#give him locs i said. it’ll be fun i said.

[lemonlimestar]

i don’t recommend drawing cowls that aren’t on faces. 0/10 will not try again

[skymoral]

Liu Kang x B!F Reader

FIRST DATE (Pt. 2)

Link: Pt 1 | Pt 2

Summary: Y/N with was able to snag an opportunity of dating Liu Kang, thanks to your friend Johnny bringing him around. You just hope that you aren’t to rusty

Tags: fluff/romance, friendship, happy/sad, first time, fun, black air-force energy, black girl magic, and comedy(supposedly)

A/N: This is going to be a sweet little first date with ya’ll boy Liu Kang

.·:*¨༺ ༻¨*:·..·:*¨༺ ༻¨*:·..·:*¨༺ ༻¨*:·.

Today was the date, you were going on your date with the god of fire. You’re not gonna lie, you were very nervous.

You jumped out of the shower, you made sure the shower cap was still on your head. You didn’t want the locs to get wet, you were thankful for Jamika.

Your phone buzzed on the dresser, you quickly grabbed it. Open your messages on your iPhone

“Speak of the devil.” You said out loud to yourself.

You put the phone back down and started looking for something cute to wear.

You asked Johnny to get information on what his favorite color is. Johnny came back unhelpful for once, because of course Liu Kang didn’t really have a favorite color.

You and Johnny believed it was probably red, possibly. You believe he was a spiritual kind of man, which wasn’t far from you.

Y/N was a women that liked beads, crystals, and more things to help her Zen.

After what felt like eons you finally found an outfit, you oiled your body. Did your makeup, keeping it simple and natural.

You were proud with how you looked, and was ready to give this man everything. For some reason you felt as though he was different, you usually like to take it slow. But something about Liu Kang made you feel like, even if you jumped into a relationship with him. It’ll be fine, hopefully…

.·:*¨༺ ༻¨*:·..·:*¨༺ ༻¨*:·..·:*¨༺ ༻¨*:·.

You were headed to the Chinese restaurant in San Diego. You hoped Johnny had helped him with knowing where to go, because he’s clearly not from around here.

You pulled up into the parking lot, as you got out you fixed up your outfit up. You made your way into the restaurant and was looking around, to see if you saw Liu Kang.

“Hi, how many today?” A young Chinese waitress approached you.

“Ooh! I had a reservation for two under Y/N and Liu Kang.”

“Of Course! He’s actually straight back there in the both.”

“Thank you!” You smiled walking to where she directed you. Y/N didn’t expect him to already be here, she hope he wasn’t waiting here long.

“Sorry If I made y-“ You froze as he turned to you, standing up. Pulling you into a hug, you could have passed out right then and there.

You would’ve been on the news, and your girls would have clowned your ass for something so stupid, but damn did he feel nice and he LOOKED amazing!

He wasn’t in his usual attire like at the shop, he broke the hug, noticed you staring at his appearance.

“I apologize if I look strange, Johnny suggested I dress properly for the occasion… To fit in better.”

“Oooh! Nooo no no no! It’s totally fine like… Fuck you clean up nicely, I’m sorry… I promise I’m not always this ugh…”

Liu Kang chuckled and blushed slightly at the compliment. “It’s alright, thank you. You look exceptionally well tonight, even more so.”

Liu Kang brought your palm up to his hand kissing it. You blushed and giggle at the compliment and gesture, “T-Thank you.”

Both of you eventually sitting down, “I didn’t know what your favorite color was… I did see you as someone who is like spiritual and nature like… So that was look I was going for… Sense I’m like that to ya know.”

You hated how shaky your voice sounded, it was pretty obvious you were nervous.

“So you meditate and focus on your chakra?” Liu Kang asked intrigued.

“Yes! Exactly like that. I actually have like some herbal earthly stuff at my place. You know my girlfriends from the shop, they do NOT LIKE THAT SHIT! Whatsoever. But meh, to each its own. It’s nothing wrong with having people around you that likes different things… As long as they just respect what you do.”

“I couldn’t agree more, you are very wise woman and I feel as though that’s why your friends care so much about you and stay with you.”

This man just could not stop making you blush, you dipped your head pulling a loc behind your ear.

Y/N started talking his ear off again, until a waitress approached them. “Hello my name is Mei Sung, and I will be your waitress today. Would you like me to start you off with some drinks?”

.·:*¨༺ ༻¨*:·..·:*¨༺ ༻¨*:·..·:*¨༺ ༻¨*:·.

One thing Y/N did not know was her three friends were outside of the restaurant. Watching them from afar in Johnny’s car.

“Man once Y/N start talking. It’ll take a miracle to get her to shut up, don’t get me wrong I love my girl but damn.” Tonya said looking through the binoculars.

Jamika snatched it out of her hand from the passenger seat. Looking through it, “Leave Stanka butt alone. It doesn’t seem to be bothering Mr. Kang over there.”

Johnny pushed on behind Jamika from the driver seat, snatching them this time looking out while leaning over her.

“Hmph! That’s just how that powerful son of a bitch is. Or maybe he just don’t feel like talking.”

“Johnny if you don’t get yo BIG ASS OFF ME!” Jamika shoved him back, the binoculars falling back into Tonya’s lap.

She quickly pulled down the windows, to watch. As soon as she did Liu Kang looked directly at her. Making her quickly hide back in her seat.

“Shit that scared me!”

“What happened Jamika and Johnny said.”

“The nigga stared right at me!”

.·:*¨༺ ༻¨*:·..·:*¨༺ ༻¨*:·..·:*¨༺ ༻¨*:·.

Liu Kang was looking out the window, but then back at you. When you called his name, “Is something the matter?”

“Hmm, oh nothing is wrong. I just thought I saw someone.”

“I’m sorry I’m probably talking to much for you.” You told him sinking slightly in your seat.

He grabbed your hand and gripped it tightly, “I could never get tired of hearing you talk. It is like music to my ears, I enjoy listening to you talk and hearing more about you.”

You smiled and then something came to your mind, “You know, I already know like what you are… and what you do, because of Johnny… Like could you tell me something that maybe… all realms don’t know about you, like on a personal level… It’s alright if it’s to personal.”

“No, I don’t mind telling and I kind of figure Johnny told you or more so knew he was going to tell you.”

“Yeah! Johnny told me you can see the future or something like that… WAIT! Did you already know who I am and that we were going to have this date!?”

“Know you yes, but knew the outcome of todays events no. I do not have that kind of power, I let everyone chose there own fate and lead there own path. I only knew Cage told you, because of how Kenshin calls it. He is a chatterbox and has a loose tongue.”

You chuckled at that, Liu Kang smiled at you. “So because of what you are and this god of fire duty shit… You don’t have time for things like these… The little things in the world you created.”

“No, as I must stay alert and make sure earthrealm is safe and protected. In case of another threat arises.” Liu Kang explained.

You nodded understanding, doesn’t that mean having a relationship with you is pointless. “So why even go on this date with me… You already know I like you and… Maybe have a relationship with you… Why the effort, when you have your duties.” You looked at him with sad eyes.

He still kept that same smile on his face, “I felt like this time is different from before… So I want to take the chance given to me, besides… Who could resist someone as charming as you Y/N.”

Y/N began snorkeling a bit, covering her face“Nice one Kang!” Johnny shouted on instinct, the girls pulling him back down. Liu and Y/N looked towards the window where the sound came from.

“I could’ve sworn I heard Johnny.” You looked around curious. Ms. Sung came back with you and Liu Kang’a order.

As you both were enjoying your meal, two men who clearly look like they had an attitude problem came in demanding a seat.

“Hey lady, hurry up and seat us.” One of the men said.

“You will have to give me a few moments sir.” she was coming to you and Liu Kang on your refills.

The man smacked the glass out of her hands, knocking her down. Making her fall. You noticed this and approached the scene.

“You fucking serve us first when we tell you to Bitch!”

“Hey!” You shouted to the two men.

“Go mind your business little girl!” The man said not paying you no attention.

“I don’t know who the hell you talking to but I ain’t no damn little girl. And she is my business, because those were me and my dates drink you knocked down.”

One of the men approached you, you didn’t flinch one bit and stood your ground.

“What you gonna do? You gonna fucking cry about it darky?”

He ain’t never just called you ‘Darky’. Without thinking, you gave him a strong ass right hook. Knocking him down on his but, nose and mouth bleeding.

Everyone looked at you in shock, your friends and Liu Kang watched impressed.

“I got a name Motherfucker! And it is Y/N L/N you better remember Bitch I’m from the side. Where Niggas like you better watch who you talking to! Now apologize to this young waitress!”

“THAT’S MY BEST FRIEND!” Jamika and Tonya shouted from the window.

You turned around noticing your friends, the other man standing saw your guard down. He quickly grabbed a dagger from his pocket, and charged at you.

“MISS LOOK OUT!” Ms. Sung warned you.

You turned to late, but before he could hurt you. Liu Kang stopped him in his tracks. You opened your eyes slightly.

Liu Kang had a tight grip on the man’s hand. The knife scrapping the inside of his hand causing it to bleed.

Liu Kang then bent his arm slowly causing him to scream and kneel. “I believe it to be unwise if you continue this dishonorable behavior. You owe this Miss and my date an apology.”

He let go of them man, looking down at them, Liu Kangs arms glowed orange and blue. Forming fires, “If not then there will be dire consequences, that I wish to not have it lead.”

The men looked in fear, before apologizing to you and the waitress. Before running off, Liu Kang doing a hand gesture relaxing himself.

“Thank you.” You and the Waitress both said blushing. Both of you knew that was pretty hot.

.·:*¨༺ ༻¨*:·..·:*¨༺ ༻¨*:·..·:*¨༺ ༻¨*:·

“I had a wonderful evening today with you Y/N. The food here was exquisite, much to my liking.” Liu Kang told you as you both were standing outside.

Johnny took the girls home, after you and Liu Kang gave all of them a lecture the trip didn’t want to hear.

“I knew it’ll be to your taste… So does this mean you would like to continue… Seeing each other?” You were playing with your fingers.

“I would love that Y/N” Liu Kang smiled, giving you a kiss on the cheek. You blushed, but you thought you should shot your shot.

You pulled him into a gentle kiss, pulling on his collar slightly down to you. It felt like heaven, and he even reciprocated the kiss with such passion.

He broke the kiss, you had a goofy face walking to your car. You saw him create a portal, before giving you one last glance and disappearing through it.

You got in your car, you sat there. Before you ended up screaming from happiness.

“BEST FUCKING FIRST DATE EVER!”

.·:*¨༺ ༻¨*:·..·:*¨༺ ༻¨*:·..·:*¨༺ ༻¨*:·.

This is what You and Liu Kang was wearing

.·:*¨༺ ༻¨*:·..·:*¨༺ ༻¨*:·..·:*¨༺ ༻¨*:·.

A/N: I hope you enjoyed these two parts! 😊 it was gonna be a lot longer, mainly because of the things you and Liu Kang was discussing.

More so his personal character no one else know and his likes and dislikes. When I do other Liu Kang stories you’ll be able to see what my Headcannon are for him.

Now I did say if you like these story with its characters and what not. Then it can be a series, if someone ask or it’s popular lol 🤷🏽‍♀️ anything is possible for the future.

[aizawaskittenwhore]

𝕙𝕠𝕨 𝕥𝕙𝕖𝕪 𝕙𝕖𝕝𝕡 𝕪𝕠𝕦 𝕠𝕟 𝕨𝕒𝕤𝕙 𝕕𝕒𝕪

≛ ft shota aizawa, ejiiro kirishima, katsuki bakugo and izuku midoriya with a black!reader.

≛genre: fluff

≛warnings: light swearing, izuku and kiri being adorable supportive boyfriends

≛a/n: honestly i’m procrastinating on chapter three, so have some soft wash day hcs with our 1-a bbys and our fav sleep deprived teacher🥺

aizawa:

having long hair himself, he’s well prepared and has virtually anything you might need

but he understands that your hair textures are so different

so he does his homework on black hair and how to take care of it

we love a s/o who educates THEMSELVES

and when wash day comes around, this man is more than ready to help

need a denman brush? he’s got it. curl smoothie? duh. growth oil? hair masks? heat protectant? rat tail combs? of course. diffuser? baby have you SEEN his hair, mans owns too many blow dryer accessories it’s almost embarrassing.

he’s patient during the detangling process, letting you take the lead

he knows how bothersome it can be to have people try to help when you’ve got a set way of doing things

so he lets you do what you have the energy to, and he does the rest

he’s so gentle, and kisses your forehead as an apology when he hits a particularly painful snag

he’s quick too, making short work of the process and decreasing it by a solid 20 minutes, which if you know the pain of wash day, it means a LOT.

he’s not a super romantic person, but he does his best to make washing your hair a relaxing experience

he’ll lower the lights, and run you a hot bath, coaxing you between his legs, sitting on the edge of the tub while he massages the shampoo into your hair slowly

his nails are blunt for obvious reasons, but he makes an effort to scratch as much as possible, and his heart flutters just a bit with how at peace you look

he focuses on the roots as that’s the only place that needs such attention and rinses with cold water to seal up your cuticles

he’d help you towel off and will sacrifice one of his comfier long sleeve shirts to help you dry your hair, since you mentioned towels add frizz and remove moisture.

he’s so good with the LOC method, applying just enough oil to seal, but not weigh your curls down too much.

always delicate with your ends

he lets you work the parts you can reach, and for places like the back of your head, he takes over, working the leave in conditioner in with ease

shota can two strand twist tf out some damn hair no i don’t take criticism

he’s also obsessed with the way your hair shrinks, though he’d never admit it

so much length compressed into gorgeous coils, he wonders how the hell does hair just...defy gravity🧍🏾‍♀️

all in all, wash days are the highlight of his day, plus it gives him an excuse to whip out the matching bonnets he gets for y’all every time he goes on a beauty supply run

katsuki:

surprisingly enough, he’s another patient one

but this is both in part to him having done his research due to his thick hair, and he’s had black girlfriends in the past

so wash day ain’t nothin new to him, when you come to him the next morning dreading what the day had in store, he’d already whipped out the box holding your shared hair supplies, towel and brush at the ready.

he can be a little overzealous when it comes to brushing out your curls, having grown up on the “you just tenderheaded” bullshit

but he makes sure to never actually hurt you, or tug too hard

he’s also a firm believer in finger detangling, opting to use the brush for your ends, and going over the section with his fingers to get out any lingering kinks

will trim what needs to be trimmed, to him length is not worth retaining if it’s split half to death💀

once detangling’s done, he’ll breeze through the shampoo section

which brings us to his favorite part: deep conditioning

he’s partial to Uncle Funky’s Daughter’s products, combining their Heal & Renew deep conditioner with the Midnite Train leave in to get you allllll the way together.

this, plus a hot oil treatment will have you ready to marry this mf on the spot🧎🏾‍♀️

he knows your hair is a huge source of pride for you, so he does his part to help keep it voluminous and defined whenever he can

does give unsolicited advice (criticism)

but knows when to pull back, knowing that nobody knows what’s best like you do

still won’t keep him from getting pissed at you for not having had a trim in 4 months tho 🤷🏾‍♀️

his strength is cornrows, he keeps a perfect grip that isn’t so tight it’ll snatch your damn edges out but tight enough to last you a while

you always find a way to con him into braiding your hair down before you do an install. how? he don’t know

he loves you, that’s how.

wash days with katsuki are so frustrating, but the both of you wouldn’t give them up even if the world depended on it.

kirishima:

i can’t think of a more supportive (yet clueless) bf

but that doesn’t mean he’s not ready to learn!

it starts when he asked you if you wanted to go out saturday, and you said you couldn’t cause you had to wash your hair

he was like ?????

let’s just go after????

and so you had to break it down to him that your hair requires a lot of attention and care that you NEED a whole day to tend to it, not just wash

he nods, face lighting up as he proposes that he just come over and help

you’re a little hesitant, as you don’t just let anybody play around in ya hair like that

but he says he’s really intrigued and he wants to learn, so you agree

he mostly just watches, not wanting to mess up your flow, but participates on some of the easier parts, like working the curling cream into your locks

he’s also really good with massaging your head while you wash, his fingers nearly putting you to sleep

his sectioning needs a little work, but it’s nothing practice can’t fix

although you really gotta catch him up on what certain things actually mean

mf nearly had a heart attack when you said the words “hot oil treatment” and spazzed thinking you was about to put ya head in some damn chicken grease🕳🤸🏾‍♀️

over time though, he gets better at things like flexi rods, and even learns to do how to do crochets (my heart just MELTED)

he even takes some pointers and gets better at taking better care of his own hair. between hero work, hittin the gym, hanging with you and having “bro time” his hair is the last thing on his mind

plus it’s dyed, so he should be taking better care of it anyway🙄

wash days with kiri are so fun tho, and you’ve even made a habit of spiderman kissing whenever you’re upside down and scrunching your curls🥺🤎

izuku:

asks!!! so!!! many!!! questions!!!

honestly is just happy to be there

wants to know what everything is, what it does, if you like it, etc.

also takes notes on what you do and how you do it so he’ll remember for the future 🥺

he’s so nervous when you ask him if he wants to help

he doesn’t wanna mess it up, your hair’s so pretty 🥺🥺

he has curly hair too, but it’s much easier to manage, so he’s wayyy outta his depth

you help him through each step though, and with some time he gets more and more comfortable

shampoo is his favorite part cause he gets to try and make your hair do different shapes (the number one hero is secretly a big ass baby...who knew)

he’s another one that’s amazed by the way your hair can shrink

he knows your hair’s pretty long, you got a blowout one time and you swear he had a mini stroke for a good five mins with the way he just....froze

he fell even more in love with your hair that day

so to see it so short just wows him

if you’ve got really short 4c type hair, he wants you to go green with him so y’all can match🧚🏾

gets really good at protective styles (especially box braids)

cause at heart he’s a hero and wants to protect everything he loves from harm

yes, that includes protecting your curls from split ends and keeping em fresh.

thanks so much for reading! let me know if you guys want more of these, and feel free to throw me a like or a reblog if you enjoyed! mwah!

[kierongillen]

Writer Notes: The Wicked + the Divine 43

Spoilers, obv.

Issue 44 comes out tomorrow at the time of writing. As I’m on the west coast of the USA, it will be just after midnight GMT by the time they’re online. So abstractly, this is the first time ever which we come out when the next issue is out. Abstractly. I’d say the day counts as where I am, and doesn’t Comixology come out a little later? We’ll see.

It’s also been so long that I almost wrote notes for issue 44. This is a weird goodbye, this period.

Anyway – Issue 43, wherein we finish explaining all the big stuff we’re going to explain.

I mean, there’s more in issue 44 and 45, but it’s all details, with the denouncement really being based around the characters’ response to this issue. They know the truth. Now what are they going to do about it?

That was the main note I gave in the script to the team – if there’s any really big questions you are confused about, now is the time to say, as this is the best clarification it’ll get. As such, we worked on it a lot to nail what we wanted to say – and what we didn’t. Sometimes this meant actually simplifying a little to avoid repeating huge amounts of stuff and leaving people even more confused. More often it involves sliding in a little nod to something someone would be thinking about.

It’s an interesting issue, I think. It’s where we show a lot of our hand.

It also involved a lot of crunching.

Jamie/Matt Cover

Cassandra finally gets her head cover. Normally a cover relates to a key beat, which isn’t true here – except in the widest possible sense that it’s where Cassandra gets to say I Told You So to everyone, including herself.

Jason Latour Cover One of the fun things about commissioning these covers is getting to see a creator’s process close up. Jason’s process on this was amazingly never-ending – he was always tweaking, and trying things and moving in a different direction. Where he ended was stunning – very him, and very WicDiv too. I remember us and the Jasons semi-jokingly about swapping books for an issue – they do WicDiv for an issue and we do Southern Bastards. This cover absolutely makes me wonder how amazing that hypothetical issue would have looked.

(Our story would have been about a Taylor-Swift-esque-singer/songwriter-before-she-got-big in the town. And probably murder, as it’s Southern Bastards, right?)

IFC

That “Life goes on” still creeps me out.

1-2

Opening vignette that lets us establish what Minerva’s plan is now, as well as re-establish Beth and her crew, and actually let us define their current position, and even give their codenames, which have existed in the Bible document since issue 1, I believe.

(Oddly, calling people “Boss” is one of my verbal ticks. It seemed fun to give it to Beth here.)

As such, Minerva immediately HiveMinding them when they’ve just stated their agency is plain harsh. Jamie’s large panel on page 2 sells it incredibly well – the statues, Minerva walking away from us – it’s all so casual.

It’s also the running theme of the issue – what Mini has been doing all these years. This is just a particularly direct example of it.

Three panels on second page to try and stress the seriousness of what this is (Space = Meaning, remember). Of course, as the issue shows, this isn’t the real part of the issue – but you have to at least believe this is a real gambit. And it is – I mean, it’d be awful if Mini pulled it off. But in people’s guts they’d realise this isn’t how WicDiv goes, right?

Minor glorious Matt Wilson note – the crackle of green in panel 3 is wonderful. Give that guy another Eisner. He deserves a hat trick.

3

Show time in the showbiz and the “time to show you everything” sense.

4

Establishing the stakes and situation for the heroes. There’s a draft of the issue I wrote which is a couple more pages long, which would have pulled this out a little more. In the end, we decided it worked better shorter – I’ll tell you why when I get there, and we could use the space elsewhere.

Key thing is showing some response to Cam’s actions at the end of last issue – it’s important to know that they haven’t just walked away, right?

In the first panel, the “identify who is speaking” is a tricky one. The “say the character’s name” is a little brutal move, and I avoid it. We’re not that book. Dio is easy – and Lucifer, bless her, is immediately identifiable by her idiom. Her line also reminds people of what she’s like, which sets up the last page.

Laura’s captions here again, doing a lot of the heavy lifting.

It says so much about this issue that the last two panels are only a half page total. These are big rock and roll images, presented in a tiny space. Jamie’s composition makes it land really well, selling the drama.

Page 5

It says even more that we did all this in a page.

Tara’s move in the original version was basically a page, but looking at it structurally it actually left it even more underwhelmed – a fight kicked off, and then heroes were losing, and then Tara does this cool thing, and they’re winning, before immediately the hive mind kicks in and they’re losing again. This does not sell the joy of Giant Woman.

This works better, not least for sheer audaciousness. I used to have a thing about tableau based storytelling – the idea that you can create a large image which people can explore and juxtapose it with a few captions to create a larger conceptual space. This is very much that.

“People treating people like meat” reminds me for the second time when re-reading this issue of the line from Pratchett: “Sin is treating people like things.” The first time was the puppets bit. I’d agree with Pratchett, clearly.

In the original draft of the script I had a line “You want more? Go re-read Rising Action” which is a bit too cute, so I lost it. It’s not really the sort of thing WicDiv does, anyway.

Yes, Giant Woman is a Steven Universe nod. Putting aside that image of Giant Tara kicking ass which has been in my head forever, there’s so much to love in the image – to pick a small part, how about the Norns blasting in triplicate? We rarely see them act like this.

You can also trace via the colouring which of Beth’s crew have duplicated which God’s powers.

Page 6

There’s been a lot about people copying people’s powers in WicDiv, and trying to find out what someone can and can’t do, and then using it against them. This switches it up. The thing about being creative instead of a straight plagiarist that creative people make up new shit. That’s kind of the point of them.

Once more, Matt showing the dance of the colouring between the Woden green (haunting the series like a ghost now) and the joy of Dio is (er) a joy.

Page 7

Another Matt moment – we step out of the club, and we drop to greys, before building the energy up.

I’m not quite sure how long Robin has wanted to punch Beth for. Or how long I planned to do it, even. I can imagine Robin thinking of this a lot though – she’s the one who takes a long time to snap.

There’s a dual structure here too – there’s two main compare-and-contrast bands in WicDiv. Beth’s and Cass’…

Page 8

And this is a very different kind of band break up.

The problem here is different – I want to give much more space. First draft it seemed that they got talked into it really easily. But it’s all the space we had so what to do? Once more, captions. Silent panel with captions can be timeless, and gives room for our minds to populate it. It’s been so long I can no longer remember if the fact the two almost-silent characters are shouting, but we’re not allowed to hear, because it’s private seems relevant.

Page 9-10

Hard cut made easier with the caption. Captions are great. Trust captions.

The shot of Mini at the edge, just looking back with space either side is great. Just the isolation of it.

The “try to sing” on the page turn seems a meaningful reveal. Can she?

No she can’t. This is another very old beat in the founding documents – it’s hinted at on page 9. Mini says that she gave it up – and she said the same in issue 9. I’m not sure I believe her. When planning it I realised that some people would take it as a comment on Work for hire – don’t get stuck keeping a story alive forever, as it will eventually atrophy your talent. It wasn’t planned, but I’d be fine with it as a reading. When Chrissy read it, she took it as “Don’t get stuck in art management.” which works too. Readings are fun.

Anyway – a performance. That the big thing in the issue is a performance rather than a fight is very much WicDiv turning towards its core concept as we head towards the final straight. Of course we’d do this.

Yeah, Matt and Jamie, killing it on the final panel of the second page – the Persephone-esque tentacles made something else, because she is something else now. The numinous expression of Minerva. Amazing.

Page 11

The borders in this sequence harking back to the Persephone performance in issue 18.

I may actually try to tweak this sequence in the trade and have a different execution of “When I was 14” and all the rest, to work a little more like a LOC CAP rather than a speech. We couldn’t make it work given the time before deadline. That’s the odd thing about our extended issues – just because it’s taking longer doesn’t mean we have more time to do tasks, right? Some things are only possible when the whole thing is together. It works, I think, but part of me wants to push it harder.

Anyway – these two. I loved writing them though. I said it back in the other flashbacks, but how the two of them dance is a delight. Hell, doing them across a lifetime is a delight.

Okay – I’m going to give you a name for Ananke’s sister. It’s the one I used in my notes. It’s no more her name than “Ananke” is really Ananke’s.

It’s Demeter. Ask me about it another time.

Page 12

The “god” in panel 2 is a Proto Norn.

This primal gathering brings to mind issue 9 as well.

Demeter’s expression in the penultimate panel? Love it.

Page 13

The captions are Laura’s style, but changed colouring. That Laura is helping Minerva performs means it comes across in her voice, was our thinking.

Captions are once more useful though – trying to get something that is evocative, but also clear was the battle.

(The Colours here!)

She-in-Thirds is a name-behind-the-name. The Maiden/Mother/Child archetype – the one which Ananke subverted in a few pages time.

Page 14

I find myself thinking whether the return to a close-to-eight panel for much of this is meaningful. This is kind of Bronze Age Phonogram.

Reading this I wish I had capitalised The Rebel – it’s another archetype. Proto-Lucifer. I’ll tweak for the trade.

I forget when the metaphor for a song for the “godhood” in WicDiv came to me, but it feels like the right one. It’s how songs often feel to me.

Page 15

If you go back to issue 34, you’ll see some of the details of this plan are different to the plan that Ananke has put into play there. In fact, the deal that she strikes in issue 34 is akin to what she wants here. It’s mainly for clarity – the reader needs to be reminded of what’s actually going on, as they won’t necessarily remember the details from way back then. I figure this is the plan she wanted to do, then found something else when Demeter wasn’t into it, before swooping around to something closer.

Page 16

“After all my friends were dead” gives a little flex in the timeline.

I do like Ananke’s hat.

“The Great River” being the Nile, and the pantheon we saw back in issue 36.

In terms of lists of things in this issue I was looking forward to write, the first meeting between Ananke and Minerva was certainly one of them. I tried to get something of the oddness here. Jamie and Matt manage to get the mood of issue 34 again too – I really do like this bronze-age western vibe. There’s a project I keep on thinking about doing, and it has some of that too it. Hmm.

Yes, page width panel of character delivering a line remains a key WicDiv tool. There’s so much I love here – the touch from Ananke, whose PoV we’re in. Minerva speaking to herself, speaking to us, etc.

That the knife is just sentimental is a minor beat I’m very fond of.

Page 17

Once more, Captions, as Laura makes sure we all Get It.

One of the debates in WicDiv fandom has always been whether the gods are picked by Ananke (i.e. Anyone could be a god) or whether they’re actually people with a gifts. Of course, the answer is that it’s both.

The thing I least like about WicDiv’s mythology is that the 12 people are people with this gift, for obvious “Ugh Chosen Ones” reasons. There’s some things that mitigate that a little, I hope, and not least that it’s clearly transferable to wherever you are in life. The core of it is “if you find yourself with a gift, be careful with it and use it responsibly.” It’s a book about the power, privilege, dangers and seductions of being an artist and all that. It’s only when writing that sentence do I realise how tired I am. This has been a busy week. Excuse me if the writing is looser than usual.

Anyway, I’m probably over-worrying. If X-men is fine, we probably are too.

So – end of the page is a download of some of the explanations of stuff folk will inevitably be going “Wait – what?”

And then Tara steps up.

When you’re writing a large group scene, with limited space, there’s choices you make of who speaks and who doesn’t. Who’s going to have the strongest counter-argument to something? Who’s going to have the biggest reaction? Them. They’re the one who carries the scene.

Which is Tara. Perhaps you could make an argument for Baal, but Baal is reeling through all these issues – plus if you choose one or the other, you tie-breaker would be who hasn’t had spotlight.

Page 18-21

And the counter is equally inevitably Cassandra (who is also in the process of beating herself up). Being Cass, she puts it harshly. Clearly, this is going to get a response from Tara.. and Cass opens up herself and makes herself vulnerable. Which is a hell of a thing for her, right?

I’ll stop this – I’m just walking through the emotional flow, but I love these two women here.

Which segues into the last formalist style thing of the issue. Once again, we have a space = meaning problem. This is clearly the most important sequence of the issue, but we have so few pages. We turn to one of the core WicDiv moves of black panels in a six panel grid, and loading them up with text. Suddenly we have a sense of ritual, a lot of dialogue produced in a stylistic way and most of all a whole extra page (hence an extra page of weight).

It’s also a complete showcase for Matt. The last godly panel of them is them at their most Godly, this final little iconic burst. A confession, and it’s gone.

I cried when I got the colours for this. I forget which one it was – there’s just some wonderful Jamie expressions in there as well.

Choosing the confessions was definitely tricky. We have space, but too much is too much. Some of them I kept simple, and others needed a little space to explain. The ordering was also one of those processes where you feel out the character, and think how they’d speak. Dio would clearly jump in, then Inanna, then Mimir trying to just piece it together, and all leading to Baal.

I did try and write a Baal caption, but any words were just too small.

And then, of course…

Page 22

You’ve probably seen me talking about year 4 as Solving The Equation. Yes, we knew lots of the key things, but there’s lots of elements of the execution were worked, and rethought and discovered. I may be able to talk a little more about this in the last issue’s notes.

This was a big one. I was chewing over the synopsis and thinking… a battle against Ananke/Minerva is a little underwhelming after everything, right? At this point in the story, Minerva is a busted flush. In reality, Laura (and Demeter) won the intellectual battle against Minerva in Mothering Invention. She’s already beat her. It nagged at me. There was something else.

Then there was the other thing – I knew that Lucifer was going to get her body back, but I wasn’t entirely sure what she’d do when she had it.

The two came together: of course, the final confrontation isn’t between Laura and Minerva. It’s with Lucifer, the person who brought Laura into the world, the person who brought us all into the world. The girl who wanted to be on stage, no matter the cost. That’s the final battle.

And best of all, I had no idea what would happen.

Well – not quite, but suddenly a whole lot of things was up in the air.

Page 23

Song reference, obv. Always connected to something in my head in my early career. If I do writer notes for the playlist, I may actually tell you.

Oh – some people wondered whether all the skulls meant everyone was dead. No – it’s just there’s no god in the slot. I’m not that kind of shithead.

Anyway – issue is out tomorrow. Or maybe today, depending on where you are. It ends the story, with 45 being an epilogue with a somewhat different tone. Clearly, it’s a huge issue, so be a little careful with your tweeting. The last cover is especially a big spoiler.

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Thanks for your patience and thanks for reading.

[imagines-forthe-soul]

For your small imagines can I have Dabi, Twice, and Fatgum nsfw(as dirty as you'd like)/sfw headcannons for a female shy/quiet s/o who's black, has thick locs, introverted, nerdy, and studying to be doctor. lol aka shamless self insert please and thank you dear😉😚

You said both a small imagine and headcanons and it kind of confused me so I just went with headcanons, so I hope that’s okay!! Also, I can’t tell you how fun it was writing for a black reader. Most of the time when I write, I usually try to make the reader fit everyone or let you guys decide if she looks like you or an OC of yours, but it was really fun writing for a certain type or race of reader. I really want to do more things like this!!

_______________________________

Todoroki Touya (Dabi):

He likes your quiet and introverted nature, finding a sort of comfort in it. He doesn’t really like talking all that much himself, so having someone who is somewhat similar to that is good with him. He’s comfortable with you being silent most of the time and will only ever talk if he has something important to say like: “What should we get for lunch?” or something.

Makes fun of you endlessly for being so nerdy and studious. He likes to pick on you when you are doing your studies, stealing your textbook from you and waving it over your head, pushing your arm so you mess up your notes, or even slapping your books out of your hand. He acts like a typical high school bully but it’s all in good fun… at least for him.

Since you’re on the shier side, he likes to shamelessly flirt and fondle you whenever and wherever he wants. It doesn’t matter if you are at home or in front of your family or friends, Dabi is going to be saying some raunchy things to you or grope you without batting an eye. When he met your parents, his arm was around your shoulder with his hand resting on your tit, giving it a good squeeze as he just stared your father down and walked into the house with you in tow without waiting to be invited in. He’s disrespectful like that.

You’re going to get your hair played with and pulled on a lot. Like I said before, Touya is a complete bully and likes teasing you endlessly. When the mood strikes him, he is going to just plop a hand on your head, messing around with the different sized locs in your hair, rolling them between his fingers, braiding a few, and putting them against his lip and pretending its a mustache. You don’t really pay much mind to it at first since it starts off so goofy and playful, but eventually you’ll feel him tug on your hair really hard and hitting you with your own hair if you try to stop him. He’s a real cunt.

Bubaigawara Jin (Twice):

Like Dabi, JIn likes to tease you for being such a studious person, but it’s all playful instead of mocking. He’ll call you things like Einstein, Brainiac, Smartass, just to be funny but he won’t ever disturb you or purposely mess up your notes. Even though he’s a villain, he isn’t going to mess up your chances of becoming something as big as a doctor for his own gain (unlike a certain charred jerkface)

He’s in love with your skin and your hair. More often than not, he will be admiring the color of your skin and how it glows in the sun or how smooth it is. He hasn’t seen many people with your skin color let alone date one, so he is going to take as much time as he sees fit to admire your skin and give you compliments on it. As for your hair, he can’t keep his hands out of it. He plays with it each and every chance he gets. Though be careful because he does tend to rip out the knots without really asking if he should or not. He just sees them and goes to getting rid of it for you which usually ends up hurting you.

He doesn’t mind your quiet nature in the least. Honestly, there would be nothing Jin loves more than a quite and calm partner. He has lots of troubles both in his life and in his mind and would love (as well as need) someone who could just be there for him, to be his peace away from all the craziness he has to deal with both inside and away from the field of villainy. He enjoys being able to come home to see you quietly studying and then cuddling up to you and just staying silent as you read over your notes and press a soft kiss to his temple every now and again.

Toyomitsu Taishirou (Fatgum):

He is obsessed with your hair. There is nothing he loves more than playing with each one, giving them names, helping you pick out hairstyles, and taking care of your hair. He thinks it’s a great bonding experience and helps him appreciate you and your hair so much more. However, above all else, he loves helping you take them out when you plan on redoing them. Seeing your hair in its unkempt and wild state is something he loves because he knows you are usually nervous about letting him see it this way. He loves that you trust him with this part of yourself and that you’ve allowed him to help you.

Thinks that your studying to become a doctor is beyond cool. He knows that not everyone wants to be or has the quirk to be a hero, but he loves that you are still doing something to give back to the community by studying and working hard to become someone that can still save lives without being an actual hero by profession. He admires that a lot about you and tries to help you in every way he can.

Can I just say that this babe absolutely loves your skin color as well as your culture and background. In his younger years, he never got much of a chance to date outside his race, especially not one that is so similar yet so different from his, so this is a really fun and educational experience for him. Now, don’t get me wrong, he isn’t dating you just to see what it’s like to be with someone from a different race, he does love you, and a whole lot at that. He simply enjoys learning more about your races culture and history as the two of you go about your relationship. Being able to learn about your lover’s culture through them is a magical experience that he finds brings you both closer together.

NSFW:

Todoroki Touya (Dabi)

If there is one thing Dabi loves most about dating a black woman, it’ll be that nice ass of yours. His hand is going to rain down a whole lot of hurt on your poor behind because he can’t help but love how round and full it is and how good it feels to spank it.

He thanks whatever Gods for your hair because it makes it so easy to turn and toss you how he wants thanks to your hair. The long dreads make it so easy to grip and hold onto you or hold you down. Plus, if they are long enough, you can bet he is going to try and choke you with them because he is that rude and kinky during sex.

Your quietness is going to be thrown out the window when he gets his hands on you. Dabi is all about hearing his partner moan and scream for him and will take it as a challenge if you are quiet during sex. He will do any and everything he can to get a sound out of you, from licking your sweet cunt down until you are begging him not to stop to fucking you so hard that you will end up speaking in tongues by the time he is done with you.

Bubaigawara Jin (Twice):

He never expected sex to be different with someone outside of his race, but he was pleasantly surprised to find out that there are a few differences when having sex with you compared to Japanese women. An example being the way you moan and react to his touches. He loves how soft yet how raw your noises are, how you react to each movement he makes rather than only the pleasure he is or is supposed to be giving you. Your responses to his words and to his actions are so genuine and raw that it takes all his efforts not to cum too quickly when making love to you.

Is very fascinated with your breasts. It’s pretty common for some women of color to have larger areolas and honestly if you do, Jin will love it to bits. He loves to lick around them and marvel at them when you are on top of him. It drives him completely crazy seeing your beautiful breasts bounce as you ride him.

Loves seeing your hair sprawl out behind you when you both have sex. You look so beautiful with your hair strewn about the place, some thrown over your shoulder with the rest behind you, making you look so ethereal and perfect. Words of praise fall from his lips more than you can keep up with when he sees you like this.

Toyomitsu Taishirou (Fatgum):

His favorite position to make love to you in is doggy style. He loves seeing the arch in your back, making you look oh so submissive to him and only him. He loves to be able to run his hand down the arch of your back every so often, feeling the soft skin and smooth muscle there. He also loves the way your ass looks from this position and how he can hold your waist a lot tighter like this, controlling the pace you two go at.

However, what he loves more than doggy style is having you sit on his face. Nothing will make this man happier than having his head between your thighs, tongue shoved deep inside you pulsing cunt as you slowly rock against his face, his hands on your hips to help keep you steady. Big boi loves to eat and his favorite food just so happens to be the sweet fruit between your legs.

He adores hearing your sweet little moans when he makes love to you. They always sounds so angelic and soft and he wants nothing more than for you to keep making those sounds as he drives himself into you. He’ll bend down and rest his head against yours just to hear your sounds a little louder.

Wanna see some other shit I’ve written?

[tallulahchanel]

Baby Blues

Here it is @chaneajoyyy . I know the video had a girl in it, but the AU I decided to put it, they were gonna have a boy, but despite this, I really hope I did it justice. If I didn’t feel free to tell me, and I will fix it.

Fandom: Black Panther

Pairing(s): T’Challa & OC (Kya Shauku); T’Challa x OC (Naomi Udaku)

Words: 2k

Tags: @queen-of-the-jabari

"Are you sure you can handle this?”

T'Challa rolled his eyes. "Yes, iplato yetshukela. If I can manage an entire technologically advanced country, I can manage this."

Naomi held Javon close to her bosom and tenderly stroked his face. She knew T'Challa was capable of watching their son, but she still had her apprehensions.

It's been three months since Naomi gave birth to Javon, and Nikki—her best friend since high school and Erik's fiance—insisted that she needed a night out. T'Challa, who didn't like seeing his wife couped in the palace, agreed and promised to watch Javon for the night. Naomi would be fine with the idea if he weren't alone. Queen Ramonda took an impromptu trip to Jamaica a few days ago, Shuri and her boyfriend Efe were in Oakland working at the Science and Information building during the school break, and your big sister requested Erik's help to implement a program he wanted to include at the Social Outreach Center. Besides the Dora and other palace staff, it was only them and Nikki.

To make matters more complicated, Naomi was still trying to transition Javon onto the bottle, which was easier said than done. The first time she tried, he screamed so much that she broke down and breastfed him.

"Maybe I should stay here. I’ll ask Nikki if we could rain check.”

T'Challa shook his head and gently took Javon from Naomi. "You will do no such thing. Besides, you look lovely tonight, and it'll be a shame if you let it all go to waste."

Naomi rocked a diamond-studded bodycon dress that stopped just above her knees and accentuated her curvaceous backside. She wore white heels to match, and her silk-pressed hair was in a high ponytail while the tresses laid perfectly on her shoulders.

Her cheeks heated up at his compliment. It's incredible how he could still make her feel like a schoolgirl after six years of marriage.

"Okay," Naomi finally gave in. "You know how to contact me if you need me."

"We'll be fine, iplato yetshukela," he reassured before placing a kiss on her lips. "Now, go have fun."

"Alright.” She gave him one last kiss before turning on her heels and leaving the nursery.

Once she was gone, T'Challa looked down at his son, his pride and joy, and smiled. "Yes, unyana wam. Everything will be alright."

Except everything wasn't alright.

An hour after Naomi left, Javon began fussing. T'Challa tried everything: holding him, rocking him, and checking his diaper. He even made the mistake of trying to soothe him by singing. After the way Javon screamed in response, T'Challa made a mental note to never do that again.

Trying to feed him was a chore within itself. When T'Challa attempted to get the nipple of the bottle in his mouth, Javon would turn his head away and scream at the top of his lungs. At T'Challa's fifth attempt, Javon knocked the bottle out of his hand, and it hit the floor, creating a puddle of formula.

Fortunately for him, that was the exact moment you entered the nursery. You fashioned your smoothie stand uniform—a medium-length dashiki dress adorned in the colors hot pink, black, scarlet red, forest green, and other intricate colors. Your faux locs were styled in a pin-up bun while a matching pink headwrap protected your edges, and your feet adorned a pair of black sandals.

"Good evening wam kumkani," you greeted T'Challa with a bright smile as if you didn't just see the bottle hit the marble floor.

He returned your smile, despite his growing irritation with the screaming child in his arms. "Good evening, Kya. What brings you here?"

“I was available on this lovely Saturday night, so I thought I’d spend it with my king and his heir.”

"That's very generous of you. Now, what's the real reason you're here?" He tilted his head, a clear sign that he didn't believe your explanation. He knew you probably wouldn't want to spend your Saturday night—the one night of the week where you're free to lollygag as you please—with a child, a crying one at that.

"Queen Naomi said if I come over and help, she'll expedite my UCLA application."

"Ah! That makes more sense."

"So, what can I help with?"

"Do you mind holding him while I clean up the formula?"

You nodded and held your arms out for the little prince. "Sure. Besides, it's been a while since I held Prince Javon."

As soon as T'Challa placed him in your arms, Javon's cries increased, and you furrowed your brows. You were sure that Javon would be happy to be held by his Auntie Kya, seeing as how you haven't been around while you finished off your last two months of school before graduation.

"On second thought,” you began and promptly handed him back to T’Challa, “you can hold him while I clean up the formula.”

Before he could protest, you walked out of the nursery and headed towards the supply closet for a roll of paper towels. Upon your return, you saw T'Challa futilely trying to feed Javon--who was still fussing up a storm—with another bottle.

"Good thing I didn’t have to go through this with Nakia,” you mumbled under your breath as you cleaned the formula off the floor.

Unfortunately, you forgot that the heart-shaped herb gave T'Challa enhanced hearing, so your eyes widen when he said, "I'm sure Nakia was much easier to handle."

Once the embarrassment wore off, you sighed and threw the paper towel in the trash can. "Well, Nakia wasn't as fussy, but she was very frustrated. I guess I would be too if I had the mind of a thirty-three-year-old, trapped in the body of a three-year-old."

You decided to drop the subject, you weren't in the mood to relive that stressful time, and decided to focus on the crying Prince Javon. You gently took him and the bottle and attempted to feed him yourself. After the third try, Javon almost knocked the bottle out of your hand. With a defeated sigh, you gave the bottle back to T'Challa.

"Well, I tried.”

T'Challa released a sigh of his own. "There has to be an easier way to do this."

An idea came to you just then.

"Take off your robe,” you told T’Challa, who gave you a perplexed look.

"What?”

"Trust me,” you pleaded with an innocent smile. “Take off your robe.”

Reluctantly, he stripped himself of the robe, leaving him in a t-shirt and slacks, and took Javon from you before you walked over to the prince's dresser.

"What are you doing?" T'Challa eyed you suspiciously when he saw you grab a pair of scissors. He released a dramatic gasp as you snipped a hole in the robe. "Why did you do that?! That robe costs more than your college tuition!"

"Why are you walking around wearing my college tuition?” You quipped with a smirk while walking over to him. “Put this back on.”

"You still haven't told me the meaning of this," he said as he took the robe from you.

"It's something I saw on an American sitcom. It sounds ridiculous, but it works."

As T'Challa gave Javon back to you so he could put the robe back on, he began considering blocking American shows and movies from Wakanda's free and unlimited streaming services.

You held the bottle out for him to take. "Now, put this inside of your robe and set it to where the nipple is poking out of the hole."

He furrowed his brows at you, but when you flashed him an innocent look, he took the bottle and did as you instructed, mumbling, "This better work."

"It will." Once he secured the nipple in the hole, you gave Javon back to T'Challa.

"Now hold him the way Queen Naomi does when she's breastfeeding him."

T'Challa secured Javon in the position you instructed, and you both observed to see if your plan was going to succeed.

Javon's nose brushed against the nipple, and he instinctively turned his head to latch onto it. When he first tasted the formula, his face formed a frown similar to the one Naomi gives when she wants to smack someone, and you had to hold back your laughter. It took a while, but the young prince eventually smoothed into the motions.

"See?!" You boasted with a triumphant smile. "I told you it would work."

As much as he hated to admit it, your ridiculous idea did come in handy.

After a while, T'Challa transitioned to the rocking chair while you took a spot on the nearby loveseat and played a game on your kimoyo beads.

"Kya?" T'Challa broke the silence in the room. "Exactly which American show did you get this from?"

"It was called Yes, Dear. An early 2000s show full of colonizers. Nothing remotely rememberable, except for that one scene.”

"Ah!” He nodded and returned his focus on Javon.

After feeding Javon, you offered to burp and snuggle with him before it was time for a much-needed diaper change. It wasn't long before Javon was fast asleep in the arms of a tired T'Challa while you rested on the loveseat.

The clock striked midnight when Naomi tiptoed into the nursery with her heels in her hand. Her heart gushed at the sight of her sleeping husband holding her son.

She walked over to him and placed a kiss on his forehead and another one on his cheek. "Wake up, kumkani," she whispered in his ear, causing him to stir.

His eyes fluttered open, and he smiled at his beautiful wife. "Hello, iplato yetshukela. How was your evening?”

"Nothing special. All I could think about was my two babies." She reached her hand out and stroked Javon's small afro. "How was he?"

"Once the crying stopped, he was perfect."

Naomi smiled. When she went to pick up Javon, her hand brushed across something hard, and she curiously reached into T’Challa’s robe, pulling out the bottle. "T’Challa, what in the world?”

He groaned in embarrassment and tried to hide his face with his free hand. "It was Kya's idea."

Naomi lifted a curious brow before shaking her head. She didn't want to know what craziness you've managed to talk her husband into. "Where is she, by the way?"

As if on cue, you mumbled something in your sleep, catching Naomi's attention.

"Should I wake her?" T'Challa yawned before getting out of the rocking chair so he could put Javon in his crib.

Naomi shook her head and walked over to the linen closet. She grabbed a blanket out of the closet and covered you in it to make sure that you wouldn't get cold. "No, let her rest while she's still allowed to have it."

"What do you mean by that?" He asked after securing Javon for the night.

"Medical school is going to be rough on her. Especially at an institute like UCLA." She didn't bother to hide her grin.

"She's going to be accepted?" T'Challa asked with a grin of his own.

Naomi nodded and walked over to him. "I just got off the phone with the Dean, and informed him how fortunate UCLA's medical program would be to house a wonderful, brilliant, and hard-working student like Kya."

T'Challa wrapped an arm around her and escorted her out of the nursery. He didn't want to run the risk of waking you or Javon. "I guess a personal recommendation from the Queen of Wakanda came in handy."

"That, and I told him it would be good publicity if a Wakandan student attended their school. But don't tell her yet. I want to see her face when she opens the letter."

T'Challa chuckled before wrapping Naomi in his arms and leaning his forehead against hers. "You are the most amazing woman. I'm fortunate to have you as my wife and the mother of my child."

She wrapped her arms around his neck and gave him a passion-filled kiss on the lips. "It is me that is the fortunate one, wam kumkani."

They walked the rest of the way to their room in silence before enjoying a peaceful night slumber in each other's arms.

~~~

Translations

iplato yetshukela - sugar plum

[thcmpscn]

‘’NIGHT CONVO’’ – Meston.

LOC: preston’s apartment. @fckmonax

MONA

knocks on the door, super nervous but also excited

PRESTON

takes a deep breath before opening the door “You made it in time, dinners almost ready. Come in”

MONA

grins “Yeah, of course. This has been all I could think about literally since we planned it.” steps inside and kisses his cheek

PRESTON

pulls her in for a quick hug after she kisses him “You’re hype for a chicken salad?”

MONA

“I’m so hype for chicken salad.” lingers in the hug for a bit before heading towards the kitchen “It’s kinda weird but I always wonder how the flavor of food transitions into breast milk. Like what will Venecia taste when I get back home? So many questions.”

PRESTON

“I read somewhere that food makes your milk taste saltier or sweeter, depending on what you eat.” says as they both walk into the kitchen “you’re the only person I know that would get hype for a chicken salad” laughs

MONA

“Huh. Honestly, poor kid. Unable to enjoy actual good food. Has to settle for breastmilk.” leans back against the counter, arms crossed over her chest “What can I say? I find pleasure in the little things.”

PRESTON

''I'm pretty sure milk is her favorite thing in the whole wide world right now.'' chuckles before looking at her for a sec. ''You look nice tonight.''

MONA

“Wow, she’s not nearly as complex as I thought she was.” chuckles, glances down at her outfit despite knowing exactly what she chose “Oh this? I just kinda threw something on. My only qualification was that it didn’t have spit up on it. Thanks though.”

PRESTON

''She really isn't. It'll be a minute before she's just as complex as her mama, though.'' chuckles ''You're welcome. Next time we're having burgers, no salad.''

MONA

“I’m both excited and terrified for that when that day comes.” rolls eyes “It’s gotta be a really, really special occasion. But sure, we’ll have burgers at some point.”

PRESTON

''You'll experience what its like to handle Ramona Mason. It's a lot, I'll tell you that.'' smirks and squints his eyes ''Every single time you see me is a special occasion, keep that in mind.''

MONA

“Yikes, it’ll be like karma coming for me.” grins and shakes her head “So. When are we eating? Not gonna lie, I definitely came over here primarily for the food.”

PRESTON

''It really will be like that.'' shakes head and sighs before letting out another chuckle in serving her plate. ''There you go, hopefully you enjoy the only reason you came here for''

MONA

“I really wanted to bring her her tonight by the way. Like why not? She’s a baby, it’s not like she’s distracting or anything. Fabian literally made me pump and leave her though.” smiles widely as he fixes her plate, takes a seat at the table “Fix yours too. It’d be rude of me to eat alone in someone else’s home.”

PRESTON

''It's alright, makes sense he wouldn't want her here. We'll take it slow, I guess.'' reassures her before shaking his head. ''No, it's alright. I already ate two burgers on my way here, I'm good. – and, someone else's home? really?''

MONA

“Still, it’s annoying. He’s annoying. nods and proceeds to take a bite of her chicken salad “P, stop. You know what I mean. Not that I don’t feel at home here, but you literally cooked for me and it’d be super rude of me to proceed to eat without checking if you were as well. That’s all I meant.”

PRESTON

''He's being a dad and an ex, It can't be easy.'' sighs before nodding ''I get that but you'll have to get used to me cooking for you without worrying if I ate or not''

MONA

rolls her eyes “I guess.” continues eating “Ooor you could just wait to eat until you’re with me next time. Could be like a lil family dinner.”

PRESTON

“Good idea, I’ll wait for you next time if I manage to not go crazy with hunger. - is your food good?”

MONA

“The food’s amazing.” makes a show of taking another bite and moaning “Love having my own personal chef.”

PRESTON

laughs and shakes head “Yeah, nothing’s free in life, you’re gonna have to pay for that food.”

MONA

raises brows “Is paying you with my presence not enough?”

PRESTON

“Give me a kiss and we’re good” smirks

MONA

is taken aback for a sec, chuckles before shaking her head “Nah, my breath smells like chicken salad.”

PRESTON

hums “I guess this boutta be the last time I cook for you, then.”

MONA

groans and stands “Fine. It’s just a little weird that chicken salad breath is what you’re into.” leans in and firmly kisses his lips

PRESTON

cups her face and kisses her harder, lingering for a sec

MONA

smiles contentedly as he moves away “This is really fun, but I think we’re supposed to be talking, right?” lightly strokes his cheek “We should talk before anything else.”

PRESTON

“You’re right” nods, taking a deep breath “Finish your food and we’ll talk”

MONA

sighs, is kinda nervous “Ok. But in the meantime, tell me how your day was?” slips back into her seat, eats

PRESTON

“It was good. There was a big group of people ordering a lot of food and they kept me on my toes for the entirety of my shift but it was alright, I enjoyed it. - My neck is killing me, though.” runs a hand through his neck. “How was yours?”

MONA

pouts as she listens to his story, finishes up the last of her food “And then you really came home and cooked again? It’s almost as if you love overworking yourself.” stands to put her plate in the sink, takes his hand and leads him over to the couch “My day was good. Pretty much the exact same as all of my days lately. Ven woke up at around 6 and I fed her. We went back to sleep until like 8 and repeated the process. Then I chatted a bit over text with an old family friend of mine who is apparently seeing Kayla. Watched some tv. Did mom shit. Not a very exciting day.” positions herself behind him in the couch and begins firmly massaging his neck

PRESTON

“I don’t mind cooking for you. I enjoy it, actually. - I’ll watch it later, leave it there.” takes her hand and follows. Moaning softly when he felt her hands on his neck. “Is Ven doing alright? Like, in general? Does she have doctors appointments and such?” moans quietly again. “How did I not know you were so good at this?”

MONA

“Yeah, she’s doing amazing. Hitting all her milestones. She actually had an appointment Thursday of last week and didn’t even cry when she got her shots. I found that both admirable and terrifying.” continues massaging him, overall feeling really calm and comfortable in the situation

PRESTON

“She’s already a champ, I love that.” pauses “So, let’s just talk about what happened and all that. — Are you ready to star a new relationship?”

MONA

“Ugh. I love her.” freezes for a second before continuing the massage “I’ve honestly kinda learned my lesson with answering that question. Truth is, I don’t know. But I think so.”

PRESTON

“I’m not tryna’ make you go from a relationship to another. We can be together, take things slowly.” shrugs “Like, we don’t gotta move in together right away or do anything too drastic. Just enjoy ourselves, be there for each other and the rest will happen organically.”

MONA

manages to be caught off guard by the conversation despite knowing it was planned “I think I would really appreciate that. That’s what I was mostly scared of, I think. The whole jumping into things. I have a tendency to do that and I feel like it always ends poorly.” hesitates “I guess I’m also kind of afraid of the judgment.”

PRESTON

“It would be best if we just took it like a couple of kids, just enjoying ourselves until we both feel we’re ready to aim higher.” sighs “People won’t judge what they don’t know and they don’t gotta know about us until you want to.”

MONA

“I think I’d like that. Just opening ourselves up to something happening, but also not forcing anything.” smiles “I don’t want you to be a secret though.” sighs “As much as I hate the idea of us being judged, I hate the idea of us only being behind closed doors even more.”

PRESTON

“It’s up to you, bbygirl.” shrugs “I’m fine with whatever you decide”

MONA

“P, I am not keeping you a secret.”

PRESTON

“Alright, that’s good.” nods “How do we go about this?”

MONA

“Uh, I don’t actually. know. I literally always just dive right into the deep end of these things.” chuckles “Let’s just maybe start by making every night like tonight? Maybe some days? Like when’s the next time you’re off?”

PRESTON

shakes head and turns to face her. “First thing first.” pauses “Do you wanna be my girl? Like, officially. No messin’ around with other people, no nothing. Just the two of us.”

MONA

“Wait... so an open relationship isn’t an option?” laughs

PRESTON

“An open relationship between you, me, myself, yourself, all of us.” smirks

MONA

“Ohh, ok. Well in that case, I’m totally on board.” smirks before leaning in to kiss him

PRESTON

kisses her back, breaking the kiss to pull her into a hug “I never thought I’d see the day” chuckles, pulling away

MONA

“I never thought I’d see the day.” laughs “Seriously, I remember the day we first met and you seemed so unimpressed.”

PRESTON

“I was unimpressed, believe me.” chuckles “I was like, another rich, entitled, white girl. Groundbreaking.”

MONA

rolls eyes “Well I’m glad you gave me the opportunity to prove you wrong.”

PRESTON

“The minute you started talking about weird shit, I knew you were different.” laughs

MONA

laughs, checks phone for any updates on ven, sighs “So now what?”

PRESTON

“Now we say goodbye and you go home to that cute little baby of yours and we see each other tomorrow.” smiles

MONA

pouts “But I don’t want to say goodbye.” frowns “But I also want to know what Ven’s up to.”

PRESTON

“She’s probably missing her mama.” pulls her in for another kiss “It’ll ve tomorrow before you know it.” kisses her again

MONA

“Probably. Imagine having me smothering you every second of every day and suddenly I’m just not there?” frowns “She’s probably freaking out right now and Fabian just doesn’t want to say anything and make it seem like he doesn’t know what he’s doing.” sighs and stands

PRESTON

“it’s okay, you said she was always calm and collected, Im sure she’s not freaking out. Just missing you.” walks her to the door. “Text me, alright?”

MONA

“Yeah, but maybe that’s because I’m always around?” stops once she gets to the door, turns to face him “Yeah, of course. I’ll text you once I’m there and settled.”

PRESTON

“Please do, let me know how she’s been in your absence.” leans forward and presses his lips against hers. “Go, we’ll talk in a minute.”

MONA

kisses him back, smiles and waves before walking out of the door

[THE END]

[richonnejustdesserts]

Yuletide Medicine (25 Days Of Richonne Tumblr Exclusive) by @blacklitchick

The joy of the Holiday is lost on both Rick and Michonne until the right medicine transforms their Christmas Eve.

It had seemed like the altruistic thing to do when Rick volunteered to take his aunt’s shift as a Salvation Army bell ringer after she came down with the flu. Most didn’t want the Christmas Eve shift, but the magic of the holiday season was lost on Rick that year. His kids would be two states away from him when they opened presents on Christmas morning. He figured it was better to do some good instead of moping around his empty house. But after two hours of ringing that annoying bell in icy temperatures, he was over it. The multiple looks of annoyance and aggravation he received as last-minute shoppers rushed past him and his frozen fingers made him want to pack it in early. The three dollars he collected after being on duty for two hours didn’t seem worth the hassle.

He tossed the bell and red apron into the bucket before reaching up to pull the Santa hat off his head. A split second before his hand touched his head he heard a small gasp and scream. His reflexes kicked in as he saw a body fall towards him from his peripheral vision. The new weight in his arms wasn’t as much of a shock to his system as the most beautiful yet haunting pair of brown eyes he’d ever seen, staring up at him.

It took it her being in waves: her dark skin, the long locs cascading down her shoulders from under a white knit cap, the matching white peacoat, the way her mouth slightly opened as she took in quick breaths that floated up into the air like smoke. The seconds ticked away as their eyes bored into each other’s and people continued to rush around them.

The small pellets of precipitation that began hitting his face jerked Rick out of their intense trance. His voice was soft yet rough as he opened his mouth. “You OK?”

The woman still stared up at him. A look of he couldn’t decipher crossed over her features before she shook herself and cleared her throat. “Umm..yes…I think so. I tripped over something on the sidewalk. Th…thanks…” The soft yet warm timbre of her voice trembled. She closed her eyes to regain her composure. When she opened them again she smiled up at Rick. Her whole face lit up. He took in a sharp breath as she looked even more beautiful than he first thought.

“Thank you,” she began again, “for catching me. Falling onto an icy sidewalk wouldn’t have been fun.”

Rick smiled back at her. “No. I don’t imagine it would have.”

The conversation trailed off as they caught each other’s eyes again. His gaze traveled to her perfectly shaped lips and back up again. Only a man roughly pushing into him while trying to get into the store they stood in front of broke the spell. Rick grabbed onto the woman tighter so she wouldn’t slip from his grasp.

“It would probably be a good time to let me up,” the woman said as her hands clutched onto his forearms.

“Oh, right. Sorry.” Rick mentally chided himself for being so enamored with a stranger as he helped the woman to her feet. When she tried take a step she started to fall again before Rick caught her. “Steady now,” he said.

“Ouch…shit…my ankle.” Her voice was tinged with shock and pain.

Rick could see her right ankle had already started to swell in her suede heeled boots. “Looks like the fall was nastier than we thought.” He gestured across the street. “There’s an Urgent Care in the hospital over there. Let me take you to get checked out.”

The woman pulled away from him while almost falling again. She steadier herself by grabbing onto the red bucket. Tears frame her lashes as she shook her head vehemently. “No. I’m fine. I mean I don’t know you. I just need to get home and wrap and soak my ankle.” She tried to take another step, but couldn’t put any weight down on the ankle. She cried out in pain as the tears broke away from her lashes and ran down her face.

Rick grabbed onto one of her shoulders. “Oh, hey, hey. Shh, shh. Don’t cry. It’ll be OK. It’s probably only a simple sprain.”

The woman shook her head again. “I know but…,” she sighed, “I’m supposed to be on stage tomorrow dancing the lead in The Nutcracker. But now,” she gestured towards her ankle,” it’s probably not going to happen. Would have been the only highlight of my Christmas.”

Rick took in her graceful body. It made sense she was a dancer. Even her fall was elegant. “You never know until you have it checked out. You may be good to go for tomorrow’s performance. We’re go over to the Urgent Care and it’ll be fine.” He reached into his back pocket to pull out his wallet. “Here’s my ID and badge. I’m a Sheriff’s Deputy. Rick Grimes. You can trust me.”

The woman stared at his ID then looked closely back at him. “You work for Sheriff’s department?” Rick nodded. “So does my sister. She’s a deputy too. Do you know Sasha Williams?”

He crossed his arms and tilted his head as he put the pieces together. “Sasha’s your sister? She’s one of my good friends in the department.” He smiled. “It all makes sense now. That means you’re Michonne Williams. Her ballet dancin’ sister she’s always braggin’ about and praisin’.”

Michonne smiled showed her slight embarrassment. She knew how sister could go on and on with the praise. “That would be me.”

“Now you really have to let me help you. If I have to tell Sasha I left her injured sister in the cold on Christmas Eve she might punch me in the jaw.”

Michonne laughed. “Yeah she just might.” She sighed and wiped at her eyes. “OK. Take me over to the Urgent Care.”

Rick nodded. “OK.” He wrapped his arms around her waist and helped her limp slowly across the street.

****

Almost two hours later, Michonne maneuvered herself back into the waiting area on a pair of crutches. She was surprised to see Rick still sitting in the same spot she left him when the CNA wheeled her back to the exam rooms. He quickly stood when her saw her.

“You’re still here,” she said.

“Of course. I wasn’t gonna leave without knowing you were all right.”

She smiled. “Thanks, Rick. You’re quite the gentlemen. I called Sasha when I was back there and she confirmed that I was in very good hands.”

He smiled back. “Good. So what’s the verdict?”

Michonne eased her body down in a waiting room chair and Rick sat beside her. “It’s not broken, thank God. It’s a sprain like you said, but a pretty bad one. I won’t be doing any dancing tomorrow.”

“I’m sorry to hear that.”

“Me too. I guess that’s why I started crying out there. I’m not quite feeling the magic this year. Only thing I had was dancing.“ She tossed her locs behind her shoulder and shook her head. “This is the first Holiday season since my marriage ended. I had our son, Andre, for Thanksgiving so my ex gets him for Christmas this year. First time I won’t see my Peanut’s face when he opens his gifts. I was looking forward to tomorrow’s performance because I knew it would feel good to bring some joy to the people in the audience even if I wasn’t feeling much myself. Now I won’t even have that, you know.”

Rick patted the knee on her non-injured leg. “I get it. My ex-wife has the kids this year. That’s why I was out here in the cold ranging that damn bell. Tryin’ to do some good while feeling low.”

Michonne put her hand over his. “Looks like we understand each other Deputy Grimes.”

“Looks like we do.”

Their eyes met again in what was beginning to become a habit for them.

Michonne broke the trance first this time as she focused her eyes down to her ankle. “I was out there rushing to find him a gift before him and his Dad leave for Savannah tonight. UPS lost the gifts I ordered for him. I wanted him to have at least one present to open from me in the morning.” She looked at her watch. “They leave in about an hour. I probably won’t make it in time.” She looked back into Rick’s eyes. “He may not think about me at all tomorrow.”

Rick stared back. “Well, we can’t have that. I happen to know that this hospital has a pretty nice gift shop. I’m sure we can find somethang for him there.”

She knitted her brow. “You think?”

“I know.”

“Do you know what ten-year old boys like for gifts?”

“Being that my son was a ten-year old only two years ago, I think I can make an educated guess.”

Michonne smiled at him. “Well, OK then.”

He smiled back. “OK.”

***

A half-hour later they sat in front of the large window in the hospital cafeteria, watching the snow that had been threatening to fall all day blanket the streets. Michonne’s foot was propped on a chair as they sipped hot chocolate.

“I know I keep thanking you, but Andre really is going to love this virtual reality game you picked out. He’s still so young, but already a technology wiz. This is right up his alley.” Michonne patted the wrapped box in her lap. It was just their luck the gift shop was offering free gift wrapping with all toy purchases.

Rick nodded at her with his lips slightly upturned in a smile. He basked in her appreciation. “I was happy to do it. I’m also happy you ex agreed to stop by here on their way out of town so you can give your son the present.”

“Yeah. Me too. Mike’s a wonderful man. A great father. And wasn’t a bad husband. We just weren’t meant to go the long haul in marriage.”

“Same with my ex-wife. I used to see divorce as a failure, but it doesn’t negate all the good the relationship brought to you. And it doesn’t mean you won’t ever find that type of happiness again. Or even somethang better.”

Michonne sipped her hot chocolate and nodded at him with a slight smile on her face. “Sometimes an ending is a beginning in disguise.” She pointed across the street. “Looks like your Salvation Army bucket is filling up with snow. Should you go rescue it?”

Rick shook his head. “Nah. My shift was a bust. I’ll just make a donation in my aunt’s name, and never volunteer again.”

“I have to admit though,” she said as she turned her attention to the top of his head, “the Santa hat looks better on you than it does Kris Kringle.”

He snatched it off with an embarrassed grin. “I didn’t realize I still had that on.”

Michonne laughed and looked back to the wintery scene outside the window. “You know they say if you witness the first snow of Christmas Eve all your wishes for the new year will true.”

Rick raised an eyebrow at her. “Really?”

She smirked at him. “No. I just made that up.”

Rick laughed. “Not a bad sentiment though. I have a few wishes I wouldn’t mind comin’ true.” He held the Styrofoam of hot chocolate in both hands as he looked down as his worn cowboy boots then back up at Michonne’s smiling face again. “You know there’s this restaurant about ten miles from here that makes a great pot roast every Christmas. It’s ‘bout the only place that’s open around here on the holiday.”

“Really?”

“Yep.”

“I won’t be dancing so my Christmas plans are non-existent at the moment. Since Sasha is working tomorrow, and our family is in Texas, I was thinking about hibernating in my apartment, eating frozen pizza and binging on 90s romcoms. But now that pot roast is an option I may have to reconsider.”

“It’s the best in town. Great apple pie too. The place has a jukebox that plays old Christmas songs. It’s the right medicine to get over the yuletide blues.” He winked at her.

Michonne laughed. She held up her cup of hot chocolate to “clink” it with his in a toast. “Maybe this Christmas won’t be so bad after all.”

Rick’s smiled big and bright enough to rival any holiday decoration. “I know it’s looking up for me.”

[richonnejustdesserts]

Teacher’s Pet : A Richonne Round Robin Fanfic

A small town sheriff and preschool teacher find love thanks to the cutest little matchmaker around. [RATED: T]

Chapter 8 (written by @pastelogramm)

“Ugh, Dad. Not this song, again.”

Carl was reprimanding his father on his choice of music. They bantered amongst each other as Michonne and Judith delightfully peered over to both of them in the car. They were all cozily nestled into Rick’s SUV on a weekend trip. It was spring break and the windows were cracked open to allow the first cool breezes of the season to seep in the car.

The night before, all of them had carefully crafted their traveling playlist over pizza from Glenn’s.Carl and Michonne bonded over their song selections, bouncing band names off each other well past Carl’s bed time. They happened to have a large amount of classic rock in common. Michonne would hip Carl to Nu Jazz and 90’s RnB and Carl would introduce Michonne to newer artist and Alternative Rock. Now Carl was giving Rick a hard time over his preferences, a mixture of Rockabilly and Folk tunes.

“You know I have to play this song everytime we go fishing, Carl,” Rick playfully scoffed and snapped his fingers along to the banjos strumming at a high tempo. Not allowing Carl’s digs to get him down. “It’s tradition, practically draws the fish to us.”

Under his breath, Carl chided just loud enough for him to hear, “Yeah, more like draws them away.”

Michonne chimed in with a loud laugh “Carl, his tastes aren’t all that bad. It leaves something to be desired but, not that bad.” She playfully tapped Rick’s knee which Rick reciprocated with a wink. He savored the moment to soak in Michonne’s features, made even more exquisite by the sunrise falling over them. They’d been on the road since early morning in order to make a quick stop off at Michonne’s parent’s house, and then to the countryside for some mid-day fishing.  

Carl placed his elbow on Michonne’s headrest to speak over the blaring music. “But you actually have taste, Michonne. I like your songs. Hey, I can tolerate Judith’s kiddy music. But Dad’s, I can’t stand. Let’s not give him the aux cord next time.”

Judith, previously too distracted by doodling in her memory book, peeked from under it in defense of her father “I actually like Daddy’s songs, Carl. They remind me of Old McDonald.”

Everybody burst out in roarious laughter and Carl exclaimed, “Exactly, Judith.”

As the song came to an end, Michonne glanced at the phone that held their custom playlist and smirked. “Well Carl, you’ll be happy to know, a song is coming up that we all seemed to like.”

Carl, knowing that they agreed on very few songs, was instantly excited. As the beginning of the song faded in, everybody in the car seemed to be filled with a sense of anticipation. All four of them were enjoying their time with one another, and they knew this weekend would be no different.

I looked out this morning and the sun was gone

Turned on some music to start my day

I lost myself in a familiar song

I closed my eyes and I slipped away

xxxx

Carl and Judith had drifted off to sleep for some time, leaving Rick and Michonne to talk about their day. As suspected, the rumors surrounding their “scandal” of a relationship had died down within a matter of days, leaving Rick and Michonne to delve deeper into their relationship, what it meant for them and the kids.

“I haven’t seen my mom in while. Besides facetiming, of course. It’ll be good to see her in the flesh, and for her to see you.” She rested her hand over his headrest, fiddling with his chocolate curls. “With all of the things I’ve been telling her about you and the kids, she was chewing me out to meet you all.” Michonne eyed Rick with a questioning expression. “You ready?”

Rick nodded, “Yeah. I’m excited to meet her too. Albeit nervous.” Rick gripped the steering wheel. “I feel like a high schooler knocking on my date’s door.”

Michonne giggled,“She’s gonna love you, Rick. She already loves you.” With that look, Rick was at ease. Michonne knew exactly where to reach to get him in a calm place.

The GPS sounded that they were all less that 10 minutes away from Michonne’s old house, waking Carl and Judith from their deep sleep.

Judith sleepily growled from the backseat, “So what is your mommy like Michonne?”

Michonne glanced at the rearview mirror and into her inquisitive face, Judith was the most excited to meet her mother. “People say she’s a lot like me, Judy. She inspired me to become an artist, you know? She is a sculptor in her spare time.”

“So there are two Mrs. A’s?” Judith’s eyes went wide and excited. She didn’t know if she could handle the prospect of another kind, creative, smart and pretty Michonne.

Michonne replied with a grin, “Well, I guess you could say that, Judy.”

The car pulled into the driveway of a sage green two-story house. In the front, there was a screened porch with a couple of rocking chairs adorning it. Towards the back, you could make out a garden that was sprouting first blooms of vegetation. It all looked very tidy and homey.

A figure exited from the screen porch and out to greet them. It was a slender, older woman with long silver locs pulled into a ponytail. As far away as she was, she had a presence about her that was joyful and polished. She was the exact mirror of Michonne.

“There she is!” Michonne barely waited for the car to come to a complete stop before making a beeline toward her mother.  

“Is that my baby coming out of that car!?” The woman warmly approached with open arms and embraced her child, rocking with her, pulling away solely to get a look at her face.  

Meanwhile, Carl, Judith, and Rick pooled out of the car and gathered around while they were still locked in a hug and exchanging pleasantries. Rick gazed at the pair and he could see the deep relationship these two had.

“Is Daddy still on that business trip in Macon?” Michonne inquired.

Michonne’s mother shook her head in feigned disappointment, “Yes, you know he would be here if he could. That man is always busy.”

Michonne mused, “I know. Maybe we can double back on our way back to King County and catch some time with him.”

After they parted, Rick offered his hand to shake in the most southern gentlemen type of way and said, “It’s nice to meet you, Mrs. Anthony. I’m Rick.”

Michonne’s mother allowed his hand to hang in the air for a spell and smirked.“I don’t do handshakes, baby. We hug over here.” With that, she pulled him in for the biggest bear hug. “And my name is Roseline.” She smiled that same 1000 watt smile that Michonne had.”Michonne has told me so much about you. All good things.”

Rick, delighted by how welcoming Michonne’s mom was being replied,“Yes ma-, I mean, Miss Roseline.”

Michonne walked over to the children and put her arms around them, “Mama, I’d like for you to meet Rick’s children, Carl and Judith.”

“Of course! I’ve heard so much about the two of you! Over here is Mr. Baseball Star. And here is the budding artist. It’s wonderful to finally meet you.” She reached in to hug both of the children which they warmly reciprocated. Judith had stars in her eyes. She couldn’t imagine a world that housed two Mrs. A’s. She was absolutely smitten.

“I made this for you!” Judith pulled out a folded up piece of paper that she was hiding in her overalls and presented it to Roseline. “My Daddy says never come to somebody’s house empty-handed.”

Roseline unfolded the piece of paper and examined the drawing. It was a picture of everybody that was in the car that day in crayon. On the top was scribbled “tank yu for habing us.”

Roseline was over the moon about the drawing and kneeled down to Judith’s level. “This is so beautiful, baby! Thank you.” Roseline pulled her in for yet another hug. “I’m putting this on my fridge as soon as a get in the house.”  

“Your children are absolutely precious, and mannerable too.”

“Thank you,” Rick replied.

Roseline chuckled “I remember when Michonne was young like you two. She was really interested in those samurai movies and comics. All the time, kicking, using brooms as swords and such…Tearing up my house.” Roseline playfully glared at Michonne. “But she was just a sweet and kind as she could be.”

Rick laughed at Roseline’s recounting. Imagining the now calm and collected Michonne, breaking vases from kicking in the house. “You don’t strike me as the cutting up kind, ‘Chonne.”

“The Arts settled me, Rick.” Michonne shook her head and shot a sly grin at her mom, a little embarrassed that she was spilling so much information so quickly.

Roseline leaned into her daughter for a side hug, “Oh yes, I have so much to tell you about Michonne, she’s got so many stories. We’re gonna have fun, Rick.”

Rick’s voice grew bubbly, “I really would like that Miss Roseline.” As he passed a look over to Michonne, Rick was amazed at the woman before him. He wanted to hear all of the things about her that she’d glanced over about herself. Absolutely all of it.

“Well, I was in the kitchen since early this morning and made some breakfast for you all so that’s time for plenty of stories. You can’t go fishing on an empty stomach can you?”

Carl, who had been complaining of hunger pangs for about an hour immediately piped up, “We sure can’t.”

Roseline chuckled at his comment. “I can already tell this boy can eat, I like that!”

xxxx

Roseline had prepared a large spread for her guests. Fried catfish, eggs, grits with cheese, biscuits from scratch, and many other things were on the menu. Afterward, they lounged around in Roseline’s Garden.Carl was paging through some of Michonne’s comics that she’d dug out from her old room and Judith had stolen Michonne away for a moment to teach her how to make pressed flowers for her memory book. Rick and Roseline opted to stay in the kitchen while Rick volunteered to clear the table.

Roseline took a moment to eye Rick down with a slick grin. “Rick Grimes, Rick Grimes…Well, I see you have your cowboy boots, but where are your riding chaps?”

Rick threw his head back and laughed, Michonne had mentioned all of the wise cracks Roseline would make about his name, the modern cowboy at its finest. Rick shot back,“They’re at the dry cleaners. Next time I’ll bring along my horse, Silver.”

Roseline fell back against her chair and laughed cackled, then hummed, “Now, usually my husband would be the one to ask these questions, but in his absence, I gotta know. What are your intentions with my daughter, Cowboy Rick?”

Scraping leftover food into the trash, Rick’s eyes began to crinkle at the corners and with some pause, he became serious and faced her. “Honestly, Roseline. I really like your daughter. She’s making me a very happy man.”

“I know you do, I can see by the way you look at her.” Roseline fidgeted with her fingers and glanced over to a photo of Michonne with a floral dress, missing teeth, and thick, bushy hair. “She is something else, my baby girl. You’ve got a good one.”

“I know that too. And it’s never my intention to hurt her.” Rick’s southern drawl became more labored as he sat down at the table next to Roseline, wanting to cut straight to the point. “Miss Roseline, I know that the way we met might have caused some alarm with you, but I assure you that it’s not something to be worried about. We’re being careful about it, and I would never want to endanger Michonne’s career or good name.”

Roseline smiled and leaned in, “My baby is grown Rick, I know that. But that doesn’t stop me from worrying about her. Down there in King County all by herself, I was nervous. And then she told me about you, and I was even more nervous. I didn’t want her to get hurt, and I know a lot of women who do get hurt in those types of situations.”

Rick nodded in understanding, knowing that their beginning predicament, a teacher dating her student’s father, did not sound appealing on paper.

“But, I see now.” She looked out toward the screen porch at a Michonne and Judith marveling over their new pressed flowers. “You and your kids are bringing so much joy to her life. So, I thank you.”

Rick stood up to catch Michonne waving at the two of them and waved back. “The feeling is very much mutual. I’m thankful that we found each other.”

Xxx

The stay at Roseline’s house was short lived, but full of laughs and catching up. Roseline sent them on their way with a ton of leftovers for the rest of the trip. They all promised they would stop by after fishing to meet up with her again, and meet Michonne’s father, Makenson.

After about an hour more of driving, they had finally made it to the lake house where they’d be spending a couple of days. It was a sight to behold, a quaint little log cabin nestled next to some of the clearest water where little to no vacationers frequented. The lush green grass surrounding the lake was still dewy from an early morning rain and you could smell the fragrant flowers in the midst.

Michonne, taking in the scenery, inhaled all of that fresh country air, “This is stunning, Rick.”

Rick replied, “Isn’t it? We haven’t been up here in a long time. As a matter of fact, this is Judith’s first time here, and yours of course.”

The group quickly packed up their belongings in the cabin and made their way to the lake, fishing supplies in tow. As they neared, Carl got the idea to challenge Judith to a race.

“Race you to that fishing sign, Judes!” and with that, he blasted off, with Judith not too far behind him.

Rick yelled behind his children, “Careful you two, the ground is still wet!”

They paid the yelling no mind, Carl and Judith blasted at lightning speed toward the fishing spot leaving Rick and Michonne in their dust. Judith was not one to play with a challenge and was able to keep up a good speed with Carl. Until suddenly, she slipped up on the moisture inside her sandals and fell right into dirt softened by that morning’s rain.

“Oh No!” Rick and Michonne yelled in unison as they scurried to see about her.Carl had very quickly realized that his sister had fallen and was right to her rescue.

By the time Rick and Michonne had gotten to Judith she wasn’t crying, as much as disgusted by her yellow pantsuit completely covered in a brown and green muck.  

Michonne kneeled down to her level and began to rub her back, “It’s okay sweetie, it’s alright.”Judith quipped with a twisted face, “Yeah, it’s okay. It’s just so… yucky.” She frantically tried to wipe the mud off her bottoms.

Rick agreed with a chortle whilst examining her, relieved that she was not hurt past a couple of scrapes. “I know, baby. Let’s take you inside to get some new clothes.” He glanced at Michonne and Carl, “Hey Carl, do you mind getting things set up in the meantime while I get Judith cleaned up? Can you teach Michonne a bit while you’re at it, she’s a little, uh, wet behind the ears.” Rick joked and Michonne rolled her eyes playfully. Michonne had never gone fishing before but was always ready to try new things.

Carl nodded, excited to get some one on one time with Michonne. “Yeah, I can teach you how to set up Michonne. It’s really easy.”

Michonne cautioned to Judith,“You sure you’re alright, baby girl? You don’t need us to come and help?”

“I’m okay Ms. A.” Judith answered with a thumb up in the air while being carried away by Rick. Judith was one brave girl, indeed.

Left alone, Carl began to teach Michonne the ins and outs of fishing. In no time they were all settled with their chairs and sitting in front of the lake, rods in hand. Now there was nothing left but the beauty and the still of the lake, and to wait for the fish, already crowded around their fishing area, to bite.

The duo was only waiting for a couple of minutes before Carl whispered,“Hey Michonne, can I tell you something?”

Curiosity piqued, Michonne replied, “Of course, Carl.”

Carl took a moment to prepare himself, “I know you and my Dad haven’t been dating for a whole lot of time so I’m not trying to make this weird or anything, but, I just wanted you to know, I’m glad he’s happy.”

Immediately, Michonne’s heart warmed. “I’m glad you’re okay with it, Carl. Your opinion about this means a lot in this.” She lightly pressured, “Is there anything that brought this about?”

“It’s just… being here reminded me how my Dad was, before the divorce. I don’t really think I could call my Dad… happy at the time. I know he loved us, Judith and I, but something was missing for him. My Dad was alone for a good while… and I was starting to wonder if he was ever gonna find somebody else.” Carl teetered on his words, wondering to himself what the right thing was to say. All that Michonne could manage to do was listen.

“I was worried about him. But, I can see it on his face. He’s happy to be with you. And I’m happy because he’s happy.” Carl beamed, relieved that he was able to say something on his mind for a long time.

“Well, thank you for sharing that, Carl,” Michonne assured him. “Just know that I’m here for you, to talk or, whatever you need.I’m here.”

They were so caught up in their talk that they didn’t hear the zipping of the fishing line getting away from them. Something was biting on the line.

Carl began to pull back on the fishing reel,“I think we got one!”

xxxxx

The end of the weekend was at hand, and the group reluctantly prepared to make a trip back home to King’s County. Michonne passed Rick a cooler of fresh bass and managed to steal a quick peck on his cheek, not realizing that Carl was within view of her. Then she ran back upstairs to double check that she hadn’t forgotten anything before they left.

Rick, with flushed cheeks, walked over to the car and hefted the large cooler, teaming with medium sized bass, into the back of the car with Carl’s help. It was one of the biggest catches they had ever made. All throughout packing, Carl had this huge grin on his face that Rick noticed.

Rick questioned Carl with a little hesitation nudging him, “Is everything alright? I see you grinning.”

Carl, caught, began to blush and looked around, “Nothing… just you and Michonne.”

Carl’s smile was contagious to Rick causing one to spread across his face. “Yeah… are you alright about her?”

“Yeah.” Carl nodded, answering with no hesitation and looked up into his father’s eyes. With all sincerity, he said, “I think she’s one of us.”

That made Rick smile even the more. He was falling for Michonne, and he loved the assurance that his children were seeing the same qualities in her that he was. This all felt so right.

Rick drawled out, patting Carl on the back, “I think she is too.”

“Okay, that’s the last of everything.” Michonne bounded down the stairs with Judith attached to her side, “We’re all ready ready to head out.”

And with that, everybody piled into the car with sights toward Atlanta, and then finally, King County. Everybody enjoyed a comfortable silence. The kind of silence you can only achieve when you are truly at home with somebody.

Judith, tapped Michonne on her shoulder and asked, “Ms. A, would you like to see my memory book?”

Michonne craned her neck to get the book from her “I’d love to, honey.”

Michonne opened the memory book and marveled at this weekend through this little child’s eyes. The pages were full to the brim with drawings of Rick as Old Mcdonald, a picture of Carl, Rick, Judith and Michonne around a lake, a muddy handprint and pressed flowers from her mother’s garden.

The last picture made her well up. It was a picture solely of Michonne, she was adorned with a crown on her head and flowers were at her feet. In scratch letters, the picture was captioned “I luv Ms. A.”

Michonne looked up at all of the people she shared the trip with. These amazing kids who loved her as much as she loved them, and this man who was awakening feelings in her that she hadn’t felt in such a long time. This feeling felt a lot like family, and at that moment, Michonne decided that she would dive into it.

Passing the book back into Judith’s hands Michonne replied, “This is wonderful, Sweetheart.”    

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