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megamindsecretlair · 1 year ago

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Be My Little Darling - Chapter 7

Chapter 6 Chapter 8

Pairing: Loki x Black!Fem!reader / Plus Size reader

Warnings: 18+. Minors DNI. You are in charge of your own reading experience. Angst. Torture, toxic Loki, use of magic, and mentions of survivor's guilt.

Summary: Loki is the exclusive owner of the hottest club in New Asgard. Dubbed the Nine Realms, each of the nine rooms represent a different realm. You are his second in command, working the floors and ensuring everyone is having fun. When a shipment goes missing, Loki has to question the kitchen staff and get to the bottom of who's hurting the club.

Word Count: 2,607k

Masterlist

A/N: There's just something about toxic fictional characters that tears me to bits LOL. Likes are always awesome. Please consider commenting and reblogging to help support writers!

Taglist: @cantstayawaycani @braverthanthenewworld @monaeesstuff @headcannonxgalore @chaos-4baby @dayjlovesromance @soft-persephone @mybonafidefeelings

Loki could still taste Darling in his mouth and it was driving him insane. He could hardly concentrate as he walked past all of his kitchen staff. He did have the patience of a god but he wondered just what Darling was holding on to.

If it were a matter of logic, he could present you with the facts of your attraction. As soon as you came to work for him, you drew an aura around you that captivated him. Not many people or things did. You had an easy working relationship and it was offset by your chemistry. He had backups for his arguments for why you would make a formidable pair.

If it were a matter of emotion, he had all manners of ways to appeal to your baser instincts. You always came undone when he touched you. It seemed like you were nearly close every time. He’d take you to the precipice and something called you back. Away from him.

He wasn’t too proud to admit that he was jealous of it. Of that secret part of you that you held so near and dear in your heart. He wanted the inside of your heart. He wanted your everything.

The kitchen staff before him trembled and watched him with a wary eye. You hovered in the background. Pride swelled in his chest whenever he’d see you flinch and hiss from him smacking your ass. His hand twitched with the urge to do it again. But alas, more pressing matters were afoot.

“We have a saboteur,” Loki announced. No one twitched. It either wasn’t one of them or they were damn good at lying. He doubted they were that good at lying. Loki stalked back and forth like a caged tiger.

He was sick of the puzzles and games. The mishaps around his club. An attack on his club was an attack on him. He could handle it, but he didn’t want his people harmed or his money interrupted. Whoever the person was…Loki clenched his fists. Perhaps Darling wasn’t the only one wound tight.

“The past few weeks, there have been accidents and screw ups. Kitchen fires, missing shipments. The other day, our own Angel was hurt on stage in front of witnesses. Our saboteur must be an embittered employee. Perhaps former. I should like to think I’m a fair boss,” he said.

The staff gave each other a look before bobbing their heads up and down. Some were tall, some were short. Some wore white chefs uniforms with aprons and stained kitchen towels thrown over their shoulders. Some had their sleeves rolled up, arms crossed in front of them. A few were shaking. Not from fear of guilt, it didn’t look like.

“I’ve vetted them myself, Loki. They wouldn’t mess with the club. It’s like home to us,” you said.

“Stay out of this,” Loki demanded. He didn’t need you clouding his judgment in the moment. He needed his wits about him.

“You. Where were you earlier?” Loki pointed to a man on the end, with short graying hair. The man startled before clearing his throat. “Prep, sir,” he said.

“And did you see Darling this morning? Sign for the delivery?” Loki asked.

“No, sir,” he said.

“Who did?” Loki asked. Hands tentatively wavered to the air. Loki questioned them all. They all saw you pop in and say hello. You went to the bay to sign for the shipment, you spoke with Justin, and then left. Justin delayed going outside but when he did, the shipment was gone. Poof. Vanished.

Loki sighed as he looked at the sorry lot. His patience was precariously thin. He singled Justin out and made him stand forward, away from the others. “Tell me what happened.”

Justin wrung his hands, sweating profusely. Loki didn’t detect magic on the man. But if the saboteur flitted throughout the club undetected, it stood to reason that they’d hide in plain sight as well. Loki didn’t recognize the man from before. He was Asgardian, but was he magical?

In starts and stops, Justin recounted what happened exactly as the others put it. Stockroom first, bar second. Loki watched Justin as he spoke. Loki huffed a laugh and looked at Justin.

“Do you take me for a fool?” Loki asked before his power unfurled and the kitchen staff behind Justin screamed out in pain. Justin whipped around as the staff were in various states of sinking to the floor.

“No!” You rushed forward. Loki held out a hand to keep you in place while he cast illusions over the staff. Their worst nightmares were brought to life. Except for Justin. He watched in horror as they writhed.

“Do you not think I can tell when someone is lying to my face?” Loki spoke calmly, jovially as he stepped closer to Justin. He grinned at the man but it was more like a baring of teeth.

“I swear–”

“Do not swear unless you mean it, wholeheartedly. Their suffering is on your hands,” Loki said. His voice dropped, nearly a seductive whisper.

“Stop it!” You cried out. Loki ignored you. “If you’re going to punish anyone, punish me!”

“Admirable, Darling. But not what I’m after.” Loki kept his eyes on Justin. “I will have the truth.”

The kitchen staff were still screaming. They were on the floor now. Some had merely sat, staring off into space. Shock got them by now. Others were fighting it, wiggling on the ground like listless worms. Justin shook from head to foot.

“I was in the stockroom!” Justin yelled out. “Oh gods, stop!”

“You must think so little of your fellow coworkers,” Loki mocked with fake sympathy.

“Loki, you bastard! Let them go,” you yelled. You pushed against his hold on you. You were a powerful sorceress in your own right, to be able to fight him off. He half wondered why you didn’t use your powers more.

Loki ignored you. His focus was on Justin, on the way the man dripped with sweat. Whatever he was lying about, Loki would hear the truth.

Justin sighed. “Stop it! Stop it! I was in the stock room. With…Carter,” Justin said. He hung his head with a sigh of defeat escaping him.

“Ah,” Loki said. Asgardians didn’t care about that but this Carter person must’ve. Loki released everyone, including you, and they panted on the ground. Their screams died away. Justin looked toward who Loki assumed was Carter but the man turned away from him.

You rounded on Loki, your earlier pain forgotten, and you pushed Loki. He was immovable. He arched a brow at you and smirked.

“You had no right!” You yelled. “You don’t punish employees like that! Ever!”

“I have every right!” Loki’s voice boomed and echoed in the tiled expanse of the kitchen. “I own this space, this club, the floor we walk on, and those in my employ. It’s mine!” He advanced on you, getting into your face. Not as a lover this time, but as a true god. The Prince of Asgard. The Heir of Jotunheim. No one stood in his path. No one.

“You will be left with nothing if you continue to push people around like pieces on a chess board!” You pushed him again. And again. Each time, Loki didn’t move because he didn’t want to move. He chuckled at your feeble attempts.

You slapped him. The bright sting of pain made him smile harder. “Bit harder next time, Darling,” he said.

You did slap him harder. He grabbed you by the throat and pulled you in closer. “You’re better than this, Loki,” you managed to squeeze out.

Loki chuckled and leaned in close. His lips brushed yours. “Do not attempt to tame me,” Loki whispered. He stared into your eyes. He couldn’t decipher the emotions there but he knew desire when he saw it.

Still, you fought him. Fought the side of you that needed release. It was beginning to irritate him. He was a god brought low by the part you refused to share. He wanted it. Like a spoiled child reaching for the last slice of cake when no one else had any.

You were mad at him. So be it. Perhaps you’d finally let go of the control you so desperately clung to. He wanted you to yell, to scream, to punch things. You kept such a tight leash on your emotions. He wanted to pick at the threads keeping your seams together and unravel it until he got your core.

He wanted the universe inside of you. Every star, every nebula, and every wayward black hole. He wanted your ugly, your beautiful, and your very essence. He wanted and wanted.

You pushed him away. Denied him once again. Loki moved back.

“We will find the saboteur another way. Not like this,” you said. Your teeth were clenched and you were no longer looking at him. He stared at you until your eyes met his.

“Pray, tell me how then?”

You didn’t have the slightest fucking clue. You weren’t a fucking detective. But it couldn’t be like this. If he tortured everyone in the club, there would be no one left who wanted to work here. This went beyond a mere occupational hazard. Despite his little tantrum, he did not have the right to treat desperate and hard working people like this.

These people lost absolutely everything. Their home, their families, their jobs. They were in a foreign land with foreign people and customs. All they had was the club and Loki was too stupid to realize it. Or to care.

You knew he was cruel. This wasn’t even the first time you’d seen him unleash his powers on someone. It should’ve sickened you. But nothing he did ever turned your stomach. You understood him. Sometimes, emotions were too big and too wild to contain inside. The big ones like lust, rage, euphoria were too much for one body to contain. As much as Loki wanted to project an aura of control and carefree mischief, he was still a man reaching for what everyone else was reaching for: to be understood.

“It must be together,” you said, throwing his earlier words back at him. His eyebrows raised a fraction before smirking.

“Very well,” he said.

You sighed. You felt like you had just defused a bomb. You turned to the kitchen staff. “Fan out. Someone saw something and there’s only so many places to hide our ale,” you said.

The staff gave Loki a wide berth as they muttered amongst themselves. You’d have to talk to them individually. Especially Justin and Carter. You had suspected but…

Justin crossed towards Carter. A human with honey-golden skin and dark hair and features. He recoiled from Justin’s touch and wiped at his eyes. You hated that Loki made Justin confess in front of everyone. Who cared if he was in the stockroom? The place was probably crawling with…unpleasant things from all the employees. It was one of the only rooms you could lock. There were no perishables inside so…

You turned to Loki who watched you, cold and calculating as always. Still, you couldn’t bring yourself to hate him. It would be easier if that were the case. He was the one that always riled you up and yet you were the one that always wanted to soothe him.

You stepped closer to him. “That can’t happen again,” you said.

“You’re giving me orders?” He asked and smirked. He looked you up and down and you hated that your body reacted instantly.

“Not everything is a damn sexual innuendo. That was too far,” you said.

“Not far enough in my view. Someone is messing with my club. The list of my enemies is not short. The list of my magical enemies is even longer. We are leagues away from a lot of them but it’s not difficult to surmise this is where I am after the destruction Thanos wrought. My enemies could have been snapped or remain in their own realms but someone hates me enough to make the trek here. Instead of facing me they’re…”

“Intentionally driving you mad?”

Loki’s lips parted but he nodded. “As a form of…”

“Punishment? Revenge?”

“Both. Either.” His nostrils flared as he thought about it. “I’ve made a career of caring for nothing and no one, Darling. I got my own mother killed by being petty when I was confined. But this…this I care about. And the saboteur knows it.”

You slipped your hand in his. He was as surprised as you were. You forced yourself to hold his hand and look into his captivating eyes. “They’re not trying to harm the place. Their tricks have been, well, petty as well. Hiding shipments, bewitching customers, sending Angel through the stage. They could’ve burned this place to the ground ten times over. They’re not going to take this from us.” Yes, you included yourself in that, don’t make a thing of it.

Loki smiled at you. An expected boyish smile that made his eyes crinkle and made you smile in return. You liked seeing that smile. And pleasure ran through you knowing that you put it there on his face.

“Uh, the shipment is in the bay.” You looked away from Loki to see one of the dishwashers, Harry, pointing outside. You glanced at Loki who frowned.

You followed him back out into the shipping bay. Sure enough, there was the shipment. Relief passed through the kitchen staff like a tangible thing. They kept their celebrations quiet as they eyed Loki’s reaction.

Together, you walked to the shipment. There was a giant red bow on it like it was a present. You were sure that if you checked the cameras, it would have just appeared. But who? Why? What did the saboteur gain from this? To embarrass Loki?

A dark thought raced through your mind. This would be quite embarrassing. Loki never usually lost his cool or let anyone see past the facade of a devilish club owner. These mistakes and mishaps were undermining Loki’s authority.

Fear gripped you as Loki approached the shipment. Like any good present, it came with a card. The card was long instead of wide. It was a deep, emerald green and shimmered as he flipped it back and forth.

You approached and read it over his shoulder. All it said was “remember”. Whatever the fuck that meant. You looked at his face. He scowled at the card as if it were to blame for everything that had been going on here. He flipped it between his delicate fingers.

“It smells faintly of magic. But I can’t place it,” he said quietly.

You turned to the staff and discreetly waved them away. They wasted no time getting back inside and getting back to work. Once you were alone, you put your hand on his arm and turned him towards you.

“It stands to reason that whoever this is, is constantly watching and listening in. Leaving this card, they must think they’re winning,” you said.

There was no way to hide what you had puzzled out earlier, so you just told him. He showed no emotion as you told him your theory but his jaw flexed as he thought it over.

“They want me to react, to split my attention. They will sneak in when I least expect it and strike while I’m distracted.” he said.

“Yes,” you said.

He smiled and nodded, looking out to the setting sun. He smirked at you. Devil indeed. He held out his arm and you took it.

“Well, then. Let’s give them a show.”

Masterlist | Chapter 6 | Chapter 8

#megaminds secret files #The Secret Loki Files #Loki x Black!reader #Loki x Black reader #Loki x Fem!reader #Loki x Fem reader #Loki x plus size reader #Loki x you #Loki x reader #marvel smut #Loki fanfic #Loki fan fic #Loki imagine #Loki fanfiction #Loki fan fiction

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toweroftickles · 1 year ago

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Mini-Fic: Tulin Tickles

I completely 100% blame @otomiyaa for this. 😂 Here I was working on normal things, and she went and reblogged an old Tulin post that got my brain working. So this is not great and was spit out very quickly. Lol

The warm Hebra summer wind blew through Tulin’s crest as he nocked an arrow into his Swallow Bow. This was his last shot…he had to make it count. His tongue poked out of his black beak, and he squeezed one eye tight…the wooden bullseye, scarred by dozens of arrowheads, bobbed up and down on a Korok balloon, 200 yards ahead.

“Come on, Tulin, you’ve got it!” Zelda cheered him. Link tossed her a glance that playfully asked “Whose side are you on?”

“Heck yeah! I’m the best archer in Rito history!” declared the young avian, cocky as always. One last cheeky wink at the competition, and then he took off.

Wings flapped. Claws pulled at taught string. The arrow fired off like a rocket through a spiraling wind, and time seemed to stand still. The target was dancing quickly in the air. With a loud and vibrating THUNK, the arrow struck home…

…on the target’s outside edge. It pulled to the side just in the nick of time to avoid a bullseye.

“Ohhh, that was so close!” Zelda announced. “Sorry, Tulin, that’s 30 to 29…Link wins again!” She dove toward Link excitedly and pecked him on the cheek. Tulin’s face fell.

“Awww, maaaannnnn….” he grumbled and kicked the dirt, pouting. All he wanted was to be a great warrior, just like his dad…and Link. But no matter how hard he pushed himself, it never felt like enough. Teba always told him to “take it easy” or “you’re still a child” or “don’t try too hard” and other boring parent stuff…still, nothing excited him more than tearing holes in the sky with his bow. Why, just imagining all the upcoming practice he’d have to do…it quickly turned his frown into a determined grin.

“Well…I’ll get you next time, Link; you just wait!”

Link smiled and nodded at him, and even flashed a thumbs-up for good measure. Tulin returned the favor…he couldn’t possibly stay grumpy with his friends. But as he turned to retrieve his arrows, he didn’t look where he was going, and clumsily bumped right into the princess, who appeared in front of him as if from nowhere. She didn’t seem to mind, though…she was smiling down at him, her head framed by hanging streaks of golden hair, and she was giggling like a schoolgirl who knew a dirty secret. Tulin looked up into her eyes.

What’s she up to?

"Heehee! Remember the rules, Tulin…”

Oh no.

“…the loser has to pay a penalty.”

When Rito became nervous, their whole bodies prickled like fuzzy pinecones as their feathers stood on end. And at that precise moment, Tulin looked like a very fuzzy pinecone indeed. His eyes were the size of dinner plates.

"W-wait...hold on! We don't have to..." The young Rito stumbled backward away from the princess, stammering, seemingly having forgotten that he could fly. She was slowly walking toward him, hands tucked behind her back, her sunny smile hiding evil intent.

"I'll train EXTRA hard for next time, and...a-and...yike!"

Before he could flutter his wings away, Zelda grabbed Tulin by the shoulders and pushed him down into the high grass. He tried to squirm out of her grip, but his leader plunged her fingertips through his feathery coat and wiggled them up and down, pinching like crab claws under his arms and all over his belly.

Oh no.

"Uhuh-HAA!! *hic* Ah HA-HA Ha-Ha Ha-Ha!! *gasp* Aw...vnnn...ffffHA-Ha Ha!! Huh-Heh HA!!" Tulin's chipper voice kept cracking, his hysterical boyish laughter peppered with shrieks and hiccups as he struggled wildly. He was flapping around like a...well...a Cucco with its head cut off.

"Heh! Your giggle is contagious, Hn-Hn Hn!" Zelda cooed sweetly, lost in her own joyful snickers. She was loving every second of this. “Heehee! Awww, Link; he's sooo ticklish...”

"Luh…Link, HA-HA HA! M-make her stahahop!!” Tulin’s cheeks were hot with embarrassment, and they hurt from smiling. He hated this…why wouldn’t Zelda stop treating him like a baby? Surely his closest friend, his big brother, the Hero of Hyrule, would rescue him. Surely…right?

No such luck. Link was laughing too. Instead of helping, he knelt down and rummaged through his travel pack, ever the sovereign’s obedient knight…the gears in his head were visibly turning. Out of his supplies he pulled a strange, squirmy object and tossed it near the tussling knot formed by his two friends.

It was a green Lizalfos tail.

The severed appendage, unaware its owner had died, suddenly snapped like a whip and coiled itself around Tulin’s right ankle. It felt cold and craggy and squeezed too tight. Was it trying to snare prey for a non-existent mouth? Tulin couldn’t say…

…he was too busy cracking up. The tip of the tail was flicking back and forth and tickling his foot. He was laughing so hard he’d almost gone silent. Tears stung his eyelashes.

"Hhhhuh, Ha-Ha Ha-Ha Ha! *gasp* Heheh...NGHa-Ha Ha-Ha HAA Haha-Ha!! H…Hehehelp! Uncle!!!"

But then, out of nowhere and quite instinctively, Tulin was startled to remember something: his Vow.

A huge, cold gust of wind blasted from his flapping wings. The Lizalfos tail ripped from his leg and careened far into a field beyond, and the princess of Hyrule was thrown into the air with the force of a Hinox arm.

She cried out in surprise. Link immediately hopped up to catch her, and although his arms were at the correct height, he misjudged the distance. Zelda’s butt crashed right into his chest cavity, and the wind was knocked completely out of him. He choked, eyes bulging, unable to breathe, and the two crumpled into a heap on the knoll.

Spurred by a mix of shock, guilt, humiliation, and a sore stomach, Tulin sat up in the grass and stared, jaw hung open.

He wanted to be mad. He wanted to huff and pout and not talk to either of them for a day or two.

But looking at Link and Zelda sprawled on top of each other like that, all Tulin could do was laugh.

**************

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erikiara80 · 1 year ago

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Theory: Jancy’s first lie scene is also about Jopper and the curse

I was rewatching Murray scenes in S2 and S3 and I noticed something in this one I never did before. This could be a big evidence that young Jopper, or at least Hop, are really cursed and that they probably were together in the og timeline.

I talk about the possible hints that they were married and are Will and El’s parents here

So, I think the first parallel/connection is when Nancy and Jon mention the theory that El is russian (later they also drink vodka)

This is foreshadowing of Jopper’s storyline in S4, not Jancy’s. Hopper is in Russia, Joyce gets a doll from him but Murray suspects it might be pregnant with an explosive device. Something Owens compares El to a few episodes later. And interestingly the doll is actually “pregnant” with the message that Hopper is alive.

Then the first lie scene. If the vodka and the mention of Russia are foreshadowing of Jopper’s storyline in S4, this could be about their past

After Nancy and Jon say that they're just friends, Murray laughs. "You told me a lot of shockers today but that... that is the first lie.”

That reminded me of the First Shadow. In my defence, I couldn’t make the connection before they announced the prequel, lol.

And @chirpsythismorning noticed something very interesting. The song that plays when Hopper is stuck in the tunnels in S2 is Shadow in the tunnel. That doesn’t mean that he is the shadow, but that he is associated with it.

Nancy insists: "It's not a lie." Murray: "No? You're young, attractive, you've got chemistry, history. Plus, the real shit. Shared trauma." This could be about young Jopper too. Because we know that something bad happened way before 1983. In 1959, the year Hopper said he started to feel cursed.

Murray continues and tells Jon (our Hopper here): "Trust issues, am I right? Something to do with your dad."

"No, I mean, my dad is..."

Nancy: "An asshole." This is about Lonnie, but it could also be about Hopper's father, who thought his son was a piece of shit.

@shippingfangirl013 I have to quote you here: And the “my dad is…” “An asshole” Paired with the “well they must have gotten married for some reason” in S1. “I wasn’t around for that part” = Jonathan’s parents being in love.

Yep.

And then Murray mentions a curse: “It's a curse to see so clearly."

First lie, First Shadow, and a curse...

Hopper is the only character who’s been saying since S1 that he feels like he’s cursed. In S4 he even says that HE is the curse. And Jo pointed out that episode 4x02, Vecna’s curse, starts with Hopper apparently dying, only to reveal that he’s actually alive. Hm, stuck in a loop, maybe? I’m working on a post about Hopper and the curse, but I’ll just say that after he wakes up in 4x02, we see Max wake up too, from a Vecna nightmare, we see the poster of The Endless Summer and hear the clock-bike sound effect. Here the video.

But back to Murray and the first lie. It’s Nancy’s turn. Murray tells her that she wants safety (like Joyce)

Then another big parallel with Jopper. The We like Steve (Bob) But we don’t love Steve (Bob)

Murray calls Nancy out. Saying that she loves Steve (Bob) is the second lie of the evening (and so is Joyce not being with Jim, the man she loves)

As Kayla says: Safety = Bob = MK Ultra manipulation, because of the flashbacks she has in S3 after being around Hopper.

Then THIS poster. It never made much sense to me when I thought about Jancy. But it makes a lot of sense if the scene is not just about them, but a parallel with Jopper and Hopper, the cursed one.

Here another parallel. Murray tells Nancy and Jon to have sex. The same thing he tells Joyce and Hopper in S3.

(red and yellow here, El and Will’s colors)

And I think this is important. That night Nancy and Jonathan GET together, and we don’t see the poster when they kiss, because they're not the ones that are cursed. Hopper and Joyce Maldonado are. The part with Murray is the parallel with Jopper’s past. Someone has been watching them for a very long time.

Note: The poster is a Big Brother poster. Brother, The lost brother, the original title of The Lost sister, an episode with tons of references to One and the lab (here, here and here)

Kayla also made another great connection with the song at the end of S2, Every breath you take. Maybe it’s not just about Will or El. It’s about their family. They’re all there. Will, El, Jonathan, Hopper and Joyce.

And the last words we hear before the last shot, the Mind Flayer looming over the school: Oh don’t you see? You belong to me

(Water is always involved too, right? Sorry, just wanted to point it out)

So, in conclusion I think that this Jancy scene is Jopper coded and maybe it tells us what happened to them.

The question is: why is Hopper cursed? Were he and the others there, Joyce, Bob, maybe Scott Clarke, when the exorcism happened and something went wrong? Or maybe they stopped Betty, who wanted to help Henry, because they wanted to protect her (if she's really Bob's sister it makes sense) But without her help, something horrible happened. Or maybe something bad happened to her.

I feel like Hopper did something that changed everything. Maybe he thought he was doing the right thing but he was wrong and made things worse. We’ll see!

Anyway, I really like this theory. Tagging you too @lilitblaukatz

#jancy #jopper #willel twins #willel #st prequel #the first shadow #st vecna #joyce byers #jim hopper #jonathan byers #nancy wheeler #st parallels #st theory #stranger things

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thorarms · 4 months ago

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Tagged by @illwynd ty <3

rules: answer and tag nine people you want to get to know better and catch up with.

Favourite colour: black and green 🖤💚

Last song: back to the primitive by soulfly (ive been slowly working my way through max cavaleras entire discography, current highlights are roots by sepultura, and primitive + totem by soulfly)

Currently reading: picture of dorian gray, started rereading it after that stupid netflix show announcement and remembered that i actually really love this book. Man i am not looking forward to that show

Currently watching: im working my way through bobs burgers again bc it's the perfect show to put on in the background when youre too tired to focus on anything

Currently craving: one (1) decent nights sleep. Just one. 8 consecutive hours of restful sleep. Surely thats not too much to ask for. Ive been awake since 4am

Coffee or tea: tea with honey <3

Hobby to try: i wanna get back into life drawing so so bad, but unfortunately every class is like 30 quid now. Like i know i can use line of action and photos but it's not the same!

Current au: that dorian gray but theyre brothers and lokis a painter obsessed with thor au has been on my mind a lot recently. Theres also a modern au metalhead thorki au ive been thinking about, but it takes place in a really specific nightclub where i live lol (tbh it's less of an au and more a flimsy pretext to make playlists and design battle jackets)

Tagging @thot-son-of-odin @thortwenty151 @thisdorkyblogthing @abby118 @moopzies @simuran and anyone else who wants to <3

#tag game #apologies for rambling i am. so tired

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quintessencewrites · 2 years ago

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Breathe

ShuRiri x OC (Sade Davis)

"It's like deja vu, isn't it baby?" Riri questions giddily, arms thrown around my neck.

Warnings: Fluffiness, mentions of anxiety

Word Count: 2k+

Tags: @letitias-fav @sweetalittleselfish-honey @zestgodtj @doms-fav @widowmakker @becauseimswagman1 @k3nn3dyxo @dayjlovesromance @remwritess

A/N: this took forever to get out :( but best believe, I got some good things in the works for y'all. This series is gonna continue until I run out of ideas.

A/N 2: This is NOT Desire pt. 2. That's coming! I wasn't expecting yall to want more to that so gimme some time to think it up lol.

Translations: Genius yam entle - my beautiful genius; usana - baby; nkosazana yam - my princess.

Inhale, Exhale.

Again.

Inhale. Count one, two, three, four.

Exhale and release the anxiety; release the tight muscles.

The technique learned after two years of therapy always proved to be helpful, especially during times like this.

A sudden force on my back pulls me out of my meditated breathing and throws me back into the chaos that surrounds me. Voices drowning one another out and a sea of white gowns overtook my senses.

“It’s like deja vu, isn’t it baby?” Riri questions giddily, arms thrown around my neck. I take the pretty brown hand dangling in my face and adorn it with the most gentle kiss I could muster.

Hmm, my vocal cords hum. “I’m pretty sure the roles are reversed this time.”

Riri smiles her beautifully smug smile. “Please baby, I let you come first.” My glossed lips plant another kiss on my Riri’s delicate digits. “Yes, you did,” I whisper.

A big, stupid grin forms from ear to ear, and her expression soon mirrors mine. I notice the blush start on her neck and creep to her cheeks. A scoff releases from her throat and the eye roll confirms the dirty thoughts that flood her big brain.

“You earned it, ma. I let myself fall behind because of Iron Heart, but you stayed on top of your shit.” I smile at the praise, opening my mouth, ready to respond. The loud voice booming over the speakers halts my words.

“Ladies and Gentlemen, please take your seats. The Commencement Ceremony for the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Graduating Class of 2022 is about to begin.”

Inhale, Exhale.

Riri kisses my cheek, “You ready Miss Valedictorian?” I don’t answer.

Inhale, Exhale.

“Inhale and exhale,” my girl speaks, possibly reading my thoughts. “You got this. You earned this. I will be right behind you and that beautifully big brain.” At the same time, the crafted beads upon my wrist vibrate and a script appears before me.

‘Genius yam entle. Inhale, exhale. I am so proud of you. Walk across that stage and show the world why you are MIT’s top graduate.’

The beam is etched onto my face and I turn to Riri and catch her eyes leaving her kimoyo bracelet and returning to me. Her smile is just as big and bright and lovely. “Shuri?” I ask, already knowing the answer. My Riri bobs her head and darts her gaze in the direction of what must be the crowd behind the drawn curtains. “She’s out there, cheering us on.”

“Please, aide me in welcoming our top graduates, Valedictorian Sade Davis and Salutatorian Riri Williams.” The blaring voice ensures anyone within a 25-mile radius can hear the announcement. Riri grabs hold of my hand, the beads on her right arm kissing the same ones on my left.

Inhale, Exhale.

We walk out onto the stage together. The sunlight acts as a strobe, shining bright on us, and the crowd is so massive, the people in the back appear Ant-Man sized. The first ten rows are filled with the rest of our graduating class, adorned with caps and gowns so white, they become blinding in the natural light.

The following seats are overflowing with friends and family and loved ones. Riri gives my hand a squeeze before she releases it to retreat to her seat behind the podium I’m making my way to. My eyes search the mob of people, praying for some familiarity.

Inhale, Exhale.

Iris and Honey are seated side-by-side, because of course they are. Iris’ swollen belly is as round as a beach ball underneath her graduation gown. I flash them a smile, knowing my godchild is almost done cooking in there.

Inhale, Exhale.

I spot Riri’s mom next, so relieved to see a face from home. I share my smile with her as well, and its returned with a wink.

Inhale, Exhale.

I don’t have to look far for Mama and Cici; they’re seated right next to Ronnie. My eyes water when they rest upon Felicity. Mama waited until I was a junior in college to start from scratch. Though a newborn she was, this baby had my heart.

“I love you,” Mama mouths, and I copy her words, throwing them back at her. Even from this far, I see the tears roll down her cheeks and the pride in her gaze.

Inhale, Exhale.

Shuri. My Queen, sitting next to Mama. Her highness holds a babbling Cici in her arms and at the sight, the tears pour from my eyes. It was happiness; the past two years had been nothing but. I look to the clouds, thanking Bast and King T’Challa himself for blessing me so.

“Ladies and Gents. They’s and Them’s.” I grin at Honey and they flash me a heart formed with their hands. “We fucking made it.”

Gasps litter the crowd. Good, I’ve got their attention. “1,461 days from the first time we stepped onto campus. And now it’ll be our last. I have never experienced a more bittersweet moment and I have never felt so blessed to have experienced it with such a group of people.” Smiles float across every person present.

“I love you,” I spoke honestly and slowly. “I love those of you who held me when I cried.”

Inhale, Exhale.

“I love those of you who kicked me while I was down.”

Again.

“I love the two who showed me a new type of love. MIT graduating class of 2022. All of you beautiful people with beautifully sculpted brains…” My voice dropped an octave, the echoing of the mic subsiding. “I love you,” I emphasized.

“You all better go on to do something fucking great.” The return of the explicit hushed the crowd, but in the same breath, they roared. The air vibrated with excitement. Everyone was standing and it was sincere.

If I could smile any harder, my face would break in half. I step away from the podium, ready to find my seat, but Riri is standing there gleaming. Her arms are spread wide, welcoming me. I gladly accept and fall into them, allowing her hug to envelop me in pride and adoration. She pulls away first, hands still attached to mine, and plants a tender kiss on my lips. “That’s my girl.”

“Riri Williams,” the loud, faceless voice exalts. My Riri struts access the stage, cockiness emitting her every step. I rise to my feet, hands burning from the claps and voice scratchy, overwhelmed by my cheers. A shrill scream comes from the crowd, drowning out the rest of the applause. “That’s my baby!” Ronnie cries. My Riri’s confident swagger diminishes to a bashful one and her head dips as she grabs her diploma and returns to her seat next to me. “Damn, I knew the woman could be loud, but for Bast’s sake, she’s fourteen rows back.”

I let loose the laugh I’d been holding back for the sake of her feelings. Her intense eyes narrow at me and I plant a kiss on her cheek, a peace offering.

“Sade Davis.”

My turn.

Inhale, Exhale.

One foot in front of the other and I’ve found myself at the top of the stage. The crowd was roaring, I could see that much. But it was silent. Except for them; their voices.

“Fuck yeah, mamas!” Riri comes from behind me.

“That’s my baby, that’s my baby!” Mama ferociously claps as she exclaims.

“That’s her baby; You go, baby!” from Ronnie.

Honey’s cheer is just a cluster of hoops and hollers and Iris’ is a delicate clap and an excited nod.

“Nkosazana yam, my princess. My brilliant, beautiful princess. You did it, usana,” rings from my Shuri like airy bells.

Diploma in one hand and tassel in the other, me, Riri, and the rest of our graduating class simultaneously move the garment from right to left. Cheers erupt and a flood of white caps go flying.

“So, what’s next?” Shuri asks, sprawled across the center of the mattress. Riri answers from her right side. “What do you mean? You two leave for Wakanda in the morning. I’ll join you next week after mama takes me on her ‘My Baby Graduated College’ tour from one relative’s house to the other.”

We were laying in Shuri’s usual hotel room, all exhausted from the day’s activities. The ceremony, the celebratory dinner, and the surprise party in my suite thrown by Honey. I lay on Shuri’s left arm, tucked close under her. My eyes were fluttered shut, but sleep hadn’t overtaken me yet, so I listened in quietly.

“After that, my loves.” Shuri sits up, warranting a protestant whine from me. Riri scoots closer, taking the Queen’s place while her highness turns around to face us. “Where will you live? Or work?”

“Wherever the job offers come in from,” Riri responds, the ‘duh’ in her tone evident. “What if you get an offer in Chicago and Sade gets one in Japan? We keep doing the long distance, only with all three of us on different sides of the world instead of only me?” The worry in Shuri’s voice is so strong, I have to sit up as well to glance at her face.

“My love, what’s wrong?” I ask, confused as to why she’s so upset. “I do not want to be away from you two anymore. I miss my girls.”

“And we miss you,” Riri says gently. “I hate going months without you, we both do. But what do you want us to do?”

The words escape Shuri’s mouth before I think even she is ready. “Come to Wakanda with me.”

“Shuri,” I state slowly. “We are coming to Wakanda with you, baby.”

Her highness grabs both my hands in hers, yet she can’t look into my eyes. “Usana, move to Wakanda with me.”

The breath escapes me and Riri’s silence confirms the same for her. “Move… to Wakanda?” Shuri’s nod is slow and careful, almost afraid of what we would say.

Riri speaks first, “Shuri, we just graduated. We worked hard for these degrees, man. What about work? Wh-What about our families? What about my garage?”

I grab her hand and pull her face to mine. “Ri, you’re rambling. Let’s just talk for a second.” To Shuri, I take hold of her other hand. “Shuri, my love. Riri is right. What about our careers? I didn’t go through 4-years of schooling to move out of the country and not use the degree I’ve worked my ass off for.”

“There are jobs in Wakanda. Sade, usana, my country needs a director over the Talon Fighters and the Dragon Flyers. And Riri, I could always use a hand in the lab. You can build whatever your heart desires, in a space thirty times the size of your garage.”

Ri’s mood picks up at this. “Thirty times?” Shuri nods with a small smile creeping across her features.

“Okay hold on,” I find myself interrupting. “Shuri, the offer is amazing, but it wouldn’t be fair if you just handed me the job.”

The tiny smile that crept is now a smirk that cascades. “Who said anything about handing you the job? You gotta interview just like the rest of the qualified people who want it.” I can’t hide the shock on my face. But the challenge behind her words intrigues me.

I crawl across the bed into Shuri’s lap, straddling her and intertwining my arms around her slender neck. “Okay…” I say cautiously. “What about our families? I got Mama and Cici. And Iris is gonna be giving birth in about a month.”

“Yeah,” Riri chimes in. “I’m all my mama’s got.”

Shuri kisses my cheek and reaches over to pull my Ri close as well. “We have access to the fastest aircraft in the world. And a maybe future director,” she teases and I roll my eyes playfully. “To fly you back home whenever you please, as often as you, please. Or to bring them to us. Whichever my princesses prefer.”

With a questioning gaze, Riri and I look at each other, then back to our Queen. “Are we really considering this?” Ri asks the smile on her pretty features hinting at her answer.

“I think we are.”

Masterlist

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rjalker · 1 year ago

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This is not what I was expecting from a story called Peoole Soup but I am not disappointed.

Is this part of a series, or just spontaneous absurdity?

Those are definitely their daemons, lol.

People Soup By Alan Arkin (public domain)

Bonnie came home from school and found her brother in the kitchen, doing something important at the sink. She knew it was important because he was making a mess and talking to himself. The sink drain was loaded down with open soda bottles, a sack of flour, corn meal, dog biscuits, molasses, Bromo-Seltzer, a tin of sardines and a box of soap chips. The floor was covered with drippings and every cupboard in the kitchen was open. At the moment, Bonnie's brother was putting all his energy into shaking a plastic juicer that was half-filled with an ominous-looking, frothy mixture.

Bonnie waited for a moment, keeping well out of range, and then said, "Hi, Bob."

"Lo," he answered, without looking up.

"Where's Mom?"

"Shopping."

Bonnie inched a little closer. "What are you doing, Bob?" she asked.

"Nothing."

"Can I watch?"

"No."

Bonnie took this as a cue to advance two cautious steps. She knew from experience how close she could approach her brother when he was being creative and still maintain a peaceful neutrality. Bob slopped a cupful of ketchup into the juicer, added a can of powdered mustard, a drop of milk, six aspirin and a piece of chewing gum, being careful to spill a part of each package used.

Bonnie moved in a bit closer. "Are you making another experiment?" she asked.

"Who wants to know?" Bob answered, in his mad-scientist voice, as he swaggered over to the refrigerator and took out an egg, some old bacon fat, a capsuled vitamin pill, yesterday's Jello and a bottle of clam juice.

"Me wants to know," said Bonnie, picking up an apple that had rolled out of the refrigerator and fallen on the floor.

"Why should I tell you?"

"I have a quarter."

"Where'd you get it?"

"Mom gave it to me."

"If you give it to me, I'll tell you what I'm doing."

"It's not worth it."

"I'll let you be my assistant, too."

"Still not worth it."

"For ten cents?"

"Okay, ten cents."

She counted out the money to her brother and put on an apron. "What should I do now, Bob?"

"Get the salt," Bob instructed.

He poured sardine oil from the can into the juicer, being very careful not to let the sardines fall in. When he had squeezed the last drop of oil out of the can, he ate all the sardines and tossed the can into the sink.

Bonnie went after the salt and, when she lifted out the box, she found a package containing two chocolate graham crackers.

"Mom has a new hiding place, Bob," she announced.

Bob looked up. "Where is it?"

"Behind the salt."

"What did you find there?"

"Two chocolate grahams."

Bobby held out his hand, accepted one of the crackers without thanks and proceeded to crumble the whole thing into his concoction, not even stopping to lick the chocolate off his hands.

Bonnie frowned in disbelief. She had never seen such self-sacrifice. The act made her aware, for the first time, of the immense significance of the experiment.

She dropped her quarrel completely and walked over to the sink to get a good look at what was being done. All she saw in the sink was a wadded, wet Corn Flake box, the empty sardine tin and spillings from the juicer, which by this time was beginning to take on a distinctive and unpleasant odor. Bob gave Bonnie the job of adding seven pinches of salt and some cocoa to the concoction.

"What's it going to be, Bob?" she asked, blending the cocoa on her hands into her yellow corduroy skirt.

"Stuff," Bob answered, unbending a little.

"Government stuff?"

"Nope."

"Spaceship stuff?"

"Nope."

"Medicine?"

"Nope."

"I give up."

"It's animal serum," Bob said, sliced his thumb on the sardine can, glanced unemotionally at the cut, ignored it.

"What's animal serum, Bob?"

"It's certain properties without which the universe in eternity regards for human beings."

"Oh," Bonnie said. She took off her apron and sat down at the other end of the kitchen. The smell from the juicer was beginning to reach her stomach.

Bobby combed the kitchen for something else to throw into his concoction and came up with some oregano and liquid garlic.

"I guess this is about it," he said.

He poured the garlic and oregano into his juicer, put the lid on, shook it furiously for a minute and then emptied the contents into a deep pot.

"What are you doing now, Bob?" Bonnie asked.

"You have to cook it for seven minutes."

Bobby lit the stove, put a cover on the pot, set the timer for ten minutes and left the room. Bonnie tagged after him and the two of them got involved in a rough game of basketball in the living room.

"BING!" said the timer.

Bob dropped the basketball on Bonnie's head and ran back into the kitchen.

"It's all done," he said, and took the cover off the pot. Only his dedication to his work kept him from showing the discomfort he felt with the smell that the pot gave forth.

"Fyew!" said Bonnie. "What do we do with it now? Throw it out?"

"No, stupid. We have to stir it till it cools and then drink it."

"Drink it?" Bonnie wrinkled her nose. "How come we have to drink it?"

Bobby said, "Because that's what you do with experiments, stupid."

"But, Bob, it smells like garbage."

"Medicine smells worse and it makes you healthy," Bob said, while stirring the pot with an old wooden spoon.

Bonnie held her nose, stood on tiptoe and looked in at the cooking solution. "Will this make us healthy?"

"Maybe." Bob kept stirring.

"What will it do?"

"You'll see." Bob took two clean dish towels, draped them around the pot and carried it over to the formica kitchen table. In the process, he managed to dip both towels in the mixture and burn his already sliced thumb. One plastic handle of the pot was still smoldering, from being too near the fire, but none of these things seemed to have the slightest effect on him. He put the pot down in the middle of the table and stared at it, chin in hand.

Bonnie plopped down opposite him, put her chin in her hands and asked, "We have to drink that stuff?"

"Yup."

"Who has to drink it first?" Bob made no sign of having heard. "I thought so," said Bonnie. Still no comment. "What if it kills me?"

Bobby spoke by raising his whole head and keeping his jaw stationary in his hands. "How can it hurt you? There's nothing but pure food in there."

Bonnie also sat and stared. "How much of that stuff do I have to drink?"

"Just a little bit. Stick one finger in it and lick it off."

Bonnie pointed a cautious finger at the tarry-looking brew and slowly immersed it, until it barely covered the nail. "Is that enough?"

"Plenty," said Bob in a judicious tone.

Bonnie took her finger out of the pot and stared at it for a moment. "What if I get sick?"

"You can't get sick. There's aspirin and vitamins in it, too."

Bonnie sighed and wrinkled her nose. "Well, here goes," she said. She licked off a little bit.

Bob watched her with his television version of a scientific look. "How do you feel?" he inquired.

Bonnie answered, "It's not so bad, once it goes down. You can taste the chocolate graham cracker." Bonnie was really enjoying the attention. "Hey," she said, "I'm starting to get a funny feeling in my—" and, before she could finish the sentence, there was a loud pop.

Bob's face registered extreme disappointment.

She sat quite still for a moment and then said, "What happened?"

"You've turned into a chicken."

The little bird lifted its wings and looked down at itself. "How come I'm a chicken, Bob?" it said, cocking its head to one side and staring at him with its left eye.

"Ah, nuts," he explained. "I expected you to be more of a pigeon thing." Bob mulled over the ingredients of his stew to see what went wrong.

The chicken hopped around the chair on one leg, flapped its wings experimentally and found itself on the kitchen table. It walked to the far corner and peered into a small mirror that hung on the side of the sink cabinet.

"I'm a pretty ugly chicken, boy," it said.

It inspected itself with its other eye and, finding no improvement, walked back to Bobby.

"I don't like to be a chicken, Bob," it said.

"Why not? What does it feel like?"

"It feels skinny and I can't see so good."

"How else does it feel?"

"That's all how it feels. Make me stop being it."

"First tell me better what it's like."

"I told you already. Make me stop being it."

"What are you afraid of? Why don't you see what it's like first, before you change back? This is a valuable experience."

The chicken tried to put its hands on its hips, but could find neither hips nor hands. "You better change me back, boy," it said, and gave Bob the left-eye glare.

"Will you stop being stupid and just see what it's like first?" Bob was finding it difficult to understand her lack of curiosity.

"Wait till Mom sees what an ugly mess I am, boy. Will you ever get it!" Bonnie was trying very hard to see Bob with both eyes at once, which was impossible.

"You're a sissy, Bonnie. You ruined the opportunity of a lifetime. I'm disgusted with you." Bob dipped his forefinger in the serum and held it toward the chicken. It pecked what it could from the finger and tilted its head back.

In an instant, the chicken was gone and Bonnie was back. She climbed down from the table, wiped her eyes and said, "It's a good thing you fixed me, boy. Would you ever have got it."

"Ah, you're nothing but a sissy," Bob said, and licked off a whole fingerful of his formula. "If I change into a horse, I won't let you ride me, and if I change into a leopard, I'll bite your head off." Once again, the loud pop was heard.

Bonnie stood up, wide-eyed. "Oh, Bob," she said, "you're beautiful!"

"What am I?" Bob asked.

"You're a bee-yoo-tee-full St. Bernard, Bob! Let's go show Melissa and Chuck."

"A St. Bernard?" The animal looked disgusted. "I don't want to be no dog. I want to be a leopard."

"But you're beautiful, Bob! Go look in the mirror."

"Naah." The dog paddled over to the table.

"What are you going to do, Bob?"

"I'm going to try it again."

The dog put its front paws on the table, knocked over the serum and lapped up some as it dripped on the floor. Pop went the serum, taking effect. Bobby remained on all fours and kept on lapping. Pop went the serum again.

"What am I now?" he asked.

"You're still a St. Bernard," said Bonnie.

"The devil with it then," said the dog. "Let's forget all about it."

The dog took one last lap of serum. Pop! Bobby got up from the floor and dejectedly started out the back door. Bonnie skipped after him.

"What'll we do now, Bob?" she asked.

"We'll go down to Thrifty's and get some ice cream."

They walked down the hill silently, Bobby brooding over not having been a leopard and Bonnie wishing he had stayed a St. Bernard. As they approached the main street of the small town, Bonnie turned to her brother.

"You want to make some more of that stuff tomorrow?"

"Not the same stuff," said Bob.

"What'll we make instead?"

"I ain't decided yet."

"You want to make an atomic bomb?"

"Maybe."

"Can we do it in the juicer?"

"Sure," Bob said, "only we'll have to get a couple of onions."

#short stories #scifi #scifantasy #people soup #shapeshifting #shapeshifting potions #alan arkin #public domain characters #public domain

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iamanerd1 · 5 months ago

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hey now that they've announced the incredible 3 i wanted to write this out because I've had this idea for an Incredibles sequel forever

so the main gimmick of this one is that there is a significant time jump. Dash and Violet are both adults or close to being, and Bob and Helen are finally retiring from superheroing for good.

Dash and Violet are new and successful young superheros and have to deal with the increasing commercialization (endorsing products, attending interviews, kissing babies ex) that is getting in the way of their actual job. This is leading them to feel burnt out as they want to do good, but so many other things are getting in the way of it. Also one of them develops a rivalry or a gets a nemesis with one of the new characters, and this is heavily coded to be analogous to their first serious relationship.

Helen and Bob have to deal with what their plans will be after they retire (go on cruises? travel the world? get a boat?) but they both don't actually want to retire and are just convinced the other does. This comes to a head in the mid-movie action scene where one of them does get seriously hurt, which makes them both realize that they do actually have to retire.

The villain of the film is Jack-Jack, though this is only revealed halfway through in dramatic fashion. Everyone else in the family has been mostly ignoring him the whole film, (which is used for some tasteless jokes) as they are dealing with their own problems, and just assumed that he was going to school as normal.

He turns on his family because they were all too busy being amazing superheroes while he was a kid, and ignored him while he was struggling to control all of his powers. Unlike Violet and Dash who only ever showed signs of having one power and never problem controlling them, Jack-Jack retains all of his abilities as he grows up.

What was once a cute quirk as a baby and toddler, becomes impossible to manage as a kid and teenager and he drowns under the weight of his uncontrollable abilities, until he eventually becomes resentful of his family. This is further influenced by a Villain that he meets (might be older Syndrome somehow?? who knows) that encourages this behavior and helps him learn to control his powers. (Though the villain has further plans that Jack-Jack doesn't know about, like exploiting him or something.)

Because the rest of the Parr family is fighting against Jack-Jack there is a emotional weight to every fight scene. They are trying to talk to him to get him to stand down, but the time for talking past years ago. Additionally because Jack-Jack has so many powers he is a really difficult person to fight and has a perfect counter for everyone's powers. (For example, he can match his dad's strength by turning into the devil baby rage monster, can trick Dash and his speed by making multiple copies of himself, and can get around Violet and his Mom by teleporting to the other dimension and disappearing.)

The conclusion is pretty cliche. The family realizes that they've been neglecting Jack-Jack and need to be there to support him. The villain does something incredibly evil and pushes too far and the whole family has to come together and stop him and also apologizes.

Helen and Bob resolve to put their retirement plans on hold to help him recover, while Violet and Dash more time with him. Bada bing bada boom, billion dollar movie easy. Villain dies in a volcano.

Anyway, I wanted to put this down on paper because I'm interested in what Disney is going to do for the third movie, and i am going to be judging that based on if I think that the movie they make is better than my ideas lol

#nerd's words #d23 2024 #incredibles 3 #pixar

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hotarutranslations · 7 months ago

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Maybe Its A Medium Bob

Evening

I cut my hair✂️

My hair was down to my waist, Since I had decided to donate my hair when I cut it,

I cut it with the feeling of, Thank you very much✂️

At the beginning of growing it out, The more I let it grow the more I enjoy arranging my hair! Since it was super long I was able to make twin tails, Just a ponytail was cool, Last autumn's Jasmine hair was my favorite

It was the longest in my life~~🪽

The feeling that I wanted to donate my hair Sprouted later but,

While thinking, I want to do it1 Let's do it! Even cutting more that 31cm, I was aiming for a length that would hit around my collar bone🪽

I thought, thank you very much for the opportunity to cut it😌🪽

When I had super long hair, Shampooing and drying it, never bothered me🤔💭

I did both while watching videos, I wasn't really conscious of, how long that took,

Now that its short, when it feels like I'm missing something, I realize, its because my hair was long~🥴 lol

When it was long, I didn't think I took particularly good care of it but, the ReFa brush and Love Chrome comb were really good, when I went to bed I gently sweep it to the side so it wouldn't get all disheveled, maybe thats being particular about it

From now it'll be the rainy season, It may have become a bit of a problem, at that length! lol

I still sometimes miss my long hair! lol

I think I'll grow it quickly! lol

From now on, thank you very much~~

Tomorrow, finally

Hokkaido Nihn Ham Fighters "LIVE DAYS! ～Exciting Big Exhibition Match~ ~ @ Es Con Field HOKKAIDO

I'll do my best!!!!! Its like a dream to have a live at a baseball stadium!!!

Yamazaki Mei-chan, can enjoy it as a local

Makino Maria-chan, Is making great efforts into the first pitch

Tomorrow! Thank you very much for your support!

Graduation Announcement Blog🐣🪽

Hello! Station #531 I also talk about my graduation in this video

"Hello Pro Dance Gakuen Season 11" TSUKUSHI (Sasaki Tsukushi) Collaboration Video ※Limited Time※

Its amazing! I'm thankful! Its uploaded onto YouTube! Please definitely watch it a lot everyone!

📺Hello Pro Dance Gakuen Season 11

April 18th 11:30PM~ A Learning From TSUKUSHI-san Adventure🕺

Sendai Broadcast "Ara Ara Kashiko" April 13th (Sat) at 10:25AM~ Ishida Ayumi Goes~!

I appear once a month as part of the AraKashi Family

The previous shows, and makings, are on OX VIDEO STORE!

Thank you for following.. Instagram💙🩵

💿

May 15th Release Morning Musume '23 Concert Tour Fall "Neverending Shine Show ~Seiki~" Fukumura Mizuki Graduation Special YokoAri's 2nd Day With Fukumura-san's Graduation Performance

May 15th Release Morning Musume '23 Concert Tour Fall "Neverending Shine Show" SPECIAL YokoAri's 1st Day With OG Performances

⚾️《LIVE DAYS！～Exciting Big Exhibition Match～》 June 2nd(Sun), after the Hokkaido Ham Fighters vs. Yokohama DeNa Baystars match, Morning Musume '24 will be having a special mini live!

🪩Hello! Project Kenshuusei Happyoukai 2024 6gatsu "Lily"

June 9th (Sun) Osaka June 16th (Sun) Tokyo

🪩The MusiQuest 2024 July 21st (Sun) PiaArena MM

We're challenging a new festival stage❤️‍🔥 Absolutely, Definitely, Thank you for your support❤️‍🔥

📻Morning Musume '24 Morning Jogakuin ~Houkago Meeting~

Airs Every Saturday, On Radio Nihon at 12:00AM~

Past Broadcast Episodes Are Available →Program Details

see you ayumin <3 https://ameblo.jp/morningmusume-10ki/entry-12854480037.html

#Ishida Ayumi #Morning Musume '24 #Morning Musume #Hello! Project #Translation #Blog

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heavensbeehall · 11 months ago

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Still More Chapter 19

It seems like [the Arena was built for District 4] it, anyway, with all the water, when I bet only a handful of the victors can swim. And there was no pool in the Training Center, no chance to learn. Either you came in here a swimmer or you'd better be a really fast learner. Even participation in the initial bloodbath depends on being able to cover twenty yards of water. That gives District 4 an enormous advantage.

Some readers have speculated that Snow wanted Finnick to win, so he could keep selling him. This is highly possible. But we know from Plutarch that arenas are built in a day and this one was being put together before the Quell announcement. I suppose they could have added water to the center--if there was sand or simply shallow water?--fairly easily.

It's also possible the Arena has salt water because Plutarch wanted to make sure Finnick got to the Cornucopia first, since Finnick seems to have the most information on the plan of all the tributes (besides perhaps Beetee).

But REGARDLESS, I do like the idea that Snow thought he'd be hindering everyone but Finnick with the water and Katniss is like "lol my dad taught me to swim in that lake YOU KNOW ABOUT, idiot."

A quick survey of the rest of the arena shows that most of the tributes are still trapped on their plates. Wait, no, there's someone standing on the spoke to my left, the one opposite Peeta. It's Mags. But she neither heads for the Cornucopia nor tries to flee. Instead she splashes into the water and starts paddling toward me, her gray head bobbing above the waves.

I just want to point out that Mags seems to have swum from her plate towards Peeta, avoiding the Cornucopia because she knew they would all meet up there. And I sort of picture her having a grand ol' time.

My grandfather lived on the beach and he swam all the time (he died at 82 so he was even older than Mags), even when we felt the water was too cold. He thought we were wimps.

Finnick has reached Peeta now and is towing him back, one arm across his chest while the other propels them through the water with easy strokes

This is a fairly common lifeguard tow for heavy surf. Where's my Baywatch/District 4 spinoff?

[Mags] is one of the few people who actually likes me.

I'll probably get into my theories on Finnick's mental health situation later, but what I think he means here is "Mags is one of the few people who actually knows me and still likes me."

"Katniss has remarkably good judgement."

I like how they all bond over the fact that Mags is awesome.

"...no one in this arena was a victor by chance." He eyes Peeta for a moment. "Except maybe Peeta." Finnick knows then what Haymitch and I know. About Peeta. Being truly, deep-down better than the rest of us. Finnick took out that tribute from 5 without blinking an eye. And how long did I take to turn deadly? I shot to kill when I targeted Enobaria and Gloss and Brutus. Peeta would at least have attempted negotiations first. Seen if some wider alliance. But to what end? Finnick's right. I'm right. The people in this arena weren't crowned for their compassion.

I hold his gaze, weighing his speed against my own. The time it will take to send an arrowthrough his brain versus the time his trident will reach my body. I can see him, waiting for me to make the first move. Calculating if he should block first or go directly for an attack. I can feel we've both about worked it out when Peeta steps deliberately between us.

I like this exchange because it's the beginning of Katniss thinking everyone knows how great her man is, even though they haven't known him very long. (Here it kind of sounds like she thinks Finnick might be into him, which makes the "kiss" at the beginning of the next chapter even funnier to me.)

And then Peeta does the exact thing Katniss thought Peeta would've done at the Cornucopia. Because he is a sweetie. (Though Katniss seems to have forgotten he killed in the previous arena and didn't try to negotiate with Cato.)

In summation: Peeta and Mags are really carrying this alliance, despite the two of them being figuratively carried (by Katniss in Peeta's case) and literally carried (by Finnick in Mags' case).

#mags #finnick odair #peeta mellark #beetee latier #swimming #lifeguard training?

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rocksinmuffin · 2 years ago

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answering a bunch of things under the read more.

No, sorry, I know of the game itself but am unfamiliar with the lore and the fandom.

Sorry. I’ve seen a playthrough of one of the games forever ago but it’s not really my jam.

Yeah! Back in the day, Red vs Blue was my jam. I can’t say I’m familiar with any of the newer stuff once they actually started doing their own animation, but if you want something from the original old silly universe then I would be comfortable with that. Sheila is a queen and I would fight Caboose for her.

My first experience with a Kevin Smith movie was seeing Clerks 2 in movie theaters and I did not get the hype then. I think the Jay and Silent Bob characters are fun but otherwise I am not really a fan of his work.

SAD!!!! Honestly, though, I spent so much time on Luna so sad to see what happened to it. A lot of great works were lost. I will forever miss you strangely sexually-charged Valtiel fic. F

I’m genuinely not sure if this was meant to be a request or if you were just telling me in general about the tall dark and handsome dudes in the Gargoyles cartoon but you’re right. Lowkey had a crush on Goliath.

Hey anon! Glad you’re enjoying the blog and sorry for any issues you might have experienced. Honestly, it is impossible for me to say whether the request sent or not because, whether you meant two days or two weeks, I get multiple requests so without any further details there’s no real way of me knowing which one is yours. Still, if you’re nervous it didn’t get through for any reason, you are more than welcome to resend it. If I got the original then there is no problem and I can just delete one of the duplicates.

I haven’t watched or seen it, so as of now I would not write for it. However, it looks interesting enough so I might try watching it sometime in the future. If I like it then I could potentially write for it in the future.

Not really anymore. Trippin’ Balls was in its peak back when I was still writing on Lunaescence and I hadn’t even heard of Tumblr. I’d take requests from people in the reviews and so on. But now that I have a Tumblr and requests are open in general it feels kind of silly to continue taking requests for that specific old series when you can just ask me to write for anyone right here. Though this did remind me that I had a piece on the Ginyu Force that I never uploaded to AO3 (I think I posted it somewhere on this blog but for whatever reason never uploaded it to the actual story on AO3) so I will do that and make it the final update.

You are so motherfuckin real for this 😎✊ Theo fuckers unite!!!!

I am so fuckin sorry fam because I know the pain of being in a small fandom that is desperate for content but I have literally never heard of this in my life. I hope one day an artist you really admire starts posting stuff for you to enjoy 🙏

I’m gonna be real with you, I have never watched a Nintendo Direct in my life. I did hear about them finally announcing the sequel to Breath of the Wild though and if Sidon is in it I will never shut up about it.

Doctor Who is already on my list of series I don’t write for. I have a feeling if I had a normal exposure to Buffy the Vampire Slayer that I would enjoy it, however, the only times I ever caught it on TV the absolute worst/darkest episodes were on. One was an episode where Buffy was in a psych ward because they were doing a whole thing where her life as a vampire slayer was all in her head or some shit. And the other episode I saw had a vampire that ate skin and he would skin his victims alive and I remember him using his sharp nail to cut a slice of skin off his victim and it fucked me up. So, yeah, I never wanted to watch Buffy atter that lol. So no Buffy either.

Eh, probably not. I mean, I watched the first season on Netflix and I enjoyed it but it also didn’t stick with me enough for me to remember anyone’s names. So unless another season releases where it is easily accessible for me to watch it and I am SUPER into it then probably not anytime soon.

You are so real for this. Like, Borderlands is a very dated series but I genuinely enjoyed playing 1 and 2 a couple years ago and I love Claptrap. I felt so bad when no one else came to his party. I will always go to Claptrap’s parties. he is my homie.

I never heard of this and when I went to look it up I was expecting some kind of animated movie or something but it was literally a movie starring Tom Hanks?????? Like, I’m not shocked that you are recommending it as a good movie I was just genuinely so shocked to have a movie with a big star like him completely slip under my radar.

Nah, sorry. I vaguely remember this show running on adult swim for a small amount of time but I never watched it.

Yeah, I mean, I still write stuff for Dragon Ball and Piccolo. I never stopped. It’s just what people are requesting. You are more than welcome to send a Piccolo request my way. But also you guys must understand I have been so explicitly clear in the past about how I headcannon that Namekians don’t have junk so if every request I get is about Piccolo banging the reader with his big meaty cock then I am probably going to feel less inspired to write that since it is just not how I picture him.

I haven’t watched it but he seems hot as far as furries go. But I would probably have to see the movie to get the full context to understand WHY he is so hot because apparently, against all odds, this movie is really good? Or so I’ve heard.

Hard to keep track since I get new requests every day and not everything in my inbox is strictly a request but as of right now my inbox is showing about 177 messages. So, nothing too wild. But I’m also not forcing myself to answer every request if I don’t want to either so right now the numbers are constantly fluctuating and mean nothing.

To be honest, while I have fondness for the old game, I haven’t really paid attention to Overwatch since they dropped the hamster as a character and I stopped actually playing it even earlier. As far as I’m concerned, it stopped being a fun game when you could no longer have a team of all Winstons.

I used to watch it but not religiously or anything. And, honestly, I have no plans of watching it or giving it any support in the future in light of the recent news about Justin Roiland’s domestic abuse charges.

I haven’t but maybe now I will because I am digging butch dino lady.

Sorry, but no. I have browsed past it before in an fye but have never actually watched it.

Okay, so!!!! I think I have watched the first 2 seasons of the show and I would be willing to write my little pony friendship is magic. HOWEVER! No NSFW. And honestly if I write it then it would probably be a shitpost.

I did try it out a long time ago and as a whole I have a lot of mixed feelings because some of the writing is genuinely very good but frankly none of that excuses the overly sexual depictions and drawings of characters who are meant to be children and it is such a shame that this LGBT+ friendly game with some very hot buff furry characters also feels comfortable enough drawing kids with bulges in their pants.

#ask #anon #rantsinmuffin #long post #will i won’t i

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seitmai · 5 months ago

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I have so many thoughts I'm gonna make use of the read more function lol

Bob turned back to you, your eyes meeting for the first time and you were taken aback by how blue his were.

Those blue eyes 🫠🥰🩵💙

“I should get going, if you ever need a volunteer to help around the classroom, please don’t hesitate to ask. I wanna make this school year as good as possible for her.” Bob said as he stole one last look at Cassie.

That's so sweet 🥺

Meanwhile at base, Bob was freaking out. For one, he knew that meetings like this were not good signs. It was typically because a child was acting out or causing problems during class. Cassie was an angel at home, sometimes she could get moody when she was tired, but besides that, she always listened. Secondly, this meeting meant he was going to have to sit across from a woman he considered to be the most beautiful person he’d ever met and actually talk to her for more than 3 minutes in a hallway. Not to mention, the idea that she might view him as not cut out for this filled him with dread.

Oh no poor Bobby is so stressed and for no reason at that, he just doesn't know 🥺

Bob felt his heart swell with pride. He loved Cassie more than anything in the world and was so happy that she was adjusting to a new school, new house, and even a new guardian so well. Not that Bob taking care of her was anything new, it had just been a few years since he’d been that active in her life and he was terrified of falling short.

He's doing an amazing job 👏🏻

“Cassie doesn’t know the details on why she is here if that is what you wanted to ask,” Bob cleared his throat and looked down at the carpet, “I’ve just told her that her mom needed a little help and that she would be staying with me and my friends for a little bit. I think she’s still distracted with how new this life is to realize this is forever…”

I just know he has the worst feeling of guilt even though he knows it's better for Cassie 🥺

“Has Uncle Bobby answered yet?” Cassie asked through sobs and your heart broke further when you had to shake your head.

I just wanna give Cassie a hug 💔😭

You watched Bob clench his jaw as he watched Cassie begin to doze off on the plastic bed. Your stomach turned as you feared he was angry at you for not calling earlier and you prepared yourself for the worst. To your surprise, Bob turned to you and placed his hand on your arm to get your attention. In a soft voice, he spoke as you made eye contact, “I’m really sorry, I can’t have my phone up in the plane and the two emergency contacts were also up in the sky with me. It’s my fault,” he ran his hand through his hair, “I’m just so new to this whole thing and when they asked who I wanted, I put the two people I trusted most, but neglected to think about how one of them is flying my plane. Thank you for sitting with her.”

He is trying so hard and doing his best and is too hard on himself 🥺 I just wanna give him a hug and tell him he is doing great🫶🏻

You took a step back as Bob wiped her tears and pushed the hair off of her face and behind her ears. He spoke in a calm voice and reminded her to take deep breaths. You had a small smile on your face that dropped quickly when you saw Cassie try and push Bob back as he raised his arms to hug her. A confused expression fell on his face as he tried to understand what he did wrong. “NO! My clothes are gross and I smell bad, I don’t wanna get you sick!” Cassie raised her voice and you saw a hurt expression flash across Bob’s face. “Pumpkin,” he started, moving his hands to hold her face, “I don’t care that you got sick and your clothes are dirty, okay? That’s what the washer is for. Plus,” he grabbed her hand and put it on the back of his neck, “Feel how sweaty I am, we’re both gross today.”

They are just the best together 😭🥺🥰

Shortly after Bob had to pick up Cassie early from school she had come home with a sheet of paper announcing career day and Bob immediately knew he needed to be there. He requested to take half of that day off and started planning what aspects of his job he wanted to talk about. Some people might have found it silly he was putting in so much effort for a class of 3rd graders, but he felt this was the best chance for him to show to everyone he could show up, that he was cut out for this.

I love how excited and motivated he is 🥹

Cassie is the best🫶🏻

You were relieved when Sarah arrived and you could force her to speak for you to avoid embarrassing yourself. As you made your way to the back of the classroom Sarah leaned in, “So which one is captain DILF?”

This cracked me up hahaha

You saw him take a deep breath and move his shaking hands to his pockets, something you probably wouldn’t have noticed if you weren’t watching him so intensely. You felt Sarah look at you and a smirk spread across her face as she leaned in, “Oh yeah, you’re down bad.” You shushed her without taking your eyes off of him.

I mean, how can one not 🤷🏻‍♀️

You could tell that Bob had a lot of respect and admiration for Natasha and it warmed your heart to see how much his expression brightened when he talked about her.

I love love love how Bob treats the women in his life, professional and personal he is truly the best 🫶🏻

The one question he wasn’t ready for was who her emergency contact should be, in case they couldn’t get a hold of Bob. He panicked because he never thought there would be a time when he wouldn’t drop everything to get her. He put down the two people he trusted in the sky most: Natasha Trace and Bradley Bradshaw. If he could put his life in their hands, he could also do so with Cassie’s. His last thought before he pulled the ejection handle was that the first person they were going to call to get Cassie from school when he didn’t answer was about to be ejected from a plane with him and the second person was going to insist on being the leader of search and rescue for them.

🥺🥺🥺

Cassie jumped up from her seat and ran towards him, “UNCLE CHICKEN!” she yelled in an excited voice. You held back a laugh as he leaned down to pick her up in a crushing hug.

Uncle chicken 😂

Bob let out a long breath and watched her through the window, “I really scared her this time. She’s been having a lot of anxiety and nightmares. I told her I would talk to you about it… I know every time we talk I find a way to say that I wasn’t prepared for this part of parenting, but I think I’ve met the worst one yet.”

I just wanna give him a hug so bad 😭🥺

She nodded enthusiastically before replying, “Yes, whenever Aunt Tasha comes over he spends a long time talking to her in the kitchen and a few nights ago she called him a wimp for not talking to you more,” she laughed and you choked on air as your skin felt like it was on fire, “and when he came to talk to the class, my braids were uneven because he spent too much time on his hair and didn’t have time to fix mine.”

Hahah Cassie is not holding back

Bob let out a laugh and leaned down to give Cassie a kiss on the forehead, “Oh boy, that’s never good.”

Oh he knows Cassie hahah

“It’s a date.” You replied, excitement bubbling in your chest. You somehow not only survived the school year, but had a new way to celebrate the end of the year.

A date with Bob?! The best way to celebrate!

You glanced back out the window and saw him pacing on your porch, a bouquet of flowers in his hands. He checked his watch a few times and you watched him closely as you slid some sandals on. You slowly made your way into the hallway and as soon as the clock ticked to 7pm, there was a knock.

He is perfect

He spread out the biggest blanket and placed the basket in the middle of it. You took a seat as he pulled out an assortment of fruit, sandwiches and snacks. Blown away by his efforts, you looked at him with your mouth slightly open in surprise.

I reapeat: he is perfect

You watched him closely, his jaw was clenched and his eyes were glossed over behind his glasses. When you moved closer and offered your hand he accepted it graciously before continuing, “I’ve tried to go home as much as I could, but this last visit, I just couldn’t let Cassie stay there anymore. So I took her to court and won custody.” “Bob…” you said in a low voice, hoping he would look back your way. “None of that changes how I feel about you in a negative way, if anything it shows me how caring you are and how much love you have for her. I think it’s really brave what you did.” Bob shook his head in protest, “It’s what anyone would have done.”

🥹😭🫶🏻

He leaned his head down to your neck, a new confidence present and in a low voice, he mumbled against your ear, “If I don’t leave now, Phoenix might just have to sleep on my couch.” You let out a breathy laugh and put your hands on his chest, signaling him to lift his head and look at you, “I can’t have Phoenix hate me this soon… Good night, Bob.”

Oh I can already see Phoenix sleep on the couch or Cassie having sleepovers at Phoenix or uncle chickens place in the near future 🤭

I absolutely loved this story! 👏🏻

The Six Times You Met Bob Floyd In School and The One Time You Didn't || Robert "Bob" Floyd

Description: How Single Dad!Bob x Teacher!Reader's relationship progressed over the course of a school year

Content: emetophobia warning (mentions of upset stomachs and throwing up but it’s very minor), the bird strike is a plot line, mother's not being the best sometimes (it's like one sentence), bob is a great father figure, fluff

Word Count: 9k (I'm so sorry lol)

A special thank you to @imjess-themess for mentioning this in the discord and everyone who helped talk about the backstory/offer stories from their childhood ( @hederasgarden, @mayhem24-7forever, @jostystyles). Of course, thank you to @callsign-phoenix for rereading this a million times, encouraging me, and for making this beautiful header.

If anyone likes this or wants more about this story, I have an entire google doc of headcanons waiting for the internet to see!

One:

The first day of school was always exciting, it was a mark of a new beginning and a new time of change. You didn’t realize how true those two things would become until later in the school year. Standing by the door of your newly decorated classroom, you greeted each child as they came in, doing your best to learn their names as soon as possible. You tried to make a mental note of how many students had come in. The task was becoming increasingly more difficult as more families crowded the hallways and children rushed passed to get to their new classrooms. A short blonde girl with mismatched socks and crooked pigtails caught your eye as she hurried down the hall, a big smile spreading across her face as she made eye contact with you. When she got to where you were standing, you leaned down to ask her name but were cut off by a voice.

“Cassie! You forgot your lunch, I know you’re excited but-” the voice stopped as he got to where you were standing.

Your eyes were met with a pair of old converse and when you looked up to see who they belonged to, you were caught off guard. He couldn’t have been much older than you and was by far the youngest parent you’d met all day. As you stood up straight to introduce yourself he looked down at the girl, Cassie, the name rang a bell but you couldn’t remember why.

“Cassie! You forgot your lunch, I know you’re excited but-” the voice stopped as he got to where you were standing.

“She’s very um… very excited, I’m so sorry.” He adjusted the small backpack on his shoulder to try and stick his hand out to shake yours, “I’m Bob Floyd, her uncle and legal guardian and I’m assuming you’re Mrs-”

“Miss…” you corrected him, suddenly embarrassed by this, “I’m not married.”

“Oh I apologize, I guess I just assumed…” he trailed off as his gaze fell to your empty ring finger, looking away quickly before he leaned down, “Cassie, how about you go inside and see where your seat is.”

A big smile spread on Cassie’s face as she hugged his neck goodbye. You saw tears well up in his eyes as he whispered “I love you” into her shoulder. He stayed crouched down as he watched her walk into the classroom, greeting everyone she saw.

He stood back up and stuck his hands in his pockets as he lowered his voice, “I’m not sure if they told you about Cassie’s situation, but I could uh-I could tell you more about it if you had any questions.”

You were suddenly reminded why the name seemed so familiar, you had received an email regarding the custody status of one of your students a few weeks ago. It wasn’t unusual to have students being taken care of by relatives, especially so close to a military base. The file didn’t share many details, only that Cassie’s mother had lost custody at the beginning of the summer and an uncle was going to be receiving full custody. You had to admit, when you heard she was going to be taken care of by an uncle, you expected him to be an older gentleman. Yet, here he stood, slightly taller than you and in casual clothing. He had a baseball hat and glasses on, making it impossible to see most of his face, but you could tell he was quite attractive. Not that it mattered, it would be inappropriate to crush on a student’s guardian.

“No need for that, the school told me that you would be taking care of her and as long as she is happy and safe, that’s all that matters.” You replied as you looked at Cassie and back to Bob.

Your heart swelled at the smile on his face as he watched Cassie continue to introduce herself to everyone. Bob turned back to you, your eyes meeting for the first time and you were taken aback by how blue his were. Your voice was caught in your throat as you watched him scan your features. After a moment, he looked down and cleared his throat to speak.

“Absolutely, you’ll be my first call.” You replied, trying to stabilize your voice. This was going to be a long year.

Two:

As the first month of school came to a close, you had decided you wanted to have meetings with Bob to discuss Cassie a bit more. While phone calls home and meetings with parents were usually a bad sign, this one couldn’t be farther from. It wasn’t any of your business and you expected Bob to tell you off for asking, but you were curious to see if Cassie was adjusting well at home. She was the perfect student in class, but sometimes that can be a way for children to overcompensate. As you read her file, you saw Bob’s number and dialed it. You had no idea what he did for work but you just hoped he wasn’t busy. After a few rings, he picked up.

“Uh, hello?!” He semi-shouted into the phone, noise filled the background and it caused you to slightly pull the phone away from your ear.

“Hello?” You cleared your throat slightly, “Is this Robert Floyd?”

You heard him excuse himself and the sound of a door slamming before the background noise became nothing more than a dull hum, “Yes, may I ask who this is?”

“This is Cassie’s teacher, I was wondering if we could schedule a meeting to talk about a few things.” You answered, cursing yourself for how stern your voice came out.

There was some shuffling on the other end of the line before Bob was mumbling something you couldn’t make out under his breath. “Um, yeah” he started but was cut off by the sound of a door opening and some shouting that sounded urgent, “I’m sorry, things are crazy here right now, can we do it today when I pick her up?”

You barely got a reply out before he rushed to say goodbye and you heard the beep of the phone call ending. You felt horrible, obviously he was busy at work doing whatever he does and you had to call and bother him instead of just waiting until the end of the day to ask. This was not how it was supposed to go, you wanted to explain to him that this was a good meeting and tell him not to worry, but there wasn’t enough time.

He tried to distract himself with training and drills but nothing worked, his mind was stuck on the meeting planned for this afternoon. When the time finally came for him to leave to pick up Cassie, his palms were sweating and his voice was shaky as he bid everyone goodbye.

Once he got to the school and made his way down the hall he saw Cassie sitting in the hallway, not a good sign. She looked up and her face lit up with a big smile when she saw Bob walking towards her. Bob kneeled down to greet her, trying not to show the nervousness he was feeling as he kissed her forehead and mumbled, “How was school today pumpkin?” against it.

“So good Uncle Bobby, we did multiplication and I learned how to spell Massachusetts!” Cassie beamed with pride as you walked out of the classroom and ushered Bob in, telling Cassie it’d only be a few minutes.

As soon as the door closed, Bob began to rattle off apologies. “Listen, I’m so sorry if she has been acting out, this has been a huge adjustment period for both of us and I’m kind of working on setting boundaries and none of these parenting books prepare you-” He stopped abruptly when he noticed a big smile appear on your face as you let out a chuckle and waved your hands to motion him to stop talking.

“Mr. Floyd, that’s not why you’re here.” You said and he let out a sigh of relief and rested his hands on the back of a chair. He watched as you sat behind your desk, motioning for him to join you. “Like I said Mr. Floyd, Cassie-”

“Please just call me Bob” he interrupted and wiped his palms on his jean clad thighs, “It’s what everyone else calls me, Mr. Floyd makes me feel like I’m old.”

“Okay,” you started again, “Cassie didn’t do anything wrong, quite the opposite actually. She is one of the brightest students I have, not to mention she is incredibly kind hearted and will do anything to help around the classroom”

Your voice got his attention again, “Her file doesn’t say much about her life before moving here…” he could tell you were proceeding with caution to avoid overstepping so he sent you an encouraging smile.

Bob didn’t have to look up to know you were staring at him, gaging his reactions. He quickly wiped a tear that had started to fall before he stood up, accidentally scaring you with how sudden it was. “If that’s all, we really better get going, Cassie gets hangry if she doesn’t have a snack around this time.”

Bob took a step away from his chair when you stood up to walk him out, “Of course, it was lovely seeing you again, you two have a good night.”

As soon as he was out of your eye sight, Bob let out a deep sigh and ran his fingers through his hair, trembling from the aftershocks of seeing you again. What was he going to do the rest of the school year?

Three:

As the school year continued, flu season quickly arrived. It was inevitable for kids to become sick and once one kid had it, it was like wildfire in the school. Which was how you ended up sitting on a plastic bed in the back room of the office, trying to comfort Cassie while they called Bob for the third time. You still didn’t know what he did for work but you imagined it must have been something really important that he couldn’t pick up the phone.

“Has Uncle Bobby answered yet?” Cassie asked through sobs and your heart broke further when you had to shake your head.

Another twenty minutes had passed and Cassie calmed down a little, but was still sniffling. It was at this point you had begun to become impatient and frustrated with him. How can you not answer your phone and make the emergency contacts impossible to reach as well? As if on cue to your thoughts, the front office door burst open to reveal a very sweaty Bob in a green flight suit.

“Oh no,” you muttered as you stood up and took a few steps towards where he was standing. You were filled with guilt at your thoughts because you now understood that he wasn’t just busy at work, he was 30,000 feet in the air. You stayed halfway down the hall and observed as time slowed and nearly everyone in the office stopped to admire him for a moment. His hair that was regularly in perfect condition was now windswept and slightly damp, his fair skin had become flushed and the sleeves of the suit were rolled to his elbows. It wasn’t until he began to frantically ask where Cassie was that everything came back to full speed and he was motioned to walk towards you. Bob didn’t slow down as he got closer to you and it forced you to have to explain what happened as you tried to keep up with his long strides.

“She said her stomach started hurting a little after you dropped her off, but she didn’t seem too sick so we held off from calling but then,” you turned your head to look at her through the window into the small room, “She got sick and we tried to call you as soon as it happened because she was so upset but we couldn’t get a hold of anyone.”

You gave him a soft smile and cleared your throat as you felt eyes fall on the two of you. He took the hint and pulled his arm back before walking into the room. You stood in the doorway and watched as he kneeled next to the bed and gently shook Cassie awake. She sat up quickly and began to get upset again when she saw Bob was in front of her.

“Uncle Bobby,” she took a deep breath as tears started to slide down her cheeks again, “My stomach really hurt and then I got sick and it got on my desk and on my clothes.”

“NO! My clothes are gross and I smell bad, I don’t wanna get you sick!” Cassie raised her voice and you saw a hurt expression flash across Bob’s face.

“Pumpkin,” he started, moving his hands to hold her face, “I don’t care that you got sick and your clothes are dirty, okay? That’s what the washer is for. Plus,” he grabbed her hand and put it on the back of his neck, “Feel how sweaty I am, we’re both gross today.”

Your heart swelled as you watched Cassie let out a squealing laugh, the first sign of happiness she showed all day. When you turned around, you saw that everyone else in the office had been not only watching Bob and Cassie interact, but also you. They sent smug, knowing smiles to each other as they pretended to busy themselves with paperwork. Bob walked out of the small room, Cassie’s hand in his and sent you a smile that made you sweat as he walked her to the desk. You tried to compose yourself as you walked past him, but you couldn’t help but notice how small the pen from the sign out sheet looked in his hand.

You watched them walk out the front doors for a moment and right before you turned around, Bob sent you a wave before picking up Cassie and getting her buckled into the back seat. You sent back a small wave before taking a few steps and leaning against the cool concrete wall. This was not getting any easier.

Four:

When the day finally arrived, Bob woke up extra early to make sure he had enough time to get him and Cassie ready. He usually just drank a coffee and put on something casual to drop her off in, but this was important. On his second attempt at fixing his bed head, Cassie walked into the bathroom.

“Uncle Bobby?” she asked and he hummed a response to tell her he was listening, “Are you almost done? We have to leave soon and I don’t have my hair done.”

Bob checked his watch and cursed under his breath, they had to leave in 20 minutes and Cassie’s hair was sticking up in every direction. He picked her up and put her on the counter so he could try and brush through the tangles. He liked to think that his braiding skills had gotten a lot better since the first day of school, but sometimes Phoenix would stifle a laugh when she’d see Cassie’s hair after school.

The entire drive to school was nerve wracking, Bob was tapping his fingers on the steering wheel, rechecking his ribbons and switching through the stations. As they got close to the building Bob looked in the rearview and the sight of Cassie smiling at him was all he needed to calm his nerves for the remainder of the drive.

Bob pulled into the parking lot and Cassie excitedly undid her seatbelt before Bob was able to park. He shot her a warning look, “Cassie Grace,” he started.

“I know, I’m sorry I’m just so excited,” she said while nearly shaking in the backseat. Once they were parked she pushed the door open and jumped down.

As they made their way towards the front doors of the building Bob felt his anxiety coming back. Cassie must have sensed this because she grabbed his hand and led him closer to the doors, a big smile on her face. Once inside, she went into the office and Bob felt all eyes on them. Both women at the desk jumped up and reached for a pen to sign him in. They asked him questions about flying and what each ribbon meant, causing a blush to creep up on Bob’s neck. As soon as he finished signing his name Cassie saved him by pulling him away from the desk and towards her classroom.

The classroom was buzzing with excitement and Bob found himself scanning the room until he found you. You had a big smile on your face as you reintroduced yourself to family members and asked them questions about their work. Cassie let go of his hand and ran to where her friends were, leaving Bob standing alone in the doorway. Your eyes found his and you waved your arm to tell him to come in. He felt your gaze as he walked in slowly and took a seat next to Cassie, his knees bumping the desk.

A few weeks had passed since Bob had picked Cassie up in his flight suit and you were so grateful that people had begun to forget about it. It took a matter of 3 hours for word to spread that one of the students had a hot, young dad that flies airplanes for the navy and was also so sweet and delicate with her. It was tortue to listen to everyone in the break room talk about him like they knew him. Not that you knew much, but you knew that he wasn’t Cassie’s dad and that he didn’t fly the planes, he was a weapon systems officer. You didn’t like the jealous feeling that gnawed at your chest as they told tales of pilots they’d slept with due to the base being in such close proximity. You had no reason to be jealous, he hadn’t shown any interest in you and you didn’t even know if he was single. It was nothing more than a little crush and it would die off.

When you decided on doing career day this year, you knew you wanted to do it combined with one of the other teachers you had grown close to since starting, Sarah. She was a few years older and took you under her wing when you needed guidance. Also, she had also heard the gossip about a hot father figure in the navy and was astonished when she found out he was the guardian of one of your students. Needless to say, she wanted to see what all the fuss was about.

“Alrighty everyone,” you began and a silence fell over your students, “let’s start by welcoming and thanking all of our guests today.”

Your class erupted into a chorus of “thank you” and claps. You made eye contact with Bob who had a smile on his face as he watched you conduct your class. Your mouth went dry and your heart sped up as you had time to finally take him in. His uniform was neatly pressed, his face was freshly shaved and he looked incredible. You were never nervous speaking in front of kids or even parents, but knowing that he was watching you made your stomach turn.

You stared at her with a slack jaw before looking around frantically to see if anyone had heard. When you saw that everyone was engaged in their own conversations, you whispered back, “He’s a lieutenant, not a captain.” Sarah’s eyes went wide and she fought back a laugh.

The presentations went in alphabetical order by last name, which put Bob as the second presenter. You had to admit, you were a bit surprised to see him not only here, but in dress blues. He seemed so reserved about himself and his line of work. Not that you were complaining, you were starting to understand why so many women hung around the bars closest to base.

When it was time for Bob to present, you clapped your hands to get the attention of the class and did your best to make your voice sound even, “That was awesome, everyone thank Ava’s mom for coming in.” You paused as they all thanked her. “Next we have Cassie’s uncle who is a naval aviator, let’s give a warm welcome to Lieutenant Bob Floyd.”

Bob stood up slowly and straightened the front of his uniform before walking to the front of the class. You saw him take a deep breath and move his shaking hands to his pockets, something you probably wouldn’t have noticed if you weren’t watching him so intensely. You felt Sarah look at you and a smirk spread across her face as she leaned in, “Oh yeah, you’re down bad.” You shushed her without taking your eyes off of him.

Bob looked to Cassie who had her thumbs up and was sporting an encouraging smile before he cleared his throat and straightened his posture. “Hi everyone, thank you for having me. As you know, I am Cassie’s uncle and I am a naval aviator, but more specifically a weapon systems officer. They also call us backseaters.”

The longer he spoke, the more comfortable he began to look. His face lit up when he saw how invested the kids were in what he was saying. When his eyes met yours you shot him a big smile, causing him to fumble over his words slightly.

“We are…they uh, they call us backseaters because we sit behind our pilots. We usually work as a team for a long time. My pilot’s name is Natasha, but we call her Phoenix.” Bob said, a proud expression on his face as he spoke about his partner. “My job is to help aim and operate the weapons we have in our planes. But even more important than that, I’m responsible for being her extra set of eyes in the sky and helping to guide her decisions.”

You could tell that Bob had a lot of respect and admiration for Natasha and it warmed your heart to see how much his expression brightened when he talked about her. Bob continued to talk about different parts of his job and you were hooked on every word. The shy, nervous man you’d met before was gone and replaced with someone who could make life changing choices without a doubt in his mind.

Disappointment nagged at the back of your mind as he finished the questions a few of the kids had and sat back next to Cassie. Maybe it was because you wanted to know everything about his job, or maybe it was just because you wanted to hear him talk again. Either way, it was obvious now that you were falling hard for him, and there was nothing you could do about it.

Five:

When Bob had signed Cassie up for school, they asked him a lot of questions. Most of them he knew without giving it a second thought.

What’s her birthday? April 17th, 2014.

Does she have any allergies they should be aware of? Bees and no she doesn’t need an epi pen, it’s a mild reaction. He’ll pick her up, give her Benadryl and she’ll be okay.

At the same time that Bob was being ejected from an F-18 you were finishing morning snacks with your students and getting them settled for a lesson about fractions. As you finished passing out their practice sheets a knock at the door got your attention. The principal, Mrs. Collins, was standing at the door and was motioning for you to come into the hallway. After instructing your students to work on completing the assignment, you walked to the door and stood just outside of it. She was typically a cheery person so the solemn expression she wore made your heart rate increase.

“Something has happened, but before I tell you, I need you to know you must continue to appear calm and then you have to continue the rest of the day. Is that understood?” She warned in a low voice and you nodded slowly, confused where this was going.

She saw her upset face had caught the eye of a few students so she did her best to have a neutral expression before she continued, “Cassie Floyd’s guardian was in an accident at work. He is alive but is going to be in the hospital overnight and will not be able to get her from school today.”

She continued to speak but your ears refused to hear any more. Your stomach dropped to the floor and your heart began to ache. You were aware of the dangers of Bob’s work, but you never allowed yourself to consider this outcome. You looked back into the classroom and saw Cassie focused intently on the paper in front of her. Mrs. Collins caught onto what you saw and let out a sigh, knowing exactly where your head was at.

“I know continuing class will be difficult, but it is not any of our places to tell her. One of her emergency contacts, Bradley Bradshaw, will be here at pick up.” She said as she tried to put on a fake smile, urging you to follow.

After a moment, you took a deep breath and cleared your throat before following suit. “That sounds amazing Mrs. Collins, how exciting!” You said, raising your voice in a fake cheery tone so none of the students would suspect anything.

You found it impossible to focus the rest of the day. Your thoughts were consumed with scenarios of accidents, how injured Bob was, but above all, Cassie. You still didn’t know a lot about her life before, but you knew how much she loved Bob by the way her face lit up every time he picked her up from school. It was going to break her heart to find out that Bob was in an accident. Yes, and maybe you were a little selfish and upset that he could have died before the school year ended and you could finally tell him how you feel.

When time for pick up came around you anxiously awaited the arrival of Bradley, as well as Cassie’s reaction to seeing him. You didn’t know if she and Bob had ever had a conversation about what would happen if he got injured at work. For all you knew, Cassie could know what happened as soon as Bradley walked through the door. Your thoughts were interrupted by a tall man with a mustache and white tank top walking in, eyes scanning the room.

Cassie jumped up from her seat and ran towards him, “UNCLE CHICKEN!” she yelled in an excited voice. You held back a laugh as he leaned down to pick her up in a crushing hug.

“Hey kiddo.” He said as he set her down and ruffled her hair, earning a laugh from Cassie.

“What are you doing here? Where’s Uncle Bobby?” She asked, looking between you and Bradley for answers. The two of you shared a knowing look and he kneeled down to be at eye level with her.

“Something came up so Uncle Bobby sent me to get you.” Bradley started, awaiting a response from Cassie. She gave him a skeptical look at first, but eventually turned around and walked to her desk to grab her backpack. Bradley stood up and walked over to you as she did.

“You must be Cassie’s teacher,” he started, looking over to see where Cassie was before continuing, “I’m Bradley, one of Bob’s coworkers. I’ve heard a lot about you.”

You were thrown off by this comment, but decided to ignore it, needing answers, “Bob, is he… how bad was it?”

Bradley let out a sigh before lowering his voice and leaning in slightly to avoid anyone potentially hearing. “There was a bird strike during training, both engines caught fire and Phoenix couldn’t get control. They ejected in the nick of time and now they’re in the hospital overnight for observation.”

As you opened your mouth to ask more questions, Cassie walked up to Bradley and he cleared his throat before leaning back down to her, “Alright Cass, what do you say we head home and I’ll make you mac and cheese for dinner?”

A big smile spread on Cassie’s face and she grabbed Bradley’s hand to lead him out of the classroom. You sent Bradley a small smile and he mouthed, “Thank you” your way.

Two days passed and Cassie hadn’t been in school for either of them. You did your best not to think about Bob or how Cassie reacted to the news with little avail. A few of the other students Cassie was close with had asked where she was and each time you just said she was sick. It was now Friday and you knew that if she wasn’t back today, it was going to be another two days not seeing Bob, two days you would spend worrying about Cassie. Sat at your desk you saw a familiar tall blond walk down the hallway. Your hands started to sweat as you watched him make his way, a little slower than usual, to the door. He had a few butterfly stitches on his cheek and he winced when Cassie hugged him, but he was alive. He pulled away from the hug and patted her back to motion for her to sit down at her desk before standing up and looking at you. You made eye contact for a moment before he walked towards you.

“Excuse me, can we talk outside for just a minute?” he asked, sticking his hands into the pocket of his hoodie, despite the weather starting to get warm again.

You stood up slowly and looked at the class, it was still early and many of your students hadn’t arrived yet, “Yes, of course.”

You followed Bob out to the hall, making sure to stand within view of your students while you spoke to him. His hat did little to conceal the dark circles under his eyes and the oversized hoodie covered most, but not all of the bandage on the side of his neck by his shoulder. He caught you staring at the white gauze, “It’s not as bad as it looks, I swear.” Despite his reassuring smile you didn’t believe him.

“How are you?” You asked before realizing your mistake, “and Cassie? How’s Cassie holding up?”

His eyes were tired and you could tell Cassie wasn’t the only one not sleeping at night, “And how are you holding up?”

Bob sucked in a breath and rubbed his eyes under his glasses, “I’ve been better, just wanna see her okay again. I think being back at school is going to help a lot.”

You could tell there was more he needed to say, but it wasn’t your place to ask any further questions. This left you staring at him as you tried to find the words. Bob must have sensed your discomfort, but for the wrong reason when he spoke up again, “Anyways, I have the next week off, so if she needs anything during that time, please call at any time.”

He turned around and walked back towards the door slowly. You wanted to grab his arm and tell him that it wasn’t him confessing something to you that made you uncomfortable, or yell down the hallway and make him tell you everything he was ever too scared to admit to anyone else. You wanted to tell him if he needed any help, you could be there, but instead you just watched him walk away until he pushed the door open with his good shoulder and got into his truck.

Six:

Just as soon as the school year started, it had come to an end. Somehow, it was already the last week of school and all of your students were anxious for Friday to come so summer could officially start. Usually by the last week of school you were pushing students out the door so you could go home too. But here you were, 20 minutes after pick up ended, directing Cassie on which posters to take down. You didn’t mind staying after class with her, you knew Bob was busy at work and always tried to get there as soon as he could. Some days, like today, he was held longer at training. Eventually Cassie broke the comfortable silence that had fallen between the two of you, “Uncle Bobby talks about you at home a lot.”

You dropped the pin you had used to hold up a poster at this confession. Trying to remain professional and calm, you looked at her with surprise in your eyes and cleared your throat. “Is that so?” You asked.

Cassie changed the subject and began to tell you about the beach day she had with Bob last weekend, but you couldn’t hear her. Your mind was in overdrive at her confession, did Bob really talk about you a lot? Sometimes kids could be dramatic, but talking to Natasha about you? You forced yourself to stop thinking about it so you wouldn’t get a false hope.

Shortly after, Bob ran through the door of your classroom in his flight suit like he had in the office so many months ago. “Oh my goodness, I am so sorry. There was maintenance that needed to be done and then there was traffic because I left later than usual and I know I always say it will never happen again but I swear this is the last time.” He rambled as he made eye contact with you.You put down the pen you were correcting papers with and stood up to greet him.

“It’s completely okay, Cassie and I were just talking while she helped me with some stuff I had to do before the school year is over,” you said as you motioned to her testing your markers and throwing out the bad ones.

Bob let out a laugh and leaned down to give Cassie a kiss on the forehead, “Oh boy, that’s never good.”

With you only being Cassie’s teacher for a few more days, you saw an opportunity and if it went poorly, you probably would only see Bob in passing at school when he dropped Cassie off next year. Navy bars were never your scene so that wouldn’t be a problem and you could always change grocery stores to avoid him. You mentally weighed the options before speaking up. “Yeah, she was just telling me about her Aunt Tasha and how much you talk to her about Cassie’s school.”

You saw Bob stiffen, obviously aware of the conversation you were referencing, “Yeah uh, she… I’m sorry it was completely inappropriate but you’re just so-” He cut himself off before he could finish his sentence. His gaze fell to the floor and a deep blush appeared on his cheeks.

That was the only confirmation you needed to continue, “It’s not that big of a deal, but between that and now I’m at school extra late, I’m starting to think you might owe me dinner or something.” A playful smirk appeared on your face.

Bob stared at you and you panicked, wondering if you overstepped yet again. After a moment, his mouth formed an O as he understood what you were getting at. “You might be right, are you free this Saturday? I could pick you up at 7?”

“It’s a date.” You replied, excitement bubbling in your chest. You somehow not only survived the school year, but had a new way to celebrate the end of the year.

Plus 1:

“That’s the problem, I don’t know what we’re doing, where we are going or anything!” You huffed as you crossed your arms and stood amidst a mess of clothing on your bedroom floor with your best friend on facetime. It was 6:45 and Bob said he would pick you up at 7. Your racing heart and sweating palms made it difficult to focus on the task at hand. “That’s it, I have to cancel.”

“Stop saying that, it’s going to be fine.” She said, her patience visibly wearing thin, “Put the first option back on, you picked it first for a reason.”

Maybe she was right, you picked the sundress up off the floor and pulled it over your head again. You did a half turn in the mirror to look at the back, it was shorter than anything you would ever wear to teach in. After 9 months of long pants and skirts to school, you felt naked in this. As you took a step away from the mirror, you spotted a truck stopping in front of your house. Upon closer inspection you realized that you recognized not only the truck, but the dirty blond hair in the front seat. Your head turned quickly to look at the clock and then back to your phone screen.

“Oh no… Oh no no no. He’s 10 minutes early, I thought I had more time to prepare!” You exclaimed, desperately gathering a few things to put in your bag. In all honesty, you hoped he’d be on time, but didn’t expect it. It didn’t have anything to do with him, just with the history of guys you’d been on dates with.

You watched from the window to see if he would text you to come out, but nothing came through. After a few minutes of waiting he got out of the truck and began to walk to your front door. Now it was 6:55 and you didn’t even have shoes on.

“He’s walking up to the door, I gotta go, bye love you!” You said, quickly hanging up before she could respond. You sat still on your bed, awaiting to hear a knock or your doorbell, but it was silent. You glanced back out the window and saw him pacing on your porch, a bouquet of flowers in his hands. He checked his watch a few times and you watched him closely as you slid some sandals on. You slowly made your way into the hallway and as soon as the clock ticked to 7pm, there was a knock. Somehow your shaky legs carried you to the door and you opened it with a smile. He stared at you a moment before glancing down at the bouquet.

“You… wow um, these are for you.” He stuttered, handing the flowers to you, his eyes not breaking contact with yours, “You look absolutely amazing.”

A smile crept onto your cheeks as you took the flowers from him. It took you a second to process that not only did he pick you up at the door, but he was early and brought you flowers. As you felt his eyes on you still, you realized you hadn’t spoken to him yet.

“Oh my goodness, I’m being so rude. Thank you so much, these are beautiful, how about you come in while I grab a vase for them?” You asked, finally looking him over. He was dressed fairly casual, but you were still in awe. Your neck became hot as you turned to lead him to the kitchen, suddenly hyper aware of the dishes in the sink.

You reached into a cabinet and grabbed the vase with one hand and used the other to try and keep your dress from rising up. When you looked out of the corner of your eye to see if he was watching, his gaze was focused on the wall. Once you were flat on your feet again, Bob looked back towards you with a polite smile. You gently placed the flowers in the vase and filled it with water before taking a small step back to admire them.

Bob watched you a moment before he spoke up, “All good to go?”

The two of you made your way outside and as you reached the end of your driveway, he jogged ahead of you to open the door. He offered his hand to help you in and closed the door gently as you did the buckle on the seatbelt. Once he was in the driver’s seat he looked over at you again, seemingly trying to memorize what you looked like before turning the key.

You had dreaded the driving part of the date all day, it was always awkward and filled with small talk questions to make conversations. With Bob it was different, the conversation about how your days went flowed and any anxiety you had faded. The drive was short and ended at the local beach. Everyone had begun to pack up due to the sun setting, which left the sanded area less crowded than normal. Your gaze shifted from the beach when Bob reached behind you and revealed a cooler with a bundle of blankets. Before you could react he was opening his door and running around to open yours again. He offered his free hand to help you down.

Grateful of your past choice, you took off your sandals and carried them in one hand, the other was around Bob’s bicep as he guided you down closer to the water. He spread out the biggest blanket and placed the basket in the middle of it. You took a seat as he pulled out an assortment of fruit, sandwiches and snacks. Blown away by his efforts, you looked at him with your mouth slightly open in surprise.

Bob caught this expression and let out a chuckle, “Sorry if it isn’t very fancy, I’ve kind of forgotten how to eat like an adult.”

“That’s not it at all, this is amazing.” You praised, watching him lower his head slightly in an attempt to hide the blush that had appeared.

You spent the next hour or so talking about your hometowns, favorite books, and ridiculous hypotheticals. The conversation was lighthearted and felt like it took a weight off of your chest as you watched the sun begin to set. Your gaze was still focused on the water when you asked where Cassie was tonight.

Bob smiled and let out a laugh, “Everyone took her bowling, who knows what they’re up to now or how much sugar they’ve given her.”

A smile spread across your face and you looked back to where Bob was lying on his side, “It’s really great they do stuff like that, it has to make this whole thing easier.” His slight grin was replaced with a serious expression at your comment and you furrowed your brows in concern, wondering what you said wrong.

“Yeah it’s nice,” Bob sat up slowly so that your shoulders were touching, his touch sending electricity through you, “Speaking of that… I need to be honest with you.” Your heart sank but you nodded slowly, encouraging him to continue.

He cleared his throat, “I really like you, Cassie absolutely adores you and hell, Phoenix has been begging to meet you for months. But before you decide if you want to go through with this whole thing, you need to know what you’re getting into. It’s not fair for this to be sprung on you randomly a few months down the road.”

His words caused your anxiety to spike, as far as you knew there wasn’t anything he was going to tell you that would change the way you felt about him. You already knew he had a child he cared for, you knew about his job and after some late night research, you understood he couldn’t always be there. What else was there to tell? Your voice was barely a whisper when you replied, “Okay, tell me.”

He took a deep breath and adjusted his glasses before turning slightly so both of his eyes were on you. “You know Cassie isn’t technically my kid, she’s my niece.” You nodded in reply.

“I was only 17 when she was born and my older sister was, well she still is, a bit troubled. My mom thought she would get it together once Cassie was born, but I knew she wouldn’t. So I did whatever I could to help out.” Bob’s gaze left you and he turned his head to look at the water. “I fed her in the middle of the night, stayed up late rocking her when she was colic. But that only lasted a year, I enlisted right out of high school and shipped out shortly there after.”

“Bob…” you said in a low voice, hoping he would look back your way. “None of that changes how I feel about you in a negative way, if anything it shows me how caring you are and how much love you have for her. I think it’s really brave what you did.”

Bob shook his head in protest, “It’s what anyone would have done.”

You leaned over and rested your head on his shoulder, “You’re doing a great job.”

The two of you stayed on the beach until long after the sun had set and the air had become chilly. You exchanged stories about your childhoods, dumb things you did in high school and what you wanted to be when you grew up versus where you had actually ended up. At one point Bob noticed you trying to hide a chill and without hesitation placed his jacket over your shoulders. You were surprised at how well the conversation flowed and how relaxed he made you, despite how nervous you had felt when he originally pulled up.

A little after midnight, Bob received no less than 6 text messages from Phoenix. They ranged from asking how it was going to asking if she should sleep on the couch tonight. He let out an embarrassed chuckle when he realized you caught a glimpse of what she had said. You reluctantly told him he should probably get back home before Cassie woke up and realized he was still out. He let out a deep sigh as he got up and offered his hand to help you up.

The drive home was a comfortable quiet, the only sounds in the truck were him humming quietly and the sound of the ocean from the coast. His hand held onto yours over the console and he rubbed circles into your thumb, occasionally glancing over at you. You gave him a soft smile each time.

At your house he once again ran around to your door to open it and you held onto his arm for the walk up to your porch. His face was illuminated by the warm glow of your porch light and you could see the slight green hue his eyes had. After a moment, he took half a step closer and his hand came up slowly to cup your cheek. You saw his eyes flick from your eyes to your lips and back up. You tilted your head up slightly, giving permission and he took the message, gently closing the gap between you. His lips were soft against yours and the slight stubble he had sent fire throughout you. His body was pressed against you when he pulled back slightly, his pupils were blown and his gaze darted between your eyes.

He leaned his head down to your neck, a new confidence present and in a low voice, he mumbled against your ear, “If I don’t leave now, Phoenix might just have to sleep on my couch.”

You let out a breathy laugh and put your hands on his chest, signaling him to lift his head and look at you, “I can’t have Phoenix hate me this soon… Good night, Bob.”

“Good night.” He replied before placing one more kiss against your lips and walking slowly back to his truck, your eyes on him the entire time. Apparently, that feeling of a new beginning you have on the first day of school can be there at the end of the year too.

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