#i drive over an hour to meet a million cats and some dogs

[outarou-mikado]

Experienced the absolute horrors of Jacksonville today just so I could meet some little animals ;w;

[thunderheadfred]

❄️Todoroki HC's🔥

Aged-up pro hero Shouto. NSFW under the cut. Minors do not interact.

- - -

General

Might as well be tied with Bakugou for the #1 pro hero spot; they seem to pass the crown back and forth every other year. Everyone knows about their intense frenemies uber-rivalry. Well. Everyone but Shouto.

He's asked to speak at a lot of charity events. If he has time to prepare (and hire a speech writer) he is capable of stirring crowds to standing ovations. But if caught unawares... he gets cornered into hilarious on-the-spot interviews. He's been memed. Mercilessly.

He's an OP character, but unfortunately he rolled -500 in fashion sense. Eventually he wises up and hires a stylist. When he finally cuts his hair a slightly different and even more flattering way, it's a national event. People faint in the street.

Does god-awful sleight-of-hand magic tricks when he meets young fans, even though nobody asked him to. The second-hand embarrassment is palpable. But he keeps doing it. God, why does he keep doing it?

Has hovering arm syndrome in every fan photo.

Super into pop music. Not a fan of any particular group or artist, couldn't tell you the name of a single song. But every time he turns up the volume on the radio it's like... really? THIS? Probably pumps that shit through his hero agency to keep up morale. Has no idea what you mean when you tell him his music taste doesn't match his personality.

Similarly, he enjoys brainless romantic comedies and old silent movies. Doesn't laugh at jokes but loses it over physical comedy. Thinks Buster Keaton and Harold Lloyd are the funniest people who ever walked the earth.

He's long and limber. Runs practically a hundred miles every day just to "relax." Doesn't even get sweaty doing it. A filthy yoga addict. He'll probably live to be 200 years old.

He can regulate his body temperature for quirk use but in everyday life he's always half a degree outside the Goldilocks zone. It drives him quietly insane; he has an epic love-hate relationship with his thermostat.

Has a therapy animal pet. Doesn't matter if it's a dog or a cat or a bird or an iguana or a teeny tiny rodent. It's the best-behaved animal in the country and speaks more languages than you. It has its own room and an instagram account with millions of followers.

Lives in a traditional Japanese estate that doubles as a national treasure. Probably has government-appointed snipers at the gate, and he's just like, "don't worry about it." You are afraid to touch anything. Fuck, don't even look at anything, just to be safe.

Has an outstanding personal chef who only gets to cook five things unless (thank fuck!!) company comes over. Impossibly picky eater. He rotates between a few "safe" foods and suspiciously side-eyes everything else. If you cook something unfamiliar for him it will be the most awkward meal of your life, because he'd never tell you he doesn't like it. But oh lord, just look at his face.

This clashes directly with his love of traveling. Frequently uses his hero earnings to visit exotic foreign locales over long weekends... but rarely tries the food.

- - -

Dating

A grey-ace demisexual disaster. You could count the number of people he's been attracted to on one hand. He falls madly in love every time and always gets his heart smashed to pieces when his crush can't magically intuit the meaning of his frigid longing glances and generically courteous romantic gestures.

Which is stupid, because he gets propositioned constantly. He can't walk out the door without being flirted with. People keep slipping him their phone numbers and he always directs them to his agency like a moron. It's a good thing he will never understand how attractive he is because that's the only thing keeping him from total world domination.

Conventional attractiveness does not compute. Shouto doesn't have a type, doesn't care that he's an eleven whilst you are merely mortal. He will fall for your personality above all else.

Probably falls head over heels because your schedules overlap in a completely ordinary way and he witnesses you doing something endearing or brave or most likely: utterly mundane.

Pick a favorite, because you're his favorite coworker, or his favorite barista, or his favorite random bystander in line at the grocery store. You made him smile once; then he spent the next three months daydreaming about your future together before you accidentally stomped on his foot, initiating your first real conversation.

He's big on healthy communication. HUGE. He goes to therapy and it shows. Will talk through literally everything to the point of delirium. Sometimes his dedication to resolving every issue right away can get overwhelming; sometimes you just need some frickin time alone. But it pays off, because the two of you have practically never have a "real fight." There's just no way for bad vibes to fester.

STILL, his family wasn't exactly... erm... verbally or emotionally supportive, shall we say. For that reason, he might not give you all the compliments you deserve, because it simply doesn't occur to him to do so. He assumes you know how he feels. If you're self-conscious or insecure in the relationship, it might take him a while to notice. But when he figures it out (or even better, when you tell him directly) he will make it up to you with enthusiasm.

Will take you on lavish dates. Spoils you rotten without actually intending to. He's clueless about money. If you wanted a sugar daddy, you just hit the fucking jackpot. But if the word valet makes you uncomfortable, perhaps suggest some romantic picnics instead. He can still go all out with the food and five-star location without making you see cartoon dollar signs.

Chronic Insomniac. Stays up too late watching YouTube every night. His viewing history is an incomprehensible blur of k-pop music videos, serial killer icebergs, and super girly crafty ASMR channels. When he's watching a video, he is unreachable. Please call back later and try again.

He's disgustingly cute when he sleeps. Doesn't snore, but drools. Sometimes the drool freezes and leaves frost trails on his face in the morning. Still sleeps with the giant stuffed cat pillow that his mother gave him when he was like, zero. He'll inadvertently suffocate you with it, and you will welcome death with open arms because awwwwww!!!!!

The first time he tells you he loves you will be after your traditional Japanese shinto wedding. You won't hear it again until you start a family. Honestly, it's a good thing he doesn't say it often and is always holding you when it happens. It's a knee-buckler.

- - -

Icy-Hot

I don't even need to say it. Shouto is as old-fashioned as they come. You will never open another door or pull out another chair for yourself as long as you live. He will ask before he holds your hand. He will ask before he kisses you. He will stop and check in if you so much as breathe funny during sex.

If you don't orgasm at exactly the same time while staring into one another's eyes, he'll consider himself a failed lover. God forbid you want him to pound you into the futon... cause you are going to have to present that scenario to him in writing first.

Physical intimacy rarely leads to sex. He loves cuddling, craves physical affection. He'll sprawl all over you and turn into goo while you hold him close. He's an amazing, astounding, phenomenally good kisser. And that's... nice and all... but sometimes you have to grab his face and say, "Shouto, I'm horny," before he's like so that's why you're currently dry-humping me?

Even if he isn't technically a virgin the first time (or the millionth time) you sleep together, you won't know the difference. He's a blushing violet. Every. Fucking. Time. This doesn't mean he's a bad lay, oh no. But there's always ten minutes of confused bumbling before he hits his stride and remembers oh yeah, I DO know how to fuck good.

Absolutely silent during sex. Focused. Intense. Sometimes you have to push him a little to make any kind of noise at all, just so you know you're pleasing him (oh don't worry, you are).

His cock is Just Right. Not to big or too small. Perfectly proportioned and symmetrical. Somehow pretty. Like a fucking factory prototype. It truly is not fair.

Gets handsy and restless at night, even if you both have work the next day. Seems to crave sex at three in the morning. You've given him more than one exhausted handjob.

Gets offended if you don't cum. Will go down on you for hours. Of course he uses his quirk to tease you. He doesn't typically use it during actual intercourse, but he's all about foreplay, and he'll use every tool in his arsenal.

His sex drive is completely fucking unpredictable. Sometimes he's all over you, other times he's an icy slab. His line of work leaves him busy and stressed on a near-constant basis, so you can't entirely blame his personality for this one. Just give him some time and help him take care of his basic needs. He'll come back around soon enough.

[bounce-a-coin-off-your-witcher]

In My Dreams Tonight

for @chaotic-bard who asked me for some fluff!

have a soulmates that dream about each other au featuring both a modern au and the canon universe!

brought to you by “Dreams Tonite” by Alvvays

---

“You’re nothing but trouble, bard,” the tall man glared from atop his horse. He always seemed to be glaring or glowering or huffing, the man in Jaskier’s dreams. The familiar stranger wore his long white hair pulled halfway back and he had golden eyes, the pupils of which were slit up the center like a cat’s. His name, Jaskier had learned after the third straight week of seeing him every night, was Geralt of Rivia. A Witcher, apparently, whose job it was to hunt down monsters.

“Ah, but what a lovely piece of trouble I am!” Jaskier replies. And he’s rather sassy himself in these dreams. Far more clever and ready to fight than he is when he’s awake. “You would miss me if I left, wouldn’t you, Geralt?”

“Hmm.”

The stranger hums a lot. He glares and he hums. Jaskier’s heart stutters frightfully in his chest whenever the man smiles, though. The sight is rare. Geralt has smiled perhaps three times in the past two months.

“Where are we going today?”

“Werewolf outside of town. You’re staying at the inn, where I know you can’t get into… nevermind. You can get into trouble anywhere.”

There’s a lightly teasing tone to the stranger’s voice that Jaskier hasn’t really heard before. He likes it. He craves more of it. He tosses and turns in his sleep, his skin damp with sweat. The dream goes on.

“Geralt, please,” he whines, “I can’t write ballads about monsters I haven’t seen! Or fights I did not attend! That’s lying to my audience, Geralt, and I simply won’t do it. I must go with you.”

“Drop it, Jaskier,” the man snarls. Jaskier feels sad. Incredibly sad.

Rejected?

“Gera-”

“I said drop it, bard.”

Jaskier wakes up feeling a little heartbroken and he yearns to be held. His pillow holds the fading scents of leather and wood-smoke. The sight of a pine sapling at the dog park makes him tear up.

He starts to wear the color yellow out of nowhere and his taste in jewelry switches from gold to silver. 

When his best friend asks him about the recent changes, he cannot answer.

---

Geralt pours himself a mug of tea and shakes his hair out of his face. He’s been having odd dreams lately, things that feel familiar but manage to stay just out of his conscious grasp. Someone important is waiting for him. Someone he love and cares about and needs. 

Geralt doesn’t really buy into the concept of soulmates, but he does understand instinct. He knows to trust his gut. He knows to listen and start paying attention when the same haunting blue eyes creep into his dreams every night for six months, plaguing him in the waking hours by refusing to give up their owners’ identity. 

He wipes a hand down his face and sighs loudly into the otherwise empty studio apartment. “Fuck me, I gotta figure this shit out. I gotta talk to Yen.”

Talking to himself has always helped him calm down. He does it again, just to hear his own low voice scraping through the silence. 

“I gotta see what’s going on with my head. These dreams are… getting to be a bit much, even for me.”

He nods to no one in particular and goes to text his best friend and coworker.

---

Jaskier hops off the bus and carries his guitar case down to the coffee shop on the corner. Finally, he’s managed to get a gig that wasn’t through the university.

He sets up his stuff in the tiny alcove the shop treats as a stage and watches as a few customers stroll around near the counter, waiting for their drinks or reading through the menu, hovering just far away enough from the line to keep others from growing confused.

He loves people watching. 

Once everything is ready to go and the light outside the window has dimmed a bit, indicating early evening has finally arrived, he pulls his guitar onto his lap and strums through a few quick chords.

“Rode here on the bus,

Now you're one of us.

It was magic hour,

Counting motorbikes on the turnpike;

One of Eisenhower's.”

 “Live your life on a merry-go-round;

Who starts a fire just to let it go out?”

He watches a particularly handsome man with broad shoulders and a vintage denim jacket approach the counter. Jaskier adds a haunting, well-practiced lilt to his voice as he goes into the chorus, hoping to get his attention:

“If I saw you on the street,

Would I have you in my dreams tonight?

If I saw you on the street,

Would I have you in my dreams tonight, tonight?”

An equally beautiful woman with long, curly black hair approaches the denim-clad angel and whisks him towards a table nearby. She settles with her back to Jaskier, leaving him with a decent view of the man’s sharp, lightly stubbled jaw, glittering eyes, and severe white ponytail. He’s gorgeous.

He’s also uncomfortably familiar.

Jaskier continues to perform, trying to identify his attractive mystery man the whole time and failing miserably.

---

“He’s everywhere, Yen. I feel like I could identify him by scent if I got close enough. I can’t remember his name, though. Or the color of his hair. I don’t know his face, only his eyes. It’s driving me crazy.”

“Have you talked to Dr. deStael about it?”

“Yeah, but she said this kind of thing is normal. Recurring dreams often help us sort out our trauma or something like that. I don’t know. I don’t feel traumatized by this guy I feel… protective of him. Maybe even like I love him?”

“Hmm.”

“Hey, that’s my line.”

“Shut up for a minute, this live music actually slaps and I want to listen to it. Then we can discuss your weird possessive tendencies towards your dream boyfriend.”

Geralt takes a slow sip of his coffee and glances up at the singer off to their left, perched on a barstool with his guitar held carefully on his lap. His voice is soft but somehow bright. Geralt finds himself utterly entranced.

“On the weird guitar;

Said you'd go to work

In the waking hour.

In fluorescent light,

Antisocialites watch a wilting flower.”

 “Live your life on a merry-go-round;

Who builds a wall just to let it fall down?”

The lyrics are strange and hold a dream-like quality to them. They draw a picture in Geralt’s head, something dark and heavy and oddly hollow. He has another sip of coffee and tries to ignore the feeling of panic welling up inside him. He glances at Yennefer to see if she’s picked up on his mood, but her violet eyes are focused on the singer and his nimble fingers as he continues to play and sing.

When he glances up towards their table and their eyes meet, Geralt loses the ability to breathe.

That shade of cornflower blue was…

Couldn’t be…

Had to be…

The gorgeous, feathery tenor continues to fill the air, whirling pleasant notes past his ears and deep into his subconscious. Geralt knows that voice. He’s heard this man laugh and sing and cry and scream a thousand different times. Through a handful of different lives. Geralt knows that face, those hands, those strong legs and long arms and blue fucking eyes. He’s held this singer in his arms every night for centuries, feeling his breathing as they both drift off to sleep.

He has protected this man and been protected by him in return. He has kissed and been kissed, caressed and been caressed. The two men sitting across from each other in the coffee shop physically embody an endless cycle of love. It has been bound up in the souls of two no-longer strangers. Geralt knows that he knows this man. 

He knows Jaskier.

Petal pink lips continue to form soft words and slender hands keep plucking at vibrating guitar strings:

“Don't sit by the phone for me,

Wait at home for me, all alone for me.

Your face was supposed to be

Hanging over me, like a rosary.”

Geralt stands suddenly, startling Yennefer but not the performer, even though he’s clearly just as shocked as Geralt about this recent development.

Their mutual realization.

“So morose for me,

Seeing ghosts of me,

Writing oaths to me,

Is it so naïve to wonder…”

Geralt crosses the room to the edge of the stage in three quick strides. Yennefer is close behind him, her latte just as abandoned as his coffee at their table. She grabs her friend’s arm as if to stop him from doing something violent, but when he doesn’t struggle against her grip she lets it go again easily. 

“Geralt?” the musician asks.

“Jaskier?” Geralt replies. The guitar is placed quickly to the side and a pair of incredibly familiar arms are thrown around the taller man’s neck. Geralt hugs back just as firmly, his arms flung low around the brunette’s waist. Geralt knows that this is Jaskier’s favorite way to be embraced; he doesn’t know how he’s aware of that fact, but it comes to the front of his mind clear as day. 

“Holy shit,” Jaskier breathes, leaning back to stare Geralt in the face. One of his string-calloused fingers traces down over Geralt’s eyelid and cheek and he cocks his head to the side. “No scar?”

“No,” Geralt shakes his head. “Not this lifetime, I guess.”

“Were we? Are we- are we, you know...?”

“Yeah,” Yen beams, adding her two cents from the sidelines. “I think so. Congrats, boys. This is one of those one in a million chances and you’ve gone and done it.”

“Done what?” Geralt asks. Jaskier tosses his head back and laughs. His happiness rings out through the cafe like a struck bell and Geralt’s heart stutters frantically. He really does love this man already. Wholeheartedly and without fear. “What have we done, Yen?”

“As obtuse now as you were then,” Jaskier chides affectionately. “Soulmates, my love. We’ve been bound by the red string of fate and ta-da! Here we are. Again, apparently.”

“Yes, okay,” Geralt breathes, nosing his way along Jaskier’s jaw with giddy determination. He presses a quick and wholly welcome kiss to the bard’s lips. “That makes sense.”

 “Do you... do you want me again? This time around?” Jaskier asks, fingers fiddling with one of the ties on Geralt’s hoodie. A pair of chapped lips press against his again and he sighs into it, melting against his no-longer-Witcher. 

“Yes. And the next one, as well.”

[fumingspice]

All The Things She Said

Pairing: Lana Winters x Reader

Part | 1 2

Thank you for all the love! Requests are open :D

Lana dropped her head in her hand and rubbed her temples and you felt your face go red. Your group of friends on the other side of the room, who you thankfully had not informed of the night before, laughed at your embarrassment.

Attempting to diffuse the tension, Lana approached the three of you with textbooks. "Take these," she said, her glare went straight through you. "And please don't be late to my class again."

You could feel the skin under your necklace burn as your hands made contact while she passed you the books. You could tell she felt something too when her face flinched slightly. There was something different about her.

She was wearing her wedding ring.

Lana noticed that you had seen it. "Stay behind after class."

The three of you took your seat at the back row, and you did your best not to look up during as much of the lesson as possible, resorting to taking notes from the book. Your face burned with the anticipation of Lana's confrontation. You had borderline lied to her about something that could risk the integrity of her career and her reputation. The guilt almost sickened you to your stomach and your friends could sense it.

"You gotta keep calm," Emmett whispered to you, knocking his knee against yours to tell you to stop bounding your leg. You peaked up for the first time in the lesson while the others were taking notes. Lana averted her glance as soon as you did so. "She's been looking up at you every time she gets a moment."

You rubbed your forehead with two fingers and peeled your necklace from under your shirt. It was white-hot. "What the fuck?" You muttered to yourself, getting Emmett's attention.

"I didn't know you had one of those," he said. "Maybe it means that its pair is close by-" Emmett stopped himself and looked from you to Lana.

The bell rang before he had a chance to finish himself. "We'll wait for you in the cafeteria."

The class filed themselves out as you remained in your chair, Heather gave you a reassuring squeeze on the shoulder as she left.

You watched Lana smile at your classmates as she crossed the room back to her desk. The suspense was killing you.

Finally, Lana stood up again and sat on her desk, folding her arms, and staring right at you. "Come over here, please," she said, darting her eyes to the floor.

You followed her instructions and sat at the desk opposite.

Lana played with a pendant on her necklace as she seemed to gather the words to use.

"Do you understand the severity of what happened last night, and why we can't go through with tonight's plan?" she asked after a moment of silence, her whiskey brown eyes finally meeting yours.

"Because you're married?" You replied, slightly meaner than you intended to sound. Lana's eyes look inflicted by your comment.

She took off her ring and laid it on the desk. "You lied to me. You told me you weren't younger than twenty-one and Jesus Christ, why did I want to believe you so bad?" She put her head in her hand and for a moment you were unaware if she was talking to you or herself.

"No, I didn't," you replied. Technically. "I told you that a lot of people think I'm younger than twenty-one. I'm eighteen."

Lana took a minute to regain her composure. "Y/N, I think you're an amazing, beautiful, incredibly funny and smart young lady and I would love to have gone on with whatever we had started. Though, at the end I am still your teacher and you're still my student. That's like fifty shades of illegal," she said. Her eyes were trained on the ground now as she straightened her back.

Your necklace was beginning to burn your fingers now and you could see Lana was rubbing her chest. You stepped closer to her as she backed against her table and put your hand under hers.

But I thought she didn't wear her necklace?

Her necklace was hot too. You pulled her necklace from under her blouse and inspected it. In that moment you finally felt like you were able to one-up even Aria Montgomery.

"Does that mean-?"

You rubbed your temples. "Good golly, this is going to cause the worst migraine ever."

Lana looked visibly stressed too. "Surely there's a mistake, right?"

You stared at her hard. "Soul necklaces have never made a mistake in the history of their goddamn existence, Lana!"

The teacher groaned. "The only reason I put this on was because last night you reminded me that I actually had one and I wanted to throw it in my husband's face that there's someone else better than him-" she stopped herself in her rant to inhale hard "-even though that's not too fucking hard. I did not. In a million years. Put this on to match with one of my students."

"How about the chick who tried to pick you up in a bar, then. Would you have wanted to match with her?"

Lana looked like she was about to strangle you, and you weren't necessarily opposed to that. "Y/N, please for the love of God don't make this harder for me. I've been thinking about you since I got home last night." You could see tears in her eyes and a pang of guilt hit you hard.

You walked to the door, peered down the hallway to make sure it was empty and closed the door.

"Lana-"

"Ms. Winters."

"Way to remove the power dynamic," you muttered sarcastically. Lana tried to hide a blushing smile. "I have six months left. I can pretend you're just my teacher and you can pretend I'm just your favourite student of all time."

Lana bit her lip. "You're still flirting with me? You looked like a deer in headlights when you walked in."

You felt your face glow red in embarrassment. "I thought I was gonna pass out."

That much was true. When it had finally hit you that Lana was your new French teacher you had felt a weight on your heart like never before.

"So, sixth months of pretending. I think I can cope with that," Lana said. She was less stressed now. Well, from whatever relief the conversation had provided.

You nodded and peeked through the window by the door. The hallway was clear. You turned back to face Lana and took a step towards her. The teacher could sense her apprehension as you laid a hand on her cheek and pulled her close to you.

You looked up into her eyes and waited for her cue. She nodded, her eyes locked with yours before they shut and lent in. Her lips pressed against yours and her hands curled in your hair as you worked to deepen the kiss. Lana backed right onto the desk until she was sitting right on it, one of your hands reached down to grab her thigh and pull it to your waist.

Her hands dropped to the back of your neck. You were bewildered. How could something be so wrong yet feel so right? This went against almost every moral code you had with your teachers. You were a model student and now here you between a teacher's legs.

Lana pulled away abruptly. "I don't want to go further than kissing while you're still in school," she whispered.

You smirked. "Please. You didn't even plan on kissing back, did you?"

Lana shook her head as she shuffled off the desk and grabbed her bag from the chair.

You had never seen anyone jump as high as Lana Winters did when Emmett banged the door open.

"Mother of Jesus in a tank. Can't either of you be gentle with the doors in this school?!" She exclaimed. "You'll give me a heart attack one of these days."

"Sorry, Ms. Winters," Emmett muttered. He stepped into the room and shut the door behind him. "I won't stay for long. I also just wanted to say that you don't need to worry about Heather and I saying anything, because we won't. But Heather is also getting impatient and wants to know if you need a lift home."

You shook your head. "I'll be a few minutes. I can walk home but tell her I said thank you."

Emmett gave a thumbs up and left.

"It's raining cats and dogs outside," Lana said. "You'll catch your death of cold."

"I'm a fast runner, Ms. Winters."

Lana shook her head. "What kind of person would I be if I let my favourite student walk home in the rain, hm?" She held up her keys and headed to the door.

You walked behind her while she informed a superior that she was driving you home. Child protection policy and whatnot. Ironic.

Lana sat in the driver's seat and blasted the heat.

"What's your address?" She asked, booting up the sat nav. You recalled her saying that she had only recently moved to this city.

"Sixteen Eli Boulevard," you replied, checking a message from your mom. She was making Carbonara for dinner.

Lana stopped. "You're kidding, right?"

"Are you being serious right now? Why would I kid about where I live?"

Lana pursed her lips and laughed. "I just moved into that neighbourhood yesterday."

Well, that was convenient.

"So, I can be expecting a lot more car rides with you, Ms. Winters?"

Lana cocked her head at you and frowned as she began driving. "Can we establish some ground rules? Like no flirting on school grounds? We can't afford for that to happen again."

You nodded in slightly disappointed agreement.

"In school, at least."

You paused, turning to take in the view of the mountain that sat beside your small town. You never seized to be amazed at that view.

“Can we reschedule our date? I know a place outside of town,” you say. Lana squeezed her eyebrows hard in thought.

“How far out of town are we talking?”

“An hour or so on the train. Give or take.”

Lana stopped the car outside your drive. “I can do Saturday.”

Perfect.

You heaved yourself out of her car and gave her hand a squeeze. It was the closest thing to a kiss you could manage.

What on Earth am I doing to myself.

taglist: @its-soph-xx @delias-bitch-craft  @sarahpaulsonsoftie @jumpoffabridge-t @coffee-is-below-my-standards @definitelynot-a-writer​ @bottom4delia

[bucky-of-the-opera]

Keep on Loving You

Pairing: Steve Harrington x Reader

Summary: Steve gets some TLC after the battle at Starcourt Mall.

Warnings: language, angst, fluff, slight smut (sfw), nudity (non-explicit)

Word Count: 3,202

A/N: Apparently, it’s become a regular thing for Steve to take a beating, so I felt obligated to write a fic where someone takes care of him for once. Steve “The Hair” Harrington deserves it.

As you entered Scoops Ahoy for what must have been the thousandth time that summer, you spotted your boyfriend, Steve. He was currently talking to his coworker, Robin. His sailor uniform always brought a smile to your face, even if he hated it.

Steve’s back was facing you, so Robin brought his attention to you in her usual pleasant fashion. “Hey dingus,” she said coolly, “your girlfriend — who is way out of your league by the way — is waiting at the counter.”

He rolled his eyes at her and then spun around to greet you, his face lighting up as his eyes fell on you. “Ahoy, Y/N! Here for your usual?” he asked, resting both hands on the counter.

“Not today,” you responded. “I was actually coming to tell you that I’ll be out of town for a few days; my parents and I are leaving tomorrow to help my grandma move and get settled into her new place.”

“Gee, thanks for the heads up,” he said, dropping his head into his hands. He looked like a disheartened child who was just told that he couldn’t have dessert until he finished his vegetables.

“I’m sorry it’s such short notice. My aunt was supposed to help her move, but she had to pick up an extra shift at work.”

Steve groaned. “First Henderson leaves me, and now my girlfriend’s leaving me too.” He picked up a discarded straw wrapper and twirled it around his fingers. “When will you be back?”

“Probably really late on the third so we can be back for the Fourth of July festival.”

“Can I come over tonight after my shift?” he asked.

You scratched the back of your neck, trying to avoid his eyes. “I don’t know. I still have a lot of stuff I have to get done before I leave, and I haven’t even started packing.” You glanced at his face, which was a mistake; he was giving you the most pathetic puppy dog eyes and pout combination you’d ever seen. How could you say no to that face?

“Fine,” you sighed. “But I seriously have to finish all of my packing tonight.” You pointed your finger at him. “That means no distractions from you.”

He gave you a Cheshire Cat-like grin as he crossed his fingers behind his back. “No distractions. I promise.”

“Uh-huh. I’m sure you do,” you said, as you leaned forward to press a kiss to his cheek. “I’ll see you tonight, Steve.” You waved a quick goodbye to Robin and then walked out of the ice cream shop.

Steve’s eyes followed you until you had completely left his field of view. He momentarily forgot that he was still at work and nearly jumped out of his skin when Robin shouted at him. “Earth to Harrington! You have another customer!”

He muttered an apology as he tended to the next person in line, counting down the hours until he could see you again.

***

Later that night, you were in your room throwing together some outfits to put into your suitcase. Your radio was playing an REO Speedwagon song which you started dancing along to. You spun around and unexpectantly came face to face with your boyfriend.

“Shit! You can’t sneak up on me like that Steve!” You clutched your chest, waiting for your heart rate to return to normal.

He laughed and placed both of his hands on your waist before pressing a quick kiss to your forehead. “I’m sorry. Your mom let me up, and I didn’t want to interrupt your dance party.”

You huffed and folded your arms, which made Steve pull you closer. He leaned his head down and spoke softly into your ear. “Don’t be mad sweetheart. I thought we could have some fun before you leave tomorrow.” His words sent a shiver down your spine.

Your hands found their way around the back of Steve’s neck, and your fingers started their normal routine of playing with his hair. He never let anyone but you touch his hair; it was an intimate moment shared between the two of you. Steve lowered his head to where your neck and shoulder meet, while you moved one of your hands upward to lightly scratch his scalp. You gave his hair a slight tug, making him moan. He retaliated by nipping and swirling his tongue against the curve of your neck, causing you to gasp.

“Steve…” you groaned, trying to muster up the will power to push him away. “I told you earlier: no distractions. I haven’t finished packing yet.”

Steve reluctantly detached himself from you. Too soon for your liking, if you were being honest. He looked around your room and spotted the pile of clothes on your bed. Then he grabbed several pairs of shorts and a few tops and tossed them into your suitcase.

“There,” he said triumphantly, “all done.”

“So, I’ll be walking around barefoot, wearing no bra and no underwear?”

He smirked at you. “Sounds good to me.”

You shook your head and began folding all the clothes he had tossed into your suitcase. “You are no help at all Steve Harrington. Go sit down and wait for me to finish.”

“Fine,” Steve groaned, collapsing backwards onto your bed.

You chuckled and went back to your packing, singing along to a new song that had started playing.

Steve watched you as you worked, wondering how the hell he was going to survive the next few days without you.

***

“All done,” you announced after you had finished packing. You looked up to see Steve sitting on your bed propped up against your pillows. He had picked up one of your magazines and seemed very enthralled by whatever article he was reading. You rolled your eyes and walked over to the bed, tugging the magazine out of his grasp to set it on your nightstand.

“I was reading that,” he said, glancing up at you.

You climbed on top of him, placing one leg on each side of his lap. Your fingers found their way back into his hair as you began playing with his long locks once more. “I know you were, but I thought we could have some fun before I leave tomorrow,” you said, reiterating what he suggested earlier.

Steve didn’t have to be told twice. He launched himself forward, crashing his lips against yours. You smiled into the kiss as he wrapped his hands around your waist once more to pull you closer. He traced your bottom lip with his tongue before taking it between his teeth. When he moved one of his hands downward to graze your thigh with his fingers, you had to stifle a giggle. Steve trailed kisses across your jaw and down your neck, but you couldn’t hold in your laughter any longer.

He pulled his head back to look at you and chuckled as well. “Why are you laughing?!”

“I can’t help it! I’m ticklish!”

“Well, I’m trying to put the moves on you, but you’re making it a little difficult to be honest.”

You giggled again and cupped his face with your hands. Steve felt his heart skip a beat every time he heard your laughter. You smiled at him as your thumbs brushed his cheeks. “I’m sorry, Stevie.”

God, he loved when you called him that. He rested his forehead against yours and sighed. “I’m gonna miss you so much.”

“I’ll be gone for less than a week,” you responded. He groaned and dropped his head onto your shoulder. You left one hand tangled in his hair and ran the other one up and down his back. “Do you have to work on the Fourth of July?”

“Yeah. It sucks, but they’re letting me out a few hours early since it’s a holiday.”

“My family and I are going to the festival to see the fireworks. Do you wanna meet me there after work?”

His hands squeezed your waist. “Absolutely. I’ll even win you a giant teddy bear,” he said, smiling against your shoulder.

“Promise?” you asked.

Steve pulled his head back to look at you before leaning in and pressing a soft kiss to your lips. “I promise.”

***

Steve hadn’t answered any of your phone calls after the first night that you had called him from your grandma’s house. You tried to come up with a rationalize reason as to why your boyfriend had been dodging your calls, but your brain was psyching you out. A million different scenarios were running through your head: he wasn’t home when you called, he was in the hospital, or he was going to break up with you.

By the time you got home, it was too late to call Steve. You waited until morning when the mall was open to drive over, and ran straight to Scoops Ahoy. When you reached the store you stopped dead in your tracks: the gate was down. Every other place in the mall was open except for Scoops Ahoy. Maybe both Steve and Robin were sick and called off, leaving no one able to run the store. If he was sick, then he was at home. So you got back into your car and drove over to his house. You banged on his door for a full minute, but no one answered. Even when you started chucking rocks at Steve’s bedroom window there was no answer. You were dumbfounded; you didn’t know what to do or where else to look, so you drove back home.

A few hours later, your parents were about to leave for the festival. Your mother came into your room where you were lying on your bed, staring at the phone.

“Are you going out dressed in your pajamas?” she asked.

You glanced towards her and then back at the phone, willing it to ring. “I’m not going. I’m not in a very festive mood.”

Your mother knew not to push you when you were in a bad mood. She kissed the top of your head and told you she would keep an eye out for Steve before leaving your bedroom.

When the sun had finally set, you decided to go outside and watch the fireworks from your driveway. Watching them seemed more appealing than waiting for your phone to ring, anyway. You hopped onto the hood of your car and waited for the display to start. Lately, it seemed like all you were doing was waiting.

***

The fireworks distracted you for a while, but they weren’t able to lighten your mood. You started to make your way back inside just as a helicopter flew overhead. When you looked up, you saw at least a dozen more. It seemed like they were flying towards the Starcourt Mall. You were out of ideas, so you hopped into your car and followed them.

Your suspicion was right; the helicopters landed in the mall parking lot. The sight before you left you awestruck: the mall was on fire. The very mall that you had spent your whole summer shopping at; the mall where your boyfriend worked. What if he was trapped inside when the fire started? You felt sick. You needed to find Steve; you needed to know that he was ok.

Stepping out of your car, you took everything in: the flashing lights and sirens on the emergency vehicles and the soldiers swarming towards the mall. When you looked over at the ambulances, you saw some familiar faces: Mike, Eleven, Will, and his mother. Even Nancy and Johnathan were huddled in the back of an ambulance. But there was someone else standing in front of that ambulance. You knew immediately as you saw the mane of brown hair. He didn’t even need to be in a sailor uniform for you to notice him: it was Steve.

You took off, running as fast as your legs could carry you. “STEVE!” you shouted as you got closer. He spun around and locked eyes with you.

“Y/N!” He ran to meet you halfway. The blanket that had been wrapped around his shoulders fell to the ground. When you finally reached each other, you jumped into his arms, causing him to stumble backwards. You clutched the back of his uniform, holding him as tight as you could.

Only when he started to tremble did you finally pull back to examine his face. His left eye was badly swollen, and he had a gash on his lip. You placed your hand on the right side of his face. He leaned into your touch as a tear slipped down his cheek.

“Stevie, what happened to you?” you cooed.

Steve cleared his throat. “You know, the usual. Attacked by a monster from another dimension and kidnapped by Russians who had a secret base underneath the mall.” He tried to laugh it off until he saw the worried look on your face. “It’s all over now, Y/N. I’m fine.”

You looked into his eyes, tears threatening to spill from your own. “Are you sure?”

“I’m… I—” he swallowed. His grip tightened on your waist. “No. I’m not okay. I’m not…” he trailed off, unable to hold back the sobs that came.

“Oh, Stevie.” You wiped away the tears that had begun to fall down his cheek. “Let me take you home,” you whispered. He nodded, and you took him by the hand to lead him to your car.

***

On the drive over you tried to coax more out of him, but he wouldn’t go into any more detail of what had happened to him. He had told you a few weeks after you two started dating that he had fought off a creature that Dustin had called a Demodog. Maybe another one of those had gotten loose in the mall? The so-called “Russian invasion” was still a mystery to you, but you knew Steve would talk about it when he was ready.

“Why don’t you go shower, and I’ll get you some clean clothes,” you said to him when you walked inside his house. His parents were still out of town on a business trip, so you two had the place to yourselves.

Steve’s hand was holding yours, and when you tried to walk away, he only held on tighter. You looked back at him, but he was staring at the ground.

“Stay with me,” he whispered, switching his gaze to you.

“Always,” you said as the both of you walked hand in hand to the bathroom.

You turned the shower on and spun around to see Steve undressing. Your breath caught in your throat when you saw his torso: it was covered in purple and blue bruises. He glanced over at you and saw you staring at them, so he turned to examine himself in the mirror.

“They’re not as bad as they look. I mean, they hurt like hell,” he shrugged. “But it could be worse.” You looked down at your feet as he finished undressing; in all the months that you had been together you still hadn’t seen each other completely bare. “I don’t mind,” he said when he saw your trepidation. “I’ve been informed that I’m very easy on the eyes,” he smirked.

You giggled and walked up to him, kissing him sweetly on the lips. “You are, indeed, Mr. Harrington.” He smiled down at you. “Now get in there,” you nodded at the shower. “You stink.”

Steve stepped inside and gave you a wink before closing the curtain. You leaned against the sink and stared at the shower. You could have so easily lost him tonight; you didn’t want to waste any more time stressing over trivial things.

Releasing a breath that you didn’t realize you’d been holding, you stripped yourself of your clothing and peeled back the curtain to join Steve. He was in the middle of lathering his hair with shampoo when he froze, seeing you fully exposed to him. His eyes widened as you stepped closer. You brought your hands to his hair, working through the rest of the shampoo. Steve moaned in appreciation, closing his eyes to savor the feeling of your fingers massaging his scalp. He brought his hands to your backside, cupping your ass and squeezing gently. You gasped at his touch, making him chuckle. When you finished scrubbing his hair, you tilted his head backwards so you could rinse out the shampoo. While his eyes were still closed, you leaned forward to kiss him again. You dragged your tongue along his lower lip, being mindful of the cut.

“Steve…” you whispered against his lips. You felt tears pricking your eyes.

He pulled you closer so that there was no space left between you both. Steve lowered his head to press soft kisses from your jaw down to your shoulder. When he started to head towards you chest, you stopped him.

“Stevie.”

He pulled back to look at your face and saw the tears falling down your cheeks. Steve leaned his forehead against yours and held you close while the water cascaded over your bodies.

“You look so tired,” you said after getting a good look at the dark circles under his eyes. “Let me finish washing your hair so you can get some sleep.” He didn’t argue, just stood still for you as you conditioned his hair and rinsed it out once more.

While you were drying off, you heard Steve’s stomach growl. “When was the last time you ate?” you asked.

“I don’t remember.”

You frowned and wrapped the towel tightly around yourself. “Go put something comfortable on. I’ll get you some food.”

You went down to the kitchen to make him a sandwich while he got dressed. When you came back upstairs, you found Steve nodding off. He was half dressed as he sat on his bed with his shirt in his hands. You set the plate on his nightstand next to a glass of water and walked over to him. Taking the shirt from him, you woke him gently so he could help you get his arms through it.

“Eat your food and drink some water. Then you can sleep,” you said to him.

Steve took the sandwich and scarfed it down while you rummaged through his drawers. You took out one of his shirts and pulled it over your head.

After Steve placed the plate on his nightstand next to the now empty glass, he climbed under the covers. He motioned for you to join him, so you laid down beside him. Steve adjusted himself so that his head was lying on your chest and his leg was strewn across both of yours. You stroked his damp hair, and he sighed deeply.

“Thank you for taking care of me,” he mumbled against your chest. “I love you Y/N.”

“I love you too, Stevie,” you responded softly as he drifted off to the sound of your heart beating. You smiled to yourself. It was the first time both of you had said the L word to each other. You weren’t sure how much Steve would remember in the morning, but you promised yourself that from now on, you would always remind him of how much you loved him.

[lucyhq]

hiiiii loves, i’m aimee and this is my baby lucy !!! pls plot with me while i watch brooklyn nine nine for the 7th time. also this is long bc i ramble a lot, i apologize in advanced… love me?

chicago’s very own lucille “lucy” withers has been spotted on madison avenue driving a ferrari dino 206 gt , welcome ! your resemblance to lennon stella is unreal . according to tmz , you just had your twenty-first birthday bash  . your chance of surviving new york is uncertain because you’re taciturn , but also being benevolent might help you . i think being a scorpio explains that .  3 things that would paint  a  better picture of you would be half smoked cigarettes , middle of the night adventures , behaving recklessly .

trigger warning for: cancer, loss of a parent and eating disorder mentions.

THE BACKSTORY

lucille withers was born on october 31st to jenny and vincent withers. she was their third and final child, the only girl and they couldn’t have been more overjoyed.

they raised their children in chicago with vacation home by the beach in malibu where they spent most of their summers.

the withers family was quite wealthy – vincent being a big time corporate lawyer and jenny being a respectable editor for a fashion magazine. however, the three children were raised as normally as possible ( if you ignored their massive house and the fact that they were encouraged to participate in more sports and activities than they had time for ).

lucy grew up in dance classes, piano lessons, figure skating, she was a cheerleader in school and she spent a lot of time volunteering at animal shelters as her parents instilled in all their children the value of giving back to their community.

when lucy was six her mother became very ill, cancer cells attacking her brain on progressing quickly. they made her comfortable for as long as possible but just three days after lucy’s seventh birthday her mother passed away in the night.

things changed after that, her brothers were constantly getting into fights at school and lashing out, her father was rarely home any more always working and little lucy was doing everything in her power just to keep the peace. the seven year old made herself invisible to not cause any more problems at home.

things changed again a few years later once her brothers left for college and lucy entered high school.

their dad got married. he’d met a woman with two children of her own and vincent withers was smitten, combining their lives with these other people suddenly. he was paying more attention to this lady and her children than he ever had to lucy and her brothers, only her brothers weren’t there to truly experience any of it.

lucy felt like an intruder in her own home, her childhood home – where her mother walked the halls and played hide and seek with them. where her oldest brother punched a hole in the wall and they still hadn’t fixed it, just put a picture over it.

the young withers did the only thing she knew how to do, it had worked for her brothers after all, she became the problem child. they couldn’t ignore her if she was starting fights at school, smoking in the girl’s bathroom and coming home drunk on a tuesday.

all it did though was cause her new step mother to shriek about parenting and blame lucy’s mom. it caused lucy to become more isolated from her family and to lash out more. her dad couldn’t see her cry for help or how all she wanted was his attention.

she couldn’t even count how many times she’s heard “why can’t you be more like lydia.” ( her perfect step sister ).

it got to the point where she began to go on hunger strikes, refusing to sit and eat with her “family” and controlling the only thing she felt she could – food.

eventually they’d had enough and sent her off to boarding school in london. she spent two years there in an all girls prep school. but even they couldn’t control the young withers girl. they viewed her as a lost cause.

by the time she was a senior in high school, lucy withers had a terrible reputation and was back in the united states to stir up all the trouble she could manage. only when she came home it wasn’t to chicago but new york city, where her family had moved during her time away.

the only thing that kept her from completely going off the rails was her ever growing social media fan base, where she posted pictures on instragram of her rebellious lifestyle and impeccable style.

SOME FACTS ABOUT LUCY

with over four million instagram followers to her name, being in new york has aided her social media career, though lucy hasn’t shed her rebellious ways.

she cares so much about people and animals and all living things – she wants to help people. she has a massive heart and honestly, it’s her biggest weakness. if her social media career hadn’t taken off so fast she would have gone into nursing.

her big heart causes her to get hurt easily, she doesn’t like to show that she cares because then it sets herself up to be hurt. she pretends to not care about anything or anyone but when she’s at the nursing home or the animal shelter, you really get to see that soft side of her.

after fainting from mal-nutrition when she was sixteen and away at school, lucy now uses that because she knows it’s a sure way to have her father pay attention to her for a few hours. but also it  get’s her out of doing things she doesn’t want to do – lucy will starve herself. it makes people pay attention to her and she takes twisted joy in that.

despite her rebelliousness and how much of a hot mess she is, she takes her career very very seriously. she works herself sick, making sure she’s constantly uploading new content and always looks her best. she’s always looking for ways to stay on top of her game.

she volunteers at the nursing home twice a week, her soft side really comes out when she’s helping the seniors, making them laugh and smile.

lucy is allergic to cats, tomatoes and is lactose intolerant. she’s also vegetarian and tries really hard to eat vegan as much as possible ( when she does eat ).

her brothers have always been her best friends, she would do literally anything for them.

her favourite colour is yellow, her favourite flower is a sunflower, her favourite food is coffee, her favourite song is burning love by elvis presley and her favourite season is summer.

she hates snakes, pickles, when people cuss too much and people spend all their time complaining or talking about someone else negatively.

her bloodstream is 98% coffee

stops to pet all the dogs

is the most loyal friend you will ever meet once you win her over, would take a bullet for you

acts tough but is really very soft

hOT MESS

SOME WANTED CONNECTIONS

people that know her from chicago before she left for school.

her older brothers’ friends – we could make this fun or angsty ( maybe she hooked up with one of them and her brother still doesn’t know ), like it really could be good.

her brothers or step siblings !!

ex boyfriends, good, bad or one sided. give me them all. though bad terms would be fun and maybe they ended because of lucy’s inability to really open up and deal with her shit. he could have gotten sick of her attention seeking. being with lucy would be draining.

some good influences, someone needs to tell this mess to calm down and stop ruining her life all because of things she can’t control.

party buddies, someone she can drag out to the clubs on a tuesday night or is always down to get drunk or high with her.

someone she can just be real with, someone she can talk to openly and honestly, but also someone who does the same with her. they just talk and let each other get things off their chest without judgement or fear they’ll go telling someone else.

maybe a fellow volunteer at the nursing home ??

someone who picks up drunk lucy and makes sure this mess gets to her bed at the end of the night and doesn’t end up drowning in a ditch or something like that

and of course she needs best friends and a squad, don’t we all.

maybe a current boyfriend?

one night stands

a childhood best friend that knew lucy when she was a happy, loving child – was there when she tried to become invisible during her preteen years and then watched her fall apart in high school and progressively get to where she is now.

anything else you might have in mind i’m really open to all ideas tbh

just come love me and lucy

pretty please

[chxoticmuses]

SHIP QUESTIONS THINGY

Status: Accepting

@streetsofsecrets​ / @themercifulmother​ said: our ships?? 🥺 ( Travis & Delores )

PRE-RELATIONSHIP

How did they first meet?: Delores came stumbling into his cab one night drunk and rambling the whole ride.

What was their first impression of each other?: “Wow, she’s kinda odd and seems kinda weird, but she’s very pretty!” I feel like Delores didn’t have much of a first impression since she was drunk. Once she sobered up and met him again, she probably thought he was a total weirdo and creep!

Did any of their friends or family want them to get together?: Travis talked about her to his coworkers a lot and they all encourage him to shoot his shots and pursue a relationship with her. As for Didi…..at least Esme told her it was a good idea to be with him.

Who felt romantic feelings first?: Travis and he felt them the very first night that they met! She trusted him to drive her home in the state that she was in? It was a sign in his head.

Did either of them try to resist their feelings?: At one point, Travis did try to resist the feelings he had for her because he didn’t think he was good enough for her 😔

If you had told one of them that the other would be their soulmate, what would they think?: That it was absolutely true, especially if you told them in their older years. “The universe worked hard at making sure the two of us ended up back with each other!” Is a line you’ll hear Travis say a million times. Even if you told younger them they’ll believe you as well. They’ve never found someone else who understands them and their feelings so well.

GENERAL

Who initiated the relationship, and how did it go?: I feel like Delores was the one who started initiating and labeling the romantic aspects of their relationship. Travis always did things that made it seem like they were a couple, but she was always the one who was more verbal and labeled things.

Did they have an official first date? If so, what was it like?: Travis took her to a carnival that was in town. At first he was going to take her out to some fancy restaurant and really show out because that’s what people kept telling him to do, but he decided to go with his gut and it went well! They had the time of their lives laughing and riding all the rides, he even won her a humongous stuffed dog at one of those balloon shooting games.

What was their first kiss like?: It was kinda awkward to be honest. He just went in for the kiss while she was next to him on the couch changing his bandages and then there was silence. Then like two minutes later, she kissed him again. Sweet because he was finally able to show her how he felt, but when they reminisce on it they definitely find it awkward compared to their other kisses.

Were they each other’s first anything (kiss, relationship, etc.)?: Delores was Travis’ first actual stable girlfriend. He had some experience prior to her; but nothing that was stable and tested like an actual relationship.

What’s their height difference? Age difference?: Neither of them are really considered to be tall and are just shy of average BUT there’s still a significant height difference between them. At least 8in to be exact, so I’d say she barely reaches his chest. Also, funny of you to assume that I’m going to do math. Nice try Xia, but whatever that gap may be I feel like Travis is older by 2-3yrs.

What’s their relationship with each other’s families?: Errrrrm, SKIP!

Who takes the lead in social situations?: It really depends! Delores tends to take the lead or take over in situations that are awkward because Travis usually tenses up and goes stiff in moments like that. While, on the other hand, Travis takes over in tense or aggressive situations. He’s quick to come to her defense and deal with whoever’s Messi big with her.

Who gets jealous easier?: Travis! You can blame Sal for that.

LOVE

Who said “I love you” first?: Delores, I think? If I remember correctly?

What are their primary love languages?: Touch! They’re big on things like cuddling, hugging, holding hands, kissing, and all that lovey dovey stuff.

How often do they cuddle/engage in PDA?: Not very often. I think they way they move alone, Travis usually very close to her and hovering over her like a protective figure, is enough to let people know that they’re a couple. He might do subtle things like hold her hand, pull her in to his side, or give her kisses but that’s as far as they really go in public.

What are their favorite things to do together?: Sleep! Cuddle! Anything that involves them and a bed (😏). Very therapeutic bonding time for the both of them. Some of their best memories come from being in the bed. You know how people say couch potatoes? Well, they’re bed beets.

Who’s better at comforting the other?: Delores is 100% better at comforting Travis and I think that motel thread we did is a perfect example of why. He tries his best, doing what he can to make her even feel slightly better, but she’s just way better at it then him. She always know what to say or do to get him in his prior mood.

Who’s more protective?: Travis 100%. I feel like he definitely cussed out at least one person at the motel they were staying at for messing with Delores and feeling up on her belly all the time.

Do they prefer verbal or physical affection?: physical!! Touch is Travis’ main love language. He lets his actions express him words for him.

What are some songs that apply to their relationship, in-universe or otherwise?: Like every song from the 60s that’s about love.

What kind of nicknames do they call each other?: I think they stick to each other’s names, abbreviations, and common pet names like honey, baby, etc.

DOMESTIC LIFE

If they get married, who proposes?: Travis proposed with a $16 ring he got from a vendor off the street while they were in their motel phase. Of course, he upgraded to a better ring once they were financially stable. I feel like the $16 ring proposal was more sentimental for them because he gave a very heartfelt speech about their relationship and how he felt about her.

What’s the wedding like? Who attends?;

How many kids do they have, if any? What are they like?: Please, the ever so iconic Melissa and Cecilia! Cecilia is obviously the firecracker out of the two with her explosive personalities but even then they’ve never had a problem that was too serious with the girls. They’re pretty tame in Travis’ opinion.

Do they have any pets?: A dog to complete their white picket fence look and plenty of pats to account for over the years from the girls. Like Melissa’s cat that had to be returned after a day because Travis was allergic and Cecilia’s ferrets that ran loose in the middle of the night all the time and almost got killed by Travis on three (3) separate occasions.

Who’s the stricter parent?: Delores. She knows how to get the girls in line much better than Travis does.

Who kills the bugs in the house?: Travis does. I feel like everyone leaves him hanging and runs to their rooms screaming.

How do they celebrate holidays?: They don’t even invite friends or family over like that to be honest. They prefer to be in their livingroom with each other enjoying the time they’re spending together.

Who’s more likely to convince the other to come back to sleep in the morning?: Travis convinces Delores all the time, heh. She likes to get up early and actually be a productive human, but he’s not going for that! At least twice a week he pulls her back into the bed and forces her to lay with him for another hour or two.

Who’s the better cook?: Delores all the way. Travis can cook, but he cooks dad foods like meatloaf, ribs, etc. but cooking stresses him out so he doesn’t do it too often. Only on holidays or when he’s craving something.

[ladyrussellsprouts]

Farm to Table

A Reylo AU One-shot in which our hero and heroine learn more organic ways of bringing food to the table. Rated MA for hardcore smut and language. 

The weather woman’s voice was almost apologetic as she spoke, “Ours highs today will reach up to 110 degrees with 45% humidity...” 

Kylo Ren did not hear the rest of her words as he let her message sink in. He’d have to be outside today in that blistering unforgiving sun. There would be no shade out in the fields and water would be scarce. There had never been enough for the ranch hands at Order & Co. The owner was a stingy man who cared about more results and produce than the men and women who toiled the fields for his empire. 

Finishing the drink in his hand, he refilled the canteen he kept strapped to his waist before heading toward the fields. Contemplating the day ahead of him, he didn't hear the light footsteps that came down the stairs. 

A spiry body bounded into his side before letting out a quick apology. Annoyed at how soft she felt against him, Kylo Ren grimaced at the familiar figure and pushed his way out the door. 

---

Rey couldn’t fight her glare that followed him until the screen door slammed behind him. She shook her head as his truck started and made its way to the main road. She told herself she was over it but a very small part of her still stung at how he had ignored what happened at the Luther’s farmhouse party. Nevermind him. It was his way to be quiet and condescending. She wasn’t the only one that he never acknowledged she reminded herself. Many others had taken it as a blessing that he gave everyone a wide berth and their interactions had always been far and few inbetween.

There were many strangers who lived together in the large bunkhouse on First & Co. property. Everyone got along well and made peace with each other before word could ever reach their strict owners. Phasma and Hux, the couple who owned First & Co. were militaristic in how they ran everything they owned. If they could, they would have micromanaged their guests too.  

Rey felt no obligation to stay but she appreciated the cleanliness and the quiet. If she were honest with herself, she also enjoyed the routine that Phasma lightly enforced on the guests. No food or dishes were to be set out an hour after meal times, bathrooms were to be cleaned weekly, and no visitors or loud sounds were allowed after sundown. Some of the guests had balked at the rules but most had obeyed them to skirt Phasma’s wrath. Rey and the guests had seen the woman single handedly take down rogue farm animals.

Finishing her breakfast, Rey soaked in the morning silence as she began preparing for the commute to work. Most of the guests were still asleep or already at work. In the apartments she had lived in previously, there had been no order and no peace. The fat and gristley owner had allowed anyone to come and go. Noise complaints were never addressed. No one was ever sure what temperature the water would be or even if there would be water some days of the week. Rey was sure that most of her neighbors were involved in some kind of illegal activity. After walking past something she shouldn’t have seen, she had immediately moved into the bunkhouse with her friend and coworker Rose. 

Rose and her husband Finn had stayed at the bunkhouse with Rey for a year before moving out to buy their own home. It was a decision they had made when they had decided to start a family.  

Speaking of her dear friend, Rey watched the woman try to awkwardly climb out of the passenger side door fighting her round belly. Her expression became exasperated as her husband came around to help. Her expression smoothed out as Finn laid a fond kiss on her forehead.

“No PDA in front of the public library!” Rey scolded. The couple looked stunned before a smile broke out on their faces.

Rey smiled to herself as she also got out of the car to greet them. 

---

“Is Poe coming in today? I haven’t seen him.” Rey tried to ask casually during their lunch break. 

Rose’s secret smile let her know that her attempts at being sneaky were unsuccessful.

“He’s out of town for a few days. Family emergency but he didn’t have time to explain to Finn on the phone.” 

Rey’s brows wrinkled instantly in concern. She made some comment about hoping he was well before chewing more of her food. While it was true that she was concerned for his well being, it was a bit disconcerting to realize that in the time they had gotten to know each other, they had never discussed family. Then again, she had never asked and neither did he. She brushed away the shadow of doubt that clouded her mind. They had just started getting to know each other, nothing was official yet. 

Rey glanced at Rose. Rose and Finn had known each other for years before deciding to date. Sometimes it took time for a good relationship. There would be time for Poe and her to get to know each other she assured herself. 

---

The weather woman should start handing out apology gifts if she was going to keep delivering bad news, Kylo Ren thought to himself. 

Irritation spread throughout his features as her words registered. “The heavy rain continues for the third day this week. We have a storm warning for everyone in these counties. We expect lots of rain and flooding around these areas for the next few days. Please be safe out there, folks.”

He leaned into his desk chair hoping to quell the ache beginning in his skull. A growl started building in his throat but he quelled it. Instead, his long fingers caressed the stem of his coffee cup before it slammed against the opposite wall, shattering.

A hesitant knock on his door sounded before a mousey, “Sir?”

“Please tell everyone to prepare for the storm, Mikata. Afterward, they can go home. Their days' wages remain the same.”

“Yes, sir.”

“And please clean up the mess in the corner before you leave.”

There was only a slight pause before another, “Yes, sir” and the sound of ceramic moving across the wooden floors.

Kylo let out a soundless sigh not moving from his chair as Mikata finally left the room.

His frustrations were many and growing. Hux had purposefully excluded him from the weeklong meeting with the farming industry tycoons, leaving him to babysit the few ranchers that were scheduled to work. However, the rain had stopped production for the third time this week. A stop in production infuriated Kylo but not as much as having to answer to the incompetent Hux. The millions of questions the man would ask meanwhile squeezing in insults about Kylo. Truly it was an art. 

The image of Hux's face turning red almost the shade of his hair made Kylo’s lips curl in amusement. As his thoughts moved to the second problem plaguing him, his thoughts soured. 

That woman living in the bunkhouse was becoming a nuisance. He understood that she worked in the bakery across the street from the Public Library but why did she mix work with hobbies. She used every chance the kitchen was empty to bake something unhealthy. Cookies, cupcakes, pies, custards, something French that he couldn’t pronounce. He didn’t mind what the other residences did in private but he was tired of smelling sugar in the air and seeing the trays of leftovers she left for the other residents. In the time that she had moved in he was sure that DJ, one of the other residents, had gained ten pounds. Kylo had no doubt that he would become diabetic by association. 

She baked so regularly that he was sure the sugar had soaked into her skin. Something sweet always lingered in the air when they brushed past each other. In fact, she had tasted sweet on his tongue. A memory of darkness, wetness, and cooling skin lingered in his brain. Remembering the taste immediately made his throat run dry and saliva accumulate in his mouth. A natural reaction to wanting more. 

Kylo Ren shifted in his seat and forced the memory away. It was a mistake. They had both been inebriated. 

He didn’t relive mistakes. 

---

Rey watched the rain pound against the gravel. She was thankful her boss had given her the day off. Her small car wouldn’t have been able to make it through the flooding backroads. Taking small enjoyment in the gothic tone of the weather, she had baked some dark chocolate brownies. 

Sipping the tea in her hand, she considered the barren parking lot in front of the bunkhouse. Her car sat alone in the space. She wasn’t too surprised because most of the residents had made arrangements to stay in town or visit family during the storm. Even DJ, the odd loner, had left in the morning after asking for a bag of cookies. 

Letting out a relaxed sigh, she soaked in the reality of having the house to herself. It had been years since she’d had something as close as this. If she closed her eyes, she could almost pretend that it was years into the future. She had finally scrounged up enough to open her own bakery, the business was doing more than well, and she could finally afford her own home. Something to finally call hers. Her kitchen would be a happy shade of pale yellow and she would have as many ovens as she wanted. Maybe she would even adopt a pet. Perhaps a dog or a cat or even both. 

Her thoughts were happy and hopeful as she blinked at the window. She blinked again. Someone was flashing some kind of light on the road. That was strange. Who would be out in the cold? 

The dreams and desires of a few minutes ago slowly diminished as it occurred to Rey that those were not flashlights but headlights and the car pulling up the drive meant that she wasn’t going to be able to enjoy the house alone. 

Her stomach dropped as the truck parked and a tall figure encased in a long raincoat emerged from the car. 

---

It was a gesture of kindness, Rey decided. It would be a gesture of kindness to share the special pie she had made with the man stalking around in the dining nook. If he declined, she’d merely have more to herself. Nobody could lose in this situation.

Merely from observing the sounds of his footsteps, she knew that he had finished microwaving whatever frozen food he had grabbed from the freezer and was settling down to eat dinner. Of course, he had waited until she had finished her meal before coming out.

She tried to hide her frown as she shook the whip cream can before placing a swirl design over the slice of pie and scoop of vanilla ice cream. The sound of the whip cream coming out of the can was universal and it made her smile. Decorating her creations was something she loved the most about her job. Setting the can down, she took a bracing breath and walked into the dining nook.

If Kylo Ren knew that she had entered the room, he gave no indication. Another spoonful of gravy colored sludge entered his mouth and he chewed softly. Using the fork, he brought the piece of oily meat to his lips chewing more aggressively. A track of oil smeared across the side of his lip dripping down to his lower lip. 

A memory flashed at the forefront of her mind. Kylo’s lowered face was partially obscured by shadows but something glistened on his lips as he muttered something against her thighs. Something about her and taste. The memory was foggy but something low in her belly clenched remembering soft brushes of hands and lips on her body. 

Rey tried to clear her dry throat as she stood stiffly in the corner. 

“Would you like some pie?” She finally croaked out.

He paused in reaching for his spoon to look up at her. She finally had his attention but his expression was hard to read. 

She continued with a small smile, “I thought pie would be nice for dessert tonight. Would you like to try some?”

“No.” He replied immediately after glancing between her and her plate. 

Her shoulders slumped a little as she turned to walk away.

“Aren’t you worried about your health?”

Rey stiffened whipping back around to face the man who had just spoken.

“Excuse me?”

He didn’t repeat himself.

“You should also be more considerate of the people who live here. Some of us don’t have your affinity for sweet things. Some of us care about our health.”

All this just because she’d asked him if he wanted to share her pie? He was the most rude and-What an asshole! A simple no would have been enough. Why did he feel the need to open his mouth again? 

“There’s no need to be insulting if you didn’t want to eat my pie.” She replied as evenly as possible feeling a flush of heat starting from her neck. She felt embarrassed and insulted. 

He looked like he wanted to roll his eyes. “This isn’t about your offer which I appreciate but I’ve never liked dessert. It’s about-”

She couldn’t help it. She gasped. “Dessert is the best thing in the entire world. How can you say that?”

“I can assure you it is not.” His arms crossed against his chest.

“You just haven’t found the right kind of desert for you. I have some dark chocolate brownies that you should try. I’m sure they’ll change your mind. Everyone loves those brownies.”

Incredulous, he stared at her as if she’d grown five heads and a tail. 

“I’m not everyone and I’m done with this conversation.” He stood from his chair. 

As the silence grew between them, Rey’s embarrassment grew tenfold. Begging a man she didn’t even like to love desserts that she had made. What was she doing? 

The flush around her neck grew. Anger and frustration simmered staining her cheeks as she watched how dismissive he was about their conversation. The aggression that rolled through her gut made her want to shout disgusting things at him. Rey knew it was better to be ignored but his attitude had always bristled. He wasn’t just dismissive, he viewed everything beneath him. Scum beneath his feet. She was tired of allowing this man to make her feel like nothing. A stronger wave of anger made her feel brave.

She set her tray on the table next to the food he had abandoned and moved to stop him. 

Irritation flashed across his features. He made to move out of her way but she pushed at him with her own chest. A confrontational move that immediately raised his hackles. 

“You won’t try the dessert I make but you’ll eat my pussy?” She said with as much vulgarity as she could muster.

---

For the rest of the story click here (fanfiction.net) OR here (AO3) because the actual thing is way too long. 

[manjuhitorie]

Hitori-Escape Tour 2019 concert reports 14-18

1-9

10-13

14 Hitorie’s Hitori-Escape Tour, 11/10/2019 at Takamatsu DIME Takamatsu prefecture

●The road was flocked with cosplayers on their way to the venue. Yuma recognized the Azur Lane cosplays, while SND recognized the Street Fighter and the Touhou. “Like Reimu and Youmu~” Yuma was face to face with a Miku across the street while waiting at a crosswalk, which amused him also..

SND “Hey! Was anyone in the crowd here who was out there cosplaying today, raise your hand! Come on be honest, tell sensei. Everybody close your eyes so you can’t judge each other, so only sensei can see c’mon.” Yuma “There’s people still opening their eyes lol.”

●Takamatsu really is full of events. There was a strange pungent smell eating away at Yu until he sought out the origin. It was a cheese event going on right nearby.  “These sort of things bother you until you find! Once you find the origin then it stops smelling, it’s an enigma.” ●A cat was spotted caught up in the cosplayer crowd too, which SND found adorable.

Yuma “I’m a dog lover and… I don’t really get the feelings of cats!! If you annoy a dog then you’re their enemy for the rest of the day but, with cats they’ll only hate you on the spur of a moment, based on mood. Yet then you spend the rest of the day depressed...!”

SND brings the flow of the conversation over to yga’s (cat-like) feelings, where Yumao dubs him the “Expressionless emo”. Yuma “He’s stoic but, mid-show he will turn around and smile at me! Sometimes he’ll be saying something too but, because it’s indecipherable I’ll just do my best to convey ‘Uhh, that seems good!!’ to him.” SND “... He looks at me a lot too but he never smiles.” Yu “Well cause the crowd could see his face then, but when he's turned around the crowd can’t see him!”

●SND “Well then. Umm.. It's uh… today...” *Unable to piece anything together while yga stares at him stifled and raring to go* “Ummm..”  ygarsh >>*BWOON*<< SND tweet "Takamatsu concert: complete, Takamatsu is the greatest place every time I come, I’m happy I got to perform in a city I love. Thank you, we’ll probs be back. Tomorrow we’ll be in Osaka y'hear"

15 Hitorie’s Hitori-Escape Tour, 11/11/2019 at Takamatsu DIME in Takamatsu prefecture

●During the handheld mic song SND went over to yg’s side and wrapped his arm around yg’s shoulders. Contrary to yesterday’s slip and slide yg did to dodge him—

●SND was late getting to the venue, due to countless self-destructive forces at bay. Yumao joked that he’s truly living the rockstar life. Truly a ‘rock musician’. At first he questioned “Sensei~ Were you busy drawing your manga~?” Because SND is an artistic person, and artist’s concept of time tends to be wonky. “Both of my parents are artists so I know this well,” he said..! SND “I drank for 12 hours straight... Until 10 AM... When the meet-up was at 12. I just had to group up with the crew to get all our gear together and hop in the car to drive down, so I told myself I would nap for 1 hour, then wake up, take a shower, get ready and go... But I ended up sleeping overtime. When I woke up even a miracle wouldn’t be able to get me there on time. So I called manager-san and told her the situation”.

Yumao “I didn’t care if manager-san gets angry at you~!” Though manager didn’t get angry at SND, she just made sure he had everything and could play okay.  SND “Though I lied and said I had some stuff ready when I didn’t... Why is it that we tell useless lies when we’re scared of getting in trouble.”

FInally in the car driving there, SND reeked of alcohol.. Yumao tells the story of how yga, in the backseat, burst out saying “This smell... It isn’t beer.. It’s... Highball. This is Kakubin, Highball whisky.. The beer was Kinmugi.. So... Torikizoku (the name of a bar chain).” Actually hitting the mark on what SND drank yesterday. SND “WTF.”

ygarshy is now the self-proclaimed ‘Highball detective’. ●Back to the show....! SND “Everybody it’s 11/11, what does that mean!“ Crowd “It’s bass day!” SND “Well then ygarshy, do your thing!” yga *>>BWOON<<*

The date 1111 resembles the 4 bass strings, thus the excuse for celebration! ygarshy also did a seminar for a bass week if that may pique your interest..: Here. SND tweet "Osaka concert: complete, thank you kindly. I'll see y'all next week then."

16 Hitorie’s Hitori-Escape Tour, 11/14/2019 at LIQUIDROOM in Tokyo prefecture

I’ll make a separate special post including all of Nishimaki’s photos etc., but for now it’s all mostly on my twitter... https://twitter.com/boat_manju/status/1195265416249139200

17 Hitorie’s Hitori-Escape Tour, 11/17/2019 at SPADE BOX in Nagoya prefecture

To dodge redundancy I’ll omit some of the happenings, as they reflected on the tour again and many topics were recycled from Tokyo. MC time! ●Yumao picked on SND again for saying “I have to sing and haven’t played a show in a forever unlike you hustlers, I have it a million times worse than you guys, I’m on a different level~~.” back when he was nervous on the first day of the tour. Yu “But... didn’t you once sing in a SOPHIA cover band?”

SND “We only were up for like 30 minutes, and we did just a bunch of L'Arc 〜en 〜Ciel or LUNA SEA or Visual kei kinda stuff.” Yu “Visual kei.. did you wear makeup!?” SND *laughs it off* “I pretended to be Mitsuru Matsuoka for 2 shows and that was the end of it.…“ ●When they were at the vacation cottage watching historical drama on TV... Despite yg seemingly not-watching and playing bass, to their surprise after he told them “That was funny”.  SND “yga never stops practicing huh” Yu “I could never watch TV and play drums." SND “Guitar might work huh.” Yu “Last show I had told everybody to feel free to ask me on Twitter about how to use the mobile battery we’re selling as merch, and someone did!” SND "I questioned how many interactions he got and.. It was a whopping one. One! *laughing*” Yu “They even told me ‘I can’t believe you replied!’” ●SND story time. He talked about how he first came to this city of Nagoya back when he was 17 or 18. He was born in Ishikawa prefecture and he passed the regional teem music tournament there, so he came for the south-east coast tournament. It was only his voice and acoustic guitar up on the loft, and he went home with no prizes but. After some thought he realized that was the beginning of his music career. What he felt up on that stage is still burned into his mind, and has kept him going all this. So being back in Nagoya, singing up on stage, feels like fate. “Our journey is ending for now but, we’ll be back. As long as we’re alive, we’ll be back.” And he sounds like Leader at the end.. Leader would say that..

●SND “It’s time ygarshy-kun! The Kirin Challenge Cup, it was Columbia VS Japan right, give us a comment on Japan’s smashing defeat of 0:2!”   yg *>>>angry BWOOON<<<* SND tweet “Nagoya concert complete, thank you. We performed footloose and enthusiastic, I hope nobody got hurt. See ya next time.”

18 Hitorie’s Hitori-Escape Tour, 11/18/2019 at Umeda Club Quattro in Osaka prefecture

The finale! Ahh the 18th show. What a long journey, but somehow it felt short.

●Yu “This show was an add-on, so it sorta feels like a bonus stage y’know. Normally I put a lot of attention into keeping my performance, my feelings as flat and stable as possible but, today.. I just scattered emo around.” SND “I feel ya haha.” Yu “Concerts are tricky!”

●SND “When we’re traveling the country, we see people smiling, people crying, people who have a face like they have no idea what to do with themselves, there’s just… so many different people, and every one is so beautiful. Every time a show ended I would go name-searching on the internet because I wanted to know what everybody thought, and just. Seriously, thank you. Thank you for mustering up the courage to come see us. With 18 concerts on our backs, we managed to shape this into something real. We’ve come so far and— Yuma, pops in like he’s feeling embarrassed or nervous or something, “Uhmm-” SND “Oi….!?” *collapses to the floor* “C’mooon I was just in the middle of something!!!”

Yuma “I’m sorry, I didn’t mean to butt in-“

SND “It’s fine hahaha You’re always like this, I’m used to it hahahaaa” SND *on the verge of tears*→ Yumao *does his Yumao thing*→ Everyone  :') ●
Yuma “After all this time we figured out the trick to ygarshy too, even though he’s always stoic, right! But when he’s doing something bad or bullying, he has a HUGE smile! Especially when he’s bullying Shinoda, he’ll grin from ear to ear.” SND “Piece of shit I won’t forget what you’ve done to me. This bastard smiles the most when he’s the assailant”.   yga *Takes out his camera and begins to record SND*

Yu “See, he has fun in his own way!”

*Records Yumao twice, Yumao poses with both hands making the peace sign*

*Records the crowd* Yu “SND and I are always chatting it up about something right, but sometimes an hour or so later after we talk, yg will come over to me when I’m alone and tell me his opinion. ‘I think this I think that. Yumao you said it well earlier, you did well’… But... It’s, it’s okay to join in on the conversation too ygarshy..!” ●Onto merchandise chat!

Merch is currently available online now!!! The English site is here, but as most items are out of stock there, the original Japanese site is an option if you have access to proxy shipping, here! http://shopping.deli-a.jp/artist/hitorie.php Beware that the mobile battery cannot make it over the border due to restrictions, so even if you order it from the JP site, a problem will most likely emerge...

*Yumao poses to show off his hoodie, flops the hood up and down to show how the letters on the back appear.* *Points at ygarshy wearing the black shirt*

Yumao “The friction highlighters, if they get put in the drying machine or make contact with heat the ink will disappear! But if you put them in the refrigerator then it will come back! It’s a mystery~“ Yu “Then also the pouch... Ah where’d it go where’d it go..” Staff “Behind your drums!” Yu “I found it! I put my little drum supplies in here, it’s great, I never lose anything. The tote bag is convenient too! Throughout the tour I’ve been using it to carry my change of clothes and things.” SND “The bleach acid-washed denim was such a good idea, it looks adorable.” *Yu heads back to his drums* *yg picks up his bass* SND “Are we playin’?” Yu “Are we still talkin’? SND “We have the choice to just not do encore, right?” *yg on standby* *Yuma walks back to the microphone *yg puts his bass down* SND “Ahhhhh, that’s heavy to keep isn’t it, just keep it down.” Yu “Let’s goo!” SND “Alright ygarshy-kun.. Once this tour is over let’s drink some good beer!” yg “…?” *The lighting goes red* SND “?!” *Staring at each other doing nothing, yga puts his finger on his bass string* SND “Wait, what?!” yg *>>>BWOOON<<<*

ygarshy: “18 concerts. Thank you for mustering up the courage to come all the way out and see us. Being able to perform Hitorie’s music up on stage, was my pride and joy yet again today."

 SND: “Thank you.”

 Rie’s manager: “Thanks. I’m so proud of them.”

Yumao: Really by virtue of every one who came were we able to marathon this tour. 

I was on the same page as you when this started: totally unsure of how to present myself for these concerts. But halfway through somewhere I started to have fun, the number of smiles increased, and now that it’s over I feel like I lost something, the burdens and something special both.

I’m bad with expressing myself in text so this is all I’ll say.

~~Fin.~~

[dontenchantme]

garden of eden - part one

Rated E, Satan x MC - eventual smut and mature themes.

[no rad au] he was the serpent who had lured her out of paradise. she ought to hate him, but she didn't.

fics masterlist

It had been a long day at work, and she was exhausted.

Her boss had dumped a new project on her today. With very little context and a teammate notorious for delivering haphazard work, she had no idea how she was going to meet the two-week deadline, and honestly, she was stressing out.

It didn’t help that HR sent an email about their performance bonuses, and despite the long hours and the hard work she put in the past year, her bonus was laughable. Meanwhile, the aforementioned teammate got a promotion and a pay raise even though he hadn’t done anything of importance. He didn’t even lead a project!

She was pretty sure it was because he was fucking around with their boss’ superior. Men sucked. The company sucked. She should just resign from her damn job.

Her head was pounding as she leant against the wall, waiting for the lift to reach her floor. She hoped her boyfriend had remembered to heat last night’s leftovers. If he couldn’t even get that right, she might have a meltdown.

There was a ding and the doors slid open. She stepped out of the lift, reaching up to knead her shoulder – she could feel the tension underneath her fingers, and she thought it might be a good idea to schedule a massage. She’d have to take a look at her budget for this month. There was a really good place down the street…

Her thoughts trailed away when she noticed an unfamiliar pair of heels outside her apartment. Immediately suspicious, she took out her phone and checked her texts – nothing from her friends, nothing from her boyfriend either. But…maybe she was wrong? Maybe she was overthinking? Her heart thudded in her chest as she took out her key, slowly unlocking the front door. Luckily, she had just oiled the hinges, and the door opened without a sound.

The first thing she heard when she stepped inside the apartment was the sound of a woman moaning, and she froze on the threshold, unable to move, unable to think. She could barely even breathe. A second later, the moan became a breathless cry, and then she heard the woman call her boyfriend’s name.

Suddenly seized by blinding, overwhelming rage, she stormed in the direction of the master bedroom, where she shared a bed with her good-for-nothing boyfriend and threw open the door to see him pounding into a woman wearing her favourite silk robe. Both of them turned to look at her, their eyes wide.

She didn’t say a word. She just reached for the nearest object, which happened to be a hairbrush, and threw it at her boyfriend. He yelped, jumping away from the bed, just barely missing the brush. She took her bag off her shoulder and began swinging it wildly, trying her best to hit him while the woman screamed and crawled back against the pillows, attempting to cover herself with the blanket.

“You’re crazy!” he shouted, scrambling away from her as she aimed the bag at his head. She saw his limp dick flopping around and she would very much like to cut it off, but luckily for him, there was nothing sharp in the vicinity. “You’re fucking insane!”

“You were the one cheating on me with her!” she screamed, opening her bag and throwing the items inside at him – he narrowly dodged a black binder and a tube of lip balm. “You’re a useless piece of shit, you can’t even hold down a job and now you decide to go around sticking your dick in whatever hole you can find? I should just kill you!”

“Oi! Murder is illegal!” he yelled back, but she was beyond reasoning at this point – she couldn’t even direct her anger at the other woman, she was so sick and tired of giving all the time and never getting anything in return. This was the last straw.

“I am going to kill you.” She shot the woman a look. “Take that off and get the fuck out of here.” The woman hastily disrobed and gathered up her clothes, running out of the room – when her boyfriend tried to slip past her while she was distracted, she reached out and grabbed his wrist, filled with a sudden strength she didn’t even know she possessed. “Who said you’re allowed to leave?” she snapped.

“Babe, it was a mistake, I swear it didn’t even mean anything.” He tried to explain, but she was in no mood for his excuses today. It had been a shitty, tiring day and all she wanted after work was a nice warm meal and maybe some time to unwind and catch up with her favourite shows. But of course, this day had to get even worse.

“You thought I was coming home late tonight and decided to fuck someone else in our bed,” she said, her fingers tightening around him. He tried to pull away, but she was so angry that she didn’t even notice him struggling. “You know, I heard when cats and dogs get neutered, they lose their sex drive. Maybe I should neuter you too.”

“H-hey, don’t get any funny ideas. I’m sorry, okay? I know I fucked up!” He sounded panicky, but she just smiled, marching out of the room with him in tow. The woman was already gone from the living room – thankfully for her because she didn’t know what she might have done if she was still around. “Oi! Stop! This isn’t a fucking joke!”

She stopped and turned to stare at him. “So, our relationship is a joke, then?” she asked, keeping her voice as cool and neutral as possible. The rage still boiled within her, and it took everything she had to not lunge forward and wrap her hands around his scrawny throat. Asshole. “The allowance I give you, the meals I cook for you, the time I try to spend with you even though you know how busy I am – all this is a joke?”

“No, I appreciate you, babe, I do. But you’re taking things way too seriously,” he babbled, seemingly convinced that he could talk his way out of this. “You know what it’s like being an artist! You need to get inspiration from all kinds of sources!”

“Oh, right! Inspiration! From cheating on your loyal girlfriend of eight years!”

She tried to drag him to the kitchen where all the knives were so she could make good on her promise to neuter him, but he latched onto the couch and refused to budge, so in the end, they just ended up screaming at each other and she told him to get the hell out of the apartment and never come back.

He grabbed a towel hanging off the back of a chair and wrapped it around his waist, running out without a second glance. She glared at his back and slammed the door, then leant against the wall, squeezing her eyes shut and pinching the bridge of her nose. What a shitty day. Now that he was gone, the anger felt so…hollow.

She was still angry. Not just at him, but at herself for being so trusting. For giving in all the time. Her friends told her that he was an asshole, and she always defended him because…well, they’d been together since high school and it just felt like the right thing to do. She loved him, and he loved her. Or at least she thought he did.

If she had to be honest, she knew their relationship was a complete mess. Ever since he graduated from college, he kept telling her that he would find his big break, that his art would be displayed in museums all over the world someday. But all she saw him do was laze around at home; once in a while he’d work on some project that he would then abandon in the living room. His only saving grace was that he did help with the rent, though usually, his contributions didn’t make up even a third of the amount they needed.

But it was so much easier to just stay in a lousy relationship than to be single. It was nice to come home to someone, and anyway, she never had the time to put up an ad for another roommate. Not that she had a choice now, anyway. There was no way she could afford to pay the rent on her own.

Opening her eyes, she walked to the kitchen, deciding to heat the leftovers from last night’s dinner. She was pretty sure that asshole didn’t listen to her request this morning, but whatever. She was used to men letting her down anyway.

But before she stepped into the kitchen, she heard the sound of glass breaking and she froze – was there someone inside? Did that woman not leave the apartment? She just wanted to have a meal and some alone time. It wasn’t a complicated wish, so why did life keep testing her? She was about this close to snapping.

“If you’re still here, I recommend you get the fuck out –” Her tongue stopped working when she entered the kitchen and saw, instead of the asshole’s side chick or whatever the hell she was, a blond man with bright green eyes that almost glowed. He was leaning against the countertop, watching her expectantly, almost as though he knew she would come into the kitchen. As though he was waiting for her.

“Who are you?” Her mouth felt disconnected from her brain. Her mind was going at a million miles per hour – should I call the police? How did he get in here? Is he the asshole’s friend? No, I don’t think I’ve seen him before. Is he a robber? I don’t even own anything of value. Then one final thought – he’s too beautiful to be human.

The stranger tilted his head, smiling at her – it was a warm, pleasant smile, but there was something off about it, and she felt a shiver run down her back. He took a step away from the counter, and suddenly everything within her was screaming at her to get out, to get away from him, but she was rooted to the spot. He approached her with all the feline grace of a big cat cornering its prey, and unbidden thoughts of her family sprang to mind. She wondered if she would ever get to see them again.

He was dangerous. “You don’t know who I am?” he asked, shaking his head a little. “You were the one who summoned me, though. With that delicious rage of yours. It would be so very, very nice,” he whispered, “if you could take this knife and just run it through him, wouldn’t it?” The man held out a hand and she watched, amazed as an ornate dagger materialised on his palm, its hilt encrusted with sparkling jewels.

“It’s a cursed dagger,” he explained, noticing her interest. “It grants one true death by disintegrating both the body and the soul, thus ensuring its victims cannot go to either Heaven or Hell. It’s the loneliest, most cruel of punishments. But he deserves it, doesn’t he?” His voice softened into a croon, almost melodious. “You were far too good for him. He didn’t understand what he had, couldn’t appreciate the effort you put into supporting him and his career. Instead, the moment your back was turned, he found another woman and took her in your bed. The shame.”

He had an enchanting voice. So mesmerising, just like him. His green eyes glittered, and her feet moved of their own accord, bringing her closer to the beautiful man – her hand reached for the dagger, its sharp blade singing to her. “The shame,” she echoed, the rage and resentment she had bottled up for so long bubbling within her. “He deserves it. He does. After everything I’ve done for him.”

She didn’t know if she was agreeing with the man or if she was trying to convince herself. The man looked at her steadily, silently daring her to take the blade from his palm. She hesitated over the hilt, her fingers trembling. It was a stunning thing, deadly but gorgeous. Much like its owner, who held it out to her with a placid smile on his face. It would be ridiculously simple to just reach out and grab it. But she was shaking.

“What do you want in return?” she asked. It was too strange, too good to be true. He was too perfect, and she reminded herself that men couldn’t be trusted.

He chuckled. “You’re perceptive, aren’t you?” Then he paused. “I don’t blame you for being cautious. But you know perfectly well who I am. You’ve simply forgotten.”

He sounded so disappointed. She shouldn’t feel guilty – she truly had never seen this man before – but for some reason, she felt terrible about not recognising him. “Just close your eyes and think,” he whispered, stepping so close that he filled up her vision – she tipped her head back and stared at him, her breath frozen in her lungs. “If you pray hard enough, the answer might come back to you.”

If she prayed. Was he an angel? No, probably not – he looked like one, but there was a distinct aura of danger around him, one that didn’t seem angelic at all. Yet she felt compelled to listen to him, and she closed her eyes, wondering what to pray for. His distinctive scent wafted around her. Smoky, like burning wood, but there was something sensual too, a musky kind of smell that made her toes curl. Something stirred within her, something mysterious and foreign and exciting.

She felt slender fingers rest gently on her cheek. “That’s right. You’re an obedient girl, aren’t you?” he murmured. She could feel his cool breath against her ear, and she shivered, a sigh escaping her lips. “Your soul recognises me. Tell me, what is my name?”

“Satan.” A demon’s name. But saying it didn’t feel wrong at all. As his name left her mouth, she felt something lurch within her and she gasped. Her body felt like it was on fire – her eyes flew open and she reached forward, curling her fingers in his shirt. He watched her, amusement dancing in his piercing green eyes, and he didn’t resist in the slightest when she pulled his face down, forcing her lips against his.

She had to tiptoe and crane her neck just to reach him, but in return, his kiss was brutally punishing – his hand seized the back of her head and she moaned when he leant into her, his fingers pulling at her hair, forcing her to keep her head tilted. He was rough, alternating between deep, bruising kisses and actual biting, but there was something so freeing, so satisfying about how angry the kiss was. How it was nothing like the languid kisses she usually exchanged with her jerk of a boyfriend.

He brought her to life, and she could feel the rage that had been simmering all this time within her exploding, her fingers scrabbling underneath his shirt, her nails raking his back. He hissed and stopped pulling on her hair, and she was mildly disappointed for a moment, but the next thing she knew his fingers were wrapped around her throat and she was choking and struggling, her eyes rolling back in her head.

She couldn’t breathe, she was delirious, and maybe he might kill her, but she felt so alive. “Fuck you,” she managed to spit out, and she heard him laugh before he let go of her and she stepped back from him, wheezing. Her lips felt tender, and she could feel the imprint of his hand around her neck. But there was something within her that was drawn to him, something that told her to go back, to provoke him, to see how far he’d let her go next time. What would he look like when he was angry?

“You’re delightful.” His eyes gleamed, and she thought about how gorgeous they were, reflecting the fluorescent kitchen light. “Of all the sins you could have fallen into, you chose mine…I’m sure you’ll be a very entertaining human.”

He carefully placed the dagger on the counter – her gaze flitted to it, then back to him, waiting for him to say something. “Treat this as a favour, human. In exchange for that little kiss. You can think about whether or not you’d like to act on your urges – if you turn away, you still have a chance to save your soul. If not…” He shrugged, leaving the words unspoken. She understood what he meant.

“Why are you warning me?” she demanded. Her voice sounded choked still, almost breathless, and her fingers fluttered up to her throat. “Don’t you want to tempt me to sin? You’re a demon.” And demons tortured the souls of sinners in Hell.

Satan laughed. “You amuse me. No other reason. But if you would rather keep your precious soul safe…” He reached for the dagger, and she immediately lunged for it, wrapping her fingers around the hilt. It was strangely warm, and the jewels seemed to pulsate with a mysterious energy. He met her gaze, raising an eyebrow.

“No. I’ll keep it. Just in case. I need time to think about it.” She couldn’t let go of the soft, tempting whispers he baited her with, the promise that she could kill the ones who betrayed her, that she could give them a fate crueller than death itself – he had provided her with an extremely powerful weapon and she’d be an idiot to give it up just like that. “How long do I have to consider?” she asked.

“Take as long as you’d like.” Satan shrugged. “I’m in no hurry. And neither are you, I suspect.” He looked her square in the eyes and smiled – she shivered. She could sense the danger that lurked behind that genial expression. “But it’d be best not to wait for too long. Wrath is impatient, you see. Once you let those embers of rage fade away, the blade you hold now will be rendered useless. Keep that in mind.”

“Thank you for the advice.” She paused, and the man waited, as though he knew she wasn’t done speaking to him. She chewed her lip, then finally decided to raise the question on her mind. “What if I want to see you again?”

“That’s simple. Just get angry.” He reached for her, tilting her chin with one finger, and she shivered at his touch. “I’m the Avatar of Wrath, and I hide deep within the shadows of hatred. I appear to those consumed by their rage, to those who believed one time too many in unfulfilled promises. Call my name and perhaps I’ll come to you.”

He leant down and brushed his lips against hers, a brief kiss far gentler than the one that came before. Her eyes widened, and he pulled back – he whispered her name in a voice like honey and sin and at the very next moment, he was gone, leaving behind nothing but the smell of flames and the memory of his fingers on her skin.

Oh, and also the dagger. She glanced at the bejewelled blade, wondering what to do with it. The jewels twinkled under the kitchen light, and she studied the polished metal – it was pitch-black, and it seemed to shimmer as she moved it around.

Maybe this was a dream. After a long day filled with bad news, she finally snapped and dreamt up this entire scenario featuring a weirdly hot demon with a voice that made her want to sin, and eyes that seemed to draw out her very soul…yeah, she had to be dreaming. Weren’t demons supposed to be ugly creatures with wings and tails and pitchforks? He looked like a regular human. Albeit a really hot one.

The dagger felt uncomfortably solid, though. Carefully grasping the hilt, she took it out of the kitchen, heading back to her bedroom. She placed the dagger in one of her drawers and kept it away. Out of sight, out of mind. Maybe it’d be gone when she woke up. Her stomach growled then, and she winced. Right. She had forgotten about the leftovers.

She prepared to leave the room, but she walked past the dresser on her way out and she couldn’t help but pause. She glanced into the mirror, wanting to reassure herself that everything was fine, that nothing had changed. But then she blinked and stared at her reflection.

Her reflection looked back at her, and she slowly reached for it, tracing the purplish marks that blossomed across her neck. They were shaped just like fingerprints.

[parkrstark]

who needs pictures?

based on this song (X)

It took him a while after everything happened to even go near Peter’s side of the lab. It had been months, maybe even a year already since he’d be gone. It felt like a million lifetimes. Tony lost track of time when all of the days merged into one long nightmare.

He only started looking through all of the stuff he had shoved in the desk drawers because May was looking for one of Peter’s old notebooks. She couldn’t find it in his bedroom and of course, the only other place that managed to collect all of the kid’s things was in the tower. Either in the spare room that had slowly turned into Peter’s or his section in the lab.

He didn’t mean to make it an all day affair, but every little thing he found had him distracted for a while.

He clicked on the old DS he had shoved in the top drawer and it still had his Animal Crossing game inside. Tony winced as he walked the little guy character (Peter named him Han Solo. Of course, he did) around the town, through the weeds that had taken over every spot on the ground. Peter used to always make sure to check his town routinely so there was never one weed in sight.

There was a plastic spoon in the bottom drawer that once lit up when you clicked the button. It was red with a faded cartoon picture of both Iron Man and Spider-Man on it. Peter had gotten it out of a box of cereal when the public first started noticing Spider-Man and Iron Man’s unlikely partnership. He had it hidden in here so no one ever used it and “tainted its awesomeness”.

Peter kept his fidget toy, one of many, on his desk. It had been a present from Tony when he noticed how the kid was always fidgeting. Especially when he was sitting in the lab doing nothing else but homework or something that didn’t involve much moving. He threw it to the kid one day after school nonchalantly. He’d been hesitant to use it until Tony told him about the collection of stress balls he had; there wasn’t ever a time when he didn’t have one in his pocket. Tony had spoiled the kid with dozens of fidget toys; some he loved, some he liked, and some he wasn’t a big fan of. When Tony was in a store, usually a gas station, they’d sell them by the cash register and Tony bought one he thought Peter would like. He even ordered special Star Wars ones.

When he reached the camera however, he froze. Of course, it had its own special drawer. Peter took care of that thing like it was his literal baby. He used to talk to it sometimes. He named it...Tony thought hard to Peter got it for his birthday from May (she had saved up months to get it for him and the look on his face when he opened it was well worth, even Tony knew). He had been there, but Peter hadn’t named it until a few days. He claimed he needed to pick a name that felt right. Four days after his birthday, he walked into the lab with the strap around his neck and holding the camera tucked safely in his hands against his chest.

“Meet Paisley!”

“Finally named it, kid?”

“Named her, Mr. Stark.”

Tony smiled at the memory, lifting the camera up and brushed away the layer of dust that covered the screen. He tried the power button, but nothing happened. Dead. He sighed, ready to put it back in the drawer when something stopped him. He turned it carefully in his hands and popped open the SD card insert.

He put the camera in the drawer and then went over to his main desk where he had a computer capable of showing the contents of the SD card. He stuck it in and waited for the monitor to load the pictures.

The first on the screen hit hard.

Peter was staring right at the camera smiling so widely. And with the high quality the camera took pictures in and his compute showed pictures on, it was almost like Peter was right in front of him again. He reached a hand out and his fingers hit the screen.

Peter had a weird tradition of “baptizing” each of his SD cards. He always took the same first picture. Whoever he was with when he replaced it, he threw an arm around their shoulder and took a selfie. Tony was usually the one caught, though he had a few with May, Ned, Happy, Rhodey, and Pepper.

Tony was in this one. He was staring down at one of his tablets, not giving the camera a glance. But Peter was there, next to him on the couch, pulling him in close and smiling. Tony wished he had looked up...just to see that smile on the kid’s face. But he didn’t. Because that had be a normal thing for Peter to do. Tony never thought there’d be a day where he wasn’t there to fill up empty SD card and start with an impromptu photo session.

He’d never get a chance to do that again. He took that moment for granted just as often as Peter took the picture.  

He swiped to the next photo and smiled. They were a lot miscellaneous shots of people and places Peter loved.

There was May raising a pair of chopsticks to her mouth as she sat across from him in what looked like a restaurant. Which Tony bet it was. Whenever she tried to cook, that’s usually where they ended up.

Ned sitting in a pile of hundreds of Legos they had dumped all over Peter’s bedroom floor.

A view of the city streets from a very high spot somewhere Peter perched to get the perfect shot.

Happy petting a orange cat, Murphy was his name if Tony remembered correctly, that sat on a counter of Peter’s favorite deli.

May and Pepper laughing as they sat on a couch, each with a champagne glass in their hands.

Endless photos of dogs in the park.

Tony sitting on Rhodey as they played Mario Kart, so he could win.

Ned making a funny face in the camera as he sat in a library with a book open in front of him.

Happy yelling out his window as they drove, Peter was sitting in the passenger seat.

A duck walking down a city street.

Tony working on something in his lab.

Peter liked taking candid shots of Tony in the workshop. Sometimes Tony was glancing at the camera from the corner of his eyes, but most times he had no idea the picture was being taken.

God, Tony. Why didn't you ever take a fucking second just to look? Look up at what you had. The kid was always there. And now, he’d never be there again.

He swiped through the dozens of photos Peter took of Tony in the lab, mixed with a few of the bots hanging around.

(Tony’s favorite was the one he took himself. Peter, U, and Dum-E were sleeping on the floor in a sea of blankets Peter had set up for the four of them to watch a movie. He had made sure to drape a blanket over each of them.)

He smiled when he realized what the majority of this SD card was full of: Peter and Tony’s roadtrip to Florida over the summer. They had a big trip planned to Disney World for the kid’s 17th birthday. He’d always wanted to go to Disney World and one of the parks was practically throwing up Star Wars. There was a ride, character meet and greets, parades, firework, shows, and more just for this movie.

So, it was a no brainer where Peter was going to celebrate his day.

Except there was one problem: Peter was deathly afraid of planes. Ever since the night he crashed the Stark plane on Coney Island. So, flying to Florida was not an option. At least not for Peter.

Tony remembered when they surprised him with the tickets and told him about the private jet that would get them there in no more than 2 hours. He hands started to shake. Tony didn’t hesitate before saying Peter didn’t have to take the plane. (“I’m thinking about driving down, if you want to join. I could use the company”)

Sure, one day, Tony would help Peter get over his fear of flying, but he didn’t need to do that when he was going to celebrate his birthday. He didn’t want the kid to dread the trip. So, Tony and Peter left two days before everyone else did and they started their roadtrip.

It was the best trip Tony had ever taken. He enjoyed the car ride to and back more than the actual vacation, probably.

The collection of vacation photos started with Tony packing the car with their suitcases. Tony was looking over his shoulder as a bag on the top was about to fall over on his head. (“A little help, Parker?”).

Tony steering the wheel with one hand and shoving a fast food burger in his mouth with the other. (“Who the fuck puts mustard on a burger? Are their taste buds that dead?”)

A random horse Peter had made Tony stop driving for suddenly by screaming, “Stop!” (“Christ, Parker, you’re lucky no one was behind me. Don’t do that again.” “But he’s so pretty, Mr. Stark.”)

Peter’s dirty converse kicked up on the dash and a blur of Tony’s hand, swatting his feet off. (“Unless you want to clean the dashboard with your toothbrush, get your filthy feet off.”)

A sunset Peter made him spend 10 minutes driving to get the perfect shot. (“Peter, the sun is going to be gone by the time you find a spot you like.”)

One that Tony took of Peter fast asleep in the passenger seat, drooling slightly with his head at angle that couldn’t have been good for his neck. (“How do you even sleep like that?”)

Then the next one was Peter sleeping again, this time after Tony leaned over and fixed him so he was in a comfortable position. He leaned the seat back, laid his head in a normal position, and covered him in a blanket. (“See? I take care of you.”)

He continued to skim through the pictures and found the selection of pictured from the actual trip itself. Peter had gone crazy with photos. LIke he snapped a picture of every little thing. He was like those tourists they made fun of in Times Square.

Tony and May had taken a lot of them too when Peter wanted to be in the pictures. The kid almost cried when he saw all the Star Wars shit. There was a show that had an entire dedication to Han Solo, and Tony actually saw him wipe at his eyes quickly. Tony had rolled his eyes, ruffling the kid’s hair.

He continued through the hundred of pictures for what had to have been hours before he reached the last one. Tony packing a full car that overflowing with bags and bags of Disney souvenirs.

Tony didn’t realize he had been crying until there were no more photos to distract him. He sniffled and wiped his wet cheeks.

That was only one SD card...the kid had dozens in his drawer that Tony could look through.

He always took a picture of everything. His face was always behind the lens, taking a photo of something.

Tony told him to put the camera down and live in the moment, but Peter said he didn’t want to forget a single moment.

Tony didn’t understand how he could when it was all so clear in Tony’s mind. He could still close his eyes and remember what had happened in each photo before and after it was taken.

He didn’t need these photos to remember Peter.

Peter was the most vivid memory in his mind every time he closed his eyes.

Sometimes it was a blessing, sometimes it was a curse.

[mst3kproject]

Uninvited

Uninvited was directed by Greydon Clark of Angels Revenge and stars Clu Gulager, who was in San Francisco International but definitely not in The Touch of Satan.  Oh, and it’s a movie about a mutant bloodthirsty kitty-cat.

Yes, you did just read that sentence.  See, while our feline antagonist may look like an adorable fluffy orange baby, he has a deadly secret.  When angry or in pain, he coughs up a horrible hairball that becomes Hulk Kitty.  Hulk Kitty grows to the size of a mountain lion, kills everybody that annoyed it, and then shrinks down again to crawl back inside Normal Kitty, whom I shall call Creamsicle.

We begin with Creamsicle and Hulk Kitty escaping from a Secret Lab, hidden in plain sight in a building in the middle of Fort Lauderdale.  A day or so later, a couple of bathing-suited bimbos on Spring Break are pounced upon by some rich creep named Walter, who invites them along on a cruise on his yacht in the hopes of getting laid.  The girl in turn invite along a couple of douchebags they met at a marina, and pick up Creamsicle when they find him in a garbage can and fall in love with him.  Walter, meanwhile, brings along his buddy Mike, as the two of them are using their ‘cruise’ as cover for escaping to a tax haven in the Cayman Islands.

Does this sound like a bunch of annoying assholes stuck on a boat with a murdering monster?  Sure does. Would you be surprised if I told you there’s a storm coming and the guy steering the boat is drunk?  Of course you wouldn’t.  How about if I told you Hulk Kitty is venomous?  That seems like a little much, doesn’t it?  Well, that’s what this whole movie is like.  It takes everything you can imagine sucking in a film and turns it up to eleven.

Take the characters… please.  None of them have any personality or subtlety. Mike is nothing but an Evil Businessman and Walter is a horny Evil Businessman.  The girls are empty-headed blow-up dolls, equally willing to doff their bikinis for Walter or for these assholes they met on the beach.  The guys are boring jerks who would definitely be wearing crocs and Oakley sunglasses if those had been commonly available in 1988.  The two who are destined to survive are Hedgeworth, the douches’ nerd friend, and Rachel, the yacht captain, neither of whom we even meet until at least twenty minutes into the movie.  Maybe this is to preserve the surprise of who lives and who dies but it just comes across as bad writing.  Honestly the character I come closest to identifying with is Mike, who’s trapped on the boat with all these fucking idiots and it’s making him want to shoot somebody.

Take the situation.  Walter actually wants to leave the kids behind while he leaves the country because they’ll be in the way, but the yacht’s entire crew quits because he over-works and insults them, and the bimbos volunteer themselves and the boys as replacements.  Only slightly less forced is the bit where he wants the cat sent back to shore but keeps it because he figures if he gives in, the bimbos are more likely to sleep with him later. And oh, yes, people do go to investigate What That Strange Noise in The Dark was.  They do stop to lick each other’s tonsils while there’s a monster running around.  They do destroy the radio so nobody can call for help.  It’s like a checklist of ways to get killed in a monster movie.

Take the acting.  George Kennedy mostly looks like he’s on the verge of falling asleep and nobody else much bothers.  They go through the motions with all the enthusiasm of people who know they’re in a dirt-cheap movie about a killer kitty cat… except for Shari Shattuck as the blonder of the two bimbos (her name is Suzanne and her friend is Bobbie, if you care – I didn’t) who really goes all out during her supposed nervous breakdown in the final half-hour.  Boy, she sucks.  It’s like she can act with her facial expressions or her voice, but not both at the same time.

Take the editing.  We cut from a scene in the dark on Walter’s yacht, anticipating the party that’s going to happen later, to a scene in broad daylight where a gas station attendant is giving Creamsicle a saucer of milk.  Is this the next day?  Is it the same evening?  Have we gone back in time?  It can’t be Australia because nobody has an accent.  What happened to the yacht party?  Only a few minutes later do we learn that we actually skipped the party even though the events so far seemed to be building to it.  Later, we cut from everybody just hanging out on the boat by day feeling like it’s the end of the world, to the middle of the storm at night, with no build-up at all.  The plot moves in such fits and starts it almost gives you whiplash.

How about the special effects?  When Creamsicle disgorges Hulk Kitty, he does so in the form of a hand puppet that barfs up an even sillier hand puppet.  There’s a scene in which the driver of a truck is attacked by this from the back seat, and you can clearly see the arm sticking out of the back of the puppet.  The puppeteer is wearing a blue shirt.  When Rachel and Hedgeworth are in the lifeboat in the storm, they’re obviously on a dark soundstage while somebody sprays them with water from a single nozzle. The boat is being shaken and the camera is rocking, but it’s clear they’re nowhere near the ocean.  The nearest thing to an effect that works is when people swell up and explode as a result of the Hulk Kitty venom.  This is fake blood being pumped into latex appliances, but at least it’s nice and gross.

Then there are, of course, the million little details that add amusement value to a movie like this.  Like the guy’s wet socks drooping off his feet when he dives into the ocean to try to save a friend.  Like the fact that Walter turns on the bubbles before having a co-conspirator drowned in his hot tub.  The fact that a truck crashing is represented by stock footage of a totally different truck. The fact that Creamsicle’s meowing is a recording of the same single meow played over and over.  This would have to be a Jonah episode because I don’t think earlier incarnations of the show could riff fast enough to keep up with this movie’s bullshit.

This all means that Uninvited is plenty of fun to watch, even when it’s stupid people doing stupid things.  There are long-ish scenes of bimbos kissing jerkwads but they don’t go to the point where it gets frustrating.  When stuff starts happening, it’s usually silly enough to make us giggle.  Characters die largely of their own stupidity, but we didn’t like them anyway so we’re not turned off by that.

The camera does leer at the women, but it does so mostly through the eyes of male characters we’re not supposed to like. Walter and the two douches from the Marina (their names are Corey and Lance, because of course they are) are a bunch of sexist assholes, and the long shots that pan over the women’s swimsuited bodies happen when they enter the room.  This almost allows Greydon Clark to get away with it – by using the shots to suggest that the men are jerks, he can objectify his cheesecake and claim to respect it, too.  I’m not at all fooled, but I’m kind of impressed by the thought he put into it.

When I reviewed The Corpse Grinders I spent some time discussing the question of why cats.  In that movie I figured it was because cats seem more likely to turn on us than dogs and because they were cheaper to work with.  In Uninvited there seems to be something similar going on.  We all suspect that inside our cats is a wild animal just waiting to get out – just watch your house pet stalk the squirrels on the other side of the kitchen window if you don’t believe me.  Creamsicle’s inner monster is a very literal one, and it takes the form of something much like the big, predatory jungle beasts that are so closely related to our pet kitties.  The fact that Creamsicle himself is a really, really adorable cat helps drive the point home.

If you squint, you can also find a pro-environmental message in Uninvited.  The scientists at the beginning of the movie weren’t even sure what it was they’d done to Creamsicle – they thought maybe he just had a tumor.  They had to discover Hulk Kitty the hard way.  Pumping crap into the environment and then being surprised when it comes back and poisons us is basically how we spent the entire twentieth century.  You can see Hulk Kitty as a metaphor for mercury-laden tuna, for refrigerants destroying the ozone layer, for killer bees, for pretty much whatever looming environmental disaster from the 80’s that you want.

Uninvited is ninety minutes long and in that entire time there is absolutely nothing good in it.  The opening credits music sucks and the whole movie just coasts downhill from there, but the journey, from Creamsicle’s supposedly exciting escape from the lab to the inevitable ‘it’s not over!’ denouement, is amusing enough as terrible movies go.  You can rent this one for three bucks on YouTube and unlike paying a dollar fifty for Hamlet, it’s totally worth it.

[british-order-of-thelema-blog]

Do what thou wilt shall be the whole of the Law.

For the second day of the Thelemic Holy season pathworking (March 21st e.v.) we are studying Atu XX - 'The Aeon' which corresponds to the path of Shin which connects the sephira Malkuth and Hod on the kabbalistic Tree of Life.

Todays reading is Chapter IV from Liber LXV: Liber Cordis Cincti Serpente sub figûra אדני

IV

1. O crystal heart! I the Serpent clasp Thee; I drive home mine head into the central core of Thee, O God my beloved.

2. Even as on the resounding wind-swept heights of Mitylene some god-like woman casts aside the lyre, and with her locks aflame as an aureole, plunges into the wet heart of the creation, so I, O Lord my God!

3. There is a beauty unspeakable in this heart of corruption, where the flowers are aflame.

4. Ah me! but the thirst of Thy joy parches up this throat, so that I cannot sing.

5. I will make me a little boat of my tongue, and explore the unknown rivers. It may be that the everlasting salt may turn to sweetness, and that my life may be no longer athirst.

6. O ye that drink of the brine of your desire, ye are nigh to madness! Your torture increaseth as ye drink, yet still ye drink. Come up through the creeks to the fresh water; I shall be waiting for you with my kisses.

7. As the bezoar-stone that is found in the belly of the cow, so is my lover among lovers.

8. O honey boy! Bring me Thy cool limbs hither! Let us sit awhile in the orchard, until the sun go down! Let us feast on the cool grass! Bring wine, ye slaves, that the cheeks of my boy may flush red.

9. In the garden of immortal kisses, O thou brilliant One, shine forth! Make Thy mouth an opium-poppy, that one kiss is the key to the infinite sleep and lucid, the sleep of Shi-loh-am.

10. In my sleep I beheld the Universe like a clear crystal without one speck.

11. There are purse-proud penniless ones that stand at the door of the tavern and prate of their feats of wine-bibbing.

12. There are purse-proud penniless ones that stand at the door of the tavern and revile the guests.

13. The guests dally upon couches of mother-of-pearl in the garden; the noise of the foolish men is hidden from them.

14. Only the inn-keeper feareth lest the favour of the king be withdrawn from him.

15. Thus spake the Magister V.V.V.V.V. unto Adonai his God, as they played together in the starlight over against the deep black pool that is in the Holy Place of the Holy House beneath the Altar of the Holiest One.

16. But Adonai laughed, and played more languidly.

17. Then the scribe took note, and was glad. But Adonai had no fear of the Magician and his play. For it was Adonai who had taught all his tricks to the Magician.

18. And the Magister entered into the play of the Magician. When the Magician laughed he laughed; all as a man should do.

19. And Adonai said: Thou art enmeshed in the web of the Magician. This He said subtly, to try him.

20. But the Magister gave the sign of the Magistry, and laughed back on Him: O Lord, O beloved, did these fingers relax on Thy curls, or these eyes turn away from Thine eye?

21. And Adonai delighted in him exceedingly.

22. Yea, O my master, thou art the beloved of the Beloved One; the Bennu Bird is set up in Philæ not in vain.

23. I who was the priestess of Ahathoor rejoice in your love. Arise, O Nile-God, and devour the holy place of the Cow of Heaven! Let the milk of the stars be drunk up by Sebek the dweller of Nile!

24. Arise, O serpent Apep, Thou art Adonai the beloved one! Thou art my darling and my lord, and Thy poison is sweeter than the kisses of Isis the mother of the Gods!

25. For Thou art He! Yea, Thou shalt swallow up Asi and Asar, and the children of Ptah. Thou shalt pour forth a flood of poison to destroy the works of the Magician. Only the Destroyer shall devour Thee; Thou shalt blacken his throat, wherein his spirit abideth. Ah, serpent Apep, but I love Thee!

26. My God! Let Thy secret fang pierce to the marrow of the little secret bone that I have kept against the Day of Vengeance of Hoor-Ra. Let Kheph-Ra sound his sharded drone! let the jackals of Day and Night howl in the wilderness of Time! let the Towers of the Universe totter, and the guardians hasten away! For my Lord hath revealed Himself as a mighty serpent, and my heart is the blood of His body.

27. I am like a love-sick courtesan of Corinth. I have toyed with kings and captains, and made them my slaves. To-day I am the slave of the little asp of death; and who shall loosen our love?

28. Weary, weary! saith the scribe, who shall lead me to the sight of the Rapture of my master?

29. The body is weary and the soul is sore weary and sleep weighs down their eyelids; yet ever abides the sure consciousness of ecstasy, unknown, yet known in that its being is certain. O Lord, be my helper, and bring me to the bliss of the Beloved!

30. I came to the house of the Beloved, and the wine was like fire that flieth with green wings through the world of waters.

31. I felt the red lips of nature and the black lips of perfection. Like sisters they fondled me their little brother; they decked me out as a bride; they mounted me for Thy bridal chamber.

32. They fled away at Thy coming; I was alone before Thee.

33. I trembled at Thy coming, O my God, for Thy messenger was more terrible than the Death-star.

34. On the threshold stood the fulminant figure of Evil, the Horror of emptiness, with his ghastly eyes like poisonous wells. He stood, and the chamber was corrupt; the air stank. He was an old and gnarled fish more hideous than the shells of Abaddon.

35. He enveloped me with his demon tentacles; yea, the eight fears took hold upon me.

36. But I was anointed with the right sweet oil of the Magister; I slipped from the embrace as a stone from the sling of a boy of the woodlands.

37. I was smooth and hard as ivory; the horror gat no hold. Then at the noise of the wind of Thy coming he was dissolved away, and the abyss of the great void was unfolded before me.

38. Across the waveless sea of eternity Thou didst ride with Thy captains and Thy hosts; with Thy chariots and horsemen and spearmen didst Thou travel through the blue.

39. Before I saw Thee Thou wast already with me; I was smitten through by Thy marvellous spear.

40. I was stricken as a bird by the bolt of the thunderer; I was pierced as the thief by the Lord of the Garden.

41. O my Lord, let us sail upon the sea of blood!

42. There is a deep taint beneath the ineffable bliss; it is the taint of generation.

43. Yea, though the flower wave bright in the sunshine, the root is deep in the darkness of earth.

44. Praise to thee, O beautiful dark earth, thou art the mother of a million myriads of myriads of flowers.

45. Also I beheld my God, and the countenance of Him was a thousandfold brighter than the lightning. Yet in his heart I beheld the slow and dark One, the ancient one, the devourer of His children.

46. In the height and the abyss, O my beautiful, there is no thing, verily, there is no thing at all, that is not altogether and perfectly fashioned for Thy delight.

47. Light cleaveth unto Light, and filth to filth; with pride one contemneth another. But not Thou, who art all, and beyond it; who art absolved from the Division of the Shadows.

48. O day of Eternity, let Thy wave break in foamless glory of sapphire upon the laborious coral of our making!

49. We have made us a ring of glistening white sand, strewn wisely in the midst of the Delightful Ocean.

50. Let the palms of brilliance flower upon our island; we shall eat of their fruit, and be glad.

51. But for me the lustral water, the great ablution, the dissolving of the soul in that resounding abyss.

52. I have a little son like a wanton goat; my daughter is like an unfledged eaglet; they shall get them fins, that they may swim.

53. That they may swim, O my beloved, swim far in the warm honey of Thy being, O blessed one, O boy of beatitude!

54. This heart of mine is girt about with the serpent that devoureth his own coils.

55. When shall there be an end, O my darling, O when shall the Universe and the Lord thereof be utterly swallowed up?

56. Nay! who shall devour the Infinite? who shall undo the Wrong of the Beginning?

57. Thou criest like a white cat upon the roof of the Universe; there is none to answer Thee.

58. Thou art like a lonely pillar in the midst of the sea; there is none to behold Thee, O Thou who beholdest all!

59. Thou dost faint, thou dost fail, thou scribe; cried the desolate Voice; but I have filled thee with a wine whose savour thou knowest not.

60. It shall avail to make drunken the people of the old gray sphere that rolls in the infinite Far-off; they shall lap the wine as dogs that lap the blood of a beautiful courtesan pierced through by the Spear of a swift rider through the city.

61. I too am the Soul of the desert; thou shalt seek me yet again in the wilderness of sand.

62. At thy right hand a great lord and a comely; at thy left hand a woman clad in gossamer and gold and having the stars in her hair. Ye shall journey far into a land of pestilence and evil; ye shall encamp in the river of a foolish city forgotten; there shall ye meet with Me.

63. There will I make Mine habitation; as for bridal will I come bedecked and anointed; there shall the Consummation be accomplished.

64. O my darling, I also wait for the brilliance of the hour ineffable, when the universe shall be like a girdle for the midst of the ray of our love, extending beyond the permitted end of the endless One.

65. Then, O thou heart, will I the serpent eat thee wholly up; yea, I will eat thee wholly up.

Happy pathworking and meditations!

In LVX et NOX

Love is the law, love under Will.

[takemedancingmaine]

Congrats, It's A... 

I paced back and forth with anticipation.

My footfalls were the only sound in the room. I was nervous that something was wrong with how quiet it was in here. The sterile air and the smell of antiseptic were almost overwhelming in the small, white room.

When the door opened again I breathed in deeply, despite the bleach smell, preparing myself for whatever was to come.

“So she doesn’t have a tag and she’s not chipped,” the vet said as he brought her back in with him. His hand absolutely dwarfed her. She was so small. He placed her down on the table gently and she just started wandering in small circles on the metal surface, looking around and studying her surroundings.

“So if you’ll have her,” he continued, “she’s all yours. Otherwise, we can keep her here until she gets adopted.”

I looked down at the tiny fluff of white on the table in front of me. I thought of moment I first heard that little meow, at three o’clock this morning and when my eyes met hers an hour later, I was a goner.

“I'd like to keep her,” I told him. Looking at her now, I was certain.

“That's great news!” He smiled. “Well, she weighs just over two pounds, which is enough for us so that we can start giving her all of her proper vaccinations and we can get her spayed.” He looked at a couple of things on his clipboard. 

“Would you be okay to pick her up on Saturday morning? She should be out of the anaesthesia and ready to go around ten.”

“I can do that.” I nodded.

“Perfect.” He scribbled something on the page he was looking at before handing it to me.

“Just take this out to our front desk and they'll give you the bill and all of the other necessary information. If you have any questions my number is on that page, as well as the clinic’s number.”

“Thank you so much.”

“Of course.” He nodded. “Would you like to say goodbye?”

I nodded back and then leaned over the table a little bit and scratched behind her ears.

“Hi sweet girl,” I whispered to the kitten in front of me. “I have to go to work and you have to get all your treatment so you grow up big and strong, okay? I'll be back in a few days. I promise.”

I know it's crazy, that I’m probably crazy, but when I was talking to her she was staring at me like she understood me. She gave a tiny little mew and continued to purr as she tried rubbing her face on my hand. I was smitten.

I gave her one more look over my shoulder and turned and walked out of the room. It was silly that I was getting emotional leaving her when I'd only known her five hours but we’d bonded during that time.

I'd rescued her from the rain and the dank area under my front porch at four AM, wrapped her up and taken her to the local animal shelter once they opened, and was now planning to walk to the front desk and properly adopt her.

As I waited at the desk for the office assistant to become available, I texted Louis a million heart emojis for him letting me take an hour or so this morning to deal with it all and then texted Niall that I was now a cat mom, apparently.

Niall: you’ve got yourself a little moggy then?

Ruby: a moggy?

Niall: it's a term for cat

Ruby: well then yes, I've got myself a little moggy

Niall: can't wait to meet her!

It was my turn to step up to the desk. One I did, I filled out all the proper paperwork, paid, and when they asked me for a name for her to put into both their system and the microchip system the only name I could think of was Moggy.

So her name was officially Moggy.

When I'd woken up at three this morning to the sound of meowing I'd thought I was losing my mind. It was pouring rain. There was no way I could hear a cat outside over the sound of the rain.

After an hour of tossing and turning though, unable to fall asleep because of the incessant meowing, I decided that I was not imagining it and that there really was a cat somewhere out there.

So I pulled on my rain boots and raincoat, grabbed a flashlight, and went outside to see if I could figure out the source of the sound. When I saw the tiny white kitten with her dirty fur and grey face, damp and miserable and alone, I coaxed her out from her hiding place under my porch and got her upstairs.

Holding her I was in shock of the fact that this tiny creature was making loud enough sounds to wake me up. Once she was in my arms she quietened up, her meows had softened, gotten smaller… Her purring was loud but gentle.

Upstairs in my apartment, I had washed her off as best I could and wrapped her in warm towels and mentally ran through my options. She looked alone--no brothers or sisters, no mom--and I felt like I couldn't in good conscience leave her outside again on the off chance that she wasn't alone. So I could bring her to the clinic to see if she was chipped or see if they'd take her in to be adopted if she wasn't.

In the span of a few hours though, of both me and her trying to calm down after our middle-of-the-night ordeal in the rain, of me getting dressed and ready to go to the clinic and work, and of the two of us walking the many, many blocks there together because taking her on the train worried me, we had formed a real bond.

When the vet came in and said she wasn't chipped and I could have her, I felt my heart in my throat. I hadn't wanted (or needed) a pet, but looking at her I couldn't say no.

I definitely didn't need a pet. I was stable in my job and my location, but I didn't ever really see myself as the kind of person to have a pet. If I did, I’d always thought it might be a bigger dog that I could run with and would be someone who would make me feel safer.

In less than twenty-four hours though, I'd gained a boyfriend and a cat.

The universe was funny that way.

Once I was done at the clinic with getting everything set up for Moggy, I found myself on the train to work.

Work.

Where Louis was. Where Louis was and where I would have to tell him something. Where my life as I knew it was likely to end. I'm not usually such a coward but something about telling Louis was making me nervous.

So when I stepped into the bakery around nine fifteen and saw Louis at the till I almost felt like I might get a reprieve, but as I slipped past the door into the kitchen I saw him ask Bridgett to take back over. I groaned. I wasn't even going to get a moment to settle in, to calm down and go over my word choice.

“Time d’you call this?” Louis called loudly as I slipped off my jacket and placed it on the back of my desk chair. I stepped back out into the kitchen and began washing my hands at a sink as he peered into an oven through the door, checking in on a bake.

“Well, I'm a mom now,” I looked at him over my shoulder. “I'm still only just getting the hang of it.”

“So you adopted her then?” He spun around and looked at me expectantly.

I nodded. “I did!”

“Oh my god, I'm so excited to be an uncle!” Louis came over and picked me up and hugged me. I laughed and ruffled his hair to get him to put me down.

“When can I meet her?” He asked.

“She’s staying at the clinic for now while they give her all her shots and stuff. I'm picking her up on Saturday morning.” I filled the kettle and clicked it on as Louis took out two mugs and put tea in each one for us.

“So you're saying I get to meet her Saturday?” He asked, his eyes bright.

“That wasn't what I was saying, but I feel like it's the only acceptable answer for you, so sure. You get to meet her Saturday.”

I knew he wouldn’t take no for an answer. Our friends had deferred to doing something until early next week, Liam with a final showing of the apartment and the rest of the teachers were having some sort of grading pow-wow to catch up. Louis knew neither of us would be busy with any of them this weekend. He knew he could coerce me into inviting him over. He was witty and tricky.

“Sick!” He jumped up on his toes quickly before settling back down. “I can't wait. I'll bring stuff for lunch and we can just watch soccer all afternoon. What's her name?”

“You're going to commandeer my laptop to stream soccer while also commandeering my home to play with my new cat?” I raised an eyebrow at him.

“I'm bringing food, woman! Is that not payment enough?”

I laughed at him, shaking my head and running a hand through my hair.

“We can watch some soccer, but we also have to watch Moana.” I gave him a stern look--or tried to at least. I once watched Moana four times in a row with Cleo back in college. Louis knew I didn't joke about when it came to that movie. Neither did Cleo for that matter.

He sucked in air between his teeth. “You drive a hard bargain, Ms Singh.”

I just looked at him.

“Deal.” He was beaming as he picked up the kettle that had just gone off and started pouring the water.

I walked into my office for a moment to turn on my computer--not that I hadn't been trying to answer some emails this morning--and when I came back out Louis was leaning back against the counter top facing me. He’d poured the water from the kettle into our mugs. They were steaming.

“Her name is Moggy by the way.”

“Moggy?”

“Mhm.”

“What the hell kind of name is Moggy?” He asked.

“Well, okay, so that brings me to the second thing I needed to talk to you about.” I tried to sound as casual as I could as I looked down at my mug of tea.

“Go on,” Louis encouraged me. He didn't know what I was about to say, but I could tell he knew it wasn't bad news. He was intrigued about how my cat’s strange name had something to do with anything else.

I knew how I had to do it. I couldn't draw it out. I couldn't, for his sake or mine, make it excruciatingly long and awkward and I couldn't bumble my way through an explanation.

It had to be quick and to the point. I'd rip off the news like a band-aid.

I had to force myself to look at him though, to face my reality.

I took a deep breath and forced the words out.

“I'm dating Niall,” I blurted. “We’re dating.”

I was watching his face closely to gauge his reaction so I saw each emotion and thought as it passed over his features. Louis’ face swiftly transitioned from mild curiosity to confusion and then understanding and excitement and finally--help me--arrogance.

“I. Told. You.” Each word was emphasized.

“I know.”

“I told you!” He repeated, his words becoming boisterous as he looked me over.

“I know.”

“I told you that you two would start... I can't believe you think... I pretty much nailed that timeline. You are... This is… brilliant. It's brilliant!” He was having trouble forming full sentences. It seemed only fragments could make their way past his lips.

“You really think so?” I asked, wringing my hands together. 

“Ruby, are you kidding?” His eyes grew large and he began waving his hands around.

“Since the moment I saw the two of you together I've been rooting for the two of you to get together.”

“You're not worried?”

“About what?”

“About what happens if he and I don't work out.” I felt like I was stating the obvious, but when talking to Louis things were never really all that obvious. I should've known better.

“Well, that's not an option.” Louis shrugged. I noted the small bit of flour in his hair and had to bite my lip to keep from smiling. It looked like he was greying at his right temple.

“Louis.” I narrowed my eyes.

“If,” he began and then started again. “If you don't work out, then we will figure it all out together. When the time comes. I'm not picking sides. I'm not losing either of you.”

“Louis-”

“I'm serious,” he said. “As someone who knows the both of you quite well as individuals, I can say this with a fair bit of authority. It's a pretty big if, but if anything bad does go down, we can figure it out. In the meantime, can I be excited for you?”

“I suppose I'll allow it.” I shook my head and tried to hide my smirk. Louis knows me though. He definitely saw it.

“Really, I'm so happy for you both.” Louis opened his arms and I immediately stepped into them.

“Thank you, Louis.” I hugged him back.

“Of course,” he said, rubbing my back.

“So what kind of food are you getting me for Saturday?” I asked.

He laughed and stepped back from the hug.

“Pizza?” He asked.

I pretended to mull it over. “I think that that sounds wonderful.”

“Great!” Louis turned and stepped away from me as a timer went off. “I'll grab a dairy free option and invite Niall along for the afternoon as well.”

“You're going to be so annoying about this, aren't you?”

“I'm texting the group as we speak.” He slipped his phone out of his pocket and threw me a wink over his shoulder.

I groaned and trudged into my office, turning my phone to silent immediately before settling into work.

Niall: I'm here

With a quick glance over my shoulder at Moggy, who was asleep on what was more than likely becoming her favourite chair, I sprinted down the stairs to let him in.

I'd had Niall come early--before Louis--just because. Niall was seeing Louis for the first time since our collective beans had been spilt--by me--on Wednesday and he was just wanting a moment alone with me before the inquisition began.

I opened the front door and was met by that smile that was quickly becoming my favourite. I blushed at the sight of him on my doorstep.

“Hi.”

“Hi.”

Niall stepped inside and locked the door behind himself. When we got to the top of the stairs, just before I'd opened my door, he pulled me in for a hug. I gratefully accepted.

I was surrounded by him, my face pressed to his chest, his arms wrapped around me, holding me close, his scent doing all sorts of things to me as he rested his cheek against the top of my head. It was when he pulled back, but only slightly, that I felt the shift.

Niall held me close, his arms still around me, with his face just next to my own as he took a deep breath. I could hear the tremor in his breath. I felt my cheeks heat and felt my heart rate speed up.

He brought one hand up to cup my face and then I felt his lips on mine, just for a moment, before he pulled back again.

I couldn't even process what had just happened it had happened so quickly. It was as if his lips on mine had only been a ghost of a feeling. It was almost as if I'd only imagined it happening.

And then it was happening again.

Niall had only pulled back for a moment after that initial contact, and then his mouth crashed against mine.

One of my arms that had been around his waist quickly moved and while one hand pulled him closer to me the other tangled itself into his soft hair as I lost myself in the feel of him against me, his mouth on mine. I felt him doing the same, pulling me closer, as if that was possible, with his hand that was still wrapped around me.

When I was younger, I used to think my foot had to pop when I kissed someone. Thanks a lot, Princess Diaries. Then I'd gone through a phase where I was convinced there had to be a ‘spark’ when I kissed someone. I'd read books about how it felt like a person was on fire when they kissed someone, or that it felt like coming home--whatever that meant.

No boy had ever measured up to those highly unrealistic expectations. I mean, if that happened for anyone else I'm sure it was great. But I'd spent so long trying to find this ideal version of how it should go. When I was in college I'd realised how ridiculous those ideas of mine were.

With Niall it was different.

It felt natural. As if this wasn't the first time we were kissing, but the thousandth. It felt like it was something I could do thousands more times. Kissing Niall felt like so many things at once: excitement, comfort, anticipation, joy… I was so content to just be in that moment with him, to bring one hand up to trace his scruffy jawline as he kissed me senseless.

I felt reality both slipping away and coming into focus, centred on the man in front of me as if Niall was the focal point for clarity and the reason for the loss of it.

We were both breathing hard when we pulled away from each other, Niall resting his forehead against mine. I swallowed hard and felt a smile break out over my face as his blue eyes searched my brown ones.

“Been wantin’ to do that,” he said eventually.

“Been wanting you to do that,” I said back.

His eyes lit up.

“Oh yeah?”

“Mhm,” I hummed.

“Well good thing then, darling,” he said as he pulled back from me further, “because that's going to be happening pretty often from now on.”

There was a small smirk on his lips as his eyes held onto mine. I felt like my face was on fire I was so red, but the electric feeling that surged through me in anticipation was not unnoticed by me either.

Also, darling. He’d called me darling. I'd been called babe or baby before, even sexy and honey, but darling… Something about it felt so personal and endearing. I was pretty sure my heart was working overtime to keep me alive between our kiss and his words.

That was how I knew Niall and I had started off our relationship--relationship? we’re just dating--on firm ground: it wasn't just a physical attraction that drew us to each other. Sure, he was handsome and I enjoyed looking at him, but he did things and said things that made me feel comfortable and gave me joy. He was always trying to make me smile or laugh. It was truly wonderful to know he was putting in the effort.

I'd been in purely physical relationships in the past, or ones that had been built on only physical foundations and never did they end well. They were shallow and I always felt like there was something missing from them.

Being here, at this moment with Niall, I realized what it was that was missing in the past. It was an emotional connection. Sure, I’d been with guys I could laugh with in bed, or could count on to swing by and give my car a jump when the battery died, but that wasn’t support in a way that meant something. That was comfortability with someone. There was a difference.

With Niall, there was both comfortability and support, and more. The more had been so little exploring thus far between the two of us, too. I was sure there was, or at least could be, so much to experience.

I decided to ignore his comment about kissing me and turned to open my door. We were still in my hallway.

“Ready to meet Moggy?” I asked him.

“Very,” he said from behind me and then I was opening the door.

Moggy lifted her head when the door opened and when she noticed someone who wasn't me, she gave a frumpled meow and stood up to come to greet us.

“She's precious,” Niall said as he knelt down to her. He extended one hand and she gave him a cursory sniff before meowing and mushing her fluffy head against his palm. He looked up at me and smiled, his dimple popping.

“She really is.” I nodded. “Tea?” I moved toward the kitchen. “Coffee?”

I clicked on the kettle.

“I'm good,” he called out. “Louis is on orders to get me a Kombucha with the pizza and whatever else he's bringing for me.”

I snorted and then immediately thought of my mother. She used to tell me all the time that I'd have a hard time ever finding someone because I snort in response to silly things. She said it wasn't lady-like.

Also, I didn’t know that many people--or any--that willingly drank Kombucha like I did. Niall’s words made me pause for a second before I focused on this bigger picture.

“You don't know what he's getting for you?” I asked.

“I never know what Louis is gonna do,” Niall said.

“That's fair,” I said as I poured the hot water and made my tea. With my mug in hand, I made my way back into the living room where Niall was teasing Moggy with a feather on a string toy I'd gotten for her last night when I went to the pet store in preparation. Apparently, she loved it.

I had spent almost two full hours at the pet store last night after work. I got food and treats and toys. I’d spent far too long trying to choose between everything, searching only for grain-free, healthy options.

The toys had been harder to choose between though. I just chose at random, but all cats have different personalities and I'd not spent time with Moggy, so I had no idea what she would like.

I'd ended up brushing off the help of every employee there, politely, of course. I'd researched a lot and I'd felt capable, I was just indecisive about everything. I spent so much more money than I’d intended to and would be ashamed to admit, but I was a first-time pet-mom and was cautiously optimistic about it all. I wanted to do the right thing, but was aware there were so many outcomes… so I ended up preparing for everything.

My bank account was actually sobbing after my trip to the store last night. I was lucky Friday was payday. I also had to get groceries at some point this weekend. Maybe I should’ve thought about that before I bought two different kinds of food and four different kinds of treats, along with the embarrassing number of toys I’d acquired.

I sat down beside Niall on the floor, and he turned to me. Quicker than I could blink he kissed me again. I felt him smile against my lips. The smirk on his face when he pulled back made me blush.

I felt myself easing under his touch. It was unusual, lovely, but unusual. He was making me feel things I didn't understand. I quite enjoyed these things I didn't understand though. It all felt pretty good.

“I still can't believe you named her Moggy.” Niall looked back down at her, started playing with her again.

“Yeah, neither can Louis,” I groaned. “When he found out you're the reason why she's named Moggy he literally laughed to himself the whole day. Every time I tried to do anything all week he’d literally just look at me and giggle and say her name.”

Thankfully, I did manage to keep him from putting that information into the group chat though. Louis wasn’t happy about it, because he wanted nothing more than to torment me, but he acquiesced for whatever reasons I didn't know. Maybe it was because he wanted that one thing to himself to hold over me, maybe it was because he was the sweetest person I'd ever been lucky enough to be friends with. Whatever the reason, I was in the dark.

“Yeah, he's a little jerk.” Niall smiled.

“He is.” I nodded and watched as he shifted so he was lying down, leaning on one elbow while the other held the end of the toy Moggy was playing with.

“At least you never lived with him.”

“True. Did he drug you to make that happen?”

Niall laughed, his head falling back and the sound echoing around my home. It startled Moggy, but only for a moment before she returned to playing.

“They said she's probably only just three months old, judging by her size and weight,” I spoke up after just watching the two of them together. “She's so little.”

“She is,” he said. “I imagine she's grateful you saved her.”

“I did what anyone would. I mean, I did crawl under my front porch in the rain at four in the morning, but I'm sure anyone would do that.”

My phone started ringing and I jumped. I already knew who it was, so without answering, I made to stand up. Before I could though, Niall grabbed me and pulled me down to him, kissing me quickly before letting me go.

“Told you that would be happening a lot.” He gave me a cheeky smile. I made a face at him but the heat in my cheeks gave me away and then I jumped up and ran down the steps to let Louis in.

“Ohhhhh you're blushing,” Louis chirped as I opened the front door.

“Shut up.” I took the pizza box from him and left him with the drinks and a paper bag.

“Is that any way to greet me?” He asked.

“You are such a-” I cut myself off. “Thank you for the food, Louis.”

“You're very welcome, Ruby.”

“How is it today knowing that you also have tomorrow off?” I asked him as he climbed up the stairs ahead of me.

“Yeah I feel weird, don't I?” I saw him shrug his shoulders. “I don't think it'll really sink in though until I wake up tomorrow without an alarm and I get to just clean or watch movies all day or whatever else. I think it'll hit me when I'm in the middle of not being there,” he said as he opened my door.

We stepped through and Niall looked up at us from his spot on the floor. He was lying down on his back with his hands behind his head and Moggy had crawled onto his chest and was happily chewing a little mouse toy until we interrupted her.

She gave another frumpled meow and got up to inspect Louis. He seemed to pass her test; she sniffed him and then meowed some more, bumping her head against his leg. He had his hands full and couldn't pet her yet, but she seemed okay with that.

“Neil.” Louis nodded to him and then he headed to the kitchen, Moggy hot on his heels as he went.

“Tommo,” Niall called back and stood up. He gave me a smile as he straightened his clothes and together we followed Louis and Moggy into the kitchen to go sort out our food and drink options before Louis took over our screen watching options.

“Here is your disgusting drink.” Louis handed Niall the bottle of Kombucha before taking out a six pack of beer for them to split later on while I poured myself and Louis glasses of water from the filter in my fridge.

“Thank you.” Niall smiled and opened up the paper bag. He paused for a moment before looking up at Louis. “I love you.”

Louis’ laughter echoed around the room while Niall reaches into the bag and pulled out a few fries as I just smiled watching the two of them interacting. Even the nicknames they'd used for each other earlier flew from their lips without conscious thought.

Their friendship was so effortless and even being an outsider to it I felt special witnessing it. Louis got out plates for us all and opened the box of pizza, the disgustingly perfect aroma wafting out into my kitchen and making me seriously question why I don't eat pizza for every meal.

“I knew you were probably craving it at this point, it's been what, a week?” Louis asked.

“It's been longer than that, mate,” Niall said as he proceeded to pull the Nando's containers from the bag. “I haven't been since I left Ireland.”

“Oh shirt, no way,” Louis gasped. “Is that some sort of record for you, then?”

Niall shook his head as he began placing his food on a plate for himself.

“I actually think it might be,” he said after a moment.

“Niall here likes to pretend he eats good food and is culturally diverse in his palate, but truth be told the man could eat Nando’s for every single meal every day of his life and he would never get tired of it,” Louis told me.

“I'd like to argue and say I'm not that bad, but I honestly don't think I can,” Niall laughed at himself. I just shook my head and grabbed two slices and slid them onto my plate as I watched them.

“I've been meaning to tell you that your accent is worse than it was when I met you,” Louis said as he took three slices and stole a few fries from Niall’s plate, which earned him a threatening glare.

The three of us carried our plates into the living room, sitting on the couch with my laptop in the coffee table in front of us.

“I was back home for four years, Tommo.” Niall moved a throw pillow out from behind his back. “It gets worse when I'm around family or just back in Ireland at all. It had watered down after being here so long.”

“So it'll mellow out after a bit is what you're saying?” Louis asked.

“I suppose so.” Niall shrugged and started eating as Louis typed in my password and started looking up the proper sports network to sign in to and start watching soccer.

“He knows your password?” Niall leaned over and asked me. Louis smirked as he continued to navigate the browser he’d pulled up.

“It's my work computer.” I shrugged. “I never changed it from whatever it was when he gave it to me.”

“Ah.” He nodded.

“Derby or Liverpool?”

“Derby,” Niall responded to Louis who clicked the game and started it. We’d only missed the first ten minutes.

Moggy was curled up between my feet on the floor. For the entire afternoon, the four of us just sat around, eating and watching different soccer games, playing with Moggy and withstanding relentless teasing. (That last one only applicable to Niall and me).

There was a moment late in the afternoon in the kitchen when I was cleaning up that Niall snuck up on me. Louis was still watching whichever game it was at the time, Moggy curled up on his lap. I had been wrapping the leftover pizza in tin foil when Niall came up behind me, wrapping his arms around my waist and resting his chin on my shoulder.

“Hi, darlin’,” he whispered. He kissed my neck. I fought back a shiver at his touch, his breath on my neck, and the sound of his voice.

“Hi,” I said back, quietly. “How are you?”

“Right now I'm really pretty great,” he said.

“Wow.” I placed my hands on top of his. “That's wonderful. Anything in particular making you feel that way?”

“Well, I did just eat my favourite fast food and watch four hours of football.” He shrugged. “Plus, there’s this really cute girl that I like, and she's been leaning against my side all afternoon.”

“A girl? Niall Horan has a crush?”

“Yeah,” he said, his voice coloured with a sombre tone. “The worst part is I think that she knows it.”

“I wouldn't say that's the worst part,” I told him.

“No?” He asked. “Not even when it drives me nuts trying to think straight around her?”

I blushed and began tracing circles on the back of his right hand with my index finger.

“There are worse things, I suppose.”

“Oh yeah?”

“Yeah.” I nodded. “She could not like you back.”

“So you're saying that she does like me back?”

“I'd say so,” I said. “She did let you kiss her earlier.”

“Speaking of which…” He trailed off, his voice low as he spun me around in his grasp before he brought both hands up to cup my face gently and bring his lips to mine. I smiled against his lips and wrapped my arms around his waist, pulling him close.

I'd been with guys a lot taller than me and guys closer to my height, but Niall was the ideal height for me as it turned out. Our bodies aligned perfectly when up against each other like this.

His presence overwhelmed my senses in the best way as he kissed me, his scruff scratching just slightly against me as he did. He pulled back and gave me a smile, his cheeks pink and his eyes bright.

“There's something about you, Ruby,” he said, voice low. “Something about you that draws me in. And I don't know if it's tangible or not, but I crave it. Whatever it is.”

“Most guys would be worried about scaring a girl away by saying something like that to her too quickly.”

“I'm not most guys.”

“I know.”

“I swear to god if you two are making out in there I'm going to throw up all the food I just ate! Just because I support this relationship doesn't mean I want you two doing naughty things with me around!”

When Niall started laughing I couldn't help but join in. I ended up doubled over, clutching my abs with tears in my eyes as Niall giggled next to me, the sound echoing around my apartment, filling it with warmth.

When I got back into the living room I sat down in the middle of the sofa and laid my head on Louis’ shoulder.

“You're such a toad,” I said to him.

He wrapped his arm around me as Niall sat down on my other side and passed Louis a freshly opened beer, keeping one for himself, and handing me a glass of whiskey. It was my favourite glass. I wondered if he’d known it was my favourite after only seeing me use it once, or if it was entirely coincidental that he’d grabbed this particular glass.

He just smiled at me.

“Yeah, but I'm your toad,” Louis said before he settled back against the couch fully and we finished watching the game. After the match finished I’d put on Moana while Louis grabbed us another round of drinks. He’d groaned but gone along with it. After all, he was my best friend.

[chrysaliseuro2019]

The Longest Day

Monday and we had to be on the ferry to Milos island by 9.30. The guys at the apartments were dropping us off to the ferry terminal at the Port about 4kms away and they were pretty relaxed about timing. We left just after 9.00 for the short trip. They were right, ferry was nowhere to be seen and took another 20 mins or so to roll up. The port was small but quite busy with people waiting for the ferry. The local fishermen on one boat displaying their catch and selling it to any interested parties ie individual fish. Liz noticed a large eel which unfortunately for it must have got caught in the nets. We hadn't noticed eel on the menu so not sure what they do with that. Also there were the ubiquitous cats hovering around looking for a feed. They seem to like and look after the cats in Greece (seen far more than dogs) though they need to do some serious doctoring of the male ones as skinny mother cats fending for several offspring are everywhere. The island ferry boarding routine is much more structured than at Piraeus. There was a place to queue and a policeman in attendance to make sure you were standing in the right area. Also time is money so when the ferry did roll up they hurry you off and hurry you on. Total turnaround time less than 15 mins. Anyway an uneventful trip of an hour ensued fairly calm and some good views of islands along the way. We were met at the dock by the delightful and friendly Panos from our new digs the Hotel Rigas which is a 10 minute walk from the centre of Milos town. We jumped in his old Volvo cramming the bags in for the short drive. Our room spacious with a very large balcony. There are sea (more Port) views but only from one end of the balcony at the side of the building. We essentially face backwards onto a vacant block of land with a few houses behind it. No prob though, we are lucky to have this large room and balcony. Panos in particular but also brother Christos could not be more different to our hosts at the apartment in Folegandros. Let's charitably say they were a bit diffident in Folegandros. Here, nothing seems too much trouble. All tinged with some good humour and, from both, though Panos in particular, superb and subtle English. He has passed the ESL teacher's stringent evaluation with flying colours. Panos is a football fan (nut) and of all teams supports Newcastle United in the UK (how many Greeks do that?). We swopped a few soccer stories. Rooms were not ready so by 11.30 we were on our way to the local beach just a few hundred metres up the road on a very warm day. Planning to return mid to late afternoon. This beach is essentially the town beach so not one of those delightful coves but not particularly crowded. A few people in the cheap seats sheltering under the sporadic trees along the foreshore and the same number sitting under umbrellas on beach beds. We did the latter for the princely some of 8 euros for the two beds. The pretty cheap seats. Compared to Sicily this was a saving of 20 euros. We settled in, swam of course, read books, blogged and snoozed on and off from around mid-day to gone 6.00pm. We were pretty much the last to leave our little area of beach beds. Two tavernas nearby for refreshments though we just went for the toasted sarnie. Very relaxing intro. Panos got quite a shock when we rolled back to the hotel around 6.30 given he had last seen us at 11.30 heading off. It was a good and enjoyable stint. Showers and some more downtime (as if we needed it) and it was off to dinner. Panos had recommended two restaurants - one for fish and one for meat. We fancied the fish restaurant which he also said was his favourite. As we we heading off so was he from the hotel his shift presumably over. He pulled over to ask if we wanted a lift which was not necessary as the restaurant was just a couple of hundred metres away but he did offer to pull over there and ask them to find us a good place in the line and a good table. We arrived a few minutes later and dropped his name but either we asked the wrong person or it didn't work as 4/5 ahead of us. We decided to wait and repared to the bar for a drink. Didn't take long, about 25 mins later we were in, partly because couple before us were no shows. Seats weren't ideal so the Panos connection had definitely not worked. The restaurant is by the sea but the early arrivals nab the seafront seats and we were 3 back. That wasn't so much of a prob except that was close to the road and also a bit drafty. We were feeling a bit cool, though had brought something to slip on. Cool on a Greek island in July - not what we expected. Anyway, Liz did her fish inspection and came up with a couple of corkers - common Bream and Common Pandora. They were out of the box. Absolutely delightful. Cooked closed on the charcoal grill and we filleted them ourselves (keeps them warmer for a start). They did offer to do that at the table but Liz declined and the maitre de agreed that if he was us he would do it himself as well. The fish came with vegetables and of course bread and we soon knew why the place was Panos' favourite. Rose wine, as ever, deplorable though. We strolled around town for a bit after that and found a place selling craft beers. First one we've seen in Greece though weren't looking hard. A couple of acquisitions for consumption on the balcony in the next few days. It had been a good day. Tuesday a measured start. Not too early as usual. Breakfast at hotel was a casual and enjoyable one. Fruit, yoghourt, pastries, cheese, ham, tomatoes. Again putting the Folegandros place to shame where breakfast was not part of the tariff though similar priced rooms. We caught a bus just after midday to a beach around 7/8kms away. Paliochori. Liked the place straight away in a nice largeish cove with beach chairs for 15 euros a set and a taverna right behind. We settled in for what turned out to be a 4 hour stay lazing basically. Liz did have a swim and we hauled ourselves the 15 metres or so up to the taverna for lunch. Taramoslata and fries. Odd mix but both were good. Crusty bread of course. Sitting beside us on the beach was a lady of Greek origin from Sydney who ran her own business selling handbags and luggage wholesale. She was here catching up with family in various places and then heading to New York to buy more bags. She was fun and interesting to chat to. Every now and then you get a real reminder that we just don't all do the same things. I thought everyone was in risk and compliance. Well of course in one way we are. Bussed it home. The bus entry was not a particularly dignified affair. Finite number of seats. Smallish bus and fair bit of manoeuvring if not quite jostling. We got a couple of the last two seats though only one guy had to stand as it turned out. We had a couple of drinks on the balcony before heading out. We now have the travelling vodka and a fresh lime and of course my draft beers. Dinner was a simple affair of grilled sardines and Greek salad. Both excellent. Post dinner on the recommendation of the lady from Sydney we wandered up to the top of town via some steps and found a pretty church. Closed and quiet at around 10.00pm. We kept walking and found a pretty chic but relaxed cocktail bar at the top of a small hill/cliff overlooking the docks including the fancy motor boats. A caipiroska x2 later and we were feeling pretty mellow enjoying the view and just chilling. Post drinks we did go for a stroll around the dock area looking at the multi million dollar boats and a few beautiful (and not so beautiful) people adorning them. The next stage of our trip partly unbooked at this stage had needed resolving. We had to decide where we wanted to spend the next 2.5 weeks (Istria in Croatia has been the plan). Liz had also been sussing car hire costs and they seemed cheaper from Trieste in Italy than Croatia though all sorts of permutations were considered including flying to Split and a range of other places. Of course also had to be sure if there was a loading to get the car out of Italy and use in Croatia which might make it prohibitive. Liz rang thrifty in Trieste to confirm the policy. Extra 40 euros - not too bad. That morning we had therefore booked the ferry off the island and a flight to Trieste from Athens. We could have caught a flight off the island which would have been tempting given only 45 mins to Athens compared to 4 hours on ferry plus taxi ride but it didn't quite line up with the flight to Trieste. Aggravatingly we had to catch the 11.25 ferry rather than one an hour earlier which would have made the journey to the airport more flexible (train or cab) as only 1 seat available on the earlier ferry. It's pretty busy over here. Again last minute booking caught us out slightly but that's the trade off for flexibility. Our leeway to the connecting flight now reduced and let's hope ferry on time unlike when arriving. After drinkies at the cocktail bar we arrived back at the hotel around 12.30-1.00am and got back into planning in earnest. We need to book a couple of nights in Trieste, a car for the 2.5 weeks pre-Riga and also book a flight from somewhere to Riga on 5/8 where we are meeting friends the Boxes. Various considerations eg needed a 24 hour front desk location ideally close to the centre in Trieste given late flight arrival and didn't want to have to trek into Trieste from suburbs on our 1 day there. Cost is also a consideration with a variety of options possible. The biggest conundrum really was the flight to Riga which was proving expensive and Liz investigated all ports of disembarkation in Europe it seemed trying to find a good deal eg. fly to Istanbul and then fly to Riga, fly back to London then to Riga. Catching various trains across the old Eastern Europe. Swings and roundabouts with all options and she was getting frustrated. Also car hire costs seemed to swing dramatically and the great deal of 1 day ago in Trieste seemed to have evaporated. Also car availability was diminishing the with some options no longer available (thrifty). ahhhhhhhh!!! We did book the hotel for 2 nights in Trieste but gave up on flight and car hire just before 4.00am, knackered. The next morning we vowed to complete this. Well not much choice really. Post breakfast the car was booked through Budget (via car rental.com) not as good a deal as the Thrifty one but not too bad and we drop it off at Rome airport where we also found a reasonable flight to Riga. It gets in late at night but seemed to be the only option from that destination timewise. Yeh! pretty sorted. The only decision left which we will make over the next few days is where we head to next. We are now thinking of heading down into Italy - Puglia which was always a possibility or perhaps a bit of Croatia and Italy. We will see but we both like the idea of drifting down the Italian coast and seeing what we can find. Weight off the mind to sort this out. It's no doubt easier travelling between more major cities where the flight options are more extensive. Pretty sorted for the next 3 weeks or so other than seeing where the road leads from Trieste which will be exciting.

[your-anxious-nightmare]

Adventures In Dad-ing (7)

Summary: Virgil is running late but Mr Fantastic-Roman is here to save the day Word Count: 1331 Relationships: Familial Moxiety, Pining Prinxiety Previous Chapters: One, Two, Three, Four, Five, Six Tags:  @katatles-the-fish   @karma-the-tax-collector Ao3

Some weeks later

Roman’s bag bounces against his thigh as he pulls the door shut, locking it behind him and stuffing the key into his back pocket. The brunette turns around with a smile before his eyes land on a small figure sitting on the steps.

“Patton?” The blonde boy, desperately clinging to his cat hoodie, spins around to see the teacher above him, a sad smile over his freckled face.

“Hi, Mr Phillips.” He waves, turning back to watch the empty footpath.

“What are you still doing here? School finished hours ago.” Roman checks his watch, noting that it is, indeed, 5 pm, and school finished at 3. He takes a few steps down and sits next to the boy, shrugging off his jacket and draping it over his shoulders to ward off the cold wind.

“Papa’s running late. He shouldn’t be too far away.” Patton smiles, snuggling into the jacket with a small yawn.

“Do you know your dad’s number? Perhaps I could give him a call to see how long he’ll be.” Patton nods and lets Roman take out the phone, shivering more as a cool wind brushes his shoulder. He recites the numbers for the man before yawning again, leaning his head against the concrete wall next to him.

The phone rings, and rings, and Roman slowly loses hope that the other man will pick up until the line goes dead. The phone goes to voicemail and Roman sighs, quickly sending a text to say who the unknown number is before placing the phone back in his bag.

“How about we go inside and I can make you some hot chocolate while we wait?” Patton nods slowly, standing up with Roman’s help and following him inside, heading towards the staff room.

Roman helps a tired Patton onto a chair at the round table before making a hot chocolate and coffee for the two. He places the warm white mug in front of the boy, taking a seat across from him and trying the number again.

“Is your dad often late?” Roman asks as the number goes to voicemail again.

“No, he’s always on time, early even.” Patton yawns again, obviously crashing hard from the school day. “I don’t know where he would be.” Tears start to form in his eyes as his clinginess kicks in, something that Virgil would be able to fix with just being around.

“Hey, it’s okay, he probably just caught up with something, he’ll be here soon.” Roman jumps up, wrapping his arms around the boy and pulling him into his chest. Patton’s arms wrap around the man’s shoulders and soon he’s both crying and asleep against his chest. Picking him up, Roman lays the boy on the couch, pulling his jacket over his still shivering boy and leaning back against the counter. His phone starts to ring and he quickly picks it up before it wakes the poor boy.

“Hello?” He quickly checks the number as a terrified voice echoes through the line.

“I am so sorry, please, is Patton with you? I got caught up in the dinner rush and they wouldn’t let me leave. Oh gosh, is he okay? Is he safe? Is he with you?” Virgil’s panicked voice screeches, the sound of hurried footsteps and cars overlapping his tired tone.

“Virgil, right? It’s okay, he’s with me at the school. He fell asleep on the couch, but otherwise, he’s fine.” A loud sigh escapes Virgil’s lips as he all but runs down the street towards the school. “Are you okay? You sound like you’re struggling to breathe.”

“I’m okay, I was just worried about Pat. I’ll be there shortly, ten minutes at the latest.” Virgil says a quick goodbye and continues running down the street, nearly getting hit by several cars in the process. True to his word, the tall man arrives at the school with 3 minutes to spare.

Roman meets him at the door and unlocks it, motioning that Patton is still asleep so they should be quiet.

“Thank you so much for looking after him, I didn’t mean to be so late. I’m not usually like this.” Virgil whispers as Roman leads him down the hall.

“As I said, it’s okay. We all have things we gotta deal with.” Roman trails off, pushing the door open slowly and letting the shorter man enter first. Virgil crouches down next to Patton as Roman packs up his things.

“Hey Pat, it’s just me.” Virgil places a hand on the boy’s shoulder, not waking him for fear of tears. After a small groan of acknowledgement, Virgil picks up the sleeping child, resting him on his hip as he pulls the dog shaped bag over his shoulder. Handing Roman’s jacket back to him, he gives him a silent thank you before letting the man lead him out of the school.

“I noticed you never drive here, do you live far? I could give you a ride?” Roman offers as they make their way towards the car park.

“No, I couldn’t ask you to do that. We’re only a few minutes down the road and Pat’s not heavy anyways. Thank you, though, Roman.” A tug pulls at the younger man’s chest, the lie hurting despite only having known the man for a few weeks. Their tiny house is fifteen minutes away when they rush, but it’s in a state of disarray and Virgil would hate for the teacher to treat them differently because they’re poor.

“Are you absolutely sure? It looks like it may start raining.” Roman looks up at the clouds just as the droplets start to fall, one falling directly in his eye. “Speak of the devil.” Not taking no for an answer, he directs the family to his car, helping Virgil to strap the young boy into the back.

Virgil climbs into the passenger seat wordless, watching as the teacher starts the vehicle before telling him their address. A flash of recognition washes over the older man, and Virgil stills as he waits for the inevitable teasing. Roman just nods and directs the car towards the more rundown part of town, pulling into the drive of the old house silently.

The men exit the car and take Patton from the back, Roman walking them up to the door and hiding from the rain under the small overhanging roof, handing Virgil the boy’s bag.

“Thank you again, for today, and for being so kind to Pat. I don’t know how I can repay you.” Virgil smiles lightly, his cool blue eyes meeting Roman’s warm hazel ones. Roman opens his mouth to speak but the words die on his tongue. He shuffles his feet, Virgil leaning against the wall as he rummages through his bag for his keys.

“You could go out with me? On a date?” Roman mutters, barely loud enough for himself to hear, but Virgil’s trained ears pick it up no problem.

“I- uh- what?” he stammers, hand stilling in his bag.

“Would you like to go out with me?” Roman tries again, his left hand coming up to rub the back of his neck. Virgil stares for a second, a million thoughts running through his head before Patton shifts in his arms, snapping him out of his stupor.

“Um, yeah, I’d like that.” Both men smile brightly, Roman’s eyes sparkling in the dim lighting.

“Cool, um, I’ll text you, okay?” Virgil agrees and finally grabs his keys shoving them in the door and pushing it open slowly. Roman backs down the stairs slowly, still smiling. His foot stumbles on the last step but he catches himself before he can fall, the rain starting to soak into his jacket.

“I’m okay. I’ll see you later then Virgil.” Said man just waves lightly, stepping inside the door and closing it slowly, adjusting his son in his arms. A sigh escapes his lips as he leans against the old wood. Could this be the chance he’s been waiting for?