#finally got a full size kitchen table so i actually have space to make bread it's over for everyone

[just-in-cays]

.

[clarawatson]

It Only Takes A Taste (3)

Pairing: Aaron Hotchner x [Fem]!Reader (GN pronouns, fem coded stuff, but I’m not sure where this is going as a larger work so we’ll say Fem!reader to be safe) Summary: Jack comes for dinner, I guess. W/C: 2345 Warnings: none yet! A/N: this one got a little long, oopsies. AO3 Where am I in this series? 01 | 02 | 03 | 04 |

The bed had been so warm and comfortable you hadn't wanted to get out, but the thought of seeing Aaron again made your heart grow three sizes. You'd been texting back and forth for the last couple of days, just small awkward stuff. He likes to text emojis. He's precious. Of course he's precious. 

He comes in as you're serving your first customer of the night—a sobbing thirty-year-old man who can't even order his pie without spluttering in tears. Is it favouritism to get excited by Aaron turning up? Yes. Is it worth it? Yes. 

"Hello," you smile. There's a hundred things you could have called him, but he's too cute and your brain doesn't want to work. 

"Hi," he grins back. "Can I have a coffee, please. Here."

"Yes you can." Aaron splits his bill between the counter and the tip jar. "How was your day,  Aaron?" 

"Boring paperwork. Couldn't concentrate."

Concern furrows your eyebrow. "Is something wrong?"

"Huh? No! I kept thinking about seeing you." There's that sunshine smile again. You might even match it yourself. He points to the cake that's still in the display tin. He's in earlier in the night than usual, so there's a lot more range to choose from. "Is that carrot cake?" 

"Sure is. Do you want some?" 

"Please." 

You serve him a slice and let the coffee machine splutter and fight with you. He stabs his cake with his fork and looks like he has an out of body experience the moment the cream cheese icing hits his tongue. That's a face you want to see again under different circumstances.

"Joe?"

"Me! And Joe's recipe. I sort of mixed it together and prayed."

"Then mark me a religious man." Aaron smiles. You can't held but smile back at him.

"It's a bit early for you to be in," you say. It's not an issue, just means you got the earlier shift. Finishing at 1am instead of 7am. Plus, Aaron looks nice in the daytime. Very nice. The afternoon light suits him.

"Didn't have a case," he shrugs. 

You've googled him since getting his business card. “Supervisory Agent Aaron Hotchner, Section Chief of the BAU”. The fuck did that even mean? BAU was the Behavioural Analysis Unit, which was still mainly a mystery, but you think it’s maybe just an over-glorified way of saying ‘they look inside people’s heads and hope for the best’. He’s got a handful of news reports that you’ve practically memorised. 

Okay, that’s a little obsessive. Don’t admit that to him. 

He wasn’t the ‘untouched by darkness’ that you’d thought of him before, his work face held all the darkness his smile did not. You hoped you never had to see the serious man who stood before the cameras. 

“How’s Rita?” Aaron asks. He’s cut the top off his carrot cake, saving it for later. He looks at it longingly every now and then, then he scoops just a little bit of the cream cheese and lets it rest on his tongue.

“She’s good. Restless. She’s happy for the due date to arrive.” She’d also asked you to be the baby’s godparent. Rather forcefully, actually, it had felt a bit strange. That was the only reason you hadn’t jumped at the opportunity. You’d do anything for Rita, but saying yes in that instant would had felt strange. Almost… wrong, maybe.

Aaron knows you’re thinking about it. He puts his fork down and shifts in his chair, waiting for you to continue. He doesn’t fill the silence between the two of you. You think about telling him, but then Lola’s bustling through the door and grabbing her apron.

“Hot stuff, when can I go for a smoke break?” is the first thing Lola says to you. She pulls chewing gum out of her mouth (yes, pulls. She sticks her fingers in her mouth and pulls it out as far as it will go without snapping) and Aaron moves his cake around his plate a bit. Does he not like it? Don’t be silly, he asked for it. Requested it. Whatever. You put his three cookies into a plastic bag and slide it across the counter to him.

“Lola you only just came in.”

“But I want to know,” she whines like she’s a teenager with an after school job, not a thirty-five-year-old woman who works at the diner full time. “Hey, Rita’s been acting weird, right? Is that a pregnancy thing, or?” Lola rubbed her nose on the back of her wrist and sniffs. An action you’re all too familiar with by now, and of course she was doing illegal substances in the bathroom before she started her shift when there’s a legitimate federal agent in the diner.

 “Oh,” Lola says as she looks at Aaron. She looks at you, raises her eyebrows, and nods like she’s impressed. “I take back telling Rita she was a liar." Even without knowing the context of Rita and Lola's conversation, you know Rita had told Lola how pretty/handsome/gorgeous Aaron is. "I’m going to go clean some tables.”

She grabs the cleaning supplies and heads out into the dining area. The door swings open, banging against one of the booths, and you’re immensely glad Lola doesn’t scream 'watch it’ at them. A curly haired blonde woman (gorgeous, mind you) touches Aaron’s shoulder and he sits up straight, smiling, and your heart plummets a little bit. Just the tiniest amount. 

“Jack insisted we switch over here before I go to parent/teacher interviews.” As if on queue, a well mannered, sandy-haired boy sits next to Aaron and grins too much like Aaron. Aaron’s son. You can put two and two together. Profiler or not.

“How was school?” Aaron asks. Jack shrugs.

“It was school.” He learnt that from his dad, there’s no question. 

“Well, in that case. Jack, this is my friend Y/n. Y/n, this is Jack.” Jack extends a hand to shake in greeting and looks really shy about it. You shake it quickly so he doesn’t feel like a kid who’s been roped into doing adult things. There’s a pile of colouring-in pages Joe’s printed off at the local library beneath a cup of crayons that Jack’s eyeing off. 

You grab a sheet and a crayon, raising an eyebrow in invitation as you turn around to Jack. 

“Yes please,” he says, grin growing across his face. “Thank-you.”

“You’re welcome. Wonderful manners.” Jack grins even bigger and you think he, too, might combust just like his dad. Stardust! That’s the movie you were thinking of. When Yvaine sees Tristan she shines, literally, the star inside of her just can’t be contained. That’s Aaron and Jack, and the way they look when they smile. 

Aaron’s sister-in-law looks at you with a cocked head, like a curious cat. Like she’s waiting to pounce. But… curiously pounce. Like she's sussing you out. She extends a hand in greeting.

“Jess. Aaron’s talked about you.”

There’s no response but to look sheepish. This seems to greatly please Jess, who smiles softly and rubs the back of Aaron’s head affectionately. They have a long history together, it’s too familial to be just a relationship born through marriage. 

“I’ll see you later then, Rockstar,” Jess says.

“Bye,” Aaron and Jack say together. Aaron rests his cheek on his hand, watching you as Lola hands you three orders she’s taken while you’ve been talking to Aaron. Jack leans over and whispers to Aaron about his homework (it’s a whisper that belongs on a stage) as you wrestle with the coffee machine. 

It’s been grinding it’s way down to not working for a while now. Ever since you met Aaron, actually. Joe’s said he’s going to fix it, or get a new one, but everyone’s in a state of non-commital until Rita has her baby.You’ve got no idea why, it’s just the way things are. Good luck, maybe? Or luck in general? 

Somehow you get Aaron talking about Shakespeare. It might have been Jack’s doing, to be completely honest, but one moment you’re trying to make the froth… well, froth… and the next you're listening to Aaron talk animatedly about Othello. Jack's young enough to not think his Dad's passion is embarrassing. 

"Have you watched Othello?" Jack asks, a question that Aaron's neglected to ask you. "I'm not old enough to yet." 

"I haven't seen that one yet, but I've seen Much Ado About Nothing."

"Is that the one with the olive gardens?" Jack asks. Aaron frowns, eyes searching for the answer in that big beautiful minds tonight.

"Yes," he says finally. "That was the one with the olive trees."

Jack giggles. "There was kissing in that movie." 

"Lots of it," Aaron agrees. You're not sure you're talking about the same film, but it's cute to see the two of them interact. 

"With the guy who plays Lockhart in the second Harry Potter movie?" You ask. Jack laughs just like his father. It's all light and mirth. He nods in confirmation. 

"His name is Kenneth," Jack says like he's familiar with him. When Aaron smiles, you know Jack's his whole world.

It’s not long before Aaron realised he’d brought Jack in without asking if he wanted anything. The afternoon rush had died down, leaving you in the space between out-of-work and dinner. You make the most chocolate-y hot chocolate you can for Jack when Aaron says he can have one. Well, Jack says the best bit is the froth, so it’s more child-size-hot-chocolate-in-an-adult-mug-full-of-froth. Jack loves it. He slurps at the chocolate, which leaves a giant frothy mustache over his top lip that won’t go away no matter how much he licks at it.

When he’s done you let him come around to the kitchen to wash his face, because no amount of wet napkins is going to fix that mess. Jack can’t reach the sink, so you fashion a step out of old milk and bread crates. Joe gives him cake batter to taste before realising that he actually has no idea who Jack is. Aaron watches from the kitchen door with a smile on his face. You don’t catch it until Jack jumps off the crates and takes your hand, leading you back out. Aaron’s fingers brush your hand as you pass him. Electricity sparks between the two of you that's completely unavoidable. The two of you recoil involuntarily.

Aaron gives you a small smile of apology. You give exactly the same one back. Lola legitimately gasps like she too felt the electricity between the two of you. Surely that was just something that happened in movies? Or in books? That’s not a real thing, right? But Aaron brushes past you again, as if he’s making sure as well, and it’s there again. Only it’s like your whole arm becomes pins and needles, not just a quick lightning spark.

If it’s like that every time you’re with him, your not sure you could even go beyond lusting after him and giving him coffee and meals every now and then. Aaron drops his gaze, then follows Jack to the front of the counter. 

They stay for dinner (because Jack insists, he wants the nachos) but the rush comes early and there’s really not much time to talk to them, so you almost miss them leaving. Almost. You’re serving the angry couple at table three (are they angry at you, or each other? Who knows, you don’t, but they’re taking it out on you) when Jack taps your hip. 

He’s very patient as you finish the order (somehow you figure out what they want between the curse words) and bend down to him. He hands you a folded piece of paper.

“This is for you,” he says. “I did it.” You’re about to unfold it, but he insists that it belongs in your apron pocket until you can look at it with no rush. That’s a kid who knows what it’s like to have a very busy parent. So you tuck it away safely and mess with his hair, which makes him grin from ear to ear.

“See you later!” Jack yells as he runs to Aaron, who’s waving goodbye with a doggy bag full of Jack’s unfinished dinner.and his keys between his fingers. 

“I’ll see you later,” he mouths as the noise in the diner starts to rise. Without thinking you blow him a kiss, which he catches effortlessly and kisses the fist closed around it before slipping out. 

When you get to the kitchen Lola’s already in the midst of teasing you. 

“You like him,” she says with all the confidence in the world. There’s not point denying her, so you just nod. It’s met by a chorus of ‘ooo’s which, to be honest, you really didn’t need. It made the diner feel far too small.

When everything dies down you remember the paper Jack had given you. You wipe the milk and spaghetti sauce off the counter, then make sure it’s dry, and unfold Jack’s page. It’s the generic colouring page Joe’s printed out, but Jack’s tried to make the generic waitress look like you. Well, you if you had purple hair and green skin. It’s a start, you guess, there’s an apology from Aaron on the back. Makes it worth it.

You move a couple of postcards on the corkboard aside and put Jack’s picture there instead. Joe pretends not to notice, but when Lola goes out the back with one of her customers, Joe comes round the front and presses a finger to the page.

“Good kid,” Joe says. He nods a couple of times then turns to you. “You know he and his dad come as a package, right? You fuck up one, you fuck up both.” Joe’s first wife had three kids that weren’t biologically his. He’s still mad at himself for not taking the kids seriously and only turning up for their mom.

“I know,” you say. 

Joe strokes your cheek as he passes and kisses your forehead. It’s all the praise you need. 

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

taglist (if you want to get added, just inbox me, and if I’ve missed you I am so sorry): @willowrose99 @genevievedarcygranger @maryosprinkle @kleff03 @yoshigguk @samanthareid06 @typical-leo @leilanixx

[bribe-the-door]

the things that we’ll never know [001]

the one where best friend!harry apologizes 

a/n: hi friends :) it’s been a minute... hasn’t it? i’ve been going a bit stir crazy waiting for quarantine to end and the world to feel normal. so, to deal with the angst i have toward the current state of the world, I give you: fine line era angst. 

let me know if you’re interested in seeing more from me! i sure miss writing and i think it might be something i get back into these days :) xoxo h 

***

Are you still watching?

A banner pops up on your laptop screen, pausing the credits of yet another episode of Grey’s Anatomy. You scroll to the corner, click “yes”, and settle back into your spot; the corner of a well-worn grey sofa. A small grey cat, lovingly named Bean, readjusts her head and falls back asleep against you. The familiar two-beat drum sounds and Netflix shines in its red glory, the only light to illuminate your small space.

It is probably better this way, the darkness.

Having remained almost completely stationary for the past three days, the apartment is showing signs of abandonment and disarray. The space, normally light and airy despite its tiny size, feels cramped and stuffy. Plants droop in their pots as the sun sinks deeper into the sky and you’re too bothered to turn on the string lights. Instead you stay put, wilting, too.

Your laptop is wedged between a plate and bowl from a long-since concluded meal. A lone coffee mug sits cold, the dregs of drip coffee stagnant in the bottom of the cup. It will leave a ring of discoloration when you try to scrub it clean. There is a mess of cords under your legs; a charger, heating pad, headphones.

You’ll untangle them later, you tell yourself.

A sudden rush of action on-screen catches your attention, diverting your thoughts for a few minutes. An ambulance rushes to the hospital and interrupts a love triangle moment. Someone is caught in a longing gaze across the emergency department. Chaos ensues and there’s a dramatic cut to the next scene of hands furiously moving through surgery.

Your phone buzzes next to you and you glance at its screen, blue light casting a gastly glow over your face. It’s nothing important and you swipe to close the app.

A glaring red “1” catches your eye.

Your thumb hovers over the message app, knowing exactly what this text says. It’s remained unread, untouched, for three days now. An internal battle heats up in your brain, and, avoiding the turmoil altogether, you shake your head and lock your phone. It’s tossed aside as you push off of the couch. Netflix continues to play in the background.

You make your way into the kitchen (Bean following, curious) and scour the cabinets for something else to add to your pile of dishes on the coffee table. They’re bare except for a stale, half-eaten loaf of bread, some peanut butter, a box of elbow macaroni, and a can of peaches. A stray protein bar is likely hiding out somewhere in there, too, but you close the cupboard in defeat.

Since when were you so easily shaken by a simple “hi”?

A single laugh floats from your lungs. It happens again, this time out of disbelief.

And then it turns to a sob.

There is nothing simple about this greeting.

[three days earlier]

“Y/n,” Harry sighs. His hand rakes through his curls and leaves them disheveled. “It’s not that difficult of a concept.”

You feel your heart lurch into your throat, the second time this evening. The silence leaves only another opportunity for Harry to drive the wedge deeper between the both of you. He seldom leaves an argument without having the final word.

His eyes find yours amidst the tension. It’s uncomfortable and feels similar to the way your father scolded you as a child. His gaze locks you in place; cold.

“You’re acting as if you can’t see what I see,” he says, voice hardly a whisper. It grows in volume as the emotions well up within his chest. “Feel what I feel… It’s not /there/ anymore, y/n.”

Your lips part in attempts to interject, but are closed just as quickly.

“You’re not here anymore.” Harry’s head shakes and his eyes continue their grip on yours. “I’ve tried. I’ve tried and tried and nothing seems to stick. Not a single goddamn thing! I can’t figure you out, y/n. I’m going crazy trying to understand where I went so wrong.”

An angry fist pounds the table beside him and you stand in your place; fear paralyzes you and you are one with the cold kitchen tile. It’s a standoff now and neither of you move. You can’t move.

“Do you not have anything to say?” he spits, disbelief tinting the outburst. His eyes pity you, searching your face for any semblance of attention. Emotion. Something.

“I…” you begin, swallowing back the lump that’d made its presence known minutes ago. Your mind draws blank as his eyes bore into yours. This feels completely out of left field.

“Nothing?!”

“Harry, please.”

His hands fall to his sides in a final defeat. “No… No. No, y/n.” He’s talking to himself, muttering under his breath. He begins to turn away from the table, phone in hand. The counter is his next pursuit, likely in search of his keys, you presume.

“Where are you going? You ask, snapping to attention when you realize the familiar path he’s taking. He’s done this before. Many people in your life have taken this path, actually.

It’s the one ending in a slammed front door, an empty foyer. You don’t shake those feelings easily.

Harry laughs, “I’m not sure. But I’m not staying here.”

You take a step toward him and try to form a coherent sentence, but your tongue trips in the process. You don’t come up with much, but it’s an attempt.

“But, what about us, Harry? I love you!”

His body turns slowly to face you. He’s got his belongings in hand—the weathered notebook he keeps with him at all times, his keys (in a loop around his fingers)—and a sweater drapes itself over the crook of his elbow. Harry’s hands are full, but his eyes fail to show any sign of life.

“How do you know what love is, y/n?” He asks, tone dripping with doubt. “How do you know what that could possibly mean when you show yourself no love?”

His accusation holds the same comfort as burning your tongue on coffee. Stubbing your toe on the doorframe. A paper cut washed with soap.

When you fail to answer, Harry earns his final word in this argument.

“I can’t stay with someone who doesn’t love herself. I can’t fix you, y/n.”

Instantly, your chest floods cold. It’s an interesting sensation, as your cheeks run warm from anger while the rest of you ceases to function. You’re confident your heart fails to beat any longer; your lungs constrict like a snake around its prey.

“I’m done trying.”

Harry leaves you in the kitchen, the sounds of his boots echoing further and further away from where you stand. The front door shuts with a firm slam and serves as his ‘goodbye’.

You’re left standing in your spot, frozen as your thoughts race silently through your head. It feels like TV static buzzing in your ears and you can’t turn down the volume.

How is silence so deafening?

***

The phone sits in your hand as another /ping!/ sounds. It burns in your hand as you realize whose name sits above the few words on your screen.

Harry (7:54 PM): Y/n… Can we talk?

Your mouth tastes of pennies and you relax your jaw, grimacing at the now-sore part of your lip imprinted by your teeth. The red “2” shines angrily from its spot at the bottom of your phone. With a sigh, you tap on the square and reveal a text-thread you wish you never have to read again.

The blue and grey boxes hold words and emotions from days ago and, in your separation from them, you’re unprepared for the visceral reaction deep within your chest. Your heart drums underneath the cage of your ribs, constant, but worried. Like it knows something you don’t.

Feelings are pushed to the wayside and you begin to type back a response.

You (7:58 PM): Sure.

The grey “typing” bubble appears almost instantly after yours delivers. /He’s been waiting for you to respond/ you realize.

Harry (7:58 PM): It’s such a relief to hear from you, y/n.

Harry (7:59 PM): I miss you.

Grey’s Anatomy plays across the room from you, another heated argument on-screen, but it is drowned out by the thudding of your heart. It’s working in overdrive now.

For days, you did nothing but attempt to forget Harry’s existence: his clothes sat in a pile at the bottom of your closet (despite the overwhelming urge to pull that grey jumper over your shoulders at this moment); your mirror sits bare now that the polaroids of you both are nowhere to be found; his favorite coffee mug, along with his small collection of shot glasses and a teacup with the matching spoon, have been packed away and sit in a small cardboard box beside your kitchen counter.

Your apartment has been picked apart, day by day, to rid Harry of the space. It feels impossible, though, with how much time he spends (spent?) here.

Another text pops up:

Harry (8:07 PM): Y/n, are you there? I really want to make this right.

“Ugh!” you groan, loud enough to make Bean stir from her spot. “Sorry, baby, I’m just…”

Just what? you think to yourself. Just… Frustrated? Confused? Hurt?

Bean nudges your elbow with her tiny head, rubbing against your arm to try and earn some affection. You reach behind her ears and scratch small circles until she begins to purr. It’s hard to focus on anything present right now; you find yourself mulling over things from weeks ago. Swept up in memories once sweet now stab at your heart with a vengeance reserved for the most heinous of crimes.

There was the date at sunset in the park, complete with a chilled bottle of prosecco to celebrate your graduation and a slice of pie from the bakery down the road. The time he surprised you at work with balloons, a bouquet of peonies and eucalyptus (your favorites), and a stupid grin of his face “Just Because”. Remember when Harry decided to decorate your entire apartment for Valentine’s Day because you’d mentioned in passing no one had ever done anything for that holiday growing up, and it was your favorite? There were roses everywhere; Bean had a pink bow on her head, and Harry insisted on baking a heart-shaped cake.

Why did something so seemingly perfect cut even deeper on second thought?

You sigh again, shaking your head at the phone.

“What do I do, Bean?” She chirps in response and you let out a single laugh. “You have it so much easier, you know? No boys to break your heart, no job to take up all of your time.”

You pick her up and hold her in front of you, leaning forward to rest your forehead against hers. Her sandpaper-tongue brushes over your nose and she meows again.

“Okay, sorry.” You put her down and she curls up in your lap, purring against your stomach.

Things move in slow-motion as you think, and you’re not entirely sure how much time has passed. Phone in hand, your fingers anxiously hover over the screen and anticipate a string of words. Each time, though, they feel wrong, and you delete the entire thing.

”I just want to make things right.”

It feels like an internal battle to decipher what Harry means with this pleading. There’s a part of you who wants nothing to do with him, another who desperately wants him back, and the most confusing part, who feels like you were the one in the wrong here. Love is a tumultuous thing; intense, passionate. It feels utterly terrifying in the simplest of ways. Was your lack of self-love really what caused such an uproar in the first place? Had you been blind to your own hatred this whole time?

A knock at the door interrupts your ponderings.

Bean looks up suddenly, ears flickering at the noises from the hall. She jumps from your lap and runs to the dining table, hiding behind its oak legs. You can hardly see her, only the glimmering green of her eyes as they move to survey the apartment.

It takes minimal thought to figure out who stands on the other side of the door and you aren’t sure if it’s wishful thinking or fear of confrontation.

You stand and cautiously approach the hall, legs more like jell-o than limbs. Another knock sounds and the hair on your arms stands on end. This feels like a scene from a horror film; ominous. In attempts to steady your breathing, you don’t reach for the door at first, knowing full-well who stands on the other side.

The floor creaks underneath your right foot, and you swear under your breath. A quick “shit!” before you remember why you’re being so timid in the first place. A grimace crosses your face in wait.

Harry sighs from outside the door. “Y/n, I know you’re right there.”

You don’t say anything and instead look through the peep-hole. His face looks defeated, eyes searching the door for you as if he knows your every move.

“Can we please talk?”

The doorknob seemingly glows in response to his suggestion, simply begging for your touch. It feels entirely wrong to refuse conversation with the boy who, for the past few years, so gingerly held your heart and cared for you more than any family member could have.

He just wants to talk, you remind yourself. A quick talk.

You twist the lock on the knob, a metallic “yes” answering him instead of your own words. Next is the deadbolt, then the chain. The knob feels heavy in your hand as you turn it, but there isn’t any going back now.

Light floods into your apartment from the common hall, accompanied by the stale smell of cigarette smoke. Harry moves only his gaze to meet yours.

“Hi.”

You swallow before answering and realize how tightly you’d been holding your jaw the entire time. “Hi.”

His hands are in his pockets, and, illuminated by the harsh fluorescents of the hallway, he should have looked intimidating. But his shoulders hung low and his eyes were unsure.

Clearly neither of you were ready for this.

“Can I…” Harry starts.

You gesture forward, backing up against the door and allow him to enter.

He hesitates slightly before moving into the entryway, hovering for just a moment. The stiffness in Harry’s shoulders fades slightly as the door shuts behind you but the tension in his presence only increases.

Harry turns to face you, and, against your best interests, seconds pass as minutes. Slowly enough to study over his eyes; shadowy in the dim lighting of your hallway but ever still green. They invite you in like a warm mug of coffee after a chilling walk home from work and you find yourself biting back a grin. It all feels wrong, having him so close.

But, the heart wants what the heart wants, right?

“Can I?” He asks, more succinctly this time.

You nod a single nod, stepping a single step closer. He reaches forward to cup your chin in his hand, tipping your gaze up at his for just a second. That same emerald draws you in just like moments before, a safe embrace. 

A welcome home. 

Harry stays like this for just a moment more before dropping his hand, a sigh leaves his lips. You’re disheartened at the buildup leaving just as quickly as it’d come on. 

“So about that text...” you laugh. He shares a laugh, too, but there’s a hint of pain in his tone. 

You anticipate they’ll be a lot more hurt tonight.

***

feel free to let me know what you thought! this is just a little piece and it’s been fun to work back into the writing scene <3 

[abloomntime]

A Bloom In Time Ch16 Poppy’s Spaceship Tour And Meeting Cooking Cat P2

She was starting to feel MUCH better now! Honestly all the dirt and grim leaving her body was very relieving. She felt like a new woman! But there still was one problem. Cookie had been nice enough to take care of her clothes and wash them up for her. The problem was that there was rips and tears in the dress near the bottom making it look like someone took a weed wacker to the bottom of the once nice blue dress. Oh well. The important thing was that it was clean and so was she at last. Her wrist felt better as well. Cookie was also kind enough to look over Poppy's injury and thankfully no signs of swelling were there just some scrapes that could use a few bandaids. If she had to guess, it must've been whatever herbal bath the cat made for her, really did work like those healing herbs her mother used to grow, the pain had stopped by a bunch to where she could move it and grab things without feeling pain, and all that was left was a dull soreness like a bee sting. She also felt mentally better, as if a heavy rock was lifted off her back, which is why the smile on her face was placed there as she dried off her long hair.

"I knew there was a peach under that dirt," Cookie complimented as Poppy smiled and pulled the towel off her head, letting her still slightly wet hair fall down her back. "Now there. Such a pretty shade of red. Like a lovely rose."

"Oh please. You're too kind. It's nothing that's uncommon. You're actually very fairly pretty yourself!," Poppy complimented back which got a wave from Cookie.

"Believe it or not my fur color is actually a rare color where I'm from." She walked over to where Poppy stood holding up the heavy duty leather apron she usually wore when gardening now also cleaned as well.

"Oh really? Uh..Thank you." She grabbed the apron from Cookie with a smile.

She nodded. "Most of the cats where I'm from are all black or light grey. It's another reason I wanted to leave, I like being around people more colorful like me. But enough about me, what's it like where you're from?" That one sentence made Poppy fully stop folding the apron for a solid ten seconds, before that smile slowly turned back into a frown as she continued to fold the apron before slowly putting it under her arm silently. Cookie's look softening. "Oh. I'm sorry. I knew you said you-..Im sorry. I shouldn't have asked."

"It's....ok. I-...I can't go back there anyways. I-It's...It's gone."

The cat placed a paw on her gently. "I know it ain't none of my business, but what happened?"

.......No. She didn't want to tell another person her burdens and sorrows, and reliving it again by talking about it so she sighed and shook her head. "It's...A-Actually gone. A...." What was she supposed to call being cursed for a thousand years before being woken up by accident? She settled on- "A v-very bad ...winter froze everything and destroyed it. A-As far as I know I'm the only one left alive to speak of it." True. After all that Snatcher fellow certainly wasn't alive after all being a ghost.

Cookie gave a small gasp, her paws coming to cover her mouth for a moment in shock. "Oh my goodness. You poor thing. Oh, no wonder you were so distressed."

"Thank you. B-But you don't really have to feel sorry for me. I'm...I'm still working it out, b-but I'm sure I'll be fine with his help."

"His? His who?"

"Snatcher. The ghost the children hang around with." Cookie gave her a look over confused as to why her answer was that making Poppy feel criticized. "...What?"

"Nothing. I'm just surprised that old ghosty's offered to be some kind of use instead of sitting on that pillow stack reading some kind of book complaining 'bout somethin' or stealing my bacon. But then again I don't know him too well, so it's awefully nice of him to offer his help to you. " Shaking her head she turned around towards the exit and motioned for Poppy to follow her. "C'mon now. Let's get you some food. I bet you're just starving."

"Yeah. Hungry.".....Cookie knew Snatcher. The thought made her look back up at Cookie who by now had stood back in the exit waiting patiently for her to come over and she did. "Hey. You met Snatcher before right? What's he usually like?"

She shrugged. "Like I said I don't know him all too well. Just that he steals food and acts like Conductor if Conductor was less yell-y and always had his nose stuck in a book all the time."

Poppy didn't know who Conductor was but she'd take Cookie's word for it. Pressing the red button on the side again, they ascended back up to the chilly storage room. From there the red head followed the small calico as she happily walked towards the ladder to climb back up it. Even though the hurt hand was better, Poppy thought she had better stay off it for the time being until all the soreness left it, so for now she'd have to climb the ladder and crawl through the small hallway painfully slowly like before....Which took a LONG time, but she was glad to get out of that chilly room none the less. And before she knew it, she was standing on the other side of that tiny hallway stretching her back out and sighing as she walk around normally for the most part now. The girls were there too, giggling as they watched a funny picture show on the tv showing a cartoon Moon Penguin chasing a mouse who stole it's fish, only for the penguin to trip over his own flippers and land face first into a pie randomly on the floor. Both girls giggling at the funny sight. Next to them were empty plates and forks obviously from whatever Cookie had made them. Said cat walked on over to the young girls who briefly looked up to her as she picked up the plates and patted each on the head before both young ladies turned back to their entertainment on screen.

Cookie gestured Poppy to follow her before turning to the ramp. "Come on. I'll show you where the kitchen is."

With that she turned and began her way back up the ramp, stepping over Rumbi casually sweeping a path down it. Poppy blinked, but followed none the less. She just hoped the kitchen wasn't a teeny space as well. Walking past the girls, they giggled again at something goofy the penguin did and she smiled at their adorable child giggles before walking past them and up the ramp, taking a GIANT step around Rumbi and giving the robot vacum cleaner a suspicious look before walking the rest of the way up there. As she walked, poppy glanced at everything she passes. The screen that had the number 1000 on it plus a picture of an hourglass, a giant vault that looked a lot like the bank's old vault, and then finally over to the two double doors which was to her relief and surprise her size. Pushing one of the door slowly opened, the lady slowly poked her head in. A rug of more blue gears under her feet.......and a surprisingly normal kitchen is what greeted her. A stove was in the far corner, with a sink, fridge, counter, cabinets and a shelf full of plates, cups, and other dishes. The kitchen was actually rather non-alien compared to the other rooms she's seen so far with the checkered floor, and soft blue walls. There was a few paintings on the wall and a small plant in the corner to add to the calm atmosphere. The only really strange thing about it would be the giant telescope sitting in the middle of the room. Cookie was busy putting the dirty dishes in the sink before she smiled from her place standing on a chair and turned back to Poppy.

"Well, don't be shy. Come on in and I'll grab you you're plate." Poppy did noticing there really wasn't any table to eat at as Cookie hopped off the chair with a small thud and walked on over to the fridge in the corner. Didn't look like the kind of fridge she had back when she was a kid. She watched in slight amazement as Cookie opened it and reached into one of shelves her height to pull out a small plate. "I hope you don't mind cold food."

"What is it?," she asked as Cookie walked over to her, closing the fridge with her foot holding the plate up.

"Just a drumstick and some mashed potatoes. Sorry if it's not enough. Those little tykes eat more than you think." The cat held the plate up to her and true to her word there was a small drumstick and mashed potatoes on it which Poppy graciously took.

"N-no. It's plenty. You've done more than enough for me. Thank you." OH GOSH. It smelt so good even though it was cold, her stomach rumbled again and in an instant her mouth watered. Forgetting about her thick leather apron, she let it drop to the ground in favor of grabbing that fork and eating....

....

.......HOLY PECK!!

It was delicious! The potatoes were so creamy and well smashed and put together! And she'd never tasted gravy quite like this before! It was delicious! It was...it was....a flavor she couldn't explain because she'd never tasted it before! And the bird...OH! The roasted bird was GLORIOUS!! She had bird before but never like this! It was tender yet juicy with bread crumbs and seasoning mixing in giving it that extra flavoring caused by spices. Cookie chuckled at the sight, already used to the reactions people had to her food by now and turned around to go back to the counter as Poppy ate with a happy hum and sparkly wide eyes to her heart's content. The growling in her stomach finally being cured from her dilema of being hungry. Cookie after a moment of standing on the chair again to get to the counter managed to fill up a glass of water before hopping off back onto the floor and walked her way over to the woman currently smiling at the food and stopped mid bite at the cat's chuckling.

"My, my. Such a healthy appetite."

Poppy immediately straightened up and gave a sheepish smile. "Um..S-Sorry. I guess I was just so hungry. And this is SO good! I've never tasted anything like it."

She chuckled again holding up the water to her. "I'm glad you think so. Here. Take this. You'll be needing something to wash it down with."

"Oh. Thank you." As she bent down to take the water, Cookie symaltaniously took the plate that was nothing but crumbs and a drumstick bone by now and made a turn to go back to the sink. "Y-You're a really good cook. I'm surprised no one ever gave you a job before."

She shrugged hopping back up to the counter and sink, placing the dirty dishes within. "I'll take all of that as a compliment, and no need to thank me, Sugar. I'm always happy to hear such nice words for my simple dishes......OH!! I nearly forgot!" She turned back to Poppy. "I think I found something of yours." Reaching her paw into a pocket, Cookie pulled out a shiny golden bracelet that got Poppy's eyes widening and she briefly choked on her water. "It fell out of one of your apron pocket's all dirty like. So I cleaned it up for ya."

"M-My bracelet!" In an instant Poppy rushed over, glass cup abandoned on the counter in favor for her to latch both hands around the bracelet and look at it. Her reflection staring back up at her in wonder before looking back at Poppy. "Y-Yes. It is. T-Thank you."

The cat smiled and went to answer-

DING!! DING!! DING!!

Poppy jumped and both turned their heads to a wall plastered onto the far side of the wall singing as the start of a new hour had begun and Cookie gave a small gasp to the time. "Oh goodness! Eight already? Oh no. I must've lost track of time." With a quick jump from the chair, the cat paddled her way over towards the kitchen doors. Poppy blinked but followed non the less as she still muttered. "Silly me. Count on me to forget things so easily. Muriel's going to be so worried about me the poor sugarcude." She muttered to herself as she exited the doors making both children below pause from their current cartoon and look up towards the two ladies exiting the kitchen.

"D-Does that mean you're leaving?," Poppy asked behind her.

Cookie momentarily stopped and turned to give her an apologetic look. "I'm afraid so. I'm really sorry to leave so sudden like this, but I have to get up real early if I wanna make it to my breakfast cooking show tomorrow and I have a gal at home who won't sleep unless I tell her to. And I need some kind of sleep tonight-"

Poppy held up her hands. "No, no. It's perfectly fine. You must be busy being a mother and having a job. My mother was the same way."

"So understanding. Than you so much."

"Oh w-wait a minute." Poppy looked back over to the window and outerspace behind it. "H-How are you doing to get home? Are they going to teleport you with their magic umbrellas?"

Cookie gave a laugh and shook her head. "No need." Her paw reached over to her sleeve to pull it down and reveal a watch?? "I can use my teleporter to go back to Mr. Grooves's moon studio and catch a bus back to the planet."

"Are you leaving now?," Bow stood up yawning and looked up at the cat who continued down the ramp and gave a sad smile to the two children.

"Yes. I'm afraid so, Honeypie. But don't worry. Ya'll can see me tomorrow on my morning show." Both young girls awed in disappointment but got up as she got down to the bottom of the ramp and stopped by the giant Tv to hold out her arms to hug the girls good bye. "Oh there there," she cooed motherly and smiled brightly, "You'll see me again, but I have grown up stuff to do. What you all can do is take care of that friend of yours alright?" Both agreed and reluctant let go of her, Cookie patting each of them on the head before turning her attention to Poppy and waving a paw. "You take care too now ya hear. And don't go treading through any more swamp water without an extra dress."

Poppy didn't get a chance to get anymore than a wave good bye as Cookie already pressed a button on her watch and in a flash of sparkles the cat was gone. She stopped and stared at the empty space the cat was by the children for a moment before shivering. She'd NEVER get used to the act of everyone disappearing and reappearing at will in front of her, but those sparkly blue eyes soon turned there direction down towards the shimmer and shine of the gold bracelet still protectively held within her hands, her blue eyes and messy red hair staring back at her. For a moment she could remember the soft brown eyes and the kind smile of the friend who gave it to her. Silly insisting she'd take it as payment for a simple bouquet of wild rainbow daises. ....The last thing she had to remember him by outside of memories. A small sad feeling came over her but was interrupted by the sounds of Bow yawning and stretching her body out which was followed by another loud yawn by Hattie. Oh yeah. Cookie did say something about it being eight p.m.. That would be pretty late by child standards, so it would probably be best if they slept for the night. Plus isn't she supposed to be helping out these little two until that Snatcher ghosts gets finished with whatever business he had? Yeah. Better get these tykes to sleep now.

"Kids. I know I don't have much authority probably but I think it's best you get to sleep." Both girls looked up at her as she walked down the ramp towards them both.

As expected Hattie gave a small whine. "One more Cheesy Penguin episode. PLEEEAAASE!!," she pleaded give Poppy big eyes that honestly melted her heart and she MIGHT have said yes if Bow hadn't grabbed her hand and tugged her towards the hallway toward the bathroom downstairs.

"Hattie! No more trouble today, and I'm tired. I wanna sleep."

Her friend groaned throwing her head back. "Fffffiiiiine. But I won't like it!"

Poppy gave a small smile and giggle at their antics. they acted more like sisters than friends..Well she guessed they were if Snatcher adopted the both of them. "Nice choice. Now go wash up for bed."

".....Wait." Hattie looked back up to Poppy with a confused look. "Where are YOU gonna sleep?"

"She can sleep on the pillow pile?," Bow suggested.

Poppy honestly stopped for a moment and gave the kids a blank look. That...That was a fairly good point. Where WAS she supposed to sleep on this space ship? All the rooms were thankfully big enough for her to stand up in(well all the rooms she's seen so far), but she'd have to crawl on her hands and knees to get to them. Looking back to her hand with the bracelet, she moved it a lil bit. The scrapes and sore muscles didn't hurt her anymore but a small dull soreness but it would be best to stay off it at least until tomorrow for the time being. So for now she wouldn't be crawling around so that meant she was probably bunking here or in the kitchen for the night, her blue eyes scowled at Rumbi as he still swept around casually. She still didn't trust that thing so in the kitchen it was. Wasn't very appealing but she'd have to make due with what she had.

"I can sleep in the kitchen tonight. I really don't mind."

Hattie made a face like she was crazy. "No you can't. whoever heard of sleeping in a kitchen? That's funny."

"Well, I'm certainly not in any mood to be crawling around anymore small hallways. I'd rather sleep somewhere I'd be able to move around easier in without having to crawl around on my wrist." She held up her hand before pointing to Rumbi. "And n-no offense but I don't really exactly trust that thing yet."

"Hey! Rumbi's a cleaner not a thing!" Hattie yawned again before wiping at her face again. "........What about the attic? It's really big."

"....Your spaceship has an attic?"

"Yeah! I'll show you!" As if the tiredness had left her completely for the excitement of showing Poppy even more of her ship, Hattie jumped to her feet and ran up to the ramp and Poppy. Who yelped and stumbled back from the small girl grabbing her hand as she ran by and yanked her back up the ramp towards an orange ramp going up and down. Gosh her grip was strong for a small child wasn't it? "It's up there!" She pointed up to an opening in the ceiling and Poppy rose a brow at it all. Since when did a spaceship have an attic? Well she's never been on one before either so maybe they naturally came with one. But that unsure uneasy feeling in her stomach returned when that orange pad came all the way back to the ground again and with a yank and yelp from Poppy Hattie pulled her right onto the elevator thing.

"Uh...Maybe I'll just sleep on the flOOR-" The sudden movement under her feet made her gasp and lean forward, almost tettering on the edge of falling off, waving her arms aroundfor something to grab as Bow made a gasp from below. Panic filled her being for a brief moment but at the last second the strong willed child managed to grab her dress and yank her back into a standing position. Poppy still wobbling around but thankfully missing the ceiling as they went up through the hole in the ceiling.....But fell down face first onto the attic floor with what followed by a ripping sound as something gave way. "OOF!!"

Hattie stood there for a moment before she blinked and hopped off the platform before it went back down, a small piece of blue fabric in her hands. She looked down to the blue piece of the dress in her hands before looking over to Poppy who coughed and pushed herself halfway up off the floor, most of the dress was still in tact thankfully but a bigger piece of the bottom of her dress was missing and that missing piece happened to be the same piece in the child's hands. ......Who quickly hid it behind her back when Poppy looked up and blew the long red hair outta her face and stared at her with a sigh.

"Uh...Oops?" She slowly pulled her hand from behind her back and Poppy sighed again before pushing herself up her to her knees. The room was fairly dark but she could see everything from the giant chandelier on the ceiling and the candle holders on the wall. She froze blue eyes slowly up towards the tall ceiling above them both. Stylish wood adorened the floor and walls, though there was some cobwebs and dust scattered about. Quiet ticked by in the room except for the actual ticking coming from an old grandfather clock in the far end of the room. There was a few other things as well like a crate here n there and a couple chests. Two dressers, a wardrobe, red chair, globe on the fair side, and a carpet leading all the way over towards the giant three windows. From there she had a pretty good view of the black space and beautiful twinkling stars beyond the glass. Hattie bounded a few steps across the carpet kicking up some dust from the old carpet and stopped, beaming at Poppy and throwing her hands out. "See? Is it ok?"

Poppy stayed on her knees for a moment before slowly rising to her feet. Her head still swiveling around to look at everything in the room taking it all in, surprised such a big room existed in a seemingly tiny ship. Then again she should really stop being surprised at this point. As she blinked and slowly looked back to Hattie. "Uh...Y-Yeah. This would be really ok."

"Oh good! I can let you borrow a pillow or two but the blankets are mine." The child yawned again as she went towards the exit mostly tired by now but Poppy was only half listening as she still looked around the place.

"Uh....Y-Yeah. It's fine." She looked down and had to do a double take as Hattie ran right past her and towards the exit. "H-Hey! Where are you going?"

"To get that pillow. I'll be right back promise!" She smiled tiredly before literally jumping down the hold making Poppy give a light gasp and reach out for her......But considering they were already used to this sort of thing she just sighed and pulled her arm back to her side and gave another look around the giant place. Ending it with a sigh.

Sleep would not come easy for her tonight.

[emcon-imagines]

Let Each One Hear Her Own Thoughts

gif

words: 1665 notes: based off of this post I made after the Wandavision finale. for those of you unfamiliar with my OC Willow featured in this story, you can read about her here, or just dive right in and enjoy this little post WV fic! Willow and Wanda share a sister-like relationship after meeting at the compound years ago, when Wanda took Willow under her wing pre-Civil War. summary: Wanda receives a regular visitor at her cabin, someone repaying a favor they owe her from years ago.

---------------

It was still sunny when Willow cleared the mountains and started over the lake, the late afternoon light casting golden shadows on the waves down below. She hadn’t heard a quiet like this in a long time, perhaps in five years, and back then, the quiet was more suffocating. This one wasn’t. It was freeing.

She could see why Wanda had retreated here.

On the opposite shore, the cabin came into view and Willow began her descent, her back aching from the long flight and her heavy backpack. New York City felt a long way away—try as she might, she could never make the trip in a single day. Maybe it was for the better. Time spent in the city was chaotic, busy, full of responsibilities she didn’t feel ready for yet. She still felt herself looking to someone like Natasha for the answers, only to remember that she wasn’t there.

Wanda was sitting on the porch, cup of tea in one hand and the other shielding her eyes from the sun as Willow approached. Her feet hit ground, the grass just poking through the melted snow, the air smelling like spring and dirt. “Hey,” Willow said, stretching her wings out one last time before folding them in, though not all the way. Another reason she appreciated the cabin. There was nothing to hide here, no strangers spying on her every move. Her wings could touch daylight.

“Hey,” Wanda said, standing and turning towards the house. “I hope the trip—”

“It wasn’t bad,” Willow answered quickly. “It’s nice to… you know… get away from everything right now.” She followed Wanda into the cabin, the smell of dust and pine had almost become a comfort to her. On the table, she set down her backpack, unzipping it and pulling out several plastic bags. “I think I got everything—except for the cereal, they didn’t have that brand, so I went to another store, and even asked but they didn’t have it either.” She passed a box to Wanda. “So… this is similar?”

“You didn’t have to do all that,” Wanda said, and the corner of her mouth lifted as she set the box down. “I’m not picky.”

Willow shrugged. “I am.” She nodded at Wanda. “You know, in case the roles are ever reversed, the brand does matter to me…”

“I get it.”

“Bread,” Willow said, handing the bag to Wanda. “I hope it’s not squished. It got bumpy over the mountain pass.” She pulled a few more plastic bags from her backpack. “Oh! And look!” She held up one of the bags so that Wanda could peer inside. “I forgot which spices you said you needed, so there’s like… an assortment… there.”

“What’s in here?” Wanda asked as she searched through one of the bags with produce. “Are these… baby carrots?”

“Yup.” Wanda gave Willow a questioning look and Willow rolled her eyes as she zipped her backpack up and slid it against the wall. “Oh, come on. The Scarlet Witch or whatever still should eat a vegetable once in a while.” The joke rolled off her tongue easily enough, and she hoped it would be received that way as well.

“Now you sound like Natasha,” Wanda said, and she began to put away the items Willow had brought.

“Well, someone has to,” Willow said, the weight of her own words settling uncomfortably as she thought over the last few weeks. “Anyways…”

“You all right?” Wanda asked, turning back around from the cabinets. Willow had taken to wandering the cabin, tucking her wings in further as she navigated the small space.

“Well, you know. It is what it is.” Willow paused, trying to put what she was feeling into words. “It’s a weird time to be alive. You?”

Wanda didn’t respond, half-smiling as she shut the cabinet door, though there was no joy in the smile, just exhaustion. Willow sat down on the couch, wanting to say more, and yet not knowing what to say. She stared out the window at the darkening sky, the mountains disappearing into the clouds and the purple horizon. Where do we go from here?

Willow leaned over the back of the old couch to face Wanda, who was still heating a pot of water on the stove. “You know you can talk to me, right?” Willow asked.

“There’s nothing to talk about,” Wanda said with a sigh.

“Oh. Oka—”

“No, I’m— sorry.” Wanda looked up at Willow and leaned back on the sink, tucking her hands into the sleeves of her sweater as she thought. “I’m pretty sure I used to tell you the same thing, a long time ago. I know you’re just trying to help.” The pot on the stove began to simmer and Wanda turned her attention back to it, opening a box of pasta that Willow had delivered the previous week, and dumping enough of the shells into the pot for the both of them. “I’m glad you’re here,” she finally said. “After everything… you still…”

“You’d do the same for me,” Willow said. “You did the same thing for me. Remember when I first showed up at the compound?”

“Mm. It was like trying to tame a feral cat.”

Normally, Willow would have a retort back, but she only smiled at the memory, and then started laughing. “Yeah. I was really… scared, actually. When SHIELD found me, I thought my life was over.”

“How are the others?” Wanda asked. “I… well… I’m not sure they’d…” She gestured around at the cabin and shrugged helplessly.

“No, they’re just busy,” Willow answered. She laid her head in her arms as she continued to lean across the back of the couch and yawned. “Sam is with Bucky… I haven’t even begun to look into what they’re doing and honestly, I’m not ready to. But I have a feeling it’ll catch up to me eventually. It always does. Rhodey’s still at Stark’s, helping them sort through things. Clint’s home. Same with Scott, he’s home too. Remember Scott? He was at the airport. He was the one who came up with the whole time travel thing. Sort of. So, I’d say things have quieted down, but I don’t want to jinx it.”

The pasta finished and Wanda carefully used a spoon to hold back the pasta as she strained the water out before splitting the shells into two bowls and opened a jar of sauce on the shelf to pour over each one. “Cheese is in the fridge,” she said, and Willow got up to get it, also getting out two forks and two cups from the cabinet.

They sat on the floor, in front of the fireplace on the other side of the room, the cabin lit by a warm glow.

“You really just buy the cheese for yourself, huh?” Wanda asked as Willow screwed the top off of the bottle to shake out the Parmesan cheese faster. “I’m pretty sure you’ve gone through two of those in a month, and you’ve only been here for a few nights.”

“I’m pretty sure it’s called living deliciously,” Willow said.

For a while, the two of them ate in silence, the only sound the scraping of their forks against the bowls and the occasional press of wind rocking the cabin. It reminded Willow of the late-night dinners they used to make at the compound, long after everyone had gone to sleep, as they tried their damn hardest to not burn anything or set off the smoke detectors, which happened a few times too many.

“I saw a rat drag an entire burrito across the street the other day,” Willow said suddenly, finally tiring of the quiet.

“What?” Wanda asked.

“A rat. Like the size of a rabbit. Dragging a burrito across the street in Hells Kitchen. A fully wrapped burrito, filling and all. And it didn’t spill even a little of the filling. I stood there and watched the whole thing; I mean it took this rat like five minutes and cars were coming both ways.” She paused to scoop up a clump of sauce and cheese.

“Well?” Wanda said. “Did he make it?”

“Oh, he did,” Willow said. “I mean, it was close, the burrito got grazed by a tire once or twice, but he got it across the street. At one point he started rolling it on its side… now that was really something. It was like I was watching evolution in real time.”

Wanda smiled for the first time that day, a real smile, and it made Willow’s heart swell just a little, proud of the victory, no matter how small. “Hmm, we’re going to see that rat signing the Accords in a few weeks then,” Wanda responded with a small laugh.

“Yeah, right after the pigeon I saw take what I’m pretty sure was a deliberate poop on a cop car yesterday.”

They finished dinner and Willow cleaned up, washing the bowls and utensils in the sink and leaving them out to dry on the counter. She was exhausted, exhausted from the flight, the past week, and she was almost certain that if she wasn’t doing the dishes, she’d fall asleep standing up. She heard the crackle of static as Wanda turned the radio on, beaming in a signal from a lonely public radio station somewhere in the mountains. With a yawn, Willow climbed back over the top of the couch, plopping down and stretching as she tucked one of the pillows under her head.

“Oh, there’s no way you’re going to be able to stay awake for ten,” Wanda said, referencing the time their show started, some true crime radio show that they had been tuning into in lieu of a television and their usual fight over sitcoms, reality television, and documentaries, the latter which usually won out.

“No, I’ll make it,” Willow said. “Creature of the night and all.”

“Have you still been having them?” Wanda asked, laying down across the armchair that cornered the couch.

“What? No,” Willow said. “Not in a long time.”

“So, you’ve been sleeping?”

“Yeah.” Willow knew she didn’t sound convincing, but Wanda didn’t say anything else on the matter, the two of them sitting and listening to the radio as fuzzy alternative music came gently through the small speaker.

In Willow’s mind, there were plenty of other problems beyond stray nightmares, and besides, she knew she’d sleep just fine that night.

[al-pomegranate-seeds]

Warm food and warm hearts

“He wouldn’t say he was anxious. Or, yes, maybe he would say so, but it wasn’t...Bad. It was like when he was a child during Summer’s End, awaiting for father to finish preparing the bonfire so they could eat meat pies and drink hot chocolate with honey (it was one of the only days where he could drink honey besides right before his bedtime), and then mother would dance while holding him in her arms before putting a tiny drunk child to sleep.

Or: Logan's boyfriend invites him to stay the night in his apartment.“

Pairings:Logince, eventual DLAMP.

Urban fanatsy.

Tags: Fluff, First Kiss, a lil bit of angst, trans man!Roman, genderfluid!Logan

Warnings: A whole food discussion.

Characters: Logan Sanders, Roman Sanders, Remus Sanders, Dot(Cartoon Therapy)

Sequel to my fic “The hands they held”(https://al-pomegranate-seeds.tumblr.com/post/635778410466197504/the-hands-they-held-roman-looked-at-the-flower) and second installment in my “Unicia” series.

Archive of our own: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27737170

I

Logan let out a sigh as he closed the glass doors of the shop. Today had been especially taxing, it seemed. More customers than normal had showed up, right on the day when he felt his social battery had started lower than normal, and Roman hadn’t been able to come visit, having three long appointments to start.

Logan could feel his cheeks heat up(and see his glittering reflection on the glass) as he thought about that last one. It felt a bit ridiculous that Roman’s mere one day abstention was a factor in his mental exhaustation, but he couldn’t bring himself to feel bad about it. Roman had truly been a blessing, appearing on the shop’s first day of existing in that specific location, initiating a conversation with Logan and quickly establishing something they had in common. And then the friendship, which was more than Logan ever expected, going on for a approximately seven months of them sharing their interests and listening to each other ramble about things they didn’t necessarily understand, all of this during work breaks and in their respective places of work.

And today, Roman had invited him to spend the night in his apartment.

Logan wasn’t foolish, he didn’t expect them to go very far. Hell, three weeks and a half of dating and they hadn’t even kissed yet! But it was a big step, to be allowed into one’s home. And besides, Remus wouldn’t be there, occupied with some sort of date (“it’s a booty call, nerdy Wolverine”), and they wouldn’t be exchanging soft compliments and hand kisses on neutral ground.

He wouldn’t say he was anxious. Or, yes, maybe he would say so, but it wasn’t...Bad. It was like when he was a child during Summer’s End, awaiting for father to finish preparing the bonfire so they could eat meat pies and drink hot chocolate with honey (it was one of the only days where he could drink honey besides right before his bedtime), and then mother would dance while holding him in her arms before putting a tiny drunk child to sleep. She hadn’t been able to hold him anymore after he hit puberty, but they still danced the night away, drunk on honey and alcohol and love.

So maybe a better word to describe how he was feeling would be that he was excited.

“Oh come on kid, leave the cleaning up to me.” Logan heard mother say behind him. He spinned quickly, and she was smiling at him like she knew something he didn’t. She probably did.

“Absolutely not, I cannot allow you to clean everything up alone – “

“Logan.” She said firmly, and Logan shut up. “You’ve been staring at that damn tattoo parlor for eight minutes. Go see your pretty boy, I’m not too old to clean a damn shop.”

Logan felt his face heating up again, the light of his freckles lighting up mother’s face.

“I – ok. I’ll go. But promise not overexert yourself.”

“Fine, fine, I promise, mother hen.” Logan rolled his eyes, before kissing mother on the cheek and grabbing his bag, going for the backdoor.

When he stepped inside the tattoo parlor, he could see that Roman and Remus were already turning off the lights, Roman’s curly, long, cardinal red hair pulled up in a bun, his tanned skin stained with ink, and Remus’ hair as unkept as always.

Logan wouldn’t ever admit it, but he would always melt when Roman smiled at seeing him.

“My love!” Roman exclaimed, running up to Logan and picking him up only to spin him in the air.

Logan would normally feel awfully embarassed at such a display of affection, but when there was only them and Remus, who might as well be his friend at this point? He couldn’t manage to make himself embarassed enough to reprimand his red haired love.

Love. By the stars, love. They were going awfully quick, weren’t they? He couldn’t bring himself to care.

Roman finally put him down, only to grab his face with both hands and start peppering kisses all over it. Logan was almost drunk enough on the kisses to not notice Roman was following his freckles with his lips.

“This is cute enough to make me want to take my eyes out with a spoon.” Logan heard Remus’ voice, and Roman groaned, dropping his face on Logan’s shoulder. Logan could see Remus was wearing ripped black skinny jeans over fishnets and a bright green crop top.

“Oh, fuck off, go rummage for trash you fucking racoon.”

“I have already rummaged, bitch brother of mine, tonight I get to eat the trash.”

“Oh for the love of the ghosts, I literally hate you so much – “

“Sure, sure, hey Logan, bye Logan, use protection!” Remus said as he walked out of the parlor’s doors, mounting his bike and finally going.

“Fucking trash eating little gremlin.” Roman murmured, before kissing Logan’s shoulder(well, his shirt, but it’s the thought that counts) and raising his head to look at Logan, big smile already back on his face. “So! Are you ready?”

Logan, still flustered by the kisses, simply nodded.

“Alright, my apartment is just up those stairs, you can go up and settle down while I finish closing the shop.” Roman said, before laying a final kiss on Logan’s cheek and walking towards the doors Remus had left unlocked. Logan went up the stairs, face still hot, and as he went to open the door that sat on top of them, he couldn’t help but feeling that awfully warm and fuzzy thing inside his chest when he touched the doorknob (thankfully made out of copper), as it finally hit him that yes, Roman was actually letting him inside his home without caring about what Logan could do while he was absent. If any fairy(specifically the fairies Logan grew up around) had done something like this, it would be seen as foolish, if not downright scandalous.

Logan shook his head before finally opening the door.

The apartment was...Not exactly what Logan was expecting(with the level of average drama between Remus and Roman combined, he almost expected for red theatre curtains, swords, thrones and life sized statues), but he couldn’t deny that it did fit both of the twins.

The first thing Logan noticed was that, while there weren’t any theatre curtains, there was a fair amount of red and green decoration, including but not limited to a golden and red peacock statue and a green hand showing the middle finger statue. The floorplan was open, with a living space decorated in whites and blacks right in front of a tiny kitchen decorated in the same color scheme. It probably wouldn’t fit the two brothers if there weren’t paint stains all over the furniture, along with various papers with drawings that Logan assumed were possible tattoo designs covering the walls and the fridge.

Overall it seemed like Roman and Remus had taken something that wasn’t theirs...And made it theirs.

Logan noticed there was a fireplace sitting adjacent to the couch, and there were small amounts of clutter there, like a bunch of unopened letter, a clear glass chocolate jar, silver and gold jewelry and two wands.

He set his overnight bag on the side of the couch and sit down, analyzing the drawings covering the walls while he waited for Roman.

Aproximately ten minutes later, he heard the door opening and Roman’s voice rambling.

“Well, that’s it, the shop is closed, the equipment is clean, the lights are turned off and – wow, is that a cutie sitting on my couch?”

Logan raised one eyebrow, but Roman kept looking at him expectantly. He simply sighed before saying with a smile “Yes, dear."

“I knew it, my suspicions are confirmed! The most gorgeous being is indeed inside my apartment!”

“Oh you – you are too kind.” Was the only thing Logan could say, still not used to having those exhuberant words directed at him, but not at all displeased by them.

“On the contrary, I am not kind enough!” Was the answer he received, as Roman jumped to sit on his side and grab his face with both hands. “For example, I have yet to tell you how stunning your freckles look today, they look like you were carved out of a giant diamond then strategically painted over with the finest pigments one could find – “

“Oh – Roman.“Was all Logan could say, as he felt his stomach fluttering like it was full of living snap-dragonflies, and Roman’s entire expression went too soft for him to handle. Luckily, Roman bent down to kiss his cheek before Logan had to decide what to do to hide his undoubtedly lovesick expression. The peck on his cheek went on for long enough that he could calm down. Roman looked at him before leaving a final quick kiss on the other cheek and retreating.

“I have vegetable and mushroom pie, butterscotch pie, linean bread, and cinnamon rolls in the shape of a bunny. Do you want to eat before watching the movie or after?”

“I’d like to eat before. It’s hard for me to concentrate on the movie if I am eating.” Logan responded, trying not to get distracted by Roman’s hand on his cheek.

“Ok.” Roman said, before letting go of him and getting up. “ You can go change while I set the table, if you want. The bathroom is that door on the left.”

Logan nodded and got up, going in the direction of the bathrooom as Roman went in the direction of the fridge.

The bathroom was a small, simple one, with slightly off white tiles on the walls and floor, a normal toilet, sink and shower. He set the bag down on the toilet to grab his pajamas, a knee length, dark blue pajamas skirt and a black baggy t-shirt. He put on simple black socks before closing his bag and getting out of the bathroom.

Roman had already set the table, it seemed, as he was getting out of what Logan assumed was his bedroom, finishing the process of putting on a red tank top over white sweatpants.

“Hey.” Roman said, grabbing Logan’s hand and leading him to the small square glass table on the space to the side of the living space, on which was laid out all of the food he had mentioned before. “What do you want?”

“I’ll have the vegetable pie, and I want to try the bread, I’ve never heard of it.”

“Oh, then you’re in for a treat, my love, it’s bread made in Linea, the elf nation I – that is, the elf nation my mother comes from. It’s made with ground lineo and mock-turtle milk, so the texture is different from wheat bread, and it’s savory.”

Logan simply nodded, grabbing butter and spreading it on one of the orange colored slices of bread that had already been cut, before cutting out a slice of the vegetable pie.

He went for the bread first, and it was...Delicious, certainly, but also not what he was accustomed to. The texture was less starchy and more smooth, more, well, damp, than wheat bread. It tasted like a mixture of ground beef, chicken, lentiles, and was almost spicy, the saltless butter balancing out the savory taste.

“This is delicious. I’ll have to introduce you to a dish to thank you for it.”

“Oh hell yeah, I can’t wait to find out what fairies eat.” Roman responded, grabbing a slice of the butterscotch pie and two cinnamon buns. Logan looked at him, amused, before saying:

“Oh, you’ll probably like it, there’s enough sugar in a single meal to rot your teeth. My favorite drink is hot chocolate with strawberry sugar and honey.”

Roman smiled like was planning something, before finally saying “Ah, explains how you’re so sweet then.”

“I – Roman.” Logan responded, slightly out of breath and only able to reach for the other’s hand so he could hold it while eating, just like the day Logan brought him to the shop’s kitchen and they – well, confessed wasn’t exactly the right word. Caught up to each other, that fit better.

“My father used to cook plenty of meat with honey for – well, it wasn’t dinner, exactly, we ate right before going to sleep, it was the only time I was allowed to ingest honey in any way, lest they had to deal with a drunk seven year old that wasn’t going to sleep soon.” Logan smiled softly while allowing his gaze to go unfocused with nostalgia for a few moments. “Now I cook too, and I couldn’t be more grateful for him.”

“Did you grow up around fairies?”

Logan’s smile widened a bit. “Yes. Mother, father and I grew up around my grandmothers, my father’s mothers. They were both fairies, and one of them was my stepgrandmother. We lived in quite a cold location, so the food was always very heavy and full of calories for our bodies to burn. By the moon, I...I miss them so much, I loved them so much.”He smiled softly at his hands, caressing Roman’s wrist, before looking back at him.” What about you, did you grow up around elves?”

Roman’s hand suddenly tightened around Logan’s own, and Logan saw an aprehensive look on his love’s face for about two seconds before he relaxed.

“I...No. Remus and I grew up with my father and stepmother. I don’t...Have the best memories about them, because well...”He trailed off, biting his lip while looking lost in thought.

“You don’t need to tell me, if you don’t want to.” Logan said, squeezing his love’s hand. Roman squeezed back, smiling at him with that besotted smile that still left Logan quite breathless.

“It’s not that, I do want to tell you. Um. Hey, love, did I ever tell you how my birth name isn’t Roman? It’s actually Valerie.”

Logan was startled enough to stop caressing Roman’s hand for about one second before he came back to himself and his task.

“I see. So I take it neither of us is cis?”

Roman let out a shaky breath, before smiling. “Yeah.”

Neither of them had felt like watching the movie, after that, and when Roman put on some romantic Disney songs, Logan couldn’t bring himself to resist the invitation to slow dance in their pajamas in the middle of the living room.

“So this is love, mmm, so this is love...” Roman sang into Logan’s neck, while the fairy traced the lines of a tattoo he had in between his shoulderblades, a red crest that depicted a castle standing before a sea and under a spiral sun. “So this is what makes life divine...”

“I cannot believe I’m the one saying this, but you, sir, are a giant nerd.” Logan said, his voice far too soft to be mocking. He then sighed “Love, huh? We are going awfully fast.”

Roman raised his head, his expression way too worried for the fairy’s taste.

“I don’t intend on stopping it. It’s...Scary, maybe, but I’m nothing but sure in what I feel for you.” Roman looked a little bit like someone had punched, before asking:

“May I kiss you?”

Logan felt like he had been punched, then, punched by how much he loved the man in front of him and wow, he was really head over heels huh.

“You most definitely may.”

The kiss wasn’t how it happened in movies. It wasn’t desperate and full of passion. It was calm and gentle and only warmed up slightly when Logan introduced tongue, and he was almost overwhelmed by how much love he could pouring from Roman and himself.

They kissed until they needed to breathe, and considering the both of them could hold their breath for longer than most species, it took a good two minutes before Logan had to break away with Roman chasing him, only to settle for kissing his neck.

Logan let out a shaky sigh as he felt Roman’s lips leave soft, gentle kisses on his skin, and he simply stood there until Roman was satisfied. When he was, he raised his head, looking at Logan with na aprehensive expression that didn’t fit the occasion.

“I...I hope the neck wasn’t too much. I could stop myself from kissing you as easily as I could stop the sea waves.”

“It was perfectly fine, dear.” Logan said, a little breathless. “But maybe we should go to sleep now. Tonight has been full of...Emotions.”

Roman smiled, before kissing Logan quickly on the lips and pulling him by the hand toward his room.

[icecoldflames]

Chapter 5 - The Mystery of Sanders Castle

Masterlist

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***

1820, England

The rest of that day seemed to fly by and, too soon, it was the next morning. Logan felt slightly disappointed that Virgil and Philomena would be going back home to Betrug that evening. At least at supper time yesterday his mother had told them that she had made plans with Queen Isolde (Philomena and Virgil’s mother) for Logan to visit their castle sometime in the coming weeks.

It seemed that now Virgil and Logan were on good terms, Virgil and Philomena’s visit was now almost enjoyable. In fact, when the three of them had gone horseback riding last evening and watched the sunset, he had forgotten that he was expected to marry Philomena.

It was rather dangerous, to be honest. How easily he could forget about all his issues when he had to be on top of everything and be the perfect prince. It was irresponsible to forget everything when everything was so important.

Virgil hit his shoulder with his own as he passed by. “Stop thinking so much,” he said, dropping the bag of flour on the table. “Just knead.”

Logan rolled his eyes and began kneading the dough again.

Once Philomena had seen the little kitchen on the top floor she had insisted on teaching Virgil and Logan how to make bread.

“It’s not like I can stop,” Logan said. Thinking was a part of him. It wasn’t like he could shut it off just like that. It was a blessing and a curse all in one because, while he loved solving problems and thinking intricate ideas, he also enjoyed sleeping.

“Make sure your hands are well floured,” Philomena told them, “or the dough will stick to your hands even more.” She then turned to Logan. “You just need a break from daily life. Where you don’t need to worry.”

“Easy for you to say,” Virgil said. “You don’t have to worry about becoming a king.”

“I’d much rather be a king. At least it would be more acceptable to not marry,” Philomena shot back at her brother before glancing at Logan once again.

“I’m just saying,” Philomena continued on, still kneading her bread. “Logan just needs to forget about his problems for a bit. Have some fun.” She paused. “Like baking bread! That’s what me and mother always do when we need some good fun. It also helps out the cooks.”

Logan couldn’t help the small smile from forming on his lips. He didn’t want to admit to her that these past couple of days had been the best break he’d ever had in a long time.

“Oh my gosh, he’s smiling!” Virgil exclaimed, pointing at Logan and covering his eyes. He pretended to faint and, in the process, tripped on the flour that Virgil had spilled earlier and landed flat on his butt. “Oof.”

Philomena sighed and crossed her arms. “I thought I told you to bring a broom with the extra flour.”

Virgil shrugged and chuckled a bit. “I guess I forgot.”

Philomena walked over to Virgil and began rubbing her floury hands over his head. It fell like snow onto Virgil’s hair, little bits of dough rubbing off as well. “That’s your punishment.”

“Hey,” Virgil exclaimed but he was grinning. He pulled himself up and shook himself off like a dog. He scooped up a bit of flour off the counter and began flicking it at Philomena.

Philomena shrieked with glee and ran back to her space on the other side of the counter, beginning to collect her own handful of flour off the counter.

Virgil began throwing little bits of flour over the counter and Philomena retaliated by throwing her own. Soon, above the counter was a massive flour cloud and the three of them were all coughing.

It was like seeing a snowball fight in his own kitchen. Logan began inching away, he didn’t really want to get flour on his clothes. Besides, what would his mother think if she saw him engaging in a flour-snowball fight? Her perfect prince. Soon to be wed.

But then a flour-ball hit him square in the chest. His head shot up. Logan wasn’t sure who threw it but he didn’t care. His competitiveness had been provoked and had snapped free from its chains. “Oh, it is on,” Logan said, a slow grin beginning to spread onto his face. He ran to take cover at a free end of the counter and began piling excess flour off of the counter into his cupped hands.

Seven minutes later, Logan had flour down the inside of his shirt, Virgil’s hair was covered in flour, and Philomena’s face was full of flour that made her look like a crazy ghost.

All three of them decided to stop the game before someone walked in on them. They were playing a dangerous game and, the longer it lasted, the higher the probability one of Logan’s parents would just so happen to walk down this hall.

They decided to clean up the kitchen before taking a secret passageway only Logan (and Irwin) knew to get to his bedroom so it would be easier for Philomena and Virgil to get to their own.

They all voted for Philomena to go find a broom as she was the least dirty. All she had to do was clean her face with some water whereas Virgil needed a deep hair-clean and Logan needed a new outfit. She wasn’t perfectly clean, but she was definitely better than them.

Virgil and Logan watched as Philomena went off down the hallway, following Logan’s instructions as to where the nearest broom would be (in a guest room a couple of turns away and in the closet).

Logan was amazed at how his and Virgil’s relationship had changed in just a day. If Philomena hadn’t intervened yesterday, Logan would’ve dreaded being alone with Virgil. In fact, Philomena probably wouldn’t have left them alone in the first place.

Logan glanced over at Virgil who was beginning to kick some of the flour on the floor into piles so it would be easier to sweep up.

A long, stretched out, piece of dough hung to one of Virgil’s hairs and dangled down, just out of Virgil’s view.

It bothered Logan and he swiftly walked over to him. “You’ve got something in your hair,” he stated. Virgil grinned like a cat and bent down very dramatically so they were the same height.

Logan scowled and rolled his eyes. “You aren’t that much taller than me,” Logan insisted as he began pulling the dough string out of Virgil’s hair.

Virgil chuckled. “Sure. Whatever you say, my infinitesimal professional.”

Logan didn’t know why the blood began to run to his cheeks or how, for a second, he stopped thinking. But then his thoughts began again, whirling like a steam-powered machine. “Doesn’t infinitesimal mean very large?” His eyebrows drew down in confusion, still trying to pick out the dough. He hadn’t known how sticky dough could be.

“Are you joking with me?” Virgil laughed a bit. “Infinitesimal means small. Have you ever read a dictionary?”

“Obviously,” Logan said, genuinely serious. “I used to read it before bed every night when I was younger.” He had wanted to expand his vocabulary when he was around nine and even wrote down words onto paper and cut them out, pocket-sized, so he could carry them around.

Virgil barked out a laugh. “Of course you did,” he said and Logan loved how he laughed. It was somewhere between a scoff, snort, and chuckle and he wanted to make him laugh again. “But I’m positive that it means small, not large.”

Finally, Logan pulled the string of dough out. “There,” he said, placing it on the counter. “It’s out.”

Virgil began to straighten up and Logan was aware of how very close he was to Virgil. While trying to get that piece of dough out, he had subconsciously moved closer. Logan took a quick step backwards to let the usual amount of space go between them.

However, he must have stepped onto the pile of flour Virgil had been creating because his foot slipped out from underneath him and suddenly gravity was doing its job and he was plummeting down, down, down. He shut his eyes, waiting for impact.

Before Logan landed on the pile of flour, arms swooped underneath him and began to pull him up.

Logan opened his eyes and came face to face with Virgil’s unblinking eyes. They were stunning to look at, like a cat’s. They were brown with little flecks of gold. Logan could feel his whole body heat up and his heart begin to race.

“Are you alright?” Virgil asked. He began lifting Logan's torso up but seemed to think for a second before stopping.

Logan’s legs were dangling and, while he felt safe in Virgil’s arms, he was acutely aware that he was inches off the ground.

Virgil’s face was incredibly close to Logan’s own and he noted that this was the second time in a 24 hour timespan that they were very close to kissing. But it was soon gone again and, surprisingly, no other thoughts replaced it.

His mind was absolutely silenced. So peaceful and uncommonly still that Logan wondered if he had actually hit his head on something.

Logan didn’t remember what the question was and didn’t know exactly what to say. His brain was trying to recover and he attempted to recall if he had said anything or if Virgil had said something. His brain drew a blank for the first time in his life.

But then there were footsteps and Virgil almost dropped Logan back on the floor at the sudden sound. They both blinked, as if waking up from some stupor, and Virgil yanked Logan up so suddenly that Logan lost his balance and slid down Virgil’s arms. Virgil tried to make up for this and moved his arms down and bent forward, still trying to heave Logan up. But, with everything happening all at once, Virgil fell forward and Logan fell backwards into the pile of flour so that everything went up in a puff of white.

The footsteps drew closer and Logan could see Philomena in the doorway, holding a broom. Her eyebrows drew down and she instantly dropped the broom. “Oh my goodness. What happened here? I leave for five minutes and look at what’s happened!”

Logan was under Virgil and he could feel Virgil’s racing heart like a fast drumbeat. He assumed his own was similar.

“Don’t ask,” Virgil muttered, beginning to climb off of Logan, lending a hand down which Logan took graciously.

Philomena looked at the two suspiciously for a couple of seconds before bending down to pick up the broom. She shoved it into her brother’s chest. “You sweep. Me and Logan will form the dough and put it in the oven.”

Virgil took the broom and immediately began sweeping. “Let’s catch them on fire,” he said, nonchalantly. Philomena glared over at her brother. “I’m kidding, I’m kidding!”

Logan's cheeks were so hot that he was sure they could have cooked the dough on his cheeks instead.

***

“So you’re telling me you never go for walks around your kingdom?” Philomena asked, aghast. “Even with guards around you?”

The idea was so unbelievable to Logan who only took walks in his own garden or into the woods far away from his own kingdom. “No. Of course not. My kingdom isn’t safe for royalty to take walks into the kingdom. I could be killed or kidnapped.”

All three of them, freshly cleaned and changed, were out in the garden, under Logan’s favourite gazebo.

When he had turned 19, his parents had insisted on a portrait being done. He had only agreed if he could choose where he was placed. He didn’t want to be in some stuffy room in the castle. If he was going to be sitting anywhere for long periods of time, it would be under his favourite gazebo.

“Your kingdom would try to kill you?” Philomena asked. “I mean,” she amended, “I knew there was unrest in kingdoms but I didn’t think here. What do the townsfolk have against your family?”

Logan really hated talking about his own kingdom. Especially to Virgil and Philomena who’s kingdom sounded so drastically different from his own. But it was necessary. Philomena had to understand what kind of kingdom she was marrying into.

“Oh, plenty of things,” Logan said with a roll of his eyes. “To name a few: tax is too high, my parents are too lenient with the criminals and too severe on everyday citizens who commit small criminal offences, they hoard the money and food, they don’t import enough goods, they don’t care about the citizens, they aren’t expanding the kingdom yet the population is steadily demanding it.” He listed these off on his fingers and watched as Philomena and Virgil gaped at him.

“Do you think it’s factual? That your parents are actually doing those things?” Virgil questioned. Logan still couldn’t get the scene of him and Virgil in the kitchen, faces so close to one another, out of his head.

Logan bit his lip in thought. He had always wondered this, alone in his bedroom when he probably should have been asleep. Which side was he on? Did he agree with the people or did he agree with his parents who claimed to be unaware of half of the things the citizens alleged?

To be honest, he always fell asleep before he came to a conclusion or he just came to the conclusion that that decision would be for another time. Another night. Another year.

And now two people were curious to know his opinion on something he had been putting off for years.

Virgil and Philomena looked expectantly at Logan.

Logan chose his next words very carefully. “I’m not quite sure…” he trailed off slowly.

“What do you mean?” Virgil asked.

Logan let out a little breath of air before responding. “Some of the things my parents do definitely aren’t the people’s choice but I see how they are helpful and I understand both sides. Like the higher taxes. People are paying more but everyone’s houses are pretty much stable and won’t crumble at the first signs of a storm or a hard winter. But other things just don’t add up. They just don’t make sense.” He ran a hand through his hair and adjusted his glasses. “Like the import thing—I don’t understand it. We import around the same amount of goods as any other kingdom near us yet the people are adamant that we import less than them.”

“Has anyone looked into it?” Virgil asked worriedly. “Maybe people stole it.”

Logan pursed his lips. “They did look into it, a couple of years ago.”

“And?” Philomena prompted.

Logan rubbed his face. “They found the missing goods in one of the castle’s personal food storage buildings. We interviewed all of our staff and they swore that they didn’t know how it got there. The people were furious.” He paused. “After that, we stopped trying to find the missing imports. And we don’t use that storage building anymore.”

Philomena was playing with her skirt and she looked deep in thought. “Could your parents have put it there, not the staff?”

“Philomena!” Virgil exclaimed.

“No,” Logan said, shaking his head. “My parents may be cold and calculating but they aren’t thieves. Especially taking things from their own kingdom.”

“Sorry, but you’re right. It doesn’t make sense,” Philomena said thoughtfully.

“Could your people be doing it, trying to overthrow your parents?” Virgil suggested.

All of these ideas Logan had thought of before. And every single time they came through his mind, he always hit a brick wall. “No. Our people wouldn’t do that. They’ve been unhappy for some time now. I doubt they would keep up the hoax for over ten years. They would probably try to assassinate one of us before planning something in the long run.”

“Has someone tried to reason with your people?” Virgil asked.

“Yes. A while ago, perhaps three years into the missing goods we showed a couple of the lords proof that we had imported these things but they didn’t believe us and thought we had created the proof just to silence them.”

“That’s horrible,” Virgil said.

“It’s going to be so different travelling to Betrug,” Logan said honestly. “It’ll be a nice change of scenery.”

“I can’t wait for you to meet our parents and siblings,” Philomena gushed.

“Oh right, you have three other siblings, right?” Logan asked. “Exactly how young are they?” Being an only child and not ever interacting with other children around his own age (except maybe the odd royal who visited) meant that he wasn’t exactly the best with children or with meeting new people. Which worried him since he was expected to have an heir and raise them.

“Well, there’s Philomena, obviously, then me, then Mabel at 17, then Lillian who’s 14, and then Peter at 9,” Virgil explained, listing each sibling off on his fingers.

“Wow, I can’t imagine having that many siblings,” Logan said. He would probably be fine with maybe one sibling although he wasn’t sure which he preferred—a sister or brother.

“It definitely gets rambunctious at times. Especially Peter. He’s a little rascal,” Philomena said, wrinkling up her nose.

“Yeah but Lillian taught him everything. She’s worse than Peter because Lillian is actually smart,” Virgil argued.

“I’m sure that when Peter grows up, he’ll be plenty smart. He’s nine. Of course he isn’t as smart as Lillian. Just like Lillian isn’t as smart as Mabel and so on and so forth.”

Virgil rolled his eyes playfully. “You’re just saying that because you think you’re smarter than me.”

Philomena opened her mouth, “I’m not saying that. I’m just saying that, as people get older, people get smarter and wiser.”

Virgil pointed to Logan. “So you think you’re smarter than Logan?”

Logan intervened before the lighthearted argument could take a plummet. “I think everyone’s smart in their own way.”

Philomena laughed. “Good point.”

***

Lunch passed way too quickly and soon Virgil and Philomena’s carriage was on its way to take them home. Logan would have to wait another month before seeing them again.

He didn’t want them to go. Logan knew the castle would be too quiet. Too lonely. There was no Irwin and now Philomena and Virgil would be going home.

Logan put those thoughts away for now, they weren’t gone yet. Currently, they were in the guest room that he had directed Philomena to in order to find the broom earlier that morning. It had a view of the road to the castle so all three of them would know when the carriage would be arriving.

All three of them were oddly silent.

Everything just seemed to be sinking in. What this whole meeting was supposed to be about. It was just supposed to be a couple of days for Logan and Philomena to get to know each other.

But Logan felt like it had been much more than that. He didn’t know what his feelings were. They were like a massive knot and he didn’t know how to unravel and make sense of them.

He felt guilty that he wasn’t thinking about Irwin. Shouldn’t he be thinking more about him? Shouldn’t he be thinking more about his fast approaching wedding? But, instead of this, all he could discern from his knot of feelings was that he didn’t want Virgil to leave.

Philomena broke the silence. “This isn’t the last time we’re going to see each other.” She tried to put on a smile but it wavered. “We’ll see each other in a month.”

Logan and Virgil didn’t say anything.

Philomena rolled her eyes. “You two are acting like it’s a funeral.”

Logan awkwardly scratched the back of his neck while Virgil slipped his hands underneath him and stared down at his feet.

Philomena sighed and finally stood up from the rocking chair she had been sitting on. “I can’t just sit here anymore. I’m going to do a sweep of our rooms in case we forgot anything. Virgil, just come get me when the carriage arrives.”

Virgil nodded absentmindedly as Philomena walked out the door.

Once Logan could no longer hear her footsteps, his mind wandered to earlier that morning, when he had been in Virgil’s arms. And the two almost kisses.

He didn’t know what he was feeling about the other prince. It felt so similar yet incredibly different than his feelings towards Irwin. Perhaps if he could figure out the differences, he could understand himself better. It felt like such a massive task that seemed so impossible that Logan wasn’t sure if he was up for it.

The galloping of horses made Logan snap his gaze up. His heart fell and thoughts of Irwin disappeared as he stared over at Virgil who stared back at him. Neither of them moved from their places in the bedroom.

It was only when Logan thought that maybe the carriage was halfway down the road that finally Logan stood up, feeling like weights were tied to his feet. He could hear Virgil slowly follow.

Logan thought back to his conversations with Irwin and, with a start, realized that almost 98% of their conversations was Irwin advising Logan. Whether on feelings or just regular advisory. And then Logan tried to think if it had ever been the other way around. He thought long and hard, making his way to the wing where Philomena and Virgil’s rooms were, but drew a blank.

Looking back at their relationship, objectively, it had been rather one-sided. Logan’s palms were beginning to sweat. What did this mean? Was their whole friendship a lie? What did his feelings mean? Did Irwin feel the same? Their whole friendship was based around the fact that Irwin helped him get through life. Did Logan know the intricacies of Irwin’s feelings and opinions like Irwin did him? Did he do that on purpose or was it more of a subconscious thing?

And what about Virgil? Whatever was happening between him and Virgil was definitely not the same as him and Irwin. He barely knew Virgil yet Logan felt a similar warm, fuzzy, feeling that he did with Irwin.

Did Logan even like Irwin? Of course, his feelings seemed to argue. But his mind wasn’t so sure. Was Irwin just a person he depended on to unknot his feelings? It made him uncomfortable admitting it to himself but he couldn’t deny the facts.

Then Logan’s mind went to Virgil and how he didn’t want him to leave. Was that because he depended on him like Irwin or was it because he genuinely liked him?

His heart rate quickened and he could feel his cheeks go hot. Maybe he didn’t have to decipher his feelings in order to answer that question. All he had to do was watch for the signs.

Maybe a part of him still liked Irwin—he was his very first friend, after all—but Virgil was nothing like Irwin. And he seemed to really like him whereas he might have just depended on Irwin because he was more of an advisor.

They were almost to Philomena’s bedroom when Logan barely registered the sound of Virgil’s pace quickening. And Logan’s wrist flamed and tingled when Virgil grabbed it and pulled him around to face him.

“Logan…” Virgil’s eyes were wide and Logan’s brain malfunctioned again and went quiet like earlier that morning in the kitchen. But this time his brain didn’t immediately recover because suddenly they were kissing.

Had he been the first to initiate it or had Virgil? Logan didn’t know, he couldn’t remember. All he knew was that he was kissing Virgil and it was definitely wrong because he was supposed to be marrying his sister but he couldn’t help but feel that this was it. This was how it was supposed to be.

Virgil pulled away after a moment, looking frightened. Logan worriedly wondered if he had initiated the kiss and Virgil didn’t feel the same way about him. But, if that was the case, Virgil would have pulled away as soon as their lips touched.

Virgil blinked and Logan was close to running away and never showing his face again. “Are you…alright?” Virgil asked hesitantly, his eyes searching Logan’s face for something.

Logan held Virgil’s forearms, still slightly in shock—his heart was beating rapidly and his face felt like it was on fire.

“Yes,” Logan finally said, pulling Virgil into a hug. And, after a long moment, Virgil settled his head atop Logan’s.

[areiton]

taste of love - stony (prompt 4)

Read on AO3 | Wordless Love Confessions Collection

A series of Stony ficlets based on this prompt list

~*~

4.  Making their favorite meal when they are having a hard day.

There’s a system. 

Tony knows there is, but he can’t quite work out what the system is. Or even why Steve does it. 

He knows this--on days when he comes back to the Tower, spitting mad over endless, pointless meetings with the Board--there is grilled cheese waiting, crispy bread, gooey cheese, tomatoes warm and tangy in his mouth, and creamy tomato bisque to dip into. 

He knows that when he comes in from the balcony, wind-swept and wet-eyed after sending Rhodey back into the world in a suit that will keep him safe, but never safe enough--there is a plate of meatloaf, a pile of mashed potatoes, and the light airy biscuits that send him right back to the summer he spent in Philly with Rhodey, being fed by Mama Rhodes. 

He knows that when he comes home from a session with his therapist, there will be a cup of tea and a plate of sugar cookies and plenty of space. 

He knows that when he surfaces from a workshop binge, there will be piles of greasy food--Chinese late at night, burgers if it’s before midnight--and when he reaches for food in the ‘shop, he’ll find plates of cut fruit and bite sized pita, warm and perfect for the hummus nearby. 

He knows successful missions are followed by ruckus, loud team dinners, and no one ever knows what will land on the table, but Steve will land next to him, and make sure his plate is full, and his eyes are always so damn bright, when Tony eats the food he’s handed without really thinking about it. 

He knows that missions that go wrong are followed by a thin chicken broth and a cracker or two before Tony throws up and Steve is there for that too, a hand pressed against his back, a soothing voice filling up his ears. 

He knows that when he’s sick, Steve will force Gatorade and chicken rice soup down his throat. 

He knows that on Sunday, the one morning Steve won’t leave his bed to go for a run, he’ll wake instead to coffee and breakfast, to slow drugging kisses that taste of bacon and cinnamon and icing, and they’ll stay there, for hours, lost in each other, until the rumbles of Steve’s stomach chase them both, laughing, from bed. 

He knows that the other days, when he is home, Steve will always come back, windswept and beautifully flushed, and wake him with a bagel and coffee and a sweet kiss. 

And he knows that on the worst days--

The days when memories wrap around him and choke him, days when he can’t breath through the crushing weight of every fucking thing he’s done wrong, everything he will do wrong--

Steve wraps around him, smelling of bread and paint and safety, will hold him until Tony isn’t shaking anymore. When he props Tony on the kitchen counter, and cooks for him on those days, it’s only ever hot chocolate made with almond milk and a dash of vanilla and Steve smiles at him, and chases the cold away. 

~*~ 

Steve has a system, a way of feeding him that matches his mood, that leaves him cherished and warm and cared for. 

Tony--

Tony doesn’t. 

It isn’t that he doesn’t care. He does. He can cook, too--he resents the implication that he can’t, and tells Rhodey, very succinctly, where he can shove that shit, he set the fucking curve for chemistry--but Steve. 

Steve has a strange relationship with food. He likes feeding the people he cares about--Tony, the team. When Bucky comes in from the cold, Steve only breaks down when he realizes that Hydra only ever fed him with nutrient shakes, sludgy and thick and tasteless. 

But he doesn’t actually like eating, himself. He tells Tony that there was never a lot of food, growing up, and he was allergic to most of it. 

Eating wasn’t comforting, it was a tedious exercise in almost dying. 

He only ever talks fondly about matzo ball soup, a staple in Bucky’s Ma’s house, and no matter how many delis Steve samples, he can’t find it made, just right. 

It takes him three months to track down Rebecca Proctor. She takes one look at Tony and immediately looks for a looming blond behind him and he feels, suddenly, inexplicably, like an ass. 

He promises to return with Steve, and she readily hands over the recipe, and even spends an afternoon teaching him how to make it, just right. 

The first time he serves it to Steve, it’s after a mission that kept Steve out of the country for two weeks, and in the hospital for three days after he finally got stateside, a mission that didn’t go wrong but sure as hell didn’t go right. 

Steve calls, and he can hear it, the emotional and physical exhaustion that screams even as Steve laughs and calls hims sweetheart and says I miss you. 

So he makes soup, and the smell of it, thick and warm is filling up the air and it’s what Steve reacts to first, when he steps into the penthouse. His eyes go wide and wet and Tony draws him to the table, where the soup sits, steaming, rich broth and chunky carrots and a big fat matzo ball, and Steve--Steve’s hand spasms on his, an almost painful clench before he sits and Tony leans against him. 

He talks, idle nonsense about a mishap in R&D and closing the merger that kept him tied to New York while the Avengers were out of the country, nonsense words filling up the air as the spoon clinks against the bowl and Steve eats, and neither of them mention the tears on his cheeks, or the way he leans too heavy into Tony, or what this all means. 

Later, though, as he kisses Steve in their bed, and he tastes the salty trace of soup, he thinks he understands the urge. To feed, and provide and care for. To see that proof of love in a tangible, real way. 

He draws Steve close and they fall asleep, twisted together, and the taste of love and soup on his lips. 

[vore-scientist]

Goldilocks and the Giant Wizard

A Tale of the Mystic Woods

(safe/soft GT vore w/fearplay)

Premise: The Giant Evil Wizard Yonah HaEsh has a uninvited visitor to his tower, and she’s quite the troublemaker. I worked a lot of silly lore into this one. 

**Content Warnings**: The titular Goldilocks lives! Do not worry! But there is minor skin irritation/burns (multiple factors involved). Descriptions are not graphic but are intense. Also Yonah briefly considers killing her (but not digesting her alive, he would never!). [please message me for additional info if needed!]

Goldie’s POV is 1st person, Yonah’s is 3rd. 

----

So.

Hi.

My name is Zahav Goldstein-Goldbloom. But most people call me Goldie. It’s great to meet a fan! Oh? Are you not a fan? Surely you’ve heard of me. I’m a pretty awesome adventurer if I do say so myself. And I do. Say so. All the time. I am brave. I am strong! I can run for hours! I am resourceful! And I always come out on top… always… well. Except for right now. Right now I am…

FREAKING! THE! FUCK! OUT!

You will never guess where I am. (Or maybe you will, given fairly universal theme of the author’s blog).

I’m in the stomach of a giant! Who is also a wizard! What’s up with that? Giants can’t become wizards!

Yeah. I was eaten. Gonna die soon. That sucks. A lot.

It’s terribly smelly and terrifyingly dark in here. I briefly took out a light stone but that was worse. The horrible angry pink walls… the slimy mucus… the acids that I’m sitting in… I would rather not watch my own demise. But don’t worry, I’m not going quietly! I’ll scream my loudest up until the very end! This I swear. And I can scream very loud. If you’re worried that I’m using up my air faster: better to pass out and not die painfully right?

There’s no point in telling me that I shouldn’t be complaining, or that adventuring is far from safe. I know. I know. It’s super duper dangerous and adventurers die all the time but I never figured it would happen to me! I always do everything right. So how could this have gone so wrong? Must have been something. I should have just enough time left to reflect.

How about we start at the beginning. Not of my life. As exciting as my entire life is, or… was… I don’t think I have time before well… you know. My skin is already feeling a bit tingly. That’s probably a bad sign.

Anyways! Let’s start a few days ago. When I entered a rather mysterious forest.

—-

The day had been pretty darn great so far! I broke a curse put upon the charming town of Shevana. I guess I did a really good job since they carried me out on their shoulders! Singing my praises! And gave me a nice reward. They told me that I’d done such a good job that they never needed me to visit again. I waved to the crowd as I walked down the road into the bright sunny day.

Ugh. I’d forgotten how boring this part of adventuring was. Travel. Walking. Just me and me thoughts. For hours. So many hours.

I wish I’d stayed in town awhile longer. They gave me some gold but didn’t give me any food for my journey. And you can’t eat gold! Unless maybe you’re a lava snake. But I’m guessing you aren’t since they can’t read. Can’t really hold books in molten coils.

Usually I manage to find something, a stray fruit tree, shoot a rabbit. However I saw no such things on the side of the road! Not that I was concerned. One day without food could not worry me.

But that one day became two. And on that second evening I came to a forest.

I figured I could find something to eat in a forest! Right? Berries at the very least. Countless people have told me to be careful about eating plants I’m not familiar with but I’ve never had any problems.

I didn’t expect the sun to set so fast. Nor for it to start raining. I could barely see three feet in front of me let alone forage for sustenance. What I needed was shelter. Warm and dry shelter. Hell I would take a hole in the ground!

That’s when I spotted it: A hole in the ground!

Right between the roots of a small group of trees growing on a sizable mound of earth and rocks. And it was very dry, the earth inside covered in a soft moss! Finally things were making sense again.

One thing was missing: warmth.

What I lacked in food I made up for in flint and tinder! Miraculously still dry tinder thanks to my awesome waterproof bag that I got from a witch. I offered to return it after I was done with my quest but she wouldn’t let me near her hut and insisted I leave and never come back.

So I lit a small fire.

That’s when the rumbles started.

That’s when I found out that this wasn’t a mound made of earth and rocks.

Well it was made of bears. Large, no-longer-sleeping bears.

Made of earth and rocks.

I was able to get out of there and make a run for it as they disentangled themselves, the roots of the trees had grown deep and I could hear them ripping out of the ground as the beasts roared.

Miracle is an understatement. I shouldn’t have gotten away from the bears. I couldn’t actually run since I couldn’t see even if when the rain stopped. I collided into every thorn bush and tripped on every rock and root. From behind me I could hear them, they were getting closer. Surely at their size they could reach me in just a single bound!

And then I didn’t hear them! I also felt really nauseated as I stumbled into a clearing.

Not a true clearing. It wasn’t an empty meadow. From what I could see it was a garden, and possibly a small orchard? The sky was still dark with clouds. Thankfully The plant beds were spaced very far apart; not the most efficient use of space. And no, I didn’t pick any fruits or vegetables! This is clearly a magical garden! I’m not stupid. I don’t know what gave you that idea!

Fine! I took some apples! They smelled normal enough, and I’m not cursed or anything. Plus I was thoughtful enough to carve the adventurers symbol for “safe” on the tree, to let others know.

After that I just wanted to be out of this rain, out of the dark. And I was still hungry. Apples aren’t very filling.

There was a light!

Shining from the window of a tower at the opposite end of the clearing. I could not believe! And even better, the tower was covered in strong vines, miraculously free of moisture and easy to climb! With the prospect of a roof over my head, I had the strength to make my way up.

That fall from the window into the tower should definitely have broken a few bones.

This was no ordinary tower. It was magical. And whoever lived here was… well giant isn’t the right word. I’ve seen giants and they are about 40ft tall, this isn’t nearly big enough. I’ve heard stories of smaller varieties of giant but none from this continent. Perhaps some really large ogre lives here? But what ogre needs a magical workshop?

I should have maybe, maybe, just waited for whoever lived here to show up, because they weren’t around, and there was a freshly burning candle on the desk.

My hunger having been momentarily abated with apples and distracted by my curiosity, I climbed up on to the desk.

Wow! What treasures! Magical gizmos And whatchamacallits And doodads And doohickeys, And thingamabobs! I wanted to play with each to find out what they all did! And there were books! So many books and scrolls and bottles full of who knows what! I almost did, when I spotted the letter.

Whoever lived here must have left suddenly, for at the edge of the desk was a piece of parchment shiny with ink, and even though I could not read the writing, it was clearly an unfinished letter.

I tried to skim some of the books only most were in languages I couldn’t read. And they hurt my eyes.

It was time to continue my explorations. What I needed to find was a bed, or something suitable as a bed. And if I was lucky, something to eat and drink.

From my vantage point on the desk I could see an open trap door with a staircase leading down into the dark. There weren’t any other exits aside from the window so down I went.

Climbing down giant stairs is not fun. And I didn’t fancy having to climb back up. Hopefully I would find food and be recharged by then. Wow I was hungry.

Was that? That smell. Savory and meaty! Food! A doorway appeared on the wall of the stairwell, which led into a kitchen. There was no way I could prepare food here. Thankfully the table was set for dinner! And with the serving being so large, surely I could take some and it wouldn’t make a difference.

Ow!!! The soup, which had been luke warm, burned my mouth! I’d never eaten anything so spicy in my life! Ow ow ow!!! I reached into the goblet for handfuls of what I figured was water. But it wasn’t. Whatever it was it was sweet and bubbly, and it soothed the pain so I drank more.

No more soup for me, but there was a small, relative to the rest of the place, loaf of bread. A personal sized one. If said person was a few stories tall. It was as large as a bolder with a nearly rock hard crust to complete the illusion. I had to use my knife to carve into it.

The bread wasn’t spicy, it was full of raisins and nuts! Regular sized ones. Delicious! I ate my fill, and had more of the sweet drink before continuing my quest for a bed!

Woah!!! I almost fell off the table. I must’ve been really tired, the room is spinning a bit. But I was fine. I didn’t fall so I was fine! In fact I felt GREAT! I used the chair to get back to the floor and back to the staircase. No way was I getting up it. That way lead to the workshop, I only made it down one floor. So down I must go once more.

This time I found a living room. It was lit by a roaring fire in the hearth. There was a couch, an ottomon, and an armchair.

I tried to climb up onto the couch but it was too far off the ground. I used my grappling hook and it snagged the upholstery but as I tried to climb it just ripped down. I tried again with the same result except my hook got on a seam! It wasn’t far enough up so I left it there.

The armchair was the better bet, I should have inspected all of my options rather than just heading to the first thing i saw.

A large blanket was draped over the chair, tassels reaching the floor, and I was able to climb up. I couldn’t pull the blanket up to wrap myself in it, but beggars can’t be choosers. The Chair was very soft all things considered, though the fabric of it and blanket were rough, it was enough of a bed for someone as tired and small as I.

I promptly went to sleep.

—–

Fuck. That was. Not fun. Bruised and bleeding, he was looking forward to getting back home. At least the storm had passed and the early summer sun was rising. Well, he deserved to sleep a day and a night for this. And get a handsome paycheck. The king was damn lucky to have him at his beck and call! He had postponed dinner to finish writing a report when he got the call too! Now he would have to write a second report!

Finally he stepped over the stone path of his garden, careful not to slip as his shoes were covered in mud. At least he wasn’t tracking blood anymore. Not much at least.

What?

As he passed by his dancing sunflowers they bent towards him. They shouldn’t be active this early in the morning, even in summer. Was something wrong? Were they sick?

All their faces were turned in the same direction. He crouched down to their level (about 4 meters). Their attention was on the apple trees. That’s when he saw it.

One of the trees had been vandalized! Some sort of symbol carved into the trunk. He didn’t have a hope in finding the person, but he wrote down the symbol just the same. He needed to know what it meant. He didn’t want his tower being marked by some guild or cult.

Irritation pushed away some of his exhaustion as he Leapt up to snag the tower windowsill. His wounds stretched and blood trickled out again. He landed in his workshop with a muddy, bloody, thud. Maybe he could finish off the first report after all. Future him would thank him and-

The report was covered in footprints! The not yet dry ink had been tracked all over his desk! He held the now ruined report under the magnifying glass.

Human shaped.

A thief most likely. If they were so foolish as to still be around (and judging by the lingering scent of human, they were), they just won themselves a ticket down his throat. And if they were very lucky, because Yonah was now in quite a Mood™, it wouldn’t be one way.  

It took a lot of focus to make his way silently down the stairs. He wanted to stomp and scream, to be monstrous, but that would give the thief warning. Give them a fighting chance. They did not deserve that chance.

Using his nose he followed the smell of the human to the kitchen. But he did not find them. Instead he found his now cold dinner.

Which the human had clearly helped themselves too! Did this person lack manners? Just, eating off of someone elses plate! Or rather, bowl? There were dried splashes of soup and mead all over the table, and his bread had little holes carved into it. What kind of person did that! Was this even a thief?

That didn’t really matter, he would eat them either way. He took a sip of the mead. Alcohol wasn’t what he needed, but it was what he wanted. Mmmm, it tasted better than he expected. It tasted like…

Had the human just stuck their HANDS INTO HIS CUP? He wasn’t grossed out. It’s not like he bothered to wash the humans when he swallowed them whole or anything. It was just so weird!

Tasted good though. It made him excited to eat the real deal.

Maybe a change of clothes first? And a bath? His current adornments were getting crusty and smelled horrible. So was he. The wounds had dried into the threads and pulled with every movement. Then again, he probably looked really scary. He couldn’t even imagine the state of his hair. 

As he passed through the living room to the bedroom he had a strong urge to pass out on the couch and deal with all of his problems when he woke up. He caught himself unconsciously taking a few steps towards it.

That’s when the scent of the human caught his attention once more. And something else caught his eye.

Something was off about the couch. Inspecting it he found it had been torn! The stuffing spilling out and a small hook stuck in the fabric. First his report, then his bread, now his couch! This thief’s chances of survival were dwindling by the minute.

No time to change his clothes he was going to find the human before they wrecked anything else!

Oh. They were. right there. Sprawled out, halfway under the blanket on his armchair. Sleeping. As peacefully as one could be. Not for long. But he did not want to wake them just yet.

He sat down on the ottoman and leaned forward.

The human certainly looked like a thief. At least, she had adventuring gear. Not all adventurers were thieves but the ones who entered his tower were usually there to steal.

Her shining golden hair made of large curls was impeccably clean and fell across her face with perfect delicacy. Her golden-brown skin was free of blemishes, though her cheeks were flushed, the scent of alcohol lingering on her. She was beautifully innocent looking. And he was furious.

Was she not a thief? Thieves may be foolish but they didn’t break into his house to eat his food and drink until they passed out.

Then he spotted her knife and ink stained boots, about a meter from her head, tossed aside.  

He took a deep breath, filling it with rage and fire.

—

Ouch! What was that! A blast of hot steam?

I woke up to find a very angry giant man in wondrously patterned robes standing over the bed, eyes angrily aglow. As my vision focused I saw that the robes were torn in several places and dreadfully bloodstained. So was the man, and he was still bleeding out of a few wounds, in particular a nasty gash on his left cheek and a black eye to go with it.

More hot breaths growled forth.

Well I am nothing if not polite. Even to grumpy people. I sat up, yawned, stretched a bit, and cheerfully greeted this giant man.

“Hello! I’m Zahhava Goldberg-Goldstein, adventurer extraordinaire! you call me Goldie! What’s your name?”

I held out my hand and smiled. No one can resist my smile.

—-

That’s all she had to say? He pushed the fire in his eyes to grow more intense. But she just continued to smile. Her huge golden eyes sparkling with irritating innocence.

“I don’t believe you’ve earned that information.” he growled and she blinked, “What the fuck are you doing in my tower?”

She considered for a moment, “Sleeping? Well I was sleeping. Boy does one get tired without a steed! I should really get one! And I call myself a hero! Wow You have really hot breath!”

Crossing his arms Yonah let out another snort of steam before he straightened up and leaned back.

“Do you always break into people’s houses?”

The human spoke with her whole body, wild motions that Yonah suspected some people had been in the line of fire of.

“I- there wasn’t a door or anything! Quite perplexing, but i’ve heard of towers like this before. Tricky stuff, but I’ve handled worse. Never met a vine I couldn’t climb, and the window was open!”

“Can I assume those are your footprints smeared across my report to the king?” It did not escape Yonah’s notice that she didn’t actually answer his question.

“Is that what that was? It was in a very strange language, it looked similar to dwarvish. Is that the language of this land? I must have crossed a boarder… I only ventured two days from town..”

Guess she didn’t read giant. Thankfully the king did, and let him write reports in his own language. And again… not actually an answer from this little, absent minded, egotistical, delectable, thief.

“Is this yours?” He held up the hook.

“Oh yes! Thanks so much for getting it loose! It was stuck something fierce wasn’t it!” She held out her hands but he only grinned, used the hook to pick his teeth and tossed it into his sleeve. Her smile wavered only briefly.

She still had not apologized.

“And you who poked little holes in my bread and drank my mead?” Yonah’s left eye twitched.

“I was hungry! After not a bite to eat for two days I Couldn’t believe I found such a bounty. Did you make that bread yourself it was incredible! The soup was way to spicy though, nearly burned my tongue off!”

Yonah raised an eyebrow. So not a thief? Just a poor lost soul? A bit of his anger subsided as a hint of pity grew within him.

“Before I got here I found this hill see, I was trying to get shelter from the rain. There was a small cave so I went in! But then… the Hill… it turned out to be made of bears! And- YIPE!”

—

Out of nowhere I was pinned under his right hand and smoke started billowing out of his hair; the roots of which sparked to life. We had just been talking! Having a nice conversation, what could have prompted this change?!

His face loomed over me, smiling. Not a kind smile either. Why was he smiling? He was clearly mad! Oh what had I done?

Now scalding spittle joined the breath as he shouted at me.

“IT WAS YOU!”

I didn’t respond. I couldn’t! He was crushing the air out of me and I struggled my hardest to get his hand off.

“YOU’RE THE REASON I WAS CALLED AWAY FROM MY DINNER TO PACIFY TALLEKS! DO YOU KNOW HOW HARD IT IS TO GET THEM TO GO BACK TO SLEEP?”

“N-no-“ I coughed, my only reward was a lungful of the hot breath.

“Ooohhhohoh I’m going to enjoy eating you!” he laughed. The unmistakable laugh of -

A villain.

This was a villain’s lair! Stupid stupid!!! Of course! The tower! The vines! The mysterious Workshop filled with bubbling noxious things in jars! The sweet, perfectly trimmed goatee this giant man had! It all added up, but all too late.

My heart stopped. Not literally but it sure felt like it. DID HE SAY ‘EAT ME’?

The hand lifted slightly and I took painful breathes.

But Before I could do anything to save myself the fingers curled around my back and I was Brought to his face. His grin stretched ear to ear and he drew his tongue over his lips.

Using the breath I managed to get, I tried my best to reason with him.

“PLEASE DONT EAT ME! I DONT WANT TO DIE!”

—-

No. Of course she doesn’t. But beaten up and oh so hungry, Yonah was not in a merciful mood.

Why should he let her live? This idiot humans had no respect for other people! She disturbed ancient spirits and felt no remorse! In fact she was acting as if she did nothing wrong!

He was done talking to her. Lowering her from eye level he pressed her onto his tongue and licked her bodily. She shrieked as she was covered in his near boiling slobber.

She tasted very very good. Her tears adding to her already savory flavor. He shoved her torso into his mouth and closed his lips around her.

The blood thundering in his ears drowned out her shrill cries, and after a few more seconds of enjoying her flavor he tipped his head back and swallowed her down.

Alive.

Yonah didn’t know why, but he decided against killing her. For all she had done… as thoughtless and worthless of a person as she clearly was, she had made no attempts on his life. She was just completely oblivious, and tactless. Not an execution worthy crime. Though… he had come very close. He almost snapped her neck when he held her in his hand. And again, almost bit down to do the same between his teeth. It would have been quick, bloodless, painless.

Neither times he did he take the opportunity. And as the struggling mass filled his stomach he wasn’t about to make her suffer a slow painful death as his meal. That was never something he could do, no matter how angry. 

/Of course/ he thought, a wicked grin growing on his face as pat his stomach, making her scream and scramble /she didn’t know any of this/.

—

I don’t know why I continued to scream as I was crammed into the Giant’s mouth, he wasn’t listening to me at all! He was true to his word, he was going to eat me! Oh right it was because it was painful!!! Everything around me burned and I was pushed against the teeth, though the grace of a god who I could not name, I was not bitten.

Not yet.

In hindsight I should have started saying my prayers much earlier. Surely he was much too small to swallow me whole and was going to bite my head off or something. Or maybe my waist? He sealed me inside his mouth, letting my legs dangle out. The tongue was still active and shoving me into the hard teeth.

The end was surely near!

Gravity shifted and I slid down to the back of his throat! As my arms and head were pulled into the tight passage of flesh my legs were sucked into his mouth. I kicked as best I could but all I got were triumphant chuckles as my legs met his enthusiastic tongue.

Powerful rolling muscles shoved drew me down again and again! As my legs were pulled into the restricting tunnel my outstretched arms passed through a tight ring of flesh. Then my head escaped the esophagus. I took a breath and choked on the humid vomit smelling air.

AHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!!!!!!!

I didn’t stop screaming as the rest of my body was squished into the stomach. I didn’t stop as my face was pressed into the bottom, where a small pool of fluids was gathering! NOT GOOD! I did not stop as I hurriedly I rolled around to get my head away from the digestive juices.

There was still air. Not the most breathable, but it was air. How long it would last?

And it was even hotter in here, in the belly of the beast. I swear the pool of liquid boiled. I was thrown about, squished and shoved, as the giant laughed and laughed at my impending demise.

And it must be soon. For we are back where we started!

Me.

Eaten by a giant wizard.

And judging by the pounding on my left side, a disgustingly pleased giant wizard. I knew there was evil in the world. But it is really disheartening to know there were those so cruel that they relished in the death of others. And I was so powerless against him! I hadn’t even a sliver of a fighting chance.

I couldn’t tell if it was sweat or his stomach fluids flowing down my face, it all burned the same. It was like a boiling sulfur pool. The worst sauna ever.

ACk! Some of the fluid got in MY MOUTH!!! And the fluid level is… it’s rising. It was at my ankles when I began telling you my tale but now it halfway up my calves, and i’ve got my knees to my chest so… it’s getting worrisome. I’m done screaming. It’s not worth it. I’m sure I’ll start again once my flesh starts literally being eaten away, but for now…

“Hey!” the voice of the giant hit my already pounding ears like a mallet. Oh gods. He was gonna talk to me as I died! Did he have no respect for his meals!? Or was this respectful in his culture… I doubted that.

“Have any last words?” the chuckle shook and swirled around me.

Last words. Did I have any? Were they worth it? Just for him to hear. He knew my name but I couldn’t imagine him seeking out my friends and family. Especially since I don’t have any. Did I want the last meaningful thing I say to be for my killer’s ears only? I kinda wanted to say SOMETHING.  Through sobs I managed:

“Like- like what?” before realizing that asking him for suggestions wasn’t smart. There was a forceful pushing on my left side.

The prodding became more forceful. Helping his stomach soften me up I guess. 

“Are you really THAT Dense?” his evil laughter making the offensive fluids splash my face. I would NOT show any sign of pain. Not yet. But it still hurt. Everything stung and burned like I had waded into a boiling salt sea with a million paper cuts.

“You break into my house! Fuck up my report, tracking ink all over my desk!! Carve little holes into my freshly baked bread and splashing mead and soup everywhere! Rip up the upholstery on my couch! And not to mention you Disturbed the ancient forest spirits which I HAD TO DEAL WITH! ”

“But, I didn’t realize, I didn’t mean to-” I was just trying to survive the storm! It’s not my fault. Right? RIGHT!? But. I would be angry too. If I had written a letter to my mom and someone got grubby food covered hands on it. I would be quite mad! If I had made myself a nice meal and some kid picked at pieces of it, even small ones, I would be furious! I would be beyond outraged if hmmm if some idiot accidentally summoned a demon which I had to banish and said idiot didn’t thank me or admit to their mistake… Oh. I’m the idiot. I’m the assole.

“Yes, you are an asshole. Glad you finally figured that out. I was getting worried.”

Fuck did I say that out loud? My mind must be on its way out. It is getting difficult to breathe. Wait? Why did he care? What was going on?

—

Man it would have just been a cherry on top of his horrible day if he released his victim without  her learning her lesson. Otherwise it would have felt like a terrible deed to unleash her back onto the world. But he wasn’t about to keep her captive. His place would be a pile of rubble in a week if she even so much as looked at his magical artifacts.

You see, he’d heard of entities such as her…

The Heedless.

Wreckers.

Agents of Chaos And Entropy.

She was clearly still developing. There was still time. Not to stop her, just minimize her catastrophes. And getting her to access her Hindsight was a step in the right direction. Now he just needed to send her to someone to unlock her Foresight. But he couldn’t think about that right now.

As he pulled her unconscious form out of his throat he saw her golden skin was now tinged red and blistering in places. He frowned; he didn’t think that he’d pushed the time limit for “unharmed” with Goldie. It had only been a few minutes.

Mucus, spit, and stomach fluids hit the counter top with a loud TSSSS; steam rose.

Ah. Those weren’t acid burns, they were… regular burns. He had been so mad, he couldn’t even begin to imagine what his internal temperature was.

He immediately dumped her body into the half full sink, while he continued to spit up more fluids. Gross. Along with the painful effort involved was almost enough to make him question why he let them live through him. Ok not really. He might have embraced being a monster, but not that much. He was still a person. And so were his victims.

He made sure to keep her head above the water, she was still breathing. She had been awake up until he spat her out. His best guess was she passed out from screaming so much. He held her gently and let cool cleansing water flow around her.

A few moments later she gasped and sat up. Then dived towards the running faucet, she had to get the fluids off of her face. And the waterfall was more forceful than the continuously draining pool.

—

My skin and body ached. I think this is what it feels like to be boiled alive. The ever flowing water kept the heat at bay. All I could do was close my eyes and sit there.

Eventually I opened them, through the water I saw the distorted face of the giant. Still angry. Still bloodied. Still… I was on the outside of his body again! I just wasn’t sure why.

“You can’t stay there forever” the voice of the giant came through the water.

I leaned forward just so my lips breached, “yes, I can.”

The giant’s face came close to me once more and I screamed. But back under water nothing but bubbles came out.

“No. You can’t. This is MY house, so if you stay you will become MY food. Got it?”

I fell over, cowering under his gaze, “You’re going to eat me again!” And huddled up as best I could but I’m no turtle.

“If you dont get the FUCK out of here, yes.” he bellowed, eyes glowing again. “I’m feeling generous, as well as stupid, so I didn’t kill you. Do not push your luck.”

He picked me up! Didn’t even warm me! Rude! But I didn’t dare scream or struggle lest he lose his temper with me. And he wasn’t being gentle, his calloused fingers brushing over my burns, squeezing my sides surely bruising something!

Of course it was better than being eaten! Better than being dead! Not that much, as I was shaken and swung about!

By the time I dared open my eyes we were back in the workshop. And I was dropped on the windowsill, the cool stone just barely won over the rough texture.

“Now,” his face was my entire sky, eyes two burning suns while his hands on either side. I could run, I could leave the tower. But I didn’t think he would approve.

“What do you have to say for yourself?”

Say? What could I say? I’d said everything! right? RIGHT? ...!

“I’m sorry!” I squeaked.

“What Was that? Tasty one?” A drop of hot spit landed next to my face.

“IM SORRY!”

His smile became a crescent moon before he picked me up and set me on my feet.

“There’s hope for you after all,” he said.

—

A part of him, and not a small part, felt a bit bad for what he was about to do. And there wasn’t time or opportunity to get it approved so he might get reprimanded. Plus it might mean he would have to see her again. But it was the only way. Ok, maybe not the only way, but the quickest way, and the sooner the better with Heedless Wreckers.

“For your transgressions I should have killed you, or at the very least made you work to repay the damage,” he tried to look thoughtful.

Goldie inched ever so slightly to the edge of the windowsill. Yonah flicked his eyes and tapped a finger so she knew he’d noticed. She gave him a guilty smile, but made no more motions to flee. Hopefully she was paying attention. This was a bit involved and Heedless Wreckers weren’t known for being able to handle complex tasks.

“Instead I’m giving you a quest!”

—

Out of all the things I anticipated him saying, “I’m giving you a quest” was not one of them.

No one ever gave me quests. I’ve always had to find my own. They were never as glorious as I wished. For some reason I’ve always had to give up most of my reward money or loot for “damages” or whatever. So unfair.

Fuck I needed to pay attention! If I failed he would surely eat me. And kill me this time!

“I’m in need of some hard to get spell components, including the missing piece of the spell itself. Fortunately they can all be found in th capital city. From Fowl Business Apothecary i require powdered hens teeth, 5 grams filtered through dried Red Fanged Weaver webs. I need some of those webs too, fresh.”

Oh gods this was a lot already and it was the first item!!!

“At least 6 pieces of Prickly Pear Fruit and the crystallized thorns from those pieces! Keep track of whose quills belong to who! I believe Midbar’s Emporium will have them in stock, if not they can point you to and imports market, make sure to get pears attached to the leaf, I’ll just have to crystallize the quills myself.”

What? Prickly pear? Quills? Oh he means desert candy!

“Petrified Snail Skulls, pilfered woodlouse hats, and Bottled Pygmy Goat laughter from Pixilious Proprieties.”

He stopped and considered, “you won’t have a problem with riddle solving right? Pix doesn’t let anyone into their shop without answering a riddle. Powers their magic I think. And while you can then make purchases, they will generously discount items for each additional riddle answered”

I dearly wished I could write all this down! I would never remember it. But I had no paper! No pen! No parchment or ink! And even if I did, I’m still damp.

The giant stroked its goatee.

“I should really write all this down,” he mumbled, and walked over to his desk, rummaging through the drawers, which I thought odd since it was just paper and ink right?

Then a thought struck me… I could.. Run. Right now. While his back was turned. No quest! No problems! Running is one of my special talents, it has saved me many times. This might be my only chance. But I didn’t, which was definitely the right choice as the evil giant came back, snatched me off the window sill and placed me on the desk as he finished gathering supplies.

I refrained from mentioning that I couldn’t carry a giant sized list. At least he wrote in a language I could read. Repeating each line as he wrote them; very considerate.

“Oh!” he said halfway through, “There are some more common components I’m running low on, if you can’t find them all don’t stress about it.”

His new calm, almost friendly attitude was freaking me out! Speaking as if I was his regular delivery boy, and not someone he was inclined to eat for dinner just 15 minutes prior!

“Make sure you visit The King’s Treasury first, I’ll notify them of your visit. You need a Treasury Seal to purchase things, as you won’t have the coin with you, and the merchants don’t know you and thus wouldn’t be inclined to sell you some of the rarer items even if you did. Not without considerable mark-up.”

The treasury!?

“And finally,” he looked down at me. There was more than a glint of hunger in those eyes.

“The Library. You will be heading to the Mystical Archives, they will be expecting you, but tell them your name and that you are in search of the following items: First, 27th page of the 12th book on the 3rd shelf of the nearest bookcase right of the door to the section on hyper-natural phenomenon”

“Why-?” but he narrowed his eyes. Yep. not going to question it.

“And a copy of A Nation of Ash Volume 5: Compendium of the Historical and All Too True Sorcery of the Kingdom of AniDeva in the 4th Era Following The Pheonix Storm With A Thorough Index of Relevant Spells and Enchantments By Omexaryl Othar Odelis, Grand Magister of the Realm (3rd Edition)”

Was that even a real book?

It suddenly occurred to me this could be a wild cockatrice chase.

The list was complete, and he blew on it with breath that shivered in the air, drying it instantly.

Then he folded it up, his eyes flashing orange every time he pressed in a crease. I just stood there as it got smaller and smaller until I could easily fit it in my bag.

“Don’t open the list indoors,” he said, handing it to me. I took it without thinking. “It’s not shrunken. It will fold back up itself.”

The trip back to the windowsill was only a few seconds and he did carry me. It wasn’t so bad now that he wasn’t playing the villain. He still didn’t like me, and I couldn’t blame him. We definitely got off on the wrong foot. Mostly my fault. But he did eat me…

That’s all in the past. I was ready to get on with my quest. Even if it was just shopping.

“If I may ask something, Sir-“

“Mr HaEsh” an eye twitched but didn’t flare. He hadn’t given me his name beforehand after all.

“Mr… Ha-Esh” … his name was ‘The Fire’, a bit on the nose.

“Where is the capital from here?”

My hair dried as he heaved a sigh right at my face.

“I couldn’t tell you. No, I really can’t. Just keep walking until out of the forest. Ask someone for a map or directions at the first town you come to.”

Before setting off, he gave me a satchel of provisions. I took this as a sign that he actually wanted me to succeed in my mission.

I thanked him for this chance and he just grunted. But the corners of his mouth twitched upwards slightly.

If I wasn’t on a quest I would have lingered in the garden! In the daylight it was incredible. I wanted to smell every flower, caress every leaf! Not the time.

I ran off.

—-

Finally he could breathe easy. And hope she didn’t burn down the woods on her way out. That… shouldn’t happen. The Mystic Woods was too powerful for even a developed Heedless Wrecker. It was more likely to hasten her exit, at least make that part of her quest uneventful.

Yonah would have loved to go downstairs, reheat his dinner, even drink the certainly flat mead, take a bath, dress his still aching wounds, and sleep all the rest of the day. And he would. But there were a few things to take care of.

Mainly one thing.

He returned to his desk and touched the filigree frame of the mirror and spoke.

“Please put me through to an Operator of His Majesty King Benyamin of Orr, on the request of His Royal Mage, Yonah HaEsh, designation phey-tef-dal-memi-gamil-gamil ” it was long but at least he didn’t have to make up a stupid rhyme. And Yet, if one didn’t say “please” it wouldn’t work at all. Mirrors.

It took a minute for someone to answer, but finally the familiar face of Nava Holtz materialized. Skin almost as dark as warm night night sky, and long black braids ornamented with gold and silver.

She had been an Apprentice Op when Yonah was first hired, assigned to him because none of the more senior Ops wanted to deal with the evil giant firewitch who, as far as the administration was concerned, was more trouble than he was worth. Working well with him earned her some fast promotions and Over the years he’d proven himself. Ops were less rude to his face at the very least. Nava was still his favorite, she had been so patient and kind with his adjusting to his new position.

Which is why he wished someone else had answered, he didn’t want her to deal with this bullshit. Of course, he could think of no one better.

“Yonah! It’s good to see you, oh my word” she gasped, “I heard you had to wrangle talleks.”

Actually, he was glad it was Nava, he didn’t feel up to polite formalities.

She had not failed to notice his sorry state.

“Oh, yes! Um… I’ll have the report later, you can let Marni know I got them to settle down. It wasn’t easy,”

“No, I can see that,” she said, her genuine concern was much appreciated.

In his full report he would mention how they resisted magical restrained, requiring him to physically wrestle them. With diamond claws and fangs, and jagged rocks sticking out of their fur, he was thankful to have only suffered lacerations and bruises. Once they calmed down, and thank fuck they spoke dwarvish (an ancient dialect, but it was sufficient), he burned some inscence and played a flute and off to slumberland they went.

One of them, the youngest, but the largest, wanted to remain awake. And the sleeping ritual only worked on bears who wanted it to. That would be interesting. And he should tell The King, but that wasn’t why he called. For now it sat by its parents, keeping vigil.

“I figured out who woke them,” he said, Nava’s eyes went wide, “and you’re not going to like it…”

He explained about the girl.

“Are you sure she’s Heedless?”

“Yes, I could smell it on her,”

“So if you unlocked Hindsight then…” he could practically hear her heart plummet to the floor.

“You didnt!”

Yonah grimaced, “I did… she’ll be at the treasury in a few days. The tasks I set her should help her think things through. It was a long list, she can’t wing it. And some of the items require special transport methods. She’ll have to plan. I copied the instructions I gave her, I’ll send them over. I trust you can contact the necessary guilds?”

Nava sighed, “Yes, of course. And you did the right thing. It’s just going to be a lot of paperwork.” In fact she was already writing as they spoke.

“The last thing she’ll be doing is a library quest. Two actually. Standard and Precision Exploratory. Can you put me through to Archivist Ahava?”

Nava stopped writing, “Don’t they hate you?”

“Yes,” exactly.

Nava smiled, “So you want them to deal with this. Fun. They are the best brownie for the job. Just don’t give them any grief.”

“I’ll try. And thanks, I’ll call again soon,” he smiled.

“Transferring call,” she said, smiling back, as she fiddled with her mirror set up.

The mirror swirled And went iridescent before resolving into shelves of book! Directly in view of a pile of that rose from largest to smallest.

“Oh me oh my this had better be good! I was in the middle of some important business, very important indeed!” the squeaky yet harsh voice belonged to a stout brownie with light grey-brown skin, straw like hair nearly bursting from its bun, and 4 jewel-like eyes. On their body they wore a fancy, flowing, but rather plain colored suit. And on their face they wore a scowl.

“/Yonah/,” Ahava never refused to be formal with him, and not out of familiarity. They climbed up the stack of books to sit facing the mirror.

“Ahava,”

Their lower left eye twitched as he too addressed them informally. He really shouldn’t, they were higher ranked… one of the highest ranked, Royal Mages.

“Fortune has once again done the disservice of connecting us so make it snappy, I have work to do! And what is the meaning of calling me looking like something a dragon chewed up and out”

Yonah grinned and Ahava’s scowl deepened, “Couldn’t be helped, I was wrestling Talleks. And don’t lie to me, I know for a fact you take tea at this time, for an hour.”

Two eyes narrowed and two eyes widened, their long fingers curled and uncurled.

“But I’ll get to the point. I encountered a Heedless Wrecker today, who needs to be taught the use of Foresight. I’ve sent her on a quest, and it includes the library,”

He explained to the increasingly annoyed Archivist, who was turning an amusing shade of blue.

“I cannot sign off on sending a Heedless into the catacombs! No way no how! There is not a single archivist trained to handle such things!”

Yonah raised his brows and blinked a smile.

“No no no! Out of the question! I will turn her away, yes I will! See if I don’t!”

“But I really do need that book. Otherwise I’ll have to come myself.”

That earned him a glare from all four eyes. Yonah could see the gears turning in their head. Thanks to his status as a dangerous magical entity, he had to be under escort when visiting The Archive. The King required Ahava to be that escort. It was either him or Goldie.

“I gave her a list of items to get for me, several of them are actually for her use in the catacombs’ challenges.”

All but one of the eyes closed as Ahava crossed their arms, taking deep breaths.

“Fine, I’ll do it. I got nothing better to do, and it’s been a while since I went on an adventure. Now, I must get back to my tea. Yes I must”

They disconnected without another word.

It would take at least a few days for Goldie to reach the capital. He had time to take a bath, eat, and change into a soft nightgown before using the Magic Pantry to send the quest details to Nava.

Along with a loaf of bread small enough to share with the entire Ops Team.

[FIN]

[Thanks for reading! please reblog/message me with feedback! for more mystic woods go to vore-scientist.tumblr.com/tagged/+mystic+woods+story or search ‘mystic woods story’ on my blog! For thief stories only search “MW Thieves”]

[grownups-are-the-real-monsters]

Home For The Holidays

Summary: “Oh, don’t remind me.” Ray frowned, setting his knitting aside. His mother was due for a visit because she’d been dying to see his new apartment. And though the roommate was expected…she did not know he’d been dating his roommate since Junior Year of high school. Which was a long time to not know about something considering they were both Juniors in College these days.

(I turned this request into a full fic, oops.)

Chapter 1: Ramblin’ Rose 

Words:  4,816

Ships: Gavries. Stephen King’s ‘The Long Walk’. 

‘Life is a rock but the radio rolled me

At the end of my rainbow lies a golden oldie…’

The music poured in from the small radio sitting atop the side table on Garraty’s left. Lyrics were coming at him with lightening speed but the man could only focus on the pile of red yarn that was to become a scarf.

Calmly and serene, Ray leaned back so the pea green recliner would rock back and forth and glanced up to catch the afternoon light hitting through the picture window & into the living room. But it blazed across more than just a plaid family-style couch and the matching glass lamp set.

It also bled through the canvas’s Pete had laid across the hardwood to dry while he made himself a peanut butter sandwich. There were about five or six medium sized paintings bathing in the sunshine that Ray had to paused and admire.

He craned his neck towards the kitchen area behind him in their tiny apartment. “You sure you don’t want me to make you something…like a real lunch?” He rolled his lips together.

Pete leaned on the counter, getting into the intimate space of their laundry basket which they’d yet to empty since it’s last trip to the Laundromat. “Save your energy, Ray-baby.” He chuckled, biting into the bread and coming over to lean on the side of the recliner. “You got a whole dinner to whip up for good ol’ mom.”

“Oh, don’t remind me.” Ray frowned, setting his knitting aside. His mother was due for a visit because she’d been dying to see his new apartment. And though the roommate was expected…she did not know he’d been dating his roommate since Junior Year of high school. Which was a long time to not know about something considering they were both Juniors in College these days. 

“Personally, I’m excited.” Pete ruffled Ray’s hair and sat back in his spot on the hardwood and went about poking at his paintings.

Ray sighed, head falling to lean on his open palm with a dreamy look of distance. He stared at the back of McVries head for a few seconds. He squinted one eye when the sun glared back at him. “I’m tired.”

“Isn’t that somethin’?” Pete laughed. “Man has barely moved all afternoon and he’s tired.” He knew the man had just rolled his eyes because he almost always waved his hand about when he did so, it danced in the light with the floating dust particles.

Ray tilted his chin and chuckled into his hand. “Call it domestic bliss taking it’s toll.” He reached his leg out and gently kicked Pete’s back for attention which was gladly accepted with the man’s new twisted position, palm flat on the floor.

They stared at each other for a few moments before Pete turned his body comfortably and started rubbing his hands up and down Ray’s ankle. “I take good care of you, Don’t I Ray?”

Garraty leaned back into the chair and stretched his leg out further. “Oh yeah, asshole.” He gently smirked and crossed his arms over the yarn in his lap. “You sure do.”

Pete’s grin was wild yet softly earnest. It kinda made Ray’s heart flutter in his chest. He knew the man was shoving all his own nerves down to appear as if this ‘meeting-mom’ situation wasn’t bothering him.

“Mom’s gonna dig you. I bet.”

Pete nodded, waiting to smile until his head pointed the floor that time. The radio had since faded into the next song which played on & on…

‘It happens all the time

This crazy love of mine

Wrapped around my heart

Refusing to unwind

Ooh-ooh, crazy love, ah…’

“They’re gonna start with the Christmas stuff soon, huh Ray?” Pete asked as he let his hand water-fall down Ray’s leg to rub small circles with his thumbs at his ankles. His palms rested against his boyfriends wool socks and were semi-covered by the green flannel pajama pants that Ray loved so much. 

Garraty nodded slowly and let his eyes flutter shut. For it was still early enough in the day that he still felt loosely tired from their late night adventures. Soon it would be late enough to be pre-tired for the upcoming night. 

“My boy fucking loves Christmas.” Pete let go of Ray’s leg and heaved himself to stand once more while Garraty let out a small huff of a protest and winked one eye open.

“I told you that nickname sounds a little weird.” 

The sun-rays outside shifted just a touch and some of that late autumn light escaped the boys. What remained was hitting McVries’s back and framing him with a mellow orange light. It reminded Garraty of the chalk tracings police did when they found a body laying somewhere. ‘Did they still do that though?’ He wondered to himself. 

Pete smiled again, showing his teeth. “Sorry.” He swiped the pad of his thumb under his nose and smoothly tilted his head in that mysterious kinda way he used to in high school. “You thinkin’ we get the tree up and running around...?” 

“We’ll go to the farm tomorrow. Also, remind me to pick up a Christmas sweater for Stebbins, yeah?” Ray finally set aside the knitting and stood from his comfortable chair. McVries raised a brow. 

“Why are we buying our neighbor a sweater?” Though the two of them had known the guy since high school, Stebbins remained a mysterious character that never failed to surprise them. 

“Oh you know he’s coming to our family party, he’s like our dog. At least he’d look nice this year.” Ray giggled on his way over to the coffee machine on their counter. That had been a purchase he’d never dare to regret. The two of them used the it way too often and served themselves a lot of steaming cups. He heard the sweet sound of Pete’s crazed laughter pour in from behind the loud machine. “By the way, What’s the status on your family’s attendance?” 

Pete stopped giggling and reached for the mug Ray had prepared. “Well, my mother...” He paused to sip the hot cup of black coffee and felt the afternoon roll over him. “Said she’s dying to attend and that checks off my father too, he’s always with the ol’ lady. And they’ll be bringing Katrina along. She’s seven now and doesn’t take well to sitters, you know?” 

Ray grinned and leaned back against the counter. “Think she’ll take well to me?” 

“Oh, she’d better. I think you’re sticking around for the long run, Ray-baby.” Pete reached out to tap Ray’s cheek but his cheeky boyfriend slipped away and sipped his own drink which was in a long travel mug. 

“I’m going to put some real clothes on and get the last few things I need for dinner.” He set his cup down next to where Pete was dipping his finger in his own. “And you are...” Garraty let his hand gesture to his boyfriend who simply smiled. 

“Going to put on some Nat King Cole like a romantic bastard and wait up for you...?” 

Ray rolled his eyes and bumped their hips together as he shoved past McVries. 

“Dean Martin?!” Pete called after him and ignored the annoyed huff coming from the bedroom. He leaned over the kitchen island “Volare, oh oh....” He paused, not sure of the way to finish the lyrics. 

Ray came out, fresh from the green plaid and sporting an expression that told of the smile he was trying to hold back. 

“I will actually go to my doctor’s appointment this time. Promise.” Pete heaved himself off the counter and gave Ray the softest kiss on the cheek. “Now you hurry back.” He patted his back and walked Ray on up to their door. Pete glanced up to the window and took note of the dusting of snow that was just beginning to fall. As Ray shoved his arms through his coat sleeves, Pete grabbed the front and helped him pull it to a comfortable position. Making sure he was snug and warm. 

“Take my car, will ya? Your car’s lack of heat is going to have you catching your death, Ray-baby.” He sniffled, as if for emphasis and smiled. 

                      ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Ray tried not to worry about McVries proving himself to be an honest man this time but he couldn’t help but have a little dilemma over it...starting in the cereal aisle. 

Pete was no stranger to skipping out on doctors appointments. They made him uncomfortable and...itchy...according to him. But Ray hounded him several times to get himself a check-up. After all, it was important to know your own status. He glanced over an expiration date on a carton of milk and frowned. 

He was reaching for some pie crust when his phone started ringing. 

“-What’s my social security number?” Pete’s voice filled his ear before he could even think. Ray opened his mouth but quickly closed it when he realized he was not sure how to answer. “I’m in the waiting room-which is horribly crowded by the way, I feel like the room might pop, and I can’t fill this form out.” 

“Ummm, how many numbers is it?” Ray asked lamely and scratched the back of his ear. He was twenty years old and should know this kind of shit now but he found his mind blanking. 

“Nine...” Pete’s voice was unsure. 

Ray sighed and blew air out towards the dirty ceiling of the grocery store. “Are we idiots?”

“Probably.” Pete laughed and Ray felt a little comforted. 

“Give me a second, I’ll call you back.” Ray said a quick goodbye and dialed his weirdest option that just might work. “Hello, Stebbins?” 

Their neighbor was quite the character but Ray kinda loved having him around just as much as he got creeped out by it sometimes. “I need you to do me a favor and get the spare key for our apartment-”

“oh, no need. I have a key already.” 

Ray paused. ‘When did we give him a key...?’  “Ok well, can you go in and look through the paperwork in the left kitchen drawer. I need Pete’s Social Security number-”

“Oh, I know that already. Got a pen?” Stebbins voice was bouncy and Ray smacked his palm to his forehead. 

“How-? Stebbins, I-...never-mind. Tell me.” 

After that, there seemed to be no more hiccups in the day’s routine. Garraty loaded his groceries and drove home feeling relieved yet a little nervous for the dinner that night. But nothing he couldn’t manage. 

                       ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Ray was welcomed back into the apartment by an overwhelming flood of Nat King Cole’s voice. ‘Ramblin’ Rose’. 

He set the bags down on the counter, dreading having to pack them away and gently leaned over the back of the couch to kiss Pete’s hair. “That was a quick appointment. How’d it go? Dr. Marcy say anything worth noting?” he asked, coming round to take the seat next to him. He tried to hold back his intense curiosity. 

Pete shrugged and grinned as he leaned into Ray’s traveling arm. “Nothing much. You better start on dinner, don’t want your mom waitin’ on you.” 

Ray quirked his brow and trailed his fingers up and down McVries’s arm. “What aren’t you telling me?” 

“Nothing. It’s not a big deal, Ray-”

“Is it nothing or something that’s not a big deal, Peter?” Ray narrowed his eyes and sighed when Pete wiggled out of his grip and moved towards the record player. 

Their apartment had gotten slightly darker and if Ray wanted to serve his mother something warm but not too hot, he’d better start Dinner soon. Pete had been right about that. 

“Dr. Marcy talked to me about...” He broke off and sighed, screwing around with the volume dial. “She thinks I might be...depressed. And so she prescribed me a low dose of some medication to try out. No big deal.” Pete waved his hand about but Ray was at a loss for words. 

“Depressed?” 

Pete nodded and shrugged at the same time. “She’s kinda old that Dr. Marcy though...so who really knows?” He chuckled. When that sound faded out, the boys were left with nothing more to do but stare at each other. 

“How can you be depressed-? I mean, we’re happy...How can you be sad when...-” Ray gestured around their apartment and Peter gave him that gentle, admiring look. It meant he was too busy being fond of Ray to talk. So Ray frowned. 

“I don’t think depression works like that, Ray.” He slipped the record back into it’s sleeve and shrugged like he wasn’t sure of anything he said but Ray knew that was just a front. “I don’t think it matters how great your life might be.” He tilted his head back and sighed. “I’ve been through some shit, you know. Priscilla....during our break-up.” 

Garraty nodded. He and Pete had briefly went separate ways after high school graduation when McVries decided he was going to take the year off and travel. Ray realistically figured ol’ Pete wouldn’t ever find the right time to come back for school and they’d broken up for quite some time. 

Pete had experienced a whole relationship in that time with a girl that had broken his heart and left a scar on his cheek. 

“I think I’ve been aware of some of these things that were bothering me....just not how much, y’know?” McVries shrugged. “School, changes...and all that jazz. Sometimes depression falls upon you, Ray-baby. It doesn’t have anything to do with you or...our life together. It’s just...-I don’t know. Could be nonsense.” 

Ray felt his stomach drop. “Pete, it’s not nonsense. Your doctor is a smart lady and...” He let out some air and frowned again. “I’m sorry, I just don’t know how to talk about this. I’ve never...-I never had to deal with anything like this before. I don’t get it.” He shrugged, trying to be honest. Pete only raised his brows and shrugged back. 

From a floor below, they heard another neighbor and good friend, Art Baker, start up his own record player. A muffled version of Neil Young’s ‘Sugar Mountain’ briefly filled up their space. 

Ray opened his mouth but before anymore words could come out, there was a knock at the door. They shared a look before he darted up from his seat. “Shit!” 

Pete got up from the floor and prepared himself for an early visit from Ray’s mother which he was sure that knock suggested. He sat on the back of the flannel couch and pooled his hands together in his lap. 

“Raymond! I seemed to have left the house too early but forgive me, I was a little antsy because you seemed all excited on the phone.” Her voice was soft and sweet. “Is this that roommate you’re so fond of?” 

Pete paused some of his racing nerves and general muted lowness to smirk and reach for the kind woman’s hand. Ray blushed. “Peter McVries, nice to meet you.” 

Pete honestly wasn’t sure what the plan for the evening was and it was already off to a rough start since she’d come before dinner could even be started. But, he also wasn’t sure when his boyfriend planned on explaining to his mother just how fond he was of him. 

"Nice to meet you, young man.” She smiled and gave her son a polite and apologetic bump to the arm for coming so early. 

“I haven’t even started Dinner yet, mom. Hope you don’t mind the wait.” Ray bashfully shook his head. 

“Of course not.” She shrugged and Ray gestured for her to take a seat which she gladly did. 

“I’ll get you some tea.” 

Ray took off for the kitchen area, grabbing Pete’s arm as he sped off. “This is off to a bad start, huh?” McVries chuckled and hoped he’d at least get a grin but Ray looked positively rattled. He dropped his shoulders and rubbed a hand against his forehead. “Hey, hey, hey...” He made sure Ray’s mother was turned off and gently slid his hand against Garraty’s cheek. “I know the last few minutes have been chaotic but...it’s gonna be just fine, Ray.” 

“But...this has got me all worried about you and-” He could tell his boyfriend was getting all worked up and Ray didn’t need that. He was the best man that Pete knew and he deserved to relax. 

Pete rubbed a small circle against his skin. “You don’t need to worry, Ray-baby. We take care of each other, huh? I take care of you just the same as you do for me. And maybe this is just the start of a time where-...” Pete swallowed “Where I need the ‘takin’ care of’ part.” He shrugged and let his hand slide back down Ray’s cheek to clasp his raised hands to his own.

“Now, let’s go about our day. We’re gonna chat with your ol’ mom and maybe find the right time to tell her about us. Then...” He tapped their noses together for a brief second and enjoyed the tiny sigh Ray let out in response. “We get to be alone again...in our pajamas....oh, and the radio’s gonna start on that Christmas stuff soon, huh? Maybe tonight?” Pete pressed a soft kiss to Ray’s temple, gave him a small pat on the arm and took off to deliver the tea they’d promised. 

Ray softly and slowly turned on the tips of his toes, feeling the slight slip of his socks. When his eyes found Pete who was again back-lit with golden light and stirring a steaming mug for his mother....Ray let a satisfied sigh escape his lips. With the stream of air, he sank back on his flat feet and floated over. 

“Here you are, it’s chamomile!” Pete hovered the hot drink in front of Mrs. Garraty who gladly stole it with a polite smile. “Only the best for our guest-”

“Mom, I have something I want to tell you.” Ray interrupted and took a seat on the arm of his favorite recliner where Pete had planted himself but thirty seconds ago. 

“Oh, alright. What is it?” She patted his knee and took a careful sip out of her pea green mug. 

His partner looked up at Ray with wide and questioning eyes that only spurred Ray on further and gave him a new shy smile. “Pete isn’t just my roommate-” Ray ignored the adorable way Pete was tugging on his sleeve and trying to hide his fond grin in favor of a questioning expression for Ray’s sake. “He’s my boyfriend. We’re dating.”

Ray’s mother quieted and held strongly onto the pea green mug. Ray had been her son long enough to know that her expression meant that she didn’t know what to say. “I didn’t-...well, I didn’t know that you were...-you never told me.” 

“Yeah...” Ray nodded, picking at a loose thread on his pants. “I just never....-I never found...the time...” he trailed off and met Pete’s wandering, lovely eyes. “Oh hell, Mom. Honestly, I just didn’t want to.” He turned back to her and shrugged because that was really the only answer he had to give for that. 

She widened her eyes and set the mug down on the coffee table. “How long?” 

Pete and Ray turned to each other, eyes meeting for confirmation for a few seconds. “Since the start of Junior Year-”

“Oh, that’s not so bad. You’re still just Juniors-”

“-Of high school.” Ray finished, a little ashamed. 

His mother coughed, planting her palm on her chest and trying to recollect herself. “My son has been in a relationship for that long...with a man...and never told me?” She narrowed her eyes and Ray felt a rush of nerves. She opened and closed her mouth, looking nervous herself in the presence of Pete.  

“If you want, I could just go for a quick walk while mother & son discuss some things?” Pete shrugged himself up and ran a quick hand down the front of his jeans. Ray attempted to tug his sleeve just as he’d done before but Pete seemed set to go.  

“That’d be really kind of you, Peter. Thank you.” Ray’s mother gave him a warm look that McVries felt very comforted by. He hoped his smile read the same to her. He decided it was permission enough to risk it and leaned over to kiss the top of Ray’s head, ruffling his hair once more before going for the front door. 

Ray would be fine. He squeezed his hand reassuringly before he’d slipped out of grip. 

                      ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Apartment 15′s door came to a creaky close behind McVries’s back and pressed the wreath into his neck. It was refreshingly itchy and maybe a little hot from the tiny multi-colored bulbs that were littered throughout the green. 

The long tan hall of their building was decked out with a long train of red & white beads and the soft glow bouncing off the silver tinsel scattered on the carpet below him was blinding. But Pete had a friend in the blow-mold Santa that stood against Stebbins wall with a kind gleam in his crescent moon eyes. The ol’ bastard was laughing...

The tiny window just at the end was surrounded by larger bulbs and from where he was standing, through the paned glass McVries could see the end of autumn bleeding into a chilly winter. Dusty flakes of snow were falling and starting to nestle right up against the tiny window ledge. 

They hadn’t been in this apartment long & it was sorta shitty. But it was what they could afford...it was perfect. There was something so heavenly about doing the dishes after a home-made waffle breakfast disaster and your boyfriend knowing exactly where the Ibuprofen was...in your home. The one where you both lived. Knowing you would wake up with them for every special occasion. The morning of your birthday, the morning of an anniversary, The morning of the dentist appointment they rescheduled for you....just...the next morning. Every night with them, there’d be a next morning with them. 

McVries almost couldn’t take how much that made his heart swell. He couldn’t wait to check Christmas Morning off the list. He glanced back at their door and sighed. 

When a door opened just over his shoulder, Pete didn’t even have to venture a guess to know who it was. 

“You wanna sit on my balcony with me?” Stebbins leaned against his door-frame and grinned like his request was the most normal thing in the world. 

“It’s snowing, Stebbins...” Pete gestured to the window and looked back to the smiling blonde and sighed. “You know what, I’ll come in but no balcony.” He shrugged and followed him into his apartment. 

Stebbins apartment was shining. His Christmas tree was wide and strings of bubble lites straight from the 1950′s bridged every branch gap. The long, skinny tubes bubbled the rainbows of liquid and dazzled his living room. 

Nearly all of his tables were covered in miniature blow mold Santa’s and collectible Holiday figurines. McVries let a smirk slowly cover his face when he heard a small whistle and found a toy train track around the Tree skirt where the tiny-locomotive was speeding in circles. “You do this all in a day, Stebbins? I was just here like yesterday-” 

Stebbins nodded and flicked the cheek of a blushing elf figurine. “Try an hour.” He smirked, crossing his arms like this was the proud he’d ever be in his life. McVries sorta admired that about him. “Why were you kicked out? Ray sick of you?” 

Pete chuckled and made himself comfortable on the guys couch, arms behind his head as he sighed deeply. “Not yet. His mother is over...” He bit into his lip and Stebbins made an ‘O’ face. “Yeah, so he’s trying to explain how gay he’s been this whole time without her knowing about it. Thought it was best to give mother and son some alone time, you know?” 

Stebbins hummed. “Is all still well in paradise?”

“Seems so. She didn’t seem...startlingly pissed or anything, anyway. But Ray’s got himself all worked up in the last hour so he might be losing her on the ‘calm-chat’...” Pete shrugged. 

“What got him keyed up? You try to stick another fork in the toaster?” Stebbins pursed his lips. 

“That was one time and I didn’t even do it. I forgot you weren’t supposed to do that shit and my toast was stuck.” McVries huffed and rolled his eyes as he laid back on the couch. “No. I just...-my doctor told me that I might have depression and gave me some medication. You know how touchy and sensitive Ray can be. He’s just making it too big of a deal.” 

Things between them were quiet again. Stebbins leaned his chin onto his open palm and hummed once more. There was something in his tone that read interested and it gave of his eerie calm nature. “Been there.” 

Pete quirked a concerned brow and felt a weird type of understanding covering each of them like a fog. Neither of them felt eager to actually discuss the situation. “When?” 

The blonde rolled his lips together. “It got very present during that period after our graduation-” 

“That long? You didn’t tell us and you sure as hell didn’t have any family to help-” his voice was angry but he couldn’t help it. Stebbins put on a good show sometimes but he was their friend. Part of McVries didn’t think hiding that shit was ok. Just from the knowing smothering kind that lived deep in his chest that he hadn’t realized was kinda killing him, he knew Stebbins must’ve been going through some tough shit. 

Stebbins leaned back. “Didn’t want to talk about it. Plus, you were leaving and Ray was busy focusing on school preparations. Besides, I handled it myself. Got some medication...it seemed to even me out just fine.” 

“You still take it?” Pete asked in a low voice and Stebbins gave him a soft smile. 

“Not at the moment, no. I got back on the ‘happy track’” He rolled his eyes. “But it’s not the same for everyone and there’s no shame in needing medication, Pete-boy. Sometimes we can’t deal with it alone.” Stebbins patted his friends arm in a kind and gentle way before leaning back on the arm of the coffee brown couch. 

Pete thought on that for a minute or two and hoped that the conversation could die on that note for now. He’d think about it in bed later. Stebbins seemed to read that on his face as easily as ever. 

“So, you get Ray’s Christmas gift yet?”

Pete hummed. “Not his actual gift but I got him a good stack of those vintage Christmas cards from that vintage shop, you know how he likes those. Just a little bonus gift.” 

“They got the writing in them from all those years ago? Ray likes feeling connected to old people from the past or something like that.” Stebbins chuckled and bit into a chocolate covered strawberry that McVries didn’t remember him having a moment ago. 

“Of course.” Pete rolled his eyes because that was obvious. 

“What’s his big gift? If it’s a book about Urban Legends that you found in my closet...than one of us needs to switch.” Stebbins swallowed his hunk of food and McVries wondered again how they’d ever become friends with such an odd character. 

“No, you dimwit.” 

“Oh, you’re proposing than. I got it.” He nodded to himself, blonde hair flicking about. McVries choked on his own spit. 

“What-? No....no. He just told his mom about us like five minutes. Why would I be proposing?” He sputtered his words into the calm face of his friend who was still smiling like that damn Cheshire cat. “It’s too soon...”

Stebbins raised a brow and sucked on another strawberry. 

“Unless...do you think that’s what he’s expecting?” McVries was suddenly opened up to a whole new world of anxiety. 

“I can’t read minds, McVries.” Stebbins winked. 

Pete put his head in his hands and erupted into a long, frustrated sigh. The blonde ruffled Pete’s hair and went to answer the door five seconds before the knocking even started. 

“Pete here?” 

McVries looked up and met Ray’s beautiful eyes. He gave him a concerned and curious look and Ray nodded softly. ‘All’s well’ it said. 

“She wants to know the story of how we got together. I figured you’d like to tell that one with me...?” Ray giggled in that irresistible way which had McVries up and across Stebbin’s apartment in seconds flat. 

“Of course! That’s the best story, Ray-Baby!” 

[lickstynine]

Misadventures of Kit: Chapter Thirty

written with @ocsickficsideblog

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Everyone continued to eat and chat for a while, save for Kit, who was just sipping his one cup of tea and occasionally throwing out quips. Finny had taken a seat under the table, his ass on Alistair’s feet, his tummy on Riagán’s, and his front feet on Siofra’s. She ruffled his ears, sending Cillian to go get more beer so she wouldn’t have to bother the dog. By the time everyone was full, there was an astonishing dent in the buffet that had been filling up the table. There was enough food for maybe a few normal-sized people to have lunch, but that was really it. Kit stared in astonishment for a moment before helping to gather empty plates.

“What, never seen a functional family before?” Siofra smirked.

“Well… no. But I was more shocked at how much you all eat. I would actually die if I tried to eat that much.”

Siofra snorted, patting his shoulder as she set the remaining ham on the counter. “Yeah, well you’re tiny, an’ ye sit on the couch feelin’ sad an’ dramatic all day. We’re big, an’ we fuckin’ work out. Calories in, calories out, an’ all that shit. C’mon, we’re gonna watch whatever dumb Christmas film is on, then dessert.”

Kit’s jaw nearly fell off his hinges. “We’re still having dessert after that?”

“Well, yeah. It’d be a right lousy holiday if we didn’t.” Siofra shrugged, wrapping up the leftover ham before dragging him to the couch. Kit looked hesitant to take up space when there were so many family members not seated yet, so Siofra just pulled him onto her lap. He yelped in surprise, but didn’t move — she was soft and warm and remarkably comfortable. Riagán snorted and plunked down next to them.

“Ye lovebirds havin’ fun?”

“Mm… not till you go to sleep.” She grinned.

Cillian fake-gagged, squeezing into the remaining corner of the couch. “Gross!”

“At least I have a boyfriend, not a pillow I kiss at night.” Siofra said. Riagán snorted and Cillian smacked at them both with a throw pillow. He mostly just hit Riagán and Kit, since Siofra was being blocked from the front and the side. Riagán grabbed a cushion and smacked back, while Kit just yelped again.

Gran shuffled in with a mug of tea. “Boys! Not my good pillows! Beat each other with the ratty ones.”

Alistair just sat on the floor, leaning against the wall. He was starting to wish he’d just gone with Julius instead. He wanted him so badly. Siofra’s family were all friendly and boisterous, but Alistair wasn’t really attached to them like Kit was, being Siofra’s boyfriend. He was only there for Kit, and Kit seemed to have had enough of him too. He felt squeezed out on the edge again.

Kit was doing his best to play along, but he didn’t really feel any more at home than his cousin. He felt like an idiot jumping out of his skin every time a pillow flew at him, but he would’ve felt like more of an idiot asking the boys to stop. He slouched down, resting his head on Siofra’s chest, and she ran her fingers through his hair. Finny trotted into the living room, looking quite offended to see his owner’s lap taken. He laid down on the ground with a deep doggy sigh.

A moment later, Mr. Rafferty finally came to sit, taking the armchair opposite Gran’s rocking chair. He turned on the TV, flicking through channels of useless sludge until he hit the opening credits of A Christmas Carol. Kit knew every version of the story, inside and out, and before long, the familiarity was going in one ear and out the other while he stared off into the abyss. Alistair was similarly preoccupied, sitting with his chin on his knees. He kept his eyes closed, trying to blot out this other family he didn’t belong to. He was rudely interrupted by a wet nose snuffling his face. Finny was similarly peeved about his favourite human being preoccupied, and wanted attention.

Ruff.

Alistair smiled at him, letting Finny cuddle on his lap. He suddenly felt dangerously near tears, and blinked fiercely to stop himself weeping, hiding his face in Finny's fur. A large, pink tongue that smelled of gravy and mashed potatoes lapped at Alistair’s hair and the exposed parts of his cheeks. Alistair smiled a bit, ruffling Finny’s ears. “Ugh, gross,” he said fondly. Finny just licked his face again, letting out a low, cheerful boof. The sound caught Siofra’s attention and she nearly broke her neck turning to face Alistair without knocking Kit off her lap.

“Ya wanna take ‘im outside? He’s been in all afternoon.”

“Yeah,” Alistair said, desperate to escape. “Come on, Finny.”

The dog hopped up at once, wagging his tail and running to the front door. Alistair got his leash on, stepping out into the frigid winter air. Soft snowflakes were falling, and Finny was delighted, running around trying to catch them in his mouth. Alistair watched him, laughing — and then the giggles turned to tears so suddenly even Alistair was surprised. He didn’t even really know what he was crying about. It was just that it was Christmas, and he was lonely.

Finny immediately turned around, running back to Alistair and tackling him into the snow. He laid down on top of the now-prone Alistair, snuffling and licking his face. Alistair squealed and wrapped his arms around the wriggling lump of fur, half laughing, half crying. Finny continued to lick his face — that was the only way he knew how to fix crying humans. Snow was gathering on the tips of his dark ears, making them look like tiny mountains. Alistair tried to sit up, gently brushing the snow off. “Come on, it’s freezing. We should better go inside to play gooseberry.”

Finny shook himself off, hopping off of Alistair to run in circles around him. His fur kept him plenty warm, but he still returned to the front door after a minute, nudging Alistair along. Alistair laughed. “It’s like you’re looking after me,” he said, taking him back inside. Finny ran back inside, sniffing around to see if more food had come out in the interim. When he found nothing, he flopped down on the rug. Kit hadn’t moved an inch, still staring vacantly into the same spot on the wall. Gran waved when Alistair and Finny came back in.

“Hello, boys! How was the wretched tundra?”

“Bloody freezing, as expected. How’d you live out here? I thought old people got more cold,” Alistair said tactlessly.

Gran snorted. “That’s what alcohol is for. Why d’ye think the Russians are known for vodka?”

“Because it originates there?”

Gran paused for a long moment, then turned back around to watch the movie. “What a sheltered child…”

“I’m not sheltered,” Alistair grumbled.

“If ye don’t like shelter, ye could go back outside.” Riagán offered. Siofra elbowed him in the stomach.

“There’s hot chocolate on the counter.” She told Alistair. “Cilli wanted some, so we made a bunch. Knew yer fat arse would drink the rest.”

“My fat arse will,” Alistair said gratefully, going to grab a cup. Finny followed him, hoping for food. Alistair ruffled his fur. “Haven’t you eaten enough, greedy-guts? You’re as bad as your Siofra.”

“Oi!” Siofra called from the living room. Finny boofed in response, then turned back to Alistair to beg. Alistair couldn’t resist him for long, ferreting in the cupboards for a treat.

“You’re a menace, Finny. Giving me those big eyes.”

Ruff. Finny snuffled Alistair’s hand, happily crunching the treat. Alistair squatted beside him, sighing. “How come I can only make it work with you guys..? Animals. Maybe I wasn’t meant to be flipping human. My mother used to say I was half wild.” Finny licked his face.

Ruff.

Alistair stroked him fondly. “We should probably go back to the room…” Finny turned around obediently, thumping Alistair’s legs with his tail before returning to the living room. He stared indignantly at Kit, who was snoring on top of Siofra, flopping down on the rug again. Alistair flopped in a similar fashion beside him, curling around Finny like they were two dogs together. Finny wrapped his tail around Alistair, giving his face a big, sloppy lick. Siofra chuckled.

“D’you two need a room?”

“Bugger off,” Alistair said lazily. Finny licked his nose again, happy to have attention since his owner was preoccupied. Siofra just chuckled.

“He seems pretty happy with ya.”

“It’s only because Kit’s purloined you.”

“Oh, so you’re both jealous?” Siofra grinned.

“Evidently.”

“I mean, there’s space on my lap for two more. Kit is like the size’o my leg.”

“It’s a lovely offer, but I think I’ll pass,” Alistair said, rolling his eyes. “Kit’s happy there anyway. It’s nothing against you, I’m just...protective. Trust me, if you were a lanky streak of piss like Kit, your brothers would be the same.”

Siofra snorted so hard she nearly woke Kit, and her brothers laughed as well. Gran just chuckled and shook her head. Alistair grinned, curling back up with Finny. He could hear his soft heartbeat through his thick fur. The dog licked his nose more gently before curling up to sleep.

By the time the movie was over, Finny, Kit, and Cillian were all sound asleep. Siofra finally nudged the snoring red lump in her lap. “Oi. Get off, I want dessert.” Kit groaned dramatically and didn’t move.

“Come sit with me and Finny,” Alistair mumbled sleepily.

“I’m not sitting on the floor with the dog.” Kit sighed.

“I thought your fat arse would get up when ye heard ‘dessert.’” Siofra teased.

“Depends on what you’re eating.”

Siofra looked at him strangely. “Pudding, soda bread, cake, tarts. Y’know… dessert?”

“We always had just one dessert at home, they’d just be like “it’s meringues” or “it’s banoffee pie.” I am aware of what dessert is,” Alistair said.

“We had lots of desserts at parties.” Kit mumbled.

“Course ye did, Princess.” Siofra lifted him off of her, setting him in the warm spot she’d left on the couch. She kicked Cillian lightly. “Oi. Dessert.” He popped up like a jack-in-the-box.

“Dessert?”

Riagán was already barrelling past his little brother into the kitchen, while Mr. Rafferty helped Gran out of her chair.

Alistair rolled his eyes. “Like Pavlov’s dogs.”

“Yer mum’s a dog.” Siofra mumbled. Finny lifted his head and barked. He’d heard ‘dog.’

Alistair was distracted, ruffling Finny’s ears. “Ooh, you’re so clever!” Finny licked his face and trotted off to the kitchen as well. Alistair followed Finny, walking two steps behind him, as if he was the dog and Finny the human. Everyone was crowded around the counter, piling plates full of dessert. Meanwhile, Kit pattered off down the hallway, in search of his guest room. Alistair backed away from the crowd too, anxiety overwhelming the desire for dessert. He made a dash for his room. Kit was already there, rooting in his suitcase, and he yelped in surprise.

“Al! What are you doing here?”

“Getting away from everybody. It’s all a bit intense. What’re you doing?”

“Looking for a handkerchief.” Kit mumbled. “Are you really so scared of Siofra’s family that you’re avoiding dessert?”

“Not just all the people. It’s Christmas itself,” Alistair mumbled, flopping back on Kit’s bed. “It freaks me out when I see all these families being all happy and jolly together. I used to do it with Jules too.”

Kit rolled his eyes, but he didn’t comment. He needed Alistair to leave, but he wasn’t sure what to say. “I’m surprised Finny didn’t follow you.”

“He’ll be wanting table scraps. What’re you doing hovering by your case?”

“Trying to find my… handkerchief.” It took Kit a minute to remember what he’d said he was looking for.

“Just blow your nose on some bog roll. Do you want me to get some?”

Kit had to swallow a sigh of relief. “Yes, please. Meet me back in the living room.”

“Okay…” Alistair was a bit perplexed by that, Kit was the type who’d leave the room to blow his nose in private, but he left to grab some toilet paper anyway. By the time Alistair found the bathroom and got back, Kit had stumbled back to the living room, arms piled high with wrapped gifts.

Siofra had just finished fighting her brothers over a particularly large tart, and she turned to walk back into the living room. When she saw her boyfriend staggering under a heap of gifts, she nearly shrieked.

“Where in fuck did those come from?”

“What the fuck are you yelling about..?” Alistair mumbled, trailing into the room. His jaw dropped when he spotted Kit. “Fuck me! Did you loot a whole shop?”

“It didn’t all come from one shop. Even Amazon wouldn’t have the right things for everyone.” Kit huffed. He was setting down gifts by everyone’s seats, and there was a stack of several boxes where Alistair had been laying on the floor.

“Can we open them now?” Alistair asked excitedly.

“Wait for everyone to get settled. Go grab dessert or something. I know you’ll bitch if everyone is sitting here with sweets but you.” Kit said. Alistair poked his tongue out at Kit, but did as he was told. Finny was still lingering in the kitchen, trying to appeal to Gran for sweets. She rolled her eyes.

“Ye can’t eat tarts, ye great foolish beast.”

Finny barked in protest. Alistair slipped him a bit of pastry when he thought she wasn’t looking. Gran saw it, but she just smacked him with her napkin and shuffled back to the living room. There was still a fair amount of dessert left — she always made more than enough for the group she was hosting. Alistair grabbed a few more tarts and then hurried back to the living room. He was curious about the gifts. Finny padded after him, sniffing curiously at the small package that had been left where he sat.

Kit shifted nervously on his feet. “Er, if it’s alright, I’d like Siofra to go first. Since she’s the one that brought me here and all…”

Mr. Rafferty was staring incredulously at the tiny, neatly-wrapped box in his seat, still gobsmacked that he’d gotten a gift from this borderline stranger. He looked up when Siofra threw a pillow at him.

“Dad? Can I open mine?”

“Oh, uh, go ahead.” He nodded.

Siofra tore into the box at once, revealing a gold pendant with green gemstones clustered into a loose circle. The gems ranged in colour from pale and yellowish to deep blue-green, and many of the hues reflected in her eyes as she held it up. She couldn’t hide the grin spreading across her face.

“Bloody hell… this is stunnin’. Don’t tell me how much ye spent on it. I might have to kill ya.”

“Well, then it suits you. It’s a one-of-a-kind piece. I like the arrangement of gems, it almost reminded me of freckles.” Kit murmured.

Siofra scoffed. “Ya sappy piece’o shit.” She was grinning even as she said it, and she yanked him closer for a suffocating hug. Once she released Kit to breathe again, she looked around the room. “Alright, who’s next?”

“Um, let’s do your brothers. I want Al to go last.” Kit said.

Neither Cillian nor Riagán offered to let the other go first; they tore into their boxes nearly simultaneously. Cillian’s gift was a pair of blue, black, and white Air Jordans, the colours almost identical to his favourite jacket. He gasped. “Shit! Siofra, did ye tell ‘im to get these?”

She shrugged. “I just gave ‘im yer size. He did the shoppin’.”

Riagán was similarly awestruck by his gift — a glossy William Henry pocket knife that looked more like a piece of jewelry than a weapon. This time, Kit spoke for himself.

“Siofra told me your old knife broke last time you were camping. This one should be a bit more… resilient.”

“Fuckin’ hell…” Riagán was staring slackjawed into the box. “I… shit… I mean… thanks, mate. That sounds pathetic, but, I just… I dunno what to say.”

Kit just smiled and shook his head. “It’s okay. As long as you like it, that’s all I need to know.”

Siofra was bouncing on the edge of her seat, just as delighted by the others’ gifts as her own. “Dad! Yours now!”

Mr. Rafferty chuckled and shook his head. He wasn’t sure what to expect; he didn’t know Kit personally like his sons, so it would probably just be a really expensive gift card or something. His beard and lower jaw nearly dropped off his face when he unwrapped the tiny box to see tickets to Yo-Yo Ma’s Bach Project performance in Barcelona, with accompanying plane tickets to Spain for the week of the show. He looked at Kit like he was expecting it to be a joke, but Kit just smiled.

“Siofra’s told me a lot about you. I tried to find something I thought you would like. If it’s not to your interest, I can get something else.”

“No, no no no. This is… amazin’. I’m just wonderin’… why?” Mr. Rafferty was still staring at Kit in utter confusion.

“It’s nice to make people happy. I have more money than I could ever spend. Why not do something decent with it?” Kit shrugged.

Mr. Rafferty still seemed a little blown away by the whole thing, but he nodded. “That’s… I suppose that’s fair.”

Kit was already turning to smile sheepishly at Gran. “I’m sorry, I know the wine must seem a bit anticlimactic. Siofra didn’t give me much notice I was going to be meeting you.”

“Dear, yer pretty arse stayin’ in my house is enough to make my Christmas merry. Wine is just the icin’ on the cake.” She grinned, her eyes scrunching and sparkling much in the same way Siofra’s had.

Kit chuckled. “You’re too kind. Al? Would you like to help Finny open his gift?”

Alistair did as he was told silently, a little awestruck by all the other gifts. He put Finny’s paw on the package as he ripped the paper to make sure Finny knew it was his present. Finny snuffled it curiously. At first the box looked like it held fancy candy, but upon closer inspection, they were actually gourmet dog treats. Finny was nosing at the box, clearly eager to examine its contents.

Siofra laughed. “Now ye can have dessert too, ye fat furry bastard.” Finny barked at her. Alistair opened the box for him, letting Finny stick his nose in and rootle around. The dog scarfed up a treat at once, trying to eat a second one before he’d even finished chewing. Siofra let him have a second, but then she took the box before he could devour them all. Kit was hovering nervously by his cousin, watching as Finny settled down.

“Alright, Al. Your turn.”

“Finally!” Alistair said, but he sounded nervous too. Maybe it was just everyone watching him. He started tearing the wrapping paper off the top box, struggling with the sellotape with his bitten nails. It finally gave, revealing a book of cold-press cotton paper and a tray of sixteen high-end watercolours.

Alistair had been preparing a thank you on his tongue, but he couldn’t speak now. He’d have never been able to afford these himself, but he’d always wanted to try them. He leapt over the box and hugged Kit hard — and he was still only on the first box. The older boy let out a strangled squawk.

“Al! Don’t choke me yet. I’d like to see you at least open your other gifts…”

“Okay, but I’m choking you afterwards,” Alistair said, tearing at the next box. This one was something Kit had researched for hours before picking it out — a 24-inch Wacom Cintiq Pro drawing tablet.

Alistair looked like he was going to have a heart attack. “Kit, you’re fucking amazing.”

“Open the last one, then suck my dick.” Kit grinned.

“You’re awful. I love you.” Alistair couldn’t sort through his emotions when he was this excited. He eagerly opened the last box. It was smaller than the Wacom, a sleek silver Macbook Pro.

“I figured your old computer wouldn’t hold up to Photoshop very well. Or rather… the salesman who helped me pick out your tablet figured.” Kit said.

“Dude. Kit.” Alistair almost did throttle his cousin when he hugged him this time. “They’re the most perfect presents I’ve ever been given…”

Kit made a louder squawking noise, trying to pull away enough to breathe. Finny was nosing curiously at Alistair’s things, but he knew better than to lick or chew on them. Alistair went and hugged him too. “Look at the stuff Kit bought me, Finny! Now I can do art like a real artist! Isn’t he fucking awesome!”

Kit just smiled, sitting on the couch to help Siofra with the clasp of her new necklace. Finny boofed, excited because Alistair was excited. He gave the boy’s face a big, sloppy lick. Alistair romped on the floor with him, bouncing off the walls now. He was like a kid on a sugar high. Finny rolled around, delighted to be getting so much attention, while Siofra and her family settled on the couch to eat dessert. Gran was pouring wine for those who wanted it, and Kit gratefully took a glass. He leaned on Siofra, but stayed awake this time, quiet and watchful.

“What about your presents, Kit?” Alistair said under Finny.

“Me? What could I possibly need as a gift?”

“I’ll give you mine later,” he whispered. “I don’t want everyone seeing it. Don’t get excited though, like you said, you’ve got everything.”

“I mean, I have somethin’ for ye, too, but it’s also not somethin’ I can give ye in public.” Siofra grinned. Kit’s cheeks flared red, but the Rafferty boys and Gran just laughed.

“Gross, Siofra,” Alistair mumbled.

“Yer mum’s gross.” She smirked.

“True.”

Finny boofed, and Siofra smiled. “Don’t worry Finn, yer mum was lovely.”

“You knew her?” Alistair said curiously.

“No, but I did. She was quite the charmin’ bitch.” Mr. Rafferty grinned.

“Well. That’s good,” Alistair said awkwardly. Finny saved him from further conversation by trotting over to the door and whining. Alistair leapt up at once. “I’ll take him out.”

“Thanks.” Siofra smiled at him. “Take a jacket, it’s bloody baltic outside.”

Alistair grabbed the first one off the rack, which must have belonged to one of the Rafferty men, since it looked like it was trying to swallow Alistair whole when he put it on. “Come on, Finn.”

Finny boofed delightedly, barreling out the door as soon as it was open. Snow had been falling heavily, and it was up to his belly fur, but he ran through it without hesitation.

“Jesus! Look at this!” Alistair ran out into the show, shivering. He’d shoved his bare feet into somebody’s gigantic trainers, and they were offering little protection. “Fuck, my feet are cold, Finny.”

Finny’s fur seemed to be doing a stellar job of keeping him warm. He ran around chasing snowflakes for a while before even remembering he’d been let out to piss. Alistair tried to run after him, but the borrowed shoes were so big he kept stepping out of them and stepping into the snow in his bare feet. “I am losing toes here, Finny,” Alistair called, but he still didn’t go inside.

Finny eventually wore himself out, running back to Alistair and snuffling at his legs. He was full after being spoiled with snacks all evening, and not as hyper as earlier. When Alistair let the dog back inside, Siofra and Cillian were helping clean up dessert dishes, and Gran was asking Kit about his travels. He seemed a little flustered to be in the spotlight, but once she got him going on a story about visiting Japan, he rambled enthusiastically, telling her about the temples he’d seen. Alistair staggered into the kitchen with snow in his hair, his feet practically blue.

Siofra snorted. “Jaysus, who’s the Ice Princess now?”

“The bloody snow outside is deep.”

“Ya coulda taken my boots.” She grinned, “They’d fit just fine.”

“I just took the first shoes I found,” he grumbled.

“Figured. Would some hot chocolate warm ya up?” Siofra asked.

“God, yes please.”

Siofra laughed, going over to the stove to make fresh cocoa. Finny had joined them in the kitchen, hoping to catch any dropped crumbs. Alistair didn’t have food to offer, but he pet Finny’s ears. The dog wagged his tail, thumping Alistair's legs. He watched Siofra eagerly as she worked on the stove.

“This ain't for you, fat-arse. You've already had fancy treats and all sorts'o scraps.” She told him. Finny sighed, laying down right in the middle of the kitchen floor.

“Can’t he have a little bit of something?” Alistair asked.

“No. He's already had way more than usual. Don't want ‘im gettin’ sick, or fat.”

“Fat dogs are super cute.”

“They're also super unhealthy.” Siofra replied sternly. She finished the cocoa, pouring some into a fresh mug.

“Sorry, Finny. I tried.”

Finny boofed, continuing to lay right in Siofra's way. She just stepped over him and handed Alistair the mug. He took it gratefully, trying to warm his freezing hands.

“Go sit on the couch. We got plenty'o blankets.”

“Who else is there?” Alistair asked warily.

Siofra rolled her eyes. “Yer cousin. Riagán maybe, but ‘e's probably gone to set up sleepin’ bags.”

“Okay.” He mooched off to the living room, going to cuddle up with Kit on the sofa. Kit was still nursing the same glass of wine, and he yelped when his cousin sat down.

“Good Lord, Al, you're freezing!”

“I know. My feet are numb.”

“There’s blankets on the back’o the couch!” Siofra yelled from the kitchen. Gran and Mr. Rafferty had left the living room, so Riagán had taken over the armchair.

Alistair grabbed a couple of blankets, wrapping Kit up too. “Thank you so much for those gifts, Kit. You spoil me.”

“I try.” Kit mumbled, leaning on Alistair’s shoulder. He was still holding his wineglass, but he’d stopped sipping from it a while ago.

“I wish I could get you something as special,” he sighed.

“Like what, Al? You’re not being rude by not spending money you don’t have.”

“I’m just saying, I wish.”

“I wish I was in bed.” Kit mumbled. His eyelids were fluttering as he fought to keep them up, and he had to set his wine down before he dropped the glass.

“Want me to carry you?” Alistair offered.

Kit nodded. “Mm. Come to bed with me. Get warm.”

Alistair snorted. “I thought you and Siofra were having a holiday hump?”

“Tomorrow. I’m tired.”

“Glad to know I’m valued!” Siofra called from the kitchen. Alistair grinned, hauling Kit up in his arms. Cillian waved as they walked off to the guest room.

“Night!”

“Night,” Alistair said back, plopping Kit on the bed carefully. Kit held his arms out, hoping his cousin would crawl in bed with him. He hadn’t even changed out of his clothes. Alistair couldn’t resist him, climbing under the sheets beside him. “Don’t you want to change?”

“Oh… I suppose I should.” Kit was so tired, he hadn’t given it the slightest thought.

“Do you want me to just do it? It’s not like I haven’t dressed you for bed before.” Alistair offered.

“...please?”

Alistair grinned. “Okay. Stay still then.”

Kit just flopped on the bed like a dramatic ragdoll, allowing his cousin to dress him. He heard snickering and looked up to see Siofra in the doorway.

“I didn’t think nobles still needed servants to dress ‘em.” She grinned.

Kit’s cheeks flared red. “I… it’s not like that!”

“Really? Didja go quadriplegic in the last five minutes?”

“...no.”

“Then what’s it like?” Siofra asked.

Kit hung his head, clearly embarrassed. “...I’m tired.”

She snorted. “Too tired to put on yer own pyjamas!”

“He offered!” Kit cried.

“This is quite a usual thing,” Alistair agreed. “It’s just easier than forcing him up to do it himself.”

“Christ. Ye rich folk are really somethin’ else.” Siofra shook her head, but she was smiling.

“I’m not a rich folk anymore.”

“Ah, right. You’re just weird. Well, I’ll leave ye weirdos to it.” She walked off down the hall, and Kit could hear her talking to Finny out in the living room.

“She’s the weird one. This whole family is weird,” Alistair said. He didn’t sound mad, just perplexed. “They all like...love each other.”

Kit laughed so hard, Alistair had to let go of his sleeve. “Al… that’s how normal families are.”

“It’s weird! They’re not any bit of drama or resentment. Even Jules’s dad has been screwing someone else. Even his family is a bit fucked up.”

“Well, I mean, Siofra said she never liked her mum much. But it’s really not as weird as you’re making it out to be. I’m sure they fight sometimes.” Kit shrugged.

“Oh god, I bet that’s a riot.”

“You’re a riot.” Kit mumbled, flopping down on the bed with a sigh.

“Are you too tired to open my present tonight?” Alistair asked quietly.

Kit sat up, trying to smooth himself out. “Oh, no. I just forgot. Sorry.”

Alistair grinned. “Shocker. Like I said, don’t be too excited… I wish I could afford to get you something really nice.” He rifled in his case and pulled out a little oblong parcel wrapped in deep blue paper.

“I can buy myself nice things. I’m just curious to see what you thought of.” Kit took the parcel, peeling off the paper slowly and carefully.

It was a necklace, very dainty and delicate, the chains so fragile they seemed as brittle as a daisy chain. There was a rose pendant at the bottom, uncannily similar to the ring Kit wore to remember his mother: same design, colour, roughly similar in size. Alistair had bought it second-hand, but he’d polished it up until it shone like it was new. Kit immediately looked down at his ring, stricken by the similarity. As far as he’d known, the ring didn’t have a companion piece — it was an old heirloom, one of the few remnants of when his mother’s family was wealthy. He was quiet for a long time, chewing thoughtfully on his lower lip.

“How… where did you find this?”

Alistair nudged his shoulder gently. “You know, you do still have an aunt…”

Kit nearly dropped the necklace. “It’s actually…” he stumbled over his words, too choked up to articulate himself, “It was hers? Or… the family’s, at least?”

“Yep. I would’ve told you I’d been in touch sooner, but I wanted to give you this first,” Alistair said. “Máire wants to talk to you again, too.”

Kit clutched the threadlike chain, his hands too shaky to put on the clasp. He was quiet, save for small, shuddering breaths, before collapsing against Alistair, sobbing and hugging his cousin tightly. Alistair held him just as tight. “So yeah… Máire was kinda part of your present.”

Kit shook his head, burying his face in Alistair’s shoulder. “She won’t want to see me. Not like this.”

“Of course she will! She was dead excited to hear from even me, so she’ll be really happy. I showed her a picture of you and she couldn’t believe how much you’ve changed,” Alistair laughed.

“I’m sure that picture looked worlds better than I do now.” Kit sighed. He was all too aware of how corpse-like he’d looked as of late.

“Well, it’ll probably make her auntie instincts come out. She kept telling me I hadn’t changed a bit.” He rolled his eyes. “Mnn, flattering.”

“You still don’t brush your hair.” Kit was chuckling through the tears now.

“She kept trying to smooth it down just like when we were kids,” Alistair said, grinning. “She said how handsome you are now.”

“When did you go see her?” Kit asked.

“Not too long before we came out here. I found her on Facebook and we chatted for a bit first.”

Kit nodded. “Does Julie know?”

“Yeah. He’s the only thing that kept me from telling you. I almost caved a hundred times this week.”

Kit couldn’t help giggling. “You were always awful with secrets. It’s probably good you didn’t realize you were gay sooner.”

“I know, I’d have told everyone in a heartbeat. I’d have had to live in your cupboard or some shit like a fucking war criminal.”

"Virgin war criminal more like." Kit smirked. He was no longer crying, and he sat up enough to put the necklace on.

“I could’ve seen your hair during your Draco blond phase,” Alistair said, helping Kit do up the clasp.

Kit cringed. "Oh god. I think I burned my yearbook from that phase."

"What phase?" Siofra popped her head into the room, as she'd walked over to check on the boys.

"Doesn't matter." Kit replied hastily.

Siofra smirked. "I'll be nice enough to pretend I believe ya. I thought ye came in here to sleep?"

"I did," Kit said, "I forgot Al still had a gift to give me."

"Ye know I do too, right?" Siofra asked.

Kit shook his head. "Not while we're sharing a room with him. That's just cruel."

"A real gift, ye twit. I was jokin' ‘bout fuckin' bein' yer gift. I'll fuck ye anytime, holidays be damned."

"Oh." Kit blinked. "Do… do you want to give it to me now?"

"Nah. You're havin' a moment. I can leave ye two here. D'ye need anything before I go?" She asked.

"Er… I don't think so. Al?"

“No thanks. But you can do the gift exchange if you want,” Alistair said. “I’ll go piss or something if you want privacy.”

"Nah, I'm not that fussed. It's nothin' fancy. I just thought I oughta offer more than a shag." Siofra shrugged. She dug through her own bag, which was sitting on the floor, and pulled out a wrapped box. Kit opened it as meticulously as the last gift, eventually revealing a small wooden box. He undid the latch, revealing an ornate silver hairbrush, with a matching mirror and comb.

"It's lovely," he smiled, lifting the mirror and turning it over. The back had delicate scrolling detail like the brush, and it was immaculately glossy.

"Oh, good." Siofra grinned, seemingly relieved.

"What, did you think I wouldn't like it?" Kit asked.

"Honestly, I was afraid you'd already have ten."

“You are a nightmare to buy gifts for, Kit,” Alistair agreed. “Just cause you’ve got fucking everything.”

"Well, that's why I don't ask for anything!" He cried defensively.

“I’m just teasing you, dope,” Alistair said fondly.

"You're a dope," Kit mumbled, leaning against his cousin with a drowsy sigh. Siofra took the box off his lap, clasping it shut and setting it aside.

"You lot get some sleep. I'll be to bed in a while."  

“I’ll look after him,” Alistair promised.

Siofra nodded. "Ya got enough blankets?"

“For me, yes. For Kit, we could probably do with a couple more.”

"Figured. I'll be right back." Siofra stepped away, returning a few minutes later with some soft throw blankets and a handmade quilt. "This oughta do ya." She dumped the blankets on the boys, and Kit groaned dramatically. "Sorry princess, no peas in the mattress."

Alistair snorted. “That really is you.”

"Is not," Kit mumbled, "my servants know better than to leave peas in my mattress."

“Who the hell would do that in the first place?” Alistair muttered.

Siofra snorted. "Get some sleep, idiots," she said, closing the door quietly and walking off down the hall. Her brothers and father were in the kitchen, drinking beer and talking rugby, but Gran was sitting in the living room, peering through her coke-bottle glasses at a book. Siofra walked through the living room, stepping into her boots to take Finny out.

"Ye really like that lad, don't ye?" Gran's voice behind her made Siofra jump.

"I like 'im well enough." She shrugged.

"Better than enough, I'd say, if ye bothered to bring 'im all the way out here."

Siofra huffed, shaking her head and lacing up her boots. "I'm feelin' it out, Gran. I ain't committed to nothin' yet."

"Well, feel him out a bit extra for me. He's a good-lookin' one." Gran said, her magnified eyes twinkling with mischief.

Siofra couldn't help snorting. "I will. Just don't harp on about nothin' in front'o him. He had a bad breakup not too long back. You'll scare 'im off if ye get too serious."

"I'm too old to take things serious. Just have fun with 'im." Gran shrugged.

"I plan to. I gotta take Finny out now, alright? Get some sleep." Siofra bent down, hugging her grandmother tightly before standing up and whistling for the dog. Finny bounded over at once, tail wagging eagerly as Siofra clipped his leash on. "C'mon, lad. Let's see what the forest looks like tonight."

[cherry3point14]

Mine: Ch1 - YOU

Series Masterlist

Pairing: Dean x Reader Warnings: Stalking, beginnings of jealous!Dean Word Count: 4,000 ish. Chapter Summary: Dean meets you. He wants to know more. A/N: At this point my feelings are UGH. I have looked at this too long!

Ao3 if you prefer

This should be my happy place. I’ve been thinking about this for like, a week. But Sam’s bitch face was never part of my plan. He’s overreacting. The line isn’t even that long, there are two tables in front of us when we park up and the line has doubled behind us. That’s not good enough for my brother though. I’m not even sure why he came, before we left he kept saying how we had food in the kitchen. Not that I’m mad about his company. It was a good two-hour drive and I got to spend it with him. It’s been a lifetime since we drove anywhere without finding someone dead at the other end. Vegas week got skipped a few years back and remains a memory. Our lives, in general, get more and more caked in blood and shit. I’m not counting or anything but we deserved a couple of normal hours on the road. Except we’re at a diner so it’s me that deserves this. Sam deserves a trip to a farmers market or something. That’s a problem for tomorrow. Although this place isn’t just a diner; that makes it sound like any other pancake house on any other highway. This is the diner. It’s a gutted gas station turned restaurant that’s the best everything in the state. A well-kept secret. Or at least it had been until the food blogs, that I definitely don’t read, got a hold of it. Now it’s full of beanie wearing douchebags taking pictures of their food, and wannabe cowboys who want to do the same. “Hey, guys. You’re looking at about a thirty-minute wait for a table. Unless you want to sit at the counter?” Her eyes dart about as she talks, between the line behind them to the people already sitting, and back again. There are two seats at the counter and the sight of them sends a shudder rolling over my shoulders. They’re in the middle of everything, of other people already sitting there and I don’t know if I want to eat that badly. Not in the next thirty minutes anyway. For how long I’ve been dreaming about this burger I don’t want to spend the entire time trying not to nudge the guy next to me. Besides those college kids with the corner table are no way going to last half an hour now that their food’s gone. Before I can say any of this Sam opens his giant mouth, “counter’s fine, thanks.” The counter is fine? The counter is anything but fine. The space is too small and I didn’t drive all this way to sit at the goddamn counter during the lunchtime rush. But he’s already taking big moon size steps over there before I get a chance to hiss my opinion at him. Son of a bitch. “You’re a traitor, you know that?” The space I’m supposed to sit in is even smaller now I’m in it. He actually looks shocked by my accusation, “what? You wanted to eat, this is the quickest way to eat.” “I wanted to enjoy my food. This isn’t just lunch, it’s a, um-” I slap my hand on the counter when the word hits me, “it’s an experience Sammy. The sort of experience I’d have liked my feet touching the floor for.” His lips curl up like I’m some sort of amusement for him, “an experience?” Crap. He’s on to me. He’s seen my browsing history. He knows that SouthernFoodGal recommended the place. “Just don’t order rabbit food, ok? Respect the process.” My hand waves in the space between us in the hopes that I can wave away his focus. It actually works. The waitress at the counter is, and this is not an exaggeration, about ninety-eight years old. She’s every road weathered, curly-haired truck stop waitress from the movies. I’m wondering if it’s a legal thing that every diner has to have one. It’s gotta be, right? It can’t be a coincidence. She smiles though, not a plastered on fake one, and she doesn’t comment on my life expectancy as I order their star burger; the heart attack. Sam doesn’t need to comment because I can see his judgment out the corner of my eye, and that’s before I order fries. At the very least he orders a chicken burger instead of salad. Hopefully, he’ll cheer up with some bread in his stomach. The place is buzzing so I’m not sure if we have total privacy or if every word we say will be broadcast. The conversation stays light then. Free of monsters and angels and demons. I get a chance to hear about a book Sam read that wasn’t lore. It’s good to let him talk like this. It reminds me that he’s ok, he’s doing ok. He’s still got this slither of a normal guy left in him as he gushes over the story; that’s enough for me to smile at. The food arrives fast, hot and before Sam has finished talking. It takes two hands to lift my burger since it’s more a stack of food rather than a meal. And yet the beast in my hands isn’t leaking grease all over me. The smell of meat and cheese hits my nose before the food reaches my tongue. All my senses band together for that first bite. “Are you kidding me?” With food swirling around my mouth I still manage a moan. Sam frowns at my plate, then me, “what?” “Look at this!” it’s all about the cross-section so waving it in his direction will surely be enough to explain. Yet Sam’s face stays blank unless you count the sneer he tries to hide, so I swallow all slow and regretfully. The food had to leave my mouth at some point I guess. “This is a work of art. Bacon’s crispy, three different type of cheese, onion rings Sammy. Don’t even get me started on the sauce. This is- shit the pickles have gotta be homemade. This was worth the drive.” That’s probably not as big a compliment as it could be considering how far we drive everywhere for everything. I know what I mean to say though. It’s been a while since I ate food that was more than just fast. This is damn good. “This is pretty good too,” Sam chimes in with much less enthusiasm. Offensively less. I’d be annoyed on behalf of the place except I take another bite and the anger in my gut fades to nothing. Eating the rest of the meal becomes a blur. I'm caught between wanting to swallow it whole and not wanting to finish it at all. Doesn't even matter that I elbowed the guy next to me twice. Too soon our elderly waitress Carol is taking my plate away before she checks her watch. “Y/N,” she shouts through the pass into the kitchen. “Can you watch the counter while I take my ten?” Apparently, it didn’t matter about the lunch rush or the line out the door, Carol was taking her ten. She’s a seasoned waitress who got our order right first time. I appreciate her enough that panic bubbles in my gut for a second. What if this Y/N person brings the wrong pie? The worry is fleeting because then the door swings open with a crash of wood on wood. The sound of your entrance is what catches my attention, you are what keeps it. You step out in your chef whites, rolled at the sleeves and an apron pinning it all at your waist. The apron giving you a figure even in your uniform. I can tell you still want to be proud of your body underneath your pulled back hair and shiny face from the heat of the kitchen. You're sporting an oversized pout, aimed in the direction of the waitress whose name I’ve forgotten by now. “Only if you tell me I’m pretty.” You are pretty. I’d tell you that. You have the kind of soft features that are pretty even if you’re not dolled up and I’m not half drunk. You’re pretty, and then you laugh at your own joke, and like that you’re beautiful. Anybody would have a hard time convincing me I’m not staring straight into the sun. Carol’s voice is scolding if not playful as she shakes her head, “yeah, pretty annoying.” You shoo her away with a waved hand before your face turns hard and serious. Even if you’re only covering for ten minutes you hold yourself like this is most important job you’ve ever had. You survey your kingdom with concern etched on that sweet little face of yours until you lock eyes with me. Quickly softening into an easy smile. Acknowledging my stare as a call for attention. You wanted to come over anyway. I only gave you an excuse. “How was the food guys?” You don’t even glance in Sam’s direction. I like this move. Sam hasn’t looked up from his phone but you don’t want to make a big deal out of coming over here for me. I get it, you don’t want to seem too eager. Which would be easier to pull off if you’d looked away from me yet. “Best burger I’ve had in months.” The smile I flash you is the charming one I reserve for women in bars. You’re not sucking down vodka though so you raise both eyebrows at my review instead. Your hands move to your hips, again bringing my focus to your waist, begging me to steal a glance at your curves. “Only the last few months?” You scoff, “not good enough. I’m taking the gold for best burger of your life or I’m taking nothing.” I would think you’re joking except you have this hard set to your face that’s deadly serious. I’m half sure you’re going to storm off and make me something else right now. It’s only when you don’t move from the spot and your lip finally twitches that a chuckle escapes me, along with a wink. “You’ll have to keep trying then, sweetheart.” Is that a blush on your cheeks, or were they that pink since you left the kitchen? “I didn’t know I had someone with such discerning taste in today or I’d have made you something special.” You have this pucker in your top lip and a flash of something in your eyes, like a fucking promise. I can see you like a challenge and maybe you also want my approval? Maybe you crave it. So, you keep trying, keep working for it, “do you trust me enough to get you something sweet?” Is it sweeter than you, I wonder? “Depends on if you have pie.” You jump back as if a jolt of electricity surged through you. You press a hand to your chest with this grand gesture of mock offense. There’s a sickly over the top southern accent too, “sir I’m offended that you think I didn’t make pie fresh this morning.” Another laugh at your own joke although I’ll be honest, I kind of like that about you already. “Apple and blueberry or cherry bourbon?” Shit. Is this the moment that I’ll remember for the rest of my life? It’s a stupid question. If I could only take one mental picture it would be you coming back from the kitchen. A sway to your hips, two plates, and one fork.

We’d talked while I ate. You'd pretended you were waiting for my critique and I wait until both slices are gone before I give you an inch. The whole time some dick at the other end of the counter is staring at you. Desperately trying to will you into noticing him because what? The asshole wants a refill or something? Being rude to wait staff is shitty enough on a normal day but he shouldn't be staring at you like that. Not that you need to worry about him. He gets a hefty and totally accidental shove on my way out that almost puts him on his ass. I’m not even sure you noticed when Carol came back because you’d stuck around. The din of the diner quietens enough that I catch the nervous hitch in your voice when you’d told me your name. “I’m Y/N by the way,” tumbles out too fast and too quiet, then you’d asked for mine in the same breath. I’d given it to you, my first name anyway. Why are you so relieved? Did you really think I wouldn’t tell you my name? It’s like you haven’t seen you. But see, here’s the thing. I’ve looked out for people before, tried to look out for people, and it’s not been enough. I’ve not been enough. Now I know what I need to do and the lengths I need to go to if I’m going to do protect people. So, checking you out is common sense. It’s a necessary evil to look after myself. You’re beautiful but I need to know if there’s more to you. There’s beautiful in every town. I need to make sure you’re worth all the effort I’m willing to go to. It’s a two-way street too. I get that. You didn’t have to trust me. It’s probably not uncommon for guys to hit on you at work and for you to give out a fake name. That makes it all the sweeter when I type your name into google and boom, there you are. Smiling so wide in your profile pictures that it makes my cheeks ache. You trusted me which begs the question, are you a little bit naive or was that really a blush? I’m nursing a glass, my third, while I moon over my laptop. I’m not normally like this. My interest in looking people up online usually limited to finding a connection between victims. I’m not a big social media guy. For you? Well, it’s a means to an end. This is how I get to see more of your story is all. Lawrence. I almost choke when I see that under ‘hometown’. You were born and raised in Lawrence. In another life, I could have already met you. We’d already be together and today was kismet fixing things on the messed up timeline we’re on. Not that I believe in that shit. Except you make me believe. The deeper I go down the Y/N rabbit hole the more it seems like you’re kind of, sort of, perfect for me. It’s such a mindless action to pour myself another drink while I scroll that it doesn’t even count as glass number four. You were living in New York until about a year ago. Then you moved to Manhattan, Kansas. There’s this picture of you in a car packed tight with boxes, sunglasses, and a big grin. The caption reads, if you can’t live in NYC, try Manhattan! You giggled to yourself while writing that no doubt, I’d stake money on it. There’s no explanation for your move but all your friends liked the post and a bunch of them chime in to say they’ll miss you. I’m interested in what brought you closer, thankful for it. I’ll have to ask you about that one day. Although it’s better that you’re out of the city anyway. “Found anything?” Sam leaves the kitchen with a glass of water in his hand. Upping his water intake is his new thing and he’s so desperately trying to get me on board. Unfortunately, I hold a deeply rooted belief that pissing that much just ain’t natural.

“What?” I snap, still distracted with images of you.

Sam must read it as suspicious because he reels his neck in as quickly as he stuck it out to start the conversation. “Dude, didn’t we talk about keeping the porn to your room?”

My shoulders relax instantly because that’s the simple answer. He thinks it’s hardcore cartoon sex scenes on my screen rather than your Facebook and Instagram. Not that I’m ashamed of you, it’s just better if I keep things under wraps for now. You’ll have to meet Sam eventually. Well, meet him more than the cursory few words you’d offered each other at the diner today. Out of his sight, one hand clicks to open a new tab in case he decides to peer over my shoulder. The fingers of my other hand drag down my face, all the better to appear dazed and confused. “No, I was looking for a case. Nothing out there.” There is something out there. You’re out there. Sam must recognize the tired eyes of someone who’s read too many news articles, though it’s actually too many comments, because he buys what I’m selling. “Guess we’ve got another snow day tomorrow. Any plans?” “Maybe.” The answer is muttered more to myself than him. He must think I’ve gone back to looking for cases. You know, instead of looking for your address.

The first time I drive out and park across the street it’s an accident. I’d been going for a drive to nowhere in particular, only looking to chase the horizon for a while. Long roads and smooth tarmac. Good music and definitely not driving to you. Not even in your direction. I hadn’t been paying attention anyway which is why the drive is so lazy and takes nearly two hours. With a little effort, I’ll get that down to an hour and a half. But again, this wasn’t planned when I first started my engine. If I had planned it I’d have definitely brought more beer. Your quiet little suburb is cute but not nice enough that it’ll break your heart to leave it behind. You live in this one story townhouse and it’s fine. It’s ok. It’s big enough for one person but it’s not a family home or anything. I can practically see your loneliness behind the blue paint on your front door. Your car is, well, I’ll take care of that at some point. It’s a Prius for one thing, and it’s too old to be a good car and too modern to be a classic. Thinking about it you might not even need a car. I can drive you wherever. These are all things I didn’t plan to see or notice, the first time anyway. Because the first time I’m looking at your house I can’t stop asking myself why the bay window doesn’t have blinds. What are you thinking Y/N? This area might seem nice and safe but really, anybody could pull up and watch you. You don’t need to worry about it while I’m outside but I’m not always here; I haven’t always been here. Don’t think I’ll forget about this either, the question is filed away for when I can ask it properly. A conversation for another day. It’s careless is what it is. How can I look after you if you won’t look after yourself? The clear glass does mean I can see you, luckily. You make a mug of something warm to drink while you watch a video on your laptop. Whatever it is makes you throw your head back with laughter until your back hits the sofa behind you. It's a carefree moment that I get to share with you. It's the sort of thing I need to see. These little private moments that show me who you are in a way your Instagram won’t. But it’s the second time I’m outside your house, that’s far more eventful. You haven’t been home from work for long. All you’ve managed is to turn on some music and start singing along while you run a vacuum around the place. My grin is about to damn near break my face watching you. Unfortunately, all good things must come to an end. Everything stops suddenly and then you pick up your phone. That should be explanation enough, a phone call. Except you don’t answer it immediately. You frown at the thing in your hand and my fingers clench the steering wheel a little tighter. Whoever is on the phone burst the bubble we were both living in and I don't appreciate it. You’re all stiff movements and tight lips as you answer. The caller has turned you into a bitter version of yourself. Sweeping anger replaces any happiness you held onto as you storm out of the house. You’re so distracted that you get halfway to your car before you have to backtrack and lock your door. Really, Y/N? No, I don’t blame you. I blame whoever was on the end of that call, they did this to you. They made you careless. The only answers I’ll get are by following you, which at this point is easy enough. It’s early evening and there are enough other cars on the road to hide behind once we make it out of suburbia. It’s a bar you finally pull into. A dive by the looks of it. I can tell that much before I’ve caught up with you. Call it a special skill of mine to recognize bars like this. I’m caught across the street, waiting to cross traffic on a surprisingly busy road. Even from this distance, I see you screech to a halt at the front of the shitty parking lot. Apparently, you haven’t calmed down yet and looking over at the entrance to the bar it’s easy to see why. The sun has barely gone down. It’s not even 6pm. And there’s this guy wandering towards your car with the gait of someone who’s drunk as sin. Each step he takes is another rev of my foot on the gas where I’m trying to get to you. The guy isn’t huge or anything but he’s still bigger than you. He’s bigger and drunk and why isn’t there a fucking gap in this traffic? Finally, I swerve through a gap that isn’t really a gap to the outrage of some dick honking his horn. Not that the noise distracts you or the deadbeat. You stomp towards him with a slam of your drivers' side door and he calls out at the sight of you, “baby, I knew you’d come get me!” He falls in your direction and lands with his mouth on yours, his hands pawing at you. And you might push at his chest but it’s not urgent or defenseless. It’s exasperated. It’s so that you can swipe at his chest and berate him, “get in the car before I change my mind.” What the fuck Y/N? Who is this asshole?

Continue to Chapter 2

5eva tags: @divadinag @darthdeziewok @fluentinfiction @witch-of-letters @supernatural-teamfreewillpage Dean babes: @thewinchesterchronicles @akshi8278

[abloomntime]

A Bloom In Time P16

She was starting to feel MUCH better now! Honestly all the dirt and grim leaving her body was very relieving. She felt like a new woman! But there still was one problem. Cookie had been nice enough to take care of her clothes and wash them up for her. The problem was that there was rips and tears in the dress near the bottom making it look like someone took a weed wacker to the bottom of the once nice blue dress. Oh well. The important thing was that it was clean and so was she at last. Her wrist felt better as well. Cookie was also kind enough to look over Poppy's injury and thankfully no signs of swelling were there just some scrapes that could use a few bandaids. If she had to guess, it must've been whatever herbal bath the cat made for her, really did work like those healing herbs her mother used to grow, the pain had stopped by a bunch to where she could move it and grab things without feeling pain, and all that was left was a dull soreness like a bee sting. She also felt mentally better, as if a heavy rock was lifted off her back, which is why the smile on her face was placed there as she dried off her long hair.

"I knew there was a peach under that dirt," Cookie complimented as Poppy smiled and pulled the towel off her head, letting her still slightly wet hair fall down her back. "Now there. Such a pretty shade of red. Like a lovely rose."

"Oh please. You're too kind. It's nothing that's uncommon. You're actually very fairly pretty yourself!," Poppy complimented back which got a wave from Cookie.

"Believe it or not my fur color is actually a rare color where I'm from." She walked over to where Poppy stood holding up the heavy duty leather apron she usually wore when gardening now also cleaned as well.

"Oh really? Uh..Thank you." She grabbed the apron from Cookie with a smile.

She nodded. "Most of the cats where I'm from are all black or light grey. It's another reason I wanted to leave, I like being around people more colorful like me. But enough about me, what's it like where you're from?" That one sentence made Poppy fully stop folding the apron for a solid ten seconds, before that smile slowly turned back into a frown as she continued to fold the apron before slowly putting it under her arm silently. Cookie's look softening. "Oh. I'm sorry. I knew you said you-..Im sorry. I shouldn't have asked."

"It's....ok. I-...I can't go back there anyways. I-It's...It's gone."

The cat placed a paw on her gently. "I know it ain't none of my business, but what happened?"

.......No. She didn't want to tell another person her burdens and sorrows, and reliving it again by talking about it so she sighed and shook her head. "It's...A-Actually gone. A...." What was she supposed to call being cursed for a thousand years before being woken up by accident? She settled on- "A v-very bad ...winter froze everything and destroyed it. A-As far as I know I'm the only one left alive to speak of it." True. After all that Snatcher fellow certainly wasn't alive after all being a ghost.

Cookie gave a small gasp, her paws coming to cover her mouth for a moment in shock. "Oh my goodness. You poor thing. Oh, no wonder you were so distressed."

"Thank you. B-But you don't really have to feel sorry for me. I'm...I'm still working it out, b-but I'm sure I'll be fine with his help."

"His? His who?"

"Snatcher. The ghost the children hang around with." Cookie gave her a look over confused as to why her answer was that making Poppy feel criticized. "...What?"

"Nothing. I'm just surprised that old ghosty's offered to be some kind of use instead of sitting on that pillow stack reading some kind of book complaining 'bout somethin' or stealing my bacon. But then again I don't know him too well, so it's awefully nice of him to offer his help to you. " Shaking her head she turned around towards the exit and motioned for Poppy to follow her. "C'mon now. Let's get you some food. I bet you're just starving."

"Yeah. Hungry.".....Cookie knew Snatcher. The thought made her look back up at Cookie who by now had stood back in the exit waiting patiently for her to come over and she did. "Hey. You met Snatcher before right? What's he usually like?"

She shrugged. "Like I said I don't know him all too well. Just that he steals food and acts like Conductor if Conductor was less yell-y and always had his nose stuck in a book all the time."

Poppy didn't know who Conductor was but she'd take Cookie's word for it. Pressing the red button on the side again, they ascended back up to the chilly storage room. From there the red head followed the small calico as she happily walked towards the ladder to climb back up it. Even though the hurt hand was better, Poppy thought she had better stay off it for the time being until all the soreness left it, so for now she'd have to climb the ladder and crawl through the small hallway painfully slowly like before....Which took a LONG time, but she was glad to get out of that chilly room none the less. And before she knew it, she was standing on the other side of that tiny hallway stretching her back out and sighing as she walk around normally for the most part now. The girls were there too, giggling as they watched a funny picture show on the tv showing a cartoon Moon Penguin chasing a mouse who stole it's fish, only for the penguin to trip over his own flippers and land face first into a pie randomly on the floor. Both girls giggling at the funny sight. Next to them were empty plates and forks obviously from whatever Cookie had made them. Said cat walked on over to the young girls who briefly looked up to her as she picked up the plates and patted each on the head before both young ladies turned back to their entertainment on screen.

Cookie gestured Poppy to follow her before turning to the ramp. "Come on. I'll show you where the kitchen is."

With that she turned and began her way back up the ramp, stepping over Rumbi casually sweeping a path down it.  Poppy blinked, but followed none the less. She just hoped the kitchen wasn't a teeny space as well. Walking past the girls, they giggled again at something goofy the penguin did and she smiled at their adorable child giggles before walking past them and up the ramp, taking a GIANT step around Rumbi and giving the robot vacum cleaner a suspicious look before walking the rest of the way up there. As she walked, poppy glanced at everything she passes. The screen that had the number 1000 on it plus a picture of an hourglass, a giant vault that looked a lot like the bank's old vault, and then finally over to the two double doors which was to her relief and surprise her size. Pushing one of the door slowly opened, the lady slowly poked her head in. A rug of more blue gears under her feet.......and a surprisingly normal kitchen is what greeted her. A stove was in the far corner, with a sink, fridge, counter, cabinets and a shelf full of plates, cups, and other dishes. The kitchen was actually rather non-alien compared to the other rooms she's seen so far with the checkered floor, and soft blue walls. There was a few paintings on the wall and a small plant in the corner to add to the calm atmosphere. The only really strange thing about it would be the giant telescope sitting in the middle of the room. Cookie was busy putting the dirty dishes in the sink before she smiled from her place standing on a chair and turned back to Poppy.

"Well, don't be shy. Come on in and I'll grab you you're plate." Poppy did noticing there really wasn't any table to eat at as Cookie hopped off the chair with a small thud and walked on over to the fridge in the corner. Didn't look like the kind of fridge she had back when she was a kid. She watched in slight amazement as Cookie opened it and reached into one of shelves her height to pull out a small plate. "I hope you don't mind cold food."

"What is it?," she asked as Cookie walked over to her, closing the fridge with her foot holding the plate up.

"Just a drumstick and some mashed potatoes. Sorry if it's not enough. Those little tykes eat more than you think." The cat held the plate up to her and true to her word there was a small drumstick and mashed potatoes on it which Poppy graciously took.

"N-no. It's plenty. You've done more than enough for me. Thank you." OH GOSH. It smelt so good even though it was cold, her stomach rumbled again and in an instant her mouth watered. Forgetting about her thick leather apron, she let it drop to the ground in favor of grabbing that fork and eating....

....

.......HOLY PECK!!

It was delicious! The potatoes were so creamy and well smashed and put together! And she'd never tasted gravy quite like this before! It was delicious! It was...it was....a flavor she couldn't explain because she'd never tasted it before! And the bird...OH! The roasted bird was GLORIOUS!! She had bird before but never like this! It was tender yet juicy with bread crumbs and seasoning mixing in giving it that extra flavoring caused by spices. Cookie chuckled at the sight, already used to the reactions people had to her food by now and turned around to go back to the counter as Poppy ate with a happy hum and sparkly wide eyes to her heart's content. The growling in her stomach finally being cured from her dilema of being hungry. Cookie after a moment of standing on the chair again to get to the counter managed to fill up a glass of water before hopping off back onto the floor and walked her way over to the woman currently smiling at the food and stopped mid bite at the cat's chuckling. "My, my. Such a healthy appetite." Poppy immediately straightened up and gave a sheepish smile. "Um..S-Sorry. I guess I was just so hungry. And this is SO good! I've never tasted anything like it." She chuckled again holding up the water to her. "I'm glad you think so. Here. Take this. You'll be needing something to wash it down with." "Oh. Thank you." As she bent down to take the water, Cookie symaltaniously took the plate that was nothing but crumbs and a drumstick bone by now and made a turn to go back to the sink. "Y-You're a really good cook. I'm surprised no one ever gave you a job before." She shrugged hopping back up to the counter and sink, placing the dirty dishes within. "I'll take all of that as a compliment, and no need to thank me, Sugar. I'm always happy to hear such nice words for my simple dishes......OH!! I nearly forgot!" She turned back to Poppy. "I think I found something of yours." Reaching her paw into a pocket, Cookie pulled out a shiny golden bracelet that got Poppy's eyes widening and she briefly choked on her water. "It fell out of one of your apron pocket's all dirty like. So I cleaned it up for ya." "M-My bracelet!" In an instant Poppy rushed over, glass cup abandoned on the counter in favor for her to latch both hands around the bracelet and look at it. Her reflection staring back up at her in wonder before looking back at Poppy. "Y-Yes. It is. T-Thank you." The cat smiled and went to answer- DING!! DING!! DING!! Poppy jumped and both turned their heads to a wall plastered onto the far side of the wall singing as the start of a new hour had begun and Cookie gave a small gasp to the time. "Oh goodness! Eight already? Oh no. I must've lost track of time." With a quick jump from the chair, the cat paddled her way over towards the kitchen doors. Poppy blinked but followed non the less as she still muttered. "Silly me. Count on me to forget things so easily. Muriel's going to be so worried about me the poor sugarcude." She muttered to herself as she exited the doors making both children below pause from their current cartoon and look up towards the two ladies exiting the kitchen. "D-Does that mean you're leaving?," Poppy asked behind her. Cookie momentarily stopped and turned to give her an apologetic look. "I'm afraid so. I'm really sorry to leave so sudden like this, but I have to get up real early if I wanna make it to my breakfast cooking show tomorrow and I have a gal at home who won't sleep unless I tell her to. And I need some kind of sleep tonight-" Poppy held up her hands. "No, no. It's perfectly fine. You must be busy being a mother and having a job. My mother was the same way." "So understanding. Than you so much." "Oh w-wait a minute." Poppy looked back over to the window and outerspace behind it. "H-How are you doing to get home? Are they going to teleport you with their magic umbrellas?" Cookie gave a laugh and shook her head. "No need." Her paw reached over to her sleeve to pull it down and reveal a watch?? "I can use my teleporter to go back to Mr. Grooves's moon studio and catch a bus back to the planet." "Are you leaving now?," Bow stood up yawning and looked up at the cat who continued down the ramp and gave a sad smile to the two children. "Yes. I'm afraid so, Honeypie. But don't worry. Ya'll can see me tomorrow on my morning show." Both young girls awed in disappointment but got up as she got down to the bottom of the ramp and stopped by the giant Tv to hold out her arms to hug the girls good bye. "Oh there there," she cooed motherly and smiled brightly, "You'll see me again, but I have grown up stuff to do. What you all can do is take care of that friend of yours alright?" Both agreed and reluctant let go of her, Cookie patting each of them on the head before turning her attention to Poppy and waving a paw. "You take care too now ya hear. And don't go treading through any more swamp water without an extra dress." Poppy didn't get a chance to get anymore than a wave good bye as Cookie already pressed a button on her watch and in a flash of sparkles the cat was gone. She stopped and stared at the empty space the cat was by the children for a moment before shivering. She'd NEVER get used to the act of everyone disappearing and reappearing at will in front of her, but those sparkly blue eyes soon turned there direction down towards the shimmer and shine of the gold bracelet still protectively held within her hands, her blue eyes and messy red hair staring back at her. For a moment she could remember the soft brown eyes and the kind smile of the friend who gave it to her. Silly insisting she'd take it as payment for a simple bouquet of wild rainbow daises. ....The last thing she had to remember him by outside of memories. A small sad feeling came over her but was interrupted by the sounds of Bow yawning and stretching her body out which was followed by another loud yawn by Hattie. Oh yeah. Cookie did say something about it being eight p.m.. That would be pretty late by child standards, so it would probably be best if they slept for the night. Plus isn't she supposed to be helping out these little two until that Snatcher ghosts gets finished with whatever business he had? Yeah. Better get these tykes to sleep now. "Kids. I know I don't have much authority probably but I think it's best you get to sleep." Both girls looked up at her as she walked down the ramp towards them both. As expected Hattie gave a small whine. "One more Cheesy Penguin episode. PLEEEAAASE!!," she pleaded give Poppy big eyes that honestly melted her heart and she MIGHT have said yes if Bow hadn't grabbed her hand and tugged her towards the hallway toward the bathroom downstairs. "Hattie! No more trouble today, and I'm tired. I wanna sleep." Her friend groaned throwing her head back. "Fffffiiiiine. But I won't like it!" Poppy gave a small smile and giggle at their antics. they acted more like sisters than friends..Well she guessed they were if Snatcher adopted the both of them. "Nice choice. Now go wash up for bed." ".....Wait." Hattie looked back up to Poppy with a confused look. "Where are YOU gonna sleep?" "She can sleep on the pillow pile?," Bow suggested. Poppy honestly stopped for a moment and gave the kids a blank look. That...That was a fairly good point. Where WAS she supposed to sleep on this space ship? All the rooms were thankfully big enough for her to stand up in(well all the rooms she's seen so far), but she'd have to crawl on her hands and knees to get to them. Looking back to her hand with the bracelet, she moved it a lil bit. The scrapes and sore muscles didn't hurt her anymore but a small dull soreness but it would be best to stay off it at least until tomorrow for the time being. So for now she wouldn't be crawling around so that meant she was probably bunking here or in the kitchen for the night, her blue eyes scowled at Rumbi as he still swept around casually. She still didn't trust that thing so in the kitchen it was. Wasn't very appealing but she'd have to make due with what she had. "I can sleep in the kitchen tonight. I really don't mind." Hattie made a face like she was crazy. "No you can't. whoever heard of sleeping in a kitchen? That's funny." "Well, I'm certainly not in any mood to be crawling around anymore small hallways. I'd rather sleep somewhere I'd be able to move around easier in without having to crawl around on my wrist." She held up her hand before pointing to Rumbi. "And n-no offense but I don't really exactly trust that thing yet." "Hey! Rumbi's a cleaner not a thing!" Hattie yawned again before wiping at her face again. "........What about the attic? It's really big." "....Your spaceship has an attic?" "Yeah! I'll show you!" As if the tiredness had left her completely for the excitement of showing Poppy even more of her ship, Hattie jumped to her feet and ran up to the ramp and Poppy. Who yelped and stumbled back from the small girl grabbing her hand as she ran by and yanked her back up the ramp towards an orange ramp going up and down. Gosh her grip was strong for a small child wasn't it? "It's up there!" She pointed up to an opening in the ceiling and Poppy rose a brow at it all. Since when did a spaceship have an attic? Well she's never been on one before either so maybe they naturally came with one. But that unsure uneasy feeling in her stomach returned when that orange pad came all the way back to the ground again and with a yank and yelp from Poppy Hattie pulled her right onto the elevator thing. "Uh...Maybe I'll just sleep on the flOOR-" The sudden movement under her feet made her gasp and lean forward, almost tettering on the edge of falling off, waving her arms aroundfor something to grab as Bow made a gasp from below. Panic filled her being for a brief moment but at the last second the strong willed child managed to grab her dress and yank her back into a standing position. Poppy still wobbling around but thankfully missing the ceiling as they went up through the hole in the ceiling.....But fell down face first onto the attic floor with what followed by a ripping sound as something gave way. "OOF!!" Hattie stood there for a moment before she blinked and hopped off the platform before it went back down, a small piece of blue fabric in her hands. She looked down to the blue piece of the dress in her hands before looking over to Poppy who coughed and pushed herself halfway up off the floor, most of the dress was still in tact thankfully but a bigger piece of the bottom of her dress was missing and that missing piece happened to be the same piece in the child's hands. ......Who quickly hid it behind her back when Poppy looked up and blew the long red hair outta her face and stared at her with a sigh. "Uh...Oops?"  She slowly pulled her hand from behind her back and Poppy sighed again before pushing herself up her to her knees. The room was fairly dark but she could see everything from the giant chandelier on the ceiling and the candle holders on the wall. She froze blue eyes slowly up towards the tall ceiling above them both. Stylish wood adorened the floor and walls, though there was some cobwebs and dust scattered about. Quiet ticked by in the room except for the actual ticking coming from an old grandfather clock in the far end of the room. There was a few other things as well like a crate here n there and a couple chests. Two dressers, a wardrobe, red chair, globe on the fair side, and a carpet leading all the way over towards the giant three windows. From there she had a pretty good view of the black space and beautiful twinkling stars beyond the glass. Hattie bounded a few steps across the carpet kicking up some dust from the old carpet and stopped, beaming at Poppy and throwing her hands out. "See? Is it ok?" Poppy stayed on her knees for a moment before slowly rising to her feet. Her head still swiveling around to look at everything in the room taking it all in, surprised such a big room existed in a seemingly tiny ship. Then again she should really stop being surprised at this point. As she blinked and slowly looked back to Hattie. "Uh...Y-Yeah. This would be really ok." "Oh good! I can let you borrow a pillow or two but the blankets are mine." The child yawned again as she went towards the exit mostly tired by now but Poppy was only half listening as she still looked around the place. "Uh....Y-Yeah. It's fine." She looked down and had to do a double take as Hattie ran right past her and towards the exit. "H-Hey! Where are you going?" "To get that pillow. I'll be right back promise!" She smiled tiredly before literally jumping down the hold making Poppy give a light gasp and reach out for her......But considering they were already used to this sort of thing she just sighed and pulled her arm back to her side and gave another look around the giant place. Ending it with a sigh. Sleep would not come easy for her tonight.

[elevenhoursinfront-blog]

9th December 2017

We allowed ourselves to wake up when we wanted. I mean, we had to be out by 1000 at the latest otherwise we would be charged, but we're always up way before then anyway. It was chilly at night and we did use the duvet. It was amazing. There's nothing quite like wrapping yourself up warm in a duvet at night.

Today, we were on the move to the Gold Coast. I've heard amazing things about this place so I was stupidly excited about it. I imagined it to be one of my favourite places. I was hoping it would live up to the name. It was only an hour and a half drive so we planned for the day.

I saw online that there was a deal for Dream World tickets. They were doing entry into the theme park, the water park and the sky point observation deck for $79 each. That's an absolute bargain in my mind. The observation deck itself was $20 each. I bought the tickets online as Steve was driving.

We arrived in Surfers Paradise around 1200 and my smile was from ear to ear. It looked amazing. It was a city but also a holiday destination. There were sky scrapers everywhere as well as palm trees. The sun was out and there wasn't a cloud in the sky. We were driving round for a long time trying to find a parking space. We drove along the coast looking at the beach. It was a massive stretch of white sand and crystallised water. There were surfers everywhere. It was Australia's version of Miami.

We found a car park that we weren't sure we'd fit in. There was a limit bar above us and I was so worried we'd hit it. We were obviously miles off and we did get in without losing the roof. It was an expensive one but what else could we do? Every space along the beach front was full and you're always limited to time. I had a coin bag which is what I had collected them for, silly things like parking. I had a good $200 in coins so we were set for the trip.

We walked through the centre to get to the beach front. There were shops after shops. It reminded me of our favourite place in NSW – Manly. It had that relaxed vibe. People were there for the beach and that was it. Swimwear and surfboards.

We walked along the beach and I started to get hungry. I had packed our extra pizza and half of mine from last nights dinner into sandwich bags. We didn't eat the garlic bread either. We sat on the beach watching the waves as we ate. I was so content.

We decided to go up the sky deck as we were right next to it and it was on our to-do list. We had our tickets, sort of anyway. I purchased them and a confirmation email had come through. The email stated that 'this is not your ticket, they will come through in a separate email'. That separate email never came through. I rang them up and asked what was going on as I was waiting to use them. They said that as it was the weekend, the tickets wouldn't be through until Monday. We were meant to be leaving on Monday so they better had think of something fast! They said that if we just show the confirmation email, we will be allowed entry. Let's find out.

We walked to the deck and waited in line. I went up to the person and explained. She seemed very unsure and had to speak with her manager. They allowed us in which was good. I would've been very upset if we couldn't.

We waited outside the lift and the door opened. We had to go up 88 floors. We stood inside and the lift moves so fast. I looked at the ceiling and there was a camera showing what it looked like from inside the lift shaft. It was incredible how fast we were actually going up. My ears kept popping.

After about 30 seconds of going up, the doors opened. We walked out and the room was a 360 degrees circle with glass walls. It's probably my Dad's worst nightmare. We walked up to the glass wall and looked out – it was unreal. We did the sky deck in Melbourne but there's something pretty spectacular about seeing a beach go for absolute miles. It was really quite the picture. I was so happy and taking pictures like there was no tomorrow. Steve walked off and went to the bar.

I found two seats next to the window and sat down. The views were just incredible. I couldn't get over it. You have the most beautiful city to your left, with skyscrapers and palm trees, rivers, lakes. You then have the longest stretch of golden sand separating the ocean from everything. It was quite the picture.

Steve came over with a beer for himself and a glass of wine for me. It wasn't too expensive so we thought, why not treat ourselves? We sat there for a good 20 minutes chatting away, admiring the view.

Once we were finished with our drinks, we continued to walk around the perimeter of the room. It was a huge room, obviously with a bar. A lot of people were having their Afternoon Tea. The views continued to not disappoint. We decided to leave after we were finished and waited for the lift. First on the Gold Coast to do list – done!

We left the skydeck and walked along the beach front. Steve saw an advert for Mini Golf so we were walking towards there. It wasn't until I Googled to find out it was $30 each to play, that we decided against it.

Funnily enough, the weather started to make a turn for the worst. The winds picked up and the skies turned dark. We walked back to the car as quickly as possible. I was getting really quite, how do I put this? The only word I can really use is shitty (sorry Dad). I was quite clearly knackered and I really needed a nap, according to Steve. I was just being very snappy and sarcastic, argumentative. You know, the average.

We drove to our campground which was a cheaper one. We decided to go cheap and then tomorrow, we will go expensive. Maybe. 

I had found one on our camping app that was only a 20 minute drive out of the city. It was $25 for unpowered but there was showers, kitchen, hot water, and free laundry.

The rain was really coming down when we eventually pulled up. It was a lady who obviously had way too much land so she 'rented' it out. I guess a lot of Australian's have a lot of land though, look at the size of their country!

She lived in a forest although it wasn't a scary one. It was a large area with a lot of ground and trees on the outside with some dotted within.

We passed her little house where we had to stop to give her the money. It was chucking it down so it was a run to and from the car. She told us that we could stay on the gravel area which is what we wanted. We didn't want to get stuck in the mud, again!

We pulled up, emptied the bed and I was told to have a nap. He was being fair to be honest, I really was tired. I struggled getting off to sleep because I was over tired. It was getting later and darker and we really needed to get dinner going. Plus, Steve has to sit there in the bed as it's raining.

It started to stop so we got out, got the table and chairs out to make dinner. We had decided on cooking veg as we felt so unhealthy. We bought some veg earlier on in Coles. The plan was to fry them in seasoning and have cashews with them. We got the table out and it had to go behind the van so that the boot door would block the rain from us should it start again.

Steve chopped all the veg and I stirred. How exciting! I love our little portable gas stove. It's amazing. I wish we had them at home, especially when you're entertaining. One flick and it's on! I am so easily pleased though. They've probably been around since the dinosaurs...

Our dinner turned out to be amazing. It was so nice to finally have something which was boarder-line healthy (minus the nuts and oil they were cooked in). We had enough veg left over to do the same dinner again another time.

As we were finished, the rain started ever so lightly. I didn't think that we had particularly long before the heavens opened again so I rushed all the stuff over to the kitchen to get it washed.

There was a little camp group staying at the same place. I guessed that they often stayed as it was loads of kids and a few adults. The kids had little cabins to stay in with bunk beds. They all had dinner together and dessert. Some of the aboriginal said to me that they were doing a performance with the didgeridoo later on should Steve and I want to come over and watch. I would've loved too but I probably would be asleep the moment my head touches the pillow.

I went back over and Steve had put the chairs and table away to stop it getting ruined in the rain. We jumped into the back and the rain got heavier. How irritating. 

We had another car pulled up next to us – a slightly bigger version of ours. A high top. Steve was desperate to get a high top but that wasn't in our budget. I love our little van and I wouldn't change it for the world.

We played some cards before getting off to sleep. Or, well, at least tried. The camp group didn't end up playing the didgeridoo as I heard them ask if they could play hide and seek instead. Sounds great but it was pitch black outside and one of the kids went, “Let's hide under their van!”. Erm, how about no?! Don't go anywhere near my van.

They didn't, or so I didn't think they did. We fell asleep after about 15 minutes of listening to them running around, shouting and what not. You can't get annoyed, you just have to remember what it was like being that age, especially with nothing around you to keep you entertained.

[easyfoodnetwork]

Eater Staffers on the Kitchen Tools They Can’t Live Without

Shutterstock

These pots and pans, appliances, and utensils have made cooking in quarantine a little bit easier

As the weeks of social distancing and recommendations to stay home as much as possible stretch on, cooking has taken on both more urgency and more burden. Luckily, there are products that, whether by intention or not, can ease the load, making spending so much time cooking so much easier.

Below, a roundup of the tools and products that have made Eater editors’ kitchen lives better. And if you’re looking for more on what to cook with said tools, check out our guide for folks who literally never cook as well as our pantry-cooking guide.

Pots and Pans

Whirlpool nonstick griddle

“Maybe the best part of a recent move has been playing with the nonstick griddle that straddles two burners atop my new stove. I’ve used it to char tomatoes, peppers, and garlic cloves for salsa, revive leftover steak, toast slices of sourdough, and inflate Indian chapati to accompany this cilantro chutney chicken recipe. A quick wipe down keeps it clean, so that accounts for one less dish to wash while the sink piles up.” — Gabriel Hiatt, Eater DC editor

Cook N Home nonstick wok

“I never knew that I could fall in love with my wok, but here I am. This wok brings me so much joy when I’m cooking. It’s sturdy so it can hold a lot of stuff; it’s big enough to cook a family-sized portion. The pan’s marbling coat makes sure that nothing gets stuck on the bottom, from braising short ribs to frying eggs. I use this pan for everything from stews to fried rice; it’s incredibly versatile! I know it’s overwhelming to look through different wok options, but for home cooks who want to cook many different dishes without having to clean up any residuals, this is the one. The price is also extremely affordable, so what’s not to love?” — James Park, social media manager

Great Jones sheet pan

“This is the first ‘fancy’ sheet pan I’ve ever had, generally preferring basics from restaurant supply stores or else the cheapest available from retailers like Williams-Sonoma. Intrigued by the company’s promise that it doesn’t warp, I ordered one last year and have not been disappointed. Since shelter-in-place started, though, I’ve found myself reaching for it over my other sheet pans, and I’m 99 percent sure it’s because the vibrant color stands out among my pans and makes cooking feel that much more lively. I’ve used it to make cookies, nachos, and all sorts of roasted vegetables, but also as a Bananagrams board and a photo backdrop.” — Hillary Dixler Canavan, restaurant editor

Appliances

Panasonic toaster oven

“I grew up in a toaster oven family — even now, everyone in my immediate family has the same one — but even I, a super fan, did not fully appreciate the appliance until I moved in late March, just as the COVID-19 outbreak hit NYC, and found myself living in an apartment with no gas for about a week and a half. As a result, I spent a lot of time with my toaster oven, sometimes cooking three square meals a day in it. It’s fast and versatile, good for so many things: roasting vegetables, baking brownies and small cakes, and, of course, just toasting bread or bagels or nuts and spices.” — Sonia Chopra, director of editorial growth

Ninja Express Chop

“I never really thought I needed a food processor — big or small, really — until I got the Ninja Express Chop. I had somehow managed to avoid all recipes that required one, since it seemed so bulky to move and a pain to clean. Once I got the Ninja Express Chop, all that changed. It’s small and easy to fit in the cabinet; and it easily comes apart into four simple pieces, all of which fit in my sink or dishwasher, so I don’t mind cleaning it, even when it’s coated with oil from herby salad dressings or flecks of basil from my homemade pesto — all things I never would have made until I got it.” — Ellie Krupnick, managing editor

OXO tea kettle

“Weirdly enough, I have been relying heavily on a tea kettle. I’ve been using it every single day at various times to boil water. I start with it in the morning to make oatmeal for breakfast and continue throughout the day to make tea and repurpose hot tea for iced to switch it up. I am trying to stay as hydrated as possible while I am home.” — Stephen Pelletteri, executive producer

Anova sous vide machine

“We’ve been using the Anova to cook large portions of pork shoulder that we then eat for days and days in tacos, ramen, and more. It’s a multi-day process including a 24-hour sous vide, 24 hours in the fridge, and then oven-roasting before pulling — lots of time, but mostly hands-off. (Try J. Kenji López-Alt’s recipe to start, and then experiment with your own variations. We’ve enjoyed adding a molasses glaze before it goes in the oven.) Hint: Reserve the cooked pork juices after the sous vide process to use with ramen — boil with the water in a one-to-one ratio for the best fancied up packaged ramen you’ve had.” — Rachel Leah Blumenthal, Eater Boston editor

Hamilton Beach panini press

“My cheap-ass panini maker is so much more than a device on which to make grilled cheese, even though that’s its most common use. It’s also a lovely way to make toast (that’s a grilled cheese sans cheese) or just warm up bread enough to apply butter. Going further off-label, I’ve been using it to cook up frozen hash brown patties (they’re done in a flash with a nice crispy crust, way better than the 20 minutes in the oven version) and grill baby asparagus (while full-sized asparagus is too girthy to cook completely, the babies do just fine). Is this why people bought George Foreman grills back in the day?” — Eve Batey, Eater San Francisco senior editor

Utensils

Sur La Table fish spatula

“I’m an evangelist for this tool even under normal circumstances, and have gifted it more times than I can count. One of its purposes is obvious from its name: it’s great for flipping fish without having it break apart or damaging the skin. But I find myself using it daily, whether it’s to remove my meatloaf from its loaf pan or lift up a focaccia to see if it’s browning underneath.” — Missy Frederick, cities director

McoMce plastic bench scraper

I’ve gotten really, really tired of cleaning my kitchen during shelter-in-place, but this plastic bench scraper is a life-saver. It’s good for pushing dough out of bowls or scraping stubborn bits out of pots and pans, but I mostly use it to clean my kitchen sink. It makes quick work of collecting food scraps without having to pile them all into my hand (yuck). Once I’m done cleaning, I rinse it with a bit of soap, so that it’s ready to cut cinnamon rolls, collect herbs on my cutting board, and clean the sink — again.” — Elazar Sontag, staff writer

Storage

Comfy Package plastic kitchen containers

“During this time where I’ve been cooking a lot and ordering a lot of food, plastic food storage containers have been my saviors. It’s a habit I picked up from my dad, who works at a New York City market. The multiple sizes, from the slim eight-ounce cups to the large 32-ounce containers, makes it easy to store anything, from leftover cream cheese to portioned-out frozen lentil soup. The sizes also make it easier to downsize leftovers in the fridge, thus clearing up space for more food.” — Nadia Chaudhury, Eater Austin editor

Ball glass jars

“Last summer we had a crazy infestation of pantry moths, so on the advice of our exterminator I started saving all of my glass jars to store flours and cereals and other moth-attracting ingredients in. Now that my pantry is more valuable than ever, I’m using these jars to keep all of my bulk staples like beans, grains, and pastas organized and easily visible. I use old peanut butter jars for the most part (my kids go through a jar a week), but I’d actually advise going a little bigger if you’re buying them new, with some wide-mouth half-gallon Ball jars or invest in some fancy straight-sided ones like these wood-topped ones from Target.” — Lesley Suter, travel editor

Other Stuff

Final Touch rocks glass with ice ball

“I wanted to up my Manhattan game during the coronavirus pandemic, and the only new tool I bought was this rocks glass that includes a silicone mold to make a round ice cube. The rocks glass has a glass cylinder at the bottom so the round ice cube will roll around the bottom of the glass. It feels sophisticated to drink out of this glass, almost like I’m at a restaurant instead of at home.” — Susan Stapleton, Eater Vegas editor

Aerogarden countertop garden

“Two words: Breakfast salad. Yep, That’s been a thing in my life anytime I have my AeroGarden up and running and this quarantine called for it. Fresh herbs and lettuce in just a few weeks. I even threw some wild flowers in this time for some much needed cheer. Take that shallots-in-a-jar.” — Maureen Giannone Fitzgerald, production executive

from Eater - All https://ift.tt/2zxaSRX https://ift.tt/3euFvpS

Shutterstock

These pots and pans, appliances, and utensils have made cooking in quarantine a little bit easier

As the weeks of social distancing and recommendations to stay home as much as possible stretch on, cooking has taken on both more urgency and more burden. Luckily, there are products that, whether by intention or not, can ease the load, making spending so much time cooking so much easier.

Below, a roundup of the tools and products that have made Eater editors’ kitchen lives better. And if you’re looking for more on what to cook with said tools, check out our guide for folks who literally never cook as well as our pantry-cooking guide.

Pots and Pans

Whirlpool nonstick griddle

“Maybe the best part of a recent move has been playing with the nonstick griddle that straddles two burners atop my new stove. I’ve used it to char tomatoes, peppers, and garlic cloves for salsa, revive leftover steak, toast slices of sourdough, and inflate Indian chapati to accompany this cilantro chutney chicken recipe. A quick wipe down keeps it clean, so that accounts for one less dish to wash while the sink piles up.” — Gabriel Hiatt, Eater DC editor

Cook N Home nonstick wok

“I never knew that I could fall in love with my wok, but here I am. This wok brings me so much joy when I’m cooking. It’s sturdy so it can hold a lot of stuff; it’s big enough to cook a family-sized portion. The pan’s marbling coat makes sure that nothing gets stuck on the bottom, from braising short ribs to frying eggs. I use this pan for everything from stews to fried rice; it’s incredibly versatile! I know it’s overwhelming to look through different wok options, but for home cooks who want to cook many different dishes without having to clean up any residuals, this is the one. The price is also extremely affordable, so what’s not to love?” — James Park, social media manager

Great Jones sheet pan

“This is the first ‘fancy’ sheet pan I’ve ever had, generally preferring basics from restaurant supply stores or else the cheapest available from retailers like Williams-Sonoma. Intrigued by the company’s promise that it doesn’t warp, I ordered one last year and have not been disappointed. Since shelter-in-place started, though, I’ve found myself reaching for it over my other sheet pans, and I’m 99 percent sure it’s because the vibrant color stands out among my pans and makes cooking feel that much more lively. I’ve used it to make cookies, nachos, and all sorts of roasted vegetables, but also as a Bananagrams board and a photo backdrop.” — Hillary Dixler Canavan, restaurant editor

Appliances

Panasonic toaster oven

“I grew up in a toaster oven family — even now, everyone in my immediate family has the same one — but even I, a super fan, did not fully appreciate the appliance until I moved in late March, just as the COVID-19 outbreak hit NYC, and found myself living in an apartment with no gas for about a week and a half. As a result, I spent a lot of time with my toaster oven, sometimes cooking three square meals a day in it. It’s fast and versatile, good for so many things: roasting vegetables, baking brownies and small cakes, and, of course, just toasting bread or bagels or nuts and spices.” — Sonia Chopra, director of editorial growth

Ninja Express Chop

“I never really thought I needed a food processor — big or small, really — until I got the Ninja Express Chop. I had somehow managed to avoid all recipes that required one, since it seemed so bulky to move and a pain to clean. Once I got the Ninja Express Chop, all that changed. It’s small and easy to fit in the cabinet; and it easily comes apart into four simple pieces, all of which fit in my sink or dishwasher, so I don’t mind cleaning it, even when it’s coated with oil from herby salad dressings or flecks of basil from my homemade pesto — all things I never would have made until I got it.” — Ellie Krupnick, managing editor

OXO tea kettle

“Weirdly enough, I have been relying heavily on a tea kettle. I’ve been using it every single day at various times to boil water. I start with it in the morning to make oatmeal for breakfast and continue throughout the day to make tea and repurpose hot tea for iced to switch it up. I am trying to stay as hydrated as possible while I am home.” — Stephen Pelletteri, executive producer

Anova sous vide machine

“We’ve been using the Anova to cook large portions of pork shoulder that we then eat for days and days in tacos, ramen, and more. It’s a multi-day process including a 24-hour sous vide, 24 hours in the fridge, and then oven-roasting before pulling — lots of time, but mostly hands-off. (Try J. Kenji López-Alt’s recipe to start, and then experiment with your own variations. We’ve enjoyed adding a molasses glaze before it goes in the oven.) Hint: Reserve the cooked pork juices after the sous vide process to use with ramen — boil with the water in a one-to-one ratio for the best fancied up packaged ramen you’ve had.” — Rachel Leah Blumenthal, Eater Boston editor

Hamilton Beach panini press

“My cheap-ass panini maker is so much more than a device on which to make grilled cheese, even though that’s its most common use. It’s also a lovely way to make toast (that’s a grilled cheese sans cheese) or just warm up bread enough to apply butter. Going further off-label, I’ve been using it to cook up frozen hash brown patties (they’re done in a flash with a nice crispy crust, way better than the 20 minutes in the oven version) and grill baby asparagus (while full-sized asparagus is too girthy to cook completely, the babies do just fine). Is this why people bought George Foreman grills back in the day?” — Eve Batey, Eater San Francisco senior editor

Utensils

Sur La Table fish spatula

“I’m an evangelist for this tool even under normal circumstances, and have gifted it more times than I can count. One of its purposes is obvious from its name: it’s great for flipping fish without having it break apart or damaging the skin. But I find myself using it daily, whether it’s to remove my meatloaf from its loaf pan or lift up a focaccia to see if it’s browning underneath.” — Missy Frederick, cities director

McoMce plastic bench scraper

I’ve gotten really, really tired of cleaning my kitchen during shelter-in-place, but this plastic bench scraper is a life-saver. It’s good for pushing dough out of bowls or scraping stubborn bits out of pots and pans, but I mostly use it to clean my kitchen sink. It makes quick work of collecting food scraps without having to pile them all into my hand (yuck). Once I’m done cleaning, I rinse it with a bit of soap, so that it’s ready to cut cinnamon rolls, collect herbs on my cutting board, and clean the sink — again.” — Elazar Sontag, staff writer

Storage

Comfy Package plastic kitchen containers

“During this time where I’ve been cooking a lot and ordering a lot of food, plastic food storage containers have been my saviors. It’s a habit I picked up from my dad, who works at a New York City market. The multiple sizes, from the slim eight-ounce cups to the large 32-ounce containers, makes it easy to store anything, from leftover cream cheese to portioned-out frozen lentil soup. The sizes also make it easier to downsize leftovers in the fridge, thus clearing up space for more food.” — Nadia Chaudhury, Eater Austin editor

Ball glass jars

“Last summer we had a crazy infestation of pantry moths, so on the advice of our exterminator I started saving all of my glass jars to store flours and cereals and other moth-attracting ingredients in. Now that my pantry is more valuable than ever, I’m using these jars to keep all of my bulk staples like beans, grains, and pastas organized and easily visible. I use old peanut butter jars for the most part (my kids go through a jar a week), but I’d actually advise going a little bigger if you’re buying them new, with some wide-mouth half-gallon Ball jars or invest in some fancy straight-sided ones like these wood-topped ones from Target.” — Lesley Suter, travel editor

Other Stuff

Final Touch rocks glass with ice ball

“I wanted to up my Manhattan game during the coronavirus pandemic, and the only new tool I bought was this rocks glass that includes a silicone mold to make a round ice cube. The rocks glass has a glass cylinder at the bottom so the round ice cube will roll around the bottom of the glass. It feels sophisticated to drink out of this glass, almost like I’m at a restaurant instead of at home.” — Susan Stapleton, Eater Vegas editor

Aerogarden countertop garden

“Two words: Breakfast salad. Yep, That’s been a thing in my life anytime I have my AeroGarden up and running and this quarantine called for it. Fresh herbs and lettuce in just a few weeks. I even threw some wild flowers in this time for some much needed cheer. Take that shallots-in-a-jar.” — Maureen Giannone Fitzgerald, production executive

from Eater - All https://ift.tt/2zxaSRX via Blogger https://ift.tt/2Ajcw9F

[travelingtheusa]

FLORIDA

5 Mar 2020 (Thu) – We drove into Panama City for lunch at Los Antojitos Mexican Restaurant.  It was excellent!  The chips were light and crispy, the margaritas were delicious, and the food was very flavorful and filling.  We took leftovers home.  

     After lunch, we drove to Panama Beach City and enjoyed a flight at the Panama City Beach Winery.  It is the only certified fruit winery in the U.S.  We bought 3 bottles of wine and some items as gifts.  Afterward, we drove around looking at the historic district. Panama City Beach was on the edge of the hurricane and only suffered light damage.  On the way back to the campground, we stopped for fuel and then shopped for groceries at WalMart.

 4 Mar 2020 (Wed) – We packed up and left Perry at 9:15 a.m.  It was a 3 hour drive to Panama City on route 98 along the coastline.  When we got to Port St. Joe and Mexico Beach, we saw devastation from Hurricane Michael, a category 4 storm that hit the area in October 2018.  There are still many houses with severe damage, tarps covering buildings, and scores of broken and downed trees.  It brought back memories of Super Storm Sandy.  That was awful.  I imagine this storm was, too.  

     We arrived at Tyndall AFB FamCamp Raptor Ranch Campground at 2 p.m. (actually, 1 p.m. with the time change).  We saw that the base had also suffered hurricane damage.  The base housing had been destroyed and many of the soldiers are camping here in the campground.  We got a space in overflow.  Even though it has full hookups, the sites are very tight.  We will only be here 2 nights.

     After set up, we drove to Wewahitchka for lunch at the Reel Time Fishers. Paul got breaded crab claws that turned out to be mostly corn meal.  It was terrible.  I had a bang bang shrimp basket with only six shrimp in it.  Good but not enough.

 3 Mar 2020 (Tue) – We packed up, dumped, and left Homosassa at 9:15 a.m.  The drive was uneventful and we arrived in Perry at 1:00 p.m.   We are camped on the grass next door to the Elks Lodge.  The lodge didn’t open until 4 p.m.  When we went in to pay, there was only the bartender – an old woman who couldn’t hear very well.  There are two more RVs parked out here with us.  They have electric and water hookups and a dump station.  

     We spent the afternoon calling campgrounds, trying to line up our next set of places to stay.  Several were full and we discovered that next week is spring break.  We finally got the next two stops secured.  We have to find a third and then we’ll be in Atlanta, GA.

 2 Mar 2020 (Mon) – We did the laundry today.  While the clothes were washing, we walked next door and wandered up and down the aisles of Harbor Freight.  Picked up a few things.

     We went over to visit with my cousin, Larry, and his sister, Lori. I got information for the family tree. It’s sad when families fall apart. Larry hasn’t talked with his two daughters for years.  He couldn’t tell me their husbands’ names or the names and dates of their children. Lori was in the same situation. In addition, they haven’t been in touch with their brother and sister either.  

 1 Mar 2020 (Sun) – We went to lunch at Fat Daddy’s Road House. It seemed to be the local hangout. There were two sheriff’s cars parked outside.  The place was pretty full inside although there were seats out on the patio that we couldn’t see.  There was only one waitress handling about 17 tables.  While she was very busy, she did not appear to be rushed or frazzled.  She handled everything with great attentiveness and got everything right.  The food was good and reasonably priced.

    After lunch, we picked up groceries at Winn Dixie.  Paul made a quick stop at Home Depot to pick up some parts to fix his lounge chair. The cable that pulls the foot rest out broke and he is going to rig up a replacement cable.  Mr. Fixit at work.  lol.

29 Feb 2020 (Sat) – We went to WalMart to pick up some groceries then to the Biscuit Barn for lunch.   I had a vegetable omelet with hash browns and rye toast.  Paul enjoyed a gravy on biscuit and a sausage biscuit.  The portions were very big.  We enjoyed the meal very much.

     I have been trying to get hold of a cousin in Crystal River.  The first attempts did not go through.  Since it was the day after heavy thunderstorms, I assumed the lines were out.  On the next day, the call went through and I left a message on the answering machine. Today, I tried again and my cousin, Larry, finally answered.  He is going to see if he can get hold of his sister, Laurie, and we will get together tomorrow.

 28 Feb 2020 (Fri) – I returned the remote control to the office this morning.  When we checked in, I got a clicker (with a $40 refundable deposit) for the gate. They lock it at 10 p.m. each night. They gave the deposit back.

     We packed up and left KARS Park at 9:40 am.  The traffic (as usual) was heavy.  It was almost four hours to Homosassa.  We are camped at Moose Lodge 2013.  They have four sites on the side of the building with 50-amp and water hookups. They say they have a dump site. That would be very convenient.  

     We went into the lodge to get lunch and pay for camping.  The kitchen doesn’t open until 5 pm.  We got a pretzel and drinks.  Camping is just $20 a night.  Good deal.  (KARS was only $10 a night)

 27 Feb 2020 (Thu) – It was a busy day today.  We went into Cocoa for lunch and ate at Pub Americana. It was an interesting building with a somewhat attentive waiter.  I did not care for my salad or the onion soup.  Paul seemed to enjoy his meal.  Then we ran errands.  Got propane, fueled the truck, picked up dog food at PetCo, and shopped for cat food and groceries at WalMart.  

     At 5:30 pm, we went over George & Linda’s.  We all drove to Brooklyn Pizza for dinner.  The food was good and the compay, as always, as very enjoyable.  They gave us a gift of margarita mix, Jose Cuervo, and Cointreu.  We will enjoy our drinks around the campfire!  After dinner, we returned to their home and enjoyed some time around the fire pit.

     I am very annoyed with KARS Park.  The water went out on Tuesday afternoon.  They’ve been doing construction around the park and we thought they either cut a line or turned the water off to make a connection. We went to the John Tesh concert that night.  When we came home, the water was back on.  The next morning, we went about our business – washed dishes, brushed our teeth, etc. using the park’s water.  Then we went out to run errands.  When we came back that afternoon, we found a note on the door advising that they had broken a water line and NOT to use the water for fear of a bacteriological contamination.  WTF??? Why did they wait so long?  We used the water to cook, do dishes, brush, and so on.  We could have been terribly infected if there was something in the water.  I called the office and was told they won’t know anything until tests come back on Friday.

26 Feb 2020 (Wed) – My medicine arrived at George’s business today so we drove over there to pick it up.  We all drove to Jabbers Bar & Grill for lunch.  Paul and I enjoyed a salad and pizza.  When we got back to the shop, we found another package that I ordered had arrived.  It was goat’s milk for Bonnie.  Her diarrhea has stopped but the goat’s milk will help in the future.

     At dinnertime, we met George & Linda at Preachers Bar where they were offering a wine bar for $10 from 6 to 8 p.m.  We ordered meals and drank wine till we were full.

     The medication I am on has changed my hair.  Instead of the thin, wispy old lady hair I had, I now had thicker hair and curls.  When I pointed it out to the oncologist, he said Imbruvica doesn’t do that.  How can he say that?  Just look at me!

 25 Feb 2020 (Tue) – We went to the Maxwell C. King Performing Arts Center with George & Linda tonight to see John Tesh.  I was not that familiar with him as a performer and was surprised to learn that he was not only a song writer and singer but a news anchor and news caster.  The show was very entertaining.

 24 Feb 2020 (Mon) – We went to the movies today and saw “The Call of the Wild.”  The movie loosely followed the book (they left out the dog fighting).  We felt they gave the dogs too much human emotion but otherwise it was entertaining.

     After the movie, we went to the port and had lunch at Grills right on the water and sitting under the shadow of a huge cruise ship.  Two ships left while we were in the restaurant, blowing their horns and easily moving out of their dock space.  

     We went in the Exploration Tower, a 7-story museum right at Port Canaveral.  A 20-minute video told the story of all the activity and organizations involved in keeping the port going and the cruise ships serviced.  There are certainly a lot of actors that make the port work well.

23 Feb 2020 (Sun) – We went food shopping today.  Stopped at a local coop to pick up a few things, then at WalMart to pick up everything else.  Had lunch at a pizza place.

22 Feb 2020 (Sat) – We drove to my cousin, Denise’s, house who lives about 3 minutes down the road. She drove us over to my cousins, George and Linda.  They were watching their grandson, Ryan.  The six of us went to lunch at Cheddar’s.  They served margaritas the size of small bathtubs.  I had a salad and a vegetable platter of four vegetables.  Life was so much easier when I ate anything.  This vegetarian “thing” can be problematic.  I hope I can get comfortable and happy with it soon.

     After lunch we went to George & Linda’s daughter’s house. Diane and Chris were away this weekend (that’s why George & Linda are watching their grandson).  We took a look around their home then drove to Home Depot where George picked up some weather stripping and a door knob.  He and Paul replaced the knob on Denise’s screen door off her back porch and put weather stripping around her door.  

     When the project was done, we drove back to KARS Park with George, Linda, and Ryan (Denise stayed home).  We showed them around the RV and visited for a while before they left.  It was a pleasant day.

     When we got back, Bonnie had crapped on the rug.  She has been suffering from diarrhea the last three days. Apparently, we stayed out too long and she couldn’t hold it.  I tried to clean the rug but it was ruined and I wound up just throwing it away.  We will have to shop for a new one.  Sheba has also been having diarrhea but at least she’s got the cat box.  

 21 Feb 2020 (Fri) – We packed up and left the Moose Lodge at 10 a.m.  The day was drizzly, dreary, and cold with gusty winds.  We drove 35 miles to KARS Park on Merritt Island.  We camped here December 2013, the first year we hit the road.   They have improved the campsites along the Banana River – put down stone on the river bank and installed new electric and water stanchions.  We parked in a spot back along the woodline.  Our campsite has a 30-amp and water hookup.  When we arrived, Paul dumped and I sat on the campsite to save the space.  Sure enough, someone came along and wanted the spot.  Good thing I held it for us.  

     We had to buy a membership to the KARS Park.  The Park is owned by NASA and was, at one time, quite the place. They had parties and activities for hundreds of employees.  Then, when NASA closed, the park degraded so they opened it to retired military and DOD civilians.  Now, NASA is back in business and they are improving the campground and expecting a resumption of the parties and barbecues.  Ipaid $20 for a membership card and also got an additional card for a guest which I gave to my cousin, George.  He likes to fish and he says the fishing is good in this part of the Banana River.

     The day was unpleasant.  We turned on the fireplace, made soup, and stayed in for the day.

 20 Feb 2020 (Thu) – We went to lunch at Wendy’s then to the laundromat to wash the clothes. While they were drying, we drove to WalMart to pick up water.  While there, we picked out a clothes hamper.  The one we have is very inconvenient to use.  Hopefully, this one will work better.

     At 5:50 p.m., we met Pat & Fred, friends from church back home. They are vacationing in Orlando and we were able to catch up with each other for a very pleasant visit, made nicer by having dinner together at Sweet Tomatoes.  That place is great!

     We spent the last two days trying to find a campground further south and on the east coast.  There are no spaces available at any place!  It is so frustrating.  We wanted to explore the Keys this winter but we just can’t find a campground in that area. Bummer.  We will move to a campground in Cocoa where we have stayed before.  It is restricted to NASA employees, DOD civilians and retired military.  They have a first-come, first-served policy so we couldn’t make a reservation.  The clerk said they are only about 90% full. Campers can only stay 14 days so rotation is faster than in other campgrounds.

19 Feb 2020 (Wed) – I’m baaaaaack!  It was a great visit to New York and I got to do and see everybody and everything I wanted to.  The oncologist said my bloodwork is normal (I go back in 3 months for a CT scan).  I got a colonoscopy and had my teeth cleaned. I visited with my children and grandchildren; my brother, Dennis; my cousin, Claude; and a new cousin, Guy, and his wife, Mary.  Our grandson, Hudson, celebrated his fifth birthday and I attended the party.  My sister, Susan, was kind enough to let me stay at her house and use her car.  Susan is a vegan while I am a new vegetarian.  She made good meals and I learned a lot about healthy food choices.

     Paul and I went to Universal Studios today.  There were a lot of people there but it wasn’t too crowded. We went on two rides.  The Hogwarts train from one park to the other is a great ride.  We really enjoyed that.  Daigon Alley was very interesting to wander through.  The sun was hot and the sky was cloudy.  We left at 3:30 pm and stopped at the Bubba Gump Shrimp Co. for a margarita and snack on the way out.

7 Feb 2020 (Fri) – A vicious storm rolled through last night.  I was wakened about 12:30 pm with winds and pouring rain.  There were warnings about possible tornadoes.  Thank God, we never had that.  But the storm continued for several hours.  

     We packed up and left Winter Haven at 10 a.m.  The dump site was a little tricky but Paul managed to back into it and get the tanks emptied.  It took us two hours to drive the sixty miles to the Orlando Moose Lodge. The traffic was awful.  This lodge has eight campsites; two don’t have working electric.  There are currently two campers here (I think it’s the same two that were here when we camped here about a month ago).  

     We got set up and then ran several errands.  Went to WalMart for various items, got fuel in the truck, did the laundry, went shopping at The Florida Mall, and had some lunch.  We got back and I tried to finish up things in preparation for my trip to New York tomorrow.  I will be gone for ten days.

 6 Feb 2020 (Thu) – It was a light day today.  We hung around the campground until noon.  Went in and paid for two nights lodging then drove to a nearby American Legion Post for lunch.  My member card was expired.  Somehow I did not have the new card.  I called Roby Johnson back home and left a message but the clerk at the post looked my membership up on line and verified I am a current member of the American Legion. We had lunch and drinks, then returned to the lodge.

 5 Feb 2020 (Wed) – We packed up and left Moore Haven at 10:30 a.m.  The drive was over two hours to Winter Park.  We are staying at a Moose Lodge.  There are ten spaces on the grass in back of the lodge with 30-amp and water hookups.  There is a questionable dump station that looks like it would be difficult to get to and on an incline. Eight campsites were full and another RV came in after us. The other campers were welcoming the couple like family.  As we looked at the license plates, most of the folks here are from Michigan.  We don’t know if they are family or friends but they all seem to know each other.

    After set up, we drove to Publix and picked up some groceries.  After we got back and were watching TV, a terrible odor floated in through the windows. Paul was looking out the window and saw a group of the other campers passing a joint around.  That happened three times tonight.  Paul was planning on staying here while I go back to New York but he’s changed his mind.  We will look for a new campground tomorrow.

4 Feb 2020 (Tue) – We had a pleasant day today.  While walking the dog at the campground, three boats came through the lock.  Paul went over to watch while I had a delightful conversation with an engineer who worked with the Corps of Engineers.  

     We left the campground at 11:30 a.m. and drove to Fort Meyers.  It is a very nice town with palm trees lining the main street (Fort Meyers is called the City of Palms).  We found out later that Thomas Edison planted palm trees along a mile of roadway in an effort to beautify the area.  Edison’s wife, Mina, was a great horticulturist and there are over 700 different species of plants on their property.  They’ve counted over 1,900 plantings!

    Thomas Edison and Henry Ford lived side by side in their winter homes in Fort Meyers.  The two of them, along with Harvey Firestone, formed a company to research rubber sources. They were worried about not have access to rubber for their tires and other equipment as the military went to war. They found that goldenrod was the best source.  However, synthetic rubber was invented and their research never really discovered an easy, inexpensive way to produce rubber in the U.S.

     The largest banyon tree in the Continental United States is on the property.  A banyon tree starts with a single trunk.  As the limbs branch out, they grow vines that reach back down to the ground and form new roots.  The vines transform into branches.  It’s an amazing thing to see.  Hawaii has the second largest banyon tree covering one and a half acres (Edison’s tree is one acre big).  The largest banyon tree in the world is in Calcutta, India and covers three and a half acres.  That’s a damn forest!

                                         this is a single tree!!

     At 4:30 p.m., we drove to Rib City and had dinner with SMART friends. We met Alan and Judy on the Canadian Maritimes caravan.  Judy’s sister and husband were visiting from Pittsburg.  The meal was very good.  Afterwards, we all drove to Alan and Judy’s house on the Caloosahatchee River.   It was a pleasant end to a pleasant day.

3 Feb 2020 (Mon) – We packed up and waited for the clerk to fill our propane tank (we ran out during the night) before we could leave.  It was an hour and a half to Moore Haven to an Army Corps of Engineers campground.   It is a delightful site.  Our campsite is on a concrete pad.  We have 50-amp and water hookup.  There is a dump station.  The campground is on a canal with a lock right next to the campground.  The skies are wide open and beautiful.  We are pretty far from the nearest city so we are expecting the night sky to be wonderful.

2 Feb 2020 (Sun) – We drove to Punta Gorda to tour the Muscle Car City Museum.  It was basically a Chevrolet Corvette museum.  There were many, many vets and other Chevy cars on display.  All the vehicles had been restored to beautiful condition.  We enjoyed lunch at La Fiorentina (an Italian restaurant). The place was packed and we had to sit out on the patio.  It was a little chilly with the wind and we were glad to have a heater going.  I had a bowl of minestrone soup and a panini. Paul enjoyed lasagna.  Then we settled in and watched the Super Bowl.

1 Feb 2020 (Sat) – It rained most of last night and today.  When it wasn’t raining, it was overcast, cool, and generally nasty.  We packed up and left the Fun-N-Sun Resort at 11 a.m. and arrived at the Big Tree RV Resort in Arcadia at noon.  This campground has 400 campsites.  The sites are tight but we got in fine.  We have full hookups and will be here for two nights.

       After we were set up, we drove to Ona to tour Solomon’s Castle. It was way off the beaten track out in the middle of nowhere.  It was a destination in itself, not a place you would pass by casually.  Basically, the place was built by a talented kook. The artist used parts of old discarded items to make all kinds of things, including his castle and other outbuildings around the 93-acre property.  Solomon worked with metal, wood, glass, and all kinds of materials to make some of the most interesting sculptures, pictures, and decorations. We had lunch in the Boat in the Moat; a galleon built in a depressed area with water surrounding it.  Solomon built it because he was bored.  He sure had a lot of time on his hands.  

31 Jan 2020 (Fri) – We visited with my cousin, Patricia, today (she is Fred’s sister and daughter of my father’s sister).  It was an hour drive to her home in Valrico, a pleasant retirement community.   She lives alone and uses a walker to get around because of a hump back condition.  Pat was a delight to talk to.  She had a box of photos her mother left her that she did not know who the people in the pictures were.  I was able to identify some.  Others were marked (Pat has macular degeneration in one eye and no retina in the other so she has difficulty seeing things) and I was able to point them out. I took many pictures with me.  I will have to go back to Fred and see if he can recognize some of the folks.  All in all, it was a very pleasant visit.

     On the way back to the campground, we stopped at Cracker Barrel for dinner.  It was a little odd to order four different vegetables and vegetable soup but I am working hard at staying on a plant-based diet.  The food was good but I sure missed the roast beef Paul was eating.

     I got a call from the doctor’s office this afternoon.  My bloodwork came out fine and I was instructed to resume the chemotherapy.  I was a little disappointed.  I had hoped that the week or two I have been on a vegetarian diet would have cleaned up my cancer and made it possible to stop the medication.  What a fantasy world we try to live in.  Oh, well.

 30 Jan 2020 (Thu) – We spent almost an hour this morning calling campground after campground looking for a campsite for 3 nights when we leave here tomorrow.  Finally, one campground had two nights available, not the 3 we wanted.  So, we took the 2 days and extended for one more night here at Sun-N-Fun.  We are coming to dislike Florida very much.  The traffic is horrible and all the campgrounds are packed during the winter.  My cousin said the traffic used to be bad only during snowbird season but that’s changed. The traffic is bad all the time now. That verifies Paul’s story that he heard a news story that said 130,000 people a month are moving to Florida.  

    Lunch was at the Bonefish Grill. We have driven past that restaurant many times and each time, we tell each other we need to stop there.  We finally did today.  The Bang Bang Shrimp was as good as we remembered it was.  The rest of the meal was ok.  Before returning to the campground, we stopped at Staples to pick up paper and printer ink.

29 Jan 2020 (Wed) – We drove to the Florida Maritime Museum at 10 a.m.  It was a small former school house turned museum on the first floor, contained in just two rooms.  There were pictures around the rooms showing fisherman in the 1800s. The museum was mostly dedicated to recounting the days of the fishing village of Cortez.  I don’t think it took 20 minutes to go through everything. There was a cultural center next to the museum but it is only open on Saturday.  We walked through the nearby woods and came out upon a boatyard with a seafood restaurant.  There were many American white pelicans floating in the bay.  We have seen them in the northern states so they must have flown down south for the winter.  So, they are really snowbirds.  😊

      We had lunch out on the deck looking out over the Sarasota Bay and watching the white and brown pelicans.  I had shrimp tacos and Paul had lobster mad & cheese.  The food was good and expensive!  On the way home, we stopped at Publix for groceries and PetCo for pet food.

 28 Jan 2020 (Tue) – We potsed around the RV this morning.  At noon, we left to go to the Florida Maritime Museum.  Unfortunately, when I pulled up the GPS, we found it would be 45 minutes to museum.  That would mean 45 minutes back, leaving us only a half hour to explore the place. We decided to put it off until tomorrow.

     We stopped at the Mellow Mushroom for a pizza.  The service was soooo slow.  The pizza was ok but not New York style.  We returned to the campground, fed the animals, then drove to Bradenton to visit with my cousin, Fred.  His mother, Aunt Tuddie, was one of my father’s sisters.  Fred and I had never met so it was a pleasure to spend time with him, his wife, Marge, and their son, Fred.  After talking about family and what we spent our lives doing, we enjoyed a delicious dinner together.  It was a good visit.  While we were there, Fred called his sister, Pat.  She is the oldest of the siblings and might know more about Grandma’s family than either of us.  Her mother gave her lots of pictures which Pat said she does not know who the people are. I promised to stop by to get the pictures and try to identify some of the people in them.  She lives about 80 miles north in Valrico.  Ironically, we were in Valrico for a few days before going into the Tampa RV show.  We’ll have to go back that way.

 27 Jan 2020 (Mon) – We drove to the Gamble Plantation Historic State Park.  It was an antebellum house built in 1843 by Robert Gamble.  He lived there 13 years trying to manage a sugar plantation but went bankrupt and finally left in 1856.  Different folks lived in the house over the years and it stood abandoned to the elements for years as well.  The Daughters of the United Confederacy tried to restore it but a hurricane ruined the place and they turned it over to the state.  Florida restored the mansion and now run tours through the house.  There were 22 people on the tour – way too many for the size of the house.  It was interesting construction with a hallway down one side of the house rather than down the middle of the home.  The house was built over a 3-year period with 3 separate additions.  The tour was about an hour long.  Afterward, we wandered through the small museum to read the story of the property and ownership.  It was interesting.

26 Jan 2020 (Sun) – Well, we had a bit of an adventure today.  I called the Elks Lodge in Bradenton yesterday to see if they had a campsite available.  They have two sites and the manager told us they were both open.  Unfortunately, when we got there, both sites had RVs in them. We then drove to the Elks Lodge we stayed in Sarasota but found 3 of the 4 sites full.  It wouldn’t have mattered so much except that our tanks were full (the last place did not have a dump site) and one of the RVs was parked on top of the dump station.  I called around to a couple of places in the area.  There was an RV Resort just a mile away so we drove there.  No one was answering the phones but it was a large campground and we expected we would at least find a dump station (if not a campsite). We got there to find the campground to be more of a mobile home park.  It was also gated.  When we pulled up to the keypad, we found there was no call button for the office. You entered the code or you didn’t get in.  Now we were stuck in front of gates that didn’t open and a short driveway off a main road.

     I got out and walked in back to redirect traffic turning into the driveway where there was also a busy gas station.  Paul backed up a little but wasn’t sure he could fit in the gas station (stations have overhead covers, many of which are too low for RVs and trucks). Next to the gas station was a one-way road that led to the back of a Jack in the Box and a Taco Bell.  I walked down the narrow road and saw a sign at the end that said it was the express exit to I-75.  It was a pretty busy roadway, too.  I stopped the traffic, turned people away (they were NOT happy about that), and held them off until Paul drove the wrong way down the one-way narrow road and passed in the back of the restaurants to get back on the main roadway.  

     I finally got through to an RV Resort nearby and found they had one spot available for our size trailer.  It is a huge place.  The Sun-N-Fun RV Resort and Mobile Home Park has over 1,400 sites.  It is a typical Floridian trailer park with hundreds of park models and some RVs.  And it cost almost $100 a night! Ouch.  That’s the problem with snowbirds in Florida.  The cost of staying here during the winter is very high and it is getting more and more difficult to find spots.

 25 Jan 2020 (Sat) – We went to the movies today and saw “1917.”  It had some great camera shots of the landscape.  Long, single pans of the countryside.  We enjoyed the show very much.  We had lunch at Sweet Tomatoes (I really like that place).

     We took Bonnie for a walk at twilight.  I love that time of the day.  The sun has gone down and a purple haze is on the horizon as the light slowly fades away.  There is a stillness in the air.  The daytime animals are returning to their dens and settling in for the night and the nighttime animals are waking, stretching, and getting ready to go out foraging for the evening.  There is a peaceful quietness that enters the soul.

 24 Jan 2020 (Fri) – We ran errands today.  Shopped at Pet Smart for Bonnie’s food, picked up vegetables at Sprouts Supermarket, then went to Publix to pick up “regular” food (because Sprouts is a health food place, it doesn’t carry a lot of non-health food items).  We had lunch at J.F. Kicks Bar & Grill.  I found a lab and had bloodwork drawn for Memorial Sloan Kettering.

 23 Jan 2020 (Thu) – We drove over to meet our friends, Brenda and Rick, in St. Petersburg (near Tampa).  We drove into town, stopping at the Green Bench Brewing Co. for drinks before going to lunch at the Oak and Stone.  It was a fun visit.

22 Jan 2020 (Wed) – The day started out a little uncertain.  I had the UPS tracking number and the webpage said my medication would be delivered at 10:30a.m.  At 9:35 a.m., Paul looked out the window just in time to see the UPS truck pulling out of the driveway.  We missed him!  I guessed I would have to wait for a note from UPS on the non-delivery.  Then, at 10:30 a.m., the UPS truck returned.  He had seen Paul running after him but he had to get other signatures.  The driver also said he was scheduled to make his delivery at 10:30 so he was coming back at that time.  So, I got my medication (not without a little bit of angst).  Now I have to call the doctor and arrange for a blood test before I resume the chemotherapy.

     We went out to a laundromat today and did the laundry.  While the wash was going, we went to lunch at Sabor A Mexico, a Mexican restaurant.  The food was pretty good.  I was a little concerned about being able to order something without meat but they actually had a section on the menu listed as Vegetarian Options.  The food was good.

      At dinner, I cooked mashed cauliflower and roasted Brussel sprouts with a green salad.  I’m still working on a menu plan that’s a little more appealing.  I’ll get it sooner or later.

 21 Jan 2020 (Tue) – We drove two hours to Ocala to get two tires for the trailer.  It seemed like that was the only place in the entire state that carried K9 tires.  I sure hope they hold up.  While waiting for them to put the tires on the rims, we went to Big Rascal BBQ for lunch. Everything was good.  On the way home, we stopped at Winn Dixie and picked up a few things.

     I called Memorial Sloan Kettering to see about having my medication shipped to me.  I’ve been off the Imbruvica since January 10th.  A nurse told me that the doctor wanted to make sure I was not taking Vitamin E with the medicine.  Apparently, it thins the blood.  The refill was authorized and I called the MSK Pharmacy to arrange to have the meds shipped by UPS.  Now, I have to make sure I am here when UPS delivers it tomorrow so I can sign for it.

20 Jan 2020 (Mon) – Paul put a light strip up on the side of the rig.  The RV was designed with a light on the awning.  The only time it works is when the awning is fully extended. You often want to put the awning out just a little or high winds make it impossible to put the awning out at all. That makes that light unusable. The light strip now gives us light under any condition.

     I called around to tire companies today.  We have been trying to find the same brand tires that we bought in Ocala just before going into Disney World.  K9 seems to be some kind of mystery brand.  I have talked to several tire dealers and no one knows the name. I finally called the place we bought the first two tires from in Ocala and ordered two more.  It will be over an hour drive there but I don’t see how we can do anything different.

     At 2:30 p.m. we went to Sweet Tomatoes for a late lunch.  I sure wish they would go to New York.  We love that place.  After lunch, we went to the movies and saw “Ford vs. Ferrari.” It was good.

 19 Jan 2020 (Sun) – We went to the service this morning.  Rather than a minister, they had a young woman with a sweet voice singing hymns.  They were nice but we didn’t recognize most of them.  Also, her voice was just a little too high.  We prefer a bass or alto to a soprano.  But it was pleasant anyway.

       All the Vilano owners bid one another good bye and we left at noon. It was a 13-mile drive to the Moose Lodge in Valrico after a quick stop at the Elks campground to dump.  After set up, we went in to the lodge and paid for a week.  It was only $10 a night.  THAT’S a great price!  We have 50-amp and water hookup.  We will have to go hunting for a sewer when we leave.  The bartender gave us a free drink as new visitors and another customer bought everyone a round at the bar.  We each ordered a small pizza for lunch/dinner.

 18 Jan 2020 (Sat) – At 9 a.m., we met at the Tiffin display and took pictures with Leigh Tiffin. Leigh is the grandson of Bob Tiffin. His father, Van, and he started the Vanleigh line of fifth wheels in 2015.  They grew the line from Vilano and added the Beacon and the Pinecrest models. Last year in 2019, Bob Tiffin brought the Vanleigh line back under as a division of Tiffin.  The fourteen of us took pictures this morning with Leigh Tiffin and Freddie Swinney, Regional Sales Manager.  How many people can say they know the person who manufactures their RV? We never even got an answer from Montana when we tried to communicate with them.

     The show ends tomorrow and we will be moving out.  We drove over to the Elks Lodge to check out space there. Sorry.  There is no room at the inn.  All 28 campsites were full.  The camp host said he would call tomorrow morning if something opened up.  A good many of the campers looked they are there for the entire winter season.

     We then drove over to the Moose Lodge, also in Brandon.  There are five spaces and no campers.  We walked around the lodge, talked with a guy sitting out on the patio, and checked out the hookups.  It looks like that’s where we will go tomorrow.

      On the way back to the fairgrounds, we stopped at Publix and picked up a few things.  Poor little Sheba is going stir crazy!  She couldn’t go out in Disney for 7 days.  Now she can’t go out here for 5 days.  Things will be better tomorrow.  We’ll have to give her some extra outdoor time to make up for her involuntary incarceration.

     At 6 p.m. we went over to the pavilion with our contribution of canned food (we gave 25 cans yesterday and 22 today).  For each can you give, you get one raffle ticket.  With all the tickets we had, we only won one bottle of cleaner.  Each time they pulled a ticket, we were conflicted.  You wanted to win but at the same time, we didn’t want any more “stuff” in the RV.  What a spot to be in!  The entertainment for the evening was a group called Malt Shop Memories.  They sang mostly doo wop songs.  They weren’t that good.  But, hey, they could sing and we can’t so that puts them up there.  Some couples got up and danced in the aisles. Young souls in aged bodies moving to the memory of songs long passed. 

17 Jan 2020 (Fri) – I am slowly getting better.  I have a big sore on the knuckle of my left index finger.  It really got to looking awful and the doctor said I had a bacterial infection in it.  My throat still hurts a little to swallow but it is at least tolerable.  The juicing is a big job every morning. I sure hope we can find a way to make this process easier and more convenient or it just won’t last.

     At noon, we went into the show and picked up a light strip for the outside of the rig.  We wandered in and out of a few rigs.  Looked in on a $2.4 million motor home.  We weren’t really impressed.

     At 6 p.m., we went to the pavilion and saw a show by Matt and Dave. It was a kind of oldies show where the two brothers sang songs from the 50s, 60s, 70s, and 80s.  They were funny and entertaining.  After the show, they had raffles again.  I won a bottle of cleaner.

     My stupid watch!  My fitbit bit the dust on its 13th month (the warranty was good for 12 months).  After some kibitzing, I decided to get another watch but not the same make (who wants a product that barely lasts).  I bought a Garmin Vivosport.  I noticed last night that I picked up an extra thousand steps. Turns out the watch was recording the movement of my clapping as steps.  Dumb thing!

 16 Jan 2020 (Thu) – We went into the show this morning.  I bought a clever holder.  It has a magnet on a tab as well as in the pocket.  You put the tab over the waistband of your pants so it sits inside and the pocket hangs on the outside.  The magnets stick together and you have an extra pocket.  Pretty neat.

     At noon, we Vilano owners caught up with one another and had lunch at one of the outdoor eateries.  The sun was beating down hot on us and I sure was glad to finish eating and get back indoors. We wandered through a few Montana fifth wheels.  Our first fifth wheel was a Montana so it holds a special place dear to our hearts.

     We returned to the camper and drove into town to get groceries. Because of the severe reaction I had, I am determined to get off the chemo.  In order to do that, (I believe) I have to move to a vegetarian diet (plant-based is the new buzz word).  So we had to pick up loads of veggies and fruits.  

     After dinner, we walked over to the pavilion and saw Kenny Evans put on a show.  He is an entertainer who performs annually at Pigeonforge (near Dollywood) in Tennessee. He was a phenomenal performer with an incredible range of vocal notes.  The songs were mostly golden oldies with a few country songs thrown in for good measure. After the show, they had a raffle and gave away some goodies (like we do at the SMART rallies).  When we returned to the camp area, someone brought out their propane fireplace and we sat around the fire until 11 p.m.  It was very nice.

 15 Jan 2020 (Wed) – We went into the RV show today.  FRVTA claims to have the biggest RV show in the country.  Hershey, PA, makes the same claim in October.  Needless to say, they are BOTH very large with thousands of RVs on display.  

     Our SMART friends, Rick & Brenda (who live in St. Petersburg), drove over and joined us.  Together we toodled around the rigs and supplier tables.  There is so much out there for camping.  At 4 pm, we went back to the camper where I prepared a big salad, then we joined the other Vilano owners for a pot luck meal.  Everything was quite good.

 14 Jan 2020 (Tue) – We packed up and drove 3 hours to the Tampa Fairgrounds.  We will be here for 5 days attending the Florida RV Trade Association (FRVTA) Show.  We met up with 6 other Vilano owners and were parked together as a group.  There are starting to be enough Vilano owners that we starting to show up in groups.  Very exciting.

 13 Jan 2020 (Mon) – I went to the doctor today.  I am apparently having a significant melt down.  I stopped taking the chemo on Friday.  Called Sloan Kettering this morning and was advised to get myself clinically evaluated.  My tonsils were so swollen and my throat so raw that I could barely swallow.  There is a canker sore on the side and front of my tongue that keeps rubbing on my teeth, making it very painful to just talk.   My teeth have been bleeding and just plain hurt, in general.

     We stopped in at an emergency room.  The doctor (who was younger than my son), followed by an even younger assistant who looked like he just woke up, said my lymph nodes were enlarged, not my tonsils.  He prescribed a mouth swish and augmentin (an antibiotic).  Sloan Kettering advised me to stay off the chemo and finish the antibiotic, then call back to arrange for bloodwork before I resume the Imbruvica.

12 Jan 2020 (Sun) – We went into the lodge this morning for breakfast.  It wasn’t bad and only $10.  After breakfast, we gathered up the laundry and went in search of a laundromat. What a job that was!  The Garmin GPS listed two that were no longer there when we arrived.  We finally found one and threw the laundry in.  We sat in the truck until the wash was done.  When the clothes were secure in the dryer, we went out to find a supermarket.  Again, Garmin sent us to a Stop and Shop that was no longer there.  Ironically, after all our driving around in circles following false directions, it turned out a Publix was across the street from the laundromat.  We picked up groceries, stopped at a GNC for a few things, and found a Pet Supermarket to pick up Bonnie’s food.  Then it was back to the campground where we collapsed.  Being sick makes everything seem like such a big deal.

 11 Jan 2020 (Sat) – We packed up and left Walt Disney World at 10 a.m. dragging ass all the way. We drove 40 miles to a Moose Lodge in Orlando.  They have a small area for RVs.  There are 8 sites but 2 have no working electric. There are only 30-amp and water hookups.  No sewer and no dump station.  We set up then slept for a couple of hours.  We forced ourselves to go into the lodge and pay for our camping.  The rate is really good.  Only $10 a night.  We will be here for 3 nights until we move to the Tampa RV Show.  We ran out to CVS to pick up medications, and searched around for a tire center that had the kind of tires we want.  Paul is trying to match the two K9 ST trailer tires we bought in Ocala but nobody had them.  In fact, nobody ever heard of K9 tires.  It’s making me a little nervous.  We’ll have to call the tire place we bought them from and ask for two more. We returned to the camper and zonked out.

10 Jan 2020 (Fri) – Ugh.  We have both been so sick.  We spent Friday sleeping and didn’t get to interact with Caiden, Miranda or Kenny all day.  At 8:00 p.m. we met at the Polynesian Resort for the Spirit of Aloha Dinner Show. Poor Caiden was so pooped that he basically passed out.  They didn’t really have any food he would have eaten anyway.  My throat was so sore, I couldn’t swallow so ate very little. Paul has a dry cough that’s making him miserable.

9 Jan 2020 (Thu) – Wow! It has been a very busy week.  We went to Universal Studios on Monday, WDW Hollywood Studios on Tuesday, WDW Magic Kingdom yesterday, and WDW Animal Kingdom today.  The lines have been insane (there are thousands of people here for a marathon). We waited one and a half hours this morning to get on the new Avatar ride.  I guess Virtual Reality rides are now the thing.  I found the ride to be very intense and had to close my eyes when my stomach started reacting to all the swooping and diving.

     You really need a minimum of two weeks, and preferably three weeks, to enjoy everything Walt Disney World has to offer. With just a week, lots of crowds, and four different parks, we have focused on the big stuff and had to pass on the small stuff.  It’s still been lots of fun.  How can it not be?  This is Disney!  Tomorrow is a laid back, sleep-in, take it easy day.  We will give Caiden time to really enjoy the pool and playground. That’s probably most of what he will remember about this trip anyway.

5 Jan 2020 (Sun) – It was something of a frustrating day.  Paul and I went to Hollywood Studios intending to meet Miranda, Ken & Caiden at 8 a.m. We got there at 7:45 a.m. and all the spaces on the Millennium Falcon were already gone.  That ride is not open to Fast Pass access so we couldn’t figure out how everyone got a spot on the ride when the park only opened at 7 a.m.  We signed Caiden up for Jedi training (after some confusing directions to get to the sign-up desk).

     The kids had some difficulty figuring out the bus schedule. Kenny and Caiden arrived at almost 9 a.m.  The park was packed and we couldn’t find any rides open.  We walked around the new Star Wars theme area until our Fast Pass for the Tower of Terror opened at 10:40 a.m.  After that, we again wandered around until our lunch at Hollywood & Vine at 11:30 a.m.  Miranda still hadn’t joined us.  She got stuck on the slow bus to nowhere and took almost an hour to get to the park. At any rate, she missed the character buffet lunch.  Kenny took a couple of pretzels for her.

     After lunch, I went to meet Miranda at the ticket booth and the guys went to get Caiden’s Jedi training.  Because I had gotten the admission tickets through the Army, I had to be there with everyone who had tickets.  The agent verified my military status, entered the tickets into the system, and matched our magic bands to the tickets.  The magic bands are a kind of digital key.  It opens the hotel door, grants admission to the parks, and lets you charge anything you buy in the park.

      At 1 p.m., the group of young Jedis (about 30 of them) marched through the park to the arena.  Both Darth Vadar and Kylo Ren fought their opponents as each child was given a chance to personally battle the dark side.  It was cute.

     We again wandered around until we caught the Indiana Jones Adventure Show at 3:15 p.m.  Our final event was at 3:40 p.m. on the Star Wars ride.  It was time to get back to the campground to feed the animals and walk Bonnie.  We parted ways and caught the bus back to Fort Wilderness.  After dinner, we searched high and low for Caiden’s ticket to Universal Studios.  We will be going there tomorrow and I was checking everything over.  We have one voucher for two one-day tickets and another voucher for two four-day tickets.  We will turn them in at the customer service desk for tickets.  We also had a ticket for Caiden which the agent at MWR had warned me to keep safe because it was unplaceable.  Guess what we couldn’t find?  We tore the place apart searching for that ticket but couldn’t find it anywhere.  Looks like we’ll have to buy another ticket for Caiden tomorrow.  Ugh.

4 Jan 2020 (Sat) – We bid Margaret & Rich good-bye and left Hernando at 10:40 a.m.  It rained almost the entire drive to Lake Buena Vista where we arrived at Disney World Fort Wilderness around 1 p.m.  We were checked in quickly by a perky young woman but then had to sit for about 20 minutes because the RV in front of us just sat there.  I guess they were having a problem checking in.  Finally, they opened another lane and let us drive around them.

     At 4:30 p.m. we drove over to the Port Orleans – French Quarter Resort to meet Miranda, Kenny & Caiden.  Unfortunately, their flight left Islip 20 minutes late because of the weather. Then the plane was held up on the tarmac when they arrived in Orlando.  After waiting about a half hour for the Disney Magical Express, they had to ride for an hour and were the last stop of the drop-offs.  In the meantime, Paul and I wandered around the resort; had an appetizer and cocktail at the Scat Cat Lounge; poked around the gift shop; picked up a 2020 ornament; explored the area around the lobby; looked over the pool.  They finally got in around 6:30 p.m.  They got checked in.  We took Kenny and Caiden to the restaurant to get something to eat.  Miranda was not feeling well and had to lay down.  We took Caiden to the pool for a half hour swim. Although the water was heated, the air was chilly and he was shivering by the time we called him out of the pool. He had a great time and is looking forward to more swimming.  We promised to go in with him next time.

     Unfortunately, Disney only brought two of their three bags to the room. At last word, they were trying to find her bag.  It has her medication and other important items in it.  Bad way to start off the vacation.  Bah, humbug.

3 Jan 2020 (Fri) – I did laundry today.  We certainly don’t want to have to do it in Disney World so we washed the few pieces that needed washing.

     We went out and did some errands today.  We put fuel in the truck, picked up pet food, shopped for groceries, and bought a Sun Pass (a prepaid toll card).

     While working around the RV this afternoon, Rich spotted a flat tire. Oh, No!  That makes two and now we have no spare.  So we called around and found a place in Ocala (about a half hour away) that had similar tires to what we have on the trailer now.  So Paul got two.  We’ll have the two on one side and the two tires we have now on the other side. Not the best of situations but we didn’t have much choice.  When we finish at Disney we’ll get two more of the type we bought today.

    Margaret cooked salmon tonight. Everything was good.  After dinner, we watched Wheel of Fortune and Jeopardy.  We’ve been watching those shows just about every night.  That music sure gets in your head.  Paul and I saw a special on TV last night where they were interviewing Alex Trebek.  We heard how he got started on Jeopardy and where the music came from.  The show was started by Merv Griffin, who (I think) is now deceased.

2 Jan 2020 (Thu) – We went into town this morning to mail off some items and get cash at the ATM. When we returned, we rode with Margaret & Rich to Chiefland where she shopped for gourds.  She makes the nicest animal sculptures out of the gourds. Margaret goes to 5 or 6 shows a year. After she bought about 20 gourds, we drove to Cedar Key.  It was a very beachy town and was quite crowded. We couldn’t find a parking spot so we left and drove back to Crystal River for lunch.  Later, Margaret cooked hamburgers for dinner.

 1 Jan 2020 (Wed) – We kept it easy today.  At 3:30 a.m. we went to the movies and saw the new Star Wars movie.  It was OK but I sure hope it’s the last of the Star Wars movies.  They are starting to become boring.  Margaret cooked chicken in wine with mashed potatoes and broccoli.  Um um good!

 31 Dec 2019 (Tue-New Year’s Eve) – The cat threw up on the bed last night.  The vomit went through the comforter, blanket, and both sheets.  I pulled everything off and washed them in Margaret’s machine today.  It was nice of her to offer.

     We took Bonnie and Sheba to the vet this afternoon.  Bonnie has been having trouble getting up lately and we were looking for something to make her comfortable.  And Sheba has been unusually hungry.  I thought she might be experiencing a thyroid problem.  Bonnie has a urine infection and a slight decrease in the space in her hips.  The vet gave us an antibiotic and something for pain when needed.  Sheba’s bloodwork was fine and showed nothing.  We’ll keep an eye on her.

30 Dec 2019 (Mon) – Paul was up and out at 6:30 a.m.  He was headed to WalMart to get an oil change on the truck.  Unfortunately, he went to the wrong WalMart where they had no auto center.  He then had to drive to the other one we were at the other day.  Four people were already on line in front of him and he had to wait a couple of hours.  He didn’t get back home till after 9:00 a.m.

     We took a ride with Margaret & Rich around the neighborhood stopping at Matt’s house.  Matt was also a coworker of Paul’s at DOT.  He and his wife are having a house built nearby.  They bought ten acres and Matt plans to build a drone racing track. We watched him run a drone through a small track.  That thing sure moved fast!  It sounded like a sick bird.

     After toodling around, we stopped at Oysters for lunch.  It was Rich’s birthday on Christmas Day (bummer) so we treated them for lunch.  The service was very slow but the food was good.  Margaret & Rich went out to dinner with Rich’s sister and husband to celebrate both of their birthdays.

 29 Dec 2019 (Sun) – During the party last night, we got to talking with another couple about New Year’s Eve plans.  He suggested we go to Crackers Bar & Grill on the water.  So we went there for lunch today to check it out.  They were busy and we ate at the bar so we wouldn’t have to wait.  Service at the bar was slow so it probably wouldn’t have made any difference to get on the waiting list.  The food was good.  Afterward, we strolled on the boardwalk in back.  We could see about four boats out in the marina with tour groups.  They were all doing scuba with the manatees.  

     We went in the house at 7:00 p.m. and watched “The Irishman” on Netflix. It was about crooks and how Jimmy Hoffa disappeared.  Interesting.

 28 Dec 2019 (Sat) – We went to Sabina’s Diner for breakfast.  It was a very interesting place with a large selection of unusual items. I had chipped beef and Paul had sausage gravy and biscuits.  Everything was good.  Then we did our laundry at the laundromat.  Margaret yelled at us for that.  She offered her machines for our use.  I felt it would be a burden given that she was having a holiday party tonight.

     We did some shopping at WalMart and Paul checked out the auto center to see about getting an oil change for the truck.  We went into Margaret’s at 6:00 p.m. for her holiday party. About 20 people came.  It was fun.

 27 Dec 2019 (Fri) – We packed up and headed out to Hernando to stay with our friends, Margaret & Rich.   Paul used to work with Margaret at DOT. They have two covered RV spots in the back of their house.  Their RV is in one and we are staying under the other one.  We have full hookups with 50-amp service.  Just like the best campground!

    Margaret made manicotti for dinner. It was delicious!

26 Dec 2019 (Thu) – We went to The Ringling today.  It is a collection of buildings once owned by John and Mable Ringling of the Ringling Circus. There is an art museum (we did not go in it), a visitor’s center with rotating art displays (they had glass art on exhibit), a restaurant and café, a circus museum, and a beautiful mansion.  The Ringlings had called their home Ca’D’Zan, which is Italian for John’s house.  It served as their winter home.  We took two tours of the mansion – they offer three: one unguided tour of the ground floor, a paid docent led tour of the second floor, and a paid docent led tour of the third and fourth floor.  Talk about soaking the tourists for all they can!

     The museum was fascinating.  I thought I had been to the circus but I have never seen anything like what was on display in the museum.  There was a 3,800 square foot model depicting the American tented circus in its Golden Age from 1919 to 1938.  The logistics of the size and movement of the circus is mind boggling.  As a former logistics officer, I can appreciate the work involved in moving 1,300 workers and performers and 800 animals (they were a traveling zoo), with all the equipment needed to put on a performance.  Every aspect of the circus was displayed in the model.  There was the Big Top where the shows were performed in three rings.  Many other tents housed the workers and performers, served as a large dining hall, was used a changing rooms, and allowed the staff to live and sleep.  There was also a large tent where the animals were on display.  The circus could travel up to 15,000 miles and perform in 150 cities in just one season!  Imagine pulling into town on the train (that set up is another story!), parading through the streets, putting on the show, then moving on in just one day. Incredible.  

     After the museum, we drove around looking for a place to eat.  We wound up driving through Keys – Casey Key, Longboat Key, etc.  The traffic was heavy and we got stuck going over the bridge.  Luckily, we found a restaurant and after a little struggle to find parking, we went in for dinner.  The weather was lovely and we sat out on the patio.  The food was good and I tried their featured drink – a Fizzy Cocktail.  It really wasn’t that good.  The check was a whopper $101!  Ouch. Well, we were in an exclusive area.

 25 Dec 2019 (Wed – Christmas Day) – We went over Greg & Potsy’s house at 11:00 a.m.  Their daughter, son-in-law, and grandson were there as well (Kathy, John & Little Johnny).  We exchanged gifts and visited for a while then went over their son’s house. Tim & Brittany have two boys – Sage and Phoenix.  Phoenix was born in May this year as was Little Johnny.  Sage is four and a half.  Greg’s other son and wife, Gregory and Kat, joined us as well.  It was full day of visiting, eating, and playing with the little ones.  It was a wonderful day.

     We left at 4 p.m. and returned home to feed the animals.  At 6 p.m., we drove out to the Sarasota Mall to see the Christmas lights.  The mall is huge and all the palm trees had been trimmed with white lights on the trunks and green lights in the palms.  There is also a large lake next to the mall where they have skull racing. There was a light show along the walkway around the lake.  It was all very festive and beautiful to look at.

     We drove around looking for a place to eat.  Everything was closed.  It was maddening!  Then we stumbled on Miller’s Ale House.  It was packed.  Probably because it was the only place open for miles around.  We were seated immediately in a bar area with the windows open.  Although we had to wait 25 minutes for our food, everything was good.  It was a pleasant ending to a pleasant day.

24 Dec 2019 (Tue) – We tried to find a tire place today to replace the tire we took off the trailer yesterday.  No luck.  Goodyear said they would have to send to Orlando for it and it wouldn’t come in until Friday.  We are leaving then.  Guess we’ll wait until we get to Orlando.

     We met Greg & Potsy and Kathy & John with little Johnny at Gecko’s for lunch.  Their margaritas were terrible!  Their homemade potato chips were delicious!  After lunch, we went over Greg’s to see his new house and visit for a while.

     There is a flock of 3 sandhill cranes wandering the large field we are parked in. When Paul went out with Bonnie this morning, they clacked their bills, screeched, and flapped their wings.  This evening, they just stood and watched her every movement but didn’t act as threatened.  Guess they figured out she is not a danger to them.

 23 Dec 2019 (Mon) – While packing up this morning. We discovered one of the tires on the rig had a bubble in the sidewall.   We pulled out of our campsite and into the parking lot where Paul changed the tire.   I looked up the record and saw that we have about 18,000 miles on the tires.  We bought them in February 2018.  Looks like it’s time to buy new tires.  Ugh.

     We were finally on the road at 9:45 a.m.  There was traffic at some of the chokepoints along the way and it rained on and off.  We arrived at the Elks Lodge in Sarasota a little after 2 p.m.  There is a large grassy field in the back of the lodge. There are water and electric hookups along the side of a Tiki bar.  A small pond sits off to the side.  Just as we finished setting up, the skies opened up and it poured.

     We put up the Christmas tree tonight.  As always, it was a trip down memory lane.  As we travel, we get Christmas ornaments from each town and attraction.  We have a couple of boxes full of ornaments from all over the country.  Each one we put on the tree prompted a comment about the place we were at when we bought the ornament.  It’s always an enjoyable experience to share those special memories.

     At 5:30 p.m. we went into the lodge for dinner.  Every Monday, they have a “Depression Dinner.” It started out a few years ago when officers of the lodge volunteered to cook dinner.  It evolved into a tradition that now has the officers cooking dinner every Monday.  The meal consisted of chicken fried steak, mashed potatoes, succotash, and gravy.  There was also pie for $2 extra.  Everything was very good.  The lodge is very nice – large, bright, and airy.  They have something going on every day.

 22 Dec 2019 (Sun) – We went out for breakfast at the Causeway Diner.  The corned beef hash was cooked perfectly!   The place was crowded but we were able to get a seat right away. The food came fairly quickly and was very good.  The waitresses all smiled and were friendly despite the crush of customers in the diner.

     After breakfast, we drove to Titusville to pick up food for Bonnie. Then we drove to the American Police Hall of Fame & Museum.  It was quite interesting.  They had descriptions of famous criminals, and lots of displays of police equipment – handcuffs, pistols, rifles, the electric chair, a straight jacket, a jail cell, fingerprint apparatus, vehicles (cars, motorcycles, ski doo, bicycle, snow mobile, and segway), and hundreds of PD patches.  In the center of museum was a chapel and next to it was a large circular room with all the names of police officers who have died in the line of duty etched on the wall.  There were tens of thousands of names on the wall along with pictures, flowers, and mementos at the base of the wall.  It was very moving.  

     As we were heading home, we stopped at a development that advertised model homes to see.  But the office was closed and we couldn’t get into the homes.  That was a bummer.  Next stop was at PetCo for dog food, Publix for cat food and groceries, and a gas station to fuel up for tomorrow’s move.

 21 Dec 2019 (Sat) – We went to the Brevard County Military Museum this morning.  The brochure we had said the museum opened at 8:30 a.m. but when we got there at 9;00 a.m., we found it didn’t open until 10:00 a.m.  So we walked around the grounds looking at the monuments and then over to an open field where they are planning to develop the area.  By the time we were done, it was quarter to ten and the door was open.

     It was a small museum but jam packed with great information and displays. They had uniforms, artifacts, equipment, and weapons from every conflict since the Revolutionary War.  Placards described various wars and personalities. We enjoyed the museum very much and spent almost two hours there.

     After the museum, we returned to the campground, walked Bonnie then went to George & Linda’s for their open house.  We stayed until almost 5:00 p.m.  It was a long day.

20 Dec 2019 (Fri) – We got up at 6 a.m. this morning so we could watch a launch.  The Boeing Starliner blasted off at 6:36 a.m.  The Atlas V Centaur was an unmanned mission to bring supplies to the International Space Station.  It was a test.  This launch and the next are to test the rocket.  If they are both successful, then we will be able to transport our own astronauts back and forth to the space station rather than having to rely on Russia. Unfortunately, the rocket failed to reach the proper orbit and the mission was considered a failure.  At any rate, it was really cool to watch.  We stood in the parking lot watching the horizon where the trees stood.   A glow appeared on the horizon behind the trees and quickly grew brighter and brighter.  Then a bright light rose into the sky.  It looked like somebody shot off a bottle rocket.  We watched it rise into the air until we couldn’t see anything any more.

       At lunchtime, we drove to Port Canaveral and had lunch at Grills Tiki Bar. We tried shark kabobs, which weren’t bad, along with coconut shrimp and rice.  It was good but the drinks were watery.  The restaurant was right at the port.  Right behind us was a Royal Caribbean cruise ship in the dock.   A Carnival and a Disney ship were docked as well.  There were pelicans everywhere!

     After lunch, we drove over to the other side of the port.  We could see what looked like the Space-X booster rocket on a barge and we wanted to get a closer look.  When we got over there, we found an Air Force base.  The guard turned us away when we tried to enter. He said entry was limited to authorized personnel only.  Next to the gate was an Air Force Air & Space Museum.  Inside was a large room with pictures all around the wall.  Each one had a display about a particular launch site.  There are 47 launch sites around the peninsula where NASA fires off its rockets.  Each launch site has a story about what type of equipment was launched there, who was in the rocket if it was manned, and statistics about the event.  It was pretty interesting.  They even had a small gift shop where we bought items for the grandsons.

     We returned to the campground and took naps.  Afterward, we went over my cousin Denise’s house.  She had a small Christmas party with three of her neighbors and us.  The food was very good.

 19 Dec 2019 (Thu) – We hung around the campground for the most part today.  We ran out to Publix to pick up a few groceries and the liquor store to get some wine but returned to the lodge right away.  We went in to the lodge for lunch and had their sandwich special.   At 6 pm, George, Linda, and Denise met us at the lodge and we had wings and a bucket of beer for dinner.  It was fun.

 18 Dec 2019 (Wed) – We left Mayport at 9:30 and drove to Merritt Island where we are staying at the Moose Lodge.  They do not accept reservations; it’s first-come, first-served.  When we pulled in, we found there was only one spot left of the 15 or so that are here.  The lodge is undergoing a lot of renovations.  They were hit with the last hurricane and are taking advantage to do upgrades.  We stayed here almost three years ago.

    After set up, we called my cousin, George, to let him know we were here.  My medicine had arrived and he had signed for it.  So we drove over there to pick it up.  Later, we had dinner with George and Linda at El Leoncita.  The margaritas were very good.

17 Dec 2019 (Tue) – Kevin & Joy left early this morning.  Ships came and went all day.  We even saw a submarine come in and leave within the hour.  We figured they were probably stocking up supplies.  

     We ran errands today – did laundry, finished up the Christmas cards, went to the post office, picked up pet food at Pet Smart, got groceries at Publix, fueled the truck, and picked up tickets to Universal Studios at the ITT Office.  We move on to Cocoa tomorrow.

16 Dec 2019 (Mon) – The laptop suffered a catastrophic failure last night.  The battery reached the end of its useful life.  It is a Dell where the battery is inaccessible.  We can’t change it.  Best Buy can’t change it out either.  The laptop has to be mailed back to Dell and maybe – MAYBE – they can save the computer.  It is ancient by tech standards.   We bought the laptop 7 years ago, just before we hit the road.  It is a high-end piece of equipment.  We got that because we were going to be on the road and we wanted to protect it from bumps and jars during our travels.  *sigh*  Luckily, we have the new laptop we bought last year.  Now I’ll have to move everything over.

     The gremlins are in the machines.  My fitbit watch also stopped working.  I can feel it vibrating when the phone rings (it is linked to the cell phone) or when I hit my steps goal.  It’s just that the screen face won’t light up.  Ugh!!!  I want to get another one but I don’t think I want to buy a piece of crap.  We only bought that watch 13 months ago.  The warranty, of course, was only for 12 months.

     We went to the Jacksonville Zoo today.  It is a very, very large zoo. Lots of animals were out and about.  All the cages seemed to be roomy enough for their occupants and were clean and well kempt. The mama gorilla was not happy.  I think she is depressed.  There was the silverback male, the female, a juvenile, and a baby.  Maybe she has post-partum depression?  At any rate, we got lots of walking in and the weather was pleasant.

     After we got back, we sat with Kevin & Joy to watch the Navy ships in the river.  Three large ships, a small ship, and a Coast Guard ship all left port today.  The tug boats went back and forth all day long.  

     After dinner, we sat down and wrote out our Christmas cards.  I ordered cards from an organization a couple of months ago.  When we started addressing them, it turned out we were shorted on envelopes.  I HATE that.  Christmas card envelopes are a special size.  You can’t just run down to Staples to pick up more.  Guess we’ll have to buy another box of cards.  Ugh.

 15 Dec 2019 (Sun) – It was a kind of laid back, relaxing day.  The sky was clear and the temperature was a bit nippy (nothing that a long sleeve tee shirt couldn’t fix).  We spent the day walking the dog, kicking back in our camp chairs, and watching the amphibious attack ship depart.  After one long blast of its horn, three tug boats led the ship past the campground and out to sea.  It was cool!

     At 3:30 p.m. we left with Kevin and Joy for dinner at Maggianos. It was an Italian restaurant that offers a special.  You buy two meals – one you eat at the restaurant and the other is to take home. The food was very good.

 14 Dec 2019 (Sat) – We pulled up stakes and left Savannah, GA close to 10 a.m.  The ride was easy and the weather was clear.  We pulled into Mayport Naval Station around 1:30 p.m.  Kevin & Joyce (friends from the Utah trip) were here. They took us to Freddy’s for dinner. The burgers were really good.  I think we have found a new favorite place to eat at.  After dinner, we took a nice long walk on the beach.  There was a sailboat that apparently beached in the sand.  Probably happened in the last storm.  It still has its sails and roping and lots of stuff inside. Seems like such a waste to leave it there.  I am sure that someone with a boat could use that stuff.

     The campground is beautiful.  There are 59 campsites all looking out at the water.  Palm trees and exotic birds are everywhere.  We spotted dolphins swimming right off the shore. Since this is a Naval station, there are several ships in the dock – an amphibious assault ship, a missile destroyer, and two battleships.  When the ships come and go, they go right past the campground.  We were here a couple of years ago.  The ships will sound their horns to say goodbye or hello (depending on which direction they are headed in).  The weather is marvelous!