#but we'll probably need to get groceries soon.

[moonchildstyles]

First time sex with rosemary 🌿

wordcount: 9k

—————

Wiping her floured hands on her apron, (Y/N) brushed her hair out of her face with her wrist before reaching towards her back pocket for her vibrating phone. Her lips curled into a soft smile seeing Harry's name on her screen, his contact featuring a photo of him sleepy-eyed next to his kitten in her bed had her smile stretching wider. Taking a quick glance at the time, she was sure he'd just made it back to his apartment after finishing up at the grocery store. 

Quickly, she peeled her gloves from her hands and peeked out into the storefront of the bakery. Just as she had left it a handful of minutes before, there weren't any patrons now that the morning rush had passed, leaving Sabrina tucked behind the desk with her book folded open. 

"Hey, I'm going to take my fifteen really quick. Is that okay?" As soon as Sabrina gave her the go ahead with a wave of her hand with her eyes still stuck to her book, (Y/N) was answering the call with a tap of her thumb. "Harry?" she greeted, stepping out back of the bakery for a bit of privacy in the mid-morning air. 

"Hi, peach," he murmured through the receiver, voice drooping and soft, "Is it alright that I called you? I know you're still working, so." 

"Your timing was perfect, actually," she told him, knowing he was probably more worried than he was letting on for fear of having ruined her day, "Everything just cleared out from this morning, and I needed a break." 

"Yeah? Long shift already?" he pressed, the sound of sheets shuffling on the other side with a petite meow chirping through. 

"A little bit, yeah," she sighed, wishing she was wrapped up in warm sheets with Harry and Rosemary, "Just one of those Sunday morning shifts, you know. How was your night, though? Work was okay?" 

"Yeah," he said, the syllable floating out on a long suffering sigh, "Theo and Brett were still annoying, but I think Fawn is going to cover one of my shifts this week." 

(Y/N) immediately perked up at the new information. She'd been urging him to take some time off this past month; he didn't have to work himself to the bone anymore, not now that his issues from back home had been resolved. It was unhealthy, she'd told him more than once—he would make himself sick with more than just exhaustion if he wasn't careful. 

"Really? What day?" she bubbled off, ready and willing to shift her own schedule around if he wanted. 

"Thursday." 

She could hear the smile in his voice as he uttered the words. He knew what reaction he was going to get. 

"Are you serious?" she beamed, bouncing on the soles of her feet, "You have the whole weekend off then?" 

"I do, yeah. So do you." 

"Harry," she bleated, "I'm so excited! We haven't had any time together I feel like, and now we get a whole weekend! Thank you!" 

"That's what I was thinking when I made my request; barely seen you this past week. 'S not fair." 

"It's not," she affirmed, "You haven't even been able to sleep over since Friday. I'm not used to that." 

"Me neither, peach," he murmured, his tone decidedly more somber than just a moment before though she understood where he was coming from. 

Ever since their impromptu road trip, they tended to have as many sleepovers as their schedules would allow. Besides the comfort that came along with being at each other's side—especially in the case of Harry's frequent nightmares—, it was hard to forget how much they liked sharing a bed and sitting down for meals together. 

"Did you want to do anything special?" she prompted, already racking her brain for anything that Harry would enjoy leaving the house for. 

"I've got to go to the library at some point," he mused, another chirping meow sounding from the background prompting a huff of laughter to leave his lips, "But, other than that, I was hoping I could catch up on m'sleep." 

"We can do that," (Y/N) decided, shifting her view of the days off to turn into cozy sheets and breakfasts in bed, "A weekend long sleepover. We'll make a thing of it." 

"Yeah?" Harry asked, a smile audible in his tone—a vision that had (Y/N)'s chest warming. "How are we gonna do that?" 

She hummed, sifting through her ideas before landing on a few to share, "Probably movies if we have the attention span for it—if not, we can read together or something. We can do face masks too—Ooh, or I'll get another of that hair mask you like. Let me think, but I have some ideas." 

"'M sure y'do, peach," he murmured, his voice decidedly lower and slower than before, sleep vining around the edges of his words, "Whatever y'want, we'll do. I trust you." 

"I'll make sure we make a thing of it, H," she told him, reluctant to say her next words but knowing he needed to get as much sleep as he could manage, "I've got to get back to the ovens, but I'll text you when I'm off." 

"Yeah?" he mumbled, "Tell me when y'get home?" 

"You've got it," she smiled, feeling the winter sun warm on her cheeks, "Goodnight, H."

"Goodnight, peach." 

With that, (Y/N) ended the call. Hopefully, he would be able to sleep through the rest of her shift at least. He just needed to get through the next few days, then he'd have some time off to spend at her gingerbread house. 

The thought had that soft curl on her lips feeling permanent. She would have to remind him how proud she was that he was taking a couple of days off, the time well-deserved. 

Just like she said, she would make a thing of it, she only had to figure out what a thing for Harry looked like. 

—————

With Rosemary wriggling in his arms, Harry nearly fumbled his keys to the ground while on (Y/N)'s stoop. She was a calm little thing nearly any other time of the day, but as soon as they were at (Y/N)'s door, Rosie couldn't settle. 

Keeping his hold on her tight, he was able to finally stumble through the door before letting her spill out of his arms. Her feet pattered over the hardwood, beelining for the kitchen just as he knew she would. Harry could only shake his head as he kicked off his shoes by the door, setting them next to (Y/N)'s under the foyer table. He couldn't stay mad, though, especially not when he heard the familiar cooing of his peach filtering down the hall. 

"Where's your daddy, Rosie?" (Y/N) crooned, voice a soft murmur through the house, "We've got to talk to him about how hungry you are when you come over. Is he not giving you enough treats?"

Following the sound of her voice, Harry's lips curled instinctively into a soft smile when he spotted (Y/N) crouched next to his kitten, fingers massaging through her fur. There was a part of him that wanted to peer out the small window above her sink, ensuring no one was watching in—a part of him that he forcefully tamped down in favor of reveling in the sight of his stitched family. 

"You know I feed her," he drawled, leaning against the threshold of the entrance, "I don't know why she acts like this when we come over." 

It was the way (Y/N)'s features seemingly bloomed when she looked up at him. Her hand absently continued petting Rosemary, but it was clear all of her attention was splashed upon him. It was when her eyes were on him with nothing but adoration that had Harry happily anchored to the moment, warm and comfortable in his skin. He hoped he was able to make her feel that way when he looked at her. 

"Hey, H," she smiled, giving one last stroke to Rosie before she was standing to her feet and crossing the kitchen towards him, "I was going to ask you how work was, but you're on vacation." 

"I am, aren't I?" he mused, collecting her into his arms.

(Y/N) looped her arms around his neck while he hugged her around her middle, face cradled into the crook of her neck. His eyes fell closed reflexively, his chest expanding as he pulled in a deep breath. The sugary scent of her skin filled his lungs, her hair tickling his nose. 

"Are you excited?" she asked, trailing her fingers up and into his hair as she drew away. 

Matching her eyes, her question drifted away in favor of tipping forward and pressing a kiss to her lips. A giggled out his name against his mouth, muttering something about answering her, though Harry didn't pay it any mind. He focused on the give of her lips under his, the seam parting when she eventually melted into him. Her hands in his hair was a warming tether, keeping him from drifting out of her pastel kitchen. 

It was her that pulled away first, cutting off his indulgences earlier than he liked. He attempted to chase after her, craning his neck with puckered lips, though that only granted him a peal of her laughter fluttering between them. 

"Not in front of Rosie, H," she teased, unwrapping from his arms to move towards the stove where a warm oven and bubbling pan had gone unnoticed before. 

Harry stood back, watching as she stirred and tasted and adjusted, clicking on the light in her oven to take a peek inside. No matter how many times he'd offered to make dinner, take care of her meals—told her that he liked cooking, even—she had insisted that she wanted to take care of him, take one worry off of his plate. When she put it that way, he didn't feel like fighting with her. 

"She's seen worse, peach," he countered, leaning over the peninsula counter with his forearms flat on the surface. He had a perfect view into the domestic dream that was his (Y/N), complete with a bow in her hair despite the mess of a bun on the top of her head. 

A small laugh fell from her lips as she looked over her shoulder at him, "Maybe, but we shouldn't encourage it. Dinner's almost ready anyway, so we don't need to be distracted." 

"Yeah? What'd y'make?" He could see just the edges of something creamy in the pot she was stirring.

"Sabrina's family is visiting, and her dad gave me this recipe for stuffed shells with all this cheese and, like, spinach and stuff. I thought we'd try it out." She gave him a beaming smile when she finished whatever she was stirring, taking it off of the burner with the timer on the oven ticking down to less than two minutes. 

"That sounds really nice, love. Thank you. I've got dishes tonight." 

"Harry." A small scold—as expected.

"(Y/N)," he responded in the same arguing tone as she, "You're letting me—and my cat—stay here all weekend, 'm not letting us leave a mess here for you too. 'S alright." 

This was one of those things he didn't allow much room for argument on. It was one of those things—fear of feeling like a burden—that had come with the years on the run while attempting to ensure his impact was never felt. He was working on it, sure, but the least he could do for all of (Y/N)'s kindness was taking care of the dishes. 

"Okay," she relented, eyes rounding out as she looked up at him, "Just not tonight, though. I have something special for you after dinner." 

He did recall her saying something about making this weekend a thing for him, he just didn't really know what exactly that meant. "And, what's that?" 

A sheepish look crossed her face, softening her features and lining her eyes. "It's kind of silly, but I got some fun bath things and, like, candles and stuff. I wanted to make everything a little special tonight since it's your first extra, real day off in a long time." 

The longer she went on explaining herself, Harry could feel his own lips curling into a small smile. "Really?" he asked when she finally took a breath. 

"Yeah," she started, dropping her eyes from his, "But, you don't have to use them or anything if you don't want to. I know it might not really be your thing, and all." 

"Love," he crooned, the petname falling from his lips just for her to hear, "Thank you. That sounds really nice actually—don't remember the last time I took a bath like that. 'M always too worried about the water running cold." 

(Y/N)'s expression brightened at his words. "I'm excited for you to see all the stuff I got for you, then. But only after dinner—and dessert."

"Dessert?" 

"Of course dessert," (Y/N) smiled, moving back to the oven on the brink of beeping, "But that's a surprise." 

It was the way she looked at him before she gave her attention to the oven and baking pasta, how bubbly she seemed over something as simple as a surprise sweet for him to have at the end of the meal. That was what had him all but melting into the countertop. She could have fed him garbage and left him to soak in an ice bath and he'd be just as happy—all he needed was for her to keep looking at him like that. 

—————

"Are y'sure y'don't want me to do the dishes tonight?" 

(Y/N) rolled her eyes, pulling out of Harry's embrace to head towards the kitchen and the plates waiting by the sink. "Yes, I'm sure, H. I want you to relax this weekend, I don't mind doing a couple of plates." 

"But—" 

"No," (Y/N) cut him off, plugging the sink before beginning to fill the basin with soapy water, "As soon as I get this ready, we're going to my bathroom and I'm showing you all the stuff I got for you, and then you're going to not think about the kitchen again for the rest of the night." 

"I'm not?" he asked, a smile tugging at the corner of his lips at her insistence. Sometimes it was fun to argue with her for no other reason than he liked to see her put her foot down with a smoke to her gaze. 

He thought it was cute.

"Nope. Not even for a second." Amusement covered her own features by the time she cut the tap and turned to face him. "C'mon." 

With that, she flitted out of the kitchen with socked feet padding over the flooring. She didn't have to look back to know Harry was following. 

Tailing her through the house with his gaze carefully landing on the round of her hips as they swayed with her steps, she took him to her bathroom. There, on the counter, was a brown paper bag with a white painted logo on the front. A gifting ribbon had the handles tied together on top,  a tag with his name dangling from the tendril. 

In presentation, (Y/N) stood off to the side of the counter, a beaming smile on her face as she flourished her hands out. "Happy free weekend." 

"What's this, hm?" he hummed, stepping over the tile with his gaze narrowed teasingly in her direction. 

"Your bath stuff," she said, practically bouncing in her spot as he began reluctantly untying the bow. He wanted to keep it perfect—he couldn't remember the last time he received a gift, especially one like this. 

Harry could feel his eyes on her as he began digging through the bag. Floating on top were two powdery spheres, striped in alternating colors with dried flowers stamped inside. He settled them gently on the counter, his hands coming away with remnants of the sweet smelling dust. 

"They're bath bombs," (Y/N) piped up, "They're those things that dissolve in the water and make it colorful with all these nice skin things in them. The purple one is lavender and sage, and the blue one is lotus and jasmine."

Smiling at her explanation, he reached back inside the bag. A glass bottle filled with sweet smelling oil was his next find, the wax seal corking it closed having dripped its way down to the label. He could smell the warm, floral notes from here, even with the contents sealed away. Looking at the simple label wrapped around the thick of the bottle, he looked up at her with raised brows. 

"Massage oil?" 

It was the way she hesitated that had his lips stretching into a smile. "Its—I—It doesn't have to be used for that. It can just be a nice body oil if you want, but I... I mean if you want a massage, I could use that, so." 

So far, this was his favorite gift from her reaction alone. He settled it with a clink next to the bath bombs. "I'll keep that in mind." 

Next in line was a candle, standing tall in a cold glass voice in the bag. Pulling it out, the four wicks were sealed away with the help of the suctioned lid, showing off the marbling of the wax tucked inside. It was a swirling jade color, complete with lapping white streaks to emulate the gemstone. Under the just right light, he could see bursts of glitter suspended inside. The label boasted a vanilla sage scent, surely meant to match the sage bath bomb he'd picked up earlier. 

"Peach," he smiled, looking at his gifts spread out on the counter for him, "These are so nice, than—" 

"There's more," she bubbled, unable to contain herself this time, "At the bottom." 

He raised a brow but dug inside like she suggested. At the bottom, his fingertips brushed something smooth and flat. Getting his fingers around it, Harry already had a good idea of what he was pulling out, a smile spreading over his features and denting his cheeks with dimples. 

It was a book—one of his favorites from the library. One he had loved enough that he wished he had his own copy to keep him company—something he had told (Y/N). The cover was the black and white with splashes of red, the artwork glossier than what he had borrowed from the library. The spine was uncracked, kept in pristine condition—just the way he liked it.

"I know you've already read it, but I thought you might want to read a little again while you take your bath," (Y/N) mused at his side, her hands in a fumbling bundle before her. 

"(Y/N)," Harry sighed, looking up from his new, personal edition, "This is all wonderful, really. Thank you, so much." 

With his book still in hand, he collected her in his arms, tucking her against his chest. While he wasn't one hundred percent sure what all of the things he had received were, it was more than warming to think about her perusing a shop with him in mind, plucking things up with the intention of sharing them only with him. 

"I know it's all kind of silly, but I'm happy you like it," she murmured into his shoulder, the curl of her smile felt against the cuff. 

"'S not silly," he told her, drawing back just enough to get a look in her eyes, "I can't remember the last time anyone has done anything like this for me. I really like all of it, (Y/N). Thank you." 

Tipping his chin, he pressed his lips to hers, hoping she felt his words as much as she heard them. He felt eased when her lips molded into a soft smile. 

"I'm happy I could change that," she cemented, beginning to untangle himself from his hold, "I'll leave you to it, then. Take as long as you want, I'm just going to clean up and we'll go to bed—" 

"You're not staying with me?" 

How was he supposed to enjoy all of these trinkets and things without her there? What was the point of a sage candle and glittery bath bomb if she wasn't going to be indulging with him? 

(Y/N) stopped in her tracks, one foot out of the bathroom. "Oh—um, no? I was going to go clean the kitchen and things, remember?" 

"Yeah, but," he started, watching to reach out and keep her on the tiled floor with him, "can y'do that later?" 

"Do you want me to?" was her simple response. 

Harry nodded. "Yeah." 

Her features were warm, taking a step back into the bathroom with him. "Then, I'll do it later." 

It didn't take long for their clothing to be shed, lying in a lumpy file on the floor with the tub filled to the brim with steaming water. Harry had chosen the lavender bomb to be placed in the water, (Y/N) all too excited to show him the magic of the fizzy powder. She had urged him to sink in first, her gaze following the lines of his body before she had gone after him. 

Harry wrapped his arms around her as she sunk into him, his chest to her back. The steaming water rippled around them, scenting the air with crisp lavender and warming sage. Every deep breath he took had the bunching in his muscles lessening and lessening until he was lax with (Y/N) in his hold. He could feel her every breath, the expanding of her chest that pressed back into him, the brush of her hair drifting through the surface of the water and tickling his skin, the careful way she had her hands laying atop his own where they were threaded over the soft of her stomach. It was easy for his eyes to shutter closed with his head tipping back against the rim of the tub. 

It was almost enough to keep him from acknowledging the curve of her body pressed against his cock.

Now wasn't the time though, he starkly reminded himself, taking in a deep breath of the calming lavender. She had wanted to relax with him, not get felt up with a dick pressing against her ass. 

"Do you like it?" 

The sound of (Y/N)'s crooned words had him blinking his eyes open. He wasn't even hard yet, how could she know that he was already talking himself down? 

"What?"

"The bath bomb," she laughed, oblivious, "You said you've never used one before, right?" 

"Oh," he sounded, exhaling finally, "Yeah. 'S nice—it smells really nice. I could fall asleep in here.”

Twisting in his arms, (Y/N) shot him a beaming smile over her shoulder. "I have before—I don't recommend." 

"Yeah?" he smiled, much more willing to focus on this anecdote than on the way the shifting of her body hit points on him he would have rather ignored for the time being. 

"Oh yeah," she cemented, shaking her head, "I only woke up when I felt water going up my nose 'cause I started slipping." 

Though she laughed off the remark, a frown settled on Harry's lips. "Y'almost drowned? (Y/N)..."

Her name came out as a scold, one that had her letting out another peal of laughter. "No, I didn't drown, H—" 

"You almost did," he pointed out. 

There were parts of him, traits that he gained during his years protecting his mother and sister, that were now woven into the fabric of his personality. Hearing (Y/N)'s story had that protective gene flaring up in him, urging him to hold her tighter, keep her at his side. He wouldn't let his mind wander to another version of events where she hadn't spasmed awake when the warm water touched her nose. 

His limbs became a warming cradle around her form, caging her to him lest the bathtub somehow raise tsunami waves and try to pull them apart. He pressed his lips to the back of her shoulder, speaking against the skin, "I don't like that." 

(Y/N) wiggled her hands underneath his, turning her palms up to match his own with her fingers threading between. "It's just a funny story, H. I'm fine—you know I don't take baths, like, ever, anyway." 

His brows pinched into a furrow. Sure, maybe he did know that. "Still," he grumbled.

Harry's petulance only served to draw another breath of laughter from her chest. 

She wriggled in his hold some, melting into him as she slid deeper into the water. The milky shaded water ripped around her, Harry keeping her close as she settled with her head resting against his shoulder. 

"I'm fine, Harry," she cemented, peeking up at him with an adoring smile on her features, "But, you're cute for worrying." 

Taking in a deep breath, he did nothing more than dropping another kiss to the cuff of her shoulder. He wasn't trying to be cute—he was protective. It was a part of his nature. 

Shuttering his eyes, Harry indulged himself and allowed his kissing to continue down her shoulder, only stopping when the lapping line of the water halted him. With his fingers laced between hers, he pulled her arm out of the pastel bath. He dotted his lips down the line of her limb, nose skimming her skin in his wake and raising goosebumps. A plume of laughter left his peach, the sound enough to have his own smile taking place as he fought to smear his lips over her skin. 

It wasn't until he was headed towards her wrist, landing on the soft underside of her arm that he slowed when he, through cracked eyes, spotted a slash that had made a home in her skin. It was small, though it looked only partially healed—still a warm red and slightly raised.

"What happened here?" he murmured, a pinch furrowing his brow. 

"Hm?" (Y/N) hummed dazedly, shuffling in his hold before spotting what had made him stop in the first place, "Oh, Rosie scratched me by accident." 

It was something so minor, completely mundane and curable. The scratch wouldn't even scar, and yet Harry still felt his shoulders deflate. He would have to remind Rosemary to be gentle with her mother—she was entirely too special, no need to have claws out when being held by her. 

He apologized for his cat with a small press of his lips to the cut. 

Under the cover of the pastel water, (Y/N) untangled her hand from his that was still laid against her stomach. He was left to feel the give of her plush skin under the pads of his fingertips while she carded her own through his hair. Though he attempted to continue the dotted affection of his kiss over her skin, he didn't stand much of a chance as he reveled under her touch. 

Maybe it was the brush of her nails against his scalp, or the slight give of her body under his hand, or just the fact that he could feel every line of her body against his own, but Harry felt his stomach tense then. It was minute and fleeting, but something he felt under the blocking muscles of his abdomen. 

He attempted to keep a lid on whatever that feeling could lead to by taking a deep breath, but that only reminded him of (Y/N)'s skin right under his nose and the fact that she had been the one to run him this bath and that was why she was naked, and warm, and wet, and pressed right against him, and that was why his hands were on her and—

"H?" 

Blinking his eyes open and drawing away from her, Harry looked up to match her wide eyes. "Hm?" 

There was something teasing on her expression, lighthearted in her eyes with a small tug edging on the corner of her mouth. "Are you okay? You weren't breathing for a second." 

"Oh," he sounded, mouth dry, "Sorry." 

She shook her head, murmuring something about him being funny or cute or something, but, admittedly, Harry didn't have an ear to lend at that moment as (Y/N) started moving around him. Wriggling out of his hold, Harry stayed still in the water as she maneuvered around until she deposited herself in his lap. Her thighs were spread to cushion his hips, her bottom settled on the thick of his thighs while her chest was flush against his. Only trickles of the lavender water were able to make their way between her breasts and the curves of her body, leaving her shimmering with the scented oil on her skin and suddenly warmer than the steaming water. 

Looking up at her, Harry took his time tracing the lines of her piled hair with the wet ends sticking to her skin, warm cheeks glowy and dewy, the soft light reflecting in her eyes from the candle she had lit and stationed behind their cuddled bodies. He felt breathless—reverent. 

It was never far from his mind just how deeply (Y/N) had impacted him. Without her, he never would have been knocked out of the daze that was his life—the cycle of never-ending loneliness and purposeless decisions. She had changed him in ways he was scared of, the ways that he had avoided for years because it was easier to stay the same. He didn't enjoy thinking of who he would be without her, where he would be. 

It was with that knowledge and the sight before him, that Harry wanted nothing more than to worship her and show her the purple that he had been given now that she was in his life. Religion wasn't anything that ever consoled him during his years on the run, but if the temples and altars had looked like her, the gods held her kind eyes and warming touch, he may have reconsidered. 

"You can touch me, you know." 

Dropping back to earth with a flutter of his eyes, he realized his hands were lax at his sides, careful to keep a distance from her skin. She had been the one to tie her arms around his neck, to keep their bodies close, while he had basked in the sight of her alone. 

"Sorry," he murmured, placing his palms on the full curve of her thighs. 

He skated them over her form, taking in the rounded edges of her body and warm skin. He'd touched her before, enough times to have mapped out every crook and groove, and yet, it still felt like the first time when he allowed him to feel. It would never get old knowing that he had someone like her that loved him enough to allow his hands to land on her. 

"Don't be sorry," she murmured, ducking her head until she planted a gentle kiss on his cheek. "I just don't want you to feel like you can't touch me—I'm yours, H, remember?" 

There was that stirring again in his stomach, that tensing in his muscles that felt much deeper and lower than he would have liked during a relaxing cuddle with his girlfriend. It was just the reminder, that declaration that got to him just like it always did. 

(It was a bit embarrassing, in Harry's opinion. Would it always be this easy to work him up? Would (Y/N) always be able to say a handful of words, let his hands wander to her hips, and then he would be done for?) 

"You're mine," he sighed, sinking deeper into the water. 

It was (Y/N)'s turn then to trail her lips over his skin, the pillows of her lips never fully lifting from his skin before she was planting another kiss. She went on with the tip of her nose smushing against the line of his jaw as she worked down to the column of his throat. He could feel himself growing harder and harder with every kiss, every brush of his hands over her body, until he was sure (Y/N) was well aware as well. Though she made it abundantly clear she didn't mind when she rocked her hips against his, his cock pressed against his stomach and the soft core between her thighs. 

A shuddering exhale caved his chest. 

"I'm yours," she crooned, the heat of her words fanning over his heated skin.

Her own arms wrapped around his neck began to drift, leaving only one tangled in the waves of his hair with the blunt of her nails tracing his scalp. Her touch skated down the length of his chest, her eyes settling into a daze as they followed the journey of her hand until it disappeared under the water. His abdomen jumped under her hand the lower she went until the heel of her palm grazed the plumped head of his cock.

He couldn't help the way he tossed his head back, leaning into the palm of her hand. His voice came out in a breath, "I want you so bad, peach, I'm so sorry." 

(Y/N) drew away just enough to match his eyes, her wandering hand settling against the middle of his chest. "Why are you sorry?" she asked with amusement in her eyes, a soft smile on her lips as she shook her head, "You don't have to be sorry." 

"Jus'" he started, focusing on the sight of her as opposed to the weight of her form and warmth of her skin against him, "I don't... Don't want to ruin tonight since you're already doing so much, and you're only trying to relax and 'm reacting like this and—" 

She cut him off with her lips pressing against his, the edges of her mouth unable to fall in line with her kiss as she fought back a smile. "Do you think I don't want you, too, right now? If I didn't, I wouldn't be climbing all over you, H—or trying to get you to take me back to my room." 

Shifting on his lap once more, (Y/N) emphasized her point with a small roll of her hips against him, her warmth grazing over his length. 

His hands on her waist tensed, denting into her flesh with stern fingertips. Was she asking for what he hoped—what he'd been wanting but was too fearful to ask for in worry of pushing her?

His mouth felt dry as he took in her features, watching as something heated lingered in her irises. "A-Are y'sure?" he mumbled, unwilling to misread the conversation. (Y/N) loved taking care of him, he never wanted her to think he was intending to take advantage of that. 

Carding her fingers through his hair, the tip of her tongue peeked out from between her lips to run along the seam. "I've really missed you, H. It's not always enough just to call you before I fall asleep, you know. It's not the same as actually having you." 

A spark pinged in his chest at her words, the memories they dredged up. A couple of times over the last week with his busy schedule, they'd spent some extra time on the phone before (Y/N) fell asleep for the night and Harry worked through an especially long shift. He knew exactly what she meant: now that he knew what it was like to be touched by her, his own hand, his own fantasies paled so starkly in comparison it was almost embarrassing. 

"I can take care of you, peach. 'M sorry I haven't been doing m'job, but I'll make it up to you," he crooned, tipping his head in hopes of pulling her in for a kiss, "Y'want m'mouth or m'fingers, love?" 

It was only when she shook her head that he paused. That hand trapped between their bodies made a deliberate graze down his body until she skated her fingertips over his length, the ruddy head twitching over her touch. "I want you," she corrected, "Don't you want to fuck me?" 

Maybe it was the fact she rarely cursed, or just how intensely she was meeting his eyes, or the feel of her grabbing his cock, but Harry could have blown it all right then. His throat felt thick as he attempted to swallow down the moan building in his chest. His eyes were hooded, a vignette forming around his view of her. 

It would be so easy to sink inside her, split open her walls and make a home between them. All he needed was to shift his hips just right, and then he would be taking advantage of her spread legs and the slick around them. But, his worry of disappointing her—leaving her unsatisfied—held him back. 

His mouth felt dry by the time he found his voice. "I—um—(Y/N)," he started, unsure of how exactly to divulge the information in him, "'S been a while since I've—..." 

He wasn't sure what he was expecting her reaction to be, but he gladly took the small kiss she offered him, sealing his lips to hers. "How long?" 

"Since before everything," he sighed, allowing himself to sink into her kiss and the brush of her mouth against his, "I don't want to... leave y'unsatisfied if 'm not... good." 

That had her lips curling against his, a cluster of small kisses being pressed to the full of his lips before she pulled away. "It's going to be good before it's you, H. I'm not worried—I love you, remember?" 

Was it normal for him to feel his cock pulse at her declaration? Or was he really that easy? 

"I love you, too," he slurred before taking her mouth against his once more. It was messy and heavy, clumsy and unsure, but he didn't care. "I want to fuck you so bad, peach. Can I?" 

All it took was a soft nod of her head before he had his arms lacing underneath the thick of her thighs with the water splashing around the tub. He held her tight, grip stern as he stood tall in the pastel water. (Y/N) let out a bubbling laugh, clinging to him with a gasp as if he would ever drop her. 

With her pressed tightly to his chest, his cock was now fit snugly between the planes of his abdomen and the soft folds between her legs. Water sluiced down his form, a chill befalling his skin now that they'd left the steaming pool behind, though that had no effect on just how hard he was for his peach. 

"We didn't have to right away," (Y/N) laughed, fingers denting the broad of his shoulders, "If you weren't done—" 

"'M done," he cemented, dropping her onto the bounce of her mattress with only a small amount of guilt at getting so much water on her sheets. He'd change them for her later. "You're m'favorite way to relax, peach—don't need all the rest." 

Laid on the center of her bed with her skin gleaming and warm, scented so sweetly from their bath, Harry had a new level of respect for his self-control. But, that was in the past now, left in the bathroom along with the droplets of water on the floor and the candle he would have to remember to blow out before they fell asleep. 

Crawling on the mattress with his cock heavy between his legs, he fit his body between her spread legs, reveling in the plush of her thighs on either side of his hips. (Y/N) reached for him on instinct, looping her arms around his neck with the curls on the back of his neck dampening against her skin. 

"Hi, you," she murmured, a bubbly smile on her lips as if she hadn't just asked him to fuck her a moment ago. 

He could only shake his head, dropping a kiss to the bridge of her nose as he situated himself above him with his forearms stationed on either side of her head. "Hi, peach. What are you up to, hm?" 

"Nothing much," she laughed, hitching a thigh over his lip in a languid move to thrust him forwards. "You?" 

Harry's voice was stilted in his throat, feeling her slick folds give around his cock when his length split through. He could feel the minute pulsing of her clit against his base. "Jus' worried 'm not gonna last very long at all, nothing important," he attempted to joke, if only to feel of plume of her laughter fill the air. 

Instead, he garnered a smearing of (Y/N)'s lips against his own, her affection tender and lingering. "Don't worry about that," she urged him, "I don't care—I just want you to feel good." 

A furrow pinched his brow, his heart rattling when she rocked her hips underneath him as if it wasn't already hard enough to concentrate. "But, I want y'to feel good too, and—" 

"I will as long as you do," she reiterated, amusement sparking in her blown pupils, "I don't care if you finish early, just finish in me, that's all I ask." 

Harry couldn't contain the moan in his throat, the rumbling falling from his throat as he rested his forehead against hers with shuttered eyes. He could feel a bead of warm precum blurting from his tip, dripping to land on the soft of (Y/N)'s stomach with a pulse. 

"You're going to kill me," he murmured, not sure if he was speaking for her to hear, "D-Do y'need me to do anything f—" 

Cutting him off with a kiss, (Y/N) slipped her tongue between his lips only to offer a quick taste before she was pulling away once more. "You can feel how wet I am, right?" 

As if he could forget with the way she was pressed against the underside of his cock, the ridge of his head tight between their stomachs. He answered with a small nod. 

"Y-You're sure, then?" he murmured, attempting to tap into that self control he had back in the tub. 

"I want you, H," she assured, nothing teasing or urgent in her voice, only sincerity, "As long as you're ready, I am, too. It's just me—you don't have to worry." 

His only response came in the form of a small kiss and a declaration: "I love you, (Y/N)." 

"I love you too," she smiled into his kiss, a small roll of her hips turning his brain to mush. 

His breathing was strained as he reached between their bodies, his fist wrapping around his shaft. Looking down, he watched as she spread her thighs that much wider as he swiped his cock between her folds. She was sticky and wet, clinging to the width of him as he split her open enough for his head to kiss her clit. He could see the jump of her muscles, the small whine that chirped from her lips, but he couldn't seem to stop himself—especially when a thread of her slick stuck to him, only bowing and breaking when he reached his cock towards his stomach, too far for the string to extend. 

"Harry, please," she quietly pleaded with him.

The sound of her voice was just enough to knock him back into the universe. It was enough to remind him that this wasn't the main event, there was even more warmth and wetness to be explored. 

Pressing the tip of his cock to her opening, he held himself steady as he pressed his hips forward. It was a tight squeeze, a feeling that took his breath away. As much as he wanted to catch (Y/N)'s expressions, see exactly what she looked like as he sunk inside her for the first time, he couldn't seem to peel his eyes away from the sight of his cock fitting inside her core. With every stretch of his length pushing through, less and less coherent thought filtered through his head. 

Instead, all he could think about was the snug fit of her walls around him, the pulsing with every heartbeat, just how wet she was, the warmth that enveloped him and welcomed him deeper and deeper. By the time he bottomed out, his mouth had fallen into a gape and his arm propping him up was now shaky. His only anchor was the grip he moved to have on her hip, his palm slick and sticky from fisting his cock though he didn't have it in him to care. 

He really, really hoped (Y/N) meant it when she said she wouldn't mind if he blew it fast; he doubted he had much longer left, and he'd only just sunk inside. 

"Y'alright, peach?" he breathed, his words fanning across her skin when he finally looked up to reach her eyes. 

Looking at him with hooded eyes, the pupils wide, (Y/N) gave him her confirmation in the form of a jerky nod. "I'm okay," she mumbled, "Are you?" 

"'M good," he said, feeling drunk despite not a single drop of alcohol even being present in (Y/N)'s home, "'M so good, peach. 'M scared 'm too good." 

"It's okay," she smiled at him, if only a bit dazed when she threaded her fingers through his damp curls, "Just do whatever makes you feel good—that's enough for me." 

He wished he could have told her how much her affection meant to him, how he couldn't believe she loved him the way she did, how there was no one who had such an effect on him, but there was no way his tongue was going to follow any kind of command let alone any train of thought to actually form. Instead, he settled for a searing kiss against her already swollen lips. 

Though he doubted he would have any chance at composure, he still attempted to catch his breath and his brain before he reared his hips back for the first time. Pulling out of her warm channel was enough to add some form of clarity to his mind, though it didn't last long before he pushed forward in a shallow thrust. Her walls welcomed him in once more, warm and snug with every ridge forming around him in a pulse. (Y/N)'s thighs tensed around his hips, a slight tremor to her muscles though she managed to let out a sigh of pleasure against his kiss. 

"Fuck, peach," he murmured when he bottomed out once more, the crown of his length tapping her furthest walls. 

A furrow had his brows pinched though his eyes remained closed, even when he couldn't manage to kiss her anymore, his lips simply resting against her own parted ones. He shared panted breaths with her, his forehead resting on her own with (Y/N)'s fingers curling in his hair. 

Though the pace was slow, he was able to curate a rhythm that kept him from finishing right away. He didn't feel too far from the edge, but this was as good of a chance as he was going to get when she felt as good as she did. 

"H-Harry," she whined, her voice breathy and airy, "You're so big." 

His hips stuttered at her words, the previously shallow thrust he was working on turning into a harsh grind against her core. The jolt had another moan rumbling her chest with a curse falling from Harry's lips. 

"Y'can't say that, peach," he murmured, unable to keep his pacing, "You're gonna make me cum and we've barely started." 

Every stroke was indulgent, lingering when he wanted, harsh and deep when he changed his mind, anything and everything to his taste. His only chance was in moving his hand from her hip and shaky positioning it between his punishing hips and her forgiving core. At the apex of her folds, her clit pearled. Though his hand was shaky, he still managed to smear the pad of his thumb against the bud, feeling the budding pulse that matched the hammering of her heart. 

Suddenly coming to light, (Y/N) managed to bring him in for a kiss. It was sloppy and clumsy, leaving their lips swollen and teeth glancing off one another, but there wasn't any room for perfection. 

Harry needed her, that was all he knew. His stomach tightened with every thrust, his balls shining with her slick with every slap against her ass. (Y/N)'s thighs were warm and tight on either side of his pelvis, unwilling to let him venture too far before accepting him back inside. 

"(Y/N)," he panted, shaking his head, "P-Peach, 'm so sorry." 

"Don't be sorry, do—shit—don't be sorry, H. I want you to cum, okay? Cum in me, please." 

How was he supposed to deny her? What kind of boyfriend would he be if he said no to such pretty words?

Keeping his thumb running circles around her swollen clit, Harry couldn't stop himself before harshly thrusting inside her and pausing when he felt the first spasm wrack through his abdomen. There was a bunch to his muscles he hadn't even realized until the thread keeping them together snapped. 

Ropes of his cum spurted out, decorating and flooding her walls with every pulse. She grew impossibly wet around him, his thumb barely keeping track as he tried to tend to her clit even through the tremors. He ground his hips against hers, unwilling to draw away even an inch out of her warmth as he came.

The world slowly came back into focus as he pulled in puffs of air, (Y/N) delicately kissing his bottom lip. He felt so hot, sticky despite the bath he'd just soaked in. 

Was sex always like this? He couldn't recall ever coming this hard, but had it been too long for him to remember? Or was this another (Y/N)-only thing? He could readily believe that highs like this only came from being in her arms. 

"Still with me?" his peach murmured, a wanton edge to her voice that reminded him that there were much more important things than his own pleasure. 

He nodded, finally reciprocating her kiss. "'M here, peach. I've got you."

Despite the oversensitivity beginning to leak into his system, he managed to grind into her just enough to match the swirling of his thumb against her clit. She gasped into his mouth, allowing him to slip his tongue past her lips and sweep over her own. He got a taste of her pleasured moans, reveling in the feel until it seemingly became too much for her. 

In a way he was now familiar with, (Y/N) let out a chirping moan, delicate and shaky into his mouth. That was the first sign before her fingers in his hair began to tug at the roots in a stinging pull, and toes curled. Her pussy clung to the shape of his cock, his cum overflowing around himself and dripping down to the bed under her ass as she gushed around him. His oversensitivity had him crying out a call of her name, her pulsing walls almost too hot to handle as she came around him. 

He could have done this all night, Harry decided. He could have pet his fingers over her clit and pressed into her walls for hours if not for the fact that they were both beginning to see the less than favorable side of sensitivity. 

"'M gonna pull out, okay?" he panted, blinking his eyes open to find his (Y/N)'s still shuttered. She answered in a quiet nod, her lips parted as she breathed. 

Though it was a bit reluctant, he drew his hips back in a slow glide. His softening cock slipped out with a wet sound as (Y/N) unfurled her legs from around him. A small whine left her lips, but she didn't stop him, only clinging to him.

Settling in bed beside her, reaching for one of the pillows stationed at the head of the bed, Harry fixed it under their heads. (Y/N) instinctively rolled to face him, sharing the cushion with him. He gave her time as she came down, brushing his fingers through her hair and over the planes of her features until she managed to crack her eyes open. 

"Hi, you," he smiled, repeating her small tease from earlier. 

A plume of laughter fell from her lips, a slight smile forming on her kiss-swollen lips. "Hi. What are you up to?" 

"Nothing. Jus' looking at you." 

"Nothing important then, I see," she laughed, snuggling closer to him until Harry was collecting her into his arms with her head tucked into his neck.

"Very important, actually," he corrected, amusement draining from his tone, "Thank you, peach. Really." 

"You don't have to thank me, H," she countered, "I obviously got my own benefits out of this, so don't think I just did this for you." 

He knew she was trying to play with him, get him to loosen up, but he wasn't in the mood for that just yet. He was a touch too sentimental at the moment. 

"You know what I mean," he murmured, planting a kiss to the top of her head, "I jus' love you, and... always means a lot when y'trust me, and let me be with you. Thank you." 

"I love you, too, Harry," she reciprocated, her own arms giving him a pulsing hug, "It's easy to trust you, really. I wouldn't want to have these kinds of moments with anyone else—you're the best thing that ever happened to me, honey." 

Though he knew they needed to change her bedding, and blow out the candle in the bathroom, get (Y/N) cleaned up, and mop up the bathroom, Harry couldn't find any good reason to extract himself from her arms. 

There would never be a good enough reason that came above being with her like this. 

—————

ahhhhh! thank u sm for reading and to whoever requested this! sorry for any mistakes and if you have any fun ideas or requests of your own please send them in!! if you want to read more, you can check my patreon page:)

[velvetydream]

꒰ : 🌸 [ Second Times ] ”♡ᵎ꒱ˀˀ ↷ ⋯

Summary : Eunhee was by now over three years old and a little darling, so how would San react to a little suprise?

Pairing : Dad! San x Mom! Fem! Pregnant! Reader

Word count : 3.4K Words

Genre : Fluff, Angst if you squint

Warnings ➵ Reader is a bit nervous of Sans

reaction, but Ateez helps her

a/n : Decided to write this as a little warm up right now to continue Barista! Yunho and the Pirate Story!💜

┌───────────────────────── ·  ·  ·  · ♡

Clutching the small pen-like test in your hand, the two lines smiling brightly back at you. It's just been over a month since Eunhees third birthday and here you're sitting on the edge of the tube, holding the test in your hands. Tears rimmed your eyes. Were they from sadness? Not really, maybe a tinge of anxiety of Sans's reaction to a second pregnancy, but they were more like tears of happiness. San never mentioned any aversion to a second child, so you were happy about this.

Your hand softly rubbing over your stomach now, it's probably barely been a few weeks, but knowing you're carrying a child of San yet again, makes you feel nothing but warmth and happiness. Taking the test, you quickly rush into the bedroom, hiding the test somewhere in your things, so well that San nor Eunhee would ever find it, before joining your two favorite people in the living room again. San was lying on the floor, legs straight up into the air as he balanced Eunhee on his feet playing airplane. Her little giggles sound through the whole room and make you smile before she looks up and screeches upon seeing you. "Mommy!" Being let down carefully, she quickly runs over to you, hugging your legs tightly as she grins up to you.

"Having fun?" You ruffle her dark hair softly, bending down to pick her up and hold her on your hip, she has grown a lot recently. "Yeah! Daddy said we'll visit the uncles this weekend for dinner!" Her tiny arms are around your neck now to hold on for support as she tells you smiling. "Oh really? Then we'll have to make you look extra pretty hm? Want all of them swoon over how cute you are!" Softly poking her tummy now as she lets out giggles while kicking her feet now. Setting her down now she rushes over to San again who is sitting cross-legged on the floor, watching the endearing moment now.

"Are you two fine? I wanted to go out for a bit and get some chores done." Walking over to them, you crouch down placing a soft kiss on both of their cheeks. "Daddy got it all handled no worries!" San told you, he really was an amazing dad, he loved his little girl so much. After saying goodbye to them, you grab your purse and leave the apartment smiling with a plan.

The first stop is the printer shop, which takes on orders for personalized clothes. Entering you take a quick look around, before spotting the old man working there. "Good day!" You greet him, making him notice you and greet you back. "I need seven Shirts for man and one for a toddler, the big ones should have something along the lines of 'We'll be uncles again soon' and the little one 'I'll be a big sister soon'" You explain to the man, his eyes light up upon hearing your instructions, congratulating you. He said it would be done in around three days which was perfect timing, just done before the dinner with everyone.

Leaving the shop with a thank you, you make your way to the grocery store to cover up that your chores at hand were to get a few items there in case San asked you what you did.

Coming back home your eyes immediately catch San lying on the couch sleeping, with Eunhee on his chest also fast asleep. Putting the groceries you got away, before walking over to your little family, watching them for a few seconds. It was exciting how soon you'd be a little family of four.. five. Looking down at the cat moving around your feet now, slowly patting Byeols head. Scoping Eunhee up into your arms now, you softly wake up San. "Baby, let's go to bed, you got a schedule and need to sleep in a proper bed." After making sure San would go to bed, you bring Eunhee to her room. She just recently got it done, everyone of Ateez helped along, some put together the furniture, and others painted the walls. It was adorable how dear your little daughter was to everyone.

Laying her down now, you put the blanket over her, pressing a kiss to her forehead. Turning on her bed light now, before leaving the room, leaving the door slightly ajar. Walking into your shared bedroom now, San was lying on his side waiting for you, typing away on his phone mindlessly. "She's sound asleep, I still left the door a bit open in case she has a nightmare again. I'm a bit worried she's been having them more often lately." You talk to him while getting changed, before laying down beside him, resting your head on his chest. "Don't worry it's normal, her brain is starting to understand and notice more things, it's normal for her to process more in her dreams and therefore get a few more nightmares, it'll settle down again baby." His hand was running through your hair mindlessly now, pressing a kiss to your temple, before closing his eyes, ready to fall asleep.

The next few days went by quickly, Eunhee though was getting a bit more restless, even sleeping in your and Sans's bed the last two nights. Waking up this Friday now you look down at her, noticing how there is a sheen layer of sweat on her forehead and her cheeks are pink. Laying your hand on her forehead now, she was burning up, oh my poor baby you thought. Getting up quietly, San was already gone for work. You quickly get a pair of new clothes, before making her a quick breakfast so she can take some fever medicine, taking along a bottle of water for her. Just as you were picking everything up, your poor baby started crying and calling for you. Rushing into the room, you place everything on the nightstand now before scoping her up in your arms, softly swaying her side to side a bit as her tiny body clutches herself to you.

"It's okay baby, mommy is here, mommy just got you some things that will make you feel better again soon.." Whispering soft words as her cries didn't seem to stop. Probably from feeling unwell and waking up alone. You wish San was here right now, speaking of the devil as your phone starts ringing, picking up and hold it to your ear. "Hello baby.." You greet him, still hushing your daughter as she slowly starts to calm down. "Is Eunhee crying? Is everything okay? Should I come home?" Worry seeped from his voice upon hearing his little princess cry so harshly. "No don't, I got this. She's running a little fever so I don't think she'll be able to come along tomorrow, I'll give her some medicine now and then rest with her." You explain to them, hearing Wooyoung cooe sadly in the background, you were probably on speaker right now. "Okay, if you need anything or need me to come home call me, I'll make it work!" He assures you before ending the call, Eunhees cries quieted down now.

"Let's get something in your tummy so you can take your medicine hm?" You helped her sit on the bed, before helping her eat, but she still insisted that she could eat alone. Giving the medicine to her now, you were glad she never put up a fight when it came to this, before handing her, her water bottle. "You'll feel better soon baby, just rest, do you want something from your room?" Patting her head softly she shakes her head and only points to the TV in your room. Turning it on, she immediately points to one of the new Wanteez episodes that recently came out making you smile turning it on for her. Byeol has settled down on her lap by now, as Eunhee munches on the fruits you brought her.

"Mommy will be in the kitchen yeah? I'll make some soup for you for later." She simply nods, too engrossed in the show watching her dad and uncles be silly. Standing up now, you get changed into some home attire before moving to the kitchen, writing one of your close friends to please pick up your order from the shop, as you won't be able to do it today with Eunhee having a fever. Getting started on the soup now, before moving on the cleaning a bit, checking up on Eunhee every now and then, she at some point falling asleep cuddling Byeol, before waking up again hungry and then continuing to watch the show.

At some point at noon, your friend brought your order, asking what it was as the old man didn't tell her, telling her she'd know soon and that it was a secret for now, before handing her a little thank you for helping you out. Hiding the bag now as San would soon be home and you didn't wanna spoil the surprise.

"Welcome home darling!" You shout from the bedroom, sitting beside Eunhee now as you two watch a Barbie movie, her eyes immediately moving to the opening door. "Daddy! You're home!" Moving to get up, she stumbles a bit before running up to her dad who picks her up, pressing a soft kiss to her cheek. "How is my baby doing hm? Feeling better?" She nodded, even though she was still feeling unwell, the fever down a little bit due to the medicine. "How about you and Daddy spend an amazing day tomorrow hm? I'll get those amazing little cakes for you from across the street." Sitting down with her on his lap, he leans against the headboard, the movie long forgotten as she nods. "Don't you wanna go to the dinner tomorrow?" Your eyes but his now as he shakes his head. "You took care of her the whole day, the first day is always the worst for a fever, I'll take over tomorrow and you go to the dinner, the boys will still be happy to see you," San explains making you nod and agree, this was actually perfect, that way you could give the boys their little presents first before planning to tell San.

So the next day came, you got ready for the dinner, before grabbing your purse and the bag with the shirts, saying goodbye to them before leaving for the restaurant.

"Y/N! We're here!" You hear Wooyoungs voice call out to you from one of the private rooms in the back, making you smile as you join them. "Hello everyone!" You greet the seven men, making them smile at you as you take a seat beside Jongho and Wooyoung. "How is Eunhee doing? San mentioned she had a fever? Poor thing.." Seonghwa asks you making you nod, telling them she was doing a bit better right now and how she was probably enjoying those little cakes right now San got them while you were still at home so Eunhee wouldn't be left unsupervised.

"So actually I'm rather glad San stayed at home today, that way I can give you guys this." Standing up now, you place the bag on the table before handing out the neatly wrapped shirts. Mingi and Yunho first as they had the biggest size, before continuing, instructing them to wait with opening till everyone had theirs. "Okay! I hope you guys will like this.. You can open now." Some were neatly opening the package like Seonghwa, while others ripped them open like Mingi and Wooyoung. Watching each boy look at the writing on the shirt now, mostly with big eyes, before Wooyoung springs up. "I'LL BE AN UNCLE AGAIN?!" His eyes were full of tears as he looked at you, nodding softly before being pulled into a tight hug. "Congrats dear, if you need any help from us tell us." Seonghwa was the next to speak up, hugging you tightly. Before Mingi approached you, being visibly excited about the news, softly jumping a little bit before hugging you tightly and even lifting you up slightly, making Jongho scream at him to be careful with you two. This made tears prick your eyes. "Jongho.." You softly whimper, laying your arms around the man, who seems to be unsure if he wants to accept but has no real choice, in the end, he places his arms around you carefully. Everyone else told you their congratulations and hugged you.

"So the plan is, I'd like all of you to wear these next Monday, I'll come around with Eunhee, she has her own shirt, before San arrives and that's how I want him to find out!" Everyone cheers now, liking the idea, looking over to Hongjoong now for his approval. "I like that idea, let's do it." He nods now, you were glad he was so supportive. The first time he was rather unsure of the pregnancy, of how the fans and society would react, but the moment he held Eunhee for the first time it was all over, he was absolutely smitten for the little girl like everyone else of them was.

"Do you hope for a boy or girl?" Yunho speaks up now looking over at you. "Honestly I don't care, I'd love him or her unconditionally either way." You smile softly, your hand rubbing over your still flat tummy, knowing fully well it will be bigger in a few months. The boys nod as they agreed, before the orders finally arrived, enjoying a nice meal with them, laughing and joking around.

It was a nice evening, the boys were talking a lot about how excited they were for the new baby, arguing over who would be the baby's favorite, as Eunhee's favorite uncles were by far Mingi and Yunho since her birth.

The evening soon ended, and they promised to keep quiet till the big reveal as you packed everything together and made your way home, hoping San was fine and that Eunhee was doing a bit better slowly. At home you peek inside the apartment, noticing the TV playing as you take your shoes off and make your way into the living room. "Baby, did daddy fall asleep?" You giggle quietly upon seeing Eunhee sit beside San and watch another Wanteez episode, Sans's arm around her as he was sleeping tightly. The little princess looks up as she hears your voice and nods to your question, as you crouch down in front of her. She probably wasn't tired yet from napping through the whole day, softly feeling her forehead now and sighing relieved feeling her fever down finally.

"Let's get you to bed hm? Did you have fun with Daddy today?" You pick her up, San waking up from the movement, blinking softly as he sits up and watches you carry Eunhee to her room, he luckily had changed her into her sleepwear already in case she was to fall asleep while watching the show. "Mhm.. Daddy showed me the new episode with the uncles.." Getting sleepy slowly, Eunhee rests her head on your shoulder as her arms hang loosely around your neck. "Oh wow, that must have been so exciting, we can watch more of that tomorrow. Let's sleep for now baby." Pressing a kiss to her forehead now as you enter her room, sitting down on her bed and laying her down, before pulling the blanket over her.

Leaving her room after taking one last look at her and joining San in the bedroom, watching him fight to stay awake waiting for you. "Sannie sleep if you're tired." Shaking his head, he mumbles a little tiredly watching you change out of your clothes and into one of his shirts to sleep, before laying down beside him. Opening your arms, he immediately scoots over, his arms wrapping around your waist as his head comes to rest on your chest, softly running your hands through his locks. He had recently dyed them red again, it suited him well.

Sunday went by rather quickly, Eunhee was better again, playing around with San and Byeol, helping you cook, and watching another Ateez show again.

So Monday came around, you got up quite early and got ready, making sure you packed Eunhees shirt and the pregnancy test, San looking at you confused still half asleep as you finished getting ready. "I'll visit Lotte World with Eunhee today, I promised her." Pressing a soft kiss to your husband's temple as he nods, a little bit sad he can't join due to work before you leave the room getting Eunhee ready now.

"Where are we going?" Eunhee looked at you curiously, her tiny arms holding onto your neck, her tiny legs kicking a little bit as you walked along the sidewalk in the direction of KQ. "We'll visit the uncles and prepare a little surprise for Daddy." Her eyes light up upon hearing that there will be a surprise for her daddy.. or because she'll see her uncles. Entering the elevator you press the floor of the practice room and let Eunhee stand on her own now, taking her hand as you lead her to the dance practice room. "Yuyu!!" Eunhees high voice screeches upon seeing the tall man, everyone turning to the two of you as Eunhee runs up to Yunho who immediately picks her up. "Hello little princess!" Yunho beams at her, he was always so sweet to her, often being the one to offer to watch her for a weekend or evening when you and San wanted to spend some romantic time.

"Eunhee darling come here for a second." Yunho sets her down again as you sit down on the floor, softly taking her hands when she reaches you. "What do you think about being a big sister hm? Would you like that?" She thinks for a second, looking at you nodding slowly. "If I stay Uncle Yuyu and Uncle Min's favorite!" She answers, making everyone laugh and Mingi cooe at her answer. "You'll always stay my favorite baby!" Mingi calls over, making you smile. "But yes.. I'd like to be a big sister!" She beams at you, making tears rim your eyes as you pull her into a hug, she has grown so much. "You'll soon be a big sis baby." You tell her, making her giggle and smile. Soon she was wearing her personalized shirt along with all of her uncles, Yunho holding the little girl in his arms right now.

"Okay, San should be here soon! I'll wait for him outside and then bring him inside!" Rushing outside the room, you close the door, looking around for your husband. After around ten minutes he finally arrived, looking at you confused. "Darling? I thought you and Eunhee were at Lotte? Where is she? Is she okay?" He looks around for his little princess worried now. "She is with the boys right now, you have to put this on though!" Holding up the blindfold now, he grows even more confused but lets you put it over his eyes. "I'm a bit scared, but I'll trust you." He tells you, taking your hand softly as you lead him into the room.

Taking one last deep breath, before taking off Sans's blindfold. It takes a few seconds for his eyes to get used to the lights, as he now looks at his fellow members and little princess, at first not noticing the shirts, but after ready them a few times his eyes grow wide as he now looks over to you, who was now holding the positive pregnancy test. "This isn't a joke, right? Are we getting another child? You're pregnant again?" His bag lying on the floor now as he looks at you with tears in his eyes and a big smile on his lips. "Yes, I wanted to surprise you." Your own tears in your eyes now, as San pulls you into a tight hug, picking you up and spinning you around laughing. "I'll be a dad again!" He giggles as he presses a soft kiss to your lips. "I love you so much." Laying his forehead onto your forehead, before looking down he sees his little girl tug on his pants softly to be picked up. "Who will be the best big sister?! You will be Eunhee!" He smirks at her as he picks her up onto his hip.

Soon everyone joined the hug, San was beaming all over his face. You were glad that he was this happy and excited and how supportive everyone was. This would be a long 8 months again, but you cannot wait to soon hold the new addition to this already big family.

[lunaekalenda]

"One more" he asks. You giggle softly, getting on your tiptoes again, while reaching his face and colliding your lips with his. Satoru smiles during the kiss while his hands caress your sides, parting not long after. He sighs while looking at the Jujutsu Tech School, were the students are coming back from their break. "I need to go." he sighs stronger, again, while looking at you. He takes one side of his blindfold up, blue eye looking at you with love. "I'll see you later?" You nod. He puts the blindfold down again, getting closer for another kiss. "Wanna wait in the school room or are you gonna go home?" he asks.

"Probably gonna go home. Still need to tidy up and get groceries for lunch." Satoru clicks his tongue before crossing his arms around your waist. He shows a playful grin, followed by his soft tone.

"Love, didn't we agree yesterday that I was gonna get the groceries on my way home and that it was my turn to cook?" you smile widely. He pouts. "You cook for me so many days, even after walking here to visit me. You deserve to rest too." his lips kiss your forehead tenderly, before he looks at you from behind his blindfold. "Go home and rest, yeah? I'll be there as soon as I'm done here." You nod. He doesn't move and so you do. "Megs is probably having dinner with us tomorrow."

"Then we need to buy extra food." Satoru nods again. "Also, Tami needs cat litter." He keeps nodding, and you're not sure if he's listening to you or just looking at you, as he likes to do. "And we also need a diamond." His grin gets bigger before he speaks.

"The diamond will be included on the pretty ring I'm gonna get you, love." Satoru dreams about the day you'll get married, so close yet so far, when you have barely started with the guest list and the menu selection. You really can't wait to say yes to the man in front of you. "Also, do you have enough tea?" you shake your head. There were only two bags this morning, when you had breakfast. "We need to get you that too. And I think that's pretty much it."

"I'll be home, so I'll call you if I see anything more we need to buy." he nods before leaving another kiss near your lips. "'Toru, don't you have to enter work?" you ask, between sweet laughs while he peppers kisses all across your face.

"But I don't want to. I wanna stay out here with you." he pouts again. Taking his cheeks on your hands, you bring his face closer to yours, leaving a sweet and slow kiss on your boyfriend's. "I'll be home, yeah? We'll cook together when you arrive." Satoru smiles from side to side when he hears your words. "You're lucky you're getting a kitchen helper today." he laughs, and you can feel the playfulness in his eyes without seeing them.

"I'm lucky for a hundred reasons, love, and you're in all of them."

[turtlesandfrogs]

I made this Pre-pandemic for a "Starting plants from the grocery store" class I was teaching, here it is edited down for anyone interested.

For saving seeds, the fruit should be fully mature for the seeds to be fully mature. Therefore, you can use seeds from a winter squash but not a baby zucchini, and the likelihood that the seeds of a tomato (or red bell pepper) will grow are much higher than for a green bell pepper. Unfortunately, many are either going to be poorly suited for your conditions, or hybrid, which we'll touch on later.

Stem cuttings are a great way to start many common culinary herbs! Especially basil!

Some tubers to consider starting from are sweet potatoes and actual potatoes.

And then of course, the bulbs! Green onions and garlic are your best bets!

These are outdoor plants and thus are Somewhat Fussy if you're going to grow indoors. Do not overwater them (eg, letting them sit in a tray of water for days) nor let them dry out completely. Try to keep them evenly moist, with thorough waterings that then pour out the bottom of the pot unimpeded. 

Given that they are outdoor plants, a south-facing window (assuming you’re in the northern hemisphere) or grow lights are your best bet. If they don’t get enough light, they will turn pale and stretch towards their light source. They won’t grow as quickly or as healthfully as they would with sufficient light.  

Examples:

Tomatoes & peppers! Tomatoes are the one that actually inspired me to make this because I saw this clip on starting plants from kitchen scraps, and they buried the whole dang half of a tomato! Don’t do that! What a waste of a tomato half! EAT your tomato! Take the seeds out! 

If you’re intending to grow these outdoors, start them about 6 weeks before your last frost. If you have not grown plants from seed before, here’s some information from another class I taught: https://tinyurl.com/seedstarting2020

If you’re intending to grow them indoors the whole time, you will likely need grow lights for both tomatoes and peppers, and they like it if you keep your house on the warm side. I would suggest growing them outdoors and buying seeds for a dwarf tomato if you really want to grow indoors.

The down side is that most are hybrid, so when you grow out the seed, it's not necessarily going to grow well, be productive, or taste good. Even if it is open pollinated, it's probably been bred to thrive in conditions unlike those you can provide. If you need a successful crop, I highly suggest buying seed, or swapping with a reputable source. Although if you like and can find yellow pear tomatoes, those are an exception to this entire paragraph.

Basil! Basil is a great one to do stem cuttings of, get it started indoors, and then plant out once night time temperatures stay above 50f (10c). I prefer to start them straight into soil, and seem to have a higher success rate this way. To do this, remove all leaves except the top bud, and bury the stem in soil up to just beneath that bud and firm gently. Keep the soil moist and the pot above 60f, and you should have a good success rate. This method works for mint, lemon balm, rosemary, sage, etc, as well.

Green onions- really easy, put the bottom inch or so in soil and they’ll grow very well for you. I prefer soil over water because a) the water gets stinky, and b) they grow better and stronger in soil.

AND MORE:

Sage, rosemary, and thyme (also any stemmed herb): just like basil

Lettuce, carrots, beets: you get the tops, but usually they’ll try to bolt. Easier just to buy seeds. If you want, I usually start in shallow water and then plant as soon as I see roots growing. Again, keep the soil moist, and for these ones, keep them in a cooler part of your house. But really, they almost always bolt in my experience.

Sweet potatoes: Get them in the fall, it takes months for them to start growing (unless you're somewhere warm apparently? ). They will sprout, grow roots, take slips to plant outdoors once night time temperatures study above 50f (10c)

Garlic, just grab a clove and plant in the fall. Boom. GARLIC.

Squash- you don’t know what you’ll get, because they might be cross pollinated with another variety or hybrids. If you do grow it out and it’s bitter, don’t eat it, it’s poisonous. If you want to know more, search “toxic squash syndrome”

Ginger: Plant the rhizome in summer, harvest before frost, or overwinter indoors with a lot of light.

Pineapple: Doable, but it takes three years to get a harvest. Plant in well draining soil, and give it as much heat and light as you can.

Just for fun: (Unless you’re in the tropics or have a lot of patience.)

Mango, avocado, citrus. Take years, and a different climate than I have to fruit. If you’re in the tropics, go for it, but know that avocado pollination can apparently be tricky. I am not in the tropics, so I do not have direct experience with this. Citrus I think I've read also don't come true from seed.

Apples, pears: take years, and don’t come true to type. You do not know what you’ll get, and you’ll probably get something that is not worth eating (but would work for cider). These do need a cold dormancy period in the winter to do well. Of course, you could plant them and then top graft if it does turn out they don’t taste good.

Plums, peaches, apricots: take years, often do come true from seed, but peaches and nectarines are very susceptible to peach leaf curl, so may just die depending on where you are.

[schvmacher47]

venus | oscar piastri

oscar piastri x fem oc

chapter 1 | quick pause in conversation word count: 4044

<– preview. –> next part.

let me know in the comments, if you want to be tagged in future parts :)

» [canyon moon - harry styles] « 1:54 ────〇──3:09 ⇄ ◃◃ ⅠⅠ ▹▹ ↻

   »The egg challenge?« Oscar asked, raising an eyebrow as he eyed the kitchen as if he was preparing for his personal downfall. He didn't look too impressed, if anything, he probably wanted to get out of here as quickly as possible. As always. If there was one thing about Oscar I learned immediately, it was the fact that he wasn't too keen on any media activities. Truth or dare? He's gonna shoot you death glares all the time. Wet head? He's gonna complain about not knowing anything about his teammate. The only challenge he showed proper interest in, was the food challenge... Only because he didn't have to try the food himself and was the one enjoying all the chaos.

   »Yes, the egg challenge!«, I said enthusiastically. It was one of my many mastermind ideas, letting two young men, who most definitely were one of the worst cooks in the world, compete in a cooking challenge.    »You know I can't cook... It's gonna be embarrassing.«, he whined.    »Everyone knows you can't cook, especially after your tweets. Knowing you use your oven as a dryer just proves that point even more.«, I grinned as I set up the camera. This was going to be great. I was sure I was gonna be entertained.    »How? It was an emergency! You can't possibly bring that up all the time...«, Oscar protested. I knew it was an emergency, he made sure everyone knew that. But teasing him and getting on his nerves was simply too easy and fun to not do it.    »That's what they all say...«

   »Yeah that's what they all say, Oscar.«, Robert grinned, putting on his apron.    »Oh shut up mate.«, Oscar grumbled. »As if you're that good of a cook.«    »Definitely better than you!«    »This is not a competition, you know?«, I chuckled. »How about you also gear up, hm?«, I handed Oscar the remaining apron and chef hat. He just grumbled something unintelligible, still not too keen on my idea.    »Can you just for once be more motivated when I come up with such a genius idea? Pretty please?«, I sighed. This was definitely not what I signed up for when I applied for this job. I definitely underestimated working with teenagers and young adults and I definitely didn't imagine the young adults to be more stubborn and childish than the teenagers.    »What do I get in return?«    »A kiss!«, Robert exclaimed, but was soon silenced by both my and Oscar's death glares. Somehow everyone at Prema had made it their mission to tease Oscar and me all the time. For no reason. Arthur was the one who started it, claiming there was some sort of 'tension' and everyone just picked up on it.    »Whoa I was just joking, no need to stare me down like that.«    »You can have a cheat day and choose what we'll get, apart from Pizza Hawaii.«, I argued, bribing him into appreciating my idea.    »That's actually a great idea, but can we get this over with now?«    »Sure, ready when you are.«

   »We were told this is not a competition, but it definitely is a competition.«, Oscar said, glaring into the camera. »We have a bunch of eggs and three different ways to prepare them. A soft boiled egg, fried eggs, but over easy and a poached egg.«, he continued.    »We're both terrible at cooking, so let's see how it goes.«, Robert said, clapping his hands. »But, if I win this challenge, then I don't have to drive Oscar to the airport later today.«    »So you're saying that I have to drive when you win?«, I asked, raising an eyebrow, but Robert just grinned mischievously and nodded. I knew he was doing it on purpose.    »Exactly!«    »Deal! But you better win this Oscar, I still have to go grocery shopping, my fridge is the definition of empty and I definitely don't have the time to drive to the airport and back again.«    »I'll try... You shouldn't have too high hopes tho.«

   »You never showed us a video.«, Oscar grumbled as he put his pot on the hob.    »Why should I? You should know how to boil an egg...«, I shook my head in disbelief, he surely must've boiled an egg before.    »I've never boiled an egg...«, Oscar mumbled, a dumbfounded expression resting on his face. »But surely you wait until the water is boiling... It's a boiled egg, not a lukewarm egg that then boils.«    »You genius..«, I grinned. Robert and I exchanged glances, as we waited for the water to boil. I was just waiting for the disaster to unfold, waiting for my personal entertainment which was honestly the best part of my job. Apart from getting to travel the world and watch fast cars all weekend long of course.

   »My water is boiling, so...«, Oscar said, jokingly giving his egg a featherlight kiss for good luck, before not so gently putting it into the boiling water. Robert eyed him sceptically, before following and also putting an egg into his pot with boiling water.    »That's a very aggressive boil..«, Oscar mumbled, eyeing his pot and immediately turning the temperature down.

   »I think I cracked it.« A sigh escaped Robert's lips as he inspected the broken egg shell, before both he and Oscar started to chuckle.    »You did!«, Oscar laughed out loud. »So I win the boil challenge by default.«    »No you don't, I can try again!«, Robert argued, immediately putting another egg into the boiling water. Oscar just shook his head, but was soon also stressing, when he had another look into his pot.    »Oh no, mine's cracked too!«    »Yes!! The competition is back on!«, Robert happily exclaimed, both of them yet again erupting in a fit of laughter. »Oh shit, I didn't turn my timer back on.«, Oscar nearly dropped the second egg at Robert's words, not able to hold back his laughter. This time, he used a spoon to gently drop the egg into the water.    »Masterchef – Oh shit my timer!«, he exclaimed, rushing to set his timer for exactly three minutes. I grinned watching them both behind the camera, as I enjoyed the chaos unfolding in front of me.

   »Well let's go for a visual inspection first, Robert's is cracked, mine's not.«, Oscar said, pointing to the visible crack in Robert's egg. He managed to crack both of his attempts, but was still sure of victory.    »But that's not what you eat, it's important what's on the inside, not on the outside... Never judge a book by its cover!«, Robert exclaimed. »That's the philosophy of Robert Shwartzman.«    »Yeah, right«, Oscar grinned and shook his head as he started cracking his soft boiled egg. »Yeah nah, it's not looking good«, he stated after a first inspection. Robert's attempt didn't look too promising either, but it was the tiniest bit more solid.

   »And that is a win for me!«, Robert exclaimed, satisfied with his winning soft boiled egg.    »Well, if you want a half raw egg, I'm the man to call... Turns out these timers suck.«    »You have never ever sounded that Australian before«, Robert grinned. »Turns out these timers suck«, he mocked Oscar.    »Of course I sound Australian. I am Australian, you idiot!« Oscar rolled his eyes, as he cleaned up his workspace for the next challenge.    »Yeah I know, you just never sound that Australian«, Robert said, following Oscar's lead and also starting to clean up.    »If I would speak in an Aussie accent, there's no way that I would be getting my points across, because you lot wouldn't understand me!«    »Uh-uh, don't you dare speak for me, I'm pretty sure I could still understand you.« I actually wouldn't mind it if he spoke in his Aussie accent more often. But that was just my personal opinion.    »Sure, multilingual queen«, Oscar grinned, making fun of me and my list of many talents. I just rolled my eyes in response and refrained from making further comments on Oscar's lack of foreign language skills.    »Whatever you say, but let's get back to business...«, I mumbled, subtly reminding Robert and Oscar what their actual task was.

   »Well, guess who won the first round?«, Robert grinned, as he reminded Oscar of his first loss of the day. »This egg was broken, it was ugly, no one believed in it, but in the end it was the best!«, he added, making both Oscar and me erupt into a fit of laughter. I quickly wiped away the tears that were forming in my eyes, as Oscar composed himself again and cleared his throat.    »Okay, next up, we have the poached egg. This is probably my best bet of winning anything here today, so let's see how this goes...«, Oscar said, introducing the next part of the challenge. I didn't believe a single word that just left his mouth. The poached egg as his best bet? He couldn't be serious right now. Not after failing to boil a soft boiled egg.

   »I think it's a bit too hot, who put it on 9?«, Robert asked, as he put a tablespoon of vinegar into his pot filled with water.    »I did!«, Oscar said, minding his own business as he cracked open his egg.    »Cheating bastard. He's cheating!«, Robert exclaimed, probably hoping for me to disqualify Oscar from the competition, which technically wasn't even a competition. But he wasn't getting any sort of reaction from me, so he just started swirling his water and carefully letting his egg slip into the swirl.

   »Alright... I don't think that was too bad«, he said, after inspecting his first attempt for a while.    »Like you said, it was ugly before and turned out good... This one's... Ugly now, but probably going to turn out good.«, Oscar said, grinning as he had a look in Robert's pot.    »No wait, I wanna take it out and try again!«, Robert exclaimed and immediately grabbed a spoon and took out the egg.    »Wow, wow, wow, what happened to the hope, huh? Always have hope!«    »Yeah of course, I have hope! I am doing another one that's going to be even better!«    »If you say so...«, Oscar mumbled sceptically, but then also started with his first attempt. »So, no swirling, no vinegar, no salt, no nothing. Let's just hope and pray for the best«, Oscar said as he gently let the raw egg slip into the hot water. He proceeded to lean over the hob, his eyes never leaving the pot, to inspect his attempted poached egg. Emphasis on attempted.

   »Yeah, it's not going great...«, he mumbled, which also brought Robert's attention to Oscar's side of the kitchenette. »It's not the prettiest poached egg I've ever made, it's quite similar to Robert's to be honest, but...«, he added quietly.    »What the fuck!«, Robert said, a shocked expression taking over his face as he had a look into Oscar's pot.    »Aye, we're family friendly!«, I chuckled, taking a mental note to beep Robert's bad word later on.    »Have hope, Robert. Have hope!«    »It's up to you, man. But that doesn't look edible.« A disgusted expression was resting on Robert's face as he was eyeing the mishap. He just shook his head in mere disbelief.

   »And here I was thinking I was gonna get some lunch out of this...«, I interjected and earned a laugh from Robert. He just gave me a look that I interpreted as 'That's most definitely not going to happen'.    »No no, it's fine... This was my practice round, so no need to worry at all«, Oscar said and still seemed to be very hopeful as he took out the egg and prepared the second one.    »Maybe it wasn't boiling enough... Maybe I just have no talent... I think this might be the biggest issue here«, Oscar mumbled. His body language was very much giving signs of early defeat, as if he'd already accepted his fate, when Robert went and whispered something into his ear. I couldn't quite make out what Robert said, but I was pretty sure it was something along the lines of 'You're so doing this on purpose, I know you're not that bad...'.    »There's microphones on!«, Oscar exclaimed and looked straight into the camera, or more like behind the camera, to see if anyone of us heard what was being said.    »They're not listening«, Robert reassured him and grinned knowingly. Sure, nobody was listening...

   »So let's try this again«, Oscar said. »I'm sticking to the 'no swirling' technique«, he added and immediately put the second raw egg into the boiling water.    »This one's even worse!« He sounded very disappointed, especially as he watched Robert attempt and then succeed the challenge with his second try.    »That one's actually pretty good!«, Oscar exclaimed, as he inspected Robert's attempt. Robert started celebrating, being very sure of his second victory in a row. »He actually did a good job on that...«

   »Did I split the yolk? Maybe... Is that a problem? No...«, Oscar mumbled with a wry grin on his lips, as he took out his mishap of a poached egg. Both he and Robert erupted into a fit of a full body laughter, as they inspected the poached egg. »And to think this was my best bet–«, Oscar laughed, as he presented his rock solid poached egg to the camera. I chuckled, innerly thanking God for choosing to make Oscar a racing driver and not a cook.    »I bet Kaia is very impressed by your cooking skills!«, Robert said, laughing.    »Oh I sure am!«, I grinned and also started laughing. Their laughter was simply too infectious to not join in.

   Robert's egg was the definition of a perfect poached egg, the yolk was still runny, when he cut the egg open. Both he and Oscar went to try the poached egg and were visibly impressed by how good it was.    »You seriously have to try it!«, Robert said and waved me over to the kitchenette.    »Are you sure you don't want to poison me?«, I joked, but still got up and left my spot behind the camera, to take the fork loaded with bits of the egg, which Oscar held out to me.    »Poison you? I don't think we're that bad...«    »That's why your egg is rock solid... but sure, you're not that bad«, I grinned, as I finally took the fork from Oscar, our fingers brushing as he passed it to me. I inspected the egg one last time, for safety reasons, before I got over myself and gave it a try.    »Yeah, Robert definitely wins this round... Without a doubt, which also means I get the honour of driving you to the airport...«, I grumbled, giving Oscar my best death glare, to which he only raised his hands in surrender, as if he were rejecting all blame. »Just to warn you now, I get to choose the songs we're going to listen to. Capito? My car, my rules«, I playfully said.    »Yeah, whatever, as long as I'm getting to the airport, that's fine with me...«

   Oscar did end up winning the fried egg, but over easy challenge, but it didn't change a thing about Robert's overall win. As soon as the cameras were off, Robert put on that mischievous grin again.    »Well, I guess you'll be having the honour of driving Mr. I don't get rental cars to the airport. Please do my car rides justice and don't be too nice«, he said, a big grin playing on his lips.    »I'll make sure he'll still get the Robert experience,« I chuckled, as I started packing up the camera equipment.    »I know that's not gonna happen because you're most definitely not as reckless of a driver as Robert. So that's a relief for me because I for once won't be carsick.«, Oscar said, getting rid of his apron and chef hat.    »On the expense of my dinner, thank you very much«, I joked.    »Now you're making me feel bad...«, he mumbled as he helped me clean up the kitchen.    »If I remember correctly you're the one who lost the challenge, so I think that's deserved.«    »Evil!«

***

   »Do you have everything?«, I asked Oscar as I grabbed my bag and car keys.    »Yes!«    »Are you sure?, I asked again, making sure we wouldn't have to turn around. I remembered all the countless times Robert had to turn around because Oscar forgot something. At this point, the only important thing he didn't manage to leave behind was his phone. I hoped I didn't just jinx it... If his head wasn't permanently attached to his body, there would've been a great chance of him losing it somewhere around the world.    »Yes«, he confirmed as he pushed his suitcase to the main entrance. I quickly grabbed a water bottle from the mini fridge before I followed him to the main hall. Oscar had already brought his luggage outside and was waiting for me to unlock the car.

   As I stepped outside, the crisp evening air sent shivers down my spine. The sky was painted in beautiful hues of oranges and pinks, as the sun began its descent. I unlocked the car and opened the trunk for Oscar to put his, multiple weeks worth, of luggage into it.    »Buckle up, you're in for the ride of your life!«, I told him as I got into the driver's seat. I connected my phone to the car's bluetooth and chose a playlist as Oscar also got into the car. The first notes of 'Red' by Taylor Swift sounded softly from the sound system as I pulled out of the car park. Loving him was like driving a new maserati down a dead-end street.    »As long as we don't end up in a dead-end street, that's fine with me«, Oscar said, a knowing smile resting on his lips as he made himself comfortable. It took a minute for my brain to process the ambiguity of his words. He for sure knew how to use his words, how to send my brain cells into a frenzy. Still waters could run deep. Very deep.    »Are you questioning my abilities right now?«,    »I would never!«    »You better not, since you're relying on my abilities right now...«, I said, grinning as I drove onto the carriageway.    »I promise I won't complain«, he said. »This is definitely an upgrade, came here thinking I was going to have to deal with Robert's horrendous driving, but got an unexpected upgrade to first class.«    »As if you didn't lose on purpose to get this upgrade, let's be honest.«, I stated, quickly glancing over to him. He shook his head, but had a knowing grin on his lips. He of course did it on purpose.    »I would never!«, he repeated his statement from before.    »Yeah, as if I'd believe you... Just say it, you enjoy my company.«    »I thought that was obvious...«    »No shit Sherlock, it was obvious from the moment where you all of the sudden forgot how to boil an egg to get me to drive you to the airport«, I joked.    »So where's the problem?«    »I don't know, you tell me?«, I asked, grinning.

   There was a quick pause in conversation, we fell into a comfortable silence, as I focused on the traffic ahead and Oscar was doing God knows what. Probably just staring out of the window for most of the time.    At some point, I turned the music up. I felt the need to fill the void with some background noise. A few songs in, which I classified as my 'warm up', I started humming along to One Direction's 'No Control'. Out of the corner of my eye I caught Oscar glancing over at me. A grin spread across my lips. Oh, he had no idea of what he was going to witness. I wiggled in my seat, as I started to sing along to the last lines of the first verse. The One Direction carpool karaoke video was my roman empire, the choreography to No Control was engraved into every single one of my brain cells and every time that song popped up in my playlist, I couldn't help but dance along.    Oscar chuckled softly next to me, shaking his head in amusement as I belted out the lyrics. Once the chorus hit, the last bit of self-control left my body and my hands left the steering wheel to do the choreo justice. I was challenging my inner Harry Styles. I literally had no control.

   »First of all, I would very much appreciate it, if you would keep your hands on the steering wheel and focus on the street ahead...«, Oscar mumbled, a terrified expression resting on his facial features as he watched my impromptu performance. »Secondly, I sometimes wonder if your mother tongue really is English or you're just fucking with me...«    »Why?«, I asked, once the chorus was over.    »The way you sing these songs with so much confidence really has me questioning if you know what you're singing about«, Oscar chuckled. I raised an eyebrow. He thought this was bad? I made a mental note to introduce him to Zara Larsson's music in the future.    »This isn't even the worst one...«, I said, grinning as I continued to bob my head to the beat.    »There's worse?« I just nodded in amusement and watched him shake his head.

   »Could you take the next exit please?«, Oscar asked, when we were halfway through our journey to the airport.    »Why, do you need to use the toilet?«    »Just do it, okay?«, he practically begged me as we approached the exit he was talking about. It was a service station area that even accommodated smaller versions of supermarkets. I sighed and moved over into the exit lane, slowing down as I reached the parking lot.    »I'll be quick«, Oscar said, as he got out of the car. He rushed over to one of the service points, but then disappeared behind a passing truck. As I waited for Oscar to come back, I decided to also open my door and stretch my legs out of the car. I reached for the water bottle that I'd placed behind my seat, and opened it to take a few refreshing sips.

   A few minutes later, I saw Oscar coming back. He was carrying a brown paper bag, seemingly from one of those supermarkets. I raised an eyebrow when he opened the door and flopped down on the passenger's seat.    »Why are you looking at me like that?«, he asked and fastened his seatbelt again.    »I thought you had to use the bathroom?«, I asked, tilting my head in confusion.    »I lied, my bladder is not that weak –«    »Funny coming from you, when you have to go to the toilet every time right before getting in your race car, but sure, go on«, I chuckled, earning a death glare from Oscar.    »If you'd let me finish, you'd know the reason why I lied«, he stated. »I felt bad, when you said you still had to go grocery shopping and since I am basically the reason for you not having a proper dinner tonight, I got you something...«, he mumbled and pointed to the brown paper bag. I blinked in surprise, caught off guard by his thoughtfulness.    »You did what?« Oscar didn't even acknowledge my question, instead he put the bag on his lap and reached into it.    »I got you dinner.«, he said, pulling out what looked like a big salad bowl, bread and a bar of chocolate. »Consider it a thank you for driving me to the airport.« I couldn't help but stare at him in disbelief.    »You didn't have to do that«, I mumbled. I was at a loss for words. »Thank you...«, I managed to say, my voice barely above a whisper. »I really appreciate it.«

***

author's note:

hiya everyone, i hope you enjoyed reading! this is just the beginning, and there's more chaos to explore in the next chapters. i'd love to hear about your thoughts and would like some feedback, so i could integrate some stuff into the upcoming chapters :D don't forget to vote and comment, your support is very much appreciated! lots of love xx

next up:  »2 | it feels like a perfect night« get ready for some birthday shenanigans!

read venus on wattpad:

[willowser]

i was asked about my nighttime routine with my fave of choice and i am choosing bakugou, ofc !!! 🥹🥹

gosh i feel like it would be so hard with a pro hero partner 🥺 i think both our shifts change pretty frequently, so sometimes he's home late or i'm home late or we get lucky and manage to line up for a little while 🩷 BUT !!

if he's not coming home until later, i think i do the pretty standard things once i get home : warm up/cook something for dinner, set a plate out for him in the microwave, put away the rest. katsuki is v insistent on splitting housework so if i cook, he cleans, but i'll rinse the dishes off best as i can for him hehehe 😌 then i'll take my shower and do my skin care and maybe watch some tv and go to sleepy.....but even if he comes home at three in the morning, i'm wobbling out into the kitchen to lean against him as he eats 🥹 to half-hear him tell me something about his day that i will have to ask about again later, bc i'm still pretty bleary eyed. and then once he takes a shower, we'll finally cuddle up in bed together 🥹

and when i'm not coming home until later, i think he does much of the same !!! maybe stays up a lil later and does some work in his office. probably plans out anything we want to do soon, bc it's easier for me to take time off than him 🥺 i think he's the kind of person that plans a weekend vacation like. six months in advance LOL he's researching the area we're going to and making a list of the best places to stay and what we're going to be doing 😌 he just strikes me as the kind of person that is like, checking on the hot water heater and looking for the hole in our fence so he can repair it 🥹 he likes to take care of our house 🥹 and then he kind of piddled around with other little things like that until i come home 😌

AND THEN, on the occasion that we get to be home together at the same time, we do the usual : cook, clean, shower ! but i convince him to lay on the couch and watch a movie with me and we eat lil snacks he doesn't normally eat 😌 he tells me about the plans for our mini vacation and what he's gonna do about the leak under the sink 🥹 i check and see if he needs me to get him anything in the next day or so, like new socks or something particular from the grocery store and i'll rub some arthritis gel into his knees or elbow 🥹 we just talk and touch and fit together while something plays on the tv behind us, and then eventually we go to bed 😌😌😌

[nerdieforpedro]

A Cowboy in the Bar

Chapter One of Honey and Sugarplum

Jack Daniels x Maeve (black OFC)

My entire masterlist and blog are for readers 18+ MDNI. I do not consent to my work being used in AI, recommended on TikTok, borrowed or plagiarized.

Summary: Maeve meets two men: one is a gentleman and one is not.

Word Count: about 1.7k (give or take)

Warnings: well-meaning friends and family, a possible mid-life crisis? or introspection? It's got a name I don't know, bad jokes,

Notes: I think I'm up to three chapters on AO3 so I promised myself that I would go ahead and start posting this one. It will be on the short side so maybe five to six chapters total? Or maybe not. We'll see, but these two are hilarious (I'm biased though.)

My Main Masterlist/ Jack Daniels Masterlist/ AO3 Link

Life is comfortable and Maeve was content. She went to work four days a week, ten-hour days and relaxed in the evenings with books, TV or video games. On the weekends she would get groceries and gas when she needed, maybe a brunch with friends when they were able to coordinate their schedules once a month. One of her friends Maria had a four-year-old son and a two-year-old girl that she would babysit from time to time when she went out with her husband James. He seems to be a nice guy, easy on the eyes, but there always seemed something shifty about him. Maeve only spoke to him when she went to the house to watch the kids, Maria loved him to bits so all is well she guesses.

“You’ll find your love one day Mae.”

“Why don’t you try going out with us sometime?”

“Are you on the dating apps?”

“You have to make yourself available.”

“There’s no perfect men. You just gotta work with what’s out there.”

“You’re not getting any younger.”

“One day you’ll meet the right man for you.”

“He’ll love you no matter what, you’ll need to support each other.”

Things all Maeve had heard over the years but have never cared about. She had dated sure, but between toxic relationships and just being bored with sex. Apparently, she’s doing it wrong and clearly she was, so in her late 20’s she stopped dating and having sex. It was nice, she didn’t worry about meeting men or her better half. Sometimes she wore sweats, other times, jeans, if she was really feeling fancy, one her favorite sundresses. Maeve was in her mid-30’s now and was content. The only children she saw were her friends’ kids. People also mentioned that too, that her uterus was going to be geriatric soon and she needed to go ahead and start on it if she wanted kids. She used to just either ignore the comment or say she didn’t want them, which was true, but people usually pressed on. They shut up when Maeve asked them, who she was going to have them with and who’s going to help with childcare for when she has to go back to work because she then won’t be able to watch their children and hers. She’d be preoccupied. Annoying people became quiet then.

A Saturday brunch that leads to mani-pedis and dinner with drinks, soft blues played in the background, Maeve nursed her lemon drop, sipping it slowly as she watched two of her friends dance in the middle of the bar. She was chatting with her friend as they drank their great tea lemon drops, two men came up to them. Her friend went to dance with the taller bald gentleman while the second man tried to chat Maeve up, he complimented her, asked her about her drink and asked her to dance, and if she didn’t want to, he had a hotel room down the street. She sighed, she declined, telling him that she was out with her friends and not in the mood. He, instead of accepting no, started in on how she should be glad that he was even talking to her given that she barely fit on the barstool and that she was probably too old to have kids and wouldn’t know how to please a man anyway. Maeve chuckled, she agreed with him and since she couldn’t do any of what he was talking about, he would have a better night if he left her alone. The man scoffed and walked toward the bathroom.

“Maybe he’s going to take an angry shit.” The woman made herself laugh, having dealt with his kind for years, she heard another laugh two stools down. A man with a large tan cowboy hat on, gold sunglasses; he had a full mustache that dances on his upper lip. His denim shirt and pants masked his broad shoulders and chest, the sleeves were rolled up exposing his forearms and a watch on his left wrist. It appeared like he had some sturdy thighs under those jeans. His entire face seemed to smile, he removed his sunglasses and put them in his shirt pocket, his brown eyes danced with the low smokey lights.

“With his attitude, he needs to take an angry shit.” The bartender poured Maeve another lemon drop, she told him to pour the guy at the end another glass of whatever he was drinking. She tipped her glass toward the man in the hat and smiled. She might be a little drunk, he seemed interesting. That was good. Most men seemed boring, like floating talking heads, sometimes they smelled like old spice. “Name’s Jack, what’s yours sugarplum?” The man’s accent dripped like golden honey on a fresh biscuit that just came out the oven, sticky and warm. It made her lick lips, tasting the lemon on them and her frowning slightly. Wrong flavor, I need more honey.

“My name’s Maeve. You local or from out of town?” She asked, there was no point in getting too into this man and he lives four states away or in a different country. The man grinned and got up from his seat, he walked over to the stool next to Penelope, settling on the stool next to her.

“If I say I am, will you have reason to talk to me sugarplum?” Jack chuckled and brushed the back of his hand to hers, trying to gauge if she was alright with touch. Her hand did not move, she gazed up at him and smiled, wiping the water off her hand before making a circle on the back of his hand with her finger.

“I’d rather spend my time talking to someone I’ll see again rather than someone who will go and I’ll never hear from them again honey.” She replied, but her eyes widened when she realized she called him a pet name. It’s not…too weird, right? She did not have a sexy accent like him so it might be. Jack’s eyebrows raised as his grinned, lightly bumping his shoulder to hers.

“Well now that we’ve given each other pet names, maybe we should see to some contact info so we can keep in touch Miss Maeve, you’re not taken, are you?” Jack asked, he took out his phone but didn’t unlock it. Maeve watched and sipped her drink with her other hand. Her legs didn’t quite reach the rung on the barstool for her feet, so she just crossed her ankles, that voice of his saying her name. It could have very well been a decade since she felt this horny for a man, a small spot was forming in her panties.

“Don’t worry I am not. It seems to bother people that I’m not. I used to feel some type of way about it, but now I’m not bothered. I start asking the people who ask me questions and they get really uncomfortable. You spoken for cowboy? I’m not gonna have a woman named Miss Kitty coming after me, am I?” Half serious, she leaned closer to him, so their shoulders touched again, the cowboy chuckled, starting to tap his foot on the floor, he was getting a bit riled up.

“No, no. Only lady in my life is Lady Luck and I think she’s looking out for me tonight.” Jack’s hand left the bar and ran up Maeve’s arm, landing on her shoulder as he stood and leaned into her ear. “You wanna save a horse and ride a cowboy darlin’? It don’t have to be tonight. I can work you into it slowly.” Jack kissed her cheek and leaned back. Holding her hand out, Jack unlocked his phone and handed it to Maeve and she entered her number. She chuckled and gave him his phone back.

”I might be temped to try you for a ride Jack. Let’s at least have more than one drink. How’s a meal sound? Which one is your favorite?” His new sugarplum replied, her hand found itself on his chest. He felt solid. Good, he might be able to get through a ride or two. The cowboy’s pearly whites were on full display while he used one hand to send a text to her number. She’d saved herself under the nickname ‘sugarplum .’ 

“I enjoy many a meal. A real man ain’t picky darlin’. However, I know a good brunch place that has good food and good drinks. Think we might make an afternoon of it?”

”Asking for so much of my time already? You think you’ll keep me interested that long?”

”Sugarplum, I think the real question ya should be askin’ yourself,” Jack had the nerve to move his hand from her shoulder to her hip, squeezing it and whistling when he felt how supple her flesh was as he jiggle it, “Are you going to let me dine on a particular meal I’m looking for?” A second kiss was placed on her cheek and he was pulling back his hand, but Maeve placed it back.

”I might. You’ll need to work me into it like you said Jack. Mind if we talk more first?”

”Sure sweetheart.”

The entire scene played out before Maeve’s friends and they were certain everyone was having the same seizure. This is the same woman that insults every man who tried to talk to her. They wondered if it might be the cowboy hat or the denim. They could not figure it out and the questions began once Jack walked Maeve to her car. Her only answer was: “I think I became a different woman for a few hours while talking to that man. We just chatted at the bar the entire time. He just made me feel safe and not defensive. That’s what I know.” A couple friends nodded and a few others were still very confused.

Neither Maeve nor Jack were worried about it, he was going to pick her up in two days for brunch. Turns out, brunch became dinner and breakfast the next day. They didn’t get up to what people thought they might have. Jack was a gentleman and Maeve’s guard was still up. It was slowly coming down though.

Jack did have a surprise for her though after a month, a weekend trip to his ranch.

Peeps up for a weekend trip: @megamindsecretlair @soft-persephone @readingiskeepingmegoing @jessthebaker @yorksgirl

@morallyinept @lady-bess @avastrasposts @baronessvonglitter @professionalpromqueen

@magpiepills @westside-rot @djarinmuse @tinytinymenace @maggiemayhemnj

@sunshinehaze1 @movievillainess721 @inept-the-magnificent @rav3n-pascal22 @tuquoquebrute

[nicoline1998enilocin]

Life is better with music

PAIRING | Husband!Dad!Young!Tony Stark x Wife!Mom!Fem!Reader

WORD COUNT | 1.3K

SUMMARY | Music is something that has always been rooted deep into both your and Tony's families. From playing instruments since you were little to sing to your heart's content, it always brought you together. Now that you have your own family with your wonderful husband, you cannot wait to teach the same values to your own children, too.

RATING | General (G)

WARNINGS/TAGS | Established relationship, use of nicknames (Sunshine, Love/My Love, Munchkins, Babygirl)

A/N | Is this one of the cutest, most sweet things I have ever written for this AU? Probably, yes. I love this family so much, and they have a special place in my heart, so I can't wait to expand on their love story! This is proofread by my biggest supporter and the person I cherish daily, @ccbsrmsf1. Your support for this au keeps me going, and I can't wait to see what the future holds for our favorite family! I love you, and thank you for everything 💜

EVENTS Masterlist | @fluffbruary Fluffbruary '24 | Piano Masterlist | @anyfandomfluffbingo | Musician!Reader

Banners: Yours truly | Divider: @firefly-graphics | Photo: Source

Main Masterlist | Tony Stark Masterlist | AU Masterlist

The first time Tony discovered your musical side caught him off guard. Not in a wrong way, but in a way that made him only love you more and more, which seemed impossible at the time.

"We'll just go to the store, Sunshine. Are you okay to stay home with the Munchkins for a while? You deserve the rest," Tony says as you're sitting on his lap, all of you just finished eating breakfast together. You nod before giving him a soft peck on the lips and getting up, and you need some baby love.

"Of course, My Love," you tell him before picking up little Hudson and holding him close to you; he was getting a little fussy during breakfast, so you put him in the baby carrier. Orion was somewhere between the land of the living and sleeping some more, so you decide to let her be.

"I love you so much, you know that? I'm so lucky to have you in my life and to have these wonderful twins with you. Honestly, they are the cherry on top," Tony whispers to you as he stands behind you, Hudson strapped comfortably on your belly. A broad smile spreads as you lean into your boyfriend's hold, melting into his warmth.

"You should go now. Otherwise, you will never get those groceries," you joke, and with one last kiss, Tony, Howard, and Maria go out the door, ready to do a big grocery haul for the barbecue they'll be hosting for friends and family.

"Shall we get some cleaning done while your Sister is asleep?" you ask Hudson, who has also managed to fall asleep, and you chuckle softly. He's always a quick sleeper when you're carrying him. The dishes are done quickly, and you decide to clean the kitchen, too, now that you have the time.

Once everything is finished, you realize you have some time left before everyone returns, so you sit at the piano that stands proudly in the living room. Hudson and Orion are sharing a play mat. They're happily kicking their feet and making cute noises as if they are talking in their unique language.

Your fingers glide over the keys effortlessly, playing some songs that come to mind before deciding to sing, as you quickly discover your twins enjoy it when you do that. You play the opening notes of ''Make You Feel My Love" by Adele, but as you're singing along, you don't notice Tony, Howard, and Maria returning from their shopping trip.

As soon as Tony sets foot in the house, he hears the piano going, in combination with your beautiful singing voice, and instead of walking to the kitchen, he follows your voice. Standing in the doorway with the groceries still in hand, he listens to you, tears gathering in the corners of his eyes as he takes in the sight before him.

He didn't know you had a musical side, but discovering you could play piano and sing was something he would never forget. When he looks from you to Hudson and Orion on the play mat, his heart skips a beat, and he feels like he could burst into flames with how much he loves all three of you.

You finally look up when the song ends, only to meet Tony's tear-filled eyes.

"How did I not know you have such a beautiful singing voice, Sunshine? And the fact that you play piano too makes you even more special," Tony tells you as he walks over, the groceries he held earlier long forgotten. He sits down by the piano before capturing your lips with a gentle, love-filled kiss, and you have rarely felt this loved by him.

"I don't know; I often sing for our Munchkins, so how you didn't know is a surprise to me as well!" you joke, and after that, the two of you play the piano together for a while. Howard and Maria decide to let you two be as they're putting everything away. However, their hearts are overflowing with the love clearly visible between you two.

"They're made for each other," Maria tells Howard as they're now standing in the doorway, and Howard agrees.

"They found their soulmate, just like you and me. And they deserve everything this world has to offer them," Howard whispers before grabbing his phone and filming the two of you playing piano, laughing loudly, and having a carefree moment. You couldn't be happier than you are now, and it is still one of your most cherished memories.

Now, you like to take the chance to gather together around the piano and sing for some quality time with everyone. Now that Hudson and Orion are teenagers and Paxton is learning to walk, life seems to fly too fast. But that will never stop you, Tony, Howard, and Maria from gathering together and making music.

"How about we all come together by the piano and sing something? Maybe Tony and Hudson can play guitar, Orion and myself can sing, and Maria can play the piano," you offer, now that Howard has gone to nap after getting caught in a bad migraine flare-up.

Over the years, Hudson has learned to play the guitar from Tony, and Orion can play piano and sing beautifully, so you're curious as to what Paxton will enjoy when he grows up.

"I just need to grab my guitar," Hudson says before going to his room and grabbing it while you and Tony arrange everything around the piano, ready to sing and play music.

"C'mere, little troublemaker! We don't want you going anywhere now that we can't run after you!" Tony says to Paxton, who is already crawling in the opposite direction, and you can't stop laughing at the sight. Your husband running after your toddler, who is surprisingly fast, has you laughing so hard your stomach hurts, yet you can never get enough.

"There we go! You can cuddle with Mommy after I make you a milk bottle; how does that sound?" Tony asks Paxton, and he babbles something in response you can't quite make out. While he's gone to the kitchen with his youngest, Hudson returned with his guitar, getting ready to play.

Not long after, Paxton is on your lap, Orion on your right side, Hudson on your left with Tony beside him, and Maria behind the piano.

"Alright, I'm going to play something, and as soon as you figure out what it is, you can sing and play along!" Maria says enthusiastically, and not long after, the first notes drift through the room. Hudson is the first to play along with his guitar, quickly followed by Tony. Orion is the first to sing along, and you listen for a moment before joining in.

The combination of your voices and different instruments makes Paxton fall asleep in your arms as he drinks. He takes after his older siblings, as they always did the same; the music seemed to lull them to sleep when they were babies.

"Mommy, Daddy? Can you two play and sing together for us?" Orion asks as she looks at both of you, and you give Tony a look of 'why not'?

"Of course, we can, Babygirl," you tell her, and before you even have to say a single word to him, he starts the first chords for 'Make You Feel My Love' by Adele, which has, over the years, become your song. It's one of the songs you danced to during the evening you got together, the night Tony proposed, and your wedding. It has a special place in your heart, and you will happily sing it daily.

As soon as the first words leave your lips, you can feel a few tears gathering in the corners of your eyes, but you're determined to get through it without crying, even if it's just this once. Every memory comes flooding back for you both, and as soon as you hit the higher notes, Tony can feel goosebumps appearing on his arms.

Once the last notes float away in the air, you finally wipe away the tears that escaped. You look at Tony with so much love and appreciation, and there's nothing you wouldn't do to make him feel your love.

[wildshona]

World Turned Upside Down

In late June this year I got a panicked phone call from Amelia. She had been sent out to get some groceries. When she got back she could hear dad and Zoe in the bath. Nothing unusual in that is there she said to me he used to bathe us lots of parents wash their kids at the same time they have a bath. She listened at the door smiling and content she said. then she heard hinm say "Go on, catch the eel."

I guess at that moment everything changed. Catch the Eel was the First Game. she rang me what should she do. well nothing was going to happen quickly. dad was methodical and had a strange set of beliefs on the right time and age for everything. she could be catching the eel for a year. Amelia knew that as well as me. she also told me that he had removed her birth control pills from the bathroom cabinet. He was not happy and some roles had to be re-affirmed.

i spoke to chris when i got off the phone and we went into conference with Richard. Richard managed to get through to his contacts in Virginia. I had agreed with Amelia the best and safest time for her to ring me and the plan was set.

A few days later on a day when dad would be at work and then going straight to a church meeting of some sort Richard's friends arrived to move Amelia and Zoe out. It all went like clock work.

Well, not exactly. Amelia left dad a note apologising for leaving and taking Zoe and thanking him for all he had done for her, explaining that she couldn't see Zoe become Shona and that she had help to leave, the letter was wet with her tears apparently. I mean FUCKING HELL!!!!

My hope was that once she had got away some authorities would move in on him. Amelia hadn't thought about that she didnt have my sense for revenge. Not like me. But no, he knew he was in trouble, humiliation, degradation, prison. Not how he saw himself. and he was able to do something he couldn't have done here. he had bought a gun as soon as he got to the States. now he used it. FUCK FUCK FUCK.

You know i read a tumblr post the other day some idiot from Tennessee saying how proud he was that his was the first state to pass into law mandatory death sentences for child rapists. DONT YOU GET IT YOU FUCKING ARSE? We want thenm to suffer for years in fear and pain like we did - not go quietly into this good night. But then this was a man talking what the fuck does he know.

and we'll just leave aside the fact that he probably believes that if the child is pregnant from that rape she has to have the baby or she could go to jail or whatever,

Anyway, Amelia and Zoe have been in a safe place since then. She is totally unable to run her life because every decision was made for her up til now, After all, how many tumblr postings have i read about girls and women only need to know about fucking their man and pleasing their man they dont have to have a brain.

Anyway, Richard has arranged for her and Zoe to be escorted back to England at the beginning of November. She will stay with us for a while which will be interesting to say the least given the different lifestyles we have. But in the long term we are going to have to find some man who can look after her and turn into a thinking human being and not just one of the Stepford Wives.

[chickalupe]

Feeling very down right now, just want to vent...

(Treating this like my old Livejournal since I don't really have anywhere else I can complain LMAO)

I've been out of work since August after completely running out of FMLA.

Between getting severe COVID in February and being out recovering for 6 weeks -- and then with Long COVID making the chronic fatigue and migraines I already had even worse -- I ended up missing so much work that I used all the time FMLA allowed before the year was even half over.

I'm living with my parents now and don't really have income except my savings; honestly most days I don't have the physical or mental spoons to even contemplate applying for even a part-time remote position yet. Thankfully I also have a retirement fund I am slowly cashing in, even if that also isn't really sustainable long-term. (But me losing my insurance will definitely be an issue soon when I run out of refills for my prescription meds...)

I'm aware that I've been pretty isolated since August; I've gotten maybe like two texts from former co-workers. I'm mostly asleep during the daytime and don't drive, so going out is hard. The person I consider my BFF is out of state and is busy with their own life. The only people I talk to most days are my Mom and Dad. (Admittedly, I am also pretty terrible about calling or texting people!) Tumblr has thus been the majority of my social interaction, for good or ill.

On top of all that, my birthday is this Friday and I always find myself depressed anyway this time of year. Like, it's probably half Seasonal Affective Disorder, and half a reminder that I'm a year older and having mixed feelings about where I am in life, IDK... But the current situation of *gestures vaguely at everything* isn't helping. So I am very blergh in general.

My parents and I had made vague plans a couple weeks ago that we could all go out for dinner on my actual birthday; nothing fancy, maybe the nearest sit-down Mexican restaurant. I was kinda looking forward to it. Mom just informed me that she is now unavailable after 5pm on my b-day itself since she offered to babysit kids for someone in their church that evening and night. We can't do it tomorrow night either, because Mom & Dad will be at a craft show from 4pm to 10pm.

And... it's fine, I guess. I'm disappointed but I'm an adult. I'm not gonna throw a tantrum or yell and cry or try to guilt her about it. She brought me flowers from the grocery store as a sort of peace offering and says we can still have cake or whatever. We'll probably do something on Saturday instead.

But EVERY YEAR, it's something. Last year, it was the cheesecake I asked for as a birthday cake getting dropped on the way into the house from the car; over half of it was smushed and then Dad stole the best remaining slice for himself. The two years before that, it was during the worst of the pandemic so I just had mediocre delivery food. I literally cannot remember the last birthday I really enjoyed in over a decade and half.

Another big source of anxiety right now -- we found out have 60 days to move since the leasing company is selling this house. So we have to find a new place, be packed and then move by January. Meanwhile home inspectors, realty agents and potential buyers are walking through while we're still living here, and it's super stressful. Words can't express how much I hate strangers being here any and all days of the week.

I guess I'm feeling a bit sorry for myself. I'm not trying to be whiny or woe-is-me, but my mental health right now is uhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh... Not Great (tm) 😅. I do try hard to be positive but it just takes so much energy and I'm stressed and a little numb.

Not really sure how to end this. I just really needed to put it all in writing as a journal-type situation so that I don't end up crying in real life LOL.

Current Mood: burnt-out 😑

Current Music: HGTV playing in the background

[lumine-no-hikari]

Dear Sephiroth: (a letter to a fictional character, because why not) #198

Today was my first real day in the bakery at my grocery store. It was a lot of slicing and bagging bread and rolls, arranging unbaked cookies on giant cookie sheets, putting muffins and brownies into containers, and putting labels on things!!

Or, in other words: lots of simple, repetitive tasks that give my autistic brain lots of nice dopamine!! It was pretty fucking great!!!

And I made lots of mistakes along the way. I struggled mightily with the gloves due to the dyspraxia; what little manual dexterity I had was gone, and almost all the tasks required gloves, hahaha… Oh, and then I accidentally prepared one extra pan of chocolate chip cookies. And I got so laser-focused on what I was doing that I failed to notice customers coming up to the counter on multiple occasions.

…And nothing bad happened to me as a result. I didn't get screamed at. I didn't get fired on the spot. In fact, I was told that I am doing a great job, especially for someone who is still learning. I made so many mistakes, and I was still told that I am doing it efficiently and well.

And… I am more than a little upset about that. Not because there is anything wrong with it, but because I have so many memories of being told by my mother that I'm lucky she's my mother and not my boss, because if she was my boss, she'd replace me with someone better, and in the "really real world" (or in other words, working retail, which is what I'm doing now), that's exactly what will happen, and… I'm finding that the notion that I will be tossed like yesterday's trash if I am not perfect all the time is at least not universally true. Maybe it's true in other places, but it isn't true here, and if it's true elsewhere, then I don't have to stay there, and…

I guess I kinda just feel lied to. M and J pointed out that my mother may have genuinely believed what she said to me so often back then, anytime I wasn't perfect. That's probably true. But it's still the case that she parroted a lie that she believed, and… I guess I wanna go back in time and find the person who told it and ask them what happened to them to make them think like that.

Well. M and J and I went to go see R (the fabulous baker!) after that! We had a lovely picnic near a river, and he brought sandwich supplies and lots of yummy things, and we brought chips and pretzels and… it was very good. Lots of lively and delightful conversation was had.

A friend of mine came to me for help on various things today, too, and that was good. It always feels nice when I can do random small things to try to make a difference. I was helping for a long time, and my brain is kinda soupy at the moment because it's late, but that's all right; I'm having fun.

Maybe I'll get something with good protein tomorrow. I spent 4 hours on my feet, and it has been a long time since last I've done that with any kind of regularity, and so my legs and feet are kinda ouchy right now. Pretty soon, I'm going to have to do this regularly, and I am a little daunted; hopefully my body can adjust quickly.

On the bright side, I'm finding that the simple movements of my arms to put the things where they need to be put seems to be good for my rib??? I'm in a lot less pain following the work today, it seems. I was pretty shocked by that. But then again, we'll have to see how I feel tomorrow...

Ohhh, goodness, Sephiroth, it's late. It's late, and I'm tired. It's like 1:30 in the morning. So I'm gonna stop writing now.

Hey. I love you. And lots of other people do, too, okay? Don't forget it. Don't lose sight of it. You don't have to be perfect to be lovable and worthy. You don't have to be perfect in order to avoid being thrown away or replaced.

You can't be replaced. So stay safe out there. Please come back to us. We miss you.

Your friend, Lumine

[another-whump-sideblog]

Jane's Pets Chapter 104: Evolving and Adapting

TWs in the tags

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Before leaving, Puppy reluctantly puts her stuffed animals into her bag, along with everything nonperishable from the pantry that you and Leo didn't pack for yourselves. You think that's a good sign. She also grabs all the medical supplies in the house, which makes you feel really stupid for not thinking of that earlier. Before closing the bag up, she takes out two water bottles and passes them to you and Leo.

"If we're going to need water for the walk you will too," Leo says.

Puppy takes out one more water bottle mechanically and closes the garbage bag, then heads out the front door. You and Leo follow.

"Leo, make sure to let us know if you need a break, or help carrying your stuff." You say.

"I will. I'm not feeling too bad, though."

You believe them. It's been a long time since they were even a little okay, and the difference is very noticeable.

"We should ask the day and year as soon as we get to town." Leo jokes. "Like time travelers."

"Fuck, it'll be so nice to know what day it is again, and what time it is. I've definitely missed that."

"There are so many small things we'll finally get back." 

After a bit of silence, Puppy starts humming a lighthearted song. You feel like your heart could burst from happiness. So many small things…

Unfortunately, you're quickly distracted from that feeling by the annoyance of carrying full garbage bags through the woods. Your bag quickly collects several tiny tears, but luckily none are big enough for anything to fall out. It just means you have to hold the bag very carefully so that extra weight isn't put on the tears, causing them to get wider.

"We really should've double or triple bagged this stuff… or brought the box of garbage bags." You grumble.

Leo laughs. "We haven't gotten that far, we can go back if you want."

"Oh, no, I'm never going back. I'm just annoyed that we planned so much and didn't even think about what carrying this stuff through the woods would be like."

"Yeah, that's what happens when you have a group of three people where one is severely sleep deprived and probably still starving, one is experiencing withdrawal, and one is…"

"Brain damaged." You finish for them. Stupid Bunny.

"Right. Um… I'm really sorry I called you stupid, back in the basement. I don't think you're stupid."

"I am stupid. It's okay."

"B– Li– Austin. You're the one that found a way to kill Jane. You're so smart, and even if you weren't, you're so brave and compassionate. You're amazing. Don't let anyone tell you otherwise, even me."

Are you… tearing up? "Thank you. You're… both of you are amazing too."

Leo smiles. "Of course we are. Just a little group of amazing people."

The rest of the walk is quiet. Trying to avoid your bag ripping open takes a lot of mental and physical energy. That'll be the first thing you buy when you get into town– new bags. And something for Puppy to drink to prevent her dying from malnutrition.

You take plenty of breaks, initiated by Amanda more often than not. She always opens her bag during breaks too, without ever taking anything out. When you asked her why, she took a stuffed animal out of her bag and showed it to you, which… didn't answer your question. Leo told you not to worry about it for now.

You feel… tense, stepping into the town. The last time you were in any kind of human civilization, Jane killed a lot of people to punish you.

It's pretty dark. You clear your throat. "Puppy, do you think the grocery store will still be open?"

Puppy shakes her head.

"Okay. Let's find a hotel. In the morning we can go get new bags and something for you to drink, and then… if there's a library we can use the computers to look at all the hotels nearby and see what's cheapest. Sound good?"

Puppy nods.

"So… do we just wander around until we find a hotel?" Leo asks.

You look over the three of you. "That'd be a good way to get the cops called on us."

"Well, what else are we supposed to do?"

"That's… a good question. Maybe we should've waited until morning to leave…"

"I'd rather spend all night in the woods than spend more time in that house than necessary. I… guess those are our options. Wander around trying to find a hotel, stay in the woods all night, or head back to the house. Should we… do a vote or something?"

None of those options sound particularly good. "I don't even know which one I want."

"Yeah… I guess we could split up, too."

You immediately shake your head. "Whatever we do, it should be together."

"But one person wandering around a town at night is a lot less suspicious than three people. Especially if said person leaves their bag of stuff here to be watched by the others."

Puppy stares at her open bag for a moment and then sighs. You guess she didn't bring anything to write with. "I think I'd be the best for that. I look the most pitiful." She lets her hair fall so that her missing ear is uncovered and touches the bandages on her face. "And I'm a scrawny white woman. It'd be harder to interpret me as a threat. Even if the police were called, I'd probably be fine. I've also been here before. I'll have an easier time navigating, even if I don't know exactly where to find a hotel."

These are all great points. "But… what if you get hurt?"

"I know people here. Including a lot of criminals, most of whom probably think Jane is still alive. People are less likely to mess with me than with either of you."

"But… I mean, if we're bringing race and gender into this, isn't it less safe for a woman to walk around alone at night? There are threats besides career criminals, people you probably never would've met."

"I'm not saying there are no risks. It's just the least risky option. Unless you think it's safer to wander through the woods at night, or sleep in the woods without shelter?"

Leo nods. "It does sound the least risky… though, to be fair, even if it does work, we'll have to walk to the hotel as a group with our garbage bags of stuff anyway. I mean, I'm the one that suggested it, but I don't think it makes much of a difference whether one of us finds the hotel, comes back, and guides the others or we just look around as a group for a while."

Leo's the best. "Right! Let's just go together. You should definitely lead, still. Like you said, you know this town the best. We'll look suspicious no matter what we do, let's just stick together."

Puppy hesitates, then nods.

"Perfect! Let's go."

Puppy walks quickly through the streets until you get to an area with fewer homes and more businesses, then starts moving more slowly, inspecting each building. Fairly soon after you've started searching, you stop in front of a building very clearly labeled as a hotel.

"I… think we spent more time arguing than it actually took to find this place." You say.

"Eh. Better safe than sorry." Leo pulls open the door. "After you."

It takes a bit of effort to get everyone's garbage bags through the door without ripping them, but you all manage it. The hotel clerk stares at the three of you the whole time, which you guess is fair. 

Leo sets their bag down and goes up to the front desk. "Are there any vacancies?"

The clerk puts on a customer service smile. "We do. What are you looking for?"

…you never discussed if you were going to share a room, or how many beds you'd want. Luckily Leo seems undeterred.

"The cheapest room available, please."

"How many nights?"

"One."

The clerk types something into a computer and gives the price. Puppy starts taking out some of the cash and counting it. 

"...do you take cash?" You ask. Probably should've asked that sooner.

"We can, but you would still need a card on file."

Shit. Shit shit shit.

"...Do you know of anywhere that doesn't need a card on file?" Leo asks.

"Nope."

The three of you look at each other. What are you supposed to do now?

Puppy goes up to the desk and places down the cash she just counted out. "I have a card."

There's no way that's true, but she reaches into her pocket anyway. She pulls something out, holding it in a way that covers most of it, but you notice a flash of green and realize it's just more money. She passes it to the clerk.

"Are you… trying to bribe me?"

Puppy nods.

The clerk looks at the money, then types something into the computer. They hand Puppy a key. "You'll be in room 104. Check-out is at 11 AM tomorrow.”

Puppy smiles at the clerk and heads down the hall, looking for the room. Leo grabs their bag, and the two of you follow Puppy.

"We don't have to hide," Leo says. "We can go try and get cards tomorrow."

Puppy unlocks the door labeled '104' and leads you inside. It's a pretty small room, and it only has one bed.

"Uh–"

"Puppy and you will share the bed. I know both of you would be fine with all three of us sharing the bed, so since I'm the one with the problem, I'll sleep on the ground."

They already did that sometimes at the house, when they wanted to be close to you but not sharing a bed close, so you aren’t as concerned as you might’ve been otherwise. If they chose to sleep on the ground when they had access to a bed, obviously it’s not that uncomfortable to them. They’re the one that asked for the cheapest possible room, anyway, they must’ve expected this.

"Yeah, let's make you a nest." You find extra blankets in a closet, take most of the pillows from the bed, and start the nest-making process. Leo tries to help as much as they can, but it really is just a one-person job. Puppy sets her stuffed animals on the bed.

“We should all get showered and change,” Leo suggests. “We’re dirty from walking through the woods.”

“Great idea!” You finish up the nest. “Puppy and I should replace our bandages, too.”

“You do that while I shower,” Leo says, pulling a clean outfit out of their bag.

“Perfect.” You bring Puppy to the bathroom and remove the bandages on her face and neck while Leo gets in the shower.

You wet a towel and start to clean her wounds. “I’ve been thinking. It’s okay if you don’t want to sleep tonight, I’m not as worried about that as you not eating. No one’s going to shock you when you start to drift off or anything, so you’ll fall asleep eventually no matter what. If you want to try and stay up tonight, though, I want to keep you company.”

You replace the old bandages with clean ones. Puppy doesn’t say anything. She takes your hand and takes off the bandage.

“Oh, I can do that myself.”

Puppy raises an eyebrow at you.

“Oh, I guess… you could’ve done your face and neck yourself…” It honestly didn’t even occur to you. “Sorry, I didn’t even ask.”

She waves dismissively and starts to clean the cut on your hand. 

“So!” You say loud enough that Leo can hear you over the shower. “Tomorrow, we’re going shopping and getting ourselves cards. Not necessarily in that order. Then we’ll use library computers to find the cheapest hotel nearby, and… go there. We’ll also research the buses around here.”

Puppy rebandages your hand. “We… need IDs. To get cards.”

“…shit. I lost track of mine after I came to the house, Jane probably took it. Leo, do you have access to any of your IDs?”

“I didn’t even have mine before Jane took me. I assume yours are lost too, Puppy?”

Puppy nods.

“She said yes. And we don’t even remember our names…” You frown. This is going to be a problem.

The shower turns off and Leo grabs a towel to dry themself. That was fast. “You remember your last name, don’t you? There’s that. And me and Puppy know your first name. Do you remember your social security number?”

You try to remember. There’s a shape to it, a rhythm you followed whenever you had to share it… but you can’t remember what actually went inside the rhythm. You don’t know if that’s because of the brain damage or just regular forgetting. “I don’t.”

“Don’t worry, I don’t know mine either. We’ll just… maybe you can get your hands on your school records? Or maybe someone you knew before could vouch for you? I mean, there are people who don’t even get a birth certificate when they’re born and they can still get IDs as an adult, so there’s got to be something we can do.” They get into their clean clothes. “We can worry about it tomorrow. I’m going to bed. We’ll want to get up pretty early tomorrow so that we can leave our stuff in here while we shop.” They exit the bathroom, leaving just you and Puppy.

“Hmm… maybe we should’ve replaced the bandages after showering…” stupid Bunny. “I guess we’ll just do our best not to get the bandages wet? And it’s not that big of a deal if we have to replace them again. Do you want to shower first?”

Puppy nods and leaves the bathroom to get clean clothes from her bag. She was allowed to shower when she wanted unless she was in the basement, so you don't think she'll need a lot of support in this. Having no reason to hang around in the bathroom, you go to hang out with Leo in the main room while Puppy showers.

Leo is playing with the clock on the nightstand. "I'm trying to set an alarm… if we get up at 7, we should have time to shop and stuff, right? Mostly I just want to be able to get back here and re-bag our stuff before we check out. It would be especially nice if we could do the shopping and the library research before we check out, so we don't have to worry about if we'll be allowed into the library with garbage bags full of stuff."

"Will stores even be open that early?"

"...I don't know. We'll have to ask Puppy. I'll leave the alarm at 7 for now, though." They set down the clock. "I really missed knowing the time. This is awesome."

You look over the small room. It's unremarkable in most ways, but… it has a clock. And you can leave whenever you want to. "It really is."

Leo yawns and goes to dig through their bag. "We should all eat something before bed. Or at least drink some water." They pull out a box of raisins and pour the contents into their mouth. "I'll try to convince Puppy to drink some water while you shower. Think you can handle convincing her to sleep? I heard you talking about it, but I didn't catch everything."

"I should be able to. I said I'd stay up and keep her company if she doesn't want to sleep– which I will do if she refuses to sleep– but I think if I just asked her to lie down with me she'd fall asleep quickly whether she wants to or not. It helps that this room is so small, she won't be able to keep herself awake pacing."

Leo nods. "Perfect. I, uh… I wish we didn't have to constantly push her, but we can't just let her hurt herself without trying to help… It's not fair that we get to adjust before working on any heavy-duty deconditioning while she has to be working on it constantly… But putting ourselves through that by taking off our collars or something wouldn't make things any easier for her."

"It sucks." You agree. "It wasn't fair for you to have to deal with withdrawal, either."

"...Yeah. I guess… we take care of each other. We have for a long time. And if we take turns, that's even better, because it means the person who's struggling can get the full undivided attention of the others."

"Exactly." You dig through your bag for some granola bars and have those and some water for dinner. Not the best meal ever, but far from the worst. 

Puppy emerges from the bathroom, her bandages still dry. She couldn't have been in there for longer than five minutes…

"Have you guys always showered that fast?" You ask.

"The water's cold," Leo says. "I… guess we could've waited… but in a place this big it would've taken forever. Better to just get it over with." 

Puppy nods in agreement.

"Okay…" You grab some clean clothes from your bag and head to the bathroom. "I'm gonna have a nice, warm shower, if possible, so… goodnight. Love you."

–

Puppy wishes she had waited, or spent longer in the shower. All she does when she's around is worry the others.

Kitty hasn't started pestering her to sleep or eat or drink yet, though. They look deep in thought.

She's so tired, and the white noise of the shower certainly isn't helping her stay awake. She forces herself to walk in place.

"It's weird, right?"

Puppy has no idea what they're talking about specifically, but she nods. Everything's weird right now.

"I mean… it didn't even occur to me to wait. I just… I guess the pathway in my brain between 'uncomfortable stimuli' and 'endure it' is so well-trodden other solutions didn't occur to me. Did it occur to you?"

Puppy shakes her head.

"Exactly. It's like… those guys that tortured those poor dogs… what's the word… Learned helplessness! That's what they call it. When you can't do anything to protect yourself for so long that you start to assume there's no escape without even checking."

Puppy remembers Master teaching them about that experiment… it's not a pleasant memory, but it could've been worse.

"It's good to be aware, though. I'm glad she taught us so much about psychology, at least. It was to hurt us and taunt us, but now it can be really helpful." They smile. "We'll have to look out for that. Times where we could make ourselves more comfortable easily but aren't."

Puppy is so, so tired. She misses just having to endure. Having all these choices… it's so hard. Things weren't easy before, but they were… simple. She misses that, even if she doesn't miss the torture.

"It'll be hard because we still have to endure a lot of things. We don't know when we'll next get money, so we'll have to settle for a lot of uncomfortable things to make it last as long as possible. So I guess… we just need to think of the reason we're uncomfortable. Make sure it's something we're consciously choosing and not just falling into because we're used to it."

Puppy nods along, but she doesn't really want to be comfortable. Comfort is for when Master chooses to give it, otherwise… it makes her sloppy. Like, if she was comfortable right now, she would fall asleep without permission.

Master is dead. Master is dead. Master is dead so she's never going to get to feel comfortable again– stop that!

"-uppy?" Her thoughts are interrupted. "Would you please sit down? Or… stop marching in place?"

She reluctantly stops moving.

"Thank you. I need you to drink some water, alright? You didn't drink any on our way here."

She feels… guilty. Like a kid getting caught not eating their vegetables. All she does is make people worry!

She grabs the water bottle she was supposed to drink during the walk and chugs it until there's none left. She wordlessly begs Kitty to stop worrying, to be satisfied.

"Thank you." They sound so relieved that she can almost ignore the waves of terror crashing over her. "Let's do something to keep your mind off it. Um…" They look around the fairly barren room. "Wanna play twenty questions?"

Puppy nods. A distraction would be nice.

"Okay, think of a person, place, or thing. You got one in mind?"

Puppy, not feeling very creative, decides on 'hotel.' She nods.

"Okay, is it a person?"

The two of them play a few rounds before Bunny finishes with his shower. Puppy feels a bit better about drinking water without permission again, as long as she doesn't think about it.

"Alright, I'm really tired, are you two going to be okay if I go to sleep?"

Puppy nods.

"Get some sleep." Bunny says. 

"Oh, wait– I set the alarm for 7 AM, do you think anything will be open then, Puppy?

Puppy nods. She remembers checking the hours the grocery store was open to try and figure out what time it was. It's open from 7 AM to 10 PM. 

"Sweet! See you in the morning, goodnight." Kitty gets curled up in their nest. 

Bunny turns his attention to Puppy. "Do you want to try going to sleep?"

She slowly shakes her head. She doesn't want to, but she knows she'll have to eventually.

Bunny sits on the bed, legs under the covers. "That's okay. I'll keep you company, like I said. You must be cold, though, after your cold shower. Wanna get under the blankets?"

She knows what he's doing. It's not subtle. But… being warm does sound nice, and she doesn't want to worry Bunny, and he was right that she'd fall asleep eventually anyway, so… it might as well be now, right? Better than passing out when she's needed.

She carefully sets each of her stuffed animals next to the bed before climbing into bed with Bunny and oh– he's warm. That makes sense, but she wasn't expecting it. She cuddles up close to him.

"Thank you." Bunny says, and that's all. He doesn't try to convince her to lie down or rest her eyes. He just holds her, and runs fingers through her hair, and breathes deeply and evenly.

She didn't stand a chance. She falls asleep within the first minute of sitting down.

A/N: Let me know if I should tag anything else, or if you want to be added to or removed from the tag list! Let me know if you want a summary of any of these logistics-heavy chapters, I know they're a lot longer than normal and that not everyone finds the logistics of escape and recovery as interesting as I do.

Tag list: @eatyourdamnpears @whump-in-the-closet @scp-1296 @thecosmicmap @quins-whump-stuff

@fuckcapitalismasshole @whumplr-reader

[silverynight]

Dead End

<---Previous

Part XVI

He buys everything they need for the next week or so and carries it to the house quickly; Akaza offers to help him, but Tanjirou begs him to wait for him in the village. Urokodaki is smart and Tanjirou cannot risk him getting on his way now.

He takes a few groceries with him and realizes that Nezuko is with Inosuke and Zenitsu in the backyard, watching as Urokodaki scolds them lightly for not following their training correctly and Tanjirou quickly writes a short note to his sister. A few words of how much he loves her and pleading her to stay there even after he's gone.

"Nezuko wants to know if you need help with the groceries, Tanjirou!" Zenitsu yells from the backyard.

"I'm fine! I'll be with you in a minute!" Tanjirou tells them back, trying to sound cheerful; he shouldn't have been so careless on his way in, he probably made a lot of noise and now they know he's there. "Actually, I think I'll take a bath first!"

Inosuke says something like: "Hurry up and come train with me, Monjiro!"

At least they bought his lie. He feels terrible, but there's no other choice now.

He grabs more clothes for the way and gets out of the house as quietly as he can.

Nezuko will never forgive him, but it's better that way, at least she'll be safe.

***

Instead of wondering if his Pillars are hurt, Tanjirou decides to picture how angry they'll be with him as soon as they see him. It's definitely not a positive train of thought either, but Tanjirou prefers to see the hashira pissed than hurt.

It's an easy choice.

"Are you ready?" Akaza asks, looking at him with concern.

Tanjirou doesn't know if he can trust him yet, but his concern seems genuine at least.

"Are you?" The redhead asks back with worry as well, he can't help it. "You don't look so prepared for this weather."

"I'll be fine," Akaza assures him, trying not to smile at the redhead's expression. "Besides, it's not a short journey so we'll have to make a few stops."

Tanjirou is about to protest, but he realizes there's no point in trying to argue with him; he's the only one who knows the way and it's not like Tanjirou can find the Pillars on his own.

He nods.

"Great, now hop on," Akaza turns around and Tanjirou realizes that he wants him to jump on his back.

"I don't think that's–"

"I'm stronger than I look," he cuts him off, amused at Tanjirou's reaction. "Besides, no offense, but you're painfully slow and we need to reach our destination as quickly as possible."

He's right; all his hashira could be in danger.

"Fine. Let's go."

***

They stop at night in a small town; Tanjirou doesn't want to waste anytime, but Akaza ignores him completely and pays for a room in the only inn they find.

"Akaza..."

"You were getting cold," the young man protests, looking away from him. "Also, you can keep calling me Hakuji."

Tanjirou sighs, but nods, before curling up on his futon. He's not sure if he'll be able to sleep. He barely eats and mostly does it because Aka-Hakuji insists.

"We're close," Hakuji finally mumbles, loud enough for Tanjirou to hear. He turns around to look at him.

"Really?"

"Yeah, but it's a big city and very dangerous because Muzan controls it. Which means we have to be careful if our purpose is to find them."

Tanjirou nods, heart beating painfully inside his chest; he's silently begging all the gods to find his hashira alive and well. All of them.

He needs to see them.

Tanjirou doesn't realize he's tearing up until Hakuji offers him a small handkerchief to wipe off his own tears. Hakuji purposely looks away from him.

"Muzan's men..." He clears his throat. "The other assassins will be there too. We need to be careful. I was thinking about disguising you."

"As what?" Tanjirou asks, voice still shaky.

"As a courtesan..." Hakuji whispers, rubbing the back of his neck, a little bit uncomfortable. He even blushes a little. "Maybe we can think about something else if you're not–"

"It's okay. I'll do it."

Hakuji finds nice clothes in the morning and Tanjirou leaves the room looking like a woman.

"You really know how to apply makeup," Tanjirou comments, looking himself on a lake on their way out the small town.

He regrets saying that as soon as he notices the sorrow in Hakuji's eyes.

"I used to help her get ready in the morning..."

"I'm sorry."

"It's okay... Really. I like remembering her. It's a nice memory," he blurts out before looking back at Tanjirou. "You look pretty."

"Thank you."

It gets quiet between them for a while; Tanjirou doesn't mind silence, but at that moment he just... doesn't want to be alone with his own thoughts.

In the afternoon they reach a couple of small houses that Hakuji recognizes. He tenses and turns around to look at Tanjirou.

"Your name is Sumiko from now on, okay?"

Tanjirou nods, trying not to gasp in surprise when Hakuji carries him in his arms.

"There's still light in the sky so we'll be fine. This city is awake at night. Let's find a place to stay."

Tanjirou is really close to his Pillars, he can feel it.

***

Next--->

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[cryptidsurveys]

Tuesday, September 17th, 2024.

Will you be single over winter? Most likely. I really can't see myself getting into a relationship any time soon. Plus, there's not even anyone on my radar.

Are you mad at anyone right now? Alex has been on my last nerve for some time now, and that nerve is frayed to all hell. I also found out today that she might not be leaving until the 27th. I know it's only a few more days, but seriously, I could have cried right then and there.

Do you add random questions into surveys when you take them? I don't, but I will hunt around for a survey with specific questions I want to answer, or at least something that will allow me to segue into something I wish to talk about.

Where do you wanna live when you grow up? I am "grown up," but in my dream life, I'd be living in a cabin somewhere like Beulah or Rye. I'd be out of the hustle and bustle of the city, but close enough so that a regular commute to the animal shelter (and the grocery store, therapy, etc) wouldn't be out of the question. Realistically, though, I'm probably going to live in this city for the rest of my life. Either in this house or in an apartment if I can ever manage to afford one.

Are you wearing jeans, shorts, sweatpants, or pajama pants? I'm wearing dark blue sweatpants.

Would you get married if you could right now? No.

Do you consider yourself spoiled? No, but I would consider my life rather comfortable. All of my needs are met and then some.

Do you get annoyed when you see someone you don’t like? Alex is the only person I strongly dislike, and yeah, I do get annoyed. I also get rather anxious and afraid of making even the smallest mistake. I know it's important for things to be done correctly, but she's extremely critical, far beyond what I feel is necessary (and not even really towards me specifically, but just in general - she mostly talks poorly of other people). I'm already hard on myself and have a tendency to doubt my abilities, but it just adds this whole external layer of confirmation that I'm not good enough. Except I don't entirely believe that. Which is cool because Past Me would have used even the most innocent correction or fleeting expression of frustration as proof of my incompetence, but now - even when faced with a hyper critical individual on par with the hateful voice in my head - it's like…you know…maybe this isn't reality. Maybe I'm actually doing alright. Maybe even better than I think. But I'm so curious to see how our cattery team evolves once we're free from her influence. Rather than constantly watching our backs, we'll have each other's backs instead.

Could you see yourself dropping out of high school? I did drop out of high school. I ended up getting a GED.

Is there anyone you want to see right now? Not really. I mean, I would like to see my mom - she did invite me to go see a movie with her and some of her friends this evening - but I declined because I knew I would be too tired to be good company.

What were you doing 12 a.m. last night? I was listening to a video by Lights Out Library about the history of cosmetics and perfume while trying to fall back to sleep.

Would you go out in public looking like you do now? No.

Do you think you will be in a relationship 3 months from now? No.

How was your weekend? I spent both Saturday and Sunday at the shelter (full days). However, if we're going with my days off, then my weekend just started. It's a long one too, since I took Friday off as well so I could go to the Chili Festival. On Wednesday, I'm getting up early to go grocery shopping and then I have a therapy appointment at 9:30am. On Thursday, I'm planning on visiting the Mountain Park. It should all be very nice.

Are you a mean person? I can be mean from time to time, but I don't think I would qualify as a Mean Person.

What woke you up today? My circadian rhythm, I guess.

What is something you disliked about your day? AhhhHHHhhH. (Aside from *that*, though, it's been a good day.)

Have you kissed anyone whose name started with a T? Yeah.

Did you date anyone last summer? No.

Where will you be twelve hours from now? In bed.

Do you remember the first time you kissed the last person you kissed? I don't.

Have you ever slept on a couch with that person? I don't think so.

Have you written a letter to a soldier? I feel like I might have done something like that in grade school. It could just be a memory I borrowed from somewhere/someone else, though.

Ever been in a perfect relationship? No.

Is the last person you kissed mad at you? I have no idea how they feel about me at this point.

How do you feel about the person who texted you last? That was my dad. He's my favorite person in this whole fvcked up world.

What are you looking forward to? Enjoying these next few days off. Shopping for new holiday goodies to try. Getting all this recent shit off my chest in therapy. Spending time in the mountains; possibly going on a short hike. Browsing the Chili Festival. Cuddling with my kitties.

Do you think you are an argumentative person? No. I'm pretty nonconfrontational. I'll rant about things to trusted individuals, but rarely ever say anything to the people in question. I do have my limits, though, and when they're reached…it's messy. I still haven't found an effective middle ground.

How did you feel when you woke up today? A bit sleepy but generally okay.

Have you ever had a best friend who was of the opposite sex? Yeah.

What time did you go to sleep last night? Around 7:00pm.

Where did you buy the shirt you’re wearing now? I got it at the animal shelter.

What color are your eyes? Hazel.

The last song you listened to? Some classical song on the radio on the way home earlier.

Do you believe change is always good? Change is what you make of it. Everything is what you make of it. Like, on a similar note, I was wondering WTF kind of lesson I was supposed to get out of this current nonsense, and the only conclusion I came to was that I was going to have to make one up in hindsight. It's just the way of things, lmao. You gaslight yourself into believing that all the shit you went through had some greater purpose. ;D

Where are the majority of your clothes from? Walmart, thrift stores, and the animal shelter.

[nancypullen]

82 Days Until Halloween!

That has nothing to do with this post, I'm just excited about it. Eighty-two days, some of which will be spent on vacation, will fly! I have absolutely nothing to post about, there's nothing happening at Casa de Pullen. I wake up, make the bed, do my stretches and stuff, scoop the kitty litter, sometimes start a load of wash, and then head downstairs. Rinse and repeat.

I'm fortunate that I get to look out of this window while I make breakfast. Hummingbirds and bumble bees zip around the blooms and it's the best show in town.

I'd planned to cut down some of the sunflowers that are already drying and drooping, but the yellow finches have arrived and love them. I can't deprive them of their favorite treat. Brace yourself for some out of focus bird pictures. This was snapped from inside the car as I pulled in from the grocery store. There's a little yellow finch lunching on those sunflowers by the porch. I waited to get out of the car so I wouldn't scare him away.

I do sometimes snip one of the flowers to sit in this sweet bud vase (a gift from a kind friend in TN). Sunflowers are so cheerful.

I moved the hummingbird feeder to the front flower bed so that I can enjoy their antics while I sit at my desk making whatever I'm making that day. Turns out it's very hard to get a photo from inside, through a window and a screen, of a very fast birdie. There he is, hovering just over the feeder. There are a couple that battle for the hooch and they're fierce!

As you can see, nothing much has changed. I'm still watching birds and bees. There's a fat woodchuck that wanders around our yard occasionally, that's it for wildlife. This guy...

loves hanging out at our house. Pardon my muddy garden shoes, and yes, that's a bowl of water that I put out for the our visitor. It would have been rude not to offer refreshments. This is like a flashback of how my romance with Willie started. Apparently I'm a magnet for big ol' chunky boys. His collar says he lives two houses down, but I think we're due some child support or at least daycare fees. Who am I kidding? Send me all the cats. I'll feed them for free and love them until they beg for mercy.

Other than bird, bee, and cat watching, I've been busy making earrings and trying to get ready for Artisans on the Choptank. It's going to be embarrassing if nothing sells. You'll all get boxes of earrings for Christmas. I also painted the vanity in the Halloween bathroom. Flooring goes in tomorrow - hooray! The master bath vanity is just a creamy color, but since the Halloween bathroom is a more whimsical, jolly sort of room, I went with a shade of greeny-gray. Best of all, I found pumpkin knobs to add to the doors!

Here's the vanity color...(pardon my mess)

and these are the knobs (you can see them on the counter).

How cute is that? I'll be so glad to have these bathrooms finished. I want to paint for fun again! I'll share pics of the completed bathrooms tomorrow when the banging stops and the dust settles. So there you have it. My very small, probably boring to others, life. Quiet days, but they're filled with creativity, and that makes me content. We'll have the grandgirl for the weekend so things will liven up around here soon. We're taking her to Workhorse Farm to pet kangaroos and meet camels. Then we'll hang around the house and let her swim in her "mermaid lagoon", we'll have popcorn and movie nights, and we'll be thoroughly exhausted when we give her back. It's a good kind of tired. I hope that you're enjoying a balance of fun and peacefulness. We need both, don't we? A lack of either takes a toll. I'm off to soak in the tub and look at that ugly floor for the last time. Sending out loads of love. XOXO, Nancy

[messricet]

Guilty

(In which Sirius visits James and Lily their grave, and reflects upon that fateful night)

___________________________________

The cold breeze seemed harder and more harsh against his still skinny figure. He was lying low at Remus 's and things had been... awkward at first. The first few weeks they hardly talked. Not that he could blame Remus. He was never to blame. Like James and Lily, that man was a victim too. But this very night, when Sirius by accident broke one if Remus his mugs as the dog, the other wizard snapped. They ended up in the worst fight they ever had. Accusations in loose hurtful words were thrown around. Words that were not meant to hurt, but still aimed and did. Hurt and grief filled that fight. They both needed air. Remus had stormed off, saying he was going to get some more groceries, but Sirius knew all stores were closed. Again he couldn't blame him.

Feet dragged a weary body to a spot he never hoped to be at ever. Not at this age. Not ever. Bitterness, hatred, hurt and anger filled him at the sight of the tombstone. " Disgusting rat". He scoffed. When Remus had left, he had changed to the dog again. It was easier. It number the pain, the guilt. Oh how, the guilt was eating at him. " I brought you flowers". His voice raspy, emotion still thick. "Typical lillies but you know, better than empty handed". Reaching down the cold stone that read the names of the two people he loved so dearly, he lay down the bouquet. "Saw Harry couple of weeks ago. He is growing Into such a fine lad, you'd be proud". Softly a smile dared to grace his lips, but found himself to stop it from trembling. He couldn't. The Dementors would be on him in seconds. Which made him realise, he didn't have much time left to stay in human form.

" I am so sorry, for everything. I kept telling myself, hoped, you knew. That it would make the betrayal hurt less. That it wasn't me, but it didn't matter, did it". A tear now rolled down. He couldn't stop himself anymore. "I'm as guilty as he is, it's my fault. I left you alone and I wasn't there. To protect you both, to protect Harry. I would give everything to turn it all back". In that moment he allowed himself to weep for the first time in twelve years. His body shook almost painfully. It was not until the wind caught up, that he calmed down.

" I probably should go, can't stay for too long. Probably should see if Remus is okay too. It's not much at the moment, but he's all I have that's some fragment of happiness still. He misses you both as much. The pain in his face is almost unbearable ". With a nod he got back up. Shaking the emotions from his body.

" I know I may not be forgiven, I have no right to ask. But I swear on my life, I will do everything to keep that boy safe. Even if it costs me my own". His hand traced over the tomb stone, a harsh lump forming his throat. " Next time I'll visit I'll try not to be such a tosspot and cry all over your flowers". A little smile then again traced his lips. He wished he could just stay forever right here. Close to them, guard over them, even as the dog perhaps.

"I love you both. Always will. After all the ones that love us never really leave us, do they". Another little smile managed from his lips." I better go, will see you soon and stay longer I promise. We'll have one our old chats, but now I owe Mo...Remus a new mug". With the sinking of his shoulders he changed back to the dog. Only to sit there for a couple more hours until it even turned to cold for good old Padfoot, and thus, with his tail hung low, scurried off into the evening, back to Remus.