Baby Talk

Super cute pic!

Thank you!! 🥹💜  I'm very excited and nervous about the next few chapters -- and I may be posting a bit faster than usual, because while I cannot help but slightly enjoy cliffhangers 😈 I also enjoy the momentum of rapid fire chapters when there's action, so.. we'll see!! And without further ado!!   Chapter Sixty-Seven: Magic Tricks The announcement that Kang had arrived was met with a few seconds of utter silence. Shik looked toward the door; all the Amazons looked at Shik, and Adam scanned them. “Gwa-so,” Shik muttered after the long pause, then nodded and turned to the assembled crew. 『 Hong, Choi, on the catwalks. Keep a perimeter, check for last-minute heroic attempts. Yi, here. 』Shik outstretched his arm and handed the man a small device. 『 Kang’s likely to demand to see Adam. I’ll call on this; hold it up to him for 3 seconds at most. Got it? Three seconds. It’s silent, so keep an eye on it. 』Yi nodded gravely as he took the device and bowed. 『 Stay in this room until I say otherwise. Everyone else, with me. 』 Motioning with his head, everyone in the room made a neh sound in acknowledgment, bowed, and began moving, their faces fixed in looks of utter determination. Adam swallowed, watching them each tap their hands on their guns through their jackets, then smooth out the fabric and verify their suits were proper. Adam winced, fearing the Silent Whisper had just backfired on him tremendously, for the timing of Zhang’s commands had given them all a moment’s pause to breathe and focus before the engagement. Which was the exact opposite of what he had wanted. He craned his neck to watch everyone file out of the room; though he couldn’t see the door completely, he heard it shut. There wasn’t a moment to waste now. He had precious little time to either be absent for the call to prove he was safe, or to set up his escape during or immediately after it. “Run it again,” Adam whispered, glancing at the eyes of Little Boja, then up to the speakers overhead. He heard only a click of acknowledgment, followed almost immediately by the telltale automated warning in his ear. He reached into Hopper’s pouch, grabbing the pierced yellow pacifier and assessing its thickness. He needed something to cram into the car seat’s latch to jam it open so he could easily loosen the arm straps, but he could tell the rim of the guard was too thick. His thumb shifted downward to the pierced nipple, and he flashed a grin; it was now quite malleable and should be easier to shove into tight spaces. It was worth a try. “Hey, buddy,” Yi greeted him as he circled the desk and smiled down at Adam, who looked up like a deer in headlights. “Do you remember me?” Adam blinked a few times in disbelief; did he remember the guy from yesterday? Yeesh. “It’s okay,” Yi laughed good naturedly, taking the silence as a no and putting a hand on his chest to introduce himself. “I’m Mr. Yi.” “Hi,” Adam greeted flatly, glancing up at the speaker in the ceiling, then back to the suited Amazon. “I’m Mr. Ma.” Yi laughed, glancing nervously toward the door, fidgeting with the device in his right hand. With his left, he covered his mouth as he yawned. The corner of Adam’s mouth tugged. “If you’re tired, you can nap,” Adam suggested in as innocent a voice as he could muster. Yi’s upper chest bobbed in a silent, amused laugh, and the man placed his left hand on Adam’s foot. “You’re cute,” he chuckled, his eyes remaining fixed on the door. Adam bit at his lip, staring at the man, wondering if a voice needed to be in a certain register. Perhaps Zhang’s voice was deep enough to register as commanding, or easily conflated with how the room thought they each sounded in their heads, so they were more easily able to take the suggestion… whereas Yoon had appeared the least affected (or so Adam thought). It might make sense that the cognitive dissonance of a male’s voice in her mind wouldn’t necessarily flag as her own, but she had still followed the suggestion. He pursed his lips, knowing he had an entire dinner’s worth of recording he could chop up and weave together to generate a suggestion in an Amazon’s register, but he didn’t have the time or privacy to walk Little Boja through it. But he did have the recording of Yoon’s rattle. He cocked his head to the side, wondering if the same pitch modification would work on that. He stared intently at the man, wondering if it was possible to draw out from him what he needed Little Boja to do. His hands twitched to make the ‘stop’ motion, but he changed his mind when Yi yawned again; he was better off letting the waves build rather than stopping their momentum. Adam nodded, then took a deep breath; time to see if he could manipulate this man. “Mr. Yi, did you know that I can do magic tricks?” “Huh?” the Amazon frowned at first, then finally broke off his staring contest with the door and looked at Adam, grinning a bit. “Magic tricks?” “Oh yeah,” Adam said with a nod. “I can make you laugh without telling you a joke.” Yi chuckled, then put a hand up to his mouth. “Ohh, you’re good.” “Nonono,” Adam laughed, waving a hand at him. “That wasn’t it. I just need you to answer two questions.” Yi looked down at the device in his hand and sniffed. Adam peered at the device briefly; it looked like a phone, but a little more simplistic. Likely old tech, keeping in line with their plan to keep Boja from tracking or hacking them. “Maybe in a few minutes, okay?” the man said quietly, once more looking towards the door. “But I want to show you!” Adam complained loudly, and Yi’s face lit up in horror as he held out a hand to stop him. “Hey, hey, I need you to keep it down, okay?” Yi said a bit more sternly, raising his eyebrows tensely. Then his neck muscles twitched as he fought off another yawn. “I’m waiting for an important call.” Adam stared at him for a moment, fairly certain the pacifier attached to him was the odd, teeth-sticking kind, and if he pressed his luck with this guy, it might get shoved in his mouth. And his best guess was that the spike would catch on the mechanism that made it sticky, rather than piercing it, something he wasn’t going to risk now, of all times. The blonde nodded in agreement, and Yi flashed him a smile, patted his foot, then took a few steps towards the door. The blonde sat there but a moment before he took the chance and sprang into action. He grabbed the deflated pacifier, reached down to the latch, and began shoving the rubbery material in as quickly as possible. “Crank up the power, LB,” Adam murmured, groaning slightly at the strain of pulling at the latch with his three fingers while blindly shoving the pacifier sac in with his index fingers. ‘Okay,’ Little Boja replied warily, clearly confused. Adam grimaced; he had hoped to make the Amazon answer questions that would tell Little Boja to modify the rattle, but the man was too nervous and wasn’t playing ball. Adam didn’t have time to convince him otherwise, but the waves appeared to be affecting him. Maybe enough power and persistence to slow him down enough to break out and make a run for it. Grunting slightly, he felt the deflated teat slide into position, but he hadn’t felt the telltale click that meant the straps could be loosened. He let out an unfortunately loud grunt as he pulled as hard as he could, and click; gasping, he wiggled his fingers back and forth, shoving the rubbery sac in. Yi muttered something to himself after another yawn, and Adam had little choice but to let go, adjusting his legs to hide the bright yellow mouth guard now nestled at the latch area. Stepping back into view, Adam looked up at the man, red-faced and breathing heavily from effort (and nerves), and the man grinned. “This won’t take long,” he reassured him and patted Adam’s foot. “We’ll change you soon.” Adam closed his eyes, annoyed only for a moment that he had assumed the effort was from pooping, but he quickly talked himself down; better an assumption of innocent bowel movements than suspicion. ‘Adam. Little Boja. What are you doing?’ Adam gasped loudly, then slapped his hands over his mouth. ‘Hi, Big Brother!!’ Little Boja excitedly greeted. Yi looked down at Adam, his focus now drawn, and he frowned. Leaning down, he gently slid his hand between Adam’s legs and the cushions, inspecting the diaper’s cuffs, likely looking for a leak or blowout. Adam groaned, throwing his head back and clenching his jaw. ‘We’re playing the Silent Whisper in the room to try and calm our guard down!’ Adam grimaced, turning his head away from Yi as the man’s large hand scooped down to cup his rear, and the Amazon leaned in to sniff. The blonde body tensed in extreme discomfort, and he closed his eyes, trying to will himself to be, or feel like, he was anywhere else. ‘Of course you are,’ Boja grumbled. ‘What room are you in?’ ‘We don’t know exactly,’ Little Boja reported sadly. ‘But I’ve scanned six normal wall speakers, the same as the two in here, to the north, and two to the south. The rest are the super big ones.’ “You’re okay,” Yi assessed with a sleepy chuckle as he slid his hand out and ruffled Adam’s hair. “No leaks, Little guy.” “Thanks,” Adam murmured as he sighed, grateful the hand was gone. 『 I need some coffee, 』 Yi sighed, scratching at his forehead, then pressed his middle finger and thumb against his eyes. ‘Understood. Don’t move or do anything else. I’m on my w–’ The transmission cut out unnaturally, accompanied by a heavy thud that echoed in the warehouse, followed by a few shouts. This caught Yi’s attention; his head snapped toward the door, and Adam’s eyes widened. ‘…Big Brother?’ Little Boja asked. ‘BB?’ Nothing. ‘Adam, he’s not responding. H-His signal is just… It’s gone.’ Adam’s heart began pounding in his chest. Something was wrong. Something had just happened to Boja. Yi moved the phone to his left hand and slid his right hand under his jacket to his backside, stepping carefully out of view toward the door. “Jack it up more, LB,” Adam whispered tensely as he grabbed the arm straps and pulled. ‘Adam, I’m scared.’ “Me too,” Adam admitted as he wiggled free of the arm straps and craned his neck, making sure Yi was still preoccupied with what was happening outside. He pressed his lips together, unwilling to linger on what might have happened; he couldn’t let himself despair. As long as he was moving, he wasn’t overthinking. “But we gotta move.” ‘But where are we going? What’s going on?’ “It’s a trap,” Adam growled as he planted his feet on the bottom of the carrier and pushed himself upright. He knew he wasn’t being very clear, but he didn’t have time to explain or debate. All he knew was that neither side had walked into this warehouse believing the other had shown all their cards. Boja had come to find him and free him, and Shik had been ready for exactly that. He felt nausea turn his stomach, but the effort it took him to climb out of the carrier kept him focused. Using its sides to push himself to stand, he saw Yi peering out a dirty window, gun drawn, trying to find the source of the sound and make sense of the other voices now echoing outside this room. Adam withstood the pressure pain from the crawler diaper with a slight grimace, grabbed both Hopper and Little Boja, and stepped out of the carrier onto the edge of the desk. Looking behind him, he saw a leather office chair that would cushion his fall, and he headed toward it. ‘What do we do?’ Little Boja asked desperately as Adam hesitated, staring down at the chair’s wheels against the tiled floor; fearing it would slide with his jump, he grimaced a silent apology to Hopper, tossed her to the ground, and jumped on top of her instead. “Just keep going, LB,” Adam whispered. “We need more power to –” The blonde stopped, interrupted by the sound and floor vibration of a heavy thud. He held his breath to listen: a slight dragging sound followed by a softer thud, then Yi groaned. Trying to stay low, Adam crawled a few paces under the desk, and his eyes widened when he cleared a corner enough to see. Yi was sitting on the ground, leaning against the wall near the door, struggling to stay awake. He was staring at the floor, his head bobbing up and down as he tried to keep control of it, his eyelids fighting gravity. Both of his hands still held onto their items, the gun and the phone Shik gave him, but they were lying in his open palms on his thighs. ‘Oh, wow! It worked!’ Little Boja cheered. ‘I maxed out the amplitude!’ Adam frowned. Yi looked almost paralyzed, and he suddenly realized, now seeing its effects, that he was no longer comfortable using the Silent Whisper. But that moral line would have to wait until he was at least out of this room. He crawled out of view and stood, bringing a hand down to quickly mold and adjust the padding, which had been a little more saturated since the drive, so he could stand and walk more easily. The downside was that the diaper was rather weighty and bulky in this state, but a waddling, slow walk was better than a crawl. ‘Adam? What’s going on? What are we going to do?’ “We’re getting out of this room,” he whispered, swallowing hard as he glared down at the floor. “We’re going to figure out where Boja is or what’s going on, and… go from there.” ‘…Okay…’ “We’re going to be okay, LB,” Adam reassured him, mustering the energy to sound more confident than he felt. ‘Okay. I trust you, Adam,’ Little Boja said with a little more energy; Adam gave the stuffed tiger a grateful squeeze. “All right, I’m going to make a break for it. Can you keep up the whisper for now?” ‘Yeah.’ “Let’s go,” Adam announced, holding one plush in each arm, and made a break for the door. Yi groaned, like someone waking from a deep sleep involuntarily. Adam nearly slammed into the door from staring at him, and hesitated when their gazes met. Yi’s eyes squinted, then widened, then squinted again. Now he certainly looked drunk, trying to figure out what was going on. Adam stretched for the doorknob, which was one of those long lever ones that were thankfully easier because he could put his weight into it; he accidentally dropped Little Boja in the process, but grabbed his ear with his other hand, now clutching both plushes, and pulled the door open a crack. ‘Oh, wait!’ Little Boja gasped as Adam froze; within seconds, the office lights went out. ‘There.’ Adam sighed in relief, even more so when he pulled the door wider and saw how dark it was on the upper floor of the warehouse. Light spilling out from a freshly opened door would be a bit obvious. 『 Wait… no… 』 Yi mustered a groan, releasing the phone in his hand and stretching his arm towards Adam. For a moment, the blonde looked at it and considered making a grab for it – but the encroaching hand jumped him into action to leave it, and he stepped out of the office onto the catwalk, breath catching in his throat as his fear of heights seized him. The floor was made of metal but grated, and while the holes to see below might appear small to an Amazon, they felt huge to Adam; his heart pounded in his throat as anxiety flashed an image of his foot falling through one of them (logically, he knew they weren’t that big). His brain made the catwalk feel transparent, since he could make out the orange driving machine below used to move heavy crates and materials. He stared downward, his neck tensing and his head shaking. 『 Did you really think I wouldn’t be prepared for the robot? 』 Shik chuckled loudly from below. 『 Honestly, Kang, I’m insulted. 』 Adam drew in his breath and held it, snapping out of his fear spiral; he needed to focus on Boja. Looking ahead and to his right, his eyes caught on a lit area on the floor that didn’t fit with the rest of the warehouse: a green carpet with a low table in the center, flanked by two cushions. Zhang, Yoon, and Hyun stood in a line behind Shik, who stood with his arms crossed behind the table. Two chuckles echoed to Adam’s left, and he squinted into the darkness, making out only a dark-suited silhouette as it moved and leaned forward on the catwalk railing. After a few seconds of scanning and letting his eyes adjust, he spotted the other at the far end of the warehouse. Both men’s heads shifted between the first floor and something on the catwalk between them; the only thing it could be was Boja. With the two guards on the left and the main event happening on the first floor to the right, he had the option to walk straight on a center catwalk, which would certainly get him spotted, or to the right, where presently he had to hold out hope he was far enough back not to be spotted by anyone below. He bit his lower lip; he wanted to help Boja, but he knew the tactically better choice was to get himself in the right hands. If he could reach Team Kang, they could act more freely. Feeling a tightness in his throat, he shimmied right and pressed his back against the wall for stability and reassurance against the fear. Slowly, he kept shimmying to the right, hoping the crinkling sounds of the diaper would be lost in the warehouse echoes. 『 Please, you would have been insulted if we hadn’t tried, 』 Geon declared as he emerged into the light of the area below with his own chuckle, sounding a little more forced than Shik’s. Adam raised his eyebrows in surprise, having felt rather certain only Kang and Mung would arrive. Yet the trio stepped forward in sync, with Kang solidly in the center and forward, flanked by his youngest brother and son. 『 I suppose, 』 Shik snorted and shrugged a single shoulder. 『 Where is Adam? 』Kang asked in a growl; Adam grinned, but continued moving. Glancing right, he saw he was approaching a closed door. 『 The Little is safe and sound, 』Shik replied with a bit of a sigh. 『 And he’ll remain as such as long as you cooperate. 』 Yoon let out a dark chuckle. 『 You shame yourself, 』Kang chided lowly. 『 Threatening a child. 』 『 I’m doing what needs to be done, 』Shik hissed in response. 『 And I’ll stack it against the shame you’ve brought upon us any day. 』 Adam felt the frame of the second door on his back and kept going, periodically glancing to his right. Stairs lay ahead, and beyond them, a third catwalk option to reach the other side of the warehouse. So there were three catwalk bridges: one where Boja was held, one at the center, and one he was heading towards. 『 Before my father participates in this ceremony, 』Geon spoke up after a brief, tense silence. 『 We need to settle some details of the transfer and, of course, have confirmation of Adam’s safety. 』 『 You forfeit your right to any negotiations when you sent the robot, 』 Shik scolded nasally. Adam paused as a long silence fell between them, and he didn’t want to risk making any sounds that might draw their attention. He glanced down at the blue pacifier, wondering if it made sense to use it to help muffle any noises he might inadvertently make. 『 I could have sent him to hurt your men, 』 Kang finally replied curtly, and Adam made up his mind: he shoved the pacifier in his mouth and continued his shimmying progress. 『 But he was only to find my grandson. 』 『 He would have failed either way, 』 Shik mused. There was another long silence, and Adam grinned slightly, picturing Kang staring Shik down the same way he did on the call. Though, if that were true, Shik seemed less intimidated by it now. 『 You now hold and threaten two things precious to my daughter, Shik, 』 Kang fumed coldly. 『 She is a dangerous enemy to make. 』 『 Please, 』 Shik chuckled. 『 To be clear and to ensure the safety of these two hostages, Joomi stands ready to turn everything in, 』Geon announced loudly, and Adam inhaled sharply, feeling a change in the air just as he reached the corner of the row of offices. He was near the stairs.『 She will hand over all of the keys to the military assets we hold, and all records of Japok personnel to the government. She will end Japok, if you do not return Adam and Boja to her tonight. Unharmed. 』 Several people shifted uncomfortably at this declaration, and after a moment’s pause, Shik scoffed. 『 She would never betray you like that, 』 Shik sneered after a beat. 『 She would die before sending her entire family to prison. 』 『 I will gladly do my time, if that’s what needs to happen, 』 Geon countered effortlessly. 『 It’s what family does, 』Kang added lowly. Adam turned the corner and let out a breath, closing his eyes for a moment, then hung his head as guilt crept in. If he had stayed put, he would have been safe. But all of that hinged on Shik’s word, which had been proven time and again to be untrustworthy. And even if he and Boja were safe, that said nothing of Kang, Mung, and Geon below. Opening his eyes, he was going to assess the stairs and how long it would take him to descend, but he grimaced as he looked down at his glow-in-the-dark shoes. With his back against the wall, at the sharp angle from the ground, they must not have been noticeable. But the noise he was likely to make going down the stairs one step at a time, with glowing shoes, would be. Plus, the bottom of the stairs was behind Team Shik. There was no way to reach his family without passing by the enemy. At least, none that he could see from this angle. 『 Very well, 』 Shik hissed, unwilling to test Joomi’s resolve. 『 The robot will be released when we’re done, and I’ll call Adam’s protection to show you he’s fine. 』 Shit! He needed to act quickly. Shik was about to phone Yi, and the whole jig would be up. Adam squatted down and ripped his shoes off one at a time, tossing them to the side. He took a step toward the stairs, then stopped and looked back at the shoes. Riiiiing; the first ring from Shik’s call echoed in the warehouse. Gasping, Adam grabbed the shoes and waddled as fast as he could past the stairs, grimacing as his feet landed on the grating. He was quiet, but at the cost of pain. Riiiiing. He neared the far bridging catwalk, hugging everything he could close to his chest: Hopper, Little Boja, and his glowing shoes, hidden beneath them. Riiiiing. He reached the dark corner of the catwalk that jutted across the warehouse with only railings, no wall. To the left, the ceremony site and the standoff. To the right, the creepy abyss of whatever was unlit below. He sat down and began shoving Hopper’s feet into the shoes. Riiiiing. Someone cleared their throat. ‘Adam? What are you doing?’ The blonde shook his head, unwilling to risk answering in the area’s otherwise silence. First the right shoe, then the left on Hopper’s feet. Riiiiing. 『 Shik, 』 Kang spoke up in a warning tone. 『 Hong, 』 Shik called out. “I’m sorry, Hopper,” Adam whispered around the pacifier as he hugged the kangaroo and grabbed the battery from her pouch, stuffing it into the folded-up hem of his shortalls. He hated how guilty he felt leaving the stuffed animal behind, and he hated even more that he genuinely hoped he would get her back. He positioned her in the corner of the catwalk and angled the shoes just enough so they were visible, but not too obvious. 『 Check on Yi, 』Shik ordered. 『 Yes, sir! 』Hong replied and began making haste to the room Adam had fled; his steps echoed and made enough of a commotion that the blonde felt comfortable breaking out into a run down the dark catwalk, biting down on the pacifier each time his foot landed heavily on an uncomfortable spot of the metal. 『 What’s going on? 』 Geon asked, sounding genuinely worried. 『 Just hold, 』Shik grumbled. Adam heard the door swing open, and the light was flicked on. He slowed his run to a creeping walk as everyone fell silent, fearful the diaper crinkling was as audible as Hong searching the room. 『 Uh, sir, 』 Hong called out from within the office. Adam winced; he was only halfway across the catwalk. 『 Yi’s out cold and… uh… 』 『 And what? 』 Shik snapped as he spun around. 『 The kid’s gone. 』 Adam froze, one foot pressed hard against the edge of the grating. It dug into him, and he bit down on the pacifier against the pain, but he didn’t dare shift his weight. Time was up.

HAHAHA I actually cackled at this 😂 10000% 🤣   Thank you SO much!! 💕🥰  We've just gotta get Charlie sitting in a suit in the back of the daycare, with Littles coming to him all godfather style, yaknow?! 🤣

I'm the same.  I'll wear my wife's clothes and have my own as well.  I love the soft feminine side of it and my wife loves my like that as well

Tequila.