#Shop whole house water filter

[evandarya]

This is my entry into the BatPham Disney AU summer event!

Shaytan Alhufra

The Hunchback of Notre Dame AU

[Read on Ao3]

Day 1

(Death/Resurrection)

“Mom and Dad are out this weekend, and Jazz is planning on spending the whole time at the library, if you guys want to come over,” Danny said conversationally one day over the lunch table as he stirred the gravy into what passed for mashed potatoes.

“Can’t.” Sam stabbed a cucumber slice out of her salad angrily. “My mom is taking me dress shopping for some party over the summer.”

“Me, either, dude,” Tucker said, struggling to open his milk carton. “Lex Corp is unveiling a new prototype drone and I want to watch the live demonstration. Last time something caught on fire, it was awesome.”

“Oh, okay.” Danny squashed his disappointment and fear. He really didn’t want to be alone in the house right now. Not with the empty hole in the wall in the basement. His parents said the portal didn’t work, that it might never work if they couldn’t figure out what was going on with it, but that didn’t stop the feeling that something was lurking in the darkness, beckoning to him. “Maybe I can come over and watch it with you?”

“Yeah, that sounds like fun,” Tucker said, giving up on his mangled milk carton. Sam took it with a sigh and opened it easily and handed it back to him. “You boys have fun. I’m going to try to negotiate for only one petticoat this time.”

“Ew, people still wear those?” Tucker asked, recoiling from her with a grimace.

“No, and I don’t know why Mom insists I do.”

Danny couldn’t stop himself from laughing at his friends' dual looks of disgust. This weekend would be fine. He would be fine.

***

Danny unlocked the front door to the empty house and let himself in. It was dark, but enough light was filtering in through the living room windows that he didn’t feel the need to turn on a light. He locked the door behind himself and made his way to the kitchen. Tucker’s family was great. They never treated him any differently for what his parents did for a living and avoided the subject since they knew it made him uncomfortable. His parents studied ghosts, something that can’t even be proven. How did they expect him to make friends when he was the but of all the other kid’s jokes on career day?

Danny sighed and filled a glass with water from the sink. Even the city water was safer to drink than the pitcher in the fridge, stored next to ectoplasm samples, because why would they put a fridge in the lab when they have a perfectly good one in the kitchen? Mr. Foley had cooked dinner, spaghetti, and meatballs with garlic bread and salad, and Danny was always thankful for a dinner he didn’t have to kill a second time. He finished his water and put the glass in the almost full dishwasher. He should run it, but he didn’t know if Jazz would eat when she came home, so he left it. He could run it in the morning either way.

Right now he wanted to go to bed and sleep while his parents were out and the constant noise from the lab was at an all-time low. It was never really quiet in the lab, with too many machines whirring and beeping with ongoing experiments, too much electricity surging through the wires, but without his parents tinkering and exclamations of discovery or disappointment it was almost eerie how quiet it was. Danny walked quickly past the basement door and headed up the stairs to his room. He made it about halfway when he heard it. There was a skittering. Something was moving around in the lab. A mouse? He hoped not. He saw what ectoplasm did to hotdogs, he did not want to see what it did to a mouse. He opened the basement door on silent hinges and padded his way down the stairs. He didn’t dare turn on a light in case he scared the mouse away. He crept across the lab, eyes on the edges and corners of the room where he knew mice liked to hide. He didn’t see anything, but it was pretty dark.

He heard it again, the quiet almost non-existent whisper of tiny feet on metal from behind him. He turned, dread pooling in his stomach, toward what he knew was behind him. The empty void of the broken portal. Its metal jaws stretched seven feet in each direction, but it felt much bigger than that. Cables and wires hung from the walls and spilled from its open end like the tongue of some great beast. Someone could mistake it for dead, but Danny felt in his gut that it was sleeping. The beast was sleeping and a mouse was running around in its mouth. He didn’t know what it was that made him take a step forward, to enter that great maw. Some stupidity or bravery took hold of him and he placed one foot into the void. Then the other. Then one more step and his foot caught on a loose cable.

You hear, sometimes, of how people in extreme situations say the world slowed down around them. He and Jazz had watched a documentary about it, once. The doctors they had talked to said it had something to do with the adrenaline and your body’s reaction to sudden stress. It had never really come up again. He was so rarely in life-threatening situations. But as soon as his foot caught on the cable and he started tipping forward he saw everything. His hands shot up on their own accord, he saw the button, grey like the surrounding metal, and felt it hit his palm and depress. He heard the beast around him wake up and shudder to life. A ball of green fire built in the depths of its throat and sparked along the metal, raced up his arm and across his chest. He saw it all before the pain registered. He barely had time to scream before everything went green and then faded to black.

***

Ra’s Al Ghul walked into the chamber like he owned the world. In essence, he did. He owned the world and ruled it from the shadows, the same way he had been doing for centuries. He was rarely surprised anymore, and when something did happen to surprise him he often took interest in it. He circled the pool of Lazarus water, his underlings bowing their heads in deference or fear, he didn’t care which. Something was happening that he had never seen before. The pool was bubbling, almost like it was boiling, except the temperature hadn’t changed. A dark vapor poured off the surface and gathered and swirled around the roof of the chamber. It hung there like a cloud threatening a storm.

Suddenly he saw something in the water, something pale white floating up to the surface.

“Everyone out,” He said quietly. He needn’t shout, everyone obeyed him without question. Soon he was alone in the room watching whatever it was slowly make its way to the surface. It took several minutes and several more slow circles of the pool for the body to emerge. Ra’s carefully pulled the body from the water and laid it down on the cool stone. It was a boy, young, maybe mid-teens, with pale skin tinged blue and hair as white as fresh snow. The clothes he had been wearing, a simple t-shirt and blue jeans, were in tatters, burned away and barely hanging on. Ra’s checked the boy’s neck for a pulse. He didn’t find one, instead, he found a green mark like lightning branching up his neck and face, and disappearing under the collar of his ruined shirt. Ra’s pulled the garment off and it practically disintegrated in his hands. The lighting stretched across the boy’s chest and down his left arm, ending in a nasty-looking burn on his palm that oozed a vibrant green fluid.

“Pit demon.” he spat, standing up quickly and taking a few steps back. He had heard of them and read about them in texts. How they had come out of the pits and wreaked havoc on whoever was unfortunate enough to be near. How they bled a green more vibrant than anything that occurred in nature, even the pits paled in comparison. Ra’s had half a mind to separate its head from its body and bury them in separate parts of the world before it woke up and started causing problems. But then it stirred and choked, sitting up quickly and vomiting Lazarus water onto the stone floors. Its arms shook as it held itself up. Then it stood up, rising on unsteady feet that quickly left the ground. It’s arms flailed in wide circles and it wobbled in the air. It was like it had never flown before like it was a baby. A cruel smile found its way onto Ra’s face. The Lazarus pits had given him a baby pit demon, and he had an idea of how it could be of use to him.

He was even kind enough to bestow upon it a name: Shaytan Alhufra, Demon of the Pit.

[disasterofastory]

Dear Santa (Stucky x Reader)

Dear Santa Santa Claus!Steve Rogers x elf!Bucky x Reader Day 29 - Dinner // December 2022 Warnings: none

Summary: Do you stay with them? Bucky and Steve wants to know your decision.

One year later…

Steve's office is quiet in contrast with the workshop below. The muffled sounds of machines and conversations filter into the room. The blonde man is at the table with a stack of papers in front of him, while the elf is on a sofa, reading and making notes. The scent of coffee lingers in the warm air. You are out with Twinkle probably while Steve and Bucky are busy with work. Christmas is around the corner again, and they have a ton of things to take care of before the big day. You help them too. They have to force you to take a day off and spend some time with your favorite reindeer.

Bucky's gaze wanders to the window again. The snow falls in fluffy flakes from the cloudy sky. It gathers on the windowsill. The wind swirls them in the air.

"Are you okay?" Steve breaks the silence when he looks up and finds his love deep in thought with a worried frown between his brows.

"Yeah," Bucky replies half-heartedly. "I'm fine."

"Tell that to your face too." A smile pulls on their lips. "But seriously, are you sure you are okay? You seem distracted for a few days now."

"I'm just…" the brunette elf sighs. "It's almost a year since we brought Y/N here."

"I know."

"And your agreement…"

"I know," Steve nods again. He doesn't know what to tell Bucky. You warmed up to them in the last year, and you are happy here. You have friends, a job, and everything they are capable of giving you. But what if it's not enough? What if you are waiting for the right moment to tell them you want to leave them?

"We should ask her," the blonde man suggests. "Let's rip the bandaid off."

"How about a nice dinner? I could cook."

"It sounds good," Steve smiles. His bright blue eyes warm up at the idea. "You should go, and I'll finish here."

It's already dark when you arrive home. The shops are closed, and the lights are on. Snow covers your warm pants and boots, and your fingers are frozen even through the thick gloves.

Warmth slaps you across the face when you push the entrance door open. Wood burns in the fireplace and delicious smells fill your nostrils as you step further into the building.

"Y/N?" You hear Steve's voice, and soon, you can see the man appearing at the kitchen doorway.

"Hey," you greet him with a smile as you kick your boots off and leave your wet clothes at the door, so you don't make a bigger mess in the house. "Are you cooking?"

"Not me," he replies. "Bucky. I drew you a bath, though. Go warm up so we can have dinner."

You do as he says. The warmth of the water makes your muscles relax, and you have to force yourself to wash and get ready for dinner, so Steve and Bucky don't have to wait for you. You are sure they are tired and hungry. As Christmas comes, the tasks that need to be done are more and more urgent. The whole town is busy, so everything can be ready for the big night, but Steve and Bucky really make themselves work until they fall asleep at their desks.

Your year with the two men at the North Pole was something you could have never imagined. After your agreement with Steve, you really decided to give them a chance, and they didn't disappoint you. They showed you what life with them could be if you choose to stay. Both Steve and Bucky are tentative and kind. The blond man who is the current Santa Claus is more strict than the elf, but you found love in both of them rather quickly.

"Wow," you hum as you make your way to the dining room. Everything is ready and looks delicious. Candles burn in the middle of the table. Your favorite drink is already waiting for you next to the empty plate. "What's the occasion?" You ask them.

You don't notice the glance between them while Bucky answers. "We just thought a dinner together would be nice. Who knows when we'll have another opportunity to be together like this?" 

You don't catch the meaning behind his words. "Oh, that's nice."

So all of you start to eat in silence. Bucky is great in the kitchen, so it's not a surprise that you don't sense the tension in the room. The men glance at each other every few minutes, trying to decide how to approach the subject. The fear that you want to go home is too big for them to speak up.

"So, how was your day?" You ask them after a while. The spices melt on your tongue.

"Good," Steve hums. "Busy."

"Now I feel guilty I didn't help," you grimace, even though spending time with Winkle and the others is always something you enjoy.

"Don't," Steve smiles. "We are happy you had fun today. You deserved it."

"And we all deserve to go on a vacation when December is over," Bucky adds, watching you subtly. His steel-blue eyes meet Steve's again.

"Oh? And where do you want to go?" You ask him, still not noticing their tension. "Somewhere warm?"

"Not necessarily," he replies. "Italy? Maybe? What do you think?"

Steve straightens up in his seat.

"I always wanted to see Italy," you nod, your eyes on your plate, enjoying Bucky's cooking.

"And what else do you want to see? We can go anywhere after Christmas," Steve tries this time. His knuckles are white as his grip tightens on the fork.

"Oh," you gasp as your head snaps up with a sudden thought.

Bucky and Steve are ready to jump up from their seats. This. This is the moment where you either break their hearts or make them the happiest men alive.

"I almost forgot," you continue, looking at Steve. "Did you read the document I left on your table? Tony needs your opinion tomorrow."

"Y-yeah, I already talked to him," Steve replies, barely finding his voice.

"Good," you smile. "It seemed important."

Yeah, they know a thing or two about important topics.

"What if we would spend New Year somewhere?" Bucky tries again. Steve almost laughs at his lover's stubbornness.

"Wow, you really want to travel, huh?" You ask him.

"Paris? Budapest? New York? Where do you want to go, Y/N?"

A frown appears on your face when you notice the tone he uses. He is not angry, but something is off. You look up at the elf from your drink. "Are you okay?"

"Yeah," he nods, even though he sounds anything but okay. "I just want to know where you want to go after Christmas. With us? Or alone? What's your plan?"

"Okay, okay," Steve cuts in, putting down his glass to interfere. Seeing Bucky's half-impatient, half-panicked expression and your confused one, he has to do something. "Bucky… We want to know your decision. I mean, you have been here with us for a year now, and… and we are curious how you see your future?"

Recognition glints in your eyes as your lips pull upward. "Oh," you hum. "I thought you read my letter?"

"What letter?" Steve asks, frowning.

"The letter I wrote for Santa Claus," you explain. "I put it on your desk."

Before you can say anything else, Bucky is up from the table, running out of the house.

"He didn't have to get it," you state, looking after him.

"Let him," Steve replies. You can hear the laugh in his deep voice. "He needs a run."

After a few seconds of silence, you turn back to the blonde man. "My answer is yes, by the way. I want to stay if you guys still want me."

"Of course we want you," Steve replies, leaning closer to you over the table. His soft lips find yours easily and gently. His tongue brushes your bottom lip, nibbling on the soft flesh. "Bucky will be delighted."

"Oh," you smirk, knowing the content of your letter. "Just wait."

The man doesn't even have time to ask anything because the elf bursts into the dining room. Letter in hand, his t-shirt is halfway off his body. His broad chest moves with every panting breath.

"Oh, Steve," he gasps. His face is tinted with red, and his eyes shine with lust and hunger. "Put her on the naughty list!"

[frances-baby-houseman]

lol I love it how we're all like, no I won't make you ask these, I will just overshare on my own 😌

Ask meme for people in their 30s 40s

What was the first piece of furniture you bought? A little ikea coffee table with curved legs that I used as a tv stand until it literally collapsed.

What proportion of your meals do you cook? I cook dinner 5ish nights a week, and I make most of the breakfasts and lunches when we're at home. I'm the only cook in the house (my husband does do basic meal stuff like eggs and mac and cheese) so the other nights tend to be takeout.

Foaming hand soap or normal hand soap? foaming or liquid, just not bar.

Favorite chore? folding laundry

Least favorite chore? every other part of laundry (but honestly I hate all chores, they're chores!)

Most precious thing one of your pets has destroyed? no pets!

Any groceries you've been getting into lately? popsicles

What cleaning product do you swear by? folex carpet cleaner

What's your emotional support craft? crochet

Youtube, cable TV, or streaming? my PREFERENCE is cable from the year like 2002, but my reality is cable and every single streaming service.

What's something you saved up for and then regretted buying? honestly I cannot think of anything?

How many cups can you see from where you're sitting? owala water bottle, can of strawberry culture pop, empty mug from my friend's bookstore

Which filter are you most likely to go "eh, it's probably fine" when you find out you need to change it? I don't filter things, I barely chagne the car oil

How often do you take baths? omg never bc I barely fit in our vintage tub but if I could I'd do it weekly

Do you go down each aisle when you grocery shop, or only the ones you know you need stuff from? I exclusively shop at trader joe's, which only has 3 aisles, so yes, but when I am forced to go to a real grocery store, absolutely not.

Where do you go when you need to get out of the house but it's raining? Target or the movies or the gym. gtl if you will.

What's a movie you saw recently that you liked? Hit Man!

Pro or anti tchotchkes? pro! I love little things that show people who you are.

What's your go-to tape? just regular scotch but I also like pink painters tape in the right situation.

What's in your freezer right now? ICE, bc I am southern, and also many popsicles and asian items from trader joe's

Last concert you attended? James Taylor, it was wonderful

Favorite grocery store? Trader Joe's but ideally Publix, where I would go down every aisle, bc they are still reasonable.

Paper bags, plastic bags, or reusable bags? reusable but I sometimes get paper (I have to buy them for $.10) bc I use them for our compost.

Do you get your government mandated 8 hours every night? lollllll

Favorite old person activity? saying "who is that, you know that guy in the thing with the girl who was in that show with julia louis dreyfus"

Would you rather sit on the porch drinking sweet tea or sit by the lake drinking beers? lake with sweet tea

Do you prefer Boardgame Night, Build-Your-Own-Pizza Night, or Movie Night with your friends? movie

Be honest, do you like all of the pictures of their babies that your friends send you? oh yes, who doesn't love a baby

Go-to holiday card format? no holiday cards! we're jews!

How many pairs of scissors do you own? like 3 normal pairs and 2 pairs of kitchen shears

Do you still own your first car? Nope.

How do you take your morning coffee/tea? coffee with whole milk

What's something you collect? I don't really collect anything but I do wish that I did. I just like a lot of junk!

What's your commute like? about 35 min on the expressway including school drop off, but hopefully taking the train next year.

Aisle at the grocery store you never bother walking down? again I only shop at trader joe's, which has 3 aisles and I have them all memorized. Ask me where something is.

Do you keep a daily journal or agenda? daily journal with just a few lines

Do you still listen to the same music you listened to in high school? all the time

What's the last filter you changed? HVAC filter like 2 months ago

What little treat do you always get when you run errands? cute socks at target or a dessert treat

Grocery list or no grocery list? list

What's an unjustifiably expensive appliance that you really want? pebble ice maker

Favorite book you've read recently? Greta & Valdin

Honest feelings on Settlers of Catan? ??

What's something you wish you had more time for? spontaneity

What kind of stuff do you keep on the door of your refrigerator? school stuff and pictures of me as a baby for some reason

Lamps or overhead lighting? lamps

If you could build your home from scratch, what outrageous feature would you want to build into it? a private living room just for myself

Do you bring a bag with you everywhere you go? no, I load up my giant coat pockets in the winter

Pro or anti throw pillows? pro but not super strong feelings here. like, they are good for design and comfort but don't go crazy.

How many blankets do you keep in your living room? 3 in the living room, 4 in the den

Did your relationship with your parents get better when you stopped living with them? lolllll

What's worse, the DMV or the Social Security Office? bureaucracy is bureaucracy

Do you decorate your house for holidays? Which ones? not really, a little for halloween but again, jews.

Favorite high-effort meal that you make? oh god I haven't cooked something really good in ages, but I guess brisket and potato kugel

Favorite low-effort meal that you make? chicken sausage pasta

Do you tend to bring an appetizer, entree, dessert, or drinks to a potluck? dessert or pasta salad

What kind of bag do you use for your bag full of bags? the most structured of the bags

If you died and your ghost was stuck in the outfit you're wearing right now for the rest of time, would you be happy with it? mostly, though these shoes rub a little.

Do you have an opinion on your local weather reporter? Tom Skilling 5 eva

Do you have a favorite brunch spot? I once did! I don't brunch anymore but I do love the french place in my town.

Where are you on the minimalism-maximalism kinsey scale? far on the maximalism.

Opinion on Bath and Body Works? nope.

Last time you visited a farmer's market? saturday. we go most weeks in the summer!

Anything you're procrastinating on right now? oh god just about everything. I'm on question 64 of this stupid survey!

Do you get your taxes in as soon as possible, at the last minute, or late? I used to be early but now my husband has to do them and it's a Whole Thing

Do you keep any stuffed animals on your bed? yes

Are your garbage bags scented or unscented?oh god unscented, I would throw away scented ones

What are you looking forward to next week? getting a new tv! (ours died and the replacement won't be here for a few days... kill me)

[wisteria-blooms]

miss black (f.w. & reader) (1/2)

CHAPTER: [1] [2]

PAIRING: Fred Weasley & You

REQUEST:

Hey, I was wondering if you could write some friends to lovers with Fred. The reader is Sirius’ daughter and is like a sister to Harry. Instead of them spending the summer at the burrow they all (Weasleys + Harry + Hermione) go to Grimmauld Place. :)

SUMMARY: Your summer is instantaneously made better when Fred Weasley and his family show up at Grimmauld Place. As you try to weather through your newfound lineage, Harry's trial, the Order, and growing pains in general, Fred shows you that love can be found even in the coldest of places - within the walls of Grimmauld Place. (3.0k words)

A/N: @nojamsonmytoast I think I owe you an apology for this super-delayed request. I swear I have all this stuff written out then I get in my head to try to make it better then I take a break and yeah... But I loved the summer they spent at Grimmauld Place, like sure the place was inhospitable but it just felt so cozy, especially with the twins apparating everywhere. Definitely a highlight in the OoTP! To be honest, I loved this request so much that it’ll be split in two parts to get everything you wanted in it.

Tags: Friends-to-lovers, fluff, comfort, Y/N is Sirius's daughter!!

MISS BLACK: CHAPTER 1

Drip. Drip. Drip.

You perfunctorily watched your morning coffee drip and pool into the glass vessel under the filter. It was early morning at 12 Grimmauld Place and there was barely a stir in the house except for the pitter-patter of Kreacher’s feet and his grumblings. There really wasn’t anything to do here. Any other summer you would’ve gone home and enjoyed yourself a nice vacation in muggle England, splaying your limbs out on a field somewhere under the sun or spending a day out in the city streets shopping. But this summer was different for many reasons.

“Morning.”

“Morning,” you responded, jolting upwards from your slouched position. You held up an empty mug and asked, “Coffee?”

“Sounds lovely,” Sirius responded, seating himself down at the long table in the kitchen and picking up the morning paper. “Didn’t really sleep well last night.”

Your eyes followed Sirius. It was a peculiar feeling, watching the man you discovered was your blood father. You’d first seen him over a year ago when you were trapped in the Shrieking Shack with him, Harry, Ron, Hermione, Remus, and Snape. There was some instant familiarity when his eyes met yours, but everything happened too fast for you to say anything. Before he left the school grounds, Professor Lupin had admitted he had his suspicions, but didn’t want to prematurely act on it until he had evidence. But he figured at the end of the school year, he could make a direct link – the history matched up. You couldn’t believe it, but looking at Sirius’s face as he sifted through the morning papers, it was hard to deny: your face basically mirrored his.

What was even more shocking was that he wasn’t just any normal wizard. He, and you by extension, was a descent of the Black family. The infamous House of Black. You decided you needed more time with him because the fact that he was your father wasn’t sinking in, like an emulsion of oil in water. So, you volunteered to spend the whole summer with him at Grimmauld Place despite all the reasons you didn’t want to. Firstly, you longed to see Harry, who you would meet whenever you could when were both in muggle England. He lived, by some happenstance, only a few streets down. And when he could escape the latches of Mr. and Mrs. Dursley, you often got up to great fun. Harry was perhaps the most excited to learn you were Sirius’s daughter. He hollered, much to Hermione’s chagrin, in your train compartment back to King’s Cross Station. It felt like it was fate that you were best friends – and perhaps it was because your fathers were back in their day, too.

Secondly, you often paid a visit for a week or two to the Weasleys. This was a trip often extended. You’d known them as long as Harry had, and they were the picture-perfect example of a loving family you’d yearned to have for the longest time. You knew Ron well through Harry, but you found you got along with his brothers better. In particularly, Fred Weasley had always taken a liking to you. You were more than willing to break a few rules with him and join in on his pranks with him, often posing as look-out at school. After the revelation of Sirius being your father, you braced for a disappointed reaction, but Fred being Fred, reacted differently. He was elated that he now knew where your mischievous streak came from. You were glad, because over the years, your world had begun to rely on his approval.

Lastly and overarching, it was hard to see your father in this state. The more you learned about him, the worse your heart broke for him. You felt awful that even you thought of him as a mass-murderer before you knew any better; it was libel what the Ministry of Magic was spewing. The way he gazed at you with such adoration and love made that impossible to believe.

“So,” you said as you set a cup of hot coffee down on the table. “When can we see Harry?”

Sirius laughed and leaned back into his chair.

“Is there a day you haven’t asked me this?”

“Nope,” you responded bluntly. “I’m just hoping your answer changes.”

“Well, my love, it’s the same today, but,” Sirius set his coffee down, “I’ve got your second-best option.”

“Yeah?” you perked up from the other side of the table. “What is it?”

“You’ll find out later today,” he said with a smile.

“You’re no fun.”

“I’d rather watch you be surprised.” He said with a shrug and picked up the news again. “So, what are you up to today?”

“Going to try to clean the house,” you murmured, stretching out your arms. “It seems every time I try, it ends up dirty again.”

You heard a faint sound coming down from the hall. Both you and Sirius turned towards the door. You glared at the shadow of the House Elf murmuring to himself as he passed through the corridor. “You don’t reckon Kreacher’s setting me up for failure?”

“Highly likely,” Sirius scoffed. “Never liked him.”

Your eyes followed Kreacher as he trundled slowly down the dark hallway. You could’ve sworn he looked back at you, plotting another day of undoing your hard work. “Filthy blood traitors, scum of the earth,” he continued to ramble. “What would my master think of…”

“Okay, see you later, then. Maybe I’ll outsmart Kreacher.”

You gave Sirius a hug from behind, feeling the act get a little more comfortable each time you did it.

By the time afternoon had settled in, you were worn out. You were tired of fighting doxies alone. Some extra hands wouldn’t be bad to have. Luckily, you had your own room to relax in. It was spacious and furnished from corner to corner, but felt empty due to the lack of friends. Sirius had also given you his old bedroom to do whatever you desired with it, stating he didn’t care much for what happened to it. You rolled around your bed and picked up a letter you kept in the first drawer of your nightstand. This one in particular made your heart flutter every time you read it. The penmanship was nearly illegible, but you loved it because you knew who wrote it: Fred Weasley.

                                                                                                                        July 03, 1995

(Y/N),

How’s summer without me? I’ll bet it’s boring. Even mum whines about the lack of girls in the house and you not being here. Not my fault she had six sons. 

Miss that pretty face of yours.

Fred

You weren’t sure of exactly when he’d started littering flirtatious phrases in his conversations, but it wasn’t unwelcome. Your cheeks felt warm at the thought of Fred finding you pretty. You just hoped he meant it and that it wasn’t a line he dropped on every girl.

Remus’s voice from downstairs snapped you out of your lovesick trance. The sharp sound of shattering glass consequently followed and you figured Tonks would be there too. Quickly stuffing Fred’s letter back in the drawer, you scurried downstairs, particularly parched for human interaction.

“Hi, Tonks!” you greeted as walked down the stairs.

“Wotcher, (Y/N),” Tonks responded, leaning on the rails and looking at the ajar door. The purple-haired wizard was like an older sister to you. Given her age, she was the easiest to get along with.

“What are they discussing in there?” you asked as you peered into the kitchen. You could make out figures shuffling and pacing, but they kept their voices low.

“Order affairs,” she responded.

“Order?” you asked.

“Er,” Tonks began to clarify, “work.”

“Alright.” You eyed her suspiciously. “Well, I’m going in.”

“Wait, (Y/N)—,” Tonks said as she stretched her arm out. You figured she was stationed here to stop you from going in, but you were helplessly curious about these meetings that occurred in your own home that you weren’t privy to.  

“Hi dad,” you interrupted, marching in like a delinquent. “What’s going on?”

Both Sirius and Remus stopped talking and abruptly turned around.

“You’re just in time, (Y/N),” Sirius said.

A puzzled look crossed your face. “What for?”

“A surprise.” Sirius explained. “He’s about this tall, if I recall correctly,” he said, approximating some height close to him with his hand. “Got a nice mop of bright hair.”

“Okay?”

“And standing right there.”

You whipped back around to face the door.

“Oh!” you gasped. You saw an entourage of people; Fred; George; Ron; Ginny; Molly and Arthur; Hermione. You ran over to Hermione first and embraced her and Ginny together. Not only were they your closest friends, but you were grateful for another girl or two in the house.  

“Hermione! Ginny!” you exclaimed, a giddy expression overtaking your face at the sight of your best friends. You took them both in your arms.

“(Y/N)!” Hermione responded, hugging you as hard as you hugged her. “How you’ve been? I’ve terribly sorry we couldn’t get here earlier.”

“Really awful without you, ‘Mione, and you too, Gin,” you admitted. “Besides Tonks, there’s a lack of female presence in this place.”

“Couldn’t have been great without me either,” piped up Ron from beside her.

“You, I can manage a couple of weeks without,” you teased, watching Ron’s face drop. “I’m kidding. I missed you, too.” You gave him a quick hug, but your gaze naturally flittered over to where two older redheads stood.

“Hi, George,” you greeted, giving him a quick hug as well.

Then you turned to Fred. If anyone was watching closely, they’d notice the little jump you launched yourself with before you latched onto him with alacrity, pouring weeks of his absence into his hug. You missed him the most: his smile, his touch, his scent, his affection, his attention, his damn entire being. His skin was warm and freshly freckled, his clothes soft like they’d been left to dry on a line in the summer heat. To you, Fred signified the beginning of summer.

“Easy, darling,” he whispered in your ear, letting you down. He kept his embrace for a few seconds longer than the others had. “You make it seem I’m the only one in the room.”

You grinned at him and whispered back, “because you are.”

Fred simply winked at you.

“Are you visiting for the evening, Mr. Weasley?” you asked Arthur, secretly hoping they’d stay for at least day.

Molly strolled in the kitchen after greeting Tonks at the door. She opened a cupboard and turned to your father. “Goodness, the kitchen’s empty. We’ve barely got enough food to last through tomorrow’s lunch. Sirius, are you ensuring (Y/N) is eating well?”

As Molly continued to reassure herself of your welfare, Arthur turned back to you. “We’ll be here indefinitely.”

“Oh, brilliant,” you responded.

“One problem with being here indefinitely,” murmured George beside you. “We need a place to send out orders for the shop.”

“That’s still a thing?” you whispered back. “I thought your mum put a stop to it.”

“We’re operating under subterfuge,” clarified Fred. “Need to keep it shielded from mum’s eyes, or she’ll have a fit again.”

You bit your lip in thought. “Just use dad’s old room,” you suggested. “It’s basically mine now. I’m been trying to make it more liveable.”

“Shall we apparate there or do it in the more conventional way?” George asked Fred.

“I say apparate,” responded Fred. “Meet you at the stairs, (Y/N).”

“What?”

Before you could implore further, Fred and George disappeared with a cackle. Molly’s shrill cry followed immediately as she whipped around from the cupboards to scold her sons.

“They’ve been doing this all summer,” Ron explained with a roll of his eyes beside you. “Apparating and doing magic just because they’re of age now. Mum hates it.”

“That’s convenient,” you murmured, wishing you were caught up in age and skill to do it. “I’ll be back in a second.”

You excused yourself, walked out the kitchen, and turned around to the staircase. The mottling undersides of it were laced with cobwebs that you swore you dusted off just this morning. You gazed up the dark and narrow flight of stairs, your eyes trailing upwards from two pairs of feet beside two sets of luggage up to two smug, almost identical faces. 

“After you, Miss Black,” said Fred with a bow as you approached him.

You paused. “What did you just call me?”

“Miss Black?” Fred repeated. “Or do you prefer Mademoiselle Black? Or Madame Black, if your heart is so rightfully taken.”  

“I-I don’t care for either of them, really,” you stated, continuing up the stairs with Fred behind you.

“He doesn’t call you that?” Fred asked in surprise, referring to a trudging Kreacher who was passing by below you.

“His favourite name for me is ‘scum of the earth’,” you corrected, earning a stifled laugh from George.

“Now, why would he call you that?” George chuckled as he trailed before Fred. “You hold a much higher title than him.”

“Ugly name for a pretty girl,” added Fred with a hum, the bass notes of his voice ricocheting the walls of the townhouse. Your skin prickled pleasantly, and you turned away to hide the awful blush threatening to surface on your face.

“You can just call me by my name,” you clarified. “It’ll take the entire summer for me to get used to it.”

After another few winding sets of stairs, the three of you arrived on the top floor, where Sirius’s bedroom was. You didn’t bother with the other door belong to your late uncle, Regulus.

“Did you do any work before we got here?” asked Fred, wiping grime off the wall with a finger.

“Of course I did,” you stated with a huff, looking at the walls you cleaned just yesterday afternoon. You imagined Kreacher cackling, painting slime over the walls as you slept peacefully downstairs. “It’s impossible with just me doing it.” You pointed to a basket overflowing with dirty rags and Doxy spray hanging off the handles that blocked Regulus’s room.

“You know what you need?” asked Fred.

“An actual house elf?” you suggested.

“No,” he corrected quickly. “You need someone who’ll listen to you. To be at your every beck and call whenever you need.”

“And where might I find that?” you asked.

“Right here,” he stated, pointing his thumb towards himself with a boastful smile.

You shook your head and rolled your eyes. “You would never in a million years help me clean this place.”

“People can change,” he interjected, following close behind you. “Why don’t you give me a chance?”

“We’ll see how you fare tomorrow.”

You pushed the door to Sirius’s old room open. Fred and George’s eyes widened at all the space you were providing them. Velvet curtains draped the windows so the room was dark, but other than the king-sized bed, the nightstand, and the drawer, it was clean and ready to be used as a workspace. You’d crammed everything else into the drawers: old photos, ticket stubs, guitar picks, empty ink bottles, and textbooks.

“I changed all the sheets in here so you can have a nap if you wear out your genius minds…” You trailed off when you realize where Fred’s eyes were traveling. They land on the semi-nude woman on the wall, the winner of some summer muggle bikini competition. “I can’t quite seem to take that poster off. It’s permanently enchanted to the wall.”

“I don’t think he minds it,” snickered George.

“Anyway, the space is yours,” you continued. “I doubt your mother will come up here. And I believe Orion sound-proofed this room when dad picked up the electric guitar.”

Fred rubbed his hands together. “This is excellent, really excellent, (Y/N).”

“We’ll start setting up,” George agreed as he unzipped his suitcase, letting a load of demonstrative products fall out onto the floor.  

“Forget work for a day,” you suggested. “Let’s do something fun on your first night here.”

“Such as?” prodded George.

“Swing by the guest room after dinner. The girls and Ron will be there, and we’ll have a bit of a party.”

“Trusty (Y/N),” Fred remarked. “Always the purveyor of fun.”

“I learn from the best,” you responded. When you saw Fred perk up, thinking you were lauding him, you quickly corrected him, “The best being George, of course.”

Fred offered you a pout, and you winked at him, holding onto your statement.

“Take it back, (Y/N),” he warned.

“I’m just going to leave you two lovebirds alone,” George said, making a disgusted face. “Save me from this lovers’ quarrel.” With that, he apparated away. The crack was quickly followed by Molly’s shrill cry from downstairs.

When it was just you and Fred in the room, you grew a little more courageous. A small smirk appeared on your face. “I still stand by it. I think George’s more fun than you.”

Fred stepped closer to you until he was inches near your face.  His tone was more intimidating this time, and your heart skipped a beat. “I said, take it back, (Y/N).”

“No.”

That was the last straw. Fred’s fingers darted out and launched an attack on your waist—somewhere he knew you were ticklish. You shrieked and tried to pry his hands off, but he was too much strong for you.

“Fine, fine!” you surrendered through laughs. “It’s you! You’re the most fun.”

“That’s more like it,” Fred said as he stopped. Suddenly, he’d scooped you up in his arms. You let your legs wrap around his waist as he hoisted you up. He held you firm and steady. You looked down at him, his brown eyes lucid and his touch palpable. Half of you couldn’t believe he was here with you like you’d been dreaming about the past couple weeks.

Then your eyes trailed down to his lips and you wondered if there was any chance you’d kiss them this summer like you’d wanted to for the past four summers. You’d be damned if you didn’t at least try.  

>>NEXT CHAPTER

[simsphonysims]

MODERN VACATION CONTAINER

Hi, my fellow simmers! ♡

Today I'm sharing a modern vacation container that I've built in the Sims 4. It's designed to be perfect as a honeymoon location based around water activities. The design of it is pretty simple and modern yet cozy.

It's designed to be a rental but my library didn't want to listen so it's saved as a residential.

Sulani (The Sims 4 Island Living)

30x20 lot

1 bedroom, 1 bathroom

Rental

If you want to change my original walls or wallpapers, for everything to stay in the place you need to install the Better BuildBuy mod from the Twisted Mexi and turn on deletion protection as an option in BBB's filter panel. Turn it on while necessary and turn it back off immediately after.    

Hope you like it!

♡ CC needed:

Simsphony’s CC LIST - complete! (Here is the whole list of packs with their links that I’m using in my game)  

Felixandre (Shop the look 2)

Felixandre free (Shop the look 1, Colonial, London interior)

Harrie (Shop the look 1, Octave, Brutalist, Spoons, Brownstone, Monstera)

House of Harlix (The kichen, Livin'rum, Jardane, Bafroom, Harluxe, Orjanic, Baysic)

Pierisim (MCM, Oak house, Winter garden, Calderone, Rold skov)

Charly Pancakes 

Simsational designs 

Myshunosun (Nora, Luna, Lottie)

Kiwisim4 

Tuds (Ind, Cross)

Clutter cat (Spring spirits)

S- imagination (Nota, Oak & concrete)

Max 20

Rustic Sims

Tmex

♡ Tray files: Modern vacation container

[wuffgang-ameowdeus-moozart]

They learn quickly that the monsters are sensitive to sound.

He gets used to talking quietly. To always watch his step and always be aware of his surroundings. Someone had the idea to raid the schools and communicate exclusively using blackboard and chalk. Hawkins has never been so silent, but that doesn't bother him too much. He grew up in the silence, after all.

What bothers him is that his hands won't stop trembling. He never had the prettiest handwriting, but the chicken scratch he produces now is barely readable. Worse, he needs for-fucking-ever to write even a single word, only for it to not even look like english half the time.

He and Robin can communicate without words - he is truly convinced that they are living proof that soulmates are a thing - but with everyone else he has to struggle with the chalk, until he just gives up and starts talking less and less. If he died because he took too long writing smalltalk or pleasantries on the blackboard he would never live it down. He tries to convince himself that the grizzled-cool-silent-type suits him. With moderate success.

Although the whole town was literally transported into a different dimension, all adults seem to maintain a silent agreement to continue on as if nothing is wrong. They still go to work and they still need to pay for groceries and the holes and cracks in the streets are nothing more than inconveniences. He even overhears someone complaining about those, once. As if everything would be fine if the holes were only filled with cement. (oh gee, he wonders - silently as always, why did we never try that genius idea the last three times the upside down made an unwelcome visit). The only shop that has escaped the clutches of capitalism is the weapons shop.

He can somewhat understand it, the need to pretend that everything is fine. That it was all some collective nightmare that will fade with the dullness of day-to-day life. Doesn't mean he can't hate it. Though he doesn't take it as hard as the rest of the party.

It makes sense if you think about it. Robin, Nancy, the shitheads - they are smart, they could all actually go somewhere, do something with their lives. But him? Steve Harrington never had much of a future anyway, and his chances of making it out of this godforsaken town were always miniscule. No. What honestly bothers him more are his hands that won't stop shaking. You can't use a gun if you are unable to hold still and aim. You have a harder time being fast and quiet when everything takes twice as long if you don't want to drop anything. Even his beloved bat becomes less reliable, the swings weaker and his actual target always a few centimeters off. So yeah, his trembling hands are fucking inconvenient.

Gas and Water and Electricity stopped working. The first few months all of Hawkins stinks of rotting food until some teacher has the grandiose idea of distributing history books. This has the added bonus of giving everyone something to do that isn't "pretending not to be under constant panic". Water filters get classified under "weaponry" so that everyone has access without the mayor having to change the law again.

Once more, he doesn't mind too much. The only reason he used to turn on the TV was to feel less alone, and now the rest of the party basically lives in his house. He doesn't even mind having to walk the entire way to and from the lake while carrying buckets full of water: he will always be a jock at heart, and it is a great way to work out and be useful at the same time. His biggest complaint is once again his fucking hands. Water is precious, but his stupid arm won't stay still and it keeps spilling out of the bucket. Every lost drip feels like a stab in his heart, and the only reason he doesn't cry is because that would be an even bigger waste of water.

But the most stupid and embarrassing part is that this isn't even his first rodeo. He has been here before, he knows what it is like. Everyone else is living the same situations that he is. And still, his hands are the only ones that won't fucking stop trembling.

[thewritersaddictions]

The Adults: Steve Harrington- Fishy Boy

Pairing: Steve Harrington x Fem!Henderson!Reader

Pov: Steve

Warnings: Older!Steve, Fish store manager, pet lover, fluff, Steve's hair hasn't changed, little chest hair.

Summary: Steve is now in his early 40's, for the first time enjoys his job. Working with animals and fishes and the fish store. You're just in love with Steve as he is about fish.

A/n- firefly-graphics for dividers

WC- 1.5k

Stranger Things Master List // The Adults Master List

Steve met you while he was working. You had walked into his shop, your hair pulled up into a small bun to keep flies away from getting in your eyes. You were beautiful, in comparison to his fish that are swimming around in their tanks. You had burst a bubble in his chest by just simply walking into his fish shop. 

The sign was bright and colorful. It’s almost too bright, but it’s beautiful nonetheless. “Angel Fish Supplies” it’s bright as the neon light filters back and forth between bright pink, green, and blue. It catches the eye as you drive past. 

“What are you looking for today?” My voice rings out regardless of how tired I am. I still greet the young women who stand in front of me. My shirt is a little wet due to the cleaning of a tank. She stands and takes in the surroundings for a moment before looking back at me. 

“I was looking for some guppies to put in my aquarium, I figured that you’d have what I needed.” She explains. Her face is making me second-guess myself. “You are looking… yeah I’ve got some guppies. What were you putting them in with?” 

I try to keep the question and conversations up as I walk back toward a smaller set of tanks. Ones filled with starter and food fish. She follows behind me. “I’ve got a few tanks, you'll have to be more specific.” I can’t tell if she’s flirting with me or seriously telling me to ask about her more. 

So I flirted back, “How big are they?” Assuming based on what she said. “Oh so big.” She days back. As we flirt and talk back with each other. I gather her guppies into a plastic bag and water. Before walking us back up to the checkout counter. 

“Was that all you needed?” She looks around. There are a few large tanks and a few smaller ones. She eyes something before looking back at me. “A pen and paper would be nice.” Straight forward. I dig around the drawer below the counter for a sticky pad, and she grabs a pen from the cup. 

I watch as she writes her phone number in the pressure of writing I’ve seen in my life. When she hands the pad back I read out the numbers. (984-227-0196). She smiles with glee, and above her phone number is her name. Again written perfectly it’s hard to not want to trace her letters. 

“Y/n, L/n” She hums. “Well, it was nice to meet you Y/n,” I say as she starts to grab her bag and walk toward the front door. “Call me later Steve.” She turns and brushes her hair out of her face. I stare much too long after she walks out of the door. After I hear the gravel of the parking lot stop. I stare and keep staring until the doorbell rings again. 

That was twenty years ago. When I was still young enough to catch the girl's attention. Not that I needed anyone else attention. After that day that Y/n walked into my store I called her desperately wanting to hear more of her voice. See if I could make her laugh, seeing if I could get her to flirt more with me. 

It had worked. I had charmed the shit out of her. Charmed her so well that she came into the store the next week and asked about a job. I obliged knowing that if I gave her a job I’d get to spend the whole day with her, at least twice a week. She accepted almost immediately. Y/n had accepted and has been working here with me for the past twenty years. 

It didn’t take long for our enjoyment of aquatic life, and other animals to bring us together. She was right about her massive collection of fish tanks. She brought me over to her house just a few weeks after she started working with me. Y/n lived in a small apartment but with every turn she made there was a tank. One was just a plant tank that had beautiful foliage. 

A saltwater tank, that gave life to gorgeous fish. An array of different colors and coral gave many hiding places to all of the hiding fish. Y/n had made dinner that night, and we ate on her couch. Talking and personally stuffing my face with a homecooked meal. 

Twenty years later and now I ate homecooked meals every night. Twenty years later and I have a partner that I go home with every night. I have someone that loves me just as much as I love my fish store. Angel Fish Supplies. I had decided that when Y/n and I got married I had to hire some new employees. 

We honeymooned on a cruise and took way to chance to view the ocean and go diving into the water at certain spots. Y/n and I still worked together. Working like a dancing couple in tune with each other. How’d you work with your wife in the kitchen as you both glide perfectly between each other steps? Almost step and toe with each other at each step of the way. 

A customer would come in, and Y/n would greet them with a bright smile not ever aged by the growing days that passed on. A beautiful grace in each step and she showed them around. I on the other hand was constantly working to keep up with the animals and tanks themselves. “This here is my husband and owner Steve.” I’d hear Y/n say in passing. In a quick few words, I’d say welcome, and until they needed something I continued to work. I’d gather up whatever they need. 

If a customer comes in and needs a tank I help to move it into their truck or car. Customer needs a few fish, or a few rodents for their reptiles I’m quick to father that up for them. I do have a favorite part of the day though, the end of the day. Not when we’ve come back home and dinner is being made on the hot stovetop. 

It when the door is locked, and the open sign in turned off. It when it’s just the two of us inside the store. When I can reach my hand around Y/n wasit with wet hands and pull her in by her hips. When I can hook my fingers into her jeans belt loops. She huffs and sighs in content as our chests are pressed up against each other. 

“Good day?” I ask her every night. She hums and rests her head on my chest. “Good day?” She repates my question. I kiss her forehead, “Everyday I’m with you is a good day.” She laughs and looks up at me. “Of course you’d say something cheesy like that Steve.” “Oh stop it, you love how cheesy I am babe.” We got back and forth with each, before the moment goes silent again. 

There are chores to be done before we can leave. Y/n and I have such a routine that the chores are done within thirty minutes now. Sweeping, checking up on the tanks, turning off lights, and locking the door seems to go by with great smoothness. 

She locks the door, and I turn the truck on. I open her door like a gentleman, and she gathers herself into the truck's passenger seat. There’s a small moment where neither of us says anything to the other. That’s until Y/n softly takes my hand in her smaller one. 

“Stevie, I love you.” She nearly whispers it into the air. “I love you too,” I whisper back and drag our clasps hands up to my lips. Pressing a kiss into her knuckles. I kiss each knuckle. It’s sweet and sensual all in the small act. She blushes, “Do you remember the day I came in?” She asks, I remember it clearly as the day before. It’s as if it all happened just yesterday. 

“Of course I remember that.” It’s really simple.

 “I remember the way you walked in, how your voice first sounded to me. I even recall what you were wearing. I remember the best thing from that day though.” Y/n hums back at me, eager to know what truly remember from that day twenty years ago.

“ I remember thinking how this beautiful woman was standing in front of me and writing her number down on a little sticky pad. For me to have, for me to call her later that night and hear her talk and talk about anything she wanted.”

I said in the content space between us. She wasn’t fawning over me, but her head was resting softly on my shoulder. 

“That’s why I love you.” I turned and whispered that against her skin. She shivered. “See always so cheesy.” She muttered under her breath.

Completed on: 04/10/23

Posted on: 04/20/23

The Adults- @yourfavdummy

[roadtogracelandx45]

Current State of Affairs|2| Lee Dutton

Yeah, I don't have an excuse other then real life has caught up to me and my life kind of fell apart for a few weeks. Things are on the up hill now.

Two: Truth Be Told 

“Well Beth, I am saying never. He had his shot and he never took it.” Spencer returned as she picked up her robe and towel, “he respects Kayce too much.” Beth’s eyebrows knitted together in confusion as she dropped down on the chair that had been pulled out from the vanity. “What do you mean he had his shot?” There was silence as Spencer went into the bathroom and turned on the water for the shower. 

“Just that, he had his chance and didn’t do anything.” She went to shut the door to have some sort of privacy but was stopped just as quickly by Beth, this was all news to her.

 “Whoa, whoa, you can’t just drop a bomb like that on me and then not say anything else.” 

“Remember that weekend that Kayce and I broke up?”

 “Yeah.”

 She remembered it all too well, Kayce and their father had gotten into a fight, and Kayce decided that he was done with everything. He had snuck out in the middle of the night and went to the Abbott Ranch and talked Spencer into leaving with him.  They were at the gas station when Rip and Lee found them and Spencer had her choice and she had gotten into the truck with Lee and Rip.  And three days later Kayce showed up with Monica and shattered whatever was left of their relationship.  Spencer had stormed out of the house and Lee had followed her but not after throwing a couple of punches at his brother. 

“And how he followed me to the barn?” Seeing her friends nod, Spencer carried on, “We had sex and then the next day, it was just business as normal. I don’t know what hurt worse. Kayce marrying Monica or Lee doing that. And honestly, Beth, if Lee would have said the word, I would have stayed no questions asked.”  Without waiting for a reaction from her best friend, the girl turned to shut the door to shower in semi-peace.

**

Beth waited until the shower was on fully and she could hear Spencer singing along to the Elvis song that was playing on the Bluetooth speaker before she picked up the phone to call her brother with every intention of cussing him out. If he had manned up and done something about it, then Spencer wouldn’t have had to run to the East Coast and stayed away longer than Beth herself had.

Not doing anything right or about their feelings seemed about right with her brothers. Lee threw himself into his work at the ranch. Kayce joined the military and Jamie, well he was a whole different sort that she really tried not to figure out.

She dialed her oldest brother’s phone number, her anger getting the best of her. 

It rang once, twice, and then Lee's voice filtered the room. "What Beth?" 

"You fucked  Spencer then left her?!" 

"She is here?" 

"Of course she is idiot! Her dad is getting married! She is the maid of Honor." She had seen the series of pictures from Spencer's Instagram of Spencer, Leighla, and several others going shopping in New York for the bridal fittings and knew that she was taking part in the wedding as the maid of honor, and for once she was happy that her friend was in the same time zone, it was going to make their weekly facetime calls so much easier. 

"You need to make this right Lee, her boyfriend is here and he is." The unspoken words about Spencer's relationship hung in the air. The whole Dutton family knew about the man who was with Spencer and how much her father and stepmother hated him. On more than one occasion John had encouraged Lee to go out to Yale and get Spencer. 

But for whatever reason Lee refused. Now, though, there was silent hope that he would do something about this. "You need to man up and do something before that son of a bitch kills her." The water shut off and Beth quickly disconnected the call and popped the cork on the bottle. She quickly filled two glasses and was ready to hand one over when she came into the room.

***

Lee was uncomfortable wearing the fancy clothes that his brother Jamie made him put on and even more so when he was surrounded by other people like his younger brother. 

"Stop fidgeting.' John ordered in his ear, he  had just  come back in from the barn with Spencer's father and uncle, "We don't have to stay long."

"But I hope you stay long enough to visit with me Uncle John," Spencer's voice came from the stairs behind them and Lee felt his heart leap to his throat, she was even prettier than in his memories or in the pictures that he saw on Jamie's Instagram feed.

"Spence." His father greeted her as she came down the rest of the steps and into his arms for a hug. He lifted her off the ground and pressed a kiss to a cheek.

"The North looks good on you," Jamie added as he pressed his own kiss on her other cheek.

"Sure also raging asshole  does too." She returned before letting Rip greet her. 

"Don't start with that Rip." She started as if she knew what the enforcer was going with before he even started. She wasn't in the mood to deal with it and she wasn't in the mood to deal with her boyfriend pouting that he got his ass handed to him by her family.

"Not until after the weddin'."  5 hours back in Montana and she had already slipped back into the old Spencer, she wondered if this was how Ryder felt when she went back to Charming.  

Lee could feel almost how she steeled herself as she turned to look at him. "Hey, Lee." 

"Hey, angel." He returned, his feet carrying him over to her and to do the same greeting that his father and brother did but her head turned at the last second and their lips met in a brief kiss.  

"I am sorry.' She started but he waved her complaints away before looking over her head at the man who was coming down the stairs behind her. "Release her." 

"Who the hell are you to demand anything?" Rip asked, from what he gathered from Beth and from what he heard from Spencer herself, he knew who it was and to him, the Abbotts as well as the Duttons were his family now and he would go to any lengths to protect his family.

"I am Lewis. Her boyfriend." Lee's hand tightened on Spencer's hip and he pulled her closer to him and Rip took a step forward standing in front of them. 

"Oh come on Grace," Lewis complained, he wasn't smart enough to go towards her in the middle of a group of protectors.  

Especially ones that looked ready to kill him at second notice.

"Why don't you and I go and have a talk." John demanded, "And let Spencer and the boys catch up." "Who the hell are you?" The smaller man asked, his hands clenched into fists at his sides. 

"Lewis, this is John, he's my father's best friend and my godfather," Spencer answered, all too familiar Spencer Abbott's smirk was starting to form. 

"This is Rip Wheeler." She went on, still firmly being held by Lee and Jamie who shifted ready to defend them if need be, "He works for Uncle John and is basically the right hand for him and Lee."

 Lee's fingers dug into the shiny black material of her dress, in an effort not to fully lose his temper. "This is Jamie, he is the reason why I went to Yale and became a lawyer." Her hand that wasn't holding onto Lee's wrist squeezed Jamie's free one.

"And this is Lee.' 

There was a realization of who Lee was dawning on Lewis' face and that barely held-on temper snapped he took massive steps forward only to be pushed back by Rip who was furious. As far he was concerned, Spencer was family and he was going to do anything and everything he could to protect her.

 "Do not touch her!" He spat as Lee slowly moved away from the group, he wanted to defend her and handle Lewis but his first and only concern was Spencer and her safety. "Lee, take her into the dining room." Frank commented, "Leighla and the girls are waiting for her."

 "Yes sir." Lee returned as he turned them around and steered her towards the rapidly filling dining room, casting angry looks at anyone who dared to get too close to them 

"How bad is it Spence?" He asked as he pulled her chair out for her, he was already sitting at the table but he was going to take Lewis' seat to sit next to her. And the man could deal with it if he even came in from the barn. 

 "Bad. Rhett almost gutted him like a fish." She answered. The older Dutton son undid the button on his jacket and sat down next to her, his arm settling on the back of her chair. "He came out to the ranch in Wyoming to get me after my visit and lost his shit on me.”  She shifted so she was sitting closer to him, ‘Rhett and Perry talked me into doing a barrel race. And I went down hard. Bruised my hip and thigh.” Lee met his sister’s eyes and saw the furious way that the muscle in her jaw was working, of course, Beth knew more than what she was letting on. 

She normally did and now like always it was going to be up to him to get to the bottom of it and save Spencer. Like he should have years ago. 

[unluckyhoneybee]

The Handsome Artist. 7. (Daniel Ricciardo)

A nice dinner. Abigail and Daniel have their first date. Or is it the second? Fluff.

MASTERLIST. Moodboards and Playlist.

Previous part: Beers and music.

Note: Abigail's outfit. Also, Charlotte is finally making her first appearance! Kind of.

Warning: hospital; stitches.

"Get dressed nicely. You need to feel good with yourself if you want to have fun. It's a date. You don't have to marry him. Just test the waters, enjoy and then you decide what you want to do next."

That's what Jennifer had told me on our last session. And there I was, dressed on a pretty dress.

I had chosen it carefully from my wardrobe. I had bought it long ago. So long ago. When I was dating Arnie. But he didn't like it. He hated it.

Molly had told me to wear it. "Arnie was a dick. He was a cunt. Like for real. He fucked everything. He hurt you. Just be like Diana. Let this be your revenge dredd"

And here I was, with the soft blue dress hanging nicely around me and feeling pretty. Really pretty.

Daniel hadn't told me where he was taking me. He just said I know a place. So I was nervous, a bit anxious even. It was a weird feeling. I was really really impaciente for the message. I just wanted him to arrive already. And at the same time I was terrified because I didn't want it go wrong. He was so nice that sometimes it seemed unreal.

Bing!

"Shit"

I ran around the house looking for my phone. I found it in the bathroom.

The Handsome Artist: hey, I'm here.

I bit my lip and another message came.

The Handsome Artist: I'm nervous.

I chuckled a bit and ran to grab my bag. I had never gone down those stairs so fast.

When I found him outside, he was looking inside the shop through the glass.

Daniel was looking so good. He was wearing a denim jacket over some t-shirt, tight black jeans and some vans. On his neck, not one but three chains adorned his caramel skin.

"Hey" I said.

He turned to me and both of us smiled. His checks got pink and he stretched his hands nervously, looking at me with a smile and checking my outfit.

I bit my lip and waited for some reaction.

"Hey..." He breathed out. "You look so so pretty"

Oh nice. Niiice. Super nice. Don't laugh like a kid, please.

"T-thank you" I walked a bit closer and clasped my hands together.

"You look so nice two." I took a better look now that I was closer and yes. He was one of the most handsome men I had ever seen. "I like the chains"

Yep. Nervous Abi, didn't had a filter.

"Do you?"

I nodded.

"I'm glad. I carefully chose them for the occasion"

I laughed.

"Good choice."

Daniel took a step closer.

"A hug?"

I laughed nervously when he opened his arms.

Fuck it.

"Of course"

He gave me a tight hug that ended way to soon, leaving me with a tingle on my back where his hands had fallen.

"Let's go. I got my bike with me" He said moving his eyebrows and picking two helmets from the floor.

"Bike? As a motor bike"

He nodded.

I was wearing a dress. A short short dress.

"Are you scared?" Daniel asked worried.

"Um...no. But..." I picked the edge of my dress and moved it a bit. "Not the best outfit, right?"

"Oh Shit! I should have warned you"

"I can go and change." I suggested picking the keys. I didn't want to fuck his plans. I didn't want to start like this.

His hand grabbed mine.

"You look way too pretty. I can't let you do that"

I blushed.

"I won't look." He said. "Plus. We won't go too fast"

I nodded.

"Okay."

Without letting my hand go, he took me to the other side of the corner. There was a huge black bike. Huge. One of those that pass you on the road way too fast.

"Um... Maybe I'm a little scared" I said looking at that thing.

He laughed.

"How can you be scared of the cutest bike in the whole city"

"That's not..."

He pulled a bit more and we passed the big bike and a car.

"Oh"

A mint green vespa with a Ric sticker on the front was parked there.

"Okay, it's the cutest bike in Los Angeles."

He laughed proud of his little vespa.

"Well. What do you say?"

I smiled. It was so cute, so tiny. I wouldn't have imagined he would come to pick me on a vespa.

"Let's go"

"Cheers"

He passed me a helmet and put his on. He secured it under his chin.

"Let me"

He did mine and smiled. I was blushing hard.

"You look cute" He said.

"Shut up..." I whispered turning a bit. I heard his soft laugh.

Daniel sat in the vespa.

"Okay, hands on my shoulders and hop on the back."

I swallowed. I did as he told me, feeling his strong shoulders under my hands. I sat carefully and fixed my dress.

"Okay. Grab into me. Wherever you want but my arms."

"Um. Okay"

Slowly, I slide my hands around his waist. He was strong. Not only his shoulders. I could feel how toned he was, how hard his muscles were and I found myself wondering how they would look like.

The vespa's sound pulled me out of my thoughts. We started moving and I grabbed him tighter.

"Don't worry, Abi. You won't fall" He said turning his face to me.

"Look in front of you, Danny. Eyes on the road."

He laughed.

"I'm good at this. Just enjoy!"

He was driving down in Venice direction, I didn't even know were. The soft sea breeze was relaxing and it brought Danny's perfume to my nose, which was delicious. It felt good to be this close to him.

"Where are we going?"

"I know a place!"

"What place?"

"You will like it!"

I bit my lip and looked over his shoulder. It didn't took us long to arrive, Daniel was gracely avoiding the traffic.

He parked in one of Venice Beach parkings.

He climbed down and gave me a helping hand. I jumped down.

"Welcome to Venice Beach"

I chuckled.

"I live in Santa Monica. I have grown in there"

He rolled his eyes.

"Don't ruin the mood, Abi."

We took the helmets off and he put them on the box.

"Okay, ready?"

"For what?"

"For a nice dinner in the most beautiful place in Venice"

I smiled while my heart beat faster.

"I am"

"Perfect. Follow me then"

We walked around the first streets, loosing the sea view soon. There was a lot of people, usual for a Friday night. There was music and everyone seemed happy. But the crowd got bigger as we walked.

Not wanting to get lost in the middle of this mess, and feeling slightly overwhelmed by the people, I reached foward. Gently and feeling more brave than I'd ever did, I brushed my fingers with his. Daniel took the hint quite fast and opened his hand. His long fingers moved over mine. I looked down at our hands. His fingers were so much longer, his palm wider. Mine looked smaller and my skin was less cared. It was funny how in those books and films the guy always had more worked hands and the girl always had the soft ones. Somehow, tables were turned now.

Maybe he doesn't like them.

But he threaded his fingers with mine and ran his thumb over my skin. It wasn't even the first time we holded hands. My breath got caught in my throat even though.

"You are cute" He said pulling me closer.

He only made me blush with that.

"Pretty"

"Shut up..."

Daniel was cheeky and flirty. He had carisma and a huge personality. He was maybe too much for me.

"Ah here we are." He pulled me out of my thoughts by gently tugging my hand.

"What is this?"

The place was grey. It wasn't really inviting.

"You brought me to a meth lab?"

He laughed hard. So hard. His free hand was on his chest and he had tears on his eyes.

"OH, Abi. Shit. I wasn't expecting that."

It made me laugh to. Laugh and blush like mad. I had made him laugh like that.

"You'll like it. I promise. Don't judge a book by the cover"

I followed him to the inside and the moment we crossed the door I let a gasp out. The restaurant was perfect. There were plants everywhere. Real plants. Tropical plants. The walls were painted in bright colors and everything was so packed with things. Little sculptures, paintings, lots of lamps... The place was truly beautiful.

I was so stunned by the decoration, that I hadn't notice how Daniel had left my hand go and grabbed my waist instead. It made me dizzy. It felt good. Correct.

"I told you" He whispered on my ear and I shivered.

"I-it's perfect."

"Daniel!"

We looked to the side. A man, Pierre I think, was coming to us.

"Hey mate!"

Daniel gave him a side hug, not letting me go.

"She is Abigail" Daniel introduced me with a smile.

I reached my hand to the guy and he gave me a little kiss in the knuckles.

"Nice to meet you. I'm Pierre"

"Nice to meet you too"

When Pierre, who was obviously French, let my hand go, he gave Danny a look and a side smile.

"You have a reservation, I suppose."

"Obviously. I called last week."

"Come with me. I already know which table you have"

Pierre guided us to some metallic stairs. Danny took my hand and helped me so I wouldn't fall.

I was nervous as hell.

Pierre opened a door and I gasped. There was a beautiful terrace in there. It was also full of plants. It was so perfect. The chairs were made of wicker and the tables were wooden. Some things were unmatched but it was beautiful anyway.

Daniel looked down at me.

"Nice?"

"Perfect." I answered smiling like a kid.

Pierre took us to our table, a little separated from the others and almost completely surrounded by plants. You could tell we were close to the sea by the salty breeze and we had a beautiful view of the sunset sky.

"A special one?" I heard Pierre whisper. Probably he didn't want me to hear.

"The special one" Daniel answered in a low voice.

I turned my back to them so they wouldn't see me blush. I was burning, my heart was beating so hard and I felt dizzy.

The special one. What did he even meant? How could he say something like that when we had just met? How could he when I wasn't special?

"Here, the menu. I will come back with your drinks"

I turned.

"Drinks?"

Daniel gave me a weird look as Pierre left.

"Where were you, Abi? I ordered a couple of beers. A mate of my has a brewery and they sell it here."

I blushed.

"It's okay." He shrugged. "The place it's beautiful, isn't it?"

He moved my chair and I sat.

"Thanks. It's perfect. It's like the most beautiful restaurant I've been at."

"I knew it. They did a good job here" He sat in front of me "And thinking about how you are a botanist and plant doctor and all... It was the place"

I smiled.

"People don't think about that usually." I said.

"How could they not? You scream I work between plants."

I chuckled.

"Do I?"

"You do. When you told me? It made sense. I really thougt it was a hobby. You were a plant mum. Turns out that you are a plant doctor. And creator."

He made me laugh.

"Well, yes."

"You have a cool aura."

"OH wow, thank you. So do you"

He smiled.

"What aura do I have?"

I took a deep breath and pinched my lips.

"Well, you are very calming. I don't know how to explain. You are happy, right? You always seem happy. And you are always smiling. That's calming. And really, you are cool. You seem cool. Like this cool tattoo artist from West Hollywood with bunch of friends. And a cool bike"

He had a huge smile on his face.

"Well, thank you. But I'm not really that cool." He shrugged off.

"You are." I insisted with a low voice and looking down at my beer. "You really are. Much cooler than me."

His hand fell in front of me.

"How is that?"

"I only have one- sorry, two friends." I said remembering our conversation on the beach. "I have two friends and live on a plant store."

He sighed and grabbed my hand.

Why was I even getting like this?

"Let me tell you that you are really really cool and to only have two friends means nothing. You are your own person. And I like that. I like your rings and the way you do you hair. And your clothes. And you little card with instructions for Elisa"

Don't cry. Don't cry, please.

"You are really cool. I only date cool people" He winked at me and I laughed. "There are so many different ways of being cool. And I like you way."

Oh fuck. He is awesome. He has to be. How the fuck am I gonna do this?

His fingers moved over mine and let myself reach my other hand to touch the rose. I ran the tip of my finger over the shapes and felt how he was looking at me.

I swallowed and looked up. I met his brown warm eyes.

"I should have a vespa to be that cool." I whispered and he chuckled.

"Well. Yeah, you may buy a vespa, but it won't be as cute as mine"

I laughed.

"That's better" He said pinching the back of my hand.

Fuck, I love holding hands.

I bit my lip.

"I have questions" He said.

I lift my eyebrows.

"Can I answer them?"

"I hope so"

I smiled. Was I ready to open to him? Maybe, maybe not. But I had to try. I had promised to Jennifer to try.

"Right. You live on the shop. The little apartment. How so? How do you get your boss to let you life there?"

I smiled.

"Charlotte is not only my boss. She is also my aunt. Aunt Charlotte. The only family I have"

His lips opened and his grasp on my hand tightened.

"Fuck. I-I didn't..."

"It's okay"

"Is it? I don't want to bring back bad memories"

I sighed.

"I don't remember much about them" I said referring to my parents. "We lost them when I was two"

"I'm sorry"

"Thank you" I took a deep breath. "But it's okay. It has always been us. And I have been the happiest girl. I had the best childhood and I never felt like there was something missing"

Were those tears on his eyes?

"Did you grow at the shop?"

"I did. We didn't live there, though. She has her own house some streets up. It's pretty similar to the shop. Typical building in Santa Monica. Two floors, she has a cool neighbor who lives on the second. She is happy there."

"Is it too much too ask about yours? I'm intrigued"

"Well, it wasn't an apartment on it's origin. It was empty, Charlotte only kept some materials in there. But when I was probably ten or so she got the idea and she came one day like, this will be yours. And we started buying stuff. Everything is second hand or rescued from the trash."

He gasped.

"Really? You built it?"

"I did not build anything, just saved a few pieces from here and there and fixed them." I shrugged it.

"Mate, you started getting your home ready for you at 10. You made your furniture what it is. That's awesome. How can you say you are not cool?"

I chuckled.

"Have you decided what you want?"

We looked up at Pierre like a deer on a road.

"No?"

"We forgot about that little detail" Daniel said.

I blushed and laughed softly.

"Well, in that case, Yuki wants to choose. He sent me here." Pierre said laughing.

"Okay. I trust the little man"

"Nice. We will bring your food soon"

Pierre left and I looked at Daniel before checking the menu.

"Japanese? I thought it was French?"

"Nah, Pierre is just a pretty face to being people. He owns the half of it or something like that. Yuki is the chef. Japanese blood and a too much culinary talent fitted in a meter and a half tall guy"

"Wow."

"He is good. Trust me."

"I do"

He smiled.

I took a sip of my beer and looked at him.

"More questions?"

He smiled.

"What's your favorite plant? You said Argelian Ivy was your favorite Ivy but not your favorite plant"

My pulse went crazy.

"Ferns. I love ferns. I don't care what kind. I love them all"

"Right. Ferns. Noted"

I blushed like mad. He was really interested in me. He was interested in my plants. Oh Danny.

"A-and you?" I asked all shy.

"Me?"

"Why are you here?"

He sighed.

"A bunch of things."

Was that sadness on his eyes?

"You can tell me other day"

"No. It's just... I'm far from home. I left when I was was barely a teen. I went to Europe and started some courses. I worked a part time job in a bar and another in a studio. I was on reception. I never tattooed there. Then I started with piercings, which I hate. It's so... Ugh"

I chuckled.

"Don't laugh, it's weird to make hole in nipples"

"Sorry, sorry"

Pierre brought the first plate and left. It was delicious.

"And where are you from?"

"Perth" He answered proud. "Beautiful west coast"

"Must be beautiful"

"It is. Los Angeles remind me to what I call home. That's why I love this so much"

"Awesome" I swallowed. "Your family..."

"Dad, Mum, Michelle and I. Dad is Italian actually. And I have a nice and a nephew. Isabelle and Isaac."

His eyes lit up with happiness and I melted only a little bit.

"I missed them so much. It's hard. I have been away for so long and it's not easy."

I wanted to get up and hug him.

"I try to visit as much as possible. And they are visiting soon. So..."

I smiled.

"All of them?"

"Yes. All of them."

"That's fantastic."

"It is. They supported me a lot. And I owe them everything. So whenever I can I try to have them over here. They weren't so sure I could make it good. I wanted to go to Europe because this amazing artist I followed were there. I wanted to learn from them"

"Did you?"

He nodded happily.

"I stayed in Italy for a while, then went to England. I met Lewis there. I made awesome friends. Most of them live also here. I got Mike and Blake. My aussies with me here. They are a part from home."

"Are you happy?"

"I am. So happy. Lewis is truly one of the bests. When he told me to leave the studio I was working on and open Ham&Avo with him I knew I had taken the right decision. I miss home, yes. But I have amazing things here too. I can call this home too."

I smiled.

"I'm happy to hear that."

He played with my fingers.

"I have a good life. I live with Mike in a nice house we rent together. I love my job..."

"And you are really good at it"

He looked down at my chest, where the tattoo peeked out of the dress. The he cleared his throat and looked into my eyes again.

"Thank you"

I smiled.

"It's nothing. I'm only saying the truth."

"Oh stop..." He was blushing.

I bit my lip. I liked him way too much and it felt too early. It felt to soon to be like this. How could I go through it all after what happened? How could I have it all after what happened?

"Hey, are you there?"

I blinked fast.

"Yes, sorry" I cleared my throat and drank some beer.

"Are you liking it?"

"So much, the food is amazing" I said with a smile.

"It really is. So... I got 5 stars for our first date?"

I smiled but... I'm taking the lady on a coffee date!

"First?"

He looked confused.

"Wait..."

I blushed.

"The coffee date" We said at the same time.

"Wait, wait, wait. Did you thought it was a date? You wanted it to be a date?" He asked surprised.

"Well, but... You said it was a coffee date but I didn't know if it was a date date. And... I don't know. I'm sorry"

I was so embarrassed.

"Sorry? No, no, no, baby. Don't be. I was just... I don't want to press things. I didn't want to press you."

He said and grabbed my hand.

"So..."

"You wanted it to be a date?" He asked in a low voice.

I just nodded.

"Fuck yes. I wanted too. A pity Charlotte and the rich woman..."

My phone rang. Unknown number.

"Answer, maybe it's important."

"Abigail Hopper?"

"Yes."

"We call from Marina del Rey Hospital. Are you a familiar of Charlotte Hopper?"

I felt a shiver run down my back.

"Y-yes"

"Abi?"

Daniel looked worriedly at me.

"Charlotte Hopper came to the hospital half an hour ago. She had an accident at home."

"W-what?"

"She called the ambulance because she hitted her head. Right now she is on observation and stable, but she has a concussion and has to spend the night here. We need a familiar to come and pick her tomorrow and..."

"Is she okay?"

"Yes. She..."

"Couldn't have you just started with that? Fuck. Um... Can I go now?"

"Yes you can b-"

"Fine"

I finished the call and got up.

"I-I have to leave. Somehow Charlotte had an accident at home and... Fuck she is in the hospital and..."

He got up and grabbed my shoulders.

"It's okay. Let's go."

"N-no don't..."

"Yes"

He took my hand and we both went downstairs.

"Wow guys, was it that bad?"

"Mate, we have an emergency. I'll come back tomorrow to pay and all."

I felt bad. He had prepared this. He was excited. It was our first-second date and it was ruined.

"Danny..." I tried to stop him when we were outside. I wanted to take a taxi, to go alone. He didn't had to come and pick Charlotte to the hospital. It wasn't fair.

He cupped my cheeks and I panted.

"Abi. It's okay. Let's go. How is she? It's too bad?"

"N-no... She is okay but... She is always like this"

"Okay. Let's go. It will be fine." He kissed my forehead and soon we were on the vespa on our way to the hospital.

Once there, he took my hand on his again. When we arrived to the hall, we went to the nurses.

"I come to see Charlotte Hooper. I'm her niece"

The woman checked the computer.

"Yes. She is on observation but will be out soon. She got examined and has a little concussion. Just go to the waiting room there. The doctor will call you"

Danny and I went and sit there. I couldn't stop tapping my foot on the floor.

"Hey"

I felt his fingers on my hair, tucking a curl behind my ear. I looked at him.

"Thank you..." I whispered.

"It's fine. Really. I owe you a dinner though."

"No. I owe you a dinner. It's my aunt who messed our second date"

"After messing the first" He said smiling. I did too.

"Yeah. Maybe the third..."

He chuckled.

"We should invite her to the third"

I rolled my eyes.

His hands grabbed mine, both.

"I had a really good time. Short but good. I loved talking to you"

I swallowed.

"I-I did too"

The room was cold, but the goosebumps on my skin weren't because of it.

"Don't worry about this. The most important thing is that Charlotte is okay. We can go dinner again whenever you want."

I nodded and a little drop fell down my tear. I cleaned it.

"One of this days she will literally scare me to death" I said half laughing.

"She has accidents often?"

"She is way too hyperactive. She is 68 and broke her hip some years ago. How? Trying to change a light bulb from a booth. The doctor told her to be careful. Only 9 months later she decided to ride the bike she hadn't touched since I left kindergarten."

"A messy woman?"

"Yes. The messiest. Once the ambulance guy joked about how he should park close just in case..."

"Oh jeez."

"She will like you. And you will like her. I'm sure. She is a ray of sunshine" I whispered, suddenly becoming aware of what I had said.

He touched my hair.

"If she is just half amazing as you are I'm sure."

I looked down at my hand. Was it too serious?

"Family of Charlotte Hopper?"

"Me"

I got up.

"Fine, good evening. She is fine, but she has to stay the night. Just in case. She has a concussion, it's not bad. She needed stitches though."

I sighed exasperated.

"You can stay the night here."

I nodded.

"Thank you doctor."

"She is asleep. But we will wake her up each 2 hours to check the symptoms"

I nodded. Long night...

"See you, Ms Hopper."

"Thank you, doctor" I repeated.

He left and soon I felt something fall on my shoulders. Danny's jean jacket.

I turned to him.

"Dan..."

"Keep it for tonight. It's bloody freezing here"

"No I..."

"I'm not fighting. Do you have anyone to pick you tomorrow?"

Molly was out of town visiting her family so that meant no.

"We can take a taxi. Or I will go home to pick the truck. It's okay"

"Nope. Text me when you wake up and I will come"

I looked at him in the eyes. It wasn't worthy fighting, right?.

"If you don't do it, I will get suuuper angry." He said smirking. "I can call the Tickle monster. You won't like it. Isabella and Isaac say he is horrible."

I chuckled.

"Okay."

"Fantastic. Have good night."

He leaned and kissed my forehead. I closed my eyes for as long as it lasted.

"Thank you" I whispered.

"It's nothing."

He walked me to the door and left after kissing my cheek. Somehow, I felt like flying. I felt on the clouds. And the fall was so fucking terrifying.

Aaaaaaaah. I love them so so much. You can't imagine besties.

The idea is to get a shorter and lighter chapter next. We will see.

Next part: Bug Eyes.

[larissa-the-scribe]

Terrarium Lights, pt. 3.8

Previously on Terrarium Lights: Gail got woken up in the middle of the night by an existential ghost. (Next part >>here)

Gail tilted her head. “Hmmmm. Is facing him about something else than just you and him being friends?”

Jonathon just sat there, not replying.

Gail gave him another few moments, but she couldn't tell what was going on in his head—whether he had accepted anything she had said, or was still thinking through it, or didn't know how to tell her that he thought she was wrong.

She listened to the pre-dawn chorus filtering in through the stillness of the house, the melodies of nightbirds still out and about—though she could hear the occasional voice of a morning bird waking up.

Finally, she stood up straight and stretched.

"Since I’m already up," she said, smothering a yawn with her shawl, "I might as well start the day. You are, of course, welcome to accompany me and talk to me, and I want to hear what’s going on with you. I don't suppose you'd like food or coffee or tea?"

He shook his head. "I can't eat or drink."

"Have you tried it?" Gail asked, half-challenging, half-curious.

He shrugged. "I can't lift a cup if it has something in it, and I have trouble with forks or spoons. But, I did give it a try. It didn't taste like anything. And I didn't feel anything from it. I don't think it stayed in me, either. I'm… not really sure what happened to it. But I tried enough to tell that there's no point in it."

"Not yet, at least," Gail said, making her way to the kitchen. “I’ll have to make you something later.”

"What do you mean?" Jonathon asked, still sitting on the table.

"Well, now that you’ve found your body, you should be able to make it back in, eventually, and be able to eat and drink normally again."

Jonathon just watched her as she pushed the lid off the water barrel to pull some out for the kettle.

"Right?" Gail said, once he didn't answer. She had missed something. Like when you take a stitch and the needle is on the other side of the fabric so you can’t quite see, but you know you did it wrong.

"I… I suppose that's true, yes," Jonathon said, attempting to make his voice sound normal.

She shook her head at herself as she finished filling the kettle. She would have been better off lighting the fire first. And she'd forgotten to set it up for it last night. Thankfully, she still had a large stack of wood by the kitchen door.

She picked up several pieces and fed them into the stove, adding some shavings into the slot along the front of the oven, then spinning the dial along the side of it. As the gears clicked into place, the shavings ignited and she and felt the satisfying woosh from the fire. It would be good for the day now, if she curated it right. Still, she added in another log for good measure, and edited the flamewatch alongside the stovetop before lighting a burner for the kettle.

"Now," she said, putting on her work apron over her clothes and hanging up her shawl, she turned back to Jonathon. "Correct me if I'm wrong, but something doesn't seem to be sitting quite right with you. Something besides your friend."

He looked down and swung his feet. "Well… I mean, there’s the whole situation. Part of me feels selfish about it, but… I just… don't really know how to talk about it."

"Mmmm."

He swung his feet wide out and hopped to the ground in the same motion, making his way into the kitchen. Leaning on the (diminished) woodpile, he crossed his arms. It was a place where he could hear and respond without raising his voice, while still staying out of Gail's way.

Gail pulled the iron skillet onto a more accessible burner, and, taking the lid off of a ladybug-shaped butter jar, sliced some off and plopped it into the pan. She popped into the pantry beside the kitchen and got some eggs and bread and a few slices of smoked bacon—commenting to herself that she really needed to do her baking, and shopping.

At this point the butter was already crackling merrily, so she plopped one of the slices of bread into the liquid gold formed in the pan—then, having completed the first step of her toast-making, she turned around to stare expectantly at Jonathon.

"Oh. Um. Maybe I just need more time to think," Jonathon said, his crossed arms looking more like an attempt at a hug. "Though, I will admit, I've been trying to do that and so far I've just made a muddle of it all. Maybe more time will fix it, maybe it won't."

"Sometimes things take time, sometimes we need to face them directly," Gail replied. "Sometimes both."

"It… it just feels like there's no solution."

Previous

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[brokenmusicboxwolfe]

Ufff. What a day!

Mom’s not well. Seriously unwell. Yesterday I read to her for 2 1/2 hrs, but today I didn’t even get to speak to her because she was in so much pain. I am worried sick. Any day I don’t get to tell Mom I love her upsets me anyway, but this is obviously much worse.

For the fourth day in a row my right ear has been making irritating crackly/popping sounds. I’ve had tinnitus as long as I can remember, and I don’t mind that background hum too much. At least it’s steady. This comes and goes. This keeps making me look to see what I’m hearing, like it’s beside me. I go from “Is there a critter back there?” to, “Oh, wait. It’s me!”

I’d gotten up early to go do the shopping, a trip that did two things besides get necessities for the next two weeks.

First, I found out a guy I’ve been friendly with at one of the stores for more than a decade is probably racist. It was a vibe, a body language, a warmth shut down. Up until now I’d not seen him checking anyone out, since he usually was doing the grunt work of moving stuff. He’s always seemed okay with his coworkers, but the telling thing in life is how you treat strangers and those with no power over you. Not shocking for a white dude in the rural south, but depressing.

Second, I used up my money. Like all of it. I weighed buying kerosene for the hot water heater and getting gas for the pickup. I am so sick of boiling water, that I decided the pickup can stay parked for two weeks (after I move that big bookcase between houses.)

Putting the kerosene in the tank when I got home I discovered the work I did the other day had created TWO joints to leak, the settling filter to tilt too much to work properly, and the whole tank to lean too far.

Oh, and I’d forgotten to rebuild the cinderblock steps to reach the pour in hatch. Trying to fix it I squished a finger. It’s purple now. Like entire end of the finger is purple!

And the steps no longer got me high enough, so I needed a ladder.

I discovered that last bit when I spilled a LOT of kerosene. In my face. In my eyes!

My eyes aren’t happy, BTW, and are planning to remind me of this assault for a while.

The kerosene took forever to put in the tank. It shouldn’t take THAT long to go through the screen. That’s because it turned out to be full of junk, that I now hope hasn’t contaminated the tank too much more than it already was after all probably 70 years of non-stop use.

I went to Mom’s house intending to do little. Instead I moved the damn treadmill! It weighs a ton, has only two tiny wheels that barely turn at the front but legs at the back, and was an inch two wide to go where I intended to put it out of the way in the hall. I had to maneuver it out of the bedroom with no swinging room for all the stacks of books, and get it through the door even though the pole saw that I store up the stairs sticks across it. **

Okay, so it’s too big to turn the corners to any of the other down stair rooms, and’s WAY too heavy to carry upstairs (even if I had the space or someone to help me), so I get the brainstorm to move it into the shed. I only have to move everything in the front of the shed…

You know, stuff like the industrial pump and seeming miles of hose my brother got for working on the boat, a spool of rope for the boat that’s waist high, the broken lawnmower, three boxes of damn jelly no one will eat, and that sort of thing.

Then I just had to get it off the porch and across the yard without gashing the steps or wood of the porch, or digging a groove through the grass, or getting stuck, or….

The neighbor dog, the great dane that’s now my buddy came to help. By help I mean he went into the house while the door was blocked open and grabbed things to take away and shred in the front yard. Foam. Paper. Bags…

OMG! Is that the bottom of the lantern I was removing the dead batteries from??? NO!!!! Give it back!!! That isn’t a toy! STOP!!!

Replacing that lantern will cost me $40. If that dog broke it…

And I petted him. Because what does he know.

I “walked” the treadmill across the yard, waddling using the two tiny wheels. The dog ran over as it swung back and forth, and heavy as it was I couldn’t stop the swing. WHACK! Right into his poor head!

He seemed okay, and after a bit of comforting he was back to normal. Well, except now he had discovered a game of trying to leap over the swinging treadmill.

Lifting the front into the shed I hurt my back, though I wasn’t really aware until I was putting everything back in the shed on top of it.

Oh good. Now I just have to disassemble the shelves, haul them around, put the bookcase back together, fill the floor to ceiling bookcase, and then figure out where I can make space for another one.

I realized then something had gone with my ankle brace on the bad foot. I could barely put weight on it.

With the animals fed and the sun set I was ready to flop, when…the two pain in the ass cats stole my seat! Nony and Yow Yow are lovable as heck, or I sure as hell wouldn’t let them in, but GEEZ, I have one single chair to sit in in the shop house, and with the floor collapsed it will stay one. The least they could do is shove over….

Okay, my supper livened them up, even if it was nothing the would want to eat. I went to put them on the porch, and Yow Yow did her usual boneless flop, not even trying to put her feet under her, and letting her wet sack of a body block the door. Nony, being just the opposite, seemed to fly back into the house. This led to him running around the house, playing keep away, and chewing in the cord to the freakin’ space heater! I put him out and…

Yow Yow was back in the chair asleep!!!!

***sigh***

I can’t evict a sleeping cat. So I sit down by her and in seconds she is on top of me. Now I couldn’t reach the computer or my sculpey or go get a drink or… I mean, awwwww, she looks so cozy!

I’m worried, I’m tired, I’m hurting, and I’m grumpy.

And if I don’t get this cat off my lap I’m not going to get the hot water heater lit!

**It’s been “fun” carrying stuff out of that room stepping over the pole saw that’s knee level, unusually backwards because there was no space to turn around after I picked up the storage container. Stupid beloved books!

***I have four bookcases , three of them floor to ceiling metal ones like this, in my bedroom at the shop. But where can I put them in house packed with the contents of three houses? They need to go against a wall, since we are talking maximum filling. And it can’t be a wall that already has furniture against it or where that chimney leaks sometimes or near the heater. I’ve already got bookshelves in front of windows even, with paneling wedged in not to protect the glass like with a sane person, but to shield the books. Too many windows! I need a cave! LOL

[formeryelpers]

Rouses Market, 701 Baronne St, New Orleans (Warehouse District), LA 70113

Needed to buy a few things and Rouses certainly impressed me with its wide variety. The shop was large, clean, and had wide aisles. I spotted many local products like New Orleans gingerbread, apple pies, muffalettas from Central Grocery, hot sauce, Creole seasoning, Creole mixes, Cafe Du Monde (full line of coffee and beignet mix), Aunt Sally's Pralines, local coffee roasters, hot sauce, etc.

There was a wide variety of prepared food and food that could be made to order, including panini, sushi and poke bar, hot food bar ($8.99/lb), coffee bar with pastries, in-house bakery, deli salads, etc.

Rouses had some of its own branded products. It’s a large supermarket with organic produce, flowers, wine/liquor, and everything you’d expect to find. I was impressed with their dry aged beef display.

The checkout lines were long and slow (probably because of the Saints game earlier that day). There was no self-checkout station and the cashiers seemed slower than usual.

Rouses has multiple locations and is a third generation family owned business. They had some tables out front for dining and a security guard.

It’s not as fancy as Whole Foods but it does have a lot of local products. I believe there’s some Italian connection (maybe the owners are Italian). And it's the official supermarket of the New Orleans Saints!

My pick:

Rouses kombucha: not bad and made with less sugar than usual

Evamor water: Naturally filtered, rare alkaline artesian aquifer water, clean tasting

4.5 out of 5 stars

By Lolia S.

[steadywonderlandbird]

10 Reason to keep fish:

1.Fish Are Easy to Care For

Fish are independent pets. They do not need to be entertained or walked each day. As a matter of fact, they entertain us.

You do not have to worry about your fish suffering from anxiety after leaving them alone in the house for a whole day. In addition, if you need to be away for a while, all you need is a person to ensure they are fed and the aquarium is clean. Fish are easy to take care for.

You will only need a few minutes to feed them each day and at least half an hour per week to change the water in the aquarium or to clean the tank.

2. Well Maintained Fish Tanks do Not Smell

There has been a myth that fish tanks can have a foul smell. Well, that is true if you do not maintain your tank. A neglected fish tank will have green water resulting from growing algae, and cloudy slimy water.

A well maintained fish tank, on the other hand, will have clear water that allows you to enjoy the view of your fish with no accompanied odour or smell. To maintain your aquarium, you will need equipment such as water filter to clean the water, and a regular tank cleaning and water change schedule.

With a good working filter, you do not have to worry about the fish’s organic waste too.

3. Aquariums Look Good

This is the main reason why people keep aquariums in their houses. Aquariums are aesthetically pleasing and they make a room look attractive. Fish also come in different varieties, species, colors, shapes and sizes.

They also make the aquarium to look colorful and lively. Keeping an aquarium in your house will promote feelings of serenity and peacefulness. An aquarium adds life and make a house or office help you to connect with nature. Fish pets are also good conversation starters.

Ever had visitors in your house but did not know what to talk about? Having an aquarium in your house will raise eyebrows in admiration and curiosity leading to a great conversation start up.

4. Most Aquariums are Low Maintenance

Aquariums are low maintenance compared to other pets. With a fish, you do not have to worry about acquiring a pee mat, grooming equipment such as brushing the dog’s teeth or training your pet to use the washroom.

For the aquarium, once you buy the aquarium, water filter, thermometer, water pump or any other equipment, you can be sure they will last long and you do not need to go to the shop now and then to replace them.

Cleaning an aquarium and changing the water is also not a task you are required to do daily. On average, you will only need a few minutes to confirm the water quality is okay for your fish and all other equipment are functioning normally.

5. Fish are Fun to Watch

Watching fish as they swim in the aquarium fun to watch. Fish are active pets, they spend their day interacting with their tank mates, digging the aquarium’s substrate or swimming from end of the aquarium to the other in pure curiosity. Sometimes, the fish interact with the people near the tank.

Apart from being fun to watch, they are also therapeutic. This is the reason why many doctors, therapists and dentists have aquariums in their waiting rooms. Keeping fish or just watching them for a short time has plenty of health benefits.

The major health benefits associated with watching fish include reducing blood pressure, reducing heart rate, reducing stress, reducing disruptive behaviours and improve eating habits. Watching fish brings and restores a state of mental calmness and brings a form serenity.

6. Most Fish are Not Expensive

Compared to other pets, fish are less expensive to keep. The cost of buying one small fish cannot be compared with the cost of buying a young dog or cat.

Their food is also not expensive as compared to the cost of buying food for other pets.

Fish will only need small portions of food each day. However, the cost and maintenance depends on the type of fish that you decide to keep.

The fancier the fish you buy, the more expensive it is to maintain and take care for.

7. Fish are Quiet

Fish are quiet pets. There will be no day they will make any sound, ever. Unlike other pets such as cats and dogs that can be loud at an inconvenient time, such as at night disrupting your sleep, fish will always remain quiet in the aquarium.

Fish are therefore suitable for young families and offices. They will not growl or bark at your visitors or cause a scene with loud and angry voices. If you love a quiet and calm environment in the house, then you should consider keeping fish as pets. The loudest noise that comes with fish keeping is actually from the equipment such as filter and water pump and not the fish themselves.

However, with modern technology, most of these equipment are reasonably quiet. On the other hand though, if you forget to feed your fish, they will not make sounds to remind you. Therefore you will need to create a reminder system.

8. You can Choose from a Range of Species

Fish are available in different varieties, species, shape, size and colour. You can choose a fish pet that you like from the different available varieties.

You can also choose to keep different species in your aquarium to add more colour and vibrancy. However, make sure the fish are compatible to avoid cases of bullying and aggression in the aquarium.

There are fish that are easier to keep and maintain for beginners, as you gain expertise, you can advance to fish that require more attention and care.

9. Most Fish are Playful

Just like dogs that are loyal and friendly to the owner, fish are also playful and some of them poses some very interesting personalities including the capability to recognize their owner.

It is just hard to tell if a fish is being friendly or just going about their business because there is a glass wall separating people and the fish. However, you can teach your fish to do some fun basic fish tricks like, playing soccer, following your finger, swimming through a loop, eating from your hand, jumping out of the water or coming to the surface of the aquarium to be petted.

Training and playing with your pet fish will lighten your mood and reduce stress levels.

Fish will also teach your children on how to be responsible and the importance of taking care of living things. As they feed, take care and maintain the aquarium, they will learn valuable skills.

10. Fish do Not Make Your Home Dirty

Keeping fish as a pet, you do not have to worry that they will pee on your carpet, or leave traces of fur on your upholstery, or have to clean up their toys after playing. A fish is confined in the aquarium.

The only cleaning you will need to do is in the aquarium. Cleaning an aquarium is not a daily task. You can schedule to clean and change the water in your aquarium after two weeks.

However, it is important for you to understand that fish keeping is not always fun and games. You will need to pay more attention to your fish, especially as a new aquarist.

Be ready to handle some major drawbacks such as algae, health problems, few known fish veterinarian, cleaning the aquarium, cost of medicine and on the worst case, sadness when the fish dies.

Wrapping Up

Keeping fish as a pet comes with many health benefits for instance reducing stress. They are also relatively cheaper, easier to take care for compared to other pet options, do not take up much space and they do not make much mess.

Once you get started, you will always wonder why you had not discovered fish pets before. It is like exploring a new dimension of life. Learning more about fish, communicating with other people about your new hobby and enjoying watching your new finned friend swim up and down the aquarium.

[pistolslinger]

meta + honoring his mom after she passes (does he visit a grave? carry something of hers with him? live by a certain principle etc etc i didn’t know how to condense this into a singular word)

META + [ nat’s brain rattling ]

this is rly sweet :( i think jesper honours her in a lot of ways — even when he was suppressing his biggest connection to her, his powers, he was conscious of her absence in his life and made an effort to fill the loneliness with something whenever it hit him.

when she died, he took up a lot of her responsibilities around the house — he honoured her by keeping the house and colm going. he couldn’t always do it the way she did, but the schedule he followed was hers, the songs he hummed while he worked were hers, and when something needed fixing or making, the method was hers.

when he moved to kerch for university, his main way of staying connected to his zemeni culture was his fashion — he fell on materials and patterns and colours she favoured; and because his mother was the most beautiful woman in the whole world in jesper’s eyes, why wouldn’t he want to look like her? when his hair gets long between cuts and styles, he takes care of it the way she did her own hair, when he shops for jewellery, he picks gold, because it was what his mother wore the most often. he wears her wedding ring on a chain around his neck (not always out on jobs, though, even if he loathes leaving it behind), and fiddles with it when he gets nervous.

when he settled down in ketterdam permanently with wylan, making trips to her gravesite (the cherry tree on the fahey farm) gets a little more complicated. he asks wylan to plant a cherry tree in their back garden, and though it’s not the same as the one his mother is actually buried under, he treats it as if were because cherry blossoms were her favourites.

and the biggest way he chooses to honour her moving forward is to do as she always did: use her power and her smarts to help others. the water situation in ketterdam is likely atrocious, and jesper has strong strong feelings regarding unsanitary drinking water and poisonings caused by said unsanitary water. he develops a water filter for ppl too poor to be able to get their drinking water cleaned by a grisha, makes it easy to replace and repair and use. 

[quoria]

Chapter 1.07: BAD TIMES AT BIG BARTONS

It was dark by the time Colton and Miss Fortuna - Madeline, she’d insisted after she’d changed into something more casual and less recognizable - made it to the bar. The Hard Times Bar and Saloon was a big place, popular and crowded. Booths ringed the edges of the room, and tables were set up near the dance floor in the center. A handful of musicians were tuning up their instruments in one of the corners, presumably the night’s entertainment. 

Big Barton, owner and proprietor, stood behind the main counter. He was built like a fridge - muscular, with a fat stomach, and a thick beard. His brown hair was looking more gray than brown these days.  When Barton smiled, his whole face lit up, and he smiled often. His two missing fingers alluded to a checkered past, but he was on the straight and narrow now, same as Colton. 

Barton grinned and waved as Colton walked past, and when he noticed Colton wasn’t alone, he shot him a thumbs up and a wink in silent encouragement. His easygoing nature hadn’t changed for as long as Colton had known him, not even when he’d been running his own gang. Thankfully his temperament was more suited to bartending than it was to highway robbery. 

“It’s not a date,” Colton hissed under his breath as they passed the bar in search of a table, a little flustered at the mere idea of a date. Barton’s big, booming laugh faded into the ambient noise of the room as they passed him.

Madeline took the initiative to order their drinks, leaving Colton to find an empty table for them. The room was filling up fast, but thankfully he managed to snag one of the few remaining booths against the far wall, near the back door. Hints of smoke filtered in from out back whenever someone walked in or out of the building, and Colton coughed a little as he tried to get used to it. Not the best seat in the house, but any seat was better than none.

Reappearing with a drink that was so vibrantly mint green it hurt Colton’s stomach just to look at it, Madeline made herself at home in the seat across from him. She pushed a glass of brown pop across the table to him, and he nearly took a sip out of habit, pausing with his mouth halfway to the straw. 

“It’s not-” 

“It’s not alcoholic,” Madeline interrupted, finishing his question and answering it all at once. “I figured it was better than water.”

“Oh- Thanks, Colton said, surprised. He paused to take a sip of his drink, enjoying the familiar, sweet sensation of the carbonation against his tongue. He’d had a soda with lunch, but his day had been so hectic that lunch felt as though it had happened a week ago. 

“You’re welcome, darling,” Madeleine said as she sipped at her own mint green concoction - a grasshopper, probably. She looked stressed and tense around the edges. 

Colton thought that she might be less stressed if she let him work on the case instead of dragging him out for drinks, but he assumed that she hadn’t felt safe being alone. With the possibility of one of her own clients after her, it made sense that she’d want to get out of the shop for a while, and dress down so that people wouldn’t recognize her. Not that doing so was going to solve any of her problems. Sometimes people were funny like that, seeking comfort in the wrong things.

“You come here often?” he asked, wondering why she’d chosen this particular bar.

“No, not particularly,” she said, making a valiant effort to invest herself in the conversation, even though her heart clearly wasn’t in it. “Not that this place isn’t nice, it’s just that I wanted to go somewhere new.” 

“You picked a good place. I’ve been here once or twice, and it’s always pretty packed. People pressed together like sardines in a can,” Colton said, pressing his hands together to make his point. “I don’t think anyone is gonna be looking for you here.” 

He hoped that was the right thing to say, the right issue to address. There was a lot of pressure on Madeline from both herself and her clients to constantly maintain her image. And now that her image was the center of all this new trouble… It complicated things.

Madeline smiled, and Colton relaxed for all of half a second. Then the back door opened as someone stepped outside, and he happened to hear a few words in what was becoming an all too familiar voice. 

Colton’s heart sank. Of all the bars in Quoria, why had Kaleb had to choose this one?

Naturally, Madeline had heard Kaleb too, and shared a glance with Colton across the table. She nodded towards the door, silently asking if they ought to go take a look. The door swung open again, and this time the sound of a meaty smack, like someone had taken a particularly hard punch, came through.

Colton scrambled to his feet and made a beeline for the door, leaving his soda abandoned on the table. Madeline was hot on his heels, and nearly ran into his back when he stalled the moment he’d stepped outside. 

The space outside the back of the bar was roomier than any alley Colton had ever seen. Dumpsters were pushed off to one side, blocking the space off from the street, which may have had something to do with it. A few folks were smoking near the door, and a couple were playing dice by the dumpsters. What had caught his attention was the fifteen or so people had formed a loose semi-circle around the back of the alley. There were a few cheers, a few whistles, and Kaleb was there, looking thrilled to be a part of the action. If Colton strained, he could hear the sounds of a fight happening.

He hurried over to join the crowd - mindful of Madeline’s hand on his arm - and pushed his way to the front. Two people were going at it, using the crowd as their fighting ring: one a lean young man who was quick on his feet, and the other a short-haired young woman with a bloody nose and the start of what appeared to be a black eye. There was a smeared collection of tally marks on the wall. Someone was keeping score.

“And, you’re out, Jude,” said a person holding a stick of chalk as the woman - Jude - took another hit. They drew another neat tally on the wall, leaving the latest score at five to two. 

Jude sighed, and fished her wallet out of her pocket, counting out the few bills she had. 

“Fine. Here,” she said, her expression somehow neutral despite her injuries. She held the money out for the scorekeeper to take, and Colton risked a glance at the other brawler. He was talking to Kaleb, and they were splitting money between them. Kaleb had enough money that this was undoubtedly nothing more than entertainment for him, but there was no telling what everyone else's stakes in this little fight club were.

“Hey- you can’t take that,” Jude protested, drawing Colton’s attention right back to her. She and the scorekeeper had moved off to the side where several bags were pressed up against the wall, presumably for safekeeping. “I need my camera. I lost, I paid up - I need that for school.” 

“That’s rough,” the scorekeeper said, unsympathetic. “Consider it a down payment, okay? You can keep fighting the rest of the night on this. Otherwise, I’m gonna have to kick you out. You don’t even have enough to cover your last loss.”

Jude stalled at the threat, and Colton saw his chance to jump in. 

“Hey, how about I play you for that camera?” he said, acting without thinking, as usual. “Jude- Jude’s a good friend of mine, and she really needs that for school. You’re not gonna deny her an education, are you?” He was really laying it on thick, and hoping desperately that Jude would keep her mouth shut. 

“You want to go up against me for it?” the scorekeeper asked, glancing Colton up and down appraisingly.

“I want to play you for it,” Colton corrected them. “I wouldn’t have a shot against you in a fight. Look at me, I’m all bones. You could tear me apart,” he said, gesturing to himself. He was tall and twiggy, and unsuited for fighting. Madeline seemed to think so too, judging by the way her grip on his arm tightened. She was trying to subtly tug him away, but Colton was having none of it. Playing up his own weaknesses and making the scorekeeper out to be the stronger opponent was boosting their ego, he could tell. “A smart fella like you plays dice, right? What do you say? One round, winner takes all?”

“Sure, alright. I guess I can indulge you,” the scorekeeper said, like they were doing Colton a favor. “But what do I get if I win?”

“Ten dollars,” Colton said, regretting it as soon as the words were out of his mouth. That was all the money he’d been paid at the start of his job. It was supposed to last him a week or so, until he could close the case. That way he didn’t starve, and his lights didn’t get shut off by the power company again.

“Deal,” the scorekeeper said, snapping up the opportunity before Colton could back out.

Chapter 1.06 ↢ || ↣ Chapter 1.08

[wellnesswatercompany]

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Introduction

Water is essential for life, and ensuring water quality is crucial for your health and well-being. In California, where water quality can vary significantly from one region to another, investing in a reliable water filtration system is a wise decision. This article aims to provide expert insights and guidance on how to shop for water filters in California, ensuring access to clean, safe, and great-tasting water.

Understanding California's Water Quality

Before diving into the world of water filters, it's essential to comprehend the unique challenges of California's water quality. The state faces various water quality issues, including:

Hard Water

Many areas in California have hard water, characterized by high mineral content, primarily calcium and magnesium. Hard water can lead to scale buildup in pipes and appliances, reducing lifespan and efficiency.

Contaminants

California's water sources can contain lead, chlorine, pesticides, and industrial chemicals. These contaminants can pose health risks when consumed over time.

Taste and Odor Issues

Some regions in California experience water with an unpleasant taste or odor due to naturally occurring compounds or treatment chemicals.

Types of Water Filters

When shopping for water filters in California, you'll encounter various types designed to address specific water quality concerns. Here are the most common types:

Reverse Osmosis (RO) Systems

RO systems use a semi-permeable membrane to remove contaminants, minerals, and impurities from water. They are highly effective in improving water taste and quality.

Activated Carbon Filters

Activated carbon filters absorb and trap contaminants, including chlorine, chemicals, and some heavy metals. They are known for improving taste and odor.

Water Softeners

Water softeners use ion-exchange technology to reduce the hardness of water by removing calcium and magnesium ions. They are excellent for preventing scale buildup.

UV Purifiers

UV purifiers use ultraviolet light to disinfect water by killing bacteria, viruses, and other microorganisms. They are ideal for healthy water or areas with microbial contamination.

Whole-House Filtration Systems

Whole-house systems are installed at the point of entry and treat all the water in your home. They can address multiple water quality issues simultaneously.

Assessing Your Water Quality

Before purchasing a water filter, it's essential to determine your specific water quality issues. You can do this by:

Conducting a Water Test

Contact your local water utility or a certified laboratory to conduct a water test. This will identify the contaminants present in your water.

Identifying Your Needs

Consider what issues you want to address. Is it hard water, chlorine taste, or specific contaminants? Your needs will guide your filter choice.

Choosing the Right Water Filter

Once you clearly understand your water quality issues, it's time to select the right water filter for your needs. Here are some factors to consider:

Certification

Look for filters certified by reputable organizations like NSF International or the Water Quality Association. Certification ensures the filter's effectiveness.

Maintenance

Consider the maintenance requirements of the filter. Some filters require regular replacement of cartridges, while others may need periodic cleaning or servicing.

Installation

Evaluate whether you need a professional installation or can install the filter yourself. Some systems are more straightforward to set up than others.

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For residents in California, Wellness Water Company offers a range of high-quality water filtration solutions. With years of experience in the industry, they have built a reputation for providing reliable products that meet California's unique water quality challenges.

Conclusion

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