#but ME in charge of the shop.. yikes honestly

[possum-tooth]

PAY RAISE FOR WORKING SATURDAYS??

[maaikeatthefullmoon]

This week I have mostly been reading...

May 20-26th, 2024

Hooray, I’ve managed it for the second week in a row! *If you have written/illustrated one of the works I've mentioned and I've not tagged you, please let me know!*

Completed works I've read this week:

Under Construction by @summerofspock Rated E – Honestly, this one can be summed up by the rather excellent tags ‘there was only one wifi’, ‘weaponized coziness’, ‘erotic woodchopping’ and ‘emotionally significant flannel’ (as in the shirt, not the miniature towel for cleaning one’s self…). It’s cosy, it’s Hallmarkian, it’s disaster puppy Crowley, and Aziraphale has a beard. 10/10 no notes.

Temporal Adjustment by @ukcalico & @vavoom-sorted-art Rated E – Written by Calico to accompany the ever-wonderful vavoom’s art, it’s a Post S1 Ritz scene which plays with time and some *very* spicy scenes. Three chapters of mild D/s content – mind the tags if you’re new to that world.

Sweet Dreams: A Companion Fic by @sixbynine-da & @vavoom-sorted-art Rated E – went down a vavoom rabbit hole, which is truly a delightful hole to go down…pun erm…not intended? But perhaps it was. Anyway. The tags initially had me hesitant to read this one (blood drinking, blood as lube) but it was a much more minor point than I was worried about and it ended up being a beautifully accepting, tender, loving story. I shed a couple of tears at this one.

You Can Stay At My Place, If You Like by AstroGirl Rated T – A lovely, touching piece about the moment A & C switch corporations/bodies and get to experience each other’s thoughts and feelings. Both POVs are written throughout the story, which adds a richness and emotion to it.

If It Looks Like A Duck, And Buzzes Like A Duck, It’s A Sex Toy by @quefish77 Rated M – Look at me bring the tone down after the last recommendation, but ho hum. This one had me weeping with laughter. Once again, the tags tell the story for me: ‘Look if you’re here for medical advice I got bad news for you’, If you don’t say WTF and laugh at least 3 times I’ve failed’, ‘Tags Are Fun’, ‘How many will you read before you roll your eyes and read the fic?, ‘Congratulations! You made it to the end of the tags’, ‘I lied there are more tags’. Yes…there were more tags. I laughed continuously throughout the entire fic, so I’m not sure if that counted as more than three times, and I read all the tags before I started reading, but I can guarantee this does not disappoint, but then none of Quefish’s work ever does if you’re looking for humour.

Aziraphale’s Diaries series by azzfell & @fellshish Rated T – This is a four-part series of humorous, fluffy diary entries written by A. 1. Empirical study on the principles of snake care – A tries to look after C as you would a snake…be ready to cringe and facepalm and giggle 2. Experiments of an angel who has read entirely too much fanfic – A finds fanfic. Tries some of what he’s read on C. Yikes. 3. How to be a demon: a brief history of the Arrangement – I can’t describe it any better than the authors’ description: “The Arrangement: the hard and challenging life of an angel who tries to make a demon do good deeds, and in turn has to perform temptations and wear devilishly sexy outfits.” 4. Adventures of a mystery shopper in the bookshop – this was by far my favourite. A puts C in charge of the bookshop…and then mystery shops. I laughed. And laughed. And laughed.

Lit by @fellshish Rated T – C decides to take a Uni course on literature (for absolutely no reason whatsoever…definitely not because he wants to impress a certain angel with his literary knowledge, nope, nuh uh)…but it turns out to be slightly different to what he was expecting…and they’re discussing Good Omens. Shit.

If You Touch Me You’ll Understand What Happiness Is by locketofyourhair Rated E – It’s no secret I like a bit of angst. You need only read what I write to get smacked round the side of the head with it. This one’s got it in spades. C confesses their love for A – repeatedly – through time. To keep them safe, A erases the memory of the confession each time. But A never forgets. Ouch. It does have a happy ending, though. Phew.

Lace And Gold Braid by @elsajeni Rated M – After rescuing A from the Bastille, C went to bed for 70 years. He never actually said he was sleeping. This fic goes into lots of delicious detail about A’s slutty, slutty outfit. The imagery is really well written and it has a podfic!

WIPs which have updated this week (which I devour as soon as I get the update!)

There Is A Light And It Never Goes Out by @phoen1xr0se Rated M - A is a researcher (puffins!), C is a lighthouse keeper on the island where A has run away to to escape his problems and do his research. The author has recently spent a week studying puffins - which is the ultimate dedication, if you ask me. Ch 9/26 posted this week

Find The Light by @klikandtuna Rated E - Headmaster A and Rockstar C. The story teases out a fraught history between them whilst keeping a tension between them in the modern day. Ch 6/? posted this week.

Terminus by @emotional-support-demon-crowley Rated T - Astronaut A is guided back to Earth by controller C after 92 years in space. There are many difficulties both of them have to face and they develop an amazing rapport. Ch 16/17 posted this week.

Oddity by @tsyvia48 Rated E - Actor C is contracted by (useless) Gabriel to guest curate an exhibition at the museum where A works. After getting off on the wrong foot, can they work together to pull off this show? Ch 23/26 posted this week (note increased chapter count!)

Under The Summer Stars by @pannotbread Rated E - This wonderful fic has taught me more about physics than school ever did (mostly because I never did any physics, but...well). A & C have to share their time at an observatory because there is Only One Telescope. Not only will you learn about astrophysics, astrobiology, and astroecology, you'll also read some of the most poetically, beautifully written masturbation scenes I've ever seen. *ahem* Ch 7/13 posted this week.

Exodus2 by @tismrot Rated E – Human AU set in a dystopian future. The summary says it best, really: Ezra studies programming at the University of ha-Gan. He’s as determined as he is damaged, as fastidious as he is precise, and likes to believe he'll stop at nothing to achieve his goals. His beliefs are challenged when a new student appears late to the first Ethics module lecture - and his life is changed forever. It's the future, it's dystopian, it's cyber and it's punk. It's political, grimy and slick with tears, lube and chemical snot. TW: Sex, drugs, trauma. Ch 28/35 posted this week.

Free by well, me: imposterssyndrome Rated E - A & C meet (again?) in an acute mental health ward after both having had mental health crises. A runs a bookshop but is very much under his parents' control. C has been homeless since childhood and has struggled his entire life. They do not trust each other when they first meet, but feel strangely drawn to one another all the same. Where will this lead them? This is a passion piece for me. There is a lot of lived experience in it, and extensive research from both professionals and peers. It has been a real journey for me to write it, and as I'm coming closer to the end it's becoming very emotional for me. Ch 45/? posted this week

Want more recommendations? This is last week's list.

[moonbeamwritings]

Imagine a scenario based off a dream I had, modern AU where DIO is like 28 a single father, Lawyer to the Stars on the Coast of California with little 7 year old Giorno.

The Reader, Tired- maybe coming off an over night shift, half asleep is casually walking down the busy sidewalk, catches sight of a distracted Giorno not waiting at the cross walk (on his Gameboy or something) and in an instantly the reader pulls Giogio out of the way of an on passing car.

Boom. Dio saw it all and starts scolding Gio. I woke up after that bit.

Point is... I wonder what would have happened next 🤔😕😳

this is cool as hell, anon. cool. as. hell. i’m here for it and i will definitely try to deliver !! it got very out of hand, but i hope you enjoy!! 

part 2

Your day had been long, having worked open to close at the coffee shop down the street from your apartment. As your shift came to an end, you blearily worked through the closer checklist, puttering around the store as you cleaned and closed everything down. With one last turn of a key, you finally, finally, began your trek home.

As you came up to the crosswalk, you noticed a little boy toddling along, gaming system in hand as he went. He was so wrapped up in his game that he barely gave the busy street a second thought as he stepped a foot off the curb.

It was like you were watching the situation in slow motion, his foot moving at a snail’s pace right in front of a moving car. Acting on adrenaline alone, suddenly far more awake than you’d ever felt in your life, you gripped the handle of his backpack to yank him up and into your arms.

With him back on the sidewalk, you placed him back on his feet as you knelt in front of him. “Jeez kiddo, you alright? You have to pay better attention around here.”

As the small boy opened his mouth to say something, a man with a thick british accent came hustling over. “Giorno! How many times do I have to tell you to put that thing away when you’re walking?”

The man, who you could only assume was his father, pulled the device from the boy’s hand before lifting him up into his arms. “Don’t do that again.”

His son nodded meekly, eyes shifting down to his father’s shoes.

“I’m sorry about him. I thought he was right next to me.”

You waved the man off as your gaze finally moved to meet his. He was handsome, like something out of a fairytale, all muscle with perfectly styled blond hair and an impeccable, no doubt expensive, suit. In the back of your mind, you felt as if you’d seen him before, but, being unable to place it, you brushed the thought away.

Saving yourself the embarrassment of ogling at the man for too much longer, you excused yourself. “It’s no problem. Have a nice night you two.”

With the situation over with, you continued your walk home.

Upon your arrival, you did everything you could to decompress: showering, changing, and situating yourself on your couch to watch mindless television. As you flicked through channel after channel, you finally landed on a celebrity gossip station, half listening as the host worked through this week’s hot topics.

You rolled your eyes.

She went on to describe yet another celebrity’s messy divorce, among other criminal charges apparently. Your attention was quickly piqued, though, when a familiar face flashed onto your screen. There he was a perfect combination of muscle, confidence, and style.

Dio Brando.

The man whose child you’d saved, who you’d embarrassingly checked out in a tired stupor, was Dio Brando. It took everything in you not to bring a hand up to smack at your own forehead. No wonder you’d recognized him, he was any celebrity’s dream lawyer and had his own fair share of scandals and nonsense. 

Yikes.

With one final look at the man in question, you changed the channel, hardly able to bear the gritty details of a court case you didn’t care about.

The whole incident with him and his son became nothing more than a blip in your day-to-day life, telling a few work friends and leaving it at that. Did you sometimes check Dio’s Instagram out of what you explained away as genuine curiosity? Well, yeah, but you were only human after all.

The weekend after your run-in with the famous lawyer, you were tasked with another long shift slaving over coffee orders and dealing with rude customers. The moment the morning rush ended, you jumped at the chance to take your lunch break, situating yourself in a corner of the café. You watched as only a few customers filtered in and out, thankful that the worst of the day was now over.

Losing yourself in your Twitter feed, you mindlessly sipped at a cup of tea as the remaining time of your break ticked away, only snapping back to reality at the sound of a familiar voice.

“Mind if I join you?” Looking up from your phone, you locked eyes with Dio. 

“Oh! Uh, sure!”

You watched as he delicately sat himself in the chair across from you, ankle perched on his knee as he shot you an unwavering smirk. As he got situated, he stuck a hand in your direction.

“Dio Brando.”

Biting back a snarky quip about how narcissistic his introduction alone made him seem, you gently placed your hand in his as you gave him your name.

“I wanted to thank you again for what you did for my son.”

“It’s really no problem. I think anyone would have done the same.”

He eyed you carefully, fingers dancing against the mug in front of him. “So, what do you want?”

“Excuse me?”

“As repayment.” He explained like it was the most obvious thing in the world. “Do you want money?” Dio leaned across the table to mumble, “Sex, maybe? I don’t like leaving debts unpaid.”

A look of disgust crossed your face as you put both your phone and drink down on the table, moving to sit on your hands to resist the urge to smack him upside the head. “What are you talking about? I don’t want anything. I was being nice. You don’t need to pay anyone off for being nice.”

“Hmm,” He seemed deep in thought, eyes drifting up and down your face, lingering on your lips for only a split second, “nothing at all? You do know who I am, don’t you?”

With your break coming to an end and your patience wearing thin, you started to collect your things. “Look, pretty boy, I don’t really care who you are. You’re honestly kind of insufferable. I helped your son because he was in trouble. I don’t want your money and I don’t want to have sex with you.”

You hadn’t meant to be quite that biting, but you couldn’t help yourself. How dare he come into your work, assume that he owed you something, and then have the audacity to tease you about it? What the fuck?

“Pretty boy?”

“I need to get back to work. I’d really appreciate it if you didn't come back in here if you’re just going to pull more of this shit.”

Without sparing him a second glance, you made your way back behind the counter, placing your stuff in the back before returning to your place at the register. By the time you returned, he was gone. Good riddance.

You could only assume how warped his worldview was if he genuinely thought he needed to pay you off for helping his son. A creeping feeling of sympathy worked its way into your brain, but was quickly swatted away by the image of his smug smile.

You didn’t see him again for another week, this time armed with a grin that was a little less playful and a little more genuine, almost sheepish.

Taking his order with little fuss, you got to work pouring his coffee and adding specific ingredients. He attempted to make idle conversation with you, asking about your day and how you’d been doing with work. You humored him, if only to be polite, answering his questions with little enthusiasm.

Days passed much the same way. Dio would come in, make small talk, and then leave. No further incidents like that first meeting, no more overt attempts at getting in your pants. Nothing.

It was all… strange, to put it simply. It was like dealing with two different people: the overconfident, well-dressed Dio Brando versus the charming single dad Dio. You were left conflicted, wrestling the two images in your mind to decide how you truly saw Dio.

One night, he’d offered to walk you home after another of your late shifts with the promise that he’d get up to no funny business, as you’d put it. The conversation had lulled as you both became enraptured with the noises of the city, your faces bathed in warm neon lights. The silence was nice, welcomed even, as you thought about how to phrase your feelings.

You’d come to like Dio, in your own silly little way. You had memorized his order, knew more about his job and his son, knew him more intimately than you had ever expected to, but one question remained. One question loomed in your brain, clouding any positive thoughts you may otherwise have: Why? Why did he suddenly come into your work? Why did he take such a liking to you? Was it all a ruse, a sick way of finally repaying you?

“You look like you’re about to throw up.” He commented lightly, watching as a crease formed between your eyebrows, as your face twisted in discomfort.

“I-” You took a deep breath, looking anywhere but at him in order to actually get the question out. “Dio, can I ask you something?”

“Of course.” He spoke earnestly, eyes still tracing over your side profile.

“Why?”

“Why what? You’re going to need to be more specific.”

“Why would you keep coming into the store after I told you off? I just can’t shake this feeling that you’re still… ugh,” you groaned as the words left your mouth, deciding that this was actually a very bad idea, “I don’t know, buttering me up. Like this is all some dream where I’ll wake up to you laughing in my face, telling me that you were only being nice to me to repay me or sleep with me or something.”

Wordlessly, Dio grasped your arm and led you under the awning of a nearby business, not really wanting to stop sidewalk traffic with whatever confession he may find himself making. He looked deathly serious, like you’d just promised to ruin his entire life. Maybe, with all of your questioning, you had.

“Look,” he sighed, “Did I initially come in with the intention of repaying you by whatever means necessary? Yes and I think we both know that, but it’s different now.”

He paused, clearly choosing his next words very carefully. “You’re one of the only people to actually try to put me in my place, to show me that I was being an asshole. It’s different with you. Hell, you kept me up that night. I couldn’t get you out of my head. It was like you were haunting me, driving me crazy. I had to get to the bottom of why I was so taken with you.”

You felt your mouth drop open at his admission, feeling as though your feet were swept right out from under you, sending you tumbling, “Oh.”

“Oh.” Dio mimicked, his voice lilting up to tease you. “Does that answer your question?”

“Uh, I-... Yeah, I guess it does.”

“Good then let’s go.” He tugged you along, guiding you back out onto the sidewalk and towards your apartment. Dio’s hand didn’t leave yours until you arrived at your doorstep.

“Goodnight.” It was quick, uttered as soon as his hand left yours as he moved to turn around and make his own way home.

“Wait, where are you going?”

“Home. I have a kid, remember?”

“Well, of course I remember, but don’t you want to hear what I have to say?”

The smile that graced his face was nothing short of teasing, a small quirk of his lips as he looked you up and down. “Only if it’s interesting.”

“Ugh,” you grumbled, stomping down the stairs of your apartment complex to come face-to-face with Dio, “you’re relentless.”

“So I’ve been told.” He watches as your lip twitches in annoyance. God, did he love to push your buttons. “Spit it out, then. What’s still on your mind? Eager to ask me more questions?”

In lieu of a verbal retort, you took his face in your hands and all but yanked him down to connect your lips with his, eager to finally shut him up. His response was immediate, moving his lips against yours as a hand weaved around your waist, another resting just above your ass.

As you moved to break away, his lips followed yours, pressing another needy kiss to your mouth. Finally satiated, he pulled back to take in the dazed expression on your face.

“I do have one question.”

Dio let out a barking laugh that had him pulling you closer, gripping at your waist, “What is it?”

“Is sex off the table now that you’re not trying to repay me or-?”

He rolled his eyes, leaning in so his lips barely touched yours as he spoke. “I’m sure we can figure something out.”

[eagehaunting]

Mystery March 2021 day 4: Storm

Thank god Arthur let her borrow the van while he worked today. It made it so much easier to load up her small apartment and ship it to their new home- and in only three trips! Vivi bounces lightly in the drivers seat, glancing around and checking over the van one more time to be sure she got every box inside. Who knows how much stuff Arthur had to pack. He had his tools and his cork boards, along with his mattress and television... it would probably take them three-to-four trips at most. Knowing Arthur, they would probably be smushed together in the front seat because he’d pack the van to the brim!

There wasn’t a single box left, mind for a hanger or two. Perfect! Vivi starts the van and eases herself out of their new driveway, and hurriedly begins to drive down the road.

Thankfully Kingsmen’s mechanics wasn’t too far. Vivi leans over the wheel to take in the dark, heavy clouds that began to circle in the last hour. It shouldn’t take too long to get everything in order, but they should at least try to beat the rain.

Next thing she knew, she was pulling up behind the mechanics shop, and a familiar blond man props the back door open.

“Hey there, stranger!” Vivi calls as she shuffles out, quickly skipping to open the van’s back doors and keep them open. Arthurs footsteps trail up behind her, Vivi casts a small glance. “Are you excited?”

“A bit.” Arthur says, rubbing the exhaustion from his eyes. “Lance let me off early so I can prepare all my things, so it should be easy.”

“Nice!” Vivi beams, swiftly moving past him and making a beeline for the back door, whilst completely ignoring how Arthur looks up at the sky with a frown. “Wanna get the big stuff first?”

“Sure.”

Vivi was right, Arthur and her did wind up squished together in the front seat. Arthurs mattress, cork boards, and dresser were crammed in the back, and then surrounded by several boxes full of clothes, tools, and books. Although she did overestimate how much he actually had.

Arthur had managed to cram the entire van with everything he physically had. Stacked from floor the ceiling in haphazard and shaky towers besides and against the bed frame! Vivi would have to drive steadily to avoid a catastrophe.

In the front seat was Arthurs toolbox, a crate full of Galahad’s items, and then a small travel cage that he held in his own hand holding his hamster.

Arthur scoots over as much as he can, fidgeting a bit the more their thighs touch. Of course due to the lack of space, that led to a centimeter of room.

“Sorry about this, Vi,” he coughs into his hand, “I honestly thought that we wouldn’t be this cramped! I figured-“

Vivi blows a raspberry, scooting over herself so she was pressed against the door and offering up another centimeter. “No biggie! I’m glad we did it this way. Now we can get everything inside before we get hit with hail.”

“Hail? I thought it was just a thunderstorm!”

“I thought so too.” Vivi squeezes her hand into her pocket and whisks out her phone - which was partially damp from sweat. Wiping it off quickly, Vivi opens the weather app and lets Arthur snatch it.

He grimaces, “Yikes.”

“Yeah, better hope Lewis doesn’t get hit in the head when he comes home.”

“Or that the power goes out.” Arthur adds grimly. Vivi blows out another raspberry.

“I don’t think that’ll happen. Dont be such a sourpuss.”

“Wanna bet? It’ll be in character for whatever house we got.”

Vivi lifts an eyebrow, glancing over at him, “And whats that supposed to mean?”

Arthur’s smiling, and with a short shrug, “terrifying and haunted. Perfect atmosphere for a black out-”

“Nope!” Vivi barks back, wagging her finger intensely and shaking her head, “Lewis and I made absolute sure that there would be no ghosts in this house. I told you this.”

“Are you sure? You guys double checked? Triple checked?” Arthur probes, leaning forward and sticking his face into hers before retreating, making her laugh.

“Of course! I even had Mystery scope out the house, and there are no ghosts.”

“And if there is?”

Vivi shoots him a pointed, comedic look, “then you can add another.”

They both chuckle now, lightly elbowing one another. But soon after Arthur hums quietly and sinks back in his spot, a small smile crossing across his face as he watches the road ahead of them. He was convinced, perfect. Vivi gloated silently.

For a moment she’s tempted to turn the radio on to fill the silence, but Arthur suddenly turns to her inquisitively.

“Hey, so I never fully explored the house like you and Lewis did, mind filling me in on everything?”

A thrill of excitement rockets through Vivi and her head bounces in time with her, and she rapidly taps the steering wheel. “Okay so- it’s a fairly cheapish house for its size. It’s got a decent sized backyard, a nice sizable garage that can fit two cars and all of our equipment. And if it doesn’t, then we can just get a shed behind the garage to do so.” Vivi illustrates her point with her fingers, hoping that Arthur could follow along. “Lewis was actually talking about setting up a garden back there and- wait, never mind, back to the house. First and foremost, the most exciting aspect, there’s a basement!”

“Which is probably why you say it’s ‘cheap’?” Arthur says with a light snicker.

“Yeah! The guy didn’t charge us extra for the space- or the alcohol cellar! And I even went down there to check and everything seems up to code and in well order? I don’t know- we may have to worry about some floods, but we also live in the desert.”

“Right.”

“Next, we have like...” Vivi counts on her fingers three times before she holds up three fingers. “Three rooms! Two on the main level and one upstairs, but there’s also a closet on the main floor, along with a bathroom- and then one of the rooms actually has its own bathroom! Honestly I feel you should get that room, since you should have your own space and all that-“

Arthur opens his mouth to object, but Vivi doesn’t give him a chance.

“Lewis insisted that I got the upstairs bedroom and he can take the smallest- but! We haven’t decided on who gets what room just yet, so we got time to rock-paper-scissors it out. Moving on-“

Up ahead on the dirt road, a lonely-looking house with a tree along the side of it pops into view.

“There’s a nice sized kitchen, and while there isn’t a dining room, Lewis was thinking of converting some of the space into a dining room? I mean- he actually ordered a table online but it hasn’t shipped yet, so for now we’re going to be using my table. So get ready to be sitting on the floor for a while.”

Arthur rolls his eyes with a small laugh and nods, just as Vivi pulls into the driveway and into the backyard. Her eyes glaze for half a second as she parks the van.

“And... that’s it I think! There’s going to be a lot of setting up, but I think we can make it all work.”

“Yeah, besides we can always just eat in the livingroom amongst a sea of boxes while we figure things out. Although Lewis might flay us for suggesting that.”

Vivi chortles and nods, “Yeah! Yeah you aren’t wrong. But c’mon! Let’s get your stuff inside, I think Im hearing thunder.”

“Already?” Arthur glances up at the sky as Vivi throws open her door. She makes a mad dash for the back door, propping it open for them and waving to Mystery who was just out of sight. Arthur slinks out after her and carries Galahad inside.

“Okay so-“ Vivi doenst kick off her shoes but wipes them off on a mat that was placed at the back door, “since we haven’t chosen any rooms yet, Lewis and I agreed to put all of our stuff in the livingroom. Is that cool with you?”

“I - I mean it’s not like I have a choice, now do I?” Vivi winces and nods, and Arthur sighs. “Okay, we can leave the bigger stuff in the van for now then, but then let’s get the little stuff.”

“Good idea,” Vivi hooks his arm and pulls him further down the hall, passing two doors on either side of them and a stairway.

“Besides! If we have to camp out in the living-room then we can just pull out the bed in the couch and a couple of futons...”

Vivi freezes in the entrance of the living-room, jaw falling.

Arthur stops glancing around at the floorboards and then wallpaper and joins her, “Something wrong?”

Oh, something was wrong alright, and it hits them both like a bag of bricks the second they step in.

On the couch, Mystery was curled up and lightly chatting to a heavy set ghost. A ghost who drapes their arm across the couch snd sneers at them. ”Welcome to my humble abode.”

...

“What the fuck?”

Vivi flinched as she nearly feels Arthurs glare digging into her neck. Her own mouth went dry as it hits her all at once.

“I didn’t know- Arthur, I swear to god I thought there wasn’t a single ghost here. I promise.” Arthur’s face is still twisted in dismay, and she couldn’t really blame him. Twisting, Vivi points at Mystery and the dog jumps to attention.

“Back me up here! We both investigated this place top to bottom, he-“

”She.” the ghost hisses

”she- my bad- wasnt here, right?”

Mystery nods, folding his paws on the couch’s arm. “It’s true, Arthur, we had done the best we could and we honestly believed that there was no one else residing in this territory.” Mystery then casts a cursory glance back at the spirit, who nonchalantly drank from a a darkened glass, hardly sparing them a glance. “However, you know that experienced spirits can be excellent hiders. She merely concealed herself until now.”

Arthur let’s put a heavy breath that Vivi didn’t notice he was holding, before gently setting down Galahad’s cage. A stark contrast to the rapid twitch in his eyelid.

“Great! Fantastic. So why did she decide to hide?”

”Im right here.” The ghost suddenly says, casting a dirty look that both spoke profanity and exuded grace.

“Okay,” unaffected, Arthur side steps until he was able to face her himself, “then I’m sure you don’t mind telling us why you’ve been squatting here.”

Her eyes snap open, before her face twists with menace and she unfolds her crossed legs, slamming her glass down with a sharp clink. Arthur flinches as that sound shoots through him.

”’Squatting?’ My, those are some awfully bold words for someone who started trembling the second you entered my domain.” She rises, and despite how short she was compared to Arthur, she trapped him in her shadow. ”This is my home, and no bank can simply give away my property to measly little rats.”

“He-hey now, ma’am,” Vivi steps in front of Arthur, who’s hands immediately latch onto her shoulders, “look, this is a misunderstanding on our part. You see- my friend here is a medium, and he’s been ... tormented by a lot of spirits. So he agreed to live here under the assumption that there were no spirits. You can understand why he’s upset, right?”

”And you can understand that so am I, correct?”

Groaning lightly, Mystery hops off the couch and also stands between the two groups, lazily guarding as if nothing was really wrong.

“Of course! This is your home... can you describe to us how? So that way we can respect your boundaries and ensure no other issues occur?”

Arthurs fingers tightly grip Vivi’s shoulder, and she reaches up and pats them lightly.

Thankfully, the ghost seems pleased with the pseudoapology, and their shoulders relax by a fraction. ”I built this house, a ways away from my old home so that way I can have the luxury of peace and quiet. It was an expensive project, but one I carry pride in. I simply couldn’t leave my home to just anyone after I perished.”

Arthur creaks, “S-so you.. stick around?”

”Precisely. I ensure that no punks come in and try to take claim to what isnt theres.” That is marked by a pointed glare at Arthur, who shrinks back behind Vivi further. Regretting his choices up until now.

Blowing out the breath she was holding, Vivi forces a smile and claps lightly. “Alright! Then, what can we do to show you that we mean no harm? Or will we be thrown out regardless.”

With this, she chuckles, voice getting low and almost purring. ”You will have to prove yourself, and earn a place in my hearth. If you cannot do so by the end of the month, then I will make your lives a living hell until you run for the hills.”

”Great..”

“Awesome!” Vivi claps again to hide the bemoaned muttering. Taking a few steps forward- and incidentally dragging Arthur with her- she holds out her hand to the spirit.

“Well I hope you wish us luck. My name is Vivi, and this is Arthur.” Arthur coughs lightly and nods a greeting, but keeps his mouth shut.

The woman blinks calmly, taking in Vivi’s hand with a surprised consideration, before smiling herself and taking it in a firm handshake.

”The pleasure is mine. Address me as Lilith Primrose.”

“Oh~ that’s a lovely name you have there!” Vivi offers, smiling brightly.

”Thank you. I picked it myself.”

Vivi nods and release her hand, stepping back. “So.. I know we got off to a rough start, but do you mind if me and Arthur bring his stuff in? It’s going to rain soon and we still will be moving in-“

A crack of thunder fills the air, Arthur and her both flinch, before turning to Lilith for confirmation. Who then rolls her eyes and shoos them away.

”Like I said, you all have a month to come into my good grace. You better get started now.”

“Thank you.”

With that, Vivi grabs Arthurs wrist and pulls him down the hall, lightly scolding him and apologizing at the same time, but also letting him do the same back.

It’s what she deserves honestly...

Within fifteen minutes, the rain had started to sprinkle. They decided the best thing to do was to get the largest items - the mattress- inside first so it wouldn’t get drenched, but that left the cork boards and the bed frame, which they decided may be better to keep in the van to protect the integrity and quality. Then they spent the next half an hour racing back and forth with various boxes that they decided to dump into what was now Arthurs room- the bedroom closest to the back with a bathroom. Vivi opted to stack his boxes on the mattress while Arthur simply tossed them onto the floor- claiming he knew they weren’t going to break as easily.

After an hour, it was pouring in sheets. The last of the boxes were quickly abandoned in Arthurs room, and both of them tore into one of the boxes to fetch towels to dry themselves off.

“Jesus Christ..” Vivi huffs, ringing out her skirt into one of the incredibly damp towels. “I feel bad for Lewis, he still has to drive home in this.”

“Yeah, poor fuck.” Arthur groans lightly and rubs his eyes, “brace yourself, turning on the light,” Palming the wall until he hit the light switch, Arthur prays that they’ll be given just one thing.

Only... for the room to remain just as dark.

Vivi looks at him for a moment as he stares in befuddlement at the switch, which he rapidly flipped on and off. Muttering to himself, ”oh come on...”

“Hold up, maybe the wiring is funky?” Vivi offers, stepping over boxes and opening the bathroom door, and she quickly flips the switches herself.

Nothing.

“Fuck.”

The power was still out as the storm persisted. Even when Lewis came home drenched from the walk to the porch from his car.

Of course, that wasn’t going to stop them. They were plenty prepared with gas canisters, spare batteries, flashlights, candles, and a gas stove.

Lewis made a remark on how glad he was that they only seemed to have meats in the fridge, but those comments slowly dwindled as he got to work making spaghetti by candle light. Vivi set out to line the kitchen’s low table with several of her unscented candles. As much as she wanted to bust out her various sweet smelling ones, the boys asked her to refrain so not mess with their senses.

Which wasn’t an issue by any means! Vivi didn’t want to dig them out anyway...

“Alright, that should do it.” Lewis murmurs to himself as he turns off the burner and grabs his tongs, pulling out the cooked noodles and layering them on three separate plates. He calls over his shoulder, “Arthur, Vivi! Dinner is ready.”

A distant “Coming!” And then frantic footsteps fight against the sound of the rain outside, and Lewis covers the noodles in their sauce before turning and placing them on Vivi’s low table. Vivi comes in with flat pillows and places them in their respective spots before kneeling and taking her spot.

“Thank you Lewis~ this smells really good.” She says, wafting in the garlic and onion at her face with a dramatic sniff. Just in time for Arthur to trail in with Mystery at his side.

Mystery scans the plates, before frowning at Lewis.

Lewis raises an eyebrow and smirks, “What? You can’t eat this, remember.”

“You and I know very well that I can eat more than all of you combined.” The dog shoots back, plopping down beside Vivi who scratches his ear.

“Well it’s not good for you.” Lewis points out, before reaching beside him and pulling out a plate of Mystery’s gourmet doggy dinner. “Now are you going to keep complaining or eat?”

“Oooh~” Vivi grins and pats mystery’s head, “Youre this close to missing out on greatness, boy! Better shut your trap.”

Mystery did indeed shut his trap, quickly scuttling over to Lewis’s side to retrieve his bowl- licking his lips to avoid showing how much he was salivating at the smell.

Arthur takes his seat on his bottom than his knees. Rolling his fork through the noodles slowly, but not saying anything, even as Vivi and Lewis chat as he grabs drinks.

It’s only when Vivi shoves a heaping of spaghetti into her mouth and moans in delight does he realize that they need something else. Lewis froze in his tracts, wincing the smallest bit as Vivi chews. She’s been hungry all day, so it makes sense that she would rather dig in- Mystery too.

Poor guys misophonia has got to be going crazy.

“Hey, do you guys want to watch howls moving castle? Or - uh.. spirited away?” Lewis and Vivi both shoot him inquisitive looks, although Lewis relaxes the smallest bit at the distraction. Arthur adds on, tapping his earlobe, “I can also grab your ear plugs, Lew. So that way the ... sounds don’t bother you too much.”

Lewis’s lips tighten. Oh shit, he probably didn’t want to embarrass Vivi-

A loud gasp and smack grabs both of their attention. Vivi stopped chewing, a hand over her mouth as she realized. Swallowing everything down in one gulp, Vivi gestures frantically in apologize. “Shit- Lewis I’m sorry. I can grab your ear plugs if you want? It totally slipped my mind.”

He lifts his hand, smiling sweetly. “It’s okay, I’ll go grab them. But yes, Arthur, I certainly wouldn’t mind a movie.”

Still flushed, Vivi nods too, “the rain will be a nice backdrop to a beautiful Ghibli movie. Do you need the disk?”

“No,” Arthur pushes himself up, “I got it downloaded on my computer. I’ll go grab it.”

He and Lewis both leave the kitchen, and he turns to go to his room, a small flashlight in hand to light the way.

It was already unpacked, plugged into a battery pack and charging for the past few hours. Arthur whisks it up and ambles back to the kitchen, where Lewis and Vivi were talking again. Good! Lewis is situated, now time to pull up the movie. Holding it one arm, Arthur input his password, searches through his hard drive...

But before he steps back into the kitchen, a soft flow catches his eye.

Lilith is sitting on the couch still, possibly had been for a while now, but either no one noticed or no one choose to bother her in the dark.

He watches her for a few moments, filling with guilt and momentary fear over earlier...

Then he sighs, resigning himself, and he steps into the kitchen and sets the computer down. Instead of getting back in his spot to turn on the movie, Arthur shuffles to the cabinet and fetches another plate.

“What are you up to, Artie?”

“Going to feed some raccoons?” Vivi jokes, even as Lewis makes a disgruntled noise at the thought.

“No, just give me one moment, okay?”

Arthur can feel them watching him, but he sucks in his breath and layers noodles and sauce onto a plate, before fetching a fork.

And then leaving the kitchen again, this time making a beeline for the couch.

Lilith hears him coming and gives him a cursory glance. Her eyes widen as she takes note of the plate as it’s set down beside her.

Clearing his throat, Arthur grips his hands together anxiously and forces himself to keep eye contact. “A-about earlier.. I’m sorry that I snapped on you. It... I hope we can get along.”

Lilith doesn’t say anything, looking from him to the plate.

She stands, nods, and turns on her heel to go to the basement door, vanishing before she even touched it.

...

Well fuck you too then. Arthur scowls lightly, huffing the smallest bit after she was out of sight. There’s nothing he can do now, and it’s up to her to decide if she wants to accept his apology.

Whatever, just go and eat dinner.

He takes his spot. While he was offering the meal, Vivi had found the movie and paused it before it began to play, and Lewis had already plugged his ears. He sends Arthur a thumbs up and a thankful smile. Arthur nods in return and grabs his fork to eat.

The movie started, and the atmosphere was both warm and comfortable, especially with the four of them enraptured in the unfolding plot. Spouting small ideas and pointing out little details, along with memories and theories.

The conversation only came to a halt when someone else clears their throat.

Vivi pauses the movie in an instant, and all four of them look up to see Lilith standing before them. Her face contorted in worry as she grips... a wine bottle. Lilith shrinks a bit at the sudden attention, but she clears her throat a second time and holds the bottle out a small bit.

“C... congratulations you four, you passed my test. I am looking forward to living with you all, and to celebrate, I wanted you to have some of my aged wine.” She stammers a bit, shifting anxiously from side to side, before setting the bottle down with a hefty clank. After doing so, she turns to leave.

Vivi, however, jumps up and latches onto her sleeve, pulling her back the smallest bit and earning a wide eyed stare.

Vivi beams back at her, “We’re watching some movies, would you like to join us?”

Lilith blinks rapidly, glancing between all of them, and being met with gentle smiles and affirmations.

”I... of course, I’d love to. Let me grab my plate! Oh- and some glasses. What are we going to be watching?”

Lilith shuffles beside Lewis, and the five of them all continue watching, sipping some tasty wine and eating their food peacefully.

They didn’t even notice that the rain died down and the power was back on until they were heading to bed

[revisitingstoneybrook]

#8 Boy-Crazy Stacey: Chapter 10

Stacey makes a fool of herself. And she’s still a bitch.

I guess Stacey wrote this notebook entry to Kristy on a mini-postcard, because it's all abbreviated and sounds like she's updating her Twitter: K- Noth. new to rept. Kids fine. B. still afrd. of H2O. -S. You know Kristy is enjoying this, because it sounds all official, like she's getting a daily briefing from her troops.

Or, maybe she's being concise in her BSC update, because her postcard to Claudia has an entirely different tone. Basically, it's her lamenting to Claudia that she's such a jerk and she wouldn't listen to Mary Anne about Scott and she feels like such a jerk and just wouldn't listen to Mary Anne's warnings and did I mention she thinks she's a jerk and she should have paid attention to Mary Anne? Seriously, that's all the postcard is, those things repeated over and over again. She ends by saying she'll explain in the next postcard, then tells us she had to write Claudia three more postcards to tell her the whole story. Holy crap, Stacey, why didn't you just write an actual letter to Claudia and save yourself three stamps? I'm sure you could find a piece of paper and an envelope somewhere. Maybe she was so heartbroken, she couldn't think straight.

Stacey explains that she was having a great time in Sea City. Her hair's now two shades lighter, thanks to the Sun-Lite. So how is she going to explain that to her parents? "It was the sun, honest!" She's got actual tan lines at the edges of her skimpy little bikini that makes her look sooooooo sophisticated. And she bought a new bikini in town. In case you care, it's pink with palm trees and parrots all over it. Which sounds more like something Claudia would wear. But don't worry, Claudia's still kind of sophisticated, so Stacey's sophistication hasn't been affected!

Mary Anne, however, hasn't been faring as well. Her sunburn's gone but she's now dealing with the aftermath of blotchy pink skin. So she isn't in a good mood about that and is still staying under the umbrella as covered up as possible when they go to the beach.

Oh, and Stacey’s diabetes hasn't been an issue and her mom has only called twice! So Stacey is sitting pretty at this point, especially because the best part is she's been spending lots of time with Scott! Saturday, the Pike parents make another run for it so they don't have to spend time with the kids and head to Atlantic City, so Stacey and Mary Anne are in charge. Maybe that’s how the Pikes can afford this huge beach house every year - they’re good at gambling!

Stacey spends the whole day ignoring her responsibilities and parks herself up by the lifeguard stand, leaving Mary Anne alone. By the end of the day, Mary Anne is royally pissed off and accuses Stacey of spending too much time with Scott, while leaving her to do all the work. Stacey, in turn, pulls the "UR JUST JELIS!!!!!!!!" card. Seriously, let me post the next two paragraphs in their entirety so you all can see what a heinous bitch Stacey is. And I usually reserve that term for talking about Dawn or Kristy at their worst, so you know this is bad:

Personally, I think she was jealous. And if I were Mary Anne, I'd have been jealous, too. That nerdy mother's helper had been hanging around her endlessly, and the two of them were always doing stuff with the kids, like building sand castles, or collecting shells to make a moat around the towels and umbrellas. Mary Anne says I'm not spending enough time with the children, but I AM doing something important when I'm on the beach. I post myself by the lifeguard stand and watch the kids when they're in the water - and Adam and Jordan are in the water nonstop. I can't help it if Scott talks to me every now and then, or asks for a soda or something.

Oh my, where do I start. First off, she honestly thinks Mary Anne's jealous that she’s off flirting with an 18-year-old lifeguard? And she hasn’t even met the mother's helper guy and she's calling him a nerd and assumes he's bothering Mary Anne. The Pikes should be paying HIM because he's doing the job Stacey’s getting paid for! Of course they're playing with the kids; they're babysitters, it's their responsibility to watch over the kids, something Stacey isn’t doing! I still can't get over her accusing Mary Anne of being jealous. I guess everyone can't be a sophisticated New Yorker, with barely-there bikinis and heavenly boobs that fill out said bikinis. Part of me kind of wishes that Mary Anne tattled on Stacey, just to see how the Pikes would react. But since they're such free-spirits, with almost no rules, they probably wouldn't care. And Mary Anne's such a doormat, she'd never speak up, so there goes that fantasy. 

And way to pretend you're doing your job, Stacey. Someone's in denial! Adam could get pulled away by a riptide and Stacey would be too occupied with fetching Scott a can of soda to notice.

So while Mary Anne's watching the Pike Army with the help of the boy mother's helper (who deserves a medal for going out of his way to keep helping Mary Anne), Scott inflates Stacey ego some more by telling her she's beautiful. And she swoons because the only other people who call her beautiful are her parents. Well, and herself, but I don't think that counts. He gets cut off from telling her something else so he can blow one of his many whistles to alert some kids they're out too far in the ocean. See, Stacey? He isn't neglecting his job! And you know the kids he's warning are Adam and Jordan, who Stacey claimed she was watching.

Stacey asks him what he meant to say before he was rudely interrupted by those damn kids who were too far out in the water and Scott quickly says she's the greatest. Stacey giggles to herself that he's just too shy to tell her up front that he LUVS her too. Yeah, you keep telling yourself that, honey.

Later that afternoon, Stacey tries talking with Mary Anne, who isn't saying much and obviously wants nothing to do with her. Stacey tries making conversation and offers to get her a soda but it's no use. That's pretty much the only interaction they have the rest of the day until they leave the beach.

Stacey says Mr. and Mrs. Pike returned from Atlantic City in a “great mood,” so I think we can all conclude what they did there in between winning enough money to pay for next year's trip to Sea City. They're in such a good mood, they decide to be nice and spend the evening with their kids, giving Stacey and Mary Anne the night off. Mrs. Pike invites them to come with the family to Gurber Garden, so they can use Nicky's coupon for four free dinners, but says they can go off on their own too. Stacey's excited and begs Mary Anne to not be mad at her, so they can have fun for the next five hours. Mary Anne began to look a teeny bit interested. And by the time our bikinis were off, we had showered, and our boardwalk clothes were on, she was actually speaking to me. That makes it sound like they showered together! I guess Stacey decided to use her powers of persuasion.

They select their boardwalk outfits carefully, Stacey hoping they run into Scott. Oh, you will...it just won't be as you imagined it.

Their boardwalk outfits are actually pretty decent. Stacey's wearing a white cotton vest over a pink cotton dress, and has a big white bow in her hair that's flopping over the side of her head. Ok, it was good up until the bow. Mary Anne has nothing she feels like wearing so Stacey loans her some of her stuff. Mary Anne ends up wearing yellow pedal pushers, a white and yellow striped tank top and an oversized white jacket. Ok, her's was good up until the white jacket. It makes it sound like she's wearing a lab coat over her outfit. And if Stacey's got magical boobs of wonder and Mary Anne doesn't, that tank top must be baggy on her.

They have dinner at a burger place, and Mary Anne has fudge for dessert. Stacey obviously can't. Then they go and buy souvenirs. Mary Anne gets visors for Dawn and Kristy, and Stacey gets Claudia a bright yellow t-shirt with a surfer on it because she thinks the surfer looks like Scott. Oh, that'll be fun explaining that gift. "Oh this shirt I'm wearing with my purple plaid capri pants and matching high-tops? My best friend bought it in Sea City. She said the surfer looks like this guy she had a crush on who then broke her heart. Dibble, right?"

After they play some arcade games, Mary Anne suggests they go for a ferris wheel ride. On the way there, I'm sure Stacey is puzzled at all the teenage/college-aged girls wearing whistles around their necks. They buy their tickets and the guy in the booth calls Stacey “cutie.” Mary Anne is getting denied here! While they're on the ferris wheel, Stacey decides out of the blue that she should buy Scott a present. "Hmph" is the only response she gets from Mary Anne. I guess she takes that as a yes because once they get off the ferris wheel, she drags Mary Anne to practically every gift shop on the boardwalk.

While Stacey ponders what to get him, she says Mary Anne waits in each shop patiently. Though knowing Mary Anne, she's suppressing the rage and saving it up, making herself a ticking time bomb that explodes when she lets all that pent-up anger loose at a later time. Among the gifts Stacey chooses, then unchooses, are a book about shells (what), a blue hat, and a custom-made t-shirt that says "STACEY + SCOTT = LUV." Yikes. More like if she gave that shirt to Scott, it would be "STACEY + SCOTT = CREEPY" or "STACEY + SCOTT = RESTRAINING ORDER."

They come to a candy shop and Stacey, ignoring the fact that just being around chocolate will make her go into diabetic shock, runs in and drops 10 bucks on a giant, red satin, heart-shaped box of chocolates. She triumphantly shows her gift to Mary Anne, who's looking at something else. She tries to stop Stacey from looking but it's too late. Stacey turns around to find Scott behind her, curled up on a bench and sucking face with an OLDER GIRL. Well, older for Stacey, because the girl was at least 18. And, to make matters worse, she's curvy and gorgeous!

Ok, does anyone have an inkling that Mary Anne purposely made herself look distracted so Stacey would look and see Scott "cheating" on her, just so she would stop lusting after him and go back to doing her job? Or is her evil side not big enough to pull that off?

Stacey thrusts the box of chocolates at Mary Anne and says, "Guess I won't be needing this. You take it. You deserve it. You were right all along. Enjoy your prize." Then she breaks down sobbing. Surprisingly, Mary Anne doesn't join her in crying and instead puts her arm around Stacey walks her back to the house. LEAVING THE BIG EXPENSIVE BOX OF CHOCOLATES ON THE BENCH!!!!! This annoyed from the first time I read this book years ago and it still annoys me. Stacey spent 10 freakin dollars on that, bring it back home with you!

[thelastpilot]

The Monster in the Room- Chapter 13

Okay holy crud, I capped it at just below 16k. I was GOING to do everything all at once but decided against it, so believe it or not this is actually cut in half. I hope its okay, I had to do a lot of work shopping but hopefully it hits the right notes. Let me know what you think! 

Chapter 1, Chapter 2, Chapter 3, Chapter 4, Chapter 5, Chapter 6, Chapter 7, Chapter 8, Chapter 9 , Chapter 10, Chapter 11, Chapter 12

“Okay, everything seems to be in order then. Please remember what I’ve asked, you and your friends are welcome to the campus but please don’t go causing any trouble. Remember that this is still a school, alright?”

Ms. Bustier folded her arms in an attempt to be serious but she couldn’t help the smile on her face, her tone far from scathing. She just couldn’t manage it as she looked down on her newest and most in-need student, practically glowing with relief to see him standing readily out in the open with his tail thumping steadily on the tile. Even as she spoke he scrabbled a little in place impatiently, something almost like a wolfish smile on his face as she looked over the last of what she had brought him.

A positively derelict television was left in the corner on an equally as dated cart that still moved easily enough. She was mostly unfamiliar with human technology but had used and experimented with some of their simpler contraptions out of curiosity before. She had a great long-standing appreciation for the complexity of human story-telling and their recorded programs were among her favorites, even if she always did struggle to get them working. She was hoping Marinette would be able to live up to her promise to oversee all the more intricate needs of their proposed ‘movie night’, trusting her to see to it that it all went smoothly.

She was glad the empathic witch was not there in a moment to detect the slight worry that rattled through her, knowing that the children would be alone for the night.

Really there was no threat… the moon was ages away and the children were all capable of critical thinking and self-defense, not that any of them would need it of course but…

She shook her head a little, attempting to rid herself of her anxieties and just be happy for them all that they were boldly making progress in the earnest, open way that children do. If any of the other teachers found out that she had allowed this… she wasn’t sure what would happen. She had refused to admit to the children at the time that no one else would have ever let this happen, siteing a thousand ways it could go poorly and how the school would be held liable for anything that took place.

In truth… Ms. Bustier had broken perhaps a dozen very serious regulations in the way that she cared for Nino. If her superiors discovered even a single thread of what she had waved or overlooked then she wasn’t sure Mr. Damocles could or would protect her in the slightest. Perhaps he’d sympathize with her decisions, surely no one would morally disagree, but that didn’t mean that it was sanctioned or supported. If her peers were simply turning a blind eye then she was grateful, but she had urged the students not to advertise their intentions regardless.

She would take all responsibility, in the event of an incident.

The cervitaur took a deep breath as she quickly overlooked the extra mats and blankets taken from the abandoned nurses office on site. They were far from perfect, but hopefully no one would mind too much.

When she was satisfied she looked back to Nino to see him nod, standing and crossing over to her to nudge her foreleg gently in a gesture she was sure meant ‘thank you’. She leaned down to press the weight of her hand on the space between his ears as an approximation of the gesture in return, glad to see his eyes close in contentment instead of seeming uncomfortable with it like he might have been a week ago. He really was coming so far… and her decision to allow the sleepover in hopes that it would help him seemed suddenly all the stronger.

She knew she was doing the right thing here.

“If that’s everything you need from me I should probably be leaving then, don’t want to ‘cramp your style’ or anything like that,” she giggled a little at herself, laughing again as Carter reappeared from his scouting mission out in the hallway and demanded her affection before she left. The wolf rolled his eyes, but whether it was at what she had said or Carter’s eager dance on his hind legs she wasn’t sure. “Remember,” she reiterated, “don’t leave campus, don’t make a mess, and don’t be too loud. You’re all pretty far from the other live-in students but if you all decide to wander around then I don’t want a noise complaint, it would leave me with a lot of explaining to do. Oh and if there’s an emergency-,”

Despite the wolf’s uncharacteristic good mood Nino finally groaned, sighing as audibly as possible and interrupting her.

“Okay okay fine I get it, I’ll leave you to it, but please remember to reach out to me if you need me. I taught you how remember? The others can do it for you too.”

Nino groaned again, nodding moodily… but he didn’t fool her. Despite his increasing range of comfort with his new form he still hadn’t gotten the hang of controlling when his tail was wagging, always managing to give himself away.

Madame Bustier took a moment, and smiled. She nodded once and said, “Alright then, I hope you have fun Nino I really do. I know it will be great, I hope to hear all about it on Monday so please enjoy your weekend, alright?”

He barked at that and jumped forward, nudging Carter out of the way and sending him skittering backwards a little so he could lean his full weight into her legs. His weight and strength forced her to shift her footing but she knew to interpret this as both a friendly gesture and as a goodbye, until next time. She returned it as best as she could and said her final goodbye, holding her hope in her heart as she went.

  Nino watched Ms. B as she left, relishing in the surge of gratefulness he always felt in her presence and prayed that he had been able to communicate how much he appreciated her while also having a little bit of a back and forth. He still hadn’t gotten to a place where he could communicate in this form the way Alya did, but regardless he was still leagues better at expressing himself then he had been a week ago. The animalistic body language and motions were still stiff and awkward but… it was coming more naturally to him by this point. It wasn’t so repulsive to indulge at least, and it made him more easily understood.

Friday had come again and it found Nino in a much better place then the last one had. He wasn’t… perfect. He honestly wouldn’t even go so far as to say good but… it was Friday. The only real major change his mood had undergone was the fact that he was looking forward to something, which was a new development in his numb, ambling routine. Poor Carter was going mad from sheer boredom and lack of exercise, but as always he was faultlessly patient. Well mostly faultless, he did complain a little but it wasn’t something he blamed Nino for, he genuinely considered the circumstances and Nino’s condition to be completely unrelated things.

But Nino was going to make it up to him, tonight. He had made up his mind as soon as his friends had started to make plans, Adrien having been eager to run back to him after school on Wednesday to tell him that their ideas had been approved. Nino knew that they probably wouldn’t mind playing with Carter if he asked them too, and that maybe this sleepover could be something for Carter to look forward to as well, not that the Shepherd needed any prompting. Even after Ms. B had left Carter was energetically pacing the room, zipping back and forth to sniff all the new cushions.

‘Gross!’ he proclaimed, sneezing at one of the bigger ones but sounding pretty happy about it for whatever reason, just glad for some new stimuli maybe. Nino felt a wave of guilt at that, but shook it off, trotting over himself to investigate a little.

‘Yikes, these do smell really bad… I hope they won’t be able to tell. Is there anything we can do to make it better you think?’

‘We can do this,’ Carter stated, climbing onto it and getting nice and settled before leaning down to start rubbing his face all over it.

He was already on his back rolling around on the sterile, chemical smelling cushion before Nino could say anything, the wolf barking out a laugh as he charged forward to push Carter off of it.

‘Dog smell is not a better smell!’ he growled playfully, laughing again as Carter wiggled out from underneath him to finish what he started. Nino shoved him off at least twice more before giving up, shaking his head as Carter got good and committed to rubbing dog hair over literally everything. ‘Ah yes… thank you Carter.’

‘I’m here to help.’

‘Thanks buddy.’

‘Is the cat coming? Where will he sit?’

Nino paused, looking down his muzzle to glare slightly at the mischievous looking dog, perched readily above the largest of the cushions.

‘…I don’t know what you’re gonna do with that information, so I’m not going to give it to you.’

‘I’ll wait then.’

Nino gave him a solid warning glare but his dog seemed unperturbed, tail wagging happily as he jumped from spot to spot trying to pick his favorite. After a moment Nino huffed, sitting in place and hoping that Adrien would have a good sense of humor about whatever antics Carter might indulge in over the course of the night.

School had ended about three hours ago, the massive crowd of weird and wicked leaving to wherever it is they all went when the bell dismissed them. Nino had gotten used to passing the time by sticking his head out in the gap in the door, listening to the school as it swelled and bowed and quieted, until he was seemingly alone again with his dog. This time however he was listening for something slightly different, hoping to pick out the footsteps of his friends before too much more time passed away.

Adrien was the only one who had stopped by briefly before running home, checking in to let him know that everyone would be back in a few hours after they picked up some things. They couldn’t bring all their stuff to school without people asking a lot of questions, so for his sake they decided to be subtle about the whole thing. Still though he had hoped that Marinette might arrive first, since she apparently lived very nearby. He wasn’t sure what they would do on their own but… he would try and encourage her to talk so he could listen, as was usually his method when Adrien came by himself. For the thousandth time since Wednesday it occurred to him again that he really wasn’t sure how this was going to go, knowing he was going to be slightly on the outside just because he couldn’t speak as easily as they could. Still though… if they had fun and he was allowed to sit and listen then that would be nice too.

He sank into himself a little as he continued to reflect, and he settled down to wait. He had been fending off his nerves all day and was genuinely really trying to just be excited and not worry about anything at all. What was the worst that would happen? He had spent enough time in this form to know that he wasn’t going to lash out at anyone and hurt them, not unless something entirely new overcame him. And if that were to happen, what could he possibly do regardless? No… it was comforting to him that the idea seemed paranoid, even considering the circumstance. No, it was much more likely that a dark mood would overtake him rather than anything else, and his friends had taken great pains to assure him that if that were to happen that he had every permission in the world to excuse himself. No one was expecting miracles or leaps and bounds. No one was trying to fix something that couldn’t be fixed. They just wanted to spend time getting to know him as best as they could… and he wanted to give them something to know. Something other than this…

Something to know him by. That was all.

He sighed deeply, pushing out the huge huff of air and using it as a physical que to get over himself. He promised he wasn’t going to ruin it, so he needed to keep it together.

 He jumped a little when Carter unexpectedly slumped down next to him, the Shepard rolling into his side and sighing a little as well if only because it seemed like the thing they were doing right now. Carter rolled his eyes up to look at him to check that yes indeed this is what we’re doing right now, just to make sure, and the action made Nino chuckle a little despite his swelling of nerves.

‘How are we doing?’ Carter asked him gently, rolling his head a little to make eye contact a bit easier and looking pretty adorable in the process.

‘I’m a bit nervous for my new friends to come over,’ Nino admitted after a while, deciding to be honest. ‘I’m not sure how it’s going to go…’

‘It’s okay! I’m here. And the fox and the girl and the cat will be here soon. Does that make you nervous?’

Nino considered the question, not sure how to phrase it in a way that Carter would understand and still trying to keep an ear out for their approach. It wouldn’t be too long now.

‘I just…,’ Nino laid his head down on the ground. ‘I want them to like me. I want them to know me a little better and I don’t know how to do that.’

‘I can help! I know a lot of things about you, the things that matter. I can tell them, if you want. But I think they already know.’

Nino paused, rolling his own head to the side to look at Carter after a moment. He felt that familiar fondness for his dog creeping up on him again and he couldn’t help it as his tail wagged just a little.

‘Oh yeah? What kinds of things.’

‘The important things. You like the rain and staying up late, and food that makes me sneeze. You don’t like it when I get your bed wet but you never get too mad even if you pretend to be. You’re good and kind and lonely, and you let me help even if I don’t know how. You try really hard. And you’re very brave.’

Carter’s own tail was thumping as he looked at his boy, muzzle parted in a happy grin while relaying his list. He had many more things he could think of, but he was trying to think of the most important ones that his new friends might need to know if they didn’t already.

The wolf was staring at him in shock, something undeniably soft present in his eyes.

‘You laugh a lot! And you’re laughing more, again. You take care of me even when you don’t feel well and you try and make other people happy even when you’re not very happy-,’

‘Carter…’

‘You share your food and keep me safe, you like cats which is fine. You like me more, which is good-‘

‘Carter, stop. I can’t handle it when you do this.’

The dog made to speak again but Nino elected instead to roll on top of him, squishing him down in a desperate attempt to get him to stop. Carter yipped in surprised and started trying to wiggle his way out but Nino effortlessly prevented it, looking down at him and quickly stooping his head to nudge him gently. He took the time to say what he should always say more.

‘I love you. You know that right?’

Carter paused instantly in his struggle, seeming to consider the question for a moment from his position at the bottom of the dog pile.

‘… of course I know that!’ The Shepherd barked and leapt back into his struggle with earnest, seemingly outraged at the suggestion that he didn’t and Nino pretended to be thrown by it, when in reality the canine didn’t stand a chance against him. Nino allowed himself to be pinned instead by an indignant Carter, who stood over him to say. ‘I love you! You know that right?’

‘Of course I know buddy. I know.’

‘I love you!’ he reiterated, just to be sure. ‘So don’t be nervous, alright? I know you and I love you. And they’ll know you and they’ll love you too. And maybe you’ll get to know them too. Or maybe not. It’s just one night, they’ll come back for lunch and you can try then too.’

Nino let out a breath he had been holding, focusing on what his dog was saying and letting it fill him with warmth, nodding his head awkwardly after a moment in an attempt to curb his unease. Carter was right, he was usually at least sort of right… it was just one night. He couldn’t put the weight of the world on one night in, he had more time… so long as they kept coming by and he kept up the strength to go and meet them.

That was something that kept popping up, something in his darkest moments he had distantly been resigned to never feeling again.

Just a vague kind of assurance that there was some sort of future out there. Something even small to look forward to. Like lunch or friends, or school. It was okay to feel scared and hopeless now… maybe it would be better soon.

He just had to keep moving forward to find out.

 Carter looked like he was going to keep on with his list of important things given the opportunity when he abruptly became aware of Nino’s distraction, the wolf angling towards the door and growing still in a way that Carter knew to copy as soon as he saw it.

Sure enough, his boy had heard something he hadn’t right away.

‘I think that’s them, off boy!’ Nino said in a hurry, shooing Carter off of him and scrambling to his feet. Nino gave himself a quick and nervous shake, trying to dislodge some of the dust from his fur. He fussed for a second, trying to sort out how many of them there were and focusing on the sound.

It was easiest to sort out their voices, still indistinct and far away but they all had different tones. Adrien was the easiest to separate quickly, and Marinette’s high bouncing words second. Alya didn’t seem to be speaking much in that exact second, but the moment she spoke up at all her more alto oriented range was clear to him, directly in the middle.

He couldn’t help that his tail was wagging, his anxious discomfort surprisingly not enough to quell his eagerness, in the moment. His room was unpleasant and the cushions were… kind of a mess and sure it was about as dusty and crappy as always in here but… his tail slowed, just a little, embarrassment taking its place in his mind. As they got closer the feeling grew, and he hung his head a little as he absorbed his poor attempt at having tried to be ready for them. But after a moment he shook his head again, letting the shake spread through his whole body once more and stood firmly on his paws, forcing himself to hold his head high.

He was going to have a sleepover. He was going to watch a movie with his friends and he was going to have fun doing it, and nobody not even himself was going to ruin it. He let his natural born stubbornness burn in his chest and stood with as much power as he could muster, facing the door and prepared for it. And although Carter would never say it to him for fear that it might upset him somehow, in that moment Nino looked very much like a wolf.

And his dog was very proud of the boy he knew was inside.

 Nino and Carter waited together in the middle of the room as their friends finally arrived, the trio still chatting amongst themselves as Adrien knocked on the door politely, calling out ahead.

“Nino! It’s us, we’re gonna come in okay?”

Adrien waited a beat for a deep bark to answer, and when it did he stepped inside with the biggest smile he could offer, barely managing to hold on to all the stuff he had in his arms.

Nino perked up in instant curiosity, looking away for a moment as Alya came in second bearing a box full of something (food, he imagined, based on the smell) and Marinette came in third, seemingly holding nothing.

Marinette actually had less on her than she normally would have, her bag she used for school presumably left at home and only a very small clutch bag hanging on her side. Despite its miniscule size however, she seemed to be struggling with it, flashing Nino a somewhat strained yet warm smile as she hefted it onto one of their dragged out desks they often sat in. The thunk it made on the desktop seemed ridiculously out of place, and it took Adrien running up to him to finally distract him from the oddity.

“Hey man! Sorry we took so long, I was the one who was taking forever and then Marinette and Alya were waiting for me cause I said I’d be right there and- uh, sorry,” Adrien cut off his rambling awkwardly, rubbing at the back of his neck sheepishly as if he really had something to apologize for. Adrien knelt down next to him to be more on his level, laying a hand on Nino’s back as he said it and starting in surprise when the massive animal leaned into him, abruptly turning the motion into a hug of sorts. Adrien was shocked by the sudden affection, but rushed to reciprocate as quickly as he could, a laugh slipping out as he wrapped his arms around the creature and ruffled the fur slightly, reassured by the wolf’s wagging tail.

Adrien figured he could safely take that as an apology accepted, and he was beaming when he stood up again.

“I brought a bunch of blankets from home and some stuff for myself, and also a few other things I thought you might think are cool!” he continued brightly, gesturing to the big ball of stuff he had dropped unceremoniously off to the side, too eager to greet his friend to find a proper place for it just yet. Nino started to head over towards it to investigate, but suddenly remembered his manners and turned back to face his other friends.

Alya was standing near her preferred lunch desk with her box of assorted things left discarded on its tabletop, the kitsune too distracted by Carter’s energetic greeting to unpack it. The Shepherd was bouncing around Marinette’s legs, woofing at her happily as she stooped down to return his enthusiasm. Even as she did though she looked over Carter’s shoulder and made eye contact with Nino, laughing as she battled the dog just to say “Hello Nino! Sorry we’re- oh Carter PLEASE- sorry we’re a little behind! It took me forever to pack up everything I wanted to bring.”

“Girl seriously you’ve practically got a whole building in there,” Alya spoke up. “I TOLD you you didn’t need all that! You could literally just go home for anything you forgot anyways!”

“I had a lot I wanted to bring!” Marinette defended herself, about to say something more before Carter knocked her off balance, sending her sprawling on her back in a fit of giggles.

Alya burst into laughter at that but tried to smother her budding laughter, chuckling as she turned at gave Nino a friendly wave. “Hey Nino, I was on time, for the record, I was just trying to get this menagerie moving.”

In one motion she put her hands on the desk in front of her and seemed to sort of leap, forcing herself up and shifting forms as she did it. Her hands shifted instantly into paws and she was suddenly a fox vaulting clear over the box and the desk and landing agilely in front of him, her two tails swishing out behind her and swaying in greeting.

He reacted this this naturally and lowered his head to her level, tail wagging happily as she sauntered up to him, unafraid of their difference in size. She prodded him once with her angled snout and headbutted his chin and he reciprocated as best as he could without squishing her, the actions making him happy in that weird, unfamiliar way that some things did.

He first felt it when Ms. B had found him in the alleyway, the teacher able to use her body language to get something across to him that he might not have understood normally. And he felt it again, much more potently in Mr. Damocles’ office when he mimicked Nino’s instinctual bow of respect. Every once in a while, there was just a movement or a gesture that appealed directly to this other part of him and though at first it brought him a lot of discomfort Alya had been carefully working with him throughout the week to not mind those things so much. She triggered those odd animalistic responses all the time from him, and he was slowly starting to get used to it.

‘Hi Alya,’ he said finally, though it wasn’t needed. ‘Thanks for coming, sorry the rooms sort of-,’

‘Your rooms fine,’ Alya quickly interrupted him, opening her muzzle in that big foxy grin. ‘It’s gonna be something else by the time Marinette’s through with it, seriously you’ve got no idea how much stuff she’s got in her bag.’

Nino paused, titling his head before looking up at the clutch that had confused him before. ‘Does she have a different bag? Or just that one? Cause uh, that one’s tiny. And heavy I guess.’

He looked down when the fox visibly brightened, the creature running off towards Marinette and laughing out loud. Before Nino could ask Marinette was suddenly struggling to her feet, passing Carter off to the kitsune that came to say hi.

She ran her hands over her dress in an attempt to straighten it out a little as she laughed, putting a hand out towards Nino who gladly came towards her. When he did she placed her hand flat on his head and looked him in the eye, patting her bag with her free hand as she smiled.

“Okay! We’re all here finally so first things first! This is gonna take the most work so I wanted to start right away, if that’s okay with you Nino.” She beamed at him sweetly and he swore you could just feel the kindness that radiated off of her sometimes. She only looked away to open her bag, reaching into it as she continued to talk and ignoring the fact that Nino was openly gaping at her as she did.

Marinette was still leaning into it as she talked excitedly about her ideas, her entire arm lost inside this completely tiny completely ordinary looking bag, and Nino was suddenly reminded that oh yeah. This girl was a witch. He only just remembered.

“So! I know how much you hate your room and how it’s not the most accommodating place ever. It’s fine really, but it can be better and much more comfortable I bet! So I asked my mom about it and she was saying that the first thing to do was to get to cleaning it and then start working with the space! Soooo- oh where is it- ah yes!”

She seemed to struggle with something for a second before getting a grip on whatever it was inside, holding the brim of the bag with one hand as she pulled out the very beginnings of what looked like a long wooden stick.

Nino scrambled backwards and watched in awe (very aware of the fact that Alya was openly laughing at him) as Marinette pulled out an entire broom from her clutch bag, leaning it against the seat and immediately reaching back in for something else, producing what looked like a purple velvet bag and then finally a little duster, attached with its own little purple velvet bag.

Aside from the glamours he had seen and the enchantments around the school, this was the first example of actual magic he had seen up close. Like not the spooky supernatural kind with monsters and beasts, just the sort of…

Mary Poppin’s kind.

Marinette held up her items triumphantly, grinning at him and acknowledging full well that she was showing him something he’d never seen before. She was just hoping she was erring on the side of ‘cool’ as opposed to ‘scary’. So far the wolf’s shocked expression seemed to be favoring the former.

She held the broom out to him so he could see it, letting him investigate it thoroughly and giggling a little when he sneezed. Sometimes enchantments could do that to people, the misplaced static is exuded sometimes tickling the nose. Or maybe it was the fact that it probably had a lot of dust on it, that too.

“This is my moms!” Marinette explained, clipping her bag shut with one hand until she would need it again. “The cleaning stuff that is, the bag is actually mine. I made it myself and then wove in all the enchantments over the summer, it’s one of the most useful kind of bags a witch can have. It’s called a ‘Bottomless Bag’. I’m sure you can guess what it does,” she giggled, enjoying Nino’s slow rise in interest and excitement and the radiating humor and energy that was present all throughout the room. She could sense Nino’s slight caution too however and thought it would be best to explain.

“You see, my family lives in a bakery and it can get really messy all the time in there, flour settles on everything like you wouldn’t believe, especially if you’re as big handed about it as my father is. And my mom’s workshop can get really out of sorts too. The bakery part of our house is just actually a bakery if you can believe it, I mean my mom puts a little enchantment on the bread sometimes just to be nice but… don’t tell anyone though, that’s actually against the rules, even if it’s usually just good luck charms and other nice things.” She paused for a second, her face screwing up as she attempted to regain her train of thought. “Oh! But my mom has a workshop too where she makes charms and magic objects and repairs stuff for other people, and that gets so torn up when she’s really busy. So, ages ago my mom made this broom to clean around the house for us and she’s letting me borrow it for now so long as I bring it back. And she lent me the duster too for the little spots, I charged them both before I came.”

“That’s great Marinette!” Adrien exclaimed, crossing over to the desk to examine them curiously. He turned the duster over in his hands before seeming to realize something, putting it down quickly and backing away. “Oops, uh I’ll let you do that one.” And Marinette giggled a little.

Nino was sitting now, looking between the two in confusion when Alya leapt to his side (followed by a panting Carter), helpfully explained ‘Adrien’s got a feather allergy. Combine that with dust and he’d probably be miserable before too long.’

‘Wait so, are they seriously just going to clean the room themselves? Like, the objects? They just magically move around and clean it all up?’

“Yeah you got it,” Alya answered out loud now, attempting to keep everyone involved. “Witches can enchant all kinds of things, this is just one of those household spells that magic users have to make their lives easier. Some assembly required, but no labor needed. Pretty handy.”

‘That’s so cool!’ Nino barked, bouncing up on his paws to stand against the desk, sniffing at her bag curiously. ‘Tell her I think that’s really cool. What else does she have in here?’

“Nino says that that’s awesome,” Alya relayed, smiling at his eagerness and glad to see that he was in a good mood so far. “He also wants to know what else is in the bag.”

“Oh gosh everything,” Marinette said, sounding a little exasperated with herself, which made everyone laugh. “I was trying to think about stuff that you might need so I’ve got a whole bunch of stuff my mom gave me, stuff to help clean the room and decorate it a little, stuff for Carter, a DVD player, like 40 DVDs.”

The wolf grew still for a second, his large ears swiveling up at her voice and were eventually followed by his eyes, looking at her as if he hadn’t quite heard her right. Then after a moment, his ears swiveled back on his head and she could feel an abrupt flood of emotion. Guilt, gratitude, shock, embarrassment. Something warm and hard to name, something cold and hard to beat.

A whine slipped out as he looked between her and the bag, and Marinette didn’t wait for Alya to translate, already shaking her head.

“Nino I want to give you these things. They’re old and my family doesn’t need them anymore, my mother set all these things aside so we could give them to you, they want to help. I told them how barren your room was and it was everything I could do to keep my parents from charging over here themselves. Trust me it’s nothing grand really but, I hope they’ll be useful to you.”

“I brought you some things too! I’m not sure that you’ll like them or need them for anything but I wanted to share some of what I had.” Adrien walked back towards his things and pulled out a large woven bag that was of a style that Nino couldn’t say he had ever seen before. From it though he pulled out a handful of normal looking clothes for Nino to see, smiling at him softly. He packed them away and also patted the side of the bag, taping something solid and metal sounding. “I also have some uh, Never Never things, if you’d like to see them at some point. I think you’ll like them but I’d understand if you didn’t.”

“I didn’t have much to bring I’m sorry,” Alya said genuinely, gesturing with her head at the food she brought. “Kitsunes don’t really own a lot of physical things, so I brought some food.”

‘No one had to bring anything!’ Nino interjected, Carter tense and on alert now at the sound of Nino’s distress. But… it wasn’t quite angry. No, there was still something stunned about it that told Carter that perhaps this wasn’t a bad thing. ‘I- I appreciate it so much but please, I have no way to pay any of you back. I’ve got nothing to give I just-,’

“It’s not a loan that needs repaying Nino,” Alya answered immediately, her voice soft but gaze unyielding in that intense way of hers. “There is nothing to pay back. You don’t pay people back for gifts.”

Adrien nodded quickly in agreement, seeming very firm on this but still smiling gently. “You don’t owe us anything Nino I promise, we just want to help.”

There was a sudden and great silence that fell over them then. Adrien and Marinette looked nervously to Alya but she had nothing to translate, the fox waiting in as much suspense as anyone else as the wolf fell silent.

Nino fell back onto all fours and took an uncertain step backwards towards his bed… and everyone waited. Waited to see if he would retreat, or argue, or anything at all. Marinette reached out into the web of emotions that colored her life and tried to make sense of what she saw there, and it was so confusing.

The boy was overwhelmed, emoting through the body of a wolf whose head hung low not in anger but in deep thought. He shifted on uncertain paws and inside himself he was grappling with a concept that confused him. How kindness for the sake of kindness could have any place here. In this borrowed, mismatched room.

Eventually, the animal seemed the sway, a deep sound getting lost in its chest as it cast about for a moment as if it were lost. Marinette looked at Alya in the corner of her eye, hoping for something to go off of but the foxes head was tilted, struggling herself to grasp what he must be saying.  

Nino looked a little helplessly between Alya and Marinette, a whine escaping him again as Alya fretted a little in place.

“I- just slow down a little that didn’t… I don’t quite understand.” Alya suddenly sounded in the silence, apologetic as she tried to focus.

Abruptly though Nino huffed in frustration, casting around a little bit more for help before dropping to all fours. Marinette gasped when he pushed his weight gently against her, bumping her legs with his head and whining again. It prompted her to quickly stoop down and hold him almost sheerly out of instinct, the creature pushing against her in a desperate bid to communicate.

“It’s okay,” Marinette suddenly assured him, her heart aching with sympathy as she boldly wrapped her arms into the thick fur around his neck. It was so warm and dense, Nino pushing his head into the space of her neck to be as close to her as he could manage. “I think I understand… It’s okay.”

“I- um, Marinette,” Alya interjected, padding quietly alongside and firmly fixed on reading whatever Nino must be saying. “He wants you to try and feel what he’s feeling. He knows you can do that, he just, wants you to focus on it. He doesn’t know how to say it.”

Marinette stiffened a little at that, mentally preparing herself for it. After a moment she nodded into his fur, growing still as she allowed herself to fall into that web that no one else could see.

 It was nearly physical, condensed into the space the animal occupied and having a kind of color to it when she closed her eyes. It was green and dark, inky blue, pearls of moonlight white trapped beneath dark spreading fingers. She found the things that she had seen before, that something cold and hard to beat… and something warm that had no name.

It was the color of gold.

 Nino could feel it as Marinette leaned into him, doing as he asked as he did everything he could to pour what he was feeling into his mind. He didn’t know how to say it, or if there were even words for it. And he knew too that this must be so overwhelming for her, but that’s how it was for him. He thought about the forest and finding Carter. He thought about the alleyway and that day at lunch, where a monster flinched and he lost his grip. He knew that maybe it was too much, but he needed to show her that so he could show her this.

So he could show her how much better she was making it, how much better they were all making this.

He held on to that warm, impossibly grateful feeling and let it overstep any shame or weakness. He just leaned into her… and did what he could to say thank you.

 When he pulled away Marinette had a hand to her mouth, and she nodded once. He felt guilty that she looked like she was going to cry, but when she dropped her hand she was smiling.

Nino was partially worried that he had shared too much… but sometimes it felt like there were only extremes these days. Maybe that’s why he had been so excited about a normal movie night, but here he was making everything heavy again…

He just wanted to be understood.  

Marinette seemed to get that, on some level at least. She looked around a little embarrassed, trying to collect herself but still absently holding onto him with one hand.

“Oh, Nino…” she finally spoke, laughing a bit though it sounded breathless. She smiled, her entire expression soft. “You’re welcome.”

 His tail wagged even if his ears drooped, looking a little exhausted by the effort. For a time it seemed like no one knew what to do, the emotional moment slipping slowly into awkwardness, before abruptly and a little bit clumsily Marinette stood up, laughing weirdly and fumbling for her broom.

“Well, I um, I didn’t bring these gifts for nothing! It’s probably going to take them awhile to do their job so I should probably set them going. There’s a lot of dust to, uh… dust!”

“Yeah, for sure!” Adrien chimed in for the first time in seemingly ages, smiling in a picture-perfect way in an attempt to deflect the weirdness in the room. “Uh, I bet you’ve never seen anything like this before Nino, it’s really cool!”

The wolf was still a little wilted in on himself, his tail thumping slowly but lacking energy. Marinette and Adrien traded a quick glance, coming towards each other in mutual understanding. Despite her best efforts to do so in the past, Marinette could not completely disregard the fact that her and Adrien did tend to make a good team, when it counted. They weren’t as flawless as he claimed and there was a lot that got in the way but… that was a story for another time.

In this moment though, they didn’t need to say it to know that they needed to work together. For Nino’s sake.

 Nino was somewhat jarringly thrown into an in-depth magic lesson, a combination of equal parts awkwardness and good intentions leading to a slightly ungraceful effort to change the subject. It was weird, and sudden, and clumsy… but it was earnest.

Marinette was still a little thrown off from the encounter so Adrien took over at first, explaining briefly how magic things like brooms got made. He appeared to be pretty knowledgeable on the subject, but Nino was not retaining much of anything, and that didn’t seem to be the point of it. He gratefully took the cover it offered him, using the lecture as an opportunity to get his act together.

He hadn’t meant to make everything so serious. He just got so frustrated. It was horrible, not being able to say what he was thinking, not like he was ever particularly good at that even when he could talk. Still though, he didn’t even have the chance to get it wrong, and it had gotten the best of him.

At the thought he briefly glanced behind him, looking for Alya who was laying on the ground a short distance away with Carter. The two of them were waiting, Alya allowing the conversation to move on without her and Carter nervously keeping an eye on his boy, a little lost but trying not to intrude.

Nino waited to try and catch Alya’s eyes, but she didn’t look at him in time and Nino was forced to turn back around in order to be polite, Adrien still explaining something. He didn’t want too much time to pass before he had the chance to apologize for getting frustrated with her, it hadn’t been her fault that he couldn’t get it out. She was doing something great for him, it wasn’t fair to only use her as a vehicle to talk to the others.

“-it might be easier just to show you!” Marinette said pointedly all of a sudden, Nino snapping to attention with a little anxiety, afraid he had been asked a question when he hadn’t been listening. Luckily though that didn’t seem to be it, Marinette taking her broom and holding it out in front of her.

“So this here,” Marinette lectured smartly, tapping a nearly invisible band of marks set into the wood around the middle of the handle, “is the enchantment line Adrien mentioned! And it holds all the power needed to make it work. So now, with all the enchantments set and prepared for all I have to do is activate it!”

“Which,” Adrien chimed in, “can be customized by the witch or wizard who enchanted it the first time!”

Nino nodded, totally confused but pretending like he hadn’t been absorbed in his own thoughts. Blah blah Mary Poppins, Fantasia, Harry Potter. Yup yeah totally got it. Please don’t quiz me.

“In the case of these ones, my mom always sets similar items to activate with the same signal, so that all the cleaning stuff cleans and all the baking stuff bakes. For these two guys, it’s the same activation. A snap!”

To prove her point Marinette cheerily raised her hand, looking at Nino excitedly as she did exactly that, and snapped her fingers.

Instantly the broom quaked in place, shaking only briefly before sitting up from its position in Marinette’s hand with an air of duty and intention about it. Carter was on his feet immediately as the broom ghosted across the floor, too busy with itself to notice that it was being fervently tailed by a very unhappy canine.

‘Don’t like that!’ he barked very pointedly, ‘No no no, I don’t like that!’

Carter inserted himself into the situation all at once after a long period of sitting patiently on the outside, letting the others do as they liked but he had to put a paw down on whatever it was exactly that was happening right now. He was content to sit out and let Nino have his time but somebody had to see to this situation, and it only occurred to him that perhaps he shouldn’t when he felt the full weight of Nino holding him down.

‘Stop! No don’t touch it it’s okay, I know it’s weird dude but it’s fine!’

Carter twisted underneath the hold somewhat indignantly, once again frustrated that he and Nino didn’t ever seem to be on the same page about what was and wasn’t a priority. ‘That is not something I like, I don’t like it.’ Carter looked away to see the culprit moving about the place busily, starting to kick up an awful lot of dust that got quickly sorted away into another thing that Carter didn’t like, a limp sack of cloth that gathered whatever the broom thought fit. Something else moved over head and a bundle of feathers started getting awfully busy with itself doing nearly the same thing and he was not having that at all, aware of the fact that the others were laughing but deciding that he was the only reasonable one.

‘Carter please! I said no! This is not something we bark at, Marinette brought them it’s okay! It’s actually kind of cool!’

‘It is not!’

Nino was at a slight loss for what to do, looking up at the things Marinette had thought to bring and feeling something weirdly giddy in his chest, somehow distracted enough from his funk to laugh a little. It- they really just snapped to! He had watched her do it! Just like that she snapped her fingers and they sat up and got to business! Even right that second the broom and duster were lazily whizzing about, not even particularly rushed as they got about doing their jobs and drifting purposefully though the air like they floated on strings he couldn’t see or touch. They both had that weird static about them that magic seemed to have, only just barely perceptible and making that giddiness he felt swell.

But here he had Carter, who had always to this point managed to follow Nino’s orders no matter how much he disagreed with him. It seemed though that this was some kind of line that he was very firm on.

Nino tried not to laugh at his loyal canine friend as he continued to postulate about why this time he was definitely right, knowing that this almost definitely had everything to do with Carter’s dislike of brooms in general. And mops, he’d had a very firm stance on the issue since he was a puppy so Nino was made abruptly aware of the fact that he might not actually win this argument.

Alya was giving a play by play of the situation as Nino argued with his dog, the trio laughing into their hands and trying not to draw attention to themselves as Nino attempted diplomacy. But seeing as he couldn’t give a very convincing reason as to why the broom was moving, he seemed to be getting nowhere fast.

‘Okay Carter listen! I’ll make you a deal okay, I will let you watch the broom and the duster. You’re in charge of them okay, how about that? If you really think they’re a big deal then you can be on guard duty and make sure they don’t come after anybody. Yeah, that’s your job, okay?’ Nino looked his dog in the eye, the German Shepherd struggling less as he came to the conclusion that Nino might be taking him seriously. And, despite how funny it was, Nino was actually trying to take him seriously.

After everything that this wonderful dog had put up with to this point the least Nino could do was validate his concerns.

‘Okay bud, you keep an eye on these guys. If they smack somebody or leave the room you let me know and we’ll take ‘em down, but until they do that then please leave them alone and let them do what they’re doing okay? We got a deal?’

Nino waited until Carter was completely still, the dog still locked on target but at least hearing him out. After awhile Carter finally said, ‘Okay. I will watch them.’

The wolf sighed audibly, signaling to everyone that some peace had been brokered as he finally let Carter out from underneath him. The dog gave himself a pointed shake but wasted no time getting into position, looking to all the world like a police dog ready to go should anyone make an unexpected move.

 “Oh man,” Alya snickered, the fox sitting up high on a desk now with a paw to her muzzle and mirth in her eyes. “That was so funny.”

“I guess I should have checked in with Carter before I did that huh?” Marinette tried to sympathize but giggled a little anyways. “I shouldn’t forget that he’s here that’s not fair to him.”

“Oh dogs are like that, you probably couldn’t have convinced him to like it even if you tried,” Adrien shrugged, surprised when Nino came up next to him but looking away at Alya and failing to notice that Nino was shaking his head

‘Don’t tease him please,’ Nino came to Carter’s defense, even if it was pretty funny. ‘How is he, supposed to know? He’s never seen it.’

He waited for a beat before looking at Alya, who was laughing still and had once again missed what he said. He felt a spark of irritation at that as everyone continued to giggle… but on second thought he smothered the feeling, reminding himself of his earlier sentiment. It wasn’t her job to be official translator, it was up to him to try and make himself clear. So after a second he just let it slide, giving everyone the same grace they always gave him and let it go with a sigh.

 Nino had watched the magical items work for a while, doing his best to let them distract him from more complicated thoughts and just trying to enjoy himself. After only a handful of moments though there was just too much dust in the air for him to handle, soon enough all the critters in the room were sneezing.

“Okay guys maybe let’s step out for a sec and let the broom do it’s thing?” Alya suggested before long, already edging towards the door with her snout all wrinkled in distaste.

“That might be a good idea,” Marinette agreed, Adrien already out the door and letting out a mighty sneeze that echoed down the hallway, rousing a giggle from the girls. Nino hesitated a little, looking over his shoulder at Carter.

‘Carter, we’re going to be leaving the room cause it’s too dusty in here. I think it’s really okay if you just leave them to it, doesn’t it bother your nose? Come out with us.’

‘No, I don’t want them wandering off,’ Carter announced simply, his guarded position a lot closer to the door then before for the sake of some sort of clean air, but the dog not looking keen on leaving.

‘I don’t really want to leave you here by yourself, what if we walk around? I don’t know if they’ll need to go to the restroom or something. Do you promise you’re okay with it if I leave for a second?’

Carter didn’t answer right away, looking back over his shoulder at his boy and then farther back still at the fox who stood waiting in the doorway, considering the question.

After a moment he looked back to Nino, tail thumping a handful of times. ‘I trust them with you. I’ll watch our stuff, and howl if I need you.’

‘Promise you’re good?’

‘Promise.’

Nino decided that this final sentiment was good enough, trusting the school enough by this point to be comfortable leaving him on his own. Plus, Carter had wandered off on a few scouting missions of his own since their arrival, so it wasn’t unreasonable to separate for a while.

The wolf turned and headed for the wide-open door, the two-tailed fox agilely turning as well and padding out into the hallway with him. Nino was distracted briefly by her presence next to him, looking down at her and feeling that slight pang of guilt. Before he could stop himself he nudged her slightly, ducking his face to manage it and prodding her shoulder with his snout. She turned and looked up at him as soon as he did, but found no reason in his expression or words offered. It was just a touch, and after a moment she returned it, having to pop up on her back paws to do it and making him laugh.

‘You good?’ she asked subtly, only to him as they joined their friends and made a circle, the others talking amongst themselves already and gesturing to the hallway.

‘Yeah I’m good. Thanks for translating, I just wanted to let you know that I appreciate it… I shouldn’t have snapped at you back there. I’m sorry.’

Unsurprisingly she rolled her eyes, and he at least had the good humor to be pleased that he had seen that coming. ‘Oh please, that was nothing. I’m the middle child of three other siblings, that was not what snapping at someone is.’ She snickered, ‘You’re good Wolfie.’

‘Wolfie?’ he scoffed instantly, the fox making a high pitched and very odd chittering sound that mixed perfectly with his mental imagining of her laughter, the two completing each other somehow in his head. ‘You can’t be serious.’ He put as much disbelief into it as he could, huffing even. ‘That’s rich coming from you Tails.’

‘Oooh,’ she cooed, swishing her two tails at him and chuckling again, ‘Very creative.’

He scoffed again but laughed too, allowing a chuckle at it and shaking his head. Whatever, he supposed, he was surprised he had made it this far without a nickname anyways. And it was a relief to know that she wasn’t angry with him.

Their little moment ended when Adrien suddenly referred to the entire group, leaning against the hallway wall with his arms crossed and gesturing down one way with his head. “Interested in looking around at all Nino? I don’t know how much you’ve gone and seen, would give us something to do until we can get back to setting up your room. Marinette says it should only take like twenty minutes, but we can just wait here if you’re more comfortable with that.”

The group waited on his response, and it didn’t take Nino very long to decide. Sure he hesitated but… the sun was nearly set and he had his friends with him, it was a little different then looking around with Carter would have been. Neither of them knew what was what when it was the two of them, at least with this group he had a little more information. It didn’t make him entirely comfortable but… he was trying to branch out a little today.

After a moment’s consideration Nino nodded, and was happy to receive Adrien’s encouraging smile. “Cool! I’ve never been here after dark before, and the only non-used classroom I’ve ever seen is yours. Do you think we could get into any of the other human ones?”

“Adrien!” Marinette wasted no time in scolding him, the Cat Sidhe already pushing off from his lounging position and starting down the hall further into the wing. “We said look around not break in.”

“What are we breaking? I just want to look! They’re all unused, aren’t they? Maybe we could find some cool human stuff!” Adrien looked over his shoulder to grin at her, beckoning her to follow as Nino and Alya had already started to. She opened and closed her mouth once as if to protest, but he could see her curiosity starting to take over slightly.

“Well… I mean if they’re open they’re open I guess.”

“That’s the spirit! Come on let’s go look.”

With Adrien’s exuberant cheer the troop started off down the hall, thankfully going further into unused territory rather than closer to the active center. As far as Nino was capable of sensing there was nobody in this wing but him, and while he had looked down the hall at the line of doors and gone off to find a bathroom in the past he hadn’t looked much further than that. If they were all truly human classrooms before getting taken over by the other realms then he had a somewhat reasonable expectation of what they would see anyways, but if it was interesting to them then he’d tag along.

They trotted off down the hall, Nino unable to keep himself from always keeping an ear out but trying to stay engaged in Adrien’s commentary as well. Being out in the open put him on edge… but he was giving it his best effort.

They all came to a stop in front of a rather large classroom, Adrien peeking around through the windows that looked inside like a fishbowl and announcing what he could see, Marinette curiously joining him. But for the animals low to the ground who didn’t feel like expending the energy to try and look, it was a little less interesting.

‘Um, so uh,’ Nino spoke after a while, keeping an ear in Adrien’s direction for keywords that might mean he needed to listen but facing towards Alya. ‘You’ve got sisters?’

‘Mhm,’ Alya answered, somehow still looking entertained at his poor attempt at small talk despite the fact that surely no fox could be that expressive. ‘Three of them, one older and two younger. The younger ones are twins.’

‘Oh cool! That’s cool. Um, what are their names?’

‘Nora is my older sister, and then my twin sisters are called Etta and Ella. My mom’s name is Marlena, she is a very, very strong Kitsune, everybody respects her. My father’s name is Otis,’ she suddenly parted her muzzle in a foxy smile. ‘He’s human.’

‘H- wait what?!’ Nino barked in shock, Adrien about jumping out of his skin in surprise and clinging to the wall.

“Nino come on, warn a guy!” Adrien whined crossly, but it took one look down to realize that Nino wasn’t listening, gaping openly at a snickering fox.

‘How can your father be human!? Are you serious?’

‘It’s true! He’s as human as they come, only one in the family, obviously.’

‘Wait so you’re… part… human?’

‘Well, no.’ The fox paused, leaning down to scratch at her ear in sudden thought. ‘I guess you wouldn’t know but, Kitsunes marry human men all the time. Well not all the time, but it does happen. My mom is pretty old and has been knocking around the human world for a really long time, but one day she found a human man and fell completely in love with him. Any children born from a kitsune are a kitsune, so me and all my sisters are like my mother. My dad is still just a regular human, but he loves my mother very much. It doesn’t matter to him that they aren’t the same.’

She watched his face carefully, still finding it funny but understanding that it was probably a big deal to him.

‘I- so, your father is just a totally normal human, how did he meet a kitsune? Does he know? Like, he must know right?’

‘Of course he knows! My family is honest, no matter what anyone says,’ Alya huffed, her tone suddenly a little sharper. ‘Maybe some kitsunes don’t tell their husbands the truth but not my mother. She pretended to be human for a little while when they were dating but that’s not the same and she didn’t like doing it she just wanted to get to know him better. When she decided she was in love with him she told him the truth.’

‘… how did he take it?’

Alya didn’t respond right away, looking off down the hall and aware of the fact that Marinette and Adrien were watching them closely, obviously interested but not wanting to interrupt. Eventually, as they started moving on to look at other rooms she said, ‘Not well, at first. My mom said he panicked and ran away and it broke her heart. She knew that could happen, but she didn’t think it would. When she tells the story she says that she wandered the human world lost and heartbroken. She lost her ability to shapeshift too, she was so distraught. She was locked in her fox form for a year.’

The wolf blanched at that, and Alya suddenly regretted saying it. ‘An entire year?!’ Nino barked, and Marinette recoiled at the sudden fear she felt in the air though she couldn’t hear what was being said. ‘A whole year? Are you serious, really an entire year?’

‘She wasn’t trying to get better! She wasn’t trying to move forward or pull it together, she was devastated. She didn’t want to find herself again, and you have to understand how short a year is to her Nino. My moms over a hundred and twenty years old, I know that seems extreme to you, but to her it was probably like nursing a breakup for a few months.’

Nino paused in his fretting, distracted slightly by the whole 120 years thing so Alya leapt on the opportunity, trying to cover up her faux pas. ‘The way she tells it she says that she was so bitter about human men that a year later she found herself being tracked by a foolish human hunter who didn’t realize what he was really following. She outran him effortlessly for ages, but he never gave up and never stopped tracking her, so finally one day she said she just turned around and headed straight for him, wanting to terrify him and drive him away for good. But you know who she found when she got there?’

The fox paused, tilting her head and waiting. She gestured with her paw impatiently, twirling it in that kind of gesture that urged Nino to participate.

‘Was it, your father?’

‘Yup!’ Alya yipped, grinning again. ‘Can you believe it? A year later he left home and dedicated himself to tracking her down. He had spent that entire time trying to learn about the things that are secret from most humans, and by the end of it decided that he wanted to find her. He hunted everywhere for her, and stayed on her trail no matter what, and when she finally ran at him to confront him he told her he was in love with her and that he wanted to know her, the real her. That it didn’t matter to him that she wasn’t human, that he didn’t believe the lies he had uncovered about Kitsunes when he investigated. He knew my mother was an honest soul and asked her if she would let a human love her.’ Alya narrowed her eyes happily, her tails swaying behind her. ‘And they’ve been together ever since. Pretty amazing right?’

‘I can’t believe it… he just, loved her so much that he gave up his normal life and married her?’

‘Well he didn’t really give up anything, he might live in the Farlands now but he still goes home for the holidays and keeps up with his family. My mom goes too sometimes but no one knows about us, their children. They decided a long time ago that they didn’t want us to have to pretend, so I’ve never met any of my human family. Maybe one day when I can pretend convincingly enough that I’m human, but for now I’d give myself away I think.’

‘Well whats so bad about them knowing? Like, your dads human and he knows, maybe they’d understand.’

‘Or maybe they wouldn’t. My mom told my dad the truth because she loved him and trusts him, but my cousins? My aunts? It would be a big decision to tell them anything, and probably against the law. There are a lot of rules about exposing humans to the other realms, but it’s honestly a little hard to discipline anyone for. My mom gets away with it because she married the guy, and that places HIM under a lot of laws too. It’s a little taboo maybe, but Kitsunes are kind of taboo anyways.’ She shrugged, stopping as Adrien found a new room to investigate.

Nino lapsed into silence at that, the creature abruptly in very deep thought. Alya padded alongside him and couldn’t help but feel a little uncomfortable, worried now that her attempts to relate to him had just gone south. He was so quiet and serious sometimes that it was hard to tell, but he didn’t keep her waiting for too long. Eventually he turned to look at her again.

‘That’s a cool story. I didn’t know that humans could… get involved in anything. I just- I thought that… humans being near things that aren’t human like, wouldn’t that put them in danger? I’m not trying to be offensive I’m sorry, I’m just trying to understand.’

‘You’re fine, and that’s what my mom is for, obviously.’ Alya snickered, talking through a light argument that had broken out between Marinette and Adrien off to the side. ‘Trust me, you’ve never seen a Century Kitsune, that’s what my mom is, and what I’ll be one day when I’m old enough. Nobody messes with a Century Kitsune, nobody ever. He’s her mate so he’s safe just by association, plus with my mom’s illusions and how well protected our territory is, nothing bad would ever happen to him. He can walk around the Farlands no problem. People notice that he’s married and they just leave him be, because if a human is happily married to something that holds territory in the area then odds are they don’t want to risk making anyone angry.’

‘She sounds kind of scary.’

‘Oh yeah! The scariest, and the best. I love my mom; you’d probably really like her. I bet she’d like you too.’

‘Yeah, for sure…’

Nino fell quiet again, looking off towards where Marinette and Adrien where bantering about something but not really paying attention.

After a while Alya sat next to him and poked him lightly in the side.

‘You okay?’

‘Yeah,’ he answered, surprisingly. Smiling wolfishly even, but his tone seemed… sad. ‘Just thinking about something, is all.’

 Alya was on the verge of deciding whether or not it was just best to let that go, when a very audible click hit her ears. Her and Nino both looked up at the source, Marinette doing a deliberately poor job of keeping Adrien from opening the door he had found.

“Adrien I’m not sure we should go in here,” Marinette warned halfheartedly, clearly looking over his shoulder anyways into the windowless room. “We could get in trouble…”

“Come on Mari I know you want to look, and you said!” Adrien argued, opening the door all the way now. “You said if it was open it’s open, you said that. And it’s unlocked so it’s clearly not off limits. It doesn’t count as breaking and entering if all you’re doing is entering.”

Adrien looked around the group for support, Alya and Nino seemingly done with whatever they had been talking about and looking into the room curiously. Adrien tried not to notice that Nino seemed to have lost energy again, lost in thought but temporarily distracted by the unlocked room.

That was all the justification Adrien needed to do something arguably mischievous, stepping inside without any more deliberation. Marinette gave another hollow complaint but followed right after him so he knew it was all for show, the witch immediately looking for a light switch so they could start looking around, and he rolled his eyes.  

‘Uh oh, Adrien found an unlocked one,’ Nino muttered to Alya, changing the subject in a way that brooked no argument, so even if it made her huff a bit she allowed it. It was his business, she supposed.

‘Mhm. Ms. B said we could walk around didn’t she? And it’s not like anyone even uses these rooms.’ Alya was going to enter but Nino walked in first, forcing her to move along behind him. He looked around once inside but didn’t seem terribly interested in it. She on the other hand was a little more intrigued.

Nino knew without having to look too hard that this was clearly some kind of side conference room meant for faculty, probably even used as a break room for teachers who didn’t want to walk clear across campus to eat their lunch. It was stale and dusty and boring like his room was, the tile and wall paneling pretty much identical but there were a whole lot of cabinets that he didn’t have, implying that this space was probably also used as storage.

There was a low counter along one side that Adrien was investigating while the girls headed towards the cabinets, and Adrien was pleased to see that Nino electing to join him instead of the others. He had been right in the middle of investigating a very weird smelling spot on the counter, the whole thing coated in an old bitter smell, when Marinette suddenly gasped.

“Oooh guys! There’s stuff in here!”

Adrien immediately whipped around at the mention of random human objects, leaving Nino to sniff at the counter alone as he charged off to take a look.

“Nino come on! Look at this stuff, maybe you know what it is.”

The wolf didn’t come right away, letting everyone bicker between themselves and drag out a few of the more interesting looking boxes. He only left when he concluded that this must have been where a coffee maker used to be, all the useful utensils having been cleared out a long time ago which was a shame. It might have been nice to find a microwave he could come use.

By the time he finally sauntered over Marinette was elbow deep in a massive nest of wires and bulbs, giggling excitedly to herself as she struggled to explain.

“Oh my gosh this is perfect! It’s exactly what Nino needs, its perfect for you! You know what these are right?” She suddenly addressed him, pulling up a large handful of what he easily recognized to be string lights. It was the white and yellow kinds that buildings usually used to decorate for dances or office parties, and by the look of the massive tangle she was holding it was quite a few of them.

Nino nodded in confirmation, sniffing at them curiously when she held them down for him.

“Wouldn’t this be great for your room? I mean I know these are in the school but, I mean they were left here after the school was abandoned so… people don’t need them. We shouldn’t take things but, I mean think about it! You said the overhead lights in your room bug you because of the noise they make right? So you always keep your room dark, but maybe if you wanted to have some lights on anyways that these might not be so noisy! And on top of that they look super cute!”

“Oh, so they’re lights?” Adrien asked, pinching one of the plastic bulbs gently in his fingers. “That’s so cool! I’ve never seen little lights like this, how do they work?”

“You just plug them in! They have to be powered but human buildings have these little spots where you can connect stuff like this to give them energy. Then when they’re activated they have the power needed to give off light. It’s sort of like a luminous charm actually, just with electricity instead of magic.”

Adrien glanced down at Nino for some indication that she was right, not because he particularly doubted her but more so because he wanted to keep him involved. Nino nodded briskly in confirmation again, his tail starting to wag as he looked at the odd bundle of wires Marinette was holding.

“We should take them!” Alya asserted out loud, jumping up onto the table they rested on and tapping the cardboard with her paw. “No one would even notice but we can just tell Ms. B about it on Monday. If she says no we can put them back but I bet you anything she’ll say it’s okay. It’s not stealing if you tell somebody.”

‘Well usually you ask ahead of time,’ Nino said in response, mostly to himself since Alya was busy again and missed it. ‘I don’t know guys, I don’t want you to get in trouble, Alya tell them I don’t want them to get in trouble.’

The fox didn’t hear him, busy discussing why it was fine to do it when she felt something poking her leg, looking down into Nino’s eyes.

‘Alya.’

‘Oh, sorry I’m sorry. What?’

He bit back a sigh and repeated himself, the others already picking the box up with all it’s contents before Alya managed to get it across. By then they had all pretty firmly convinced themselves it was okay, Adrien addressing him directly.

“We won’t get in trouble! Like Alya said we can just bring them back if Ms. B says we can’t use them and I’m almost positive she won’t care. I want to see how they work they sound pretty.”

Nino for the most part was also almost positive that no one would care one way or the other, since the human part of the school was essentially superfluous anyways but still. He couldn’t help but feel like he would have made a more convincing argument himself if he could just…

He sat out as everyone loosely looked through the rest of the cabinets, finding nothing else nearly as interesting and deciding to head back anyways. As they finally left Nino trailed behind, just a little, Alya jumping into conversation with Marinette.

This was almost perfect. He was having a lot of highs and lows as he had expected, but he was for the most part keeping his head up. Okay well maybe he wasn’t, but had he been left to his own devices it would be way worse. He was having fun, he was, and he didn’t actually care about taking the lights, in fact he thought once again that it was very sweet of Marinette to think of how it might help him.

He just felt like he was always a little bit on the outside. Not that they weren’t trying really hard, he knew they were. It’s just that there was only so much to be done. He wanted to jump in and tell Adrien how the lights worked, maybe amaze him a bit with other seemingly mundane human knowledge. If he thought string lights were cool maybe he could tell him about video games or something else but, to do so through Alya would take so much time.  

He was stewing in his frustration by the time they arrived back at his room, sure that Marinette was starting to pick up on it from the way that she kept looking over her shoulder at him. Whenever they made eye contact though he would open his muzzle and smile, trying to assure her he was fine. Thankfully she didn’t call it out, but she seemed relieved to have a new angle for distraction.

“Oh great! It looks like they’re done, oooh this looks so much better!”

Marinette darted inside, dashing over to where her cleaning utensils now sat dormant. She was patting them nicely and thanking them for their hard work as everyone else came inside as well, Adrien stowing the lights off to the side and looking around with his hands on his hips.

“Alright this looks great! It’s sparkling clean now, this is so much better. Right Nino?”

Nino barked once, looking around at everything as Carter came trotting up to him smugly with a report.

‘Nothing bad! They kept on moving stuff around and getting under everything but I kept an eye on them and they never made for the door. It went on for awhile but then they just stopped all of a sudden. I kept watching them anyways just to be sure, but I think they’re done now.’

‘Great job buddy, thanks for holding down the fort. This is nicer right? No more dust!”’

Sure enough Nino figured he would be hard pressed to find even a single speck of anything out of place right now. All the cushions he had scattered around were stacked neatly in a pile (carefully cleaned of all dog hair it seemed) and even his bed was made. The desks were organized like tetris pieces and looking a lot more stable and even their used approximated counter space had been pushed smartly off to the side and left together with their contents. The scraps of clothes he had left behind and pushed into a corner had been gathered up and disposed of and every trace of food trash, dust, lint or loose fur was completely gone from every single nook and cranny. The cold tile no longer felt grainy underneath his thick paw pads, and as he moved further into the room the air was finally clear. The dim failing light from the windows with no dust motes to illuminate, just weak beams of uninterrupted light as the outside world descended into twilight.

It was a huge improvement, the room as a whole still deeply clinical but at least it was clean. In the time he’d been living there he had really made a mess of the place, so this was a nice change.

Nino made a show of darting up to Marinette to gently headbutt her legs as a thank you, the witch patting him once on a head and giving him a friendly wink. “Oh we’re not done yet! It’s gonna be even better! If it’s okay with you can we start putting some other things around? Then once that’s all finished we can set up the movie!”

“And eat!” Alya added, shooting a hopeful glance at her unused box of food.

“Yes, and eat! This is gonna be so fun Nino, we’ll show you everything we have and you can pick where to put it all! Sound good?”

Marinette waited until Nino barked again, the wolf running towards her bag expectantly with his claws clicking on the tile.  He looked back at her with a goofy smile, and she was deeply relieved to feel the wave of his emotions start to shift in their momentum. That frustration was still there, but now running side by side with gratefulness and anticipation.

 The following series of events was a great old mix of things. It was partly ridiculous, just the never ending depths of Marinette’s tiny clutch bag looking increasingly bizarre and hilarious like a clown car gag that just didn’t stop. He was legitimately frightened that Marinette was going to fall straight into it, Adrien having to help once or twice for a longer reach to grab whatever it was and Alya cheerfully offering to just dive inside to see if she could find it.

He felt so guilty, but also just so… warm. Marinette dragged her bag into the center of the room and started to fumble for books, blankets, pillows, towels, sheets, and rugs. She had so many rugs, some of them so large and colorful that he couldn’t even IMAGINE where she’d gotten it from. They were a ruffled on the edges and weirdly burned in some places but the pattern was stunning, woven so complexly that he really didn’t feel like the burns were enough justification to get rid of them. They were thick and far more inviting then the tile, Alya shifting back into her human form for awhile to give Adrien a hand laying them down. By the time Marinette stopped pulling them out the only space without one was the underneath of his bed and the cluster of desk in the back. She had explained as she pulled them out like handkerchiefs that her family had a billion of these things, given to them as payment by a regular fae customer who never seemed to have money but was always weaving beautiful things.

They really didn’t match each other but he loved them, already grateful for their much more comfortable padding. The mismatched explosion of color continued as Marinette stretched out the bed set she had brought, a size too big for his mattress but he kept pointing at his bed insistently until she understood that he still wanted them anyways. He gladly sank his teeth into the crappy, grating awful nurses office sheets he currently had and ripped them off himself, feeling silly but allowing himself to feel giddy again, dragging them out into the hallway so he didn’t even have to look at them as Adrien hopped to putting on the new ones. It was a loose fit and bound to fall off but whatever, probably infinitely better still.

The comforter came from Adrien, surprisingly, the boy darting over to his (now neatly folded) pile of stuff. It was arguably the thickest and softest looking blanket Nino had ever seen in his life, and weirdly made. It didn’t look like any kind of cloth or material Nino had ever seen, one side something almost like fleece but much, much finer and not nearly as hot. The other side was a deep, dark green and looked woven together, but even through the spaces he could not see the bright white almost-fleece on the other side. Adrien confirmed as he settled it on top that it had been made in the NeverNever, so Nino just assumed that the materials probably weren’t available on earth.

Carter leapt up onto his bed once it was all set up, making everyone laugh as he got good and cozy, loudly announced to his boy how everything smelled. Carter’s smell commentary was nearly constant, vacillating between ‘Nice’ and ‘soft’ and ‘weird’ and ‘cat!’

He wasn’t wrong, some things smelt like a- well, like a bakery, and some other things smelled wild as heck and he had no name for it.

Marinette and Alya tag teamed folding and putting away all the linens, Adrien taking the opportunity to go through all the clothes he had brought for Nino for when he changed back. There wasn’t too many, but it certainly bolstered his meager collection and added more variety. A lot of it looked like regular cotton but some of it was a bit old looking, like something a nomad might wear.

Adrien sheepishly apologized for the wear and tear, saying that they were all his personal hand-me-downs. He promised him though that they had always been a bit baggy on him so it was his hope that they would all at least loosely fit him. Regardless of how often Nino would ever use them, it was a very kind gesture.

After that they went through the books and supplies Marinette had thought to bring, some of it reassuringly human and some of it very not human at all.

His very favorite thing of all was the best possible gift he could have ever been given. Everything was kind, everything was great, from the rugs and the towels to Carter’s brand-new dog bed and the huge array of treats. Every gesture, and action and kindness was so much more than he ever could have asked for… but it was the music player that did it.

“It’s really old,” Marinette immediately defended it, the small black box with speakers and a cd slot making a slight clatter as she set it on the ground for him to see. “It’s one of the very first human devices I ever bought and a favorite of mine. Don’t worry though! I’ve got a new one my dad bought me so you can have this one. I only have a few CDs but, maybe if you could tell us what you like we can find some more for you. It’s hard to find discs now but that means they are always really cheap! I’ve tried to figure out how to get music online but… computers don’t like me.”

Nino just stared, his tail starting to thump slowly against the rug covered floor. It thumped, and thumped, and picked up its pace, getting faster and faster until his whole body was moving with it. He on his feet suddenly, and the wave of emotion that hit her made Marinette just start laughing, the feeling so warm she couldn’t contain it.

He couldn’t help it. He felt like such a dog but it seemed like the final straw, like he just couldn’t handle that huge nameless feeling that dominated his chest. It got so big that his body couldn’t contain it all, having to move to get some of it out.

He had been excited as they decorated, explaining everything that had been given to him for Carter just to tell somebody since no one could hear him at the time. He had felt warm, and grateful, and guilty and relieved, all wrapped up together with no where to go, no outlet. He kept saying to Carter how grateful he was but it wasn’t right, he couldn’t say it. Once again it was just too big, he never stood a chance at making it clear.

The rugs, the blankets, the clothes, the help. The conversations, just… the company, the effort, the attempt to bridge that gap he couldn’t stand.

The good nature of the boy in the lunchroom. The show of faith from a fox in a borrowed space… And the generosity of a witch and her family, who gave all that they could.

The exuberance he felt was quickly punctuated by something else, his relief and gratitude growing heavy and huge. It had been building up for so long now… and he kept thanking them but no one could hear. Maybe there weren’t names to the emotions, which is why he could find none. It was something sad… but something warm. Something grateful, and something just too huge.

It was hopeful when so much hadn’t been.

 “Nino, Nino it’s okay, I understand. It’s okay,” Marinette was suddenly speaking, and she wrapped his arms around him quickly, no doubt drowning in it with him as the others hovered helplessly, Alya quickly shifting forms hoping to help. The witch sounded startled, like she was trying not to cry…

Ah.

He had spiraled so fast, getting lost in it, making it hard again. No matter how happy he was there was still that risk, that pit fall. He hadn’t thought he was losing it but… he realized too late that he was shaking, Carter suddenly pressing his face into his back. Nino looked around over Marinette’s shoulder, wanting to tell them everything was okay, to apologize. But everywhere he looked his eyes landed on another of their gifts, on their faces laced with empathy. Too kind, every one of them. And he couldn’t say anything. Again.

A whine wracked through him as he leaned into Marinette, the sound weird and strained. He made another odd, misplaced sound and Adrien found himself looking to Alya, trying to find anything. But once again she had nothing to say, not understanding.

“I think he- maybe this is too much,” Adrien was suddenly saying, getting nervous as he looked around. He looked clear over Nino, trying to come up with some kind of game plan. “Maybe we should step outside or, or give him some space?”

‘Nino talk to me’ Alya urged him with a yip, reaching out to him another way as Marinette and Adrien started to quickly talk above them. ‘Are you okay? We can-,’

No. They didn’t understand, he couldn’t explain.

It happened then, quite suddenly, quite literally out of nowhere, all at once as some things do.

Nino said,

 “Thank you.”

 He forced it out and felt it leave him, like a sound that hung above everything else. The words shook and were barely there, as if they were said on the very last dredge of air in someone’s lungs.

The wolf inhaled sharply, shaking still as he felt everyone around him gasp, except for perhaps Carter who never noticed such things. Marinette drew back instantly, looking him in the eyes with a look of complete shock.

“Did you just-,” she gasped.

“He DID!” Adrien suddenly cheered, laughing in disbelief and drawing back himself, looking him over before laughing again, the sound of it triumphant

“You- Nino!” Alya cheered, mimicking the same tone he had finally just managed, those disembodied words that hung around them and allowed her to be heard, no matter what her form. “You did it!! You spoke out loud! You did it!!”

“… did I?”

“YES!” everyone cheered, so loud that it hurt his ears and stunned him a little. They all watched as the wolf looked around a little bit blearily, like he was pulling himself out of a well of thoughts and a little disassociated from the climb. Marinette released him so he could back away a little, getting a little distance as he tried to access what was going on.

He was so deep in his own head that he had just said it, rambling the sentiment as he must have done a thousand times by now. His frustration at not being understood had reached a breaking point, where even he couldn’t make sense of anything he said. Just a little on the outside from the incredible people who reached so far. He just-

… he just wanted to be heard, to have some hope of being known.

“Can I- can you still?” Nino looked between them urgently, shifting in place. “You can hear me?”

“Yes! It’s just like you’re talking out loud, I can hear it clear as day!” Adrien assured him, still giggling in giddy relief. “Oh my gosh, this is so great! This is really, really good Nino!”

“But… why?” Nino asked slowly, too nervous to be hopeful but his ears swiveled at the sound, trying to decide whether or not it had really come from him. “Why now? What happened?”

“I have no idea! I wasn’t even sure werewolves could project out loud,” Marinette said after a moment, laughing through her words like she was glad that she was wrong. “My dad said you should have been able to right away, when you couldn’t I just assumed something was wrong.”

“I said he could!” Alya yipped pointedly. “All shifters can do it, but you just- your transformation was really bad. You lost your grip on everything, you couldn’t even talk.” The fox tilted her head curiously, but she was clearly excited too. “If you can suddenly do it now then, it must be a good sign! You’re getting your grip back.”

Nino hesitated, feeling slightly frantic and afraid every time he said something, like it was going to fade and he’d be right back where he started. He didn’t think he could stand it if it did, he couldn’t just go back to square one.

… but he wasn’t. He realized.

At square one.

 His friends were gathered in front of him with eager expressions shared between them, relief so real in that moment that he might as well have returned from sea. And maybe he had, in a way, or perhaps he was just a bobbing head found treading water above a sinking ship.

The ship sank steadily down into darkness and had taken him with it, for a time. And though he might still be drowning… he was treading water, and others were coming to help.

He could almost sense the gaping darkness underneath his bed watching him, looking for a monster to hide inside it. But it found none here, not right now. Not when friends were here and things were better.

Nino’s tail began to wag again, a shaky laugh slipping out as he took a deep breath,

And spoke.

 “I guess it’s progress, huh?”

[ofalissa]

is that [VANESSA MORGAN]? no, that’s just [ALISSA ARMATI]. [SHE/HER] is [TWENTY-FIVE] years old and is a [CHEERLEADING COACH AT SPRINGHILL HIGH SCHOOL]. rumor has it they’ve been in town for [SEVEN YEARS]. on a good day, they’re [AMELIORATING & SELF-ASSURED]. but watch out! they can also be [HAUGHTY & COSSETED]. [DON'T PLAY BY HALSEY] plays in my head whenever i think of them. can’t wait to see them around springhill! [sam, 23, est, she/her]

*cher vc* hi again! it’s sam and i’ll also be writing sage ( @ofsage​​ ) which is the easiest place to contact me for plotting! character info under the cut, so please message me if you’re interested!

i. stats

𝔣𝔲𝔩𝔩 𝔫𝔞𝔪𝔢: alissa jazmyn armati

𝔥𝔬𝔪𝔢𝔱𝔬𝔴𝔫: manhattan, new york

𝔡𝔞𝔱𝔢 𝔬𝔣 𝔟𝔦𝔯𝔱𝔥: october 1st, 1994

𝔷𝔬𝔡𝔦𝔞𝔠: libra

𝔬𝔯𝔦𝔢𝔫𝔱𝔞𝔱𝔦𝔬𝔫: pansexual

𝔬𝔠𝔠𝔲𝔭𝔞𝔱𝔦𝔬𝔫: cheerleading coach at springhill high school

𝔦𝔪𝔪𝔢𝔡𝔦𝔞𝔱𝔢 𝔣𝔞𝔪𝔦𝔩𝔶: dante armati ( father ), head of the armati crime family 𝔭𝔬𝔰. 𝔱𝔯𝔞𝔦𝔱𝔰: ameliorating, self-assured, deft. 𝔫𝔢𝔤: 𝔱𝔯𝔞𝔦𝔱𝔰: haughty, cosseted, volatile.

𝔭𝔬𝔰. 𝔱𝔯𝔞𝔦𝔱𝔰: ameliorating, self-assured, deft.

𝔫𝔢𝔤: 𝔱𝔯𝔞𝔦𝔱𝔰: haughty, cosseted, volatile.

ii. history

alissa jazmyn armati was born and raised in new york city’s upper east side. she never knew her mother and her father wasn’t around much due to his work, so she was raised by nannies and private tutors.

her father, dante armati, is the head of a small but quite successful and dangerous crime syndicate that has a bit of a monopoly over the local illegal dealings back in new york : everything from pumping designer drugs into the streets to chop shops filled with luxury car parts to a long list of people who owe a backlog of gambling debts is connected to her father and his people.

as his only child, dante was VEEEERY protective of her and spoiled her endlessly. he used material things to make up for the fact that he was never around, and for the most part it worked. if she wanted it, then she got it.

alissa attended private school in new york as a teenager. she was a popular student with good grades and even won the role of captain on the cheerleading squad in her junior year ( two years after making varsity as a freshman ).

she was eighteen years old when her father was arrested for racketeering. at first, she assumed that he would get out of it. after all, it wasn’t the first time that cops had shown up on their doorstep in the middle of the night to take her father away in handcuffs. she assumed it would be just like all the other times, that she would walk downstairs for breakfast the next morning and find him sitting at the kitchen table, calmly reading his newspaper as though nothing had happened the night before. instead, one of his most trusted men was waiting for her with a one - way train ticket.

sent away for her protection, alissa arrived in springhill seven years ago. some but not all of her father’s assets were frozen, so even from behind bars he continued his habit of spoiling her, buying her one of the nicest houses in town and a brand new car as apology presents.

she spent her first few years in town doing little else besides shopping and throwing huge parties at her house every weekend. it was after one of her trademark enormous parties that she got into some trouble : a dui, and at the age of twenty, no less.

she volunteered at a local cheerleading camp in order to complete her court - mandated community service and she turned out to be so genuinely good at it that she was offered a position as assistant cheerleading coach at springhill high school for the upcoming school year.

alissa was promoted to head cheerleading coach at the high school at the start of the ongoing school year and she’s one of those teachers who all the students think is cool because she’s young and dyes her hair different colors and lets them call her by her first name because ms. armati is my eighty - seven year old grandma.

PERSONALITY : every stereotypical mean girl from an early 2000s teen movie, but reformed...mostly. the spoiled brat in her still jumps out in her every now and then and she still can’t really handle being told no, but she is trying to be more considerate of others and their feelings. loves teaching people how to be more self - confident and assertive, and she’s really good at it, however her guidance tends to toe the line between helpful and bossy. a total perfectionist who literally does not know what to do with herself if she isn’t in charge. far from the most nonjudgmental person to hang around, but perhaps one of the most generous and solicitous. 

iii. extras

coaching has honestly improved her life and given her a purpose. when she first moved to springhill, she was still A HUGE BRAT who planned to do nothing but shop and party until her dad came to pick her up, but once she picked up those pom poms again her focus shifted entirely. she loves her job and honestly can’t picture herself going back to her old ways anymore.

she still thinks her dad is going to get out jail any day now — or, at least, that’s what she tells herself over and over again whenever she starts to lose faith which seven years later is basically all the time.

btw, the car that her dad bought her as an apology present is a purple ferrari 458. it’s her favorite car and the one that she’s most often seen driving around town in, but she has at least two others.

in romantic relationships, alissa is very fickle and overall she can be kind of a nightmare. she constantly needs attention, she can’t handle being told no, and she’s known for keying her ex’s cars. anyone she’s ever dated probably hates her now. yikes!

she has a piano and a painting room in her house, so she likes to get artsy in her spare time. she doesn’t really share her paintings, but if she’s written a song that she really likes then she might perform it at the local open mic night. not super important but i hc that kehlani is her vc and musical content ok thanks.

loves giving people makeovers and even regularly offers her unsolicited fashion advice to total strangers. 

iv. wanted connections

“uncle” who is actually her bodyguard *wc on the main

best friend

cousins ( probably from new york but otherwise anything goes for this )

friends

makeovers

bad influence who tries to get her to party again

frenemies / enemies / ex friends

people she wronged when she was still in her mean girl phase ( both who have and haven’t forgiven her )

exes / flings / one night stands

( these are just a few base ideas, so please don’t feel limited by what’s listed here! )

[asterinjapan]

Karatsu explored

Hello again!

Seems like I can't stay away from the sea for long, because today i visited another coastal town. Lesser known than Kagoshima, but beautiful in its own right: follow me under the link for my day trip to Karatsu!

Okay, so I readily confess that Karatsu only recently caught my attention, due to it being used as the setting for a series I like. I looked into it and found that the town is mostly known for pottery and the Karatsu Kunchi festival in November, but it also has a castle and a beautiful pine forest, so i was convinced to check it out.

I took the subway to Meinohama, checked out for my JR line transfer, aaaand found out I had to go back through those same gates, haha. In my defense, I had to check out here, because otherwise I would have been charged the full ride until Karatsu, and I didn't get myself a JR pass for nothing!

The train brought me to Karatsu station - me and like, 5 other people, this was a really calm ride. But the views, oh! The weather continues to be clear and sunny today, and with the tracks to Karatsu leading all but through the bay, the sea views alone were worth the trip. I tried taking pictures, though well, good luck with that in a moving train, pff, so i just sat back and enjoyed.

Once in Karatsu, I checked out the maps, only to be handed like 5 folders with maps and coupons and what not. They were really helpful here at the tourist office; if you just come here without plans, they'll help you plan down to the detail, I'm sure.

But well, if you know me a little, you'll know I already had a plan, haha. First, the castle! It was a 20 minute walk from the station, and since this one wasn't on a hilltop like Nakagusuku, I had quite the relaxing if slightly warm stroll. The city looks lovely underneath the blue skies, and soon enough, I'd arrived at the castle.

They offer an elevator ride for 100 yen up to the top, but I was like "yeah, whatever, I did Nakagusuku the hard way too" and refused. To be fair, the staircase wasn't super long, but it was super uneven and I had a hard time keeping my balance from time to time. I didn't fall or anything, but I can see why the elevator is an option even if you're able bodied, yikes.

But the climb was rewarding with beautiful views across the bay, the pine forest and a lovely seating area that should look amazing in spring, as it's overgrown with wisterias.

Into the castle I went! It had five floors in total, with the second and third floor repurposed as a museum (this castle is a 1960s replica of the original, and they very recently renovated it). It was very informative, covering the history of the castle and the area with a lot of details, although all in Japanese, so I confess I skimmed a lot and read the ones that peaked my interest. That's how I learnt there was allegedly a demon (yokai) in the moat at some point, haha, and that the castle was also known as Maizuru castle, or "dancing crane". Understandable: the castle is white with dark roofs and a dash of red in the beams of the balcony, so it looks the part. I also learnt that the mascot of the city is a dog called Karawan, with wan being short for, uh, dog (well, "woof", so an informal word for dog). He featured in the video giving more explanations, as a person in a full on body suit, but he only barked and everything was subtitled, haha.

Eventually I made it to the top floor, where you can enter the balcony and enjoy the sea breeze and wonderful sights. I could see the islands in the bay very clearly as well as the Niji no Matsubara pine forest: niji means rainbow, and from this high up, it obviously had that shape. Oh, and I saw a hawk (? eagle?) up close! He kept flying above the castle grounds, so i sort of caught him on camera, haha.

So that was lovely, and I was already happy with my day trip. Next, I continued just a bit further to cross the Maizuru bridge, to take a picture of the castle from that side with the bridge in frame. There was a charming Japanese style cafe nearby, so I hopped in for some matcha latte and a traditional sweet. They were very kind here, offering me both menus, but i opted for Japanese (hard mode: it had no pictures) and they kept talking full Japanese, no English thrown in. Don't get me wrong, it's super considerate how often people try to talk to me in English, but I notice that my Japanese just instantly improves once I just hear the language without interfering language. That's not a criticism but an observation, haha. I mean, I wrote my thesis on the class Japanese as Second Language! Gotta use it sometimes.

The tea and sweet were great, and upon checking out, the sweet lady had a talk with me about where I was from and where i was going. I was so proud, I managed to uphold a whole conversation without a single English word on either side! Whelp, my standards sure have lowered. Ah well.

I walked all the way back to the station next, but with a slight detour this time via Karatsu shrine. Across the street is the Hikiyama exhibition hall, where all 14 floats of the kunchi festival are on display. I decided to visit this, and wow! These floats are big, impressive and gorgeously detailed. Surprisingly, all information was translated into English, barring the video on display, but that one mostly showed the history of the festival that was written elsewhere and showed the festival in full swing. The festival lasts for 3 days in November and celebrates harvest, and UNESCO has declared it an "Important Intangible Folk Cultural Property". It's been held for centuries, and the current floats were created in the 19th century! They look very impressive on display, and i was actually kind of regretting not going in November, haha. Definitely one for the list.

The souvenir shop offered miniatures of the floats, so i got the carp and the fish lion (shachi) for myself. After that, I moved across the street to check out the shrine, which organises the event. The shrine itself isn't massive, but people make works of art here on the wooden prayer plaques (ema), so it was fun looking around here. I left through a different gate, the main entrance, which is massive and startlingly white, a beautiful contrast to the blue skies.

At the station, I had another break with a matcha shake (I drink and eat green tea EVERYTHING), and then took the train back - although I got out at Niji no Matsubara station first to check out the pine trees.

To be fair, it looked lovely, but the forest trails were full of HUGE spiders, and I'm so very much not a fan of spiders, haha, so I trailed the road for a bit until I decided it had been a good day already, no need to give myself jump scares this early before Halloween.

I did do one more thing, namely checking out a hot spring resort featured in that series I like.  It was a short visit, but they were lovely there and the route had a gorgeous view on Kagamiyama, a mountain with an observatory on top. I'd have checked it out if it was less than the 5 km uphill they listed, and if the castle hadn't already provided lovely views, haha.

And with that, my day trip ended, but not before I sent myself on a wild goose chase in Fukuoka trying to find a clearfile (half succeeded) and a nail clipper (succeeded, it clips like a dream! The stories are true, Japanese made nail clippers are something else, haha).

I'm now back at the hotel, very happy that i insisted on this trip. Of course I didn't schedule day trips i thought I'd hate, but I hadn't expected to be so charmed by Karatsu either. The weather probably helped, but still, what a lovely surprise!

I'm currently a bit jittery though, as the typhoon that's incoming is something else. I'm not sure if it's safe to go out very far tomorrow, so I'll wake up early and decide then. I'm not planning anything for the weekend right now. The typhoon is expected to hit middle and east  Japan and I'm in the west/south, but it's so massive, odds are the entire country is going to be affected. Trains are likely being cancelled at least by the east train companies, so for now, I'm just hoping my trip to the Okayama hotel on Monday is still on. I'm glad I already reserved a seat though, I can tell you that much.

I honestly have no idea what's next. Shikoku, the island I was planning to explore from Okayama, might get hit and become inaccessible, and it's still a major question what it's gonna do overall, including Tokyo. It's about 3 times as big as Faxai, the typhoon that hit Tokyo in September and from which the area is still recovering.

For now, I'm glad I'm on Kyushu, and I'll have to see what's safe to do tomorrow. Current forecasts seem to show Kyushu miiiight just get off easily tomorrow, but that’s a big if. If all else fails, there are several karaoke joints down the street. Of course I'd rather explore more, but safety before anything else.

Maybe taking it easy for a day or two isn't that bad at all, considering how busy I've already been, but I'd have preferred a less extreme incentive... Well, nothing I can do about it, so I'll just make the best of it and hope the country comes out relatively unharmed.

See you tomorrow!

[criminaldaddies]

Choices: Part One (Hotch X Reader) / (Morgan x Reader)

Title: Choices: Part One (Morgan x Reader / Hotch x Reader)

Request: Hi!!! I love your writing!! Could I request a Hotch X Reader X Morgan fanfic where you and Hotch are dating and he’s crazy about you. Then the reader is hurt on a case she’s working with Morgan and he realizes that he’s in love with her and confronts her. Panicked and confused, she tells Hotch and it leads to some harsh words and some bad decisions?? Smut would be great and feel free to change this anyway you would like! Thanks!!!

Pairing: Hotch X Reader

Triggers/Warnings: Mentions of gruesome crime scene and stabbing.

Words: 1,279

A/N: I love you and your kind words. Hope I did this awesome idea justice Xoxo

-

You yawned, trudging into the bullpen, lugging your go-bag over your shoulder. You scanned the office, seeing no signs of life but the beaming light in Hotch’s office behind the closed door. You sighed happily and jogged up to the door, knocking lightly.

“Come in.” His voice was deep and strict as always, but you could hear a hint of a yawn indicating he was as tired as you were.

You stepped inside the room, smiling sweetly at your boss. “Hey, ready for this?” You smirked sarcastically and he chuckled. Getting called in the middle of the night and flying out to wherever wasn’t exactly the better part of the job, but nonetheless it was part of it.

“Y/N, how do you still look so beautiful even half asleep?” His eyes sparkled with admiration. You giggled as you walked over to him, pressing your lips to his. He tasted sweet and you could honestly sit there with him all night, but duty calls. You tugged his arm, pulling him to his feet.

“Come on, we have lives to save,” you coaxed, dragging him behind you. He groaned in disapproval, “I wish my sleep schedule could be saved.” You laughed in agreement and pulled him behind you all the way to the conference room where you were greeted by Garcia, Rossi, and JJ.

“Well, looks like everyone’s going to be fighting over who gets to sleep on the couch,” JJ chuckled, examining you and Hotch’s exhausted faces. Garcia was eyeballing you and Hotch’s enclosed hands and smirking at you.

“Don’t even start,” you laughed, releasing Hotch’s hand to slightly push her.

“Are we fighting already? I mean I know it’s early, but damn.” You all looked up to see Morgan walking in followed by Reid.

“Just warming up for whoever we need to arrest. Son of a bitch is cutting into my beauty sleep,” Rossi shook his head in annoyance as everyone laughed.

-

Moments later, everyone had arrived and was seated at the table and Garcia began her routine of informing everyone on the situation. You were so tired you could barely pay attention. Something about a guy who’s killing women by slitting their throats and publicly displaying them. Nothing new for you guys honestly.

-

You all boarded the jet, Spencer calling dibs on the couch and, because he was so damn sweet, no one bothered to argue. You fell asleep in the soft seat, Hotch’s left arm loosely draped around your shoulders.

-

You were suddenly awoken by a shrill of a voice.

“ATTENTION CRIME FIGHTERS, EVIL DOESN’T SLEEP YOU KNOW!”

You rolled your eyes and dragged yourself out of the chair, nudging Hotch and tapping Morgan’s leg with your foot to wake them up. They groggily followed you over to the couch area where Garcia’s perky smile was on display on the laptop.

“Glad to see you’re all spruced up! Okay bad news, new victim was found in an outdoor mall. Body was stripped this time, but same slashed throat.”

You grimaced at the crime scene photos, sadness washing over you as you couldn’t pull your eyes off the screen. You felt a nudge to your arm and looked up into Morgan’s deep brown eyes. He gave you a sympathetic smile and nodded at you, understanding your current emotions completely. You nodded back, silently letting him know you were fine, not noticing JJ and Prentiss’s staring, eyeing you both curiously.

“Alright, when we land, Reid, Rossi, and I will set up at the police station. JJ and Prentiss, you two check out the old crime scenes while Morgan and Y/N will check out the new one. You all nodded in agreement and began planning in your groups about your next move.

When the jet landed, you and Morgan headed straight to the newest scene. Morgan pushed a pair of thick sunglasses over his eyes as he started the engine.

“Still sleepy?” He smirked. You didn’t even need to see his face to know he had that humorous twinkle in his eye.

“When am I not?” You sighed as the black SUV roared into action and you two raced towards the scene.

-

“What’re you thinking about?” Morgan’s voice made you jump as you averted your eyes from the body.

“Is it bad that the first word that came into my head was ‘Yikes’?” Morgan tried not to laugh at you, as it would seem unprofessional, surrounded by a ton of police and crime scene operators.

“Not really, but what’re you thinking about the unsub, Y/N? You didn’t forget our job is to profile right?” He couldn’t hold back a chuckle this time.

“No,” you spat back. You sighed, “Alright well this woman is obviously a surrogate for the true target of his rage. He must be getting closer to whoever she is because his anger is increasing.” You gestured to the stripped corpse. “He’s trying to humiliate her. Maybe the object of his rage humiliated him in some way. Maybe an ex-wife or girlfriend. What do you think?”

Morgan paused for a second, looking around the scene. “The murder weapon is obviously a knife, but I’ve seen that kind of slash before. Pops and I used to go fishing when I was a kid. It looks like a fisherman knife. Could be nothing though. We’d have to check the ME report.” He shrugged, clearly unsure of his own logic.

-

The team regrouped not long after you and Morgan left the scene. Garcia and Prentiss already had a lead on the unsub and, as Derek suggested, was possibly the local fisherman. George Martinez. Garcia had uncovered that his wife had recently left him, keeping her two daughters with her, and kicked George out of the house, forcing him to live at his dingy bait and tackle shack.

“Alright, let’s go, Garcia send us both home and work addresses,” Hotch demanded, eager to head out and bring George into custody.

“Already done, as per usual. Good luck my furry friends!” Garcia hung up and with that, the team split up, heading to both addresses.

You, JJ, Morgan, and Reid took the wife’s house while Hotch, Rossi, and Prentiss took the tackle shop.

The house was large and fancy in a more “out of the way” area. You pulled up in the SUV, guns at the ready and charged at the house. You stuck closely behind JJ, feeling nervous which wasn’t uncommon for you. It was dark now. The only light source being the dim porch light and the slice of the moon in the starry sky. You examined the surroundings of the house, woods on all sides. Looking back to JJ, you noticed that she’d gotten farther ahead. You moved quicker, trying to stick behind her when you were yanked back. You spun around, silently praying it was Reid or Morgan, but you knew they were in front of JJ.

George Martinez hadn’t shaved or showered in what looked like days. He had a scruffy, gray beard and a wicked, sick smile plastered on his dirty face.

“You’re cute…huh. Too bad I have business to take care of.”

You were too frozen in fear to scream out or raise your gun. But then it didn’t matter. There was nothing you could do as you felt a sharp pang in your stomach. You slowly looked down at your waist, seeing your white sweater beginning to turn a deep shade of red. The last thing that you heard was Morgan screaming at George to surrender before you plummeted to the ground.

-

You jolted awake to the sounds of fuzzy voices and low beeps ringing in your ears.

“Derek?”

[vshoney-blog]

PAY IT FORWARD || DAVID DOBRIK & READER.

Warnings; swearing, probably incorrect info on how starbucks works?? idk

Summary; Y/N gets lost and finds refuge in a coffee shop, where she ends up spending a lot more money than originally planned. 

Travelling alone seemed like such a good idea on paper, but now she’s stood on the corner of the street attempting to look at the map on her phone so she knows where she is, it’s much less appealing. Y/N dreads to think of how much of a tourist she currently looks, squinting down at her phone, then attempting to look for any indication of a street name, whilst simultaneously stepping out of the way of people passing by and offering a quick apology ( though they don’t seem to take much notice of her ). Just when she thinks she’s found out where she is and where she needs to be going, the screen goes black. A frown wrinkles her forehead, and she tries unlocking it, then turning it back on. Nothing. “ You’ve got to be shitting me, “ she mutters under her breath, sliding her phone into her pocket. Perfect. 

Y/N walks along for a while, hoping to either magically come across her hotel, or at least somewhere with sockets so she can charge her phone. It’s then she sees it, like a lake in the middle of a desert, sun rays shining down upon it and basking it in a soft glow, the aroma of coffee beans wafting in her direction. The holy land. A Starbucks. She picks up her pace, relief washing over her and her sore feet. And she’s in, almost moaning at the sight of comfy seats. There’s a small queue that she joins, all that walking has given her a terrible thirst, and it’s probably best to actually buy something if she's going to utilise their electricity. 

The line moves pretty quickly at first, until the guy in front of her starts listing off his order. She’s pretty sure he’s gonna go feed the five thousand at this rate, how much coffee does this dude need? The barista confirms his order before telling him the total, just over thirty-five dollars, yikes. Y/N watches as the guy pulls out his card, when the lady serving speaks up. “ Sorry, our card machines aren’t working right now. We’re cash only, “ she informs politely, gesturing at the sign by the door. He looks back, and Y/N finally gets a look at his face, it’s kind of hard to make out considering how low he wears a black cap. “ Oh shit, didn’t see that. I don’t have any cash, “ he replies, brows knitting together as he hums in thought. They’re already making the drinks, and now more people have joined the queue. Whatever decision he’s making, he needs to do it fast. 

After a few moments of quiet discussion between the barista and black cap guy, Y/N grows impatient and takes out her purse. Truthfully, she should be saving this money in case of emergencies, but her aching feet and need for a cold beverage tell her that this counts as one. She takes out the money for both his and her orders, before stepping towards the both of them and placing the bills on the counter. “ I’ll pay for it, “ she interjects, to which the barista gives her a confused glance before looking to him for approval. Black cap dude seems taken aback at first, stammering a little before shaking his head. “ I can’t let you do that! I ordered so much, ‘ he says, removing his hat for a brief moment to run his fingers through his hair before putting it back on. She feels a little less bad about giving her emergency money to him now, seeing as he’s kind of cute. “ Honestly, it’s fine. It can be my good deed for the day, and it’ll get the line moving a little bit quicker, “ Y/N laughs lightly, and the guy soon mirrors her smile before nodding and stepping aside to let her order. 

“I can’t thank you enough for getting those drinks, I’m pretty sure my friends would’ve killed me if I went back empty-handed, “ black cap guy chuckles as the two of them wait for their drinks, which is obviously taking a while due to the large order. Y/N gives a casual shrug, and decides not to let him know that it was for entirely selfish reasons. “ No problem at all, think of it as a pay it forward thing. You’ve gotta do something kind for someone else now. At least, that’s how I think it works, “ she counters, earning a grin from the other. He nods, adjusting his hat ( he’s been doing that a lot whilst they’ve been stood there ) before a thought seems to occur to him and he sticks out his hand. “ I’m David, by the way. Totally forgot to introduce myself, “ there’s a certain quake to his voice, she finds, but she elects to ignore it and shakes his hand gently, a kind smile lifting at the corners of her mouth. “ And here I was about to refer to you as ‘guy who conned me out of thirty dollars’ for the rest of my life. I’m Y/N, “ she replies, glad to see him physically ease up at her jest. 

Eventually, the order is complete and both of them have their drinks. Y/N takes a small sip of hers and lets out a small sigh, definitely worth the wait. She spies a cosy-looking armchair in the corner, right next to a wall socket and starts to make a beeline for it, but is stopped by her new buddy calling her name. Turning, she raises an eyebrow as he steps towards her, sheepish grin spread on his face. “ So you mentioned the whole pay it forward thing, and I’ve decided instead of choosing someone else, I’ll just repay the favour to you. Maybe I could get your number, and we can go grab more coffee another time? All on me, of course, “ there’s a twinkle of hope in his eyes that she can’t help but smile at, and she decides that this might just work in her favour. Y/N gives a hum, like she’s taking her time thinking about it. “ Tell you what, “ she begins, noticing that David is leaning in like she’s about to reveal some huge secret. “ Seeing as I need help finding my hotel, maybe you could give me directions? That’ll be a favour for a favour. If you still want to grab coffee some other time, I’d be more than happy to give you my number, “ she offers, shooting him an expectant glance. He wastes no time in nodding his head, placing the drinks down on the nearest empty table so he can get his phone out. 

This is much better than paying it forward, Y/N thinks. 

wow so this is my first bit of writing here, so idk let me know what you think? pls don’t be too harsh i’m fragile. but i hope you enjoyed reading! requests are open! 

[rosytteok]

50 questions tag.✍🏻

-

tagged by the sweetest human ever;; @stuipdgirlxbtsx ily bud ty💞‼️

-

1. What takes up too much of your time?

lmaooo school, schoolwork, homework. anything related to school.

2. What makes your day better?

To be honest, scrolling through tumblr, laughing, talking to mutuals, writing when I’m very inspired. basically a lot of things make my day.

3. What’s the best thing to happen to you today?

My mom brought me my nana’s soup and other goodies for lunch and I was THRIVING!!!

4. What fictional place would you like to go to?

Maybe Hogwarts, P.K Academy, Ouran Academy(even though I’m poor as fuck) and that would be it.

5. Are you good at giving advice?

I think I am??? Sometimes in certain topics I can really let loose and advise someone from experience or from what I’ve been taught growing up.

6. Do you have any mental illnesses?

None at all.

7. Have you ever experienced sleep paralysis?

Nope.

8. What musicians inspired you the most?

Hm, Freddie Mercury(or Queen as a whole), BTS, and many others.

9. Have you ever fallen in love?

Yup.

10. What’s your dream date?

Nothing special nor fancy either—prolly something like going out to talk or eat fast food or ice cream. maybe a simple movie date.

11. What do others notice about you?

I have no idea lol. Probably like my face, mostly my eyes I think.

12. What is an annoying habit you have?

For me, since I bite the insides of my lips a lot, I find it annoying cuz I wanna stop but I just can’t??? ugh skskskks.

13. Do you still talk to you first love?

Never have had a bf. So no, I don’t even know where the hell my first crush at kdkdkdk.

14. How many exes do you have?

None.

15. How many songs are in your playlist?

A. Whole. Freakin’. Lot.

16. What instruments can you play?

None lmaooo but I’d love to learn how to play the piano, or the guitar.

17. What do you have the most pictures of?

Probably most kpop/bts related pics or pics of me lmao.

18. Where would you like to go before you die?

Truly...I’d love to travel the world but places like Italy, Japan, Korea, Thailand, Spain, France, etc. They really catch my attention so maybe one of those, hopefully, in the near future.

19. What is your zodiac?

Gemini.

20. Do you relate to it?

Sometimes I do, not frequently though. I just think back on a Gemini’s attributes and characteristics and be like: “oh! maybe that’s why I’m like this.” but then poof. I don’t pay them much attention.

21. What is happiness to you?

The people that surround you. Your loved ones, precisely. Family and friends to me are happiness. Also, my hobbies and interests. Like dancing, listening to music, and writing.

22. Are you going through anything right now?

Stress. Lots of finals to be done and I’m s t r e s s e d. But I’m managing.

23. What’s the worst decision you ever made?

No idea. Currently, can’t remember any.

24. What’s your favorite store?

I normally dislike shopping so I don’t know. Maybe somewhere with a makeup aisle, or like beauty related stuff kdksksk.

25. What’s your opinion on abortion?

(yikes oh god) although the thought of killing an innocent human being disgusts me, if it’s the product of some sort of sexual abuse then, if the female feels uncomfortable having the child since it may remind her of the assailant and/or the memory, it’s her choice to abort or not. Now, if the child were to be a mistake made by reckless behavior or malfunctions(?) on behalf of the pill or condom, then I believe the baby should certainly not be killed. Just because you didn’t plan it or if it was a mindless error it’s not the child’s fault. They shouldn’t be immorally punished.

26. Do you keep a bucket list?

Nope.

27. Do you have a favorite album?

Not precisely. Since I mostly listen to just some songs from a certain album and not like the whole thing, I can’t say. Maybe MOTS: Persona??? Idk man kdksksk.

28. What do want for your birthday?

Makeup maybe??? Money??? the MOTS: Persona album?? A vacation??? I have a lot of things in mind ksksk.

29. What are most people’s first impression of you?

Can’t say, really. Prolly that I’m a saint with no sense of dark humor. Like a nun maybe. Lmaoooo skskks.

30. What age do you seem according to most people?

17-20 ksksks.

31. Where do you keep your phone while you’re sleeping?

If it’s charging then, it’s on a table in front of the foot of my bed, sitting on top of a Bluetooth speaker. If it’s already charged then it’s in my purse.

32. What word do you say the most?

Somethings like: “uwu”, “hot”, “cute”, “baby”, “lmao”, “look—bye.”, “what the fock.”, “specimen” (weird selection, right? lsksksk.)

33. What’s the oldest date you would date?

Max one to two years older than me. MAX. M A X. I can’t go any higher than that, sorry fellas.

34. What’s the youngest age you would date?

This is going to sound so stupid but again, max a few months younger. I stand being like years older than a guy. It’s just not in my persona.

35. What job/career do most people say would suit you?

God forbid but, a teacher. Especifically, an English teacher or like a Science teacher. I’m shaking but God, no.

36. What’s your favorite music genre?

Pop, rock, kpop, and a little bit of R&B on the side.

37. If you could live in any country in the world, where would it be?

Hm, maybe just America or Canada. Although, I like other countries, I don’t feel like I’d be ready to live in a foreign country yet skskks.

38. What is you current favorite song?

Killer Queen by Queen, bad guy or COPYCAT by Billie Eilish.

39. How long have you had this blog for?

No freaking idea. Maybe for like a year now? Two maybe soon? This blog initially wasn’t planned ksksks it just came out of nowhere but I’m glad now that I made it.

40. What are you excited for?

My birthday and summer vacation.

41. Are you a better talker or listener?

A mix of both. Sometimes when I don’t know what to say, i just lend my ears all the way. But when I do, the words flow through as I advise skskks.

42. What is the last productive thing you did?

Do the dishes later today skskks.

43. What do you want for Christmas?

A miracle sent from Heaven and makeup(maybe??? Or like an album possibly??? Too soon to tell y’all).

44. What class do you get the best grades in?

Not to FLEX but honestly, all of them. Although, English is my forte (it has been since I was little) and I always get the highest grade rank in my class.

45. On a scale from 1-10, how are you feeling right now?

A pretty chill 9.

46. What can you see yourself doing in ten years?

Studying hard on what I love, cramming for exams in some dorm late at night. Maybe even finishing my dream. Living the stressful life that is college skskskks.

47. When did you get your first heartbreak?

Never have gotten one lol.

48. What age do you want to get married?

I truly do not want to get HUSBAND UP but who knows??? Maybe in my early to middle twenties??? I don’t know since I haven’t put much thought into it.

49. What career did you want to have as a child?

I remember like wanting to be a model, singer or like an actress or fashion designer.

50. What do you crave right now?

For school to hurry up and end, something sweet, and a good fucking nights’ rest skskks.

-

this took so much skskksks anyway,,,,I’m tired so imma post this and chill.🤟🏻

-

💌;; @gukgalore @palepinksuga @carry-on-my-wayward-bts (not an obligation since i know it’s a pretty long tag)

[theolivechickken]

Venice is V-nice

Jan 31

How are we actually awake and functioning at this hour? Left the house bright and early at 6am. Passed out on the bus and woke up for a shop at an auto grill along the borders of Austria, Italy, and Slovenia. Holy big ass mountains peeping through the clouds and snow. Actually, that’s an understatement. INSANE MOUNTAINS. I thought the high sierras and Yosemite were the tallest I’ve seen in a hot minute, but these are amazing. We passed through so many long, never-ending tunnels inside these mountains, and occasionally popped out to see the snow disappearing as the scenery changes.

HELLO SUN. HELLO TREES, HELLO BLUE SKIES AND BODIES OF WATER. HELLO VENICE. So far, I’m in love with Italy. This is the moment when I realized that I’m actually abroad. It took nearly 3 weeks for me to fully realize this!!

Venice was beautiful and the weather was absolutely perfect. We took a people mover to cross the water and then hopped on a water taxi to get to our hotel.

We wandered the city quickly to find a lunch spot nearby and settled in a restaurant (our first “Italian” food yay). I ordered lasagna (the pictures definitely lied in the menu) and it came out really flat and melted. Weird flex, but okay.

Afterwards, we followed Elisabeth around (the first of many walking tours in which we would be bombarded with information and not really retain much) this beautiful fantasy world and then had time afterwards to explore on our own. Ayetzy, Raine, Patrick, Aubree, and I wandered across a handful of small bridges searching for a cheap coffeeshop to hang at.

On our walk back, we visited a few contemporary art museums and danced around, chasing pigeons throughout Piazza San Marco.

We joined the rest of the crew at Al Bottegon (a wine bar) along the Rio di San Trovaso canal. Elisabeth treated us to a plate of breads topped with different cremes and fish as well as a glass of wine to try with the hors o'devours. I will say, the salmon one was definitely the best, and I knew it would be from the moment I laid my eyes on it. We also got a bottle of wine to share and drink while sitting outside by the water later in the evening. But first, we stopped by a pizza shop to grab some quick eats (and some also got gelato) and sat in the square to people watch.

Feb 1

HELLO RAIN (and gloomy, grey skies). Venice is completely different in this weather, and I’m even more thankful for the wonderful weather during the first day. It was wild to see this complete 180. Water from the canals/rivers were literally overflowing onto the sidewalks. We quickly rushed to our water taxi and huddled to stay warm and dry. Luckily, we floated down the long, scenic route to our hotel the previous day. Today, we speed-boated to the main harbor and got off to meet our bus.

B-B-B-Benny and the Bus

I love our bus driver, Benny. He’s just like Mr. Bean. A goofy ol’ man.

HELLO ROME. Hello different trees and more grass and charming beautiful buildings. HELLO BIRDS (green, rose-ringed parakeets soaring around and chittering in the sky)! Hello tiny cars, crazy drivers, and horrible park jobs. Hello Basilica of Saint Paul Outside the Walls (aka St. Paul’s balls to the walls since we couldn’t remember the actual name). Wow, the inside of this church is absolutely breathtaking. How are the ceilings so magnificently high and ornately detailed in gold? I also thought it was interesting how they were able to document all of the popes and there were only 4 more spots left after the current pope. Supposedly, the world would end by then. Honestly wouldn’t be surprised if it did end with the way things are currently looking (yikes climate change).

We hopped back onto the bus and drove further into the city. Very lively and busy, and I love the contrast between the ancient, old, and the new. We checked into Hotel Navona, located in the backyard of Piazza Navona. I willingly took the cot bed (slightly regretted it because it wasn’t super comfortable but was glad I got it out of the way now instead of taking the L later). Our room had a weird, lingering rotten-sewer smell and we couldn’t get it to go away no matter what we did. My theory is that someone seriously misused the bidet. Other than that, our hotel located in a pretty convenient location and I was happy to have a place to sleep and a working shower.

For dinner, we were on our own. Patrick, Aubree, Raine, and I went to a little pizza place nearby. It was okay. Cute and convenient, but the margarita pizza was aight. But I think the mango gelato across the street made up for it (though I think we got jipped there too since they charged €2,50 for one scoop whereas most places - I later learned - gave you two scoops for the same price). We spent the rest of our night hanging out with Pat’s high school friends who were also studying abroad and staying in an Airbnb in Rome for the weekend.

[lovemesomesurveys]

Do you own any Funko Pop! figurines? Yeah, I have an I Love Lucy one and a Baby Yoda one.

How many cats and dogs have you had as pets in your lifetime? I’ve had 4 dogs, 0 cats.

Can your mom and/or dad play any instruments, or how about anyone else in your family? No. My dad tried dabbling with the guitar at one point, but didn’t keep up with it.

Have you ever colored in an adult coloring book as a stress reliever? Yes, I have several coloring books. 

Can you crack crab legs without a tool? I don’t eat crab, so I’ve never tried.

How many light sources are in the room you’re in? My floor lamp is the main one, but you could count my TV and laptop as well.

What’s your favorite thing to put on bagels? Cream cheese.

Who’s your favorite director? Hmm.

Bats: cute or gross? Creepy.

What was the last really intense pain you felt? The chest pressure the other day from the panic attack I was having.

Would you rather vacation by a beach or a lake? Beach, please.

How would you feel about traveling abroad alone? I would be too afraid to go alone, honestly. Plus, I’d want to experience something like that with someone.

What is your father's middle name? I’m not sharing that.

Where did your last kiss take place? I think it was in his car. This was almost 10 years ago, so I’m not entirely sure anymore.

Which movie villain do you find the most terrifying? Michael Myers and Pennywise are pretty scary. Love ‘em, though. 

If you married your favorite celebrity what would your last name be?Skarsgard. Do you stick your tongue out often in pictures? I never do that.

Which one of your family members are you closest to? My mom and younger brother.

Would you rather have name brand shoes or name brand clothes? Shoes. Like my Adidas.

Are you a good liar? No.

Are you proud of your parents? Yes.

If you could get backstage tickets to ANY concert - which would you pick? Hmm.

Which is better: orange or grape soda? Not a fan of either one.

Was the last thing you ate hot or cold? The chips weren’t hot or cold, but the dip I had with them was cold.

Who was the last person in your house who isn’t family? It’s been a long time since we’ve had a non-family member over.

What color was the last swimsuit you wore? *shrug* I haven’t worn an actual swimsuit since I was a kid.

Can you remember the last song you listened to? No. I don’t listen to music much nowadays for some reason.

Have you ever been dumped really harshly? Yes.

Can you do a back flip, or anything else of that sort? Nope.

Do you have any exes you can’t stand anymore? No. I don’t even have any interaction with either of them anymore; it’s been years.

What happened to cause you to feel that way about them? --.

Are you more of a phone or a computer person? Computer.

Do you have a job, and if so, where do you work? No.

If not, do you want one? Not at this time.

Do any medical afflictions run in your family? Diabetes and cancer.

What’s your favorite Mexican dish? Chicken quesadillas and burritos with beans, rice, cheese, sour cream, guacamole, and cilantro.

Have you ever been to a professional sports game? Yes.

Have you ever ordered a specially made cake from a cake shop? Yeah, many times.

What months were you and your siblings born in? July, February, and November.

What did you have for dinner last night? My left over pizza from lunch. It was so good.

Have you ever had sex in/on a vehicle? No.

Do you do anything to groom your eyebrows? I keep it unibrow free, but that’s about it.

Has your town ever flooded? No, thankfully.

Have you ever played at the McDonald’s play place? Yeah. Ew, can’t believe that was such a popular thing cause when you realize how disgusting those actually were... yikes.

Have you ever taken a picture of snow? Yeah.

Do you cry easily? Nowadays I definitely do. I feel like I’m always crying.

Are you happy with where you live? My family and I want to move.

Do people ever mistake you for being a different race? It has happened.

Do you hate the last person you kissed? No.

What genre is your favorite movie? Horror, psychological thriller, drama, superhero, romcoms, scifi, adventure, fantasy... I like variety. 

Who was the last person you were in a car with? My mom.

Do you like the picture on your license/I.D. card? No.

When was the last time somebody hit on you? I have no idea. It’s been a very long time.

Was the last person you met a male or female? I haven’t met anyone new in quite awhile.

What brand is your underwear? I don’t remember.

What’s your favorite Thanksgiving food? I love the turkey, mashed potatoes with gravy, stuffing, rolls, and my brother’s homemade baked mac and cheese. Ooh, and the appetizers, too.

Do you have a TV in your room? I do.

Are any of your electronics charging right now? My laptop is constantly plugged in, so yes That’s it as of now.

What was the last video game you played? Animal Crossing.

What’s the biggest promise someone’s ever made to you? Did they keep it? Hmm.

Google, Bing, or Yahoo? Google is the only acceptable answer.

What was the last song you had on repeat? I don’t typically play songs on repeat.

Who is your favorite person to watch on YouTube? Oh, I have several.

How many college degrees do you want? I have one and that’s not even being used, I don’t need more. I have no idea what else I would even do. I also have ZERO desire to go back to school.

Can you wink? Yeah.

Do you own any jerseys? Nope.

Have you ever tried to snort Pixie Stix as a child, or even an adult? No. 

Do you like going to baby showers? Do you go only for the cake? They can be fun.

Has there ever been a time in your life, you felt sexually undecided? No.

Do you think tattoos and piercings are sexy on the opposite sex? I wouldn’t say that, but I don’t care if someone has some. Although, I’m sorry but I do not like face tattoos at all.

Do people ever ask you to do things they’re too short to accomplish? No, I wouldn’t be of any help either.

What color are the headphones you have at this moment in time? Yellow.

Ever choked severely on something during lunch at your school? Yes, actuallly. I remember getting a Dorito stuck in my throat in elementary school. 

Do you eat more vegetables or fruits? What’s your favorite fruit/veggie? Vegetables.

What would you say is the color of your favorite bra? I prefer black ones.

Is anyone in your family a firefighter? Who is it anyway? No.

What do you usually buy when you go to the dollar store? Snacks or decorations.

Ever peed in the pool? Be honest! Nooo.

When you’re older, what kind of house do you want to live in? A house near the beach is the dream.

Where do you want to get married? I don’t want to get married.

Do you plan on having both your parents at your wedding? Of course I would, but like I said I don’t plan on getting married.

What is your favorite childhood TV show? Think 90s Nickelodeon and Disney and there ya go. Oh, and I was obsessed with Barney when I was really little.

Honestly, do you like school? I liked some of it.

Last thing that made you cry? I don’t want to get into it.

Honestly, are you keeping a big secret right now? Nah.

Last person you took a walk with? My mom. We attempted to get into this routine a couple months ago where we’d take a short walk in the morning a couple times at least a week and go to the Denny’s nearby for breakfast, but I think we ended up going only like 3 times? haha. 

Have you ever liked someone who didn’t like you back? Yes.

Who was the last person to actually pick you up in the air? My mom.

Does any part of your body hurt? Of course.

If you had to choose between a million bucks or to be able to change a regret what would you do? The money is very tempting, but changing one of my regrets would vastly improve my situation now and I gotta say that sounds even better right now.

Can you keep a secret? Yes.

Your favorite romantic movie? I have several. I’m a sucker for the romcoms.

How do you feel about Valentine’s Day? Just another day for me. I’ve never experienced it with a significant other.

Who was the last person you took a picture with? My brother.

Do your jeans have rips, tears, and holes in them? No.

Do you celebrate 420? Nope.

Have you ever kicked a vending machine? No.

How do you eat Oreos? I twist ‘em and like to dip them in coffee or warm milk (vanilla almond milk to be exact).

Do you wear your shoes in the house? No.

Ever been to Georgia? I have, actually.

Do you get your hair cut every month? No.

Current relationship in detail. I’m single.

If you were kicked out of your house, who would you call/go to? My aunt.

List things you spend money on in an average week. Food and food delivery. 

Rate each of your sexual partners (if any) from 1-10. I’m a virgin.

Post the last FB group/page that you joined. It’s a group for a Bibe study.

Would you parents be mad if you were in a relationship? No? I’m 32 years old.

Think of the last person you had sex with. Do you think they’ve slept with anyone else since they last slept with you? --

Is there someone that you believe you will always be attached to? My loved ones. What board games are you good at? *shrug* I just love board games.

Is there a sport/hobby you keep thinking about taking up, but that you’ve never quite gotten around to starting? Not that I can think of at the moment.

Do you think pranks like egging/toilet-papering someone's house are funny or immature? Immature and stupid. And just a shitty thing to do.

Do you think “sleeve tattoos” are a good idea? Not my thing, but I don’t care if other people want to do it.

Do you ever actually read the “Terms and Services” when you sign up for websites and such? No. :X

If you have a handheld games console (a DS or GameBoy, for example), how often do you use it? I have a Switch, but I haven’t used it since earlier this year.

Your phone is ringing. It’s the person you fell hardest for, what do you say? I wouldn’t even answer to be honest.

If your best friend was kicked out, would your parents let him/her live with you? My best friend is my mom, whom I live with.

Are you afraid of falling in love? Yes. Didn’t go well the couple times I did.

Is there anybody you wish you could be with right now? No.

Have you ever kissed someone & wished yu didn’t? No.

Did you get kissed last night? Nope. It’s been several years since I’ve last kissed someone.

Do you enjoy going through a carwash? Not especially. When I was a kid I was actually scared of them. They still creep me out, honestly.

How did you get most of your scars? Surgeries.

Ever had to take an inkblot test? No.

Have you ever been in trouble for something you honestly didn’t do? Hmm, I don’t think so.

Have you ever seriously slapped someone in anger? No. I’ve never slapped or hit anyone.

What/who woke you up this morning? I haven’t gone to sleep, yet.

Who was the last person to be in your bedroom besides you? My brother.

What’s one of your locked text messages? I don’t have any. Does the iPhone even do that?

Have you ever finished a game of Monopoly? I think so. 

Is there anyone you know who’s in any way paralyzed? Yes, me.

The truth all comes out when someone is drunk, true? It can.

When was the last time you felt disappointed in yourself? I’ve been feeling that way the past few years. Just continuous disappointment.

How about feeling disappointed in someone else? A couple days ago.

For you, do you commonly feel more jealousy or envy? Envy.

Do you rely on the heads/tails flipping of a coin sometimes for decisions? No.

Do you have any specific chores you do around the house? I haven’t been much help the past few years. Especially not now.

For you, does comfort or fashion come first in dressing? Comfort, hands down. That doesn’t mean it can’t be cute, though. Like, I love my oversized graphic tees. They’re cute/cool and comfy. 

Have you had two friends that absolutely hated each other? No.

Do you like Laffy Taffy? I liked the banana ones. I couldn’t tell ya the last time I had one, though.

Do you prefer electric or manual pencil sharpeners? The little manual ones I have are fine.

Are your biceps at all noticeable? I have no muscle anymore. I used to. My arms are stick thin now. 

Have you ever seen a walrus? Yeah.

Did you ever have one of those Easy Bake ovens as a kid? I did.

Does your bathroom have a theme to it? No.

From inside of your house, how many doors lead outside? Three.

Are there a lot of trees in your yard? No, just one.

Have you ever liked someone that treated you like crap? Yes.

Have a best friend? Yes.

Does it bother you when your best friend does stuff without you? Only when she goes on a vacation without me haha. That’s just my envy and bitterness about not being able to do much right now due to health reasons. She absolutely deserves to go and I of course want her to go.  She goes like less than a handful of times, if that, so it’s not even much. I wish she could take more trips for herself. The past 3 years one of those trips was one she went on with her sisters and she’s planning another this year, but isn’t sure if she’ll be able to because I’ve needed more help these past few months due to health reasons and some things only she can help me with because she knows how and I only feel comfortable with her doing. I feel really bad because I don’t want her to have to cancel, she’s really been looking forward to it and I know it’s something she needs for her own wellbeing because she’s been stressed and spread thin having to deal with a lot of things.

Is there a secret you’ve never told your parents? Yes.

Does anyone hate you? Possibly.

What’s the one thing you regret more than anything? Not taking better care of myself.

Do you remember important dates? I’m pretty good about that usually, but I like to use the reminder or calendar app on my phone as well sometimes.

What’s some lyrics from a song that means a lot to you? There’s a lot.

Who gives the best advice? My mom.

Who do you usually see in your dreams? :) My dreams are so random.

What type of cake did you last eat? White cake with buttercream frosting.

How many of your friends are gay or bisexual? I don’t have any friends.

What’s your favorite type of sandwich? Turkey or bologna with cheese, mayo, mustard, and oil. I like to buy this sandwich oil that’s just olive oil with a few seasonings in it like oregano and basil. Oh, and I like to add spinach as well sometimes.

When was the last time someone asked you out? Did you accept or decline? It’s been years. I accepted.

Do you like The Offspring? I liked a couple songs.

One pillow or two? Two.

Do you like Mad Libs? Yeah.

Where do your grandparents live? Arizona.

What is your pet’s name? Princess Leia.

Have you ever been to Canada? No, but I'd love to visit. < Same! <<< Me, tooooo.

Aren’t babies overrated? lol aww I wouldn’t say that.

Have a built-in pool in your backyard? No.

Ever won yourself a stuffed animal? No.

Ever had someone else win you a stuffed animal? My cousin did once from one of those claw machines, shockingly. I feel like no ever wins those. My dad won the stuffed animal giraffe for me from an amusement park that started my collection several years ago.

Ever been to a circus? Yes, once when I was a kid. 

Ever shot animals? No.

Do you consider yourself intelligent? No.

Have you ever run away from home? No.

Do you put family first, friends, relationships, school, or something else? Family.

What’s something you worked extremely hard to get? Hm.

Are you satisfied with your body image? No. I’m very self-conscious about it.

Have you ever been labeled negatively or otherwise been called something extremely derogatory? Not to my face.

Have you ever seriously taken advantage of someone or been taken advantage of? I’ve been taken advantage of in the past.

Have you ever been seriously ill? Yes.

Have you ever befriended a former enemy? I’ve never had any enemies. If you’re not religious, would you ever pray as a last resort? If you are religious, do you often pray for other people? I did sometimes in the past before my relationship with God began a few years ago.

Have you ever dated someone, then after you dated they came out of the closet or switched (for lack of a better word) sexual orientation? No.

Has a boy/girl ever walked a ridiculous distance just to see you? How about vice versa? No.

When was the last time you felt really uncomfortable? Now because it’s so hotttt D:

Is there anything that your mom is really known for as to how she is as a person? Everyone loves and wants to befriend my mom. She’s funny and sarcastic and people just think she’s cool and fun to be around.

Who have you been talking to the most today? It’s 4:30AM, I haven���t talked to anyone so far.

Are you nosy? I can be sometimes lol. 

What’s the meanest thing you have done to a friend? Push them away. :/

If your ex called you crying, what would it most likely be about? I have absolutely no idea why they would be crying or why they’d be calling me. It’s been almost 5 years since we’ve seen or talked, so that would be completely out of the blue.

Who was the best kisser out of all the people you have kissed? Joseph.

Have you ever been told that you have an annoying laugh? No.

[revwinchester]

Centerfold - Part 5

Summary:  Dean stumbles across an interview and photoshoot starring his high school crush (and younger brother’s friend) Castiel.  He decides he’s going to stop at nothing to get back in touch with the boy with the blue eyes who used to sit in front of him in homeroom.

Genre: Mostly fluff with a touch of angst

Pairing: Destiel

Characters: Dean Winchester, Sam Winchester, Castiel

Word Count: 1510

Series Warnings: AU - No Supernatural, Porn Star Cas, Mentions of Sex (but no depictions), Bastardization of SPN Lines, Scenes, and Episode Titles

A/N: This whole series came out of a prompt for @thinkwritexpress-official​‘s Back To School Challenge!  The fic is based on the J Gelis Band song “Centerfold” in which a man finds his high school crush on the pages of his favorite porn magazine.

This is the second to last part of the fic!  Yikes!!

Find it on AO3

Centerfold Masterlist

Dean was on his way home from the garage, giving himself a pep talk as he drove.  “You can do this.  Just man up and say ‘hello.’  It’s two damn syllables, it should be easy.  You’ve got this.”  Dean’s thumb, which had been hovering over the call button on his phone, touched down on the screen and he pressed the device to his ear.  The phone rang twice, like it usually did, and then Castiel’s voice sounded through the earpiece.

“Hello?”

Dean opened his mouth to speak but, once again, he found himself tongue tied.

“Who the hell is this?” Cas asked his voice sounding angry, “Why do you keep calling?”

They were questions Castiel had asked before but Dean had never been able to answer out loud.  Dean pulled his phone from his ear and hung up quickly, tossing it onto the seat next to him with frustration.  He muttered to himself, berating his failure as he wondered what Cas thought of all of these phone calls.  “Probably nothing good,” Dean mumbled into the quiet of the car.

Another mile or so down the road, there was a car stopped on the side of the road, its four way flashing lights turned on.  Dean, needing a win, decided to stop and see if he could help out.  He pulled over behind the vaguely familiar Lincoln Continental, though he couldn’t place why he recognized the car.  It wasn’t one that he’d worked on at the garage recently, at least.  Someone was leaning into the trunk, looking for something and as Dean got out of his Impala, he could see what the trouble was.  The rear passenger tire was completely flat.  

“You need a hand?” Dean called out as he approached.

The person at the trunk stood up and turned around.  “I seem to have a flat tire.  I’ve got a spare back here but no jack,” he explained.

Dean recognized him immediately.  Cas.  It was Cas.  Here in Kansas.  His gravelly voice sounded even deeper in person than over the phone.  Dean pushed down his panic at being face to face with the object of his desire as best as he could.  “What are you doing here, Cas?” Dean questioned, regretting his words and tone immediately.

“I’m sorry, do I know you?” Cas asked, a look of confusion on his face.

‘Shit,’ Dean thought, ‘I’ve already messed this up.’  “Yeah, uh, sorry.  Dean Winchester, we went to high school together.  I was just surprised to see you back in town.”  Dean looked at Castiel’s car, something he could talk about without messing up, he hoped.  “So, without a jack, it’s pretty much impossible to change your tire here.  I work at Singer’s Auto.  I can call the guys and get you towed and then give you a ride to wherever you were headed.”  Dean hoped that he didn’t sound too eager.

Cas scoffed.  “You don’t have to do that… Dean, right?” he replied.  “I’ll figure something out.  I’ve got AAA.”

Dean was already jogging back to his car for his phone.  “At least let me call the guys to give you a tow,” he insisted.  “You won’t get anything quicker with triple A and Singer’s is the best shop in town.  The guys won’t over charge you or upsell you on work you don’t need.”  He made the call before Cas could disagree.  At least he’d have another chance to see the angel who had been haunting his dreams for the past month when Cas came to pick up his car the next day.  

Dean turned, giving Cas the chance to tell him to hang up but, to his relief, he was met with a small smile and a “Thank you, Dean.”  Once he hung up, he turned back to Cas.

“Benny is on his way.  Here’s my card so you know where to find your car.”  Dean handed Castiel a business card that proclaimed him manager of Singer’s Auto.  “You sure I can’t give you a lift.  You used to be good friends with my brother, Sam, and we were in homeroom together our senior year, I think,” Dean tried.  He didn’t just think they had shared the start of their day, he knew that Cas had been there, always sitting in front of him, just out of reach, but he didn’t want to come on too strong.  “I swear I’m not some creeper…”  Dean’s voice trailed off as he realized that a creeper was exactly what he had been towards Cas over the past month.  

Cas looked at him for a moment and chuckled at some private joke.  “Sam’s brother… I remember you now,” Cas acquiesced.  “I’m sure you’re not a creeper, as you put it, I just don’t want to inconvenience you, I’m sure you’ve got better things to do than drive an old acquaintance around.”  

Dean kept himself from fidgeting, especially when Cas had said he wasn’t a creep.  “It’s really not a big deal.  Sam and I live together but he always works later than me,” he explained, “so there’s no one to miss me for the next couple of hours anyway.”  Dean could see that he almost had Cas convinced so he amped up the charm.  “Look, Cas, I honestly don’t mind and, if I’m being honest, most of my memories about you from high school involve me not being the most pleasant person that early in the morning… let me make it up to you and prove that I’m not a jerk after about 9 AM.”

Castiel smiled and nodded, “Alright, Dean, thank you.”  He followed Dean over the Impala and climbed into the passenger seat.  

Dean watched Cas out of the corner of his eye as the man took in his baby.  He appreciated how Cas reverently ran his hands across the leather of the seat and Dean loved the look of joy on his face as his eyes roamed the car’s interior.  Dean would be lying if he said he hadn’t imagined Cas sprawled out across the hood of his baby after seeing his shoot for Hot Rod Hotties and he wanted to ask Cas what he was thinking as he drank in the car but those words wouldn’t come.  Instead he asked, “So, where were you headed when your tire went flat?”

Cas jumped a little, as if Dean’s question pulled him out of a daydream.  “Oh, right,” he said, “I was on my way to the police station, actually.  I hope that’s not too far out of your way.”

Dean was surprised by Castiel’s answer and his breath hissed out between his teeth.  “It’s not but, uh, why were you heading there? If you don’t mind me asking.”  He started the car and pulled back onto the road, trusting that Benny would take good care of Castiel’s car.

Cas looked over at Dean, studying him as he drove.  “I need to file a police report, it’s actually why I’m back in Kansas,” he shared.  His voice was quiet but, to Dean’s relief, he didn’t seem afraid of whatever was bringing him to the police.  “I stayed in California for work after college but over the last month, my modeling has earned me a stalker and all of the phone calls are coming from this area.”

Dean didn’t like the sound of that and he was suddenly glad he had found Cas on the side of the road rather than whoever was…

“Oh, shit…” Dean realized.  It was him.  He was the stalker.  Luckily his words didn’t give him away and he was able to play it off as sympathy, rather than the recognition that it was.  “Hey, you know what?  The cops’ll be there all night,” Dean offered, attempting to change the subject and putting off his becoming the center of a police report.  “Why don’t we grab something to eat before I take you over there.  My treat.”

Cas was an easier sell than Dean had expected and, soon after, they were seated in a booth at the back of The Roadhouse with a couple of beers and food on the way.  The pair caught up and got to know each other, Dean not wanting to waste the one night he’d probably ever get with Cas.  They ate, drank, and laughed, Cas calling Dean out for some of his more asshole moments in high school and Dean apologizing by buying another round of beers.  Between the way Castiel’s eyes glittered when he would smile and the deep, resonant sound of his voice as he told Dean stories about his life in California, the evening was only reinforcing the crush that Dean had managed to harbor for the past fifteen or so years.

Dean was having an amazing time and, though it would ruin things between him and Cas, he knew he had to come clean about the phone calls.  He really didn’t want to bring them up but he took a deep breath and steeled himself for the conversation that would ruin everything.

“So, Cas, about your stalker…”

If you would like to be added to (or removed from) one of my tag lists, please send me an ask and let me know!  The lists I’m tagging for this fic are story specific and then my forevers and my Destiel tags (if anyone signs up for that one).

Centerfold Tags: @shutupiminlooove

ALL THE TAGS! (forevers): @deathtonormalcy56 @supernaturalyobsessed @roxy-davenport @sumara62 @ginamsmith @gallifreyansass @samwinjarpad @hexparker @thinkwritexpress-official @atc74

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[mistralrunner]

Running Reads Oathbringer: Part II.IV

I decided to turn my "let's run over 5 miles to a park with the largest book I can find and climb a tree to read it and then run back" stunt a couple years back with Words of Radiance into a tradition. Despite the fact that when I read Words of Radiance it was summer and thus a reasonable time to sit outside, unlike the approaching winter of the present. Managed to read nearly two chapters of Oathbringer and then it started raining despite the forecast not saying it would rain until a few hours later. Well, journey before destination!

Spoilers for pages 481-528 ahead. Also Mistborn thoughts again cause I have a problem.

The sea? As in an actual or metaphorical sea.

I'm amused at the irony that this dreaded work placement is not as bad as what fellow humans forced Moash to do

It's still slavery. It's still awful. But it is interesting how humans acted more odiously toward their slaves. The Voidbringers are efficient and focused rather than wantonly destructive.

But Moash you're falling into apathy here. People can be better

It's ironic that Moash was the one Kaladin appreciated for not revering him and now Moash is putting him on a pedestal

The Voidbringers still have Parshmen slaves? Are you kidding me? I really shouldn't be surprised but still.

I am surprised they're treated worse than the humans. Did they try to rebel? Were they the Listeners or Kaladin's people (please not the latter it would hurt Kaladin)

And they're almost taking the place of Bridge Four as the ones who are treated the worst so even if you're in a bad spot at least you aren't them

Oh no

They are the ones Kaladin helped

Noooooo

What about the children?

This hurts

The horrible irony that these people ended up worse off for being helped. That is evil.

Kaladin save them please

Or Moash. That would be ironic.

Yes you go Moash!

Twenty three years ago so Adolin's around now?

Oh no Dalinar not you too with the firemoss

Yikes Dalinar re the bar fight

Honestly “yikes Dalinar” is a good summary of these chapters

Wow born unto light that is a name

Now I want to know all the name meanings

What happened with Jasnah all those years ago and her "lunacy"?

(Around this time while reading eerie pattering started around me and I realized rain was approaching and packed up. My book is unharmed)

Gavilar, Alethela was great in part cause they recognized fighting as a necessary evil not because they saw fighting as what made them great and in charge

It's good Dalinar is at least aware he has a problem. That is a first step.

I am concerned about whatever Gavilar is thinking might help with Dalinar's problems

Huh he's not going to the Rift? At least not yet cause I'm pretty sure whatever he forgot there hasn't been shown yet.

Heh that's a nice echo of Gavilar's last words to his brother "if only I knew the right ones to say" "you must find the most important words a man can say"

WHAT IS GOING ON

Obrodai?

Shards conquering worlds?

Is this what Sazed is facing in era II?

I am really fixated on that problem since Sanderson confirmed the red-eyed kandra in The Bands of Mourning aren't of Odium but are related to something similar happening across the Cosmere

They can make avatars of themselves?

As in they invest a person and bring them under as their god or something else?

I am so confused

Just let me spend ten minutes staring at the epigraph and ignoring the actual chapter

Dalinar's flying?

Dalinar and Navani are flying?

YES TEN SQUIRES AT LEAST ARE FLYING I’M SO PROUD

That really does speed up warcamp travel time

Ten weeks huh-I should try making a timeline

Yes it was Rushu who came along

I have so many favorite minor characters

Yesss Navani doing engineering and Dalinar being happy for her

Yes Queen Fen!

So we're sending Kaladin to unlock the Oathgate? That's the only person we can really send.

In which Dalinar faces the greatest adversary of DnD: the door

And like a typical DnD player he doesn’t think to look/ask for the key first  

I love the Windrunner express

So does this mean Hoid is going to be missing this book because he's facing the dreaded water level of a video game in order to seek help for Roshar from some arrogant Shard?

I want this story now.

Okay the artificial stone wards are pretty cool

Heh, stonewards

The presence of crem in general is interesting.

It really is interesting that these beings of Odium aren't doing a slash and burn

And that this is the book where we're getting backstory on Gavilar and Dalinar's campaign for the contrast of conquest methods

Also I wonder how much of that Fused being impressed with the orchards is due to the fact that during the last Desolation and thus the last time the Fused were active human society was in tatters and probably didn't have anything like that

Moash, just casually admitting he killed a Voidbringer XP

Sah has to deal with a second member of Bridge Four

What happened to Sah's daughter I'm still worried can we save her

You know if any of the Voidbringers can acquire and use an Honorblade, we're in trouble once more Oathgates get unlocked

Huh that is a clever design, keeping suburbs far from the city so you can't siege from immediately outside

Wow

That is just

The sheer amount of dramatic irony there

Hysterical laughing really is the reasonable response

Laddermen doesn't have the same ring to it as Bridgemen though

Sorry Ishnah, the Ghostbloods aren't impressed with you

I am really concerned about how dangerous a position Shallan is re the Ghostbloods

And also the fact that Mraize's statement at the end of WoR about Shallan vs Veil is coming true cause Shallan really is fading

I'm concerned that the reason for this Lightweaving discovery was skipping more meetings that she really should be attending but that is a very useful skill

Okay Shallan that is a good idea I'm impressed. And a nice presentation.

Give everyone a hat-I mean sphere-of disguise

Also glad Elhokar's taking a bit more command

My DnD instincts are too strong though and I keep thinking what if someone has Truesight? Which still could be valid here you never know. Or one of those Stormlight draining creatures like Nale had.

The irony if Gaz is brought along

Eighteen and a half years? How old is Renarin again. How much did the Kholin brothers see of their father in early childhood?

Okay at least being responsible for tactics is a step forward for Dalinar

The Thrill addiction really is disturbing. Such a good underhanded weapon of Odium.

You haven't even read all her letters...

Team Evi deserves better

Really Dalinar you were there for Adolin's birth but not Renarin's? He was the looked over son since birth?

And he ignored the spanreed for the naming of Renarin while delightedly naming Adolin

Dalinar, Evi tried and is at least taking effort to listen and learn tradition

"Like one who was born unto himself" kind of fits Renarin unconventional cryptic but ties to family names, like and unlike

Dalinar you were so elated over Adolin and now Renarin doesn't get that love how dare you

I love Evi

At least Dalinar realizes she deserves better.

Aaaa little Kholin brothers

Evil flying chulls pfft

...as cute as the little kid salute is it is really disconcerting that Adolin doesn't see enough of his father that that is the greeting that happens

D'aww baby Renarin

Okay I am indignant that Renarin isn't getting the same love

Ooo glyph info

The idea of infiltrating the Calligraphers Guild is hilarious

Purity's Eye? I feel like I should be able to place that reference.

Okay this is so cool I love this

Glyph explanations!

Linguistics!

So the general person isn't aware of these procedures? Otherwise I feel like the Stormwardens could have just adopted the phonemes rather than combining glyphs phonetically

Really tempted to attempt to make glyphs now

Yay Jasnah

Wait is this another letter

Hmm does that mean that earlier part was actually multiple letters

That would explain why I got confused

Hoid is sending a lot of letters

Ooh Veristitalian stuff?

Okay that is messed up NanKhet

The fact that Navani turned that area into a scholarly institute is so delightful

Huh that must have been frustrating, wanting to discuss scholarship with people when all they care about talking about is your atheism when you've established that you'd rather not be defined by something that you don't believe

But science and scholarship everywhere!

Hey Jasnah Renarin can float between worlds if he wants it's called balance and being well-rounded

Especially cause if I was in Roshar I definitely be doing the same thing cause Bridge Four but also scholarship

I want to believe you're not so limited

I really respect Jasnah's dedication and effort to quietly protecting her family

And yeah really why are royal families often so messed up

I do not want stormwardens near Renarin albeit for different reasons than Jasnah. I don't trust them.

Tashikk's system is so cool

If the Voidbringers target it....

Fantasy chat room!

Jochi and Ethid I love them already 

I'm glad Jasnah has Veristitalian colleagues/friends 

See Jochi is well rounded and in two worlds, a philosopher and running a pastry shop

Ooh Ethid’s a scion I was curious about those

Oh right Ethid could have been there when Nale/Darkness/Inspector Javert tried to kill Lift in the Azish palace

Is this how Szeth is going to return to the narrative? Jasnah hunting Heralds?

Jochi spotted Axies the Collector? He's known of in certain circles?

Heh they're discussing Lift

I need to reread Edgedancer to see if Ethid showed up at all

Is Dalinar's vision the unexpected source of the images of the Heralds or something else

Yeah Ethid it really does feel like Radiants are popping up everywhere

I'm just really happy Jasnah has scholar buddies

Wait Navani and Shallan are already discussing wedding Adolin this feels too soon and like something will go wrong probably learning Adolin killed Sadeas

I mean I figured something was off with Renarin given we know what the Truthwatcher spren should look like from that interlude with he poor cobbler and his foresight hasn't been confirmed as a Truthwatcher ability but now I'm really getting scared

*Hisses at Amaram*

I love how two of the characters I despised can technically be referred to by the same name now

OHHH

OHHHHHH

BURN

okay I take it back Amaram's presence was acceptable just so I could see him get burned

"Remind me to find whoever told you and have them hanged"

I LOVE YOU JASNAH

Also bonus points for glowing while you say that

Destroy him Jasnah

Tear him apart

Ugh I actually hate Amaram even more now, dude not listening when a woman says no, physically grabbing her

Oh man this is just delightful

Also I have never seen Jasnah this...vitriolic?

Shame Kaladin isn't watching

Team Amaram haters unite!

This is so beautiful

What does Jasnah know about him though

Heh yeah my reaction is pretty close to Shallan's

Jasnah's just oh no I was a poor example

And to be fair insulting ones female relative isn't a great route but I was just so delighted to see Amaram verbally attacked

Ah Shallan skipping over the part where it was your idea not Elhokar's

Ooh what did Renarin find

What on Roshar? Just sounds a tad jarring even if it fits

Oh that is awesome

Glowing musical gem language to preserve knowledge aaaa

[acakaos-archived]

Conjuring Expectations

[When I speak of conjuring here, I’m using it as an umbrella term to describe any act of pairing a spirit with a physical person. It doesn’t matter what your method is, if it is a prebound spirit, how often you do it, or the price you charge.]

So, offering these services has recently become a bit…. trendy.

Personally I find this disconcerting. We like to stress that taking home a spirit can be a lifelong responsibility, so being the shop should be even more of a responsibility. It isn’t something to take lightly, once you offer the service you’ve taken on a huge responsibility towards your customer. The points in this post are a few, not all, of the things you should keep in mind if you wish to start conjuring for others.

Other posts on the subject, please give these a read! x / x

[These are my own standards. Take them as you will. If you don’t care if a shop meets certain standards in this post then that’s your opinion, although I recommend having high standards for the shops you work with. If you don’t think something in here should apply to you, actually meditate and do some shadow work on why this is, laziness and impatience is not a good reason to ignore something.]

Don’t do it on a whim.

Seriously. Don’t conjure on a whim. This isn’t something to start up because you’re bored one night. There are a lot of things you have to consider when you do this, and it’s going to take more than a couple weeks to make sure you’re not making a hasty decision. Honestly, I’d put the minimum decision period at…. Six months. Does this seem long? Good. It gives you half a year to see if you’ll back out and any other thoughts which arise. If you’re too impatient to wait that long then sorry to say but you’re making a rash decision.

Know why you are offering your services.

Seriously…. Why do you want to do this? I’m not saying to think about it for a day. I’m saying to do serous shadow work to get an honest answer about why you are doing this. Is it the money? The ego boost? To look cool? A white knight mentality towards spirits? None of these are good reasons. Make sure the reason you’re doing this is something you can truthfully tell your customers.

Practice frequently

That six month decision period? You should already know how to perform your services by then and should spend that six months practicing consistently. Daily, if possible. Your consistency here will show you how you will fare when you must do it on a consistent basis for customers. It’ll also show you how you’ll handle things when you hit a fallow period or block in your life. If you can’t keep up with the consistency now then you won’t later either, and likely you’re not ready.

Don’t learn to conjure just to open a shop

This ties in with knowing why you’re offering the service. If your motivation for learning the skill (or whatever other method you use; remember that it is an umbrella term in this post) is purely to open a shop later on, reconsider things. If conjuring isn’t something you honestly love to do now, you’ll hate it even more later down the road and shouldn’t be doing it for others. Have reasons for yourself, not for others.

Know your laws

Don’t open shop without knowing the legalities. Know both the legalities of offering metaphysical services/products and of selling in general. These include both your state and federal laws (if in the US, otherwise you’ll have to figure out on your own which laws apply to you), as well as the laws which apply to your individual customers’ locations. You need to read through the laws yourself, not just google the answers, otherwise you won’t get the complete picture. Also keep in mind that it isn’t any other shop’s responsibility to tell you what the laws say. You need to figure it out on your own. And even if your services are free, there are still legal issues pertaining to you within the US. Read up because the law isn’t going to be on your side.

You need to be a legal adult

There’s a very good reason reputable shops don’t sell to people who aren’t legal adults. It’s called legality. But your services are free? Well consider that when witches, pagans, etc refuse to teach minors, this is also for very good legal reasons. If you aren’t old enough to buy from a reputable shop then you aren’t old enough to offer your service. Anyone can practice spirit work but you need to be an adult to offer services. That’s just the way it works. If you can’t bear to practice spirit work without opening a shop then you need to reconsider why you are opening a shop, because that sure sets off some red flags. Teenagers don’t have a good grasp on long term consequences.

Another part of this is maturity. Not only is the estimate for the point of full brain maturity past your teenage years, but a teenager simply doesn’t have the life experience an adult has. If you’re still in high school, regardless of whether or not you’ve already turned 18, you do not have the life experiences that give you heaping loads of personal qualities and maturity. When high school ends life starts throwing at you a ballsack of responsibilities and worries: financials, living situations, college, jobs, your future in general. Do some teenagers have to deal with these things? Sure, but there’s no way of knowing if you legitimately have the maturity from handling these things or if you just think you do. High school environment does not give you the same maturity an adult environment will.

Look, go anywhere in public and you can immediately differentiate the group of high schoolers from young college kids. There’s a certain bit of immaturity in high schoolers and teenagers that doesn’t leave until you’ve graduated. If you want to argue that you’re not like those other teenagers then that’s a bit of a red flag towards the opposite. There’s a trend with teenagers to think you know the world when you really don’t. You’ll have a different perspective on your high school years later on.

Anyone can do spirit work. But a shop’s services, and by extension running a shop, is not an entitlement and can indeed be limited by factors like legal age.

Know the community

I’m not talking about tumblr. I’m talking about the wider community. Whether or not you agree with other sides, you need to be familiar with them to be well-rounded. Furthermore, your customers will not all be coming from the exact perspective as yourself, so you need to understand your customers who have learned from different places.

Conjure for more than your friends

Your customers will not be limited to your friend group. Conjuring for your friends is easy because you’re familiar, and likely compatible, with their energy. You know their personalities for when finding them spirits. This applies to doing bindings, too. You absolutely need to have a large portion of your pre-shop practice to be for people (preferably strangers who will give honest opinions from a point of experience) other than your close friends, otherwise you’re not really proving that you can do it for others.

Know a wide range of energies

People tend to hang around similar energies. Even if you stay purely on tumblr, you will come across many of the same viewpoints and energies. Explore outside of that circle. Meet a variety of people with a variety of ideas and energies. You must be able to work with the entire spectrum of people to be able to offer this service. And this isn’t something you can do in a day, it takes years to become familiar enough with so many energies to be prepared for this. And that’s… that’s sort of the point. You need all that experience. Also remember that you’re going to need to see the inner core of energy, not just what someone gives off on the outside. It’s happened to myself plenty of times where a conjurer doesn’t look on more than the outer shell of energy, and thus their work is mediocre and the relationship doesn’t last.

Know a wide range of spirits

This is INCREDIBLY IMPORTANT. You only want to offer white arts dragons? Fantastic, but you need to be familiar with more than that. Cute fluffy spirits aren’t the ones who will wreck you. You absolutely need to be familiar with the darkest, most dangerous spirits if you want to keep your customers protected from them. And… no, I’m not talking about hellhounds and demons. If that’s the most dangerous spirits you know, then you may need more experience. Tricksters and shapeshifters are another issue. When they are malicious, you’ll need to be a master to recognize them.

It will be an issue even if you insist they won’t approach you. There are people in this community who have the worst kind of spirits looking for any opening to harm them, and shops are a huge opportunity. These people might not tell you about it or might not even know, but you need to be able to recognize these spirits regardless, then be skilled enough to deal with them.

Dangerous spirits will not always look like monsters. Tricksters can reach the point of mimicking a spirit’s exact personality, energy, soul energy, even some memories. Spirits who are legitimately from safe species may be unsafe. For example, I had a spirit from one of the safest species I know approach my own shop. Nothing turned up through every one of my safety measures with checking them, but one of my other measures is to seek out others who have known spirits and interview them. Learned from a relative that this spirit had murdered their entire immediate family (not extended, which is why there were others who could tell me about it) then undergone surgery to entirely remove the memories from their energy so no one could know. And I was informed that their patterns suggested they’d turn similarly violent again and would enjoy every second of it. Yikes. Those situations happen more frequently than you’d expect and you’d better be able to recognize them.

Have large experience in spirit work not involving shops

You are not reselling another shop’s vessel, you are working with your own spirits. Have several years of experience in working with non-shop spirits. Ideally this would be consistent and purposeful. I’m not talking about speaking to one ghost who lived inside your house, I’m talking about purposely meeting new spirits and learning about them. Have experience in discerning their safety on the run. If never in those years do you encounter a malicious spirit, then…. Uh. That does not give much confidence in your discernment.

Have a master safety process

I’m not saying expert. I’m saying master. The worst of the worst spirits do come to shops looking for trouble and you need to see through their hardest disguises. Just talking to them and learning about them is not enough because they will readily put on sweet faces. Like I said, there are people in this very community who have these spirits after them. It’s your responsibility to not be a wide opening.

Offering a spirit shouldn’t be as simple as meeting a spirit on the street who likes humans then offering them.

Practice discernment. Lots of it. More discernment that you’ve ever practiced before.

People are trusting that you have absolute perfect discernment. You need to have foolproof discernment that comes from a large variety of methods. And this is something that you cannot learn immediately, it comes through years of practice. I’m saying that you need years of practice and they need to involve heavy discernment. I’m gonna be blunt, your spirits had better not be purely in your head and you should have people outside your immediate friend group (as they are very biased in your favor) verify them. If you’re gonna hit a “gosh is this all really real maybe I had better check” period, it had better not be while people are already trusting you to know your discernment.

Be emotionally stable and handle your mental illness

I am not saying you cannot practice spirit work with mental illness. Many of us do it and more shop owners than you know have serious diagnoses. But you need to have a firm handle on it. You absolutely have to know when you can and cannot practice and how to involve discernment. Say you suffer from hallucinations? Plenty of spirit workers have the same and they are fully capable despite it. They learn how to discern a spirit from a hallucination and their work is lovely. But you need expert discernment in telling your mental illness apart from spirit work and not letting it influence your senses, otherwise you are not practicing adequate discernment. Imagine your mental illness like a hurdle. It’s unfortunate that some people have more hurdles than others, but that doesn’t mean you don’t have to overcome it like every other hurdle.

Emotional stability comes into play because emotions have a heavy impact of discernment. From confirmation bias to letting your emotions show you what you want to see, you can’t be slacking by letting emotions get in the way of discernment, proper safety checks, and your senses in general. You also cannot be making emotionally fueled decisions. Emotionally fueled decisions almost always throw discernment completely down the drain. More than that, they hurt people very often. There have been patterns in this community for years of people getting hurt because emotionally fueled decisions are made and real discernment is left to the side. “You’re abusing your spirits!” is the most common, said to both shops and regular spirit workers. Remember, confirmation bias is a definite thing (if you want the answer to be one thing, even subconsciously, that’s what you’re going to see because you’re biased in favor of that interpretation of the evidence) and your senses can and will be altered based on a heavy wanting for a particular outcome.

Related to this is that if you are constantly involved in drama or making drama-fueled decisions, you are probably not a good person to be running a shop.

Be prepared for this to affect you later in life

I don’t know what you want to do with your life, but chances are that you’re going to need to impress people. Employers, schools, anyone you want to sign a deal with. Sorry guys, but internet privacy doesn’t exist. Your privacy only exists until it is legal to sell your history and information to potential employers and etc groups and individuals. Imagine that everyone will be able to see you doing this. How is it going to affect you later? Don’t try and say that you won’t let it happen, just imagine that it will happen because it’s very easy to slip. Be fully prepared for the responsibility of others finding out about it.

Remember… some people may just think you’re weird, but others will see it as a malicious scam, preying on the mentally ill, or even a sign of serious mental instability. Don’t take it lightly, realize the full effect of others finding out and it affecting your life. If it causes anxiety now, imagine how it will feel if it happens. You must accept this possibility before continuing.

Have an understanding of the responsibility

This is one of the biggest responsibilities you could take. You are putting yourself in charge of someone’s safety, spiritual progress, and more. Just…. Do not take this lightly. Seriously.