There are worse things than being lashed.

Tsukishima knew if he didn't look now, he never would, so he steeled himself. “If you want to show me, then show me, sir.”

Tsurumi kept one hand on Tsukishima’s shoulder and pulled away the headplate with the other, setting it down on the bedside table.

Tom is snowed in at Cortina with Dickie and Marge and Peter and Freddie. Sometimes he's really a very lucky boy.

Prompt: "swimming in the buff". Carcer watches with ill intent.

Luo Binghe looks at Shen Qingqiu’s face carefully for any sign of recognition but finds none. Instead, Shen Qingqiu looks impressed, like he can’t imagine it. Luo Binghe preens at impressing Shen Qingqiu and he chooses to take this as a win in the series of battles in the war to make Shen Qingqiu remember. Luo Binghe just hopes that the battles will eventually come to an end.

An operative from the future tells Wade that he has two options: kill himself before he has a chance to live 2000 years and become Cable's accomplice in dictatorship, or kill Cable. So now, Wade has thirty days to figure out a way to die. Unfortunately, most of his ideas involve convincing Cable to kill him. Fortunately, most of Cable's ideas for stopping him involve sex.

The chiricsanango, or yesterday today and tomorrow plant, has color-changing flowers that last for just three days: yesterday they were purple, today they are lavender, tomorrow they will be white, and then they will be gone.

The three of them go to see the redwoods.

“Why do you wear your face like that?”

Nie Huaisang's hand comes up partway to Meng Yao's face before his fingers curl inwards. Meng Yao's eyes go wide and tremulous before the corners of his mouth curl into a small smile, like one of the soundless laughs shared between them in the midst of a banquet speech.

Desire can't move past, only onward.