#halfway through writing this I realized uhhh. might not be as abled as I thought I was.

[phightinghottakes]

idk if responses to other anons are allowed, but @ cane user anon whos bothered by soda drawing herself using a cane. i hope you understand how much of a non-issue that is. people can use canes for any reason; people can use canes temporarily. gatekeeping a mobility aid is genuinely disgusting. implying that you need to use a cane permanently or else you can't use one at all is weird. what about people who have good days where they don't need a cane? or for people who only need canes when they go outside? what is wrong with you people holy shit its not that big of a deal for someone to use a mobility aid when they were JUST in the hospital (and have been in and out of the hospital for a while now)

Referring to {X}

I haven't seen the artwork so I'm assuming it's just...her standing around with a cane. I understand that as someone who is not disabled my opinion doesn't matter that much, but unless she's mocking or making a joke out of it and not just living, I don't see where the problem comes from.

[darkmulti]

(TW: Harassment, bullying, mental illness, self harm)

Okay so I was hesitant to talk about this but I feel like I'm safe here I guess. You don't have to say anything, and you can ignore this if you'd like but I haven't been able to tell anybody because they won't believe me.

When I was 7 there were two boys in my class who bullied me to no end. I've never been a uhhh... small person. I've always had a lot of trouble with the way I look, and it's very hard to like, love myself I suppose. But these boys made it 100x worse. Every single day, they would find me in the hallway, or just coming out of the bathroom or something. And they'd follow me around and poke my stomach and pinch at my sides. And I wanted to hit them back and scream at them but I didn't want to get in trouble so I always just tried to ignore it. But then one day in gym, our coach was always playing on his phone and never played attention and he was creepy and in his 50s or so and he scared me so there was no way I'd talk to him. But in class, the two boys kind of cornered me and no one could see us. And they started touching me and calling me names and I froze because I didn't know what to do. And class ended, thankfully, and they both left to go get in line to leave, and I went too but we were at the end and as we were walking through the doors, one of then smacked my butt really hard. I hid in the bathroom for the rest of the day bawling my eyes out. And there was a bruise where he had smacked me(which might just be because I bruise easily but it was still there and I was disgusted with myself).

Years passed I guess, and they didn't bother me again. I never had any friends and I was diagnosed with severe depression, anxiety, and paranoia when I was 9-10. I started hurting myself and there were a few instances where I tried to end my life.

On top of this, in my freshman year of highschool, there was this girl who I thought of as my best friend. I came out to her ad bisexual and she seemed really supportive and stuff. I went over to her house one day, and we were doing everything we would normally do. She promised that we would watch the Harry Potter movies because I still hadn't seen them. But halfway through the third movie, she just took her shirt off randomly. She wasn't wearing a bra or anything and she tried to play it off like she did it all the time. So I kept watching the movie, extremely uncomfortable. And then she straddled my lap really quickly and I put my hands up to try to push her off of me. But she grabbed one of my hands and made me touch her chest. I froze up again and was just sitting there holding my breath. Because I was petrified. She was supposed to be my friend and I had no idea what I was supposed to do. She started moving around and she said something like "don't you like girls?" and she was gonna lift my shirt up, but she heard her dad's car pull up in the driveway and got off of me really quickly. We both acted like nothing happened and I wanted to go home but I couldn't. So I had to stay there with her.

I'm always the person that pushes away help and comfort and sympathy. I never talk about my problems because I focus all my time on helping other people. And I'm terrified that people will push me away and blame me like I do myself.

I just feel really safe here and your blog has helped me so much. I feel like I'm heard, you know? Like I don't even have to say anything for people to understand and it's been so helpful. Up until yesterday, I had been a month clean from self harm which was a biiiig step. I relapsed last night, but I've made it a full 24 hours so far. I just wanted to say thank you. You didn't have to share your story or your writing, or provide this safe space. But you did, and I'm so so grateful. -🎵(if it isn't taken)

I’m so sorry you had to go through this. You’ve been through a lot at such a young age. I hope those boys are more respectful and realized what they done. Same with the girl. Though it may sound cruel, I hope the same thing happens to them. Then they’ll see that it hurts. So many people lack empathy, it really amazes me.

You are so strong, baby! I’m glad you’re well now and hope the best for you in the future! With time, you’ll find people who will understand and will respect you!

I am very grateful for all you guys. It really warms my heart to know that people are comfortable enough to share their experiences with me on this blog. I’m so happy to know that I’m not alone in this💕 and neither are you guys💘

🎵 emoji is all yours❣️

[crispychrissy]

Shifting Friends

Summary: You’re on and off again with Sam, but the elder Winchester always butts heads with you. What happens when you’ve finally had enough? Pairing: Sam Winchester x Shapeshifter!Reader, Dean Winchester Word Count: 1597 Warnings: Language, sexual situation, bit of angst, fighting, sassy reader A/N: After watching the most recent episode, I had this dream. I write down all my dreams and sometimes they turn into fanfics, like this one. Based on the several episodes we’ve had with shapeshifters, I’ve deduced what I believe happens when they shed their skin. I know it might not be accurate, but it’s personal interpretation. Beta’d by the lovely @saxxxology!

“Really, Y/N?! In the bathroom?” Dean’s voice echoed through the halls of the bunker, reaching you and Sam in the library.

You let out a heavy sigh and locked eyes with Sam. “Why can’t Dean be more like you, baby? It never bothers you.”

Sam shrugged and flipped the top of his laptop closed. “I know your schedule, so I avoid the communal bathroom, skip a shower, and use the one in my room.”

“It’s only once a week. Maybe I should just start going outside when it happens,” you said, wrinkling your nose in thought.

“As considerate as that might be, a pile of shifter skin near an abandoned water treatment plant might raise some questions.” Sam sat back in his chair and crossed his arms. “The last thing we need is people poking around because someone is skinning people and they end up finding the bunker.”

You were about to reply when a very stern-faced and angry Dean stormed up the stairs to the library. You had this argument at least once a week with the eldest Winchester, and it was getting pretty old since you’ve been living with the Winchesters for over a month now. You and Sam had a purely physical relationship that started less than a week after you moved in, much to Dean’s displeasure.

“You need to do that shit somewhere else, Y/N. I stepped in it!” Dean shuddered in repulsion at the memory. “Do you know how disgusting it is? It felt like I was walking on soggy tofu covered in lube.”

“Well, maybe you should look before you step into the shower stall,” you said quietly before taking a sip of beer.

“That’s it! I’m changing all the door knobs to silver!” Dean shouted, slamming his hand down on the end of the table in the library, causing it to shake.

You jumped up to your feet and took a few steps closer to him. “You wouldn’t dare. Don’t fuck with me, Dean. You learned that the hard way when you kept replacing my metal forks with silver ones. Did you ever get the skin out of your bed sheets?”

You smirked at Dean’s obviously disgusted expression as he remembered when you’d left him a nice souvenir in his bed after he continued to prank you with silver.

Dean looked down at Sam with his mouth open and just gestured to you. “Sam? A little help here?”

Sam shrugged and raised his hands in surrender. “I don’t have a problem with Y/N. She’s helped us several times on a lot of cases since she moved in.”

“And I’ve helped you mess with Cas,” you laughed, “nothing like a confused Angel.”

You saw a smile twitch at Dean’s lips when he thought about when you shapeshifted into Meg and started making out with him. Castiel was a pretty good kisser for an angel and had very soft lips which surprised you.

Dean shook his head and frowned at you again. “No, as funny as it was, it’s still gross. Can’t you shift somewhere else or actually explain it? I mean, you can change forms as many times as you like without having to shed your skin, why do you have to do it once a week?”

You leaned against the edge of the table and took a deep breath. “You guys are the hunters, you figure it out.”

“Humor me.”

“Fine,” you retorted, “when I shift forms, the skin of the person I was gets buried under my current skin. Imagine painting a wall over and over again with different layers of paint. After a while, the layers get heavy. Same thing happens to me. The skin I shed is actually dozens of layers of skin from previous people I’ve been.”

“Gross,” Dean grimaced. “So the form you’re in now, is that some random person?”

You stretched your arms out and looked down at your body, shaking your head. “No, this is how I was born. My mother was able to suppress my natural urge to shift when I was growing up with the help of some kind of witchy tea. Once I was old enough to understand what was happening, she helped me control it. The perks of a pureblood, I guess.” You looked at Dean and furrowed your brow. “Why all the sudden interest in me?”

Dean shrugged and tore his eyes away from your skin-tight halter top. “No reason. You’re the one who’s been around for a month and hasn’t said anything.”

“Well, I’ve been a little busy having to watch my ass just in case you decide to prank me by stabbing me with a silver knife.” You crossed your arms over your chest and raised a defiant eyebrow at Dean.

Dean scoffed. “You’re too useful to kill, sweetheart. Don’t flatter yourself.”

All you saw was red at Dean’s remark and that was the last straw. You walked over and grabbed a hold of his arm, absorbing his genetic info and body structure through your touch. His eyes went wide when he saw what you were doing and he tore his arm from your grasp.

“Don’t you fucking dare,” Dean hissed through gritted teeth.

You flashed him an evil smirk as your body began to shimmer and change. Your natural eyes were replaced with Dean’s deep green ones and you began to gain a few inches of height as your face and clothing changed. Within a few seconds, you had completely shifted into Dean.

“Get out of me!” Dean yelled, grabbing your - or rather his - shoulders.

“I bet that’s not the first time a chick has yelled that at you, is it, Dean?” You closed your eyes and began to browse through his memories.

You knew Dean and Sam had been through a lot, but you weren’t ready for the amount of shit that you saw. From Dean watching Sam die, to his father dying, to losing almost all of his friends, all the way to him torturing and cutting apart souls in Hell. You opened your eyes and searched out Dean’s.

You felt your eyes begin to burn with tears as you locked eyes with Dean. His expression softened slightly when he realized you must have linked memories with him and saw all of the dark things he’s seen.

“Not pretty is it, Y/N?” He said softly.

“No, but I can also see the good things. You shouldn’t feel so bad, Dean. We’ve all made choices that affect other people, and nobody should be carrying around this amount of guilt. You’ve got Sam and Cas, and they both love you,” you stepped closer to him, “and do you want to know a secret?

He raised an eyebrow and nodded.

“I love you, too.” You smiled at him as his eyes went wide. “I was always the freak when I was growing up. I was terrified of accidentally shifting in front of people so I had to keep my distance. I had no friends and rarely left my house besides going to school. Nothing hurts worse than being lonely, believe me. You’re not alone, Dean… and although you’re an asshole and keep pranking me, it makes me feel welcome. It makes me feel accepted.”

Dean cleared his throat and you could tell he was trying not to get emotional. He looked down at the ground and shifted on his feet.

“Yeah, whatever. Easier said than done.” Dean looked up at you. “Can you just… like… wash out the shower after you shift or something? So at least it’s not as gooey?”

You smiled and nodded. “Truce?”

Dean grumbled, but he nodded. “Yeah, truce. Just please, change back to your normal body. It’s weird talking to myself.”

“Not your first time, though. Zachariah sent you to the future and you met yourself. Interesting…” You trailed off and closed your eyes, concentrating on the memory. “Aww, stoner Cas was adorable.”

You heard Dean groan and start to walk away when you focused on a specific part of the memory and opened your eyes. He was halfway through the war room when you opened your mouth.

“Holy shit, did you really wear pink satin panties?”

Sam choked on his gulp of beer and Dean turned around so you could see the slight pink hue of a blush creep up on his cheeks. You shot him a knowing look and started laughing.

“Hey, nothing to be ashamed of, Dean. I have a nice pair of blue ones if you ever wanted to borrow them and relive your glory days.” You were laughing pretty hard, and Sam was trying to hold back his laughter as well.

Dean turned around and quickly started walking toward the doorway to the kitchen. “Get out of my head, woman!”

You shook your head as Dean disappeared into the hallway and looked over at Sam, who finally allowed himself to laugh.

“Hey Sam,” you purred and leaned down to him, “wanna see those blue panties yourself?”

Sam’s eyebrows shot up and he shifted uncomfortably. “Uhhh, Y/N,” he cleared his throat, “please change out of my brother before you say stuff like that. I’m really creeped out.”

“Oh, my bad.” You let go of the connection between you and Dean and allowed your body to relax and shift back to your normal form. You wiggled slightly as you got used to your new layer of skin and put your hands on your hips. “Better?”

“Much. Let’s go see those panties.” He grabbed your arm and dragged you with him down the hallway toward his room.

Tags: @katymacsupernatural @queen-of-deans-booty @your-modern-shakespeare @wh1sp3r1ng-impala @wheresthekillswitch @holyfuckloueh @just-another-busy-fangirl @growningupgeek @ididntasktogetmadedidi @trashimaginezblog @jensen-gal @spnbaby-67 @feelmyroarrrr @donnaintx @potterhead1265 @mizzezm @there-must-be-a-lock @sis-tafics @kittenofdoomage @ilostmyshoe-79 @sofreddie @eyes-of-a-disney-princess

[uncannyvalley-fic]

Last One Standing, Chapter 1

Chapter One

Jo surveys the event grounds with a barely-disguised expression of disgust on her face.  She’s not a horrible person, she just hates the annual Beckett Battle of the Bands (and Pancake Breakfast).  Tourists - mostly hipster millennials - show up in Beckett, camp in the forest, take up space in Ace of Cups and the Hyperion Diner, throw garbage all over the giant field where the concerts are held, and generally make a nuisance of themselves.  Normally she requests the weekend of the event off, giving the job of security to Levi and one of the junior officers, but somehow all of them - except for Levi - managed to get their time off requests in earlier.  (Or, in the case of O’Malley, went into labor.)

For the most part, her partner in preventing crime, Levi Levenson, looks perfectly happy to be patrolling a giant open field in the middle of the forest.  He’s holding two to-go cups from Ace of Cups in his hands as he strides towards her, his fluorescent green “Security” vest looking dapper and sharp over a navy henley and a button-down flannel shirt (unlike Jo’s own vest, which looks patently ridiculous over her white dress and pale pink fleece jacket).  He hands her one of the cups; Jo notices it has her name written on it in Penelope’s delicate hand. “Morning.”

“Hi, Levi.  Thanks for the pick-me-up.” Jo takes a sip.  Her usual, made perfectly.  Heaven.

“Thought I’d better get in there before all the out-of-towners show up,” Levi responds.

Jo checks her rose-gold watch.  It’s almost nine-thirty, the time when the first bands will be arriving.  She and Levi will match faces to badges and then go over their equipment - scanning it all with the police department’s brand-new explosives-detection wands (which Levi, completely unironically, has taken to referring to as “danger sticks”) - before letting them into the event grounds.  After that, they’ll start their patrols (and listen to the bands rehearse, which Jo isn’t precisely thrilled about, since the groups that show up to the Beckett Battle of the Bands [and Pancake Breakfast] tend towards the hipster, folk, and “quirky”).  They’ll eat a quick lunch, hopefully catered from the diner rather than the Denny’s (which hasn’t been the same since the changelings found out how good the grilled cheese is), then proceed to patrol and offer support until the evening, when the night guards, hired by the city council, come on.

It could be worse, Jo reflects.  Last year it rained the entire time.

She and Levi make their way back to the main gates as the first of many trucks, RVs, buses, and campers start coming up the dirt road from town.  There are also some people on foot, which surprises Jo, until she realizes it’s the Scatter family, who own the event grounds; they’re armed with yellow ponchos and bright orange plastic rods and seem to be ready to direct traffic.  They live on a small organic farm just south of the large open space.  During the rest of the year, they rent it out for other events, including the monthly Farmers’ Market, the Shakespeare Festival in the summer, and the Winter Carnival.

Levi opens the gates and begins checking parking passes, Jo scans each vehicle, and the Scatter family directs each vehicle where to park.  It’s easy enough to get caught up in the monotony of it all, and when Jo checks the time again, she’s not surprised to see that it’s nearly noon.

She looks over at Levi, who seems to be in the middle of a heated discussion with a Jeep full of blue-haired punk rockers, and sighs.  Then she hears a voice right next to her, and nearly leaps out of her skin.

“Jo-Jo Baby, this new shopping mall is lame.”

Jo tries to calm her racing heart and turns to face GaaP, who somehow snuck up behind her without her notice. “That’s because this isn’t the new shopping mall, GaaP.  It’s the Battle of the Bands.”

And Pancake Breakfast, her mind automatically finishes.

GaaP frowns. “I thought that was last weekend.  Y’know, with all the silvery vehicles and the flashing lights and the weird chanting.”

“No… what did you see out here last weekend?”

“Uhhh…”

Before GaaP can answer, Levi strides over to them. “Ladies,” he says, giving GaaP a grin. “That was the last of the bands, so we’re free to eat lunch in the VIP tent.”

“Ooh!  I’ve never been in a VIP tent before,” GaaP says. “At least, not of my own free will.”

She takes Levi’s arm and they walk off together, leaving Jo to puzzle out what the hell that meant.

It’s a slow day at Ace of Cups, mostly because everyone in town seems to be heading out to the Battle of the Bands (and Pancake Breakfast).  Clementine’s been bored since… well, since she got here.  There were a few orders early on, but now it’s just Ethel, who’s been nursing the same cup of Sanka in the corner while she writes erotica, and Ember and Mr. Zephyr, who are being disgustingly adorable over their lattes.

That’s why Clementine’s standing at the window, trying to pretend she isn’t blatantly looking over Ethel’s shoulder as she writes.  Ethel is ninety-five if she’s a day, but she is the most incredibly raunchy author Clementine’s ever read.  And Clementine has to admit, she’s never ever going to think about androids and their potential… well, abilities… in the same way.

There’s not much happening in town.  Mostly there’s just people streaming towards the event grounds, even though the Battle of the Bands (and Pancake Breakfast) doesn’t really start until the evening.

Then Clementine sees the trees at the edge of the park move, as though there’s a strong breeze blowing through.  Nothing else seems to be caught in the wind, though, which is puzzling, but not necessarily the kind of puzzling Clementine’s really going to think about…

… mostly because the person who steps through the moving trees is more puzzling than a localized breeze.

It’s a woman - a young lady, as Ethel would no doubt say - and as she leaves the cover of the trees she suddenly looks intensely worried, as though the forest was providing some sort of safety cloaking and now she’s naked.  But she’s not naked, although if Clementine had to judge her outfit, she’d say it might be more preferable to be naked.

“Ethel,” Clementine says, as the woman looks around frantically, “what do you think of her?”

Ethel looks up from her computer, lowers her reading glasses, brings up her trifocals, and looks out to see what Clementine’s indicated. “Looks like she fell face-first into the burlap sack section of Ace’s Hardware.”

Clementine has to hand it to Ethel - she’s basically Beckett’s own Joan Rivers.

The woman’s eyes light on Ace of Cups, and though making up her mind has invigorated her, she bolts across the town square and towards the cafe.

“Ooh, boy, she’s coming this way,” Ethel says with a low whistle. “Looks like she’s going to pole vault her way in here.”

It’s true, Clementine realizes; the stranger is carrying a long staff.

“Uh, hey, not to be alarmist,” Clementine says, turning on the table where Ember and Mr. Zephyr are still casually sipping, “but I’m pretty sure -”

Whatever she was about to say is suddenly cut off by the loud opening of Ace of Cups’ front door, and the silence of the shop gets swept up into a cloud of noise as six men dressed in tweed and plaid flannel shove their way in.  One of them, a bowler hat perched on his head, seems to be talking louder than the others. “Enos, I told you I was sorry!  I didn’t mean for them to get offended and leave!”

The tallest man of the bunch, the one wearing purple suspenders, rolls his eyes.  “You told our roadies they were, and I quote” - here he lifts his phone dramatically - “like rats scurrying out of a sinking ship.”

“I just meant they were -”

Another of the men, this one short with silver hair and little round gold-rimmed spectacles, holds up a hand. “Save it, Keegan.  Our roadies are gone, our truck’s halfway down some dirt road, and there’s simply no way we’ll be able to participate in the Battle of the Bands.”

“And Pancake Breakfast,” everyone in Ace of Cups says.

For the first time it’s as though the tweed intruders realize they have an audience.

“Look, Enos, it’s not a big deal,” Bowler Hat says. “You could literally pluck anyone off the street and they could be a good roadie.”

As though desperate to prove his point, he looks around the shop, taking in Ethel, Clementine, Ember, Mr. Zephyr, and Penelope, who’s just emerged from the men’s bathroom with a mop and bucket.

“Hell, no,” Penelope says, and goes into the supply closet.

Ethel shakes her head. “Sorry, dears.  I have a date with an android.  Well, several of them.  And less like a date and more like… an orgy.”

That throws Bowler Hat, and he gives her a confused face.  Clementine can’t blame him.

“Look, look - these two!” Bowler Hat says, and darts across the cafe to Ember and Mr. Zephyr.

The tall one, the one they’d called Enos, frowns. “A fuckboy and Blazer Face?”

Ember grins.  Mr. Zephyr has the dignity to look a little put out at the comment on his apparel.

“You can drive a truck, right?” Bowler Hat says.

“I mean, I guess so,” Ember says.

“And you can lift things?”

“Well, of course,” Mr. Zephyr says, somehow sounding insulted.

“Great!  You’re in!  Look, Enos, I found us two roadies!”

Enos points at Clementine. “What about her?”

“Don’t even think about it, dude,” Clementine says, and she goes back into the small locker room behind the counter.

She’s barely made it five feet into the room when the door slams behind her.  She starts to turn around, but receives a sharp jab in her back.

“Hey!” Clementine snaps, irritated. “I said wasn’t going to be your roadie!”

There’s a pause, and then a completely unfamiliar voice - this one female, with a British accent, asks confusedly, “What’s a roadie?”

“I’m not coming out.”

“Baby, we have to be there in ten minutes.”

“I look ridiculous.”

“I highly doubt that.”

“You signed me up to be in an ABBA tribute band!  What the hell kind of white nonsense is that?”

“You sing ABBA all the time around the house.”

“And I keep it in the house for a reason!”

Mary sighs. “Fine.  I’m leaving in two minutes.  If you’re not in the car, you’re walking to the Battle of the Bands...”

“And Pancake Breakfast.”

“... by yourself.”

There’s a sigh. “Just be glad I love you, woman.”

“Every day,” Mary says, and she goes back to the kitchen to get the car keys.

[nozoroomie]

Burger Queen or Bomino’s?

Summary: After graduation, the third years decide to move in together and share an apartment as they attend university together. Nico loves living with her friends, but as more time passes, the more her feelings for them grow from friendship to something else. When Nozomi and Eli start becoming a little distant with each other, Nico worries the reason might be because of her. With that on her mind, Nico contemplates whether she should leave so Nozomi and Eli's relationship isn't strained, or stay and watch it fall apart in front of her.

Notes: HELLO EVERYONE! I realize I've past the date I said I would update my latest ongoing fic with, but I just had to write this story while I still had it on my mind. And boy has it been difficult, but so worth it. My need for domestic NozoNicoEli fluff has been satisfied and I can't wait to upload the rest of the story for you all to see.

Thank you to my friend Hannah (@ Fireflypendants on twitter) for the hilarious knock off name for a certain pizza place.

Because I have most of this fic done already (just not in order) updates for this will be very fast and probably done within the week! Please look forward to it!

Thank you for reading, liking and reblogging! I hope you enjoy the story!

word count: 3124

[A03] 

The sound of a key turning in the lock echoes through the apartment cluttered with boxes. Shortly after, the door knob twists and the door opens just a smidge. From the other side, Nico carefully pushes the rest of the door open, holding a stack of boxes that climb just a bit higher than she is. All of them aren’t incredibly heavy, but carrying them up the stairs to their apartment takes its toll on her tired arms.

“Finally,” Nico sighs, balancing the boxes carefully as she closes the door behind her. “Oi Nozomi! Eli! I’ve got the final boxes!”

“Great!” Eli calls from down the hall. “What’s written on them?”

“Uhhh,” Nico twists her head to try to find a label and instead just finds Nozomi’s name scribbled on the side. “I think it’s all Nozomi’s? Nozomi why didn’t you label what the boxes were?! I don’t know where to take them!”

“Because those are probably my personal belongings!” Nozomi calls from the kitchen, “Take them to Elichi, she’s in our room right now!”

Nico grunts and adjusts her hold on the boxes before making her way down the hall to the last room. She walks through the doorway, finding a nice clear spot out of the way and placing all three boxes down there. She exhales a tired breath and stretches, happy to be done the difficult parts of moving. When her back cracks she hums contently and relaxes, looking over to Eli as she examines the placement of the boxes.

“What are you thinking about?” Nico asks, noticing Eli’s frown.

Eli turns to Nico and brings a hand down from her chin, giving her a soft smile.

“I was thinking about what wall to put the bed on.” She explains, sticking her hands in her pockets. “Nozomi and I won’t be able to pick it up for another few days, but I felt planning ahead wouldn’t be so bad.”

“Ah. Well, you have fun with that.” Nico says, waving her hand. “I’m gunna go see whatever Nozomi’s up to. Have we figured out what we’re having for dinner?”

“God, I haven’t even thought about that.” Eli groans and sighs. “I’ll just go with whatever you two decide.”

“Got it.” Nico flashes her a thumbs up before heading to down the hall towards the kitchen. She finds Nozomi with an open box in front of her and a lot of different kitchen utensils scattered around the kitchen, including her pig tea kettle in its new home on the stove top. She steps closer to her to peer into the box only to find it’s empty.

“Getting the kitchen set up?” Nico asks with a curious stare. Nozomi nods.

“I was hoping that the move would be faster and we might have time to go to the store to make something for dinner, but halfway through emptying this box I became too tired to even think about cooking.” She laughs a little as she holds up a ladle. “You’d think that after so many moves I’d remember something like that.”

Nico frowns a little and reaches over to her, poking her hard in the upper arm.

“Hey. You know what makes this move better?” Nico asks and Nozomi hums, waiting for an answer. “Me. I make it better.”

Nozomi chuckles softly and shakes her head.

“You certainly do.” She says with a smile. She keeps her hold on the ladle and glances to stove, focusing her attention on the burners. She turns the ladle a couple times in her hands before speaking in a quieter voice. “If you told me three years ago I’d be moving in with my best friends after graduation, I never would have believed you.”

Nico sidesteps closer to Nozomi, nudging her gently with her arm. Nozomi turns towards her with slightly watery eyes. Nico gives her a tender smile and reaches up, poking her cheek lightly.

“You’ll never have to come home to an empty house again, alright? You’ve got me and Eli here, and if you do end up coming back to an empty house, the only reason will be because Eli and I are already with you, so we all get to arrive home together.”

Nozomi’s eyes water some more and Nico pokes her cheek a little harder.

“Ah! Hey! No crying! Today is a good day and we’re gunna spend it doing nothing the moment we decide what to have for dinner.”

“R-right. Dinner.” Nozomi says with a wet laugh, reaching up to wipe her eyes from the bit of tears that pooled at their rims. “I guess we’ll be ordering take out?”

“Yeah, looks like it. Eli said she’ll have whatever we decide so what are you feeling like?” Nico asks. She pulls her phone out of her pocket and opens it up to the browser, looking for close by restaurants they’d be able to run to.”We’ve got a Burger Queen and a Bomino’s pizza down the road if we want something fast and greasy.”

“Ooh, did you say pizza?” Nozomi decides to peer over and look at Nico’s screen to see what else may have popped up in her search. “We could always get pizza. It’s an easier clean up, and they deliver!”

“Oh my god- you’re right, okay it’s settled we’re getting pizza.” Nico immediately clicks on their website, browsing the online menu. “What do you want for toppings? I’m pretty okay with everything but pineapple. If you two want it, we can get separate pizzas because I don’t need that in my life.”

The green eyed girl starts laughing loudly, the sounds of it echoing off the many blank walls in their apartment

“I’m serious! It sounds like I’m kidding but I’m not!” Nico glares her way, which only makes her laugh harder.

“What’s going on in there?!” Eli calls to them. Nico’s quick to reply.

“We’ve decided on Bomino’s but stupid Nozomi is laughing because I said no pineapple!”

“What’s wrong with pineapple?!” Eli shouts, much closer than before. Nico does a one eighty and peers out the entrance towards the blonde, narrowing her eyes at her.

“What do you mean ‘what’s wrong with pineapple’?! Everything! That does not belong on pizza! It’s disgusting and mushy and unappealing. The texture is as horrible as it’s tastes and the only place pineapple belongs is on its own, in a fruit salad or in some kind of pineapple dessert.” Nico’s retort is passionate and firm. Nozomi wheezes in the background. Eli frowns as she reaches the kitchen, quickly noticing Nozomi as she clutches onto the counter top for support.

“I mean, it’s not my favourite but it’s not that bad.” She reasons and Nico frowns. “It’s alright when ham is on the pizza too.”

Nico makes a face of disgust. Nozomi’s laughter begins to wind down into smaller giggles as she pushes herself away from the counter. There’s a brief moment of silence from her before she covers her mouth to hide some final chuckles.

“Are you telling me you’ve willingly eaten pineapple on your pizza, Ayase Eli?” Nico asks, her voice laced with nothing but abhorrence.

“Y… yeees?” Eli draws out her answer, hesitantly continuing. “I don’t understand the huge deal about this?”

Nico turns to Nozomi with a pointed stare.

“I pity you, Nozomi.” She says sympathetically. Nozomi’s laughter finally subsides and she sighs contently.

“It’s okay, If Elichi didn’t like pineapple on her pizza, it’d make her almost as perfect as you are.” She jokes as Eli pouts, crossing her arms and staring at the two of them. Nico smirks a little.

“A fair point.” She laughs at how Eli glowers and she goes back to her phone, opening the pizza creator and looking at the toppings list. “Seriously though, we can all agree on no pineapple, right?”

“I’m sure we’ll all live without pineapple.” Nozomi answers with a smirk.

“Good. Eli, what do you want on it?” Nico turns to the pouty blonde, “Bell peppers? We know how much you like those.”

“I do enjoy bell peppers on my pizza.” Eli grumbles. “...can we get mushrooms too?”

Nico nods, tapping a few things on her phone.

“Okay, Nozomi? What do you want?”

“Meat.” Her reply is quick and simple. Eli smiles and Nico shakes her head at the vague answer.

“Okay genius, there’s like 7 different meat toppings. Which one?” Nico shows Nozomi the list and she scans it, tapping on the one she wants. Nico turns the phone around and glances over the photo of the pizza they have in the pizza creator.

“So we’ve got bell peppers, mushroom and beef. I’m adding extra cheese and some red onion. Is that good?”

The other two nod and Nico finishes the rest of the details for the order. The online tracker gives them an estimate of when the delivery will arrive and she smiles, slipping her phone back in her pocket and looking at her new roommates. Nozomi’s gone back to fixing up the kitchen with Eli helping out by placing dishes in the cupboards. They playfully bump hips every now and again and Nico shakes her head at the weird gestures of affection they give one another.

Nico decides to offer additional support in tidying the room, taking the stacked pots and pans and moving them into a different cupboard. Once the kitchen is mostly done, their dinner arrives and the three of them set up a makeshift table with some boxes. They sit around it, munching on their pizza and talking between bites about what they want to do with the big space.

“Should we get a couch? I feel like our living experience will only improve from having a couch.” Nico suggests, looking at the wall most of their boxes rest against. “We can put it on that wall since we’re throwing the TV on the opposite one.”

“Good idea!” Eli beams, “Nozomi’s table is small, so we’ve still got a lot of space from the dining area and the kitchen too.”

“Maybe if we get more books we can have a bookshelf?” Nozomi proposes, glancing at the dining room area, “Or maybe we can just use it as spare storage space. Like if we invite the girls over and we need more chairs. We could put them there.”

Nico finishes chewing on the bit of pizza, swallows it and nods.

“That’s not too bad. Actually, maybe it’d be a good spot to keep our laundry rack too.” she contemplates out loud. “Well whatever, we’ve got a lot of time to figure out how to make this place look the best.”

The other two hum in approval as they continue to eat. At one point Nozomi shuffles over to the side of the room, digging through one of her bags excitedly. Nico and Eli watch with curious eyes as she pulls out her camera. Nozomi carefully takes the lens cap off and looks towards them with a broad grin.

“Picture time~” She grins, moving back towards them. Nico looks at Nozomi incredulously, wondering why picture time is now, of all times.

“Seriously!? Can’t it wait until we’re done eating?!” She asks, watching as Eli puts her half eaten piece down and moves to Nico’s other side.

“Time waits for nobody, Nicocchi~” Nozomi replies sagely, “Now, say cheese~”

She squishes herself against Nico, causing her to push into Eli. Nico’s aware of the way Eli pushes back against her and how her face leans closer to hers. She looks up to the camera just in time as the flash goes off and Nozomi captures the first official group photo of the three of them in their new apartment. Said girl sits up, turning her camera around and looking at the image preview displayed on the small screen. She smiles and turns it towards them, humming contently.

“Look at that. A perfect picture.” She laughs.

Nico examines the photo and to her dismay, Nozomi’s right. Nozomi’s to the left of her, a bright grin slapped on her face while Eli on her right side has that picture perfect closed mouth smile she always has. And her? Well she’s perfect in every photo, but this photo’s lighting and the surprised expression suits her. Even the little ‘o’ shape her mouth is in is perfect.

“Well, it is impossible to take an unflattering photo of me,” Nico reasons, earning a chuckle from her roommates, “This one is probably the best spontaneous picture of me though. Good job Nozomi.”

“Thank you~”

They finish up their dinner and Nico and Eli clean up the garbage while Nozomi searches for a deck of playing cards. They decide to spend the rest of the evening playing different card games, Nozomi somehow winning more often than not. Nico and Eli temporarily team up to take her down for a few rounds. By the time two hours have gone by, their exhaustion hits them and Eli suggests bringing out their blankets and camping out in the living room together to end the move in day celebration. Tiredly, Nozomi and Nico push themselves out of their spots on the floor and tidy up the small mess of cards thrown at each other to make a clean spot for all the comforters and pillows. Nico places the poorly made stack on their makeshift box table while Nozomi trudges towards the hall, moving to help Eli grab all their blankets. Nico follows afterward, going to her room and grabbing her own for the massive blanket bed they intend to make.

When she comes back with blankets and pillow in hand, she finds Nozomi’s wrapped herself in one of them and rolled into one corner of the bed space they began to make. Eli stands with one hand holding a blanket and the other pinching the bridge of her nose. Nico snorts and shakes her head, deciding to help Eli out.

“Wow that’s a pretty lumpy blanket.” She says, poking it with her foot. “I guess we’re using it as pillows?”

It takes Eli a moment but she catches on, bringing her hand down from her face and smirking a little.

“That’s exactly what I was going for Nico. You know me well.” Eli gives her a playful wink and Nozomi rolls, peering up at them through her blanket. Nico drops down onto the floor, resting her head on Nozomi and sighing contently.

“Well your idea is great. This might be the best pillow I’ve ever used. So lumpy and warm, you could-” She pauses her speech to give a big, fake yawn and squishing her head into Nozomi more. “Practically fall asleep instantly.”

Nozomi’s muffled laughs can be heard and Eli follows Nico onto the floor, resting her head on  the Nozomi blanket mound as well.

“You’re right. I feel like with just this big lumpy blanket pillow, I might have the best sleep of my life. But there’s one thing missing-” She says with a hint of laughter in her voice. She grabs one of the blankets she held earlier and drapes it over the both of them. “There we go. Now we’ll stay warm and have the best sleep of our lives.”

Nozomi’s laughing so much she’s shaking, but Nico and Eli go along with it some more.

“A massage feature?! Eli, where did you even find this lumpy blanket?!” Now Nico’s laughing along with Nozomi, and Eli can’t help but laugh with them.

“It was a gift! From our lovely friend Nozomi. I have no idea where she went though, she’s really missing out on the experience.”

Nozomi begins to squirm and rolls herself away from them, letting their heads fall to the floor. Nico and Eli wince from the contact, but continue to laugh. Nozomi pushes herself onto her knees, the blanket still wrapped around her as much as possible. She looks at them and moves the blanket off her mouth so she can speak.

“Really Nicocchi, if you wanted to experience a real massage from this blanket, all you had to do was ask.” The area where Nozomi’s hands are moves ever so slightly and Nico pauses for a short moment before laughing harder.

“Oh my god you look so dumb-” She says between wheezes, “Eli- s-stop her, get her out of there!”

Eli’s still on the floor but she does as requested, moving onto her knees and looking at Nozomi eye to eye. She’s still laughing as she begins to unwrap Nozomi, letting the large blanket fall to the floor and freeing the other girl from it’s warm confines.  She laughs again and looks at Nico.

“Can you believe our lumpy blanket pillow was Nozomi this whole time?!” She asks a little too excitedly.

“Honestly, we may have never known until she started talking.” Nico jokes, earning a few more laughs from them.

With Nozomi free from her blanket, the three of them decide to actually get the bed set up this time. They set a few blankets on the ground as a makeshift futon, then set their pillows up in the spots they wanted to sleep in. Eli remembers something and hurriedly scans through one of her personal belonging boxes in her bedroom and returning with a small night light. As she heads off to plug it in, Nico and Nozomi place the final blankets down and look at their creative bedspread.

Afterwards they head to their furnitureless bedrooms, scanning their clothes boxes for pyjamas. They each change there and begin getting themselves prepared for bed. Nico takes her ribbons out of her hair carefully, reaching into a different box for a brush to brush her hair out. She smiles satisfied and puts her brush down before heading back to the living room.

She’s the second one there after Nozomi, who’s put her hair into one side ponytail. She smiles and waves Nico over, patting the spot beside her. Nico makes a tired sound and doesn’t waste any time in making her way to her spot in the middle (it was unanimously decided because she gets cold easily and will benefit in the center.) She worms her way under the covers and sighs contently as Eli makes her entrance, hair down and blue nightgown on. She flicks the big light on the wall off and revels in the warm glow of her night light as she makes her way to her side of their bed, crawling under her covers and humming happily.

“Goodnight Nicocchi. Goodnight Elichi.” Nozomi says, yawning afterwards and lying back on her pillow.

“Goodnight Nozomi. Night Nico.” Eli replies, pulling her blanket up higher and Nico yawns.

“Night. See you two in the morning.” Nico finishes, closing her eyes and letting her long awaited sleep take her.