#cold/allergies be darned

[skyward-floored]

Finally have a chance to chill... I think I overdid it oops

[verfound]

FICLET: Plans (MLB, Lukanette)

Characters/Pairings: Luka Couffaine, Marinette Dupain-Cheng; Luka Couffaine/Marinette Dupain-Cheng

Rating: General Audiences

Summary: Marinette gets sick and has to miss Luka’s show.

Author’s Notes/Warnings: …I’m supposed to be in DC tonight for a concert, but covid said no, so I’m moping.

Read on Ao3

“Plans”

Glassy blue eyes stared out at him from the blanket cocoon.  Not even the distance and crappy wifi could cover that up, but he wasn’t sure if it was the illness or the tears she was barely suppressing.  He wasn’t sure he wanted to know.

“There will be other shows, darning,” he said, brushing his thumb across the screen like it was her forehead.

“…shut up,” she mumbled.

“You know it’s for the best,” he said.  Like something as silly as logic would make up for the fact that she was too sick to travel today.

“Luka,” she whined, dropping her face against the bed and pulling the blanket closer.

He settled back against the bench with a sigh, dropping his head against the cool glass window behind him as he let her cry it out.  He hated it, too.  He wanted to be there with her – he should be there with her.  Making her crappy canned soup and holding her hair back while she threw up and clapping her back when she got too congested.  You know, the sick stuff you did when your better half was too ill to be much more than a bed burrito.

…but he’d been travelling for about a month now.  Working on the new album.  Prepping for the next tour.  Bouncing between studios to collaborate with old friends.  He had a few shows lined up over the next two weeks, and then he’d be home for about a month before the summer tour started.

She’d been busy, too.  With a few needy high-demand clients and a charity event that all meant she hadn’t been able to travel much with him.  He was only two hours away tonight, but she had diligently been keeping that night clear on her calendar so she could meet up with him.  Grab some dinner before the show.  Grab some time after before the bus had to roll out the next day.

They’d both been looking forward to it.  It was the only thing that had kept him sane at some points over the past month.

…but she’d been pushing herself too hard.  Like she always did.  And Jocelyn’s allergies had been acting up, until Jocelyn had texted her about five days back saying it wasn’t allergies.  And then Marinette’s cold wasn’t just a cold, and she was fine.  She honestly was.  They’d been lucky.

…but it still wasn’t safe for her to travel.  She didn’t want to risk getting others sick, but more than that she wasn’t strong enough yet.  He wouldn’t let her.  As much as he wanted to see her, he didn’t want her to stress herself making the trip just to relapse.

“I’ll see you in two weeks,” he said, rubbing the screen again.  “It’ll go by in a flash.  And you’ll be feeling worlds better, and I can play you whatever you want –”

“You know it’s not the concert I’m upset about,” she moaned, raising her head to glare at him.  “I miss you, you idiot.”

It would have been more effective if she hadn’t started coughing in the middle of it.

“It’s a little bit the concert,” he teased, smiling softly.  Hoping to make her smile.  It wavered when she just glared balefully at him.  “Admit it: you needed the night out.”

“What I needed was a night in,” she whined.  She looked away as she started coughing again, and when she turned back the blanket was bunched up so only her weary eyes were visible.  “With my husband.  The past week in doesn’t count.”

“I know, darning,” he said.  “I need a night in, too.  But I need you to be safe more.”

“I was safe,” she grumped.  “Stupid Joce and her stupid not-allergies.”

“You love her, too,” he said.  She hummed, and he knew she didn’t mean it.  Besides, Jocelyn was already beating herself up enough over this.  “You look ready to drop, Mari.  Go back to bed for me?”

“I am in bed,” she mumbled.

“Sleep,” he insisted.  “I’ll check in before the show.  And after.  No encores tonight, I promise.”

“I love your encores,” she sighed.  She giggled, and it would have made him feel better if it hadn’t turned into another coughing fit.  “Remember…remember Jay’s face when you did My Marinette Is My Only Family?”

He did.  His dad hadn’t been able to finish the song, he’d been laughing so hard.

Good times.

“I’ll save them for when I’m home, then,” he chuckled.  He brought his phone up to his mouth and kissed the camera.  “Please, darning.  Take care of yourself.”

“I hate this,” she whined.  He swallowed.

“Me, too,” he said.  Her hand slipped, until she was barely in the screen and most of what he was seeing was their ceiling.

“Play my song for me?” she asked.  He nodded, though he wasn’t sure she saw it.

“Every night,” he said, chuckling.  He’d been touring long enough that she knew it was his closing number in every set.  “Get some rest.  I’ll be home before you know it.”

It was for the best.  They both knew that.

It didn’t make it hurt any less when he took the stage that night and she wasn’t waiting for him in the wings.

[skaruresonic]

Honestly, it feels like a lot of this mandate discourse is just a natural consequence of Sega trying its darn best to organize nearly three decades of confusing, conflicting Sonic media. Like, we know they were comfortable letting Archie kill off Robotnik in the original comic, but still considered Sally popular enough for the franchise to demand her ressurection, even though that was not a character they came up with. It really feels like they had no idea how to control their IP and just went with what stuck to the wall in the 90's and 00's, which culminated with that infamous lawsuit case.

It's good that they now have a specific team that oversees how Sonic the Hedgehog is used and portrayed (which is an industry standard nowadays), but since the fandom is already used to wildly divergent interpretations of the IP, it may take a long while to accept those guidelines (I'm assuming they didn't exist or were not seriously enforced before).

Honestly, it feels like a lot of this mandate discourse is just a natural consequence of Sega trying its darn best to organize nearly three decades of confusing, conflicting Sonic media.

Which is a fool's errand. This is why I'm always stressing the games as the core canon: if you ignore all offshoot media (and I mean all of it) and focus solely on the games, then a lot of confusion automatically clears up. The games are actually fairly solid about explaining themselves and tying up loose ends. It's only when you consider everything canon that things get dicey.

Of course, that's not to say the games handle everything perfectly. I feel Knuckles' character in particular has been rather inconsistent across the years. But even then, it's not like he changes so incredibly drastically that I might as well say he has no character at all. The latter approach, that throwing the baby out with the bathwater, is what we tend to deal with.

When others muck up the canon, it's always SoJ who are to blame. And while I don't agree with Iizuka's current, rather naive approach of unifying everything because I feel like he's trying to ingratiate the series to bad-faith actors, I also can't begrudge him too much. We're marinating in a fan culture desperate to make Sonic anything and everything but itself.

---

It's good that they now have a specific team that oversees how Sonic the Hedgehog is used and portrayed (which is an industry standard nowadays), but since the fandom is already used to wildly divergent interpretations of the IP, it may take a long while to accept those guidelines (I'm assuming they didn't exist or were not seriously enforced before).

Honestly, I feel like a lot of this aversion stems from an allergy to the games on the basis that they're embarrassing. The mainstream has made it painfully uncool to like Sonic games, therefore we have to move as far away from the games' "cringe" as possible. So then you have comic book and film and SatAM fans swearing up and down their offshoot media du jour is so much better and more fleshed-out than the games. Of course they're going to chafe at the notion of making their preferred niche more like something they actually hate. Maybe it's the game purist in me, but I have no idea why anyone would feasibly want to consider everything canon, because the immediate consequence of that is trying to fit square pegs into round holes, which just doesn't sound fun. It sounds like work. In addition, more often than not it's the games universe that gets retooled to fit the offshoot media, not the other way around. The cold hard reality is that the offshoot media would have to change on such a fundamental level to even begin to fit into the games, it might as well be something new entirely. And complete change is a risk many people just aren't willing to take, as Daniel Barnes illustrated with his tweet about Sally.

Not to mention the constant disappointment that would entail: Rally4Sally needs to hang up its hat because it's been three literal decades at this point, not because Sega's dangling her in our faces just out of reach. They already did their job in making Archie revive her. She's had her time in the sun.

My personal attitude towards the matter is that there isn't as much confusion and inconsistency in the games as people say; rather, the problem tends to be a lack of good faith and literacy.

Yes, literacy. There's a lack of critical thought about what happens in Sonic games because many people either paint their own version over it, or else assume nothing of importance happens because Sonic Games Are For Kids(tm).

That may sound harsh, but considering I frequently find myself explaining the most basic plot points screenshot-by-screenshot, I'm inclined to think there's a shortage of understanding somewhere. Most of the games are largely self-contained pieces of work. Some build on previous entries, such as Adventure-Adventure 2 and Battle-Advance 3, but I don't need any given Sonic game to do that in order to enjoy it; I just need it to be a good story on its own merits. The references are just nice cherries on top. It shouldn't be the main dish to the detriment to all other parts of storytelling.

This might also be a side effect of me getting older, but I find I don't really care about the nitty-gritty like I used to. "How come ShTH shows a whole moon in the opening cutscene when it was destroyed in SA2?" Well, aside from later games establishing that Sonic's world has two moons (therefore it's not an inconsistency), it's a detail not worth stressing about when the moon doesn't factor into the game at all. It doesn't play into the game's themes of moral agency. It's not like Shadow goes on a mission to repair the moon or anything.

To be frank, many "inconsistencies" fans point out instead imply a basic failure to understand the fundamentals of storytelling. Gerald's original motives for the Eclipse Cannon are meant to be ambiguous in SA2; we're meant to ponder the question because anxiety about WMD development was rife back in the early aughts. Shadow is not inconsistent, he's always been a little aggressive. Mania's place in the timeline becomes a lot clearer when you recall how, in Generations, Classic Robotnik decided to "dedicate the rest of his life to forgetting" Modern Eggman's failures and therefore rewrote history. Thus Robotnik dug up the Phantom Ruby earlier than he "should" have.

But nowadays, it's like everything that doesn't receive an immediate and concrete answer gets painted as an "inconsistency." CinemaSins style "critique" coupled with anti-games bias makes games discussion a huge headache.

[dancedance-resolution]

please never apologize for anything ever i love how your brain works. one should always wonder about how good christmas lights work as cuffs. just in case. also, lena pants allergy? is she… allergic to pants??

indeed indeed, such considerations are a crucial part of the holiday season, thank you anon for agreeing o7

the pants allergy fic was one of my favorites for a hot minute heheheh! it's so fucking fun. i'm going to put some (unfinished/unpolished!) excerpts + the premise of the plot beneath the cut :) i think i am actually going to turn this fic into two chapters so that i can finish and post the first half of it soon, bc it's so fun and i love it so much.

spoilers for the fic beneath the cut!

It was five p.m. when Kara finally got out of the Phantom Zone. A hazy sunset, blurred by watery eyes. Warm.

She moved in with Alex and Kelly that night.

Well, not exactly. She’d tried to spend her first night back in her apartment, sleeping alone in her own bed as if nothing had happened. Yeah, but, see, that lasted all of twenty minutes. (Night terrors are a fucking bitch, okay?)

So then she was set up in Alex and Kelly’s guest room. Which was good, because, people! If she dreamt of phantoms circling her again, or found herself overcome with that cold cold, or couldn’t stop fucking thinking about it all—she had people there. People there to make her not alone. To entertain her need to turn on all the lights in the apartment, even though it’s one in the morning and they both know she has x-ray vision. To put their hand on her back and just breathe with her until her heart stops pounding so rapidly and her chest stops feeling so tight.

It was just what Kara needed.

Until day five. Or, rather, technically night six. A night during which Kara was dutifully listening to Britney songs with earbuds, please note, in her own room (well, the guest room) with her door completely closed as she worked through a book of sudoku puzzles to occupy her mind.

And yet.

So yeah, after hearing her sister-in-law make that noise, Kara decided that moving out was probably best.

Which is why she ended up calling Lena bright and early the next morning. Lena, who instantly agreed to let Kara use her spare bedroom and eat whatever food she found in the penthouse (!), even before Kara explained what had prompted her sudden need for a new place to stay.

So, thus began day one of a Super cohabitating with a Luthor.

[So Kara is living with Lena and notices the strangest thing - Lena doesn't wear pants! It's day four of living together when:]

It's like she's in a reverie, standing there like some creepy dofus; examining the freckles whose patterns she's committed to memory in just four short days, the map of stretchmarks just begging to be traced, the textured cellulite she maybe kinda sorts wants to lick--

She's so enraptured by the majesty of thigh before her that she misses the turn of Lena's neck, the tilt of Lena's head to stare at Kara in turn.

"Kara?" she says, her left eyebrow raised coyly as a wry grin tugs at her lips. And, oh, golly, she's, and Kara's been--

"Long day at work, darling?"

Kara sputters. Like, warning, KaraDanvers.exe is not responding!, and geez, did Lena just snort at her? Is she giggling at the brain damage the mere sight of her skin has inflicted upon the Girl of Steel?

She's not sure how embarrassingly long it takes her to squeak out a feeble response. "Y-Your leg..."

"My leg indeed," Lena repeats, unabashedly smirking now, and, and... "Well, what about it?"

Shoot, she's stammering again. The sole surviving daughter of Krypton and she's stammering because her platonic (platonic, Kara, platonic!) best friend keeps showing off her gosh-darn leg. "Um. I, uh," goes the chorus, Rao, until she finally blurts out at near-super speed, "It'sjustthatyouneverwearpants."

"Pants?" Lena echoes after a minute spent processing the jumble of syllables.

Kara's panting now, okay, that's okay, totally okay and normal. There's the pressure of teeth biting down on her lower lip--wait, her teeth, yes, her teeth.

She looks away long enough to muster the courage to explain: "It's--It's just that you, um. It's like you're allergic to pants!"

[Lena invites Kara to sit down on the couch beside her. She explains that she doesn't usually wear pants at home because they're uncomfortable to her. (Yes I am projecting, fuck the sensory experience of pants.)]

In her defense, she's weak. She just got out of the Phantom Zone. Who can blame her mind for wandering? Because, holy Rao, there's only one later of cheap human fabric separating her from the bare skin of Lena's thigh. Jeepers, she can see them in even more detail now, can imagine exactly how she'd trail kisses up from the mole just above Lena's left knee, and--er, wait, no, down from, down from! Ugh, no, kissing upwards probably isn't gal-pal-bestie-roommates behavior. But if she's kissing down Lena's leg, maintaining a respectful distance from her, um, pelvic region of course, that'd be okay, right? Yeah, knees and calves are fair enough territory for platonic friends, sure! Humans get cramps in their calves, you see, so it's actually weirder that Kara hasn't touched Lena's calves before, and--

The touch of Lena's hand against her shoulder finally pulls Kara from the tortuous rabbit hole of thoughts. She tunes in just in time to hear Lena's earnest proclamation:

"I'm so, so sorry, Kara. I didn't realize how uncomfortable I've been making you feel, and--"

"Nononono!" Kara cuts in, alarmingly desperate to stop Lena from thinking she needs to cover up around her. (Should she explore that?) "I'm fine. I'm totally fine! And, I mean, it's your house! Don't force yourself into a pants-induced anaphylaxis on my account."

Lena laughs at the dumb joke, but it sounds more subdued than usual. So Kara reaffirms, "We're good, I promise. I'd let you know if you ever crossed one of my boundaries, and I trust that you'll let me know if I ever cross one of yours. Okay?"

Lena nods, expression warm, lips parted and pretty and pink and--

Kara flees the scene before any more brain damage can occur.

[The next day, Kara arrives home from a Supergirl mission that has her mentally exhausted. She just want to wind down over an episode of trashy TV with Lena. She lands on the balcony, lets herself in, and--]

"Lena. Why are you wearing pants?"

Lena looks squirmy, ducking her head as her cheeks flush (from embarrassment, probably, Rao, screw Kara's big mouth...) "I, um. I just thought it'd be convenient to wear pants, you know, since it's so late."

And... Kara's confused. "Why? You never wear pants when we sleep. And, like, it makes for a warmer cuddle that way, so--"

Kara doesn't realize that Lena's right in front of her, a mere breath away, until she feels the touch of Lena's hand on hers.

"Kara?" she says, gazing up at her with those piercingly sincere green eyes. "It's true that I prefer not to wear pants. 'Allergic to pants,' that's what you called it. If I were home alone right now, I wouldn't be wearing pants."

"Okay..." The gears slowly turn in Kara's head, stopping and starting in little hiccups as Lena begins softly toying with her fingers. "But you weren't wearing pants when I first moved in, even though you weren't home alone."

Lena nods, hums her confirmation. "Mhm. It felt... You being here felt natural. Comfortable. Like an extension of my peace rather than an interloper invading it. I felt like I was safe being vulnerable with you in that way, and I... I guess I wanted it too. I wanted it, wanted to affirm that I really did have a best friend who made me feel so at ease, that even after months apart, I could live with you in pantsless peace." Lena pauses, intertwining their fingers decisively so they're holding hands properly now. 'B-But last night, it was obvious that you were uncomfortable. I'd seen signs of it the days before, of course, but I'd convinced myself that you--"

[Kara's service top "protect Lena at all costs" instincts kick in.] "Baby, no, of course I'm comfortable around you! Pants on or off, I promise. In fact," she continues, and her brain cells are scrambled by the feeling of Lena's hand in hers, and oh, oh no, she's rambling, and-- "I'm so comfortable that you could stop wearing shirts too, and I'd still be fine! Heck," she continues, blabbering on with the speed of Icarus barrelling toward the Sun, "I'd be fine if you wore nothing when we go to bed together tonight!"

(Let the record show that there’s a solid three seconds of silence before Kara’s brain finally processes what she’s just said. A solid three seconds before Kara Danvers realizes Oh.

Oh no.

Because golly! Gosh! And maybe also: Fuck!)

(Kara decides that the best course of action is to: 1. Shut her goddamn mouth, and 2. Look away.)

(Or, well, that’s what she does at least. She can’t truthfully claim that any decision making really went into that reflex.)

And let the record show that there’s an additional two point four seconds of silence between Kara, face aflame with mortification, and her bestie gal pal slash roommate before said bestie gal pal lets out a soft and breathy “Yeah?”

Which. Fuck.

Kara musters up the strength to look at Lena, and. Oh. She seems so small, almost fragile as she stands there fidgeting her lower lip beneath her teeth.

"O-Of course 'yeah', Lena. I promise, I'm never, ever uncomfortable around you." Her words are soft now, soft enough that she has to step closer to make sure Lena can hear them. A pang of tenderness bolts through her chest. "You're perfect. I always feel good when I'm with you."

Kara observes, overwhelmed with affection for this woman, as Lena stands there. She's shuffling around a little, staring at the ground until Kara grasps her hands anew in an effort to calm her.

"What if," Lena starts, and yes, yes, anything-- "What if I wanted your help. Like, um." Kara stares intently at the seam of Lena's lips, watches enraptured as white teeth dig into plump pink. "Like with my clothes. Would you be okay if I asked you for that?"

The confidence is starting to return to Lena's countenance, and Kara would say yes to anything to keep it there. "Of course!" she assures, still a little hazy on what she just agreed to, and--

"Say, I asked you to help me take off these pants."

(Kara's eye twitches.)

"And, um, more, too, maybe. Would you be comfortable with that?"

"Always. Anything for you."

"Here, come with me?" Lena asks, tugging on Kara's hand. She still sounds a little small, a little unsure, and Kara just wants her to feel good again, comfortable again.

So she follows.

They're a few feet down the hall to Lena's bedroom when pauses. "Kara?"

"Yeah, baby?"

"You know you don't have to do any of this. Just say the word, and this would stop. And when we wake up tomorrow morning, we won't have to talk about it. Everything in our friendship would stay the same, stay perfectly fine."

(Distantly, Kara feels confused. Maybe because her powers of super speed apparently don't apply to processing Lena's words when she's so soft and close like this. Maybe because being with Lena right now makes her feel like she's drowning in everything she's ever wanted.)

"I'm okay, Lena. This is--This is good. I just wanna make you feel good, okay?"

Lena nods, motion in her throat like she's swallowing, and squeezes Kara's hands. "Okay," she responds, a the ghost of a smile blooming on her lips.

[Once they're in the bedroom, they start taking off Lena's clothes. Kara's hand unintentionally brushes against Lena's sternum as she unbuttons Lena's night shirt, and Lena's breath hitches. Her eyes dart up to Kara's.]

"Are you okay?" Kara checks in, feeling the full gravity of the moment sink into her flesh. "Tell me if I'm making you uncomfortable, okay?"

"I'm not comfortable."

Kara backs away reflexively, giving Lena some distance. "Oh, shoot, Lena, I'm sorry. What's wrong? What can I do to make you comfortable?" she babbles, backing off the bed until she's standing at its foot. "I can leave, or--"

"No," Lena says. The tone of her voice demands eye contact, and Rao, Kara can't tell if her eyes really do look that steeped in desire or if she's just projecting. "It's not that type of discomfort." She inhales deeply, then shuffles her legs around on the bed. "It's," she explains, spreading her thighs, and--

Oh. Oh.

There is a wet spot in the center of Lena's underwear.

There is a visible wet spot at the center of Lena's underwear.

"I'm not comfortable right now, obviously. I'm too wet for that. And I won't be comfortable until this has, um." She pauses, looking down at her own perfectly parted thighs. "Until this has been taken care of.

"Let me do it," Kara's saying, too loudly, too quickly, too stupidly. "I followed you into our bedroom because I wanted to make you feel good. I... I know what I want. And I know what you want, and I want to give it to you."

She catches her breath, mentally chastising the slip of her tongue--our bedroom, she'd said.

"If you want me to, of course. If it would make you comfortable."

She just barely hears Lena's exhaled "yes" over the hammering thumps of her own heart. "Yes," she says again, firmer this time. "I want you."

[Anyways so that would be the end of chapter 1! And chapter 2 would be...Kara making Lena comfortable 😌].

Thank you anon for sending this in because omg I basically have a finished chapter here? I want to flesh the scenes out a little more, add in the transition scenes obviously, but holy shit! Look what I made! Um, Lena pants allergy fic coming soon to an AO3 near you? LOL

[nawilla]

So, 2024 has continued to suck.

Hopefully none of you remember exactly why last weekend, the first weekend of the new year, was incredibly NOT FUN, let's just say it involved plumbing distress that led to having to pee in the shower and time bowel movements for when I was at work until it was resolved and I spent a day at work hiding in my office so I could be near a toilet for female reasons. It was functionally resolved by Sunday evening (thank deity of choice) and between bleach and scrubbing bubbles cleanup was emotionally difficult but not physically difficult. (Full cleanup of the whole room is ongoing, but it's the basement, so that's okay).

The second weekend of 2024 is a three-day weekend in the US as Monday is a government holiday (MLK Day). It is also a university holiday which is shall we say, not universal in academia. (I finally remembered why it wasn't a holiday at my alma mater. It was because spring semester classes didn't start that early).

In order for me to take a weekday off of a three-day weekend, I still have to get Monday's work done over that weekend for the rest of the week to go smoothly. While I can choose whatever day I do it on, and it's a half-day's work, not a full day's work, it still needs to get done and I'm almost never going to be able to squeeze it in on Friday. This past week, one of my bosses had a meltdown in the animal room due to bad lighting and him probably needing new glasses. Regardless, it put me behind on my own work, so rather than stay at work Friday past 10 pm (and stand on concrete floors and aggravate my plantar fasciitis again, I came into work Saturday morning, worked a good 4ish hours, took an extended lunch break (got writing done, yay) and worked another 4ish hours to get Friday and Monday's work done, so I could take off on Monday. Oh, the things I could do. Some quick shopping. Laundry. Take N the Cat to the vet because apparently, she was hiding feeling under the weather.

On Sunday I get groceries for the first time in 2.5 weeks (plumbing issues last weekend) and notice I'm starting to cough. A lot. Darn, a cough. Could be my allergies. It's been raining a lot which sets them off, and we are also experiencing a cold snap which leads to me huddling on the couch under blankets and N the Cat, which can result in acid reflux due to my prone position for long periods.

In the middle of the night on Sunday, the unrelenting sinus headache hits. OMG. Ow. This is why I was coughing. The allergy meds probably masked it. Also, I'm less cold all of a sudden, which is not a weather reversal, I have a fever. I finally get a weekday off free and clear and I'm fricking sick and my head just won't stop hurting. Mind you, it's tolerable pain. It's not a migraine. It just won't stop. It woke me up from sleep.

The next weekday I will get off from work is March 15th, the last Friday of Spring Break. I will probably not get to take it off because I will still be waiting for people to get their data in Thursday at 6 pm. The university skips a lot of random government holidays to keep the term going and gives us days off between Christmas and New Years instead.

I am not amused with 2024.

[pbandjesse]

I had a weird allergy attack tonight that freaked me out a bit. It almost ruined our little dinner date. Frustrating. But it was fine. Today was fine.

We got back here a little after midnight. My hair felt really dirty but I just took a rinse off shower. And soon me and James were going to sleep.

I woke up a lot last night. I was really cold. And since we didn't get to bed until close to one. Sleeping until 930 want actually sleeping in. Still felt really tired. But I got up. And almost immediately got a phone call from the rheumatologist.

This basically ruined my day for me. I was down for the rest of the day I swear. I thought they were just calling to confirm my remade appointment for Thursday. But no. They were calling to cancel it. Because even though they told me that the in office medication was approved, and they have given it to me once (where I asked multiple times about how it was being paid for) the insurance is now saying they approved the at home kind. You know the one they keep sending me emails and letters telling me they did not approve it. And now my account at the rhumatologist says I have a huge balance. I will not be paying that. That is between them and the insurance in my opinion. They said they are going to keep fighting with them and get the medicine approved. But I'm the meantime I am not getting the second dose and I just felt so defeated.

And I think being so upset just made me want to give up. But I didn't want to give up. I wanted to do stuff. So I told myself I had to do one thing and then I could lay down. But then I just kept saying that. Even though all I wanted was to lay down. I would get up and get dressed. James made the bed and made me an omelette. They told me during breakfast that they have trouble sharing their emotions and every time they make me feel it's them telling me how much they love me. And it made me feel all warm inside.

I worked on my embroidery project. I did tomorrow and the next days as well because I had time. So tomorrow if I have time I'll do the next day. I'm really happy with how everything's looking. Though the one I made today came out a little bigger then I planned but once I put the marker on there wasn't any going back. That's alright. You'll see that tomorrow.

I would work on that the whole time James was out biking. And once they were home I would start going though the fabric Jordan gave me yesterday. James went to do the laundry. And I tried out my darning loom again which went way better. I'm still unsure how to finish it when you take the loom off. So I just sewed it down but it works for now.

After all the fabric was away I still wanted to go to sleep. But instead I set up all the embroidery hoops for the workshop this weekend. Got all the fabric cut and in their hoops and that was good. And I still wanted to sleep.

But instead I started sorting my embroidery floss. This took multiple hours. Sorting the colors. Untangling it. Putting it on little cardboard squares. This is something I should have done a long time ago. But it was overwhelming. Just having them in their own drawer was enough for the last few years. But now it's time to actually clean it up.

So that's what I did. For a long time. Once James was done their laundry and cleaning project (they are actually using the garment rack we got them and putting up their clothes and it just their jackets) they came and helped me do more detangling.

Eventually though my back hurt and I laid in bed. I did want to sleep. But James said they wanted to take me out to dinner.

My allergies were really bugging me and I was sneezing a lot. But I thought it would be okay. I laid in bed and forced myself to stay awake. Sweetp laid with me and that was nice. But at 5 I got up and washed my face. And even though I didn't feel great me and James headed out.

We went to brass tap. Which I always enjoy but my allergies were really bad still. I enjoyed the walk over. But for some reason I was still falling apart.

We got matching sandwiches. Except James's had meat on it. And I did really have a nice time sitting with James and talking about stuff. But my allergies were getting worse and my nose and eyes hurt. I got a little snippy at once point when all of a sudden I was hurting. I apologized but I felt bad about it still.

I didn't take all the pickled onions off of my sandwich (white onions make me feel bad but I don't have an anaphylactic reaction too) and apparently that was a mistake and I started wheezing and coughing and I told James I just needed to go home. They went to get the bill. And we headed out of there.

I was wheezing a little on the walk home. But the cold air helped. And while I'm still sneezing I don't feel as hurt and upset.

When we got back I left my phone plugged in so I could focus on other stuff. I went and dyed my hair. I mixed the brown glaze with green and blue manic panic. And while I let that set I continued to sort my embroidery thread.

I got a text from our big boss at the museum, Beth, with a possible commission for en embroidery project! So that's exciting. My practice is already going to be leading to some work. I even learned a new stitch today that I think would be perfect for this. So I hope we can work out the details. It would be embroidering words for a gift. On a quilt. So fingers crossed.

It took me a while to wash my hair but I think it looks really nice. And I cut my bangs. Maybe a little short but I like seeing my eyebrows sometimes. Which I also cleaned up tonight. Feel kind of cute.

James had dnd when we got home. And they are done that now. And we are getting ready for sleep. They are very tired. I am too. I feel a little dehydrated so I'm going to get a drink and continue to coo at how cute Sweetp is being. And get some rest.

I hope I feel less sad and sleepy tomorrow. I have a busy day. And me and James may go see a movie tomorrow night. It has been years since I've been in a movie theater. So we'll see if that works out.

I hope you have a good day tomorrow. Take care of each other. Goodnight!!

[tamerajedwards]

Well darn it! I had to cancel another day of work. I just don’t go out in this weather with cold air asthma. This is too extreme. My doctor said to avoid triggers at all costs. I’ll never forget when my airways closed up walking into a Carrie Underwood concert 5 years ago. The temperature was under 20 degrees in October. I thought I was going to die. I instinctively asked my bf at the time if I cold put my face inside his jacket and warm the air that was coming into my nose and mouth and my airways opened up and we walked as quickly as we could into Well Fargo Arena. I was so scared 😳 that I couldn’t enjoy the concert. That’s when I knew I had cold air asthma. What a life changing experience. People really don’t understand until it happens to them. Now I have inhalers, the Tezspire shot, masks and scarves. 🧣 My tribe are all the people I see every week at the allergy shot clinic who have severe allergies and asthma. We talk and understand each other. Makes me not feel so alone. Anyhow it’s upsetting to miss work so yes it is officially a disability listed under the ADA. I miss most of my days of work during the winter. 🥶 Some schools are so accommodating like 4- Mile Elementary (Thank you 4-Mile!) who work around my disability and trade my duties for me. Others not so much! I get glares and eye rolling. 🙄 I had a principal in another district ask me not to sub at his elementary if I couldn’t do recess duty, so I left. He won’t get it until one day he is disabled from some kind of ailments. Everyone usually gets a disability at some point. Anyway there’s my story. I’ve got things to do at home anyway today. Pray 🙏 for warmer weather! I want to see my grandson’s concert tonight.

#asthma #coldairasthma #disabilty

[web99official]

Aussie Brands: Social Proof with User-Generated Content

Hey there, folks! We’re about to spill the beans on how Aussie brands win hearts using user-generated content (UGC). It’s like when your buddy tells you about a cool thing they tried and loved. Yep, that’s the magic we’re talking about!

User-generated content (UGC) is like a secret weapon for content marketers when used right. Savvy marketers have caught onto the UGC trend, and it’s no surprise why. The Nielsen Consumer Trust Index spills the beans –92% of consumers trust natural, user-created content more than those old-school ads.

Check this out: Curata did some digging and found that content marketers often sing the same tune – not having enough time and resources. Well, here’s where UGC swoops in to save the day. It can save your team time and money and boost your reputation by letting users create content for you. It’s like getting a range helping hand from the crowd.

But how can you leverage UGC for your marketing strategy in Australia? Here are some tips and examples to inspire you.

Why It's Gold in Australia?

You might wonder why this UGC stuff works so darn well Down Under. Here’s the scoop: Aussies have an allergy to BS. They want the real deal – no fluff, no frills. When they see someone like them raving about a product, it’s like getting a recommendation from a cobber over a cold one. It’s trustworthy, it’s genuine, and it’s as Aussie as a snag sizzle.

Picture This: Aussie Trust Boosters

Imagine scrolling through your social media and spotting a regular Aussie, all smiles, while showing off a product from a local brand. They’re talking about it like they found a treasure, and you can’t help but feel curious. That’s UGC doing its thing, showing that real people love a product.

The Tag Team: Reviews, Posts, and Influencers

Customer Reviews: Think of these as online high-fives. You’re thinking of buying some snazzy shoes, and you see many people saying, “These are the comfiest shoes ever!” It’s like having your friends vouch for a good time at a party – you trust them.A bunch of Aussies, 87% to be exact, read reviews before they shop, according to some clever folks at Bright Local. So, brands, if you’ve got great reviews, show them off like a medal.

User-Generated Posts:User-generated posts are any social media posts that mention or tag your brand, such as photos, videos, stories, or tweets. User-generated posts can help you increase your brand awareness, engagement, and reach and showcase your brand personality and community. You can encourage your customers to create and share user-generated posts by creating a branded hashtag, running a contest or giveaway, or offering incentives or rewards.This is like a fantastic scrapbook made by Aussies for Aussies. Brands are asking everyday folks to share their adventures with their products. Imagine someone showing off their new surfboard or a cool kitchen gadget they love – it’s like getting recommendations from pals. Brands like Aesop and Lorna Jane do this well. It’s like you’re seeing your mates having a blast.

Influencer Friends: Influencers are like those cool cousins who always know the best stuff. Brands team up with them to show their products naturally. You know that feeling when a friend tells you, “This cafe has the best coffee”? That’s influencer magic!

Imagine an influencer you like showing off a brand they love. It’s like getting advice from someone in the know.

You can partner with influencers by sending them free products to review, sponsoring their posts or stories, or co-creating content with them. For example, Bondi Sands, an Australian self-tanning brand, has partnered with various influencers in the beauty and lifestyle niche, such as Kylie Jenner, Tammy Hembrow, and Sarah’s Day. It also features influencer posts on its Instagram account, product information and discounts.

Web99 pro tips: Why Aussies Love It

So, why does this UGC thing work so well in Australia? Because Aussies dig realness. They’re not into fancy ads; they want to know if something’s worth it. When they see a regular Aussie enjoying a product, it’s like hearing a trusted mate’s opinion.

If you’re searching for a trustworthy agency specialising in web design and digital marketing to help you make the most of user-generated content for your business, look no further than Web99. They offer customised software development, e-commerce website design, and digital marketing services that can help enhance your online presence.

In a Nutshell: Trust the People

To summarise, Aussie brands are onto a winner with user-generated content. Reviews, user posts, and influencer pals make customers feel like they’re getting advice from friends. It’s not just about selling – it’s like sharing a secret with your best mate.

So, Aussie brands, go for it! Embrace UGC, shout about those happy customers, and collaborate with local influencers. Like a true-blue mate, your brand will become a buddy that people trust. Cheers to building trust, one UGC story at a time!

[tj-crochets]

Hey y’all, I’m on like three different kinds of allergy meds daily and I still woke up covered in hives. Do you have any home hive remedies that don’t involve essential oils? I have nothing against essential oils, but they make me wheeze

[oh-no-my-hand-slipped]

Now hear me out,

Healer/doctor Character getting induced and not knowing what to do about it. ;)

A T-Shirt Among Friends

“Snf…snnnf…!”

Gary fumbled with his nose, trying not to spill the contents of the beaker he was holding onto himself.

Though he had spent much of the day in the lab, a quick breath of fresh air had proved disastrous - unbeknownst to him, the pollen count was at a record high.

“Whatcha workin’ on, doc?”

Gary jumped, almost dropping the beaker. His teammate, Tye, had once again snuck up behind him, and was surveying his handiwork with a grin.

“O-oh! I, um, was trying new fuel mixture. With any luck, it should be…a…”

Gary’s nostrils quivered.

“More…effeh-!”

“Somethin’ up your snout, doc?” Tye said, seeming more amused than concerned.

Gary blinked, snuffled, then rubbed his nose with a gloved finger. His eyes were pricked with itchy tears.

“Snf…just a bild allergy. An inflamed nasal passage and congestion, quite treatable with…hih…!”

Gary pressed his knuckle to his nostrils, squeezing one eye shut. But no matter how hard he concentrated, he couldn’t help but lose it again.

“Guh…darn it.”

Tye chuckled. “Man, that sneeze is stuck in there. You got any - I don’t know, sneeze potion or something laying around?”

“Dothing that cobes to mih-mind,” Gary said, his elbow at the ready.

Tye pursed his lips, skimming over the scientist’s desk.

“There’s gotta be something around here…oh ho, that’ll do it!”

He reached over and plucked a long cotton swab from a nearby container, waving it in the air like a wand.

“This oughta do the trick. Open wide, doc!”

Gary, too dazed to say no, slowly lifted his head to show his inflamed nostrils. Tye began to rub the cotton swab up and down Gary’s septum.

“Alright, think sneezy thoughts!”

“I’b t-trying…gih…!”

Pepper, fur, feathers, cold air on a winter day, flowers blooming…

Tye began to move the swab inside the nose, moving in small circles. Gary gasped, feeling his nostrils flare farther than they had ever had.

“C’mon, doc, just a little more…”

Gary, instead of fumbling for a handkerchief, gripped the edge of his work table, putting every ounce of effort into his nose. His eyebrows furrowed, his eyes squeezed shut, and his chest heaved with every hitch. Tye moved the swab in wider motions.

“It’s really stuck in there, huh?”

Gary tried to speak, but between his streaming nose and every part of him bracing, he could only gasp out a few syllables.

“G-gudda…gahah-!”

Suddenly, the scientist gripped both sides of Tye’s leather jacket, leaning into the now soaking cotton swab. The swab jabbed into the most sensitive part of his sinuses. Gary’s nostrils fluttered, and he pitched forward into Tye’s white t-shirt.

“HIYESH’SHIIIIIIIIIIEW! HI’SHIIIIEW!”

It was only when Gary leaned back to take a breath did he realize that the swab was still in his nose, kept their by the mucus that hadn’t sprayed out of his nose. His nostril twitched, and he was soon buried in Tye’s shirt again, which hadn’t stayed so white.

“I’m not gonna bless you every time,” Tye said, not at all bothered by his front being used as a tissue. “We’d be here all day, eh?”

When Gary came up for air again, Tye plucked the swab out of his nose, leaving a string of mess.

“Feel better, doc?”

Gary snuffled. “Guh…”

“I’m gonna take that as a yes. Here-”

Tye took of his jacket, tied it around his waist, and took of his stained t-shirt with one hand. He held it out to Gary.

“You need this a lot more than I do.”

Before Gary could refuse, a sudden hitch made him grab the garment.

“HYETTTTCH’CHIIIIIIEW!”

“Jesus, bless you. That was a big one.”

Tye chuckled.

“Just tell me if you need another one of those. I got a million of ‘em in my closet.”

“Th-thang…HYESH’SHIIIIEW!”

“Eh, I gotta get rid of ‘em anyway. Besides, I don’t think a few squares of toilet paper is gonna cut it for that nose.”

Tye tightened the jacket around his waist and walked off, leaving Gary at the end of his sneezing fit. The t-shirt reeked of cologne and sweat - anyone’s nose would burn, allergies or not.

Gary smiled, put his nose deep into the cotton polymer, and took a deep breath in.

Nothing got done in the lab that day.

[thedevillionaire]

Ahhh! 2 and 12 for the delicious Cerberus if you would, please! ❤️

2. If your OC has allergies, when and how did they discover them?

He’s been well aware of his dust allergy sensitivity (ahem) for a long time. Since mortal years, I’d say. He doesn’t consider it an allergy proper because it doesn’t affect him as intensely or as long as birchbark does, but…yeah, he’s wrong. It affects him intensely enough, reliably enough, and sometimes he’s just stupidly stubborn about this sort of thing, lol And speaking of birchbark… He was slow to recognise this as an allergy due to such infrequent exposure that it just didn’t feature as a memorable thing at all. However, there is absolutely no denying of the effects here – there’s no hoping for mere sensitivity here, this does damage. He’s convinced it’s worsened post getting icestruck as well, and I’m inclined to agree. It definitely shifted into a broader allergy to silver birch after that. Burning birchbark is still far and away the most intense allergen for him, but the tree in general is entirely bad news for him. Gee, gosh, darn, such a shame and all that. 😉

12. Are there any special circumstances that will almost always result in your OC getting sick?

He’s got a great constitution, really, and even the most likely thing to exacerbate illness – extended exposure to very cold temperatures/weather – isn’t a guarantee that he’ll get anything more notable than a bit of a chill. He’s very good at almost but not really catching cold in this sort of circumstance – like, he’ll be sniffly and sneezy for maybe a day, but it won’t shift into an actual, proper cold. However. If the aforementioned exposure deal is coupled with excessive unwanted social interaction? That’d probably do it. His equilibrium wouldn’t be balanced enough to shake off what would otherwise be just a chill, if that. Things would be quite possibly…tipped.

[seesgood]

being sick in a “post” pandemic world is crazy bc my cold is bad enough that im obviously recovering from being sick, but not so bad that i can’t work, so i’m at work and every time i cough i have to follow it up with BOY OH BOY THESE COLDS SURE ARE ROUGH!! DARN ALLERGIES!! SILLY COLD, GOOD THING MY COVID TEST WAS NEGATIVE HAHA and people still look at me as if they want to spray me with lysol

[railroad-migraine]

Could I request some hcs of the EXU crew reacting to a Dragon!Rider reader who comes from a completely different continent where it’s semi-common for select Humans to psychically bond with a Dragon and become partners for life? Most of the time the Dragon’s pretty lazy but affectionate with the reader but when a fight breaks out it turns into a flying whirlwind of claws, fangs and flaming breath.

👀 Sounds like a cool idea!!

Requests are open!

~ Poet

Dariax

Was so wary of your fire breathing companion at first - because of the mutual dislike for each other with Little Mister, Dariax was worried your dragon wouldn't like him either and he'd constantly have a scaly beast keeping him from getting to know you.

But one day while he was on watch with you, the dragon set its heavy head on his knee and let out a puff of air in a sigh, and the sweet dwarf fell head over heels for it.

If you ever offered him a ride in the skies, you'll find he's already on the harness, strapping himself in and asking you how to steer a dragon. He thinks you're so awesome and wants to learn to be like you - who knows, maybe one day he'll find one of his own!

Dorian

It's his first encounter with any dragon outside of storybooks he's read throughout childhood - thought he was seeing things when you introduced your companion to him, and actually rubbed his eyes because wow, dragons do exist? What?? And you have a deep, emotional bond that ties you to its will???

Is a little jumpy around your mount, but he's in constant denial. After a hike through some fields, the dragon's allergies must have been triggered and it kept sneezing on and off for about an hour. Dorian kept yelping, half expecting the crops surrounding you guys to catch fire. He's not keen on his outfit or hair being singed.

However, he won't deny how handy it is to have a dragon in your party. It makes him feel a bit more secure about journeys on the road. And campfires are so much easier to light now.

Fearne

Fire familiar play dates galore! Your dragon and Mister get on brilliantly, and Fearne feels like the proudest mama when they play nice together. Sometimes they get a little rowdy with their play fighting, which often result in scorch marks on floors and walls, but they're so darn cute together they rarely are scolded.

One time when you were up in the air, you felt a little tug around your waist - looking down, you saw Mister had mounted with you and had his little monkey arms wrapped around you, letting his tongue flop out of his mouth in the wind like a dog with its head out the window.

Fearne admires the feral nature and dangerous side to your dragon as much as she appreciates the adorableness. On more than one occasion, she (polymorphed as a direwolf) and your dragon have fought in perfect harmony in battle - it's in these moments that she learns so much about herself. Oh, and what's the most efficient way to tear a baddie to shreds :)

Opal

Has little to no fear of the dragon, and immediately goes in for a belly rub. It's scaly, and that fact alone reminds her of that fey gator she thinks of fondly from time to time - she's relieved that it's friendly enough that she doesn't have to tie it up.

Loves the lazy nature of this seemingly ferocious beast. She'll cuddle up into its side when you guys have set up camp (cause it's like a living furnace and it's cold outside), and gives it so many chin scritches. At some point you remind her that it is in fact a dragon and not a big dog. She waves a hand at you and continues to baby your fire breathing, killing machine.

You've noticed that whenever Opal yawns, your dragon does too. It's a pattern that started only recently, and at times you can't actually tell which one is copying the other. Nevertheless, it's weird, endearing, and it makes the others laugh. Opal doesn't get what's so funny.

Orym

Fascinated is a word to describe the halfling fighter of the group. A majestic beast of destruction and strength has bonded to one of his party members - it's the stuff of legends, and yet you hop on its back with such grace and ease he almost stands in shock.

Your dragon probably likes Orym's company best - he's quiet, observant, and keeps to himself. He's the perfect companion to lean into after a tough fight, or sit with while on watch. Sometimes when you're falling asleep on your bedroll, you can faintly hear the halfling murmuring to your familiar, telling stories or just insights from the day. Your dragon can only understand a little Common, but it's the thought that counts.

Politely declines your offer to fly for a portion of your journey - as the shortest party member, he thinks it's best that he stays as close to the ground as possible.

[just-absolutely-super]

Dark Megaman sees Colonel/Protoman, but no Lan. Why? He can't just ask them, so he stalks them. You know in case they're planning to ruin his evil plans. They most likely are going to meet Lan now. Better keep an eye on them. And it's not like he wants to see Lan.

But Colonel/Protoman is not meeting up with Lan, nor does it look like they planning something. It looks like they're doing errands. And after that they ended up meeting withbtheir own netops, not Lan.

Are they plotting something big since their own netops are here? Why did do errands? And where the frick is Lan?

Dark Megaman needs to find out. It is of course to make sure his own evil plans won't be thwarted, not because he's worried about Lan now. That's not it at all.

Where is Lan you ask? He's home with a cold, so Colonel/Protoman spent the time he was ill with their netop instead.

Dark Mega uses the absence of Proto and Colonel to check on Lan at home (not that he’s WORRIED or anything shut up!)

And he sees he has a cold and he starts freaking out

How dare Protoman and Colonel leave Lan alone while he’s in bed sick!

He could DIE any minute!

(No he’s not crying at the thought he has Cyber Allergies darn it!)

So to vent out his anger and worry, he sends HeelNavis to ambush Protoman and Colonel as revenge for leaving Lan but hides in the shadows, because it’s not time for him fight directly yet

They easily beat them but no matter, they got the message and one of them goes back to check on Lan

That’s teach them for leaving his sick brother!

(No, he doesn’t still care about his old NetOp why does everyone keep saying that?!)

[woah-another-tankmen-account]

Cold war, Steves turn to suffer: a tankmen sickfic!

(A/N: WADDUP DUMMIES- IF YOU WANNA READ THE FIRST PART OF THIS FIC CHECK THIS OUT! NOW ENJOY BC MAMAS TIRED AND WANTS TO GET SOME SLEEP- LOVE YOU MY CHERRIES! :>)

“Ay, Sleeping beauty, if I’m up you should be up as well, bozo..” Steve grunted, picking Caprain up from the floor and shaking him awake.

“..Aww, and whats got you’re attitude in a knot? Wake up on the wrong side of the bed, Bud?” Captain replied, teasingly winking at Steve. Pushing him away and getting out of bed.

Steve gave a sarcastic smirk before walking out of the door and into the common room where all the Tankmen usually hang out when there’s nothing better to do. Luckily for him, nobody was there. Steve plopped onto the couch and immediately tried going back to sleep.

After a while, John walked into the common room after Steve and sat next to him.

“Lemme guess.. Ya got sick, didn’t ya, Steve?”

“What, no.. we’ll technically yes but it’s probably just my allergies or some crap!”

“And sense when have you had allergies?”

“Sense now…”

John chuckled at that comment, looking the other direction.

“You got me, didn’t you?-“

“Yep.. sure did, Cap..”

Captain John Sighed, feeling Steve’s forehead, Yep, Steve was in fact sick.

“Alright Alright.. I’m sorry! The medic gave us one more day so relax, I’ll take care of things from here!” John insisted, playfully patting Steve’s head. Steve stuck his tongue out and made his iconic weird annoyed sounding noises.

“Fine Fine, I’ll go-“

John tucked in Steve with a random blanket he found on the floor (it was probably sniper’s but who cares this ain’t about him-) and went into the kitchen to make Steve some soup.

Captain wasn’t really made for cooking, the only thing he really knew how to make was probably something along the lines of undercooked Mac N cheese but at least he puts in the effort. He let out a frustrated “Ugh” as he walked into the kitchen, grabbing the ingredients for the soup he was gonna make for Steve. He started piecing together the ingredients and SOMEHOW managed to make something edible. John walked into the common room to find Steve, fast asleep on the couch. John chuckled, walking up to the couch and sitting next to the poor soul.

“Steveee, wakey wakey- I worked hard to make this for you ya know-“

“i know i know... Just.. 5 more minutes, mom..“

John looked at Steve with a confused expression. “Mom” was the last thing he’d expect to be called but here we are.

“Well, Honey, if you don’t get up you’re gonna be late for school.” John said sarcastically, jokingly shaking Steve awake.

Steve drowsily blinked a few times before fully waking up, he looked at Captain, who was still towering over him with his confused expression he had.

“Wha..? what happened…. Did I do somethin’..?” Steve asked, still a bit dizzy.

“Well- Uhh-“

“Uhh what..?- you know I don’t speak bumbling idiot…”

“You.. pfft- Called me Mom-“

And with those simple words, Steve got up and walked away, blushing.

“PFFT- WAIT WAIT WAIT WHERE ARE YOU GOING??-“

“ALASKA!”

“ITS FASTER IF YA TAKE THE TANK-“

“…..”

“AAAAAAAAAAAH-“

Steve plopped unto the floor, still screaming in frustration. John started to laugh but immediately stopped himself, we walked over to Steve and picked him up. He plopped Steve back on the couch and looked over him. Steve stuck his tongue out in embarrassment, giving him an annoyed look.

“Aw Cmon don’t be like that, don’t give me that look, Stevee-“

“I hate you, ya know that cap?”

“I guess you don’t want the soup I made ya then-“

Steve perked up a bit, smiling.

“You finally made something edible? Ain’t that just surprising!” Steve chimed, immediately sitting up.

“Imma pretend I didn’t hear that- Now here, eat-“ Captain demanded, passing Steve the soup.

Steve happily ate the soup, still surprised that Captain was able to finally make something consumable for once. It was a bit bitter but He wasn’t complaining.

“T-Thanks Cap, Sorry you have to put up with me all the time..”

“You don’t have to apologize, ya dummy! I actually find your antics pretty darn entertaining..”

Steve blushed, looking away and covering his face with his hoodie (which was probably a bad idea because he never washed it because he wore it all the time and it began to smell like blood, sweat, and regret over time but we’ll get into that another day)

In couple of seconds Steve managed to finish the soup and Captain took the bowl into the kitchen to wash it.

Hours passed and some of the soldiers made it back from the war zone, the group of soldiers containing the medic that helped Captain when he was sick the other day, Sniper, and Tankgirl.

“Hey, Steve! How’ve you and Captain been holdin up, things were pretty serious the other day..” The medic said, taking off his helmet and putting on the common room floor.

“Not too bad, Doc.. Cap’s doing better but I’ve gotten a bit..hehh..” Steve stopped in middle of his response, hitching a bit.

“HEH..HEH’CHU!” Steve sneezed into his blanket, sniffling. “I’ve been starting to feel a bit sick myself, Doc..”

“Oh, you poor dear! Are you here by yourself?”

“N-Nope.. Cap’s taking care of me.. he just went to go wash the dishes or somethin…” Steve replied, rubbing his nose with the blanket.

“We’ll ok then, Buddy.. Get well soon! I’ll tell the others not to bother you, also you might wanna hide your little diary some where else-“

“What.. why?-“

“We’ll you didn’t hear this from me but I think Sniper stole your diary-“

“Imma pretend I didn’t hear that-“

“Sorry Sorry! I shouldn’t have told you at this time!! You just get some rest!”

“Thanks Doc..”

And just like that, Steve’s day was 10 times worse, at least he didn’t have anything to personal in that diary anyway, the real tea was in his vent journal (but that’s another story for another day-)

Steve looked the other direction and drifted back to sleep.

Hours past and John continued to take care of Steve, making sure His fever goes down, slipping a few medications in the tea he made him, all the nine yards. Soon it was at least 3:00 at night and all of the soldiers were asleep except for him. Captain Yawned, sitting on the floor next to where Steve was sleeping. He soon started to doze off and fall fast asleep, Steve holding onto His hand in his sleep.

The sun shined in from the common room window, disturbing Steve’s slumber he looked over to several notes on the coffee table, most labeled “Get well soon” while one was labeled “Payback” and the other labeled “For the person who makes dumb decisions”

He read the note labeled “For the person who makes dumb decisions”realizing it was from none other than Captain John. He started to note aloud in this head

“Hey, Ya big goof! If you’re readin’ than

Your probably up earlier that I expected since I’m not telling you this in person.. But that’s all well and dandy! I just wanted to tell you that I’m glad you’re possibly feeling better (if not then I’m going to beg you with a Tylenol bottle with no hesitation-) and that I care about you! Don’t ever think that I don’t! I know things have been hard but don’t worry, you always got a home here at the base - Yours Truly, John.”

Steve smiled putting the note in his pocket and then reaching for the one that was simply labeled “Payback,” that read

“Revenge for my blanket, bozo” with a crumbled piece of paper from Steve’s diary.

“Another day in paradise…”

[yungidreamer]

A Sprinkle of Love

Prompts: (from the Walking in a Winter Wonderland Collaboration) 

“From afar I’ve loved you, but never let it show. And every year another December comes and goes.” - Kelly Clarkson (Wrapped in Red)

“You’re here where you should be. Snow is falling as the carolers sing.” - Kelly Clarkson (Underneath the Tree)

Wordcount: 3.6k

Summary: Mingi has been in love with his neighbor across the street since she first moved in. Sadly, he’s never gotten up the confidence to do much more than stare at her longingly. But maybe, with a little Christmas magic, and with the help of some sweets, he can get the gift he has really been pining for... her heart.

Content warnings: None, this is pretty much pure fluff. Mingi is a nervous and adorable dork in love.

Mingi hummed as he carried the bag of groceries up to his front door on his hip. Christmas was coming soon and the cold weather that had fallen on the city made the air crisp. The puffs of his breath hung in the air like crystalline clouds. A shiver ran through him as he paused at the door to search for his keys. That familiar jingle filled his ears, almost like sleigh bells if you used your imagination.

From the house across the street he heard the soft foof of the door there open. Mingi’s eyes turned to see her scurry out the door carrying a bag of trash out to her trash can. As she dashed back to her front door, she noticed Mingi, giving him a quick wave before heading inside. He waved back, half forgetting that he was just standing at his open front door. Shaking himself mentally, Mingi stepped inside, slipped off his shoes and headed to the kitchen to put away his groceries.

With a sigh, he opened his phone and started his Christmas playlist. It was the holidays, the time to be in a happy, magical mood. Darn it, he was going to enjoy this holiday, even if he couldn’t spend it with her.

From afar I’ve loved you, but never let it show. And every year another December comes and goes.

Mingi sighed at the lyrics wishing he was just a little stronger, a little braver. How many times had he missed the chance to ask her out? How many times had he chickened out of even just going across the street to talk to her? He banged his forehead against the wood of the cabinet door, as if that could knock a little bit of sense into him. Sadly, it mostly just made his head hurt.

She had moved in a week after he did and, for him it had been love at first sight. Her warm smile, laughing eyes, and the way she always waved whenever she noticed him just standing like an idiot on his doorstep, watching her. Thank goodness she was nice and at least seemed to not think he was a complete weirdo and idiot. A perception he might have deserved for as many times as she had caught him just staring.

A sharp knock sounded on the door, shocking him out of his self-pity. He couldn’t help but wonder who could be there. He had just talked to his parents and he knew that Yunho had already headed back home to spend the holidays with his family. No one else really came by to see him.

He shoved the last of his groceries in the cabinet and headed to the door to see who it could be. When he opened the door he felt his soul float out of his ear and his heart stop in his chest. There she was, standing at his door, looking adorable and bundled, holding a little plate of something covered in foil.

“Hi Mingi,” she said brightly. “Merry Christmas! I made some turtles yesterday and thought you might like to have some. Umm, so, here…” She pushed the plate towards him so he could take it and for a second all he could do was look at it. His brain told his hands to take it, and told his mouth to utter the simple words thank you, but somehow, none of his body seemed to work the way it was supposed to.

“Turtles?” He finally managed to ask as his hands started moving to the plate. All he could think of the little shelled creatures and he was almost positive she wouldn’t be handing him a plate of them to eat for Christmas.

“Oh!” She laughed, luckily reading his reaction as confusion. “Pecans, caramel, and chocolate. It’s a treat my family always makes this time of year. Wait, you don’t have a nut allergy...or are lactose intolerant?”

“No no,” he was quick to reply, taking the plate from her hands before she could take it back. He would have cherished them even if he was, he just wouldn’t have been able to taste them, but he still would have loved them. “Thanks so much.”

“I’m glad you can have them,” she smiled. “Umm, anyway, I also came over because I wanted to ask if you were free this evening. Would you like to come over and decorate some cookies?”

“Tonight?” He blinked at her.

“Yeah, if you’re busy, don’t worry about it,” she gave him a carefree shrug and another grin as she took half a step back.

“I can come,” he rushed to reply, wanting to kick himself for not saying yes right away.

“Okay, great,” She nodded, straightening the collar of her sweater. “See you at six then?”

“Yes, I’ll be there,” he agreed, still holding the plate, gripped a little too tightly in his fingers.

“Good, good,” as she backed away, she stuffed her hands in her pocket. “Bye, see you tonight.”

Mingi watched her go, stuck where she had left him, holding the plate until she gave a final wave and disappeared through her front door. He couldn’t believe it. She had come over, she had invited him over. He felt giddy for a second before the butterflies in his stomach fluttered into a cloud that caused a little nausea to rise.

“It will be fine,” he told himself as he made his feet carry him inside, his eyes focused on the foil covered plate. “Don’t freak yourself out,” he told himself. “It’s just cookies. It doesn’t mean anything.” His voice came out with a little crack, like he was still some teen just hitting puberty. “She’ll probably have other people there anyway,” he reasoned, his stomach dropping a little at the realization she probably would. I mean why would she invite just me? He wondered to himself. She probably just thinks I’m a weird loner in need of a pity invite.

With a sigh he took the plate to the kitchen and set it on the counter. Pulling back the foil, he looked at the treats underneath. A smile teased at his lips. They really did look kind of like turtles. Four little legs on the sides and a little bump for the head. Picking one up, he took a bite and he had to admit, it was a lovely treat. A perfect mix of bitter and buttery from the nuts, creamy sweet from the caramel, and tart sweetness of the dark chocolate. Oh, he suddenly thought, I need to get her something in return for these. He started wracking his brain for ideas even as he moved towards the front door to head back to the store.

Mingi stood on her stoop, willing himself to take those last few steps to her front door, but the tingling weakness in his knees kept his feet glued where they were. She’s waiting for you, he scolded himself. She invited you, you can’t just not show up. As he stood there, willing himself to move, the door opened, warm light shining out through the crack as it grew until she slipped outside to greet him where he stood frozen.

“Are you ready to come in?” She asked, a teasing note to her voice.

“Yes,” he stuttered, finally getting his feet to move.

“Glad you could make it,” she commented as she stepped aside to let him inside. “I wasn’t sure you would actually come.”

“Why?” He asked, looking down at her with wide eyes as she shrugged off his coat.

“Well, you seemed a little wary when I invited you this afternoon,” she gave a self deprecating laugh. “I thought maybe you’d come up with some excuse to not come.”

“Oh, no,” Mingi shook his head and pushed the second of his shoes off with a little more force than necessary, causing him to become unsteady on his feet. As he teetered slightly on his single socked foot, she caught him, bringing their faces together to an awkwardly intimate distance. She’s so pretty, he thought as he looked into her eyes, their faces only a few inches apart.

“Let’s get to the kitchen,” she cleared her throat, taking a step back and breaking eye contact. “I have the dough all ready to roll out. You can help me pick the shapes we’ll be decorating.”

“Okay,” he agreed, following her through her cozily decorated living room, lit up by the glow of a well decorated tree tucked into a corner beside the hearth. Together they stepped into the little kitchen, warm and filled with the scent of vanilla, cinnamon, and orange. The white tiles of the backsplash glistened alongside the stainless steel of the cling wrap covered bowl that had been placed next to the sink. It felt like the sort of place that begged for company and a warm cup of hot cocoa topped with a fluffy marshmallow.

“Do you know how to roll out dough for cookies?” She asked as she offered him an apron.

“I did it a few times as a kid,” he shrugged. “I don’t remember it being hard at least.”

“Good,” she smiled and handed him a wooden rolling pin. “You can put those strong arms to good use then.” Turning to face the table, she laid out a silicon baking mat and put a light dusting of flour on it before pulling out the large ball of cold dough. “Okay just be careful. It is a little hard at the moment.”

Mingi nodded and stepped forward, a serious look on his face. This may just be cookies, but this was his chance to show her that he could be useful and that he was more than just her stuttering, nervous neighbor who lived across the street. Pursing his lips, he pressed the rolling pin into the middle of the mound, perhaps with a little more force than necessary, causing the dough and the baking mat to slip and the rolling pin in his hands to loudly thunk into the table.

“Oops,” he chuckled nervously.

“Gosh, I was afraid of that,” she sighed, looking perturbed at the dough. “I didn’t get it out far enough ahead of time.”

“I can do it,” Mingi said with determination. “I’ll just be a little more careful this time.”

“Are you sure?” She questioned, peering between him and the dough. “We can give it another 20 minutes to warm up.”

“I can do it,” he stated, giving the dough a look that said he was not a man to be challenged by mere flour and fats. He put the rolling pin back at the highest point, carefully pressing down, making it just a little flatter before picking it up and pressing it down again at a different angle. Ever so slowly, he managed to work it down into a flatter, wider slab of dough about the right thickness for cookies.

With a smile, she took the rolling pin and evened out the dough, spreading it a little thinner and a little wider. Finally satisfied, she stepped back and brushed her hands on the front of her apron to clean them off. She gave a little nod and minced over to the counter, gathering a mess of little metal shapes in her hands and bringing them over to the table where he was waiting.

“Okay, what do you think?” She asked as she let them tumble onto the table on the other side of the dough. “Trees? Ornaments? Reindeer?”

“I always think that trees taste better somehow,” Mingi admitted with a laugh.

“Okay I always feel that way about ornaments,” she giggled back, looking up at him with a joyful camaraderie. “Maybe let’s start with those two. I always feel bad eating the things that are supposed to have faces anyway.”

Mingi nodded with a look of sympathy at the quirk. Of course she would feel bad eating cookies with a face, it was just so her. He had been too scared to instigate anything with her, but every time she had stopped by to ask for something or to let him know about something that had happened in the neighborhood, it had been something that made his heart melt. From the time she had come over to remind him to check under his car for a cat she had seen run under it the evening before, just in case, to all the times he had come out to find his windows already scraped free from frost. The first couple of times, he had been completely baffled as to how it had happened, until he needed to head out a half an hour before his usual time and found her bundled up, scraper in hand, clearing up his window. She had been surprised to see him so early, but had greeted him happily, telling him she just had a little more to go. Since then, he had gotten up every morning when frost was likely, started coffee, and checked out his front window every ten minutes until he saw her coming or already at his car and quickly headed out to give her a mug of warm coffee as a thanks.

She handed him the cookie cutter shaped like a Christmas tree and picked up the mostly circular ornament shaped cutter and pressed it into the dough. Mingi followed suit and before long they were putting dozens of cookies on a tray ready to go into the pre-heated oven that was warming the room. She slid the full tray into the oven and set the timer before turning to him with a smile.

“I think we have enough for one more tray when that comes out,” hands on hips, she estimated looking at the scraps on the table. “More trees and ornaments or something else?”

“What about this?” He asked, picking up a heart shaped cutter.

“Sure,” she agreed, squeezing the scraps back into a ball to roll out again. “It’s never the wrong season for love.”

Mingi could feel a blush rising on his cheeks as he watched her roll out the dough again. Everything about her just made him soft and he really wished he had the courage to say so.

They finished the cookies in a flash, pulling them out of the oven and setting them on some racks to cool and setting to work making the icing in all the colors they needed and putting out all the balls, flakes, and sprinkles she had, ready to decorate. They were done well before the cookies were fully cool and she, as if she had read his mind when he had first entered, made them both big mugs of hot chocolate.

She guided him into the living room and turned on some holiday music and invited him to sit with her on the plush, blanket covered couch. Mingi took a seat, holding the Christmasy mug between both of his hands to keep them from fidgeting nervously. His eyes flicked to look at her as the first song filled the quiet air of the room.

“Oh look,” she said excitedly, setting her mug on the coffee table in front of them. “It’s snowing!”

“Is it?” Mingi asked, setting his own mug down and following her to look out her front window that looked out onto the yard and towards his house.

“Isn’t it beautiful?” She enthused. “It’s really starting to feel like Christmas.”

“Yeah,” He agreed, stepping just a little bit closer to her. “Beautiful.”

“I love snow,” she sighed, looking up at him for a moment when she could bring herself to look away from the slowly falling fluffy flakes.

“Me too,” Mingi agreed. “Well at least when I don’t have to drive in it.”

“Well then, isn’t it lucky that you don’t have to go anywhere tonight?” She grinned.

“Yeah,” He looked down at her and wished for the hundredth time he was brave enough to just say… I think I love you. A jazzy piano version of Have Yourself a Merry Little Christmas started playing and she stepped back from the window, moving as if she was going back to the couch only to pause in her tracks. Stepping back toward Mingi, she took one of his hands and pulled him close to her, effortlessly pulling them into a gentle embrace to move together in time to the music. They swayed together in time to the song and then the next, letting themselves get ever closer with each song.

Just at the moment when Mingi thought he might have the courage to say something, or maybe even lean in to steal a quick kiss, the bright peel of her doorbell startled them apart. She apologized, her cheeks a little pink if his eyes were to be trusted, and moved to answer the front door. The moment her door opened the clear, melodic sound of voices carried through it.

“Hark the herald angels sing,” sang the group of five carolers who stood on her porch, bundled warmly against the cold and the snow. Mingi came to stand behind her at the door watching and listening to the cheery group sing.

“Okay, $10 if you stay and sing two more songs, deal?” She offered as she dug into her pocket. “Do you by chance know Silver Bells?”

“Yeah, and deal!” An eager teenager in the middle nodded, extending their hand for the bill. The group broke into song and she leaned back gently against Mingi.

“Merry Christmas, Mingi,” she murmured quietly so that only he could hear her. “Since there isn’t going to be a better time than this… do you maybe want to go out on an actual date?”

“An actual date?” Mingi asked, eyes widening. Had he actually managed to get a date with her and not know it?

“You don’t have to,” she faltered slightly as she spoke. “And, ummm, I can always send the cookies to you if you just want to go—”

Mingi couldn’t let her finish that thought and leaned in, pressing his pillowy lips to hers as he pulled her close. A few of the carolers paused in their singing to let out little giggles and aww’s until the one who had taken the money cleared his throat and started singing a little louder.

“Is that a yes?” She asked with a blushing grin.

“Yes, it's a big, sure, happy yes,” Mingi grinned back, cupping her cheek with his big hand.

“Do you want to stay over tonight,” she pressed, holding his hand to her face.

“Can I?” He asked, excitement flaring in his chest.

“Well,” she shrugged. “You’re here where you should be. Snow is falling as the carolers sing. It would be a real shame not to let the moment we have last.”

“Yes please,” He leaned in again, taking her lips as the carolers finished the last song and started off towards the next house, snickering slightly at the cute couple. They moved inside when the nip of the frosty air was stronger than the pleasing fog of finally confessing that had enveloped them. Pulling her inside, Mingi closed the door behind them. As they stepped inside, something caught Mingi’s eyes, a little something sticking out of the pocket on his coat.

“Oh wait,” he burst out, reaching for it. “I have something for you.”

“Something?” She asked, following his gaze to see the little box poking out of his coat pocket.

“Yeah,” He blushed as he pulled it out and handed it to her. “I wanted to get you something as a thank you for the turtles… and for all the mornings that you helped me out with the frost on the car windows.”

“I didn’t mind,” she clutched the little red box to her chest. “I had to do mine in the mornings anyway. A few more windows wasn’t that much more time.”

“You didn’t have to,” he gave her a wistful look and wished he had gathered the courage to ask her out months and months ago. How many kisses had he missed? How much more?

With a last smile up at him she slipped the ribbons off the box and took off the lid. She let out a little oh at the sight of the little bracelet that sat inside the box on a pillow of black velvet. The small silver chain had a single pendant hanging on it; a little frosted snowflake.

“Oh Mingi,” she sighed happily. “It’s beautiful. You shouldn’t have… it’s… it's too much to give me in return for a little candy.”

“It’s a thank you for every morning of helping me and for every wave you gave me when you caught me staring from across the street,” He explained, pulling it out and fastening it around her wrist. “And maybe now when you see it, you’ll remember today and think of me.”

“I wouldn’t need a bracelet to remember today,” she replied gently, lifting her hand to cup his cheek and bring his lips back to hers. “This will be a Christmas I’ll never forget, I can already tell.”

Mingi melted into her kiss, enjoying the warmth of her body where it pressed against him. She seemed to fit him perfectly just like he had always hoped.

“Do you want to work on decorating the cookies?” She asked, pulling back and drawing in a shaky breath.

“Yeah,” he agreed, brushing a little kiss over the corner of her lips. “Let’s decorate the cookies. We have time for everything now.”

“Merry Christmas, Mingi,” she pressed her forehead to his.

“Merry Christmas, my angel,” he responded with a giddy smile.

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