#Washing your rococo throw | Explore Tumblr posts and blogs

artificialqueens · 4 years ago

Text

Chase the Shadows Away (Taywhora) - Juno

Summary: It’s April 2020, the UK is in lockdown, and Tayce gets a hand-delivered letter from her neighbour Aurora which may change her life.

A/N: So this is set during lockdown and does mention covid, so please bear this in mind when reading if this will be a worry, but otherwise I hope you enjoy. CWs in place for alcohol, mental health mentions, and non-adherence to lockdown rules at one point.

Otherwise it’s quite fluffy with some h/c. I hope you enjoy.

The first letter Tayce got was in early April.

She hadn’t had much post since the whole country had been locked down, no one allowed to move outside their front doors for more than once a day for threat of fines and penalties and even getting sick. Most of the letters she was getting this week had been birthday cards for her absent housemate. She’d put the various brightly-coloured cards and Amazon boxes in a pile outside Viv’s bedroom door, and gave the pile the middle finger every time she walked past it.

But today there was a plain, white envelope, with “Hi” written on it in glittery red pen, and when Tayce opened it, she found a piece of notebook paper that had been folded at least four times, and Tayce nearly threw it across the room with the effort it was taking to open.

This had better be worth it.

When she got it unfolded, she read the three lines in the same glitter pen, then again, and once more just in case.

‘Hi, I’m Aurora. I’m on my own in my flat 7D because my housemate moved home because of lockdown, and you seem to be alone too. Want to write to each other? X’

And Tayce couldn’t hold back the rush of emotion, as much as she tried - but she was alone, and she took comfort knowing only these four walls would see tears stream down her face.

——

Tayce was on her own in the flat.

In the day time she opened her work laptop, thanking god she was allowed to work from home; throwing a hoodie over her pyjama top just in time for the 9am meeting where her boss grinned at everyone and told them all to keep swimming and chin up and whatever other self-indulgent bullshit she had read in her How To Motivate Your Teammanual in the chapter about Managing Pandemics.

Tayce was still surprised at how much bullshit her workmates seemed to swallow; all of them with the same broad smiles and straightened hair and shaved chins and eyeliner, for fuck’s sake - but Tayce copied them, knowing that not painting her own smile and her own eyebrows on was damning herself for the inevitable call and the simpering It’s Good To Talk conversation, followed by u k hun xx to be flashing repeatedly in the work WhatsApp group from all the team.

In the evenings, the only noise was the clink of the glass bottle against the wine glass. One glass was enough to make her a little sleepy, two was enough to make her dance, and three was enough to make her post something cryptic on her insta story and see if anyone DMed her.

Sometimes they did.

Joe liked to crack a few morbid jokes about how it was the apocalypse and we were all going to be dead by 2021, which didn’t help Tayce in the slightest. Ginny would message “You alright, bab?” at three in the morning, but never reply to any other message. Tia would send Tayce a picture of the banana bread she’d baked as if that would cheer Tayce up.

And Cherry sent her a message one time, telling her to look after her mental health, and then Tayce felt bad because Cherry worked for the NHS and only seemed to work and sleep right now, her insta photos showing her looking more and more gaunt, with #ClapForHeroes and #ProtectTheNHS appearing at the bottom of all her posts.

Nothing curbed the gaping black hole in Tayce’s chest, sucking everything that was good from her body and leaving her a shell.

Until the letter arrived.

——

Two days after she’d posted her own letter back to 7D, another letter arrived, in the same glittery red pen, this time addressed to her, with Tayce written on the front of the envelope this time.

‘Hi Tayce (sp?) nice to meet you, don’t worry I don’t know what to say either! Where in Wales are you from? I’m from Nottingham but I came to London for uni and didn’t leave! Are you still working rn? I got furloughed which is a bit shit. And my housemate is staying with her boyfriend so she can’t move back. Have you been clapping for the NHS? Someone on my floor was banging a pan or something!! Hope your ok? WB Aurora xx’

“I’m making a new friend,” Tayce had said to her mum on the phone later that night.

“In lockdown?”

“She’s delivering me letters.”

“How?”

“By hand, mum.” Tayce forced a laugh. “You know. Through the letterbox like a normal letter.”

“I hope you’re washing your hands before and after you open them, are you?”

“Yeah, of course,” Tayce grimaced as she said it.

“Good. Stay safe. Love you.”

“Love you too.”

One of these days, Tayce thought as she disconnected the call, she might be able to say it without her voice breaking.

——

By mid-April, a full month since lockdown had started and two weeks after the first letters between them, Aurora had given Tayce her instagram handle, and Tayce had given hers in return. Tayce found herself spending all of her Good Friday skimming down the page on moreauroramore, looking through all of her new pen pal’s photos and trying desperately not to look like an idiot by accidentally double-tapping any that were obviously over a year old.

Tayce had pictured Aurora in her mind as being over-excitable, short, with dark hair and lots of dusty pinks and baby blues and other pastel colours as her aesthetic, maybe with pot plants and cat pictures and cutesy little slogans surrounded by hearts. Instead she’d found a smolderingly attractive woman with a ridiculously versatile and sophisticated sense of fashion; one photo in a rococo-inspired summer dress, and the next in a cerulean blazer, matching trousers, and stilettos. Her hair was platinum-blonde, but it was hard to tell her eye colour as she seemed to own a never-ending plethora of colour contacts; and the eyebrow ring in the early pictures was replaced by a silver septum ring in later ones.

Her own insta looked quite plain in comparison, Tayce thought to herself. The landscapes she liked to post were interesting to her but probably not to the magnificent person on Aurora’s insta. The last picture Tayce had taken was of herself with her brother and niece in red rugby shirts just before the Six Nations was on; the last selfie before the last time she’d gone home which was … only February, she realised.

February felt like years ago.

When Tayce had awoken the next morning, she was greeted by the doorbell, and an Amazon driver sprinting away the moment she opened the door. A letter was on the doormat, in the familiar red glittery pen, and a single chocolate Easter egg.

‘Happy Easter Tayce. Don’t know if you celebrate but lol thought you would like some chocolate anyway! Don’t eat it all at once. Aurora xx’

It made Tayce’s gut wrench with guilt that she hadn’t thought to get Aurora one.

But it made Tayce even more pained, once she had clicked onto her instagram, to see that moreauroramore had liked all thirteen of the pictures she’d posted this year.

——

The zoom call at the end of April with the others from her uni group, saw not just Cherry missing, but also Ellie and Veronica.

“Ellie’s moving this week,” Lawrence nodded at the screen, “but that was all she’d tell me. She didn’t say where. Or if she’s staying in Dundee or anything. I just know she’s still trying to get her internet set up and I think she’s a bit stuck.”

“What about Vee?” Ginny asked in a low voice.

They all recognised the somber tone. They’d all taken it up. A change in their voices that all of them recognised in a kind of collective telepathic awareness. A hush in the calls, as if someone were dying, or had just died. Whenever anyone was missing, it was always the same worry circling all of their minds: what if it’s covid what if it’s covid what if it’s -

Tia was shaking her head. “It’s not covid,” she said, reading the minds of everyone through the internet, but her voice was still solemn as she continued. “I spoke to her mum. She’s -“

“Say depressed, Tia, it’s fine.” Bimini spoke gently, but not all of them were as open as Bimini was. Especially when it came to Veronica, who was a brick wall when it came to showing what she was feeling.

“She’s - not in a good place.”

“Say mental health,” Bimini said, shaking their head. “It’s okay to not be okay.”

“I don’t think that’s gonna make her feel any better, Bim.” Tia rolled her eyes.

“We’re all feeling this,” Pip nodded. “We all need to talk to each other.”

“Veronica won’t. Not yet. We just need to be there for her when she does. Anyway, who’s done anything interesting? Anyone else been trying banana bread? Everyone managed to find bogroll from somewhere now? No one is having the same problem that Joe had when she -“

“I don’t think we need to go any further with that one, love,” Joe muttered.

“I’ve made a pen friend.”

Everyone sat in stunned silence at Tayce’s sentence, mouths open like fish at feeding time.

“A pen friend? What is this, 1986?”

“Shut up, Ginny. I think that’s kind of cute, actually,” Tia mused, tilting her head to one side.

Tayce nodded. “Something a bit different. She lives in my block of flats. Two floors up from me. Been nice, to talk to someone, ever since Viv buggered off to her boyfriend’s house. Seriously, as soon as Boris announced lockdown she was jumping in her car and off to Liverpool.”

“You said she was a bit flaky,” Tia said sympathetically. “What’s your new pen pal’s name?”

“Aurora.”

“A-what?” Ginny raised their eyebrows. “Can we just call her Rory?”

“No.”

“We should get her on a call with us when Veronica’s back. Ronni and Rory, sounds like Ant and Dec will have some stiff competition when they get wind of that.”

“Ginny -“ Tia began, but Tayce was trying to hold back a chuckle.

——

‘Someone is talking about a street party on the 8th of May. Are you gonna go? I was gonna stay indoors but if you’re gonna go outside i will too xx’

Tayce knew she shouldn’t be thinking of meeting strangers outside her flat while the pandemic was ongoing, but she hadn’t seen a familiar human since March other than on a zoom call screen.

‘Hi Aurora, yeah i will go outside for a little bit. Look forward to meeting you properly instead of over letters! Tayce’

And Tayce finally stopped hesitating, adding two kisses on the end for the first time.

The weather was meant to be lush for a May bank holiday, as Tayce knew because her colleagues wouldn’t shut up about it. Almost eight weeks of lockdown were beginning to show the cracks in all their faces - no more eyeliner, and even Linda in Accounts had stopped posting boomerang videos of her kids doing Joe Wicks workouts while she waved her arms behind them.

So Tayce was over the moon when Friday rolled around and she could slam the Dismiss button on her phone alarm, turn over and sleep in until noon. Once she woke up though, she sat up with a jolt in her bed and realised she’d have to get ready; somehow it was important that she looked right today.

It was a power play, she knew it. An armour. But there was just something about clothes that made her mood turn in an instant. Her favourite leather jacket was probably a bit too heavy for the warm sunshine - warm sunshine? In May? - so she opted for the black denim instead and a skirt that hugged her slender figure, leaving her hair loose and wishing she’d gone for a trim before the lockdown. Maybe she should take her scissors to it?

She held the only scissors she had to hand - a pair of craft scissors - and wondered what her hairdresser mum would say if she knew that her daughter had taken non-styling scissors to the 30-inches of hair that she had.

No - better not. Her mum could give her a go over once the lockdown period had ended.

Someone was playing tunes on a speaker already when Tayce came down the stairs, dragging the garden chair Viv had left behind and brushing the digestive crumbs off it. One of the neighbours she recognised from her floor handed her an ice-cold can of Fosters which she sipped, not really enjoying the taste but relishing the freedom of it all. She knew to keep two metres from everyone, and she knew Cherry would absolutely murder her if she disobeyed that rule.

As soon as Aurora came into view from the block of flats, Tayce knew that keeping to the two metre rule would prove a little harder than she had first thought.

Aurora’s insta pictures showed a fashion model trapped in a little box on a screen, striving to get out - but in the flesh, she looked as if she had just rolled out of the living room after a Tiger King marathon. The grey jogging bottoms paired with the crop top and zip-up hoodie were probably too warm for today - 23 degrees, the radio kept repeating - but she made them look so effortless and stylish that Tayce suddenly wanted to buy some. Her platinum hair was piled in a messy bun, dark brown roots showing but the lackadaisical nature made it seem like Aurora meant it that way.

On her insta page, Aurora was way out of Tayce’s league; but here in life, she seemed a lot more accessible, a lot calmer, a lot more real.

Maybe it’s armour for her too. All this perfection in the photos. God. Why did I wear this?

She dropped her own deck chair down a reasonable distance from Tayce, taking another can of Fosters from the same neighbour and cracking it open. She took a swig, wiped her mouth on the back of her hand, and waved.

“Hi, Tayce. Here we are, then!”

“Yeah,” was the only thing Tayce could think of in response. Really cool. Very clever.

But Aurora was talking animatedly about how much she’d missed the sun, as she pulled a pair of sunglasses from her pocket and leaned back against the deck chair, claiming “Tesco are having them on sale - two for £12, so I got two - what else am I gonna do on furlough other than sunbathe!”

And the more the Fosters flowed - their neighbour’s 24-pack almost completely gone before 5pm, he seemingly wanting to give a can to the whole block - the more Aurora opened up her life history to Tayce.

How much she wished she was still in Worksop and could go on the long walks into the forest. How she’d give anything to hug her mum, a care-worker, and how she FaceTimed her shielding grandad every Sunday at 6.30 just after he finished his tea.

But most of all, how lonely it was every single night being alone in a flat in a huge city. Aurora dabbed her watery eyes with her thumbs as she described how much she loved everything that London had to offer when it was full of people, not dead to the world like it was now - and in this hollow place that lockdown was, she’d discovered that a city - any city, however exciting - was just a built-up area if you had no one to share it with.

Tayce hadn’t expected to cry. She’d cried maybe once or twice this whole time in lockdown, still too numb to have taken everything in that was happening. But the moment she’d opened her mouth, suddenly the Fosters had started talking for her too, and she was spilling out her worries onto the pavement below them as Aurora rubbed her back.

How her mum was furloughed from the hairdresser and her dad was always out in the lorry up and down the country. Her brother and sister-in-law, and her niece, were all still fine in Newport, but Tayce had missed her niece’s birthday, having to settle for blowing her a kiss down FaceTime and promising her through gritted teeth and cold fear that she’d give her the biggest cwtch ever as soon as this was over.

But now Tayce was in tears again, this time on Aurora’s shoulder, releasing her sorrows onto this woman who she had only exchanged written words with; now seeing her true soul laid bare in emotions that just refused to stop once she started. Aurora’s gentle hands ghosted through her hair, but then gripped Tayce tightly to her chest, planting a long, tender kiss on her hairline.

How had this happened? How had social distancing become this? Two people, thinking they were islands, clinging to one another for dear life?

Tayce held her for too long.

Aurora’s hands froze as she realised what she had done at the same moment Tayce had.

Cherry is gonna kill me.

Aurora walked with Tayce back to her flat as the sun was setting. It was nine in the evening, the heat finally starting to break, and both of them were aching and tired, spent from their tears. Aurora gave Tayce’s hand a gentle squeeze but said nothing else, her eyes red underneath her sunglasses, and Tayce had felt herself harden once again, turning the key in the door and closing the outside world back to where it should be.

——

After two weeks had passed, both of them not developing any symptoms after their contact, Tayce had an idea.

She put the letter through the letterbox in 7D at midday when she broke for lunch, and had a reply by half past one, a new record for Aurora.

‘Tayce, I’d love to form a support bubble with you. I thought you would have one already thats why i didn’t ask! Want to put on a film tonight and just chill? Bubble bud? Aurora xx’

So Tayce saw inside Aurora’s flat for the first time that same evening. After work, she practically sprinted up the stairs, thankful to get away from more of u k hun xx and her still-simpering colleagues.

It was very clean, as if it had only just been cleaned that day - freshly-washed surfaces, hoovered carpets, a sparkling bathroom - and Tayce marvelled at how tidy and orderly things were, a stark contrast from her own living space which had evolved into a nest of mess by now. Aurora’s living room and kitchen space were one area, with a mismatched sofa and chair facing the tv screen, hooking up a PS4 - Tayce hadn’t counted Aurora as a Dishonoured player either. The wall opposite the window was filled with small pictures of past fashion models - Kate Moss, Agyness Deyn, Cara Delevigne - all with matte black frames which had obviously been painted in lockdown, as one was on the coffee table drying over a copy of Hello magazine.

“My housemate’s not coming back, I can see it happening now,” Aurora shrugged, “so why not make the house the way I like it while I look for someone else to live with?”

Aurora poured Tayce a huge glass of wine, and that was followed by another; while she topped up her own glass liberally and kept shifting on the sofa as if trying to get comfortable. Tayce, for her part, took the chair instead, while Aurora tapped on the PlayStation controller to try to get Netflix up. The more she drank, the more cumbersome the controller seemed to become in her hands, until Tayce leaned over and took it away from her, Aurora’s fingers lingering a little too long on it before relinquishing.

When Aurora got up, meaning to pour them both a fourth glass of wine, she slipped on something and tumbled into Tayce’s lap in the chair, tittering something that sounded like “god I’m clumsy” through the giggles that came from her, unable to stop. Tayce slapped her on the back as she started coughing, but as that died down, Aurora straightened up, picking up Tayce’s hand in hers and drawing her up and away to join her on the sofa.

Lockdown had been so fucking lonely.

Aurora’s hand in hers was all Tayce needed to dissolve every wall she was still rebuilding from May Bank Holiday.

Aurora’s eyes were on her, she knew; through her peripheral vision as she tried desperately to cling to her focus on whatever episode of Tiger King this was.

When Tayce finally met her gaze, she averted it, turning her face to the window opposite them. Almost … playfully.

So Tayce looked back at the TV screen, but Aurora’s hand squeezed at hers, thumb in her palm pressing right in the centre, the pressure somehow travelling all the way to her gut. Tayce turned back to her, and this time Aurora did not look away.

“God, you’re gorgeous.”

Aurora looked at her through her eyelashes, lips parted in a smirk, curiously searching Tayce with her gaze as if wondering what her next move would be.

Tayce blinked incredulously. “Me? Like this? What do you mean, I’m gorgeous? Have you seen yourself?”

“And that accent, oh my days -“

“Go to Newport, we all sound like this.”

But the wine was hitting hard now and oh god lockdown is so fucking lonely and Tayce’s feet on the floor suddenly felt unsteady and Aurora was so fucking close to her on the sofa -

——

Once the hangover was gone, the memory of rest of the night felt like a dream, or maybe a nightmare. Tayce wasn’t entirely sure when she’d gone back to her flat, but she had, long before night had fully fallen and long after she was sure the burgeoning friendship she was finally making with someone lay in tatters two floors up from her.

The wine had washed away the strength she’d had, leaving her raw and vulnerable, and all the affection that had been growing since Aurora had first held her bubbled and burst into life. And Aurora must have felt the same magnetic pull, drawing them together across the sofa, nail marks still present in Tayce’s back that she could see in the mirror, a bruise forming on Tayce’s collarbone as Aurora had dipped a little lower.

It had been Tayce who had halted it - not because she hadn’t wanted to, but because she couldn’t decipher how much of this was affection and how much of this was just two lonely people, starved of company, starved of normality, seeking and clinging to it in any form.

And now it was the following day, and Tayce still didn’t know.

The group call at the end of the day was interesting. She stretched over the back of the sofa in her living room to grab her water, and that must have been enough to flash a sliver of skin.

“What’s that?” Lawrence asked loudly, prompting everyone else to go quiet. “Tayce? What’s that on your chest, hmm?”

“I didn’t see anything.”

“You’re not wearing your glasses, Ginny, you can’t see shit. What’s that on your chest? Why d’you have a bruise there?”

“Hi!” Ellie’s voice as she joined the call unexpectedly saved Tayce any further embarrassment; everyone shrieked when she came on, having missed the last two zoom calls following her move. “Thank God my internet is working now, I’ve missed all your faces!”

Tayce silently thanked Ellie’s timing and contentedly listened to the rest of them as they chatted about everything and nothing that they’d all missed. All of them were there; even Cherry showed up about twenty minutes in to wave at them and blow them kisses, her face even more pallid than before; before ducking back out to go to bed.

Only Veronica was still missing.

“She’s been messaging me,” Tia explained, “and she said she’s feeling a bit better, but since she got furloughed, she’s feeling like there’s no point getting out of bed or getting ready because there’s nowhere to go.”

“Send her some love,” Tayce said, but Tia snorted.

“You send her it! She’s gonna feel better if she knows we all miss her.”

It was true though, Tayce realised after they all disconnected. They all seemed to be drifting apart, no more energy to continue with these online gatherings, even though there were so many virtual meetup groups and apps that there almost seemed to be no excuse now.

She looked back through her phone messages. She hadn’t messaged Veronica since early April, taking her silence as a sign that she wanted to be left alone; but what if it wasn’t? Veronica was a closed fist, everyone knew that. And Tayce’s brother? Again, early April, and a quick call the week after for her niece’s birthday.

Lockdown, and self-isolation, seemed to be one and the same.

So Tayce spent the rest of the afternoon sending messages to everyone she had neglected since then. Maybe they would reply, and maybe they wouldn’t - but there was no harm in reaching out, no negative consequences.

By the end of the day, she was fielding messages back and forth from everyone she thought she’d lost through lockdown, the grey cloud over her head starting to lift, the fuzzy feeling disappearing and clarity settling in. She felt light, lighter than she had in weeks; and warm as the summery days they were getting in this late-May spring.

Towards the end of the day, she got a message back from Veronica at last.

Veronica: I’m doing ok. I got up and went for a walk today just to the park and back. It’s really nice although my hay fever sucks. Thanks for checking in on me i appreciate it x Veronica: Oh also Tia said you had a hickey on the group call haha tell me what her name is x

Tayce was surprised to realise she was grinning at the phone as she read Veronica’s message, her fingers stroking the mark on her collarbone as if to savour the vivid image that it sparked in her head.

——

It was three days after their drunken kiss on the sofa that Tayce had another letter through the door. The same red glittery pen, the same scrawl, but the writing a little smaller as if Aurora wanted to diminish herself.

‘Hi Tayce. I’m really sorry if i came on too strong this week. Can we go back to friends? Want to hang out tonight, bubble bud? Aurora xx’

Tayce swallowed down the part of her that immediately rose up and cried that she … didn’t want to just be friends.

Then it hit her.

God. I only met this girl properly this month. What’s wrong with me?

But she replied and immediately started clearing the house.

She put the pile of Viv’s birthday cards and presents from the hallway floor into a cupboard under the sink, giving it the middle finger again; put the six-weeks worth of laundry on to wash; cleaned all the dishes; and dragged the hoover out of the tiny airing cupboard and got to work on the carpets. The hard floors she swept, and carried the bin bags out to the communal bins, all before midday.

“Who needs Joe Wicks workouts?” She muttered to herself, panting, as she tugged some marigolds over her hands to sort out the rest of the kitchen.

By the time it was six, and time for Aurora to arrive, Tayce thought the house looked much better, and honestly, she felt much better too. The little spring clean she’d given the place had cleared a little clutter from her head as well.

It’s nothing to worry about. She’d just coming over for food and -

Tayce grimaced as she realised she hadn’t thought of what to do for food. She thought back to the beans on toast she’d had at four and kicked herself for not thinking of that. Dominos was still delivering, so she brought up the app and busied herself looking through the list of pizzas.

Aurora hadn’t arrived by ten past six, and Tayce started to worry.

Maybe she’s changed her mind.

But Tayce refused to let that thought take any root. She looked at the clock, which of course seemed to slow down from having eyes on it, and firmly told herself that she would message Aurora at quarter past if she wasn’t here before.

With a minute to spare, Aurora turned up, grinning merrily and waving the bottle of rose in Tayce’s face.

“Hey bubble bud! Sorry I’m late, well I’m always late, sorry in advance if you expect me on time for anything!” Aurora took a step inside and her jaw dropped. “Wow, your place is well nice!”

“Thanks,” Tayce grinned, although she wasn’t sure what Aurora was looking at. Tayce wasn’t allowed anything on the walls from what her landlord said, but Aurora wouldn’t stay still - checking out the titles of the handful of CDs Tayce had brought down to London with her; scanning a nail along the books on the shelf above the TV.

“It’s nice to hold a book sometimes,” Tayce shrugged, “rather than just read it on the kindle app.”

When Aurora got to the kitchen, Tayce cringed. She’d have to confess.

“I haven’t got in anything to eat. Only - only some bread.”

“And pot noodles,” Aurora added, opening a cupboard and helping herself to the contents as if she’d lived here her whole life.

“And pot - oh, are you thinking, maybe …”

“No way!” Aurora slammed the cupboard door and grabbed her keys again. “Be right back!”

Ten minutes later and Tayce was at the hob over the oven with Aurora, dicing onions while she cut up a red pepper, mince that Aurora had grabbed from her own fridge was out and ready to go in too.

“I needed to use that up anyway,” she shrugged. “Please tell me you don’t just eat bread and pot noodles, Tayce, please. I need to give you a cooking crash course if you do! Didn’t you learn to cook at uni? Or didn’t you do much cooking before you went? Oh my days - no fry the onion off first, with the garlic - I’ll chop the mushrooms, Jesus Christ pot noodles …”

“I know how to cook, give me some credit!” Tayce murmured, but she couldn’t stop smiling. “I just haven’t been to the shop yet, it’s been a long week.”

Aurora closed her eyes and hummed in appreciation. “Just keep talking to me, please.”

“What about?”

“Anything! Your life, your family - I don’t know, house prices, I don’t care - but that accent, ugh -“ Aurora shivered.

“Yours is cute, too,” Tayce smirked.

Aurora looked at her reproachfully. “You’re lying.”

“Yeah, I am.”

It was no use. The air was full of electricity, static around them, and before Tayce knew what was happening, suddenly they were kissing again, this time stone-cold sober, while the onions burned shadows into the bottom of the pan.

——

Viv gave her notice on the flat at the start of June.

“I just can’t afford to live here anymore,” she explained, sighing, when she got back and started to pack up everything in her room. “I’m gonna see if I can get some work back home.”

Tayce was numb, although she knew Viv didn’t mean it personally. It wasn’t her fault that she’d been made redundant straight after the lockdown ended, and it made sense that she wanted to be near her family. It was now four months since Tayce had seen hers, and she missed them every day, although she had been sticking religiously to her new routine of calling her parents every Saturday night and her brother’s family every Sunday afternoon.

“I’m sorry that’s putting you in a tight spot, Tayce,” Viv muttered, hugging her, and Tayce hugged her back.

“Can’t be helped,” Tayce replied, which was all she could think to respond with that wasn’t an inarticulate growl in frustration.

Viv was adamant she would pay her final month’s rent, and pay her half the utilities even though she wasn’t there. But she had to go home.

“How was your move?” Tayce asked Ellie on the next group call on zoom.

“Shite,” Ellie replied, “but partly because we struggled finding someone to move us. There’s plenty of places around, plenty of places to rent and stuff, because everyone’s moved back to where they came from.”

“You’ll find somewhere else to live, bab,” Ginny murmured in a soothing voice to Tayce, stroking the side of the laptop screen as she liked to do to show affection now that she couldn’t hug anyone.

“I know,” Tayce sighed. “It’s just a pain in the arse.”

She wasted no time. One of the spare room websites was always open in the background, and she was refreshing, looking maybe a little further out from central London to see if anywhere was cheaper, but nowhere was.

Then she spotted the dot in her own block of flats, and clicked the advert.

That’s - that’s Aurora’s flat.

Now she remembered. Aurora had mentioned something about her housemate moving out! It must now be official.

She read through the advert - how was it £50 cheaper than what she was already paying? - and looked at the contact name for the housemate, and there it was in black and white pixels: Aurora Martin, use form below.

Grabbing a piece of notebook paper - one of the last bits left, she’d been ripping them all out to write to Aurora - she penned a letter, one of what might well be the last ones, and jogged upstairs to post it through her letterbox.

The response came back to her in less than an hour, a new record for Aurora.

‘Tayce! I’d love it if you wanted to move in here! OMG. My landlord will want references from yours, but if you can get them quick then he can approve you really fast, he’s working from home. OMG you made my day. Come up at 7pm xx’

“Work contacted me today too,” Aurora beamed as she settled with Tayce on the sofa. “They want me to start back next week! Can’t wait. Need to get that coin again now! I mean, I’m dead grateful, you know, that I still have my job and I was on furlough so the government paid most of my wages, but it will be nice to have the full package again!”

“What is it you do again?” Tayce asked.

“Oh - I work as a fashion buyer. But because fashion’s kind of stopped right now, most of the designers are shut. Reopening now, especially the ones in mainland Europe! Can’t wait to be on the phone to them all again.”

“Wait. You speak to designers in other countries?”

Aurora nodded. “I speak French and Spanish.”

“You -“ Tayce was dazed. “I didn’t know that!”

“Well why would you? I mean you’ve only known me a couple of months!” Aurora laughed, and leaned back closer to Tayce, her perfume overwhelmingly sweet in the air. “You’re not gonna know everything about me yet, bubble bud.”

“No,” Tayce purred, “but I can’t wait to find out.”

——

By the Monday after the move, early July, Tayce was all set up to go. She’d moved the bed into the corner as she liked it, arranged her books into a rainbow as she liked them, and unfurled the posters she’d been unable to hang in her last flat, mostly punk bands that she liked, Bimini’s band’s poster, and the noticeboard with all the tickets tacked to it of all the gigs she’d been to. The vanity with the mirror that she’d brought from home fitted perfectly next to the window so she could do her makeup with natural light; and it was large enough for her work setup, which was where she was now.

The flat layout was almost identical to the one she’d just left, and the room was the same one - Aurora having the slightly bigger room - but it felt a lot more comforting, knowing she wasn’t alone here any more, knowing she had a little more freedom in decorations, and knowing that the hollow feeling in her chest was starting to slow down for good.

She turned off her work laptop at five as normal, which was when Aurora came in. Tayce pulled her in, giving her a peck on the lips.

“They’re gonna love you, I promise.”

Aurora just made a moan in the back of her throat and put her face in her hands, shrinking away from the vanity.

Tayce turned on her personal laptop, logging into zoom and connecting to the group chat. Her monthly uni call was set to half four today for some reason, and everyone else was already all there.

“Tayce! We wondered where you’d got to!”

It was Veronica’s voice, and Veronica’s face was in the top left. She still looked a little tired, and the shirt she was wearing looked suspiciously like a pyjama top, but she was here with them all, and this was a big step for her.

Tayce beamed at her. “So good to see you!”

“The move went alright then, bab?” Ginny asked.

Tayce nodded. “And there’s someone you should meet.” She pulled Aurora into frame, who still looked uncharacteristically shy for a moment before waving at the people on the screen. “This is Aurora.”

“Aurora!” Tia squeaked. “Like the princess!”

Aurora rolled her eyes. “Yes.”

“So we’ve got Rory and Ronni here together at last!” Lawrence exclaimed, while Veronica gave the camera two fingers.

But Tayce just grinned at her friends on the screen, far apart but together in this strange way. Aurora’s nails dug into her shoulder, still a little nervous, but even that was fading as she got more comfortable.

Aurora had been right - the city was just a lot of bricks in intricate patterns without someone in it that made it a home.

And this just might be becoming one.

#rpdr fanfiction #rpdr uk #tayce #a'whora #taywhora #ginny lemon #lawrence chaney #veronica green #tia kofi #ellie diamond #uk2 #lesbian au #fluff #hurt/comfort #juno #tw covid lockdown #tw mental health mentions #submission

28 notes · View notes

just-some-random-blogger · 6 years ago

Text

The Art Of Deception

TVXQ Shim Changmin (MAX) x Reader (Secret Agenty/Spy AU) Characters: TVXQ Summary: You were both the top spies in your agency on a mission to retrieve some stolen artifacts. But because had Changmin recently came to terms with the fact he was badly crushing on you, things got a little... difficult. Word Count: 1k+ Warnings: violence, cussing, theft, verbal degradation, jealousy, etc.

A/N: LISTEN TO JUST MY TYPE BY THE VAMPS but only if you want to, because it was what inspired this.

GIF IS NOT MINE

M-m-m-m-my...

I smiled and handed the invitation to the guard, who quickly examined the piece of paper and proceeded to let us in. Changmin clenched his jaw tightly when I squeezed the man’s shoulder.

“Was that necessary?“ Changmin mumbled, pressing his lips against my ear.

The smile I had for the man at the entrance dropped when I turned to the man I had my arms linked with.

More than meets the eye, To tell the truth would be a lie, I saw her out on Friday night...

“Yes, I’m trying to play dumb.”

He nearly growled, “You don’t have to when we’re already married.”

I rolled my eyes. “Sure, because only an idiot would marry you.” I spoke adjusting the thin straps of my deep plunging dress. “Besides, I’m a gold digger whose brain mass went to her breasts, stop blowing my cover.”

As we were about to cut into the crowd, it was apparent that a lot of eyes were falling on us, which was probably why Changmin spun in front of me and took either of my shoulders. “Wouldn’t your equally dumb husband at least try to prevent you from flashing?“

“Not when he’s too sleazy to stay faithful.” I bit back, opting to push past him at this point.

Changmin placed his hands on his hips then huffed.

Misunderstood.

I made my way to the living room where a plethora of stolen marble Grecian statues were sprawled all around. It took quite a lot of restraint for me to appear absolutely unfazed by the skill the maestros had on their medium. But I played bimbo as much as I could.

I pulled the front of my skirt up so I could walk better and streaked across the room, only to have my arm be pulled back. I was about to give Changmin a piece of my mind, up until I turned around and saw that it was an entirely different man who looked of Chinese descent. “Are you alone tonight?” he spoke with an apparently thick Chinese accent, and judging by the way he rolled his tongue, he was a native Cantonese speaker.

“For you,” I spoke in his mother tongue, “I am.”

She’s balling for a guy, That cigarette it needs a light, Pluck up the courage and invite her nowhere good...

Changmin held himself back for a second, one second and already a man was all over her. He was ready to scare him off, up until he noticed the guy that went up to her was was on number 3 on their Top 10 Most Wanted List.

One second, and she already attracted a terrorist, rapist, pedophile, smuggler, thief, with a bounty on his head for 4.5 million on the black market. Lucky.

She ran her hands up his arm and rubbed his shoulder, chucking at the feel. Changmin almost scoffed. It was only until she motioned with her hand that he went. She shot Changmin a quick look and rubbed her lower lip with her diamond embellished ring finger, a sign for Changmin to go off and finish their mission while she dealt with the criminal.

I lead the man to the bar and sat him down and called for the bartender to get us both some whiskey on the rocks. We continued our conversation in Cantonese.

“I don’t think I’ve seen you here before,” he drawled with a lopsided smirk.

I playfully rolled my eyes, “My husband never lets me out.”

“With good reason,” he muttered, leaning in close, “if you were up, I’d chain you to my bed and throw away the key.”

I gulped and heaved, leaning in as well, “Would you spank me and pull my hair too?”

The bartender arrived placing the two drinks before us, completely being disregarded by the man in front of me. Big mistake.

I went in and kissed him, sloppily enough that he’ll believe I was actually into it, but clean enough to keep up the facade that I want to keep my makeup intact projected.

Cause I need this more than just a one night stand...

Changmin at this point had knocked out two guards, plus another that happened to walk in on the scene and opened the entrance to the artifact room in this place.

Piece after piece of stolen paintings, armor, weapons, clothing, and jewels. And as much as he’d like to steal them back and bring them to the rightful places in society, he didn’t have time and would easily get caught trying to haul a cape and crown from the Victorian era.

And he wasn’t here for carbon, he was here for collagen, mammoth bones.

Apparently their company SM owed a local science research lab a favor and they did get their hands on mammoth samples, but their truck got raided and now they want them back. Luckily for them, there are serial numbers and GPS’s on everything today so it wasn’t really hard to do, especially not for Changmin and his partner.

Changmin found what he needed in a box that was used for a stand of a Persian scimitar sword. After putting the weapon down and getting the two mammoth tusks, he set everything back and hid the bones in his coat. He doesn’t really need to, and it wont really help, but it’s second nature to him.

And so on his way out though he killed the cameras for approximately ten minutes, which ended a few moments after he made his way to the blind spot, he went into the bathroom nonchalantly and there he met his carrier Yunho who was washing his hands.

“Took you long enough,” the other agent spoke, shaking hands and drying it with a tissue. He then got the brown pouch bag he brought with him, and Changmin moved to place the artifacts inside.

Changmin gave a nod and went to wash his hands.

“I don’t understand how you can stand her kissing someone else, much less a wanted criminal,” Yunho blurted out, making the younger agent tense up. With one look from the reflection of the mirror, Yunho understood that Changmin did not know that this was going on, which explained his next choice of words. “They were at the bar, but they may have moved--”

Changmin stormed out, needing not hear more.

Need that honey when she hold my hand...

After kissing the pig, he and I shared a drink. Thinking it would show his prowess, the felon downed the entire thing and gave me a sharp look. I smirked at him and grabbed him by the collar, “Let’s move this somewhere more private.” I hummed near his lips, smelling the distinct aroma of the drug I put in his breath.

It would only take ten minutes at this point.

He heaved like a rabid dog and I quickly got to my feet, getting him up and out of the room, into a deep hallway filled with both imitations and real paintings made in the Rococo era.

As we made it by the end of the hallway, I heard the man growl from behind me and felt that he was about to move in. I quickly sidestepped away and made him crash into the wall. It was then I placed my hands on his hip and started feeling him upwards to see if he had any weapons hidden in his suit.

The man was foolishly unarmed.

He smirked, “Such a dirty girl,” he grabbed my hair and pulled my head to the side, exposing my neck to him, making me grunt at the action. “What would your husband think if he learned that I touched his slutty little wife?”

I looked at him for a moment, seeing that his eyes where drooping and his breathing was getting heavier. It was only a matter of time before he passed out. I smirked, “He would--” “fucking beat the shit out of the moron that tried to touch her!” a deep voice growled and echoed in the expanse, and the next thing I knew, I was pushed roughly aside and the man who had his hands on me was slung across the room with much force.

I huffed in frustration and ran my hands through my hair.

“MAX!” I called, using the alias he had for this mission in case the man would remember anything, and charged to the two who had escalated into a fist fight. I pulled my skirt up and went behind Changmin, trying to tell him to stop. Underline, trying.

“Max, he’s drunk! Stop!” I called, grabbing his arm, squeezing it.

He wiped my hand away and grabbed the man he had punched a couple of times by the collar. At this point, he lost all consciousness and dripped between the man’s fingers.

I huffed and whisper-yelled to my partner, “I fucking boozed him, moron.”

Changmin at this point, pushed him against the wall, sitting him up before turning to me.

I slapped him, hard. “You imbecile! Why don’t you ever listen to me?! I could’ve-” but the suddenness of his lips on my mouth, shut me up before I could continue. His arms were tightly around me, his chest was firmly pressed against mine, and before I could push him off, he broke away, looking at me with a swollen lip I didn’t realize he had and turned over his shoulder.

“YA! CAN’T A MAN HAVE A FEW MINUTES ALONE WITH HIS WIFE?!” he screamed out what seemed to be all his three young men who appeared to have some drugs with them. With red faces, they scrambled away.

Times like this, they call for true romance...

Changmin pulled way from her and snorted loudly, pulling out his phone.

“Yunho, we caught him. Did you leave yet? Good. We’re coming to you right now.”

After ending the call, he turned to her with knit brows, “Why do you keep doing this to me?”

“Doing what?“

“Drive me insane!” Changmin shouted. “I’m in love with you! You know that... and yet you still--” “I still what?” I yelled back, “I still do what I have to do to get people like him into custody. Then yes! I drive you insane by doing my job.”

“It’s not that you do your job!” he spat, grabbing either of my shoulders. “It’s that you pretend not to see my feelings when you know it’s right there in front of your face!”

But she’s not ready for that.

My breath hitched at his bluntness. I knew that I was doing this. He knew that I knew I was doing this. But hearing him say it like this upfront... made my chest clench.

I was struck speechless for a moment, but when I finally found something to say, Changmin turned away and nodded his head in disapproval, “You know what, forget it. Let’s just get this guy out of here.”

18 notes · View notes

kittae · 7 years ago

Text

Bal Masqué (M)

Pairing: Jimin x reader

Genre: Smut, vampire!au, fantasy, elements inspired by True Blood

Word count: 5438

Warnings: mentions of blood, graphic sexual descriptions, mentions of Jungkook and Taehyung

A/N: i wasted a lot of time on this shitty header, but i hope you’ll still enjoy reading this because i enjoyed the hell out of writing it! unedited so please excuse any mistakes for now!

MASTERLIST

→ Halloween prompts masterlist

→ Halloween prompts WIPs

It was the most excessive thing you had ever witnessed in your entire life, there was no doubt about that. The decadent ballroom was astonishing in itself with its rococo interior, marble floors and staircases leading to balconies with velvet curtains that could be closed for anyone with money who needed some privacy if the party didn’t offer enough excitement on its own. In every corner there were clattering fountains, more champagne than water, and butlers standing to your disposal whether you were in need of a luxurious mask in case you hadn’t brought one, or a fix of something more...stimulating.

Events like these made you feel terribly out of place, making you wonder what a girl who lives in a one bedroom apartment in the back street of a rough neighbourhood was doing between greek statues made flesh in expensive couture ball gowns and diamond embroidered masks. It was ironic, really, how you played a dangerous game with your life to get a taste of the life of the rich and famous and then feel less than a puny ant when you did.

“You look ravishing tonight.” two cool arms curling around your cinched waist and a pair of puffy lips grazing the shell of your ear startled you out of your pondering thoughts. “Mmm, I could just eat you up.”

And your date had finally arrived as well, it seemed.

“I’m sure you could.” you rolled your eyes before turning around in his arms until your chests were firmly pressed together, your bosom threatening to burst out of your already way too tight corset when he added extra pressure by pulling you impossibly closer, making you gasp for air in the process.

“And be sure i would, my little strawberry.” he emphasized the husky words dripping with desire by dipping his head into the crook of your neck to graze his teeth along the skin, a shiver running down your spine and causing him to smirk in satisfaction.

Trying to gain back some composure by clearing your throat, although it may not have been the best idea drawing more attention to that particular part of your body, you made an attempt to appear unaffected when you were clearly, definitely, incredibly affected.

“I like your costume, Jimin. Very original.”

You eyed the perfectly black attire, undoubtedly made of only the finest materials and the most dazzling names stitched on the labels on the inside, the cape in a red and black combo the blonde and most of all sickeningly handsome male in front of you was wearing. It was very obvious which character he was supposed to be, in contrast with you, who looked like his midnight snack at best. And that’s exactly why he picked out the blood red silk dress for you, complete with a set of jewels you didn’t even want to know the value of because you feared you’d throw yourself from the balcony in shock, and the very risqué lingerie you were wearing underneath. It wasn’t only meant to be pretty, oh no. It was fundamentally essential that you could not, would not, take two steps on your ridiculously high heels without feeling like you’d faint and breathing became a luxury much rather than a natural function of the human body.

The corset was laced so tightly it pretty much cut off your blood circulation in one part of your chest, and your veins were almost bursting in another. It made your cheeks and your breasts flush a bright red underneath your skin and left your head in a constant state of haziness, and you knew your companion had chosen your outfit with care and utmost thought.

“Not as much as i like yours…” he purred as his fingers danced across the swell of your breasts, as light as a feather, “and i decided on this costume out of convenience...With you looking like this, how am i supposed to keep my fangs to myself?”

He was right, the annual Halloween Ball was the perfect excuse for not having to hide who he was, which would’ve been difficult considering his fangs tend to just pop out whenever he starts feeling aroused.

“Let me guess, my dress is red so it won’t show when you spill my own blood all over myself?”

“Mmm, i love it when you talk dirty to me, baby,” he chuckled darkly, the deep scarlet of his eyes so captivating you didn’t notice his hand climbing up from your bust to curl its fingers around your throat instead, “but i’d save the pleasantries for later tonight, if i were you, unless you want this to happen right here and now.”

To anyone else, the shade of red covering his irises appeared to be nothing more than just a pair of very high quality colored lenses, but you knew how perfectly real they were. You knew how they could make your mind empty and replace your thoughts with only those Jimin wanted you to have, as easy as cleaning out a box of old and boring toys and filling them with brand new ones. You were aware of the power he had over you, how he could rob you of your sanity with a whisper and make you forget your own name, should you stare into those sanguine orbs for a second too long. Most of all, you would never forget the way they would bleed into blackness right before he would bare his sharp teeth to sink them into your paper thin skin and feast on your blood, which he solemnly swears is the best he’d ever tasted in his roughly one thousand years of roaming this earth. You decided to take it as a compliment.

“Now, you look like you could use a refreshment,’ he mused, “i can hear you swallowing every five seconds and i’m afraid this night will be a short one if you keep that going.”

Upon hearing his words, you only then realized the texture of your throat was close to that of sandpaper and your mouth went dry from taking deep gulps of air at a time in an attempt not to faint in the first hour you’ve been attending the party. A cool drink did sound really good.

When you got to the bar, you thought it might as well have been a very fancy liquor store. There was just so much alcohol. So much. Many of the bottles on the shelves you had never seen, names you had never heard of. All those colours...It was enthralling. You would’ve stood there slack-jawed for much longer if Jimin hadn’t closed your mouth by tapping your chin with his finger.

“What do you want, babe? Don’t drink those melon shots again though, i don’t like what it does with the taste of your blood. It’s a bad comb-”

“Jiminie? I thought it was you!” a foreign, baritone voice suddenly sounded from behind you.

You would’ve laughed at the way Jimin’s eyes almost bugged out of his sockets if it wasn’t for the sheer look of panic washing over his face, his features darkening dangerously for only a split second before he slowly turned around to meet the face that belonged to the voice, with a perfectly bright smile plastered on his plush lips.

“Taehyung! Didn’t expect to see you here tonight!” Jimin greeted the taller man enthusiastically, his voice loud and a pitch you’d never witnessed before as he slapped the stranger’s shoulder in a familiar manner, and did you hear it wrong or was he giggling?! It was almost comical to you, this side of him you found very amusing since it was so vastly different from the dominant vampire who always wanted to be in control. Interesting.

The stranger was undoubtedly the most gorgeous man you’d ever seen in your entire life and considering you were in the company of Jimin, that meant a lot. He was so tall, his ash hair a perfect example of sexy bed hair with its untrimmed length and messy curls and the clothes he was wearing looked like designer pajamas and a peignoir you could pay five years of your rent with. His face looked like it could’ve been sculpted by ten Michelangelos, and even then it wouldn’t do it any justice. He was just oozing pure luxury and you never knew anyone could look this ostentatious.

“Ah well, you know, you can’t keep running from me, little brother,” Taehyung granted him a boxy smile as he grabbed Jimin’s shoulders to gently shake him back and forth, and your heart took a leap.

Both men suddenly turned their attention to you, their eyes flying to your chest and if you didn’t know any better, you’d guess they were checking out your décolleté. But you did know better, and in that moment you realized that this beautiful man, this Taehyung, was also a creature of the night.

“It’s only been a couple of centuries… and stop calling me your little brother Tae, i’m older than you.”

“For the last time Jimin, human age doesn’t count.” the older vampire rolled with his eyes before they scanned your body from bottom to top until they were staring right into yours, a tiny smirk tugging on his lips when he brought the glass of bourbon on the rocks between them. “Who’s this lovely lady at your side, by the way? Care to introduce me?”

Jimin’s grip around your waist tightened, for as far as you could feel any of it through the suffocating corset, and a low growl quietly erupted from deep inside his chest.

“She’s mine, that’s all you need to know.”

Tae's long earring dangled back and forth when he shook his head with a light-hearted snicker, “Still haven’t lost the possessiveness, I see? You should join a nest, I’ve been saying that for over five hundred years. Loosen up, live a little. Might be good for you, brother.”

“Nests are disgusting. Besides, shouldn't you focus on your own human? You haven't even introduced your newest plaything.” Jimin quipped, tilting his head to look at the shirtless man shyly hiding behind Taehyung.

“Plaything?” Taehyung gasped indignantly, clutching the younger male to his chest in a tight, protective hug, “Kookie and I are in love!”

“Really? You went from telling me to join a nest to saying you’re in love with a human in the span of ten seconds, Taehyung.” Jimin deadpanned before going over his brother’s companion’s form, his eyebrows furrowing in confusion when he eyed the tight black boxer briefs, the separate white collar and black bow tie and...well there wasn’t much other clothing to consider, was there? “Why aren’t you wearing cl- i mean, what is your costume supposed to be...Kookie?”

The dark-haired young man looked flustered, not having expected to be acknowledged or spoken to directly by anyone other than Taehyung, much less his hot brother. You guessed he must be feeling the same way you were. You were just two humans, being dragged along by two ridiculously good-looking vampires at a decadent masquerade halloween ball. You almost felt bad for him for having to walk around such an event half naked, but then you tried to breathe and remembered that, oh yeah, you couldn’t. That damn corset. You’d trade costumes with him in a heartbeat.

“I’m...well...i’m a...a-” he stuttered quietly, cheeks flushed a bright pink as he looked at the ground because Jimin’s gaze got too intense. You’d been there, too.

“He’s a bunny.” Taehyung swooped in matter-of-factly, pointing at the headband with rabbit ears on top of his lover’s head. “Duh.”

“Ohh, like a playboy bunny?” you finally spoke for the first time since Taehyung joined you.

“See! Strawberry shortcake here gets it! You haven’t been walking this earth for over a thousand years to have such poor knowledge of costumes, Jimin. He’s a playboy bunny and i’m Hugh Hefner.”

“You just made that up, didn’t you? Just admit you needed an excuse to go to this party in pajamas and have your Kookie here walk around as naked as possible without having people ask too many questions.”

“Says the one who went as himself with the addition of a tasteless cape and dressed his partner up like his own personal lollipop.” Taehyung countered his brother’s witty remark before turning to you to fleetingly caress your cheek, knowing it would rile Jimin up all the more. “No offense, sweetheart, you make a great sucking stick.”

You wanted to feel offended but he wasn’t exactly wrong, was he? Also, just the way those words sounded in his low, velvet voice was so charming you almost took them as a compliment. Your skin burned where he’d touched you as you witnessed the banter between the two vampire brothers, and judging from the look on Jimin’s face, you could tell this wasn’t the first time this had occurred. How could it be when they’ve known each other for so long?

“Well, if you’ll excuse us, my sucking stick and i are going to dance.” Jimin gently took your hand with a wry smile before bowing curtly to his brother. “It was nice seeing you again, Taehyung. You too Kookie, don’t catch a cold.”

You could only just watch the bunny boy’s face get flushed again as he muttered a quiet “Thank you” under his breath and notice Taehyung wink at you mischievously before Jimin pulled you away and lead you to the enormous dance floor.

He had such a sturdy pace going there, you found it difficult to keep up in your five inch heels as you swerved through the crowd of swirling bodies, masked faces and bellowing gowns when they spun around with the music until he found an empty spot, where he could pull you so close not even a hair would fit in between your bodies.

“Are you upset?” you asked, observing the way his eyebrows frowned in a tense manner, how his lips were tightly pressed together when he ignored your words as he started swaying left and right in circles, having a tight grip on your waist and hand and pulling you along. “Jimin, we’re dracula and his sucking stick, not Fred and Ginger, remember?”

“You’re my bride! Can you not use that ass cactus’ words to describe yourself?”

“I thought it was funny.”

Jimin’s jaw muscle twitched slightly. “Just follow my lead and you’ll be fine.”

Before you even had the time to open your mouth to protest and tell him you didn’t have a single rhythmical bone in your body whatsoever, he quite literally swept you off your feet. Surprisingly enough, the two of you easily flowed in rhythm with the song, a complete orchestra on a huge balcony upstairs providing the magical music the faceless crowd spun and twirled to on the already packed dance floor.

When they set in a seductive tune, you didn’t have to do much. Jimin strung you along in the right direction at the right time, like you were his little puppet. Yet sweat trickled down your spine and your cleavage, the room feeling unbearably hot all of a sudden when it seemed like all the oxygen in the air started to evaporate. With another backwards bow before Jimin pulled you back up against his chest, you felt your breath getting knocked out of your lungs and your head spinning violently, like you were on a carousel.

“Jimin…” you gasped, your eyes rolling back when they started seeing black spots everywhere. Your ribs felt like they were going to break in their cage and your insides squeezed to mush. You couldn’t take it much longer. “Corset...can’t- can’t b-breathe…”

The blonde looked puzzled, as if he didn’t understand what you were trying to say. “What?” “Too ti...tight.” you slurred weakly. “Take it off...now…”

Jimin wildly looked around him, contemplating what to do. When he felt you swaying in his arms, on the verge of fainting, his fingers laced themselves into the tight web of threads on your back and pulled, the material ripping to shreds and freeing your aching lungs from its confines.

“Let’s get you out of here.” he spoke softly as he picked you up, ironically enough, bridal-style to make his way through the crowd of masks.

You were still groggy from the momentary suffocation, your eyelids lazily blinking while taking in your surroundings, degraded to blurry patches and muted sounds. It felt like Jimin was walking up stairs. You didn’t really care, you were glad you could breathe again.

“Honestly woman, who laced you in so impossibly tight? If i had known i’d have done it myself-”

You wanted to remind him of the fact he sent his female secretary, also a vampire, to help you get dressed before the party. She’d been around for a while and told you to just suck it up, quite literally. But just as you parted your lips, Jimin pushed the heavy curtain of a balcony to the side and your eyes fell on something that just rendered you speechless.

You immediately recognized the gorgeous profile as that of Taehyung, whom you’ve met only shortly before, but in between two muscular, naked thighs, belonging to a panting and moaning Kookie. As he laid there, legs spread and chest heaving while his lover’s tongue danced across his sensitive skin, or rather the purple flowers blooming underneath, he let his head fall back on the armrest of the sofa they nestled themselves into, bunny ears askew on his head. It was truly a sinful sight.

When you gasped, whether in surprise or arousal you weren’t sure, Taehyung slowly turned his head towards where Jimin was still holding you by the curtain, as if he only now noticed your presence for the first time. His sharp fangs shimmered when he grinned in the dark of the privacy of the balcony booth, the revelry downstairs only distant background noise.

“Why brother, if you wanted to join, you could’ve just said so.” he purred, stroking the younger male’s bruised up thighs as he spoke and watching the latter shiver in delight, something hard and distinct twitching in his tight boxer briefs. “Hurry though, Kookie’s getting impatient.”

“No, thank you.” Jimin countered through gritted teeth, but not before dipping the words in a coat of distaste.

Taehyung tsked in disapproval, shaking his head. “Always so vanilla. In that case, this booth is occupied, so if you don’t mind?”

You watched him get back to his ministrations like he never got interrupted in the first place and when he licked a long, wet stripe across his Kookie’s clothed erection, Jimin took it as your cue to leave.

He brought you to the last balcony at the end of the hallway, and it felt like he teleported you there in the blink of an eye. In some way, it was true. When he laid you down on the sofa much like the one you saw one seriously fucked out and admittedly really hot young man moaning in ecstasy only a few seconds ago, you still seemed to have trouble breathing even though the corset no longer cut off your air supply.

“Why is your heart racing like that? Shouldn’t it be slower if you only just fainted?” Jimin wondered out loud, his brows furrowing in confusion but quickly raising in surprise when you pulled him down by his collar for a quick and messy kiss.

“Take off my dress.” your whispered words touched his lips, making him subconsciously chase after them.

“Is it still too tight?”

“No.”

There it was. The black of his pupils bleeding into his irises. The sign, the startshot. His lips parted slightly and you could make out the pointy ends of his fangs just a little bit. You recalled how he skimmed his fingers over your breasts to subtly wrap them around your throat instead earlier tonight when he was repeating the gesture in this very moment, where your eyes locked even though his were only a bottomless pit.

“You’re thirsty.” you remarked, knowing all too well the tell-tale signs of surfacing veins branching out underneath his skin from his eyes to his cheekbones.

“Not for blood, i’m not.” he answered, slowly guiding the inflexible fabric of the corset off your bust until the hem grazed your nipples, sensitive and hard from watching the short scene between the two lovers before and the angel of darkness being consumed with lust right now in front of you. Human and vampire. The exact same position you were in.

You let your head fall back with a sigh, willfully exposing your neck to him. “I can see that you are.” your voice thick with want and fingers grazing his slightly unbuttoned shirt at the top of his chest to feel his defined pecs while your own arousal trickled down your thighs.

“Do you take me for a baby vamp, darling?” he mused, a low snicker resonating through his nevertheless burning throat. “I think you underestimate my ability to be ascetic...when i need to be. Making a mess out of you is just so much fun, though.”

All the while he spoke, he skillfully undressed you. The complex draperies had no secrets for his experienced fingers and you silently wondered how many of these dresses he’s had between them, queens and duchesses alike, before they finally disrobed your humble body this very moment.

“I thought we were going to have a drink,” his hands moved from your waist down to your hips when he lowered his lips to your ear, “then dance through at least five songs to get you riled up enough,” he grabbed your thighs and slowly spread them apart, “but that wasn’t necessary, was it? Hm? Someone else already did that for me, didn’t he?”

His fingers swiftly disappeared between your thighs to brush your sex through your matching red lace panties, causing a shiver to run down your spine in delight and impatience, the touch granting momentary satisfaction but so fleeting it only left you wanting more.

“You’re dripping through your pretty panties, baby,” he cooed, putting more pressure on your throbbing clit, but still not giving you the satisfaction of his fingers on your naked skin, let alone inside you. “Did Taehyung do this to my little strawberry? Did you see how good he was making Kookie feel and did you cream your underwear like this as a result?”

You nodded frantically, too light-headed to form words when you felt him slide the fabric to the side to softly graze your lower lips, making you hiss in sensitivity and bucking your hips up to meet his touch.

“Look at you, so eager… You want me to do to you what you saw my brother do to Kookie earlier, yes? Or did you want me to say yes when he asked to join? Have him touch you like this,” he dipped a single finger shallowly inside, resisting the urge to let it get sucked in by your greedy pussy, “Instead of me?”

You were on the verge of tears, so desperate for anything he wanted to give you, recalling the sinful scene of Taehyung sucking bruises into the younger man’s sturdy thighs and a wave of arousal shooting through your core once more.

“P-please, Jimin,” you swallowed thickly, wrapping a leg around his hip and carding a hand through his soft, blonde hair.

“I can see the images in your head,” he murmured, nipping at the skin of your neck before laving his tongue over the faint mark he left behind and simultaneously, finally pushing his finger further until it curled against your walls. “He really left an impression, didn’t he?”

You wanted to deny it, the slight bitterness in his voice not going by unnoticed and you didn’t want to upset him any further. But you couldn’t. You couldn’t make your mind lie even if your lips could, and he saw everything. You wanted Jimin so bad, but you couldn’t get the image of the two gorgeous boys, one nestled in between the other’s legs as he laid there fucked out and begging to be had. You couldn’t help it and whatever may have happened between the two vampire brothers in the past, you felt like you struck a nerve.

“I-I don’t-” you began, breathlessly, but Jimin quickly helped by adding a second digit and making you gasp, your body squirming under his touch while he casually continued to cover your neck in kisses.

“You want to reenact what we saw?” he suddenly proposed, the silken words whispered in your ear striking sparks along your flesh, your temperature rising rapidly from the pleasure inflicted by his fingers languidly moving inside you, “Would you like that, sweetheart? Hm?”

You nodded again, so hard you thought you were going to sprain your neck and Jimin snickered under his breath before he retracted his fingers from within your tight core. You whined at the loss of contact, but the disappointment got soothed when he lowered himself between your legs, kissing his way down your torso until he reached the place you needed his kisses the most. Of course, that would be too easy.

“Remember this?” he grinned, the pearly white of his fangs setting off strongly against the darkness of the isolated balcony and your memory instantly making a connection with the moment Taehyung turned his head to meet the two of you standing there, watching him. Your breath instantly hitched.

Jimin chuckled humorlessly, tightening his grip on the flesh of your thighs before his lips descended there as well. “Yeah, you do. Keep your eyes on me, darling.”

Before you knew what he meant, he started sucking harsh hickeys into your skin, granting you the confusing pleasure and pain you knew his lips could inflict on your flesh and making you throw your head back in bliss. He wouldn’t stop until you were covered in red and purple stains, the only flowers that would bring you joy the ones blossoming underneath your skin. Every time he finished making one bloom, he soothed it with his soft tongue.

“Such a lovely bouquet.” he hummed distractedly, your eyes glued to his face as he inhaled your scent, the scent of your blood surfacing but not quite enough to taste it.

“Jimin, please…” you tried again, irrationally hoping he’d look into your head to know what you wanted, but you knew him better than that. You couldn’t stop watching him as he completely ruined your skin in the best way possible, your desire for him to take you the strongest it’s ever been.

Your only answer was a soft chuckle before his lips left your thighs to go in a more central direction, licking his way up the front of your drenched panties. A high-pitched mewl rolled off your tongue while his circled around your clothed clit, your hips rolling to keep him going, to express your neediness somehow.

“This is where it ended, remember?” Jimin interrupted your moment, the smirk evident in his voice.

“No...No, please, keep going!” you begged, pitifully whining as you tangled your fingers into his blonde strands, tugging just a little because you knew that’s what he liked.

“Hmm? Are you sure? You want me to pick up where he left off?”

You’d honestly already half forgotten about how this was supposed to be a reenactment of what you saw Taehyung do to Kookie, but you knew Jimin was just doing this to mess with you. You knew he could see inside your mind and know Taehyung had already left a long time ago. That’s been his goal all along.

“Yes, yes!” you whimpered impatiently, locking his head in between your thighs and almost smothering him against your aching pussy, making him giggle in delight. You never knew a vampire who was so happy to please. “Please, Jimin...”

“Mmm, you want me to devour your juicy little cunt, don’t you sweetheart?” he asked you softly, his velvety voice compelling you to give him an answer if it wasn’t for his tongue drawing patterns against your lowers lips and his fingers playing with the edge of your panties distracting you. You wouldn’t even know he was talking about such dirty things just going off by how he said them.

“Ye-yes, please.”

It was all you managed to get past your lips before a moan slipped from in between them when Jimin’s wet muscle suddenly found your bare skin, your panties gone in the fraction of a second when he ripped them to shreds. He dove in like he’d been waiting just as eagerly as you have, although he probably had a lot more self-restraint.

He wasted no time in letting his fingers join while his lips closed themselves around your little bundle of nerves, suckling on it as his fingers slid inside to fill you up.

“F-fuck...Jimin…” you panted as you let wave after wave of incredible pleasure wash over you, the particularly hard sucks around your little nub shooting through your nerves like electric shocks and having been so wound up for what seemed to have been eons, you felt yourself getting there embarrassingly fast. He just managed to push all the right buttons, his fingers prodding and stroking at your sweet spot while your swollen clit throbbed inside his mouth as he continued sucking and licking with varying pressure and driving you wild.

“Jimin! I’m-i’m not gonna-gonna be able to-”

As if he knew what you were going to say, that you were getting dangerously close, and he probably did, his lips left your nub with a lewd, wet sucking sound, only to move a few inches to the left to reach your inner thigh to bear his fangs and sink them into your flesh. The sharp sting and sudden, overwhelming pain that followed was the last push you needed to come hard, your arousal covering his fingers still guiding you through your mind-blowing and confusing pain-induced orgasm as your blood started to flow inside his mouth, his soft lips somewhat soothing the painful wounds as they brushed over your skin while he eagerly drank every drop. Your mind was empty save for the image of Jimin feeding himself before you, the blood leaving your body no longer painful but a strange, pleasurable feeling that left your head light and hazy, your chest heaving with the aftermath of an orgasm that knocked the wind out of you.

He didn’t go overboard. He never did, as a vampire of his age and experience should. He only needed a little, and even then it was more for the taste than to nurture himself. You’d expected him to heal you right away and call it a day, but he went straight for your core again.

“Jimin!” you gasped, surprised, when he locked his lips with yours down below and greedily licked up anything you spilled, his tongue dancing over your skin and making sure to clean everything up.

“Dinner and dessert.” he chuckled with a last kiss to your center before he pushed himself up on his elbows to hover over you, making a tiny incision in his index finger by pushing it against the tip of his fang before spreading a little of his blood onto the wounds on your thighs. They closed miraculously quick, your skin healed like nothing had ever happened.

You smiled, satisfied, although you felt spent. Jimin tended to have that effect on you, and you absolutely loved it.

“I hope you’re not too tired, sweetheart.” he purred as he slowly kissed around your chest, sometimes stopping to nip at one of your nipples. “The night is still young… And you know what your blood does to me, don’t you, baby?”

Your eyes widened in realization, and when Jimin rolled his hips between yours for you to feel his painfully hard cock through his pants, you knew this was going to be a long night. For you, and probably Kookie, too.

#jimin smut #bts smut #bts #bts scenarios #jimin scenarios #bts x reader #jimin x reader #vampire!jimin #vampire!bts #vampire!au #bts fanfiction #jimin fanfiction #park jimim #bangtan sonyeondan #bangtan boys

2K notes · View notes

missgulliverinlilliput · 4 years ago

Text

Tropes

Action Girl: Princess Cherie. Leia also qualifies for taking out a frickin’ robot (Of course, she had help, but still.).

Adult Fear: Your only daughter is washed overboard in a storm, and finding her seems uncertain.

Anachronism Stew: Both Lilliput and Blefuscu's inspirations range from the Middle Ages to the early 20th century, and take from both American and foreign cultures; the fact that both islands are isolated from the rest of the world helps to blend the elements together. Below are examples from the different eras:

Most of the Lilliputians dress like they’re from the Colonial or Revolutionary era, while its royals dress in English Georgian clothing. Blefuscu, on the other hand, resembles a sort of steampunk version of the French Rococo era. Meydan and Cherie are exceptions, the prince garbed in a vaguely Byzantine Empire-like outfit, and the princess dressed like a swashbuckling heroine.

Gabby and her father Gil are dressed in Regency era clothing, while her stepmother Luba has a Gibson Girl hairdo. The Twins are both dressed in clothing that seem to be either from the Victorian era or the Edwardian era.

The three spies dress in vaguely ancient Chinese/Arabian garb.

The various machinery in Lilliput, weaponry included, are basically Lilliputian versions of Leonardo Da Vinci’s inventions.

Annoying Arrows: The Blefuscu archers hit Leia's arm with several salvos. They do little but cause her discomfort.

Anti-Villain: Emperor Mordechai Avegai, who is a type 3. While he is the one who technically instigated the war in the first place, it's clear that it's more out of his own short sighted ego and temper, rather than death and destruction for an evil cause. And it's clear after the climax that he does wish it didn't come to that, but he hides it in front of his own men to save face.

Attack of the 50-Foot Whatever: Leia to the Lilliputians, at first anyways. The Steel Titan is a straight example.

Art Shift: Leia and those from the outside world are drawn in a traditional anime style, while the Lilliputians and Blefuscuians are portrayed in a more western-cartoony fashion.

Bag of Kidnapping: When the Blefuscuian spies capture Gabby, they throw a small grain sack over her head, tying the mouth around her waist before carrying her back into their hideout.

Birdcaged: The spies stuff Gabby in such a cage that’s big enough for her to sit in.

Blatant Lies: Gabby tries to impress Leia with highly suspect tales of Gabby's adventures. Leia bemusedly plays along and pretends to be impressed.

Bumbling Dad: Emperor Gue has shades of this.

Cape Swish: Emperor Avegai has a habit of doing this.

Chekhov's Gun: The stolen page from Leia’s magazine.

Colossus Climb: The Lilliputians on Gulliver, and later Cherie and Gabby on the Steel Titan.

Cool Boat: The Swift family’s rented yacht, and the boats seen in the movie itself are nice, too.

Cut the Juice: Gabby pulls the plug on the electro-shock hands of the Steel Titan.

Defiant Captive: See Pity the Kidnapper below.

Disney Death: Princess Cherie, after being flung off of the Steel Titan. Leia sees that she survived, but momentarily keeps it hidden from the warring nations so they can reflect on what their actions had wrought.

Gilligan Cut: The twins attempt to persuade Gabby to take them to Leia.

Gabby: Oh, no. No. Forget it. There's no way I’m showing you that thing! Absolutely no way, and that’s final!

[cut to the three sneaking into the cave where Leia is]

Gender Flip: Gulliver and Gabby are both girls in this version. David and Glory are also replaced by Cherie and Meydan.

Gulliver Tie-Down: Natch for this adaptation.

Hidden Heart of Gold: Avegai is clearly upset that he had such a bad falling out with Gue that it provoked him to declare war, but his pride prompts him to hide his real feelings in front of Elioz, Lioz and Avioz.

Know When to Fold 'Em: A group of Blefuscuian commandos are due to trigger the war on Lilliput, but as soon as they catch sight of Leia, they realize they have no chance of standing up to her, and they flee the area in fear. A non-comedic example also occurs near the end, when Avegai basically calls off the battle when he sees his attempt at killing Leia with the Steel Titan seemingly got his daughter Cherie killed in the process.

Humongous Mecha: The Steel Titan. Of course, this being Lilliput, it is only slightly bigger than Leia.

I'm Okay!: Used when a Lilliputian survives a fall from the awakened Leia. Then he gets squashed under her hand:

Lilliputian: I'm still okay!

Ink-Suit Actor: Probably unintentional, but Gabby’s father is SO Nathan Lane.

Le Parkour: Cherie exercises this skill when scaling the castle to meet with Meydan.

Lilliputians: Of course!

Lovable Coward: Gabby. She'll at least TRY her damnedest when push comes to shove though.

Gue, to an extent. Whenever his subjects are at stake, he'll step up despite his fear.

Masculine Girl, Feminine Boy: Princess Cherie and Prince Meydan.

Mass "Oh, Crap!": The Lilliputians when Leia awakens and breaks free from her ropes, as well as the Blefuscuians when they first see her.

Once for Yes, Twice for No: The number of times the alarm bell is rung indicates the nature of the emergency. Five rings of the bell indicates that something is going on that has never happened before.

Over-the-Shoulder Carry: Lioz carries a struggling and screaming Gabby like this after the spies throw a sack over her upper torso.

Pity the Kidnapper: When Gabby gets captured by Avegai’s spies, her response is to verbally and physically thrash them and in general going out of her way to make damn sure that they are having just as much of a bad time as she is, even when she’s stuffed in a small cage. By the time they see Leia coming to save her, Lioz remarks:

Lioz: Well, this is the part where we give our hostage up.

Prevent the War: The kingdoms of Lilliput and Blefuscu are on a path to war. Leia must find a way to stop the war before it destroys both countries.

Setting Update

Take That!: A truly spectacular shot towards the Fleischer film, with this film’s genderflipped version of Gabby singing "All’s Well".

"The Reason You Suck" Speech: Given by Leia to the dueling kingdoms after Cherie is apparently killed.

Roofhopping: Cherie engages in this as she breaks into the castle to meet Meydan.

Royals Who Actually Do Something: Emperor Gue, despite not being as strong as Emperor Avegai and acting humble, still has enough determination to protect his kingdom by going to battle with a sword in hand.

Retraux: Much of the movie's style harkens back to classic animated films. Gabby herself is drawn to resemble old timey cartoon characters, with squash-and-stretch and bouncy movements.

Scenery Porn: The background and layout work are very well done.

Screw This, I'm Outta Here!: The Blefuscuians when they first see Leia.

Shaming the Mob: Leia in the film's ending. She sees early on that Cherie has survived but she still lets them think that she died in order to show them the consequences of war and give them above mentioned "The Reason You Suck" Speech where she calls them out on their pettiness and their readiness to fight.

Silly Reason for War: Just like in the original, Avegai declares war on Gue over which end of an egg should be broken. When Cherie and Meydan tell Leia what's going on, she notes with irony how ridiculous the whole quarrel is.

Star-Crossed Lovers: Cherie and Meydan.

Terrible Trio: Avegai's spies, Elioz, Lioz and Avioz respectively.

This Means War!: What the offscreen argument between Gue and Avegai literally amounts to.

Wall Crawl: Cherie when climbing the side of the palace to see Meydan.

0 notes

derrickperegrine · 7 years ago

Note

congrats reb !!!!!!!!!! u go,, i'm so happee for you bc your noyfaw is, like, my fave ! (and this celebration is so original ?? just like your last??? teach me????) ok, um, i think i would be 🌹 & could i have a 📕 pls. ily.

oK lmao your celebration showed up on my dash again—and i’m a literally dumbass ho who forgot to tell you about me for the personal aes thing so: i rlly like quidditch !!!!! and, honestly, i’d be great at potions bc i mix slime like it’s My Damn Job. i love creatures (i could be newt ngl) & uh, i love reading ! sorry i’m so weird,,,,,, and i forgot,,,, but yeah, y'know

lyra thank you so much!!!!!! you’re too kind 💗💗💗 tbh if you ever want to see a particular character or type of poc in noyfaw, you’re always welcome to request some!!!!

and @ the second ask don’t worry about it haha ✨

best classes:

magical theory of reactions: although the bare bones of this course came out of an advanced theory of potions and alchemy class, it has expanded to include the magic of any amount of forces meeting together and the reactions that their cooperation engenders – such as, what would occur should you combine a sobering charm into felix felicis; would you come up with a side-effect free luck potion? that’s for you to find out

the linguistics of sentient magical creatures: the wordplay and science behind communicating to magical creatures in their native tongues

magic painting: this is self explanatory, but i think you would have a cool style in which you have a classic baroque/rococo composition, and then you’ll overlay some mad basquiat shit over it and make it!! fucking revolutionary ghkdfjlsg i love your edits can you tell

worst classes:

flower divination: an obscure class that centers around counting petals to determine the outcome of a yes/no question. each type of question requires a special type of flower, and how you pluck the flower reveals an answer you weren’t looking for

the gentle art of nonsense: think of this as magical dadaism. the theory is that, if you reject the accepted structures and limitations of magic, you will be able to find a different sort of magic that exists between two styles, two subjects, two laws. it is an interesting concept, but not many can master this capricious branch of magic – often its best practitioners are a little mad …

elective courses:

pegasus flying: equestrian sports, but in the air

advanced alchemy: this one is self explanatory! had to give it to you though! also, nicholas flamel is an alumnus of beauxbatons too :)

extracurricular activities:

quidditch: this is self explanatory

alchemist’s apprentice: shadowing a professional alchemist. an immersive experience that will grant you access to the library of a celebrated alchemist, and participation in important experiments across the continent

additional duties:

student librarian: this is self explanatory

mural/painting conservator: this is self explanatory

favourite haunts:

the wishing well: a beautiful fountain located in the centre of the beauxbatons maze. carved out of pure white marble, it gracefully depicts various scenes in french magical history in a classic rococo style. they say, if you throw a gold coin into it, it will grant you special skill in charms. however, just sitting next to it and listening to the water gurgling is nice when one is reading or writing eassays

the fields behind the gardens: if you walk far enough, the legendary beauxbatons garden gives way to a beautiful meadow, typical of southern france. it’s a beautiful place to relax, but you can also find magical creatures hiding in the tall grass. there is also a flower field where you can find useful ingredients for potions

pet: peregrine falconshort drabble:

laughter rings in your ear like the tinkling of silver as you run through the great halls of the beauxbatons chateau. the silk of your uniform feels like freedom against your person, and the air around you seems to sparkle with the potential of magic.

although the chateau doesn’t look like much from the outside, inside of it is a maze of rooms and corridors, and it seems like beyond every corner there’s a surprise waiting for you. there’s always some precise, strange art practiced in this corner; and then if you walk down that hallway, you’ll hear some students singing some muggle song, giggling together; and then, if you wander past that hall … you feel like you’re lost in time, a traveller abandoned by their own present, left to roam with the ghosts of magic within this school.

it’s mysterious in a precise sort of way, very delicate but never predictable. you’re delighted to always find the most cutting-edge magic at the tip of your wand, adventure at the tip of your fingers, a song at the tip of your tongue. in a way, beauxbatons is almost like a magical creature, with its own obscure systems and functions, and it seems to live and breathe and change, and even after these years you still can’t figure it completely out. you wonder if you really want to.

as you sit on a balcony and let your legs dangle through the railing, you close your eyes and let the enigma of beauxbatons wash over you. a puzzle that’s always a step ahead of you, the teasing smile of a friend who’s always leading you somewhere unknown. you smile back. and you open your eyes to the sculptured beauty before you. beauxbatons isn’t simply magic – it’s what magic ought to be.

song: le bonheur by archimède

reb celebrates 750

#userlyra #not a hogwarts student #🌹#owl post #answered #soRRY THIS IS SO LONG #aLSO PEOPLE DOn'T EXPECT THIS BUT #hi i actually like french pop a loT i hope you enjoy this song it's from one of my favourite bands haha

8 notes · View notes

jonasjjackson · 7 years ago

Text

Spring Cleaning: A Laundry Room Makeover

Jen Woodhouse of House of Wood surprises her parents with a beautiful laundry room makeover just in time for Spring! See what products went into re-creating his parent’s space below.

Spring Cleaning: A Laundry Room Makeover

Spring is officially here which means it’s Spring cleaning time! What better room to get started in, than in the laundry room? It’s literally the only space in the house dedicated solely to cleaning. Here, in this magical cleaning room, can you believe we have shiny machines that faithfully clean all the things at the push of a button?! Oh, yes.

We are serial renters (Army life!), so when The Home Depot asked me to makeover a laundry room, I knew the perfect place. My parents have wanted to update their laundry room for years now, so we were thrilled to partner with them on this laundry room makeover. I flew from Texas to my parents’ house in Nashville to complete this laundry room makeover over Spring Break and we finished it in under a week! It was so much fun – The Home Depot made the entire process so easy – they are our one-stop shop for all things Spring cleaning.

Let’s start with a few good ‘before’ photos, just so you can see where we started. Are you ready for this?

Womp, womp. Nothing to see here, folks. Move along, move along.

Does this space inspire you to clean? It sure doesn’t do it for me – and I need all the motivation I can get when it comes to cleaning.

I’m not sure why the home builder decided to place the dryer exhaust on the left and the water lines on the right. I think it makes more sense to work from left to right. Washer on the left, dryer on the right – am I right?! Perhaps, it was a design choice.

Another interesting design choice was how the water lines and the power outlet are placed on the wall: how poetic! I mean, look at them – they’re not even at the same level. (Am I the only one who gets annoyed by these things?)

Because I planned on adding a countertop over the washer and dryer, we had a plumber and an electrician move the water lines and power outlet down so that they wouldn’t interrupt the countertop lines. Then, we patched up the drywall.

Okay, so now that the nit-picky stuff is taken care of, let’s get started on this laundry room makeover. You’ll see how a few small upgrades, like cabinets and countertops, can make a world of difference.

These Hampton Bay Shaker cabinets in Dove Gray add so much functionality and storage to the room! We ordered them from HomeDepot.com and good news: because they’re in-stock, they’re delivered in 3 days or less! They came preassembled – we just had to hang them up on the wall.

Hanging wall cabinets may seem intimidating, but it’s easier than you think! First, you’ll want to remove the doors from the cabinets. Simply unscrew the hinges and doors and set them aside. Next, use a stud finder to locate the studs in the wall. The cabinets will be screwed to the studs in the wall with 2 ½-inch wood screws.

To make this job much easier, use a ledger board – a scrap 2×4 board that you’ll put in place temporarily to act as a ledge for the cabinets to rest on while you attach them to the wall. Determine how high you want the cabinets to be, then screw the ledger board to the wall studs. Make sure this board is level. Then, lift the cabinet carcass up on the wall, rest it on the ledger board, and screw the cabinets to the studs in the wall. Replace the doors and install the cabinet pulls. After the cabinets are hung, remove the ledger board, spackle any holes in the wall, and repaint. Simple, right?

We chose these beautiful cabinet pulls by Amerock in Gunmetal. Aren’t they gorgeous?

Now that we have the cabinets hung, it’s time to install the countertop. The Home Depot called on one of their local Nashville vendors, Stone World TN, to fabricate and install the countertop. The entire process was incredibly easy from start to finish – the folks at Stone World were prompt, communicative, and friendly.

We chose a beautiful marble-looking quartz countertop called Viatera Rococo. First, I determined the height of the countertop – it had to be tall enough so that the washer and dryer could fit underneath, allowing for a couple of inches clearance. Then I screwed 2×4 cleats to the studs in the wall and checked for level.

The counter will rest on these 2×4 cleats. I also built a base carcass out of ¾-inch plywood to help support the weight of the countertop. Then on installation day, the guys from Stone World simply laid the countertop into place and sealed the joints with silicone.

We chose a full ¼ round edge profile, to match the existing counters in my parents’ house. I just can’t get over how gorgeous this countertop is! Thank you Stone World TN!

Now, let’s get our Spring cleaning game on!

My mom loves a clean house, so when it comes to cleaning and disinfecting all of the hard surfaces in their home, Clorox Clean-Up Cleaner Spray is our go-to product.

For those hard-to-remove stains, we use Shout Trigger Stain Remover to pre-treat fabrics before throwing them in the washer. I should be a grass-stain-remover pro by now – I’m pretty sure I get more than my share. #boymom

Of course, Tide HE Liquid Detergent and Downy Fabric Softener are a staple in both of our homes. This liquid detergent is made for high efficiency machines.

Downy makes our towels so fluffy and soft. And they smell so good too.

We got this GE High-Efficiency Front Load Washing Machine and GE Electric Front Load Dryer from The Home Depot.

Yes, please! Give me ALL THE OPTIONS! I’m a bit of a germa-phobe, so I absolutely love the ‘sanitize’ setting. So does my mom. She’s a clean freak. Maybe it’s hereditary?

My sister drove into town for the weekend to join in on the fun. It’s a family affair! I asked her to be my hand model and this is what she gave me:

Hilarious. She gave me a few other hand-model poses, but I can’t post those publicly.

The dryer is no less impressive. All of the different settings make me feel so fancy. I especially love the ‘steam refresh’ and ‘steam de-wrinkle’ features. If you’re like me, you may forget about those clean clothes in the dryer for days at a time. This setting will help you pretend that you have your act together and you make smart life decisions.

Yay, you! You are a rock star.

This handy little ClosetMaid wire bin is great for organizing. After all the laundry is folded, I can separate it into different bins, then take the bins to their respective owners. Work smarter, not harder, right?

On second thought, it would be smarter for my family members to do their own dang laundry. #iquit

Moving on.

This Swiffer duster is great for dusting plantation shutters and blinds. The dust is magically drawn to the duster, like a moth to a flame. The extender arm helps with hard-to-reach areas. This works great for dusting ceiling fan blades too!

I love that this Decorative Wire Chrome Heavy Duty Shelving Unit offers additional storage space. These decorative plastic storage baskets and Sterilite 64-Qt. Latching Storage Boxes make everything look neat and tidy.

My dad loves his new Dyson V7 Cordless Stick Vacuum Cleaner. It makes clean-up a breeze. I want one for my own house now! Sadly, it won’t fit in my carry-on. (I tried.)

My mom uses these Sterilite Latching Storage Totes to store extra linens and blankets. We love that they’re clear so we can easily see what’s inside.

The Home Depot made it super easy to plan, shop for, and complete this laundry room makeover in under a week. My parents absolutely LOVE their new laundry room and I love that I got to spend my Spring Break improving an otherwise neglected space in their home. Thank you Home Depot!

Click here to shop the items you’ll need to complete your garage makeover like Jen Woodhouse from House of Wood.

The post Spring Cleaning: A Laundry Room Makeover appeared first on The Home Depot Blog.

from Home http://blog.homedepot.com/spring-cleaning-a-laundry-room-makeover/ via http://www.rssmix.com/

#construction

0 notes

dnodes18 · 7 years ago

Photo

Spring Cleaning: A Laundry Room Makeover https://ift.tt/2qaqd2L

Jen Woodhouse of House of Wood surprises her parents with a beautiful laundry room makeover just in time for Spring! See what products went into re-creating his parent’s space below.

Spring Cleaning: A Laundry Room Makeover

Let’s start with a few good ‘before’ photos, just so you can see where we started. Are you ready for this?

Womp, womp. Nothing to see here, folks. Move along, move along.

Does this space inspire you to clean? It sure doesn’t do it for me – and I need all the motivation I can get when it comes to cleaning.

We chose these beautiful cabinet pulls by Amerock in Gunmetal. Aren’t they gorgeous?

We chose a full ¼ round edge profile, to match the existing counters in my parents’ house. I just can’t get over how gorgeous this countertop is! Thank you Stone World TN!

Now, let’s get our Spring cleaning game on!

My mom loves a clean house, so when it comes to cleaning and disinfecting all of the hard surfaces in their home, Clorox Clean-Up Cleaner Spray is our go-to product.

Of course, Tide HE Liquid Detergent and Downy Fabric Softener are a staple in both of our homes. This liquid detergent is made for high efficiency machines.

Downy makes our towels so fluffy and soft. And they smell so good too.

We got this GE High-Efficiency Front Load Washing Machine and GE Electric Front Load Dryer from The Home Depot.

Yes, please! Give me ALL THE OPTIONS! I’m a bit of a germa-phobe, so I absolutely love the ‘sanitize’ setting. So does my mom. She’s a clean freak. Maybe it’s hereditary?

My sister drove into town for the weekend to join in on the fun. It’s a family affair! I asked her to be my hand model and this is what she gave me:

Hilarious. She gave me a few other hand-model poses, but I can’t post those publicly.

Yay, you! You are a rock star.

On second thought, it would be smarter for my family members to do their own dang laundry. #iquit

Moving on.

My dad loves his new Dyson V7 Cordless Stick Vacuum Cleaner. It makes clean-up a breeze. I want one for my own house now! Sadly, it won’t fit in my carry-on. (I tried.)

My mom uses these Sterilite Latching Storage Totes to store extra linens and blankets. We love that they’re clear so we can easily see what’s inside.

Click here to shop the items you’ll need to complete your garage makeover like Jen Woodhouse from House of Wood.

The post Spring Cleaning: A Laundry Room Makeover appeared first on The Home Depot Blog.

Jen Woodhouse

#The Home Depot Blog

0 notes

tipstosellhomefast · 7 years ago

Text

New Post has been published on Homes Below Market | Homes For Sale Dallas TX Area

New Post has been published on http://foreclosures-dallas-texas.com/10-ways-to-purchase-the-wrong-bathroom-vanity/

10 Ways to Purchase the Wrong Bathroom Vanity

The bathroom vanity is the sink-cabinet-mirror combination. It’s the showpiece of your bathroom. Here are ten things to avoid when choosing a vanity…you might be surprised. You are redoing your bathroom and there are a zillion details. After getting lost in the practicalities, you stop for break. Something catches your attention. You take a careful look at the new mirror you’ve just installed. You notice that you’re looking straight at…your chin. You wonder if they delivered the wrong size. Then you remember that you were sitting in a chair at the showroom when you decided that this was your dream come true. Why didn’t you think to check if you could use it as well standing up? Choosing the Floor Model’s Sizing. Many, maybe most people choose style and design without considering height. Height is often a more important element of the vanity for daily use. The common 30 inch size bathroom counter is just not optimum for people over 63 inches tall. However, vanity size is not at all standard. Some floor models are even lower than the usual 30 inches which might be ignored in the quest for the perfect design. Such a decision means you may end up having to bend down to wash your hands. This is only poor planning and completely avoidable. Just remember that the height of the sinks, mirrors and cabinets should be customized to their users, according to their actual size. Not that they have to be custom made. Customized only means chosen to fit the bathroom at a user friendly height. If it takes going to 6 stores to browse, do it. Drive the salespeople crazy with your questions. If what you want is not there, ask to see more. If you can’t find a vanity according to your proportions, don’t give up. Even kitchen cabinets might provide workable alternatives if bathroom cabinet selection is limited. And don’t be afraid to improvise. For instance, if you are a tall family and the style you love only comes in 33-inch size, create simple inexpensive solutions, such as installing 2 or 3 inch glass bricks under the cabinets to add height. One designer suggests wiring in fluorescent lighting behind the glass bricks for an extra special finish. The same lesson can be applied to shower doors, spigots, towel racks, tubs, etc… Decide if you need taller, shorter, wider, or longer. Remember also that two heights are better than one if you have the space to accommodate users of different proportions. Buying For Looks Not Function. You’re a guest at a friend’s house in the Pocono’s for the weekend. You’re in the bathroom and you need a towel. You check to see if a fresh towel is in the cabinet and… Oh no! The cabinet handle comes off in your hand! The cabinet door didn’t open because it’s not there. It’s an imitation cabinet just for show, hiding the plumbing. While standing there holding the handle in your hand along with some of the veneer board it was screwed into, you look at the stylish row of drawer handles. Maybe one opens all or maybe none open at all. You’re afraid to guess. Isn’t there some kind of truth-in-labeling rule that applies even in the bathroom? This type of cabinet is an economy choice and is often used in industrial settings such as hotels and office buildings. Its dubious charm has become passe;. However, the style is still frequently seen in trade journals and must have a market somewhere. If you are going to the expense and bother to replace your bathroom sinks and cabinets, choose a vanity that has storage space, not just a plumbing camouflage. If you really don’t want cabinets, put in a pedestal sink or a wall hung sink. The general rule is don’t try to fake it. It could be embarrassing. Settling For Less. Maybe you want a stone counter over your vanity instead of the traditional laminate finish but you don’t have the extra money for stone? Install it yourself using the best local home improvement store to take you through the steps. They love to help, so use their expertise. This way you will get the counter you want at a price you can afford. There is always a creative solution to most bathroom design problems. Don’t settle for less. Forgetting to Customize to Floor Plan. There are only a few standard bathroom shapes. Each type accommodates different styles. Corridor shaped bathrooms look best with all the fixtures on one wall. The L-shaped bathroom is designed for a discreet place for the toilet with the roomiest area reserved for the bath and vanity. The U-shaped bathroom is the most spacious and can fit extra large or customized fixtures in a choice of locations. There are also other sizes such as small rooms converted to extra large bathrooms. Such a space takes as much extra planning and design as the space needs. Don’t just throw in the same fixtures you might use for the standard spaces. Large round or double kidney shaped counters look nice in large bathrooms but are definitely not appropriate for the corridor or L shaped plans. Losing Out on Details. Most of us want to make the most of our bathroom space, and hate to feel like a bull in a china closet. Detailing can make the difference. Suppose you have a tiny corner bathroom that you added to your Victorian gingerbread house by eliminating the closet under the eaves. You still want a vanity but the roof slant really limits you space. Create a sweet bathroom which maximizes the confines of the space by installing a giant mirror along the long tall wall at an appropriate angle, i.e. not facing the toilet, over a small colorful sink. Add elaborate rococo corners to the mirror for definition. Corners are much less expensive then frames. Add a narrow cabinet under the sink, or wire wall units or carve a cabinet into the wall itself to save space. Toothbrush holders and soap holders can also be carved out of the wall. The facing of the cabinet should be in a paintable surface for remodeling ease. Paint the walls white for a feeling of space but if you need color, paint just the ceiling. The large size mirror together with the small sink fools the eye and actually creates the illusion of space. Remodeling such a bathroom is inexpensive as well. Just change the mirror corners, the cabinet facing, the ceiling or border paint, and, if you have extra money, the color of the sink. Buy a white toilet because it goes with everything. Tenacious attention to detail makes the difference in solving complicated design problems. Using the Wrong Lighting. Lighting your bathroom is one aspect of design that really needs a thoughtful and creative touch. You’ve decided on a lavender bathroom off the master bedroom. It’s finished and everything looks fabulous. The extra large lavender tub, the lavender toilet, the lavender sink are even nicer than you imagined. The hand painted border around the ceiling is really elegant as well. You’ve ordered fluorescents for the ceiling and hand-blown sconces in the same lavender shade around the vanity. You are very pleased. You switch on the sconces and look in the mirror. Oh no… Your skin has taken on a brownish purple hue; you look again. You’re sure you’re not sick. Horrors! It’s the lights! Be very careful with your lighting. In general it is best not to use colored lighting in the bathroom. Think to enhance and soften. There are so many options available to give personality to your bathroom and the choices in style and material are endless. Choose carefully with an eye on ease of maintenance and upkeep. Remember that the cheapest fixtures are often the most difficult to maintain. Under Budgeting. A vanity is an expensive bathroom fixture. Expect to pay 600 dollars for a good quality counter top, sink, and faucet. Add to this the cost of your cabinets underneath, which depending on size, materials and customization, could easily cost more plus installation. Don’t put your whole budget into other fixtures of the bathroom without saving some for the vanity. It is the focal point of the bathroom and a cheap one will reflect the same. Even if you can’t afford anything else, a new vanity will spruce up an entire bathroom. Make sure to match it to any preexisting fixtures you decide to keep. Awkward Door Swing. Because bathrooms require special attention to detail, don’t neglect the amount of space you need to open and close your vanity cabinet doors. Make sure they can even open at all. Provide at least 30 inches in front of the sink for an average person to get down on the floor and into the cabinets. Keep the toilet at least 14 inches away from the cabinet sides to accommodate door swing. More if you have extra wide doors. If the vanity is installed along a wall near the bathroom door, make sure the door swings away from the sink. A little planning with a tape measure and some thought avoids this nuisance and saves your cabinet doors from unnecessary wear and tear. Faulty Installation. You’ve picked the perfect vanity with beautiful cabinets for the main bathroom in your 8 bedroom Victorian built in 1863. It’s ordered and delivered and the contractor is scratching his head. It’s not designed for the “wet wall” which is the location of the original plumbing. Extending piping around the inside of walls is not a minor consideration and the cost could outweigh the convenience. Better to coordinate the sink and vanity fixtures with the rough plumbing. Especially in an older home, where plumbing is always an expensive and tricky business and could even be a recipe for disaster. Try to finesse your exquisite taste around the plumbing that’s already there. Of Course It Fits! Remember to be exact in measurement and to coordinate everything on paper. You don’t want to redesign things in the middle of installation. For instance, be careful to pick the right size sink to match your cabinet, especially if the cabinets are already built-in. Our consultant master carpenter advises that many unexpected costs in installation can be avoided by taking the drafting stage seriously. Finally, don’t wait to find out if your vanity cabinet can actually be put in its place. Measure the path, especially the bathroom door. Your installer may not be prepared or even able to disassemble and rebuild the vanity quickly to get it in place. Our advisor had to laugh remembering how often people measure the bedroom door but not the bathroom door. “It happens all the time,” he chuckled.

0 notes