#for one thing i just ate three (3) (!!!!) bags of pretzels which are the first pretzels ive had in like almost a decade maybe. but for anoth

[pepprs]

retreat day 2 done. feeling good but weird

[goquokka00]

Want So Bad

This was requested by @mamnaimiefrankie, and so I really hope you enjoy!

Summary: Jisung, Minho, and Hyunjin were hanging out. Upon getting some munchies, Jisung found some gummies that seemed to look appetizing enough. However, someone forgot to read a label...

Pairings: Han Jisung X Reader (F!)

Genre: Humor (I mean come on, Paboracha is involved, of COURSE there's gonna be humor), Smut (MDNI), fluff at the end

Warnings: Use of aphrodisiacs, mention of cunnilingus, grinding, pet names, Switch! Jisung (man is whiny, needy, and begs a LOT), Switch! Reader, dirty talk, oral (m! receiving), overstimulation, unprotected penetrative sex, cream pie, bunny fucking, scratching, 100% 18+ (seriously like if you're a minor don't read pls and thank you <3)

Word Count: 4.1K

Saturdays were always something that Jisung looked forward to. Sure, he loved being with you, as you two had been together for almost 2 years now, but he also loved spending time with his friends. Specifically, Minho and Hyunjin. And every Saturday, while you worked your shift at the nearby bakery, Jisung would hang out with Minho and Hyunjin.

These hang outs could be anything from watching movies, to playing board games or video games, to having deep conversations about the stresses of work and being idols, to being on the floor laughing about literally anything. It was fun for them, and they always looked forward to it.

Today wasn't any different.

The three men decided to meet at Minho's house, as his girlfriend was gonna be gone for the day at work. That meant they had access to the Nintendo Switch. And that meant they could play Mario Kart. A game they all liked, but only one was good at.

"JISUNG, NO FAIR!" Hyunjin whined, watching as Shy Guy passed the finish line in first. Jisung could only laugh as he watched Hyunjin and Minho struggle through the computers they were playing against, constantly running into bananas or being hit by shells. "You really can't take it easy on us ONE time?!"

"Where's the fun in taking it easy when I can wipe the floor with both of you?" Jisung laughed, watching Minho finally pass the finish line in fourth with Tanuki Mario. Hyunjin finished soon after in seventh with Princess Peach, practically throwing his controller down on the sofa.

"I think you play this game too much." Minho said, crossing his arms. Jisung could only shrug, standing up and stretching as the final results played. Jisung got first in the Grand Prix, while Minho got 5th and Hyunjin got 8th. "Find another hobby."

"No can do, sorry." Jisung said, watching Minho roll his eyes.

"Whatever." Minho said, looking to Hyunjin. "Let's do a round with just you and I, Hyunjin."

"Okay. I'm down for that." And with that, Hyunjin and Minho started a two-player race. And as they did that, Jisung walked over to the kitchen, looking for something to snack on. After all, he hadn't eaten much that day, and he knew that he should eat something. Otherwise, he'd get an earful from you.

And so, into the snack closet he went. He always knew Minho was stocked and really didn't care about what he ate from his stash, so long as it wasn't any of his girlfriend's food (which had all been labelled after the Changbin incident 3 years ago). And sure enough, when Jisung opened the door, the closet was filled.

Candies, chips, pretzels...you name the snack, it was in there. But the thing that caught Jisung's eye was the gummy hearts up on the top shelf. They didn't have Minho's girlfriend's sticker on them, which meant free grabs. And so, Jisung took a good handful from the bag, before closing the closet and going back to the couch.

"Jisung, how do you drift again?" Hyunjin called out. Jisung quickly threw some of the gummies into his mouth, chewing and swallowing as he sat back down onto the couch.

"It's the right trigger." Jisung said, watching Hyunjin do so. And then he spun out of control. Jisung laughed as Hyunjin freaked out.

"You liar!"

||

Finally, after a nice hang out with the boys, Jisung had said his goodbyes and made his way back to the apartment. He loved hanging out with them, but he also wanted to actually be home when you got home. He always felt bad that he'd return so late after you've gone to bed, and tonight he wanted to see you awake.

But...it was when he stepped inside of the apartment when he noticed how weird he felt.

The first thing he noticed was how hot it was. At first, he thought it was the apartment, which would've been weird since the both of you loved keeping the apartment cool for wearing hoodies. But when he went to the thermostat, it read 68°. Right where it always was.

And upon walking back to the living room, he noticed how fuzzy his head was. He wasn't dizzy, just...he couldn't focus on anything. His body felt like it was in the clouds, too. Not just his mind. That's when he noticed that it was him that was also feeling hot.

Okay...weird, but whatever. He could ride it out, and he'd be fine. Right? R-Right?

Well, that's when he noticed just how much his shirt was grazing his nipples. He...never noticed that before. Every movement caused the shirt to graze oh, so lightly against them, and it made Jisung's breath hitch. That wasn't the only thing. He felt like his pants were really tight. Really, really tight. And that never happened unless...

Oh...

Oh...

He had a boner. A really, really bad boner. He could see it through his jeans, and he could never see his boners from his jeans before. And that made him concerned. Not to mention how much it just...hurt.

He was hot, sensitive, hard...he couldn't think straight... what the hell was going on with him?

His first thought wasn't about figuring this out, though. No, it was about getting his damn pants off. They were just too tight, his dick was so sensitive and hard that if he kept those jeans on any longer, he might cry. And so, he did exactly that. And the sight afterwards of the hard-on in his boxers?

Oh, it was just worse.

Jisung just groaned, leaning back against the sofa as he ran a hand through his hair, squirming. This was so bad, he needed to fix this issue before you got home, he'd die if you saw him this hard and horny. It would just be straight up embarrassing--

But all of his thoughts were interrupted by the sound of the front door opening.

Fuck.

Jisung's head whipped around to the door, his face flushed as you walked into the apartment, setting your bag down. And the second you looked over at him in your outfit you decided to wear to work? Oh, it just made him whine. God, this was so embarrassing...He didn't even know what to say. Thankfully, you spoke up first, still not noticing the issue at hand here.

"Oh, you're home? I thought you were planning on staying over at Minho's for a lot longer." Just the sound of your sweet and smooth voice washed over Jisung, making his cock twitch. God, you sounded so heavenly, he just wanted to hear you moaning his name, screaming out from how good his cock felt when he--

Immediately, he got that thought out of his head.

"I-I just wanted to surprise you, my baby..." Fuck, why did he have to stutter? He never stuttered; you knew he never stuttered. And so, he winced as you walked over to him with an eyebrow raised.

"Oh? And you wanna tell me why you just stuttered?" You asked. You didn't sound mad, just curious. But Jisung didn't have to say anything to you, because it didn't take your eyes long to notice the large tent in his pants. And immediately, your eyes widened. "Oh, Jisung, what--"

"I-I don't know, okay? I've been feeling really, really weird and-and I don't know why, I just walked through the door and immediately I just got horny, and hot, and hard, and I don't know what to do or why I'm like this, and-"

"Hey, hey, hey, slow down." You said, kneeling down to look at him. Your eyes were so warm and comforting, they always felt like home to Jisung. It was nice, and always got him to calm down no matter what.

"Sorry..."

"You have nothing to be sorry for, okay? Do you want me to call Minho and see what's going on?" You offered. "Knowing him and Yejin, they'd know what's up with you."

"Ye-Yeah, okay..." Jisung said. It made sense. After all, he knew that Minho and Yejin were a freaky couple. They've tried everything under the sun, and had sex all the time. So if anyone would know, it'd be them.

And so, that's what you did. You dialed Minho's number, waiting for him to answer. And he picked up after the third ring.

"Hello?"

"Minho." You greeted, hearing his audible sigh on the other end of the line, as well as a moan.

"Okay, what did I do this time? And can it please hurry, I'm in the middle of something." Minho grumbled.

"I'm sure you can spare getting your dick wet for 5 seconds so you can tell me what's wrong with my significant other."

"What do you mean? Is he dying or something?"

"No, but he's hornier than a dog in heat."

"Well, that's probably because he thinks you're hot. Can I get back to going down on my girlfriend now--"

"No, because he doesn't get that horny when it's just me. He's literally panting and is non-stop squirming."

"Oh. OOOHHH--"

"What, oh?"

"Shit, I knew we didn't use that many!" Minho waited a second, getting a question from Yejin. You couldn't quite make it out, but you definitely heard the response. "Well duh, we literally just bought those gummies a few days ago!"

"The gummies? What gummies?" You asked.

"The gummies?" Jisung also asked, feeling his heart drop.

"Yeah, so, Yejin and I invested in some aphrodisiac gummies a few days ago. They look like hearts, kinda coated in some sugar, they're actually pretty damn good. But you shouldn't eat like, more than 5, I think."

"Did you eat heart shaped gummies covered in sugar?" You asked Jisung, watching him go pale at the question. And his lack of an answer gave you all of the information you needed to know. "Jisung!"

"I was hungry, okay! And they were in the snack closet, so I thought they were good!" Jisung whined.

"Why the hell would aphrodisiac gummies be kept in a fucking snack closet?!"

"I didn't know where else to put them, so I put them in the top of the shelf." And that resulted in Minho getting an earful from Yejin. You could only roll your eyes, hanging the call up.

"Okay, so you ate a few laced gummies that will make you horny. That's fine." You said, going back over to Jisung, giving him a small smile.

"I-I'm sorry, my baby, I-I should've read the packaging, I-"

"Jisung, it's fine. Really, it's not like we haven't fucked before, right?" You asked him, going to straddle his lap. Jisung immediately blushed, seeing you on top of him. It was a beautiful sight, one of his favorites. But in this situation?

"Wa-Wait, I don't know about this...I don't think I can control myself, baby." Jisung told you. "I-I don't wanna end up hurting you or anything..."

"Then let me be the one to help you, okay?" You told him, kissing his cheek. That's when you lowered yourself over his boxers, your shorts grazing against his boner deliciously. Jisung let out a pathetic moan, throwing his head back at the feeling. "Can I help you out, Sungie?"

"God...please, baby..." As Jisung spoke, he bucked his hips up against yours, moaning at the feeling of grinding up against you. And with that, you smiled, pulling him into a kiss.

The two of you grinded against each other as you made out, Jisung moaning out like he hadn't been touched in his life. The kiss you both shared was messy and sloppy, but Jisung loved it like that. And so did you. And his tongue immediately went to exploring your mouth, only making the kiss sloppier.

But before long, Jisung pulled away, getting louder. It was an indicator that he was getting close already. You immediately slowed down, watching his brow furrow and his jaw hang open. You knew that look. But when you heard the displeased whine of you slowing down, you were shocked.

"N-No, gunna--please, baby, lemme cum..." Jisung whined, looking up at you. God, his pouty lips, the way his eyes begged you for that sweet release...You couldn't help it.

"Fuck, baby..." You groaned, sliding off of Jisung. You immediately took your shirt off, as well as your bra before slipping his boxers down, seeing his angry cock spring up and slap his stomach, leaking precum.

You didn't even stop to admire him like you usually did, you immediately gripped him and put his tip into your mouth, sucking. You let your spit leak from the sides of your mouth, making it as wet as possible. And Jisung immediately wailed, bucking his hips up at the feeling.

"Hoooly fucking shit! Oh, please, just like that baby...I...I'm gonna fucking blow, oh my god! Keep--Keep going, please!" Jisung moaned out, closing his eyes and clenching his thighs. God, your mouth always felt so damn good to him, he could never get enough of it.

And sure enough, he came a few seconds later.

"Cu-Cumming! I'm cumming, oh...fuck, keep--keep me in, baby!" Jisung cried out, holding your head down on him. You did as told, staying put as he shot his seed into your mouth. And once you were sure he was finished, you slowly lifted up and off of him, swallowing his load. And that got a low groan out of him. "Holy shit, baby...you're so hot..."

You just giggled, moving back up to him and pecking his lips. Jisung could only whine though, still feeling weird. And you were quick to notice. Your eyes immediately grew concerned, looking down to see that he was still hard.

"How...what?" You questioned. His cock was practically inflating like a balloon, ready to go again within a few seconds. Your gaze went back to Jisung, who was already starting to softly whine again. "How many of those gummies did you eat?"

"I-I don't know, maybe like, 13?" Jisung guessed, making your eyes widen.

"Minho said that the recommended dosage was only 5..." You trailed, looking back down at Jisung's cock. Once again, it was leaking precum with an angry red tip. And once you heard Jisung whine again, you let out a huff. And upon seeing your determined face, Jisung immediately whined again, his cock twitching. He knew that look.

"Baby, y-you've done enough, you don't have to--"

"No, I do." You said, standing up. And once your gaze hit Jisung, that determined and frustrated glint in your eyes, he immediately whimpered. "Lay down."

"B-But I don't wanna lose it and hurt--"

"Lay. Down. And don't make me repeat myself, Jisung." You told him.

Your voice was stern, and God, Jisung loved when you got like this with him. When you took charge in the bedroom, it was the hottest thing. The way your face would get so determined, so confident...shit, Jisung could get a boner just thinking about it if he didn't already have one.

And so, Jisung did as told, going and laying down on the couch. As he did that, you pulled your shorts and panties down before walking back over to Jisung and straddling him again, bringing a hand up to your face and spitting in it before grabbing Jisung's dick and covering it. And then, you lined it up with your entrance while Jisung waited in anticipation.

And the feeling of you sinking down on his cock as slow as you were taking it make Jisung let out the filthiest, most scrumptious moan. And once he was fully sheathed, you rolled your hips, Jisung's jaw opening in a silent moan, his breath stopping. Before he knew it, you were bouncing on him, doing your best to get a nice pace for the both of you.

"Holy...baby, you-you're so tight, this is...I-I don't--this is too much!" Jisung whined, his hands going to your hips. Moans left the both of you as you rode him, your eyes focused on his, as well as where the two of you were connected. You were bound and determined to get him to cum again. You wanted him to feel relief.

"Feel good, baby?"

"Fuck, yes! Baby, please, more, can-can you move more?" Jisung looked up at you, panting as you tried your best to move quicker. However, there was the single inevitable fact both of you knew.

You weren't the best with riding Jisung.

Sure, Jisung loved when you were on top of him, and you loved it too. However, you could only bounce so fast before it felt like your legs were gonna give out. And so, when Jisung was in the right mindset, he'd brace you before fucking up into you, which always felt incredible. But that sadly wasn't the case.

"Ji, I can only move so-fuck...so much, baby...I can hit deeper, but--"

"Do that! Please, just give me anything, m'close!" Jisung whined. And so, that's what you did.

You slowed your pace by a lot, but you lifted yourself almost completely off of him before letting yourself drop back down on him, causing both of you to cry out. After a small grind on his hips, you repeated, doing the same thing, except going a little faster.

"Fuck, just like that, baby...holy-m'gonna cum! Keep going, don't-don't stop!" Jisung wailed, gripping your hips tightly. And so, you did exactly that, moaning out as you continued to lift yourself up and drop down. And before you knew it, Jisung let out a sob, slamming his hips up into you, causing you both to cum at the same time.

"Shit shit shit, Jisung!" You cried, your front collapsing a bit. You were able to catch yourself on his chest, feeling his hips jut up into you as you ground yourself down onto him. You were panting now, trying to collect yourself as Jisung tried to calm himself down as well.

But you missed the fact that Jisung's cock wasn't softening inside of you. And you also missed the dark, lustful glint in Jisung's eyes.

"Holy...wow, that was something-ELSE!" You squealed.

You didn't even have time to realize what had happened, as Jisung had managed to muster up the strength to pick you up and flip both of you around. Now he was on top of you, both of your legs on his shoulders as he practically folded you in half. His face was inches from yours, his mouth hanging open as he slipped inside of you again, somehow hitting deeper.

And the second he managed to just kiss your cervix, he began to thrust mercilessly into you. He fucked into you so fast, his mouth near your ear as panting moans left Jisung as you let out cries. Both of his elbows were on either side of your head, his hands cradling you and holding you close to him as he pounded you.

"Fuck fuck fuck, you feel so fuckin' good, so tight and wet, I-I can't take it, baby...god, you're pussy's talkin' to me, I can hear it while you suck my cock back into you..." Jisung growled, before humming so lowly it practically shook your core. Every time his hips slammed into yours, his pitch would bump up for a second, before going back down. And that low hum was what got you to cum for a second time.

"Jisung, I'm cumming!" You cried out, gripping onto him. Your nails dug into his skin as you clung onto him for dear life. His pace never slowed as your body trembled, hell, he probably went faster at that.

"Hell yeah, you are...fuck, you're creamin' me, baby...god!" Jisung growled. He could feel your juices dripping onto his cock and down his leg as well as yours. And he could hear your cunt squelching. "Cum again--cream on my cock, make it messy...just how I like it, baby..."

And that's exactly what you did. You moaned out at his words, feeling your third orgasm rip through your soul. If there was anything that was gonna do you in, it was the combination of Jisung practically fucking into you like a rabbit, his hips unfaltering, and his fucking voice.

"Good girl, such a good girl for me..." Jisung growled into your ear. Of course, he continued his merciless pace. And due to you having gone through your third orgasm, you were sent right into overstimulation, meaning it wouldn't take you long to hit your fourth.

"J-Jisung, I-I can't...s'too much, I can't--"

"You can, baby...do it for me, you're takin' me so well, just a bit longer..." Jisung wasn't gonna take no for an answer. To make things even worse (not really), he quickly brought his hand up to his face, licked his fingers, and slipped it in between your bodies, only to start rubbing tight circles around your clit, which sent you reeling. You practically let out a sob, scratching Jisung's back harshly.

"JISUNG!" And without any warning, your fourth orgasm shot through you, making you wail. Feeling you hit your fourth orgasm is also what did Jisung in.

"Fuck, I'm gonna cum, baby...m'gonna fill you so much, m'gonna stuff you so full..." Jisung mumbled, his rhythm getting sloppier. You just wailed, just getting over that fourth orgasm, feeling that fifth one approaching quickly. "Fuck! I'm cumming!"

And with that, Jisung slammed his hips into you one last time, painting your walls white with his seed as you also hit your last orgasm of the night, your entire body shaking viciously from it. You felt like you had practically ascended, seeing god for the nth time.

Jisung slowly pulled out after that, finally feeling satisfied after that, and went to grab the cum towel you both kept in the bedroom. As he left, you continued to tremble, feeling aftershocks from your orgasms. And once Jisung came back, already cleaned up and in sweatpants, he immediately went over to you, kneeling next to your head and peppered your face in kisses.

"Good job, baby...you took me like a champ, you did so well, my baby..." Jisung said gently. His small kisses didn't stop once, making sure that you actually came down from your high before cleaning you up. And once you did, you let out a small giggle, letting Jisung know that you were back. "There she is..."

"Stop it, it's not like I blacked out." You said. Jisung pecked your lips, caressing your face for a second, just admiring you and your features.

"I know, but you definitely weren't here." Jisung told you, going over and wiping you down. He was nice and gentle, making sure he didn't accidentally make you uncomfortable.

"I scratched you, didn't I?" You asked, giving him a slightly concerned look as he continued to clean you up.

"Yeah, but don't worry about it." Jisung told you, giving you a smile as he kissed your thigh.

"You sure?"

"Mhm. Trust me, it didn't hurt, and if they stay, then it means that I get to show off how good I can make my baby feel, right?" Jisung asked, making you blush. Of course he'd wear those scratch marks around like a trophy. He'd do that with any marks you left on his body.

"Do you have to put it like that?"

"Of course I do!" And with that, he got back to work. Once you were clean, he left once more to put the towel away.

When he came back again, he had a pair of clean clothes for you. Kind of. It was a shirt of his that would be way too big (not that either of you minded) and a pair of panties.

He sat you up, kissing your cheek three more times before sliding his shirt over your head. And then, he slipped the pair of panties on your legs, getting them as high as possible before stopping and setting your arms around his neck.

"Alright, and... up!" Jisung said, standing up. Since your arms were around him, you stood up too, and he quickly slid the panties the rest of the way up. And finally, once you were fully dressed, he readjusted the two of you slightly before picking you up, making you squeal.

"Jisung!" You held onto him tightly as Jisung walked you to the bedroom, laughing at your reaction.

"What? I'm just taking care of my baby." Jisung told you, pressing yet another kiss to your cheek.

"But I can walk myself!"

"See, you say that, but we both know you're legs are gonna be the equivalent of Jello."

"Jisung!"

"You know I'm right!"

And with that, he gently set you on the bed, getting you underneath the covers. And after he quickly turned off the lights, he went to join you, pulling you close to him and holding you in his arms. Every here and there, he'd place gentle kisses on your head, admiring you with him. Neither of you could stop smiling either, just enjoying everything in this moment.

"I really love you; you know that. Right?" Jisung finally said, watching you nod.

"Mhm." You replied, tilting your head up before kissing his lips gently.

"And I love you."

Hey! Firstly, thank you so much for reading this post, and I really hope you enjoyed! If you did, please like, reblog, or comment so I can see how I'm doing with writing and getting feedback! I hope you have a lovely day! Sleep well, stay in good health, and eat something if you haven't! ❤️❤️❤️

[rhyrhy462]

Sleepover (G.D.)

Pairing: grayson dolan x best friend!reader

Warnings: bad writing, pining, one swear word, semi-sappines, self-indulgent because of the big mouth thing and the snacks

gif by @pinof

Everyone knew that Grayson Dolan went to bed early. It never failed that he was turning his phone off and putting it on his nightstand at midnight.

His best friend, Y/N, was a night owl. She went to bed at 3 in the morning most of the time.

Grayson and Y/N tried to squeeze in sleepovers whenever they could. These usually happened on Friday nights and consisted of, in no particular order, eating dinner, watching a movie, begging Grayson to take you to a grocery store to buy snacks, listening to music, begging Grayson to get you ice cream, and sleeping.

So just like all the other Friday nights, Y/N knocked on Grayson and Ethan’s door at exactly 6:53pm. She knows it’s a very specific time, but Grayson always has dinner ready by 7:05. So if she gets there at the perfect time, dinner will be ready and Grayson can’t yell at her for getting there too early when she complains about being hungry.

“It’s open, Y/N” Grayson yelled through the door, right as she was turning the knob and pushing the door in.

“I don’t even get a hello? I brought you homemade almond butter and everything!” If there was one thing Grayson loved in this world, it was Y/N’s homemade almond butter. He knew she just got the recipe online, but every time he tried to make it, it just didn’t turn out the right way.

“I’m sorry babe. Come give me a hug” Y/N felt her heart flutter when he called her ‘babe.’ Yeah, they called each other pet names all the time, but he said it so casually, almost as if she was his girl-

“Come gimme a hug.” Grayson pressed again, just as she started walking towards him.

She wrapped her arms around him, just as he wrapped one arm around her, still pushing around vegetables in a pan. “I missed you.”

Y/N and Grayson hadn’t had a sleepover in about a month and a half. They had both been busy. Whenever they did get to see each other, it’d be for an hour or so, but they never got to have fun with each other. “Missed you more.” Grayson replied, right as he was dumping the vegan stir-fry onto their plates.

“Looks good.” She said, as she started putting dishes in the dishwasher. If Y/N hated anything, it was having to do the dishes after she’s gotten comfortable. Lucky for her, Grayson had listened to her and started putting dishes in the dishwasher as he went along instead of having 30 dishes in the sink. She put the five dishes that had been left in the dishwasher, picked up her plate, and looked at Grayson questioningly. She was silently asking him if he was ready to go eat in his room.

“Let’s go.” Was all Grayson had to say to have her following him to his room.

Once they made it to Grayson’s room, Y/N plopped down onto his bed as he picked up the remote from his desk and tossed it to her. Every sleepover they alternated who got to choose what they watched. This time, it was Y/N’s turn. She turned his tv on and went straight to Netflix. Grayson had a feeling he knew what she was gonna pick. She threatened him with it all the time, but she did actually want to rewatch the show.

Grayson groaned as soon as he saw that she was hovering on Big Mouth. “What’s wrong with Big Mouth?” She genuinely wanted to know his answer.

“You’ve seen it at least ten times and you quote the whole show.” Grayson complained. He wasn’t wrong though. Y/N knew Big Mouth like the back of her hand. The reason why she watched it so many times was so she could directly quote the show. She already knew most of the iconic lines, but there were some she was still trying to learn.

“It’s my night to choose, babes. I hate to break it to ya, but I choose Big Mouth.” She said, just as she clicked on Season 1, Episode 2 ‘Everybody Bleeds.’ It was one of her favorite episodes because it was funny, but also because she knew the quotes. It was also the first episode Ladybug appeared in. If Y/N was honest, Ladybug was probably her favorite character. Ladybug was also the only character that she could completely quote.

With food in hand, she got as close to Grayson as humanly possible, just as he was draping a blanket over both of their legs. They ate while they exchanged jokes and talked about how’d they’d been, all while Y/N still managed to quote the best lines from Big Mouth.

They had finished eating a while ago. Now it was 9pm and Y/N wanted snacks. From their cuddled up position, she looked up at him, to see him looking at the screen. She smiled to herself because as much as he hated to admit it, Grayson thought Big Mouth was hilarious. “Gray?” She questioned, because yes, they had had dinner two hours ago, but she was ready for snacks.

He didn’t even have to look at her to know what she wanted. The first thing he did was look at his watch to confirm what time it was. It never failed. Around 9 o’clock, Y/N always wanted snacks. So he untangled himself from her and sat up, rubbing a hand over his face. His eyes darting around the room trying to find something that Y/N is completely unaware of. “Grayson? What are you looking for? Where are you going?” She asked, rubbing her eyes.

“I’m looking for two hoodies. You want to go get snacks don’t you?” Grayson said, realizing that none of his hoodies were anywhere in his room and he’d have to go into his closet.

“You know me so well.” She said, grinning when Grayson came out of his closet, two hoodies in hand, and tossed one to her.

Right after she slipped it on, on top of her shirt, Grayson was asking her, “Ready?”

He didn’t even wait for her response, just started walking towards his bedroom door, to which she followed right behind him, all the way to the Porsche. After they got in the car, he turned to look at her and asked, “Where we goin’?”

“Target.” She responded, as he started backing out of the driveway. Y/N always, always, let Grayson choose the music. Grayson always said the driver got to choose the music, but she never put up a fight with anything he chose. Which is why when Grayson asked her to shuffle his Young Thug playlist, she did it. No questions asked, bobbing her head to the music, even rapping some of it, on their way to Target.

When they got there, Grayson parked in the closest parking space he could find. There were a few cars in the parking lot, but not too many. Even if Grayson hadn’t seen Y/N in a while, he always kept three masks in his car. One for himself, one for Ethan, and one for Y/N. They both put their masks on and started walking toward the entrance.

When they got inside, Y/N was grabbing Grayson’s hand and dragging him all the way to the snacks section. The first thing she grabbed was pretzels, one of her all time favorite snacks, but sometimes she forgets how much she likes them. She went on a search to find Nutella, which in the process, Grayson made a smart comment about it not being vegan. Then she grabbed two bags of Doritos, cool ranch and nacho cheese.

Immediately after she grabbed the Doritos, she thought about ice cream. Grayson was on this stupid health kick getting ready for this match with Logan, that doesn’t even have a date. Because of that, it had become 200 times harder to convince Grayson to get ice cream. He knew that if he was around Y/N when she was eating ice cream, he’d cave. Which is why right now, when he saw that look in Y/N’s eyes, he knew exactly what she wanted.

He didn’t even let her get it out, “No.”

“But I didn’t even-“

“Absolutely not. I’m trying to eat healthy.”

“You don’t have to have any. Just let me get some.” She pleaded.

“Y/N, no. Are you done?”

“Grayson, please?” She begged, giving him that look that she knew would make him say yes.

“Fuckin’ fine. Let’s go” Grayson said, giving in.

So they walked to the ice cream section. Y/N already knew what she was going to get. She picked up two jars of Talenti. She made sure to choose vegan flavors, so she chose Alphonso Mango and Roman Raspberry. Grayson groaned when he realized she chose vegan ice cream. “You want me to have some that bad?”

She just nodded and told him, “I’m ready to check out.”

They walked to self-checkout and put everything down. Grayson always let Y/N scan because it was one of her favorite things to do. She didn’t know why, it just made her happy. When she had scanned everything, she went to pull out her card. “Uh-uh.” This was a conversation they had all the time. Y/N could afford to buy her own snacks, but Grayson just wouldn’t allow it.

“Grayson, at most it’s 25 dollars. It’s not that big of a deal.”

“I invited you over, so I should pay for it.”

“I asked for snacks, so I should pay for it.”

“Let me pay for it this time and then you can pay me back later.” Grayson only suggested that because he knew she never carried cash and he didn’t have cash app.

“Fine, but I get to buy them next time.”

“Ok, fine.” Grayson just shrugged his shoulders.

“Promise.” Y/N said, holding out her pinky.

“I promise.” Grayson said, as he linked their pinkies together rolling his eyes.

The ride back to Grayson’s house was smooth, but it felt long. So long, that Y/N tilted her head back and closed her eyes for what felt like 2 minutes. It actually ended up being a little under 30 because when she was opening her eyes, they were pulling into his driveway.

Grayson didn’t say anything about her falling asleep. Every chance he got, he’d glance over at the sleeping girl beside him. Right now, though, he was running over to open the car door for her and help her out. Every time she fell asleep in the car she was always disoriented for a few minutes after.

When they got back to his bedroom, spoons in hand because they stopped at the kitchen to get napkins and spoons, Grayson dropped the bag in the middle of the bed while Y/N crawled right back in his bed. As Grayson was climbing into bed, Y/N realized that it was a little after 11pm. She knew once Grayson had some ice cream, he’d be out like a light and she’d be up all alone, but she just wanted to live in the moment. Turning Big Mouth back on, they snuggled, both holding ice cream and a blanket thrown over them because Grayson knew Y/N got cold when she ate ice cream, but refused to admit it.

It was closing in on 12am and she saw Grayson trying to keep his eyes open and converse with her about any and everything. “Go to sleep, babe. I can stay up on my own.” She murmured to him as she went to reach for the remote to turn the tv off, so Grayson could sleep well.

Grayson grabbed the remote before she could and sat up a little bit straighter, “Don’t be silly. I want to stay up with you.”

“Babyyyy.” She said, absolutely oblivious to the fact that he was in love with her and would stay up all night with her if it meant getting to hang out with her.

“I love you, Y/N.” And he meant it with everything he had.

“I love you more, bub.” She responded, as Grayson pulled her even further into his chest.

tagging: @blindedbythelightt​ @333dolans​ @foxglovedolan​

A/N: hi! if you read it, thank you!! this had no business being 2k words, but it’s my longest fic thus far. if you have feedback let me know. if you wanna be tagged, which idk why you would, but if you do lmk. this literally took like 3 hours to write becuase writers block 😭😭😭😭 anyway, this is so self-indulgent i- anyway, love you sm. peace ✌️

[thiswasinevitableid]

3. Sweets for OT4 because Barclay making sweet things for his polycule is the soft that I need! Sfw, with mer Duck and Joseph?

Here it is! Joseph’s design is based on a Spotted Drum, Duck’s on a Mahi-Mahi.

Most days, Barclay’s house resembles a cookbook library. Today, it looks like a cookbook library that got hit by a catastrophic earthquake.

His goal is to find three perfect recipes to bring to the beach with him tonight, but he keeps changing his mind; whenever he settles on a menu, he turns the page or turns around and finds another contender staring at him from its glossy photo.

Indrid is the simplest; he likes sweet food in all his forms, though he’ll make concessions to the rest of the tastes from time to time. It was one such concession (to sour) that first introduced them. Indrid was shooting a fashion spread in town and came into Amnesty Lodge, where Barclay was working the counter at their little coffee bar. 

“I suppose I should get a slice of the key lime pie, since we’re in the keys.”

Barclay cut him a generous slice because he liked the curve of his smile. Indrid sat at the counter, took a bite, took a second bite, and then ate so fast his fork was a silver blur. He licked his plate clean when he thought Barclay wasn’t looking. There was a dot of whipped cream on his nose that Barclay almost offered to kiss off. But he exercised restraint and gave him a napkin instead.

Indrid came back the next day, and the next, and the day after that too. When Barclay asked how long the shoot was, Indrid admitted it was done three days ago.

“I, ah, I’ve been coming down from the city just for your food.”

“That’s the best compliment anyone’s ever given me.” Barclay leans across the counter, smiling when he spots Indrid’s eyes giving him a once over from behind his red-lensed glasses.

“May I have the chance to pay you some more? Perhaps tonight if you’re free? 

He was, and Indrid complimented him before, after, and during the night they spent together. Barclay would have been fine with a one-night stand, let the memory of Indrid’s tan, angular body under his hands carry him for the next few months. But the photographer came back at least three times a week and took Barclay out as much as possible. He learned Indrid was a big enough deal that he could pick and choose assignments and that he traveled often, but the longer they were together, the more he talked about moving his headquarters to Kepler.

Two years later, his office and studio are ten minutes from the apartment he and Barclay share. When he’s in town, he’s glued to Barclays side.When he travels, Barclay gets postcards signed with hearts or filled with sketches of what Indrid’s seen (and he always comes home laden with local delicacies for Barclay to try).

Wait, what were those hard candies he brought back and then ate all of? Yeah, that will work. Barclay checks to be sure he has heavy cream and makes a note to get pineapple from the grocery store. He’d hoped to avoid a trip out, but Indrid is worth it. Indrid is one of the best things to ever happen to him. 

He’s also the reason Barclay has to find three recipes and not just one.

A year ago Indrid was location scouting for a dramatic oceanside shoot. On a remote outcropping, waves splashing around him, a man popped up from the water to ask what the hell he was doing so far out and didn’t he know the tide overtook this rock real quick?

Indrid, a little strange himself, recovered quickly from being scolded  by a merman. And promptly asked if merman would like to pose for a portrait. If not, would he be able to show Indrid some good locations for photographing rays?

Duck, green-finned and strong, became Indrid’s guide to the reef. It didn’t take long before Barclay noticed Indrid getting dreamy-eyed when he recounted their adventures. Maybe he should have been jealous, but he was just happy his boyfriend found a hunky merman to show him the wonders of the sea.

These days, he considers Duck one of his best friends, a friend who also happens to make Indrid’s face light up like the Vegas strip whenever he smiles at him. 

Duck’s palate tends towards the savory side, and on days when he needs a pick-me-up Barclay will bring him a travel bowl of french onion soup and a hard seltzer, the two of them sitting on the sand and comparing notes on troublesome customers (or, in Duck’s case, park guests in the aquatic campground on the far edge of the reef. 

Actually, that gives Barclay an idea. He grabs the flour from the cupboard, sets it next to the jar of yeast and a bottle of wheat beer. They may be metamours and not partners but, as Barclay often jokes, he owes Duck big time. 

See, shortly after meeting Duck, Indrid guided Barclay down to a hidden patch of beach. 

“I want Duck to meet you, dearest. He also has someone he wishes to introduce to us.”

Duck barely had time to emerge before another merman pulled himself onto the beach and began asking questions. 

“See, this is why I asked him to come. Joe’s fascinated by the human world. Even swam under a glass bottom boat tryin to get a look at some tourists. Which was real dangerous.”

“You didn’t seem to mind  disciplining me for it” Joseph shoots a smile at the other mer, then continues his examination of Indrid’s camera.

With black hair, blue eyes, and a stunning white and black tail, Joseph is the most handsome man Barclay’d ever seen. Later, when he had to explain the fact he was attracted to both him and Indrid, he’d say that the difference in his boyfriends was like the difference between being fed by a classically trained French chef and Spanish chef pushing the boundaries of molecular gastronomy; radically different, but equally amazing.

Joseph, inquisitive and clever, began asking to see them whenever he could. Barclay started bringing food down for Joseph to try, played him movies on his phone, and fell harder for him whenever he laughed or smiled or made a bad pun. 

Some nights Duck, Indrid, or both joined them. Other nights it was just the two of them and water, Joseph lazily waving his tail back and forth as they talked. One evening, he dragged it across Barclay’s legs by accident and the human wasn’t quick enough in hiding his reaction.

“Should I do that again?”

“S-sure.” 

“Can I kiss you at the same time?”

“Yes! No, fuck, wait we, we need to talk to Indrid and Duck about this.”

“I suspect they won’t mind, but you’re right. We’ll take a rain check, big guy. And please pass me that cake.”

In addition to his other good qualities, Joseph has the most sophisticated palates of anyone, mer or human, Barclay knows. As in he can taste the notes of blackberry or chocolate that a wine label insists are there but Barclay can only sort of get a hint of. Barclay once bought him a sampler box of expensive wines, cooked oysters over a driftwood fire, and hand fed both to Joseph as he moaned and wiggled with delight, outlining in no uncertain terms what he’d do for Barclay as a thank you.

(He still can’t look at a bottle of white wine without blushing)

That means Barclay has to make something that's as sweet and sophisticated as the mer himself. Ripe peaches tickle his nose. He grabs his copy of Dessert for All Seasons, flipping to summer with a smile. 

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

“Okay, so” Barclay sets the bags down on the picnic blanket, “I, uh, I decided making one sweet thing wasn’t enough. I know that’s kinda silly but you three are so fucking important to me I wanted to do this right.”

“Doubt you’ll get any complaints from mr. sweet tooth.” Duck smirks. Indrid, lounging in linen shorts a moth patterned Hawaiin shirt, sticks his tongue out. The mer just blows him a kiss in response. 

“And there’s no need to apologize for being thoughtful.” Joseph drapes his tail over Ducks, “it’s one of your best traits.”

“Thanks, babe. Uh, so, Indrid, this is for you.” He lifts the pie plate from the ice chest, “it’s pineapple cream with vanilla whipped cream on top.”

“I love you.” Indrid takes the dish with wide-eyed appreciation. 

“Duck, these are for you.”

“Oh hell yeah, pretzels. Wait, is this-”

“French onion soup dip? Yep.”

“I’m gonna eat the hell outta this.”

“And, uh” he slides the cake carrier towards Joseph, “I found a recipe for a peaches and cream Prosecco cake. Hope you like it.” 

Joseph lifts the lid, licks his lips, then pushes the carrier into the center of blanket so he can roll and put his head in Barclay’s lap.

“You’re the best.”

“Indeed. Which is why we have something for you as well.” Indrid stands, stepping over Duck and then eeping when the mer gently whacks his ass with his tail. When he returns (stopping to bend down a pinch the sensitive upper back of said tail), it’s with the cake carrier Barclay looked everywhere for earlier today.

Beneath the pink plastic lid is a cake coated in milk chocolate frosting.

“‘Drid said this was the one you made yourself for your birthday.” 

“Oh fuck, the chocolate malt one?”

“The very same. We had to get a bit creative cooking it; Joseph suggested making the layers  in cast iron over a fire, which worked well. After all, we didn’t want to ruin the surprise.”

The frosting message of “happy one year anniversary” gets a little blurry, and he wipes his eyes, “this is so fucking sweet, you guys.”

“You deserve it.” Joseph kisses his hand as Indrid rests his head on his shoulder, Duck scooching over to lay across Indrid’s lap. 

Barclay smiles, “We all do.”

[smolbeanieee]

Wonpil as dad to be

this cute little bean is the first one to notice about your pregnancy

you been throwing up and feeling nauseous

every morning

for past few weeks

the hints that would go unnoticed for Wonpil

“honey, when the last time you having your period?” he asked

whilst rubbing your back up and down when you're throwing up at the sink

“I don't exactly remember but I think it's last two months??”

you replied, making your way to couch

too exhausted to stand anymore

whilst your husband, kim wonpil

starts to calculate in his head and something popped off

His eyes went big and gasped

“maybeeeEeee, by any chance, you're pregnant?”

“whAT??” your eyes went bigger as you never thought with all the symptoms showing you're getting pregnant

wonpil tries to sustain his grins

“you know, you missed your period, this constant throwing up, who knows??” he said, taking your hands into his, rubbing in soothing manner

the idea of getting pregnant makes him nervous yet excited

“I guess we gotta go to have check up then” you said

making Wonpil squeals in joy, pulling you into his embrace as grins never left his face

so when the doctor confirm you're pregnant

wonpil went !!!!

he's been so loud for the whole day!!

expressing how happy and delight he is

he become more clingy

and more touchy with you

as for the 1st trimester

you just feeling nauseous, food cravings and all

but!!

wonpil experience something he didn't think of!!

he would felt dizzy and restless at your early pregnancy

you were worried about him so you did a couple of research on the internet

“ah it's says here that it's normal for the husband to experience the symptoms when their wife are pregnant”

you explain whilst massaging his temple as he lays down beside you

upon hearing that, Wonpil groans and whining like a child

“buT WHY MEEEEeeeEe??”

“maybe you too overwhelmed by my pregnancy??”

which resulted him absent from the band practice as the members would constantly tease him about it

for your cravings

Wonpil did everything for your from weird cravings to late night cravings

he would bought everything you want

and keep it as stock in your kitchen

you sobs sadly when Wonpil accidentally ate your favourite pastries

“b-but that's the last piece of pretzel..i-it's my favourite” you cries hard when you saw half of the pretzel has been eaten by him

making Wonpil flustered

“I'm sorry, I thought you don't want to eat that's why I'm eating it..”

Wonpil explained as he nervously approach you, wiping tears from your eyes

which resulted you cries even harder in his arm

Wonpil tries to persuade you with other pastries for the whole 3 hours

sometimes you felt irritated when Wonpil gets touchy with you

as it's part of your mood swings

“Wonpil, can you please stop being clingy with me?”

you said with a slight of annoyance in your tone [I'm sorry wonpil for being harsh :(( ]

he pouts,,,

but he didn't take it too deep because he understands how bad your mood swings can be,,,

he would gives you space,,,

and eventually you yourself would persuade him when you're feeling better

Wonpil would called his mom for her opinions,,,

“Mom, is craving usually weird? I meant y/n has been eating salad with strawberry jam...”

which earns a soft punch on his stomach when you heard him

also!!

would accompany you to every check up

because this boi doesn't want to miss about his child progress

for the 2nd trimester

your belly become more visible!!

Wonpil would gives rubs and kisses whenever he got the chance

like you're resting on the couch? smooch!!

you're getting ready?? smooch!!

he would discuss with you about the preparations

“shOULD WE NEED STROLLER?”

“whAT ABOUT THE BIB??”

“dO WE NEED THE BABY CHAIR??”

“wonpil calm down, our child is still a small baby”

you chuckles upon seeing him being so excited whilst writing down the things need to buy for the upcoming baby

when time comes for revealing baby gender, Wonpil can't stay still

“ah I'm so excited!!” he exclaimed

“babe, do you think it's a girl or boy?”

you asked, caressing your stomach softly while waiting for the doctor to call up your name

“Hmm...I don't know. Whatever it is, I'm happy” Wonpil said, showing his big grins to you

so when the doctor shows the gender of the baby on the screen

“it's a giRL!!”

Wonpil shrieks excitedly in the room making you giggles

“I'm sorry” he whispers, tries to contains his giggles as he back on focusing on the screen that shows your daughter

Wonpil would try to buy everything he sees

that pink dress?? yeap he would bought it!!

that pink bowl set?? check!

pink onesie??? Wonpil on it!!

also

whenever he heard you groans how your feet sore or your muscle aches

wonpil would quickly comes by your side

along with the lotion or oil

of course he would nag how you can’t move around much

as your first daughter kicks

is when Wonpil is practicing with his keyboard and you’re accompanying him at his practice room

you whines on how you can’t sleep when your daughter moves around a lot

when Wonpil plays a soft lullaby, you felt your daughter response at his voice

“woNPIL!!” you gasped, holding your stomach

shocked hearing your voice

wonpil’s eyes went big

“do you feel the contraction already????” he panics

as he ready to pick you up

“n-no.  I felt her first kicking when you play the lullaby”

“really?? reALLY???”

you nods as he puts his hands against your stomach

and few moments later

“whOAA!! That’s our daughter’s kicking???” wonpil amazed, mouth agape in amusement as you chuckles at his reactions

as the 3rd trimester comes in

Wonpil didn’t allow you to do heavy chores

he would ensure to cooks you healthy foods

ensure all the chores done before you get up

prepares your bag for the labour room early

“wonpil, my due date is three weeks from now.” you said as you watch him puts the bag at the main door, near the shoe rack

“I’m just getting ready.  It would be easier to grab the bag when you due comes later”

whenever your felt insecure with your body, Wonpil never fails to showers you with the loves

“baby, you have becomes more pretty and shines more bright when you’re pregnant, you know that? It’s okay to gain some weight, we can do pair exercise together” Wonpil ensure you

when the time comes!!

wonpil feels nervous and sad when he saw you frowning during the contractions

“honey, it’s hurts so much”

his heart hurts a little when you whines how hurt it felt

so while waiting,,,

he takes you into warms hug, wrapping his hands around your shoulder and softly swaying you back and forth

as you place your head on his chest

hearing his heartbeat surprisingly calms you down

he whispers nothing but encouraging words and tells how much he loves you into your ears

as in the labour room, wonpil’s focus is on you

he hold your hand tightly as you push your daughter out

“baby, I knows it’s hurt,,,you can do this,,,you’re the best woman I ever met and I’m so proud to have you as my wife” Wonpil said, caressing your head softly

when you heard him, you muster up your courage and gives the last big pushes and finally, your daughter’s cries can be heard within the room

upon hearing the cries, Wonpil chokes in tears as he watch the nurse holding his daughter

“she’s finally here” Wonpil whispered to himself which go unnoticed by you

making you faintly chuckles,,,feeling proud

 when the nurse hand over your daughter, Wonpil cries out of happiness and went at you at the bed, showing your child in his arms

“she is so pretty” you said, tracing her features softly

“just like you,,,thank you sweetheart,,,i love you” wonpil whispered, giving you assuring smiles with tears at his corner of eyes

wonpil felt his heart full of loves and warmth as he look over you and his daughter

something he wouldn’t trade forever and would protect at all cost

[gamerwoo]

Seventeen headcanon: Joshua as Nani and David’s son

from this svt as disney characters’ kids hc i did

a/n: i think there’s a second lilo & stitch or something like that but this isn’t based off of any of that since i haven’t seen it. but i think experiment 002 is in the series sooooo i guess it is kinda based off the series too

warnings: josh x female reader, hybrids, a small mention of death in the very beginning, mentions of bullying

-

So at first, Nani wanted Josh to be raised not knowing anything about aliens or experiments

It’s her first kid and she wanted him to be,,,,,”normal” for lack of a better word

But of course, that was very difficult, and Joshua ended up knowing about aliens around the time he was 2 or 3

David’s honestly impressed they even got that far tbh

“That’s all still a part of him,” David explained. “The aliens and the weird stuff, that’s just how his family is. We can’t keep him away from it.”

He even got his own experiment as a “pet” when he was about 5 or 6

Mrs. Hasagawa had passed away, and the experiments that she thought were ‘cats’ needed a home

Josh picked out experiment 002 aka Doubledip

He was a cute and essentially harmless (other than the fact that Joshua grew up basically sharing every single food he ate with Doubledip like ice cream and lollipops and stuff)

Josh nicknamed him DD and Double D, and they’ve been together ever since

As a kid, Joshua was super close with Lilo, Stitch, Jumba, and Pleakley

He absolutely adored all of them and always wanted to go hang out with them despite Nani being lowkey upset about it

“It’s fine, they’ll keep him safe,” David would always remind her. “They’re ohana after all.”

However, there reached a point where Joshua got bullied kind of like Lilo did

His norm wasn’t necessarily the norm for everyone else

No one else believed in aliens or experiments

No one else had the same thoughts and ideas that Joshua did

No one else was interested in the same things Joshua was

He knew he had to say DD was his dog, but he didn’t think that he would have to be a completely different person just to fit in

But that’s what he did

Instead of focusing on aliens and experiments, he focused on surfing

Thankfully, he was raised learning how to surf, but now that was his #1 interest

He stopped visiting his aunt and Stitch as often

The only real connection to his ‘weird’ side was DD because how could he just give up his childhood best friend?

Well, other than Seokmin

Seokmin was always the only person who ever knew what Joshua was truly like, and he even tried to stop Josh from changing himself to fit in

“I can literally grow a tail!” Seokmin pointed out. “I talk to a dolphin on a daily basis! I’m the king of weird, and I’m still a prince!”

“Yeah, but that’s normal in your kingdom,” Joshua pouted as he sat out in the ocean on his surfboard, talking with Seokmin. “Here, it’s not. Normal isn’t experiments and aliens and spaceships.”

So despite his best efforts, Joshua just became as average as possible, which he would have to see when they hung out on the beach and went for walks together

But in the ocean, Josh could say and do whatever he wanted without being judged

Like feeding Pudge the fish’s offspring

So since becoming less weird since he was a kid, Joshua got more friends, including the girl who worked at the froyo place he often hung out with Seokmin at

And pretty much everyone calls him Shua

Her name was Mali and she feared the ocean despite living a five minute walk away

He usually spends most of his time there so that’s how they met

He’s basically just a regular

And it’s at that froyo shop that Joshua’s life starts to change

“So y’know Seungcheol?” Seokmin asks

“Not really,” Joshua shrugs. “I just know you talk about him and he’s a prince of some other kingdom.”

“Right, well he’s having a birthday party this weekend, and I can bring a plus one. Since I don’t have a princess or anything to bring, I wanted to bring you.”

“Really? Why not like, one of those girls lined up to date you or whatever? What are they called?”

Joshua obviously isn’t royalty so he doesn’t know much about these things

But it’s fine because Seokmin doesn’t know anything about experiments or surfing either

“I don’t want to bring a date, I want to bring my best friend!”

“I thought your best friend was Kipper.”

“I can’t bring a dolphin on land, barnacle head.”

Cue Josh flinging his damp towel at Seokmin’s head and going, “Not cool, bro.”

And Mali sighing behind the counter about how, “We really need a sign that requires you to wear a shirt in here.”

So skip to Seungcheol’s party

Admittedly, Joshua is pretty nervous

He keeps trying on different clothes but all he really owns are shorts, t-shirts, tank tops, flip flops/sandals, and sneakers

He’s a surfer dude okay, he doesn’t really need to dress up for anything

“DD, does this look okay?”

DD simply ignores him and continues to lick the bowl of candy Josh keeps for him

David and Nani have to help him find something decent to wear

Although David insists he should wear something super fancy since Seungcheol is royalty

“So...is he a lion then, or...?” he keeps asking

And then Joshua has to explain for the hundredth time that he’s kind of a lion-human hybrid thanks to magic stuff and yadda yadda yadda 

Tbh, Josh doesn’t even get it

Seokmin finally picks him up, and they go to Seungcheol’s kingdom for the party

With David still asking questions even after they leave because he doesn’t understand this magic concept

And yet he understands aliens

Sort of

Josh is used to acting normal to fit in, but now he’s trying to act Extra Normal TM

But god he’s so curious because he’s never really been outside of Hawaii so he can’t help but just look around in wonder at all the sights and the people

And then Seokmin asked, “Do you wanna meet Seungcheol?”

“Like...the prince?” Joshua stammered

“You do remember that I’m a prince too, right?”

“Yeah, but-- DD!”

Joshua suddenly spotted his experiment trying to eat the cupcakes

He didn’t even know DD went with him, but he assumes the little experiment hopped into his backpack before he left

“So much for acting normal...” Seokmin mumbled under his breath before running over to help Josh with his little problem

Now, 002 wouldn’t be an issue, but his name is Doubledip

Essentially, all he’s going to do is lick all of the food before putting it back

If you couldn’t tell, that’s disgusting

So DD is loose at the party of a royal, and it would be all Joshua’s fault that the food is ruined

So the urgency to collect DD and get him back into Joshua’s backpack is very, very valid

Well, and the fact that Joshua wants to come across as normal as possible

Thankfully, DD only licked 5 cupcakes and 3 mini hot dogs wrapped in croissants before Joshua managed to stuff him back into his backpack and handed him a bowl of pretzels to keep him occupied

And it was as Joshua was zipping his backpack up that he accidentally bumped into you

You lived in Seungcheol’s kingdom, but you were one of the people who actually quite liked him

Since Seungcheol is Kovu’s son and Kovu was considered bad before, there’s some controversy over him but that’s another story for another time

You wanted a drink and he accidentally backed up into you

You spilled your drink a little but at least it didn’t get on your clothes

You both spun around and began apologizing even though you didn’t really do anything so you weren’t sure why you were apologizing

“I-I can get you a new drink!” he stammered

“It’s really fine,” you assured him with a polite smile.

But you’d never really seen either of them around, and you figured you should mingle a little since you were here, right?

“You guys aren’t from around here, are you?” you asked.

The one behind him stepped forward and smiled brightly, “Nope! I’m Prince Seokmin, the son of King Eric and Queen Ariel.”

“Oh! It’s an honor to meet you!” you bowed to him before looking expectantly at the one who’d bumped into you.

“That’s just Shua,” Seokmin shrugged. “He’s from Hawaii.”

But y’know what, just Shua from Hawaii was kinda cute

And he thought the same

Plus, you just seemed normal and that’s what he wanted

You were just wearing some jeans, a nice shirt, a cardigan, and a beanie

Compared to all the royalty and important people here, you were like a breath of fresh air

“Hey, Seokmin!” a new voice called

And Prince Seungcheol strolled over and grinned at the other prince he called his friend

“Oh, I see you’ve brought a friend -- and you met _____!”

Seokmin introduced the two and then the four of you continued to make some small talk

You were just thankful that Seungcheol didn’t say or do anything to blow your cover

He eventually walked away to greet other guests, leaving the three of you alone again

But you continued to talk

Seokmin kinda took the hint that he was a bit of a third wheel at this point and left to find someone else to talk to

He’s a prince and he knows other princes so it’s fine

He mumbled something about wishing someone named Wonwoo was there but you didn’t pay any attention to it

You talked about where he was from, what he did for fun, what his family was like and stuff

He may have slightly bullshitted and/or left out some things but it’s fine

You also talked about you and what you did and your family

You may have also slightly bullshitted and/or left things out but again, it’s fine

Eventually, Joshua asked if you wanted to dance since you’d been standing at the snack table just talking this whole time

And since Seokmin was a great wingman and took the bag with DD in it, he was safe to do whatever

So you agreed and the two of you danced and talked all night

And you were so worried when the party was over that you wouldn’t see him again

But he asked if there was any way he could see you again and your heart fluttered

And you said you were sure you could make that happen

You had to figure out what surfing was, anyway

But after that was all over and you went home and the butterflies had died down just enough for you to think about something other than your growing crush on Joshua from Hawaii

You remembered that you weren’t exactly who or what he thought you were

And now you had to keep that hidden from him

And you weren’t sure how long you could do that

And when Joshua was on the way home with Seokmin, who was happily talking all about how he got to see Hansol again and he finally got to meet Hyunggu and everything

DD popped out of the backpack with his bowl of now salt-less pretzels

And Joshua remembered that you didn’t know what he was really like

Or his family

And now he’d have to keep that a secret from you, too

So fast forward to the next weekend, and you were planning to visit him

Joshua was doing his absolute best to like, hide everything

Make sure Lilo, Stitch, and any of the others won’t be around

Make sure his cousin won’t be hanging around

Make sure DD is at Lilo’s

Meanwhile, you had to make sure you looked normal before you left

Which was basically just wearing normal bottoms and wearing a hat

So when you arrived in Hawaii, Joshua was there to eagerly greet you

Though he didn’t really seem it on the outside

He’s the stereotypical surfer dude so he’s just very chill overall

He basically had the whole weekend planned out

Most of it consisted of teaching you how to surf

“I actually hate the water,” you admitted as he walked with you down the beach toward the water

He chuckled, “Well, then you’ll hate surfing. It’s in the water”

So instead of surfing, he compromised and made sand castles with you on the beach

He said something about wanting to show you the joys of fresh coconut milk so you offered to climb up and get one

“Nah, it’s cool,” he chuckled. “It’s high up anyway.”

“I’m a great climber!” you reassured him

And then you climbed up a tree and got him a coconut

But then he had to open it himself which was a whole struggle by itself

And then he brought you to his favorite place to go after surfing: the froyo shop

“Make a new friend, Shua?” Mali smirked

“Be nice. This is _____, she’s from Seungcheol’s kingdom. You know him, right?”

“Kovu and Kiara’s kid, right?”

You noticed that Mali joked around with Joshua a lot, but it was very lighthearted

You liked her

He had to work that night but he invited you because he worked as a fire torch performer (dude fuck if i know the correct term) at a restaurant

Which also meant you got to meet his parents, David and Nani

“So you’re the girl he’s been talking about so much,” David grinned as he went to shake your hand

And then Nani gently whacked him in the shoulder and reminded him, “You weren’t supposed to mention that,” in a hushed tone

Which you heard

David only shrugged and gestured to you, “Well she’s blushing, isn’t she?”

Overall, you thought his parents were great

Though, they did seem a little strange

Then again, who were you to judge?

David would start to say something only for Nani to quickly cut him off

You decided to not think much of it

You did have to admit, watching Josh twirl fire around without burning anything or himself was impressive

Why did he have to seem so perfect?

Afterwards, he joined you guys for dinner

Nobody let the alien thing slip, so overall, he thought it went pretty good

He was really sad to see you go but you promised you’d come back again soon

And you did

The two of you actually saw each other a lot

And feelings on both sides only continued to grow

He did finally have to introduce you to Lilo and Stitch and DD, though

He knew he couldn’t keep them hidden forever, and besides, everyone still fell for the dog thing when it came to the two experiments

Well, Doubledip was originally supposed to be a ‘cat’ but whatever

And Josh just made Lilo swear to not talk about aliens or mention anything weird

“I really like this girl,” he explained to her, “so don’t mess it up”

“You know, I’m fantastic with girls!” Pleakley chimed in

Joshua quickly shook his head, “You and Jumba aren’t invited”

So eventually, you had met all of Joshua’s family

Well, he called it ohana and explained what it meant, and you thought it was really cute

He was happy to find that you did buy the dog story, and you really liked DD and you got along with Stitch

Tbh he was most worried about Stitch

DD gets along with pretty much anyone, but Stitch isn’t so easy

Things were going super well, so he was ready to ask you to actually be his girlfriend

He brought you on a nice picnic on the beach where the two of you first hung out

And he had everything laid out and the two of you were starting to eat, and he was going to ask

But then he heard his name being shouted from down the beach

Lilo was out and about with her daughter and Stitch

And Stitch was very excited to see you

He bolted down the beach toward you and jumped on you, knocking you back onto the blanket

And also knocking your hat off your head

Out popped your fuzzy white round ears

Stitch pulled back and looked at you, head cocked to one side

Joshua just froze and stared at you

Because you weren’t technically human

You were from Seungcheol’s kingdom, so you were an animal that used magic to stay human

That magic turned you into a human/animal hybrid, just like Seungcheol

But instead of being a lion, you were a lemur

It was why you wore hats to hide your ears and jeans and skirts to hide your tail

It was why you didn’t like water

It was why you could climb trees so well

You weren’t normal

And now Joshua knew that

“I-I gotta go,” you quickly stuttered out, grabbing your hat and scrambling to get up

“_____--”

You shook your head, jamming your hat back on your head to conceal your ears, “Save it, I already know what it is.”

“B-but you’re-- What are you...?”

“I’m a lemur, alright?” you huffed, tears pricking your eyes because you knew Joshua was not going to want anything to do with you

Even though you were a human and could stay human, you couldn’t get rid what you really were

It was weird, and people didn’t like weird

“You don’t have to say anything about it,” you continued as you tried your best to keep from crying, “because I already know you’re going to say I’m weird and you won’t want anything to do with me. So I’ll go and I won’t bother you again. And...I’m sorry for not telling you.”

And then you ran up the beach, not looking back once

Joshua sighed and dropped his head, closing his eyes as he rubbed over his face with his hands

Stitch just looked up at him and said, “Oops...”

Heartbroken, Joshua walked back home alone

Nani and David knew what he was planning, so they were so excited for him to get home

But seeing him with a frown as he threw the half-empty picnic basket on the counter before going to his bedroom without a word, they knew something was wrong

“I’ll take this one,” David told her before going to Joshua’s room

David knocked softly before entering to find his son face down on his bed

“Do you wanna talk about it?”

“No,” he mumbled into his pillow

“Did...she say no?”

“I didn’t even get to ask, dad,” he sighed, lifting his head to look at David

“Did something come up?”

“Stitch tackled her and knocked her hat off and she...”

How was Joshua supposed to explain this?

He could deal with aliens and experiments, but human animals were something he hadn’t dealt with before

Would his dad even believe him?

“What? She got a weird haircut or something?” David chuckled

“She had fuzzy animal ears,” Joshua finally told him straight-out. “She’s an animal that’s human by magic.”

“Ah, right. That stuff you explained before. Y’know, Nani had to tell me how that worked like, seven times before I really got it.”

Joshua just let out a groan and dropped his head back in his pillow again

David sighed and sat on the edge of the bed, “Who are you to judge? You keep an experiment as a pet -- and worse, it licks everything you eat.”

Joshua pushed himself to sit up and sat beside his dad, “That’s not it, dad. I still like her, it’s just--”

“I thought you wanted a ‘normal’ girl, though?”

He just shrugged, “I like her. But she ran away before I could tell her. Besides, I’m way weirder...”

“Then if you like her for being a little different, why can’t you be okay with yourself being different?”

“A little?”

“Do you think being an animal is only a little different?”

And it’s that talk that caused Joshua to go after you

He packed up the photo of his ohana that he kept on his nightstand

And he packed DD

And he left for Seungcheol’s kingdom

You were obviously just as upset, if not more, back home

The silver lining was that you could wear your usual pants which had a hole cut in them for your tail to comfortably stick out

You wanted to spend the next day just sulking

But you ended up being called to Seungcheol, claiming there was someone who needed to talk to you

Joshua got Seokmin to bring him to Seungcheol’s because he realized he had no idea how he’d find you

And walking into Seungcheol’s throne room, Joshua was the last person you expected to see

“Sh-Shua? But...w-what are you--”

“I like you,” he blurted before you could finish what you were saying. “I like you with your ears and your tail because you’re still you. But before you say anything, just... These are things you should know about me, too.”

He opened his bag, and out popped DD

“Double D isn’t my dog. He’s an alien experiment from outer space, and the only thing he knows how to do is double dip foods, and lick things before putting them back. He’s stupid, and I love him”

Then he pulled out a framed picture and handed it to you

You looked it over and saw it was Joshua, Nani, David, Lilo, Lilo’s two kids, Stitch, DD, and some...things you didn’t recognize

“That’s my whole ohana. It’s not just the people I let you meet.”

He told you all about the aliens included in the photo, and you listened, glancing between the picture and him

And when he was done, you just stared at him because honestly, you didn’t suspect him to be anything but normal

But for some reason, maybe because he could relate to you, you liked him even more

Neither of you were considered ‘normal’ so didn’t that make you an even better match?

“I just...wanted you to know that before you decided to never speak to me again,” Joshua concluded

You weren’t sure what to say even though you knew exactly what you wanted to say

You just didn’t really know how to say it

“This is the part you tell him you still like him, too,” Seungcheol whispered in your ear

While Seokmin was Joshua’s wingman, apparently Seungcheol became yours

“I like you, too,” you told him with a sheepish smile, feeling your cheeks heat up

Joshua’s grin matched the brightness of the sun

“So...you wanna go out sometime?” Joshua asked

To which Seokmin whispered, “You’ve already done that before. Just ask her to be your girlfriend, kelp-for-brains”

So he does

And you accept

The next time you visit, you properly meet his ohana

Jumba and Pleakley definitely take a little getting used to but you do think they’re pretty amusing with the way they bicker

“They’re like an old married couple!”

“Don’t say that in front of Jumba, though”

You visit him all the time

So often that sometimes you just spend weeks there at a time

You eventually work your way up to being able to sit on Joshua’s board while he surfs

He makes sure to only go on baby waves so that way you don’t fall over or get wet

You befriend Mali at the froyo shop, and despite roasting Joshua sometimes, she always says how cute the two of you are

And the two of you live happily ever after

[centuryofdean]

Of Food and Comfort - Part 3

Author Disclaimer:: Marvel and its characters are not mine. I take no credit. Instead I claim the maybe not so great plot, writing and characteristics of the reader insert character. I am not a die hard Marvel fan, I haven’t read all the comics, but have watched the movies. I may get some things wrong, so please don’t hate me. I also have been incorporating Old Norse as terms of endearment.

Summary:: You worked for Tony Stark as a…mechanic of sorts. Anything around the Avengers compound that needed a technicians touch, you handled. With working and living there, you had grown to be friendly with the super heroes. Of course you had grown to have feelings for one of them. The muscled Thunder God to be exact.

Rated:: M for Mature. Please do not read this story unless you are 18+. At this point in the story there isn’t much, but later on the M rating will come into effect.

Warnings:: Language and Scenes of Sexual Nature

Pairing:: Thor x Reader

Christmas was looming up faster than you were expecting. You made it a point to get everyone on base a gift, even if it was something small. Though, what do you get super heroes, who have anything they could want because of Tony Stark? What do you even get Tony Stark?

You had made plans with Wanda to go shopping in town for gifts. Liam tried to tag along, but you refused and insisted it was a girl’s trip.

That was the plan anyway.

Vision invited Wanda to go see some of the Christmas lights out in the suburbs and the woman could hardly turn him down. She had been harboring feelings for him for ages, you would feel guilty to deny her that.

So, as you were getting your coat on to head out, Thor invited himself along. And you could hardly turn him down.

Ever since that night Liam came over for dinner, Thor stuck around. It had been a couple weeks, but he seemed to be more interested in spending time with you than before. This isn’t something you were complaining about, but just confused—why the turn around?

Liam had popped by the base a few times since Thanksgiving. He had also pointed out that Thor was very touchy-feely with you—and he didn’t like it. When he first brought it up, you tried to think if it were true. As far as you could remember since the beginning of your friendship with Thor there had always been hugs, soft touches of the shoulder and even sitting side by side on the couch. Neither you nor Thor were doing anything different than normal from what you could tell. It actually seemed like anytime Liam came around Thor would suddenly make himself scarce. You assured Liam that the God was no more than a friend—even if deep down you wish it were a lie.

Thor was just amazed a Midgardian could lift his hammer. Your almost boyfriend still made it known he didn’t like you spending time with the blonde hero. Tough luck though, because he was your friend and you wouldn’t lose your mind over a man you had only been seeing for two months.

“Do you celebrate Christmas in Asgard,” you asked. Thor had promised you to go to the mystical realm as a reward for lifting his hammer. Though he might have forgotten by now. You had drank so much that night, you thought it a dream until Sam said something about it the next day.

Thor maneuvered out of the car from the passenger seat to meet you in the snow-covered parking lot.

“We celebrate Yuletide, which from my understanding is similar. Time for family and friends, enjoy the company of others. Be thankful and grateful for those around you,” he rumbled softly.

“Well do you exchange gifts?”

His brow furrowed, “No. Children sometimes receive gifts, if they prepare an offering.”

You were about to inquire about the offering, when the snow and ice below took your gravity. Thankfully Thor was there to grasp your arm to prevent the fall. Once you were righted, he kept his arm around your back to guide your way.

The heat filled your cheeks at the intimacy. The comforting warmth of his arm wrapped around your shoulders was very welcome. This man was nearly everything you could have dreamed of and more. “Well,” you cleared your throat, “I am getting gifts for our friends. That is what we are shopping for.”

Inside the large mall it was easy to be looked over. Yes, Thor got a few glances and you could see some people snapping a picture or two on their smart phones. Oh well, it was bound to happen even if he wasn’t an Avenger—the man was gorgeous.

You pulled out your small notepad with a list of names. It took a few scribbles and ideas, but there was something for everyone on your list. Except Thor. Next to his name was blank space, because you couldn’t think of what to get him. Shortly after you made the list, you became inspired to knit him a sweater. Knitting was not the best skill you possessed, but you could make things at least. The man loved sweaters for whatever reason, so making one would be the kindest gift to give. If worse came to worse and the sweater turned out like shit, you could buy one.

The trip was a little lengthy but enjoyable. Thor reached on high shelves for you, carried your bags and somewhat kept you out of harm’s way from the crazy shoppers. He even decided he wanted to get gifts for the others as well. The gifts he got were a little odd in choice.

For Tony he grabbed a pair of sunglasses. Natasha is going to get a pair of fuzzy socks. Steve will open a box of chocolates. The list went on. You tried to snoop but was unsuccessful in finding out what you would be receiving from him. If he bought it today, you didn’t see it. Honestly you would be lucky to receive anything from Thor at all.

At the end of the trip you had to go through the food court. The soft pretzels smelled appetizing and looked better than ever before as you passed by. Just as you were shaking your head at yourself in annoyance, Thor chuckled and gestured you to stop. “Did you want to get a pretzel schat,” he asked.

“It’s okay, there is plenty of food at the base. I don’t need—”

Thor cut you off, placing a free hand on your shoulder, “Nonsense. Let us get some.”

“Thor,” you laughed when he started to walk towards the pretzel stand. He had at least four bags on his right wrist and three more bags in his rand hand. “Those pretzels are huge; I won’t eat dinner tonight if I have one!”

After he paid for the pretzels and some dipping cheese, you both continued on your way out to the parking lot. It would be easier to eat in the car instead of sitting at a table and get stopped by other people asking for autographs or to take pictures with Thor. At least seven people had stopped him while shopping.

“I can’t eat all of this,” you moaned regretfully while savoring the beautiful taste of the salted pretzel and nacho cheese. “I will gain three pounds alone from this whole pretzel.”

Thor had already finished his, smirking at you as you ate yours. “You shouldn’t worry about weight schat,” he smiled, “you are very tiny as it is.”

You were ready to tell him about carbs and how this whole pretzel would be terrible to eat on top of everything else for the day when you paused. “You keep calling me that,” you mused. “What does it mean?”

He turned his gaze to the windshield, sighing softly when he did so. “In a way it is a compliment, it means you are the type of person who is a rarity, a very good person,” he said. A little confused, you wordlessly offered him the rest of your pretzel. Maybe you would do some Googling later.

On the way back to the base you received a call from Liam. He wanted to have you come stay the night with him. It wasn’t something that you two had done before. Ultimately you gently refused since the roads weren’t the best, and you just left the city. Feeling bad, you found yourself inviting him over, hoping he would refuse due to the weather or being uncomfortable at the base. You cringed when he agreed.

“If you do not like the mortal, why do you continue to see him,” Thor murmured softly when you came to a stop in the garage. The way he said mortal almost brought you up short. You were a mortal after all.

Stunned, you replied, “I do like Liam. I just… don’t like how pushy he is sometimes.”

“I know he does not enjoy my company,” Thor muttered, “he does not agree with our friendship.”

“That is where I draw the line. I won’t be with someone who can’t accept my friends. So do not fear big guy, I’m not kicking you to the curb yet,” you offered a small smile while getting out. “But if you don’t carry all these bags, I am reevaluating our friendship for sure.”

 The both of you were holed up in your room for little over an hour while wrapping gifts. Thor was terrible at it. More times than not, the paper ripped when he folded it, or he would try to wrap the paper around the gift like a crumbled ball. You took the time to wrap for him, but he would forget the receivers name after it was wrapped. This resulted in unwrapping a few gifts and rewrapping them.

All too soon your door opened, revealing Liam. He looked less than happy to find Thor lounged on the couch in your room, you next to him trying to show him how to wrap a gift. Thor stood slowly and excused himself from the room. It was off-putting how he just up and left. He didn’t even take the gifts he bought to put under the tree. You huffed and finished wrapping the gift. Thankfully it was the last of his and you could put them under the tree for him after you finished your own.

“Hey babe,” you smiled, “just finishing wrapping presents for everyone.”

He looked around your room, this being the second time he had ever been in it. There were shopping bags and wrapping paper everywhere. It was a mess. “I’ll be done in about twenty minutes,” you replied, “and we can grab some snacks and come back and watch movies.”

Grabbing snacks and watching movies turned into you sprawled on the couch underneath a panting Liam and his hands crawled up your waist.

Even if things were questionable with Liam, you could still get carried away.

Your hips were grinding against his softly, the evidence of his excitement pressed pleasurably to your core. Each little thrust of your hips up to his caused a small spark of heat in the pit of your stomach and a rush of wetness to pool between your thighs. After little effort your shirt was gone, and you crashed your lips back to his. Everything was getting too hot, causing a sheen layer of sweat to coat your skin. It continued for a while, the skin of your stomach and chest pressing up against Liam’s hot skin, your hands running up and down his back. It was great, until he tried to remove your bra, and you started to clam up and put a hand to his bare chest.

“I’m sorry, but I want to wait—” you started only to be cut off.

“What, until we are an ‘official’ couple? That’s the stupidest thing I have ever heard, you know that right?”

“Ugh really Liam,” you huffed and grabbed your shirt from the back of the couch. You had a small conversation with him a week ago about your status as a couple. You didn’t tell him you wanted to be together exactly but made a light comment about how you weren’t really his girlfriend, and really you weren’t. Neither of you had any conversation about becoming official, but he still didn’t even ask you then when you brought it up. You would think if he was jealous over your time spent with Thor, he would want to make you his girlfriend. Instead you told him about your whole ‘know a guy for three months’ rule you made yourself.

Sliding out from under him, you slipped it back on and zipped and buttoned your pants he undid. “Why do you have to be so difficult when I said I want to wait? It isn’t like I’m asking you to wait until marriage or some shit. It’s just a little while longer. I’m not ready yet.”

His face was hard and annoyed, sitting on your couch pissed.

“It’s frustrating,” he whispered. “You walk into my shop, gorgeous and wielding air and oil filters and I couldn’t help but want you. It feels like you’re trying to make sure that no one else wants you before you agree to be with me.”

“That’s not it at all,” you whispered. As you sat next to him, you grasped his hand and squeezed. “I just found through dating a guy for a while shows me what kind of man he is. I like to know what kind of man I’m letting in my pants.”

Liam and you cuddled on the couch with your clothes on for the rest of the night. When you both were ready to settle in for the night, he pulled off his shirt and pants to slid into your bed in just his boxer briefs. The image was more than enough to make you squirm and wonder if waiting longer would be possible.

You were a woman after all, you had needs; plus earlier he was grinding into you so well you had gotten incredibly wet and horny.

After a quick trip to your in-suite bathroom you were able to take a few calming breaths and set yourself straight. If Liam is worth it, he will wait for you to be ready to take that step with him. Even if you had needs you wouldn’t make a decision you were going to regret later.

It was one night of cuddling, what could go wrong?

Previous Chapter << Part 2: Thanksgiving Feast

Next Chapter >> Part 4: Promise Cookies

Tag List:

@lancsnerd @jumpingmanatee

[thotteus-beaumont]

I’m in love with a boy

Summary: “Finest boy in the world...”“ 

“Don’t forget we have to stop at the video store.” Pete laid his head on Henry’s shoulder and sighed. For a moment or two, the three friends watched people pass them by with hoards of bags. They had laughs on their lips or kids at their hips but most of all, they just looked rushed.   

Ship: Henry/Pete & background Jonesy/Beaver

Words: 4,450

{September, 1981}

The pink & blue tiles framed the spot of the floor in which Beaver had spilled his soda in a nice diamond shape. 

Moon-Park Mall was about the closest shopping center to Derry (that didn’t just house dead Sears) and even it was a few miles outta the way. But the rush of after-school energy always made the trip worth it for most Derry-students. 

The ceilings were lined in neon-light stripes which matched the tiles--minus the new huge fizzy-brown stain--and shined down a dewy haze of color on every customer. And the plastic trees littering each corner really enhanced the consumer paradise with a soft atmosphere comparable to a pretty sunset...that just happened to be over a ‘Frost-Bite’s: Ice Cream’. 

Henry liked it well enough and the gang was far too rowdy to walk up-and-down the aisles of Derry’s finest pharmacy, Mr. Keene could only take so much. 

Beaver had been trying to find a speaker to stand under when he bumped right into Pete’s side and unleashed his refreshment all over those dusty tiles. 

“Fuck me Freddy.” He shook out his tiny palm and sprinkled a few extra droplets around. “I spent my last bit of cash on that shit.” His frown was genuine but the pout which followed was far exaggerated. Old ladies with baskets curled in their elbows, spared them a few glares as they strolled by. 

“The forbidden drink...” Pete licked his lips and stole Beavers useless straw and made a forward gesture, as if about to suck the brown puddle up through his teeth. Jonesy kicked him. 

Pete just chuckled and sat back down on the tiny bench by one of those plastic trees. He was still in his cross-country clothes; Derry Tigers stamped shorts and a matching red-and-white jacket. “No use in crying over spilled cheap-generic soda, Beav.” Henry rubbed behind his ear & bumped his glasses. 

“Easy for you to say. You still got twenty-bucks left.” He scoffed. 

“Oh, a, oh.” Pete echoed the song playing over the loud-speaker without even thinking about it. 

“Yeah, and I’m spending it on one of those crappy hot-dogs from the food-court.” Henry stuck out his tongue. 

“Oh, a, oh” This time, Jonesy joined in. 

Beaver rolled his eyes but nonetheless, the four of them burst into a united annoying chorus with more of a casual expression rather than excited. 

“I met your children Oh a oh What did you tell them? Video killed the radio star Video killed the radio star...”

With no obvious tell of their musical moment, “Get some paper-towels from Mr. Harper at the Pretzel place, Beav.” Jonesy lightly tapped the tiny mans back and ushered him to start in that direction. 

As he took off, the others lazily plopped down on the bench and stared forward at the puddle, past their dirty sneakers. “Don’t forget we have to stop at the video store.” Pete laid his head on Henry’s shoulder and sighed. 

For a moment or two, the three friends watched people pass them by with hoards of bags. They had laughs on their lips or kids at their hips but most of all, they just looked rushed. “We have to watch the movies at your place tonight cause Beav broke his VCR, remember?” Jonesy laid his head on Henry’s other shoulder for easier communication.   

Pete’s nose wrinkled. 

“We could always do something else.” Beaver butted in as he flew past them with crumpled up towels. He crouched down on the floor and began wiping the liquid away while Henry hummed. “We are Seniors after all--Pardon my big-boy talk, Pete. Some of us are Seniors.” He stuck his thumb over to him and Pete rolled his eyes. 

“Interesting to hear big-boy speech coming from you, Beaver. What are you 5′3 now?” Pete chuckled and was rewarded with a face-full of soda drenched towel. “Ow, fuck.” He whipped it back to Beaver. 

“Hey Pete, C’mere.” Henry flicked his tongue and gestured for Pete to come in close. He mumbled a few words into his friends ear in a whispered tone and both giggled. 

“What are you telling him?” Beaver laid the towel over his arm and came at them like a tiny ball of fury. 

Pete blinked a few times and leaned into the whisper before smirking. “Your credit-card number.” 

“So?” Beaver shrugged, not seeing how that could possibly be a big deal. 

“I’m gonna register you for that Modeling contest downstairs.” Pete could barely get the words out before laughing madly and hopping out of his seat. Running down the length of the 2nd floor before Beaver even started after him. He was that fast. 

Jonesy craned his neck to watch them go and laughed quietly, hearing their annoying teases from way down the halls. “Where do you think they’ll end up?” he asked as the two of them slowly got up from their seat. 

Henry hummed again, rolling his shoulders back. “Either the Food Court or Spinners.” Spinners had become one of Beaver’s favorite places ever since he first stepped into the aisles of records. “We better run after them, huh?” 

Jonesy chuckled. “Oh, let’s get a move on.” He nodded and the two of them started to slowly stroll down the Mall, whistling. 

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

{Stupid Cupid by Connie Francis playing over muffled speakers} 

Pete set his chin in the middle of his palm and watched Beaver aimlessly flicker through records. Sometimes he’d pull them out and stare for twenty or thirty seconds and then slide them back inside their bins. 

Spinners sat in a nice little corner of Moon-Park which had a very convenient fry-stand nearby. 

“What’s Randy doin’ today?” Pete asked, with a mouthful of salt-and-peppered garlic fries. He followed Beav with loose interest. 

“Most likely making out with his girlfriend to something shitty like Jessie’s Girl.” Beaver shrugged, not much into whatever the hell it was that his older brother was doing on this fine day. “Why?” 

Pete shrugged and swallowed some food. He breifly made eye contact with a passing dude in a white t-shirt that read; ‘I Love a Rainy Night’. “Remember when he used to chaperone us whenever we came here?” 

Beaver took a few fries and smiled. “Yeah. Jesus-Christ-Bananas, time is kicking our asses.” He frowned and Pete pursed his lips, shrugging himself. “We’re gonna be graduating and then what?” 

Pete felt a tug in his chest at the thought. He’d been doing his best all summer to pretend like they were all going to stay-together after the school year even though he knew better. “You’ll leave me behind.” 

Beaver smacked the back of Pete’s head. “We say some stupid shit, don’t we Pete?” He gestured between them and Pete smiled with genuine warmth and fondness. 

“We know what we are.” Pete frowned again but it was more mocking than anything and stuck out his hand. He’d been genuinely sensitive over the fact that he appeared to be a total moron compared to Henry and Jonesy ever since the start of their friendship. He was aware that outsiders recognized that fact as well. But the Beav always made him feel better because ,Hell, anyone would look dumb next to Gariella & Henry. 

Beaver smacked it with joy. 

“Smart enough to figure out who the villain is in Scooby-Doo-” 

Pete rolled his eyes. “Be serious, idiot. It’s supposed to be something you’re actually proud of. This routine was your dumb idea anyway.” 

Beaver chuckled. “Smart enough to pass Mr. Landon’s Algebra test.” He compromised and tipped his chin. 

“Smart enough to get an A on that science test.” Pete smiled smugly and accepted Beavers distant yet proud whooping as he paraded once again around the aisles of Spinners. 

‘I Love a Rainy Night’ guy went past Pete again with something like an interested look before pulling out a few records. 

Pete turned around and nailed his back against the row of bins that Beaver was currently browsing. “Who sings that song again, Beav?” He tried to subtly point to the dude with his head. 

Beaver glanced up over his glasses. “Oh, um...shit it’s-...Rabbitt.” He snapped his fingers a few times. “It’s like Joey Rabbitt or something, crap.” He mumbled a few names to himself. 

Pete was pretty sure the last name was right anyway, so he slowly walked on over to stand next to the guy. “Rabbitt fan, huh?” Pete smirked. 

The man nodded, looking eerily ready to play this little game. “Yeah. I am. Why?” 

Pete hummed and ate another fry. “Well, you know the phrase ‘screwing like rabbits'? I think you and I can do better, want to try?” 

Beaver nearly choked on his own spit as he watched the encounter. It wasn’t technically uncommon for him to see Pete do something so bold. The two boys had confided in each other (and each other only) shortly after puberty had told them that bisexual thing might apply to their horny-teenage selves. 

It wasn’t exactly an accepted thing so they’d managed to keep it to themselves for a long time before they’d accidentally got drunk and maybe kissed each other to experiment. Their hypotheses were right in that they liked boys but the experiment failed in a sense because the kiss was gross. But it’d only been because the two of them were never meant to swap spit like that. Only when sharing sodas. 

But this was an extremely bold move that Beaver wasn’t a fan of. If the dude happened to take offense to the ‘accusations’ that pick-up line held-

The Rabbitt fan just smiled and looked Pete up and down. “I’ll see you around.” He shook his head and strolled off. 

Pete looked after him and chuckled to himself as he walked back over to the Beav who was uncharacteristically pissed. 

“That could’ve been a real fuckarow, asshole.” He shook his head and took in the fact that he may have well been the ‘responsible’ one in this situation. 

Pete leaned against the display again and frowned. “Sorry. But he was checking me out. I wouldn’t have said anything if I hadn’t been 100% positive, Beav.” He poked Beaver’s arm and looked mighty sorry. “I think he thought I was cute, at least?” 

Pete’s voice was bright and giddy. Beaver had to giggle at the idea of an actual person having feelings for one of them. Between the four of them, none of them had ever had a real girlfriend or any meaningful sexual encounters. 

{Peace Of Mind by Boston slowly transitions onto the muffled speakers}

Jonesy and Henry quickly cut off their stream of the giggles when they entered the store and happily came over. 

“They didn’t take him. Too short.” Pete pursed his lips and mocked sadness, taking Beavers little arm-punch like a champ. 

Henry rolled his eyes. “Beav you’re going with Jonesy to buy those dress-shoes he needs.” He gestured to the far end of the mall. “Pete, you’re coming with me to get those dang hot-dogs I want so fuckin’ bad.” He chuckled and playfully reached to grab Pete’s arm. Pete had no complaints. 

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The neon pink hues from the lights were bleeding into Pete Moore’s hair and blushing against his cheeks. Henry bit down on his sleeve and watched his friend messily dig into his own paper plate of food. 

His mind briefly filled with memories of their childhood, he could almost taste the sweet candy that Beaver used to steal from his brother. As they grew, candy became weed. Henry chuckled to himself and swallowed a bit of hot-dog. 

“Don’t laugh, I know I probably got food everywhere.” Pete rolled his eyes and took another large bite. 

“No-I wasn’t laughing at you.” Henry giggled. 

“Convincing, That’s what we tell Beaver when he does impressions in public-” 

Henry shook his head and curled his fingers together under his chin. “Nah, I’m serious. I was just...thinking.” He rolled his lips together and felt oddly alive at the sight of Pete’s warm smile in this damn commercial building. 

“What about?” Pete hummed, interested. 

Henry wasn’t sure what exactly he had been thinking about. Just that it was...nice to look at Pete. To be with him. “Remember when Randy took us to the mall and you blew chunks?” 

“Yeah, I was eating my weight in junk back in those days. Now, I’m all healthy and shit.” Pete wiggled his leg and gestured to his sports jacket. Henry lingered his eyes on his friends greasy tray and hummed. 

“Time flies.” Henry shook his head and stole some fries off of Pete’s plate. “Soon we’ll be adults...” he widened his eyes for a few seconds while Pete seemingly paused mid-action. “I can’t imagine us like that.” 

Pete swallowed and pulled his hands into his lap, leaning back casually. “I can’t imagine living past twenty-one...twenty-five, tops.” He chuckled, like it was funny but Henry felt hot anger. 

Moderate traffic could be heard through the large windows and past the echoes of the thick sounding music playing over the loudspeaker. Henry picked a small collection of crumbs from between his teeth and let the neon wash over him for a second. “It’s forty for me.” He frowned, scooting closer and laying his elbows on the crusted table. “I just don’t know--...sometimes I think I was meant to be thirty...a comfortable adult, y’know? But forty?” 

Pete hummed. “That’s a long time to try and stay happy.” 

Henry blinked. “Yeah-...that’s...” He nodded his head and leaned back again. “That’s exactly what I think when I-...y’know?” He shook his head and sighed. They both turned towards the windows and silently observed the new falling rain, which tapped lightly. 

“You’re gonna be with me though so...forty won’t be so bad.” Henry made sure to add that with the sincerest of looks. Pete made slow eye contact and dragged it out farther as he gently rested his chin on his elbows which were curled on the table. Smiling all the way like...well-...like he was looking at his best friend. 

“Randy bought me a ginger-ale and walked me to the bathroom.” His chuckle was muffled as he hid his smile in the crook of his arm. “I thought that was the shit, H.” He giggled again which ignited a bit of confusion in Henry. “My best friend’s older brother was paying attention to me, y’know?”

Henry slowly copied his friends position, lowering his chin and resting it like he was falling asleep in class. “He had a Grateful Dead t-shirt on...and I thought he was the coolest guy.” Pete lazily smiled, looking a little whacked-out with charm as he always did when he was joyful. It was contagious. Especially to Henry. 

He’d always been softly fond of Pete Moore. 

“I gotta pee.” Pete made the move to get up. 

“Hold it.” Henry smirked, teasing him slightly but also not wanting to break whatever this fun little moment was. 

Pete cocked his head as if too amused with that comment to actually speak it into words. 

“-I’ve seen enough brown puddles today, go to the bathroom.” Beaver cut in from behind them and happily bounced over to the table. Jonesy just bounding over from the escalator. 

“He has to pee, Beav. You sick freak.” Henry stole Jonesy’s coke and took a long sip as Pete pushed little man’s shoulder on his way to the bathroom. Beaver broke out into hysteric laughter and ate the leftovers on Pete’s tray. 

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{A muffled version of Help Is on It’s Way by The Little River Band playing over those loudspeakers}

They’d managed to split up in all possible pairs before Henry and Pete landed together again. 

Pete was strolling along the shiny pink railings and dodging large plastic leaves from the potted plants as he walked the length of the floor. Henry just followed behind him and occasionally next to him if he was able to catch up, that is. 

Pete was a little in his head and had been that way since their snack break. But it didn’t stop him from roaming around the Mall as if he hadn’t been coming there since they were kids. He’d unzipped his sports jacket and revealed his old NASA t-shirt that was littered with faded stars behind a long rocket.

Henry was quietly enjoying the next time he ended up able to match Pete’s speed when he noticed some guy in a ‘I Love a Rainy Night’ shirt just down by the anchor store of their wing. 

The guy seemed to be observing someone behind them with an expression of interest. It was only when they were in talking distance that Henry noticed the man was looking at Pete, who was far too deep in that mind of his to notice.

Henry wondered if they’d have to jump-start Beaver’s car to get outta the parking-lot this time. 

The dude glanced down at Pete’s T-shirt just as his friend came-round from his little daze and halted. 

“I think you might be a star, because I can't stop orbiting around you.” Eddie Rabbitt’s fan flicked his tongue and Pete’s cheeks no longer needed the mall light’s to glow pink. He seemed uncharacteristically at a loss for words. 

Henry had to blink himself out of his own daze. He’d never seen a man so bluntly try to ‘pick-up’ another man...let alone Henry’s friend. 

“Ha...” Pete looked at the patch of odd carpet they were standing on and scratched at his neck. 

The man seemed to notice something that Henry didn’t and nodded his head. “Sorry, look...I thought you were someone else..” He mumbled awkwardly and went to walk off. He was a little ways a way when he turned back and gestured out behind him. “Can you tell me where the Sears is?” 

Henry opened his mouth but Pete shuffled over and pointed off. 

As Pete approached, the guy’s face quickly became apologetic. “Hey, look...I’m such an idiot. I didn’t even think about the fact that you might not even be um- out to your friend over there.” He frowned, in a whispered tone. 

An odd flash of strong emotion punched Pete in the stomach. He blinked towards the floor and grouped his hands together, pressing them against his lips...a nervous little tick. “It’s...-” He flicked his hands out. “It’s fine.” He broke them apart and shrugged. 

“Hey, man...” The man sighed. “I know this can be a lonely...and scary thing but it ain’t because of the thing itself.” He ran his hand down his face. “It’s the situation. “I know that it feels heavy to you right now and you’re scared to lose your friends or be ridiculed for just being...who you are.” Eddie Rabbitt’s fan gestured and Pete widened his eyes a little. 

Henry was beginning to get antsy, wanting to know why it took so long to tell him where the Sears is.

“But you don’t need to settle for people who are going to treat you differently for that. There will always be people who love you for who you are and anyone else isn’t worth your time. You don’t need to hold this shit in just because you’re afraid to lose people who ain’t worth shit anyway.” He rolled his lips together. 

“It’s the fuckin’ eighties man...I’m hoping a more accepting time is coming.” He looked around the people passing them. “I didn’t mean to come on so strong with that support, buddy. But y’know, there isn’t much of that going around for us.” He playfully slapped Pete’s frozen arm. 

“Fuck man, I never really thought much of it.” Pete finally spoke. 

“I admire that.” He nodded. 

“Beaver giggled with me today...over a boy-...you that is.” Pete chuckled nervously. 

“Beaver-?” 

Pete waved his hand. “Oh it’s a nickname...for my other bisexual friend.” He laughed again. “He taught me the words.” He nodded to himself. “He taught them to me but I never really...appreciated them beyond...” He waved forward again. “Nodding along and rolling with it. Happy enough with the go-ahead that I could have more fun fooling around.” 

The guy smiled and opened his mouth.

“Though to be honest, I haven’t been ‘getting any’, y’know?” Pete chuckled. “I’m only a Junior in High-school...I mean, I kissed the Beav but that was just a tester. And Julie Winters and I made-out during spin-the-bottle once.” He spoke in a rushed tone. “I think...I may have feelings for this guy but....Jesus-Christ-bananas, Henry is gonna figure out I’m not just telling you where Sears is, huh?” He frowned. 

“Pete, by the way.” 

“Senior. Trevor.” He stuck out his hand which Pete shook. 

“My...” Pete looked back to Henry, who wiggled his nose to push up his glasses and shot him a nervous grin. “Best friends love me.” He bit into his lip but still managed a genuine closed-mouth grin, which was honestly more sincere than his toothy-smile sometimes. “And Sears is over there at the left end.” Pete happily snapped and flicked his fingers out. 

“Thank you, Pete.” Trevor mocked a salute and was off in just a few seconds. 

As he walked off, Henry strolled over and gave Pete an odd little curious face. He puckered his lips in a cute way and crossed his arms. Semi-distracting, in Pete’s opinion. 

He opened his mouth but Pete quickly jumped in with something smart-

“I’m holding in my pee.” He blurted out and instantly regretted it. 

Henry raised his brows and smirked.

“I just mean-...” Pete sighed. “I wanna talk. An hour ago, I feel like we were having this great conversation and I tried to get out of it by peeing.” He gestured back to the food-court. Henry only smiled, rubbing his curled finger against the tip of his nose. “But I won’t this time.” 

“I don’t want you to burst, Pete.” Henry chuckled. 

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The bathrooms were no escape from the neon lights and colors, though they were an exclusive club for painted fish wall-decorations. 

Henry was observing the way the colored bulbs bounced light over the fake scales of a miserable angelfish, one eye opened & his head cocked, while Pete’s stream of pee flowed behind his view. 

“So, we left off on Randy?” Henry leaned his head back on the tiny wall which separated the mirrors from the row of urinals. 

The stream turned into a trickle and then faded off with a zipper finale. Pete stood in-front of the urinal for a few seconds and listened to the muffled version of Fleetwood Mac playing throughout the Mall, just outside the doors. 

He hummed and leaned back on the same wall, just behind Henry’s side. “Yeah. We did. Remember the ginger-ale?” Pete playfully reached over his shoulder to tap wherever he assumed Henry’s arm was resting. Henry hummed back. 

Fleetwood Mac transitioned into a quiet Zombies song...’She’s Not There’...

The vocals seemed to bounce off those ugly yellow-plastic chairs which filled the sitting area outside. Henry turned so that his temple was what was resting on the wall and crossed his arms again. “I liked everything about Randy. He was older and cooler than us...” Pete spoke much softer. “The first time we went cruisin’ in his old car, his cup-holders were all sticky from coke residue and we were all singing along to ‘Stand by Me’...and that was my favorite fucking day ever.” 

Henry watched Pete come ‘round from behind him and plop down onto the counter, covering the ‘No Smoking’ sign. “Douglas was there and he was singing with us. He kept repeating the same lines and it was way damn better than the actual song.” Pete chuckled at the memory. 

Henry nodded, smiling too. 

“I somehow thought Randy was responsible for creating that day and making it so special. It had been his car, after all? And he’d looked so fucking cool driving with the sun-set and shit. But it was the five of us, really. That was my real favorite part.” Pete gestured between them. “But...I was kinda gone on Randy back then, just didn’t really know it. Probably why I experimented with Beaver when I first recognized my feelings for dudes, huh?” 

Henry pursed his lips. “Maybe. Subconsciously.” He nodded and Pete was expecting more from him. “I didn’t know you had feelings for dudes...” He coughed awkwardly. 

Pete nodded, that shy smile came out again. “Yeah. Me and The Beav both.” He shrugged, looking up at the fish painted above Henry’s head. 

Henry pushed his glasses up his nose and smiled, softly. “So, are you-?”

“Bisexual is the term that Beaver taught me. Means I’m into boys & girls. Same with him.” Pete narrowed his eyes in thought and hopped off the counter. He started to stroll out of the bathroom and back out to the brighter world of the Moon-Park Mall. 

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{A muffled version of Thirteen by Big Star playing over the loudspeakers}

Pete and Henry silently glide down towards the first floor by way of escalator, music playing but no words exchanged. 

“By the way, my-’not talking in thirty minutes’-is a show of support.” Henry playfully yet awkwardly bumped their arms together just before they hopped off and dodged the play-train as it rolled past. Pete chuckled and shoved his fists deep into the pockets of his Derry Tigers jacket. 

“I figured.” Pete shook his head with a smile. “Process it, H.” He shrugged. 

Henry nodded. They walked towards the video-store and exchanged a few nervous glances. 

“You experimented with Beav?” Henry blurted as they past a few quarter-swallow’s, as Beaver called the little machines which popped out gumballs and shit. Pete nodded and Henry hummed for the millionth time. “But it wasn’t good?” 

“Nah. We’re not like that.” Pete stuck out his tongue in disgust. “That Randy thing is long-gone too. Just so you know.” 

Henry pursed his lips. “Cool.” 

Pete stopped walking and gave him a little-look. “Cool?” He raised his brows and Henry smiled. 

“Cool.” 

Pete did a little mini-shrug of surprise and giddiness. “Cool.” He repeated, more to himself. 

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Beaver was making Jonesy tie his shoe for him and glancing around at the videos on the shelves, a smile on his face. 

“Do you ever get the feeling that horror films are becoming far too cliche?” Jonesy mumbled as he finished tying. They were standing in-between the horror aisle and the classics. “I think they need to make something crazy. Fucking aliens or some shit coming to earth and killing you from the inside-out.” He chuckled. 

Beaver shook his head. “Oh, you are so the boy for me.” He chuckled, knowing all-too well that Jonesy didn’t hear a thing. 

[the-coconut-asado]

THE SPIRIT OF SWISSMASS

My daughter likes her Christmases to be cold-climate Christmassey. Which is unfortunate as most of our festive seasons in recent years have been spent near the equator. 

Between my family in Buenos Aires and Adam’s in Fiji the spruces always have to be plastic and the fans on full blast. One memorable Christmas Day in BA we ate our cold cuts buffet-style standing in my cousin’s swimming pool to counter the 38C heatwave; and on one Christmas Evening in Suva we dived into Star Wars: The Force Awakens in a packed Damodar Centre, motivated not by MIllenium Falcons but the cinema’s industrial-strength aircon.

However, every few years we swap our snorkels for snow boots and head for Switzerland. My cousin Dorothy, in a singular diaspora phenomenon, is one of several Latina women who have married Swiss men and live in or around St Gallen, about an hour east of Zurich. 

It’s fair to say that Doro has sought out every other living Argentine, Guatemalan and Spanish national within a 10 mile radius and made friends with them. And what about Swiss friends? A cultural aversion to spontaneity makes that difficult (though not impossible). Doro has been known to scare the bejeezus out of other mums that she has tried to drop in on when in their neighbourhood. Pretty common practice in BA but the Swiss, it seems, like to keep things formal.

St Gallen is  a chocolate-box-meets-cheese-board town nestling in the mountains; Heidiville complete with the sound of distant cowbells and a speculaas-heady aroma billowing from the Christmas market. The cobble-stoned Cathedral square hosts what I would wager is a bigger festive tree than the one outside 30 Rock in New York, and on Christmas Eve the whole town gathers around it for the serious - and it is serious -  business for carol singing. You can’t get more Christmassey than this.

Actually, to say Doro married a Swiss guy is only half true. Alejandro’s other half belongs squarely in Barcelona, so there is a proper cultural mix around their table on Christmas Eve: Alejandro’s twin sister Patricia from Barcelona, his brother Nico (feet squarely rooted in St Gallen, who talks of a trip to London as a Tripitaka-like quest he will one day complete) and Nico’s girlfriend Jenny whose father Ruedi owns and runs the Kobelt Brewery in neighbouring Appenzel with his San Franciscan wife Karen. As you can imagine, the cuisine is deliciously eclectic and the noise volume at a pitch only dogs can hear without screaming. 

And the board games, well, they just get plain nasty. 

If Doro loses a few rounds of Texas Dominoes her middle finger stays up for the night. And after losing an intense round of fussball with Ruedi on Christmas Day at the Brewery, Patricia was heard to mutter ‘tosser’ as she left the table (followed by ‘fack you’, which my 12 year old niece earnestly corrected to ‘fuck you’). Screeches of laughter and explosive cussing from breakfast bucks fizz to evensong and pretzels. 

But back to the safer territory of the food, and let’s start with the two things Switzerland has built its reputation on: cheese and chocolate. Just as well as outside of cheese and chocolate - and maybe some meat products - the Swiss don’t do variety. St Gallen supermarkets have isles of few things in many varieties, but like the song says, if a thing’s worth doing it’s worth doing well. Doro occasionally cheats the system by making dashes across the border to Austria to buy Argentine beef. But cheese and chocolate are always no more than an arm’s reach away. 

Although Appenzeller cheese was my top pick for many years, it’s now been overtaken by Tete de Moine (Monks Head). This is a creamier version of comte, and the paper-thin slicing with a special turntable gadget (which echoes the tonsured head of a medieval monk) is all part of the ritual of eating it. Paired with thin-ish slivers of chorizo, it makes for seductive pre-dinner ‘picos’. Add it to a cheese and potato pie (a perfect accompaniment to a Christmas rib roast if your oven, like Lara’s university one, is too small to roast potatoes at the same time) and you have an unforgettable melting pot of cheesy flavour. 

If you want to really stoke your migraine, then chocolate must follow cheese. There is a chocolate cafe near to that Hagrid-height Christmas Tree I mentioned earlier which does the most heady chocolate hazelnut drinks this side of Hansel & Gretel. And if you haven’t had enough of a fix after that then you can buy cellophane wrapped chocolate shards with nuts, or freeze dried fruit, or chilli...the list is endless. Chocolate sprinkles it’s fairy dust throughout the holiday - from Doro’s Nigella-inspired Chocolate Christmas Cake to the iced, spiced biscuits tempting you from every strategically placed bowl in the house. 

But at our most recent Swissmas, Doro decided to go off-piste and back to her Argentine roots. Dona Julia (who I have mentioned in previous blogs as the Julia Childs of Argentine cooks) has many little gems hidden in the 1950’s austerity of her work. One of them, a light mousse-like confection of cream, Aperol and grapefruit, made its Doro-debut as our Christmas eve dessert. Chilled and on-point boozy, it was the perfect end to the necessarily rich main course. 

So just in time for Christmas, wherever you are, here are three dishes that will give you an Argentine flavour of the Alps: That delectable carb-on-carb cheese and potato pie (a raclette pasty by any other name); a molten ginger-chocolate torte that will make you instinctively pull your furry collar around your ears and nestle in front of the telly; and Doro’s Aperol spritz in a dish, to give you a lighter alternative to figgy pudding. 

All worth dashing through the snow for. 

Cheese and Potato Pie (with or without Tete de Moine)

The Lancashire cheese gives this cozy pie it’s bite, but if you have some  Tete de Moine this will mellow the flavour into a pure cheese dream. If you have any leftovers, mix them into an omelette the next day. Makes a yummy packed lunch.Serves 4

Ingredients

3 large onions

50g salted butter

400g potatoes, peeled and thinly sliced

50g salted butter

200g lancashire cheese, grated

50g Tete de Moine, sorn (or use 50g grated mature cheddar) grated

100ml double cream

2 x pkts ready-rolled shortcrust pastry (or make using your own recipe)

How to Make

Chop the onions finely and add to a frying pan with the butter and 20ml water. 

Cover and simmer for 15-20 mins, then remove the lid, and continue to simmer for about another 20-25 mins until most of the liquid has evaporated. Turn off the heat, season and cool.

Boil some well salted water (consult Samin Nosrat’s Salt, Fat, Acid, Heat if you are feeling faint- hearted), drop in the potatoes and boil for around 5 minutes until cooked but still holding their shape. Drain and leave to cool while you bring your pastry to room temperature. 

Unwrap the first ready rolled pastry sheet and use to line a 20cm pie dish, letting the pastry overhang, then pop it in the freezer. 

Heat the oven to 170C/ Gas 5. 

Gently mix the onions and potatoes in a large bowl together with the grated cheeses and cream (you don’t want the potatoes to break up). Then remove the pie dish from the freezer and empty the filling into it. 

Roll out the second pastry sheet, cut a circle large enough to cover the top of the pie, then do just that: cover the top of the pie, trimming the edges, then crimping them between your thumb and forefinger until you have sealed it. 

Whisk up an egg, then paint it all over the top of the pie. Use any trimmings to cut out leaf shapes, then pop them atop the pie and paint  them with the egg wash  too. 

Bake the pie for around 40 minutes until the top is golden. Let stand for 10 minutes, then serve. 

Ginger and Chocolate Torte

One weekend in New York, I turned up at my friend Lisa’s door with ingredients for this chocolate torte, which I made with her son Jasper before we settled down to watch the Oscars. It’s like a big molten chocolate cup, the centre oozing, the edges moist and cakey. I have since added ginger syrup and crystallised ginger to the mix which give it some seasonal bite. A perfect Chocolate dish for Christmas Day. Serves 6.

Ingredients

200g dark chocolate (70% cocoa)

200g unsalted butter

300g golden caster sugar

6 eggs

100g plain flour

2tbsp. Ginger syrup from a jar of candied ginger

2 pieces candied ginger, chopped up small

To decorate:

Chopped crystallised ginger

50g dark chocolate

How to make

Preheat the oven to 180C (Gas 4). Line a 23cm loose bottomed tart pan with buttered parchment paper. 

Melt the chocolate and butter in a bowl or small saucepan over a saucepan with some gently simmering water. Stir so it is smooth and silky. Cool slightly then add the ginger syrup. 

Beat the eggs and sugar in another large bowl until light and fluffy. Add the chocolate/ butter/ ginger syrup mix with the chopped candied ginger and fold into the egg and sugar mixture. Then fold in the flour. 

Pour the mix into the lined tart tin and bake or 20-25 minutes until the top forms a crisp crust and the inside is the consistency of a chocolate mousse. Leave to cool. 

To decorate, chop the crystallised ginger pieces into small shards and decorate the tart. Melt the remaining chocolate, then pour into a piping bag (or improvise by making a piece of baking parchment into a cone, then snip the end off). Drizzle the chocolate over the surface of the cooled torte. Serve at room temperature or cold. 

Aperol Grapefruit Cups

This manages to be refreshing, decadent and Christmassey all in one. Serves 6. 

Ingredients

5 pink grapefruit

100ml Aperol

100 ml double cream

100ml whipping cream (this gives a lighter finish)

100g caster sugar

Mint leaves to decorate. 

How to make

Squeeze the juice from three of the pink grapefruits (you want 400ml), then add the Aperol. 

Pour the mixture into a shallow rimmed baking sheet and freeze for 3 hours. 

Using an electric whisk, whip both creams with the sugar and chill. Peel the skin off the two remaining grapefruit and cut them into segments (cutting between membranes so you are not left with any tough fibres). 

And now it’s an assembly job: to make the granita, use a fork to break up the grapefruit-Aperol water ice into a granita-like consistency (like shaved ice). 

Spoon alternate layers of granits, pink grapefruit segments and cream, finishing off with a layer of cream. 

Decorate with mint leaves (or as I have done here, dip mint leaves in lightly whisked egg white and caster sugar then chill, to give a frosted effect). Serve immediately.

[meowtalhead]

How to Make an Orange White Chocolate Mac and Cheese Cake

Ingredients:

For the Cake

-flour

-sugar

-white chocolate chips

-water

-buttermilk

-I'm like 60% sure there's some oil in it

-wait never mind no there isn't

-three eggs

For the White Chocolate Mousse

-heavy whipping cream

-NOT regular half and half cream

-powdered sugar

-more water and white chocolate

For the Mac and Cheese

-my top secret recipe shall not be revealed here

-whatever your own mac and cheese recipe is, make that instead

-I apologize for the inconvenience

General/other stuff

-three oranges but you'll only use one

-orange marmalade

-even more water and white chocolate

Step 1: Sometimes someone will tell you that cheddar cheese and chocolate never mix in any context no matter what and just won't taste good together, ever. Disagree, and hold onto this grudge for roughly half a year until you're home from college and it's the middle of summer. Invite over friends 1, 2, and 3. They deserve the chance to see this absolute disaster in motion.

Step 2: go on a nice little adventure to your local grocery store to buy the ingredients with friends one and two! Friend 3 apparently isn't getting here until late, and will most likely arrive with a large bag of doritos and/or some video games

Step 3: make the mac and cheese, throw some orange zest in it

Step 4: time to make the cake! Flour, sugar, white chocolate chips, wa- SHIT! you're supposed to MELT the white chocolate into the water and THEN mix it in! Brother pauses video games specifically to come into the kitchen and make fun of you for this.

Step 5: Brother watches in amusement as you pick each individual white chocolate chip out of the mixture with your hands. He waits a full five minutes before spontaneously getting mad at you for not using a strainer or something. You're certainly not going to use a strainer now because you've committed to this slow, careful chocolate removal process already!

Step 6: melt the white chocolate in the water. Actually that doesn't look like enough. Melt MORE white chocolate into it. Hmm. Fuck it. Melt as much chocolate into the water as possible and dump the rest of the white chocolate chips into the batter, ignoring your brother's protests! This is a good idea. Friend 1 seems anxious. Friend 2 is amused.

Step 6: add the buttermilk. Hmm. Never used buttermilk in anything before. It sounds nice. It has the words butter and milk in it. It probably tastes like heavy cream but more buttery, or a buttery melted vanilla ice cream. It's in pancakes and waffles and stuff like that. Drink some buttermilk. Just to know what it tastes like. It must be really good.

Step 7: spend roughly 2 minutes making noises like a cat choking on plastic as friend 2 laughs hysterically and brother makes a big deal of "I told you so" and "I'm better at baking cakes than you"

Step 8: shout "FUCK THIS, I'M GONNA PUT THREE EGGS IN IT!" much to the amusement of friend 2. Realize you're out of eggs because your brother ate the last few yesterday.

Step 9: friend 3 shows up right as you and friends 1 and 2 are about to go back to the store and buy some eggs. Friend 3 notices your mom's soda stream and opts to sit out of the grocery store adventure in favor of finding out how many liquids in your house can be carbonated, with help from your brother of course. The two should never be left together unsupervised, but you need eggs, and it will probably be fine.

Step 10: go off to buy the eggs! Friend 1, who can drive and has good music taste, puts on a mix of various punk and metal bands. Mostly MCR, Green Day, and Beartooth.

Step 11: return with the eggs. Fortunately, the soda stream ran out of carbon before friend 3 and brother could carbonate the maple syrup or the tomato sauce. Unfortunately, there is now milk everywhere. The two of them clean up the milk.

Step 12: put the eggs in the batter and mix it together! Taste the batter. Needs more chocolate. Dump half the second package of chocolate chips into it.

Step 13: put so much orange zest in the batter that friend 1 goes from anxious to fearful, warning you that a little zest goes a long way. Then divide it into two pans and put it in the oven.

Step 14: turn around and witness your brother trying to see how many pretzel sticks he can shove into friend 3's mouth. Warn them that what they're doing is a choking hazard. Friend 3 tries to insist he's okay, but his words are unintelligible. Tell him again to remove the pretzels. He bites through them like a snapping turtle biting somebody's finger off and goes "see, I told you I was okay!" This sends a cascade of crumbs and pretzel halves all over the couch. Friend 2 wakes up from a nap on the nearby reclining chair just long enough to laugh at this before immediately falling back asleep.

Step 15: layer the cake and the mac and cheese. Not like that. Oh no. The cake is gonna be a little lumpy now but that's ok because it will still taste good!

Step 16: time to start the mousse! First whip some heavy cream until it has stiff peaks. We don't have heavy cream. First whip the half and half cream until it has stiff peaks!

Step 17: contemplate the effect your poor planning skills may have on other areas of your life.

Step 18: calmly and wordlessly pour the half and half cream from the bowl into a coffee mug, then drink the whole thing like an old sea captain might down a large glass of whiskey to temporarily forget the sinking of his beloved ship.

Step 19: grocery store adventure part 3

Step 20: whip the half and half cream, add the sugar, melt some white chocolate, and- FUCK!!! This isn't a mousse at all! You were supposed to let the chocolate cool first. Now the cream is all curdled and watery! It looks like a bad whipped cream soup! Well, it still tastes good. So it's going on top of the cake anyway.

Step 21: melt some orange marmalade and white chocolate together to create a glaze to go on top. A glaze which will apparently melt the not-mousse, producing a sweet, sticky ring of disgusting looking foamy liquid around the base of the cake. It's completely fine though! Just looks like Halloween when you carve a pumpkin and the slimy pumpkin guts get everywhere.

Step 22: whoa! This cake is actually really good! And now you know what NOT to do next time around! Everyone takes a slice, except for the ever-disapproving brother who refuses to believe it can possibly taste good.

Enjoy!

Note: it is not recommended to leave the cake unattended for any longer than 12 hours. Dads will eat anything and everything they find in the kitchen

[pbandjesse]

Today was a pretty good day off. Mostly lazy. It started with a lot of anxiety for me though.

I slept all right and I woke up at around 9. I wanted to go to the mall. I was determined to go to the mall. But I also knew that the landlord was going to be coming around in the afternoon. I wasn't sure what time but I wanted to make sure it was here. So I started getting ready.

One of the issues that I'm having in this apartment is that there's too much space. So when I'm going from the bedroom to the bathroom I have to pass through another room which then reminds me that I need to do something else and then I go to the kitchen to start doing that thing and then realize that I'm passing another room and I see something else that needs to get done. And then it's just a horrible cycle. I get very stressed out by how many things that need to be done. I had to get dressed I had to water the plants I had to feed the cats I had to eat breakfast so many things. All of them got done though and it was fine I was just stressed for no reason.

James texted me and told me that there was a package over at the other apartment I had to go pick up. So I left here around 9:30 and did that. I got the mail there and package which turned out to be a cat stuffed animal for me. And I came back here. I was very overheated though. There's not a lot of Hills but it's hot outside and I had a lot of trouble picking an outfit today cuz I was too hot. And the shorts I decided on hurt my legs when I was biking. So I got back here and I got changed. And just kind of stood in front of the air conditioner. It helped but I was very uncomfortable.

I only stayed here long enough to cool off and then I left again. I biked to the subway because I thought that would be my best bet for getting to the mall. That's how I've always gotten to the mall. Turns out it's only like a 12 minute bike ride. I'm very annoyed about this because I waited for the subway for almost a half an hour. I felt very stupid. And I didn't even have cell service down there so I didn't realize how short of a bike ride it was until later on. At least I have an interesting podcast to listen to. It could have been worse.

But because of the long way and the Heat by the time I got to the mall I was kind of just sad and felt kind of weird. I want a Forever 21 but I didn't really want to look at clothes. And that Mal has not got a lot of things in it. Did you have a Claire's though. And they were having their 3-4-3 sale. And I went in and wasn't going to get anything but then I saw that they had the Platypus Beanie Baby that I had seen on the boardwalk. The one that I couldn't find. And so I got it and some nail polish and a present for Jess. It was nice. Help me feel a little bit better.

I got a pretzel. Finally. I actually got two pretzels and brought them home with me. I've been kind of snacking on them all day. Say microwave pretty well. And then I just kind of wandered. I started to leave and then I realized it was 11:30 and I hadn't had breakfast yet. I was saving the pretzels for later. So I look to see where I Burger King was because I had seen someone with a cup from it. Turns out it was in the mall just kind of setback so I didn't see it. I went in and I want to order the veggie burger always get. Only to find out that even though it's on their menu they no longer carry it because of the impossible Burger. Wonderful. I can't eat the impossible Burger. I've tried it multiple times now and two of the three times I've tried it I've gotten sick. So I don't trust it. And I really like the veggie burger at Burger King. Explain the girl why I can't have it and she told me I should fill out the survey. So we did and just said that I was disappointed. I got fries and a soda and sat down. But I just felt very sad. I just wanted to go home.

Thankfully waiting for the Subway on the way back wasn't as long. It was still really hard to bike home and the Heat. And I promised myself I would get a cold bath as soon as I was home.

And that's exactly what I did. I got him cold baths and I had my pretzel. Eventually I had a burrito. I just tried to enjoy my afternoon.

Our landlady, Tina, texted me that she was running late. Originally when she had called me when I first got home she said she would be there around 3:30 or 4. But her sister's car had broken down and she had to drive her somewhere so she would be here closer to 5. That's cool I wasn't planning on going anywhere.

But then I hit kind of a mid-afternoon slump and I got incredibly tired. I set an alarm for 4:30 just in case I fell asleep. I just felt exhausted.

I went downstairs to get a package. It was a bunch of small stuff from my mom. But she also apparently sent me an envelope. And that wasn't there yet so later on a little bit before 5 I open the door to go downstairs. But when I did I saw that the office door that is the apartment next door to me was open and there was a huge bag of peaches on the table in the hallway. I assumed that meant the landlady was there so I just went back in my apartment.

And I was right! Tina knocked on my door a couple minutes after 5 with the big bag of peaches. She brought them for me and James. She is so sweet. I want to give her a big hug. She reminds me of my dad's Aunt Ellen. An older lady probably mid-70s. Crepe paper skin and glasses. She had earrings and a necklace and a bracelet on. She has short blond hair that was kind of curled. And I just think she's so sweet. We sat and talked for about a half an hour. She gave me the lease and she told me the history of the building. At least what she knows.

Her and her ex-husband bought this home years ago. They lived here on the first floor and in this apartment before she had kids. And after they had kids they moved West Virginia and started renting the place. The building itself was built in 1904 and I was right about it being a family that owns a department store downtown. They commissioned the building when they got married. And then they left for 6 months. When they got back they started their life but the wife died a few years later they think in childbirth. He was very sad and so he moved to the building next door. The one that's an old person's home now. At least we think it's an old person's home. But that building was filled with artists and art collectors at that time. Just filled with that kind of energy. He continued to own the home for a while and rent it out. It changed hands two more times at least before Tina and her husband at the time bought it. And my favorite thing that you told me was that turns out the apartment I'm living in was the original owners Billiards room. I think that is hilarious.

It was really nice to talk to her though and she said the sign the lease when we get a chance. To contact her if we have any questions. The only real question I have now that I've read over the lease has there's a clause in it that says we can only have white curtains. And I want to check about that. Cuz that seems bizarre. But it is a standard lease that she just got from the library so maybe she doesn't know that it says that.

After she left I ate one of the peaches and it was incredible. Like I literally ate the entire thing it was falling off of the pit. It was great. And then I just kind of hang out for a bit. Enjoyed being in the apartment.

Eventually I worked on some art. The kitty cat James gave me I went to pick up earlier had very strange eyes. So I tried to call her the man. But that looked worse. So I removed them and put new ones on. At least fixed the size and placement. I like it a lot better now. And then I worked on some aren't and I had pizza for dinner. I just had a nice night. I miss James. He's at a baseball game right now. The whole reason for his trip. I hope he's having a good time up in Boston. He sent me pictures of the museum he was at today. And he promised me a souvenir. I look forward to having him back.

I'm laying in bed now. Sweet pea is manhandling my stuffed animals. And being a nuisance. But I'm really just ready to get some sleep.

I work at the Museum tomorrow. And then James comes back. And then it supposed to be D&D. I look forward to seeing our friends. I hope you guys all have a nice day tomorrow. Be safe. Take care of each other.

[iwritekpopthings]

You (Ch. 15)

Characters: Misun (OC), Jung Daehyun, B.A.P, other side characters Genre/ Warnings: Fluff, romance, slow burn Word Count: 1584

StrongChan: “You can do this, Misun. It'll be worth it. You trust me, right?”

Giant Baby: “Noona fighting! Remember that he loves you, too.”

SassJae: “It'll be worth the effort. You can always tease him about why you haven't met his crush yet. Or why he's being so secretive ;)”

Best Unnie: “Don't flake out on him. I know you're thinking about it, but don't you dare! <3”

It was Friday night and Misun was being inundated with supportive messages. But no matter what they said, she was still nervous. She had reached out to her closest friends in search of advice or a way out of going to the mall with Daehyun. But she was having no such luck.

She sighed as she got ready for bed, climbing under the covers. Countless scenarios went through her head concerning tomorrow. What should she wear? Should she act normal? Like she isn't bothered by this? Should she pick something that's actually really ugly that no girl would like? Misun groaned and rolled onto her back, staring up at the ceiling. She watched the glow of the street lights flicker across the ceiling for hours until she finally fell asleep.

***

The doorbell rang and Misun jumped. She straightened out her blouse and jeans, then grabbed her bag and coat on the way to the door. She opened it to find Daehyun standing handsomely before her with his leather jacket open, in a white v-neck graphic t-shirt and dark skinny jeans.

He looked her over and smiled. “You look nice~ Ready to go?”

“Mhmm” She nodded and stepped out, locking the door behind her.

Daehyun grabbed her hand and led her down to the parking lot to a red sports car. He took her to the passenger's side and opened the door. “Climb in.”

“Wait, this is your car??” She asked, eyes wide. He simply nodded and smiled wider. Misun shook her head but got in anyway. Daehyun shut the door and went around to get in behind the wheel.

“Okay, the mall is about 30 minutes away. Think you can handle me in an enclosed space for that long?” He glanced over at her with a cheeky grin as he drove out of the lot.

She smiled back at him, trying to relax. “I don't know, that seems like a long time.”

Daehyun laughed and shook his head. “Aish, so mean to me…” He reached out and turned on the radio. Songs that they both knew played one after another and they sang along, imitating different styles and voices. By the time they reached the mall, Misun had relaxed to her usual self.

“I've never actually been to this mall..” Misun told him as they walked toward the building.

“Really? Well then you better hold my hand so you don't get lost.” He winked at her as he offered his hand.

“Hmm, maybe I'd rather get lost..” She laughed at his dumbfounded expression and reached out, holding his hand tightly. “I'm teasing, you dork.”

“I knew that. OH LOOK, A PHOTOBOOTH!! Come on!” Suddenly Daehyun was dragging Misun through the mall to a set of photo booths along a wall.

“A what?” She looked at the box in confusion, having never used one.

“Let's take some pictures! Come on, it'll be fun!” When she still looked hesitant, he gave his best pouty face, hoping to win her over. “Pleeeeaseee?”

“Alright, fine.” She blushed as he pulled her into the tiny booth and closed the curtain.

Since there wasn't much room to sit, he pulled her onto his lap. “Alright, you just sit here and be your adorable self, while I press all the buttons.”

She sighed, but did as he said.  “I'm not adorable. And aren't I too heavy?”

“Nonsense. And no, you're lighter than a feather. You should eat more.” He teased, making her smile. “Okay here's the first one. Smile~”

Together they smiled and goofed around for three of their four shots. For the last one, Daehyun pointed to his cheek. At first, Misun couldn't figure out what he wanted. When she got it she blushed, but took the opportunity anyway. She leaned in and kissed his cheek just in time for the shutter to click.

Blushing like crazy, Misun practically jumped out of the booth for some cooler air. Daehyun laughed at her as he stepped out.

“Now what?” Misun asked, looking over as Daehyun waited next to the booth.

“Now the pictures come out.” Sure enough, two sets of pictures came down the shoot and into Daehyun's hand. Misun looked over his shoulder and smiled. “Look at us, we're freaking adorable.” He chuckled and handed Misun one set of the pictures. He folded his and put it in his wallet while Misun put her’s in her bag.

“Okay, and now what?” Misun looked up at him as he slung his arm across her shoulders.

He looked around as he answered. “Now present. What do girls like?”

“Right, um…” Misun felt her heart sink a little, but she had resigned herself to helping Daehyun like a good friend should. “Girls like flowers? Clothes? Jewelry?”

He nodded as he thought as well. “Jewelry might be nice.” He said with a smile.

“Alright, there’s a few jewelry stores here on each floor, according to the directory. We can go to each until you find one you like.” She suggested, stopping at the map as they almost walked past it.

“Woo, let’s go~” Daehyun led the way to the first shop of the day.

“Aw, what a cute couple.” Two old ladies were talking on a bench as Daehyun and Misun passed by. They both blushed and continued walking, pretending not to have heard what was said.

They perused the first three shops with no luck. Nothing seemed to catch either Misun’s or Daehyun’s eye.

As they browsed around the fourth store, Misun thought of a question. “So do I know your crush?”

“Yeah, she’s in the drama club.” He told her absentmindedly as he looked at the case of rings.

Her mind immediately went to Sooyeon and she tried not to freak out. Those two did spend a lot of time together practicing. Maybe she had eventually won him over. “Daehyun oppa, let’s go look at a different store.” She clutched at his hand tightly and began to pull him away before he could even protest.

“Misun.” He called out to her, but she wouldn’t look at him. He chuckled because he knew what she was thinking. In the month or so that they had been friends he had gotten to know her pretty well. “It’s not Sooyeon, just so you know.”

Misun stopped and turned to look at him. “It’s not?”

He rolled his eyes and pulled her in for a hug. “No, dummy. This girl is someone much better.” He kissed the top of her head before letting her go and taking her hand in his. “Alright, next store~”

After finishing the first floor, they decided to get giant pretzels. It had been almost two hours that they were here already and they could both use a break. As they ate, they talked about different kinds of jewelry and confession options.

“Honestly oppa, she’ll probably love anything you give her because it’ll be from you.” Misun told him as she dusted some cinnamon sugar off of her fingers.

“I’m still worried. She might not return my feelings.” He looked down and tore off part of his pretzel, dipped it in cheese, and held it up. “Wanna try?”

Misun nodded and opened her mouth. Daehyun calmly fed her the pretzel while secretly going crazy on the inside. “Mm, that’s good! Want to try mine?” He nodded and she fed him some, smiling as he groaned at how good it tasted.

They quickly finished up and threw their trash away. “Alright, second floor?” Daehyun asked, taking her hand naturally.

“Let’s go!” Misun used as much enthusiasm as she could, pulling him along behind her. They went up the escalator and into their fifth store of the day. They combed through the cases, looking for something cute or romantic. However, Misun became sidetracked when she saw a necklace sitting in a back corner of a display case. It was an onyx heart with gold claws holding a diamond in the middle. She stared at it long enough for Daehyun to notice and he came over to investigate as well.

He rested his chin on her shoulder to see what she was looking at. “Find something?”

“Hm? Oh, uh, no?” She tried to process her words. “It’s not something that every girl would like. If she likes cute things, it’s probably not-”

“That gold and black one, right?” He asked, to which she just nodded. “It’s perfect, actually.” His small grin widened to the biggest smile she had ever seen him wear. He called the attention of the store clerk and quickly purchased the necklace without any trouble.

“Alright, so I guess we’re done?” Misun asked as they headed back out to the car with their arms linked. She tried to keep the sadness out of her voice, but Daehyun still noticed.

“How about you come to my and Jae’s apartment for lunch? He’s hanging out with Zelo and Jongup today, so it’ll just be us, is that okay?” He offered as they got into the car.

“That sounds good, let’s do it!” Misun smiled, glad to have her time with Daehyun extended by any amount possible.

★☆★☆★☆

[atypical60]

Far be it to not take advantage of Oona’s pre-wedding events to not make it about me. OK?

Remember.  It’s all about MOI!!!!

Anyway, last weekend I flew to Cincinnati for Oona’s Bridal Shower.  You saw a sneak peak at my last blog post but I’m gonna elaborate more on the weekend.

And boy was this a fantastic Bridal Brunch!!

As the Mother-of-the-Bride naturally.

Number 4 is the only one Oona has stressed.  I did that at her shower when we all introduced ourselves.  My sense of humor got the best of me as I introduced myself as “…..as Oona exited my Origin of the World…”  immediately, I was pulled aside and warned in a kind way to NOT say anything like that at the wedding.  (shhhh–don’t tell but I don’t follow rules!)

I took Friday off from work because I wanted a true three-day weekend.  That’s the thing about working in a low-level clerical position—you need permission to get a day off.  In my other places of employment, it was much easier to finagle time off as a freebie—trust me.   I also worked my schedule out to accommodate leaving early on Thursday afternoon so I could fly from Philly to Cincy and enjoy a few extra hours of fun time.

I also took Friday casual to Thursday!  I travel in comfort, but not like a slob! J. Crew and Gabor wigs assisted me!  Mother-of-the Bride travel attire!

It’s not how it started out though.

For some reason, either I hit horrific weather or I have a displeasure of a delayed flight whenever I travel.  I kid you not.  And about 45 minutes before we were to board the plane, an announcement was made that the flight to Cincinnati would be delayed.

Welcome to my jet-sit world.  I spend more time waiting than flying!  I have to say though, that Delta made every effort and boarded us very quickly when the plane arrived!

Besides having an inner hissy-fit, I dealt with this issue by stress eating not one pretzel, but an additional bucket of pretzel nuggets.  Fresh and hot off the press.  The carbs were murder on my gut but felt so good going down.  I also ate a giant bag of peanut M & M’s.  And read trashy magazines.

And an added surprise was that these nuggets of carbs were also drenched in greasy melted butter.  I wonder why the scale isn’t giving me nicer numbers!!

The plane finally arrived and this Mother-of-the-Bride landed after ten in the evening to rain!  I was two for two.  A delay and rain.  It was shocking that a snow storm hadn’t hit!

Cincinnati here I come…

To rain and a delayed flight….

Now…upon departing the flight, one would think I ran to the airport exit to see Oona and Sam.  No.  CVG is a GREAT airport.  It’s so clean and spacious so I couldn’t resist dawdling (now we know where my son, Roman, acquired the gift of dawdle…).  I came across a cosmetics vending machine!  But I didn’t buy anything!

Why couldn’t I find this at Philly airport during the delay?

Then I came across my favorite part of the airport!  Them bones!

Some stop to smell the roses.  I stop to take photos at airports of skeletal treasure!

But it was great to be back at Oona and Sam’s and playing around with my grand puppy, Gracie.

My boo, Gracie.  OMG. She’s so well-behaved..

Oona and Sam are such great doggie parents…I KNOW they will be fantastic human parents!

Friday brought sun and clouds and brisk weather but it didn’t matter.  There’s something comforting in knowing that your daughter and her future husband can brew a great cuppa coffee.  They make it strong—just the way I love it.  And we sat around gabbing before getting ready and heading out to run errands.

The Mr. Coffee is far better than the grandpa Mr. Coffee we have at home.

Even little Gracie was beggin’ for some!

Ahhhhhhhhh…cawfee!!!

Oona had a nail appointment, and since my nails were looking fine, I passed but kept her company while we discussed family and the wedding preparations.

This freakin’ nail salon!  It went on for days!  I was jealous–but then Oona told me the price of a mani-pedi and I was glad to be living in the Northeast where nail salons are plentiful….and far less expensive!

Next stop was Marshalls –Oona picked some workout clothing (I didn’t –I’m lazy).  And I headed for the cosmetics.  Glory be to Gawd—I found two great eyeshadow palettes!

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More on these palettes for my next blog post but boy….at $7.99 each, these palettes were a steal!

We did some food shopping—Sam’s birthday was Friday and his family was coming over for dinner.  Oona looked pensive as she realized time was of the essence—she had to head back to the airport to pick up her best friend and maid-of-honor, Lauren.

Did I say food shopping? I sent this pic to Bonaparte to validate that Pennsylvania is the worst state in the USA because of the State-run, Mob-type Liquor stores!  You can by this at Trader Joes in Cincy!

And that’s where mom comes in—I assured her I could take care of the cake and she could head to the airport for alone time with her bestie!

BTW, this cake is gluten-free, chemical and preservative-free, sugar free, and lower-fat!  Oona added Sam’s favorite candy–Reeses Pieces which are NOT lower fat nor sugar free!  But it was a tasty Birthday cake!

Friday evening, Sam’s family came over for a birthday celebration. Being with Sam’s family is like being with……………. family!!  We all had a great time and I was introduced to a spectacular aperitif/cocktail:  The Aperol Spritz!  This concoction of Aperol, Prosecco, and Seltzer with a slice of orange is the most refreshing drink I’ve ever downed!

You read it first.  Moving forward, the Aperol Spritz will now be called “Mother-of-the-Bride”.   There will be an open bar at the wedding but I may smuggle my private makings!  There’s only 148 calories in one of these!

I drank a lot of them during the weekend.  In fact, as I write this now, I informed the Frenchman that I’ll be stopping at the store for Aperol, Prosecco and seltzer!  He is a bit upset that I am forgoing the beloved Kir Royal but the Aperol Spritz has less calories and with the wedding countdown, every calorie counts!

Saturday was a full day!

Let me tell you something.  Oona and Lauren spent a long time getting their hair perfectly coifed.  Lauren is great with styling and she styled Oona’s hair in perfect beach waves.

I plopped my Jamison wig on—and had extra time to loll around in bed! Oh, the beauty of wigs!

Jamison and Lilly Pulitzer.  You can’t go wrong!

The shower/bruncheon was at LouVino, a Southern-inspired restaurant and wine bar downtown Cincinnati.  What a great place!  The celebration was downstairs in a private room and Oona’s friends, coworkers, future sisters-in-law, mother-in-law and relatives were in attendance.

The upstairs wine bar at LouVino’s. I’m recommending this place to out-of-town guests for Oona’s wedding!

The downstairs room where the brunch was held…

Thanks to Sam’s sisters, the table settings were beautiful..

  Mimosas kept us refreshed and hydrated!

Oh yeah, and water (in the background) also kept us hydrated.  The food was so great that I never took a pic–I was too busy shoveling the Warm Brussels Salad into my mouth!

We played girlie games.  I won Scattergories.  But the best game was where Oona had to guess answers to questions that Sam answered in advance.  For ever wrong answer, a wad of bubble gum was placed in Oona’s mouth!  It was a riot!

It was only natural that I took myself out of the “Guess the Age” game.  I’m no cheater!

Miss Oona getting ready for more bubble gum!  She actually did a great job.  Out of 30 questions, she got 2/3’s correct!

The prize for the Scattergories win..a cute mug and a Starbucks card!!!!!!!!!!! 

Some of the gifts.  Crate & Barrel is very popular–eh???

Happy little wine glasses…

Happy little Oona!

The baking girl was thrilled to receive mixing bowls.  Did I mention I gifted her with a Stainless Kitchen Aid Mixer…just like mine?  I swear the baking is genetic!

This.  This was on Oona’s wish list and she was so happy to receive this!  (Hmmmm maybe she’ll give me her Mr. Coffee machine…)

BFF’s.  They’ve been friends since middle-school.  Two beauties!

This photo of us was taken after I was crying…

..and this is why.  Lauren, Oona’s BFF and Maid of Honor, gifted Sam’s mom and me with embroidered hankies.  Both moms were crying because it was just a touching and generous gift!   I’m crying again!

I was very happy to be in attendance.  Oona didn’t want a shower in Philly simply because she felt that asking my side of the family and her Northeast friends, was asking them to spend too much money—what with the travel to Ohio and the hotel, she wanted to keep expenses down for everyone.  You know—I was very proud of her decision.  I think I raised a very conscientious young woman!

  And the fact Sam’s family has welcomed Oona really made me feel warm and fuzzy inside!

May I present the future Mrs. Butts.  Coming from a very competitive family, it pleases me to have my daughter’s future last name be greatness such as this.  When/if they have children and their children are in competitive activities, they can hashtag:  #MyButtsgonnakickyours  or… #Buttsbekickin’

Some after-brunch fun.  Isn’t that dress adorable?  It’s a Lilly Pulitzer..and those shoes!  The daughter has great taste..and she’s gorgeous!

By the time we got back to the house, the rain came and it was time to head to Sam’s mom’s home for a casual, laid back and fun dinner!

And more Aperol Spritzes!

The recipe?  Three parts Prosecco, Two parts Aperol, One part (a splash) Seltzer and an orange slice to make it nice!

Sunday morning brought forth a bit of a hangover and the flight back to Philly.  Isn’t it funny how when you wish for a delay, the flight is on time?

Gracie was sad to see me go.  I was sad to see me go!

  Minimal dawdling on the return.  There was no delay.  WAIT!  Does that say Air France?  Yeah…but it’s the plane back to Philly…

And despite the timeliness of the flight home, I did manage to get this sweatshirt as a reminder of a great weekend!

I arrived back home Sunday afternoon.  When Bonaparte picked me up, I’m not too sure he was happy to see me because he kept mentioning how tired I looked.  He was right. I had a bad hangover    FOODover, because of all the food I ate.

Yeah. I pretty-much crashed when I arrived home.  Funny how I still think I’m in my twenties sometimes!

Do you ever get sad when you leave someplace and someone?  I was incredibly sad to leave but after I arrived home and unpacked and got to telling the Frenchman about the weekend, the sadness lifted and I felt really happy.  Happy that I was able to enjoy the weekend with my daughter and her future family! And happy to be back sitting next to my husband on the sofa!

And she’s the reason the weekend was a stellar one!  My baby is getting married!

More Mother-of-the-Bride Fun! Far be it to not take advantage of Oona’s pre-wedding events to not make it about me.

[mangohealth]

My 13 Favorite Low-Carb Foods (and 3 to Avoid)

Finding low-carb foods that actually taste good and aren’t chock full of fake, chemical-laden ingredients is a tough pursuit—one I’ve been on since I was diagnosed with Type 1 diabetes nearly twenty years ago. But I never gave up! And now I’m going to share a few of my favorite products and recipes that will help you keep your carb intake low, keep your tastebuds happy, and fill your body with mostly whole, real delicious food!

Soft & Fluffy Bread Rolls from The Diet Doctor (recipe)

These are a staple in my house. I eat two or  to three small rolls every day and let me tell you, not only do I not need insulin for them (unless I melt some chocolate chips on top in the microwave), they also make your digestive tract sing thanks to all that fiber. While you may have to do a little shopping around to get the right ingredients (I highly recommend ordering Anthony’s almond flour and psyllium husk on Amazon for a good price), once you make them the first time, they become really easy. I make a double batch every few weeks and store them in the fridge and freezer so I can eat them every day!

Edamame Fettuccine Pasta from Seapoint Farms (product)

I’ve tried a lot of low-carb pastas. And there are a few good ones out there, but...this one is the best. First of all, you could eat half the box and only consume 22 grams of non-starchy carbs after subtracting the dietary fiber. The texture, the taste, the fact that you can’t over-cook it and accidentally turn it into mush—it’s just so good.  Even my stubborn father-in-law ate it and loved it! Honestly, I won’t bother buying any of my former low-carb pasta choices because this one is so exceptional.

Edible Cookie Dough from Lions Pack (product)

This peanut butter based “dough” is scary delicious. And sure, if you eat the whole jar, the carb count isn’t low anymore, but if you keep this tucked in the fridge for a spoonful (or two) after dinner each night as your “dessert,” the carb content is wonderfully low for something that tastes like a strawberry poptart or a s’more or a cinnamon roll or...Oreos!! Every flavor is gluten-free and vegan, and the flavor options are endless. It’s not cheap, but if it helps you stay on track and avoid the real Oreos, it might become a worthwhile staple in your home.

Bread, Bagels and More...from The Great Low-Carb Bread Company (product)

I love everything this company makes, but am especially impressed by the bagels -- which even my husband liked. Their breads are soft, fluffy, and look and taste like bread. Their low-carb recipe secrets focus primarily on a highly effective combination of oat fiber, almond flour, flax meal, and stevia. Did I mention many of their products are also gluten-free? Their hamburger buns and pastas won’t take away from enjoying those classic meals. They even have low-carb soft-pretzels. You’ve gotta check these out. Delicious, I promise!

Discover Chocolate from Discover Confectionery (product)

Oh, this stuff is good. Many of their flavors are deliciously unique (probably because this is a UK-based product), and it tastes and feels and looks like real chocolate! An entire bar will deliver about 13 grams of low-impact carbs, and is filled with real food ingredients--not chemicals and fake junk. The only flaw of this product is the price.

Flaxseed Muffin in a Mug from a variety of sources (recipe)

This muffin is one of my morning go-to recipes. It takes less than 5 minutes to make a single serving. It’s full of real ingredients, super healthy fats, lots of fiber, and sometimes...chocolate chips! Mix ingredients in a dry coffee mug. Microwave for 70 seconds. Pop it out onto a plate. Cut into 3 slices and add a little butter or...whatever! My favorite version of this includes a tablespoon of chocolate chips to get my chocolate fix without breaking the “carb bank.”

Quest Protein Bars from Quest Nutrition (product)

While I wouldn’t want to encourage using protein bars as a meal replacement (‘cause let’s be honest, they are definitely not made of “whole” food ingredients), these are a great go-to if you’re trying to avoid real desserts, or when you need on-the-go “Oh, my gosh, I’m starving” kind of food from the bottom of your bag. They come in a billion flavors, including birthday cake, cookies ‘n cream, and cinnamon roll. After subtracting the fiber, the remaining carbs are pretty low-impact, and they’re plenty satisfying.

Spiralized Veggies from a variety of sources (product)

Even if you don’t have the “as seen on TV” veggie spiralizer, you can buy pre-spiralized zucchini and carrots to make a your own low-carb “pasta.” (Yes, carrots contain some carbs, but hose carbs are coming from a source that’s a whole food, high in fiber, and packed with essential vitamins.) You can find them in the fresh produce aisle at your grocery store, or in the freezer section at Trader Joe’s, along with frozen cauliflower rice. Simply throw them in a large saute pan with a little oil, add some herbs or sauce, and you have a low-carb and super healthy “pasta” dish.

Really, Really Easy Breadsticks from Kirbies Cravings (recipe)

Ditch the starchy breadsticks and even the pizza crust and make this effortless zero-carb flatbread instead. Literally, you just toss eggs, cheese and herbs into a food processor. Zap zap zap. Pour that batter onto parchment paper in a cookie pan. Bake. Voila! 

Chia Seeds from a variety of sources (product)

Chia seeds are definitely trendy these days, but for a good reason: you can make delicious breakfast or dessert pudding with this little seed from Mexico. Soak in just a couple tablespoons overnight in your milk of choice (low-carb milks like coconut or almond would be ideal), and by morning you’ll find you have a thick cup full of chia seed pudding that only contains about 1 gram of carb after subtracting the fiber. You can make it sweeter with your preferred alternative sweetener, or jazz it up with a little peanut butter and a tablespoon of real chocolate chips. Checkout more easy recipe ideas from GnomGnom.

Zucchini Pizza Bites from LowCarbYum (recipe)

Honestly, you don’t even need to know how to read to make these. It’s so easy, and so customizable, too! Chop zucchini into medium-thickness slices and top with a little pasta sauce (check your label closely to avoid buying a high-sugar sauce), a little cheese and 1 slice of pepperoni per slice of zucchini. Pop them in the oven until the cheese is fully melted—delicious low-carb pizza night. Kids will like them. Picky husbands who don’t care about their carb intake will like them. I haven’t offered them to my father-in-law yet, but I bet he might even enjoy them, too!

Romaine Lettuce! No...seriously! Swap it for all bread....

The easiest way to cut the processed, starchy carbs from a sandwich or tacos or even a hamburger is to simply keep a giant stash of romaine lettuce in your fridge at all times. Lay strips of bacon with chopped tomatoes and mayo on romaine for a low-carb BLT. Ditch those corn-laden taco shells and turn Mexican night into a fresh crunchy salad by filling a bowl with fresh crunchy romaine lettuce. Add a little salsa, a little hot sauce, maybe a little more cheese...taco night never tasted so good! (And did you know, romaine lettuce is just as loaded with awesome nutrients as spinach and kale? )

3 “LOW CARB” FOODS TO AVOID

Shirataki Noodles

Okay, some people must love these, but I’m not one of those people. While they don’t contain carbs, these “noodles” are also  void of basically any nutrition whatsoever and come in smelly liquid with an unpleasant taste that takes a lot of rinsing and a lot of sauce to cover up. They also have a texture that makes me feel like I might be accidentally chewing on someone’s ear cartilage. If you’ve never tired, you should...at least once. But don’t surprised if you find yourself needing to make something else for dinner after the first bite.

Julian’s Bakery Breads from Julians Bakery (product)

These seem like a dream come true...before you’ve actually tasted them. I’m sorry to say that these extremely low-carb bread varieties are not only not tasty but even  hard to even swallow. I choked on the first bite, to be honest. They are dry, weirdly textured, and void of any real flavor (at least a flavor you’d enjoy eating). There must be diehard fans out there, because this company has been around for a while...but I’ve never met them.

Diet Soda

Many people will disagree with me on this one, but at least hear me out. A diet soda here and there--let’s say, once a week--is no big deal. But if diet soda has become your go-to source of hydration every day of the week, not only are you consuming a heck of a lot of chemicals, you’re also only going to make your sweet tooth crave more and more sweet things. When I finally quit drinking diet soda, things with no sugar in them at all started tasting deliciously sweet--like flavored seltzer with a dash of apple cider vinegar. There’s also a great deal of conflicting research on the safety of many artificial sweeteners, and on whether or not they may be increasing a person’s insulin resistance, because their bodies to need more insulin, not less.

About the author:

Ginger Vieira has lived with Type 1 diabetes and Celiac disease since 1999, and fibromyalgia since 2014. She is the author of Pregnancy with Type 1 Diabetes, Dealing with Diabetes Burnout, Emotional Eating with Diabetes, and Your Diabetes Science Experiment. Her background includes a B.S. in professional writing, certifications in cognitive coaching, Ashtanga yoga, and personal training, with several records in drug-free powerlifting. She lives in Vermont with her husband, their two daughters, and their dog, Pedro.

If you liked this post, you may also like:

• 5 Healthy Kitchen Shortcuts You Need to Know

• Diagnosis: New Diabetes Doctor Needed

• The Beginner’s Commercial Break Workout

The posts on this blog are for information only. They are neither intended to substitute for a relationship with your doctor or other healthcare provider, nor do they constitute medical or healthcare advice of any kind. Any information in these posts should not be acted upon without consideration of primary source material and professional input from one’s own healthcare providers.

[erikandariel]

How We Met: 3/3

Part 1 | Part 2 

Length: 6,091

Tuesday arrived more quickly than I wanted it to. This was partially because I never liked slogging through finals, but mostly it had to due with hanging out with Erik and Ariel that day. The three of us had agreed to meet up in the parking lot by my dorm a little after 11:15. Although I hadn’t told them that the dorm that the lot was next to was the one I lived in. I was honestly a bit proud of myself for thinking to have that extra layer of security in case things went badly. But before I went to look for them and their car, I stopped off at my room to switch out my book bag for my camera. Ana was sitting at their desk working on their last essay for finals. They were still sleeping when I left for my pre-test breakfast that morning, but now they were dressed and presentable as far as clothing and washing their face and such. I could tell that they were thinking hard when I entered the room because they looked like a human pretzel. They sat on one leg that was folded beneath their body and their other leg was bent and resting on the chair so that the knee was up by their shoulder. “How’s it going?” I teased. They transferred the pained expression that they have for their laptop’s screen to me. I partially mimicked the look in sympathy but said with some enthusiasm, “I believe in you!” “Thanks,” they sighed, already back to staring at their laptop. “Try not to pass out today, ya?” I rolled my eyes in mock annoyance. “You almost pass out all the time and then I go and do it once and you won’t let me live it down!” “Yup,” they snorted. And the important word there is ‘almost’.” I made a face to the back of their head as I set my book bag down. Then I grabbed the tube of sunscreen I had strategically placed on my desk and doused every inch of exposed skin with it. Then I put it in my camera bag before putting the bag’s strap over my head and on my shoulder so that it laid across my body. “Well I should get going and let you get back to work. Bye!” I made my hands into a heart shape and pointed it in their direction. Without looking away from their essay, they responded in kind. I giggled to myself as I headed out the door. As I walked down the steps from the 4th to the 1st floor, I checked my phone. It was 11:13 so I figured Erik and Ariel weren’t on campus yet, but would be soon. Knowing the people in our age group, I guessed it would be at least another five minutes. Which is why when I walked out the dorm’s front door I was surprised to hear an excited voice yell, “Hey Ken, we’re over here!” from the lot. Never mind. Apparently they showed up to places early rather than late. Ariel bounced up and down and waved at me from next to the passenger door of a silver convertible. The top layer of her long, wavy brown hair was pulled back into a high ponytail, with the smaller, lighter sections of it blowing somewhat in the light breeze. This time she was the one wearing a crop top. It was light blue with a flower design in the middle of the front. She was wearing some sort of high-waisted denim pants. Although they could have also been shorts. While she easily stood two to three feet taller than the cars still in the lot, I couldn’t see where the leg cuffs ended. The top of the convertible was down so I could easily see Erik sitting rigid in the driver’s seat and staring straight ahead through a pair of large dark sunglasses. Well on a normal sized person they would have been large. On him they were actually a little too small. The space he had in the car was a similar situation. It looked like he had the seat all the way back but he still seemed cramped. The theme of things being slightly too small for him continued with his white T-shirt. It clung to his body to the point where I could easily see all of his form beneath it, including individual muscles and… his nipples… He also wore his hair up, but at least on the side of his head that I could see, it looked like he had a thin ribbon or braid going from his temple to where the rest of the hair was collected in a ponytail on the back of his head. Since he seemed to be ignoring me, I tried to ignore him to and focused on Ariel. I tried to give a genuine smile as I returned her wave and walked over to the car. “Hey!…” “Do you want to sit in the passenger seat or in the back?” she asked quickly. I still wasn’t used to her and Erik’s accent so it took me longer than usual to parse what she was saying. “And if you do sit in the back do you want me to sit back there with you or no?” “Uhh…” I’d never ridden in a convertible before. Mostly because I other than these two, I never knew someone with a convertible, but I also had a slight aversion to them. I always figured that with the top down I’d end up with a lot of bugs smashing into my face and holy shit do I hate bugs. Also glasses don’t exactly come with mini wipers to clean them off. I didn’t want to be a bother and ask them to put the top up though. 1) Because I barely knew them. And 2)Since I didn’t know if either of them could have fit underneath it. “…I’ll sit in the front I guess?” I said, choosing to hope that the windshield would keep me mostly bug-free. “If that’s okay with you guys of course…” Ariel looked quizzical. “Why would I offer to let you sit there if I wasn’t okay with you choosing it?” “Well… um… good point… I guess I just wanted to make sure?” “Don’t worry, you can sit there,” Ariel said with a smile as she opened the passenger door for me. I slid in and quickly buckled up as she vaulted over the edge of the car and into the seat behind me. It was a 2-door car though, so normally someone would have to fold the front seat forward to get back there. But she’d easily made it back there in one jump with the only jostling being from her landing. I didn’t think about this at the time though because I saw how many various buttons were on the console and dashboard. There was even a touch screen. I am easily distracted by technology. Erik turned the car on and as he went to grab the stick to go in reverse, I noticed he wasn’t buckled. As much as I wanted to I didn’t say anything about it because I didn’t want to seem rude like I had at the petting zoo where we met. I must’ve had some sort of look on my face though as Erik glanced my way before quickly grabbing the seat belt and clicking the buckle into place. “Oh. I forgot I took it off while we waited for you,” he mumbled. I heard Ariel buckling herself behind me. “Safety first!” she said enthusiastically. “Yay!” I responded, turning around to giver her a thumbs up. She quickly did the same with a very excited grin. Erik grumbled something as he threw the car into reverse, out of the parking spot, then quickly shifted it into gear and sped out of the lot. I grabbed onto my door and clutched my camera bag to me for dear life. Over the roar of the wind in my ears I heard Ariel yell something at Erik. We slowed down some and when we turned onto the highway we didn’t accelerate quite as fast as before. I loosened my death hold on the car door. “Sorry,” Erik said, not sounding apologetic at all. “I wanted to get out of there as soon as possible.” “I noticed,” I mumbled under my breath. He stayed silent for the rest of the trip. Meanwhile Ariel tried to ask me multiple questions, but it was hard for me to understand her over the wind until we were on the road leading to the zoo. It was a nice day, but the place wasn’t very busy; with it being a weekday and kids still in school and all. Before we walked into the zoo’s main building I did sort of try to protest against them paying for my ticket again. I always felt awkward accepting this sort of help and even more so if I didn’t insist it wasn’t necessary until they finished the transaction. “We said we would pay for you and we will,” Erik snapped at me. I shut up at that point and tried to look interested in the landscaping. After we made it inside, Ariel immediately laced her arms around Erik’s left one. “So what do you want to do first?” she asked me. “Food?” “Oh, it is time for lunch, isn’t it?” she replied. My stomach rumbled in agreement and she laughed. I tried to see what Erik’s reaction was from the corner of my eye, but he seemed to not be paying attention and staring straight ahead like he had in the car. Granted, it was a bit hard to tell since he was still wearing his sunglasses… even though we were inside. If he’d been anyone else I knew I would have teased him about it. But that didn’t seem to be his cup of tea so instead I readjusted my bag’s strap and took a step in the direction we needed to go. “The food court’s this way,” I explained. “Okay!” Ariel said as she and Erik started after me. “Do you know what you’re going to get?” I changed my pace to walk next to her. The hallways in this building were wide and with hardly any other guests around I figured it would be find to walk three-across. And if it did get crowded I figured I’d just move behind the couple. I was more comfortable being the last person in a group anyway. I quickly realized that despite my plan, I might have to walk behind them anyway because in order to keep up with I had to take longer and faster strides than I normally did. “A hamburger if they have ‘em. What about you guys?” “We ate before we left for your school,” Erik said curtly. “Oh.” “Well I’m still hungry,” Ariel said and I noticed her elbow him sharply before she turned back to me. “Do you know what else there is to eat here?” “Well we’re almost there…” I pointed to the sliding doors where we could see some tables and the first few stations on the other side. We stopped once we were in the food court to see the answer to Ariel’s question. I quickly picked out the grill area where it turned out they were actually selling hamburgers. There was also a sub shop, a place for Chinese food, vegetarian only area, and of course a spot just for ice cream. I tried to act casual while the couple talked quietly to one another in their native language about, I assumed, what she was going to get and if he was going to get anything. Near the end of the exchange it sounded like they disagreed about something and I hoped it didn’t have anything to do with me. At that point I’d realized that Erik really didn’t seem to like and that he also didn’t want to be there. However, I noticed him grudgingly give Ariel his credit card before she looked back at me with a grin. “Okay! I’m going to go the vede- veze- … vegetarian area!” she said. “Erik’s going ta go with you so you can get your hamburger and he can get himself something to drink.” And with that she gave us a small wave and left us where we were. I nervously looked at Erik. He’d partially crossed his arms and looked deflated with his shoulders hunched forward. It made him look like he felt awkward instead of angry like I would’ve expected. He flourished a hand in the direction of where we needed to go so I hesitantly led the way. We were the only ones in line at the grill station so after another cautious glance in his direction I stepped up to the cashier. “Hi. How can I help you?” they asked halfheartedly. “Hi, uh… I’ll have a double hamburger, so no cheese! And only mustard; nothing else on it.” I waited for them to punch in that part of my order. “And a bottle of sweet tea, please.” “’Kay. You can grab the tea over there.” They pointed towards a cooler a few feet away from me and which Erik was standing next to. “Anything else?” “Uh… yeah. Whatever he’s having.” I gestured at Erik while I took a step back so he could take his turn. He gave me what felt like a nervous look before taking a step forward. A single step. With his height it was a long stride, but he was still like three feet away from where most people would stand. “I will also have a bottle of sweet tea,” he said slowly. “Grab it over there.” The cashier pointed at the cooler again. I was thankful that they didn’t seem phased by his size or his accent. “Is that all?” “Yes,” he replied as he took out his wallet. “Your total is $10.74,” they told him and then nodded at me. “Your burger will be ready in a couple minutes.” I nodded back. Before flipping through the surprisingly large amount of bills he had, Erik pushed his sunglasses to the top of his head. I wasn’t sure if it was the light from the station’s heat lamps or what, but it looked like he had a slight yellow color to his eyes. There was an awkward second as the cashier and I waited for him to hand some cash over. He looked down at our total on the register’s screen, then back to his wallet before he straightened himself back up to his full height and flipping again through the bills. I could feel the frustration radiating off him. The cashier cleared their throat and I saw that they were beginning to look nervous. “Uh… sir?” He turned his glare on them and they took half a step back. “Just a sec!” I told them and sidled over to Erik’s elbow and extended my hands toward his. I paused for a second as I realized what I’d done, but decided I was committed at this point with being so close to him. I also just wanted this to end for the poor cashier’s sake. “Here, I can help,” I whispered. I refused to look up at his face. He sighed and I felt the breeze from it in my hair so I knew he was looking at me. He shifted his stance to be angled more towards me. Then he held the wallet open wide with his right hand and offered the closest end of it to me. “Please,” he said in an exasperated tone. I reached up and lightly pulled the wallet down so that I could actually see in it with being this close. It turned out that Erik’s natural waistline was right about at my eye level and so while it may have worked just fine for him to hold the wallet at that height I would need to stand on my tip toes and I am in no way a ballerina so that wasn’t going to happen. Thankfully he had things organized by amount so it was easy for me to find a $10 bill. “Do you have any change you want to use?” I asked, still keeping my voice quiet. “What is change?” he asked, matching my volume. “Uh, coins; pennies, dimes, quarters…” “No,” he huffed. I quickly grabbed a 1 and offered the two bills to him. He hesitated before slowly reaching for them with large left hand and carefully taking them from me. The cash looked like they should be toy money when compared to him. He took a short step forward before shoving his hand at the cashier; who I noticed was now sweating a fair amount. They quickly grabbed. “Um. Out of $11…” they mumbled as they punched the amount in. Before the drawer fully opened they quickly put away what Erik gave them and grabbed his change. “Here’s 26 cents.” Erik glared at their awaiting hand. I edged around him and offered a palm to them in his place. “Can you grab the tea please, Erik?” I asked, hoping that I didn’t sound too nervous. He gave a grunt but put his wallet away and then stepped over to the cooler. H easily grabbed both bottles with one hand. I stepped off to the side to wait for my hamburger and he came over and stood slightly behind me. “Here,” he said flatly as a thing of tea suddenly appeared next to my face. “Thanks.” I turned a little to take it with my free hand and then held out the one with the change. “Do you want your coins back?” He forcefully pushed his sunglasses back onto the bridge of his nose. “You can keep them.” “You sur-” I remembered our interaction on our way into the zoo. “Thanks,” I said instead. I hastily opened my camera bag to put them away in my wallet. He grunted in return and I figured whatever moment had happened when we were ordering was over. As I made sure my bag was securely closed, I noticed him shift his weight from one foot to the other. “Thank you,” he said. I glanced up at his face but from the angle of his head it was clear he wasn’t looking at me. “For helping me pay with… paper money.” I caught myself smiling but before I could say anything Ariel appeared between us. “I have my food!” she announced. “What are you two waiting on?” “Uhh… ma’am…?” I heard the grill cashier say. They pushed a tray with hamburger on it towards me. I tried not to wrinkle my nose at getting misgendered. After all they obviously couldn’t know from just looking at me that I was non-binary, but it still always bothered me when it happened. “Thank you,” I said instead. I quickly put my tea on the tray and grabbed it. Then turning to Ariel and Erik I asked, “Where do you guys want to sit?” “We don’t have a preference!” Ariel replied for the both of them. “Uh… okay…” I surveyed the tables near us, then at some by the large windows on the other side of the room. “How about over there?” The air conditioning was making me a little cold so I led the way to one of the tables that was somewhat in the sun. The two followed. I put my camera camera bag on the floor between the window and the seat I was sliding into. The window looked out on a tree-shaded plaza, beyond which I could see some of the zoo’s elevated walkways. Erik and then Ariel stopped next to the table instead of sitting down. “Isn’t the sun in your eyes there?” he asked hesitantly. “Won’t you get too hot?” she added. “Nah, I’m good.” I shrugged and started to unwrap my sandwich. “I’m a little cold and the sun is warm so I’ll live.” Ariel examined the table before saying something to Erik and nudging him forward. He took a deep breath in and out before taking off his sunglasses and handing them to me. “Here.” Instead of looking at me he squinted out the window. “Oh, no, I’m good!” I repeated. Pointing to my own glasses I said, “Mine sort of turn into sunglasses if there’s enough UV.” He glanced at Ariel. She said something to him before pointing at the spot across from me with one hand while easily balancing her tray with the other. He put his sunglasses back on then moved next to the chair she’d indicated. I just stared as he pulled it back far enough to touch the one behind him, then gingerly sat down. His body made a wall between me and the sun. He didn’t move his chair any closer to the table and I figured part of it had to do with his knees being almost as tall as the top of the table. Ariel put her tray down and took the seat next to me. She had her chair at a normal distance from the table, but I was pretty sure it was due to her folding her legs neatly to her side, almost as though she were riding a horse side-saddle. They both stared at me. “Aren’t you going to eat?” she finally asked. “Um, sure…” I snapped back to attention and took the top but off my hamburger to make sure there weren’t any offending vegetable on it. It was clean so I picked up the entire sandwich and took a bite. They seemed to take this as a signal that they could also start eating, or rather drinking in Erik’s case. They both took smaller samples of their stuff than I expected. He seemed surprised by the tea’s flavor while Ariel looked thoughtful for a moment or two while she processed the taste of her wrap. Then they caught me looking at them and I realized they were also watching me. To try to cover up the fact that I’d been staring at them, I took an unnecessarily large bite. Almost mechanically, they had a little more of their own things. Ariel started to say something when I discovered that the bite was a little to big for me. I hurriedly tried to open my tea. Like I didn’t have anything stuck in my throat, it was just that uncomfortable feeling I would get when I tried eating too much at once. Thankfully this was the case because my first attempt failed. “Ken, are you okay?” she asked as I changed my grip a little. “Just thirsty,” I grunted as I tried again. The lid didn’t move. So I grabbed the bottom part of shirt and held it against the cap to see if that would improve my odds. And another failure. “Let me do it,” Erik said and suddenly one of his large hands appeared over my hamburger. I passed the bottle to him. “Thanks…” I said sheepishly. “I like always have problems opening bottles…” Leaning a little over the table, he turned the cap with what looked like no effort and there was a satisfying crack and hiss as he broke the seal. He laid the lid on my tray before offering the bottle back to me. As I greedily took it from him, I accidentally brushed my fingers across part of his warm hand. I paused and briefly marveled at just how much bigger it was than mine. A shiver ran up his arm and I quickly shoved my tea into my face. I took a couple large gulps as if that would somehow make up for just how awkward this day was. Instead I almost literally inhaled it. “Don’t choke!” Ariel gasped, standing up. Erik quickly followed suit and even leaned over and placed a hand on my shoulder. I heard the table behind him move as he pushed away from his chair. “I’m good,” I tried to assure them between coughing and trying to get air in my lungs. “Just give me a sec. My body’ll calm down.” Erik tightened his grip to where it started to hurt. I looked up at him in surprise but at least it stopped my diaphragm from freaking out for a moment. He stared at his hand as though he was also surprised by how tightly he held my shoulder before quickly pulling it away. He dropped back into his chair, crossed his arms, and glared out the window. I coughed a few more times before taking a cautious sip of tea. Ariel still stood over me. She looked like she was ready to fight the bottle if she needed to. It was honestly very intimidating. “I’m fine!” I said again. I patted the air in the direction of her chair, trying to get her also sit down again. She narrowed her eyes at the offending drink but did plop back down beside me. “Are you sure you’re all right?” she asked seriously. “Yeah! This kind of thing happens all the time…” I said, hiding my mouth behind a hand. Erik snorted. I swallowed. “What?” I asked. I sounded more defensive than I meant to. “Okay so I know that like since we met I seem like a helpless baby, but I’m not!” Ariel studied me with suspicion. I tried to ignore her stare by taking another bite and pulling out my phone to see if I had any notifications and what the time was. After a few moments she turned back to her own lunch, only for her to say something angrily under her breath. I followed her gaze to between our chairs where her wrap laid on the floor, its contents spilled out under our chairs. “Welp. I can get some napkins to help clean up,” I offered. “No,” Erik said firmly before I could bolt to the condiment bar. “My friend and I can manage this. You finish eating.” It took me a second to realize that his “friend” meant Ariel. “No, really, I don’t-” He held up a hand to silence me as he stood up. “Eat.” I did as he said and watched him leave. Ariel knelt down behind her chair. The top of her head came to my shoulder but her long hair still almost reached the lettuce covered floor. “Ken?” she asked. “Mm-hmm?” “How exactly do I… do this.” “Pick up your wrap?” “Yes.” “Just put it on your tray? Then you can just throw it all away in the garbage before we head out.” She smiled at me and started doing so. “And hey, if you want you can go get another wrap if you want. I don’t mind waiting for you to finish eating.” She shook her head no. “Nah. Like Erik said, we ate before we picked you up so I’m fine!” “Okay… Well then, let me know if you want me to help you pick this stuff up?” She shook her head again. “Then tell me if I need to move to another seat or get my legs out of the way?” “I will!” Erik came back a second later with two large handfuls of napkins. Not just like normal person large handfuls though; his huge fists were stuffed with them. He joined Ariel on the floor and I nervously watched them work, moving my legs around or holding them up out of the way as needed. She used her bare hands to grab all the larger chunks, while he used the napkins as make shift gloves to clean whatever she missed. When they were done he tried to give her the remainder of the napkins so she could wipe her hands off. But instead she either didn’t see or didn’t care and just rubbed them on her capris as she stood up. He sighed and used them himself before putting them on her tray with the rest of the garbage. I finished my sandwich right about then so I quickly rolled up its empty wrapper, grabbed my things and got up too. “There’s a garbage can over there,” I said and started walking towards it. I saw the grill cashier standing warily about 20 feet away from our table with a broom and dust pan. I wondered how long they’d been standing there as they waited for us to leave before making sure we’d fully cleaned up our mess. The can I went to had two others next to it. Erik went to the one on my right and just… threw the entire tray into the can. Like not just the remains of Ariel’s wrap and the napkins he used and the tray liner. He dropped the actual tray in. I stare at the can and then at him. He did the same to me. Then slowly he reached into the can, grabbed the tray, shook off anything still stuck to it, then reached past me and set it on top of the one I had put on the nice little shelf above the can that was meant for holding the used trays. I tried not to giggle as I gave him a thumbs up. He looked confused at the gesture but he did start to mirror it. Suddenly Ariel appeared on the other side of me and held my free hand in hers. She was definitely not as tall as her significant other, but her hand was still a good deal larger than mine. “So what animal do we want to see first!” she asked. I looked down at our clasped hands for a moment. Partially because I hadn’t expected it and didn’t really notice the difference in our hand sizes earlier, but also because I had to marvel at how long and nice her fingernails were? I played piano growing up so I couldn’t stand it if my nails went much past the ends of my fingers. I felt her grip loosen and she started to pull it away. “Sorry! Do not want to hold hands?” she asked with much more concern than the situation called for. “No! I mean yes! I mean-” I slid my hand back into place in her palm and held it. “I like holding hands.” She smiled brightly. “Okay!” Then at the same time she and I each offered our other hand to Erik. All three of us looked surprised by this. After a beat Erik hesitantly held his own hand out near mine. “I… like to hold hands too.” I carefully took it and he gently moved our hands to his side. “Do we want to start at the petting zoo?” he asked us with a stiff smile. “I promise not to yell at either of you if we do,” I said and hoped both of them could tell I was joking. Ariel laughed and started us towards the doors leading out into the zoo-proper. “I promise not to stick my fingers in any cages!” she said, giving my a light squeeze. “And I promise-” he paused mid-sentence with a thoughtful look on his face. “You should be Ken’s shade tree!” she supplied. “To keep them from getting too hot this time!” He hesitated in his current stride until I was slightly ahead of him and he was able to block the sun. “Yes, I promise to do that.” I rolled my eyes. “That was one time!” I pretended to protest. “And anyway it’s cooler today, and I made sure to wear light colored clothes, and I’m even wearing sunscreen!” “What’s sunscreen?” Ariel inquired. “It keeps the sun from burning me.” They pulled me to halt. They both looked at me as though they thought I was going to randomly burst into flames. These mini-crises were starting to get old. “You know… cuz my skin is so light? I get sun burnt really easy? Like I don’t tan? My skin just goes straight from ghost white to red if I’m out in the sun for too long…? And I guess you’ve never had a sun burn since your skin is so much darker than mine?” “Should we leave and come back on a day when it’s cloudy?” she asked with genuine concern for my safety. Erik took another step towards me as though he were trying to keep any sunlight from reaching me ever. “No! I’m  wearing sunscreen! And it’s the really good stuff too; it’s SPF 75!” The two literally started talking over my head at each other. Exasperated, I let go of their hands and started digging in my bag for my bottle of sunscreen. “Here, look!” I first shoved the bottle into Ariel’s face and then Erik’s. He took it from me and carefully began to read the front under his breath. She shuffled next to him to try to read it too. When they were done they exchanged a few more words before handing it back to me. “We believe you,” she said as I stowed the sunscreen away again. I sighed with relief. “I thought Erik said he was going to be my shade tree anyway.” I said with a forced giggle. I did not like confrontation one bit and we’d had more than enough for one day; probably two. “And I really want to see the sea otters!” “Yes, I did say that,” he said, a small genuine smile appearing. “Good, cuz you promised!” His smile quickly vanished and he looked dead serious. “I always keep my promises,” he said solemnly. “We both do.” Ariel sounded like she was somewhat offended. So much for no more confrontation! “No! Sorry! I was… just making a joke…” I stared at the ground. Despite the temperature and Erik being between me and the sun, I could feel myself getting warmer. “Oh… Oh! We’re sorry!” she said, sounding worried again. “We’re just not used to your kind of humor…” “Yeah…” I agreed. And then my anxiety kicked in and I suddenly felt like crying. What the fuck emotions. “Ken…!” She quickly cupped my hand in both of hers and then Erik did the same with my other one. I made myself take a slow, deep, somewhat shaky breath in… and then out. “Fuck… I’m sorry…” I whispered, still trying to focus and control my breathing. I closed my eyes so I didn’t have to look at them. “Sometimes my brain just overreacts and I’m fine. Just give me a sec…” They both let go of me, but I could tell from the—surprising amount of—heat radiating from their palms that they held them only a few inches away. I took a few more deep breaths before forcing a smile and opening my eyes. Both of them had bent down a little so their faces were closer to mine. I didn’t know if they were trying to make themselves look smaller or if they were trying to get a better look at me or what. “Okay,” I said, trying to reassure all of us that I really was fine. “Okay.” “Do you want to go to the sea otters first, Ken?” she asked softly. “No, we said we were going to the petting zoo first so let’s go to the petting zoo.” I bumped my hand into her hand that I’d been holding earlier. Thankfully she understood that I wanted to hold hands again and took it. She closed her eyes, smiled, and gave me a small squeeze before standing upright again. Then I turned to Erik, who was already standing straight and tall. I moved the hand by him closer to his own and tried to ask with my expression if he wanted to hold hands again too. He accepted my offer and even though I’d noticed that so far he seemed careful about any physical contact we had, his actions seemed even… more calculated? I smiled up at my two, new, large, friends and pulled them in the direction I thought we needed to go. “Ken…?” Erik said after only a couple of feet. “The petting zoo is this way.” And he gave me a gentle tug in his direction. I looked at the nearest directional and yup. He was right. I changed course. “To the petting zoo!” I said over-enthusiastically. Ariel laughed and Erik sighed as we made our way down the path.

[dani-ellie03]

Fic: Wednesday’s Child (14/?)

Title: Wednesday’s Child Summary: The next time Emma Swan wanted magical help, she was on her own. Because now they were stuck with a pint-sized savior who clearly had an attitude problem and a terrified but pretending not to be pre-pirate. Spoilers: If you’re current, we’re good. Rating/Warning: PG-13, mostly for safety. Family angst/fluff, as per usual. Disclaimer: Once Upon a Time and its characters were created by Eddy Kitsis and Adam Horowitz and are owned by ABC. I’m just borrowing them but I’ll put them back when I’m finished! —–

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At ff.net and below.

Tagging @shealivedarnit (If anyone else wants to be tagged, let me know!)

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Snow White's heart had never been fuller.

Lying beside her in the blanket fort was her little girl, her precious baby, her light in the darkness. The fact that Emma didn't know exactly who they were to each other at the moment didn't at all diminish the love that coursed through Snow every time she glanced over at the little girl and simply took in every little mundane thing she was doing.

That love only grew when Henry handed her the drawing he'd been working on, one of her and her little girl side by side, their heads bent over coloring books and a big box of crayons open between them. Tears welled in Snow's eyes without warning and she drew her grandson into a tight hug.

"Wow," Emma murmured when she caught sight of the drawing in Snow's hand. "Henry, you're really good."

Henry chuckled into Snow's ear, prompting her to release him. "Thanks," he replied, smiling at his little mom.

Emma smiled back, then flicked her gaze to Killian's drawing. "Whoa. You're really good, too, Killian!"

Killian tore his eyes from his drawing and looked up at her, bright blue eyes sparkling from the compliment. "Thank you. You color really well, you know. I like how you use two different crayons sometimes to blend the colors."

Now it was Emma's turn to beam in the face of a compliment. "Thanks," she said almost shyly.

Snow and Henry shared a warm smile. "All right," Snow said after letting the moment settle, "if everyone's done, we should pack up the art supplies and get ready for our picnic! David will be bringing the sandwiches in soon."

Charming had, in fact, already taken Neal into the kitchen to both give the baby his lunch and to get started on lunch for the rest of the family and the Mills sisters, who should there at any moment.

No sooner had the thought run through Snow's head than a knock on the front door announced the arrival of their lunch guests. "We can clean up in here, Mary Margaret," Henry assured her, thereby freeing her to answer the door.

"Thank you," Snow said, smiling at the children in turn. "I want all the pictures you worked on set on the end table, though. Those masterpieces are going right up on the refrigerator."

The surprised, touched expression on Emma's face simultaneously warmed Snow's heart and made it ache. Had her little girl ever had a piece of her artwork displayed prominently on the fridge? It hurt too much to think about but if not, Snow was glad to be the first person to do so.

Even though Killian clearly didn't understand the significance of displaying artwork on the fridge, he smiled as well. "Thank you, Mary Margaret."

"You're all very welcome." After giving the children a smile, she left to answer the door before either Regina or Zelena could grow impatient enough to knock a second time.

For some reason, Snow had been expecting Regina to poof herself and Zelena over to the farmhouse so she was surprised to find Regina's Mercedes parked in the driveway. Regina followed her stepdaughter's gaze to the car and heaved a sigh. "I didn't feel like explaining to Mini-Savior and Mini-Pirate how we got here if we didn't take a car."

Oh, of course. Little Killian probably wouldn't have asked – for one, he'd understand magical transport, and for another, he was still a little too gunshy – but Emma certainly would have. "Good thinking," Snow said as she stepped aside to allow the Mills sisters entry.

"Speaking of Mini-Savior and Mini-Pirate," Zelena said as she set a sleeping Robin's car seat down and shrugged off her coat, "where are they?"

"They're setting up the blanket fort for our indoor picnic," Snow smirked. She hung both sisters' coats on the hook and gestured towards the living room. "Just a heads-up: they're probably going to ask you to join them on said indoor picnic."

"You didn't mention our grilled cheese sandwiches would be eaten on the floor," Regina said somewhat accusingly.

Snow just shrugged. "I didn't expect them to ask if you'd be willing to eat in the blanket fort with them. You don't have to say yes."

Even as she said it, Snow somehow knew that Regina and Zelena would be joining the children on their indoor picnic. Tossing out sarcastic comments and turning down a simple but childish invitation were easy enough to do with adults. It was going to be a much harder task denying two hurt children.

Former Evil Queen, former Wicked Witch, and napping baby entered the living room with Snow at their heels. Regina's eyebrow quirked up at the sheer amount of linens strewn about the room but the rest of her face remained passive. Zelena, on the other hand, couldn't suppress an amused smirk. "Oh, this is just too much," she muttered, swallowing a snicker.

Oh, Emma and Killian were never going to hear the end of this now, were they? Henry would have children of his own and Zelena would still be teasing Killian and Emma about the blanket fort they constructed when they were ten for a day.

Even though none of the children could possible have heard what Zelena had said, the sound of her voice was loud enough to cause three little heads to peek out of the blanket fort. They emerged from the fort in a single file line, Henry first, who took a plastic bag filled with books from his mother's hand, followed by Killian and then Emma.

"You all already know Regina," Snow said, making the hasty introduction. "This is Zelena and the baby sleeping in the car seat is her daughter, Robin. Zelena, this is Emma and Killian."

Snow had been expecting yet another sarcastic aside from Zelena but the former witch appeared transfixed. She was staring at the children as if she couldn't believe what she was seeing. (Frankly, Snow knew exactly how she was feeling. She'd felt like she couldn't believe her own eyes from the moment Regina knocked on her door yesterday with the children in tow.)

Emma's gaze darted back and forth between Zelena and Regina as her little brow furrowed, though what she was trying to determine, Snow couldn't hazard a guess. Surprisingly, it was Killian who made the first move. He stepped forward and offered his hand to Zelena. "How do you do?"

Stifling an amused smile over the boy's politeness, Zelena shook his hand. "How do you do?"

"Are you sure you're Regina's sister?" Emma spoke up, shooting both Regina and Zelena a disbelieving glance. "You sound more like Killian than you do her."

"Emma," Snow chided but Zelena shook her head, indicating that the girl's question was fine.

"Well, we definitely fight like sisters," Zelena said with a wink, making Emma smile. "Regina and I didn't grow up together, which is why we sound differently. We only found each other recently."

The disbelief dropped from Emma's face and was replaced with an expression of both wonder and deep longing. "You were grownups when you found each other?"

Snow swallowed the sudden lump that had formed in her throat. From Emma's question, it was clear that she'd already begun giving up hope of ever finding her family. Hearing that the Mills sisters didn't find each other until they were adults had opened up a whole new world for her, a world where the search for her family could go on long after she grew up.

A somewhat panicked Zelena looked over at Snow, who nodded her permission to give Emma the truth. The former witch gently set Robin's car seat down on the floor, crouched down in front of Emma, and took her hands. "Yes, we were grownups when we found each other so don't give up hope. Your family is probably closer than you realize."

Emma swallowed hard and nodded. "Okay. Thanks."

"You're very welcome, munchkin."

Thankfully, before the tender moment could grow too sentimental for either Emma or Zelena, Charming entered the room with an entire platter of grilled cheese sandwiches. He said his hellos to Regina and Zelena and whispered a greeting to the still napping Robin before setting the platter down on the coffee table. "All right, kids, it's picnic time!"

A peek into the blanket fort told Snow that the children had set a blue gingham picnic blanket out on top of the others and big bowls of chips, pretzels, and popcorn were clumped in the middle of said blanket. Clearly, they were going all out with this indoor picnic idea.

"Do you want to have a picnic with us?" Killian asked.

Considering this was now the second time that Killian had initiated conversation with two relative newcomers, how could they say no?

That said, Snow and Charming did reconfigure the fort a bit so that the kitchen chairs could fit inside. At least now the adults wouldn't have to eat on the floor.

During lunch, Emma and Killian alternately ate and played with both Neal and Robin, who had finally woken from her nap. The adults and Henry conversed softly while watching the children, whose attention seemed solely focused on the babies.

"What are we going to do after lunch, Henry?" Emma asked after a comfortable silence.

"Regina brought some of my old books over so I was thinking we could pick one to read to each other," Henry suggested with a shrug. Listening to Killian read aloud was one of the family activities he'd come to really enjoy with his mom and stepdad. At the moment, they were in the middle of Treasure Island but they'd read a few others before that.

"I like story time," Killian softly agreed.

"Sounds to good to me, too," Emma added.

Thank goodness. Snow wanted to talk to Regina and Zelena about any progress they might have made and she needed to do so without the children present. Letting them get set up for story time was the perfect excuse to slip away for a little bit.

Once everyone had eaten their fills of sandwiches and snacks, the children took it upon themselves to take everyone's plates and the snack bowls into the kitchen. From the speed at which they returned, Snow gathered they'd simply left everything in the sink to be washed but she appreciated their effort.

As Emma and Killian dug through the bag to find a book they wanted Henry to read to them, Snow shot a questioning glance to her husband and the Mills sisters in turn. They all seemed to understand what she was asking because they nodded, indicating they'd talk once the children were settled.

Emma decided on Bunnicula with, "It's about a vampire bunny rabbit!" Killian was just as amused with the concept, so Henry took the book and had them both settle down on either side of him to they could both see the illustrations.

The adults took that as their cue, taking the babies and ducking out of the blanket fort. "We'll be back after we clean the kitchen," Snow assured them when Emma gave her a tentative, questioning look.

Emma nodded and settled back down. "She's a little gunshy about being left alone," she explained to Zelena and Regina.

Zelena nodded while Regina winced. Seeing firsthand how Emma's childhood had damaged her was not at all easy.

"Speaking of which," Charming asked, shifting Neal in his arms as the four of them stepped into the kitchen, "are you at all close to finding a solution for our little predicament?"

"We're getting there," Regina sighed.

"We think we know what she did now, at least," Zelena added. "The trick then is to figure out how to reverse what she did without producing any other undesired side effects."

Snow darted her gaze to the living room. She could hear Henry's soft voice reading the story and it once again struck her how little of this comfort and love the children had had. "Will they remember this?" she asked, a sudden lump rising in her throat. "When you turn them back, I mean. Will they remember this?"

"They should," Regina assured her. "Memory loss is the undesired side effect we're trying to avoid. I know you're trying to work with them and give them some good childhood memories. I can't promise how it will feel to them, whether it will feel like a real childhood memory or if it'll feel like a recent memory, but we're trying not to take the memories away."

Considering that was where Emma's original spell was having problems, Snow could understand why Regina was frustrated. "Thank you."

"Let's just make sure we can do it before you start thanking us," Zelena said.

Snow nodded and was about to say something else when Henry stepped into the kitchen. "Henry? Is something wrong?"

He shook his head, smiling. "You've got to see this."

The four adults followed Henry back into the living room and peeked into the blanket fort. Both Emma and Killian were sound asleep, curled up beside each other with just a small space where Henry had been sitting. "One minute they were listening as I read," Henry explained, "and the next, they were completely out."

Snow's heart melted into a little puddle for about the hundredth time.

"They've had a rough morning," Charming said after a beat. "A nap will do them good."

Regina, who'd heard the very beginning of said rough morning, nodded in agreement.

"Oh, this is entirely too much," Zelena snickered. She dug out her cell phone and snapped a picture. "The only unfortunate thing is that the only people I'd want to send this to are already here. Oh, wait!"

She tapped the screen and Snow heard the woosh of her text message tone. "Let me guess," Regina deadpanned. "You sent it to their phones, didn't you?"

"Yes indeed." Zelena smirked as she appraised the sleeping children. "All things considered, I have to say that I much prefer Emma in this incarnation rather than the other one she magically changed herself into. This one is cute and, more importantly, doesn't try to poison me with onion rings."

Charming and Henry both choked back a snicker, and Snow hid a smile when Regina rolled her eyes.

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Chapter Fifteen