#I mean had chocolate milk using chocolate syrup and milk but it's not the same as hot cocoa

[paperbaghero]

Do you make your hot cocoa into milk or water? i think that hot cocoa with milk is the best personally.

I don't think I have ever tried it with milk before... but I always wanted to try it... 🥺

[suzukiblu]

Day ten of fic NaNoWriMo, obligatory sugar daddy Tim/sugar baby Kon AU.

The waitress comes over with another steaming mug of hot chocolate for Kon and Tim awkwardly orders not-Robin's-coffee-order, which since he's panicking he defaults to Caroline Hill's usual for. She's a med student, she drinks enough caffeine for his tastes. And also she likes extremely sugary drinks, which is definitely to his taste. 

Look, Robin can't drink an iced brown sugar oat milk espresso with six extra pumps of syrup and four extra shots of espresso, especially in front of the exact teammate who would tease him the most mercilessly for having a finicky drink order, but Caroline Hill can drink anything she wants, and Tim Drake is just gonna be channeling her for this conversation, he guesses. Her Twitter account already got him here to begin with, so he might as well.

“That is a concerning amount of caffeine in one drink, dude,” Kon observes with a raised eyebrow instead of teasing him over either the syrup or oat milk, which is not actually what Tim expected to hear. But, well, he's not Robin right now, so maybe Kon isn't feeling the same urge to start shit that he usually seems to. 

Tim's not sure how to feel about that. But Robin is, technically, an “authority” figure and a fellow superhero, and Tim Drake is just some guy, so . . . 

Actually, Tim doesn't really know how Kon gets along with civilian guys. He's seen him flirt up plenty of civilian girls, obviously, but he doesn't really seem to talk to all that many guys. Like . . . ever, actually. 

Weird, he thinks, repressing a frown. 

“How would you know, you're Kryptonian,” he says. 

“Half-Kryptonian,” Kon says, then waves a hand around the café. “And like, you know, also this entire planet is full of people who can just tell me these things. Five thousand milligrams is the minimum lethal dose of caffeine for a healthy adult, which is something like seventy-five shots of espresso, but more than four or five shots in a day is still not gonna be great for you, and you just ordered six.”

“. . . how the hell do you just know that off the top of your head?” Tim asks, blinking at him in absolute bewilderment, and Kon smirks in smug amusement.

“Dude, I was programmed by exhausted grad students pulling six months straight of all-nighters,” he says, pointing at his own temple. “I know every possible thing there is to know about every possible caffeine delivery system. Including the illegal ones and the ones the government hasn't yet realized should be illegal.” 

“Huh,” Tim says, still more than a little bewildered. That does make sense, he guesses, but since Kon's already told the team he has absolutely no useful background in any kind of science or math past the absolute kiddie-level basics when they were all exchanging information about all their personal training and experience, it's still a surprise to hear. Shouldn't Cadmus have prioritized an actual education over things like safe caffeine intake for baseline humans, especially since Kon's safe intake level is probably different from a baseline human's anyway? Which–well, he guesses Kon did get cracked out of his cloning tube early, but still. They at least should've been building up the basics for him. Like–more than the kiddie-level basics, he means. 

Cadmus is definitely not capable enough to be in charge of Kon. Like, at all. Ever. Tim has fewer and fewer regrets about this whole plan every minute, in fact. If anything, he should've started drafting it the day he met Rex Leech, never mind the fact that Kon hadn't technically existed yet at the time. Or after the Poison Ivy incident, maybe. At the least he should've done up an outline or two after he and Kon and Bart had helped Suzie escape recapture and then collectively lied to the government about it.

“You work for those guys, right?” he “asks” as Kon takes a sip of his new hot chocolate, because while the best time to start this whole plan was months ago, the second-best time to start it is now. “Project Cadmus?” 

"Yeah," Kon replies, looking a little surprised by the question. Tim reminds himself to con the team into brushing up on the superhero version of stranger danger, because Kon answered that question way too easily. "Well, just started to. I'm a field agent. How'd you know?” 

"I've done some research on you since we first met," Tim says, which isn't even a lie; just some careful phrasing. "I really appreciated what you did for me. And to be honest, I think we'd get along."

"Oh yeah? Tell me all about it," Kon says as his posture shifts a little and he flashes him the kind of smirk he normally reserves for, well . . . 

Huh, Tim thinks in vague bemusement.

Kon's flirting with him. 

. . . huh. 

Not actually the angle Tim was intending to take here, but . . . well, he's not above taking it. And anyway, Kon's just a flirt in general, so it's not like it means anything. 

Admittedly Tim hasn't actually seen him flirt with a guy before, but presumably Kon's just feeling out an opportunity to experiment or not ready to be out to the team yet. Tim's not, so he'd hardly blame him for that. Tim's not even out to Steph.

And he's definitely, definitely not out to Bruce. 

Well, ideally he'll be a supervillain before that becomes necessary, assuming his life goes to plan. 

Robin was always going to be a temporary gig, after all. 

"I don't know," he says, and lets the corners of his mouth curl up in amusement. "You just seem like my type of guy." 

"Your type of guy?" Kon says, his smirk widening as he leans in towards Tim, who decides to pretend that particular bit of flirtatious implication was actually intentional. Tim is . . . not all that great at flirting, admittedly, but it's not like Kon has particularly high standards past “didn't explicitly tell me to fuck off”, so Tim figures he'll be able to get by for long enough to have this conversation. 

Not much longer, but all the same. He has a plan to pitch, that's all that actually matters here. 

“Yeah,” he says. “And I wanted to thank you for saving me, so . . .” 

“You wanna thank me, Tim Drake?” Kon asks with a slower, wider smirk, leaning in a little more again, and Tim instantly turns bright red as he realizes how that actually sounded. 

Yeah, okay, he is actually the worst at flirting. Fuck. 

“Uh, yes!” he says quickly, very much needing to clarify that statement before his stupid fucking hormones try to talk him into maybe just . . . leaning into that particular miscommunication a little. Not the goal here. Definitely not. “I mean–being a field agent doesn't sound particularly lucrative? And I know being a superhero isn't.” 

“Lucrative?” Kon blinks, expression turning puzzled. “I mean, I guess not. I don't need that much money or anything, though, I just live at Cadmus these days.” 

“You live in a lab?” Tim says, letting himself sound as incredulously horrified as he felt the first time he heard that. “Why?” 

“I dunno, saves me a commute,” Kon replies with a shrug. “Also, like, it's not like I have a credit score to get my own place with. Or a legal identity. Or, you know, money. Landlords tend to want those.” 

“Hm,” Tim says. “Do you want one?” 

“Huh?” Kon wrinkles his nose in confusion. 

“Your own place,” Tim clarifies. “I really would like to thank you. I could help you get a place.” 

“Uh, thanks? But I still couldn't afford rent, even if somebody cosigned for me or whatever,” Kon says, looking puzzled. “I really don't make that much.”

“No, I mean I'd pay your rent,” Tim explains, which is in fact an insane person thing to offer somebody, admittedly, but it's not like Kon has all that reliable a grasp of normal social mores. “Or just buy you a place outright and pay your property taxes. Whichever you'd prefer.”

Kon blinks. Tilts his head. 

“So like, you're just a very extra dude, huh,” he says after a moment, his eyebrows slowly raising as he pushes his sunglasses up into his hair. “Like you're the guy who blows the budget on the friend group's Secret Santa out of the water every year.”

“Possibly,” Tim says, putting on a sheepish smile. Kon laughs and folds his arms on the table, looking amused. 

“You wanna buy me an apartment?” he asks. “What, just for saving your life?” 

“I really think you're undervaluing that particular achievement,” Tim says. 

“I think you're overvaluing it,” Kon replies with another laugh. “No offense, but I didn't do anything but block one lousy bullet.” 

“One lousy bullet is enough,” Tim says, and doesn't think of any bodies he's seen. Kon tilts his head again, then takes a sip of his hot chocolate. 

“Okay, fair,” he allows. “But I'm bulletproof.” 

“I'm not,” Tim says. 

“You were as long as I was touching the same floor as you,” Kon replies with a shrug, and takes another sip. “It wasn't like I did anything hard.” 

He hasn't actually said “no” to the apartment. Tim's pretty sure that's just because he thinks he's either ridiculous or just not being serious, but he's not above pressing the advantage anyway. 

“You didn't have to do anything at all, though,” he says. "And buying you a place wouldn't be all that hard for me either. Besides, you deserve a little gratitude for your efforts, don't you think?” 

"Sounds like supervillain talk, dude," Kon says, his mouth quirking in amusement around his next sip. Tim resolves to dial back on that at this point in his career. He's laying groundwork, yes, but subtlety is still the wiser course of action. 

"You say that like you've never socialized with a supervillain before," he counters dryly. 

"Well, usually ones who wear a bit less," Kon replies, lowering his mug to grin wickedly at him. Tim figures if a little more flirting might soften him up on this whole idea, well . . . 

It's not the most altruistic thing he's ever done for a plan, admittedly, but if it works, it works. 

"So you're telling me I should invest in a crop top before I try to take over the world and remake it in my own image?" he asks still more dryly as he raises an eyebrow at Kon with a little smirk, and Kon laughs and leans in a little closer again, giving him a not very subtle up-and-down with his eyes. 

"Only if you're trying to recruit me for your evil plans, pretty boy," he says, grin turning sharp. Tim feels vaguely faint, and also wants to lick the bastard's stupid perfect teeth. Jesus. "So I dunno, what are your feelings on Daisy Dukes?" 

"I'm going to be honest, I'm not actually that much of an exhibitionist so at this point we're just describing my ideal costume updates for you," Tim informs him. 

"Oh yeah?" Kon asks with another laugh even as he straightens back up to visibly preen at the suggestion. Tim is all for that, personally. Both the preening and the theoretical updates, in fact. And, a little more weirdly, just the idea of having anything whatsoever to do with what Kon might ever decide to wear. Especially whatever he might decide to wear for his costume. 

Yeah, that's probably a later thought, Tim decides. Like, a private-time kind of later thought. Specifically “behind locked doors in an empty house” private-time, actually.

"You're solar-powered, aren't you?" he says reasonably, because apparently he likes to suffer and also make himself low-key insane. "Showing a bit more skin can't hurt." 

"I wonder if Superman would buy that excuse," Kon says musingly. 

"Power Girl exists," Tim replies still more reasonably. "And Supergirl wears a miniskirt, last I checked." 

"Valid," Kon says, putting on a mock-thoughtful expression and tapping the side of his jaw. "Maybe I'll put in some cutouts and go for a lower neckline, tell the big guy he's making the rest of us look like prudes. What do you think, bikini or high-cut bottoms?"

"I don't know the difference," Tim lies, desperately trying not to overheat and die at that question and every single accompanying mental image that his useless brain has so helpfully decided to supply. "You'll have to provide examples."

"Will I now," Kon says, grinning all over again and pointedly striking a very suggestive pose in his seat. Tim valiantly struggles not to melt. "What, pretty boy, you want a fashion show?" 

"Well I did want to be a photographer when I was a kid," Tim says, although it was definitely never that kind of photography he had in mind. Kon laughs again and shifts in closer again, though, so it's worth it. Tim is mortified, but also undeniably into just . . . all of this, really, just everything about this conversation. Robin can't flirt with Superboy, but, well . . . Tim Drake still isn't Robin, now is he? 

He's probably taking advantage of the situation a little, Tim can admit to himself, but it's still just . . . nice. He's wanted to flirt with Kon for way too long, at this point. Indulging in a little bit of it isn't the worst thing he could do. 

And again, it's Kon, so it's not like it's serious or anything. The guy won't even remember this conversation tomorrow, much less anything about Tim Drake. 

. . . admittedly that'd be counterproductive to Tim's long-term goals here, but still. He's willing to take his time on this. There's a plan. It has steps. Layers. Processes. 

"I like you, man," Kon says with a wider grin, which is in absolutely no way whatsoever in the plan. "You're funny."

Tim stares blankly at him as it occurs to him, almost disbelievingly, that he might've . . . made a good impression on Kon? Somehow? 

Well, that's weird.

"I'll never get a fashion show out of you if I'm not at least funny," he says on autopilot, as someone who's been well-taught both when and how to press an advantage. Kon, yet again, grins at him, and gives him another much brighter laugh than usual. 

Actually, he kind of hasn't stopped grinning at him, has he. 

Huh. 

. . . huh. 

Tim really did not plan for this. This is just . . . not at all what the plan was. 

“Well, you definitely are funny,” Kon says, biting his lip around a warm little smile and ducking his head just enough to look at Tim from under his lashes, and Tim decides he can probably just amend the plan.

He's a Bat, isn't he? They know how to improvise when they have to.

[riding-the-sunset-bird]

It's time for Step 4 Cove's posts, and first up is what choices change his look!

As before, my first post on Step 2 Cove's appearance modifiers will tell you a lot of what you need to know if you haven't already read it, but to summarize:

The things that your MC notices/favors/picks up/focuses on influence Cove's look, though there are some exceptions.

In some cases (though there are none in this step), a choice that changes Cove's appearance may also affect his coldness/warmness as well as his studiousness/sportiness. This is coincidental, so Cove's personality doesn't largely impact his look.

If you want a different Cove without using the Cove Creator, try choosing different aesthetic/taste-based options.

Specific to Step 4, however, there are a few key things to note.

Firstly, similar to Step 3 where some earrings would not be visible on Cove depending on what hairstyle he has, the same applies here. The black stud earrings will not be visible with the fluffy hair and the silver huggie earrings will not be visible with the tied-back hair. Ergo, Cove could be wearing earrings in one of your playthroughs if you have either hairstyle on him, but you just might not see them.

Also, the dark raspberry sleeveless shirt with the white anchor symbol and the yellow shirt with the orange flower pattern hide the silver ring necklace, so that's another thing to keep in mind.

Secondly, and I'll have to rip off the bandage for any poor person who wants their Cove to have a tattoo, but there are no choices that will give Cove a tattoo. It's something you can do only with the Cove Creator, which I imagine may be because one of Cove's tattoos can trigger people's trypophobia.

Third, it appears that the modifiers for Step 4 Cove's pants in Step 3 are not the ones actually used in Step 4. In all of my tests, Cove's pants always defaulted to the tan shorts with the gray trim and blue polka dots. If anyone has any evidence to the contrary, then I can test them out, but it appears that the plan was originally for Cove to have six different pairs of pants rather than four - with two of the pairs having color variation like Step 2 and 3 Cove have - but it was changed by the time Step 4 was made.

Below is what you would get if what I presume to be the original intent was kept in place:

Hang (Cove's Version)

If the MC decides to have a drink:

base flavor

An iced green tea. [Pants #4]

A black tea. [Pants #2]

A milk tea. [Pants #2 (Alternate Color)]

An iced coffee. [Pants #1]

A strawberry smoothie. [Pants #2]

A banana smoothie. [Pants #3]

A mango smoothie. [Pants #4]

A coffee frappe. [Pants #1 (Alternate Color)]

A vanilla milkshake. [Pants #1]

A chocolate milkshake. [Pants #1 (Alternate Color)]

mix ins & toppings

You chose to add whipped cream. [Pants #2 (Alternate Color)]

You chose to add chocolate syrup. [Pants #4]

You chose to add caramel syrup. [Pants #1]

You chose to add boba pearls. [Pants #3]

You chose to add condensed milk. [Pants #2]

-

There are two other types of pants - an alternate color version of both Pants #3 and #4 - but these aren't attached to any choices so they may have been scrapped even earlier.

In addition to this, though this is nothing the player themself needs to worry about, there is unused code in the game for Step 4 Cove's swimming trunks. This may have been for the scene where Cove strips down to his boxers to take a swim in the ocean, though he would've had swimming trunks on instead.

These are the choices that would've changed them:

Boating

If the MC was sick/scared and was brought downstairs by Cove, who asks if they want a drink (if non-Indifferent):

"Water?" [Swimming Trunks #2]

"Juice?" [Swimming Trunks #1]

"Seltzer water?" [Swimming Trunks #2]

"I don't want anything." [Swimming Trunks #1]

"I don't want you to go." [Swimming Trunks #2]

If the MC stepped up to make drinks for the group:

if the MC put only one ingredient in the drink

[Swimming Trunks #1]

if the MC's drink is "berry dominant" (meaning either the drink has two ingredients and all are berry - grape/cranberry/strawberry/mixed berry - juices, or if the drink has more than two but less than six ingredients and more than two are berry juices)

[Swimming Trunks #2]

if the MC's drink is "common" (meaning either the drink has two ingredients and all are common - apple/orange/pineapple/mango - juices, or if the drink has more than two but less than six ingredients and more than two are common juices)

[Swimming Trunks #1]

if the MC's drink is "uncommon/mixed" (meaning either the drink has two ingredients and there is only one or zero each of berry juice and common juice, or if the drink has more than two but less than six ingredients and there are no more than three each of either berry or common juice)

[Swimming Trunks #2]

if the MC's drink has more than five ingredients but less than ten

[Swimming Trunks #1]

if the MC used all the ingredients in the drink

[Swimming Trunks #2]

-

There are additional unused articles of clothing for Step 4 Cove, but these weren't attached to any choices (similar to the two pairs of pants mentioned above): two pajamas shirts and two pairs of pajama pants, as well as two formal shirts.

Cove also has code for a fourth pair of earrings, wristwear (for both wrists), and glasses, the latter two being connected to choices, but the game will simply change it to nothing. Cove's hair doesn't have an extra option exactly, but weirdly there are options to disable all of his hair (this won't give you a bald Cove, but default to the tied-back hair). I wanted to mark these just for the sake of being thorough, so if there's anything that says "[nothing]" rather than "[no change]" then just note that it's because the code is different for those options for the reasons above (so they might be calling for all hair to be disabled, for the fourth wristwear accessory, or fourth pair of glasses).

Keep all that in mind while checking out this list of chances you have to change Cove's look:

Step 3 Intro

After the MC's initial thoughts on Cove having to go away for a while almost every year (if not Indifferent by Step 1/2):

You sent him letters the entire time he was away. [rainbow shapes necklace]

Your moms helped you ship out care packages to him and his mom. [silver ring necklace]

You gave him special treasures to take with him before he left. [no necklace]

You kept an eye on his house for him while he wasn't there. [rainbow shapes necklace]

You were incapable of doing anything until he was back. [silver ring necklace]

If the MC decides that they want further education:

Attend a community college. [slim body type]

Attend a public university. [buff body type]

Go to a private college. [buff body type]

Join a trade school. [slim body type]

Take online classes. [slim body type]

If the MC decides that they want to work:

Find a company to work at. [buff body type]

Work online. [slim body type]

Do contract work. [slim body type]

Start your own business. [buff body type]

If the MC wants to do something that isn't school nor work:

Work on self-improvement on your own. [buff body type]

Take some time just to relax. [slim body type]

Try to figure out what you truly want. [buff body type]

When the MC can decide where they want to go when they move out:

Stay local. [buff body type]

Go to a different part of the state. [slim body type]

Go out of state. [slim body type]

Go abroad. [slim body type]

Travel around to different places. [buff body type]

Hang (Cove's Version)

If the MC decides to have a crepe:

base flavor

Plain. [white stringer shirt with purple pocket]

Strawberry. [blue flowery button-up over a white shirt]

Chocolate. [white stringer shirt with purple pocket]

Green tea. [dark raspberry sleeveless shirt with white anchor symbol]

Lemon. [yellow shirt with orange flower pattern]

fillings & toppings

Whipped cream. [yellow shirt with orange flower pattern]

Condensed milk. [dark raspberry sleeveless shirt with white anchor symbol]

Cream cheese. [white stringer shirt with purple pocket]

Chocolate chips. [blue flowery button-up over a white shirt]

Chocolate syrup. [blue flowery button-up over a white shirt]

Caramel syrup. [dark raspberry sleeveless shirt with white anchor symbol]

Powdered sugar. [white stringer shirt with purple pocket]

Strawberries. [yellow shirt with orange flower pattern]

Mango slices. [dark raspberry sleeveless shirt with white anchor symbol]

Mixed berries. [yellow shirt with orange flower pattern]

Banana slices. [blue flowery button-up over a white shirt]

Errands

When the MC spots a fudge stall at the market:

You got closer to the stall. [no change]

But soon your gaze drifted elsewhere. [sideswept hair]

(following above choice) If the MC chose to approach the fudge stall:

You didn't want to get any. [nothing (this will default to the tied-back hair in Step 4)]

You wanted to get yourself a box. [no change]

You wanted to get a box to share with everyone. [no change]

You wanted to get a box just for Cove. (if non-Indifferent) [no change]

And that was all. [no change]

If the MC chooses to get fudge for anyone:

Milk Chocolate. [sideswept hair]

Dark Chocolate. [middle-parted hair]

White Chocolate. [fluffy hair]

Cookies and Cream. [tied-back hair]

Caramel swirl. [fluffy hair]

Chocolate Peanut butter. [fluffy hair]

Dark Chocolate Mint.

○ (if buying for self/everyone who isn't Cove) [tied-back hair]

○ (if buying for Cove) [no change]

Red Velvet.

○ (if buying for self/everyone who isn't Cove) [middle-parted hair]

○ (if buying for Cove) [no change]

Maple Walnut.

○ (if buying for self/everyone who isn't Cove) [nothing (this will default to the tied-back hair in Step 4)]

○ (if buying for Cove) [no change]

White Chocolate Peppermint.

○ (if buying for self/everyone who isn't Cove) [tied-back hair]

○ (if buying for Cove) [no change]

Chocolate Toffee.

○ (if buying for self/everyone) [middle-parted hair]

○ (if buying for Cove) [no change]

Key Lime.

○ (if buying for self/everyone who isn't Cove) [sideswept hair]

○ (if buying for Cove) [no change]

When the MC can buy groceries:

Apples. [average red glasses]

Oranges. [nothing (this will default to no glasses in Step 4)]

Peaches. [no glasses]

Strawberries. [rounded gray glasses]

Onions. [rectangular brown glasses]

Peppers. [no glasses]

Lettuce. [average red glasses]

Tomatoes. [rounded gray glasses]

Cucumbers. [no glasses]

Carrots. [nothing (this will default to no glasses in Step 4)]

Lemons. [rounded gray glasses]

Limes. [rectangular brown glasses]

Spinach. [average red glasses]

Potatoes. [no glasses]

You didn't get anything. [no glasses]

When the MC can buy honey and/or jam:

Clover Honey. [rectangular brown glasses]

Orange Blossom Honey. [nothing (this will default to no glasses in Step 4)]

Spring Wildflower Honey. [no glasses]

Honey Butter. [average red glasses]

Strawberry Jam. [rounded gray glasses]

Raspberry Jam. [rectangular brown glasses]

Blackberry Jam. [no glasses]

Apricot Jam. [nothing (this will default to no glasses in Step 4)]

Blueberry Jam. [rounded gray glasses]

Plum Jam. [nothing (this will default to no glasses in Step 4)]

Rhubarb Jam. [rectangular brown glasses]

You didn't get anything. [no change]

Talks

[NONE]

Charity

[NONE]

Drive

[NONE]

Reflection

[NONE]

Late Shift

When the MC can order at the fast food place:

A hamburger. (if the MC is not vegetarian, vegan, pescatarian, or pollotarian) [layered blue and maroon bracelets on right wrist]

○ With cheese. [no change]

○ With no cheese. [no change]

A vegan veggieburger. [multiple colored bracelets on right wrist]

A chicken sandwich. (if the MC is not vegetarian, vegan, or pescatarian) [black bracelet on right wrist]

A spicy chicken sandwich. (if the MC is not vegetarian, vegan, or pescatarian) [no change]

French fries. [nothing (this will default to no wristwear on the right wrist in Step 4)]

Onion rings. (if the MC is not vegan) [no change]

A salad. [no wristwear on the right wrist]

Chicken nuggets. (if the MC is not vegetarian, vegan, or pescatarian) [layered blue and maroon bracelets on right wrist]

Jalapeno poppers. [multiple colored bracelets on right wrist]

A soda. [black bracelet on right wrist]

A milkshake. (if the MC is not vegan) [nothing (this will default to no wristwear on the right wrist in Step 4)]

A soft serve sundae. (if the MC is not vegan) [no wristwear on the right wrist]

A chocolate chip cookie. (if the MC is not vegan) [layered blue and maroon bracelets on right wrist]

An apple pie. (if the MC is not vegan) [multiple colored bracelets on right wrist]

Nothing. [no wristwear on the right wrist]

Serendipity

When everyone is discussing their plans for what sweet treat they want:

"A popsicle." [silver huggie earrings]

"An ice cream cone." [black stud & silver huggie earrings]

"An ice cream sandwich, too." [black stud earrings]

Boating

[NONE]

Happiness

If the MC decided to make food for Cove (if Shopping happened, Growing happened, or the MC bought fudge for Cove in Errands):

You chose to bake cinnamon rolls. (if Shopping happened) [nothing (this will default to no wristwear on the left wrist in Step 4)]

You were going to make banana, peanut butter, and honey sandwiches. (if Growing happened) [pale yellow watch on the left wrist]

You'd make him homemade fudge. (if the MC bought fudge for Cove in Errands) [ridged slate gray bracelet on the left wrist]

If the MC decided to get food for Cove that didn't require preparation:

(if Drive happened) [thick brown and tan bracelet with white helm on the left wrist]

(if Drive did not happen) [no wristwear on the left wrist]

Step 3 Ending

If the MC chose to make jewelry with Lee and the others:

"I wanna find some sea glass too." [nothing (this will default to no wristwear on the left wrist in Step 4)]

"I'm gonna hunt for a handful of shells to pick from." [pale yellow watch on the left wrist]

"I'm gonna look for some driftwood." [ridged slate gray bracelet on the left wrist]

"I wanna use some stones." [thick brown and tan bracelet with white helm on the left wrist]

"I'll just wait and see. I don't have a plan." [no wristwear on the left wrist]

-

Aaaand that's everything! It's really a shame about Cove's tattoos and pants, and I can't help being curious about the potential unused content (there aren't image files or anything for them, unfortunately), but I hope this helped anyway!

[mouwrites]

Just a silly little coffee shop trope with Lloyd :]

Word count: 850

Ninjago - Lunch? (Lloyd)

The little cafe you worked in was by no means popular; despite being in the heart of Ninjago city, it was often overlooked. And so you spent many days just watching the huge windows in the front of the store, wondering if any of the swaths of people would chance to step inside.

You did have a few regulars, which you knew by heart, of course. If not because they were always pleasant, then because you really didn’t have many clientele to begin with, so it was only natural that you started to recognize them.

Your eyes were locked on a cute poodle trotting by outside when you heard the little bell above the door ring. You perked up, snapping upright to greet the customer.

A smile came to your face when you saw a familiar (and admittedly attractive) blonde coming closer. He was smiling, too, almost a little shyly as he gave a small wave.

“Hey Lloyd! The usual?” You chirped, already whisking away to grab a cup.

“Yeah.”

You nodded, opening up the refrigerator to retrieve some milk to heat up.

“Not too busy today, huh, Y/n?”

A childish grin stretched your mouth beyond the polite smile you’d already been bearing. “Nope. You know my name?”

He laughed, clasping his hands awkwardly on the counter. “I mean, you’re always the one who’s working when I stop by. Plus it’s on your apron.”

You glanced down at your attire, cheeks darkening a little when you spotted the little name tag. “Oh, yeah.”

You worked in silence for a little while, focusing on getting your measurements right and mixing and not making a mess. You were so focused that you didn’t even feel Lloyd’s deep green eyes fixed on you.

There was a subtle smile curving his thin lips as he watched—though was it from the anticipation of a nice hot chocolate, or something else? He would’ve guessed the former, but he also couldn’t deny the way his heart had skipped a beat when you said his name earlier.

Nor could he deny the way your h/c hair looked in the golden afternoon light… or the way your eyes sparkled with excitement whenever he walked into the store… he always told himself that it was because you were bored, that it was a slow afternoon and he was just providing something to busy you for a few minutes, but he secretly wished it was something more.

But now he was just watching you put whipped cream on the drink. You sprayed a thin layer on top… then kept going… and going… until there was a little mountain towering over the rim of the cup.

You used a Frappuccino lid to top off the cup, in order to preserve the shape of the whipped cream. But you paused before snapping it on, pursing your lips for a second before spontaneously reaching for a bottle of chocolate syrup and drizzling the whipped cream.

“Oh my Master,” Lloyd gawked. “I love you.”

Your eyebrows shot up for a second. Cheeks turning a deep shade of red, you looked at Lloyd with wide eyes.

He had the exact same expression. “Uh…”

You burst into laughter. It became a little more awkward as you tried to control yourself, and you smiled bashfully as you said: “I just know you have a bit of a sweet tooth, so…”

You slid the drink across the counter, wishing your face would stop burning as you rang up his order on the register.

“Thank you,” he murmured, still clearly recovering from severe embarrassment.

Your jaw tightened; his awkwardness was contagious. Your fingers hovered before the screen for a few seconds, and at length you just brought your hand down to rest on the counter. “Tell you what… this one’s on the house.”

You grinned at Lloyd’s shocked response. He went for his wallet anyway, at which point you reached across the counter to hold his arm.

“Really, you don’t have to pay for it. Only ‘cause I like you too.”

The silence was deafening. Lloyd was owl-eyed and ruddy-faced, completely stunned at your words. You almost regretting saying them when he finally burst into the brightest smile you’d ever seen; not just on him, but on anyone.

“Does that mean you’ll let me take you out to lunch sometime?”

“I’d love lunch.”

Lloyd just kept on smiling, fumbling foolishly for his drink. “Cool,” he said, as if he thought he were dreaming.

As he walked out the door, he turned around suddenly and smiled at you one last time. He’d clearly spotted the phone number you wrote on the cup’s little cardboard cuff.

When he was finally out of sight, you patted your cheeks, trying to smack the color out of them. It certainly didn’t help that the image of Lloyd was stuck in your mind like a frozen TV screen. That rosy-cheeked grin he’d given you… it was truly unlike anything you’d ever seen.

I wonder if I can make him smile like that again.

Now it was your turn to smirk. Lunch. You couldn’t wait.

Thanks so much for reading! Might make a part 2 hehe ;o Anyway, take care lovelies!! <33

(divider by saradika)

[1d1195]

I COULDNT SLEEP LAST NIGHT SO I SPENT THE NIGHT REREADING ALL OF TRADTIONAL !!!! AND IT WAS SOOO MUCH FUN I LOVEEE THEM😭😭😭 he was sooooo down bad im obsesseddd

"bro, you're annoying as fuck" GOODBYEEEE THAT IS ACTUALLY THE REALEST IVE EVER HEARDDDD. my dad is always like “you know, u can tell me anything.” AND IM LIKE “since when?? i literally can’t???” this is the same man that gets sooo mad when i just ask a question he doesn’t like😭 but my big brother’s wife is actually pregnant and she’s due soon so one good thing is i’m going to get to be here for that !!

sam you’re too sweet i looove you😭😭 my sister calls me barbie all the time and i think it’s so cute you chose the same nickname. I LOVE YOU YOU BEAUTIFUL, AMAZING, TALENTED WOMAN🫶🫶🫶🫶

i used to usually make my coffees at home. id brew it in a french press orrrr id make some using my keurig (omg if u or a friend have a nespresso machine those make it taste SOOOOO GOOD my mom has one and i LOVE using it) i add a little bit of sugar while its hot and i let it cool down and id use oat milk (i’ve only tried two brands; califa farms & oatly, i enjoyed them both. if im out i literally just use regular milk cuz whtvr) and thennn id use the coffee mate french milk creamer (is that what it’s called? it’s milk idk) and then a little bit of the torani vanilla syrup (cause it’s pretty strong). if my sweet tooth was kicking extra hard i’d add a drizzle of some white chocolate syrup.

HELPFUL AT HOME ICED COFFEE TIP I SAW ON TIKTOK: maybe this is common sense (it wasn’t for me tho🫣) but you’re supposed to add all your syrups and creamers into the coffee and mix it together AND THENNN pour onto ice😭😭 apparently it doesn’t mix as well when you pour them one by one onto the ice (WHICH IS WHAT I DID HAHA) and i did actually notice it made a slight difference.

so sorry that was wayyy longer than it had any right to be but it took me forever to find a way i enjoy making it at home. AND IT WORKS CAUSE EVERYONE IVE MADE IT FOR SAYS IT TASTES LIKE ICED COFFEE FROM A CAFE YAYYY !!! when i go out though i usually get a cup from dunkin. their cold brews are sooo yummmm and i love getting the sweetened cold foam.

omg thank you for asking abt the whole GED, i can’t believe you remember, its so sweet that you do, but i was actually going to bring it up in my last ask but i guess i forgot to. I DIDNT HAPPEN☹️ I HAD TO CANCEL THE CLASSES BEFORE I EVEN STARTED BECAUSE OF THIS TRIP☹️☹️☹️☹️ it actually upset me soooo much at the time. i’ve been trying for a couple years now and it NEVER works out, i was SO sure it would this time, but now im starting to wonder if the universe if just telling me it’s not meant for me😭

i don’t have anything planned yet but hopefully it’s chill. i hope you have a great weekend as well babe !!!💕💞✨

~🎶

I frequently reread traditional. Especially when I'm in the mood to write about them more. I really like how caring Harry is in that one 🤭 I think it's cute when he tries to spoil his girl 🥰

My dad knows surface level things of me as best but he thinks we have this connection. I feel bad, he's mean to my sister. But tbh I don't tell my parents EVERYTHING. I tell my mom a lot, she's one of my favorite people, but since I've moved out, I just tell them both less and less. They're a lot of work and a) I don't want to burden them with my shit, and b) there's not much they can do at this point in time to help me.

BABYYYYYYYYYYYY boy or girl? Can I ask that? I love babies so much I love that for you!!!

AHHHHH I just went with your metaphor, but I love it! 💕

Okay I think I misled you. I buy a jug of cold brew every week and make coffee that way. I will have to try the pouring onto ice. I had NO IDEA. I do one at a time too! I don't have any coffee making machines. Everyone I KNOW has a nespresso machine. But I refuse. Idk. I'm a cold coffee gal and I'm like anti using hot to make it ice 😭

I think I've mentioned I'm from the Northeast before so I literally run on dunkin so I get you. I cold foam the other day (a treat for myself because I usually just do coffee) and it was SO good. I forgot how much I liked it!!! When Dunking does their $3 cold brew deal every day for a month (I think it's usually February because it's the shortest month--Capitalism am I right?) I enjoy getting cold brew from them!

I unfortunately yap a lot but I try to remember the big things! I'm glad I remembered! I kind of figured the trip would have affected it's happening. Don't give up yet! I think if this is something you want you should do it, regardless of how long it takes. Who cares if it's a little later than you wanted! I think if it's what you want then it's meant for you! 💕

xoxo

[peppermintlark]

Are YOU a vampire or some other creature who relies on the consumption of blood? Are YOU growing bored with the same texture and taste, day in and day out? Do YOU need something new to drink while reading the fifth anniversary edition of yves.'s Something's Not Right? Try mixing sustenance with energy by adding blood to your coffee! Some humans mix protein powder into their morning brew, so why should things be any more difficult for you? Here are five ideas to get you started!

Latte

Let's start simple! A latte is something that lots of folks can enjoy, with just a little foam on top for that change in texture so many search for! On top of that, it's endlessly customizable; you can leave it as-is if you'd like to really keep that taste of iron on your tongue, or you can add in flavor syrups to spice things up! Plus, wouldn't little fangs drawn with milk on the top be simply adorable?

2. Iced Coffee

Speaking of endlessly customizable! The only requirements for an iced coffee are simply that: ice and cold coffee. Those who enjoy the taste of blood but want a little change can keep it simple, while those who want to cover it up can pour in cream, sugar, and flavor syrups to their heart's content! As a bonus, this drink can easily be poured into a tumbler for those on-the-go.

3. Affogato

For those with a bit of a sweet tooth! This drink is traditionally served over vanilla ice cream, but we say why not try something a little different? Why not chocolate for a sort of mocha flavor, or cherry to go with the blood you're pouring in? If you're feeling fancy, you can even save a little blood for the end to drizzle on top like a syrup!

4. Frappe

Here's something decadent, and still quite customizable! Frappes come in many different flavors, and as they are basically a coffee milkshake, they're perfect for those summer days when you aren't really in the mood for warm blood trailing down your throat. Plus, who doesn't like chasing something down with a large helping of whipped cream?

5. Coffee Freakshake

I mean, come on. We HAD to include freakshakes! They're all the rage these days, and talk about decadent! For the blood-drinking influencer who really wants to conceal the blood in their meal, and who may still have a taste for the sweet things from their old life.

Do you think you'll try any of these drinks? Which was your favorite? Do you have any suggestions to break up the monotony of blood-drinking? Let us know in the comments and reblogs, and don't forget to pick up a copy of Something's Not Right, out October 10th, 2023!

Something’s Not Right, published by tRaum Books, will be released October 10th 2023 and is available to preorder at Amazon, Bookshop.org, and itch.io. It will also be available upon release signed from Bookshop Santa Cruz. yves. will also have a local event at 6:30 PM on October 12th at the Santa Cruz Diversity Center and another on January 4th 2024 (to be announced) at Bookshop Santa Cruz.

[goodnightmemes]

CARMILLA SEASON ONE SENTENCE STARTERS (PART ONE)

Lines taken from episodes s01e01 - s01e19 of the web series Carmilla. Feel free to change as needed. Part two is here.

❛ Nothing, not even the homecoming goat sacrifice, disturbs the pursuit of knowledge. ❜

❛ I passed the test! 62%. Which is pretty cool. It’s like a gentlewoman’s C. ❜

❛ This is our college adventure, come on! ❜

❛ And how is the Jäger-bombinatrix doing this morning? ❜

❛ And really, why does anybody do anything? ❜

❛ I found it next to a pile of ick that started growing mushrooms the next day. ❜

❛ Don’t judge. My dad thought I’d use an iPhone to send high-resolution selfies to potential stalkers. ❜

❛ If an incident is in progress, please dial 4815 or activate the nearest blue tentacle phone. ❜

❛ To report an escaped entity or poltergeist activity, please press - ❜

❛ Fine. I’ve got three weeks of a journalism class and I’ve seen all of Veronica Mars. I’ll find her myself. ❜

❛ I don’t know, things just got so foggy after the alchemy guys released, you know, the fog. ❜

❛ I’m your new roommate, sweetheart. ❜

❛ Oh, this is not happening. You are not my new roommate! ❜

❛ Boom! Revenge is mine. ❜

❛ See? Blood.In the milk container. ❜

❛ This is like, a death threat, or a health code violation. ❜

❛ Well, there’s no denying it’s a little…odd. ❜

❛ How many people you know take Type O with their Chocoa Crunch? ❜

❛ Are you really gonna try and pretend this isn’t a total freak show? ❜

❛ Oh, see, surviving. Yes, I like that plan. ❜

❛ A lot of problems can be solved through good communication. ❜

❛ A lot of problems can also be solved by taking hair and blood samples to figure out exactly what kind of freaky it is you’re dealing with. ❜

❛ You filled a milk container with blood as a prank? ❜

❛ It was food coloring, and…and corn syrup. ❜

❛ That bunched-up little face you make when you’re angry is hilarious, buttercup. ❜

❛ I kept on having the same dream before. ❜

❛ And the darkness is in my eyes and in my throat and I can’t breathe, and … ❜

❛ I-I’m sorry, I can’t be here anymore. ❜

❛ I really hope that it passes over you and I hope it doesn’t touch your face. ❜

❛ Are you really so damaged that you’re incapable of caring about anything? ❜

❛ You’re a child. And you understand nothing. Not about life. Not about this place. ❜

❛ You know what? The sooner you stop playing Lois Lane, the better off you’ll be. ❜

❛ No, I’m not just gonna give up. ❜

❛ So, maybe that’s just how it is, but that does not mean that I have to accept it. I deserve better. [ name ] deserves better. Hell, even you deserve better. ❜

❛ It’s a town hall meeting! Remember your training, we’ve got five minutes! Run, run! ❜

❛ Sometimes a girl’s gotta manufacture her own excitement, you know? ❜

❛ We should be reinstating our night marches. ❜

❛ And then the Zetas piped in with this chant that pretty much sounded like “pizza or death”. ❜

❛ I think we’d make a pretty great team. ❜

❛ Yeah, a team. You and me, absolutely. ❜

❛ Hey, is that fish in your hair? ❜

❛ It is very, very nice of you large, large gentlemen to offer to keep me safe, but as you can see, I’m in my room. Snug as a bug in a rug. So, you’re good to go. ❜

❛ If I decide to go wandering down some dark alleyways late at night, you guys’ll be my first call. ❜

❛ Get the hell out of here before I feed you each other’s spleens. ❜

❛ Dude, she bit me! That is so not cool. ❜

❛ Guess that’s it for the truce, then. ❜

❛ We have been working nonstop and, not that we’re geniuses or anything, but I think we’re really close to a breakthrough. ❜

❛ I think my brain has melted. ❜

❛ Chocolate is comforting in the face of epic failure. ❜

❛ And what kind of thrilling adventure do we find ourselves on now? ❜

❛ This is so childish. You’d think we were still six. ❜

❛ Schadenfreude isn’t very attractive. ❜

❛ But I so had it coming, didn’t I? ❜

❛ God, this age doesn’t understand obligation. It’s like an undersea anchor; impossible to escape. ❜

❛ They’re the ones using dander collected at parties to seed an immense interconnected fungus throughout campus. ❜

❛ Apparently, it’s a communications experiment. Or, maybe a really complicated risotto recipe? I don’t know. ❜

❛ Sorry, I just forgot that I have to be anywhere but here. ❜

❛ Oh, no. You are entirely too sweet ❜

❛ But you’ve got to admit it looks pretty hinky. ❜

❛ Confronting her has historically been about as effective as using bug spray on Voldemort. ❜

❛ Oh, wow. That’s…why are you wearing warpaint? ❜

❛ Come on! Why are the hotties in this room always trying to hurt me?! ❜

❛ That is unfair, okay, cause I’m here out of the, like, bro-ness of my heart, alright? ❜

❛ So, has it even occurred to you that while you���re duking it out, nobody is actually out there protecting anybody at all?! ❜

❛ Ah, it’s mostly just paintballs and anchovies. I’ll talk them down. ❜

❛ It just seemed so real…like…that weird moment of clarity during magic hour or the moment right before a car crash. ❜

❛ I was in my room and there was something in my bed. Something under my bed. This dark, prowling thing without a face. ❜

❛ I tried to pull the blankets over my face to hide, but the darkness started seeping through them like blood, more and more, until I was drowning in it. ❜

❛ Well, dreams are supposed to be strange. Last night I dreamt I was trapped under a bed. ❜

❛ But, just a dream. No reason for all of this…twitchiness. ❜

❛ There is no twitching. There is an absence of twitching. ❜

❛ You know, if it’s really making you so miserable, I could get you something to help you sleep. ❜

❛ That’s uncharacteristically considerate of you. ❜

❛ Yeah, well, I just don’t want you losing it and torching all my stuff. ❜

❛ The results are starting to look profoundly WTF. ❜

❛ I know Silas has some quirks, but I’m pretty sure spontaneous combustion, super strength, and an all-protein diet weren’t options on my roommate form. ❜

❛ Your Snape/Ron fic’s still on the screen, spaz. ❜

❛ It’s a charm or whatever. To help with the bad dreams. ❜

❛ So, in the spirit of all this newfound closeness, maybe you could tell me where you go all night? ❜

❛ Mmm, well, I have to keep some of my secrets. Otherwise, I’ll lose my air of mystery, won’t I? ❜

❛ Oh, you know, I miss my dad, I have papers due. I’m about to be my roommate’s next victim. ❜

❛ Come on. Let’s get you changed into something with a little less whiff. ❜

❛ Everything in your fridge is made of glucose and palm oil. I’m surprised you don’t have scurvy. ❜

❛ As soon as we got there, everyone was leaving the building, and yes, as the sun went down, we started to hear something…skittering. ❜

❛ Before you realized the staircase wasn’t in the same place anymore? ❜

❛ Before we realized we might have gotten a little turned around. And that most of the computer monitors we could see were warning us to “Run. Run now”. And the skittering was getting closer. ❜

❛ We created a flamethrower using a lighter and some mace. ❜

❛ I get a text that says “Come quick. Stuck in Library. Bring fire extinguisher” ❜

❛ Okay, yes! It was stupid, and we’re lucky that you didn’t have to save our souls. ❜

❛ Well, yeah, but we know she’s a vampire. I mean, we’ve known that since the blood in the milk container, right? ❜

❛ You all knew I was living with a vampire and nobody said anything? ❜

❛ She’s not a vampire. There’s no such thing as vampires. She’s a…light-averse octogenarian with extreme hemoglobin deficiency and really good skin. ❜

❛ My roommate is an honest-to-Lestat vampire. How do we stop a vampire? ❜

❛ No! No! We can’t immolate everyone that [ name ] thinks is a supernatural creature. ❜

❛ Well, I have an idea but you are not gonna like it. ❜

❛ Okay, explain to me again how offering yourself as bait to your blood-sucking roommate is not the worst plan ever devised by womankind. ❜

❛ Well, the fact that a terrible plan is our only plan is not really a selling point. ❜

❛ You guys know that I can hear you, right? Maybe instead of peanut gallery-ing you can help me figure out how we trap a vampire? ❜

❛ How do we feel about bear spray? ❜

❛ What would Mina Harker do? …Get bitten. Mina Harker would totally try and act all alluring to the bloodsucking fiend and totally get bitten. Let’s not do that. ❜

❛ Looking at the stars. It’s comforting, to think how small we are in comparison. All the lives we’ve led, the people we’ve been, nothing to that light. ❜

❛ “Black as the pit and terrible as the night was Bagheera”? I always loved that. It’s beautiful. ❜

❛ Behold: Vampire bait! ❜

❛ Don’t you look like a virgin sacrifice? ❜

❛ Parties should be a shimmering moment of possibility, not a collection of brutes around a piece of flaming driftwood. ❜

❛ Feels like more than that. Like something seen underwater from a great distance. ❜

❛ God, I’m a nostalgic idiot tonight. ❜

❛ Maybe I don’t feel like sharing you right now. ❜

❛ God, what am I doing? Naive, provincial girl. Entirely too tightly wound. Such a cliché. I oughta know better. ❜

❛ I oughta know better. And yet…there’s something about you. ❜

❛ Also, I got my head smashed into a table, if anyone cares. ❜

❛ There is not allowed to be some new horrible thing! ❜

❛ You know, at times like these a dude needs to be with his bros. ❜

❛ Well, don’t look at me. I didn’t want to kidnap anyone to begin with! ❜

❛ Definitely not untying angry vampire. ❜

❛ You can’t just keep a hostage in your dorm room! ❜

❛ I”m sure there’s all sorts of things we could figure out through some minimally-invasive probing. ❜

❛ It’ll seem dire once they start your tribunal. ❜

❛ So the sooner you ‘fess us and tell us what’s going on, the better this is gonna go for you because we have got…a spatula, and a stapler, and we are not afraid to use them. ❜

❛ You cannot seriously think we’re dumb enough to believe you’re innocent just because you say so. ❜

❛ Look, if I were really a vampire, would I just stay here, tied up, proclaiming my innocence as some sort of trick? ❜

❛ Yeah. That’s completely exactly what a vampire would do. ❜

❛ Do I strike you as the type of person who plays well with others? ❜

❛ Uh, we’re rehearsing a skit. Uh, yeah, the torture scene from Arsenic and Old Lace. Mmm-hmm, yeah, there’s a torture scene. ❜

❛ I hear they have a great collection of straight-jackets and tranquilizers. ❜

❛ I swear, if one more of your broken-hearted study buddies comes knocking at the door, I’m gonna start spritzing them like cats. ❜

❛ No, no, no! Please don’t die, please don’t die, you stupid vampire! Here, look, I’ve got blood. ❜

❛ The experience of being held captive by a clutch of imbeciles for something I didn’t even have the pleasure of doing is humiliating enough without having you wipe me up like a dribbling child. ❜

❛ Wait, you thought that was me trying to eat you? ❜

❛ Oh…Oh! So, when you were hitting on me, you were really hitting on me? ❜

❛ Could you just stake me now? Cause I think that would be less mortifying than this conversation. ❜

❛ If you want us to trust you, you have gotta tell us your side of the story. ❜

[tamorisana]

LORE THING

We’ll start with little rules.

Do not ask personal questions. They do not ask you about it and expect the same. 

Name. 

It’s classified for a reason. 

Will get you avoided for a long time. Months only if you are lucky.

Yes, they fear hearing it. Actually think they don’t deserve it. It’s so soft and only one person knows it from them and not by documents.

No, they won’t take their mask off or describe their face.

A simple “It’s for work purposes” should be enough. It mostly is. No one, even the captain saw their face. I’ll quote them “When you ambush a cartel meeting, just for example, I need to be treated the same so there would be an ability to go back, dig into being Angel and be damn useful. Now quit whatever stupid shit you are trying to do and get to work.”

They wear it for safety too.

Yes, they really don’t remember how it looks like. Quit.

They do usually sleep in a balaclava. Stop asking.

If you are persistent it will, again, gain you avoidance. Good luck smothering your mistakes. 

Just little things.

If they speak a little too quietly you politely and casually ask them to speak just a bit louder. No need to roll your eyes and bark like a dog (I'm looking at you Farflan.). Also please stop speaking when they coughing. It does not last long and is much easier for you to continue than repeat.

It takes time to get comfortable with anyone, please be respectful and don’t touch them without asking or getting a green light. They appreciate it really [makes them feel included and maybe maybe like home] but extra touches from different people can and probably will throw them off guard.

If you followed all rules and managed to gain their trust. . .Well, congratulations you now have a loyal friend and shit ton of awful jokes about eating children.

What is a thing is them trying to remember other's routines or what type of coffee their friends and teammates like or tea and just small things. Usually, buy these or stuff that reminds them of someone, such as little bones ring for Captain or a mechanic figure for Vice or little dog treats for Findus because they will spoil this little guy and Hauke forgets to buy him more sometimes or kitchen supplies for stress bakers or little potato cloth pin for Many or chocolate syrup for Orca just things everyone forgets to buy! These are the things Safiye demands to do.

Safiye. . . Harpia wholly believes they don’t deserve to be called their name. Safiye is young, and pretty and had a promising future ahead of him. Harpia is none of these things. One day Harpia will take off their mask and lay down to finally rest while Safi will take back his body. Through I think, I want to believe, existence in the task force will change that. 

This way of treating themselves, as you understand, does not come out of nowhere so backstory time.

Their childhood is the best of what they could get. It was spent on a huge farm, literally huge, a family estate and her mother’s pride. There was everything, fields with crops and grass to run around and to graze cattle. A house, not huge by any means but big enough to be comfortable. A vegetable garden next to a flower garden with apple, pear, cherry and, their family’s pride, peach trees. (Safiye was known as a peach girl for running around the village every year handing out boxes of peaches to people.). They may be well-known for having the best peaches in the whole region but it's not the only thing they provided.

Having both big and small cattle, such as cows, goats, and even a couple of sheep which were a present from some aunt, gave a lot of milk later sold or turned into cheese, sour cream, butter and heavy cream. 

Chickens and ducks were also a part of the farm. Different breeds, different sizes, different eggs. Speaking of eggs, they were sold either to eat or to incubate and have chicks. There also where a big dog Max. Max was a moscow guardian breed and was the nicest puppy Safi ever came across. He was playful, energetic and the biggest, literally biggest, softie for kids.

Siblings? There are none. His parents divorced “We are not meant to be together,” they said “we don’t make each other happy.”. So they divorced and he was the only child, a very wanted and loved child and that stayed so. Despite not having, at the time, any brothers or sisters, has so many relatives: aunts, uncles, cousins, and the friendliest community of people (they get called uncles, aunts, cousins and grandparents too) it’s driving people crazy. Farm, among all the products, gave people both villagers and outsiders a place to work. While formally it all belongs to one family, in reality, you are allowed to call the whole village a farm. No one stays without a job if someone lost one. The whole community is thriving around the farm to the point of outsiders think there is no village at all. 

There is no village now. 2014 destroyed Safi and their home. They had to leave, leave everything, home, Max, memories, and the work of generations behind. Aunt Homa and grandma Rona also stayed behind to look after their little place. Their little heaven was violated by war and occupation. Trees no longer bloom as they used to, Max does not run around fields with us, there are no trips to the river in summer and no hills to slide from in winter. Harpia will bring peace to their home again. They made this promise.

Safiye and Harpia are different only because Harpia wants to separate their past self from what they are right now. Want to preserve the way they remember him to be. For him to stay this way.

This is the reason they went to army. Safiye was 16 when they joined, it was easy with their height and built to smuggle in. After two years of fighting in the front lines, at 18, they became Harpia and were invited to the special task force “[CLASIFIED]”. You can imagine how hard they worked for that. An operation “Handiwork” happened 3 years later in a result of said operation were moved across the world into Shadow Company to protect from russian agents and hitmen until everything calmed down. Shepherd’s operation ruined everything. Missiles are good, they could have changed the situation on the front if only they were legal. So they tried reaching out to Laswell or Captain Lykov, their captain back in Ukraine, but were caught by one of lieutenants and given to russians.

ive been told to mention people so i will do just that @the-bones-in-your-backyard @dismightyman @its-hauke @toomanywordsnllines @mylarena

[idlnmclean]

But the fact that you have the option to add ice cream is interesting, because I think American categories would call a blended drink without ice cream a “smoothie”, assuming there’s usually a liquid dairy or dairy substitute as a base.

First, in the US, milkshakes are based on ice cream; you add other things to the ice cream to achieve the texture, taste, and consistency you want. The milk is used to dilute the ice cream. Ice is sometimes added if you prefer a smooth texture and a slightly more contrasted sweetness. Syrups or candies or fruit might be added to give different flavors or textures to contrast or complement.

So it isn't that we add ice cream. You start with ice cream then you add other things with it being typical that you don't specify the milk/ice ratio unless you want something drastically different from the standard fare and the establishment caters to custom orders in that way.

A good ice cream parlor will sell milkshakes and thickshakes as a regular fare; with the explosion of cafes and fast beverage places, they will now often include frappes, smoothies, and similar items as well. You'll walk in specify that you want a milkshake or thickshake or frappe; in some places, instead of it being listed as a milkshake it will be listed as an ice cream shake, but milkshake is preferred and standardized because it is shorter and easier to say. Then you'll pick out an ice cream from the line up ice creams; this process is pretty much the same as how you'd order an ice cream cone or an ice cream cup or ice cream bowl. If there are any particular customizations or additions or options then you'd specify them after choosing the flavor/kind of ice cream.

A blended drink may be alternatively a smoothie or a frappe (I'm sure I'm forgetting many alternatives, but these are pretty common options). I find that a frappe is more commonly some kind of caffeinated beverage like coffee, chocolate, or tea that is blended with ice and fluid such as water, milk, or cream. Smoothies often refer to combinations of blended ingredients that may not include dairy of any kind such as assortments of blended fruit suspended in a solution of blended ice and water.

HOW did that not cross your mind? Milk. Shake. It's right there in the word.

When I was very little and encountering these things on menus in the US, I did get quite confused about this, and I did think about it. I asked my family about it then. That was a very long time ago. By the time I had my encounter in New Zealand, I had just become entirely accustom to the ambiguity and commonly understood meaning of "milkshake" or "ice cream shake" that it isn't something we talk about; it is the kind of thing where primary young children think about and talk about it, but it isn't an exchange you encounter for decades of time between adults.

I can't think of a place that I've been anywhere in the US whether North West, West Coast, East Coast, Georgia, or the South West where if I ordered a "milkshake" that I'd get what amounts to a milk beverage without ice cream. Like we have "chocolate milk" which is similar, but we don't have "banana milk" or "strawberry milk" or "honey dew milk" or even a fraction of all the neat milk drinks that I encountered in New Zealand. Milk tea is a bit of a foreign concept even.

Again, the soft serve thing is a hard thing to describe what kinds of expectations of standards it violates in US customary. Like, you can for sure get milkshakes or ice cream shakes in the US that are made with soft serve and may even be flavored with syrups, but you're going to find those at US fast food places, and the general sentiment is that they're expensive for bad quality or they're cheap and "not real milkshakes".

I'm perfectly fine with a milkshake being defined as what I think of as "chocolate milk" or "[flavor] milk" that is shaken with a minority serving of soft serve and some syrup, but it just was a culture shock and a sudden alienation of language for me to encounter that in the wild at that moment when I was emotionally upset.

I suspect that if I dragged people from New Zealand to our "gelato" shops that they'd be similarly appalled and/or shook.

one thing about americans is that they know how to make a fucking milkshake

[feleshero]

CHARACTER QUIRKS & HABITS bold what applies. italicize what sometimes applies. strike what doesn’t.

likes artificial watermelon . sleeps in what they are already wearing . eats their cereal with milk . listens to music with earbuds (what the fuck is an earbud?!). hates summer. can recite past the first four digits of pi . eats frosting out of the jar . doodles on their notebooks . can bake cookies . has a garden farm . has had a snowball fight . eats pancakes without syrup . prefers shorts over pants . can name more than ten superheroes . has a plan for the zombie apocalypse . uses the same password for everything . can’t hold their breath for more than fifteen seconds . watches anime . can say ‘ i love you ‘ in more than one language . prefers mechanical pencils . thinks space is cool . takes personality tests more than once to make sure . can’t tie their shoelaces . has a purse . likes salads . likes cool colors better than warm colors . knows how to braid hair . reads biographies . can ice skate . reads astrology charts . prefers the star wars prequels to the original trilogy (What do you mean... prequels? Like, the books?) . plays video games . reads the newspaper . likes chocolate ice cream best . doesn’t cuss . memorizes song lyrics . collects coupons likes movie theater popcorn . has seen a play . listens to music with headphones. owns a hoodie .(She owns YOUR hoodie) . would rather own cds than online copies . has written a poem . can shuffle cards . subscribes to a magazine . double dips when eating . DRINKS DIRECTLY OUT OF THE MILK CONTAINER. keeps a journal .

[traumasurvivorshelpingsurvivors]

I sent an ask 2 months ago about having weird eating habits and not being sure if it would be classified as an ED or not. I need some advice in regards to episodes of overeating. Tw for overeating and meds.

I had some med adjustments and I'm eating but I wouldn't say that I'm eating normally because now I'm overeating an excessive amount and it's turning into a bigger problem than before. I know i mentioned i would have some days where I wouldn't eat and then I'd eat a lot maybe as a way to make up for the days i didn't eat enough food but now it's been about a week straight of nonstop out of control intense overeating and I'm physically not used to it. I get intense cravings like the food I've been craving daily is peanut butter for some reason? My mom told me to have a spoonful but I ended up finishing the entire jar in one sitting. I feel like everything i eat needs to be sweet. Snacks, drinks, everything. And if it's not sweet I put something in it to make it sweet like adding chocolate syrup to plain milk and making it chocolate milk and drinking several cups of it in a row. Now normally I would see this as a good thing since i don't like being underweight and feeling sick and weak like I do when I don't eat enough. I miss fitting into my old clothes from when I was at a healthy weight. I miss looking happier, fuller, and less anxious and depressed. But now I'm on the other end of the spectrum where I've been feeling constantly bloated, heavy, stomach gurgling and bulging out and making me feel extremely uncomfortable and sluggish after my binge episodes. I almost miss feeling light. Again it's not because I think I'm overweight or anything since I know I'm not overweight but I just physically feel extremely heavy right now and uncomfortable and my body isn't used to this, even when I had binging episodes before, they weren't as constant as what I've been going through now.

I know I should talk to a doctor about my meds but I'm happy with the meds I'm on. What I'm not happy with is the discomfort I'm feeling. I'm glad I'm not too anxious to eat, and I'm actually happy that I might be getting back to a healthy weight again since I miss my old body, but like i keep saying... I physically feel uncomfortable and it hurts a lot. I don't feel in control when I eat. It can't be one spoonful of peanut butter, it has to be the whole jar. It can't be one cup of chocolate milk, it has to be five. I'm typing this out and thinking "What the fuck" to myself because I was NOT like this before. This is so weird for me. Besides talking to the doctor about what's happening, can you please give me some advice for this? Please, I feel really desperate. I just want to know what to do about my intense cravings, and how to eat normally but prevent overeating and overstuffing myself. I feel like my stomach is going to hurt me all night. I can't even move besides typing on my phone. Please, I feel terrible.

Hi anon,

I wasn't sure if you were the same anon that I just answered, so just to be safe I kept it separate. I'm so sorry to hear about what you've been going through.

It sounds like your eating habits may have been exacerbated in the sense that you are beginning to binge more often and dramatically increase your sugar intake. This could definitely have a negative impact on your health, as having too much sugar in your diet can lead to a number of complications such as tooth decay, hyperglycemia, and much more.

That being said, I am by no means a doctor nor should my thoughts be substituted for that of an expert, and so I strongly recommend you speak to your doctor about this. You may not have to change your meds, but your doctor could work with you to come up with some other strategies to help shift your diet and encourage healthier eating habits. Your doctor may recommend seeking the guidance of a specialist such as a dietician or nutritionist, who can work with you more personally to correct your diet.

If anyone has any comments or suggestions, feel free to add on. Otherwise, I hope I could help, and please let us know if you need anything.

-Bun

[jdidolau]

251 - 252.

[They have a great time at the mirror-like lake with the grandest view~]

---

[They head to their next destination in the helicopter]

JOJO Oh, wow!

[They see the mounds of snow up close]

[The snow is blindingly white]

DIO It must be incredibly white for the sun to reflect off of it...

JOJO It looks like a giant cake! With lots and lots of icing!

DIO (Chuckles) Always food with you, Jojo. Though I do agree it looks like a giant heaping of icing.

JOJO Ahh, I want s’mores...

DIO We already had s’mores last night, Jojo.

JOJO Can we get some more then? Heh. Som’more s’mores?

DIO (Rolls eyes) If you insist.

JOJO (Chuckles) We can get some more strawberries and cream for you too, Dio~

[The helicopter gets ready to land]

JOJO Do you think the snow would be like a cream?

DIO It’s just like soft ice, I’d imagine.

JOJO Hmmm...

DIO Jojo, I swear to god, if you eat the snow too...

JOJO What? They said it’s clean! The lake water was clean too!

DIO You’re essentially eating off the ground, Jojo.

JOJO But the snow would be quite thick, right? That means the snow on top would have fallen right from the sky and onto more snow. And no one else has stepped on it or anything!

DIO (Sigh) Well, I obviously can’t stop you, Jojo.

[They get ready to get off]

DIO Oh, it’s quite deep.

[It’s deeper than it looks!]

[The snow is up to their ankles]

(Wow!~)

JOJO This is so amazing!!

[Pure, untrodden snow~]

JOJO The snow is edible, right? Dio! Eat some with me!

DIO No, thank you.

JOJO The lake water wasn’t so bad, right?

DIO ...True as that may be-

JOJO The snow should be fiiine , Dio~ Come onnnn~ (Nudge) (Nudge)

DIO ... (Siiiigh) I can’t believe I’m letting you talk me into this again.

JOJO (Grins) (Pleased) It’ll be fine!

[They both try some snow]

[Examining the flavors]

JOJO It is just ice, huh. (Chuckles)

DIO I told you.

JOJO It’d be perfect with some chocolate syrup and condensed milk! Or milk and strawberries for you, Dio.

DIO First s’mores and now you want shaved ice too?

JOJO (Hehe~) Maybe on our last day?

DIO (Sigh) I suppose we’d have time for it.

JOJO (Bright) (Pleased)

[Kind leader considers his member’s request~]

JOJO What about you, Dio? Is there anything you’d want to eat?

DIO Not particularly.

JOJO Hmm, we did go to that wine tasting room yesterday. And we ate those spicy noodles last night. You’ve gotten a little better with spicy food!

DIO (Huffs) Hah! As if I, Dio, would let something like mere spice get the better of me!

JOJO Pffft. I get the distinct feeling that you said the same thing years ago. Back when I didn’t yet know that you... “have trouble” with spicy foods.

(Deja vu~)

DIO What an odd thing to remember.

JOJO Well, it was very shocking to me. (Chuckles) I felt bad, but the fact that you still ate the food made me happy~

DIO It was the spicy chocolates, wasn’t it?

JOJO Yeah! You remember!

DIO (Frowns) Of course I do, Jojo.

JOJO Well... since you can handle it better now, I could buy you some next time! Since you go along with all my food requests...

DIO That’s not necessary, Jojo. Though I do appreciate the thought. You’re the food lover of the two of us, after all.

JOJO But I want to get you food too.

DIO (Huffs) (Smiles) Well, if you insist.

JOJO (Chuckles) Alright, then~ Oh! We could use the spicy chocolate for the s’mores!

DIO Hmmm, sweet and spicy, huh? I wouldn’t be opposed to that.

JOJO It’s settled, then!

[They decide on what to buy for the grocery trip in the middle of their tour]

[mareposie]

eden kids high school hc

They are imperial scholars (Damian was the first and he helped Anya to be the second one by getting a perfect grade)

They have this friend group with Becky, Ewen and Emile (occasionally George) they are always together and they are the most popular students in Eden.

Nobody bullies Anya because one day in middle school there was this accident and Damian said “Disrespecting Anya Forger is disrespecting me, a Desmond and you don’t want your family to be blacklisted.” + everyone knows Anya’s mother is close to Damian’s mother so they leave her alone.

Anya knows it’s BS because Damian is not close to his parents at all.

Damian knows Anya’s powers and this alone was enough to forgive her for using him for the mission, actually he even helps her because he’s angry at his father and doesn’t feel bad because he’s not the favorite son. They bonded through that a lot and they tease each other a lot in public and keep acting like they are annoyed by each other.

Damian is the school president, Ewen is the soccer team,  Emile is the Becky is in the radio club (she does announcements and says a lot of BS in the morning) and Anya is the school’s council treasurer after she tried to start a nap time club.

They have their own table in the cafeteria. They even have a stupid name like 5den or Damian and the e-boys or whatever.

They are the first ones to arrive in school and last to leave. Damian sometimes buys his coffee (dark raw coffee) and decides to treat everyone with their favorite drinks. He brings Emile his latte, Ewen his iced americano, Becky’s it girl order (venti matcha ice latte with half oat milk half almond milk and 3 teaspoon of agave syrup) and finally Anya’s hot chocolate milk with cake.

Actually he always buys her cake for their study sessions.

A lot of physical touch. They don’t mind sharing food and using the same glass, fork, spoon etc. Anya loves to draw on Damian’s hand during class, while he is focus on taking notes for the both of them. Anya notices his dry hands and put her hand cream on them. Sometimes she even put some chapstick on his lips. 

Becky puts concealer on everyone’s face whenever she spots dark circles.

Anya scolds him for sleeping late and Damian scolds her when she eats with her hands. By scolding I mean screaming “OI! YAH” and slapping each other.

Anya cried in preschool because she had no chocolate on V-Day and eversince, Damian secretly puts her expensive chocolate in her locker every year + publicly give her some and to close friends. She knows he knows that she knows but it’s a tradition anyway.

Damian hates chocolate on V-DAY because he received some with a strand of hair in it and got disgusted for life. He throws away the hundreds of chocolate boxes he gets every year. But he would totally eats Anya’s. She offered him the strangest things, she even gave him his first Tonitrus Bolt.

They both date around a lot because they don’t want to ruin their friendship but everyone knows it’s a matter of time. There’s this saying in Eden “getting punched so hard, he fell and never got up”

There was this girl who dared to call Damian Sy-on Boy and oh, she created chaos in the school. Anarchy. Anya was so pissed and Damian was even more pissed, since they are in the school council it was AWKWARD.

Anya calls him by his full name when she’s upset and vice versa. He usually calls her Forger. She actually tried to call him “Dami” once because that’s how his house staff used to call him and he fainted.

Emile and Ewen calls Anya “Boss Woman” and Jeeves calls her “Young Master’s girlfriend”. Max LOVES Anya and Bond is jealous. Melinda LOVES Anya as much as she loves Yor but that’s for another day.

Damian is a honorary Forger, he spends a lot of time in the house when he is not overworking himself to death. Yor calls him “Dami”. They always have those deep discussions with Loid and the blonde is like a father figure for him.

During parents’ meetings and other school events, Yor and Loid are present for Anya AND Damian since his parents are never there. Yor always tells everything to Melinda afterwards.

Also everyone has a crush on Dr Forger.

There was that time in preschool where Loid and Yor visited during an event and everyone was mesmerized by their looks. And someone pointed out that Anya didn’t look as good as like them and was probably adopted and poor girl cried because she’s adopted 💀

Only Becky knew the secret, then Damian. It’s a big secret.

Damian can’t read under his favorite tree in peace because she will always snuggle next to him to take a nap.

They shared a bed so MANY times it’s ridiculous. Actually the 5 of them often share a bed when they are on a trip. Ewen smuggles beer cans during the school trips and got caught so many times 💀 Anya and Becky are his favorite drink buddies because Damian and Emile go into coma sleep after one drink. Becky is always clubbing barely gets any sleep so Damian and her bonded through energy drinks.

Damian sends texts like “you up ?” at 2 am then deletes it. They have a chaotic group chat and Anya is terrible with texting because she makes a lot of typos so she only does loud audio messages. Emile is the one who takes pics and sends them on the gc. He always takes pics of the sunset and shows it to everyone like “look how beautiful our planet is, I can’t believe we’re so blessed” with shiny eyes. Damian corrects everyone’s typos in the gc. Becky is the most active in the group.

When they want to skip school, Damian is the one who calls the school and acts like a parent to say the student is sick and won’t be in class. Anya did it one time and she said “This is Anya and Anya’s mother won’t be in class today because she’s sick” and the school staff made her repeat it three times then she got a Toni lmao.

See the Prince Yuki Club in Fruits Basket ? There’s a Prince Damian club in Eden and its president is the headband girl, of course, Anya is the nation’s enemy.

There’s also a Damianya fanclub and they became ally with Prince Damian club to ruin whatever relationship Damian has. Anya is also popular because of her looks and her quirky personality but nobody beats Becky who owned the school at some point.

Every single girl Damian has dated ended up with a broken heart because they thought they could change him. Every single boy Anya has dated ended up crawling in front of her house and crying with loud music to get her back.

Actually Anya and Damian kissed several times ‘just to try’ but nobody knows.

[chocoenvy]

I realized I think i accidentally forgot who i was gonna request for when i made my order for the follower event oops

May I please order a chocolate milk that is a comfortingly sweet envy flavor with a syrup with a flavory aroma ? I'll send the same thing to Hu Tao from a regular reader!

An order for the 900+ Follower event

Coming right up!

You want a chocolate milk (headcannons) with a comfortingly sweet envy flavor (puppet au) with an added syrup with a flowery aroma (flower tag). You'll send the same thing to Hu Tao from regular reader. Got it!

*~Synopsis: Darling has brought you to this world and you're admittedly uncomfortable. Everything is so different, it feels as though you're wearing the wrong sized shoes. Until Hu Tao enters your life, and makes it much more interesting.

*~Notes: For how this works, Reader is the Puppet and Darling is the god. They won't have a romantic relationship but a familial one due to the puppet (you in this case) usually looking like Darling and being considered their "child". Now! Hope this is to your liking and thanks for the request! I love it, it's something I never would've thought of! If you want something different you're always free to order again!

*~Warnings: Fluff >:D, infantilization??? reader is an adult and Darling treats them like a kid not for role-playing means but because they're really old and oblivious, cult behaviors

*~*~*~*~*

Awaking in Teyvat was a jarring experience, even more so with a new and sudden literal god doting on you.

They were there when you awoke in an all to familiar setting and immediately pulled your confused and sleep-weary form into their arms.

They cooed as they cupped your face, identical to their own (completely identical to the point you thought you were looking into a mirror or maybe you were having a really trippy dream).

This god of Teyvat grinned down at you, "Welcome home, dear child."

You blinked up at them (and they were goddamn tall they put their god powers to use adding inches to their height) "What?"

They giggled and explained everything to you, "I am the god of this world, and you are my child, my puppet. You were created in my image, similar to Ei and the Raiden Shogun though my powers granted you sentience far beyond that of the Raiden shogun. I've brought you back to Teyvat to explore and live with me once more, since your fun in your other world has... expired."

You probably looked like a dead fish with how you were just... staring into space... lost and confused.

It took some more explaining, a lot of sitting down in the warm patches of grass to soak in the information, but you got the gist of it.

"Right! Well, how about we go to my abode? It's much more comfortable there and all of my acolytes are there." They smiled warmly and you felt oddly comforted by their voice and smile alone. Something deep within you clicking into place.

You went along with it, feeling tired despite having just woken up.

They grabbed your hand and the world around you disappeared, leaving just you, them, and the stars surrounding your form. It was quiet and peaceful, encompassing you in a comforting void.

The moment was gone sooner than it had come and you were standing in a grand hall with a large and luxurious throne. Honestly it was far too extravagant to be reasonable for anybody but it was pretty. It was intricate and beautifully designed, you couldn't help but stare at it.

The god giggled, "Do you like it? It's your home now."

"Huh?" You blinked, "I'm staying here?"

"Of course!" They patted your head, "You're my child after all."

"Ah," You blinked, "I-I guess so?"

It was a very odd dynamic, you let it go in the moment but it soon became apparent that they - Darling as they had introduced themself (though they offered you to call them Mom, Dad, Parent, whatever you wanted) - saw you as an actual child. Which made things very awkward because... you were an adult.

Like when you'd get up on the counter to grab something, they'd swoop in and pick you up, setting you back down on the ground with a slap on the wrist saying "Don't do that, you could hurt yourself." And then grab the item for you.

Or when you tried to cook for yourself because 3 am cooking hits different, they swooped in as SOON as you started up a fire. They walked in, their arms crossed, tapping their foot, and you felt like you were five and sneaking into the kitchen on a school night to grab a sugary snack.

They made Xiangling make you a light snack because "You need to have room for breakfast in the morning."

Or that time they fucking BABY PROOFED your room. One minute you had regular scissors in there and the next they - and all the other scissors in their abode - were replaced with baby scissors.

It was goddamn humiliating as they swooped in whenever you were in any sort of "straining" situation.

You were so close to confronting them about it but you were honestly terrified. They were literally god and while the other characters seemed nice enough around you, you knew where their loyalties lied.

If you fell out of Darling's favor, there'd be no saving you. So you just had to play nice and be docile.

Of course, if Darling knew you thought this way they'd disagree wildly. You're cared for by them and you're their child first and foremost over everything. Doesn't matter whatever opposing opinions or problems you may have with them, they'd listen to you.

Though you didn't know that, but luckily before you could get too caught up in this, Hu Tao entered your life.

Her little jingle was far too easy to get stuck in your head, and you were humming it quite a bit sometimes even doing the little dance to it. It was just an immediate pump of those happy chemicals and it was fun.

Darling noticed you doing this and they inquired about it, "That little song of yours sounds fairly familiar, where's it from?"

"Oh! It's Hu Tao little jingle! I like it quite a bit haha."

They immediately insisted on introducing the two of you. It's not like you could complain, you'd love to meet Hu Tao!

Darling giggled at how excited and yet nervous you were at the prospect and immediately asked for her presence.

She appeared swiftly, it honestly freaked you out a bit but at least you got to hang out with her.

"Your highnesses." She bowed with a delighted smile, "It's a pleasure to have been invited to your abode."

Darling essentially set you up with a playdate with Hu Tao. To which you were slightly disappointed, all of the other acolytes were careful with you. they were all afraid to incur Darling's wrath so they walked on eggshells around you. Treating you like a precious doll of Darling. Which, you supposed you were, but still.

Hu Tao was the opposite. The moment they left Hu Tao grinned deviously, "Wanna help me and Xingqiu prank Chongyun? We might be able to drag Xiangling or Xinyan in while we're there."

Oh. Oh.

You grinned and you were sure you looked mad. This was going to be fun.

To say Darling was ammused was an understatement. They were cackling as you fell victim to pranks and dealt pranks on others.

It got to the point where you and the gang (Hu Tao, Xiangling, Xingqiu, Xinyan, and Chongyun) pranked Darling.

Of course, you promised to take the entire blame, and the only ones that really helped were Hu Tao and Xingqiu (the others merely watched).

When you successfully switched up every container of salt and sugar, you and Hu tao eagerly awaited dinner.

You, your friends (Darling called them your acolytes as though you were a minor god of some sort, though you preferred to call them your friends), and Darling's preferred acolytes, and the archons of course, gathered at the dinner table.

You and your friends knew to not dig in immediately. Though the custom that they'd all adopted was to wait for Darling to eat, and you had been included in this as well.

So you grabbed a normal fruit and nibbled it, while Darling ate their food. Afterwards, everyone else dug in. Everyone but you and your friends, who merely nibbled.

It took around five minutes of agony. Everyone being too polite to slander the chefs Darling had chosen. So they were just sitting and awkwardly chewing, sharing nervous glances with each other.

Hu Tao kicked you with her leg underneath the table and shared a glance, trying her best to not laugh. You grinned and had to bite the inside of your cheek to not burst out in a fit of giggles.

It wasn't until Darling had spat out their food that everyone else started to spit out their food and wash their mouths out.

"The food tastes off this time." Darling nearly gagged, turning to a nearby servant, "Can you please go and ask the Chef what happened?"

They nodded and scurried off.

You and Hu Tao were practically shaking trying to not laugh. Xingqiu harshly kicked Hu Tao's leg with a strained smile, silently telling her to "shut the fuck up."

It was when the chef came out and frantically explained that all of the sugar and salt had been mixed up was when you broke.

You practically collapsed into Hu Tao's arm giggling like crazy, Hu Tao covering her cackling with her hand and holding onto you with her other.

Xingqiu and Chongyun were pretending they didn't know you two, Xinyan was chuckling along with you two (although she didn't look anywhere near as insane as you two did), and Xiangling was apologizing for being the one to have put the thought in your head.

Everyone held their breath, afraid for your fates. Would you be discarded? A shame, everyone in the palace had become quite fond of you. They'd surely miss you, but there was no way they could all go against Darling.

Darling laughed, a sound and sight identical to your own, the only difference was the flowers that decorated their hair and yours, "Quite a nasty trick you pulled, dear children," They grinned down at the two of you, teasingly and lovingly, "Looks like I'll have to keep my guard up with you two rascals around."

[streetlight11]

Strawberry Lattes

Summary: He always needs his morning caffeine to wake him up for his morning classes. He never knew what it feels like wanting to come back to a particular place again and again solely for one reason, until he met you. You were a full time barista and a part time university student. Despite the stress you get almost every week, your two friends have always been there to support you. What happens when your friends come to visit you at your workplace one day, only to find out that they were friends with the same boy who not only is your eye candy, but also your regular customer?

Genre: Super fluffy

Pairing: Kim Sunwoo x GN Reader

Word count: 5.5k

It was another dreadful morning after only 2 hours of sleep due to staying up all night hoping to finish at least 50% of the assignment. But this wasn’t an excuse for you to call in to work sick or unable to come for your shift. Hence, the reason why you were now forcing yourself out of bed to freshen up and get ready for work. You were a full time barista at a local café downtown just around the corner from your apartment, and also a part time student at Yonsei University.

The reason why you chose this path was because you wanted to further your studies but also earn a monthly allowance in order to pay for your school and house bills since you were living alone and didn't have the time to search for a roommate.

Despite the stress load you get every once in a while, you managed to cope and tried your best to pass each module. Today was no different, as you got ready for work and was out the door by 0730. You arrived at the café only to find your manager already preparing the coffee machines and restocking the cakes in the fridge beside the cashier. You greeted him good morning before he smiled at you.

You went into the back room to put your bag down and took your apron. Proceeding to head to the front where the cashier and coffee machines were.

“Did you get enough sleep yesterday?” Kihyun asked.

Before you could reply, a yawn left your lips as you used the back of your hand to cover your mouth slightly.

“Nope. But I’ll be fine.” You said. You could hear the heavy sigh that left his lips when he closed the fridge door and soon turned to you with a frown.

“(Y/N), you know you have to get some rest. It’s not good for your health.” Kihyun said, but you nodded.

“I know Ki, but I can’t fail this module.”

“Just… know when to take a break okay?”

“Okay.”

With that, he went to the back room to settle some paperwork while you stayed by the counter, refilling the powders into the containers. After you were done, a few customers had entered to buy their morning caffeine doses. 4 orders and 5 minutes of silence later, you leaned over the counter top with one knee resting on the stool in front of you that was hidden from any customer in plain sight.

You supported your head on your palm, slowly finding yourself drifting to sleep when the doorbell chimed, catching your attention. You looked up to see a guy walking into the café looking just as tired as you were but he had more life in him.

“Dang he’s cute.” You thought to yourself as you quickly wiped the pout off your face and soon replaced it with a warm smile.

“Good morning, may I take your order?” you greeted him.

He flashed you a soft smile before glancing up at the menu boards hanging above your head.

“Do you have any recommendations? I feel like trying something new.” He finally looked back down at you, only for you to feel as though your airflow got sucked out of your lungs.

“Personally I really like the Iced Matcha Latte with soy milk if I want a non-caffeinated drink. But if I want that espresso kick to start my mornings, I really love the Strawberry Latte, with two pumps of syrup and a light dash of strawberry sprinkles. It’s not too strong and it definitely gives you a sweet tangy balance to the bitter coffee taste.” You ended your speech with a light giggle after you realized how long it was.

The male only smiled fondly at you during that whole minute explanation but it was worth it. “Great, can I get the exact order for the second one then?” He said. You looked quite surprised but nonetheless smiled as you began to key in the order

“Choice of size?”

“Regular please.”

After you were done, you took the regular size takeaway cup and a marker, looking at him to ask for his name or initials.

“Sunwoo.”

The corner of your lips tugged upwards, writing down his name before setting the cup to your left beside the coffee machine and soon charged him for his order. After he was done paying, you returned him his change and gave the receipt before telling him to wait at the collection point. You made the drink exactly how you would make it for yourself. Smiling happily upon seeing your creation being prepared for not yourself, but this time for a customer.

After you had sprinkled the strawberry powder on top of the foam surface, you took the lid and secured it close before you went to the collection point and called out softly.

“Strawberry Latte for Sunwoo.” 

He walked forwards as he took the cup, not forgetting to give you a smile. 

“Thank you-” His eyes darted towards your name tag pinned to your apron before he looked back at you. “...(Y/N)”

You bowed to him slightly as you watched him leave the café. After he left, he didn’t forget to spare a quick glance into the café, only to see your smile soon disappeared. Replacing it with a small pout when you let out a sigh. Sunwoo chuckled as he continued walking to campus that was just 2 blocks away.

For some reason, he couldn’t stop thinking about you even after he made it to his first lecture. The small smile gracing on his lips didn’t go unnoticed by his friends as Kevin began to nudge Sunwoo’s elbow the minute he came to sit beside the former.

“Aye, why are you smiling like an idiot huh?” Kevin asked.

“Maybe he just sniffed a smiling gas.” Younghoon said.

“What the hell is that?” Jacob asked.

“I was being sarcastic you nimrod.” Younghoon said, making the former one growl.

“I’ll tell you guys later.” Sunwoo said as he couldn’t wipe the smile off his face. 

2 hours passed and they were now heading to the food hall in the main building, when Hyunjae slings his arm over Sunwoo’s shoulder.

“So? Why were you smiling all morning today?” He asked, causing the rest to focus their gazes on him as Sunwoo sighed knowing he couldn’t run away now.

“Ahh, it’s nothing… I went to get my morning coffee and there was this really cute barista who attended to me. That’s all.”

A series of “ooh”s were heard as the boys got noisier by the second.

“Jeez, can y’all shut up? You’re embarrassing me.” Sunwoo said as he quickened his pace, only for Younghoon to grab hold of his backpack and pulled him back.

“Oh please, you should be thankful we even gave reactions to what you say.” Younghoon said, making Sunwoo scoff. 

A few weeks later, you were just handing a customer her plate of pasta and a cappuccino at one of the tables when you heard the doorbell chime. The customer you were attending to, thanked you for bringing her orders to her, smiling and replied to her.

“Your welcome. Enjoy your food.”

With that, you began to walk back to the front counter when you saw a group of guys gathered in front of the cashier. Right when you were just about to walk past them to head behind the counter, one of them glanced towards his right only to lock eyes with you. It was Sunwoo. The same regular customer that came every morning before his classes. The same guy who you may or may not have a tiny crush on.

The moment you locked eyes, you could feel your heartbeat stop for just a millisecond later as he flashed you a soft smile. This was enough to make you blush as you smiled back to him shyly before quickly making your way behind the counter.

“Oh great, you’re back. Help me take their order will you? I have to prepare the delivery ones.” Kihyun said simply. You were about to protest but you had no choice since the other part timer was on his lunch break.

So you nodded defeatedly before you returned the tray back at the collection point before you went back to the cashier, only to see Sunwoo standing there alone.

“Hey.” Sunwoo said as his lips began to tug upwards.

“Hey. What can I get you today?” You asked with a shy smile. Your voice sounded much softer than usual. You didn’t miss the little chuckle that left his lips before he spoke up.

“There’s gonna be a bit more than one order today.”

“I can see that.” You joked.

“Can I get one regular iced mocha, two regular double chocolate frappe, one small iced americano, one regular iced vanilla latte, and my usual please.”

You keyed in his orders as he spoke, only for you to look back up at him to confirm if that was all he wanted. Sunwoo gave you a firm nod, proceeding to charge him for the orders and soon told him to have a seat, you will call out to him once the drinks are ready. Sunwoo nodded as he left, not forgetting to smile at you for the umpteenth time that day.

You soon came beside Kihyun and started to make the drinks. Sunwoo on the other hand, immediately got dragged down into his seat by Kevin when they began to make comments about you.

“You were right, they’re hella cute!” Kevin said.

“Do you think they’re attached?” Younghoon asked.

“I don’t know. I mean, they’re quite cute. It’s impossible they’re single.” Sangyeon shrugged.

“Not all good looking people are attached. Even some normal looking ones are attached. We can’t just judge from their looks.” Sunwoo said defensively, only for Changmin and Haknyeon to smirk.

“Or are you just saying that because you want them to be single?” Changmin said, causing the rest of them to agree teasingly.

“Whatever, they wouldn’t date someone like me anyway.” Sunwoo said.

Not long after he finished his sentence, your voice echoes around the café walls as you called his name.

“Drinks for Sunwoo.”

With that, Sunwoo got up and soon jogged his way to the collection point, only to find you standing behind the counter with the tray in hand. You smiled as you pushed the tray gently towards him.

“Be careful. It’s heavy.” You warned.

“Don’t worry.” Sunwoo said, couldn’t help but smile at him.

He soon came back to their table and distributed the drinks. Almost half an hour had passed, they were just talking about random topics when Sunwoo happened to glance towards the counter. Seeing you laugh at something your manager said.

He didn’t realize he was smiling until Sangyeon spoke up. “Sunwoo yah, if they make your heart flutter that much, why don’t you just go there and ask them out?”

Sunwoo whips his head to Sangyeon, almost pulling a muscle while doing that.

“What?! N-No!”

“Why not?”

“The last time I asked someone out, I got turned down harshly in front of everyone. I couldn’t sleep for days!”

“Sunwoo yah, you’re just thinking too much. Just try and ask them out. Who knows they’ll accept?” Haknyeon asked.

“I don’t wanna risk it.” Sunwoo said. Glancing back to the front counter.

“Why must I have a crush on the cutest barista working just two blocks away from campus?” Sunwoo thought to himself as he gently shook his head and went back into the conversation with the guys.

A few minutes passed, some of them were discussing their project work while some were doing their own stuff when Sunwoo saw you left the counter only to walk towards an empty table near the back of the café. Since the café was not so packed, Kihyun told you to eat at one of the tables. So as to not feel cramped in the back room.

You had a transparent cup filled with what seems to be strawberry latte and a plate of sandwich. Sunwoo was caught staring by his friends as Younghoon nudged his arm to gain his attention.

“This is your chance to talk to them.”

Sunwoo saw some of them nod in agreement as he glanced back at you who was just taking a bite of the sandwich while scrolling through your phone.

With much motivation, he finally got up and made his way towards your table. You were just looking at your Instagram feed when you saw a figure come to a stop on the opposite side of your table.

You looked up to see Sunwoo standing there with a nervous smile as he spoke up. “Do you need some company?” He asked. You giggled, locking your phone screen and soon placed it face down on the table.

“Sure, that would be great.” You said. He pulled the chair out and soon took a seat.

“You’re just having that for lunch?” He asked curiously as he looked at the plate in front of you.

“Mmm.”

“Is that enough to fill you for the rest of your shift?” He asks, genuinely concerned at how little you ate.

“Yeap! Don’t worry. I always get something heavy to eat before my night classes.”

Sunwoo paused only to raise his eyebrows in confusion.

“Night classes?”

“I’m a part time student at Yonsei U. That’s why I’m a full timer here.”

“Wow… Are you able to cope with work and study at the same time?”

“It can be tiring and mentally exhausting sometimes but I persevere.”

Sunwoo was shocked at this new information but nonetheless gave you some comforting words to help cheer you on. “That’s… a lot to take in. I hope you don’t stress yourself out too much. Please get some rest and don’t overwork yourself.”

You hadn't seen this side of him before but it was very sweet of him to even say all those things to you. You ended up chatting for a bit, only for you both to find out that he was a student at Hankuk U, you were the same age, you both loved sushi and many more.

Your lunch break was ending soon but you were dreading to say goodbye. “Well, it was really nice talking to you Sunwoo, but I’m afraid my break time’s almost over.” 

You pouted sadly, only for him to chuckle.

“Do you have class tonight?”

You nodded.

“Hmm, don’t worry okay? I’ll see you tomorrow morning.” Sunwoo said, making you giggle at his disclaimer.

The both of you got up only for him to speak up.

“My friends and I are leaving soon too. I’ll see you tomorrow. Take care, don’t forget to eat before you head to class!” He reminded you. Not forgetting to give him a nod.

A few days later, you had just ended your night class and you were almost burned out for the day, you could barely keep your eyes open. Only for your phone to ring. It was Eric.

“Hello?” You said into the line.

“Hey! Are you finished with class?”

“Yeah. I’m heading down now. Where are you?”

“At the parking lot. Me and Chanhee hyung decided to wait for you today.”

With that being said, you gasped lightly, unable to digest this information.

“Wha- Eric are you serious? You didn’t have to- omg.”

“No, it’s fine! Besides, me and hyung needed to discuss something anyway. Meet us at the parking lot okay?”

Before you could reply, he already hung up the call, making you sigh. You felt bad for making them wait for you since it was already half past 10 at night. But then again, they did it out of their own will. You arrived at the parking lot, only to see Chanhee and Eric leaning against the side of Chanhee’s car amongst a few other vehicles left just chatting away while waiting for you.

Just then, Eric glanced towards the entrance, only to see a very tired you dragging your feet towards them. You could barely open your eyes as you held onto your bag strap for your dear life. Right when you had just arrived in front of them, your vision blacked out, feeling your head pound against your skull. You let out a soft groan, falling forwards, just in time for Eric to catch you.

“Woah, are you okay?” He asked worriedly as Chanhee and him exchanged glances to one another.

“Mmm, y-yeah… I just blacked out for a bit.” You said, only to hear Chanhee sigh.

“How many times must we tell you not to overwork yourself and get some sleep?” Chanhee said.

“I did sleep...” You tried to defend yourself, but they knew you better than you know yourself. 

“How many hours did you sleep last night?” Eric asked as he narrowed his eyes at you questioningly. You avoided their piercing gazes by answering their question in a hushed tone. 

“An hour and a half.” 

With that, your two friends let out a heavy sigh as Eric looked disappointed in his friend. It wasn’t because he was mad at you, it was because he was growing more and more concerned over your sleeping patterns and your health. You weren't just schooling, you were working as well so it would only be right if you maintained a healthy sleeping pattern and a balanced work/study time.

“That’s it. You’re coming home with me. I’m gonna make sure you get that sleep you so well deserved.” Chanhee said as Eric nodded in agreement.

“What? No, I’m fine. Okay, I promise I’ll sleep tonight.” You said.

“Yeah right.”

“You don’t trust me?” You asked with a pout.

“On this? No, I don’t.” With that, you scoffed as you knew you couldn’t fight back with them. So with that being said, you ended up following Chanhee to his apartment since he lived alone. Once you were back at Chanhee’s place, he told you to wash up. He let you borrow a loose shirt and sleeping shorts.

He told you to sleep in his bed and that he could take the couch. At first you rejected it, saying you could sleep on the couch but he refused. 

Chanhee purposely placed your bag in the living room so that you couldn’t sneakily stay up all night and worked on your assignment. Chanhee’s body clock was never normal to begin with but to him, your sleeping pattern was more important than his.

Hence, the reason why he was still awake at 3am, watching the live broadcast of the World Cup. He was trying so hard to keep quiet to avoid waking you up as he eagerly watched the tournament. Just then, he thought he heard soft whimpers in his head.

“What the-” He mumbled to himself as he continued watching the game.

Just then, the whimper sounded again and it was a lot more distinct this time. With that, he lowered down the volume just to see if that sound would appear again. Not long after, he heard the whimper again and it seemed to have come from his hallway.

Chanhee got up immediately as he went to his bedroom, opening the door gently.

That’s when he saw you shifting uncomfortably in your sleep. He approached you in a rush as he saw you clutching onto the blanket against your chest as you had a frown on your face.

You were mumbling something in your sleep but he couldn’t really catch what you said.

“(Y/N)? Hey wake up.” Chanhee said softly as he placed a hand on your shoulder and lightly shook it. It took him 3 tries to finally get you awake when you jolted forward. Your breathing was heavy as you sat there with cold sweat running down the side of your face.

“It’s okay (Y/N), you’re okay. I’m here. It’s just a nightmare.” He comforted you while grabbing a handful of his shirt.

He pulled you into a hug, feeling your body shiver. They stayed like that for a while, only for him to tuck you back in bed. He pushed your hair away from your face as he looked down at you gently with a soft smile.

“Goodnight (Y/N).”

“Goodnight Chanhee.”

He was about to walk away when you grabbed his hand.

“Thank you… for everything.”

Chanhee could only smile, gently caressing the back of your hand with his thumb and soon spoke up.

“Get some rest, (Y/N).” You nodded only to let go of his hand. You fell back asleep a few seconds after as he went back to the living room, only to turn off the television and went to sleep himself.

It has been 4 months since Sunwoo first came to the café and you've gotten a lot closer than before. 

However, Sunwoo still has yet to ask you out on a date.

It was a chilly Wednesday afternoon and both Chanhee and Eric promised to visit you after their lecture. The time was 35 minutes past 2 and the two guys had just entered the café, settling themselves into one of the empty tables beside the glass window after they ordered their drinks.

After making their drinks, you made your own drink and took one of the sandwiches from the fridge. Making your way to them for your lunch break.

“Hey guys, one iced mocha and one iced matcha latte for the two sweetest guys I’m lucky to have as friends.” You said, causing the two boys to smirk.

“Just friends?” Eric teased.

“Best friends.” You corrected yourself, only for Chanhee to laugh at Eric’s pained reaction.

“Ouch, never thought I’d be friend zoned this quick.”

You found yourself giggling as you spoke up to comfort your friend while you took a seat beside him.

“I love you, Eric ah.”

He couldn’t find himself being angry at you as he immediately melted and soon became a giggling mess. You were just chatting away, gossiping about the same stuck up girl in their class who keeps acting as if everyone was head over heels for when they’re actually not.

Just then, a familiar voice calls out to Chanhee and Eric from a distance behind you making your heart skip a beat.

“Hey! Hyung! Eric ah!”

Chanhee glanced past your shoulder while Eric turned to look over his own shoulder before they smiled widely and waved eagerly to whoever was behind you.

“That voice…” You whispered under your breath, only to slowly turn around. That’s when you saw Sunwoo walking up to your table along with his usual group of friends. However, you didn’t miss the look on Sunwoo’s face when he locked eyes with you. He was definitely surprised but also confused as to why you were seated with his friends.

“Oh? It’s the cute barista!” Juyeon said innocently. Flashing them a bashful smile. Just then, both Chanhee and Eric turned to look at each other simultaneously only for them to look at you and spoke up in unison.

“You’re the cute barista Sunwoo’s been talking about?!”

With that, Sunwoo gestured a punch to them signalling them to keep quiet. Only for him to look at you and ask.

“You know them?” 

You could only nod as you told him the truth.

“I’ve known them since college.”

The rest of the boys gasped at the newly profound information. They couldn’t believe you were mutual friends with Chanhee and Eric. The 12 of you ended up sitting in two separate tables side by side whilst Chanhee and Eric began to spill the tea about Sunwoo.

“I can’t believe he’s been talking about you all these while.” Eric said.

“If I had known sooner, I would have set you two up on a date.” Chanhee said, causing you to glance at Sunwoo who was sitting opposite you. You cleared your throat and glanced down at your wrist watch before you got up abruptly to avoid any more awkward conversations.

“Oh look, my break time is ending. Nice talking to you guys. Thanks for visiting me today, my babies. More cakes for you? Yes? Okay.” You said in a rush. Quickly leaving the table, earning a laugh from the guys. Thinking that your actions are cute.

“Sunwoo, you really have a good taste don’t you?” Eric teased, making Sunwoo throw a tissue paper packet to Eric’s face, catching the poor boy by surprise.

You were in the back room, having a short break when your co-worker, Mingi called for you from the door.

“(Y/N), somebody wants to talk to you. He said he’s a friend of yours?” Mingi said, making you hum in confusion but nonetheless left the back room.

Only to be met with Sunwoo standing at the collection point.

“Sunwoo?”

“Hey, umm, I was wondering… Are you… free, this weekend?” You found yourself blushing as you tried to come up with a quick response.

“Uhh yeah. Yeah, I’m free.” Sunwoo didn’t expect you to say yes so quickly but it definitely made him feel slightly happy that he didn’t get rejected.

“Great. Umm, I’ll pick you up at 8?”

“Okay.” You smiled genuinely.

“Okay… Well, I uhh, better get going. Bye (Y/N). See you.” He said shyly, his ears starting to burn red.

“See you Sunwoo.” You said, only for him to quickly leave before his whole tomato head explodes.

Weekends finally came and it was already 30 minutes past 7 and you were struggling to find a nice outfit to wear. You didn’t know exactly where he was taking you, all he said was to wear nicely. You were nervous to say the least. You haven't been on a date in like what? 2 years?

Ever since your last date where you got stood up, you decided not to go on any more blind dates. You would rather stay single for the rest of your life than being played with and getting your heart broken again and again.

Sunwoo texted you a few minutes later saying he was downstairs so you replied by saying you’ll be down in a minute. You soon left your apartment and locked the doors before heading down the corridor towards the lift lobby. Once you were at ground level, you made your way out, only to see Sunwoo leaning against his car door.

The minute he noticed your figure walking towards him, he looked up only to give you a one over. You stopped a few feet in front of him with a shy smile as he spoke up.

“Wow, you look really stunning.”

“Thank you. You look dashing.” You giggled.

Sunwoo was wearing a dark blue button down shirt tucked into his black denim skinny jeans, a pair of black sneakers and a few stainless steel accessories. He recently dyed his hair to a deep berry colour. He soon opened the door for you. Getting in before he walked over to the driver seat. Once he was in, he buckled his seatbelt and started his car engine.

“Where are we going?” You asked.

“It’s a surprise.” Sunwoo said with a cheeky smile as you could feel your heartstrings pull.

The drive to the destination wasn’t as long as you thought, maybe because the journey was filled with jokes and laughter every now and then. Before you knew it, he finally pulled into a parking lot at what seems to be an outdoor movie theatre.

“Sunwoo yah… This is…” You paused as you got out of the car while he reached over to the back seat to take the blanket he brought to lay it down on the grass. He came back to your side after locking his car, only for you to continue from where you left off.

“So cute. How did you even find out about this outdoor movie?”

He smiled as you both began to walk towards the open space where quite a lot of couples were already seated down on their own blankets.

“My friend told me about this when he went on a date with his girlfriend the other day. So I figured why not give it a try.” Sunwoo said, making you blush.

You managed to find an empty space so he laid down the blanket and soon sat down. While waiting for the movie, you talked about almost anything. The movie soon started as everyone was starting to get excited. Halfway through the beginning of the movie, you were sitting beside Sunwoo with your legs extended out in front of you.

The night slowly got breezy, feeling the cool air blowing on you softly. Just then, he saw you straightening your posture, rubbing your arms to keep yourself warm. He felt bad that he couldn’t give you his jacket since he didn’t wear any.

However, an idea flashed across his mind, making him turn to you to speak.

“Hey, are you cold?” He asked. You turned to him with a small smile before you answered.

“Yeah, but it’s fine. It’s just a little chilly, that’s all.” Sunwoo wasn’t convinced as he saw your teeth clattering, making him chuckle softly.

“You know, I heard from somewhere that close body contact can keep us warm.” Sunwoo suggests indirectly to you, turning your head to him to see a playful smile on his lips.

You giggled as you looked at him with your brows raised.

“Are you okay with it?”

“If I wasn’t, I wouldn’t suggest it would I?” He asked, causing you to mentally facepalm at your ridiculous self.

“Right. You have a point.”

You heard him chuckle when he pat the empty spot in between his legs, gesturing for you to come over.

“C’mere.” He said.

Once you have settled down between his legs, you feel him wrap his arms around your body, trapping your arms. Gently pressing your back against his chest. Warmth immediately engulfing you both as you snuggled deeper into his chest.

“Warm enough?” He asked, only for you to nod.

You stayed like that for the rest of the movie. Sacrificing his back if it meant keeping you warm throughout the 1 and a half hours of the movie. 

After the movie ended, you went to get supper before he sent you home. You agreed to let him walk you all the way to your door. Hence, the reason why you were now standing outside your apartment door. You unlocked the door but then turned around to face him.

“Thank you for today Sunwoo. It was a fun experience watching a movie outdoors for the first time under the starry night.” You said as he smiled.

“I’m glad you liked it…”

“I hope we can do something like this again soon.” At that being said, his ears perked up, staring at you in awe.

“A-Again? Does that mean…?” He paused, causing you to giggle.

“Yes. I’d love to go on a date with you again.” 

Sunwoo couldn’t contain his excitement as he smiled from ear to ear, his adorable toothy grin made your heart skip a few beats. He elicited a soft giggle, biting his lip to stop himself from smiling too much.

Just then, you decided to take it upon yourself by pressing a soft kiss onto his cheek. Sunwoo was frozen in place as you smiled up to him endearingly before you bid him goodbye. You quickly entered your apartment to hide your flushed face when you could feel the embarrassment starting to creep up on you. You leaned against the door. Trying to steady your heartbeat.

After what felt like forever, you finally pushed yourself off the door and was about to walk deeper into your apartment when there was a knock.

You turned around to open it and you were greeted by Sunwoo again, seeming he finally came into senses.

Without any words exchanged, he took one quick step forward, reaching up to cup your face with one hand before he gently pressed his lips against yours. You melted almost immediately when you felt him smile into the kiss. Sunwoo could feel his heart get weaker, snaking one hand around your waist while pulling you closer to him.

Your hands rested on his chest as he pulled away with a soft sound, only for you to keep your gaze on his collarbone. Too shy to look at him in the eye.

Sunwoo gently took your chin in between his thumb and index finger. Tilting your head up, making you lock eyes with him.

“I’m pretty sure that just proves to you how I feel about you, but I still wanna tell you in words. I really, really like you. And I would love to take you out on more dates and be able to call you mine.”

With his cute confession, you couldn’t help but giggle. Wrapping your arms around his neck before you spoke up.

“I like you too Sunwoo. And yes, I would love to go on dates with you, and for you to call me yours.” With that being said, Sunwoo smiled in victory. Kissing you again sweetly.

The next day, you broke the news to your friends as you got happy cheers and excited screams in the group chat. Sunwoo never thought he would date anyone after being rejected multiple times but maybe he was fated to meet you and be the person who orders the same drink every time at the café you worked in. Maybe now he could finally live his love life with more cuddles and Strawberry Lattes.

[iwillhaveamoonbase]

The Dangers of Heating Blankets

On a cold Friday morning, the temptation to stay in bed all day under their new heating blanket is too much for Callum and Rayla. AU

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

Callum blinked sleepily at the sound of Rayla's alarm going off.  Rayla hadn't moved yet, probably trying to ignore the inevitable reality of leaving their warm bed for the cold Scottish winter.  The heating blanket they had bought last night was doing its job in keeping them warm, but the idea of leaving the bed was vastly unappealing.  Taking a look outside, he internally hissed at the snow falling.

Normally he loved snow.  Loved hot cocoa while the first snow fell, snowball fights, and building a snowman.  But now, when he had a warm wife under an even warmer blanket?  He'll take the heat, thank you.

The buzzing continued, Rayla finally groaning and turning to shut it off.  Instead of getting out of bed, she turned back to him and wrapped her arms around him.  Not one to deny a cuddle, Callum followed suit, nuzzling his nose in her soft hair.  She smelled like the snickerdoodles and gingerbread they'd made last night while video calling with Callum's family back in the States.

"You have work," Callum whispered, chuckling at the groan she let out.

"So do you."  Dread filled Callum at that reminder.  He normally got to work at home as a graphic designer for an ad agency, but today was one of his designated days to go in.  Rayla's engineering job still required her to come in during normal business days.

Weighing the options in his head, Callum pulled Rayla tighter to him.  Today was Friday and they never had to work Saturdays.  They had enough food to last them the weekend and no real plans besides spending their first winter together as a married couple.  The thought of leaving their bed was becoming more and more unappealing by the second.  Why shouldn't he spend all day snuggling his wife?  He never called in and neither did she.

"Let's skip," he finally answered.

"I think you mean 'call in.'  We're not teenagers in high school.  We're adults with jobs."  She finished with an exaggerated eye roll and a sarcastic 'yay.'

"And I think a better use of my time is keeping my wife warm."

"The blanket is doing a better job of that, Mr. Freezing Feet."  Lightly touching his foot to her leg, he chuckled when she squealed but didn't pull out of his hold.  The blanket really was doing a good job of keeping her captive.  She raised herself on her elbow to look outside, an audible groan coming out when she must have seen the snow.  "Nooo.  The office has been so cold lately."

"Stay," Callum murmured, pulling her back down for cuddles.  Rayla willingly came, burying her head in his chest.  "We'll stay in bed until noon, I'll make breakfast.  We have that maple syrup Ez sent and a bit of cinnamon.  French toast sound good?"

"Don't do this, Callum.  I have to go to work," she whined but made no move to get up.  Instead she raised the blanket to cover their heads.  Taking in her night attire, Callum wanted to kiss her then and there.  She was dressed in one of his old hoodies and a pair of sweatpants she'd stolen off of him when they'd started dating.  Four years later and she still refused to give them back, saying that they looked better on her than they did him.

"I'll make hot chocolate, the real way, with warm milk and cinnamon.  We can gorge on gingerbread and lay in bed watching Christmas romcoms."

"Die Hard or nothing," she replied.

"Die Hard it is."

With a groan, she moved away from him only to come back with her phone.  "You're sick as a dog and need me to take care of you, got it?"

Smiling, Callum nodded, holding her as she called her office.  He coughed several times to make it more believable, smiling when Rayla ended the call.  Calling his work went much the same, except Rayla was coughing in the background.  With a quick 'so sorry' to his supervisor, Callum hung up and threw Rayla's cell phone into the ether.  There was no way anyone was getting him out of bed before noon today.

"I still want French toast," Rayla told him, her arms and legs wrapped around his torso as he held her as close as humanly possible.

"You will get your French toast."

"And Die Hard….I also want to watch one of your American movies."

"A romcom?"

"No," she shook her head against his neck.  He could almost hear her scrunching her nose in distaste.  She never liked romantic films, but tolerated them when she was spending time with his family.  "What's that one your grandda was talking about last time?"

"A Christmas Story, I think."

"That one."

"Sounds good."

They remained like that until eleven, Rayla's long legs keeping him in place and he had no desire to get out of bed.  When he finally disentangled from her, she let out a soft whine before curling up under their blankets.  Chuckling to himself, Callum grabbed his fluffiest pair of socks and padded to their kitchen, turning the central heating on along the way.

Cracking some eggs and whisking the milk with a bit of cinnamon, he made quick work of the French toast he'd promised.  They'd bought challah from a bakery down the road and the soft texture looked divine.  With some more milk, he heated it in a pot before adding dark chocolate and a bit more cinnamon, whisking it until it thickened up.  The kitchen smelled incredible by the time he was done, the spicy-sweetness of the cinnamon wafting through the air like a warm blanket.  It just wasn't winter without spice.

A pair of toned arms wrapped around his stomach as a face he knew very well buried itself in his back.  "That smells so good," Rayla murmured.

"I'm glad."

"I missed you, though.  The bed was colder without you."

Shaking his head, he moved the last of their breakfast to a plate and put the pan in the sink to soak.  "Did you miss me or my body heat?"

"Same thing," Rayla groused.  "It's boring staying in bed all day if there's no one there to share it with."

"We'll eat and head back."

"And watch Die Hard."

"And watch Die Hard."  Turning around, he wrapped his arms around Rayla, soaking in the warmth she provided.  Leaning down, he captured her lips in a soft kiss before pulling away.  "Let's eat before this gets cold."

Rayla devoured her share of breakfast, complimenting him on the choice of bread he had made last night at the bakery.  When they were done, they watched movies in bed all day and snuggled against each other.  When dinner time came, he made her a warm tomato soup that kept their bones warm until they made it back to bed.  All in all, it was probably the best Friday he'd had in a long time.