#had to wake up the next day at 7:30 for my exam in a couple hours

[fitnessinrecovery]

I've had a good couple of days! I've managed yoga every day for 4 days, and am also doing better with getting up earlier. Since my degree ended a couple of weeks ago, my sleep schedule fell apart. Before, I'd be getting up at 6am consistently to give time to relax a bit before my 9am lectures/exams/revision, but in the week following my last exam I went to getting up at 1pm!

I don't feel bad about taking the extra rest - I'd just finished a 4-year Physics degree lol. But I felt better getting up earlier, and my job in a couple months starts at 9am, so it'd be better if I consistently got up earlier to prepare for that.

This week I'm aiming for waking up at 8 and being up/showered/dressed by 9, and it's going alright. Next week I'll aim for 7:30 if this goes well, and we'll keep working from there :)

[pallases]

this weekend has been a ROLLERCOASTER

[bitoffairydust]

Yesterday we came home from the hospital as a family of three.

Things haven’t been super smooth sailing, nor did I expect them to be, but our little one is doing well and I’m healing fine so that’s really all we could ask for.

Wednesday was a bit of a whirlwind. I was scheduled to go into the hospital for my induction at 5, so we spent the morning doing a bit of last minute clean up around the place. Then around 12, someone from L&D called and said if we were available to come in earlier, we could just show up whenever. We still had a few things to finish up so we had lunch, I took a shower while my wife did the dishes, then she took a shower and got the cats set up for a few days home alone before we called an Uber to head to the hospital.

We got there around 3:30-4 so not super early but they got us into the delivery rooms right away and someone came over to go over a few questions (medical stuff and what I was hoping for with the birth). I got hooked up to the contraction and fetal heartbeat monitors, they got my IV line in, and then we went over the induction options for me. Based on my last check up, I was about 1.5 cm dilated, so before anything else they had to get me to about 3 cm, which they offered to do with either the foley balloon or misoprostol. Then the plan was to start me on oxytocin to get contractions going. I requested the miso, cause I figured there would be enough things going in and out of my vagina for the evening without an additional thing thrown in there 😅

It actually took a little while for the induction to start because as it turns out, three people (myself included) showed up for their induction within 5 minutes of each other and I was the last so it was closer to 7 before the resident came to examine me. In doing so they found I had actually progressed to 3 cm on my own since my last appointment so they were able to just get me started up on oxytocin.

Contractions started up pretty much instantly but they were very manageable. I’d say just from the oxy progression, the worst contraction I got was maybe a 5 on the scale from 1 to 10. Then they ran through the dosage and did another exam to see where I was at. They didn’t give an exact number then but I think it was somewhere between 4 and 5 cm. Before starting me up on another dosage of oxytocin, they went ahead and tried to break my water as it hadn’t yet. They didn’t actually manage to fully get it, and honestly, at that point, them trying to get it to break was actually more painful than the contractions I’d experienced that far.

That changed pretty fast once they established they’d gotten enough of the membranes for the time being. I’m fuzzy on the timeline but I think it must have been close to 10 at that point, and the pain level climbed very quickly along with contraction intensity and frequency. I tried to bounce on a ball for a bit and the nurse showed my wife some pressure points to try and help with the pain but it did nothing. Around 10:30 I requested the epidural, which was unfortunate timing on my part as the anesthesiologist had just gone in to assist with a c-section. By the time she was out and got to my room it was about 11:30 and pain was an easy 10 on the scale with contractions maybe a minute and a half apart.

The epidural itself went in pretty smoothly but at first there wasn’t much to be said for relief. Since they mentioned it could take 15 minutes to really be felt I didn’t think much of it, and I did feel like things were getting a bit better as minutes passed. The last contraction I was asked about felt more back down to a 5 on the pain scale so the anesthesiologist left. Unfortunately, that 5 turned out to be a fluke because pain shot back up pretty quickly and I was soon at a 10 again, no matter the dosage boosts.

That part was quite honestly the worst of it all, having expected some sort of relief and finding it to be just as worse as before. To make it worse, baby was not handling those contractions well. His heart beat would drop with the start of each contraction, though it picked up before the end of them so though they wanted to keep an eye on it it wasn’t cause for intervention yet. The nurse monitored his heart rate with me laying flat on my back, on my right side, on my left side and then sitting straight up. The latter was the slightly better option for him, but definitely did nothing to help my pain management. She did get me back on my back to try and relieve me a bit since the difference to the effect on baby wasn’t huge but at that point contractions were relentless. I was dealing with back labor contractions, which were maybe a minute apart, and because they suspected the placenta had detached a bit when they tried to break my water, when a contraction would subside, the pain in my abdomen would become more prominent and almost to the same level. It made it feel like I was contracting non stop with no break for catching my breath or trying to recuperate.

Around 2 in the morning there were a few people in the room examining me and trying to figure out the best course of action. A C-section being needed started being mentioned if things didn’t improve, but I was at a little more than 9 cm by then. The OB and the anesthesiologist had a talk outside the room and decided to re-do my epidural as it had clearly failed (they did an ice test and it was clear I wasn’t frozen anywhere at all), and if I were to end up needing a c-section, I’d have to have it redone anyway.

She took two tries to get everything situated in my back. That second try did the trick. I don’t think I can even describe the amount of relief when my foot started feeling warm and then going numb, and within maybe 5 minutes it was amazingly painless. They did another ice test and this time I felt no cold at all anywhere, and when the nurse pointed out I’d just had a contraction it cemented it because I’d not felt it at all. The only thing I could feel at that point was a bit of abdominal pressure every now and then. And I will say, I did have a great team with me. Everyone was very empathetic and trying their best to get me to feel some form of relief before the second epidural. And they seemed almost as relieved as me when that last one finally worked - especially because after that baby’s heart stabilized.

By the time the epidural was done, even though they figured I had likely progressed to 10 cm, they elected to let me rest for a bit, and give baby a chance to keep making his way down, so I got to catch a breather until about 4 am. Then they told me it was time to try and start pushing, with the nurse guiding me since I still couldn’t feel any sort of contraction. I pushed through maybe four or five contractions without huge progress, and the OB came in to assess and established baby needed a bit of help coming out. They set up the forceps and had me push through another couple of contractions, but they were pretty week and hard to catch even for the nurse by then, and baby’s heart rate was starting to struggle again. So they got on the phone to get a room prepped for c-section, and the doctor told me I would get to push through one last contraction, but if nothing happened we’d have to go into surgery.

The nurse tried to wait for a good one (she had already reupped the oxytocin drip at that point) and by some miracle, the next push for his head half out and with the second one it was completely out. The rest of his body followed quickly and before I had even caught up with it all, I had his tiny little body on me.

Even though they’d brought someone in from the NICU just to be safe, he ended up being perfectly okay. I needed a bit more attention because I had more bleeding than normal, and I had to have 4 stitches and another IV line put in to help with the blood loss. Then we stayed in the delivery room until about 6 at which point we were brought over to our postpartum room.

Since then nursing has undoubtedly been the biggest challenge. He did have a tongue tie, but he struggled from the get go. He would latch well but lose it and then get frustrated and cry. He also is a very lazy eater - I’d spend easily 30-45 minutes per side trying to get him to stay aware long enough to take in maybe 15 minutes of proper feeding, but he’d start smacking his lips practically the moment he was done, and he’d wake up hungry again within the hour.

Unfortunately there was no lactation consultant on staff as she was on vacation this week. People commented time and time again about how I had no supply issue, and his latch (when he was latched) was good, but it didn’t seem to help. I also felt I kept getting conflicting information as one moment he’d have crystals in his urine to indicate potential dehydration, and the next they’d be telling me he had barely loss any of his birth weight and was perfectly on target for that.

We did decide to get his tongue tie cut as it seemed to really be frustrating him at feeds and make it harder for my breast to properly fit into his mouth. The feed that followed the cut was easily the best we’ve had to date, but unfortunately it went downhill from there. After we got home and I tried to feed him last night, he did fine on the right side but then only lasted 10 minutes on the left and then lost it, started to scream and wouldn’t latch again. I haven’t been able to make him latch on the left side since, and I only managed to get him latched to the right a couple more times before we ran in the same problem, so we had to go ahead and start giving him bottles. I’ll be trying to work through it with a lactation consultant as soon as possible, and I’ve now started pumping, but in the meantime, him being properly fed was the biggest thing.

He does also have a small fracture on his right clavicle, likely from the forceps, but the pediatrician said that will resolve on its own within the week. In the meantime we just have to be very cautious how we move his right arm, and she prescribed him Tylenol if need be.

In the meantime we’re just trying to settle down to our new sleep deprived routine. But then looking into all the sweet, funny faces he makes both when asleep and awake makes it feel pretty worth it.

- Marie

[apathycarestostudy]

Academic Success Tips from My Parents

Out of all the things my parents enforced in my siblings and I, the most profound were educational and life success tips. Legit would get 100% regardless of the subject/ course/ workload. Here’s a bunch of them.

Before class:

Spend no more than a quarter of the journey to class chilling. 

Organize your study materials according to subject. Files and folders in the back, then textbooks, then notebooks. Stationery in appropriate places.

Always carry a folder full of blank sheets (plain, graphed, all the kinds!).

Fix your bag before you sleep. Hang your wristwatch on the strap so you don’t forget it when you go.

Clear your desk/study area as soon as you’re done - you’re not allowed to move out of that spot until you do.

If you have a study journal/ school diary/ study guide, read it everyday before class. 

Be the first one there, at least 15 minutes early (30 mins to an hour early is favourable).

If the teacher walks in, you better greet them with a smile, regardless if they’re crabby or not. Everyday.

You have the option to relax and do whatever before the teacher walks in. However, you have to preview the lesson before it starts. No exceptions.

Make ‘preview’ notes, which is basically little helpful tidbits about what’s to come, stuff you’re not sure about, questions and guides, how formulas connect - literally anything that’ll make the class go smoother for you.

During class:

You can talk to your friends before class, but as soon as it starts, not a word or glance in their direction.

Have all your materials either out if you have the space, or within reach. 

Listen carefully and take notes where appropriate (on printed ppts, on the corners and margins of the textbook, or an actual notebook), always, every class. There’s no such thing as ‘I didn’t take any notes today’ or ‘There wasn’t anything going on’. 

Always write the date and the day. Make an index as you go.

No highlighters during class. Underline textbooks with pencil only, and use pencils for sketches.

Whenever a teacher assigns work or extra readings or reference materials, write them down - always. Optional or not.

You better write down test/ quiz/ exam dates, even if they’re happening the next day and you’ll obviously remember. 

Speaking of exams, if the teacher mentions that word, write down everything they say, dialogue tags and all.

Answer as much questions as you can. It would be favourable if you answer twice per class or more, but it’s fine if you don’t. Your performance matters more.

Give people a chance to answer and ask questions.

Listen to what they’re saying and what response the teacher gives, even if you know it. Listening skills are important.

If an exercise is assigned during class, get on it like it’s an exam, and show the teacher your work (if possible) for corrections.  

If there’s a couple minutes before the class ends, but the teacher’s lesson finished for whatever reason (a final exercise is going on and you finished, they’re taking questions etc.) you keep to yourself if you’re not talking to the teacher. Read a book, do some work, anything productive.

You can help your friends and classmates now. Never say no, even if you’re not sure, say so and let them know you’re willing to struggle with them for a solution.

If you lend stationery, get it back before you bounce.

Arrange your materials backwards as you go through the day.

If you have another class right after, you better get over there immediately. It doesn’t matter if you’ve gotten more than enough time to mess around. Take your friends if you if you’d like.

During breaks:

Study, read, review, or preview. Something light for at least a quarter of the break this time.

If someone asks for help, help them (again). It’s good practice for you to see if you understand, and it’s good practice for when you go out into the world.

NEVER GO TO TEACHERS UNLESS IT’S ABSOLUTELY DETRIMENTAL.

If you have nothing light you can do, you can do whatever. 

After class:

Start by finishing all your homework. It isn’t due this week? Doesn’t matter. Always do your homework as soon as it’s assigned.

Once you’re done with your homework, check your study journal/ school diary/ study guide again. Take note of what’s coming up.

stUDY NOW PLEASE. All the subjects / courses you’ll have tomorrow should be either a) memorized if you didn’t have more than an hour of homework time or b) read and reviewed and tried and tested if you did. 

You can use highlighters now. Make summary notes and formula master lists. 

Organize your stuff again. 

You’re caught up with everything and barely did an hour today? Time to bust out the optional readings then.

You have no extra stuff too? Time to go on the computer and get some resources yourself. 

If there’s a big project, plan every step with excessively precise details. Follow them. Don’t forget to add buffers in case you miss something.

You missed something? Plan all over again. 

Go to sleep by 7 if you’re in school and 10 if you’re in college. You haven’t finished studying? I’ll wake you up at 3/4 in the morning then.

Did I mention do your assignments the day they’re assigned to you?

No relaxing till the weekend. You wake up, go to classes, come back, shower, eat, then study until you go to bed. Oh, and lay out your clothes right down to the shoes and socks (accessories too) right before you do.

Weekends:

Sike. You only get one day off. 

(Legit tho, back in the day, my work week was from Sunday to Thursday, and my parents would allow Thursday night and half of Friday off. We had to get up at eight-thirty in the morning max and study until lunch with zero breaks. Lunch would usually be at 1:30 pm. You can forget about most of Saturday too. We’d study till lunch, then have to go back again until late afternoon (about 5:30 pm - 4:30 if we were lucky). And then of course, since we were starting back on Sunday, we’d be in bed by 7. People would wonder how in the world we’d be able to sleep at 7 with all that we had to do as students - now you know.)

Don’t get me started on exams lol. This may seem harsh, but without this type of discipline, I wouldn’t be doing as okay as I do now with the subpar standards I’ve seemed to developed in college. Well. I’ve got a bunch of other things I used to do (some still do), as these are only the ones I could remember on the top of my head. More coming soon maybe?

Hope this helps you!

EDIT: DISCLAIMER: I AM NOT ADVOCATING ILL-HEALTH. THIS IS ONLY THE ACADEMIC ASPECT OF MY LIFE, NOT THE ENTIRETY OF IT. IF YOU’RE TRIGGERED, READ THIS. THANKSS.

[dianapana]

SasuHina Month 2020- Day 9

Prompt-Prolonged Embraces

The exam had been awful; the questions were formulated in such a way that they were confusing to begin with but the subjects they asked about were also very difficult and hard to cover in 50 words. They had over 30 questions and barely an hour and half to finish, much like her, everyone else walked out of the room with their head bowed looking at the ground and doing everything in their power not to catch someone’s eye in case that person thought to strike up a conversation about said exam. They were also all moving in slow motion and zombie-like. The teacher had been cruel, Hinata had attended all classes, did all the extra work and studied as much as she could. Last night as she was looking over everything one last time, she felt hopeful and sure of her knowledge. When Ino quizzed her, she made no errors. But she barely had time to think so she wrote the first thing to come to mind; she didn’t even have time to look over everything before handing in the exam. Thankfully this had been her last exam this semester, this year and this University experience. Ino finished her exams two days ago and she wanted to go out and celebrate, but Hinata wanted to go home and take a 10-hour nap, wake up eat and then go back to sleep.

“I got out. Not 1 word abt it.” Hinata texted Ino and the blonde replied almost immediately witch a bunch of sad emojis.

Her first stop before going to the apartment and cry a little to let out her frustration and make herself better, was a fast food restaurant, she needed food and fast; thus the location. There was only one person in front of her so she was able to order her sub pretty fast. She sat herself at one of the empty tabled to eat half of it in a hurry. The other half she packed and put in her bag; she’d keep that one for later to eat after waking up.

Ino was in the living room on the sofa applying some more lipstick when Hinata walked in. Ino looked at her with sympathy and gave her a big hug.

“I’m sorry it sucked.” The blonde said but didn’t address more the topic because she knew Hinata didn’t really want to talk about it “What are you gonna do? Do you want to come with me and Sakura to a party?”

Hinata only shook her head. “I’ll go party with you this weekend, now I just want to sleep and forget everything I learned” Ino laughed

“Ok babe, but if you change your mind just shoot me a text and I’ll let you know where I am” The blonde said as she checked her reflection one more time before picking up her fanny pack and putting it around her waist. “Whoever decided to bring these back into fashion was a genius. I have my phone, money and keys in there and I won’t have to worry about losing my clutch or whatever the whole time” Ino’s gratefulness to the fanny-pack-Gods has been something she expressed whenever she went out in the past year.

Hinata went to the fridge and put the remaining half of the sub before kissing Ino’s cheek and dragging herself up the stairs. Before sleeping she decided to take a bath and relax. The tub filled slowly with hot water and she even decided to use one of her citrus bath bombs and some lemon oils. Before stepping into the water, she went to fetch her phone and played some music in the background. The moment she was fully undressed and in the water her muscles started to relax. Her brain started to wander; how she wished Sasuke was there, he would be able to distract so easily. Her body was indeed starting to loosen up but her brain was still overthinking everything about the exam from her actual answers, to how she wrote, wondering if the teacher could even read her scribbles at all especially since she rushed so much. She wrote her name right…?

Shushing her thoughts, she started to wash her body and hair slowly but even as she was rinsing her hair for the second time her brain was still spinning in circles. The bath didn’t seem to help so she got out of it much faster than she wanted. Dressing in her most comfortable pj which were a pair of loose shorts and one of Sasuke’s t-shirts she went to bed after drying her hair for a while; it was still damp but she was too tired to care. She almost wanted to force herself to cry a little because she always felt better after crying but no tears came so she did the next best thing, closed her eyes and thought of Sasuke; of his soft hair under her fingertips, his beautiful eyes when he looked at her, his soft lips as they traced her neck. She fell asleep with Sasuke on her mind and her mind gripped onto that thought and continued it into her dream.

In her dream they were having a panic, they just finished eating and were laying down on the blanket looking at the sky, pointing at clouds and saying what they looked like. She was just pointing to a cat folding origami when Sasuke pulled her closer and started kissing her neck. He breathed her in and hugged her close.

“I missed you so much” Her brain was still half-asleep but she was certain that the voice was real, as were the arms that were holding her close. Hinata opened her eyes wide only to see Sasuke looking down at her; he was still in his uniform. The moment their eyes met she started crying and pulling him as close as she could; her arms were around his neck her legs around his waist; if she could she would live in his embrace.

“I missed you too” she said still crying. She hadn’t seen him in about 4 days, he had been really busy and couldn’t skype; but she hadn’t touched him in over 7 months. Sasuke was a solder in the army and had been deployed for almost 2 years now. He returned for a few weeks when he had been injured 7 months ago but that hadn’t been nearly enough time together.

“How long are you back for?” His deployment only ended in another 3 months as far as Hinata knew. “Oh my God are you hurt again?” She asked and pulled away from him softly and looked at him as he was lying on her bed, he seemed fine.

“I’m not hurt” He told her with a smile and ran his hand over her upper arm. “Things worked faster than then we thought and most of us were sent home. Only a couple people higher in rank had to stay till the end.”

Hinata looked at him for a second. “So…you’re home…for good?” Her voice was trembling.

“Yes. At least until the next deployment which shouldn’t be very soon” His smile was blinding. Her tears were pouring again. Sasuke was on his back on the bed and she crawled on top of him; almost instantly his arms curled around her. They stood there embracing for a really long time. Sasuke was really tired after his journey and Hinata just wanted to hold him close and make sure he was real.

“I’m going to take a shower and change ok?” He asked, his voice was lower and he sounded sleepy. Hinata got up from him and allowed him to go to the bathroom. While he was showering, she went downstairs to the kitchen, she was sure Sasuke was hungry and the only food they had was her half sub which was nearly not enough for both of them. So, she put some water and rice to cook and, in another pan, fried some chicken breasts. The chicken was done quite fast and the rice was still being cooked so she decided to make a sauce; she cut some tomatoes, onions, peppers and carrots and put them into a pan with some salt, garlic, tomatoes sauce and soy sauce. As she was stirring softly two strong arms came from behind and hugged her.

Neither of them said anything; it was common for Hinata to cook while Sasuke was embracing her softly, his head on her shoulder. The rice was cooked so she stopped that burner but the sauce needed a bit more time which was fine since the rice needed to cool off and steam for another 5-10 minutes to be fluffy. The veggie sauce was done too and she turned off the last burner and took a step back into Sasuke. He took one as well and loosened his embrace just enough so she had space to turn around and hug him back.

“Welcome back; I just realized I didn’t even say that” Hinata said as she ran her hands thought his hair, it was longer than last time he was home but just as soft.

“I’m home” He whispered into her neck and kissed the skin just above her collar bone. They didn’t mover for a couple minutes before Sasuke’s stomach started making sounds.

“I think you’re hungry” Hinata said amused. It was amazing how Sasuke made everything better in her world, the exam and her bad mood felt like they had happened ages ago. All she could remember, all that mattered were Sasuke’s hugs. Hinata filled two cups with water while Sasuke fixed 2 plates for them to eat.

“You finished your exams, today right?” Sasuke asked between chewing.

Hinata nodded “Yes, it’s finally over”

“We should celebrate this weekend, you finished University” Sasuke was 3 years older than her; but she was also almost 2 years older than most of her peers; instead of going to Uni right after high school Hinata had to stay back due to some family issues. Sasuke did more courses than normal people for 3 semesters so instead of 4 years he finished University in 2 after which he went directly into the army. Hinata’s dad was also in the army and that’s how they met; during the first event Sasuke attended. They started dating about 2 months after; Hinata was a senior in high school and Sasuke had just joined. (They were 19 and 22 at the time; now they are 25 and 28)

“Of course, we’re celebrating, you’re home” The house was Hinata’s and Sasuke’s but during the 4 years of University Ino rented their guestroom but the blonde packed most of her things and sent them back to her home with a moving truck. She was to leave Wednesday next week.

They ate and talked some more about Hinata’s future plans to teach middle-school English, about Sasuke’s deployment which went really well, besides a few injures, nothing major happened. After they finished eating Sasuke went to wash the dished. Just like he did when she was cooking Hinata hugged him from behind while he was working.

He was finally home; whenever he was gone Hinata always was a bit on the edge but with him close everything was as it should be. “I love you” she said and kissed his shoulder.

“I love you too” Sasuke said and turned around and in a few quick moves picked her up and put her on the counter. He walked between her legs and held her close and kissed her slow and steady. He had missed her so much, not only in a sexual way but in a physical and emotional way. He missed holding her while they slept, missed smelling her perfume everywhere around him, missed her voice and they way she held his hand whenever they were walking together even if it was in the supermarket. Her positivism and innocence also were things he craved. He missed everything that made her her.

He deepened the kiss and Hinata crossed her legs over his waist. He placed his hands under her butt and picked her up still not breaking the kiss. Sasuke knew the house well enough to navigate it while kissing her but Hinata broke the kiss when they reached the stairs and smiled at him.

“Let’s go to our room” She said still smiling beautifully at him. Every part of her body was touching his in their embrace and nothing had ever felt that perfect before.

“Yes, let’s go” He would sleep with her in his arms today; of course, after ravishing some of her innocence.

[xxgoblin-dumplingxx]

The Matchmaker: Sixteen

Sunlight made the dust motes shine like glitter, drifting lazily on the breeze as you curled up in your favorite chair with a book. It was summer break and with no classes to teach and Bucky away on a mission you found yourself with an abundance of free time. 

You spent time with Rebecca, having her as an overnight guest often. Steve, Sam, Nat and other Avengers dropped by. To eat. To chat. To pick your brain... whatever the reason, you appreciated the company. The house was too big without Bucky rattling around in the other rooms. 

He was always tinkering. Adjusting. Planning. Having a house and a wife had seemed like such an impossible thing for so long that now that he had them, he was ecstatic. Always quick to do whatever little home repairs. Always thrilled to pamper you within an inch of your life.

You supposed, laying aside your book with a stretch that you should probably get up. You haven’t been on a run in a few days. Perhaps it’s the weather. The warm spring air making you feel lazy. Fatigue from the frantic last week of classes. But you feel leaden and heavy. Simple things leave you tired or slightly confounded. Part of it, you acknowledge could be some depression. 

Bucky’s been away for a few weeks now. Almost Three full weeks. You’ve counted. Over and over. You miss him. 

You really did try and get up. But the soft breeze, the comfortable chair, and the snuggly blanket prove especially soporific. You were asleep before you could even grab on to the thought that you needed to start dinner.

_________

Bucky dropped his gear next to the door and sighed. It had been a long mission. Mostly dull. He’d been sniping HYDRA agents which. while satisfying, wasn’t anything close to being at home. 

“Y/N?” he called, “You home?” When there was no answer, he shrugged. You might be out and about. He wandered through the house, basking in the quiet and the smell. Fresh bread and coffee. A lingering smell of your perfume. Laundry detergent. It was so different from any place he ever lived before but it smelled so good. He dreamed about this smell while he was away. About as often as he dreamed about being between your thighs. 

He stopped in the door of the front room, the weight of the mission dropping from his shoulders as he watched you sleep. You were curled in the Bamboo swivel chair, snuggled into the thick cushion, fast asleep. “Oh, Sweetheart,” he murmured softly. He smiled tenderly and toed off his shoes to pad quietly across the floor. He knelt slowly and leaned down, kissing your nose. His hair tickling your cheeks made you stir.

“Bucky?” you say groggily, smiling up at him, “You’re home.”

“My very own sleeping Beauty,” he teases gently, “I’m a lucky man.” Your cheeks color and you struggle to sit up, “I’m sorry... I meant to make sure there was food for you. Like a pie and stuff... Nat or someone was supposed to text me.”

“It’s okay,” he soothes, kissing you again, “Shhh, you were sleeping real good when I came in, baby. You probably needed it... You look like you still need it.”

He cups your cheek softly and frowns, “You feel okay, Princess? You look a little pale.” 

You nod, “Just kinda... groggy,” you tell him, “The last couple weeks of the semester were stressful.” He brushes his thumb over your cheekbone and smiles, “Then how about if we just order pizza. We’ll eat a little bit and then I’ll run us a bath.” 

“I should be taking care of you,” you murmur, turning your head to kiss his hand, “You just got home.” 

“Bah,” he said, “I’m fine, Princess. Nothing exciting happened. I just got to snipe some Nazis and cover Clint’s ass while he tried to cover Scott’s.” He smiled and tucked the blanket around you sweetly, “It’s good to be home, even without apple pie.” He pets your hair and stand slowly, “I’m gonna go get comfortable,” he said softly, “after that I’ll order us some food okay?” 

You nod wordlessly and stretch, trying to get going. Trying to get up, be a good wife and go help him. But you were asleep again before he could get back downstairs. Not sleeping hard, but drifting. Stuck in a hazy twilight state. Bucky paused at the doorway and frowned. 

You never slept like this, struggling so hard to stay awake. He picked up his phone and ordered pizza. Making sure that he also ordered a nice dessert. Something sweet might make you feel better. At the very least, he would enjoy a sweet thing. Now that he knew he’d almost gotten apple pie. 

He also made you an appointment for a check-up. He knew you’d go if he made you but he also knew you’d never make one yourself. Not if you could avoid it. You had a weird aversion to doctors that seemed to stem from growing up without insurance. You didn’t go unless it was imperative. It could be cute if it wasn’t so frustrating. 

When the pizza got there, he got plates and quietly bustled around laying things on the table trying not to wake you up. He started a movie for you, a comfort film that you could watch without having to think. “Baby,” he hums, shaking you awake tenderly, “rise and shine. There’s food. You hungry?” 

You stir a little and struggle to sit up, rubbing your eyes. He helps you up gently and settles you on the sofa, putting a plate with a slice of pizza on it into your hands. 

He knows you and he knows better than to put more than a little on your plate at a time. You’re a picker. You eat. But it’s usually very slowly. With very few exceptions you just don’t eat much at one time. If you aren’t feeling well, you’ll eat even less.

It doesn’t take long for him to find out that he was right. You take a few bites of pizza and a few bites of a brownie before pushing it away with a soft noise, curling up again, putting your head on his lap. Bucky sighs, “Sweetheart,” he murmured, “We’re taking you to get checked out tomorrow. I don’t like this.”

“I’m fine,” you protest yawning, “I’m just a little run down.”

Bucky pets your hair, “Humor me,” he murmurs, “Please, Princess? It might be some anemia. Or some vitamin being low.” 

You nod, “Fine,” you murmur, “but you have to hold my hand if they draw blood.” The former Assassin chuckled and set his plate aside, finally full. “I can do that,” he murmured, “if it means it’ll get you into the doctor’s office.”

_____________

In the morning you look a little better. A little more alert after a night with Bucky. He’d groused about being a teddy bear. About how he was a grown man and you had a ton of stuffies you could cuddle to death, but you knew it was just bluster. He didn’t mind being your giant teddy bear. A husband shaped body pillow. In fact, he rather enjoyed it. He knew you were safe if you were asleep on his chest. 

But, in the harsh light of the exam room, you were still pale. Pale and moving slow. It was enough to worry him a little. Still, you were up. And dressed. Clean. That was something. 

The nurse took your vitals, quick, efficient hands and cheerful demeanor. Bucky liked her. She told you the doctor would be in to see you soon and let herself out. 

It was still early and didn’t take long for a woman with sharp hazel eyes and grey hair tied into a bun to let herself in. “Did you come in of your own accord or did someone force you, Y/N?” she asked fondly. 

“I was coerced,” you snort, “Bucky’s worried about my... I guess it’s fatigue... I’m fine once I get on my feet and get going but getting going is the tricky part.”

She nods and makes a note on your chart before going to feel along your neck. Bucky clears his throat, “I’m not sure how long she was asleep before I got home yesterday but... She fell asleep for the might around 7:30 and didn’t get up this morning until 8am.” 

The doctor nods and frowns a little, “How long have you had this level of fatigue?” she asks. You shrug, “Really just the last couple weeks... I figured it was just the school year wrapping up, you know?” 

She nods, “That could be it,” she acknowledged. She made a note and glanced at your chart again, “Your birth control prescription's run out, I can write you another while you’re here unless you need something changed.” 

“I haven’t been taking it,” you admit, cheeks coloring. She nods, “In that case, I do want blood work done,” she said, matter of factly, “Just to make sure we cover our bases. How long has it been since your last period?”

You pause for a second, thinking, “I’m not sure... Stress tends to throw them out of whack.” She nods, “Well,” she said noting that in your chart too, “the nurse will be in, in just a second. We’ll run some tests and get back to you.” 

She shakes your hand and then Bucky’s before picking up your chart and stepping into the hall and having a quiet word with a nurse.

Before long, Bucky is letting you hide your face in his neck, murmuring soothing things as you’re getting blood drawn. You’re dizzy and sick feeling, even if you can’t see the blood leaving your body. He kisses your head and helps you sit up straight again when they’ve got what they need and helps you into your jacket. 

“Come on, beautiful,” he says, “Let’s get you out and moving around a little... There’s a little book shop we haven’t visited yet.” 

You nod, “You know how to show a girl a good time, don’t you?” you tease.

He grins, “Just my best girl,” he answers, “Come on, ya nerd. Let’s find you something in a dead language to read.” 

“I never took a girl on a date to look at prototypes of flying cars,” you shoot back, “Pretty sure you’re the nerd.”

He gasps and pretends to be offended as he escorts you out, “Moi?” he says, “You got me all wrong, doll. I’m 100% pure American Beefcake. No nerdery here. I’m too badass.”

You snort, “Sure, baby.” You stand on your toes and kiss his jaw fondly. 

___________

Bucky is happy to ply you with books and treats. Happy to see you really do perk up just a little as the day goes on and you get moving a little. Even if you do still feel “like a sloth running through syrup.” Currently, he’s idly stroking the feet that are resting in his lap and watching Heathers.

He’s gotten tired of not understanding the pop culture references that fly between you and Natasha. It’s a decent movie. He likes it well enough. But it doesn’t quite distract him from the worry that’s burrowed in the back of his mind.

 What if you’re sick? Really sick. He doesn’t think he could handle having you snatched away. In his head, he saw terrible things. Watched you snatched out of his arms a thousand different ways. It hurt. You’ve dozed off again, cozy on the couch, book against your chest. 

In a way, that’s comforting. The doctor wasn’t worried. You were probably fine. It was probably just vitamins or hormones. He tucked you in and kissed your head tenderly. He took a deep breath to quell the anxiety and sighed. If you were sick he’d take care of you. You’d get the best medical care and it would all be fine, he decided. 

When your phone rang, he glanced down at it. It was the Doctors office. He didn’t want to wake you up but he wanted to know. 

He picked up the phone and answered it, “Hello?”

“Hi,” the cheerful nurse from early replied as Bucky walked into the kitchen so he could talk and let you sleep, “Is Mrs. Barnes available?”

“Oh, uh. This is her husband,” he said. “I see,” she said. He heard keys tapping and folded his arm across his chest, waiting. “Oh!” she said cheerfully, “She does have a release on file for you... Well just let her know, her vitamin D levels are a little low so we’ve got a prescription for her at the pharmacy. Also, Congratulations!” she said hitting keys, “It looks like Y/N’s pregnant.”

Bucky almost dropped the phone, “I- thank you,” he stammered, “I’ll let her know.” The nurse laughed gently, “As soon as you can think, make sure you tell her to get in touch with us. We’ll get her set up for appointments... I thought you knew already or I would have lead with that.”

Bucky thanked her, feeling a little light-headed as he put the phone down. He gripped the counter and fought the urge to laugh. 

“Was that the Doctor’s office?” your soft voice behind him makes him turn and he melts. You’re wrapped up in your blanket and rubbing your eyes, trying to get you’re bearings. “Yeah,” he said grinning.

“Am I dying?” you tease. 

He feels tears well up and he pulls you against him gently, kissing the top of your head, “No,” he laughed. He took a deep breath and tilted your chin up, “You’re having a baby,” he said a little breathless. 

Your arms around his neck and your lips against his are the only answer he needs. You’re both crying as he lifts you up to set you on the counter, cradling your face in his hands. “You’re so fucking beautiful,” he said. “Jesus Christ, Princess, I was so scared.”

He hugs you to him, chuckling as you wrap your legs around his waist. “I love you,” you tell him, “I’m not going anywhere.”

He kisses you slowly and smiles, “Promise?”

You nod and brush hair out of his eyes, “I promise,” you tell him, wiping tears off his cheeks. 

He scoops you up gently and carries you up the stairs, “Where are we going?” you ask. 

“Upstairs,” he answers, “If I don’t get to kiss every inch of you, now, I’m gonna lose it.” You giggle even as you blush and smudge a kiss against his cheek. “If you ask nicely,” he teased, “I might even run you a bath.” 

“Only if you join me,” you tell him, pouting. 

He laughed and laid you on the bed, pulling off his t-shirt before sprawling out next to you, “Anything you want, sweetheart.”

You card your fingers through his hair as he nuzzled into your belly and smudged soft hungry kisses against the skin he’s exposing. You lounge against the pillows and sigh, “Does this mean if I ask you’ll let me have a puppy?”

He pinches your hip making you giggle and smiles, “God, you’re such a brat... but if I say yes, do I get to name it?”

“They baby or the dog?” you snort.

“Either. Yes?” he answered.

“You can pick names for the dog but I reserve the right to veto them if I hate it,” he said. 

“That’s fair,” Bucky said, easing your leggings over your hips, “I’ve met me.”

Tags: @lancsnerd​ @stevieang​ @golddaggers​ @blameitonthecauseway @qxeen-of-hearts​ @process-pending​ @xmarveled​ @beautybyfire, @etherealwaifgoddess, @mschellehitt, @mistressoftorture @thorfanficwriter, @ctinadiva, @innerpaperexpertcloud @amalthea9  @cdwmtjb8 @notyourtypicalrose

[rivkahstudies]

do you have any advice for a high school senior who wants to make the most of their last year of high school? asking for a friend :)

hi darling! I think the things I remember most from my senior year (though it was only two years ago that it started) can be summarized in, “crazy busy, crazy stressful, but at times, crazy fun.” Here’s to making the most of it, and maintaining health while you do so!

This is going to be combination masterpost and advice post, because I’ve accumulated a lot on this subject and I have a loooot to say. 

Also this is heavily based off of the assumption you’re pursuing higher education, but some of these things still apply/can be tweaked.

table of contents:

i. academics

ii. social life

iii. personal health

i. 𝓪𝓬𝓪𝓭𝓮𝓶𝓲𝓬𝓼

a. grades

They’re important for your future if your plan is to go to college or academy, but they’re not the whole world. (see social life and personal health)

I’m not a big fan of the “3-to-1 rule” or other such things that tell you “study for this amount of time no matter what” because it’s important for you to understand what comes naturally to you and what you need further clarification on. Some classes are going to take up less of your time than others.

The best you can do on a given day isn’t necessarily 100%. Sometimes your best that day is 90%, 80%, 60%. “try your best” isn’t “your best ever” so don’t push yourself for 100s every time for the expense of categories ii and iii.

A lot of people (at least in places like where I went to high school) who are hung up on the stress of competition and the need to be The Best™ are going to ask you for grades. It’s going to be everywhere. Assignment grades, test grades, SATs, ACTs, (if you’re not in the US, the equivalents of your state, regional, or national standardized tests), entrance exams, et cetera, et cetera. I know it’s tempting to fall into the anxiety of whether you measure up, but here’s a quick tip: even if you think you did well/above average, you can keep it private. It infuriated my classmates when I wouldn’t share, because I was comfortable with how I competed with myself and didn’t care what my peers thought of my scores. 

When you’re someone as dedicated to studying as I am, you might get a lot of “oh, you got that grade because you’re you” (the underlying implication being that it’s natural or the work is easy for you, which was not the case for me) or “ha! I got higher than (name)! I measure up!” This is a lot of their own biases and insecurity talking and the best way not to be affected is not to buy into it. Again, this is based on my own experience.

 I really cannot emphasize extra credit enough because some of my teachers threw it around like candy and some of them barely drizzled a little in at intervals, but either way it really saved me when it came to rounding my grades up.

It never hurts to have a grade tracker if you’re concerned, you don’t get graded by total points accumulation/have a weighted system, and/or don’t have an easy way to access your grades online throughout the year.

find your study strategy/ies for each class and stick to it/them. It won’t necessarily be the same. I’m a primarily visual learner, and it really, really helps for most things, but I still need rote memorization for subjects with a lot of vocabulary, like medicine or languages.

further resources

studying without notes by @fuckstudy . 

prioritizing that crazy to do list (the abcde method) by @eintsein

a comphrensive guide to anki (flashcards online) by @studyingstudent

a stash of tiny study tips by @acalmstudiousfirecracker

and much much more on my #studyref tag.

b. extracurriculars

These I think matter (though I’m biased) more than grades, because they’re what shape you and your experience. Most of the students at my university had grades like mine, but it’s the places I frequented and the people to whom I devoted my time that formed my sense of self. I have so many skills, anecdotes, and ideas that I’ve gained from my extracurricular work.

If you have any you’ve stuck with since early in high school and you still like, keep ‘em. Quality over quantity. Show jobs or universities you can be dedicated and disciplined, and have stamina to see projects to the end. (I was in 7 and held leadership positions in 4 and it was probably part of the reason why I spent all of senior year on three hours sleep… besides my IB classes of course.)

If you’re not pursuing college immediately or at all (or even if you are), participate in ones that pull you out of your comfort zone and teach you something new.

ii. 𝓼𝓸𝓬𝓲𝓪𝓵 𝓵𝓲𝓯𝓮

Treat this category as you would anything else in your schedule–requiring time and being a significant priority. Not always at the very top, but still demanding its own attention.

See friends outside of school, for however long or short a period, at least once every week to two weeks. This can include extracurricular time if you’re pressed.

Schedule time with your family (especially if their lives are also cluttered and hectic) do something dynamic, and also something separate that’s relaxing. One week your family time might be reading in the same room and having gentle conversation or a family dinner; the next might be going out to the movies or taking a hike together. It can be easy to feel taken for granted or to take family for granted.

By the way, this includes “chosen” family if you’re not on great terms with some/all of them. I have experience with this too.

Get. Out. Of. The. House. This plays into “personal health” too! You need a change in rhythm/routine and exposure to the outside. Especially in your winter season. 

I’m one of those people who has to have things scheduled way in advance, so family/curfew/etc permitting, do something a little bit spontaneous, say with only a few hours or a couple days notice. It will make you feel more alive if you’re in a stressful slump.

Communication is really important, especially if you’re stressed. Don’t be afraid to tell people “I am sensitive/hyperreactive to X because Y is putting me on edge right now” or “this triggers X insecurity because I’m anxious about Y.” This goes doubly if you’re struggling with mental illness. Talk to someone you trust. (See “personal health.”)

Don’t give in to peer pressure if you’re spent the time you need with friends and have to excuse yourself for other responsibilities. Balance!

No is equally as important to respected as Yes, no matter what the case.

Respect boundaries but invite people to challenge their comfort zone at their space.

Don’t be broken up if a romantic relationship doesn’t last. It’s senior year. Everything’s changing. Let it.

Also, please don’t be like me and let your summer/your school year be eaten up with relationship drama. I thankfully ended a difficult relationship early (late September) so it wasn’t a huge issue, but I watched people close to me struggle with while also battling the stress of the year.

iii. 𝓹𝓮𝓻𝓼𝓸𝓷𝓪𝓵 𝓱𝓮𝓪𝓵𝓽𝓱

mentally

If you’re struggling with mental illness, be aware of your own limits and pace yourself.

Sometimes we feel dull because we need to break routine/stimulate ourselves in a new way. You should have a structure/routine, but it should be flexible enough for you to adapt to changes and listen to what your mind and body are telling you.

The path to self-love must first begin with self-acceptance. If you struggle with self-image or self-esteem issues, you can’t build positivity off a foundation of negativity. You must first level it to neutrality.

Perform check-ups with yourself. This may be in the form of meditation, a diary, therapy, etc. None of these things are a “last resort” but rather a healthy part of building good mental habits.

physically

Exercise! You don’t have to be a star athlete to bring about the benefits. Even a 15 minute jog, 30 minute walk/hike, or 10 minutes of stretching can give you benefits.

On that note! Take! Frequent! Breaks! And please, please google stretches for certain body parts like hands if you do repetitive motion like drawing or writing for a long period of time! You don’t want to push yourself!

Listen to your body and don’t ignore pain, hunger, nausea, fatigue, etc. Respond patiently and with what’s appropriate.

Don’t forget about diet. It’s easy when you’re busy to reach for the quick and nutritionally poor snacks/meals, but it’s really important to set aside time to cook/meal plan or even just throw together a quick snack tray of fruits/crackers/cheeses/etc. It doesn’t have to be instragrammable but you should have a balanced diet that factors in your specific needs, if you have any restrictions, etc.

Change yo pillow case frequently kids, it does wonders for acne.

I cannot stress enough! To! Stay! Hydrated! My goal is eventually eight glasses a day but my minimum is 4-5. I try to have one every meal, especially in college.

Bedtime is important! But more than that, wake up time is important. If you’re trying to adjust your schedule and can only keep one consistent, choose the time you wake up. Eventually your body will naturally become fatigued for the bedtime to match it. It’s how I turned my sleep schedule from 12:00 AM to 8:00 into 9:30 PM to 5:30 AM over the course of one winter break! 

If you’re a morning person, you’re a morning person. If you’re a night owl, you’re a night owl. There’s research now to prove that forcing yourself into a rhythm too extreme for your tendencies can make you feel awful either way.

At the end of the day, you’ve got one goal and one goal only: to look back on this year and be proud of what you’ve achieved and how you’ve grown. You shape your future and choose what matters most in your life!

If there’s anything else you think I’ve missed or you’d like me to cover more in depth/link more posts to, please ask me! I’d be happy to clarify/continue this series! I want to make sure you’re completely satisfied.

[assless-chapstick]

Who pulls the all nighters in the couch AU? Who has the perfect sleep schedule? Who slams down a coffee made with red bull instead of water and says they've been awake for 3 days?

Oooh feller, we was just talking about this on the server, and I am PRE PARED, let me tell you!!

I have a sleep disorder, so I think about sleep A LOT, and this is the shit I am ABOUT. MAXIMUM CATHARSIS BABY!! Anyway…

Arthur is definitely one of those bastards that can fall asleep anywhere. Sitting down, standing up, crowded bus, IMAX movie theatre, it doesn’t matter – Arthur wants to sleep and he simply wills it into existence. He doesn’t need to keep to a strict sleep schedule, really, because he can just… sleep whenever he wants, really. He needs like a minimum 6 hours to be a happy camper the next day, but usually gets 8. He’s an early bird, and is usually awake before the rest of the boys – 6 am, every day. He treasures the dawn hours, cuz that’s his like, alone time, when he thinks and writes and makes coffee so that the others can have it right when they wake up.

On weekends when he doesn’t work, he wakes up at 6, spends 30 minutes on twitter, gets up to make coffee, and returns to bed around 7 to cuddle with Charles and sleep some more until 9.

This all drives John absolutely insane, of course. John is the all-nighter boy, the one who stays up until 6am, sleeps for 45 minutes, then goes to class. It’s not that he just doesn’t sleep, or drinks too much caffeine – he definitely drinks too much caffeine, but that’s the symptom, not the cause.

John hasn’t slept the whole night through any time in recent memory. He has trouble falling asleep and staying asleep, and even if he didn’t, he wouldn’t enjoy sleep. The nightmares he has are so intense and so frequent and terrifying that he has a really hard time convincing himself to go to bed at night, and the anxiety of dreams keeps him up.

I think he used to take medication to help him sleep, a couple years ago, but that only made the nightmares worse, more vivid and real and he would wake up feeling out of breath, choked and strangled and scared and that just made the panic worse. That was a really dark time for him, too, before they got his medication all sorted out; he’s much better now, bur the medication doesn’t really help with the dreams.

That’s why he spends so much time in Arthur’s bed, right? The sound of Arthur's (and nowadays, Charles’s) slow, soft breathing, how he can tuck his perpetually chilly hands into Arthur’s armpits to keep them warm, the way he can feel Charles’s heartbeat against his back as he lies awake (Charles is a clingy cuddler, will grab whatever is closest and not let go til dawn); all of it helps John feel at ease, helps relax him enough he can get to sleep, and when the nightmares wake him up, the same presence of another person beside him and their steady breathing help him calm down.

His favourite sleep is that deep, dreamless sleep where you sink into darkness for a couple hours and wake up feeling a little less tired than when you went down. Problem is, dream-sleep is the restful sleep, right, so he doesn’t get a lot of rest. That’s why he’s always pounding energy drinks and chasing them with black coffee, that’s why he’s taking naps at like 7pm in front of the tv (if he fills his dreams with TV noise, it keeps the bad shit at bay), and that’s probably why he can be a bit of a bitch a lot of the time. He’s just fucking tired all the time.

(I think once, after a particularly bad night, around exam time, he’d just crawled into Javi’s lap and had a long, frustrated cry about it, really let it all out as Javi held him and rubbed his back and made soothing noises as John just says like, “Im so tired, Javi, I’m just so fucking tired.”)

I think that’s a cause of friction in John and Javi’s relationship, too. For a long time, John wouldn’t really let Javi sleep over. He wouldn’t say no or tell Javi what was up, he kind of just always had an excuse for Javi to not stay the night, and it made Javi feel kind of like John didn’t want him around. Eventually, though, John had to admit that like, yeah he wants Javi to stay over but he doesn’t want Javi to see that side of him, know just how fucked up he is…

They’re past that now, though, and Javi is really good about it. He’s a pretty average sleeper, but he definitely doesn’t have a problem falling or staying sleep. He has a pretty solid before bed routine, though, I think; changes into his pajamas (t-shirt n pj pants), brushes his teeth (electric toothbrush), lies down in bed and reads or listens to a podcast for a half an hour while sipping on a glass of warm water (something he would do with his mom as a kid).

Charles on the other hand… Charles could use a good dose of Sleep Hygiene, starting with any semblance of a bedtime routine. There are nights where he falls asleep at his desk while studying and wakes up with a sore neck when the alarm on his phone goes off, or he’ll take one of his textbooks to bed to read and end up dropping it on his face or something. He pushes himself really hard, and sometimes that means he doesn’t get the sleep he needs.

He also has a lot of anxiety, I think, and that can tend to keep him awake at times. When it’s quiet and dark and his mind has time to wander, that’s when all the worry starts to set in and he finds it really hard to sleep when that happens. He used to get out of bed and go do something, like stress-clean or drive to McDonald’s or something but now that he spends so much time in Arthur’s bed, he doesn’t do that; it’s kind of hard to get out of bed to go on a YouTube binge when you’ve got 180lbs of sleepy man meat drapped over you, drooling like a dog, and John has just managed to fall asleep and if you wake him, he will not get back to sleep for another hour or two. So in a way, that’s helpful, cuz Charles can kind of focus on like, counting Arthur’s breaths or running his hands through John’s hair (braiding it so John wakes up with waves that make him look a little like a stretched-out Shirley Temple) and that helps ease his mind.

I think that’s about it, feller!! Thanks for giving me the opportunity to blatantly project my issues onto these good good boys, mister!

[late-nite-student-ramblings]

Reflection of my first year-  Highschool vs University.

So you’ve probably heard it from all of your teachers in high school, I know I did. 

“They’re not going to be this ___ in college” the blank usually being something along the lines of “on your ass/ lenient/ understanding/tolerant/etc”. So I’m here to approve/disprove some common ideas passed on and maybe ease your mind. Or make you more worried, however you want to see it. 

Keep in mind these are from a public university student’s POV so I can’t speak for everyone.  

1) “It’s going to be tougher in college” 

Well yes and no. That’s how schooling works, every year you move up the material gets harder so that you can advance in your knowledge. It’d be kind of useless if we just kept learning the same level of material year after year. However, I think what they meant to say was that it got exponentially harder in college and I don’t think this is the case, especially not for the first year. 

2) “These people earned their degrees so they’re going to demand respect and you’ll have to call them Dr./Mrs./Mr/ whatever” 

Not true, some of my best professors went by their first name. One actually would forget to respond if you called him “professor” because he always went by his first name. Being on a first-name basis is usually something the professor covers in the first class so if they tell you which to call them great! Call them that. If they don’t, maybe ask or stick with “professor” until it’s made clear. 

3) “No one’s going to hold your hand/No one’s going to remind you./They’ll just refer you to the syllabus”

Wrong, at least for the first year. The syllabus is a thing that most professors use and it would do you well to print them out and look at it from time to time so you aren’t completely lost. That being said, all of my professors did help us out in some way, some more than others. My maths profs would send out emails telling us the hw every week and, a week before finals, sent out emails every other day reminding us about the final’s time/location, English prof would remind us a week in advance and have in-class workshops before papers were due. Our criminal justice AI (Assistant Instructor) wrote up and gave us the rubric she’d be using to grade our book reviews. 

When teaching lower-level classes, professors know they’re going to be teaching mostly first-years and understand it does no good to just throw you in the fire. 

4) “You’ll have to learn to be responsible”

100%. This is very vague but it is true, not only in academics but in your personal life too. Time management is the biggest factor. College is a lot less condensed than high-school meaning more free time. Even when I took 17.5 credit hours I still had plenty of time on my hands. The challenge is how to handle that time. It’s going to be so tempting to go to forget about the assignments because it’s not due every day or the paper is due next month. Use your first year to learn about your study habits and what works best for you to learn the material. And I don’t recommend doing all your hw the day before, even if you can. While it is important to get your work done it’s also important that you aren’t falling apart at the seams from stress. Be responsible for yourself. 

5) “They won’t stand tardiness, the doors will be locked and sucks to suck”

Depends on the professor but usually not. I’ve seen people walk out of class 20 min early, I’ve been 10 min late for class a couple of times. Went to office hours got notes I missed. Most profs don’t mind as long as you aren’t disrupting the class. I’ve even seen a kid run into an exam 30 min late, poor kid overslept. I have had the occasional stickler for being on time but after a while its shown not to be worth policing students like that.

Don’t make a habit of it though. They get it, life happens, people oversleep, busses are late, and what have you. But understand that there are some things that punctuality is vital, meetings with a professor,  exams (unless you think you can do the exam in half the time, you’re paying for it), interviews, labs (you usually need all the time you can get with those).

Edit: 6) “Don’t take an 8am you’ll hate yourself”

I’ve heard this more from advice online but I’m still going to put it here anyway. 8ams aren’t that bad. When you wake up in hs for an 8am you’re also waking up to do nothing but sit and listen for the next 8 hours nonstop. This is extremely different than waking up for an hour maybe two hours worth of sitting in a lecture at a time and more later. I had somewhere to be by 8am every day of the week and it's honestly something you get used to. Any starting class time is early if your sleep schedule’s fucked. My advice? Adjust and regulate your sleep schedule. Find out how much sleep you need to be a useful, productive,  decent human being and count backward.

7) “All the classes are so big/the professors won’t know you”

True but it depends. I’ve had both large (150+) and small classes (20 ish) and it is entirely possible the professor will not know you in either situation. 

With professors knowing you, that is usually up to you. I ask a lot of questions both in and out of class. I can guarantee that if you go to office hours consistently they will eventually learn your face. I ended up going to almost every one of my calc 1 profs office hours (meaning I saw him around an hour a day 4 days a week). Emailed him a thank you at the end of the semester and he actually referenced back to a small conversation we had towards the beginning of the year. So if you want the prof to notice you, ask every question you have, even if its a clarification question. if you have too many write them down and go to office hours. 

Feel free to add your own experience or ask about a rumor you’ve heard! Happy to clarify anything in the post or just have a chat.

All the best,

-E

[agentmothman18]

Rapr

Being a science geek, Purple tended to do research on nights he couldn't sleep. Sometimes he would research things about space or what could possibly be at the bottom of the ocean. But tonight he decided to do human research and weird facts people dont know about.

One of those were about the pupils and how they dilate when looking upon someone you love. He found himself laughing at the thought, but he was curious to know if it was true. It would make finding someone to love you easier than it was.

Purple jotted down some notes and some reminders on a sticky note. He stuck it to his science notebook pulled off his red glasses. It was 1 am and Purple still had school tomorrow, which he wasnt looking forward to. They where having exams this week and tomorrow, or today rather, was history. His least favorite subject.

Turning his computer off, Purple got up and stretched his muscles. Being hunched over for so long really does a number on your body. Purple climbed into bed, fluffing his pillow before snuggling into his covers and closing his eyes.

One thing about Purple though, was that he tended to have restless nights. Nightmares kept him from ever getting good sleep. They were nightmares from his past, things that haunted him even to this day. Since he was an orphan, Purple's had plenty of foster parents. Most weren't to good to him. Until he was adopted by a woman and her wife. Gaz and Tak.

Gaz was the more scarier of the two, making sure Purple knew his manners and everything. While Tak was laid back, letting him do as he pleased. But Tak would discipline him if necessary. Purple was glad they adopted him, because they were the best people he could have ever wished for as parents. Plus, he got to make a lot of friends where they live. Like Zim and Red.

Purple woke to his alarm at 5:30 that morning. He always got up early to make sure he had everything and to get ready. Purple liked to look fashionable so that took up most his morning time. And sometimes he would were makeup, but those where only on days where he felt good about himself. Today wasnt one of those days, he was way to stressed about his history test to care about makeup.

"Momma G!" Purple quietly called, knocking on the already open door. Tak and Gaz usually left their door open because Purple would sometimes sneak into bed with them. Those where on nights when his nightmares got really bad. And when the doors where closed, Purple knew not to bother them. "You have work in an hour." He added, gently shaking Gaz to wake her up. Purple smiled when Tak groaned and wrapped herself around Gaz.

"I'll get her up in a few minutes, Pur." Tak hummed, her eyes still closed as she buried her face in Gaz's neck. Purple always thought they made the cutest couple, and he wished he could find someone like them.

"I'll make breakfast." Purple told Tak quietly, quickly leaving to work on that. So he cooked breakfast, pancakes for Gaz and eggs for Tak. He made himself some French toast, which was probably his favorite breakfast food.

Around 6:20 Gaz came down, fully dressed for work, and ate her food. She kissed Purples cheek, telling him to make sure Tak doesnt fall back asleep before he leaves, and left. Purple cleaned his dish and Gaz's, walking back upstairs to check and see if Tak was up and moving. She had a bad habit of going back to sleep when Gaz leaves.

7:30 rolled around and Purple had gotten all his stuff together. Normally he would pack his lunch but he kinda stopped after Red started bring him something instead. It was usually a surprise, but it always tended to be something he really likes.

"Pur!" Tak called from the front door, coffee in hand. Purple never understood how she could drink it black. It was way to bitter and nasty without creamer and a pinch of sugar. "Red's here to pick you up!" Purple quickly made his way downstairs, pulling on his favorite converses.

"Dont go back to bed momma T." Purple laughed, kissing her cheek and making his way to Red's car. It was a black Kia, simple but very nice. And the best part about it was the insides smell. Which was always roses and rainwater, something Purple suggested 2 years ago when Red got the car.

And thus, the rest of the day was pretty normal. Purple of course was studying his head off for the History exam he had after lunch. He practically knew everything that he needed to know, but that didnt stop him from worrying. Of course, Zim was the one to notice this at lunch time.

"Stop biting your lip!" Zim demanded, causing both Purple and Red to jump in their seats. Zim was very short compared to the two other boys. But he was the loudest. "No one will want to kiss you if you make them ugly." And he was very harsh too. Though Zim was a good, loyal friend to them. He means well, even if he comes off as an asshole sometimes.

"Sorry." Purple smiled in a guilty way, letting his bottom lip go. He honestly hadn't even noticed he was doing that. It was just a habit he did when he was stressed. So, to calm himself a bit, he tired to forget about it. Taking a bite of the salad Red had brought him.

That's when he remembered the note on his science book. Glancing around, he wondered who could be in love and with who. There where plenty of couples, but it would be weird to stare at them. He wondered if Red's eyes dilated when he was looking at his girlfriend, Jess.

So he tried to subtly watch the couple, who he actually didnt like being a couple. Jess was pretty new, only been here for two months, and Purple was already jealous of her. She stole all of Red's attention and tries her best to rub it in his face. Becuase at this point, it was kinda obvious Purple had a big crush on his best friend Red.

He watched as they talked and smiled, doing normal couple things. But as he watched, he noticed how Red would glance at him more than he thought he would. Their eyes met a couple times as well, both smiling a bit at each other. But Purple found himself not knowing whether to smile like an idiot or be surprised. Because every time Red looked at him, his small pupils grew bigger. Like they would after getting those eyedrops from the eye doctor.

"Red." Purple said, grabbing the boys attention away from the girl next to him. He watched as the boys pupils dilated once again, and the questioning look appear on his face. "Look at Jess then back at me real quick." He smiled, trying not to giggle at how confused Red looked. But even though Red was confused, he did as told, not knowing what this was about.

Purple felt butterflies erupt in his stomach at the possibility that Red may love him. But he also had to question if it was romantic love or friendship love. But he didnt care, because he was going to tell him. Via sticky note.

Quickly jotting down his little confession and why he asked for Red to do that, he got up. Folding the sticky note, Purple handed it to Red and quickly headed for History. The bell hadn't rung but he knew the teacher would let him in to study in peace.

By 7th period, Purple was regretting giving Red the sticky note. Because Red was his ride home and he may have ruined that. Because what if Red really doesnt like him like that and he confessed for nothing? That would completely embarrass him.

"Dont forget to read chapters 6 through 10." Mr. Dib called once the bell rang and his students jumped to leave. The only one not jumping to leave was Zim, who was probably going to harass the poor man again. Zim, in lack of better words, was a hoe. Of course, he wasnt, but sometimes Purple had to wonder. Because once that boy finds someone attractive, he tended to not leave them alone until he was satisfied.

"Zim staying back with Mr. Membrane?" Red questioned, falling into step beside Purple. Purple nodded, trying not to let his mind think of the sticky note.

"Yeah. I feel bad for Mr. Membrane. He never gets a break from Zim." Red laughed in agreement, knowing it was true. "I mean, sure he's pretty hot but Zim could get him fired." Purple groaned. He would hate to lose his science teacher, especially since Dib made the class fun. There was always a new story to tell or some cool group project they got to do.

"I'm sure that wont happen. The man should know not to succumb to a needy teen like Zim." It was Purple's turn to laugh then.

And things stayed normal for the ride home. Both just talking about the usual things and even some random stuff that pops to mind. It wasnt until they got close to Purple's home that the conversation turned to the sticky note confession.

"So my eyes really dilate when I look at you?" Red questioned, glancing towards Purple before looking back at the road. He didnt really believe that but he wasn't going to deny he liked Purple. Ever since Purple moved to their town 5 years ago, he's liked him. It's why he always does things to accommodate him. Like bring him lunch, stay up late when hes ranting about something, and even the air freshener in his car. They where all simple things, but they mean more than just simple friendly gestures.

Purple began to pick at his jacket sleeves, trying to think of what to say. He could say yes but that didnt feel like a good enough answer to him. Plus, maybe he was just imagining it all. "It could have just been a different lighting. But yeah." He said, nodding and staring at his lap. Purple could feel his cheeks heating up and his stomach do flips. He was nervous that Red would tell him he didnt feel the same as he did. Which, he wouldn't really blame him.

"I guess it would make sense then," Red began, turning down Purples' street. "Because I do love you." He admitted, glancing at Purple who quickly looked at him.

"You do?" Purple asked hopefully.

"Why else would I do the things I do for you?" Red laughed, pulling into Purples' driveway. He put it in park and looked at Purple.

Purple smiled, looking back at his lap. He always just thought Red was being nice.

"So, how about a date this Friday?" Red questioned, watching Purple smile like an idiot. Purple quickly nodded his head, unbuckling his seatbelt and hopping out.

"I cant wait." Purple said, closing Red's door and practically running to his house to tell Tak about this.

[salaciouscrumpet]

Last night my partner and I held our 17-year-old kitty for the last time.

We adopted our cat -- Spike, named for the character from Buffy: The Vampire Slayer -- from the local Humane Society. We had been living with another couple at the time and for various reasons there had been about 7 cats at various times in their place (two cats belonged to friends who had broken up and needed to sort out custody, three belonged to another friend whose father-in-law had decided the apartment he rented to her and his son needed to be animal-free, two actually belonged to the couple we were living with), and when we decided we were ready to find our own place together we wanted to have a cat of our own. The Humane Society named him Martini; he was about four months old, and -- unbeknownst to us -- had already been returned to the shelter a few times for being “too hyper.” (He was a kitten! Of course he was hyper!) When we saw him and walked closer to his cage he reached his little paws through the bar and wrapped them around my arm, and at that point we knew he was coming home with us.

Spike was hyper. Oh my god, was he ever hyper! He was also incredibly, incredibly stupid, but with a sort of low cunning that enabled him to get in the most ridiculous of situations. At one point he was shut up in the finished basement to keep him out of the way and he managed to get into the rafters and then fall into the wall, behind some paneling, and before I resorted to smashing the panels to free him he burst out, so covered in dust and grime that his orange and white fur was practically black. He had his first and only bath then: him and me, in a walk-in shower, and he was not thrilled. (I did not get clawed to hell, but it was a close call.)

He was an idiot, but he was so damn affectionate and lovable. You could pick him up and carry him around on your shoulders, you could snuggle him, carry him like a baby -- he loved all of it and always came back for more. He watched over me when I had a migraine, following me from the bedroom to the bathroom and back again. He was utterly unafraid of anything and anyone.

Four years ago Spike tore through a screen in the window of our first-floor apartment, chasing after a neighbourhood cat that had been harassing him. Spike -- an indoor-only cat -- was missing for two days. He’d never been outside in his life and we lived on a very busy street, so I feared the worst. When we found him, he was hiding under the porch of the house right next to ours; we sat on the grass, trying to lure him out, and the neighbour (bless him) encouraged us to rip out patio stones if it would help get Spike out. We ended up drawing him out with some tuna, and then the next day he and his two brothers had an impromptu vet visit. (He was fine, they all were.)

Two years ago our other cat and Spike took ill at the same time, and Spike’s illness -- which involved not eating and becoming incredibly lethargic -- seemed the more serious of the two, so with limited funds we focused on him. The vet couldn’t find anything wrong; his bloodwork was exceptionally good for a 15-year-old cat and we weren’t willing to have him operated on or other invasive testing done, given his age and how much vet visits distressed him. He was prescribed pain medication, which he hated but he was too weak to fight us on. Our other cat, unfortunately, passed away (very suddenly), and Spike seemed to worsen. I was certain we would lose him, that he wouldn’t make it more than a month after his brother’s death. Then, suddenly, he just started eating again and recovered. He was weaker after that and very, very skinny, down to about six pounds after being closer to twelve his whole life.

For the past two years Spike’s eating was a challenge. He grew finicky, and then he was constantly begging for food (as a note, the only “human” food we let him have was shredded cheese, some cooked chicken, some tuna, and I would occasionally let him lick my spoon or the cup after I’d had some yogurt; his diet was entirely dry and wet cat food). Given his age and poor health we generally let him eat whatever cat food he was currently interested in, whether it was the top of the line stuff from the vet’s office or the crappy “junk food” you get from WalMart. So long as he was eating, we were happy. He continued to lose weight, but remained his affectionate, cheerful, exuberant self.

This past week I noticed him favouring his hind legs. We knew he was due for a checkup, but were waiting on my partner’s vacation pay to come in so we could afford the vet visit. (This is not a complaint about expensive vet care. We were willing to pay it, and veterinary work is hard work.) It seemed rather as though Spike’s legs were weakened, or like he’d fallen asleep in a weird position and was having a hard time getting his hind legs to wake up again. He still managed to climb up on the furniture, including the kitchen table and our bed, but there were a few accidents when he struggled to get to the litter box. He had a ridiculously long tail and kept dragging it through the used litter, making a mess of himself and the apartment. I had to clean litter and poo off his feet a few times, which he did not care for. He slept a lot, but was still cuddly and playful.

Last night my partner was out with friends and I was at home watching an episode of Lucifer. Spike was on my lap, and when he get up and jumped down to the floor he stumbled, then staggered his way into the kitchen. I followed him, concerned, and saw him go to the cat fountain. He sat down and leaned forward to take a drink, and instead ... just peed everywhere. He then lay down beside the fountain, something he had never done before.

I cleaned up the mess and called my partner, telling him he needed to come home right away. I knew, then, that this was it, this was the end. I broke down for a bit; my partner is more sentimental and emotional than I am, and I knew I needed to be calm and composed to help get him (get all of us) through this. I let myself collapse, and then I called the emergency vet clinic (it was 6:30 PM at this point, our regular vet office had closed) and arranged to bring Spike in. The emergency clinic was in another city, but close by, about a fifteen minute drive. It took us closer to forty, because between construction and my partner’s distracted, distressed state (I don’t drive) we kept missing our turns or running into streets that were closed off, even with Google maps providing directions. (Realistically he shouldn’t have been driving, I’m amazed at the fact that we didn’t get into an accident on our way there.)

Everyone at the emergency clinic was amazing. I cannot even imagine doing their jobs, much less to work at an emergency clinic where the vast majority of their customers and patients were worst-case scenarios. The receptionist let us hold Spike in our laps in the waiting room and bought us glasses of water and tissues. The vet tech brought us blankets and a soft bed for Spike to sleep on in the exam room. In the time it took for us to go from the waiting room to the exam room Spike’s condition deteriorated, rapidly, until he was only barely conscious and unable to be roused. The vet talked us through our options (of which, realistically, there was only one and she was very, very gentle about that fact, which I appreciate).

We held Spike for the last time. We petted him, stroked his enormous ears, held onto his ridiculously long tail, tickled his little toe beans, and told him how much we loved him. The vet warned us that once she started, things would happen fast, and she was right: she gave Spike an anaesthetic, then the euthanasia dosage, and within seconds he was gone. It was peaceful and he knew we were there, with him, and that we loved him.

We had Spike for 17 years, and 4 of those years were an unexpected blessing where we nearly lost him twice. He was an idiot and a pain in the ass, but he was also sweet, affectionate, playful and he loved everyone. I’m going to miss that little idiot so very much, but I am so glad he chose us that day at the Humane Society. We couldn’t have asked for a better kitty.

[romanticheartbreakprince]

Song of the dayyyyyyyy?

‘Polaroid’ - Jonas Blue ft. Liam Payne and Lennon Stella

This song is on the new show at work, and it really inspired me to write a little fic. So here’s the start of that. I hope you enjoy!

——————————-

Hoping I’d See Your Face Again 

Prologue (2722 words)

-

There were very few things that had the ability to make TJ feel something. However, when those things came along, they meant a lot to him. And he made sure he would take the time to appreciate them.

A cool breeze on a warm summer day: TJ woke up this morning to the sun shining through his blinds. Normally it would take him another half an hour to fully wake up and even make an effort to leave the comfort of his bed, which is why he always set his alarm for 6:30 instead of 7. The extra time allowed him to still get up on time without being late. Plus, he never went to bed late enough to have to worry about being too tired.

However today was different. Today he had his final two classes of the semester and he couldn’t be more excited. So on a day like today, he hopped right out of bed and rushed into the shower. After getting ready, and having enough of a breakfast that would make his mom proud, had he still lived with her, he made his way to his car.

As he slid into the driver’s seat, his stomach dropped suddenly. Something didn’t feel right, he felt… sad? Lost? He couldn’t quite explain it, but he felt like he was missing something. He quickly double checked all of his belongings and confirmed that everything was there. He brushed it off and left for school.

He spent the fifteen minute drive happily dancing and singing along to his ‘Summer Jams’ playlist in anticipation for the upcoming break that would be starting after his last final at 12:00. Needless to say he was happy that he took morning classes, because the thought of having his summer break starting sometime after the sun had already gone down really made his stomach churn. He brushed that feeling off, because it was not the time for thoughts like that. He just had to make it through these next few hours and he would be free for the next few months.

He pulled into the near empty lot, that had only held a few other cars, belonging to those who had also been ambitious enough to take a class at 7:45 in the morning. He found a spot closer to the door and quickly claimed it. Normally all the spots by the door were already taken by the time he got there, usually by the faculty members who didn’t care about giving the students the parking priority over themselves, but it seemed like today was his lucky day.

He stepped out of his car, the summer heat already beating down on him, even this early in the morning. A breeze gracefully darted by, gently ruffling his hair. He took a minute to take in the aroma of the flowers that had been carried over from the school’s garden. Their scent removing any last ounce of worry he had for his finals. It was going to be a good day, and he had no doubts about it. After their scent was all but a memory, he turned his head to admire the building he’d only need to walk into for one more semester before he finally graduated. It was something he had been looking forward to for years, and it was almost hard to accept that all of his years in school were finally coming to an end. He was thrown from his thoughts as the horn of the car across from him started to scream in his ears. He whipped his head around to glare at whoever thought it would be funny to be so loud this early in the morning only to face the familiar silver toyota of his best friend.

TJ rolled his eyes as his friend stepped out of his car. “You think you’re so funny, don’t you Marty.”

“Nah…” he smirked. “I know I’m funny.” A playful smile covered his face as TJ swatted at him, just missing his stomach.

“It’s too early for that man.” TJ groaned, pushing Marty away as they made their way towards the building.

“It’s never too early to annoy my little Teej.” he cooed, pinching TJ on the cheek.

Marty must have noticed the sudden change to TJ’s facial expression because he quickly booked it towards the door, screeching. “Wait, TJ, please! I’m, sorry”. TJ sprinted after him, quickly gaining on him as Marty did his best to slow his friend down by quickly closing the doors behind him.

A friend who’s always got his back: His first final had gone by in a flash. It had only been about twenty minutes before he had finished it, and on any other day, he’d be too worried about how quickly he had finished, assuming that he hadn’t looked everything over properly, or had missed something somewhere. But there was something about today that was just different. Different in a way that he couldn’t even describe. He had felt so hopeful, so eager, so determined. It was very rare for him to feel this way, so he held onto it as long as he could. Unfortunately for him, that ended up being halfway through his second final. It had been in his photography class, which had been his favorite class throughout the year, and had been the one final he initially had no worries about. Except he still wasn’t worried about the final itself per se, there was just something off. Just like when he had gotten into his car. He felt so empty. There was something he was missing and he needed it. But he couldn’t for the life of him figure out what it was. He spent so much of his time just sitting there, staring out the window trying to recall anything that could have made him feel so empty.The only other thing that had bothered him about this was that it felt so much stronger this time. He was starting to worry that maybe there was something wrong with him, however he didn’t want to make it that extreme so he went over every day in the past month and came up empty handed.

He felt something nudging at his leg which brought him back down to earth. He turned to look at Marty, who thankfully had been sitting next to him. However he had a bewildered look on his face. TJ raised his brow, to which marty had motioned towards his test, and then the clock. He quietly laughed to himself. It was nice that Marty was concerned for him, but he had plenty of ti- His whole body froze as he turned to look at the clock, originally to just humor Marty. However to his surprise, he only had thirty minutes left to finish his exam. He quickly jolted his head down to his paper only to find it completely blank. He cursed under his breath and quickly filled in the answers. One of the few bright sides of photography being his favorite class, was that he knew everything to a T. He was able to finish his entire test and even had a couple of minutes to spare. After turning his test in, he found Marty outside the room, and slid down the wall to sit next to him. He let his head fall back, gently smacking against the brick.

“You’re an idiot.” he said, gently resting a hand on TJ’s shoulder.

“I don’t think I’ve ever filled in those circles so fast in my life.” he groaned. “My hand was cramping after number five.”

“Dude, there were fifty questions.”

“Yeah…” he sighed. “It still hurts.” he began to massage his aching wrist, as his eyes met Marty’s.

“Is everything okay?” the words came out of his mouth so delicately. TJ knew it was unlike him to zone out like that, especially during a test. So he figured Marty must be taking this quite seriously.

“Yeah, I just…” he paused for a moment, his mouth still open as he searched for the words he wanted to say. He thought that it was weird how he just felt so empty over nothing. “I don’t know how to explain it to be honest.”

He put on his best fake smile when he noticed that Marty looked extremely unamused.

“Could you… at least try?” He asked, looking at TJ expectantly.

He sighed, not necessarily knowing where to begin. “I guess it just started this morning. I was getting ready to leave and I got this overwhelming feeling of emptiness. Like, I just felt like something was missing and I really wanted it back. I ignored it, and it had gone away until we had gotten to class. Then it came back in full force, and was even a little stronger than the first time.” He rubbed his palms over his face. “I don’t even know what it means. But I think I want it to go away.”

“You think you want it to go away?” He questioned.

“But what if it means something?” He wailed, turning a few heads from people passing by, but ultimately ignoring them.

Marty just shrugged at him, confusion covering his face. “I don’t know what to tell you man. But what I can do, is offer to take you to get a coffee. Does that sound good?” His expression changing into a warm smile.

“Yeah.” he breathed. “I could do for a little caffeine. I made the mistake of not stopping for a coffee this morning. Your treat, right?”

“No.” Marty scoffed.

“Figures.” He rolled his eyes.

They made their way into the tiny coffee shop. The mesmerizing aroma quickly engulfing them. Tj was told to wait in their usual booth while Marty went up to the front to order. This was their usual hangout spot as it was quiet, and out of the way. The only people who usually ever came here were college kids, as it was a quick 10 minute walk from their campus, or a few people who lived in the area and regularly visited. So it was usually pretty empty, which was a plus because it meant that they would be able to talk in peace. That and nobody would be too obnoxious that they wouldn’t be able to concentrate on anything else. A short time later Marty had returned with their drinks, and TJ eagerly took a sip of his chai tea latte as the warm liquid slid down his throat, relaxing his body and warming him up. Although it had already been warm enough from the blistering heat outside, the owners of the shop usually kept it quite cold inside. That with the added stress from the weird feeling he’s been getting throughout the day, he just needing something that would relax him. They sat and talked for awhile, mostly about their plans for the summer, or how they thought they did on their finals. But mostly just about anything that came to mind. After several hours, they got up to leave and Marty quickly nudged him.

“Oh, by the way, you need to pay for your drink.” he smiled innocently.

“What?” he asked incredulously. “You waited until now to tell me that?”

“Hey, I told you I wasn’t paying for you.” he reminded him, putting his hands up in defense.

“I- yeah, you’re right.” he shrugged, making his way up to the counter.

Thankfully they were regulars so it wasn’t a problem that he hadn’t paid right away. The cashier smiled at him as he approached. “Chai Tea?” she asked.

He gave gave her a nod, returning the smile.

“Perfect!” she chirped. “Your total today is $4.63”

“Awesome, I actually have some cash today.” He reached down for his wallet, pulling the brown leather from his back pocket. He quickly opened it and pulled his $5 out a little too eagerly. He got a little more than he had asked for and some extra money had come out of his wallet along with something else, and they all fell to the floor. He placed the $5 and his wallet on the counter as he knelt down to pick everything up. His curiosity got the best of him as he noticed a small white square amidst all of his money. He reached for it first, and began to feel that empty feeling once more. Except this time something was different. Everything had come flooding back, and he felt whole again. There were so many butterflies in his stomach and he hand started to shake as he grasped onto it. He slowly flipped it over revealing something he hadn’t seen in several weeks. 

A small polaroid photo: He felt his jaw drop as he stared at the picture. He slowly stood back up, his gaze locked onto the picture in his hand. The barista called out to him, but he couldn’t hear her. The only thing on his mind was the boy in the picture that had made him feel whole again.

All of his memories came flooding back and he remembered the party. The blaring music, the white lights that had been hanging on every inch of the estate. He was there as a photographer for a fancy dinner party held by the main University downtown. When he had gone off duty he had taken out his polaroid and started taking pictures of anyone and everyone. Giving them something to remember the night by. He was aiming to take a picture of a group of people eating together when he noticed someone walking towards him. He quickly shifted his lense and aimed right at him, taking the picture. He slowly lowered the camera, realizing what he had just done. However, the man seemed unphased. He came right up to TJ, confident smirk on his lips. He took the photo from the camera and pulled a pen from his back pocket. He removed the cap, holding it in his teeth as he quickly scribbled his name at the bottom. His eyes wandered down to the bottom of the photo as it wandered over the letters spelling out “Cyrus Goodman”. He looked back up at the man who simply winked at him, and then walked away, leaving him in a daze.

He slowly lifted the picture up, pressing it against his heart. His breathing had become fast, as his heart was nearly flying out of his chest.

“TJ!” Marty’s violent shakes snapped him back into reality.

“Huh, wha- what’s wrong?” He sputtered, trying to act as natural as possible.

“You’re kidding right? We lost you for a solid five minutes. You’ve been staring at that picture the entire time.”

“I- uh..” He tried to think of something to say, but no words would come out. He nervously looked between his best friend and the barista who seemed to actually be concerned about his well being. He swallowed the lump in his throat and handed the picture over to Marty. A quiet “It’s him” escaped his lips.

Marty’s expression changed to shock as he grabbed the photo from his hands. “Wait like… the guy? The one you didn’t stop talking about for a week?”

He still didn’t have the strength to speak so all he could do was nod, as he did his best to regain his breath.

“So this has what’s put you in that weird funk today then, yeah?”

TJ nodded once more, feeling a little relief that he was able to find the source of his problem. However he was just left with more questions than answers. Who exactly was Cyrus? And what even happened that night? Would they even meet up again, or was that the last time they’d ever see each other?

“Well, what are you going to do now then?” Marty asked, handing the photo back over to TJ.

That’s when everything became clear. TJ’s spirits lifted in an instant. He had an overwhelming ambition that filled him to the brim and he wasn’t about to let it go to waste. He slowly lifted his head, to meet Marty’s gaze head on. He watched at his gaze turned into one of worry as a smirk grew on his own. Before Marty was able to do anything else the words fell from his lips and nothing that has left his lips had ever felt so right.

“I’m going to find him”

_____________________________

Sorry if there are any errors, I did this a little quickly and will read over it again when I have more time but I am posting it anyways for now because I’m just messy. 

[rosyyeols]

helloooo @sweet-teeth-mfs tagged me a while ago to answer some q’s!

1. What takes up too much of your time?

Studying probably, also the 10 billion films I’m trying to watch

2. What makes your day better?

A hug from my best friend

3. What’s the best thing to happen to you today?

My final was EASY. Easy peasy. Got it in the bag

4. What fictional place would you like to go to?

Edie said the smut world, which is absolutely ingenious and incredible, so I’ll take two of those

5. Are you good at giving advice?

No, not really :/

6. Do you have any mental illness?

I’ve never been officially diagnosed with anything so I’m gonna say no but I underwent a really rough patch a couple of years ago that involved undergoing testing for anxiety, and that’s all I really want to say about that.

7. Have you ever experienced sleep paralysis?

A couple of times I think

8. What musician inspired you the most?

Tchaikovsky and Shostakovich! They’re really incredible musicians

9. Have you ever fallen in love?

Yeah and it was really unfortunate

10. What’s your dream date?

Oh god I have three.

1. A day at the amusement park, riding all the rollercoasters and feeding each other cotton candy, maybe kissing by the pier (there’s a very specific amusement park I have in mind for this)

2. A night stroll down a really nice square or an old-town kind of place, just window shopping and holding hands and chatting.

3. Movie night with tons of blankets, complete with multiple lazy makeout sessions and falling asleep on the couch.

11. What do others notice about you?

Uhhh probably my weird ass teeth or my acne. Or probably my laugh because it’s super loud

12. What is an annoying habit you have?

I’m kind of a flake. I’ve been getting a lot better about it but my social anxiety used to be super super bad and I wouldn’t go anywhere or cancel at the last second

13. Do you still talk to your first love?

No because I don’t waste my time on assholes

14. How many exes do you have?

5

15. How many songs are in your playlist?

Oh god. I have very many little playlists but my whole library is probably 12+ hours

16. What instruments can you play?

Violin and ukulele, and a teensy bit of piano

17. What do you have the most pictures of?

Screenshots and quick pics of my notes LOL other than that probably selfies

18. Where would you like to go before you die?

Paris! And I’m probably going to in the next few years because my best friend in moving there in December

19. What is your zodiac?

Gemini

20. Do you relate to it?

No. I connect more with Cancer

21. What is happiness to you?

Wanting to wake up in the morning

22. Are you going through anything right now?

Just exams, really. Had a bit of a falling out with a friend but whatever/

23 What’s the worst decision you ever made?

Genuinely believe it’s taking a certain class that I have a final project due for next week. Barely started. :)

24. What’s your favorite store?

This boba place (instagram peeps know it as my sadness cafe)

25. What’s your opinion on abortion?

I will never have one but the act of having one is a choice that only the woman can make and should be respected and carried out safely

26. Do you keep a bucket list?

I do one year to year, but not really a huge “Before I Die” list.

27. Do you have a favorite album?

Atlas: Space by Sleeping at Last is my alltime

28. What do you want for your birthday?

A new laptop pls this one is taking its dying breaths

29. What are most people’s first impression of you?

A lot of people think I’m really shy and once I talk a lot of people think I’m super kind. Which is like... not entirely untrue but I say ‘fuck’ a lot and talk about sex and I’m not sure how synonymous those traits are with ‘kind’

30. What age do you seem according to most people?

I’ve heard 18-20, which is about right

31. Where do you keep your phone while you’re sleeping?

Literally right next to me

32. What word do you say the most?

Probably... fuck. Or ‘like’.

33. What’s the oldest age you would date?

Uh to be honest like 10 years older than me

34. What’s the youngest age you would date?

One year younger than me is the furthest I’ll go

35. What job/career do most people say would suit you?

I’ve always been told something in the general therapy area or a writer

36. What’s your favorite music genre?

Definitely pop or r&b

37. If you could live in any country in the world, where would it be?

I’ve been in the US my whole life and can’t imagine being anywhere else, but France is looking like a nice option right about now

38. What is your current favorite song?

I’d have to say the whole new Billie Eilish album, ‘The Killing Kind’ by Marianas Trench, and ‘In Case You Don’t Live Forever’ by Ben Platt

39. How long have you had this blog for?

Since December

40. What are you excited for?

Summer and writing smut again!

41. Are you a better talker or listener?

Listener definitely

42. What is the last productive thing you did?

Study

43. What do you want for Christmas?

Is money an acceptable answer?

44. What class do you get the best grades in?

Anything having to do with English and History

45. On a scale of 1-10, how are you feeling right now?

5

46. What can you see yourself doing in ten years?

God I hope I’m a psychiatrist and I’m having sex on the regular

47. When did you get your first heartbreak?

I was fourteen

48. What age do you want to get married?

God, I don’t know. Late 20s?

29. What career did you want to have as a child?

Actress

50. What do you crave right now?

Sleep. And a movie.

Not sure who’s done it but I’ll tag @junemyeon @yeoldontknow @whitenoise-exo @suhoerections and anyone who’s followed me within the past month! I wanna get to know yall, sorry I’ve been absent.

[weekendfriend-blog]

Life Story

So I really haven't gotten this whole story straight because I was really high when I realized why I'm the way I am. Now I know a lot of people rn are depressed and shit and are going to read this and just say, "Oh boo hoo, that's tragic," but just because people aren't depressed doesn't mean they're not fucked up. Now to start, I'm a male aged 17 with 3 older brothers. This summer was a real eye-opener. I often hear people say "When you're high,  you start putting two and two together," or something like that. Now I never really meant the meaning of this, like, when I smoke I just sit on the couch slowly drifting off while on Instagram or Ifunny or some shit. But the last time I smoked, I was already thinking of my life and why I'm like this. At age 5, my parents got divorced. Now I remember I cried like a bitch but I didn't know what them getting divorced meant. The next year, I realized i got two birthdays and two Christmas's. "WOW, is this gonna happen every year," I remember thinking, and so honestly I was fine with them splitting up because, well, we were a wealthy family (mostly my father bc my mom was a self-employed massage therapist) and I got as many shit as I wanted. This happened for about 10 years, and I finally found out why my parents hated each other and how my dad got rich and the family affairs going on in my family (ill get to that). Fast forward a couple years, my brothers got a bit hostile because of this. My two brothers closest to my age, 2 and 4 years older than me, started picking on me and shit and I was defenseless. Because of this, I got anger issues and didn't want to go outside and play football with them and so they bullied me more and so on. So I sat inside and played Xbox and at the time I lost all my allergies (i was gluten-free, lactose intolerant, couldn't have eggs and coconut. I am still deathly allergic to literally every nut ). SO all at once, I started eating these amazing foods while playing on the Xbox and started gaining weight. I was 10 so it really wouldn't matter bc I was cute. But in middle school I still was gaining weight, I think I maxed out at 250 when I was about 14 and I was about 5 foot 7. Obviously, I got insecure and shit but I was always that funny friend so no one really pointed it out bc I self depreciated. But what really made me fucked was that my brothers would compare themselves to me and call me fat to be funny to their friends. My stepdad also said I was fat, which, if you have a father figure not supporting or helping you, really messes you up so I would never talk to him. Although they made fun of me, I still wanted to hang out with them bc they looked up to them. So in short, all the people I looked up to bullied me. High school rolls around and I had a crush and asked her out. At this point, I was 240 and about 6 foot and I really knew how to hid it. I got rejected. That shit hurt. My freshman year, I was surrounded by popular "friends" that also made fun of me and put fuckin peanuts in my water so id have to go to the nurse every week (if i didn't get medicine within like 10 hours id go into cardiac arrest or something) so I got a new set of friends.  Sophomore year I had my eyes on two other candidates and got rejected again. Still fuckin hurts. 2 years ago my brothers have moved out and they grew up and realized that what they did was terrible, so what did they do? They let me smoke with them. Fast forward to my junior year. I was in pretty hard classes and got a little anxious because of homework and shit but did fine in classes so I didn't really have anxiety. Now I'm still hooked on this one girl I got rejected by but I'm the funny friend so I kept my sadness without showing it for 2 years and tell jokes, which took a toll on me. Exams hit and my usually childish middle-aged pre calc honors teacher (she taught us like 1st graders, she made us sing and dance to remember formulas) got really pissed at me bc I couldn't remember how to do basic algebra two days before the exam. Now I don't really know how I got Adderal but I did. It was super useful for my exams and ended up getting a 96 (highest grade in the school for that class) on the hardest exam. I then realized that I took 30mg for 3 days straight and only ate once a day for that week and had a bunch of energy. I quickly realized this is the key for my lazy ass to lose weight without working out. Starving myself. I then took 30mg over the summer every time I had the urge to stuff my face (took about 5 days for me to eat like my normal self) but I knew the only way to be healthy at the same time is to eat healthily, so I drank a smoothie for lunch (made myself wake up at around 11 so I wouldn't eat breakfast) and ate at work around 8. I work at a pizza place but I found a pretty good pizza to make so that I wouldn't feel like shit. At the same time, at the beginning of the summer, I got a dab pen. Then one of my friends who gave me addys gave me an oxycodone pill. It was fuckin great for my insecurities. I looked through the medicine cabinets and underneath my moms sink to find some. Amazingly I did because my mom got arthritis in her shoulder a couple of years ago, so I took one of those every day and smoked until I ran out like 2 weeks in, which thank god because after that I had hard withdrawals even when I didn't have that many for that long. Although, I still smoked every day. If I took them for maybe 2 more weeks, I would've been fucked. Shortly after that, I couldn't get my hands on Adderall but since I took them for about 2 months my stomach decreased in size A LOT. But I still wanted to lose more weight, I wanted to get under 200, so I would put myself in situations where I couldn't eat or didn't have time. Two weeks ago I realized that I would lose weight but wouldn't workout throughout the summer. I came to the realization that I was not only losing fat but muscle as well. When I was a kid, I had broad shoulders and pretty muscular from fighting. So I started working out and drinking smoothies with good workout shit in it, but the problem with that is that I still want to be under 200. I'm currently 208, working out mostly once a day, sometimes twice. I've weighed my self about 2 times a week and been 208 ever since I started working out. I've lost about 30 pounds and honestly don't regret the way I did it even it's probably terrible for me to do that. I lost some fat in my face so my cheeks and chin look more defined making me look better as well as losing a lot of fat in my stomach and chest that none of my shirts fit me and my chest doesn't poke out in XL shirts (they did when I was in 2XL shirts). Overall I've lost all my insecurities about being fat and am currently talking to a cute girl that's 2 years older than me. Since I've lost 30 pounds I've seen some of my friends from school who didn't know I lost that weight and are so proud of me. My brothers have also congratulated me and supported me which really meant a lot. My ass hole stepdad also did and I'm now actually forgiving him for all the mental abuse that he has caused. I realized that I haven't given the necessary family details including my dad, stepdad and my oldest brother and I will write them at a later date because I spent 4 fucking hours doing this one.

[quicksilversquared]

How to Fake a Marriage Ch. 32

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(AO3) (FF.net)

Saturday morning, Adrien groaned as he woke up to the sound of an alarm blaring. He lay there for a few moments- it was Marinette's alarm, and she always turned it off pretty quickly- but the lump at his side didn't even budge.

In the background, the alarm continued to beep.

Frowning, Adrien pushed himself up and reached over Marinette to turn the alarm off before bending down to check on his girlfriend. Within a second, it became obvious that Marinette was very much asleep. Her breathing was deep and even, and she hadn't even budged on the bed.

Okay, so she clearly needed more sleep. Adrien checked her phone to make sure that she didn't have any more alarms set (she didn't; clearly she had been planning on getting up with the first one) and then he rolled back over to fall asleep.

Maybe he should have tried to wake her up, but Adrien was worried. She had been pushing so hard to get things finished for weeks now, stressing out and worrying herself into the ground. Adrien knew that she had made a lot of progress on her commissions, too- of her twelve commissions, nine were finished, two were nearly done, and one, well...

The last one required some work still, but there would be plenty of time. They had all weekend and the week, and after that was Easter Break.

Adrien fell back asleep, one hand resting against Marinette's hair. He didn't wake up again until the bed shook and he heard a shriek of "What do you mean it's ten-thirty?"

It took Adrien a few seconds to remember that a) it was the weekend, so he didn't need to try to scramble to try to get ready as well and b) it was 100% his fault that they slept so late, so he should probably be working on keeping Marinette from panicking too much.

"It's still plenty early," Adrien said, reaching out to snag Marinette before she could shoot out of bed and end up tripping over her own feet and hurting herself in the scramble. "Bugaboo, slow down. There's plenty of time in the day still. And since you got enough sleep, maybe you'll be able to focus better."

Marinette blinked and turned to look at him. "Wait- did you turn the alarm off?"

"You were sleeping through it, so I figured that you could use the extra time." Adrien slid out of bed after Marinette. "And you're mostly caught up with commissions. It's not going to help anything if you end up making mistakes because you're exhausted or if you work so long that you make yourself sick."

"Oh, I suppose. I just want to get everything finished before break, though!" Marinette yanked a new shirt on and hopped across the room as she tugged on a pair of lounge pants. She snagged a comb and started yanking it through her hair. "And I'm so close! I want to get a lot done this weekend so I can maybe take it a little easier during the week."

Adrien nodded to thin air. Marinette was already in the bathroom, frantically brushing her teeth. With a sigh, Adrien decided to head out to the kitchen to get breakfast ready.

"That was nice of you to let her sleep," Tikki said, popping out of the hall closet. Plagg was close behind, probably because he wanted his morning cheese. "She's been yawning at work really often."

"Are you telling on me?" Marinette demanded incredulously from the bathroom. "Tikki!"

"We just want you to take care of yourself, love!" Adrien called over his shoulder. "If you aren't doing anything wrong, then Tikki wouldn't be able to tell on you!"

He got a rather rude noise as a response. Laughing, Adrien headed to the kitchen and got some toast going.

Twenty minutes later, Marinette had been fed and headed over to work in her apartment. Adrien cleaned up and tried to figure out how he could help her now. There was no hardware to attach to anything, no chains to cut, no more screen printed shirts to iron (because Adrien had spent all. week. long. chipping away at those to get them finished)... but there were several boxes to mail yet, sitting in a neat stack just inside Marinette's door. He could get those mailed off before the post office closed for the day, and then Marinette would be able to fully check those commissions off of her list.

(Adrien was pretty sure that by the time the last of the commissions got sent off, everyone at the post office was going to know him by name. Since he could only carry two boxes at most over at a time, he had been making a lot of trips.)

"I bet you'll be glad when this is all done," Plagg said as he rode along on Adrien's shoulder as Adrien struggled to carry the two large boxes. "Then you'll have your wife all to yourself again!"

"She'll still be taking commissions, just not so many so she won't be so stressed. Hopefully she'll only be working for an hour or two every night instead of four." Adrien paused to push one of the boxes against a railing to he could adjust his grip. "But yeah, I'm looking forward to this batch of commissions being over. She's planning on taking a bit of a break from the commissions to recalibrate a bit so she can do quality work again, so I'm looking forward to that." It looked like the start of her break was going to line up well with the start of his break. Adrien had a large rough draft paper project due plus two midterms that he really had to study for, so he would be busy for most of the week. Any study breaks he took would be spent helping Marinette finish up in any way he could.

It was going to be a busy week.

  "Dude, I thought you normally started studying ages ahead of time," Paul commented when he saw Adrien studying before class on Wednesday. "What's going on?"

"I've been spending a lot of time helping Marinette with commissions." Adrien flipped the page and kept reading. "She's only catching up now, so I'm having to crunch all of my study time. It's not that bad, though. And part of the problem was that I had the Quantum Mechanics exam last week and I had to really focus on that then."

Paul winced and nodded. "Yeah, that exam was hard. But it looked like you sailed right through it!"

"Yeah, because I studied!" Adrien had been pleasantly surprised at how straightforward the exam had seemed, so much so that he had spent a fair amount of time reviewing all of the questions and his answers just to make sure he hadn't misunderstood anything. Part of him was still worried that he had forgotten or misunderstood something important, but they were meant to be getting the scores back during class today. "I just really want to know how I did. Like, I think I did well, but who knows."

"I already know what's going to happen," one of Paul's other friends joked from the next row back. "You're going to do better than most of us and you'll still wish that you had done better, because you'll have made, like, three 'stupid' mistakes."

Adrien shrugged. So he had high standards, so what. He didn't like losing points on things that he should have gotten right.

Adrien had to put the book away as the professor entered, stack of graded exams in her arms. Everyone sat up and watched as she handed the exams back. Some people looked thrilled when they got their papers back. Others shrugged and put their returned exams away- they must have gotten the grades that they were expecting- while others groaned, flipping through the pages to see where they had gone wrong. Paul made a bit of a face at his paper before flipping through. Adrien accepted his own paper from the professor and grinned at the near-perfect score.

Clearly even spending so much time helping Marinette hadn't affected his scores. Marinette would be pleased to hear that, since she had been so concerned about how her mistakes when it came to dealing with commissions were costing him study time, too.

Adrien practically hummed his way through the rest of the day. He returned home to his apartment, studied for a couple hours, then did a quick run to the post office to mail one more package of clothes. Marinette just had one more commission to finish now, and based on the state of the pieces around the sewing machine, she didn't have too much longer to go. They were more intricate than a lot of the other designs- apparently the band had some sort of owl theme and an owl's face had to be worked both into the design of the jacket and the top. It was a gorgeous design, one that would no doubt have the band coming back for more- but it was a lot of little fiddly pieces, a lot of piecing, a lot of short seams and odd joins.

Adrien was of the opinion that it was very good that this particular commission was the last one. Marinette could take her time working on it instead of feeling like she had to rush at all.

Once the package was in the mail, Adrien headed back to his apartment to study. He was busy writing up a summary sheet when Marinette arrived home, looking a little wilted.

"Photoshoot day," Marinette explained. She shoved her hair back out of her face. "Lots of hot lights that we had to run around in all day. I don't know how the models do it."

Adrien grinned at that. "Easy. We don't run around. We just sit and look pretty and try to keep out of the way of the people running around."

"I'm taking a shower," Marinette decided. "I feel half-dead right now, but I still want to work on my commission like normal tonight. If I keep working on it, I'll be done with it and have it sent off before my birthday!" She headed towards the bathroom, still talking as she went and completely missing the frozen look on Adrien's face. "That'll be nice, to just be able to kick back and relax then."

"Right, right, of course!"

Tikki gave him a somewhat unimpressed look as soon as the bathroom door shut and they heard the water start running. "You forgot, didn't you?"

"I knew it was coming up," Adrien defended himself. He checked the calendar on his phone. "And I know it's on Saturday. I just wasn't on top of, ah, remembering stuff." He scrambled for a second, trying to think of what he could do for Marinette's birthday. She had indicated interest in having a relaxing day, which meant nothing crazy. Maybe he could invite a few of Marinette's closest colleagues and friends for a dinner together and they could all eat out somewhere. He didn't know what he could get her as a gift, though. If he could buy relaxation...

Suddenly it hit him like a train. He and Marinette had talked about going to the Bath spa at some point, and they hadn't done that yet. They could both use some relaxation time in the warm waters and maybe even a massage. Adrien scrambled for his computer, pulling up the Bath Spa page. He scrolled through page after page, trying to figure out when they would want to go. It would be easiest to go Sunday, because Marinette wouldn't have work, but Sundays were busy and it sounded like the services would be more limited. Midweek was least busy, but Adrien wasn't sure how good of an idea interrupting Marinette's work week would be.

Monday would probably work best, then. It was definitely a good thing that Marinette wouldn't be returning to Paris until Thursday evening and that he hadn't gotten his train tickets yet (much to Nathalie's everlasting ire). Sure, he was meant to have fittings Tuesday, but if he got an early train back to Paris then maybe the fittings could be pushed to Tuesday afternoon and evening.

But what if there was something going on at Madam Rosalie's on Monday that Marinette wouldn't want to miss? He wouldn't want that to happen and make a day at the spa turn into a stress fest. Maybe he could ask Madam Rosalie, but then again, she might not know everything about what was going on in Marinette's design group at all times. It would be better to ask one of the members on Marinette's team.

"Is Sarah home, do you know?" Adrien asked Tikki. She narrowed her eyes at him.

"You aren't going to ask her about what to get Marinette, are you?"

"So little faith! No, I just want to ask her about timing for Marinette's present." Adrien headed for the door, figuring that since Marinette was home, Sarah probably was as well. "And I might ask about if people on Marinette's team might be interested in getting together on Saturday."

"Oh!" Tikki promptly cheered right back up. "Okay! In that case, Sarah is home."

Adrien checked to make sure he hadn't left his computer open to the Bath Spa page and then headed upstairs to Sarah's apartment. She answered within a couple seconds and raised an eyebrow when she saw him standing there. "Adrien! Does Marinette need more help on something? I think I'm too wiped to be much help today."

"She's good with the commissions right now," Adrien told her. "I just had a question- is there anything important going on at work on Monday? I wanted to get Marinette a trip to the spa up in Bath for her birthday, and from what I can tell it would be best to go on Monday instead of over the weekend so it's not so busy."

"It's her birthday soon?" Sarah sounded surprised. "Oh! Shoot, we totally forgot. She should have said something! We always go out for lunch or dinner when it's someone's birthday. I'll have to tell the rest of our team. What day is it?"

"Saturday."

"She should have said something," Sarah repeated. "I think most of us should be able to be here, though. How does dinner on Saturday sound? Do you know what her favorite restaurant is?"

"That Greek place down the road is a big favorite of hers," Adrien told her. "But about Monday-"

"It's just a normal day," Sarah assured him. "And I can talk to the head of our group to make sure Monday stays normal so Marinette can miss it. Do you know what you're doing at the spa? There's some really great massages and everything."

Adrien just grinned and shrugged. "I figured that I would leave the specifics up to Marinette to decide. I'm guessing that she'll probably go for some sort of massage , though, after all of the time she's spent bent over her sewing machine lately." At the rate they were going, both of them were going to have aching backs like a pair of elderly grandparents before they got back to London. He had seen her stretching and twisting like he did whenever his back got stiff, and more and more frequently. "Have you been? Any suggestions?"

"I like the traditional massage, but then again that's the only one I've ever done." Sarah grinned. "So maybe I'm not the best person to ask. And I've only done it twice, since that place is expensive. But it was great."

"Fabulous." Adrien couldn't help but smile as well. Hopefully Marinette would like her present. "So, what time do you think would work best on Saturday?"

  The last piece of the commissions was finished Friday afternoon and mailed three minutes before the post office closed, and the last of the edits for the last album cover was sent off several hours later. Once it was sent off, Marinette collapsed in bed and just slept for a solid fifteen hours. Adrien did his best to not wake her up either when he went to bed or when he got up Saturday morning, though he did fetch his heated rice pack and arrange it on her back for her both times in hopes that it might help alleviate some of the pain that she was getting from being hunched over her sketchpad (or her tablet, or her sewing machine) for so long.

"Ah, she lives!" Adrien announced with a grin when Marinette stumbled into the kitchen mid-morning, yawning widely. "Happy birthday, Bug."

"Mm-hmm." Marinette yawned again and hugged him. Adrien tried not to laugh as she snuggled into his chest.

"Are you seriously still tired?"

"No making fun of the birthday girl," Marinette informed him. "'S not nice."

Tikki giggled. "But Marinette, you've been sleeping forever! Do you even know what day it is anymore?"

For a moment, Marinette looked truly alarmed. Then Tikki giggled, and Marinette pouted as she swatted at her kwami. "Don't joke like that! I thought I had slept for an entire day for a minute!"

"Technically, if it were Sunday, you would have slept for a day and a half," Adrien teased, dodging his own swat. "And I wouldn't have said anything about your birthday, either."

"Ooh, you're being terrible," Marinette grumbled, but she kissed him anyway. "So what are we doing today?"

"Besides sleeping, you mean- ah! I yield, I yield!" Adrien yelped, dancing away from a pouting Marinette. "Well, I was making mac 'n cheese for lunch, and then we can do your favorite Greek place for dinner? It sounds like some of your team members want to join us for that."

Marinette perked up. "Really? We did lunch last year, but I thought maybe we wouldn't this year since my birthday is on the weekend."

"So you didn't even mention it?" Adrien asked incredulously. "I said something to Sarah and she immediately started asking around to see if people could come. She said that someone named Lily wouldn't be able to make it because she was going home to see her parents, but the others could come."

The first part of the day went by fast enough (probably because Marinette had slept through most of it), and then they were heading down the sidewalk towards the restaurant. Adrien carried his present for Marinette (wrapped in festive paper) in the bag hanging at his side, just in case the opportunity came up to give it to her while they were at dinner. Sarah had texted them to say that she and several others were already at the restaurant, holding a table so that they wouldn't find themselves standing around waiting during the diner rush.

"I actually first ate here for Ellen's birthday last summer," Marinette told him as Adrien ushered her in the restaurant's door in front of him. At his slightly puzzled look- who was Ellen, again?- Marinette explained. "She was an intern last year, but now she's working at some fashion house up in Glasgow, I think. It was closer to where she grew up, so she could see her family more often."

"Aha."

"Oh, look, there they are!" Marinette exclaimed, pointing. Adrien glanced over and saw six people sitting around a series of tables pushed together in the middle of the room. He recognized most of them, either from other dinners together or from ducking into Marinette's workplace. Only two of them were guys, which surprised Adrien slightly. He had always gotten the impression from his father that there were a good number of aspiring male fashion designers as well, nearly as many as women designers, but Marinette's team was apparently skewed two guys to six women.

"There's a lot of women on your team, aren't there?" Adrien asked Marinette as they headed towards the table. "Is that typical?"

Marinette shrugged. "Yeah, at least at Madam Rosalie's place. Her aesthetic is just something that draws more women than men, I guess." She giggled. "We design practical stuff for women, that's probably a deciding factor. A lot of men don't tend to think about things like pockets and bra straps when they're designing tops and dresses, and that's fine in some companies. Not for Madam Rosalie's, though."

"Happy Birthday, Marinette!" the table chorused as they approached. Marinette turned a bit pink as all of the attention turned to her, and several people from other tables turned as well to glance over. She didn't waste any time in settling down in one of the chairs that had been left open in the middle of the table and waving shyly to everyone. Shannon laughed.

"Don't go turning so shy on us! Man, is it ever a good thing we hadn't gotten the chance to ask the servers if they ever sing to people on their birthdays."

"Oh, don't tease her like that," Mrs. Kelley scolded playfully. "And happy birthday, dear. I'm glad you chose this place. It's my favorite, too."

Even with as busy as the restaurant was, it didn't take long for them to order and for a couple appetizer plates to arrive. The eight of them laughed and talked as they waited for their meal to arrive, and Adrien learned more about everything that was going on at Madam Rosalie's. With the spring Fashion Week done and a number of photoshoots for late spring and early summer done, they were in a bit of a lull now, getting final polishes done on the spring lines and little details cleaned up before they could move on to proper summer designs. Pieces from photoshoots and runway had to be put away, and shoes and repeat accessories sold off. They had to communicate with the manufacturer how to make specific pieces so they would match what was shown in the catalogue, and then the fabric room had to be reorganized so that the heavier-weight fabrics and more wintery colors were put away until fall and the light cottons and silks and pale-colored fabrics more common in summer were brought forward for easier access.

"I kind of just want to go driving into the scraps and fabric ends bin and see what I could make out of some of that stuff," Emily admitted. "Like, just make something crazy, something I would wear but that might not sell really, really well. I've seen patchwork dresses before and I would love to make one. Or five, or ten, or-"

Shannon was laughing. "Okay, okay, we get it," she teased. "But honestly, I think it would be fun to just go bin-diving some time and then have some quality alone time with the fabric and a sewing machine, just to see what would come out. There's some crazy variety in the fabrics in there."

Adrien couldn't help grinning and shaking his head at the number of agreements from around the table. He would never stop being amazed by how creative designers could be, creating endless variations on dresses and shirts and skirts and jackets and everything, and on such a regular basis, too. If he saw a bin of leftover fabric, he would think quilt, or maybe...uh...

Yup, that was it. A quilt or maybe a pillowcase cover. Creative, he was not.

"I might be able to persuade Madam Rosalie to let you guys scavenge the bins," Mrs. Kelly offered. "I know she's mentioned before how full it's getting, and with the bit of a lull before we really have to dive into the summer stuff. We might have to put it aside at a moment's notice to do actual work, though."

There was a cheer around the table.

Dinner arrived shortly, and they all dug in. Adrien had to swat Marinette's fingers away she tried to swipe a slice of pita bread from his plate, and then the second his back was turned to talk to Justin, the pita bread piece mysteriously vanished.

Adrien sighed and stole a bite of her spinach-feta pie in retribution.

It didn't take long for them to finish their meal, even with all of the talking and laughter among the group. They ordered dessert, and while they were waiting Mrs. Kelly passed a colorful bag down the table to Marinette.

"We all pitched in to give you a little something for your birthday," she told Marinette. "And I might have done a small amount of digging in the ends bin, too."

Grinning, Marinette took the bag and pulled it down into her lap to peer into the large bag, The first thing she pulled out was a clear bag of what looked like fairly common sewing supplies- a set of white pens, rotary cutter blades, and three seam cutters, plus what was apparently a sharpening stone for her scissors. Adrien was puzzled- surely Marinette's coworkers knew that she already had stuff like that, and she had gotten some similar stuff from her parents at Christmas- but Marinette seemed thrilled.

"Oh, this is great!" she was exclaiming, digging through the bag. "My marking pens are all practically dry after all that leather from the commissions, and I swear every blade I own is pretty dull. And I can always use more seam rippers!"

"Yes, I know," Sarah told her dryly. "Considering that you told me that you own five and yet it still took you five minutes to track down any of them whenever we needed one."

...ooookay, so maybe he didn't have a great idea of what designers did and didn't need, despite being the son of one and dating another. Huh.

Maybe he should start taking notes.

The next thing to come out of the bag was a small iron and something rolled up in a tube. Marinette inspected the packaging and then grinned. "A travel iron and roll-up ironing mat! That's great!"

"We figured that a small iron would mean that you would be able to take it back to Paris once you're done in London," Abbey explained. "And it's useful for travel, too, if you need to iron something on the go but don't want to haul along a big iron. And that's a good brand, I have one just like it."

"Thank you!" Marinette exclaimed. "This is great. My old iron at home died right before I came over to London, so I'll definitely be using this all the time."

"And you'll be able to do your printed shirts whenever you want," Sarah pointed out. "Travel irons might be smaller than normal, but they don't lack anything in power."

Grinning, Marinette dug into the bag one last time, and pulled out several pieces of folded cloth. Adrien had been around designers for long enough to be able to tell that the pieces were probably no larger than half a meter (or a meter at most), but they were fun colors and clearly quality fabric. Adrien couldn't tell just by eyeballing the fabric if there would be enough for Marinette to make a shirt or skirt- he had no idea what kind of yardage was needed for anything, really- but judging by the gleam in Marinette's eyes, she probably already had plans.

"Oh, I loved working with this fabric!" Marinette exclaimed as she thumbed through the folded pieces. "This is great! Thanks, guys!"

There was a chorus of "You're welcome"s from around the table as Marinette packed her gifts back into her bag for easy carrying. While she was distracted, Adrien slid his present onto the table in front of her. It was a small box, not at all like the large bag that Marinette's coworkers had gotten her, but Adrien wouldn't let the difference in size bother him.

After all, great things could come in small packages, and he was sure that Marinette would love it.

Marinette blinked in surprise when she glanced back up and saw the package in front of her. It only took her a second to see the tag and glance over at Adrien with a questioning look before starting to unwrap it. The first thing she pulled out was a cute bird-shaped patchwork pincushion. Marinette groaned.

"Adrien!"

Adrien grinned as everyone around the table looked on in confusion. "What?"

"Still?"

"It was a good idea!"

"I'm lost," Abbey admitted. "What's wrong with it? That's a really cute pincushion."

"It's part of a joke," Marinette told the rest of the table, trying not to laugh. "It wouldn't make sense out of context, but he's been getting me something bird-themed for every holiday ever since Christmas."

Emily grinned at them. "So... just Christmas and now, or for Valentine's Day, too?"

Marinette froze, deer-in-the-headlights look on her face, and floundered. Adrien froze for a moment as well, then recovered and tried for some of that tried-and-true Chat Noir charm and smoothness. "Well, you know, it was an opportunity to give gifts, so I did."

"Well, it is pretty," Sarah told them, though she was grinning widely as well. "I don't know where you find stuff like that."

Adrien grinned at the opening that she had just handed him and Marinette groaned, burying her face in her arms. "Well, I had to do a bit of hunting, but I was happy with my catch in the end."

"I regret everything."

"You know it's funny."

"Is there something else in the box, Marinette?" Sarah asked, craning her neck to peer into the box. She glanced over at Adrien. "It looks like there's a brochure or something."

Marinette reached back into the box and pulled out the Bath spa brochure. Adrien had stuck a Post-it with the information for what day he had gotten the train tickets for and that he would pay for entry and whatever treatment she wanted. He had made sure to call ahead to check that there wouldn't be any groups taking up the spa and that there were treatment package spaces still available, so they wouldn't get to Bath and discover that they couldn't get in because something was reserved.

That would have stunk if that happened, especially since they had to have train tickets and Marinette would have to take a day off.

"I remembered that we had talked about going there last time we were in Bath," Adrien told Marinette. "And it would be a chance to relax after the last few weeks."

Marinette was grinning as she flipped through the brochure. "I love it!" Then she laughed. "I like the white-out over the prices. Very subtle."

Adrien grinned. "Yeah, I thought so too." He hadn't wanted Marinette obsessing over the prices and just trying to pick what might be cheapest over what she actually wanted to try. While yes, some of the spa packages were maybe a little expensive, it was hardly as though he couldn't afford it. He had years of modeling payments saved up, plus what he had earned the past summer with his job, and he only really had groceries as an expense at the moment thanks to his father paying for everything else. "So, does that work for you, going on Monday?"

"I already got it cleared with Madam Rosalie," Sarah piped up, grinning at Marinette's startled look. "She said to tell you to have fun."

"Well, I was already thinking about taking an extra day off next week to relax and get my head back on straight after all of those commissions and photoshoot week," Marinette admitted, a smile on her face as she flipped the brochure over again to look at one of the pictures. "So this is just, like, an upgrade of that day. Thanks, Adrien! I can't wait!"

  It was mid-morning by the time Adrien and Marinette arrived at the train station on Monday, loaded down with bags packed with their swimming things and a light lunch. Marinette had left both her tablet and her sketchbook at their apartment after several minutes of consideration, admitting that if she brought either along, the idea that she should be looking for design inspiration would be in the back of her head the entire time.

"I feel like I've done nothing all weekend," Marinette admitted as they found their seats and settled in for the ride. "I haven't designed anything, the only reason I touched my sewing machine was to unplug it and get it covered so that it wouldn't get all dusty, and I haven't cleaned things up from my commissions at all. And I haven't responded to anyone on the wait list yet."

"Doing nothing is a good thing sometimes," Adrien reminded her, and he could see Tikki nodding in agreement just inside Marinette's bag. "You'll get creative burnout if you keep going at the rate you were going, and that's no good if you're in the middle of a commission. Add on to that the fact that it would affect you at work, too, and that wouldn't look good."

"No, it wouldn't," Marinette agreed. The train gave a small shudder as it started up, and then they were slowly starting to pull away from the station. "It helped- creatively, I mean- that what I was designing for commissions and what I design at Madam Rosalie's are so different in style, but there's only so many ideas I can come up with in a short amount of time."

The train picked up speed, and their conversation turned towards the upcoming holiday. Marinette was looking forward to going home, even if she would doubtless be spending at least a day working in the bakery. The stuff she helped with- the decorations, mostly- were apparently mindless work for her and were all but automatic after so many years and hundreds upon hundreds of similar treats decorated in just the same way. Adrien would be doing fittings, photoshoots, and commercials (what a surprise), leaving him with only odds and ends of time left to meet up with Alya and Nino.

Well, odds and ends and Thursday evening, when the newspaper contest people were hosting an awards dinner where the winners would be announced. They had learned the previous week that Alya had gotten past the semi-finalist pool and into the finalists, and she had invited them to join herself and Nino for the dinner since her parents weren't able to make it. Of course, both Adrien and Marinette had accepted. It would be a good time to be able to see their friends for an extended period of time, and if Alya won they would be able to celebrate with her.

And if she didn't win... well, they would be there to distract her, then. At least for a couple days.

"I think Ladybug and Chat Noir should make a short appearance if Alya wins," Adrien said as the train slowed for their stop. He scooped up their bags and pulled Marinette to her feet. "Not at the dinner itself, probably, since it'll be hard to excuse ourselves without it being obvious. But afterwards, once we've all gone home for the night."

Marinette grinned. "I think that would be a great idea! And it would be fun to go out for a run either way. It's been way too long."

It had been. Adrien's legs were itching to go out and run- he could tell that he had lost some muscle tone without his superhero activities and at some point, his photographer was going to notice as well.

Maybe he should look into getting a gym membership of some sort. It wouldn't be as much fun as going out as a superhero, but it would be better than not getting that energy out just because the moon was out or the weather was poor. It might also help him with his back problem if he spent more time moving and less sitting, since the problem seemed to be with him spending too much time sitting hunched over at a desk.

They headed down the sidewalk towards the spa, bags slung over their shoulders. They barely had to wait at all to pay for their passes. Marinette had picked out a couple's package that included a massage and a meal, a choice Adrien heartily approved of. He had once learned how to do a bit of a shoulder massage, but Marinette had gotten so tense over the past few weeks that having a professional work their magic would be much better. He had booked their treatment as soon as Marinette decided on it Saturday evening, and the massage would fall about halfway through their spa time.

"Oh, that's expensive," Marinette murmured immediately when the price came up. "Adrien-"

"Nope, you didn't see anything," Adrien teased her, sliding one hand over her eyes while he handed over his credit card to pay. "And honestly, it's not that much if you take everything into consideration. It's passes for four hours for two people, plus a meal for both of us, plus a massage for both of us. It would cost more if we got all of that separately."

"I don't need a massage-"

"But you wanted one and you're getting one, and it'll feel wonderful." Adrien signed the receipt and tucked his credit card back in his wallet and took the receipt and the bracelets the cashier handed him. He slid one on Marinette's wrist and the other on his own before urging her forward. He glanced at the receipt, checking the times on it. "We'll have some time in the pools first to unwind a bit, and then we'll have the massage. Now c'mon, let's go get changed."

"What about us?" Plagg wanted to know, peering out of Adrien's bag. "Do you expect us to stay in your bags for- what? Six hours, with the massage and the lunch and the pool time? That's forever."

Adrien sighed, poking Plagg back into the bag before anyone could see him. "No, you can go out as long as you don't get spotted and as long as you don't completely pig out in the kitchen. And if you aren't back by the time we leave, we'll hang around outside so we don't get charged for the extra time. Tikki, can you keep an eye on the clock once it's about time for us to leave?"

Tikki popped out, beaming up at him. "Don't worry, Adrien! I'll make sure we're back before your time runs out. And if we get too far from you, we'll know anyway."

Once again, Adrien couldn't be more thankful for Tikki. The little kwami could keep even Plagg in line so that Adrien wouldn't spend the whole time worrying about what trouble Plagg might be getting up to.

Once they had changed, the two of them wasted no time in heading down to the main pool area. Adrien hung back to let Marinette slid into the water first with a happy sigh (and no, he was not just doing that for the view), then followed.

Ahh. Oh, Adrien could see why people might come back here frequently. The warm water was heavenly, and the lazy tendrils of steam rising up from the water made the whole scene feel a bit surreal. There weren't a ton of other people in the pool, but the drifting steam obscured most of them from view, making it feel even more private.

Adrien just had to remember that it wasn't completely private and he couldn't kiss Marinette or flirt ridiculously. He could manage that. Probably.

"Oh, I like this." Marinette was already paddling around, flipping over to float on her back. "Best birthday gift ever."

"I hope you know that I'm doing my best to stop myself from splashing you," Adrien informed her with a grin. "But I figured that it wouldn't be very relaxing."

"Rude."

"Hey, I said I wouldn't do it!"

Marinette rolled back over onto her stomach to grin over at him. "Uh-huh. And I'm just supposed to trust you?"

Adrien pouted at her and reached through the water to snag her hand so he could press a kiss to her knuckles. "But of course, my lady! What do you think I am, a ratty alley cat?"

Marinette pasted on an overly thoughtful face, and Adrien laughed.

The two of them drifted between pools and even ventured over to try out one of the steam rooms. Adrien saw a couple people giving them lingering looks- apparently some people recognized him, and maybe Marinette as well- but the spa's ban on bringing phones or cameras into the pool area meant that no one was snapping pictures of him pulling faces at Marinette while she paddled in circles around him or both of them wandering around the spa together.

"I'm going to turn into a raisin by the time we leave, but I'll love every minute of it," Marinette told Adrien as they pulled themselves out of the pool to head over to where they were supposed to check in for their massage. "I'm so much more relaxed already."

"Hopefully this will relax you even more." Adrien guided Marinette around a corner with one hand on her back. "Your parents won't be happy with me if you go home with an aching back because you overworked yourself."

Marinette giggled. "What, did they tell you to keep me from overworking myself? They're so overprotective sometimes."

"They had me promise to try to keep you from overworking yourself when I got your sewing machine back in the fall," Adrien told her. "Which I failed to do, by the way, because someone didn't ever mention to me that she was absolutely buried in work. Which reminds me- I meant to ask Tikki why she didn't say anything, but I keep forgetting."

Marinette cringed. "Yes, well... I thought I had it under control, until I didn't. And I won't let it happen again. I'll only accept one commission at a time to work on, and I'll give myself really long deadlines. That way, I only need to do a little bit of work per night. I can be finished for the evening when you're done with your homework, or even before, and I can work on my own projects too if I want. And I'm going to take a break before I start anything else. I want designing to be fun again."

Adrien couldn't help but grin. He had hoped that Marinette would say that, but he hadn't been able to help worrying that Marinette would want to do two commissions at a time, or otherwise push herself to do as many commissions as possible without overwhelming herself just to get her resume and portfolio built up. He just hoped that she would keep the same attitude even months in the future, when the piles of commissions and late nights and her aching back were just distant memories.

"And promise me that you'll work on not sitting for so long that you hurt your back when you're doing schoolwork," Marinette said, looping her arm through Adrien's. "I wasn't the only one overworking myself in the past couple months."

"I promise," Adrien said immediately. "I just took Ben's advice too literally about the papers for classes this semester. He told me that too when he proofread everything before midterms, that I tried to shove three-quarters of a semester's work into a quarter of the time. He's making me suggested timelines again for next year's classes, since he's taking them now, and I've gotten strict instructions to stick to that schedule, or at least not get more than a week ahead." He made a face as a thought occurred to him. "But I'll have to find someone else to read through my essays for grammatical errors for me, since he'll be graduating. So I might try to be a couple weeks ahead of schedule- but nothing like what I did this semester, I swear!" he added quickly when Marinette gave him a displeased look. "It's just that since other people will be busy with their own projects at the same time I have stuff due, I'll need to have mine ready to proofread a little early. Or I'll try to find another proofreader from the tutoring center."

"And you'll remember to take breaks?"

"I'll take breaks to get up and stretch and walk around a bit," Adrien promised. "No more sitting for hours on end and only getting up if I want something to eat- or if Plagg wants to eat. I know the problem was that I was sitting for too long instead of getting up and moving around, because when I was younger I always had to do homework between akuma attacks and photoshoots and my other activities so I couldn't just be getting up and doing other stuff all the time. But enough about that- ready for our massage?"

  It was two very relaxed and loose superheroes who left the spa several hours later, muscles freshly massaged and hair still damp from the pools. Plagg and Tikki had managed to return to their bags while Adrien and Marinette changed into their street clothes, so there was no need to wait around before they headed back towards the train station.

"I've never been so relaxed in my life," Marinette said happily, bumping up against Adrien's side as they walked. She stretched, bending backwards before continuing to walk. "It's hurt to bend like that for weeks, but now it's fine again."

"I'm glad you enjoyed it." They paused at a street corner to let a car pass before crossing. "I'm glad that you picked that package. We got plenty of time in the pools, plus the massage, plus the meal. Totally worth it."

Getting on the train and sitting in the less-than-comfortable seats there was a bit of a shock after the uber-comfortable spa chairs, but Adrien wasn't going to let it bother him. Next to him, Marinette nodded off ten minutes into the ride, her head pillowed on his shoulder.

All in all, it had been a wonderful day and a very successful birthday present. Adrien wished that he wouldn't have to head back to Paris so early the next day, so he could have more time to spend with Marinette now that they were both so relaxed and ache-free. But he supposed that Marinette would be at work for the next couple days, and he would be earning money to replace what he had just spent (and then some) with his modeling, even if it wasn't the most enjoyable work in the world for him.

Smiling, Adrien settled back into his seat and adjusted Marinette's head against his shoulder. Perhaps they wouldn't get to have quite as much time together post-spa as he would have wanted, but he wasn't going to let that tarnish the time that they did get to spend together before he had to go back to Paris.

[banemmanan]

Rules: Answer these 85 questions and tag 20 people

I was tagged by @rockystiltskin-bellamy thank you fam!

— What was your last…

1. Drink: coffee

2. Phone call: my mum

3. Text message: ”Tack pappa!”

4. Song you listened to: I’m currently listening to Roger Waters’ entire ‘Ça Ira’ album on repeat and all the songs have blurred together at this point

5. Time you cried: idk, probably at uni though

— Have you ever…

6. Dated someone twice: ha! I haven’t even dated anyone once!

7. Kissed someone and regretted it: I’d have to actually kiss someone first, lmao

8. Been cheated on: as stated previously, nup, I’ve had all of 0 relationships

9. Lost someone special: the last person I lot was my grandad, but that was some time ago now

10. Been depressed: I really don’t know

11. Gotten drunk and thrown up: shamefully, yes

— Fave colours

12. emerald green

13. turquoise

14. teal

— In the last year have you…

15. Made new friends: yes

16. Fallen out of love: no

17. Laughed until you cried: Oh, for sure, just the other day actually when watching Pam Doove’s scene in LoG

18. Found out someone was talking about you: Nah, I’m dense af, I would have no idea if they ever did

19. Met someone who changed you: I don’t think so...

20. Found out who your friends are: ???no???

21. Kissed someone on your Facebook friends list: ...no

— General

22. How many your Facebook friends do you know irl: the vast majority, I don’t like adding people I don’t know :/

23. Do you have any pets: Three cats <3<3<3

24. Do you want to change your name: I feel like it would be too much of a hassle to the people around me. I tried to get my friends to call me by a different name once but none of them remembered.

25. What did you do for your last birthday: I went to a spooky castle in the evening with my mates and we basically all traumatised ourselves because none of us really like spiral staircases but we were like ‘lol, let’s go to the TOP of that tower!1!’ :^)

26. What time did you wake up today: 12:30 I think? I was up until 3am is my excuse... :P

27. What were you doing at midnight last night: watching stupid videos probably? I don’t really remember.

28. What is something you can’t wait for: finishing my exams so I can go back to drawing out my au. I have told myself that I’m not allowed so that I revise more but tbh I’m just procrastinating in other ways instead

29. What is your favourite animal: cats :)

30. What are you listening to right now:  ‘Ça Ira’ by Roger Waters

31. Have you ever talked to a person named Tom: Yup, there was one in my year at school and it’s a very popular name in this are tbh.

32. Something that’s getting on your nerves: Me mostly

33. Most visited website: YouTube maybe? Maybe Discord by now actually.

34. Hair colour: brown

35. Long or short hair: very short, boy short anyway.

36. Do you have a crush on someone: eh.

37. What do you like about yourself: I’m quite good at drawing?

38. Want any piercings: I’m good with what I have

39. Blood type: O-

40. Nicknames: smol, dad, pemmling, emmy pemmy

41. Relationship status: hahahaaaah

42. Sign: aries

43. Pronouns: whatever

44. Fave tv show: Gotta be League of Gentlemen atm, but my sister got me some classic who dvds for my birthday so who knows, maybe I’ll have a relapse into that fandom...

45. Tattoos: none, but I want a whole load of them.

46. Right or left handed: Left, like all the best people are!

47. Ever had surgery: no

48. Piercings: just my ears.

49. Sport: I’ve done just about everything at some point in my life it feels like, but right now I play roller hockey and ice hockey. (ya boi is in the roller hockey GB team dontcha know)

50. Vacation: Last I went was to Hamburg with my sister, it was really nice.

51. Trainers: I don’t wear them habitually, but they’re ok

— More General

52. Eating: I had some scottish oat cakes not long ago and there’s been an orange sitting next to me for the past couple of hours that I’ve been meaning to eat.

53. Drinking: coffee *-*

54. I’m about watch: I’ve been showing my sister all of League of Gentlemen. And by all, I mean ALL. We only have the commentaries left, it’s Season 2 next

55. Waiting for: my exams to finish, I suppose

56. Want: To be able to find my LoG S1 DVD. It’s here somewhere, I know it!

57. Get married: I guess. If it happens, it happens.

58. Career: I want to find some dusty old museum/archive to bury myself in

— Which is better

59. Hugs or kisses: hugs

60. Lips or eyes: eyes

61. Taller or shorter: I think it depends what you do with it

62. Older or younger: what’s the context here?

63. Nice arms or stomach: arms, especially the forearms.

64. Hookups or relationships: neither???

65. Troublemaker or hesitant: idk

— Have you ever

66. Kissed a stranger: no

67. Drank hard liquor: yep

68. Turned someone down: hah

69. Sex on first date: lol no

70. Broken someone’s heart: no?

71. Had your heart broken: no

72. Been arrested: no

73. Cried when someone died: I haven’t

74. Fallen for a friend: hm, possibly

— Do you believe in

75. Yourself: YEAH!!!

76. Miracles: nah

77. Love at first sight: nope

78. Santa Claus: he’s real, shut up!

79. Angels: noo

— Misc

80. Eye colour: blue

81. Best friend’s name: Bronwen

82. Favourite movie: I don’t really have one tbh, A Field in England is good tho

83. Favourite actor: reeson shearsmith

84. Favourite cartoon: I really enjoy the Danger Mouse re-boot with Alexander Armstrong as Danger Mouse.

85. Favourite teacher’s name: I had 3 who were pretty chill: Stephen, Elizabeth, Owain

tagging: @bonnieveall @his-majesty-sheogorath @whicharethat @iwanttotieyourshoe @ollieplimsolls @fury-minaj @frogpuppet @@bokkle-oran-doove @jeremygoode @babynovak05 (tagging 20 is hard so consider yourself tagged m8!)