I (27M) have been with my cosmic mate (24F) for 5 years now, and ever since our friend married his gf a few years ago, she keeps asking when we’ll get married. I promised her a couple times we would, I even got a marriage license two or three times but oops I forgot and let them expire.
Okay, first of all I just want to say this isn’t at all because I think she’s a gold digger and after my money, I even had a will drawn up 2 years ago making her my sole beneficiary, because I really didn’t want any of my money or estate going towards my family. (Okay, side note that may be TMI, but I really fucking hate my parents. My mom used to yell at me for wetting the bed and my dad kind of started the Vietnam war, so). I know I’m only 27 and have a long life ahead of me, but it was a show of good faith.
Anyway, I’ve just been really stressed and burned out lately from dealing with this big trial. Long story short, I got charged with indecent exposure and a bunch of other stuff when I decided to get all artsy on stage and call the audience a bunch of fucking idiots. We even moved to Paris to de-stress and put it all behind us. I feel like I’ve just started to breathe again for the first time. I’m even writing some amazing poetry. (Okay, side note that may be TMI, but I’m a better writer than William Blake and Jack Kerouac combined). I don’t want to ruin a good vibe with a wedding, you know?
Also, I’ve cheated on her a lot. Like, A LOT. Like, so many times it isn’t even funny. I have 37 paternity suits against me right now, I think that’s the number my lawyer told me. (Okay, side note that may be TMI but I married this girl last year in a Pagan wedding ceremony just cause it seemed like it would be interesting, it was alright). I’m 95% certain my gf is cool with all of this, though, because lately after dinner, she only throws 3 dishes at my head instead of the usual 7 she would throw at the beginning of our relationship.
I really do love her madly, and I don’t want her to walk out the door like she’s done a thousand times before. I just want to have my chicken and eat it too. So, AITA?
PS. Sorry for not being more descriptive, I don’t feel very well and I really have to go take a bath soon. I’ll read the comments and update you guys when I’m done.

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My baby recently turned 1 and is doing well on solids.
M-F she takes maybe 8-16oz of pumped milk. I still nurse her in the morning, usually when I get back from work, then at bedtime, plus a few times overnight (bedsharing).
I’m looking to reduce pumping because it’s taking such a toll on me, however, I would like to read anyone’s experience who still nurses on-demand at times (like when I’m not at work on the weekends).
I want to make sure she’s eating well enough during the day and not overly nursing at night (beyond what’s normal for her or outside of a growth spurt) so doing my best planning out meals (she eats mostly what we eat).
She’s recovering from her first cold so she was extra clingy and wanted to nurse a lot during the weekends (poor bebe).
I’ve read some babies will wean themselves but mentally, I think I’m okay with still nursing at night for another 6 mos or so…If she weans herself, great! If not, I will look into some gentle weaning (Jay Gordon method).
We have a platform bed but I’m still not comfortable with her starting the night there and ninja rolling away. I’ve gone to bed with her since she was about 3.5 mos once her bassinet and mini crib became unbearable for her which I know is common….
I would love to even have a few hours to not be in bed with her and help my husband pick up or even watch an episode of a tv show. He’s with her all day so I happily do bedtime with her so he can also catch up on work or unwind. She usually will start the night without a wake and has a decent stretch of 2-4 hours (sometimes longer since I never look at the time anymore 🫣).
Our second bedroom is his editing bay so I’m considering taking apart our platform bed and putting the mattress on slats.
All our shelves and drawers are anchored and I know we’d have to childproof the room thoroughly to really feel comfortable leaving her to start the night in there (with a monitor of course).
My husband wears her for naps and that works okay, too, so I want to focus on the bedtime sleep and eventually have her be able to nap on the floor bed, too.
Would love to read some people’s experiences. Thank you!

I don't want to give too many details because I'm worried my parents will somehow read this. Sorry if it is too vague. This is definetely not as bad as the stories I've read in this sub but I can't really figure out if it was a form of abuse and what it would be called.
-When I was a kid (like under 5, I did actually need an adult to help) my dad would give me a bath with both my siblings. And when it came time to rinse our butts he would say something that is essentially a rape joke (I don't want to say the joke in case he somehow finds this post and it lets him figure out it was him). I do not remember this at all but he's mentioned it when talking about games we'd play in the bath. I remember the other games. Apparently my grandma was scandalized by the joke.
-My dad had illnesses and his feet would hurt and back would itch. He would always have my rub his feet and scratch his back. I didn't really like to do this but I did it because I wanted to help my dad. He would say I was better at it then my mom and had a nickname for me related to this.
-I would sleep in my mom's bed pretty often until I was like 25. I did this because I wanted to sleep with my cat and he slept there. I didn't think this was weird but I mentioned it to a friend and she thought it was weird. All my girl siblings and I would switch between sleeping in her bed.
-When I was little my dad would play wrestling with me a lot including a move called scissor that had me in between his legs. I didn't mind this at all at the time but in hindsight it seems odd but maybe it's fine? IDK
-A couple years ago my mom came up behind me when I was on her bed playing with the dog and touched my butt. I got really mad and she said she was just playing.
-When I was 2 weeks old a relative filmed my diaper change and called it a nudie film as a joke
-When I was about 4 my mom cleaned my vagina in a way that really hurt and I felt was done angrily and shaming (don't want to give too many details for anonymity)
I feel like all this stuff is normal in our society, or maybe it was in the 80s-90s, but it really shouldn't be. I feel gross when I think back at this stuff.

In the very early phases of beginning to realize I wasn't cis, I regularly discribed myself with terms like "futa" or hermaphrodite, for lack of better words. I'm AFAB, and very much dysphoric about not having male genitals, but everything else I view more apathetically. I don't care that I have breasts, but I also wouldn't care if they were removed. I'm giddy about having more male patterned body hair, but also it's not dysphoric to not have that body hair. I would very much like to rip out my uterus (tokiphobic & child free), but outside of that particular organ I don't mind having the rest of it. Things like being tallebroademuscular would be nice, but it's more about functionality than apperence (it would be nice to reach high places and carrying more things). I'd enjoy the effects of male HRT, including the "ugly" parts like how I'd almost definitely start balding and gain some new health problems common with the men of my family.
Socially I've always masked as a guy whenever possible, and would be over the moon whenever I successfully "tricked" people into believing I was male. Going out of my way to do things like voice training and feeling more at ease when doing things like being in men's bath/washrooms compared to women's. Socially I'm a guy and strictly identify with men. For the past year or so I've been calling myself a trans man, because despite a lack of overall body dysphoria, my dysphoria with genitals and social perceptions leaned male. Problem is that the other half of why I came to that conclusion is that virtually every other NB person I'd see was non-dysphoric and for all intents and purposes behaved and wanted to be treated like women, which I'm the opposite of. Finding the transmed communities gave me hope about my dysphoria being taken seriously, but obviously some go into the opposite extreme and denounce the idea of duosex people entirely. So I felt compelled to say I was a binary trans man to have some semblance of community.
Learning that you guys exist made me feel less insane about the idea of being NB and transmedical, but for the past year I refused to acknowledge I could "go back" in terms of identity, especially with sentiments about NB being "trans binaries in denial" and things being for a fetish floating around. Thinking more about it though, and after seeing a fair amount of a little more than just "healthy skepticism" about NBs, even in the more accepting truscum subreddit, has made me realize that calling myself a binary sex was a cope to feel more normal within these communities. Who were already out casted by mainstream lgbt spaces. I worried about losing the only real communities I felt welcomed in.
I've been thinking a lot about how I'm now a minority within a minority within another minority because being a dysphoric non-binary is a hell of a rarity it seems, or at least one that doesn't get along well with mainstream lgbt communities. I still feel silly calling myself any kind of non-binary but it's basically what I've been doing from the very start, before NB was even a thing most people knew about. It started out as me realizing I saw myself as duosex, not cis to transman to duosex, but duosex to cis to duosex to transman now back to duosex. It's kind of hard to say I'm not duosex with that history.

Violet slowly opens her pale green eyes as she slept next to Maya in the fishing shack to keep warm, as well as snuggling and cuddling her girlfriend. Feeling the love she has for her. Violet looks at Maya as the sun was slowly turning the navy blue sky a dull orange and pink. The air was frigid during the night, and Violet couldn't believe Maya slept on her bare skin being exposed to the cold elements. This is the first time they slept close and in an intimate way. Violet never slept or came this close to sleeping and being near someone half-naked.
In fact, if it wasn't for Maya's gift of seeing visions, she would have gotten her first sexual experience and given away her heart and soul to the person she least expect to find true love in. Violet thought that Minerva was the only person she ever found love in, and someone to love her as she always dreamed of finding. But now as Violet eyes Maya sleeping soundly beside her, she is believing that Maya is the one who she is meant to love and share a lifetime of happiness in this hell on earth.
Violet reaches out and tenderly strokes her beautiful rugged native warrior, and runs her fingertips on Maya's side and slowly trails up the back side of her back. Violet pauses as she sees strange markings on Maya's back shoulder she never noticed last night. She pulls the old sheet to gaze at Maya's back and sees she has strange tattoos of something.
One tattoo was on the top of her right shoulder blade as it was a circle of what looked to be teepees, and in the center of the circle was a buffalo. When they officially met, Maya told Violet that she originally came from the Lakota Tribe out west. Violet is curious if the buffalo tattoo is a symbol of her tribe. She notices Maya's tribal jacket has a buffalo skull on the back and wonders if there is a connection there. Or maybe buffalos are a national symbol in indigenous circles and means something important. Violet shakes her head and then looks at the other tattoo on Maya's shoulder just below the circle of teepees and the buffalo.
This one was strange. It sort of looked like a Dreamcatcher but not. Had colors of red, white, yellow and black, and above the circle was a hawk. Maya did mention her spirit animal is a hawk, as it matches the necklace she always wears around her neck. Violet moves her hand and her fingers trace over the hawks wings on Maya's back. Violet looks down and sees four hawk feathers attach to the circle. Inside the feather are the shapes of different animals. Violet sees silhouettes of a deer, a badger, a porcupine, and a lynx. Maya's family's spirit animals. And Maya's spirit animal acts as a guardian of the circle. It is like glancing at Maya's family tree.
She never knew how family runs deep in Maya's culture. She looks at her girlfriend as she was well-loved by her family. It made Violet feel a bit envious of her girlfriend's life before the apocalypse, as she longed to have a loving family who loved her. In another lifetime, Violet only wished she came to know Maya sooner, and her tribe and family would have embraced and loved her the same as Maya did and Violet could have known what a real loving family was like. But those were only thoughts of what could have been. And probably never would have happened as Violet will be here at Ericson being forgotten by her family, and Maya be living her life out in Jackson, Wyoming wherever that was at.
Violet soon felt Maya starting slowly waking up. Violet closes her eyes so when Maya turns to look at her it will be like Violet is still sleeping when she is not. Although Maya probably can sniff out that Violet is not really sleeping.
Maya slowly opens up her brown eyes and glances around the shack. She gets a sense that Violet took her close to Ericson so that is why she got that vision of Violet's past last night. Maya turns her head to gaze down at Violet's sweet sleeping face, as she stays close by her all night. Maya eases her body down and faces Violet as she wants to hold onto this moment a bit longer before making the trip back to her camp.
Maya knows Violet is already awake, as she felt her soft touch on her back. Maya soon leans forward and plants a sweet kiss on Violet's lips and feeling the love and joy Violet's kisses bring to Maya's heart. Maya pulls back but is still near Violet's sweet face as she whispers, "I know you are awake my beautiful sweet Violet."
Violet opens her green eyes and smiles at Maya, "How do you know?"
Maya looks to Violet in a teasing flirting way to her, "I have my ways." Maya giggles as she sees Violet's face go in a bit of a sour look to her. Maya then explains the real reason to Violet, "Actually it was you touching my back and feeling my skin. You are not subtle with your touches." Maya teases her, and felt Violet giving her a playful shove. Maya loves it she can make Violet be playful. Maya soon grew into a serious face, "Sorry about last night and scaring you. I sometimes can't con—"
"You don't have to apologize. This is something new for me to experience and was skeptical at first when you told me of your gift, when we first started to get to know one another, and never knew how powerful it is to you." Violet softly spoke to her lover as she sits up and gently wraps her arms around Maya's stomach, and left kisses on her bare shoulders giving her all the love and support Violet could give.
Maya felt that lover's touch and smiles a warm smile at her. Maya reaches up and clasp her fingers around Violet's forearms and held her. "You do know if my gift didn't disrupt or killed the mood, you would have been the first I have ever been intimate with you," Maya admitted to Violet.
Violet looks into Maya's eyes, and blush is seen on Maya's face. Violet kisses her shoulder and replies back admitting the same feelings, "You would've been mine as well, and I was kind of going that direction when you said all those romantic words to me. I never knew how deep love is, or felt it, until I looked into your eyes last night and my heart just...knew." Violet looks into Maya's brown eyes. And without hesitation now Violet spoke the words, "I love you, Maya."
Maya moves in and kisses Violet and held her neck as Maya's thumbs graze over Violet's jawline, as she felt Violet's jaw move to Maya's strides of kissing her. Maya pulls back and held Violet's sweet face as she places her forehead to Violet's, "I love you back." Maya catches Violet's eyes and notices something special in Violet's green eyes. When Violet is extremely happy, Maya sees a golden ring in her green irises around her pupils that shines the brightest when she is happy. Turning her spring green meadow eyes, into a harvest color. "You know, when you are truly happy, you have a soft golden hue in your eyes."
Violet looks up into Mayas and softly and tenderly spoke, "You make me very happy. Happiness I haven't felt, since...since I don't know how long ago."
Maya smiles to that kisses Violet's forehead and smelling her beautiful golden hair. Violet nuzzles her nose in Maya's neck letting her know Maya captured Violet's heart, and she truly loves her. Violet stayed like that for a moment and then slightly pulls out of Maya's embrace. "I never knew you would be the type of person to have tattoos."
Maya looks away and does her cute scratching of the back of her head when she is nervous about something or she has to explain. "Oh...um..well, I keep them covered up with my clothes, which is why you never saw them."
Violet moves a little to look at Maya's tattoos, "I kind of dig them. Makes you look even more badass and attractive." Violet admitted to Maya she is a bit turned on. Violet reaches out and strokes Maya's bareback where her tattoos are. Violet softly asks her new girlfriend what they mean, "What do they mean exactly?"
Maya peeks over her shoulder at Violet who was interested in the tattoos that Maya had gotten put on when she was 12. "Well the first one which I am assuming you are tracing on my back right now, is my tribe's national symbol." Maya looks at Violet as Violet's finger was tracing the buffalo's body. Maya then casts her brown eyes to look a little bit at Violet but not into her eyes, "Lakota's are known to be bison and buffalo hunters. It was my ancestors' way of life and main food source. So for us to stand out from other native tribes, is the buffalo symbol. And the connection with the buffalo has to my people's culture. That is why it is in the center around the circle of teepees." Maya looks at Violet, who has her eyes fixed on that tattoo. Then her eyes met Maya's and a loving look fell over Violet's face.
Violet then tenderly spoke, "And the second one?"
Maya bit her lower lip a little, "My calling in life or what I was called to be in my tribe. In indigenous circles, the circle of the four colors is known to be the medicine wheel. My grandmother was my tribe's healer, being a Sherman. Apparently, when you are gifted by the spirits of having visions, it is clear who will be the next Sherman in my tribe. They choose me, so I was given the medicine wheel."
Maya pauses as she explains what the four colors are and represent, "The medicine wheel has many different forms of life and what it means. It correlates with the stages of life, changing of seasons, directional, aspects of life, elements of nature and ceremonial plants used for healing." Maya takes a breath before going in-depth with the explanation. "Yellow represents the birth of someone's life. It is the start of something new, like new life that awakes during springtime. The directional associated with this is east. And has the aspect of bringing spirituality to life and being connected to the spirits and the element of earth. Red represents the youth. It is the element of fire, with burning passion and desire to do something, like physical strength in someone, or physical nature in one's self. It usually associates with the season of summer, and it is the direction of south."
"Black represents the season of fall, and it usually goes with someone who enters adulthood. Black is the element of water, which has the ability to change form at any given moment, like someone's emotions, which ties into black being the emotion in our lives. And it is the direction of the west. White represents the last stage of human life which is elder. It is the season of winter, where everything is white with the purity of living a full life. It is someone's mental state and brings the element of air that we breathe. The direction associated with white is north." Maya pauses as she explains to Violet was the four colors are, "And the center is the balance of all four coming together as one harmony. What we all try to strive for in life. Having balance."
Violet was speechless by Maya's tattoos. And she has a new appreciation for this rugged native girl. Violet clears her throat, "Wow, you really are a deep person. And I am falling more in love with you, the more you share with me your culture." Violet smiles at her. She glances down at Maya's medicine wheel tattoo and traces the circle, "I am guessing the feathers on the wheel is your family." Violet moves her green eyes to look into Maya's gaze.
Maya nodded confirming what Violet spoke, "It was optional to have that feature. At the time before I got rebellious, I wanted to have a piece of my family with me always, never to forget who I am or my family. I am now forever grateful for that decision, as I...I lost my kid brother several years ago to a sickness waiting to get inside of a settlement to start a new life when the world went to hell. And a few months after my brother Koda's death..." Maya closes her eyes momentarily and reopens them up as she tells Violet about her parents, "I lost my parents in a blood bath by rogue Delta members. Aniya is the only family I have left."
Violet looked at her lover with empathic eyes and then brought Maya with a surprised expression on her face. Violet leaned over and left tender, caring kisses on Maya's tattoos and held her close. She never knew how tragic Maya's pain was, and in some ways, Violet felt connected to Maya at this moment because they both had deep pain in their hearts and had similar experiences of losing someone they both loved. Violet places her forehead against Maya's shoulder and nuzzles her nose to Maya's body, and holds her.
Maya felt Violet's loving touch and moved to lace her hand to Violet's and brought Violet's hand up to lightly kiss it. Violet pulls back and rests her chin on Maya's right shoulder. Violet glances up into Maya's eyes as she speaks, "One hell of a thing to have in common with the girl I love. I guess destiny has a funny way of bringing two people together." Violet looks down at her hand as she interlocks her fingers to Maya's copper brown ones, "No matter how much horrible shit we both been through and lived through, I am grateful to have you in my life Maya. You make me feel complete and bring meaning in purpose to my life again. You filled the dark hole in my heart and healed me." Violet moves and plants a tender kiss on Maya's lips for a moment and pulls back to gaze upon her beautiful eyes. Violet sighs and can't believe she is going to say this, "I think you are my soul mate."
Maya smiles warmly at Violet and believes the same thing. And maybe her vision of seeing Violet's past had a purpose of showing Maya that Violet is her soul mate as well. Maya glances at the back wall of the shack or small hut of some kind and realized she needed to get back before Bonnie gets suspicious. Shit. Maya with her free hand strokes Violet's face, "I hate to break up this moment with us, and God, I don't want to leave your pretty face, but....I got to get back to my camp before my leader gets suspicious." Maya sights as Violet moves her lace hand to Maya's and places it on Maya's forearm the hand touching her face. "I wish I wasn't in her group and didn't have to be so secretive when seeing you. I wish I was part of your group Violet."
Violet nods and leans to put her forehead to Maya's. "I wish you were part of my group as well. I too wish we don't have to sneak around just to be together."
Maya presses her forehead harder against Violet's, and held it there for a bit longer, as Violet didn't want Maya to leave her just as much. Violet softly whispers, "What are we going to do?"
Maya wishes she knew the answer to that question, but she doesn't. "I wish the hell I knew." Maya rubs Violet's cheek with her thumb and kisses her forehead tenderly. Maya breathes a heavy sigh as she gets up from the old mattress and goes over to put on her clothes that Violet took off of her last night in a moment of passion. As Maya reapplies her clothes, she sees Violet walking up and eyeing her. Maya puts on her father's tribal jacket and smiles bittersweetly at her lover.
Violet, still not wanting to see Maya go, comes to her and places her hand in hers, "At least let me walk you as far to the border of my school goes." Maya looks at Violet in a bit of surprise. Violet glances down a little, then back up at her, "Yeah, I brought you close to Ericson last night. This, here, is where we fish, while another part is where we hunt rabbits and catch game with our traps. I feel you belong here and I trust you, despite what Clementine thinks of you. You prove your loyalty to me last night, and you won't betray or hurt me, or put anyone else I care for in danger." Violet then closes the fishing shack door and laces her fingers to Maya's.
Maya felt honored and softly said, "Thank you." The air was cold as winter was on its way. However, the warmness of Violet's touch made the walk barrable. They walked until they reached the end of the road, where they had to part ways. Maya felt the necklace she made Violet in her jacket that she planned to give to her yesterday but got caught up in her romance with her. Maya takes out the carved necklace and pauses in her step with Violet, "I meant to give this to you yesterday." Maya places the necklace around Violet's neck. "Your very own animal spirit totem. Normally there will be a big ceremony thing that is significant to this moment in my culture, but...due to unfortunate life events of the world turning upside down, I will give you the short version."
Violet looks at the animal that was hand carved to fine detail, and her heart stops as she looks into Maya's eyes. "Maya-"
Maya came forward and put a finger to Violet's lips to keep her from talking, "I made you a panther because the panther speaks to who you are, Vi. Protection, hidden emotions, introspection, caution, careful decision-making, and a representation of dark and light. You, my love, are a panther in this world. Keep it close to you when you find yourself missing me or need strength and guidance. I love you." Maya plants a kiss on Violet's cheek and glances into Violet's green eyes.
Violet looks into her lover's brown eyes and smiles at Maya's gift. Violet moves forward to kiss Maya one last time before they part to return to their groups. Violet kisses Maya as she has never kissed anyone before and tugs on Maya's tribal jacket to make the kiss more meaningful, and as a statement, her heart is bonded to Maya's. After a moment of soft making out, Violet pulled back her lips as she repeated the exact words back, "I love you too, Maya. Stay safe, and come back to me." Violet looks down at her new necklace and then at Maya, "I will keep this and you forever in my heart." Violet clutches the necklace and smiles at Maya.
Maya returns Violet's smile and lightly strokes her face with her thumb. With a heavy heart, Maya leaves the beautiful sight of Violet's pretty face and her damn beautiful green eyes that get Maya's heart pounding every time she looks into those sexy light green pools.
Violet watches Maya leave to go back to her camp and stood there until she no longer sees Maya's figure. Violet sighs as she turns to head back to Ericson with emptiness in her heart of Maya not coming back to her room with her. She reaches for the necklace and held it close to her heart and hearing those words Maya spoke to her, Keep it close to you when you find yourself missing me or need strength and guidance. I love you. Violet said out loud as she walks a slow pace back, "I love you too my sweet rugged warrior. You are the love of my life."
...........................
Clementine slept soundly in Louis's arms holding her throughout the night, and it was a peaceful night between the two of them. Neither one of them woken up to terrible nightmares the other has to try and comfort the other person to help them through the terror they are feeling. Clementine's nightmares of the ranch still get to her but it is not as often as before, now that she is safe in her new home. She still struggles with her new trauma of AJ cutting off her leg, and she needs Louis's help to get her through tough nights, but as far as the nightmares, she rarely gets them. Louis on the other hand still suffers from his trauma of what happened on the boat when rescuing their friends. His first kill of a living person still haunts him even long after the event happened. Clementine wishes she could take his pain away so he doesn't suffer. She wishes he didn't have to be the one to kill for her in order to protect her from harm, but at the same time, she is grateful.
The sun rays shine through Clementine and Louis's bedroom window as a sign that morning has broken. Louis's eyes slowly open to find Clementine on her side facing him and his jacket draped over her waist as she softly breathes in and out of her dream world. Louis smiles big watching her sleep. He couldn't help but put a lock of her hair behind her ears as she twitches a bit from his touch. He knows she is in a deep sleep when she doesn't stir from his touch.
Louis then runs his fingers down her shoulder as he lightly rubs it. Her brand of whatever symbol it is clearly is visible with the sunlight dappling her skin. Louis wonders what her scar means and why. It pains him to see her endure that much. Clementine slowly begins to stir awake and Louis quickly closes his eyes pretending he was not awake.
Clementine slowly opens up her amber eyes as the bright sun was peering through the windows. Clementine then gazes upon Louis and what they did last night and notice some marks were left on his neck. Her smile widens a bit as she gave love bites to him during their most intense moment. Clementine smiles at the memory of him and her being truly intimate with each other and making love. She wants more of that feeling but knows AJ will be coming in soon, and she doesn't want him to see her like this or know what she and Louis did.
Louis then opens his eyes slightly as Clementine doesn't say a word but her eyes spoke for her. Louis caught on to her gaze and moves closer to her lips as she did the same. His hand found hers, as she laces her fingers to his. They were eyeing each other and just when Louis made the move to lock his lips to hers the door handle jiggles a bit. Clementine flung out of her love gaze with Louis and move apart from him so fast he didn't have time to process it. She had just enough time to put on her white undershirt and Louis's jacket and made it onto her bed and under the covers before the door opened up.
Louis had never seen Clementine move that quickly and before he knew it AJ comes through the door. Thank God he is still wrapped up in the sheets, but he saw the look in Clementine's eyes that she didn't want her somewhat surrogate son to see her like that or get any ideas.
"Good morning Cle−" AJ said as he looks at the scene before him. "What did you and Louis do last night?"
"Uh.." Clementine tries to come up with a story without giving away her first sexual experience. She glances at Louis for help.
Louis caught on and then made up a scenario that will not embarrass her. "We had a pillow fort and played Truth and Dare. Clem dared me to sleep on the floor the whole night through and made a bet with me that I wouldn't last 2 hours. I guess I made it all throughout the night so she owns me my night watch." Louis looks at Clementine and winks at her. She is grateful for the made-up kind of lie. "And before you ask what happened to the fort, clumsy me knocked it over doing another one of Clementine's dares. Had to do a headstand. Obviously, it didn't end too well, which cause the demolition of our fort."
AJ looks at Clementine, "You dared Louis to sleep on the floor. That is mean."
Clementine giggles at that and plays along with Louis's little white lie tale, "Yes, well I had to be creative somehow with my dares."
AJ then notices Clementine wearing Louis's jacket, "Is part of the dare you wearing Louis's jacket?"
Clementine smiles and replies, "Yes. I also dared him to not sleep with his jacket on as well."
AJ looks at Louis who is not wearing his green shirt and scans the room until he spots it next to Clementine's denim jean jacket and her white zip-up hoodie. "Louis, why is your shirt off and with Clementine's jacket?"
Panic sets in on both of the teenagers blushing faces. Clementine cannot answer that but Louis is a smooth talker to get out of it, "I got a bit warm last night little man, so I took off my shirt. Clem already took her jacket off early on before we played truth or dare." Thank God he didn't spot both of their pants that is covered up by the sheets.
Before AJ asks any more questions, Clementine then intervenes and speaks to her adoptive son, "AJ can you give Louis and I a moment to get up? "
"But we are supposed to be on watch lookout this morning. Your scheduling remember?" AJ looks at her.
"Right forgot about that." Clementine half curses herself for making plans ahead of time. She then looks into AJ's soft brown eyes; "Can you give me five minutes kiddo, please," Clementine said bargaining with him. "Just five. I promise."
"Okay," AJ said as he turns and walks out closing the door behind him.
Once AJ left the room Clementine heaves a sigh of relief. "Well, that was close."
"Yeah, super close. Hope we didn't scar him too badly," Louis looks at her.
"I don't think we did. He didn't really suspect anything." Clementine answers him. She pauses to look at her boyfriend and smiles, "You are a smooth talker to think quickly on your feet." Clementine said complimenting Louis on his storytelling.
"Had years of practicing, darling with that." Louis smirks, which made Clementine, giggle a little.
Clementine then looks down at the floor as she spoke out loud. "Although I hate lying to him even though it was a little untrue with the details of your story," Clementine said.
"Yeah, but it is only a little lie. AJ doesn't need to know of sex just quite yet, and especially what we.... uh did last night." Louis reassures her a little. She can tell his cheeks are blushing.
"True. But he will learn about it eventually from Willy." Clementine pointed out.
"Well, we will cross that bridge when we get to it." Louis glances up into her golden eyes.
Clementine smiles at Louis then breaks the conversation a bit, "Well, I told AJ five minutes and he will hold me to that, so can you find the rest of my clothes since you are closer." Clementine said as she looks away blushing.
Louis nods to that and reaches for Clementine's sexy jean jacket and her stained white hoodie. He hands her those as he goes fishing under the sea of sheets for her pants and underwear. He found it next to his and the scattered deck of cards. Louis comes back up from underneath the sheets and hands them off to her. Clementine took them face blushing a bit. Louis loves it when she is like this, unsure of herself. He wanted to grab that arm and pull her back down to where he is and kiss her passionately again like last night. Clementine shyly re-dresses herself to be modest again. Louis does the same as he puts on his pants.
When Clementine reaches for her boot to put it on, Louis looks up at her and smiles a lovely smile, "Just so you know, in case we don't have time to discuss this, you were amazing last night."
Clementine pauses in her lacing up her boot looks at him, and blushes a bit more to Louis's compliment, "Thanks." She glances down at the floor for a second then looks up into Louis's eyes, "You were amazing as well. And....would love to do that again sometime with you in the future. Felt amazing and thrilling. And you with your shirt off is making me, a bit crazy."
Louis then looks at her and was about to get up and have a lip lock with her, but she finishes by lacing up her one and only boot. Clem grabs her prosthetic foot and puts it on like a champ with no issues anymore, and soon gets up and goes to the door. She pauses at the handle and turns to look at him, "You know if AJ hadn't come in the way he did. I would have possibly wanted to go for another round....with you." Louis looks at her and his smile grows. She returns the same smile to him, and then she said out loud this time without hesitation in her voice, "I love you."
Louis then returns the phrase back to her, "I love you back, and I too would have as well, especially you wearing my jacket. Makes my heart melt for you." Clementine and Louis share the loving gaze again. Louis then adds in as the last comment, "You know that your face is glowing right."
Clementine giggles and lightly, in a joking matter, replies, "Shut up." Clementine turns to head out of the room where AJ is waiting in the hallway as she approaches him with a big dorky grin on her face.

Summary: It’s that time of the year again. The sun is shining, the birds are chirping, everything is blooming… and you’re out there, dying from hay fever. Today has been particularly awful because your job required you to be outdoors for several hours. After returning home, you’re a sneezing, itchy mess. Thankfully, your doting and caring partner is there to take care of you. They’ll do anything to make you feel better, even if it means going out to buy the entire stock of tissues at the grocery store.
*****
Key:
(Words in parenthesis): Sound effects
[Words in brackets]: The Speaker’s actions
“Words in quotation marks”: The Speaker’s lines
Words in italics: Scene change
*****
General Notes: This was a silly idea I had while working on my lengthier, more challenging projects. The inspiration for this one, unfortunately, comes from my current battle with seasonal allergies, haha. As a side note, in the script, I use the term, “Gesundheit” in place of “Bless you” after the Listener sneezes. For anyone who doesn’t know, the word means, “health”, or in this context, “good health.” I actually say, “Gesundheit” in real life, so I decided to write that in.
Notes on Usage: You may record this script for an audio, but I do need to be credited. I would very much like to listen to it, so please send me a link so I can follow up. Certain types of monetization are fine (like YouTube), but please do not paywall this or any of my scripts. As for the script itself, you may edit the genders and you may change the title to “Your Boyfriend or Girlfriend” if you would like to. Please keep the rest of the writing the same, however. If you have any questions, feel free to send me a message. Thank you!
*****
Setting: The Speaker and the Listener’s home
(The front door opens and closes. Footsteps approach.)
“Welcome home, sweetheart! How was your…”
[Interrupted pause to take in the Listener’s appearance]
“…Your eyes are red, and so is your nose. You look like you’ve been crying. Did something happen at work that’s made you upset?”
[Pause]
“…Nothing bad happened?”
[Pause]
“I’m glad to hear there wasn’t a work catastrophe. That still doesn’t explain why it looks like you’ve had a rough day. You do know that if anything is bothering you, you can always come to me, right? Whatever it is, I’ll listen and help you through it. I promise.”
(A sneeze, coming from the Listener.)
“Gesundheit! Here, let me grab you a tissue…”
(A tissue is pulled from a box.)
“You’re welcome, sweetheart. Wait a minute…”
[Pause as the realization sinks in]
“It’s your allergies, isn’t it? They’re acting up today.”
[Pause]
“Why didn’t you just say that from the beginning?”
[Pause]
"It is a big deal. Allergies are nothing to downplay. I can tell you’re struggling, even though you’re putting on a brave face. This time of year is always difficult for you, but you seem more affected than usual. Did you spend a lot of time outside today?”
[Pause]
“You were out there for most of the morning and afternoon?”
[Pause]
“I’m so sorry. That must have been really exhausting and uncomfortable. Come here.”
[Pause for a hug and a gentle kiss]
“You’re home now, so you’re safe from all those nasty, harmful things outside. I’m here, sweetheart. I’m right here, and I’ll take care of you.”
[Pause]
“You don’t have to thank me. I’m always happy to take care of you. Now, for the first order of business, let’s get you out of these work clothes…”
[Pause]
“Oh, stop smirking at me. I didn’t mean it like that!”
[Pause to chuckle]
“You have such a dirty mind.”
[Pause]
“You’re right – I do love it. But, that’s beside the point.”
[Pause]
“Aww, don’t pout. We’ll have plenty of time for that later. Right now, I have to make sure you’re not going to die from your allergies.”
[Pause]
“You can give me your bedroom eyes all you want, but I’m still not going to change my mind. Let’s get you feeling better, and then you can have your wicked way with me, okay?”
[Pause]
“Good. As I was saying…you should remove your clothes because they probably have a lot of allergens on them.”
[Pause]
“Yes, you could put your pajamas on, but how about I draw you a bath first? That way, you can stretch out and relax for a while. After the day you’ve had, it sounds like you could use something to loosen and soothe your muscles.”
[Pause]
“Mhhm, I’d love to join you, but I have to run out to get a few items.”
[Pause]
“You want to know what we could possibly need?”
[Pause]
“Well, we’re going to need more tissues since we’re down to our last box. I also noticed that you finished your bottle of eyedrops last night, so I’ll replace that with a new one. Speaking of things that you've been doing at night, you’ve been drinking more of your ginger tea. At first, I wasn’t sure why, but now that I think about it, the tea probably helps to alleviate some of the symptoms, at least enough for you to sleep. I’ll stock up on that as well. And to be completely honest, I’m not sure how effective your current allergy med is. It hardly seems like it’s touching your allergies. I know how annoying it can be to change meds, but it might be time to try something new. I’ll pick up a couple of options, so you can see which one works for you.”
[Pause]
“…What’s with the look?”
[Pause]
“No, you’re definitely giving me a look. And I can’t decipher it. You have this adorable, little smile on your lips, but your eyebrows are furrowed, like you’re trying to figure something out. Was it what I said? Did it any of it weird you out?”
[Pause]
“No? Then, what is it? What’s going on in that beautiful head of yours?”
[Pause]
“You’re…surprised that anyone would care enough to pay attention to the little things about you.”
[Pause]
“I do care. Very much so. As your partner, I’m supposed to know you, and that means learning and understanding your likes, dislikes, the subtleties in your behavior, and your quirks.”
[Pause]
“Thank you for saying that, but I’m the lucky one here.”
[Pause to kiss]
“Give me a couple of minutes and I’ll have that bath ready for you.”
(The sound of retreating footsteps. The water begins running in the bathroom. A flicker of a lighter to light some candles.)
“Sweetheart! You can come in now.”
[Pause to groan]
“You just had to wear your silk robe, didn’t you? You know what that does to me.”
[Pause to sigh]
“Exactly. You’re making it very difficult for me to concentrate.”
[Pause]
“Yes, really. And stop biting your lip like that. Your seduction tactics aren’t going to work on me. Not this time.”
[Pause]
“On the contrary, I find you extremely attractive right now, even with your sniffly nose and bloodshot eyes.”
[Pause]
“I’m not joking. You’re always gorgeous.”
[Pause]
“Of course I mean it.”
[Pause]
“We’re getting off-topic again. You’re here for a reason, and that is to take a nice, long soak. I just tested the temperature of the water, so it should still be hot. If you're not too congested, you should notice the scent in the water. It's from your favorite bubble bath - the lavender and mint one. And in case you’d like to do something while you’re relaxing, I left the novel you’re currently reading on the bathroom counter, along with a mug of your ginger tea and a plate of those shortbread cookies you like so much. Last, but certainly not least, I lit candles to add to the overall ambiance.”
[Pause]
“I’m glad you think it looks like paradise in here. Hopefully, it feels that way, too.”
[Pause to chuckle]
“I’m perfectly aware that I could join you and find out if this really feels like paradise, but I should get going. Don’t worry, I won’t be gone for too long.”
[Pause]
“Yes, I can handle dinner tonight. You didn’t even have to ask – I was planning on it anyway. Would you like me to cook something, or would you like to order takeout?”
[Pause]
“You’d like soup from the bistro around the corner?”
[Pause]
“Yeah, I can stop by after I visit the store. It’s no problem at all.”
[Pause to chuckle]
“Yes, I know which soup to order. You’ll also want the French baguette, rather than the oyster crackers.”
[Pause]
“Like I said, I know you. Your food preferences were one of the first things I learned about you, actually. Now, enjoy your bath, sweetheart. I’ll see you soon.”
[Pause to kiss]
(The sound of footsteps retreating. A car engine begins.)
A little while later, the Speaker arrives home, juggling what appears to be a massive number of bags.
(The front door opens and closes gently. The rustling of bags as they are set down.)
“Hey, sweetheart. What are you doing out here in the living room? I thought you’d be in the bathtub for a while longer.”
[Pause to chuckle]
“Okay, that is a valid excuse to leave. I don’t like it when my skin starts to prune, either.”
(The sound of the Listener going through the bags.)
“Oh, these? Um…I might have gotten a little carried away when I was at the store. In my defense, I wanted to make sure you had everything you could possibly want or need!”
[Pause to chuckle]
“Yes, it was absolutely necessary to buy out the entire stock of tissues. It wasn’t like they had that many anyway. It was just a few dozen.”
[Pause]
“C’mon, 48 boxes isn’t that bad.”
[Pause]
“All right, fine. It is a bit…much. The cashier was having a field day, though. He kept laughing at me, saying this was like The Great Toilet Paper Hoarding of 2020.”
[Pause]
“Stop laughing! I only did what I thought was best.”
[Pause]
“Yes, I know I’m ridiculous. Hey, you asked me out first, and you’re still dating me, three years later. So, really, who’s the ridiculous one here?”
[Pause to chuckle]
“Still me? That’s what I thought you’d say.”
[Slightly longer pause]
“How are you feeling? Did the bath help?”
[Pause]
“Good, I’m glad. You do look much more at ease than when you first arrived home. Your eyes are still red, though. Are they itchy at all?”
[Pause]
“A bit? Hmm, now is probably a good time to put some eye drops in. I purchased the same brand that you normally use.”
(Rustling of a bag as the Speaker reaches into it.)
“Here it is.”
[Pause]
“You look like you’re about to ask me something, but you’re hesitating. What is it, sweetheart?”
[Pause]
“You’d like me to help you with the eye drops?”
[Pause]
“Sure, I can do that. Just let me put these items away first, and then I’ll give you my undivided attention. Which spot is more comfortable for you to do this? The couch or the bedroom?”
[Pause]
“The couch? That works. Oh, I have your soup, too. Would you like that after the eye drops or later tonight?”
[Pause]
“Later it is then. I’ll keep it in the fridge for now.”
(Cabinets open and close.)
(Soft footsteps as the Speaker comes back into the living and sits on the couch.)
“Everything is all set. I’m ready to…”
(The Listener sneezes again.)
“Gesundheit!”
(Another tissue is pulled from the box.)
“Here’s another tissue.”
[Pause]
“Sweetheart, you are not a gross mess. I told you, you’re always beautiful.”
[Pause]
“Yes, you’re beautiful, even when you’re sneezing up a storm and blowing your nose. Only you could make any of that even remotely cute.”
[Pause to chuckle]
“Do you feel okay enough to lie down, so I can put the drops in?”
[Pause]
“Good. Here, place your head in my lap.”
[Pause]
“There you go. Are you comfortable?”
[Pause]
“Good. On the count of three, I’ll place two drops in the right eye, okay?”
[Pause]
“One…two…three.”
[Pause]
“I’m sorry. I know it stings, sweetheart. It’ll be over soon, I promise. Take a deep breath for me.”
(Sounds of breathing.)
“Are you all right?”
[Pause]
“Good. Are you ready for the other eye?”
[Pause]
“Okay, I’ll count to three again.”
[Pause]
“One…two…three.”
[Pause]
“You did a great job with that one. You hardly reacted at all.”
[Pause]
“Can you open your eyes so I can see if the redness has improved?”
[Pause]
“They’re looking much better now. Do they still itch?”
[Pause]
“No? That’s good. I’m relieved to hear that.”
[Pause]
“Sure, you can close your eyes. Relax, sweetheart. We can stay here for as long as you’d like to. There’s nowhere else I need to be, nor is there anything else I have to do. This time is all yours.”
[Pause]
“You like the sound of that? Mhhm, me too.”
[Pause]
“Would it be all right if I ran my fingers through your hair? It’s comforting for me, and I think it is for you, too.”
[Pause]
“Thank you.”
(Sounds of the Speaker’s fingers running through the Listener’s hair – light scratching.)
“How does that feel?”
[Pause]
“Like you’re on cloud nine? Hmm, that is a big compliment.”
[Pause to sigh, dreamily]
“Your hair is so soft and silky. I can’t get over how amazing it feels between my fingers.”
[Pause to chuckle]
“Yes, that’s why I make up every excuse to touch it. I especially love it when you first wake up and roll over. You always have a strand of hair that falls across your forehead, and I tuck it behind your ear each morning.”
[Pause]
“Mhmm, that is a part of our morning routine, you’re right. Well, that and the ton of kisses that follow it.”
[Pause]
“I love every part of our routine, sweetheart. Even the part where you throw me out of bed because I’ve made us late for work…again.”
[Pause to chuckle]
“Speaking of things we usually do every day, tell me about your day. How was work?”
[Pause]
“Wait, that’s why you were outdoors for so long?”
[Pause]
“Your boss thought it was a great day for team building, so you had to travel by foot to complete a scavenger hunt around town?”
[Pause to chuckle in disbelief]
“Wow, and I thought my workplace was strange. The last time we tried team building, someone got punched, and that was a whole HR nightmare. Do you remember the Escape Room Incident last fall?”
[Pause]
“Yeah, that’s the one. We’re still dealing with the repercussions from that. Anyway, did you have fun doing the scavenger hunt, at least?”
[Pause]
“That’s good. It sounds like your sneezing and itchy eyes weren’t completely in vain then. Still, I’m sorry your allergies made things more difficult today. Hopefully, switching to a new med will help. There are two kinds that you haven’t tried yet, so I bought both. They’re in the medicine cabinet now.”
[Pause]
“What do you mean you’ll really get a chance to put a new med to the test? Will you be outside for another extended period of time?”
[Pause]
“You have a team building exercise on Friday? What is it this time?”
[Pause to chuckle in disbelief]
“Kickball, really?”
[Pause]
“Okay, your company takes the cake for being the weirdest. Although… if I’m being honest, it’s probably the most enjoyable as well.”
[Pause]
“Oh, the game is open to the employees’ spouses and partners? Do you mean as spectators or players?”
[Pause]
“I see. They're allowed to be players. That is pretty cool. You know, you’re doing that thing where you’re trying to be coy, but I can see right through it. This your way of asking if I’ll play, isn’t it?”
[Pause]
“I’d love to. But, wait… if this is a team-building exercise, then wouldn’t you be with your coworkers? That would mean… all the spouses and partners would be on the same team. So…we’d be competing against each other.”
[Pause]
“No, I’m not scared! Far from it. You’re the one who should be afraid. I’m going to destroy you at kickball. Just you wait.”
[Pause]
“Mhhm, wanna bet on it?”
[Pause]
“Yeah? If that’s what you want, then I’d be stupid to refuse. And what do I get if I win?”
[Pause to chuckle]
“Oh, I’ll definitely agree to those terms.”
[Slightly longer pause]
“You’re starting to look sleepy, sweetheart. Today has taken a toll on you, so you’re probably ready for a well-deserved nap. We’ll come back to this conversation, all right? For now, just rest. I’ve got you.”
[Pause]
“I’m sure. There’s nowhere else I’d rather be. Sleep well, sweetheart. I love you.”
[Pause to kiss gently]

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Hi everyone, I need some serious advice here.
I have 3 cats: 3 year old sphynx female [Pea], 1.5 year old sphynx male [Pickle], and a 6 week old female Siamese rescue kitten I’ve recently decided to care for and adopt [Tigra]. My two older cats go with me everywhere. From car rides, to stroller walks around my city.
I’ve had Pea since she was 2 months old. Raised as a single kitten but was with her litter for a decent time. She was very energetic, playful, and communicative as a kitten but has become increasingly reserved and independent as she’s gotten older. She still has that previous side to her, but tends to want her space more often, isn’t afraid to communicate that, and is bonded/affectionate primarily towards me. She very much has princess behavior.
I got Pickle at 4 months when Pea was like 1.5yrs. Before Pickle, I’d often be gone a couple days out of the week. Pea would free feed and always seemed to be fine/even enjoy the alone time; but I thought that (considering her amount of energy) a companion would be more beneficial.
I was very careful about taking introductions slow. Regardless, Pea was very mean, hissy and grumpy for a while. When they finally began to interact face to face, Pea would bully Pickle a lot, it would stress me out and make me cry because he was so tiny. Eventually though, Pickle grew and overtime they’ve become pretty bonded.
Pickle is almost 2 now but he still behaves like a kitten: veryyyy playful, energetic, talkative, dog-like. I feel like Pea’s personality has slightly changed since getting Pickle (possibly why she’s more reserved?) but also thought that was just due to her age. Pickle is twice Pea’s size and definitely annoys her, she’ll hiss, but she likes him overall. They groom and sleep with each other regularly. And when we leave the house for travel, they even prefer being in the same carrier.
I have an apartment, but I leave once a week for two days (for work) and stay at a relatives house, where I have my own area/set up for the kitties. So they come with me. This is a routine that they’re very used to and fine with. They’ve grown to even enjoy riding/listening to music in my car. They also seem to enjoy themselves my relatives home, but there’s more traffic there so they (especially Pea) feel more relaxed in my apartment.
So recently I took on this new kitten Tigra. She’s very chill, cuddly, gentle and sweet. I’d been thinking about this for a while, because I felt as though Pickle was too energetic for Pea. And because Pea loves cuddling up with warm, soft fur. New kitty could simultaneously entertain Pickle enough for Pea to have her space sometimes, and also be the more chill, warm fuzzy companion Pea needs.
So far, Pickle is sooo friendly and aside from a few swats, has been pretty accepting and playful towards the kitten. But introductions have been rough with Pea. She’s been grumpy, swatting at her brother, hissing at me occasionally, growling, hiding in her bed.
Tigra was rescued near my work, so I’ve been at my relatives house for nearly a week with them because it’s a bigger (separated) space & Pea has been so aggravated by the scent of the new kitty that I’m nervous to travel with them/bring them all back to my (smaller) apartment.
Tigra and Pickle are becoming friends fast and Tigra thankfully travels well too. I’m wondering if I, for now, should leave Pea at my apartment when I’m gone to help the transition? I keep them in separate spaces in my apartment also so I figured it would give her time to be alone andget used to Tigra’s scent without the stress of her being present.
I used to leave her alone and free feed her when she was a single cat and she was happy. But if I’m traveling with the other two like usual, will she stop recognizing Pickle’s scent too and get more angry? Will the repetitive coming and going be MORE stressful/confusing for Pea or will the scent of Tigra’s area combined with time alone be enough for Pea to recognize/get used to a new kitten in the house? I’m home 5 days in a row each week so they WILL be around each other the majority of the time.
HELP!!!!!!

Amid a galaxy of brutal chaos there are stories to be told, tales of valor and justice, of fear and despair. But amid these stories are the guttering flames of adventures untold, the potential for a universe of entertainment and savage joyous fun. The Oblivion Cycle embodies just this kind of crafted chaos, creating the potential for creative exploits and raucous tales. If you are new to the TOC setting feel free to join the community at TheOblivionCycle to check out some of the background lore or to discuss themes with other readers. I thank you all for your support and continued willingness to read, as always, Please Enjoy!
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_____________________________________
Chapter 27
Max-imum Surprise
He stood atop a wooden platform in the branches of the highest tree in the jungle. His heart beating fast in his chest as he looked out into that endless blue expanse of sky above. He blinked, suddenly there was no jungle. In front and below him was only more of that same endless sky.
He should have been afraid, should have cowered from that endless void in terror, but he found that he felt none of these things. Instead he smiled and spread his arms wide. He felt free, freer than he could ever remember feeling before.
He looked down at his bare feet, the polished red wood of the platform solid beneath his toes. Taking a deep breath he began to run. The edge of the platform seemed to stretch away from him, the harder he ran the faster it seemed to pull away.
He yelled at it to stop, to wait for him. But it did not. Instead it expanded outwards from him at the speed of light, encompassing him in a giant sphere of darkness that then seemed to press in on all sides. He felt a terrible pressure on his chest and cried out for someone to save him.
Suddenly he stopped as a profound sense of love and warmth seemed to wrap around him. It wasn't the same crushing weight as before. Before the pressure had been malicious, cruel and painful. Now the pressure was soft and tender, he embraced the feeling with his mind and smiled again. He suddenly realized that he was floating once more in that endless blue sky. Or was he falling? It made little difference, he spread his arms experimentally and found he could fly.
He laughed in childlike wonder as he began to soar through the endless clouds, doing loops and tricks to his heart's content. He had thought himself free before. He had been a slave, shackled to the ground and forever denied the truth.
He growled in anger at the thought, twisting dark branches reaching out like fingers to ensnare him as his mood darkened once more. He flitted and dodged through them with an agility that surprised even himself.
Then suddenly in the distance he heard a wailing sound, almost like that of a storm siren, but deeper in tone and altogether more sinister. In the sky overhead a darkness formed, taking a strange and terrifying form that he was unable to describe. It was as if the tendrils of darkness continued on forever, though he could not see them he knew they were there. Burrowing through reality as a worm would an apple.
He frowned, intrigued by the spectacle and unafraid. It seemed familiar, like an old acquaintance many years forgotten. It struck him as neutral, not evil or good, but somewhere in the middle. A mix of the two. He shook like a leaf in a storm as a hot wind began to blow over him and the sky split open to reveal a burning orange eye the size of eternity. He felt fear now, a terrible bone wrenching fear that spoke of primordial terrors and cosmic threats beyond mortal comprehension. But still he remained, no longer flying as he stood upon a tower of dark basalt stone blocks.
He looked at the eye and it looked at him, it seemed to look deeper than his skin. It felt as if it were peeling back the layers of his flesh and looking to his very soul, the gestalt of his core.
He jerked as a voice seemed to echo through his mind “You are not the one.”
He shook his head in confusion and shouted up to the burning sky “I’m not what one? What do you mean?”
The eye didn't reply, instead began to close. Leon raised his fists and shouted to the sky “One what? Answer me! I need to know.”
Again the voice spoke in his mind, this time quieter and growing more faint by the second till it trailed off into silence. “It is not yet time, you are not the one.”
As the eye closed the sky went dark, so did everything else. He felt himself falling again, looking down he saw a bright light far below. Squinting he saw it looked like a hospital room. The scene grew closer and more defined as he approached it at rapid speed. He looked at the bed and gasped in surprise, for in the bed he saw himself. But not as he remembered himself, but pale and seemingly without life. To his side he saw Dr. Kimathi and Joice frantically messing with something next to the bed his body lay in. It was a defibrillator.
He watched in growing fascination as he fell towards himself at incredible speeds. Joice lifted his body’s shirt and applied the paddles while Dr. Kimathi shouted something. He didn't have a chance to hear it as he slammed into his body.
He grunted in pain and convulsed as his eyes shot open. Coughing violently he tried to sit up and found he could not. Laying back in bed a bit dazed he tried to remember what had just happened.
He stopped, his mind a whirl of impossible images and sensations, and over it all a voice like thunder echoed in his mind. “You are not the one.”
“I am not the one.” He muttered to himself.
“Leon, Leon can you hear me? What did you just say? Nevermind it's not important, Leon I need you to tell me if you can hear me.” A female voice said from close to his ear.
He looked around blearily, was he Leon? ‘I am.’ he decided to himself. With his newfound identity chosen he decided to move onto his next issue.
He tried to sit up but found he couldn't. Flailing around weakly he heard a voice shout for assistance and then felt multiple hands holding him still.
“He is seizing.” Someone said, his mind assigned the voice a name. Dr. Kimathi.
Another voice, this one male, spoke up saying “I think he’s okay now. He stopped struggling.” This time his mind said the name Taylor.
He blinked a few times, trying to clear his mind. What had happened? Why couldn't he remember anything? He thought hard, his face screwing up from the stress. He remembered mud and a loud noise. But that was it.
Dr. Kimathi stood next to him and shined a penlight into his eyes while saying “Pupil response is normal, no intracranial swelling then. Leon, Leon look at me.” she said sternly.
He looked at her, his vision focusing on the dark skinned woman’s eyes. She nodded and then put up a single finger. “I want you to follow my finger, okay Leon?”
He tried to speak but all that came out was a half strangled croak. She frowned but moved her finger. He did his best to keep locked onto it. Maybe if he did what she asked she would tell him what happened to him. She moved it a few more times, first slowly and then more rapidly. He followed along and she nodded before marking something on the small datapad she was holding.
He coughed as he tried again to speak and he heard Taylor say “I'll go get Natalia. She will want to know he’s awake.”
Dr. Kimathi raised a hand. Glancing at him she hissed quietly. “I don't know if that’s a good idea. He seems to be suffering from acute memory loss. I can’t explain it, no head injury, not cranial trauma of any kind. It’s like something reached in there and scrambled his brains around, resonance scans are all over the place. It's like there was some kind of interference.”
Leon frowned at her words, again the dim memory of a powerful voice echoed through the corner’s of his mind and the vague impression of a nebulous darkness crossed his mind. But he quickly suppressed it.
“Where am I?” he croaked.
Dr. Kimathi's head whipped towards him and she rushed to his side. “Leon, you are in the infirmary. What do you remember?”
Leon frowned again, hadn't she already asked him that? He couldn't remember. Instead of asking he said “I remember mud, lots of mud. And then, trees? That makes no sense, I'm sorry.” he apologised quickly. They would think he was insane if he kept talking. Then he would end up in the loony pen with Aden.
He sat bolt upright as things started rushing back into place. The planetary landing, the attack on Oliver, the strange dream he had experienced. It all came back in a rush that made his vision swim and his head pound. Clutching his head he groaned “I remember everything… Ough, why does it hurt so much?”
Taylor looked at Dr. Kimathi and asked “What about now?” to which the woman just nodded. Taylor rushed off, presumably to grab Natalia, Leon speculated.
Leon knew that he only had a few moments before everyone else came rushing back and so clutched at Dr. Kimathi’s arm.
“Wait, I have to tell you something.” He said urgently.
Dr. Kimathi looked around the room quickly before nodding and asking “Ok then Leon, what is it?”
He held the long sleeve of her white lab coat and began determinedly. He told her of his dream and the voice, of the eye and the darkness. After he had finished he released her arm and sat back with a wince. Only now did he notice his bare chest was wrapped, an ugly yellow and blue bruise peeking from beneath the bandage.
Dr. Kimathi shook her head slowly and said “You are starting to sound like Aden. Are you sure you are alright Leon? I have some antipsychotics I can prescribe if you…”
Leon cut her off with a right handed wave, his left arm hurting too much to move it about. “No, please, no more medication. I take enough of that shit to sink a battleship already. Some painkillers wouldn't be bad though, please?” He asked her.
She smiled slightly and handed him three small pills from her pocket and a bottle of water with a straw. “Careful on the water.” She warned him as he started to suck it down.
He coughed a few times as her warning did not come fast enough and some slipped down the wrong pipe, Dr. Kimathi leaned over to pat his back as he tried to expel the excess liquid. He was still coughing lightly as a familiar and very welcome face walked around the corner.
Natalia rushed to his side and hugged him as he was still trying to settle his lungs. The result was another coughing fit followed by her rapidly apologizing for hurting him.
Leon waved a hand weakly and said “No it’s fine Nat, I was just drinking water too fast. It is really good to see you.” he said softly.
She smiled sadly and nodded, a few tears welling in her eyes. “When you stopped breathing I thought…” She started to say but he shushed her and extended an arm.
Natalia sat by his side and leaned on his shoulder gently as he put his arm around her waist. “Don’t talk like that. I’m not going anywhere. I'm way too stubborn to do anything like that, much less the effect I know it would have on you.” he said, wiping a tear from her cheek.
Dr. Kimathi spoke “Well, I am glad to see you feeling better Leon. And she’s right, we nearly lost you there a few times.”
Leon nodded and pulled Natalia’s head down before planting a tender kiss on the top of her head. “I’m sorry Nat, I won’t let my pride get in the way of my common sense again.” He turned to Dr. Kimathi as she tapped on her datapad. “How is Oliver? Is he alright?”
She finally smiled, a small tight lipped thing. “Thanks for asking Leon, I was hoping you would. Oliver is going to be physically fine, he woke up from the antivenom treatment a few days ago.”
Leon jerked up before the pain in his side dragged him back down to the dismay of both women. “A few days!” he shouted.
Natalia pushed him back down gingerly while Dr. Kimathi shot him a pointed look. She lowered her datapad and explained “Yes, a few days. You were in a medically induced coma Leon, severe lack of oxygen almost killed you before we could get you out of your suit. You had a collapsed lung and multiple fractures, not to mention a partially dislocated collarbone. It was kind of touch and go for a while.” she finished with a gesture to his bandages.
Leon winced again and asked “What happened after I blacked out?”
Dr. Kimathi shook her head and said “A whole hell of a lot. Natalia can fill you in on the details, I need to go check on something. Don’t do anything stupid while I'm gone Leon, okay?” She told him. Leon just nodded and watched the stern woman exit the examination room.
Natalia answered his question “Well, you passed out on the way up to the ship. By the time they got you out of your environmental suit you were already in full respiratory arrest. Your heart was beating but your lungs were not working.” she said emotionally.
Leon hugged her close again and whispered to her softly “It’s okay now though. I’m better. Please, tell me what happened next?”
Natalia sucked in a shuddering breath and nodded jerkily. With a slight tremble in her voice she continued speaking “We had to rush you and Oliver to the infirmary. Blessing hooked you up to a portable respirator after applying the chest tube to help drain the built up fluid. But even then you were barely breathing, she said she had to drain the excess fluid from your lungs, something she couldn't do in the microgravity core. So we used one of the lift rigs and lowered you down the access shaft to the medical ring. By that point Oliver had been rendered unconscious as well and Blessing had enlisted both Taylor and Myung to help.” she paused for breath and Leon reached for the water bottle on his bedside.
She smiled at him as he handed it to her and she took a drink. Replacing it on the table he bade her to continue. The horrid fascination making it impossible for him to ignore the terrible events.
She took another deep breath before she spoke, this one steadier as she got further into the story. “Well, after some struggling we finally got you and Oliver into the intensive suite. While Blessing worked on synthesizing an antivenom from Max, Myung and Taylor monitored your condition. Did you know Taylor had medical training? Apparently he had been a volunteer responder before he moved into military signal analysis.”
She was about to continue when he waved his arms. “Wait a minute, hold on. Who the hell is Max? What did…” he stopped. He crossed his arms again and apologised as she gave him a disapproving look.
“I was getting to that, fasten up those horses buster.” She chastised him. Her annoyance was short lived however as she shook her head and continued. “Well, when you captured that creature on the planet's surface, you placed it into a bag. The bag seemed to have calmed the thing down because as they finally got to unpacking it the little thing was as timid as a mouse. I don’t know why, but it seemed to respond in a non-hostile manner to both the venom extraction and continued observation.” she said.
Leon shook his head in disbelief. “That still doesn't explain who Max is, wait. Don’t tell me.” he said as he saw her smile widely.
She nodded her head and said “Yeah, Oliver responded to the antivenom and woke up, madder than hell. He wanted to chop the little beast up till he saw it. He looked into its little puppy dog eyes and immediately forgave them. He named her Max and almost immediately tried to feed it.”
Leon again shook his head in disbelief. Only the crazy Australian could want to adopt something that had nearly killed him as a pet. “He named it Max? What, is it a dog now?” he asked her jokingly.
She just smiled harder and replied “She might as well be. The two are nearly inseparable now.” He shot her a surprised look and opened his mouth to comment but she cut him off. “Yes he keeps a close eye on her, and no Max hasn’t attacked anyone else. Not even tried. Oliver said that the only reason that she bit him was because he stepped on her. She was just lashing out in self defense, same as when you grabbed her. Once Max realized that we were not trying to kill her she seemed to mellow right out.”
Leon still couldn't hardly believe it. The same murderous creature that had nearly cost both his and Oliver's lives, was now the ship's mascot? He couldn't take it and chuckled “Okay, I see what’s going on here. Ha ha ha, very good. I will admit you had me going with that story, Max.” he said, another slightly wheezing laugh escaping him.
She just gave him that same serious stare from earlier. He opened his mouth and threw his arms out to the side. “Oh come on, you really expect me to believe that the same murder rope that I nearly died to grab is now everyone’s favorite little cuddle buddy?”
She shook her head and said in an exasperated tone “Well I never, have I ever been untruthful with you Leon?”
He cocked his head and raised a finger. “Well, if we are counting, then… There was that time with the bean patty you told me was a hamburger that had been preserved in the cold storage for the whole trip. Had me excited as a pig in shit for that one. Then there was that other time when you called me to the observation deck for an emergency but in reality it was just you wearing that skimpy little…” She cut him off by putting her hand over his mouth and looking around to see if anyone had overheard.
She hissed “Okay I get it. And you told me you wouldn't hold that over me.” she pouted.
He chuckled lightly and shook his head “I’m sorry, but this is just too incredible. Please, humor me and skip the Max related stuff for the moment. What happened after oliver woke up, not the thing.” he pleaded.
Natialia gave him an unreadable look but continued on saying “Ok, Oliver woke up. He was a bit weak from the venom but took it well. He and Blessing took some samples of… The creature.” she paused to gauge his reaction. Leon just blinked, waiting for her to proceed. “Well, they took some samples and found something remarkable. The lifeforms on the planet have a disturbingly similar chemical and molecular makeup to Earthly animals.”
“How similar?” he asked her, interrupting her train of thought. “Sorry, continue.” he muttered as she waved a hand in the air annoyedly.
She returned to her tale “Well, they did some tests and found that the lifeforms of the world, which we named Terrelia while you were out by the way sorry.” she shrugged as he frowned. “Well, Ma… The creature is able to not only digest Earth proteins, but seems able to metabolize them as well. It has red, iron based blood with a protein ominously similar to hemoglobin as its oxygen carrier. That’s why the venom worked on Oliver so fast, it was like he had been bitten by a cobra from back on Earth. Joice and Myung couldn't make heads or tales of it, but that's the truth. I guess life in the universe isn't so alien after all.” she said with a casual shrug.
Leon just sat back in his bed, the bruises on his chest and arm smarting despite the painkillers he had taken earlier. It all seemed rather baseless to him, though he couldn't in good faith call her a liar. She would never have made up something so fantastic and then claimed it was true that vehemently. No, it must be truth. The only other option was mass hysteria in which case he had a lot more to worry about than a pet alien snake.
He wrung his hands together and looked around the small room. The walls and ceiling were white, a few cabinets above clinical countertops and a single LED light fixture completed the display. He thought about what she had said. That alien life might not be so alien afterall.
He nodded and said “I think I want to get up.”
Natalia gave him a concerned look and placed a single hand on his bandaged chest. “I’m not sure that is a great idea yet Leon. You are still recovering.”
“Yes I am. But a little walking does the body good. How many days was I out?” He asked her as he gingerly sat up on the edge of the bed. He slowly swung his legs over the side of the bed towards the floor. He winced as his leg twinged and his side smarted, but it wasn't enough to deter him from his current course of action.
Natalia stood in front of him and bounced slightly in nervousness. “Oh man, Blessing isn’t going to like this.”
Leon waved a hand in a dismissive way and asked “And since when have I let her opinion on my health keep me down? How many days Nat?”
She looked him in the eyes and said “Four days. You were gone for four days Leon. Four days in which I was lost, almost completely.” She took a deep breath as the emotions she was suppressing threatened to tear their way free. “I can’t tell you how bad it felt seeing you like that Leon. I thought I had lost you.” She said in a wavering tone.
Leon stood shakily and embraced her. He ran a hand through her hair as she buried her face in his chest. “I do know. I have felt lost too, but I have you now. And nothing is going to make me let you go.”
She looked up at him and asked suddenly “Well, you are up. It's too late to turn back now. Want to go meet Max? She really is swe…”
Leon groaned and she stopped talking. He saw her frown slightly and caved “Okay. But don't get upset if the little bastard bites you or someone else.”
He saw her roll her eyes before she led him slowly and deliberately out of the room.
Leon walked slowly, not really hurting but more sore than he had felt in years. Every step was a chore but he continued on determinedly. It was better to be up and smarting than stagnating in bed.
As they walked down the corridor that led to the main hallway Leon asked her “Are we still in orbit of the planet?”
She shook her head. “No, Joice made the call while you were incapacitated. The planet was dangerous, there might be another incident if we had decided to make another surface run.”
Leon shrugged. That seemed like the best course of action he could think of too. The planet's surface was a swamp which made it impossible to see where one was truly stepping. Oliver wouldn't have stepped on the creature if he had known it was there. The entire stupid situation might have been avoided entirely.
“Yea, that sounds fair.” Was all he said in response though. He was curious about what she thought but didn't ask. He could tell by the way she frowned that she hadn't been a fan of the situation.
Letting it go he said “We need different protocols for this kind of situation. I think the crew should have more of a say in what happens from now on.” Leon mused out loud. Natalia just patted his shoulder silently.
The kept walking a little farther till they reached the medical labs portion of the ring. Leon slowed as he heard voices emanating from the rooms ahead. Turning a corner through a doorway he stopped.
In the room were three people, Oliver, Joice and Dr. Kimathi. Joice and Dr. Kimathi were sitting at a table looking at a computer and discussing its data. What really captured his attention however was Oliver sitting across from the two women. Or rather, the long creature wrapped around the man's neck and upper torso.
Leon cocked his head, it was indeed the same creature from the planet. He looked at it again and was a bit taken aback by its appearance.
While he had not had much chance to grasp its true form on the planet he still had gotten a decent look at it. It was indeed long and snake-like in appearance, its body tubelike and covered in thousands of tiny mosaic scales in a blueish green pattern, but that's where the similarities ended.
It’s head was long and almost had a canine look to it with pronounced jaw muscles and what looked like small horns. The body was long and had a small fin-like frill moving down its center similar to an eel. All along its sides it had much larger scale looking structures that seemed to be raised off its surface. As he tried to guess as to their function he noticed some of them move. Looking closer he realized they were rows of fins all along its sides, just tucked close to the body in the absence of water. That would explain how it was able to wriggle free from him on the planet.
Joice saw them and glanced at Dr. Kimathi, saying something. Dr. Kimathi looked at him sharply and demanded “Leon, why are you out of bed? Natalia, I told you to keep him in bed.”
Natalia hung her head sheepishly and said “It’s hard to make Leon do something he doesn't want to do.”
Leon glanced at her and then said “It was my fault, I didn't listen to her. I needed to move, to get active. I’m sorry Dr. Kimathi.”
Natalia squeezed his hand and he gave her a slight nod. Joiced motioned for them and said “Well as long as you are here, come take a look at these readings. Myung and I took some samples of Max’s blood and the results are both remarkable and confusing in equal measure.” The blond woman finished excitedly.
Leon nodded and made a pointed effort not to look at the thing Oliver was holding. He took the seat that Joice had just vacated and looked at the results she had posted to the computer. After a moment he asked “Well, what does it all mean?”
Joice shook her head and motioned at a few bits of randomly squirming data points. To him they looked like so much gibberish but Joice spoke animatedly while gesturing to the readouts “If you look here you can see a partially decoded splice of their DNA. That was the first thing that struck me as odd, I expected something similar to our DNA system to give the cells guidance, but not this similar. Look, four base pairs just like us, and whats more the base pairs are astonishingly similar as well. If i didn’t know any better I would be tempted to say that this creature evolved from a common ancestor to Earthly creatures.” she paused to let the bombshell sink in.
Leon just shook his head “What is so remarkable about that. Isnt there a word for this kind of thing. Convergent evolution right?”
Joice shook her head and pointed at Oliver’s new friend. “No, not like this. Convergent evolution is more about the form and function, not the composition. This is too close to be accidental, this is… This is wrong is what it is. Its not possible, and yet here I am telling you that its not only possible, but that its happened.”
She threw her arms up in the air while giving a small groan of frustration. Leon heard a quiet quacking noise and looked at Oliver. The man grinned and reached his hand towards the creature's powerful wedge shaped head. Leon tensed, ready for the thing to snap his fingers off or worse, but instead it met his hand for pets. Emitting a soft gurgling purr it stroked the man’s hand with its head lovingly and closed its eyes in what looked like pleasure to him.
“Aww, you are the cutest little terror in the whole galaxy aren't you Max.” he heard Oliver mutter. Looking around his mouth opened. Everyone else in the room was smiling, a look of endearment on their faces.
Leon was once more incredulous. What on Earth had he missed for the thing to go from being a murderous pest to being a beloved part of the ship's small crew.
Oliver saw him staring and smiled. “Oh hey Leon, you just woke up right?” Leon nodded a little unsure of the man’s point. Oliver continued “Well, then you haven't met Max, well, not politely at least. Here, want to hold her?” he asked, extending an inviting arm out towards Leon.
Leon shook his head “No, I don't think that's a good idea.”
Joice spoke up “Oh come’on Leon, the creature is perfectly safe. Its venom is no longer a hazard, Dr. Kimathi made more antivenom. She doesn't bite, well at least she hasn't yet.”
Leon was about to say no again when he felt another hard hand squeeze from Natalia. Looking at her she gave him an encouraging smile and said “Watch.” Before Leon could stop her she strode right up to Leon and reached out towards Max. He watched in silent dread as Natalia's hand approached that razor fang filled maw.
“Nat, wait!” he said, taking a step forward then stopped in his tracks. Max was nuzzling her just as they had Oliver, apparently completely at peace with its environment. ‘What the hell?’ he thought to himself.
Natalia scritched the alien under the chin and laughed happily as it lolled its tongue out in happiness while emitting that same gurgling purr. He frowned at the sight. It seemed that his fears might be unfounded after all.
Approaching cautiously he looked at Oliver and said “How should I do it, should I let it sniff me first?” He had no idea how people were supposed to handle snakes, well, alien serpents at least.
Oliver shrugged “If you like. She is pretty docile.”
Swallowing in nervousness he reached out his right hand towards the creature. Almost as soon as he started Max hissed angrily and flared all her fins in a threatening way, trying to puff up like an angry cat.
Leon snatched his hand back while taking a few steps in the opposite direction of the creature. Oliver jerked back in alarm as Natalia shouted. Max drew back into the protection of Oliver’s body and gave Leon the most acidic glare he had ever seen from an animal.
“Oliver. What the actual fuck was that? I thought you said that thing was safe.” He said loudly, stepping back even further.
The Australian stroked his charge calmly, whispering soothing words to her and then said more loudly “Well, she never did that before. She must remember you grabbing her on the planet.”
Leon shook his head “Remember what? It’s a fucking animal Oliver.”
Joice raised her hand at his comment and said “Yes she is, but an animal with the intelligence capability of a dog at the very minimum. Im suspecting she is much smarter than that though, maybe even as smart as a corvid. My preliminary scans show that her species' neural pathways are much larger than they have any right to be. It's as if she has a brain that runs the length of her spine.”
Leon just waved and said “Alright, maybe she holds a grudge then. I've seen stranger things on this trip than a vengeful snake.”
“She isnt a snake, Leon. I have decided to name her species Terrelian Swamp Gliders.” Oliver said in response to Leon’s comment.
Leon just shook his head silently, beyond words at the moment.
Natalia walked over to his side and said “I think we have taken a long enough walk, I will see you all in a bit. Bye Oliver.” she said as she began to guide him back into the hall.
“Why me…” Leon bemoaned quietly to himself.
Natalia must have heard his cry as she tutted and said “You are in charge of what is possibly the greatest experiment in all of human history Leon. It makes sense that things would not always go according to plan. Don't fret though, I will always be here for you.” she told him with a kiss to his grizzled cheek.
Leon looked at her as they reentered the room he had been in before. “I know I do. And I respect that you see the world differently than I do. That's one of the reasons I love you so much.”
She smiled and leaned in for a kiss. He sighed as she helped him back onto the bed. “Leon, I’m worried.” she said suddenly as she sat down by his side.
Looking up at the ceiling he asked her “What are you worried about?”
She paused and then shifted her position, laying down on top of the covers next to him she said “I’m worried about us, the ship. Everyone else. What’s going to happen if we get into trouble and can’t fix it like we have managed every time so far? We don't have anyone to help us, we would be totally alone.”
Leon shook his head and pulled her close, lifting the covers so she could scoot right to his side. Wrapping his arms around her he held her tight as he said “No, we won't. As long as we have each other we will never be alone.” he closed his eyes, the slow beat of her heart and rhythmic breathing bringing him a profound sense of peace and comfort. He felt himself drifting off into sleep, the pains and worries of the day floating up and away from his mind as he entered the realm of unconsciousness.
==End of Transmission==

I apologize if this is the wrong place to post this, I just need to vent, and Google isn't offering any 2ays to mentally move through this.
My husband bought a home in 2014. We met in 2015. We toyed with the idea of selling on and off, but kept making updates to be how we like it until we decided. I didnt want to move and loced our home. It was a split ranch, 5 acres, beautiful, hated the dirt road and traffic but whatever, it was amazing to me. We'll, after ongoing issues with a neighbor, we had our last straw and i folded to selling.
While pregnant in spring 2020, we listed. We had our baby in late summer and found a home that was 80 acres, 3 bed 2 bath old farm house. We wanted about 30-50 acres, but the price hadn't inflated for covid and we could sell our home with covid pricing inflation. We had literally just gotten everything in the home as we wanted except the kitchen and a few things outside.
The whole house needs to be updated, and we increased out mortgage payments for 50%. We would've had the other home paid off in another 3 years if we stayed and now we have 25 more years at a higher mortgage.
Esp now with a potential recession, I am so worried about costs. We also only have electric here, our old home had a wood stove and propane, we are now spending a fortune in heating oil, and have only remodel the second floor and done siding, so first floor doesn't have Insulation.
We did a garden and its 2 fields away in a horse circle. We have no idea how to get water back there. The old home we had made 3 raised beds in the yard.
I know we had to work to get the old home how we wanted, but it just seems so much harder at this new home.
We now have 2 kids and I am so happy they have land, yard, pool, tractor, etc to grow up with... but I think my husband has dreams of them wanting it... and i diubt they will. Heck we probably wont even want it when were 80 people we wont be able to maintain it, much less climb stairs to our bedroom. Mowing, brush hogging, everything is just more time and more money here, and I am seriously struggling.
If you made it this far, thank you!

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Hello,
I'm 18 and have been playing bass-end brass for the last 10 years. For the past 8, I've been in a local brass band where I started out on Baritone and later moved on to Euphonium (also done tuba once or twice). I've never owned an instrument of my own though and have instead been using ones lent by the band to its members.
Now, though, I'll be heading to university in September and will have to hand the band Euph back but I still want to continue playing & join other bands so I'm looking to buy my own. Thing is, I don't really know many brands or models. In the band I've been using a Besson Sovereign for 4 years which is pretty good (though I don't have much to compare it to) but beyond my budget.
Speaking of my budget, it is max. £4000* which I know is rather small for a non-student level Euphonium but I'm hoping there's at least some good options available.
From my research, the brands I've found in my price range & available in the UK are:

• Jupiter [JEP-1120]
• John Packer [274]
• John Packer [374 / 374T]
• Wessex [Dolce]
• Wessex [Sinfonico]
• Yamaha [YEP-621]
• Besson [International 767]
• Besson [Sovereign] (second hand)

So if anyone knows these and can input on how good or bad they are, that'd be great.
Otherwise, any other Euphs/Brands I should be looking out for? Or places to look for good prices? I'll be keeping an eye on the second hand market too so if there's any good models over 4k that commonly go for less second-hand let me know and I'll keep a look out.
Thanks in advance for any help.
* I am lenient here so if it's something like £4200 I'll still consider it.

Last year I bought What’s Up Doc shower gel (the sickly orange looking one that’s supposed to resemble carrots). I loved it in store and it didn’t immediately set off the “I’ve smelled this before long ago” part of the brain
But as soon as I used it in the shower I kept smelling the bottle trying to place where I’ve smelled it before. Leaning towards a very old (late 2000s early 2010s) bath & body works scent. I’m almost at the end of the bottle and haven’t figured it out yet. I’ve googled and haven’t gotten any results
Does anyone know if What’s Up Doc smells like something b&bw put out a long time ago or am I losing my mind?

My WS has always wanted to go scuba diving. I've been kind of interested but also a little nervous about it. Within a week of D-Day WS booked us a trip to go diving. We are now at the point of getting certified. I had to get a physical to get medically cleared to dive due to health issues I have. I passed it - even though the doctor mentioned misgivings - not over my chronic health condition but because I am suffering from frozen shoulder.
We go this weekend to do our training & open water certification. I am so scared that my shoulder will not permit me to do this. I am trying to overlook any fears I have over this because I don't want to disappoint my WS. I feel like I am losing myself because here I am trying to be the person he wants me to be instead of me. He knows my shoulders are in bad shape. I got stuck in a bathing suit at Academy in the changing room & had to call him to come help me get out of it. I am so mad at myself for agreeing to pursue this & putting the money into it so far. But if it doesn't work out he had better not get mad at me since I know he spent over $7k on OnlyFans in 2 months.

Nightfall - The Ordeal: The Corrupted

Modifiers:

• Nightfall: Hero
  • Shielded Foes: You will face combatants with [Arc] Arc, [Solar] Solar, and [Void] Void shields.
  • Shielded Foes: [Arc] Arc, [Solar] Solar, and [Void] Void Shields
  • Hero Modifiers: Extra Shields Maximum Effective Level 1765
  • Champion Foes: You will face [Disruption] Overload and [Stagger] Unstoppable Champions. Visit the Character or Mod Customization screen to view your active anti-Champion perks.
  • Champion Foes: You will face [Disruption] Overload and [Stagger] Unstoppable Champions.
  • Arc Threat: 25% increase to incoming Arc damage.
  • Denial: Taken Vandals summon their shields significantly more often.
  • Overcharged Weapons: Weapon overcharges from the Seasonal Artifact are active in this activity. Kinetic weapons do increased damage when your subclass element matches an active surge.
  • Arc Surge: 25% bonus to outgoing Arc damage.
  • Void Surge: 25% bonus to outgoing Void damage.
  • Overcharged Rocket Launcher: 25% bonus to Rocket Launcher damage.
  • Galvanized: Combatants have more health and are more difficult to stun.
• Nightfall: Legend
  • All previous modifiers
  • Legend Modifiers: Locked Loadout Extra Shields Maximum Effective Level 1815
  • Equipment Locked: You will not be able to change your equipment after this activity starts.
• Nightfall: Master
  • All previous modifiers
  • Master Modifiers: Extra Champions Locked Loadout Extra Shields Maximum Effective Level 1820
  • Chaff: Radar is disabled.

Rewards:

• Pinnacle reward: Earn 200,000 cumulative points by completing Nightfalls.

Weekly Crucible Rotators

Relentless: Zone Control

Achieve victory by controlling zones, earning points for your team over time.

Party: Mayhem

Achieve victory by defeating opponents. Abilities and Supers regenerate faster. Heavy ammo spawns more frequently.

Vanguard Surge: Arc Surge

The other modifiers rotate daily, check out the Daily Reset Thread for them!

Raids and Dungeons

Weekly Raid and Dungeon

• Raid: Garden of Salvation
• Dungeon: Spire of the Watcher

Raid Challenges

Deep Stone Crypt

• Red Rover: A challenge awaits…

Garden of Salvation

• Leftovers: A challenge awaits…
• A Link to the Chain: A challenge awaits…
• To the Top: A challenge awaits…
• Zero to One Hundred: A challenge awaits…

Vow of the Disciple

• Defenses Down: A challenge awaits…

Vault of Glass

• Out of Its Way: A challenge awaits…

King's Fall

• Devious Thievery: A challenge awaits…

Root of Nightmares

• Crossfire Challenge: A challenge awaits…

Last Wish

• Which Witch: A challenge awaits…
• Boosts Gained: Initial Exotic drop rate boosts: 3

Dares of Eternity: Legend

Contestants: Disciples of the Neigh

• Round 1: Vex
• Round 2: Cabal
• Final Round: Crota

Loot

• Armor: Scatterhorn Suit, Praefectur Suit
• Weapons: Scathelocke, Extraordinary Rendition, Brass Attacks, Threaded Needle, Code Duello, Imperial Needle, Far Future, Honor's Edge, Distant Tumulus, Interference VI, Shepherd's Watch, Annual Skate

Neomuna

Campaign Mission: No Time Left

Stop the Darkness relay from activating and creating a link between the Witness and the Veil.

Partition: Backdoor

Break into a Vex Mind's stronghold and defeat it.

Vex Incursion Zone: Zephyr Concourse

The Vex are testing CloudArk defenses in this region. Reality fractures as the VexNet bleeds through into Neomuna.

Legacy Activities

• Savathûn's Throne World
  
  • Campaign Mission: The Arrival: Track Savathûn on Mars, where temporal abnormalities scar the planet's surface and the Cabal seek to claim new territory.
• Europa
  
  • Eclipsed Zone: Eventide Ruins
  • Empire Hunt: The Dark Priestess: Hero: Defeat the new leader of the Fallen, Kridis, the Dark Priestess.
  • Exo Challenge: Simulation: Survival: Simulated Skill-Set Training: Survive the harsh weather as you take down the Vex.
• Moon:
  
  • Campaign Mission: Beyond
  • Wandering Nightmare: Fallen Council (Archer's Line)
  • Trove Guardian is in Archer's Line
• Dreaming City: Weak Curse
  
  • Petra is at The Strand.
  • Weekly Mission: Broken Courier - Respond to a distress call in the Strand.
  • Ascendant Challenge: Forfeit Shrine, Gardens of Esila
  • Blind Well: Scorn, Plagues: Sikariis & Varkuuriis

Guns, etc.

Banshee's Weapons

Name	Type	Column 1	Column 2	Column 3	Column 4
Pleiades Corrector	Energy Scout Rifle	Arrowhead Brake // Hammer-Forged Rifling	Ricochet Rounds // Flared Magwell	Subsistence	Multikill Clip
Typhon GL5	Heavy Grenade Launcher	Confined Launch // Countermass	Alloy Casing // High-Explosive Ordnance	Genesis	Chill Clip
Taipan-4fr	Heavy Linear Fusion Rifle	Extended Barrel // Polygonal Rifling	Liquid Coils // Projection Fuse	Clown Cartridge	Frenzy
Jararaca-3sr	Kinetic Scout Rifle	Arrowhead Brake // Chambered Compensator	Alloy Magazine // Ricochet Rounds	Hip-Fire Grip	Focused Fury
Irukandji	Kinetic Sniper Rifle	Arrowhead Brake // Fluted Barrel	Accurized Rounds // Flared Magwell	Under Pressure	Harmony
Combined Action	Energy Hand Cannon	Arrowhead Brake // Full Bore	Appended Mag // Steady Rounds	Hip-Fire Grip	Offhand Strike

Ada-1's Wares

Name	Description	Cost
Envious Touch	Equip this shader to change the color of your gear.	10000 Glimmer
New Pacific Sink (Worn)	Apply this shader to change the color of your gear.	10000 Glimmer
War Cult Camo	Apply this shader to change the color of your gear.	10000 Glimmer
Upgrade Module	A collection of universal components that can be used to infuse power between gear items. Can be purchased from the Gunsmith or acquired from special reward sources.	1 Enhancement Core & 10 Legendary Shards & 5000 Glimmer

Eververse Bright Dust Offerings

Name	Description	Type	Cost
Concentrated Mattergem	An Upgrade Module ionizer created from refined Mattergems.	Consumable	200 Bright Dust
Glimmershard	A shard with the ability to generate Glimmer during combat.	Consumable	250 Bright Dust
Brilliant Idea		Emote	700 Bright Dust
Vestian Hawk		Ship	2000 Bright Dust
Subjugator Entrance	Modifications for your ship's transmat systems, so you'll always arrive in style.	Transmat Effect	450 Bright Dust
Copperbrand	Equip this shader to change the color of your gear.	Shader	300 Bright Dust
Lucid	Apply this shader to change the color of your gear.	Shader	300 Bright Dust
Turn the Tables		Emote	3250 Bright Dust
Torturous Dance		Multiplayer Emote	1250 Bright Dust
Externalization		Vehicle	2500 Bright Dust
The Pallbearer		Ship	2000 Bright Dust
The Scorned Fortress	Equip this ornament to change the appearance of Citan's Ramparts. Once you get an ornament, it's unlocked for all characters on your account.	Titan Ornament	1500 Bright Dust
Chronos Exegesis	Equip this weapon ornament to change the appearance of No Time to Explain. Once you get an ornament, it's unlocked for all characters on your account.	Weapon Ornament	1250 Bright Dust
Secure Projection	Equip this item to change your Ghost's projection.	Ghost Projection	1500 Bright Dust
Smashing Success	Apply this shader to change the color of your gear.	Shader	300 Bright Dust
Trinity	Apply this shader to change the color of your gear.	Shader	300 Bright Dust
Tidesmoke	Equip this shader to change the color of your gear.	Shader	300 Bright Dust
Ravensilk	Equip this shader to change the color of your gear.	Shader	300 Bright Dust
Reef Awoken	Modifications for your ship's transmat systems, so you'll always arrive in style.	Transmat Effect	450 Bright Dust
Illicit Transmat Effects	Modifications for your ship's transmat systems, so you'll always arrive in style.	Transmat Effect	450 Bright Dust
Twin Snake Effects	Modifications for your ship's transmat systems, so you'll always arrive in style.	Transmat Effect	450 Bright Dust

Weekly Bounties

Petra Venj, The Dreaming City

Name	Description	Cost	Requirement	Reward
Ascendant Challenge	"The Awoken have long practiced the art of walking between worlds." —Techeun Kalli	1500 Glimmer	1 Ascendant challenge completed	XP++ & Dark Fragment & Legendary Gear
Gateway Between Worlds	"The Blind Well can split wide the veins that run between realities." —Techeun Sedia	40 Dark Fragment	10 Activity completions	XP++ & Offering to the Oracle

Eris Morn, Moon

Name	Description	Cost	Requirement	Reward
Slow-Wave Disruption	Complete waves of Altars of Sorrow in Sorrow's Harbor.	1000 Glimmer	7 Waves completed	Hymn of Desecration
Lunar Spelunker	Loot chests in 3 of the Moon's Lost Sectors.	1000 Glimmer	1 K1 Communion Lost Sector looted & 1 K1 Logistics Lost Sector looted & 1 K1 Crew Quarters Lost Sector looted	1 Firewall Data Fragment

Lectern of Enchantment, Moon

Name	Description	Cost	Requirement	Reward
Nightmare Hunter	Defeat Nightmares in Nightmare Hunts.	5 Phantasmal Fragment	100 Nightmares	XP++ & 1 Phantasmal Core
Nightmare Sojourner	Defeat Nightmares in Lost Sectors across the solar system. Nightmares defeated on the Moon only grant reduced progress.	5 Phantasmal Fragment	100 Nightmares	XP++ & 1 Phantasmal Core

Variks, Europa

Name	Description	Cost	Requirement	Reward
Courageous Expedition	On Europa, complete Lost Sectors, public events, and patrols.	1000 Glimmer	15 Progress	XP++
Divine Intervention	During the Empire Hunt "The Dark Priestess," defeat Kridis and earn points by defeating combatants with precision final blows. Higher difficulties grant more efficient progress.	1000 Glimmer	50 [Headshot] Precision & 1 Kridis defeated	XP++

Shaw Han, Cosmodrome

Name	Description	Cost	Requirement	Reward
Public Disturbance	Complete public events on the Cosmodrome. Heroic public events grant the most efficient progress.	1000 Glimmer	3 Public events	XP++ & Glimmer
Full Spectrum	Defeat combatants on the Cosmodrome with Arc, Void, and Solar damage.	1000 Glimmer	25 [Arc] Arc & 25 [Void] Void & 25 [Solar] Solar	XP++ & Glimmer

Starhorse, Eternity

Name	Description	Cost	Requirement	Reward
Sticky Situation	Complete the following objectives in a single run of Dares of Eternity. Objectives will reset if not completed when the activity ends. Defeat combatants with attached grenade abilities, defeat combatants with grenades, and complete the activity with an impressive score.	5 Strange Coin	15 Attached grenades & 50 [Grenade] Grenade & 1 180000 Points	2 Paraversal Haul & 1 Enhancement Core & XP++ & 50 Strange Favor
Pins Pulled	Complete the following objectives in a single run of Dares of Eternity. Objectives will reset if not completed when the activity ends. Defeat combatants with grenade abilities or Grenade Launchers, rapidly defeat combatants, and complete the activity with an impressive score.	5 Strange Coin	110 Grenade final blows & 125 Rapidly defeated & 1 180000 Points	2 Paraversal Haul & 1 Enhancement Core & XP++ & 50 Strange Favor
Unlimited Horsepower	Complete the following objectives in a single run of Dares of Eternity on Legend difficulty. Objectives will reset if not completed when the activity ends. Defeat combatants with Rocket Launchers, Linear Fusion Rifles, Sniper Rifles, or Grenade Launchers; defeat powerful combatants within streaks; and complete the activity with an incredible score.	7 Strange Coin	85 Weapon & 120 Defeated in streaks & 1 300000 Points	3 Paraversal Haul & 1 Enhancement Prism & XP++ & 150 Strange Favor

Nimbus, Neomuna

Name	Description	Cost	Requirement	Reward
Vex Incursion Countermeasures	In the Vex Incursion Zone, defeat combatants using Strand to obtain Shellcode Fragments. Open a Terminal Overload Key Chest to obtain a Polymorphic Engine.	1000 Glimmer	8 Shellcode Fragments & 1 Polymorphic Engine	XP++ & Polymorphic Shellcode

Seasonal Challenges

Name	Description	Objectives	Rewards
Into the Depths II	Complete the Week 2 "Into the Depths" mission.	2	Challenger XP+
Front Line Salvager II	Open chests in Salvage. Redeeming Salvage Keys grants additional progress. Additionally, defeat Taken anywhere in the system.	3 Salvage Chests & 50 Taken	Challenger XP+
Powerful Salvager	Defeat powerful combatants in Salvage activities.	50 Powerful combatants	Challenger XP+
Antithetical Armaments	Defeat targets with Shotguns or Sniper Rifles. Defeated Guardians or defeated combatants in Salvage or Deep Dive activities grant additional progress.	150 [Shotgun] or [Sniper Rifle] final blows	Challenger XP+
Throne World Activities	In the Throne World, complete bounties and earn progress by completing patrols, public events, and looting Lost Sectors.	18 Progress	Challenger XP+ & Bright Dust
Lost in the Legend	Complete a Lost Sector on Legend or higher.	1 Lost Sectors	Challenger XP+ & Bright Dust
Flourish of Power	Defeat Guardians in the Mayhem playlist with Super abilities.	25 Guardians	Challenger XP+ & Bright Dust
Primeval Entourage	Defeat Taken in Gambit. Earn bonus progress for defeating tougher combatants.	100 Taken	Challenger XP+ & Bright Dust
Taken Decimator	Defeat Taken combatants in Vanguard playlists or strikes. Earn bonus progress for defeating tougher combatants.	200 Taken	Challenger XP+ & Bright Dust
Calibrate Long Range	Calibrate long-range weapons—Pulse Rifles, Bows, and Trace Rifles. Bonus progress is granted for defeating Guardians.	100 Calibration	Challenger XP+ & Bright Dust

Notable Armor Rolls

Only notable rolls (stat total >= 59 or single stat >= 26) are listed here.

Class	Name	Vendor	Type	MOB	RES	REC	DIS	INT	STR	Total	Cost