#The wallpaper on the walls was a type where they made it a part of the wall itself

[tallsprout]

Hey, this is your sign to go out and find somewhere local/in your state a place that is a beautiful piece of preserved history and enjoy it. It can be a small museum, a big museum, an ancient landmark or just really really old parts of town. Go out and find and appreciate something someone obviously put a lot of time, and effort, and care into creating.

Look to see how far civilization has not only progressed since the beginning of history, but also how much of modern stuff is so sterile and manufactured and plain. In the process of progress, and much needed advancement to better civilization as a whole, we've discarded too often the beauty of unique pieces in favor of having everything be exactly the same, easy to make, and only functional.

[p0orbaby]

@randombush3 violated my inbox to request this so you have her to thank

old!money, boarding school reunion, and some other bits im too common to explain !

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The reunion gala is being held in the dining hall, which is now unrecognisable, strung with white fairy lights and overrun by women who look like they’ve stepped out of a Tatler feature on “The New Guard.” You and Leah arrive late, her fingers laced loosely with yours, her face caught in a look of quiet amusement she’s been wearing ever since you explained what the event actually was. The type of function where everyone’s name rhymes—Tillie, Millie, Mintie, Lottie—and they all wear headbands, pearls, and just enough Loewe to feign not trying.

“Are you sure I’m dressed for this?” Leah mutters as you step into the room. She’s in a black blazer, simple but sharply tailored, and trousers that cling to her frame in a way that has made you a little distracted all evening.

“You’re perfect,” you say, squeezing her hand. “Besides, half of them are just here to drink champagne and complain about the wallpaper”

The first person to approach you is Tillie Worthington, née Price, whose voice hasn’t changed since you last heard it at seventeen: clipped, nasal, and deeply amused by everything. She air-kisses you, one cheek then the other, leaving a faint trace of Jo Malone behind, and sizes Leah up with the kind of interest usually reserved for auction lots.

“This must be your footballer,” Tillie says brightly, as if she’s been handed a guest list and not just guessed from Leah’s posture, which screams athlete. “Leah, isn’t it? How marvellous. I’m Tillie, darling. Went to school with your girl. She was an absolute terror in Upper Fourth”

Leah shoots you a look, equal parts entertained and confused. “Upper Fourth?”

“Year Nine,” you mutter.

“She had all the girls swooning,” Tillie continues, ignoring you, her attention fully on Leah now. “They’d leave her chocolates in the locker room. Did she tell you that? Or is she still pretending to be shy?” She winks.

Leah grins, leaning into the banter. “She’s not shy”

Your cheeks are already burning when Mintie Sotherby appears, dragging her husband—a man who looks like he was born holding a yacht steering wheel—behind her. Mintie is as you remember: glossy and terrifying, with the kind of presence that made underclassmen weep in corridors. She zeroes in on Leah like a heat-seeking missile.

“You’re the Arsenal one, right?” she says, tilting her head. “You’re on my husband’s fantasy football team.” She pauses, turning to the man at her elbow. “Aren’t you, darling?”

“Er—yes,” he says, with the enthusiasm of someone who doesn’t know his own players. “Very good value for money”

You’re about to step in when Lottie—of course it’s Lottie—arrives, carrying two glasses of champagne and a third that she thrusts at Leah. “Here,” she says conspiratorially, her vowels clipped like a BBC anchor. “You’ll need this if you’re meeting everyone. They’re all positively feral tonight”

Leah raises the glass, her grin widening. “I’m starting to see that”

The night is a whirlwind of introductions, champagne, and remarks that range from condescending to bizarre. Leah handles it all with a grace you’re sure she didn’t think she had, charming your comrades like she’s been doing it for years. But the moment you’ve been dreading comes as you’re cornered by Pippa Hardwicke, your former dorm mate and now a full-time collector of scandal.

“Oh, and let’s not forget the time she got caught sneaking into the boys’ school across the lake,” Pippa announces, her voice carrying over the din of conversation. “Right through the headmaster’s garden. She had to scale a wall in a dress she’d nicked from the laundry room—can you imagine?”

Leah turns to you, eyebrows raised, the faintest smirk tugging at her lips. “Is this true?”

You’re halfway through an attempt at deflection when Pippa adds, “And she left her shoes behind. Do you know how hard it is to explain a pair of muddy Louboutins in the middle of a rose bush?”

Leah bursts into laughter, shaking her head. “Oh, I’m going to need to hear all of this later,” she says, her tone low, conspiratorial.

You groan, pulling her away as Pippa prepares to recount the time you tried to rig the voting for Head Girl. “We’re leaving. Right now”

“Leaving?” Leah says, grinning as she falls into step beside you. “Baby, I’m just getting started. I’ve got so many questions. Like, how many times were you caught sneaking around? And did you really steal the dress?”

“You’re supposed to be on my side,” you mutter, though the warmth in her voice is impossible to resist.

“I am,” she says, slinging an arm around your shoulder. “But I also love picturing you in the middle of a garden, barefoot, running from security. It explains so much”

[byeomtori]

the only exception | beomgyu x reader

pairing: beomgyu x female reader

content: love at first sight au, summer love thingy, lots of reference to paramore's the only exception and txt's our summer, pda

tw: mentions of fight and blood

words count: 12k

notes: reposting because of high demand (lol)

preview:

you were not the type to believe in the existence of love. to you, there was no such a thing as true love; no such a thing as unwavering, unbreakable, and unparalleled fondness and devotion for someone. to you, people love to get something they desire in return — money, power, status, pride. your parents were a living prove of that

the day you were old enough to understand the lack of love and affection between your parents to each other, and to you; you swore to never grow that feeling to anyone — family, friends, partner. anyone. because to you, love did not exist.

you were content living that way for years, not happy, but content.

the absence of love in your life protected you from attachment, heartbreak, sorrow — those negative emotions that you deemed unnecessary and unworthy to be sitting inside of you.

life was okay without love, you thought.

until you had to spend the rest of your summer with a distant relative whom you've never met in your entire life, in a small town with an ocean view, where fate had brought you a boy whose eyes shine brighter than any stars in the night sky.

and maybe, just maybe, love does exist.

a comforting smell of freshly brewed chamomile tea wafting in the air as you make your way inside the unfamiliar home — the one you will be spending three months in because your parents are way too busy flying around across the globe to be taking care of you.

"come on in, y/n." the woman in front of you speaks, her voice soft, the type of voice a kindergarten teacher would have.

maybe she was one, you have no idea. in fact, you know nothing about the woman standing in a yellow dress in front of you. she is pretty, even though it is evident her aging is slowly creeping up to her from the way her skin wrinkles on the corner of her eyes when she smiles. but to you, she is pretty- the mother-like kind of pretty. the kind of pretty that makes you feel warm inside.

but again, you know nothing about her. have never seen her in your entire life. never even heard her name from any of your parents until today.

aunty sue.

that was the name your mom had told you in the car this morning when she was dropping you off at the train station, she couldn't even make some time to drive you straight here, and telling you the woman is a distant cousin of hers whom she hasn't met in a long time. and that was also the name the said woman had introduced herself to you.

"do you want some tea, honey? or anything else?" she asks, making her way into the kitchen as you trail behind her like a little lost puppy.

"tea is fine," you reply.

leaning against the kitchen counter, you roam your eyes around the room. some parts of the walls are painted in pastel green while another part is decorated with a plaid wallpaper with the same color — just a shade darker. the counter tops are full of kitchen appliances, cookbooks, sunflower patterned dishes, and freshly washed vegetables along with some other things. there are random little trinkets on the windowsill — a wooden carved statue of a cat, a line of herbs in old tomato cans, and a sun catcher being hung at the corner of the window making tiny little rainbows refracting inside the kitchen.

the furniture of the dining area does not match with each other — one wooden chair with a striking blue cushion, a yellow wicker chair and another two plastic chairs in white. though everything is mismatch, it doesn't look weird. it feels right, even.

it feels like home.

very different from your house where nothing is ever out of place. the countertops made of slick white marble, picked personally by your mother, are always shiny as if no one has ever touched it. truthfully speaking, they kind of are. no one is ever cooking in that kitchen. you bet the only stains that has dirtied that counter was that one time you spilled your morning coffee on it. the stove, it looks brand new compared to the one in front of you right now which looks like it has been in service for more than a decade with how rusty it looks.

everything in your house is perfect to the tee. a façade that is what you like to think — to mask the family's imperfections.

a house that never felt like a home.

"i'm going to keep my stuff in my room first, i'll be right back," you say as you pull your luggage with you.

"sure, honey. your room is the second door on the right."

honey.

not even your own mother has ever called you that.

you haul your bag with much difficulty up the stairs, cursing yourself mentally for overpacking, before making your way to the said door. the room is spacious, not as big as your own room back in the city, but still enough to fit a queen-sized bed in the middle, a study desk by the window and a two doors wardrobe in the corner.

the glass sliding doors that lead to the balcony are being left slightly open, the warm summer breeze blowing the white sheer curtain. leaving your luggage by the bed, you make your way over to the balcony — pushing open the sliding door wider as you step out into the outdoor.

to say you are astonished is an understatement. the view in front of you is breath-taking — the house is located on top of the hill, overlooking the neighborhood and the ocean, the season's bright sunlight is making the scenery even more spectacular.

you breath in the air, inhaling the smell of the blue sea with your eyes closed.

there is someone, other than aunty sue, downstairs — you can clearly hear the sound of a male voice which is a little bit too loud to be ignored, talking to the woman in the kitchen about how his mom had forced him to deliver cake to all the houses up the hill in the middle of the day.

"y/n, honey! are you done? come downstairs, please." opening your eyes, you let out a soft sigh as you walk back inside, keeping your eyes on the ocean outside as you close the glass doors.

it's okay, you have the whole three months here. you tell yourself as you make your way back into the kitchen, the guest is still going on about how his little rant.

"i mean, don't get me wrong. i love summer, but to deliver all of them under the sun? god i felt like-.." and as he turns to face you who is standing at the entrance of the kitchen, your breath hitch in your throat.

you're not sure is it the iridescent illumination from the sun catcher beaming on him, or the glow of his skin that is glistening with sweats from biking under the summer rays, or the sparks in his eyes as he stares at you;

but oh god, he is beautiful.

not pretty, but beautiful. the angel-like kind of beautiful. the kind of beautiful that would make people turn their heads. the kind of beautiful that would make you steal glances at him if you were to sit in front of him in a train. the kind of beautiful that makes the ocean view you saw earlier lose its' price.

the once in a lifetime kind of beautiful.

"y/n, this is beomgyu, his mom owns a bakery down the hill."

"oh, this is the girl that you've been telling me about!" he says excitedly as he makes his way over to you, "she's pretty."

and you almost choked on your saliva. how can he be saying things like that so casually?!

"hi, i'm choi beomgyu," he says, extending out his hand for a handshake. "aunty sue told me a lot about you so i'm kind of excited to be your friend, that is if you want, of course."

you look down to his hand, lifting your own as you slowly put it in his. "im y/n,"

though it feels rough, his hand still holds a certain kind of warmth that makes you feel secured. you can feel calluses on his fingertips, too. does he play the guitar?

you're not even sure why you feel bashful under his gaze. you don't understand the warm fuzzy feeling you're getting when he keeps his hand in yours. you don't get why your heart is beating so fast when he says your name, the syllabus rolling perfectly on his tongue like it was made for him and only him to say.

"well then, i look forward to hanging out with you, y/n."

the conscious side of your brain is already blaring an alarm, telling you to turn him down, telling you that no, you don't want to hang out with him. that no, you don't look forward to spending your summer with him.

but despite that, you find yourself nodding to his words. "me too, choi beomgyu."

it has been three days since you have first arrived, and you have concluded that choi beomgyu is a man of his words.

you didn't think much when he told you that he looks forward to hanging out with you, thinking that he was just being nice to a newcomer and to act friendly to you.

because that's all you have ever known — people acting nicely to you.

you remember when you used to associate in a group of girls back in middle school; it was one of the worst times of your life. eleven years old you were so naïve (read: stupid) to realize that those girls were just using you for your unlimited amount of cash — always inviting you to go shopping, forcing you to throw fancy sleepovers — until one day one of them literally had to scream in your face that they were only hanging out with you for your daddy's money.

and since then, you have never tried to befriend anyone and those around you never approached or asked you to hang out, either.

so, it is a surprise to you that choi beomgyu stays true to his words.

yesterday, he had come over early in the morning looking as beautiful as you had remembered the first time you saw him; asking you if you want a little tour of the small town. you had declined, telling him you still had a few things left to unpack, leaving the boy pouting. you had felt slightly bad, just slightly.

you are in the backyard with aunty sue, picking up some ripe tomatoes from the small garden. she told you she has been tending this small part of her backyard for almost seven years now, planting

various kinds of vegetables, using the excuse of she doesn’t like the ones sold in the market, when in reality she just really loves gardening and watching her plants come to live day by day.

“is the tomato that interesting to you?”

you jump in surprise as you hear a low voice speaking next to your ear. turning around, you find a grinning beomgyu looking down at you. he peeks under your straw hat, trying to have a better look at

your face. “you look like a tomato yourself.”

you frown, “what do you mean by that?!”

he bends, hands resting on his knees, now being eye to eye level with you. humming, he continues to study your face.

there is always something about him that never fails to make blood rush to your face. yesterday it was the way he dressed — white sleeveless top tucked messily inside his black jeans. it was simple, nothing outstanding about it but to you, he was breath-taking. and today; it’s the way he’s looking deep into your eyes, eyelashes fluttering against his cheeks with every blink.

the rational part of you is telling you to push him aside or to move away, to break the eye contact. but the other part that you have no idea existed inside of you until you met him few days ago, is telling you to keep staring into his sparkling eyes, to play along to whatever little game he has put on.

the rational part of you won as you take a step back, creating a safe distance between your figure and his. you can feel your cheeks flushed, fully blaming it on the warm temperature as you had been

standing under the sun for quite a while now.

“your cheeks are so red, like a tomato.” he giggles, “are you hot?”

you look away from him, hiding your face under your hat as you whisper, “k-kinda…”

he was about to move closer to you again, hand reaching over to your hat, but it stops mid-air when aunty sue is calling over for the both of you. thanking the lord and savior, you quickly make an escape

from him as you walk over to where your aunty is standing with a plate full of freshly cut watermelon in hand.

you sit beside her on the porch, while beomgyu is standing right in front of you. “tell your mom i say thank you for the watermelon,” aunty sue says and the boy just hums, hand reaching down to pick up two pieces of the sliced fruit, handing one over to you.

you thank him quietly and he smiles down at you, “you will never find a watermelon as sweet and juicy as the ones that my grandfather planted.” he boasts, and aunty sue make a sound as what sounds

like she is agreeing with him. “that’s right, mr.choi planted the best watermelon in the country.”

the scorching heat of the sun calls for you to take a bite of the fruit – it is sweet, just like what beomgyu had said. “it’s so good,” you speak under your breath. you’re not sure how he manages to hear what

you said but he did, as the smile on his face grow wider. “right? i told you!”

he waits for you to finish the slice in your hand before handing you another one, all the while still towering in front of you.

“sit down, beomgyu.” your aunty says to him to which the boy just shakes his head. “i’m protecting y/n from the sun,” he replies casually, taking a bite of the watermelon “she looks like a real tomato

right now.”

both you and aunty sue look up to him in sync. he is, indeed, covering you away from the sun — being tall makes it easier for him to shield you away from the direct sunlight of the summer rays but his back

is taking up all the consequences of his action as you can see droplets of sweat forming on of his neck, sliding down to his back.

you glance to aunty sue, a coy smile on her lips. “j-just sit down!” you scold him, pulling him down by his wrist to sit beside you on the wooden veranda.

aunty sue giggles, “talking about tomato, do you want to bring some home, beomgyu?”

he shakes his head, “thanks, aunty sue but no one in that house enjoys eating tomato.”

“but i do want to ask for your permission to steal this cute tomato away from you for the night,” he says as he pokes your cheek with his index finger to which you move slightly away. “my friends are doing a bonfire by the cliff later, i was thinking to bring y/n along.”

you hesitate, gaze moving from his face to your aunty’s. “you can go, y/n. it’s much more fun to hang out with people your age rather than spending time with me,” she ensures you.

you look back to beomgyu, his eyes hopeful as he waits for your answer.

“okay, then.” you finally give in, a wide smile making its’ way across his face.

he stands up, one hand in the pocket of his pants as he bends down to look at your face, again.

“see you tonight then, tomato.”

one conclusion you can come up after spending a good half an hour with choi beomgyu is that he does not have a sense of personal space — not that you mind, at least for now when you are surrounded by unfamiliar teenagers laughing and chattering around the bonfire.

you’ve been stuck to his side since the moment you reached the cliff. it’s not like you are that comfortable with him but out of everyone here, he is the only person you know. despite that, choi beomgyu looks like he is that comfortable with you — hand on the small of your back while walking, wrapping his flannel around your waist so that you won’t get your shorts dirty (when in reality he just doesn’t like the way the other boys are looking at the exposed skin of your legs), sitting too close you can feel his shoulder brushing against yours as he moves.

truthfully, you would have been so annoyed. but this is choi beomgyu. he is choi beomgyu and you have no idea what’s about him that makes you feel so protected. even now when he has his hand on top of your right knee while he’s talking to his friends, you don’t feel irritated.

it feels right. he feels right.

“beomgyu!” someone calls him over from behind. he sighs, “i’m gonna go talk to him for a while, you’ll be alright here, right?” he asks to which you just nod your head.

what is he expecting you to say answer? no, don’t leave me, beomgyu. as if you would ever say that out loud.

the warmth of his palm leaves your skin as he gets up, making his way over to the blue-haired boy that was calling for him. your let your eyes linger on him, watching as he gives the guy a fist bump before

both of their gaze move to you and you quickly look away.

“you’re y/n, right?” a guy who is sitting in front of you speaks.

you nod, “hueningkai, right?” you ask, remembering his name after beomgyu had introduced you to him earlier. and you glad you did from the way his eyes lit up when you get his name right. years of

attending charity events and parties where you were forced to talk to random people by your parents has thought you to imprint people’s names on your mind easily.

“heard you’re from the city. how is the life there? i really want to live there someday, it’s really boring here,” he pouts. “the nearest mall is like, miles away.”

“i think it’s fun here,”

“yeah? and why is that?”

you go quiet for a moment. why is that? — there are various reasons why you think the town is not as boring as hueningkai believes. for an example, the ocean. there is no beach in the city, the nearest one being a whole hour drive away. the air here is cleaner too, not as polluted with vehicles smokes as the city. the weather here is nice too; though it’s summer, the heat here isn’t as bad as it is back

home.

and as your mind try to come up with another reason why you think the town is fun, your eyes move over to the brown-haired boy laughing along to whatever joke the blue-haired one has said to him.

even in the darkness of the night — the only source of light coming from the fire in front of you, he is still beautiful. the way he throws his head back as he laughs, the way his eyes are sparkling under the

night sky, the dimple that appears on his cheek as he smiles.

“it’s fun because there’s beomgyu, right?”

you turn your attention to the boy sitting across from you, his eyes on the same person you were staring few seconds ago.

“do you like him?” hueningkai asks, out of sudden.

“w-what?” you look at him, bewildered. “i don’t know what context of like you are talking about, but he is a good fr-…”

friend.

you so badly wanted to call beomgyu your friend, but you don’t even have the slightest idea of what a friend is — you never had one, at least not a real one. all through your school years, you have never

really had someone you can call as friend. sure, you talked to your classmates, but they felt more like acquaintances than friends. and you never bothered to get close to anyone because you know there

are always something they want in return — money, gifts, invitations to fancy parties, rich kids from your family’s circle to date, the list goes on.

so, you stop yourself from labelling beomgyu in that way. he is not your friend, not after only three days of knowing each other.

“he is a good guy, of course i like him. what kind of person doesn’t like good people?” you say, shifting in your seat to which hueningkai just shrugs his shoulders, “i think he likes yo-…” he stops talking midsentence when someone throws their arm around his neck, holding him in a chokehold.

“taehyun is calling for you,” beomgyu says as he smiles down wickedly at the younger. hueningkai knows his friend is lying but he just rolls his eyes and walks away to where taehyun is sitting.

“let’s go somewhere,” he extends his hand over to you.

“where?”

beomgyu grumbles, “just come.” taking your hand, he pulls you up to your feet.

following him from behind, you have no idea where he is taking you as you both walk further and further away from the group, until you’re climbing down the cliff.

he offers his hand to you, and you gladly accept, “be careful.”

holding your hand in his, he wraps his arm around your waist as he pulls you down to the ground with an ease. the night is pretty chilly compared to the sunlit afternoon earlier, but beomgyu’s hand still

hold a certain kind of warmth. and even though the temperature is low, you still can feel heat rushing up to your face when he keeps his arm around your waist even after you’ve set your feet safely on the

sandy beach — you’re glad it is dark, you don’t think you want him coming up with another vegetable related nickname for you.

“i wanted to bring you here yesterday, but you were busy unpacking. and i wanted to do it today too, but you looked so tired from helping aunty sue,” he says. “i know this is not the best time to be coming

here since it’s so dark but i just thought maybe you would want to see the ocean at night too.”

you move your gaze from his face to the moana in front of you. the water is calm, small waves crashing along the shores. no one else is around, only you and him.

you were about to walk over to the water’s edge when you feel beomgyu tugs on your hand gently. “take off your shoes first, pretty girl.” bending down, he wraps his hand around your ankle before

slowly pulling the white alexander mcqueen off of your foot. beomgyu is surprised, to be honest, to the fact that you casually wear a very expensive pair of sneakers to a lame bonfire party. then again,

these shoes probably didn’t cost that much for you.

“all done, you can go now.” he stands up straight again and he can’t help but notice the pink shade decorating your cheeks even in the inky night, “tomato.” he chuckles, pinching your left cheek.

you gently swat his hand away, blushing deeper, before walking to the water again. you smile as you feel the sand seeps through your toes as the waves crash on the shore. turning around to beomgyu, you see him with a soft smile in his face as he watches you from a distance.

“join me,”

and he can’t seem to decline your offer when you’re looking so ethereal underneath the moonlight, a gentle smile on your lips as you move your feet around to play with the wet sand.

abandoning his cheap pair of sneakers beside your expensive ones, he runs over to where you’re standing back facing him. he pretends to push you further to the ocean to which you react faster, shoving him — making him fall into the water with a big splash.

“hey!” he shrieks, quickly getting up on his feet. you take that as a sign for you to run — in which you didn’t manage to escape far enough when you feel his arms circling around your waist before he pulls you down along with him into the water.

“beomgyu!” you whine while splashing more of the salty water towards him while giggling.

and that night, while you both are walking home, soaked from head to toes with your wet clothes sticking disgustingly on your skin, laughing and giggling, you thought; maybe this is what friendship feels like.

“aunty sue, i’m going out for a while!” you call out your aunt in the kitchen as you’re running down the stairs toward the front door.

she peeks her head from the kitchen’s entrance, “where are you going, honey?”

“beomgyu’s mom’s bakery!” you reply, already stepping outside and you failed to catch the tender smile your aunt is throwing your way as you are busy putting on your shoes. “i’ll be back before dinner.”

when you push open the gate of the house, beomgyu is already waiting for you on his bicycle, a hat in his hand as he offers it over to you. “put it on, it’s too sunny.”

you accept with no question, putting the white hat on. it smells like him — like a mixture of frangipani blossoms, toasted coconut, and bergamot waters. it smells like summer.

he smells like summer.

beomgyu watches as you put his hat on, holding back his smile to how adorable you look trying to tighten the hat’s straps to fit your head’s size. his hand reaches over to your face, tucking a few strands

of your hair that have come loose from your braids behind your ear. “pretty,” he whispers under his breath.

you look away from his eyes, quickly moving to sit on the backseat of his bicycle, wincing as the exposed skin of your thighs come in contact with the burning metal of the seat.

“sorry, chieko has been out in the sun for a while,” he says, referring to his bike. “you good?”

“yeah,” you shift on the seat, trying to find a comfortable position. “you name your bicycle with a dog’s name?”

he hums as he starts paddling, “my grandfather got this bicycle from a japanese owned shop. the owner used to have this really cute golden retriever by the name chieko, i loved him, hence the name.”

he explains, “is it weird?”

“kinda,” you reply to which he just laugh it off.

it has only been a week of summer break and beomgyu had come up with so many plans for the both of you. he has promised to make this, as quoted from the man himself, the best summer of your life

— to which you just responded with a raised eyebrow. you don’t mind spending the whole three months of break with him, you don’t mind at all. in fact, you would really like the idea — but he doesn’t

have to know that.

one of the plans he had come up with is; baking. and that is how you find yourself in the back of his mom’s bakery, with a baby pink apron tied around your waist and beomgyu going around in the

kitchen looking for the ingredients for the fruit strudels he had promise to make with you.

“oh, you must be y/n.”

you turn to the source of the voice, and you quickly bow your head, “ah, yeah. nice to meet you.” the woman in front of you have the same dimple as the one on beomgyu’s, and the way she smiles warmly remind you of her son too.

“you’re really pretty, just like what beomgyu had told me.”

“mom, where’s the peach?” he asks, stopping his mom from exposing him further, as he is rummaging inside the fruit basket on the counter.

the woman giggles, “is our beomgyu shy? is he embarrassed if his mom is going to tell the pretty girl all about the things he had talked about her?” she continues, emphasizing on the pretty girl.

you look over to him and notice how his ears has turned slightly red from his mom’s teasing. you’re not sure why he is acting that way when he has called you with that specific nickname so many times

already.

“mom~” he whines, all the while avoiding your eyes that are fixated on him.

his mom lets out a loud laugh — now you know where beomgyu got that from — as she walks over to the fridge behind you. “i keep them in the here, baby.”

“oh,” he says, taking the peaches from his mom’s hand. “thank you, my lady.” he leans down and kiss his mom’s temple to which his mom playfully pushes him away. the gesture tugs a string in your heart

— a feeling of longing. you can’t remember when was the last time you hugged your mom, or your dad. heck, you can’t even remember when was the last time they asked you about your day.

“have fun baking, y/n. i’m only a shout away if you need something, okay? in case beomgyu burns the kitchen down,” she jokes again before walking out to store again.

beomgyu sighs, “sorry about her. she can be a bit… overbearing sometimes.”

“no, she’s fun.” you says, stepping closer to help him with the fresh fruits.

and that’s how you spent your thursday morning; baking various fruits strudels — peach, strawberry, mango, blueberry. well, it was beomgyu who did most of the work but nevertheless, you had fun

cutting up the fresh fruits.

the oven digs, indicating the pastries have been baked. beomgyu pulls the tray out, before setting it on the flour-covered counter. “oh, it smells amazing!” you exclaim excitedly.

“wait until you taste them, they are,” he looks down at you, making a chef’s kiss gesture to which you just giggle. “well, we have to let them cool down first before putting the cream and the fruits. wanna

go up to my room while we wait?”

you hesitate, never ever in your life have you ever stepped a foot in a boy’s room. despite that, you find yourself nodding to him, “sure.”

he nods, taking off his apron and waits for you to take yours off before snatching it from your hands, hanging them on the hook by the fridge.

following him up to his room which is located at the second floor just right above the bakery, you notice the picture frames decorating the wall going up the stairs. family portraits, baby pictures of

whom you assume are beomgyu and his brother, wedding pictures of his parents, a picture of beomgyu’s kindergarten graduation. it’s like the family’s own little hall of fame.

imagining your house in your mind, you don’t think you have any other picture being hung on the wall aside from that one huge family portrait in the living room — the one where you were looking so rigid

sitting in between your parents. you hated that picture, and you still do. family portraits are supposed to be a symbol of happiness, a symbol of affection, a symbol of a healthy family relationship but your family does not have any of that. the picture that was taken in the fancy film studio in france was just another attempt to cover the family’s despair. it’s pathetic, really. how hard your parents are trying

to come off as a happy married couple with a perfect daughter. throwing the money away for material things that can cover up the lack of happiness in the household. it’s pitiful, the only thing they need to be raising a happy family is the one thing that they lack in life.

a loud chirping at your right as you step onto the landing of the second-floor surprises you. you turn your head to look at the green-colored parrot in the cage. it has its’ head tilted as it stares up at your

unfamiliar face.

“this is toto, my pet.”

“your pet?”

he nods.

“out of all the animals you can have as a pet, you chose a parrot?”

he shrugs, “toto is everyone’s best friend in this house.”

you blink, and he does too.

“oh, okay.” you say and he nods. “come, my room is this way.” he leads you over to the door that has a messy scribble of ‘choi beomgyu’ in colorful crayons, opening it for you and urging you to take step inside. “after you.”

his room is surprisingly neat. well, it’s not like you have seen a guy’s room before but you did assume beomgyu to be a little messy kind of person — the usual clothes on the floor, comic books scattered

on the bed, snacks wrappers on the desk. but his room is clean, no used clothes on the floor, only a round foldable table in the middle of the room.

“how long are we supposed to wait for the pastries to cool down?” you ask, taking a seat on the floor by the desk. “around half an hour,” he replies. “you know what other baked goods i’m really good at?”

you shake your head, “tell me.”

“pumpkin spice cupcake, but we don’t have any in the store now. it’s not autumn yet so finding for pumpkin is quite hard this time of the year.” he explains.

“how am i supposed to have a taste then?”

“that means you have to come here again during autumn,” he says. “i’ll bake every autumn desserts for you. beside, don’t you want to see my pretty face in a different season too?”

you grimace, “what difference does your face make in autumn?”

he laughs before reaching over to his guitar that was leaning against the wall beside the door.

so, he does play the guitar.

“do you want to hear a snippet of the song i wrote?” he asks while tuning his guitar.

“you wrote songs?”

“yeah, for fun though. i’ve never really let anyone listen to it, aside from the guys.”

“sure,” you say, holding in your excitement.

“i wrote this a few days ago, it’s not finished yet but i’ll try to give my best.” he gives you a smile before he starts strumming his guitar strings softly.

and when you thought choi beomgyu is already beautiful from the way he smiles, from the way his eyes twinkle under the summer sunshine, from the way his whisker dimples form on his cheeks when

he laughs — here he is giving you another reason to think that he is the most heavenly person you have ever came across when he opens his mouth to sing.

your fresh fragrance, your sparkling eyes

makes me feel better

reality loses its power, even the earth dies

the moment is eternal

you’re not sure is it the way the sunlight shining through the open window or the way his eyes are fixated on you while he sings, but you can feel the blood rushing to your face, leaving your cheeks feeling so warm.

no matter where you are, no matter what season

if we’re together, feel like summer

“this is getting boring.” says hueningkai as he throws the uno cards on to the floor before plopping on his back on the ground.

“agree, we should be doing something else.” taehyun, who has been scrolling on his phone since half an hour ago finally spoke.

beomgyu, with his four other friends along with a few others are sprawled out in choi yeonjun’s basement. they’ve been doing everything that they deem fun to do in the last four hours — the video games, board games, card games, truth or dare (in which beomgyu had successfully dodged every single question and dare related to you).

“let’s hit the diner, i’m kind of starving,” one of yeonjun’s friends, minho, suggest to which the other boys agree without any objections.

“nah man, i’ll pass for tonight.” beomgyu says, already standing up from his seat, “think i’m going to go home and sleep.”

“really, sleep?” minho asks, smirking up to beomgyu. “or are you going to see that girl, what’s her name again? y/n?”

beomgyu raises his eyebrow, “what does y/n got to do with this?”

sensing the shift in the air, soobin quickly nudges minho in the rib. “hey, shut your mouth.” says the older.

“i don’t know, beomgyu?” the blondie continues, “i barely see you hang out with your friends lately. every time i ask them where’s beomgyu, their answers were always the same; hanging out with y/n.” he pushes his tongue against his cheeks, clearly enjoying how extremely annoyed beomgyu looks.

“you don’t even have time for your friends anymore now? why? too busy fucking that little rich bit-…” and the next thing beomgyu knows is he is on top of the guy, throwing punches across the blondie’s

face as both soobin and yeonjun try to pull him away.

“don’t you fucking dare say that word.” he yells out loudly, throwing another blow on minho’s cheek.

minho forcefully pushes beomgyu, making the latter falls on his back as the blonde-haired boy climbs on top of him, punching him on the corner of his lips before yeonjun had to (literally) throw hands

towards minho to make him stop punching his younger friend.

there’s a loud ringing in beomgyu’s ears, his head spinning.

he was never one to resort to violence when it comes to anything. aside from that one time he accidentally kicked a girl in elementary school while trying to show off his hapkido skills, beomgyu has never hurt anyone physically. but there is something about the way your name rolls on minho’s tongue that make him sick to the core.

he gets on his feet after regaining his vision again, blood trickling down from his lips. he gives his friends one last glance before running up the stairs of the basement, slamming the door loudly as he walks out.

wiping his bloody lips with the sleeve of his hoodie, he curses under his breath, thinking he can’t go home with bruised lips and blood stains on his hoodie — his mom would make a big deal about it.

so, he continues walking — passes the front of the bakery, up the hill. feet moving according to where his heart wants him to go. to find comfort.

and it wasn’t a surprise to him as he stops in front of your aunty’s house, looking up to the second floor where your room is. the lights are out, total darkness surrounding your room. of course, it’s half

passed midnight, of course you will be sleeping by now.

beomgyu is not sure why did he came here. it’s not like he wants you to see him in this state — bruised lips, fresh blood still oozing from the cut, tousled hair, red stains on the sleeve of his yellow hoodie.

no, he doesn’t want you to see him looking this miserable. he was just trying to look for comfort, and to him, his comfort comes in the shape of a girl in an oversized blue t-shirt standing across from him.

“you scare me!” he says as he finds your figure standing in front of the gate of the house.

“what are you doing out here?” you ask.

“what are you doing out here?”

you cross your arms on your chest, “i saw you from the window.” though the only source of light shining on him comes from the dingy lamppost above him, you’re still able to make out his busted lips.

stepping over to him, you gently take his face in your hands. at that moment, beomgyu knows coming here to actually see you wasn’t a bad idea when he can feel the heat from your palms engulfing his cheeks.

he wanted solace and apparently you are his.

“what happened to you?” you ask softly, afraid that if you raise your voice any higher it might hurt him.'

“i fell…” he says, “for you.”

you take your hands off his cheek, slapping his arm to which he jokingly winces in pain. “how could you slap me when i’m already this wounded?” he pouts, “i did fell, okay? i tripped while coming up

here. the hill can be pretty steep sometimes.”

“you’ve been going up and down this hill your whole life, how can you suddenly fell today out of nowhere?”

“i don’t know? people make mistakes, y/n.”

you roll your eyes, “come on, i’ll clean it up for you.”

beomgyu didn’t hesitate to follow you into the house, up the stairs and into your bedroom. you lead him over to the bathroom, trying not to make too much noise and waking up your aunt in the room

right across from yours— you don’t think she would appreciate you bringing a boy into the house in the middle of the night, and the last thing you want is her thinking there’s something passionate going

around between you and the baker’s son.

taking his face in one hand gently, you blow onto his cut. “it’s going to sting a little, okay?” he hums, enjoying the cool breeze from you on his open wound.

he watches you tentatively as you dab the antiseptic on his skin. “does it hurt?” you ask to which he just shakes his head no. “okay. phew, this is kinda scary.” you giggle as you lean closer to his face again, your nose a few inches away from his.

beomgyu roams his eyes all over your face — your eyes, your nose, and your lips. he observes the way your long eyelashes flutters against your soft cheeks with every blink you make. the way your pupils dilate as you are so focused on attending his busted lips. the way your nose scrunches up occasionally when he lets out a low groan of pain. the way your lips are pull into a pout while you’re busy nagging to him.

even under the ugly fluorescent light of the bathroom, with you wearing the most basic clothes — no fancy summer dresses, or blouses, or expensive sneakers – with your hair messily being put up into a bun, face free from any kind of make-up, to choi beomgyu; you are the most beautiful.

and in the daze of post-punched and being in your presence, he lets the words slip out of his mouth.

“you are so fucking beautiful, y/n.”

the saying of time flies when you’re having fun is actually true. days have turned into weeks, and weeks have turned into months — it’s already been two months since you first arrived in this small

town with the ocean view.

the past months have been filled with many new things you’ve never experienced in your life — going hiking to see the sunrise with beomgyu, harvesting vegetables and herbs with aunty sue, helping

beomgyu’s mom in the bakery, binge eating snacks at the convenience store past midnight with beomgyu and his friends, barbecue party with the townspeople.

and the most precious thing you’ve encountered during this summer break is friendship — not only with beomgyu, but his friends too. you’ve come to get comfortable with yeonjun, soobin, taehyun and

hueningkai along the way after spending time with them. beomgyu had brought you along to hang out with them a few times, and you had grown to enjoy the boys’ company, too.

and beomgyu has stay true to his words about making this summer the best three months break of your life.

“you look pretty already,” aunty sue says behind you as you’re busy fixing the strands of your hair framing your face.

turning to look at her, you pout. “i’m not.”

“beomgyu thinks you are.”

you blush, looking into the mirror to avoid your aunt’s teasing eyes. “i’m done, let’s go.”

“you’re not going with beomgyu?” she asks as the both of you are walking down the hill, a rattan basket in your hand.

“he said he’ll meet me there,” you explain. “he has to help his mom with the bakery booth.”

“ah, right. i forgot about that.”

another new thing you get to experience in this small town is their annual summer festival. aunty sue had told you that the town’s mayor came up with the idea of making the festival around a decade ago

in an attempt to give some sort of entertainment for the kids and teenagers, and also the adults, in the town during the season. it was a great success the first year it was being held — with more than

thirty booths of various foods and games. hence, why the summer festival has become the town’s annual event now.

as you reach the festival’s venue which is being held by the beach, you see soobin and yeonjun chattering at a booth near the entrance. you hand aunty sue the basket before excusing yourself to talk to the boys.

“yeonjun! soobin!” you call out, running up towards them. “oooh, y/n! you look so cute!” soobin exclaims excitedly as you stop in front of him. “but not as cute as choi odi, though.”

“choi odi?” you question and the boy nods “my pet.”

“a cat?”

“no, a hedgehog.”

you grimace — what’s with this group of friends and their weird animals as pet?

“what? you don’t think hedgehogs are cute?” he asks.

no, they look like rat — is what you wanted to say but you don’t have the heart to voice those words out from the look soobin is giving you. “yeah, they are… not bad.” you say before moving your gaze

away from him.

yeonjun notices the way your eyes are scanning around for the familiar mob of brown hair in the sea of visitors, and he chuckles. “his booth is on the other side,” he says. “want us to show you the way?”

your cheeks flushed from being caught but you thank him, anyways. “it’s okay, i’ll go by myself. i’ll see you guys later, then!” you say, walking away from them while waving.

you were about to walk around, trying to find his mom’s bakery booth when you hear your phone’s notification inside your bag. pulling it out, you smile as you read the name of the sender.

beomgyu: where u at, pretty girl? i saw your aunt but not you.

you quickly type in your reply.

you: i’m at a cotton candy stall near the entrance, omw to find u

beomgyu: stay there. i’ll go to u.

after waiting for a while, you spot him walking over to you — dressed in a white button up shirt, tucked inside his black jeans. hair slightly dishevelled from the ocean breeze. he has a smile across his face as

he keeps coming closer to where you’re waiting for him.

even in the sea of people, choi beomgyu is the only one that caught your eyes. you could be in a big ballroom of a masquerade party and the only one that has your attention is still choi beomgyu — there’s

just something about him that you can’t seem to explain that make you only look at him and him only.

you look up to him when he stops in front of you, the smile from earlier getting wider. “hi, pretty.” he says before his hand reaches up to your face, tugging the strands of hair behind your ear neatly. this

has been a little habit of his that he really loves doing whenever he sees your hair getting on your face — never once have you told him that you purposely let those strands untied.

“the firework show will be at 8pm, so we will have around,” he checks his phone, “hour and half to walk around. what do you want to do?”

“you’re not helping your mom’s booth?”

“my brother is here, so he’ll be helping mom for today.” he says, peeking to the stall behind you. “wanna try the cotton candy?”

there is already a line of children waiting for their turns to get the sweet treats in various shapes —heart, bunny, flower, and even a unicorn. when it reaches your turn, beomgyu asks you what shape

you would like for your candy, and you eagerly point at the bear on the menu sheet.

“here’s your order, mr. lover boy.” the man says, handing the stick of the bear-shaped cotton candy to beomgyu. “enjoy your time here, lovebirds.”

“we’re not-…”

“thank you, we will.” taking the candy from the man, beomgyu put his hand on the small of your back, leading you away from the line.

you look up at him, blush evident on your cheeks. why didn’t he deny the man earlier? lovebirds? love, really? “beomgyu, why didn’t you-..” you pause mid-sentence when he hands you the cotton candy.

looking up at him, then down to the cotton candy that is still in his hand, then up to him again and down to the candy again, you let out a laugh.

he furrows his eyebrow questioningly, “what so funny?”

taking out your phone, you open the camera app. “stand still.”

he complies, standing still with the cotton candy in hand all the while you’re giggling and snapping multiple pictures of him. “are you done?” he whines.

you show him the photo on your phone screen, swiping right to let him see the rest of his pictures you’ve taken. “the bear looks just like you!”

“is it funny to you?” he asks, wrapping his arm around your waist as he tickles your side. you squirm in his hold, laughing harder. “it is, because it looks exactly like you- ah! beomgyu, stop tickling me!”

he holds onto the stick of the cotton candy tighter as his other arm is still wrapped around your waist. beomgyu has always known of how beautiful you look when you smile and laugh, but, oh god. right

now, where you’re laughing to your heart’s content, in his arm, dressed in the loveliest white summer dress he has ever seen, with the warm glow of the sun slowly setting, he swears nothing else is as

beautiful as you. not even close.

“beomgyu, please stop. i’m going to pee.” you beg, tears from laughing pooling in your eyes. he lets you go slowly before handing the cotton candy to you which you gladly take.

“let’s go,” he says as he takes your free hand in his, pulling you into the gleeful summer festival.

you spent a good hour touring around the festival — eating tanghulu and few other famous street foods. playing random games at the game booths even though you knew they were all rigged, it was

still fun — beomgyu did won you a small teddy bear keychain from the dart game.

you visited your aunt’s stall too, where she’s selling little handcrafted trinkets. you couldn’t ignore the cheeky smile she sent you when she saw the way beomgyu was holding onto your hand.

then, you went to his mom’s booth where you met his brother for the first time. you were kind of expecting the teasing from him, but you didn’t know it would be so bad to the point you had to ask beomgyu for a glass of water, afraid you might suddenly pass out from the excessive blood rush.

it was fun. you don’t think you have experienced this much fun in your life. the last time you felt happy was when you had visited disneyland back when you were ten. with your maid, not with your parents. you don’t think you would have enjoyed it as much if you did go with them.

“we have 10 more minutes before the fireworks show.” beomgyu says as he leans his side against the railing. he had suggested to go up the cliff to have a better view of the firework. you thought it’s going

to be a packed spot but surprisingly there are only three other people there, sitting distance away from where you and beomgyu are standing.

you can feel his stare from the corner of your eyes, making your cheeks flushed. god, is it possible to lose one’s life from immense blushing? if it is, then you’re in a terrible danger.

“have you ever been in love?” he asks suddenly.

at that moment, the only thing you can hear is the loud ringing in your ears. gone the sound of the festive happening down by the beach, the sound of the waves crashing against the shore, the sound

of the people behind you chattering. the sound of beomgyu’s voice.

have you ever been in love?

have you? you want to say no. you want to tell him that you don’t believe in love — that you would rather believe in the existence of a flying elephant rather than believing in love. you want to tell him

there is no such a thing as love in this world. there is no such a thing as sincere love. people love to get what they desire in return — money, power, status, pride. your parents are a living prove of that.

you want to tell him if there is one thing you are so fucking afraid of in this world, it is to love.

you want to tell him that you don’t think love is worth taking the risk, you don’t think it’s worth fighting for. love is not a real thing. you’ve seen so many people from school getting heartbroken over a

breakup with their lover, only to jump into a new relationship a week after that. if love is a real existing thing then, how could you move on so easily like that?

you so badly want to tell him, but no words come out from your mouth as you stare into his sparkling eyes.

“you don’t have to answer if you don’t want to,” he says after sensing the discomfort on your face.

“have you?”

“yeah,” he says, now facing the sea. “i’m in love with a lot of things — my family, my friends, toto, my bicycle.” he says, shifting on his feet, “i love helping my mom in the bakery, i love writing songs even

when no one listens to it. i love this town, no matter how boring it gets sometimes, i still love it.”

“i love summer,” he says as he turns to face you again. “i love summer because it brought you to me.”

you were about to say something to him when you hear the announcement from the speakers that the fireworks will be going off in the count of three.

ignoring the proclamation, you keep your eyes fixated on his. he is staring at you endearingly, a soft smile on his lips as he takes a step closer towards you.

three

he takes another step forward, until the tips of his shoes are meeting yours.

two

he tugs the strands of your hair behind your ear like he usually does, only this time he didn’t put his hand down, keeping it on the soft skin of your cheek. he rests his other hand on your waist, pulling you slightly closer to him.

one

he tilts his head, leaning down towards your face before stopping, leaving a small gap as he waits for you to make the next move, an unspoken sign of asking for your permission.

and as the fireworks start shooting in the sky, you stand on your tiptoes. hands resting against his chest as you lean forward, closing the gap in between your lips and his soft ones.

it started off with you gently resting your lips on his, until he starts to pull you closer by your waist — where he deepens the kiss.

it feels magical.

the way his lips are massaging softly against your own, the way his thumb is caressing your cheek in the gentlest manner, the way he tightens his hold on your waist — not hard enough to hurt you but

strong enough to keep you in place, the way his heart is beating so fast under your palm. the way the sky is glowing and shimmering brightly with the non-stop fireworks.

he is magical.

it’s not like you have ever kissed a boy before but the way beomgyu is kissing you with so much care, with so much affection, so endearingly, with so much love — you know the kiss is perfect. you just know it is.

because you don’t need a flawless kiss for it to feel complete, all you need is choi beomgyu to be the one kissing you.

to you, choi beomgyu is the epitome of perfection.

the ringing of your phone wakes you up from your deep sleep. reaching over to the vibrating device on the nightstand, you pick up the call without checking the caller id.

“hello?” you say, voice hoarse.

“y/n?” shoot, it’s your mom. “are you still sleeping?”

“uh, yeah. i just… woke up.” you sit up on your bed, eyeing the clock on the wall – 12:04pm. if there is one thing your mom hates, it would be tardiness — in anything, including the time you wake up from

sleep.

“i slept really late last night,” in which you did. after the summer festival, and the whole kissing thing, beomgyu had walked you home. not forgetting to give you another kiss, which felt more like a peck,

before he left. and you had stayed up until almost four in the morning replaying that particular scene on the cliff over and over again in your head.

you hear your mom sighs from the other end, “how you been doing there?”

oh, that’s new.

“it’s been okay,” you twirl the end of your blanket. “aunty sue is a very war-…”

“listen, y/n. i’m kind of busy right now. i just called to remind you about your leave after the summer break.”

and that is when reality hits you.

“your dad thought it would be a good idea if you come home this weekend. to make early preparations.”

shit. how could you forget?

“i’ll send a driver to pick you up this sunday,” she says, and you can hear rustling from her end, “i gotta go.”

when the line goes off, you remain holding your phone against your ear.

how can you get forget? did you forget because you’re too busy having fun here? did you forget because you finally found something, or rather, someone to share your happiness with? did you forget

that you’re only here temporarily, to take a breather from the crowded city? did you forget that you’re not supposed to be attached to anyone?

you’re leaving. you’re leaving the country in september. you’re leaving for a university on the other side of the world. you’re leaving your home. you’re leaving this town.

you’re leaving beomgyu.

beomgyu.

these past months, you have been engulfing yourself too much into whatever temporary fantasy he had created for you. you were so into it that you started to brush away all of your beliefs that have

been your pillar your whole life. you were so blinded by the happiness he had brought you that you started making an exception for him.

and for the first time in two months, for the first time since you have arrived in this small town with an ocean view, for the first time since you met the boy whose eyes shine brighter than any stars in the night sky — you want to be anywhere but here.

you know you’re being a jerk to beomgyu — ignoring his calls and text messages, lying to him about coming down with a fever, forcing aunty sue to make up whatever excuses she could think of

whenever the boy stopped by to catch a glimpse of you, pretending to be sleeping whenever you saw him standing under the lamppost outside of the house at night.

you’re being irrelevant and you know that better than anyone else. but you can’t find any other way to explain to him about everything — you’re not ready and you don’t know how to. you know he’s in

love with you, and maybe, just maybe, you do harbour the same feeling for him as well — but you're in denial.

love does not exist.

that’s what you’ve been telling yourself every day.

you’re going back home tomorrow, and you have successfully avoided beomgyu up until this point. until aunty sue had to (almost) beg on her knees asking you to deliver an official government letter to

the choi’s place. she had come down with a summer fever herself, making you feel bad if you refuse to help.

and that’s how you find yourself inside the the bakery’s kitchen that saturday afternoon, a brown envelope in hand. you are glad it is saturday — meaning beomgyu is not around as he always spends

the day at taehyun’s place.

you peek around the kitchen, no one in sight. there’s no one behind the register in the bakery too. is the shop closed?

you hear footsteps coming down the stairs, turning around with the envelope still in hand, “mrs. choi, aunty sue asked me to-…”

you blink, hands coming down to your sides.

leaving the brown paper on top of the counter, you were about to make an escape before you feel his hand wraps around your wrist, tugging you back to him.

“y/n,”

“let me go,” you say under your breath.

he pushes you against the wall, trapping your body. “are you okay?”

out of all the things he could be saying to you right now, he’s asking you if you’re okay? out of all the mean things he could be spitting to you right now for ignoring him without explanation, the words

that came out from his mouth are those of endearment.

you avoid his eyes, afraid that you might break if you catch a glimpse of his sparkling eyes. “i’m fine.”

“then why have you been ignoring me?”

“i wasn’t feeling well.”

“then, that means you’re not okay.” he says softly, “look at me, y/n.”

you look up at him, tears pooling your eyes. “why are you being so difficult?!” you didn’t mean to scream in his face, but at this point, your brain has lose control — your body moving according to your

heart.

beomgyu is taken aback by your sudden outburst, “what?”

“why are you making it a big deal that i’m not talking or hanging out with you anymore?”

“how am i supposed to not make it a big deal when the person i’m in love with is pushing me away?” there, he said it.

“love?” you say, while trying your hardest to keep your tears from falling. “there is no such a thing as love in this world, beomgyu.”

“are you saying my feelings for you are invalid? of course, there is. there’s love everywhere in this world.”

“no, there’s none!” you scream again, “how can you fall in love with someone within, what? two months? that’s unrealistic, beomgyu.”

“you don’t need years to fall in love with someone, y/n. you can be by someone’s side for decades, shares one roof, sits at the same dinner table and sleeps on the same bed for years and years onwards

but if there is no love then there will be no love until the end.” he raises his voice slightly.

you finally let your tears fall as images of your parents cross your mind — of how unhappy they are with each other, of how their eyes never hold any kind of affection for one another. they have been

married for almost two decades now — live under the same roof, eat at the same dinner table, sleep on the same bed, wear the same silver bands around their ring fingers – but the love was never there. it’s never going to be there.

if there is no love then there will be no love until the end.

they are the reason why you’re acting the way you are now.

"i don’t need years to fall in love with you, y/n.” he wipes the tears on your cheek gently, “the moment i saw you that one summer afternoon, i knew i was falling head over heels for you.” he pauses,

searching for your eyes. “i knew that i’m in love with you.”

“tell me, y/n… did i do anything wrong? is it the kiss?” he asks, “i’m sorry i stepped over my boundaries.”

“it’s not the kiss,” you whisper.

“then? what’s bothering you, baby?”

more tears come out of your eyes at the nickname, “this whole thing,” you gesture to him and you, “you know it’s not going to last, right?”

he shakes his head, “no, i know you’re going to back to the city after the break, but we’ll make it work. it’s not even that far. you know people do anything for their loved ones, right?”

you take a deep breath, before wailing loudly, not caring about anything anymore. “you’re not gonna love me anymore after i leave, beomgyu. and i’m not talking about going back to the city. i’m leaving the country soon, to the other side of the world, for four fucking years, choi beomgyu!”

“i’ll wait for you, i promise.”

“no one is that stupid enough to wait for someone for that long. why take the risk of waiting years for someone? what if i suddenly came back with a boyfriend, or a fiancé?”

“you worth all the risk in the world, y/n.”

“why are you making things difficult for me?” you push him off of you before you make a run for the door. you continue running up the hill, tears still spilling out your eyes.

you stop, looking back to where you came running from. he doesn’t come chasing after you.

and a part of you wish that he did.

“is this the last one?” your driver asks as he loads the last of your luggage into the car’s boot.

you nod, thanking him to which he replies with a nod of his head. turning to face your aunt, you take her hand in yours. “thank you for taking care of me in the past two months.”

she smiles, rubbing on the back of your hand with her thumb. “are you sure you don’t want to see him first?”

you shake your head and the woman just nods hers before pulling you into a hug. it’s warm. she has always been warm, ever since the first time she picked you up at the train station. she has treated you

like nothing less than a family member, though you and her are very distant relatives.

“i’ll miss you.”

“i’ll miss you too, honey.” she caresses your hair. “come back soon, hm?”

you nod, moving away from her warm hold. “bye, aunty sue.”

as the car drives past the familiar bakery, you look down to your lap, droplets of tears wetting the thin fabric of your skirt.

and just like that, your temporary happiness ends.

the leaves start to wilt, slowly turning brown as the season transition from summer to autumn. the temperature getting colder and colder as each day passed by. no more scorching sun, no more clear

blue sky, no more children running around by the beach.

he stands on the cliff, overlooking the ocean. nothing much has changed since three years ago — except some parts of the railing has awfully broken down. honestly, he prefers it that way — the town not

changing. the way the town looks boring to an outsider, but actually holds a lot of hidden wonders.

the town holds a lot of dear memories to him. this is the town he has grown up in, the town that taught him all the life lessons that made him the person he is today, the town that brought him a girl

that he could never forget, even in his next life.

he looks over to the sea. if he swims far enough, would he reach the other side of the world? to where you are right now?

three years.

it has been three years since he last heard anything from you. it’s not like he didn’t try reaching out to you, he did, multiple times. he tried calling your phone, only to be greeted with the same bot telling

him that the number is no longer in service. he tried looking up for your social media — facebook, instagram, anything. but nothing ever came up with your name aside from a profile website of your

family, a picture of fifteen years old you under the words ‘daughter of a successful businessman and the uprising fashion designer’. he thought you look adorable in the picture, despite the lack of life in

your eyes.

three years went by and you still haven’t come back.

three years and all he could think about every day is you.

you, you, you.

his friends have been telling him to just let it go, telling him it was just a summer fling, telling him it’s time for him to move on, to go meet new people in college.

but he didn’t. he knows what is worth it in his life — you are worth the wait, the risk, everything.

he tugs his hands inside the pocket of his coat, the air is getting so chilly despite it being only september.

“thought i would find you here,”

he turns his head so fast as he hears the familiar voice, he thought he might get a whiplash from it. but as he stares at the figure standing across from him, he thinks he is experiencing more than a whiplash right now.

there you are, standing five feet apart from him. he roams his eyes over your smiling face, and he wonders how is it possible for someone to be this beautiful. you look different from the last time he

saw you, in a good way.

your hair is slightly shorter compared to three years ago, you have lost the baby fats on your cheeks too, making your cheekbones stand out when you smile, and your eyes, they no longer look like the one he saw on the last day he saw you, or in the picture from the internet. your eyes are filled with life now, sparkling under the grey sky of the autumn morning.

“i went to your mom’s bakery but you weren’t around. figured you would be-…” you didn’t get to finish your sentence as the man takes a long stride towards you before pulling you into his arms.

he holds the back of your head with one hand, pressing your nose against the base of his neck while his other hand is wrapped around your waist.

he still smells the same — a mixture of frangipani blossoms, toasted coconut, and bergamot waters.

even in a different season, he still smells like summer.

you wrap your arms around him, “sorry i took too long.”

shaking his head, he wraps his arm tighter around you figure — afraid that you might suddenly evaporate into thin air, and this is just another night dream of his. “no, thank you for coming back.”

“thank you, too. for waiting for me.”

he pulls you away from his neck, staring deep into your eyes. “i promised i would wait for you, didn’t i?”

you nod, smiling up at him happily. you notice how he had grown few inches since the last time you saw him that one afternoon in the back of his mom’s bakery, from the way your neck is straining so

much looking up at him. his hair is no longer the deep shade of brown anymore, it's ash grey now.

he leans down, tilting his head as he nudges your nose with his — waiting for you to close the distance between his lips and yours, just like what he did that one summer night, in this exact same spot.

and as you finally rest your lips upon his — you think about how choi beomgyu is worth all the risk that you’ve took. the arguments with your parents because they kept opposing the idea of you dating a

nameless boy from a small town, the cramped semesters because you wanted to cut one semester off so you can come back to him a year sooner, the longing and aching feeling for him you got whenever

your friends in university talk about their partners. at the end, there were all worth it.

choi beomgyu is worth it.

you are still a firm believer of love does not exist. it’s hard to get rid of that idea when you’ve been sticking to it almost all of your life. and given that your parents’ eyes still lack of love and affection for

each other even after being married for a whole two decades now, it’s impossible to accept that there is love out there for everyone.

but to you; love exists in a form of a boy whose eyes shine brighter than any stars in the night sky, and that is all that matters to you.

and to choi beomgyu; even under the cloudy and gloomy autumn morning sky, with wilted leaves dancing around in the air with the wind, with the temperature getting colder and colder as day passed

by, it feels like summer to him — because it doesn’t matter where he is, or what season it is, whenever he’s with you, it feels like summer.

[tamapalace]

Inside the NYC Tamagotchi Uni Launch Party

On June 27th, 2023 we took the Tamagotchi UFO to the Tamaverse! That’s right, we were invited to the exclusive Tamagotchi Uni launch Party in New York City! We want to tell you all about this exclusive invitation-only event in true Tama-Palace fashion! The guest list included representatives from media outlets (and there were several) and social media influencers with a large following within the key demographic for the Tamagotchi brand.

The event was held in New York City, New York, specifically in TriBeCa, which is Lower Manhattan. This was the perfect area for the event, and a beautiful part of New York City! Bandai truly spared no expense as this was an extremely impressive party! Walking up to the event space you could easily tell this is the venue where the launch party was being held. At the top of the venue there was Tamagotchi Uni in large letters, and a window display that placed the Tamagotchi Uni global announcement video featuring Charli D’Amelio and Kimeo!

image source: beaconmediagrp on Instagram

We were greeted by security who were very friendly and keeping the line at the door tamed. After opening the door and entering the venue we were greeted by Eva from the Beacon Media Group team. The Beacon Media Group team is actually based in Toronto Canada, and their flight was cancelled due to weather (severe thunderstorms) but they were able to make a drive down to New York City! We provided our names to Eva and she instantly recognized us and exclaimed “You’re Tama-Palace!!”. Beacon Media Group also runs the Tamagotchi US social media profiles. We were truly treated like VIP guests the entire time.

After checking-in at the front desk with Eva we were introduced to the Tamagotchi Uni claw machine! This claw machine was loaded with Tamagotchi Uni’s that were removed from their boxes and placed into claw machine capsules (which included the Tamagotchi Uni, watchband, and USB-C charger). Payment was not accepted, and you could try as many times as you would like to get your hands on the new Tamagotchi Uni. Whether you won or not, you were still going home with the new Tamagotchi Uni!

Once we finished up with the claw machine we walked into the main event space, and we were truly transported to the Tamaverse! There was a sign with a Tamagotchi Uni in Pink on the top welcoming us to the Tamaverse! Along with directions to the Tama Mall, Tama Walk, and the Tama Arcade. How cute? There was a DJ too, DJ Tre! The music was great all evening.

image source: heydjtre on Instagram

Walking further into the event space you can see that this venue features projectors just about everywhere. Each wall and floor had Tamaverse graphics projected onto it, and it really made us feel like we were in the Tamaverse the whole time. It did make taking pictures a bit tricky, but it was worth it!

image source: heydjtre on Instagram

To your right as soon as you entered the main event space there were two photo opportunities! Two shadow boxes, one with a Mametchi Tamagotchi plushie on a pink bed, and the other framed like a Tamagotchi Uni in purple with Mametchi, and a Tamagotchi Uni wallpaper.

After taking our pictures of the event space we were greeted by friendly wait staff who offered us popcorn in adorable pink popcorn boxes with a sticker of Neliatchi on it!

Then the wait staff offered us a bento box! Can you say VIP? There were three types of bento boxes, sushi and nigiri, charcuterie, and vegetable. We chose sushi and nigiri, and charcuterie! There were even adorable colorful chopsticks too. The bento boxes were pink and featured a Mametchi sticker that reads “Feed Me!” on them.

After eating the delicious sushi and nigiri we got to speak with Tara Badie, Bandai Namco Toys & Collectibles America, Senior Director Brand Strategy. This was our first time meeting Tara Badie in person, and she is just incredible! We have a video interview coming soon along with a bunch of articles about our conversation. Let’s just say that Tara really gave us some awesome information. Tara Badie even let us borrow her Tamagotchi Uni in Pink to play with while we were eating our sushi and charcuterie bento boxes.

There was an open cocktail and mocktail bar at the back of the event space and adorable signature drinks for all ages! Alcoholic beverages included Bubbletchi’s Breeze, Momotchi’s Pink Drink, and Mametchi’s Punch. Then the mocktails included Mametchi’s Punch and Momotchi’s Pink Drink. There were even cute Tamaverse palm trees by the bar!

Next up, dessert. We can’t even. Melissa Andre, the ever so talented event planner was walking around with a tray of Tamagotchi Uni characters in cookie form. We immediately walked up to Melissa and took a bunch of pictures as she introduced herself as the party planner. We praised her for the quality of the event she had put together!

Then Mametchi shows up! What a surprise, Mametchi is seen walking out of a back room and immediately mingling with guests. We captured so many pictures with Mametchi and he was quite the hit at the party!

We thought the cookies were the only dessert, and they were good enough to be, but there was more. Melissa Andre starts serving up Tamagotchi cupcakes which feature Tamagotchi Uni characters in fondant form on top of delicious vanilla and chocolate ganache cupcakes. We cannot describe how delicious these were, and you know we asked which bakery made these.

Before leaving we were able to chat with Charli D’Amelio, the global ambassador of the Tamagotchi Uni and social media influencer. We asked about her experience with Tamagotchi, showed her our blog, and even got some awesome pictures with her. Charli was incredibly sweet and she interacted with everyone at the event without any hesitation.

We are still processing how amazing this event was. All of the staff at the event were so nice, their hospitality was incredible, the food was phenomenal, music was perfect, drinks were tasty, and no detail was missed at all! It was incredible to see all of the media representatives and social media influencers get so excited about the Tamagotchi Uni and start creating content on site. Almost everyone wore their Tamagotchi Uni on their wrists as they mingled and enjoyed the event.

Bandai is clearly going all-out with the Tamagotchi Uni, and it’s off to an incredible start. This is clear indication that Bandai is fully committed to the Tamagotchi brand both inside and outside of Japan. We’re so optimistic about the future of Tamagotchi, and this event really showcases that.

[xxreader-writerxx]

Perfect

A/N: Alright I've come out of my hidey hole. I know you missed me ;) Anyways enjoy my perfect flowers.

Pairing: Remus Lupin x Reader (not yet dating)

Warnings: Nothing really. Just pure fluff.

Summary: Remus wants to preparefor your birthday but struggles to be perfect.

Word Count: 1.5k

It was a bright, sunny day as I walked across the courtyard. I giggle as a rogue pygmy-puff dashes across my feet. The fluffy hair tickling my ankles above my black shoes. I tuck my books into my bag because all my classes are done for the day. Scanning the yard for my favorite boys and snicker at the sight. Sirius tries to flirt with some Gryffindors and James ruins it by magically mocking him. I walk over and Peter pulls me into a hug.

“Finally someone to help me with these idiots.” He jokes into my ear quietly. I cover my smile and lightly hit his chest. My face morphs into a slight frown when I realize Remus isn’t with the boys. “And when I finally made the shot I could feel the rush- Yes darling?” Sirius asks when he feels the tap on his shoulder. “Where’s Rem?” I asked him since they were together last. “Oh last I remember he was skipping off to our dorm. Saying he had something to do.” He tells me and I kiss his cheek. “Thank you pads.” 

I giggle as he starts to rush an explanation to the Gryffindors in front of him, blushing furiously. I make my way inside. I smell what the elves are making for dinner waft through the hallways as I pass the painting to the kitchen. There are traces of mushrooms, steak, and bread in the air that could make any stomach growl. The best part of Hogwarts is that even the non-magical things that even muggles could do become magical just by default.

Fingers dragging along the cool stone walls, the bumps of the pillars halting them from time to time. The castle is warm but somehow the walls themselves have a type of independence, choosing to have a cool temperature that could save you from the day’s heat. The wallpaper of the walls goes all the way to the ceiling, delicate designs most likely made by fairies. The hallway is full of quiet chattering, footsteps, and laughter. Some students having clubs rush past to make it on time, others not having a care in the world letting time fly during the free time they have.

The fat lady comes into view, singing her famous “operatic” melody that might not break glass but certainly can burst an eardrum. Her pink dress ruffled looking like she’s been running around, most likely searching for an unwilling audience. “Password?” Her cultured voice sings and I nod. I tell her the password and the painting opens to show the common room.

The common room always smells of firewood and old books. A fire is crackling underneath a painting of an old man. I was half expecting to see messy brown curls tucked into the red sofa but it was completely empty besides a cozy blanket and pillows. Huffing, I look at the staircase that leads to the boy’s dorms and begin my journey. Posters scattering every other door, some muggle sports and some wizarding. The seeker of the Irish team winked at me as I passed by, making me a bit shy. He was always a flirt, making the boys I often have by my side huff about how he wasn’t all that charming.

Finally making it to the door I was looking for I raise my fist to knock but pause at the sounds inside. There’s crashing and rummaging like someone was looting around. Folding my hand around my wand I whisper “Alohomora,” there's a click signifying the lock opening and I turn the door knob. Opening the door quietly, hoping to not let any possible intruder know someone was entering. Instead of a burglar all I see is a cluttered room with a messy Remus in the middle of all the clutter. “Where is that damned thing?” He mutters to himself as he throws a shirt behind him, unknowingly landing on me.

I begin to pick up around the room, folding jerseys, putting trinkets back into their designated shelves, and other things as I slowly walk up to him. I place the folded clothes on Jame’s bed and place my hands softly on his shoulders and go on my tippy toes. “What are you looking for Remus?” I softly question and his shoulders relax for a second before they stiffen.

He flips around and I nearly fall if it wasn’t for him being there. He holds my wrists softly looking down at me. “What are you doing here?” He questions and I bite my lip. It does seem a bit strange that I welcomed myself into his dorm room unannounced. It’s normal for me when all the boys are in here but never when only one is inside. My face heats and I place my heels back on the ground. “Oh um- I’m sorry. I just- and you were-” I stutter and he smirks at me. “I’m not upset darling, I just wish it wasn’t a whole mess for you.” he tells me.

He looks behind him, still not breaking contact, using one of his hands to shuffle the mess on the table. He finally finds what he was looking for and takes his wand. “Scourgify.” He casts with a whip of his wand. The room around us starts to put itself away, as if an invisible maid or butler was making their rounds. He walks with me over to his side of the room and I notice that his foot is kicking a box under his bed. I quirk my brow and lean down grabbing the package. 

“No don’t-” He sighs, pinching his brow “...do that.” Looking at the package I smile. “Oh Remmy…” I gasp, placing my hand at my chest. “I- I was trying to wrap it for your birthday but… but-” He groans, flopping on his bed. “No one ever taught me how to wrap presents.” He whispers under his hands. My fingers trace the broken parcel around the present. There’s strips of tape trying to hold it together and the brown parcel is crumbled with a string holding it in place. “Oh Remus, how did you know?” I ask, feeling tears prick at my lashes. “Well I overheard you saying that you didn’t care much for your birthday and I- I couldn’t bear the thought. I also noticed whenever we were heading to the Broomstick how you eyed this. I scrounged some money together and bought it.” He blurts out and I climb next to him on the bed.

Lightly peeling his hands from his face, I smile at him softly. “Why are you so stressed? I love it, Remmy…” I tell him and his face stays solemn. “I wanted to make sure it was perfect, now I spoiled it and it’s all messy…” He frowns and I lay my hand on his chest, tracing small pictures across it. “Remus, it’s already perfect because you made it. You could’ve gotten me a stink bomb and I would’ve loved it.” I tell him and he holds my hand, squeezing it. “But it’s not. It’s all torn and I can’t find another roll of parcel.” He complains and I giggle. I raise my wand and wink. “Acio roll of parcel.” I smirk and he groans slightly laughing. “I didn’t think of that.” He mumbles and I reach out for the parcel floating towards us.

I pull him to sit on the ground with me. I reach for a box similar in size and he raises an eyebrow. “What’s this?” He asks and I shrug. “I’ll teach you.” I whisper and he wipes under his eyes though they are mostly dry. “Ok…” He whispers back and we get started. 

“So, I fold it like this… And how do I tape it without it unfolding?” He asks, holding down the triangle he just made. “Well you are a beginner and that is a high level move…” I joke and he rolls his eyes. “Here I’ll help you this time.” I say and quickly jut my hand out to take his place. My fingers graze the back of his hand and I jerk it back for a second. My face heats up in an instant and I place my hand back. “Ok…” He says, looking up at me. His nose nearly meets mine and we lock eyes. “You- You can tape it now.” I mutter, his hand unmoving. He makes a small noise agreeing but still doesn’t move his hand. “Your eyes always take my breath away…” He mutters under his breath and I gulp. So quickly I question if it even happened his chin moves closer, lips almost touching but never making contact.

He moves away and grabs the tape and I stay there amazed. I snap too once he finally tapes the last part and he laughs. “I did it!” He tells me and I nod happily. “I have no idea why you were so worried. I never took you as a perfectionist.” I say and he sighs. “Because it’s for you. I always thought you were the most perfect person I’ve ever met and wanted you to know that…” He admits and I smile. “Remmy…” I sigh, I lean closer only to be interrupted by Sirius barreling into the room. “You completely ruined my chances, you asshole!” He yells and I laugh, hiding behind Remus to dodge the pillows being hurled.

[skvaderarts]

Petrichor Chapter 74: Request

Chapter 74: Request

Note: Sorry I didn’t post this yesterday. I was going through some stuff mentally and didn’t have the willpower to type. Didn’t want this chapter to sit until next Friday, though. It’s already done, after all! Hope you enjoy the chapter!

(-~-)

Following the red-haired woman into the interior of the building, the pair of demon hunters were immediately hit by the cozy warmth that enveloped them like a warm blanket, the brisk chilly air fading from notion and notice as they took in Vivienne’s half of the duplex. Or what used to be her half of the duplex, that was.

It was an older building, the paint on the walls a dated color, and the wallpaper faded from exposure to the sun. The hardwood floors were sturdy but had clearly been refinished at some point due to damage, still beautiful in their own right but possessing the hallmarks of having survived wear and tear. A tiny scratch here, a barely noticeable nick there. Still, it was an oddly comforting space, reminiscent of what it might feel like to visit an adored grandparent’s house. There was a certain old charm that clung to the place. It had been well-loved, even if it was now empty and devoid of all the little touches that made it feel like a home.

“I don’t have a couch for you to take a rest on, but there is plenty of floor available.” She said with a touch of nonchalant humor as she walked to the far side of the room. It had a bay window that overlooked part of her yard. The part where they were holding the last of the items that they were loading into the truck. 

Even shielded from the drizzle by the plastic tarp that they were both stacked on top of and covered by, it was apparent that she didn’t seem to own that many things. The truck was somewhat full, but it was a small truck, not the large hauling vehicles that were typically associated with a house move. The three movers were probably there to move large, unwieldy things like the couch and the bookcase. Things that could probably be moved by a single person if they weren’t so damn awkward and oddly shaped.

“I’ve done enough sitting anyway,” Vergil said just loud enough to be heard clearly. He parked himself against the wall in the front room, the gravity of it all still settling in. He knew that he was looking directly at her, but she still just didn’t feel… real. This whole situation didn’t. This whole moment in time. Not a single bit of it. But not in a sinister way that made him doubt its validity. In a breath-stealing, heart-aching way that left him stumped as to how he should cope with it.

She was alive. She truly was.

Dante slipped in behind the pair, making accidental eye contact with Vivienne in a moment that led them both to just staring at one another, equally mystified. Dante pointed to the open door behind him, wordlessly wondering if he should open or close it. She nodded in favor of him closing it behind himself. What they were going to talk about was better kept behind closed doors.

“So you’re Dante? He mentioned you.” She spoke in a measured, slow cadence, almost as though she were taking in a sculpture at a museum that she’d heard described but had never seen a picture of before. There was a curiosity to her gaze that he couldn’t fully read. Almost as though she were analyzing him. There was a keen intellect behind that stare, that much was clear. But it did make him wonder just what was going through that head of hers?“I thought you were… Well, it seems I’ve made that mistake twice. Perhaps more than that, but that’s wishful thinking.“

A look of confusion and sudden, rapid realization came across Vergil’s face as he clued into what Vivienne might be talking about. He turned his attention to the both of them. Oh, she was referring to that…

“He wasn’t working with the full picture there, if I’m willing to make a guess,” Dante said, feeling his older twin brother’s eyes on him. It was the truth, at least to his knowledge. He didn’t know the precise date and time that Vergil had discovered that he’d survived the fire that had claimed their childhood home, but from context, he got the distinct impression that it was some time after Vivienne had gone missing. Oh, how differently things might have gone… 

Vergil nodded in agreement. “I wasn’t. I didn’t discover that you were alive until after everything… transpired.”

The way that he paused after he said those words didn’t go unnoticed by Vivienne. There was no malice or blame in those words, and if there was, it was directed at the man himself and not her, a concept that seemed to pain her if the subtle change in her face was anything to go off of.

“Well, at least the two of you found one another again.” She said with a solemn look. There was an unspoken sadness to her words but also a gentle sympathy. She didn’t know what they had been through, but she didn’t envy them for their presumed suffering. They were brothers. Twins. There was no way that there wasn’t any suffering born of that separation. Of the path they’d both been forced by fate to walk. To walk alone. “I’m Vivienne. I feel like you already knew that, but still. Nice to finally meet you. I heard a lot about you from Vergil once upon a time…”

Dante and Vergil both did their level best to hide the full-body flinch that they both did involuntarily. It didn’t work. She didn’t say anything, but it was evident in the subtle shift in her facial expression that the cogs in her brain were turning as a direct result of what they’d just said. She didn’t have any way of knowing the history between them, but she’s certainly figured out that she was missing something important here.

“Yeah, same here,” Dante said with a chuckle. He didn’t have the first idea what to say to Vivienne. She was pleasant enough but he just didn’t know how to strum up a conversation with her or even make small talk. Maybe it was the gravity of what they were doing here that was messing with his head.

There was a sudden shift in the atmosphere in the room. It was clear that it wasn’t a result of what he’d said, but slowly by degrees the mask began to slip a bit and she just looked… tired. She looked worn down by life, utterly exhausted mentally as opposed to physically. As if something were weighing on her. And as though she’d heard their shared thoughts, she let out a deep, stifled breath. She had something to say. Something that she needed to get off her chest.

Vivienne turned her attention fully to Vergil, her eyes meeting his in a manner so intense that it took him off guard a bit to behold it. She needed his attention. And she had it. Fully. Uncompromisingly. 

“I… need to talk to you about something… “ She said almost too quietly as she cleared her throat. She averted her eyes for a moment, using her left hand to rub the back of her neck in discomfort. The muscle in the side of her neck tightened visibly as she removed her and looked over at him again, awaiting his response.

“As do I.” He said almost cautiously, noting the not-so-subtle shift in her behavior. He didn’t need to ask if something was wrong. Yes. That was very clear. The question was what was wrong? There were so many possibilities that came to mind just off of the top of his head, after all. Just him being there right then and there could be a large part of the issue. After all, this was probably a bad time. But would there ever have been a good time for something like this? For someone you thought was dead to just pop back into your life?

He was sure that she was glad to know that he was alive and well, just as he was glad to know that she was. But surely a lot had changed in her life just as it had in his. And neither of them had any way of knowing anything about what the other experienced. They… had a lot to talk about down the road. He just hoped she was willing to take that journey with him. 

Time didn’t always heal all wounds. Sometimes it allowed them to ferment. To fester. He hoped beyond hope that this wasn’t one of those occasions.

“Can I go first?” She said amicably, a pained glimmer in her eye. This was something she needed to say to him, not something she wanted to. That became clearer and clearer with each passing second.

He nodded in agreement. She didn’t need to ask. He was going to defer to her on that anyway, but he knew she didn’t know that. He was curious to see what she had to say, even if he had a growing suspicion that whatever she had to say would be difficult to hear.

“You have every right to.” It was really all that he felt he needed to say. She didn’t need his permission. He wasn’t giving it. He was just telling her that he was listening. He hadn’t come all this way to dismiss what she had to say. To dismiss her. He felt fortunate that she hadn’t just told him to leave or refused to speak to him. This all had to be quite a shock…  

“You might want to make yourself… Comfortable? I don’t even know if you really can, given the circumstances.” She let out a disbelieving scoff, shaking her head, her eyes a thousand miles away. Well, this was going to be quite the conversation, wasn’t it? Perhaps one of the hardest ones she’d ever had to have with anyone, ever. No. It was the hardest. This would be a Sisyphean feat. “This is going to be hard. For both of us.”

(-~-)

Oh boy, this is gonna be something… Tune in next Friday for chapter 75! Take care out there, everyone! I hope you enjoyed this chapter! I’ll see you next week and in the comment section. Thanks for reading! Bye bye!

[4rainynite]

EAH Dorm Headcanons 1 1/2

The reason I'm calling this 1 1/2 is because I found out some new things about Raven & Apple's dorm and add some more headcanons that should've been used in the first one.

Raven & Apple

Okay, I really hate that I'm giving Raven and Apple a 1/2 part in this, makes me feel like I'm giving the main characters special treatment. But like I said above there was more stuff to add and there's more dorm headcanons.

Apparently, Raven has her own private bathroom in the Ever After High 2-in-1 playset. As much as I love the design of the bathroom minus the pictures (Who keeps picture of their friends in a bathroom?) It makes zero sense.

In 'Fairy Tail Ending' Meeshell had a private bathroom, but I think this is yet another case of too many writers in the book. I mean you'll still need a public bathroom for everyone, but every students' rooms sizes vary, and it would be unfair if one a few got private bathrooms (but knowing Headmaster Grimm he might've). So, Raven's private bathroom is only for the playset, but it could be the bathroom she has back home that would make a lot of sense.

As stated in the last post I believe the dorm rooms have at least one fireplace on one side of the dorm to keep warm, but here it shows that Apple has a fireplace as well.

Raven already has a fireplace to keep both sides warm and that is most likely a fire hazard. I can see the mirror above is most likely use as a tv both girls watch, but it's not in the show or mentioned in the book so again it's only in the playset.

One Reflection is Apple's favorite boy band and has been mentioned many times throughout the series. It wouldn't surprise me if she plays their music in her dorm room from time to time. Raven most likely plays Taylor Swift in the dorm when she's not on her guitars or keyboard.

Actual Dorm Headcanons about the Dorms!

During the first day of school the dorm rooms have white walls and plain wooden floors. It's not until students have their belongings settled in does the wallpaper and flooring change to the person's taste. Some order in advance at Throne Furnishings then have the room pick for them.

Every room has a hallway at the entrance where the students hang photos on.

Students can bring furniture from home to help with homesickness.

There are four types of dorm rooms in EAH: the epic room (ex. Raven & Apple), the big sizes (Ashlynn & Briar), the small sizes (Blondie & Cupid), and the cramp sizes (Ramona & Justine).

Some rooms have closets while others have wardrobes, it doesn't even matter how big or small the dorm is.

Sparrow is the only student who doesn't live in the dorms, instead he stays in a treehouse in the Enchanted Forest. The only reason Headmaster Grimm allowed it was because during freedom year (freshmen year) he kept getting complaints about how loud Sparrow was, the treehouse was part of school grounds close to the Enchanted Forest, his mom, Maid Marian, and him made a deal with the Headmaster if he was never late to breakfast or class he could continue to room in the treehouse.

Maddie tried live with her father during freedom year (freshmen year) but the Headmaster refused. He claimed walking to and from the tes shoppe would take too long and he wanted the Wonderlander students together in one place.

Lizzie, Kitty, and the White Queen (and a few staff members) are the only ones who lived in the school during the Summer.

Each dorm has one fireplace on one side of the room to keep warm during the cold months. A thermostat to keep the room temperature comfy. And sprinklers in case of a fire (they mainly go off in Faybelle's dorm).

Despite how many students attend Ever After High only a good 1/3 of the students don't have roommates. Faybelle and Farrah didn't have roommates until Bunny and Meeshell came. I headcanon Alistair and Humphery are roommates.

When, Ever After High first started royalty roomed with royalty and commoners roomed with commoners (rude). It was Giles idea to have students randomized with each other. To give an exact time he proclaimed it a hundred years before Cerise and Raven's moms were roommates.

Most beds at the school are canopy beds. Like 80% canopy, 10% standard beds, and the other 10% specialty beds.

Throne Furnishings

Throne Furnishing is where the students of EAH and residents of The Village of Bookend would go to furnish their dorm rooms and homes.

The first week of back to school is usually their busiest week.

The second hottest item in the store are the mirrors.

Throne Furnishings and Book End Boutique were never shown in the web series but were shown on the website (that is no longer active) so players could customize their own dolls.

Both throne chairs and candle sets were used in a promotion for True Hearts Day, so they obviously seasonal furniture as well.

I think most of the furniture, wallpaper, and flooring is customizable to each user. Throne Furnishing probably does have the basic set pieces and only do custom stuff by request.

You can see some of the wallpapers were designed after the characters' clothing, while in the show the designs were different).

Images can be found here: EAHWORLD, AMAZONS, @monster-lili 1, EAROYAL, EAHWIKI, ROYBELPEDIA, Teatime with Maddie

[duck-in-a-thrift-store]

Alright guys here's the first room closeup (+ headcanons/notes), by popular demand:

~Mike & Will's room~

(Plz don't judge my choice of wall art I pretty much just picked it bc it matched the wallpaper colors and there weren't a lot of good options)

Ok so design details

I know yall see that blue and yellow, and the green in the middle. All very intentional. The bed w/ the yellow blanket is Will's & the one w/ the blue blanket is Mike's. They sit on the rug when they're having their little heart-to-hearts that the rest of the party never seem to be a part of for "some reason"

Also, these boys wear a lot of fuckin stripes, so. Blue and yellow striped wallpaper? Green striped rug? Idk man it was screaming byler what can I say

And then there's a record player or whatever on the dresser between them, bc as we all know Will is a music guy and Mike lets Will do whatever he wants even if that means keeping him up listening to his favorite song all night bc he'd never forgive himself if Vecna somehow got Will bc Mike made him turn it off*

*So, to explain what that's all about: after his repeated failed attempts with Max, One went after Will next bc y'know, lots of trauma, easy target, etc (at least that's what the mf thought, I'm pretty sure Will lowkey has powers or smthn)

(This happened before the start of the au btw so it's just sort of background info, it might be mentioned but it won't be happening in present)

But anyway Will almost got Vecna'd and it was partially Mike's fault bc they got in a fight, Mike said smthn stupid and Will ran off, we know the drill (Mike still blames himself for it even tho they made up & Will forgave him and is fine)

Mike kinda lost his shit, honestly I'm thinking in his terror he pushed El too hard to save Will (when she was already doing her best obviously bc that's her brother) and that was part of why they broke up bc even El realized he cared more about Will than her- Mike is pretty much the only one who doesn't know yet lol

And they all survived obviously but now they're both kinda extra paranoid about it and even though they've moved far away and One hasn't followed them they still worry that some day he might track them down, so they fall into a (compulsive) habit of playing Will's favorite songs on repeat

(I'm not giving you his fav songs bc first of all I can't even decide my own fav song and also it just feels really presumptuous like that's too personal of a thing for me to decide for somebody else. I take music very seriously & very personally ok. Funnily enough tho I am listening to "should I stay or should I go" at this very moment)

Anywho, moving along

That desk by the door is mostly used for coming up with new campaigns they don't want the others to spoil (it's ok for their roommate to have insider knowledge that's not an unfair advantage or anything and besides it just can't be helped y'know? /s) no but they do collaborate sometimes and they work so well together as storytellers that the others find it lowkey unsettling (Dustin and Lucas are used to it tho)

>tw: vaguely suicidal themes?

Someone, not thinking I guess, makes an offhand joke about them being on the ground floor so they don't have to worry about Mike jumping out the window, and Will, who somehow hadn't ever actually heard the whole "quarry story," asks what that's supposed to mean and then they very awkwardly have to explain and he's basically like "oh my god what the hell that's not fucking funny why would you joke about that" and for a while after learning about it he's extra conscious of any self-deprecating/self-sacrificing type shit Mike says

Also they have "crazy together" written somewhere in the room no one else will see it. It's uncertain where, or whose idea it was, or why they did it, but they did. Probably to sort of make the room feel more like it was claimed as *theirs* after having to move to a new house far away from familiarity, and as a reminder to always be there for each other when times are tough

[coughdontfeelwellcough]

For The First Time (L/ockwood and Co)

Summery: An easy job goes wrong when Lockwood fails to mention he’s sick, luckily Lucy is always there to pick up the pieces. 

Words: 3459

Author’s Note: Hi guys, so I’m abolutley obsessed with L/ockwood and Co, and if you’ve not watched it on netflix yet, please do!! Its about ghosts, ghouls, it’s found family, there’s plently of whump and one of the best slow burn romances I’ve seen in years! I’d like to add this is based off of the tv show where all the characters are in their early twenties. 

TW: Mentions of death and suicide. (mentions only in the terms of the ghosts) 

I hope you enjoy!! 

Lockwood had promised it would be an easy job, only a couple of type-ones in an old hotel, currently undergoing construction. It should have been open and shut, so why in the taxi back to Portland Road was Lockwood all but unconscious in the passenger seat and Lucy sat clutching an injured arm? 

Stupid, stubborn Lockwood, that’s why. 

“Are you sure we shouldn’t have brought George?” Lucy asked, struggling with the extra bags. 

“Yes, because if I had to listen to him sniffling for another minute I would not be responsible for my actions,” Lockwood replied. 

George had been suffering with a particularly noisy cold for the last few days and though finally on the mend it was nice to get a bit of a break from his complaining about not being able to breathe through his nose. Even if it meant the added bags were giving her back ache.

They entered the hotel through a back door, a key having been left for them. It was clearly having work done, the walls were bare, the kitchen had been half ripped out and there were various bits of building equipment everywhere. They made camp at the reception desk, the front doors had been bordered up and sofas covered in dust sheets. Still they managed to find some chairs to sit on to drink their tea. 

“Do you think this was a nice hotel once?” Lucy asked. 

She’d never been in a hotel before, her family never went on nice holidays. They’d be lucky to get a caravan on Skegness beach.

“Hm? I don’t know… Maybe,” Lockwood replied. 

Lucy looked over to see Lockwood facing away from her, his tea half undrunk. 

“Are you okay?” she asked, thinking about it Lockwood had seemed a bit distracted all day. He’d nearly forgotten to pack the chains and they’d gotten lost on their way from the tube station. 

“Absolutely fine Luce,” he said, giving her one of his charming smiles. Though Lucy couldn’t help but notice it didn’t quite reach his eyes. 

“Shall we begin?” he said, checking his watch. It was past six and the dusk had crept in making the shadows on the walls tower over them. Lucy nodded and started gathering up their things, though she couldn’t help but notice his tea stayed unfinished.

“Where are we going?” Lucy asked, pulling the chains over her shoulder. 

“The third floor, the reports sai…” Lockwood paused, stifling two sneezes into his coat 

sleeve. “HI’TWX… HIT’SSX.” 

“Bless you!” 

“Sorry, dust,” he said, rubbing his nose with his fist. 

“You’re sure you haven’t caught George’s cold?” 

“What? Of course not,” he said smiling, his nose a little pink. 

Lucy wasn’t convinced but didn’t say anything and just started up the stairs. The third floor was a mess, ceiling tiles were missing, wallpaper peeling and various doors hanging by their hinges. 

“Looks like no ones been up here in a very long time,” Lucy said. 

“It was abandoned not long after The Problem started, not many people felt safe staying in the city,” Lockwood replied. 

Lucy nodded and started laying the chains in a circle in the largest part of the hallway. She’d not long finished when the temperature started to drop. 

“Are you feeling that?” Lucy asked. 

Lockwood nodded. “10 degrees and dropping,” 

“How many are we dealing with?” 

“Should be no more than three, two suicides and an heart attack,” Lockwood replied, coughing lightly. Lucy looked over at him as he ran a hand over his face, he looked tired. Even more so than usual.  

“Do you want to sit down or something? You look knackered,” Lucy said. 

“Luce, I keep telling you I’m fined.” She didn’t miss the stuffiness in his voice but didn’t have time to say anything as she heard a ghostly voice call out. 

“I’m sorry…. I’m so sorry…” 

“Can you see anything? I’ve got a voice, it keeps saying sorry.” 

“I’m sorry… I couldn’t do it anymore….” 

“Lockwood?” 

A ghostly figure had appeared at the far end of the hallway and was slowly making its way toward her. 

“Lockwood?!” Lucy yelled, looking around he wasn’t anywhere to be seen. Then she heard another voice, closer and more desperate. 

“Help me! Oh god… Please help me…” 

Lucy drew her rapier and moved to the centre of the circle, where was Lockwood? He was behind her just a second ago. 

“I’m so sorry….. Help me!” The voices were so close they were blurring together, Lucy reached into her belt for a salt bomb. 

“Lockwood!!” she screamed one last time and then she saw movement to her left in one of the rooms and there was another noise, it sounded like someone coughing? 

Lucy edged out of the circle and toward the room, rapier raised and ready. The door was already off its hinges and she entered slowly, keeping the creeping ghost in sight for as long as possible. She found Lockwood hunched over and hacking up a lung in the corner, he sounded awful. 

“Lockwood!” she snapped. 

He finally looked up to see her and even in the low light she could see how sickly pale he was. 

“Lucy, what’s wrong?” he rasped, choking back another cough. 

“I’m being cornered by two ghosts and my backup is too busy dying to help!” 

“I’m not dying,” he sniffed. 

“Then get over here! I’ve got one coming down the hallway and another approaching from the right.” 

They edged back out of the room together, Lockwood sticking to Lucy’s left. Up close she could hear the congestion in his breathing, how’d he managed to get so sick so quickly? He’d seemed fine only a little while ago. 

The visitor in the hallway had reached the iron circle, it was a wispy thing in the vague shape of a man. It was still repeating how sorry it was and something seemed to drip from it like it might have been bleeding. Lockwood threw a salt bomb at it and it disappeared as Lucy went after the one in the right hand room. It was larger than the other one, more fully formed in the shape of a rather large man. It hoovered near the floor like it might have been kneeling. 

“Help me… Help me please…” It continued to beg, Lucy honestly felt bad for it. It must have been an unpleasant death. Keeping her rapier steady in one hand she got a salt bomb but before she could throw it there was a noise from the hallway. 

“Lockwood?” 

When he didn’t reply she swore and backed out of the room, salt bomb still in hand. Lockwood stood outside the iron circle, rapier raised to ward off a third visitor. This one had come from behind them and was creeping at a quicker pace than the others. The noise she’d heard was Lockwood, he was sneezing. 

“HITT’SSHWW…. HIISSHH’TEWW…. HISSHHHH’EWWW….” 

The ghost was getting far too close and Lockwood’s hand was shaking as he tried to hold his rapier steady. Lucy barely had time to react; she ran to Lockwood, wrapped her arm around his waist and threw them both into the circle, landing painfully on her right arm. 

“Shit…” Lucy laid on her back, her toes touching the chains and sore arm across her chest. 

“Thanks Luce, I thought I was a goner…” Lockwood said, breathing heavily. 

“What happened? You were fine one minute,” she said, pushing herself up with her good arm. 

“It snuck up on me, I didn’t see it until it was on top of me.” His voice was getting congested, his words stuffy. 

“Because you’re sick and were too busy sneezing to notice,” Lucy replied, she’d just about had enough and was ready for a large mug of tea and a bath. 

“I am not sick…” Lockwood tried to argue but it sounded more like “I amb dot sick.” 

Lucy opened her mouth to argue but was stopped when the ghost she’d been previously dealing with joined them in the hallway. It seemed larger than before but still appeared to be kneeling, floating barely above the floor. 

“I thought you’d got that one,” Lockwood sniffed, running his wrist under his nose. 

“Sorry, I was a bit busy saving your life!” she snapped. Getting to her feet, Lucy picked up her rapier from where it had fallen, it felt wrong in her left hand but her right still felt pretty useless. 

“On the count of three, throw a salt bomb at it,” she said. 

“I’m out.” 

Lucy cursed, she was going to kill him. She’d dropped hers and couldn’t use her hand to get into her bag. 

“What do you have?” 

“Magnesium flare,” he replied. 

Lucy groaned, they’d been trying to avoid the use of magnesium flares after the events of Sheen Road unless desperately needed and it seemed injured and ill seemed desperate enough. 

“Use it, just be ready to run!” 

Lockwood stood beside her, his hair was everywhere and there was an unnatural brightness to his eyes. 

“Ready?” he asked, putting his hand on her good arm. 

Lucy nodded and he threw the flare, it exploded in a rain of iron, salt and fire. They ran down all three flights of stairs and out the door, only coming to a stop once they were outside in the glow of the ghost lamp. Lockwood was coughing again, so hard he was shaking. Lucy put her arm around him and guided him over to a low wall and forced him to sit. He finally regained control of his breathing though she could hear congested rattling about in his chest. 

“You’re an idiot,” she said. 

“Why?” 

“You’re ill! And you didn’t bother to tell me! You nearly got us both ghost touched in there, what were you thinking?” Lucy snapped, running a hand over her face. 

Now it was over she could feel how much her body ached, her skin burning from where the magnesium had touched it and her right arm was still throbbing painfully.

“I’m fine,” he sniffed, pulling a well used tissue from his pocket. 

He looked awful, a good few shades paler than he usually was, his nose was already bright red and his cheeks had an unhealthy feverish tint. Lucy was quite tempted to yell at him some more but decided against it, she just wanted to get back to Portland Road, plus she knew George would have a few choice words when they got in. 

The taxi was surprisingly quiet, Lockwood was curled up against the window, the only noise being his coughing and sniffling. Lucy sat on the other side, her injured arm on her lap. It was probably only a sprain from the fall but it definitely hurt. She was still mad at Lockwood but looking at him, looking the picture of illness, half asleep against the window it was hard to stay mad at him. 

It had just gone 2am when they pulled up outside No.35. Lucy had to help Lockwood to the door as he was shaking so badly, luckily George must have seen them approach and opened the door before they’d even reached the first step. 

“What the hell happened to you?” He said. 

“Just help me get him will you?” Lucy asked. 

Between the pair of them they got Lockwood onto the sofa and under a blanket as he was still shivering so hard his teeth were chattering. 

“Is he ghost touched?” George asked, looking over his friend for signs of injury. 

“No,” Lucy replied, collapsing on the sofa beside him. “He’s got your cold and didn’t tell me, nearly got us both killed.” 

“Jesus Lockwood, what were you thinking?” George asked. 

“I dob’t have your cold,” Lockwood replied, though his point was nearly lost on how stuffy his voice was. 

Lucy rolled her eyes and reached her good hand up his forehead, pressing her cool fingers to his overheated skin. 

“No, but you do have the flu apparently! You’re burning up Lockwood…” 

Lockwood groaned and leant back against the sofa, seeming to accept for the first time that he was indeed ill. 

“Good god, I miss one case and it all goes to hell..” George muttered. 

“Can you make some tea please George? And get the first aid kit? I’ve done something to my wrist.” 

George nodded and they heard him descend the stairs into the kitchen. 

“You’re hurt?” Lockwood asked, his voice barely a whisper. 

“It’s nothing, just a sprain. I landed on it when we fell.” 

George returned with two of their largest mugs of tea, the first aid kit and a whole pack of tissues. 

“I’m not sure we’ve got any flu meds, I’ll have to go in the morning and get some,” he said. 

“I keep telling you, I’m fin’d,” Lockwood argued, though he was clinging onto his tea like it was the only thing keeping him alive. 

Lucy just sighed and opened up the kit, looking for something she could bandage her wrist with. 

“Here, let me.” 

Lockwood put down his tea and took the kit from her. He laid her wrist in his lap and began carefully wrapping it up until his breath starting hitching. 

“HHHh…. hhHH…Hhh… HHHITISS’EEWW… HIST’SSHHewww…. HI…HIS…HISTT’SSHHEWWww…” 

He sneezed into his shoulder, his whole body shaking with the force of them. 

“Bless you!” said both George and Lucy. 

“ No…Not… Done….HISSHH’Ewww…. HITTSH’EEWwww….” 

“Jeez Lockwood, you sound awful,” George said. 

“I’m f…”

“If you say fine I am going to kill you,” Lucy said. 

Lockwood sighed, coughing into his fist. “You guys are such bullies.” 

“Only when you’re being an idiot.. Which is all the time,” Lucy smiled as Lockwood tried to scowl at her but he just looked like a sick puppy. They stayed until they’d drunk their tea and eaten a sufficient amount of biscuits then slowly they made their ways to bed. A good night's rest was in desperate need for everyone at Lockwood and Co. 

So when Lucy was woken at 7am, a mere 4 hours after going to bed she was not best pleased. At first she wasn’t sure what had woken her but then she heard it again, a sound was coming from downstairs and it sounded a lot like coughing. Lockwood. Lucy got up, her legs wobbly after the long night and made her way toward Lockwood’s room. The door was closed but she could still hear him, desperate, hacking coughs that sounded like they were tearing at his chest. She knocked at the door. 

“Lockwood? Are you okay?” 

“Luce?” His voice cracked and he coughed again. 

Lucy pushed up the door and found him sat up in bed, wearing one of his oversized grey hoodies and looking like death. 

“Are you alright? I’ve seen type twos that look better than you,” she said. 

“I think you and George were right, I feel like hell,” he said, leaning back against the headboard. Lucy did really feel bad for him, he sounded and looked awful. 

Whatever bug he’d picked up had taken him down hard and fast. 

“Can I get you anything?” she asked. 

“Some tea would be amazing,” he croaked, his voice nearly gone. 

“Okay, tea is coming up.” 

Lucy went down to the kitchen and put the kettle on, she was surprised George hadn’t woken up at the sound of Lockwood’s coughing or the sound of the kettle but it was probably better if at least one of them got a decent sleep. Lucy finished making two large mugs of tea and was about to head back to Lockwood’s room when she saw him on the sofa instead. 

“What are you doing out of bed?” 

“Thought I’d be comfier here,” he said, pulling the thick blanket around his shoulders. 

Lucy just shrugged and gave him his tea before joining him on the sofa. 

“Is it me or does this tea kind of taste like snot?” he asked. 

Lucy laughed. “It’s you, you’re so congested you probably can’t taste anything.” 

Lockwood gave a stuffy groan. “What kind of illness makes tea taste bad? That’s just evil.” 

“You’re obviously just that lucky,” Lucy laughed. 

Lockwood frowned and pulled his legs up to his chest, he was shivering again. 

“Are you cold?” 

He nodded, coughing roughly into his fist. 

“Do you mind?” she asked, holding out her hand. She’d never asked to touch him before but this seemed different, they were alone and he was vulnerable. More vulnerable than she’d ever seen him and it felt weird, like they’d crossed into unknown territory. 

“Go ahead.” 

Lucy leant across and placed her hand on his forehead then she trailed down to his cheeks and neck. 

“Your fever’s risen…” She went to remove her hand but he stopped her, putting her hand back against his cheek. 

“That feels nice,” he mumbled, eyes closed. 

“I should really find a thermometer…. And something cool for your head…” 

“Don’t go..” His voice was so weak, so small. It was unlike him to ask for anything, how could she deny him? 

“I’m not going anywhere.” she ran her hand through his hair, detangling the sweaty strains. He leant into her touch until his head rested on her shoulder.

 It doesn’t take them long before they’re both asleep again, curled up together on the sofa. And that’s how George found them a few hours later, Lockwood snoring through his congestion with Lucy’s arms around him. 

“Great, now you’re both going to get sick. Then what am I going to do?” 

“What’s George complaining about?” Lockwood asked, his face pressed against Lucy’s shoulder. 

“Don’t know, don’t really care,” Lucy mumbled, still half asleep. 

“I said, what am I going to do when you’re both sick? I’m not going out there by myself,” George said, vaguely gesturing to the outside world. 

“Maybe Lockwood and Co is going to have a little break, can’t kill us right?” Lucy said. 

“As long as we don’t lose any customers. George I need you t…. HIST’WX… HIS’TWX….” Lockwood stifled two sneezes into his wrist with a wince, no doubt they were hell on his throat. 

“Bless you, you’ve got to stop doing that, you’ll burst an eardrum,” Lucy said. 

Lockwood groaned and blew his nose into a tatty tissue “I just need George to ring Mr Morgan on Thames Street and tell him we’ll be there next week and…” 

“Lockwood stop it, we’ve got it. The agency isn’t going to fall apart because you take a sick day,” George said. 

“Yeah… Yeah, you’re right. I’m sorry,” Lockwood sniffed. 

“Did Lockwood just say sorry? Quick Lucy, check his fever. He must be dying!” 

Lucy laughed and Lockwood tried but only ended up coughing, hand on his chest as the coughs tore through his lungs. 

“Breathe, breathe, you’re okay,” Lucy patted his back and forced him to drink sips of water until the fit ended, leaving him drained and shaky. 

“I think you need to go back to bed,” Lucy said. 

Lockwood nodded, looking exhausted. The dark marks under his eyes were worse than usual, especially against his pale pallor. 

“And I’m going to go out and get you some medicine, is there anything you’d like?” George asked. 

“Ice lollies? Mum always gave us ice lollies when we were sick as kids,” Lockwood said. He so rarely mentioned his family that it was a testament to how awful he was feeling, to be in need of such comfort. 

“Of course, anything else?” 

“Get him some cough stuff, I don’t want to have to drag his butt to hospital with pneumonia,” Lucy said. 

George nodded. “Okay, I’ll be back soon.” 

Lucy had to help Lockwood back up the stairs, he was so weak and feverish that just standing up was a great effort. He curled back up under his pile of blankets with a sigh, his shivers finally starting to ease.

“Try and get some sleep, I’ll wake you when George gets back with the meds,” Lucy said. 

“Hey… I didn’t say you could go.” 

Lucy smiled and sat on the side of the bed, her hand finding his. 

“Go to sleep,” she said. 

“I’d sleep better with you here,” 

Lucy chuckled, she couldn’t deny him that either. He’d made sure to leave enough room for her to climb in beside him. He curled up to her, his head on her chest and her arms around him. It wasn’t the first time they’d touched or even fallen asleep side by side but it was the first time one of them had asked for it, and maybe it was the first time they’d both start to think there was something more there. But in that moment it didn’t matter, he needed her and she would always be there to help pick up the pieces. 

“Feel better Antony.”  

[uroveneer-world]

Wainscoting : Adding Timeless Elegance to Your Walls

Wainscoting is a type of paneling that is commonly used in interior design to cover the lower part of walls in a room. 

It is typically made from wood, but can also be made from other materials such as MDF, PVC, or even wallpaper. Wainscoting is a great way to add character and elegance to a room, while also protecting the walls from wear and tear.

Wainscoting is a popular interior design element that has been used for centuries to add elegance and style to homes. This type of decorative paneling is typically found on the lower half of a wall, and it can be made from a variety of materials such as wood, tile, or even vinyl.

When it comes to interior design, there are a myriad of options to choose from, but few are as timeless and elegant as wainscoting. This classic wall treatment has been used for centuries to add visual interest, texture, and depth to otherwise plain walls. 

Wainscoting is a beautiful addition to any room, from a grand entryway to a cozy bedroom.

What is Wainscoting?

Wainscoting is a type of wall paneling that covers the lower portion of a wall. The height of wainscoting can vary, but it typically covers the bottom third or half of a wall. The panels are usually made of wood, but can also be made of other materials like PVC or MDF. The panels can be flat or raised, and can be painted or stained to match the existing decor.

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Types of Wainscoting - 

There are several types of wainscoting, each with its own unique style and characteristics. They are - 

1. Beadboard - Beadboard wainscoting is made of narrow tongue-and-groove boards that are vertically installed with a small "bead" along the joint between each board. This type of wainscoting is perfect for adding a cottage or country-style look to a room.

This type of wainscoting is often used in coastal or cottage-style homes, and can be painted in a variety of colors to match the room's décor.

Beadboard wainscoting is typically installed vertically, and it can be used to add texture and interest to a plain wall. It is often used in bathrooms and kitchens, where it can add a cozy, cottage-like feel.

2. Raised Panel - Raised panel wainscoting features a central panel that is surrounded by a frame of wood. The panel can be raised or flat, and the frame can be simple or ornate. 

This type of wainscoting is often used in formal spaces like dining rooms or entryways.

Raised panel wainscoting features large, raised panels with a variety of decorative designs, such as beading, molding, or carving. 

Raised panel wainscoting can be made from a variety of materials, including wood and MDF (medium-density fiberboard). It is typically more expensive than beadboard wainscoting, but it can add a touch of elegance and sophistication to any space.

3. Flat Panel - Flat panel wainscoting features a simple, flat panel that is framed by wood. This type of wainscoting is versatile and can work in both traditional and modern spaces.

Flat panel wainscoting is a more formal style of wainscoting that features large, flat panels with raised borders or frames. This type of wainscoting is often used in dining rooms, living rooms, and other formal spaces.

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4. Board and Batten - Board and batten wainscoting features wide boards that are installed vertically with narrow strips of wood (the "battens") covering the seams. This type of wainscoting is perfect for adding a rustic or farmhouse-style look to a room.

Board and batten wainscoting is often used in mudrooms and other entryways, where it can add a touch of warmth and charm to the space.

5. Beaded Wainscoting: Beaded wainscoting features narrow, vertical planks with a decorative bead running down the center of each board. This type of wainscoting is often used in traditional or colonial-style homes, and can be painted or stained in a variety of colors.

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6. Shiplap Wainscoting

Shiplap wainscoting is a type of wainscoting that has gained popularity in recent years thanks to its use on popular home renovation shows such as “Fixer Upper.” This type of wainscoting features wide, horizontal planks of wood that are installed with a small gap between each plank.

Today, wainscoting is still used as a decorative element in homes, and it is available in a wide range of styles and materials to suit any taste or budget.

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Benefits of Wainscoting - 

Wainscoting offers several benefits for homeowners and designers. 

Here are some of the key benefits of wainscoting : -

Protects Walls: Wainscoting protects the lower part of walls from scuffs, stains, and other types of damage caused by furniture and foot traffic. This can help extend the life of walls and reduce the need for costly repairs.

Adds Texture and Depth: Wainscoting adds texture and depth to a room, creating a sense of visual interest and dimensionality.

Wainscoting adds texture and dimension to otherwise plain walls. This can help make a room feel more interesting and visually appealing.

Easy to Clean - Wainscoting is easy to clean and maintain. Simply wipe down the panels with a damp cloth to remove dirt or dust.

Enhances Home Value - Wainscoting is a classic design element that can enhance the value of your home. It adds a touch of sophistication and elegance that can make your home more appealing to potential buyers.

Installing Wainscoting - 

Installing wainscoting is a relatively simple DIY project, but it does require some basic carpentry skills. 

Here are the general steps involved in installing wainscoting : -

Measure the walls - Measure the height and length of the walls where you want to install the wainscoting.

Choose the type of wainscoting - Choose the type of wainscoting that best suits your style and needs.

Wainscoting can be made from a variety of materials such as wood, MDF, PVC, or beadboard. Choose the material that best suits your needs and budget.

Determine the height of the wainscoting: Decide how high you want the wainscoting to go. Typically, it is installed at a height of around 36 inches from the floor, but you can adjust this according to your preference.

Cut the panels - Use a saw to cut the panels to the appropriate size.

Install the panels - Use adhesive and/or nails to attach the panels to the wall.

Use a level to ensure that the panels are installed straight. Apply adhesive to the back of the panels and press them firmly against the wall. Use a nail gun or finishing nails to secure the panels in place.

Install the baseboard and chair rail: Cut and install the baseboard and chair rail molding to complete the wainscoting installation. Use a nail gun or finishing nails to secure the molding in place.

Fill nail holes and seams: Use wood filler or caulk to fill any nail holes or seams in the wainscoting.

Sand and paint: Sand the wainscoting and apply a coat of primer followed by the desired paint color to finish the installation.

Following these steps should result in a beautiful wainscoting installation that enhances the overall look of the room.

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[riseofthedark]

It was spring when you started the search for an apartment. You were going into your final year at college and at this point you were close to drowning in student debt. After careful consideration (one drunk night and a subsequent discussion with your therapist) you decided student housing wasn't worth the price and thus your search began.

Due to unlucky rooming assignments in the past you decided a single room apartment or loft was suited for you to avoid further.....mmmm unfortunate circumstances. Rent, was expensive. No matter where you looked without roommate's, you couldn't afford to live out of student housing. Then you found it.

It was only a 20 minute drive from your school in a 13 story building. While not furnished, utilities were included in the rent and a washer dryer unit was within your apartment. It looked spacious and was only a quarter of the rent anywhere else was looking for. While it sounded sketchy, your friend from in town said it was a good area and with no other good options you applied.

They responded almost immediately and with enthusiasm brought you in to sign the lease. The wallpaper was peeling from the walls and the carpet was worn down to the point where you could almost see the fiber board underneath it. Despite its run down appearance the price of rent was low enough that you could overlook it. Within the next month you were moved in.

To be honest, since you had been living in student housing you owned no furniture but you had enough to buy a mattress and an inflatable couch which served their purposes for now. Your unit was, well interesting to say the least. The cabinets in the kitchen all hung loosely on their hinges and had a nasty habit of slamming throughout the night. The shelves were also on an angle, resulting in the shattering of dishes you had brought with you upon moving in. But, after a quick Target run you had enough plastic dishes to host a church potluck.

You also believed your neighbors dog needs some more training as the howling that dog released at night was loud enough to rattle your windows. Your lights were always flickering and someone loved to thump down the hallways at midnight. Which, for some reason the power always went out at the same time. As this was consistent you made sure to have your phone and computer charged before hand as upon observation power didn't return until 7am. Oddly enough your never saw any of your neighbors even when trying to see who was thumping down the hallway.

But hey, it was still cheaper than anywhere else. Growing up you were always the type of person who loved to do hands on activities. Any crafts you could get your hands on you did. With that you had also joined the tech crew of your high-school's theater club and learned repair sets and how to use power tools. When you went off to college you brought a giant bin of craft supplies and had convinced your parents to get you tools and other building accessories.

This, you realized was to your advantage. As after two weeks of cupboards slamming you were done. The next free day you had the cupboards were disassembled and on your floor. Minus of course, the part attached to your walls. Upon further inspection the previous tenant had adjusted the pegs in each cupboard making the shelves lie at a permanent diagonal. That was an easy fix if not annoying.

The doors on the other hand? Well whoever installed them previously obviously shouldn't have and now you had some work ahead of you. The hinges had been attached with nails hence the hanging and slamming but they were also cut unevenly so even if they were hung correctly they wouldn't shut. The bright side of the unit was that it had a balcony, which you were now covering in saw dust due to sanding down the cupboard doors. At the end of the day though the cupboards were firmly attached and the shelves were no longer attempting to kill your dishes.

You went to bed under the assumption that this would be the end of the cupboard slamming but you were wrong.

You move into a suspiciously low rent apartment, that’s in some disrepair but not enough to account for the price. It turns out the other occupants are all evil supernatural beings. They set out to torment you, but then discover that you have done more to repair the building than the landlords.

[retardedness]

The Plaza Hotel had always been a staple of New Orleans' charm—quaint, yet luxurious, nestled on the corner of Chartres and St. Ann. For tourists, it was the perfect blend of old-world elegance and Southern hospitality. But for those who stayed on the top floor, particularly Room 714, there was a rumor.

No one talked about it openly, but once you checked in, you could see the signs: a subtle shift in the air, an off-center light bulb that flickered just a bit too often, an elevator that sometimes hummed in a frequency too low for the ears to catch but just enough to make the skin prickle. Most guests left with the lingering feeling that something was... off. The old hotel, with its brass fixtures and velvet curtains, harbored a secret.

It was in Room 714 where the real trouble began.

Lena was new to town, a writer looking for inspiration in the heart of the city. She’d checked in late at night, tired from her journey, and was pleased when the hotel clerk handed her a brass key with an ornate tag. It read: 714. She was no stranger to oddities—if anything, she sought them out. The supernatural, the bizarre. She thought she'd be amused by whatever ghostly legend the hotel could offer. After all, it was New Orleans.

But as she entered the room, a shiver ran down her spine.

The space was immaculate, but there was a faint, unnatural chill in the air. The bed, draped in thick, emerald-green linens, seemed to be placed at an odd angle. The wallpaper was a faded floral pattern that had once been vibrant but now looked muted and tired. The windows were closed tightly, yet the curtains billowed inward as if they were caught in some unseen draft. A soft hum—low and constant—emerged from somewhere behind the walls, like the sound of a distant engine.

Lena tossed her bag onto the bed and walked over to the window. She parted the heavy curtains and stared out at the glowing city lights, the shadows of oak trees casting long fingers across the streets below. It was peaceful, but still, something gnawed at the edge of her mind.

She sat at the desk, opened her laptop, and began to type, but the hum grew louder. She paused, fingers hovering over the keys. The air seemed to thicken. There was a sudden, cold sensation across her skin, a sensation that was not entirely unpleasant but undeniably alien.

At first, she thought it was just the hotel's old plumbing or some strange draft, but then, she noticed something strange. The hum wasn’t just noise. It was patterned—a rhythmic beat, an irregular pulse that felt more like a signal than a malfunction.

Her heart skipped. She rose from the chair, the hum pressing in on her, louder now, almost… urgent. The walls seemed to vibrate, a soft tremor that rattled the framed artwork and made the lamps flicker. She approached the farthest corner of the room where the wallpaper looked slightly bubbled, as if the surface beneath it was moving, shifting.

Her curiosity overcame her fear. With trembling fingers, Lena peeled back a corner of the wallpaper.

What she found behind it was not a crack in the plaster or a hidden safe as she’d expected. No, what she saw made her blood run cold.

It was a glowing green symbol, faint but unmistakable—a circle with sharp, angular lines stretching from its center like rays of light. The air around it buzzed with an energy so intense that Lena could feel it in her chest, as though her heart were vibrating in sync with the strange signal.

Before she could react, the temperature in the room plummeted. She shivered, her breath visible in the air. And then, from the center of the symbol, a sound—sharp, metallic, almost like the scrape of a blade against stone.

Lena backed away, but the hum rose into a pitch that seemed to split her mind in two, leaving her breathless and dizzy. And then, as though summoned by her panic, the entity revealed itself.

It appeared in the corner of the room, its form shimmering like a mirage, translucent yet solid, with a strange, fluid outline that defied any sense of earthly logic. It was tall, slender, with eyes that glowed like molten silver—too large for its face, too deep, too knowing. The air crackled around it, and its presence flooded the room with an unsettling mix of intelligence and raw power.

Lena froze, unsure whether to run or stand her ground.

It spoke, though not with words. The voice came not from its mouth but from somewhere deeper—inside her mind.

I have waited here… alone.

The voice was not kind, nor was it threatening. It simply was. As though the being had been here for eons, and her intrusion was nothing more than a blip in its eternal wait.

Lena swallowed, her pulse pounding. “Who are you?” she whispered, her voice trembling.

I am… the traveler. The voice echoed within her skull. I came long ago. This place… it was not meant for me.

The walls of the room seemed to fold inward, the air thickening, pressing against her chest. It wasn’t clear whether the creature was aware of her presence, or if she was simply a temporary disruption in its existence.

Lena felt an overwhelming pull, a magnetic force that drew her closer to the alien presence. The green symbol on the wall pulsed once, twice, as if syncing with her own heartbeat.

Do you wish to stay? the entity asked. The question was more than a curiosity—it was a compulsion. A question that felt as if it had been asked of everyone who had ever crossed the threshold of Room 714.

She didn’t know how long she stood there, trapped in the alien's gaze, but when she spoke again, her voice was a whisper. “No.”

The light flickered one final time before the entity slowly receded, its form dissipating like mist in the early morning sun. The hum faded. The temperature returned to normal.

Lena stumbled backward, her heart racing. She blinked rapidly, looking around the room, now eerily silent. The green symbol was gone, as though it had never been there at all.

She didn’t hesitate. She grabbed her things, slammed the door behind her, and fled the hotel, not caring about the cost, not caring about the luggage she left behind. She never returned to the Plaza.

And as for Room 714, well—it remained waiting, just as it always had. Waiting for the next guest brave—or foolish—enough to find it.

[thekitchnpro]

Kitchen Cabinets –Make Your Kitchen Furnished

New Post has been published on https://thekitchnpro.com/kitchen-cabinets-make-your-kitchen-furnished/

Kitchen Cabinets –Make Your Kitchen Furnished

Kitchen cabinets are the pillar of every kitchen. They’re what draw your eye in, they make up your work space; they make up where you store all your precious foodstuffs and equipment.

Assuming you already have general knowledge about the different types of cabinets (framed, frameless, shaker) let’s look at some ideas for kitchen cabinets. They are traditionally rectangular in shape, made up of four sides and a front which houses the door(s) but what if you want to shake things up?

  We’re not talking about just adding some fancy knobs or pulls, either. Let’s get into Kitchen Cabinet Ideas. They can go from simple to complicated or anywhere in between. They made of different materials, they can be painted, stained, using wallpaper, tiles; the list goes on and on. They are no longer just storage space – they’re part of the décor.

I’m sure you’ve seen cabinetry that includes additional features like pull-out boards or built in appliances or maybe even kitchen cabinets that designed to hold your Kitchen Aid mixer. Kitchen cabinet ideas are all over the map, wherever you find inspiration. And if you’re looking for kitchen cabinet Ideas, look no further!

Kitchen Cabinet Ideas are-

Cabinets as Part of the Décor

Kitchen cabinets are one of the most important parts of your kitchen. They allow storage for appliances and cooking utensils. They also add design to a kitchen, and can add color or contrast if painted or stained differently than the rest of the cabinet unit. A professional chef or housekeeper must choose them carefully to match with all aspects of your kitchen. Moreover, they should match your counter tops, be a compatible style and design to the room, and go with any other kitchen décor you have. Nonetheless, they can also add value to your home if they are made from high quality material or have interesting designs that showcase their craftsmanship. Most importantly they come in many different styles, shapes, sizes, colors!

Kitchen Cabinets with Appliances Built in

Kitchen cabinets are a great way to save space and create a seamless look. Cabinets with appliances built-in can help you maximize your kitchen layout, making the most out of every inch in the room. Without the cabinet appliances don’t have this advantage – but you can always add a microwave or other appliance on top of the countertop if you need. They are the perfect place to put your carefully considered appliances.

Kitchen Cabinets with Pullout Boards

Kitchen Cabinets with Pullout Boards are cabinets where the bottom shelf of the cabinet has been replaced by a removable board, enabling you to store items that would otherwise be hard to reach or store in an average. Generally, these items include baking sheets and cutting boards. You can also use them to store Kitchen Utensils like spatulas and serving utensils.

Custom Designed to Hold Kitchen Aid Mixer

Kitchen Aid is an American manufacturer of kitchen appliances including mixers, blenders, food processors and electric kettles. They recently announced the Kitchen Aid Artisan Series Kitchen Cabinets which made to hold their Kitchen Aid Artisan Mixer.

They are traditionally designed to house standard kitchen appliances such as stoves, fridges and dishwashers. Kitchen Aid has redesigned these cabinets to accommodate the Kitchen Aid Artisan Mixer with a few simple modifications. Kitchen Aid Cabinets can be custom fit with an adjustable shelf and a drawer which slides smoothly over the top of the mixer. The Kitchen Aid mixer is powered by electricity and plugs into any standard wall outlet.

[eurotexindia]

4 Reasons Why Peel and Stick Wallpaper Has Become the Trend in Home Decor

If you are also wondering why these peel-and-stick wallpapers are becoming the trend in home decor, These wallpapers are everywhere, from cafes to hotels to offices to houses, and there is a very positive reason behind them. These peel-and-stick wallpapers are so easy to use and also very affordable. 

Let us take a take a deep dive into the four main reasons why peel and stick wallpapers are becoming so popular: 

Easy Application: 

Easy application of the self-adhesive wallpaper is the main reason why more and more people are trending towards peel-and-stick wallpapers. The application process is also very simple; you just need to tear the back part of the self-adhesive wallpaper. There is also no need to apply glue because it already comes with pre-applied glue on it when you tear it. Now you just need to apply it to the wall. It is that simple and fast.

Cost Effective: 

We all already know that traditional wallpapers are more expensive than self-adhesive wallpapers, but there is also a hidden cost to the application of the wallpaper, which makes it more affordable. The increase in competition between the sellers makes the cost of self-adhesive wallpaper more affordable. The low cost of peel-and-stick wallpapers is also a very crucial reason why it is becoming a trend. 

Wide variety of designs:

Self-adhesive wallpaper offers you a wide variety of designs and colours, even more than traditional wallpaper. You can choose from brick design to wooden design, from 3D design to abstract design. Self-adhesive wallpaper makes sure that it can fit in any home. Whether the home has any design, you can easily find the wallpaper that best fits you and your room.

Removal:

While many people will start thinking that easy removal is a benefit, let us explain. If you choose a design of self-adhesive wallpaper for your room and, after some years, you want to change it for any reason, then you can easily change it because it is easily removable. Also, it didn’t damage the walls where you applied it, which makes it the best choice for the renters. If you are that type of person who loves to change the look of a room after some years, these peel and stick wall stickers are definitely made for you.

Conclusion: Peel and stick wallpaper has several benefits over traditional wallpaper, which makes it a better choice and also the main reason why it is a trend now!

After reading the benefits of self-adhesive wallpaper, if you are in search of the best peel-and-stick wallpaper, There is no need to look further. eurotex.in offers a wide range of self-adhesive wallpaper at a very affordable price of just Rs. 199 per roll. Shop Now!

[miraclewattgets]

MiracleWatt: A Balanced Review of the Pros and Cons!

Home remodeling projects may be hard, especially when you have no inkling of how to do them. If you do not even know where to start your project, get some good advice first. Then learn how each part should be done so that you will achieve beautiful, professional results.

When removing cabinets as part of a kitchen remodel, make sure you don't just unscrew and yank them miraclewatt reviews off the wall. You will more than likely end up taking some or all of the drywall off with you. Take time and care to remove each and every screw, and use a utility knife around the edges to break the caulking that was most likely used to seal between the cabinet and the wall.

Place a nice centerpiece on your dining room table to create a sophisticated look. Your arrangement doesn't have to be floral in nature. You can mix celery sticks or different vegetables with flowers, or use wildflowers growing outside to create an arrangement pleasing to the eye. You can place your centerpiece into a basket or a vase.

It is a very good idea to own your home. Most people want to decorate their house and make improvements to fit their lifestyle, but when you rent you need to ask for permission to make certain improvements. It is much better to do that in your own property, as it doesn't make any sense to spend thousands of dollars to improve someone else's property.

A great way to conserve energy while also keeping bugs out of your home, is to seal miraclewatt up any cracks in your home. Simply caulk up any cracks that you find. Once the caulk is dry, air will be sealed in, and bugs will be sealed out.

As you prepare to list your home for sale, it may be tempting to undertake major remodeling projects to increase the house's appeal. These projects can easily run up credit card debt, which can damage your ability to secure favorable credit ratings and loan approval. Instead, look for small updates and inexpensive repairs, to make your home more appealing to potential buyers.

You should look into making minor house repairs prior to putting your house on the market. This includes things like fixing a cracked tile, a hole in a wall, or a squeaky door. Issues like these may miraclewatt device make the potential buyer worry that you have not taken care of the house properly and may make the buyer wonder what worse things are being covered up.

Cleaning your decanter can be made quite easy with the following steps. Fill up your decanter up with hot water halfway and add several drops of dishwashing liquid inside. Add two or three tablespoons of vinegar and one cup of raw rice (doesn't matter what type). Swirl the concoction in your decanter until clean. The rice helps rub off the excess dirt while you're swirling the liquid.

Keep your furniture safe from drink spills and cup outlines by displaying coasters. Coasters are available in a myriad of designs and you are sure to find one to fit your taste. The most miraclewatt energy saver device common places to use coasters would be your living room end table, coffee table, nightstand, and dining room table.

If you are a handy person and can understand plans, consider doing some home improvement jobs yourself. Small and simple projects can improve the overall look of your home. By doing it yourself, you save money and avoid the aggravation of researching a contractor for minor jobs. You will feel more confident and much prouder of your home.

A beautiful doorway can raise the property value on a home by nearly 10 percent! The finishing touches on the door also improve the look. A variety of locks and knobs are available.

For a personalized and one-of-a-kind wall covering, consider designing and ordering your own miraclewatt electricity saver customized wallpaper online or through a local design studio. New websites offer a variety of options for wallpaper design, including enlarged photographs, murals, or even your children's artwork delivered to your door in a matter of weeks.

You'll know what's coming during your projects if you take these tips into consideration. Also, you can find out exactly what needs to be done to make sure the project is successfully completed.

[civiconcepts]

How to Choose the Right Curtains For Your Living Room

The majority of time spent relaxing at home is within the four walls of the living room. Therefore, this space needs to be visually pleasing with décor guided primarily by comfort. A big part of this is which curtains hang on the window, and it dictates more than meets the eye. Here’s how you can make this major decision easily.

  Consider How the Sunlight Impacts the Room

When you sit on the couch or try to watch your show on the TV, how does the sunlight affect your relaxation time? Depending on where your house is built and which position it faces, the sun might be shining directly through into your living room. This can impact your enjoyment, comfort, and capacity to unwind or concentrate. So, this should be a top focus when deciding on curtains because you may need a thicker material, longer length, or UV protection for the material to avoid color fading or general damage.  Read More: Curtains vs. Drapes: Exploring the Differences and Choosing the Right Window Treatment

Think About Privacy

Privacy is another major priority when it comes to how you feel in your personal space. It is never an ideal situation when you are trying to sit back and recalibrate but you have passersby looking in through your window. The type of curtain you pick can also mean the difference between potential home invaders casing out your property or having their visual blocked. 

Pick a Color Scheme

Color is an important decision that can make or break any living area. It has to fit in with the rest of the décor, for instance, your furniture and wallpaper, and also lift the mood of the space instead of bringing it down. Opting for a custom linen curtain is often a great way to ensure that the color is exactly what you want it to be, and your aesthetic vision is not compromised in any way. 

Pick Between Patterned and Plain

The eternal question of whether to opt for a plain set of curtains or give into a pattern continues to this day. Homeowners everywhere debate whether a pattern would boost the room or give them a headache, and the most popular choice is yet to be determined. It is an entirely personal decision, and it is useful to trust your gut instincts because this will lead you where you need to be. 

Thoughts on Length

The length of a curtain is important for things like keeping a room warm, the general vibe, and maintenance factors too. Generally, living rooms favor longer-length curtains which can be drawn together and create a cozy vibe throughout the area. These rooms are made for relaxing and channeling peace, after all, so your curtains have to fit in with this vibe. Shorter curtains in a living room may make it feel more exposed and less finished, and ruin the temperature control in this key area.  So, your curtains dictate a lot from how a room feels in general to the way you feel when you are inside of it. There are endless options out there to explore, so the key is to figure out your color scheme and use this as a guide for the other criteria.  You May Also Like - Curtains vs. Drapes: Exploring the Differences and Choosing the Right Window Treatment - Exploring Curtain Styles: 25 Must-Have Curtain Types - How To Choose the Best Hung Windows for Your House? - Bedroom Decor & Inspiration Read the full article