in him in the first place. He was only just realizing that Kyle hadn’t seemed phased to have seen a drahk’mihn; which now it was obvious as to why, but it should have been something that he noticed when they first met. Perhaps it was the horns, and his eyes, of course; another thing the Empress had instructed them to ignore. He was also acutely aware of how… desirable that course of events made him.
“Goddess, man,” he said, putting an exaggeratedly jealous arm around Vir’Ell’s waist, “Save some for the rest of us.” That got a good laugh out of the table, shortly after which their waitress showed up to take their orders. Luckily, they all knew what they wanted, and they were soon talking back and forth, sharing anecdotes from their home world, and asking questions about his. They learned a few things that weren’t easily discernible by simple study of their culture through text, or even video. Kah’Ri stayed quiet, mostly, letting them do all the talking about Verem’Jiose; probably since she had been - intentionally - absent from there for so long, it wasn’t like she would have any idea of more recent news, or trends.
All-in-all, it was an enjoyable lunch, with the time slipping by as they ate and talked the meal away. Towards the end of the meal, the women excused themselves to the restroom, and while they were gone, he took the chance to ask Kyle about the possibility of being allowed to hunt one of those lizards himself, as Kyle had informed them that he owned that planet.
“Well,” he began after a bit of thought, “If you do hunt one, you’ll firstly have to do it without your Gift,” that took him by surprise, but Kyle didn’t stop there, “You also have to fight without any kind of ‘modern’ weapon. Which is mostly just saying that you can’t use guns, though nanoblades are not only acceptable, but also needed. And I’ll even make sure that you’re supplied with some mithril to use, as well. And just so you know: not only will you have a guide with you at all times to make sure you stick to the rules I set out, but they can see if you use your Gift.”
He flexed his eyes for a moment, having already explained how they worked - as far as he knew, anyway - to them earlier, when they revealed that that was why Kah’Ri’s eyes were red, instead of purple.
“I understand,” he replied seriously, “I wouldn’t want to disrespect your world.” Kyle nodded once, saying,
“Well then, I think we can work something out. If y’all’re gonna be here for a couple days, I might be able to get in touch with someone who can set up a way to get you there ‘n back.”
“That would be most appreciated.” As Kyle nodded his acceptance of his thanks, an idea came to his mind.
“You know,” he started in a conspirator's tone, “Before we left home, I managed to get my claws on a crate of krav’ashah wine; it’s a ‘luxury’ berry on Verem’Jiose, as it’s hard to farm, and doesn’t produce a very high yield, even when done correctly; aged twenty years. I would be willing to gift a couple bottles to the two of you, in celebration of your engagement.”
Kyle smiled knowingly, and replied with,
“Well, that would also be much appreciated; I’d definitely owe you a lot… You know, the ory’lagus gave me a lot of extra diamonds, not just enough for ‘Ri to make my circlet. Once you get the piece you wanna make for Vir’Ell, I can shape and set a decent-sized one for you.”
“I think we have an understanding,” he said, smiling.
“As do I,” Kyle replied, a smile of his own on his face.
Their other halves came back shortly after that, and after they all said their goodbyes - he had insisted on paying for the meal - he made his way back to the ship with Vir’Ell, already planning the shape of the new tiara he would be carving for her. And while the one he had bought her would always be special to him - a simple golden band, with a blue diamond in the center of her forehead - he wanted to make this one even better; perhaps he could find a way to incorporate her old one…
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‘Ri woke up in the hotel room to the sound and smell of cooking meat, as well as what she knew to be pancakes. Opening her eyes, she looked ‘down’ to see Kyle cooking on the small grill he packed with him in his subspace shadow, one of his near-silent air purifiers directly overhead, as he was using wood to cook with; the smell of fire-grilled meat was making her ravenous, and it was with a happy stretch that she sat up, Kyle turning to smile at her.
“Morning, beautiful,” he said as she smiled back, “Figured I’d make you breakfast-in-bed; we got dragon steak and eggs - chicken eggs - and I just got done with a bunch of dragon bacon. Pancakes were done a few minutes ago, and I’ve been letting the butter melt in; syrup’s over…” he looked around, spotting a metal container that looked somewhat like a drink pitcher. He set all of this down on a large tray, which he carried over to her, setting it down on the bed lengthwise between the two of them. He went back to the table he’d been working at to retrieve plates, flatware, and two glasses, floating a pitcher of what turned out to be gor’ahm juice, a sweet - yet slightly tart - berry that grew on verem’jiose, and also cost quite a bit, as it was difficult to get enough berries to mass produce, so it wasn’t ‘readily available’ outside of her homeworld.
All-in-all it was a rather enjoyable breakfast - whether or not he had any ‘professional’ training, Kyle sure did know how to cook. After they were done eating - and Kyle had moved their dishes over to the kitchenette their room came with - they took a shower, taking their time in the hot water, just enjoying each other’s presence. When they were done, they dressed in the robes that came with the room - they had gone with black all around - and went to sit together in the main room, putting on some soothing music as they sat together, tails and arms wrapped around each other. After a while of them just sitting there, Kyle stirred slightly.
“I, uh… I got a surprise for you.” He sounded a bit nervous as he said it, but she put that to the side; surely he was just hoping she’d like whatever it was. He smiled slightly, and said,
“Close your eyes.”
Doing as he asked, she shut her eyes, knowing full well that whatever he was ‘retrieving’ was in his subspace shadow, but she went along with the act. When he gave her the okay, she opened her eyes, and it seemed like her stomach dropped out from under her heart, and into oblivion; there in his hands was a thin, perfectly square - but not ‘cubed’ - black box. She looked up at him, unable to say anything, as he opened the lid, and she let out an involuntary gasp; it was difficult for her mind to process what she was seeing, as it appeared to be a round piece of the void cut out to look like a tiara. Or, at least it looked like the shape of one, seeing as she couldn’t really make out any details, though there obviously were details carved into it, as the little sparkles of what she knew to be black hole diamonds - she had seen the pendant Kyle had retrieved from the pirates - seemed to appear and disappear, depending on what angle she looked at it from. The big 8-point star in the middle - reminiscent of the shape their pupils took when observing peoples’ life-blood, and Gift - was always visible however, no matter the angle it was viewed from.
“I had to have Kay’Eighty sketch out the basic outline of where to cut to fit you,” he said, drawing her out of her stupor, “And I had the lead sehr’chtahb fit the diamonds on it, as part of the payment for bringing back the pendant, along with the diamonds themselves, of course. The actual tiara is made from the bone of the first dragon I killed, and I used the kath’loo’s Gift to turn the bone so black that it absorbs all light. I had to turn the bone behind the diamonds silver, because there’s only so much that refraction can do.” They both gave a little chuckle at that; finally, he pointed to the inside of the tiara.
“And here I put a strip of crysthril all the way around it,” she knew that he’d gotten the Gift from one of the sehr’chtahb before they’d left the planet, “Which you normally wouldn’t need, seeing as you’ve got a literal ton in your subspace; but this is different. While we can’t transfer our Gifts to anyone else, we can transfer them into the crysthril, and it stays enchanted with the Gift, no matter how much of it you use. It’s basically limited by your own power, and how much of each Gift was put into the crysthril. Right now, this has all the Gifts that I have right now, and I can always add more in later, when I get ‘em… So, will you wear it?”
The last part was said with a palpable level of nervousness, and she was unable to say anything at that moment. After a few seconds, she finally was able to nod her head yes, tears leaking down her face. Kyle’s face lit up in a wide grin, and she saw his eyes shimmer with unshed tears as he reached forward to grasp the tiara, showing her how to disconnect it at the sides. She leaned her head forward as he reached up to put it on for her, it fitting snugly not just around her head, but perfectly resting around her horns, so as not to be squeezing them, nor to be loose, and wobbly.
She reached forward, pulling him into a deep, passionate kiss, too happy to actually say anything; they sat there for a while, basking in their shared love, until she started getting a bit antsy. Kyle obviously noticed this, as he laughed, and said,
“Go look; I know you’re just dying to see it.”
After a smile, and a quick kiss, she ran into the bathroom, looking into the mirror, marveling at the dazzling headpiece that was now her’s. She sat there for a good few minutes, turning her head this way and that, admiring the craftsmanship Kyle had so lovingly put into it. It honestly looked like something a professional jeweler would be proud to call their own work, and she reveled in that fact as well. This was a testament to his love for her, and it was done through Kyle’s own handiwork; and where it wasn’t, it was small enough to excuse away, especially with having had the diamonds placed as payment for his actual work.
Eventually she was able to tear her eyes from the beautiful piece, and she returned to Kyle’s side, both of them grinning like children. After a few minutes of making out, and cuddling, Kyle insisted that they get dressed.
“I know you wanna show that off, and we can go look around the shops, see if there’s anything that we want. Then we can grab lunch somewhere, and later we can have dinner with your parents and ‘Lana. Tomorrow I’m gonna go back to the ship and get some brisket started up; Kohr’Sahr and the others’re gonna be here in a couple days, and I wanna have a party when we give them the news.”
“Do they know?” she asked.
“About me proposing? No,” he replied, “About everything else? I gave ‘em a brief rundown, but I didn’t go into too much detail. The suun’mahs representative got in touch with me yesterday: the broadcast is gonna come out later today, and anything that they need cleared up after that, I’m happy to be the one to tell ‘em… You’re sure you’re okay with them posting your general location to the public? I don’t want you to have to deal with any ‘fanclubs’ from back home.”
She smiled warmly at him, running her fingers through his hair.
“They’ll know that I’m taken, and that they have no chance; anyone who tries anything after that, no one will blame us for… teaching them a lesson. Besides, they already know not to bother me if they see me abroad; the secrecy was just an added measure.”
He bowed his head concedingly, as he got up, pulling her to her feet with him.
“Come on,” he said, giving her a quick kiss on the corner of her mouth, “Let’s get dressed.”
She got dressed in a simple black pleated skirt that came about ⅔ down her thigh, along with a teal button-up shirt. Kyle was wearing his black and red pants, with a silk purple shirt; he had decided to forgo his boots. Kyle applied a simple light layer of purple eye shadow, and simple black liner, with a reverse of that on his lips, having purple liner and black filler. She went with the same pattern, except she used a luscious red in place of her natural purple. Once they were ready, they were about to head out when she thought of something; she held out her hands, and pulled a certain large, flat box from her subspace shadow. Smiling, Kyle opened it, and gently removed the necklace he’d bought her the last time they were on this station. After he’d secured it in place, she dismissed the box, and they left the room arm-in-arm.
The payoff was near-automatic, as it only took as long as getting into the elevator before they encountered another person; this one turned out to be none other than the Captain, as the station leader had put the entire crew up in the station’s best hotels, save for a decent amount of the security, all of whom had gotten to leave the ship last time they were on this station. As soon as the doors opened, they saw her standing next to what appeared to be a golden drahk’mihn, with horns that protruded from his forehead, sweeping back over the top of his head, only to slightly curl upwards just as they reached the back of his head. He wore light blue shorts, and a matching vest, while the Captain wore her customary jacket; her eyes widened when she saw the two, going straight to the tiara on her head.
"By the Gods, man; do you do anything normal?"
"Define 'normal'," Kyle countered, which brought about a round of laughter.
“Were y’all gettin’ off?” Kyle asked, hooking his thumb over his shoulder; the Captain cleared her throat,
“Well, that’s really none of your business,” she replied, to more laughter, “But we can take another ride, either way.” She had barely taken her eyes off the tiara the entire time, much to ‘Ri’s delight. As Kyle pushed the button for the lobby, Golden asked how Kyle had made it, to which he obliged, occupying the time it took them to reach the ground floor; the Captain couldn’t keep her eyes off the headpiece the whole time, at which ‘Ri couldn’t help but smile with pride.
After they reached their floor, they bid the other two farewell, at which point the Captain seemed to remember herself, and gave a hasty - yet obviously sincere - congratulations to the two, which Golden echoed. After thanking the two, they disembarked the elevator, ‘Ri acutely aware that the Captain was still staring at the tiara, even without looking back at her.
The rest of the day passed in a similar manner, with the general crowd around them either going silent, or - less common, but still frequent enough to be noticeable - lightly gasping; all eyes were on her, which made her smile and cling to Kyle’s arm all the more. It was funny: she had never really cared about ‘tradition’, and had always simply wanted someone who saw her as her. Sure, there were several ‘high-born’ men who’d hunted dangerous beasts - even to a drahk’mihn - to turn into tiaras, all of them trying to ‘win her hand’. But none of that had ever mattered, no matter what they’d hunted, or whether they’d used their Gift, or not; none of them even knew who she was, so their efforts meant nothing, but whatever standing they could achieve by marrying ‘the girl who stopped the war’.
But here was Kyle, a man from another species entirely who saw her as a person, in a way that no non-insectoid ever had in her entire life. A man who’d had no problem whatsoever showing his anger at her - very much deserved, she had to admit; that was a rather rude wake-up call - before he really even knew her, not afraid to call her out on any toxic behavior she might display. And who had taken the fruit of his labors to produce a symbol of his commitment to her, fully embodying the true symbolism of the traditional way, not by simply trying to impress her by buying her affection, as the others had. And for the first time since she was a little girl, she felt a distinct pride in that tradition, and all the more love towards Kyle for it.
They didn’t really have any place in particular that they had in mind to visit, simply walking around, enjoying each other’s company, and the reactions of the various passersby. Among the obviously astonished expressions, there were quite a few jealous ones on a few of the women they passed by, which brought her no end of satisfaction; not that she had anything in particular against any of those women, it just felt good to have something that others wanted so badly. And though she doubted that many of them actually wanted her man - whom she still valued more than the headpiece he’d given her - what they wanted was a product of his work, and so either way - whether they knew it or not - it was him that they wanted; too bad for all of them that she’d gotten her claws in him first, and she was never letting him go of him again.
She had made sure of that, seeing as he could now issue orders to the Captain, and change protocol on a whim; she had also gotten him to give her authorization to take a shuttle planetside if she deemed it necessary, though he’d made her promise to exercise that authority only in cases of an actual emergency, and not for a small ‘threat’ that he could obviously handle. They had come to the agreement that the wild cats from Cheshire’s homeworld were the cutoff point: anything much bigger than those were enough to warrant her presence on the planet. She didn’t really like even that, but she had to agree that at that point it was almost insulting to his own abilities, especially since he had plenty of Gifts to help him out, including her own.
At one point, they were passing by a furniture shop when they spotted her parents and ‘Lana going in; it was her sister who noticed them, calling out,
“‘Ri, Kyle; hi!”
They both smiled and called back in greeting, waving as her parents turned around, their faces immediately breaking out in smiles as they saw the two of them; the looks on their faces - coupled with not a bit of surprise - told her that he’d already shown them the tiara, not that she minded. If he was going to show anyone before her - aside from those who helped him create it in the first place - she could accept her parents being the ones, and ‘Lana by extension.
They spent around an hour walking around the shop - Kyle having to encourage them to pick out the more ‘luxury’ goods - as her parents picked out a new mattress for their bed, along with a few comfortable chairs. They all went their separate ways, her and Kyle promising to meet up later for dinner together. As they had just come back from eating themselves, they went to do more shopping - Kyle reminding them not to worry about the price of anything - while she and Kyle went to go find somewhere to eat.
They decided on a unique shop setup, wherein there was an herbivore side, and a carnivore side; both were technically their own shops - separated by a wall, and everything - though there was no problem with an herbivore sitting with carnivore friends to go nextdoor to get a plate made, and bring it over, or vice versa. They decided on sitting in the carnivore section, and Kyle would go over to the herbivore side to get a bit of roughage for the both of them. After they had taken their seat - the keen’yhong waitress staring in awe at her tiara - Kyle excused himself to the shop next door; after he’d left her line of sight, she immediately got up and hurried to the restroom, eager to get another look at herself in the mirror.
Vohr’Sin - a light blue drahk’mihn with horns that curved back, down and around, so that the tips pointed forward, just under his ears - was having a bit of trouble, as the restaurant was currently too full to seat them.
“There’s nothing you can do for the drahk’mihn ambassador to the humans’ system?” he asked jokingly, “She should be on her way any minute.”
“Sorry, sir,” the black gah’rahtoe replied to him, his face showing genuine regret, “It’s the lunch rush, right now. You’re welcome to wait for someone to finish up, if you like.”
“No,” he responded, “She had to skip breakfast this morning to attend a virtual meeting, so I doubt she’ll be up to waiting… Well, thanks anyway.” As he turned to find somewhere else to eat, he nearly walked right into another person; it took him a moment to realize who it was.
“My apologies,” he said, “I should have been paying more attention to where I was going… Forgive me for bothering you, but aren’t you Ambassador Redding?”
The human was easily recognizable, the ‘scars’ across his face and the horns - which the Empress herself had expressed to his wife were not to be commented upon - that were in a very unique shape. Personally, he wasn’t too comfortable with the human getting a pass at imitating their race - especially Kah’Ri’s horns, of all people - but if the service that he’d provided to their race by coming up with the idea of how to find the slavers was enough for Empress Ella’Ven to excuse it, he had to accept it, as well. The man was carrying a tray with a few plates of vegetables on them, including two baked tass’guds.
“I am,” the human replied with a smile, “Sorry for eavesdropping, but I couldn’t help but overhear your conversation: if you like, you can come sit with me and my fiance; we’re out celebrating our engagement.”
“Oh,” he began sheepishly, “I really wouldn’t want to intrude…” but the human waved him off.
“I’m sure it’ll be no problem; you know how women like to show off their jewelry. It’s just us, so I’m sure it’ll be fine. Besides, I can answer any questions your wife may have about humans, and any social customs she might need to be aware of. Well, any that I know of, anyway.” He finished with a slight chuckle, and Vohr’Sin was torn between not wanting to intrude, but also not wanting to insult the Ambassador by refusing; it was at this time that his wife Vir’Ell walked up.
“I see you’ve met the human Ambassador, love.” He turned to see the yellow-tinted woman that he’d pledged his life to, wearing a light purple tube-top, and matching shorts. Her slender horns swept backward, ending halfway down the back of her head, pointing down.
“I’m Vir’Ell,” she said, directing her attention to the human after exchanging a kiss with Vohr’Sin, “It’s a pleasure to meet you.”
“And you, as well,” he replied, “I was just telling your husband that y’all can join me an’ my fiance, if you like. We just got engaged this morning, and I’m sure she’d just love the chance to show off. Of course, I don’t wish to interrupt your own time, if you’d rather eat alone, but it seems that we took the last free table, here.”
“That sounds lovely,” she replied easily, lightly squeezing his tail with her own, “I look forward to meeting your betrothed.”
The human - Kyle, as he asked them to call him - led them inside, and over to an empty table, where they all took their seats.
“I’m sure she went to freshen up,” he said as they all sat down,
“So,” he continued as they all settled down, “I hear you’re on your way to Sol?”
“We are,” Vir’Ell replied brightly, “Several factors have come together to convince the Empress to send an envoy to your system; the two biggest factors being - of course - your own contribution to freeing those enslaved, but also from the fact that even through the outcasts of your society, it is entirely obvious that humans had nothing to do with the enslavement of our people. There are obviously other reasons - ones that she wishes to keep close to her wings - but she has decided that humans will be the first race to whom she will reach out a hand of open friendship. Obviously, this will have to be taken slowly, but we’re hopeful that this could open new avenues of trade and friendship that we’ve been so sorely missing all these years.”
“Well,” Kyle began, “I hope we can come together as peoples, especially since our introduction to the wider galaxy came about in quite similar circumstances.”
“Yes,” Vohr’Sin replied seriously, joining the conversation, “That is something that we - as separate races - can relate to, you more so than others, I’m sure. I can’t imagine what it must have been like to endure the mahn’ewe’s captivity, and I commend you on your mental fortitude to be able to make it through all of that relatively unscarred. I won’t claim to know how you’ve dealt with it since your escape, but the fact that you came out of it without any noticeable xenophobia is exemplary.”
“Yeah, well,” Kyle began a bit darkly, looking off to the side a bit as his mind wandered those detestable halls, “I’m kinda used to misfortune, and holding it against those who brought it on, specifically. As a matter of fact, the mahn’ewe look human enough that it doesn’t even translate the same when looking from even the drahk’mihn to them. And everyone else just looks like ‘humanoid animals’, or ‘insects’, so it’s less of a comparison to the mahn’ewe, and more so towards our own myths and legends. And I guess I can’t really complain about my lot in life, ‘cause if I hadn’t been abducted, it’s likely I never would’ve met my future wife… Who seems to finally be done admiring herself in the mirror.” This last part he raised his voice slightly, obviously addressing someone over Vir’Ell’s shoulder, who was on Vohr’Sin’s right side. Before they could turn to look, a surprisingly familiar voice rang out, the smile audible in her voice.
“Can’t you go anywhere without ingratiating yourself with whatever drahk’mihn may be in the vicinity?” Looking around at the woman who had just walked past them to sit next to Kyle, his heart seemed to stop in surprise, both at who was talking, as well as the tiara she was wearing; and looking at her now, he fully understood why the Empress had directed them to ignore Kyle's choice in horns. Kah’Ri Mih’Rell wrapped her tail around Kyle’s waist - even as he wrapped his around her - and even hooked her right wing on his right shoulder, a wide grin on her face. On her head was what appeared to be the void itself, elegantly wrapped around her head, twined gracefully over her horns so as to appear as if the void really had inserted itself onto her head.
“‘Ri,” Kyle began, obviously enjoying their reaction just as much as Kah’Ri was, “I’d like you to meet Vohr’Sin, and his wife Vir’Ell; they’re heading to Sol, as she’s been appointed the Ambassador to humanity.”
“Oh,” she replied, obviously surprised, “I honestly didn’t expect that, though I suppose Ella would have ample reason to reach out to humans, of all peoples.” Obviously it was common knowledge that the Empress had taken Kah’Ri in when she’d lost her own parents, but somehow it had never occurred to him to imagine anyone being ‘close’ enough to her to call her by a nickname.
“I’m sorry,” Vir’Ell cut in, “But that tiara is absolutely stunning.” Mixed in with the pleasure at such an extravagant praise, there was an obvious strain of pride in their faces as they both grinned, Kah’Ri leaning closer to Kyle.
“Thank you,” she replied, “He made it according to tradition.”
“You made that?!” he couldn’t help but exclaim, causing them to smile even wider, “From what? I recognize the black hole diamonds, but the material that the rest of it is made of…”
Kah’Ri gave Kyle a knowing look, and - still smiling - said,
“Show them.”
Kyle gave her a conceding nod of his head, and fiddled with the small monitor that was strapped to his wrist. Soon enough, a small hologram appeared on the table between them, depicting Kyle in a strange white tree, looking down at a - comparatively - giant red reptile of some kind. There was a seemingly one-sided conversation where he was obviously speaking with the razum’yilahn that was partially wrapped around his neck, the rest of their body disappearing beneath his shirt. They were still able to catch the gist of what they were saying, mainly that he couldn’t kill that creature until they were sure it wasn’t sapient, which would require them going into its mind.
What followed was an epic battle between man and beast, his uplifted canine companion joining the fight once it was clear that it was indeed a fight. And though it fended off any attacks the canine - Cheshire - threw its way, it seemed intent on finishing the one that had invaded its mind. It eventually had Kyle pinned on his back, both claws - and most of its weight - braced on the staff of the spear he wielded, while Cheshire continued to draw its attention. One such attempt resulted in the reptile shifting its mass, causing one of its paws to slip off the staff, producing what would obviously eventually become the tattoo across his face, though his eyes were destroyed beyond repair in the process.
He managed to catch the claw back on the staff again - obviously using the razum’yilahn’s eyes to operate - soon after which a shuttle appeared, its door open, and what looked like an automated weapon hanging out the side. It fired once, catching the reptile in its backside, and doing little more than making the beast angrier. As it hissed at the shuttle, the weapon fired again, and caught it in the throat, opening up a shallow cut, which Kyle wasted no time in exploiting. Bracing the staff between the arches in his boots, he reached down and drew another knife from his boot, and quickly used it to open the cut wider, rolling out from under the monster to avoid the spray of blood. As the hologram cut out, Kyle began speaking.
“I used the skull plate to grind out the tiara itself, though I had to use nanobots to carve out the clasp to hold the two pieces around her horns. The diamonds were a reward for returning a pendant to the ory’lagus who run the black hole mining company, and the sehr’chtahb who originally crafted the first black hole diamond shaped and set ‘em for me, and I used the Gift I took from the Kath’Loo who was holding her father to change the bone so that it absorbs all light; I also had to turn the bone behind the diamond - and every flake of diamond dust - to silver, to have some light reflect back.”
Vohr’Sin was quite taken aback by everything that had gone into making that tiara, and he was beginning to see possibly a bit of what Kah’Ri must have seen in him in the first place. He was only just realizing that Kyle hadn’t seemed phased to have seen a drahk’mihn; which now it was obvious as to why, but it should have been something that he noticed when they first met. Perhaps it was the horns, and his eyes, of course; another thing the Empress had instructed them to ignore. He was also acutely aware of how… desirable that course of events made him.
“Goddess, man,” he said, putting an exaggeratedly jealous arm around Vir’Ell’s waist, “Save some for the rest of us.” That got a good laugh out of the table, shortly after which their waitress showed up to take their orders. Luckily, they all knew what they wanted, and they were soon talking back and forth, sharing anecdotes from their home world, and asking questions about his. They learned a few things that weren’t easily discernible by simple study of their culture through text, or even video. Kah’Ri stayed quiet, mostly, letting them do all the talking about Verem’Jiose; probably since she had been - intentionally - absent from there for so long, it wasn’t like she would have any idea of more recent news, or trends.
All-in-all, it was an enjoyable lunch, with the time slipping by as they ate and talked the meal away. Towards the end of the meal, the women excused themselves to the restroom, and while they were gone, he took the chance to ask Kyle about the possibility of being allowed to hunt one of those lizards himself, as Kyle had informed them that he owned that planet.
“Well,” he began after a bit of thought, “If you do hunt one, you’ll firstly have to do it without your Gift,” that took him by surprise, but Kyle didn’t stop there, “You also have to fight without any kind of ‘modern’ weapon. Which is mostly just saying that you can’t use guns, though nanoblades are not only acceptable, but also needed. And I’ll even make sure that you’re supplied with some mithril to use, as well. And just so you know: not only will you have a guide with you at all times to make sure you stick to the rules I set out, but they can see if you use your Gift.”
He flexed his eyes for a moment, having already explained how they worked - as far as he knew, anyway - to them earlier, when they revealed that that was why Kah’Ri’s eyes were red, instead of purple.
“I understand,” he replied seriously, “I wouldn’t want to disrespect your world.” Kyle nodded once, saying,
“Well then, I think we can work something out. If y’all’re gonna be here for a couple days, I might be able to get in touch with someone who can set up a way to get you there ‘n back.”
“That would be most appreciated.” As Kyle nodded his acceptance of his thanks, an idea came to his mind.
“You know,” he started in a conspirator's tone, “Before we left home, I managed to get my claws on a crate of krav’ashah wine; it’s a ‘luxury’ berry on Verem’Jiose, as it’s hard to farm, and doesn’t produce a very high yield, even when done correctly; aged twenty years. I would be willing to gift a couple bottles to the two of you, in celebration of your engagement.”
Kyle smiled knowingly, and replied with,
“Well, that would also be much appreciated; I’d definitely owe you a lot… You know, the ory’lagus gave me a lot of extra diamonds, not just enough for ‘Ri to make my circlet. Once you get the piece you wanna make for Vir’Ell, I can shape and set a decent-sized one for you.”
“I think we have an understanding,” he said, smiling.
“As do I,” Kyle replied, a smile of his own on his face.
Their other halves came back shortly after that, and after they all said their goodbyes - he had insisted on paying for the meal - he made his way back to the ship with Vir’Ell, already planning the shape of the new tiara he would be carving for her. And while the one he had bought her would always be special to him - a simple golden band, with a blue diamond in the center of her forehead - he wanted to make this one even better; perhaps he could find a way to incorporate her old one…
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