#he had some perogies too

[katuschka]

Olalla Chapter 14 2/2

Jake Kiszka x f!OC 6.211 words

Disclaimer: This is a work of fiction, intended for adult readers. Any resemblance to real persons is purely coincidental. Also, if you're under 18, go find some other entertainment elsewhere.

Warnings (are spoilers): mentions of war and invasion (no gore), emotional defeat and depression, emotional turmoil, heavy angst, conflicting thoughts, language (even though some of it is in Polish or Slovak), soldiers, traffic jams, burreocracy; it can get political if you squint, but I tried to keep it vague so as not to ruin the actual story with it; kissing, fluff, light petting, and as always, an unhealthy dose of heavy emotions and feelings

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Previous chapter Olalla masterpost

The cool Spring wind flows over the Vistula river Towards my homeland in the distance; Towards the snowy peaks of the Tatra Mountains. Oh wind, carry my greetings over the fields and hills. Give my greetings to my family, The flowers, the meadows, And all the people in all the huts.

Agnieszka, Zakopane, 25th March 2026

Two days went by, as if in a flash. We were all very busy transforming the willa into a shelter for the elderly. And yet, despite everything I did, and everywhere I went, every passing minute, I couldn’t stop thinking about it. 

About them.

About him and what he said. 

I didn’t tell anyone. I kept it a secret until my body felt like a pressure pot, which made it even more impossible to make any decision. I considered other options too, while trying to convince myself that the reason why I felt so miserable was that accepting his offer would be a disgustingly selfish decision. I tried to steer my mind in the opposite direction instead. The military needed more administrative workers and I seriously considered it. I didn’t really know what to do, my brain refusing to cooperate. I just wanted to be useful. 

I didn’t reject him either, at least not in a way he asked me to, because I couldn’t lie to him. That was the real source of my misery. I never got over it… over them… over him. But I kept him in the dark. 

He would send me a text in the morning; not pushing it, just reminding it was all true. Good morning Veela. Paris is shrouded in mist today. I hope you’re safe. I didn’t respond. 

He sent me another one after lunch. I finally visited Morrison’s grave today. I’m taking a walk now, and I keep thinking about you. I hope you eat. That made me smile almost against my will. He already knew me too well. I couldn’t leave that one unanswered. 

Mama made mushroom perogies. I’m stuffed, I typed back. Fantastic :D, he responded. I knew very well the reaction wasn’t just about my full stomach. 

In the evening, he sent me another message, wishing me a good night and casually mentioning a book he started to read. I smiled again – albeit mournfully – realizing what he was trying to do. I kept rereading his messages in my bed over and over again until I fell asleep. In the morning, he did it again. Good morning! Looks like spring is finally here. A pigeon just shat on my shoe. This time I laughed, but I never let him know that, because I was in the kitchen with Svetlana when the text arrived and my reaction to it seemed completely out of place. I felt guilty again. Two hours later, my phone chimed again. 

Kuba Starlight: I know I told you I would be patient, but PLEASE at least let me know that you’re ok. That’s all I ask. 

Ashamed, I quickly texted him back. It was not enough and I knew it, but I still didn’t know what else to say. 

Veela: I’m ok. It’s quiet here.

I didn't hear from him again that day, until Maya called later that afternoon.  

“Are you fucking kidding me? Are you out of your mind?”

“I don’t know. Depends on what you’re talking about,” I replied, a bit stunned.  

Jake had called her. He told her everything, including the things left unsaid that still held a meaning. Having no real news from me, he reached out to the least probable person out of sheer desperation. I felt guilty, sorry for him, and angry at him all at the same time, especially after hearing Maya’s opinion, which genuinely surprised me. 

“I thought you didn’t like him,” I sighed in exasperation. 

“Well I changed my mind!” Maya was raising her voice again. 

“Why?”

“Do I really have to keep explaining such basic things to you? I’m sick of all this ‘no man’s woman’ bullshit that only made you miserable.” 

I tried to make her understand, but my sister had never been overly sympathetic to those playing a hero. I still tried to protest, repeating the same arguments I told her just two days ago: “I can’t possibly leave mom and dad. They need me here.” 

“Bullshit! You’re SO full of shit Agnieszka. Didn’t you just tell me that you’re considering joining the military?”

"…to keep them safe…”

“They don’t want THAT! They sleep better knowing that I left.” My sister wouldn’t even let me talk at this point. And when that happened, we both knew the storm was coming. My spitefulness and her rightful wrath often resulted in pulled hair and one nearly knocked-out tooth when we were younger. As a Scorpio and an Aries, we loved each other dearly… until something happened. 

“…and while I’d love them… all three of you… to come here, I respect their decision. I can’t, however, respect what you’re doing right now. …and don’t you dare hang up now! I KNOW you want to.”

“Oh fuck you!” I spat back instead. “I haven’t heard from them for almost three months. And now he’s suddenly acting like Prince Charming, trying to persuade me to go with him to Never Never Land.”

I heard a sharp intake of breath first. She knew my poisonous sting was in full emergency. One wrong word and I would definitely hang up. “Agnieszka…,” she continued in a much softer tone, “... speaking about respect… it’s because you told him to. No, you actually didn’t even tell him, you sent Josh to do that. And I was there, not you. I saw him imploding into a ball of despair on the stairs when that happened. And remember what you told me when I found you in your room just minutes later.”  

Maya paused then, and waited patiently for my reaction, knowing too well she just struck a nerve. When I didn’t say anything, she continued: “Maybe you should just talk to someone. And by that I mean that you really SHOULD.”

“Please, Maya, don’t tell mom.”

“No, I can’t promise you this. Not this time.”

And sure enough, just a half an hour later, another fiery Sikorski woman stormed into my bedroom. 

“Why didn’t you tell me?!”

The reaction itself was the very reason why I hadn’t. I didn’t forget about how she had treated me during my little mental breakdown in August, and I certainly had no desire to go through it again. There was no escaping it now, though. I tried to repeat the same arguments I said to Maya, which proved to be completely futile, and in the end, I made a lethal mistake by mentioning my other plans. Maya had been right, although it still couldn’t prepare me for the outburst. 

“I WILL NOT ALLOW IT!!!” Mama was completely berserk, and for a split second I thought that she would hit me. Instead, her eyes veiled with fresh tears and her face twisted in visible pain, and it all ended up with the two of us hugging each other in the end. 

“I think we need a drink,” she said at last, sniffling. 

“My grandfather did some abhorrent things,” mama said after she downed her shot. We were sitting alone facing each other in the kitchen with a large bottle of vodka between us. I felt like it was going to be a long night. 

“I never wanted you to know, because it was hard enough for me to learn to live with it. But it made me realize one thing. There’s evil in every one of us, dormant, but present. If anything happened to you or Maya, I’d kill. But that’s not right either. That’s not why Jesus Christ died for us.”

I rolled my eyes; I was not interested in yet another one of her religious lessons…

“No, listen to me. That man loves you. We all saw it. And I was watching you closely, too. You’re not going to fool me. That’s the greatest gift one human being can give to another. You know it too, because it almost destroyed you when you lost it.”

She paused and poured us both another shot before she continued. I waited with bated breath, because even though we had talked about Dominik or even Joshua before, she had never openly acknowledged my pain before. 

“I didn’t even imagine how much, though. What he offers you, that’s unusual. You two still hardly know each other, he’s from afar, and yet he’s offering to shield you under his protective wings. The world is full of bad people and the worst of them have always wanted to rule it. Some people fall victim to it, others collaborate…” She paused again and took a deep breath. 

“I’ve always wanted my two girls to find the best people. Someone who would take care of you no matter what.”

“I don’t need anyone to take care of me,” I protested. 

“Stupid girl! You always have! I am your mother, so I know. I’ve tried to teach you independence, but it has its limits. Only the bad people don’t need anyone, treating everyone as their puppets. I take care of your father and he takes care of me, and that’s how it should be!”

Prickly tears filled my eyes at those words. I had been defiantly holding on to my anger that prevented me from crying for so long, but mama’s words overwhelmed me at last. It was not her usual self, cold and commanding. I felt seen. One more reason to stay with them…? 

“I have you,” I swallowed harshly as the excess tears flew down my parched throat. “How could you even think that I would be able to leave you?” Mama took my hand in hers and squeezed it gently, but shaked her head at the same time. 

“My back hurts, so do your father’s knees. Those limits, all the things you can’t handle by yourself even though you think you do, are no longer my burden to carry and I certainly didn’t raise you to take care of me. At least not yet. Some people think that’s how it should be, but not me. Because first and foremost, it’s every adult person’s duty to start something new, so that the world can move on. I took care of my mother, and then your dad’s mother, but only after I took care of you. To everything there is a season!” 

There she was again. The general. Always teaching me to swim simply by throwing me into the deep water. She looked me in the eyes and continued: “Maya understands this. She’s not pushing it. She knows we’re safe here…”

I huffed. How could she be so sure? Weren’t they trying to persuade me to go exactly because we might NOT be safe here? “BESIDES,” she continued before I could voice those thoughts, “this is not just about the current madness. It was fueled by it, sure, but it is his life too. He wouldn’t do it if he didn’t want you in it, right?” 

I watched my shot glass glimmer in the dim light when I played with it between my fingers. After three successive shots, the reality around me seemed just as hazy as my recurrent dreams. “Mom?” She watched me for a while before she whispered: “Yes?”

“Do you believe in prophetic dreams?” I expected her to roll her eyes or cross herself just like she always did everytime I said something stupid. It was my dad’s family that liked this shit. 

“Yes,” she replied matter-of-factly and to my great surprise, and then grabbed the bottle again with a sigh. “But I think we probably need more, don’t we!” 

And I told her everything about them. When I finished, she was watching me with her head resting in her right palm, her expression unreadable. “I can’t believe how stupid you are,” she said at last and I deflated, but she continued: “What more proof do you possibly need to realize that this is right? You have a strange glow in your eyes when you’re in love. It dims down sometimes, but I’ve been seeing it in full glow since yesterday morning, wondering what might have caused it. I have been praying for this ever since Dominik died. Now go.”

Back in my room, and with shaky hands, I pressed his number. It kept ringing for a while, testing my weak resolve, and I almost gave up, but then his voice finally came out of the speaker. 

“Veela?” Jake was breathless. “Sorry…uh… I just finished my shower…I mean…”

“I accept.”

It was followed by several long seconds of complete silence. Well, almost complete.

“Jake? Are you crying?”

“... no,” he cleared his throat. “Ok. Ok, fine… now listen, there are some things we need to do first. Grab a pen.” 

Zakopane, 28th March 2026

It was sleeting when she got behind the wheel and turned the key in the ignition. It seemed symbolic: freezing rain continuing to obscure her view just when the hot tears finally dried. The familiar warmth – even though sometimes bittersweet – behind her. Before her only cold strangeness and uncertainty, raining down on her. 

For one last time, she checked the back seat of her old Nissan. Two duffle bags, containing a meagre fraction of her life. Mostly practical necessities, a few pictures, her favourite teacup decorated with tiny forget-me-nots and one framed, handwritten note with a pressed flower attached to it. He will be remembered… 

Thirty three years, most of which she was now leaving behind. 

Agnieszka didn’t want her parents to walk her out to the car, because she knew that she’d never be able to drive away if she saw them in the rear view. 

Nothing else could be seen in this dreadful weather. The fickle Spring robbed her of one final glance at her beloved mountains. Maybe it was better this way, because she knew she wouldn’t be able to stop looking, standing at the gas station, unwilling to move. 

She did – however – open the window as she drove along the thick woods. It was too early for nature to overwhelm her with intoxicating scents of budding life – not even the crocuses had emerged from under the snow yet – but the frosty, earthy smell was just as welcome. Taking deep breaths, Agnieszka kept inhaling it as if it was the potion of life… which it was. 

They might destroy happiness for a while, but they will never destroy life. Even if they nuked it off the face of the Earth, new Spring would come eventually. The untamed power of this planet; it would never be subdued by human stupidity. 

Tears pricked her eyes again. She closed them for a fleeting moment on the almost empty road and instantly saw both their faces behind her eyelids. Beautiful assholes. Shining like two celestial lights, they wanted to be the new family to her. An ex-lover turned to a brother she never had, and…

“Kurwa!” she roared, punching the steering wheel. She was really doing it, and was still totally unsure how she felt about it. It was a mess, fueled by an overwhelming adrenaline rush. 

The last two days had been stressful. She rushed into the hospital to get her medical records, she swept all the drawers in the house in search for all other documents she might need, she followed Jake’s instructions and applied for ESTA, praying it would let her through as the network kept going down that day. Everything went more or less smoothly, except three hours of panic when she couldn’t find her passport.

They had agreed to meet in Vienna, the nearest airport she felt comfortable going to or flying from. Not Budapest, not Bratislava, for… reasons. Prague was too far. Going south through the passage between Western Tatras and Beskids, she would be there in five hours. Four if she got lucky. With the time reserve she already had by leaving early, it was hopefully going to be a fairly comfortable ride. 

She was proved wrong just a few minutes later when she turned left in Chocholow and saw cars with Polish licence plates passing her by in the opposite direction. That was strange. Some of them even flickered their headlights at her. A few hundred metres later, she reached the end of a short line. 

One car that just turned around and was also going back the opposite direction stopped right next to her and motioned to her to put the window down. “What’s going on?” she asked as she saw some warning lights ahead, too. “An accident?”

“They just closed the borders this morning without even bothering to announce it officially until about half an hour ago,” the driver shouted. 

“What? They can’t just close the borders? There are no borders!”

“You don’t have to tell me that, but obviously, they can. They said it’s war, so they can do whatever they want. You better get back.” 

They drove away but she stayed put, ready to gamble. Maybe they just required a passport. Everything would be ok. 

But it wasn’t. Fifteen minutes later, she finally reached the “border”. Two Slovak soldiers motioned to her to stop. “Nemôžeme v��s nechať prejsť. Je mi ľúto,” the younger one said. 

Fine, Neszka, stay calm, you got this. “Can we speak in English please? This is urgent!”

“Čo ta piča chce?” she heard the older one shout and it immediately made her blood boil. Yeah, she could understand that. But she had to remain calm. The younger one ignored him and turned back to her. “I can’t let you…eh…”

“Through?”

“Yes, Through. The border is closed.”

She took a deep breath, holding the steering wheel to ground herself. “I need to go to Vienna to meet my…my… boyfriend. I have a passport. I’m just transiting.”

“I’m sorry,” he shook his head, but then leaned closer, speaking more quietly now: "Choďte do Těšína.”

“Cieszyn? But I don’t have enough time! I need to get to Vienna to catch my plane!”

“I’m sorry,” he repeated. “Hurry.” 

Neszka had no choice. She just lost the reserve, and maybe more, but it still could be done. However – as she learned two hours later – with the Slovakian borders closed, all the roads to the Czech Republic were jammed. She lost another hour in another line that formed right before Cieszyn due to traffic, and when she finally got out of town and back on the highway, it was more than obvious that she would never make it on time. 

Shaken by what had happened and so focused on the road, she completely forgot to call Jake to tell him. Just before reaching Brno, with still at least 90 minutes to go, the screen of her phone before her lightened with Jake’s text. 

Kuba Starlight: Where are you?

She pressed the call button hastily and he immediately answered. 

“I’m not going to be there on time, Jake. I’m not even in Austria yet.” She surprised herself with how agitated and despairing she sounded, as she had been trying to ignore all those emotions in order to just drive. Dying in a car crash certainly wasn’t the plan. 

“I got stuck on the road and now I’m going to miss our plane. It was awful.” The irrational fear that he would somehow leave without her overwhelmed her despite knowing that he would never do it. But knowing is not the same as feeling, and she just couldn’t shake off the feeling of impending doom after everything that had happened. 

“It doesn’t matter. We've got to change the plan a bit anyway,” he sighed. 

“Why?”

“I’ll tell you later. Now just please get in here safely.”

Vienna, the same day

“They suspended ESTA approvals for Polish citizens. There’s still some confusion whether it applies to those that were already submitted, but I don’t want to risk it…. Um, yours hasn’t been approved yet, has it? ”

“No… but… What? Why?”

Jake didn’t know how to answer that. The reasons made him want to yell in frustration. Josh himself had raised his voice during their call. Not at Jake, but at the world. 

It happened just an hour before Jake was to leave for the Orly airport with just his backpack, hopeful he’d be back soon with her safely in his arms. Josh called, angry and determined, and they had to change plans quickly, making Jake grab the suitcase and stuff all of his remaining possessions into it in a hurry. It was also their mutual agreement not to tell her about it until they meet in Vienna in fear that she might change her mind. They indeed did know her too well already. 

And when she finally arrived at the airport later that day, he knew immediately that it had been the right decision. He had expected their reunion to be awkward at best, but she fell right into his arms, breathless and shaking and just craving human touch. Not what he had expected in any way, but selfishly speaking, this was better. A fleeting moment of relief and tenderness when he could bury his nose in her hair again and just forget about everything. For a short while. 

It got awkward just a little bit later. He got her a coffee and a ham sandwich and she recovered a bit physically, but still remained upset and troubled. She was a mess, clearly. And distant again. He couldn’t even imagine having done this via phone. It was hard enough to have this conversation when he had her at arm's length and he considered each word carefully. 

“So… I need a visa?” Neszka continued when he remained silent. Her tone was suddenly weary and her previous frown loosened, transforming her face into a mask of surrender. Jake looked at her intently in alarm, trying to read her mind, but she seemed distant and unfocused, looking past him into the distance. She was dissociating. Or worse, giving up, just as he had predicted. But at least he was with her now. It loosened his tongue at last, and he swallowed harshly before he spoke. 

“Yeah, maybe, but we don’t have enough time, and you probably wouldn’t get it anyway for the same reason… uh… It’s because you’re automatically considered to be a war refugee now” – ‘and therefore undesirable’, he refused to add, although they both knew – “instead of a mere visitor, but there’s a way to change that… Listen… ”

She didn’t. It was the last straw. Crumbling under the burden of all the overwhelming events, Neszka collapsed on the nearest seat, clutching her head in fear that it may fall off. “So… I’m just a filthy stray now.” Hot tears obscured her vision just as the mixture of anger, desperation and homesickness dimmed her ability to think straight. She was an ant, after all. She had seen it before; people treating other human beings like faceless burden. Dehumanizing the victims in order to preserve their own comfort. Back home, she could keep the remains of dignity, but now the reality hit.

“Listen Veela,” Jake repeated, now crouching before her, trying to calm her down. “There’s still a way. But we need to go to Copenhagen. I just need you to say yes and I’ll go get us plane tickets.”

“Yes to what?”

Copenhagen, 31th March 2026

Her left hand didn’t even look – or feel – like her own when she raised it up to examine one of Jake’s silver rings. 

“I promise I’ll get you a much nicer one. And a proper ceremony, too,” he replied to a comment she never even meant to make. 

“It doesn’t really matter. I wouldn’t care if it were just an iron band. I never wore real jewelry.” With every intake of her breath, she could feel the malachite pendant resting against her skin under the dress Jake bought her, warmed up by the heat of her body. One of her most treasured possessions, despite the price. It was the symbolic value that really mattered. 

Agnieszka could almost hear the echo of Joshua’s voice, coming to her from easier times. ‘I really hoped that we would be friends… and this kinda reminded me of your eyes. Please, keep it.”

Had those times been really easier? Or simply more ignorant… at least as far as her soul and heart is concerned? Her protective walls started to crumble the moment Joshua made that simple gesture and closed her hand, on which the pendant rested, with his. Taking that hand in his, he led her towards a realization that what those walls were protecting was essentially a wasteland.

What followed was a perilous journey, but she no longer had any doubts it was one worth taking. 

Joshua opened her heart. 

Without him, this wouldn’t be even possible, she thought, looking at the ring again. 

The balmy sound of Jake’s voice interrupted her reminiscence. “I know, but I wanted you to feel normal. And in this case, ‘normal’ means ‘as much as I can give you’, and that’s still the least you deserve.”

“I don’t need you to do that.” What she really meant was I appreciate it, but it’s more than I deserve. She was still having trouble finding the right words with Jake. 

… and Jake was still having trouble understanding her fully, as he huffed in frustration. She had decided to come with him, not because of her fear, but because of his fear for her, and yet she kept pushing him away. 

He wanted to be patient, he really did, and he couldn’t really blame her after everything that had happened, but it still hurt. “You still don’t… or perhaps refuse to understand that I want to. I’ve been wanting to ever since I first held you in my arms, despairing and weeping. You’ve been sad and tearful many times since, and I’ve always felt like it’s all my fault. I’ve never stopped yearning to make it better. Now you’ve finally let me, though I really wish it wouldn’t be under such dire circumstances. Still… For the first time in months, I’m able to look in the mirror. So please just allow me to give you at least a little semblance of normalcy.”

Jake took her to a normal, fancy restaurant, ordered normal, expensive wine, but that’s exactly the reason why nothing about it felt normal. She was sitting there in her new jacquard pencil dress, feeling… guilty. How did she deserve any of this? 

Looking around, she could see other people living their usual daily lives, which made her unreasonably angry. But…hadn’t she been doing the very same thing during the past four years? Has the world gone mad? Are we all really that self-centered and obtuse until it’s our own skin that got burned? 

“We’re not really that far from Szczecin. Or even Gdansk.” She said at last, deliberately ignoring how Jake continued to offer his love on a golden platter. 

“I know…”

“This is surreal. Like a bad dream.”

Neszka regretted those words immediately. She knew it was bad even before she saw Jake’s reaction. Not angry, just… He put his fork down and looked away, while taking a deep, grounding breath.  “No, I mean… the situation… not you, Jake! I’m just overwhelmed. Nothing is normal. And I can’t pretend it is.”

He looked at her again, swallowing hard. “Do you feel like I forced you to do this?” he asked carefully, alluding to her meltdown in Vienna.

“No, you certainly didn’t force me to do this.” Her own mind wandered back to the town hall earlier that day. 

She had had barely enough time to catch a breath during the past few days, so when they finally reached the vast City Hall Square, it felt like a completely different life, in some completely different realm. Jake held her hand in his, leading the way. He was like an anchor in the storm that kept raging all around her despite the fact that it was a calm, windless morning. The sun was shining and the weather was mild, so her old pashmina shawl proved to be just enough to keep her warm. The design didn’t match with the golden woven pattern on her new, creamy dress, but Neszka didn’t care. Jake had offered to buy her a new trench coat, but she’d stubbornly refused.  He looked stunning in his new navy suit. ‘Ok, you don’t have to button up the shirt, but at least wear the vest, please…’ she had said with a cheeky smile before they left the hotel room. It was one of the very few moments when she actually smiled. Delighted, Jake stuck out his tongue at her, but obliged, and even let her braid his hair.  No, he didn’t force her to do any of this. In quieter times, it would have felt like a fairy tale. Two wild souls eloping. But the times were far from quiet, and the fact seemed to taint everything with thick black ink of futility.  Everything except one moment. Standing in front of Skovgaard’s mural, Neszka allowed herself to forget about everything for a little while. Everything except the man standing on her right. Her legs trembled, her heart was beating fast and she nearly snapped the stem of the single calla lily she was holding, but it didn’t feel wrong. Rushed, crazy, and perhaps even very reckless, but it felt right.  She had asked one of the clerks that served as witnesses to capture the moment on her phone so she could send the pictures later to mama. They needed those photos for later too, but the reasons made her stomach turn, so she tried to force the thought out of her mind.  When he took her hands in his, it felt like standing on top of a mountain again. The room vanished and a cool, fragrant breeze played with her hair again. Come, my love. And then their lips met. It was simple – just their lips touching – but neither wanted to break the moment. Jake seemed almost hesitant, stroking her hands with his thumbs gently. Seconds passed, and they remained like that. Like two statues frozen in time, until the registrar cleared his throat and smiled serenely at them.  She could tell from his expression that he was well aware of what was going on and so the magic of the moment vanished with a puff, followed by an insanely stressful afternoon at the Embassy. Who would have thought that Christmas photos would suddenly become so valuable, she thought bitterly. Or that one single snapshot Joshua took by the creek in September. Highly private moments, treated by strangers as evidence now. 

The bitterness just added to the mixture of emotions she felt to be drowning in. She wanted to say more to him, three simple words would be enough to make it all ok, but the words got stuck in her throat as tears filled her eyes again instead. “Everything else is a nightmare. That’s why this doesn’t even feel real,” she sobbed violently. 

Jake stood up hastily and rushed around the table, pulling her up into his arms. Her own weak limbs snaked around his torso instinctively and she held onto him for dear life. She hadn’t eaten anything since morning and it was starting to show. They looked like a real war couple, reunited after their perilous journey. Except the clothes... He finally understood. She was right. 

The people around were watching, but Jake didn’t care. “Do you want to go back to the hotel?”

Neszka shook her head and chuckled in between sobs. “We didn’t have dessert yet.”

“We didn’t even have the main course yet, but…”

He didn’t finish the sentence, because it made her laugh. “That’s my girl,” he crooned instead, while stroking her back soothingly. “Now, please, let’s eat. You need to eat.”

When they got back to the hotel room at last, the atmosphere was heavy again. Jake kept fumbling with his cuffs nervously while Agnieszka had trouble with taking her earring down because of how much her hands were shaking. Partly due to the weight of the day that was just ending, and partly because of the elephant in the room that had yet to be answered. 

She took a deep breath the same moment Jake did. They started talking at once, too. 

“Jake, I know I’m your wife now, but…”

“Listen, Veela, I want you to know that…”

“It’s not becau…”

“I totally under…” 

Jake sat down on the bed with a huff and offered her his hand. “Ok, come here… just sit down.” She did, and he took her hand in his, kissing it before he continued. “I agree that we should wait. This is a… peculiar situation. It’s been from the very start, actually, regardless of the reason why we’re here now. I’ve wanted you for months, I won’t lie ‘bout that, but I’m not gonna do that until… or unless you really want to. I want you to know that.” 

Agnieszka continued staring at the floor, but nodded anyway. Not that long ago, it was all just sex. No love, just dicks. It was incredibly ironic that two rock musicians who could have almost anyone changed that. But then she remembered how they also kept sending pictures to their mom… it made her smile. 

“What’s so funny?”

“Nothing. Jake… I want it… but you’re right. I feel like being on a rollercoaster and I don’t really like the ride, even though you’re sitting next to me. It’s still nauseating and I need it to slow down. And…” There were actually two elephants in the room, and neither Jake nor Neszka wanted to talk about the second one. Not yet, at least. 

“Yeah… I know.”

“Can you kiss me, Jake?”   

“Sure…sure…” He whispered it, and the sound waves danced like a silk ribbon in the air until it dissolved like a mist. 

Then there were the hands. Slightly calloused, unlike his, but just as gentle. Long, delicate fingers that treated her as if she was made of the finest china. They cupped her cheeks and lightly pulled her closer. He pecked the apple of her left cheek first, and her eyes fluttered closed. 

Then there were the lips. Plump and soft like the chocolate mousse they ate half an hour earlier. But the lips tasted much better. She needed more of that taste, and so her lips parted. 

The tip of Jake’s tongue ventured forward, meeting her halfway. It was like an electric shock at first, killing all the tension in the process. The kiss softened and deepened and it felt like falling into each other, making them both moan. It lasted a lifetime. 

“I’m so tired,” she mumbled when their lips finally parted and Jake rested his forehead against hers, unwilling to break the contact completely just yet. 

But they had to, eventually. 

They showered first. Separately, just like last night. And changed into their pajamas, just like last night. Just like two friends having a sleepover… which they were not. They climbed onto the bed, just like last night, and Jake switched off the light, just like last night. 

But they were different now and Neszka couldn’t stand the gap between them, even though it was just air. 

“Can you hold me?” she whispered into the darkness and immediately felt the mattress dip. The warm skin of his forearm brushed against hers and she immediately wanted more of that warmth. Jake pulled her closer and gently stroked the other forearm with his hand. It felt hot on her flesh and she needed more. 

“You’re quite cold. Are you ok?” Jake mumbled against her shoulder. 

“No… do you think we could take our t-shirts off? Just… that?” 

Without another word, Jake sat up and pulled his shirt over his head. Her eyes had adjusted to the darkness by now, but she could still see only the outline of his body as the thick curtains prevented them from being bothered by the streetlights. “No,” she whispered. 

Jake turned around quickly and looked down at her with alarm. “What?

“I wanted to do that.” She could hear rather than see him smile. 

“Come here.” Yes, she could feel the silent laughter and he pulled her in a sitting position. His fingertips brushed against her sides when he grabbed the hem of her sleeveless top and rid her off of it with one swift motion. Suddenly, he froze, hesitating. She knew why. 

“You can touch them.” 

He hugged her instead, and kissed her hair. “I’d love to, but then you wouldn’t be able to stop me,” whispered. “C’mon, let’s go get some sleep,” he added, pulling her back onto the pillows with him. 

Finally, she snuggled closer to his soft but strong body. Jake was different. She couldn’t count his ribs, for one thing. He enveloped her like a comfort blanket instead. It was now just within her reach, and so tantalizing. Just two words and he would probably do it; she could tell from the pattern of his breath. But as long as her traitorous mind kept coming up with those comparisons, it wasn’t right. Or fair. He smelled almost the same, Jake’s musk being just a little bit sharper. It was normally lost under the layer of his own perfume, but now it made her breath hitch. 

And once again he asked her if she was ok. 

Yes!... and no…

@thewritingbeforesunrise @fleet-of-fiction @writingcold @lvnterninthenight @its-interesting-van-kleep  @takenbythemadness  @edgingthedarkness @myownparadise96  @gvfstuddedmajesty @josh-iamyour-mama @jazzyfigz @tripthelightfantastix @sanguinebats @wetkleenex-gvf @peaceloveunitygvf @kiszkas-canvas @fleetingjake @lizzys-sunflower @hollyco @emojakekiszka @gvfmarge @Dayumclarizzel @lipstickitty @clownstarr @musicislove3389 @i-love-gvf @blankvz @psychedelectable @allof--mylove @joshylanefleet @thewaythatshebreathes @Ironlotus90 @justwantjosh

[anoctoberpepper]

Fifa and Twisted Teas (Grant & Nick)

Grant’s in the middle of cooking a 9pm dinner when his phone screams to life. His, usually set-to-silent unless there’s an emergency, phone. He scrambles for it to see a call coming in hot from Nick. 

“What’s up?” Grant rushes to turn off the stove, and starts heading for his gear neatly hung under a sheet by the door. He’s panicked until he hears Nick’s raspy singing.

“Can I crash at your house tonight. You’re house tonight, you’re house toniiggghhhhtttt. tonighhhhtttt,” Nick’s been on an X-Ambassador kick, apparently. 

“Nicki, this is an emergency line,” Grant reminds. 

“You didn’t answer my text.” 

Grant pulls his phone away from his face and sees that exactly thirty seconds ago Nick texted those exact same song lyrics to him.

“It’s an emergency meeting of the queer committee minus Terry and the aces,” Nick says, as a ridiculous explanation. Grant doesn’t have it in him to explain again how wrong Nick is. Lark’s screwed his way across the city, and Terry still won’t call himself bisexual despite the high-school thing. Grant certainly doesn’t have the energy to go against the unstoppable force that Nick is when he wants to hang out. Grant looks at his pot of cooking perogies, the salad he made up. 

“Are you hungry?” Grant asks. He made enough for dinner and lunch the next day, he could easily feed Nick.

“Ah, hell yeah.” Nick pauses then asks, “is there peppermint in it?” “No” “Even more awesome. I’ll be up there in a sec.” 

Before Grant can even hang up his phone there’s a crack in the living room and the scent of sulfur and Christmas spices. 

“I have arrived!” Nick walks into Grant’s tiny kitchen triumphantly holding Twisted teas and an ancient copy of Left for Dead, two things Grant likes, but he’s less sure that Nick does. Apparently the guy is going with his default programing of doing whatever he thinks the other person wants to do. Years spent copying his dad and other boys until he was seamlessly one of them, then more years trying to remember which dad to follow fully wrecked his sense of himself. The guy doesn’t know who he is let alone what he likes. It kills Grant to see it. 

“What brings you to this side of hell?” Grant asks. He pulls an iron skillet from a cabinet and sets it on the stove to warm. Chops some onions. Of all the things his dad is good at, cooking is one of them, and he didn’t let Grant leave the house without knowing several solid recipes. 

Grant sees the flicker in Nick’s eyes, the momentary calculation of him trying to remember which timeline to live in, which person he wants to inhabit.

“Dads are fighting,” Nick says. 

“Damn,” Grant says, not for the first time. He puts the onions in possibly too much oil, makes a face then adds more oil. He’s not that good of a cook. 

Nick sets the teas on the counter, followed by the game. 

“Figured you wanted to do video game night,” Nick says. 

“Or we could go out,” Grant counters, harmlessly poking at other options. Things Nick might finally glom onto as his own. “See some music. I heard Force to Reckon With is playing downtown.” Nick had showed some passing interest in the band a few months ago. Nick goes into buffering mode at the suggestion. Grant stirs the onions.

“How about food and you get to pick the video game?” Grant negotiates himself down. 

“Games are good,” Nick says. It’s something.

“Go look through my X box,” Grant says, “I finally got holographic guitar hero. Thought you might like to play it sometime.” “Nah,” Nick says. “Why goof around when I can play the real thing.” “Because it’s fun,” Grant says, silently happy that Nick at least has that opinion in his pocket. Grant dabbled with guitar at the tail end of high school thinking it would subtly get someone’s attention. He still prefers guitar hero though. 

Nick wanders into the next room, and Grant hears his tv hum to life. He finishes with the onions, fries the pierogies, still doesn’t hear anything from the living room. He plates everything, considers adding an insulting spring of peppermint on top just to mess with Nick. Doesn’t.

When he gets to the living room, Nick is still scrolling through the games. There aren’t as many as Grant would like, he’s working on a senior-in-college shoestring budget, but there’s a good selection.

“Have you at least narrowed it down?” Grant asks. 

Nick flicks back and forth between Fifa and Halo. That’s something at least, Grant thinks. 

“How about fifa,” he compromises again, making choices he knows Nick can’t. 

Nick smiles wide, “love it.” Grant hands him a plate, nods back toward the ratty couch. “Fifa and Twisted Teas it is.”

[allovertheplace-writing]

AHHHHH I hope you had fun at prom, Rosie!!! That’s so exciting!! I’m sure you looked SOOOOOO gorgeous <3

I’m very excited to see what you post next as per usual, but take as much time as you need to work on it! Rest and take breaks when you need them! Drink some water / your favorite drink and grab snackies <3 Wishing you the best and you have awesome and wonderful days 💙

i’m going insane for that ask you sent me about sidon?!?!?! HI HELLO I AM GOING BONKERS FOR A FISH HE IS SO >>>>

El!! I did have fun! The friend I went with had a "romantic dinner" on a balcony with me(it was really just bread, butter, and potatoes-) and our other friend crashed it XD I also reconnected with another friend as well! And thank youu <33 I felt like a brunette Cinderella ngl! The glitter though...never again....

I'm making some perogies before I sit down to write right now >:D I think it's the best food to eat while jotting down hcs! And I've got some water, too, my favorite drink hehe-

Thank you for the well wishes, El! I hope that you have the greatest days of all time and that you're doing well ><

No, 'cause yeah- HE'S SO??? CUTE?? BUT ALSO /// Sidon is the best TT I have what I sent you written down in my fic/hc ideas because I need to brainrot for a little while with everyone and anyone that will listen-

[eviesessays]

7. Who are the best cooks in your family?

My aunt Mary was a great cook.  She was the wife of my mother’s oldest brother, Jack Schreyer.  My maternal  grandparents, Peter and Anna Ottenbritt Schreyer immigrated to Canada from Bergensdorf, Germany in early 1900.  The Canadian Government was giving wheat farmers land in exchange for bushels of wheat at harvest time.  Land in the prairies was plentiful and wheat was scarce .  It was just five years before my grandfather owned his farm outright.  He continued to enlarge his holding so my uncle Jack and my aunt Mary inherited a very large wheat farm.  Aunt Mary was in charge of the vegetable garden.  She also milked the cows and killed the chicken for dinner.  She made sauerkraut in a wooden barrel and she churned her own butter which was the greatest tasting butter ever.  She made quarts of dill pickles and preserved jars of every vegetable to use through the long cold Winter in Ladywood, Manitoba.  She baked her own bread, both black and white.  She shared with me the joy of what is still today my favorite sandwich, cucumber on black bread.  She made the very best perogies always smothered in onions, butter and sour cream. My aunt Mary was an incredible cook.

My mother was a great cook.  Every Sunday there was a roast of beef or chicken for dinner.  She breaded pork chops that were tender enough to cut with a fork.  I still don’t know how she could do that.  Her talents escaped all her children except perhaps my brother, Carl.  He was not a gourmet cook  but an adventuresome outdoors man.  He hunted and fished .  He made an annual pilgrimage to Bella Coola in British Columbia to catch his limit of sockeye salmon.  He canned and smoked sockeye and Coho salmon. He hunted deer and moose .  He  cut meat into ribs and roasts and made his own sausage. He had a smoke house and smoked some meats.  Later in his life he began making wine.  His primary choices were raspberry and Saskatoon berry wine.  I liked his fish and meat much better.  I do not know of any special culinary talents of my other siblings.  Once when Michael and Dora visited Warner, Michael and I decided to make a watermelon, cantaloupe, champagne punch.  By the time we finished tasting it along the process I dont think we were reliable judges of our product.

Of my children, Peter makes great turkey chili.  that is his entire repertoire.  Heather abdicated her cooking chores to John when she returned to work.  They are now retired but John is still cooking.  Robin’s husband, Bob was a great cook and did all of it.  He also did all the shopping.  He continued until a few weeks before he died after a long battle with brain cancer.   Jaylyn is the best cook of all my children and her husband is equally as good. They serve epic dinners that  are better described as feasts.  

Then comes the next generation and I think Anne is the greatest cook.  There is no challenge that she will not tackle.  I would not even consider planning a, “leg of lamb” dinner, but no hesitation from Anne.  There is no spice, herb, grain  or exotic vegetable too hard to find or no equipment  too much of a nuisance.  Anne’s significant other, Dan is a chef and readily admits Anne is a better dessert cook.  Her Tiramisu is incredibly delicious and her carrot cake melts in the mouth. I think Anne is the best cook in the family.  Hillary makes delicious and exquisitely beautiful cakes.  Kalote makes delicious salads and breakfast sandwiches and both are probably better cooks than i am aware of.  Digger has a most eclectic diet.  Having spent several years in Japan, he has a repetoire of rice recipes.  Harry and Will are appreciative partakers of any meal prepared by others.  Anne is the best  cook.

[lightadarttomendyourheart]

i've never felt more comfortable. my flat is literally everything. and i enjoy going to office hybrid cause it really makes me appreciate the days when i'm at home. otherwise i need to find excuses to leave the house but at least this way i'm getting some exercise in every week. low key wish it was 2 days/week but it is what is is.

i forgot how amazing it was living alone. idk why but i love cleaning my space. doing laundry and organizing my things and showering and then lighting a candle and making my lunch for tomorrow. even sweeping the kitchen floor (and i hate sweeping). idk what it is but it just makes me feel.. together? i think it helps my place is so clean and nice in general, cause then when i clean i feel like it's ACTUALLY clean, not just surface clean if that makes sense.

i literally hope i don't have to live with a man ever again. i know my view is skewed because of jake, he made me really hate it at the end. but i know i just haven't found the right guy to live with. but even thinking about it, living with someone else, is repulsive. like, get the f out of my space. i enjoy my quiet time so much.

i've also gotten better at deciding what to make for dinner. usually and in the past it was always so hard and very stressful. even just thinking about what to make that isn't super unhealthy or doesn't require 15 ingredients. but i made tacos 2 weeks ago and i had leftover sour cream that's going to go bad soon so boom, buy some frozen perogies and make those. i dont remember it being this easy in uni but i also had no clue what i was doing and was teaching myself how to cook. it also wasn't this easy living with jake - but lets be real food was always a problem. would never eat leftovers, never had the energy to give any sort of input other than in the summertime. god i have so much resentment and bitterness. i did it to myself. i stayed. for probably 6 months too long. but ykno what, if i left any earlier i'd probably second guess myself and wonder what if. and, idk if i would've moved to calgary. i know i wouldn't be living in this apartment.

god my life would be so different if i had stayed longer. and honestly, i was on the trajectory for it. i even considered staying and maybe do it sometime in january after the holidays. omg i would've gone fucking crazy. laid off, so much time on my hands, him working, me doing absolutely nothing. me looking for some sort of job in vancouver. it makes me sweat just thinking about it. i would've been even more miserable than i had been before.

one thing that really stumps me is he KNEW i was unhappy. literally. he said. i know you haven't been happy for a while. LIKE?? OK?? so you're just going to not say anything or do anything and hope it figures itself out?? fuck he's such a dumb fucking idiot.

i really need this therapy session on sunday. he has literally made me hate and not trust men. i think that's it. i just don't trust anyone to give me a life better than i can give myself.

and maybe that's partly why i'm so down for Brandon. he lives so far there is literally no chance of him ruining my life lmao cause he'll eventually go home far away and i'm here safe from his masculinity.

but brandon is legit the polar opposite of jake. he's kind and loves cats and loves trance and doesn't smoke weed and likes to drink and doesn't LIE and make up stupid stories and fly off the handle with substances.

we'll see how she goes but at least right now i've not been as obsessed with brandon cause i've been so busy being happy on my own. 79 days.

[isaacapatow]

"Romanian dishes," Ike mused over that for a moment before venturing, "...like perogies? I can't say I know shit all about Romanian food. But man, caramels." He gave a long, creaky sigh at the thought. "If we ever get some butter going outta those cows I'll petition to get you all the butter and sugar you need for those." She had a Grandma Bunny. He'd remember that.

"Hear that, Killer?" Ike said to the horse. "Your mom doesn't want me giving you ideas above your station. I say she already gave you a big enough name to live up to, all those astrologies contained in one beast." He thought about patting its neck, to feel its mane, but reconsidered. Ike had middling effects on animals so it was probably best to leave Zodiac alone until Cass had introduced them properly.

Ike nodded with Cass' suppositions about what the journey would entail. "These old tips are always shifty underfoot," he said. "Underhoof, too, I guess. But I don't necessarily need to take the horse that close in or ride it down any grades that look too precarious." He considered her question, saying, "No pack horse, not this time. It's more of a scout than a haul. My intel's pretty good but there's always the chance it's ..."

He didn't want to say a trap; that was the kind of thing that was best kept from the general populace of Redwood. They didn't need to worry about that. The raiders were the ones who had to keep the potential of death front and centre. "Always the chance somebody else got to it before me," Ike finished, instead.

"Pfft, you know you're impressed by wit and charm," she shot back with a chuckle. The appreciation for puns in the town was really about fifty-fifty. At his question, she nodded, a warmer smile curling her lips. "Yeah. It's something my grandma Bunny and I used to do together. She taught me a lot of Romanian dishes along with the more common American ones. Caramels were one of our favorite things to make together, even though they took sooo much stirring." God, there were so many foods she missed.

"Lord, don't let Zodiac hear you call him a unicorn. He'll let it go straight to his head!" It was a half-tease; her stallion was a very handsome boy and he knew it. Probably because she constantly told him that and spoiled him as much as she could.

The trip didn't sound too difficult - certainly no more difficult than many of the raiding trips were. It would be the incline that would need to be taken into consideration. Cass was confident that all of the horses could handle the steepish grade, but some were far better than others. "I assume it'll probably be some loose patches, too? Bits of sliding rocks and dirt?" Her mind was already going through the possibilities, taking into account the distance and weight of Ike as well as any haul he might find, along with the incline. "Is it gonna be just you? Would you need a pack horse to help with the haul?"

[todays-finland]

7-17-20

Today, Finland ate a very healthy p.....izza.

[friskynotebook]

Fresh, Undiluted, and Pure

Obi-Wan Kenobi x Asian plus size f!reader

A professor!Obi x librarian!reader modern!AU

cw: food, age gap

Summary: During frosh week, the reader keeps running into Obi-Wan.

A note on the Asian rep in this ‘verse: In this modern AU, the reader is written to be Asian, plus-sized, and female/AFAB. The amount of Asian representation will vary in the different instalments—some will be based heavily in the reader’s culture, others will not. The reader’s culture is based on my own experiences as a mixed-race Chinese woman and is not meant to represent the vast array of Asian cultures.

I also want to give a special shout out to @obiknights and her work Borrowing Privileges—it’s one of my favourite professor!Obi fics and it’s inspired my own AU. Thank you for your talent and friendship, Brit ❤️

The title comes from the song "I Can Do Better Than That" from The Last Five Years. You can listen to Anna Kendrick's fantastic version here.

Also on AO3!

Chinatown AU masterlist

Today you were stuck in the cataloging and digitization suite. Well, stuck probably isn’t the right word—frosh week was just getting underway and the incessant chanting would have gotten on your nerves sooner rather than later, especially with the Canal Games down by the Locks. Plus, you do love digitizing old documents, no matter how boring others may find it.

Still, it would have been nice to see more than these four walls and your two monitors on such a nice day.

In fact, it—

“Hard at work?”

You nearly jumped a foot in the air at the sound of Obi-Wan’s voice. “Jesus Christ!”

“You really are jumpy, aren’t you?”

You turned to find Obi-Wan leaning against the doorframe, that same amused smirk on his face.

“Yeah, everyone loves me on Halloween—I’m pretty sure Bail and Kali start a betting pool every year on who can scare me the most.”

“Well that’s no good.” You raised a brow. “How does your poor delicate heart handle the torment?” Obi-Wan teased.

“Poorly,” you grinned. “What are you doing back here? Classes don’t start until next week.”

“Meeting Bail for lunch.”

“Oh, don’t tell me you’re going to the—“

“Residence cafeteria, yes.” Ever since Bail accidentally received 20 meal credits for the res caf after a department head meeting, he’s made it his mission to take everyone and everyone ‘out to lunch’ at least once.

(After President Palpatine’s lunch with Bail, he swore he’d never hold a meeting there again.)

You cringed in sympathy. “Poor man. Hope you ate before you came here.”

He frowned. “Why on earth would I do that? I’m sure the food is perfectly fine.”

“Perfectly edible, sure. Fine implies it’s at least somewhat good and . . . Well, tread carefully.” At his confused look, you crossed your arms. “I lived in residence all four years of my degree. I had my fair share of caf food. Let’s see . . . It’s the first Monday of the month, so they’ll have perogies as a hot food option. Those are pretty decent. You can also get an omelet if you’re in the mood for brunch—but make sure Rhonda’s working. She’ll add some extra cheese if you ask nicely.”

“Good to know,” he said, his smile becoming more . . . Fond? No, surely not.

“Obi-Wan! Ready for lunch?” Bail’s voice boomed down the fourth-floor corridor.

“As I’ll ever be,” Obi-Wan raised a brow at you, his eyes crinkling. “Don’t work too hard.”

“I won’t,” you replied to his retreating form, your cheeks bright red.

##

“What time is it?” Bail asked for what had to be the third time this hour.

You sighed. “Two.” You slumped down at the library services desk. The frosh youths were doing massive musical chairs in the quad outside the library and you could hear the loud music and screaming from your desk.

“How does musical chairs take so long?” Bail whined. “They’ve been at it for an hour already.”

“It’s massive musical chairs,” you replied, heavy on the sarcasm. “We’ll be lucky if it doesn’t take all fucking day.”

“You two sound grumpy,” Obi-Wan said, striding over with drinks from the library Starbucks. “Figured you both could use one of these.”

“You’re an angel, my friend,” Bail moaned, taking his usual diabetes-in-a-cup. “These youths are driving me up the wall.”

“Yes, what exactly are they doing out there?” Obi-Wan asked, handing you your coffee. You took a sip—pumpkin spice latte, no whip. Exactly how you liked it.

“Massive musical chairs,” you rolled your eyes.

“And what makes these musical chairs so massive?”

“All the fucking people they drag into it.”

Obi-Wan snorted into his drink, his eyes crinkling in a way that made your heart race. 

“What are you drinking?” you asked.

“English breakfast tea, same as always.”

“Your favorite?”

“Oh, no. Just the only thing I’ve tried from Starbucks.”

Your eyebrows shot up to your hairline. “You don’t drink coffee?”

“Obi-Wan has refused to try any coffee in all the years I’ve known him,” Bail chimed in, shaking his head.

“Maybe he doesn’t want to subject himself to what you consider coffee,” you teased. “I don’t blame him.”

“Well, maybe I’d be open to trying it with some good suggestions,” Obi-Wan pinned you with his blue-eyed gaze.

You swallowed, trying to cover your nerves with a sip of coffee. “Lattes are a pretty safe bet. Starbucks has some good ones—I’m partial to the vanilla ones with oat milk. Twiggs, the student-run coffeehouse, has great coffee drinks—I like their French Vanilla, cappuccino, and chai latte, if you’re into tea. Can’t beat the prices either. And, of course, you can’t go wrong with regular coffee”

Obi-Wan nodded, focusing intently on your words.

“If you go to the library Starbucks, try to avoid when the line is out the door, the baristas get overwhelmed. Better to go to the kiosk in the university center instead. It’s across from Twiggs. If you’re desperate and hate yourself, there’s a thousand Tim Hortons on campus. They’re all pretty efficient except for the first floor university center location. And the residence one on weekends. They have good tea and the best hot chocolate, but I wouldn’t have their coffee if my life depended on it.”

He nodded again—you imagined he was taking detailed mental notes, though you weren’t sure how much of it he was retaining.

“Though, I’m surprised you don’t know any of this—surely you’ve been on campus long enough to stop in at a coffee shop, even if it is to get boring tea.”

“Ah, well . . .” He looked down, scratching the back of his neck. “Perhaps I didn’t pay as much attention to the traffic patterns as you have, my dear.”

You felt yourself flush at the pet name and pointedly ignored Bail’s shit-eating grin.

##

Finally the frosh activities seemed to be winding down—though as relieved as you were, it was only a sign the campus chaos would soon begin.

You and your friend Jess were manning the library services desk today—Bail was forced to retreat to his actual office for a string of meetings with library department heads.

“What’s the student government hosting tonight again?” Jess asked.

You pulled up the schedule on your computer. “Hmm. Sexy Jeopardy. A game show about sex, sexual health, and safe sex practices. Creative.”

“I’d probably remember more from sex ed if this was how they taught us,” she replied. “Sounds kinky.”

“Funny enough, that’s one of the categories,” you pointed out. 

“What’s one of the categories?” A familiar British accent filled the quiet library, Starbucks cup in one hand and a newspaper in the other. 

You looked up, your face turning bright red—there’s no way you’re telling Obi-Wan about—

“Sex Jeopardy,” Jess said, having none of your embarrassment. “Creative sex ed.”

“Oh, splendid. Hopefully it’ll stick,” he hummed.

“That’s what I said!” Jess exclaimed. 

“Don’t take this the wrong way, but what exactly are you doing here?” you asked. “I figured you’d want to savor your last days before classes start.”

“Well, I was in the neighborhood. Thought I’d drop by,” he smiled, his eyes a warmer shade of blue. “Besides, I might get stuck on my puzzle.”

“You’re brave for coming to campus so often during frosh week,” you noted. “I certainly wouldn’t be here if I didn’t have to be.”

“Perhaps the . . . environment is worth braving some riff raff on campus,” he replied, not breaking your gaze. 

You’re pretty sure this man just made your brain break. “. . . Oh. I guess that’s true.”

He made himself comfortable at the library services desk and settled in while you and Jess worked, occasionally asking you for help with stubborn clues. 

“You know, I minored in philosophy during undergrad,” you noted after about an hour of his company.

“Oh? You did?” he said, cocking his head to the side and leaning towards you. 

“I did,” you nodded. “And I’ve never heard of you or had a class with you.”

He swallowed. “Is that so?”

“It is.” You rested your head in your hand. 

He leaned closer. “How long ago was that? If you don’t mind my asking.”

“I graduated five years ago.”

“Ah.”

“And not a peep about you.”

“Interesting.”

“Yes, I think so.”

He gazed at you, his eyes sparking. “What are you asking me?”

“I’m asking you how it can be that I only met you last week?”

“I’ve been asking myself the same question.”

For the second time in a single day, Obi-Wan stunned you into silence. 

Reluctant to break the electricity in the air yet terrified to stay in it, you asked: “Are you a professor here, Obi-Wan?”

“Well, actually—“

His phone vibrated. He looked down and winced a little. “That’s my department chair, I should probably go. We have a meeting soon.”

You nodded, suddenly feeling sad at your imminent loss. “Of course. Don’t be late.”

“If I leave now I won’t be,” he reassured you. “Until next time?”

“Until next time,” you nodded. As he turned to walk away, you called out: “Don’t think I’ll forget about that question.”

“Oh, I have no doubts about that, young one. I doubt I’d be able to forget a single word you’ve said to me.”

No-pressure tags (please message me if you want to be added or removed!): @obiknights @wickedscribbles

[simpingcowboy]

100 FOLLOWER MILESTONE!!!

Firstly, I just wanted to thank any and everyone who has supported me <3 I wasn't sure what exactly to do for a 100 follower milestone (plus like ~15 more of you who got here within the last 4 day. You're part of this too, hi.) So I thought I'd just say a bit about myself and how I got involved with the Pedro fandom as I think it's a bit funny :)

Hello! For starters you can call me Am or A :) I go by She/They/He pronouns absolutely any of those are fine to use. I'm 21 years old and live in Chicago, IL in the US though I'm originally from Seattle! I'm Zapotec Mexican and American Lakota and just a littleee Polish (my love for perogies has to count for something right??)

Abit of what I do IRL! I work as a barista at [redacted mega green coffee corporation]! Though I do some side gigs with my poetry and painting. I'm also very into furbies!!! I have lots of them. My DS is my bestie. I unironically play the silly bands game (don't judge me). I'm also very involved in my local drag scene! Yes, I am that type of ✨gay✨ I love surrounding myself with queer creatives here and IRL!

Let's talk about how I ended up in the Pedro fandom. So it actually starts...with my ex 😅 who had a MASSIVE crush on Mr. Pascal. We'll just refer to him as X. Truthfully, I didn't care much for most newer Star Wars stuff as it was primarily a nostalgia thing for me, but eventually X convinced me to watch ✨The Mandalorian✨ with him. Now he didn't actually TELL ME that we were watching it so he could see if I also thought Pedro Pascal was hot or not...X would just continually ask me what I thought. To which I mostly just responded "Uhh I mean I like his character yeah??" And give him my character analysis of Mando lol. It wasn't until we see Mando's face in the SECOND SEASON that I realized X had a huge crush on Pedro that I then used to relentlessly tease him about.

My simping didn't really start until I saw Pedro in Narcos! Maybe it's just that I could actually see Pedro in this but uhhh yeah that did it in for me lol. Fun fact, I did try to get X to do a couples costume as Agent Murphy (him) and Agent Peña (me) that he violently shot down :( it would have been PERFECT!!! Anyways that's where I fell into the Pedro Pit. And I haven't come out yet.

I lurked on here for awhile, before finally publishing my first fic on Christmas of 2021! I had gotten COVID the week before and needed something to fill my time so I wrote The Gift Exchange. Since then I've continued posting my writing on here :)

It's been fun for me! And give me a good opportunity to practice my prose. Everyone has been so kind to me! I look forward to getting to know y'all more and to have fun writing even more!!! Thank you for reading and supporting me <3

[loxare]

Today I have wonton soup and perogies.

Why specifically battery operated? Feels vaguely Pratchett-y, but in reverse (you don't really need much to summon Death himself, just a bit of mouse blood and a stick, but the pageantry makes the summoner feel better)

A don't tell them that you knew Jane Austen was behind the 1810 diamond robbery as if that wasn't fresh news to you just a few days ago

Side note, I don't remember if I mentioned this last time and I want to eat soup and watch drama, not read thoughts from last time but anyways. Hoping Nina and Maggie don't actually end up together. Not as like, oh they'll never be together, but like. They could end up together. Maybe. Possibly. But for right now Nina especially needs some single time and that's ok. Anyways back to Shax

C stands out so much and I am living for it. It's not just that he's a dark spot on an incredibly white background (ow my eyes), but also he hasn't stopped moving, and heaven is usually so still. Angels move to their places, and then stay there. He's just going and going and going, so many unnecessary movements. He compared the angels to bees but he's the one buzzing

AND HIS OUTFIT IS OFF WHITE AND SHINY. I love that too. Back in the first season, A went to heaven and his suit was blindingly white, as opposed to the nice cream he usually has, so I like that he gets to keep this spot of grey

See, this is the kind of bonding I wish we could have seen from Maggie and Nina earlier. Also, go Maggie 🖕🖕 those demons. That's a whole mood

Shax is voicing a few anxiety thoughts Maggie has had but not all of them and clearly none of the most potent

Oh. Oh no. That counts as permission. Oh dear

I like how the lighting gets less warm bookshop and more creepy horror movie greyscale as the demons come in, but the warm bookshop lighting is still very visible

That poor rabbit ear hair demon keeps getting vapourized. At least he didn't get hit by the Metatron? I feel like that would hurt more

Ugh, I hate Muriel's office. Open plan nightmare while still somehow being incredibly isolating

Heaven didn't delete C's account after he fell aksjdhaia

Armageddon Take 2 gets a solid Nah from Gabriel, so that's good. Love having continued existence

Demons vs fire extinguishers. Exiltingiushers: 5, demons: 0

Yeah, this does seem out of character for Gabriel, I say as if I haven't quickly scrolled past and yet still kinda read the spoilers all you gremlins put on here. He was very Pro-Armageddon last season

Why yes, he is C's emotional support angel, just like C is his emotional support demon. They support each other, that's the point. Although they could do better on the emotional support. Maybe have a Conversation or six

So C was an entire prince of heaven? Dang, good on him. But yes, there is some sort of institutional problem, where asking questions and not killing billions of people gets you cast out

C is so supportive of Muriel. But then again, they do give off that wet puppy vibe where they say things that are so sad that you can't help but try and buck them up. Anyways, erasing memories isn't a kindness

Oh hey, there's the box.

Poor A. His books are so abused. First fire. Now demon skulls

Ah, and that's why his box was empty

Is that a halo?

Oh it is

Poor rabbit demon

Ok so everyone got discorporated. Except Shax. Who is asleep on the couch. What makes Shax different?

This feels like the set up to a joke. Three arch angels, a scrivener and a demon walk into an elevator

And how did these demons get in here? They weren't invited! Do Dukes of Hell get special passes, because I'm pretty sure the arch angels were all invited in the first time

Oh, so that's why the fly

The immortal fly who Jim has tried to crush several times

Does he have to eat it?

OH THIS IS WORSE THAN EATING IT

Gabriel doing a swearing again

Are they. Speedrunning A&C's 6000 years? This is absolutely The Arrangement

Oh no, angels don't have music? Like, they have the Choirs of Heaven, but they don't have just. Regular tunes? Sad

NO NEED AT ALL. They say, right before meeting again. Also, Gabriel. Get better hobbies

Is Gabriel getting tempted by human foods?

Ok so Gabriel can turn every record to Every Day manually, but for Crowley in the Bentley it's just automatically Queen's Greatest Hits.

I love that they have a Song

Ok here's the first lesson in gift receiving. "Thank you." You have a lot to learn, but you're doing ok so far

Is that Furfur by the way or are there two demons with similar hairstyles? If that is him, once again, how did he get in here?

Oh wait, maybe the embassy status of the bookshop was revoked when A declared Halo Wars

HE FIGURED OUT THANK YOU

Awww, they are absolutely speedrunning the A&C relationship

Neither of them slept, so they're going to need that coffee

Oh good, the guy is ok. That's lovely to see

Oh good they're doing actual bonding. Again,n I don't want Nina and Maggie together this season, but this is good set up for next season

C is loving A yelling at all those angels and demons like they're kindergarten students. And so am I

Awwwww. Also, Gabriel, don't know what you're talking about because that sweater is amazing and I want it

"How badly understaffed hell is" said the grand duke of hell to the demon whose legion consisted of 70 demons

I am very interested in this old man with the oat milk latte. Who is he. Does he want to ask for death? Is he going to ask for it next?

Oh wait he's the Metatron. That's why I recognized him. Never mind

I've never seen him with a neck before

Saraquel recognized him immediately. Probably because of the trial recording. Also, does he come down to Earth a lot? He knows how to order a coffee and that's more than I can say for basically every other angel ever, so

Poor Muriel. They're having a rough day

He knows how slang works too

I DO NOT CARE for that look that Metatron gave C

Muriel you didn't even drink the cuppertea, how are you going to do the alcohol

WHAT BOOK IS THAT

Aw, C is helping tidy up after the party

Yes Nina! These are all things I've been saying for episodes now! Also, awww, angel nickname

And more that I've been saying for episodes! They never communicate!! I love these humans. Sometimes you just need an honest conversation

Ok whatever this news is that I've only been partially spoiled on is definitely going to delay their actual heart to heart

The Crow Road by Iain Banks. Hm, never read it. I like the cover though

Metatron is too close to them. Stop looming

Oh, glasses off

NO. DON'T HOLD THE THOUGHT! A! He just! Told! You! That if he doesn't start talking now he's never going to talk and now you're steam rolling over him with things! He was so ready for an honest conversation!!!

Is A a leader? I don't think so because he's spent the last 6000 years avoiding the entire heavenly host and also being an individual. He also does tell people what they want to hear, as the whole Job fiasco showed us, because he didn't actually tell the angels they were wrong, he just tricked them with something they thought was right. I think Metatron is angry at A about the Armageddon thing, is what I'm saying, and doing a Revengeance

Like, these """projects""", if they're anything like the Armageddon project, aren't anything that A would be interested in running! Armageddon Take 2 is still on the table! Gabriel Nah'd it, but Metatron still wants it to happen! A, remember all the things you like about Earth!

Exactly, you don't want to go back to heaven!

You can work with him! Here on Earth!

Oh no. Does C even want that?

Ok so. This is the same system that kicked him out for asking questions. And punted him into Hell, where horrible things have been done to him presumably. Saraquel said that giving Gabriel to Hell as punishment was a possibility. But now he's relatively free and wandering about and looking forward to a nice retirement with his angel and then this? Heaven isn't a reward for him

A really needs to actually Look at heaven. And C needs to tell him about what happened with the hellfire. Because heaven are not the good guys. A should know that from when Metatron said that he does want Armageddon to happen, actually

Technically he didn't say no. He said he'd think about it. There's still time for a no

OH GOOD HE'S STILL SAYING THINGS

Starting off with some understatements. Getting into some really good honesty. Power through this C, I believe in you.

Oh this is getting painful. I'm out of soup and perogies so I'm going to pause and get some ice cream. Ugh, even when they're communicating they can't communicate! I want to tie them to chairs and shove them in a closet until they say everything they're thinking! Anyways, ice cream

"Nothing lasts forever" "I love the bookshop but it's already burned down once and time will eventually claim it. But if I do this thing, I can make a difference in heaven and make things better for everyone"

"No, I don't suppose it does" "Clearly you think our relationship is temporal and significantly less important than this new job that you'll hate anyways. Is that all it took? A promise of power?"

I may be reaching here

Oh glasses are back on

He's definitely hearing "we can only be together if we're both angels" instead of "this position is only good if you're there by my side, restored to the glory I first saw you in"

THERE'S A LOT MORE TO SAY. SAY WHAT YOU MEAN

Ouch

C calling A an idiot, a word he used to describe angels and demons and people who weren't Us

Ouch. One ace tries to copy what he's seen allos do, have the kiss, convince A of his feelings, but the other ace is just hurt by this, this physical imposition of something he may have wanted but not in this context

Metatron You Dick

NO. NO! You do not get to mock the questions! No!

Loving the trend of angels spending time on Earth and learning from it. A, Gabriel, Muriel. Metatron clearly learned how to be a bastard, the bastard

The same Second Coming. That leads to Rapture. The thing that also. Kills all the humans. That one?

Well he needs to stop that now doesn't he

Poor C. All sad and alonely. Just him and the Bentley

Which isn't playing Queen. The Bentley misses A. TAT

Ok so fuck these credits. A is clearly trying not to cry. C is smad. The music is melancholy. I don't need this

Long elevator

And now they're blurred as of looking at them through tears YOU AREN'T SUBTLE GAIMAN

AAAAGGGGHHHHHHH

Ok so thoughts! I still don't know what the point of the nazi zombie episode was! Was it just to show how much they trust each other? Did they actually not trust each other until almost 6000 years into their acquaintance? What? Ugh, I have to wait until next season to find out what the the nazi zombies deal is aren't I? Has A&C just. Left a trio of nazi zombies to run around london, eating people?

We thought the "two thirds of the way through the story break up" was bad in season 1, but this one takes the cake. Painful! Very painful! Especially since they were just about to actually communicate!! Well, C was. Well. He tried. He did ok for a first attempt

I hope A gets to retire soon.

I wonder who's going to play Jesus?

Good omens 2 ep 1 thots under the cut!

CROWLEY LOOKS!!! SO HAPPY!!!!!! MAKING HIS NEBULA!!!!!!!!! I'm so sad he got the wind taken out of his sails. And I know exactly how much trouble he got in just for asking a few questions. Theory: God is omniscient, and as such knew Crowley needed to be a demon to save the Earth. It sucks, but it's growth for both him and Aziraphale, who needed to learn to duck around the rules, and growth tends to hurt. I'm just sad Crowley got hit that hard

Aziraphale only valid landlord???

Crowley ornithologist?????

Wait, why is the mail getting delivered to the Bentley rather than Crowley's apartment? What happened to his plants? Is he just never in his apartment so it's better to deliver to the car?

Record shop coffee shop ff slow burn

John Hamm's john & hamms are on display

This is unrelated to GO but I made wonton soup to eat while watching this and it is very good. Mmmm

Those poor tomatoes

Aziraphale's music interrupted by nudity and amnesia

Oh god heaven still hurts my eye holes. So shiny

No one tell naked amnesiac Gabriel about the existence of twins

Someone get him some pants. Aziraphale please get him some pants not just a blanket. What if he stands up?

Trailer ship bait line is a good line. Aziraphale thinks of Crowley and goes all soft

"The thing" is probably the box that was doing a lot of heavy lifting to keep this show PG, that was also dropped when the door opened and left in the street. Someone should probably go pick that up before someone else takes it

Ah. Good, it's still there

Oh her name is Shax. Neat! I love Crowley's hair swirlies. The ones on top. They're nice

Gabriel's Jim's terrible short term memory will absolutely be remembering Gabriel and not retaining anything else

The reaction to a bit of litter in heaven is killing me

So Crowley is one of those coffee drinkers. Also, if I were the record shop lady, I'd bake Aziraphale a thank you cake

Getting tired of writing out all the names, sk they're just A and C now

Oh no, the coffee shop lady is taken. Poor record shop lady

Blanket toga is not a substitute for clothes

I thought "ask him properly" would lead to some magic angel stuff, not asking more aggressively

ARGUMENTS. I feel like A is playing on the time last season when C left, saying he was going to go to another galaxy (Andromeda?) and then ended up regretting that. To clarify, I'm currently paused so I haven't heard C's response yet so this entire paragraph could become moot

I feel like C's going through some stuff that he hasn't told A about

Man drinks six shots of espresso, spontaneously combusts, gets struck by lightning

The relationship and circumstances around these two shop keepers is so fanfiction. If they don't get together, I hope they can spend the time trapped in this coffee shop bonding and becoming besties. Also, there should be a manual override for the security system. Not having one is stupid, because of things like this. What if they were trapped in the record shop instead, and there was no readily available food? An internal manual override is crucial

I like Micheal's sleeve cuffs

Ooo, disabled angel!

Muriel I hope you get some confidence. And also I want your skirt

Small bit of litter confuses and confounds angels

Oh, wonder why Beelzebub got recast. (Don't go out of your way to look it up I don't care enough to check myself and definitely not enough to inconvenience someone else)

So. The conflict here is that C could give up Jim, get a promotion and that's a problem taken off his hands, but A would be mad at him. Or, he could do not that and risk both him and A getting erased from existence entirely, which will uh, make it so the apocalypse last season did not get stopped. Oh boy

Oh this coffee shop lady does not care for records. At all

Crowley "my bad" actually made me die laughing so that was excellent and also my ghost is now typing this

Oh I do not care for the tone of Lindsay's texts. At all. Nina you deserve better. I do like the format of the texts coming up though. The paper and red pen makes it seem a lot more personal and angry and uh. Not good.

One of those said "remember what we said about mutual respect" and blowing up your partner's phone angrily because they're late isn't respect, which is necessary in the "mutual" bit of mutual respect. I would personally be concerned that something had happened. Maybe walk down and see if they're alright. Assume that their phone had died maybe, idk

A: glasses on. C: glasses off

"You were right" does not contain the word sorry and oh good, A knows that. Oh there's a dance? 👀

Why. Why do they do that. This is hilarious, but I feel like it makes it more difficult to apologize for things if there's a humiliating dance involved. Which also still doesn't contain the word sorry

Jim go back upstairs. Also, why does he still not have clothes?

See, in the trailer, Muriel didn't recognize Gabriel, and I thought that was just because they've never met. Interesting to see that, no, there's an active reason for that

Being persona non grata with heaven means A isn't allowed to do miracles anymore? Or just that the miracles he does are more heavily scrutinized?

Ah, the old "immediate proof that the last thing said was completely wrong" trope. Also, weird seeing heaven with a red filter

Ah. Bit of warning for people sensitive to flashing lights. I don't think this flashes fast enough, it's a hard cut between red filtered heaven and white heaven, with a second or two between each cut. But like. Go carefully. It only lasts for a bit and there aren't too many interesting visuals during it. Right after C says "no one will have noticed a thing", stops when Uriel asks for the alarm to stop

Oh A. Can't stay out of trouble to save his life

All in all, I liked it a lot! I'm looking forward to the hijinks A&C get into, I really want to know why C's mood is so foul rn when he was generally cheery at the end of last season, or as cheery as he gets, wondering about all the empty boxes. One empty box is fine, but two? Suspicious. Hoping Nina dumps Lindsay, has a nice long recovery period where she can enjoy being herself, and then gets together with record shop lady, whose name I will remember sometime probably. But I'm out of soup, out of tea, and out of excuses to not pull nails from my wall, so I'm gonna go do that now

[austarus]

Harry Wells x Reader - Period Gossips

*A/N: The picture/edit/gif does not belong to me. It belongs to its rightful owner.

**Please don’t forget to comment, like, and reblog. It means a lot to content creators of all kinds!

***I’d also like to thank @grimtamlain-writes​ for being my beta reader.

Word Count: 4962

MASTERLIST

Harry grunted as the gates to his home creaked open. The rain cascaded gently onto the earth hitting his windshield. The scientist slowed the car into the driveway in order to park it in the garage. He quelled the irritation from earlier; Jesse’s accursed team were giving him issues again regarding his mysterious disappearance and sudden reappearance. Those fuckers really need to understand that it’s not their business. He needed to fix himself a drink once he got inside – he was just ready to crash. Harry checked his phone once more as he turned off the engine, the garage door shut securely. He had texted Jesse earlier about what she’d want for dinner, but she hadn’t responded. Cheese and potato perogies it is then with spiced cubed chicken. I should make some rice and a side of sautéed garlic parmesan veggies. A sigh left his lips as exhaustion continued to seep through his bones. The Earth-2 doppelganger ran a hand over the back of his neck before shutting his eyes and tilting it to the side. A cracking sound echoed in the car. Relief washed over him. Taking a step out of the car, Harry gathered the documents and folders into his bag then threw it over his shoulder. I have that Syberon presentation to attend and speak at too. The presentation shouldn’t take too long to put together. Shutting the car door, the Wells doppelganger whistled a tune while twirling his keys in the other hand. Harry opened the garage door into his home and soon the tune died slowly at the sounds of pained singing.

“My period cramps are killing me, and I~ I must confess I’m still hungry.”

“So hungry~,” he heard his daughter's voice following yours at a different pitch. Harry had stopped dead in his tracks as panic started to set in that he didn’t even shut the door. He just held onto the doorknob. Shit, shit, shit, shit, shit. Your period schedule had synced with Jesse’s… and he had forgotten about date night. He’d been so busy right when he had gone back. Portfolios to approve, incompetent staff to fire, financial meetings to attend.  One problem at a time, Harrison. I have enough pads and tampons, right? I… I’m pretty sure I remembered to restock a week ago. Harry pulled out his phone to check his calendar, he’s made it his duty to mark your period dates when you’re on your placebo week just in case. He kept track of Jesse’s too even if she sorta scolded him for it since she’s a capable young woman that can take care of herself, especially with speedster powers.  Fuck, I think I ran out of chocolate. God…

“My heating pad isn’t helping me, but at least~ I’m not having a baby~.”

“Oh~”

Tiptoeing out of the house, Harry made a beeline to his car and threw his bag into the backseat once more. The scientist seat belted himself and made quick work of getting out of the driveway to head to the supermarket. He had a mission to complete – one that included him not getting the brunt of shark week by his daughter and fiancé. The dark-haired man sighed mentally preparing a list of snacks that he needs to buy for you and Jesse. At least we have enough pain medication to last the next century. Parking the car, Harry sent you a text he’d be late coming home to pick up a few items. You sent him and ‘ok’ with a kissy face emoji. The war veteran smiled to himself as he pocketed his phone and threaded his fingers through his slightly wet hair. Harry started heading towards the aisles with the mental list of snacks in mind.

 “She did that?” You raised an eyebrow at her, massaging your hand over the heating pad that laid on your lower abdomen. The pain was starting to dissipate. You really had cursed your uterus for dropping the period now of all times just as you had jumped through the breach for your sleepover date. Luckily for you, you weren’t alone. Jesse had gotten hers a few hours earlier. Both your uteruses really said ‘YOU WANNA FEEL PAIN?’. There’s just something about sharing your period days with someone else that makes it better and at the same time worse. I swear, since finding out about Jesse’s cycle this time it feels like my uterus is punishing me extra hard.

Jesse nodded from where she was reclined on the corner side of the L-shaped couch. The speedster had her father’s stress ball in hand giving it a squeeze every so often. She had her own heating pad on her stomach. “Yeah, like it’s not that hard to do your job. She’s always making excuses and lying about her situation to get out of stuff.” An empty bag of Doritos was on the coffee table along with dark chocolate blueberries and almonds. You two had practically inhaled the three bags a few hours earlier.

“I’m sorry, but she needs to go.”

“Our preceptor just keeps turning a blind eye to those things. If anyone else were to do it, they’d be grilled for sure, even taken out of the program. And don’t get me started on how Gus is making his entire life about his boyfriend.”

“Oh no, I feel a storm coming. Lemme guess, boyfriend is number one priority over everyone and everything else?”

“Yes! Like they just started dating. They haven’t been together for a full year and he’s laying his heart down for him. He doesn’t even see the red flags Dakota and I see.”

“What red flags?”

“Ok, so when they first started talking Wylan was supposed to pick Gus up for their date. Wylan ended up being two hours late and had not said a single word to Gus on where he was or if things got canceled. Nothing.” You nodded as she continued, the sound of rain hitting the home harder. It was storming outside, lighting flickering here and there. Briefly checking your phone, you wondered where Harry was and if he was okay out in this weather. “I told him not to go on that date when I was on the phone with him and Wylan ended up calling Gus when I was on the line, so naturally Gus picked it up, ok?”

“Yeah? As one naturally does.”

“Gus called me back and was like ‘I’m going with him’. Bitch, I just told you not to. He made no effort to communicate what was going on and where he was and why he was late. The second red flag drove me over the edge.” Your ears perked up at the sound of the door groaning at the hinges, a signal to it being opened. Your heart jumped in your chest as you waited in anticipation. Jesse grinned slyly as she saw the cheery smile perk up on your face.

“Did he end up telling Dakota what happened?”

“No, because he knows Dakota would confront him about shit. I end up telling Dakota because they have a right to know. We just end up keeping things on the downlow.” Jesse sighed, languidly getting up and using her powers to clean up the little area you and she have made residence in before her father can see. While Harry was prone to having a messy lab, it was work and tech – not junk and trash everywhere. “Wylan is rich because of his daddy’s money, not hard-earned money that he’s made for himself, and he has these… conservative-ish ideals.”

“What do you mean?”

“I mean, that… Gus and I were talking about tattoos and piercings on Facetime and Wylan told Gus that he shouldn’t get any tattoos or piercings. First of all, Wylan is not Gus. Gus is free to do as he so pleases with his body. If he wants to get a tattoo, Wylan shouldn’t have a final say in regards to what Gus should and shouldn’t do.” Jesse ran a hand through her hair in irritation, the idea of Wylan seemed to just rile her up so much because she’s just looking out for her best friend who can’t see the signs and flags regarding Wylan. “He can put out his opinion and Gus can consider it, but in the end it is Gus’ life. Not Wylan’s. If Wylan doesn’t want those two things for himself, then by all means, go for it. But don’t enforce your views on someone you had just started dating.”

“I’ve brought peace offerings,” your fiancé had walked in with a couple of bags, his suit slightly damp and his hair a mess more than usual. Setting the bags on the coffee table, Harry kissed the top of his daughter’s head before giving you a sweet and needy kiss. After a long day, he really missed you. Your heart swelled in your chest when you took a peek to see the snacks in the bag. Jesse was already opening a bag of her favorite chips. You knew that he kept a vigilant track of your period, especially since the two of you don’t want an ‘oopsie baby’. Maybe not this soon. “What are you guys talking about?”

“Gus is apparently living in a fantasy world where he and Wylan 100% workout even though there are a good number of red flags that exist in their few months of dating,” you clarified to the scientist, who only ended up frowning. Jesse sipped on her cranberry juice and gauged her father’s response.

“Gus is smarter than that. A shame, I liked him and valued not only his thinking skills, but his ability to execute the work he’s thrown himself in.” Your fiancé had sat down beside you. The worn-out feeling began to set in his body, especially his legs. Harry unbuttoned a few buttons on his formal white long sleeve. You scooted closer to Harry with the intent on cuddling beside him and resting your head on his chest. His heartbeat felt strong. “Gus deserves a better man.”

“I guess love and money blind?” Your statement sounded more like a question as you glanced at Jesse. The speedster tiredly exhaled; you could tell that there was still more to the story. “Gus’ been too invested with Wylan to really take a step back and see reality for what it is. Instead, from what Jesse’s been telling me he’s been using all his time just for Gus. So essentially neglecting all other relationships that are permanent in his life like friends and family and commitments to work and such.”

Harry could only shrug at your words as he took his suit jacket off to drape over a chair. “Hungry?”

“Yes.”

“Is that even a question, dad?”

A chuckle fell from his lips, “Let me get changed and we can start on dinner? I’m assuming due to (Y/N) being here that you didn’t see my text?” The dark-haired scientist cocked an eyebrow at his daughter who then proceeded to frown a bit before checking her phone. The young speedster made an ‘o’ shape with her mouth then shifted her gaze to her dad as she sent him a sheepish smile. “I was thinking of chicken and perogies with rice and veggies.”

“And garlic bread,” you added; by now you know that Jesse loved her garlic bread just as much as you do.

The three of you got started on dinner once Harry had returned all clean in his pajamas and after a shower. You resisted the urge to pull him down for a kiss. There would be more time for that later. Jesse was in charge of assembling the perogies from scratch while you heated up the garlic bread and started up on adding spices to the chicken cubes Harry had cut. You added mustard to let the chicken tenderize even more, a trick your mother had taught you. Your fiancé worked away on the rice while pulling out the veggies and the cutting board.

“Wanna hear something funny?” You quirked a sly look to Jesse, who began filling the dough with mashed potatoes and cheese bits.

“Sure?”

“I got Barry and Cisco the period simulator.”

Jesse gasped, her eyes twinkling in amusement as a grin crossed her face while you smirked. “You didn’t.”

“I did. Cisco started tearing up at level 3 while Barry held on until he broke at level 4. We didn’t even set them on the levels Iris and Kamila feel on their monthly basis. They doubled down in pain and everything. So much for egos.”

“You should do that to dad if he pisses you off,” Jesse snickered with a smirk.

Harry felt himself start to sweat at his daughter’s comment, waiting for your response. “I don’t think I’d do that to your dad. He’s never pushed me to that point.”

“Aw…”  

Let’s just say, Harry was very relieved at your answer. He, of all people, knew that a woman’s pain was something no man could not even begin to fathom. Hell hath no fury than a woman scorned. After dinner the three of you cleaned up, Jesse put the food away while Harry loaded the dishwasher. You helped Jesse with organizing the fridge so that everything fit perfectly in place and that the leftover food can be eaten in a timely manner. Although, you knew that Harry still needed to be reminded to eat something other than Big Belly Burger.

“I,” Jesse started while pulling out some chocolate and fruit, “have a date with a special someone and that someone is Netflix. If you need me, I’ll be hiding in my room.” She sent you and her dad a wink, knowing that being in the house wouldn’t be so bad since nothing can really happen. And with that, the young speedster channeled her powers to speed up to her room leaving the aftermath of her colored lightning and excess wind in her wake. Jesse had wanted to tell you more but knew that she’d have time to get your opinion later. You’re to be here for two weeks before heading back to Earth-1 and dealing with the havoc Team Flash finds themselves in. Checking over her phone, Jesse found that she had gotten a text from Dakota and another from Gus. The speedster rolled her eyes a bit before reading the message.

A sigh left Harry; his shoulders sagged a bit. You frowned, setting the towel down in its respective spot on the arm of the oven. “What’s wrong?” You asked as you came up from behind and hugged him. The scientist set the dishwasher to the appropriate setting for the next hour or so. His arms dropped to his side.

“Hm? Nothing, just… time really has flown. It was just yesterday that I was watching her walk and play with the periodic table. Now she’s almost done with her Ph.D programs while being the hero the city depends on.”

“That’s not necessarily a bad thing, Harry.”

“I know, I’m proud of her and everything. I- with everything that’s happened,” the Wells doppelganger turned slowly in your arms, his own limbs encasing you, “I just wish I had realized to value the time I had with her much earlier in her life. Crisis after crisis, Zoom and Savitar and Devoe, being trapped with the others – I feel like I missed out. I shouldn’t have taken my family for granted.” His grip tightened as he pulled you close. Rubbing his back, you knew what he meant; you and Team Flash and Jesse were all he had left. Oddly enough, he also had HR and Sherloque and Nash, even if to him they annoyed the hell out of the Earth-2 CEO.

I shouldn’t have taken you for granted.

“You’re not taking anything for granted, Harry. Things unfold and we learn, we grow. That’s a part of life,” you whispered, cupping his face and running your thumb over his cheek. “I’m proud of you and I’ll always be by your side, my love. We managed to make things work, to make things right. We’ll be ok.” I love you, Harry. Harry closed his eyes and nodded; his hand had come up to hold yours that lay on his cheek. The words that came from you meant the world to him. You meant the world to him. You and Jesse. Even after all this time, Harry still found himself stumbling over his words when it comes to his feelings for you. One would think after all the events that have happened over the years that it would get easier. “Are you going to be working on some papers today?”

“The proposals and research theses never cease to amaze me. Syberon wants me to speak at their presentation next week. Mayor Snart will be there and everything. Do you want to…?”

You gave him a small smile before leaning up and kissing his nose in response. “I’d love to be your plus one.” Harry gave you that toothy grin of his as he took both your hands in his. My workaholic man. “You know where to find me then.” You two parted, you headed upstairs where your overnight bag was while Harry made his way to his office with his own dreadful load.

A gentle sigh left your lips as you headed in for a shower with a change of clothes and necessities. You tend to take one every day when on your period, sometimes twice a day depending on your flow for the week. Not to lie, but you were jealous that Harry’s bathroom was connected to his bedroom, an aspect you’ve always wanted for your apartment yet sadly cannot afford. Making a mental note to grab the heating pad from downstairs, you turned the knob for the shower to the hottest setting then stripped of your clothes. Steam gradually filled the bathroom. Stepping in, you made a noise of relief as the water hit you – warming your chilled body significantly. This is the stuff. You stood there relishing in the ‘liquid lava’ as the boys put it when you and the girls talked about hot showers. Grabbing your body scrub and scrub brush you got right to work washing out all the blood and gunk. I technically could be an expert to getting away with murder with how much I know on getting rid of blood stains because of my period.

***

Hours passed when Harry finally glanced at his watch. It was a bit past midnight when he finished reviewing the proposals and financial papers. The presentation was the first thing he tackled before starting on the paperwork for the coming deadlines at the end of the month. The scientist normally prioritized tasks with a closer deadline. A yawn made its way out of his lips, causing him to crack his neck. Harry set his glasses down on his desk and rubbed his tired eyes. He was technically on-call tomorrow should any issue arise at the Labs for the weekend. While Harry did advocate for only the best scientists to work at his facility and to exhibit prominent results with the projects, he was not a tyrant in running his staff to their bones. Instead, he encouraged rest days to the others so long as the deadlines are met in a timely fashion. If individuals felt that they needed to stay longer than they were welcome to.

Harry ran a hand through his chaotic dark mess of hair before deciding that he was done for the night and headed upstairs to you. On his way up, the genius stopped in the kitchen for a bottle of wine and two glasses. Transitioning the three items to one hand expertly, Harry knocked on his bedroom door before cracking it open. Only the soft light filtered by the lamp beside you on the counter illuminated the room to a gentle and dim tone. It didn’t overstimulate the eyes so much. His expression softened when he found you under the covers on his bed with your iPad, most likely reading a new smutty fantasy book. Yes, he knew about those. Something about faeries and courts and magic. Beside you was a bowl of assorted berries as you sat with your knees bent and feet pressed down on the bed. A few pillows reclined your back as you read on. When Harry fully entered the room, that was when you finally looked up. Harry swore that your cheery smile brightened up the room. Setting your iPad against your knees, you patted the seat next to you excitedly to which your fiancé only chuckled and shut the door with his foot. Coming around to sit beside you, Harry handed you the glass then sat his own on the table to pour the wine in your cup first. You pressed one hand on the heating pad as you took a good sip from the glass. An ‘mm’ noise fell from you as you licked your lips from the wine.

“I bought this one with you in mind,” your man cocked a teasing eyebrow at you as he poured himself one. He didn’t mind sweet wine, honestly. Harry preferred the sting of bourbon or champagne, but wine was fine.

“You didn’t have to.”

“But I wanted to,” you pouted a bit at him, spoiling you to which he leaned over to kiss your puffed out lower lip. You couldn’t help but kiss him back, especially when he bit down on your lip.

“Any word from Earth-1?”

“Well, other than the fact that Cisco’s been keeping me busy with trying to decipher Thawne’s work for Barry’s artificial Speedforce, nothing’s been happening. A new meta called ‘Godspeed’ has been… sending mindless imposters.”

“Don’t tell me this is the same thing with Zoom.”

“I think it is, but in this case Barry doesn’t have much speed to have siphoned off of him hence Cisco and some guy named Chuck working around the clock.”

“It’s Chester.”

“What?”

“His name is Chester not Chuck.”

You watched Harry just shrug nonchalantly. “Nash is still being an asshole as he figures out what to do with his epiphany to make his penance with Maya and her doppelganger. Ah, I forgot to mention,” Harry went over to his closet to pull out a colored bag, gift paper shoved inside of it. “Sherloque dropped this off for you, a gift from Earth-221 knowing your fondness of books. He told me not to look inside and that it was just a book of your interest.”

“Aw, that’s sweet of him. I hope all things are going well.”

“They are,” Harry didn’t know if he should mention to you that Sherloque had stumbled upon your doppelganger on his Earth and roped her into being his own Watson in his crime-solving adventures through the multiverse. Probably leave that for him to explain. “Are you still reading that book about fire and gold?”

“It’s called ‘A Court of Silver Flames’,” you retorted, pulling out Sherloque’s gift with a giddy look. The title read ‘Neon Gods’ and as you read the summary you could feel yourself paling and the temperature dropping. HOW THE FUCK DID HE KNOW THAT I READ SMUT???? THAT COCKY ASS BASTARD. HE’S 100% EXPOSING ME TO MY MANS.

“Why do you look like that?”

“Look like what?” You tried to hide the book from him which caused Harry to smirk wolfishly, his eyes narrowing in delight.

“Like you’ve seen a ghost. What’s the book about?”

“Nothing!”

The war veteran raised a damned questioning eyebrow at you. You turned your head away to avoid his gaze. “That was too quick of a response, even for you.” Harry scooted ever closer to see what the book was about to which you ended up chucking it across the room in panic. You sent a silent apology to the book as it hit the wall and fell to the ground. A second or two passed between you and Harry before the two of you scrabbled for it. To your surprise you had gotten to it first due to your fiancé slipping on the blanket that had been tossed to the side. However, your victory ended when strong arms grabbed a hold of you, flinging you onto the bed. Clutching the book to your chest, the dark-haired genius crawled on top of you and started attacking your sides to have you let go. You lasted a good minute before you were fidgeting under him with laughter and tears in your eyes, your grip loosening.

“Aha!” Harry grabbed the book and rolled off you. His eyes skimmed the summary side of the book to which his cheeks reddened slightly. Another smut book. I’m not surprised.

Taking a breath to calm down, you collected yourself. “It’s not what you think!”

“Uh huh,” Harry walked over and handed you your book with that playful look in his eyes. You took it and hid it under the covers as if it’d erase what he had just read. “You do know that I know, right?”

“Know what?” Maybe if I play dumb, he won’t keep asking.

“That plot-involving smut is one of your favorite sub-genres.”

“…”

“You don’t have to hide it. My fiancé’s just into some kinky stuff, not like we haven’t done anything kinky before.”

“Yeah, well…” You nibbled on your bottom lip in embarrassment. Harry just wiggled his eyebrows at you while the blood rushed to your cheeks. This cheeky bastard. “Just cuddle me, I think that little active moment may have cost me my uterus’ well-being.” The scientist grinned eagerly before pulling you close for cuddles with his long arms. He tucked your head close to his as you ran your free fingers over his clothed bicep then his exposed collarbone. The things I let this man do to me. His body warmed you while giving you multiple kisses on your face and neck, each one you reciprocated as the two of you snuck under the covers for the night. “Harry?”

“Hm?” 

“I think I might need to go back to Earth-1 in a few days or so.”

“Why?”

“Well,” you tilted your head back to look at him, his eyes were half-lidded. “I don’t have a dress with me for the Syberon event.”

“I’ll buy you one, it’s not an issue.”

“No, no, you’ve been spoiling me enough. I have a few cocktail dresses back in my apartment that should make due. I have worn them since the times at STAR Labs before the Particle Accelerator exploded.”

“That should be appropriate enough. Just remember to wear heels that won’t kill you. Remember last time?” You pouted at his teasing smirk, his finger poking your cheek then nose. Harry had to carry you to the carry on his back last time because you couldn’t take another step when the night was finally over at one of the lavish gala’s he had invited you to.

“Hey, that was a one-time mistake. I didn’t know you were going to want to stay that long anyway.” It wasn’t really his scene, after all.

“Yes, however, I needed to secure some deals while also making sure no one was trying to defame me for being MIA so much. The other CEO scientists in the city should know that by know.”

“I’m assuming there are still those trying to test you?” You threaded your fingers through his silky, dark hair. Harry smiled slightly as he leaned his head down more for you. He loved it when you played with his hair like that. Just carding your fingers through.

“Sadly, the Haegorski triplets are trying to tip the balance in the city - calling for Snart to complete denounce STAR Labs for the havoc and meta collateral damage for my own Particle Accelerator. They believe that my labs is still dangerous, that I’m trying to cover up for something else that can endanger more lives.”

“But you having been doing everything in your power to make amends for the city. Hell, Jesse’s the Flash of this earth. She’s being doing so much good for the city. You don’t really need to prove anything more to them, I’m sure Leonard knows that.” You weren’t going to lie and say that it didn’t freak you out a bit that Captain Cold’s doppelganger was a decent mayor on this earth.

“It was still me a the center of the Dark Matter leaking into our world. It was still I who had accidentally allowed Zoom to be born and haunt the city. You can’t stop the harrowing idea of negativity. One illegitimate deed outweighs the good an individual does. With my labs out of the way, only the most prominent of scientists will head there to have their innovative work funded.”

“So what will you do?”

“What I do best.” Harry all but winked at you. You rolled your eyes at the dark-haired genius.

“And that is?”

“By showing them that I’m a force to be reckoned with.”

“Uh huh, well while you do that, I’m going to go to the bathroom and clean the crime scene happening between my legs.” Your fiancé all but threw his head back at your statement as you got off the bed to go to the bathroom for a clean up.

Returning to bed you and Harry continued your conversations, this time regarding Eva and Godspeed along with how exactly Cisco plans to get Barry his speed back. At some point during your whispered conversations with Harry while cuddling you both passed out as the night carried on. The exhaustion from today had taken you and Harry out like a light as the moon glimmered in the night sky. You two slept soundly in each other's arms, the beating of your hearts falling into a steady rhythm together.

[metaldragoon]

116/2023 KM done for the year The other day I was 2 seconds slower, today I am 2 seconds faster.  Breaking 37 minutes will be a momentous day!  I couldn’t find my touque so I had to wear this balaclava deal and I never tried stretching it over my mouth but I would’ve made a fine medieval peasant soldier were they to afford me the luxury to some chainmail.  I thought it was a humourous fit but then I noticed my yellow shirt is inside out (it’s not a shirt that’s at all ambiguous about which side is which) and I realised my life is a mess.  Regardless, the run went well.  My 5:03 “Best km” listed is slower than usual but it was still my fastest run at this distance so that just means I was pretty consistent and it felt that way too.  I’m always compelled to really go on about my run but I gotta learn to reel it in ‘cuz no one cares about that.  In other news I made dinner yesterday and instinctively cut up a whole onion since usually I make a bunch of food for several days, so there was a lot of onion for my perogies and boy is the scent in this room powerful.  I talked on the phone with my best friend who I haven’t called since like June or July, and then my other and really only other friend asked to hang out next Sunday so it would appear my social needs are going to be fully satiated for quite some time.  He broke his hand in September fire fighting, and I told him I had done the same punching the floor and the sympathies he expressed were “Haha wtf you broke your hand from that lol”  Always something charming about someone who types like an idiot.

[tavarillasgalen]

good days are very rare for me.

i don’t want them to be, but they are. with a combination of physical health issues, mental health issues, feeling stuck in life, tense relationships, and so much more, i feel like i am constantly on edge, in constant fight-or-flight mode. 

it’s exhausting, but i’m used to it.

but it makes the good days stand out all the more.

christmas eve was wonderful. 

after multiple tries, i finally passed the 1 class i needed to finish my degree. i went from being on the edge of my seat about whether or not i would get a passing grade to somehow ending the class with a B- and a 99% on the final. lesson learned: if you need accommodations, ask for them. they help so much. i literally started crying when i saw the final grade, and the professor told me it was a real honor seeing how much i progressed with accommodations in place.

i made myself pretty and went to see my s/o. we exchanged gifts, and he always makes me feel so seen with his presents. then, i treated him to red robin, and we were both blown away by how good the food was. we went to target to do some extremely last minute christmas shopping for his parents, then home. at home, we had a wonderful time, adult time, together. then, we cuddled and talked, then watched About Fate before I had to go home. it was such a good day.

christmas was good too. my family and i did presents, and everyone liked what they got. all my interests were covered, from a drawing tablet to books to ballet shoes to a horseback riding therapy book. then we had breakfast together, then went to see one of my brothers i haven’t seen in like 3 years or so. then my younger brothers asked if i wanted to go sledding with them, so we did that. then we came home and got ready for my s/o and his parents to come up for dinner.

usually this sort of thing makes me very nervous, but i took my anxiety medication before they came up and that helped. it was surprisingly a good time. we had turkey, green beans, perogies, pita, and more. both of our families got along well. 

then after dinner, we went to the piano room and exchanged presents. my youngest brother and my mom both played the piano before my s/o’s family had to go on their way. 

then, we did stockings, which was basically all candy, and talked a bit, before we all retreated to introvert and stuff. i did laundry while finishing the book i was reading and just... idk. it was a good day. it was nice to have family bonding after all the tension and everything. 

[magpies-gold]

Finally doing this on a long weekend (yeah!)

rules: tag 10 people you want to get to know better

relationship status: Engaged to @timmcosplay! He’s put up with me for something like eight years and that’s a bit baffling!

favorite color: Electric blue. I badly wanted to paint my bedroom that colour as a kid, but my dad made me tone it down. And, well, fair. But electric blue! The more eye searing the better.

song stuck in my head: Eliza Rickman - Pretty Little Head

last song i listened to: Werewolf Boyfriend - Little Seed

three favorite foods: Salmon! Perogies. Grilled cheese sandwiches my beloved.

last thing i googled: “Edmonton ITV”. Tim and I were discussing what he called “newscore”, meaning the music style that news channels started using in the mid-90’s, which led to us talking about A Channel and how when it appeared around 1995 it chose music that was just a bop for its news show and then, because I enjoy lists and giving myself pop quizzes, I started listing all the channels my family could get with our TV antenna in early 90’s rural Alberta and then I got stuck on “What was channel 13?? It had an “i” before it was re-branded as Global….” Hence: Googling. Then finding my answer and nostalging over the old logos.

Normal conversations, y’know.

dream trip: The older I get, the more I don’t think I have one. My travel anxiety is INTENSE. I like staying home and just looking at pictures, mostly. Trips are not my jam these days, except to go home to my parents’ farm, and even that’s hard. >>

anything i want right now: To completely redecorate our condo so that I actually love it instead of tolerate it. Saving up for that!

Also I want olives but I bought some yesterday so I’m satisfied.

tagging: Copping out and tagging whoever wants to do this! I am too Canadian to tag people specifically lest I annoy them and have to say sorry.

[starsstruck]

cloudbusting; part four.

a classic coffee shop story. harry is a painter that quickly becomes a regular at his neighbourhood cafe, and it just might have something to do with a certain barista. horoscope readings, mandarin oranges, and star-gazing strolls.

pairing: harry x reader warnings: language, mentions of anxiety words: 13k

series masterlist

art by holly warburton. (i have no vision for the mc of the fic, people in the images of paintings i use are purely because this is how i envision harry’s art to be)

a/n: thank you for being patient with me for this chapter, i hope everything turned out okay ! a big huge thank you to the amazing tina @sunflowers-styles​ for helping me out and being the best beta ily ❤️❤️ as always let me know what you think and please share if you can ! i love to hear everyone's thoughts and comments <3 happy reading !

Sat comfortably on Mae’s couch, you were taking a big bite of the hummus covered carrot that you had just grabbed.

“I have some frozen perogies!”

Mae’s voice floated from the kitchen, both of your laziness to make a proper dinner was about to be satisfied with hummus and snacks before Mae started digging through her fridge.

“That sounds perfect!” You called back, reaching over her coffee table for another carrot. You could hear her shuffling through the kitchen, reappearing by the couch with a box of herb flavoured crackers in hand.

“I’ll put them on later,” she hummed, seating herself next to you while turning down the volume of the Fiona Apple that was playing through the speaker. “Don’t feel like cooking just yet.”

“How was the weekend away?”

Mae had just come back from a two-night stay with her partner’s parents, at their place out in Rochester. “It was good – honestly it was pretty nice to completely get away from everything, even if it was for a bit, and even if it was with Robin’s parents.”

“That sounds lovely,” you nodded, unable to help yourself as you kept reaching for more crackers. “It’s good you got to relax for a bit.”

“Work has been far too stressful lately,” Mae nodded. “Aren’t you getting some time off soon as well?”

You rolled your eyes, waiting until you finished chewing your carrot until you spoke. “I guess. It’s not really going to be relaxing for me though.”

She shot you a sympathetic smile. “It’ll be okay – if things get too bad tell me, and I’ll come over with some kind of emergency.”

“I’ll hold you to that,” you laughed, not wanting to think about the reason you were going to be taking some time off work.

“Don’t think about that just yet,” Mae told you, a smile lining her lips. “How’s work going otherwise? Oh! Anything new with the painter boy?”

You bit your lips together, watching the bowl of homemade hummus as if it was the most interesting thing you’d ever seen. You knew Mae could read you well, and you knew that as soon as you averted your gaze that she’d be onto something.

“Something did happen?” She repeated the question, voice rising in excitement as you tried to hold back your little smirk.

“He ate me out on the floor of his apartment.”

“I’m sorry, he did what?” Mae sprang up, back straightening out as she turned to fully face you. “Last I heard you weren’t even sure if he was even going to make a move on you.”

“Well…” you trailed off, not knowing what else to say. “He did.”

It had been three days since you last saw Harry. You had your usual two days off, coming back to work just this Saturday morning.

After the little distraction from your painting session, you had pulled your dress back over your knees. And with starry eyes and warm cheeks, you sat up with legs pressed to his and your arms around his neck to pull him in for a sloppy kiss.

He had tugged you closer to him until you were practically sitting on his lap, muttering near nonsense against your mouth. “You’re unreal, you know that?” and “Sound so good saying my name like that, could listen to you for hours.”

Just the mere thought brought butterflies to your stomach; which was something you thought only happened to protagonists in romance novels.

You could still feel his warm breath against your skin and the sweet nothings he had kissed onto your lips.

“Was he good?”

Mae really didn’t need to ask; she could tell by the look on your face. You nodded, confirming her suspicion with a smile bit between your teeth. “Really good.”

“I love that,” she chuckled lightly. “Anything else happen? And wait, when exactly did this happen?”

“Few days ago – I went over to his to do some painting with him. I actually ran into him last weekend when I was out which was when he first kissed me.”

“What? You never told me that.” She mocked a pout, not actually upset with you.

“I haven’t seen you!” You laughed, always favouring to tell her things in person rather than on the phone or through text. 

“I suppose…” she laughed. “Have you seen him since?”

“No,” you shook your head. “I mean it was only three days ago.”

“Do you have plans to see him again?”

Again, you shook your head. “No – I don’t know. I realized I don’t even have his number or anything, I usually just see him at my work.”

“You could always DM him,” Mae nodded, reminding you of the time you both had spent scrolling through his Instagram.

“That’s true,” you bit at your bottom lip. “I don’t know. I don’t even know what he wants or anything.”

You fell quiet for a second, still gnawing at your lip. When you thought about it, you really only ever did see him at your work and other than his art practice and what kind of coffee he liked to drink, you didn’t know that much about him.

“Did anything else happen?”

“No,” you again shook your head. “He said that we didn’t have to do anything more if I didn’t want to – honestly I would’ve returned the favour but things just didn’t really go that way.”

“That’s kind of sweet.”

The wheels in your head were spinning. “Maybe he just wants something physical, I don’t know…”

Mae rolled her eyes. “Don’t jump the gun. By the sound of everything I kind of doubt that, he didn’t even get off.”

“I mean, is that weird? Maybe he does that – like in Sex and the City.”

Mae let out a loud laugh. “Life is not like Sex and the City, stop comparing yourself to that shitty show. Also, what does it have to do with anything?”

“That’s a plot,” you nodded, hating yourself for remembering all the awful plot points from the 90s TV show. “Charlotte dates this guy who’s like, notorious for going down on women and wants nothing else from a relationship.”

Mae raises an eyebrow. “And that’s a bad thing?”

“No,” shaking your head, a small furrow in your brow as you actually couldn’t remember how the episode had ended. “It wasn’t bad – but it wasn’t good. That’s all he did – he wasn’t a good guy or something, I don’t remember. He only was in the one episode.”

Mae laughed.  “Babe you’ve got to stop watching that show.”

“It’s entertaining,” you shrugged, fully knowing Mae also loved to indulge in the guilty pleasure with you.

“What does this have to do with Harry – your Harry?” Mae made the distinction, as if you would have only thought about Harry Goldenblatt, Charlotte’s second husband of the show.

“I don’t remember,” you muttered, bottom lip still between your teeth as you couldn’t for the life of you remember why it was bad that Charlotte dated a guy that only wanted to eat her out.

Snapping yourself out from the mess in your mind, you shook your head. “Anyway, sorry. Things are good, I’m just overthinking.”

Mae was quiet for a second. “Do you like him?”

You paused, already knowing your answer but being slightly afraid of it. “I think I do.”

It was two days later when you saw Harry again. With your usual Monday opening shift, the slow morning had you leaning against the counter flipping through the daily newspaper as you found yourself with not much else to do.

Playing with the paper straw that was in your third coffee of the day, you blindly brought it up to your mouth just as you heard someone walk through the door.

An older man with a red baseball cap shuffled through the propped open door, giving you a two-finger wave as he walked over to the counter.

“Morning,” he chirped, placing a ten-dollar bill on the counter as you went to grab his morning muffin. “Nice day out, isn’t it?”

One pet peeve you had about your job, was the weather talk that every patron seemed to insist on having. They all loved to chat about the bright sun outside while you were stuck working inside. “Beautiful day.”

Grabbing the bill from the counter, your eyes flitted back to the front door as you were counting out the customer’s change. A familiar silhouette of someone else walking through the door had caught your attention, eyes widening a bit when you realized it was Harry who had just come in.

He had his usual canvas bag over his shoulder, light wash blue jeans and a white shirt with some kind of graphic you couldn’t see on it.

Feeling your heart beating just a bit faster in your chest, you turned your attention back to the regular (who’s name you couldn’t remember, Bill or something) with the red cap and handed him his change.

Shooting Harry one more look, forcing the corners of your lips not to open in a wide smile while you moved to prepare a small americano.

As you watched the espresso pour into the mug, you willed your body not to flush at even being in the same room as Harry. You felt like you were thirteen, with a silly crush on a boy you’d only ever spoken to once. Except that this was much more real than a small crush.

You had never really felt this way with anyone before.

“Small americano,” you spoke not too loudly in the near empty café, your voice easily carrying over the sound of Françoise Hardy’s Voilà.

The red capped regular grabbed his coffee, pouring a generous amount of cream in it with a small thank you before he headed to his table near a window, ready for his breakfast with his book.

From the corner of your eye, you saw Harry having placed his things at his usual table and was tapping away on his phone. Cleaning out the portafilter, you wiped off the counter before deciding to head back to your coffee and newspaper.

It was not even a minute later that you felt a presence loom from the other side of the counter.

“Morning,” Harry’s voice was a quiet rasp, clearing his throat as you shot him a glance.

Your stomach fluttered.

“Hi,” you hummed, willing yourself to stop your flush at the memory of the last time you saw him. Hand reaching out for your no longer iced coffee, straw between your lips as you looked up at him again. “What’s your sign?”

Harry’s brow furrowed, a twitch of a smile at his mouth. “What?”

You motioned to the open newspaper in front of you on the counter. “Your sun sign – I’m reading horoscopes.”

“Oh,” he laughed. “I’m an Aquarius. Are you reading all of them?”

You nodded with your own little laugh. “I like to compare them, plus I’m a bit bored. So,” your eyes skimmed over the newsprint. “An Aquarius hm?”

���Is that bad?”

You only hummed, finding it on the page and pausing before reading his daily horoscope to him. “Under today’s amorous skies, sometimes less is more. Resist the urge to come on too strong to a new romantic prospect. A star-gazing stroll through nature could be the perfect way to add a dash or romance to your evening. And who knows? Your nighttime adventure could even bring artistic inspo.”

A few seconds of silence washed over the two of you. Harry had his bottom lip between his teeth, unable to help the nervous twist in his stomach. The horoscope was just a bit too accurate, especially with who was reading it to him.

“That’s – that’s something.” He said after a moment. The bright sun made the little pink blush on his cheeks obvious. He cleared his throat, looking to change the subject. “What’s yours say?”

“Mine isn’t nearly as nice, a bit of a filler horoscope if you ask me.” You sighed, searching for your sign on the page even though you’d just read it not long ago. “Today is all about adventure. Today’s thrill-seeking skies get your engines revving. Expand your horizons, whether you embark on a cross country road trip or rent a cabin in the woods. It’s all about a change in scenery and spiritual balance.”

“Sounds like you need to seek some thrill.” Harry laughed, the words you had read to him about his own horoscope still stuck in his head.

“I guess I do,” you bit back a smile, closing the paper. “Did you only come in for readings today? Or maybe a coffee too?”

“So many reasons I came in today,” he shot you a smile, almost a nervous one.

“Well then,” you hummed, pushing yourself away from the counter to go start preparing a coffee for him. “Let me grab you a drink.”

He followed you, from the other side of the counter, to the espresso machine. After tamping the grounds and waiting for the shot, you placed a hand on your shoulder as you circled your opposite arm, feeling the ever growing knot under your skin. 

“Are you alright?” 

“Yeah,” you smiled lightly. “It’s just my shoulder – I call it barista shoulder. Not everyone gets it, I think it depends on the way you tamp the espresso.” 

You saw the confusion on his face. 

“Tamping – it’s when you use this,” you reached over to grab the heavy tool used to press down grounds. “I honestly don’t know what it’s called - I think it’s just called a tamper? Anyway, you press down the grounds to form this kind of espresso puck.” 

You mimicked the motion, twisting your body. “You need to use a bit of force so I got into the habit of using my entire side to push it down. Some people press just in the wrist or their arm. My old boss had the same issue as me – after years of the repetitive motion it kind of fucks with your whole side; your arm, shoulder, ribs, everything.”

“Your ribs?” 

You quickly stopped the shot that was still pouring, having nearly forgotten about it. 

“Yeah,” you laughed lightly with a sheepish smile. “I went to see a physio for it, I have two ribs that are a bit dislocated.” 

“What?! You have dislocated ribs?!” Harry looked a bit scared. 

“Partially,” you corrected, as if it made a big difference. 

“Does it hurt?” 

“Kind of, yeah,” you nodded. “I try and stretch it out often, I even got acupuncture for it once. It’s more of a dull pain.” 

“Jesus,” he muttered, a small shake to his head. “Dangerous work you do here.” 

You only laughed, scooping out some ice from the machine and placing a few cubs into the glass cup, some espresso splashing onto your hand.

Placing the cup on the counter, you nudged it across in his direction. “For you.” 

“Thank you,” his fingers reached for it, before sliding it a few inches before stopping.

“Oh!” He disappeared for a moment, quickly walking to his table before reappearing in front of you, all in the few seconds the espresso had been pouring for. “Brought these for you.”

He had two mandarin oranges in his hand, holding them out in your direction before placing them on the counter between the two of you.

You were so endeared you wanted to throw them at his head.

“I remembered how you said you usually forget to eat in the morning – actually I don’t even know if you like oranges. You don’t have to – well anyway they’re there for you if you want them.”

“Thank you,” you spoke softly, warming at the small action. You did in fact enjoy oranges; you loved the smell of them as well. “I love mandarin oranges”

“Me too,” Harry grinned, done with his rambling. “Love the colour too – actually I like the colour tangerine even better,” he smirked lightly, apparently not done with his rambling. “But I only had mandarin oranges.”

“Any citrus fruit really is divine,” you giggled, grabbing one in each hand.

Harry saw you disappear behind the espresso machine for a brief second, only the top of your head visible between the mugs, before you turned back towards him while wiping your hands on your jeans.

He held the small glass between his fingers, mouth dropping open to speak but nothing came out when both your attentions turned to see a family waiting for you to take their order.

You only shot him a little smile, grabbing the pen from your back pocket and moved to take their order.

Harry went to go take his seat, pulling out his usual workbook that was slowly but surely filling up with page after page of colourful sketches.

He thought over the words you had read out to him about his horoscope. He never was one to take that in a serious manner, quite frankly not knowing a lot about astrology at all. But he took it as a sign since you specifically were the one reading it out to him.

Finding himself sketching small drawings of stars and the reflection of the sky on the water, unable to help but momentarily flick his eyes up to the front counter every so often, where you would often be found standing.

He watched the way you asked a man about the book he was reading, the way the customer was so excited to share it with you. You had that effect on a lot of patrons, he noticed. You made them feel comfortable and welcomed in the little café.

With his bottom lip between his teeth, he couldn’t help but feel slightly flustered even when you weren’t directly interacting with him.

Continuing with your separate tasks in the café for the next hour or so, as Harry didn’t want to bug you when a small line up never seemed to go away.

Walking up to the front after that line up finally did subside, empty glass in hand that he placed in the dirty dish bin, before he peered around the café as he couldn’t see you.

He finally did find you in the back room, one leg bent and knee resting on the stool. In one hand you had your phone held in front of you, attention drawn towards it. In your other hand you were holding a few orange slices, mindlessly chewing on them.

After watching you for a second longer, he cleared his throat.

“Hey,” he spoke quietly, not wanting to disturb any peace you had settled into.

You blinked while you turned your head, a slice of mandarin orange just placed into your mouth as you put your phone down on the table in front of you.

“Oh, hey sorry,” you placed your foot on the ground, orange on the table as you walked over to the doorframe. He could smell the orange on you as you neared him. “Just taking advantage of the lull.”

“No of course, didn’t mean to bug you –”

“– just wanted to ask,” he paused, leaning his hip against the wall next to him. He was only slightly intruding in on the space that was technically just for the workers, watching as you rested you back against the doorframe behind you with a few mandarin orange slices still in hand. “Are you doing anything Wednesday night?”

It was your turn to pause, eyes leaving his for a second as you chewed on your orange slice. “I close – otherwise I don’t think so, why?”

“There’s an opening show, my friend has a whole series in it. It’s at the same gallery that we work at sometimes, it’s just a tiny show but – well I’d love it if you came with me.”

Your eyes fell to his again. He could see a smile starting to grow on your mouth, corner of your lip between teeth. “What time is it at?”

“Starts at eight, but it goes until eleven. You don’t need to be there right at eight.”

You nodded, and although he felt like you were dragging this out a bit on purpose, he couldn’t help but feel a small pit of nerves grow in the pit of his stomach.

“Okay,” you hummed, voice quiet as your eyes darted over to the front counter to check for customers. “I’m usually done around quarter past seven – I can probably head over for eight-thirty? Give or take, depending on where it is.”

He knew he was smiling so wide that his cheeks were dimpling. “So, you can come?”

“I’d love to,” you returned his smile.

“Amazing,” the butterflies in his stomach flew away. “Do you have a pen? I’ll give you the address.”

He watched you pat your back pocket, not finding the red pen that was usually placed there. Taking a second to check the back room, reappearing with a little scrap of paper and a pen.

He scribbled down the information you need, watching you fold up the little piece of paper and place it in your back pocket along with the pen.

“I have to head over a bit earlier, moral support and all, but I can meet you there?” Harry asked.

“Sounds good,” you hummed, excitement growing at the idea of spending more time with Harry outside of the café.

“I have to head out soon,” he spoke, “but I’ll be seeing you on Wednesday, yeah?”

“Yeah,” you grinned, lips together as he bid you a little goodbye. Just as you were debating about if you should hug him, or say anything else, a group came in waiting to be served. As always, you were interrupted by other patrons. “See you Wednesday!” 

The following two days flew by. That Wednesday evening, you were giddy as you closed, rushing through all your duties.

Closing with Saya took no time at all, and soon you were walking with a fast pace in your step to head back home. You knew you actually had plenty of time to get ready, but you were taking your sweet time and wanted the process to be relaxing rather than stressful.

You didn’t really know what one wore to a gallery opening. It was a small show; that was all Harry had really said. It’d probably be casual, so you didn’t want to overdress, but you also didn’t want to look too out of place.

After washing your face, you were throwing clothes around your room as you searched for what to change into. It was then you realized that Harry had only really seen you in clothes you wore to work. It wasn’t that you dressed poorly at work, in fact you liked to think you had quite a nice,  casual style, but you still felt like dressing up just a bit.

You finally settled on a dark navy dress that had orange seams embroidered up the sides and around the hem. It was the kind of dress that would look good on anyone, that fit and clung to every dip and slope of your body.

Grabbing a nearly sheer black blouse to throw over your shoulders, slipping on your trusty white sneakers, hoping that you were walking on the line between casual and formal.

With a little beaded bag over your shoulder with everything you’d need for the night, you checked the time once more before heading out the door.

It didn’t take you as long as you thought it would to make it out the door, and finally you were double checking the address on your phone before being met with the red sign over the gallery and the glass double doors.

Smiling at the man dressed in a bright red blazer who stamped your hand,  you walked through the open doored entrance. You immediately felt a tad out of place, seeing everyone chatting and talking and drinking and laughing – all together.

You let your eyes skim over the space, taking in the gallery. It was fairly large, considering Harry had described it as “just a tiny show”. The room was big and open, and there seemed to be another room that opened up around a curved wall.

Gaze jumping from person to person, you found yourself feeling just the slightest bit out of place. Tentatively walking through the gallery, deciding to simply make your way around and hope to find Harry along the way.

It was when you were looking at a big dark painting, one that had different strokes of grays and browns across a large canvas, that a familiar voice spoke quietly to your left.

“Happy to see you made it.”

Turning around to see Harry, not realizing how close he had come up behind you. You had to take a little step back, the corner of your lips perking up as you saw his mouth already in a wide smile. He was wearing wide black trousers with a fitted simple black shirt, and orange converse sneakers.

“Sorry I’m late,” you spoke softly as he stood close to you.  “Had a bit of an outfit crisis.”

Not moving his feet, he leaned his body closer to yours until the sleeve of his shirt brushed your arm. His shoulder bumping yours, he slid a hand around your waist so that it rested on the small of your back.

With a light pressure against your dress, he drew you in closer so your side was pressed against his. Feeling a puff of air as he exhaled hit the side of your neck, his head lightly dipped down until his lips neared your ear.

“You look stunning,” he murmured. You shivered under his touch, even in his warm embrace. Eyes darting around you, feeling a bit lost just in the moment the both of you had shared. You felt a quick kiss pressed to your temple, before his face retreated from yours.

You could feel heat spread across your chest along with a little flutter in your stomach that somehow made you even warmer. Momentarily not knowing what to say, you faced him with a smile. “Thank you.”

His hand lingered over the fabric of your dress for a moment longer, before it fell to his side along with a little step away from you. Although with your shoulder still against his, you remained close to him as you both turned back to the painting that you had been observing.

“What do you think about this one?” Harry’s voice was low in your ear.

You opened your mouth, not really knowing how to tell him that you didn’t like it one bit. “It’s very… beige.”

“I agree,” he hummed. A touch of his fingertips on your arm pulled your eyes away from the art, arm jumping just the slightest at the contact. With a loose grip of his fingers around your wrist, he was soon tugging you by the arm across the floor of the gallery. “I’ll show you the good stuff,” he said, keeping his voice low.

He pulled you around the curved corner, into the second part of the gallery. You immediately noticed the lights on this side were a bit dimmer, a warmer glow to them rather than a harsher white light.

“All these in here are done by my friend, Yanis.” He hummed, stopping in front of one of the large paintings on the wall with a light drop of your arm from his hand.

“I helped out with a few, but really it's all him.”

“You helped out with some?” You turned to catch a glance at Harry.

He nodded. “Here and there – nothing that big. He just needed a hand.”

“That’s sweet,” you hummed. You liked that, them helping each other out with their paintings. It was just all so uplifting and supportive.

Just as Harry’s mouth opened to speak, his name was called by a deep and unfamiliar voice to you. You both turned, seeing a shorter man with black curly hair in a bun approach the both of you.

“We were just talking about you,” the man spoke towards Harry, his eyes pausing on you for a moment before he turned back to Harry with a raised eyebrow.

Your name left Harry’s lips – introducing you to his friend.

“I’m Yanis. So, you’re the famous barista Harry’s been telling me about?”

You smiled at his words, eyes flicking to where Harry stood next to you and watched the pink tint the tip of his ears. “Famous?”

Harry laughed, shaking his head. “Only famous one here is you, Yanis. The show looks like a big hit.”

You didn’t miss how quickly he changed the subject, but you turned back to Yanis. “It really does look incredible. I haven’t seen everything yet but I already like what I see.”

You mentally cringed, still feeling like a bit of an idiot whenever you tired to compliment art. You really needed to learn the right things to say.

Just as you were about to try and say something else, two more people joined Harry’s friend on either side of him.

“There you are!” A tall dark-haired woman spoke towards Harry. She was wearing a red shirt that matched her long skirt, with platform shoes and an array of necklaces. “I was worried you had left.”

“Just showing my friend around,” Harry spoke your name smoothly. You didn’t dwell on the way he had called you his friend, but it also didn’t go unnoticed.

“Oh,” she turned her attention to you, while Yanis and the other man seemed to begin a new conversation. “Sorry, I’m Rory.”

“Nice to meet you,” you smiled in her direction. You saw her give your appearance a quick once over, and you especially saw the way her full attention turned back to Harry.

“Everything looks so great,” she spoke towards him.

“It’s all this guy.” Harry let his hand fall onto his friend's shoulder, giving it a little pat. “We were just starting to look around actually, so I’ll catch up with you lot in a bit.”

In a quick move, Harry’s hand was brushing against your lower back, and he was guiding you towards the wall on the opposite end. You felt his fingers bunch lightly in the thin fabric of your blouse, side pressing lightly against yours.

“Sorry –” he muttered, leaning a bit closer to you as the both of you stopped in front of a painting across from where you had been previously standing. There was a sea of red and pink mountains, along with a bright blue skin and big yellow sun. “Knew we could get stuck there for a while – wanted you to see everything first.”

You only hummed in response, a small nod in your head as you kept your eyes forward. Although you did find yourself so drawn to the art on the wall, you couldn’t help but let your mind spin and spin around until the words were falling from your mouth.

“Rory,” you murmured, bottom lip between your teeth, “she has a thing for you, no?”

You could hear Harry pause from next to you, “I – yeah. Well, no – we used to date.”

Only nodding, you kept your eyes forward although you knew Harry was burning holes into the side of your face.

“We still kind of run in the same circle – it ended a long time ago I didn’t –”

He stopped rambling when you turned to face him. “It’s okay,” you forced a little laugh to your voice. “I was just wondering.”

Harry fell quiet again, as you turned back to the paintings on the wall in front of you. “I’m really happy you came with me,” he whispered, lips nearing your ear after a moment. “I’m really happy you’re here.” 

You turned your head around, glancing at him over your shoulder. He didn’t move away from you, hand on your back giving your hip a little squeeze before slipping away from your body. He hit your hand with his, letting his hand fall to his side.

The words he spoke were swimming through your head, having you bite your lips together to fight off a wide smile. Just the way he was looking at you made your knees weak.

“Okay,” you whispered, lips clamped together as you turned back around.

You spent the next few hours walking around, looking at everything, chatting with Harry’s friends. You had gotten along well with Yanis, he had talked at length about the series that was being exhibited and you were honestly in awe of everyone’s talent and creativity.

It was about half past ten and you were just heading back from a quick trip to the restroom, when your name being spoken had you looking around to see who it was.

Rory was slightly towering over you as she neared you, speaking your name again to grab your attention. “Haven’t gotten the chance to chat with you, how are you liking the show?”

Trying your best to hide the shock from your face, you sent her a smile as she stopped next to you. “I really like it – haven’t been to too many shows if I’m being honest, but this is for sure one of the best I’ve been too.”

“Yeah, Yanis really did amazing with everything – Harry too.”

You only nodded, not too sure what to respond in the moment. She kept speaking. “How long have the two of you been seeing each other?”

The question took you a bit by surprise, but at the same time didn’t shock you all that much. “Oh, we’re not –”

You cut yourself off, and she took the moment to speak again. “Sorry I don’t mean to put you on the spot, we’re all just a bit nosy about Harry’s life sometimes.”

Nodding, you couldn’t help the way your eyes narrowed slightly on her. “It’s no problem,” you shot her a small smile.

“Do you make art as well?” She changed the subject.

“No,” you caught Harry’s eye from across the floor of the gallery, “God no, I can barely take a decent picture. What about you?”

“Oh, sorry I just kind of assumed! But yes, I have my own practice. Mostly installation, plus some two-dimensional work as well as some performances here and there.”

Again, you wished you fully understood everything that was being discussed. “That’s so cool,” was all you said.

“Thank you,” she smiled down at you. “What do you do for work?”

“I uhm –” feeling somehow small for the words you were about to speak and a small pit of anxiety at the bottom of your stomach. “I work in a café.”

“She manages a café,” Harry’s voice surprised you slightly as it was suddenly heard from next to you. You turned, seeing him take a few more steps towards you and stopped when he was right next to you, facing Rory.

He was surprised to see the two of you speaking in the first place, a maybe the slightest bit worried when he saw the way you were slightly recoiling away from her.

“Oh nice!” She seemed a bit surprised from Harry’s arrival as well. “Sorry,” she paused, her eyes flitting over to somewhere behind you. “I just saw a friend I wanted to chat with before she leaves – it was nice meeting you!”

And then she was off.

You were quiet for a second, as you felt Harry’s hand brush over your middle. You barely registered the movement, bottom lip between your teeth as you felt a bit lost in your head – just the slightest offput from the conversation you had just had.

“Are you enjoying yourself?"

Harry’s voice pulled your attention away from your thoughts, shooting him a quick glance as his words registered. You nodded, a smile pulling at your lips as you saw his eyes never leave yours. “Yeah, I am.”

“Wanna get out of here?”

You fully turned to face him, standing in front of him. He saw your gaze flick between his, curious look in your eyes. “What did you have in mind?”

“Well,” he paused. Unable to help his eyes from falling down to your mouth, he watched the way the lightly shining lips were curved in a smile. “I just remembered something I read in a horoscope. And I was thinking … fancy a star-gazing stroll?”

It was your turn to pause, fully turning on your feet until you were standing directly in front of him. He could tell that you were trying to keep the smile from growing on your lips, but the gleam in your eyes immediately gave you away.

“I think I read something about that somewhere too,” was all you said, speaking quietly enough for just the two of you. The teasing tone of your voice, paired with the way your eyes seemed to glow more with every passing second sent a warmth straight through Harry’s stomach.

“Is that a yes?”

You let out what could only be called a giggle. “Yeah, it is.” 

Harry didn’t try to hide his giddiness a single bit and sent a short nod towards you before he was again leading you through the gallery. With a quick stop by Yanis to give him a hug and congratulate him, and a wave on your part before he was pulling you out of the gallery.

He was a few steps in front of you, holding the glass door open as you stepped out next to him. This time, he didn’t try and hide the way his eyes fell to eye your outfit, eyelids dropping slightly with a smirk on his lips.

“Christ,” he muttered, joining you by your side. He watched the way you obviously noticed his stare, giving him a small shove with your shoulder. “You really do look stunning.”

“You already said that,” you hummed. 

“Needed to be said again,” he couldn’t help but brush his fingertips over the raised orange embroidery that went up your side. “Also, I don’t know if you noticed sunshine, but we match.”

Sunshine.

You glanced down his outfit from the corner of your eye. The dark hues of both outfits along with a splash of orange looked like you guys had almost planned it. “I did notice, actually.”

“I think that’s quite sexy of us.”

You laughed, following Harry along the sidewalk.

The air outside had cooled down a bit, still warm enough that you were perfectly content in what you were wearing but not so hot that your skin felt sticky.

Harry led the way through the emptying streets, walking so close that it seemed every other step his hand hit yours. He really felt like he had been flirting with the idea of grabbing your hand for what, maybe a week now? He just wanted to grab you, hold you close.

Hell, he had been a lot closer to you than that before.

Walking through a darkened alleyway to take a quick short cut, you shuffled even closer to him. You kept your eyes focused on your surroundings out of habit, even if you were trusting where Harry was bringing you.

It was then that when his hand hit yours, it didn’t move away like it usually did and instead his pinky finger caught your own and soon he was lacing every last one of his fingertips with yours until your palms kissed.

Harry kept his gaze forward, but from the corner of his eye he saw you shoot your newly intertwined hands a quick look. While revelling in the way that your palm felt in his, and in the way that  every finger laced with his seemed to cause a tiny jolt to go  straight  through his body, he nearly missed the way you pulled yourself even closer into him.

By the time the water was invading your sight, after about fifteen minutes or so of walking in peaceful silence, Harry noticed the way you were walking so close to him your head was nearly resting on his shoulder.

He basked in the way you seemed to draw into him as much as he did you, and the way that you urged to be close to him and feel yourself against him just as much. The thought itself sent a new wave of butterflies straight through his stomach, clouding his mind as his pace slowed near the water. 

Clearing his throat, he turned to catch a glance at you. “I remember you telling me how you like to walk along the river, but you didn’t get to do it that often.”

Smiling softly at the memory of the conversation the two of you shared after running into each other at the grocery store; you thought of that as the first time you really felt captivated by Harry.

“Is this kind of what you meant?” He asked.

You glanced around, seeing a wooden boardwalk start not too far off. “Not quite.”

Turning around and tugging him by the hand, following the expanse of the water until your shoes were walking over wooden boards that hovered above the river.

Your pace slowed even more, your hand fell from his grip as you glanced around and took in the sights around you. It was a relatively calm night out, no harsh winds upsetting the murky waters. The lights ended by the street, only a soft hue for the two of you as the boats docked out on the water were barely in sight.

There didn’t seem to be any other people out near you – then realizing that you had no idea what time it was, something that wasn’t often the case and something that you enjoyed a great deal.

The moon was high and bright in the sky, with the few stars that could be seen dusting the sky. It was for sure a star-gazing stroll, just as Harry promised.

“Looks like a painting,” you spoke from next to him, gaze out over the moving surface of the water.

Nearing the railing, the two of you took slow steps along the wooden boards. Harry laughed softly from next to you, the sound carrying in the empty space.

“Have you always been into painting?” You asked, eyes trained on the wood in front of you.

Harry hummed next to you. “I think so, yeah. I guess you could say I was drawn to the arts since I was young, I remember my mum bought me a little painting kit when I was like seven or eight.”

You nodded as he continued to speak. “Started a bit more seriously through school, like getting into techniques and stuff. But I never thought I would ever try and make a career out of it or anything.”

“What do you mean?”

“Well…” Harry paused, hand pushing through his hair. “I actually studied marketing for a bit, thought I would go into business or something like that.”

You couldn’t help the laugh that escaped past your lips, surprised by the news. “I’m sorry but I can’t picture you as a business student.”

“Yeah,” his cheeks dimpled. “Neither can I. Left after nearly two years. Then I started taking a few painting courses at a local art store and I’ve been doing just that ever since.”

“Wow,” you breathed out. “And your family they were – I mean you made everything work out for you?”

He nodded again. “Obviously I kept a job for a while, I was actually working at that little art shop for a few years too. My family was okay with it – my mum especially was always supportive. I remember when I told her I wanted to leave school to work on art she said she couldn’t imagine me doing anything else.”

“I love that,” you hummed, biting your lips together. A small part of you wished that you had that kind of unconditional support. But you kept your lips together and pushed the thoughts from your head, not wanting to bring down the mood.

“I send her some of my paintings; take them off the frame and roll them up for her. Her and my sister flew out and came to my first show over here – even though I only had two works in it.”

Mentally giving yourself a pat on the back for having correctly assumed Harry couldn’t have been an only child with the way he acted. You really did love when your hunch about someone was proven right.

“That’s really sweet,” you smiled at him. “You must miss them.”

“I do, yeah.” He hummed, catching your eyes with his for a second. “But I am glad to have moved out here. I felt like it could be temporary – I would love to live in London someday but I’m really happy to be here.”

Only nodding, you felt yourself getting lost in your own thoughts for a brief second before Harry pulled you back out of them. “What about you, you miss home much?”

Shrugging, you didn’t know what to say. “I mean a bit, in the way that anyone gets nostalgic. But,” you took a breath.

“I know this sounds terrible but honestly I don’t. It’s… exhausting to be home. I moved further away for school for a reason.”

You didn’t know what else to say, hoping that Harry would jump in with something else. You shot him a quick look, seeing his eyes intent on yours as he listened and waited for you too keep speaking.

“That’s not terrible,” he spoke quietly, after a few more seconds in silence.

You hummed, not sure what to say. Walking in silence for a few more moments and taking another breath before you chose to speak again. “My parents live hours away from each other now anyway, so I feel like there’s not really a home to go back to, you know?”

“I’m sorry,” Harry’s voice was soft.

“You don’t need to apologize,” you smiled, small shrug in your shoulders. “Nothing to be sorry for. I’m happy to have moved away – happy to be here too.”

Harry remained quiet, giving you the chance to go on if you wanted to. Although right now you really didn’t want to – you were having such a good evening and you didn’t want to bring any of that down by discussing your family.

Quietly walking side by side, with only the moon and the stars surrounding the both of you, Harry cleared his throat once more.

“So, what was it again that you like about this place?”

“Just the mood of it,” you shot him a glance. “Something about walking along the wood – I just really like it. And I like the smell too, I know it’s probably diesel and chemicals but it’s just oddly nostalgic for me for no real reason.”

“I see that,” Harry smiled. “So other than walking out here, what other small things make you happy?”

You were confused for a second, Harry further explaining himself after you didn’t answer.

“Just like, anything that could seem insignificant that you enjoy for whatever reason at all.”

“Oh,” you hummed, a small smile tugged at your lips at the question. You didn’t know why it made your heart soar that he was asking you about this – but it just did.

“This is really dumb,” you said after a moment. “But at work, I really like it when an older customer – they’re usually regulars – when they come in with their book and they get a coffee and a little cake or a treat and just sit there for hours.”

Pausing, not sure how to explain how you felt because right now it just sounded like any other interaction with a patron. “It's a happy-sad feeling – I don’t really know why. I love that coming into my café and having a chat with me is part of their routine, but there’s also something that just makes me feel the tiniest bit sad…”

Harry remained silent, letting you explain yourself. “It’s like, sometimes you watch a movie that has a happy ending, but you can’t help but feel the slightest bit melancholic, you know?”

Your eyes darted over to him, seeing him nod. “I know the feeling, yeah.”

Harry had never really thought about that before, never paying too close attention to the other patrons when he frequented your café. “You pay close attention to a lot of regulars, huh? I thought I was special.”

You let out a laugh, shaking your head as your shoulder bumped his.

“Sorry to burst your bubble,” you teased, feeling his pace slow down, deciding to stop where you were.  You leant up against the railing that  kept you from the water.

“What about you?” You turned to him. “I know you said you didn’t want to share much about the paintings you're working on currently, but what’s something small that you like to pay attention to for your art?”

“I don’t want to bore you with every detail…” he started out, feeling like he had been speaking about his practice the entire time.

You shook your head. “I want to hear about your art – I like it.”

Harry slipped his lips between his teeth, head dipping down for a second as he felt his cheeks blush. “Well,” he started. “My current work is still very much in progress – not really ready for anyone to see or hear about it just yet.”

“But right now – or for the past year or so I’ve been really paying attention to moments between people.”

“Just … small touches or moments of intimacy, you know? Like seeing someone rest their head on someone else’s shoulder, seeing two people hug in a big crowd. Just small moments like that where you know that they’re in their own world.”

You were quiet, even after he was done speaking. Leaning your forearms against the wooden railing, feet kicking at nothing on the ground. You saw exactly what he explained – about the little touches of public, yet private, intimacy.

“I know what you mean,” you finally said, voice quiet as it carried over the space between the two of you. Harry has his back against the railing as he keeps his eyes on you.

After he realized you weren’t going to say anything else, he kept speaking. “It’s nice, you know? Seeing people wrapped up in their … love and adoration for each other like that.”

You hummed, his words swimming through your head. “Guess I never really thought about that –” cutting yourself off, before continuing even quieter, “– guess I haven’t really experienced it like that.”

Another wave of silence washed over you, before Harry turned in his place so that he could face you directly.

The reflection of the moon rippled in the water. “Have you ever been in love?”

His words caught you slightly off guard.

You had been in relationships, sure. You’d had partners tell you that they loved you, and maybe once or twice you returned the sentiment. But you didn’t really know what it meant.

“I –” you paused. “I don’t know.”

“You say that a lot.”

You could just make out Harry’s expression. The lighting was sparse, but every little dip and curve on his features were clear as day, and his eyes held that little smile they often did.

“I know,” the words were too small puffs of air past your lips.

You held your breath in, before continuing. “I’ve always thought that I’d know, but I feel like I’ve never been in it in the way that you described. Not fully. I – I don’t know.”

The way he looked at you made your heart beat just a bit faster in your chest, so loud you were sure he must be able to hear it.

“It’s okay to not know,” he spoke so softly. You didn’t even realize you were leaning in closer to him until your knee bumped his.

“Have you?” You cleared your throat, the noise breaking through the otherwise quiet surrounding. “Have you ever been in love?”

You didn’t know why you were so afraid of his answer.

“I think so, or,” Harry paused, a small furrow in his brow as his eyes were still intent on yours. “I thought so.”

This time, your heart stopped.

“Thought so?” Voice sounding a bit hoarse, you again found yourself afraid of his answer.

There was a small shrug in his shoulders. You couldn’t help but briefly think about Rory, about whether he was ever in love with her, but you shook the thought from your head.

“I guess… I guess I’ve been heartbroken before. I’ve loved, for sure. But I don’t know if I was really in love. If that makes sense.”

Maybe he really was just as confused as you were.

“I guess you don’t know until you’re really in it.” He had his bottom lip between his teeth.

“I guess you don’t,” you repeated.

What Harry wanted to tell you, was that he had never felt the way he did when he was with you.

He also didn’t know how to tell you – he really felt like he didn’t know anything at that moment either.

He was drawn to you from the first moment he had spoken to you, and found himself unable to ever get enough every time he saw you. It had been over a month and a half since he’d first walked into your café, since he’d first met you, and he couldn’t believe the way you made him swoon.

But he didn’t truly realize that, and the last thing he wanted to do was scare you off.

So instead, he reached forward so that his palm could rest under your jaw and stepped a tad closer to you. He saw you visibly leaning in to his touch, your eyelashes hitting the top of your cheeks for a brief moment with a slow blink.

“Thank you for coming tonight,” he whispered, voice low as his knuckles brushed over your jaw.

You nearly sighed at his touch, butterflies in your stomach erupting once again when he spoke so softly. He always seemed to be able to grab such a strong hold on you – both physically and metaphorically – but all while treating you with the gentlest of touches. “Of course.”

“I really,” he paused with his own sigh. Hand on your jaw sliding over your skin, grabbing a light hold at the back of your neck. “I really like spending time with you like this.”

Only able to nod, almost having to look away from his intense gaze. There was nothing else to look at though, nothing else you wanted to look at. 

“Me too.” The words were barely there, just a pass of air from the back of your throat.

You felt his other hand smooth over your spine, fingertips finding your waist as he seemed to be blindly tracing the raised orange embroidery on your dress. Further leaning into his touch, you knew your eyes were darting all around his face as you were unable to focus on just one thing.

His own eyes fell down once more to the curve of your lips, and you felt them fall parted with your tongue wetting them on instinct.

“Can I kiss you?”

Nearly wanting to giggle at the question, as he had done much more than kiss you in the past week, and since the question seemed to be just a little late, but a laugh was the last thing on your mind right then.

All you could do was nod in his grasp, your eyes never leaving his – not for one single second. After a heavy swallow and a raspy little “yes” leaving your mouth, you let your hands fall to his shoulders to embrace him closer.

He pulled you closer in a quick motion, hand on your back holding you tight. Your chest fell against his, head remaining upright with his thumb still under your jaw.

Lips pressing against yours lightly at first, like whispers of a kiss against your mouth. He pecked two, three, four kisses on your lips like that before you edged your jaw forward and let him fully capture your mouth.

Your heartbeat was loud in your ears when he fully pressed his lips against yours, with just enough pressure and desire to make your head spin. A little gasp escaped the back of your throat when he grabbed hold of your bottom lip between his, a soft nip of his teeth against the sensitive skin.

Lips parted together, never able to get enough of the way he felt against you. Harry’s tongue heatedly pushed past your lips mouth gladly opening for him. He grazed into your mouth, arm around you pulling you closer to him. Hot breath mixing together, he pushed your back against the railing behind you just a bit more so that his hips could press with yours.

His hand on your back had migrated, dancing over the curve of your bum before sliding around and giving your hip a sharp squeeze. It never rested in one place, as if he couldn’t get enough of the feeling of your body against his.

You returned his fervour, one hand smoothing over his neck until your fingertips were being pushed through his hair. Fist closing as you tugged gently on his hair, eliciting a little groan from Harry before he was licking into you once more.

Minutes passed, you had no idea how long the two of you spent like that under the stars and the moon.

He pulled away, barely, for a breath with heavy eyelids trained on you. His forehead was a millimetre away, loose curls brushing over your skin and tip of his lips brushing yours when he spoke.

“I,” he sighed, voice sounding so close to you as your eyelids just barely opened. “I – you’re unreal.”

His voice rasped slightly, as if he had just been woken up. The way he murmured  quietly against you had your head spinning, thinking about how he would sound moaning your name. 

Just as he was moving in to capture your lips with his one more time, a quiet buzzing was heard from somewhere. It took you a moment to register that it was your phone that was sitting in your purse.

“I think that’s yours,” Harry chuckled quietly, air hitting your lips as he spoke.

“Oh, fuck I’m sorry,” you pulled your arms away from him, fingers fumbling with the zipper of your bag. Pulling your phone out, you saw your brother's name flash across the screen.

You knew you should answer it, but you didn’t want to and he had already interrupted you. Declining the call with a text, telling him you couldn’t talk right now, you placed your phone back into your bag.

“Sorry about that,” you hummed, gazing back up at Harry.

“It’s not a problem,” he grinned down at you, a hand still wrapped around your waist. “It is getting late though, let me get you home, yeah?”

Waking up to a ringing phone wasn’t ideal. Especially early on your day off.

At first you thought it was your alarm, and you tried to snooze it. And then when it started ringing again, you slowly blinked yourself out of sleep to squint at the phone screen.

Realizing it was a call, realizing it was a call from your boss at seven in the morning, you sprang up.

“Hello?”

She spoke your name, seemingly relieved to hear you answering the phone. “I’m so sorry to be calling you, I know it’s your day off.”

“It’s okay,” your voice was groggy. “What’s up?”

“No one’s at the shop right now – no one’s opened.”

You jumped out of bed this time, double checking the clock on your phone to see it five minutes past seven. “What?!”

“I happened to check the cameras this morning, and no one is there. Do you think you could head over there to open?”

You let out a sigh, hearing the desperation in her voice. She was away at the moment, otherwise you knew she would do it herself. It was also lucky that she could check the security cameras from her phone, something you knew she did very rarely.

“It would just be for a bit; I can get a hold of someone else to finish off the rest of the shift.”

“Yeah I can go over,” you were already looking for your pants. “I’ll get there as soon as I can.”

“Thank you so much,” she rushed through the phone. “Noah was supposed to open today I think, right? I’ve been trying to get a hold of him but not luck so far.”

After getting off the phone with your boss, you quickly pulled on jeans and a bra, a baggy shirt over the rest of your body before jumping to the washroom.

There had been moments where you had to get ready in a rush before, of course you had, it happened to everyone to sleep past their alarm. But the magic of the opening shift is that even if you were late to the beginning of the shift, it was always possible to get there before the café actually opened.

Today you didn’t have that pleasure, you would likely be arriving after half past seven at the earliest.

Mentally cursing Noah, you tried to the best with your hair you possibly could and roughly rubbed in some moisturizer into your skin before you were running out the door.

After a not so elegant speed walk down the street, you were unlocking the café doors and unfortunately leaving the door propped open for anyone to walk in.

And to your displeasure, people did walk in. You had a grumbling regular who was mad he couldn’t come in bright and early, you had a big family grabbing an early breakfast, you just had too many people asking you for things all while trying to open the café.

It was only after an hour that things settled a bit, that you were able to catch a breather and actually grab yourself a glass of water.

You were sat on the little stool in the back room, keeping your eye on the front counter in case anyone showed up. Updating Grace, your boss and owner of the café, on how everything was fine on your end and that you still hadn’t heard a peep from Noah who was the one supposed to open today.

It was just as you sent him one more text, that your name was heard from a familiar voice. You saw Harry poking his head through the doorway, both of your expressions mirroring the others in your surprise.

“Hey,” you sighed, running a hand over your hair, knowing you looked a bit a mess. Standing from the stool, you walked the short distance to the doorway as you leant up against it with your glass in hand.

“I thought you were off today?” He grinned dimples showing on his cheeks. “Not that I’m not happy to see you, I just – didn’t expect it is all.”

“I am,” you couldn’t help the hint of bitterness in your tone. “No one came in to open this morning – I got called in.”

You saw his eyebrows fall to a small furrow. “Oh fuck. How does that happen, no one opening?”

Only shrugging your shoulders, you took another sip of your water. You couldn’t help but gently shut your eyes, feeling your exhaust slowly overcome you.

“I don’t know. Can’t get a hold of the person who was supposed to open. I mean I’m assuming that they’re just still sleeping or something.”

“That’s shitty, and on your day off too.”

“It’s okay,” you shot him a small smile. “At least I don’t have to work the full shift today, just opening and I should be off soon, someone else is coming in to finish the shift. Did you want to get a coffee?”

“Uhm – if you were taking a little break its okay, I don’t need to –”

You cut him off with a laugh. “Stop that, I’ll get you a coffee.”

“Just to go for today,” he spoke, as you were tamping the espresso grounds. Nodding as you grabbed a paper to go cup, placing it under the portafilter and pressing the button to begin the slow and steady pour of espresso.

“What do you have going on today?” You asked, keeping your eyes on the passing seconds of the espresso pour.

“I’m actually headed over to Yanis’ place – a few of us are working on a collaboration piece together.”

“That’s so cool,” you smiled, sliding the to-go cup over to him as he grabbed a lid from where they were on the counter.

“What about you?” He returned your grin. “Get some sleep after this impromptu morning shift and before another week of work?”

“Oh, I’m actually going to be off for the next week or so,” you spoke absentmindedly. “My brother is coming to stay with me.”

“That’ll be good,” Harry mused from across you, having never heard you speak about your brother.

You only sighed, his words not really registering. “I guess.”

Not wanting to think too much about the week you were going to have to spend with your brother, you cleaned out the portafilter and tried to change the subject. “What are you working on with everyone?”

Harry was quiet for a second, eyes intent on you before he cleared his throat and answered. “It's all Yanis’ idea – he wanted a big collaboration but really, he’s the brains behind everything. We’re just starting today so honestly I’m not really sure what will come of it.”

“That sounds like it’s gonna be good,” you grinned.

“I hope so –” he paused, checking his phone, “sorry I have to head out. But I hope your day gets better and I’ll see you soon!”

You waved as he left, only a few more minutes into you were able to leave the café.

You physically felt your shoulders drop when you saw Aleena walk through the door. She had been scheduled to work today already, just coming in a bit earlier to give you a big helping hand.

“Thank you so much,” was the first thing you said when you saw her. “You are the absolute best. I promise I’ll buy you a drink, or dinner.”

She laughed. “No need for that, really. Should be Noah buying both of us dinner.”

“Yeah,” you muttered, nodding your head. “He really should be.”

She clocked in, and you waited a second before speaking again. “Is it okay if I head out now? I can stay and help if you need me to but –”

She cut you off. “Go, go. I know you have to go get your brother later today, and I’m sure you don’t want to be here right now.”

You could kiss her. “Really, thank you so much.”

You were rushing out of the café after grabbing your bag. You wanted to shower as soon as you got home, hopefully having the time for a little nap before you had to go over to the airport to greet your brother.

Just as you were turning the corner away from the café, a familiar outfit across the street caught your attention. You recognized Harry, nearly amused to see him still so close to the café. Your pace slowed down slightly, you were considering catching his attention or maybe just yelling his name across the street as you didn’t really have time to stop and chat once again.

Although any idea you had fell out of your head when you saw two more people with him, getting a better view of them as you walked along your side of the street. You recognized one of those people to be Yanis, and after a small squint you realized who the other person was.

You kept walking, eyes flitting over to the group across the street a few more times before you turned another corner and away from them. You knew you had no reason to be upset, or not upset, annoyed that Harry was spending time with his ex.

He had mentioned that they both still ran in the same circles, but you didn’t imagine that meant hanging out just on the daily. Or maybe not the daily, in fact you had no idea how often they spent time together. He had never mentioned her to you before, and you tried not to feel overly annoyed because you knew you had no real right to.

This just wasn’t coming out to be a very good day for you.

Trying to push everything about Harry and Rory out of your mind, you rushed the rest of the way home as you were slightly dreading the fact that in a few hours you were going to have to head over and greet your brother at the airport.

The first day with your brother was okay.

You were never that close growing up, for no particular reason. It wasn’t until you grew older that you realized you wished you had a better relationship with him, that you wished you could be like those siblings on TV.

He tormented you, in the way that older brothers usually did, but there was never a good side to your relationship with him. It got to a point where you began to realize that you nearly resented people for how close they were with their siblings.

Ever since your parent’s divorce, the two of you somehow grew closer and further apart. Closer in the sense that now it truly was the two of you against them, but further apart because your lives were in such different places.

He always knew  what he wanted to do in life, and he was currently doing well for himself. He had gotten married already, and was living in a nice apartment that was also close to both your parents, much closer than you were.

He was going to be spending three days with you, his idea. You knew it would be bad to say no, knowing deep down that you needed to maintain a relationship with him. You loved him – he was your brother but you didn’t necessarily want to spend three days with him.

You always came out of any interaction – even a phone call with him – exhausted and anxious about the state your life was in.

Since you were going to be taking some time off anyway, you decided to give yourself an extra two days off just so you can have some time for yourself and didn’t need to jump right back into work.

“How’s Sophie?” You asked your brother about his wife, as you unpacked some groceries you got after meeting him at the airport. They had gotten married nearly two years ago.

“We’re good, she’s good,” he seemed to pause, sitting in your recently deep cleaned kitchen.

“Yeah?” You probed further, noticing his sudden hesitation.

“She’s actually – she’s pregnant.”

You nearly dropped the knife you had just grabbed. “What?”

He nodded. “She’s due next March. We’re really excited.”

“Oh my God –” you muttered, still in the headspace where when you heard when you heard the word ‘pregnant’ it was usually followed by anxiety not joy, even if some of your friends from college had kids of their own as well.

“Congratulations,” you snapped out of it. “That’s – that’s great! Congratulations, I’m sure she’s really happy.”

“Yeah, she is. We both are.”

“That’s great,” you repeated, turning back around and busying yourself with starting to prepare dinner.

He was quiet for a second. “How about you, are you seeing anyone?”

You very rarely shared details of your personal life with your brother, unless specifically asked. And even then, it was all very vague.

“Uhm,” you didn’t know why you were pausing; you knew your answer. The question was simple, the answer was just as simple – but for some reason the reality seemed much more complicated.

But you really didn’t want to talk about that now, especially not with your brother. “No, not really.”

You only heard him hum from behind you, before he spoke again. “Oh. You know I was talking with mom – you know she was younger than you when she had me.”

Christ.

“I know,” you only muttered, not giving him the satisfaction of getting upset over his words.

“All I’m saying,” he could likely sense your annoyance. “Is that I know you’re having fun out here in the city and whatever, but you’re nearly thirty.”

You spun around, unable to hide your anger. “I’m not nearly thirty. I’m in my mid-twenties – and even if I was, so what? There’s no timeline I need to be following.”

“I’m just saying” he put up his hands in defense, as if you had been attacking him unprovoked.

You had to tell yourself to not continue down this path, he wouldn’t budge in what he was saying. “How’s work going?” He said instead.

Again, something else you didn’t feel too keen on discussing with him. “Fine.”

“If you wanted to get your foot into something else, I can probably help you with something at my company.”

Your jaw clenched. “Thanks, but I’m good.”

“Seriously – even in the New York office I could help you out. You’d probably need to intern first –”

“I said it was fine,” you cut him off, feeling worn. “Thank you, but I’m okay with what I’m doing.”

Again, he only put his hands up as if he was doing nothing wrong. You willed yourself to not feel too angry over it, knowing that you were already mentally tired and if you kept speaking with him about this you might start crying – something he’d only use against you.

After a few much needed topic changes, dinner was ready and you were playing a show the both of you used to enjoy when you were in secondary school. You didn’t go to bed very late, making his bed on the couch before you headed off to sleep as well.

Only two more days, you told yourself. It would be fine – it was your brother and everything was going to be fine.

Settling yourself into bed, phone in hand as you tentatively typed in Harry’s username into Instagram. You found it quickly, seeing him having no new posts since the time you and Mae had looked over his page. Although, there was a little circle around his icon showing that he had a story.

Curiosity getting the best of you, knowing full well your own username would show up if he were to check who was looking at his story, you tapped on the icon.

Holding your thumb down on the single picture eyeing over the three accounts that were tagged in the story.

You paused when you read over a username that contained the name ‘Rory’.

So he had been spending the day with her.

You tapped on her username, watching the app take you to her account. It was a public page, with a pretty hefty following. You scrolled through rows of images, tapping on a few here and there to further inspect the posts. Most were about her art, some pictures of herself and her friends here and there but nothing out of the ordinary for a twenty-something woman.

Holy shit. You were about two years deep on her account, seeing pictures from a show she had in Berlin. You couldn’t help feel the slightest bit impressed.

Going over to her tagged photos, you scrolled a bit seeing mostly photos with friends and a few of what you figured were her art works.

The one that caught your eye, though, was a painting that seemed familiar to you for some reason.

Going over to the image, you realized why there was an air of familiarity to it. The picture was from Harry’s Instagram, a painting he had done of her back in early 2018.

His style had seemingly slightly evolved since then, but it was still very much him. The painting was of the side of her face, the setting around her not very defined so all the focus was on her profile. She was looking away, the side of her face painted in hues of gold and yellow that blended into her dark hair.

Green and yellow surrounded her, like she was outside during a sunset – it was a beautiful painting of her. The caption read “inspiration”.

You shrank back into bed.

The post was about two and a half years ago, it was in the past and you shouldn’t be overthinking it. But you felt small in comparison.

She had clearly been his muse, of some kind and the fact that he was still spending time with her just was sitting right with you.

You knew, a huge part of you knew that you shouldn’t be thinking about this. You tried to think back to all the stomach fluttering and weak-kneed kisses he had given you, the way that every touch of his skin on yours felt so right.

You thought back to the other night, the nearly romantic conversation you had shared before he kissed any anxiety or fear out of you.

But still, a smaller but louder part of you was telling you that it didn’t mean as much as you originally thought it did.

The day seemed to be one thing after another, and just as you were about to shut off your phone and try not to cry because you knew it’d make you feel silly, your phone buzzed with a text.

Again, this day was just one thing after another. It was Grace, your boss, asking you to cover Noah’s shift tomorrow. He had taken the weekend off last minute, and his 9-3 tomorrow couldn’t be covered by anyone else.

Typing back an annoyed ‘yes’, this time you couldn’t help but feel truly upset. You were exhausted from work, honestly. You knew you would still have some time off, and Grace was so kind to you, but you were just. Tired. 

[wish-i-wasnt-a-coward]

Breaking the mirror

Janus is happier, Virgil helps, and the twins are still a raging homosexuals

Part 1, Part 2

Pairings: Roceit very background Intuality and Analogical 

Warnings: bleach, biting someones hair (idk man), potential second hand embarrassment 

✿ﾟ‘ﾟ･✿.｡.:*.:｡✿ﾟ‘ﾟ*’‘✿.｡.:*.:｡✿*¨ﾟ･ ✿.｡.:*.:｡✿*ﾟ¨ﾟ･✿.｡.:*.:｡✿*ﾟ‘ﾟ･✿.｡.:*✿

Janus stared at themself in the mirror. They looked better now, makeup on their eyes but birthmark uncovered. Their hair was curly and free and they wore a yellow button-down open over a shirt with snake facts. They looked a lot more like Janus, though traces of Damian seemed to cling to their thin face. 

Tomorrow they were going to get face and ear piercings with Remus and Roman. They were ridiculously excited. Virgil had jokingly suggested that they get snakebite piercings and, after finding out what that was, Janus had to get them.

Another big issue was their hair. The black locks were something the Mandax family prided themselves on, so of course, Janus hated it. They ran their fingers through the curls, Virgil might have some hair dye but would it show up on the black? Maybe they could just bleach it. 

“Oh virgilll” Janus sang, leaning against the doorway to Virgil’s room. The emo looked up annoyed, “what” he snapped. “I require some assistance, I want to bleach my hair and you have the hair dye. Help me?” they said examining their nails. “Yah sure, go get Patton, he wanted to dye his hair too, and meet me in the bathroom,” Virgil sighed pulling themself out of bed. Janus grinned and sauntered off to find their bubbly roommate.  

10 minutes later the three were situated in the bathroom, Virgil mixing a tub of light blue hair dye and Janus shaking a bottle of hair bleach. Patton was excitedly shimmying watching the two. Virgil turned around with a brush in hand. “K, Jan I trust you not to chemically burn us all. The door stays open for fumes and don’t get it in your eyes” Janus nodded, “Pat, you ready” Virgil asked laughing at the giggly boy who nodded vigorously, “alright, sit still”. With that, Virgil began brushing the blue gunk through Patton’s curly blond locks. 

Janus carefully opened the bottle and poured some into their gloved hand, it was far more liquid than expected and ran into the tub instantaneously. Giving up that idea Janus tilted their head back and poured a part of the bottle on their hair, rubbing it in. After around half the bottle was gone they reached for a plastic bag and wrapped their hair in it. 

Patton stifled his giggles, “what!” Janus questioned indignantly, “you look really silly” Patton giggled. Janus scoffed, “you’re one to talk,” they said pointing to the blue gunk covering most of their hair. Virgil smiled, their attention not wavering, “hair dye is a process, it looks ridiculous at first but you gotta trust the process” Virgil stepped back, “alright pat, I think you’re good to go” Patton grabbed a plastic bag, “35 minutes right?”, “right”

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Patton’s hair, now washed and dried, was a bright blue that suited Patton perfectly. It reminded Janus of cotton candy. Remus was going to put it in his mouth at some point, it was inevitable. But it did look really good. Janus carefully pulled off the plastic bag keeping their eyes closed to keep the bleach out. They put down the bag, took a breath, and opened their eyes. Their hair was blond. The teen felt giddy, they looked so different! They rushed through the washing process, drying it thoroughly, and looked at it again. 

It was fluffy and curly and blond!!! They looked at their face carefully, this is who they were. The traces of Damian were gone, only Janus and a mop of yellow gold hair left behind. Janus laughed running their fingers through the platinum hair, they loved it. 

There was a knock on the door, “you good in their lord of the lies?” Virgil checked, “yep,” Janus choked out, “I’m good”. They took a moment to compose themself and swung open the door dramatically. 

Patton was instantly on them, “OH MY GOSH ITS SO FLUFFY!!!!!” he said, reaching up to mess with Janus’s hair. Janus grinned, ruffling Patton’s hair as well, “yours looks like cotton candy,” they said grinning. A gasp was heard from the couch, “OH MY FUCKING GOD IT DOES!!!! Babe, can I eat your hair!!!” Remus called from the back of the room. 

“This is bullying, you knew that would happen” Patton wined at Janus as Remus scooped him. “You’re my little candy puff!!! Nom” Remus said, biting Patton’s hair. Patton giggled and pushed his head away. “No!!”. Janus moved on, as cute as they were they did not need to vomit on their new shoes. 

They flopped onto their bed, Virgil complimented their hair on their way back to his room, leaving them alone to take a nap. Janus stretched out on the bed and closed their eyes, they were safe. 

When they opened their eyes again light streamed through the windows. Janus blinked the sleep from their eyes and sat up, looks like they had missed dinner. Sadly, Patton had made perogies. They pulled themself up and stumbled to the kitchen where a surprised Roman sat eating toast. “You changed your hair!” Janus nodded, too tired to respond. “Looks good,” Roman said, blushing furiously. Janus just nodded again, shaking their head to clear it, “thanks, Verge helped yesterday” They mumbled. Pouring themself coffee. The two sat in silence for a minute as Janus woke up. 

“So, uh I’ve been meaning to talk to you,” Roman said, still blushing, “about the, um, the kiss”. Janus pushed down the worry creeping up in their throat, “yeah?” they said as smoothly as they could. “I don’t want to assume anything, but I don’t want that to be a one-time thing. And… I would like to, maybe, if you wanted, to go on a date?” Roman stared at the cup of tea in his hands, his face was flushed and he was shaking a tiny bit. Janus nudged his side, “I don’t want it to be a one-time thing either” Roman looked into Janus’s yellow eyes, “And I would love to go on a date with you”

Roman ginned, pulling Janus into a hug. “I’m glad,” he mumbled. Janus just laughed and pulled his face up. The two stood barely inches apart before Roman muttered, “you’re so… beautiful Janus” the person in his arms flushed, “just shut up and kiss me”