#and she said that she's get the stuff for a recipe I've made before and really really like :D

[anthromimicry]

[ashwhowrites]

Billie Eilish’s “LUNCH” with robin? 🤭

Funny enough I wrote this and had it in my drafts before my break and I deleted it. So round 2! I hope this is what you wanted and you enjoy it! Thank you for requesting ❤️ love your profile picture

Lunch

I could eat that girl for lunch Yeah, she dances on my tongue Tastes like she might be the one And I could never get enough I could buy her so much stuff It's a craving, not a crush, huh

"Oh my fuck," Robin moaned, her eyes clenched shut as her ankles locked around her girlfriend's head. Y/N hummed as she listened to her moans, her tongue swirling around Robin's sensitive clit.

Y/N swore she could spend the rest of her life eating her girlfriend out. Robin tasted better and better every single time and Y/N could never get enough. Morning, afternoon, and night, Y/N was more than happy to spread Robin's legs open and taste her on her tongue.

Robin would never complain, Y/N was the best at giving head and she made Robin's head spin. They both craved it and they both thought about it all the time.

"Need to cum," Robin panted, her hands diving into Y/N's hair as she rocked her hips up. Y/N sucked on her clit, bringing Robin over the edge as she came all over Y/N's mouth and fingers. Robin shuttered as Y/N kept pulling the orgasm out of her, making her thighs shake.

"Call me when you're there" Said, "I bought you somethin' rare And I left it under 'Claire'" So now, she's comin' up the stairs So I'm pullin' up a chair And I'm puttin' up my hair Baby, I think you were made for me Somebody write down the recipe Been tryin' hard not to overeat You're just so sweet

"Y/N?" Robin called, walking into Y/N's house. Robin was delighted to see her girlfriend, racing over the second Y/N asked.

Robin frowned as she didn't answer, walking up the stairs.

Y/N was throwing up her hair as Robin walked in. Robin was shocked to see Y/N standing next to her bed, hair thrown up and a smirk on her face. To her left was a pair of lacy panties.

"I bought you a little something, try it on for me," Y/N said, grabbing her desk chair and dragging it to the center of the room. Robin gulped as she watched, the chair echoing in her ears. "Right here."

Robin blushed as her girlfriend sat in the chair, a pair of boxers on her as she spread her legs. Robin bit her lip and began to strip. Her body felt heated at her girlfriend's hungry stare as she watched from the chair.

Y/N whistled once Robin stood in just the lacy panties, a deep blush on her cheeks. Y/N called her over with a wiggle of her finger, Robin easily obeying. Robin crawled on her lap, purring as she inhaled her girlfriend's scent.

"Dance for me," Y/N whispered into her ear.

"Yeah? Do I get a prize in return?" Robin asked, slowly rolling her hips.

"Mhhm, you're going to be my lunch."

I'll run a shower for you like you want Clothes on the counter for you, try 'em on If I'm allowed, I'll help you take 'em off (Huh)

Robin panted as she sat on Y/N's bed, catching her breath as her body was covered in sweat and sex.

Y/N was in the bathroom, running the shower as Robin slowly slipped off the bed. She joined Y/N in the bathroom, smiling as her girlfriend folded clean clothes and set it on the sink.

"Shower and clothes ready for you," Y/N said as she softly kissed Robin's lips. "And later, maybe I'll help you take 'em off."

Oh, I just wanna get her off, oh Oh

"Fuck, right there," Robin moaned, her hands digging into Y/N's hair as Y/N flicked Robin's clit. Her orgasm hit like a truck as she rocked above Y/N's head.

~

"Please, I've been so good," Robin cried, her face in the sheets as she was bent over bare for her girlfriend. Y/N was behind her, her tongue and fingers sending Robin over the edge.

~

"Fuck, you're so good, baby. So damn good," Robin whimpered, her arms thrown behind her as she hooked around the car headrest. Her legs were up on the dashboard as Y/N's tongue drew out a strong and long orgasm.

She's takin' pictures in the mirror Oh my God, her skin's so clear Tell her, "Bring that over here" You need a seat? I'll volunteer Now she's smilin' ear to ear She's the headlights, I'm the deer

It was Halloween and Robin stood in the mirror, taking photos of herself in the mirror. Y/N watched from the doorway, loving how Robin looked in her black fishnet Madonna outfit.

The cropped shirt showed off skin that Robin barely showed. The leather skirt made it seem like her legs went on for miles. Y/N wanted to be wrapped around her like all the bracelets on her wrists.

She was glowing.

"Let me see you," Y/N said as she stood up straight. Robin shyly smiled but walked over.

"If your legs get tired at this party, I'll volunteer to give you a seat." She said as she gave Robin a gentle smack on her ass.

Robin smiled, laughing as she shoved her girlfriend.

I've said it all before, but I'll say it again I'm interested in more than just bein' your friend I don't wanna break it, just want it to bend Do you know how to bend?

"Were you guys friends before?" Eddie asked, sitting across from the couple as they sat by Steve's pool.

"Sorta. I met her through Steve so we only hung out with Steve at first," Robin explained.

"What changed? How did you get a relationship if you barely hung out without Steve?" Eddie laughed.

Robin and Y/N shared a knowing look. The look caught Eddie's interest.

"Well, I wasn't interested in being Robin's friend," Robin blushed, "I was too attracted to her for that, so one night, we all got drunk. Like so drunk. Steve passed out in the living room and I went for it." Y/N explained.

"I think he's out for the night," Robin laughed awkwardly as she walked into Steve's room. Y/N was already on his bed, in a baggy shirt that ended near her thighs. Robin tried to make it obvious she wasn't looking.

"Good, I wanted to talk to you," Y/N said, standing up. This time Robin couldn't help but make it obvious as she blushed when she got a quick glance at Y/N's underwear.

"Me? Yeah? Why?" Robin asked, her voice suddenly dry.

"I know Steve wants us to be friends, but honestly, I'm interested in doing something friends don't do," Y/N confessed. Her words were slurring.

"What's that?" Robin gulped.

Y/N slid her hands up Robin's body, landing on her shoulders as she leaned in. "I wanna see how much you can take before I break you. How much can you take?"

Robin shivered, letting the alcohol take over as she impatiently ran her hands down underneath Y/N's shirt, fingers instantly finding a wet spot on her panties.

"Do you know how to bend without breaking?" Y/N whispered, losing her voice as Robin began to rub her over her underwear.

"Try me," Robin said, harshly smashing her lips against Y/N's.

"Wait! You fucked on his bed?" Eddie asked, a loud laugh leaving his body as he looked over at Steve.

"Shh! He doesn't know!" Robin said as she smacked Eddie's arm. "And he can never know!"

"Know what?" Steve asked, hands on his hips as he got out of the pool.

[anything-pov]

request plzzz

Emily is pregnant and reader taken care of Emily

They do the lift up the bump thing

Reader go get Emily's weird cravings in the middle of the night

The mood swings

And with an emergency C-section everything is fine baby is good

Fluffy fluffy fluffy fluffy fluffy fluffy

Please and thank you 😏

Enjoy 😉 (Note to all readers: I am not super well-versed on pregnancy cravings or the miracle of childbirth, so if I got anything wrong, let me know :) )

Strange Cravings 🤰🏻

Emily Prentiss had never thought she'd be the kind of person to cry over a yoghurt commercial. But there she was, propped up in the couch with a mountain of pillows under her swollen feet.

Watching a mother and daughter share a strawberry yoghurt and sobbing uncontrollably. "Lover!" she wailed. Y/N, her partner, her rock, her ridiculously attractive masc girlfriend appeared in the doorway like she'd been summoned.

"What is it, baby?" Y/N's voice was already gentle, hands wiping themselves quickly on the kitchen towel before rushing over. Emily sniffled, eyes glassy.

"They... they shared the last yoghurt. And she smiled at her daughter like.. l-like it was the last time ever. I want yoghurt. But... not strawberry. I want peach."

Y/N blinked, "We have peach yoghurt." Emily narrowed her eyes, "But not in glass jars. I want the ones in glass. They taste better. Smoother."

There was a beat, then Y/N bent down and kissed her forehead. "Okay. Glass jar peach yoghurt. I'll go now." It was 11:17 pm. And it wouldn't be the first time.

- - -

By the time Emily was in her third trimester, Y/N had a routine. Each night, after Emily showered and changed into her comfiest oversized shirt, usually one of Y/N's, she'd lie on the bed sideways with a low groan.

"Okay... c'mon, love," Y/N would murmur, settling behind her, "Stomach lift time." Y/N would cup Emily's heavy bump gently, lifting just enough to ease the pressure off her ribs and back.

Twenty whole minutes. No less. Only stopping when Emily gave her the signal. Emily always sighed like she'd just received morphine. "God, I love you. You might actually be magic."

Y/N chuckled, "Just build different." Some nights, Emily would sleep halfway through, whispering sleepy 'i love you's. Other nights, particularly lately, she'd turn her head with those dark, hooded eyes and mutter things like...

"You know, I've been thinking about that thing you did with your mouth last week..."

Y/N swallowed. "Emily. Your OB literally said no vigorous-" Emily rolled over as much as she could, eyes wild. "You can sit very still. Let me work."

Y/N didn't argue, she never did.

Cravings came and went like storms. One night it was garlic butter toast with crushed ice and watermelon on the side. The next night, it was something Emily had tasted once in Berlin.

"Babe. I need currywurst. Not just sausage and curry. The sauce. The good stuff. Spicy, thick, delicious. And bread. With the nice crunchy crust."

"... so, Germany?" Y/N asked, standing beside the car at 1:32 am, keys in hand.

Emily pouted, belly peeking from beneath her sleep shirt. “I looked up a recipe. It’s German street food. I found it on a Reddit thread. There’s a butcher shop twenty minutes from here that does a proper brat. We can make the sauce ourselves.”

Y/N stared. Emily blinked. Y/N opened the door. “Get in. Bring the sauce recipe.” They made it together at 2:15 AM, dancing to jazz in the kitchen. Emily cried when she tasted it.

Y/N cried when Emily cried.

- - -

Mood swings were violent and unpredictable.

Sometimes Emily would rage over the dishwasher not being loaded “strategically.” Once, she slammed a drawer so hard it rebounded and hit her hip.

She burst into tears, holding her bump with both hands. Y/N had knelt beside her, calming her with slow breathing. “This baby’s gonna come out emotionally fluent,” Y/N muttered with a kiss to Emily’s temple.

Another time, Emily spent an hour planning a nursery color scheme and then announced that she hated it. “Green is pretentious. I want warm neutrals. But not beige. God, do not suggest beige, Y/N.”

Y/N, wisely, said, “Okay, baby. No beige. What about oatmeal?” Emily kissed her. “You get me.”

The c-section was scheduled after a long, exhausting week where Emily couldn’t sleep longer than an hour at a time. Y/N held her hand as the sterile curtain was drawn up.

“You okay?” she whispered, brushing her lips to Emily’s sweaty forehead. Emily nodded once, eyes brimming. “You’re gonna meet our baby.” Y/N’s voice caught. “Yeah.”

There was pressure, some tugging, and then a sudden, sharp wail filled the air. The doctor lifted the baby into view, red-faced and furious, a mess of thick, dark hair and already a scowl that mirrored Emily’s best interrogation stare.

“Holy shit,” Y/N whispered. “She already looks like you.”

They both cried.

- - -

Back in recovery, Emily was groggy but glowing. Y/N sat beside the bed, skin-to-skin with their baby daughter tucked under her shirt, resting quietly against her chest.

“She’s got your eyes,” Emily murmured. “Poor kid.”

“She’s got your attitude,” Y/N countered. “God help us.” Emily chuckled, then winced, “Ow.”

“Don’t make me laugh,” she added. “Roger that, boss.” They sat in silence for a while, the weight of the moment settling around them. Emily reached out, brushing her fingers over the baby’s shoulder.

“We’re naming her Penelope, right?” Y/N smiled softly. “After Garcia? Hell yeah, we are.” Emily’s voice cracked. “She’s perfect.”

“She’s ours,” Y/N whispered.

And for once, Emily Prentiss, cool, collected, fiercely independent, didn’t try to hide the tears that spilled over. Because she was right.

They had everything they needed. In glass jars, midnight drives, warm hands, and now, in the tiny bundle with a fierce little scowl and a whole lot of love.

[writtenbymisunderstoodnerds]

First thanksgiving (Kelley O'Hara x Reader)

I don't celebrate Thanksgiving, but I wanted to write something about it. Happy Thanksgiving to everyone who celebrates it!

I don't know if this is any good and it's barely edited, but I hope you enjoy :)

Combination of these two requests:

I don't celebrate Thanksgiving so I think it would be cute if the player (I don't know who, can be anyone) teach R about the tradition and the foods and maybe R try to cook a family recipe and everything just been cozy and cute!

and

r x Christen or Kelley meeting c or k's family for the first time at thanksgiving, because r isn't a soccer player.

Words: 3.2k

Kelley headed for me as soon as she got home, slotting herself against me and the back of the couch. I had been lying down watching tv, but turned toward her to wrap my arms around her, pecking her lips. "Hi love. How was your day?"

"Long, but could have been worse. I missed you today. How did your interview go?"

I held Kelley closer, kissing her forehead, "I missed you too Kel. I think it went pretty well. They said they'll get back to me after thanksgiving. I'm still thinking about saving a bit more money and starting my own business. I already have a good chunk away."

"If you do, I'll support you every step of the way. I think you'll make a very sexy boss."

I rolled my eyes, pinching Kelley side making her squeal before leaving a lingering kiss against her lips, "Of course you do."

"Hey um talking about thanksgiving. I hope it's okay, but I told my parents about us and they invited you to thanksgiving. So um would you want to come?"

We had been together for quite a while, but our relationship had started out a bit complicated and I was gone the majority of the time so Kelley had avoided telling her family until things were a bit more stable. "Why would that not be okay? If you want me there then of course I will come."

"I know you don't know anything about it or celebrate it, but I would like you to come."  

"Then I'll be there."

---

There were ingredients and stuff scattered all over the kitchen, it was a mess so was I, but I was determined to make the best apple pie and pecan pie I could. Despite never making either or ever trying a pecan pie. Kelley said her family loved them so in an anxious, overthinking moment, I had decided to attempt it in hopes of impressing them. Kelley walked in, just stopping and staring at me for a few seconds. 

"What are you doing baby?"

"Um well you said your family likes these pies and I'm a half decent baker so I thought I would try. Maybe impress them. I um I'm going to make some small ones so you can try and tell me if I should just throw them out or not."

Kelley wiped some flour off my cheek before pecking my lips, "A bit nervous are we? Babe my parents will love you regardless of if you baked them a pie or not."

"Two pies actually."

"You're really determined aren't you?" I nodded, feeling a bit embarrassed by what a mess I was over this. "Why don't I help you? I've made them with my parents enough to know how they like it."

That help turned out to be Kelley sitting on the counter, talking about random things and constantly distracting me by pulling me in for make out sessions. The only real help she provided was telling me that her family liked more cinnamon in the apple pie and smaller pieces of pecan. If I actually thought about it, I would have realised she was doing it to stop me overthinking so I could actually enjoy the baking process. Of course it worked. Kelley always had a way of making me calm down, of stopping or at least reducing any overthinking or panicking thoughts. Given my time in the military, it wasn't an uncommon occurrence. 

With the pies in the oven and the timer set, I decided it was time to clean up. As soon as my hands entered the water, Kelley's hands covered my face. Though, her hands happened to be covered in flour. "Oh you little shit." I spun around, bubbles in hand, smearing them over her face. Kelley squealed, trying to run away, but my arms wrapped around her waist, pulling her into me before she could. I rubbed my face against hers transferring some of the flour. 

Kelley turned around in my arms, giggling her ass off, "You look ridiculous."

"Love, you don't look much better."

"We could make it worse." Kelley suggested with a smirk, letting me push her against the counter, lips connecting. Kelley ended up on the counter, me standing between her legs as we lazily made out. Since I got back we had definitely been making up for all the lost time. Pretty much every spare minute was spent either cuddling or kissing in someway. When the timer went off, I pulled away quickly, there was no way I was letting these pies burn. Kelley tried to pull me back in with a whine, but I gently pushed her away, "Nope. Get off, I can't burn the pies."

"Rude."

"You love it."

Later that night after the pies were baked and everything was cleaned up, Kelley and I were relaxing in the bath, her back against my front as I ran my fingers up her arms. Kelley had reassured me multiple times that my pies were pretty much perfect and that her family would love them. I only just believed her, but was trying to push my anxiety away. 

"So what exactly is thanksgiving? I know you eat a bunch of food with family."

"It's pretty much that. Thanksgiving is a time where you spend time with family, eat good food and be thankful to the things you have in your life. That's the short version anyway and all you really need to know."

"I'm thankful for you everyday Kel."

---

My leg had been non-stop bouncing since we left the house. I had met her teammates a few times, but this was different. This was the first time I had ever met any of my partners parents and ultimately Kelley's parents were the most important. Kelley was the only person I had ever imagined spending the rest of my life with, or actually wanted to spend my life with. For that reason I needed Kelley's parents to like me. I knew she loved me, but she also valued her family's opinions over pretty much anything. 

A hand on my knee stopped the bouncing and the lingering kiss momentarily settled the nerves.  "Baby, it'll be okay. Just be yourself and my parents will love you because I love you. Stop thinking too much into it and try to enjoy yourself. When you're ready we can go in okay?"

There was no point in pushing it out any longer so I took a few deep breaths and got out of the car before I freaked myself out more. Kelley laced her fingers with mine, squeezing gently as she knocked on the door. Who I assumed was her mum answered the door, pulling Kelley into a hug before inviting us inside where her dad was waiting.

"Mum, dad this is Y/n. Y/n my mum Karen and my dad Dan."

I held my hand out for her dad who took it with a slightly harder than normal grip, "It's nice to meet you sir." Before moving to kiss her mums cheek, "You look lovely ma'am, it's lovely to meet you."

Karen waved me off, pulling me into a hug instead, "You make us feel old with that sir and ma'am stuff darling, you can call us Karen and Dan."

"I made you some pies."

"Oh yes, Kelley told us you did. Thank you, they look wonderful."

I found myself alone with Dan as Kelley and her mum were doing something in the kitchen. Honestly, it was not a position I wanted to be in especially after only just meeting her parents. The anxiousness was bubbling up again, but I did my best to use my training and hide it. Being anxious in front of Kelley was one thing, being anxious in front of her parents was not ideal. 

Dan sat across from me on the couch, stern look upon his face. I shifted so I was sitting up straighter, legs crossed. "So Y/n, Kelley hasn't told us much about you. What do you do?"

"Um nothing at the moment," I admitted, quickly realising by the look on her dads face that it probably wasn't the right thing to say. I quickly spoke up again, "I was a medic in the army, my contract just ended and I chose not to reenlist. After 16 years, the majority of that away, I decided to take some time to just spend with Kelley and my family. I've started job hunting now."

"I could have guessed that one by the way you greeted us. You'll fit right in, I'm ex-navy and Kelley's brother is currently in the Navy. Are you going to do something healthcare related?"

"She did mention that. When I was younger I wanted to do something healthcare related weather it was a nurse or a doctor, but I joined the Army at 18 instead. There were some things that I experienced that definitely changed my desire to pursue it. I'm currently interviewing for security positions and looking into starting my own company a bit down the road. My dad used to have his own security company and I quite enjoyed hanging around and learning from him when I was a teenager."

He nodded along in understanding before his stoic, stern look reappeared, "How long have you been dating my daughter? What are your intentions with her?"

How long we had been together was a bit complicated. We had been talking to each other and seeing each other when I was on leave for about 2 years before we started officially dating. We were practically a couple during that time, just without the commitment. I didn't want Kelley to have to wait for me every time I went away and couldn't give her what she needed. My past relationship had ended with my ex cheating on me because of that so I didn't want to go through that again.

Kelley later revealed that she had never so much as looked at another person in that time and she had always considered us together. Then she had forced my fears out of me and convinced me to take a chance on her. It was the best decision I had ever made. I wasn't exactly sure what to say, I didn't know what Kelley had told them. Knowing Kelley though she probably included out non-committed dating. "Four years. My intentions are simple, I just want to love and support her for as long as she'll let me. I want to continue to make her laugh over stupid stuff, cheer the loudest at all her games and anything else she chooses to do. I hope to-"

"Dad stop interrogating her," Kelley spoke up, sitting on the arm of the couch, arm wrapping around my shoulders. 

"It's okay love. I can handle it."

Thankfully the interrogation stopped, instead moving into easier questions about my life and relationship with Kelley. The longer we talked the more relaxed I started to feel. They didn't seem to hate me which was a plus. The only thing left was to meet her siblings, which was still causing anxiety, but Kelley was either playing with the baby hairs on the back of my neck or with my fingers. It was enough to keep me in the moment, it always was. I slipped out to use the bathroom only to find my way into the kitchen where Kelley's mum was working on dinner. 

"Do you need any help Karen? I've never made most of this stuff so I can chop stuff up or something if you like."

"You can peel and cut those potatoes then slice the brussels sprouts in half if you like."

"Sure. What sort of food are you making?"

Karen started moving around the kitchen showing me all the different food she was making. There were a few things I had never tried like green bean casserole and stuffing. There was also a few things that I didn't like, one of them being the main component which was turkey. I would eat it anyway out of respect for Karen. Afterall, she was spending hours preparing food for us. After cutting up anything needed, I decided to stay and watch how things were made. There may come a day where Kelley and I hosted thanksgiving so I wanted some idea of what to do. Karen didn't seem to mind as she happily talked through what she was doing, giving me instructions to stir something or hand her things. 

"Mum, have you seen Y- nevermind she's there. What are you two up to?"

My arm wrapped around Kelley's shoulder, lips meeting her temple, "Your mums teaching me things."

"She's a pretty good assistant this one. I don't want to overstep, but I've been meaning to ask why you're not with your family for thanksgiving?"

"No, no not at all. We don't actually celebrate it. We moved here when I was younger and never picked it up, but it's important to Kelley so I'm trying to learn about it."

Kelley smiled up at me, squeezing my hand that still hung over her shoulder, "Erin and Jerry are here. Mum, can I steal your assistant away?"

Karen shooed us out of the room, but I pulled us to a stop just outside, out of the view of anyone. The nerves had hit me once again. Her parents seemed to like me or at least not hate me, now I had to make a good impression on her siblings. It was a lot of pressure because I knew how much Kelley's family meant to her. Kelley looked at me for a second before pulling me in for a tight hug, fingers running through my hair. "You're okay, this will be okay. I'll be right by your side. We can go when you're ready."

---

I found myself cuddled up under a blanket with Kelley outside as she caught up with her siblings. After the initial nervousness of meeting them, we had gotten to talking pretty much instantly. They had asked the same sort of questions as Kelley's parents, just less intense. Thankfully, they seemed to not hate me as well. 

They were doing most of the talking, while I just listened and fiddled with Kelley's fingers. Seeing how happy Kelley was with her family, made me happier than I could express. Her smile was one of my favourite things about her and even after four years, her laugh still made the butterflies in my stomach erupt. 

Just before my mind drifted back to marrying Kelley, her sister spoke up. "About time our girl brought someone home to meet us."

"What's wrong with her?" 

I wasn't sure what to make of that, if it was an insult or not so I kept quiet for now. Kelley on the other hand, didn't. "Jerry! What the hell?"

He put his hands up in surrender, "Sorry, I didn't mean that seriously, it's just you hid her from us for four years, there's got to be something wrong, extra toe? Hidden tail?"

"You're a dork. No, Y/n doesn't have an extra toe or a tail. Maybe don't tell mum and dad this, but things were a bit complicated to start with, I mean we were good, just complicated. Then she was gone on and off for the past two years and things just didn't line up."

"You did long distance?"

Kelley squeezed my hand, cuddling further into me. This time I decided to answer. "We did. I was deployed more than I would have liked, but we made it work."

"Now she's back and she's not allowed to leave me again."

"Wouldn't dream of it."

---

When Kelley was distracted with her siblings, I approached both her mum and dad, "Hey, can I talk to you guys in private for a minute please?"

They lead me to the outside seating area, sitting down across from me as I took a breath to calm me down. "Dan, you asked me earlier what my intentions were with Kelley and I never got to fully answer because she came in. Now I'm not asking permission because I'm not sure she would want that and ultimately it is Kelley's decision. In saying that I did want to let you know that I am planning on proposing to her. Kelley's it for me, there's no one else in this world that I want to spend my life with."

They looked at me for a few seconds before Karen smiled, standing up to hug me, "Good. She loves you so much Y/n. I've never seen my daughter look at anyone like she does you. She's happy, keep her that way and we won't have a problem."

Dan approached me, same stoic look from earlier before holding his hand out to shake, "We appreciate you letting us know. You continue to treat my daughter how she deserves and we'll welcome you to the family with open arms. Do you have a plan?"

"The only thing I want is for her to be happy. I don't have a plan yet, I've had the ring for a while, had it on me constantly since a week or so after I got back. I'm just waiting for the right time I guess. She deserves the best."

Karen smiled, "Maybe you'll find the right time while you guys are here, surrounded by family."

"You'd be okay with that? Me hijacking thanksgiving to propose to Kelley."

"Of course we would. It's a special moment in her life and we want to be apart of that if you want us to be."

"I thinks that's perfect. Do you do that thing where you go around saying what you're thankful for?"

"Not everyone does, but we do."

"Then I have an idea. We should get back though because I can see her looking at us through the window."

Kelley wrapped her arm around my waist to cuddle into my side. If you ever lost Kelley, she would likely be cuddled against me in someway. Every chance she got, she was attached to me. While I used to hate touch, I loved hers. "What were you guys up to? Were they interrogating you again?"

"Your parents were showing me around and we were talking. I wouldn't call it an interrogation so don't worry."

---

We sat around the dinner table filled with food and my nerves were starting to skyrocket again. It was a different type of nerves though, they were more a mixture of excitement, fear and anticipation compared to the anxiety and fear I felt earlier. I was about to ask Kelley to marry me. It was never my intention to do it the first time I was meeting her parents, but they had suggested it. I knew Kelley would love them being there.  Everyone went around saying what they were thankful for before Karen turned to me with a knowing look.

"Y/n, your turn."

My fingers laced with Kelley's which rest on my knee to stop the bouncing, "I'm thankful for a lot in my life, but I'm most thankful for the women who makes me complete. I'm thankful you stayed by my side over the years, even though I know it hasn't been easy. I'm thankful for all the times you make me laugh, the times you've wiped my tears and held me close. There's no one I'm more thankful for than you Kelley. I'm thankful that I get to love you and be loved by you. I love you Kelley, more than I ever thought possible. I will be forever thankful if you would say yes to this question," I stood up, dropping down to one knee and presenting the ring as tears shone in her eyes, "Kelley O'Hara, will you marry me?"

Kelley laughed, pulling me into a tight hug, "Yes, yes of course I will marry you."

"Did you guys know about this?"

Karen smiled, hugging Kelley, "She may have told us earlier. Welcome to the family Y/n."

[sunny374940]

Adventures in baking

Rook has a crush on Emmrich. Rook wants to bake him cookies. He has never baked cookies in his life, but what could go wrong? Lucanis is a good friend. 1k words.

..............

“You can do it, Rook, how hard can it be? You killed a dragon, for fucks sake.”

Rook was muttering to himself. There was a crease between his eyebrows, flour on his shirt and he was fighting a losing battle.

He was standing at the counter of the Lighthouse kitchen, poking at a lump of something that wasn't trying very hard to be dough.

He rubbed his forehead, managing to get the offending substance stuck into his hair.

“Shit!” he cursed loudly in frustration.

“Rook, what are you doing?” Lucanis was standing in the pantry doorway, watching him with an arched eyebrow.

“Uhh… making cookies?” Rook offered without much conviction.

Lucanis crossed the room to inspect Rook's creation. It jiggled miserably at his touch.

“Whatever this is, it is not cookie dough. Why didn't you ask me for help?”

He took in the state of the kitchen, which indicated that this wasn't Rook's first attempt.

“I wanted to make them myself.” Rook looked down, frowning. “They were supposed to be for Emmrich.”

“Why?”

“I like him.” The words were out before he could stop himself. He squeezed his eyes shut and pinched the bridge of his nose.

“Just don’t tell anyone, I don't know how he really feels about me. But we visited the Necropolis together and we had tea in the gardens and it almost felt like a date? So I wanted to do something nice for him, but it’s harder than I thought.”

“You are trying to woo the necromancer. With cookies,” Lucanis observed dryly.

Rook blushed and nodded.

“Lucanis, I really, really need your help,” he pleaded. “I've been at it for hours and I don't-”

Lucanis held up a hand to signal him to stop talking.

“Mierda,” he sighed. “Where's your recipe? Let's see where you went wrong.”

“I don't have one,” Rook said.

Lucanis stared at him. “What do you mean you don’t have one? Do you understand how baking works?”

“Well, my mom never used one? She just threw things together and it worked. And no, not a clue,” Rook grinned sheepishly.

“Your mother is either a miracle worker or you didn't pay enough attention. Baking is all about ingredient ratios, you don't just mix stuff randomly.”

Lucanis gave the horrible mass on the counter one last poke. “Now go throw this thing over the edge. If Assan finds it, Davrin is going to kill us. I will find us a cookbook.”

Rook carried the dough out the door and dropped it unceremoniously over the edge, although a good bit managed to keep itself stuck to his fingers.

When he returned after cleaning up, Lucanis was sitting in the kitchen and leafing through a cookbook.

“I think I found a suitable recipe. It is for beginners in the art of baking,” he said, stressing the word beginners with an amused quirk of his lips. “I have never seen anyone fuck up cookies so badly.”

”Yeah, yeah, no need to rub it in,” Rook laughed. “Next time I'm going to pick him some flowers and be done with it,” he grumbled.

“With your luck, you will be jumped by an ogre before you pick a single flower,” chuckled Lucanis. “I will help you romance your necromancer, but Spite says he wants some cookies as payment. With chocolate.”

“I agree to your terms,” Rook bowed to Lucanis with a cheeky smile. “And thank you, I really appreciate your help.”

“Don't mention it. So first we need to get the ingredients and then I will teach you how to measure them.”

They fell into an easy rhythm, Lucanis reading out the instructions and checking Rook's progress. Rook was smiling as he worked, he was finally getting somewhere.

Just as they were pulling the cookies out of the oven, the door opened, startling Rook into almost dropping the tray.

“Hello, Rook, Lucanis,” greeted Emmrich warmly as he entered the kitchen. “Don't mind me, I'm just getting some apples.” He sniffed. “It smells wonderful in here. Have you been baking for Neve again, Lucanis?”

Rook made an attempt to hide the cookies behind his back, but he was thwarted by Spite, who picked exactly the worst moment to appear.

“He. Made you. Cookies. I want. Cookies.”

“Spite, he wanted it to be a surprise,” hissed Lucanis.

But Spite wouldn't be dissuaded. “He. Likes. You.” He added triumphantly.

Rook flushed to the tips of his ears and hid his face in his hands. He didn't notice Emmrich crossing the room, until he was standing right in front of him, forcing him to look up at him between his fingers. Emmrich smiled at Rook and took hold of his hands to bring them down from his face. But even after he'd done that, he showed no intention of letting go. Rook was blushing fiercely, staring up at Emmrich with wide eyes.

“Is Spite telling the truth?” Emmrich asked softly, eyes searching Rook's face.

Rook could only nod.

“Would you care to enjoy the cookies with me, Rook?” Emmrich asked. “Perhaps along with a cup of tea in my quarters?”

“I-” Rook found he had to clear his throat, which had suddenly gone very dry. “I would like that,” he managed to croak out.

“Splendid!”

Emmrich let go of his hands to gather some of the cookies onto a plate, leaving Rook feeling strangely alone. He didn't have much time to wallow in his loneliness however, because Emmrich's hand quickly found its way back into his.

“Shall we?” Emmrich gazed into his eyes, looking for all the world like he had just been offered a candlelit dinner and not a plateful of cookies.

“Lead the way,” Rook smiled, leaning closer to him.

“If you start kissing, I am letting out Spite,” Lucanis threatened, but there was humor in his words. “I know you forgot I'm standing here.”

They started laughing and retreated from the kitchen, taking the plate of cookies with them.

[localgremlinboy]

I have been sitting on these for a long time because I wanted to have some more varied stuff but I haven't had time to write anything! So here's what I've got! Honestly these are some of my favorites

[part 1] [part 2] [part 3] [part 4] [part 5] [part 6]

- Whenever he's kicked out of an area or event, Oswald proceeds to start shoving anything not taped down into his pockets. He doesn't need the stuff, he just likes to be petty and ruin it for everyone else

- Bane has done a series of infomercials for various products & services that only air on late night product channels. Alfred is the only batfamily member who knows, he was doing laundry late one night and nearly lost it

- Mr Freeze writes restaurants/companies when they wrong him. Like nice formal letters, signing them and everything

- The Joker has an imdb page. Actually a lot of the villains do but like the Joker has one he updates with fun facts. Who says they're accurate but they sure are fun

- Riddler freaking hates puppets. Their soulless eyes say it all. He refuses to or "work" with puppets. That being said, Scarecrow has chased him around with Scarface once or twice "for science"

- Scarecrow has and still does write letters of recommendation for his ex students. He freaking still has Gotham University letterhead paper and everything. Honestly some of his students have gotten the job from his letter alone (maybe it's out of fear but like it's still a win), and they 100% send Jonathan thank you gifts in Arkham. He's got one of those dorky teacher scrapbooks where he keeps the thank you letters. One of his students even crocheted him a little plush scarecrow. It's like, they don't love his crimes but you know that was ol kooky professor Crane for ya

- Harvey kind of has a soft spot for sitcoms, he used to watch them with his mom growing up. One of their favorites, ironically, was night court

- Bane has a famous chili recipe and he makes one batch a year. It's fucking delicious! He makes an edition with meat and a vegetarian version too. Of course consults Ivy for home grown excellent quality vegetables and she gets first dibs in return

- the Joker has not one but TWO released albums. One is essentially a mash up of all the serenades he's made Batman listen to over the years and the other one is called "The Holidays with the Joker: Christmas selects edition"

- Scarecrow's car is a mess. He's got a work truck of course but his main car is like a wood panel sedan that he's been driving since he was a professor and refuses to get a new one. It's a fucking mess, he has like clothes, papers, garbage all over the place. He still has term papers he forgot to grade under the seats. Riddler HATES his car, with a passion

- Riddler has gone through the pain and suffering to teach all the rogues how to use discord, he had once hoped it would make their crimes more efficient. They have a group chat but it's mostly suffering on his end as all chaos ensues

- Scarecrow owns a Halloween train village he has set up in one of his lairs. It plays instrumental versions of Halloween songs as it goes around the track

- Joker will push open cups off of tables because he can. He's got the chaotic energy of a cat awake at 3 am

- Riddler and Scarecrow's friendship starts like super formal and co worker like but after like a year and a half, evolves into a weird symbiosis. Jonathan points at random ass objects or books and goes "you" when he's with Edward. Eddie has a habit of fixing or picking debris of Jonathan, usually when they're crimeing. Also one time, they were both startled so bad by Batman that Scarecrow jumped into riddler's arms like Scooby & shaggy, except they both held onto each other for a second before toppling over. Robin then unmasked them like scooby doo

- Harley & Ivy are frequent Panera customers and often get pick up orders there under "codenames" given by Harley. All the workers know who "Plantmamma" and "the quinnanator" are but like they tip great and everyone should get to enjoy soup

- Bane has one CD in his car, it's a 2010 greatest hits CD that someone accidentally left in there. Who you ask? He has no idea

- Harley has a getaway playlist preloaded in her phone for car chases

- Riddler and Scarecrow watch reality tv/game shows together. They binged all of survivor and the amazing race in a year. It was a joke at first but they both got really into the shows. They have both applied to be on amazing race together and unfortunately haven't been called back

- Joker still uses cassettes (and vinyls probably) except he mixes them himself and labels them all stupid titles like "Birthday bash #9", "Baty's mix", "what's the deal with airplane food?", "etc". But he also has a tape recorder and makes notes to himself and labels those ones too, so he gets his personal notes mixed up with his music jams all the time. He goes to put on some epic clown music and instead it's a twenty minute recording he made of himself eating fruit loops

[menfenced]

I've seen a lot of posts in the last 24 hours about why Kamala lost and I feel like most of them are failing to actually look at reasons voters are giving. Instead, they're putting forward what they personally didn't like about Kamala's campaign. But here's the thing to remember... You didn't like that thing about Kamala's campaign. You still voted for her. There's something else going on.

Because people didn't just vote against Kamala. They voted FOR Trump, and early polling results are showing they did it across the board in almost every demographic.

I've seen the calls for investigations into voter fraud and voter suppression because "this doesn't just happen!" and I agree with one thing. This doesn't "just" happen. There's a reason and democrats aren't listening. Because it's not just a handful of counties that got hacked or had crazy people trying to stop votes or didn't get all of their ballots counted. That's not to say that none of that stuff happened, of course. There may have been serious issues in some counties. But across the board, in nearly every state and every county, even if he didn't outright win, Trump made gains. The only two states where he didn't make gains: Washington State and Utah.

If that's due to voter fraud or hacked elections, it would have to be on a scale unlike anything we have ever seen before and honestly, we don't have any evidence of that right now.

So what happened? What do we know?

We know that since the pandemic and since the record inflation that caused, incumbent leaders all over the world have been losing elections at higher rates than usual. That crosses all political persuasions and again, has been seen across the globe.

Based on polling prior to the election, which remained fairly consistent throughout the election run, 3/4 US voters think the country is on the wrong track and 2/3 are unhappy with the economy.

Biden's approval rating when this election started was 40-41%

This is all a recipe for an incumbent losing, which to be frank, most people still saw Kamala as, even though she was running instead of Biden.

In addition to all of that, let's look at what the exit polls showed.

Kamala's approval rating in the exit polls was 48.5%

Donald Trump's approval ratings in the exit polls was 44.54%

And I know he wasn't running, but just for context Biden's approval ratings were 40%

When asked if Harris's views were too extreme, 46% said yes, 51% said no.

When asked if Trump's views were too extreme, 55% said yes, 43% said no.

So how did he win?

People like him less and think he's more extreme. Why did they vote for him?

Well, let's look at some other polling data.

45% of voters said that their family's personal financial situation was worse off than it was four years ago.

Only 25% said their financial situation was better than it was 4 years ago.

75% of people polled said that in the last year, inflation has caused them either severe or moderate hardship.

When asked who can bring needed change, 73% of voters said Trump and only 25% said Harris.

What that means is that a majority of American's don't like Trump. They don't think he's a good person. They think he's too extreme. And yet they still voted for him because the issue that was most important in this election was the economy.

Will Trump be better for the economy?

No.

But there's a perception that the current administration did not do everything they could have to fix it and people were willing to roll the dice on someone different.

Maybe we could have done more. Kamala only had 110 days to make her case and no matter what she said, the fact remained that she is the sitting VP. Maybe there was no way for her to escape the incumbent/status quo perception.

I hope we can learn something from the behavior of the American electorate this year, and I really hope Trump doesn't fuck things up too bad before we get another chance to step in, because the Republican Party is learning things too. They're learning that they can be as extreme as they want, but if they can make people believe the economy will work better under their leadership, even if it's not true, they'll still get votes.

[katzirra]

I think the worst part is like prior to ALL THIS CANCER SHIT, with my own cancer scare I was doing a lot of personal therapy mentally about my mother and my childhood. Processing trauma and anger. And I'm like stuck in that stage right now, because I've spent 20+ years telling my mom to go to a doctor about her uterus. And her quack holistic doctor told her get a hysterectomy or suffer, without doing ANY EXAMS why my 60 year old mother was still bleeding.

So I'm processing anger about my weird childhood, my awful teenage years, the disrespect my whole family gives me, and my anger that while I know there's nothing I could do more than I did for YEARS - that it's her own fault. Her own stubborn fault. And that I learned from that what not to do and be. I stopped visiting my parents because I would get in FIGHTS with my mom about her health and I hated fighting with her.

So all I've been feeling is anger, and sporadic moments of crying for five or ten minutes over the most goofy ass shit.

I cried tonight telling my sister to take a stuffed cat to my mom so she would know I'm thinking of her. A round ball plush the size of a tennis ball that looks like Mina, that Becca got her for that reason. I cried because my mom is scared I'm gonna be angry and tell her I told you so and fight with her about shit, and hasn't wanted to talk to me. I cried because the sentiment I have of having that cat show up, won't register to her.

My sister and I have had this conversation with our mom for years of her being convinced we're gonna fight over her stuff when she dies. We won't because I want stupid shit.

I want her copy of the Godfather that she threatened to make us watch, and I was the first one who said okay and ended up liking it. I want her terrible Subspecies movies, because she loved Radu lmfao GOD. I want trinkets from her desk that I played with when I talked to her constantly, because I couldn't not annoy her. I want the set of earrings I got her that she liked because they made her think of me and her taste. I want my parent's wedding rings because mom's is pretty, and dad's is made from a spoon he's so big - back before it was trendy lol but that won't be until he goes.

I want the little crystal unicorn because I used to make crude jokes with it...

I have my mom's Hannibal books and movies. I have some of her movies she'd never miss but make me think of her. I have the little wood box grandpa made her when she was little... I've had bits of her in my house forever because as much as she was a terrible fucking mother to a gay child until 8ish years ago - she's my mom and I do value things we did together.

I have every scarf she ever made me, and I still know the basics of how to knit a scarf at least because she taught me. I kept every ticket stub for every movie we saw together. I still can't eat milk duds without being scared I'll lose a tooth like I did during the Pokemon movie.

She'll take her shitty chili recipe to the grave unfortunately, because she can never tell me how she makes it. The thing that broke through covid finally...

I don't know how to process my grief and emotions because I have fucked up emotions because of all my trauma in that house emotionally. But I feel immense guilt I cannot properly process this information that my mother will die soon of her own fucking Idiocracy.

I feel bad I got sick and never got to watch that Orson Welles movie with her that she actually made time to make a mother daughter movienight around after I told her I was upset she never set aside time for me anymore as an adult.

I feel upset that the first real compliments I got on my art from her was on a commission, and she ACTUALLY pointed out specific things she liked. And I'm happy it was the one of Rhea for how hard I worked on it...

But fuck it stung that after all this time why now?

All my thoughts kinda keep just coming in like the tide and I'm tired. Like I've made peace with my mom passing - she's been dying my whole life we used to joke, but uh. Man.

Sucks.

[emira-addams]

Hazbin Hotel - Odette x Velvette - Juliet and Juliet in Hell

Chapter 04: Smoke and Sinful Sushi

Leaning back casually, Velvette sat on a rundown brick wall, legs folded over, and basked in the red radiance of the horizon. She was wearing a pair of oversized sunglasses which she had snatched in passing from one of the many booths for tourists, all hell-born who visited the capital of hell for fun.

Next to her, Odette sat cross-legged on the wall. Between them lay a tattered plastic tray of supermarket sushi from the refrigerated section, the more or less fresh fish formerly a loan shark. Odette poked very skeptically at the sinful snack with her chopsticks. "The shark tastes awful!" Odette retched after shoving a single maki roll into her mouth. She felt her appetite dwindle away after just one bite. "I bet Auntie Rosie has the flawless recipe for loan shark... I'll ask her as soon as I get home. That stuff from the supermarket is seriously inedible..."

"I take it that the sushi is no match for Rosie's cooking skills?" Odette shook her head and Velvette laughed out loud. "Can I try a sip of your coffee?" she asked, pointing to the drink in Odette's hand.

"Please..." Odette held the straw up to Velvette. "The coffee's too sweet for me anyway. Not my taste…"

Velvette sipped Odette's frappuccino. Sweet blended with bitter and the cold cream made the hot coffee taste insanely pleasant before both melted and merged on her tongue. "Does this direct swapping of spit count as an indirect kiss?" Velvette raised her eyebrows flirtatiously and gave Odette a challenging look as Odette completely abandoned her frappuccino to Velvette's hungry craving for sugar, who immediately devoured the cold coffee and caffeine with relish. "Do you know anything about what's up between your mother and Rosie?"

Odette answered her question with a surprised arch of her brows. "There's something between my mother and Auntie Rosie?" she responded in all seriousness. "Do you suspect there's something romantic between them?"

"I was quite sure we were sitting in the same meeting just hours ago..." Velvette smacked her forehead with the flat of her hand. "No, I think they're just roommates, really good friends or something..."

Annoyed, Odette rolled her eyes. "You're pretty mean, Velvette..."

"Thank you!" Velvette laughed louder, her voice sounding heavy and laced with cigarette smoke. She pulled a half-filled pack of cigarettes from the inside pocket of her beloved vest. Smoking had become a bad habit of hers during her lifetime. She took one of the seemingly harmless looking things out of the flat package. Sighing, she pushed it between her intense black lips and without having to say another word to Odette, she held out the flat of her hand. Odette gave her a lighter. Velvette carefully protected the sensitive flame from the wind with her hand and easily got the end to glow before handing the lighter back to Odette and taking a deep, satisfying drag from her cigarette.

Odette scrunched up her nose. "If my mother smells the cigarette smoke on my clothes and in my hair, she'll absolutely know I've been out with you." With mock disgust and a deprecating grimace, she quickly pulled the hem of her top over the tip of her nose to at least get some roughly filtered air to breathe. "She says you're a bad influence..."

"Me and a bad influence?" gasped Velvette feigning. "I'm not a bad influence..." she pouted and offered Odette her cigarette. "Luckily parents aren't always right," she smirked as Odette took the glowing cigarette from Velvette's hand, took a single drag and nodded in affirmation. She exhaled the warm smoke and passed Velvette her cigarette back.

"Sometimes I can't stand the obnoxious smell of cigarette smoke at all..." said Odette. She caught Velvette's gaze and met it back, a slight smile curling on her lips. She shook her head in amazement and tried to banish a thought. "If my mother knew that I was sitting on this wall right now with you, the Velvette of the Three Vees, eating cheap sushi, she would crucify me..." she whispered. "But I think you might be worth it."

"Don't worry... I know a very simple solution to this problem. A rope, some bin bags, a shovel and a deep hole in the garden," Velvette joked. Velvette wailed in agony as Odette jabbed her elbow between her ribs without a single scrap of mercy. "Pretty and intelligent girls fall under bad influences and indulge in physical violence against their innocent fellow beings... This hellish society is truly cursed..."

"Drama queen!" Odette crooned.

Velvette indicated a bow and took a last long drag from her cigarette, which she held piqued between two fingertips. She held the biting, burning smoke in her lungs for a brief moment before exhaling. She savored the taste of tobacco and cream in her mouth as she finished the last remnants of Odette's frappuccino and then stubbed out the stale cigarette butt on the rough bricks.

"Are we going to catch something edible?" Velvette held out her hand to Odette.

Odette casted a skeptical sideways glance at the untouched remains of the sushi. "You pay!" she announced and took Velvette's hand. She followed her and intertwined their fingers.

As they passed a trash can, Velvette disposed of her pack of cigarettes, unnoticed by Odette.

"Which color do you like better?" Velvette held out the back of her painted hand to Odette. She presented her with the different colors of lipstick she had picked up in the department for all kinds of make-up utensils in a small drugstore, the two of them were stuck standing in front of the shelves. Velvette still held the labeled testers in her other hand while she looked at Odette expectantly and waited for her honest opinion.

Odette frowned questioningly. "You already wear similar shades of red in your clothes, they clash, and does the pink have to be with glitter? Too much glitter looks really cheap..."

"Never mind..." Velvette grumbled, slightly offended, and wiped the stains off the back of her hand with a tissue. "What do you think about this black?" She pulled another lipstick from one of the many colorful compartments. She twisted it open and held it next to her face to check it out.

Odette took a step back and carefully checked Velvette out from top to bottom while she considered and then nodded resolutely. An awe-struck smile graced her lips. "Drop dead gorgeous! Uhm... I mean, that color would look fantastic on you!"

"Thanks!" Velvette smirked and put all the testers back before grabbing a foil-wrapped lipstick in the right color.

"Everything all right?" asked Velvette curiously as she spread their purchases out on the checkout conveyor belt, black lipstick for Velvette and chocolate cookies for Odette. In her mind, Velvette made a mental note that these delicious delights were Odette's favorite.

Silently, Odette stared at her phone screen, many missed calls and message after message from her worried mother lit up. "What did you say?" Confused, she shifted her gaze to Velvette. A guilty conscience was written all over her face, it marred it.

"Uhm... I asked you a question," Velvette tried to repeat. "Do you think the glue under the stickers on the apples in the supermarket has different tastes?" Velvette searched in her pockets for money. She handed the crumpled bills to the cashier, who wrapped their purchases in a plastic bag.

"I don't know..." Odette shrugged her shoulders as Velvette grabbed the plastic bag and held the swinging door open for her. "You need to try it out?" They left the store.

Between the tall buildings and cold facades, the shadows grew in the fading light. The first streetlights switched on.

"What do you want to do next?" Velvette wanted to know.

Odette glanced back at the screen of her phone, worried. "I think I have to go home..." she huffed. Insecurely, she adjusted the glasses on the tip of her nose.

"Oh..." Flustered, Velvette scratched the back of her head. She saw Carmilla Carmine's name flash up again and again. "Would you like me to walk you home?" Suddenly, Odette pulled Velvette by her hand into the nearest alley. She felt the rough surface of the bricks dig into her back as Odette gently pushed her against the wall. She felt her breath on her skin, the warmth of her hands traveling over her body, and again Velvette lost herself hopelessly in the deep crimson of her eyes.

"By Lucifer... Could you fucking stop gawking so fucking romantically at me all the fucking time?" breathed Odette, usually she never sweared so much. She carefully took the plastic bag from her sweaty hands, poured the contents down at her feet and draped it over Velvette's head.

"What are you-"

Odette cut off her sentence, instead she closed her eyes and cupped Velvettes cheeks. Softly, she placed her lips on hers and kissed her delicately through the plastic of the bag. Taken a bit by surprise, Velvette quickly returned the kiss, her heart hammering in her chest and the blood rushing in her ears.

Odette broke away from her lips. "I-I'm sorry..." she murmured, her voice a faltering whisper. She hesitated and shook her head. "I can't really kiss you yet..." Odette suddenly whisked a pen out of her pocket. She pulled off the cap and wrote her number on the back of Velvette's hand. "I have to go home, but when we meet again, you'll get a real kiss," she promised. "Thank you, Velvette... The day was really lovely."

Odette sent her a parting smile, but then she had quickly disappeared from the alley and Velvette's field of vision.

Lost in thought, Velvette waved to her, struggling to sort out her scattered mind. "Okay..." mumbled Velvette. Speechless, she stared at the combination of numbers on the back of her hand. Her heart was still hammering like crazy in her chest.

Chapter 05:

[docholligay]

Shamash Answers: Miscellaneous Final

This question was: You're coming to my house for Shabbat! What are you requesting? THis I make a shamash question every year, because it's always so much fun.

3rd place, for making me think about mushrooms (also my favorite vegetarian answer to anything)

Afraid I'm going to be boring and/or difficult with this! I would love to see your take on a vegetarian main, preferably something with mushrooms, because I'm sick and tired of the non-meat options being "tofu" or "veggie patties" type stuff. Portobello burgers are the bomb! Mushrooms are delicious and have nutrition in them! Anyway, chef's choice, but a non-meat main (dairy and eggs are a go), would love to taste your mac and cheese for the side (I've been using the recipe forever, but would like to know what I'm actually aiming for haha), and a pie for dessert - again, chef's choice on the filling. I don't eat a lot of desserts, and even less frequently do I eat pie, but mainly because I don't know a good place that serves them by the slice. Given that you have won awards with your pie, I would love to try this from the state champion baker!

@vassekocho, this made me have to think because if mac and cheese is the side, the main has to be someting not pasta or otherwise carbohydrate based. So, I think I'd take a really good blend of mushrooms: Portobellos, maitake, oyster, shiitake, etc, and then saute them in olive oil or butter until they've got some nice crisp on them, and serve them over a white bean puree and wilted greens. The beans will give it good protein and creaminess and body, and the greens will offer a nice contrast to the weightiness of everything else. The pie depends so much on personal taste! My peach pie is very popular though. So's my key lime.

2nd place, because I've never gotten a chance to make this cake and I really want to:

I'd want something I can't get so easily in my area for the side- duck or game meat or something, made however you think will show it off the best. Jet's talked up your mac and cheese so much that I'd have to have it how you make it (I know you've shared the recipe but still). Dessert would have to be one of your… I don't want to call them experimental, but some of the stuff you've talked about with character ideas. Like a few years back you had… I think it was like a champagne mousse cake for a Michiru idea, and I find that absolutely fascinating and would absolutely want to try it before daring to look up how that's supposed to even work.

@katrani, I think I would do an elk tenderloin served with a huckleberry reduction for something VERY local, hard to get elsewhere. Also I want to make that cake!!

And 1st place, for bringing out the ARTIST in me:

At this particular point in time (and I reserve the right to change my mind, because there are SO MANY amazing possibilities), but:

A themed meal! Specifically, Angela and Fareeha's first date.

@seolh I love that you kno me well enough to know I would love this. So their first date I had set at a now-closed restaurant called Orfano--I actually took @sailorsunspot and @moonlight-frittata there before it closed--which was a really cute, upscale Italian place with an excellent drinks and wine program, intimate environment, and many, many choices that did not contain pork*.

Angela gets the Cacio e Pepe because she is a basic bitch at heart, and Fareeha immediately regrets not ordering first even though she thought it wouldn't be gallant, because she assumes Angela picked one of the cheapest things on the menu for the benefit of Fareeha's pocketbook. She thinks the whole night how she should have ordered first and she should have ordered the most expensive thing on the menu, but she orders the swordfish and then immediately follows it with ordering ordering an 80-odd bottle of champagne.

Which leaves her with a concern that it looks like boasting, and she didn't even ask Angela if she liked champagne, and perhaps lena was not all wrong when she said Fareeha's problem was she had no idea how to relate to a human in a way that wasn't giving or receiving orders.

Angela, meanwhile, finds her obvious attention to detail contrasted with equally obvious nervousness very charming indeed, and suggests they order dessert as she tries to lengthen the night. (They get the chocolate cake for two, and though Fareeha does not normally eat much in the way of sweets she would do anything to keep talking to this beautiful, intelligent, kind woman who looks so cute with truffle mousse filling stuck to the corner of her mouth, her lipstick smeared a bit from the pasta) They are idiots and they are born to be together.

*Fareeha, of course, investigating everything to within an inch of her life**, asks Lena about Angela's "level of religious observance" despite the fact that it is absolutely killing her to know that Lena is the best and most at hand source of this information, Lena, being as annoying as she can possibly be, telling Fareeha that's it's not as if they had deep conversations about the philosophical existence of God while sitting in Eichenwalde, but she did pray a time or two, which Lena herslef is not really given to, but it's still nice to think that someone's watching out, isn't it? Meanwhile Fareeha finally barks out, "A kosher restaurant! Does it need. to be. A kosher restaurant." Lena all, "why didn't you just ask that, instead of nattering on about religious observance, then?" and Fareeha is exactly one half second from snapping her neck before Lena says she was perfectly happy to eat Reinhardt's stroganoff, so take that as you will, and it's not an answer but Fareeha will explode if she has to ask Lena one more question and get a rambling Canterbury fucking Tale as a response. (Later, she will come to find Lena's highways and byways method of storytelling charming, in its way, but now is not later and Fareeha rues the day she came to work in Egypt)

[petermorwood]

Crisps / Chips again

Associated with this post, here's an artefact, two anecdotes and an opinion.

The artefact is a slightly dented but still remarkably airtight "Charles Chips" tin.

It was bought, full, many years ago from the Vermont Country Store, from whom we subsequently bought reflll packs - given their size, "sacks" would be more accurate - which were shipped to Ireland in sturdy cardboard boxes.

VCS no longer carry Charles Chips in either tin or refill. I know. I checked. BUT...

The Charles Chips company, which per Wikipedia was doing just fine in 1990 then got sold and went bankrupt twice in less than three years (gosh!) is Back In Business, and note has been taken, with considerable interest - oh, you bet - that they do international shipping...

*****

Anecdote No. 1 is from when @dduane lived in Bala Cynwyd near Philadelphia, in what was known as "The House of Dangerously Single Women" (ahem). She tells me that the household used to get Charles Chips delivered to the door about twice a week, by the company's own vans.

Speaking as a long-time crisp fan, I found that both very neat and a source of mild envy. :->

Anecdote No. 2 is from 30-ish years ago, when we were in New York for something or other and, being rather jetlagged with our internal food clocks out of whack, did our usual thing and went out for a walk.

Curiously enough, this involved visiting several food stores and supermarkets where we bought a lot of Interesting Foreign or Much Missed (i.e. American, in both instances) junk food for grazing on back in our hotel room.

In one of them DD was about to lay claim to a huge bag of Wise potato chips (its bag would have been the design in the middle)...

...while nattering to one of the shop staff how much she missed them. He told her that a new delivery was expected in about 20 minutes and if she wanted to wait, she'd get much fresher chips.

And So It Came To Pass.

Well done, that guy!

*****

Finally, while Saratoga Springs may have been where potato crisps / chips were popularised, standardised, commercialised or whatever, it's definitely not where they were invented.

Even the oft-repeated "creation myth" frequently has its hard-to-please celebrity demanding to have his potatoes sliced and fried really thin "The Way I Had Them In France" - which kinda sorta suggests they were, um, being made there just like that well before the Saratoga thing happened.

Myths are okay, even marketing myths - so long as they're recognised as myths and not shilled as true by places with reputations like the Smithsonian.

*****

It's a bit like the still-current nonsense about spices being used in medieval kitchens to disguise bad meat. As far as I've been able to find out, this originated with a historian called J. C. Drummond in the late 1930s - yup, just before World War Two - simply because he didn't know his period terminology.

"Green" meant fresh - even nowadays, an inexperienced or immature person is "green" - so green cheese was newly made, and green meat was newly slaughtered, unaged and consequently tough and flavourless.

Just ask any steak fan the difference between a fresh steak and a 30-day dry aged one.

Drummond, in his overspecialised-scholarship wisdom, assumed that "green venison" meant meat which had gone off, and that a recipe to improve it with spices was to cover the bad smell and taste.

In fact it was somewhere between a marinade and a rub, meant to improve the tenderness and flavour of fresh meat as if it had aged for a while, thus shortening the waiting time between killing a beast and getting it to the table of a hungry court.

As I've said before, it's always easier for no-proofs-given pop history to dismiss medieval people as (insert derogatory observation here) than take the time needed to explain why and how they in their time were not that different to us in ours.

*****

PS: when looking for that previously posted stuff about green meat I found a post where, with even less evidence than Saratoga Springs inventing crisps, a Brit poster claimed Brits invented curry.

Snrk.

Among other more or less pertinent observations, I mentioned that what Brits invented was BRITISH curry, and anyone who has read "Nanny Ogg's Cookbook" will know what I meant by that... :->

[kathbunny]

Crack Maid Cafe au - VR-LA talks with Kyana over his break! They are friends

"Kyana, you're in college, right?" VR-LA asked, putting a bandaid on the back of his heel where his new shoes had made the skin go red. It'd be best to get to it before it actually became a problem.

"Yeah!" She replied, kicking her feet under the table as she continued with the online food worker card lessons Oto had asked her to do to legally be able to help in the kitchen. The laptop she had borrowed from him looked ancient. VR-LA guessed it probably used to belong to Egan from the outlines of peeled off stickers. "Why? What's up?"

"I was thinking about looking into online ones to continue my studies, that's all." VR-LA said, idly looking over her shoulder to see what she was on. This was one of those tests where the only notes you needed were the numbers, but could pass getting those completely wrong. VR-LA remembered it well.

"Don't you already have a degree though?" Kyana asked, fighting to get the mousepad to respond to her as she clicked to go to the next video.

"Yes, but I could always get a second one. It's not like I can do this forever, and it'd make my resume better." VR-LA replied. "And I enjoy studying."

"Go for it then!" Kyana ideally tapped her fingers along the edge of the table. "I mean, there's no reason not to, right? Besides money, I assume."

"I think I won't have to worry about that part too much." VR-LA hummed, thinking. "I might ask Maxim if he has any advice. Maybe MR-SN too. It is a big decision..."

"Well, it's not like you have to start right away. Always good to think stuff over."

The door to the break room opened up, and Finbar came carrying two slices of cake. "You two, try a new recipe for me. I've been talking to Oto about getting it added to the menu, but I need more opinions."

"Ooo," Kyana bounced up out of her chair, going to take the plates. "Thank you, Finbar!"

[lazysublimeengineer]

I could eat that girl for lunch

Yeah, she dances on my tongue

Tastes like she might be the one

And I could never get enough

I could buy her so much stuff

It's a craving, not a crush, huh

Baby, I think you were made for me

Somebody write down the recipe

Been tryin' hard not to overeat

You're just so sweet

I've said it all before, but I'll say it again

I'm interested in more than just bein' your friend

[fungifanart]

Could I request Edmond (nu: carnival) x male reader that acts like Jamil viper (No he's not Eiden, he was not transferred worlds)

Oh and could I be 🤡anon so it'd be easier for me to navigate what I've requested

Servitude

Characters: Male reader (Although, it's pretty GN due to the use of You/Your pronouns. Oops.), Edmond, Edmond's mother, mentions of Eiden

Cw: Violence

Word count: 966

Notes: I mean, you can call yourself that if you want, but I personally don't really care about that kind of stuff. Anyways, I'm pretty happy with how this came out, so I hope you enjoy!

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

You are NOT happy with this arrangement. At all.

It's almost insulting, in a way.

Having to serve and safeguard this prissy, hardass noble who would measure sugar in cups rather than teaspoons if left alone in the kitchen? After spending year after year working your way up the ranks with your sights set on becoming Royal Guard Commander?

Great. Thanks. What an honor. (<- Sarcasm)

What makes it worse is that neither of you seemingly have a choice in the matter, seeing as how the decision was made by your new liege's mother, the matriarch of the family.

You can still remember the silent fury you felt when you received the news from the woman herself as your liege argued bitterly with his mother about the necessity of it. Of you.

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

"Mother, I beg of you to reconsider! I fail to see how I, the Vice Captain of the royal guard, would need a personal guard!" Edmond said, making no attempt to mask his displeasure.

Well, at least you're like-minded in that aspect.

"Save your arguments, my son." Edmond's mother waved dismissively, "Do not forget your status as a noble. You know as well as I do how cutthroat our world has become lately and your status as Vice Captain will only serve to paint a bigger target on your back for those wishing to stab it." She explained.

…OK, you'd be lying if you said she didn't make a convincing argument.

"Mother, surely you trust me enough as your son to–" Edmond's attempt at a counter was shut down immediately by his mother slamming her hand on her desk.

"It is BECAUSE you're my son that I make this decision! The very thought of you being caught unawares for some politically motivated scheme is one that I CANNOT abide!" She slumped back in her chair with a sigh, "Enough. My decision is final and I will hear no more arguments."

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

And so began what you would so affectionately describe as your own personal hell.

Every day, you wake up before Edmond in order to prepare breakfast, paying special attention that there's no poison and just enough sugar to suit his "tastes" without rotting his and your teeth out of your skulls.

After breakfast, you accompany Edmond on his daily patrol of the castle town, carefully surveying your surroundings for any traps or assassins, while also keeping the peace among the citizens.

Next is dinner, which goes the same way as breakfast, except afterwards you have to stand guard outside Edmond's room until a certain time, at which you'll go back to your own room. The problem with this is that you have to make sure that he's at least preparing for bed before you can leave and yet Edmond seems perfectly content to work at his desk from dusk until dawn, forcing you to physically pull him away from his desk just so the both of you have a chance at getting enough sleep.

Rinse and repeat with only minor variations as the days turn into weeks and then months and you've got a perfect recipe for making you wonder what the sharp end of your spear would taste like.

However, three months after your appointment under Edmond, you find yourself traveling to the Fire Territory with him and the new Grand Sorcerer with the intent of regulating the Fire Altar, but then everything goes wrong.

The troops have been scattered, the Fire Gemstone was on the verge of shattering the last time you saw it and some weird magic separated you from your liege, leaving you stranded in the middle of the desert.

You're having an internal argument with yourself about how you should be better than being caught by some cheap trap despite it being impossible to anticipate something like this when you suddenly hear two familiar voices a ways from you.

As you approach, you recognize the voices as belonging to your liege and the new Grand Sorcerer, but something feels off.

Listening to the new Grand Sorcerer from a safe distance, you hear him speak in a tone you've never heard from him before about things you’ve come to learn that Edmond is insecure about and even having the GALL to imply that he's complicit in the greedy practices of the Light Territory's nobles.

Your blood is boiling before you even realize it. For all of your continued misgivings about your position and all of Edmond's faults, the one thing you can't deny is his devotion to his people. You see it in the way he regards each citizen he sees while on patrol with respect and patience and in the way he toils away at his desk, signing bills that would counter others that would cause them harm or distress.

Your feet instantly carry you out of your hiding spot and into the space between the two men as you hold your spear in front of Edmond defensively, "Who are you?" You ask the 'Grand Sorcerer'.

Despite how few your interactions with him had been up until this point, you know for a fact that the new Grand Sorcerer is absolutely not the type to say such horrible things to Edmond, especially not with the way you've seen him look at him.

The conclusion? The 'person' you see before you is an imposter who needs to be eliminated.

Coming to the same conclusion, you see Edmond readying his weapon as well, allowing both of you to strike through the imposter at the same time and leave whatever's left of him to begin the trek to the Fire Altar.

As you sprint across the sand, your mind fully catches up with what just happened.

Fighting alongside Edmond as equals instead of master and servant? You could get used to this.

[jillsandwhichs]

Valenfield Oneshots/AU's Collection, Chapter 3, Thanksgiving

Masterlist

Pairing: Jill Valentine & Chris Redfield

Summary: Jill & Chris host a thanksgivng dinner at their house

Status of their relationship in this oneshot: Married

WC: 2.2k

Type: Sfw

A/n: Hi! Hope you all enjoy. Please check out my masterlist, there's a lot of stuff there. You can get to know me, you can see the rules of my blog and then you can see all of my fanfictions. You'll be able to find the previous chapters to this fic and upcoming ones. You'll also be able to find my Wattpad & AO3. Thank you

"Where is my stupid spoon?" Jill groaned out in annoyance. "Honey, look a little harder." Chris replied, sitting just behind her at the island counter.

"Oh smart ass, I've been looking this entire ti-" She stopped speaking as she looked right in front of her, the big spoon sitting on the wooden shelf above the oven.

Chris sarcastically spoke from behind her, "Told ya so..." Chris loves to be right. Jill rolled her eyes to herself, and bit her lip, almost as if she was trying not to smile.

Ultimately, Jill changed the subject, "When will Claire be here?" Jill questioned. "Is she still bringing the baked mac and cheese, because she knows we can't cook it!"

Chris looked at Jill with a look that clearly showed he was amused by her franticness. "Don't worry, she's bringing it, I messaged her a little bit ago." Chris answered Jill's question.

Around the holidays, especially ones like this, Jill over thinks everything. She was never really into events and special days like these until she was with Chris. Now, he's given her a reason to want to celebrate them.

"Okay, good, that's good." Jill replied, placing the spoon down and letting out a sigh. "So I'm doing stuffing, turkey, pigs in a blanket and homemade dough bread, that's enough, right?" Jill asked, completely turning around to face her husband, Chris.

"Baby, I think that's plenty, we'll have leftovers for days." He stood up, walking towards her slowly, before placing his hands on her hips.

"You don't know that! What if Claire wants to take some home? Or maybe Parker!" Jill said, throwing her head back in frustration. "Such a drama queen." Chris squeezed her hips a bit, making sure she knew he was teasing her.

Jill gave a half sarcastic smile before leaning on her tippy toes to give him a small peck on the lips. "Always." She then kissed him once more before going back to focusing on her cooking.

Cooking skills weren't something Jill always had. Since she grew up without her mother or father, there wasn't anyway to learn recipes or secrets to cooking. Chris was actually more of a cook than her, he's the one who taught her most of what she knew. Aside from that, she'd sometimes watch cooking shows in her free time.

Which she really never has.

She slowly swayed her hips side to side while stirring the stuffing in the pot, making sure all the seasonings mixed together perfectly. Chris just admired her as she did so, he loves her little things that she does that are just so... Her... Like swaying her hips, her dramaticness or even her little humming she does when she's focused.

"The stuffing is almost done. The turkey is still cooking, same with the pigs in a blanket... Can you check if my bread has formed, hun?" Jill asked with a low, gentle tone, seems as though she's relaxed. "Sure." Chris retorted and walked over beside Jill.

He lifted the tin foil and seen the bread wasn't fully done yet, but it looked great, and Chris was excited to eat. "Don't even think of touching it if it's not fully formed, I don't need your fingerprints in my bread." Jill said sternly, knowing she's able to keep Chris in check.

"I wasn't! I really wasn't..." He smirked and went back to sitting, continuing to scroll on his phone while he waited for their guests to arrive.

Jill replied in a sarcastic, teasing tone, "I'm sure." She giggled.

-

A little while later, the food Jill had made was officially ready. Although, despite her being able to take criticism, Jill didn't want her food to taste weird or just off, she tried especially hard for this Thanksgiving considering multiple people are coming over.

"You okay?" Chris questioned Jill, as she rested her head on the counter, sitting in one of their many barstools. "Mhm." She replied and sat her head up, her short brunette hair falling back to her shoulders. "Claire's just a bit away, along with Parker. I still haven't gotten any message from Rebecca, but I'm sure she's coming." He smiled.

"I'd love to see her, it's been so long." Jill said with a kind tone. Rebecca and Jill weren't always close, until Rebecca joined the BSAA, that's when they were able to get to know one another more.

They're quite the set of polar opposites but opposites attract. Jill's also close with Claire and Parker, especially Parker. He was assigned her partner in the BSAA so working together has brought them closer together.

"Oh shit, I almost forgot." Jill stood up at a rapid pace and walked over to one of the many cabinets in their kitchen, she opened them and took out a few wine glasses.

"Wine?" Chris asked, standing up to go beside Jill. "Yeah, I can't believe I almost forgot." "Well, it's probably because you've been overthinking the entire dinner." "Oh hush." Jill said in a playful tone. She knew he was right.

Popping the cork off, Jill began to pour the red wine into each glass. The sound of the wine filling up the glass was so satisfying. "Do you think that's enough?" "We always have more." Chris smiled and took the bottle and placed it beneath the counter.

Jill nodded and looked up as a knock at the door was heard. "I bet it's Claire!" She smiled and sped walk towards the big front door.

Opening it, she stepped back to get a wider view of their porch and who was standing on it, it was indeed, Claire, Chris's sister.

"Hi, Claire! So good to see you." Jill gave Claire and quick hug, allowing her to step into Jill and Chris's home. "Great to see the both of you. I'm sorry if I'm late, traffic was so crazy, which surprised the hell outta me." Claire chuckled and placed a large tupperware on the medium sized white table.

"Baked mac and cheese here, and I brought some pickle wraps too." Claire smiled and pulled those out as well. "You sure you didn't just bring those for you? Cause I surely remember you downing them last Thanksgiving." Chris teased his younger sister. "Oh haha!" Claire let out a snarky fake laugh.

"Well, we made stuffing, bread and pigs in a blanket, and of course, turkey. Parker is bringing mashed potatoes and a meat board. We still have no intel on whether or not Rebecca can make it."

"It's to bad if she doesn't make it..." Claire replied to Jill, sitting at the counter with them. "Oh, I have a quick question." Claire said with a gentle tone, taking a bite of one of her homemade pickle wraps.

"Shoot." Chris said, sipping his wine. "You two know Leon Kennedy? My old... Friend?" Claire questioned, taking another bite.

"Yes, what about him?" Jill asked. "Is he okay, Claire?" Chris asked, seeming a little worried.

Chris and Jill did infact know of Leon. Chris knew him a bit better though, and a lot longer. They haven't seen him in a while though.

"Well... We're dating, or whatever, it doesn't matter." Claire said nonchalantly.

"What? Claire, that's great for you!" Jill said with a bright smile. "Leon, seriously?" Chris said with a laugh, not being able to contain the humorous statement.

"What? You like him!" Claire said with a confused tone. "I don't know if he can handle you, that is all." He said with a shrug, sipping more from the glass.

"Well, he's been able to handle me all these years, with us just being friends and all." Claire laughed, looking at Chris and Jill. "I think you two make a good team so why not a good couple?" Jill said kindly to Claire.

Claire and Jill are close good friends. Ever since meeting Chris, her and Claire were friends almost instantly. Jill has viewed her like a sister and now, she really is her sister in law.

"At least someone gets it." Claire was obviously kidding around, her and Chris have a close enough relationship where they're able to act like this, instead of distant, not so close siblings.

Another knock was finally heard. "Finally." Jill stood up, placing her glass down while walking up to her and Chris's front door.

"Ah, Parker! It's so great to see you!" Jill smiled. Parker was probably her bestest friend.

"Jill, you look good, how're ya?" Parker said with classic manly chuckle that's recognizable after knowing him for so long.

Parker walked in and said hi to Chris and Claire, despite him not knowing Claire to well, he's still respectful.

"I got the mashed potato and the meat board, made by yours truly." Parker placed it down on the table, alongside the other plates and bowls of food. "Looks great, thank you for doing it on such short notice." Chris retorted.

"Rebecca coming?" Parker asked while sitting down beside Claire. "No clue, but hopefully." Claire spoke to Parker. "I see. Well, let's hope!" He smirked and sipped the wine Jill had poured earlier in the hour.

-

As the hour passed, they waited for Rebecca to show but sadly, never did.

"I don't think she's making it so we can make our plates." Jill said quietly, she seemed a little bummed but there wasn't much she could do. They all nodded and began loading their plates.

Jill hoped the food tasted as good as it looked. She knew Parkers and Claire's would but she didn't know about hers.

"Jill, this turkey looks better than any turkey I could ever make." Claire gave the subtle compliment. "Thank you, but trust me, yours was so good last year. Hopefully, my skills have paid off and this'll taste good." She chuckled.

It got quiet as they ate, all of them trying to be respectful and not speak with a mouth full of food, which is something Chris really hates, so he didn't mind.

"Is it good?" Jill asked after sipping her wine, cleansing her pallet. "It's really good, well done Jill." Parker gave a half smile. Then again, any food is good to Parker. He once ate frog legs while they were at work, so Jill didn't know whether or not to trust his word.

"Handsome, is it good?" Jill whispered to Chris who was right beside her. "Yea baby, of course." "Honest?" "Honest." Chris smirked, kissing the top of her head.

"Claire?" "It's actually good Jill, stop doubting yourself." Claire said in a playful demanding tone. Jill rolled her eyes playfully, taking a bite of the potatoes.

"Thank you two for coming, by the way." Jill spoke, sipping her wine. "I mostly did this to try my cooking." Jill chuckled.

"Trust me, anytime you two invite me over, I can't say no." Claire smiled. "I didn't expect this life for my brother, personally." Claire stated.

Jill nodded, holding Chris's hand on the table.

"When I joined the BSAA, I immediately knew you two loved one another." Parker said with a chuckle. "Especially since Jessica always pointed it out to me, but we all know why she did that." Parker let out a humorous cackle.

"Oh Jesus..." Chris groaned and rubbed his temple just at the woman's name. "Glad she's gone!" Jill smiled and rolled her eyes. "Cheers to that." Claire said with a eye roll, matching Jill's attitude.

Jessica was someone who was once apart of the BSAA, who was partnered up with Chris. A year or so ago, she was fired for some things she was involved in, ever since, the group could actually speak freely on how they feel about her. Hate is a strong word but for Jill, it's possible.

"Can't believe we lost Jessica, Clive and Raymond all in the span of a couple weeks." Chris sighed and took a bite from the meat board.

"It was a crazy time." Parker replied with a laugh.

The group continued to eat, eventually finishing their plates, there was only a bit left on them anyways. "Woo, I'm stuffed." Claire laughed and slumped in the dining chair.

"Me too." Chris replied. "You all did great on the meal, thanks for pitching in, you two." Chris thanked Parker and Claire. "Of course." Claire retorted.

"I'll take care of the dishes, you guys can just hang around." Jill said with a soft tone, stacking the plates and carrying them out to the kitchen.

"I'll help her." Chris stood from the chair and nodded to the two, going out to his wife. Claire and Parker began to conversate, for once.

Hot water was spewing out from the faucet as Jill scrubbed the plates and silverware with a clean, new sponge, the soap getting on the upper side of her smaller sized hands.

"Need help baby?" Chris questioned, grabbing her waist from behind, placing his head on her thin, warm felt shoulder.

"I'm good honey, thanks." Jill replied, turning her head and puckering her natural pink lips. Chris smirked and kissed her, tightening his grip on her slim waist.

"Dinner was great though, you did really good, I'm proud of you." Chris spoke with his gentle tone, the tone he really only uses with his wife.

"Thank you, Chris." Jill said quietly, placing the plates in the strainer.

"Of course." He turned her to face him then, he kissed her passionately, his hands wandering downwards. Jill pulled away, "No." Jill said sternly. "Fine." Chris rolled his eyes with a tint of blush rested on his face. Jill smiled and walked off, back to Parker and Claire.

[therottenkingsreckoning]

We're back with another one! Went through several agonizing rewrites here, stressing probably more than necessary that things all flow well and feels hit like they're supposed to. But finally, the whole extra long beast of a chapter is finished.

I'll put some stuff down below this like I did earlier- except this time, it's a link to the B Dylan Hollis recipe video I had in mind when Frank is talking about cake (a recipe I'd still love to try out myself) and the drawings of Apple the houpa I made ages ago.

Anyway, enough rambling. Fanfic ahoy!

Little Flame, chapter 7

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

It was one thing for Eddie to be nervous. After all, his mate and child were on the line if anything happened. But it was another thing entirely when the other neighbors starting treating Frank the same way.

"Oop, watch your head there!" Howdy called out, passing by them with armfuls of boxes. Frank had been helping out around the bodega lately, a way of repaying the stolen test which had over time morphed into a biweekly half-job. It was also a chance for the two to hang out, since they otherwise wouldn't have done.

"I'm just saying, you should give it a chance," Frank said, continuing where he'd left off in both sweeping and conversation. "Beans add a nice richness you don't get from the regular stuff."

"But in a cake? Really? Apple, move outta the way." Howdy nudged the houpa with his foot, earning little more than a mrrp? in response. "If ya ask me, it sounds like the cravings might be getting to your head right now."

Frank huffed. "This was before I'd gotten pregnant, so I highly doubt that would've had an affect on my taste."

"Heh, if ya say so," Howdy replied, beginning to unpack the first box of the stack he'd set down beside him.

Frank would've responded further, they already knew what to say. Unfortunately though, the now awake cat-horse that was Howdy's pet had deemed his broom a suitable plaything, clamping the bristles between his hooves & teeth with considerable force.

"Nggh ...God, it's no use trying to get anything done around this animal!" he scoffed, ceding the tool to its new rightful owner. "Why do you even still keep him here?"

"Hey now, you heard what Ember said, he can't be released into the wild. And I've caught you snuggling this big dork several times, so don't try to claim you don't like him too." A lower hand grabbed the scientist's arm as they were reaching for a box, the taller shaking his head firmly. "Uh uh, no heavy lifting for you Mr. Mom."

Frank let out a noise of frustration as he realized what Howdy was saying. "Oh come on, not you too! It's like I suddenly can't do anything anymore!"

"Sorry fella, I just couldn't live with myself if you got hurt. Not to mention Eddie would probably have my head for it." The caterpillar shrugged his shoulders in succession. "Matter of fact, I can probably take care of the rest here if you wanna get going. It's been great, but I'm sure you've got stuff you wanna do."

Frank took the offer, begrudgingly. Howdy was wrong, he didn't really have anything better to do with his time. But they'd certainly not be made to sit uselessly inside the shop! No, he'd go see what Julie was up to.

Outside was nice, the weather warm and a little windy. the sounds of birds and bugs made gentle music on Frank's ears, and he felt their spirits lifted as he walked along the path. No sense in letting it get to me now, they thought. He's wrong, but I'll let him be wrong. I've got a day to enjoy.

They passed by Barbie's house, the dog herself just stepping out when she noticed him and raised a paw in friendly greeting. "Hey there Frank, you heading to Julie's house?"

"Indeed I am," Frank answered simply.

"I'll go with ya then!" she said cheerfully, not waiting for an answer as she strode up beside the grey. "Got a book I was gonna return to her anyway."

Frank let out a heavy, dramatic sigh and kept walking. "Alright, but if you get too annoying I'll go somewhere else."

In truth it was mostly just for show, and he suspected she knew that too. They'd gotten along well in recent months, her frequent visits to Julie's house meaning the two had had plenty of time to get to know each other better. And Frank was grateful for a distraction in any case, as she rambled cheerfully about everything and nothing.

"...he's got paints set aside for that, mixed the batches up himself" she chuckled, wiggling her fingers for emphasis. "Doesn't want me dippin' my big ol' mitts into the good stuff."

Frank nodded. "Suppose that does make sense. There's much less oil paint, and it really isn't meant f-"

"SHH!"

Words and walking stopped short as one of those same big hands swept out to catch him. "There's something up ahead," the dog growled, all cheerfulness gone as her ears perked and eyes narrowed to scan the treeline. Frank looked around himself, feeling a growing fear creep into the pit of their stomach until-

A squirrel darted from between the lower branches of a tree, running swiftly past them to the other side of the road. "Phew, thought it was somethin' big," Barbie said, releasing the iron grip she'd had on the smaller's shoulders.

Frank wriggled out of her grasp and frowned. "You're really getting this worked up over squirrels?" He scoffed, arms folded.

Sheepishly, she shrugged. "Can't really help it, sorry. I guess it's some kinda instinct that tells me I need to keep ya safe. Especially right now, with uhh...things bein' the way that they are."

"You mean my pregnancy."

"...yeah."

Frank grumbled, pinching the bridge of their nose. "I don't need you protecting me Barbara, I can handle all this on my own."

Barbie opened her mouth to protest further, but a glare from the other shut her down quickly. "Yeah, fine I won't bug ya about it," she sighed. Then grinning, added, "Don't suppose you mind bugs though."

Frank groaned out loud. My God, this was the worst one yet! Barbie gladly took the victory as a sign to press further, the two subconciously falling into familiar rhythms of grump and jokester until they were suddenly right outside a familiar pink dwelling.

Unsurprisingly, Julie was the middle of planning a game when they arrived, marking hopscotch squares out with chalk. "Frank!! and Barbie too!" She squealed excitedly upon seeing her friends, jumping to her feet and giving both of them a warm hug. Still on the ground, Sally laughed softly and waved a hello. "Already done with your work at the bodega dear?"

"Yes, well, he allowed me to leave early," Frank said with a roll of his eyes, sitting down beside her on the dirt. "We had a bit of a disagreement over my current capabilities."

"Oh, I'm sure he's simply worried for you darling," Sally reassured, "We all are."

Frank sighed. The condescension was beginning to get annoying, but he didn't want to ruin things with an argument when they'd just arrived. For your friends, for Julie, he thought, mentally gritting his teeth as he silently picked up another of the hula hoops the star was inexplicably wrapping in colorful tape.

Next to them, Julie was explaining the rules of her new game. "So if it lands on heads, you gotta run around the neighborhood before they catch you."

"Ough, might wanna lay off the runnin' right now," said Barbie. " 'S at least two of us who can't do much of that."

Frank turned to look at her. It was quite clear she was referring to themselves, yet he rationalized- not an unfair proclamation. It's true, I can't really run too far now without getting winded. No need to get worked up...

Julie seemed to consider it, a worrying look of worry starting to creep over the monster's features. "Oh that is true, we gotta be careful with Frank right now! Don't wanna hurt the baby."

Frank's heart sank. Oh no. Not her. They could handle the others, could pretend their opinions didn't matter to him. But Julie... "You don't need to..." he started.

"Better take out the ball-throwing too in that case!" Sally interrupted. "Maybe even these hula hoops, they could hit someone's stomach pretty hard if you spin them fast."

"That's..."

"Perfect thinking!" Julie proclaimed, already pulling her her notes to make amendments. "No running, no throwing..."

"Julie please," Frank begged, increasingly upset.

It fell on deaf ears. The three were talking as though he wasn't even there, oblivious to the building whine of stress & overstimulated rage happening inches away.

"Take out-"

"Better change-"

"Really for the best that we-"

"STOP IT!!!" Frank screamed, jumping up to his feet and throwing the hoop somewhere off into the distance. Their breath was ragged, his eyes burned so badly with tears that they didn't dare open them. "Why don't you trust me to do anything right now???? Why are you treating me this way?!?"

Dead silence filled the air, even the sounds of nature seemingly stunned by his outburst. All that was there was the rustling wind and his heavy breathing, through gritted teeth and shaking hands. Julie gently touched their arm, but he smacked it away, not wanting touch or care right now. "And you especially Julie! I thought you of all people would understand."

"Frank I'm-"

"Shut up," he huffed, already marching away. "Just shut up."

Frank felt so sick, and tired, and angry. Why was everyone like this right now? Just because he was pregnant, he was suddenly unable to throw a ball, or lift a box, or do anything he could've done five months ago? "It's like all they care about is you," he snarled, poking at their belly, "I'm just a vessel."

A sudden splash, and wetness seeped into his sock. As though this awful, awful day couldn't get any worse, he'd stepped into a puddle. But maybe it was the anger twisting their mind around- it felt good now. A puddle's full of awful germs they wouldn't want me touching. Shame if I...

SPLASH! his other foot stomped down hard into the mud, sending water flying up onto his trousers. SPLASH SPLASH! they danced and kicked around in it, somehow reveling right now in how awful it felt, how forbidden.

"I'm doing things! I might hurt myself!" He sang out loud to no one, grabbing a nearby tree branch and pulling. "Won't somebody stop me?!" It snapped, and he tumbled back into the dirt, giggling manically as they stood up and swung it back into the trunk like a sword. Then again, and again as the rage turned to violence and then into tears. Frank sank into the dirt, breathing hard as he sobbed.

"Are you ok?"

Frank opened his eyes to a familiar blue swirl above them, its owner giving them a look of confusion. "Go away," the taller sniffled angrily. Last thing he needed was people caring.

"Ok," Wally answered simply with a shrug, already turning around to start walking away. In that moment, with just how completely messed up this whole day had been, it was this simple lack of concern that struck Frank's heart all of a sudden. "Come back," he sniffled, sitting up. And Wally did.

"You're not worried about me?"

Wally raised a non-existent eyebrow. "Well yeah, if you're crying in the dirt and hitting things I'll be concerned."

"But you don't think I'm...less capable? Just because of my being pregnant?"

Things seemed to click for the demon then, sitting down next to Frank. "Who told you that? No- I mean I've never been pregnant, but as far as I know that doesn't mean you can't do things."

"Exactly! But everyone acts like I suddenly can't, or I shouldn't in case...something happens, I guess. I don't know." Frank gripped on to the broken branch, picking away at its bark as they spoke. "First Eddie being too scared of letting me climb, then at Howdy's when he wouldn't let me lift the boxes, those I could sort of understand. But then Barbie, then Sally and even Julie..." he trailed off.

Wally seemed to think. "You want me to tell them to knock it off?" he offered. "If they won't listen to you, maybe they'll listen to me instead."

"Tch," Frank hissed. "That's the whole problem though. They won't listen to me! It's...it's like I don't even matter, my feelings don't matter, and all that's important is-"

"Frank..."

Frank and Wally both looked over to see their friends standing in the road. Julie, Sally, Barbie, and Eddie still breathing slightly hard from running towards the sound of his partner's yelling.

"Hello friends," Wally spoke, his usually cheerful greeting tinged right now with the slightest anger. "Frank was telling me about how you haven't been treating them very well."

"I'm sorry," Julie sobbed, quite visibly shocked & heartbroken. "I had no idea it would upset you that much."

"You would've if you'd listened!" Frank retorted. "I was trying to tell you, and you kept talking over me."

"We...we were only trying to help..." Sally piped up nervously, then winced at the glare shot her way. "Right, you're right though. It is... your baby, we shouldn't overstep your bounds like that."

Eddie slowly approached Frank, gently helping them back to his feet. "I guess...we're all just real excited for that right now," he said. "We wanna make sure that things go right."

"That doesn't mean-" Wally started, but Frank cut him off with a gentle wave. "It's ok, I can handle it." And now that things were fully out in the open, now that his blood had settled down from its boiling point, he could.

They sighed. "I know you mean well, but... it hurts. I'm still me! I can still do things! I promise I'm not as fragile as you think, even right now. I just...I need you all to trust me, and if something truly feels like it's a risk, I'll let you know, ok?"

Julie hugged him gently, checking first he was comfortable with touch right now. "I'm a terrible friend," she said. "I'm sorry."

"You're not, I promise." Frank squeezed her tight. All anger gone, he felt so tired in her arms, and glad to have those arms back to hold. "We're all new to this thing, and you're trying your best. Just...don't do it again, ok?"

They all nodded, still shuffling awkwardly. "Hey," the grey offered with a weak smile. "How about this? You let me pick all the rules for the next game."

"Ok!"

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