#and swapping leather to some nice thick fabric??

[bathsebah]

[regardingluxury]

Winter Clothes, Jackets, Coats For Men

The Crofton Puffer is created from the brand's Recycled Feather-Light Ripstop Fabric and options an impressive 750-fill power using duck down. All Canada Goose jackets get a Thermal Experience Index ranking starting from TEI1 by way of TEI5. The Crofton Puffer has a TEI4 ranking, which means it is capable of enduring temperatures as low as -13°F and is hotter than a few of the model's most basic kinds.

The PACLITE® shell feels easy to contact however is sort of clearly sturdy and waterproof. It is comfortable to put on through a variety of activities. In reality, I assume you'd be hard-pressed to search out an activity that this won’t carry winter clothes for men out properly in. I discovered it great for hiking, daily chores, in the rain, the snow, and even on brighter, hotter days. Paired with a good mid-layer (like the ones here!), I suppose you could comfortably use this jacket on the slopes.

This is what I think to be the right Lean Wardrobe outfit. While I’m more casual nowadays, I nonetheless contemplate this as my base uniform and would wear this 99% of the time if I labored in a “business casual” environment. If you've thick, loose, and/or cumbersome pieces beneath layers that are slimmer, thinner, or extra lightweight… that may be actually uncomfortable. I even put on my darkish denim less, and as an alternative, swap them with my lightweight, stretch, light-wash denim. The solely dark colors I truly have during spring and summer are my olive and navy linen shirts. It still has the padded baffles of a puffer but features a modern and glossy silhouette.

The padded collar paired with a memory foam insole means you can count on all-day comfort. They did run slightly narrow, so if you’re on the cusp of two sizes, I would measure up. The sliver of blouse collar peeking out from the neckline of the crew neck sweater is a small detail that adds a touch of refinement to the look. Furthermore, the brilliant blue interior of the down jacket gives the impression of a nice pop of color without screaming too loudly.

While some individuals find merino wool itchy, going for premium merino wool in a finer gauge will normally solve this. If you’ve picked up a correct winter-weight button-down and pants, you’re probably not going to need to pile far more on. My recommendation is to stay to mostly neutral colors, then focus on the basic layering recipes.

Always put on the thinnest clothes closest to your body. The mannequin right here is sporting the same long-sleeve and is layered on the Better Than Down Vest from Public Rec. He’s using winter mens fashions with the light-to-dark rule, and since the vest is lightweight, he has room to add a bomber jacket on high if issues get colder.

There are numerous methods to work these patterns into your everyday wardrobe, but one of the easiest is in the medium of an overskirt or flannel shirt. Sperry’s Cold Bay Chelsea boots are created from molded rubber, so they’re puddle-proof. They’re additionally lined with microfleece for heat mens winter fashion and feature enhanced traction. Pull these on when you’re walking to work via the slush. Torrential downpours, face-shearing winds, bone-chilling cold—let scientifically superior clothes protect you from the elements and maintain you snug.

It’s no use trying fairly in your new winter outfit when the lack of comfort may prevent you from enjoying your journey. If there’s one quintessential piece in winter outfits for men, it’s the wear-with-everything longline coat. Whether it’s single-breasted or double-breasted, the knee-length fashion is a simple layer for athleisure-rich and soft-tailored outfits alike. You can also put on a longline coat on formal put on as nicely. It is often considered one of the best suggestions for winter formal put on. Introduce a pair of black leather-based informal boots to the combo to tug the whole getup collectively.

[kindofwriter]

I know Alex just intended Wilde’s robes to be ‘gay Shakespeare costume’ but I really love the idea of them being almost like ‘robes of unapologetically being yourself.’ Robes of ‘I’m not afraid to be queer, I’m not afraid to be Irish, I have bardic inspiration and I’m better than you.’ Because even if it means absolutely nothing in RQG universe, I’d like to think that’s a meaningful visual to real people.

Also, hypothetical RQG TV show where Wilde’s VA speaks fluent Irish and all his bardic castings are in Gaeilge? I want that.

Anyway, transcript under the cut:

SEASON 5, EPISODE 204

As the party enter the main room they find the table laid with a mediocre breakfast, however at each place setting there is also a parcel, wrapped in brown paper and with a note card laid on top. WILDE, already sat at the table, has clearly already opened his parcel, then hastily stuffed it back into the wrapping to appear polite. He turns to grin excitedly at HAMID, who shoots him a quizzical look.

WILDE: I think it's our lucky day!

HAMID: Oh?

AZU: Huh?

CEL: Ooh!

HAMID: Well, that's exciting!

CEL: Is that like a thing that we, uh, that, like, we, like- Are all the presents for, for, for us? Uh, do we-

ZOLF steps past HAMID, impatient rather than aggressive. He squeezes WILDE once on the shoulder, then takes a seat beside him. The rest of the party clearly take this as their cues to begin to sit at the parcels with their own name cards.

WILDE: It turns out that Augusta does actually have a role here, beyond just annoyance, which is quartermaster. So, Barret may have been sent out to fetch some things... for us?

HAMID: Oh!

ZOLF: Right.

HAMID: So, not 100% useless, that's nice! C-c-can we open them now?

WILDE shrugs - how should he know? - then makes a gesture of 'yeah, go for it' to the table.

AZU (BEAMING): Let's all open them together!

HAMID: How exciting!

HAMID leans slightly across the table, as if he's about to say something to SKRAAK, but they're already tearing into their present. From his package he removes a sturdy leather belt, studded, and buckled, with adamantine. They immediately put it on.

WILDE takes this to mean it's alright for him to re-open his own gift. He hurriedly shoves off the paper and pulls out a set of glimmering robes. They're an iridescence white, complete with a ruffle around the neck, and entirely covered in shimmering rainbow script. The text shifts, in a way that clearly marks it out as magical.Everyone pauses for a moment to look at WILDE, whose grin could split his face. It's been a while since they've seen him this happy. 

HAMID: Oh, Oscar, those are magnificent!

ZOLF (WITH A SMALL, SOFT GRIN): You are gonna look ridiculous, Wilde.

WILDE beams smugly down at ZOLF.

WILDE: I am going to look magnificent.

WILDE shakes the robes out, and a miasma of illusory glitter hits ZOLF in the face. ZOLF scowls dramatically at a laughing WILDE.

Still unfolding the robes, WILDE turns his attention to AZU, whose parcel is by far the largest. She is carefully unfolding it, grinning face barely visible about the huge package. Inside is a golden agile breast plate. As it shimmers in the light it becomes apparent that it is covered in the same kind of shifting magical scrawl as WILDE's robe.

Attached is a note that AZU reads aloud. Despite being busy with their own gifts, everyone turns as she does.

AZU: Whatever you do, don't use this inside.

This receives a round of curious looks from the table. HAMID and CEL lean in to get a better look at the armour.

AZU reaches out to turn the breast plate over in her hands, and as she does the text starts to fill in. Beginning at her hands, the shifting text slowly begins to run through with glowing pink, until the plate is more pink than gold. It's as bright as AZU's armour was on Hades' plane. The pink begins to settle, and as it does the magic text stops shifting. With a soft hum, it settles into Arabic scripture: the fundamental teachings of Aphrodite.

AZU beams with delight.

AZU: Ooh! Do you think- Do you think that don't use it means don't wear it? Or do you think I sh- could put it on but I can't get hit?

HAMID: Oh, it probably has some sort of, um, y'know, activation, like, similar to casting a spell inlaid into it, but I think wearing it you- It won't be a problem.

CEL frowns.

CEL: Yeah, like, um, I'm just, I-I'm a little concerned, it reminds me a little of, um, some of the, the symbols, uh, one learns when, uh, learning, uh, how to, to transmogrify ones shape. So I would just, think maybe, uh-

CEL inspects the armour, head cocked slightly to one side.

CEL: Maybe, uh, a triangle? Or, um, or a square? Maybe a platypus? I-I'm not exactly sure.

HAMID opens his mouth as if to refute them, but then decides to drop it. AZU carefully takes her hands off the armour - it remains pink.

HAMID, next to AZU, unwraps a long metal pole. As soon as he retrieves it from the wrapping paper gold lines begin to emanate from his hand and down the pole. They curl and flicker like flames.

Something alights in HAMID's eyes as he holds it. His hand that clutches the pole begins to sharpen and elongate, twisting into a clawed grasp. The once single point of his ears is now three, giving the impression of a reptilian ruffle. No one, not even HAMID, seems to notice.

CEL unwraps a pair of diamond lenses. They're scuffed around the edges, dusted with the debris of whatever they've been hacked out of.

CEL immediately pulls their alchemists goggles from their head, slips the lenses out, and inserts the new ones. At first it seems as though they won't fit, but as CEL begins to apply pressure they resize and slide in with ease.

ZOLF has been very carefully unwrapping his package - unknotting the string and unfolding the paper. Folded at the centre of his parcel is a thick, smoothly woven, grey cloak.

WILDE watches with curiosity as ZOLF reaches out to touch the fabric. Instantly a small smile toys at the corner of his lips. He glances across the table, making eye contact with HAMID, and widens the smile to a grin. HAMID, though taken off guard, smiles back with slightly sharpened teeth. ZOLF has turned back to the cape before he can notice.

Everyone is now chatting, inaudibly, absorbed in their gifts. CEL and SKRAAK are excitedly showing off their new accessories to each other, AZU runs her fingers over the text on her armour, ZOLF gently unfolds his cloak, WILDE has now donned his robes and is leaning back languidly in his chair. The text has stopped shifting, and has now settled as Gaeilge scripture - WILDE's 'inspire courage' performance, scrawled across his robes in rainbow ink. HAMID looks around at all of them, unable to contain his excitement at seeing all of his friends so happy.

WILDE: Well, it's nice to be appreciated again for a change-

A brief pause and a glance at ZOLF, as if he's expecting a gentle elbow to the ribs, but none comes. ZOLF is too busy smoothing out the cloak, preparing to put it on.

WILDE: Don't know about all of you.

Finally looking away from his gift, ZOLF notices that WILDE's hair is caught in his ruffle. He stands and swings the cloak quickly over his shoulders. Then, with a frustrated grunt of 'c'mere,' he shuffles behind WILDE's seat and begins to gently extract his hair from his collar. He murmurs something inaudible to WILDE, though we assume it's something nice, as it swaps WILDE's smug smile for a genuine one.

HAMID watches, grin now spreading far past the confines of his mouth. All sounds of the room begin to fade out. CEL laughs without sound. AZU pays a silent compliment to SKRAAK. WILDE tips his head back to say something to ZOLF.

Then, with a pained hiss, HAMID collapses forward, clawed hands gripping the edge of the table.

Suddenly the room is LOUD. Cries of 'Hamid!' 'What's wrong?' 'You alright?'

WILDE grips ZOLF's hand to his shoulder, now sitting bolt upright. SKRAAK is already looking round for an enemy. AZU reaches out to place a hand on HAMID's back, but as she does so the fabric of his suit begins to writhe. Two small holes are torn as brassy talons claw their way out of HAMID's back. These are quickly followed by the unfurling of immense, brass dragon's wings.

Breathing heavily, HAMID straightens again, glancing behind him. Everyone else is in utter shock.

HAMID (SOFT, SURPRISED, THOUGH NOT AT ALL DISAPPOINTED): Oh!

[hesgunnalovethis]

Act of Guilt

Summary: Your actions planetside begin to interfere with your daily life and Leonard McCoy, struggling to see you this way, wants to help.

TW: Teen rating for mature themes, we’re talking through some sleep paralysis, we’re having bad dreams, we're absolutely full of angst but we end on a high besties <33

This one goes out to all my homies that are overworked and underappreciated :’) whether it be school, college, uni, careers or general life; you are seen, you are valid and I think you’re doing a great job and so does our homeboy Leonard McCoy.

Masterlist!

Word Count: 1855

You were used to waking up against the frigid grey of the Enterprise. Even as a high ranking officer you were each assigned the same internal quarters, uniform in presentation. Glutted, you often heard a little more than you wanted to on either side of your walls. You feared that perhaps they heard a little too much as well.

You were used to waking up with frozen limbs. With the same familiar feeling washing over your head before rushing down to tighten your chest. The same reluctance to open your eyes to reveal whichever heinous scene your subconscious displayed within your familiar raw walls.

Every night played out the same: the face of someone you loved in front of your pointed phaser switched to kill, heaved awake by the thud of their lifeless body, held a frozen prisoner forced to endure whichever fear felt most prominent that morning.

Recently you couldn’t even bring yourself to near the bed. You’d return from shifts to sit on the bitter floor and recount the enemies you’d killed in the name of Starfleet. You’d think of their lives, their loved ones, their dreams.

You were brought to Starfleet to be a doctor; now it seems they’d have you do anything but.

It was Thursday. You made your way to the medbay to be briefed on the rota for this week. You weaved in and out of a sea of uniforms who stalked towards their own respective bases for their own respective rotas.

Your week often looked the same - another sense of routine you couldn’t seem to escape - five days with the ground team, one shift in the medbay, one day off. Your medbay shift was always the same too. Sunday shift: the biggest influx of causalities, highs of inpatients with the longest turnover time, most surgeries performed and somehow always understaffed.

Moving towards your, makeshift, office you picked up your PADD and looked for the rota that Leonard always sent to you prior to the briefing. Seven days of ground work. You almost doubled over from the thought of it. Your entire body felt hot as you took deep breath convincing bodily fluids to stay put.

With frantic pace you arrived at Leonard’s, very much real, office and found him turned away finishing his notes for the day.

You dropped the PADD in front of him with force, “Explain.”

“You know that if I had it my way you’d be here seven days a week.” Leonard spoke as if rehearsed, he’d obviously anticipated your visit.

“You have jurisdiction here, Leonard. Surely there’s something you can do? Something you haven’t tried?” You scrambled out as Leonard put his pen down and held his head in his hands.

“I’ve tried everything darlin’. You don’t know how important it is to me that you’re here.” Your mind flicked through your conversations in the medbay that went on a little too long as you stood a little too close. Stolen moments through the day you’d fill with genuine laughter and escapism. The fresh flowers that would appear in your crooked office that he’d never let you thank him for. You remembered the shifts where Leonard would let you take the lead while he caught up on sleep on his couch. The days you’d both stay behind and drink away the sourness until you met the sweetness of his lips on yours. “I’ve tried everything.”

“Tell them we’re understaffed. Tell them I’m indispensable. Tell them-” Your voice broke. Leonard head lifted at the sound revealing a deep hole in his cheek unmistakably driven in by a phaser shot.

You gasped, stumbling back through his office tripping over the coffee table centre piece of the room. Leonard moved towards you. Unable to take your eyes off the hole in his face as your hands dripped with blood and guilt you expelled your body weight willing the pull door to push open. Leonard’s hands levelled either side of the door frame his face close to yours. Ears muffled and knees giving way you pressed your eyes shut concealing the scene.

“Y/N?” Leonard asked after a few moments of stillness before lifting one of your eyelids shining his torch in each eye. As you readjusted to the light you saw Leonard’s face again, clean of everything but concern. You glanced round the room to find the coffee table the only thing out of place and your hands sweating but clean. You reached for Leonard pulling him in towards you. His hands swept round your back and he pressed a kiss into your temple.

“What” he asked, “the hell was that?”

“Felt like my dream.” You said performing exercises to convince Leonard you did not have a head injury without him asking.

“And you often have dreams of murderous me?” Leonard dissolved, guiding you towards the seats in the middle of the room, straightening the coffee table.

“No. I often have dreams of murderous me.”

Curious and cautious Leonard sat opposite you and reached for your hand. He pulled back sharply at first “You’re iced.” He clasped both your hands in his and puffed a long warm breath between them. Slowly your anxiety began to melt. The breath was real. The warmth was real.

“Every night I have a dream, eerily like an away mission, only the faces are swapped and I know who I’m killing. And then, I wake up and watch them die on my floor and my body screams at me to wake up and help them but I’m frozen. I can’t move.”

“Sleep paralysis?” Leonard asked still rubbing your hands between his own.

“That would be my guess. Every morning. Some nights I can’t face it.”

“What do you do those nights?”

“I stay up. Sit on the ground and think about all the lives I’ve taken in a job where I’m supposed to save them.” You stood up and walked towards the window in Leonard’s office, poking open the blinds to view the busy medbay. You sighed at the internal architecture of the ship. “It’s like I’m not real. I exist within grey walls or as a killing machine.” You slumped back down in the chair.

Leonard leaned forward slipping his hand round the back of your neck, scratching the base of your hair line. He held eye contact with you and sincerely stated, “You’re quite dramatic.”

“Week after week, Leonard. Every time I shut my eyes I see you or Jim or- or Chekov lifeless because of me! Makes you think of what those lives I’ve ended meant to someone else.” You stood up again walking towards the blinds, poking them open slightly hoping to see a different landscape. “And why does this ship have no exterior windows! Would it kill them to let me see the stars? Remind me where I came from.” Spitting the end vehemently towards Starfleet architects.

“Why don’t you come and stay with me for a while?” Leonard placed a hand on your shoulder, his other hand working the blinds out of your fingers before you broke them. “A change of scenery might do some good.”

“Aren’t you going to tell me I need to work through my guilt and reconceptualise my relationship with my job?”

“You’re a damn fine doctor Y/N. You don’t need me to tell you that, you just need a clear head to realise it for yourself.”

Leonard led you out of the medbay shouting a mere, “I’m a doctor, not a motivational speaker damnit.” In place of his weekly briefing.

Together you walked the length of the ship. Leonard asked you more about your dreams presenting it as conversational but you could see the medical cogs in his brain turning. “You’ve never had psychological training?” Leonard asked at one point with a startled stopping of his feet.

“Psychological training? What med school did you go to?” Scoffing at his faith in The Academy.

“Not med school, but I did a fair whack before I joined Jim’s ground team. You’ve never had- my god! No wonder you’re wracked with guilt darlin’ that is- that is- how did you ever end up planetside?”

“I don’t know I’m just pretty handy with a phaser I guess.” You said as you arrived at a door with the letters C.M.O emblazed on the front. “Nice door. How come I’ve never been here?”

Leonard shrugged “ ‘s not my fault you prefer the desk.” He stated opening the door to his double sized room.

Smooth navy covered the walls, beautifully contrasting the deep wooden furniture and shelves of brown bottles. Surrounded by whiffs of comforting warm fires and cheap rum you watched as Leonard ordered on the lights and followed him through to the next room. There was no doubt that Leonard lived a full life back home. His living space was full of southern knick-knacks and photographs of people you’d never known. There was a small collection of silver neck chains on show, thoroughly worn although never while on shift and nine or ten small stacks of crime novels strewn across the floor.

“This might cheer you up sweetheart.” Leonard tossed his PADD onto his cracked brown leather couch and made his way to the back wall which was entirely concealed by a deep purple curtain. Taking a bundle of the thick fabric in his hands, he eyed you before trudging it across the room revealing a vast ceiling to floor window. You caught your reflection in the glass and clapped your mouth shut looking to Leonard in shock.

“Bit of a sick joke for an aviophobiac.” Leonard physically shuddered at the open black, “But if it makes you happy it’s worth it.”

Bounding over the top of Leonards sofa to get a better look, you gazed out over the space you’d called home for past three years. Something about the infinite expanse always grounded you. The lack of endings and the billions of possibilities that presented made all of your worries and problems seem positively insignificant. It left you searing with luck to be living regardless. You moved even closer letting your breath fog up the glass. Leonard moved behind you hugging you round the middle and resting his chin on your shoulder.

“Look at it Leonard. Isn’t it just-”

“Horrifying?”

“Do you really look at that and feel nothing?” You were aghast at the thought.

Leonard sighed “I appreciate the sentiment of it.” He concluded. “It reminds me of a Jorge Luis Borges quote.”

“I didn’t realise you were so well read.” You both shared another moment of genuine laughter, “What’s the quote?”

“He says, ‘I’m not sure I exist, actually. I am all the writers that I have read, all the people I have met, all the women that I have loved;” He squeezed your arm as he spoke “All the cities I have visited.’ Reminds me of you actually. All the lives you’ve saved in the medbay and planeside. You leave a part of you everywhere you go; that’s what I think is beautiful, doll.”

You turned to him. He held your gaze firmly and you knew he meant the words he’d spoken. You rested your head against his chest silently thanking him for his kindness, you knew he’d never let you say it out loud. This wasn’t your home, but Leonard smelled of home for we all leave a part of ourselves in those we love.

Together you turned the couch to face the window and under Leonard’s duvet slept a full night of dreamless sleep woken only by a PADD dropped on your chest with the same force you’d dropped at Leonard yesterday.

“Five days in the medbay.” He gestured towards the open rota displayed on the screen, “Two days off. Including Sunday.”

[amintyworld]

A Pirate’s Wedding - Sanders Sides Mer AU

A/N: Hey guys! Minty here with another fanfic inspired off of @voidsides‘s Mer AU. They are so utterly amazing and talented and if you like mermaids and pirates, you should definitely check it out on their blog! Thanks for letting me write this, Void! Hope you enjoy! - Minty

Summary: It’s Logan’s and Patton’s wedding day, and things don’t exactly all go to plan.

TW: Anxiety, drunkeness, mention of alcohol, puke. (As always, tell me if I missed anything!)

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

Today was the day. The boat had been decorated with flowers, the finest rum saved, and the best meat - this was a special occasion the crew had been waiting for… what seemed like forever.

They'd been rooting for the two obvious lovers to get hitched for months after their slow romance - both were smart individuals, mind you, but were utterly stupid when it came to love.

Roman leaned against the doorframe, looking at the husband-to-be as he struggled a bit with the formal clothes they’d found. Roman giggled a bit as Patton struggled to get the tighter, somewhat puffier white shirt on. He was more used to looser clothing but insisted on making the effort to look nice today, even if he’d never worn any formal wear in his life. “Need a bit of help there, Pat?”

“Roman!” Patton turned with a squeak, his arms tangled in the white fabric. “You startled me.” Roman walked over as Patton looked down, slightly embarrassed. “How does Logan do this?”

“Here’s a little trick, Padre,” Roman said, loosening the cuffs of the shirt. “You nervous?”

“What...? Me? Nervous?” Patton scoffed, slipping into the shirt easier now, turning to the mirror as he tightened the cuffs. “Maybe...maybe just a little.”

Roman brought over the black vest as he helped his friend slip it on. “You’re going to marry Logan today. You love him, Pat - I know you do, with all your heart. When you see him standing there when you walk down that aisle, everything will fall into place. You’ll see.”

“That’s what everyone keeps telling me,” Patton said with a small huff.

“Because it’s true,” Roman said, sharing a smile. “Now, I gotta check in on Lo. You just relax, okay?”

Patton looked concerned. “Is Logan okay?”

Roman giggled, getting up and shaking his head. “You thought you were the only one nervous?”

“Oh,” Patton said. “I... wish I could go talk to him. Poor LoLo.”

“You can talk to him later, I promise,” Roman said reassuringly. “I’ll talk to him - the ceremony should start soon, anyway.”

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

Roman walked toward his own quarters - he could practically hear the rhythmic stomp of his friend’s feet up and down, pacing. Roman smiled to himself hearing this, clicking his tongue as he shook his head - he knew his first mate like the back of his hand. He opened the door slowly, as Logan looked up from his pacing. 

Logan’s hair was slicked back, as always - no vest this time, just a plain white shirt with the tight cuffs that Patton had battled earlier. His dark pants and shoes complimented the simple outfit. The other husband-to-be would look relaxed if his face or fidgets didn’t notify anyone else that he was wound a bit too tight.

He tried and failed, to quickly compose himself when his captain entered, clearing his throat as he stopped fidgeting with his shirt. “Oh, hello Roman.”

Roman took in his friend - even just by looking he knew something was wrong - Logan’s usually pristine neat hair was slightly ruffed, his shirt was wrinkled, and he could tell that his right hand was about to burst trying desperately to hold back his fidgeting. “Just came to grab you, the ceremony’s about to start.”

“W-wait… now?! As in, now-now?! But I’m not ready…” Logan began his pacing once more. “I mean, I don’t know if I can handle standing up there and seeing him walk down the aisle and look at me, and-!” He stopped in his tracks, staring into space as a knot caught in his throat. 

“And feel your heart absolutely melt, to hold Patton in your arms and know that he is yours, and you are his, to kiss him and dance the night away~!” Roman finished with a fake swoon and a smirk. “Logan, you’re ready for this. I know you have been ever since you saw him board the ship.”

“Roman, I-” Logan held so much emotion behind his words, and it showed.

“I know you’re scared, Lo. But I promise you, everything will be perfect. I’ve known that ever since you two started dating.” Roman said, his hands on his friend’s shoulders. “Do you remember what I said after Patton kissed you goodnight on that deck?”

Logan smiled. “You said that we ‘were meant to be’.”

“Exactly, and I still believe that. Logan, you two are there for each other through thick and thin. You love each other more than your shy butt can say-”

“Hey-!” Logan laughed, cheeks slightly pink, playfully swatting at Roman.

“- and that’s why you’re standing here about to get married,” Roman said. “You’re ready Lo. I promise.”

Logan smiled up at his friend. “Thank you.”

“Honestly I’m just surprised you got hitched before me-” Roman smirked.

“Roman-!”

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

Roman wasn’t really qualified as the smartest on the ship. Needless to say, he wasn’t someone who was right about a lot. But, Logan and Patton - he was more than right about them.

When they met each other’s gaze, their eyes never left the other for a second. Both chuckled a bit at their outfit choices, and the swap from their usual attire. Patton seemed to almost float down the aisle, Patton almost tearing up just getting there. When he stood at his partner’s side, Logan gave a gentle smile and wiped a few stray tears away, Patton leaning into his touch. They both didn’t even pay attention or notice Roman until he spoke up with a smirk. “Ahem, vows?”

“Oh, right!” Patton said, his cheeks getting a bit pink in embarrassment as the two lovebirds stepped away from each other for a moment. He looked to Logan. “If I’m going to be completely honest with my new husband, I should probably admit - I didn’t write anything.” Logan looked slightly confused, a million explantations and anxieties going through his mind. Patton smiled at him with love, holding his husband’s hands tightly to reassure him. “I wanted to speak from the heart.” 

Logan looked a little flustered at this as he smiled at Patton as he continued. “Logan, I have never met anyone as smart, resourceful, responsible, and nerdy as you. It wouldn’t be a surprise when a few days after meeting you, I could never get you off of my mind. You’re one of my best friends and my soulmate, and… and my heart wants you to know how much it means to me that we’re here and that I’m with you, because I love you, Logan. I really love you.”

Logan’s eyes began to wet at his husband’s words. “I love you too, Patton.”

A few whoops and hollers from the seated crew as Roman smirked.

Logan’s written words, which he’d rehearsed over and over to perfection weighed heavily in his pocket. Part of him was worried his words couldn’t compare to his boyfriend’s, but he pushed it away. He had some important things to say, things he didn’t think he could say without reading them. He bit his lip as he unfolded the paper, and began to read.

“Patton, there’s so much about you that I could never put to paper. I don’t think anyone could describe you accurately without the way your smile seems to spark my own, or how you act with such love and compassion towards everyone you meet. I want you to know how lucky I am to have someone like you in my life.”

“Aw, Lo-!” Patton said smiling.

“I didn’t believe in love or had even felt what love was until you walked into my life. It was scary but exciting. It was an adventure that I would never take back as long as I live. You changed my life, Patton, and I hope that now, I can change yours.”

“Oh Lo!” Patton smiled, a few tears falling from his face that Logan wiped away as he kissed Patton’s forehead lovingly. They both heard silent sobs and quickly looked up to see Roman with his eyes red and thick tear streaks down his cheeks, faint sniffling. He had been sobbing the entire time in the background, barely even holding himself together. “Ro, you okay?”

Roman wiped away his tears with a smile. “Sorry.” 

In truth, Roman had cried not just because of his two friend’s beautiful union, but because he’s never seen Logan so happy, and he knew his friend deserved to feel that way every moment of his life. He held out the two rings in his palm - they were golden bands - all they could afford, but to the couple, it didn’t matter. They both slipped the rings on with ease, looking back to each other, their fingers intertwined. 

The Captain heaved a gigantic leather book up, with a few stumbles and slight crashes, as he flipped to the page. He looked over to Patton. “Patton, do you take Logan as your husband, to have and to hold from this day forward, for better or for worse, for richer, for poorer, in sickness and in health, to love and to cherish; from this day forward ‘till death do you part?”

Patton turned, giving Roman a smile. “I do.”

Roman turned to Logan, getting his attention as Logan turned to meet his gaze. “Logan, do you take Patton as your husband, to have and to hold from this day forward, for better or for worse, for richer, for poorer, in sickness and in health, to love and to cherish; from this day forward ‘till death do you part?”

Logan cupped Patton’s cheek with a warm smile for a moment, words caught in his throat before he could say them, and he turned to Roman, giving him a curtly nod. Roman smiled in return - he couldn’t describe this almost feeling of pride and proudness bursting his chest as he recited the last part.

“Then, by the power vested in me, I now pronounce you as husbands, you may kiss-!” Before Roman even finished the sentence, Patton quickly pressed his lips to Logan’s, making Logan blush profusely as whoops and hollers called out from the crowd. Roman just chuckled deeply. “Please, don’t wait for me you lovebirds-!”

Patton pulled away, catching his breath, seeing Logan and getting a bit embarassed. “S-sorry Lo, I just couldn’t wait and- ugh, that was so inconsiderate, you probably-!”

Logan quickly pulled his new husband close, making him squeak and turn pink. “Patton, never apologize for a kiss ever again, especially that one.” Logan connected their lips again, Patton’s heart drumming in his chest as the cheers from the crew grew louder, cheering the new couple on. Patton smirked, pulling away quickly and picking up his new husband bridal style, walking through the crowd as a loud crack of thunder stole everyone’s attention away from the newlyweds. Logan just looked at his friend. “‘Clear skies’, huh?”

Roman looked at the sky, confused. “It shouldn’t rain today, the sky was perfectly clear a moment ago-!”

With a crack of lightning, rain pelted down on the crowd. Roman pointed his sword toward the prepared meal. “Save the food and drink! Head for the lower decks, and be quick about it!” Crew members began hurridly grabbing bottles of rum and pots of soup, bread, and meat. It looked almost like an infestation of cats, rushing around in the rain so fast, occassionally bumping into each other.

In the middle of all this choatic mess was the newlyweds, who looked to each other for a moment, Patton quickly putting Logan down. Patton burst out laughing, leading Logan to do the same. Soon both were doubled over, laughing at all this insanity. “Roman really needs to get better at his predictions.”

“Yeah.”

Logan gave his husband a smile as the laughter died down. He held out his hand. “Our first dance, my love?”

Patton just smiled, taking his hand as they waltzed, The crew running around them. At this point, most have made it to the lower decks, but a few are rushing back and forth to save the food from getting soggy. The couple is completely drenched, cold, and nearly deaf with the shouts and sound of rain filling their ears. 

They’re all these things, but mostly they… they’re happy just to be with each other, standing in the rain, holding each other close as they dance to the music in their minds. Logan spun Patton out and back in with a grin, not even caring at this point of the mess. Patton laid his head on Logan’s shoulder, and Logan could feel his heart practically melt at the cuteness.

“Guys, what are you-?!” Captain Roman looked at the scene in front of him. It looked straight out of a fairytale - the rain no longer threatening, but romantic. Part of him wanted to grab the two and get them to safety before they got sick, but his heart… his heart had another idea. 

He sighed, sitting on the steps, letting the rain wash over him as he watched for a few moments. He couldn’t help but yearn, hope really, that someday, he’d have someone like that. Someone who loved him. He looked at them with a smile. 

One day, maybe. One day.

He slowly crept back to the lower deck, letting the lovebirds have a bit more private time before dealing with the drunkards later. He looked at his crew, shivering in blankets. “Someone light the fire and let’s enjoy this feast in honor of our friends!” The crew scrambled to light the fire, and the boat filled quickly with warmth. “Pass the rum over, will ya?” Roman smirked as one of his crew passed the bottle and he raised it to the air. “To Logan and Patton!”

The crew cheered, holding up their flasks and bottles. “To Logan and Patton!”

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

Roman looked out over the calm ocean, Logan at his side with his new golden band on his finger. Logan grinned as he stared out. “You know, I’ve never seen so many drunkards in my entire life.”

Roman laughed. “Jokes on them for drinking the whole bottle.”

Logan narrowed his eyes, turning to his friend. “Didn’t you drink the whole bottle?”

“Touche.” A comfortable silence passed between the two as they stared out to the calm ocean, the night sky clear with twinkling stars. “So, you’re a married man now, eh Lo?”

“I guess I am,” Logan smiled. “Before the charming Roman, no less.”

“Don’t remind me.”

Patton crept quickly and quietly up the stairs. “I think that’s all of them. Finally managed to get them to sleep and wrestle those damn flasks away…” He murmured. “If I never have to clean up puke again, I’ll die a happy man, that’s for sure.” Patton sighed, smiling at his husband. “I look like a mess, don’t I?” Logan turned with a comforting smile.

“I’ve never seen a more beautiful sight than what’s right in front of me, my sweet.” Logan said. He walked closer, kissing the top of his husband’s forehead and ignoring the strong smell of vomit and booze. “That’s… an interesting smell.”

“I... should get cleaned up.” Patton giggled. 

“Much obliged, Patton.” Logan said, his nose wrinkling at the smell. He turned to his Captain. “Roman? Will you be alright here?”

“Of course! You two go, enjoy your time. You two just got married, after all.” Roman waved off. He held up a flask. “I still got this left to finish, anyway.”

“Well, alright. Thanks for the wedding, Roman.” Patton said. “Even though there were, eh… a few hiccups.”

“I’m glad you liked it, Patton.” Roman said, turning and looking to Patton with a genuine smile. “Take care of the nerd for me, will ya?”

 Patton looked to his husband for a moment, and turned back to Roman with a comforting smile. “Of course.”

Both said goodnight as they walked off, leaving Roman alone with the stars.

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

Roman leaned on the ship’s railing, looking out to the sea, his mind filled yet cloudy from the booze. Today to anyone else would be a complete disaster, but… he supposed he and his crew weren’t exactly like anyone else. He smiled, taking a swig of rum and looking to the stars. 

He looked up and found the bright star Logan always talked about staring back at him. His mind whirred, trying to remember the name. He didn’t really often listen that much to Logan’s rants, and when he did, it was always on something extremely important. But something clicked in Roman’s drunken brain and he remembered - the North Star.

The North Star glimmered against the deep blue velvet sky, and Roman would admit he’d never seen anything more beautiful in his life. A pang in his chest ached for someone to share it with. He sighed, taking another swig of his flask as he began to hum and sing a song to the night sky, trying to forget his troubles and ease the pain in his chest. 

“What do we do with the drunken sailor, what do we with the drunken sailor, what do we do with the drunken sailor early in the morning…”

[stinkfacestories]

Strange Similarities

Bull and you sat on some rough pillows in a huge leather tent. They were alone for now. Bull was daydreaming. Looking out a tear in the tent.

"Think I can get one of those axes?" He said. 

"Bull, I don't like being here, I don't really want to stick around longer to go shopping" You say back.

"Come on, Kadan." Bull said turning to you. "The Orcinar are strong, and so far neutral. If we can get even a few of them on our side well be kicking so much ass.."

The tent flap flew open and the Orcinar Delegater entered. He was nigh on twelve feet tall. All muscles. His skin a sallow tan and green. His retinue was somehow even bigger. They held axes that were so large you were sure Bull would be thinking of them for the next few rounds of sex with you. The masks they wore were made of dark blue cloth and hid their faces, all save for their mouths. Twin, or quad tusks jutted out from them. A thin river of drool running down them constantly.

"Welcome Inquisition." The Delegater said. "Let us commence trade negotiations.."

The negotiations went on for what seemed like hours. Topics ranged from food sharing, to Intel swapping. Bull was bored near to tears. Half way through someone brought in clay mugs and some sort of bean paste with bread and cheese and that seemed to perk up his spirits, but once the talking resumed he started to doze off. He wasn't the only one. You noticed the Delegaters guards also occasionally drifting off to sleep, only to snap back to attention when they realized what happened.

"It is settled then we will begin trade on the next —"

The silence was broken by a sound. A deep, almost far off sound. It was a low wet drone that seemed to grow in intensity. You and Bull looked around confused, but the Delegater knew exactly what it was. He looked back to his guards. One was trying to hold back a laugh, distancing him from the Delegater scowls. The other was Half asleep, leaning on a support post. You immediately realize what was going on with the hot and foul odor hit you: the slumbering orcinar guard had dozed off and farted.

The Delegater growled, throwing one of the clay cups at the guard. 

"You fool! You dishonor these talks!" He shouted. Big ropy gobs of spit flying through the air.

"Fuuuuuuuuck" Bull says with a laugh. "That was epic. Legendary even. I thought it was a low flying dragon"

The Delegater turned and arched his brow.

"I hope this does not befoul our talks" he said to you.

Before you could respond Bull put a hand in your shoulder and squeezed you into a hug. "Oh it's foul alright, but I think that just sealed the deal"

"Bull I can—"

"Kadan here fucking loves that kinda stuff." He tussled your hair. "What was it you said when we were walking to the tent?"

You blushed a little, giving the Delegater a coy smile.

"Oh wait I remember. You spotted that big brute, the one in the Kilt and told me: Imagine being under there when a big fucking orc like that decided to rip some thunder. Fucking steam tent ya"

"Bull that's not what I said." You correct him. All eyes were on you. There was too much at stake to try and play it cool. "What I said was: I wouldn't mind being trapped under there when he ripped some thunder—like a steam tent" You turn to look at the Delegater and give a weak smile. This had gone from great to worse.

The tension was thick in the air. No one was saying anything. The masks didn't help. The Delegater’s head starts to bob. Up and down up and down. Slowly, but surely his deep and dark, low and slow laugh comes through. His guards joined in. Bull joined in. You laughed too, mostly because you had no idea what was going to happen.

“You two are funny ones.” He said. “Truth be told We are not this formal” He motioned to the drinks, the nice clothing, the general set up of the tent. “The Orcinar are a humble people; who many would consider disgusting. It seems we have more in common than we first thought”

“Thank fuck for that” Bull let out a sigh of relief. He shifted in his seat and dropped a small grenade of a fart into the cushion he was sitting on. Nothing compared to what the Orcinar guard had done, but respectfully impressive. He punched you on the shoulder. “Sorry Kadan, I wasn't thinking, I should have asked if you wanted that one. Don't worry, thanks to that bean paste they’ll be plenty more on the ride home for you to enjoy”

The Delegator got off his sitting pillow and fluffed it up. “Well,” he looked back at his guard “Either of you grunts have one in the chamber so we can give our guest a little aromatherapy?” The second guard timidly raised his hand. “Good lad, get over here” The Delegator bade you to lay down on the pillow he had just fluffed up, facing upward. You did. To your surprise Bull joined your side. “I didn't think you were much on the receiving end of things, Bull” You say.

“Normally no, but to go through it with you Kadan, that will be special. Plus look at the guy, he must be fifteen feet tall and weigh as much as 9 Aurochs. This thing is going to be epic,” he said.

The guard lumbered over to you. He set aside his axe. He placed one green foot beside your head and the other beside Bull. You were looking straight up his long kilt. The light was dim but you could tell he was not wearing anything under it. “See Kadan, plenty of room for both of us,” Bull said. “Plus look at the size of those balls. Don't you just want to bounce your head off them?”  You can't help but laugh at Bull. He always had a way with pointing things out.

The Orc lowered himself to his knees. His big legs falling to either side of you. You were locked in now. They were like large fleshy tree trunks, slightly oily, thick, and near immovable. His kilt draped over you and you were put into near darkness. From the light coming in through the fabric you could make out the shape of his round yet muscular ass descending upon you. He wasn't trying to crush you-- though you feel like if he slipped he could-- but he wanted to lower himself just enough so that you could enjoy the sensation of being pressed into his flesh. His massive, hairy filled ass crack as right between you and Bull. you turned to face him. He was already looking at you. 

“Having fun Bull?” You say

“These talks just got a hell of a lot better if you ask me” He said. The heat was rising. The tent of the kilt was filled with the musky odor of the orcs undercarriage. You were sweating. Bull was sweating. The Orc was sweating; large drops of salty sweat cascading down his back through the hair of his ass. One drop landed on Bulls face causing him to blink. He licked at his lips and made an interesting face. “Well, now I can say I know what Orc-ass tastes like,” He spat. You laughed. “Think that's funny Kadan?” With a great effort Bull freed his arm and dragged it through the fleshy crack. His fingers found your mouth and he rubbed the wet digits inside it. “You know you're right,” he smiled. “It is funny to see someone drink liquid orc-ass” You'd be tasting that one for weeks.

The Orc shifted, and his guts growled. He leaned forward ever so slightly before letting out a slow and moaning roar from between his ass. The temperature in the kilt-tent shot up. The rough woven fabric was thick enough to keep the thick and humid stink inside. It was a deep and reverberating-sloppy blast. The ground thrummed under your back. Your nose burned with each breath, and to try to use your mouth to breathe was to taste the foul wind. It went on for near on a full minuet. Bull was trying to say something, but the deafening roar was all you could hear in your ears. It sputtered to an end. You felt tired. You felt as if you had just marched for three days straight. All you could smell was Orcine farts. You were drenched in sweat. You huffed for air. You were still being pressed beneath the gigantic ass. You turned to Bull. He looked a little worse for wear. “Bull. You. Are you alive?” Bull was huffing and puffing as well. “Kadan. I have never. Felt. More alive”

The Orc kept you pinned long enough to enjoy the fruits of his bowels. You couldn't tell if he was enjoying it, but he at least seemed practice in the art of making people suffer his farts. When he did get up you were not in any position to leap to your feet. You and Bull just lay there in the depression in the pillow. The Orc looked happy. Impressed even. When he went back to the other guard they locked fists triumphantly.

The Delegater loomed over you. “Well then it is settled. We shall engage in trade, and I shall send one or two of our biggest, and gassiest of Orcs to be stationed at Skyhold with you. Shall that suffice?” You looked at Bull, then back to the Delegater. “We can find room for two of them” “We had prepared a bed for you in our barracks, but I'm sure you won't want to spend the night with a bunch of rowdy Orcine warriors, so I shall have them prepare your cart for your journey home immediately.” “Well” You said, standing up. “I figure you went to the trouble of preparing the bed. It would be rude to say no.” “Excellent! Then let us seal the deal in proper Orc fashion” The Delegater hoarked back and spat a massive wad of snot into his hand. He held it out for you to shake. You looked a bit hesitant. “Nasty” you heard Bull say, clearly impressed. You reached out to shake. Your hand fully submerging in the warm slime. “Mind if I get in on this?” Bull said. The Delegater nodded. Bull, more eagerly reached out and joined your hand in the snot. The Delegater closed his fist and shook both of your hands. “Now we are bound. We are allies” “Fucking Gross” Bull said as he watched the snot ooze out of the fist. “I fucking love these guys.”

[burnedbyshoto]

Here, kitty, kitty.

Kinktober Day 9 ~ kink: pet play

pairing: shinsou hitoshi x fem!reader

warnings: smut, cursing

word count: 2,900

a/n: I apologize for the super late upload, it was a hard day in terms of focusing...... ya but still!!!! enjoy your sleepy purple haired lover you freaks

✩✶✩❇✩✶✩

When your fiance had called you kitten the very first time, you never expected things to transpire to the way they are now. Kitten was an innocuous nickname, a pet name for you. You just assumed that it was Shinsou’s version of love, babe, or princess. 

The first time he muttered that nickname against your lips, you snorted. You pulled away from his puffy pink lips with the widest grin on your face. “Kitten? What am I? A furry?” You asked as you threw your arms around his shoulders, Shinsou’s tired eyes were annoyed. “Don’t tell me you have a furry kink, or else I don’t think this relationship is going to work, my love.”

He had simply rolled his eyes at you, slamming your mouth against his as he mumbled something about ‘kink-shaming’ him. After that night, you had forgotten about it for the most part. He had, after all, fallen back on the safe names such as baby, and sweetheart. The nickname did not resurface for a solid month until the two of you were drunk out of your minds, bodies stumbling into your apartment. Hands desperate against the fabrics of each other's clothes, on edge to take them off. 

Then with enough confidence to make you smile he groaned out the name kitten. You pulled away, this time not with amusement, but with confusion.

“Why did you call me a kitten?” You ask, your eyes wide in confusion. Your fingers still pulling through his thick purple hair as he presses kisses to your neck. You gasp as he grinds his aroused dick onto your flushed front. He laughs against your skin, his crotch was merciless. 

“Because, kitten,” Shinsou begins. His hand tangling in the locks of your hair as he pulls harshly on them. “You’re mine, and as your owner, I get to call you whatever the fuck I want to.”

Chills flew through your veins as you shudder against him, and his low chuckle makes you moan. Why were you so turned on with just his words? “But am I really yours?” You gasp as your back presses unto the cold wall. 

“Do you want to test that out?”

“N-No…”

“I want you to say, no daddy.”

“No, daddy.”

“Wonderful, kitten.” He growls and drags you away. The rest of the night your body was drunk under his touch, but your mind felt sober as he drilled into you. Calling you kitten as he choked you, your strangled screams of calling him, daddy. It was far too much for you to handle, and you passed out as soon as he drew you in for a cuddle. 

That was almost two years ago, and now, you could safely say that you had adopted his kink quite well. Of course, since that night the two of you indulged more into said kink, and things have definitely gotten kinkier. Toys and costumes had been involved on numerous occasions. Roleplay has even been conducted at some point. It worked well for the two of you, and there was no regret in it coming out the way it did. 

However, today had been a hard day for Shinsou. You knew that as soon as he slipped out of bed this morning. Originally the two of you had this day off of work and were planning on spending the day out and about. 

You shifted as he got out of bed, your eyes heavy with exhaustion as you tried to watch him get ready. He walked back over eventually and placed a kiss to your lips. “I’ll be back late.” He groaned and you succeed in pulling him back into bed, your tired body holding his. Shinsou’s face pressed against your chest as you hold him. 

“Don’t go.” You moan and he chuckles. 

“I wish, kitten.”

“Tell them you needed to save me. I’ll pretend to be injured.”

A proud smile lines your face as Shinsou chuckles, “Kitten if you’re the one in trouble, I don’t think I’d be strong enough to beat them.”

You scoff as Shinsou finally pulls away from your grasp, a smile on his face as he presses a kiss to your forehead. “Alright tiger, go get ‘em.” You whisper as he pinches your cheeks. You sigh from your bed as he stands up and leaves. The front door echoing throughout the house as he left.

The rest of your day had been boring. You were left to your own devices at home. Hell, you even walked to his agency to see if he was available for lunch with you, but the front desk lady profusely apologized as she shook her head. He was in important meetings about his rebranding. Shinsou was not available to talk.

You left back home sighing, a few hours after getting home, your phone buzzed.

My love: sorry, kitten. I heard you came for lunch, maybe next time when these guys stop being idiots.

You chuckled lightly as you stared at your figure in the mirror of your bedroom. Shinsou Hitoshi deserved to be spoiled tonight, and you were going to do everything in your power to make him feel extremely special. Walking over to your closet, you pulled out your simple black box, a smile curling over your features as you opened it.

It took no time for you to change. What you knew to be Shinsou’s favorite black piece secured to your body. It was black lace lingerie, the thong had more fabric in its intricate straps on your hips than the actual thong part. You attached the garter belt to the piece, then rolling thigh high stockings, a dark purple bow attached to the backside of it. You swapped your practical bra for the pieces set. It was also a black lace bra. It supported your breasts, pushing them up slightly to enhance the swell of it. Your hands adjusting the way they sat when you had it fastened.

It was a great set.

Grabbing two final pieces from the box, you walked over to your vanity mirror. Sitting down you pulled out your makeup. You knew you had around an hour until Shinsou would be back, most likely on time since he did not wish to be at work today. You looked over your makeup and began applying to your face. Making sure to not overdo it, you were sure that the way nights typically went, you didn’t want all of it being rubbed off on the pillowcases.

You gradually smoothed over the tinted makeup, applying the colors on your face to make everything pop in the way that brought out your features the best way. You smiled, appreciating how your face glowed in your reflection. With a confident nod, you grabbed the final pieces. 

A shiver trailed down your spine as the cold purple leather collar wrapped around your neck. It was always a bit too tight around your throat, something Shinsou enjoyed very much. He claimed it made face fucking you that much more intense. Clearing your throat, you nodded. The bell on the collar tingling slightly as you moved to the side, grabbing the final piece to your outfit.

You place the cat ears headband into place. Your eyes concentrated on your head as you adjusted it so that it sat nicely in place. You hoped it wouldn’t fall off as it did last time. 

Taking your favorite lipstick from its holder, you glide the wax against your lips. Your bottom lip dropping as you did so. You smack your lips together, a habit that refuses to die, as you place the lipstick down. A smile on your face as you brush your hair over your shoulder. Your fingers tangle in your hair as you stare at your reflection, a small pout on your face as you entertain yourself.

It’s working as your grin widens, but you shriek when arms wrap around you. A warm back pressing into your backside.

“You’re looking hot as hell.” The husky voice of Shinsou interrupted your panic. “You’re not supposed to be here yet!” You exclaim as you suddenly feel very, very embarrassed. As if you had been caught stealing his favorite food.

“Mm, I was able to sneak away early,” Shinsou stated, a proud smirk on his face as he presses his cheek against your neck. His hands gripping your waist immediately. “But why this get up kitten?” He asks, his lips ghosting down the side of your neck.

You lean into his touch, arching against his torso as you moan. “I… um…” You can’t collect your thoughts as he nibbles along your neck. His hips grinding slowly against yours, and your head almost falls backward from this sensation. “I wanted, oh my god, I want to surprise you since you had such a--oh my--long day at work…”

Shinsou’s lips come crashing against yours, and you fully succumb to him. He pulls you up off the chair, and you spin into his arms. You let his hands trail down your back to grasp your ass, and he lifts you up off the floor. Your legs immediately wrapping around him.

“Don’t you know, kitten?” Shinsou asks with a devious smile plastered on his face. “I am always surprised when it comes to you.”

You gasp as his lips are back on yours, and you can’t resist the way your body melts into his own. A whimper in your throat as his cold hands touch your warm body. You groan when he places you on the floor, the bell around your neck tingling with your dismay. “On your hands and knees, kitten. Daddy’s had a long day, and only you can help me.”

Sinking to your hands and feet, Shinsou takes a step back, smiling at your form. His hand rubs the back of his neck as he chuckles, “You are the best, you know that, kitten?”

A smile overcomes your features as you chuckle softly, “I know, my love.”

His eyebrow quirks and he nods his head, “I’ll forgive you just this once because you’re amazing.” Shinsou states and your cheeks flush with your realization of your mistake. 

You nod your head in grace as he reaches out, grabbing your already restricting collar, and you choke as you crawl towards him. Ass up, face looking at him.

“Such a sweet kitten,” Shinsou sighs and you moan as his hand comes down to spank you softly on your ass. You shake softly as your nose brushes against his clothed leg, your eyes still trying to stay on his. “Can you help me out, I’ve had such a terrible day?”

Your head nods eagerly, Shinsou didn’t like you to be verbal unless requested. Your eyes trained on him, and he pushed you so that you sat on your knees. Your legs rubbing together in excitement as Shinsou removed his belt. You breathe hitching as his pants came down alongside his underwear. His impressive cock bouncing at his semi-hard state. “I’ve only been home for so long, kitten, but I’m already hard for you.” You bite down on your lip, resisting the need to speak as Shinsou strokes his length, hot puff of air escaping his mouth as he stepped closer.

“Here, kitty, kitty,” Shinsou grins wickedly as you stretch forward, and his dick enters your mouth.

He groans as your hot mouth envelopes his cock, and you give him kitten licks as you stay still. Waiting for him to have his way with you.

You moan as he steps closer, his hands gripping your hair as his length falls further down your throat. The tip of his cock sliding down your throat. You gag softly against his length as Shinsou slowly starts to rock his hips back and forward into your eager mouth. You widen your mouth as his hips pick up in speed, your cheeks hollowing out to the best of your ability as he thrust away. He curses slightly as he roughens in his pace, and you choke as the collar is now restricting your breathing. 

“Relax, kitten.” Shinsou grunts as his thrusts are rhythmic, and you’re desperate in keeping up, saliva slowly pooling from your mouth as his breathing staggers. His pace quickening.

You moan around his cock, turned on by the fact he was being so harsh with you so quickly and he curses pulling away, “Stand up.” He commands. Panting, still attempting to gather your air, you stumble to your feet, and Shinsou yanks off your panties and garter belt. The belt clatters against the floor, and when the thong hit the floor, he pulls you off your feet. You muffle a scream by shoving your face into his neck as Shinsou has you on his hips, your aroused cunt sinking onto his cock. “I don’t want to hear you moan, or come without being told so.” Shinsou grunts as his hips rotate underneath you, and you slam your face further into his heated skin. The feeling too much, and your throat aching to make noise. “Confirm that you understand, kitten.” He barks, hand slamming against your bare ass.

You nod your head as you bounce on his cock, your eyes clenching as you muffle your moan. “Such a good kitten,” Shinsou sighs as he begins thrusting into you, and you bite down on your lip hard as your back is thrown on a wall. 

Shinsou’s hips are merciless as the pound into you, his typically slow and steady pace long forgotten as you bounce on his hips. Your hands slamming against the wall and clutching his hair as if it would give you some sort of relief. But the pressure of not making any noise it quickly getting to you, your core aching as his hips continue slamming away. It’s too premature, too soon in his action of slamming into you, his fingers only now paying attention to your clit. You choke back a noise as his fingers pinch your clit, a throaty laugh escaping his lips as your head bangs against the wall. 

“You’re doing so well, kitten.” He praises, “Taking my cock so well without even making a noise.”

You nod your head pathetically. You arousal seeming to seep out of you as Shinsou refuses to slow down. Your heaving chest nothing but something for Shinsou to bite onto as you can’t hold back anymore. You shriek out his name and come hard around him. Your walls nicely clenching around his as he stills within you.

Shinsou’s face conflicts with wanting to tease you and to punish you, but as it hardens, you know what he chose. “Well, you disobeyed me, kitten.” Shinsou states, and you groan, covering your face.

A throaty groan leaves your lips as he moves your right leg to the meet your left. All while in you, he moves over to the bed, sitting down with you on his lap. “Now you know what your punishment is, right?” 

Your head nods weakly.

“Good, good.” Shinsou sighs as his hands push your hair to the side. “You don’t get my dick in your pretty pussy anymore.” Your mouth presses into a fine line as you look down to where his dick is clearly in you. “Unless, of course, you can make me cum before your vibrator makes you cum.”

You hiss as he pulls you off his length, your body missing the fullness of having him within you.

You watch with hooded eyes as he grabs the vibrator, bringing it back as he undoes his shirt. “Bra off, kitten.” You follow his command, and sink on you knees, already knowing the position you were needing to take. Shinsou climbs onto the bed and slips the vibrator underneath your aching cunt. You shiver at the cold material, but Shinsou direct’s your attention back onto his hard dick as the vibrator turns on. 

Shinsou had it set to the highest setting and your body trembles on top of a hit as you lean forward. “Open your pretty mouth, kitten.” Shinsou grunts and you gasp as his head presses through your mouth. 

It’s completely overwhelming as his hips snap into your mouth, and the way the vibrator is merciless against your cunt. 

Your eyes roll to the back of your head as all you can do is let Shinsou have his way with you. Your gags are hardly audible as he is relentless in your mouth. Your legs begin to shake as your stomach's pressure continues to heighten. The head of his cock rams into the back of your throat and you choke, stimulating back to life as electricity seems to shoot down your body. Saliva once again escaping your mouth as moans, and screams are silenced by his moving hips.

You shake, unable to hold it in any longer, the sounds of the bell on your throat louder than anything right now.

Shinsou cums in your mouth, and you on the vibrator. You struggle to swallow his heavy load, choking sounds emitting from your mouth as he pulls away. His slowly softening dick falling down. You, also, fall of the vibrator, your legs shaking as Shinsou draws you near. His deep chuckles gaining your attention as you roll your eyes, cheeks flushed. 

“Thank you. y/n.” Shinsou whispers pressing a kiss to your lips as your hand searches out to turn off the vibrator. The kiss is sweet and you relish against his lips as he pulls you up onto his lap. “We did come at the same time though.”

“That we did.”

“Round two?”

“Only if you wear the collar and ears?”

“Ha, deal.”

[etherealperrie]

Stick & Poke

-In which reader meets Lynn and friends at a house party where she becomes a part of the group, receives some new ink, and becomes intimately enamored with Lynn- 

The air is thick, heat emanating from the packed dance floor. Some top forty track that you were vaguely familiar with blasts from the speakers. A hand takes hold of your wrist and pulls you through the crowd of people and you do your best to dodge their stomping feet. You heave a sigh of relief when you emerge into the kitchen where, while there was still a large crowd, it was significantly less packed than the living room.

 To say you weren’t the party type would be an understatement, but there were few times you turned down free drinks. The hand that pulled you to salvation releases your wrist and she waves you a quick goodbye before running off with someone else even though she’d been the one to make you attend to keep her company.

Sighing you make your way towards one of the small kegs sitting on the dark counter-top, letting your fingers slide down the cool marble. You grab a cup and scribble your name across the red plastic, filling the glass with a kind of beer you were almost positive you weren’t going to like.

“Can’t say I would have pegged you for a beer drinker,” a soft voice calls over your shoulder. You spin around to find yourself face to face with a woman, her pale skin and bleach blonde hair reflecting the colored light projections from the dance floor. She’s dressed in a black blouse with the buttons undone revealing a black bralette, and dark leather-looking trousers, her muscular arms exposed as she takes a sip from her glass. Her look was quite the contrast to your white t-shirt and ripped jeans. You raise an eyebrow at her, curious to her out of place comment, and she smiles back taking her bottom lip between her teeth.

“Well it doesn’t look like they’re serving cosmos,” you tease raising the plastic cup and taking a sip, wincing at the taste. “I don’t think anyone’s a real fan of beer, it’s just the cheapest, quickest way to get drunk.”

She shrugs her shoulders. “Is that all you’re looking to do?”

“Maybe.”

“Then tonight, I’m your savior because some friends and I brought our own alcohol – you into wine?” The smile on her lips spreads and she grabs your hand, leading you out of the kitchen and through the back doors onto the patio. There were even fewer people outside. A group plays beer-pong on the deck and across the lawn you spy a small group huddled together around a fire pit, laughing loudly – their breath rolling out into the night. She guides you down the stairs and you follow her closely, suddenly aware of how cold the evening was, as you approach the group.

“Here,” the girl says as she drops your hand, grabbing your cup from you and dumping the contents out. She reaches out and grabs a tall, skinny bottle from the hand of someone sitting cross-legged in his chair. She uncorks the bottle with her teeth and refills your cup with the dark red liquid. To be fair, you weren’t a huge fan of wine either but it was better than room temperature beer.

“Lynn stop giving all our fucking wine away” the guy groans, throwing his hands in the air as everyone around him laughs.

“Shut up, we’ve got plenty. I couldn’t let the poor girl suffer through the shit they’re serving in there.” Lynn replies, rolling her eyes. She offers a kind smile in your direction as you take a sip from the cup.

“You’re just being nice to get lucky later,” he retorts.

“Brian!” Lynn shouts, slapping the back of his head. He laughs furiously and you chuckle along, hoping the light from the fire wasn’t highlighting the redness you could feel crawling across your cheeks.

“So, what’s with you anyway?” You look to Brian, half-expecting the comment to have come from him but he’s still recovering from laughter. “Do you just come to parties alone?” The voice comes from someone sitting across from Brian, his long skinny legs propped up against the fire pit – his hair tucked up under his beanie, his hands tucked into the pockets of his leather jacket. You take another sip of wine before answering, reveling in the warm feeling as the liquid runs past your lips and down your throat.

“Uh, I’m Y/N and no – I don’t just come to parties alone. I came with someone, but we got separated somewhere between the dance floor and the kitchen.”

“Which is where I came to the rescue,” Lynn jokes.

“And now I’m here.” You shrug your shoulders and gesture vaguely to the group. Everyone just sort of nods as you take another sip of wine and you’re not sure what kind of reaction or response you’re meant to get from any of them – if at all. Feeling suddenly brazen, you challenge him. “What’s with you?”

You see a smile spread across Lynn’s lips as she elbows Brian, both of them trying to stifle laughter. Regardless of their dark demeanor, this group was tight-knit and the childlike nature of their banter was charming. The boy slides his hands out of his pockets, coughing into them almost as if to hide a knowing smile.

“Alex” is all he says. 

“Don’t tell me everything so quickly,” you tease. You hold out your now empty cup to Lynn who gladly fills it back up, clearly liking the way the alcohol was encouraging you to leave behind your inherent timid nature.

Alex adjusts his beanie and heaves another sigh. “I’m just enjoying the stress free night with my friends, a little music, a little alcohol… but someone wants to give it all away to a pretty girl who’s more than willing to finish it up.” Being unfamiliar with him, you can’t tell if the tone of his voice is serious or teasing and the lack of real expression on his face does not yield any clues.

“Sorry to crash your party, Alex” you laugh. There’s a couple beats of silence before everyone bursts with laughter.

“Lynn, I like this one” Alex laughs, pointing at you. He sits up in his chair and reaches out for the bottle of wine in Lynn’s hands. She passes it to him and he takes a sip directly from the bottle, claiming the small amount left as his own.

“Wait, what the fuck are we still doing here?” Brian pipes up, his brow furrowed tightly. He pushes himself out of his chair and gives everyone sitting around an inquisitive look. “There’s food back home and I’m starving.”

Lynn stands up and slips into a long, black coat to keep out the cold. She extends her hand, helping you up. “Come on,” she coaxes, letting her hand hold yours for a few seconds too long. You still didn’t know where your friends ran off to, but it didn’t matter anymore. You weren’t planning on leaving with them, but their energy was intriguing and contagious – and Lynn’s presence was something you didn’t want to see leave so soon after becoming acquainted with.

The drive to their house was short, filled with more boisterous laughter, the radio blaring through the quiet college town. With the alcohol in your system you couldn’t be sure, but it felt as though Lynn was staring at you almost the entire way. A few times you stole glances at her and each time she would turn her eyes away from you, her cheeks turning red. Regardless, you were in awe of her, the way her skin looked under the moonlight as you sped down the dark streets.

“Who’s next?” Alex asks, flopping down next to you on the couch. His voice draws you from the memory, bringing you back into the reality in front of you. You didn’t know what time it was, but the night has calmed down just leaving the four of you in the living room. Lynn sits on the floor with Brian, cleaning his forearm with a cotton pad, the scent of rubbing alcohol suddenly present. Her face is focused, her lip bottom lip snug between her teeth in concentration. Her long blonde hair is pulled back by a black, plastic clip. Next to Lynn is a paper towel, a pot of ink, and a set of needles. “Y/N?” Alex nudges you.

“What are we doing?” you ask, leaning forward to look at Brian’s arm. You reach out and take hold of his arm, inspecting the new piece of ink on his dark skin – two small, small jagged parallel lines you recognized as the Aquarian zodiac.

“Stick and poke,” Brian chimes in, taking back his arm to get a better look at Lynn’s art. “We let Lynn practice on us and you’re her next victim” he laughs, pulling you down from the couch to swap places with you. Suddenly you’re sitting face to face with Lynn, who’s busy at work discarding the ink-covered needle.

She looks up at you, a blithe smile on her lips. “You don’t have to,” she replies, her voice soft and reassuring. You were certain that by now the alcohol in your system had worn off, but why was your heart beating so intensely you could hear it? It could only be the thought of Lynn’s hands on your bare skin, not the alcohol, that had you feeling hot. Her eyes are intent on you as you consider her offer, almost as if she was having the same thought.

“Will it hurt? Is it permanent?” you ask, meeting her gaze. Alex and Brian laugh while Lynn tries to stifle a chuckle.

“No and no, just lay down,” she giggles, gently pushing you down. You lie on your side and pull up your shirt, holding the fabric up just under your breast. Out of the corner of your eye you can see Lynn setting up a new needle, sterilizing the metal with a lighter. She sets down the tool on the paper towel and soaks another cotton ball in rubbing alcohol, sighing lightly before she presses it to your skin. You jump at the feeling, goosebumps spreading across your body – but you’re unsure if it’s because of the cold or because of Lynn’s touch.

“What are you going to draw?” you inquire, wanting to hear her voice.

She blows on your skin, chills spreading across your body. “You’re getting the tattoo, shouldn’t you tell me?” she teases. She uncaps a sharpie and rests her arm on your side, looking to you for an answer as she waits.

You chew on your lip for a moment, enjoying the sight of her from this angle. 

“Surprise me.”  

The next second, you feel the sharpie moving across your ribcage. Annoyedly, she blows a stray piece of hair out of her eyes and for a second you think about reaching up to tuck it behind her ear, but you don’t. You feel a moment of panic wash over you when you see her pick up the tiny needle but she runs her free hand up and down your back, humming lightly in an attempt to send your nerves away – but it only brings more butterflies to your stomach.

The next few minutes go by quickly and without pain, just as everyone said they would.

“Done,” Lynn breathes, putting the needle down to swipe your skin with alcohol one last time. You sit up and look down at the new black marking on your skin.

“A lavender sprig?” you ask, looking back up at her. She nods, a nervous look on her face.

“Oh my god you hate it,” she says, sounding defeated. She hides her face behind her hands and Brian and Alex laugh from the couch.

“No,” you exclaim, pulling her hands away from her face. “It’s beautiful, I just – why lavender?” You can’t help but wonder why, when, and how she’d decided on the flower so quickly - almost as if without thought. But something tells you that Lynn wasn’t one to do something without thinking, without an idea.

She admires her work and you blush as her eyes continue to roam your body. “Lavender’s the natural embodiment of femininity and youth and grace – seemed like a good fit.”

“Hope you’re not just being nice to get lucky,” you joke. 

“So what if I have been?” she challenges, leaning closer into you. 

“It’s working,” you breathe.

[whydontweband]

First Flight Home- A Daniel Seavey Imagine

Masterlist

Why Don’t We Imagine

*As Requested by @love-giselle*

Word Count: 6362

Have a lovely day!

Description: Inspired by and based off the song “First Flight Home” by Jake Miller.

“Hey

I’ve been gone forever,

I’m coming home tonight

We’ll be back together this plane gon’ fly

I can’t predict the weather

But you should know that I

I’ll be on the first flight home.”

Daniel

    The in-studio audience cheered in a manufactural manner, smiling and waving signs with every question the T.V. host asked us. Not a lot of the questions were directed at the music, the thing we were supposed to be known for, they were almost all pertaining to our love lives, or the styling products we used in our hair. Which, I had to admit, was nothing new- but every now and then it’d be nice to talk about something other than girls and hair pomade. The hostess smiled, her blinding white teeth casting an eerie glow about her face as she strained a laugh at one of Jack’s anecdotes- an anecdote our publicist had told us we should tell whenever possible because it “made us relatable and quirky to the fanbase”. I couldn’t remember the last time we’d made an anecdote or joke sequence that hadn’t been pre-approved by our agency, then again, I couldn’t remember the last time someone genuinely wanted to know our musical inspirations in life, or our sound evolution and what it meant to us. I sighed, internalizing my frustrations as the ever-dreaded question rung like a sour note in my ears.

“So, I’m sure you get asked this question ALL THE TIME, BUTTTTTTTTT- WHO HERE IS SINGLE?” The hostess cooed, her loud, shrill voice enough to make me physically cringe as I forced a smile, casually brushing off her comment as though we didn’t get asked about our relationship status…on a daily basis.

“Ohhhh yeah!” I chuckled, shaking my head softly as I glanced over towards the other guys. They all smiled, chuckling lightly as they looked between each other, doing their best to not vomit on stage from the legitimate disgust this question evoked within all of us.

“Which of us are single?” I inquired innocently enough, as though I didn’t already know the answer. Corbyn was taken, he’d been with Christina forever, and she’s become a loved and accepted part of the fanbase since the beginning. Our publicists didn’t mind letting the fans know that he was in a relationship, since the fans seemed to love Christina, and she had her own fanbase. Mostly because she had her own fanbase- apparently it was great PR having a popular boy band member date a popular beauty guru. Zach, Jonah and Jack were single, for real, and then there was me. The complicated one, the one the publicists hated dealing with because I never liked the answer they told me to give.

“I’m single.” Zach smiled, sending a charming smirk towards the cameras. Jack nodded, raising his hand in agreement.

“I’m single.”

“Gonna have to side with Zach and Jack on this one, I’m single.” Jonah smiled. A few fans from the audience shrieked delightedly every time one of us announced we were single. Corbyn smiled, shaking his head as the hostess gestured for him to answer. Corbyn raised his hands up, as though he were admitting defeat, smiling cheekily as he replied.

“Taken.” Most of the fans “awed” at this, cooing in unison about how much they loved Christina. I was glad that, at least for Corbyn’s sake, he could be honest and upfront about his relationship, even if we all knew management only really accepted it because Christina had her own following.

“There ya go, the full inside scoop.” I teased, smiling and nodding curtly. I’d been hoping our hostess garbed in an ill-fitting, swamp green pencil dress and heels that looked like they could stab me wouldn’t press me to answer. I was wrong, as per usual.

“And what about you, Daniel? Any special lady in your life at the moment, or are you still looking for that perfect somebody?” She tutted, her eyes giving me a knowing look as she urged me to answer. I internally rolled my eyes, laughing outwardly as I took a deep breath. It never got easier. We’d been doing this for a couple years now, amassing an unreal following, and an undying amount of love and support. Our fans were such amazing people, and they cared so much. Part of me liked it better when it was just us and them, without the corporate cogs who keep trying to ruin our lives, for the sake of money. It never used to be about the money, or worrying about what would sell. It never used to be about lying.

“Single.” I muttered, flashing a small smile as I sent a few polite waves to the fans who screamed from their seats in the audience. The hostess laughed, egging the fans on a bit more about how they still had a chance with 4/5 of us. We laughed at this, as we’d be trained to do, and shared a few more story’s from life on tour, and who our current celebrity crushes were. But as we continued on with the interview, leaving the relationship question in the past, breezed by so quickly, too quickly, all I could do was muster a smile as I fiddled with the small decorative ring that hung from a string around my neck. It wasn’t very noticeable, and it was almost always tucked underneath my shirt, kept out of sight and out of mind, but it was there. It sat comfortably against my baby blue button-down shirt, the silver metal glimmering softly against the stage lights. As I clutched it in my fingers, running my index finger along the edge, I closed my eyes for just a moment as I felt the ridges of the engraving against my skin.

“Wherever I go I’m taking you. Yours Always, Leah”.

    After the interview and fan questions that seemed to go on for an eternity, they’d shuffled us off the stage and into a limo that was waiting for us out the back entrance. We filed in, sending a few last waves and blown kisses towards a handful of fans that had managed to find the quasi-secret limousine entrance. When the doors had finally closed behind us, tinted windows and thick black leather seats separating us from the rest of the world, we all breathed a sigh of relief.

“Damned button up- it’s suffocating me!” Jonah screeched, not hesitating to tear the careful fabric from his body, grabbing a plain gray t-shirt that he’d stashed under the seats and throwing it on leniently. We all chuckled, not wasting time before removing unwanted articles of clothing, swapping them out for comfort clothing we’d hid in the limo before the interview. Corbyn smiled, gesturing for us to be quiet as he grabbed his phone from his back pocket.

“Guys, guys- shut up. Christina’s calling.” We all smirked, teasing him playfully as he brushed it off, answering the phone in his ‘boyfriend’ voice.

“Hey babe!” He cooed. We rolled our eyes at how cute they were together, though I’m fairly certain most to the eyerolls were out of jealousy. At least Corbyn had someone special in his life who he could be corny with, unlike the other guys.

“You saw the interview?…Yeah!….Did you see me wave to you on camera?…No way, you taped it!?” He was off in his own world at this point, which the other guys teased him for, but strangely enough I got it. I got all of it, I had someone like that.

I listened intently as he went on and on with her, laughing and talking about the interview, and all the cute subtle signals he’d given her without the cameramen noticing. That part always made me jealous, in a way I’d hoped I’d never have to be. I never wanted to be jealous because someone could do something that I couldn’t, something that was out of my control. It wasn’t out of my control though, not really. It was media owned-and-operated, which was bad enough, but at the end of the day they didn’t control it. They didn’t control my relationship. They didn’t control Leah.

“Yeah, ok, I’ll talk to you later babe. I love you too! Say hi to your parents for me!…No! I love you more!…No, you know I love you more!”

“I’m gagging.” Jack teased, rolling his eyes as I chuckled half-heartedly. Corbyn shoved Jack jokingly.

“One of you, hang the hell up!” Zach shouted. Corbyn stuck his tongue out at him, to which Zach only sighed, snatching Corbyn’s phone out of his hand.

“Hey, give it back! Christina! Christina, can you hear me!? Zach stole my phone, baby!” Zach laughed hysterically, holding the phone out of Corbyn’s reach as he shoved him away playfully.

“You’re too codependent, Cor- this needs to stop! Jack’s gonna puke!” Jack nodded, mimicking vomit motions as Corbyn rolled his eyes, trying desperately to get his phone back as Zach put it to his ear.

“Sorry Christina, Corbyn needs to go now, he’s being kidnapped by evil pirate ghosts and they want to take all of our phones! Oh no! They say they’ll only let us go if he hang up the phone?! Well, ok, talk to ya later, Christina! We have to go fight some evil pirate ghosts, byyyyyyyyeeee!!” Zach rambled, laughing hysterically as he hung up the phone abruptly, sending Jack and Jonah into an uncontrollable riot of laughter. Corbyn’s mouth hung agape as he began smacking Zach’s shoulder playfully.

“Stop, you brat!” He laughed, smacking the others for laughing at his expense. I smiled, shaking my head softly as I pulled my own phone out from my back pocket.

0 New Messages

 I sighed, pinching the bridge of my nose. I opened up my texts, clicking on recent conversation, that wasn’t that recent at all, actually.

To: Banana LEAHpublic

-          Hi

-          I miss you

 It felt dumb sending it, it was such an impersonal statement, but it felt even more dumb to send something light and cheery, as though she hadn’t watched the interview. She watched every single one of our interviews.

–

Leah To: DANbercrombie and Fitch

-          I love you too, Danny

I felt a pink tinge wash over my cheeks as I sent the reply- I never got used to telling him how I felt, even after all this time. Sighing, I ran a hand through my dark hair, fiddling absentmindedly with a strand as I watched my phone screen propped up against my bed, the bright light contrasting nicely with the storm going outside my bedroom window.

From: DANbercrombie and Fitch

-          How do you always know what I’m thinking, even before I think it??

I smiled at this, shaking my head as I typed out a response.

-          Danny, I know you love me

-          You don’t have to say it for me to know

I knew he knew I was talking about the interview. Of course I’d watched it, I watched all of their interviews. Even if I had classes when they were on, I recorded every single one. It made him feel closer, somehow. And I didn’t mind that he couldn’t talk about our relationship, even though I know how much it bothers him. It was always understood that we couldn’t disclose information about our relationship to the public, having a paparazzi kind of love was never in the cards for us. I know that bothered him sometimes, because keeping me out of the spotlight meant sacrificing other aspects of our life- like honesty. We’d been together since before the band took off, and we’d been friends since before American Idol. We grew up together, which really only meant that our lives were more entwined than what his management was comfortable with. The closer we were, the harder the fall would be if we ever broke up, the harder the fans would take it, the harder the backlash would be. This had been explained to us from day one- but nevertheless, it was always nice to escape from that reality, if even for a moment. It was nice to, every now and then, be more than the mysterious giver of the strange ring necklace that Daniel never took off (fans never caught on, but that hasn’t stopped them from theorizing). It was nice to remember that, no matter what, we were still those two kids from Portland who fell in love during a horrible rainstorm.

From: DANbercrombie and Fitch

-          I love you, jeLEAH bean

-          But you already know that 😊

 -          Yea, I already knew- afterall, I’m pretty much the coolest 😉

 -          But it never hurts to hear, Danimal cracker

 From: DANbercrombie and Fitch

-          Pretty much, as in, second coolest

-          SECOND TO ME

-          Hey Leah, do you ever read back through our texts and think- wow, our nicknames are gross

 I chuckled, shaking my head as I scrunched up my nose. Truthfully, all the time. We’d bonded over our love of puns back in the fourth grade, and from then on there really wasn’t any turning back. It wasn’t exactly our fault that Leah and Dan can be substituted for pretty much anything.

-          Not even once- jelly beans and animal crackers will never NOT be delicious

-          Hey Danny, I gotta go…term paper due soon and I gotta study. I’ll text you l8tr if I get a break, otherwise, have a great night and sleep well, mkay?

 This was always the worst part of the conversation, the end. The truth was that I’d finished my term paper about an hour ago, and I didn’t have any urgent studying that needed my attention at this very moment. I always did this, a way of saving face I suppose. I let myself be the one in the relationship that always had to leave the conversation first, because Daniel was always too kind and too selfless to ever hang up first. The truth was, we could talk for hours- and we so often did. Not much anymore, granted, but I treasured the conversations we had more than anything. But he works so hard to live the life he has, and do what he loves doing with his best friends, I could never stand in the way of that. It was easier if he thought I was busy, that way he could focus and do what he needed to do. Maybe that made him upset with me occasionally, for always bailing on the conversation early, but I didn’t mind so much if he was a little upset with me, because I knew it was for the best. His life’s so busy already, I didn’t need to add to it.

From: DANbercrombie and Fitch

-          Nooo, pls don’t go Leah

-          I miss you so much, you have no idea

 I sighed, burying my face in my hands momentarily before shaking it off. He has more important things to do than talk to you. You always knew this was the price you’d pay for loving a star, the price never changed. Everyone told you it’d be tough, it’s not meant to be easy, Leah. Easy was never guaranteed.

 -          We can talk a little tonight, mkay? I super duper pinky promise

-          I love youuuuu Danny Boi, you’re the (second) coolest person in the Western Hemisphere

 From: DANbercrombie and Fitch

-          yeah ok

-          Umm, excuse me, FIRST COOLEST…and what’s all this about the western hemisphere? I’m the coolest in the universe!

 I smiled, wishing more than anything that I could hear his laugh, the way his mouth spread into a large, appreciative grin, and his teeth sparkled in the sunlight. His laugh was like an angel, and it made telling silly jokes worth it every single time. To be there and hear his laugh, oh the things I’d give.

 -          Yeah yeahhh, first coolest- in the galaxy, how about that?

-          I gotta go, I love you Daniel

-          Do amazing, keep working, stay positive

 I bit down on my lip as I sent the final message before turning off my phone, the message I always sent before leaving. I hoped that maybe I could at least leave him with words of encouragement. He said one day he wanted to get them tattooed along his ribs, which was flattery enough at the very idea, though I doubt management would ever let him. That’s ok though, it’s like I said- the thought itself is flattering enough.

I smiled, reading back through old conversations and scanning through photos from years ago, back when it didn’t matter what lighting we used, or what filter we edited with, or what clothes we were wearing.

I didn’t miss those days, they’re in the past, and the past can’t be reversed. But god, how I wish I could relive just one of those days.

–

Daniel

      I’d been holding onto the hope that I’d get to FaceTime Leah later tonight, but it was already 11pm and we were still at the studio. I’d texted her a couple hours ago, and a sad little part of me actually hoped she’d get mad so I’d have an excuse to call her. She didn’t of course, because she was the most supportive person in the world. I knew she’d always hang up first, just so I wouldn’t have to- even though she didn’t think I’d caught on. Even though I hated the ends of our conversations, I could always feel my cheeks tinge red when she’d not-so subtly offer to leave, because it was her telling me she loved me in her own little way. She loved me enough to let me live my dream, even though it meant we couldn’t be together all that often. I sighed, running a hand through my hair absentmindedly as our producer stepped into the room.

“Alright, that’s a wrap on today’s tracklist, guys! Great work today.” The guys broke into exasperated cheers, falling to the floor from mock exhaustion. I laughed, following suit as the producer smiled, rolling his eyes as he waved us off.

“Yeah yeah, we work you to death- I know. Listen, you guys go home, get some rest, relax a bit. I’ll give management a call when we need you back in for photoshoots, alright? Until then, lay low and don’t go too far.” We all nodded in happy agreement, ecstatic at the very idea of getting a solid 8 hours of sleep.

“Alright, who took what cars here?” Jonah inquired after a few minutes of picking our weary bodies up off the floor. Corbyn raised a hand nonschalantly, grabbing a water bottle from the vending machine in the hallway as we made our way towards the lobby.

“Jack, Zach and I stopped for Mexican on the way, so we’re all in one car.” Jonah nodded, gesturing towards them as we entered the parking garage.

“Cool, I caught an Uber here so I’ll ride back with you guys. You need a lift, Daniel?” I’d been in completely zoned out, fiddling with the ring on my necklace and trying to remember the sound of a voice I’d lost the exact pitch of a long time ago when Jonah’s voice registered with me. My eyes widened a bit, glancing toward him curiously before slowly shaking my head.

“Oh, ahh, no. I’m good. I’ll see you guys back at the house.” I muttered. Jonah raised a cautious eyebrow as the others made their way towards the car.

“You okay, bro?” I chewed on the inside of my lip, eyeing the concrete as I nodded.

“Yeah, just some stuff on my mind…think I need to drive it off, ya know?” Jonah sighed, nodding slowly as he gave me a reassuring squeeze on my shoulder. His eyes met mine, and his gaze was serious.

“Do what you gotta do, man.” The words seemed simple, but I knew they were anything but. I smiled softly, nodding.

“Thanks…I will.” Jonah grinned, patting me on the back once more before sending me a comforting wink, turning and walking off towards the already rumbling car. I stuffed my hands in my pockets, sighing as I unlocked the drivers side door to the car I’d driven here.

Do what you gotta do. The words echoed in my head as I sat in silence a while longer, staring out at the dark, devoid parking garage. Igniting the engine, I pulled out of my parking space, making my way to ground level as I veered out onto the illuminated street. Most of the traffic had dissipated as I watched the distant golden headlights reflect against the damp asphalt of the highway, and somehow I couldn’t get my mind off her. Her. The girl of my dreams, the only girl I’d ever loved, the only girl I ever wanted to love. It was probably cheesy and overly sentimental, which was always something she chided me for being, but it was the truth. She was everything to me and, whether she’d admit it or not, I didn’t treat her right. At least not the way she deserved, because Leah deserved the world. She deserved someone who treated her the way she treated other people- always putting their needs above her own. She deserved someone who would make sacrifices for her. Running a shaking hand through my hair, watching as the veer in the road for downtown L.A. and the airport bounded towards me.

Do what you gotta do.

Without a second thought, I veered right, onto the on-ramp that directed all traffic towards LAX. When I hit a stop light, I quickly pulled out my phone, speed dialing Jonah’s number. It went to voicemail, but I left a rushed message as I held the phone between my ear and shoulder, pulling into the still bustling front parking area of the airport.

“Hey man, I’m not gonna make it home tonight, I’ve got something important to take care of. I’m safe, don’t worry. I’ll text you when I can, and tell management to chill the hell out, I’ll be back. I just…I need to do this. Love you, bro.” Clicking end on the voicemail, I parked the dark range rover I’d driven here in a general parking space, not caring about the fine as I dashed towards the main entrance. I didn’t have anything with me, save my phone and wallet, but I didn’t need anything. I just needed to be there, with her. Pushing my way past crowds of exhausted, jetlagged people, I made my way to the front desk.

“When’s your first flight out to Portland?” I asked hurriedly to the woman working behind the desk register. She eyed me warily, before punching a few keys into her desktop computer.

“We have a flight leaving in…7 minutes, sir.” A smile larger than I knew possible broke out onto my face as I nodded hurriedly.

“Great, great- I need on it.” I rambled, pushing my debit card across the counter at her. She raised a cautious eyebrow.

“Sir, it’s not advised to book a flight on such short notice without-” I rolled my eyes, waving her off.

“Listen,” I scanned over her American Airlines nametag, “Melinda- I need to get on that flight, ok? It’s kind of super, super important that I get on that flight. I’m not a serial killer, I’m not a psycho, I’m just a kid trying to get home to his girlfriend, ok? And it’s kind of super super important that I do that now, because she means everything to me, and she sacrifices so much so I can live my dream and I never see her anymore and I miss her like crazy and even though she’s the most amazing, selfless person in the world I just know she’ll find someone better eventually and she’ll forget all about me and I can’t let that happen because I love her so for the love of God would you please just let me buy a ticket!?” I screeched. Melinda looked rather taken aback, but her eyes softened slightly as she sighed, swiping my card and punching in a few extra numbers into her system.

“ID?” I breathed a sigh of relief, smiling as I took it out from my wallet. She glanced at it, looking back at me as though to confirm that I was who I said.

“Daniel Seavey?” She repeated off the ID card. I smiled, nodding.

“Born and raised.” I smiled as she handed me back my ID, card and a blue and white ticket, shaking he head softly. I stood still a moment longer, looking to her as though waiting for something. She smiled ever so slightly, rolling her eyes as she gestured for me to move.

“Well? What the hell are you standing here for?! You’ve got a plane to catch!” I snapped into action, laughing as I nodded quickly waving appreciatively in her direction as I bolted towards the gates.

I’m coming, Leah.

 Leah

      2am. It was 2am, and I was still awake. I wanted to believe that it was the inevitable result of my odd college sleep schedule mixed with the nerves of exams- but somehow those weren’t the thoughts that made my stomach churn.

It’ll never be the way it used to be…not ever again. Your dreams got in the way of your relationship- it was a choice you both made. He wanted to do music, you wanted to do school…and it’s tearing you apart.

The dark depths of my mind echoed over and over again, raining down on my already dampened mood with the one thought that never really left my mind- because it was the ultimate truth.

It’ll never be the way it used to be.

It wasn’t a decision I regretted, I could never possibly regret going to college, or encouraging Daniel to follow his dreams. He deserved the entire universe, and to him that was music. But it never really changed the fact that, somewhere along the way, we’d changed. And I knew that was inevitable, and I wouldn’t do it differently if given the chance, but it didn’t change the fact that it hurt. It hurt knowing that the days of sitting on my porch swing for hours on end, watching the shadows on the lawn and talking about absolutely nothing- were over. It hurt knowing that we’d never get to spend as much time together as we’d ever like, and it as much as I hated to admit it, it hurt that I wasn’t a part of his public life. I nearly gagged just thinking about it, remembering how I promised myself I’d never become one of those clingy girlfriends who demanded attention. That wasn’t why it bothered me, I didn’t want the attention or notoriety. It was just this residual feeling of not being enough, every time I heard him utter those same words on every single interview or talk show.

“I’m single.” I’d never admit it out loud, but it never really stopped sucking. I knew he hated saying it too, I knew it was just for the media and appearances, but it still sucked. It sucked going out with friends on Saturday night and having them try to set you up with random guys they found in the club because they’re “concerned with how single I am”. I had to admit, part of it was morbidly hilarious, but at the end of the day it was mostly exhausting.

I don’t need things to go back to the way they were, I just wanted something. Anything. A part of him that wasn’t through our phone screens or laptop cameras.

 Daniel

      The plane ride to Portland wasn’t technically that long, but it felt like it took a million years. The instant the plane landed, I’d bolted from my seat, dodging fellow passengers and jumping waiting area chairs as I sprinted towards the escalator. My phone buzzed for what seemed like the hundredth time since exiting the plane, forwarding another missed call to my voicemail box which I proceeded to ignore. I chose to delete the voicemail notifications, instead calling an Uber to pick me up outside the airport.

Management hadn’t stopped calling, the boys were texting me more than they ever had before, and someone must’ve told my parents because both of them had left flustered and panicked voicemails when I was back at the terminal in L.A.

I made my way down the flights of escalators, finally making contact with the large sliding glass doors of the Portland airport entrance, the cool night air hitting my tired skin as I took a deep exhausted breath. Somehow, even in my exhaustion, there was an air of calm to the situation, as though everything was going to be alright.

I stood outside for a few minutes, soaking up the brisk Portland night, before my black sedan Uber arrived. Getting in hastily and giving the driver my directions, I took a moment to scan through my missed messages, sending out a single video message to everyone who’d been worried. I sighed, ruffling through my hair as I held up my phone to record the message. At least this way they’d know I hadn’t been kidnapped, and maybe they wouldn’t worry quite as much.

“Hey,” I smiled, waving softly towards the camera as I ran a hand through my hazel brown hair and adjusting my dark hoodie in frame.

“I just wanted to say I’m really sorry for scaring you, I promise I really am ok. I’m not in L.A. right now, I’m taking a quick break…there’s some stuff that I’ve been putting off for a long time and…umm, I just realized that that wasn’t cool of me.” I took a deep breath, staring down at my shoes momentarily as I thought about everything I’d been through with Leah. I couldn’t keep putting our relationship on the backburner, she meant everything to me- and I needed to treat her that way.

“I’ll be back soon, refocused and ready to work. I just…needed to do this, I hope you understand. Peace.” I held up a peace sign to the camera, smiling before ending the video and sending it off.

I just needed to get through the rest of this night, and everything would be ok. I’d be with Leah, and everything would be ok.

    “Turn right here.” I gestured towards the driver as he nodded, pulling the car up into the driveway of a house that felt like my own. I knew every inch of the yard, all the best secret hide-outs, the coolest tree perchs for bird-watching. I’d practically grown up here, on that front porch swing, with Leah by my side.

“Thanks, man.” I smiled, waving and exiting the car, watching it pull out of the driveway and off into the night. And then, just like that, it was so real. I couldn’t help but smile, letting it spread contagiously across my face from ear to ear, and letting out a laugh of excitement and relief.

I was home. And maybe it wasn’t the house I took my first steps in, or the house I’d called my own, but it was home. It was home…because she was home.

Walking towards the house, I glanced up towards the window on the second story, noticing a soft light was still on. She couldn’t sleep either. Smiling, I pulled out my phone which was, at this point in the evening, running on low battery. Ever so silently in the midst of the pitch black night, illuminated only by the street lamp at the end of her driveway, I texted her a message.

To: Banana LEAHpublic

-          Hey

-          You awake?

 It only took a few moments before she replied.

-          Nah. I went to sleep ages ago. What’re you doing up, you should be resting. I know how long recording went, you must be wiped

 I smiled, shaking my head.

-          Like I said earlier, I missed you

-          Hey Leah?

 -          Yeah Danny?

  -          When was the last time you sat on our porch swing? 😊

 I could practically hear her faint laugh from inside the house as she replied.

-          Oh gosh, idk…it isn’t really the same sitting alone :/

 -          You should go sit on it, watch the stars. I bet they’re beautiful tonight.

  -          Dan, it’s like 3am…maybe tomorrow? And anyway, it kinda just bums me out sitting on it- that was our thing

 -          Just try it now, I promise it won’t bum you out. It’s like I’ll be right there with you. 😊

  -          …fiiiinne. But I’m telling you it’s not the same. Give me a second, I’ll facetime you when I get out there.

 I smiled, suddenly feeling incredibly self-conscious of how exhausted I must’ve looked, attempting to straighten out my hair and clothes as I took a seat on our infamous porch swing. I sat a moment in silence before the porch light turned on, and my phone began ringing. It was Leah’s facetime.

I smiled, hitting the ignore button. For the first time in a long time, I didn’t have to settle for a two-dimensional version, because the real Leah would be right here. Just as I’d clicked the home screen on my phone, I heard the creek of the screen door open, a sleepy looking Leah stepping out onto the porch as she rubbed her eyes from the sudden light of the porch bulb. Her hair was tied up in a rushed attempt at a bun, and her feet adorned fluffy bunny slippers (the ones I’d gotten her for Christmas a couple years back). She hadn’t glanced towards me yet, and in a moment of forgetting the fact that she was completely unaware of my presence- I cleared my throat. In a heartbeat, she screamed, jumping higher than I knew she could. Her head spun towards me, the source of the noise, and she stumbled backwards in fright before getting her bairings. My eyes widened as I stepped towards her in concern, immediately forgetting the cool and calm composure I’d been planning on having when I first saw her. Looks like a lot of my plans weren’t going exactly as expected tonight.

“Ohmygod Leah are you ok? Oh my god that was a dumb idea, I just- I wasn’t sure how to start off and then I totally forgot how super creepy I was being and oh my god why did I do that you’re probably terrified now and-”

“DANIEL?!” Leah’s dark eyes widened to the size of saucers as I froze, instantly remembering that this was supposed to be a surprise, and that my rambling and creepy stalker vibe had completely ruined the atmosphere.

“Oh, right..umm, surprise?” I gestured, laughing slightly as she took a step forward, mouth hanging open in shock.

“Daniel…are you…am I dreaming?” She muttered, squinting around and rubbing at her still tired eyes. I laughed, taking a step towards her slowly so as not to startle her.

“Leah, I’m real. I’m..i’m here. “ I uttered softly. She stared at me curiously for a moment longer, before suddenly sprinting towards me. In an instant she was on me, legs wrapped around my waist as I stumbled backwards, laughing as I gripped onto her waist, her arms flung tightly around my neck as she buried her face in my neck.

“OH MY GOD….YOU’RE HERE!” She squealed, taking a moment to smack my shoulder as I laughed.

“Hey! I flew all the way out here to get hit?” I questioned teasingly. She rolled her eyes, wiping stray tears from her reddened cheeks as she beamed.

“Yeah! How dare you! You just,” She sniffled, “You just showed up here out of the blue! Like a crazy person! How’d this even happen!?” She inquired, laughing and crying all at the same time as I smiled, setting her down as I wiped the ears from her cheeks.

Leah

      “I made it happen, for you. I’d make anything happen for you, Leah. And I know it doesn’t always seem that way, and I hate that I never get to see you or spend time with you anymore…but I needed you to know that I love you, ok? I love you, and I’d do anything to make you happy…” Daniel smiled, his eyes welling up as he wrapped his arms around me protectively. I squeezed my eyes shut, embracing him as I couldn’t help but cry into his dark hoodie that smelled amazing, despite sitting on a plane for hours.

“I can’t believe you, you asshole.” I laughed hysterically, smacking him repeatedly on the shoulder playfully as he laughed, pushing me softly.

“Yeah, well I’m your asshole so hush.” He teased. I rolled my eyes, smiling softly as I took a step closer.

“Danny, seriously…can you even be here right now? I mean, this is amazing, and I can’t even believe that you’re really here- but I know how busy you are and-” He smiled, holding a soft finger to my lips as he shook his head.

“Everything’s fine, I promise. I don’t have tons of time, a few days maybe? But it’s enough, ok? At least for right now. I promised you this wouldn’t happen when I left, and it did…and I’m sorry. Things are gonna be different from now on, Leah. I promise.” I blushed, shaking my head as I stared at the bunny slippers he’d picked out for me as a gift on Christmas. Everyone assumed it was a gag gift and teased him for not getting his girlfriend a “proper Christmas gift”, no one realized that it hadn’t been a gag gift, that’s just how well he knew me.

“I can’t believe you’re here for a few days, I can’t believe you’re here at all.” I smiled. He placed his fingers softly under my chin, tilting it up as he smiled, stepping closer.

“You’re my home, Leah.” Closing the gap between us, he pressed his lips to mine, both of us smiling into the kiss as I clasped my hands to his soft, cool cheeks.

And somehow, under the canopy of stars and brisk night air, with tear stained cheeks in pj’s and bunny slippers, I knew exactly what he meant- I was his home, and he was mine.

The End

A/N: I know it’s kinda cheesy I’m sorryyyy but I hope you liked it anyway maybe? I was feeling v fluffy while writing it and I’m just a big cheeseball but ily

[allnightthot]

Okay, I know it isn’t the 20th yet for a few more hours, but I just couldn’t wait!

Here is my fan fic for my wonderful Santee, @ziggypop..using her MC Cheri! I hope you enjoy it, you sassy lady! Merry Christmas and happy holidays!

It is NSFW, so it is hidden under this cut!

Normally, Cheri wasn’t a fan of the Christmas season. The mall was always overcrowded, her brother would be so annoying when she came home and she just didn’t like the cold. This year though..it just felt different. It was Cheri and Zig’s first Christmas together, and there was something hopeful and happy about it. Deep down there was a sense of excitement, but she couldn’t put a finger on why.

And that was how Cheri found herself smiling and humming with her slightly wavy chocolate colored hair bouncing to Christmas music after she walked past one store after another to find the perfect present for the perfect boyfriend. “Leather jacket? No he already has one. Gift basket? Maybe…” She had found herself talking out loud, planning and organizing her thoughts. Nearly an hour later, Cheri was grumpy, starving and only found a handful of stocking stuffers. They were cute...but they did not give the impression she was looking for. Cheri wanted to show Zig just how much she loved him, how he had changed her world so fully that she now saw things that she had missed before. Cheri saw peace and happiness in the midst of chaos when she was with him. But in the mall, everything was so surface level...nothing expressed the sentiment she was looking for.

RING! Her phone shook her out of her thoughts.It was Kaitlyn. “Hey, what’s up?” Cheri answered, slightly relieved that maybe her best friend would have an idea of what to get. “Hey!” Kaitlyn beamed, “Listen, the band and I are helping host an ugly sweater themed show tomorrow, you want to come?” “Sure! Just text me the time and I'll be there.” “You’re the best! I’ll see you when you get home.” “Before you go-” Cheri interrupted, “What would you get someone you have dated for over a year for Christmas?” “I don’t know.” Cheri could almost hear Kaitlyn shrug her shoulders, “But, I know Zig is crazy about you and guys tend to like sex, so maybe surprise him?” They hung up, and Cheri sat down with a pretzel. She had hit a wall. Maybe she just needed to breathe and take everything in.

She listened to the cheery Christmas carols. She saw the happy children. Her pretzel even tasted like the holidays with its red and green colored salt. Perhaps, her focus was clouded too much by Christmas itself, and not about THEM. What did Zig love most about Cheri, that she could give to him? What kind of man was he to her? Cheri began to feel despondent, but as her eyes scanned to a kiosk covered in giant ribbons offering gift wrapping services, a realization hit her like a lightning bolt. Cheri grabbed her phone and speed dialed Kaitlyn: “I am a fucking genius! I know what I am getting him now! You are amazing!” “Okay, awesome! What di-” before Kaitlyn could finish her sentence, Cheri had thrown the rest of her pretzel in the garbage and ran to pay for the surprise of a lifetime.

The next day

As the ban finished their last rock cover version of a Christmas carol, Zig grabbed Cheri’s hand and kissed it as they walked down the street towards his suite. “The guys already left to go home for vacation. Did you want to stay over? Looks like you were already prepared.” Zig poked at the school bag she had brought with her. “Haha.” Cheri sarcastically laughed. “And yes, I would love to” she continued, “besides, your present is in here..so no peeking!” He smirked, “Oh yeah? I thought we weren’t going to swap presents until we drove to your parents’ tomorrow.”

“Guess there was a change of plans.” Cheri mischievously grinned as they walked up the stairs to start their Christmas celebration together.

Over the next few hours, they cooked dinner together, ate and washed the dishes. Through the drinks and laughter it was always amazing how time could go so fast when they were together. Cheri was always learning something amazing from Zig...it was never boring: it was as if the entire world and her heart, was an onion being peeled. There were layers constantly being pulled back, and she learned new things about herself just from seeing his perspective. There was one thing she wished for this Christmas, but she dared not utter it. “It’s stupid..it’ll never happen” she would brush her hope aside. She could expect a present, but not a miracle.

“So……” Zig came from behind her to pull her into a bear hug, “should we open gifts first...or what did you have in mind?” he kissed her on the cheek. “PRESENTS! You know me, I can’t wait for surprises!” He chuckled as she clapped her hands in excitement. “Ha, okay. Let me get mine for you first.” Zig went to his room, and came back with a small thin box, and a look of genuine nervousness. He was biting his lip and running his hands through his wavy hair. Only Zig could make fear look so sexy.

“Uhhh...what is it?” Cheri looked at the small box wrapped up with a bow.

“You’ll...see…” Zig stammered. “Merry Christmas.” Cheri peeled off the bow, and opened the wrapper. Inside was a sleek velvet box. “Oh my God, Zig is this...how could you afford..” Zig looked on nervously as she revealed…”A pen?” Cheri quizzically inquired. Inside, a sleek black pen was nestled in its soft chamber. “Uhh..thank you, that is..really thoughtful.” Cheri was glad Zig was so supportive of her writing, but she had just hoped that maybe he would have been more romantic with his choice of gift.

A split second later, Zig burst out laughing. “HAHAHAHAHA” he stopped for a breathe, “No baby, the pen isn’t the actual gift, but this is why I love you..you are so grateful. I don’t know any other woman who would be as appreciative as you and make me feel so good.” At that point, Cheri was just confused, and indicated as such with an exasperated arm gesture to continue. Zig cleared his throat and tapped his foot anxiously, “Uhh...but the pen is part of the gift for you.” He deftly pulled a packet of paper from his jacket and laid it on the table. He turned around and covered his eyes. It was as if he was afraid of rejection, like it would kill him. Mystified, she pulled the packet towards her.

Oh my God.

It was really happening.

On the top of the front sheet it said, “Rental Agreement”. How could he know?

“Zig…” she breathed, trembling.

“Look” he rushed, his words began tumbling out, “It’s stupid, I know. We never even seriously discussed this so I don’t know why I even tried. I should have known better, sorry..” he tried to push away and hide from her. He was so embarrassed to spring this on her. “She is so uncomfortable right now” Zig thought to himself in a panic, ashamed.

“Zig!” her voice cut through his fear. In a split second, Cheri toppled over the kitchen chair, rushed toward him and jumped into his arms for a passionate kiss that took his breath away. It immediately quited his fears. The whole room around him just disappeared...and what was left was a sea of warmth and hearts beating. When they pulled away, he noticed her cheek was tear stained, his thumb slowly wiping a drop away. “I thought you weren’t even thinking about this...you never brought it up..” Cheri stammered. “How couldn’t I?” His words were so full of love. “I want to be with you. I can’t get enough of you. We find any excuse to sleepover at each others’ places. I am happiest and most at home with you. Besides, wouldn’t it be nice to be away from all of that friend drama?” He smirked and she had to nod her head in agreement with a chuckle.

But Cheri had to choke back another sob of happiness. “I wanted this”, she squeaked out, “I just couldn’t say it. I was afraid you would somehow get tired of me.” “You? Never.” He was overwhelmed with how amazing her was every day. “But seriously, how about it? You want to sign this?” He whispered in her ear softly.

“Absolutely.” She signed each page with a flourish. Taking a step back, she was beaming, but her face contorted to a look of puzzlement. “I don’t think you are going to like my present as much now. It isn’t very exciting compared to this.” “Oh, I don’t know about that..let me be the judge.” Zig placed kisses all on her cheek, and down her neck before slapping her ass softly. She whimpered softly. Her eyes and voiced turned seductive. “Well then Mr, Ortega, you sure we are going to be alone tonight?” “Trust me, I helped all of them pack up just so I could be prepared for some alone time with my princess.” Hands were starting to run over bodies, with electricity coursing through fingers, igniting a dormant energy. Cheri needed this to slow down to keep the sexual tension fed. “I need you to go wait for me in your room, and I’ll be there in a second.” Cheri directed him. “Yes ma’am. I like this present already.” Zig swaggered to his door, and Cheri grabbed her bag with her into the tiny bathroom.

She threw her clothes off in a hurry, lotioned up, sprayed a bit of perfume. She tousled her hair and added some last minute lipstick before unzipping her bag. There it was...a roll of thick, satin ribbon with two enormous bows that were almost head sized. “This is it.” She muttered to herself, psyching up like it was the big game. Almost ten minutes later, she did a final wrap around or ribbon over her breasts, tied it and puffed up the large bow. There she was, seductively wrapped up like a present, with certain areas covered but her body with its tautness and curved could not be denied. “Merry Christmas, baby,” she smiled before putting on tall black heels, leaving the bathroom to enter the bedroom.

She opened Zig’s door to see a dimly lit room, with Zig shirtless and lighting the last of a few candles he put out. The shadows cast a ripple across his toned muscles, flexing and stretching across him, creating fantasies about what a man like that could do to a woman. Cheri could already feel wetness between her legs rubbing against the fabric of the wrapping. Now was the time to distract him with the gift of a lifetime. Her voice became husky and she got his attention: “I hope Christmas isn’t the only thing coming early this year.” Zig’s head jerked around, his eyes as large as dinner plates. In front of him was a curvaceous goddess, perfectly molded, encased in a bondage like cage of red and green merriment. Cheri saw him hardening before her. She walked towards him slowly, and slowly ran her hands up his length through his fabric. His breath hitched, and he questioned out loud, “Is this because I was a very good boy this year?” Cheri licked her lips. “Maybe you should open your present and find out.”

Zig placed feather light kisses along her jaw bone, trailing down her neck. He began to pull the giant bow off her chest and threw it near the waste basket. His licks traced her collarbone while his right hand slowly began to unwrap her. Layers of ribbon floated to the ground. “You are the most amazing gift a man could recieve” he whispered, “how did I get so God damn lucky?” Zig’s breath hung over her breasts with anticipation. He caressed them, as his kisses and tongue wildly journeyed to Cheri’s abdomen. She moaned, “using your tongue like that certainly helped”. Zig chuckled softly back, making his towards the giant bow directly over her core. “I don’t know if I can wait any longer” he continued, “I’m too excited!” Cheri was not sure she could wait much longer either. Her body needed him like a hit of heroin. He ripped off that bow and grabbed a handful of ribbon, but some held on tightly, keeping her legs shut.

In a flash of lightning, he picked her up and threw her on the bed, and in one swift motion opened up her legs. Cheri gasped. There was a fire in his eyes. Here was a man taking what was his. He looked down, to see her glistening heat, throbbing with want. “You ready, baby?” he asked her with eyes of love. She nodded enthusiastically, and scooted farther up the bed. With one swoop, Zig ripped and threw off his belt. He slowly climbed on top of her, drinking her body in, memorizing every curve and freckle. Zig’s hips laid against hers as he slowly entered, feeling the warmth envelop him. What began soft and sensually, soon gained speed. “Yes, yes, fuck me harder!” Cheri screamed out, her nails scratch his back, pulling him closer to her, skin against skin. Sweat gliding across their bodies. Boom boom boom! The headboard hitting against the wall violently to the cadence of lovemaking. In what felt like forever, despite only being a few seconds, Cheri’s body trembled, and clenched in delicious agony. A blissful smile grew on her face. Zig followed her, yelling, “fuck,” tightening, and dropped to the side of her with a laugh.

A few moments later, after they caught their breath, the lovers sleepily chatted. “Zig?”

“Yeah?”

“When did you find time to even check out apartments for us?”

“You know all those study group meetings I had?”

“Yes…”

“Well, that wasn’t true. I didn’t have a group to meet with. I was visiting landlords.”

“Sneaky!” she poked him in the side, and he giggled at being ticklish. Then she got serious.

“How did you know I would like the place?”

Zig shrugged. “I just hoped, and I knew that as long as we were together, we could make any place look like a palace.” He smiled and then yawned.

She smiled warmly too, her eyes drooping to the faint glow of Christmas lights in the hallway.

The End

@ziggypop

[keepitcartesian]

Dazzling Colours Of Autumn- How To Prepare Your Home For A Fantastic Fall

So, the time has come. It's time to ditch the SPF in return for soft cashmere jumpers and evenings spent enjoying a thick homemade hot chocolate, layered with whipped cream. 

Yes, fall is here!

It may take some time to adjust both emotionally and physically to this unfortunate and drastic change. But it is okay… we are all in this together.

To help you prepare, below are some of our top tips to getting the home ready for the new season. Helping you to be ready for when the winds start rolling in, and cloud cover is as bright as the day gets.

From the addition of texture to your home, whether this being velvet seating to the importance of Autumnal scents, read our simple tips on having a memorable and delightful Autumn and how to best to decorate your home. 

Get The Colour Scheme

One of the most prominent aspects of autumn is the gorgeous selection of colours that scatter themselves along pavements and streets. Not just suited to the colour of leaves, Autumnal colours can nicely glide their way through any home with some thought and creativity.

We all know the beautiful colours, from the various shades of red and yellow, to the warming orange and browns. Igniting the emotions of warmth and comfort, there is something relaxing about these typically Autumn related colours. 

Allowing these delicate colours to flow gently through your home this autumn season will be sure to add a layer of warmth after a long day in the cold. 

Interior Design Your Way Through The Cold

It may be getting chillier by the minute outside, but that doesn't mean your home has to replicate this. There are many ways in which you can create the perfect fall setting from bedroom dressers to your bathroom vanity. From the simplest accessories, to the more heavy duty decor, allowing you to truly capture the season and all of its beauty.

Create a display

For some added Autumn style, and to make a feature out of the change of seasons, start by creating a display. Choosing a spot that can be enjoyed and appreciated, either place your fall display by the front door or in the centre of the dining room. 

Adding a mixture of pumpkins and small gourds, consider adding some white pumpkins for added drama. To the Autumn display, fresh fallen leaves and scented candles are also well received, helping to create the perfect entrance, warming and embracing you after a long day. 

Foliage Display

There is something special about a foliage display in the home. For those wanting to bring the outdoors into their home this Autumn, look no further than a foliage display. 

By using Autumnal plants with a mixture of yellow and orange leaves, why not consider using a pumpkin as a base to store the foliage? Looking superb in the centre of the coffee table or on the mantelpiece, turn your foliage display into a focus piece. Fitting perfectly into all styles of home, an Autumn foliage display is best paired alongside some tall, brass candlestick and some mini squashes. 

Textures Are Your Best Friend

Just as we layer up to brave the colder weather and to keep warm, do the exact same with the home! We may have indoor heating and radiators, however the houses’ aesthetic doesn't need to resemble that of a crisp, clean area with plain white walls and wooden flooring. Throw some textures and layers into the home to make it feel cosy and inviting. 

Pillows and blankets 

It's not hard to make the home feel that little bit more autumnal. Simple to do, simply add a tier of large pillows along the lounger, or drape faux fur blankets to act as throws for the armchair.

Along with looking superb, these additions come in handy when getting cosy, snuggling up to watch a film on a grey Autumn’s evening.

Loungers 

For those with a higher budget, or perhaps you are just crazy about Autumn, then why not consider swapping your seating for something a little cosier? Rather than a leather sofa, opt instead for a thick fabric settee made from either cord or crushed velvet to provide the best area to snuggle into while feeling like you're on a cloud. And why not pair it with a matching velvet footstool, helping to bring the whole collection together and add a touch of elegance to your comfort, for a more enjoyable evening. 

The perfect finishing tip would be to switch out the cotton and linen for the luxurious velvets and knits to make the home nice and toasty. 

Pumpkins Arrangement 

Subtle and fun, embrace the fun of fall and consider the addition of Pumpkin arrangements around your home. Found of small side tables and corners, add miniature pumpkin displays to cheer you up as you go about your home. When creating a pumpkin arrangement, add some live plants into to mix.

Lighting

One of the cosiest things on a dark evening while the rain is pouring and the heating is on full blast, is the addition of some lights around the home. These can be in the form of lamps or ceiling lights in an inviting reading corner, to candles dotted around the bathroom. 

When using lighting to brighten up our home during the darker months, we recommend creating a lighting display. By placing fairy lights into glass jars and dotting them around the house, you can create an enchanting and relaxing zone to spend your evenings. When creating a light display, use old jam jars, terrariums and glass bowls. 

Seasonal produce display

Autumn is a fantastic time of the year. Not just for the changing colour of the leaves, but also in the produce that can be harvested. From squashes, pumpkins, apples to green beans, create a display with fresh seasonal produce in the centre of your dining table or the counters in your kitchen. 

For a finishing touch to your seasonal product display, consider adding a pinecone and cloves of cinnamon.

Autumn Scents

The importance of smell is an important and key feature in your home. One of the first things that you experience when walking in through the front door, be hit by a delightful and tantalizing smell when returning home. From pumpkin spice to cinnamon, to create that Autumn aroma to savor, consider lighting a fire, for that wood burning scent that fits hand in hand with Autumn. 

Lay the table

Make your dining table the centre of your home this Autumn and lay it for a season of delicious dinners and entertaining evenings. Whether you are serving dinner for your family, or entertaining guests, lay your table for an evening of laughter and memory making. 

By setting the table with glasses, placemats, napkins and with a centre display, you can invite and excite guests as they sit down to sample your home-cooked treats . Pairing a pumpkin orange with brass and gold tones, you can add a sophisticated and autumn feel to your dining room. 

With pumpkin napkin holders and the addition of fallen leaves to your table, this is the perfect opportunity to try something new and to have some fun with your decor. 

Arts and Crafts

Along with being a superb way to spend an afternoon, for some Autumn magic and to create a fun and homely area for the family to enjoy, consider framing and displaying your children's Autumn work. 

From fallen leaves used to create a fall collage to leaf printing, create memories and decorate your home with homemade art. 

Summary

Saluting the summer goodbye, does not have to be sad. Although we will all miss the summer, with a few simple techniques, you can create a warm and inviting atmosphere to hibernate in. 

By preparing for the upcoming autumnal months, and by improving the style of your home decor, you can add some excitement and charm to your home. 

By getting creative and staying active, you can create an exciting and enjoyable Autumn for not just yourself, but family and guests. 

Like our ideas, share with us how you plan to update the decor of your home this Autumn.

The article Dazzling Colours Of Autumn- How To Prepare Your Home For A Fantastic Fall Find more on: keepitcartesian

[ardentesvoix]

Read This Article To Learn About Fashion, the best gift boxes UK, the best subscription boxes and monthly subscription boxes that give back

Is your wardrobe looking a little old? If it is, you probably aren't alone. Many people have outdated wardrobes, either because they can't afford new clothing, or because they aren't good at making fashion choices. No matter the reason, you can update your wardrobe thanks to the following fashion tips.

You should always own a white blouse in your basic wardrobe. You can wear practically any color bottom to match. Pair it with slacks for a casual look for work. Wear a full skirt for times when you are going out for a nice dinner. Wear jeans with it for an active look.

A belt can entirely change your look. Belts come in every shape, size and color, creating an endless string of possibilities. From different widths to colors and patterns, belts can help you attain the look you want.

If you like a shirt or skirt think about getting it in more than one color. Because clothes come in so many varying cuts and styles, you're likely find it difficult to find clothes that fit well for your body type. When you do just get more than one so that you can feel great more often. You’ll find some great products in some mens subscription boxes uk offered buy this wonderful company that offer the best of British gifts. 

Don't be afraid to wear the look you love. It can often feel a bit scary to sport a look that is a bit out of the norm. However, if you really want to wear it, just do it! It makes good sense to allow your true inner fashion diva to come out, even if she's on the quirky side.

For a simple way to look more stylish, swap out your cheap rubber flip-flops for a pair of strappy sandals in leather, patent, or another eye-catching, grown-up material. Your feet will still be comfortable, but you will instantly look more put-together and polished. Look for embellished styles with beads, embroidery or funky hardware. Crocheted clothing is back in style once again. The most popular pieces this season happen to be crocheted vests. These comfy vests come in a multitude of colors, patterns, and thicknesses to add a cozy and homemade look to any outfit. Try wearing them over your plain shirts or dresses.

Neutrals are big every season. This season, the creamier neutrals are especially popular. Try looking for pieces in hues like cream, caramel, chocolate, etc. These colors work well on their own, and they also work as accents to bold or subdued outfits. Whichever way you decide to flaunt them, you can find some neutrals that go with your outfits.

Look at people at malls, school, work, or anywhere to see what people are dressing like, do you think they are buying the best subscription boxes uk . This will be a good way for you to figure out if you really need to improve your fashion sense, or if you are perfectly fine and you look good the way you dress already.

Avoid teasing hair to volumize it; that just leads to damage and brittle hair. Avoid styling hair in a way that creates two distinctly different textures. Rather than appearing interesting and different, your hair style will make you look indecisive and your hair overworked.

When finding the right coat, it is important that you find one with the right fit. A good coat will flatten the shape of your upper body. It should be just loose enough so that you can reach insider to get something out of your breast pocket. Any looser and your look will not be chic.

A good fashion tip as well as saving loads of money buy buying british subscription boxes, but that applies to everyone is not to get lazy and wear your athletic shoes when you're not actually doing any athletic activities. Athletic shoes are obviously great for the gym, but you should hang them up afterwards and put on a pair of more casual shoes.

To stretch your wardrobe's versatility, fill your wardrobe with a variety of scarves and belts in different patterns and styles. You can use these to add a splash of interest to a solid colored top. You can use these in countless combinations to create a different look each time without needing to buy a different outfit.  All find able in these monthly gift subscription for women from amazing British companies too. 

Patterns are quite fashionable: mix and match them freely. Floral can be a lot of fun. If you do wear something with a pattern, continue the trend through to your accessories.

When you buy something new, give something away. This is a great way to help someone else, in addition to keeping yourself from having an overflowing closet. It can save you money, too. If you think that you are going to have to give something away every time you buy, you might think more about what you're buying!

Pay close attention to the fabrics of clothing when you shop. Check the tag to find the specific material of an item. Even if it fits when you try it on, it might shrink after you wash it a few times. Do not spend your hard earned money on clothes that will shrink, lose shape or fray easily after purchase.

Staying warm and fashionable in the wintertime is difficult, but possible. You just need to find a fine balance between the two. For instance, you could wear long, sleekly-fitted coats with a pair of high-heeled boots. If you decide to go with the look, be sure the fabric touches your calf.

An ancient wardrobe isn't exactly something to be proud of, but you don't have to be ashamed either. You can easily change the state of your wardrobe and update it with new clothing when you put the fashion tips from this article to use. They'll have you looking like royalty.

For more information on subscription boxes worldwide have a look here

[lumiolivier]

Chapter Twenty-Five:  Hello Kitty

Word Count: 6139

Chapter No. 25/?

Notes:  This chapter gets a little (and I do mean, a little) on the racy side.  That’s all I’m going to say.  Nothing too graphic.  But for those of you familiar with Mystic Messenger, it feels like a very Jumin Han thing to do.  Also, something I’d do...:3

Chapter Twenty-Four:  Journals from Central

I really wish the diner on the outskirts of Lenexa wasn’t horrifying.  That way, I could still avoid the café like the plague.  Unfortunately, here we are.  I looked in the window and made sure King Douchebag himself wasn’t in there.  Lucky for me, the café was emptier than last year’s bird nest.  I was a bit grumbly and I could use the caffeine boost that the Red Bull had failed to deliver me, so I made my first steps into the café as a civilian and waited for my boyfriend behind the counter to acknowledge me.

 I was so proud of him, making use of the downtime.  Julian was cleaning out one of the espresso machines while I stood there waiting patiently. I trained him well.  Although, everything seemed to be the same.  Even when I’m not here, this place is always in a rut.  But a small part of me kind of missed it here.  Sure, Griffin was an insufferable asshole, but I liked the people that came in here.  It sucked not seeing some of them anymore.

 Alright.  This was getting ridiculous.  Something tells me Julian wasn’t paying attention to the door and was off in his own little world right now.  I understood, though.  I’d daydream cleaning the espresso machines, too.  However, I had a fic to work on and I didn’t have all day to twiddle my thumbs in here.

 “Notice me, senpai…” I whispered.

 “Oh, senpai has noticed already, baby,” I could hear a smile on his face.  Julian came back to the counter, “What are you doing in here?  I thought this place was dead to you.”

 “It is,” I confirmed, “But there’s this really cute guy that works here.  I can’t seem to quit him.”

 “It’s me, isn’t it?”

 “Who else would it be?” I rolled my eyes.

 “You ok?” Julian glanced me over, “You don’t look so good.”

 “I’m fine,” I brushed him off, “I thought about what you said this morning.”

 “The parallel fic?” he figured.

 “Yeah,” I nodded, “I finished the Mustang chapter and I did the Hawkeye chapter.”

 “That’s my girl!” he praised, “How’d they turn out?”

 “The Mustang chapter was easier to write,” I sighed out, “The Hawkeye chapter made me need to take a walk or I’d start crying.”

 “Shit…” Julian understood, “That bad?”

 “It’s a heavy chapter,” I warned him, “Are you sure you need it in your life that bad?”

 “Positive,” he swore, “I have thick skin.  I can handle it.”

 “Are you sure?” I winced, “Because the Hawkeye chapter takes place right after Hughes’ funeral.”

 “Mimi!” Julian whined, “Why’d you have to go and do that?  It’s like when I read the L reader fic all over again!”

 “You actually read through it?” I cocked my head.

 “Yeah!” he squeaked, “And it crushed me!  When you went out with Veronica and I was sitting in the diner, my waitress asked me if I was ok and if I needed a hug.  I wasn’t and I did!  But I didn’t tell her that.”

 “I’m sorry, baby,” I bit my lip, “I don’t mean to rip your heart out.  It just happens.”

 “Mimi?” Kyle chirped from the back, “There you are!”

 “Hi, Kyle,” I greeted him.

 “Where have you been?” he drawled while Julian made my green tea for me, “I missed you!  The other day, I thought I was actually on time.”

 “I quit,” I told him, “Haven’t worked here since Tuesday.”

 “I thought today was Tuesday…” Yep.  Nothing’s changed.

 “No,” I corrected, “You’re off a couple days, Kyle.  Today’s Thursday.”

 “Damn,” Kyle sighed, heading back into the kitchen, “But it’s good to have you back!”

 “I’m not coming back,” I shot him down, “Only for tea and maybe a turnover.”

 “Here,” Julian gave me a green tea and a cherry turnover, “Don’t worry about it.”

 “Thank you,” I awed, “I need to get back to work.”

 “Me, too,” he did a quick glance around the café, sneaking a kiss from behind the counter, “I’ll see you when I get home.”

 “Sure will,” I assured, grabbing my bag and my cup, “I love you.”

 “I love you, too, Lieutenant.”

 And I went on my merry little way with my heart all full.  It felt so weird being on the other side of that.  Like tying someone’s tie for them.  I started walking around the park to clear my head.  Why not?  It’s the quickest and best way of straightening things out upstairs.  I could shit on Lenexa all I wanted to.  It did have its redeeming qualities. Especially this park.

 The city board was hard at work lighting this place up for Halloween.  The Mystic Forest was cool as hell.  The whole place looked dark and ominous and scary.  But in a fucked up twisted sense, it was so beautiful.  It’s how I pictured a rave in the woods outside of Phantomhive Manor to look if the young lord was into that sort of thing.

 As beautiful as it may be, it wasn’t much to look at during the day.  I started heading back toward Julian’s and got to work on the Free! fic. Which was just me staring at a blank computer screen for half an hour.  I had nothing.  Absolutely nothing.  Haru wants to do a body swap with the mermaid, so he can have fins for legs.  I got that.  But how were they going to do it?  Rin was way too protective of her.  Maybe I should scrap it.  With the trouble it’s giving me, I was highly tempted.

 Maybe it’s just one of those projects that go in the ‘not today’ file.  I didn’t want to fully scrap it.  I loved the adorable concept!  And I wanted to get Rin’s sister involved and her telling him not to be creepy and her freaking out because…well…there is a mermaid in his bathtub. And maybe some of the other swim club members.  Even though the internet tries to get me to ship Haru and Makoto, I couldn’t.  Don’t get me wrong.  Makoto’s a cutie and I could just eat him up.  But Rin and Haru?  They’re too much of OTP material.  They’re rivals.  They make each other better swimmers.  They’re the cutest thing and I wanted them to be together forever.

 All of a sudden, I had a lightbulb moment.  Just because I was having a little case of writer’s block didn’t mean I had to give up a creative outlet altogether.  Julian still had some boxes packed.  Maybe I could be the sweet girlfriend I am and finish for him.  He was nice enough to let me crash here last night while I was in the state I was in yesterday.  It was the least I could do.  I wasn’t going through his stuff.  I’m unpacking.  There’s a difference.  And now, I’m starting to sound like Veronica.

 Granted, I had no clue where he wanted anything, but if he didn’t like where I put it, he can change it himself.  For whatever reason, I started in the basement.  I’ve never been down here.  God only knows what happened in his basement.  This could’ve been a sex torture dungeon and I’d be none the wiser. Julian didn’t strike me as the type to be into that sort of thing.  His kink threshold was probably cosplaying.  Aside from that, he’s probably not into pain or anything like that.

 I turned the light on and started down the stairs.  Sweet mother of God…I wasn’t expecting this down here.  Not quite a sex torture dungeon, but just as much of a turn on. Julian’s basement looked like a fully functioning workshop.  And it was all ridiculously organized.  His workspace put mine to shame.  Then again, I was restricted to making all of mine in my bedroom.  I’ve been wondering where he did all his work.  So many works in progress…I guess he really was getting a jump on con season.  This was chill inducing!

 Julian had so much down here.  All of the armor was metal instead of Worbla and probably fully functional.  All the leather was so well worn and aged.  By the looks of it, some of these were still drying.  I wanted to cry.  This was like looking into the Grand Canyon or over Niagara Falls.  And I wanted to live here.  Julian’s basement looked like my wet dream

 I’d be lying if I said this didn’t inspire me a little.  The bolts and bolts of fabric so meticulously organized made me want to play. Unfortunately, Julian’s sewing machine was occupied by some bright red silk that I wanted to wrap myself in.  I had visions of it hanging over Noiz after a night with Koujaku.  He really was working on a new one, wasn’t he?  I’m sure he knew what he was doing, but God, I hope he’s careful with this silk. I saw the price tag on one of his bolts. Silk didn’t come cheap.

 I could finish it while he’s gone…but then he can’t say he did it.  And robbing him of that would be a dick move.  I didn’t know how he was going to do this.  All I knew was how much I couldn’t wait to be the one to put Koujaku’s tattoos on his body.  I could not wait.  All those big, beautiful blossoms on his nicely defined back…I’m already swooning.

 I wasn’t going to screw with anything down here.  Julian had a system and I’m sure he’d bitch at me.  And I’m not his maid.  He can clean down here himself.  Wait a second…What did you just say in your internal monologue, Mimi?  That I’m not Julian’s maid.  I am feeling rather inspired, but I doubt Julian had a maid costume somewhere around here.  I might as well get a little practice if he and I are moving to southern California after local con season.

 I went back home for a minute and dug through the cosplay side.  I needed a black uniform dress, a little white apron, some fishnets, and my knee high black boots.  Did I want to go black?  Black is the tradition, but I had a light purple uniform dress, too.  I’d be adorable.  And with the purple dress, I’d have to have some sort of pastel hair, too. And my cat ears, too!  How could I be a neko maid without the neko part?

 Gloves…Did I want gloves? I kind of wanted gloves, but they’d get in the way.  I had two hours before Julian came home and I wanted to do something nice for him. Hey!  My light pink wig had pigtails to go with it!  Pigtails, cat ears, and a light purple French maid uniform. Tail, too?  Should I do a tail?  No.  The ears are enough.

 I threw everything in a bag and went back to Julian’s.  Time to have a borderline magical girl transformation.  Only instead of becoming a badass with superpowers that’ll save the world one day and be late to class the next, I’ll just be an adorable cat maid. Because why not?  After everything Julian’s done for me, it’s the least I can do. It’s too bad I don’t have a cosplay for one of Lucy Heartfilia’s celestial spirits.  I’d make a killer Virgo.  

 Alright, Mimi.  Let’s do this.  I dropped my pink dress around my ankles and did a corset first.  I’ve been eating my feelings lately.  The corset was necessary.  Besides, it made my dress fit a little better.  When I pulled the laces on my corset, I tried not moaning, having my Black Butler flashbacks to the infamous corset scene. Julian’s neighbors didn’t need to think I’m weird.  There’s a good chance I knew his neighbors anyway.

 Regardless, I finished getting dressed and forgot how much of a pain in the ass my fishnets were. Or my boots!  I mean, I did wear these Sunday for Misa, but still!  That didn’t make them any less difficult to contend with!  The things I did for you, Julian.  I cosplay my least favorite character I have a cosplay for.  I become a neko maid for your amusement, even though you don’t know about it yet.  The things we do for love, I guess.

 Now that I was completely dressed, I needed to get everything from the neck up cute, too.  I hadn’t put makeup on in a few days.  My skin won’t know how to act.  Watch.  I’ll end up all broke out because of this.  I shouldn’t.  This was the same stuff I used every other day.  Just because it hasn’t seen my skin in a while doesn’t mean it’s going to act up. I can only hope.  

 I could tell I was out of practice with putting fake lashes on.  That’s for sure.  I could put them on other people, but I had a hard time putting them on myself.  I drew a thickening black line on the top of my eyelid to cover the black band on my lashes, winging it out just enough to make me look like a cat, and took my white pencil, tracing the inner corners of my eyes.

 I debated for a moment or two on what lip color to use.  I was torn. A part of me wanted to go with a purple to match my dress, but I could’ve gone with a soft pink to go with my hair.  That would match my natural lip tone a little more.  Or I could’ve done neither and went with a super dark purple.  I’m a bit hesitant about using dark lip colors.  I had mixed emotions about it on other people, let alone me.  Nate and I hadn’t experimented with that yet.  Soft pink.  I’ll do a soft pink.  But a matte soft pink.  I ran the brush over my lips and looked myself over one last time.

 I looked like the most precious, pastel neko maid I’ve ever seen in my life.  Something about the way I looked screamed a need for glitter.  I brought a white, glittery, tulle skirt with me for such an occasion.  I shimmied it up my legs, puffing out the bottom of my dress a little, and did a spin in front of the mirror.  Mother of God, I’m adorable!  Kawaii! I didn’t need any more glitter. The rest came from the sparkle in my eyes.  I couldn’t get over myself!  I needed pictures.  Just a couple.

 I’m not exactly the master of mirror pictures and personally, I thought they were dumb, but I managed to get some of me not holding my phone.  It’s not like I had someone else here to take them, though. I’m sure once Julian comes home, he’d be more than happy to do some shots for me.  He had a spot in the basement for it.  I threw my wig on, clipped in my pigtails, and waited for him to come home to his newfound stray kitty.

 As soon as I saw his headlights come up the driveway, I sat on his kitchen counter, dangling my feet over the edge.  I knew he was about to shit a brick over me.  How could he not?  Hang on…I heard two car doors shut.  Why did I hear two car doors shut?  Julian went to work.  Julian comes home.  Why the fuck did I hear two car doors?  Maybe I’m overreacting.  Wouldn’t be the first time.  Maybe he’s getting something out of the back seat.  Everything was fine.  I sprinted into the bedroom and noticed a text from Julian.

 Hey, baby.  Paul’s coming home with me.  We’re talking Team Mustang shoot.

 Shit!  Not overreacting!  Paul?  Why did it have to be Paul?  It could’ve been worse.  At least it’s someone relatively in the community.  Besides, I could actually have a professional doing my shots now. I thought about having Paul doing them earlier today.  If I had his number, I would’ve called him.  Blessing in disguise, I guess.  I jumped back up on the kitchen counter and waited for them to come in.

 “Mimi!” Julian yelled from the door, “I’m home!  Tell me you didn’t trash the place.”

 “Welcome home, Master,” I put on a little smirk.

 “Oh, hello,” his face lit up.  Got him, “Paul, cover your eyes.”

 “Why?” Paul walked in, getting an eyeful of me, “Oh, that’s why.  Hot damn!”

 “Have I mentioned today how much I love you?” Julian picked me up off the counter, holding me in his arms.

 “I think so,” I nuzzled my face in his neck.

 “Why don’t you make me a drink?” he requested, “And while you’re at it, make one for you, too.”

 “My pleasure, Master,” I kissed his cheek.

 “That’s my good, little kitty,” Julian smiled, petting my head, “Dammit, Paul!  I said look away!”

 “I can’t help myself,” he continued to look me up and down, “You’re cute, Mimi.”

 “Thank you!” I chirped, “I wanted to be cute for when my master came home!”

 “Keep talking like that,” Julian grabbed me around my waist, “And you and I are going to have some problems.”

 “What’s wrong, Master?” I put on the sparkly eyes, “Did I do something you didn’t want me to?”

 “Oh, no, no, no, neko-chan,” he put his hand to my cheek, “You did something very right.  That’s the problem.”

 “I don’t understand…” I spoke softly.

 Julian pulled me against his chest a little more aggressively than usual.  Looks like I might have flipped a switch in him.  He whispered in my ear, sending chills down my spine, “I’m doing everything in my power to not take you into my bedroom right now.  If it were just you and me home, I wouldn’t be holding back.  Unfortunately, we have company.  Why else would I be wanting a drink?”

 “Jack and Coke?” I assumed.

 “That’s right.”

 I hopped down from the counter and reached into the liquor cabinet.  It’s not my fault that I’m small.  That’s just bad genetics.  Why did Julian have to have such high cabinets?  Even though my boots gave me an extra couple inches, I’d still have to get a chair.  I managed to get the bottle of Jack Daniels down from the shelf and threw some ice in a glass, “Paul?  While I’m pouring?”

 “Can’t,” he shot me down, “I have to drive back tonight and I’m sure I can’t crash here with you like that.”

 “What do you mean?” Like I didn’t know.

 “I’m assuming you and Julian are going to want some private time,” Paul figured, giving Julian an overexaggerated wink.

 “I have to go home tonight, too,” I broke the news, “I’m sure my parents want me back.”

 “Does that mean we don’t get to cuddle tonight?” Julian pouted.

 “I’m sorry, Master,” I sat in his lap, giving him his drink.

 “That’s alright, baby,” he went back to petting me, “There’s always tomorrow.  Besides, you’ll be back at the ass crack of dawn, right?”

 “If you want me to be,” I promised, “I’d be more than happy to.”

 “That’s my girl,” Julian kissed my forehead, “I have a proposition for you.”

 “What?” Paul wondered.

 “Not you,” he clarified, poking my nose, “For you.”

 “Oh?” I laid my head on Julian’s thigh, “And what does my master have for me?”

 “Would you ever want to be featured on my site solo?” he offered.

 “Solo?” I thought it over, “I don’t know…”

 “They obviously love you, Mimi,” he pointed out, “We can always do a test shot.”

 “Of what?”

 “Well,” Julian smirked a bit, “You do look awfully adorable in my lap right now.”

 “You can say whatever you want about me,” I allowed, “It’s not you I’m worried about.  It’s the trolls on the internet.”

 “Paul,” he ignored my remark, “This is about to sound really stupid, but do you have one of your cameras with you?”

 “I don’t,” Paul cringed, “I know.  I feel naked. But all my cameras are at home, dude. You don’t have one?”

 “Yeah,” Julian groaned, “But I don’t really like using it.  It’s kind of a piece of shit now.”

 “What kind of camera?” Paul asked.

 “Digital?”

 “No shit, Sherlock,” Paul rolled his eyes, “What brand?”

 “It’s a Nikon, I think,” Julian slipped his finger under my wig cap and pulled on my real hair, scratching my head.  As weird as it’s going to sound, I could get used to this.  Being his neko-chan.  He really was treating me like his pet.  And in a twisted way, I was loving it.

 “And you dare call it a piece of shit?” Paul scolded, “How dare you, sir?”

 “It’s in the office,” he directed him, “I think it’s in the desk drawer.”

 “Got it!” Paul jumped up from the couch and I buried my face in Julian’s belly.

 “You know, Mimi,” Julian looked down at me, “I wasn’t expecting to find you like this when I came home.  I thought you were working on fic all day.”

 “I did for the most part,” I admitted, “Then writer’s block happened and I took a walk around town. I thought I’d come back here and finish unpacking, but…”

 “But what?” he sounded nervous, “What did you do?”

“I went into the basement,” I told, “I saw the inner sanctum.”

 “You saw the workshop,” he chuckled to himself, “What’d you think of my setup?”

 “I have the biggest nerdy lady boner,” I blushed, “Your setup is incredible.  Much better than what I got.”

 “I’m sure if you had your own house,” Julian promised, “You’d have a much better setup than mine.”

 “I’d have it all like a murphy bed,” I explained, “Everything would fold into the walls, so when people came over, they wouldn’t think I’m that weird otaku girl that spends her day reading manga and watching anime nonstop and has no job or social life.”

 “No, you wouldn’t,” he stopped me, “Your figurines would be on the fireplace.  Your guest bedroom would be a cosplay closet.  You’d have your wall scrolls in the living room. Don’t give me that.”

 “Depends on where I’m living, I guess,” I let out a heavy, depressed sigh, “I don’t know, Julian.”

 “Excuse me?” he chided lightly, “What happened to calling me Master, my sweet, little kitty.”

 “Forgive me,” I gave him what he wanted.  A smile back on my face.

 “Found it!” Paul came back into the living room with Julian’s camera in is hand, “Mimi?  You ready?”

 “Can I, Master?” I asked for permission.

 “Of course, you can,” Julian kissed my cheek, “In fact, I have an idea for one.”

 “Oh?” I wondered, “What is it?”

 “It’d involve me putting on a three-piece suit, though,” he cringed, “Gross.  I got into cosplay to keep myself out of shit like that.  And it’d only be for background purposes. I’d have Paul do it, but the rest of it I’d rather be doing myself.”

 “Would it be Master coming home from work?” I assumed, “Running his Fortune 500 empire?”

 “Someone catches on quick,” Julian praised, “I’d say she’s earned a treat.”

 “Is it yarn?” I beamed, “I really hope it’s yarn!”

 “I’m sorry to disappoint you,” he ran his fingers down my spine, “It’s not yarn.”

 “Aww…” I pouted.  All of a sudden, my phone started going off, completely breaking me out of the sweet, innocent character, “Oh, goddammit! Who the fuck is calling me?  I’m fucking busy!”

 “Hang on,” Julian laughed his ass off for a minute, tossing me my phone, “It’s your mom.”

 “Oh,” I slid my finger across my phone screen, “Hi, Mom.  What’s up?”

 “I thought you said you were coming straight home after work,” Mom whined, “Where are you?”

 “I’m in Kansas City with Veronica,” I lied, “She needed some last-minute things for her homecoming outfit.”

 “Ok,” she chirped, doing a complete one-eighty, “When will you be home?”

 “I don’t know,” I looked at the clock.  Six-thirty, “Nine?”

 “It’ll take you that long?” I loved my mother.  I really did. But she knew how to drone on when we’re on the phone, “Don’t you have anything she can borrow?”

 “Probably not,” I cut her off, “I’ll be home in a few hours.”

 “Fine,” she let me go, “See you soon, honey!  I love you!”

 “Love you, too,” I hung up and threw my phone on the table, getting back into character, “Now, where were we, Master?”

 “I’m going to go get changed,” Julian got up, “Then we can do this shoot.  That way, I’m still on my site and you’re not alone.”

 “Ok!” I smiled, “I love it! You’re so smart, Master.”

 “I try,” he disappeared into his bedroom, “Paul, I swear to God, if you touch her, I’m going to start severing fingers.”

 “He would, too,” I confirmed, “The katanas aren’t for show.  They’re real.  They’re sharp.  They’ll kill a man.”

 “I wasn’t going to!” Paul defended, “I know to keep my hands to myself!”

 “Not helping your cause!” Julian yelled.

 “Not that kind of keeping my hands to myself!”

 “Don’t worry about it, Paul,” I settled him, “I’m sure he knows better, too.  Besides, if you try anything, neko-chan has claws, too.”

 “Julian!” Paul called out.

 “Yes, dear?” Julian answered.

 “Marry her!” he demanded, “Hold onto this girl!”

 “I’m pretty sure we’ve had this conversation,” Julian came out in full Sebastian.  How appropriate given Sebastian has a cat problem.  The demon may loathe dogs more than anything, but cats?  Cats are the very image of perfection, “I plan on holding onto this girl for a while. Marriage isn’t exactly in the cards for either one of us right now, but I’ll keep her.”

 “Who else would do adorable cosplays with you?” I teased.

 “Kitty’s got a mouth on her,” Julian pulled me into his lap, “Maybe we’ll have to do something about that.”

 “I thought you liked my mouth, Master,” I kept my sharp tongue up.

 “This could turn into some not safe for work real quick, Mimi,” he pulled on the bottom of the tulle, “Would Master have to get his kitty a shock collar?  Or perhaps he’d rather go over my knee instead?

 “No, Master,” I dropped my gaze, “I’ll be your good, little kitty.  I promise.”

 “Good girl,” he praised, “I do owe you a reward, don’t I?”

 “Yes, Master!” I perked back up, “What is it?”

 “Here,” Julian undid his blue silk tie and dangled it over my face, “it may not be yarn, but it’s the next best thing.  And Paul, if you’re not getting any of this, I’m kicking the shit out of you personally.”

 “I am,” he assured, snapping away while I absentmindedly swatted at Julian’s tie.  Being a cat for a while wasn’t half bad.  I was cuddled, petted, loved.  I always thought the whole neko fetish was creepy and almost in the realm of bestiality.  Technically, I was a humanized cat, so I guess that takes care of the bestiality loophole.

 Julian and Paul had me all over the house.  Scratching at the curtains.  Playing in the empty boxes Julian had from moving.  Sitting on the counter.  Serving drinks.  Just some standard neko poses.  But my favorite?  That came at the end of the shoot.  I was already tuckered out, so I laid my head back in Julian’s lap, ready to fall asleep. All while he kept petting me and holding me, making sure I felt loved.  But what else was new?  That’s just the way we were.  

 “Mimi?” he nudged me, “Are you really sleeping on me, baby?”

 “I’m tired,” I let out a big yawn and Paul caught it on camera, “Leave me alone.”

 “Ok,” he sat me up, “Tell you what.  I’m sure you don’t want to go stumbling into your house and have your parents see you like this.  Go get changed and I’ll take you home.”

 “Ok,” I sighed out, ready to fall asleep right then and there with my head on his chest.  Wishing I could, “But I thought we were talking shop for Sunday.”

 “Don’t worry about it,” Julian helped me onto my feet, “Some other time.  In all honesty, our talking shop is Paul and me playing Final Fantasy.”

 “Fine,” I let it go, “You two can be nerds.  Think about me while you’re storming the castle and I’m tucked in bed.”

 “It’d be my pleasure,” he grinned, “Hurry up.  We want to get started.”

 “Ok,” I went into Julian’s room and put my regular clothes on again, putting the neko maid away for the day.  Then, a sudden realization hit me, “Julian?”

 “Yeah, baby?’

 “You can’t take me back,” I remembered, “Mom thinks I’m with Veronica.”

 “Why did you tell her you were with Veronica?” he wondered.

 “Who’s Veronica?” Paul asked.

 “My best friend,” I explained, wiping my makeup off in the bathroom, “Remember?  Not telling anyone until May?  If I spend all my time with you, she’ll know something’s up.”

 “I feel like your mistress,” Julian joked.

 “You’re not my mistress,” I giggled, “You’re my boyfriend.  My main.  No mistress.”

 “Does this mean I can’t tuck you in?” he pouted.

 “I’m sorry,” I stood on my toes, stealing a kiss, “I’ll be over tomorrow morning.  Promise.”

 “Good,” Julian held me tight against his chest, “I’ll miss you.”

 “I’ll miss you, too,” I assured, “But I’ll have Sebastian to keep me warm.”

 “And I’ll have Miku,” he gave me one last kiss, “I love you.”

 “I love you, too,” I curled into him.

 “And I’d love to get around to some Final Fantasy tonight,” Paul sped things along.

 “See you in the morning,” Julian grabbed the door for me.

 Just like that, I left his house and headed home.  I didn’t want to go.  I wanted to pass out on Julian’s couch while he and Paul played Final Fantasy four million and twelve.  But alas, I walked into my house, fully prepared to go upstairs and clock out.  However, I knew better.  There was no way in hell that was happening.

 “Mimi!” Mom squeezed me tight as soon as I walked in the door.

 “Hi, Mom,” I winced, “Ow…”

 “Sorry,” she let me go, “I got a little excited.  We haven’t seen you in days!”

 “I’m not the one that took the random trip to St. Louis,” I grumbled to myself.

 “It had been a while since we went to the boats,” Mom defended, “We thought, why not?  It gave you the house to yourself, didn’t it?”

 “That it did,” I bit the inside of my cheek, trying to hold back a smile.  Binge watching Dramatical Murder with Julian all weekend? Yeah.  I’m not complaining.

 “So,” Mom joined Dad on the couch, “You know what we did.  What did you do?”

 “The usual?” Dad assumed, “Boys?  Parties? Alcohol?”

 “No,” I thought carefully about how to word this where I’m not technically lying, but avoiding certain truths to keep their blood pressure down, “I worked Saturday, hung out in Kansas City on Sunday, had to take care of Veronica on Monday, and Tuesday, I worked. Nothing too exciting.”

 “What brought you to Kansas City then?” Mom asked, “Why couldn’t you have gotten whatever Veronica needed on Sunday?”

 “I wasn’t with Veronica then,” I cleared up, “I was hanging out with Julian.”

 “What’s going on with you two?” Dad jumped down my throat, “It’s like you’re constantly up his ass or he’s up yours.”

 “There’s nothing going on,” I rolled my eyes, “And we’re not always around each other.  I was just with Veronica.”

 “But where were you last night?” Mom pointed out.

 “Julian’s,” I knew what she was trying to get at, “Where I slept on his couch because we’re friends. Not together.  We’re not going to be together.  We were working on a script for a children’s play one of his friends is doing.”

 “That’s so sweet,” she awed, “What’s it called?”

 “Currently untitled,” I thought on my feet, “But we’ve been working hard on it.”

 “What’s it about?” Dad wondered.  Weird. He’s never taken an interest in my writing.

 “It’s about a little boy learning magic,” I felt a warmth in my heart, “And how his teacher is a jerk, but his teacher’s daughter is his best friend.  It’s a very heartwarming story.”

 “Let us know when it’s done,” Mom insisted, “I’m sure that’d be adorable to see.”

 “Sure,” I nodded, “If it’s alright with you, I’m going to bed.  I’m really tired.”

 “Long day at the café?” Dad asked.

 “Yeah,” I cringed internally, “It’s been a long day and Veronica can be really exhausting when she’s indecisive. Good night.”

 “Night, sweetie.”

 I ran upstairs to my bedroom and shut my door.  Shit.  This had become more elaborate than I anticipated. Now, my parents want to see the fake children’s play that Julian and I are writing together.  All I did was describe early Royai!  My love life was none of their business.  I didn’t have to share anything with anyone.  Everything was fine.  Just need to keep the bases covered.

 “Hey,” Julian chimed on the other end of the phone, “Miss me already?  Need me to play Peter Gabriel at your window?”

 “No,” I shook my head at him, “We might be in a bit of a quandary.”

 “What kind of a quandary?” the game music stopped, “Is everything ok?”

 “Hi, Mimi!” Paul chirped in the background.

 “What’s up?” Julian ignored him.

 “In order to get my mom off my back about staying with you,” I confessed, peeling my dress off, “I told her we were working on a project together.  Right now, she and my dad were grilling me about said project.  If she asks you, it’s a children’s play that one of your friends in Kansas City is doing and they asked us to do the script.”

 “Ok,” he rolled with it, “I’m failing to see where we’re in the proverbial pickle here, Mimi.  They know you’re with me.  They know you’re doing a thing.  They know you’ll be in Kansas City a lot.  What’s the problem?”

 “They want to see it,” I worried, “How do you figure we get out of that one, Mr. Answer for Everything?”

 “That is a quandary,” Julian agreed, “We’ll find some little kids.  Paul, you have pull at the theatre in Kansas City, don’t you?”

 “Yes, I do,” Paul confirmed.

 “Awesome,” I let out a sweet sigh of relief.

 “What’s it about?” Julian asked.

 “What I wrote this morning,” I filled him in, “The story of fetal Royai.”

 “Aww…” he drawled, “Seeing that play out with little kids sounds adorable!  But so we don’t have to go through the hassle of putting it on, we could say it got dropped.”

 “I love you, Julian,” I threw myself on my bed, “You’re a godsend some days.”

 “I’m a godsend every day,” he corrected me, “Now, go to sleep, Mimi.  Don’t make me come over there.”

 “You’d be way too willing for me to make you,” I teased.

 “Very true,” he gave it to me, “I love you.”

 “I love you, too,” I curled into Sebastian.

 “See you in the morning.”

 Click.

 I emptied out my bag and put my neko maid back on the hanger.  With a quick spray of Febreze, I hung it back in my closet with everyone else. I didn’t wear it very long, so I didn’t expect it to be too terribly bad.  Not enough to warrant washing it.  Still, not a bad practice to get into.  However, I did have something in my bag I didn’t want to spray.  Because it still felt comforting and smelled like man. In the bottom of my bag was a crumpled up gray t-shirt that I drowned in.  I knew I’d sleep like shit since I’m out of whiskey and I’m sleeping alone, but this would make it a little easier.

 I might not have Julian, but I had the next best thing.  I just hope he doesn’t get pissed at me for stealing his t-shirt.  Doubtful.  I’m sure he’d let me have it and anything I needed to help me sleep that wasn’t booze.  This way, I’d wake up well-rested.  Regardless, I’d still want to go back to sleep as soon as I hit his bed again.  Only eight hours away.  That was all I had to wait.

 Until then, I buried my face in my Sebastian pillow.  He brought me back to Julian.  Thank you, Sebastian.  Maybe you’re not quite a demon, but an angel in disguise.  Kind of like Julian.  Even though the Black Butler angels are dicks.  However, you brought me back to my beloved.  My real beloved.  I hoped to God that Miles won’t be back in town for the weekend.  Not that it’d matter.  I’m going to be in Kansas City with awesome nerds like me.  Not like I needed Miles anymore anyway.

[olivereliott]

Motorworks’ Ducati 900: The SuperSport revival continues

Ducati’s back catalog is littered with hits and misses. Consider the Ducati 900 SuperSport: the early 1990s version is a classic beauty; the early 2000s version, not so much.

Pierre Terblanche‘s 1998 revamp of the 900SS was an acquired taste, and hasn’t dated well. So it’s in no danger of becoming an overpriced collector’s item.

For now, you can still pick one up for under $3,000 in the States, peel back the layers, and enjoy a custom bike with decent performance. Which is probably why so many Ducati 900SS projects have been creeping out of the woodwork lately.

This latest example comes out of Rochester, NY, and it’s the first Ducati build by Sean Pelletier, sole proprietor of The Motorworks.

“I’ve historically built Japanese vintage bikes,” he explains, “but when I started playing with Italian v-twins, I fell in love with the way they make power and the no frills design. This was an exercise in reducing weight and seeing what I could build in-house.”

The donor was a 2001-model 900SS, with an older motor wedged in. And it was in a state. “The previous owner liked wheelies and hated routine maintenance,” explains Sean, “so it needed a thorough going-through.”

Sean often calls in his friend Toby to help with engine work. Toby stripped the 900’s motor, inspected everything, and replaced anything that wasn’t within spec. “I got a lot of info from Bruce Meyers about those motors,” says Sean. “Things not in the shop manuals. So I would consider it a semi-blueprinted engine built to be ridden pretty hard.”

The cylinders were rebored and plated, and fitted with 94mm Pistal Racing pistons—pushing the displacement out to 944 cc. The guys also installed new valves, recut the seats, then installed a Barnett clutch assembly. They built covers for the clutch, belt and sprocket out of carbon, and ditched the air box in favor of a pair of pod filters.

Sean didn’t wedge the hot-rodded motor back into the original frame though. Instead, he picked up a truly exotic upgrade: a Walt Siegl Leggero frame. “His shop is about five miles from where I grew up, and I went to high school with his lead fabricator. I visited, and was really impressed with how light and small the Leggero was.”

All that was needed now was a redesigned subframe to hold the tail section Sean planned to build. “I welded on two side frame mounts and brazed on some weld nuts and that was it,” he says. “Working with Walt’s frame was so much nicer than spending hours grinding pounds of steel tabs and mounts off stock frames.”

Sean hooked the chassis up to a set of Suzuki GSX-R750 forks, using custom triples CNC machined in-house. The forks were resprung and fitted with Race Tech ‘Gold’ valves.

The 900SS’s stock Öhlins shock felt great out the box, so it was left alone. And the donor came with upgraded front brakes, so there was no need to swap those out either. Sean simply switched the master cylinders for Brembo units, to improve braking feel.

All the bodywork is Sean’s handiwork—starting with the carbon fiber fairing and tail section. It’s the first time he’s shaped with carbon fiber, and that meant a steep learning curve. “To make nice, light parts, you need to build them in a flawless mold,” he explains.

Step one was to mock up the shapes with steel wire and a MIG welder (“sort of sketching in 3D”). Sean then took photos and measurements, used 3D software to create the final design, and CNC cut molds from high-density urethane foam. Then he coated the molds in primer, polished them, and shaped up a final set of molds from fiberglass. The carbon was then vacuum infused.

“Aside from the design time,” says Sean, “building patterns this way is much faster than older techniques and hand carving. Ironically though, weeks before going to the 2017 Handbuilt Show, I got an itch that the front fairing wasn’t shaped the way it should be.

“I reworked the patterns with thickened bondo, wood carving tools and sandpaper, because I didn’t want to completely throw away what I already had done. So the bike is still a mix of old and new techniques.”

Sean has way more experience bending metal, so he opted for aluminum for the tank. The metalwork was done with an English wheel that Sean built himself, along with a small electric power hammer and hand tools.

The number of one-off pieces on this Ducati is staggering. Sean machined up a whole stack of aluminum parts, including the gas cap, rear-set hangers, heel guards, muffler caps and fairing mount bracket.

The taillight and license plate arrangement is custom too, and is kitted with lighting from Dime City Cycles. Then there’s that exhaust; hand-made stainless steel headers, flowing into hand-made mufflers, wrapped in carbon fiber with a high heat resin.

There’s a lot of practical thought too. The custom clip-ons can be adjusted up and down just by rotating them. And the foot controls were built with a locating pin, which can be moved to adjust the angle in 12-degree increments.

The handlebar switches are also custom, with the throttle reel integrated into the right side cluster. And there’s an RFID keyless ignition from Motogadget integrated into the top tripe clamp. “If I can find something on the market that I really like, I use it without fail,” says Sean. “But when that doesn’t happen, I wind up spending (probably a bit too much) time making my own.”

The Ducati’s new speedo takes this philosophy to the extreme. Sean had a really specific look in mind—and couldn’t find something off-the-shelf to match it. So he built his own housing, designed the circuitry, and programmed an Arduino microcontroller kit to drive an analog needle and run the LCD display.

Naturally, Sean tackled the upholstery and paint too. “I get to use this cool old Singer 29-4 treadle machine I got from my grandfather,” he says, “He used it to repair saddles and it works like a charm for thick vinyl and leather.”

“I also did the paint—there weren’t any available bike painters in town. My shop is hardly clean enough to do A-plus work, but at a pinch, I can do it—and wet sand and polish out any bugs that land in the clear.”

It looks very good from where we’re standing. And apparently it goes well too—Sean’s been using it as both a show bike and a track day weapon.

“It’s quite a blast on the track,” he reports. “I love how well it handles, the light weight helps keep the speed up through corners and chicanes.

“I’m now planning on building a dedicated track bike based on this design, with a more developed engine and lighter weight. I estimate I can get the track bike down to less than 300lbs.”

Well…we’re waiting.

Images by Michael Hanlon

[pkansa]

Strap Bandits approached us not long ago with an interesting proposition: they would send us all a bunch of cloth straps to try and we agreed to all review them in one big review. The resulting mayhem – straps flying across the country, a document of massive size containing all of our thoughts, and a destructive weekend holed up in a hotel debating the merits of nitrous oxide – has been boiled down into a nearly 1,000 word review of a set of straps that look like something Mr. Bean’s lawyer would wear while defending his client on charges of assault. In other words, we had a lot of fun, we love these straps, and John has finally ceded that cloth straps aren’t truly the stink traps that he originally thought. Read on to find out more.

Patrick: The thorough one

For my part of this group review, I had two different straps come in from the Huddersfield collection.  One was a black-and-white houndstooth pattern (or at least, that’s what I’m calling it), part of the pattern collection, and then the other was from their white line collection, had very much the look and feel of a suiting fabric.  When we get into this middle ground of aftermarket straps (in the $40-$60 range, as these are) you’re strolling into some uncertain territory.  With the sub-$20 straps, you know you’re likely to be making some compromises, and with the over-$100 set, you’re going to be getting exactly what you want with some heavy-duty leather likely in the offering.

With these straps from Strap Bandits, I was really pleasantly surprised with two things.  First up, the look and feel of the fabrics used for the top of the straps is quite nice.  The “suiting” one, as I’m calling it, looks like it’ll stay nice and smooth over time, and pairs nicely with (what else) dark suits.  The patterned one, on the other hand, has some texture to it (and I’m not just talking of the pattern) and will likely develop some fuzzier character over time, which gives it a more casual feel.

The second thing I rather liked with the straps is just how thin they are.  Many aftermarket straps – particularly if they are leather backed, as these are – tend to be rather thick and chunky affairs. Here, things are kept tidily slim.  This doesn’t lead to a flimsy feel.  I’m not going to tell you that you can hang off a rock face with these straps, but short of that, I think they’ll stand up quite well on your wrist, and keep your watch in place.

Those are the big details that set these watch straps from Strap Bandits apart.  The materials used are rather unlike what I’ve seen from other makers, and the construction is compact quality.  Past those items, I do rather enjoy the fact that quick-change spring bars are included with the straps.  I know, using a springbar tool is nothing too difficult to do, but these quick change ones do make life simpler, and it’s a quick thing to swap stuff around to get the strap that fits your mood, clothes, or even the day.  Pair all of this with some reasonable prices for what you’re getting, and I think that the Strap Bandits crew has something that will be of interest to you.

Victor: The color lover

The straps that I sampled from StrapBandits were made from Huddlesfield fabric, which allows them to create the patterns that make the fabric unique. I received a blue and black houndstooth pattern, and a strap in sort of a black and gray polkadot pattern.

It’s the blue and black houndstooth that ties it all together for me. It’s a dark strap, the material is soft, and above all, the leather backing doesn’t make it too stiff. It’s light, and comfortable. The fabric of the gray polkadot is much less soft to the touch, although the strap is just as pliable. Each strap is $39.99 to $49.99, depending on whether or not you require it with an adapter suitable for use with Apple Watch.

There are some very cool options available: The gray with red and black strap is very nice, and flexible. I’d expect it would go well with any watch. The Pattern strap is a houndstooth on light gray, which works really well. If you were looking to dress up a watch with something a little unique, this might be it. The pin and buckle hardware on these straps is all silver chrome, which may be worth keeping in mind if you plan to put them on rose gold, for example. The colors of the straps will go nicely with rose gold or yellow gold, particularly the light houndstooth pattern or gray red and black.

John: The skeptic

I was never a cloth strap man. I like me some nylon and some rubber and I can handle a leather strap when necessary but I never owned enough tweeds really double down on the concept. However, I found these traps to be quite versatile and quite nice. I slapped one on my JLC World Time Chronograph – a watch I usually wore on a rubber strap – and it looks great, a cross that looks like something Jacques Cousteau would wear to prom.

As a constant sweater, however, I’m a little worried about how long these things will last without stinking. They haven’t so far and I even got mine wet, which is always a huge fear of mine with classier straps. I’m keeping this model on my JLC for the foreseeable future. My take? If you’re looking for something a little more formal and really cool, these guys are a solid choice.

The bottom line? We like these things. They’re not for everyone but for a mere $49 they’re a great way to spiff up your watch and are a far cry from the bog standard nylon and rubber straps we’ve seen so far. We are, truth be told, big fans.

The WWR team tries cloth straps from Strap Bandits Strap Bandits approached us not long ago with an interesting proposition: they would send us all a bunch of cloth straps to try and we agreed to all review them in one big review.

[fashiontrendin-blog]

32 Budget Summer Pieces Worth Buying

http://fashion-trendin.com/32-budget-summer-pieces-worth-buying/

32 Budget Summer Pieces Worth Buying

Without a little careful planning and consideration, attempting to stock a new-season wardrobe entirely from scratch is about as much fun as going to the doctor for a prostate exam. Especially when parting with significant amounts of cash.

Fortunately, we’ve done it for you (the careful planning bit, not the prostate exam) by compiling 32 of the best budget buys no man should be without this summer. Limber up those fingers and get ready to click ‘add to basket’.

Printed Swim Shorts

It goes without saying that swim shorts are essential holiday gear, but just because they’re only cracked out a few times a year doesn’t mean they deserve any less attention. This season, the best examples go after just that.

Of course, there will always be a place in the male wardrobe for tailored swimmers, but if ever there’s a time for a playful print, it’s on the beach.

Topman: £18.00

Retro Running Sneakers

If your style is more Rick Ross than Mr Ripley, we’ve got good news for your feet this season.

While we can’t imagine minimalist sneakers falling fully out of favour any time soon, running-style sneakers are picking up pace, offering a low-commitment way to tap into the retro trend.

Zara: £39.99

Lightweight, Unstructured Blazer

Blazers aren’t solely reserved for special occasions. Mixing them up with chinos and T-shirts will renew even the most tired of wardrobes.

Take your cues from the Italians and opt for an unstructured design in a lightweight, breathable fabric, which will ensure your armpits stay as fresh as your suit.

Mango: £59.99

Breton Top

Originally designed as a tribute to Napoleon (with 21 stripes to mark each of his victories), today the Breton stripe top is a triumph all of its own in the style world.

Perfect for channelling the alluring swag of the French Riviera, whether worn with long sleeves or short, as a T-shirt or as a sweatshirt, it’s a piece that never fails to look good with dark denim.

John Lewis: £19.00

Sunglasses

Nothing else offers an instant upgrade quite like a pair of sunglasses. Better yet, high UV protection (and high style) doesn’t have to come with a high price tag.

Providing they carry the CE mark (a European standard of UV protection), the examples found on the high street will do the same job as luxury names, and all for less than a round of drinks.

Weekday: £12.00

Cotton Pique Polo Shirt

For Wimbledon-worthy gear without going full-on Federer, opt for a cotton pique polo shirt this summer.

The button-down style sits happily on menswear’s centre court, capable of serving smarter looks just as well as off-duty wins. Game, set and match.

Uniqlo: £14.90

Duffle Bag

Monogrammed leather holdalls are great and everything, but they’re also expensive. Opt for a sporty duffle bag instead and save yourself some cash for the beach club.

Simple block colours can flit from nine-to-five to weekend away, all without looking like a Kardashian abroad.

Mi-Pac: £27.99

Beige Chinos

A solid pair of chinos makes for a lighter option than jeans in summer, but one that will be no less of a workhorse when it comes to getting dressed.

Opt for a pair in a neutral colourway for a classic way to ground almost any smart-casual outfit.

Marks & Spencer: £19.50

Linen Shirt

Forget everything you thought you knew, because if recent seasons have proved anything, it’s that linen isn’t solely worn by OAPs on a cruise.

By utilising the breathable fabric within a classic piece – such as an Oxford shirt – you’ll score a summer-friendly option far from the Costa del Geriatric.

Next: £30.00

Tasselled Loafers

Smart-casual can be a headache to decode, and that’s before you’ve factored in the soaring mercury.

A pair of tasselled loafers, paired with lightweight chinos, is the ultimate in-between, letting ankles breathe but still sitting pretty on the smarter end of the spectrum.

River Island: £55.00

Chambray Shirt

Blue collar threads, from trucker jackets to work boots, have long been a wardrobe influence.

But while they seem better suited to winter looks, iterations in lighter fabrics like chambray add a versatile, rugged appeal that’ll work year-round.

Charles Tyrwhitt: £19.95

Simple Jewellery

With necks unencumbered by multiple thick layers and arms free from the shackles of long sleeves, summer is a perfect time for stocking up on a few choice pieces of jewellery.

That’s not to say it’s time to put pedal to the metal, as it were. Instead, stick with restrained pieces in silver or gold in the case of necklaces, and leather or rope when it comes to bracelets for a subtle accent.

ASOS: £12.00

Espadrilles

Espadrilles, while the perfect shoe for relaxed strolls in the sun, lack practicality without a few modern updates. Fortunately, with their rise in popularity predicted, that’s exactly what has happened this season.

Look for lightweight offerings fitted with elastic gores for comfortable slip-on-and-go style and traditional jute rope soles finished with a non-slip rubber base.

BoohooMan: £12.00

Woven Belt

Of all the summer style mistakes you could make, inflicting a sub-par belt on your hard-won waistline is up there with the worst.

A woven option is not only better suited to warmer weather, but also serves as a subtle way to introduce texture to any summer look.

H&M: £12.99

Logo T-Shirt

Printed T-shirts are a summer tradition older than warm cans of beer and a poorly-advised hot dog. Yet many guys still get it wrong.

This season, ditch the floral get-up for a statement of a different kind. A logo tee is a failsafe way to level-up your basics and tap into the ubiqutous streetwear trend.

End Clothing: £19.00

Chore Jacket

Summer doesn’t guarantee sunshine – just ask any Brit. But while it’s nice to be prepared for the inevitable cold snap, no man wants to carry around a five-pound clunker of a coat.

A chore jacket is the answer: thick enough to prevent a shiver, but classic and muted enough to complement any seasonal staple.

The Idle Man: £40.00

Fine-Gauge Knit

Summer and winter wardrobes aren’t mutually exclusive. Fortunately, for cooler evenings, it’s possible to repurpose your December-friendly threads.

Owing to its natural temperature-regulating properties, a Merino wool knit is ideal for pairing with the chinos or shorts in your warm weather arsenal.

Uniqlo: £29.90

Summer Fragrance

Just as a wardrobe should be switched up with the seasons, so too should a grooming cabinet: lighter moisturisers, UV protection and anti-frizz hair products.

When it comes to your daily scent, the sweet (smelling) spot is something that swaps woods and spices for citrus and florals.

4711: £11.49

Navy Chino Shorts

Temperatures north of 28 degrees celsius render trousers impractical, but looking smart with your legs bared is not easy.

Opt for chino shorts. Cool, versatile and lightweight, the Oxbridge cut-offs retain a tailored sizzle without the scorch.

Gap: £29.95

Sandals

While flip-flops and pool sliders should be reserved solely for your holiday; a pair of sleek leather sandals is a solid choice for the city or the beach.

Seek out pared-back options in dark leather (preferably black, navy or brown), which will help effortlessly add some luxury to any summer ensemble, no matter the price tag.

Kiomi: £32.99

Cuban Collar Shirt

Bring a touch of Cuba to Cardiff, Cambridge or even Cockermouth with the shirt of the season. An ode to 1950s Americana, the open-necked Cuban collar is an effortlessly cool option for balmy summer nights.

Channel Leonardo DiCaprio in Romeo + Juliet with a floral version or follow the lead of Ryan Gosling in La La Land with a subtle design in a neutral colourway.

River Island: £25.00

Invisible Socks

The only thing that should be rising when going sockless is your style stock, not a stench from a pair of sweat-sodden shoes.

Of course, going ‘sockless’ doesn’t really mean that – it means investing in a pair of invisible socks to give the illusion. As an added tip, always look out for a rubber grip on the heel to stop them slipping off.

Topman: £3.50

Washed Cotton Cap

An almost weightless way to top off weekend looks; in recent seasons the baseball cap has successfully made the transition from the bleachers to the barnets of stylish men everywhere.

Seek out soft, malleable materials like washed cotton for a fuss-free, contemporary accessory that will wear and lighten in the sun over time.

H&M: £6.99

Tote Bag

A far less sweaty alternative to lugging a backpack around on your back, a sleek tote is ideal for weekend breaks or days in the city.

A durable body offers rugged workwear vibes while additional zipped compartments and optional shoulder straps ensure it provides all the practicality of a messenger bag.

Zara: £29.99

Lightweight Bomber Jacket

A stylish way to transition from the office to the after hours, a lightweight bomber jacket sets a high watermark when it comes to off-duty staples.

A khaki green colourway retains the original Air Force appeal of the military piece, while a wind-resistant shell and ribbed trims make it an investment that can still be worn layered up well into the winter months.

New Look: £24.99

Nato Watch

NATO Stocking Number straps – more commonly shortened to NATO straps – are the perfect summer choice for your watch: lighter than steel, more breathable than rubber and quick-drying in the sun.

Which means you can still clock a stylish timepiece without the irritation of a sweaty wrist.

Timex: £59.99

Lightweight Scarf

Before you reach for the hat and mittens, remember that a summer scarf is a different beast to its winter counterpart.

Visibility, not insulation, is the point here, adding a spot of wearable colour to even the simplest of outfits.

Mango: £19.99

Pleated Trousers

Last seen on your grandfather circa 1957, pleated trousers are finally back. And in a big way.

Despite designer’s best efforts, you’ll still need to work to keep the look modern. Opt for a pair with a single pleat and tapered ankle, and style with a Cuban collar shirt or mid-weight knitwear.

Burton: £30.00

Lightweight Suit

There’s never a bad time to think about adding an impeccably-cut suit to your rotation. However, double-digit temperatures and summer wedding season make the purchase all the more pertinent.

The key to staying sharp and cool is choosing the right fabric. Look for words like cotton, linen, seersucker or a combination of these. It also pays to side with lighter colours such as stone or even on-trend pastels, as these won’t absorb the heat as much.

Marks & Spencer: £148.50

Lighter Weight Denim Jeans

When it comes to denim for summer, we have one thing to say: lighten up. And that doesn’t just refer to the wash. Consider the weight and thickness of this workwear staple, too, as anything too heavy will result in a look that’s producing more sweat than style.

More high street retailers keep their cuts below 12oz, which is perfect. But if all else fails, rip yourself some on-trend ventilation holes.

ASOS: £25.00

Vertical Stripe Shirt

Make no mistake about it, vertical stripes are currently outstripping all other prints and patterns in the menswear game.

Slick on suits, a ten on trousers, they still do their best work up top on a shirt that will get up-down looks for all the right reasons.

Burton: £22.00

Sliders

Once the pariah of the poolside, now a bona fide trend both at home and abroad — there’s no getting away from sliders.

Of course, fashion is a fickle mistress, so rather than shelling out for a designer name, look for a simple pair that comes in at less than the cost of a pina colada.

New Look: £9.99