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ladytesla · 11 months ago

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Cowboy Halsin

I saw @aerynwrites musing about how Halsin would be as a cowboy or rancher. I thought I'd throw in my two cents, since I live on a farm myself.

There's more to it than just seeing Halsin speaking softly to horses, as awesome a sight as that would be. There's more to living out in the country than horses, believe me. This kind of morphed into Country Halsin and not Cowboy Halsin, but I hope y'all like it anyway. Let's go through a day in the life, shall we?

Halsin would probably be up before dawn, kissing your cheek before getting out of bed as carefully as possible, trying not to wake you. You have your own goals to accomplish today, he wants to let you wake up on your own.

Besides, he loves the stillness just before the sun rises. The nocturnal creatures are seeking their nests and burrows, the diurnal ones have yet to wake. This solitary commune with nature is one of the highlights of his day, listening to the wind in the leaves, the crickets and the frogs. It is a very referent time of morning that seems to stretch for ages and at the same time end far too soon.

As he reaches the barn, the day officially begins. Animals need to be fed. Mostly they graze in the pasture, but some need special treatment. An old swaybacked mare needs a little something extra to keep her weight up. Maybe there's a colt who managed to hurt himself somehow, and the wound needs to be tended to. Maybe it's cold outside, so he throws out alfalfa with the hay. Alfalfa is also called 'hot hay' because it raises an animal's body temperature, which is a great trick for winter.

He speaks to the horses as he works, maybe fondly berating the colt for being so clumsy in his excitement, or encouraging the mare to eat everything he's set out for her, smoothing a large hand down her side and smiling to himself when he feels her ribs much more faintly than he used to. One of the horses who is usually waiting in the mornings isn't there... that's a bit odd. He'll turn up eventually. The chickens milling around outside have heard his voice and know The One Who Feeds Them has arrived, so they peek around and wander into the barn themselves, waiting very impatiently. The goats in another small paddock nearby are just as impatient. They start yelling and bleating as if they're starving to death and He Is A Cruel And Unjust Father And They Are Going To Scream.

He likes hearing the chickens chatter as he scatters out feed for them. They don't have anything of real importance to say, but they never stop talking. Mostly it's "Food! Food! Food! Bug? Food! Scratch. Peck. Scratch. Bug!" in a dozen warbling little voices. He brought a bag of veggie scraps from last night's dinner with him to throw to the goats, which stops them yelling. "I don't think the neighbors heard you yet," he would say dryly as he throws hay to them as well. Sometimes they headbutt each other for access to the best morsels, and while he wants to prevent this to keep anyone from getting injured, he knows it's in their nature. He keeps an eye on the smallest and oldest, however, making sure they get their fair share. The twin kids born last week toddle after their mother like baby ducks. It seems like she has enough milk for both of them, though he still has powdered formula and bottles from the last kidding season, just in case they're needed once more.

Now that everyone's been fed, it's time to walk the fences, looking for that missing horse in the process. A lesser known but very important job when it comes to country life. Any breaks could not only let animals out, but predators in. He'd keep an eye out for signs of predators nearby. He hasn't seen any today, but he heard coyotes crying out in the darkness the night before. By this time of morning, though, he has company. You've made your appearance, bleary-eyed and handing him an insulated cup of coffee. You're already on your second.

The fog from earlier hasn't been burned off completely by the sun yet. It's a quiet time for the two of you to walk the property lines together. Halsin is a bit concerned about that horse. He hasn't shown up yet. Soon, though, he sees a silhouette in the last bits of fog, and sighs with relief. The horse isn't lying down from illness, he's just... trapped. The two of you look at this big strong chestnut gelding, eyes rolling and sides heaving, barricaded in the corner of the pasture because... there's a rabbit in the way. A fat little gray-brown bunny, nibbling delicately at the grass without a care in the world. Truly a terrifying sight to behold.

"Arthur we've spoken about this," Halsin sighs as he walks closer to the horse. "Rabbits can't hurt you. They eat plants, and they're tiny. Look!"

Still, Arthur isn't convinced. Halsin soothes him, stroking his nose and smiling to himself at the absurdity of it.

"My heart," he glances to you, "please convince our visitor to release Arthur."

You smile as you shuffle closer to the rabbit, gently shooing it back through the fence. Now that Arthur is out of mortal peril, he happily walks off towards the barn.

"They're majestic creatures," Halsin admits, "but sometimes..." He shakes his head, then keeps walking the fence. "Come on, my love... we're only halfway."

~~~

A round bale is delivered around lunchtime. The thing is as tall as you and just as wide and weighs an ungodly amount. But it needs to go out into the pasture somehow. Moving a round bale is a two-person job. Your job is to hold the gate open and keep the curious horses at bay... and to watch as Halsin, sleeves rolled up and muscles bulging, easily rolls it into the paddock as though it weighs nothing. He barely has time to set the feeder ring around it before the horses are nosing greedily at the fresh hay.

"I wish I could help more," you say as you close the gate.

"You help plenty," he replies, wiping sweat from his forehead. "Besides..." There's a faint glint of mischief in his eyes. "I've flattered myself into thinking you like to watch."

You grin and say he's being ridiculous, but you both know the truth.

~~~

As active a man as he is, Halsin isn't content to spend the heat of the day indoors. There are still so many things to be done. Bird feeders to fill. Eggs to collect from the chickens. The vegetable garden to water and weed. Water troughs to top up. Finally, there's a little time to take a break. Sometimes you have other things on your schedule, but today you decide to join him. The two of you find a shady spot under a tree and settle in with a book, some whittling, perhaps a snack, and you let yourselves get lost in nature. The afternoon sounds are different from the early morning ones. There are no crickets or frogs, no reverent stillness. Now there are raucous little songbirds fighting over birdseed, the chatter of a squirrel, the crow of the rooster, maybe even the far-off braying of a neighbor's donkey a quarter mile away. The windchimes you hung from the back porch. And underneath it all, the wind humming in the trees. Halsin leans back against the rough bark of the tree, closes his eyes, and feels the undercurrent of life running through all things. You can't help but admire the sheer expression of peace and happiness on his face, and set your little diversions aside to lean your head on his shoulder. His arm instictively wraps around you to pull you closer against him, and you enjoy simply existing as part of nature for a while.

~~~

The sun is about to set, casting mile-long shadows and lighting up the fields like gold. It's nearing time to go inside and help make dinner. But first the old mare and the colt need to be tended to once more. Another helping of special feed for the mare, sequestering her in her stall so that she can eat in peace without a certain someone (whose name may or may not be Arthur} attempting to share. The colt's wound is healing nicely, and Halsin digs in his pocket for a cookie in exchange for the colt standing still enough to be treated. He tosses another cookie to Arthur who protests that he too needs special food because he is a special boy.

He comes inside to clean up and help with dinner. He'll need to go back out in an hour or so to let the mare out of her stall, but in the meantime he's happy to be in your company as you maneuver around each other in the kitchen. If you're cooking, it may be a bit difficult with those big arms around you from behind. The two of you have been busy all day, and now that you're done with your work, he has decided to make things a little difficult.

"Love, please, I need to get to the spice cabinet." "I can reach it just fine. Tell me what you need."

"Halsin, I can't work with you right behind me like this!" "I fail to see how this is a problem, my heart. I'm having a wonderful time."

Halsin is normally a mild-mannered type, but his sense of humor sneaks out in sly ways from time to time. At least he hasn't broken out the horrible puns yet. And you have to admit, it's nice to be able to feel his deep voice resonate against your back.

Halsin is ready to sleep when it's time for bed (as long as you are too, of course. He's always up for 'extracurricular activities' if the mood is right). "We did well today, my heart," he says quietly in the darkness, pulling you close. "Pleasant dreams." He can hear the faint sounds of frogs and crickets outside your window, and that coupled with your soft breathing is enough to lull him into a deep sleep.

Was it a long day full of hard work? Yes.

Would he trade away any of it? Never.

#aerynwrites I hope you like it #I'm sick today so I'm writing when I should be sleeping #I like to live dangerously #never thought living on a farm would help me write fanfiction #no ducks on this farm because he thinks ducks belong in the rivers and ponds #so don't come at me with 'but where are the ducks'#they're in the lake not on the farm #no cows either because I don't know much about caring for them so.#halsin silverbough #my writing #bg3 fanfiction #halsin bg3 #halsin x tav #halsin x reader #baldurs gate halsin

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cushfuddled · 1 year ago

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Rabbit abuse videos: what to look out for

The internet is just SO rife with rabbit mistreatment and abuse. Rabbit videos rake up millions of views and everyone gushes over the cutesy lil' bunny doing something quirky and I just lose my mind all over again.

Some recurring bits to watch out for:

"Watch this rabbit take a bath!"

Rabbits should never ever be bathed (except as directed by a vet, given a dangerous health situation). Bathing is extremely stressful for rabbits, and damp fur can lead to ear infections (serious) or hypothermia (deadly). Regular bathing also wipes away the natural oils that would normally keep a rabbit's fur clean.

"My rabbit is only calm when I cradle him like a baby!"

When you hold a rabbit in your arms with the rabbit flipped on its back, you're inducing something called tonic immobility, wherein the rabbit is so stressed it resorts to playing dead. That's not a relaxed rabbit, that's a paralyzed rabbit.

"This rabbit once lived in a tiny cage, but now it has full reign of my ranch!"

Free roaming, wherein rabbits are allowed to "free roam" your entire home, is the ideal living situation for a pet rabbit. Rabbits are generally easy to litter box train (there are some exceptions, the same way some cats are fussy about their litter boxes). Cords can be fenced off, and chewable items can be placed on shelves. In a situation where complete free roaming isn't possible, the House Rabbit Society recommends a rabbit pen size of 8 square feet—though I personally would go for something more like 5x8 ft at the smallest! Rabbits should also get 3+ hours of exercise time a day when they're allowed out of their pen to really run and jump around the house.

You'll note my use of the terms "home" and "house." You can keep your pet rabbit outside, but this introduces risk factors like extreme heat, extreme cold, rain, snow, predators, illness, and poison. You'll need a predator-proof, weather-conscious shelter and access to a large, safe area for your rabbit to get those daily 3+ hours of exercise. You'll also need to provide them with adequate weather support (like heat lamps or frozen water bottles/tiles), and be ready to bring them inside when temps become dangerous (anything below like 25°F or above 80°F). You can usually let a rabbit run around your uncovered yard for a while so long as you're there to supervise, but you can't just dump them in the yard with a hutch and a timothy hay bale and call it a day. That rabbit can now be picked off by predators (neighborhood cats or dogs, coyotes, hawks, snakes, etc.), eat pesticides, litter, or poisonous plants (like ivy, daffodils, buttercups, poppies, rhubarb leaves, etc.), fall prey to mites or parasites, catch RHD from a nearby wild rabbit, die of heat stroke or cold, escape the yard and get lost/hit by a car, or even just get into something sharp or heavy in your yard and hurt themselves. Leaving a rabbit to just wander around a giant property is reckless and cruel. The rabbit does not need to free roam your whole yard to be happy; in fact, the rabbit will be less stressed and (statistically) live much longer in a sheltered environment.

"This rabbit gets along with my predator animal!"

Not all these rabbit-dog or rabbit-cat friendships are dangerous (some cats and dogs and rabbits, under the right conditions, can become friends)—but the nature of social media means content creators are often incentivized to capture cute viral moments at the expense of their animals' safety. Just something to consider with channels that produce lots of "prey and predator animal friendships"-style videos.

#feel free to add #this continues to drive me CRAZY #tw animal abuse #tw animal neglect

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graincharacter · 6 months ago

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guys. i haven't gotten any sleep since yesterday. i guess it's kind of a good thing because i REALLLY need to restart my sleeping schedule. going to sleep at 6am is a big nono. i'll try to stay up as late as possible and sleep then.

my cycle started :( very miserable about it. at least i have an excuse to lay in bed all day. i do also have cookies to eat and fanfiction to read so that's good. i need to stock up on water though i drank all the bottles in my room already.

i'm gonna try and get a job soon. i don't mind being cooped up in the house but with both of my siblings getting ready to head off for college i at least want to feel the least bit successful while they're gone, you know?

speaking of my siblings, we're going to get matching tattoos in august of our birth symbols! when we were old enough to read and write our mom assigned us symbols so we knew what our names were. my symbol is a heart! we're going to get them tatted behind our ear. i'm pretty scared to get a tattoo but i think it'll be ok.

i hate how sensitive i get when i'm on my cycle. i keep going nv and being avoidant every two seconds because of the smallest mistakes other people make. i need this to end now for trh sake of my sanity

#druittblr #grain blogging

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noakun · 2 years ago

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Hi :) Your art is very cool, specially the colors

I was wondering if you could write some headcanons about Team Rocket Elite Trio, they're pretty underrated

Thanks ^^

Hello!! Thank you so much for the ask, I'll be more than glad to write something for them :> In terms of general headcanons:

Ken

Ken could best be described as a responsible and caring older brother figure to everyone in Team Rocket, even though he can be aggressive and strict from time to time in order to maintain discipline and keep missions in motion.

Despite his size and looks, he's respectful, considerate and really pleasant to talk to.

Can be kind when handling others' mistakes, unless he's faced with an uncooperative individual or is under a lot of pressure (which is more often than not exerted by Lt. Surge).

Speaking of Lt. Surge, as merciless and evil as the man is, one of Ken's biggest wishes is to receive his validation for being a good member of the team (and trying his best!). That, unfortunately, rarely happens.

Alongside Al and Harry, he deems Team Rocket his family, a community he belongs in, one he should protect and support in any way possible, no matter what he has to do in order to achieve that goal.

Desperately searching for a father figure after the early loss of his own.

Jokingly started calling Giovanni "dad" when talking to Al and Harry. (It's barely a joke anymore. Also, the nickname is now used by the other two as well.)

Really likes Pokémon!

His everyday outfit consists of a flannel, cargo pants and comfortable footwear. He has a LOT of flannels.

Coffee addict.

Al is short. Short-tempered as well, actually. Nobody makes a big deal out of his height other than himself.

He's quick to speak his mind, and will make sure you know how irritated and disgruntled he is at the smallest of things that bother him, making him talk a lot.

On the flip side, he's honest about things he enjoys and admires about others too. If he likes what you're wearing or how you look on a particular day for example, he'll be the first to tell you and shower you with compliments and ideas on how to improve an aspect even further.

He rarely takes off his hat, and even when he does, he's simply fixing his hair before putting it back on. Very insecure about his appearance.

Rational and logical about other things and is a great problem solver, so people flock to him with questions and personal issues. He gets annoyed with it more often than not, but he'll help out regardless.

Has a bad habit of biting his nails, especially when he's been bottling up stress.

Surprisingly, he doesn't have a lot of close friends despite being social, so he sticks to Ken and Harry.

Has a thing for fashion and owns many pieces of clothing. A lot of them are hats and colorful shirts.

Likes playing cards and other luck based games.

Harry

Harry is the Popular™ one, and you'll most likely find him on some kind of party when he's off duty.

Made a group chat with Ken and Al so he could spam them with memes and hourly life updates. Al replies to everything individually and has a lot to say, while Ken keeps the messages short and brief ("lmao", "so true", etc.)

A big flirt, has had a lot of romantic partners in the past, but got heartbroken every single time (that doesn't stop him from pursuing The One™ in the future).

Agile and fast, has been training a lot, enhancing his stamina, and is able to outrun most of Team Rocket.

He's hyperfixated on Hatsune Miku and likes other anime-styled media. If you ask him about it, he won't shut up for hours. Owns a lot of (stolen) merch. His favorite Miku song is "World is Mine".

Self-confident. Doesn't think before he speaks and doesn't check messages for errors before sending them, leading to some hilarious typos that Ken and Al have been quoting for years. Unironically uses ":3" and variations.

He's the least likely of the three to physically hurt you. Can throw a verbal tantrum though and cause unnecessary drama.

Seemingly irresponsible, but when he puts his mind to something, he'll see it through.

Good at keeping promises.

But gossips a lot.

#pokemon #pkmn #pokespe #pokemon adventures #team rocket #team rocket elite trio #team rocket ken #team rocket al #team rocket harry #pokemon headcanons

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throughtrialbyfire · 6 months ago

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Secret, skin, wound- for your boys

GRINS. gonna put most of this below a read more bc its long AHAH

secret: What's one secret your OC never wants anyone to know about them?

Emeros - his other reason for being in skyrim. if the other two weren't with him, no one would know.

Wyndrelis - just how deeply involved he was in his apprenticeship to malvoryth, whose interest in his conjuration abilities could have led to much more dire results.

Athenath - the events that lead up to him becoming a devotee of mara. they sought forgiveness over anything else.

skin: How comfortable is your OC in their skin? Do they grapple with anything that lives inside them—a beast, a curse, a failure, a monster? How do they face the smallest, weakest, most horrible version of themself? Are they able to acknowledge it at all?

Emeros - he buries the worst version of himself constantly. on a physical level, he's very comfortable in his skin. but on other levels, he is constantly pushing back against how petrified he is of losing the only friends he has, and the lengths he'd go to in order to keep them safe. he will never acknowledge just how low he'll go for his own goals, or to protect people… or, well, he thinks he's protecting them.

Wyndrelis - he knows he's a failure, or that's how he sees himself. demeaned by his family during his early years and his confidence wittled away as a tactic to get him to stop pursuing magic, manipulated by a little bit of praise, swayed by attentions given to his academic prowess… he knows easily who he could become if he let himself, and he faces his worst self every day. it reminds him that he hasn't become his worst self yet.

Athenath - physically, athenath never felt right in their skin when living under another name, addressed as someone else, and having to pretend to be the child his parents wanted. now, they feel much more like himself, in this name, in this life. but on a deeper level, athenath knows their own capacity to be petty, spiteful, and vicious. they also know that they're easy to manipulate, if someone is nice enough to them for a long enough time. he craves connection but he's terrified of getting too close to people, which on the outside can come across as being moody and indecisive, and can completely blindside people. he bottles all of it up and buries it deep and prays it never explodes on them.

wound: How does your OC handle being wounded? Are their wounds mostly physical? Mental? Emotional? What's the worst wound your OC has ever experienced?

Emeros - he can handle physical pain. he's also an alchemist and has experience as a healer, so he can fix anything that's not too bad/severe. emotional wounds, he neglects and ignores and lets fester. mental wounds, the same. he will take on everyone else's problems and not allow his own feelings to pour into anyone else's life until it's too late, and he's in full meltdown mode. lets just say he has a very high capacity, and is able to avoid this most of the time. worst wound was the night his parents died, he's still very much not over it, even if it was many, many years ago.

Wyndrelis - he will handle everyone else's physical wounds first, then address his own. in mental and emotional matters, he may be very tough to get through to, but if need be, he's more than capable of expressing what he's going through. it may not always be in verbal words, but he's able to make it known how he feels, what he needs, etc etc if it's bad enough. worst wound, physically, was part of the disowning and banishment from his town after the death of his sister. emotionally, it was several, plus his childhood being what it was.

Athenath - you know how a cat can hide when its in pain, and thats why things often go unnoticed? on a mental/emotional level, that's athenath. he calls himself a baby about his pain tolerance (despite it being higher than they think). they hate being in pain, and will try to relieve it as soon as possible. emotional/mental pain, however, is another story. athenath got used to never talking about their issues, so they… don't. they cope in some ways healthy (music/dance, going on walks in whatever town he's in), and in some ways, not so healthy. childhood neglect left them unable to address anything until it gets to a certain point, and then it's never him who initiates discussions about it. they've gotten a little better at trying to talk to people, but it's hard. worst wound is a series of betrayals that led to trust issues in his current life.

thank u so much for the ask!!!! <3333

not-so-nice oc asks

#bishop.txt #asks #ask game #oc ; emeros #oc ; wyndrelis #oc ; athenath #dragonborn trio #cycle of the serpent

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sreegs · 2 years ago

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Do you know much about ciders? I'm somewhat new to drinking and I find I much prefer them to beer (all the beers I try just feel really bitter to me?)

Haven't really tried many spirits or cocktails either tbh. I live near a pretty nice store so sourcing isn't an issue so much as paying for the stuff. Anything simple and relatively cheap you might recommend to an amateur drink mixer? Maybe on the sweeter end like fruity/minty?

I tried to get into ciders, I honestly can't say I learned much but I do like to drink them seasonally. I don't know good national brands off the top of my head because cider never caught on here in America during the beer resurgence. I know that cider is much more popular in the UK for example, so if you're there and not here, then you have more options.

I do like a local cider though. Since I live in NYC I'm in apple country. Farmers markets have them and there's cideries not too far outside the city (if anyone here is an NYC resident, go check out Penning's near Warwick).

Cider is usually graded along the dry/sweet axis much like wine. There can also be sour ciders as well. This heavily depends on the type of apple and the aging and oxidation that occurs. Additionally it's not unusual to have ciders with added honey that are weird cider/mead hybrids. Those will also be sweet.

Sweet ciders are straightforward: they'll have a profile closer to non-alcoholic cider. Bright and fruity. Dry ciders are called as such because they're, well, not sweet. It's the absence of sweetness. They're not bitter, they may also be described as "tangy" but not always. Really dry ciders make your mouth feel dry after sipping. I've enjoyed ciders up and down the sweet/dry axis, can't say I have a favorite.

Sour ciders are similar to sour beers. They range from "that's a little funky" to "is this komboucha?". I find sours are a love-it-or-hate-it kind of thing so if you find one and you're unsure, buy the smallest amount possible.

Fun fact: cider was once the most popular alcohol in western Europe and more coveted than champagne. Colonial Americans were drinking cider when they weren't stealing land from the natives and committing genocide. Cider and rum, mostly. And beer. Please note this was not cider's fault.

Simple, sweet, fruity, minty. A couple options depending on what you consider easy. I'll give you a couple "proper" recipes as well as the easy way to make them. Oh actually, three. Let's start with the really simple one. Fernet and cola. Don't cringe, it's great. Start with 1 oz of fernet to 8 oz of cola (or 1.5oz to 12 oz if you're using a whole can of coke). serve with lots of ice and a lemon slice. If you like it, increase the Fernet. A proper pour is 5 oz of fernet with a enough cola added to top off the glass. Use bottled cane sugar cola if you can get it. Oh, and make sure it's Fernet Branca. Don't be tempted by Branca Menta, you'll be over-minted.

Try a Mojito. The making of a mojito requires muddling but it needs to be done with finesse as to not pulverize the leaves. Muddle 3-5 mint leaves at the bottom of a shaker with 1/2 oz of simple syrup. Add 2 oz of white rum and 3/4 oz of lime juice. Pour in the ice, shake gently, serve on the rocks topped with club soda/seltzer and a fresh mint sprig.

If you're new to muddling, don't muddle this drink. Muddling too hard will break the leaves make the drink bitter. Grab a sprig or two of mint leaves in one hand and slap the leaves against your other wrist a few times. This will bruise the leaves and express the oils enough without having to muddle. Pluck the leaves and toss them in the shaker with the simple syrup and the rest of the ingredients. Make the same way as above.

Now, if it's the middle of the summer and you just want a drink that's practically whiskey mint snow cone, make a Mint Julep. This is best made in an "old fashioned" style glass (wide, squat glass that holds 8-12 oz) if you don't have the traditional metal cups. Same techniques for the mint as above for the start except you're muddling the mint alone (or doing the wrist slap + pluck the leaves trick). Bruised/muddled mint in the bottom of the glass. Cover with lots of crushed or pebble ice, like a snowcone basically. Pour in 2 ounces of bourbon. Pour over, slowly, one ounce of simple syrup. Let it sit for a minute, garnish with more mint, drink with a straw, stirring as needed.

If you don't have crushed ice, take regular ice cubes and crush them in a clean cotton cloth with something heavy. If you don't even want to bother, just stir for 30 seconds before serving. The trick is, since the crushed ice has more surface area, it melts faster than whole cubes and helps meld the flavors together. This is definitely the hardest of the three drinks to make and it's the most that's "best if done right". But a little elbow grease is enough to make this a great drink.

#booze #cocktails #cider #mint

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thepaperbagstore · 1 month ago

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perfectbeaute110 · 1 year ago

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🫧Moisture is Key🫧

I'm sure many of us in the beauty hemisphere know that moisturizing is a very important step for our skin. But- it's also very important for other parts of our body!

Today, I wanted to share why moisturizing is important, and now you can incorporate more moisturizing into your beauty routine!

Quick note: When I mention oil in this blog, almost any oil works, even olive oil.

The Importance

Moisturizing your body in any way possible is very important for a number of reasons:

1. It helps retain moisture from water.

2. It can help keep your body protected from harsh elements such as weather, clothing, etc.

3. You may look more shiny and have a healthier appearing complexion when moisturizing.

Skin

Of course almost everyone knows that having a good facial moisturizer is key to help your skin retain moisture and to look shiny.

If you're confused on when to put on moisturizer in your skincare routine, use it as your very last product. It'll help seal in your other products you used. If you're going to use it for makeup, apply it as the first thing you use.

For your body, any good lotion works, you don't have to be as selective unless you have sensitive skin.

Here are some moisturizers I've used:

• Formula 10.0.6 Seriously Shine Free Mattifying Moisturizer

• CeraVe AM Facial Moisturizing Lotion

• If you have super dry skin or eczema like me, take it a step further with using regular CeraVe moisturizing cream even on your face (I have sensitive skin and it personally works for me even if it's not really designed for skincare)

Hair

Making sure your hair is moisturized may make all the difference in how your hair looks! Here's my personal haircare routine which helps retain the moisture in my hair.

1. After I shampoo my hair, (I could go more in depth in my haircare in another blog) I gently squeeze excess water out of my hair and then put in my conditioner and leave it in for 2-3 minutes or according to the bottle.

You could instead use a hair mask, but if your hair is already healthy and smooth there's no point unless you do it sparingly. Leave the mask in for the time recommended on the bottle so you don't have it just sitting in your hair.

2. After I have my conditioner rinsed out and I'm out of the shower, I gently dry my hair and then use a leave-in conditioner to make sure that the conditioner I used in the shower is locked into my hair. (Use a thicker one for thicker or coarse hair, and use a spray one for thinner hair)

3. Once my hair is dry, I use the smallest amount of oil possible and I rake it quickly through the ends of my hair to avoid it looking greasy. (this step may need to be reapplied every couple of days)

Nails

If your nails look dry and crusty, that's a big no-no.

Use oil on your cuticles to help moisturize your nails. As well, if you constantly wash your hands, make sure to use hand lotion often so your skin doesn't stay dry for long.

Eyelashes & Eyebrows

In order for your eyelashes and eyebrows to grow and stay strong, making sure they're taken care of is important as well.

Here is my lash and eyebrow care routine:

1. I have a personal lash and eyebrow oil I make. I use a brush and apply it to my brows and the roots of my lashes.

2. After a couple of minutes, wipe off excess if needed. (especially if you wear glasses like I do)

#lashes #eyebrows #hair #skincare #beautiful body #self care #moisturizer #nourishyourskin #glow up #beauty #beautiful #blue #bluecore

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badgerbl00d · 3 years ago

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how the one piece boys show they're in love <3

☆ characters: luffy, zoro, sanji, usopp, ace, smoker, shanks, mihawk

☆ up next: drinking with the one piece boys part 1

☆ summary: how different one piece boys show their love and make you feel like the only girl in the world

☆ a/n: mihawk's is soooo self indulgent, i just think he's so romantic and handsome!!!! and writing this made me lowkey develop the tiniest crush on usopp :)))

luffy shares his authority. on the head of the merry, he scoots over enough so that there’s room for you, and eagerly calls you over, excited to share his favorite spot with you (a habit that persists regardless of the ship). as you sail on the open sea he gestures out to it, telling you about his dreams and plans, asking what color shirts you think he should wear when he’s king, and if you think he should part his hair in the middle so that he looks scarier in wanted posters. if he needs someone to hold his hat while he fights, he makes sure it ends up in your hands, always adding “they’re captain now!” he loves the way you give each question plenty of thought before answering, showing him that everything about him, from his smallest worries to his biggest hopes are as important to you as they are to him. and if he likes you enough, he might share his food with you. might.

zoro protects you. it starts during naps, when he wraps his arms around you, hugging you to his chest, making sure that no one can so much as lay a finger on you. eventually he urges you to train with him, and yes he finds it hard to tear his eyes off of you when you’re dripping in sweat and managing to keep up with him while sparring, but he insists that he just wants to know you’ll always be safe. he shows you move after move after move, and he only realizes how much pride he has in you when you’re facing an enemy and use a move he taught you to successfully knock them off their feet. after that he trains with you all day long, stopping only to nap. you start to love it just as much as him, especially when you pick up a move faster than he had when he was learning it and for just a split second can see an inkling of jealousy creep into his face.

sanji reminds you. not an hour goes by without the chef giving you a loving reminder, or three. from chaste kisses to your forehead and hands, to heart shaped breakfast in bed, he tries his hardest to assure you that he is completely, and entirely yours. his touches are gentle and particular, a hand resting on your back, an arm pulling you into him, a finger trailing up your cheek. he wants you to know that there is truth in everything he says, and so when he says it he makes sure that you’re looking him in the eyes, so you can see that with you he means it. with you, what he craves most isn’t your reciprocation, but your understanding. though he still has just as many nosebleeds.

usopp teaches you. he shows you how gears work, and how if you put just the right amount of baking soda and lemon juice into a sealed bottle of ketchup, it’ll explode right as someone goes to use it. he shows you the ins and outs of all his proudest inventions and gadgets. and though he knows it’s his favorite way to spend time with you, he can’t exactly say why. maybe it’s because you look up at him with so much admiration when he explains things that everyone else always told him were stupid, or maybe it's the sweet, childish, innocent reward of your laughter when a prank works just right. regardless of the reason, teaching you is his favorite pastime. that is, until he lets his guard down and falls victim to the same pranks he taught you.

ace listens to you. if you want to tell him about your day he’ll ask for detail upon detail upon detail, making sure you spend the highest possible amount of time talking so he can enjoy your presence. he’ll urge you to talk to him about everything, if you’re upset about something, exciting to see someone, sad about something that happened with the crew, or eager to talk to someone about the new book you just read, he’s your go to person. and if you don’t feel like talking that’s alright too. he listens to you hum to yourself, listens to you laugh when he makes a bad joke, listens to your gentle breaths when you fall asleep on him, your head against his shoulder. your openness with him secures his trust, and the fiery boy can’t help but love watching how you warm up to him.

smoker indulges you. when he comes home exhausted from work all he needs is a quick glance at your face to pick himself back up. his stoic demeanor forbids him from being too obvious, but you recognize the gleam in his eyes when he’s around you. walks around the city on cool, quiet nights are his favorite way to spend time with you. it gives him an opportunity to spoil you, and he makes sure to point out any stores you might miss while talking to him about your day. he’ll discreetly point out the ice cream shop on the corner, making it seem like it was really your idea all along, but nothing warms his heart more than seeing you smiling up at him as you remain adorably oblivious to his methods. a busy man like himself has little time for the usual romantic expectations, but for you, he would move mountains… of paperwork.

shanks stays sober around you. occasionally, he might slip up and get as drunk as he’s used to getting, but when you’re around he always wants to make sure he remembers everything. from your melodic, soothing voice to your heart warming laugh, and how you look on a gently rocking ship under a moon that must also recognize your beauty because it only illuminates it. you bring joy and laughter to a ship that has seen a fair amount of misery after all her years on the sea. and to the emperor, you’re nothing short of treasure. a priceless beauty that even the best pirates would be lucky to find. after all his years of drinking it takes quite the amount of beer to get him drunk, but he only needs the slightest bit of you to feel an equally thrilling buzz.

mihawk lets his guard down. your presence is so relaxing, perfectly tranquil and indulgent. you’re the opposite of all the hectic, headache inducing happenings of his stressful work. when he comes home to his castle, cool air and silence greeting him, he knows he only has to make his way towards you, and everything will be perfectly okay. a glass of wine in his hand as you’re lazily draped over him, running your fingers through his hair, toying with the collar of his shirt as you listen to him recount his most recent adventures with the red-haired pirates, and disagreements and meetings with the warlords. your feather-light touch and gentle kisses coax him into relaxing, falling asleep under you. he’s even found himself wanting to leave just so that he can come back to you over and over and over again. and though he loves the peace you bring him, he’s not one to complain if you both drink a slight bit more than originally planned and end the night on a… less clothed note.

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mandalhoerian · 2 years ago

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NO TIME TO DIE | leon kennedy x oc | 2

pairing: leon s. kennedy x oc word count: 8K~ warnings: graphic descriptions of gore and violence, mentions of past child abuse, mentions of racism, suicidal thoughts, brian irons is a warning sign himself, cringy awkward humor between two people who dont know what the fuck they're doing and suspiciously frequent mentions of leon's ass, whiplash of emotions summary: Vera is confronted with possibility of her life's greatest loss on top of her cowardice, and Leon with what the greater good in this hellhole is: to follow orders or what he knows to be right thing to do? READ ON AO3 ! CH. 3 ☆ NO TIME TO DIE MASTERPOST

Portable white curtains obscured the view to Leon and gave the father-daughter duo some privacy in the middle of the spacious main hall of the station as he geared up. Vera was slumped on a crate, elbows on knees, and hands shaking around the empty bottle of berry juice; all of her energy was going into regulating her emotions so she wouldn’t have a meltdown. Marvin was breathing raggedly at the corner of her vision but she couldn’t bear to look at him, physically couldn’t bring herself to take one look, afraid that if she saw the deterioration, it’d somehow become the trigger of reality on Marvin’s temple to take him away the moment she acknowledged it.

The ashy undertone of his once healthy brown skin flashed right before her eyes every time she closed them — the blood staining his uniform brighter than ruby, it wouldn’t leave her, stained the back of her mind, sticky red soot. “How did this happen — no, when did this happen, since when?”

The air hung heavy, bearing the answer spelled out in the silence.

Her bones trembled under how he might have been trying to hide it as they were talking over the radio acting fine and dandy. How bizarre it was that Vera went to explode his ear off from complaining even when she got the smallest scratches, and her father hid away as long as he could until it’d take one strong sneeze to knock him out. She didn’t want to think about what he was planning to do disappearing off in that condition, she didn’t want to think about the exhausted acceptance of death in his face — didn’t want to think about how Marvin had already left her behind in his mind.

Instead, she listened to him saying, “It doesn’t matter, Vera. None of that matters,” — foreign, small, shaky. A Marvin who was a stranger to her.

A Marvin who was the personification of her worst nightmares.

Vera’s eyes burned at the sheer amount of effort he put in to talk normally without letting his pain show. “It fucking does!”

Marvin scowled. “Now you know better than to use that language around me—”

He was bleeding out, how was this relevant?

“I don’t care!” Vera threw away the plastic as far away as she could, standing up in nervous energy her body couldn’t get rid of, it was a bomb clashing against the silence that came after. “What is that wound? What the fuck is it? Did they claw on you, were you—”

“Vera,” Marvin leaned back, calm, strained, eyes closed. “Enough.”

No, it couldn’t be.

That had to be a simple gash, he was simply distasteful at her implying he was bitten. Of course. “Then let me tend to this, why haven’t you put anything on it yet?”

The question itself was a dare to the worst possible response ever, it dared to be asked so the answer would be different from what it wanted confirmed.

No word of how Marvin was missing the whole time between the arrival of UBCS soldiers and Leon — and why exactly he was gone. Vera would ignore it for the sake of changing the reason altogether, if she could fix him from here on out, it didn’t matter, not right now.

“I can’t waste these resources on me.”

Spoken like a person who knew the date of his death.

Vera recoiled back, “What?”

The word left the trembling lips of a child, holding tightly to the leg of a parent who had his back turned, half gone in spirit, half ready to leave with a suitcase in hand, sand slipping away from her fingers.

He couldn’t leave her. He couldn’t go like this.

She crouched in front of him, trying to catch his eyes and clutching to Marvin’s hands like a madman, not even a thought spared to how his hands were fucking icy and sticky from blood. “There is nobody else. It’s just me, you, and Leon over there. I don’t know where David is. This is all we have left. How can you say it would be a waste? How can you ever—” She had to swallow to not choke up, shaking her head. “You’re losing so much blood, just— have you gone stupid from it?”

He glared at her, his complexion might be worrying but the energy to scold her had not been snuffed off. “I’m still me enough to know this is disrespect, young lady. Don’t play with me, I’m your father even though I’m letting you call me by my name. Understand?”

One part of her wanted to smile at this, good. She could still agitate him to this degree. “Stubborn ox. I’m patching you up,” She stood up and ignored his protesting, it broke her to see him writhe in pain, her jaw clenched, anger simmering lava hot underneath her skin. “You can complain about it all you want. I’m not letting you treat yourself as deadbeat, we’re going to get out of here and you’ll be okay.”

“I’m with her on that, Lieutenant.”

That made Vera flinch and she almost dropped the first aid kid she had grabbed — if Leon’s voice came any closer, she would have jumped too. She had forgotten he was there.

“You just met my daughter and you think that gives you the right to listen in on our private conversation?”

“Lean back,” Vera settled right in front of Marvin again, opening the box and inspecting the contents of it. They had the bandages, disinfectant and cotton she was looking for to make a temporary fix to this, what she needed was herbs — and surprise surprise, not in here. She wished she knew how to medically stitch, that would have been helpful in the absence of herbs or first aid sprays until she could gather enough courage to venture into the unknown to look for supplies.

“I’m sorry lieutenant,” Leon swallowed, “I wasn’t exactly trying to listen, it was just loud…”

“That she is,” Marvin shifted and hissed in pain, clutching his bloody gash harder. Fresh and thick blood flowed between his fingers and all she wanted to do was sit back and scream and cry like a kid. Instead, she gushed disinfectant on a cloth and pressed it hard against him and screwed her eyes shut as a broken yell ripped from him, holding him down when he sprung up from his seat.

It burned in her heart worse than his wound ever could, a selfish thought perhaps, but it was the ruthless truth, suffering double the pain of a precious someone was the price you paid for letting them become precious — their suffering became your curse, the fear of loss held your lungs hostage.

The rookie cop shuffled behind them, his silence stifling against Marvin’s choked grunts of pain. Vera kept cleaning the blood and dressing the gash, and Leon finally dropped the bomb. “Does anyone know what started this?”

Her hands stopped momentarily.

This was a brewing question, asked around too many times, and rightfully so. People wanted to know if this was divine retribution from above or something man-made and curable. Each discussion had Vera getting a little smaller where she was, shame lowering her head down low, and escaping anywhere she could from prying, desperate innocents looking for only a drop of salvation from her.

For what could she say after confirming she did know the genesis when the following question would be: “Why didn’t you do anything to stop it?”

Many excuses lined up in her defense:

I’m one person, they own the city.

What could I have done? They would have silenced me if I spoke up.

I was trying to find a better way to go about it, I swear, I had to be smart at handling this.

Marvin’s state in her mind gestured to himself, one breath away from becoming a corpse. “How could you let it get to this point?”

Because of course that question would come to mind first when preceded by Vera as the subject instead of how she even knew in the first place. She was quite the rumored private investigator in Raccoon; had her infamous ways, did a lot of helping off the record where the police were of no use. If anybody in the city would have any inkling about what really was going on, it would be Vera, that’s what she was known for, and what she was proud of once.

Her primary focus was on bounty hunting, which tied her directly to RPD, collaborating with law enforcement to find and detain wanted individuals was the forefront of her activities as a private eye, followed closely by trial preparation and civil investigations — being a registered bounty hunter, though, was how she was able to get to know most of the police officers outside of being the daughter of Lieutenant Branagh, including the newly established STARS team she got to witness being formed, in her three years of career.

At the very core of it, though, everything was a strategic move on her part to monitor the activities of Chief Irons more closely, and to gain evidence to dig his grave, quiet as a snail, boiling the water of the frog that he was so slowly that he wouldn’t notice being cooked. The man was Vera’s worst enemy as the diabolical director of the Racoon City Orphanage who made life a living hell exploiting Vera as a public wonderkid figure first, a perverted serial killer second, and the disgusting stooge of Umbrella third.

In the beginning when this wasn’t about the petrifying discovery by Vera of an unforgivable breach of human rights, and the violation the Biological Weapons Convention which the U.S. signed and ratified in 1972, Irons was only a monster figure to her child self she couldn’t stand up against in fear of being striked down and starved for days just to the limit where it wouldn’t threaten her diabetes. He hid away her friends after their adoptions, withheld the information from Vera when she asked, baiting her with one more interview to yet another news channel about her newest entry that made the robotics summit and then he’d tell, allow her a phone call too, maybe, depending on how well-behaved she’d be, how grateful she was to Umbrella for sheltering her and supporting her hobbies.

Because that was the reason she existed as Umbrella’s precious PR project, the “Doe-eyed Jane” of the headlines and the news, every parent’s dream child, her own generation’s trauma, a one-in-a-century technological genius who had taken up the US in a storm the moment Umbrella began parading her around in competitions and fairs alike to show off her projects — all to advertise her benefactor Oswald E. Spencer, and polish their image in the eyes of the public eye, gush about how benevolent they were spoon feeding an orphan, and how merry she was in the orphanage that she must call it home.

She was adorable, perfect, had a good head above her shoulders, inspired girls who wanted more out of life all over the country, adults cooed over her whenever she went, and Time magazine made her the Woman of the Year in 1986. It was a bizarre life she recalled only so little of that it seemed like she conjured everything up herself if it wasn’t for their proof of existence even down to the details she had a hard time remembering having been documented.

Back at the orphanage, though, a stark contrast to the star-framed life weaved for the cameras, she was the poor Jane Doe nobody wanted to adopt despite being continentally loved and madly gifted, all children she befriended disappeared one by one after being adopted, and she was left behind, all alone — with the director Brian Irons who took pleasure in a mere child’s suffering.

She had one flaw, he used to say, she just wasn’t milky enough. Her skin was too dirty (it wouldn’t come off no matter how many baths she took), her nose didn’t slope like a Barbie’s (it didn’t arch gracefully no matter how long she tried to change it with clothes pegs), her hair was a curly bird’s nest (it didn’t become silky straight no matter how much she combed). If only Jane were a blonde — Irons had commented once, his shadow something out of a horror movie, beady eyes shifty in their sockets as the light eerily reflected from them, how loved she would be by him, he’d have adopted her in a heartbeat even though she was a horrible, horrible child.

Nobody would have believed Vera if she had come forward with half the shit she could remember being subjected to by him after hitting adolescence in the safe custody of Marvin, and finally digesting that she wasn’t the problem. Irons had a reputation of a saint, despite being anything but.

To think all of this had started out with wanting to get back at him for the things he did to her and learn the whereabouts of her friends.

Vera would have joined Umbrella as an engineer already if her life wasn’t changed by discovering the threatening emails he sent to the Birkins while she was doing maintenance in the station.

She was barely sixteen years old then, having been accepted to Raccoon University with a major in computer engineering, continuing her internship in the main building of Umbrella Pharmaceuticals shadowing the IT Team. Irons was a greedy son of a bitch not wanting to pay anybody to oversee the technical support — and maybe, not to dare sniffing around where they shouldn’t, and saw just a kid he had molded to submission and still could call “Jane” to her face even after she changed her name to “Vera”, and the daughter of one of his officers at his service who wouldn’t take any money for her services, also loyal to Umbrella because of her position as well. He thought her harmless, despite knowing firsthand what her intelligence could accomplish, that was his hubris, he regarded her so little.

How brave and victorious Vera had felt with what she’d unexpectedly dug up. Bribery, corruption, fraud, all of them admitted over the back-and-forths between him and the Birkins. She could dangle these over his head, make it the sword of Damocles, finally confirm that it wasn’t because they all hated Vera (couldn’t stand her in the first place, she was a liability) that all of her adopted friends cut ties with her after they left, and have him tell her their contact information so she could reconnect with them. Everything was set right in the world for just a day.

Instead of uncovering dirt on the scum of the earth like she thought she succeeded in, what was unleashed ended up being Pandora's box, and Vera was left face to face with an unimaginable evil — experimentation and subject in the same sentence in William Birkin’s response to something; that they had run out, and Irons had to make the arrangements to send more.

Vera was a child genius, yes, and knew her worth, but that didn’t mean she wasn’t capable of getting that primordial terror of implied horrors painted by an imagination running wild. All the forked rivers spreading in different directions about the possible explanations joined into one sea: That her friends weren’t adopted, they were taken away to become test subjects. Vera knew madness to be just an abstract word out of her reach, this was her unkind introduction to it, all it took was one push and she hadn’t yet seen the bottom of it yet — and that same madness led her to run away screaming from the flowery path Umbrella was escorting her on.

From a scorned but terrified kid throwing away a life of promised success in the name of wanting to be more than what Umbrella wanted — to seek out the truth but not knowing how, to a more seasoned and cynical detective who couldn’t see a way out for truth to shine through from the blindfold of a corrupt, bought city of hidden evils; it all came down to this one thing: I was scared, I’m not a hero, this isn’t a film, I’m a coward, I don’t know what to do.

It all came down to fear.

Fear of what she had discovered and not knowing what to do with it. All she wanted was to know about her friends and now she was left with the worst outcome possible. What could be about this, ever? How could someone dare to utter a letter of it when all it took was a fabricated suicide to keep this in the ground forever? What justice could ever console the grief and mourning haunting Vera’s every day with the reality she was living in? What else was left for her but Marvin? Half-heartedly helping Jill in her investigation on Umbrella was a daredevil act on her part, still held back by fear but hoping that someone would be able to do something with what Vera was sitting on, that was all she could afford. It was the last attempt, a piss excuse of an effort, a cry for help — at their core, helter-skelter because she was a fucking coward.

And that cowardice was about to cost Vera her only family in the world. She had fabricated her own tragedy.

Because at the end of this road to nowhere, with no safe place to turn to and nobody for her voice to reach, she was left with no choice but to throw this whole city in the garbage, as long as Marvin was by her side she could start anew. Some savings she had were waiting in the bank, perhaps she could begin by opening a small private investigator’s office and use her connections to build a new pool of customers, if that wasn’t enough, she could always make use of her older skills and stay afloat with a repair shop — or just focus on computer maintenance, it was in demand these days. Vera was a jack of all trades type of person, dabbled in a lot of fields out of boredom back in the day as the feeling used to dictate her life. Thanks to that, though, her expertise was wide, finding a job starting out from the bottom wouldn’t be a problem for her, she loved a challenge, it could be fun.

This mindset was now bringing her karma. The world had gone to hell, and the only thing that kept Vera protecting her hope was Marvin — if she lost him too, then the next best thing was joining him in death on her own terms, but she wouldn’t go down without a fight, she would do anything to keep him alive, it wasn’t over yet, he didn’t deserve dying like this, Vera couldn’t fail him.

Marvin’s cold touch covered the hand she was crushing the roll of bandage with, pity and affection winding each other towards her, a question hidden in his gaze. Did she want him to reveal the truth to Leon, or not? When she shook her head noticeably, the motion supported by her saying no with her eyes, he gestured her to go sit down languidly.

What would Leon gain by going down the metaphorical rabbit hole to a conspiracy so vile? He was just a fresh graduate from the police academy, it was better for him to focus on saving himself, there was no point in looking for a why in the face of death, it was the trait of naive heroes that didn’t know any better.

“Not a clue,” Marvin said, tearing his attention away from Vera who had turned her face away. “But honestly, all you need to know is that this place will eat you alive if you aren’t careful.”

A fire ignited in Leon, his posture became more confident, soft edges of him giving way to purpose and motivation, Vera watched the change with interest. “Yeah… Well, I was supposed to start last week and I got a call to stay away.” He opened his arms wide. “I wish I’d come here sooner.”

“What difference would you have made?” Vera asked, some part of her was genuine. His words were full of bravado, another part of her resented the courageous intent she didn’t possess, attributing it to Leon saying that to look like a strong American man. “With you, or without you, this disease was bound to eat Raccoon alive.”

“I could have helped,” Leon shot back, sincerity clouding the slight anger. “One more person making it out — that’s the goal. I know I’m not going to magically solve the problem, but the smallest differences can mean the world for someone else.”

It was hard to breathe for a second. “That’s noble,” she breathed out. It was, no sarcasm there. “And very optimistic of you.”

“I think it’s realistic,” Leon trailed his fingers over his gun’s barrel, then slid it into its holster. “If you don’t try to save one life, you’ll never save any.” He looked at her then, eyes clear as the skies. “You might think of me as foolish but no matter the outcome, I would have chosen to come here willingly if I knew the situation from the start, even if it was certain I’d die. I don’t care about anything else.”

It was raw purity, unfiltered light, naivete cocooned in innocence of a good, honest heart, and Vera couldn’t look away from the beauty of it until it began to hurt her. Then it was sting of envy and agony of the obvious realization that she didn’t have it in her, even in the path of investigation she was always terrified of the outcome deep down, her hesitation and calculation made her move slow, think about every single step — and this new rookie had more guts in him than her struggling with this for three years now.

It wasn’t as if she went into investigating Umbrella with the conclusion of bringing them to justice: she wanted to shed light on the subject harvesting of the Raccoon City Orphanage, wanted to guarantee safely getting away from Umbrella when it was all said and done, wanted to protect what she had, wanted to defy fate and be more than their pawn. It was all about herself, self-centered, not selfless as Leon radiated like the sun, she didn’t even have the capacity. If there was an endgame, it was to ruin Irons, what came after that was never contemplated in her head because the more this case sucked her in, the more she became uncertain of seeing the end. Ben Bertolucci was meant to be an experiment to remedy that, and he was arrested almost immediately.

Vera was never the person who set out a clear end goal in mind — constantly dictated by instinct and emotion. Leon was. It was small, but it was his. To help whomever he could in an undead infested city. Respect bloomed inside her for him.

Vera’s lame response to him was, “Big words for a rookie.” She was softer on him though, body language accepting, no intent on being mean, and clearly more comfortable with Leon.

“Well I mean each and every one of them.”

“You’re here now, Leon. That’s all that matters,” Marvin interrupted, clearly not looking forward to a squabble he thought would start because of Vera’s argumentative nature. Jokes on him, she didn’t plan to start anything with Leon.

He stepped closer to them, stopping when he was just two steps away from the couch, uniform in place and all armored up, looking like he was about to go fist to fist with a riot. “Okay, Lieutenant, I’m ready.”

Vera reached for the Toughbook and placed it on her lap, tapping away on it while Marvin looked through Elliot's notebook..”Hopefully, you’ll be able to find a way out of this station. Vera here has discovered something peculiar that we didn’t take seriously before, but it’s our last resort.”

“This station used to be an art museum back in the day, all staff are required to know about it, so the computers come with a visual guide file of some sort — I know because I converted the whole thing to a pdf and sent it all to everyone. You would have discovered it eventually when you got your own PC, solitaire gets old real fast and everybody gets bored and snoops around just not to write reports, that’s how they discover this little thing, they tell me. I turned it to a Where’s Waldo game afterwards, it’s in a different folder for everyone, and—”

Marvin cut her off with an exasperated sigh, followed by a shudder. “Vera, I’m sure Leon doesn’t want to hear about any of this.”

“Oh yeah, shit, whoops, back to the point.” She automatically kept rambling because he did look interested and she’d taken his silence as indulgence. Totally not what he wanted to know. “Something about the layout of this place bothered me because the older maps of this place indicate there is an office directly underneath this statue. It was changed after Irons took the office apparently, so it got me thinking, but I couldn’t prove it since they were disposed of. I've only seen copies of it on the net-available database — which, unfortunately, can’t be accessed right now since all communications are down.”

Leon nodded and made a small affirmative sound for Vera to keep going. “So, voila, I finally found this little clue here,” She explained, and gestured to Leon to come closer, pointing at the screen. He reluctantly leaned towards her, but didn’t disturb her personal space. On the screen was an old article dating back at least thirty years about the historical significance of the same goddess statue in the hall, but something looked different about it. “You see how this space is open in the photograph?”

She looked up at him for confirmation and he nodded with the same energy. “Yeah, it goes underground.”

“This is our way out.”

“How do we open it?”

“It's a secret passageway, we discovered it requires three medallions to be opened — basically locked by a puzzle. There are three other statues around the station which have the medallions we need, but —”

“Let me guess,” Leon smiled, “Also locked with puzzles?”

Well, mark Vera entertained. “Aren’t you a fast learner?” It faded away soon enough, though, her own smile slowly dropping. “Elliot had accepted to figure them out for me, at the time I was busy trying to restore comms, we thought it was best to keep trying for multiple solutions so it’d raise the odds.”

At the mention of Elliot, Leon blinked rapidly as if seeing something else, and stepped away from the Toughbook, stiffening. Vera looked away as well, she had only heard his death while Leon had to live with not being able to save his fellow officer, she didn’t want to make him go through it again.

“This is good news,” Leon said, recovering quickly, he cleared his throat. “We can get Lieutenant to a hospital.”

“No, no,” Marvin quickly responded, scarily swift and determined in his rejection. “I am not the priority here.”

Vera set the Toughbook aside, placing it on the crate carefully with trembling fingers. “What do you mean? Yes you are. You are my priority.”

“And my priority is you getting out of here,” he hissed back, clutching the wound over the slightly soaked bandages.

“And I will,” Vera’s voice cracked. “We will. Together.”

“Honey I’d come with you, but I’d just slow you down… I can’t have you and Leon in danger because of me.”

“I’m sure we’ll figure something out, there has to be a way.” Vera sought Leon’s support, wordlessly begging for him to agree with her. “Right?”

And Leon came through. “Yeah, Lieutenant, I’ll go ahead first, clear the road for you.”

Marvin grimaced. “Clear the road, my ass, what road?”

“Look, Lieutenant, either way, I’m not just gonna leave you here —”

“Hold it right there,” Marvin raised a bloody hand, fingers curled in with fatigue. “You don’t stay alive with ifs or hypothetical hope or half-assed plans, you hear me?”

“Marvin—”

He shut Vera up with no regard. “I’m talking to my officer right now.” It took every drop of energy in him to sound as snippy, that much was visible, and the sole reason why Vera didn’t push it — Marvin needed his rest, forcing out draining emotions didn’t help that. She would bite her tongue. “You’re going to get my daughter out of here.”

Her nails created a row of crescent marks on her crossed arms. She would bite her tongue.

“Sir—“

“This is your first and last order, rookie. You save her first, and yourself second.”

Leon sucked a sharp breath in, glancing anguished between Vera and Marvin, he was torn and obviously didn’t know how to respond to that.

“This is bullshit,” Vera mumbled under her breath, chewing her bottom lip. Enough was enough. “You know what? I don’t work for you. I don’t care what your orders are. Fuck that sacrificial nonsense.” Marvin was about to tell her off for that, but she didn’t give him the opportunity to. “I’ll drag you out of here by your feet if I have to. I don’t care. What are you gonna do, lay down on the floor like a child?”

“I would give you one hell of an earful for running your mouth like that in front of me had Leon not been here, how’s that for a start?”

“Yeah, well, you have to stay alive for that. Something to look forward to for you, I guess? Been a while since you chased me down with a newspaper.”

Marvin was back at the good old days of a small, devil in his ass Vera screaming bloody murder as she ran away from him after causing his gun to go off in her hand while trying to explain that she only meant to take it apart to clean it and improve it just like she saw Kendo do it once. He was some place far away, fond and lonely when he tried to be stern. “I can barely take a couple steps, and you expect me to cross the city with you?”

Vera’s leg began shaking in an attempt to keep herself from bursting into tears. “I’ll load you to the wheelbarrow — I’ll go get a car, I’ll do something. You’re my dad, I can’t leave you here, don’t ask me to do that, please. I can’t, I won’t.”

Vera didn’t call Marvin father, never, ever, even with all those years after he adopted her, she shared more of an uncle-niece bond with him, the word ‘dad’ out of her mouth made him screw his eyes shut and breathe raggedly. “My only wish now is for you to be safe,” Marvin took her hands in his own shaky, cold ones, and Vera lowered her head to hide her twisting face and watery eyes. An injured man was consoling her when it should have been the other way around. How much more pathetic was she going to get? “And I know you can’t be safe as long as you keep clinging to me.”

The child in her took the microphone. “I don’t want safe, I want to be with you.”

You can’t leave, you can’t leave me.

There was no point in anything without him.

“Don’t say that honey. I need to know you’ll be able to survive on your own—”

Vera wrenched her hands away from him and shot forward, bumping into Leon roughly as she staggered away from them and from this conversation, he tried to stop her from falling by catching her arms but she shook him off, heels of her hands pressing on her eyes like she wanted to crush the tears into nonexistence. Quivering breaths rattled her ribcage and she trekked forward, only to stop and announce, “I’m on the lion medallion,” before walking off.

“I’m sorry you had to see that,” Lt. Branagh wheezed as Leon frowned after the girl, restlessness making him flex his fingers that she was going upstairs on her own. She wasn’t quite right in the head at the moment, this was far from safe, but the sympathetic side of him acknowledged she needed her space right now even though he wanted to go after her — the solution to stay a good distance away formed in his brain, after all, he just needed Vera in his peripheral vision to look out for her. Marvin pointed to his own shoulder vaguely, meaning how Leon was pushed away by her. “Don’t hold it against her.”

Leon glanced upstairs again. “You’re a good father, sir. She’s only focused on her own pain, but she’ll see that you’re only trying to look out for her once she calms down.” He gathered his determination. He respected authority and he respected his duties more, it was unheard of to leave a superior and a living being behind in this situation — Leon couldn’t swallow it down that he was ordered to leave a suffering man to die. The leaden weight on his throat obstructed his lungs. “That said, . I’m afraid I have to agree with her.”

“You are doing no such thing.”

“I understand what you said before, we’ll sit down and come up with a proper plan—”

“You have your orders, rookie!” Lt. Branagh basically howled and Leon had to yield to that, not having it in him to stand by what his heart told him to do. “You protect yourself and you protect my daughter. She’ll get killed at this rate because she’ll let herself, do you understand what I’m saying now?” There was something in his face that Leon wanted so desperately to obey to soothe, just go with what he was saying just so Lt. Branagh would have some peace at the moment, so he nodded.

Leon pursed his lips in silence, limbs heavy all of a sudden. “I’ll come back to take you to a hospital once we’re out.” It was his first instinct and wishful thinking to suggest a hospital, but logic and reason and what he learned in the academy told him that in a city-wide pandemic such as this, the hospitals would be the fortresses to go down first.

It must have reflected in his face because Lt. Branagh smiled bitterly. “You know there is no hospital.” He gingerly put an ashen hand over his tightly bandaged wound. “It’s too late for me, Leon.”

He couldn’t accept that. Vera’s crumbled figure was a shadow in the back of his mind. “Lieutenant—”

“Enough. Your report said you were quick to adapt and loyal to given orders, and that’s what I need right now. Not an inexperienced boy weak to his emotions, but a police officer.” Marvin coughed and it unmistakably hurt him to do so and he caught Leon looking in a way he didn’t like. “Do not pity me for one second. The dead are lost and what matters is guiding the remaining few.” Even though he had said he needed a police officer, Leon saw a terrified father in front of him, it was a direct punch to the gut. “I’m gone, Leon, I can’t have my daughter follow me too. She doesn’t deserve to die like this.”

Leon’s stomach churned. “You don’t deserve to die like this, let me help, Lieutenant. You can depend on me.”

“Defy me one more time and see what happens.”

Even Lt. Branagh himself knew there would be no repercussions, it was all a front, he was depending entirely on Leon’s respect of boundaries and inability to go against him, also knew that Leon was aware of this. It was the goddamn zombie apocalypse, but Leon still couldn’t put his foot down to save his own life, too timid and shy to convince the man that he could trust in him and he was, in fact, very capable. If there was another, more rugged veteran of this field in Leon’s place right now, would he have accepted to be escorted to safety?

While he was lost in his head, lamenting how unreliable he looked and what he could to remedy that, Lt. Branagh had forced himself to stand up, extending Leon something in his hand. “Now… you’ll need this.”

It was a combat knife, with its sheath and everything. It had to belong to the man. Leon had his trusty Matilda already, he couldn’t take away something that would keep the lieutenant safe in the long run. It was like stripping him of his last defense. “I can’t take—”

“Stop,” he grunted. “And don’t make my mistake. If you see one of those things—uniform or not—you do not hesitate. You take it out… or you run. Got it?”

Leon numbly shook his head affirmatively, eyebrows furrowed upwards ever so slightly. “Yes, sir…”

“Now go find her, she’ll be very helpful to you.” He sat back down, unable to stop his body from tensing in pain upon the movement. His bandages were getting redder as the minutes passed, but he wasn’t bleeding heavily, Leon thought it was a good sign that clots had begun forming, it meant that the wound looked worse than it actually was. Reassurance began to sparkle in him that it was the pain that held the lieutenant back, injuries on the stomach area hurt the worst, after all. There was hope yet, he would figure something out. “You two have to trust each other to get through this together.” He leaned his head back to the edge of the back of the couch and threw his forearm over his eyes like the light was hurting him physically. “Leave me to rest.”

Leon didn’t want to, but did just that, stuffing Officer Elliot’s notebook in his back pocket and jogging up the left stairs of this gargantuan place that reminded him of a mansion more than a museum or a police station. The wood was glossy in the main hall, and a healthy reddish brown, the steps were in top notch condition as well, he had spotted balconies to the side where he planned to check, and as he reached the top, he noticed doors lining up in both sides, but they had to be locked if no zombie had breached them yet. He made a mental note to check them first thing after getting to Vera.

The girl in question was crouching in front of the lion statue, feet flat on the floor, not working on solving the puzzle on it at all. From what he could see, the medallion thing was still in its place and Vera’s head was buried in the little cavity her arms had created by wrapping around her knees. Leon let out a small sigh, heart swelling up in desire to console her somehow, he didn’t exactly know what to do, though, they had just met, he barely knew her, it was his own flaw that he couldn’t handle the suffering of even strangers.

“Hey,” he called, but the girl jumped out of her skin and yelped at that, falling on her side and causing him to jerk back, surprised by her outburst.

“Oh my fuck— don’t do that!” Her hand went to where her heart was supposed to be. “I almost had a heart attack.”

“Sorry,” he said, apologetic, but unable to suppress a smile. He extended his open palm to her to help her stand up, and she reluctantly took the offer, allowing him to pull her up.

This was interesting to him the first time, and it was just as compelling now, Vera’s hand was rough but had the elongated elegant form of a musician, he’d felt it even from the loose fishnet glove covering the skin, she definitely had a job involving something related to crafting and liked a subgenre of metal or rock music the way she dressed — even played the guitar too considering the callus on her fingertips. Regarding the rest, he couldn’t exactly take his time touching the locations of the other callus to determine just what and it was highly inappropriate, but it intrigued him because of her image — she liked pink, a more feminine and vulnerable color, but she also liked black, suggesting some mystery.

Leon was particularly drawn in by mysteries, he had fun in figuring people out the most.

Claire Redfield, for example, whom he’d met on his way to the city had to be a biker, possessed the jacket for one, and she was too soaked to be traveling by car and only being exposed to the rain after getting out of a vehicle. She had a tomboyish aura to her and possessed an SLS 60, a small revolver which could indicate that she was too young and was given one for the sake of self-defense only, it didn’t seem to him that it would be her first choice in handguns. Having a cop for a brother also must have toughened her up and Leon was a 100% sure Claire was taught by him (and that gun was probably something he’d given her); he was certain she could take care of herself even from the little he’d seen of her. Leon knew she’d make it to RPD eventually.

Vera here was a bit too emotionally volatile at the moment for him to do any definitive and conclusive deduction, but he had witnessed first hand that she used humor to distract herself. The hypothesis was that it was the best way to communicate with her, and he figured it could work when she was down as well. No harm in trying, right? Leon had to help her get it together somehow.

He took out the small notebook from his pocket and waved it towards her in a friendly manner. “Looking for this?”

Vera stared at the notebook first, and then at him, face judgmental in the most mocking way possible. “Did you just take that out of your ass?”

A-ha, Leon thought. So it’s humor. Figures. Of course she wouldn’t want to think about her suffering father right now. “I’ve got back pockets, you know.”

“I’m not touching something that was a layer away from your smelly, crusty asscrack.”

“Relax, it wasn’t in there.” Leon flipped through the pages, finding the lion statue scribble. His thumb brushed over a bloodstained fingerprint, left behind by Lt. Branagh. A flash of sadness hit him, but he pushed it down. He could use the distraction. “Besides, that’s not a practical storage method. That one's a lion.”

Vera snorted, turning the dial on the lock. “Maybe if you ran out of inventory. It’d stink, though.”

Leon blinked. “I’m not shoving bullets up my—what are we even talking about?” He couldn’t believe he was having this conversation during the apocalypse.

“That’s what I’m wondering,” Vera shot back, spinning the lock casually. “You started it.”

“Wait—no I didn’t.” Leon felt the heat spread all the way to the tip of his ears. Embarrassment rippled through him in waves, and he sought to change the topic. He had to change it right now. “The next one is a twig.”

Vera made it plain and apparent that she enjoyed his bashfulness, he’d give that to her just this once. It didn’t feel that great to be made fun of and he wanted to vehemently deny it wasn’t his intention to get gross with a person he just met — a girl, nonetheless, he wasn’t a guy like that, he sweared —, but if it made her feel a bit better, then he could just roll with it.

“There is no twig here,” Vera said, genuinely questioning. “You mean like dude, right? There is a lady?”

Oh god, no wonder she looked strange when he said the word, almost as if shocked he’d say that kind of thing so seriously. Leon snorted, biting inside his cheek so hard to not offend her, he really couldn’t stop that one. “Twig. Not twink.”

Vera froze. A couple seconds filled the silence. Leon had to physically try to fight the spasms of his diaphragm to not betray him. She raised one arm to him, pointer finger up. “Not a word.”

“I haven’t said anything.” Good. He didn’t crack.

“Your face is saying things.”

“This is how I usually look.”

“Like a twink, yeah.”

“You’re not winning this one,” he teased, good-natured in it, of course.

“I’ll get you eventually.” Vera turned away, huddling over the puzzle again, begrudgingly mumbling incoherent things that he caught, “Gonna twig these hands,” from. He had to take a few steps back and do a half-spin to not burst into laughter, Vera couldn’t see Leon do literal spins of struggle because her back was to him. They were in the middle of the literal zombie apocalypse, he’d witnessed tragedy left and right and still couldn’t recover, and this girl made him laugh. Actually laugh. What was wrong with him? Had his brain been fried that badly? He didn’t want to laugh, he really didn’t, there was nothing funny about the situation they were in, but he couldn’t help himself. It just bubbled up on its own and he felt terrible about it.

Eventually she spoke to him again, confused. “You sure you saw it correctly? No twig here either.” She had purposely emphasized the word.

“That can’t be.” Leon squinted to see the little doodle a bit better. Something made Vera chuckle a bit and it took that for him to realize he’d been making a face. Yet another minus point for charisma. “Yeah, it’s a twig.”

“Let me take a look.” Vera pinched the corner of the notebook and tilted it towards her, it didn’t escape Leon that she took great care in not touching him. Then, she slowly raised her head at him, there wasn’t much of a height difference between them, so her breath directly hit his face, and the smell of something fresh and spicy made him blink rapidly. That wasn’t gum. “Leon, that’s a branch.”

He recovered fast from the nice fragrance, and dumbly said, “Huh?”

“How do you mix a twig and a branch?” She returned back to the puzzle, flipping to the branch she was talking about.

“Does it make that much of a difference?”

“Twigs wouldn’t have leaves.”

“Oh, okay.” Leon said. It still didn’t make a difference to him, but that was fine. He was embarrassed again, but at least he had learned something new. “Alright, eagle next.”

She put the final symbol in, and the statue pushed the medallion forward from a latch that opened with an irritating, grating sound. “You’re not gonna fight me on that? Come on, where’s the spirit?” Vera let the bronze object fall to her hand, and almost dropped it in the process. “Damn, that’s heavy.”

“Well, if it’s a branch, it’s a branch.”

“Come on, fight me. Argue back, be a twig supremacist. You can’t be all sweet, all golden. Everybody has flaws.”

All sweet, all golden? Accomplishment and pride warmed Leon’s chest, they were jokes but if he was teased about it like this, there was some truth to the words Vera meant specifically. She thought good of him. “Thank you for the compliments.”

“I wasn’t complimenting.”

“If you say so,” Leon agreed as they descended the stairs.

“I’m calling you a goody two-shoes and a pushover.” Vera was trying to come off more persuasive in being received as an insulting individual. “Who can’t stand by his choices and defend them, by the way. That twig didn’t deserve to be abandoned like that.”

Leon stopped dead in his tracks, the stupid twig now a metaphor in his head for the lieutenant.

Vera also stopped, a couple steps above him, uneasy, tips of her nails scratching at the edges of the bronze medallion. “Hey, I’m just—“

“I know,” Leon said. “But you’re right.”

“I am?”

This girl didn’t need to be reminded of her father or have another aggravating discussion about the correct way to handle his condition. Leon would keep it lighthearted with Vera, do his best to keep her afloat and not at the bottom of her own sea of misery. Leon’s battle with Lt. Branagh was his own — yes, she was brutal about it in a way he didn’t expect being thrown his way, but Leon was really unable to disobey his superior even concerning his well-being when he should have taken the initiative. He had backed down so quickly, afraid of how he would be received, his nature was to aspire to do what the man wanted just for that immediate feeling of acceptance.

“Don't worry, I have no intentions of letting the twig down,” Leon said, melancholic, but giving her a smile anyways, and kept going down the stairs.

For a while, Vera didn’t follow him down, standing still like a ghost.

tags: @lottathoughts , @ocappreciationtag !!

#leon kennedy x oc #leon s kennedy x oc #leon s. kennedy x oc #resident evil oc #oc: vera kaplan #story: gravedigger #era: no time to die #resident evil fanfiction #ocappreciation #shai's writings

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aetheternity · 4 years ago

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Being a big brother when you've never been a big brother (800 follower special)

Synopsis: In which Levi's been dating you for a year and a half and gets the news that Kuchel is pregnant.

Introduction: In this Kuchel is 43. She had Levi as a teenager (17). Female reader and Levi haven't talked a lot about having babies yet. You two live together but haven't discussed it fully but you have told Levi you'd be open to the idea of having children while he was slightly on the fence.

• To say Levi is shocked is a monumentous understatement.

• When he gets the news that his mother was pregnant with his step father's baby he gets quiet.

• Doesn't say much.

• Well what would he say honestly?

• You on the other hand are spewing out baby names and bouncing in your seat while asking his mother about her plans for colors in the nursery.

• It's not surprising that he's distant. He's 26 and he just found out he's gonna be a big brother. He knows next to nothing about children as it is.

• Though eventually he warms to the idea and by warms I mean he becomes as helpful as possible in aiding his pregnant mother around. Buys her anything she wants/needs and goes on all the trips to buy clothes, toys etc for the baby's arrival.

• Even though he's still pretty quiet on his feelings about the whole situation.

"Babe?" You call to him one night as you're both getting ready for bed. He turns his head slightly to look at you. "Are you ok? I know this might take a lot more getting used to."

He sighs placing his tie on the dresser. "How would you feel?"

It's not said maliciously just curiously. Grey eyes fully scoping the lines of your face. "How would I-" You start and then stop, eyebrows raised and cheeks puffed. "Well.. I know you probably don't need to hear awkward."

He blinks turning his attention back to the mirror. "No! I'm sorry, Levi!" You gestured out to him with both hands and he sighs, walking over to you with light thumps on the carpet.

You laid back in bed and he slowly pulled himself over you. His hands on either sides of your shoulders, legs spread on either side of yours and head resting delicately on your chest. "It's gonna be ok. Look the first year of that kid's life is just them needing love and a bottle to suckle. Worry about the first year once they're born and everything else will fall perfectly into place."

Levi snorted against your skin, fingers lightly stroking the arms of your tee shirt. "Perfectly.."

"You know what I mean." You reply, pressing the smallest kiss against the top of his head. "I'll be by your side the entire time."

The only reply you get is a soft exhale. Levi's heart beat softly evens out and with your fingers curling through his gorgeous black hair he slowly falls asleep.

Finding out the baby's gender:

• When Levi finds out he's having a little brother he feels.. pretty much the same though apart of him is kinda sighing in relief at knowing he won't have to protect a little girl from nasty boys.

• You on the other hand are beaming, "Levi, you're gonna have a little brother! Isn't that great. Kuchel were you hoping for another little boy?"

• Kuchel smiles, "I wasn't too concerned with the gender just as long as they were healthy." She admitted "But I wouldn't have minded a girl, just to see what parenting the opposite gender would be like."

• Somehow the conversation of Levi's future baby brother turned into a conversation about you and Levi's possible future child and what you'd want your first kid to be.

• Levi didn't stay long when that started, promptly excusing himself and you found out almost three hours later that he'd taken a walk and ended up at home.

"Levi?" When you walked into your shared house he was laying on the couch with an arm over his face.

He slowly laid his arm out flat next to his body and you walked over to him cupping the hand closest to you.

"I was going to come back but.."

"You didn't?" You gave him a small smile running a finger over his cheek. He went quiet, eyes falling shut.

"Don't.." He sighs, eyebrows twitching on his forehead. "Don't start that thing you do.. you know when you worry about people.."

You scoff, "Well I am worried about you, I've never seen you look like this before."

His eyelids flutter open slightly, grey eyes flashing over to you through the slits. "You've thought about our future kid a lot?"

You blink, mouth hanging open, "I- well I.. wasn't ok I was it was just for Kuchel." You tried to laugh.

Levi's eyebrow raised, "No, you didn't tell me how much you really thought about it beyond our past conversations. You've thought about it more than you admitted so you might as well stop pretending."

He sits up on the couch, hands dangling between his spread legs. "Ok fine you win." You admit with a huff. "But with Kuchel and the baby and the baby shower and all it definitely wasn't the right time to revisit this conversation. I just couldn't help it."

His fingers come up to rest in your hair carding away any loose strands where they are on your face. "Looks like we have to discuss it again." He says

A couple weeks after the baby's actual birth:

• You and Levi had come over only a couple days after the birth of the youngest Ackerman.

• "I named him Chance." Kuchel had remarked, her eyes filled with light as she held one of the smallest things Levi had ever laid eyes on.

• "Chance?" You replied, slowly transferring the baby from her arms to yours.

• "Because he was a Chance baby. It was honestly a little worrisome having him since I'm getting up there you know. More of a risk." She laughed it off.

• You looked to her with a small smile. "He's gorgeous." Your smile only getting brighter as you held the small person in your arms. Watching as he softly sucked his pacifier.

• "Just like his big brother." You added, smirking in Levi's direction.

• "Tch." Was the only thing he could muster as he stared in any direction other than the one where his girlfriend was now holding his newborn brother.

• "Levi, don't you wanna hold him?" Kuchel asked her smile never fading.

• Now he felt himself look up. He looked first at Chance and then to you holding him so tight.

• "Come here." You whispered and like a startled deer Levi slowly surveyed the situation a little more before he was coming closer.

• He inched his way down right in front of you and Kuchel, plopping down on the coffee table. Eyes locked on Chance's currently closed eyelids.

• "Not yet right?" You said to him

• He looked up at you then back to baby Chance.

• "Yeah.. not yet." You confirmed

☆☆☆☆

• You'd been right about one thing all Chance needed was love and a bottle to suckle..

• It just for whatever reason wasn't allowed to come from Levi.

• He'd hold Chance, he'd cry.

• Kuchel would hand him his sleeping brother while she got his dinner ready. He'd wake up and scream bloody murder.

• And at this point Chance had successfully: Peed on, spit on and thrown up on Levi.

• And all with the same blissfully smug expression.

"Don't get discouraged, Levi." Kuchel said soothingly "He's just not comfortable with you yet." She explained as she rocked Chance in her arms.

"You did talk to him the least while Kuchel was pregnant. Maybe it has something to do with that?" You tried with a shrug.

"All I know is I'm sick of being covered in his different bodily fluids." Levi huffed

"Awwww. Barely a year old and the brothers are fighting already." You giggled, Kuchel quickly joining in on your laughter.

Levi just rolled his eyes. He felt a little pang in his chest as he looked at his sleeping brother. No one else got nearly as much shit from this kid as he did. But it couldn't possibly be a personal attack the kid was less than one year old what could he possibly know about fights with his brother?

You and Levi take one year old Chance to the park:

• It was comfort weather.

• The perfect kind of weather to take Chance to the park on a crisp Saturday when you both were off from work.

• And a part of Levi was sort of glad for this opportunity.

• Kuchel and his step dad had gone out for pizza and here he was with you and his brother.

• It was surprising to Levi how lively Chance was: trying to push the hood of his stroller up and messing with the buckle strapping him in.

• Felt like just yesterday he couldn't hold his own head up.

• "Alright Chance. Come here." You giggled, gently pulling him out of the stroller with Levi's help.

• You guys had a little set up going in the shade under a tree. Blanket, Chance's toys and his sippy cup all sprawled over the space.

• You handed Levi a red donut shaped toy and told him, "Hold it out for Chance, he loves this game."

• "Chance look." You said as Levi held the toy up to a distracted Chance.

• Unsurprisingly the first thing he did was cry.

• "Here let me try." You offered, pulling the toy from Levi's grasp.

• The second you took the toy and held it in front of Chance his smile practically touched his ears and he leaned forward trying to grab it with his hands and then his mouth.

"You're doing great." You praised, pulling Chance onto his legs.

Levi just sighed, "Anything else?"

You pointed to the ball with one finger, still bouncing Chance. "He loves that squeaky thing."

Levi looked in the direction of the small toy, yanking it up off the blanket. He held it up giving it a little squeeze in front of Chance. It drew his attention surprisingly fast and he watched Levi's hand as he squeezed it again.

He was so weirdly enamored by such a normal item it was honestly really cute. A warmth spread through Levi's chest as you smiled at him in his peripherals.

"You want this?" Levi asked, holding it out for Chance.

Your smile stretched over your face as Chance reached for it. Little legs working to get him closer to the ball in Levi's grasp.

"That's it." You cheered softly. "Good job."

It wasn't clear who the compliment was directed towards but Levi was too distracted by Chance's little hands trying desperately to pull the object from his grasp. You still had your hands around Chance to support him as he finally grabbed the ball at a weird angle. The object immediately meeting his mouth.

"Yay, you got it." You said, bouncing Chance lightly. "See now you guys are-"

Chance turned in your grasp, the ball plopping onto the grass with an almost inaudible thud. Unfortunately Levi didn't account for Chance to bend over at the same time as him trying to pick up the ball and his nail came down on Chance's forehead. Not hard enough to leave a mark but hard enough for Chance to scream at the top of his lungs as if he'd been stabbed instead.

"Wait no!" You gasped, picking up the ball.

"Shit." Levi sucked his teeth.

"Levi!"

Luckily Chance probably didn't hear either of that thanks to his loud screaming. You tried to give him back the ball only to have it smacked from your grasp. The tiny object tumbling down the hill as you tried and failed to coax Chance down.

Thankfully Levi reacted fast grabbing it before it could roll too far away.

"Is he alright?" Levi tried as you rocked him back and forth.

You giggled, "Yeah, he's a drama queen you know that." It didn't seem to really help though. Levi's features scrunched and his shoulders unnaturally hunched. "Let's take him for a little walk, maybe then he'll calm down."

☆☆☆☆

It took around thirty minutes of walking and rolling Chance's stroller through the once quiet park for him to finally tucker himself out.

Levi huffed as you and him plopped down on the nearest park bench. You rifled through the bag pushing the hood of Chance's stroller up before placing his blue bucket hat on his head. Which perfectly matched his blue overalls and blue socks.

"Sorry." You finally heard him mutter as you pushed pretty brown locks out of Chance's eyes.

"It's not your fault." You replied "I promise Chance is just being himself he probably would've cried that hard if I or anyone else had scratched him too."

Levi said nothing. Just watched as you pushed the brim of the hat up. With a little click you fastened it to the front of his hat. Chance's soft features in full view. The little froggy on his green shirt moving with every breath he took. But Levi could only watch.

"Hey, look here." Your cheeks were puffed out as you yanked Levi's face toward yours. "He's gonna warm to you." You said with softened features. "You're doing such a good job." You praise.

The edges of Levi's eyebrows slowly relax and he lets his chest flow with air like he hadn't done since he made Chance scream earlier. The corners of his lips lift a little and he sits back as you push the stroller back and forth with one arm.

Before he can even think about it he spills the awe flowing in his eyes, "You'd make a great mom."

When you smile at him it makes his heart sink. You slowly turn your attention back to a sleeping Chance and he moves in a little closer.

"If there's.. some future where I actually have a child. I want you to carry my babies."

Your eyes are blown a bit, mouth agape as you look back at him. "Levi.." You start but are immediately cut off by a soft aww from two passing women.

"He's adorable." One says, staring into the open stroller.

"You guys are the cutest parents." Says the other.

"O-oh.. I.. we're actually just babysitting him." You struggle

"Still he's cute." Says women number two bending down to have the same view as her friend.

"Thank you." You practically choke. Eventually they leave and you run a shaky hand through your surprisingly sweaty hair.

"Levi." You start before he can get the chance. "I want you to be sure. Ok, I mean we went from Chance being a drama queen to you saying you want me to have your kids?"

"I didn't mean to say it here." Levi admitted "I did mean it though. You weren't the only one thinking while Kuchel was pregnant."

You give him a little kiss on the nose, brushing your finger over the tip of his ear. "It would be a huge step. We're not even married."

Levi nods, "Someday.."

"Someday."

Family beach day? Family beach day:

• Mikasa had come cause this was her first time getting to meet Chance.

• There were lots of firsts actually. It was also Chance's first time on the beach.

• Chance instantly loved Mikasa the second she held him.

• Soft laughter and a bright smile flooding his face.

• Kuchel and Levi both spent as much time as possible under the beach umbrella.

• You spread sunscreen on Chance's body while Mikasa distracted him by showing him how to make a sandcastle.

• Cue you also trying to get some pictures for Kuchel to hang on the family wall she had back home only for Chance to turn away every time.

• Which he genuinely thought was the most hilarious thing ever.

• And in all the time you'd known Mikasa you'd never seen her smile so much.

• "Is it.. possible it's Chance?" You asked while Chance threw any and all the sand that could fit in his tiny fists.

• She just playfully rolled her eyes, handing Chance the shovel. Which he didn't know what to do with so he just resorted to shaking it around till it flew from his grasp.

• "That's such an Ackerman response." You chirped reaching for the discarded shovel.

• You were more than a little surprised when Levi's uncle Kenny showed up. Slamming the door of his kidnapper van closed.

• "Woah Kenny came?" You asked Levi as you sat on the edge of his beach chair.

• You, Mikasa and Chance had all decided to take a break from shell collecting to come up and eat lunch.

• Kuchel laughed at your surprise. "He hasn't met Chance yet." She explained

• "Ahh." You replied

• Chance seemed.. confused by Kenny.

• His only response to Kenny holding him being a blank stare.

• Kenny didn't seem to notice though as he yapped on about the time he accidentally put Levi in the washing machine.

• "You what?" Kuchel gasped

• "It wasn't on!" Kenny explained

• "If me and Levi aren't free to babysit please try Mikasa." You whispered to her.

• Chance spent most of his time after that resting in Mikasa's lap while she rubbed his back and hair.

• Cue Kuchel trying to get Levi to help her put a fussy Chance down for a small nap a couple hours later.

• Which unsurprisingly made Chance more fussy.

• Though the second Levi left, Chance drifted off on the towel in their tent.

• Mikasa made Chance a seashell crown 🥺

• It was a little big so it slipped off his head when he turned a certain way but he laughed whenever she'd place it back on his head.

• Mikasa had been a little on the fence about it but you had basically insisted on getting Levi to take Chance to the water.

• Unsurprisingly Mikasa wasn't the only one on the fence.

"He's having fun with you and Mikasa so you should be the ones that take him down there." Levi argued

"Oh come on Levi! It'll be fun."

Mikasa bounced a calm Chance in her arms as he played with the seashell crown she'd made for him. "He hasn't been with his big brother all day because you've been sitting here reading a book." Mikasa tried but it was only successful in getting Levi to suck his teeth.

"You know I don't wanna go anywhere near the water Y/N." He replied

Finally you got bored and peeled the book from Levi's grasp a cold stare greeting you when he looked up. "You can just go into the water for five minutes with Chance, please! Just so I can take a few pictures and he can get a feel of the water and then you can give him back to me and Mikasa and return to your book."

You could see the gears working in Levi's head as he looked over at a happy looking Chance. His red striped shirt covered in sand which Mikasa was happily dusting off. You already knew exactly what he was thinking but you didn't actually have to say anything because he was slowly rising from his chair:

"Mikasa give Chance to Levi." You said, holding your camera out as Levi reached for a distracted Chance.

Mikasa's arm came up to Chance's back, "Shouldn't I carry him to the water?" She tried

You tilted your head, "Mikasa.."

She finally relinquished Chance, handing him over as if she were fearful Levi would drop him. Levi looked down at the small boy in his arms mildly comforted in the fact that he didn't immediately cry, scream or pee on him.

"Come on guys let's get to the water." You called beckoning to them.

"I'm fine to carry him, I've done it before." Levi assured her as Chance looked behind him towards where they were headed.

"I'm not really worried about you." Mikasa replied, looking down at Chance who was now kicking his legs against Levi's sides.

When you'd all arrived near the water Chance was in awe. His bright grey eyes practically blown and his mouth hung open. He nearly dropped the seashell crown in his arms. Luckily Mikasa scooped it up before it fell.

"Look at this Chance." You cooed gesturing to the water. "Isn't it beautiful?"

Chance responded with glee reaching his arms out toward the huge body of water. He bounced up and down, hands out as he grasped onto nothing.

"He loves it!" You chuckled, carding your fingers through his gorgeous brown hair.

"Armin's gonna love him." Mikasa said, rubbing Chance's belly.

"Ok, quick get him over here while the water is calm." You gestured to the flowing sea and Levi placed him down, holding his waist awkwardly.

You lowered the camera in your grasp, "Come on big brother sit with him, make it look like you're really having fun at the beach with him." You gestured and Levi begrudgingly sat.

He looked back over to you and you gestured again to the water coaxing Levi into splashing water on Chance who was currently staring out over the huge body of water in delight.

Unlike Chance who was actually wearing water shorts Levi was not. He'd come to the beach in cargo shorts because he hadn't planned on sitting on anything but a beach chair or a towel. So now that he was wading uncomfortably in barely ankle deep water his shorts probably looked like he'd pissed or shit himself.

Though he still followed your advice, flicking a tiny bit of water in Chance's direction. It worked surprisingly well because Chance's attention immediately caught on to Levi sitting in front of him.

"Good job baby." You cooed as you snapped picture after picture. Meanwhile Mikasa crossed her arms as if she were waiting for Levi to mess up so she could jump in.

Chance's lips curved up slow and before Levi or anyone could react he lifted his legs slamming them down hard. Water flying all over Levi in the process. It made Chance guffaw and he did it again this time with his hands forcing Levi to shield his eyes from the assault.

"Chance stop it that's not nice." You called but Chance continued smacking and splashing every bit of sea water that flowed between his legs onto Levi.

And for someone who'd never played with water he was way too good at understanding how to get the most water with each scoop. Drenching Levi until Mikasa stepped in to stop it.

"Chance, that's not funny." She said, her features cold. "If you can't play nice in the water, you can't play in the water.

That seemed to strike a cord in him. His breath hitching as tears flowed down his little cheeks. He clung to Mikasa and sobbed until she reached up to rub his back.

"Are you ok?" You asked Levi as he spit ocean water. His hair clinging to his face.

"I just wanna take a shower." He admitted, though his jaw was locked as he spoke.

His hoodie was drenched and his shorts had turned dark brown all over. He walked a little bit faster than you and Mikasa as you both made it back to Kuchel and Kenny.

"Oh God what happened?" Kuchel asked immediately grabbing a towel while Kenny laughed.

"Chance happened." You answered for Levi as he dried his head first stripping his wet hoodie off to reveal his bare chest.

Kuchel looked to Chance who was now innocently sucking his thumb, his head laid on Mikasa's chest.

"I guess his first time in the water was interesting." She sighed

"I got some good pictures before things hit the fan. I'll send them to you." You said, showing her the first couple pictures you had pulled up of Levi and Chance sitting in the ocean together.

"Thank you so much Y/N."

Chance's first words:

• Chance had said his first words when he was 6 almost 7 months old.

• And barely anything else since.

• He really was an Ackerman.

• Every now and then he'd say little things: Ball, Mashed Potatoes (cause they're his favorite food) And TV.

• And of course names which he was pretty good at.

• But the only name he refused to say was Levi.

"Alright Chance you remember your big brother's name right?" Kuchel asked, Chance looked up from his block fort. Kuchel pointed to Levi who was calmly drinking tea and surveying the scene. "Levi." She said

Chance blinked then went back to his block fort. "He has to say it eventually right?" You asked Kuchel as you handed Chance another block.

"He's being stubborn and yes he has to." She replied squeezing Chance's waist.

Chance's eyes rolled to the sky as he placed the block you'd given him next to the tower of blocks that he'd already built.

"When did he learn that?" You huffed in surprise.

"Same time he learned the s-word probably." Kuchel sighed when you gasped she laughed a little. "Stupid." She explained still laughing.

"Oh! Oh."

The two of you continued to laugh as Chance rearranged the tower he'd built knocking it over in the process.

"Chance I believe a smart two year old like you can say a name like Levi I mean you got Mikasa down." You say

"He calls her Mika actually." Kuchel replied

You hum and Chance puffs, "Don't wanna."

He finally gets the block tower to look at least slightly how he wanted it seemingly. He slowly leans back like he's trying to get a better view.

"That's amazing Chance." Kuchel applauds with a soft gasp.

"Good job sweetie." You chime in

"It's not bad." Levi says to which Chance is rolling his eyes again.

"What are you gonna call it?" You ask hoping it'll cut the tension you can feel growing.

Chance peers at it then opens his mouth but before he can say anything he looks at Levi who's staring back. And slowly but surely that slow moving grin works its way onto his features.

"Stupid Levi!" He exclaims with a laugh before taking a block and smashing the whole thing in.

"Chance!" Kuchel huffs

"That's one stubborn kid.." You say with a sigh as Kuchel takes Chance to the punishment chair.

Emergency in babysitting (in which Levi gets high but Kuchel needs to drop off Chance because she has an emergency to take care of.):

{This is based off some headcanons I read for Levi when he's high. If I ever manage to find the post again I'll link it here.}

• You'd forgotten how clingy Levi got when he was high.

• He hummed into the fat of your waist as you sat still trying to watch TV on low volume.

• His leg shaking a little every couple minutes.

• Your fingers slowly carding through his head as his eyes stayed shut tight.

• At some point the doorbell rang and you tried to pull yourself out of Levi's grasp thinking he was sleeping.

• "Where are you going?" He almost whined, pulling himself up on his knees and crawling to you.

• "The doorbell baby. I promise I'm coming back." You said giving him a small kiss on the cheek.

• "W- OK.. I'll wait here." He sat on the edge of the bed, kicking his legs a little.

• You can't help how hard you smile, "I'll be back, I promise."

• The second you open the door you're bombarded with words and Levi's step-dad holding his nose.

• "Oh God what happened?" You asked

• "I need someone to watch Chance for a couple hours while we go to the hospital. He fell on one of Chance's toys while he was carrying some boxes and.." She gestured absently, handing Chance over

• "Sure, no problem." You replied "Hope you feel better." You said to Levi's step-dad.

• Kuchel quickly handed you a bag of Chance's stuff before hurrying off with Levi's step-dad.

• You shut the door with a sigh just as Levi came down the stairs, "You said you'd be back." He huffed

• "I'm sorry, listen your step-dad is going to the hospital so we have Chance for the night." You explained

• You honestly couldn't tell what Levi or Chance's faces meant but both boys seemed to be in silent agreement.

• "Are you hungry Chance?" You asked as he sucked his thumb laying his head on your chest.

• "Mashed Potatoes." He nodded

• "Yeah? OK let me get you some."

Levi followed you into the kitchen and watched you as you placed Chance in the high chair you guys had for when he visited.

"I know, you want to sleep off your high baby just give me a few minutes to get Chance fed and asleep." You offered

Levi nodded but he stayed by your side as you grabbed the box with mashed potato mix in it and got to work putting it in a pot with some water and butter.

"You don't want anything else babes? Just mashed potatoes?" You called to the small boy kicking his legs behind you.

He nodded, "mashed potatoes." He repeated with a kick of his legs.

You managed somehow to get the food cooking while Levi clung to you like a puppy. His gaze soft whenever you met his eyes. His hands in your shorts pockets and arms coming up to meet your waist.

"You know Chance, mashed potatoes are more of a side." You explained

Chance shook his head, he glanced over at Levi who was still holding onto you like he was worried you'd fly away or something. Which immediately sparked tears, he shoved at the tray in front of him screaming your name and reaching out for you.

"Ok, ok please don't cry Chance!" You shouted over his crying when you picked him up, he instantly stopped, yanking you closer to press a kiss to the side of your face before snuggling into your shoulder.

"Aww Chance." You patted his back giving him a kiss back on his forehead.

"I want kisses, please." Levi said bouncing on his tippy toes.

You quickly gave him a forehead kiss as well and he calmed down enough to rock against you, "I hope you're still this cute when you're holding my children." He sighs.

(Ok so I reached the post number limit. Might make a P2 of this let's see how this one does first.)

#aot x reader #attack on titan #shingeki no kyoujin x reader #levi ackerman x reader #snk x reader #levi x reader #levi ackerman #levi x y/n #aot imagines #levi ackerman headcanons #levi ackerman fluff #snk levi #aot headcanons #aot au #kuchel ackerman #kenny ackerman #cal writes

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