#but it's the first time my kid's been here since her birthday when she outaged him
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#cw for death to follow#you know that too many people in your life have died when you're looking through old pictures#because you want to see someone's face#and then you're hit with the#“oh shit they died too”#and all of the really weird as fuck feelings that come with that#grief's a bitch#and i'm grateful for my good days#but i wish that the bad days didn't need to happen too#but i'm grateful i got to spend some time with my brother's face today#i miss him so much#and oh shit i just realized why it's been such a triggery day#because yay for it seeming to hit out of absolutely no where#but it's the first time my kid's been here since her birthday when she outaged him#and there's a bunch of other stuff too but that's its own fun
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Updated 24/6/2021
∞ Oneshots/Scenarios
Trying to wake him but only to be cuddled
Gojo & S/O take Megumi as their son
S/O not used to compliments
Taking pictures of his S/O
S/O Insecure of their relationship
Sees his eyes for the first time
S/O who’s having an anxiety attack
S/O wiping Gojo’s kiss
Gojo wiping S/O’s kiss
Comforting a sad S/O after a mission
S/O wears Gojo’s shirt
S/O makes Gojo eat spicy food
S/O who helps Gojo (MANGA SPOILERS)
Comforting a sad S/O
Comforting a sad S/O 2
Ex to Lovers
Reader most romantic confession
Gojo’s Birthday Fic 2020
Comforting stressed S/O
Geto kidnapping Wife!Reader
Dog!Gojo Satoru x Reader
Comforting childhood bestfriend
Husband material
Flower giving
If only I had somewhere to sit
Mommy kissing Santa Claus
Comforting Gojo
Gojo having a nightmare
Cheering up his S/O
Gojo making reader laugh in a meeting
Clingy in the morning
In the shower
One of These Nights
From Behind
Gojo caught crying
A Taste?
Early Mornings
Gojo & the twins wanting another baby I
Gojo & the twins wanting another baby II
A Promise
Reader getting her period and Gojo notices
Lazy & Affectionate
Telling him you’re pregnant
The Gojo twins visiting Jujutsu HIgh
∞ Headcanons
Engagement Headcanons
Chubby S/O
Gojo turned into a child
F!Short & Strong S/O
Newborn curse reader
Curious childlike reader
S/O who is good at hand to hand combat
Cuddling Headcanons
Pregnancy Headcanons
Reader afraid of rejection
Tall & Strong Cursed Spirit
Suicidal Reader
Long haired reader
Big sister reader
Affectionate S/O
Celebrate reader’s birthday
Toxic lover
What does Gojo Satoru smell like?
Working out
Type of girl Gojo would fall for
Pregnant reader wants to decorate for Christmas
Gojo wanting a baby
Gojo trying to make stotic!reader smile
Gojo Twins #1
M!Strong & Short S/O
S/O memory loss
Popular F!Reader
S/O turns into a child
Shy S/O
S/O protects Gojo
Clumsy S/O
Day off with Gojo
Shopping with Gojo
Valentine’s Day
Insecure skinny S/O
Gojo x Idol!Reader
Agrument with his S/O
Merman!Gojo
∞Skipps Imagines
Why?
My Everything
A Moment
Afternoon Naps
I’ll be here
∞Random Gojou Satoru Headcanons Series
1 2 3
∞ SFW Alphabet
SFW Satoru Gojo Edition
∞ Prompt Event
Fluff # 12 “Could you say that again?” “Were you listening?” “No I was, I just like hearing your voice”
Fluff prompt #26 “You’re really warm.”
Fluff Prompt # 1 “Is that my shirt?” “You mean our shirt?”
Fluff Prompt # 44 “You’re an idiot.” “But I am your idiot.”
Fluff Prompt #19 “ You know, I think my (mother/father/parents) would be proud if I brought (you/him/her/them) home.”
Fluff Prompt #18 “You come here often?” “Well considering I work here, yes” #27 “Are you blushing?”
Fluff Prompt #4 “Kiss me.” & #13 “ I didn’t think it was possible to love someone this much.”
Fluff Prompt #7 “You’re an idiot.” “But you love me.”
Fluff Prompt #10 “Stop moving and let me braid your hair!”
Fluff Prompt #39 “You’re safe now, I’m here.”
Fluff Prompt #9 “You took all the pillows so I’m using you as one.” #26 “You’re really warm.”
Fluff Prompt #31 “I’m never gonna to leave you. I promise” #44 “You’re an idiot. But I am your idiot.”
Fluff Prompt #4 “Kiss me” and General Prompt #17 “Are you jealous?”
Fluff Prompt #30 “I’ve been in-love with you since we were kids.”
Fluff Prompt #16 “Can you just please hold me ?”
Fluff Prompt #7 “ You’re an idiot.” “But you love me.” General #17 “Are you jealous?”
General prompt #460 “Are they really just a "friend”? “I won’t hurt you”
General Prompt #2 “It’s pouring rain, why are you here?” #50 “I didn’t have anywhere else to go.”
General Prompt 17 “Are you jealous?”
General Prompt #17 “Are you jealous?” & #25 “She doesn’t belong with him!” “Than who does she belong with?” “with me…”
Angst prompt # 28 “Move out of my way before I make you”
Angst Prompt #12 “Maybe they were right, you never did change.” & #14 “ Don’t you dare walk away from this!”
Angst Prompt #21 “It’s (her,him,they), isn’t it?” & #36 “They warned me about this.” “About what?” “You.”
Angst Prompt #6 “You’re lying to me again. Why can’t you just tell me the truth for once?"
Angst Prompt #47 “ You deserve so much better.” #48 “Give me one reason why I shouldn’t leave.”
Angst Prompt “If you love me please let me go, please…”
∞ Winter Prompt Event
Winter Prompt #1 “What do you mean we’re out of hot chocolate?”
Winter Prompt #2 (Cuddling by the fireplace)
Winter Prompt #13 “Your hands are freezing!”
Winter Prompt #14 “ Aren’t you cold like that?”
Winter Prompt #17 (watching movies under a pile of blankets)
Winter Prompt #18 (snowball fight)
Winter Prompt #22 (kissing in the snow)
Winter Prompt #32 “There’s no way I’m letting you spend Christmas alone.”
Winter Prompt #37 (stuck in a snow storm)
Winter Prompt #38 “ You’re under the mistletoe so stop stalling and just kiss.”
Winter Prompt #43 “What do you mean Santa’s not real?”
Winter Prompt #50 “Those were for Santa!”
Winter Prompt #54 (Winter power outage) Gojo Satoru Edition
Winter Prompt #56 “Shhhh, don’t tell her/him!”
Winter Prompt #60 “I feel like there’s more frosting on you than on the gingerbread.”
Winter Prompt #10 “Where did all this mistletoe come from?” #61 “What are you doing with that mistletoe-oh.” #64 “I guess… this is when we kiss?”
Winter Prompt #65 “No, we’re not getting a puppy for Christmas. Stop. Asking.”
Winter Prompt #66 “ You don’t put marshmallows in your hot chocolate? YOU HEATHEN”
Winter Prompt #68 (Winter Proposal)
Winter Prompt #70 “You’re perfectly welcome to kiss whoever you wa-”
Winter Prompt #72 “Did everyone else come with a date?”
∞Smut Prompt Event (1k Followers Event)
Smut Prompt #21 “You’re bigger than I expected.”
Smut Prompt #54 “ You’re going to regret that, sweetheart.”
Smut Prompt #55 “Were you dreaming about me again?”
Smut Prompt #1 “We’re in public, you know.”
Smut Prompt #3 “Can you help me with this zipper?”
Smut Prompt #28 “Oh god, how can you manage to switch from cute to sexy in under a second?”
Smut Prompt #53 “What do you mean not yet? You can’t expect me not to cum when you’re fucking me so good!”
Smut Prompt #16 “Forget the bed. Let’s fuck right here.”
Smut Prompt #11 “You’re really gonna make me beg for it?”
Smut Prompt #5 “Are you trying to turn me on right now? Because it’s working.”
Smut Prompt #44 “If I have to pull over, you won’t be able to walk for the next week.”
Smut Prompt #46 “You’re not allowed to cum without my permission.”
Smut Prompt #6 “I’d hold on to something it I were you.”
Smut Prompt #27 “Is that a gun in your pocket or are you just pleased to see me?”
Smut Prompt #42 “I know for a fact you’re a lot louder than that.”
Smut Prompt #41 “I’m gonna fuck you so hard that you forget you ever even met that asshole.”
Smut Prompt #39 “ Angel in the streets, freak in the sheets.”
Smut Prompt #15 “Try to keep quiet. We don’t want to get caught.”
Smut Prompt #48 “Holy shit, you’re so fucking sexy like that.”
∞Physical Affection Prompt
Physical Affection Prompt #11 (Back hugs)
Physical Affection Prompt #1 (Pats on the head)
Physical Affection Prompt #9 (Wiping away their tears)
Physical Affection Prompt #18 (Wiping food away from their lips)
Physical Affection Prompt #23 (A hug some might consider too long)
Physical Affection Prompt #7 (Squishing their cheeks)
Physical Affection Prompt #8 (Brushing hands by accident)
Physical Affection Prompt #15 (The biggest warmest hug)
Physical Affection Prompt #13 (Kissing someone’s forehead)
Physical Affection Prompt #6 (Chasing after their lips after they pull away)
Physical Affection Prompt #25 (Playfully biting)
Physical Affection Prompt #4 (A hug after not seeing them for a long time)
Physical Affection Prompt #21 (Accidently knocking your head against their chin)
Physical Affection Prompt #22 (Kissing their cuts/bruises/scratches)
∞Incorrect Jujutsu Kaisen Quotes
#1 #2 #3 #4 #5 #6 #7
∞ Skipps Art
Random Gojo 1
Cat ears for Gojo
Dog Hybrid Gojo
Happy New Year 2021
Mochi Gojo
1k Followers
2k Followers
#jujutsu kaisen#jujutsu kaisen gojo#jujutsu kaisen x reader#gojou satoru#gojou satoru x reader#gojo headcanons#gojo satoru x reader#gojo satoru#jjk x reader#jkk imagines#jjk gojo#skipps writes#skipps masterlist
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Appreciation Much Needed
Word count: 3.2k
Pairing: Aizawa Shouta x Reader
Warnings: Mentions of Covid-19, Fluff, brief swearing here and there, slight mentions of partial nudity, soft boy Aizawa
~~~~~Tags and Authors Note below
Ever since the news of a virus outbreak had been let loose, the tensions had been high everywhere we looked. People were panic buying items resulting in outages,it only increased when the schools had all closed down and non-essential businesses were temporarily shut down. This meant that my loving husband Aizawa Shouta had been lounging around half dressed, the only times he was well kept and proper were during video calls with the other UA staff or with his students as he talked to them about their assignments and his expectations from them while they were at home. Not that I was complaining, in fact it was probably one of the best things to ever set my eyes upon every morning before work and every evening when I got home. Shouta had decided that since he’d be working from home that he would start doing more chores around the house, especially since no one was going outside some of the Pro Heroes got more time to relax and stay home. No matter how many times I told Shouta not to worry about the chores and I could do them when I got home he’d flick my forehead and call me an idiot for thinking he was gonna let me do more work after being at work all day. Over the weeks he had me either on the couch and giving me massages or he would make me bubble baths to relax in while he finished the chores, insisting I leave it to him.
I stood in the doorway, my work uniform sticking to me as it had started to rain on my walk home from work so I had gotten a bit wet, but I was finally home and ready to relax with my hubby. A small smile appeared on my face, I had just gotten home from work and heard Aizawa talking to someone, it sounded like one of his coworkers.
“I’m not telling you again Yamada, it needs to be something grand… I need it to show just how much she's appreciated…”
I heard him sigh deeply and could just see him pinch his nose in irritation, I had to stifle the laugh that had threatened to escape my lips.
“Hizashi...Stop… you’re giving me a headache. Look, she’s going to be home soon and I can't let her hear me talk about this… Just wait for my call tomorrow okay? Bye.”
I decided to walk in more and make my presence known, I cleared my throat and stepped into the living room. Shouta had frantically looked to me becoming a stuttering mess, which was even more adorable seeing as he had his hair up messily and wore a pair of sweatpants.
“H-ow long were you standing there, kitten? What did you hear?”
I gave him a shrug and tossed my bag on the couch and removed my wet sweater before placing a chaste kiss to his cheek.
“I literally just walked in and you were saying bye to someone. Was it Toshinori? I haven't had a chance to talk to him since this whole pandemic had started. I hope he is doing well, the poor dude has a lot on his plate already.”
Shouta seemed to buy my answer and nodded, he disappeared for a moment before returning with my robe and a towel, stopping in front of me he helped me remove my wet clothes before he slid my robe on. He then pulled me into his lap as he sat on the couch and dried my hair while placing tender kisses along my neck.
“How was work today Kitten, tell me all about it while I take care of you.”
I gave Shouta a soft smile and closed my eyes for a moment before leaning back into his touch, a sigh escaped my lips.
“Well,as you know I’m in just about every room on an average day, and it's not really that different now, just the classes have so few kids we’ve been laying off more coworkers, we’ve closed a few more centers. So now we’re at a skeleton crew, which means it’s a bit harder to call in if you get sick, which hopefully no one does because we can't really afford to be short staffed.”
I let another sigh pass my lips and looked up to Shouta before letting out a yawn.
“I’ve been chasing kids who tried running away while outside on the playground, I've had to stop a one year old from hitting a five month old, the kid throws tantrums about it too, so if I upset this kid my hair gets pulled, or they hit me.”
I pause for a moment and shake my head.
“It's worth it though, I'd rather have me get hit by the one year old instead of the infant. But its been getting hard to get the kids to listen because now we have to wear masks, which I understand since we cant practice social distancing with kids since their dependent on us, but I’m basically yelling to be heard, it muffles my voice so much…”
Shouta nodded and began to massage my shoulders.
“You're very tense love, work has been straining you and giving you so much stress. You've been having trouble sleeping too, I'm worried working during this pandemic is going to cause you to burn out. I’m also worried that you're going to catch something, mask or not you're still putting yourself at risk.”
I peered up at his face and smiled softly. “Well, we are taking everyone’s temperatures before they can enter the building, also cleaning every single touch surface every thirty to sixty minutes throughout the day, though it's more frequent during the pick up and drop off process. So at least you know the shits gonna be clean when you touch it, we also have like three or so containers of hand sanitizer at the entrance so you have clean hands when entering.”
Shouta stopped massaging me, stood up from the couch with me in his arms and placed me onto my stomach, he then began to massage my back and legs, urging me to continue about everything that's been happening.
“Well, as you know I occasionally use a ride-share to get to work, but since this started it takes longer to find a driver because there's no one. I've had to wait over twenty minutes for a car for a five minute drive. That's not even the worst part about that, since it's such a short drive and a low fare sometimes I'll get a close driver and they'll cancel on me and I'll have to wait even longer for them to find me a new driver. By the time I could have just walked in and been at work.”
I let out a sigh and felt my body relax quite a bit, whether it was from the massage Shouta was giving me or it was from telling Shouta my troubles it sure was helping.
“Though I am quite grateful I get to see their amazing faces, these kids are my life...apart from you of course. I wouldn't trade these kids for anything, I love them as if they were my own. The good outweighs the bad, always does, and these kids definitely have a lot of good moments. Plus they all have such understanding parents, the support from them is amazing, I'm always getting praise from them and it makes me feel amazing, it makes me want to do more.”
After a few moments of silence and Shouta giving me a massage he picked me up and carried me to the kitchen.
“Sho...you do know I can walk right? You don’t have to carry me around.”
He mumbled an ‘I know, but I want to’ and placed me onto the counter before he moved a lock of hair out of my face, placing a kiss where it used to be. He then turned away and opened the fridge and pulled out a vanilla cupcake with what looked like a galaxy frosting, but he wasn't done as he pulled out another vanilla cupcake which had a blackish grey colored frosting that had two red dots on it.
“I know you hated having to celebrate your birthday at home, that it just felt like any other day and even though you and I had a great night It just wasn't exactly how one would want to celebrate their birthday, so I had a friend make these for us. Specialty cupcakes that represent us, they're both vanilla because I know you'd want to try mine and vanilla is your favorite flavour.”
I blinked in surprise, was it really that obvious? Yeah I spent my birthday stuck in doors and I wished that I could have gone out with friends to celebrate, but I didn't think Shouta would have noticed. I felt tears well up in my eyes and pulled Shouta in for a kiss after placing the cupcakes down,and cried silently in his embrace.
“Shouta...You didn't have to do that...I know it kinda sucked but I had your company which is all I will ever need to be happy. You truly are amazing and I don't deserve this from you…”
His laugh boomed in my ears and he cupped my face to look at me with his tired but loving eyes.
“Kitten, you deserve everything and more.You are doing so much for other front line workers during this pandemic...you're more than deserving and I want you to feel loved and appreciated throughout it all. You may not be a nurse, a doctor, or any kind of first responder, but you’re taking care of other essential workers' kids so they can keep everything running smoothly. Especially when some of these kids' parents are those first responders or hospital workers.”
The blush on my face grew and I hugged Shouta tightly, more tears were threatening to spill. He pried himself off me and excused himself for a moment, I watched him leave the kitchen and grabbed my cupcake before taking a bite, I practically screamed in delight. This cupcake is beyond amazing, it was so delicious that I couldn't form any words to describe it, it was the first time a dessert had ever had me at a loss for words. After a few minutes of being gone Shouta returned with a box and placed it on the counter, he mumbled a wait there before disappearing again, this time he came back faster and had only his laptop and a box of tissues.
“Shouta..what is all this? What are you doing?”
He sent me a small smile and turned on the computer, he turned it to face me and pushed the tissue box across the counter over to me.
“You're gonna need that, also no more questions. You're just going to have to wait and see. I promise you're going to love it.”
After making sure he had everything set up he walked over behind me and turned off the lights before pressing a file and full-screening it before pressing play.
Soon, the black screen filled with color the UA logo appearing on the screen with soft music playing in the background, I looked at Shouta confused, you just pointed to the screen whispering to watch, I turned back to the screen and my eyes widened in surprise. I saw pictures from class 1A, thanking me for continuing my work, I could feel the tears already welling up soon a rather cute bubbly girl filled the screen.
“Hello Aizawa Sensei's wife, my name is Uraraka, Ochako, and we here at class 1A appreciate all you and Aizawa sensei do for us, so, in honor of teacher appreciation week, we have decided to make you guys something, I hope you like it it's really cute!”
Once again, the screen turned black pictures and videos from each class 1A student, some of them making multiples, had flashed on the screen, words of encouragement, praise, and adoration fell upon our ears. His students expressed gravely how much they appreciate Shouta for hounding them into shape to become future pro heroes. Also praised me for having to deal with him and also, even though they haven't had me as a teacher or some sort of mentor aspect in their lives, they still sent words of praise for me, due to working in childcare and helping these little kids grow up with good strong morals.
"Sh-... Di-...I-i… Y-you…"
As hard as I tried, I just couldn't muster up any words to describe how I was feeling I couldn't even ask Shouta if he had planned this, I was a mess. With tears streaming down my face, I couldn't believe the class 1A had made such a beautiful posters and spoke such beautiful words about my Shouta, and then even included me in them, I felt so much love and appreciation coming from those students, I honestly couldn't think of any other way to spend the rest of my evening, then in Shouta's arms watching as his students showered at the both of us with praise.
“Just enjoy the video before I turn it off...Idiot.”
He gave me a noogie and then kissed me again, before getting up and walking to the kitchen and grabbing two glasses, with his back turned blocking me I couldn't see what he was doing until he handed me one of the glasses, seeing the liquid I sent him a curious look.
“Is this what I think it is? Sho...did you make me one of the drinks I made last summer?”
He nodded and mumbled an ‘I tried too at least..’ before he closed the laptop which had finished playing the videos, he finished his drink and waited for me to finish mine before carrying me to our bed. With the lights all turned off and Shouta snuggling me and playing with my hair I soon drifted off into a deep and peaceful slumber, a small smile stuck on my face.
I woke up to the sun shining onto my face through the blinds, the absence of Shouta’s warmth was immediately noticed, I sat up groggily and rubbed my eyes. Before I even had the chance to look around the door opened and a tray of breakfast was placed onto my lap and the bed dipped next to me as Shouta began to comb through my hair.
“Good morning my beautiful kitten. How did you sleep? By the look on your face I assume it was good?”
I merely nodded and ate my breakfast,every so often closing my eyes just to enjoy Shouta's careful way of combing my hair, if I could have gone back to sleep I probably would have. I looked back up to Shouta after a few minutes of our blissful silence when there was a knock at the door, he told me to continue eating and he'd go check it out.
“Sho? You've been gone awhile… Is everything okay?”
I put the empty tray to the side and stretched a bit before hopping out of bed, deciding to put on something fresh. I quickly went into the closet and threw on a black tank with some ripped jean shorts. I carefully walked down the hall, cautious as to not make any sounds to alert anyone that I was coming. My pace quickened as I heard muffled talking, I couldn't place the voices as they were hushed and seemed to be coming from far within the house. As I got closer I could tell one was Shouta but the other one was still a bit too hard to make out, as I neared our study I stubbed my toe on the coffee table, I let out a whimper and fell to the floor clutching my toe. In my state of pain I didn’t notice the talking stop or the running into the room to see what had happened. Within seconds Shouta had me in his arms asking me what happened and Yamada stood a few feet away, a silly mask on his face, which was hiding his stupid grin he always made while trying to hold back laughter as I explained what happened.
“Well, I guess I can show you now instead of later… After all you did hurt yourself being worried about me.”
I looked between the two before Shouta helped me up and then blinded me with his scarf, he led the way to the study, he let small murmurs about how I'm going to love it but he doesn’t want me to cry like his student Izuku always does. I had to bite the inside of my lip to stop myself from laughing out loud and stayed silent as Shouta whispered over to Yamada, there was a bit of shuffling around the room before he finally removed the scarf.
“Happy Teacher Appreciation Week my love. I’m sorry I couldn’t do much more for you today but I know either way you’ll like this.”
I looked around the room and gasped. The room was adorned in pictures of me in my uniform taking care of different kids of the center, there were also pictures of my kids holding heart shaped cards and other pieces of paper. Some of them showing love and affection, also few expressing how much they miss being at the center and seeing me. I was practically bawling and hugged Shouta tightly, spewing off a handful of thank yous and I love yous.
“That's only the beginning Kitty. Go look in the box on the table.”
I nodded and went over to the box, opening it I saw numerous gifts strewn about, I pulled a few out and read the tags before I squealed in delight, there were gifts from my kids and there were some from kids who were staying home and that I haven't seen since this all started.
“H-How..Shouta? How’d you pull this off?”
He simply smiled before walking over and hugging me close, he fixed my hair and placed a chaste kiss to my forehead.
“You left your laptop open one day when leaving for work, so I used it to email each parent from your classes and asked if they'd be willing to make something for you for Teacher Appreciation Week and either send it to our P.O. box, send photos or videos, or they could meet me somewhere to give the gifts. They definitely loved the idea, a lot of these parents respect you and they love how you interact with their kids. They wished they could have given them to you in person but decided that this way is easier and more adorable.”
I couldn't stop the tears from streaming down my face after hearing his explanation, he continued to rub my back and whispered about how I was lucky he was able to deal with all my crying, otherwise he’d be agitated.
“This was the best Teacher Appreciation Week ever. Thank you Shouta, this means the world to me, I seriously can not thank you enough for this.”
~~~~~
Tags: @onyxiana-is-obsessed @sweetlikepeppermints @pocket-is-obsessed
A.N: Happy Teacher Appreciation Week to all the teachers of Tumblr! To the Daycare/Childcare providers still working during this time you are appreciated and loved. Stay awesome, stay strong, keep healthy and we love you!
#shouta aizawa x reader#aizawa shouta#teacher#bnha x reader#bnha#mha#mha x reader#mha x you#bnha x you#my hero academia aizawa#my hero academia#boku no hero fanfic#appreciation#shouta aizawa x you
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895
“AGE”, Alternate Sounds
1. Did you wear a corsage or a boutonniere to prom? I’ve blocked out nearly every memory from my own prom so I can’t give an answer for that. Mike did get me a corsage when he asked me to go to his high school’s ball. I still actually have the corsage (or what’s left of it lol) in one of my drawers. Idk, I think it’s a cute high school thing to keep around.
2. When’s the last time you made a collage? I was a freshman in high school, most likely. That was around the time the app PicCollage got really popular so everyone loved making collages from there for a while.
3. Do you own any camouflage patterned clothing? I used to have baggy pants with that pattern, but I’ve thrown them out.
4. Do you know how to give a good massage? No. I can’t even accept massages; I’m way too ticklish.
5. Do you have a garage? We have a carport instead of a garage.
6. Have you ever made a montage of something before? Yes. It was a surprise I made for Gab’s birthday this year; I gathered all her college friends in a group chat and asked them to submit videos of themselves greeting her a happy birthday, and I also allowed them the option to submit photos that they have with her because I’m sure she’s had loads of snapshots with them.
7. Last mirage you’ve seen? My...car? HAHAHA uhm I don’t think I’ve ever seen one. That doesn’t happen a lot here, if at all.
8. Have you ever tried to sabotage anyone before? I don’t think so. I can be mean, but I don’t do premeditated shit like that.
9. Would you ever participate in a menage a trois? Why or why not? No. Not my thing.
1. How many pieces does your luggage set have? I just have one large luggage. I haven’t had such an expansive trip in that I had needed more than one.
2. Last time you sent someone a message? Last night before going to bed.
3. Where did you wear your last bandage? Bottom of my right index finger. I got a paper cut.
4. Do you live in a village? Yeah, we call them villages or subdivisions here. They’re gated communities exclusive to the people living in it.
5. Does your town have a sewage problem? I’ve never heard of any, no.
6. Do you like to eat cabbage? Sure. My favorite way to eat it is as kimchi.
7. Do you have a lot of emotional baggage? I’d say it’s heavy, but it’s not a lot. Most of it just stems from my life at home especially when I was younger.
8. How often do you take out the garbage? My parents never assign it to us kids actually. They’d rather do it.
9. Were you an average student? In high school I was average in that I never really made a mark or made an effort to stand out in the crowd, but academically I was above-average.
10. Last time there was a power outage? Months ago. I can no longer remember exactly when but we definitely had one in 2019, I think.
11. Where would you like to go on your next voyage? I wanna start close to home and go to either Thailand, Vietnam, or South Korea before venturing out into other continents.
12. Do you think that you could manage living alone? Not yet. I want to learn how to make enough meals to be able to sustain myself first and I also have to know how bank accounts and credit cards work lol
13. How much courage do you have? Differs everyday.
14. Last thing you own that got damaged? My charger. I’ve been using a spare one ever since though, so I’m good.
15. Have you ever found yourself in the middle of a hostage situation? No. That’s a fear of mine.
16. Are you a savage? In slang terms I can definitely be sharp with my words and comebacks. But when it comes to its traditional meaning, I wouldn’t describe myself as that at all.
17. Last dosage of medication you took? I’m not sure. I just drink one tablet of it whenever I get a headache.
18. Would you like to live in a cottage? It would be nice to try for at least a couple of days, just to see what it’d be like. It’s not my type of scenery or environment though so I wouldn’t want to live there permanently. I feel like I’d feel too lonely or too suffocated eventually.
19. Would you know how to forage in the wilderness in order to survive? No.
20. Do you have to lick your postage stamps, or do they just stick onto the envelope? I’ve never had to use postage stamps.
21. Who would you like to pay homage to? Nacho. If I ever get tattoos I’d want one of them to be a plate of nachos to constantly remind me of him. Or a tattoo of the moon because one of his favorite songs before he passed was Buwan (’moon’ in Filipino).
22. Are you into bondage? I’m into it but tbh we’ve yet to try it out.
23. Have you ever traced your family lineage? I have an uncle who has as he’s into that kind of stuff and technically does it for a living. I learned from him that pre-colonially, we come from the datu lineage of our home province, and that made us part of the principalia class during the Spanish regime. I want to be proud of my family’s history so much but it just meant that we were complicit in the Spanish’s crimes against the Filipinos, so it’s not a family fact that I show off.
24. Last time you went to a rummage sale? Have you ever had a rummage sale? High school, probably. We haven’t had our own.
25. Have you ever felt taken advantage of? Of course.
26. What’s one thing you hope you could salvage from a fire? My dogs.
27. Do you like autumn foliage? I find them very beautiful but unfortunately we can’t have that here.
28. What do you use as a means of storage solutions? I just like squishing things in my various drawers hahaha. Idk I’m moving out in the next few years; I don’t see the need to spice up my room or DIY it at this point.
29. Do you prefer Polish, German, or Italian sausage? Not a fan of sausage to begin with, so I’m unfamiliar with all of these.
30. Last reading passage you read? A few pages from Little Women.
31. What is your car’s gas mileage? I think it’s a little over 30,000 km.
[a-zebra-is-a-striped-horse]
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Merry Christmas, @dearericbittle!
Merry Christmas and Happy whatever Holiday you may celebrate! Hugs!
Read on AO3
*****
Oh Shit!
Oh Shit. Stiles takes a moment to revel in the fact that this is his oh shit moment. Not, oh shit, a dead body in the woods. Not, oh shit, werewolves. Not, oh, shit, Derek wants me to cut off his arm. Not, oh shit, kanimas, or hunters, or any other of bevy of supernatural fuckery. No, Stiles’ oh shit moment is walking past an alleyway and having his Derek Hale spidey tingle go off. His oh shit moment is seeing Derek Freaking Hale crouched in an alley trying to coax a completely demonic looking cat with a massive gash across it’s forehead out from behind a dumpster. Stiles assumes so that Derek can help getting Demon!cat treated.
Stiles oh shit moment is oh shit, I’m in love with this asshole.
Stiles would like to think that he is fairly self-aware but this knocks the wind right out of him. His stomach does a full loop-the-loop and his heart does a quadruple staccato for long enough that Derek looks up from his save the cat mission to meet Stiles’ eyes.
Derek’s eyes widen in apparent surprise before a grin spreads across his face. This does not help Stiles’ heartbeat situation, especially when paired with his recent oh shit revelation. The warm welcome fades on Derek’s features, replaced with a look of concern. Derek reaches out his arm as if to steady Stiles, though the only stumbling that is going on right now is emotional. Stiles rallies himself, before Derek can touch him - who knows how his traitorous body would react to that!
He gesticulates just a little too wildly with his hands, and bumbles further into the alley a little too dramatically before managing to get some words out of his mouth.
“Whatcha doin’, Sourwolf? You gonna put that poor cat out it’s misery with your teeth?”
Stiles cringes. It’s been years since any “rip your throat out with my teeth” jokes have really been appropriate or funny.
Derek has yet to speak any words but his eyebrows scrunch together in question.
Stiles takes a deep breath and shakes his head.
“Nevermind, Sourwolf. Weird kind of day. You ever learn something that kind of shifts your whole world view? Did you know that squirrels are behind the majority of power outages in United States, Derek? Because, let me tell you, I did not.”
Derek shakes his head with what Stiles would define as fond eyebrows and proceeds to ignore everything that has come out Stiles’ mouth since “Whatcha doing, Sourwolf?”
“I tracked this little critter from near that bakery over on Main St. She’s bleeding and smells afraid. I’m having trouble getting her to trust me.” Derek’s voice stays soft and even while hes’s talking with Stiles. He’s crouched near the ground again and while his eyes are locked on Stiles’, his hand is reaching out towards the injured cat with feigned nonchalance.
Mirroring Derek’s tone of voice, Stiles asks, “What were you doing at the bakery?”
“Picking up cupcakes for Laura’s birthday dinner tonight.” He pauses, “You didn’t forget about that did you?”
Yes, yes Stiles had forgotten about that. In his defense, he’s been working nights the last week and days of the week are a nebulous thing when one is working the night shift.
Derek interprets his pause accurately. “Don’t worry about it. If you’re back on days, come over around 6 and we’ll feed you. Don’t worry about a present.”
Stiles is about to respond when he sees that cat has finally made her way to Derek’s outstretched hand and has deigned to be picked up.
Stiles thought that he’d gotten the whole loop-the-loop, crazy heart beat, oh shit moment stuff out of the way, that he’d managed to get a handle on it during his brief stint in the alley. But, no, he was a self-deluded idiot.
Seeing Derek cuddling a dirty, possibly mangy, blood soaked cat while whispering sweet nothings into her ear like she was a small child, disabused Stiles of the notion that he had any control over his bodily functions when it came to Derek Hale.
Stiles lived with his internal crisis for a few more seconds, until Derek stood up.
“I’m going to take this little beauty to see Scott. Will I see you tonight?”
Stiles mumbled what must have been some sort of affirmative because Derek said goodbye and left the alley.
When he got back to his baby, he collapsed in the front seat and banged his head against the steering wheel a couple times. He did not need this kind of complication in his life right now.
*******
Stiles can’t remember the last time he found himself banging frantically on Scott’s door. Probably high school sometime. With the distinct lack of big bads of the supernatural variety in the last few years, there hasn’t been much need.
Now, however, he finds himself banging on the door to the apartment Scott shares with Isaac, hoping the curly-haired menace is currently elsewhere. Don’t get him wrong, he’s square with Isaac now, friends even. It’s just, he’d like to have his mental breakdown in the presence of Scotty and Scotty and Scotty alone.
Thankfully, it appears Scott is home alone when Stiles walks in and collapses in flail of limbs on the couch.
“Scotty, my brother, my friend, my bro, my wolfy companion, the world as we know it is over.”
Completely unfazed by Stiles’ declaration, Scott sits on the coffee table across from Stiles and puts his hands on Stiles’ knees before speaking. With a gentle squeeze, Scott says, “The squirrels?”
“Yes, Scotty the squirrels. There’s an acronym. TSql. You know how I get about acronyms Tee-squill or The Squirrel Index.”
Stiles makes a concerted effort not to be sucked into an ADD fueled rant about squirrels and power outages before he can backtrack to what he came here to talk about.
“I’m in love with Derek Hale.”
This statement is greeted with complete silence. He risks a glance at Scott to see if maybe his declaration had somehow caused him to die of shock.
Nope, Scott is just looking at him with confused puppy dog eyes.
Finally Scott speaks. It’s slow, like he’s talking to a toddler or scared dog. “Are you okay?”
A noise Stiles can’t even begin to describe or categorize emerges from deep within his being. The gist of the noise was, “How can you ask me that? I don’t know. I don’t even recognize myself anymore. And when the hell did this happen?
Scott, blessed, wonderful, fantastic Scott seems to read his mind or possibly his noises. Maybe his noises are to Scott like Derek’s eyebrows are to Stiles. Aaand, that is a thought for another day.
“Well, it’s not the most terrible thing. I mean, Derek is a really good guy, You guys have been working together a lot lately what with working on the remodel plans for the house. Maybe it just happened naturally.” Scott says.
“Hmph. Naturally, you say.” Stiles pauses. Now Scotty is not always the brightest crayon in the box when it comes to analytics or plans or anything GPA related but Scotty has heart. When it comes to relationships and emotions, he’s usually right.
He things back to the first time they had to hit the road to visit some lumber distributor 3 hours away. The silence had started out extremely awkward. Stiles had fiddled with the radio and half-heartedly tried to comment on the passing landscape.
But then he had flicked the radio station through some kids station and Let It Go started playing. Somehow in the fraction of a second before Stiles was able to change the station again, Derek starts singing along. It’s under his breath, Stiles isn’t even sure if he realized he was doing it.
The ended up bonding over Disney leading ladies (not just princesses, thank you very much) for the next 2 hours. It seems like maybe that was the beginning of it all now that Stiles thinks about in a more calm state of mind. He should have figured it out when they gave each other nicknames. Derek is Elsa, Stiles is Mulan. And yes they actually call each other those names, unironically on occasion.
“…earth to Stiles….” He comes back to the present with Scott’s fingers snapping in his face.
“Sorry. You’re right.” Stiles feels himself smiling a little as his heart does a weird happy lurch in his chest. “Shoulda realized after our shared love of all things Disney.”
Scott nods, “And a relationship built over the years based on trust, respect, and a terrible sense of humor.”
“Okay, okay. So not a surprise and probably not as life altering and world changing as I may have first thought. But, still…” Stiles trails off. His oh shit moment blindsided him so much that he hadn’t actually thought about what came next. Does he declare his love? Or maybe just ask Derek out of a date? Or just pretend nothing has changed? Or die of embarrassment when Laura finds out that Derek said no? Or yes - he’s not sure which would cause Laura to dole out the worse punishment.
Scott, again with his uncanny ability to read Stiles’ mind, says, “You know you don’t have to decide what to do right away. The question to ask yourself is, what do you want?”
“I don’t know what I want. I hadn’t really thought beyond hoping Derek doesn’t think I’m dying of a heart condition every time he walks in the room.”
“I hear you, buddy. I’ve got to go to work. Think about it.”
Scott grabs his keys and his wallet and is about to head out the door before he turns back towards Stiles, “You coming tonight?”
Already lost in thought, Stiles replies distractedly, “Yeah. I’ll probably just crash here until then. Ride over together?”
“Yeah, see you then.”
Stiles barely notices the door slam behind Scott. What does he want? He’d always imagined himself in a marriage with kids like his parents. Then werewolves happened and it was hard to imagine past the next week, much less into a future with kids. He’d had a few brief relationships during nursing school but no one he could picture a future with. Now, since he’d come into his spark and they’d managed to bind the nemeton? Not to mention, Laura back from the dead and taking her place as Alpha? Beacon Hills was stable. Nothing had come rampaging through and killing people in almost 3 years.
He hadn’t realized it, but he’d sort of been cruising through on auto-pilot just waiting for another shoe to drop the past few years. Not doing noher, just not really having any intentionality about anything either.
This oh shit thing, this being in love with Derek, maybe that made him think about a future. Stiles isn’t ready to picture being married with 2.5 pups yet. But, walking down the street, holding Derek’s hand for all the world to see, that he could imagine. Sharing curly fries at the diner or going to see a movie, cuddling together under a blanket on the porch swing - those thoughts made him feel warm all the way to his core. Just thinking about made his lips twitch towards a smile and his heart race in anticipation.
Ok, he now knows what he wants. Now, what to do about it, that is the million dollar question.
*******
He ends up bailing on Scotty and going over to the newly-remodeled (with his help!) Hale house early, hoping to catch Laura before everyone started piling in for her birthday dinner.
Luck must be on his side today because for the second time in one day the person he wants to see is home and alone.
He finds Laura in the garden out back singing to the vegetables, She claims it makes them taste better - and veggies can use all the help they can get in the taste department, so she sings.
She waltzes over to him and takes his hands to lead him a rousing dance through the tomatoes as she sings highly altered versions of the VeggieTales songs. Stiles knows better than to try and escape the song and dance so he bears up manfully until Laura ends her song in a fit a giggles.
“What brings you to see your favorite Alpha, today?” she asks when she finally catches her breath. She folds her legs under her gracefully sits in the grass as she asks her question.
Stiles sits beside her and takes a deep breath for courage.
“I’m here to give you your birthday present.”
A grin spreads across Laura’s face as she does gimme hands towards Stiles.
He swats her hands away playfully, before speaking, “Alas, not that kind of gift.” He smiles, “What is your absolute favorite thing to do in all the world?”
Stiles pauses for a moment but before Laura can respond, he adds, with a pointed look, “You actually favorite thing, not some sentimental drivel cause it’s your birthday.”
Laura blows a raspberry at him, “Fine. But only because you’re my favorite.” She wiggles her hands like she’s a puppeteer and cackles before saying, “Meddling”
Stiles gives an exaggerated nod. “Thus my gift to you. First - information no one else but Scotty has”
Her eyes light up and her grin widens.
“Then, I’m going to ask for advice. Now, in the spirit of birthdays, I’m allowing you to meddle. I ask in return, good faith advice, not advice to make me do what you think would be funniest.’
Her grin doesn’t fade but a hint of seriousness comes into her eyes. Stiles can tell she understands even before she nods her head.
Stiles looks down at his hands. He had decided to come and talk to Laura but he hadn’t really figured out how he wanted to start. Well, he figured it worked for Scotty so he might as well just try ripping the bandaid off.
“I’m in love with your brother.”
Laura didn’t do anything so ungraceful as gape like a fish but the phrase, you could have knocked me over with a feather came to Stiles’ mind as he watched her reaction.
Stiles forges ahead before Laura has a chance to reply. “Our pack being what it is, we don’t stand on werework tradition very often. But I was wondering if there was a traditional way to court a werewolf? A wooing ritual or something?
Stiles can tell Laura is trying really hard not to laugh - not out of meanness but out of the sheer ridiculosity of what he is saying. Stiles waves her off.
“I know. I know. I’m the last person to care about tradition. But, you know, Derek has had the best track record. First Paige died, then Kate, and Jennifer. Braeden wasn’t so bad but it also wasn’t so serious. I want Derek to know I’m serious and that he has a choice. If there were a traditional way of doing that, then that is what I’m looking for. If not, I’ll figure something else out.”
Laura scoots around so they are facing each other and practically mirrors Scott from earlier when she puts her hands on his knees before speaking.
“I don’t know if Derek feels that way about you, I don’t know what his reaction to you will be. But I do know this. He could never confuse your intentions with any of those who came before.” She sat up and put her hands back in her lap before continuing. “There is not a wolfy-wooing ritual per se. At least, not one that I am aware. But there is this nursery rhyme or poem kind of thing that our mom used to say to use about the one we would eventually fall in love with. Let me think for a second and try to remember it.”
Her brow scrunched slightly and he eyes drifted to the left as she thought, Okay. It went something like this: Each wolf is whole in itself but there are those who are created to walk beside in perfect harmony. A mate to write their name on your heart will make you safe by watching your back, give you peace by travelling beside you, bring you joy by smiling back at you, and join hands with you so will never be alone on your life journey. You know Derek has the Triskelion tattoo on his back and that can mean a lot of things. But he also has a Triquetra tattoo on his hip. It comes from this verse. The three points are behind, beside and in front of, joined together in the center, together forever. It’s not a ritual or anything but it might help you figure out what you want to do.”
The whole time Laura had been talking, Stiles paid rapt attention. He wasn’t crying by the end but he was certainly moist in the region around his eyes. He had an idea.
But like all great ideas, life interrupted.
******
It was about halfway through Laura’s birthday dinner. Everyone had had one plate of food and most of the wolves had had a second plate but no one had even mentioned cake yet.
Stiles noticed the cat first. He nudged Derek. “You didn’t tell me you brought that cat home.”
Derek turned towards Stiles, confusion clear on his face, fork with potatoes stabbed through on it hanging in the air halfway to his mouth, “I didn’t”
Stiles chuckles slightly and nods in the direction of the cat which is now in the doorway to the dining room. “Then she followed you home.
By this time, the rest of the table has quieted and turned to see what Stiles and Derek are looking at. The cat continues walking towards but with each step, she gets larger and larger until when she reaches the table it is but a small step to climb up on the table and continue walking down it’s center.
The cat, now roughly the size of a miniature pony, walks past Lydia and Jackson, then Erica and Boyd, and Scott and Isaac, and completely ignoring Laura and Stiles before she stops in front of Derek. All of the sudden there is a naked lady instead of cat sitting in the middle of the dining room table.
“Kind one,” she hisses, “You have saved my life this day. You have shown your worth. In the name of Samaoth, High Priestess of the Sable Court of Fae, you are granted a boon.” She waved her arm in a graceful arc around her head somehow managing not to have any other part of her body move a single muscle. You’d think the naked part would be the most eye catching part of the naked fae sitting on the table but it was more like a statue that didn’t really know how a human body worked. It looked right - sort of. But the more you looked, the more wrong you felt on the inside.
When her arm was in front of Derek one, it held a plain manila folder in it’s hand. Derek was just staring.
With a slight hint of impatience, Samaoth hissed, “Take it now mortal. Do as it says and you will be granted your heart’s greatest desire.”
Derek reached out and took the folder. Before his fingers had even fully closed on the edges, Samaoth had vanished into thin air. He didn’t quite have hold of it yet and the folder dropped to the table, relieving itself of a single piece of paper.
It was a simple piece of printer paper. Across the top it read, “Booking Confirmation for Sable Court Representative to the Greater Northwest Region Supernatural Symposium: Derek Hale, plus one.”
After about 30 seconds of stunned silence, every single person at the table began speaking at once.
*******
An indeterminate amount of time later, Laura’s alpha roar breaks through the cacophony of shouts coming from the rest of the pack.
Once everyone is quiet, Laura turns to Derek, who is still sitting in silence and staring at the innocuous looking piece of paper on the table in front of him.
Laura asks him, with slightly forced calm, “Der-bear, what’s going on?”
Derek opens his mouth. Nothing comes out. Stiles doesn’t even recognize Derek’s current eyebrow configuration.
Derek swallows and tries again. “Well,” he pauses, “there was this cat and it was bleeding and I took it to Scott to get fixed up.” He looks helplessly around the table. “It was a normal cat.”
The focused attention of the whole pack swings around to Scott. He shrugs sheepishly. “It was a normal cat. I gave her stitches and left her in the kennel overnight. Though, it seems like she got out.”
Laura rolls her eyes. “Yeah, okay. Normal cat. Got it. Except your normal cat is apparently the High Priestess of the Sable Court of the Fae. Derek, what does the paper say?”
Derek looks at Laura and startles like he hadn’t thought to read past the bold heading. His eyes rapidly scan the paper. “Apparently the Greater Northwest Regional Supernatural Symposium is being hosted in Seattle this year at the Fairmont Olympic Hotel, ummm, next weekend. Registration starts on Thursday afternoon at 4 PM. It has a confirmation number, address, phone number and whatnot and a link to app download and password to download the app for the symposium.”
Stiles decides that now is the time to speak up, “For those of us who are new to werewolfly culture, what exactly is the Greater Northwest Region Supernatural Symposium?
Laura sighs before she answers. “It’s going to be a shitshow, that’s what. Wolves aren’t usually invited. We’re too volatile or something. It is mainly run by the fae and other ‘more evolved’ supernatural beings. The get together to schmooze, make treaties and listen to presentations on things like ‘Kobolds and cleaning: an analysis of practices through the ages’ or ‘Pixies in the modern age: pesky or pragmatic?’ It’s pretty much a chance for the hoity toity of supernatural society to get together and bond over how superior they are to the rest of us. For a wolf to show up, and not even an alpha will be an insult to every single being there.”
Stiles feels the need to pipe in again, “Great. So this is the gist. Derek saves this cat’s life, he gets a boon - supposedly his greatest desire but only if he goes to this conference of supernatural one percenters. This is ridiculous!” Turning to Lydia, he continues, “Is this even possible? I thought we had a big do not touch sign over us after our last dealings with the fae.”
Lydia responds quickly, “You’re right. But, Samaoth didn’t seek us out. Derek sought her out - albeit unknowingly - so that may cancel the binding. Let me see if Illirial is available speak with us.
Lydia’s eyes turn milky white as she chants under her breath. The wolves can probably tell what she is saying but to Stiles it just seems like a low susurrus. After a few moments her eyes return to normal and she holds out her hand.
A moment after that a small hologram - Princess Leia style - appears in her hand. Stiles hates dealing with the fae. It makes his brain hurt. But they all owe Illirial and he seems to make an effort not to be purposefully obtuse when speaking with them.
His voice is slightly tinny when he speaks, “Greetings Hale Pack. It is a pleasure to be with you once more. For what reason have you requested my presence this day?”
As Lydia was the best at untangling the vagueries of fae speech, Lydia replied. “We call upon you as a friend, with no obligation attached, to ask of you some information. Under what circumstances might this be amenable to you?”
Illirial appeared to think about it for a moment. “As friends, it would be in my heart to give this information, if I am able. Perhaps one day I may come to you, with no obligation, for the same, until such time as we have shared information of equal value. If I am unable to share what you ask, we will speak of this no more and part again as friends.”
Lydia nodded and continued, “This is generous of you, Illirial. You confirm yourself as friend of the Hale Pack. What can you tell us of the Sable Court of the Fae? Specifically of the priestly order attached to it.”
“As you know, generally, the fae owe allegiance to either the Seelie or Unseelie court. This is balance, as it should be. You mortals may believe one to be good and one to be evil but we fae do not ascribe to that kind of moral judgment. Seelie and Unseelie merely are. WIthout the balance of the courts, the world would fall apart, in a most literal sense. But we fae, while bound to our courts, do have free will. In times when balance is threatened, the fae turn to the Sable Court. They are judge; they are arbiter; and if need be, they are executioner. The high priestess has final say in all decisions made by the Sable Court.”
When it was apparent the Illirial was done speaking, Lydia spoke again, “If the Sable Court High Priestess were to offer a boon, with an obligation attached, what should one take into consideration while deciding on a course of action?”
Illirial responded immediately, in almost a panic, “Only the recipient of the boon can make that choice. Only five times in our history has the Sable court been known to offer a boon. Each time the obligation was how the boon was revealed. While danger might abide within fulfilling the obligation, the Sable Fae are straightforward. There will be no hidden knives or truthful deceits as you might find with some of the other fae.”
Lydia nodded again and replied, “Illirial, the Hale Pack thanks you for the information you have shared so openly, which we acknowledge is beyond your natural state. That which we do not speak of will remain private and you may feel free to call upon the Hale Pack for an exchange of information equal in value to what you have offered us. Go with peace and the blessing of Mother Moon.”
Illirial bowed and vanished from Lydia’s hand.
Stiles turned back towards Laura to see how she would respond to this information and saw his Alpha was white as a sheet. All the blood had drained from her face and she looked like she was about to fall over.
“That’s who did it?” she asked.
Stiles startled. He didn’t know how but he’d forgotten that Laura had never met Illirial before.
Derek grabbed her hand. “Yes.” He looked like he wanted to fight the binding for a moment but then his features calmed. “You know we can’t even speak of how it happened. But yes, it was Illirial who brought you back from the dead.“
Stiles suddenly realized that it was probably the Sable Court that had dictated the binding of secrecy around that whole fiasco. Even now, it was hard to think back to that couple of months when the fae had descended on Beacon Hills. If he tried to pin down the memory too specifically, it would slide away like trying to hold fast to a thousand strings being pulled in all different directions.
Laura seemed to come back to herself. “I know Der-bear. I understand.
Derek stood up. “Well, I guess I better get packed to go to Seattle.”
Stiles made the decision in an instant and stood up as well. “Me too.”
“What?” Derek replied.
Stiles picked up the sheet of paper and waved in front of his face. “Plus one, Sourwolf. I’m going with you.”
He looked like he wanted to argue but was cut off when Laura said, “Good idea. I’ll book you both flights up for Thursday morning.”
*******
2 Days Later (aka Thursday)
Stiles settled into the first class seat Laura had sprung for with a wiggle of his hips. He turned towards Derek, still grinning, when he heard him groan under his breath.
“None of your groaning or sighing is going to ruin this for me, Derek. First class! I’m going to get a hot towel. And free snacks. This is awesome.”
“Sorry. I don’t mean to spoil your fun. It is pretty awesome.” Derek smiled but it didn’t reach his eyes - or his eyebrows.
Stiles turned serious for a moment, “Hey. Sourwolf, I know you don’t like not knowing what’s going to happen but your heart’s desire, that’s gotta be exciting to think about.”
Derek gave another half-hearted smile. “Yeah, I guess.”
“What do you think it will be?”
“I don’t know. I do kind of wonder about whether it’ll be something that I go, ‘oh, of course’ or if it will be something I didn’t even know I wanted. Or if Samaoth can somehow look into the future and know what domino to knock over now that will result in a chain reaction that will make me happy down the road.”
“Whoa there, Derek. That is a lot hamsters running around on their wheels inside your head.” Stiles pauses. “Seriously, though, would any of those options be a bad thing?”
Derek’s eyebrows morph into thinking position #2 and he is silent for a while.
This time, the smile on Derek’s face is genuine. “You’re right. We go to this conference. We come home and then I get my heart’s desire.”
Stiles heart does a little lurch at that. Right now, he knows what his heart’s desire would be: to build a life with Derek. He hopes that spending this weekend alone with Derek will help him think about what Laura said and decide how he wants to woo Derek.
Because Derek deserves ALL the wooing.
*******
Stiles flops on the bed as soon as they get to their hotel room. He blows out a frustrated breath and closes his eyes. Landing in Seattle had started off on the right foot. They had both fallen asleep on the flight and Stiles woke up with Derek’s head resting on his shoulder and their hands pressed together on the arm rest. However, it had all gone downhill from there.
Getting their luggage, getting out of the airport, and the ride to the hotel don’t bear mentioning beyond the word torture. But, then they had finally gotten to the check in desk and the finish line was in sight when Stiles tuned into what the customer service representative was saying:
“Mr. Hale and Mr. Stilinski, welcome to the Fairmont Olympic Hotel. I hope you enjoy your stay in Seattle. You have been booked in one of our honeymoon suites. This includes a complimentary bottle of champagne and chocolate covered strawberries. Please, just let room service know when you would like them delivered. Here is your room key.”
Derek quickly responded, “We were booked in the what?”
“The honeymoon suite, sir.”
“We are just here for a conference, A room with 2 doubles or 2 queens will be sufficient.”
“Sir, we are completely booked. There are no other rooms available.”
Derek looks like he wants to argue with her but instead puts on his big boy pants and says, “Fine. But, you can keep the champagne. I don’t drink.”
The woman’s smile brightens. “Thank you, sir. And please accept this voucher for a free spa treatment instead of the champagne.”
Derek stares at the woman until Stiles reaches out and takes the voucher. “Thank you ma’am. Have a wonderful day.”
So, the bed Stiles has just collapsed on is the bed he is going to have sleep in tonight. With Derek.
Now, apart from the initial freak out, Stiles thinks he’s dealt with his oh shit moment like a completely mature adult. He listened to his heart, decided what he really wanted from the situation and is setting about figuring out how to get there while respecting the other person involved. But none of that mature adult thinking included having to share a bed with Derek Hale.
Also, until now he had somehow managed to not really think about the physical ramifications of being in love with Derek Hale. He didn’t think that Derek was asexual so that meant that somewhere in the future, if his wooing was successful, their would be sex. Sex with Derek.
His face burns just thinking about it. But also, his pants parts are also thinking about getting excited as well. Pants parts… Stiles groans internally. He’s not twelve anymore. If he can’t say the words he’s not mature enough to do the deed.
His brain spirals a bit as it starts to list all the names of things he needs to be mature enough to say. Penis. DIck. Cock. Asshole. Balls.
He is interrupted in his reverie by Derek clearing his throat. “I don’t know what you are thinking about right now but could you please not smell up the bed we both have to sleep in tonight with those thoughts?”
Stiles almost chokes on his own tongue. “Ye…YEa..yes. Sure thing. Sorry.”
He stands up and wipes his hands on his jeans. “I’m going to go to the bathroom.” He groans. “That just made it worse, didn’t it.”
Derek chuckles. “Yes, it did. Don’t worry about it. I’m just teasing. I am not sure that there is any smell you could make that could be worse than the airplane.”
Stiles felt his face heat up for a different reason. He knows Derek is just trying to make him feel better, but he thinks he maybe just gave Stiles a compliment or said that he doesn’t mind what Stiles smells like when he is aroused.
Stiles shuts down that train of thought immediately and goes to throw some water on his face in the bathroom. When he comes out Derek is sitting on the bed like he was waiting for Stiles.
Stiles jitters nervously around the room, touching everything and generally berating himself for not being able to act normal.
FInally, Derek speaks. “So, I know we don’t spend a lot of time with supernatural beings outside of our pack. There are some rules of politeness that it would probably be good for you to know.”
Derek talks for awhile and Stiles tries to remember all the protocol that Derek is telling him.
“Finally, with me not being the Alpha and you being a human spark, we will need to ramp up the appearance of our pack bond.”
“What exactly does that mean, Sourwolf?”
Derek stands up and walks towards Stiles. He stops just inside a normal human’s comfort zone for being a near another person. Derek looks Stiles in the eyes. They stand there for about 5 seconds that felt like 5 years before Derek reaches out and cups Stiles face, rubbing his thumbs over the apples of Stiles’ cheeks. He raises his eyebrows like he’s asking permission.
Stiles has no idea what is going on here but he really doesn’t care. Derek can do what the hell he wants to right now. Stiles nods.
Derek steps closer and leans towards Stiles, coming even closer.
Stiles closes his eyes. His heart is rabbiting out of his chest. He opens his mouth to gulp in air as he thinks he might be drowning. Surely Derek can tells what kind of effect he’s having.
Just when Stiles thought he might die of anticipation, Derek ducks his head and rubs his cheek on Stiles’ neck and shoulder.
Stiles lets out a high pitched squeaking noise. He realizes that Derek meant pack scenting. They needed to touch each other so the pack bond was more apparent in how they smelled.
Derek is still rubbing his face on Stiles’ neck when Stiles breaks. He lets out a almost hysterical sounding burst of laughter and sways backwards away from Derek.
“Stiles, are you okay?”
Stiles wheezes. “Yeah, of course. Scent marking. Pack bonds. Got it. That’s all.”
He knows he’s not making any sense but oh shit Stiles wants to climb Derek like a tree. I mean, he always know Derek was attractive but this kind of visceral physical reaction is a whole new thing.
Derek takes a step forward, confused eyebrows returning, and asks again. “Are you sure you’re okay?”
Stiles begins to nod like a bobble head dolls, preparing to reassure Derek that he is indeed fine. Instead, he says. “No, nowhere near fine.”
Concern painting Derek’s features, he starts to talk but Stiles cuts him off.
“Scent marking makes sense now that you say it outloud. But seriously, before you saying it, it felt like you were going to do something completely different. I mean I know it makes no sense but I’ve been kissed a few times and I know what it feels like coming on. I mean I know that doesn’t make any sense but I don’t think my heart could take thinking you were going to kiss me and then you don’t but you’re still rubbing all up on me.”
Stiles knows he’s rambling. It’s the ADD and the stress but he can’t seem to stop himself. Finally Derek just slaps a hand over his mouth, forcing Stiels to stop.
Derek looks almost bewildered. “Is kissing me something you want?”
It’s Stiles turn to feel bewildered. “How do you just ask that? That’s a crazy kind of a question.”
Derek raises one eyebrow and says, “Stiles, answer the question. I’m not going to make fun of you.”
Stiles takes a deep breath and looks up at Derek, feeling shy for the first time in a very long time. His voice comes out like a whisper. “Yes. I think I do. I mean it’s a pretty recent development and I had planned on wooing you before i told you, but since you ask, yes, kissing you is something that I want.”
Derek is silent for awhile before Stiles eventually begs, “Come on, Sourwolf, put me out of my misery here, one way or the other.”
Derek looks up again, his face vulnerable in a way that Stiles isn’t sure he’s ever seen. “I’ll be honest, I’ve never thought of you in that way before. But now that you bring it up, it seems like maybe it could be worth thinking about. I don’t want to kiss you on an experient, with us wanting different things out of it. Maybe we could talk more about it when we get home and give me a little while to think it over.”
Stiles isn’t really sure how to process what Derek just said beyond it wasn’t no. Stiles smiles, a little hope seeping into his own thoughts on the matter.
“Yeah, Derek. That sounds good.” He looks helplessly around, not really sure how to start a different conversation and not really having any thing else to do in the hotel room.
Derek saves the day. “Look, they have registrations times in the morning as well as tonight. What do you say we go and see a movie tonight instead of sticking around the hotel? We can grab some dinner too.”
“Yeah. That sounds great.” This is not a date, Stiles repeats to himself in his mind over and over again. But at the same time, he can’t keep the goofy smile off his face..
*******
The not-a-date was amazing. Somehow, they had both been able to just have fun together and not get stuck dwelling on to kiss or not to kiss question. Stiles was floating on cloud 9 until they got back to the hotel room. More specifically, the bed.
Stiles and Derek have both changed into sweatpants and t-shirts and are standing on opposite sides of the bed, just staring at it and not getting in.
Finally, Stiles looks up and tries to school his face into a serious demeanor. “Now look here. I have already admitted to where I stand on the whole kissing question. I am a virile young specimen of a human being. This” he says pointing a finger around the bed, “is a no judgment zone. You ignore any bodily functions that may happen in this bed, because of how I feel about you.”
By the end of his speech, Stiles’ cheeks are burning and he doesn’t know why but he is having trouble catching his breath.
Derek blinks like an owl. “Feelings?” He’s sounding a little breathless himself.
Stiles shakes his head in frustration. “Yes, Derek. Feelings! I thought we already had this conversation.”
Derek shakes his head. “No. We had a conversation about kissing. Not a conversation about feelings.’
“Yeah, well, for me there the same damn conversation. The feelings came first. Then the wanting to kiss you.”
“Oh.”
“What, oh?” Stiles bites out, beginning to feel annoyed. And embarrassed.
“In my experience, that’s not always the case. Not with Kate or Jennifer or Braeden.” Derek replies in a very small voice.
Stiles annoyance falls away and his heart breaks, just a little. Stiles walks around the bed so he can at least be near to Derek.
“I know we haven’t worked the whole feelings/kissing thing out but can I give you a hug?”
Derek doesn’t even reply. He just reaches for Stiles and wraps his arms around his entire torso. Derek practically collapses into the hug and Stiles does his best to channel everything he learned about hugs from his Mom and Mama McCall into this hug.
Stiles thinks this might be the longest he’s ever hugged anyone for and he doesn’t ever want to let Derek go. But eventually their arms naturally drop. Stiles puts his hands on Derek’s cheeks, and looks him in the eyes.
“Listen to me, Derek. I love being your friend. I love being your packmate. I love getting to spend time with you. Me being in love with you won’t change any of that if you don’t want it to. It’s like an A and an A+. Both are awesome. One is just a slight improvement over the other. I don’t want the A+ unless it is going to make you happy too. I’m here for the A no matter what you decide about kissing and feelings.”
Derek closed his eyes before he started speaking. Stiles can feel each movement of his jaw as he chokes out a response. “The last time I tried kissing and feelings together, I ended up having to kill her. I don’t know how to do this like a normal person.”
“Derek, look at me. Do you think that I know how to do this like a normal person either? There is no normal. There is just whatever we decide we want.”
In a barely audible whisper, Derek says, “I think I’d like to try this with you. But slowly. Definitely feelings, but maybe no more than kissing for awhile.?”
Stiles can’t imagine what the sheer joy that sweeps through him must smell like to Derek but Derek sniffs the air and a grin breaks out across his whole face, eyebrows and all.
Stiles is practically vibrating in place. “Can I kiss you now?””
Instead of answering, Derek leans forward and gently presses their lips together. Despite how chaste the kiss is, Stiles feels it to the very core of him. His heart is doing things he couldn’t eve describe and his knees are about to buckle.
Without thought, his arms wrap around Derek’s neck and his hips press forward. He stops himself short of grinding because that would not be taking it slow. But, as it is, he and Derek are touch from head to toe, wrapped in each other’s arms and more deliriously happy than Stiles knew was possible.
Derek ran his fingers through Stiles’ hair as he pulled away from their kiss. Stiles didn’t have scent to go by but he thought that Derek was just as happy as he was.
“Alright, lover boy or lover wolf? Is that a thing. It should be. Lover-wolf, let’s go to bed.”
“Not a thing. Don’t make it a thing.”
“Too late, lover-wolf, its a thing.”
They both climb into bed and Stiles stalls out for a minute but then he reaches out and takes Derek’s hand. By the time they fell asleep, Stiles had claimed the position of big spoon and had Derek wrapped in his arms.
*******
The first thing Stiles notices when he wakes up is that he is wrapped around a furnace. Then he realizes that furnace is Derek and his brain shorts out in pure bliss for a moment. But as soon as the warm fuzzy endorphins finish blazing through his system, he begins to take note of other things.
The muscles of Derek’s arm under his head. The roughness of the hair on Derek’s chest, where Stiles’ arm is rested. The tangle their legs have made. The insistent pressure of Derek’s hip bone against his rapidly hardening cock.
Stiles moans almost unconsciously as his hips jerk forward a few times, chasing that beautiful, wonderful pressure. It takes more willpower than he knew he possessed to stop and cant his hips away from Derek. Rubbing off on Derek after sharing one chaste kiss was not taking it slow.
Instead, Stiles scritched his fingers over Derek’s chest where they lay and was about to wake Derek up. Before he can get ‘good morning’ out of his mouth, Derek is on the other side of the room, wolfed out and panting like he just ran a marathon. His eyes are wide and wild - almost like he is somewhere else and not here in a hotel room with Stiles.
Stiles sits up in bed, not sure what just happened. “Derek, what’s wrong?” he asks, voice taut with false calm. He has to stay calm.
Derek hunches further into the corner of the room when Stiles speaks and doesn’t respond.
“Ok, Sourwolf. I’m going to get out of bed slowly. I’m not going to hurt you. You are safe.” Stiles keeps talking, low and calm, while he slowly walks towards Derek with his hands out.
Stiles stops just inside arm’s reach of Derek. He curses himself for his stupidity in what he is about to do. He takes one step closer to the frightened, wolfed out werewolf, not really sure what his next step will be. But when Stiles gets closer to Derek, Derek sniffs the air and that seems to break through whatever Derek had been experiencing.
He manages to pull back the shift and lurches forward into Stiles’ arms, pulling him into a desperate hug and burying his nose in Stiles’ neck. He is pulling in deep breaths of Stiles’ scent and trembling in his arms.
Stiles is at a loss but does his best to hold the man he loves through whatever’s happening right now. He ends up sliding to the floor so he hold Derek better as he is rocking back and forth.
He seems to be inhaling huge breaths of Stiles scent. When Stiles focuses enough to tell what Derek is muttering, he hears, “It’s Stiles. Stiles not Kate. Stiles is safe” over and over again.
Once he picks up what Derek is saying, Stiles heart breaks even more. He leans back a bit and tries to get Derek to look at him, “Sourwolf, your’re safe. I promise.”
Derek won’t be moved. “Need to smell you. Eyes can lie. Need to smell you.”
“Okay, Okay. At least come to the be…couch with me. We can be more comfortable.”
Derek shook the whole way to the couch and immediately curled back into Stiles’ space when they sat down.
It was almost an hour before Derek calmed himself down enough to unwind from Stiles. Stiles arms and legs were so cramped and he had to pee so bad he thought he might actually wet himself. He’d kind of thought they might have gotten through a few dates and make-outs before he was hit over the head with the ‘worse’ part of ‘for better or worse’. Not that he was thinking about marriage already. Oh shit! He might be thinking of marriage already.
“You gonna be okay if I go pee real fast?”
A ghost of a smile flashed across Derek’s face. “Yeah, I think so.” He paused, “But hurry, please”
Stiles peed the fasted he’d ever peed and went back to sit beside Derek.
He gets a good look for the first time since they moved to the couch. Derek’s face is pale and drawn with tear tracks streaking his cheeks. His eyes look hollowed out and exhausted. His whole body is hunched over like he is ashamed.
Stiles gently lifts Derek’s chin so he can look him in the face. “What happened?”
Derek opens his mouth like he was going to talk but instead ends up shaking his head. “I don’t know. I’m so sorry. Sorry, I didn’t mean to make you deal with that. You didn’t sign up for that. Just sorry.”
“Hey, hey. No. Before anything else, I am your friend and packmate. Which means I absolutely signed up for keeping you safe when you are terrified. I absolutely signed up for being there when you need me. The kissing and feelings has nothing to do with that. And I did sign up for that.”
Stiles thinks he must look strange because the way Derek is looking at him is like he’s never seen Stiles before. It almost makes Stiles embarrassed for how fierce he just was. But then Derek whispers, “Thank you.” And, that’s it. Stiles knows he said the right thing.
“Anytime. Though I do hope not all the time.” Stiles takes a moment to choose his next words very carefully. “If you don’t quite know what happened or don’t feel ready to talk about it yet, that’s okay. I’m not going to press. But I think you should consider talking about it. I mean, maybe with a professional. I’m always happy to listen but that was a really big reaction to I don’t know what. I am here for you and I will always be here for you. However, a professional might make it so you get better instead of just having support when it’s bad. I don’t know if I said that right or not.”
Derek’s voice is back up to normal volume. “You said it just fine. Maybe. I’d have to find someone supernatural. Maybe Laura knows of someone.”
Stiles is full to bursting with pride when Derek says that. The pink on Derek’s cheeks tells Stiles, he can probably smell that on him. He replies to Derek’s cheeks instead of his eyebrows like usual, “Yes, I’m proud of you. Get used to it, Sourwolf.”
*******
It takes awhile for them to finally get around to taking showers and getting dressed. By the time they are ready to leave the room, there is only about 15 minutes left of registration. Stiles is about to open the door when Derek grabs his hand and stops him.
He fumbles for his words for a moment before his eyebrows become determined and he looks up at Stiles. “So you know rank and protocol can be very important to supernatural beings.”
Stiles nods.
“As an unmated wolf representing a pretty powerful group, I will be considered fair game.”
“Fair game for what?”
“Wolves have a lot of behaviors surrounding smell because that sense is enhanced for us. For the fae, touch is very powerful. They can read auras, map bindings and relationships, heal or harm based on intention, enact treaties, and so much more. They understand enough about wolves to know not to touch a mated wolf without permission but an unmated wolf is fair game.”
“What are you saying? Cause it almost feels like you want me to be your mate so you don’t get touched too much while we’re here. And that feels like you are manipulating me because you know about my feelings. I don’t think you would do that so please tell me what you are saying.”
Derek looks horrified as he talks again, “No. Nonono. I just meant, maybe we could pretend to be mated. Maybe engaged to be mated or something. We wouldn’t smell right to other wolves but for the fae, they might believe if we were convincing enough.”
“I’m not sure that would be much better, Sourwolf. I don’t want you kissing me and touching me if you don’t mean it. That would be too heartbreaking for me.”
“What if we just didn’t say anything but did some of the stuff we’ve already done, just in public - holding hands, hugging, ummm, small kisses.”
Stiles thought about it for a moment. “Just make a promise. Don’t do anything with or to me that you don’t have feelings behind. I mean maybe you wouldn’t have thought to do it at just that moment except us being here but in general, it would make you happy to do it with me…”
Stiles huffs out a breath. That didn’t even make sense to him and he said it.
Derek takes a step closer. “I’d be happy to hold your hand all the time. Being surrounded by your scent is amazing. It’s like no matter what else is going on, no matter how crazy or dangerous things are, I can find peace if you are nearby.”
“Okay.”
“Okay?”
“Yean, okay.”
Stiles turns to the door of their hotel room again, about to open it. And, again, Derek stops him. “Umm, before we go down there, can we do one more thing?”
Stiles tilts his head in inquiry.
“Can I kiss you again?”
Stiles’ breath whooshes out of him and his heart beats in that quadruple staccato as he nods his head.
Derek crowds him against the wall, boxing Stiles in with his whole body before he leans in and presses their lips together.
Stiles doesn’t know and really doesn’t care what to do with his hands. They flail up and land somewhere on Derek’s back as his legs give a wobble under him. Oh God. This is like a perfect moment.
Then, Derek opens his mouth just a bit and lets his tongue lick at Stiles’ lips. That sends a shock right to Stiles’ heart and feels warm through his whole body. Another lick and shock lands a bit lower. There’s nowhere for him to move that doesn’t involve rubbing against Derek.
This time, Derek rubs back and Stiles thinks he might die of sheer pleasure. He opens his mouth, letting his tongue meet Derek’s. At Stiles’ acquiescence, Derek growls, eyes flashing blue, and grabs Stiles’ hands. He slams them against the wall above their heads and presses hard into Stiles’ whole body.
Stiles whines and tries to reciprocate as much as possible but Derek has complete control over him. And, oh shit, does that work for him. HIs brain is rapidly dribbling out his ears, being replaced entirely by the pleasure of Derek pinning him to a wall.
All of the sudden Derek lets out a frustrated groan and Stiles’ front is freezing. Derek takes a step back, chest heaving and eyes blown wide. Stiles is sure he looks about the same. Maybe with a touch more confusion.
“Wha…why did you stop?”
Derek practically growls out his answer and his eyes flash blue again, “The first time I make you come, it won’t be pinned against the wall in a hotel room that smells like about 10 other people.”
Stiles thinks if he were five years younger, hearing Derek say that might have made him come untouched, standing against a wall in a hotel room. As is, he presses a hand against the base of his cock and squeezes his eyes shut for a moment before grunting, “If you don’t want me to come, then you should probably stop talking about it.”
Derek is flushed and beautiful and his eyebrows have gone a bit sheepish. “Yeah, for me too.”
Stiles puts his full weight back on his own feet (and not the wall, or Derek) and looks at the clock on the bedside table. “Aannd, we now have 5 minutes left to register.”
“Then we better hurry.” Derek smirks at Stiles and grabs his hand to drag him to the elevator.
*******
The rest of the weekend was amazing. It turns out being the Sable Court representative meant they had to show up at a few seminars, make sure everyone knew they were there to represent the Sable Court, and attend the Banquet on Saturday night. No one made treaties with the Sable Court so there was very little politicking to be done. Every so often folks with grievances would try to get Derek to settle it between. Derek made a point of never giving a direct answer but he did keep note of a few situations that had the potential to blow up and made sure to pass that information on to whatever being was the equivalent of their Alpha.
Mostly, Stiles and Derek got to wander around a beautiful hotel, holding hands and reveling in just being together. The banquet had been the highlight of the weekend. Derek grumbled the whole time that he didn’t want to dance. But Stiles eventually convinced him, leading Derek onto the dance floor with a mischievous grin on his face.
Stiles proceeded to do the Macarena to every song that the string quartet played. Derek’s sour face barely lasted one song, by the end of the second song, he was laughing, By the end of the third song, he even had some of the other attendees who were around his age trying to get the pace of the Macarena right to match Liszt’s Angelus.
Derek pulled him close, laughter still in his voice, “You are ridiculous. Now you’ve got the whole place doing it, can we go?”
Stiles felt a pang of disappointment. He’d thought they were having fun. He quirks a half-smile at Derek. “Not having fun?”
Derek pressed a hard, quick kiss to Stiles’ lips. “Do you have any idea how beautiful you are? When you laugh, the joy in your scent is all I can focus on. I just want to slam you against some vertical surface and kiss you until it is as much a part of my scent as it is yours..”
Stiles’ eyes widened and yep, his whole body was on board with that idea. His voice cracked when tried to talk. Finally, he got out, “Yeah, that sounds like more fun than this. Let’s go do that.”
Later that night, after a good amount of very awesome making out, followed by two long, separate showers that would have taken all the hot water had they not been in a hotel, Stiles and Derek found themselves lying in bed together again. The heat from earlier in the evening has been banked and they are cuddled together, completely boneless.
Stiles is almost afraid to break the perfect atmosphere by speaking but he does. “You know I went and talked to Laura before her birthday dinner? I asked her whether there were specific werewolfy mating rituals. Or a specific way I should woo you.”
Derek looks at him, slightly horrified. “You didn’t!”
Stiles grins. “I did. I told it was her birthday present - that I was voluntarily letting her meddle.”
Now Derek looks worried for Stiles’ sanity. “What did she say?”
“I made her promise she would take the piss or get me to do something stupid before I asked her. She seemed to get that I was serious. She told me about this quote about mates that your Mom used to tell you.”
This time Derek smiled and recited from memory, “Each wolf is whole in itself but there are those who are created to walk beside in perfect harmony. A mate to write their name on your heart will make you safe by watching your back, give you peace by travelling beside you, bring you joy by smiling back at you, and join hands with you so will never be alone on your life journey,”
“Yeah, that. I started out thinking I was going to try to take that quote and prove to you that I am your mate, through wooing. But I realized there is no way that I would be able to convince you I am your mate, if I am not. Instead, I’ve realized that I want to tell you how you are my mate. From there, it is up to you where we go.”
Stiles swallows. “Derek Hale, I know that I am always safe with you. If we are in danger, I know you will be there, making sure that we both get out alive. You also make me feel safe sharing who I am with you. You’ve never made me feel bad about myself or how I was feeling. They say peace isn’t the lack of conflict but rather it is an inner quality that allows you to maintain equilibrium even in the midst of conflict. Now, equilibrium is not something I am much talented at. But with you by my side, I can find that calm. I can find my way out of calamitous thinking. You make me feel grounded. You’ve got a wicked sense of humor when you choose to let it out and you are the most fun to be goofy around because you’ll pretend to be annoyed but I know you really love it.”
Stiles stops for a moment, and takes Derek’s hand before he continues. “I know this isn’t really taking it slow when it comes to the feelings side of kissing and feelings but I want you to know, I think you are my mate. I hope one day you will decide that I am yours”
All of the sudden, there is a cat on their bed. It begins to grow and then transforms into a naked lady, just as it had at Laura’s birthday party.
Samaoth greets this with a hissed murmur, “Kind one, your obligation is fulfilled and your boon is granted.”
Stiles feels sick. Derek looks like he is about puke. Derek rasps out, “Not like this. I don’t want it like this. You can’t make him feel like this and then expect it to be okay.”
Samaoth arches one eyebrow. “Make him? I did not make him. This was a boon of revelation not a boon of creation. Maybe a slight nudge so that you were in a situation that would encourage you to share your feelings with each other. But the feelings themselves, they are yours, and yours alone.”
The pit in his stomach closed up and he was able to breathe again. But before Stiles could speak, Samaoth continued, “You know, not having to attend this thing was wonderful. Would you be willing to attend as my representative every year, Kind one?”
Derek appears to still be reeling, so Stiles answers. “Perhaps we leave it open for you invite us each year, while we retain the right to accept or refuse as we are able.”
Samaoth nods, “This is acceptable. Enjoy your mate, Kind one.” Samaoth then disappeared into thin air between one breath and the next.
Stiles and Derek look at each other. Derek finally speaks, “That was exhausting. Can we just go to sleep and talk about it tomorrow?”
“Sure.” Stiles kisses Derek’s forehead gently and then whispers, “Sweet dreams, Lover-wolf.”
*******
Traveling home was almost as exhausting as traveling to Seattle in the first place. But at least Roscoe was waiting for them instead of a taxi.
When they had both climbed in, Stiles tapped on the steering wheel a couple of times to relieve the nervous tension.
“We haven’t really talked much about what Samaoth said. I thought we might at least talk about what we wanted to tell the pack when we get home.”
Derek nods. “That’s a good idea.” He pauses. “I think I should go first.”
“Okay.”
Stiles is confused when Derek starts how he does but listens without interrupting. “Kate liked to play sexual games. She was always pushing me further than I wanted to go. I think Friday morning happened because you used your fingernails to wake me up. She used to scratch me, until I would bleed. She would start soft, almost tickling and gradually get harder and harder until I would beg her to stop. She would only stop if I did something for her, like go down on her or play with her nipples.”
Derek takes a deep breath in and out through his nose. “I thought I loved her. I thought she loved me. I thought that was just how sex was. I didn’t know how bad she was until it was too late. You know the rest of the story. But I think she really messed up how I think about feelings and kissing as we’ve been calling it. I think you’re right. I probably need to talk to a professional to get it all sorted out in my own head.”
Stiles nods and makes an encouraging noise because it seems like Derek isn’t done talking yet.
“I want that with you. I want the whole thing: mates, married, growing old together, everything. The feelings are there. But I think I also need time to work out my own head before we go any further than the kissing.”
When Derek looks up at Stiles, his eyes are pleading with Stiles, like there was anything other than yes that Stiles would say to all that. “Derek, I am here for you, however you need. As long as we can talk to each other, it will be okay. I can’t promise to always do or say the right thing but I want this too. I want this in a way that is healthy for you. And in the mean time, kissing you is no hardship.”
To demonstrate, and because he wanted to, Stiles leans forward and kisses Derek, once on the lips, once on the forehead, and then once on each cheek.
Stiles leans back, and asks, “What do you want to tell the pack?”
“The truth.”
*******
Everyone is gathered at the Hale house when they walk inside, hand in hand. Laura squeals and jumps up to hug them both as soon as she notices. Scott grins and gives Stiles a thumbs up while everyone else takes a moment to catch up.
They sit down together in one of the love seats, Derek on Stiles’ lap.
Lydia starts of the friendly interrogation. “I’d ask how it went but it appears to have gone very well.”
Stiles is grinning and Derek has a soft happy smile on his face. They look each other in the eyes and both say, “Yeah,” at the same time.
Laura throws and throw pillow at their heads. “Stop being so sappy and tell us all about it.”
Derek throws it back at his sister and Stiles starts to talk. “The conference was a conference. Nothing exciting there except, we kind of both decided that we are mates.”
The whole room erupts in shouts and wolf whistles.
Once they settle down, Stiles continues, “Samaoth doesn’t like to go so she used this as an excuse to get out of it and give Derek his boon. Apparently, we have always been each other’s mates and might have figured that out on our own eventually but Samaoth’s boon was one of revelation. The time alone together, along with a small nudge from her, helped us to be able realize our feelings for each other.”
“Congratulations, guys,” Boyd says when Stiles stops speaking. The rest of the pack echoes the sentiment.
Derek nudges Stiles, “Can you tell them the rest too?” Stiles startles slightly. “You want to share that part?
“Yeah. I don’t know that I can say it again but they’re pack. It’s safe.”
Stiles smiles, pride and happiness leaking out everywhere. “Part of us deciding what it means for us to be mates is that we decided to take it really slow. Derek shared some things about what Kate did to him that have messed up how he sees the physical aspect of relationships. He’s decided to talk to a professional about to get things straight in his own head. We’re still mates, we’re just taking it really slow.”
Derek stared at his shoes the whole time Stiles was talking. His embarrassment is bright on his cheeks and the rest of the pack must be able to smell it.
Laura stands up from her seat and kneels on the ground in front of Derek so she can look him in the eyes. “I am so proud of you. You have nothing to be embarrassed about. We all love you and want you to be happy.”
Erica yells from across the room. “What she said.”
Lydia replies, “I might have said it with more tact, but I agree too.”
Isaac, Boyd, Scott, and Jackson are quick to follow with their own reassurances.
There is a bit of awkward tension in the room like no one really knows what comes next, until Stiles declares, “It’s time for Frozen and a puppy pile.”
Derek smiles and says, “Yeah, that would be great.”
Three disney movies later, Stiles falls asleep with Derek sitting between his legs, back resting against Stiles’ chest. He’s never been so happy in all his life. Maybe he should be looking forward to his next oh shit moment.
The end.
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Make a Move Scene..
Authors Note: Hello everyone! ^^ My writing mojo is all over the place at the moment. So sorry I haven’t really posted anything in a few days. I have another finished scene for you from Make a Move. This may be the last scene I post on here until I start writing the full stories so be prepared for more angst, more ducks and more adventure!! This scene is a light and fluffy party scene...and since Scrooge is hosting it, it’s sure to be quite the affair! It might have slight hints (very very slight) of shipping but keep in mind the ages of the kids here is 16. Besides this story will mostly be focusing on Webby’s relationship with her father anyways. Anyway, I love this scene and found it fun to write the banter between them all XDDD Funny story about this scene too: When I first wrote it out, a power outage happened at my house and unfortunately I didn’t save what I had written so one part of the scene had to be rewritten, basically Dewey’s scene with Webby was redone from scratch. I lamented about the lost writing for a couple days before I finally got over it and started to write it again. Man....now if only that was the ONLY time I lost writing due to my computer losing power and/or restarting during the night. ;_;....
Anyways, enjoy!
Glancing at her mirror, Webby brushed a hand through her short hair nervously. Biting her beak she once more gazed down at the purple dress that fit her body almost perfectly. It was slightly loose with a clasp on her right shoulder seemingly holding the entire thing on her body. The glitter on it was almost blinding which is why she chose it. The same with the pink rose hairclip which had replaced her bow. Slowly she looked back at the bow resting on her night stand. Her mind was in chaos, how could she be doing this while her deranged father was on the loose? Granted, she had never spoken to the duck himself. But still, everything she heard seemed to point to him as the bad guy.
Gripping her dress, she tried to erase those thoughts. She needed to enjoy tonight. This was her birthday after all. The triplets had taken two months to wear Scrooge down to give her this. This was a reason to celebrate. She was turning 16 today. She was officially a mid teen and a step closer to womanhood.
A knock on her door caused her to look up and see her Granny. “Webby? Are you ready darling?”
Webby gave her Grandmother a bright smile. “Yes! How do I look?” Using her index finger and thumb, she picked up a lower piece of her dress and brought her arm up slightly. Spinning around, she felt like her hair was floating as well as her dress as she stopped before her grandmother once again.
Beakley gave her a somewhat sad smile. “You look absolutely beautiful darling.” Finding a tear slide down her face, Webby blushed a bit and grinned.
“Thanks Granny…” Blinking, she became surprised as her grandmother wrapped her within a warm hug and she returned it with everything she had.
“Well then, lets go and show you off..” Beakley smirked and took her hand. But as they walked towards the staircase she list off several ways to keep herself and others safe should the worst happen.
“And finally..” Beakley took her daughters shoulders in each hand and lowered herself to her height, staring deeply within her eyes. “If anyone asks you to dance…..you know what to do.”
“Right!” Grinning, Webby clenched her hand into a fist. Giving her a kiss on the top of her head, Beakley let go and watched from the side as Webby made her way to the top of the stairs.
Glancing down the stairs as she began to walk, she saw the triplets near the bottom of the staircase. All three were chatting to each other and Dewey laughed as Louie smirked. Huey rolled his eyes and smirked at his younger brother. Scrooge was by the punch bowl with Goldie of all ducks. Launchpad, dressed to the nines was chatting with Duckworth who was standing near the front door with a raised eyebrow and seemed to only be half hearing the rambling.
A few other guests including Gyro, Fenton, Selene and Storkules also seemed flitter about the room.
Finally, she reached the top of the stairs and the triplets instantly looked up. She couldn’t help it, she let out a giggle as Dewey’s lower beak hit the floor. Huey looked almost equally shocked, blinking three times before his face returned to normal. Louie, to his credit had a hand covering his bill to stifle his own slight gasp before he sent a smirk and elbow jab to the middle child. Now he was smiling slightly and nodded to Webby as she slowly walked down the staircase. Now it seemed as if everyones eyes were on her and she had to admit, it made her feel extremely nervous.
But as she reached the last step, a hand was waiting to take hers.
It was Scrooge McDuck with a warm smile.
Feeling excited, she took it and let him lead her through the parting crowd towards the dance floor.
“Webbigail, you look absolutely breathtaking.” Scrooge commented and once again she felt her cheeks warm.
“Thanks so much Uncle Scrooge.” She said a bit shyly, but was almost skipping with him.
“Would ye like to dance? Aye know I’m a little rusty but..” Scrooge hummed and bowed.
Squealing a little in excitement, Webby nodded and took his hand. Scrooge swept them both across the floor to the dance floor and Webby looked up at her mentor with pure happiness. All those years locked within the mansion, finally her wishes were coming true. Scrooge was finally acknowledging her and even wanting her to call him her uncle. She finally had a family she could be happy and proud of. She could finally find something worth protecting just like her mother had. They danced for a few minutes with Scrooge gracefully guiding her.
Spinning her a bit, Scrooge leaned in and winked. “And just between ye and me….Aye got ye more than one gift this year.” He felt proud of himself to see her smile suddenly brighten to the max. She broke away a bit and hugged him around the neck. “Thank you so much!” She pulled away and glanced around. “But…really this is the best present I could ever have…just being here with all my family.” She glanced back at him, rubbing her hands together nervously. “You have no idea how long I have wanted this.”
Scrooge looked at his niece with a soft smile and pat her head gently as to not mess up her hair.
“Lass, don’t yet worry. This will never go away.” He said firmly. “We will always be there for ye.” He glanced up and then looked down with an amused expression. “Aye better go comfort O’Gilt the girl gets jealous so easily.” He chuckled. Webby rolled her eyes. “And it seems ye have a line forming of yer own.” Tilting his head a bit to one side, Webby glanced over to see the triplets.
While at first they all had been staring, suddenly with her eyes on them all three glanced away. Louie was whistling and looking at his hands. Dewey was adjusting his tie looking ten times more nervous. Huey had pulled out his JWG from somewhere and was staring into it, every once in a while glancing up to see if Webby was still looking.
She giggled a bit again and started to walk towards the boys with a smirk. She couldn’t help it, they all looked adorably awkward especially in their suit and ties. Once she got close enough, she held out her hand to all three of them.
“Does anyone want to dance?” She asked with a slight tilt of her head.
All three shared a glance and their nervousness turned into determination. All three nodded and Huey glanced at her. “Yes, I do.” Taking her hand, Huey ran to the dance floor. Blinking, she let the oldest duck triplet drag her behind him.
Yet when they got to the dance floor, suddenly Huey looked a little nervous. He cleared his throat.
Holding his hand out, she took it and he placed his other hand on her waist. They began to dance a little and she could see Huey’s slight stiffness. Still, he was pretty good and she couldn’t help but ask. “Huey you are surprisingly good dancer, where did you learn to dance?”
“Oh, Junior Woodchucks of course!”
“They teach that?”
“I won the expert patches for tap, jazz, ballet, clogdancing and ballroom.” He grinned slightly. “Dewey got Ballroom too, Louie….just did his own thing. Well, you’ll see in a bit.” He chuckled.
“Clog dancing? Cool! You’ll have to show me that sometime!” Webby looked excited about that.
Huey rolled his eyes a bit, but he was smiling. “Only you’d be excited about clog dancing..” chuckling a little, he spun her around and dipped her a bit before bringing her back up and showing off some of his fancy moves. Webby herself was up for the challenge and narrowed her eyes with a smirk. Trying to control the situation, she soon took the lead from the surprised Huey and finished their dancing twirling him and dipping him.
“Woah..” he was breathless and Webby brought him back up with a shrug. They parted as the song ended. Suddenly Louie was there, tapping his brother and Huey stepped back. Waving to her and grinning he let Louie take her hand this time.
“Bye Huey!” She waved with her free hand and then turned her attention to the youngest triplet. “Louie! How are you liking the party?” she asked excited as they began to dance.
Both of their hands were clasped together as they danced. It seemed Louie knew less about ballroom dancing than his brothers.
“Oh, y’know its cool.” He shrugged. “A bit boring but I think it’s getting better.” He eyed her dress and smirked. “You certainly clean up well.”
Blushing a bit, she spun them both around in a circle before looking a bit to the side, annoyed. “Louie!”
He laughed a bit. “Sorry Webs I couldn’t resist.” Grinning he spun her around and into his chest. Her back pressed firmly against his chest she looked up at him.
Sticking her tongue at him she smirked and spun out, extending her free hand out and bringing herself back, taking his hand. They swung their arms in time with the song and she looked around a bit before looking back to her dance partner. “Hey…Louie..”
“Mmmph?” The youngest asked, his relaxed gaze upon only her. She looked like she was struggling to say something. Then sighed and shook her head.
“Nothing, nevermind..” She gave him another small smile and soon their song was over. As she slipped her hands from his, Louie tilted his head and gave her a worried look.
“Look Webs, whatever is bothering you. You know you can come to any of us. Sometimes it just helps to talk stuff out y’know?” He smiled and waved a bit. The next song was coming on and she nodded. Louie soon vanished and she was watching all the others dancing around her. Thoughts of what had been going on were invading her mind. She couldn’t stop thinking about her father. It was so annoying. She was supposed to be only thinking about tonight.
Ugh, maybe some punch would help her scattered mind.
Quickly she walked to the punch bowl. She downed two cups before Dewey approached her from the side.
“Milady, may I have this dance?” Dewey grinned, bowing. Glancing over, Webby was glad to see him. “Of course!!” She was so happy her best friend wanted to dance with her.
Slipping her hand within his, he slowly led her to the dance floor. Just to show off he spun her a bit as the high tempo music started. It sounded like a classic song from the 80s, but both teens seemed to enjoy it. Laughing, Dewey’s dramatic moves always kept Webby on the edge of her seat. He spun her and released her only for him to appear behind her and grab her hand again. His dancing was a mixture of tango and ballroom. With of course some Dewey flare mixed in.
If anyone could give her a run for her money with dancing, it certainly was Dewey Duck. Smirking and leveling her gaze with his own she opted for her own moves. She was so happy she could feel herself be lost within the music. She caught him off guard and took his hand and wrapped her own arm around his waist, dipping him low and winking. Then bringing him up. Not giving him time to reorient himself, she spun him and expertly placed her foot behind the other. He ended up tripping over it and she caught him, their beaks very close to one another as she once again held him in a low dip.
“Aww Dewey are you falling for me?” She joked and his wide eyes were lost within her own.
“Um…I..” was his intelligent response before he shook himself free from her spell. Smirking he leaned up, a comeback burning his tongue.
“What? you mean you haven’t noticed?”
Surprised by that comment, she didn’t notice as she was bringing him up once more that his own hands were assuming domination over the dancing again. It seemed as if this would go on for a while yet.
Both ducks were so dizzy by the end of the song that they were leaning against each other, catching their breath. Unaware they had several sets of eyes upon them.
“Oh wow…that was great Dewey.”
“You haven’t seen anything yet..” he replied a bit breathless.
Chuckling, she pulled herself up and together the duo made their way off the dance floor. But as she walked, a flash of black and white slid past her peripheral vision. Finding herself distracted, she turned to where she saw that flash. But saw only a small group of people talking and eating. Still, the slight pause caused Dewey to stop as well and glance where she was looking.
“Webs? What’s wrong?” tilting his head curiously, once she brought her head back she gave him a weak smile.
“Oh, no worries. I just thought I saw something…” Her gaze slightly drifted back, as if wanting to will what she saw back within her sight.
Dewey’s grasp on her hand tightened a fraction, once more bringing back her attention.
“C’mon Webs. Take a break from Spy Webby and enjoy the party.” Smiling, he dragged her over by the food table. “Besides, no one is going to break into this party..” laughing, he pointed to Duckworth who was standing guard at the front doors. “After all, we have the best security around.”
Once her eyes met food Webby instantly grabbed a few things. “You’re right.” She laughed a bit and glanced back at the front door as well. “There’s no way he would show up here anyways..”
“He?” Dewey frowned. But Webby didn’t answer.
Instead her mind seemed to be everywhere at once, her eyes drifted to the barrage of guests at the party. She was so distracted she didn’t notice the flurry of emotions flittering across Dewey’s face. Instead her eyes were focused straight ahead.
She scanned the room, trying to see someone that she knew couldn’t be there. But the pounding of her heart, the electric pulsing of the air. Everything seemed to indicate that something was very wrong.
Suddenly she saw it.
A man wearing a cape and his eyes covered with a black mask. Even with his face covered the hairstyle was unmistakable.
Briefly she heard Dewey yell out her name. But she was already on her feet, running through the group of people.
She saw Selene glance at her, saw the startled expression of Scrooge and Goldie on the dance floor. She even saw her Granny near the refreshment stand.
But then her focus was to the masked man before her sliding through the guests until he reached the middle of the room. As Webby stopped and reached out, he lifted one arm up, fingers splayed out.
He snapped his middle and thumb.
A click echoed within the now silent room.
Darkness enveloped the room.
Chaos reigned.
“Someone turn on the blasted lights!” Scrooge raged.
The sounds of people stumbling over each other and frantic yelling echoed within the room. Selene held out a orb of light and after a few more tense minutes finally the lights blared back on momentarily blinding everyone in the room.
“What in blazes what that?” Scrooge hissed.
A sudden yell directed his attention to the middle of the room.
Huey, Dewey and Louie were frantically looking around and reached the middle of the ballroom at the same time Scrooge did.
Webby was no where in sight.
Webby had vanished.
#ducktales#fanfic#fanfiction#make a move#webby#huey dewey and louie#scrooge#assorted random characters#beakley#Launchpad#duckworth#party#IALWAYSWANTEDTOWRITEABALLROOMSCENE#veryslightshipping#Donthateme;_;#commentsalwayswelcome#love you guys!
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Travel Blog - 2018
Though I haven’t written anything significant in last 5 years and there is a LOT to catch up on or talk about, especially about the current times we are living in, I guess, best thing to do will be to write about the one of the few things we, me, Baiko (wife) and few folks in world miss, Travelling.
With that preface and without any further wait, I would like to go back to year 2018, because that to me was one of our best years of traveling. Though we did not travel to too many places, but one of the most cherished years for travel in terms of experiences.
Year, started off with wife-sauce birthday in Newport/LA, followed by Spain, the best trip, followed by Seattle and finally a long road trip to towards Arizona for Christmas.
This blog is majorly for, our two of our trips:
Newport/LA: February, 2018
Spain: September, 2018
We headed to Newport/LA for Wifey’s Birthday.
There are many good experiences that we had during the trip: food, beach, friends, Hollywood to name a few. But my favorite was the whale watching tour that we did. Seeing them out in the wild, though we did not get to see the whole whale flip, but the whole experience left me with a memory to cherish for lifetime.
We saw a total of 7 whales, and one was even bigger than the boat. I have been more cognizant of plastic waste and environment pollution, post it. I feel their magnificent presence is worth saving and treasuring.
Newport beach itself was very chill. It’s one of those places we were planning on revisiting this year, but the pandemic had other plans :P There weren’t a lot of people on the beach the day we visited, that I guess made it more appealing. We are not beach people (I don’t even know how to swim), but the not so crowded beach and blue wide ocean was very calming.
Back to the whales. I am sad about the fact that I couldn’t get a good picture. Not due to lack of trying. I think wildlife photos require more time, precision, talent and a bit of luck. Respect for the photographers who do this for living and make awesome documentaries like the Planet Earth (highly recommended). This was the first time I saw a whale in real life and experience makes you wonder, how different life in real life is. The elephant migrations in Kenya, Zebra’s in Botswana, Penguins in Antarctica, it’ll be something else to experience in real life.
Next Up: España / Spain, we visited Barcelona – Sevilla – Madrid for a total of 10 days.
The process of getting Visa stamped for Spain was a battle, just to keep the story short, after battling a severe rain storm while driving to Houston, a production application outage on the night before Visa interview and not to mention, getting Visa 7 days before traveling; in essence it was all very chaotic.
By the time it dawned on us that we were going, we were busy packing. I think this was going to be our least planned trip. Still Navya ji gave a lot of pointers on what she had done and her research was as usual, thorogh. Spain was going to be our first out of country travel (independently) and from what I have seen and realize is it can be a make or break experience. I have once been to Europe as a kid and mom and I were at a park in Poland and we got lost. I still remembered the way, but she didn’t trust an 11 year old’s judgement. I was able to convince her by finally and we got out of the park after wandering around for 2 hours. I think my mom still gets chills from the memory. I loved it and I think it gave me the confidence to ask for help when need be.
Can’t believe I am having ADHD while writing a blog & on that note back to Spain.
Our travel was: US -> Madrid -> Barcelona -> Sevilla -> Madrid -> US We had a layover of 8 hours in Madrid and so we left the airport, using public transport. We got lost =D. Spent almost 2 hours in the trains and then saw a park (The Buen Retiro Park) and then after spending few minutes at the front entry having a decent pizza, we made our way back. I had a phone with data on it, but gladly we only used it twice, for getting uber. There is something therapeutic and relaxing, not depending on technology while traveling. We used maps, public transport docs and internet at hotels to plan our next day adventures.
By evening, we were in Barcelona and went to walk around. Ate at a vegetarian Indian restaurant called Restaurante Govinda and called it an early night. Not going into too many details, but we did a lot of tourist stuff. Walked an average of 20k steps a day, took the public transport for everything, ate at small cafés and local restaurants, I had at-least a cup of coffee daily. As the trip proceeded, me and Baiko, got more in sync about planning our next day. We got to watch a Football match, Barcelona vs Sevilla. I have seen few football games in US, but the scale of passion is at a different level. We were in Madrid when Atletico Madrid was playing Real Madrid, but didn’t have the time to watch the derby and since we didn’t plan that part in advance, the tickets were VERY expensive =(
After 4 days in Barcelona, we headed to Sevilla. Beautiful city again and I think one place where both me and Baiko think of retiring at. It is a beautiful, small-ish city. Our stay here was only three nights, but this city was the warmest, both in weather and feel. Weather didn’t shake us from covering as much as we can and walked the most in a day in Sevilla, throughout our trip. We ate a ton of Tapas/Small Plates here, as vegetarian food was a little bit of an issue and we needed calories. If you google Seville tourist attractions the top three are worth doing. I now realize when my friend in France would say, he is going to squares, what he meant. I saw him posting pics like the Plaza de España around France and now I highly recommend them.
Our end of journey was in Madrid. It is capital city and has the vibes to go with it. We did a Museum here and we realized after 5 hours that we are not museum folks. Our food situation here was much better and even at Mercado de San Miguel (Market with dine in) we found good number of options. A memory that stuck with me in Madrid was around: Chocolatería San Ginés. We went here for some Churros. A group of about 7-8 old ladies (70+) were seated and were enjoying Churros and chatting and laughing. I could not understand what they were talking about, but seeing them, just made happy. It reminded me of India where my grandma and her friends would sit in the shared tiny courtyard outside their homes (mostly sorting veggies) talking and having a good time. I don’t know what they talked about either, but the essence of these ladies and my grandma and her friends; felt similar.
Finally, España had so much to more to visit, to teach and I know we cannot cover all of it, ever, but I hope we can visit them soon and enjoy it some more, soon.
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Corona Diaries
2/14 - Fly to Arizona for Grand Canyon and Arielle Bach Party. People in airport are wearing masks. I make a comment to my mom about it, not understanding why people are wearing masks or wondering if they are sick.
3/2 - Patient Zero tests positive for COVID19 in New Rochelle.
3/8 - Our Boss at Schoology tells us we can work from home if we feel more comfortable. We think she’s just being lazy and wants to work from home herself.
3/6 - Comedy show in NYC. Kristin doesn’t feel well and we worry she should stay home incase she has COVID19. We go to the comedy show. The comedian makes jokes about COVID19, we laugh.
3/8 - Eric’s School closes School for the following week. I make a comment to him that that’s overkill and a “private school privilege”. All other schools will eventually close of course.
3/11 - Mom flies to Madrid.
3/12 - National Pandemic Announced & Trump Announces Travel Ban between US/Europe. Cuomo declares State of Emergency in New York.
3/13 - Mom flies home from Madrid to NY after Mara books back up flight for Mom from Madrid to London. Mom spent $1400 to spend not even a full day in Madrid, goes back to the airport with thousands of panicked Americans, gets off stand by and comes home. Mara comes over to greet mom and give her some food, flowers, and company.
3/14 - Mara works remotely indefinitely, office shuts down until at least April 7th. Mara and Eric do the NYT crossword, hike the Masters trails with Winnie, and Mara and Eric go to Japanese Restaurant with Susan, Jeff, and Matt. Restaurants will soon close. Earlier in the day Mara goes to Larchmont to check in on mom, goes for a walk with mom and Winnie, and meets up with Kristin, Kevin, and Zoey at Central School.
3/15 - Mara goes to Larchmont and goes to Manor park with Shanni, Maddy, Liana, and Nicole and Nicole’s dog Remy.
3/16 - Mara works from home. Luckily Peloton bike was delivered last week just before the store closures began. At this point all Spin Studios and Gyms shut down. Mara and Eric cook butternut squash risotto and parmesan asparagus. De Blasio announces that NYC Public Schools are closed. Meals will be served at food centers.
3/17 - Eric and Mara are watching Sex Education. Mara Eric and Susan go on trail hike with Winnie.
3/18 - Mara Hallie Eric Winnie trail walk with Winnie. Mara Zoom date with high school friends.
3/19 - Zoom date with MK, Jana, Jason.
3/20 - Mom comes over for trail walk with Winnie and we cook the Shrimp Pasta dish with brussel sprouts.
3/21 - Peloton bike, talked to Elise on the phone, walked to tennis courts to play tennis with Eric’s family. The Masters courts are shut down due to Corona. Dinner at Eric’s family’s house. We sat at the dining room table to spread out. Mara played Ping Pong with Matt.
3/22 - Mara ran 3 miles, used Peloton, went to Larchmont to work on Obama NYT puzzle with mom.
3/23 - Monday, Peloton, worked from home, played SET with Eric, cooked a big salad.
3/24 - Run, work, tennis with Jodi, visited mom, Video session with Aubrey, Elise, Kelly
3/25 - Peloton, work from home, went on walk to store, no one was there and everyone in masks. Order in sushi. Video date with MHS friends. We started a CS team fitness challenge today since no one is moving since only home!
3/26 - Didn’t sleep because reading too much news and it’s so sad. US now has more cases than any other country (82k), NY has 37k cases, and the news is really grim. Had my virtual performance review and got a 3% raise, went on a 7 mile run but tripped on a rock and got hurt, played tennis with Jodi, then went to my mom’s and cooked dinner. I feel scared every time I go to my mom’s house in fear that I’m bringing the virus into her home. A lot of my mom’s coworkers have tested positive for COVID-19. Deccico’s is doing a great job with their grocery store (limiting number of people in store, making people wait outside 6 feet apart, mandated gloves, sanitizing shopping carts, glass wall at check out. Stop and shop is not doing much and so people haven’t been going. Trader Joes NYC closed because too many employees tested positive. Everyone is panicked and at this point it is hard to imagine life going back to normal. Even if legally it goes back to normal, everyone is absolutely terrified of other humans. Everything about this is unprecedented and unimaginable. Trump is a moron. It hurts to think about how much better handled this might have been with Obama. The 2020 Presidential Election is essentially at a standstill, no one going to primary elections, very curious what will happen, will we even be able to vote in November? Bernie and Biden left, Biden in the lead, but Biden is hardly speaking up about Covid-19. It’s been fulfilling to work at Schoology during this time as we are making a real difference in virtual learning and our school districts are eternally grateful. Side note––Amazon is hardly even running! They’ve cut down on their hours and employees, and the average wait on PRIME is 30 days!!! I am going to sleep at my mom’s tonight.
3/27 - Ended up sleeping at my mom’s on Thursday night. Took a work meeting from my mom’s then went back home. First dropped off my right AirPod at a FedEx drop off but you had to touch the box. Tried to do a Peloton class at home but Winnie got into my medicine bag and we found her with an empty laxative and ambien pill container. We took her to emergency vet and had them induce vomiting. We were terrified we killed her. Turns out she didn’t eat any pills and we ended up finding all of the pills when we got back from vet. Poor Winnie. Silly $300 at vet. Pet insurance is dumb because it has such a high deductible. I then went on a walk with Winnie because it was 64 degrees out. Eric and I cooked a fancy meatloaf for dinner and finished Sex Education. I made a lovely cocktail.
3/28 - Weekends don’t feel all that different from weekdays. Trump is discussing a mandatory quarantine on all New York residents since there are now 45,000 confirmed cases (many more unconfirmed). Reading the news is scary and I have been trying to limit it at night because it gives me insomnia and anxiety. Most of my friends aren’t seeing their parents at all. It’s gross out today. I did a few Peloton classes and started Little Fires Everywhere. It was a book turned into a movie but because movies are closed they released it as a TV series on Hulu. Just stepped out of the house for the first time today to take Winnie on a short walk. My team at Schoology is doing a fitness challenge to get some steps in because it’s HARD to find reasons to move! We were going to go to the Shear’s for dinner tonight but Susan had a headache this morning so to be safe we aren’t going. This is the crazy world we are currently living in. I’ve been mostly only wearing sports bras not real bras. We have not been able to locate lysol wipes in weeks. Note to self, I’d like to add some photos here because this really is all so unprecedented and it’s hard to put into words the craziness.
3/29 - Working out every day but gaining weight. Watched Little Fires Everywhere - LOVE it. Gross day out. Peloton inside. Zoom Call with Kristin, Oliver, Parker, Mom. Went on a walk around the apartment. Weekends are worse than week days because no work to do.
3/30 - Work is crazy because Schoology crashed since too many people on the platform. Did lots of Peloton Spin. Amanda moved her wedding to 2021. We are very worried about ours. I haven’t been sleeping. Went to visit mom with Winnie in afternoon for a walk. Passed neighbor Kelly but we couldn’t let her pet Winnie because not supposed to have other people pet your dog. We had a meeting with the Rabbi for our wedding. She is hopeful for July because she can’t stand the thought of not being able to send her kids to sleep-away camp haha. Started this dumb show Tiger King, everyone is watching it. About a man who keeps tigers in his house.
3/31 - Schoology crashed again. Too many users. Work has been busy but fulfilling though because we are so important right now, been nice to connect with my clients. It’s been hard working full days though I take breaks to work out and to do chores so I’m a bit all over the place. Went to the post office today to return a dress for my mom because I won’t let her go, all stood 6 feet apart and I feel scared to breathe in public now. It’s so bad in NY and the Daily Podcast is scaring me.
4/1 - Work has been stressful because of the Schoology outages because everyone is doing school on Schoology now. Went to Deccico’s at lunch to do a big grocery shopping (we are trying to limit grocery store to once max twice per week since it’s unsafe to go). I wore a t-shirt as a bandana to cover my mouth, tried to keep sunglasses on, and wore a glove on my right hand (left hand was for my phone to see the shopping list). The line was wrapped around the entire corner and I ended up waiting 45 minutes. You have to be really careful to stand at least 6 feet behind the person in front of you. It was a bit overwhelming because we had such a long shopping list (also doing groceries for my mom), and they were out of a lot. I couldn’t find bread, orange juice, turkey, etc. Also have not seen lysol wipes in weeks. Unfortunately. I ended up being gone for an hour and a half and couldn’t even finish the shopping. Went to Stop & Shop after to finish the list. No one is going to Stop & Shop because they aren’t doing as good of a job with cleanliness protocol so it’s far less crowded. Under isolation I am 1) becoming a chef with Eric, we are cooking so much! 2) working out a lot and incorporating more floor workouts and strength training 3) drinking almost daily… 4) eating A LOT!!!!! Getting fit + gaining weight at the same time. Today was Greg Lesser’s birthday, so we had socially distant drinks on our lawn, I have a funny picture of all of us sitting that I’ll post above. During the happy hour, Caitlin Casey wanted to use our bathroom so she stepped inside, we deliberated if it was okay. I was too close to the door when she opened it and she alarmingly stepped back, no one gets that close anymore. Winnie turned 9 months today. A few other notes: our Election Primary has been moved to end of June. I will have to likely cancel my bachelorette party. Schoology already closed our office through April 30, with optional WFH through May 31st. I interviewed Hong Kong American School tonight, as they’ve been remote for months. They almost went back to school but when folks came back to China they brought COVID19 with them so now they are back to isolation.
4/6 - We decided to stop going over to Eric’s family’s house because it’s making us anxious and there are four of them and Eric’s mom is still going to the hospital. I got an actual mask and have started wearing it to the store and I feel a lot more safe. It was a beautiful day today, 62 and sunny. I went to my mom’s house and worked from her patio. Then I went on a distanced walk with Winnie and Shanni and then Winnie and Caroline. I’m getting used to working fully remote, I can’t even imagine commuting in at this point.
4/7 - Here are a few things I’m grateful for during this time. Eric, a supportive and loving partner. We get along so well and find a great balance between hanging out together and being independent, so we haven’t been sick of each other at all. Our spacious apartment and easy access to green space and outdoors and running paths. Winnie, truly the love of our life, she is just a saint and we can’t imagine life without her. And the fact that we have a “home gym” ie Peloton, exercise mat, and weights. These four things make this experience far more manageable. And of course the fact that we are both still employed and that our families are still healthy.
4/11 - Went on a walk with friends in LeatherStocking Trail in Larchmont. Was a bit crowded and narrow which wasn’t good. We ran into a random boy from our high school who immediately picked up Winnie. (We aren’t letting people pet Winnie due to Corona but I didn’t act quick enough to stop it). Anyway, turns out his brother who he LIVES with has Corona. Which means he probably has it too. And he was out on a walk not social distancing and PET MY DOG!!! I was absolutely livid.
4/15 - Cuomo requires all people wear masks in public in NYC. Cuomo says likely that there will be no large gatherings through the summer. Very sad about the wedding. Colleges are making online learning plans for the fall just incase.
4/28 - Silver lining of quarantine: I get to hear Eric’s work, not just his teaching but his deanship how eloquently and professionally he handles parent conversations, managing faculty that’s older than he is, and student situations. He is currently leading a parent forum book discussion on the book White Fragility on race and whiteness
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