#I also love the little axolotl she looks like a fancy axolotl /

[circusballoon]

Aggie hangout with @burbled and @erradox to draw my character Rosette in assorted ways! I love this page so much waahhh she came out so pretty in everything

[agathaarts]

Kinda older art but there’s enough of it that I feel like it’s worth posting - so my big 80′s Cartoon Universe MotU AU thing that has no good name does, inevitably, involve...ponies. Small horses. Taking cues from @jayrockin‘s Tiny Sapient Ungulate designs, the, uh, horse crew of my universe’s MLP? At least, the ones active when the main story takes place elsewhere in the universe and they eventually run into each other. Equestria is so far removed from most of the cosmos due to Celestia and Luna basically looking at the oncoming Space Lich Horde and going “actually, fuck this” and moving a few solar systems around to hide themselves.

The “main characters” are your pretty standard group of adventuring heroic young adults tho.

Anyways info about the characters and some of the worldbuilding under the cut

Had a lot of fun basing these guys off some of my favorite earlier-gen ponies.

Moonstone - Doesn’t actually go adventuring! Mostly uses her prophetic powers to guide the other ponies to those who need them. Suffers from a curse that causes her to be asleep in sunlight and only awake at night.

Sundance - Incredibly magical “firstborn” (ie created through magical parthenogenesis) with a heroic streak and a knack for leadership. Sort of. She’s getting the hang of it! Learning to be a wizard.

Firefly - Went back to the OG Rainbow Dash and you all know how this works. Hotheaded, too fast for her own good, actually a direct royal descendant but doesn’t want people to know.

Clover - Mild-mannered and chilled-out hippie witch vibes with this one. Has basically druidcraft powers, and is able to communicate with plants and the like. Has flowers perpetually growing in their hair, somehow.

Sweetheart - Ah, the most incredible magic of all. Emotions! Namely, being an empath. And a psychic. Kind of a powerful one, actually. This is probably fine. Sweetheart is stylish and girly and can come across as a bit haughty but she’s fiercely loving and protective of her friends.

Patch - Patch’s vocabulary is about 50% just “yeup” or “nah”, being less inclined towards talking and more inclined towards either stoic quiet or kickin’ ass and eatin’ grass!

-

Also some family groupings! Because I had all these horse templates to mess with.

More on pony phylogeny later, but ponies generally aren’t divided into, like, “Unicorn” or “Pegasus” as species or sub-species, rather all Ponies just...are ponies with various magical morphisms (though like...you’re unlikely to find non-flying ponies living in floating sky cities or non-seaponies underwater for good reason) so most surface populations are pretty varied. enough magic can basically change one type of pony into another type in a pinch, though, even if it’s seldom permanent (unless it’s Ascension to Princehood but becoming a Prince/ss is. A whole different thing and that’s why some of these ponies look more like actual full size horses because if you have enough magic it’s like how axolotls can become salamanders. But it’s like. If Magical axolotl horse wizards could potential become full-grown horse wizards in the right scenario.)

Clover has two little siblings, Milkweed and Tumbleweed. Their mother, Ivy, is a “druid” in the sense of being a sort of nature guardian figure while Minty is a gardener.

Patch was born to dads Buttons and Bow - two tailors who used to be business rivals. You’d be amazed at how successful fashion designers can be even on a world where being naked is considered “casual”.

Sweetheart’s parents fill interesting roles due to their highly skilled and focused magic - Snuzzle (who you may recognize as a Twice As Fancy pony) is a powerful empath and psychic who actually attends to Princesses and Goddesses when needed, and Secret Admirer was presumably some sort of Bond-esque spy. I will not elaborate.

Sundance and her older “sister” Light Heart are both firstborn- aka ponies who don’t actually have parentage! Though whatever Goddess creates them presumably counts to some degree- these two were obviously crafted by Celestia, given their color schemes and solar nature. Ponies have pretty low population growth so occasional spontaneous abiogensis is just. A fact of life.

Firefly has three siblings, a powerfully magic royal mother, and her dad (with whom she shares a name) is a prince and effectively a demigod, being a Nightmare (a rare type of pony with magic that comes directly from the goddess Luna) and also ruling over one of the cloud-kingdoms with a heavy emphasis on moderating the weather. Everyone in this family is a super high achiever.

Also this means that Firefly’s gramma is an immortal ageless goddess of darkness and night but to Firefly she’s just Gam-gams! Sometimes your deity grandma comes to visit you in dreams and when you wake up there’s a butterscotch under your pillow.

There’s a lot of stuff because I went kinda overboard but uhhh making a MLP setting is fun and I highly suggest it if you ever want to combine cute soft little magical horses with thinking way too hard about the implications of a society that runs entirely off of incredible feats of magic where everyone can do at least one bizarre thing.

[its-deputy-caleb]

Uhm its my first time asking for the type of suggestions? 😂 Sorry for my English 🎉

If the four lords are died in the game and they will be reincarnated.. what are their professions or what life they get in their 2nd life?

Thank you 😊😊❤️❤️

hey so i kinda went a little off track so this is sorta like a modern au type of thing but i hope it’s okay

Alcina Dimitrescu

The Lady Dimitrescu is nothing short of CEO of her own company.

She’s the owner of a large winery where she produces her own wines and even some spirits but her company is especially known for the “maidens blood”.

Alcina is all class and style with tailor made suits and dresses that she wears to the office.

Her favourite outfits are the expensive gowns she gets to wear at fun raisers and wine tastings that potential business partners host.

Her daughters are all on the board of directors and mange the wineries while she works at the corporate office.

Alcina owns a large house in the valley where they grow the grapes used for the wine. It’s a large house big enough for her and her daughters to stay when they’re not working.

Having lots of wealth means she’s got an acquired taste for art and she loves to collect old renaissance paintings. She even had a family portrait done with her daughters.

Even though she’s a bit of a workaholic and very passionate about her job (especially with her daughters due to inherit the company one day) she’s still in love with having some down time for herself.

A weekend away at her holiday house is spent curled up on the couch in her nightgown, a glass of wine in hand and the fire place going while she reads her gothic novels.

Donna Beneveinto

Donna lives peacefully in a quiet town where works at a tailor shop. It’s one of those old fashioned ones with a bell on the wooden door that rings each time someone steps in and the floorboards creek under her shoes.

She was taken under the wing but the old lady that owned the store and she considers her as something of a mother figure to her. She was sweet and let Donna bring Angie to work with her.

The two spend their days making small talk and sewing on the garments the locals bring in.

They often have tea together, either on their break or in the afternoon where the sweet old lady brings in little cakes while Donna brings her homemade herbal tea.

As apart of the tailoring store, customers can also buy fabrics and other handmade pieces like towels, clothes, curtains and blankets as a way to make money and the old lady is adored by the locals. Donna was instantly included into the local community, getting to go to markets and gatherings.

The old lady even let Donna sell her dolls along with everything else in the store and it was very popular amongst the children.

Donna is very happy in her local community and they make her feel like she belongs and is loved, what more could she ask for?

Salvatore Moreau

Sal is a physician in a hospital in the big city. He’s always had a passion to help people and became determined at a young age that he wanted to enter medicine.

He came from a small town and worked as the local doctor, making house trips and assisting people that he grew up with. It always made him smile knowing that he made an impact and was able to care for people he loved.

Eventually he moved to the city where he could get a higher education and stayed there to work afterwards where he’s found his passion to help others.

He works in the children’s ward and always does his best to make them smile when they come in with broken arms from skateboarding or falling off the trampoline.

When he was a child he had an accident which left him with some deformities on his face and neck. It was one of the reasons why he fell in love with medicine when he was treated with love and care in the hospital himself.

Sal never let’s his appearance get to him and uses it for his advantage when he sees a child crying from their injuries or illness. He always reassures them with a soft smile as he lets them know it’ll be okay, he’s experienced it too and they’re not alone.

On his days off he curls up under a blanket with a block of cheese and a hot chocolate (a weird combination but he loves it) while he watches those cheesy medical shows and the occasional romcom.

He’s got a pet axolotl that he loves and spoils. In some ways it reminds him of himself by his appearance and its like his comfort creature and best friend.

Karl Heisenberg

Growing up was difficult since Karl was a bit of a troublemaker but he was extremely smart and gifted.

He didn’t get along with teachers at school so he ended up dropping out and getting a job at the local mechanic.

Karl immediately had a gift for working with metal, understanding blueprints and instruction manuals with minimal assistance or training.

One day he was working on a fancy car that belonged to a tech giant that owned a company in the big city. When he offered Karl a job working as an engineer he never looked back.

He’s incredibly happy with his job since it gave him the opportunity to get away from his old life that was full of deviancy and troublemaking. For Karl, it’s never been about making money or being successful, all he wants is a peaceful life where he can be happy.

Work lets Karl be flexible where some days him and his small team of co-workers are designing new blueprints while others are spent testing them out in their studio.

Karl owns a grungy apartment in the city, there’s always bottles of beer, takeout left on the countertops and the ashtray is always overflowing but it’s home and he loves it nonetheless.

He owns a cat that he found as a kitten in the alleyway one day. The poor thing was cold and hungry so he brought it inside and dished out the questionable can of tuna in the cabinet.

[maybeimamuppet]

I think I wanna marry you

hello friends!! this is a request fill for Aubrey_Plaza_Stole_HappiestSeason on ao3.

also, in a previous work, I said cady's middle name was Allison just because I liked the way it sounded, but I was browsing Erika henningsen's instagram and found that she calls her cady Jane as in Jane Goodall, and I like that much better. so, its Jane now. enjoy!

-

“Damian!” Janis calls from the bedroom she shares with Cady in their New York apartment.

“What?!” He calls back.

“Is Caddy home?” She asks loudly, wondering why one of them didn’t just go to the other.

“No!”

“Then come here!”

He comes strolling in casually with a bagel, chewing a mouthful. “Wha’ you wan’?”

“Finish chewing, I don’t want you to choke,” Janis demands, knowing him well. He listens, thankfully, swallowing his bite and coming to sit next to her on the bed.

“Okay, what is it?”

“I want to propose to Caddy,” Janis rushes out. Exactly as she expected, he sucks in a large gasp, dropping his bagel to press a hand over his heart. “Can you help me?”

“Yes!” He says excitedly. “Oh my god, finally!”

“Finally? We’re twenty-two, dude,” Janis says, confused. She’d thought they were a bit young to be thinking of marriage.

“Literally everyone in our friend group expected you to get engaged before we started college and elope,” Damian responds, leveling her with a single look.

“We’d only been dating for, like, four and a half months by the time you and I left, what the hell kind of toxic relationship did you think we have?!” Janis demands.

“You two were absolutely revoltingly in love, you would’ve done it and found a way to make it work. I’m just glad you’ve calmed down a little,” Damian jokes.

“Hm,” Janis huffs, thinking. They had gotten into things pretty quickly in high school. Their temporary long distance relationship had actually done them a lot of favors. “Anyway, can you help me?”

“Yes, of course! How do you want to do it?” He asks, lying down on his tummy and taking another bite of his bagel.

“I was thinking when we go home for Christmas? Like, on Christmas Eve, maybe. I wanted to take her to some fancy ‘holiday’ dinner and then take her on a walk to the clearing by that pond where we had our first date, and propose there?” She says quickly. She’s planned it for a while, but she still wants to make sure it doesn’t sound dumb.

“Aww,” Damian coos. “That sounds great, she’ll love it. What do you want me to do?”

“Help me pick a ring, first of all. And then, since you’re coming back to Illinois with us, help me decorate the place with, like, candles and pretty lights and stuff?” Janis asks, looking to him for approval again.

“Done. You wanna go shopping now?” He asks, shoving the rest of his bagel in his mouth.

“Um... yeah, why not? I’ll be ready in a minute,” She says, pushing him to the door.

————-

Little did Janis know, Cady was across town with Regina, Gretchen, and Karen coming up with a proposal plan of her own. She’d asked them out on a coffee get-together, trying to bribe them into helping her plan everything.

“Hey, Cady!” Gretchen calls from across the café where she’s standing, flanked by her girlfriends. Cady stands to hug them, she’s been so busy working on her PhD that she hasn’t been able to see them much lately.

“Hi! I ordered for all of us, we’re over here,” she says, leading them to a table in the far corner.

“It’s so good to see you, it’s been forever,” Regina says, sitting across from her with Karen, and Gretchen next to Cady.

“Yeah, I’ve missed you guys! My schoolwork is kicking my ass lately,” Cady huffs. “How have you been?”

“Good! We got an axolotl!” Karen says excitedly.

“Aww! I love those, but we can’t have any pets at all in our apartment,” Cady says sadly. “What did you name it?”

“Louboutin,” Gretchen says with a happy smile. “Gina wants to give him a sibling named Gucci.”

“Aww. I wanna come meet him soon,” Cady says.

“Oh, absolutely! We’ll have a girls night soon once our schoolwork eases up a little,” Regina says happily. “What about you, how have you been?”

“Oh, you know. About as good as a PhD student can be,” Cady says with a chuckle. “But really, I’ve been fine. Um, I actually wanted to ask a favor of you guys.”

“Ooh, ulterior motive! What do you need?” Gretchen asks excitedly, still hungry for gossip like she was in high school.

“I want to propose to Janis,” Cady says quickly. All three girls squeal loudly and wrap her in a hug, Regina and Karen leaning over the table and nearly spilling their drinks.

“When?” Karen asks excitedly once they’ve sat back down.

“Where?” Regina adds.

“I was thinking Christmas Eve when we all go back home? Our first date was in this beautiful clearing in the woods by that pond, I was going to do it there,” Cady says quietly.

“Aww,” the three of them coo in the same tone at the same time. It’s frightening how in sync they are, sometimes.

“So what do you need us for?” Karen asks.

“I was hoping you guys could help me pick a ring, and set up the area once the day comes? If you can,” Cady asks. “And Regina, could you take photos? Like, hidden somewhere? I can pay you for them.”

“Yes I can, and no you will not. You’re my best friend, you get free pictures,” Regina says, shaking with excitement.

“You don’t have to do that, Gina,” Cady says, feeling guilty now.

“Cady, honey, I’m still rich. I don’t need your money. Think of it as a favor for me, I need more practice with photographing people anyway.”

“Okay,” Cady says. “Anyway, are you guys free next weekend to go ring shopping?”

“Yes,” all of them say together again.

“Okay then,” Cady giggles. “What have you guys been up to?”

————-

On November first, Regina is sitting on the sofa in her apartment, reading through some emails for work and sipping her favorite peppermint tea. She decides to take a break when her phone pings with a text; her back is starting to bother her anyway.

She stands up to stretch as she checks it, trying not to be too surprised when she finds it’s from Janis.

snarkisian: hey reggie are u going home for christmas ??

notreginald: Yes, why?

snarkisian: are u busy on christmas eve ??

notreginald: Depends on what time. What do you need?

snarkisian: i’m gonna propose to caddy that night and i was wondering if you’d take some pics of it

snarkisian: i’ll pay u for them obviously

Regina sucks in a gasp. They’re planning on proposing on the same night?

notreginald: Aww, congratulations! I’ll see if I’m free, where and when are you planning on doing it? And you don’t have to pay me.

snarkisian: the clearing in the woods where we had our first date, around nightfall. i’m gonna take her to a fake christmas dinner first tho

So, they have exactly the same proposal plan. How cute.

notreginald: Let me check my calendar. I should be free.

She lied, she needs to talk to Damian immediately.

georgewashington: HUBBARD WE HAVE A SITUATION

damecupboard: What happened who do I need to kill

georgewashington: What? Nobody. But Janis and Cady want to propose to each other on the same night and in the same place.

damecupboard: HOLY SHIT HOLY SHIT HOLT SHIT

georgewashington: Holt.

damecupboard: Bitch leave me alone

damecupboard: They have the exact same proposal plan??

georgewashington: Exactly the same, except Janis wants to take Cady to dinner first. Cady asked us to help get the area set up beforehand a while ago and asked me to take their engagement pics.

georgewashington: And Janis just texted me asking to take pictures for HER proposal.

damecupboard: Shit

damecupboard: They probably both want the same setup, we could work together and then stick you in a bush or smth

georgewashington: Works for me, other than the bush. I’ll text you later to find out what we need to order. Love you 📷

damecupboard: Bye Reggie!!

She switches back to her text thread with Janis.

notreginald: I’m totally free in the evening that day, so it should work out.

snarkisian: tits! are u sure i can’t pay u??

notreginald: I don’t want your money, Jan. Just spell correctly for once in your life.

snarkisian: noh

notreginald: Figures.

————-

About a week later, Janis and Cady are having their weekly date night. Every Saturday they make a commitment to go on a date. Sometimes they go out for dinner, sometimes they go see a movie, and other times they just go for a walk around the city and chat, catching up on the events of the week.

Tonight, they decide to do one of their favorite things: stay home. Damian has an evening audition and won’t be home until late, so they have the apartment to themselves.

They order in some Indian food, deciding not to cook this time since they’re both exhausted from the week. It’s peaceful, eating their dinner sitting across from each other on the floor, using the coffee table as a dinner table. They chat about how Janis’ work has been, what paintings she’s been doing in her off time, how Cady’s schoolwork is going, little things like that.

Cady cuddles in on top of Janis as they watch a movie, falling asleep slightly as Janis plays with her hair. It’s only about seven in the evening, but she’s so tired and Janis is so warm.

She about jumps out of her skin when Janis’ phone goes off. Their usual rule is no phones on date night, but they both are waiting on some important information so made an exception for tonight. Janis checks the message, her eyes going wide when she sees what it is.

“Cads, I’m really sorry, I have to go,” She says frantically, Cady frowning at her as she’s removed from her embrace.

“Go where? It’s late,” Cady pouts. Janis has never left date night before.

“Um... a work thing,” Janis says. “Emergency. I shouldn’t be more than an hour. Maybe hour and a half.”

It’s clearly a lie, Janis teaches art and tutors English down at their local middle school. None of her students would have an emergency this late on a Saturday night.

“Janis, you’re a teacher, what emergency could possibly happen this late at night? On a weekend?” Cady asks, rubbing her eyes.

“Uhm... not that work, something happened to one of my commissions down at the studio. I have to go check on it.” Janis says, proud of how quickly she came up with that.

“Oh. Okay,” Cady responds, still eyeing her suspiciously. “Be safe.”

“I will. I have my pepper spray,” Janis says, coming to kiss her goodbye quickly. “I love you.”

“I love you too.”

And with that, Cady is left alone. She decides to clean up after their dinner, throwing the containers away and washing the dishes they used. She’s deep in thought as she scrubs away at a plate.

She definitely lied to me, she wouldn’t even look me in the eye. And she spent forever picking that studio because she wanted somewhere good, if something happened to one of her works someone would have known how to fix it.

So where could she have gone? On date night? What was so important? Did she get invited to do something else? With someone else? Maybe I’ve gotten boring. I can’t be very interesting to talk to, all I’ve got going on is school.

That thought makes her pause. Janis couldn’t be sick of her. Could she? Cady takes a deep breath, switching to grab a towel to dry the dishes. She’s been down this road before, she knows she shouldn’t jump to conclusions. But maybe she’ll take time to gather some more evidence first before telling Janis how she’s feeling. That’s probably not a terrible idea.

-

Janis rushes to the subway station near their apartment, even more on edge than she normally is in public. She’d gotten a text notification that the ring she and Damian had chosen was ready, and wants to go check since she’ll be busy making Thanksgiving preparations soon. The shop closes in an hour and is about forty-five minutes away, so she has to hurry.

The shopkeeper looks a little startled when she throws the door open and dashes in, so Janis pauses for a second to make sure she doesn’t look like a robber. She smooths her hair and clothes and heads up to the counter at a much slower pace.

“Um, hi, sorry. I got a text that an engagement ring I ordered is ready?” She says gently.

The employee looks relieved upon realizing Janis isn’t crazy, sighing quietly. “Oh, that’s perfectly understandable. What’s the name for the order?”

“Sarkisian,” Janis responds, bouncing slightly on the balls of her feet.

The employee heads into a back room, returning after a second with a small velvet box. “Here you are.”

Janis opens the box, gasping gently at what she sees. She’d seen it to pick the style, obviously, but something about seeing it in Cady’s size and presented in the fancy box makes it so much more real.

She’d stolen one of Cady’s less fancy rings  to get her size, and when she compares them it’s a perfect match. “This is perfect, thank you so much.”

“Not a problem, ma’am. Best of luck with the proposal.”

This guy is disgustingly polite, she thinks as she heads for the door. “Thank you!” She calls over her shoulder just before she reaches the door.

Once she’s left, she pulls out her phone to text Damian.

janjan: hey i just picked up the ring

janjan: can we meet somewhere so i can give it to u? caddy will be sus if i immediately go to hide something when i get home

damdam: !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

damdam: Yeah I just finished my audition. I’ll be at that noodle place we like, meet me there

janjan: 📷

It’s about a block and a half away from where she is, so she sort of power-walks her way over. She’s still panting slightly by the time she reaches him.

“Lemme see,” Damian demands as soon as he sees her. Janis pulls the box out of her pocket, flipping the lid open to show him. “Oh, Jan, it’s so pretty.”

“Do you think Caddy’ll like it?” Janis asks, shutting it again and handing it over. She’s a little nervous about letting it out of her sight, but she honestly trusts him with it more than herself.

“Of course, Janjan. You picked it for a reason, she’ll love it,” Damian says as he puts it safely in his coat pocket.

“It’d better be worth it. I feel bad, I left in the middle of date night,” Janis says nervously.

Damian pats her shoulder comfortingly. “She’ll understand, Jan. Eventually.”

“I hope so,” Janis mumbles. “Dame?” She asks after a beat.

“Hmm?”

“Why didn’t we just meet at the station?”

“I want noodles.”

————-

They decide to have Thanksgiving with all three of their families together, since everyone was coming to them instead of the other way around. For New York, their apartment is fairly large, but it’s still quite cramped with everyone present.

Janis can cook well enough, but she had recently dropped an entire watermelon on the floor and was subsequently banned from helping prepare any of the meal. She’s in charge of keeping everything presentable while Damian entertains.

So, Cady is preparing the meal with her own mother, as well as Janis’. Ms. Hubbard and Damian both offered to help as well, but their little kitchen isn’t big enough for any more people. Cady is left alone with Ms. Sarkisian as her own mother heads to the restroom, deciding to ask the million dollar question now.

“Ms. Juliette, can I ask you something?” Cady asks. Janis’ mother had insisted on Cady calling her by her first name, but she never quite managed it. Her compromise is still using the title in front of her name. It suits them both well enough.

“Of course, hon,” Ms. Sarkisian says, basting the turkey.

Cady looks quickly to make sure Janis isn’t around before she speaks, talking quietly. “Um... I’m planning on proposing to Janis, around Christmas. I’d like to ask your blessing.” Cady has a feeling it’ll be given, but she’s nervous. They’re still very young, Janis is barely twenty-three.

Ms. Sarkisian gasps happily and comes to hug her. “Of course you have my blessing, I’ve been waiting for this day since you two first started dating. Welcome to the family, honey.”

Cady hugs her back tightly, relieved she agreed. “Thank you.” She hopes she’ll actually be welcomed to the family. Janis has still been acting odd.

-

Janis is ambling around in the living room, out of things to keep tidy for the moment. She’s trying to work up the nerve to talk to Cady’s parents.

When Mrs. Heron comes through to use the restroom, she realizes she might only have this moment to ask them. She takes some deep breaths, standing a little ways away from the bathroom to wait for Cady’s mother.

“Oh, hello, Janis,” Mrs. Heron says as she comes back, wiping some excess water on her pant legs.

“Uh, hi, Mrs. Heron,” Janis stutters. “Can-could I talk to you and Mr. Heron really quick? Um, alone?”

“I’ve told you to call me Betsy, dear. And yes, I’ll go get Chip,” Cady’s mother replies. She returns with her husband after a second, both looking slightly concerned. “Now what is this about?”

Janis swallows and puffs out her chest slightly for confidence. “Uhm, I want to propose to Cady. She loves you two more than anything, so I wanted to ask your blessing.”

Mrs. Heron gasps happily, coming to hug her. Mr. Heron is more stoic, but she sees tears brimming in his eyes.

“Oh, you absolutely have our blessing, dear. Welcome to the family,” Mrs. Heron says.

“Thanks,” Janis breathes. Betsy leaves after that and returns to her daughter in the kitchen. Mr. Heron wraps her in another awkward hug, eventually giving up and pulling back to shake her hand instead.

“You have my blessing. But if you hurt my baby girl, you’ll never see the light of day again,” He says ominously. “Take care of her. Welcome to the family.”

“Um...I don’t plan on it, sir, thank you,” Janis stumbles. “I promise I’ll take care of her.”

“I know you will, I just have to make sure of these things as her father,” Chip replies. “I’ll tell her to do the same for you whenever you propose.”

Janis feels tears prick at her eyes. She knows her mother is protective, but having an actual father figure is nice. “Thank you.”

“You’re welcome, Janis.”

-

They head back to the living room, where everyone else is waiting. Janis shoots Juliana a look, gesturing for her to come over to her.

“What’s up, Janny?” Her sister asks.

“You have to swear to be quiet if I tell you, Caddy can’t know,” Janis threatens.

Juliana looks at her oddly. “Okay.”

Janis pulls out the ring box, prompting a gasp from her sister. Julie slaps a hand over her mouth, squealing into it and doing a little happy dance. “I get another sister! Finally!”

“Shh,” Janis demands. “But yes, hopefully. I’m trusting you with this. I’m gonna propose at Christmas. Can you take this home with you and keep it safe somewhere?”

Julie’s eyes go wide, shocked at the amount of trust her big sister has in her. “Yeah, absolutely. Have you told Mama?”

“No, I’m going to whenever she takes a break. She’s with Caddy, I haven’t been able to get her away.”

“Can I see it?” Julie asks, cradling the ring box carefully and opening it when Janis nods. “Oh, damn. She’s a lucky lady.”

Janis laughs, ruffling her hair. “Thanks, kid, glad you approve.”

“What are we approving, girls? What are you scheming?” Their mother asks as she comes to take a short break from the cooking.

Julie looks to Janis, letting her share the news. “I’m proposing to Caddy. Probably on Christmas Eve.”

Her mom raises her eyebrows, smiling widely when she realizes that they both have the same plan. She comes to hug her, trying to hide her reaction and keep Cady’s proposal a surprise. “Congratulations, baby girl.”

“She hasn’t said yes yet, mama,” Janis reminds her, returning her hug.

“Do you think she’s going to say no?” Juliana asks jokingly.

Janis pauses. “No.”

“Then let her congratulate you, Janny. She’s gonna say yes.” Julie says.

“Okay. Thank you.”

-

“Mom, Daddy, can I talk to you?” Cady asks when Janis goes to grab a second plate from the kitchen.

“Always, binti,” her father replies.

“I’m going to propose to Janis,” Cady says in Swahili just in case Janis is listening. “On Christmas Eve.”

Her parents lock eyes, smiling at each other as they discover each girl has the same plan.

“Congratulations, darling. Treat each other well,” her mother says, trying to stop grinning.

“We will. I love you,” Cady replies as she comes to hug them. She misses the look they shoot Ms. Sarkisian over her shoulders.

-

Once their families leave, headed back home to Illinois in the morning, Janis and Cady have a moment alone in the kitchen as Damian tidies up the living room and heads to bed.

Cady comes up behind Janis as she finishes washing the last few dishes, wrapping her arms around her waist and popping up on her tippy toes to kiss her cheek before squishing her cheek against Janis’ back.

“Hi, baby,” Janis says as she switches to grab another plate.

“Hi,” Cady says. “Today was nice.”

Janis finishes her last dish and turns around, leaning to kiss Cady’s forehead and pulling her in for a tighter hug. She dances them around the kitchen, to a song that exists only in her head. Cady giggles when Janis spins her out and then pulls her back in to kiss her sweetly.

“It was nice. I love you,” Janis says.

“I love you too. I’m thankful for you,” Cady replies, popping up to kiss her again. Janis chuckles, kissing her back.

“I’m thankful for you too, Butterfly. Let’s go to bed, I’m exhausted,” Janis yawns.

“Okay, my love. I’m little spoon tonight,” Cady says.

“Fine.”

————-

Thanksgiving was comforting, but Janis continues acting oddly. She seems distracted, and nervous. Whenever Cady is around she seems on high alert, and spends most of her free time on her phone texting someone. Cady is worried.

On their next date night, Cady decides to go all out. She had told Regina about how strange Janis was acting and asked for advice. She had two girlfriends, after all. Regina had suggested being a bit more bold with her affections to see how Janis responded and going from there.

They have the apartment for the night since Damian is having a sleepover with Karen. They had formed a special bond over the years. They have get togethers every now and again, occasionally joined by Janis and Cady, and every once in a while Regina and Gretchen would join too. It’s cute.

Cady made reservations at their favorite Italian restaurant to surprise Janis, and picks out her sexiest lingerie to go under her slightly revealing green dress. She also decides to wear heels so she can reach Janis’ face more easily.

She styles her hair down, since Janis loves to play with it, and does more makeup than she’s normally comfortable with. She decides to leave her freckles visible, though, since Janis loves those too. She swipes on some red lipstick that she rarely uses and is good to go.

Janis is wearing a green button-down top and some nice black pants, sitting on the couch and waiting for her to finish getting ready. “You ready, ba-whoa.” she says upon seeing her.

“Yeah, let’s go,” Cady says, grabbing her bag and reaching for her. Janis pulls her close before they can leave, wrapping her arms around her waist and kissing her soundly.

“You look incredible. Is there some special occasion I’m forgetting?” She purrs after pulling back, miraculously without having smudged either of their lipsticks.

“No,” Cady says, fiddling with a button on her shirt. “Just wanted to try something new.” Janis’ reaction so far seems to be a good sign.

“Hmm,” Janis hums, looking at her oddly. “Okay. As long as you’re comfortable. You look beautiful.”

“Thanks. You’re not so bad yourself,” Cady pecks her lips one more time before pulling away, taking her hand and leading her out the door. “Now come on, we’re gonna be late.”

-

Cady flirts rather aggressively throughout their whole meal; holding Janis’ hand across the table, listening even more intently than she usually does to her stories, even occasionally winking at her.

Janis seems confused by all the attention, but doesn’t complain. She follows quietly after Cady once she pays and smiles as Cady links their fingers together.

“Do you want to walk and look at the lights?” Cady asks as she turns back to look at her.

“You’re in heels and the shortest dress I’ve ever seen, baby, no. We can walk around but we should take you home to change first,” Janis replies, looking meaningfully at her outfit.

“You don’t like it?” Cady asks with a pout.

“No! I mean yes- I... baby, you look beautiful, I love you in this, I just don’t want you to freeze,” Janis explains. “And you’ll damage your feet walking too far in those.”

“Oh,” Cady says with relief. “Yeah, you’re probably right.”

“You want to head home?” Janis asks.

Cady presses close to her, fiddling with the collar of her shirt. “Yeah,” she purrs. “We can have more fun at home, anyway. Maybe you can help me get out of this.”

Janis lets out a flustered squeak, grabbing her hand and hauling her to a cab.

-

Once they’re both satisfied, Cady pulls Janis to shower with her. “Did you like tonight?”

“Are you kidding? Yeah,” Janis says as Cady gently traces the tattoos covering her arm. “But you’ve been acting kind of... off, are you okay? Did something happen?”

Shit. Janis is onto her. “No, no, I’m fine,” Cady says hastily. “I just wanted to show how much I love you.”

“Aww. Well it was a nice surprise, but I love you all the time, Butterfly,” Janis says as she pulls Cady close to kiss her.

“I love you too.”

Maybe I read things wrong? But what is she up to?

————-

They do actually get to go walk around and see the lights the following weekend. Cady dresses more sensibly this time, in jeans and snow boots. And a Christmas sweater under her coat, which she had talked Janis into matching. Janis had only agreed since their coats would be zipped up.

Cady looks around in childlike wonder at the beautiful lights decorating the neighborhood. She always gets so excited around the holidays. Janis doesn’t think it’ll ever stop being impossibly adorable.

She’s in the midst of trying to process that they’ll hopefully be engaged in about two weeks when Cady suddenly hauls her into an alleyway, pinning her against the wall and kissing her hungrily.

Janis responds in kind, pulling Cady into her and sucking on her lip as she slides her hands into the back pockets of Cady’s jeans. Cady moans quietly, threading her hands through Janis’ short, dark hair and pressing up on her tiptoes to be even closer.

Janis switches their places, turning to lift Cady up and pin her against the wall. Cady squeals in surprise, but locks her legs around Janis’ waist and pulls her back in, giving her lower lip a teasing nip.

Janis pulls back with a gasp for breath, but keeps Cady held against the wall. She groans happily when Cady kisses and nips her cheeks and jaw, letting Janis catch her breath before cupping her face and pressing their lips together again.

Cady is about to ask Janis to take her home so they can continue in private when her phone pings loudly in her pocket. Janis sets her down so she can check it. She blinks in surprise when she sees it’s a text from Aaron.

a-aron: hey, cady! i know it’s been a long time, but i just moved to NY and you’re one of the only people i know in the city. do you want to meet for coffee sometime and catch up?

“Who is it?” Janis asks, but doesn’t try to peek to respect Cady’s privacy.

“Um... it’s Aaron. He just moved to the city, he wants to meet for coffee soon. Would you be okay with that?” Cady asks.

“Damn, he moved here from Cali? At Christmas? Poor dude,” Janis says. “But baby, I don’t control who you meet up with. I trust you, of course you can meet with him.”

“Thanks, lovey. Let me text him back and then we can keep looking around,” Cady hums.

caddy: Sure! Janis and I are going back to Evanston next weekend, though. Are you free this week?

a-aron: does tomorrow work? i could use a break from unpacking. if it’s too short notice that’s fine, damian told me you’re working on your phd. congrats, btw

“What is it?” Janis asks when Cady grins widely.

“He’s been talking with Damian,” Cady says. “Didn’t Damian have a date the other day? And wouldn’t tell us who he was going out with?”

“Oh my god,” Janis squeals. “No way!”

“I think so. I’ll check when I meet with Aaron,” Cady giggles. “One more second, I’m sorry.”

caddy: Thank you! Tomorrow works fine, I’ll text you a good place in a while.

caddy: Oh and Janis says hi :)

a-aron: lol hello janis. see you tomorrow cady

caddy: 📷

“Alright, where were we?” Cady purrs as she pockets her phone again, pulling Janis into another smooch.

————-

The next day, Cady gets ready to meet Aaron around eleven and heads to her favorite local coffee shop.

Aaron is already at a table in the back corner, sipping a mocha as he reads a book.

“Hi, Aaron,” She says, heading over to him.

“Hey, Cady! Long time no see,” Aaron replies, standing and coming to hug her. It’s been about six months since they’ve seen each other, since he came to Regina’s college graduation party in May.

“I know, it’s good to see you!” Cady says as she sits down. “So, what brings you to New York?”

“Work, actually,” Aaron replies. “I was offered a job here and decided to go for it. I was actually kind of lonely all the way out in California. My college friends are all good people, but everyone I’m really connected to is out here now.”

“Like Damian?” Cady teases.

“How did-oh, did I tell you about that?” Aaron stutters. “It’s- we’re not, like, a thing. Or anything.”

“Do you want to be?” Cady asks gently. Aaron had come out as biromantic and asexual during his sophomore year of college. He and Damian would be cute together.

“YeahIreallydo,” Aaron says quickly before abruptly changing the subject. “Anyway, um, how have you and Janis been? Is she still doing art?”

Cady sighs, but smiles at the mention of her girlfriend. “Yeah. She actually teaches art now, to middle schoolers. And she has a commission business she runs on the side. And everything is great with us, I’m actually planning on proposing to her soon.”

Aaron gasps happily. “Congratulations, Cades! When are you doing it?”

“Christmas,” Cady grins. “Well, Christmas Eve. I have a lot to plan still, though.”

“I could help, I’m going to visit family in Evanston too. I’m assuming Damian or Regina is helping you?” Aaron asks.

“Regina, and Gretchen and Karen. Damian’s been busy with something else, but I’ve told him it’s happening,” Cady replies. “If you want to help, that would be great. Regina has been doing most of the shopping, I think.”

“I’ll shoot her a text later. Am I invited to the wedding?” Aaron asks jokingly.

“Of course,” Cady chides. “If it actually happens.”

“Cady, you and Janis are perfect for each other, she’s going to say yes. We’ve all been waiting for this since we were in high school.”

“But we were only dating for a few months in high school,” Cady says.

“But you’ve been in love with her since you met her,” Aaron replies. “I didn’t really notice it when we were together, but you never looked at me the way you look at her. I’m glad everything has worked out for you two.”

Cady is stunned. “Um. Thank you,” she stutters. “I think. So, what were you doing in California after you graduated?”

“I work in accounting now,” Aaron says. “Yes, it is as boring as it sounds. Um, I joined a rec soccer league for a while, that was cool. And I...uh, never mind.”

“No, what? Come on, you can tell me,” Cady coaxes, thanking the waiter as he delivers her tea.

“I dabbled in drag,” Aaron mumbles. Cady chokes on her tea, spitting it back into her mug.

“Oh my god! Really?!” She splutters. “Do you still do it?”

“I haven’t found anywhere to do it here yet, but technically, yes,” Aaron replies.

“What’s your drag name?” Cady demands excitedly. This is an incredible revelation.

“Lois Carmen Denominator,” Aaron says as he flushes. Cady chokes again. Of course he picked a math pun.

“Oh my god, that’s incredible,” she breathes. “Have you told Damian? He loves that stuff.”

“No, we, um. We’ve only met up the once. Somehow that didn’t come up,” Aaron says. “But I’ll let him know.”

“Yes! That’s so neat, you’ll have to let me know when you find somewhere. I’ll come to see you perform,” Cady says excitedly.

“Sure, Cades,” Aaron chuckles. “Um, has Damian, like, mentioned me at all?”

Cady grins. Now it’s her turn to play matchmaker. “Not by name,” she teases. “But he was going on and on about this super hot guy he managed to get a date with the other day.”

Aaron flushes again. “He thinks I’m hot?”

“Apparently,” Cady giggles. “Did you go out with him on Wednesday?”

“Yeah,” Aaron says, his voice a few octaves higher.

“Then yes, he thinks you’re hot,” Cady replies.

Aaron is doing his best tomato impression by this point. “Oh. Wait, what do I do now?”

“You’re so flustered, oh my god! Text him, ask to meet again,” Cady says. “He’ll say yes, he was a total mess when he came home the other day.”

“Okay,” Aaron says as he pulls out his phone. He taps out a message quickly, and his face splits in a wide grin when he gets a notification in response a few minutes later. “We’re gonna go see a movie in Evanston when we’re both there next week.”

“Aww, yay! You guys will make such a good couple,” Cady squeals.

“Uh, thanks,” Aaron says sheepishly. His phone pings again. “Oh, shit, I gotta go. I’m sorry.”

“No, I should be going too. Don’t worry about it,” Cady replies as she picks up her bag and orders a to-go iced coffee for Janis. “This was nice.”

“It was. I guess if everything goes well with Dame we’ll be seeing a lot more of each other,” Aaron says. “Later, Cady.”

“Bye!”

-

“Janis!” Cady calls as she slams the door to the apartment open.

“Jesus!” Janis yelps from her spot on the couch. “Baby, don’t do that!”

“Sorry. I got you a coffee,” Cady says sheepishly. “And Aaron and Damian are together. Or almost, anyway. They went on a date last week and they’re gonna go see a movie together when we go home next week. I was excited to tell you. Oh, and Aaron is a drag queen!”

Janis chokes. “He what? Oh, Damian’s gonna love that. He’ll have a hell of a time trying to explain this to us later. Don’t tell him you know anything, this is hilarious.”

“It is kind of funny,” Cady giggles. “Is anyone we were friends with in high school straight?”

Janis thinks for a second. “Kevin?”

“No, he’s aroace,” Cady replies. “He just has a pet lizard.”

“Good for him,” Janis says. “I guess gays do kind of flock together. Must be pheromones or some shit.”

“Homomones,” Cady says absently, making Janis burst out laughing.

“Yeah,” She giggles, wiping tears from her eyes. “Anyway, did you have a good time?”

“I did. It was nice to see him again,” Cady says. “But I missed you.”

“Aww,” Janis coos. “I missed you too. I was supposed to be working on a new commission I got but I kept getting distracted and sketching you instead. Thanks for the coffee, Butterfly.”

“Ooh, can I see?” Cady asks. She loves Janis’ art, no matter how simple a sketch it may be. “And you’re welcome, my love.”

Janis hands over her sketchbook, open to a page covered in little doodles of Cady’s face.

“These are good, lovey!” Cady says as she flicks through a few pages. “There’s a lot of them, though.”

“Yeah, I get distracted a lot,” Janis mumbles. “But thanks. Glad you don’t think it’s creepy.”

“Of course not,” Cady chides. “It’s cute.”

“You’re cuter,” Janis challenges.

Cady kisses her to shut her up, not even slightly taking the bait. “Thank you. I’m gonna go change, I’ll be right back.”

“Okay.”

-

Cady comes back quickly as she promised, but somehow different. She kisses Janis again in greeting and plops down next to her, tapping away on her phone.

“Welcome back,” Janis says jokingly. Cady either doesn’t hear or doesn’t care, not even looking up. “Butterfly?”

“Hm?” Cady hums.

“Did something happen?” Janis asks concernedly. She can’t tell if the furrow in Cady’s brow is from concentration or concern.

“Huh? Oh, no, everything is fine. I just have something to... work on,” Cady says. “I’ll be done in a while.”

“Oh. Okay,” Janis says suspiciously. “I love you.”

“I love you too,” Cady replies, but she still doesn’t look up. It doesn’t sound like there’s any meaning behind the words this time. That’s concerning.

“Are you sure you’re okay?” Janis asks.

“Yes, Janis, everything’s fine,” Cady huffs, sounding a bit irritated.

“Sorry. Just wanted to make sure,” Janis mumbles.

“Thank you, love, but I’m okay. I’ll tell you if something happens,” Cady says as she finally looks up.

“Okay,” Janis replies. Cady goes back to her phone then, continuing... whatever she’s up to.

Janis pulls out her own phone, playing a game Damian had gotten her hooked on.

“Lovey, would you please go get my charger?” Cady asks after about an hour and a half.

“Sure, baby,” Janis replies as she stands up to stretch. She heads to the bedroom to grab both chargers, coming back and plugging them into the wall. Hers doesn’t reach back to her spot, so she lies her head on Cady’s lap and resumes her scrolling.

“Thank you, Jellybean,” Cady replies, plugging her own phone in and continuing her activities as she strokes her other hand through Janis’ hair.

After another hour or so, Janis gets bored. She clicks her phone off and sits up, but crawls back to Cady for cuddles.

“Janis,” Cady huffs. “What are you doing?”

“I’m bored,” Janis whines. “Snuggle me.”

“Fine, come here,” Cady pulls her closer and lets Janis cuddle into her shoulder. Janis gets comfortable and closes her eyes, falling asleep almost immediately.

-

She wakes a couple hours later, checking hastily to make sure she hasn’t been drooling all over Cady’s shoulder. She hasn’t, luckily, but she seems to have stirred a few times before, because Cady tries to shush her back to sleep.

“I’m awake, Cads,” Janis replies. “Sorry.”

“It’s okay, love. Did you have a nice nap?” Cady asks. She’s still working on her phone.

“Yeah,” Janis mumbles and cuddles back into her shoulder. “Still working?”

“I’m almost done,” Cady replies distractedly.

“Mmkay. What do you want for dinner?” Janis asks from her perch on her lap.

“Huh? Oh, can we have tacos? I bought the stuff the other day,” Cady says.

Janis nods, but makes no effort to move. “Sure, that sounds good.”

She sits for a few more minutes before she sits up, deciding to try to squeeze in a make out session before she goes to cook.

But Cady turns away. She tilts her head so Janis’ lips end up on her cheek. Janis whines in frustration.

“Caddy!”

“What, Janis?” Cady asks in exasperation.

Janis does her best puppy eyes. They aren’t quite as good as Cady’s, but they do the job well enough. “Pay attention to meeeeee.”

“Janis! This is important,” Cady says as she looks over Janis’ shoulder to continue working.

Janis’ face falls. More important than me? “Fine. I’m gonna go cook.”

“Janis, wait, I’m sorry,” Cady says, reaching for her again.

“It’s fine. You keep working,” Janis mumbles, leaving her alone as she heads into the kitchen.

-

Cady comes in sheepishly when she calls her to eat. “Love, I’m sorry, I didn’t mean it. I just- I have a lot going on, I took it out on you, I’m sorry.”

“It’s fine, baby. Don’t worry about it, I understand. Just tell me next time so I don’t push you like that,” Janis replies. “Now come eat.”

“I will. I love you,” Cady says, kissing Janis sweetly before taking her plate.

“I love you too,” Janis hums, kissing her back.

————-

Cady seems almost embarrassed for the next week or so, still upset with herself for making Janis sad. Janis tries to cheer her up, making it very clear she understands that Cady didn’t mean it, but Cady still seems nervous around her.

Cady feels like she should do something to make up for it. She hadn’t meant to ignore Janis like that, but Regina was trying to check that everything was ordered for the proposal. Cady wanted to step things up even further and had to tell her to order extra things. Then, an issue had come up with Cady’s card, so she’d had to fix that over text all with Janis asleep on her lap.

Janis had woken up at the worst possible moment. Cady was very much not in the mood for kissing by that point, but she knows she should have told Janis she was stressed rather than just turning away and continuing her work. Of course that had upset her.

So, Cady decides to make sushi for dinner. It’s Janis’ favorite food, and Cady thinks it had helped them start dating back in high school. She picks up the ingredients on her way home from classes and starts preparing everything while she waits for Janis to come home from work.

Cady doesn’t like sushi herself, so she makes her own ‘sashimi’ with plain rice and cooked chicken instead of the raw fish she uses for Janis’. Damian had a callback to go to and wouldn’t be home until late at night. She makes him some anyway and leaves it in the fridge with a sweet note.

“What’s up, fuckers?!” Janis calls as she slams the apartment door open. Cady jumps, nearly losing a finger to the sushi knife she was holding. She hopes that one day Janis will stop doing that every time she comes home. But, for now, it’s strangely endearing.

“I’m in the kitchen, Damian’s not home,” she replies once she’s recovered from the brief shock. “I have something for you.”

“Uh oh,” Janis replies as she takes off her boots and coat and heads into the kitchen. “Aww! You made sushi again?”

“Yeah. To make up for the other day. And because I love you,” Cady answers, showing off the maki rolls she had plated into a smiley face. “Tah-dah.”

Janis squeals, coming to hug her girlfriend. She had been a little concerned that Cady might’ve beaten her to a proposal.

“Thank you, Peanut,” Janis says. “I love you.”

“You’re welcome, mpendwa. I love you too. How was work?” Cady asks as she sits across from her at their tiny dining table.

“Good, actually,” Janis replies. “One of my kids actually brought me an apple after lunch.”

“Aww, how sweet,” Cady says. “Was it the gay one?”

“Yeah,” Janis chuckles in reply. She was one of the only openly gay teachers in her district, so she provided a safe space for a lot of her students. It was healing for her, in a way, to be what she needed at that age. “He told me to say hi to you, by the way.”

“They know about me?” Cady asks as she eats a bite of her special sashimi.

“They know I have a girlfriend, for sure,” Janis hums in reply. “If I had a dollar for every time they tell me to ‘shut up about your girlfriend, Ms. S,’ I could buy this whole complex. And I have pictures of you guys around, so I think they’ve pieced together who you are.”

“Aww. That’s so cute,” Cady coos, leaning over for a kiss.

“I’m glad you think so,” Janis chuckles as she kisses her back sweetly. “What about you, how was school? Did you finish that assignment you were working on?”

“Assign- oh. Yeah, I did,” Cady says, briefly confused until she remembers Janis thought she was working on schoolwork instead of her proposal plan that day. “But it’s for that one professor, so I probably won’t find out my grade until sometime during break.”

“That’s shit,” Janis says through a mouthful of sushi. “But good job, I bet you did great.”

“Thanks,” Cady chuckles. She uses her own chopsticks to feed Janis a piece of her sushi, and Janis does the same. Before they know it the food is gone, so Janis takes their dishes to the sink before coming to pick Cady up, carrying her to the bedroom for cuddles.

-

Christmas Eve finally rolls around a few weeks later. Cady and Janis are staying with their own families for the week, and they would fly home with Damian on Boxing Day.

Janis had told Cady she wanted to take her out for Christmas Dinner, so she borrows her mom’s car and heads to pick Cady up. It’s only been about three days since she’s seen Cady, but they’ve both missed each other.

“Janis!” Cady squeals, opening the door before Janis could even knock. She’s in a tight green top and dark dress pants, unknowingly matching Janis, who is in a red top and also in dark dress pants. Cady has on heels, though, to make it easier to kiss Janis.

“Hi, baby,” Janis chuckles, picking her up for a second and spinning them around. “Your carriage awaits.”

“Why thank you, my lady, shall we be off?” Cady replies in character with a giggle.

“Indeed,” Janis says.

-

They have a lovely meal at their favorite restaurant from high school, the same place they had eaten before their senior prom.

Cady holds Janis’ arm as they exit, the ring box burning a hole in her coat pocket. “Lovey? Do you want to walk a little? We’re not too far from that clearing you took me to on our first date, we could go there.”

“I was just going to say that,” Janis replies. “Let’s drive a little closer, it’s cold, but then we can walk.”

“Okay, you’re right,” Cady giggles. “Let’s go, it’s getting dark.”

Janis runs after her, as Cady hauls her across the parking lot.

-

They chat and reminisce about how far they’ve come as they walk through the woods, neither of them quite noticing that the snow has been cleared from the path they’re walking on.

Both of them grin when the clearing comes into view, each of them thinking they’re about to propose and the other has no idea.

Cady pauses in the middle, turning quickly to look around at the gorgeous set up she thinks Regina, Gretchen, and Karen have done, not knowing that Damian and Aaron also had a hand.

Lights are strung up through all the trees and bushes nearby, and candles light their way to a little altar, with a picture of the two of them together that says “Marry Me?” in what looks suspiciously like Gretchen’s best calligraphy. Snow is fluttering down around them, leaving cold little kisses on her face.

Cady is stunned when she turns back to find Janis on one knee behind her. She had known that they were probably going to be engaged by the time they left, but not that Janis would propose first.

She gasps in shock, covering her mouth with her hands as tears start pouring from her eyes.

“Caddy,” Janis begins, reaching for one of her hands. “Cady. I can’t even begin to tell you how much I love you, how much you mean to me. You’ve changed me, changed my life, and it’s so, so much better with you in it. You make me want to stay. I don’t have the words to explain how thankful I am to have met you, and that I get to spend my life with you.”

Janis reaches into her pocket with her free hand and pulls out a ring box. Cady gasps again when she sees it. It’s a white gold band, made of two strands woven together. One strand is decorated with little diamonds, and there’s a larger one in the center of the ring. It’s absolutely beautiful.

“And I want to spend the rest of it with you, if you’ll have me. Cady Jane Heron, will you marry me?” Janis asks, holding up the ring.

Cady is almost crying too hard to speak at this point, but she manages to nod and barely choke out a “Yes, of course.”

She lets Janis slide the ring on her finger, choking back a sob, before she tackles Janis to the ground and weeps into her neck.

“Baby, please don’t cry so hard, why are you crying?” Janis asks in alarm, ignoring the fact that she’s lying in several inches of snow in favor of holding her fiancée closer.

“Because I love you,” Cady sobs. “I’m so happy.”

“I’m happy too, Peanut. Do you want to go look at what Damian did?” Janis asks.

Cady nods and rolls off of her but just holds Janis’ outstretched hand instead of using it to stand up herself.

“Baby, what are you- oh my god,” Janis says, confused until Cady also shifts to be on one knee. Cady uses her free hand to wipe the tears from under her eyes, sniffling and clearing her throat to try and get herself back under control.

“Janis, my love,” she begins after a moment. “I wish it hadn’t taken me so long to realize it, but I’ve loved you since I met you. I had no idea that the moment you saved me from that bathroom was the moment I met the love of my life. You are the most wonderful gift I’ve ever been given, and I treasure every moment I get to spend with you. I’m so excited for our forever; I love you so much. I know this is kind of a moot point now, but... Janis Olivia Sarkisian, will you marry me?”

Janis is absolutely full-on ugly crying by this point, mascara tracking down her face as she holds back sobs with her free hand. They’re technically already engaged, but she nods rapidly and sobs out a “Yes!”

Cady slides on Janis’ ring gently, a matching white-gold band, but more simple, with a single diamond in the center. Cady had also gotten the date they met, the date they started dating, and the date they got engaged engraved onto the inside of the band.

Janis hauls her up and crashes their lips together, kissing Cady so hard she thinks her lips might bruise as the cheers of their friends echo around them.

They both jump apart and scream as Regina leaps out from a bush, in a suit used by hunters and with her face even painted green. The rest of their friends also come out from behind various trees and shrubs, Damian climbing down from up above them and nearly falling to the ground until Aaron catches him.

Everyone comes to wrap them in a tight group hug, shouting their congratulations over one another. Regina stays out to take more photos before reluctantly coming and joining the cuddle.

“Reggie, what the fuck are you wearing?” Janis asks with a watery chuckle, still crying slightly.

“It’s called a ghillie suit. I didn’t want you to see me,” Regina answers as if it’s entirely normal for her to be covered in fake leaves and moss.

“We both knew you were coming, and it’s dark,” Cady replies, trying to hold back hysterical laughter. “You could have hidden behind a tree like everyone else.”

Regina apparently only realizes that now, scowling slightly. “Shit. Go big or go home, I guess.”

“Thanks, Reg,” Janis laughs. “Thank all of you.”

“Yeah, thank you guys! This really is beautiful,” Cady giggles. “God, Jay, did everyone know we were both going to do this except-“

“Us? Yeah, apparently,” Janis answers, hugging her again.

“Let us see the rings!” Karen calls, so they both extend their left hands for everyone to grab and coo over. Regina gets one more shot of Cady’s small hand resting in Janis’, showing off both of their engagement rings in a cute way.

“Okay, Damian and Aaron said they’d stay to clean this back up, Gina needs to go make herself... not green, and you two are probably going to go have wild sex somewhere, so I’m gonna take my girlfriends and go. Congratulations!” Gretchen cheers, hauling Regina and Karen away by the hand.

“Gretchen!” Regina scolds. “Congratulations, guys!”

“Yeah, congrats! Confetti emoji!” Karen calls over her shoulder.

Cady and Janis lock eyes once they’ve gone, both bursting into laughter. Gretchen was not wrong.

“Do you guys need us to stay for anything? I don’t want to leave you two here alone to clean up all of this,” Cady asks anxiously.

Damian and Aaron look at one another knowingly. “I think we’ll be fine, Cads.”

“Oh really? You’ll be fine here all alone? Have you two finally said it?” Janis teases.

Damian sticks his tongue out at her, but does reach for Aaron’s hand. “Yes. Are you satisfied now?”

Janis squeals and comes to hug him, Cady following quickly. “Good job, D, you finally got your hunk!”

“Yeah, yay!” Cady piggybacks. “But really, are you sure you don’t need help?”

“Cady, we’ll be fine. Go have your night with your fiancée,” Aaron says. Cady takes the poster from the altar, but is eventually persuaded to take Janis’ hand to lead them back to the car.

-

Cady had booked a fancy hotel room for the night, figuring she would either be having the night of her life with her fiancée or alone drowning her sorrows in ice cream and champagne.

Janis pins her to the bed instantly, tenderly removing her shirt and shoes as their lips meet again and again. Cady reaches to hold her head in place, before undoing the buttons on Janis’ shirt and flinging it across the room.

-

Janis pulls her close once they’re cleaned from their evening of passion, both of them wearing nothing but their rings (except Cady’s socks).

“We’re getting married, Janis,” Cady whispers excitedly. “You’re gonna be my wife.”

“Yeah, we are. And you’re gonna be my wife,” Janis replies, kissing her sweetly.

“I can’t believe this is what you were up to,” Cady huffs. “I knew you were being sneaky, I should’ve known.”

“You were the sneaky one! I thought you had some crazy homework assignment, I was wondering why you wouldn’t let me help you with anything,” Janis retaliates. Cady starts giggling then, seemingly at nothing. “What?”

“I just-I can’t believe we had the exact same idea,” Cady says between fits of laughter. “I was still surprised when you did yours because I thought everything was set up for mine.”

“Oh,” Janis says, laughing too. “I guess we’re just that in sync. We were meant to be.”

“Meant to be indeed,” Cady replies, pulling her down on top of her for another kiss. “I love you.”

“I love you too, Butterfly. When should we get married?” Janis asks.

“I’ve always wanted a spring wedding,” Cady hums. “Like, April or early in May, maybe. What about you?”

“I dunno, I never really... thought this would happen to me,” Janis hums. “I never had a dream wedding. A spring one sounds nice, we could do it outside. But do you really think we can plan a whole wedding that fast?”

“Aww, my love. I’m so glad I get to marry you,” Cady says sadly. “I think we could, if we really work on it. I don’t want anything crazy, and I don’t think you do either?” Janis shakes her head. “Yeah, so if we do something small, I think we can do it that fast. And if not, we’ll do it the next year.”

“God, no, I don’t want to wait anymore,” Janis breathes. “Even April sounds too far away.”

Cady smiles widely. “You’re too cute. I love you so much.”

“I love you more,” Janis teases. “We can plan more later. Come cuddle me.”

“I love you most. Fiancée,” Cady says in retaliation as she snuggles into Janis to go to sleep.

“Fiancée.” Janis replies, pecking her lips.

“Lovey.” Cady says, pecking her back.

“Baby.”

“Jellybean.”

“Butterfly.”

“Sweetheart.”

“Peanut.”

“Darling.”

“Kitkat.”

“Mpendwa.”

“Wait, I’ve always wondered what that means,” Janis replies. “And the other one, um-“

“Mpenzi? That means, like, love or partner, or favorite. Mpendwa means dear or dearest.”

“Oh. That’s cute,” Janis squeaks. “Mon coeur.”

“Aww, I’m your heart?” Cady coos. “How sweet, Bluejay.”

“You might as well be, I can’t live without you,” Janis says. “I love you.”

Cady cuddles impossibly closer, tipping her face up to kiss her again. “I love you so much. So, so much.”

“Goodnight, fiancée,” Janis says as she kisses her goodnight.

“Goodnight, fiancée,” Cady yawns back, nuzzling into her chest and falling into a blissful sleep, Janis following quickly.

I can’t wait to marry you.

-

hope you enjoyed!

requests are still open, please leave them either here, on my wattpad, or on my ao3. all are the same handle, maybeimamuppet. it may take a few weeks for your request to be published, but I am cranking them out as fast as I can and I will get to everyone's eventually.

thanks for reading!

lots of love,

ezzy

[bluepenguinstories]

Happiness Overload Chapter Thirty-Two

Needle slid in. Rough armor, soft skin. Duly noted.

“AAAAAAAAAAAAAAA--” Erupted from the soldier's mouth.

My head tilted.

“Why do you scream?” I leaned forward, inquisitive.

No response. Skin shifted to a beautiful shade of green. Teal, or something akin to it. Some may protest that teal is more of a shade of blue, but it is a shade nonetheless.

“I can imagine such a procedure would be painful, yes,” I noted. “I remember when I injected myself. I thought I had been given the lethal injection, but soon, I felt rejuvenated.”

Soldier screamed further, gasped, then made seething sounds. I took note of each one, though lacking in a note pad, my memory was all the record I needed.

“Rejoice, man! You are proof that miracles can happen! Look at this,” I pointed to my arm, or my multitude of mini hands. The soldier croaked, puffed his cheek, and looked over. It was beginning. “Yes, you may find it odd, but this is the beauty of becoming part axolotl! Who knows what you, nay, what the others may become!”

Upon opening his mouth, the soldier spoke:

“Wow! I have GOT to tell the others!”

I nodded. “You will, you will.” I handed him the syringe. “I want you to spread this gift to the others.”

I released him and slid back into the shadows of the laboratory. Multiple soldiers ran in, the alarm having been alerted to Polo and I's presence. Polo was long gone, through the vents. I, on the other hand, was about to witness the birth of the next step for humanity.

As they ran in and stormed the place, before they could notice me, my acquired froggy friend lunged at one of them and took off their helmet and plunged the syringe into their fellow's neck.

Shriek. Next was the other two, which after you had seen it in action the first time, it became less exciting; still, the transformation never got tiresome. I relished in the rebirths of these fine men.

Once the scene had played its course, I stepped out to greet all of them.

“Greetings. You may call me Gumby.” I handed each of them their own set of syringes. “Resume your duties of protecting the secrets of these halls, but do so while birthing more amphibians!”

They all puffed their cheeks and croaked in agreement. I watched as they put their helmets back on and crept back outside of the lab.

Such an accomplishment before my eyes, it was almost enough to make me weep. But as a serious researcher, I am above such novelties.

Evils of being awake, the desire to chew on a pillow. Had it not been for the errors of the pleasure center of the brain, I would have choked on cotton or down feathers by now. Instead, I had to build them, package them, send them away. So grueling. So torturous.

Wave goodbye, every day. Whimper.

Some salt in the sky, a twinkle felt. Noticed a faint whiff of freedom, though my coworkers seemed immune. Out on the assembly line, I gorged myself on pillow fluff.

Euphoria was here. I could smell it in the air. That one smell I wasn't allowed to smell, but everyone else could; the scent of happiness.

My body craved it. My mind craved it. My shadow...

Each step, I ran my fingers through the metallic walls.

“Oh, if you could appear before me right now, what image would you choose?”

I wanted to know what image I had in my mind, but the only images were the ones others had seen. They were not images that would have satisfied me.

Do I have to wait until after I die to be cremated? Impatience. Intricate, insecurities. When the group came over, some of them began to chat, some of them took a dip into some salsa – pico de gallo. One dipped twice. Same chip. When one friend smoked...

Lungs. What do they do again? Cough, every night. Since I didn't know when. Sometime ago.

Water depleted. Supply ran dry. To be the same...

Smoke, ash. To be one of them. Many little dust particles. When I watched those friends, when we sat at the bonfire, I made my wish. Residual ash from the flame, to be part of it. Alive, and, well, a part of the process.

Entire body was turned to ash. So were the friends. We were most alive, in a fireside chat.

Several truths and misconceptions, lies and questions that some may have pointed out, had they the opportunity to dissect my thoughts. Those precious thoughts.

Let's begin with the first one: that there is no cellular range in such a remote location. That all and any signals would be jammed, blocked, intercepted. Yes. Very good. We, Lilypad, had considered this, so we brought miniature tower boxes with us and scramble the tracking so anyone hoping to intercept our call would have been left confused and disappointed. So when I called the World Wildlife Foundation, the group itself was in no danger. Gay amphibious humanoids and its allies that make up Lilypad are all high in intelligence. So of course, as seasoned hackers, we would also be seasoned engineers.

Second of all, the location and purpose: Groom Lake, or as its more common to call, Area 51 – believed to be called such due to an Atomic Energy Commission numbering grid. Whether or not this was true doesn't matter much. Call it Paradise Ranch, call it Hidden Valley for what little difference it made.

What really mattered was the purpose – originally a testing ground for the CIA for the U-2 plane, its ownership was later handed over to the US air force for the purpose of crafting other experimental air crafts which continued to this day. Yes, that part was true, to an extent. There have also been those who believe beings from other planets resided within the facility and others would argue that such a notion was preposterous. Rest assured to the naysayers, that part was false, to an extent.

It was of my experience that experimental weaponry of all kind has been built and tested. Beginning with vehicles, whether air, land, or sea, it didn't matter. Then it expanded – not all at once, but funding and nudges from my former employer, The Flashbulb, helped pull things along (not to say that the CIA and US military wasn't already part of The Flashbulb, but such direct involvement was a large shift) – biological weaponry in the form of chemical agents, toxins to fill the air, genetic experiments (which I am proud to say I made myself a test subject of), armor for soldiers, technological advances that would address a potential rise in an unstoppable force of soldiers designed with the sole purpose of subjugating those who did not fall in line.

All of what I just described has been what the facility functioned as at one point or another. At the present, it's been taken over as a whole by the ETNA corporation and the entire structure shifted and changed at a constant rate due to the desires of Etna, the artificial leader of The Flashbulb's Morale Department. Etna itself, herself, has become one with the facility. The very walls, the technology, the weaponry, they all could change at a moment's notice, if Etna so wills it.

I took my strides out of the laboratory, already taken stock of what I needed, and wandered into the halls, where I continued to be lost in thought of the history of where I happened to be.

“That's no good,” I noticed as I made the mistake of stepping on a soldier lying on the ground, helmet off. Pale green skin told me what I needed to know. “Someone had killed one of my babies.”

I shook my head and walked off. Not just one, but three.

“Whoever did this, I pray they get their due. As for you three, at the least, I hope you were able to spread our gift with others before your departure from this world.”

I walked on. Somewhere, a better view would present itself. I wanted to see crowds, nay, rows and rows, lined up. Their eyes would stare up at me and I would smile. To bring my dream to life, I needed the right topography.

Etna, if you would so kindly. Make it happen.

However much she fancied herself a god, I had my doubts she could listen in on my thoughts. Or perhaps, with the angel she had fused herself, the facility, and all of its soldiers with, she just may have. See, Euphoria was not a man-made creation. While the scientific side of me reels at the thought of calling anything an 'angel', a better term may be 'alien' or 'cosmic entity', which is just what the fanatics would love to hear. Euphoria was real, and she was not of this earth.

Frozen pea hailstorm bit the head of me. Hunger struck upon stomach for days, shelter not given unto. Dwelt sidewalks, dwellings. Under bridges, overpasses, benches, nomadic. Caught some grass at a park. Bit off some tree bark. Hunger so dire. Desire.

Rained down, my memory – sign of joy. Ode to thee.

Mother used to make the best frozen peas. Children sat at dinner table, hands raised high. One of them was I. Cannot remember the rest. Such a fond nostalgia, trip down a lane taken.

Hail of frozen peas, velocity punctured skin off of facial structure. Rest of body. Still, tongue stuck out, swallow some. Smiled, shed tears, blood ran from exposed flesh. Weak and feeble, no, strong. Memory so pleasant. Tasted of fondness.

Even in decay from the favorite meal, warmth could be found from the frozen.

Best memory was the last.

Life wasn't always like this; just a couple days ago, in fact, life was normal. Or, as normal as a life could be. Cold paradise we lived in, this city. For at least three years now, the ETNA Corporation had bestowed our city with great inventions, pioneering us from a no-name metropolis to something greater. However, just the other day, a chain reaction started.

No one knows the root cause, but it spread like a virus. People throwing themselves into traffic, the very roads themselves crumbling, traffic lights changing color and becoming strobe lights, just to name a few things. While there could be no logical explanation, a quarantine over the city was issued and the next thing I knew, we were all trapped.

Or, we were supposed to be. I overheard from some CDC agents that it shouldn't spread so long as they kept the city locked down, but I wasn't so sure about that. Nor was I so sure when a statement was released from the ETNA Corporation stating that the infection was due to a substance having infiltrated itself in their elevators and causing an adverse reaction in those who rode them. 'Those exposed to the elevators (as in simply been in them) were more at risk than those who had not used them, or seldom have used them' the statement had said.

I wasn't so sure about that because I think it had affected (affected? Infected?) me as well. Even now, I thought I could feel its effects. The strong desire to...

I don't know what. My mind goes blank before coming to a conclusion. Best way to describe it would be a sugar rusk. Or drinking an entire pot of coffee in one sitting. High on cocaine. Complete manic energy. Except this high you don't come down from.

At least, that's what I would imagine. I'm not sure if that's how I'm feeling. There's just...this desire to be that way.

An object in motion stays in motion...

There was a friend I once knew, her name was Rick O'Shea. Or, her name was something else. It's been difficult to recall simple things. Or, her name could have been Beau Meringue. Or, it was one of the two, something in between. Or, her name was never important, just her presence.

She was overjoyed by the state of the city. How wonderful the elevators had been. Each time she took those trips, she described it as a new experience. The only reason I never rode on one of them was because I never liked venturing outside. Call it agoraphobia, or a strong social anxiety. Just the thought of being surrounded by others would have been enough to send me into a panic. I only felt like I could venture out when she was around.

When the city was quarantined, she was still overjoyed, much to my shock.

I told her how we should leave, how this city was destroying itself, how it seemed like everyone had become crazed and maddened by their own manic bliss. She shook her head in rapid motions, almost violent. She told me, “what is there to leave? Can't you feel it all around you? In the air, dolphins exiting your body. How you know you're right where you should be. These dolphins are here to help us.”

I begged, pleaded. She didn't look confused, but may as well. Even though I told her how it wasn't safe, how we could all die, this only made her smile widen. As if all she heard was good news and pleasant tunes. So, I concluded, I no longer had her. I would have to leave on my own.

Through careful analysis of my surroundings, I had escaped the city and as of last night, stowed myself away in a nearby motel. Where I will be soon, I only wish I had an answer.

I stood at the balcony, my gaze fixed downward at the marvelous sight: rows of soldiers, amphibious, lined up, synchronized and looking back at me. My dream was coming to light. As a collective, they took off their helmets, stared each other in their beady eyes, and stuck out their long, stringent tongues. Their tongues flapped against each other and flies descended from ventilation shafts, something I could not have anticipated, but also pleased me. Flies were caught, the soldiers having taken a break from licking each other.

With my arms outstretched, I addressed my audience:

“Rejoice! This is the ideal next step for humanity! Outsiders may not like it, but this is what peak performance looks like!”

Tongues clapped into the air. Many of the tongues caught flies. All was well.

My next set of actions would become clear: descend from the rafters to join the crowd, be carried off with them, and we would rise up, ascend from this underground, and spread our joy to the rest of the world.

Before I could do any of that, I felt a hand clasp down on my shoulder.

“Good job, brother. I see you got your wish.”

Such kind words. I knew the one behind me speaking such words was smiling from cheek to cheek. It was just like him to do so. Yet I also know that such words carried malice.

“Have you come to take it away from me?”  I turned around, despite already knowing who was there. The tall figure, the shadow.

“Is that something I would do?” Marco laughed and released his grip on me.

“Have you come to kill my men?”

“I am glad, I mean that with sincerity. You gained your happiness without having to devour Euphoria. However, I still want to. Just to get a taste.”

“Is that what you came here for, then? Because if that's the case, I don't know where she is.”

“I have no need to kill your creation. You have been granted your wish, attained your happiness. I could never take that from you.”

“Then why are you here?”

He closed in and embraced me for a hug. His arms coiled and tightened around my back. It would seem his intention was to suffocate me. But in spite of the tightness, he didn't go far enough to do harm.

“She is everywhere. She is spreading her wings and giving everyone what they need.”

I struggled, but managed to reach into my pocket and pull out the syringe. I tried to stab it into him, inject him with the formula, make him subservient. Just to see what would happen. Just so he could no longer pose a threat.

But instead, the needle broke as I tried to push it into his skin. It never even made a mark.

“You think I betrayed you,” he spoke softly. “But that couldn't be further from the truth. See, I brought you here so you could get what you wanted and now you have it.”

I tried to break free. He wouldn't allow it. Was this some kind of divine punishment? Not that I believed in such nonsense.

“You should enjoy it while it lasts. For when everything in this world has experienced all this angel has to offer, it will end. The world will experience such happiness that it will not be able to contain itself and there is nothing that you, nor I, can do about that. Nor should we. The only influence I have had is where to direct this happiness, but it would have taken its natural course, regardless. When it all ends, I hope you enjoy yourself. I hope I do too.”

He released me and I could feel his presence fade. Somehow his nonsense made total sense.

This triumph I had felt was meaningless.

We found Gumby sitting on the floor like some kind of LAME-O (and no, that is NOT the name of a cereal).

I poked Gumby. Also, I looked down and noticed more friends!

“Hey, hey! Hey bud! Hey Gumbs! Gumb-o! Goomy! Hey!”

Gumby groaned.

“Hey, look! I have a girlfriend now!”

I roped along my girlfriend, who I still did not have a name for.

“Look! We tried to eat each other but then our mouths got stuck on each other and that's when I realized that's probably how people kiss!”

We demonstrated. Our mouths expanded to form a perfect circle against each other. I looked at Gumby. He still sat there.

“I don't care...” He groaned. I watched as he went to laying down and turned to his side.

“How RUDE!” My voice box exclaimed.

“The world is ending. What is there to care about?”

“Yeah! That's the spirit! It's so cool!”

In spite of my enthusiasm, Gumby sounded glum. So...glumby?

“I won. But I also lost. But then again, this is how it was always going to go. What should I have done differently, then?”

He laughed, though it sounded pretty un-funny.

“World's ending. What's the point to anything?”

“Dude! Totally! So go get yourself a boyfriend or something!”

“That wouldn't matter either.”

He closed his eyes and I let him lie there. This was getting WAY too boring for me, YO! My girlfriend and I frolicked ANYWHERE ELSE and left the lame-o to be sad or whatever.

[johnnyonespur]

Santa Fe

So ever since visiting Meow Wolf on my own (back in March 2017), I’ve wanted to bring the kids there. But summer was busy (and hot), and then both the kids had school, so...

Anyway, so last weekend I finally brought them! The weekend:

Friday: Rocky pulled the kids out of school early, and the kids and I left Denver about 2:50 p.m. I’d stayed home that day to do road-trip-snack-shopping, get the car’s oil changed, pick up some maps, and do the packing. We stopped for gas in Trinidad (about 3 hours’ south of Denver), and dinner at Blake’s Lotaburger in Las Vegas, NM (incredible green chile burger!). Also, like, three pee stops. Got into Santa Fe about 9:30, which means we made it in 6 1/2 hours, which is about half an hour less than I had thought it would take. Checked in at the Sage Inn hotel, and we watched half of Captain Underpants (a colleague had loaned me an HDMI cable so I could use my laptop as a DVD player!).

Saturday: Got up around 8:00, had the hotel breakfast, but it was still only 9:00, and Meow Wolf didn’t open until 10:00. So we walked to the farmer’s market a couple blocks away. Beautiful food! I got a coffee, and the kids got to play in a little park there. Sunny and clear, but the temperature was around freezing.

Drove to Meow Wolf. I’d bought the tix last night online, so didn’t have to wait in line.

The kids loved it, as I’d thought they would. It was kinda hard keeping them corralled, since there are so many directions to go, and so much to see. But we managed to see everything (I think). We spent maybe two hours, then went to the kids’ art area, where they painted, built forts with big foam blocks, and built towers with magnetic blocks. We probably spent at least an hour and a half there in the art studio. Then we went out for lunch, and came back to MW and went through it all again for another 1 1/2 - 2 hours.

The kids were really excited by the idea of the Art-O-Mat--an old cigarette vending machine that’s been repurposed to sell small (cigarette-box-sized) works of art for $5. The lass got a beautiful painted rock. The lad got a print on a wooden block that he wasn’t super fond of, so I took that one and he got a Japanese fish print that he did really like.

After that, we went to the Harrell House Bug Museum. Unfortunately, the lass had fallen deep asleep, so she missed the entire thing! The lad bought some little plastic animalitos with his own money (he loves them!). He got to handle a bunch of different bugs--a millipede, a tarantula, hissing cockroaches, and a vinagroon. But the highlight of his evening was the place had some axolotls and tiger salamanders.

See, for the last few months, the lad has REALLY been into salamanders (not lizards). Also diplocaulus, but they’re not as common to find, and they’re also extinct. But I don’t think he’s ever seen an actual live salamander--just photos in books. So he was super-excited. And I asked the guy if he could hold one of the tiger salamanders, and since we were the only ones there, he said sure. So the lad got to hold one for a few seconds. He was positively giddy! We also got to see a water monitor eat an entire dead rat, which was cool (though not as cool as the salamander).

We went back to the hotel, and got a couple salads to finish off dinner (since we’d had lunch so late, we didn’t really need much) while we finished Captain Underpants. The Caesar salad was pretty good, but the caprese salad was literally two slices of tomato and two slices of supermarket mozzarella. Kind of a ripoff.

Sunday: We had the hotel breakfast, then got donuts from a place that was supposed to be really good (they were meh). Then we went to the plaza to walk around, but there’s nothing there for kids, really (they’re not into the Native American jewelry sales or fancy art galleries). They did enjoy chasing pigeons around trying to catch one, though. And while doing so, the lad’s second tooth came out! Yay!

Then we went back to the Bug Museum, because the lass was sad that she’d missed it. A different guy there this time, though, so she didn’t get to hold a salamander, though she did hold the bugs.

Then we had a picnic for lunch, and then went to the Museum of International Folk Art, which is the one I’d wanted to see. It was alright, but not a lot to see for $12 (at least the kids were free). One of the halls was closed for remodeling, though. They had a kids’ play area, where they spent about an hour, and there was another area downstairs where later we did some origami for maybe another 45 minutes.

By then it was 5:00, the sun was setting, it was getting cold, and there’s nothing to do for kids in Santa Fe at 5:00 p.m. on a Sunday night (I looked to see if there were any kids’ movies in theaters, but no...). So we got pizza for dinner and gelato afterwards, and then went back to the hotel. I’d like to say we got to bed early, but the kids stayed up (probably the gelato) and I stayed up way late looking at the photos I’d taken and such.

Monday: hotel breakfast and packing. Both the kids got showers, which is an achievement. Got out about 10:30. Stopped by the Flea Market, but it’s only open on Fri Sat Sun, apparently. I was going to go to the outlying, loser section of Bandelier that has a nice rocky hike and petroglyphs, but then the GPS was like, “Bandelier is 7.6 miles away.” So I decided just to go to Bandelier, since the kids had never seen cliff dwellings or Native American ruins. (I’d forgotten that the GPS measuring attractions just gives the distance as the crow flies, so 7.6 was actually 12, and that was just to the entrance--the ruins were another 3.5 miles, and then back like 25 miles to the highway. So it was a pretty big detour.)

Bandelier was cool--the kids liked climbing the ladders and the caves, but they were more interested in finding pretty rocks in the gravel pathway than appreciating the history of the site. Still, it was a beautiful walk, and they did get to see their first cliff dwelling/Native American archaeological site, so...

I was going to stop at Taos Pueblo, since that’s another thing the kids have never experienced, but by the time we got to Taos, it was like 3:00, and there’s still another 4 or 5 hours to Denver. So we had lunch at another Lotaburger, and then just drove straight through. It was a long push, but no traffic at all, and we got back to Denver at like 8:30. And made it on one tank of gas all the way from Santa Fe, too!

Anyway, it was a great trip, though because we only had three and a half days, it was a little rushed. But we got to do almost everything I’d wanted to do, the kids had a blast, and couldn’t wait to tell Rocky about everything they saw and did. I figure between the hotel, the food, the gas, and the entry fees, it was probably about $550. Maybe next time we’ll aim for a cheaper hotel, or the hostel (which has a kitchen, so less money spent on restaurant food).

Hotel: $230 (3 nights)

Food: about $100 or so--three dinners, two lunches, and donuts, for three of us.

Entry fees: about $80 for Meow Wolf, the Folk Art Museum, the Bug Museum (twice), and Bandelier.

Gas: two half-tank fill-ups at $25 each, plus I’ll need to fill the car up again once more.

Other: $15 for the Art-O-Mat, then a housekeeping tip, animalitos for the kids, a coffee for me, etc. Maybe another $30 total.