#ah public buses

[linksthoughtbrambles]

The Unexpected Benefits of Late Weather Warnings

A gift for @pastelsandpining for Midna's Merry Mixup! (Zelink, modern AU, Rated T, 13K words, also here on ao3. What might have been the worst public transportation experience of Zelda's life became the best bus ride ever). Note: Read "eyeSlate" as cool Sheikah eye followed by the word Slate, please!

Zelda grimaced at the message blinking between red triangles on her eyeSlate.

⚠ Warning! ⚠

⚠ Hazardous weather conditions! ⚠

“Hazardous, indeed,” she muttered to herself, swiping a few snowflakes from the screen, shutting it off, and stowing the slate in her coat pocket. She winced—she’d done it again. She’d resolved not to talk to herself so much. Her students had noticed her talking to the rubidium atoms cooling in the magneto-optical trap, and while she appreciated them having a little fear of her, she preferred it to be for the right reasons, and not because they believed her on the verge of madness.

She wasn’t mad. She simply wished her experiments to proceed as planned.

In fact, she generally preferred things to proceed as planned whether they were experiments or not, and tonight, her plan was to be social (which she’d also resolved to do, partially to assist with her other resolution—after all, if she spoke to other people more, perhaps she’d speak to herself—and rubidium atoms—a little less). She’d therefore agreed to attend Purah’s solstice celebration tonight, and she had no intention of reconsidering over the most recent in a long string of weather warnings regarding unremarkable winter weather.

The temperature is significantly below freezing? ⚠ Warning! ⚠

A few inches of snow? ⚠ Warning! ⚠

The occasional puddle-turned-ice on the ground? ⚠ Warning!!! ⚠

A flea sneezed, creating a slight, chilly breeze? ⚠ AJFDSA;JFDA SHUT DOWN EVERYTHING!!!! ⚠

“They’ll be locking us all indoors next, until the equinox arrives,” she muttered as the market’s doors slid open to admit her. Then she cringed. “I’ve done it again- ah!”

A scruffy-white-bearded shopper on his way out gave her a look which certainly qualified as wary, and Zelda attempted to dismantle her unreasonably annoyed pose and expression before anyone else decided she was mad.

And yes, she was being a bit unreasonable. The slate had warned her to stay home occasionally rather than struggle through snow to her lab on off-days. But she’d left work already, already traveled over half an hour to this particular market which stocked alcohol and had an excellent bakery, and it wasn’t as though she would remain here all night in fear of the possibility of snow.

Her heart sank again when she recalled she’d miss seeing the handsome new man on the bus. She reached for a box full of gorgeous-looking mixed butter cookies, thinking if she truly meant to speak to people more, she should finally take the plunge. She’d been trying not to stare at him for months. She ought to do him the courtesy of asking his name, especially since he almost certainly had caught her looking several times.

It took her a while to decide what to buy, especially regarding the alcohol. Daruk did not seem like a wine-drinker to her, nor did Robbie, but she rather thought wine was more usual to bring to these things than hard alcohol. After far too long considering whether her perceptions were based in fact or bias, she chose not only a bottle of dry red wine, but one of mead and yet another of peated whiskey. She rushed to scoop up cheese and crackers, choosing not to fluster herself by checking the time. She’d simply hurry to the bus stop.

She left the shop more heavily laden than intended but confident she wouldn’t disgrace herself that evening. A burst of freezing wind whipped her hair into her face along with quite a few snowflakes. A shocking amount of snow had fallen while she’d shopped. She hadn’t been in there that long, had she? She picked up her pace despite the slippery sidewalk.

The walk to the bus stop took longer than usual, the wind jostling her in long gusts while she kept her face turned as far into her scarf as she could, the snowfall thickening the entire way there. A line of people stood beneath the stop’s little shelter already, shifting between their feet, shivering, and craning their necks in search of the next bus. Zelda slid in, just barely beneath the little roof. The nearest person stepped aside to give her more space.

“Th- thank you,” she said into her scarf with a little shiver.

“No problem.”

Less snow fell directly on her head that way, but the next gust sent a lot of it into her face, wrinkling her nose and squeezing her eyes shut automatically. The flakes on her eyelashes created fascinating little cold zones on her eyelids.

A soft laugh came from beside her. She liked its sound immediately, despite it being at her expense. “Here- we can switch places,” the person said.

“I- am quite alright,” she said, which was true. Cold eyelids were very little to complain about. “Besides, you’ve been waiting longer.”

“It wasn’t this bad when I walked here, though. There’s less snow on me.”

“It worsened quickly.”

“Yeah, it did.”

Zelda transferred all her grocery bags to one hand to brush the snow off herself. The bottles clinked and she grimaced at her already-moistening knit gloves. The wind continued to barrage them with snow as they waited, and a few people on the other side of the shelter began muttering.

“So how long have you been here?”

“At least a half hour.”

“Ghg. Real behind.”

“Just hope it’s not all full up.”

That was an unpleasant thought.

As Zelda’s mood soured, she sunk deeper and deeper into her scarf and coat, pleased no one had tried to make small talk. She despised small talk. It always ended, somehow or other, with her having confused the other person, and she’d simply given up at this point.

The bus arrived much later than it should have, crawling up the street and nearly invisible until fifty feet from them. The driver applied the brakes early and the bus made a slow skid to a stop, ending at a jaunty angle further past the shelter than usual. Warm light fell on the growing snowdrifts as the bus doors slid open, and they queued up single file to get on, Zelda last.

That is, she was last until the stranger who’d made room for her did so again. He stepped aside, his hand outstretched, allowing her to go first. She blinked, surprised and a little confused at the unnecessary gesture, her eyes following that hand (which also held several bags) up the arm of a rugged coat, and to the face of the man she’d been silently ogling since early autumn.

He had a friendly, lopsided smile, with a dimple and crinkled eyes (shockingly blue). With his nose and cheeks cold-reddened and his bangs sticking haphazardly out from under his hat and hood, he struck her not only as handsome (as usual), but absolutely adorable.

She stared at him as the line shortened.

He made that soft laugh again, and her heart surprised her with a single beat against the wall of her chest. “It’s okay—go ahead.”

Her feet shuffled, and she found herself hurrying past him, grateful the cold had also reddened her features. “Thank you,” she said again, muffled.

She took the steps as quickly as she could, registering that while not entirely full, the bus had very few seats left. She moved nearly to the first row of front-facing double-seats before she realized the gift-bag-laden woman ahead of her was about to take the last one remaining toward the back of the bus. The only empty seats would be behind Zelda.

Only two seats, in fact—the ones right next to the door in the row facing the driver’s side.

Zelda turned to find the handsome man staring at them, his face difficult to read. Then he looked at her.

“You can sit,” he said.

Air puffed out her nose above her damp scarf. She tugged it down. “So can you.”

At that moment, the driver spun the wheel and Zelda lurched to the right with an odd, gulping gasp. For an instant, she thought she’d end up in the lap of the man in the third seat, but handsome-man’s hand shot out and caught her upper arm, their grocery bags clanging into the metal pole beside her and swinging to nearly hit the seated man’s face, too.

The support gave her a precious second to grab the pole, find her feet again, and register that the man she’d almost squished was the scruffy-bearded man from the shop.

“Sorry!” said handsome-man to scruffy-man.

“Sorry!” said Zelda to scruffy-man.

“Sorry,” said handsome-man to her.

She stared at handsome-man, and he stared at her.

Scruffy-man stared spook-faced at both of them.

Handsome-man glanced at his own hand on her arm, suddenly spook-faced himself. “Sorry!” he repeated, releasing her like he’d palmed a hot iron.

“N-no need,” she said, her gloved hand slipping around the pole as the bus swayed. “I’d have fallen.” A tiny, nervous laugh left her. “Thank you.”

“Uh- yeah, of course. Maybe-“ he eyed the seats. “Maybe you’d better-?”

“Y- yes. Indeed.” Zelda plunked into the seat, her face extremely hot, with another apology to the man she’d nearly smooshed. (He grunted). She pulled her bags between and behind her legs, hoping not to trip anyone in addition to the scene she’d caused.

Handsome-man hesitated, still standing, one hand securing himself to the pole beside the steps.

Zelda struggled both to look at him and not to look at him. Her eyes took a meandering zig-zag of a path from her knees to his knees to the pole to a button on his coat, back to the pole, and finally to his collar, from which she sheepishly lifted her eyes to his, her face turning yet another shade of scarlet.

“You- can sit,” she said.

A little huff came from scruffy-man’s direction.

Handsome-man hesitated one more moment, then slid into the seat beside her, tucking his bags back just as she had.

Zelda’d curled her index fingers and thumbs together, considering her wet gloves in lieu of the man beside her, feeling both fortunate and unfortunate that she couldn’t feel the warmth of him through their insulative clothing, and that he had, in fact, managed to sit without touching her at all. She didn’t need to feel the surprising and unusual things he did to her insides while sitting with mere centimeters between them. She tugged the gloves off and sat them on her woolen lap. He pushed his hood back with a small sigh.

The bus seemed barely able to do better than a brisk walking speed, but at least it was warm and dry. (Well—relatively dry. Her snowy coat was making a mess of the seat already). She looked out the windshield (driver’s side, so handsome-man wouldn’t think her staring at him). The snow swirled first one way, then the next, the windshield wipers flapping madly back and forth, and the driver’s elbow made a sudden jab past the barrier as he made a quick adjustment for an unmistakable slip. Zelda swallowed.

Her eyes flicked to the side of the windshield closer to her and caught a glimpse of handsome-man side-eyeing her.

She snapped her gaze forward.

Then she tried to see him out of the furthest possible corner of her eye.

He appeared to be considering the window directly across from them—all but falling snow utterly invisible beyond it. She considered it too, a tiny voice which was much braver than she felt reminding her she’d meant to ask him his name.

The bus made a stop, a howl of cold wind from the opening door followed by hurried steps as six people boarded, one holding packages above his head and another grumbling in Gerudo, tall enough she’d have to duck under the hand-hold bars. Shuffling at the back of the bus signaled passengers disembarking, and the newcomers all moved that way.

“Pardon me,” a short woman said as one of her canvas bags scraped its way past Zelda’s shin.

“It’s alright,” she said automatically.

Her eyeSlate buzzed.

Zelda tried to fish it from her pocket without poking handsome-man in the leg. She succeeded, though she realized too late she’d leaned a bit into scruffy-man’s space again.

She turned to find him leaning away from her, spooked once more.

“Apologies,” she said.

He just stared at her.

She shook her head at herself and tapped the screen with practiced motions.

Purah had messaged her.

Zelda sniffed, irrationally annoyed at the timestamp. It’s not as though she hadn’t known she’d taken a long time in the shop, or that the bus had taken a long time to arrive, or that it was absolutely crawling.

A laugh puffed from Zelda’s nose. Then handsome-man shifted a little and a tiny gasp left her. She concentrated hard on the screen, refusing to indulge the sudden urge to see if he’d looked at her.

Zelda laughed again. There were few people she could successfully tease. Purah was one of them. If anyone else had thrown a party, she’d have declined the invitation. Zelda lowered the slate to her lap and glanced up at the still-worsening storm out the windshield, suddenly wondering if handsome-man was looking at her again, though for a different reason. She repeated her trick of glancing out the nearer side of the windshield and found him looking out it too.

Her heart sputtered relief and she texted quickly.

Zelda slapped the slate to her chest with an involuntary glance his way, her heart pitter-pattering like rabbit feet along with the slate’s ceaseless buzzing.

Handsome-man had turned her way, his face blank enough that she had no idea if he’d already been looking or if her sudden panic had drawn his attention.

She felt a shift on her other side, too, and turned to see scruffy-man looking much more obviously confused.

She tried not to shrink in her seat.

“Ad,” she said.

Her eyebrows shot up in shock at her own lie.

At her incredibly foolish lie, for the only material on her slate she should be so ashamed of ought to have been very mortifying indeed, far more so than handsome-man knowing she thought him attractive.

But no. No, instead, she’d implied she was hiding something unsuitable to be seen in public, and considering her slate wouldn’t stop buzzing she doubted anyone would assume she’d simply opened a personal document by mistake.

No. No, they’d think porn. Wouldn’t they?

Of course they would. NSFW. Porn with rumble effects.

Then she did shrink in her seat.

She wildly considered shoving her still-buzzing slate into handsome-man’s line of vision. Shame and relief would mingle for certain, but It would be an improvement over the pure humiliation within her now.

It stopped about thirty seconds later.

Zelda couldn’t help it. As though dragged by some invisible force, her head turned with extreme slowness toward that handsome man beside her.

He was still looking at her, now with a very small smile on his face.

Zelda tried not to appear quizzical.

His smile grew a little. She had the impression he was trying not to laugh.

He flashed his eyebrows at her and she lost it. Silent laughter shook her chest, her face twisting into something between a smile, a pout, and a grimace, her eyes squeezing shut.

“Must’ve been some ad,” he said.

She groaned, placed her slate face-down in her lap, and rested her face in her hands.

She heard that soft laughter beside her again. “My name’s Link,” he said.

She took slow, calming breaths as she lifted her head to see his smile deepened, his eyes twinkling at her.

She tried not to let it take her breath away. Yes, he was handsome, and she loved his voice, but she hadn’t exactly made a spectacular impression. She took an intentionally deep breath instead. “I’m Zelda.”

He held out his hand, still gloved, to shake hers. “Nice to meet you, Zelda.”

She smiled quite a bit more than she should have and flushed even more. “Nice to meet you too, Link.” A jolt of electricity ran through her when their hands met despite his glove, but she thought she hid it reasonably well.

“I, ah,” he said as his hand returned to his lap, “was surprised to see you at the stop.”

She blinked. “Oh?”

“Yeah, I’m late tonight. Went shopping so I wouldn’t have to tomorrow.”

It slowly penetrated that he, too, had been aware they usually rode the same bus. “I- also. The same. Apologies, no, not the same,” she said, shaking her head with her eyes squeezed shut. What was wrong with her? “Shopping, yes, but for a friend’s party tonight.”

He raised an eyebrow and eyed the storm outside.

“Heh. Yes, well… I don’t believe this was expected.” Her brow pinched and she fiddled with her eyeSlate. “Did you see the warning?”

He shook his head. “No, my slate’s off. Battery.”

She turned hers on and swiped Purah’s barrage of messages away, her eyes widening. She’d caught “date” and “hanky-panky” before it left the screen, hoping he hadn’t, as he was quite clearly and correctly expecting her to show him what she meant. She navigated to her notifications and tapped the warning.

⚠ Warning! ⚠

⚠ Hazardous weather conditions! ⚠

A winter storm alert is in effect in central Hyrule, Lake Hylia County, Northwest Faron, West Necluda, and Southwestern Eldin until 2:45 pm HST. 32” total accumulation expected. Wind gusts up to 70 mph.

Zelda stared at it, swallowing, part of her wishing she’d read the warning earlier—the other part quite logically pointing out it would’ve made no difference unless she’d begged to sleep at the market. Had she made her way back to the bus stop immediately, she’d probably have been waiting, empty-handed, under the little shelter that entire time regardless.

She huffed a little.

Then she scowled.

It would be the one evening she had social plans that central and southern Hyrule would be inundated with snow rather than Hebra. 32”—she hadn’t seen that much snow at once in this region since she was very little.

“I was really, really not expecting that,” Link said, frowning at the warning.

“You… don’t live too far past the highway, do you?” she asked.

“Just two stops past you.”

“Ah. Not so bad then.”

“No, but-“ he craned his neck, straightening his back to peer out the windshield. Then he sat back, shaking his head. “I don’t want my food to get nasty.”

She took a closer look at his grocery bags. They appeared to be the same as hers. “Are you also partial to LonLon’s?”

“You bet I am. Only place near my route that has grass-fed butter and beef.”

“Is that what you have?”

“Not beef today, but the butter, yeah.”

“At least that will keep.”

“Raw pigeon won’t,” he said with a wide-eyed grin.

“Oh.” She blinked at his bags. “Oh dear.”

“Yeaaaah.”

The bus crawled to another slow stop. Zelda frowned, trying to see as the doors opened, snow bursting onto their heads and shoulders. “Did we… only just reach the next stop?”

Link craned his neck, though he avoided directly blocking anyone entering or exiting. “We might’ve passed… one without stopping? The snow’s so thick.”

“Malon street,” the driver said with a sniff.

“Oh,” Zelda said, trying not to sound too dismayed. They had, in fact, not passed one without stopping.

She and Link looked at each other.

“Your pigeon is most certainly in peril,” she said.

He snorted. “I may have to shop tomorrow after all.”

“With nearly three feet of snow on the ground?”

“It’s fine, I’ll walk to the mediocre store near my apartment.”

“If it’s open,” Zelda said.

He grimaced. “Ooh.”

“Indeed.”

“What about your party?” Link asked.

“Oh,” Zelda shrugged. “I don’t believe it matters much. Purah is always up late regardless, and with her house full of scientists and engineers, she’s likely not to sleep at all until morning.”

“Wow, some party!” Link said, his eyebrows disappearing under the bangs sticking out from under his hat. “Are you all working together on something?”

“I suppose she and her colleagues are in general, but no—the conversation is just likely to be ceaseless.”

He studied her, his brow pinching for a moment. “You don’t sound that excited about it.”

“Oh, I’m not much for parties, but I’d resolved to make an attempt at socialization.”

His smile brightened. “Does this count?”

“Heh,” she laughed. “Indeed it does. And what of you?”

“Eh, I socialize all the time.”

Her smile remained, but she didn’t know how to respond to that.

He seemed to sense it. “I teach,” he said. Then he looked up and to the right. “Basically. Sort of. Yeah.”

Her face brightened, then fell, then became quizzical. “Oh?”

“I work at the rock climbing place.”

She cocked her head.

“On-The-Wall.”

Her head cocked further.

“It’s on Chickaloo Street.”

“Ah,” she said with an apologetic smile. “I haven’t explored that direction. Do you enjoy it?”

“I love it,” he said. “First off, I get to climb. No complaints there. Second, I like teaching the classes, and third, there are birthday parties!” He smiled excitedly. “With crazy kids being crazy.”

One of her eyebrows became even more quizzical. “Is that a good thing?”

“Oh yeah, it’s awesome. Little wackadoodle banana-monkeys. You never know what they’ll do.”

As he smiled at her, Zelda registered two things.

First, he, unlike her, was not at all opposed to parties—and second, he, unlike her, had no aversion to unpredictability.

Then a third thing registered as she processed the first two: that his smile faltered a little with her silence.

She grasped for some response other than the turn her thoughts had taken. “I- ah… I also teach, but my environment, I suspect, is more predictable than yours. I can’t imagine I would have much success corralling a herd of children in my lab.”

His face brightened again. “Lab?”

“I work at U of H Central.”

“Oh, you’re a professor! What do you teach?”

It was her turn for her smile to falter. “Ah- um. Physics.”

His eyes flew wide. “…Physics?”

She nodded.

She waited for it.

This, typically, would be the point at which things went badly. A significant portion of the population presumed her to be from some alien planet after this pronouncement.

She tried not to show her prehensive disappointment as he continued to stare at her.

“Wait, wait wait,” he said, his smile growing skeptical, “how can you manage not to socialize?”

Zelda’s jaw dropped.

He… wasn’t surprised?

He didn’t think she ought to be an elderly man with hair sticking out at odd angles?

He didn’t immediately break off the conversation?

“That’s- that is-“ she stuttered, struggling to return her train of thought to his question. “It’s different. I’m- I’m at work. There, I must socialize.”

“Ohhh,” he said. “I get you. Yeah, I know the feeling. After work, I’m pretty shot for dealing with people. Need to recover. Especially if people were grouchy.”

She blinked at him. “You seem perfectly amiable to me.”

He squinted an eye.

“What?”

He squinted more. “That means friendly.”

“Well-“ she sat up straighter. “Yes. Yes it does.”

He squinted both eyes suspiciously. “I only know because I watched Affection and Affectation twice.”

“Twice?!”

“It was good!”

“Well- yes, it was. I enjoyed the play on words.”

“Me too, that’s why I watched it in the first place.” He smiled wider. “So. You watch stuff.”

She huffed a laugh. “Of course I do. Why wouldn’t I?”

“Well, I don’t know, if you’re a professor maybe you need to be reading a lot of—I don’t know. Physicsy things.”

“I do that, too.”

“You have time for both?”

“I also read non-physicsy things.”

“No way.”

And now, apparently, it was her turn to eye him suspiciously. Was he teasing her?

He shifted in his seat—only a little, but it was to face her more fully, his eyes on hers waiting, apparently rapt, for her reaction.

Her heart skipped a beat.

What sort of smile was that on his face?

And what was the feeling tugging so insistently at the corners of her mouth?

A blast of cold, snowy air from the opening doors burst the moment, squeezing both their eyes shut in defense against the icy incursion.

Zelda hadn’t realized she’d gripped the pole beside her.

When she opened her eyes, she found Link watching the bridge of her wrinkled nose out of one very squinty eye, the other suddenly bearing quite a few snowflakes.

She giggled. She couldn’t help it.

Link grumbled and took the back of his wrist to his snowy eye.

The bus slipped the instant it pulled out into the street, drawing their attention back to the windows (to no avail). Zelda took the opportunity to text Purah, ostensibly so she wouldn’t worry, but in reality to scroll up her previous stream of embarrassing messages.

She waited with the keypad up, trying to think of something else to say to scroll those messages even further. Then an enormous gif of a korok, its arms raised, with flames ever-burning in the background appeared and did that job for her. She stared at it for a moment.

Zelda sighed. Societal expectations were not her strong suit, but she had the sense that inviting a person she’d just met to another person’s party would cross one of those invisible etiquette lines so difficult to detect, even if said person enjoyed parties.

The bus made a few more slow stops and a turn which meant they’d finally reached the service road beside the highway. She rather thought she should say something else to Link—perhaps it would even be reasonable to ask for his slate number, considering they got along well so far—but would she seem desperate? Forward? Irritating? Perhaps it was best to wait. As she did, her mind turned on whether the driver would take the usual route. The plows usually tended the highways diligently, but a prickle of anxiety reminded her even the warning of this storm she’d ignored had arrived late. Some unexpected weather pattern must have occurred.

“Kids are going to be disappointed,” Link said, out of the blue and seemingly to the snow outside.

Zelda blinked. “Why? Tomorrow wouldn’t have been a school day, regardless.”

“Exactly.”

It took her a moment. Then she smirked. “A wasted snow day?”

“Yep.”

The bus lurched toward the left side of the street, jostling them and answering Zelda’s earlier question as it crossed lanes of traffic to approach the highway’s on-ramp. She swallowed as it began to climb the incline up to highway level, at first at an accelerated pace. She hoped that meant the plows and salt trucks had indeed been effective, but as the seconds passed she realized they were slowing—then the bus’ front began twisting to the right. Zelda tamped a gasp and clamped her hand on the pole beside her. Link grabbed the one on his other side.

The driver spun the wheel frenetically, his elbow popping in and out from behind the barrier, and she thought she heard him curse under his breath. Her grip turned white-knuckled as the bus turned more and more sideways. A sudden vision intruded on her thoughts of it going completely perpendicular to the ramp, still sliding, then rolling down the hill faster and faster. Her heart lurched into her throat as the speed of the slide seemed to accelerate.

Apparently, Zelda was not alone in this line of thinking, as a current of airy, tense sounds ran through the passengers, and something changed in the way Link was sitting. His back straightened, and he spent a long moment watching the driver like a hawk, his expression intense. Then he looked at Zelda and silently offered his other hand, palm up.

She gripped it like a lifeline.

The bus lurched left to a collective gasp from the passengers as the driver won his battle with the wheels. The bus began to right itself, and breath returned to Zelda, her grip loosening. It tightened again when the bus began to list left instead. She took an audible, involuntary gulp of air—it seemed to stay stuck in her throat along with her heart. Link kept switching between looking at her and the driver.

“Are you alright?” he asked under his breath, his eyes intense on her.

She nodded swiftly.

He looked like he wanted to say something else. His gloved fingers flexed around hers, and it seemed for a moment he was going to change positions.

It seemed to take an absolute age, a purgatory of possible death-by-bus-roll as the bus drifted over and over again to the side, Zelda in two agonies at once: one of pure fear, and another of elation at the feel of Link’s hand holding hers so tightly. When the bus finally fishtailed its way to the top of the ramp and began its slow, rolling merge onto the blissfully flat highway, Zelda tried and failed to release her death-grip on Link.

Someone in the back whooped, someone else whistled, and a chorus of cheers and applause filled the space.

“You deserve a medal, man,” Link said.

Zelda privately agreed, but seemed incapable of speech (or regulating her heart rate).

The driver gave an exaggerated wave. It seemed to say all in a day’s work, but his eyes were quite wide, and his face a little too flat to be genuinely calm.

“Some ride,” Link said quietly.

Zelda managed to let him go. Her hand came away stiff and tingling as she found her voice. “I- hope I didn’t crush you too badly,” she said, wiggling her fingers.

“No, did- did I hurt you?” he asked, his eyes widening.

“Not at all- I believe I hurt myself.”

He laughed a little. “It was pretty scary.”

“Yes.” She returned her hand to her lap. “Thank you.”

“Any time,” he said, his voice soft.

The highway was hardly any faster than the roads had been. A few times, the brakes issued long, slow, squeals followed by grinds as the wheels shuddered their way through building snow on their way to a stop, despite how slow just about everyone was going anyway. Every once in a while, a car blew past them somewhere far to the left, evidenced only by its lights and the sound of it. Some of the other passengers tutted.

“Wish I was a Rito,” muttered the scruffy-bearded man to the ceiling.

Zelda privately disagreed, as Rito had just as much difficulty flying in such weather as others had in traversing it on the ground.

The bus started and stopped so many times it all began to blend together. Zelda turned her slate in her lap, thinking again she should ask Link for his number, but still feeling too shy to do so. Her eyelids grew a little heavy with the monotony. Link seemed intent on the driver. He didn’t seem tense, exactly, but watchful. Her slate buzzed in her lap, and she jumped. She unlocked it sheepishly.

Zelda nodded to herself and opened the map, zooming in to the general Romani area. The display remained heavily pixelated. She swiped toward Applea instead without better luck—then she zoomed out, attempting to let the map simply load for a few minutes. She watched the progress bar remain utterly still as her patience waned.

Zelda sighed. The infrastructure did need updating, and the weather couldn’t be helping. She wondered how many other people within a hundred feet of her were attempting to load GPS information at the same time. A good old-fashioned look out the window told her absolutely nothing.

She blinked.

Absolutely nothing is exactly what had happened since before Purah had texted her. The bus hadn’t moved at all.

Zelda shifted in her seat, then glanced around at her fellow passengers. Some, predictably, were facing their laps, likely deep in some mobile game or another. A few were leaning back in their seats or against the walls, napping or attempting to. The Gerudo woman had the most bored look Zelda had ever seen on anyone’s face, and that included students trapped listening to the 90-year-old igneous rock expert in her building drone on about the injustices of his tax bill. Scruffy-man sported an impressive resting grump-face. Link was the only other passenger who seemed fully alert.

He seemed to sense her watching him. He turned and gave her a small smile that didn’t reach his eyes.

She wondered if he was thinking the same thing she was.

She squeezed the slate in her hands. Then she held up a finger for his attention and opened her notes app. She typed in very large letters: Are we stuck? She turned the screen toward him.

He chewed his lips, pulling them into his mouth, then found her eyes. He flashed an eyebrow and half-shrugged.

She checked her slate again. The map still hadn’t loaded. She shook her head and closed the app.

Zelda’s stomach gave its first pitiful squeak of hunger. She willed it silent, then turned her slate off. Better to conserve battery, just in case.

The driver made a quiet call into DoT-H.

“This is Botrick, bus C-H-O-C 11. I’m Crenel-bound on the Romani Highway past exit 16. No movement. Please advise.”

She could feel Link straining, just as she was, to hear the answer.

Two bursts of voice-toned static arrived, way louder than the driver (he grimaced). Zelda couldn’t tell if the sounds meant anything to him. Scruffy-man also leaned forward in his seat, and the woman across from him tried to peer around the driver’s barrier.

A string of sounds issued from the speaker at the driver’s station. They were almost unintelligible, but Zelda could pick some of it out.

“No eyes” on the situation yet. “Continue route.”

Zelda tried not to make too grouchy of a face.

Link was chuckling. At her questioning look, he shook his head. “Just- what does he do if they say ‘abort route’?”

She snorted. “Abandon ship!”

“Abandon bus.”

“All hands to the lifeboats.”

“We’d need sleds.”

“And dogs to pull them.”

“Oooh, reindeer!”

“Truly, someone providing sleigh rides through Mabe Prairie Park tonight would make a killing,” she said, turning to look out the window behind her, then feeling rather silly, as there was still nothing but snowflakes and indistinct headlights to see. “They’d pass us right by.”

“I feel like I’m missing an entrepreneurship opportunity,” he said, that sideways smile of his back full-force. “Wonder if I can just walk right off the highway and start my own business.”

“You’ve no reindeer,” she pointed out.

“There’s horses at the park. And cows.”

“Hmm, less festive.”

“Still faster, though.”

“Are the cows much faster?”

“Eh…” he thought about it for a moment. “I- am not sure I’ve ever seen how fast a cow can run.”

Zelda swept one of her hands high through the air. “Link’s Cow Rides.”

“That has absolutely no ring to it whatsoever,” he said, suddenly choking on a laugh.

“Indeed, and unfortunately it doesn’t clarify the sleigh aspect of the experience.”

“I can hear the ad already, though. ‘Dashing through the snoooow in a one-cow open sleiiiigh.’”

Her muscles punched a laugh from her stomach. “Dashing may be unlikely, but laughing all the way is a strong possibility.”

“Or getting really bored. If the cows just stand around munching grass the whole time.”

“In the snow?” she asked, her eyebrows raised.

“Oh yeah! Yeah, definitely laughing.”

“Excellent. You do appear to have your opportunity, as the bus hasn’t moved an inch.”

“I’m still missing something, though. No sleigh.”

“Ahh, yes. Well. Perhaps one of those plastic children’s sleds.”

“The sad thing is that would still be faster than this,” he said. Then he winced a little and looked at the driver. “Uh- not blaming you.”

“Glad to hear it,” the man apparently named Botrick replied, slouching over the wheel.

In the pause as Link recovered, the bus seemed even quieter than before, the only sound the stream of air from the heating system—battery-powered. There wasn’t even the rumble of an engine.

In that environment, grumbling stomachs easily stood out.

It wasn’t Zelda this time. It was Link.

She looked at him.

He was still wincing.

Zelda’s stomach squealed as though in agreement.

His torso lurched with a silent laugh.

Zelda could swear she heard other stomachs complaining, too. “Do we give in and eat on the bus?” she whispered.

“Not the pigeon,” he said.

She huffed. “Definitely not. We’ve no restroom in which to deal with the consequences.”

His eyes widened.

Her smirk began to fade with the extremely unpleasant thought of having to relieve oneself in the middle of the highway.

Surely it wouldn’t come to that.

“Perhaps we wait,” she said.

Link nodded vigorously.

The stillness dragged on.

At one point, the bus began to roll again to a collective, hopeful breath drawn by the entire bus.

It stopped mere inches later.

The collective groan was the loudest sound they’d heard in half an hour.

“What a tease,” the Gerudo woman said.

With no movement and no information forthcoming over the radio, Link seemed to become restless. He stretched his legs straight out in front of him. He leaned far back in his seat and looked up. He wiggled his nose repeatedly. He flexed all his fingers and cracked all his knuckles, then his neck (the woman across from them scowled at him). He sat back up and shimmied in his seat, still somehow avoiding jostling Zelda, then began tapping his fingers to some complex, inaudible drumbeat on his knees. Then he did the unfathomable. He raised his eyes to the strip of ads lining the bus above the hand-hold poles.

He had broken some invisible barrier by doing so—Zelda’s eyes followed his.

A classic tan-orange-brown Death Mountain color scheme backed a Goron cheerfully smiling with a knife in his hand, a grinding stone beside him, and a speech-bubble above his head: Gorrrrrrrron Grrrrrrinding! Bring us your knives! We’ll bring you to heaven.

Zelda’s head listed to the side for a long moment. Then she turned to Link.

He looked horrified.

He shook his head and ran a hand down his face with a sigh. Then he gripped the pole, stood, and stepped sideways to the top of the stairs. “Let me out? I can walk around, take a look at what’s going on.”

Botrick did a double-take. “What what?”

Link jerked his thumb behind him, pointing at the doors.

“We’re on the highway,” Botrick said.

“We haven’t moved in at least an hour.”

“Doesn’t mean it’s safe.”

“I’ll stick my head out. If nothing’s moving, I’ll get out.”

“Jerks’ve been blowing by on the left!”

“They’re way on the shoulder. I’ll be here, next to the bus.”

“And they could hit something, and things could slide, and you could get squished.”

Link squinted at him. “Okay, I could get on top of the bus instead.”

The look on Botrick’s face was utterly flabbergasted. “What?”

“I’ll stand on the bus, get a good view.”

“You’re crazy.”

“Nah, just a good climber.”

“I don’t need you falling off my bus!”

“I won’t. Well-” Link tilted his head back and forth, looking up- “probably not. It’s slippery.”

Botrick just stared at him.

Link shrugged and put one foot on the lower step. “At least I can tell you how deep the snow got while we sat here.”

“Oh. Ohhh,” Botrick said, taking his rectangular glasses off and feverishly cleaning them on the hem of his shirt, pulled from under his coat. When he returned them to his face, he said, “Fine,” and opened the doors.

“BUT,” he said, as Link stuck his head out, “If you get killed it’s your own damn fault.”

Zelda did think the driver was overreacting a bit, and possibly thinking more about regulations and liability than practicality, but a flutter of nerves struck her as Link disappeared out the door. Botrick closed it.

A surprised “oh?” left Zelda’s mouth.

“To keep the heat in,” Botrick said.

The shadow of Link’s hood appeared in the window behind her along with a squeaky scrabbling sound. Scruffy-man shot forward in his seat as Link’s fingers tried to find purchase, with a brief pause after which they returned to do so gloveless. Zelda watched, astonished, as he leapt straight up, grabbed something, and pulled himself out of sight.

His footsteps on the roof seemed to wake everyone up.

“Is he really up there?” the Gerudo woman wondered (she sounded impressed).

Scruffy-man grunted.

Every set of eyes on the bus followed the sound of his feet walking the length of the bus, pausing, and walking back. He slipped at one point, and everyone gasped.

Botrick made a strangled sound of stress and cleaned his glasses again.

Link dropped down with a muffled thump at the bus doors and knocked. He came up the steps covered in snow, trying to brush it all back out the door and sniffling. “It’s more than a foot built up around us,” he said. “Maybe a foot and a half. Cars forever, just every direction. A few trucks and a flatbed. Nothing’s moving at all, as far as I can see.”

He looked at Zelda.

He didn’t say it, but the shuffling said everyone knew—they’d be stuck here a long time. She almost joked that his idea of walking off the highway was, in fact, the quickest way to get home, but it was also the surest way to get hit by a car on the shoulder, or to succumb to hypothermia. They would have to walk all the way to an exit ramp.

She shook her head. Abandon bus, indeed.

Movement at the edge of her vision drew her eyes to see Botrick turn a knob. The air flow from the heating system lessened to almost nothing, its temperature also lower. He was conserving battery, too.

Surely they wouldn’t run out? These buses had to run long days and nights without charging.

Then again, it was cold, and they were still. Lower efficiency.

“Do you mind if I-?” Link gestured to his still-snowy coat.

“No, no, of course not,” Botrick said.

Link nodded gratefully and draped the coat over the banister before returning to his seat, not looking defeated, exactly, but concerned.

Zelda sighed. She rummaged around in her bags, removed the enormous box of butter cookies she’d bought, and began untying the twine keeping it closed.

Link slumped in his seat a little, side-eyeing the box.

Zelda couldn’t help but smile at his poor attempt at feigning indifference.

He really was quite cute.

She lifted the lid and presented them to him—cookies of all different shapes, sizes, and colors, some sandwich-style filled with jam, some chocolate-dipped and coated in sprinkles, others with dollops of jam or chocolate in their centers.

He stared at them, his face oddly blank like when she’d hidden her buzzing slate.

“Go on,” she said. “Have one.”

A tiny hopeful smile quirked one corner of his mouth. He uncrossed his arms, leaned forward, and carefully selected an apricot sandwich-cookie almost the size of a Hylian’s palm, half-chocolate-dipped with rainbow sprinkles.

Zelda then turned and offered the box to scruffy-man.

He looked shocked.

“It’s alright,” she said, holding the box a little higher.

He still hesitated.

Compelling reasons to accept her cookie offering swirled through her head. There were so many (and she couldn’t think of many reasons not to have one, unless he suffered from allergies, and suddenly she thought that might be it). “They were made in a peanut and tree-nut free facility,” she said. “Though I don’t believe I can guarantee they’re free of other allergens. They’re also delicious.“ He still hesitated. “It’s not as though I’d planned to eat them all myself. Besides, better the cookies than each other.”

Link choked on his cookie, and scruffy-man once again began a slow lean away from her.

“A little early to resort to cannibalism,” said the Gerudo woman.

“W- well.” Zelda shrugged, face scarlet and eyes suddenly sealed shut. “Yes. Exactly. Thus the cookies.”

Link was wheezing. She turned to see him in the throes of laughter, cookie crumbs cupped in one hand while he failed to chew. “Y- you-“ he wheezed more- “have to appreciate the honesty, though.”

“You’d better eat one, my dear,” the Gerudo woman said with a pointed look at Zelda. “Otherwise we’ll all think you’re fattening us up.”

Zelda retrieved a cookie immediately (lemon-zest in the batter with raspberry filling) and offered the entire box to scruffy-man’s lap. After a long moment, he finally accepted it, took a random cookie without ever taking his eyes off Zelda, and passed the box to his left. Zelda ate her cookie slowly in mixed mortification and relief that at least she’d only seriously terrified one person.

As the box moved, the mood and voices on the bus lifted. It turned out the man who’d held packages above his head had taken leftover pizza, garlic bread, and fried cheese home from an office party, and someone else had a birthday cake for a gathering he certainly wasn’t making it to. He even had candles.

“My brother’ll live without cake,” he said as he stuck the candles in it. Someone else lit them with a lighter.

They sang solstice tunes instead of “Happy Birthday,” and kept singing while they passed small pieces of cake around on paper plates.

Zelda thought Link might have felt guilty about making the driver nervous. He brought a plate full of cookies and cake up to him personally.

It was then that Zelda realized she’d missed a trick.

She waved a hand at the crowd, but no one noticed (except scruffy-man, who continued to view her with apparent suspicion), so she stood. “Ah- excuse me?” A few people turned her way. “Does anyone have a corkscrew?”

The entire bus perked up at that.

Link cleared his throat and held up a spectacular, hefty multi-tool he’d just retrieved from his drying coat.

“Perfect,” Zelda said, retrieving her bottles. Link popped them open with a flourish and birthday-party-man provided a stack of paper cups.

The bus was soon very merry indeed—all but for Botrick, who stared longingly at Link’s cup (he’d opted for mead).

“We’ll save you some,” Link said. He took another of the very small sips he’d been taking.

Zelda had also chosen mead. “It’s quite good,” she said, though she’d taken only a very small amount, hyper-aware that she hadn’t used a bathroom since she left work.

“This is a nice one. Sometimes they’re weirdly harsh. Mead shouldn’t be harsh.”

“Oh! You’ve had it before?”

“Oh yeah, loads of times. I like to try things.”

“Indeed?”

“Yeah, food’s pretty much my hobby.”

“As in taste-testing?”

“Ohhhh not just that,” he said. “I love to cook. I was going to coat that pigeon in a rosemary, Hyrule herb, and warm safflina-infused oil I made a few weeks back and roast it, make it nice and crispy” He swallowed, his eyes widening, and Zelda had the sudden impression he’d caught himself salivating. “And I was going to braise the apples and red cabbage to go with it. And I was thinking about making some custard tarts with wildberries.”

“Here I was thinking you ate so healthy, until the custard tarts,” Zelda said with a smirk.

“I figure it averages out,” he grinned. “Can’t really share the eggs around, but if people need another round of food the fruit’s in here. There’s milk… too…” He suddenly sat at the edge of his seat, looking wildly around, his eyes landing on the forgotten twine from the cookie box half-under Zelda on her seat. “Can I… can I have that?”

Zelda passed it to him and watched him rummage in a bag which contained only the packaged pigeon and frozen peas. He tied the twine tight around both.

“Does this open?” Link asked, pointing at the front-most window.

“Yeah, only a few inches, but-“

“It’ll just take a second.”

Botrick grunted.

Link opened it, fought the pigeon out the window, and lowered it by the twine. Then he shut the window on it and tied the other end to the pole. “Ha!”

He appeared extremely pleased with himself.

Botrick appeared nonplussed.

Zelda finished her mead, stored her cup in one of her bags, and turned on her slate.

10:23 pm.

--

As the night wore on, the merry volume dwindled and the snow climbed higher against the sides of the bus. Snores began to issue and sputter as people jerked awake in the seats, shifted and re-settled again. Zelda stood at the front of the bus, peering down the long windows at the snow which cradled them.

“Will we be able to move? Once the car in front of us does?”

“I think so,” Botrick said. “There are a couple shovels under the floor if not.”

Another set of headlights went out.

“It’s fortunate the bus is battery-powered. With this much snow, we’d have had to dig out the exhaust pipe.”

Link sat suddenly forward. “Oh- Hylia.”

Zelda turned to see him scanning the pattern of lights outside the windshield. “What is it?”

“How many of them don’t know they should do that?” he asked. “Or just didn’t think of it. I mean, I know you should but I didn’t think of it until you said something.”

They looked at each other.

“Where are the shovels?” Link asked.

A few minutes later, he and the Gerudo woman left the bus armed with shovels and promises not to try and save the entire highway personally.

After half an hour, Zelda made Botrick open the doors again so she could check on them. She held on to a pole and leaned out into the frigid air—and found, to her relief, they’d enlisted a good deal of help from elsewhere. People were using ice-scrapers. People were talking to each other. Lanes were carved and stamped out between cars in places.

Other people were wading in thigh-deep snow.

She pulled her head in. “Is there an ice-scraper, too? One of the ones with a brush?”

“Yeah,” Botrick said.

“Excellent.”

--

The bus doors opened, and an extremely snowy Link popped his head in. “Hey, Zelda?”

“Yes?”

“Can I have the bag with the milk and fruit please?”

It only took her a moment of rummaging. She passed it over the end of the seats.

“Thanks.” He hesitated a moment. “Kids.”

The doors closed.

Zelda found herself staring at the place his face had been, part of her lamenting there were no cookies left to give them, and another part unable to unsee his extremely wind-and-cold-burnt face.

“Open the door, please,” she said.

She stuck her head out and found his profile. “Link!” she shouted.

He turned toward her.

“Cheese and crackers!”

He jogged back.

She ducked down and retrieved the last of the food she’d bought. Children were unlikely to want fancy cheese, but they also quite likely had hungry adults with them, and they’d all like the crackers.

She stood with them on the bottom step.

“We should trade places,” she said.

“No way,” Link said. “Your pants are thin, you’ll be soaked in under a minute.”

“You’re already freezing.”

“I know where the kids are,” he said with a bit of a smirk.

She opened her mouth, then closed it.

He had her there.

He gave her an extremely warm smile as he lifted the bag from her fingers. “Thank you,” he said.

“Come back after this,” she said. “You’ll freeze.”

“I’m alright.”

“Stay that way. Come back! And bring- ah-”

He huffed a laugh. “Her name’s Urbosa.”

“Bring Urbosa, too.”

He nodded. “I will.”

--

When they returned, Zelda was ready, along with leftover-pizza-man (Horace) and gift-bag-woman (Anna).

Armed with the largest ice scraper she’d ever seen, Zelda attacked them with the brush-side. Snow flew off Urbosa down the steps (Link dodged). She worked quickly until all that remained was anything that had already soaked into her clothing, then passed her off to Horace. Then it was Link’s turn.

He made an adorable “mrp” sound when she first swiped the brush down his front. She tried not to laugh. She miscalculated when she tried to get his chest and shoulders and caught the tip of his nose with the bristles.

“Oohf,” he said, his hand coming up to cradle his nose protectively.

“Sorry!”

“’Sokay,” he said, squinting strangely.

“Coat off,” she said when done, but she didn’t have to. He was already removing it and returning it to the banister.

Then she removed hers and plunked it across his shoulders.

“Huh-? You don’t have to-“

“I’m warm and dry. You’re not.” The blotchy redness on his face and neck said so clearly. “Hat,” she said.

He removed it and she gave hm hers.

She lamented again that they didn’t have any spare pants, but it was Anna’s turn now.

Zelda turned to see Urbosa already seated, now in the front-most set of double seats, huddled in Horace’s coat with a brand-new, cheerful, solstice-themed throw over her shoulders and cradling a mug of warm water in her hands.

Zelda smiled. That was battery well-spent.

Horace dropped another throw over Link’s shoulders and pointed at his seat. Link sank into it with a surprised smile, and Anna lifted a 2nd cup from the electric mug-warmer she’d plugged into an outlet on the bus.

“Here you go,” she said.

Link hooked the handle, circled the mug with his other hand, and sighed, appearing to burrow into the layers of warmth. “Thank you so much,” he said.

“Can we drink this?” Urbosa asked.

“It was top-snow,” Zelda said.

“Wonderful,” Urbosa said in throaty tones of relieved gratitude as she sipped it. Link followed suit.

“If you’re all done saving the world,” Botrick said, “I’d like to keep those doors shut from now on. Keep the heat in, save the battery.”

“Yes sir,” Link said.

People generally returned to seats after that, though they’d rearranged. Scowling-woman (Linda) had taken a double-seat near the back with scruffy-man (Zelda still hadn’t caught his name). Zelda looked at the empty seat beside Link, hesitating for a moment.

A puff of air left him with a smile. One of his hands reached under the blanket and patted the seat.

She smiled back, feeling unaccountably shy again. She slid into the seat.

“Thanks,” he said. “Really.”

“You’re welcome. I hope your nose is alright.”

“Heh.” He rubbed it with two fingers. “It’s still kind of numb.”

As he sipped his drink, Zelda reached for her slate—then realized it was now in his pocket.

“Link, would you mind handing me my slate?”

“Oh.” He fished for it and slid it out the gap in the wrapped throw.

“Thank you.” She turned it on.

1:47 am.

“Wow,” Link said.

“Well. On the upside, the storm should end in an hour.”

Link sniffed, looking a little bleary as he stared at the screen. “You have messages.”

She did indeed.

Zelda snorted. She turned to see Link also smiling at her slate. Then he looked at her and his eyes shot wide.

“Oh! Sorry.”

“Why, Link,” she said. “Here I was thinking you were a perfect gentleman.”

That was definitely a spooked face.

“Do you make a habit of reading people’s personal messages?” She kept her face mostly stern, though she allowed a tiny twitch of humor at one corner of her mouth.

His face became blotchier. “Well. I.” He swallowed. “Not. Not usually, no.”

She raised an eyebrow. “Only mine?”

The blotches faded to total pallor. Concern dropped Zelda’s stern-face for her, but he spoke at the same moment it did.

“I’m- really sorry. I didn’t mean to. I just- it was making a racket and I looked.”

She stared at him, confused.

“I thought you were getting a call.”

It took her a moment. Then her lips parted. “You mean earlier.”

He nodded.

“…You read it.”

His shoulders climbed toward his ears. “…Yeah.”

Zelda turned extremely red.

“…Do you… want your coat back?”

“Of course not- I’m not angry, I just-“ a wan smile appeared on her face and she stared at her hands now gripping the slate in her lap. “I feel ridiculous.”

“…Why?”

“Because you knew the whole time.”

“…I did?”

She looked up to find him appearing genuinely confused.

“…Of course?”

He looked first one way, then the other, then back at her.  “But… I still don’t.”

She squinted a bewildered eye at him. “How can you not?”

Link blinked at her. Then he shot a quick look over her shoulder—so quick she could’ve missed it if she’d blinked.

She turned to find scruffy-man at a direct shot from his eyeline. He saw her looking and blanched. She gave him a nervous smile and a wave before she turned back to Link, who had a bit of a grimace on.

His look turned sheepish, and he tilted his head. “I- uh. You don’t have to tell me, but I’ve been trying to work out which one of us it was.”

She stared at him. Then her jaw fell open. “You- thought he was the cute one?”

“Well, there were two guys sitting next to you-“

“He’s far older than I am.”

“Some people like that.”

“He’s not usually on the bus with me.”

“Didn’t know that was part of the equation.”

“I’ve been speaking with you most of the time.”

“A lot of people get nervous and talk to everyone but the person they like. You even went all anxious when you tried to give him a cookie, you were blushing, and you did it again just now.”

“Because he believes I’m unhinged!”

Link snorted. Then he smiled. Then he grinned. A lot. “So… does that mean it’s me?” he asked.

Zelda sat suddenly straight up, her face somehow trying to pale and flush at the same time. She swallowed and tried to have a well, obviously face on even though she’d begun to tremble. Her knuckles turned white on her slate. “Of course it’s you.”

He sat up straighter again, too, his eyes flicking between hers. Then he saw her shaking. “Are you okay?”

“I’m fine.”

“…Are you cold?”

“Not really—you should keep the coat until you’re fully warmed.” She said, her eyes again on her slate’s now-blank screen. The throw rose and fell slowly with his breaths in her vision.

Then he dug around inside it somewhere. He stretched out a bit to reach something, then produced his own slate. He turned it on, sniffing a bit, and unlocked the screen. The battery icon was red.

“Can I show you something?” he asked.

The tremor in his voice made her seek out his face. He swallowed nervously.

“You may,” Zelda said.

He gave her a sheepish smile, opened his messages, and tapped on a conversation with someone named “Cheeter.”

She gave him a quizzical look.

“It’s what I call my sister,” he said with a smirk. He scrolled up to a certain part. “Here.”

And he handed it to her.

Link groaned. “Sorry. She just likes messing with me.”

A deep smile had grown on Zelda’s face. She’d tried to hide it by resting her mouth in her palm as she read. “I can tell,” she said muffled into it. “I- believe you’ve only a little battery life left to respond.”

“Yeah.” He reached for it. Then he smirked at her. “You can look.”

“Oh?”

He shut his slate off and stowed it back in his pocket. He stared at his lap for a moment, his face very red, then dragged his eyes up toward hers with a face clearly hoping for forgiveness. The smile on her face seemed to open his entire expression up.

“You’ve been… babbling about me for months?” she asked.

There it was—that soft laugh of his again.

She loved that laugh.

“You’re… very pretty. And super cute.”

She smiled deeper, her eyes seemingly searching the bus for reasons she might be interpreted as cute.

“There. You just did a cute thing,” he said.

“All I did was be confused.”

“You do this cute thing when you side-step.”

She blinked. “When I… side-step?”

“Yeah! Like when the bus is standing room only and you step left or right, you do it cutely.”

This time, she did stare at him like he was crazy.

“But I didn’t know how kind and thoughtful you were until today,” he said quietly. “Or how smart. Or how good you are at bringing people together.”

“Oh no- no, social skills are most certainly not my strong point.”

“No one else here made a move to help each other get through this until you did. No one else thought about something that legitimately could’ve killed people out there tonight. And it was you who organized this-“ he tugged the throw and lifted his mug- “wasn’t it?”

“Well. It wasn’t a difficult undertaking. We merely had to identify what we had available to bring you two back up to temperature. And,” she said with an involuntary hair-toss, “we only did so because you two braved the storm out of concern for people’s safety.”

A small smile tugged the corner of his mouth. “I can hold a shovel.”

“It didn’t have to be you.”

He shrugged. “I’m in good shape, my clothes were good for it, and I’m fast. It made sense.”

She huffed, squinting at him suspiciously, though she couldn’t stop smiling.

She supposed he could have been showing off.

Just a little.

Now that she knew she’d already caught his eye.

His eyebrows went further and further up under his (now extremely messy) bangs.

A yawn interrupted Zelda’s pondering of his motivations—a spectacular yawn indeed. She held the back of her hand to her mouth, as it didn’t seem to want to shut.

“Oh- nohh-“ Link yawned in response.

“Oh NOOhhh-hhh-hherrr!”

They both looked at Botrick.

He yawned again.

“Yawns’re infectious,” he said. “Especially at 2:30 am.”

“You… were watching us?” Link asked.

“What else do I have for entertainment?”

Any response Zelda might’ve had disappeared into another yawn.

Link gave her a sheepish look. Then he opened the throw with a questioning one.

She blinked at his arm, now outstretched on the plastic seatback, holding one edge of the small blanket.

“If- if you’d like to,” he said.

She only hesitated a moment.

Then she twisted to face forward and sit back in the seat. His arm wrapped around her shoulders, the throw with it, and after a moment, she rested her head on his shoulder.

She peered up at him.

His smile was absolutely adorable.

--

Zelda awoke pleasantly warm, even on the crown of her head, and with a bleary smile she didn’t understand at first, though her neck hurt a bit. She snuggled deeper into the warmth at her side, and an arm hugged her warmer and closer around her shoulders. Then she remembered.

Her eyelids drifted open to the odd sight of her own coat on someone else’s chest.

Link lifted his cheek from her hair. “Good morning,” he said.

She craned her neck, her chin now on his chest, and she could hardly believe she was looking up at him. “Hello,” she said.

Sunlight backlit his smile.

Then she noticed the commotion outside.

“Oh?”

“Yeah. Seems like we’ll be leaving soon. There’s plows.”

“Praise Hylia,” Botrick grumbled, arms crossed and eyes bloodshot.

“Are you alright to drive?” Zelda asked.

“I slept. I just didn’t like it.”

Link cocked his head at him. Then he looked at Zelda. “You officially awake?” he asked.

“Yes.”

He tugged questioningly at the throw.

She nodded, suddenly understanding, and sadly allowed that glorious warmth to be removed.

Link stood, stretched, and draped the throw over Botrick’s shoulders.

Botrick looked like he was going to protest—then he pulled it closed around his neck and muttered a thank you.

“We did save you some mead,” Link said.

“Can’t accept it. Driver can’t open-carry.”

Link’s face fell. “You sure?”

“Yup.”

--

The bus finally moved at 7:01 am, on 12% battery-life and higgledy-piggledy lanes carved by everything that moved before them. They bumped along at a snail’s pace, bouncing over every snow-hill made between standstill cars and the plow-passes of the last few hours. They all cried out in mixed indignation and laughter with each one, and when they finally felt the incline of the off-ramp, they cheered.

Link and Zelda exchanged coats and hats, and throws, cups, mug-warmers, and the responsibility of trash disposal were distributed among the passengers. Canvas-bag-woman retrieved Link’s bag with the red-cabbage in it, which had rolled toward the back of the bus.

Scruffy-man and Linda got off at the first stop, hand-in…

Hand?

She tromped down the steps without a second glance, but scruffy-man stopped and looked at Zelda. He then raised his hand with the most unnatural-looking smile she’d ever seen.

“I’m… taken,” he said with a nervous laugh.

Then he disembarked.

Link turned to her, wide-eyed. “See?! See, he thought so too!!”

When Urbosa’s turn arrived, she paused by them, too, and handed Zelda her card.

“That’s my number,” she said. “I want to be invited to the wedding.” Then she nodded at Link. “It was a pleasure working with you.”

Zelda stared, transfixed, at the card as the doors closed. Link turned beet red and rubbed the back of his neck.

The weather warning had been an understatement.

Easily three feet of snow had accumulated, with snow drifts and plow-mountains the height of the bus itself. Botrick was stopping to let people off at the edges of intersections rather than stops—otherwise they’d never make it. The sidewalks were haphazardly shoveled, and it appeared that in order to get to one of them, one had to navigate snow-hills the height of the parked cars.

Zelda’s stop was coming up.

She adjusted her hat and donned her gloves. They’d long-since dried.

“You’re next,” Link said.

“Mm-hm.”

“Uhm.” He swallowed. “I- could I-“

“Oh!!” she struggled to tug her slate free of her pocket. How could she have forgotten to get his number? After all that!!

He tried to turn his on, but it remained black. The battery had finally run out.

He rolled his eyes and returned it to his pocket, looking at her as she managed to turn her slate on, at least. The bus rolled to a stop while it was still booting up.

“Oh-“

Link stood and offered her his hand.

She took it.

His smile turned very lopsided. “I’m not far from here,” he said. “I can walk you home?”

She beamed at him.

They waved goodbye as they stamped down the steps. Link landed perfectly in a 2-foot deep bed of crispy snow like a gazelle, his feet punching perfect holes in it. Zelda didn’t quite have that level of grace, but she didn’t disgrace herself either, neither slipping nor wobbling on her way out.

The doors closed, and Botrick began to pull away.

A soft bonking sound drew Zelda’s eyes to the bus.

“OH!” She shouted.

Link spun, his hands outstretched as though ready to grapple. “What?!”

“STOP! STOP!!”

As the bus trundled, a strange little package bounced off its side, spinning merrily on the end of a length of twine.

“Oh NO!” Link yelled, and suddenly he was off like a shot with snow-mountain-climbing angled feet, hurrying to the top of the peak in that direction.

Zelda packed a massive snowball and threw it at the windows.

The bus squeaked to a halt, and the door opened.

“What in Hebra are you two DOING?!” Botrick yelled.

Zelda cupped her hands around her mouth. “THE PIGEON!!”

“Hylia save us!” floated Botrick’s voice as he put the bus into park.

--

They stumbled, slipped, climbed, and giggled their way to Zelda’s little house three streets straight in from the stop, their arms around each other’s shoulders half the time, not because they had to be, but because they couldn’t seem to help it.

A package of frozen pigeon hard as a brick (and accompanying peas) dangled from one of Link’s hands. He didn’t want to put it in the bag with either his red cabbage or eggs.

Only a small amount of mead remained in the bottle in Zelda’s bag.

When they reached Zelda’s walkway, Link waded through the snow to make a path for her—no one had been home to shovel. She thanked him the only proper way—by packing and throwing snowballs at his back.

“If I hadn’t just cut a path for you, I’d throw you in the snow,” he said.

She threw a snowball at his front.

“That’s it.” He stalked toward her.

She eeped and spun, but he was quicker. He had her in his arms in an instant, one under her shoulders and the other under her knees. She squeaked and wrapped her arms around his neck hard.

He swung her to the side. “One.”

She gasped and clung harder.

And again- “Two.”

She squeaked more.

“Three!” he said with a swing she was sure would send her into the neighbor’s yard, but he pulled her back to his chest with that soft laugh of his.

She looked up at him with trepidation.

He twinkled at her.

Then he walked her sideways, slowly and carefully so her feet and hair wouldn’t drag in the snow, up the steps, and deposited her safely at her front door.

She didn’t want to let go of his neck—but she did. She made a show of brushing the snow off his coat.

“Thanks,” he said.

“Any time.”

And then it occurred she still hadn’t gotten his number. Her smile fell.

He breathed a soft puff of air. “Well. I’d better dig my way home and do something with this pigeon. I-“ he hesitated. “I’d really like. To. Um…” he scratched the back of his head. “See you again.”

She curled one of her hands around his. “Did you… have plans today?”

“Today?” he asked.

“Yes. Anyone expecting you?”

He shook his head. “No.”

“Well, then.” She eyed his clothing. “If- if you’d like to, you’re welcome to come in.”

“Really?”

“Yes.”

He glanced at his still-spinning package of peas and poultry. Then he smiled. “I could cook for you.”

Her head jerked up. “Oh?!”

“Yeah! I don’t have the apples anymore, but I can still braise the red cabbage, and I can still do the pigeon as long as you have some oil and herbs, or even if you don’t, really, I can figure something out.”

“…I have apples,” she said.

“Well then! Uh-“ he paused, looking down at himself. “Although – maybe I’d better stop at my place first. I’ll be soaked.”

She shook her head. “You’ll end up snowy all over again on your way back. Unless there are any other reasons you wish to go that you’re uncomfortable telling me, in which case that’s completely fine, I propose instead that you borrow some of my comfy pants.”

“Comfy pants?”

“Indeed. Unreasonably large sweatpants I would have absolutely no business wearing in public, but which are utterly inoffensive to the tactile senses.”

He looked so deeply into her eyes. “They sound amazing.”

“They are.”

He nodded. “That settles it. Your pants, my food.”

“Happy Solstice,” she said with a grin.

“Happy Solstice,” he chuckled.

As they crossed the threshold, kicked off their snow-coated boots and hung their hats and coats, an earlier worry crossed Zelda’s mind: that he, unlike her, had no aversion to unpredictability.

She’d thought that might be a point of friction.

Relief widened her smile even further—for she’d been completely incorrect. This event had been utterly unpredictable in every way, but unless she was very mistaken, it was one of the best things that had ever happened to her.

He turned from the coat hooks, caught her eye, and flushed, and it occurred to Zelda that she may not be the only person in the room who had a little difficulty navigating social situations.

She took his hand again. “In case it isn’t clear—and it may not be, these things confuse me—I like you very much.”

He flushed deeper. “I like you very much, too.”

“And I am interested in kissing you.”

He seemed to almost laugh, but it turned quickly into a sideways smile that morphed into a swallow, then a nervous face. He squeezed her hand, and his next breaths arrived faster. “I am- very interested in kissing you.”

She raised an eyebrow. “Very?”

He nodded with a small, puffed laugh.

She took his other hand in hers. “But I will not pressure you.”

“Pressure me?”

“Yes. You appear nervous.”

“I am,” he said, with another swallow. “You’re-“ and another swallow- “so beautiful.”

Her breath caught. “And you- are extremely handsome.”

He shrugged.

It made her laugh a little. She brushed one of his bangs away from his eyes.

It seemed to pull them together, somehow.

The tip of his nose touched hers—then slid toward her cheek—and their lips met soft like feathers, with a silent thrill that made Zelda’s body rise, her hand warm on his cheek. When their lips parted, she could feel him trembling everywhere, even in the way he breathed on her skin.

“Best bus ride ever,” he said.

She found herself giggling, and his soft laugh turned into full-on laughter as he curled his arms up her back and she wrapped hers hard around his neck, an embrace of joy and of hope for a spectacular new year.

~~The End~~

[Note: A huge thank-you to my partner who let me borrow his phone for the purpose of making the images!]

[thehereticdiaries]

A (Not So) Meet Cute: Chapter Three

Chapter Summary: You're beginning to fall into a new routine with the members of Stray Kids. A phone call from the police stops you dead in your tracks.

Warnings: Descriptions of stalking, reader has a ton of anxiety (rightfully so), cops

Series Masterlist

A/N: will my MCs ever find peace? probably not.

When you woke up the next morning, you doubted that Seungmin would actually walk you to work. After all, why would he wake up early just to be your escort? You went through your routine as usual, making sure to double and triple check that your phone was charged and the charger was in your bag before heading out.

“Morning.” You jumped as you exited your apartment building. Holy shit, Seungmin was really waiting for you. He leaned against the back of a bench across from the entrance, eyebrow quirked in amusement. He wore a mask again today, but went without a hat.

“Oh my god, Seungmin, you didn’t have to get up early just to walk me to work.” You held your elbow in your hand, feeling guilty for burdening the idol. 

“I know I didn’t have to. I wanted to.” The corners of Seungmin’s eyes crinkled and he stood properly to brush his knuckles across your cheek. You gaped at him, suddenly feeling warm despite the cool autumn breeze. 

“Oh, um, okay. If you’re sure. The bus stop is this way.” You led the way to your usual stop, the bus arriving not long after you. The commute honestly wasn’t bad, yesterday had been a fluke. 

“I haven’t been on a public bus in years,” Seungmin mentioned as you found open seats. You raised your eyebrows.

“Really? I guess that makes sense, though. It’s safer for you to have a driver.” You could only assume that being on public transport had too much risk of being recognized.

“Technically, I’m not allowed to use buses.” 

“Are you going to get in trouble because of this?!” You scolded with a glare. Seungmin shrugged in response, completely unbothered with his little act of rebellion. You shook your head, turning back to your phone to scroll on Instagram for a bit. You angled your phone toward Seungmin when you noticed him looking over your shoulder. Fifteen minutes and four stops later, you stepped off the bus and made the final ten minute walk to the bookstore.

“I’ll be back later to walk you home,” Seungmin said as he held the door open for you.

“But-”

“No ‘buts’, see you later.” He nudged you into the store and went back the way you had come from. You were left baffled once again, but pushed it aside to focus on your shift.

Over the next week, every member of Stray Kids walked with you to and from work. Seungmin showed up the most out of everyone. It felt like overkill, but they wouldn’t accept any arguments from you. Today’s shift dragged on with how little there was to do. Everything was clean and stocked, there were hardly ten customers in the 3 hours since your shift started, and you’ve closed and reopened TikTok at least five times. The soft classical music playing over the store radio threatened to lull you to sleep. You were jolted out of your stupor by your phone buzzing on the counter.

“Hello?”

“Good afternoon, this is Officer Jeong. May I speak to Ms. Y/N L/N?” A serious-sounding man asked curtly.

“This is she.”

“Ah, hello Ms. L/N. I am calling on behalf of Detective Keng. She has some new information regarding your case and would like to call you today to discuss,” Officer Jeong explained. 

“Oh! Of course, I finish work at 3pm and should be home around 3:30,” you told the officer. He hummed, keys clicking swiftly in the background.

“That should work perfectly. Detective Keng will be finished with a meeting at 4pm, so she will be able to call shortly afterward.” You quickly wrote down the detective’s name and the time she’d be calling on a sticky note.

“Okay, thank you for letting me know, Officer.” You exchanged polite goodbyes and hung up. Cool, now that you were incredibly anxious, the next three hours of your shift should go by much more quickly.

You predicted correctly. After finishing the call with Officer Jeong, the afternoon flew by in a blur and soon enough Seungmin appeared to walk you home. You told him about the upcoming phone call and your subsequent anxiety while you sat on the bus.

“Do you want me to stay for the call?” Seungmin offered, albeit a little hesitantly.

“Honestly, that would be really nice. Are you sure, though? You sounded kinda nervous.”

“I’m sure. I just haven’t been in your apartment yet and I didn’t want to invite myself in, y’know?” He assured with a smile hidden behind his mask. Back at your apartment, Seungmin sat on your loveseat, watching you pace around your kitchen. He tried to get you to sit down and relax while you waited for the detective’s call, but you needed to do something to release your pent-up anxiety. Why didn’t Officer Jeong tell you if it was good news or bad news?! Finally, finally your phone rang. You rushed to sit next to Seungmin as you put the call on speaker.

“Hi, is this Y/N L/N?” A woman’s voice asked.

“Yes, I’m assuming this is Detective Keng?” 

“It is, I see Officer Jeong was able to talk to you earlier. I’ve been looking into Cho Siwoo, the man that harassed you, and I’ve found some information that may be disturbing to you,” Detective Keng stated. A pit of worry gnawed at your stomach.

“Before you continue, I have a friend with me. Is it okay if he listens to our conversation?” You were terrified of having to deal with this alone.

“That’s quite alright.” You sighed quietly in relief. “Now, Mr. Cho has been living with a friend for several months. We interviewed his friend, and searched the apartment. Ms. L/N, it appears that he has been following you far longer than we expected.”

“What?” An icy chill creeped its way into your bloodstream. Seungmin scooted slightly closer to you, resting a hand on your knee. 

“He has photos printed of you in a Ziploc bag amongst his other belongings. Some of these photos date back to April.” 

“Bu-but it’s October now,” you stammered. Seungmin tightened his grip on your knee, but you moved his hand to hold in your own. 

“I’m very sorry to tell you this, Ms. L/N, but he’s been watching for a very long time. There aren’t any photos of the inside of your apartment, nor any of you in compromising positions. But we’ve found that Mr. Cho has a reputation, and with that comes respect from others on the street.”

“What does that mean, exactly?” Seungmin interrupted. Detective Keng sighed tiredly, which only made you more nervous.

“It means that he has access to information. Ms. L/N, do you have somewhere you can stay for the time being? I’m afraid your apartment isn’t safe at the moment, not until we’re able to confirm who all of Mr. Cho’s associates are.” Panicked tears fell down your cheeks. You didn’t have anywhere else to go, all you had was this apartment. The closest family member to you was still at least three hours away. You couldn’t just leave.

“Yes, ma’am, she does,” Seungmin answered in your silence. You stared at him, wide-eyed, but he kept his gaze fixed on your phone. 

“Good. I’ll need the address. I would advise against walking anywhere alone for now. I promise you, I will make sure you and your home are safe again,” Detective Keng assured. The sharp edge to her voice confirmed her commitment. She gave you the number for her work phone, should you need anything, then ended the call. A sob wracked your body. Seungmin pulled you so you sat between his legs, both legs over one of his knees, and wrapped you tightly in his arms. You trembled violently in his hold.

“Why did you tell her I have somewhere to stay?! I hardly have friends in this city and my family is hours away, and I can’t afford–”

“Y/N,” Seungmin cut off your rambling, holding your face in his hands and forcing your eyes to meet his. “You’re staying with us.”

“What? No, Seungmin, I can’t ask you to do that.”

“Good thing you’re not asking. I’m telling you, you can stay with us,” he insisted. 

“Have you even asked the others about this? Even if you say I can, what if they say no?” Seungmin rolled his eyes, pulling out his phone and starting a call on speaker.

“Hey, is everything alright? You’re normally back by now,” Chan answered after a few rings. 

“No, actually, a detective called Y/N about her case. That guy’s been stalking her for months, Chan. Her apartment isn’t safe.” You bit your lip, tears still streaming silently down your face. Seungmin guided your head to rest on his shoulder and exhaustion washed over you.

“Holy shit, are you serious?” You could hear the others shouting in the background. “Guys, please, I need you to be quiet. This is important.”

“I wish I was joking. The detective said she should stay somewhere else while they continue their investigation. Thing is, she doesn’t have any family close by.” He was baiting Chan and he only felt slightly guilty about it.

“She can stay with us,” the leader offered without hesitation. 

“That’s what I told her. You believe me now?” Seungmin directed the question at you. 

“Wait, am I on speaker? Y/N, I promise no one would have an issue with you staying here,” Chan confirmed. You hated that you were being such a burden to them. They have enough on their plate as-is. But you didn’t have much of a choice.

“Okay,” you whimpered in a voice so tiny, it squeezed at the hearts of both Chan and Seungmin.

“We’re gonna get some stuff packed for her, then head over. I’ll call for a car.” 

“Good, I’ll see you both soon.” Chan hummed in acknowledgement. “And Y/N? I know what you’re thinking. You are not a burden.” You inhaled sharply, digging yourself further into Seungmin’s neck. He ended the call after another hasty goodbye.

For the next few minutes, you sat in silence to stave off your impending panic attack. Seungmin's chest vibrated as he quietly hummed the melody to Stars and Raindrops. You repeated the grounding exercise that Jisung showed you several times in your head. Now, with your panic dampened down to a nagging anxiety, you were suddenly very aware of the position of Seungmin’s hands. With the thumb of his left hand, he rubbed soothing circles on the nape of your neck, and his right sat patiently on your thigh. 

“I’ll grab a suitcase,” you muttered, hoping your hair hid your reddened face as you moved to your room. Unfortunately for you, Seungmin was a very observant man. He smirked, but chose not to say anything. He offered to help you pack and you immediately refused. Your soul would have literally left your body if he accidentally caught a glimpse of your underwear. You rolled your suitcase and duffle bag into the living room once you finished, pausing to sling your bag across your shoulder.

“I called Dohyun, he should be here soon.” Seungmin stood and plucked your duffle bag from your hand. “Let’s get down to the garage.” The car pulled up right as you stepped out of the elevator. Dohyun tossed you a sympathetic smile after you slid into the backseat. Seungmin sat next to you and nodded to Dohyun, who promptly began the drive back to the dorm.

All of the Stray Kids members have seen your apartment, but this was the first time you’ve been to their dorm. Honestly? It was much cleaner than you anticipated, considering eight young men lived here. Actually, the furniture and decor were really stylish. Jisung and Chan were the only ones in the living room. The leader stood to help with your luggage but paused when he noticed your red, puffy eyes. 

“I’m so sorry this is happening to you.” Chan wrapped you in a firm, comforting hug. You gripped the back of his t-shirt to ground yourself and fight back a fresh onslaught of tears. “Is there anything you need right now?”

“I just really want to take a nap.” You reluctantly pulled back so he could guide you to the couch. You allowed Jisung to bring your head to lay on his lap. He carded his fingers through your hair and the tension slowly melted from your body. You vaguely felt a second pair of hands tuck a fluffy blanket around you before succumbing to sleep.

Permanent Taglist: @furfoxsake22 @babygirlskz98 @miniverse-zen @holly-here

Series Taglist: Open, send an ask or comment to be added!

[tethered-heartstrings]

public transit is funny because it will be like "oh :( it takes 35 minutes to walk there :( ... BUT oH! looky! you can walk 20 minutes to this bus!... and then walk 15 minutes to your destination. ah but wait! this one only has a *12* minute walk to the bus... followed by walking 28 minutes... but also those buses only come every hour? also the first pick up is exactly when you need to be somewhere. maybe just die?"

[daegutowns]

your person (csc)

tags: gn!reader, brother’s best friend!cheol, uni!au, he is definitely in love with you, you had a REALLY big crush on him when you were younger, he was your first love, you work at a cafe, your older brother is jeonghan, cheol is very protective!

💌 thank you for the request, anon!

you were not new to the feeling of danger that sometimes came with working the night shift. you really couldn’t help it. your classes were during the daytime, so it left you having to work weekends and nights on the weekdays. the nighttimes could get crazy — drunk people from the bars down the street, guys who didn’t know any boundaries, and just a lot of unpredictable problems that occurred after the witching hour. 

it usually wasn’t a problem. your older brother jeonghan would pick you up on nights you worked late, since the buses around there stopped running around ten o’clock pm. but, jeonghan had an ill-timed meeting with his supervisor at his work. he had started his first paid internship (which was a very big deal!), so there was no way that he could get out of that one scot-free. he was usually good at asking you if you had another ride besides him, but that internship was kicking his ass. he was working even later than you. 

and, well, it was nearing eleven o’clock pm. the manager had an unexpected emergency and had to leave a bit early, so he left you with the keys. you were working the opening shift the next day, so he didn’t see a problem with it. but, now, it was just you and your other coworker chan. he lived right around the corner, so he would be walking home. 

your apartment wasn’t far from the cafe either. it was only a five minute walk to the subway then a quick 3 stops until you got out and had to walk another 5 minutes to your apartment building. it was not that bad for the city you lived in. the close proximity to your apartment was what drove you to apply to work at that cafe. 

in the last hour of your shift, the cafe was closed to the public and you were cleaning with chan. your friendly coworker had offered to at least walk you to the subway station and wait with you, but it was in the exact opposite direction of his apartment, so you declined. just for tonight, you would have to suck it up. you hoped that you could at least catch the last train 

as if the universe wanted to prove you wrong, the familiar sound of your ringtone chimed from your back pocket. the contact name ‘seungcheol’ glared up at you. choi seungcheol, the person calling you, was one of your brother’s childhood best friends (the other being hong joshua). he was one of the nicer one of your brother’s friends that included you in their fun. joshua just liked to make fun of you with jeonghan. 

holding your phone up to your ear with your shoulder, you answered the phone while you continued to wipe down the tables. (chan was doing the dishes in the back.) “hello? what’s up, cheol oppa?” 

“hey y/n, just wondering what you were doing,” he answered. 

you couldn’t help the blush that crept up to your cheeks, no matter how hard you tried to fight it back down. yeah, he had been your first love growing up. it was hard to forget about your past feelings that you gave up on as you grew older. it was even harder to forget when he would say things like, “just wondering what you were doing.”  ugh! 

“i’m still working right now. i’m about to clock out and leave soon, though,” you told him. “i guess you’re really bored if you’re calling me.” 

“ah, stop it,” seungcheol laughed on the other end of the line. “i can’t wonder what you’re doing? anyways, tell jeonghan when he picks you up to come over to my place. i made way too much food, so you guys should come eat it.” 

you tried to ignore the butterflies in your stomach. “liar,” you said in a teasing voice. “just say you wanted company. anyways, jeonghan’s working late, so he’s not picking me up.” 

“who is? did he ask shua?” he asked you. 

for a second, you debated on whether or not to lie to him and just say chan or your [nonexistent] manager was taking you home so he wouldn’t worry. you decided against it. “mmm, no. i’m just going to take the subway. it’s not far, and--” 

your words were cut off by his. “nope.” you had to pause, wondering what he was talking about. his words continued through the line. “you are definitely not walking alone on those streets at night,” seungcheol told you, his tone suddenly becoming stern and serious. you could hear the rustling on his end and the chiming of his keys. “you wait for me, got it?” 

“oh wait, oppa, you don’t have to,” you said to him, panicked. “i’ll be fine.” 

“yeah, you’ll be fine, my ass. i’m the one who won’t be fine,” seungcheol grumbled. “stay put, okay? i’m coming.” 

the line went dead, and you stood there to take it in for a second. you pursed your lips while you closed your eyes, fighting the grin that threatened to hijack your face. your ears were red hot, and your body was suddenly filled with energy, despite having worked a busy closing shift. 

when you and chan locked the doors, seungcheol’s car pulled up to the street right in front of the cafe. he rolled the windows down and said with a smile, “hey, i’m here.” 

you completely forgot about chan. your eyes could only gravitate towards him, a soft smile on your face. “hey, thanks for coming. you didn’t have to, you know.” you climbed into the passenger seat, only then remembering to wave ‘bye’ to your coworker. the smell of his cologne surrounded you as you sat next to him. “i could’ve called mina and asked her too.” (mina’s your best friend.) 

“it’s okay, you have me,” seungcheol replied, smiling over at you before his eyes quickly went back to the road. “you’ve always had me.” 

“yeah, i do, don’t i?” you said, smiling into your lap. you couldn’t fight it off this time. 

“y’know, my offer for some food at my place is not off the table,” seungcheol said. “we don’t even have to invite jeonghan.” 

“really?” you mused. “you like me that much?” 

his car stopped at the red light. his head turned to you, your eyes meeting under the ambience of the city lights and the sheen of soft red on your faces. you almost got lost in them, but the surprise from how serious and truthful he looked brought you back. 

“yeah, i like you that much.” 

[kisarastrife]

Ah lads.

What's happening in Dublin tonight is utter unabashed selfishness and utilising a tragedy in the name of lawlessness.

For anyone out of the loop, Dublin in Ireland had an atrocious incident today where people, including children, were stabbed outside a school. The male suspect was arrested. No one else is sought in relation to this incident.

A 5-year-old little girl is undergoing emergency treatment. There's no excuse nor reason for it. It was outrageous and horrendous. Rumours have spiraled of the male suspect being a so-called 'non-national'. So what? A criminal is a criminal, the back ground doesn't matter.

But the riots and protests in the capital city in the so-called name of that little girl are a charade for people looting and attacking Gardaí. The Irish police force are 95% unarmed; specialist units have firearms and a range of non-lethal weapons. Regular on the street Gardaí have pepper-spray and a retractable baton, that's it. But these allegedly 'protesting' people are isolating Gardaí, beating them up, assaulting them, setting fire to police cars, public buses, public trams, looting shops, setting off fireworks at officers and threatening to kill immigrants.

This is wrong.

And it's a sad day for Ireland when the people on the dole and job-seekers are the ones who are setting a reputation for our country, not the law-abiding people just trying to get by.

A little girl and others were stabbed by a man who was immediately arrested and prevented from doing any more harm. How does looting shops and assaulting people just doing their jobs really stand up for that 5 year old?

[mysteryshoptls]

SSR Leona Kingscholar Beastly Garb Personal Story: Part 1

"Whatever I feel like doing."

Part 1 (Part 2) (Part 3)

[Sports Field]

Leona: We'll end today's practice here. Make sure you do your cool down exercise on your own.

Magift Club Members: YESSIR!!!

Leona: Ahh, I'm beat. Think I'll head back to the dorm and snooze a bit.

Epel: Um, Leona-san! There's something I'd like to ask of you…

Leona: Ask of me? If it's something stupid, I ain't gonna hear you out.

Epel: Uhhm… That means I can still ask, right? Thank you very much.

Epel: Recently, I keep missing passes and dropping discs a lot.

Epel: Please tell me a way to train so I can improve my control of the disc and make less mistakes!

Leona: Oh, is that all? Don't worry about it. Bye.

Epel: Eh… Wait, no, I wanted more specific advice…!

???: EH!

Epel/Leona: ?

Ruggie: You guys are gonna go into town? By bus?

Magift Club Member A: Yeah, but… What's up, Ruggie? You wanna go too?

Magift Club Member B: You can come, but we're not gonna buy you any food.

Ruggie: Tch, that sucks. But puttin' that aside… If you're headin' there, can I getcha to buy somethin' for me?

Ruggie: It might be a liiiittle heavy, but… It should be easy enough for two people to carry 20 boxes of sports drink powder packets!

Magift Club Member A: No way!! You can do that by sending a first year to the Mystery Shop or something, instead.

Ruggie: YEAH BUT THE SPORTIN' GOODS STORE IN TOWN'S ABOUT 6 MADOL CHEAPER PER BOX!!!!!

Ruggie: If I ask you guys to do it for me, then that saves me on the bus fare, and the club's money. It's basically killing two birds with one stone.

Magift Club Member B: Not my problem. It's not like that amount saved is gonna go into our pockets or anything… If you want to save money so bad, why don't you go yourself?

Ruggie: Mmkay, I mean, I don't really care～ But there's that time you owe me from when I swapped clubroom cleaning duties with ya…

Magift Club Member A: O-Okay, okay! We'll go buy some on the way back!

Ruggie: Thanks a bunch. 'Kay, here's the money for it. I need the usual 20 boxes of sports drinks!

Leona: Man, you're being so cheap…

Ruggie: Ah, Leona-san. Were you listening to all that?

Ruggie: I'm not being cheap at all. That's me saving 6 Madol on 20 boxes each, y'know!? It's completely a rip-off otherwise!

Epel: 20 boxes of sports drink powder…

Epel: That'd be difficult to carry by broom, maybe? I guess it would be pretty impossible to bring back without taking the bus.

Ruggie: Riiight? Brooms're great 'cause you don't gotta think about schedules and fares, but...

Ruggie: If you gotta carry stuff, it's basically the pits…. Or more like, someone scrawny like me can't do that.

Epel: Yes… Whenever I try to fly with my stuff on the broom, I'm always swaying so hard it makes me anxious…

Epel: If I try to use magic to carry it, then I get so focused on the floating luggage that my speed drops.

Leona: See, you get it.

Ruggie: Huh, but your flight ability's way out of our range.

Leona: Well, yeah. But that's not what I'm talking about.

Leona: I meant about what I said to Epel earlier to not worry about making mistakes when handling the disc.

Leona: Your flying's one of the best out of all the first years.

Leona: If you're gonna try to greedily grab at everything and neglect your actual strong point, how're you actually gonna be useful?

Epel: That's…

Leona: You don't need to think about anything unnecessary right now.

Leona: If you think about it, the disc is just a single object. Moving it with magic is like, the fundamentals.

Leona: As long as you keep up your studies, you'll improve over time.

Epel: I see…!

Ruggie: Shishishi, can you really say that, though, since you skip all your classes?

Leona: Hah?

Epel: Ahahaha…

Leona: But when it comes to shopping… You guys figure it out on your own.

Ruggie: Ehhh. Even if you say that…

Ruggie: Public transportation costs money, and there's not that many buses running on Sage's Island to start with!

Ruggie: If we used brooms, then that'd help save time, but… If there's a ton to buy, then we'd need a bunch of people to work together to go get it.

Leona: Luckily, the Magical Shift Club has more members than any other club. Shouldn't be a problem.

Ruggie: What're you even saying? There's no way any of these guys would take on something like this before coming to practice.

Epel: And magical wheels… Aren't really geared towards hauling stuff, either.

Ruggie: Maaan, it'd be great if we had someone who could bust out a car in times like these.

Ruggie: If we did, it'd be so easy to go shoppin' for the club, and we could totally use it to take full advantage of all the bargains that happen in town!

Leona: …

Epel: Most of the adults back home have cars… But I don't think I know anyone here at school with a license, I think?

Ruggie: I mean, the first years're probably too young, and everyone at our school's pretty busy anyway. I don't think there's anyone who'd be able to get one.

Epel: I thought you'd be someone to get something as useful as a license as soon as he could, Ruggie-san.

Ruggie: Eh? But getting a license and renewin' it costs money, don't it?

Leona: How long're you guys going to be talking about something you can't have? No one can drive, so just give it up.

Leona: C'mon, it's an easy decision. Just don't go to into town.

Leona: Night Raven College is a prestigious Magical Shift school. Our club's really well funded, if not abundantly so.

Leona: Basically, the Mystery Shop should be enough. Just don't be greedy.

Ruggie: Tch. This island's reaaaally inconvenient.

Part 1 (Part 2) (Part 3)

Requested by @dorito9708 and @kiingsroar.

[mtnikolle]

Clearing my first roadblock for @kakairu-rocks 2024 Maze Challenge: Single Parents AU

A seal appeared after Kakashi tried to skip roadblocks and teleported him back to the start. Bad Kakashi!

Making New Connections

Summary: Kakashi volunteered to chaperone for Naruto's field trip. That... may have been a mistake. But Naruto was pretty cute like this. And he got to meet Iruka, who understands the trials and tribulations of single parenthood. So, really, it was good.

🐵🐍🐻🐸🦫🦜🦊🦆

Kakashi almost couldn't believe that he'd volunteered to supervise Naruto's field trip to the local zoo. What did he know about either animals or 7 year olds? Then he looked down at Naruto, sitting, calmly for once (or so he assumed, based on what his teacher, Ms. Mitarashi was always telling him), and knew he'd do just about anything for the little brat (affectionate).

“As I call your names, go line up with your parent-chaperone.”

Kakashi could see most of the kids were paying attention, but at least three girls were “whispering” together at something under one of their desks, one boy was playing with cars on his desk, and another two? three? boys were passing a paper back and forth.

“Mr. Hatake?”

Kakashi waved at the kids.

“Naruto, Kiba, Amir, Zion, and John are with you.”

Ah, one of the boys no longer paying attention was Naruto. At least he knew who that one was. Another of the boys poked him on his way up the aisle toward Kakashi. When Naruto looked up to… say something, Kakashi made eye contact and raised his eyebrows. Naruto got with the program and grabbed his backpack to join them. Ms. Mitarashi was already calling the next group of students as Kakashi led his group out of the classroom.

🐵🐍🐻🐸🦫🦜🦊🦆

The bus ride to the Konoha Zoo was… something. Loud was probably the best descriptor. Despite the kids having been told to sit with their groups, Kakashi noticed that his was scattered all over. He could only assume the same was true of the other groups. He sat in one of the seats, debating standing to yell at the kids, when another body landed beside him.

“Don't bother.”

“Excuse me?”

“I recognize the look on your face from my own mirror— or would, if I brought a mirror on these trips.” The man held out his hand. “Iruka Umino.”

Kakashi took it. “Kakashi Hatake. What do you mean?”

“They won't listen. Best to save your voice for later.” The man, Iruka, explained.

“Oh.” That made a lot of sense, though Kakashi internally shuddered to think of the implications.

Ms. Mitarashi climbed onto the bus after the last of the students and took a final headcount. With a jolt, the bus started toward the zoo. Kakashi didn't know buses were so loud. The public buses he sometimes took certainly aren't.

Once the ride was somewhat smoother and the sound didn't feel as bone-rattling, Kakashi asked, “You chaperone a lot of these trips?”

Iruka nodded, then looked over his shoulder at a quiet boy who looked nothing like him. “Ever since I took in Sasuke and his older brother, Itachi.” Iruka was quiet for a while. Kakashi supposed he's a quiet guy, despite being the first of them to speak. Kakashi was about to turn his attention to the window when life came back to Iruka's face and he asked, “Which is your gremlin?”

Kakashi gave a mental snort. ‘Gremlin,’ indeed. “Naruto. Do you know him?”

“Ah, yes, the active blonde?”

“‘Active’ is a kind description. Gremlin is closer to right.”

Iruka laughed. “He does seem pretty adventurous when I come visit the class.”

They chatted the rest of the way to the zoo. Kakashi was sure he would find Iruka's insights and advice useful.

🐵🐍🐻🐸🦫🦜🦊🦆

They'd barely made it through the entrance before Naruto bolted for the Reptile House.

“Naruto!” Naruto slowed, but didn't stop. “Wait for the group!” He didn't— kinda— he was waiting by the entrance. Probably because there was a small, fenced pond just outside with a couple of… frogs? sunning and swimming.

Naruto grabbed his sleeve. “Dad! Look at them! They're so tiny!”

The other boys gathered around to look, too. The frogs were smaller than even Naruto's small hand. Kakashi wondered how Naruto had even seen them, quick as he'd been running.

“They sure are. Do you know what kind they are?”

Naruto shrugged, like it didn't even matter. To him, it probably didn't. Kakashi still looked around for some kind of placard. Nothing out here, so maybe inside. Not that it mattered—all five boys were enthralled now with watching the two tiny frogs hop in and around their little pond. Naruto, completely focused like this, was completely adorable, and reminded Kakashi a lot of both Minato and Kushina when they had focused in on their individual fixations.

With the boys occupied, Kakashi took a moment to look around. The boys had blasted straight passed the confectionary stand—just as well, Kakashi didn't think any of them needed extra fuel. Beyond the Reptile House (which Kakashi thought likely housed more than reptiles, given the frogs outside) was a path with a sign that read ‘Northern Mammals.’ He figured that was likely both Alaskan and northern Canadian. Then he wondered if there might be penguins… Or polar bears! How would any if those cold weather creatures do living down here…?

Unfortunately, Kakashi's mind went for a wander. Fortunately, it came back in time to see the last of the boys slipping into the Reptile House. Kakashi lunged to follow after them. It was going to be a long day.

🐵🐍🐻🐸🦫🦜🦊🦆

It was a long morning. The boys ran from one exhibit to the next. Kakashi's only consolation was that they were content to remain in a group, even if they each had their turn being impatient with someone else's preoccupation. As Naruto had been enthralled by many of the reptiles and amphibians, Kiba was with many of the canine species, Amir with the great cats, Zion with the butterflies and other insects, and John with the monkeys.

By the time lunch rolled around, Kakashi couldn't wait to regroup with the rest of the class. Then the children could entertain themselves and enjoy more communal supervision.

Once they were within sight of the park where the class would have lunch, Kakashi let the kids sprint the rest of the way. He made his own beeline for the adult table where a number of parents were already sitting. Actually, it looked like all the other parents had arrived before his group. (Was he doomed to always be the last to arrive? He could swear his life hadn't been like that before Naruto…) He was in luck, too, the four moms had taken over one end of the picnic table for themselves, which left him a spot opposite Iruka.

Iruka looked up from his sandwich and waved as Kakashi sat down.

“Hey, how'd your group do this morning?”

Kakashi drooped dramatically. “It started with my kid taking off for the reptiles, and I'm not sure it stopped.”

Iruka laughed at him and winked. “Just wait until they refuel!”

Kakashi shuddered and pulled out his own lunch. He'd made onigiri for himself and Naruto last night—stuffed with supper's leftovers. He looked at what the other parents were eating and was surprised by the variety. Curried chickpeas over rice, pizza, pita wraps. It all looked so good.

“And your group? Were they as enthusiastic?” He took a bite of his onigiri after asking.

Iruka smiled. “My groups tend to be pretty calm. Ms. Mitarashi likes to put kids of similar energy levels together. It usually works out so each kid is in a group with a friend. Sasuke is pretty quiet, so he ends up with other kids who are pretty calm.”

Kakashi banged his head on the table. “That means I'm doomed whenever I can come again!”

His dramatics attracted the attention of the moms, and the one sitting next to him patted his shoulder consolingly. “I feel you.” She pointed at one of the boys trying to eat while hanging upside down from the monkey bars. “That one's mine, so my group is always high energy, too.”

All the adults at the table spent time trading stories about their kids and groups. The other parents also shared stories about other field trips that year or the year previous. Some were nightmare inducing, some were hilarious. Overall, Kakashi decided he wanted to make time to chaperone more of these trips.

🐵🐍🐻🐸🦫🦜🦊🦆

The bus ride back to the school seemed unnaturally quiet. No one was yelling, no one was trying to move from one seat to another, no one was standing. Not even Naruto. The kids must have been as wrung out as Kakashi felt—and his energy reserves were significantly lower than theirs. He hoped this quiet would carry over to the house.

“Bet your wife will be happy that Naruto ran himself out today.”

Kakashi turned toward Iruka with a wry grin. “No wife.” And before Iruka could express any condolences, he continued, “Naruto's adopted.”

“Ah, similar to my situation with Sasuke and Itachi, then.”

Kakashi nodded. He'd picked up on that implication to Iruka's earlier statement.

“There's a single parents group that meets once a month.” Kakashi perked up at the information. “We informally call it Coffee and Commiseration.” Iruka's smile twitched into an almost smirk when he said it. Kakashi could completely understand how the name came to be. “It's mostly just a chance to spend time with other adults who understand. We rotate houses, so the kids play together and the rest of us can visit. Are you interested?”

“Hell, yes!” Talking with his other friends was good, but they were either married with their own kids, or had none at all.

Iruka flashed him a wide smile. “The meeting is at my house this month. This Saturday, actually.” He held out his phone to Kakashi. “If you give me your contact information, I can text you the details.”

The bus pulled up to the school, so Kakashi quickly typed in the information and passed the phone back. He looked forward to getting to know Iruka better.

[mood2you]

(Cecil Palmer voice) Expensive and Useless things for YH enployees to do that does not give them a feeling of grounding OR "The Yosemite Experience"

Working nights at The Lodge or Curry Village? You can take a 2 hour bus ride back and forth from beautiful Mariposa. Stop off at the library or Happy Burger for one hour before getting back on the scenic bus to your destination before 2:30 PM. Hop on the bus at 9. Good Burger Cafe, the largest menu in the Sierra. It only costs $22! If you miss public transportation or charter buses, this will make you lonely.

Tired? working mornings? Shop at the gift shops everyday [my "commercialized icons of half dome make me sick" speech except I got Cecil to do it] disconnected from the reality that mugs and cups with shapes on it are neat

Argue with the international students about what California really means. Ah yes I remember the episode where I talked about visiting Europe. If they had tried to convince me that 30 is a good speed limit I would have said "see ya later Jack!" set the post office on fire why not!

[pynkhues]

Hey Sophie, I'm going to be in Melbourne soon! Do you have any tips for what to do, see, or eat?

Hey! Ah! How exciting! Melbourne's a really fun city to visit, and I feel really does have something for everyone.

Hmmm, tip wise, I think I'd say:

grab a Myki card for public transport. You can buy these at any news agent, train station or petrol station. Melbourne has a free inner-city tramzone, which is great for getting around the CBD, but you should also take advantage of Melbourne's incredibly good train network which'll open up the broader city to you. A Myki card works on all forms of public transport - buses, trams (for trams outside of the free tram zone) and trains - so they're pretty straight forward.

On that note, the PTV app is pretty useless for public transport (you're better off using Google maps tbh), but it does let you top up your Myki instantly via your phone, which makes it useful. The TramTracker app is very good for trams though, especially because you can type in the number of the tram you're on and know exactly which stops you're heading towards. The logos look like this: (trust the doggo)

Don't drive in the city - it's a layer of hell.

Have a little bit of cash on you. Most places take cards or smart watches, but you'll need gold coins for certain things too, particularly accessing certain gardens or markets.

Pack for all weather. Melbourne's known for having four seasons in a day, and having lived here for almost five years now, it's not an exaggeration. Layering is your friend, and always have an umbrella!

Hook turns are a real thing here, and whether you're driving or just crossing the road, they're worth being aware of.

Places to visit

Melbourne's famous for its street art, and while you can just wander around and observe yourself, doing a tour is particularly fun (and makes sure you see the best stuff!)

Australian Centre for the Moving Image (ACMI) is one of my favourite places to show out-of-towners (although that's probably partly just because it's me, haha). It's a museum of film, tv and games, and explores the moving image as both a form of commercial entertainment and as a form of art. Their cinema is often playing really interesting films too.

National Gallery Victoria is always worth checking out.

Chapel Street is known for it's little galleries, restaurants and indie shops, and makes for a fun day out.

Queen Vic Market and South Melbourne Market are both iconic and for good reason. They've been operational since the mid-1800s, and you can often feel that when you're in them. They can get packed though, so just a heads up.

I love love love heritage buildings and exploring history through place, so will always recommend checking out the National Trust's historic sites in Melbourne. Rippon Lea Estate is a personal fave and only about 20 minutes out of the CBD on the train. They shot parts of Miss Fisher there, and even if you don't get to tour the house (although I recommend you do!) even just exploring the gardens are beautiful.

Abbotsford Convent & Collingwood Children's Farm are right next door to each other and a pretty amazing day out.

If you fancy seeing a movie, my all time fave cinemas are The Classic and The Lido, which are owned by the same family. Either spot is worth checking out.

If you're looking to see a show or performance, you can look for the big ones at any of the big theatres, but for smaller, exciting indie stuff, I'd check out the programs at Malthouse, La Mama, Art House, Meat Market, and Footscray Community Arts Centre,

What to eat

Wellllll, this ultimately depends on your budget, haha, since Melbourne restaurants can run the gamut. Some of my favourite restaurants that are a bit more on the expensive side but great for a special occasion:

Maha's probably my favourite restaurant in Melbourne? It's modern Middle Eastern cuisine and their seafood in particular is divine. It's a set menu, and like I said, a little exy, haha.

Mabu Mabu is modern Australian First Nations (Torres Strait Islander) cuisine and is very good! They sell some of their own sauces too, and I highly recommend snagging their pineapple hot sauce! It's also very easy to get to, as it's located in Fed Square right next to the Koori Heritage Trust which often has Indigenous exhibitions on (and a great gift store if you're looking for anything to take home)

Chin Chin's - delicious South East Asian fusion cuisine. Again, a little exy.

Transformer - incredible vegetarian restaurant. They do both ala carte and a fixed menu. Highly recommend their fixed menu! They're also very good with dietary requirements, particularly if you're gluten free or if you have annoying allergies for a vegetarian restaurant like me, haha (tomato and eggplant).

Cheaper eats that are also delicious:

A little out in the South Side 'burbs, but Saigon Mamma is my favourite Vietnamese restaurant in Melbourne.

Rice Paper Scissors is good too, as is Chocolate Buddha, Green Man's Arms, and oh! Studley Park Boathouse is a fave. It's beautiful location-wise with pretty standard (but good) pub eats, and they've got a lot of water birds you can feed and boats you can hire pretty cheap ($30 for a kayak, $40 for a row boat) to row along the Yarra River. It's also really close to the Convent + Children's Farm if you fancy making a day of it.

If you're willing to travel a little further out of inner Melbourne, I'd also suggest:

Healesville Sanctuary - the bird show is i n c r e d i b l e. I took my nephews last year and the older one still talks about it, haha.

Mornington Penninsula Hot Springs - Mornington Penninsula is a great day trip from Melbourne. It's only just over an hour drive, and it's pretty stunning. Full of wineries and beachy walks. The hot springs are so relaxing though, and really centring if you need it.

Mount Macedon - home of the Hanging Rock of Picnic at Hanging Rock fame! Plus it's just a beautiful area.

Cranborne Gardens - the Royal Botanical Gardens in the city are beautiful too, but I'm particularly partial to these ones.

Hope this gets you started, and just let me know if you have any other questions!

[spider-gets-artsy]

🚌 Isidie

🚌How do you normally get around/travel? Would they ever be able to afford their own scuttlebuggy?

"I use public transportation! The city here is pretty busy, so I like to think busing is the best way to go about traveling. Also, I think it's better for the environment? I suppose biking would be an even more environmentally friendly choice, but, ah, I'm not exactly in the best shape. It tuckers me out pretty quickly, I'm not sure if I'd last the entire trip from my hivestem to the restaurant! As for being able to afford a scuttlebuggy, well... I'm barely paid enough to afford my hivestem. I don't think that's really in the stars for me!"

[safaridesert]

Peace of Mind in the City of Gold: Safety in Dubai

Ah, Dubai! The city of gold, skyscrapers that touch the clouds, and a lifestyle that many dream of. If you're planning a trip or just curious about this incredible destination, you might be wondering: is it safe? Well, you’re in luck! Safety in Dubai is often one of the first questions on a traveler’s mind, and frankly, it’s a huge part of what makes this place so appealing. So, let’s dive in!

Why Dubai is Considered Safe

Let’s get straight to the point: Dubai is one of the safest cities in the world. It's kind of like that well-guarded treasure everyone wants to find—except here, the treasure is peace of mind! The crime rates in Dubai are strikingly low.

You rarely hear about serious crime, and that's largely due to the stringent law enforcement. Police presence is noticeable, and they’re always ready to assist. This gives a warm, fuzzy feeling that, even in the hustle and bustle, you can rest assured that help is just a whistle away.

The Role of Government in Ensuring Safety

So, what’s the secret sauce behind all this safety? Well, the Dubai government has enacted various laws and regulations focused on the well-being of residents and tourists alike. They’re constantly investing in infrastructure, security systems, and community programs aimed at keeping everything in check.

It's like that diligent landlord who repairs everything promptly, making sure you feel at home and safe. Whether it's through high-tech surveillance or community policing, the government is genuinely committed to ensuring safety.

Cultural Norms that Promote Safety

A unique aspect that contributes to safety in Dubai is the cultural norms. There’s a strong emphasis on respect and social conduct. Most people here follow the rules—kind of like how everyone respects the traffic signals at a busy intersection.

Community engagement is another big piece of the puzzle. Locals take pride in maintaining a safe environment. It's not rare for residents to look out for each other, creating a tightly knit community vibe that makes safety feel like a group effort.

Safety in Public Spaces

If you’re planning to enjoy parks and recreational areas, you’re in for a treat! Public parks in Dubai are well-maintained and regularly monitored, providing a safe space for families and individuals alike.

Even at tourist attractions, you’ll often see security personnel. This means you can snap that perfect Instagram pic without worrying about your surroundings.

Transportation Safety

What about getting around the city? Whether you’re using public transport or hailing a cab, safety is a top priority. The public transport system is not just efficient but also secure. Buses and the metro come equipped with surveillance cameras and staff on standby, giving you one less thing to worry about.

Oh, and let’s not forget about road safety! Roads are well-marked and maintained, and rules are enforced with care, making it a breeze to navigate the city without feeling like a game of bumper cars.

Accommodation Safety

Planning to stay in a hotel? Great choice! Most accommodations in Dubai come with top-notch security features—from 24/7 surveillance cameras to electronic key card systems. Many hotels also employ concierge services to assist you at any time, giving you that added layer of convenience and safety.

Even local vacation rentals generally follow strict safety protocols, so you can focus on creating beautiful memories without any hiccups.

Health and Safety Regulations

Let’s talk health. The healthcare services in Dubai are nothing short of excellent. Whether it’s routine check-ups or emergency services, you can count on quick and effective care.

Moreover, food safety is strictly regulated. Restaurants must follow hygiene standards, so munch away happily—your stomach will thank you!

Safety for Women Travelers

Ladies, if you're considering a solo trip to Dubai, you’re in for a treat! The city is known for its welcoming attitude towards women. Many measures are specifically aimed at ensuring safety for female tourists—from well-lit streets to women-only carriages on public transport.

It’s also common for women to wander around freely without constantly looking over their shoulders. Dubai’s vibe is all about respect, and that goes for everyone.

Safety During Events and Festivals

If you plan to visit during events and festivals, you’re in for a lively experience! Dubai knows how to throw a party. To ensure crowd safety, authorities implement solid crowd management strategies. They also have emergency protocols in place, so you can enjoy the festivities without any worries.

What’s more, if something doesn’t go as planned, help is usually just a call or a few steps away.

How to Stay Safe While Exploring

Now, let’s get into some common-sense tips for ensuring your safety while exploring. Always keep your belongings close to you and be mindful of your surroundings. If you’re heading out for a night adventure, stick to well-lit areas and avoid wandering into unfamiliar neighborhoods.

Also, check travel guides or apps to know which areas are buzzing with activity and which ones are best to avoid. Keeping a local SIM card handy can be a lifesaver for navigation and local information.

Dealing with Emergencies

In any destination, it’s wise to be prepared for the unexpected. In Dubai, knowing how to contact local authorities can be super helpful. The local emergency number is 999, so jot that down in your phone or on a piece of paper, just in case.

If you find yourself in a sticky situation, the police are known for their efficiency and professionalism. Don’t hesitate to reach out—they are there to help!

Understanding the Legal System

Every country has its own set of laws and regulations, and Dubai is no different. Understanding the local laws can keep you out of trouble. For instance, public displays of affection are frowned upon, and drinking in public spaces is against the law. It’s essential to familiarize yourself with these laws to stay safe and make the most out of your visit.

Think of it like reading the rules before playing a board game—it just makes things smoother!

Travel Insurance and Safety

Last but definitely not least, consider travel insurance. It’s like a safety net if anything unexpected comes your way—be it health issues or lost belongings. Do your research on what’s covered and choose a plan that gives you peace of mind while you explore everything Dubai has to offer.

Conclusion

So, what’s the final verdict? Safety in Dubai is not just a marketing gimmick; it’s the real deal! With its low crime rates, rigorous law enforcement, and a cultural emphasis on community well-being, you can roam freely without constantly looking over your shoulder. Whether you’re there for the breathtaking architecture, the shopping, or simply to soak in the culture, Dubai genuinely offers a safe and welcoming environment for everyone. So don’t hesitate; pack those bags and get ready for an unforgettable trip!

FAQs

1. Is Dubai safe for solo travelers?Absolutely! Dubai is considered one of the safest cities in the world, making it a great destination for solo travelers, both men and women.

2. What should I avoid while in Dubai?Avoid public displays of affection and showing disrespect to local customs, as these can lead to legal issues.

3. Are emergency services reliable in Dubai?Yes, emergency services in Dubai are efficient and well-coordinated. For emergencies, dial 999.

4. Can I drink alcohol in Dubai?You can drink alcohol in licensed venues, such as hotels and clubs, but drinking in public places is prohibited.5. Is it safe to use public transportation in Dubai?Yes, public transportation is safe and equipped with security measures, making it a comfortable option for getting around the city.

[anon-apple]

Hot Soup and Soft Bread 11

Table of Contents and Synopsis <- Chapter 10 Read on WordPress

Chapter 11: Instant Noodles with an Egg V

After driving back to his place, Qiuyan called Cunqu. Cunqu picked up. Qiuyan was lying on his stomach on his bed with both legs sticking up. He laughed with a “hehe” and said: “This is our first day together. Ge, if it wasn’t this late, I would have gone downstairs and beat a gong and some drums to announce this good news to the world.” 

Cunqu leaned against the backboard of his bed and laughed with him. Qiuyan kept dumbly laughing “hehe” from his end until Cunqu said he wanted to hang up and go to sleep. Qiuyan flopped upright like a carp leaping out of the water and reluctantly said: “Ah, you’re already going to sleep? Ge, how about I drive back to see you. You have to open the door for me.”

Cunqu said from his end of the call: “Go and take a cold shower to clear your head. You have to go to work in a few hours.”

Qiuyan replied “Oh” with dissatisfaction. Then he really went and took a cold shower.

The next day, Qiuyan brought a few dishes Cunqu liked and whistled as he walked up to the fifth floor. He didn’t help Liu Xiaoying set the table like usual, but instead just dropped off the meal boxes and immediately entered Cunqu’s room. 

Xiaoying turned her head to say something to him, only to see a few transparent plastic takeout boxes on the dining table. Qiuyan sat at the edge of the bed and pulled Cunqu into his arms. He happily asked: “Did you miss me?”

Cunqu couldn’t catch his breath in the tight hug. Qiuyan abruptly let go and fished out his phone to show Cunqu that he had changed his contact information to “Mine” followed by a heart emoji. He asked Cunqu what he thought. Cunqu nodded and said: “Mmh. Rather cheesy.”

Qiuyan grumbled: “How is it cheesy. This 'Mine' implies ‘My love’, you are ‘my love’, you know?” 

Cunqu laughed and said: “I’m getting goosebumps.”

During dinner, Xiaoying and Qiuyan chattered about unimportant matters as usual. Halfway through, when Xiaoying got up to get a ladle from the kitchen, Qiuyan suddenly turned and smacked a kiss on Cunqu’s cheek.

When Xiaoying turned back around, Cunqu was glaring at Qiuyan. The latter, shaking his leg, beamed as he passed him some shrimp with his chopsticks.

--

The night when Qiuyan headed back to his village to attend A’Shan’s wedding, Cunqu sat on his bed and stared blankly at his phone screen. Qiuyan already called him earlier and told him that he needed to spend the night in the village and couldn’t come to find him. After the call, he texted him the same thing. He ended his text with numerous “kiss kiss” emojis. 

Cunqu was a bit unaccustomed to not being able to see Qiuyan at night. When he was in a relationship in college, the two of them had the same major and their date location was always the library where they would bury their heads and study. It felt more like they were study buddies rather than a couple. Only when he had a problem he couldn’t solve, he’d turn and ask his boyfriend first. At this point, he could no longer remember who confessed to whom. But this type of relationship somehow managed to uneventfully last almost 2 years; it’s quite miraculous. 

Cunqu thought for a while and then sent a text: Did you arrive home?

Qiuyan didn’t look at his phone. He headed out late and when he arrived at the village, the pre-meal firecrackers had already been set off. Qiuyan squeezed into the banquet hall and found Qiu Xuemei between the ten bustling banquet tables. He called out: “Mom.”

Xuemei, crunching on some melon seeds, furrowed her eyebrows and asked: “Who are you? My son’s been missing for months, his whereabouts completely unknown. How come there’s suddenly this person calling me mom now?”

The people at her table laughed. Qiuyan naturally sat down next to her and pulled at her hand. “I’ve been busy.”

Xuemei replied: “Yes, I know. If the city didn’t have you driving their buses, the entire public transportation system would collapse.”

Qiuyan pointed at his dad who was playing Fight the Landlord to the side and said to him: “Zhong Baocheng can you do something about your wife. She’s all mocking and ridicule as soon as I walk up.”

Baocheng mumbled something and continued staring at the cards on his screen.

The windows of the banquet hall were covered with the cutout of the character ‘joy’; the food consisted of the common dishes for a village banquet. A’Shan’s wedding was extremely simple. He and his wife were from the same village; the two families’ homes were close enough that they didn’t even need to drive. So the steps that could be skipped were skipped. When A’Shan and his wife came out to make a toast, Da Yu followed them from behind and helped pour the alcohol and hold the glasses. 

After the banquet dispersed, A’Shan took off his suit jacket and draped it on one shoulder, then he handed Qiuyan and Da Yu each a cigarette. The three of them leaned against the wall in the banquet hall’s back garden and silently stared at the firecracker fragments all over the ground. A’Shan suddenly spoke up: “The days pass so quick.”

Da Yu said: “It feels like only yesterday when we were naked and catching fish with bare hands in a creek. But today A’Shan got married.”

A’Shan patted Qiuyan and said: “Ay, you guys know I’m not good with words. But I've been meaning to thank you two for all these years. If not for you two things, my heart and body probably won’t be able to grow up this healthily.”

Da Yu turned and asked Qiuyan: “Is he being serious or sarcastic right now?”

Qiuyan replied: “His thanks sure sounds like an insult.”

The three looked at each other and started laughing. After a while, Qiuyan put out his cigarette. He stood in front of Da Yu and A’Shan, cleared his throat, and said: “Just in time, let me use the opportunity of A’Shan’s joyful day and announce my own joyful news.”

Da Yu stretched out his hand towards him, gesturing a “do what you will.”

Qiuyan said: “Uhm, so I’m in a relationship.” After he said that, his face suddenly flushed red. Da Yu and A’Shan were about to clap, but Qiuyan continued: “I’m dating Zhou Cunqu.”

He rubbed his nose and jumped up a bit in happiness. Da Yu and A’Shan looked at each other and shrunk back the hands they were about to clap with.

This news was far too shocking. The next time Da Yu and A’Shan sat down at Liu Xiaoying’s dining table their eyes were still round with shock. They watched Qiuyan circle around Cunqu like a puppy. Finally, Cunqu washed his hands in the bathroom, wiped them dry, and sat at the dining table. And so Qiuyan finally sat down as well.

Qiuyan was too far over the moon to realize that suddenly learning that someone you’ve been good brothers with for over 20 years was dating another man was explosive news of the atomic bomb level. Da Yu, holding his rice bowl, finally let out a sigh and said to Cunqu: “Life is truly full of surprises.”

Cunqu looked back at him.

After dinner, Xiaoying headed downstairs to chat with her friends. The four of them were still sitting at the dining table. Da Yu said: “We don’t discriminate. It’s just that we’re a bit shocked. Our hair salon’s hairdresser A’Wen is also gay. Speaking of which, is it just me who’s not improving at work? I’m still left behind.”

Cunqu took a sip of water and slowly said: “You’ve studied for two years, but you are still washing hair. Maybe it’s not an issue with your skills but with your environment. Why don’t you consider a suitable trade school? Studying for a year should be enough.”

The Mulberry Garden brothers looked at each other, and they suddenly realized that the logic was this simple all along.

After they dispersed, Qiuyan hugged Cunqu in his room. Pressing his cheek against Cunqu’s, he said: “My boyfriend’s brain works so well.”

Cunqu flipped through the papers in his hands. A’Shan gave him the short story he wrote. Although he looked big and burly, he had actually been writing children’s stories in secret. Moreover, the stories were quite interesting. Qiuyan placed his head on top of Cunqu’s shoulder and looked at what A’Shan wrote: “A long long time ago, there was a little boy. The little boy turned into a tree bit by bit. At first, his arm turned into a tree branch, then his ears grew flowers. His parents thought he was a monster and abandoned him. The little boy continued to grow, and his body also slowly sprouted. Everyone called him a ‘tree-person monster.’ One day on his way to school, he ran into two little boys who also sprouted branches, leaves, and flowers. That day was probably the happiest day of his life. He knew that he wasn’t the only monster. The world had people who were born as ‘tree people.’ 

After many years, the little boy had grown into a towering evergreen tree, standing forever atop a scenic hill. The two other boys hadn’t. The branches, leaves, and flowers from before were things that they stuck onto their bodies. But they would visit the big tree every year, sit down at its roots, and chat for a very long time…”

A’Shan’s father had passed away very early on. His mother left the village after he finished kindergarten and never returned. Starting from middle school, he didn’t give money for the milk boxes between classes. Every day when it came time to get milk, A’Shan would hide beneath the ping pong table in the little playground. Qiuyan and A’Shan would shout and run to find him and insist on squeezing beside him underneath the ping-pong table. A’Shan knew they had milk boxes to pick up but they never drank their milk in front of him.

That day when he was leaving Liu Xiaoying’s place, A’Shan handed the story to Cunqu. Then he quietly said to Cunqu: “Ge, I feel like we are so lucky.” 

-> Chapter 12

[saving-word-crawls]

Pride Festival Crawl

By: emeraldtapestry

Pride Celebration Crawl

Welcome to the Pride Celebration crawl. We are going to get ready for and attend an LGBTQIA+ pride festival! There will be some self-care tips and reminders throughout the crawl, but you can use them or refuse them as you see fit. Not everyone’s self-care looks the same.

Ah, good morning. The sun is just rising and it’s that day today, Pride day! It’s time to get ready.

First, it’s time to pick out a pride outfit. You open your closet and push your regular clothes to the side. Perfect. You’ve found your collection of Pride clothes. Follow the directions for each item you add to your outfit:

Top: - Plain shirt that says “love is love”: 100 words - Ripped sparkly tank top over a rainbow undershirt/bra: 200 words - Rainbow fishnet top: 300 words Bottoms: - Jean shorts with a rainbow belt: write for 5 minutes - A floofy rainbow tulle skirt: write for 7 minutes - White sailor’s pants with painted rainbow polka dots: write for 10 minutes Accessories: - Rainbow knee high socks: take a three digit challenge - headband with springy hearts: Write your age times 10 words - Neon fishnet stockings: roll a d100 and write that many words - Multicolored light-up bracelets: Write 10 words times the amount of bracelets you want to wear - A rainbow colored velvet scrunchie: Write 80 words in recognition of the 1980’s

Now that you’re dressed, it’s time for breakfast. Check if you need a snack break . Once you’ve finished your breakfast, you’ll want to text your friends and let them know you’re ready to meet up and head over. Pick 1 or more friends you’re meeting up with and check their phone numbers in your cellphone. Write as many words as the last three digits of their phone number(s).

Phew, it took a long time for them to text back, it’s not your fault you’re such a morning person. Pack up your things and get ready to leave. Don’t forget to slip on your shoes before you head out. What shoes are you adding to your already fabulous Pride outfit?

flip-flops: Take some deep breaths for your fantastically breathable footwear

High tops: Give yourself a high-five for what you’ve accomplished already

kinky boots: Take a break to watch this Raise You Up from Kinky Boots here: - YouTube 1

Time for some public transportation. Joy. You head out the door, down the street to the bus stop. The bus is late. Because buses are always late. Write for 10 minutes while waiting for the bus. Unless it’s currently raining where you are. Then write for fifteen minutes because time feels extra slow while waiting for the bus in the rain.

You get on the bus and smile at the driver. They smile back and you get a good feeling. If it has been raining, of course it clears up as soon as you step inside the bus. There are plenty of empty seats because you’re at the edge of town. Take one and have a seat, popping in your headphones until you get to your friend’s stop. Write for the duration of your favorite song. Bonus points if you leave the song on while you write.

When your song is over, you’ve reached your friend’s stop and they hop in. You compliment their Pride outfit and strike up a conversation about memories of past pride events. Write fifty words for every year you’ve gone to a Pride parade or event, as you reminisce with your friend.

As you get to your stop, the decoration of the town has begun to show. You admire the rainbow flags lining the streets waving in the breeze, making you feel proud and safe here. Time for a rainbow challenge:

Black: Warm up with a quick hundred words Brown: Jump in with a three digit challenge Red: Write 300 words, one hundred for each letter in “red” Orange: How many different kinds of fruit do you currently have in your house? Write that number times 50 words. Yellow: Take a pause to make sure your writing space is getting enough natural light/head out into the sunshine for a few moments, or make sure you have enough lights on to feel bright and peppy if it is nighttime. Green: If you have something green within arm’s reach write 100 words, if not, write 300 words Blue: How many miles (or km) are you from the ocean? Write that many words. Purple: Write for the length of the Purple Rain video, you get to decide whether you have the sound on or not. (It’s 7:57 minutes if you want to just set a timer) Prince - Purple Rain (Official Video) - YouTube

You’ve been sitting for quite a while on the bus, so it’s time for some stretches. Do whatever type of stretch feels comfortable to you for three minutes.

When you’re done stretching, you feel good and it’s time to head to the registration table at the start of the event area. You duck under a huge balloon arch with balloons for every color of the rainbow. People are strolling around in various rainbow ensembles and you take in the crowd with a sigh, it’s good to fit in for the day. When you reach the table a kind volunteer looks up and grins. They say hello and ask you to write in your details on a registration sheet so can get emails about future events and be entered into a prize drawing that will take place later that day. You agree and write down your details. Write as many words as the number on your street address. (For example 123 North Street, write 123 words).

You follow the flow of traffic to the next table where nametag stickers and pronoun pins are scattered about. You write your preferred name on your name tag and search for a button to add to your ensemble. If you don’t take a pin, just skip to the next step. Taking multiple is fine too.

You take a she/her pin: write for five minutes You take a they/them pin: write 200 words You take a neopronoun pin of some variety: roll 2d20 and multiply it by 10words You take a he/him pin: do a three-digit challenge

Adjusting your newly pinned (or pin-less) shirt, you check out the fliers they have available. You take a few that look interesting and, looking over your shoulder and making sure your friend is with you, you head into the event area. There are a plethora of booths to choose from and you decide to just start with the first one and then make your way around the festival. The first booth is face painting. You’re feeling festive and your outfit would match so nicely with a little flair that you decide to go for it.

You get an ombre unicorn design on your cheek: Write for 5 minutes while you wait You decide on rainbow football stripes under your eyes: Write for 2 minutes while you wait You get an elaborate design with sequins, rhinestones, and glitter on your whole face: Write for 10 minutes while you wait

When the artist is finished you thank them and smile at your reflection in the mirror they have attached to the tent pole. That’s just the extra sparkle you needed. Your tummy is rumbling and it’s time for lunch. There are plenty of booths to choose from. Where do you head?

- A vegan eats, whole foods smoothie and wraps bar : Do a take-one leave-one challenge - A gourmet mac 'n cheese truck: Do a dare challenge - The Indian food buffet booth: Do a three-digit challenge - A hamburger and hotdog grill: Roll a die and multiply it by 100

You take a break on a park bench to enjoy your lunch. It’s so delicious. In fact, it’s so good you go and compliment the person running the booth and take a business card. Once you’ve finished it’s almost time for the parade to start. Getting a spot where you can see the parade route is a little crazy. Do a fifty-headed hydra to find the right location with the best view.

Check out this article 25 Essential Gay Pride Songs: Rolling Stone Editor Picks – Rolling Stone 1 Pick out 5 songs and either write to them or sprint for the length of the song/video as the parade goes by.

The atmosphere is boisterous as the last float comes by your location. You dodge and weave your way out of the crowd and back towards the green. Write 100 words three times, one for each time you apologize when you accidentally bump into someone on the way towards the green.

After all that, you’ve worked up an appetite and the smells of the food area is incredibly appetizing. You head over and get a snack, or maybe a couple.

- A street corn stand: sprint to 150 words - The rainbow cotton candy machine: sprint to 200 words - A pretzel cart: sprint to 250 words - A rainbow shaved ice cart: sprint to 300 words

Your snack is tasty and satisfying. Take a 5 minute break while you enjoy it.

Next you head to an area with various art installations that have to do with Pride. First, a giant chalk board is displayed where people can write good things and positive affirmations about themselves. Take a moment to write a list of five things you love about yourself.

Someone has donated an old car to paint. You decide to sign your name. Write 50 words for each letter of your first name.

Someone has held a sidewalk chalk art fest of lgbtqia+ activists. You admire each of them. Look up your favorite lgbtqia+ rights icon and the last two digits of their birth year times 10 words to honor them. *optional post a picture of them and a quotation of theirs on your social media. If you can’t think of one, here’s an article with some suggestions: https://www.globalcitizen.org/en/content/lgbtq-pride-activists-advocates-johnson-milk/ 1

Next, you decide to do some booth shopping. There are tons of options. Pick at least 3 of the following booths to stop at and follow the directions. For bonus points check out every stall!

A local ceramics artist who makes sets of rainbow mixing bowls: Write 300, then 200, then 100 words for the nesting bowls A local queer-friendly tattoo artist showing off examples of their work: Write the number of tattoos you have times fifty words (or would like to get if you don’t have any or only have a couple) A queer couple that has a dog rescue organization: Sprint to 250 words as you give them a donation A spray paint artist making galaxy paintings: Get as many words as you can in 5 minutes A rainbow novelty goods booth with everything from hair extensions to umbrellas: Roll a d100 and multiply it by 10 words A queer kids rights group with some awesome tweens running the table: Take a dare challenge A national voting rights booth with free pens: Write 100 words

After checking out the booths, you see some lawn games no one seems to be interested in, but you are because you’re cool. So you and your friend hop on over to play some. The first lawn game is corn hole. You throw three bean bags. For each bean bag you throw, sprint to 200 words. If you can do all of them in less than ten minutes, you win! The next game you play is giant connect four. Write for four minutes. If you get over 200 words, you win! The final game you play is hula hoops. See how long you can write without pausing whatsoever. If you manage to get more than 2 minutes, you win!

If you won three times you get a freebie and don’t have to do anything else. If you won twice, write an extra hundred words just because. If you won once, write an extra 150 words to give your friend props for beating you. If you lost all three times, write an extra 200 words to cheer yourself up!

It’s been a long time booth hopping and you’re ready for dinner. Take your pick:

- A taco truck: Do a three-digit challenge - A tent with gourmet grilled cheese and fries: Do a dare challenge - Duck into a local sushi place: Do a take one leave one challenge - Pizza slices: Sprint for five minutes

It’s getting chilly. You spot a couple huddled under a rainbow flag for warmth. That’s the perfect souvenir for your day at pride and it will warm you up too while you wait for the prize to be announced at the closing ceremony. You ask your friend to save your spot on the grass and head off to find the right booth. When you do, there are tons of flag options to choose from.

You choose a rainbow flag: do a three-digit challenge You choose a trans flag: write 400 words You choose a nonbinary flag: write for 10 minutes You choose a lesbian flag: multiply your age time 10 words You choose a bi flag: write 200 words You choose an asexual flag: write for 7 minutes You choose a pan flag: write 500 words You choose one of the other designs: do a take one leave one challenge

You head back to the green and plop down beside your friend. You wrap yourself up and you chat together for a little while. When the announcer comes on you listen to the announcements and list of sponsors. Then they get to the good stuff, the prize drawing. As the crowd does a drumroll, do a fifty-headed hyrdra. If you succeed you are the winner of the prize!!! Congratulations, you get a makeover at a local queer clothing, hair, and style place! If you got between 300-499 words, your friend one and you are super happy for them! If you got 299 or below a stranger wins, but they seem really stoked, so you are happy for them too!

After the prize reading, you honestly kind of tune out the rest of the announcer’s words, heading off towards the bus station with your friend. It’s been a long day and you both decide to head home. You join a bunch of other festive, sleepy people on the bus and settle in for the ride home. Write for ten minutes at your own pace to cool down.

You get home and slip off your shoes. Write 100 final words to take a shower/relaxing bath to end the night.

CONGRATULATIONS You made it through pride! I hope you enjoyed yourself! You are perfect just the way you are! Happy nanoing!

[estatedekho04]

Apartments/flats for sale in Kondapur Hyderabad

The Allure of Apartments/Flats in Kondapur, Hyderabad

Why Kondapur is the Hotspot for Apartment/Flat Hunters

Ah, Kondapur! Nestled in the bustling city of Hyderabad, this locality has become the darling of many apartment/flat seekers. If you're in the market for a new place to call home, Kondapur should be on your radar. Trust me, I’ve done the legwork, so you don’t have to. Let's dive into why apartments/flats in Kondapur, Hyderabad, are the talk of the town.

Location, Location, Location

Let's start with the basics. Kondapur’s prime location is a major draw. Situated near the IT hub of Hyderabad, it's a haven for techies. Imagine this: you could roll out of bed at 8:30 AM and still make it to your 9 AM meeting. No, really! The proximity to major tech parks means less time in traffic and more time enjoying your morning coffee.

A Day in the Life

Picture this: You wake up in your modern, sunlit apartment/flat. The aroma of freshly brewed coffee fills the air as you step onto your balcony, which, by the way, offers a stunning view of the cityscape. You wave at your neighbor who is also enjoying the morning sun (perhaps they're on their second cup of coffee; it's that kind of neighborhood).

After a short commute, you’re at work, ready to conquer the day. Lunchtime rolls around, and instead of being confined to the office cafeteria, you head to one of the many nearby cafes. Kondapur is dotted with eateries serving everything from authentic Hyderabadi biryani to Italian pasta that would make Nonna proud.

Amenities Galore

When it comes to amenities, Kondapur apartments/flats don’t disappoint. Whether you're looking for a gym to maintain your fitness regime, a swimming pool to cool off in the summer, or a community hall for those weekend get-togethers, you'll find it all here. Many apartments/flats even offer co-working spaces, perfect for those working remotely.

A Little Slice of Heaven: Personal Anecdote Alert!

Allow me to share a little story. A friend of mine moved to Kondapur last year. Initially skeptical about the move, she quickly fell in love with the area. Her apartment/flat complex had a lovely garden where she started a small herb patch. Every weekend, she and her neighbors would have potluck dinners, showcasing dishes made with fresh herbs. It became a close-knit community, turning strangers into friends.

Cost of Living

Now, let’s talk numbers. Kondapur offers a range of options to suit different budgets. Whether you're a single professional looking for a cozy one-bedroom or a family needing more space, there’s something for everyone. Here’s a quick look at the typical rent ranges:

Apartment Type

Average Monthly Rent (INR) 

1 BHK

15,000-25,000

2 BHK

25,000-40,000

3 BHK

40,000-60,000

Community Spirit

One thing that sets Kondapur apart is its vibrant community spirit. The area is home to people from various backgrounds, creating a melting pot of cultures. Festivals are celebrated with gusto, with everyone joining in the fun. From Diwali to Christmas, there’s always something happening.

Connectivity

Worried about connectivity? Fret not. Kondapur is well-connected by public transport, making it easy to get around. The Hyderabad Metro, buses, and an abundance of ride-sharing options ensure you’re never too far from where you need to be.

Schools and Education

For families, the availability of quality education is a priority. Kondapur boasts some excellent schools and educational institutions. Schools like Chirec International School and Arbor International School offer top-notch education, ensuring your kids are in good hands.

Healthcare Facilities

Health is wealth, as they say. Kondapur is home to several reputed hospitals and healthcare centers. Be it a routine check-up or an emergency, you’re covered.

Shopping and Entertainment

If shopping is your therapy, Kondapur won't disappoint. The area is peppered with malls, supermarkets, and boutiques. Sarath City Capital Mall and Inorbit Mall are popular haunts for shopping enthusiasts. Plus, there are plenty of entertainment options, from movie theaters to gaming arcades.

Green Spaces and Recreation

In the hustle and bustle of city life, green spaces are a blessing. Kondapur has several parks and recreational areas where you can unwind. The nearby Botanical Garden is perfect for a morning jog or a leisurely evening stroll.

Conclusion: Why Kondapur is Calling Your Name

To wrap things up, Kondapur offers a blend of convenience, comfort, and community. Whether you're a young professional, a family, or someone looking for a vibrant neighborhood, Kondapur has something for everyone. So why wait? Start your apartment/flat hunt today and discover why so many are falling in love with Kondapur, Hyderabad.

Visit estatedekho.com for more information about Apartments/Flats for Sale in Hyderabad Telangana. Estatedekho is an online platform that offers sellers, potential clients, buyers verified plots, and professional agents at service.

[estatedekho23]

Apartments, Flats for Sale in Kondapur Hyderabad

The Allure of Apartments/Flats in Kondapur, Hyderabad

Why Kondapur is the Hotspot for Apartment/Flat Hunters

Ah, Kondapur! Nestled in the bustling city of Hyderabad, this locality has become the darling of many apartment/flat seekers. If you're in the market for a new place to call home, Kondapur should be on your radar. Trust me, I’ve done the legwork, so you don’t have to. Let's dive into why apartments/flats in Kondapur, Hyderabad, are the talk of the town.

Location, Location, Location

Let's start with the basics. Kondapur’s prime location is a major draw. Situated near the IT hub of Hyderabad, it's a haven for techies. Imagine this: you could roll out of bed at 8:30 AM and still make it to your 9 AM meeting. No, really! The proximity to major tech parks means less time in traffic and more time enjoying your morning coffee.

A Day in the Life

Picture this: You wake up in your modern, sunlit apartment/flat. The aroma of freshly brewed coffee fills the air as you step onto your balcony, which, by the way, offers a stunning view of the cityscape. You wave at your neighbor who is also enjoying the morning sun (perhaps they're on their second cup of coffee; it's that kind of neighborhood).

After a short commute, you’re at work, ready to conquer the day. Lunchtime rolls around, and instead of being confined to the office cafeteria, you head to one of the many nearby cafes. Kondapur is dotted with eateries serving everything from authentic Hyderabadi biryani to Italian pasta that would make Nonna proud.

Amenities Galore

When it comes to amenities, Kondapur apartments/flats don’t disappoint. Whether you're looking for a gym to maintain your fitness regime, a swimming pool to cool off in the summer, or a community hall for those weekend get-togethers, you'll find it all here. Many apartments/flats even offer co-working spaces, perfect for those working remotely.

A Little Slice of Heaven: Personal Anecdote Alert!

Allow me to share a little story. A friend of mine moved to Kondapur last year. Initially skeptical about the move, she quickly fell in love with the area. Her apartment/flat complex had a lovely garden where she started a small herb patch. Every weekend, she and her neighbors would have potluck dinners, showcasing dishes made with fresh herbs. It became a close-knit community, turning strangers into friends.

Cost of Living

Now, let’s talk numbers. Kondapur offers a range of options to suit different budgets. Whether you're a single professional looking for a cozy one-bedroom or a family needing more space, there’s something for everyone. Here’s a quick look at the typical rent ranges:

Apartment Type

Average Monthly Rent (INR) 

1 BHK

15,000-25,000

2 BHK

25,000-40,000

3 BHK

40,000-60,000

Community Spirit

One thing that sets Kondapur apart is its vibrant community spirit. The area is home to people from various backgrounds, creating a melting pot of cultures. Festivals are celebrated with gusto, with everyone joining in the fun. From Diwali to Christmas, there’s always something happening.

Connectivity

Worried about connectivity? Fret not. Kondapur is well-connected by public transport, making it easy to get around. The Hyderabad Metro, buses, and an abundance of ride-sharing options ensure you’re never too far from where you need to be.

Schools and Education

For families, the availability of quality education is a priority. Kondapur boasts some excellent schools and educational institutions. Schools like Chirec International School and Arbor International School offer top-notch education, ensuring your kids are in good hands.

Healthcare Facilities

Health is wealth, as they say. Kondapur is home to several reputed hospitals and healthcare centers. Be it a routine check-up or an emergency, you’re covered.

Shopping and Entertainment

If shopping is your therapy, Kondapur won't disappoint. The area is peppered with malls, supermarkets, and boutiques. Sarath City Capital Mall and Inorbit Mall are popular haunts for shopping enthusiasts. Plus, there are plenty of entertainment options, from movie theaters to gaming arcades.

Green Spaces and Recreation

In the hustle and bustle of city life, green spaces are a blessing. Kondapur has several parks and recreational areas where you can unwind. The nearby Botanical Garden is perfect for a morning jog or a leisurely evening stroll.

Conclusion: Why Kondapur is Calling Your Name

To wrap things up, Kondapur offers a blend of convenience, comfort, and community. Whether you're a young professional, a family, or someone looking for a vibrant neighborhood, Kondapur has something for everyone. So why wait? Start your apartment/flat hunt today and discover why so many are falling in love with Kondapur, Hyderabad.

Visit estatedekho.com for more information about Apartments/Flats for Sale in Hyderabad Telangana. Estatedekho is an online platform that offers sellers, potential clients, buyers verified plots, and professional agents at service.

[estatedekho26]

Apartments/Flats for Sale in Bowenpally Hyderabad

Exploring Apartments/Flats for Sale in Bowenpally, Hyderabad

When it comes to finding a place to call home, the journey can often feel like a quest straight out of an epic novel. You know, with the knights (real estate agents), dragons (budget constraints), and enchanted castles (the perfect apartments/flats). Today, we're diving into the world of apartments/flats for sale in Bowenpally, Hyderabad. So, grab your armor and let's get started!

Why Bowenpally?

Ah, Bowenpally. If Hyderabad were a dinner plate, Bowenpally would be the delicious middle portion where all the flavors come together. Located in the north-western part of Hyderabad, this neighborhood is a delightful mix of old-world charm and modern amenities. Picture this: tree-lined streets, vibrant markets, and the smell of freshly brewed coffee wafting through the air. Now, who wouldn't want to live here?

A Slice of History

Bowenpally isn't just another pin on the map; it's a place with history. Named after a British army officer, this area has grown from a quaint village to a bustling urban locale. But don't worry, it hasn't lost its charm. Walking through Bowenpally, you might stumble upon remnants of its past, like old bungalows and temples that tell stories of a bygone era.

The Real Estate Scene

Let's get down to brass tacks. What makes apartments/flats in Bowenpally so appealing? For starters, the variety. Whether you're a bachelor looking for a cozy studio or a family in need of a spacious 3BHK, Bowenpally has got you covered.

Types of Apartments/Flats

Studio Apartments: Perfect for singles or students. Compact, yet functional.

1BHK Apartments: Ideal for young couples or working professionals.

2BHK Apartments: Great for small families, offering a balance of space and affordability.

3BHK Apartments: For those who like a bit more room to breathe. Perfect for larger families.

Amenities and Lifestyle

Now, let's talk about the goodies. Living in Bowenpally apartments/flats isn't just about four walls and a roof; it's about the lifestyle.

Modern Amenities

Most apartments in Bowenpally come equipped with all the bells and whistles. Think swimming pools, gyms, clubhouses, and play areas for kids. Some even have jogging tracks and community halls. Basically, everything you need to live your best life.

Connectivity and Convenience

One of the biggest perks of living in Bowenpally is its connectivity. Whether you rely on public transport or have your own set of wheels, getting around is a breeze. The area is well-connected by buses, and the nearest metro station isn't too far away. Plus, with schools, hospitals, and shopping centers within arm's reach, convenience is practically your next-door neighbor.

Personal Anecdote Time

Let me take you on a little trip down memory lane. A friend of mine, let's call him Raj, moved to Bowenpally a couple of years ago. Initially, he was skeptical. "Isn't it too far from the city center?" he asked. Fast forward to today, and Raj wouldn't trade his Bowenpally flat for anything. His mornings start with a jog around the local park, followed by a cup of chai at his favorite stall. Evenings are spent at the nearby market, where he knows every vendor by name. "It's like living in a small town with all the perks of a big city," he says.

Humor Break

Alright, let's lighten things up a bit. Ever noticed how house-hunting feels a lot like dating? You swipe left on the ones that don't fit your criteria, and when you finally find "the one," you just know. And just like in dating, sometimes the best ones are the ones you least expect. Bowenpally, with its unassuming charm, is a bit like that quiet, unassuming person at the party who turns out to be the life of it.

Tips for Buying Apartments/Flats in Bowenpally

Before you dive into the property pool, here are a few tips to keep in mind:

1. Do Your Research

Check the builder's reputation, read reviews, and visit multiple sites. Don't just rely on glossy brochures and fancy websites.

2. Budget Wisely

Remember, the price tag isn't the only expense. Factor in maintenance fees, registration charges, and the cost of furnishing your new place.

3. Visit at Different Times

Visit the neighborhood at different times of the day. This will give you a better idea of the traffic, noise levels, and general vibe.

4. Check for Future Developments

Look into upcoming infrastructure projects in the area. A new metro line or flyover can significantly boost property values.

5. Hire a Good Agent

A good real estate agent can make the process a lot smoother. They know the ins and outs of the market and can help you find the best deals.

Final Thoughts

Buying an apartment/flat in Bowenpally, Hyderabad, is more than just a real estate investment. It's about finding a place where you can create memories, build a life, and maybe even put down some roots. With its blend of modern amenities, rich history, and vibrant community, Bowenpally is a fantastic choice for anyone looking to make Hyderabad their home.

So, whether you're a first-time buyer or looking to upgrade to a bigger place, keep Bowenpally on your radar. Who knows? Your dream home might just be a visit away.

And remember, in the words of a wise (albeit fictional) wizard, "It's not the home that matters, but the life you live in it." Happy house hunting!

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