#anyway yesterday i went to an art supply store with my mom and had such a blast!

[torakan]

PART TWO!! TEXT VERSION

it was so long since i posted the first one haha hope you didn’t forget 🥲🥲

again, if there’re any mistakes - please tell me ^^

part 1

part 2 art

The next 24 hours all I did was hiding in the wall even though I was quite literally starving. You can’t blame me though, I was fearful for my life, okay? After such a day anyone would have stayed in bed and questioned their life choices…

However, it was pretty much a life and death situation, so I had to get up and find something before deciding if I should stay here or find new home. It’s a decision that you can’t take on an empty stomach, every borrower knows that.

Before you ask, I wasn’t worried all that much about this guy telling other people about me as seeing small people is quite abnormal for them and in best case nobody would’ve believed him, in worst… he would’ve probably ended up in hospital, but we will never know.

So, like that, I collected my thoughts, emotions and gear and went out on another attempt to get food. To be honest, i think my stomach was at the point of acceptance, I didn’t feel any hunger until I finally got to the kitchen counter and saw some fruits. Human wasn’t there but it didn’t mean anything to me anymore, I was too traumatized by yesterday’s experience. *Sighs dramatically*.

Maybe because the day before was extremely unlucky, I was rewarded with something delicious. There were grapes which are super convenient to borrow as humans won’t see any of them missing, some raisins and nuts. I took one grape right away and my stomach growled so loudly, even a half-deaf human granny would’ve heard, I swear. I bit it and transparent juice started to run down my chin which I wiped off right away. It was such a relief to finally eat something, I can’t describe this feeling honestly. Better would probably be the feeling of relief after you endured your piss or, even worse, poo, for an indescribable long time and then you finally get to the toilet and it’s just… ahh.

Anyway, back to the story. As I said, I finally had access to food, but I couldn’t afford to fill my stomach to the fullest at that exact moment since it would’ve been too difficult to climb back home in that case. That’s why I only ate one grape and took another one home as well as a couple of raisins and some nuts. And then the idea popped in my head. What if I left some food that can be stored for a long time to that one my favourite hiding spot? I thought it was a smart decision since in the case I ran out of supplies or had to make an urgent stop I would have something edible waiting for me. So, with that I went straight to the place where human saw me not so long ago. Imagine my surprise when I saw that he left something there. On the other hand, it was quite expected… I was terrified to even look at it yet alone touch, but I couldn’t avoid the smell it had. I tried something like this only at my 10th birthday and my mom told me it was chocolate that we ate as a treat. It was some kind of desert that beans eat for pleasure. Maybe the human I lived with wanted to poison me with that? Or to somehow use it to make me become his pet? I still wonder about this at night, but even though I was really curious about that “offering”, I was more interested in surviving, so I went straight up behind the books where there was a small niche for me to hide. I placed all the things carefully and returned to the counter to pick some more. This day was pretty chill since the human showed up at his usual time and didn’t bother. He was as quiet and relaxed as ever with the only difference, that when he was in the kitchen, I could have heard the music from his phone. It wasn’t unpleasant, on the contrary, I liked it. The guy hummed along with it and his voice wasn’t so bad either to be honest, so I just lay in bed and listened till I fell asleep.

For the next few days nothing weird happened, everything seemed to go back to normal with the only difference that now the human was openly listening to music and sometimes sing very quietly along with it. I didn’t hate it, it didn’t bother me, so it was fine. Till that one day when I was, again, hiding behind the books (I swear, that spot must be cursed, but it was too dear for me to give up and abandon it) after taking a shower in human’s sink in the bathroom and being already on my way home. He showed up in the house earlier today again and I just barely had time to react and hide. When he entered the kitchen, I already sensed that something was off. The way he threw the keys on the table, how he tossed the bag on the floor and his jacket on the couch showed that he was really frustrated about something. Honestly, he was quite scary in that mood, though I didn’t see him being like that too often. Hell, I only remember that happening once in the whole year and I was in the walls, safe but watching this up close was kinda… unsettling.

However, to my surprise, that didn’t last for too long. The guy calmed himself down within like five minutes or so, trying to take deep breaths, then he sat on the chair at the table and… yeah, he started crying. He was crying very quietly, as was everything he did, holding back tears and sobs, as if he was scared someone might hear him…

wait a minute… do you think he might’ve been thinking about me? He definitely couldn’t have forgotten out encounter, right?

I sighed. This human wasn’t making my life any easier. It’s not like I was pitying him or anything, humans are monstrous creatures, evil and cruel and every borrower knew that… Nah, lying has never been one of my strengths so, frankly, I did feel bad for him. This human didn’t try to do anything nasty to me for the whole week, which was a complete opposite of what I heard about them, so I couldn’t help but hope that he wasn’t that awful. I suddenly got curious about him. If he had so many opportunities to catch me and hurt me, why didn’t he do that already? And why was he crying right now? Was he hurt or something? Is human life that difficult? Borrowers usually aren’t sentimental, we only cry on very rare special occasions such as when we’re badly hurt or it’s a deadly situation, or when we break two or more bones at once and there’s no one for us to help to escape and we’re left there to die alone. But this guy didn’t seem to be physically hurt or in any danger, so why was he sobbing?

I couldn’t help it and finally set my eyes on the “offering”. It turned out to be a small round box, which most likely was a human bottle cape with some continents: a piece of chocolate (as I already knew) and a note. Oh no, he wanted to communicate… so it could’ve been a trap in the end… even so, I was already beyond fixing and too far from following the borrower rules, so maybe it wont hurt if I read it just this once…

thank you for reading ^^

comments and suggestions are appreciated

next

@gtzel @smallsday

[musictrash0426]

Killing Stalking

 My name is Elizabeth Stevens, I’m 17 and it is one month until my senior year of highschool. Most of my friends are going crazy trying to plan out their futures. However, unlike my peers, I've known what I've wanted to be since I was 13. I want to be an artist, my parents fully support my decision which is nice. They have bought me plenty of professional quality supplies since my 14th birthday when they saw all the hard work I put into my art. I've even started selling prints of my work on Redbubble. I also have quite the following 

Overall I live in a pretty good neighbourhood. It has great people, including my best friend Kai who lives a few streets over. My family and I live in a pretty large house. It has three floors which is a little big if you ask me. There are only the three of us living here, me, mom and dad. But with that being said my parents gave me the entire basement on my 13th birthday. They also helped me set up every room down here the way I want. Not much has changed, even after being down here for four years..

When you come down the stairs you are greeted with my lounge area. Where  we have a couch, tv, game system, large bookshelf and some other things. Next we have my room where I have a fairly minimal look. I have a large bed, large dresser, a walk in closet, and my vanity where I do my makeup. The next room is probably my favourite; it's my art studio. Like I said my parents have supported me over the years so I have a lot of supplies. Honestly I couldn't be more grateful for them and everything they’ve given me. I have a full easel, desk, and a lot of supplies, markers, colour pencils, paint (water, acrylic, oils), alongside my new drawing tablet.

This morning when I got up, I went to my art room and started sketching. I've gotten into this habit as it helps me get into a creative mindset, along with getting into drawing for the day. Once I stop doodling I start to make a list of the things of supplies I had recently run out of. 

As I was about to leave, I asked my parents if they needed anything. My mom told me to get her a drink from Starbucks on my way home as she knows I’m planning on going there anyways. 

I get into my car and drive to the art store. Luckily this store is only 10 minutes from my house. I walk into the store and look for the supplies on my list. While going through the store, grabbing the things I needed, I decided I also wanted to try out a new paint while I was here. I got some winsor and newton acrylics in red, blue,yellow, sienna, black and white along with some mixing pallets. I also got a canvas as I want to make a large painting later. 

My mom texted me asking if I could pick up milk and eggs. So I ran into the supermarket and picked up the few things she wanted. I then went to starbucks, got both my parents, and myself a few drinks, and went home. 

I got out of my car balancing shopping bags on my arm,the drinks in my hand and I went inside. I put the milk and eggs in the fridge, gave my parents their drinks and made my way down to my art room to put my supplies away. I started brainstorming ideas of what I want to paint and I finally came up with a concept I liked. I open my sketchbook and I start to draw the rough copy of the picture before blowing it up on the canvas and painting it. While I am drawing out the picture I'm watching lavendertowne’s creepypastas series as it's one of my favourites on youtube. 

In my concentration, I lose track of time, and before I know it it’s 4:30 pm. My mom walks to my art room saying her and dad are going on a trip for the next week. So I get the house to myself, which is cool. I've been home alone before. “Elle, you can have Kai over to stay for the week if you want.” mom said. “Also I transferred some money into your account so you and Kai can just order some food if you guys get hungry.” 

“Thanks mom,” I say “ I love you.”

“Love you too sweetie.” 

I walk upstairs with mom as her and dad are about to leave. I hug them goodbye and tell them to have a safe trip. 

I decide to take mom up with her offer and invite Kai over for the week. Lately I haven't been wanting to be home alone. So I called him and he said he’d be over in 10 minutes. 

I grab a glass of water and wait, before I knew it there was a knock on my door and it was Kai. I give him a hug and he smiles. 

“It’s like we haven't seen each other in a while.” Kai teases me. We saw each other yesterday and I called him late last night because I just wanted to talk to someone. 

Kai has literally been my best friend since we were both in diapers. Our moms grew up together so it was bound to happen that we would too. He’s my biggest support system, he’s one of the only people who know how I got into art. I watched a lot of anime growing up, I still do, and the art style is what got me into wanting to be an artist. 

“Have you started a new piece yet?” Kai asked 

“Yeah I have! And I just finished the rough copy” I say.

“Can I watch you work on it?” 

“Of course you can silly,” I say with a grin. I show Kai the canvas to let him gauge what I’ve been working on. 

“It looks really good!” But his face saddens a little bit. “Are you doing alright?” I give him a confused look. “You tend to draw horror pieces when you're trying to get yourself into a better place.” 

Horror pieces are my favourite to draw. I don't have an explanation for it, but I've always liked them. Maybe it's because I loved horror shows growing up but who knows. I look back at all my works and Kai’s right. I tend to do these pictures more when I'm not the best headspace. 

“You really know me, at this point it's mostly subconscious” I laugh “I was also watching creepypasta videos so the idea could have come from that. Anyways, what do you think about it so far?” 

“I love it of course!” Kai says

I work on transferring it onto the canvas and after about 2 hours the pencil sketch is laid out. Once that's done we decide to go to the movies. We went and saw whatever Kai wanted to see. He picked some rom com which I wasn't mad at as I enjoy these types of movies. 

After the movie we went to a sushi place for dinner. I wasn't that hungry so I got the rest of mine to go. Then we went to the supermarket to get some candy and pop for tonight. We decided that we were going to stay up quite a bit of the night so I can work on my artwork and we can just talk about life and stuff. We pull into the parking lot and head inside. This store is open 24/7 so we have plenty of time to get our stuff, but still it is 11:30pm and something makes the air feel very eerie tonight. 

After walking around the store Kai and I look at eachother and we both feel like something is off because this uneasy feeling Kai and I hurry up and grab what we wanted. Kai and I decided to pick up Sour Patch Kids, gummy bears and some chips. We then went into the drink aisle where I picked out Dr. Pepper, and ginger ale. Kai picked out diet Pepsi and cream soda. We picked out the four flavours that we both love. We then decided to get a tub of cotton candy ice cream. As we were turning there was this lady who crashed her cart into ours as we were on our way to check out. I looked up and noticed that it was the same lady that had been in each aisle with us, which honestly didn’t make any sense as we just went to the isles we needed. 

We check out of the store and head back to the car. After putting everything in the trunk of the car, I look up and see the same woman still there. What the fuck?

“Hey Kai, can you take the cart back please?” He nods and I get into the car and lock it. 

I hear a knock that startles me and I look up. It was just Kai. I unlocked the door and he got in. “Wanna tell me why you had the door locked Elle?”

I look over and the woman gets into the car next to us oh great my horror brain made something out of nothing. She was also probably having a movie night with some of her friends.

“It’s nothing Kai, I think I’m just psyching myself out.”

“Okay.” With that we drove back to my place right in the nic of time too as it just started to rain. We shut off all the lights and lock the doors and windows upstairs. We head back down to my studio and I set up everything to begin painting.

I wanted something in the background while I was working so I put on Another. Kai and I have already watched it a few times but we didn’t want to start something new since I wouldn't be able to give it my full attention. Also it's a horror anime so it will put me in the mood for my painting.

I looked down at the outline I drew; it was a girl who had gone psychotic and had a knife in her hand. My plan is to add blood to her once the painting is completely dry, but first I start by painting the eyes. When they are finished they look very dead and already mentally gone inside. I take a break and lay my head on Kai’s shoulder.

“Tired?” he asks me.

“No, I just wanted a break.” We continue watching the anime after two more episodes. There was a bang of thunder and a flash of lightning, I looked out the small window and saw what looked to be a figure of a woman. I looked back to get a better look but she's gone. I must just be seeing things.

I brush it off then get back to my painting. About an hour later I finish painting the skin and I see another flash out of the corner of my eye. I think to myself how odd that is  because there was no thunder. I brushed it off as the volume of the show probably just covered the sound. I decided to be done with painting for the night, so we moved out into the lounge area and continued watching Another. There was another flash and in the window we saw her. The woman from the supermarket was in my window.We were going to call the cops then with another flash she's gone.

We decided we couldn't take anymore horror tonight so we put on Ouran Highschool Host Club a few hours later we were on the episode where a character named Tamaki was trying to figure out his friend Haruhi’s biggest fear. When we see a flash of lightning in the episode, it also flashes here, and we see her silhouette again and she vanishes with the lightning once more. 

Creeped out we went to my room and lay in bed, I cuddled into Kai because honestly I was shaking and needed comfort.

In the morning Kai and I woke up to banging on the door. I checked the time and it was 8:30 am. We got up and checked no one was there, but there was an envelope that said Elizabeth Steevens and Kai Kalua I brought it inside.

“Ummmm Kai?”

“Yeah?”

I turn the envelope to show him. We were both scared and didn't know what to do. We opened it and there were at least 40 photos of us, starting from when we were coming out of the movie. There were photos of us at the sushi restaurant, the grocery store, and the worst ones of all the ones that were taken looking into my house. Ones of us in my art room, in the lounge, and ones of us asleep in my bed.

Panicked, I call the police and they tell us to come down to the station. Since neither of us knew the woman's name they said there was nothing they could really do for us except to have us tell them if something else happens. Some help they were, I thought.

Kai and I went back to my studio and I continued working on the piece. This time our show of choice was Miria Nikki. As I was painting the hair I saw another flash and considering what happened last night we decided to go to my parents office and check the security cameras and lo and behold she's there on the property.

“Kai whats that in her hand?”

“I don’t know,”

I looked closer and saw that it was a knife. We once again called the police and this time they came, but hearing a car must have scared her. They came inside and asked to watch the cameras with us. Only this time she was at the back door that's connected to the kitchen and of course I happened to leave it unlocked…

“Oh Elizabeth, Kai, come out come out wherever you are..” The woman sang out menacingly. Her voice rang through the house loudly causing me to look to one of the officers for advice

He nods for Kai and I walk out.

“There you two are,”

“Do we know you?” I ask, genuinely confused as to who this woman is.

“Yeah I don't know who you are either.” Kai said just as confused.

“I'm Chloe. I am in your art class.” She says.

We were both confused; we don’t remember having ever seen her before. Our art class had six people in it, us two, three other of our friends and some weird girl who doesn't talk to anybody.

“... you’re the weird girl in our class aren’t you?” Kai questions.

“What did you call me?” She asked with a defensive tone.

“What did you expect him to say, you literally refuse to talk to us. Then whenever the teacher praises my work, you get angry. Besides who goes around taking pictures of people in their own house! That is fucking creepy.” I say

“I get angry because you always get the spotlight! Give someone else a turn.”

“Elle gets the attention because she actually shows her artwork, you just sit in the back of the class and do nothing. If you want attention why ignore us when we try talking to you? What is your problem? And why do you have a knife?” You can tell Kai is starting to lose patience with the situation, as his questions get increasingly aggressive.

“So I can get rid of my competition,” she smiles sweetly.

“What competition? There is no competition Chloe” I ask 

“What competition? I have liked Kai forever!” Chloe says frustrated, slightly getting closer to the two of them with the knife.

Kai puts one hand out towards her, while using the other to pull me back with him a couple steps, creating distance between her and I before he speaks again.“I will never like you. Besides there is only one person I like, and hate to break it to sweetheart but it's not you.” This makes me curious who Kai was referring to.

“Then who is it then?” she asks angrily

That's when Kai kissed me. I kissed him back, albeit slightly flustered. This caused Chloe to become enraged, she came towards us with the knife and that's when the cops came out and told her to put the knife down. She complied and dropped the knife as she didn’t realize that the police were here. 

One of the two cops took her away as the other came and told us they were going to hold her and do a mental assessment on her. He also checked to see if Kai and I were okay. After we tell him we are he also leaves, leaving Kai and I alone to deal with this new revelation.

“Do you actually like me? Or were you just saying that to get her to stop…” anxious about the answer since I have liked Kai for a while, but didn't want to make things awkward with him.

“Elle I have liked you for a while but I didn't want to lose you.” Kai says as he pulls me closer to him.

I don't know how to respond, all my mind was telling me was ‘kiss him’. I pull him in by his shoulders to another kiss, quickly dispelling doubts either of us had. Kai placed his hands on my waist and melted into it. He pulls away and leans his forehead against mine, just holding me. For the first time in a few days I felt safe.

“Kai?” I ask in a quiet tone almost a whisper.

“Yeah sweetheart?” 

“Can you stay while my parents are gone?” I don’t feel safe enough to be home alone, and you wanted to stay in the comfort that he gave you.

“Of course I can angel.”

[introvertllux]

Peace in Normalcy: Chapter Four

(The chapter is told from Prue’s point of view. Anytime, that you see italicized words, that means Prue is speaking via her internal monologue).

Genre: Romance, Drama, Comedy, Comedy-Drama

Warnings: 18+, depictions of mental health, mental disorders, depression, talks of suicide, and sexual abuse. (Please do not read, if you may be triggered).

*Any depictions of mental health are based on MY PERSONAL EXPERIENCES. Please do not think I’m making fun or or mocking anyone, again these experiences are based on what I have seen and, or been through myself. Also, I am not intending to romanticize mental health or disorders in anyway. Lastly, If you do decided to read this story I am very thankful and I hope you enjoy it. : )

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Prue’s P.O.V

Tuesday, October 1, 2019

After getting the courage to talk to both of my parents (mainly, my mother) about reviving my hobby of art I can say I feel somewhat relieved? Content? Maybe happiness? I have to say I don’t really remember a lot of things that used to make me happy before I went to the hospital. I feel as though I was working at a job I liked, that I could see myself doing but what else was there too it. I feel like the beginning of my adult life was this constant battle of passion vs security. Did I want to take the chance and journey to reach my dreams or did I just want something I know I could fall back on? Who knows, maybe if I would have taken the risk, I could’ve been a modern-day Vincent Van Gogh or Frida Kahlo.

Choosing between my passion and something I knew would make my parents proud always made me feel like I never had a life of my own. Especially with my mother being the strict traditionalist, she was everything had to be exactly her way and I wanted nothing more than to rebel as a child because she was a rationalist and I was always an idealist. She based everything on logic and me on emotions.

I love my mother and would do anything for my family, (including giving my dreams) but yet we still could never see eye to eye. I don’t want to be naïve and think we will always be on the same page but I want us to be able to live peacefully knowing that we are both different but that doesn’t mean we love each other any less. I’m really hoping this trip to the mall today goes well, maybe it will be an opportunity for us to relearn one another.

“Prue! Are you almost ready?” I heard from outside my bedroom door. I scurried from inside of my closet and pushed everything back inside my closet.

“Yes, mom! Give me one second.” I yelled back.

“You have two minutes to meet me downstairs or I’m leaving without you.” She said in a sing-song voice.

I grunted as I struggled to push all the pieces of a broken easel and other art supplies back in the closet. I closed the door as I marked down in the notes of my iPhone a list of art supplies that I needed. I then grabbed my phone and the new air pod dad brought for me and proceeded downstairs.

I made my way past the living room. I paused as I saw my dad watching television on his recliner.

“Hey, dad. Mom and I are going to the mall. I’ll see you later.” I said giving him a small wave.

“Hey, Pru-Pru! Come here for a second.” He said.

I walked over quickly, keeping in mind what my mother had said regarding time.

“Um. Mom is waiting for me.” I said quietly but quickly.

“I know. I know. I just wanted to tell you to have fun…I know that shopping isn’t your thing. But your mother thought it could be a way you too could bond. Be… patient with her. She’s trying. I love you both. Be safe. Call or text me if you need me.” He said.

I looked at him softly and gave him a slight nod in response. I turned around and left as fast I could and grabbed my jacket off the coat rack and left. I looked around slightly and saw my mother was waiting in her car.

(Picture of Gwendolyn Walker)

(Picture of Gwendolyn’s car)

I speed-walked up to her car and opened the passenger’s side. I sat in quickly and buckled up. My mom drove away quickly and smoothly out of the driveway. We sat in silence, which I wasn’t uncomfortable with. One thing I can say that my mother and I have in common is our love for quietness. We are both introverts. We found peace in silence and we enjoyed the time to ourselves.

A few minutes past until I heard my name being called. “Jayne. When we arrive at the mall, I have a surprise for you. I think you are really going to enjoy it.” She said.

“Alright. Thank you, mom, I really appreciated you thinking about me.” I said with a small smile.

I looked out of the corner of my eye to see her smiling.

We sat in silence again. I then decided to pull out my headphones. I loved headphones they were one of my sources of solitude (besides art) before I went away. Ever since I got my headphones, I started to make a playlist on Spotify. I had over 2,200 songs and I had just received them yesterday. I unlocked my phone and clicked on the Spotify app. I clicked the shuffle button and my playlist began to play: All Good Things (Come To An End) by Nelly Furtado.

(Spotify Picture)

I started to move my head back and forth as I patted my left hand on my left thigh. I started to silently mouth the words.

Well, the dogs were whistling a new tune Barking at the new moon Hoping it would come soon so that they could Dogs were whistling a new tune Barking at the new moon Hoping it would come soon so that they could Die, die, die, die

Flames to dust, lovers to friends Why do all good things come to an end? Flames to dust, lovers to friends

Why do all good things come to an end? Come to an end, come to an Why do all good things come to an end? Come to an end, come to an Why do all good things come to an end?

I started to tear up slightly at the meaning of the lyrics. This song really symbolized what I was going through currently. Life was by no means perfect before I went to the hospital, but it was decent. But it all came to an end.I felt the car come to a park as I felt a hand on my left leg. I looked up at my mom. 

“Are you alright?” She asked.“Yes-I’m alright. I just listen to a song it reminded me of something.” I said. I looked outside of the passenger side window and noticed we were at Moltthought Mall. I hadn’t been here since I was a child. My parents used to bring Mallory and me here all the time. I guess my mom picked this mall because it had all her favorite stores.

(Picture of Moltthought Mall)

“Remember this place?” She asked with excitement in her voice.

“Y-yeah I do. You and dad used to bring Mallory and me all the time.” I said.

“We sure did. This minus has well been our second home, with all the time we spent here.” She snorted slightly.

“I figured we come to this mall for all time's sake. Plus, you know they have all my favorite stores and they added a Michaels and Blick Arts store right before you left…” She said trailing off.

I got excited at the fact that they added a Michaels and Blick store. I can finally replace all of my art supplies. However, my excitement did not last long as I realized that I had to go into the mall. The mall that was located in the town I was raised in. The same mall I could have the chances of bumping into someone I know. I started to panic as I realized this. 

My heart started to race as I hunched over the seat as my seatbelt tightened over my chest and waist. I took a shaky hand and clicked on the seatbelt button and rapidly pulled on the door handle and pushed the car door open. I ran out and hunched over putting my hands on my knees and breathing in and out heavily and unevenly. 

“Prue! Prue. Breathe, breathe.” I heard my mother said.

“It’s alright. It’s okay. Try and take a deep breath in and out. In and out.” She continued. I slowly did as she said trying to get a grasp on my breathing. I look a big deep breath in and exhaled steadily.

“That’s it. In and out.” She repeated as she gently placed her hand on my shoulder lightly.

A few moments later, I swallowed the built-up saliva in my mouth and stood up straight, my back still facing toward my mother.

“Prue.” She called out to me. I closed my eyes briefly before facing her. “I-I’m sorry- “I began to say before I was interrupted by a hug by my mother, which were very rare. My eyes widened and she embraced me tightly. After a few moments, she pulled away and grabbed both of my hands in hers, and looked into my eyes.

“I’m sorry. Was it something I said? Something I did?” She inquired. “No,” I said as I shook my head. “It’s- It’s just I started to panic…” I said trailing off. She squeezed my hands lightly, signaling me to continue speaking.

I look a small breath and continued, “I- I’m afraid that we will see people we know. I’m- I’m afraid that they’ll shame me or criticize me or you.” I said looking down.

“Prue. I can’t promise you that we won’t bump or pass by anyone we know. But I can promise you if we do happen to cross paths with someone we know, and they get out of line to know that I won’t hesitate to put them in their place.” She said with a hint of sassiness.

“Thank you,” I said.

“Now… let’s head inside I have to show you your surprise.” She said as she pulled me along.

As we entered the mall, I noticed that everything was relatively the same. It was big, spotless, and had the same stores it had even when I was a child.

(Picture of the inside of the mall)

I walked beside my mother and followed her up the escalator as she led us on the path to the surprise.

(Picture of Prue inside the Mall)

 We walked for a few minutes until we stopped in front of a salon.

(Picture of the salon)

“Surprise!” My mother yelled.

I looked at her and then at the salon as she walked in.

“Gwen is that you!” I heard a loud voice yell.

“Diane!” She yelled as she quickly proceeds to walk over to her.

I followed behind awkwardly as I looked around the salon, that was unfamiliar to me.

“Is that Prue?” The voice questioned.

I looked up at the voice. It was? No, it couldn’t be Mrs. Price? She used to do my mother’s, mine, and Mallory’s hair. She stopped doing Mallory’s after she went off to college and mine after I decided to maintain my natural hair in high school (much to my mother’s liking).

(Picture of Mrs. Price)

Mrs. Prices’ face fell soft as she looked over me and said, “How are you? Are you alright?” She asked her voice full of concern.

“Yeah-yeah. I’m fine.” I said.

“Diane got the salon a few months back. I called her as asked her if she can give you a little TLC.” My mother said changing the subject.

“Your mother was so happy that I agreed to this little surprise. Lord knows you need it.” Mrs. Price said. As soon as she finished speaking, everyone got silent. My mother looked at me.

“Err- um. I didn’t. Shit.” Mrs. Price said. I shook my head and said, “No, It’s okay. I know you didn’t mean any harm. Trust me. I know I can use this. I haven’t really been so great at the whole self-care thing recently. I’ve been trying to ease back into it.” I said.

She looked at me and nodded quickly. “Alight. Well, have a seat, in my chair sweetie.” She said. I sat quickly. Thankful the salon was empty, so no one had to witness that interaction. “Good, thing your mom loves to do things early, no we will all have plenty of time to catch up.” She said sweetly.

“Now, I know this was a surprise. But… now that you’re here do you have a style you would like to try?” She asked as she put her hands on either said of the salon chair.

My lips twisted up as I thought for a second. “Hmm, what about a purple undercut with a start shaved on the left side of my head,” I said as I started to point as my head where I wanted the star.

I heard the sound of a disapprovement from my mother as I looked into the mirror.

“Okay,” I said as I giggled.

“I just want my regular style just rejuvenated. My curls seem to be life-less these days.” I said to Mrs. Price. “Okay, I will work my magic.” She said.

A couple of hours passed, and my style was completed. My curls looked amazing. They popped. They looked shiny and full of life. I leaned forward in the salon chair and analyzed my appearance. I loved it. I looked so much better.

(Picture of Prue after her hairstyle)

“Thank you, Mrs. Price. I love it!” I said. “It’s no problem dear. Also, I know you had a thing for make-up we have a make-up section in the back of the salon free of charge if you want to-" she said.

I nodded my head quickly like a kid in a candy store. I loved make-up, as an artist, it was really fun to experiment with looks. However, I hadn’t really been interested in make-up since I’ve been home. I guess… It wasn’t a priority for me. But after even just meeting with Dr. Salomon just once I realized that I have to try for my goals, I can’t just expect everything to go back to normal or even change if I don’t do anything.

Mrs. Price led me to the back of the salon. “Here we are. There’s a mini bag on the side of the station. You can take as much as you want, again it’s on the house.” She said with a sweet smile.

“Mrs. Price you don’t have too. I- It’s too much.” I said feeling a little overwhelmed.

(Picture of the make-up section)

“No. I want too! It’s no problem. Come to the front when you’re done.” She said as she left. I looked through all of the make-up. It was like a Macy’s or a M.A.C. This make-up station had so many brands, colors, and collections. It was a make-up paradise.  I grabbed a mini bag and began to walk through the different stations. I grabbed all types of eyeshadows, lipsticks, lip-gloss, glitters. I also grabbed some primer, blush, concealer, foundation (that matched my skin tone), eyeliner, false eyelashes, and makeup brushes. I mainly picked out some colors that would help me maintain a natural look which was my favorite look. Although, I did pick up some colors that were fun and glamourous just in case I wanted to try a different look at some point in time.

I stopped by one of the vanities and sat down and did my make-up. After, about 30 minutes, I completed my look. I looked up into the mirror of the vanity and smiled. For the first time in a long time, my smile felt real. It genuinely felt real. Looking as put together as I did, made me feel content. I-I feel good.

(Picture of Prue)

I gathered all my make-up back into the bag and made sure the area I was in was as clean as I left it. I made my way back to where my mother and Mrs. Price was. When I arrived, they were in the middle of a conversation. I never interrupted conversations, so I just stood there awkwardly once again until I saw my mother look up into the mirror.

“Prue.” She said quietly as Mrs. Price looked up and smiled at me.

“You look so beautiful. You always do.” My mother said. “Thank you,” I responded as I got embarrassed by her compliment. “Thank you, again for the make-up Mrs. Price,” I said appreciatively.

“It’s no problem. Please stop by when you have time. I would love to see you again.” She said.

“Thank you, for helping me surprise her Diane.” My mother said. “Anytime. I’ll see you next month for your annual appointment.” She said to my mother.

“I’ll be here.” My mother said. We both waved good-bye and excited out of the salon.

“Where to next?” She asked me. I was slightly put off guard. Normally my mother took charge of where we would all go next when we all used to go to the mall.

“Um, we can go to Michaels and Blick's, If that’s okay,” I said. Seeing my mother so inclined to agree with what I wanted for once was… strange. It’s off-putting not knowing if this was her way to keep the peace between us because she wanted to improve our relationship or was it solely because she thought I would blackout? Knowing that my mother wasn’t being herself concerned me because I didn’t want her to feel she had to change herself just because of me. I never want my family to feel scared or ashamed of me just because I’m not myself anymore. I’m the one that needs to change not them.

I decided that I would make the trips to Michaels and Blick quick. As much as I didn’t want too. But I had to be fair to my mother after all she set aside her pride and hatred towards art and drove me here. And she’s also going to pay for the supplies I want as well. She doesn’t even want to be at these stores with me and I know she would much rather shop in her favorite stores.

We went to Michaels first. I brought a few canvases, paint, and brushed from there. Then we went to Blick and I brought some paint markers, sketching pencils, coloring pencils, and a large sketchbook. I didn’t get an easel because my mother wanted to save room for us to carry the clothes, she said we would buy it shortly. But she reassured me, that we could order one and have it shipped to the house.

We walked for a few minutes until we arrived at one of my sister’s favorite boutiques. I knew this would be a long experience. I hated shopping. It never interested me. I’m not at all interested in material things but I couldn’t pull an Adam and Eve and walk around in just leaves.

As we walked into the boutique, my mother said, “Grab whatever you like. I’ll be waiting over at the fitting rooms.” She said. Okay, now I was really concerned. My mother was never the type to just let go of control over anything. If this was a year ago, she would be immediately picking out outfits she saw fit for young women and hand them to me. Now, she’s letting me take charge for once.

I looked down the clothing racks as I thought about my style for a moment. What was my style? I never really casually dressed unless it was to go for a walk or to the library. When I worked I usually dressed very modestly and professionally. I continued to walk down the aisle.

I picked some crop tops out, some jeans, a few skirts, sweats, jackets, and a couple dresses. I grabbed all the clothes I could and placed them over my left arm and I continued to carry the art supplies in my other hand. I walked over to my mom.

“Are you ready to try the clothes on.” She asked.

“Yeah, I’m all set,” I said.

“Well, let me see each outfit when you’re done,” she responded back. I walked into the dressing room and hung up each clothing in the hooks provided. As I placed each article of clothing in a hook, I began to second guess myself.

Have I lost my mind? Crop tops? Min-skirts?  How in the hell would I pull this off? I can’t. And mom. She’s going to lose her shit if I walk out in these outfits.

“Prue? Are you alright? Do you need me to come in?” She asked as I heard shuffling outside of the door.

“No! I mean no. I’m okay.” I said. There was a momentary silence as the shuffling came to a pause. “I know you hate shopping and you’re probably nervous. But I have an idea. What if you do a little fashion show, like when you were a little girl remember. It will be fun, and it will make you less nervous.” She suggested.

I gave it some thought. It wasn’t a bad idea. I was just concerned with my confidence level. My confidence was never too high but after all, that’s happy it’s like my confidence doesn’t exist anymore. But I had to start somewhere? Right?

I decided to try on the outfits I picked out and try to enjoy this time with my mother. It may not be my favorite thing to do but I know that it would bring some joy to her.

(Click on the video below to see Prue’s Fashion Look Book! I made the video myself let me know what you think!) : )

Despite not liking shopping I had a good time with my mother. It was exhausting, to say the least. I know she did not like anything I picked out, but she complimented me and purchased everything I tried on so, that was a positive indication for something.

As we exited the boutique, I heard a voice shout “Gwendolyn? Gwendolyn Walker is that you?” Mother proceeds to walk a little faster as the voice got louder, and footsteps got closer.

“Gwendolyn, I knew that was you!” The voice said. My mother and I turned around and were faced to face with. Rachel.

(Picture of Rachel)

“Oh. Rachel.” My mother said dryly. “Gwendolyn, I knew that was you. You’d never leave a mall without both arms full.” She said with shade to her tone. She quickly looked over at me. I looked away not wanting to hear what too had to say.

“Prudence is that you. I heard you left the hospital early. Is that safe? I heard around the neighborhood you’ve gotten yourself in some trouble. You should keep a better eye on her Gwendolyn, everyone’s talking about it.” She said with a bit of spite in her voice.

“You’re one to talk Rachel. Is Jonathan out of prison yet? And that other son of yours Avery isn’t he, mooching off of his cheating little girlfriend. And that thing you call a husband? Are you divorced yet? Because the things I’ve heard about him yeesh, I wouldn’t even hold hands with a creature like that. Talk all the shit you want Rachel, but I’ve never had to question my position as a mother. I’m not perfect but at least my kids are good. Can you say the same?” She said as turned around walked away.

I followed behind closely as we exited the mall. We returned to my mother’s car and she drove home. About 45 minutes later we arrived home. My mother put the car in park and unbuckled her seat belt.

“Mom,” I said. “Yes.” She responded back. “Back there with Rachel. Do you? Do you think she’s right? That I’m dangerous?” I said feeling and sounding as insecure as I did when I was a child.

“Prue. I- I don’t think you’re dangerous.” She said. She sighed as she turned to face me. “I’m just scared. I don’t know what to do. I’m just as lost as you are right now. I just want you to find yourself to be happy. That’s why today I let you take control when it came to the way you style your hair, your make-up, and even pick out the clothes you want. You may be in these positions where we’re all concerned about you but enabling you and treating you as if-as if something is wrong with you won’t help you heal.” She spoke.

“Last night, when you told your father and me about the art, I had to admit I was very upset. I don’t get what you like about it. But when you said it would help you it dawned on me that my job as a mother is to make sure that you are happy, healthy, and being the best version of yourself you can be. Right now, I am failing at my job. But I, I realized that supporting you is the only way I can help you. That all of us as a family can help you. And it bothers me to see you go and stray from my traditional values, but I have to let you. You’re an adult and I have to be content with the choices you make in life whether I like them or not.” She said.

“Thank you, mom. For trying, for being there. For your support through this.” I said as we exited out of the car and grabbed all of our bags. I greeted my father and went upstairs and organized my closet. I threw out my old art supplies and neatly organized my new ones. I then hung up my new clothes. Lastly, I organized my make-up in my vanity, decluttering any old junk in the draws.

I then threw myself on my bed and pulled out my phone and saw I had a new message from Mallory. I guess I better get used to it, huh. We began to text back and forth.

We continued texting until my sister kept begging me for a selfie and I kept declining her. Suddenly, my phone screen changed as I saw that Mallory began to Facetime me. I hated Facetime and phone calls. I was more comfortable communicating via text. I quickly grabbed my air pods from out of my pocket and tapped my screen to answer.

(Facetime call between Prue and Mallory)

���Ha! Caught you! You look so cute! I knew you would! Also, sorry, I know you prefer to text. But I wanted to ask you something in person. Well as close to in-person as possible.” She said.

“Okay,” I said.

“So...” She said as she drew out her words. Just as though, she’s up to something. Normally when Mallory drew out her words like that, she was about to suggest something that the other person was normally not a fan of.

“Mallory,” I said slightly warningly.

“Okay. Okay, I wanted to invite you over to dinner at my place. I know the first time didn’t go well but… I wanted to make up for it. Before you say no or that you need time to think about it, I just want to say Jahmal and I would be really happy to have you over and I would make your favorite.” I looked at her skeptically when she said my favorite.

“Yes, your actual favorite.” She said with emphasis on the word your. Well, at least I knew my sister and my brother-in-law, but I wasn’t keen on small talk and I knew that it would be an extremely awkward night considering all that’s happened in the last few days. But I could try I suppose and if I felt uncomfortable, I would leave.

“Okay,” I said.

“Really! Okay, great! We’re thinking in two weeks on Saturday the 19th at 7:00 PM.” She said cheerfully.

“Okay, I’ll see you then,” I said as I hung up. I tried not to get anxiety about what I just agreed too. So, I decided to go to my closet and grab my sketchbook and pencils and draw something. At least I’ve found something that can tame my worry and panic, even for a few minutes.

-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Links to:

Chapter 3

Masterpost

I wanted to thank everyone who has liked or reblogged anything that has to do with this story. I want to give a HUGE SHOUTOUT to the following people for showing me some support (I apologize if i’m missing any names)!!

@pettycruella @jk-unless @plussizeappreciationfics@passionfrvttt @melaninhawtie @lokisbitch27 @blackpridesblog​  @po-taytay​ @themilkcartoonkid @amethyst09 @disaster-shadow@rosemilage @tinydramatist @amethyst09 @kween-beast  @dene-jordan @dreaminglosssy @treesstill @victoriastefanie04​ @wildandjeune​ @shehassomuchsoul​ @beastcoastbitchez​ @blackpridesblog​ @winchwm​ @jnspencer19​ @jaydeee86​ @whoawhoawhoanow​ @missminnie-123​  @donut-crazs​ @dene-jordan​ @dreaminglosssy any members of the group chat Black!Reader.

[sam177007-blog]

You Don’t Believe Me

Entry 1- Five Days since the World Died.

You wouldn’t believe it Notebook; I’m now part of a group!

I was just minding my own business around town when the people started following me. Soon, they surrounded me! I didn’t want to kill them; though Justin did make a point to explain to me that they’re already dead.

No one knows what they are, what happened to them, but Justin calls them Fleshies and they were once just like us.

I told them, I don’t want to kill the people, but Thomas handed me a gun. He told me that I have no choice and that’s the only way I’ll survive. I don’t want to lay my hands on a gun ever again.

The Fleshies were all around me; I couldn’t push them away, I couldn’t run. I was done for. I closed my eyes and accepted my fate.

I heard gunfire.

I opened my eyes.

The Fleshies were following the sound! A man was standing a ways down the street, gun pointed at the sky, firing.

I watched in awe.

He put away his gun and grabbed the large knife from his belt. He proceeded to slice into all the Fleshies’ heads, watching them fall to the ground motionless.

After all the Fleshies fell dead, the man ran up to me and held out his hand.

“There won’t be much time until more come, come with me!” he commanded.

I took his hand and he immediately took off running with me in tow, trying hard to keep up with my short legs. He tugged me along for what felt like hours.

“COME ON!!” A yell rang out through the air.

Suddenly I was swept off my feet and plopped down on something metal. I looked around me; I was on the back of a pickup truck! Plus, to make matters better, there were two people in the front seats. The guys started yelling curse words through the glassless back window at the man who saved me, trying to figure out why I was there. I then introduced myself as Cameron, though you already know my name, Notebook. I then learned theirs! The man who saved me is Tony; he’s got one brown eye and the other is green. The guy with sideburns is Devin; he’s driving the truck. The other guy in the front seat was Justin; he’s got cool looking white hair! He looks like the youngest of them to me. They told me they have some other people in their group and that I’m a part of it now! I was really hoping that anyway, seeing as I have nowhere else to go.

I couldn’t help but giggle when they told me their group name: “The Power Rangers!”

The drive was long, so Tony started asking me questions about who I am. I told him about my mom and stepdad who left me behind, my brother who refused to wake up, and my dead dog named Sasha; I’m going to miss her.

I probably should mention to Tony the fact that I don’t have my medicine and if I don’t take it tonight, the voices will come back. It’s not that bad though, sometimes they’re nice and they help me; other times they can be real jerks. One of the voices even told me how to kill myself; they’re so mean!

The truck slowed to a stop in front of a department store.

“This is it,” commented Devin as he turned off the engine. We got off the truck and I was rushed inside. There were five other people that I then met: Thomas(the one with glasses and a clean-shaven face), Shauna(who has a zebra stripe sleeve tattoo going up her left arm), Riley(who I can’t tell if it’s a he or a she), Ben(who looks a few years younger than me), and Malynda(who’s probably in high school and has the prettiest red hair).

Tony then took the time to show me around. He showed me where they sleep, where they keep their supplies, where the bathrooms are, and other stuff. I was surprised to see the state the store was in; shelves broken off the walls, the floors were covered in wasted food as well as trash and random broken stuff. The place was ransacked and really sad to look at.

I tried again to tell Tony about my medicine, but he was called away to help with dinner before I could finish. Although after he left, I got to talk to Shauna! She was nice but seemed really on edge and almost seemed depressed. I asked why, but she avoided the question. I pushed on and she yelled that she’s tough, then got up and ran out of the room, leaving me to my lonesome, sitting on a cot in the corner of the sleeping quarters.

It’s dark outside now; no one has a watch and all the clocks stopped so no one knows the time. Tony told me earlier that since there is no more electricity, they can’t charge their phones; another time source gone.

At least I have you, Notebook. You’re kinda like a friend; except you can’t answer back. Oh well.

The others are coming to the cots, I guess it’s time for bed. Don’t run off anywhere while I’m dreaming, Notebook; like there’s any place you can go.

Goodnight!

Entry 2- Eight Days since the World Died

I’m sorry I haven’t talked to you in a few days Notebook! Things have been pretty busy lately. Yesterday, the Power Rangers went out on a supply run as they called it and they wanted me to stay here with Ben and Shauna watched us. She didn’t like the idea, she wanted to go with them, but I heard Devin tell her that because of her mental state, she shouldn’t. She cursed at Devin and stated something about the name Spencer.

“Shauna, I know how much your brother meant to you-” I heard Devin try to say.

Shauna cut him off and said that she’s gotten over it, but by the sob I could hear her holding back, I could tell that was a lie.

She fell asleep and Ben got sucked into some picture book, so I was left to my own devices. I decided to go outside!

And guess what Notebook? I made a friend outside! His name is Randall and he told me he’s about 23 years old. We’ve got lots in common! We both like art and singing and being outside. I wish I could introduce him to Shauna but… she wouldn’t like him. He’s a Fleshie, none of the Power Rangers would like him, but he’s nice! He told me that none of the others can hear him; he’s been trying to ask for help but everyone like me runs away!

He told me to stay a few feet away from him at all costs; he’ll try and grab me otherwise, try to hurt me, but he doesn’t want to, he just can’t control it! So I spent the whole time walking backward around a tree with Randall following me as we just talked!

I’m so glad I have a new friend Notebook! I haven’t told Shauna or Ben or anyone about him though. I don’t think they’re ready to hear what he has to say.

Entry 3- Ten Days since the World Died

I’ve met so many new friends Notebook! I have tons of them! There’s Rosy and Daniel and Sara and Isaiah! What sucks though is the fact that I can’t let any of the Power Rangers meet them because they’ll kill them. They are not just Fleshies, they were once normal people like us and they can talk! They tell me stories of how they were before all this happened. They had families, friends, normal lives!

Tony talks to us every day about plans for supply runs and taking out as many Fleshies as they can. I’ve tried to talk to him again, but he’s too busy, setting up the supplies and hearing what other people have to say. I’m not important, I guess.

They look at them as obstacles, enemies… They can’t hear them, can they?

Entry 4- Thirteen Days since the World Died

I need to talk to Tony. He’s getting everyone killing Fleshies! Thomas keeps trying to get me to hold a gun, attack one! anything that will hurt them! No! I can’t do that!

They think I’m crazy! Thomas forced the gun into my grip and I screamed!

Everyone crowded around to see what happened. I started screaming at everyone! I screamed that I could hear them, that they have feelings and don’t mean to hurt us!

They think I’m crazy. I can hear them, how can they not? Fleshies cry out in pain when they are hit and I can hear every single one! It pierces my eardrums; it hurts so much~ It gets louder and louder and louder!

I want to talk to Tony, Notebook; no, I need to! I need to explain to him everything; I hope he doesn’t think I’m crazy! What if he does?!

I’m sorry, Notebook, it’s just… I don’t understand. I can hear them, how can’t they? Why don’t they believe me?

Notebook… You believe me, right?

Entry 5- Fifteen Days since the World Died

I can’t stay here anymore, Notebook. I hear the group talking about me in secret. They talk about how crazy I am and are trying to figure out what they should do with me. Justin mentioned leaving me for dead, and Riley just said to shoot me or slit my throat in my sleep! They want me dead because I’m a danger to them!

I don’t understand. All I want is for them to see! I can hear them; I can hear their pleas for help! I can hear them scream!

Am I crazy, Notebook? Do you think I’m crazy too?

I can’t stay any longer, Notebook, I’m sorry. It’s the middle of the night and I haven’t been able to sleep because I’m terrified that one of them will try and kill me while my eyes are closed! Friends wouldn’t do that! Friends would accept you! That’s what the Fleshies do! They accept me!

I’m going to leave you behind; maybe they’ll find you and you can tell them everything that I’ve told you!

Maybe then they’ll understand.

Oh, who am I kidding? They’ll think it’s the ramblings of a mad girl.

I’m sorry I have to leave you, Notebook. It’s just at this point, you’re probably just like them.

You don’t believe me, do you?

[thedappleddragon]

two in one because I fell asleep lol

ball state visit day!! I kept having dreams about sleeping in too late and not getting there on time, and the whole dream was tinted in shades of brown. (also I want to mention before I forget that the night before, I had a nightmare about a life sized spring trap living in the corner of my room that would walk towards you and attack like a slow weeping angel unless you stared at him with yellow glasses on. he went from terrifying to being my boyfriend for a moment and then back to terrifying before I woke up. I'm glad I have a desk in that corner of my room so I KNOW its impossible, even in a half-asleep headspace.) but I got up with plenty of time to spare, showered, washed my hair, had breakfast, gathered my things, and we were off! we left a lot earlier the I expected because my mom wanted to drive around campus and see what it was like and bring my sister along. the drive was pert straightforward until we had to take a bunch of weird directions to actually get on campus. we drove around looking at all the buildings (LOTS of brick, huh) and peeking into a couple of them. my sister and I walked through the woods a little bit, looked through the bookstore, and looked some of the photography pieces in the halls. eventually it got closer to the time my friends agreed to meet up, and I anxiously waited for them to walk up. thankfully they both arrived at the same time and my mom razzed my friend SO HARD for looking like a skeleton of a man while the doors/windows of the car were still closed. I got out of the car and we walked around the art museum for a while before they closed. there was a pop-art exhibit upstairs and a LOT of religious and abstract and historical stufff downstairs. they were closing really soon so we headed put and walked around campus and talked and warmed ip to each other since were had to be really quiet in the museum. we walked through some buildings and talked about classes and campus until we got to the bookstore building with the food court. I had actually been there a couple of times for jazz band competitions over the years in high school, but I was still a bit of a nervous wreck trying to navigate it lmao. but we had a nice lunch and I ate too fast and got hiccups for the rest of the got dang day. my friend paid for my lunch which was very nice of her, thank you friend :> after lunch we toured the rest of the building where my art classes would be next year. we walked into one room and someone left some BEAUTIFULLY stylized cartoony drawings that I found really impressive. after that we headed off to the dorms where they gave me a mini tour and we played an INTENSE game uno flip. then another, where we did shitty accents at each other and accused each other of being homophobic/abelist (JOKING, OBVIOUSLY. 2 of us are queer and 2 of us are neurodiverse so its fine lmao) and after uno we play a little whiplash until skeleton man had to go. he promised to play Stardew valley with someone else at 9. I had asked my mom to pick me up a little before nine, but unfortunately she had some trouble with directions and we had to spend a while walking around outside trying to figure out where the FUCK she was. we eventually found her lol. my mom and I drove home and talked about my day and got Burger King. I ate too much and got too full and had to lie down when I got home oops. I think I went to bed a little early 

and as for today, it was really nice and relatively uneventful. I woke up early after some tossing and turning and apparently taking off my sweatshirt in the middle of the night?? somehow??? since the weather was so nice I spent a lot of my time outside with my cat :) my sister talked me into going to goodwill, and while at first I didn't want to because looking through shirts at goodwill is boring, I went anyway because we would go to dollar tree afterwards. we took the car because we were in the main road less than 30 seconds and it would have been too hot to comfortably walk. it felt really freeing to just be able to drive somewhere! going to goodwill was actually a lot nicer than I thought it would be; it felt nice getting out of the house, although I now realize I had just been out all day yesterday?? meh. I kind of enjoyed filing through shirts with her until I got really hot under my mask. I wanted to check if they had any yarn grab bags, but to no avail. so we walked into dollar tree looking for snacks and possible art supplies. my sister lead me around a corner, and apparently they had rearranged the store a little because all the art supplies were on one wall!! I was actually pretty surprised at their selection of stuff; there were KNITTING NEEDLES! and chalk markers! but most importantly they had Y A R N! and pretty ok quality yarn, too. very nice cute pastel colors, so I had to buy one small skein of each of the six colors. earlier today I had seen a tutorial on how to crochet fairy wings from a wire frame, so that morning I took an old beat up pair of wings my sister and I had and stripped off the feather boa border and out away the pantyhose material in the middle. one wire popped out of place, so I gotta figure out how to fix that before I can continue. but after our shopping, we sat in the car and chilled. listening to musoc and I ate the cheezits I bought. we drove around a little bit, circling around the park once, and returning home, making sure to leave the car how we found it so dad wouldn't notice that we borrowed it. shhhh, secret mission. I changed into shorts, and we both laid outside in the backyard to enjoy the sun. my sister took the trampoline and I took the hammock. Lily came and hopped onto my lap for a while, and I pet her and did my best to shield her eyes from the sun. I almost fell asleep lol. eventually the house blocked the sun, so I went inside and stared making a frozen pasta thing. I split it with my sister and it was really good. I played some stardew valley, taking breaks to stretch my legs n stuff, but quit when I accidentally died in skulll cavern trying to get to level 100. I think I'll have to wait for the best luck day to do it, because I wasn't making great progress anyway. I'll just redo that day. anyhow I showed my dad the yarn I got (telling him my sister and I walked there), had some ice cream, brushed my teeth, and now im laying in bed with my cat, a fan on, and my window cracked open to hear rolling thunder from a nearby storm <3

[lilyharvord]

All the Little Horses Part 7

Week 20

  You've got a heavyweight in your belly at 20 weeks pregnant (well, in baby terms, anyway). Your little champ weighs about 10 ounces and has a height, crown to rump, of about six and a half inches. Think small cantaloupe (and probably as sweet too). While your baby is definitely getting bigger, there's still plenty of growing room in there, which allows them to twist and turn (and allows you to feel those acrobatics!). You may find, a few ambivalent or anxious feelings you're even ambivalent about admitting (Me a mom? There must be some mistake!). Don't worry — and hang on. At some point in pregnancy (and usually once that pregnancy becomes a very visible reality) just about every expectant mother (and father!) begins to feel anxiety and fear as though she's on a runaway train — with enormous changes coming round the bend

    I stood in the kitchen, cutting up an apple for breakfast, focusing intently on the crisp sound of the knife cutting through the fresh fruit. I’d gone to the store the other day, and had spent ninety percent of the time trying to convince Cal that we didn’t need half of the things he grabbed, and the other ten percent trying to control my desire to grab random things to make concoctions. Eating natural sugar was supposed to control my craving for other types according to my mother, but I still ended up eating ice cream at eleven at night only to groan in annoyance after a few spoonfuls and put it back. After a few minutes though, I would have the carton back out and a spoon in hand. Cal always found this little routine funny, but he constantly joined in, and told me that anything in moderation was fine. Besides, he’d tease, I was constantly walking and doing all the work outs that Ada had specified for me. At least those made me feel a little better about the massive weight that was sitting between my hips. 

Cal chose that moment to leave the bedroom. He hummed to himself while he fixed his cuff links and pinned them together. I watched him out of the corner of my eye as he came up behind me and pressed a light kiss on my cheek. I chuckled softly, and set the knife down, before stepping around him to grab the bottle of ketchup I had left on the counter. He glanced at it suspiciously before saying, “You put that on your apples and I swear to God, I will break off our engagement.”

         Smiling wickedly at him, I uncapped the bottle and dumped it on my apples. Cal looked appalled when I lifted one of the apples slices up and bit into it then, ketchup and all. I swallowed and then sticking my tongue out at him, I said, “Go ahead, break up with me.”

    Turning away he grumbled something and I smiled as I leaned my lower back against the counter and finished my apple slice. I swallowed, and revealed in how good it felt to keep food down, even if it was the most disgusting combination the world had yet to see. As I went to grab another slice, my stomach did a rapid turn, and my hand flew to my belly, which had swollen to twice its size over the past month. Cal hadn’t noticed my movement yet, and I felt the baby turn again, and place a soft kick into my hip. I smiled to myself, and ran my hand along the spot where I had felt the movement, ignoring the pains in my skin from its growth.

      Cal turned around from pouring his coffee and the minute he saw my hand, his eyes dropped to my stomach and he asked, “She moving again?”

      “He is moving like an Olympic gymnast, maybe we should think about enrolling him in gymnastics.” I replied with a mischievous smile. Our baby certainly seemed up to the task. It had been tossing in my stomach for days now, kicking and making its presence known, mostly in the middle of the night when I was sleeping. And just like my mother had promised, sleep was getting harder to find. I had started pressing myself up against Cal’s back so that he could feel our child’s acrobatics, but also because I liked the support now.

Just as everyone had promised me, the first few weeks of my second trimester had been fantastic, I had felt amazing, but now, everything was starting to catch up with me. My new weight now felt like a hundred pounds when it was really only ten, my ankles were swollen, and my legs felt like they might seize up at any second. Other than those though, I felt like I was actually glowing. The baby wasn’t too much of a pain yet, and I could still enjoy it, but that was going to change very soon, and I knew that.

        Cal stepped toward me and setting his mug on the counter next to me, he leaned down and cupped the back of my neck to pull me in for a kiss. I smiled around the touch and whispered, “Are you going to get off work early today?”

      “Most likely, why?” He replied as he set his hand on my stomach and baby kicked out against his hand, making him smile. I set my hand on top of his and grinning up at him, I whispered, “Because I want to start looking at paint for the nursery, and what we might want to do for cribs and all that. My mom told me at lunch yesterday that we better start planning now, cause it’ll be here before we know it.”

       Cal seemed to glow with happiness, before pressing a kiss to my forehead and whispering, “I’ll be home by six, and I’ll bring take out. Do you want Chinese again?”

      I made a face and pulled away, shaking my head. He laughed and grabbed his coffee from behind me. “Alright, I call you and ask what you want when the time comes.”

      With that he grabbed his jacket and was walking out the door. I smiled and waved at him, admiring how sure he seemed about this whole thing. Where I was stumbling around, trying to balance reading baby books, and blogs about pregnancy, he seemed to just have a natural affinity for the whole topic. It made me that much more settled though. Heaven forbid if he was in a panic about this whole thing. I didn’t need to see the mess that would come out of the two of us both panicking about this. 

      (///)

   A couple hours later in the day, I had decided that Gisa was probably more prepared for being a mother than I was, and I was having my baby in less than five months. She had insisted on me coming with her to look at canvases and paints for the painting she was going to do for the baby’s nursery. 

    Walking ahead of me, her arms laden with art supplies, she called over her shoulder, “Maybe you guys should do like a jungle theme? I could come in and paint trees and animals all over the room.” 

    Laughing at how invested she was in a room that hadn't even been decided on, I said, “I’ll add it to the list of ideas.” 

    She turned down another aisle, and I followed dutifully, my eyes taking in the glittering paint and colored paper. Gisa simply turned and dumped everything in the cart I had and then said, “See, I need to know what you guys are doing ahead of time so I can finish the painting.”

    Shaking my head I picked up a particularly loud shade of yellow and looked it over before putting it back and sighing. My sister was in front of me in seconds her eyes observant as she asked, “Everything okay?”

    I simply moved her to the side and and grabbed another bottle of paint to look at. My sister would not be ignored though. She grabbed something off the shelf and then sticking her face back in mine she asked in a sing song voice, “Oh Mare, what are you thinking?”

    I laughed at the hideous ceramic mask she was holding up to her face. She had probably seen it on the shelf and had grabbed after it to go along with her silly voice. Rolling my eyes at her as she danced around my back to my other side, I teased, “You’re weird, you know that?”

   She set the mask down and then stuck her tongue out before replying, “Oh please, and you aren't?”

    “No, I just hide it better than you.” I laughed as I put the paint back and turned to look at the other side of the aisle. Gisa didn’t let my tone fool her though. My charades had never been good enough to get past my astute little sister. She stepped up next to me again and then asked softly, “What’s on your mind?”

    I glanced at her out of the corner of my eye for a moment, but she was busy looking down at the paintbrushes that were for sale. Surely I could tell my little sister what was bothering me? Gisa had a wisdom beyond her years, she had been gifted that from a young age it seemed. I sighed softly again, wishing I had that kind of insight, before whispering, “have you ever thought your were so ill prepared for something that you were going to ruin everything?”

    She raised a perfectly kept brow at my question before looking at me with a worried expression. “Mare, I dont think you’re going to be a bad mother. I think you’re going to be a great one actually.” 

   “As nice as it sounds coming from you, that’s not how I feel. I mean honestly Gisa, I’ve never really liked kids, you know that.” I said quickly as I started to walk along the shelves, looking at all the items there. Gisa trailed after me, like a little ray of sunshine that was slowly being covered with clouds. “But its different when it’s your kid, I see the way you get when no one’s looking. You’re always smiling down at your stomach and whispering to it. You love your baby already Mare, dont you?”

    “Of course I do,” I admitted softly, and then shaking my head I continued, “But it’s not about loving it. I just... what if I can’t handle it? How the hell do you raise another human being without actually knowing what you’re doing half the time?”

    Gisa shrugged and then said, “Do you honestly think mom and dad knew what they were doing half the time with us. I mean come on, they raised the five of us, and we didn’t turn out too bad.” 

    I chuckled, and then gave her a tiny smile as I said, “No, I guess we didn't.”

   “And come on, your parenting books that you keep reading? Don’t deny that you read them, I’ve seen you. They have to at least say something about the fact that parenting is faking it till you make it ninety percent of the time.” She said with a roll of her eyes before grabbing our cart and pushing it along side me. She titled her head to the side as she leaned against the handle of the cart and reassured, “Besides, you’re not going to be perfect as a parent, no one is, but your baby’s going to love you no matter how many times you mess up.” 

    “Maybe you should write a parenting book.” I replied with a laugh as I slipped my arm through hers and walked next to her. Her words had certainly been reassuring. Maybe I had been going about this all wrong, maybe I should be focused less on the future and what might come, and more one what was going on right now. After all, if my baby kept growing as fast as it was, I was going to miss everything while I was busy worrying about it. Gisa shrugged at my comment, pulling me out of my thoughts, and then flicking her fiery hair over her shoulder, she said, “It’ll look into writing a series of self help books after I’m done become a major fashion designer.” 

(///////)

    I sank into the couch with my mug of hot chocolate, and then snuggled into Cal’s side, tucking my feet underneath me while I leaned my head on his shoulder. He was busy scrolling through a color catalogue and picking colors while I ate his leftover pasta. I sipped at my drink and then jumping to attention, I pointed to a gorgeous shade of baby blue and annouced, “That one, I want that one.”    

     “You can’t just pick shades of blue, Mare.” Cal replied with an annoyed huff, as he wrote down the name of the color anyway. I grinned at the fact that I was getting my way, and pressing a kiss to his cheek, I whispered, “Well, it’s a boy, so…”

      “Why do you want a boy so badly?” Cal whispered, as if it were a joke, but underneath his teasing tone, I heard a hint of pain. Twisting my neck to glance up at him, I asked, “What’s wrong, why are you getting so defensive?”

       “I’m not getting defensive.” He argued, but I could still hear it in his tone. Turning myself completely to face him side on, I replied, “Yes, you are, what’s going on Cal, talk to me.”

        He slammed the computer closed before putting in on the table and standing up. My back straightened immediately and mug ace heated as he shouted, “I just don’t want a son, there’s nothing else to it!”

       Gripping my mug tighter in my hands, I hissed, “No there is, or you wouldn’t be acting like this.”

        His hands closed into fists at his side, before he threw his arms up and shouted, “You want to know why, fine. I don’t want a son, because I’m terrified that I’m going to be exactly like my father with him.”

     I sat in stunned silence, confusion written all over my features. He sat down heavily next to me, and buried his head in his hands as he mummbled, “I just want my kid to be happy, to know that no matter what choices they make, I love them, and that it’s okay for them to not agree with me. But I’m so worried, because everyday I feel like I’m becoming more and more like my father.”

     I set my mug down quietly on the table. Slowly I scooted closer to him, and wrapped my arms around his middle before setting my head on his shoulder. “Cal, why didn’t you tell me you felt this way?”

      “You were worrying enough as it was, and I... and I figured this feeling would pass eventually.” He whispered as he slowly tried to pull away. I held him tighter though, and whispered, “You know, Gisa told me something really profound today.”

     He snorted and then murmured, “She does that on a daily basis I feel like.” 

    “She’s wise beyond her years, thats for sure,” I replied, my lips pulling up in a solemn smile before I continued, “She told me that we’re not going to be perfect parents, no one can be, but no matter what happens, our baby will love us, and we will love it.”

     Turning his head slightly to look at me, he said, “I doubt our kid will love me if I tell him how to live every aspect of his life.”

     I set my chin on his shoulder and smiling I replied, “No one likes being told what to do, but I think we do what we think is right for the kid. It’ll be our job to take care of this baby and to help it so that it doesn't go through the same hardships that we went through.” 

      He turned his head slightly to press his forehead against my own as he whispered, “What would I ever do without you?”

       “Probably nothing.” I replied with a light laugh. Inside of me, the baby somersaulted again, and I smiled even wider as I buried myself in Cal’s arms.

[kissingwithcannibals]

Jan 27, 2019

Oh boy. Shadow’s eyes have regressed. It seems the inflammation has slowly become worse, and in turn, her vision has taken a nosedive. I think we discontinued the anti-infection drops too early. Of course, that was in accordance with the vet’s instructions, so what do I know? Our vet appointment is on Thursday, which feels like a long ways away. Emotionally, I’ve had the wind knocked out of me again. Often I find little appetite to do anything productive, but I try do do things like reading and painting, which allow me to keep half an eye on Shadow. Agonizing over Shadow is not what I want this blog to center around, even though her health has near totally dominated my life since Christmas. Ugh.

Mom and I went to Michael’s (the craft store) the other day. She helped me pick out supplies for watercolor painting. My mom has intermittently done art her whole life, but she began taking weekly art lessons as of last year. Watercolor so far has proven a little unwieldy, and my mistakes are harder to correct. But after dwelling solely in pen and pencil since I began practicing drawing in earnest over the summer, the addition of actual color has been lovely. Yesterday I painted a strawberry! YUSSS. 

It brings me a lot of joy when I think about how my mom has taken up art again. It’s never too late to bring a new hobby into your life, is it? Even at my age, I feel that way. Yeah, there are 5th graders who blow my art out of the water, and while I kick myself for not starting this earlier in life, I also told myself that there’s still plenty of time to learn, and that further delay will only increase my regret. It’ll take a year or two before I can appreciate the progress I’ve made.

This past year has been one of new hobbies. As I said, over the summer I began a near-daily drawing habit. Drawing is still a battle of self-confidence for me, but I do think I’ve made some improvement. It was later in the summer that I began to learn some basic coding (Python), which, with Gus’s help and invaluable guidance, led me to discover the world of physical computing, which is stupid levels of fun (and, yeah, hair-yanking degrees of frustrating at times). All my little gadgets and devices for physical computing are in my room in Manlius, and because I’m now living out in Caz full time (Shadow does better out here), I haven’t spent much time with coding/computing lately, which I feel guilty about, but the fact is that I simply don’t have space to bring my computing workstation out to Caz. Here out in Caz I just have some clothes, my backpack of stuff, and that’s it! I sleep on the couch. Anyway, the least I can do in the meantime is work on pure coding/software projects while I’m out here. 

I’m also surprised at how much I’m enjoying bird-feeding. It’s kind of addicting, even though it’s a relatively passive hobby. As “Pigtails”, the staff girl at Wild Birds Unlimted told me, “it sucks you in.” She’s right- I’m constantly walking over to the window to see who’s hanging around the feeder, and I’m always thinking about what feeder I might install next. (I’m thinkin’ one specifically tailored for woodpeckers.) 

This past month I’ve taken an interest in beat-making. If you’re interested in some relaxing background tunes for studying/chilling, check out this lo-fi hip hop radio channel on Youtube.  My goal is to replicate beats like these, as well as more popular styles like pop and trap. Sitting around with a MIDI keyboard has then had me seeking out piano lessons on Youtube, so I think I’ll try to learn more piano this year. 

Well, probably just gonna close it here. Thanks for reading! 

[dyde21]

Mechanic 14: The Illness

I’m super sorry for the delay. I’ll explain a little more after, but I’m sorry. Really long chapter ahead. 

XxXxXxXxX

Pyrrha woke up slowly that morning. Her sleep had been deep, and if she dreamed she certainly couldn’t remember it. That was fine for her though, her dream had already come true. Memories of going out with Jaune played through her head, as a smile subconsciously grew on her face. She remembered waking up yesterday, afraid that the night out had just been a dream, but her new scroll background of them that Alice had taken was a constant reminder that it wasn’t just a dream.

Stretching out in her bed a bit, she let her body relax again. It was still a little early for her, Jaune wasn’t due to come visit for their morning work out for a little while.

She hadn’t seen him since she had… kissed him goodbye. Butterflies were building up in her stomach at the thought of meeting him again. Pyrrha tried to convince herself that nothing was different. After all, they had already been training closely for months, which meant they had really gotten to know each other. Challenging each other with real weapons, and pushing your limits was a good way to bond with someone.

But still, her teenage mind couldn’t ignore the fact that some was different. She had kissed him. On the lips. Something she knew neither of them had ever really experienced before. Even if she wanted to act like always, her confidence was a little shaken on if she actually could.

She was ripped from her internal monologue when her scroll lit up and suddenly started buzzing. Her eyes widened as she quickly grabbed it, her heart stopping for a moment. Jaune wasn’t supposed to be here for an hour, was her clock wrong? She didn’t want to keep him waiting. Right before she answered, she noticed the picture was different. It wasn’t Jaune’s smiling face that she had snapped a picture of one day while training, but rather it was Alice, grinning with a thumbs up.

Why would Alice be calling her of all things? Her stomach dropped as her mind began to race through all the possibilities, most of them not being good. At all.

“Hello?” Pyrrha asked frantically answering the call.

“Pyrrha! It’s… It’s Jaune! Please… help…” Alice’s voice sounded frantic and desperate.

Pyrrha’s heart stopped as she sat up suddenly. She tried to place her hand on the side of the bed, but she missed as she leaned too far, falling partly out of the bed as he scroll tumbled across the ground and she let out a small yelp of surprise. Reaching out a hand, still half in the bed and half on the ground, the scroll flew to her.

“Alice? What’s wrong?” She asked frantically. “What happened?”

At this point Jane and Ren were sitting up in their beds, rubbing their eyes as they tried to figure out why their teammate had suddenly fallen out of her bed and was a freaking out so early in the morning.  Usually she crept out to work out with Jaune before any of them were up. They slowly became more alert as they realized something must be wrong, save for Nora who was still just sleeping away blissfully.

“It’s Jaune. Pyrrha he…” Her voice sounded desperate and Pyrrha felt a fist close around her heart. What could have her so panicked?

“He’s got a cold.”

Pyrrha froze. “What?” She asked, utterly surprised.

“He’s got a cold.”

Pyrrha slumped down on the ground, letting out a massive sigh, her heart-rate returning to safe levels again.

“Alice… that wasn’t fun.”

On the other end of the call Alice was now cracking up. “Sorry! Sorry! You just sounded so worried when I called you. You get so cute when you’re worried about your precious little boyfriend.”

Pyrrha just continued to lay half on the ground, half on the bed for a moment, trying relax. She waved off Ren and Jane, who seemed to understand that whatever it was was dealt with, before they rolled over and went back to sleep.

“So why did you call me so early in the morning? A simple message would have sufficed to say practice was canceled.” Pyrrha was a bit surprised by the disappointment in her own voice when she mentioned calling off their training session. She really was looking forward to it more than she knew.

For once, Alice actually sounded a bit worried. “Yeah, here’s the thing. Jaune normally doesn’t get sick. You think he would, with all his clumsiness, but he’s normally fit as a fiddle. Always has been. But when he does get sick… it’s not good. It hits him hard. He’ll bounce back but…” She trailed off, concern dripping from her voice.

“I see.” Pyrrha offered, feeling her own level of concern quickly rising.

“It’s a bad time for us. Mom and Dad have to run the shop today to manage the orders. The rest of our sisters are either away at school, busy with work, or helping out Mom and Dad. I have to leave for a mission, otherwise I would stay. I really really want to, but this is important. Can you come over and check in on him? Please?” Alice asked, surprisingly sincere in her tone.

Pyrrha smiled softly. “Of course. I planned on stopping by once I heard he was sick anyway.”

Alice let out an audible sigh of relief. “Leave it to his girlfriend.” She mumbled to herself. “Heads up, he can be a bit… defiant when sick.” Alice offered meekly.

Pyrrha raised an eyebrow, but figured she’d find out soon enough.

“I’ll send you the address of our home. I don’t think you’ve been over there yet. I’ll leave a spare key under the pot outside the door. Please, help yourself to anything you find there. I’ll let my mom know you’re coming over and I’m sure she’ll leave you some goodies.” Alice explained.

Pyrrha smiled. “There’s no need. I’m glad I can help.”

A soft sigh was heard from the other side of the call. “Jaune got lucky with his girlfriend. Didn’t you Jaune?”

A weak groan was heard faintly in the distance.

Another concerned sigh escaped Alice. “He agrees. Well, there’s no rush, but do try to make it over when you can.”

Frowning at the groan, she realized Jaune did not sound good.

“Gotcha. Don’t worry about it Alice. I’ll head over soon. Just focus on your mission, you can’t get hurt either.”

Alice just laughed. “Now I got kids worrying about me. Got it. I’ll head out now. Thanks again, honestly.” She offered before she ended the call.

Getting up finally, Pyrrha stretched her back. Her morning grogginess was certainly dealt with by this point. What an interesting wake up call, so to speak.

Looking over, she noticed Jane was looking at her again with a tired, yet curious look.

“Jaune’s sick. I’m going to head over to take care of him, let Ren and Nora know?”

Jane nodded. “Tell him we wish him well.” She mumbled out in a tired drawl before she rolled over, passing out again.

Smiling, Pyrrha quickly gathered her stuff for a morning shower before getting ready for the day.

XxXxXxXxX

Before long, Pyrrha was walking tentatively down the streets of the residential district of Vale. She hadn’t found herself down these streets too many times before. Most of the people she knew lived at Beacon, so she hadn’t exactly had any reason to venture over here.

Comparing the map on her scroll to the street signs, she found she seemed to at least be getting closer to the zone where he lived.

After checking the time, she began to hurry her pace. Logically, she knew that he was fine. He was just fighting a common bug according to Alice, and just needed some rest. But the idea of him being home alone, stuck in bed and sick made her nerves act up.

Her pace only quickened as her frustration about being unable to find the house began to get to her. Normally gifted with the patience of a saint, her friends being trouble often made quick work of it. However before long she found a house matching the description Alice had sent her, and the address matched up. Letting out a sigh of relief, she quickly made her way to the house, hoisting her backpack tighter over her shoulder. She had decided to bring some supplies, figuring that she would likely be at the house for the most of the day. Ren had even overheard the explanation, and prepared some stuff for Jaune as well with Jane’s help.

She knocked once, hoping that if Jaune was up he would hear that she was there so he wouldn’t be surprised. It took her a moment to find the right plant as she reached underneath it, pulling out the spare key.

Unlocking the door, she stepped in a bit nervously. Noticing a few pairs of shoes near the door, she quickly slipped out of hers, placing them neatly to the side as she finally entered.

Pyrrha honestly wasn’t sure what to expect when it came to his house. The store was a nice, warm, rural looking metal-shop. The outside blended in the rest of Vale, but the inside definitely felt more remote and cozy, less urban so to speak.

Their house followed the same suit. While the outside looked like every other house in the district, the inside definitely felt more lived in. Tons of pictures littered the walls, all of the Arc children at different ages. Inside the main room just to the side of the entrance was a massive fire place, a rather large TV, and quite a large number of seats in there. A couch and a couple of chairs. Pyrrha guessed they certainly tried to have a spot for every Arc child if they happened to be visiting. Various metal pieces of art decorated the room occasionally, while there was a shelf dedicated to awards the children had gotten for various accomplishments, some combat some not.

Perhaps most surprisingly, was how clean the house was. While Pyrrha knew that all the children didn’t live there, a large family usually meant that a house looked “loved” and a little worn down, but this house was kept very clean. She couldn’t know if they had cleaned it up for her, but based off her interactions with Mrs. Arc she had a feeling the mom ran a very tight ship and the kids were used to picking up after themselves.

Shaking her head, trying to free herself from the curiosity of seeing Jaune’s home for the first time, she pulled her bag off her shoulder, placing in on a chair as she tentatively took a few steps.

“Jaune?” She called out, in an awkward loud whisper. She wanted him to know she was there, but she didn’t want to wake him up if he was sleeping and she couldn’t decide how loud to speak.

Suddenly there was a loud thump, and the sounds of something scraping against the wall.

Jumping slightly, Pyrrha quickly made her way through the two storied house, trying to locate the source of the noise. “Jaune?” She repeated, her pulse racing.

“…yra…”

Pyrrha had almost missed the soft groan as she froze, turning her head and looking down a hallway.

“Jaune!” She shrieked out in panic.

The blond was laying face down in the hallway, his arm outstretched. A couple photos were scattered about the ground.

“Jaune!” She repeated, running to him and crouching down nervously as she touched his forehead. Her stomach dropped at the little groan he let out. He was burning up with a fever, but seemed to be fine overall. She gently helped him to his feet, throwing one of his arms over her shoulder as she began to lead him back towards the open door, assuming it was his room.

His head slumped as he struggled to walk with her.

“What were you thinking?” She asked worriedly, trying to keep annoyance out of her voice as her worries bubbled up.

“I heard you enter, I was trying to greet you…” He answered in a hoarse voice.

A soft groan escaped Pyrrha, who would have face-palmed if she could have without jostling Jaune.

“You’re sick Jaune. You should stay in bed.” She scolded lightly.

“But it’s rude…” He mumbled out, his eyes drooping.

“So is making me worry.” Pyrrha replied, exasperated. She pulled back the sheets on his bed, helping him in it as she quickly pulled the sheets up.

“Sorry.” He mumbled, forcing his eyes open as he tried to look at her, pouting slightly. It was clear just how honest he was about the apology.

Looking like a sick puppy, Pyrrha felt her heart break. Mumbling under her breath about it wasn’t fair how cute he looked when sick, she knew there was no possible way she could be mad at him. That, and the fact he was sick was keeping her in a constant state of concern and worry.

She rested a hand on his forehead, getting a general feel of his temp.

Jaune sighed softly, liking the cool feeling of her hand.

“You’re burning up. I’m getting you medicine, water, and a cool cloth. Don’t move.” She ordered softly, rolling up the sleeves in her hoodie.

Knowing that she was likely going to be sitting around most of the day, caring for Jaune she had decided to dress for comfort. She was in a pair of sweatpants, with a black tank top and a hoodie. Normally she preferred to be a little more composed when away from her room, but she hoped that if Jaune saw her relaxing in normal clothes, he might be a little more at ease as well. She knew he would feel guilty about being cared for, so the more she could downplay it, the better.

Jaune just groaned in response as Pyrrha left the room.

Now facing a new problem, Pyrrha stopped in the hallway. She had no idea where anything in his house was. But, he couldn’t exactly give her a tour at the moment. She also didn’t want to snoop around their house and invade their privacy just looking for a bathroom. To start at least, she picked up the pictures off the floor she figured Jaune had knocked off when trying to stumble his way towards her.

Letting out a mildly frustrated sigh, she figured she should at least start with what she knew. She had seen the kitchen looking for Jaune. That would be good for water, and hopefully a cool cloth. She had brought medicine that Ren had provided, so that part would be covered.

Opening a few cabinets, she managed to find the glasses so she got some cold water from the sink. Fishing around her bag for a moment, she managed to find the medicine Ren had given her. Staring at the kitchen, she tried to guess where a cloth could be.

There was one hanging on the door to the oven, but she wasn’t going to use a dirty rag to comfort Jaune. Taking a guess, she moved over to the dishwasher and opened a few doors. She mumbled an apology to the house for accidentally “snooping” but after a few tries she had managed to find a drawer full of clean rags.

Feeling successful, she quickly ran it under the tap and soaking it in as cold of water as she could manage. Once it was sufficiently soaked, she wrung it out, getting rid of most of the water. Now, taking the glass, rag, and medicine she quickly made her way back to Jaune’s room. Much to her annoyance, she saw Jaune sitting up in the bed again, one leg thrown over the side as if he was trying to maneuver himself to stand up again.

“Jaune!” She said, her tone slipping into a slightly maternal one, not so much anger but disappointment lacing her tone.

Jaune flinched, shrinking back slightly. “It’s not fair to just sit around…”

Pyrrha set down the glass of water on the table near Jaune, along with the medicine with a sigh. She ran a hand through her hair with a sigh. Alice was right, Jaune certainly seemed to be much more defiant when sick. She had a feeling that the day might be longer than she thought at this rate.

Turning back, she saw Jaune now had both feet on the ground.

“Jaune!” She repeated.

Jaune just smiled at her weakly. “I feel fine.”

It was hardly a convincing lie. She could see how his eyes drooped, his he looked flush and his arms shook slightly with the effort of keeping himself up.

Pyrrha knew she had to nip this in the bud quickly, for both of their sakes.

Moving over, she knelt down in front of Jaune, staring at him gently but sternly at eye level.

“Jaune. You’re sick, and seeing you sick makes me sad. Seeing you push yourself when you need rest only makes me worry, okay? You just need to rest, and let me take care of you. I want you to be back on your feet soon, but that won’t happen unless you properly rest.” She explained gently, not breaking eye contact.

Jaune stared at her through tired eyes, nodding weakly. “I understand. The Vytal festival is coming up, I don’t want to distract you or worry you. You should be preparing with your team, not babysitting me.”

Pyrrha just let out a soft sigh. Leave it to Jaune to be worried about her when he can barely get out of bed. For all his clumsiness, he had an honest heart.

Reaching up slowly she messed with his hair a bit. “You’re very kind for worrying about me, but relax. My team is ready for the festival. We just need to make sure we get some rest, and that we’re on the top of our game for when it starts. A day to relax is perfect for me, and I will be able to get some studying done as well.” She explained with a soft smile. “But all that doesn’t matter. What matters is your health Jaune. The only thing I care about right now is seeing you healthy again. The rest can wait.”

Jaune just stared at her for a moment before letting out a sigh, and smiling. “I understand. I’m sorry.”

Pyrrha just stood up, beaming. It seemed Jaune finally got the message. Leaning forward, she kissed his forehead. “There’s nothing to apologize for. Now take this medicine and get some sleep.” She said, holding out the glass of water and the pill.

Jaune stared at it for a moment, clearly not enthused about the idea of taking medicine, but after her little speech he wasn’t going to be defiant to her again. Popping the pill in his mouth and taking a swig of water, he quickly swallowed it before looking at her with a small smirk. “Happy now?” He croaked out in a weak voice.

Unable to hold back her laughter Pyrrha just pat his head again. “Very. Now get some more sleep, you look like you’re about to pass out.”

Jaune just nodded, slowly laying back down in the bed.

Pulling up his sheets, Pyrrha grabbed the cloth that was still cold. Reaching over, she brushes his hair away from his forehead before she laid cloth over it. Smiling slightly at the appreciative sigh that escaped his lips as she saw him visibly relax. She stood up to leave, pausing at the door.

“I’ll be in the front room. Call if you need anything. When you wake up I’ll make you lunch.” She offered.

“Thanks, Pyrrha. My mom left pie for you on the counter. Feel free to use anything here.” He offered, his voice slurring slightly as he struggled to stay awake. A moment later, he was out cold.

Pyrrha flicked off the light, closing the door but leaving it open just a crack.

Taking a deep breath, Pyrrha let a long sigh of relief. Jaune was just sleeping now, she had seen for herself that he’d be fine. Now she could relax.

Moving to the front room, she paused near the kitchen. The smell of the pie that she had ignored for Jaune’s sake earlier, was calling to her. As she walked over to it, she saw a note leaning against it.

“Thank you taking care of our boy.

Please, help yourself to this pie or anything you find in the kitchen! We’ll be back tonight.

-Momma Arc”

Pyrrha smiled softly at the note, before noticing the plate, fork, and knife sitting off to the side of the pie. She had eaten a brief healthy breakfast before she headed over, so she could afford to spoil herself. At least, that was how she reason it. If there was one downside to being so close to Jaune, it was that his cooking and a family was a bit of a nightmare for anyone watching what they were eating.

Taking herself a small slice, she moved over to the front room after grabbing a napkin. Setting down the plate, she pulled her bag to the couch and began to pull out her textbooks. She would want to be with Jaune when he woke up, so if she was going to be productive at all today, her chance would be while he was sleeping.

So she set to work, reviewing for the last major test they would have before the Vytal festival start in just over a week.

She had only managed to open her books when she was surprised by the sound of a bark. It was faint, sounding distant. She ignored it at first, but a second bark made her pause. Standing up, she turned and began to follow the noise. Now that she thought about it, she remembered Jaune talking about their family owning a dog. They had to leave it at home, due to the shop being an inconvenient place to keep a pet due to it’s location, so Pyrrha had never seen it on any of her visits. Only hearing stories of it from Jaune and his family. In her worry for Jaune, it had completely escaped her mind.

Eventually finding her way to a back glass door, she saw a note taped to it. “Open if you don’t mind dogs, otherwise he’s fine out back today. He has food and water. Careful, he’s affectionate.”

Pyrrha smiled, seeing the dog staring at her through the door half in curiosity, half in aggression of a new intruder.

Crouching down, Pyrrha opened the door slightly. She was rather fond of most animals, and found Zwei to be adorable. This dog was more of a beast though. Large enough to be a huntsman’s hunting hound.

Holding out her hand gently, she made sure to have her aura ready just in case. The dog could only fit it’s snout through the opening of the door, as it sniffed her scent. After a moment, it licked her hand and Pyrrha opened up the door completely.

The large beast of the dog barreled in, knocking Pyrrha over as it began it’s assault, licking her face as it’s tail wagged happily.

“Stop! Stop!” She cried helplessly as she fell victim to his onslaught. Eventually she managed to push it away, holding it at an arms length as she read it’s collar.

“Kaito, huh?” She read aloud, earning a soft “borf” from the dog.

Glancing down to make sure the dog wasn’t bringing in mud from the yard, she closed the back door and went back to her books. Pausing to listen to see if Jaune had woken up during the incident, the silence told her he was still fast asleep.

Satisfied, she went back to her books and began reading while the dog laid at her feet, still sniffing curiously but obviously accepting her presence in the home.

A few hours later, she closed her book with a sigh. Her homework was done, and she could relax now. She could study later, but for now she could focus her attention on making sure Jaune recovered. She was about to go check on him when she suddenly heard a raspy voice.

“Pyr-rha?” Jaune’s gruff voice suddenly said, before apologizing when he saw her jump.

In a flash she was standing up, her hands hovering near him as she struggled to figure out how she could help him. “Are you okay? How are you feeling. You shouldn’t be up right now! Do you have a fever? What do you need?” She said, caught off guard completely by his sudden appearance.

Jaune smiled weakly. “I feel a little better. The world seems to be spinning less.” He offered.

Letting out a sigh of relief, Pyrrha smiled. It seemed the medicine was working if his dizziness was going away. When she heard his stomach growl, she smiled even more. An appetite was good. Food was good. “Hungry?” She asked gently.

Nodding meekly, Jaune smiled. “A little.”

Letting out a chirp of a laugh, Pyrrha just smiled and patted his head. “Please, sit down. I’ll start making you some soup right away. Ren prepared some stuff this morning so it shouldn’t take as long.” She explained, grabbing the supplies from the kitchen she had stowed in there earlier, when she took a break from studying.

Jaune was about to say something when his eyes widened. Before Pyrrha could ask what was wrong, Jaune made a sprint towards one of the rooms. Judging by the sounds that soon followed, Jaune had found the bathroom and was currently hurling the contents of his stomach into the toilet.

Wincing, Pyrrha let out a sigh. That certainly wasn’t pleasant, but sometimes throwing up was just what someone needed to feel better. Knowing better than to embarrass him by checking on him while he was throwing up, she just got another glass of water ready for him, waiting for him by the couch with a concerned frown. A few minutes later Jaune returned, looking a little paler.

“Here, sip this water. It should help a little.”

Jaune just nodded before he took a sip, still seemingly out of it as he plopped down on the couch, Kaito jumping up and cuddling with him immediately.

Looking over her shoulder, Pyrrha couldn’t help but snicker at seeing the massive beast huddling all over Jaune, it’s muzzle resting on Jaune’s shoulder. “It seems someone is worried.”

“Kaito can be a little affectionate.” Jaune offered, before breaking down into a fit of coughs.

Frowning with concern, Pyrrha paused her preparation in worry. Thinking for a moment, she went back to the fridge and came back with a small bowl. Inside were little skewers of various fruits. “Snack on these, Jane prepared them earlier as well. Said they always help her feel better when she’s feeling sick.”

Nodding, Jaune began to eat one of them. Eyes widened slightly, he was surprised by the taste. There seemed to be a coating of honey. “These are good.” He praised, eating another one.

“Go slow, but I’ll tell her you said that.” Pyrrha offered, smirking as he found the secret of them. Pyrrha was surprised herself when she first had tried one earlier in the year when she had gotten sick. Of course getting them out of the house without Nora eating them was always a bit of a trick, but she had slept through the morning chaos which was helpful.

Satisfied that Jaune was sufficiently pampered for the moment, she went back to preparing the soup. Ren had given her perfectly clear instructions, and unsurprisingly Jaune’s house was stocked as well as a professional kitchen which made her job easier. Soon, the preparation was down to waiting for things to heat up and cook.

Finishing washing up the knives, she looked over. Jaune was passed out on the couch, an arm lazily wrapped around his dog as they both slept peacefully. Unable to resist, she silently moved over and grabbed her scroll, quickly snapping a few pictures. Honestly, he was just too adorable to pass up the opportunity. Debating for a second, she quickly sent them to her friends and Alice, her scroll immediately exploding in responses ranging from Alice talking how adorable she is, to Yang talking about how he was perfect to prank right now. Ignoring the blond, Pyrrha put her scroll away and smile, taking one of the spare seats in the room. She pulled out a book, one Blake had recommended her recently and began to read it, glancing up every once in a while to check on Jaune. He never changed, continuing to just sleep peacefully with his dog. He really must have been exhausted, but probably felt bad staying in bed all day.

Letting out a content sigh, she was glad to at least see his sleep was calm. Whatever illness was plaguing him seemed unable to bother him in his sleep so she was glad he could find what little peace he could. She considered waking him up to check on him, see if he needed anything but she figured she’d wait till the soup was done. Speaking of the soup, a few minutes later her scroll timer chimed. She got up and put her book to the side as she began to serve two bowls, one for herself and one for Jaune.

Taking a hesitant sip, she really hoped it turned out okay otherwise she was going to have to call for take out. Luckily though, it seemed passable to her at least. She just hoped Jaune’s taste had gone with his health so he wouldn’t be able to taste it either way.

Walking over, she gently rested the back of her hand against his head. He was still a little hot, but for the most part it seemed his fever had broken.

“Jaune? How are you feeling? You should have some soup, you haven’t eaten much today.” She said gently, ever so slightly shaking his shoulder.

Jaune opened his eyes, yawning as he stretched out.

Kaito was jostled awake by his master waking up hopped off the couch, content to go curl up in the corner of the room.

Looking at Pyrrha in a dazed stare, it took Jaune’s sick mind a few minutes to register what she had said, and a little more to register the fact that his stomach was growling and he actually was starving. Nodding, he stood up, dragging himself to the kitchen table.

“Thank you.” He mumbled with a tired smile.

“My pleasure.” Was all Pyrrha offered as she helped him scoot his chair in and patted his head, before grabbing her own bowl.

He seemed a little less pale, and seemed to be moving better. Hesitantly, with a little hope in her voice she asked Jaune how he felt. “Are you feeling okay?”

Taking another sip of the soup he smiled. “Yup! I’m feeling fine.” He said before breaking down into a coughing fit. Smiling sheepishly he looked at her. “Maybe not perfect… but better! Thank you for the soup Pyrrha.” He said, continuing to eat it happily.

Pyrrha just smiled, opening a sleeve of crackers and smashing some up into her soup. Offering a few to Jaune, she continued to eat while happily watched her friend shovel down the soup with his appetite returned.

Normally Pyrrha and Jaune tended to take forever to eat as they would both be distracted by conversing too much to properly eat, but she was content to be quiet for once.

Before long, Pyrrha was finishing up her bowl while Jaune was finishing up his second. It seemed his appetite was really back. Always a good sign for someone recovering.

Gathering up the bowls, she began to was them in the kitchen before Jaune could attempt to do it.

“Have a seat Jaune, I’ll take care of it today.” She said, raising an eyebrow at him to defy her.

Staring at her, it was clear he was debating whether or not he wanted to press the issue. With a sigh he gave up and moved over to the couch, turning on the TV. “Did you get to study?” He asked.

Smiling, Pyrrha dried her hands and moved over, sitting on the couch next to him. “Yes, I had plenty of time earlier. I am more than ready for now.”

Jaune nodded, relieved to see that her day had been at least a little productive.

For a while, they just idly chatted while they watched whatever was on, falling into their well practiced routine of just enjoying each other’s company. It was clear Jaune was still a little tired, so Pyrrha didn’t mind taking up a little more slack of the conversation, avoiding awkward silence with some small talk here and there, but perfectly satisfied with letting the conversation lull when he seemed tired.

Eventually, after another awkward pause, Jaune spoke up.

“Do you wanna watch a movie?”

Pyrrha tilted her head. “That sounds wonderful, which one?”

Jaune shrugged. “Why don’t you choose? They are below the TV.” He said, pointing with a knowing smile.

Almost a bit too eagerly, Pyrrha ran over to the collection of movies, beginning to look through them curiously. She read the back of every case eagerly, trying to figure out what one to watch.

Watching with a smile, Jaune just leaned back and looked on with amusement. From the long conversations they had had in the past, Jaune had learned that Pyrrha really hadn’t seen many movies.

Her strict upbringing involving hours of training, and tournaments and celebrations meant that she often missed out on the chance do experience more mundane things. Just like seeing the popular movies that came out.

Aware of that fact, Jaune had asked his sisters to pick up movies recently that Pyrrha might enjoy. He hadn’t planned on getting sick and having this chance, but he figured it would be fun to give her a chance to see them in the future. Not that he had exactly told Pyrrha about his plan before now.

After a few minutes of eager deliberation, Pyrrha held up a movie like a child in a toy store.

“Perfect.” He offered, happy to watch whatever she had picked. She had happened to pick an animated movie that had come out a few years prior, a real success. Not many knew it, but Pyrrha actually had a fondness for “cute” things, despite her calm graceful demeanor.

Putting the movie in, Pyrrha moved back to the couch, pausing before sitting down. “Snacks…” She muttered, trying to recall if she had any.

“Hall closet. Upper shelves. Choose any you want.” He offered.

Pyrrha’s eyes widened before she grinned. Moving over, she quickly opened the cabinets. Normally she would be a bit more reserved about eating snacks from someone else’s house, but they had all been so insistent after all. Plus, Jaune would be sharing them with her, so she figured it was okay. Settling on some chocolates, her weakness, and a bag of popcorn. While she was popping the bag, Jaune set up the movie to the opening.

Setting down some fresh water for Jaune, Pyrrha got herself a glass of lemonade before she went and got the popcorn. Feeling sufficiently prepared, she grabbed a spare blanket off one of the chairs in case Jaune got cold, before she flipped off the lights. Sitting next to him Jaune happily, she eagerly looked at the screen.

By this point, Jaune seemed to be mostly recovered, and was just exhausted. This meant Pyrrha would be able to relax and watch the movie.

Looking over at Pyrrha, Jaune frowned slightly. “Are you sure it’s okay to be so close? I’m still sick you know.”

Pyrrha just smiled slightly, ruffling up his hair. “Your sickness seems to be passing. I’ll take the chance.” She said cheekily before she scooted over, resting her shoulders against his. She had a feeling she wouldn’t get sick, and she honestly just wanted to be near him right now. Being in the same house all day and needing to keep her distance was getting to her a little. So she’d risk it.

Jaune flushed, before nodding. “Uh… sure! Yeah… sounds good.” He stammered out, just happy to be around her as well.

Starting the movie, he took the bowl of popcorn Pyrrha had offered him. Even if she was willing to be this close, it was probably safer to have separate bowls for eating.

Shifting slightly to get comfy, she pulled off her hoodie and settled in next to Jaune. Soon, she was lost in the film, watching it in childish innocence.

Having seen it a few times before, Jaune was content letting his mind drift as they watched it, occasionally looking over to watch Pyrrha’s face react to the events of the movie. She really was adorable, especially when she was able to let down her composure.

As the movie went on, Jaune felt his eyes growing heavier and heavier. It seemed difficult to stay awake, especially when the film wasn’t new to him.

More and more, Pyrrha found Jaune leaning against her, not that she would complain. Eventually, he was out cold, sleeping soundly on her shoulder. Pyrrha glanced over, and let out a content sigh. Shifting slightly, careful to avoid waking him, she shifted him so he was laying down. Moving a pillow to her lap, soon Jaune was laying across the couch with his head in her lap. Turning her attention back to the movie, she continued to softly play with Jaune’s hair as she watched the end of the film.

By the time the credits were rolling, Pyrrha was finding herself tired. Jaune was still fast asleep in her lap, and she didn’t want to wake him up. The soft smile on his face seemed too serene to disrupt. Glancing outside, she could tell night was starting to fall. Her eyes drooping, she decided a small rest wouldn’t hurt.

Leaning back, she shifted slightly and adjusted a pillow before closing her eyes. Before long, she was out as well.

Her sleep was rather short, but blissful. She awoke to the sound of the door opening, shifting slightly as she leaned over Jaune suddenly, unsure of what was going on. Seeing a familiar warm smile, Jaune’s mother entered the door. She raised a finger, indicating Pyrrha to keep it down as she crept through the house, depositing her bags. Pyrrha felt the chains of sleep trying to pull her back under, and before long she was out cold again.

The next time she woke up, Jaune’s mother was gently shaking her shoulder.

“Honey, it’s getting late. You’re more than welcome to spend the night here, but I don’t think it would good for either of your backs to sleep on the couch, as cute as you two are.”

Pyrrha yawned, shaking her head. “I should probably get back. I appreciate the offer.”

Jaune’s mom smiled softly. “I understand. The offer is always open though.” Looking down at Jaune, who was still asleep she just let out a soft sigh. “He sure is lucky. I’ll leave him to you.” She said with a wink before leaving the room.

Pyrrha began playing with his hair. “Jaune, I gotta get up.” She said in a gentle tone.

After a moment Jaune began to stir, blinking and waking up. The first thing he saw when he opened his eyes was Pyrrha’s warm and amused smile staring back at him. “I uh… guess I fell asleep, huh?”

Chuckling softly Pyrrha nodded, her hair cascading down around him. “A little while ago, yeah.”

Jaune yawned, stretching slightly like a cat before sitting up. He rubbed his eyes tiredly, flashing Pyrrha his usual goofy smile.

Pyrrha just laughed, reaching up and messing with his hair again. He still looked adorable when he was sleepy.

Standing up after a moment, Jaune began to stretch his back. Pyrrha mimicked him, popping her back. Jaune had a bit of a better position during their nap, and Pyrrha was feeling a bit sore. Nothing a good soak and a good night’s sleep wouldn’t fix.

Noticing Pyrrha’s usual signs of discomfort Jaune frowned slightly. “Sorry, that couldn’t have been too comfortable… you’re a good pillow though… heh.”

Pyrrha just smiled, shaking her head. “No worries Jaune, I’m glad you could get some more rest. I’ll be fine. How are you feeling though?” She turned on the table on him.

Jaune smiled. “Better! Almost back to normal. I should be good to go by tomorrow.” He said, pumping his fist.

Pyrrha just covered her mouth as she laughed, relieved to see him in such high spirits again.

Jaune’s mother entered the room, holding up her keys. “I’ll drive you home since it’s so late. Say goodbye to each other than meet me out front.” She said with a playful smirk, spinning her keys around her finger as she left.

Pyrrha began to gather her stuff up as Jaune cleaned up the room with a yawn. Moving to the doorway, all packed up she paused at the door. Turning to Jaune, she smiled nervously.

Jaune scratched the back of his head nervously. “Uhh… thanks again Pyrrha. I really appreciate it.”

Pyrrha shook her head. “I told you Jaune, I’m just glad to see you feeling better. I’ll count on you to take care of me if I start feeling sick.” She said with a wink and a laugh.

Jaune nodded eagerly. “I promise!” He said dutifully.

Snickering Pyrrha just leaned up, and kissed him on his forehead. “An Arc never goes back on his word.”

Blushing, Jaune reached up, gently cupping her chin as he leaned up and kissed her head in return. “I wish I could offer you something…” He said after a moment with a frown.

“Already took care of it Jaune.” Jaune’s mother called out from the car, holding out a cardboard box.

They both just turned and laughed. It seemed Pyrrha couldn’t escape them without food, even if Jaune was out of commission.

“Well, I guess I should go now.” Pyrrha mumbled a bit awkwardly, still not fond of saying goodbye to Jaune.

“Yeah… well. Take care. Thanks again Pyrrha, you really are the best.” He said, flashing her a grin.

Pyrrha just looked at him for a moment, before she quickly leaned forward and gave him a peck on the lips.

Jaune’s eyes widened in shock. “Pyrrha, but I’m…”

Giggling, Pyrrha just shook her head. “I couldn’t resist. I’ll see you soon!” She said before turning and making her way over to his mom’s car.

Pyrrha quickly got in the car, hiding her blush as she took the box the mom offered.

“You two are so cute. Thanks again Pyrrha, really. He’s really lucky to have someone like you.”

Pyrrha shook her head smiling. “I’m incredibly lucky to have met someone like him as well.”

Jaune’s mother just let out a content sigh as she began to drive Pyrrha back to the dorms. “Ah, youth.”

Before long, Pyrrha was waving goodbye to Jaune’s mom as she made her way back the rest of the way to her dorms.

When she finally approached her door, team RWBY’s opened as 4 sets of curious eyes popped out.

“Is he okay?” Ruby asked.

Smiling, Pyrrha nodded. “He’s feeling much better. Don’t worry.”

Team RWBY let out a collective group of relieved sighs, though some more obvious than others. After wishing her a good night, they disappeared back into their room.

Opening her door, the rest of team JNPR looked up.

“Is he okay?” Jane asked worriedly.

Pyrrha smiled. “He’ll be fine.”

Nodding, Ren smiled. “That’s very good to hear. Now, we got one more week till the Vytal festival.”

Pyrrha nodded, as she set her stuff down, gathering her pajamas. “I think we’re ready for it. Our team will have a whole family spectating us according to Mrs. Arc so let’s make sure we get the practice we need.”

The rest of her team agreed as Pyrrha made her way over to get changed. She was really relieved to see that Jaune was feeling better, and though the way she had spent time with him wasn’t exactly her ideal with him being sick, she felt refreshed and ready to tackle the next week.

The Vytal festival was coming up soon, and she would be ready to put on a show for Jaune and his family. For the first time in a while, she would be excited to enter a tournament. For so long it had become a sort of duty for her. Sure, she enjoyed competing, and was happy to make her fans proud but after a while it had come to feel like work. A duty she was completing as she trained to be a huntress. But now, as she thought about Jaune watching her, she felt a new sense of drive. She wanted to show him her best side. She also wanted to win with her team, knowing how hard they had all been working.

Returning to her room and slipping into her bed, Pyrrha let out a soft sigh.

One more week, to train and spar. She would make sure to give it her all. She would bring home a victory for her team, for herself, and for Jaune who she felt a desire to grow stronger for. She knew they would go far together, and the Vytal festival was just one step in her journey.

XxXxXxXxX

Thank you for reading! I’m very very sorry this took so long. This chapter was just an absolute nightmare for me to write. Normally when I sit down to write I can just breeze through a chapter in a few hours in one sitting. I had this open since pretty much the day after my last chapter, and tried to get through it so many times but it was not working for me. I really hope this chapter is okay :/ I’m not too proud of it but I need to move forward with this or I’ll be stuck here. This series is wrapping up, there’s about 4 ish chapters left for the main story. Afterwards theres a few other things I want to write. I will still be getting to the prompts you sent in! Sorry for how long those are taking, but I really wanted to get this chapter out before I went back and wrote any of the other prompts. 

[motorclit]

I know I”m going to sound ungrateful to some extent, but context is important.  I didn’t even ask my parents for birthday gifts.  I was content with just having D&D night with my husband and friends.

So my birthday was yesterday.  I’ve just become 29.  I had a wonderful birthday.  My husband made me breakfast and coffee, we went to our friend’s and had D&D night, grilled some chicken over a charcoal fire, played Cards Against Humanity, and I won two games in a row of Liars’ Dice (and it was the only two games we played), the first round I didn’t lose a single die.  I had a lot of fun.  And after eating breakfast and having coffee, I even started my day with “Birthday” by Cruxshadows while getting dressed in my current favorite outfit that I could throw together with what I had.  I had such a lovely birthday.

Of course, I didn’t get to go to bed at a decent time because of insomnia again, which I expected.  I made sure Jeremy got up on time for work, and I went back to sleep.  I woke up again at almost noon and had to pee, but Jeremy was using the bathroom next to my room.  So I had to drowsily go to the other bathroom which I’d walk past my parents to do.  My mom had a plastic bag with something in it saying, “I didn’t think to give you this yesterday.”  I told her not now, I wanna go back to bed, and to wait until I’m more awake.

So after doing my business, I went back to bed and didn’t get up until around 4pm (a standard time for me to wake up at).  Mom’s still at work, so I walk out and dad’s on the computer.  After getting my coffee, I asked what it was that mom wanted to give me.  He says, “It’s in the bag on the ironing board.”  So I got and look and it’s an apron.

The plastic bag had the store’s logo of “Tractor Supply,” and the apron was patterned with minimalist plaid, baby chicks, and the phrase “for peeps sake.”  And it just confused the living hell out of me.

So when mom gets home about an hour later, I’m making a second cup of coffee and she asked me if I liked the gift she got me.

But wait, lemme unpack this...  With no context of my mother’s background in buying certain gifts for me.

Yesterday was my birthday and she didn’t think to give it to me then.  Did she go to Tractor Supply yesterday or was it beforehand and she simply forgot about giving me something on my birthday?  (Again, I don’t care about gifts at this point, it all depends on how I spent my birthday.  I don’t mind getting nothing for my birthday.)  She even told me she didn’t think to give it to me yesterday.

I asked my dad why mom got me the apron, and he went, “Well, you’re an artist.”  Okay, fair enough.  Except I never asked for one.  I never needed one.  I don’t even do much in the kitchen that would require an apron except for washing dishes, and that Garfield half-apron is fine to me because it covers the part of me where I don’t want to get my clothes/pajamas soaked.  I don’t do anything with my art that would warrant clothing protection.  I’m not particular about avoiding getting paint on my clothes anyways like my mom and dad are.  Hell, I think it adds character, but I don’t do it on purpose.  And charcoal?  That’s easily washed out of clothes.  Acrylic paint isn’t.

Which brings me to this: why on Earth would I ever want an apron that has a pattern like this on it if it will get covered with acrylic paint which, by the way, does not wash out of fabric?

Then there’s the tag.  The tag is left on, but the price is torn off.  Mom doesn’t want me to see how much she paid for it.  This part bothers me the most.  How much money did she waste on an apron I’m not going to use?

Okay, unpacking pre-mother interaction on this is completed.

So like I said, while I was making my coffee, she asked me if I liked the gift that she got me.  I didn’t answer yes or no at all.  Instead I asked, “Why did you get me an apron?”  And my tone wasn’t mean or anything.  I played dumb as if I didn’t talk to dad about it.  My mom told me the artist bit, and I told her what I told dad.  Then she went, “Well I remember you telling me how much you liked aprons.”  I went, “Yeah, aprons with cats or Halloween on it.”  Again, no shit tone.  The whole time, I was confused in a sense, and that’s pretty much the tone I gave off.

“Well, I thought it was cute.”

“You can buy things for yourself, you know, mom.”

“Yeah but I don’t wear aprons.”

.....

Ever heard the saying about gifts “it’s the thought that counts”?  I can tell what she was thinking when she got the apron.  But hey, at least it’s not a ladle* all wrapped up in wrapping paper.

My mom has had a history of squeezing in farm and western and horse crap into gift bundles since I was a kid.  I can’t tell you how many books on horses I got, how many farm-themed things I got, or horse statues, etc.  I mean, yeah, mom got me stuff relating to what I was actually interested in as a kid and teenager, but she squeezed that crap in.  Crap that literally only she liked that she obviously saw me having absolutely no interest in.

Back while growing up, my mother manipulated me into raising farm animals for 4-H as if they’re the only 4-H projects I could do.  I did insect-collecting for my first project, but after that, she didn’t allow me to do that.  I wanted to do art and archery.  The art projects never happened, and archery only happened when I was in high school.  However, my mom made me show goats and chickens and if I told her no, she got mad.  Why?  Because she went through all the trouble of talking with someone to arrange a day where I’d go and pick my first goat.  She went through all the trouble of making sure she knew exactly where to buy all the stuff needed to raise chickens with.

And where are these animals?  Oh, they got sold when I wasn’t in 4-H anymore.  She forced these animals upon me, I naturally form a bond with them, and now that I no longer live with them on the farm, bye-bye because they ate up money and resources.  This was all one big decade-long set-up so mom had an excuse to live on a farm to have horses because she knew my dad would say no from the get-go.  But if she tried to say that it’s good for their kids to get into college, dad would have to go with it.  She HOPED that I would get into horses and western shit like her, but when I didn’t, she had a contingency plan.

This is the same woman that birthed me that screamed at me over every little thing, making me too afraid to socialize with her and would prefer my passive-aggressive, emotionally manipulative father instead.

Has she done this in recent years?  Well, yes.  Yes, she has.

While still living in Pittsburgh and attending CCAC, I had a class in Creative Writing I proudly spoke of and about how I was doing to my mother.  My mom, who is friends with all these has-been western celebrities, sorta-known currently employed western celebrities, western personalities of the internet, etc. all on Facebook, knew one of them who published his own book and got all of his know-how’s from a “how to write” book that he recommended when my mom mentioned to him that I liked to write.  And she got me that book.

That’s a book written about at least a decade ago, despite the fact that my mother saw how thick the book was I bought for class (which was very affordable because my Creative Writing teacher wanted us to be able to afford our reading materials for class), so why would she give me a book that obviously holds less information?  Because it was recommended to her by someone who shared her interests.  My mom wouldn’t shut up about that motherfucker at xmas when she saw me unwrap that gift.

Honestly, I fucking swore that the whole chicks on the apron thing was a setup for a topic of conversation about getting chickens and raising them again but just for the free-range eggs this time, because my mom in recent years expressed missing raising chickens (aka I’m the one who took care of them so it’d be ME again) and getting “free” free-range eggs.  I figured she’d talk about that and try to hint that I’d be taking care of them because it’s a way to get me out of the house.

So far, she hasn’t said that, and I’m hoping my fears on that are not the fucking case because I literally am incapable of getting up early enough to let the chickens out, I don’t have the health to take care of them every single day, AND I NEVER ASKED FOR THEM BEFORE OR NOW.

You would think that after losing her son, she’d treasure every moment she has with the only child she has left.  I do try going out and conversing with her.  I’m an adult, I’m sure she’d be interested to get to know her adult daughter a little better since she scared her away a lot when she was a child.  I’ve spoken to my mom about my passions, my interests, what I’m proud of.  Know what she does?  Not long after I started to talk about this, 9 times outta 10 she’s paying more attention to her phone or her laptop because it has something pertaining to her fucking pseudo-western/country interests.  And there are times where I do ask her a question about something when talking about this and she doesn’t answer, because she’s stopped paying attention to me.  Sorry mom, but you’re Norma Jean Lite* after doing that so many goddamn times.

Closest thing to “farm-related” stuff that I like is growing food, but I have no experience in that and don’t even know if I have a green thumb just yet, so I still wouldn’t ask for stuff like aprons that have things like that emblazoned on them.  But if my mom DID get me an apron with vegetables on it saying, “I got it because I knew you said you wanted to grow your own food someday”, then okay.  That’s actually THOUGHTFUL.  Granted, I may not use that apron much at all since I rarely do much in the kitchen that would need an apron (I try to avoid my parents because they’re Trump-worshippers or watch shit like Last Man Standing), but the theme said “thoughtful.”  Omg, if she got me a plain white one, I’d be fucking cool with it because she knows damn well I’m an artist and I’d be totally on board with painting something on it.  But it was baby chick-themed which raised red flags after how many times in recent months I’ve heard her talking about how she wants to raise chickens again to get the free-range eggs.

“It’s the thought that counts”, and my mom’s thought is, “I want my daughter to be just like me even though she’s 29 now and has her own interests and such that differ from mine greatly.”  My dad even told me that the reason why my mom was rather distant from me when I was little was because she couldn’t relate to me.  She’s a little more agreeable right now because I’m older.  Except that’s fucking bullshit because she spoils the fuck out of other people’s children regardless if they’re a boy or a girl.  She just didn’t like the way I turned out.

I’m so damn different from my parents that they resent it.  My dad doesn’t like how I’m an anarchist and a Pagan, and my mom just never fucking liked me.  Period.  

What’s worse is that if I did anything to defend myself psychologically and call them on their shit, I could be at risk of becoming homeless.  Jeremy and I can’t make it on our own right now.  I don’t seem to qualify for any job even if I wasn’t always sick, and Jeremy’s options are all retail, and his current job working in a video game store, as much as he loves video games, stresses him out to the point where he frequently gets sick, too.  Until my parents are capable of moving north, we can’t go back to college with a better vision of what we wanna do in mind because THERE IS NOTHING AROUND HERE COLLEGE-WISE THAT WILL BENEFIT US IN THE LONG-RUN.

I have to somehow play dumb and innocent when it comes to confronting my mom about her bullshit.  Thank goodness she doesn’t explode anymore, but it adds insult to injury for her to grin about it the whole fucking time.

*ladle - My grandma was a mean bitch that favored her first-born son and treated her daughters (my mom and her sister/my aunt) like shit.  While she bought expensive things for my uncle, post-having grandchildren, btw, she gave my mom and my aunt both ladles that were bonus items from orders she got from a Fingerhut catalog as xmas gifts...

**Norma Jean Lite - Norma Jean is my grandma’s name, and my mom, while nowhere near as bad as her, shows a LOT of similarities regarding how she treated me as opposed to my brother, and her use of psychological manipulation to get what she wants.  Granted, she’s not a blunt and hostile as my grandma, but still.  Thanks to my mom leaving me with lots of psychological damage, I can’t function in certain settings or with certain things, such as answering a phone, asking for help, or someone screaming (especially if it’s her).  The difference between my mom’s relationship with my grandmother and my relationship with my own mother is that my mom has scared me away and I did my best to avoid her.  Learning attitudes and behaviors of others largely came from television and classmates (and, to some lesser extent, Dragonball Z), but the fact that I was a loud child or sometimes lost my temper with certain shit was learned from both of my parents.  I’ve greatly improved on this within the recent decade.  Spending a lot of time purposefully trying to isolate myself from my parents as a child made me the weird kid, especially when it came to my interests which I had a death-grip on as coping mechanisms.  I have learned to channel my anger into other things like leftist views and avoiding any and all things xtian crap, etc.  My mother is the polar opposite when I’m not around when it comes to her anger.

[stilliamgrowing-blog]

Jan 12, 2017 10:24am

okay so yesterday was my first full day living here. i was so busy literally all day, otherwise i would’ve written. it was a good day though! i got a lot done. i guess i should go back to tuesday and start from there. 

SO, tuesday, my flight landed around 1pm and my grandma picked me up from the airport. it was about an hour drive from the airport to Fort Collins, where she dropped me off and left me with my step dad. him and i got lunch, then shopped around a bit for things i’d need in my new house. we went to target and got a few things, (laundry hamper, body wash, towels, etc.) then we went  around to mattress stores to compare prices. dude, beds are so fucking expensive. like ridiculously. $200-thousands. after shopping around for a bit, we picked up my mom from work. i got a salad at the Sprouts right by her job, then they drove me to my grandma’s house, where i was set to stay for the night. after eating my salad, i got in bed and called D and fell asleep. 

yesterday morning, D and i talked on the phone first thing, which was super nice. this long distance thing is scary and i’m sure will be hard (it already is hard, i miss him so much it makes my heart hurt sometimes), but talking on the phone helps. and we set a schedule so that every tuesday/ thursday, we’ll FaceTime or Skype or something. we also wanna watch a show together. neither of us have seen Parks & Rec and we both have wanted to, so we’re going to start it. i think we’re going to watch the first episode tonight. but ANYWAYS, after D and i hung up, i went down to my grandma’s basement and started organizing my shit and getting everything together that i wanted to bring to my new house. i’d left a bunch of my stuff there for storage over the last few months, so most of my clothes were down there, as well as my art supplies and books, candles, blankets, etc. i got all that crap together, made myself a breakfast of scrambled eggs, salad, and oranges (i’m trying to be healthy) and then got dressed and loaded everything into her car. 

her and i left around 10:45 and headed to the Bed Bath & Beyond right by her house. we shopped around for a bit and found SUPER good deals on bedding. some of their clearance was an additional 50% off, so i got a really nice bed set that was originally something like $250 for only $30 (hell ya). she even got herself a bed set even though she didn’t need one because it was such a good price. afterwards, we drove down to Fort Collins and met my mom for lunch. We went to one of my mom’s favorite restaurants, a nice cafe, and the food was actually super good. i got a blueberry pancake, scrambled egg, and hot chocolate (yikes where’s the health? i don’t know). after we ate, we left and met my uncle at my new house, because he had transported my bed in the back of his truck ( i got so so so so lucky and my grandparents offered to let my take the full size bed and frame in their guest room, so i didn’t have to pay hundreds of dollars for a bed). we put all my suitcases and other random shit in my closet in my room, and he set up the bed frame, which is a super nice, solid dark wood. i honestly love my room and i’m sure i’ll love it even more when it’s better put together. three of the walls are this super nice pale pink, and the fourth wall is a weird blue, but i don’t mind too much. its right across the hall from the bathroom, and has a nice window that’s pretty big and gets beautiful morning light. 

after all my stuff was unloaded and the bed was set up, my grandma and uncle headed their separate ways, and my mom and i went to her house to let the dog out and breathe for a few minutes. then, we went to walmart and i found a pair of sheets that i really like that go well with the rest of my bedding. 

around 4 my mom and i went to meet this lady who had posted an ad on craigslist for a dresser for sale. its beautiful, wood matching my bed frame, with a mirror on top and five large drawers, and two little ones. that, plus a bunch of hangers and lots of closet space, works perfectly for the amount of clothes i had. the dresser is super nice too because it was barely used and all real wood (the previous owner was a 90-something year old lady who recently passed away). 

as we loaded the dresser into our truck, it started snowing. i haven’t been snowed on in years and i forgot how much i love it. it wasn’t too heavy, light and fluffy, and each snowflake that landed on me was like a little pixie kiss (from a pixie with cold lips). we drove through the snow, then unloaded the dresser into my new room. my mom helped me put it together, and make my bed with the bedding and new sheets, then she headed home and let me have some time to put things away and organize everything. a lot of my clothes are up on hangers, and in the dresser, and now they're all put away and it feels so nice. its really starting to feel like home. there’s still some stuff in suitcases, but its mostly just random stuff. 

around 6, my parents picked me up and we went to a little local restaurant where we met my sister, her mom, her best friend, and her best friends dad. it was bluegrass night, which was super cool. so i ate pizza and talked to everyone and listened to live bluegrass. 

around 8, we parted from everyone and my parents took me to target, where i got laundry supplies, a trash can, a tub to put under my bed, and some other stuff. then we went to a different store and i got some groceries. they paid for everything, which i can’t even express how much i appreciated. 

when i got home i put all my groceries away, then finished putting my clothes away, then got in bed and called D and went to sleep. this morning, i stayed in bed pretty late. i’ll get up when i’m done writing this and make some tea and breakfast and get ready for the day. i still have some unpacking i need to do, and one of my roommates invited me to go sledding if it snowed enough yesterday, so we’ll see. i think today will be a good day.