#CHAT PLEASE SEND ME SOME FRIENDLY REMINDERS IM RUNNING OUT

[1800-lemon-boy]

Friendly reminder that Bianca Di Angelo exists and she’s more than just Nicos sister.

<33

[srirachvbi]

Kageyama and Bokuto taking their kids to practice headcanons !

request: hihi i was wondering if you can do a continuation of the bringing their kids to practice with some of the other haikyuu characters? i’d love to see it with kageyama especially but honestly you can pick anyone! thank you :)

a/n: i AM SO SORRY THIS TOOK SO LONG... I have no excuses, i was too sad about haikyuu e wording but i have read threads on how to write characters on twitter and i am thriving... so n e ways i was looking for a reason to write more of these because i just... love the idea of this so tsym for requesting!! if i write more parts, i might do hoshiumi, hinata, atsumu, and... maybe oikawa? i’m a huge bokuto stan so his might be longer than kageyamas im sorry <3 and and ik that kageyama goes to italy but for the sake of i want to write other characters, i will be using the adlers oops. i will also be only doing probably two characters per post for these because i write so much for it. LMAO ALSO these are super unrealistic this would NOT be allowed during pro sports practices but for the sake of entertainment, let’s just... do it warnings: manga spoilers

Bokuto Koutarou

He had been wanting to bring Kaori to practice for a while but each time he tried to, you would be like no bitch </3 

heart been broke so many times

When you told him that you had to go into work and couldn’t schedule the nanny in time, he was like “I’LL TAKE CARE OF HER!!!”

Honestly you were only against him taking her because you were still mad at him for leaving her in the high chair for a while and you came home to her crying and him just knocked out 

Like... Kou, pls <3 

He had brought Kaori into post game interviews before but you were always there so this would really be the first time he’d take care of her by himself for a period of time longer than an hour

He’s a good parent dw !! he had just spent the whole night thinking about the most random shit and he ended up sleeping like three hours 

He was thinking about horses cause Ushijima brought them up in an interview >:0

You were still mad tho 

It had been a while and he had actually shown to you that he could take care of her by himself so you were fine with him taking her to practice

He was super pumped and was practically shaking in excitement (he was texting Akaashi the whole morning asdlfjskdf)

Bokuto-san AGHASHEE!!!!! Y/N IS LETTING ME TAKE KAORI  TO PRACTICE!!!!!!!!! AGHASHEE Congrats, Bokuto-san. 

That conversation but every two minutes

I’m sorry Akaashi <3 

He also texts the whole group chat and Hinata’s equally as excited

Kaori and Hinata were best friends !!!! She literally loved him

Like he would put her on his shoulders and they’d run around for hours

How he has so much energy goes beyond everyone but it’s fun to watch 

You lectured him for half an hour about what he should do in certain situations and unlike most times, he listened really well because :(( the baby cares about Kaori

Both Kaori and him actually walked with you to the train station and saw you off before heading to practice !! 

He normally drives to practice because he has a super nice car and it’s easier to drive with Kaori instead of public transportation

When they get to the gym, he goes running in with Kaori on his shoulders 

“WE HAVE ARRIVEEEED!!!!!!!!” 

cue Hinata cheering super loudly

Kaori’s giggling and being all cute omg i love her

She was being carried in on her dad’s shoulders so Bo lets her down and she immediately runs (read: waddles quickly) to Hinata

“Hinata-nii!!!!”

Hinata starts crying-- jk, no

He goes “Kaori-chan!” and scoops her up in his beefy arms 

BEEFY HINATA BEEFY HINATA BEEFY HINATA

Sorry

She’s giggling and she like kisses his cheek and everyone’s like “so cute...” ohmyogd babies

Similar to her dad, she’s super friendly!! and a bit simple minded

It’s literally in her blood to not actually hate anyone so she gets along with EVERYONE at practice

She even makes the coach super soft omg

Atsumu’s just watching her and being like “child. want. child-- oh god, i need a kid.” cause she’s just so god damn cute

Lol atsumu having twins cause it’s a gene or smth idk biology

I barely passed bio please spare me <3

I actually got an 80 smth on my final last year don’t listen to me

Sakusa being hesitant at first to be near her but she’s actually super sweet to him!!

CAUSE LIKE HER DAD SHE’S ACTUALLY REALLY EMOTIONALLY INTELLIGENT AND CAN READ PEOPLE REALLY WELL

like she saw Sakusa’s face and was like “oh!! I remember what dad said!!” 

Kou talks about his teammates a lot and somehow Kaori remembered him telling her about how Sakusa’s a germaphobe so she’s like

“Sir!! I washed my hands!! I’m not dirty!!” and he

He just 👁👄👁 

He thinks she’s cute and treasures her now

Suddenly Kaori has a whole team of dads

it’s okay

Bokuto itching to let her play volleyball but at the same time worrying about her if she does

It’s like the angel and the devil on his shoulders

One sides like

let her pLAY!!!!! LET HER PLAY (read it as if it’s the LEt ME INNN meme)

While the other sides like

👁👄👁 (y/n) will kill me if she gets hurt and i’ll kill myself if she gets hurt and hinata will kill me if she gets hurt-

In the end he gives her a volleyball after she asks once and he’s like ‘PFFT KAORI-CHAN IF YOU INSIST’ while she’s like

dude i asked to play once and normally someone disagrees with me tf are you on, sir? 

she tries to pick the ball up but it ends up being half her size and it’s just... such a cute image

Bo takes a picture of it and sends it to you!!

You reply back in seconds lol

Kou-kun ❤💖 [image.jpeg] LOOK AT HER!! FUTURE PRO (Y/N)-CHAN!! (Y/N) MY LOVE ❤💕❤💕💕❤💕❤💕 be careful letting her hold that it’s too big!! but so cute!!! have fun taro <3

He ends up taking the ball away after a bit because she can’t walk while holding it

Eventually practice has to start tho so he asks her to sit on the bench and she’s an obedient angel and does so !!

The whole time she’s like swinging her legs and watching her dad practice

It’s fun for her to see him play 

Okay but like I’ve said, she’s similar to her dad

At one point at practice during a break, she stole Atsumu’s water and was running around the gym with him chasing her

He was ofc not actually chasing her cause he found it cute that she was trying to steal his stuff

Lol Sakusa being like “oh, you can’t catch up to a child? are your knees getting bad, old man?”

Atsumu’s like “bro, we���re the same age”

Sakusa ignores him

She ends up TRIPPInG AND ATSUMU’s LIke “Oh fuck” 

SHE CRIES

omg Bokuto’s like “tsum tsum-- do you want to die 👁👄👁🗡” because she just got hurt because of him

Atsumu picks her up and is apologizing so god damn much

This is the first time anyone’s seen Bokuto remotely irritated

Kaori: WAAAHHHH

Atsumu: please, child... i don’t want to die today... please... shhhhhhh

He lets her down and she walks (read: waddles) over to her dad and is giving him puppy eyes omg

Bokuto stops being mad and scoops her up and he’s like “did Kao-chan get a boo boo” and she nods, sniffling

Ohmygod dad bokuto dad bokuto dad bokuto stop

suddenly I actually want kids

no

Shion ends up getting a first aid kit since Meian asked (woah more black jackals players except I don’t really know how to write for them??? woahhh)

Shion roasts Atsumu with Sakusa for letting her fall and suddenly Atsumu’s the bad guy

lol

By the end of practice tho Kaori’s fine !!!

She’s back to her regular happy self so cute :(

She asks Bo to call you and when you pick up she shows you her bandaid on her knee and is like “Miya-san was chasing me and I fell!!”

Suddenly Atsumu feels a cold chill and knows you found out lol

Hi this is (y/n), and you’re watching disney channel-

good luck, atsumu *stops camera*

Kageyama Tobio

He

sigh

He would be equally as confused as a father as Ushijima

It’s okay, he’s trying his best

You normally work from home so you guys haven’t really hired a nanny! 

And if you needed someone to watch your guys’ son, Sho (which can mean to fly oho see what I did there I’m so smart), you just drop him off at your parents’ house or Miwa’s!

WAIT SHO... SHOYO... WAIT I DIDN’T EVEN DO THIS ON PURPOSE IM LITERALLY

However, today was the only time you had to go in for like the next few months and both your parents and Miwa are busy

So, you enlist in your husbands help

“Tobio... I need you to watch Sho...” 

He spits out his milk “wHAT” cause like,, he’s hardly taken care of Sho by himself and normally had either his sister or you around

He doesn’t actually spit out his milk-- you’d kill him if he did because it would be a pain in the ass to clean up <3

It takes a bit of convincing being he’s really nervous about taking care of Sho!!

Okay but he’s a great dad dw it’s just he’s nervous about having another human being literally rely on him completely

You also just remind him that Romero’s a father so he won’t be completely on his own while taking care of Sho

So he somehow gets to the gym with Sho in one piece but he’s literally so stiff like bro, i need you to relax

Hoshiumi yelling “KAGEYAMA SHO!!!!!!!” and Sho (who has actually met the team like two times) goes like “HOFIUMI-SAN!!!!!” 

Sho’s a bit of an energetic bby-- he’s less emotionally constipated than his dad <3

He’s... he reminded you guys of Shoyo and well, you thought it would be nice to name him after his god father

No this isn’t a kagehina post i swear i love them but this is me saying that i love their friendship sm omg stop im gonna cry 402 really just popped into my head again

Hoshiumi getting mad when he sees that Sho has actually grown even though he’s a grown ass man and the little toddler would not, in fact, be catching up that soon

“KAGEYAMA SHO HAVE YOU GROWN >:0000!!!!!” 

Sir, pls... sit down

The Adlers all love Sho since they’ve come into contact with him like twice at games before 

Ushijima just... doesn’t know how to interact with Sho

He just stares down at him and honestly Sho stares back up without fear

Kageyama Sho: no (0) fears 

I think it’s cause his father gives a similar stare sometimes and he just... got used to it

Ushijima gives him that stare and Sho just goes SIGH this again

Jk he’s a baby

He literally looks up at Ushiwaka and gives him this cute ass grin and Ushijima’s like “oh, children are very cute.”

Thank you, Wakatoshi-kun

Romero does, in fact, give Kags some tips about fathering and ends up showing pictures of Rubens to the team (love that) 

OKAY BUT LIKE OFF TOPIC FROM THE PRACTICE BUT

Sho being such a big fan of Hinata and being like “woAHHH!!! I’M NAMED AFTER HIM!!!” 

Hinata rubs it in Kags face because Sho practically idolizes him

anyways

Practice starts and Sho’s just sitting on the gym floor with a volleyball in his hands cause he

Kags just giving newborn Sho a volleyball and expecting him to become acquainted

It worked

Sho’s used to holding onto volleyballs and even tries to hit it but everytime he did, he’d fall backwards onto his lil bum and would be like :(

Kageyama watching from the other side of the gym and his heart just goes AHHHHHHHHHH

He’s about to cry that is the cutest thing he’s ever seen

Sho making sure he doesn’t interrupt practice!!! and like chasing after the ball to make sure it doesn’t go onto the courts!!!

Cute babs is so good :(

He ends up tripping tho and starts to tear up and Kags is watching during practice and goes “OH GOD”

He’s literally whipping his head from Sho to his coach and has this desperate look on his face 

he’s saying “JUST ONE BREAK!! JUST ONE, SIR!!” with his eyes and his coach just gives in

Kageyama going from one side of the gym to the next at insane speed

Sho: dad :((( i hwurt my knee :(((

Kags just picks him up and cradles him to his chest (he does this after making sure there’s no blood or anything-- it’s literally just a little bit red) 

Kags being a good dad just... WEAK

Only like two minutes later, Sho stops sniffling and is like “!!! go back to practice daddy!!” 

Kags does and he can’t focus on Sho anymore cause his coach would yell at him asldfjlsf

At the end of practice, Sho is like “dad i wanna play voweyball!!!!!!” and Kags heart just CLENCHES

He grabs his heart like that meme or smth 

You call them cause you know when practice normally ends and Sho’s just talking a lot and it’s so cute

He’s super excited and you’re like !!! My CUTE CHILD !!!!

Lol you tease Kags cause he was worrying about nothing

“Maybe I’ll let you take care of him by yourself more often Tobio” “Pls, I lost ten years of my life when I saw him fall pls not yet <3″ 

[thisoldquill]

The Wedding

An original fanfiction, rated G

Please do not repost my work. All original work of the Harry Potter world is not mine, just this piece.

This scene from the Deathly Hallows really inspired me to get re-acquainted with my OC, Charlotte Yang, that I made ages ago. Now that I am older, my character has grown with me and I wanted to explore her path as she becomes an adult during the Second Wizarding War. There’s a lot of backstory I didn’t explain in this fanfic (like befriending Fleur Delacour and George Weasley, or moving to Paris) but I’ll get there, I promise! I wanted to focus more on her post-Hogwarts journey mostly because we’re the same age now and both navigating our lives after school. If literally none of this interests you, skip it! But please do not send me rude comments about my work.

-Ms. Cinnamon

~~~

             Charlotte checked herself once more in the mirror beside the bed before reaching for her traveling cloak. She had decided on wearing a pretty sapphire blue sheath dress with a matching bolero jacket and heels, her hair pinned back into a neat chignon with a glittering jewel hairpin; surely this ensemble wouldn’t upstage the bride, although, that would be very difficult to do. Quickly striding to the door, she plucked the large wrapped gift box from the coffee table and locked the door behind her. Charlotte was headed off to her old friend’s wedding and made sure to book a room at the Leaky Cauldron as soon as she’d gotten her invitation. It was much easier to take a Portkey from Paris to Diagon Alley, then Disapparate to the Burrow, than to attempt Disapparate over one long trip (which might increase chances of splinching!). Not to mention it had taken many weeks of persuasion of her head of Department, Madame LaFlamme, to allow her to visit Britain for a few days. Tension had been brewing between the French and British Ministries of Magic ever since You-Know-Who had returned, so many employees alike were being restricted in non-essential travel. Her heels clipped purposefully on the cobbled road as she walked to the central courtyard, then she steadied herself to concentrate hard on the Burrow. Charlotte felt herself contort uncomfortably for a few seconds, and with a loud pop!, arrived a short distance away from the Burrow.

             There were several large white tents being hoisted up to stand erect in the field around the sloping house and she could see several red-headed people magicking the finishing touches on them. She picked up the pace to the house as to avoid running into a certain one of the red-headed men… Now at the front entrance, she rapped on the door and was met with a harried looking woman, Mrs. Weasley.

             ‘Hello, welcome! I’m afraid the wedding isn’t until later, but do come in for some tea,’ she invited Charlotte, her eyes roaming over her face in vague recognition. Charlotte had met Mrs. Weasley before but it was all very long ago now.

             ‘Do not worry, Molly,’ Fleur spoke while appearing from around the corner, ‘I asked ‘er to come a little early to ‘elp me.’ Mrs. Weasley looked relieved to not have to entertain Charlotte and bustled off. Fleur stretched her arms out and wrapped them around Charlotte in a warm embrace.

             ‘’Ow was ze journey?’ she asked and pulled back. ‘I ‘ope you didn’t ‘ave too much trouble.’

             ‘Oh, not much. I did have to remind Madame Laflamme several times that I was leaving though,’ Charlotte replied, ‘this is for you.’ She passed the pretty gift box over to Fleur, who’s eyes lit up with curiosity.

             ‘Ah merci! May I open it?’ she asked, eyeing the box in her hands. Charlotte smiled and nodded, to which Fleur unwrapped the box carefully and took the lid off. Inside sat a set of 12 glistening crystal goblets, a large crystal bowl, and a ladle with a long gold handle. Fleur gasped in delight and picked up a goblet to admire it.

             ‘Oh, ‘ow beautiful! I cannot wait to use zis!’ she gushed. Charlotte beamed back at her delighted friend; she had searched high and low along Champs-Elysée for the perfect wedding gift and knew that this set was the one when she saw it.

             ‘I’m glad you like it. Gives me an excuse to come visit more often.’ she joked. As Fleur stowed the goblet away, her fiancé, Bill, entered the room.

             ‘Bill, come meet my dear friend Charlotte!’ Fleur called out and Bill strode over. He held out his hand and Charlotte noted how confidently he shook it; Fleur had chosen a fine man indeed.

             ‘Hi, I’m Charlotte, I think we may have met before?’ she inquired as they shook hands. She’d only visited once before, but the man looked familiar.

             ‘Oh probably, one summer or another ago, it’s hard to keep track of who’s been here over the years,’ he smiled kindly then left to go help with the preparations. Fleur took Charlotte’s arm and led her upstairs to her makeshift bridal suite. It was Charlie Weasley’s old room and white curtains had been hung up all around to cover old posters and create a more bridal atmosphere. There were bouquets of flowers sitting in their vases on the window sills with notes of congratulations and Fleur’s wedding accessories were laid out on the vanity (‘a gift from Bill,’ Fleur had explained). Charlotte was led inside and saw Gabrielle Delacour and Mrs. Delacour sitting on the bed, now set in white bed linens, and chatting in French.

             ‘Maman, I ‘ave brought Charlotte,’ Fleur announced and Mrs. Delacour looked up. Although Charlotte had become more acquainted with Fleur’s family during her time in Paris, she still felt dreadfully inadequate trying to speak in French to them. Before she could try to string a horrible sentence together, Mrs. Delacour glided over and bestowed a kiss on both of her cheeks.

             ‘Eet is so lovely to see you again,’ Mrs. Delacour said warmly in a thick French accent, ‘please come visit us once we are back in Paris.’ Gabrielle came up and gave her a friendly peck on the cheek before going over to admire her sister’s dress. After pleasantries were exchanged, Charlotte turned to Fleur,

             ‘How can I help?’ she asked as Fleur began running a silver comb through her long hair.

             ‘It is quite alright, Maman and Gabrielle will ‘elp me dress later on,’ Fleur caught her eye in the mirror, ‘I wanted to catch up with you before I become Mrs. Weasley.’ Mrs. Delacour tactfully stood up to leave the room, with a complaining Gabrielle in tow, and shut the door behind them. Fleur paused her combing as she watched the door securely shut after her mother and sister, then rounded on Charlotte.

             ‘So? ‘ave you gone to talk to George yet?’ Fleur whipped her head around, her eyes gleaming with mischief. Charlotte felt herself blush immediately and crossed her arms. She had been strategically ambushed.

             ‘What do you mean? Why would I talk to George?’ she retorted defiantly. Fleur tossed her hair and went to stretch out on the bed.

             ‘Oh please, Bill told me everything about zis predicament. Not to mention ‘ow you couldn’t even speak to ‘im after ze Yule Ball,’ Fleur sighed and made herself more comfortable on the many throw pillows. “I think ‘e likes you too”. Charlotte shrugged and kicked off her heels to join her friend among the mountain of throw pillows. There was no use in hiding these things from Fleur, she usually had a way of finding them out.

             ‘All that’s in the past though. The Yule Ball was, what, 4 years ago? I am totally over him,’ Charlotte murmured. ‘Besides, it’s too late to bring up all that, especially at your wedding.’

             ‘Nonsense! It is never too late for someone as wonderful and kind and intelligente as you!’ Fleur said fiercely and several throw pillows rolled off the bed as she jerked up to look Charlotte hard in the eyes, ‘I will make certain zat you ‘ave a chance to reconcile!’ Charlotte felt a rush of affection as she watched Fleur get more worked up and jam the pillows back onto the pile. She knew it was hard for Fleur to make friends because of her blunt nature, but she was deeply loyal to ones she kept.

             ‘Besides, if you become my belle-soeur, it would be much easier to visit each other,’ Fleur added as an afterthought and settled back onto the pillows.

             ‘Yeah, and then we’ll get sick of each other,’ Charlotte laughed and the two of them fell into comfortable conversation; it was as if they were back at Hogwarts, relaxing by the lake after a long day of classes. At last, it was time for Fleur to get ready, and Charlotte slipped out quietly to leave the Delacours to prepare as a family. She descended the spiraling staircase and into the landing. There were people everywhere now, and the mountain of wedding gifts by the fireplace was so large, it was spilling into the kitchen. She tried to help Mrs. Weasley but was shooed out to the garden with the other guests. It was late afternoon now, with the sun still shining over the white tents making them dazzle and a few wayward gnomes were starting to crawl back into the bushes. Charlotte was going to walk right up to the entrance of the largest tent, then stopped; she was suddenly very aware that she’d come without a date. So, she stood awkwardly to the side, as couples began to file in, and debated if she should wait until she could enter unnoticed (‘I really should have brought Axel with me,’ she muttered to herself), but felt a soft tap on her shoulder. She spun around to see Luna Lovegood and her father smiling at her. Both were wearing garish marigold-yellow dress robes that clashed horribly with their blond hair; though once you got over the shock, their ensemble actually looked quite festive.

             ‘Hi Charlotte, fancy seeing you here,’ Luna greeted in a dreamy voice, her huge eyes gazing up at her.

             ‘Hi Luna, Mr. Lovegood,’ she greeted back and blinked, recovering from the visual assault that was their dress robes. Luna had been her fellow Ravenclaw, and although they weren’t in the same year, it was still nice to see a familiar face.

             ‘We’re about to go in, care to join us?’ Luna asked and Charlotte nodded, grateful. They approached the entrance of the tent and a grumpy looking red-headed boy greeted them.

             ‘Hello Harry,’ Luna said and the boy seemed to be caught off-guard. Charlotte eye her incredulously, that was not Harry Potter at all.

             ‘Luna! How did y-,’ he sputtered while Luna smiled serenely at him.

             ‘You’ve got a certain aura; I can tell it’s you because of it,’ she replied calmly. Harry seemed to regain composure and mumbled something about Polyjuice potion, then lead them to their seats. This had startled Charlotte. If Harry Potter couldn’t even show his face at an extremely protected wedding in the middle of nowhere, then they must be preparing for the worst. Surely the Death Eaters wouldn’t try to come here? She made a mental note to ask him about this, in case she could offer insight from the French Ministry, not that it would be extremely helpful. The current rumor going around the office was that the French Minister was going to decline partaking in the looming war against You-Know-Who in Britain. Still deep in thought, she sat in her seat and was awakened from her reverie when the lights dimmed. She didn’t have time to chat to the other guests around her when music began playing. Everyone looked around to see Mr. Delacour proudly standing with Fleur, their arms looped together. They began to walk (Fleur more so gliding) down the aisle while Gabrielle and Ginny Weasley followed behind, looking pretty in gold colored dresses. Charlotte gazed at her friend, who was normally so beautiful, but now was exceptionally so as a bride. She didn’t notice that tears had welled in her eyes until one slid down her cheek. It was Fleur who was so caring and sharp-witted once you got to know her, who comforted Charlotte when her parents moved away from England, who made sure she was looked after upon moving to Paris… If anyone deserved to have a beautiful wedding, surrounded by wonderful family and friends, it was Fleur. Charlotte wiped her eyes hastily on her sleeve when she saw someone hold out a handkerchief to her.

             ‘Thank you-,’ she whispered but the rest of her sentence dried up in her throat as she looked at the person offering the handkerchief. It was George. The man she had avoided for so long, standing beside her in the dark, offering a damn handkerchief to her with a stupid grin on his face. Charlotte snatched her hand back as if burned, then turned to face Fleur and Bill, stiff as a board. It became very difficult to listen to the couple profess their love to each other and she thoroughly wished she could Disparate right then and there. Finally, the tiny wizard at the front finished speaking and waved his wand with a flourish, asking guest to please rise. The chairs vanished and a glossy dance floor was spreading out beneath their feet. With everyone letting out gushes of excitement and shuffling to speak to other guests, Charlotte used this commotion to slip away from George and into a crowd of middle-aged wizards.

             ‘Right, if I just go congratulate them, I can be on my way,’ she thought and made up her mind while working her way through the crowd towards the newlywed couple. It was quite difficult with everyone dancing and merry-making, that she ended up sidetracked on the way to Harry’s table. Charlotte then remembered she wanted to talk to him about the Polyjuice potion (and Death Eaters), so she took a glass of champagne from a passing waiter to look like she just wanted to sit down for a drink. Settling neatly into the chair adjacent to him, she noticed he was staring intently at Ginny and cleared her throat politely.

             ‘So, why the different look tonight?’ she asked cautiously and Harry’s eyes widened in surprise, ‘I suppose you’re expecting something bad to happen?’ Harry sat still, and she could tell he was debating on if he could trust her or not. As he hummed and hawed, she took a sip of champagne; it fizzed pleasantly in her mouth and went down easily as water.

             ‘Well actually, yeah,’ he finally spoke. ‘I don’t want to cause any trouble.’ He motioned to the festivities and Charlotte bobbed her head as neutrally as she could. Harry was always up to something it seemed. She had not had a single peaceful school year since he’d shown up at Hogwarts in her third year and trouble always seemed to follow in his wake. A silence ensued as she pondered what to ask next.

             ‘I’m sorry about Dumbledore, I know you had meaningful relationship with him,’ she said carefully, she didn’t want to seem to nosy. ‘And I’m certain he’s left you something to do, like the other times.’ This much was true; Dumbledore, while kind to all of his students, seemed to take a special liking to Harry. He turned sharply to face her and leaned in forward to whisper.

             ‘That’s none of your business!’ he said through gritted teeth. Ah, so there had been something. Charlotte set her glass down and leaned forward.

             ‘I know it’s not, and I’m sorry that I pried into private business. I work at the French Ministry of Magic, and I want to warn my colleagues about anything fishy going on here,’ she apologized, trying to soften her voice. ‘I wanted to know if Death Eaters were on the move to France and if I could be of assistance to you.’ Charlotte saw Harry relax and uncross his arms.

             ‘S’all right, just private matters. I don’t think Vol-, You-Know-Who is interested in France at the moment,’ he replied gruffly but looked more at ease. ‘And so far, Death Eaters haven’t fled anywhere.’

             ‘Well, send me an owl to Paris and I’ll try to help you if I can. The French Minister is being maddeningly stubborn on this,’ she scoffed at the last part, ‘he wouldn’t be too pleased if Death Eaters started popping up like weeds in France, would he?’ This last quip earned a laugh from Harry and she drank the last of her champagne. Charlotte didn’t want to ask more questions and make him uncomfortable, so they sat and watched people dancing and laughing, surprisingly taking comfort in each other’s company. Suddenly, as if the Red Sea was being parted in front of them, Fleur glided through the crowd towards their table. She beckoned for Charlotte to take her outstretched hand and follow her, which Charlotte did and she said good bye to Harry.

             ‘Don’t worry about ‘im, Viktor will keep ‘im company,’ Fleur said breathily, the excitement of the wedding leaving her a little hoarse, ‘come and dance!’ They weaved through the crowd until they stood in the middle of the dance floor. Fleur dropped Charlotte’s hand and went off to speak to the band, leaving Charlotte quite stranded and embarrassed that everyone was watching what would happen next. The wish to Disapparate was growing stronger the longer she stood there, then when almost lost her nerve, someone touched her arm gently.

             ‘May I have this dance?’ George smiled at her and bowed gallantly for extra effect. Charlotte was going to decline when she saw Fleur glaring at her with a look that said I-set-this-up-for-you-so-don’t-blow-it. Gulping, she took his hand and felt his other hand settle lightly on her waist. The music had now changed from swift, upbeat songs to a slow, romantic waltz. George had been, apparently, practicing dance for several years now judging by the way he waltzed her around the floor as if it was the most natural thing for him. Round and round they went while other guests clapped appreciatively and began joining in. Here, under the lights of the wedding, Charlotte could finally take a good look at her dance partner. His hair, flaming red as usual, was combed back smoothly and his eyes shone with something deeper than having fun with an old friend. Her eyes flicked to the smattering of freckles on his left cheek (which looked very much like the constellation Leo) and grazed slowly up to the rather bloody mess of the missing ear at the side of his head. George caught her smile and grinned,

             ‘Like my latest injury? I think it becomes me,’ he joked, Charlotte was not laughing.

             ‘What happened? Oh, George,’ she gasped. ‘Did one of your products blow up in your face?’ Momentarily forgetting that she should be avoiding him, she almost tripped over his feet as she was too busy staring at his missing ear. George shook his head playfully, still smiling, and pulled her off the dance floor. He led her to a more secluded table, away from the crowd with his hand still tightly holding hers. He glanced around, checking for eavesdroppers, then said in a low tone,

             ‘Snape’s work. He cursed it off when we moving Harry here.’

             ‘What do you mean?’ she asked, quite puzzled. Snape was literally awful to be around, but would he really attack a student?

             ‘Sorry, can’t tell you much about it, but I’ll be fine. Top priority is to keep Harry safe until he goes back to school,’ George said casually, as if he was having a chat about the weather. ‘Anyways, what have you been up to these days? I heard you left London.’ Charlotte was slightly taken aback at this sudden change in topic, but pushed her questions about the incident to back of her mind.

             ‘I left for Paris. Who told you?’ she asked back.

             ‘Oh, I have my sources,’ he winked in such a George-like way that a rush of repressed emotions of her school-girl crush on him flooded back. How she had come to love that wink, paired with that charming smile! Her sixteen-year-old self used to turn to mush whenever he would indulge her in one of the two during classes. But then the Yule Ball happened, and things weren’t quite the same between them after that. Charlotte shook her head to clear her thoughts and saw George had an uncharacteristically somber expression on his face now. This was probably the first time she’d ever seen him be serious.

             ‘Why didn’t you write to me?’ he asked quietly. ‘Why didn’t you come visit me when we first opened the shop?’ Charlotte knew the truth of course. She had been hurt that he didn’t ask her to the Yule Ball (even as a friend) and the second blow came from when he left school suddenly without bothering to tell her. They never actually dated but she thought he had felt something for her as she did him; it had been like a breakup at the time and it had been a relief to her that he was no longer around.

             ‘I-I was busy with N.E.W.T.s you know, getting ready to leave Hogwarts and all,’ she lied pretty unconvincingly. George’s hands gripped hers even tighter so that it hurt a little and she yelped.

             ‘Don’t go back to Paris!’ he pleaded and she was shocked at the intensity of his voice. ‘Please, stay here, I’ll take care of you,’ George now looked like he was on the verge of tears. Was this all a hallucination? When had George ever pleaded with anyone for anything? Charlotte’s pulse quickened as she considered the possibility that he may like her back. After three years of resigning herself to the fact her old friend would never love her, it was quite earth-stopping to hear this confession. Her heart leapt in hope, but quickly sank. She couldn’t just abandon her career, her sister, her life that was waiting back in Paris for the chance at long-waited love. It was extremely tempting, but deep down she knew now was not the right time. Unfortunately, she never got to answer when a chorus of loud gasps erupted from the crowd on the dance floor. They watched from their seats as a shimmering lynx Patronus landed silently on the floor. It opened its mouth and Kingsley Shacklebolt’s voice rang throughout the tent,

‘The Ministry has fallen. Scrimegeour is dead. They are coming,’ and then it vanished as quickly as it had come. The whole tent went silent, then pandemonium broke out. People were scrambling everywhere trying to Disapparate, trampling over fallen dishes and broken glass. Charlotte leapt from her chair, wand ready, and went to find Fleur. She saw her huddled with her parents and sister, trying to soothe them in French.

             ‘Fleur! We’ve got to leave,’ Charlotte shouted above all the noise. Fleur looked up, her body relaxing with relief.

             ‘I must stay ‘ere to protect ‘Arry Potter and ze Burrow,’ she yelled back, ‘take my family with you back to Paris!’ Charlotte nodded then turned to the Delacours, panic on their faces. She grabbed Gabrielle’s and Mrs. Delacour’s hand roughly and pushed through the crowd to the garden with Mr. Delacour following closely behind. However, people seemed to be going more insane outside than in and she gripped hard on the hands she was holding.

             ‘Quickly, grab onto me and don’t let go!’ she ordered and concentrated with great difficulty on the Leaky Cauldron. They were plunged into darkness, squeezing uncomfortably through space and arrived with a loud pop! in Diagon Alley. The Delacours stumbled to the ground from the force of arriving but Charlotte landed easily on her feet.

             ‘Is everyone alright?’ she asked but the Delcaours looked rather pale and shaken. She looked around the deserted alley; no Death Eaters had shown up yet.

             ‘Oi! Who goes there? It’s past midnight!’ a voice chastised through the night. It was Tom, the innkeeper, and Charlotte rounded quickly to face him.

             ‘Thank goodness you’re here. Tom, will you please show the Delacours to my room?’ she asked while pulling out her room key. ‘Take this, please make them as comfortable as possible and I’ll pay the difference later.’ Tom seemed to understand the urgency of her request because he herded the frightened family into the inn without question. Charlotte watched them disappear inside, the turned quickly on her heel to the exit of Diagon Alley. Now she had to focus on contacting Fleur somehow and arrange for the British Ministry to take her family home. They were probably tracking every magical movement in Britain by now, so sending an envoy from France would raise alarms. As Charlotte walked along the Muggle streets, she thought with a pang of sorrow that she hadn’t said goodbye to George or Fleur or anybody for that matter. Charlotte knew a war was coming, she wasn’t stupid, and she had trained rigorously to react accordingly if this kind of situation ever happened. But this wasn’t a simple test she could pass, it was real war; the time had come to test her skills, cleverness, and most of all, if she had the bravery to face what was coming.

[inky-anemone]

RULES

BASIC: >This is a Semi-Selective and Mutuals only/Private RP blog. I will answer any followers ask but I will only carry threads with those I follow; I will however actively reach out to people who don’t yet follow me if I am interested in writing with them. If you would like to have a thread with me and I don’t follow you, just leave me an ask or send me an IM. I am not that scary. **In regards to my side blogs this rule applies. If I follow you on my main blog and you follow one or more of my listed side blogs then interactions are a go** >I am a very anxious and socially awkward person. I can take a little long to trust people sometimes due to past experiences over the years, and I am nervous at first in getting involved with larger groups. This is nothing against new people who approach me to add me to a group; this is just me being once bitten twice shy about everything. Please understand this. >Please read my About page so you understand the Mun here behind the blog. I appreciate people understanding a bit of how I work. >OOC statements from me will be within [[ ]] ’s. >My instant messenger (IM) chats are completely OOC. I will not RP in the IM chats. I prefer to use it as a source of communication mun to mun while doing a thread with someone.

>I WILL NOT by any means RP with a blog whose MUSE is a REAL PERSON. [ex. Arin (Egoraptor), Jon (Jontron), Mark (Markiplier), etc.] I just personally find it to be in the realm of bad taste. I mean no offense to anyone with this. It’s just that pretending to be a real person you are not as compared to a fictional character are two different things. (And many of these people request that you don’t RP with them as a muse anyways!)

>I WILL NOT RP EXPLICIT NSFW CONTENT WITH UNDERAGE WRITERS. Sorry kids, but if you’re under the age of 18 I am not going to write anything with you when it comes to anything related to unsafe explicit content. The NSFW content that will never be brought around under age writers is anything of a sexual nature. Content however of horror, gore, and anything else NSFW that falls under the non-sexual nature is fair game. Remember Kids, I’ll respect you as long as you show you have the maturity and give at least a portion of that respect back. >The Mun =/= The Muse **Though you may notice parallels between myself and my character do not skew this line. I am not my character and my character is not me. Just the same this means a judgment on your character should not be taken as a judgment on you personally.** >I come off as incredibly blunt with my statements. My brand of honesty isn’t easy to handle and I do what I can to lessen the blow of it. You have been warned. >In correlation with the above rule COMMUNICATION is a must if you wish to interact with my character or myself. This means tell me if I am doing something wrong and don’t take offense when I mention criticism for you from my end. My statements can be blunt but I do try to be kind with them.

>This is a guilt tripping free zone. I will not be harassed nor will I dole out that sort of treatment to people. **Just the same I will not tolerate that term being thrown as a label on anyone willy nilly when it is clear the term is not understood by the person pointing the finger.** >This is also a bullying free zone. I will not stand for being bullied or seeing someone else I know being bullied by individual(s). I have seen enough and been on the receiving end enough of this treatment to know the damages it can cause. **Please remember that Tumblr has options in place to report for this sort of stuff.** >In regards to Anon asks. If you make an opinion on how to tell me to run my blog on anon you will get an equally impersonal response. You want to have a personal response you talk to me on IM. Repeat offending anons will be IP BLOCKED. 

>I am obviously OC friendly for any OC’s. Just as I have have made a clear bio page though, I will check to see if you have a backstory posted in easy access for your character as well before I consider interactions. As always, I NEED SUBSTANCE to work. (It should be noted that I don’t follow self insert OC’s if the mun denies them being a self insert. I prefer the knowing honesty from the mun about their creation over the withheld information) >I RP for fun here folks. Though I prefer some longer threads I can enjoy short ones given there is an enjoyable interaction to be had. Just keep the sass down and the friendliness up and we will get along fine. ROLEPLAYING: >ABSOLUTELY NO GOD MODDING! Examples of God modding include:

Controlling another persons character or the outcome of events within a thread. This is the fastest way to lose any partner.

Breaking the forth wall with a character having knowledge they should not have from any source. This can be done humorously with commentary like Deadpool and his awareness of an audience or being a character. Know the difference between it being used as humor compared to plot convenience.

Having your character have god-like or straight out God abilities. Some characters are gods but often the root issue of this sort of character done wrong is them having “Convenient Omnipotence” (Links to Breaking the Forth Wall for plot convenience). This also includes the character referencing information from another characters backstory that has not been directly shared with them. Don’t do this; it can make people behind the writing uncomfortable.

Having your character be completely untouchable. Some characters are known to be adept at dodging but they can’t dodge everything. When you control a character like this you force people to have to match their level. You have no right to complain about them ‘God Modding". Be fair.

Starting a fight in OOC until the IC interactions are forced in the direction you want for your character. Though this sounds indirect this is another example of God Modding as it involves manipulating events and other peoples characters to your whims. Do not go making someone feel intimidated with threatening actions to get what you want. Just don’t do this.

Over-writing what is seen or available in a setting provided to you. Unless you wrote the starter/setting for the interaction do not add things that were not described or attempt to change the setting entirely. This is more of a writing issue but it is still an insult if someone went through of the trouble of making a setting for you only to have you try and change it.

>I am NSFW friendly. If you want to do something NSFW you need to be a mutual, or someone I am interacting with and over 18. NO EXCEPTIONS! Anything sensitive to this nature will be under a read more in writing. Any images however will be on a separate side-blog. >If you find I have an RP post with a TRIGGER THAT NEEDS A SPECIAL TAG for you to know to IGNORE IT, just let me know.

>I am comfortable doing PG-13 RP’s, but I am also fine with more M rated topics, I however will put anything just outside of PG-13 under a read more if the scene is too violent.

>I am comfortable with RPing but not limited to:

Gore/Violence

Battle/Action

Horror

Mystery/Suspense

Slice of life

Romance

Cross-over

Post-Apocalypse/Fallout

Sci-fi

Action/Adventure

Fantasy

PTSD inducing backstory adventures

Plots referencing sexual abuse and Rape **WITH PROPER CONSENT**

Bondage/BDSM **WITH PROPER CONSENT**

>I reserve the right like anyone else to drop a thread I feel uncomfortable in continuing. Be it due to a lack of inspiration or something that just rubs both me and my muse the wrong way. I will communicate the reason with you regardless. >REBLOGGING THREADS YOU ARE NOT INVOLVED IN WILL RESULT IN ONE WARNING FOR RP BLOGS AND INSTANT BLOCK FOR PERSONALS. Just please, don’t reblog a thread you aren’t part of. It mucks up my activity log and ruins my reply tracking something awful. >I have a personal rule when it comes to replies. If you haven’t let me know ahead of time about anything preventing your reply I will remind you within 10-20 days time with a link to the last response post I made on a thread. If it has been 10-20 days since I have replied to your response you are free to let me know in an IM.**If you read this and don’t like being reminded and have proven to have read my rules; PLEASE TELL ME BEFORE WE START A THREAD. I do not enjoy offending or upsetting people**

SHIPPING: >DO NOT FORCE A SHIP. I do not force ships on anyone and I expect that others return this respect. I ship based on character chemistry. >I DON’T JUST SHIP ROMANTICALLY. I don’t mind having ships that link to simple friendships, adoptive family ties, and even enemies in some special cases. I’m not after having my character romantically involved with everyone. Any ship is fun as long as there is a type of enjoyable character chemistry going on in the interactions. >I am MULTI-VERSE AND MULTI-SHIP. This means unless otherwise specified on my Verses & Relations page every ship happens in it’s own verse separate from the others. This means she is not cheating on your character and doesn’t view your other ships as cheating on her. >Every interaction, unless specified, from my character is in a verse where she is single/alone. If you have a similar set up for your character I would appreciate the same respect to do such. I don’t enjoy going into a first interaction with another multiverse/ship blog to have them force me into one of their existing verses with a known ship. **Shipping takes interactions, time and character chemistry. I go into every new interaction unless otherwise specified with my character being single as she is multiverse; if you are multiverse as well I expect that same sort of respect. Don’t force a scenario that prevents even an attempt at character chemistry in a romantic sense down the road. Communicate things first please.** >Anemone is Demi-Romantic and Demi-sexual. This information is stated on her bio. She is open to SOME polyamorous relationships but anyone wishing to do this will need to put forward a great deal of effort in communication for it to work. >If you are singleverse but multiship and want to ship with me I am willing to make it work where we can within reason. However we will need to regularly communicate OOC. Shipping any sort of relationship, especially if multiple connections are involved, needs a lot of communication. A ship that my character does have with a Singleverse character will be, by default, Open Poly-amorous and will not in any way bind the characters to being exclusive to one another. TRIGGERS: >I have a few mild triggers. These triggers are fairly simple and straight forward.

>Suicide - I will not define this properly as people should already understand it’s meaning. A character fighting off suicidal tendencies is fine; it shows growth. A character trying to commit suicide for the sake of getting attention is not fine; threatening to or trying to kill ones self to get everyone to look at you is not okay. If you understand what it is to be suicidal truly you don’t declare you’re going to kill yourself to everyone; you simply commit the act in silence in your own suffering. **Please understand the difference between attention seeking and actual suicidal tendencies. There are a few exceptions to this but the vast majority of people who commit suicide do not announce the thought or threat of it regularly to have people talk them down from it. The ones who do that are looking for people to validate them; they aren’t looking for an escape from a depression/stress in their life.** >Incest - Sibling on Sibling action is not something I like seeing. I can let a few instances of it pass by but if it’s a frequent thing in someones reblog feed I will likely unfollow. It’s something that makes me sick to my stomach. Two family members getting involved in a romantic situation when they are siblings, even adopted, rubs me the wrong way. When you view someone as a brother or sister I find it is not right to fantasize or act on sexual/romantic advances with that individual. Be it by blood or by a family bond through adoption, incest is something that I personally find very disgusting; so please tag it appropriately. **NOTE: Incest that involves Sexual relations with purpose to produce a child is actually under the term of Inbreeding. Just the same I personally find the talk of the practice upsetting to my stomach** >Underage drinking - I don’t like seeing it, don’t like hearing about it don’t like reading about it. It’s a topic that leaves me uncomfortable and annoyed because I find it to be a personally unacceptable thing to encourage. I don’t care if it is in fiction, the act of underage drinking is not something I support encouraging, even if there is an ‘adult’ present to monitor the child. Alcohol has negative effects on a young developing mind and body and isn’t something that should be encouraged for consumption for a child before that development is complete. I apologize if these main rules seem at all harsh or pressing. I’m fairly easy-going, if not a little awkward, and I have my standards laid out here. These rules are here for other muns to understand my bottom line about things; whether or not your character agrees is not my concern. The only thing that matters to me is if the writer understands what I have here, just as much as I work to accept and respect theirs.

**If you have read my rules please send in the password “Can I get a Booyah?!” ** **If you’re not the sort to send in passwords then you can just like THIS POST instead.** Thank you for reading my rules.

[farmlived]

rules.

i’m darby! i’m 21 and my pronouns are she/her. i’ve been rping on tumblr for over six years, and writing in general for much longer than that. most my rules are pretty standard for your run-of-the-mill rp blog lmao.

for those interested, verses can be found here.

I am mutuals only

i always check out blogs who follow me and if i can imagine some sort of interaction between our muses, i usually follow back. i am a selective rp blog, so i will only interact with mutuals

I do have mains, but I don’t do exclusives

everyone has their own version of a character and for that reason, i am completely open to having mains (individuals that i write with often and am friendly with ooc). but i don’t want to shut myself out from experiencing the different interpretations of a character, so i will never personally do exclusives.

Quick reminders

no godmodding, don’t send hate, don’t involve me in drama, all the usual shit lmao we all know what we’re doing by now. basically, don’t be a jerk

Reply formatting, length

i use small text because i think it looks neat, but if you need me to use regular text, let me know! i literally don’t care how you format your replies, nor do i care how fancy your blog theme is, etc. i always look for quality of writing over quality of your coding abilities (of which i have none, as is evident by my blog lmao).

as for reply length, i will always try to match or at the very least give you something to work with if i can’t match paragraph for paragraph. all i ask is you put the same effort in! if you’re not feeling a thread, don’t be afraid to let me know. i’m the queen of dropping threads so

Reply speed

i am NOTORIOUS for being slow. i’m a college student, i work, and i’m involved in a lot of extracurriculars. very often, my brain just can’t handle doing a ton of long replies. this doesn’t mean i don’t want to write with you or i’m not super stoked to be on this blog. rping is supposed to be fun and at the end of the day, it’s a hobby. don’t be surprised if i look at my drafts list and decide to shitpost on the dash instead.

IMs

i can be reallyyyyy slow at answering my messages, and that has nothing to do with how i feel about you!! i get anxious sometimes, or i don’t feel like talking. i promise i’ll reply within a couple days ;_; or i could reply within seconds. there’s no in between

NSFW

i’m of age, but in a serious relationship irl and the idea of writing super explicit sex scenes with another person online is… weird to me. i’m cool with teetering the line, referencing a sexual relationship, etc. but i’m not here to write out graphic smut scenes lmao

Shipping

this is a multi-shipping blog. I’m all for pre-established relationships!! But I also love to build relationships through memes and threads. Feel free to approach me for both!

Triggers

let me know if you need anything tagged! i use the general format (trigger //) on generally upsetting things but if you have anything specific or a specific tag you block, let me know!

I’m professionally bad at rp

i drop threads like it’s my job, i’m slow as hell at times, i lose track of threads and asks…… basically i’m human and i love everyone who puts up with me anfkjnfjads but seriously if i ever drop a thread or something you were really feeling, just shoot me a message and i’ll find it again!!

Other

lastly, please don’t be afraid to come and talk to me. just pop in my inbox and ask me about my favorite memes and we’ll be best friends. i love chatting with my rp partners, i talk in the tags all the time but if that’s not for you, my IMs are open!

[zoeygreensimblr]

Enchanted (episode 2)

I woke up well before my alarm went off, every muscle in my body felt like it was being pulled apart. How do people do this exercise thing and just love it? This is torture and now this trainer guy wants us to do personal training 3 times a week, ugh kill me now. Stupid Angus with his stupid pretty face making it impossible to say no to. Stupid Tess for roping me into this stupid pack, I swear she just wanted to see me suffer while convincing me "It's for the greater good, think of how fit we will be come Summer". Stupid Summer, I can't hide under layers when it's boiling hot. Curse everything!!!

I reach for my phone to shut off my alarm and I notice I've got a text message from a number that I don't know.

See you at 4pm, looking forward to it

Clearly it's been sent to me by accident because, lets face it, I very rarely make plans with anyone and if I I do then I spend all week trying to think up ways to get out of them, Im just going to reply and tell them they have the wrong number.

This is Angus BTW, Your personal Trainer

Great, Mister perfect is a morning person who sends early morning messages reminding his victims he hasn't forgotten he scheduled more torture.

Upstairs I can hear Tess dancing around the kitchen as she makes her breakfast. Tess is also a morning person, it's extremely annoying when you're a night owl like myself and you get woken up by the sound of her singing out of key.

The dancing has stopped and has been replaced the sound by her shoes stomping down the stairs

"Zoey, wake up, we are leaving in 30 minutes" she bellows down the hall "and pack your gym clothes, we have training after school and I don't wanna have to make a trip home and then back into the city, it's easier to go from school"

"Im up, going to shower now" I reply, while I still lay there knowing she won't leave without me

My door flies open suddenly and she's now invading my space with her perkiness.

"you're not up at all, get up!!! Did you see Angus' texted us, I'm so excited to start personal training, arn't you?"

Why must she be so happy all the time?

"Im sore Tess, all over, maybe I shouldn't go today, I'll start PT on Friday" Please Tess, please hear my plea, don't make me go back there but no, she doesn't listen to a word I've said, instead she's shoving my gym clothes into my school bag.

Im up, Im showered, Im ready for school and it only took 40 minutes.

We attend a very elite private school in the heart of Forgotten Hollow. I love going to school here, Tess and I share a great group of friends and Im a straight A student.

Tess' Boyfriend Declan meets us the the school gate, just like he has done every day since he and Tess started dating in year 9, he kisses her on the cheek and greets me with a wave.

"Our personal trainer has a thing for Zoey, I know it, Im never wrong about these things" Tess greets him every morning with useless information that he pretends to take an interest in.

"Way to go Zoey" He enthuses, as if he really cares

"He doesn't have thing for me, he was just being friendly to get us to sign up for his stupid torture sessions and now we have to go back there again this afternoon so he can whip us into shape" I moan

"Tess we have school captain meetings after school today, did you forget?" Declan reminds her.

"Oh shit, I did forget, sorry Zoey, you're facing the torture chamber alone today, don't worry, you'll be fine though" she said, not looking one bit apologetic, she's almost laughing, "You should see Zo in front of this guy Declan, she goes bright red and he just keeps staring at her, he's so into her"

That afternoon I board the train alone to San Myshuno, arriving at the gym just before 4. As Im checking in at the reception desk Angus comes running up to me.

"No Tess today?" he asks and Im left wondering if he's somewhat disappointed that he's realised he's going to be stuck attempting to make conversation with the socially recluse twin

"She forgot she had a meeting to attend today so Im sorry but it's just me this afternoon, did you wanna cancel?" I struggle to get my words out through bouts of shyness creeping in.

Please say yes, we can cancel and wait until Tess returns.

"That's ok, her loss is your gain because now you get me 100% to yourself for a whole hour. How are you feeling after yesterday's session?"

"If I can be honest with you, Im hurting a lot, everywhere"I reply, in the hopes he will send me home to rest.

"I thought you would be sore today but you put in an amazing effort last night, you should be proud of yourself, Im really proud of you, Ive had a lot of women run away mid class and never come bak but not you, you stuck it out, that shows you've got stamina" He flashes me that million dollar smile and I feel my face going bright red, "Ok, lets get started, I'll take things nice and slow with you today, due to the recovery pain you're in"

He leads me to the treadmill and starts me on a low setting, just as promised.

"We're going to be working pretty closely together a lot so what do you say we work on kicking this shyness to the curb too? Lets get you to be a strong, confident woman"

The redness is creeping back into my cheeks, why does he care if I'm shy and not confident?

"We can try but I can't make any promises, I'm socially awkward, Tess is the social butterfly, she loves going to parties and to clubs whereas I'd much rather sit at home binge watching Grey's Anatomy" Why am I volunteering information about being a wallflower? He's going to think I'm such a loser.

"McDreamy and McSteamy are the way to any girls heart" he laughs "I love a good binge watch myself"

"You watch Grey's Anatomy?" I ask, shocked, Ive never met a guy who likes Grey's, but to be fair I don't really talk to many boys, just Declan and only because he's always hanging around Tess.

"I live with my older sister and she's somewhat obsessed with it, she rewatches it every Summer and we only have one TV in the apartment so I'm also forced to watch it too" He laughs, "Do you like movies?"

"I love movies, it's one of the only times I enjoy leaving the house, when something new comes out. I sometimes think I just go for the popcorn though" I reply "what about you?"

"I also love going to the movies but I don't go for the popcorn" He explains "I usually bring my own snack, I don't do carbs, Im just really careful about what I put in my body" He winks at me like I'm in on some secret joke. Is he flirting with me? Is this what flirting is? No way, he's just being cocky, I'm sure of it, Who would flirt with a sweaty introvert who just admitted to carboloading as an excuse to see a movie?

Ive got a plan, if I just stop talking then he will stop talking and I can just stop overthinking everything. I blame Tess, she got into my head with this whole "He likes you" bullshit that she carried on with. I wish Tess was here so the focus wasn't all on me. Why did she have to be popular and be voted in as School Captain? Why couldn't she just think of what coming here alone would do to me.

My plan is working, he's not even trying to talk to me, he's typing something on his phone. Good, just stay focused on your phone buddy, no more chatty chats to Zoey.

My plan lasted all of 3 minutes, he looks up from his phone and asks "Your surname is Green right"

"umm, yeah"

"and it's Zoey, spelt with just an E or EY?"

"EY, why?"

"Im just searching for you on simstergram, oh yeah, there you are. Following and I expect a follow back"

"Do you also expect interesting content too because you will be sadly disappointed" I throw in my own wink at the end and he just laughs.

As I'm about to leave I see that it's started to snow, it wasn't even forecast to snow today, it's been unseasonably warm since the middle of last week so I didn't even consider to bring a jacket. The train station is a 10 minute walk from the gym and the another 15 minute walk to my house. Im going to freeze if I go out there without cover. Best to wait inside and call Don to come pick me up. I pull out my phone and start typing in my home number, hoping that he's home, when I hear Angus behind me.

"Oh wow, it's snowing.How are you getting home Zoey?"

"I was going to catch the train but I didn't bring a coat so Im just going to call my step dad and ask if he can come get me"

"From Brindleton Bay? That's crazy, I'll take you home"

"Oh no, you don't have to, that's well out of your way"

"How do you know Im not already going that way?"

"I just assumed you lived in San Myshuno when you mentioned you live in an apartment"

"ah, umm, yeah I do but really it's no trouble, you were my last client for the day anyway and I'll just be going home to an empty house, my Sister is travelling at the moment, so I really don't mind and it would give you someone to talk to on the way home, although Im sure Im no substitute for Tess"

"Tess could talk under water, I swear." I laugh "well as long as you're sure it's no trouble. I'll call Don though and tell him we are having a guest for dinner, can't have you driving me all the way to Brindleton Bay and back in the snow on an empty stomach"

He smiles "Thanks Zoey, you're a sweetheart"

Here comes the blushing again

The traffic leaving the city is congested with everyone finishing work at 5 and heading back to the suburbs and the snow storm is picking up.

"I wouldn't be surprised if we get a blizzard tonight" Angus muses

"I would love that, Tess and I have a tradition of watching movies and getting drunk in our basement on nights of a blizzard because school get cancelled for the next day"

"That's awesome. You two are really close hey?"

"Yeah, she's not just my twin sister, she's also my best friend. She pushes me out of my comfort zone all the time, which can be annoying but she's always got my back whenever someone pushes me around"

"she pushed you into coming to the gym didn't she?"

"Is it that obvious that I don't want to be there?"

He laughs, "Ah yes but I think you'll slowly warm up to it. I hated it at first too but I had a lot of weight that needed to come off, not like you, little miss petite"

"Are you seriously trying to convince me that you didn't always have washboard abs?"

He looks at me, raising an eyebrow "Have you been checking me out Miss Green?"

SHIT!!! I've somehow stumbled into unknown territory, flirting, I can feel my breathing becoming more rapid, I'm going to have a panic attack, which is not unknown territory but Im trapped in a car with a virtual stranger.

"Oh fuck, Zoey, shit, I can't pull over, just deep breaths hun, in and hold it then out" He's trying to not get panicked himself as he's trying to calm me down and it's working.

A few moments of silence pass until he asks me "Does that happen often?"

"unfortunately yes" I tell him, embarrassed. "I just get overwhelmed with some social interactions"

"like flirting?"

"Yeah, I don't  flirt, ever"

He looks over at me again and says with a smile "We're gonna work on that"

We arrive at my house just as the storm starts to get worse. We make a mad dash to the front door where we are greeted by Tess, who is obviously amused with the whole situation.

She yells out to our Mother Ruth and Don "Zoey brought a boy home"

I could kill her, I really could, she has no tact but Angus just laughs like he's in on her joke and I just roll my eyes.

Don ventures out from the kitchen to greet today's unexpected dinner guest, he use to Tess bringing Declan for dinner but this is a first, Zoey with a boy.

Don reaches out to shake hands with Angus, "Hey, Im Don, Zoey and Teresa's step father, their mother is around here somewhere" He turns around to yell out to mum

"Ruthie, come meet Zoey's friend" he turns back to Angus "Sorry, I didn't catch your name"

"Angus, Angus McKennzie"

Tess and I exchange looks, we didn't know his surname until now either.

"McKennzie? You're not Imogen McKennzie's younger brother are you"

Angus smiles, "Yes, how do you know Immie?"

"We were high school sweethearts back in the day, I use to help her babysit you, you've certainly grown, granted you were only around 2 or 3 back then" Don explains

"Oh look out, old Donny boys got his throw back thursday voice on" Tess muses and I laugh. We love Don but he does like to go on, a lot, about "back when I was in high school"

"Girls, stop picking on Don, he's cooked us a lovely roast for dinner" My mother says as she enters the room. "Hi Angus, welcome to the mad house, these two like to stir their step father non stop"

"He loves it" Tess and I say in unison.

"What's Imogen up to these days anyway? I imagine she's still travelling the world and  breaking hearts" he laughs to himself

"well it's funny you say that, she's on a jungle adventure in Selvadorada right now but she'll be back in a few months. We own the gym together and coming into summer we get an influx of new sign ups so I'll need her help real soon"

Tess and I again exchange looks, He owns the gym?

After dinner, Tess and I do the washing up and Don goes outside to look how much snow has fallen, he comes back inside and informs us that the streets are covered in a thick blanket of whiteness. "You're not going to be able to get home tonight Angus and I highly doubt there will be any work or school tomorrow so it looks like you girls have a playmate for drunken shenanigans, best go make him up a bed in the basement"

"Im sure he wouldn't mind bunking in with Zoey if he had to" Tess teases and I shoot her a dirty look.

"Come along Angus, you can help us mix cocktails" Tess says, taking charge.

We've never had an intruder join us on Blizzard night and Tess is finding it all too exciting.

"Full warning, the more drunk Zoey gets, the less awkward she becomes" she informs Angus, I throw a cushion at her to try and get her to shut up and Angus sits there grinning at us.

We pick out "He's just not that into you" to watch and set our drinking rules. I can feel I'm getting tipsy midway through the movie, "She's such a light weight" Tess announces to Angus.

"No I'm not, you just made my drinks really strong for your own amusement" I protest

Tess and Angus exchange looks and just burst out laughing, I knew it!

"So Angus, don't you have to call your wife and tell her you're not coming home? That you're staying with your mistresses tonight" Tess asks, not so subtle

"I'm 22 Tess, I have no wife"

"Girlfriend then?" she presses on, I know where she's leading us to and Im sure he does too.

"No girlfriend either" he explains and we exchange looks, "very much single and have been for 2 years now"

"Why did you break up?" there's never a question Tess doesn't feel she can't ask, no matter how personal

"She cheated on me, for months, with my best friend"

"Aww Angus, that's heartbreaking, isn't that heartbreaking Zoey?"

"What a bitch " I interject and they both look at me shocked, ok I may be a bit more than tipsy

"Zoey, you should give Angus a hug to heal his broken heart"

"Ok" I reply "But only if you let me feel your abs"

Angus looks at Tess "Is she drunk?"

Tess nods, laughing "I told you, less awkward, she can't overthink when she's drunk"

"Stop talking about me as if Im not here" I shout as I run my palm over the bumps on Angus' torso, while looking him in the eye.

"sorry Zo" he whispers in my ear.

We reach the end of the movie and the bottle of vodka, which isn't surprising when Tess is the mixologist.

"That's Zoey's favourite movie" Tess informs Angus

"It's pretty good but I think they need to do a sequel and call it "He is into you but can't tell if you're into him" what do you think Zoey?" Angus asks

"I'd watch the shit out of that" I reply

Angus and Tess both burst out laughing, I've clearly missed the joke and I just don't care, Im having too much fun.

"Angus you are welcomed to join us again for blizzard night, you're too much fun and Tess, he's so pretty too"My speech is becoming slurry

"Well  Angus, I think she just answered your question without even realising it was directed at her" Tess muses

"Stop talking about me like Im not here" I shout, yet again

"Sorry Zo" they both say in unison.

[train4ironman]

The Luc Robitaille Jersey

Ironman number 9 in the books and all I can think about is my Luc Robitaille jersey. Gift giving is a skill. I bet if you looked back on your life, you'd realize there are only a handful of gifts - at most - that you remember. Even if a gift is impactful in the moment, it likely won't stand the test of time. Most that have spent time at my house know about the framed Luc Robitaille jersey. When I graduated high school, my Uncle Bart and Aunt Vicki got me a gift - an afternoon with Luc Robitaille at the LA Kings practice rink. The "afternoon" was auctioned off at the school where my aunt worked and coincidentally his kids also went to school. Parents could bid via silent auction on slots. So when my Uncle gave this to me as a graduation present I truly had no concept of what I was in for. You see I grew up playing ice hockey and it's still my favorite sport. The college I went to didn't have a hockey team and even though I'd play in some adult league games, graduation from high school was also the end of my hockey career. I remember my dad and I going together - all the instructions spelled out neatly on a piece of paper from my Aunt Vicki ahead of time. I lugged all my hockey gear with me just in case we got some ice time. We also bought a jersey thinking should the opportunity arise, he could sign it. When we walked in, the front desk pointed my dad and I in the direction of everyone else. That's when we saw about 14 kids - ages 4 to about 8 - with a hoard of mothers. Like us, everyone had also gotten there early so people were milling around the pro shop. Mom's were buying pucks, hockey cards, pictures, anything they could get their hands on that could possibly be signed. We got looks -- oh boy did we get some looks. You know the kind. The "what are you doing here?" "Wait are you here for the afternoon with Luc too?" It's kind of a blur but I remember Luc Robitaille coming out of the locker room and being swarmed. He sat down at a picnic table and explained what would happen. He first asked who needed skates and took a count and when he got to me he gave us the same dumbfounded look all the moms did. "I brought my own skates," I said. When everyone got back to the locker room he asked me what my story was and I explained everything. How my uncle had gotten this for me as a graduation present, etc.. He turned to me said, "so I'm going to tool around with these little guys for about 20 minutes, get em all tired out and send them out for lunch. Then you and I can play some one on one - sound good?" Uh duh of course!!! I even got to help oragnize the kids until it was my turn. Finally my time came and IT. WAS. AWESOME!!! I remember I stopped him once on defence and even scored a couple times. My dad video taped the whole thing so there is evidence of the true story somewhere. Luc gave me some pointers and we chatted about the up coming season, etc. It was great. It was indeed special and is to this day a moment I will never forget. Afterwards, my dad joined us for lunch and he signed the jersey and we were on our way. "Matt, it was great skating with you, your Friend Luc Robitalle." I was always a Ducks fan growing up. Still am. But after that I followed the Kings and his career more closely. My family and I were even able to attended his final game at the Staple Center.

This Sunday, I finished my 9th ironman at Coeur d'Alene. It wasn't the time I aimed for but it was close. Overall I'm really pleased with my performance and I'm super excited for the path ahead. My family and friends have always been a big supporter of my triathlon endeavours. I sacrifice a lot of my free time in pursuit of something that for most part is done alone. My parents had flown in that afternoon and were there when I exited t-2 armed with hi fives and cheers. That was probably one of the few moments I smiled all day - I was so focused. After I crossed the finish line on Sunday, I got to give them a hug and immediately learned that my Uncle Bart was in the hospital. My uncle has been battling several health issues for the past few years and has been in and out of the hospital frequently this past year. None of it stopped him from spending time with his grand kids or doing what he loved. He even flew up to Northern California this past December when my Uncle Mike passed away to support my Mom. When im sick, I'm a total drama queen. You know I'm in pain. From the outside looking in it seems as though it would be hard for him not to maintain an ear to ear smile. He's just that kind of guy. I had GI issues on my ironman run and the look on face said the world has ended. That's just not how Uncle Bart rolled. Family was everything to Uncle Bart. It wasn't a code or some obligation. It was just plain fun for him! He loved it. Needless to say when I learned of his passing early Monday morning I was a bit out of sorts. Shocked really. He was too young. Too much left to do. I also felt like I took his ability to persevere for granted. My uncle was an athlete growing up - played competitive water polo and absolutely loved the ocean. At a young age we already had that in common. And as I got older, the triathlon thing was always the topic of conversation - especially Alcatraz. It was great having him as a fan as he always made me feel special. Like my dad, my Uncle Bart also loved documenting every family trip with a video camera. My cousins and I would always be waiting for the two of them to catch up. The brotherly interactions between he and my dad were also special - by that I mean unique and often embarrassing. They could make each other laugh with a silly little phrase or even a look. My cousin Shawna and I would often joke that it was as if they had their own language. I'm still convinced Uncle Bart was the lead goof ball though. Clearly the more fun one...sorry dad. The hilarious and yet ironic part about his goof ball nature is how serious Uncle Bart was about Torah. On family ski trips to Mammoth I remember waking up early with excitement before everyone else, or so I thought. There was uncle Bart reading Torah by the window. I remember he would notice me out of the corner of his eye, give me a friendly glance, and continue on. After my grandpa Sid passed away we had two seder locations - the long one at Aunt Toni's (my dad's sister). And the unreasonably long one at my uncle Bart's 😃. You have to understand that my sister and I are not practicing Jews. I would argue that we were raised with a strong sense of right and wrong based on a Jewdao/Christian set of values. We didn't read Hebrew unless it was translated into English. And even though Uncle Barts Uber-seder was full of prayer and a lack of translated Hebrew, we were always welcome, and his fraternity of orthodox Jews always welcomed us too. Besides, I still got to find the Aufikomen - And Uncle Bart's Seder always paid the best 😃. Not everyone may share my opinion, but I think it's hard to experience religion on that level and feel included as outsider. I never felt out of place with my Uncle. Not once. He was always a compassionate teacher and someone I looked up to.

It's Thursday night following his passing and I'm writing this on the plane down there. The funeral was on Tuesday but I'm told my cousins will be at the house to sit Shiva tonight. That's comforting. It's hard being so far away from family and it's especially hard in times like this. I feel as though I've been postponing the goodbye until now. I'm so appreciative of our time together and the impact he had on my life. It's truly amazing to have a gift from him I know will stand the test of time and remind me of everything that he stood for.