#I honestly wanted to do a more pin-up version of her maybe someday

[weaponizedmoth]

draw Daphne Blake in her clown outfit from Big Top Scooby Doo

Done!

[electricbluebutterflies]

45 Sally/Poseidon

Very vaguely NSFW and also on ao3.

Kisses exchanged as they move around, hitting the edges of tables or nearly tripping over things on the floor before making it to the sofa, or bed.

She’ll think about the consequences later.

Sally has a notable impulsive streak, always just a little too distracted by pretty people, and this is-

She’d wanted a summer fling. That had been the whole point of this. The… apparent cosmic implications of her judgement can be handled later, after…

After…

Right now, she has better things on her mind.

There is, honestly, too much décor in this small summer cottage, and it was one thing when she was existing in this space on her own but now-

Sally takes a step back, about an inch too far back, and she can feel what will be an unpleasant bruise take form on the back of her leg, and she is a little distracted with her lover’s mouth on her and-

“I have to pay for anything I break,” she murmurs, and she can’t-

“We won’t break anything.”

Yeah. Sure they won’t.

A better version of herself would… not stop this, she’s too warm to stop anything, but at least pause for a moment and stop twirling around a space that was really not designed for two people who are alternating between kissing each other and trying to undo clothes and why are shirts so complicated and-

“And I’m not cute with bruises.”

For this she gets a deep kiss that feels like… she doesn’t have words for it, these moments when she gets a sense of her lover’s power, the volatility of water and-

Something in that statement reaches him, at least, something enough to still his hands on her shoulders and waist, something like he knows answers to questions he’s polite enough not to ask and-

“Caution,” he interprets. “Whatever you need.”

She’s not used to this – her track record is a hot mess to put it politely, she knows what she likes and knows she shouldn’t – and the dynamic between them should be different and instead-

He still twirls her around, she is still slightly more passive by comparison, but she’s not backed into anything else, not until they-

“Couch good enough?” she asks, not that it matters, she’d let him pin her on the floor if she thought there was space to do it comfortably, she’d-

“It’ll do. You do…”

He feels… something about her, she thinks as they find comfortable position and his hands finally get up her skirt like she’s wanted for a couple minutes now. Maybe not love, maybe that’s not something someone like him can do and oh she’s got some questions about the fact that she’s screwing an immortal being, but-

Maybe not love, but at least something safe and good. All of that power and not a bit of it dangerous to her, nothing to worry about as she straddles him, nothing-

Something worth fearing, she thinks, wouldn’t let her set the pace. Wouldn’t be still like this, rolling hips up to meet her but not taking, not-

Someday this will all just be memories. For now it is their bodies moving together like tides, and she is-

Clinging, after, she is the one taking everything she can get, she is-

“Give me this,” she murmurs. “If not the night, at least-“

It never feels like enough. She is still awake when he leaves her, unsure of what happens next, so little within her control and-

Not quite enough, but good all the same.

[the-script-demands-it]

Welcome to...

Rad's enormous pile of abandoned MetaWare WIPs/things that ARE finished but I didn't like them/WIPs that I might come back to/other stuff!

Below the "keep reading" button will be a detailing of all of these images! Please be aware that this WILL be an extremely long post, so... Just a warning. There'll be a second post after this that will also contain the rest of the art that I wasn't able to squeeze in here. (Even 30 pics per Tumblr post isn't enough for this...)

Let's start off with the most recently abandoned WIP!

I started drawing this about two weeks after Chris' birthday (her bday is January 4th) and I was really happy with it, but then I had NO idea how to pose Izzy. It's a bummer since I liked how Chris' hair came out, but alas! (Happy belated birthday, Chris!)

Possibility of finishing?: Yeah, maybe. Prob will have to change Izzy's pose if I really want to finish it though.

Oh hey, I posted this a few months ago on my other blog!

Really wish I finished it, but now that I'm looking back on it, there's definitely some improvement to be had here. I don't like whatever's going on with her face. You can tell that I gave up while trying to make the background as well. Poor Hope!

Possibility of finishing?: I'll have to completely redraw this if I plan on finishing it, but I've definitely got a feeling that I'll come back to this someday.

Hmph!

This one's actually pretty finished, I've just never posted it anywhere before because it's such a small little doodle. I like it though! Nari in a Gir tassel hat is always welcome.

Possibility of finishing?: It's already done. Don't plan on editing it!

(This happens on the rude route!)

It's basically just a proof of concept, and a VERY minimal one at that, but I think it's got some merit! Not enough people talk about that Chris Vs Aspen scene, honestly.

Possibility of finishing?: Sometime this year maybe...??? I don't plan on abandoning this forever, I just don't really know when I'll get around to it.

AUTISM BLAST PT. 1

Hey, remember that art I had pinned on my other blog for a while? I was planning on redrawing it, but I only ever managed to complete one part of it until I forgot about it... It's definitely an upgrade from the original version, though I can do better than this nowadays.

Possibility of finishing?: I'm DEFINITELY going to redraw this someday. I need a new pinned post, damn it!

Thx ^]

Okay, here's some context for these two. I got an anonymous ask on my other account saying that they liked my MetaWare PFP and I thought that it would be a great idea if I responded to it with some art and also turn that same post into an announcement for my MetaWare sideblog (this one!), but that of course did not actually happen.

Possibility of finishing?: NO.

Nari looks so... "off" in this picture.

I like how I drew Hope, but ergh... that is NOT Nari. I don't know how I managed to make her look like a completely different character in this one, but I do NOT like it.

Possibility of finishing?: Nah, I think I'm done with this pic.

Woah, scary!

I actually touched this one up a bit before sending it here. It used to look MUCH more incomplete, but it's basically done now besides from the hair being missing 'n all.

Possibility of finishing?: I might draw more MetaWare stuff with drastic lighting in the future, but I don't plan on revisiting this specifically.

Le miaow miaows.

I worked on Hope before sending this because she looked kinda off, but I think she looks OK now. You can see that this isn't really what my usual art style looks like. I was trying to mix together the original MetaWare sprite art style and the style SparkBag used in the polaroid anniversary art he made, and I think I did just fine.

Possibility of finishing?: It's basically already done! Coloring it would probably make it cooler, but I don't think I'll ever do that.

This won't be the last time I try to use eyes symbolically.

I still REALLY want to revisit this again. It's great! It's magnificent! I just did NOT have the ability to execute it properly back when I made it a ton of months ago, so I just didn't do it. Still don't know if I do now, but it's worth a shot. (This was basically just another proof of concept, by the way.)

Possibility of finishing?: Absolutely! I'll try to get to this sometime soon this year.

GRILLING START ! ! !

Yep, this was based off of Papyrus' "Dating Start!" minigame! Just another proof of concept or... Okay I don't know what else to call these. Like, they're definitely NOT finished nor are they actual fleshed out sketches, what else am I supposed to call them???? I think it's cool though.

Possibility of finishing?: Don't think I'll be ditching this idea anytime soon. Seems kinda simple to draw too, I'll get to it sometime.

Lookin' pretty cute!!

Context for this one: It was gonna be a 3 part comic or something with Hope drawing Nari's bear fursona. Never actually made the comic though, but I DID make her fursona!!! It's the one right below this one, actually.

Possibility of finishing?: Nope.

BEAR NARI BARI LET'S GO

Personally, I think this is adorable. When drawing people's fursonas I always kinda make them more animal than anthropomorphic, but I think it leads to pretty cute art!

Possibility of finishing?: It's already done!

I was just testing out a brush with this one, I think.

It's a cute little doodle, don't have much to say about it though! I WILL say that the bear plushie was a bit inspired by my own plush I have at home, though this one is much smaller than mine.

Possibility of finishing?: Nah, it's just a little doodle.

Ingo Nari... Ingri... Angry!?!

iiii really think I made the hat too big. Like... WAY too big. Don't really like how her face came out, but the body itself is pretty OK. I based it too much on Ingo's original pose though, kinda looks like I just put Nari's head on his head LMAO

Possibility of finishing?: This is basically already finished, though I might draw Nari cosplaying as Ingo again. Why not?

(Bonus Ingri!)

Nari in a hoodie!

Don't exactly remember what this was for. Either it was for an AU of mine or someone else's AU. Her front hair's kinda too far down though, I had a bit of a habit making her face REALLY small compared to her hair in my old art.

Possibility of finishing?: Nay!

Wow, Nari with an eye AND eyebrows! Who woulda thunk it.

Her hair is much puffier than previous versions in this one. Why? Dunno. She looks pretty cool AND cute in this though!

Possibility of finishing?: It's already complete.

My polar bear plush makes a cameo in this one! Say hi!

I had to edit this one a SHIT ton before sending this final picture. I wish I had a pin that said "I HATE DRAWING METAWARE STYLE NOSES" because I loathe them. There were other reasons why I didn't like the original version, but I was annoyed with the nose the most. Really happy how this came out though!

Possibility of finishing?: I just finished it right now. (I'll probably be posting this on its own sometime soon)

Some original characters...!? Unthinkable!

This features Lumi (Metolefrul-indus' fan character) and an old version of Rowan (my fan character)! I changed Rowan's design and personality soon after this, so I don't think this interaction with Lumi and Rowan will actually ever happen... Sorry Lumi! 'Twas just a little doodle.

Possibility of finishing?: NEVER.

Last but not least (for this post, anyway), is this Chris and Izzy sketch!

Some pals requested this during a stream and this was all I managed to make of it... I'm so sorry!!!!!!! They were good prompts!!! I'll finish it one day I swear!!!!

Possibility of finishing?: Soon!

PHEW WE'RE DONE FOR THIS POST. We have 20 more to go in the next one! Might post it next week because this is tiring holy hell. Glad to show these WIPs off to the world though!

P.S. I'm going to skip a few images seen in the huge pic at the beginning! Some were already completed and I'll just post those on their own orrrr I just don't want to review 'em.

[the-insomniac-emporium]

Serenade (Daniela Dimitrescu/Reader) Pt. 12 FINALE

Fandom: Resident Evil: Village Rating: T for language Warnings: Nope! Notes: How lovely it has been, to go on this journey with you. Thank you, from the bottom of my heart, to every person who has liked, reblogged, or left a kind comment on this story. Combined, you all have genuinely changed my life. I'm writing more than ever, more consistently, and I'm having a blast. So if you like this story, and wish it wasn't ending, well... maybe don't worry too much. There will be a sequel of sorts, same timeline but new reader, instead focusing on Cassandra. Also oops this is hella long. And mostly dialogue. Past Chapters: Pt. 1: Nocturne, Pt. 2: Overture, Pt. 3: Accelerando, Pt. 4: Toccata, Pt. 5: Poco a Poco, Pt. 6: Elegy, Pt. 7: Harmony, Pt. 8: Obbligato, Pt. 9: Berceuse, Pt. 10b: Hymn AMAB, Pt 11: Cadence

Chapter 12: Cadence (Reprise)

(Cadence: Two chords that mark the end of a song)

Truth be told, she had never expected much of anything to come from this. ‘Twas not that she thought her daughter to be talentless, or that she denied the capabilities of the servant-turned-teacher, rather that she knew just how difficult it was to keep Daniela’s attention for any measure of time. Even as the weeks went by with undeniable progress, there was a part of her awaiting the collapse of it all. How long would this instructor last? How long before they were drained of blood, either for some perceived insult, or merely out of boredom? Surely, in the end, Alcina would not need to lift a single finger.

And yet here she was, at the end of a concert, pride roaring within her chest. What had she missed? What clues had eluded her, what had changed within her child’s nature? She knew that there were hints of deeper affections, fragments of a would-be love, but she had thought them miniscule. Thought that those feelings were doomed to crash and burn, unable to live up to the expectations set by decades of romance novels. Well, maybe they had failed. Maybe, somehow, Alcina had missed something else entirely.

The thought might have sent a shiver down her spine, if she weren’t so readily distracted by praising her youngest child… or by the looming shadow of a life-changing revelation.

“Mother… we need to talk. I… I have a confession to make,” Daniela explains, hesitantly slow, but with a conviction she rarely ever showed. Taken aback by the unexpected announcement, Alcina pauses, silently awaiting some form of elaboration. Instead, Daniela takes her hand, pulling her towards a set of chairs. They sit gingerly, each feeling the weight of terrifying possibilities upon their shoulders. When she at last continues speaking, she does so without a trace of showmanship or false bravado, trading it in for heartfelt sincerity. “I love them. All of this- these lessons, this concert- has been for them. For my sweet, innocent little songbird.” So here it was, the birthplace of her fears, brought forth from her mind into reality.

“I was afraid you would say that,” Alcina muses, leaning back into the chair with a deep sigh. Something itches in the back of her throat, and she yearns for her pipe, or even just a normal cigarette to distract herself. Without one, she is left to metaphorically chew on her thoughts. Realistically, there has to be some way to deal with this, some way that she can convince her daughter of the sheer foolishness of this mess. “Daniela… how can I put this in a way you will understand, hmm?… The two of you have only known each other for three months. There is no chance that you truly love them, or them you. How close can you possibly have become?”

“When have I cared about anything for three whole months? I dedicated myself to-” Daniela is cut off by the sound of the door opening, revealing the rest of her little family. It was guaranteed that they would have heard the conversation from outside, seeing as they were all inhuman, though they perhaps intended to intervene. A single hard glance from both of the room’s occupants convinces them to change their minds. “Wait, Ava, can you get us some tea, please? Something tells me I’ll need a soothing drink soon.” Hesitating in the doorway, the butler in question eyes the both of them, naturally tempted to stay and fill the role of a therapist.

“I do believe my daughter gave you an order, Ava. Don’t tell me you have forgotten the stipulations of your agreement with Mother Miranda?” Alcina interjects. With that said, the butler finally moves, exiting with an apologetic bow. An awkward silence hangs in the air once xe closes the door behind xerself, as Daniela takes a moment to recall her place.

“Three months is a long time for me. I put all of my energy towards both them and what they taught me, almost every single day. Even when their work kept them busy for too long, I still practiced, because I wanted to make them proud! For all my flirting, I’ve never bonded with anyone this way before now,” she says, hating the way her voice gets a little shaky. No matter how much confidence she has in her own writing, it is another thing entirely to be convincing out loud, with a truth she had been hiding for so long. All of her practice had been with lies. Now she had to contest with the hope that the strength of her emotions would be enough. “That song we played together, at the end, they wrote that for me. Doesn’t that mean something?”

“Oh, my dear… I want you to be happy more than anything. But we both know that your ‘history’ is stained with a number of incidents. You have always been absorbed within those books you read, and the fantasies that they provide for you. It is one thing to enjoy these stories on the side, but another matter entirely to let them corrupt your relations with others. As your mother, it is my duty to keep you safe, first and foremost,” Alcina proclaims, sitting up straighter, trying not to let her frown evolve into a full out scowl. Beneath the table, her hands ball into fists, clutched tight to stop herself from breaking the table. In the back of her mind she could think of little other than dismembering that damned piano instructor. Focusing on the discussion at hand, she takes a deep breath before finalizing her point. “You don’t know what a healthy relationship looks like, nor what it feels like. Your books are not ideal models for reference. One- or both- of you are going to end up suffering, and that is something I cannot allow, regardless of how ‘happy’ they make you before then.”

“You’re right,” Daniela whispers in defeat… or a feigned version of it. A split second later she’s making eye contact with her mother again, lips curling up into a smile. “I didn’t want to admit it, especially not to someone as attractive, talented, and charming as my Songbird, but I didn’t have to. They understood from the very start. We talked about it, about my expectations and my shitty behavior, and we worked on it. We’re still working on it. Maybe there will be bumps along the way, just like in every relationship, but that doesn’t mean it won’t be worth it in the end. What we have is still real, and they make me want to be a better woman. I know they’ve already helped me make the change.”

Once more the door opens, making the conversation pause, as Ava near-silently brings in the requested tea. If a pin had dropped at that moment, it would have felt as ear-shattering loud as a gong. Every second that passed felt like it dragged on, stretched out by the tension in the room, as though xe was moving in slow motion. The ‘clink’ of ceramic against the table makes xer flinch, almost spilling the tea. Neither Alcina nor Daniela react, or even acknowledge xer presence with anything more than their eyes, instead remaining impassive until xe makes a hasty retreat.

“Use what you’ve learned on someone else, then. Perhaps another one of Miranda’s experiments will someday provide a suitable match. But this ‘songbird’ of yours? They’re nothing. A human, a servant, they are not worth your time, nor are they worth mine. No matter what words or songs they weave, or illusions of grandeur they show you, you will end up getting bored of them. I’m afraid it is inevitable, my dear,” Alcina says, as soon as the door is closed once more. Then she attends to her tea, with the composure of someone convinced that they had just won an argument. On the other hand, Daniela was not so quick to give in, some of her worry melting into anger.

“How can you say that? How can you be sure? We were all human, once! Even Mother Miranda was human. And my Songbird is no mere human- they are wondrous, with flowery prose and lovely melodies, with soft-lipped smiles and reassuring eyes, and don’t even get me started on how beautiful they are!” She rambles, voice getting louder with every word. All at once it is too much for Alcina, who sets down her glass a little too hard, nostrils flaring as she stares at her daughter. When Daniela speaks again, she does so with love coating her tone. “We have weathered each other’s anxieties with no signs of stopping. I promised that we would weather yours.”

“I only want you to be happy. I need you to understand where I am coming from. This may be your longest lasting infatuation so far, but you have yet to honestly convince me that this is any different from your past ‘distractions’. I’m sorry, Daniela, I simply cannot allow this to continue,” Alcina sighs, hating to break her youngest daughter’s heart like this. There was only one thing that Daniela had yet to try. Maybe two, if she was willing to resort to begging.

“Can’t you trust me enough to give us a chance? Cassandra of all people seems to understand. Bela went as far as to lie to you, for our sake! She never does anything she thinks will hurt me, or you, or any of us. Please, mother, please. How can you ever know if what I have will last, if you cut it down now? Are you going to wait forever for some ‘perfect candidate’ for me? And what if that person loves someone else? Or what if the ‘perfect’ person doesn’t exist! What if we’re stuck waiting for them like Mother Miranda waits for another child, hmm? Would you have me spend another century alone, my only memory of genuine romance being poisoned by the thought that you broke us apart?” Daniela’s words ring throughout the chamber, echoing a damning accusation, somehow more bitter than the taste they left in her mouth.

All at once, Alcina’s heart takes a hit like no other. Her hands damn-near tremble, her lungs ache, her lips purse, and her brow furrows. So be it, she thinks.

“Bring this ‘Songbird’ here. Let me talk to them.”

—————————

Goddess, you are practically vibrating at the speed of sound, palms sweaty, nervousness trashing your mind. What the hell had Daniela done? Last thing you knew, she was determined to keep your secret, even if meant being unable to celebrate with you. But now you were getting tugged along by her, while tears threatened to spill from her eyes. She had said something about “mother” and “important”. That was all the context that you had been given. When you round one last corner, pulling up in front of Lady Dimitrescu’s study, you are shown a sight that somehow makes you feel worse: Bela, Cassandra, and Ava are all resting outside of the room. They appear exhausted, and motion for you to be quiet as you approach.

“They’ve been listening in on our conversation,” Daniela admits with a whisper. Then she’s pulling you into the study, ensuring that the door doesn’t open wide enough for the eavesdroppers to get spotted. Something told you that Alcina was already well aware of their presence. “Alright, mother, here is my Songbird. What did you want to ask us?”

“Daniela… leave us. My questions are for ‘Songbird’ alone,” Alcina replies, seemingly confirming the absolute worst of your fears. This was where you would die. By her hand, without your lover by your side, after what could have been the happiest night of your life. Of course. But Daniela is not willing to go without a fight. As soon as the words leave her mother’s mouth, she is moving between the two of you, just as she had when she first called you her teacher. Before she can speak, her mother stands up and stares her down. “Don’t make me ask again- there will not be a third time.” When she still hesitates, it is your turn to be brave.

“Hey, it’s okay, we’ll be okay,” you promise her, reaching out to take her hand. Instantly she’s returning to your side, hand cupping your cheek, eyes filled to the brim with sadness. “Firefly… ‘Tell me love, we shall last until the end of days’. I love you. Nothing is going to change that, not now, not ever. We’ll be okay.” Maybe not now, you think, but you’ll be okay eventually. Cassandra and Bela, and Ava I suppose, will make sure of it.

“Okay. We’ll last until the end of days. I love you too,” Daniela says, swallowing the lump in her throat. With one last kiss she pulls away, wishing that her departure didn’t feel so much like a betrayal. She pauses in the doorway, meeting your gaze, unable to bring herself to move until you give her an accepting nod. The door swings into place with a click, sealing the room and your fate.

“So,” Alcina begins, returning to her seat as she does. For now you stay standing, unsure of just about every part of this situation, especially your upcoming role in it. “You have been deceiving me. That alone is a crime worthy of severe punishment, and yet you stooped so low as to do far, far more. I had hoped you had, somehow, managed to teach my daughter a real lesson, that you had inspired a love of music in her, that you had made an honest difference in the way she learns. But all this time… it has been nothing more than a ruse.” The last word comes out dipped in venom, acidic enough to make you flinch. Thankfully, your beloved was not the only person who had a gift with words. More than that, this was a topic that you had spent numerous nights thinking about, making you as prepared as you could ever hope to be.

“You know, as much as I desire to claim that I am that interesting, or that Daniela felt so strongly from the very start, I can do no such thing. The truth is this: Music is what brought us together in the first place. It was the catalyst for our first real interaction, the first time she ever looked at me as more than just another servant or bloodbag. We bonded because of it, and so when we went to play together, to learn, Daniela honestly did connect to it,” you explain, despite the fire in Alcina’s expression. To your surprise, she does not interrupt you, and you take it as permission to keep going. Which was very good, considering that being nervous only made you ramble more. “Music is something we’ve shared for the entirety of our relationship. Even if it’s not something she would do much of on her own, I know that she’s grown to care for it more than she might be willing to admit. And, well…

“Even if you decide that what I’ve done is unforgivable, even if I’m destined to die within the hour, I know in my heart that everything the two of us worked on still matters. Because, like it or not, she is capable of growth, of change, of progress. And even if I die, someone else will come afterwards. Daniela will get to use music as a way to forge connections for the rest of her life, now that she knows it works, now that she knows how it works. And every goddamn time that she plays, or Bela plays, or you play, she’s going to remember me. She’ll remember every moment we spent together, every piece we ever played. I’ll live on in the melodies we made. In the song that you can’t quite place, that gets stuck on loop in your head. In the song the maids sing to themselves between shifts. In the quiet evening when the rain against the window feels so much like a familiar rhythm that your daughters can’t help but start humming along, without even thinking, muscle memories in sync.”

“Are you trying to convince me that there’s no point in killing you? That, regardless, you will be in my life until the end of time?” Alcina’s eyes are narrowed, but there isn’t even a hint of anger in her tone. Just curiosity.

“No, not really. Guess I’m just making peace with my fate the best way I know how- by remembering the echoes I’ll leave behind,” you answer, pausing to wipe a few tears from your eyes. All you can think about is how much Daniela will miss you. How much pain you think she’ll go through. Because at this point, who are you trying to fool with your hope? Yourself, or the people listening?

“Hmm. I think I understand. Now, tell me… what was that you said to my daughter a minute ago, before she left the room? It sounded familiar, though I cannot place it,” Alcina questions, idly toying with her glass of tea. You’re not entirely sure why it matters to her, but you have no qualms delaying the inevitable by answering. Besides, it was a chance to talk about how much you loved Daniela (and you’d never skip such an opportunity).

“It’s a line from a poem she wrote for me. “Tell me love, we shall last until the end of days”. A promise. The song Daniela and I played together… I wrote it in response. My way of doing what she asked of me, I guess. Like I said, she’ll always have the music we shared,” you answer, unable to stop yourself from smiling.

“Damn this… I can hardly believe I am asking this, yet I feel I have no choice: Tell me, do you love my daughter? Do you honestly, with your entire being, desire a future with her? Or was this a game of survival you couldn’t afford to lose, that turned out to be more ‘fun’ than you had anticipated? Show me your heart, as it is, bare as it would be if I tore it from your chest, this very moment.” There’s no room for argument in her voice, using the very same tone she reserved for maidens who got a tad too close to refusing her.

“Alright. It was a game. At first. Daniela wanted a distraction, something to entertain her. I didn’t want to die, like I had heard so many of her ‘playmates’ did. I can’t tell you when things changed, at least not for her,” you confess, with a shaky breath. Did that make you a monster? One worthy of death? If so, you wondered if it actually made you more fit to date Daniela. “For me… I just remember her smiling wide at me, hand on my cheek, having just cracked some lame joke. Next thing I knew, well, I knew. We had a spark of something, and all I could think about was how badly I wanted to make her happy, you know? All the sudden there was nothing I wouldn’t do for her. I just wanted to see that smile again, everyday for the rest of my life.

“To answer your question: Yes. Goddess, yes. A thousand times yes. A ‘yes’ for every smile she’s ever shown me, for every butterfly in my stomach, for every time she’s held my hand, for every breath she’s stolen from my lungs, and for every single time my heart has skipped a beat in her name. I love her. I know we haven’t been together long, but the things I feel are undeniable. I will give her every part of myself, for as long as she wants me, for as long as I am blessed to live,” you pour your heart out, weaving your heartbeat into every turn of phrase, spilling your lifeblood onto the very conversation.

“And what will you do if she does change her mind? If she grows bored of you, as she has done with a dozen others?” Alcina counters without hesitation.

“I will weep. I will fall to my knees, and mourn this beautiful thing. But I will cherish every memory she leaves to me. Every moment where I am hers is a moment worth living, worth remembering. It will be better to have loved her with all my heart for a little slice of her immortality, than to love another, lesser so, for all of my life.” With that, Alcina sets her empty glass of tea onto the table, eying you with an unreadable expression. Something seems to stir in her chest, and at last the mask crumbles. She smiles.

“I see. Daniela, you may come back in now. Do not bother pretending that you have not been eavesdropping.” Not even a full second passes before the door opens, revealing a shaking Daniela, both of her sisters quite visible behind her (though they quickly move out of frame, leaving behind Ava, who gives a cheesy thumbs up as the door closes in xer face). She rushes to your side, taking your hand, looking stunned that you were still alive. But what shocks her more is what her mother says… “Of all the women I have ever known, family or otherwise, you are, perhaps, the most determined. Normally only in… ‘spurts’. Yet here you are, defying what I have come to expect of you. It almost feels as if I have been fooling myself this whole time, falsely believing that there is more than one possible outcome. So, ‘Songbird’, I say this: Three months ago, I agreed to give you a chance to prove yourself worthy of my daughter, for the sake of her happiness. Now, I suppose it is only fair that I do so once more.”

“Wait. Are you saying-” Daniela is once again cut off by her mother, who seems eager to avoid a trademark rant.

“Yes, yes I am. For the time being, the two of you have my blessing. I cannot say that I am entirely convinced of your chances at success, but, having seen the strength of your affections for one another, I sincerely hope that you will prove me wrong. Now come here, Daniela. I never got to finish telling you what I thought of your concert…”

—————————

In the glowing comfort of your girlfriend’s room, with the fireplace keeping things warm and cozy, you lay with your head against Daniela’s chest. One of her hands absentmindedly plays with your hair, and you release a sigh of bliss. Ava had assured you that xe would let Daphne know the good news, as xe thought that having one of the castle ladies visiting the servants’ quarters might cause a stir (and Daniela was far from willing to let go of you so soon). Now the two of you were just enjoying time holding each other close. Regardless of Alcina’s concerns, you knew that everything would be looking up from here. Assuming that Daniela didn’t have any more surprise confessions to involve you with.

“That was one hell of a surprise, Firefly. But I’m glad we don’t have to hide anymore. I love you, and I don’t know how long I could have survived without being open with it,” you say, a light teasing to your voice. Beneath you, Daniela chuckles, but holds you just a bit tighter. Then she places the softest of kisses to your forehead. “I’m always gonna love you, Firefly.”

“Until the end of days?” She asks, in a delighted whisper, grin practically audible.

“Until the end of days.”

—————————

Elsewhere in the castle, a caring mother takes another long, hungry drink from her glass of wine, staring intently into the fireplace. By her side is a silver-haired servant, who wordlessly watches her every move.

“There’s still a chance that this will all end horribly. Only time will tell, of course… but I can’t help worrying for her, she’s my daughter,” Alcina proclaims, gripping the glass hard enough for a web of cracks to form along its bell. But it does not fully shatter. No, it remains just steady enough to still be of use to her. For now. “Of course, you knew about this all along, didn’t you, Ava?... I know that you value how close you are with my children, and I know that they trust in you as much as I do… but if there are relationships or entanglements that I am unaware of, I expect you to tell me, or there will have to be consequences, regardless of your affiliation with Mother Miranda. Do you understand?”

Sighing, the mute servant pulls a notebook from xer pocket, opening it up to pen in a fresh script. There’s much tension in the air, and it only gets worse when Alcina catches a glimpse at what the note reads. As xe hands it to her, she scowls, and the wine glass fully breaks into countless shards. Immediately, Ava gets to work, picking up the largest of fragments with xer bare hands, refusing to complain about the resulting cuts. All the while Alcina stares into the fire, thoughts racing, wondering if maybe this time she could end her daughter’s problem before it was too late. Beginning to brainstorm ideas, she sets the notebook aside. Inside, in perfectly penned cursive, is a very, very dangerous piece of knowledge. The sort that could affect not only Castle Dimitrescu, but the entire village.

“In that case… there’s something you need to know about Cassandra- and Mother Miranda’s lovely little ‘pet’.”

[glowinggator]

Long Haired! S/O

Request: I love your stuff to much. its exactly what I'm in the mood for right now. whenever you feel up to taking request or something let me put this idea out for you if you like it: Any of the Turtles (Plus April but I'm mainly here for the turtles) with an S/O with long hair? Or maybe even the opposite way and an S/O with short hair. like I personally prefer the long hair option but I know someone out there would probably love to see the short hair option so that would be nice too.

either way you write them so well I'm sure it would be sweet.

A/N: Assuming that it’s straight hair, by the way! Although if people are interested, I’d love to do a curly-haired version as well <3

Characters: All! Separate, Non-Poly {Raphael, Leonardo, Michelangelo, Donatello, April O’Neil.) 

Content Warnings: None! 

Word Count: 1149

Raphael:

He loves your hair so much! It takes a lot of patience and dedication to grow your hair out that long!

He loves to braid your hair so much! He likes it when you sit in between his legs during movies so he can braid it.

He’s so gentle too: You can’t remember a single time where he’s tugged on it while brushing or braiding it. You’ve fallen asleep so many times while he plays with your hair.

He googles so many intricate designs to try out. Although, he usually defaults to a waterfall braid if he’s tired and there’s nothing in particular you want. He also likes to weave in flowers, if you’re not allergic to them!

He always has a bunch of hair ties on hand for you. (Most of them are in red!)

If you fight with them, he always makes sure your hair is tucked away and safe before engaging. Long hair is too easy to grab!  

He loves to play with your hair while cuddling, especially. There’s something so calming about laying on his plastron while he runs his hands through your hair.

Bonus! He’s so fucking tall, that he’s actually exempt from being suffocated by your hair while spooning. Love wins <3

Leonardo

Low-key jealous </3 Just kidding, he loves it.

He loves to brush your hair, but he hits his fair share of tangles. Please teach him how to hold your hair properly.

He’s also one to look up cool braids to put in your hair! He takes a lot of inspiration from fantasy hair styles. (Specifically, he really wants to do the Legolas braids.)

He carries scrunchies in your pocket for you because he thinks they’re cute.

He doesn’t get that hair just falls out sometimes? He’s so confused and concerned when he finds a random strand of hair in his room. He thinks you’re dying, lmao.

He’d love to dye your hair someday! He’s instantly mind-boggled at how much time it actually takes, but he’s still super stoked anyways.

Absentmindedly plays with your hair during movie nights. He doesn’t even realize he’s doing it half the time, but it feels really nice.

He loves to pet your hair while cuddling. It’s so gentle and sweet, and it puts you to sleep really quickly.

Donatello

Oh, long hair? Cool. He thinks it’s impressive that you’ve managed to grow it out so long, and keep it healthy as well!

A lot of the sweet routines you form in regards to your hair actually takes a bit of time to develop! It’s something that certainly grows over time.

One of the first things is simple. He installs a little hook next to the entrance of his lab where he leaves a bunch of hair ties for you. (Always in purple, unless you ask for more colors.) He doesn’t want your hair to get damaged, or for you to get hurt, if there’s a stray spark in the lab. After a little while, he starts carrying some on his person as well.

He gets overstimulated really easily when it comes to texture, and having hair in his face while cuddling really hits all the checkboxes with that. But obviously, he’s not going to give up cuddling time, so what does he do? He starts braiding your hair before bed! And that’s when he finds out he really likes to play with your hair.

Every night before bed, he braids your hair. It’s a really sweet routine that you share with him. (And you get to listen to him talk about his day! Brothers, inventions, WOW lore, it could be anything really.)

When you’re watching something together, he’ll absentmindedly play with/pet your hair. After a while, he doesn’t even realize he’s doing it.

Michelangelo

TIME TO BUST OUT THE HAIRSTYLE MAGAZINE... HE’S BEEN WAITIN’ FOR THIS ONE

For real though, he loves long hair. (And short hair! He thinks it’s all super pretty…)

He’ll bust out the bobby pins, the hairspray, everything. People will literally ask you who does your hair, and your brain fucking fries trying to think of how to describe your non-human boyfriend in a human way. Halo braids, half-up bows, flower braids… he’ll do it all.

He’s a little rough at first, but he gets the hang of it pretty quickly. He’s not immune to the stray tangle, though.

He likes to carry bobby pins around for you, which is a contrast to the rest of his brothers! (Bangs are Hell, and you never know when you’ll need one! For your hair OR for breaking into someone’s house! <3) He also carries around little butterfly clips and stuff. If you ask he’ll start carrying ties around though <3 King.

Loves to screw around with your hair at the randomest of times. He loves to hold your cheeks when you kiss, and sometimes when you part he’ll lift up your hair a little and make silly monster noises. It’s so dumb but it makes you laugh so much.

He’d be so good at dyeing your hair, please let him!! He’s really patient, and his eye for color is great.

He loves to play with your hair while cuddling. He does a really specific thing where he’ll part your hair into a bunch of different sections before scooping them all back together and running his hands through it. It actually feels really nice on your end (and helps combat tangles), and it keeps his brain busy. You fall asleep super quick every time.

April O’Neil

Oooh, pretty!! She has super long hair herself, her’s is just really curly. So she has a lot of respect for long hair!

Loves to play with your hair during movies, if she’s the big spoon that night. She usually twists the strands around her fingers, or gently pets them. It’s really relaxing, and her touch is so gentle. You can’t count how many times you’ve fallen asleep like that.

She always has these really nice hair ties on hand, it’s great. Her hair ties are super stretchy and never snag, which is awesome. She has like, three on her wrist at any given point in time.

Loves to run her hands through your hair after kisses.

She’s never actually dyed her own hair, just because bleaching natural hair is such a process. (Plus, she does NOT want to deal with teasing from the boys during the early stages of bleaching. They would never let it go </3) However, she’s really good at dyeing hair once she gets into it! She’s meticulous, and there’s not a single strand left uncolored. Her hands are steady as she works, and it’s so calming. She has the best hair-dyeing playlists too. She always makes you laugh too, so sometimes a little dye will get on an un-vaselined patch of skin, but honestly? It’s just a cute reminder of her.

[shapeshifting-wildcard]

The whisper of feathers and the soft tap of shoes on the attic floor was all that heralded Kotone's arrival. Jou had his back to her, one hand absentmindedly petting over Onfrey as they let out worried little whines. Morgana purred as they pressed against his back worriedly. Their ears flicked at the noise, and they turned to see the girl as she hovered by the makeshift bed.

"Ah... Inojita-kun?"

Jou curled in on himself, not wanting to face her. It felt weird to hear her call him that. It wasn't that it felt too informal; it felt too formal. But he couldn't muster up the will to say anything.

Onfrey lifted their head and let out a friendly bark. Kotone leaned over the bed and scratched the little fox between the ears, much to their obvious glee. It was nice to hear Onfrey sounding so happy, after all the gloominess of the past few weeks. His mood really had been spilling over onto his pets too, hadn't it?

"How're you holding up, Inojita-kun?"

He could feel the futon shift as she sat down beside him. Jou sighed and shook his head.

"Tired, huh?"

He nodded. Part of him was frustrated with how exhausted he felt all the time. He wanted to sleep, but no matter how much he slept, he woke up just as tired as before. It was like he was running on empty 24/7 and nothing could change that.

"It's... kind of an empty feeling, isn't it?"

Jou finally turned his head to look at her. She wasn't looking at him, though, her gaze focused on some spot on the floor of the attic. Morgana slipped away from their original spot by the small of Jou's back and curled up on Kotone's lap, in such a way that they could still press against him as well.

"When you lose someone—or, I guess, think you've lost someone." She started scratching under Morgana's chin. "Maybe there's other feelings mixed up in there. Maybe you're angry that they've left you alone like this. Maybe you're angry at the person who... took them away. Maybe you're just sad and hurt, because it feels like someone ripped your guts out."

"Uh." Morgana sounded concerned about that particular phrasing.

"I... mentioned before that my parents are dead, right?"

Morgana leaned into her and rubbed against her stomach. "Yeah. Is that... how you felt about them?"

"Some of it. For the longest time, I was angry, and sad, and hurt. I was a little kid who didn't really understand anything, so sometimes I'd even blame them for leaving me. Even though I know now that it wasn't something they could do anything about." She hesitated for a moment, before adding, "It hurt worse when my brother was gone, too."

"What do you mean? Like, when he was busy doing other things?"

"When he was dead, too."

If Jou weren't so numb right now, he'd have felt a chill go down his spine. As such, Morgana would have to feel the dread for both of them. Their ears pinned back against their head. "Wh... I thought you said your brother was alive!"

"This time around, yeah."

Even in this hazy state, Jou could put together just enough thoughts to make the connection. "Like Strings?"

"A bit like him, yeah." Kotone nodded. "I wasn't stuck for nearly so long, though. And... I know who was responsible for the looping, now."

"Who was it?" Morgana asked, lifting their head curiously.

"I'd... rather not get into it." Agains she glanced away. "Just know that it was someone I know. Someone I was close to. It's... complicated."

Morgana nuzzled against her again in a comforting gesture. She ran a hand over their fur, a very faint smile on her face.

"But I'm getting off-topic. This shouldn't be about me. My point is that I get where you're coming from. Even down to..." Her breath seemed to catch for a moment. "Down to losing someone you were in love with."

In love with. Those words feel like a stab to the heart. Jou sucked in a breath, trying to keep the tears from coming. But he knew it's futile.

He rolled over and curled around Kotone, burying his face against Morgana as much as he could. Onfrey yipped and climbed over him, attempting to curl up in Kotone's lap with Morgana. Kotone wrapped an arm loosely around Jou, running her hand along his back as he broke into muffled sobs.

"I'm confident he's still out there somewhere," she assured him. "I can't really figure out why I'm so confident, though. Maybe it's because you didn't have to watch him die like I did."

She let out a soft chuckle, clearly meaning the comment as some sort of morbid joke. Jou didn't find it particularly reassuring.

"Was it... related to your own Persona stuff?" Morgana asked, sounding very cautious.

Kotone fell silent for a moment. "...Yes. It was." She sighed and returned to petting Morgana distractedly. "There was a rival group of Persona-users called Strega. They did whatever they wanted with their powers, for... reasons that I think you guys would relate to, honestly. But right now doesn't seem like the best time to go into it. We'd captured one of them, their version of Oracle basically. The leader, Takaya," she spat the name out with a venom Jou had never really heard before, "ended up cornering two of our own when they were having their own... discussion, for lack of a better word."

She stopped, sighed, and leaned against Jou. "Man, the more I try to tell this story, the more I realize I have to explain. But, uh... the gist of it was, a couple years ago, back when it was just the three senpai, one of them, Shinjiro... lost control of his powers and accidentally killed an innocent bystander. She was... the mom of our youngest member, Ken. Ken was confronting him about his mom's murder."

"Oh," Morgana said quietly.

"...When Katsu's Goro met Ken this time around, he... figured out what Ken was planning. And tried to stop it. But, well... you know what Goro is like."

"Well, I thought I did," Morgana said.

Jou knew what she meant, though. Beneath all that charm and guile, he was an angry, vengeful kid at heart. Maybe he could have sympathized with Ken, at least. But, well... they couldn't persuade Jou's version of Goro to just come with them. He couldn't imagine Goro doing much better when the roles were reversed.

"Anyway, every other time this happened, Takaya came across them. I don't know exactly what happens, because I..." She faltered, hanging her head. "I was never there."

"Kotone..."

"Even this time, I didn't... I sent Katsu and Minato to take care of it, b-because we had to deal with the Shadows, we couldn't... If we left them alone, we might not have had time to deal with Takaya and them, and t-the station would have been..."

Jou wrapped an arm around Kotone as Morgana started purring and nuzzling again. Onfrey even got in on the act. She took a moment to collect herself, sniffling and wiping her face.

"...I know what it's like to feel like you didn't do enough to save someone, too. Even if they're alive this time around, I... I wish it could have ended a different way."

Jou wasn't sure if she was talking about her friend or Goro. It didn't really matter though, did it?

"I won't say 'don't blame yourself' or anything like that. Because I know you already do. And that just saying something like that over and over is just going to make you feel worse." Kotone rubbed Jou's back again, the touch about as gentle as her words. "So... I'll just say... it's probably not okay to blame yourself, but it is... normal?"

"You mean you think it makes sense for the two of you to blame yourselves for what happened, even if it wasn't actually your fault," Morgana explained.

"Yeah, basically."

"That's understandable. But... both of you have to remember it's not your fault." Morgana settled in between them and purred. "Things happened that were out of your control. You can't let the guilt and the 'what if's consume you. Someday, you have to let it go."

[alwaysahiccupandastrid]

How To Train Your Dragon: Homecoming - Thoughts/Review!

[ashfountainfanfics]

It’s July 18th.

It’s been two weeks since the Mind Flayer was defeated and the gate was sealed. Everyone is trying to get back to their old lives the best they can. It’s weird how every time everyone seems to go back to normal even though they all know things are different. They all have something familiar to lean on everyone except...

“HARRINGTON!”

Steve heads upstairs to heed the call, cursing under his breath. He nearly trips over the middle step but catches himself. He’s gotten so graceless in the last year or so. Sometimes he wonders if every time Hawkins is under attack he loses cool factor. He’s never really returned to his old self not since the beginning. With every new, terrifying event Steve takes on a new role.

Steve opens the door to his family’s guest bedroom.

“Radio!” Steve shouts back upon entry, “What is so hard about using it?!”

“Bite me,” a gruff voice responds. 

It’s late evening in Hawkins and given the seclusion of the Harrington residence and the drawn curtains of the guest room; it feels as if the voice belongs to the dark itself. The smell of the room is unsettling too; two week’s worth of unwashed everything sealed into four walls. Steve holds his nose.

“Y’know there’s a shower right through that door,” he says as he tries to breathe as little as possible, “and the light switch-”

“Turn on that light and you’re dead.”

Steve ambles toward the low light lamp he knows is on the bedside nightstand. It clicks on and gives the room a dull, warm light. That lights hits a bedridden Billy softer than the switch would have. Still he winces and groans at the change and Steve sighs.

“I’m not much help if I can’t see.”

“Bucket’s full,” Billy replies through grit teeth.

“Of course.”

Steve comes around to the other side of the bed and looks at the large paint bucket filled with vomit. It’d be nice if he had help to care for his unwanted house guest but he wouldn’t dare put anyone else through this. As far as Steve’s skills as a nurse go; he somewhere between shitty boyfriend and a good babysitter.

“Chair,” Billy says right as Steve is about to pick up the puke bucket.

Billy’s wheelchair is on it’s side and out of reach for him. Which means he threw it again. Steve doesn’t mention it. Instead he rights it and brings it bedside for Billy.

“Do you, uh-” Steve tries to phrase it differently as he locks the chair in place.

“If I want your fucking help, I’ll ask.”

Steve returns to the bucket and sets about dumping it into the toilet in the adjacent bathroom. He has to do it in small bits and he prays silently that he doesn’t spill any. The last time that happened he had to toss his jeans out.

As he flushes, Steve can hear Billy grunting and struggling to get into the wheelchair. It’s hard to manage even with help given that he’s covered in stitches and has a broken foot. He can’t do crutches because the stitches on his sides might split from the pressure. They’re huge, oddly shaped patch jobs that the doctor insists require bed rest. Oh, and the nurse essentially guarantees scarring. Steve doubts that Billy will be playing any shirts vs skin games anytime soon.

“Fuck!”

There’s a loud thud that follows right after. Steve drops the bucket and hurries back to the bed to find Billy crumpled on the ground. The chair is flipped and Billy is on his stomach holding a hand to his bandaged side.

Steve moves the wheelchair aside quickly and starts going about picking Billy up. Billy pushes him away and screams not to touch him. Steve keeps trying and manages to flip him onto his back. This makes Billy more furious and he starts throwing punches to the best of his ability. This isn’t the first time that Billy is fighting help. He’s been doing it since he was discharged from the hospital.

“Stop. Hitting. Me!” Steve grabs his dirty patient by the wrists.

Billy screams into Steve’s face so hard that the veins in his neck stand out. Steve holds steady though and the scream seems to be the last of the fight left. He takes stock of him as he keeps him pinned; the red eyes and the tear stained cheeks. Billy is hissing from the pain and, one could argue, whimpering, if there was ever a guttural version of whimpering.

“Okay,” Steve collects his thoughts, “I can’t keep doing this. I have dealt with some shit, man but this? Trying to take care of you is the hardest bull shit I’ve ever been through-”

Billy manages a weak growl and the slightest push back against Steve’s hands.

“No, no no, I’m not done! You have two choices; either you start letting me help you or I dump your ass on your parent’s front porch.”

The violence in Billy’s gaze disappears in a single blink. It’s replaced by something else, something that feels familiar to Steve. He can’t dwell on it though. He needs to seize the opportunity while he can.

“I’m not asking for any thank you’s or even a please, okay?” Steve softens, “Let me help you. That’s it. Just let me help you.”

Billy nods but can’t bring himself to make any eye contact. Steve sighs in relief before putting one arm under Billy’s good knee and the other under his arm. He remembers to lift with his legs but the transition isn’t painless for Billy. The wounded of the pair seems to be trying to meet the other halfway though as his groans and hisses are absent of anger.

“Bathroom’s all yours,” Steve says, knowing full well that’s why Billy wanted the chair in the first place, “just mind the bucket and when you’re ready-”

Steve grabs the radio he already knows is stashed under one of the pillows. He puts it in Billy’s lap.

“Radio me and I’ll take a look at your stitches.”

---

Billy absolutely pulled a stitch during his last tantrum. Thankfully, it doesn’t warrant a trip back to the hospital but it does require a little cleaning and a fresh bandage. It’s unbearably quiet as Steve mentally walks through the steps Max left him. Babysitting even in upside down level circumstances takes less effort than playing nurse.

The instructions for all this isn’t too difficult but Steve has to sift through all of Max’s details and what if scenario information. That kid is like an encyclopedia for wounds. She’d make a great nurse. Someday. And not for her formerly possessed brother who tried to kill her and her friends. Even the most seasoned nurse might have a little trouble with that.

“What are you doing?” Billy asks over an unintentional sneer from the disinfectant.

“Huh?”

This seems to wake Steve up from his intense thought process.

“Your mouth,” Billy gestures gently, “you’re moving it like you’re saying something but you’re not saying shit.”

“Uh...I’m thinking, I guess.”

“You need to do that to think?”

Steve takes a bit of his frustration out on the roll of tape for the bandages and forcefully pulls a strip.

“Guess so,” he replies curtly.

No one’s ever pointed out that quirk before but then maybe no one ever noticed? Or maybe it’s a new development? Some neurotic shift resulting from the trauma of being tortured by Russians or purposefully crashing a car or seeing a building sized rotting flesh monster? The world is full of possibilities.

Steve places the strip of tape on the headboard to keep it ready and within reach. He moves in to adjust Billy but thinks better of it.

“Can you hold yourself up a little more?” he asks.

Billy obliges. Awkwardly, Steve sits on the free space of the bed and moves in close. Billy lifts his arms enough to allow Steve to start winding the gauze around his torso and over a shoulder. In the past couple weeks this was just as difficult as anything else was but now that the boys have an agreement the physicality of it goes smoother.

“Why is this taking so long?” Billy grunts.

“Uh, maybe because you’re not screaming and trying to punch me?”

Steve has time to do this right, no rogue limbs and noise pollution to make it hurried. However, that lack of sound and movement does make things quiet and kind of weird. It seems as though if they’re not fighting then they’ve got nothing to talk about.

Steve gets to the final round and places the big strip of duct tape across the uninjured part of Billy’s chest. Then he carefully places his hands on his work and checks for loose gauze. 

Billy’s body is so warm under the bandage and despite the damage on his torso he still looks like he could bench press Steve. Maybe Billy would be playing shirtless basketball again after all.

“If you don’t explain what this is I’m going to have to punch you,” Billy says flatly.

Steve pulls his hands back quickly and holds them up in pseudo surrender.

“I’ve never been able to check if I did it right before. Feels right,” Steve stumbles over his words, “Firm. And-and good. How do you feel?”

Billy narrows his eyes and the air shifts dangerously.

“You queer?” he asks in disgust.

Steve feels like the wind’s been knocked out of him. Queer? Nobody’s ever asked if Steve’s a queer. Steve’s the one who asks that. An instinctive rage tears at the question but then Steve remembers...

‘But Tammy Thompson’s a girl.’

Steve used to ask shit like that. Not anymore.

“What if I am?” Steve asks heatedly.

“The fuck did you just say?”

The anger starts to flicker back into Billy’s eyes.

“What if I am?” Steve repeats, “It wouldn’t change anything. Being queer, or uh, different doesn’t make someone not a person and in case you forgot right now I’m the person stuck taking care of your ass.”

Of all the times that both Steve and Billy have ever accused someone of being gay neither of them have ever heard that kind of response. It’s twice as shocking for Steve for no other reason than it’s his response. The room feels a little smaller now and Steve tries to keep in mind the kind of insecure asshole Billy is, the kind of asshole Steve used to be. The longer Steve sits there on the bed with his statement in the air the smaller the room gets.

“But no,” Steve stands up, “I’m not queer.”

“Whatever you say, pretty boy.”

“Calling people pretty boy, honestly? That sounds kinda queer, so-”

“Don’t you ever fucking call me that!” Billy shouts, his fists pounding into the mattress.

He backs off his anger right away though his body unable to handle it.

“Okay,” Steve relents.

“I’m not a fag.”

“I got it.”

“I’m no-”

Billy’s face goes pale and his mouth begins to quiver. Steve knows what this face preludes and makes a run for the bucket left in the bathroom. He manages to get a hold of it as Billy starts dry heaving. He runs back into the room but trips over his feet. He slides desperately trying to get the bucket back in time. He misses by an inch and Billy vomits hard all over himself and the bed.

---

“No,” Billy gurgles quietly as Steve does his God given best to place him into his parents’ large, squared bath tub.

The tub squeaks as Billy’s body settles into a decent position. Steve breathes out heavily and tells himself not to think about the effort that��s going to come from getting this dead weight out of the tub. Instead he has to focus on the quickest and least weird way to bathe another person’s entire body. Like all of it. Because the thing Steve was dreading the most is here; Billy absolutely needs a bath.

Billy also seems as though he was dreading this but luckily Steve had the foresight to convince him into taking his pain medicine first. Then it was just a matter of letting it kick in as Steve threw out the sheets and set the mattress on the curb for garbage to collect.

His parents can afford a new mattress and Steve honestly feels it’ll be less effort to be bitched out than trying to clean up.

“Give me… my clothes,” Billy slurs.

“Listen, you’d be in your underwear right now if I had a choice but as it turns out you don’t wear underwear.”

It’s practically comical, the unfortunate luck Steve has. He manages to avoid the fight but gets stuck with nudity. He’s technically seen Billy naked before, back in high school in the gym showers, but other than a douchey tap on the shoulder from Billy there was no contact. It was a circus trying to load Billy into the tub naked and desperately trying to avoid everything around and attached to his pelvis.

Steve turns the water on.

“Cold,” Billy groans as he tries to pull a face at the faucet.

“It’ll get warm, relax.”

The water adjusts and Billy seems to forget the circumstances of this bath as he relaxes. He’s practically serene against the cream colored tile despite the seran wrapped cast propped on the edge of the tub. His eyes are heavy like he might just fall asleep after all. Steve realizes that in time he’s known Billy he’s never once seen him calm like this or any other variation of calm. In many ways, Billy reminds Steve of some big wild animal. He always looks… predatory.

Steve takes a large cup and pours water slowly across the front of Billy’s chest, allowing it to pool down to places where Steve’s not looking to make direct contact given his previous acrobatics around them. The water clears the faded trail the puke had left behind.

Billy hums a little as Steve tries not be repulsed by pressing a bar of soap to his skin.

“Don’t do that,” Steve practically begs.

“I haven’t had a bath,” Billy muses, “in a tub. A bathtub bath. Since I was a kid. My mom...”

Steve makes a face and tries to move a little faster. He was hoping that the painkillers would tire him out too much for any talk. Although given that Steve has also been high and babbled inconveniently before he shouldn’t judge.

“My mom was the only one...who gave me baths...and then she was... gone.”

Steve stops mid pour on the second cup of water.

Gone, he has the good sense to wonder and not ask, like left? Or gone like dead? Or both? Wait how would he know if it was both if she left? Unless someone called. That would really suck.

Steve sticks with his better judgement and lets Billy’s comment go without further acknowledgement. He finishes up the second rinse.

“Can you wash my hair?” Billy opens his heavy eyes just long enough to make eye contact, “Please?”

“Sure...”

Steve finds himself coming around to the other side of the tub to sit down. The shampoo he uses has an orange color and smells sweet like honey. It may be his mom’s or his dad’s or both. Steve wouldn’t know. He hadn’t been in close enough proximity of either to know something like that. He can’t even recall what products, if any, they ever smelled like. They always keep at least a foot between them and him even when they’re angry.

Steve digs his fingers into Billy’s hair and does gentle circular motions. He starts at the crown and works down to the base of the neck. Billy’s hair has isn’t too bad and the movement breaks up the any matting. Eventually, Billy’s hair is soft again.

“Is this okay?” Steve asks despite wishing he hadn’t. The silence was probably better.

“Where’d you learn to do...that?”

Steve looks around as if somehow someone might be spying on him. He takes his hair secrets very seriously.

“I don’t think you’ll remember this but if you do you better not tell anyone. You better swear.”

“I swear,” Billy vows with a goofy smile.

“I’ve got a cousin who’s a hairdresser in the city and she says this is the best way to wash hair. Helps it to grow and stuff. It’s the way I wash mine so yeah. I guess it’s a technique.”

Steve is working his way back to the top again, his fingers massaging Billy’s scalp under honey scented bubbles and warm water.

“It’s like getting a blow job but for your hair,” Billy laughs sleepily.

“And we’re done now.”

Steve pulls his hands out of Billy’s locks. His cheeks go flush and without thinking he wipes the suds off on his shirt. He retreats back to the other side of the tub to get the cup and get this over with.

“No..no no,” Billy continues to giggle to himself, “I like it. Head for your head haha.”

“Very funny,” Steve deflects as he tilts back Billy’s head to rinse his hair out.

“No... no, you’re not listening.”

Billy places a lazy grip onto the collar of Steve’s shirt while Steve still has a hand on the back of Billy’s neck. The atmosphere shifts into unfamiliar territory. Steve feels like maybe all this isn’t just awkward, it’s inappropriate.

“I like it,” Billy mutters before pulling Steve closer and very gently kissing him on the mouth.

Steve panics, drops the cup and tries to pull back but Billy holds his grip and kisses him again, this time using tongue. Steve’s ears feel hot with embarrassment because he can taste Billy’s tongue. It’s a cool mint from brushing his teeth earlier. It tingles the roof of Steve’s mouth.

Billy lets go of Steve’s shirt to let his hand migrate to Steve’s neck. He tangles his fingers into Steve’s dark strands.

It’s a primal kiss and the energy shocks Steve into staying completely still. He’s the proverbial deer in the head lights.

Billy breaks the kiss by seizing his fingers into Steve’s hair and pulling him back.

“Whatsa matter, gorgeous?” Billy smirks, “Can’t keep up?”

He’s an animal, Steve panics, all he knows is fucking and punching and now that he’s not punching- oh God.

“You never kiss like this?” Billy taunts him, “I can give you romance if you want. Treat you soft-“

His pouty lips start to trail kisses on Steve’s jawline.

“You can be my pillow princess if you want, pretty boy. I can be gentle.”

Something snaps in Steve. Something competitive and furious. Angrily he brings his lips to Billy’s and starts to kiss him wanting to prove that he’s no princess. He’s a man. 

Billy moans into it before biting Steve’s lip baiting him to give him more. Steve is overcome with the need to devour him. He wants to taste everything Billy has to offer. He grabs Billy’s wrists and goes to pin them at his sides.

Billy winces and lets out a pained groan which stops them both. Steve had grabbed a little too roughly and with that pulled stitch on one side Billy can’t be handled like that.

Billy is staring at Steve. He’s wide eyed and shocked and Steve stares back.

Things feel awkward again but this time Steve is a reason for it. It now seems inconceivable that Steve had kissed him back let alone with that vigor. He wipes the water and shared saliva from his lip with the back of his hand. He can still Billy’s eyes on him as he spits into the sink.

That was gross...I’m gross.. Steve thinks as he looks at his reflection in the mirror.

“We should, uh,” he desperately tries to change the subject, “we should get you to bed.”

Billy, still high as a kite, snorts and gestures to nothing in particular.

“What bed?”

—-

“Oh my God.”

Steve is expecting something a little more succinct from Robin but maybe taking the Lord’s name in vain is the best way to sum it up.

“I know.”

“Oh my God!”

“I know, Robin!” Steve responds in equal parts shame and exasperation.

“No,” Robin glares at Steve, “I mean ‘oh my God’ as in; Oh my God I’ve been gay like my whole life and you get to have a same sex kiss before me?! Jesus Christ you get everything!”

Steve, dumbfounded, sits quietly as he lets Robin process things. It felt dangerous to breathe a word of last night’s events to anyone but Robin isn’t just anyone. She gets the gravity of keeping this kind of secret.

It’s hot again today as they sit out by the pool. Steve’s radio is within ear shot, sitting on a lawn chair in the shade, should Billy call but given that he’s been out cold since last night Steve doubts it. 

It was Robin’s idea to have daily pool time. They were both out of job and the second she saw that Steve’s place had a pool she knew she needed at least an hour a day in the water. Steve’s thankful for it now. It feels therapeutic to see Robin show up everyday in her black one piece and her short hair clipped back at the sides. She always reeks of sunscreen though.

Steve kicks his feet a little in the water.

“So… what do I do?”

“How should I know?! You’re more advanced than me.”

“No. No, no, I am not advanced. I’m not even in this class!”

“Billy kissed you,” she laughs, “you’re not even gay and you get action. Is it something that only I don’t get? I mean I like women, so of course I don’t get it but I thought Billy was straight.”

“He is!” Steve backtracks, “I think.”

“You think?”

Billy didn’t actually date in high school. Every girl, with the exception of the usual groups, wanted Billy. Bad. The guy could sneeze and panties would drop. They were obsessed.

But he never dated them. Any of them. He didn’t even fool around. He acted like they weren’t good enough and that made him even more appealing to them. He was hot and completely unattainable and he didn’t seem at all interested in that advantage.

“Well being gay would explain that,” Robin remarks after Steve shares his thoughts, “cover it up by telling yourself you’re better than them. I can relate, yknow, minus the popularity stuff.”

Unbeknownst to either Steve or Robin, Billy had actually spoken at times about his hookups with women. These were women though not high school girls. Some of those women being the mothers of the very guys who supported his social status by the way. He gave enough details to keep from being questioned but never enough to out the cohorts of his sexual escapades. Older women prefer that kind of discretion and Billy didn’t mind.

 But, since Robin and Steve aren’t in the know, there’s only one logical conclusion.

“He likes boys,” Robin shrugs before slipping the rest of her body over the edge and into the pool.

She starts making a lap leaving Steve to stew in this deduction. How is this whole Nurse Steve thing going to work now? How does he avoid any interaction when he has to take care of him? It’s not like Billy can go anywhere else, El made that clear over the radio this morning. Under no circumstances is Billy to be handed over to his father. El’s tone ensured there’d be no room for argument and Steve isn’t exactly itching to argue with her either. She’s a scary kid.

Robin and Nancy have nowhere to hide him. Johnathan has enough to take care of with his mom grieving for the chief of police. Not that the Buyers have much room either. There’s no one else with time and room to get Billy back on his feet. It’s not like Steve can claim that his parents are coming home any time soon either: they’re both camped out in the city in order to wait out their ties with the former mayor. The soonest they’d be back is Thanksgiving if they come back at all.

“Hey dingus!”

Robin had made half a lap and is now pulling herself out of the water. She shakes her hair, almost like a dog, and Steve feels an overwhelming affection for her. That’s his best friend there, drying off like a Labrador.

“Shall I point out the obvious?” She calls out as her bare feet leave a trail of wet footprints behind her.

“The obvious?” Steve asks more to himself than to Robin.

Robin stands behind Steve and plants a foot firmly onto his back.

“You never said that you didn’t kiss him back.”

Steve can’t respond to that though as Robin gives a kick sending Steve into the water.

[tiaraofsapphires]

my satellite (shine on me tonight)-Chapter 2

finger-guns

Chapter 2: Isolation

Read on Ao3 here!

Sara was distracted. Correction: she was really, really fucking distracted.

Every time her mind wandered, which was more often than usual, she thought on the child and the road she took that got to her where she was.

Four days, a muddied cloud of fire and electricity and hormones that made her as desperate for him as he was for her. The fourth day had been a surprise, the metaphorical sun rising to Jaal’s head between her legs and his hips grinding into the mattress as he ate her out.

The tail-end of day two was the first time Sara had managed to peel Jaal off of her enough to leave her room and get some food from the galley and make sure nothing was exploding on the ship. She faced concerned clucking and questions from the rest of the crew the moment she stepped out, which she deserved. Apparently, her having SAM keep them in the dark had been a bad idea.

Her bruised mouth had been the only visible sign to the crew. She made sure to wear a high-collared shirt to hide the hickeys and bites that adorned her throat.

She had to tell them, of course. They had been idling in Eos’s orbit for two days without any explanation.

She told them the truth. Well, a censored version of the truth.

And that truth had the rest of the Tempest’s occupants exasperated (Vetra, Peebee, Kallo), smug (Liam, Cora, Drack, Suvi), or creepily interested (Lexi).

Ha, ha, the Pathfinder had no choice but get her rocks off with her boyfriend for days on end. Ha, ha, hormones and aliens. Hilarious.

But it wasn’t so funny when the brass on the Nexus were having collective coronaries over the fact that SAM had been rerouting messages and vid-calls meant for Sara to Cora with the simple and vague explanation of ‘Pathfinder Ryder is indisposed at the moment’. Tann and company had assumed that meant Sara had been injured.

Everyone on the Tempest was inclined to let them believe that.

Lexi had taken a vial of her blood during the third day the moment Sara stepped out of her room, insisting on getting some of Jaal’s blood too.

“For science,” she had said.

Sara heard Lexi murmuring about the various tests she was going to run as she retreated back to her room. It had been almost humiliating, that she was scuttling back to her bedroom to a horny boyfriend. Not only did Jaal need her, Sara needed him. It was like an itch under her skin, her need for him.

It was almost humiliating.

Almost.

Speaking of Lexi, Sara planned on avoiding the asari like the plague since SAM’s pregnancy revelation, metaphorically speaking.

She knew that if she gave Lexi a shadow of a reason to believe something out of the ordinary was happening, Lexi would hound her, even turn the rest of the crew against her to get her into the med-bay.

SAM became her de facto doctor, sampled her blood and scanned her abdomen, just to double-check what he had picked up through the implant.

The mix of hormones and the little lump of cells whose DNA didn’t fully belong to her confirmed it.

She was, indeed, pregnant. There was nothing that she could deny. And if SAM could pick it up, Lexi could too.

And Sara wasn’t ready to reveal it to anyone.

“Could you make it so it seems like I’m sick?” Sara asked. “Manipulate my body a little, maybe hack into Lexi’s tools?”

“Yes. It would be a simple task.”

Sara nodded at nothing where she sat in her room. She did that a lot, holing herself in her room for hours at a time, even before the pregnancy. Now, it was her sanctuary and her opportunity to make gameplans with her AI.

“Pathfinder business’, she’d claim for the benefit of the rest of the crew.

But Lexi was the clear and present issue.

“Would you rather make it seem you have a stomach virus or a cold?”

A nervous tapping on her knee. It had been a day since the revelation. While she had been content with just winging her way through keeping this secret, it because quickly evident that it wasn’t possible.

“A stomach virus would be easier to fake, right?”

“Yes. But it would seem suspicious if your symptoms are debilitating for more than three days.”

Sara covered her face and sighed.

Fuck, keeping this secret was a lot more difficult than she had anticipated.

SAM could occlude damning evidence from Lexi, from everyone. And all Sara had to do was make herself seem as normal as possible.

By the end of this, she could become a master deflector. She liked telling the truth, so this would be a learning process.

“Do it,” she said.

When she went to the med-bay complaining of stomach pain and vomiting, she lied and lied and SAM tricked and manipulated.

Lexi prescribed light meals and a syrup that Sara wasn’t planning on taking.

Sara stole a whole bottle of prenatal vitamins from med-bay—SAM clued her in on where it was—before Lexi could notice on her way out.

Sara had no idea why Lexi would have that sort of thing just laying around, but it wasn’t like she could ask.

She just smuggled the bottle out, read the instructions and took the dose as written.

The odds were stacked against her for this pregnancy, as far as she knew. If she could skew those odds in her favor, even just a little, she would.

If she lost the child to circumstances out of her control, fine. She accepted that.

But she would do her damnedest to keep her child alive.

It was torture, keeping this secret.

And honestly it was a miracle she was able to keep this eiroch-size piece of information between her and SAM for as long as she did. Just about every conversation was a battle to keep her damn mouth shut. Every time she spoke to anyone on the Tempest, she felt like she was choking on her words. She wanted to tell someone, anyone.

She got within an inch of telling Tann of all people in a fit of frustration (because gods help her the bureaucrat refused to see outside his racist and self-aggrandizing view of the world no matter how many kett she killed or how many allies she pulled onto the Initiative’s side) but reeled herself in at the last moment.

The only two people who knew about it were her and SAM, making her very much alone in this.

Vid-calls with Scott were difficult. He was doing well with his physical therapy, though still dejected over being near-crippled by the coma.

She wanted to tell him that he might be an uncle. Her mouth stayed shut.

And speaking with Jaal under any circumstance was excruciating.

He loved her so much, more than any partner she had ever had before. He took every opportunity to show it, in small, quiet ways, and in large, bombastic ways.

Every time he touched her, gave her words of endearment, even looked at her, her stomach clenched and she’d find an excuse to extract herself from him as quickly as possible.

He was a reminder and though she knew she was hurting him by pushing him away, she didn’t know what else to do.

It ate her up on the inside, keeping this huge secret pertaining to him. Something he would want to know, because she knew how important family was to the angara. She already knew that someday Jaal would want a family of his own, whether biological or even perhaps adopted.

Now she had this possibility for him of family, biological family. A possibility that was getting more and more likely as the days progressed.

But she didn’t say anything.

Day fifteen came with a knock at her door.

SAM had just told her that he could feel the child’s heart beating now, a tiny faint sound that she couldn’t hear but it was enough that an AI could.

Her hands wiped at her knees, joy and fear filled her in tandem.

The heart was beating. The child had a working heart.

Her instinct was to tell whoever it was to go away. But it had become increasingly clear that the rest of the people on the Tempest were getting suspicious of her behavior.

She relished her private time to begin with, in fact, she needed it to prevent herself from going insane with all the things coming at her at once. But, this was getting to an excessive amount.

She knew it. Even SAM had warned her that people were beginning to get suspicious.

“Jaal is at the door. And from what I heard between him and Liam, I predict he is not going to leave any time soon,” SAM said.

Fuck. There was no hiding from that. And she had a feeling SAM was going to let him in whether she liked it or not.

“Let him in,” Sara said, standing up.

Their child had a heartbeat.

“Jaal, hi,” she greeted, sounding hesitant and stilted even to her ears, when he stepped into the room.

The father of her child. That child had a heartbeat. Alive, so, so alive.

“Sara. My love,” he replied, all affection.

He came to her and she bounced on her toes to peck a light kiss on the lips. A tentative grin, forced closeness. Keeping appearances for no one.

“How—how are you?” she asked.

The hesitation, wavering at the edge of a cliff. He didn’t look at all convinced by her attempt at conversation.

“I have been well. Liam and I have been working on the Nomad.”

She nodded. It was good her team continued to work and mesh together.

He held out his hands, the picture of affection and concern, and she could help but put her hands on his, letting him hold her in this small way. He was warm and solid and she was melting.

She was crumpling.

“Is something wrong, my darling?” he asked. A squeeze on her hands. If he shifted his hands around her wrists, he would feel her pulse racing.

A swallow around a lump, everything wavering around her.

Angara hid their illnesses well. She could hide her weakness just as well. She was good at letting herself fade into the background and letting her emotions be hers and no one else’s. Her anger, her sorrow, her grief, her fear.

Now she felt pinned, exposed.

Their child had a heartbeat.

“You have been distant the past several days. You don’t look me in the eyes and flinch away from me.”

Fuck, she couldn’t do this. He was too earnest and too sad, how could she lie to him?

Her eyes fell to where his hands cradled hers. She couldn’t say anything. There was the instinct to recoil from him and protect her secret.

Their secret, really, if she just got herself together for once in her fucking life and just spat it out.

Fifteen days after implantation. A heartbeat.

There was still the chance this wasn’t going to work out. She might end up losing the child and all of these hopes would’ve been for nothing and their hearts would be broken.

But still, she was being unfair to him, being curt with him and shoving him away.

“Did—did I do something wrong?” he whispered.

She shook her head, genuine sorrow crushing her chest. Of course, he blamed himself.

He had blamed himself when the hormones had cleared weeks ago, back when things were still fairly simple. He had begged for forgiveness for something that didn’t need forgiving.

It was biology, not his fault.

And she liked it. She made sure he knew that. Then he smiled and they moved on.

But it still followed them. It would now follow them for the rest of their lives, for good or ill.

He blamed himself then, he blamed himself now.

Technically he did do something, perhaps not something wrong. They both did. If they had only used birth control, condoms, anything, she wouldn’t be in this position.

“No, no. You’re perfect, Jaal. It’s just—.”

Words caught in her throat again.

The moment she told someone else was the moment that this became real. This wasn’t just some concept cooked up between her and SAM, confirmed by blood tests and a bioscan.

This would become very real, all of it.

Jaal deserved to be the first to know.

Her lip shook, tears building blindingly in her eyes.

He was too close, this secret ballooning between them. She hated it.

“Fuck,” she whispered. “I’m—

Sara leaned forward to rest her forehead on the center of his chest. He had been working in engineering. He smelled like oil and smoke, a strange juxtaposition to the lotions and perfumes he used.

She flinched when his hands rested on her lower back. It was supposed to be warm and anchoring, and it was, in some way. But she wanted to crawl out of her skin at the same time.

“I’m pregnant,” Sara said in a rush.

Immediately, she sagged against him and braced for impact. He inhaled sharply, shock making his body shake against her.

“Pregnant? How—how?”

She couldn’t read his voice. Blood was rushing in her ears.

Surprise? Suspicion?

“I don’t know!” Sara exclaimed, betting on the latter. “It must’ve been—I don’t know. SAM has his theories on how this happened.”

SAM remained silent.

“But it’s yours. There’s no way it isn’t,” she said.

There really wasn’t.

“I know we didn’t plan this. I’m sorry.”

He cupped her face in his hands and she finally shut her mouth, finally looking up to his face.

“What is there to be sorry about?” he asked.

He was breathless, exhilarated. Like after a victory, only without the risk of dying.

“How far along are you?”

That was the first question he asked?

She felt too big for her skin, but in a good way. No anger from Jaal. Only happiness, a desire to know and understand.

“I’ve known for fifteen days. SAM said its heart is beating now.”

He laughed, a happy thing.

“Really? Already?”

His voice was suddenly thick and that was when Sara realized there were tears tracking down his face. Sara sniffed wetly in response and rubbed her eyes.

“Stop crying, you’re making me cry!” she said.

“Why? I’m crying because I’m happy.”

He leaned down and kissed her forehead, then the bridge of her nose.

And they laughed. They laughed through tears and swayed in place where they held each other, like they were dancing

“You are incredible,” Jaal whispered. “No matter how this miracle happened. You are the most incredible woman I have had the privilege of loving.”

Sara caught his mouth with hers.

She loved him. She loved him so goddamn much she felt like she was going to explode with it.

Why didn’t she tell him sooner? Why did she draw out this pain for days and days when they could’ve experienced the first couple weeks together?

But she supposed it didn’t matter now. He knew and they were together and it was perfect and their child had a fucking heartbeat.

“I love you too, Jaal. I’m sorry I kept this from you.”

“You were afraid. I understand that. But I am overjoyed.”

His hands left where they pressed on her back to rest over her abdomen.

“Right here. Our child is right here.”

Sara nodded, covering his hands with hers.

Still no evidence of a bump, not long enough along that there would be anything. She squashed the doubts that threatened to rise up. There would be time to ruminate over that later. She deserved a win, for once.

“I already know you will be a wonderful mother, Sara.”

She couldn’t imagine what their child would look like yet, but she knew the child would be loved by both of them. Gods, Jaal would dote on their child.

“And you’ll be a great dad, Jaal.”

He stepped back half a step and Sara couldn’t help but reach up and wipe some tears away from his face. They were happy tears, sure, but she still didn’t like seeing them.

“I want to meet our child,” Jaal said, pausing with a grin. “Our child. I love the sound of it.”

She liked the sound of it too, especially on his lips.

Their child. She was the mother of his child. He was the father of her child. A real family.

With a clumsy movement, Jaal knelt down in front of her, hands on her hips and pulling her forward. Then his hand pushed up her shirt until her skin was bared.

He leaned forward and rested his ear against her stomach.

“Jaal?” Sara asked, a strange joyous feeling making her dizzy.

He shushed her and she obediently kept her mouth shut for a few seconds before saying, “I don’t think you can hear it yet, Jaal. I don’t think your hearing is that good.”

“I know, dearest one. But I’m imagining that I can. I’m sure it’s a strong heartbeat.”

He pressed a kiss on her stomach before looking back up at her. His eyes were still bright and shiny, like he was still holding back tears.

Sara grinned down at him, blinking back tears of her own.

A mischievous quirk on Jaal’s mouth was the only warning Sara got before he had hooked one arm behind her knees, the other braced on her back, her feet leaving the ground.

They laughed together as he carried her the short distance to her—their, really—bed before gently setting her down on the covers.

Jaal rested between her spread legs, kissing a trail of fire across her jaw and down her throat.

“I don’t think you can get me any more pregnant than I already am,” she giggled, breath hitching when teeth nibbled at her pulse point.

Sara realized how much she missed this. Keeping this distance between them in her attempt at keeping this a secret had been just as much a session of self-flagellation as it was anything else.

Now he knew and she felt better. Like she could do this.

“Perhaps. But this is a reason of celebration, yes?”

His hands skimmed up and down her sides, eager, as she sighed a ‘yes.’

Yeah, time for celebrating.

[taesthetes]

(1/?) Travel anon-hi! Oo, good luck! You'll do great and get to bask in potato-ness again! You've convinced me! I'm gonna try to go on a road trip with some friends soon then! Hopefully sometime this summer c; Ah, besides texting people at night while alone, I do walk with my car keys between my fingers (my car keys come out like a switchblade lol?) so I completely understand late night paranoia. Traveling alone and texting people keeps them updated on my goings (and updates their wishlists x'D)

(2/?) I know, right?? Things are so much cheaper in Korea D: When I was there, I hit up a cafe nearly every half day, haha. Sesame drinks are usually hot, but they taste a lot like asian sesame sweets? Nutty, and sometimes pretty sugary (depending on the place that makes it), but the hot liquid with it is steamed milk :D And yes! Hot Apple Cider! Would you try a Sweet Potato Latte? Those are really good too~ Hot Rice Drinks are a little odd to me, but I have a friend who likes those

(3/?) Oh! Taiyaki! Technically the Japanese name for the fish pastry, but you can have those in Japan too! Some of them are filled with chocolate or custard or matcha custard there :D I know what you mean; whenever I saw an interesting snack, I lined up and chowed down, haha. Good thing walking burns off all those extra calories! I’m guilty of trying a bunch of specialty Haagen Dazs ice cream flavors unique to those countries too X’D You’ll definitely feel the same way once you hit up a dog cafe

(4/?) Do you have any dogs yourself? Or cats? Pets, in general? While it’s not jiggly cheesecake, I did like the molten cheese tarts from Pablo Cheesecake in Japan! The tarts are smaller, so it’s easier to portion per person than one whole cake, haha. Uncle Tetsu is a well-known brand for jiggly cheesecakes, if you see one! And oh, don’t worry, please! You’re not scary or anything! I’m super comfortable talking to you actually. I’m just really - shy? Sort of? Thank you for worrying about it tho!

(5/?) True! I didn’t travel during fall/winter until after I graduated ;D now it’s just my go to time, haha. I’ve never made it to Japan for Sakura season because of that ;u; but it’s really expensive then anyways. Maybe someday~ I’d love to take photos of that! Omg yes, leggings everyday, all day - and definitely like potato versatility! Oo, maybe when you have a day to yourself, you could go to a nearby art museum and set up like those students, yourself? It might not be like the museums in-

(6/?) -your travels, but it’ll still work just the same! Art is beautiful wherever you go :D Yup! Switzerland is the happiest place in the world, haha. Honestly, for the crane machine we played, there was 4 of us teaming up 1 machine and eyeballing which plushies would be the easiest to pick up. I’m pretty sure we were just really absurdly lucky that day (unfortunately for our bystanders)! Sometimes, if you’re very into the crane games and still fail, a nice passerby or staff might take pity on-

(7/?) -you and help you win it. That’s what happened to us sometimes XD Yes! Empty suitcase all the way! I pack the bare essentials, and stuff a suitcase in a suitcase for max space on the way back :D Dango is sooo good, I’m drooling at the memory of it right now. I miss it so much ;u; Oh! I’ve heard of that one! I’ve never been there before, but I do want to try it when I go back this year! A good udon branch I tried had a Naruto for the logo, and it’s a chainstore, so it’s everywhere!

(8/?) Any ramen joint is amaaazingggg. Seriously, I’ve tried a bunch of random ones that I just wandered and found, and they were all so good. Have you ever had omurice before? Or oden? Or thought of trying a traditional Japanese breakfast? Those are all good too! I’m sure you’ll hit up Japan again and manage to do all the things you want to do! Maybe you’ll be in Japan when there’s a festival where you’re at! Japan has a looot of festivals after all ;D

(9/9) Okay, this is really long now, wow. Thank you! The new one seems to be working so far :D I’ll see when I get previews of my pins! I watched Avengers today~ I want to say it was good, but that really depends on your viewpoint, haha. Will you watch it any time soon? The rest of my day was mostly spent cursing traffic and getting hyped over the new bts photos! How about you? You make my day too when you reply me (and so in depth)! Thank you for that :D Good luck with your studies 💖💖

hi, m’love! and thank you!! ahhh i’m so excited to be a potato this weekend :’) there’s also mother’s day though, so i have to wake up a little earlier than usual to buy some pretty flowers and maybe an orchid plant for her present. omg yes!! i hope you have lots of fun on the road trip! it’s honestly quite stress relieving and fun to just drive to wherever and enjoy the company of your friends. and same! i do that with my keys, plus i have pepper spray on my key chain, too. and i suppose having heavy textbooks in your bag helps in this instance because i can swing it around if i need to ahah. my friends are already updating their wishlists, too :’)

oh and! my parents decided to change the vacation dates today, and we’re going to be in asia even longer and i’ll be gone for almost all of august in japan and vietnam, so i can go to the concert?? but i don’t think i will because i already spent a lot of money for my t swift tickets and i’ll probably spend so much in japan and vietnam already haha because for me, i’d have to say plushies and good food > bts

i think inflation is pretty high in asia (with the exception of japan) in comparison to usa, so i’m glad things will be much cheaper! oooh, i hope i can go to a dog cafe every half day in japan aaskdjfas and i’ll have to try a sesame drink then! it sounds delicious. and yes! i’ll try the hot apple cider and sweet potato latte, too!   hot rice drinks sound interesting, so i want to try one, too :D

omg now i’ll definitely have to try every taiyaki filling available in japan. and oh my gosh, i didn’t realize how much walking people do in other countries until i realized i actually lost weight when i went on vacation in europe even though i had super rich foods everyday?? i guess usa food portions need to be downsized and i should start walking everywhere now. oooh, i do that with the lays chip flavors! they have unique flavors in different countries, too, and i always try them. i’ll have to look for the haagen dazs ice cream now. hold up, i need to write all of this in my notes on my phone. i don’t want to miss out on any good drinks and food!!

and i wish i did! i want a dog or cat so badly D: the only pet i ever had were fish. do you have any pets? molten cheese tarts sound like heaven, oh gosh, i need to write down these food places too! and oh good, that’s a relief!! i’m glad you’re comfortable talking to me :’)

ahhh i’ll just have to wait until after i graduate to travel more! i think it’s also cheaper during other seasons besides summer since that’s when students are free to travel, too, so hurray for saving money! omg photos of sakura season would be so beautiful. i hope you get to go during then one day!! i love leggings so much, like my goodness, they’re so comfortable. i wear them to bed and i don’t even have to change before i go to my morning classes the next day. 

there’s actually a museum on campus, but the thing is, a lot of the museums around here are more of modern art feel? like obscure abstract sculptures, minimalism, and a lot of photography. i really adore paintings and the older art styles, like renaissance, surrealism, photorealism, impressionism, etc. of course, all art is beautiful, but it’s more enjoyable for me personally to be drawing inspiration from realistic paintings.

ahah i’ll just ask my parents and sister to spot me while i play the crane machines then. hopefully, i’ll get one! wow, but passerby and staff help you win it? is everyone good at crane machines there?? i need them to teach me their ways, so i can stop losing money haha i’ll have to do that, too! hopefully, the suitcase fees aren’t too high.

sfljkhdafs dango sounds so good right about now. honestly, i saw that restaurant in nct life osaka and i love fishing and i love sushi, so i immediately thought, “i have to go there someday.” and the udon chain had a naruto logo on it? i’ll have to look it up, but i wrote it down in my notes! but now, i’m suddenly craving for ramen omg i’m just imagining it. and no, but i’ve seen so many videos of omurice! it looks really cool :o and is oden sort of like a hot pot? hot pot is always yummy, and my mom makes a vietnamese version of it often. oh gosh, i would love to try a traditional breakfast, but i usually don’t wake up early enough for breakfast ahah. and i hope so!! maybe one day, we can meet in japan :D

that’s good to hear! i’m glad the new manufacturer is working out so far. i don’t think i’ll be watching it soon since i’m pretty busy, but if you want to talk about it, i’m totally fine with that! and god, traffic is the worst D: but yes, the new bts photos are so beautiful aslkfjhalsd and i just went to my classes, did my homework and some studying, and watched tv with my roommates, nothing too exciting sadly. and thank you 💞💞 i hope you had a good day today!! also though, i just realized i don’t know who your bts bias is! who’s your favorite? :D and do you listen to any other kpop groups?

(and i just followed you on instagram!! your art is so beautiful oh my goodness, my eyes feel so blessed, i’m scrolling through all your posts and everything is so pretty i cry)

also, if it’s easier for you to message me on kkt and if you have an account and are comfortable with giving me your user, we can do that, too!!

[whereintheworldisdani]

Monday October 16th, 2017 - Sunday October 22nd, 2017. The bulk of this post is going to be about my birthday over the weekend, but before I get into that, I do want to talk about the great experience I had at Epcot on Thursday.

I decided I wanted to avoid cooking and grocery shopping, so I went to Food & Wine at Epcot right after work. I spent a good deal of my time there walking around Japan and Great Britain (surprise surprise, right?). I actually posted a video of some of the drum show they do in Japan, it is really entertaining so I encourage you to check it out. In Japan there is a Japanese department store which I spent way too much time in (probably). There are SO many different types of souvenirs and candies and clothes and things in the store. And yes I wanted to buy it all. However, I settled on a post card and a picture. When I checked out, I got to speak in Japanese to the cashier (or at least what Japanese is left in my brain to speak). It wasn’t much, but it certainly was something.

After that, I wandered into the tea shop in Great Britain. As we all know, I LOVE tea, and what tea do I love the most? Twinings. And what was the only tea they sold in the shop? You guessed it (hopefully). There were also lovely tea cups and pots and mugs in the shop. BUT there were also biscuits and Mars bars which I have missed so dearly since leaving London. And there probably isn’t any shock or surprise as to what I bought: Lavender Earl Grey Tea, biscuits, and a Mars Bar. I struck up a conversation with the cashiers about being a Disney Cast Member and having lived in London (one of them was quite impressed I could pronounce his hometown “Leicester”, England. Look it up, probably not pronounced the way you think).

Later I met up with some friends and we ran around to a bunch of different food stalls for dinner. It was a pretty fantastic evening for lack of a better way to put it.

And then the weekend happened. WOW what a birthday. Honestly, this may have been the best birthday yet, or at least it is in the top. But really, how great does a birthday at Disney sound? And even better, my lovely and wonderful parents flew in for the occasion. This past weekend was truly amazing.

On Saturday I picked mom and dad up from the airport and we wasted NO time; we hit the ground running and took off for Epcot to check out the Food & Wine Festival. We made a quick stop at “Club Cool” (the place where you can taste Coke products from around the world) so we could try some sodas and get myself a birthday button. Pro tip: if you are looking to feel like the royalty you truly are, pick yourself up a birthday button at any store in the Disney parks. On the surface, it is just a circular pin that says “happy birthday” on it, but underneath, oh it is SO much more. You put that thing on and BOOM you get smiles and happy birthdays left and right! People even write happy birthday on stuff for you, and you get gifts when you go out to eat!

So with my new super power on hand, the three of us took Epcot by storm. We went to food stalls in Scotland, Ireland, The U.S., and Australia, and honestly probably others, we ate so much food. We also road on Test Track and Soarin’. I’m convinced Soarin’ has become mom’s new favorite ride. She was in complete awe the whole time. But as far as Test Track went… well you can see in the photo that only one of us wasn’t so photogenic. You can also check out the car Dad and I designed.

At night, we went the Biergarten restaurant in Germany. In true Bavarian style, they seat you at a table with random people, and there is a buffet full of AMAZING German food. And while you eat, there are performers playing instruments and singing songs. I was a big fan of the place. 10/10 would recommend. And of COURSE what helped to make it awesome was the waiter printed a Biergarten birthday certificate for me, and gave me some Mickey and Minnie stickers.

Oh, and a note on the people we were sharing a table with: there was a guy there by himself, and a family of four, and then the three of us. The guy who was there by himself was from just outside of Seattle, and as you all know, my lovely brother Craig and future sister Heather live in Seattle, and the family of four was from Portland (not the same, but near there at least). And then the guy from Seattle was talking about how he had just come from Baltimore before going to Disney, which is what my parents did (they had just spent the weekend in Baltimore), and the father of the family of four is originally from Baltimore. BUT WAIT THERE’S MORE. The mother of the family of four was celebrating her birthday this past weekend JUST LIKE ME. WHAT?! Pretty crazy.

So now on SUNDAY (my actual birthday) Mom and I went to Hollywood Studios while Dad had to rest up his knees for the Halloween party later in the day. I, of course, had happy birthdays left and right, and even the barista at the Starbucks wrote happy birthday on my drink. Honestly, I felt like royalty. Like, people telling me happy birthday just made me feel on top of the world.

Mom and I did all our favorites and then some. I took her to the Frozen Sing-a-Long, and we cracked up the whole time. We also went to the Beauty and the Beast show, which we went to when I was a tiny human. When it gets the part in the show (or any rendition of Beauty and the Beast) where Beast turns back into a human, and he says “Belle it’s me!” And then she looks at him and says “It is you!” We always laugh because when I was little, I always called him “Prince Itisyou” and my parents never knew why, UNTIL they took me to see the Beauty and the Beast show at Hollywood Studios. Mom says it was the biggest “aha” moment ever. Anyway, when it got to that point in the show, mom and I started laughing, and then we started crying, and then we were laughing and crying. He will forever be Prince Itisyou.

Afterwards we saw The Voyage of the Little Mermaid and rode on Rock ‘n’ Roller Coaster, Star Tours, and Tower of Terror. It was a long day, but it was GREAT.

AND THEN in the evening, we snagged Dad, I put on my costume (Honey Lemon from Big Hero 6; look up a picture for comparison, I look just like her, and FOUR people recognized me and complimented me), and we headed off to Magic Kingdom for Mickey’s Not So Scary Halloween Party. For five hours in the evening, Magic Kingdom turns into one giant Halloween party, complete with trick or treating. We started the night on Space Mountain, the single most greatest ride in the world. The whole party, however was started with the Sanderson Sisters of Hocus Pocus brewing up a “party potion” with the help of some villains. Check out the videos I have posted, they were AMAZING. I absolutely adore Hocus Pocus, and it was amazing to see the Sanderson Sisters perform. Where else could this happen other than Disney?!… and well I guess, Salem in 1993, but whatever.

Later, we rode the Haunted Mansion, which Dad doesn’t think is scary, but I think it is pretty terrifying. Then again, I can hardly watch a Goosebumps film without jumping. After that we went on Peter Pan WHICH I HAVE NEVER BEEN ON. Shocking, right?! Seeing as I know that film, book, and all other adaptations backwards and forwards. The cue leading up to the ride is truly magical. You get to walk through the Darlings’ home, and see the nursery and Peter’s shadow appears, and Tink comes in as well! It is safe to say I love the ride. It is amazing, at least for those of us who are obsessed with Peter Pan.

We got off the ride in time to see some of the Halloween parade. The parade has TONS of characters, and they all dance and sing along to the Halloween music playing on the loud speaker. Again, check out the photos, I even posted a video of the Jolly Roger (Captain Hook’s ship in case you don’t know).

We had to leave the parade early in order make our dinner reservation at Be Our Guest. Now, Be Our Guest is this amazing French restaurant made to look like Beast’s castle, complete with picture gallery, Ballroom, and West Wing. Before you enter, a host comes out in the dim light carrying Lumiere to escort you in and to your table. They play instrumental versions of the music from Beauty and the Beast over the speakers, and Beast comes out to meet his guests. Dinner was delicious. I had ratatouille, and tried the onion soup and shrimp and pasta my parents had. It was all just wonderful. And for dessert, the waiter brought out a plate of the Grey Stuff (it’s delicious!… if you don’t get it, please listen to Be Our Guest) with a candle, and in the shape of Mickey. It was such a wonderful surprise, and he later came up with a birthday card signed by Belle and Beast. Truly, the birthday button has power. After we paid, we met Beast and took a photo with him. He was quite the gentleman. Maybe someday Prince Itisyou will be there to greet guests…

After we left, I was wiped, but the parents wanted to run around and snag as much candy as possible. Honestly, from the way we were talking you wouldn’t be able to tell who was the parent and who was the kid (I had work the next day, so sue me!). It was so much fun. Honestly, the day was practically perfect (in every way!… really, if you don’t get it, then get on my level).

I could not have asked for a better weekend. Thank you to EVERYONE who wished me a happy birthday; it meant the world to me. And also, thank you to my parents for flying out to spend it with me and make it AWESOME.

This adventure is brilliant, and I am loving every minute of it. (Well maybe not EVERY minute, but you get it! Right?)

Until next time!

[electricbluebutterflies]

“ i’m sorry for bringing it up. “ “ actually, i would love to kiss you.” for the fic prompt :)

Apparently I have a modern-AU continuity for these babes now? Sequel-ish to this fic, PG-ish, usual queued cross-post, why am I even posting these here...

This was a terrible idea.

Normal people, Jessica is pretty sure, do not go to the zoo on a maybe-first-date-honestly-she-isn’t-sure-if-that’s-what-it-is. Not at her age, at least. Not when there are bars and cinemas and… honestly, she doesn’t know what normal people do, she’s just pretty sure it isn’t this. But for the first time in her little life, she wants, and if that means dealing with the misery of a too-hot summer Saturday in the company of someone she barely knows and whose intentions are unclear yet somehow honorable, not to mention the fact that she’s pretty sure the only women older than her here without small children to herd around were that pair holding hands in the reptile house aka the only place in this complex that is not sneak-peek-at-hell hot…

Well. Terrible idea. But she’s suffered through worse for more questionable reasons. She’s pretty sure, anyways. She can’t remember when or why, but this can’t be the actual low point of self-inflicted misery. Yet.

See, thing is, Jessica is not an animal person. She’s never had pets nor wanted anything more complicated than a rescued cactus that may or may not be wilting despite the fact that those things supposedly thrive on neglect. Exotic-looking beasties are at least a little more eye-catching than her upstairs neighbor’s insomniac small dog that looks like a rat watched a few too many child beauty pageants, but that’s not saying much. Although come to think of it, watching one of these wildcats eat that thing would be fun, and that’ll be a nice mental image at three AM the next time she’s reminded that mutant chihuahuas can apparently have panic attacks, and-

“You okay?”

She turns her head to glare at her… date? Friend? Whatever word you use for someone you may be lowkey trauma-bonded to because you’ve already had one weird experience in their company and for some unknown bullshit (emotional and probably sexual) reason you’ve decided to let them ruin your life? The lack of an appropriate label is not helping here, and-

“I think this is the hell I’ll get sent to someday,” she murmurs. “Forced to watch badly socialized tiny humans watch bored animals that would much prefer to have them for a snack. Can’t say I blame them either.���

A different version of herself – one with more people skills than said under-stimulated wildcat, for instance – would try harder. Would remind herself that this man, for some bizarre reason she can’t figure out, may or may not but probably does have some kind of interest in her that… will probably end a direction she’s not sure about, but couldn’t be worse than what she’d compare it to, and-

“You volunteer for a lot of things you don’t actually want to do.”

“I don’t get out much.”

He gives her a look that she can’t pin down, some combo of no shit and maybe a little pity but not in a mean way, more like the warmest thing she could imagine and wow she really doesn’t get out much and-

“And I get to change that,” but it doesn’t sound at all like he minds and that just makes it weirder.

“You had good timing,” she shrugs. “And more tact than the last time someone tried to ask me out. If that’s even what this is, and if it isn’t I-“

“It is if you want it to be.”

“And if I’m not sure?”

“Then it can be two casual acquaintances questioning why this was actually a good idea. Whatever you want.”

“So you don’t really…”

“I was trying to think of the most low-pressure activity possible and this is what came out. Mistakes may have been made.”

She doesn’t respond right away, takes a few moments to process it all. They don’t know each other yet, she reminds herself, and she could be very wrong about so many things but… he doesn’t strike her as someone who admits weakness or defeat easily, and yet he’s so casual with her about it, and-

Shit. She’s pretty sure no one’s ever had a crush on her before – and is that even an okay word to use at their ages? Is that something normal people do anymore, or are modern mating habits reduced to near-anonymous encounters that would make the wildcat domestic argument enfolding in front of her seem downright romantic? She doesn’t know, she doesn’t know, she doesn’t-

“This is your idea of low-pressure?” she laughs, gesturing to the scene around them. “Really?”

“Midday, outdoors, lots of people around, cheap tickets, plenty of things to see…”

“So, you’re trying to convince me that you’re not… I don’t even know what you’re afraid of, but I don’t see you as a threat.”

“So this was a bad idea.”

“It is an experience,” she decides is a tactful way of putting it. “And I’m guessing this isn’t how you normally start with women?”

“If I say I don’t have any idea what I’m doing, will you believe me?”

She gives him the most unimpressed look she can manage. She wants to believe him – she wants too many things today, she thinks – but the same questions she had when their paths crossed a few weeks ago come up, the same uncertainties. He’s beautiful, seems to have his life together, has acted perfectly towards her, not even the tiniest little red flag yet and a man like that, she thinks, should not be alone without reason and-

“Really?”

“Not with… not like this. Situations that have felt like obligations, yes, and the goal was generally to get to a point of damage control as quickly as possible. Not actually caring.”

It’s cold in a way she understands all too well, and it feels right to reach for his hand, to allow this to be what it could be. Touch feels right, familiar somehow, like some part of her deep-buried heart has been waiting too long for all of this and-

“Still more than I’ve done. One manic weekend a few years ago was… enough.”

He looks concerned – he shows emotions so easily, she thinks, and that could make her life easier someday and that’s too much to hope for and-

“No pressure. About anything. I just… you’re fascinating, and I…”

She feels cold, like this is the point where she should be strengthening every defense she’s ever had because this will end badly, but oh she wants to know where this goes, if it goes anywhere, if-

“Okay.”

They move on – the wildcats have witnessed enough, poor dears – and for a little while she can forget that this is all new, that all of it and none of it is normal, that she is-

It’s not that she never wanted things, she reminds herself, she’d just… learned too early that her heart was meaningless and hoping for some other person to save her would only end in even more pain. By the time she was old enough to do anything about them, the daydreams were faded, and she has avoided all she can out of fear of what might be done to her if she was vulnerable and-

He’s kind, and that’s so much of a problem, and it feels right to keep her fingers laced with his, to learn innocent closeness and oh there is something calming about it, they do not know each other but they could and it could be beautiful it could burn her it could-

They make it into the gardens, and weird plants are a little more interesting to her than weird animals and yet she is unsurprised and hopeful when he turns to face her with some kind of intent in his eyes. Desire, she thinks, not an inferno as she’s understood it in theory but a well-kept hearth, and-

“Would it be alright if I kissed you?”

The body is a traitor. She feels herself turn pink, the directness of the statement overriding what mental presence she’d had, and-

“I… I’m sorry for bringing it up.” Not moving but still a distance, still something she wants to take and never see again.

“Actually, I would love to kiss you.”

And she does, because she’s sick of wanting, because she’s not sure if this is normal but it’s at least safe, and she’s never done this in a way that meant anything and it’s awkward as hell and still feels unspeakably right. Like the original idea of soulmates, almost, the idea that an individual human body is only half of a set and-

If this goes somewhere, if she allows more – when she allows more, she thinks as his free hand gets up in her hair and turns out she likes that – it will be the best thing she’s ever done.

“Before you even, I liked that,” she breathes, not ready to pull away, not caring that they are somewhat in public and hey at least this isn’t the part of the complex small children actually want to see so at least they won’t cause awkwardness for anyone else today (hopefully). “And I would like that again somewhere we’re not blocking a footpath.”

“And next time I should take you somewhere indoors.”

“I can handle the heat. Not so much the screaming small children.”

“Understood.”

He kisses her forehead before they break apart, and yeah, she thinks, this is headed somewhere and she will allow it. She will allow so much. She will-

“Thank you.”

“For?”

“Moving slowly.”

“Wouldn’t dream otherwise.”