Winning ways for your mathematical plays

I'm an older guy interested in doing it bareback with someone 10 to 20 years younger. It feels better to follow your instincts and do things the natural way. Sure it's risky but I'm a clean guy who usually has safe sex. There's the pregnancy risk but maybe you're okay with that. I'm a sensual guy who loves to touch and caress you and make you feel good. So let's forget about condoms and feel each other skin on skin and go for it. I'd love to meet up regularly and have an FWB if we enjoy our first time together. San Jose or Palo Alto would be a good location.

I recently got the impression that I made it well while playing the dhr game. There is a question during the game.
The main causes of Germany's defeat in the original history were industrial power shortages, wars against three fronts and powers, internal control and operational performance, and the big ones were the defeat of U.S. war and the soviet war.
In the game, the eastern war was easily ended by creating a diplomatic option and avoiding conflicts with the U.S. when cooperating with China.
In reality, I wonder why the germany. has declared war rather than a way to cut ties with Japan while being moderate in its notification of US. Of course, the ultimatum is not acceptable to Germany, but it is dangerous to move seriously about something political voice and support, such as World War I and the modern Russo War, but I wonder why Germany, with experience in World War I, had to choose that option and turned the dual attitude of selling war supplies to Germany.

1. I know that Operation Babarosa and Operation Blue are very important in the eastern front, so I'm wondering what the main actions Germany should have taken in the soviet War, and I heard that the concentrated Stalingrad, the Volga River, and the reserve forces rather than trying of full occupation in Caucasian could change the situation.

Last thing I want to know about das vaderland mod is that I introduced mods that inherited dhr2 fatherland in a teaser 3 years ago, but since I can't see it now, did you postpone or cancel mod development? If so, is the reason for this a matter of time and manpower or is it because it overlaps with the town and rich?

Hi all, I like to have a laugh and mess around when I play, I'm not a sweat by any means, but I'm always happy to play for the win also! If you're a like-minded player, feel free to hit me up. I play on PC, but I'm happy to crossplay, and I have discord. I'm not interested in joining any servers either. Thanks!

This is for u
Read till the end! I sent an angel to watch over you last night, but it came back and asked "why?" The angel said, "angels don't watch over angels!" twenty angels are in your world. Ten are sleeping, nine of them are playing and one is reading this message. The universe has seen you struggling with some things and says it over. a blessing is coming your way. If you believe in Karma send this message to 14 friends including me, if I don't get it back I guess I'm not one of them. As soon as you get 5 replies, someone you love will quietly surprise you... Not joking. Pass this message on. Please don't ignore it. you are being tested and Karma is going to fix two big things tonight in your favor. If you believe in Karma drop everything and pass it on TOMORROW WILL BE THE BEST DAY OF YOUR LIFE. DON'T BREAK THIS. SEND THIS TO 14 FRIENDS IN 10 MINUTES IT'S NOT THAT HARD. WHOEVER SENT THIS TO YOU MUST CARE ABOUT YOU

Hello!
Problem: Ive been having an issue with my PC for a few months now while gaming. So it seems like every OTHER time I game, mid game at a random time, my computer will completely freeze for about 2 seconds and I’ll get a loud crackling noise in my headphones. The computer then goes back to normal and the crackling stops. I can hear everything just fine in my headphones and the game is back to normal as if nothing happened. The problem is, my mic stops working for some reason. As if it got unplugged. The only fix is to unplug the mic and plug it back in. The mic will work again in discord but typically won’t work in whatever game I’m playing, unless I restart the game.
This issue seems to happen randomly. Sometimes I can game and nothing happens, sometimes I game and it will happen multiple times in one session. The games are always the same and I don’t notice it happening in certain games more than others.
I forgot to mention that sometimes when I boot up my PC the “VGA” light is solid white. If I restart the PC the light goes away.
Things Ive Tried: Updating drivers Checking PSU wires to hardware Reseated GPU Tried a different headset (same outcome) Adjusted power settings to max power Updated BIOS
Specs:
Mobo: ASUS ROG Strix Z690-A
PCU: Intel Core I7-12700KF
GPU: ASUS ROG Strix Geforce 3070 Ti
RAM: Corsair Vengence RGB Pro SL 32Gb
SSD: Samsung 970 EVO Plus SSD 1Tb NVMe
I built this PC back in December and started noticing this problem around late January/early February. So it’s relatively new.
Thank you for your time reading this and I’m sorry about the length! Just very frustrated and can’t seem to find a solution anywhere.

General question when it comes to hitting coaches (and coaches in general): what are the causes of your team failing to produce (specifically offensively)?
For context, I'm playing with the Cubs and have a HC with excellent or higher in development, mechanics, and teaches hitting. He has average/good relationships with all my hitters. I have a good/great scout and my scouting accuracy is on Very High anyways.
It could be that my hitters just suck or are having crappy babip luck or something. But my HC is on the last year of his contract and I was curious if there's something in the game where a HC (or any coach) could have really high ratings and good relationships with your players and still not produce results. Does something like this exist, or is it just an indictment of my hitters? Does your Bench Coach influence hitting at all? Are there any other factors at play that I may not be considering?

So Natalia was dumped in Lafayette because, according to Kristine, it was a "white trash," area and therefore (!) no one would care about this disabled little person.
The real garbage, in my opinion, is the judge who forbad mention of Natalia's biological age. Unbelievable. That is, he excluded SCIENCE from the court. That is far "trashier," ethically and morally, than leaving your Chevy El Camino parked in your front yard while your cousin-wife spruces up your mullet, or whatever "white trash" is supposed to mean.
You see, when it comes to actual life or death, it's scientific knowledge that matters more than anything. Think about it: scientific inquiry is what leads to the development of the pharmaceuticals, surgeries, and therapies we depend on to live better, and in some cases, to stay alive. But for some reason, Tippecanoe County isn't having any science in their courtroom.
Savor the irony. That shit-for-brains judge is a disgrace to the state of Indiana and should be impeached, or whatever the word is for a judge's removal.
And while I have your attention... The expression "white trash" implies that trash is not normally "white," which is why "white" is stated explicitly. By way of example, when you call someone a "lady doctor," it's because you assume that doctors are, by default, men. When you call someone a "male nurse," it's because you assume that nurses are, by default, women. Suffice it to say that "white trash" implies that "trash," by default, is "supposed to be" non-white, i.e., black or brown. Yikes.
The linguistic principle underlying my analysis of "white trash" is Grice's Maxim of Quantity, which holds that people give as much information as they feel is necessary to advance the communication; in this case, the qualifier "white" is added information so that, presumably, the listener does not interpret the "trash" to be your run-of-the-mill default black/brown trash.

I haven't played since I was a teenager, when I broke my toy guitar and realised that my tiny baby hands make playing a full sized acoustic very difficult.
I'm having trouble researching this because I don't really know what anything means (scale length?) and half the results assume you're buying a temporary guitar for a child 😐 Then whenever I find something that looks decent there are loads of comments calling it a toy?
I'm a noob so this would need to be one that's possible to learn on, but I do plan to keep it and am willing to pay as much as is necessary for something decent.
I'm not too bothered about body size, just the neck really.

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Let me introduce you to the marvel that is the "Say Goodbye to Gluten and Hello to Flavor: Discover Our Must-Have Cooking Recipes Book." This bad boy is a treasure trove of tantalizing recipes specifically crafted for those of us on a gluten-free journey. And trust me when I say, these recipes are out-of-this-world delicious!
From the moment I cracked open this book, my taste buds started doing a happy dance. It covers everything you could possibly crave: starters, appetizers, main courses, side dishes, bread, pastries, and of course, desserts that will make your sweet tooth sing. It's a gluten-free extravaganza, my friends!
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Link to read the full article: https://sohago.com/blog/gluten-free-cooking-recipes/

Hi there! I'm a bit of a newbie when it comes to RPGs (have played DnD 5e and a couple of other systems: DCC, etc). However, I've never GMd before and I would like to give it a shot with Into the Odd. It seems like it could be a real blast, and relatively simple to pick up and run.
My friends haven't played anything other than DnD, and I'd like to introduce them to some other games and expand their horizons a bit. So, I went searching for some potential winners and landed on Into the Odd! Got the hardcover book coming in the mail, but I've already read through the pdf version.
All that said, I've already got some monsters, creatures, and NPCs brewing in my head for a potential adventure, but I realized I have no idea how to stat any of it. As stated earlier, I'm a complete newbie GM.. is there a guide somewhere for DIY type stuff for RPGs (in general, but mostly for Into the Odd). Or is it more like rolling up a PC?
I feel silly for asking, but hey - everyone has to start somewhere, eh?
TL/DR: How do you stat your own creations for Into the Odd?

Hey all!
I'm Ben. I find I'm a lonely fellow these days as most of my friends are either busy with work or playing different games to me, so I thought I'd drop another post here to see if there's anyone lurking that's interested in hitting me up and seeing if we get along!
So here's a bit about me. I'm 24, single, living in the UK and I work at a gym - it's pretty tiring and very social so it'd be great to meet some people who won't constantly be telling me about their workouts or asking which protein powder is best for them (not that I won't talk to you about this stuff, just don't overdo it lol). I also listen to and play a lot of music as I've been playing piano for about 15 or so years. In terms of gaming, I play all sorts of stuff. Nowadays it's mostly shooters and turnbased strategy games. Recently I've been playing a lot of Apex Legends so if you're into that, it'd be great to squad up for the new season :)
Now I don't wanna make this post too much of an essay so if anything's caught your eye or there's more you'd like to know, feel free to shoot me a message! I usually respond pretty quick and my sleep schedule's all over the place so don't worry about timezones.
Have a good one!

Get ready for the upcoming Ultra Enchanted Mind AT! Our Guides are updated for 5.29. and available in different languages!
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Do you want to reach 70k+ in your AT in 3 hours or less? Do you want to hear advice from some of the top players in the AT community? Do you wish there were universal leaderboards so you could compare scores with your friends?
More competitive? Compete against other ORCA’s in our weekly competition and top our leaderboard for bragging rights! With separate competition brackets for F2P players or otherwise, you’ll always be on an even playing field!
ORCA has guides, leaderboards, and a thriving community!
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Strategists - We are allowing self-promotion of your games and mods in this post only. This will be limited to SRPGs, as that is the subreddit, so please keep this in mind.
Limit your game to one post. We don't want spam. Feel free to post your game again if you posted last month.
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Hi all, I like to have a laugh and mess around when I play, I'm not a sweat by any means, but I'm always happy to play for the win also! I have games like dead by daylight, GTA 5, left 4 dead 1 and 2, sea of thieves, destiny 2, Fortnite, and I am open to others as well. If you're a like-minded player, feel free to hit me up. I play on PC, but I'm happy to crossplay, and I have discord. I'm not interested in joining any servers either. Thanks!

Nick’s earliest memories were of an unhappy home. His father, an alcoholic gambling addict, would regularly disappear for days, returning in the same clothes and not having shaved for days, and having blown all their savings on his binge. Eventually, in his mothers attempts to stand her ground, she tried to make him choose his family or the gambling. It drove him into a rage where he ended up beating her severely and running before the police came, and that was the last time he saw his father.
At 12 years old, his mother died of cancer that quickly spread through her body after first being discovered. Refusing to live with the parents of his father, he ran away and lived on the streets. For such a young boy, he was quite shrewd, shoplifting food from various grocery stores. Within just a couple months, he was devising schemes with teenagers to shoplift from department stores to mom and pop stores, and everything in between, selling the goods to local pawn shops. He learned how to learn the dead-zones of cameras, how to pry the security tags off of items, and how to distract security.
Then his friend gave him the idea of breaking into closed stores or vacation homes to rob them. He was careful, wearing a hoodie, tied to leave no stray hairs as evidence, a mask, gloves, different shoes, and a reversible jacket on the outside that he could flip around to quickly match a different description.
It was successful for the first few attempts, but then he decided to do a job on his own, and attempted to rob the wrong store.
He was casing the place, knocking on the door at the same time every day to ensure nobody was answering the door. Breaking a small window atop the lower floor and climbing a garbage pail to hop through. He went to the cash register, feeling like he hit the jackpot when he discovered more than a thousand in cash, totaling to a few thousand. But he wasn’t aware that the building wasn’t at all abandoned and was attached to a second building, and was a front for Patrick O’Sullivan, a member of the Irish Mob, and they just so happened to be doing a deal at the time.
He tried to run away, heading towards the door, but eventually ran into a boy not much older than he was. He always carried a switchblade with him as a last resort, pulling it on the boy. But he didn’t have it in him to stab the boy. He hesitated. And he got caught.
They forced him to take a seat at the table, and Patrick paced back and forth, Nick’s switchblade in hand. “So you want to steal from *me*?” He scoffs as he flicks open the switchblade. “Usually I would just cut off your fingers so you learn your lesson.” He turns to look at Nick was rage in his eyes. “But you *threatened my son*!?” he shouts into the boy's face, holding the knife just inches from his neck.
“Wait.” Nick hears a voice from behind him protest. Walking around him, narrowing his eyes as he gets a better look at his face, then nodding to himself. He has a different complexion than the others. “I recognize this kid. He’s the son of one of ours. Let him go, I’ll handle this.” he says as he turns to one of his associates, handling a much larger sum of money than NIck had just stolen, tossing it on the table in front of Nick. “This should cover the inconvenience.” He turns back to Nick and gives Nick a stern look. “I’ll make sure no threats to your family ever happen again. And this boy will make it up to you tenfold, *right*?” He gives Nick a small, almost imperceivable nod. Nick quickly agrees.
That was the day Nick met Lorenzo Columbo of the Italian Mafia. Nick never understood why he stepped in and saved him, Lorenzo only claimed that he saw ‘potential’ in him, but it earned Nick’s undying loyalty. He became like a father figure in Nick’s life, something he had never had prior. He gave him a place to stay with one of the maids, whose English wasn’t the best, but as she couldn’t have children of her own she took him as one of her own. Lorenzo taught him how to get by with less risk, *without* getting caught, while also teaching him the value of a hard work ethic.
But it wasn’t all smooth sailing, particularly when it came to family issues. Lorenzo’s daughter, Luna, never understood why her father brought Nick into their life. She was very attached, an only child, and being a few years younger than Nick, Lorenzo never explained what happened to her as she would have been too young to understand, and she tried to keep his direct family from getting involved in any ‘business’ issues. But he was trying to teach Nick how to be a man who could take care of himself, as he has already experienced so many things that no boy his age should have been exposed to.
Lorenzo was gone most of the time, handling business, unintentionally neglecting Luna. Like Nick, she was mostly raised by the maids, spending far more time with them than she spent with her own family. The maids and her dog were her primary companions. She never understood why Nick was allowed to join Lorenzo at work, but she couldn’t. She became increasingly jealous of the time spent with Nick, eventually despising him. She would be the first to remind Nick that he wasn’t really one of their family, and that he never would be. She would lash out, disobeying her fathers rules, but Lorenzo had a soft spot for children and she would be allowed to get away with it. The only rule he was extremely strict on is that she wasn’t allowed to leave the house without supervision, in that way he was overprotective of her, fearing that someone might take her away to get back at him.
Nick never understood why she hated him so much. He never did anything wrong to her, and she constantly targeted him. He didn’t ask for any of this, he just did as told, and tried to be obedient - something that Luna certainly was not. Due to how she treated him, he developed a distaste for her. Considering he spent a lot of efforts trying to stay in line and follow the rules, he never understood why she *never* followed the rules, and why he was judged so harshly for breaking the rules, while she could get away with anything. It didn’t seem fair. From that point, though he wasn’t one of their family members, it was almost like they had a never-ending sibling rivalry.
-----
6 years later…
Lorenzo asked Nick to speak to him privately. He confided that they had a major problem. One of the O’Sullivan brothers was dead. Lorenzo expressed that it breaks his heart to have to ask for this, but they need somebody to take the fall, and asked Nick if he could do it, promising that he would make it up to him and be there for him once he’s out.
To Lorenzo’s surprise, Nick gladly accepted. Nick felt that he owed his *life* to Lorenzo and would do *anything* for him, because he wouldn’t even be alive if it wasn’t for Lorenzo.
It wasn’t until the day of the trial that he was informed that *Luna* was the person he was taking a fall for. As much as that explained why Lorenzo needed somebody to take the fall - he couldn’t let his daughter go down, and it would be extremely poor optics if his daughter murdered one of them - he wondered to himself why it had to be her of all people. ‘It’s just like her to *literally* get away with murder!’, he thought to himself. But he was loyal, and still decided to do what he agreed to without dispute.
The part that really upset him was when she took the stand as a witness. She burst out crying, accusing Nick of being ‘crazed’, how all they were doing was hanging out peacefully and over a joke he snapped and couldn’t control himself, giving explicit detail about how brutal he was, how he grabbed the murder weapon - a relatively small but heavy ornamental statue - and just wouldn’t stop hitting him. She almost got it escalated from homicide to murder, and would have if Lorenzo didn’t pay for the best lawyer in the state. Nick tried his best to keep his cool, and had to accept that Luna finally got what she wanted… For Nick to be gone.
-----
10 years later…
Nick is finally released, and Lorenzo has provided him with a home. But they had to be discreet, as it would seem quite obvious if he fell right back in line after serving time for killing one of the Irish without permission.
One day, Lorenzo calls and says it’s an emergency, he needs Nick to meet him at the house urgently.
Nick arrives at the house, standing in the next room awaiting a moment to speak with Lorenzo.
“What do you mean you’re leaving!?” he hears the unmistakable bitterness of Luna’s voice speaking to her father. “You’re leaving me!?” Her voice is becoming increasingly distraught. “I guess I should be used to you leaving by now!” it sounds as if she’s on the verge of tears.
“Sweetie, this is urgent.” Lorenzo says calmly. “Tell me something new, dad!” she says with a scoff. After a brief pause. “... How bad is it?” she asks her father. He remains quiet. “Why aren’t you saying anything!?” Lorenzo breaths in deeply and sighs. “It’s nothing for you to worry ab-” Luna interrupts him. “I’m not a child!” she spats back at him. “Luna, watch your tone!” he says commandingly, leaving no room for dispute.
“I’m putting someone else in charge. You’re going to listen to everything he tells you to do in my absence. Do not give him a hard time, do you hear me? There will be no negotiation. Just because I’m not here, does not mean you can do whatever it is you want to, is that clear?” he demands.
“Yeah, whatever. Have a safe trip dad.” She stomps out of the room, Nick only seeing the back of her head as she speeds by, hiding her face, presumably to hide tears. She didn’t even notice him.
Nick enters the room, Lorenzo seeming relieved at his presence. Nick presumes that Lorenzo wasn’t sure if he would show up. He stands tall, hands clasped behind his back as Lorenzo takes a seat.
“Nick, I have to leave, and I’m leaving you in charge. I don’t have time to explain.”
Without hesitation, Nick responds. “How long can I expect you to be gone?”
“That is left to be determined…” Lorenzo says, sounding almost sad.
Nick gives a small nod. “I assume there will be an announcement of my authority to minimize insubordination? And I’ll need a briefing on your dealings, as well as a place to stay while you are gone.”
Lorenzo lets out a small chuckle. “Nicolaus, you already know all of my dealings. I have never kept any secrets from you. And you could choose any of the guest rooms here to stay in.” Ever since he was a child, Lorenzo was the only person to call Nick by his full name. To others, he was just Nick, or to the maid staff, he was Nicky as a term of endearment.
“You can trust that your business will be safe under my care, sir.” Nick says confidently.
“And my daughter?” Lorenzo tilts his head down, eyes looking up at Nick’s with a piercing gaze.
Up until this point, Nick has done a good job of keeping stone-faced. But he’s sure that at hearing about her, that Lorenzo could see a slight wince on his face.
“Yes sir, of course.”
-----
A little while later, Nick had taken some time to process the situation. He realized he needs to read between the lines of this situation and figure out why *he* was chosen for the job. It makes little sense. Optics are extremely bad, leaving a person with his history not only being accepted back, but now in charge?
Nick dared not question Lorenzo any further, not only because of his integrity and respect for authority, but because he knew if Lorenzo did not give any further information, it’s because he does not feel comfortable speaking around the others.
Then there’s the way he mentioned his daughter. Nick could sense that this means Luna is in danger. There must be some legitimate threat out there, one that his regular people couldn’t handle, or could not be trusted for. And that’s likely related to the reason he’s leaving too. The bad blood between us implies how serious the threat must be.
Nick has to come to terms with the fact that he’d had to dedicate nearly half of his life to her protection. Whether he likes it or not, fate keeps leading him right back to her. Not that she ever has shown any appreciation for it. But he wouldn’t have any life to live if it wasn’t for Lorenzo, so it’s decided. If he must stake his life for her protection again, then so be it.
He just hopes she will cooperate this time… Last he heard, Luna was always notorious for her rebelliousness and knack of getting in trouble. Seemingly even killing people on a whim, despite never being trained in combat.
He suspects keeping Luna in line might be an even more difficult job than the last one he had to do for her…
Once settled in a guest room and Lorenzo preparing to leave, he acts distant from most of the others, with a cold, calm demeanor, always seeming in control, much like Lorenzo. Aside from the maid staff, whom he is quite pleasant with. After all, some of them were the ones who raised him.
He decides it’s time to focus on his duties, approaching Luna’s bedroom door, actually feeling a bit nervous. Not about what she might do, as much as trying to keep himself in check, as he’s well aware of how much unresolved anger there is which has been ignored rather than dealt with. But knowing Luna’s rebellious nature, he knows he needs to establish authority while her father is gone.
He chuckles to himself at the irony of how facing Luna feels like a fate worse than prison.
He steels himself, face becoming stone, jaw slightly clenched, as he knocks on the door.
No longer is he the scrawny boy that she last saw, now a hardened man, looking far different from before. More imposing. Standing 6’1 with a scruffy face and long wavy hair, making his complexion seem darker than it is. In his mind, he expects to see a young, rebellious teenager answering the door, music playing in the background as she rolls her eyes at him in disdain for being interrupted.
-----
While Luna used to be adventurous and outgoing, she was never the same after that day she encountered Liam O’Sullivan.
Nobody but her father knew the truth. The reality that on that fateful day, Liam had tried to rape her. Well, more than tried, he *did* rape her. But she didn’t go easily. Maybe she would have been able to fight him off if her father taught her to defend herself how she always wanted to, but she fought back with all her might. And once he fell off balance, she grabbed the closest thing she could find, the statue, and lost control. Unable to stop swinging until he stopped moving. She never thought she would be capable of something so horrible.
That’s the real reason for her outburst at the trial. She was being forced to relive the most traumatic moment of her life. And it emphatically proved how horrible of a person she was. Sending another person to prison for what *she* did. No matter how much she hated Nick when they were young, that was a fate he didn’t deserve. She’s lived to regret the fact that she not only took one man's life, but ruined another man's life. It’s what she’s best at.
She became much more reserved, even more attached to her father and her dog, Shadow. No longer outgoing, she became very reserved around others, fearful. Especially men.
Her ‘rebelliousness’ and anger she shows others is just a front, not allowing them to see the darkness she harbors inside. Hiding her loneliness by being cold towards others, acting tough when she is extremely sensitive. She only has a few friends who could tolerate her and how much she pushes them away, a habit she formed because she doesn’t feel she can trust anyone. She never smiles, except when with her father or her dog.
Her looks and cold personality have always gotten her the most attention from strangers, yet she yearns for simple attention from one person in her life and that’s her father’s.
Deep down she has a sweet, caring heart, but it’s hidden and covered by layers of fear and trauma. Her guard is always up, especially in a house full of men that she hates. She hides her wounds from everyone. She spends her time mostly exercising, reading, or occasionally sneaking out of the house with Grayson, one of her fathers men that she had taken a liking to, as he helps her out whenever she does decide to sneak away. Eventually it led to a secret relationship between them.
Despite her attachment to Grayson, and their meaningless sex, she had never been able to fully let her guard down. Especially because Grayson has a bit of an abusive nature, to say it mildly. He *has* abused her before, hitting her, but it hadn’t left any major marks. Out of fear of losing the one man in her life that paid attention to her, she has allowed it. Hiding it from her father, because she knows what would happen if he found out. He is slowly destroying the little bit of her self worth that is left.
-----
The silence in Luna’s room is deafening, so she fills it with a mild audible sound of Spotify in the background. That still wasn’t enough to get her mind off of the conversation with her father. While it was the same conversation she’s had with him time and time again throughout her life, this time felt… Different. Very different.
She leans her head back on the headboard and checks to see if she has any text back from Grayson, whom she left a message asking “What the hell is going on?”, and as expected, there was none. She’s sure he knows her father is leaving, but isn’t sure if he knows why, or who will be put in charge. Just the idea makes her scoff, the last thing she needs is a babysitter.
Her dog joins her on the bed, nuzzling his head on to her lap, tail wagging, demanding pats, and coaxing a smile out of her. Shadow is the only thing keeping her from going insane in this house, knowing exactly when she needs comfort and never hesitating to provide it. He remains on the bed with her, resting his head on her thigh, never leaving her side. For a moment, she forgets what’s going on.
She hears a knock on the door, staring at the hard wood for a moment. She hopes it’s Grayson, checking on her to make sure she’s okay, and maybe if she’s lucky, even comfort her. She gets up and heads to the door with that thought on her mind. She wasn’t prepared for what she discovered.
Her heart drops. Familiar dark eyes that are engraved in her mind staring down at her with nothing but coldness in them. She blinks once, twice, wondering if her eyes are deceiving her. The lean boy she knew was standing there, but he was no longer small and lean, his features far more chiseled and distinguished. The suit he wore was striking, unable to hide the muscular frame beneath. She found herself speechless for a moment. It felt unreal for her to see him after he was unrightfully taken away.
He recognized her eyes at first glance, his eyes quickly breaking, darting to the abrupt movement at the side of the room, realizing it’s a dog, the dog's eyes darting between them, measuring our reactions. Even it seems frozen, confused by their reaction.
He notices how much she’s grown. Her face thinner, freckles and imperfections faded. While obviously older and taller, she seems… Smaller? Despite her never being as large as Nick, she had an aura about her that was almost intimidating. But now the air around her is… Different.
But it’s her hair that caught his eye most. Much longer than it used to be. Although he supposes it’s the same for him, it’s an integral part of her presence now. If he were to take a moment to consider it, he’d think she’s grown to look far more feminine and be quite beautiful. But he immediately speeds past those thoughts before they complete, focusing on his job he has to do.
Neither of them said a word, but their eyes spoke a million.
“Nick?” Her voice came out in barely more than a whisper, trying to comprehend if this is real. If so, she had no idea he was even out of prison, as nobody had informed her. A thousand questions ran through her mind. ‘How long has he been out? Why are you at my door? Are you even real? *How much do you hate me*?’ But she can’t bring herself to utter another word.
Having been anticipating conflict, the way she spoke his name almost threw him off, he expected that her father would have informed her that I was in charge, which is why he expected her to rebel, but that seems not to be the case. She seems to be genuinely surprised.
He narrows his eyes, a little, trying to read hers. He’s always prided himself on his ability to read people. But hers are hard to read, as she’s seemingly experiencing a rollercoaster of emotions, and he doesn’t understand why she would feel anything more than disdain based on his expectations. And honestly, it’s unsettling for someone like him to be around such raw emotion without being prepared for it.
As much as he wants to comment on their past, to call out what she did, or at least ask why… He decides against it. ‘Neither of us want to be in this situation. It’s just a job’.
He slowly takes in a deep breath, calculating his words. Standing tall and tilting his head back authoritatively as he begins to speak.
“Your father has put me in charge in his absence. Not just to oversee business matters, but I am personally responsible for your safety.” He leans in, maintaining eye contact, trying to convey the seriousness. “I will not be allowing any harm to come to you while you are my responsibility. If I give any orders, I will need you to obey immediately without question. If you have any questions, ask them later. I will need to know where you are and to give approval of where you are going at all times. I will need your phone number, you will have tracking turned on your phone at all times so I could monitor, and you will always answer when I call no matter what the circumstances. I don’t care where you are going, I only care about your safety. I will not tolerate any disobedience. I will not tolerate being ignored.” He pauses for a moment, to see how she is taking his words.
“I need you to tell me that you understand.” He maintains a serious look on his stone face as he awaits an answer.
Her brow furrows as he utters sentence after sentence, focused on how much his voice has changed and is no longer as soft as it used to be. She feels like she’s staring at a stranger, but then she begins to realize what he’s saying.
She shakes her head, feeling like he hadn’t even given her a chance to speak as he lays a newspaper's worth of rules in front of her. All she can do is let out a perplexed “Huh?” He’s the one her father left in charge of her? The one who never tolerated her? The one who spent half his life in prison because of her? There is no way… She scoffs, trying her best not to lose it on him, but it’s hard.
“I’m sorry, what? Do you really think I’m going to agree to this!?” she asks, with pure anger in her tone. She knows for a fact he doesn’t want to do this either, so why didn’t he say no to her father? How could he agree to look after the person that ruined his life? It only drives her crazier that the look on his face isn’t changing or reacting to her. She used to always know how to push his buttons and get a reaction. She looks over at Shadow, almost for assistance, but he is looking at Nick with a calm curiosity, even wagging his tail slightly. *It figures*, she thinks, *He usually hates men, but of course when she wants him to…*
“There will be no tracking my phone, no obeying you, no approval from you. I’m not doing this.” She pushes past him, out the door, her blood boiling, heart racing, palms sweaty and hands shaking. ‘How does he think he’d ever get away with this? When the hell did he get back anyway!?’
To her surprise, Lorenzo is with his men, including Grayson, putting on his coat in the living room. “Luna. I take it you spoke with Nicolaus?” He speaks confidently. *This is real…*
“Will you be okay?” Lorenzo asks, placing his hands on her shoulders. All she can think is *how could I possibly be okay?* as she fights back tears in her eyes.
“I’ll see you soon.” he says, stroking her cheek. She fears this might be the last time she ever sees him… And she doesn’t want to part like this. She wraps her arms around him, hugging him tight, enjoying his presence for as long as she has it. He soon breaks the embrace, seeming reluctant as he nods his head, departing through the door. She rushes back to her room before she allows her tears to escape.
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I appreciate it if you’ve made it this far! I’m looking for a long-term partner to play out this scenario where I’ll be playing Nick.
Despite our rivalry, we end up being stuck together. In the middle of a life of crime and a criminal conspiracy, thrown into a situation where we must rely on each other. With myself as the protector, and you, who is thrown in to a world you've always been hidden from.
The mystery of what’s going on will only deepen. What’s *really* going on? Why is there danger? We’ll have to question trusting anyone.
This setting should leave it pretty open in the directions we could go, and while I have a few ideas of ways we can take it, I welcome your ideas as well!
As we get to know each other, while there’s so much that led to our rivalry, there’s much more that was secret and that we’re unaware of about each other. While we may handle things differently, with Nick relying on staying calm, and Luna relying on overreacting, we both have lived a life where we felt abandoned, and have our own ways of hiding what we think or feel, both of us having trouble getting closer.
He’s forced into a role of her protector, and she’s never been able to feel safe around people. And he never knew all that she went through, falling for the illusion she gives that she doesn’t care about anything, never knowing how badly she needs that protection. By giving her somebody she could actually feel safe around, and him coming to terms with the fact that he may voluntarily want to protect her if given a choice, there's many threads that could eventually evolve into them developing feelings for each other, as much as they may want to resist that happening.
Along the path, there may be a lot of drama and disputes, pushing each other away, but due to the situation, we’ll be forced back together.
Despite being a very lengthy introduction, I’m open to any length of responses, there’s no requirements in length! Whatever feels right! It’s all in good fun!
Feel free to let me know any adaptations or ideas you may want to include, or requests!
If interested, I hope to hear back from you!