we gotta get back to torrent distribution, i just watched someone eat eight grand in bandwidth charges because they ran a direct-download piracy site with local file hosting through cloudflare. torrents were invented literally for this exact reason
i have a file or folder on my pc that i want to share with other people. let's call it gayshit.mp3
unfortunately gayshit.mp3 is 750mb and im not paying for discord nitro so i need another way to send it
i put it into qbittorrent and it makes a torrent file. this is essentially a very small file that points to gayshit.mp3 so other computers can find it. kinda like a treasure map
i send this tiny file to my friend, who loads it into qbittorrent. their computer takes a moment to find mine over the vast expanse of cyberspace and then (as long as my pc is running and the file is still where it should be), it gets copied from my hard drive to theirs
this is the cool part: if somebody else loads that tiny file, they can download it from both of us. if i'm offline but my friend is on, the third person can still get it. this also means that if two people have separate halves of the file, they can download the other half from each other. as long as some combination of people have the pieces between them, they can all have the whole thing.
crucially this does not require a server!!! you can just upload the file to a few people and as long as they keep it, it's still accessible. as long as somebody, somewhere is still connected, it's available forever. the only way it goes away is if everybody disconnects from it.
Okay so listen first off its gotta happen later in the au. We've set these two fuckin idiots up to take a FRUSTRATING amount of time to confess. Despite *vague gestures* all that happening.
And this is one of the few times Urbain gets confident. Leads with ease. Theyre both into it. Its hot. Its sexy. Yeah mhm Urbain gets on top of Sage-
And he flashes back to straddling over them in the mines. Unconscious. Bleeding. Yeah
I need him to feel so scared immdediately followed by guilt and embarrassment. Because fuck that was months ago now. Sage and all of Team MZ have faced... worse. He's still there?! Now, of all times?!
And then Sage comforts him. Reassures him. Gives him space and like hey its completely okay this doesnt make me love you any less
I need Sage to cry too because yeah that was intense and the man they love is hurting and they're all experiencing WILD shit. And they still choose to love. To search and understand.
Then they cuddle in the dark, totally exposed, hearts laid bare
Sage stared up at the ceiling. The clock read 0146. Sleep seemed to escape them in recent nights.
Their phone buzzed. Sage rolled over to read a new text.
Urbain;]: cant sleep
Urbain;]: you awake?
S4G3: yeah same
Urbain;]: ... can i ask you a question?
S4G3: you just did
Urbain;]: haha funny
S4G3: go for it
Urbain;]: do you have nightmares?
S4G3: sometimes, why?
Urbain;]: what are they about
S4G3: darlin did you have a nightmare?
Urbain;]: ....yeah
S4G3: youre like 2 houses down from me
S4G3: gimme 5 minutes
Their phone buzzed a few more times in quick succession- Urbain was probably anxiously apologizing and checking if that was really okay. Sage wouldn't have offered if it wasn't. Silly boy.
They quickly threw on sweatpants and a hoodie. Before they could grab their shoes, Angostura slapped her paw over their chest. Sage didn't have time to ask before they were enveloped in swirling purple.
---
Urbain hid his face with his good arm and groaned. This was fucking embarrassing. Yeah, the mines incident was a few days ago and yeah he doesn't need to necessarily be over it.... but really? He has a bad dream and needs them to tell him it's okay? He's not a child. Even if the lone nightlight across the room keeping total darkness away suggested otherwise.
Mags was downstairs with Taunie and Bean. The room felt smaller without them.
Swirling purple on the floor disrupted his anxious thoughts. He sat up and found Sage and Angostura on the floor beside his bed.
"...Knock knock." Sage looked up, "Guess she didn't wanna walk."
Angostura rattled, very pleased with herself, and phased into the nearby wall.
Urbain's face felt warm. "I'm sorry..."
"Don't be." Sage sat on the bed next to him. "Wanna talk about it?"
You were dead. He wanted to say.
"I keep reliving that night." Is what came out.
They looked at him for a moment. Wordlessly, Sage propped the pillows against his headboard and leaned back. "Come here."
"Sage..."
"Urbain." A soft smile, "I'm not gonna bite you."
How do they always know what he needs? He's an open book to them.
He wrapped his good arm around their waist. Head finally coming to rest on their chest. The rest of his body lay between their legs. They covered him with parts of the blanker they were able to reach.
Sage ran their fingers through his hair. Their voice a soft whisper, just for him to hear. "I'm alive."
The steady beat of their heart lulled Urbain to sleep.
I think Sage starts wearing the earrings Urbain made them almost daily. Their studs, not dangly/hoops/etc so they don't interfere with their work.
They don't usually like jewelry bc it feels like forced femininity (re: family drabble i posted) but Urbain's gift isnt that. Its sharing/acknowledging his skill and growth.
Re: the night market. He shared a very private sadness that is weighing him down. Sage accepting the topaz earrings is their way of saying "thank you. You're not alone"
