#hell yeah fuck yeah

[sketchunit]

Infinite Night 🌌

[lackofmetal]

91 on Business Law Final!!!!! So happy. And I got my marketing project/work on time and my CTS assignments and Sociology!!!

It’s a lot I know lol.

So fucking stoked.

[babyontheblueline]

MOUSE GWG MOUSE GWG MOUSE GWG

[turtlecleric]

dumb little thought that made me think of you

in regards to a dom yandere Bayverse Leo but you think this man knows about pressure points?

those little spots of bundled up and tense nerves, that with juuuuuust enough of a firm enough touch has you momentarily stunned, knees giving out to where our “hero” in blue has to sweep you into his suspiciously already waiting arms to rescue you?

because obviously you can’t take care of yourself if you get so stressed that your nerves are this tight.

looks like he’ll just have have to take care of you

and if he has to use a little underhanded means to go about doing that? well that just between him and your now peacefully resting body

I'm so here for him acting innocent. Like, oh, you must be really out of it today, you better take it easy. It's not healthy for you to collapse like that. Have you been sleeping enough? You look exhausted. Here, my sheets are freshly washed, you can rest in my room. I'll make sure no one bothers you, don't worry. Maybe a massage will help? Just relax, okay? I've got you. This might feel a little strange, but that's okay. Ease into it. That's good. Breathe.

[thisnewdevilry]

Watching Tumblr lose various levels of chill (positively) over Heated Rivalry is amusing me... mainly in how, aside from being joyfully smutty queer media, this is gonna be a gateway for some watchers into the genre of Canadian Hockey Media.

Heck, this isn't even writer/director/producer Jacob Tierney's first hockey show.

Presenting for your consideration, Shoresy:

[roach-witch]

Am I giddy after that? Maybe but it felt evenly reffed and I love a good scrum!

LOVE SAULNIER FIGHTING FOR US

I’m officially ride or die for her

[imjunebitch]

Channelers Chapter Two: Here then, are your gods

Yep, chapter two! Hell yeah fuck yeah, uh chapter one is here: https://www.tumblr.com/imjunebitch/773128157820813312/channelers-chapter-one-feeling-small-and-as

tw for: violence, existential dread, God, lesbians, abusive parenting, drug running, wizards, cannibalism references, kidnapping a homophobe, cuddling, and Michael

Any man who worships a god he cannot see, and could not restrain, is a damned fool.

~~

GOD, the Supreme Being, walked quietly into the town of Rosenburh from the cold, rocky beach at the northernmost end of the small, cold island off the coast of England. He was followed by a single figure. In days when He was younger, He traveled with a party of human worshippers, but He had long since lost the appetite for worship.

The one figure that did follow Him wore a pale, tattered robe. It had skin as white as mayonnaise, long hair, and no tongue. It had a ponderous, slow manner, like it would have rather been anywhere else. Nonetheless, it followed obediently. GOD did not speak to it. It moved like a beaten dog.

The people left their houses, drawn to the presence of GOD. He smiled, looking at them one at a time. He put them at ease. His white eyes, his calm, old face, and easy smile. Hello, all of you, he said quietly. I would like to apologize for what I am about to do.

For an average Channeler, the ward that God cast would have taken decades to prepare. Let alone cast. For God, it took seconds. He raised his hand, and half of the living organisms in Rosenburh were gone.

It wasn't difficult for him. He destroyed them, body and soul, in an instant, and in the same instant gained a level of potential energy equal to their existence. Simple enough, for him. Not one atom left, spick and span, soon the things left over wouldn't remember them, He thought, they'd just know something had been taken. People, dogs, even insects, half of their number well and truly gone.

The remaining gathered townspeople were silent, rigid with terror. Who could hope to face something like this?

God smiled.

Allow me to explain, he began.

When I created the heavens and earth... Well, before I did, nothing existed. And after... pieces of that "nothing" remained. And they were... angry at the changes they saw. Since the beginning of time, these Old Ones, these pieces of nothingness have pursued me.

He shrugged easily, smiling faintly.

Suffice to say, I have enemies. And they're not "Satan," whatever the hell that would even be. They flock like moths to a flame, trying to extinguish all light. And I am the greatest supplier of light. They are inexorably drawn to me.

The figure that followed God sat lightly on the ground, extending a long, thin finger, and writing absentmindedly in the sand. God rubbed the bridge of His nose, and looked out at the crowd wearily.

You have read, perhaps, that the light shined in the darkness, but the darkness did not understand it, He murmured pleasantly. Well. Very true. I had the idea, oh, ages ago, to simply... Imbue portions of my power inside random humans. Figured they'd work as great distractions for the Old Ones. They're called Channelers or something like that... Whatever, that's not important at all. He laughed, shaking His head. I do get sidetracked, I apologize.

It worked fantastically, at distracting the smaller ones. But it was a disappointment, all-in-all. Imagine you have been chased by a horde of ravenous wolves and a swarm of wasps your entire life, and you think you have found a way to divert them all... only to learn that you've only stopped the wasps. So... I do big things like this, to distract them, while I keep moving. He said, smiling sadly, shaking his head. I've lived on the run as long as I've lived. This will be terrible for you, I know, I'm sorry. But in time... you will have never existed. I almost envy you.

He looked at them with a sad, sympathetic face, and then turned, leaving, pulling the hooded figure to its feet. The crowd stood in agonized, bleak silence, and God stepped out onto the water and walked away.

And the sky began to go bla-

~~

Imani genuinely wondered why all the Channeler shit happened in places like this. Never in a fucking city, never in the fucking country. Suburbs. Suburbs suburbs suburbs forever. Whatever. Never nice ones either.

She knew why. Magic or whatever was statistically more likely to be active the more people who might be Channelers were around. But get too many people in one place... 50 people to a fucking block like it was down in Miami... Well, the jig would be up in short order. So while shit happened in Miami, and shit probably happened in isolated, rural areas (the old adage about trees in the woods with nobody around) it paled in comparison to what happened in places like Tallahassee.

Or places like this, to an even greater degree.

Damascus was a large town only in the sense that it was sprawling and stretched out. It was out of reach of the beach, a couple hours away, in fact. There were, however, swamps. And warehouses. It was not a wealthy area, but there were a few wealthy people. One of them would hopefully be employing Imani soon.

It was hard as hell to get a job as a Channeler. She had special skills, yeah, but there weren't enough Channelers in the world to have some stupid separatist wizard society with special slurs for ordinary humans. Jobs were scarce, hell, Channelers were scarce, and beside, there were countless sword wizards with more talent than her. Statistically speaking, she was going to get eaten by an Old One on a protection job before she turned thirty. Hopefully not this one.

Imani had not slept in two days. She had dark skin and light, dyed blond hair, tightly curled against her head. She was muscular and currently wearing a loose, flowy dress with shorts and a t shirt under. She also had a sword. Her conduit. She hadn't slept because she'd been staying with a friend. Hopefully she'd get this job. A long term protection job came with room and board, usually.

Her eyes had bags and shit, but some makeup fixed that anyway. And besides, the good thing about how few Channelers there were was that, although there were less jobs, there were also less applicants.

The house she was meant to drive to was larger than most of the moulding yuppie houses down in the town, leading her to assume that the owner of the house was wealthy for the area. The man... Michael, the man hiring her or whatever was probably rich, and that boded well, she thought. For her pockets. She loved her pockets.

She parked the car in the driveway and a man who looked like his flesh was rock walked out the front door. To call him gnarled would not have been an apt description. "Gnarled" implied the appearance of distortion on an otherwise pure form. This man was that distortion, like he had been carved of ragged rock by a someone who didn't see much appeal in consistency or realistic proportions. His skin was almost gray, and his hair was grey too. He was a slab of muscle and tendon. Imani could tell that he was exuding some level of Channeling, but she was just a sword wizard, she didn't know how much. Channeler, construct, possessed... He could be God Himself for all she knew.

Imani stepped out of the car and waved vaguely. "Hi there. I'm Imani." The man nodded, and spoke in a soft, low voice that was almost comedic in contrast to his appearance. "Michael wants to see you, ma'am." She nodded, and he led her inside.

The house was as personal and homely as the interior of an IKEA. Fluorescent lighting, almost sterile conditions. The house had no pervading scent at all, a statement that sounded completely insane but was nonetheless true. That shouldn't be possible, everywhere smells like something, she thought. Maybe there was a Ward in place. Imani was the stereotypical sort of sword wizard who didn't know a single thing about Wards and didn't really give a shit either. Sorcerer type Channelers always felt a little bit stuck up to her, in all honesty. She knew that was a stereotype, and felt bad for it. Combat wizards were dumbasses, sorcerers were smug elitists, and priests were horny bastards who couldn't stop fucking Elder Gods. That was the stereotype, and she did her best not to agree with it.

She was taken by rock-man to a door at the top of a narrow stairway. The man stood silently beside her, forcing her to wait nervously for a little while before knocking.

She knocked. "Come in," a quiet voice with an indeterminate accent said. She opened the door, and a tall, thin man was sitting at a desk. There was a chair in front of him and he nodded to Imani to sit.

Imani sat.

The man... Michael? Nodded to the rough figure behind her, and the big man left, closing the door.

The man smiled. He was thin, and pale in the ghastly way sorcerers often were. He looked almost malnourished. He was Asian, she decided, but it was hard to tell. His features were vague and indeterminate. His gums were black, she noted uneasily.

"You're here to interview for the protection job," he said, a statement rather than a question. She nodded. "And you showed up. In person."

Imani settled nervously in her seat. "Wasn't I supposed to?"

He laughed. "Yes, yes, but my daughter told me nobody would come. That my reputation, the fear I garner, is so great that there would be no applicants. Indeed, you are the only one. You must be very brave."

Imani, who had not researched, had not even heard of Michael before the previous week, hell, didn't know his surname or what the job actually entailed, smiled broadly. "Well, I don't like to brag," she said. This was untrue.

"My... chosen career is drug running, of course. As such, it is very important that i have protection with me. Colm, the man you met... My brother, he provides that for me. But those who are close to me are often in danger as well, unfortunately."

He rubs his temple in exhaustion.

"My daughter has been frequently put into danger by my enemies. This is unfortunate. She's the only one of my children to have the gift, even if she is just a priestess. She's needed. For my lineage, my business, etc. And Colm cannot be in two places at once. Thus..."

"Thus, you need me to nanny your daughter. But you pay well. So I'm not in a position to refuse."

Michael sighed, and conceded, tilting his head to the side.

"My daughter is likely around your age, but 'nanny' is perhaps an appropriate term. She is a willful, but damned needy girl. Really, your services are only required when she's 'out with her friends,' which is, admittedly, quite often."

Imani nodded. So her job would essentially be living in cohabitation with a woman her age, traveling with her everywhere she went, defending her with her life... There were probably quarters for her here too...

"Of course, we have quarters for you here, although your services won't be required past eleven-"

Yep, someone give her a fucking brain genius certificate, (wait, did this adult woman have a curfew? fucked up, jeez, Imani resolved to take her to a strip club or something,) so she'd be living in the same damn house as this woman who would essentially become her entire life, in return for a paycheck...

In short, this would be codependent as all hell. But that's how protection jobs usually were. That was the job. She would forever know, for example, the exact food allergies of an older Dutch man who lived in Tampa. And his favorite music, and what fabrics he liked. And that was the job.

Anyway maybe this girl would be pretty or something.

Michael was still talking, shit, she needed to pay attention.

"- your most recent jobs, you're more used to short-term jobs. Guarding someone for a specific amount of time, backup during meetings, helping a paid party take out an Old One... Yes?"

Imani cleared her throat. "I have a versatile set of skills, all of which involves slicing shit up magicstyle." Michael nodded.

"I have no questions about your skills. It's just a different sort of experience. Are you prepared for the commitment? This is an indefinitely long job. You'll be living here, dealing with the girl..."

Imani shrugged.

"Pays well, sir."

Michael smiled. "Wonderful."

~~

It was a bit of a drive to her friend's house, but Imani had, in short order, picked up her bags, hugged her friend and thanked her, and driven back to the house. The gray man, Colm, stood outside the door, lumbering over to grab her bags. He led her silently into the house, and towards a barely furnished room with light, yellowish walls, shag carpeting, and a rather large bed, which was nice, and a flimsy looking wardrobe. Imani hurled her bags onto the bed. Colm stood silently, looking at her flatly.

Imani looked at him. He was completely still, almost unmoving, face blank. "Could you take me to see my, uh, client?"

She smiled at him, friendly as she could, and he nodded, barely, and turned around, silently leading her out of the room and into the hallway. He led her just a meager thirty or so paces down and left,and to a wooden door with a round, golden doorknob before nodding curtly and walking off. Imani turned the doorknob and opened it.

The room was almost entirely dark, with blackout curtains drawn over the window, and three candles lit on the hardwood floor. A slight, small,,shadowed figure perked up almost instantly, and a harsh, bright, brittle voice rang out.

"There's a light switch to your left!"

Imani flipped it.

A young woman was sitting on a bed with sonic the hedgehog sheets. The young woman was darker than Michael, but presumably at least half Asian, like him. Which she felt strange thinking. Racial profiling, jeez, not her intent. Whatever, she was a little dark, okay, whatever.

She was wearing a baggy pair of gray jeans, and a large, long black T-shirt. She had stringy, unkempt black hair, eyebags, and wide eyes. Her nose was long and sharp. She sort of looked like a wasp. She stood up rigidly, and tightened her jaw.

"Hello. You're my bodyguard."

Imani nodded nervously. The woman smiled, although her eyes didn't move. She sighed quietly. "Okay. Hi. My name is Sunny."

Imani waved. "Imani. Your bodyguard, yeah. Hi." Sunny nodded. She laid down on her bed and folded her arms over her chest. "Okay, hi Imani. Thank you for taking this job. I hope my dad was nice to you?" Imani nodded. "He was polite."

Sunny shrugged. "That's good, I wasn't sure. I'm glad he hired someone around my age. Maybe we can be friends?" Imani felt a rush of deep sympathy for the shaky, painfully skinny girl in front of her. Imani nodded. "Well, things have to be professional, but we can be friendly, for sure." Sunny nodded seriously, a deeply solemn expression on her face. "Okay." She grabbed Imani's hand, and shook, gripping her hand tightly, like it was her lifeline. Imani felt another deep rush of sympathy for the girl.

"I understand that you're a priestess?" Imani asked lightly, standing rigidly and reflexively moving her sword in and out of her sheath. Sunny nodded. "Yig, the, um, the snake goddess. Or god. She says it's complicated, I don't know. But she has my body and keeps me safe at night, so I don't have to sleep. I-" She paused, frowning slightly and then continuing a little hesitantly.

"I dislike sleeping. It's scary to have your body completely unprotected, to lose all control. I used to just not sleep for very, very long periods of time... to stay safe," she added, as if that would help dispell the surge of protective horror that was encompassing Imani. "We worked it out. My goddess and I. It's all good now."

Imani nodded. "I am just a sword wizard. You know. I dunno about all that stuff." Sunny shrugged.

"Um," Sunny began, after a long pause, "I'm sorry to bug you so soon, but... can we go drive and see my friends? I just... I can go out any time I want now, as long as you come with me, and I want to see my, my friends."

Imani nodded. Holy fuck, this kid was like a wet cat, she thought. "Of course. I work for you. You don't have to ask." Sunny smiled faintly. "I think you mostly work for my dad."

"Maybe, but I'm your friend, right? I do get to drive though."

Sunny grinned, genuinely. "Okay! I'll navigate! We're heading to the stone house."

~~

The stone house was what it sounded like. It was a house, a very, very big house, made of... stone. A huge, slumbering, dead-looking building. When Imani parked the car, Sunny grinned. "I can go here without Colm hunting me down and beating the shit out of me now!"

Imani paused. She looked around, half expecting to see a camera hidden in the car. She wondered what Sunny was wearing under her hoodie. Maybe a graphic T-shirt with "I am an abused child" printed on it, holy fuck. The girl was about her age, but something deep within Imani felt a deep, strong need to swaddle her and hold her close and safe.

Instead she turned off the car.

Sunny sprung out of the car, scurrying up to the front door and opening it. It creaked open. Imani walked past the two other cars already parked in the front of the stone house and walked in.

It was cold and dark inside the stone house, and Imani felt a little off put by the ambiance. "Why are we here, ma'am?" She asked quietly.

Sunny seemed to shoot upwards, her whole body turning rigid in that moment. "Ma'am?" She squeaked, seemingly embarrassed.

Imani nodded nervously. "I... Work for you." Sunny nodded, wiping sweat from her brow or some shit, holy fuck. "Um. My friends hang out here sometimes because... It's a really weird place! We used to come here with our buddy Jeffery before he, uh, died."

"Oh. Sorry."

Sunny shrugged. "I wasn't terribly close to him, and he sort of creeped me out. It was during high school anyway. So a while ago. And he was really weird to my friend Kai. We used to joke that he was gonna turn out as a school shooter."

She paused.

"Well, not really joking, he probably would have." Sunny shrugged and walked quickly down a quiet, empty hallway, towards a distant noise. Imani followed obediently, and then stopped as Sunny paused in front of the door, peeking through.

Sunny smiled and whispered, "Making sure that it isn't just noise constructs!" Imani, who had no fucking clue what a noise construct even was, nodded sagely, and waited.

Sunny opened the door and Imani looked in.

It was a weirdly cozy room, with electric lamps set up, and blankets piled on the floor. The floor was wooden, rather than the smooth stone it was elsewhere. The room was bathed in warm light, and a skinny, tall, androgynous woman sat on the floor, wearing a loose polo shirt and baggy jeans. Her long brown hair was put in a ponytail, but the most interesting thing about her was probably the sphinx cat heat floating beside her, grinning manically. The woman waved, smiling faintly.

"Hey, hi Sunny. Who is this?"

Sunny flushed slightly. "Um. My dad got me a bodyguard. Meet Imani. She seems cool." Imani smiled slightly and waved. "Pretend I'm not here. Just hang out like normal."

I LIKE HER. GOOD MEAT ON HER BONES.

The cat head said that.

"What the fuck," Imani said. The woman rolled her eyes. "Bastet, shut up. Leave the poor girl alone, please."

DEAR GOD, I GUESS YOU CAN'T FUCKING DO ANYTHING ANYMORE. SORRY IMANI. I GUESS I NEED TO "APOLOGIZE."

Imani shrugged. "That's... fine." She didn't really have the heart to argue with a flying cat head, and it didn't seem like it was much of a threat to Sunny. She leaned up against the wall, and looked as the window slowly creaked open.

Shit. A skinny, pale arm slowly slipped through the window, and Imani grabbed her sword, about to lash out.

"Wait!" Sunny squeaked in a high pitched voice. "It's Kai! It's our friend Kai, don't kill them!" Imani paused, and looked at the figure crawling through the window. They were short and skinny, and pale, with light blue hair down over their ears, and a weird, pimply, almost rodent-like face. They were wearing baggy black pants and an oversized white T-shirt, and they grinned widely as they entered.

"What's up, sword girl?"

Imani coughed awkwardly. "I apologize for trying to attack you, but in my defense, you could probably do well to avoid entering a room like a murderer." Kai nodded affably. They shrugged. "Yeah, you're right. Didn't know someone new would be in here though." Sunny smiled shakily and cleared her throat. "This is Imani, my new bodyguard."

Kai gave a thumbs up. The woman in the suit cleared her throat. "Not bringing Eddie, Kai?" Kai laughed. "Nah. He tried to strangle me last night, so he's handcuffed to the sink in my kitchen. Bitch is getting jumpy. I hid the baton he uses as a conduit, just to see if he can do active Channeling, or just passive."

Imani nodded, thanking the Supreme Being that she knew what all those words meant. A conduit was something you processed magic through, be it your own body, a fuckin' honest-to-god wand, or a sword like in her case. As far as she knew, an active Channeler could create constructs and cast wards and shit, while a passive Channeler, like her, could just kinda buff their own skills to abnormal levels. DND ass world to live in, but whatever, at least she kinda knew what they were talking about.

"But the asshole was going crazy without it, and he tried to fucking choke me out! Fortunately my wards broke his wrist and it wasn't too hard to chain him up! It felt weird handcuffing someone without being paid first, but y'know."

The FUCKING flying cat head construct sighed heavily.

WHAT A SHAME. I SUPPOSE HE IS OF LITTLE USE TO US? WELL, IF WE NEED TO HIDE THE EVIDENCE, I AM WILLING TO EAT HI-

The suited woman laughed and rolled her eyes, flipping the cat head off. "Oh, piss off, Basty." This seemed to set the construct off, and it let out a loud, wordless scream of rage, followed by an enraged tirade that Imani only half listened to.

WHAT THE FUCK DID YOU JUST FUCKING SAY TO ME, YOU LITTLE BITCH?!!! I'LL HAVE YOU KNOW THAT I AM AN AVATAR OF A FUCKING ELDER GOD, AND I HAVE BEEN INVOLVED IN VARIOUS SECRET WARS, WITH A PERSONAL KILL RATE OF OVER THREE MILLION! I HAVE BEEN TRAINED IN HOLY WARFARE, AND I AM THE MOST POWERFUL GODDESS CURRENTLY ACTIVE ON EARTH. YOU ARE NOTHING TO ME BUT JUST ANOTHER TARGET. I WILL WIPE YOU THE FUCK OUT WITH PRECISION THE LIKES OF WHICH HAS NEVER BEFORE BEEN SEEN ON THIS EARTH, MARK MY FUCKING WORDS. YOU THINK YOU CAN GET AWAY WITH SAYING THAT SHIT JUST BECAUSE YOU CONTROL THE CONSTRUCT I INHABIT? THINK AGAIN, FUCKER. AS WE SPEAK-

The suited woman silenced the construct by tenderly petting behind it's ears, which, surprisingly, seemed to work perfectly. It purred serenely, and cuddled up next to her. She giggled sweetly.

Sunny stood awkwardly. She looked like a little kid who didn't know how to say something important, and was desperately waiting for someone to happen to answer her question. Kai, who had pulled their phone out while the cat head was bitching about it's omnipotence, mercifully happened to glance up, and seeing the vaguely miserable expression on Sunny's face, smiled softly and sympathetically. Imani decided to revise her opinion about them. With the right expression, they were really quite cute.

"Sunny, what's the haps, cutie? You called this little shindig. What do you need to know?" Sunny perked up brightly, apparently consoled by the invitation to share. "Um... My dad is a jerk. And he didn't let me go on your last adventure, or the one before, or the last few, because he says I'm a weak-ass priestess who can't take care of herself... And I just really don't know what's going on. I don't know who Eddie is, or what happened to you guys, or why we couldn't hang out at the mall like I wanted-"

The suited woman shifted guiltily on her feet.

"... or anything really! I'm out of the loop, and I really really hate being out of the loop. What's happening? I have a bodyguard now, I can go on adventures with you! I wanna get caught up!"

The woman in the suit smiled gently, and took Sunny's hand. "You're right. We haven't been fair. Kai's done fuck-all recently-" (at this Kai stuck their tongue out) "-but they're well informed. I apologize, Sunny. Here. Let me catch you up."

Imani only half-listened, in honesty. Regardless, a few things jumped out. Apparently Old Ones were popping out like crazy, in populus spaces too now, and nobody was quite sure why. They'd wasted a few, but the last one had been taken down by a possessed homophobic mall cop, this was Eddie, and the mall cop in question had been consequently abducted by Kai in the hopes of training him. They'd had to burn down the mall, which nobody seemed to suspect them of, and the bodies the Old One had taken were presumed dead in the fire by the media.

"We don't know what the cause of all these Old One incidents is," the suited woman said darkly, "but you need to be careful. And so does Yig, you tell her that, okay?"

Sunny nodded fiercely, and she whispered "Yes, Luci," in a tight, affrighted voice. The suited woman's... Luci's... face softened to almost soppy levels, and she drew Sunny in for a hug. "I'm sorry we cut you out of the loop, cutie. That won't happen again. We're in this as a team, right?"

Sunny nodded, and Luci noogied her, almost maternally. The cat head yowled madly, and Luci rolled her eyes. "Needs to be fed. See you guys. Eyes peeled, okay?" Sunny nodded, and Luci squeezed her again, and left.

Kai and Sunny sat awkwardly on the floor. Kai was whistling to themself, and Imani, desperately wanting respite from their atonal noises, quietly asked Sunny, quite unprofessionally, "Was that your girlfriend?"

Sunny colored heavily, and Kai laughed sharply. "No, miss," Kai snorted, shaking their head. "Ms. Luci is quite firmly devoted to her goddess."

Imani felt her eyes widen, just slightly. An Elder God Fucker. Huh, she'd heard stories, and read them, and written a few as a young girl, but it was interesting to see that it wasn't just cheap smut fodder. "I see," she said tactfully.

Kai did a repulsive gesture then, and giggled. "She doesn't do shit with the cat head construct, I think she relinquishes motor controls to her goddess and just kinda-"

Sunny tilted forward onto the floor, wheezing with what might have been laughter, and might have been an attempt to drown out Kai's voice. Kai snorted and patted her back. Sunny rolled on her back and groaned. "I don't want to think about sexytimes between them. It makes me feel ill."

Kai nodded sagely. "Well, I sort of have a dude chained up at home. Why don't we go get lunch and hang out sometime when I'm not thinking about something else? I want to give you my full attention, bestie." Sunny smiled and nodded. "That sounds nice."

~~

The car drive passed in strange, awkward silence. It was getting dark out, and Sunny was hungry so they stopped at a cookout and Sunny bought Imani food, despite her insistence otherwise. Imani, of course, was grateful, but it felt wrong, in a way.

When the car reached the gates, Imani immediately knew something was wrong. There was something out there. A construct. Probably.

It had gray, wet skin and blackish eyes. It's body looked lazily put together. There were runes or some shit... Wait, Imani knew this, they were wards, cool. It looked like it was made of various animal body parts. It was gross as fuck.

And it was looking directly at Sunny.

"Friend of yours?" Imani asked quietly. Sunny looked forward with wide, terrified eyes. "N-no. It might be here to kill me, or-" Imani's jaw tightened. "Well, I'm not letting that happen, obviously." She paused, deep in thought. "Is it okay if I run it over?" she asked, and Sunny gasped in shock. "What? I don't -?"

It was too late to ram forward now. The construct was lunging forward, with wild, crazed steps. In moments, it had smashed it's overly long arm through the window, and it was tearing it's fingernails into Sunny's arm. Sunny was screaming and crying, panicking, terrified.

Imani sighed. "Okay."

She grabbed her sword and crawled into the back of the car, and impaled the construct, stopping just short of Sunny. Imani grabbed it, yanking it back. She slammed it into the door. It wouldn't open, she realized, it wouldn't fucking open.

"Crawl to the front and unlock the door, ma'am."

Sunny nodded, leaping forward into the front. The construct turned it's head... clearly it was programmed to get her, or some shit? Whatever, Imani didn't care. The door was unlocked. Imani fumbled with the handle, fuck it, Jesus. She opened the door and shoved it out.

Imani grabbed her sword. Fuck, it was like her arm. Channeling was almost orgasmic, seriously. Stabbing this piece of shit was like wiggling a finger. Fuck you, fuck you, fuck you! Piece of shit. Hurting her master, her boss, her fucking-

The construct was full of holes. Smashed to pieces because fuck it. It was mending itself slowly, so she cut it vertically, three times, tearing into the wards. It's body was rotting, no longer preserved by the wards. Imani stooped down, shoving a hand into it's eyes, ripping them out. She could hear her own voice aloud.

"Fuck you," she was whispering. "You don't fucking touch her. She's mine."

What the fuck? No she wasn't. Why did she say that? Why? She stood up. Why did she do that? She must have been lost in the moment. Sunny was looking at her. Fuck. She felt awful now, she'd scared her.

~~

Imani took a shower. She dried off and dressed in a baggy shirt and sweatpants. Pajamas. As she stood next to her bed, considering whether to go to bed at fucking ten at night, a knock came on her door. "Come on in."

Sunny poked her head in. "Can you come in my room?" she asked quietly. Imani nodded and followed her.

Sunny sat down on her bed, and patted beside her. Imani sat awkwardly. Sunny smiled, and lunged forward, hugging her tightly. What the fuck? She was warm, holy shit. Imani felt herself tensing up, shaking slightly. Sunny nuzzled her head into her neck.

"What the fu-" Imani began quietly, and then Sunny whispered "Thank you, thank you for saving me. You, um, saved my life, probably. Thanks."

Imani coughed. "Well, it's my job?"

Sunny nuzzled closer, holding her tightly, silently rocking next to her. It stayed like that for a long, long while. "I'm glad you're my friend, Imani," Sunny whispered sleepily, which Imani replied to with "Okay?!" in a high, panicked, and very unbodyguardlike way.

And then Sunny fell asleep. What the fuck. What the fuck. This had never fucking happened to Imani before. Yeah, shit like this kinda made sense, being a bodyguard was always kind of codependent, but her clients NEVER fucking CUDDLED her. She was practically being pinned to her mattress by the limp body of Sunny, and lifting the tiny girl wouldn't be hard, but she was just... Baffled.

And then Sunny sat up suddenly. There was something different in her posture, Imani noted, almost clinically. Her eyes too. They looked almost... reptilian. When Sunny spoke, it clearly wasn't her. The voice had a lower register, and it was smooth, and lacked the manic, high-pitched quality.

"Hey. You're the bodyguard?" Not-Sunny said quietly. "Thanks for taking care of my girl. She's asleep, I got her now. You can go."

Imani went.

She didn't sleep much.

[vampsquerade]

i love writing fan fiction so much i don’t care how embarrassing that is to say out loud but i’m fucking saying it

this is MY therapy, this is how I relax, and NOBODY is going to stop me